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THE LIBRARY! 
 OF CONGRESS 
 
 
 WASHINQTON| 
 

 
 
 THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN DIGEST 
 
 OF 1898. 
 
 A OOMPEND OF THE ACTS, DECISIONS, AND DELIVERANCES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 GENERAL PRESBYTERY, GENERAL SYNOD 
 
 AND 
 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 Presbyterian Church 
 
 IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 1706—1897. 
 
 38s ButborftE, ano witb tbe Cooperation of a Committee, 
 of tbe General assembly 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. WILLIAM E. MOORE, D.D., LLD. 
 
 2n 
 
 i Y 
 
 1898 
 
 philadelphia : 
 
 Presbyterian Board of Publica 
 and Sabbath-school Work 
 1898. 
 
 \ i ~ */.. 
 
#! 
 
 
 
 r'<p 
 
 M97 
 
 Copyright, 1898, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-school Work. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The first step towards a Digest of the Acts and Deliverances of the 
 General Assembly was taken by the Assembly of 1809, in its order 
 [Minutes, p. 424], charging the Stated Clerk " with the business of 
 preparing a book, and having entered therein such decisions of the Assem- 
 bly as relate to the general government and discipliue of the Church, 
 and the duties of judicatures, that such decisions may hereafter be 
 selected and printed for the general use of the churches, if a future 
 Assembly shall so order." 
 
 In 1818 the General Assembly appointed Drs. Jane way, Neill (Stated 
 Clerk) and Ely, " a Committee to extract from the records of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, and of the late Synods of New York aud Philadelphia, 
 all such matters as may appear to be of permanent authority and interest 
 (iD eluding a short account of the manner in which missions have been 
 conducted, and their success), that the same may be published for the 
 information of ministers and their people in our churches/' This Com- 
 mittee reported to the next Assembly (1819), were empowered to com- 
 plete the work on the plan reported, and to publish it at the expense of 
 the Trustees of the General Assembly. The Digest thus authorized was 
 published in 1820. 
 
 In 1836, the Assembly appointed Dr. John McDowell, Mr. Winches- 
 ter and Mr. Duffield to prepare a new Digest. Nothing, however, was 
 done, the division of the Church being near at hand. Further action 
 looking to the preparation of a Digest was taken by the respective 
 Assemblies: N. S., 1838 and 1849; O. S., 1841 and 1848. In 1850 
 the Presbyterian Board of Publication, O. S., issued a Digest prepared 
 by the Rev. Richard Webster, D.D. In 1856 the Board issued a 
 Digest prepared by the Rev. Samuel J. Baird, D.D. The Assembly 
 voted thanks to Mr. Baird for his labors, and earnestly commended the 
 work " to the attention and patronage of all in our connection." A new 
 and revised edition was issued by the Board of Publication in 1859. It is 
 still published by it, and is of great value from a historical poiut of view. 
 
 In 1854, the Assembly, N. S., appointed a Committee consisting of 
 Drs. George Duffield, Jr. , Henry Darling, and W. E. Moore, with the 
 Stated Clerk, Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., to prepare and publish a new 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Digest. This Digest was prepared by the Kev. W. E. Moore, and pub- 
 lished by the Presbyterian Publication Committee, N. S., in 1861. It 
 was accepted with commendation by the General Assembly. — Minutes, 
 1861, p. 463, N. S. 
 
 The Digest of 1873. 
 
 On the Reunion of 1870, the Board of Publication took action for the 
 preparation of a more complete work, which should combine the prece- 
 dents of the Church in all its branches, and bring them down to the latest 
 date. 
 
 The plan suggested was approved by the Assembly of 1871 (Minutes, 
 p. 529), as follows : 
 
 ' { That this Digest contain under each chapter and section of the Form 
 of Government, Book of Discipline and Directory, every decision which 
 defines or explains it. 
 
 " Also, a complete Digest of all the rules of the several Boards of the 
 Church as at present existing. 
 
 ' ' That it omit whatever has become obsolete in the usage of the Church 
 — e. g,, in its benevolent operations — and all that pertains simply to 
 matters of history. 
 
 " That it be requested that a Special Committee be appointed by the 
 General Assembly to examine and approve the book before it be issued, 
 and it was recommended that the Rev. William E. Moore be requested 
 to undertake the preparation of such a Digest. ' ' 
 
 The Committee to examine and approve the book — Edwin F. Hatfield, 
 D.D., Alexander T. McGill, D.D., LL.D., Robert M. Patterson, D.D., 
 Ruling Elders Hon. George Sharswood, LL.D., and Hon. William 
 Strong, LL.D. — reported the completion of the work with its approval 
 in 1873, and it was issued in the same year. 
 
 The Edition of 1886. 
 
 Within about ten years after the issue of the Digest of 1873, the need 
 for a new edition was widely felt, and at last took shape in 1885. The 
 Assembly of that year took action as follows: 
 
 " Resolved, That this General Assembly, having heard of the intention 
 of the Board of Publication to publish a new edition of Moore's Digest 
 of the acts and deliverances of the General Assembly, do approve of 
 such publication and hereby recommend the same to the Church. 
 
 " Resolved, That this General Assembly hereby records its sense of 
 obligation to the Rev. William E. Moore, D.D., for his faithful, dili- 
 gent and skillful services in the preparation of the present Digest. ' ' 
 
 In connection with the new edition the following report was made to 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 the Board of Publication by the Committee requested to examine the 
 manuscript : 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 14, 1886. 
 To the Presbyterian Board of Publication : 
 
 The undersigned, appointed by the Board of Publication as a Commit- 
 tee to Revise the Manuscript of the Presbyterian Digest of 1886, after 
 a minute and careful examination, do hereby signify our approval of the 
 same. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 E. R. Craven, 
 Wm. H. Roberts. 
 
 In the Introduction to the Digest of 1886 the editor said that " the 
 adoption of the Revised Book of Discipline in 1884, with its amend- 
 ments in 1885, and the lapse of twelve years since the publication of the 
 Digest," had made necessary a new edition. He also made the follow- 
 ing statement: 
 
 " The Book of Discipline has been wholly recast under the sections of 
 the Revised Book. The compiler has been obliged to use his own judg- 
 ment, not only as to the location of the acts and deliverances of the 
 Assembly under the several sections, but also as to the retaining or 
 rejecting of matter found in former Digests aud in the annual Minutes 
 of the Assembly. He gratefully acknowledges his obligations in both 
 respects to Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D. , and Rev. William H. Roberts, 
 D.D. , the Committee appointed by the Board of Publication to revise 
 his work. The criticism will doubtless be made that many cases quoted 
 are not in accordance with the Revised Book. This is acknowledged in 
 the Digest itself ; but good reasons seem to be found for inserting them 
 unless they contradict the Revised Book." 
 
 The Digest of 1898. 
 
 At its sessions in 1894 the General Assembly ordered a new edition of 
 the Digest to be prepared by the Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
 school Work, under the supervision of the Stated Clerk and the Secre- 
 tary of the Board of Publication, with the Rev. Dr. William E. Moore 
 as editor— 1894, p. 89. 
 
 The Committee on the Kew Digest reported its proposed plan for the 
 work to the Assembly of 1895 (Minutes, p. 129), and the report was 
 approved, as follows: 
 
 " The Committee on the new edition of the Digest (Minutes, 1894, p. 
 89), to be prepared by the Board of Publication, under the supervision 
 of the Stated Clerk and the Secretary of the Board of Publication, 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with Rev. William E. Moore as editor, propose the following plan of the 
 Digest and ask the approval of the Assembly, viz. : 
 
 " 1. To print as the first part of the book the Confession of Faith, giv- 
 ing under the appropriate chapters and sections the doctrinal deliver- 
 ances and decisions of the Assembly. 
 
 "2. To print the Form of Government, Book of Discipline and Direc- 
 tory for Worship in the same form as in the presenl Digest, marking the 
 acts and deliverances of the two Assemblies during the period of the 
 separation, which do not come under the terms of the concurrent Resolu- 
 tion No. 4, Digest ('86), p. 92, as reestablished in the united body, with 
 the letters O. S. and N. S. 
 
 " 3. That the Assembly grant to your Committee full discretion to omit 
 such acts and deliverances as in their judgment are trivial, purely per- 
 sonal, obsolete or contradictor}', or that have been' superseded by amend- 
 ments of the Form of Government, Book of Discipline and Directory 
 for Worship. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Wm. Henry Roberts, 
 F. R. Craven, 
 William E. Moore." 
 In addition to the 
 
 Plan of this Digest 
 
 as set forth above, it is to be noted that for convenience of reference it 
 has seemed best to put the Historical Documents by themselves at the 
 beginning of the book, and to place under Section v of Chap, xii of the 
 Form of Government, the Charters, Plans, etc., of the several Boards, 
 Permanent Committees, and Theological Seminaries. The several 
 Digests referred to in the work are: (1), " The Assembly Digest," 1820 ; 
 (2), "Assembly's Digest, Baird's Collection," Ed. 1858; (3), "The 
 New Digest," Moore, 1861, N. S. ; (4), "The Presbyterian Digest," 
 Moore, 1873, and (5), "The Presbyterian Digest," Revised Edition, 
 1886. 
 
 The references of the dates of the Acts, etc., are: From 1706 to 
 1788, inclusive, to the volume of Records of the Presbyterian Church; 
 from 1789-1837, inclusive, to the Reprints of the "Minutes of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A.;" from 1838-1869 
 inclusive, to the annual Minutes of the Assemblies of the two branches 
 of the Church, designated respectively as "Old School" and "New 
 School," and since 1870 to the annual Minutes of the reunited General 
 Assembly. 
 
 The annual Minutes from 1836-1869, inclusive, have been reprinted. 
 The Minutes for 1836 and 1837 are bound with the volume covering 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 1821-1835. The Minutes, 1838-1869, O. S., are bound in four vol- 
 umes, and 1838-1869, N. 8., in two volumes. All of these reprints are 
 issued by the Board of Publication and Sab bath -school Work. 
 
 In closing his work, the editor wishes to record his grateful thanks to 
 the Committee of Supervision for their valuable counsel and cordial 
 cooperation, always cheerfully given. Especially would he acknowledge 
 the important aid rendered by the chairman of the Committee, the Rev. 
 William Henry Roberts, D.D., LL.D., whose familiar and thorough 
 knowledge of the Acts and Deliverances of the Assembly in all its 
 history, made his suggestions and his personal aid so freely extended, 
 invaluable to me, and peculiarly grateful from the spirit in which they 
 were given. 
 
 WILLIAM E. MOORE. 
 
 Columbus, O. , January 31, 1898. 
 
 Approval of the Assembly's Committee. 
 
 The General Assembly of 1894, passed the following resolution: 
 " Resolved, That the Assembly order a new edition of the Digest, to 
 be prepared by the Board of Publication, under the supervision of the 
 Stated Clerk and the Secretary of the Board of Publication, with Dr. 
 William E. Moore, as editor. Adopted." 
 
 The undersigned, being the Committee above named, after a minute 
 and careful examination of the Digest, frequent consultations with the 
 editor, and close attention to the proofs, do hereby unite with Dr. Moore 
 in approval of the work. 
 
 WM. HENRY ROBERTS, 
 E. R, CRAVEN. 
 
SYLLABUS. 
 
 PART I. HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 I. The Organization of the Church. 
 
 1. The General Presbytery 1 
 
 2. The General Synod 1 
 
 3. The General Assembly 2 
 
 a. Preparatory Act 2 
 
 b. The Synod divided, and the 
 General Assembly constitu- 
 ted 2 
 
 II. Adoption, etc., op the Standards. 
 
 1. The Adopting Acts of 1729, 
 
 1. The Overture laid over for a 
 
 year 2 
 
 2. The Confession of Faith and 
 
 Catechisms of the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly adopted 3 
 
 a. Act relating to subscription... 3 
 
 b. The Adopting Act proper 3 
 
 3. The Directory recommended. . . 4 
 
 4. The Confession must be adopted 
 
 by intrants and candidates. . . 4 
 
 and Explanatory Acts. 
 
 , Must be inscribed in the Pres- 
 by terj r Book 4 
 
 , Act explaining the Adopting 
 Act 5 
 
 . Mode of adopting the Confes- 
 sion 5 
 
 . The Directory for "Worship, and 
 Form of Government 5 
 
 . Authority of Pardovan's Col- 
 lections 6 
 
 2. The Constitution of 1\ 
 
 1. The Constitution revised and 
 
 amended 6 
 
 2. The Form of Government, Dis- 
 
 cipline, and Confession of 
 Faith, ratified and adopted. . 6 
 
 3. Directory for Worship and Cate- 
 
 chisms 6 
 
 4. The chapter on the mode of 
 
 inflicting Church censures 
 adopted 7 
 
 3. The Obligation, etc., of the Standards. 
 
 1. The Adopting Acts and their 
 
 force 7 
 
 2. Use and obligation of the Stand- 
 
 ards 7 
 
 3. Adoption of the Standards in 
 
 every case required 8 
 
 4. The Catechisms an integral 
 
 part of the Standards of the 
 Church 8 
 
 Adoption of the Confession in- 
 cludes the Catechisms 10 
 
 Ministers who cannot adopt the 
 Standards not to be received. 10 
 
 The "Heidelberg Catechism" 
 approved .10 
 
 The Standards subordinate to 
 and in harmony with the 
 Word of God 10 
 
 4. The Amendments of the Standards. 
 
 1. Method of amendments 12 
 
 2. List of amendments 12 
 
 (1) The Confession of Faith adopt- 
 
 ed 1729, amended 1788 and 
 1887 12 
 
 (2) The Form of Government 
 adopted 1788, amended 1805 
 and 1821 12 
 
 Amendments to Form of Gov- 
 ernment since Reunion 13 
 
 (3) The Book of Discipline, adopt- 
 
 ed 1884, amended 1885 to 1894.13 
 Effect of adoption on cases 
 pending 14 
 
 (4) Directory for Worship, adopt- 
 ed 1788-89, amended 1884-80.14 
 
SYLLABUS. 
 
 III. Publication of the Constitution. 
 
 1. Committee to supervise publica- 
 
 tion, 1788., ....14 
 
 2. Committee authorized to pub- 
 
 lish 14 
 
 3. Committee of 1792 15 
 
 (1) Editions with proof-texts 
 added 15 
 
 (2) Authority of the notes 15 
 
 4. Unauthorized editions discoun- 
 
 tenanced 16 
 
 5. Committee on circulation 16 
 
 6. Presbyteries and churches to 
 
 stimulate circulation 16 
 
 7. Committees of supervision of 
 
 1821 16 
 
 8. Committee of supervision ap- 
 
 pointed from the Synods ... 16 
 
 9. Committees responsible for ac- 
 curacy 17 
 
 10. Board of Publication to print 
 
 and sell 17 
 
 11. Synodical Committees abol- 
 
 ished 17 
 
 12. Permanent committee o f 
 
 supervision appointed 17 
 
 13. Attestation by permanent 
 
 committee 18 
 
 14. Standard copy of the Shorter 
 
 Catechism 18 
 
 15. Report on corrections in punc- 
 
 tuation, etc 18 
 
 16. Title-page of Constitution 
 
 chan ged 20 
 
 IV. Proof-texts to the Standards. 
 
 1. Proof-texts authorized, 1794. . . 21 | 2. Revision of proof-texts, 1894. . . 
 
 V. Separations and Reunions. 
 
 1. Under the General Synod. 
 
 2. Reunion of 1758 ; Synod of 
 
 21 
 
 1. Withdrawal of the Synod of 
 
 New York, 1745 27 
 
 Articles of Agreement 27 
 
 New York and Philadelphia 27 
 
 2. The Separation of 1837. 
 
 1. The excluding act of 1837 31 
 
 2. The division of the Church. 
 
 Two General Assemblies or- 
 ganized 31 
 
 3. The Reunion of 1869. 
 
 1. Initiation of correspondence . . 31 
 
 2. Action of the Assemblies look- 
 
 ing to reunion ; committee 
 appointed 32 
 
 a. Overture of the Assembly, 
 
 O. S 32 
 
 b. Response of the Assembly, 
 
 N. S 33 
 
 c. Committees on Reunion, 1866. 33 
 
 3. Terms of Reunion; Assemblies 
 
 of 1867 and 1868 34 
 
 4. General Assemblies of 1869 at 
 
 New York 34 
 
 A new joint committee appointed 34 
 
 5. Report of joint committee pre- 
 
 sented in both Assemblies. . 34 
 
 i. Plan of Reunion 35 
 
 ii. Concurrent declarations 36 
 
 iii. Recommendation of clay of 
 prayer 37 
 
 6. Adjourned meetings, Pitts- 
 
 burg, 1869 38 
 
 7. Report of joint committee of 
 
 conference 39 
 
 8. Basis and consummation of the 
 
 Reunion 40 
 
 9. The Reunion Convention 41 
 
 Resolutions adopted, November 
 
 12, 1869 42 
 
 10. Memorial Contribution 43 
 
 11. Quarter-Centenary of Reunion 43 
 
 PART II. THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. 
 Chapter I. Of the Holy Scripture. 
 
 Section 1 44 
 
 Section 2 44 
 
 1. Deliverance on the so-called 
 
 Higher Criticism 45 
 
 2. The inspired Word is without 
 
 error 45 
 
 I. Case of Charles A. Briggs,D.D. 46 
 
 a. Preliminary note 46 
 
 b. Action of the Assembly of 1892 46 
 
 c. Charges passed on by the 
 
 Presbytery of New York, 
 1893 47 
 
THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. 
 
 XI 
 
 d. Decision and final judgment 
 
 of the Presbytery of New- 
 York, 1893 53 
 
 e. Action of the Assembly, 1893. 54 
 
 (1) Hearing and judgment 54 
 
 (2) Explanatory minute 55 
 
 4. Protest against the declaration 
 
 that the inerrancy of the 
 original autographs is the 
 faith of the Church 56 
 
 5. Answer to protest 57 
 
 6. The Bible as we now have it, 
 
 the very Word of God 57 
 
 7. The Assembly makes no new 
 
 definitions of dogma 57 
 
 8. Case of Rev. Henry Preserved 
 Smith, D.D 58 
 
 a. Charges and specifications. . . 58 
 
 b. Finding and judgment of the 
 
 Presbytery of Cincinnati ... 64 
 
 c. Appeal of Dr. Smith to the 
 
 Synod of Ohio, not sustained 65 
 
 d. Appeal to the General Assem- 
 
 bly, not sustained and judg- 
 ment affirmed 65 
 
 Sections 3-7 65 
 
 Section 8 66 
 
 1. The Bible in its various transla- 
 tions is the very Word of 
 
 God 66 
 
 Section 9 66 
 
 Chapter II. Of God, and of the Holy Trinity 
 
 Sections 1, 2 67 
 
 Section 3 67 
 
 1. The Assembly refuses to alter 
 
 the language of the Confes- 
 sion regarding the doctrine 
 of the Trinity 67 
 
 Sections 1-8. 
 
 Sections 1, 2 
 
 Chapter III. Of God's Eternal Decree. 
 
 Chapter IV. Of Creation 
 
 Chapter V. Of Providence. 
 
 Sections 1-7. 
 
 68 
 
 no 
 
 69 
 
 Chapter YI. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment 
 
 Thereof. 
 
 Sections 1-5 70 
 
 Section 6 71 
 
 1. Case of Rev. Hezekiah Balch. 71 
 
 2. Appeal of John Miller, D.D., 
 from the judgment of the 
 Synod of New'Jersey 73 
 
 Chapter YII. Of God's Covenant with Man. 
 
 Sections 1-5 74 i Case of Samuel Harker 75 
 
 Section 6 74 I 
 
 Chapter VIII. Of Christ the Mediator. 
 Sections 1-8 75 
 
 Chapter IX. Of Free Will. 
 Sections 1-5 77 
 
 Chapter X. Of Effectual Calling. 
 
 Sections 1-4 77 
 
 Chapter XI. Of Justification. 
 
 Sections 1-5 78 
 
 Section 6 79 
 
 1. Case of Rev. William C. Davis. 79 
 
 2. Case of Rev. Thomas B. Craig- 
 head 80 
 
 Chapter XII. Of Adoption. 
 Section 1 83 
 
Xll 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 Chapter XIII. Of Sanctification. 
 
 Sections 1-3 83 
 
 Chapter XIV. Of Saving Faith. 
 Sections 1-3 84 
 
 Chapter XV. Of Repentance unto Life. 
 
 Sections 1-6 84 
 
 Chapter XVI. Of Good Works. 
 
 Sections 1-7 85 
 
 Chapter XVII. Of the Perseverance of the Saints. 
 
 Sections 1-3 86 
 
 Chapter XVIII. Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation. 
 
 Sections 1-4 86 
 
 Chapter XIX. Of the Law of God. 
 
 Sections 1-7 87 
 
 Chapter XX. Of Chkistian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience. 
 Sections 1-4.. .... " 88 
 
 Chapter XXI. Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day. 
 Sections 1-8 89 
 
 Chapter XXII. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows. 
 
 Sections 1-7 91 
 
 Chapter XXIII. Of the Civil Magistrate. 
 Sections 1-4 92 
 
 Chapter XXIV. Of Marriage and Divorce. 
 
 Section 1 93 
 
 1. A minister, having married 
 
 again, required to cease 
 officiating until proof is fur- 
 nished of the death of his 
 first wife 93 
 
 2. A bigamist to be excluded 
 
 from the privileges of the 
 Church. Willful desertion 
 a just cause for divorce. If 
 just cause exist, and divorce 
 be refused, the Church may 
 receive him 93 
 
 3. Deliverances on polygamy and 
 
 Mormonism. Polygamy a 
 criminal offence and to be 
 
 suppressed 93 
 
 Section 2 96 
 
 Section 3 96 
 
 1. Marriage of converts with 
 heathen. The Presbyteries 
 
 to judge 96 
 
 Section 4 97 
 
 1. Marriage with a sister's daughter 97 
 
 Section 5 97 
 
 1. In divorce for adultery the inno- 
 cent party may marry again. 97 
 Section 6 97 
 
 1. Marriage with a woman 
 
 divorced for cause other than 
 adultery 98 
 
 2. Marriage on a divorce obtained 
 
 on other than Scriptural 
 grounds 99 
 
 3. Deliverances on marriage, 
 
 divorce, and infanticide 99 
 
 Chapter XXV. Of the Church. 
 
 Sections 1-5 100 
 
 Section 6 101 
 
 1. The Roman Catholic Church 
 essentially apostate 101 
 
 2. The Salvation Army not a 
 
 Church 102 
 
 3. Declaration of principles as to 
 
 Church unity 102 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Chapter XXVI. Of the Communion of Saints. 
 Sections 1-3 102 
 
 Chapter XXVII. Of the Sacraments. 
 Sections 1-5 103 
 
 Chapter XXVIII. Of Baptism. 
 
 Section 1 103 
 
 Section 2 103 
 
 1. Ruling elders may not admin- 
 
 ister sealing ordinances 103 
 
 2. Baptism by an impostor null 
 
 and invalid 104 
 
 3. By a profligate— cases to be 
 
 judged by the Session 104 
 
 4. Unitarian baptism 104 
 
 5. By a minister after he is de- 
 
 posed 105 
 
 6. By a suspended minister 105 
 
 7. Is Baptism in the Church of 
 
 Rome valid ? answered in 
 the negative 105 
 
 8. The deliverance of 18 4 5 
 
 reaffirmed 106 
 
 9 The rebaptism of a convert 
 from Romanism left to the 
 judgment of the Session 106 
 
 10. The above deliverance sus- 
 
 tained 106 
 
 11. The Assembly declines to make 
 
 a new deliverance on the 
 validity of R. C. baptism. . .107 
 
 Section 3 107 
 
 1. Mode of baptism 107 
 
 Section 4 107 
 
 1. Duty of Christian masters to 
 
 have their servants baptized. 108 
 
 2. Of Christian slaves to have 
 
 their children baptized 108 
 
 3. Infant slaves of Christian mas- 
 
 ters 108 
 
 4. Orphan children of heathen 
 
 parents in the care of our 
 
 missions 108 
 
 Sections 5, 6 108 
 
 Section 7 108 
 
 1. Rebaptism disorderly 108 
 
 Chapter XXIX. Of the Lord's Supper. 
 Sections 1-8 109 
 
 Chapter XXX. Of Church Censures. 
 Sections 1-4 110 
 
 Chapter XXXI. Of Synods and Councils. 
 
 Sections 1-3 Ill 
 
 Section 4 Ill 
 
 1. The spiritual character of the 
 Church Ill 
 
 Chapter XXXII. Of the State of Man after Death, and of the Res- 
 urrection of the Dead. 
 
 Sections 1-3 113 
 
 Chapter XXXIII. Of the Last Judgment. 
 Sections 1-3 113 
 
 The Creed. 
 1. Authorized alterations in the Creed may be used in worship 114 
 
 PART III. THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 Chapter I. Preliminary Principles. 
 
 Sections 1-8 116 
 
 Chapter II. Of the Church. 
 
 Section 1 118 
 
 Section 2. The Church universal. 118 
 1. Deliverances on Church unity .118 
 
 Section 3 118 
 
 Section 4. The particular church. 118 
 
 1. Mode or organization of new 
 
 churches 119 
 
 2. Enrollment of imperfectly or- 
 
 ganized churches 120 
 
 3. Church charters 122 
 
XIV 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 4. Trustees, recognition of by 
 
 General Synod 122 
 
 5. Control of trustees over a 
 
 house of worship 123 
 
 6. Respective rights of trustees 
 
 and Session in controlling 
 the use of church property. .123 
 
 7. Trustees and congregational 
 
 meetings 124 
 
 In the use of the property for 
 all religious services or eccle- 
 siastical purposes, the trus- 
 tees are under the control of 
 the Session 125 
 
 Decision of the United States 
 Supreme Court in the case 
 of the Walnut Street Pres- 
 byterian Church, Louis- 
 ville, Ky 126, 327 
 
 Chapter III. Of the Officers of the Church. 
 Sections 1-2 142 
 
 Chapter IV. Of Bishops or Pastors. 
 
 1. The pastoral relation. 
 
 1. Fidelity in pastoral duties en- 
 
 joined 143 
 
 2. The pastoral relation empha- 
 
 sized and encouraged. 144 
 
 3. Ministerial rights unaffected 
 
 by being honorably retired. .145 
 
 4. Installation of pastors-elect 
 
 insisted on 146 
 
 2. Supplies. 
 
 1. Stated supplies to be discour- 
 
 aged 146 
 
 2. Presbytery can terminate sta- 
 
 ted supply at discretion 147 
 
 3. Evangelists not to be ordain- 
 
 ed to serve as stated supplies. 147 
 
 4. Stated supplies have no pasto- 
 
 ral powers 147 
 
 5. Have only such rights as may 
 
 be conferred by Presbytery. 147 
 
 6. Should not preach in the pul- 
 
 pits of any Presbytery with- 
 out its consent 147 
 
 7. A pastor-elect not stated sup- 
 
 ply ipso facto 147 
 
 8. Deliverances on stated sup- 
 
 plies reaffirmed 147 
 
 9. What is a stated supply ; and 
 
 what is a vacant church?. . .148 
 
 Chapter V. Of Ruling Elders. 
 
 1. Ruling elders assistants to min- 
 
 isters 148 
 
 2. The eldership essential to the 
 
 existence of a Presbyterian 
 church 148 
 
 3. Elders must be duly elected 
 
 and set apart 148 
 
 4. A ruling elder without charge 
 
 has no seat in a church 
 court 149 
 
 5. An elder cannot hold office in 
 
 two churches at the same 
 time 149 
 
 6. Nor adjudicate in a church of 
 
 which he is not an elder 149 
 
 7. An elder has the same right to 
 
 sit in Synod as in Presbytery. 149 
 
 8. When an elder has been sus- 
 
 pended from church privi- 
 leges, and is restored, he is 
 not thereby restored to office. 149 
 
 9. Elders are not to participate in 
 
 the ordination of ministers 
 by the laying on of hands. .149 
 
 10. Ruling elders may not admin- 
 
 ister sealing ordinances 151 
 
 11. Ruling elders may explain the 
 
 Scriptures and exhort in the 
 absence of the pastor 151 
 
 12 The proper court to try rul- 
 ing elders in a given case. . .151 
 
 13. Ministers not eligible to the 
 
 ruling eldership 151 
 
 Chapter VI. Of Deacons. 
 
 1. Their functions. They have 
 
 no judicial power 152 
 
 2. The temporalities of the church 
 
 may be committed to them. 152 
 
 3. Appointment of deacons urged. 152 
 
 4. One may be at once elder and 
 
 deacon 152 
 
 5. Deacons may distribute the 
 
 bread and the wine at the 
 communion 153 
 
 6. To the deacons belongs exclu- 
 
 sively the control of the 
 funds for the poor 153 
 
 7. May not represent the church 
 
 in church courts 153 
 
 Chapter VII. Of Ordinances in a Particular Church. 
 Section 1 153 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XV 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 Of Church Government, and the Several Kinds of 
 Judicatories. 
 
 Section 1. Need and Form 154 
 
 Section 2. Jurisdiction 154 
 
 1. Union of Church and State dis- 
 
 avowed. Relation to the 
 State 154 
 
 2. Right of any judicatory to 
 
 bear testimony against erro- 
 
 neous and injurious publica- 
 tions 156 
 
 3. Judicial authority cannot be 
 granted to bodies other than 
 those established by the Con- 
 stitution 156 
 
 Chapter IX. Of the Church Session. 
 
 Section 1. Constituent elements . .157 
 
 1. A special Session unconstitu- 
 
 tional. An offender must be 
 tried by the constitutional 
 judicatories 158 
 
 2. A Session may consist of for- 
 
 eign missionaries 158 
 
 0. An elder may not adjudicate in 
 
 any church in which he is 
 not an elder 158 
 
 4. A minister may not sit as a 
 
 corresponding member of 
 Session, nor be assigned as 
 counsel for the accused 159 
 
 5. Elders must be ordained. Neg- 
 
 lect of ordination invali- 
 dates decisions 159 
 
 Section 2. Quorum 159 
 
 1. A minister with one elder, if 
 
 there be but one, may con- 
 stitute a quorum . 159 
 
 2. A single elder may constitute 
 
 the Session 160 
 
 3. Where elders are non-resident, 
 
 the remaining members au- 
 thorized to act 160 
 
 4. Less than a quorum incapable 
 
 of any organic act 160 
 
 5. Official acts of Session can be 
 
 performed only when it is 
 regularly convened. Prayer 
 in opening and closing re- 
 commended 160 
 
 6. The Session has discretion as 
 
 to the circumstances under 
 which a meeting should 
 be opened and closed with 
 
 prayer 161 
 
 Section 3. Moderator of church 
 
 with pastor 161 
 
 1. A pastor-elect not moderator 
 
 or stated supply by vir- 
 tue of the call in progress. . .161 
 
 2. Who may moderate a Session 
 
 in the absence of a pastor ? . .162 
 
 3. When another minister acts as 
 
 moderator, the pastor is a 
 member of the Session, and 
 may be appointed a prose- 
 cutor 162 
 
 Section 4. Moderator of vacant 
 
 church 163 
 
 1. Where a minister is the accu- 
 
 ser, a minister should pre- 
 side 163 
 
 2. Moderator to be of the same 
 
 Presbytery. Session cannot 
 invite a minister of another 
 
 Presbytery 163 
 
 Section 5. Collegiate pastors 163 
 
 Section 6. Powers and duties of 
 
 the Session 163 
 
 1. The Session has original juris- 
 
 diction over church mem- 
 bers 164 
 
 2. The Session has oversight of 
 
 the conduct of church mem- 
 bers 164 
 
 3. The Session has oversight of 
 
 young people's societies 164 
 
 4. Statement of relation between 
 
 the individual society and 
 the church . 164 
 
 5. Jurisdiction over a suspended 
 
 member is in the church 
 which suspended him 166 
 
 6. The vote of the Session is the 
 
 reception to membership. It 
 must involve baptism. The 
 use and authority of local 
 confessions and covenants. .166 
 
 7. An unbaptized person apply- 
 
 ing for admission to the 
 church must be baptized. . . .167 
 
 8. Certificate of dismission re- 
 
 quired 167 
 
 9. Examination of candidates 
 
 ought ordinarily to be in 
 the presence of the Session. .168 
 
 10. Members should be received 
 
 to the church only by a Ses- 
 sion regularly constituted. .168 
 
 11. Session can receive persons 
 
 only into the organized 
 church of which it is the 
 governing body 168 
 
 12. T>uty of the Session in the case 
 
 of those who have joined an- 
 other church, and are in 
 other respects irregular 168 
 
 13. Sessions may not receive mem- 
 
 bers of other churches with- 
 out regular dismission 169 
 
 14. Duty of 'the Session in case of 
 
SYLLABUS. 
 
 those who doubt their per- 
 sonal piety 169 
 
 15. The examination of candidates 
 
 for admission to sealing or- 
 dinances should, except in 
 special cases, be in the pres- 
 ence of the Session 169 
 
 16. The Session has no power to 
 
 prohibit collections ordered 
 by the Assembly 169 
 
 17. Representation in the superior 
 
 courts required 170 
 
 18. Attendance on the superior 
 
 courts enforced. Expenses 
 of elders should be paid. 
 Ruling elders should be 
 called on for reasons of ab- 
 sence 170 
 
 19. The same elder must represent 
 
 his church at an adjourned 
 meeting who represented it 
 at the stated meeting 170 
 
 20. In appointing delegates to the 
 
 higher judicatories, the Ses- ■ 
 sion should designate the 
 service to be performed 171 
 
 21. Communion wine ; the purest 
 
 attainable to be used 171 
 
 22. Baptism of Roman Catholic 
 
 converts discretionary 171 
 
 23. Discretion of the Session as to 
 
 women's part in meetings 
 for prayer 171 
 
 24. Church music is under the con- 
 
 trol of the minister and the 
 Session 172 
 
 25. Functions and duties of trus- 
 
 tees in their relations to Ses- 
 sions 172 
 
 26. The Session has exclusive au- 
 
 thority over the worship of 
 
 the church 172 
 
 Section 7. Meetings 173 
 
 Section 8. Records of Session 17-3 
 
 1. The records should be full. . . .173 
 
 2. Testimony in judicial cases 
 
 should be engrossed upon 
 the records 173 
 
 3. Records once approved by a 
 
 superior judicatory may not 
 be altered by the inferior . . .173 
 Section 9. Registers of Sessions. . .174 
 
 1. Statistical reports should show 
 
 only actual membership .... 174 
 
 2. Ordained ministers not to be 
 
 enrolled as members of the 
 church they serve 174 
 
 3. The aggregate number of elders 
 
 and deacons to be reported. 174 
 
 4. Acting elders only to be re- 
 
 ported ; all communicants 
 included 174 
 
 5. Rolls of baptized children, not 
 
 communicants, to be kept. .175 
 
 6. Annual narrative of the state 
 
 of religion 175, 897 
 
 Chapter X. Op the Presbytery. 
 
 Section 1. Importance 177 
 
 Section 2. Constituent elements . .177 
 
 1. The first Presbyteries consti- 
 
 tuted of ministers 177 
 
 2. The Assembly refuses to erect 
 
 a Presbytery of less than the 
 constitutional number 178 
 
 3. A Presbytery with less than 
 
 five ministers dissolved 178 
 
 4. Mission Presbyteries with less 
 
 than five ministers may be 
 continued 178 
 
 5. "Elective affinity" Presbyte- 
 
 ries condemned 178 
 
 6. Presbyteries to be defined by 
 
 geographical lines, or lines of 
 travel 179 
 
 7. Presbyteries may not be or- 
 
 ganized so as to cover the 
 same ground 179 
 
 8. Presbyteries and Synods in for- 
 
 eign missionary fields 179 
 
 i. In regions occupied by the 
 Presbyterian Board of For- 
 eign Missions only 179 
 
 ii. In regions occupied by the 
 Board and by the missions 
 of other Presbyterian de- 
 nominations 180 
 
 9. Union Presbyteries in foreign 
 fields 180 
 
 10. Ministers without charge are 
 
 constituent members of Pres- 
 bytery 181 
 
 11. Elders without charge and 
 
 membership in Presbytery. .181 
 
 12. Ministers without charge must 
 
 unite with the Presbytery 
 within whose bounds they 
 reside 181 
 
 13. The Presbytery to judge each 
 
 case of those living out of 
 their bounds 181 
 
 14. Non-residents to be transferred 
 
 to the Presbyteries within the 
 bounds of which they reside. 182 
 
 15. The above rules defined and 
 
 affirmed 182 
 
 16. Jurisdiction over members 
 
 non-resident 183 
 
 Section 3. Representation of con- 
 gregations with pastors 183 
 
 1. Collegiate church defined 183 
 
 Section 4. Representation of con- 
 gregations with one pastor. .183 
 
 1. United congregations repre- 
 
 sented by one elder 183 
 
 2. Where a minister is pastor of 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 xvn 
 
 one church, and stated sup- 
 ply of another, each is en- 
 titled to be represented 183 
 
 3. Churches in different Presby- 
 
 teries under one pastor 184 
 
 4. Churches in different Presby- 
 
 teries under one pastor are 
 under the care of the Pres- 
 bytery to which the pastor 
 belongs, while the relation 
 continues 184 
 
 5. The course to be pursued when 
 
 the pastoral relation is to be 
 constituted over churches in 
 different Presbyteries or Syn- 
 ods 184 
 
 Section 5. Vacant churches 185 
 
 1. Every congregation is vacant 
 which has not a pastor duly 
 
 installed 185 
 
 Section 6. Certificates 185 
 
 Section 7. Quorum 185 
 
 1. A quorum may be constituted 
 
 wholly of ministers 185 
 
 2. Less than three ministers can- 
 
 not be a quorum 186 
 
 3. Less than a quorum can do 
 
 no presbyterial acts other 
 than to adjourn. They can- 
 not receive a member, so as 
 to form a quorum 186 
 
 (a) The law of a quorum . 187 
 
 (b) Taking up charges equiva- 
 lent to entering process. . . .187 
 
 (c) The moderator and clerk 
 
 ministerial officers merely, 
 and not necessarily members 
 of the j udicatory 188 
 
 4. Reception of a member by less 
 
 than a quorum sanctioned 
 
 as an exceptional case 189 
 
 Section 8. Powers of Presbytery . 190 
 
 I. To receive and issue appeals, 
 
 complaints and references 
 
 from church Sessions 190 
 
 1. The acts of Presbytery are 
 subject to appeal ; but must 
 be obeyed until repealed or 
 modified 190 
 
 II. To examine and license candi- 
 
 dates for the holy ministry .191 
 
 1. Licentiates should be regu- 
 
 larly received. Caution to 
 be used 191 
 
 2. Time limit for licenses 191 
 
 3. The Assembly's constitutional 
 
 powers in licensure 191 
 
 4. Rights and duties of the Pres- 
 
 byteries in licensing candi- 
 dates 191 
 
 III. To ordain ministers 192 
 
 1. Ordination by a commission 
 
 of Presbytery 192 
 
 2. Ordination by a commission 
 
 unconstitutional 192 
 
 3. On the Sabbath inexpedient, 
 
 B 
 
 but left to the discretion of 
 the Presbytery 192 
 
 4. Ordination by foreign bodies 
 
 not approved 192 
 
 5. Lay ordination invalid 193 
 
 6. Ordination procured by fraud 
 
 valid, but the Presbytery 
 should depose 193 
 
 7. Presbyteries only are com- 
 
 petent to ordain ministers . .194 
 
 8. If one who has been deposed, 
 
 or who has demitted the 
 ministry, is restored, he must 
 be reordained 194 
 
 9. Rule in respect to receiving a 
 
 minister from another de- 
 nomination. 194 
 
 10. The reasons for receiving an 
 
 ordained minister from 
 another denomination to be 
 recorded 195 
 
 11. Leave to ordain refused where 
 
 there is no Presbytery 195 
 
 12. Reception of foreign minis- 
 
 ters. The rule.. 196 
 
 13. The rule enforced 198 
 
 14. Rule applies to minister seek- 
 
 ing to be restored 198 
 
 15. Privilege lost by a return to 
 
 Europe " 199 
 
 16. Rule repealed as to ministers 
 
 from the Presbyterian 
 Churches of Great Britain. .199 
 
 17. Rule repealed as to the Pres- 
 
 byterian Churches of Canada 199 
 
 18. Rule waived in the case of 
 
 ministers from Presbyteries 
 in correspondence with the 
 Assembly 199 
 
 IV. To install' ministers 199 
 
 1. The cognizance of settling 
 
 pastors belongs to Presby- 
 tery 199 
 
 2. Presbytery may refuse to in- 
 
 stall even where parties are 
 agreed 200 
 
 3. Presbytery may refuse to in- 
 
 stall at it's discretion 200 
 
 V. To remove ministers 200 
 
 1. Presbytery has power to dis- 
 
 solve a pastoral relation at 
 its own discretion 200 
 
 2. Synod on appeal directs the 
 
 dissolution of the pastoral 
 relation, and is sustained. . .200 
 
 3. A pastor may not be dismissed 
 
 to a body other than that to 
 which his church belongs.. .201 
 
 4. To dismiss by a committee is 
 
 unconstitutional 201 
 
 5. Presbytery may not authorize 
 
 its Clerk* to grant letters of 
 dismission during the inter 
 vals of its sessions 201 
 
 VI. To judge ministers 201 
 
 1. The Presbytery alone must 
 
XV111 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 judge of the fitness of its 
 members 201 
 
 2. The Presbytery has discretion 
 
 in receiving members 202 
 
 3. Presbytery may reject an ap 
 
 plicant 202 
 
 4. But not without sufficient rea- 
 
 sons 202 
 
 5. Rule as to a member of an ex- 
 
 tinct Presbytery charged 
 with an offence 203 
 
 6. How ministers and licentiates 
 
 from corresponding bodies 
 are to be received 203 
 
 7. Ministers dismissed in good 
 
 standing should be received 
 on their testimonials 204 
 
 8. The right of Presbytery to 
 
 satisfy itself 204 
 
 9. The right of Presbytery to 
 
 examine ministers applying 
 for admission recognized 
 by both Assemblies 205 
 
 10. Examination of a minister 
 
 bringing a letter from 
 another Presbytery discre- 
 tionary . . 205 
 
 11. A Presbytery may not give a 
 
 qualified dismission nor re- 
 ceive a minister except on 
 a letter of dismission . Where 
 reception is void, the name 
 should be stricken from the 
 roll 205 
 
 12. Ministers from other denomi- 
 
 nations to be carefully ex- 
 amined in theology 205 
 
 13. A Presbytery may not restore 
 
 a minister deposed by 
 another 206 
 
 14. A minister who has withdrawn 
 
 can be restored only by the 
 Presbytery from which he 
 withdrew 206 
 
 15. The name of a suspended 
 
 minister is to remain upon 
 the roll 206 
 
 16. Deposition does not neces- 
 
 sarily infer also excommu- 
 nication. When both are 
 intended, it should be so ex- 
 pressed 207 
 
 17. The name of a deposed minis- 
 
 ter to be published in case 
 he does not cease from min- 
 isterial functions 207 
 
 VII. Miscellaneous questions per- 
 taining to ministers and 
 churches 207 
 
 1. Ministers who neglect their 
 
 duty to be summoned to 
 answer 207 
 
 2. If persistent to be regularly 
 
 excluded or deposed 208 
 
 3. Presbyteries to inspect the 
 
 fidelity of their members . . .208 
 
 4. Reasons for withdrawal to be 
 
 required and recorded 208 
 
 5. Compliance with the rule of 
 
 1834 enforced 208 
 
 6. Ministers engaged in secular 
 
 callings 208 
 
 7. When providentially incapaci- 
 
 tated, ministerial privileges 
 remain 209 
 
 8. Ministers without charge are 
 
 constituent members of 
 Presbytery 209 
 
 9. All ministers are of equal 
 
 power and privilege '209 
 
 10. May a minister hold civil office209 
 
 11. May hold the office of chap 
 
 lain in the army or navy . . .210 
 
 12. Demission of the ministry now 
 
 permitted 211 
 
 13. Ministers who withdraw from 
 
 Presbytery and unite with 
 another denomination 
 stricken from the roll 211 
 
 14. Names of church members 
 
 and ministers who withdraw 
 irregularly to be stricken 
 from the roll under specified 
 circumstances 212 
 
 15. Duty of Presbytery in case of 
 
 members who do not report. 212 
 
 16. Authority for taking from the 
 
 roll the names of ministers 
 serving churches in other 
 denominations 212 
 
 VIII. To examine and approve or 
 censure church records. 213 
 
 1. Presbyteries must review the 
 records of Sessions 213 
 
 IX. To resolve questions of doc- 
 
 trine or discipline 213 
 
 X. To condemn erroneous opin- 
 
 ions 213 
 
 XI. To visit particular churches, 
 
 to inquire and redress 213 
 
 1. Overture on the right of a 
 
 church to dismiss its elders ; 
 to deny the right of appeal, 
 and to deny the authority 
 of the Presbytery 213 
 
 2. Unconstitutional acts of a 
 
 portion of a church are void. 214 
 
 3. Presbytery may, without peti- 
 
 tion, direct an elder to cease 
 acting 214 
 
 4. A church may not withdraw 
 
 without consent of Presby- 
 tery 214 
 
 5. Course to be pursued when a 
 
 church wishes to withdraw. 21 5 
 
 6. Presbyteiy may dissolve a 
 
 church " 215 
 
 7. Dissolution is in the discretion 
 
 of the Presbytery, subject to 
 appeal 216 
 
 8. The church must have notice 
 
 of the proposed dissolution .216 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XIX 
 
 XII. To organize, unite and 
 divide churches 217 
 
 1. The organizing of churches 
 
 belongs to Presbytery 217 
 
 2. To divide and organize on 
 
 petition of a minority 218 
 
 3. Presbytery may prohibit an 
 
 organization 218 
 
 4. When new congregations may 
 
 be formed 218 
 
 5. Churches should not be organ- 
 
 ized where the people can 
 be supplied with church 
 privileges by existing Pres- 
 byterian churches 218 
 
 6. Presbytery has power over 
 
 the location of a church 219 
 
 7. Presbytery has power to 
 
 divide a church 219 
 
 8. Presbytery has power to 
 
 unite churches 220 
 
 9. Presbytery may not dismiss 
 
 or receive a church without 
 the consent of Synod 220 
 
 XIII. To order whatever pertains 
 to the spiritual welfare of 
 the churches 220 
 
 1. A Presbytery dissolves a pas- 
 
 toral relation on its own 
 discretion, for the peace and 
 welfare of the church 220 
 
 2. Power of the Presbytery over 
 
 the pulpits of its churches . .222 
 
 3. The power of the Presbytery 
 
 over unemployed ministers 
 and vacant churches 222 
 
 (1) Committee of seven ap- 
 pointed, 1888 222 
 
 (2) Committees of Presbytery 
 
 to be appointed 223 
 
 4. The higher judicatories may 
 
 institute process in cases in 
 which the lower have been 
 directed so to do and have 
 refused or neglected to obey. 223 
 
 Section 9. Records 224 
 
 1. Narratives and all important 
 
 papers to be recorded 224 
 
 2. Minutes of Presbyteries may 
 
 be kept in print 224 
 
 3. Churches holding services in 
 
 foreign languages to be 
 designated in statistical re- 
 ports 224 
 
 4. The Stated Clerk of the As- 
 
 sembly may on explicit 
 official information correct 
 errors 224 
 
 5. Annual reports to the General 
 
 Assembly 225 
 
 Section 10. Meetings r2 J 
 
 1. Presbyter}' may meet without 
 
 its own bounds 223 
 
 2. A meeting pro re uata must 
 
 be called by the moderator 
 chosen at a stated meeting. .226 
 
 3. When meetings pro re n 
 
 may be called 220 
 
 4. Applicants for a meeting pro 
 
 re nata may name a time 
 and place which the modera- 
 tor may not change 226 
 
 5. What business may be done. .226 
 
 6. How the place of the regu- 
 
 larly appointed meeting may 
 be changed 227 
 
 Section 1 1. Sermon 227 
 
 1. The preacher not necessarily a 
 member of that Presbytery. .227 
 
 Section 12. Corresponding mem- 
 bers . 227 
 
 1. Synods and Presbyteries may 
 
 correspond with local bodies 22 3 
 
 2. The ecclesiastical bodies must 
 
 be named 228 
 
 3. An elder cannot sit as a cor- 
 
 responding member 228 
 
 4. A Unitarian minister may not 
 
 be invited to sit 228 
 
 Chapter XI. Of the Syxod. 
 
 Section 1. Constituent elements . .229 
 
 1. Mode in which a Synod may 
 
 become a delegated body. . .229 
 
 2. Synod may not refuse to re- 
 
 ceive the members of its 
 Presbyteries, nor order their 
 names to be erased 229 
 
 3. The Synods as constituted in 
 
 1870/. 229 
 
 4. Churches of Presbyteries be- 
 
 vond the bounds of the 
 United States 229 
 
 5. Svnods organized between 
 
 1870 and 1881 230 
 
 (1) Synod of Colorado 230 
 
 (2) Synod of Nebraska 230 
 
 (3) Synod of the Columbia 
 [now Oregon] 230 
 
 (4) Change of name, Columbia 
 
 to Oregon 281 
 
 (5) Synod of Texas 231 
 
 (6) Svnods of Colorado and 
 Utah 231 
 
 (7) Svnod of Dakota [now 
 South Dakota] 232 
 
 (8) Change of name, Dakota to 
 South Dakota 232 
 
 (9) Synod of North Dakota.. . .232 
 
 (10) Bounds of North and South 
 Dakota 233 
 
 (11) Catawba 233 
 
 (12) Indian Territory 233 
 
 (13) New Mexico 234 
 
 (14) Washington 334 
 
 (15) Montana 234 
 
■ 
 
 XX 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 (16) Pacific changed to Cali- 
 fornia 235 
 
 6. The Synods as reorganized in 
 
 1881 236 
 
 a. Recommendations adopted .236 
 
 b. The Enabling Act 236 
 
 (1) The Synod of New York. .236 
 
 (2) Pennsylvania .237 
 
 (3) Ohio 237 
 
 (4) Indiana 237 
 
 (5) Illinois 238 
 
 (6) Iowa 238 
 
 7. Custody of the records of the 
 
 Synods thus consolidated. . .238 
 
 8. The official relation of the 
 
 Stated Clerk of a judicatory 
 terminates by his removal 
 from its bounds. The cus- 
 tody of the records is with 
 the Permanent Clerk or tfie 
 
 Moderator 238 
 
 Section 2. Quorum , 239 
 
 1. When a Synod consists of 
 
 three Presbyteries, the with- 
 drawal of one of them for 
 judicial business does not 
 destroy the quorum 239 
 
 2. The rule as to a quorum must 
 
 be observed. Irregular pro- 
 ceedings, how treated 239 
 
 3. The acts of less than a quorum 
 
 are unconstitutional and 
 void 240 
 
 4. Meetings pro re nata constitu- 
 
 tional 240 
 
 5 The authority torn, pro' re nata 
 meeting is not found in 
 Chap, x, Sec. x, Form of 
 Government 241 
 
 6. A pro re nata meeting to ap- 
 
 prove the minutes sustained. 241 
 
 7. The Moderator must specify 
 
 the object of the meeting. . .241 
 
 8. "When a Synod has failed to 
 
 meet on its adjournment, the 
 Moderator is competent to 
 call a meeting 241 
 
 9. The Assembly may fix time 
 
 and place 242 
 
 10. The Moderator may not 
 
 change the time of meeting. 242 
 
 11. Action of Synod changing 
 
 the place of meeting, legal- 
 ized 242 
 
 12. How the place of meeting 
 
 may be changed 242 
 
 13. Business session on the Sab- 
 
 bath censured 243 
 
 Section 3. Corresponding mem- 
 bers , 243 
 
 1. The record should name the 
 body to which a correspond- 
 ing member belongs 243 
 
 Section 4. Powers of Synod 243 
 
 1. The Synod has appellate but 
 not original jurisdiction 244 
 
 2. The Synod may not institute 
 
 judicial process 244 
 
 3. Synod may reverse and cor 
 
 rect the action of Presby- 
 tery, but must observe the 
 rules of discipline 244 
 
 4. The Synod has jurisdiction 
 
 over the members of an ex- 
 tinct Presbytery not re- 
 ceived by any other Presby- 
 tery 245 
 
 5. A Synod visits a church to 
 
 ascertain the acceptability 
 of its elders 245 
 
 6. Synod may direct the dissolu- 
 
 tion of the pastoral relation. 245 
 
 7. Synod has power to direct a 
 
 Presbytery to issue a certifi- 
 cate of dismission 245 
 
 8. The Assembly will not enter- 
 
 tain appeals which do not 
 affect the doctrine or Consti- 
 tution of the Church 245 
 
 Section 5. Meetings 246 
 
 1. The above rule construed 
 
 literally and must be obeyed246 
 
 2. The records should state that 
 
 the meetings were opened 
 
 and closed with prayer 246 
 
 Section 6. Records 246 
 
 1. The records must be full and 
 
 fair. Reasons for decisions 
 must be recorded 246 
 
 2. The subject matter of com- 
 
 plaints must be recorded . . . 247 
 
 3. Reasons for judicial action 
 
 must be recorded 247 
 
 4. Synod of Atlantic, defects ex- 
 
 cepted to and the Synod re- 
 quired to review and correct 
 its proceedings, which were 
 of a judicial character 248 
 
 5. Records should show a com- 
 
 plete roll, and action upon 
 reports ; censure may not 
 be passed without trial or 
 self-accusation 248 
 
 6. Judicial cases must be de- 
 
 scribed ; their character de- 
 fined and the significance of 
 and reasons for the judg- 
 ment set forth 249 
 
 7. The subject-matter of a com- 
 
 plaint, and the disposal 
 made of it, must be re- 
 corded. 250 
 
 8. Synod directed to correct its 
 
 records so as to conform to 
 the facts in the case 250 
 
 9. A special record must be sent 
 
 up of all judicial decisions 251 
 
 10. The records must be full 
 
 and fair 251 
 
 11. Records should be fair and 
 
 without abbreviations 251 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XXI 
 
 12. Corrections may not be made 
 
 after review by the Assem- 
 bly 251 
 
 13. Sundry omissions- and irregu- 
 
 larities censured 252 
 
 14. Papers must be preserved, 
 
 pages numbered 252 
 
 15. Overture answered must be 
 
 described 253 
 
 16. The record must state the 
 
 character of a complaint and 
 whether due notice was 
 given. Reports adopted 
 must be recorded. Record 
 must be made of action 
 taken 253 
 
 17. A narrative of the state of 
 
 religion should be prepared 
 and recorded 254 
 
 18. The records must be pre- 
 
 sented annually 255 
 
 19. Synod of Tennessee directed 
 
 to expunge certain matter. .256 
 
 20. The records must show all 
 
 changes in the Presbyteries. 256 
 
 21. Absentees must be called to 
 
 answer, and reasons given 
 for tardiness 256 
 
 22. Names of absentees should be 
 
 recorded, and excuse for 
 absence required 256 
 
 23. Synod may not suspend ab- 
 
 sentees without trial 256 
 
 24. The minutes should be read 
 
 and approved 257 
 
 25. No second approval of the 
 
 minutes required 257 
 
 26. The minutes must be attested 
 
 by the Stated or Permanent 
 Clerk 257 
 
 27. Records should be kept in 
 
 handwriting 258 
 
 28. Permission to present printed 
 
 records; conditions pre- 
 scribed 258 
 
 29. All the church judicatories 
 
 may follow the above rule. .258 
 
 30. The prescribed conditions 
 
 must be complied with 258 
 
 31. Synodical reports to the As- 
 
 sembly 259 
 
 Chapter XII. Of the General Assembly. 
 
 Section 1 . Definition 259 
 
 1. Formation of the General 
 
 Assembly 260 
 
 2. Organization of the Assembly. 260 
 
 3. Rules of organization. Com- 
 
 mittee on Commissions 260 
 
 Standing order 260 
 
 4. Mode of choosing the Mod- 
 
 erator . . 261 
 
 5. Manner of installing the Mod- 
 
 erator 261 
 
 Rules relating to the Moderator.261 
 
 6. Communications addressed to 
 
 the Moderator 262 
 
 7. Moderator may not have a 
 
 double vote 262 
 
 8. Moderator, when a member 
 
 of a court appealed from, or 
 a party in the case, will not 
 preside 262 
 
 9. Standing orders and rules 1-21|262 
 
 10. Rules of order for the Gen- 
 
 eral Assembly 264 
 
 11. General rules for judicatories, 
 
 Rules I-XLIII 265 
 
 12. Officers of the General As- 
 
 sembly 269 
 
 i. The Moderator 269 
 
 ii. The Stated Clerk 269 
 
 Appointment of 269 
 
 Duties of 269 
 
 To act as Treasurer 270 
 
 To arrange for transportation 
 
 of commissioners 270 
 
 Duties and salary 270 
 
 To secure needed clerical assist- 
 ance 271 
 
 iii. The Permanent Recording 
 Clerk. Appointment and 
 duties 272 
 
 Salary 272 
 
 iv. The Temporary Clerks 272 
 
 Nominated by the Stated and 
 Permanent Clerks 272 
 
 Choice of Clerks not confined 
 to members of the Assembly. 272 
 
 Moderator and Clerk are minis- 
 terial officers of the judica- 
 tory 273 
 
 13. Standing Committees of each 
 Assembly. The Standing 
 and Permanent Committees 
 of the judicatories should 
 consist of ordained men. 
 Numbers of members of 
 each Committee 273 
 
 (1) Committee of Bills and 
 Overtures 273 
 
 (2) The Judicial Committee. . .275 
 
 (3) On the Polity of the 
 Church 275 
 
 (4) On Foreign Missions 275 
 
 (5) On Home Missions 275 
 
 (6) On Education 275 
 
 (7) On Publication and Sab- 
 bath-school Work 275 
 
 (8) On Church Erection 275 
 
 (9) On Theological Seminaries. 275 
 
 (10) On Ministerial Relief 275 
 
 (11) On Freedmen 275 
 
 (12) On Aid for Colleges and 
 Academies 275 
 
 (13) On Correspondence 275 
 
 (14) On Benevolence 276 
 
SYLLABUS. 
 
 (15) On the Narrative 276 
 
 (16) On Temperance 276 
 
 ( 17) On Leave of Absence 276 
 
 (18) On Mileage 276 
 
 (19) On Finance 276 
 
 (20) On the Records of the 
 Synods 277 
 
 14. Corresponding members. 
 
 Ministers casually present 
 not invited 277 
 
 15. Delegates from correspond- 
 
 ing bodies 277 
 
 16. Secretaries of the Boards ; 
 
 Stated and Permanent 
 Clerks have privileges of 
 corresponding members . . . .277 
 
 17. Manual of the General As- 
 
 sembly 277 
 
 Section 2. Representation 278 
 
 1. The former ratios of repre- 
 
 sentation 278 
 
 2. Where a Presbytery sends 
 
 more than its proper repre- 
 sentation, the last elected 
 are refused 278 
 
 3. Section 2 is mandatory both 
 
 as to the proportion of min- 
 isters and elders, and as to 
 sending the full number. . . .278 
 
 4. An elder who is a member of 
 
 a church under the care of 
 the Presbytery may be 
 
 elected.. 279 
 
 Section 3. Quorum 279 
 
 Section 4. Appellate powers 279 
 
 1. The Assembly will not ordi- 
 
 narily decide cases in then. . 279 
 
 2. The Assembly cannot remit 
 
 the final decision of any 
 matter affecting the doctrine 
 of the Church to an inferior 
 
 judicatory 2 C 
 
 Section 5. Original powers 281 
 
 I. Decisions and deliverances on 
 
 doctrine 281 
 
 II. Testimony against doctrinal 
 
 errors 281 
 
 1. Deliverance of the Assembly 
 
 of 1837 281 
 
 2. Explication of doctrines 283 
 
 Protest to the Assembly of 
 
 1837, including the Auburn 
 Declaration so called 283 
 
 3. Action of the Old School As- 
 
 sembly of 1869, on alleged 
 toleration of doctrinal errors 
 by the New School 285 
 
 4. Answer to this Protest 285 
 
 III. To receive petitions, memo- 
 
 rials, appeals, complaints, 
 etc 288 
 
 1. The right to petition and to 
 
 memorialize the Assembly 
 affirmed 288 
 
 2. One who does not submit is 
 
 debarred the right to peti- 
 tion 289 
 
 3. Overtures on any pending 
 
 judicial case will not be re- 
 ceived 289 
 
 4. The rule as adopted at the 
 
 Reunion of 1870 : Bills, over- 
 tures, etc., received only 
 from Presbyteries and 
 Synods 290 
 
 5. The rule of 1870 affirmed and 
 
 enforced 290 
 
 6. The rule does not deny the 
 
 right of petition; i's repeal 
 inexpedient 291 
 
 7. Memorial from an individual 
 
 received 291 
 
 8. Overtures contemplated by 
 
 the rule of 1870 defined ....*. 292 
 
 9. Memorials, overtures, etc., 
 
 received 292 
 
 IV. Power of visitation 292 
 
 1. The power of visitation exer- 
 
 cised by the Assembly 292 
 
 2. Case of Lane Seminary 293 
 
 V. Pastoral letters and deliver- 
 
 ances 293 
 
 1. On Missions 293 
 
 2. On occasion of the old French 
 
 War 293 
 
 3. On the repeal of the Stamp 
 
 Act 293 
 
 4. Upon the occasion of the 
 
 Revolutionary War . . 294 
 
 5. Address to Washington on 
 
 his election to the Presi- 
 dency and his reply 294 
 
 6. On the results of the French 
 
 Revolution 294 
 
 7. On the disturbances in Ken- 
 
 tucky, etc 294 
 
 8. On the Sabbath 294 
 
 9. On Christian activity 294 
 
 10. On prevalent vices and im- 
 
 moralities 294 
 
 11. On revivals and their abuses. 294 
 
 12. On the maintenance of doc- 
 
 trinal purity 294 
 
 13. On revivals of religion 294 
 
 14. On repairing the wastes of 
 
 the Civil War 294 
 
 15. On the observance of the 
 
 Sabbath 294 
 
 16. On the Civil War 294 
 
 17. Report on the perils which 
 
 beset the system of popular 
 education 294 
 
 18. Testimony against the sup- 
 
 port of Roman Catholic and 
 other denominational insti- 
 tutions by public funds 297 
 
 19. Protest against appropriation 
 
 of public funds for ecclesias- 
 tical uses 298 
 
 VI. Power of the Assembly over 
 
 its own members 298 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XX111 
 
 1. To exclude from the rights of 
 
 membership pending pro- 
 cess 298 
 
 2. To expel a commissioner from 
 
 membership 299 
 
 VII. Of erecting, changing and 
 dissolving Synods 299 
 
 1. To dissolve a Synod and 
 transfer its Presbyteries. . . .299 
 
 VIII. Of erecting, changing and 
 dissolving Presbyteries 300 
 
 1. Cases before 1870 300 
 
 2. Presbyteries formed or recog- 
 
 nized by the Assembly 
 since the Reunion, 1870 303 
 
 3. Presbyteries dissolved 303 
 
 IX. To transfer churches from 
 
 one Presbytery and Synod 
 
 to another 303 
 
 1. Cases adjudicated 303 
 
 X. To transfer ministers from one 
 
 Presbytery to another, or to 
 
 a new one 304 
 
 1. Cases adjudicated 304 
 
 XI. To receive other ecclesiatical 
 
 bodies 304 
 
 XII. To define the succession of 
 Presbyteries.... 305 
 
 XIII. To correspond with foreign 
 churches 306 
 
 i. Churches in general 306 
 
 1. Bodies with which the As- 
 sembly is at present in cor- 
 respondence 306 
 
 2. Churches in Great Britain 
 and Ireland 306 
 
 (1) Report on foreign cor- 
 respondence 306 
 
 3. The Presbyterian Alliance. .307 
 
 (1) Report of the delegates to 
 the London Conference of 
 1875 307 
 
 (2) The Constitution of the 
 Alliance 308 
 
 (3) Provision for expenses of 
 the Standing Committee and 
 Secretary 310 
 
 (4) The Assembly will not ap- 
 point delegates to Churches 
 represented in the Alliance. 
 Exceptions 310 
 
 (5) Basis of representatiou 
 altered 311 
 
 (6) Plan of cooperation in work 
 on the North American Con- 
 tinent 311 
 
 ii. Churches in America 311 
 
 1. Proposals for correspondence 
 
 with the New England 
 churches 311 
 
 2. Plan of correspondence with 
 the General Association of 
 Connecticut 311 
 
 3. The plan of union and action 
 under it 312 
 
 4. Correspondence with the Re- 
 formed Churches 312 
 
 5. Proposal of the Reformed 
 
 (Dutch) Church in America 
 declined 312 
 
 6. Complaint against the Pres- 
 bytery of North River 312 
 
 7. Relations to the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United 
 States 312 
 
 (1) The Presbyterian Church 
 in the U. S. (South) recog- 
 nized as an independent 
 body 312 
 
 (2) Correspondence with the 
 Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U. S 313 
 
 (3) Action touching those 
 adhering to the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the U. S. 
 and Old School Synod of 
 Missouri declared mill and 
 void 315 
 
 (4) Correspondence with the 
 General Assembly of the 
 Presbvterian Church in the 
 
 U. S 316 
 
 Special Committee on Coopera- 
 tion appointed 317 
 
 (5) Cooperation with the Pres- 
 byterian Church in theU. S.318 
 
 i. Foreign Mission 319 
 
 ii. Home field 320 
 
 iii. Evangelization of the 
 
 Colored People 321 
 
 iv. Publication 322 
 
 (6) Committee of Conference 
 with the Presbyterian 
 Church in the U. S. on 
 Colored Work 323 
 
 (7) Cooperation in Foreign 
 Missions with the Presby- 
 terian Church in the U. S. . .323 
 
 (8) Overtures for organic union 
 with the Presbyterian 
 Church, U. S 324 
 
 Fraternal letter and answer. .325 
 
 XIV. Relations to non-ecclesias- 
 tical bodies 325 
 
 1. The Assembly will not peti- 
 
 tion partisan conventions. .325 
 
 2. Receives and appoints dele- 
 
 gates only in case of eccle- 
 siastical bodies 325 
 
 XV. Powers in determining 
 which are true and lawful 
 judicatories, and who are 
 church officers 326 
 
 1. Synods and Presbyteries in 
 
 Kentucky and Missouri 326 
 
 2. Case of the Walnut Street 
 
 Church, Louisville, Ky. The 
 Assembly passes upon the 
 validity of the election of 
 ruling elders 327 
 
XXIV 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 XVI. The Assembly may pro- 
 pose rules regulative of the 
 Constitutional powers of 
 Presbyteries and Synods . . .330 
 Section 6. Constitutional rules 330 
 
 1. Local evangelists 330 
 
 2. Examination for licensure... .331 
 Constitutional Rule No. 2 331 
 
 Section 7. Meetings 331 
 
 1. Adjourned meetings of the 
 
 Assembly. Opinion of 
 Chancellor Kent 331 
 
 2. The adjourned meetings of 
 
 1869 332 
 
 3. Who may sit as commissioners 
 
 at an adjourned Assembly. .333 
 Section 8. Dissolution. Place of 
 
 meeting 333 
 
 1. The place of meeting deter- 
 
 mined by the vote of the 
 Assembly 333 
 
 2. Permanent Committee on the 
 
 place of meeting of the next 
 Assembly 334 
 
 3. Form of minute of dissolving 
 
 the Assembly 334 
 
 The Trustees, the Boards, 
 and the Seminaries. 
 
 I. The Trustees of the General 
 
 Assembly 334 
 
 1. The charter of the Trustees. 334 
 
 2. The charter accepted 336 
 
 3. Trustees of the Presbyterian 
 
 House 337 
 
 4. Consolidation and merger of 
 the Trustees of the General 
 Assembly and of the Pres- 
 byterian House 338 
 
 5. Business regulations 338 
 
 6. Manner of election of Trus- 
 tees 338 
 
 7. Record of election by the 
 Assembly . " 339 
 
 8. The Trustees authorized to 
 receive and hold in trust be- 
 quests made to the Presby- 
 terian Historical Society .... 339 
 
 9. The official seal of the 
 Church 339 
 
 II. The Boards of the Church. .340 
 
 1. Concurrent declarations, 
 Assembly of 1869 340 
 
 2. Regulations as to minutes, 
 reports and membership 341 
 
 3. Regulations as to use of 
 legacies 341 
 
 4. No trustee or director may 
 receive any salary or emolu- 
 ment from the Board 341 
 
 i. The Board of Home Missions. 342 
 
 1. History 342 
 
 2. Consolidated Board as estab- 
 lished at Reunion 342 
 
 3. The act of incorporation 343 
 
 4. First amendment of the act. 345 
 
 5. Second amendment of the 
 act 345 
 
 6. Pennsylvania act authoriz- 
 ing transfer of property . . . .346 
 
 7. Principles and rules for the 
 work of Home Missions. . . .347 
 
 8. The school work: Woman's 
 Board 848 
 
 9. The sustentation scheme. . .349 
 ii. The Board of Foreign Mis- 
 sions 349 
 
 1. History' 349 
 
 2. The organization of the 
 Board ; ..*50 
 
 3. Alterations necessitated by 
 legislation 350 
 
 4. Charter of the Board of For- 
 eign Missions 350 
 
 5. Amendment of the charter. 351 
 iii. The Board of Education 351 
 
 1. History 351 
 
 2. Board of Education of the 
 reunited Church 352 
 
 3. Constitution of the Board.. 352 
 
 4. Act of incorporation of the 
 Board (Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania) 354 
 
 5. Act authorizing the transfer 
 of property of the Perma- 
 nent Committee on Educa- 
 tion to the Board of Educa- 
 tion (Legislature of New 
 York) 356 
 
 6. Rules, candidates for the 
 ministry 357 
 
 (1) Dependence of the Board 
 upon the Presbyteries 357 
 
 (2) Reception of candidates. .357 
 
 (3) Scholarships 357 
 
 (4) Care of candidates 359 
 
 (5) Particular duties of candi- 
 dates 360 
 
 (6) Exceptional cases 361 
 
 7. Plan for the encouragement 
 of a missionary spirit in 
 candidates 361 
 
 iv. The Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-school Work. 362 
 
 1. History 362 
 
 2. The Board of Publication, 
 organized 1870 362 
 
 3. The Sabbath-school work of 
 the Board, three branches. .366 
 
 4. Charter of the Board 366 
 
 5. Relations of the missionary 
 and publishing depart- 
 ments 367 
 
 6. The Sabbath-school work 
 of the Board 368 
 
 7. Blanks printedby the Board 
 to be approved by the 
 proper authority and so in- 
 dorsed 370 
 
 8. Reorganization of the Board, 
 1887 370 
 
 v. Board of Church Erection . .372 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 xxv 
 
 The Trustees of the Church 
 Erection Fund 372 
 
 1. The organization . . . .372 
 
 2. The plan for the custody, 
 care and management of 
 
 the Church Erection Fund. .374 ! 
 
 3. Acts of incorporation 380 
 
 4. The charter amended 381 
 
 5. Plan and rules for the Gen- 
 eral Fund 382 
 
 6. Plan and rules for the Loan 
 Fund 385 
 
 7. Plan and rules for the 
 Manse Fund 386 
 
 vi. Relief Fund for Disabled 
 Ministers, and the Widows 
 and Orphans of Deceased 
 Ministers 387 
 
 1. Early History 387 
 
 2. The Board of Relief consti- 
 tuted 389 
 
 3. The charter obtained 389 
 
 4. The charter 389 
 
 5. Rules of the Board of Re- 
 lief 391 
 
 vii. The Board of Missions for 
 Freedmen 393 
 
 1. The plan of the Committee 
 adopted in 1870 393 
 
 2. Relative duties and author- 
 ity of the Board and the 
 Presbyteries 394 
 
 3. Charter of the Board 394 
 
 viii. The Board of Aid for Col- 
 leges and Academies 396 
 
 1. Establishment and Consti- 
 tution of the Board 396 
 
 2. The Bible to be used as a 
 text-book 397 
 
 3. The charter of the Board of 
 Aid for Colleges and Acade- 
 mies 397 
 
 ix. The Special Committee on 
 Systematic Beneficence ....400 
 
 1. History and appointment. .400 
 
 2. Committee enlarged t o 
 twelve 400 
 
 3. Name changed. Work and 
 expenses 400 
 
 x. The Permanent Committee 
 on Temperance 401 
 
 1. Organization and work 401 
 
 2. Reorganized and located in 
 Pittsburgh 401 
 
 3. Cooperation with the com- 
 mittee. Provision for ex- 
 penses 402 
 
 xi. The Church at Home and 
 Abroad 403 
 
 1. The magazine established. .403 
 
 2. The special committee con- 
 tinued, with powers 403 
 
 3. The committee enlarged. . .404 
 xii. The Assembly Herald 404 
 
 1. The paper established 404 
 
 2. Report of the special com- 
 mittee, 1895, 189tf 405 
 
 3. Authority for editing 406 
 
 xiii. Woman's Work for Mis- 
 sions 406 
 
 1. Home missions 406 
 
 2. Foreign missions 406 
 
 3. Freedmen's missions 406 
 
 III. Theological Instruction . . . .407 
 i. General matters 407 
 
 1. Overtures for the establish- 
 ment of a theological school. 407 
 
 2. Answer to a memorial on en- 
 tire uniformity in the gov- 
 ernment and course of study 
 in the theological schools of 
 our Church 408 
 
 3. Plans proposed 409 
 
 4. Report on theological semi- 
 naries, 1870 410 
 
 5. Proposal of Union Theo- 
 logical Seminary, 1870 413 
 
 6. Limitations of the time with- 
 in which the Assembly may 
 exercise its veto in the elec- 
 tion of a professor 415 
 
 7. Committee on the Relations 
 of the Assembly and the 
 Seminaries 415 
 
 8. Committee on Theological 
 Seminaries. Report, 1893 . . .416 
 
 9. Report, 1894 417 
 
 10. Report, 1895 419 
 
 11. Report, 1896 420 
 
 12. Report, 1897 421 
 
 13. Approval or veto of elec- 
 tions of officers and pro- 
 fessors 421 
 
 IV. The Theological Seminaries. 422 
 i. Princeton Theological Semi- 
 nary 422 
 
 1. Plan of Princeton Theo- 
 logical Seminary 422 
 
 2. Property to be held by the 
 trustees of the Assembly... .429 
 
 3 Directors to secure a char- 
 ter 429 
 
 4. Charter at first declined by 
 the Assembly 429 
 
 5. Orders given in connection 
 with the charter 429 
 
 6. Trustees elected by the As- 
 sembly * 430 
 
 7. Agreement with the trus- 
 tees of New Jersey College. 430 
 
 8. The charter 432 
 
 9. Answer of the Princeton 
 Boards to the Assembly of 
 1895 435 
 
 10. Action of the Assembly of 
 1895 440 
 
 11. Answer of the Princeton 
 Boards, 1896 440 
 
 12. Action of the Assembly, 
 1896 440 
 
XXVI 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 13. Request of the Princeton 
 Boards, 1897 440 
 
 14. Action of the Assembly, 
 1897 441 
 
 ii. The Theological Seminary 
 at Auburn 441 
 
 1. The charter 441 
 
 2. Action of the trustees and 
 commissioners of Auburn, 
 1871 443 
 
 3. The Assembly approves 
 professors 443 
 
 4. Answer of the Auburn 
 Boards, 1895 444 
 
 5. Action of the Assembly, 
 1895 444 
 
 6. Answer of the Auburn 
 Boards, 1896 445 
 
 7. Action of the Assembly, 
 1896 447 
 
 8. Answer of the Auburn 
 Boards, 1897 448 
 
 9. Action of the Assembly, 
 1897 449 
 
 iii. Western Theological Semi- 
 nary at Allegheny, Pa 449 
 
 1. Plan of the Western Semi- 
 nary 449 
 
 2. The charter of the Wes- 
 tern Seminary 456 
 
 3. Acceptance by the direc- 
 tors of the plan of 1870 459 
 
 4. The Assembly to approve 
 the election of trustees 459 
 
 5. Answer of the Boards, 
 1895 459 
 
 6. Action of the Assembly, 
 1895 460 
 
 7. Answer of the Boards, 
 1896 460 
 
 iv. Lane Theological Semi- 
 nary 461 
 
 1. Charter and amendments. 461 
 
 2. The plan of the Assem- 
 bly adopted by the trustees. 463 
 
 3. Report of the Standing 
 Committee on Theological 
 Seminaries, 1893. Approval 
 withheld 463 
 
 4. Reorganization recom- 
 mended, Committee of Visi- 
 tation appointed. The semi- 
 nary restored to full stand- 
 ing 463 
 
 5. Report of the Special Com- 
 mittee to visit Lane, 1895. . .464 
 
 6. Final report of the Special 
 Committee to visit Lane, 
 1896 465 
 
 7. Answer of the trustees to 
 the Assembly,, 1895 466 
 
 8. Answer of the trustees, 
 1896 466 
 
 9. Answer of the trustees, 1897.466 
 10. Action of the Assembly, 
 
 1897 468 
 
 v. Union Theological Semi- 
 nary 468 
 
 1. The agreement of 1870 . . .468 
 
 2. The veto of Prof. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D 468 
 
 3. Report of Committee of 
 Conference, 1892 469 
 
 4. Agreement recognized as 
 binding 469 
 
 5. Paper adopted by the joint 
 conference, 1892 469 
 
 6. Report of Union Seminary 
 on the status of Prof. Briggs, 
 1892 470 
 
 7. Request of Union Semi- 
 nary for the annulment of 
 the agreement of 1870 470 
 
 8. The Assembly declines to 
 break the agreement of 1870.470 
 
 9. The Assembly proffers 
 arbitration 471 
 
 10. Report on arbitration, 
 1893 471 
 
 11. The resolution of the direc- 
 tors, May 16, 187C, rescinded, 
 and the arrangement be- 
 tween the Union Theologi- 
 cal Seminary and the Gen- 
 eral Assembly alleged to be 
 terminated 472 
 
 12. Action of the Assembly, 
 1893. All responsibility for 
 teaching disavowed. Re- 
 ports declined 473 
 
 13. The Board of Education 
 enjoined to aid such students 
 only as are in attendance 
 upon seminaries approved by 
 the Assembly 475 
 
 14. Action of the directors on 
 the Assembly's plan of 1894.475 
 
 15. Action of the Assemblv, 
 1896 '..475 
 
 vi. Danville Theological 
 Seminary 476 
 
 1. Plan as amended by the 
 Assembly, 1873 476 
 
 2. Charter 486 
 
 3. Action of the Assembly of 
 1873 489 
 
 4. Answer of the Board of 
 Directors, 1894 489 
 
 5. Answer of the Board of 
 Trustees, 1894 490 
 
 6. Action of the Assembly, 
 1895 491 
 
 vii. The McCormick Theo- 
 logical Seminary 491 
 
 1. Constitution 491 
 
 2. Charter and supplements. 495 
 
 3. Relations to the General 
 Assembly 499 
 
 4. Answer of the McCormick 
 Boards, 1895 499 
 
 5. Answer of the Board of 
 Directors, 1896 500 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 6. Answer of the Board of 
 Directors, 1897 500 
 
 7. Answers of the Assembly.501 
 viii. Blackburn University . . .501 
 
 1. History of relation to the 
 
 General Assembly 501 
 
 ix. San Francisco Theological 
 Seminary 502 
 
 1. Revised plan 502 
 
 2. Action on the Assembly's 
 plan of 1894 508 
 
 x. German Theological School 
 of the Northwest 510 
 
 1. Articles of incorporation. .510 
 
 2. Action on the Assembly's 
 plan of 1894 512 
 
 xi. German Theological 
 School of Newark, N. J .... 512 
 1. The charter 512 
 
 2. Supplement 513 
 
 3. Constitution 514 
 
 4. Action on Assembly's plan 
 
 of 1894 516 
 
 xii. Lincoln University 516 
 
 1. The charter 516 
 
 2. Supplements to the charter 517 
 Amendments, 1897 519 
 
 3. Action on the Assembly's 
 plan, 1894 519 
 
 xiii. Biddle University 520 
 
 1. The charter 520 
 
 xiv. Presbyterian Theological 
 Seminary at Omaha 522 
 
 1. Articles of incorporation. .522 
 
 2. Act of Legislature of 
 Nebraska 523 
 
 3. Action of Board of Direc- 
 tors, 1895 524 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 Of Electing and Ordaining Ruling Elders and 
 Deacons. 
 
 Section 1. Necessity for regula- 
 tions 524 
 
 Section 2. Mode of election. Quali- 
 fications 525 
 
 1. Elders must be duly elected 
 
 and set apart 525 
 
 2. The Session may propose 
 
 names to the congregation. .525 
 
 3. A meeting for the election of 
 
 elders can be called regu- 
 larly only by the Session, 
 or by some higher court . . . .525 
 
 4. Relation of the Session to the 
 
 meeting of the electors 526 
 
 5. The pastor is Moderator ex- 
 
 officio of a meeting to elect 
 elders and deacons 526 
 
 6. A superior judicature may 
 
 authorize the meeting 526 
 
 7. The remedy in case the Ses- 
 
 sion refuse to convene the 
 congregation is to complain 
 to Presbytery 526 
 
 8. Irregularity in call of meeting 
 
 does not necessarily invali- 
 date the election 526 
 
 9. Ministers are not eligible to 
 
 the eldership 527 
 
 An exception allowed in the 
 case of foreign missionaries. .529 
 
 10. Uniformity in the mode of 
 
 election deemed impractica- 
 ble 529 
 
 11. The mode most approved and 
 
 in use may be changed by 
 the congregation. Direct 
 vote advised 529 
 
 12. The right of the superior judi- 
 
 catory to interfere with the 
 mode in use disavowed 530 
 
 13. Who are the electors of ruling 
 
 elders and deacons? 530 
 
 (a) Members not communicants, 
 where such is the usage . . . .530 
 
 (&) Only baptized persons al- 
 lowed to vote for ruling 
 elders 530 
 
 (c) Neither the presiding officer 
 nor the Session may dis- 
 qualify voters whose stand- 
 ing has not been impaired by 
 judicial process .531 
 
 (d) Most consonant to our form 
 of government that commu- 
 nicants only be the electors. 531 
 
 (e) No distinction to be made as 
 
 to the age of elector 531 
 
 (/) The roll of members is the 
 
 list of voters 531 
 
 (g) Two-thirds vote recom- 
 mended in some cases 532 
 
 14. All office-bearers must faith- 
 
 fully accept the Standards. .532 
 
 15. Mode of electing for a term of 
 
 years 532 
 
 16. No authority for the election 
 
 and ordination of deacon- 
 esses 532 
 
 17. Systematic training of women 
 
 workers commended 532 
 
 Sections 3-5. Mode of ordination.. 533 
 
 1. Mode of ordination. Laying 
 
 on of hands approved 534 
 
 2. Ordination essential to the 
 
 validity of the judicial acts 
 of an elder 534 
 
 3. Irregularity in mode of elec- 
 
 tion does not invalidate 
 ordination 534 
 
 4. Installation required on re- 
 
 suming the office 534 
 
 5. An elder who has removed or 
 
 resigned, if reelected, must 
 be again installed 535 
 
XXV111 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 6. Mode of installation of an 
 
 elder already ordained 535 
 
 Section 6. Perpetuity of office . . . .535 
 
 1. Perpetuity of the office 
 
 affirmed 536 
 
 Length of service left to the 
 decision of the church 536 
 
 2. Restoration to church privi- 
 
 leges does not restore to the 
 eldership 536 
 
 3. An elder without charge can 
 
 sit in no church court 537 
 
 Section 7. Withdrawal from ser- 
 vice 537 
 
 1. Elders who cannot acquiesce 
 
 in the decisions of the 
 superior courts should re- 
 sign 537 
 
 2. Elders may cease to act in 
 
 order to promote the peace 
 of the church 537 
 
 3. The superior court directs an 
 
 elder to cease to act 538 
 
 4. The Presbytery without the 
 
 request of the Session or of 
 the members of the church, 
 may declare that an elder 
 shall cease to act 538 
 
 5. If a member of Session be un- 
 
 acceptable, and the matter 
 cannot be arranged by con- 
 sent, the proper step is to 
 memorialize Presbytery 538 
 
 6. Resignation of an elder or 
 
 deacon to be tendered to 
 the Session, and to take effect 
 when accepted 538 
 
 7. The removal of suspension 
 
 restores all rights and privi- 
 leges to an elder 538 
 
 8. When an elder resigns, the 
 
 Presbytery is not competent 
 to order his restoration 539 
 
 9. The official relations of an 
 
 elder to his church terminate 
 
 with his dismission 540 
 
 Section 8. Term service 541 
 
 1. Elders not reelected on the 
 
 adoption of term service 
 cease to be acting elders in 
 that particular church. .... .541 
 
 2. When reelected, should be re- 
 
 installed 541 
 
 3. The above not retroactive, 
 
 and does not invalidate the 
 action of the Session 541 
 
 4. Reinstallation of a reelected 
 
 elder not essential to the 
 validity of his office, but is 
 more orderly 543 
 
 5. One or two elders may be 
 
 elected under Sec. 8 542 
 
 6. In introducing term service, 
 
 one or more classes may be 
 elected for less than three 
 years 542 
 
 7. The term must be three years 
 
 and the classes three . .*. 543 
 
 8. Elders not reelected under 
 
 this section may be dele- 
 gates to the superior judi- 
 catories 543 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 Op Licensing Candidates or Probationers to Preach 
 the Gospel. 
 
 Section 1. Need for probation . . . .543 
 
 1. Preaching without licensure 
 
 condemned as irregular . . . .543 
 
 2. On the licensing and ordain- 
 
 ing of women to preach the 
 Gospel 544 
 
 3. Women may not fulfill the 
 
 offices of public preachers . .544 
 The above reaffirmed 544 
 
 4. The Board of Education 545 
 
 Section 2. Presbytery with which 
 
 connected 545 
 
 1. The usage under the Synod, 
 
 prior to the adoption of the 
 Constitution 545 
 
 2. Licensure by bodies other 
 
 than those within whose 
 bounds the candidate ex- 
 pects to labor disapproved. .545 
 
 3. Candidates should be placed 
 
 under the care of Presbytery 546 
 
 4. Instructions to the Presbytery 
 
 of New York in the case of 
 theological students pur- 
 
 suing studies in certain 
 theological seminaries 546 
 
 5. The above action explained 
 
 and reaffirmed ; does not 
 relate to the licensing of 
 candidates 547 
 
 6. The above action (4 and 5) 
 
 universal in application 548 
 
 7. Careful supervision to be ex- 
 
 ercised both in receiving 
 candidates and over their 
 studies 548 
 
 8. No candidate to be received 
 
 by the Board until he has 
 been a church member one 
 year, and passed classical 
 studies for one year 549 
 
 9. Candidates must connect 
 
 themselves with the Presby- 
 tery to which they naturally 
 
 belon g 549 
 
 Should retain their connection 
 with that Presbytery 549 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Exceptional case where no 
 Presbytery exists 549 
 
 10. A mission has no authority to 
 
 license or ordain 549 
 
 11. Deliverance on the relation 
 
 sustained by students who 
 have been taken under the 
 care of a Presbytery to the 
 Presbytery receiving them. .550 
 
 12. The Assembly's power over 
 
 the education of students. 
 Presbyteries directed to 
 supervise 551 
 
 13. Presbyteries to choose semi- 
 
 naries, etc., for all students. 552 
 
 14. Rules of the Board of Educa- 
 
 tion in relation to students.. 552 
 Section 3. Testimonials 552 
 
 1. A liberal education required. .552 
 To keep pace with the progress 
 
 of society and of letters 552 
 
 Letter to David Rice on thorough 
 literary training for the 
 ministry 553 
 
 2. Liberal education waived in 
 
 certain cases 553 
 
 Case of John Griffith 553 
 
 Case of John Gloucester, a 
 
 colored man . .553 
 
 3. Great caution prescribed in 
 
 exceptional licensures 553 
 
 4. In what cases aid shall be 
 
 withdrawn 553 
 
 5. A candidate must be a mem- 
 
 ber of some particular Pres- 
 byterian church 554 
 
 Section 4. Examination of candi- 
 dates 554 
 
 1. The "Latin Exegesis" not 
 
 stricken out 554 
 
 2. Presbytery has discretion as 
 
 to a substitute 555 
 
 3. Examination in the English 
 
 Bible mandatory (Constitu- 
 tional Rule No. 2) 555 
 
 Section 5. Examination continued555 
 1. Examination in the Cate- 
 chisms recommended 555 
 
 Section 6. Academic and theologi- 
 cal studies 555 
 
 1. Effort to extend the time of 
 
 study to three years 555 
 
 Rule of a lower judicature un- 
 constitutional 556 
 
 Overture sent down, but not 
 adopted 556 
 
 2. Full term of three years 
 
 urgently recommended 556 
 
 3. A pledge to a three years' 
 
 course not unconstitutional. 556 
 
 4. Regulations as to extraor- 
 
 dinary cases. 557 
 
 Section 7. Manner of licensure . . .557 
 1. Form for licensure of local 
 
 evangelists 557 
 
 Section 8. Form of licensure 557 
 
 1. Record of licensure may be 
 
 made in " like form " 558 
 
 Section 9. Candidate removing out 
 
 of bounds 558 
 
 Section 10. Licentiate removing out 
 
 of bounds . . .558 
 
 Section 11. Recalling of license.. .559 
 
 1. Limitation of the time to 
 
 which a license may extend 
 to four years 559 
 
 2. Length of license of local 
 
 evangelists 559 
 
 3. The above rule does not 
 
 abridge the power of the 
 Presbyteries to license in 
 extraordinary cases 559 
 
 4. Discretion of the Presbytery 
 
 in granting and recalling 
 licenses ^560 
 
 5. Licentiates belong to the laity 
 
 and are subject to the Ses- 
 sion 560 
 
 6. A licentiate may solemnize 
 
 marriage if authorized by law561 
 
 Chapter XV. 
 
 Op the Election and Ordination of Bishops or Pas- 
 tors, and Evangelists. 
 
 Section 1. Meetings for election of 
 
 pastors, how called 561 
 
 1. Steps to be taken by a vacant 
 congregation looking to the 
 
 election of a pastor 561 
 
 Section 2. Minister to assist 563 
 
 Section 3. Notice of election 563 
 
 Section 4. Procedure at election . .563 
 1. Who may vote in the elec- 
 tion of a pastor 563 
 
 (a) Action of the General Pres- 
 bytery, 1711 563 
 
 (b) The presiding officer may 
 not disqualify voters whose 
 standing has not been im- 
 paired by judicial process. . .563 
 
 (c) Right of voting not limited 
 to communicants unless ex- 
 pressly so declared 563 
 
 (d) Overture confining the vote 
 to communicants not adopt- 
 ed 564 
 
 (e) All communicant members 
 have right to vote in electing 
 
 a pastor ^564 
 
 (/) Members of the congrega- 
 tion who contribute to the 
 support of the church en- 
 titled to vote in the election 
 
 of a pastor 564 
 
 (g) Authoritative lists of voters. 565 
 Section 5. Majority and minority.. 565 
 
XXX 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 Section 6. Form of call 565 
 
 1. Early action. Glebe and 
 
 parsonage recommended . . .565 
 
 2. Adequate provision to be 
 
 urged 566 
 
 3. Liberality in the support of 
 
 the ministry urged 566 
 
 4. Presbytery may refuse to in- 
 
 stall when the salary is in- 
 sufficient 567 
 
 5. Congregation urged to pro- 
 
 cure parsonages 567 
 
 Section 7. Subscription to call. . . .568 
 
 Section 8. Installation 568 
 
 1. Installation of pastors-elect in- 
 sisted on, and none to be 
 designated as P. E. whose 
 call has not been regularly 
 acted on. Who may not be 
 
 reported as P. E 568 
 
 Section 9. Presbytery and the call. 568 
 1. The Presbytery may refuse 
 
 to permit a call 569 
 
 Complaint of the Rev. Mr. 
 
 Edgar 569 
 
 Section 10. Call to licentiate of an- 
 other Presbytery 569 
 
 Section 11. Trials for ordination. .569 
 1. Ordination on the Sabbath 
 discouraged, but at the dis- 
 cretion of the Presbytery. . .570 
 Section 12. Questions to candidate 
 
 at ordination 570 
 
 1. The assent embraces the 
 
 Larger and Shorter Cate- 
 chisms 571 
 
 2. Ordination by a commission 
 
 unconstitutional 571 
 
 Section 13. Questions to people at 
 
 ordination 571 
 
 Section 14. Form of ordination . . .571 
 
 1. Lay ordination invalid 572 
 
 2. Elders not to participate in 
 
 the ordination of ministers 
 by the laying on of hands. .572 
 
 3. An elder, being moderator 
 
 of Presbytery, cannot pre- 
 side at the ordination of a 
 minister, nor propound the 
 constitutional questions, nor 
 take part in the laying on of 
 hands of the Presbytery, nor 
 make the ordaining prayer.. 572 
 
 4. The part which ministers of 
 
 other bodies may take in or- 
 dinations and installations. .573 
 Section 15. Ordination of evange- 
 lists 573 
 
 1. Ordination as an evangelist 
 
 to labor in feeble churches. .573 
 
 2. Ordination of a licentiate 
 
 who proposed to continue 
 teaching 573 
 
 3. Presbyteries should not or- 
 
 dain the candidates of other 
 Presbyteries 573 
 
 4. Ordination sine titulo 574 
 
 5. Ordination sine titulo. Over- 
 
 ture on, rejected 574 
 
 6. Censure of Synod for ordina- 
 
 tion sine titulo not sustained. 575 
 
 7. Missionaries may not ordain 
 
 ministers 575 
 
 8. Nor organize a church with- 
 
 in the limits of a Presbytery 
 without its leave 575 
 
 Chapter XVI. Of Translation, or Removing a Minister from One 
 Charge to Another. 
 
 Section 1. Translation only by 
 
 Presbytery 575 
 
 1. Removal without consent of 
 
 Presbytery 575 
 
 Section 2. Mode of translation in 
 
 same Presbytery 575 
 
 1. Consent of parties may 
 shorten process 576 
 
 Section 3. Mode of translation in 
 
 another Presbytery 576 
 
 1. Pastor and church must be- 
 long to the same Presbytery.576 
 
 Sections 4-7. Manner of installa- 
 tion 576 
 
 Chapter XVII. Of Resigning a Pastoral Charge. 
 
 1. Whether the relation shall be 
 
 dissolved at the meeting 
 where the request is made, 
 left to the discretion of the 
 Presbytery 578 
 
 2. If the parties are agreed, the 
 
 relation may be dissolved at 
 the first meeting 578 
 
 3. A pastoral relation ceases 
 
 with the action -of the Pres- 
 bytery dissolving it, when 
 no other time is designated.. 578 
 
 4. A meeting of the congrega- 
 
 tion without the presence 
 
 and cooperation of the pas- 
 tor is valid, he having re- 
 quested the dissolution .. .578 
 
 5. Where a Synod, on appeal, 
 
 dissolves the pastoral rela- 
 tion on petition of a minority, 
 it is sustained 579 
 
 6. The rule should be strictly 
 
 observed and enforced 580 
 
 7. Presbytery may dissolve a 
 
 pastoral relation without a 
 meeting of the congregation 
 being held 580 
 
FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Chapter XVIII. Of Missions. 
 
 1. The Standing Committee of 
 
 Missions appointed 581 
 
 2. The Board of Missions 582 
 
 3. Enlargement of powers 583 
 
 4. Synodical sustentation 583 
 
 5. Presbyterial oversight of va- 
 
 cant churches 584 
 
 Chapter XIX. Of Moderators. 
 
 Section 1. Need of Moderator . . . .584 
 Section 2. Powers of Moderator . .584 
 
 1. The Vice-Moderator 584 
 
 2. The Moderator not necessa- 
 
 rily a member of the judica- 
 tory 584 
 
 Section 3. Who may be Moderator. 5s5 
 
 Chapter XX. Of Clerks. 
 
 1. The term of service of their 
 Stated Clerks is at the discre- 
 tion of the several judicato- 
 ries 586 
 
 2. The Clerk not necessarily a 
 member of the j udicatory . . . 586 
 
 Chapter XXI. Of Vacant Congregations Assembling for Public 
 
 Worship. 
 
 Vacant congregations to meet 
 for worship on the Lord's 
 Day 587 
 
 Elders of vacant congrega- 
 tions should be interrogated 
 as to the observance of this 
 rule 587 
 
 3. Right of ruling elders, in the 
 
 absence of the pastor, to ex- 
 plain the Scriptures and to 
 exhort 587 
 
 4. Presbyterial oversight of va- 
 
 cant churches 588 
 
 Chapter XXII. Of Commissioners to the General Assembly. 
 
 Section 1. Time for appointment,. 588 
 
 1. The rule not enforced in the 
 
 case of missionary Presbyte- 
 ries 588 
 
 2. No election through the Pres- 
 
 bytery failing to meet 589 
 
 3. Commissioner enrolled on 
 
 petition of members of his 
 Presbytery 590 
 
 4. Commissioners from new 
 
 Presbyteries 590 
 
 5. Commissioners, not ruling 
 
 elders, under the Plan of 
 Union 591 
 
 6. Commissioners should attend 
 
 to the close of the Session.. 
 Presbyteries to call their 
 commissioners to account.. .591 
 
 7. A commissioner, havin g taken 
 
 his seat, may not resign it 
 to his alternate or principal. 592 
 
 8. Rule dispensed with under 
 
 peculiar circumstances 593 
 
 9. The right of alternates to sit 
 
 is at the discretion of the 
 judicatory 594 
 
 10. At an adjourned meeting alter- 
 
 nates enrolled 594 
 
 11. Ratios and excess of represen- 
 
 tation 595 
 
 12. Ruling elder need not be a 
 
 member of the Presbytery. .595 
 
 13. Ruling elders who have been 
 
 dismissed from the church 
 in which they served, to an- 
 other, cannot be elected. . . .595 
 
 14. Power to expel commissioners. 595 
 Section 2. Commissions 595 
 
 1. The rule must be complied 
 
 with. A certificate of ap- 
 pointment is not a commis- 
 sion 595 
 
 2. Irregularities and defects in 
 
 commissions, commissioners 
 received. The usage 596 
 
 3. Some evidence of appoint- 
 
 ment necessary 597 
 
 4. The Assembly will not go be- 
 
 hind a commission .597 
 
 5. Assembly's Permanent Com- 
 
 mittee on Commissions 597 
 
 6. Advisory members 597 
 
 7. Corresponding members 598 
 
 (a) Officers of the Assembly. . .598 
 (&) Secretaries of the Boards.. .598 
 (c) Delegates from correspond- 
 ing bodies. Ministers casu- 
 ally present are not 598 
 
 Section 3. Provision for expenses. 598 
 
 1. The Commissioners' Fund. 
 
 Former plans 598 
 
 2. Mileage and Contingent 
 
 Funds 598 
 
 Entertainment Fund 600 
 
XXX11 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 When the apportionment should 
 be forwarded to the Stated 
 
 Clerk 600 
 
 3. None of the church judicato- 
 ries have power to assess a 
 tax upon the churches 600 
 
 Chapter XXIII. Of Amendments 
 
 Sections 1-7 602 
 
 1. Duty of the Stated Clerk in 
 reference to answers to over- 
 
 Stated Clerk authorized to 
 pay additional bills 601 
 
 Power of the Assembly over 
 these funds 601 
 
 tures. Committee of Can- 
 vass, and action of the As- 
 sembly 602 
 
 PART IV. THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 [Chapter I. Op Discipline : Its Nature, Ends, and Subjects. 
 
 Section 1. Definition of discipline. 604 
 Section 2. The ends of discipline. .604 
 
 1. Prompt discipline best fitted 
 
 to secure a happy issue 604 
 
 2. The censure must be propor- 
 
 tionate to the offence. Sen- 
 tence reversed where the 
 censure was too severe 604 
 
 3. The decisions of the civil 
 
 courts not conclusive in the 
 judicatories of the Church. 
 Every member of the Pres- 
 byterian Church entitled to 
 a fair trial according to the 
 methods of his church, be- 
 fore condemnation 605 
 
 4. Great tenderness enjoined . . .606 
 Section 3. An offence defined 606 
 
 I. Doctrine 606 
 
 II. Morals 606 
 
 1. Breach of Sabbath observance. 606 
 
 2. Theatrical exhibitions and 
 
 dancing condemned 607 
 
 3. Popular amusements in gen- 
 
 eral 609 
 
 4. Card -playing and games of 
 
 chance. The dance and the 
 theatre. Progressive euchre. 612 
 The theatre and the opera 612 
 
 5. Gambling, lotteries, horse- 
 
 racing, betting, etc 615 
 
 6. Duelists excluded from church 
 
 privileges. Ministers should 
 not attend the funeral of a 
 fallen duelist 617 
 
 7. Slavery and slaveholding 617 
 
 8. On the lynching of Negroes. .617 
 
 9. Intemperance 618 
 
 10. Total abstinence from the use 
 
 of wines, liquors, etc., urged 619 
 
 11. Manufacture and traffic in 
 
 ardent spirits condemned. . .621 
 
 12. The manufacture and sale of 
 
 intoxicating drinks an 
 offence... 621 
 
 Those engaged in the manu- 
 facture or traffic in intoxi- 
 cating liquors should not be 
 received or retained in the 
 church 624 
 
 13. Prohibitory laws 624 
 
 14. Against the manufacture and 
 
 sale of intoxicating liquors 
 and renting property for 
 such uses 625 
 
 15. The "saloon," licensed or 
 
 unlicensed, a curse to our 
 land 626 
 
 16. The Presbyterian Woman's 
 
 Temperance Association in- 
 dorsed 626 
 
 17. The deliverances of the past 
 
 eighty years to be printed . .626 
 
 18. Temperance training and edu- 
 
 cation for the young 627 
 
 19. Men of intemperate habits 
 
 and official position 627 
 
 20. Political parties and licenses. 628 
 
 21. Temperance Sabbath 628 
 
 22. Communion wine 628 
 
 23. Permanent Committee on 
 
 Temperance.. 628 
 
 24. Relation of temperance and 
 
 other moral societies to the 
 Church 628 
 
 25. Temperance delegates 630 
 
 26. Purity in literature and art . .6 30 
 
 27. Cruelty to animals 630 
 
 Section 4. The Holy Scriptures 
 
 and offences 631 
 
 1. New terms of communion 
 
 cannot be sanctioned 631 
 
 2. Each case must be judged by 
 
 its own circumstances. .631 
 
 3. Sins forbidden in the Ten 
 
 Commandments, Larger 
 
 Catechism 632 
 
 Section 5. Church membership of 
 
 children 634 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, 
 
 XXX111 
 
 Chapter II. Of the Parties in Cases op Process. 
 
 Section 6. Prosecutor necessary. . .635 
 
 Section 7. Evidence necessary to 
 
 process 635 
 
 Section 8. Reconciliation in private 
 
 cases 635 
 
 1. No testimony may be intro- 
 duced injurious to parties 
 not on trial 635 
 
 Section 9. Private conference 636 
 
 Section 10. Prosecutor in public 
 
 cases 636 
 
 Section 11. Prosecuting Committee636 
 1. The right of the Prosecuting 
 Committee to appeal and to 
 conduct the prosecution as 
 representing an original 
 party maintained 637 
 
 Section 12. Investigation of slan- 
 der 637 
 
 1. Such investigation is at the 
 discretion of the Presbytery, 
 subject to review as to mis- 
 use or abuse ... 638 
 
 Section 13. Caution as to accusa- 
 tions 638 
 
 1. Admonition to prosecutors. . .638 
 Section 14. Censure on rash prose- 
 cutor 639 
 
 1. Failure to show probable 
 
 cause for charges, involves 
 censure for slander 639 
 
 2. The character of one absent 
 
 and not on trial not to be 
 impeached 640 
 
 3. Censure for slander may not 
 
 be inflicted upon a private 
 prosecutor unless the case be 
 fully issued 640 
 
 Chapter III. Op Charges and Specifications. 
 
 Section 15. Contents of charges 
 
 and specifications 640 
 
 1. The charge must be specific. .640 
 
 2. All charges in cases cf heresy 
 
 must be as definite as pos- 
 sible 641 
 
 Section 16. Number of charges and 
 
 votes 641 
 
 Section 17. Proof of attempted rec- 
 onciliation 641 
 
 Chapter IV. Of Process : General Rules Pertaining to all Cases. 
 
 Section 18. Original jurisdiction. .642 
 Section 19. Procedure at first meet- 
 ing 642 
 
 1. Censure without trial is un- 
 
 constitutional 642 
 
 2. A judicatory may not suspend 
 
 a minister without trial 642 
 
 3. Censure upon an absent per- 
 
 son without citation disap- 
 proved 642 
 
 4. Exclusion from the pulpit or 
 
 from communion may not be 
 without trial and conviction. 643 
 
 5. The accused may not be re- 
 
 quired to declare what he 
 expects to prove by his wit- 
 nesses 643 
 
 Section 20. Service of citations 643 
 
 Section 21. Procedure with absen- 
 tees 643 
 
 1. Contumacy not to be hastily 
 
 inferred. One may excuse 
 himself by letter 643 
 
 2. Contumacy not to be charged 
 
 on first citation 644 
 
 3. Contumacious person may be 
 
 restored on submission 644 
 
 4. To proceed in the absence of 
 
 the accused without a second 
 citation irregular ; but the 
 right to complain waived by 
 appearing afterward and 
 pleading 644 
 
 C 
 
 5. In the absence of the accused, 
 
 counsel must be assigned . . .645 
 
 6. When the judicatory has 
 
 taken the testimony as 
 above, it may proceed to 
 trial and final judgment as 
 if the accused were present.. 645 
 
 Section 22. Procedure at adjourn- 
 ed meeting 650 
 
 1. Judicial cases should be con- 
 tinued without interruption. 650 
 
 Section 23. Procedure continued. .651 
 
 1. The withdrawal of parties, 
 
 counsel, etc., construed lit- 
 erally 651 
 
 2. Exclusion cf stenographer of 
 
 the accused questionable . . .652 
 
 3. Testimony not on record ad- 
 
 mitted by consent 652 
 
 Section 24. Record of the case 652 
 
 1. Everything influencing the 
 
 judgment of the judicatory 
 must be spread upon the 
 records 653 
 
 2. Minutes of interlocutory meet- 
 
 ings in judicial cases should 
 be recorded ; also report of 
 judicial committee in the 
 case 653 
 
 3. Reasons not recorded and 
 
 records deficient. Case re- 
 manded 653 
 
 Section 25. Exceptions 654 
 
XXXIV 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 Section 26. Counsel 654 
 
 1. Counsel assigned by request 
 
 of the parties 654 
 
 2. No one not a member of the 
 
 judicatory may act as counsel. 654 
 
 3. Professional counsel under all 
 
 circumstances excluded 655 
 
 Section 27. Questions of procedure. 655 
 
 Section 28. Voters. Calling of roll. 655 
 
 1. By consent, members who 
 
 had been absent for brief 
 
 periods allowed to vote 655 
 
 Section 29. Copies of the record 
 
 and transmission 655 
 
 1. Appellants entitled to a copy 
 
 of the sentence 655 
 
 2. The records of church judica- 
 
 tories are public documents. 655 
 
 Section 30. Forms of censure 656 
 
 Section 31. Private sessions 656 
 
 Section 32. Suspension of accused 
 
 pending trial 656 
 
 1. The accused may be suspend- 
 
 ed pending the issuing of 
 the case 656 
 
 2. Suspension from the ministry 
 
 during process 656 
 
 3. Suspension from privileges of 
 
 membership 657 
 
 Chapter V. Special Rules Pertaining to Cases Before Sessions. 
 
 Section 33. Contumacy 657 
 
 Section 34. Kinds of censure 657 
 
 1. Censure is not to be removed 
 without evidence of repent- 
 
 ance 657 
 
 2. Deposition and excommuni- 
 cation are distinct acts 657 
 
 Section 35. Publication of sentence. 658 
 
 Chapter VI. General Rules Pertaining to the Trial op a Minis- 
 ter, Elder, or Deacon. 
 
 Section 36. Honor of the ministry. 658 
 Section 37. Offences committed in 
 
 distant places 658 
 
 1. Discipline of a minister can 
 
 be only by his own Presby- 
 tery ".658 
 
 2. Even when non-resident . . . .658 
 
 3. Boards have no authority to 
 
 sit in judgment on ministers. 659 
 
 4. Discipline by Boards of Mis- 
 
 sions, etc., not recognized. .659 
 
 5. Ecclesiastical power of a mis- 
 
 sion 659 
 
 6. Duty of a Presbytery to give 
 
 notice of an offence 659 
 
 7. A suspended licentiate can be 
 
 restored only by the Presby- 
 tery which suspended him. 
 Another may take testi- 
 mony 660 
 
 8. Such Presbytery has no power 
 
 to try, but only to take tes- 
 timony 660 
 
 Section 38. Contumacy 660 
 
 Section 39. Judicatory may with- 
 draw rights of accused 660 
 
 Section 40. Form of sentence 660 
 
 1. Sentence may be passed on 
 
 confession 660 
 
 A suspended minister may not 
 exercise any function of the 
 ministry 661 
 
 2. 
 
 3. Does not rank as a " common 
 
 Christian in good standing ".661 
 
 4. The name of a suspended 
 
 minister is to remain upon 
 
 the roll 661 
 
 Section 41. Heresy and schism 661 
 
 Section 42. Acts of infirmity 661 
 
 Section 43. Restoration 661 
 
 1. One Presbytery may not re- 
 
 store a minister deposed by 
 another 662 
 
 2. Restoration of a deposed min- 
 
 ister conditioned on conduct 
 under sentence 662 
 
 3. The Assembly recommends 
 
 restoration, the ends of dis- 
 cipline being gained 663 
 
 4. When the names of deposed 
 
 ministers are to be pub- 
 lished 663 
 
 Section 44. Effect of sentences 663 
 
 1. A minister who has been de- 
 posed returns to the condi- 
 tion of a private member, 
 and must be reordained if 
 restored 664 
 
 Section 45. Suspension pending 
 
 trial 664 
 
 Section 46. Provisions applicable 
 
 to elders and deacons 664 
 
 Chapter VII. Of Cases without Process 
 
 1 
 
 Section 47. Self-accused persons. .664 
 Section 48. Members declining 
 
 communion 665 
 
 Section 49. Absentee communi- 
 cants 665 
 
 When one whose name is 
 erased may be received by 
 
 another church 665 
 
 Section 50. Communicant neglect- 
 ing ordinances 665 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 1. Willful absenting one's self 
 
 from the ordinances of God's 
 house is an offence 665 
 
 2. Disagreement with a pastor 
 
 no excuse for willful ab- 
 sence 666 
 
 3. Discipline enjoined for will- 
 
 ful absence 666 
 
 4. Excommunication may not 
 
 be without trial 666 
 
 Section 51. Demission of the min- 
 istry 667 
 
 Section 52. Communicant with- 
 drawing irregularly 667 
 
 Section 53. Minister withdrawing 
 
 irregularly 667 
 
 1. To strike from the roll the 
 name of a minister with- 
 drawing while under investi- 
 
 gation, is unconstitutional 
 and void 667 
 
 2. A minister's name may not 
 
 be stricken from the roll, 
 except by his consent, or by 
 discipline, or by his having 
 recognized some other juris- 
 diction, or by becoming in- 
 dependent 668 
 
 3. Those who entertain views 
 
 irreconcilable with our 
 Standards urged to with- 
 draw 668 
 
 4. Names of ministers whose 
 
 residence is unknown to be 
 kept on a reserved roll 668 
 
 5. Minister absent and residence 
 
 unknown, stricken from the 
 roll without prejudice to 
 ministerial standing 669 
 
 Chapter VIII 
 
 Section 54. Care as to testimony. .669 
 Section 55. Competent witnesses .669 
 
 1. A prosecutor may testify 669 
 
 Section 56. Credibility of witnesses669 
 1 . The credibility of a witness to 
 be determined by the judi- 
 catory 669 
 
 Section 57. Married persons 670 
 
 1. Husband and wife are compe- 
 tent witnesses in the same 
 
 case 670 
 
 Section 58. Kinds of evidence and 
 
 number of witnesses 670 
 
 1. When one of two specifica- 
 
 tions of a charge is proved 
 the charge itself is proved. .670 
 
 2. When the offence charged is 
 
 not sustained the verdict 
 
 should be " not guilty" 671 
 
 Section 59. Exclusion of witnesses672 
 Section 60. Examination of wit- 
 nesses 672 
 
 Section 61. Oath or affirmation.. 672 
 
 1. The authority for administer- 
 
 ing a judicial oath 672 
 
 2. Testimony should be under 
 
 oath aucl recorded . ... .673 
 Section 62. Record of testimony . .673 
 Section 63. Records are evidence .673 
 Section 64. Testimony valid in all 
 
 judicatories 673 
 
 Section 65. Commission to take 
 
 testimony 673 
 
 Section 66. Members of judicatories 
 
 as witnesses 673 
 
 Of Evidence. 
 
 1. A member of the judicatory 
 required to testify ; to refuse 
 
 is contumacy 674 
 
 Section 67. Contumacious wit- 
 nesses 674 
 
 1. A minister cited to testify be- 
 fore a Session 674 
 
 Section 68. New evidence 674 
 
 1. New trial may be had on the 
 
 allegation of new testimony. 674 
 
 2. If the judicatory refuse to 
 
 grant a new trial upon the 
 allegation of neAv testimony 
 a complaint will lie 675 
 
 3. Appeal remitted for new trial 
 
 on new testimony 675 
 
 4. A superior judicatory may 
 
 not order a new trial with- 
 out the allegation of new 
 
 testimony 675 
 
 Section 69. New evidence 675 
 
 1. On the ground of new testi- 
 
 mony, the case referred 676 
 
 2. The fact and importance of 
 
 new evidence must be 
 
 shown 676 
 
 On examining the new testi- 
 mony the decision affirmed.. 676 
 
 3. The Assembly, afier investi- 
 
 gation, refuses to refer the 
 case, despite alleged new 
 testimony, or to grant any 
 further judicial trial 677 
 
 Chapter IX. Of the Ways in which a Cause may be Carried from 
 a Lower to a Higher Judicatory. 
 
 Section 70. Extent of review 677 
 
 1. A judicial case can come be- 
 fore the Assembly only in 
 
 some one of the above men- 
 mentioned ways 678 
 
XXXVI 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 I. Of general review and 
 
 CONTROL. 
 
 Section 71. Proceedings of the 
 church. Frequency of review. 678 
 
 1. The incorporation of church 
 
 proceedings is mandatory. 
 Explanation of the meaning 
 of this rule 678 
 
 2. The incorporation in Session 
 records of the minutes of the 
 Board of Deacons is discre- 
 tionary 679 
 
 3. Annual review of the records 
 of all the judicatories re- 
 quired 679 
 
 4. The Synods required to send 
 up their records annually. . .679 
 
 5. After records have been ap- 
 proved corrections can be 
 made only by recurrence to 
 the judicatory approving . . .680 
 
 6. Leave given to correct the 
 
 record on error shown 680 
 
 7. A minute recording a fact 
 can be amended or stricken 
 out only by a unanimous 
 vote or by reconsideration 
 
 of the original action 680 
 
 8. A case judicially issued may 
 be reviewed 680 
 
 9. Copies of original records 
 accepted in certain cases 681 
 
 10. Records in print must con- 
 form to the requirements.. . 681 
 Section 72. Purposes of review. . .681 
 i. Whether the proceedings are 
 correctly recorded 681 
 
 1. Omitting to record the open- 
 ing and closing with prayer.681 
 
 2. Failing to record absentees. 681 
 
 3. Churches not represented 
 must be recorded 682 
 
 4. The roll should be called 
 prior to adjournment 682 
 
 5. The narrative of the state of 
 religion to be recorded 682 
 
 6. Cases acted upon must be 
 described, and the disposal 
 made of them indicated 682 
 
 ii. Whether they have been con- 
 stitutional and regular 683 
 
 1. Unconstitutional and irregu- 
 lar proceedings 683 
 
 2. A Synod may not institute 
 and prosecute judicial pro- 
 ceedings 683 
 
 3. A Synod may not refuse to 
 receive the members of its 
 Presbyteries 683 
 
 4. A superior judicatory may 
 not compel an inferior court 
 to reverse its decision, with- 
 out assigning specific rea- 
 sons 684 
 
 5. The reasons assigned are 
 subject to review 684 
 
 6. Censure without due exami- 
 nation condemned 684 
 
 7. No second approval of the 
 minutes necessary 684 
 
 iii. Whether they have been 
 wise, equitable, and for the 
 edification of the Church. . .685 
 
 1. The lower judicatories must 
 respect the decisions of the 
 superior 685 
 
 2. Synods censured for insub- 
 ordination and disrespect . . . 685 
 
 3. Irregularities recited and 
 animadverted on. Com- 
 plaint will lie against de- 
 cisions not judicial. Action 
 insufficient and unjust. A 
 member of the court may 
 be called as a witness. Min- 
 utes should be approved be- 
 fore adjournment 686 
 
 4. Approval of the minutes 
 does not affect the right of 
 appeal or complaint against 
 any action taken 687 
 
 5. The approval of the minutes 
 does not validate all action 
 had 687 
 
 6. Review and control does 
 not extend to statistical 
 items in Session records. . . .688 
 
 7. Nor to the agreement of the 
 action of Sessions with Pres- 
 byterial rules for Sessions, 
 not warranted by the Con- 
 stitution 688 
 
 8. Action modified or reversed 
 by the reviewing judicatory 
 may be excepted to .688 
 
 Section 73. Voters on review. . . .688 
 
 1. Cases cited 688 
 
 Section 74. Action in review . . . .688 
 
 1. The Assembly may not re- 
 verse the judicial acts of a 
 former Assembly, except in 
 case of manifest injustice . . . 689 
 
 2. But will correct error when 
 shown to exist 689 
 
 3. The Assembly, on memorial, 
 and error proven, revokes 
 its action and remands the 
 case 690 
 
 4. Exceptions must be recorded 
 by the judicatory excepting. 690 
 
 5. Irregular and injurious pro- 
 ceedings censured. Reasons 
 for discipline must be given. 691 
 
 6. Judicial decisions may not 
 be reversed on review, but 
 must be respected until 
 passed upon b}^ the superior 
 judicatory 691 
 
 7. On review a Synod is directed 
 to review and correct its 
 proceedings 691 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 XXXV11 
 
 Section 75. Unconstitutional pro- 
 
 ceedin gs of lo wer j udicatory 692 
 
 Section 76. Neglect of duty by 
 
 lower judicatory 692 
 
 1. Citation of judicatories on 
 review or on advice 692 
 
 II. Of refekences. 
 Section 77. Definition of refer- 
 ence 692 
 
 1. Reference is voluntary 693 
 
 Section 78. Subjects of references693 
 
 1. Cases in which references 
 have been entertained 693 
 
 2. When the review of a de- 
 cision without new testi- 
 mony is desirable, the case 
 should be referred to the 
 next higher judicatory 693 
 
 Section 79. Objects of references. 694 
 
 1. Reference. Disposal of the 
 Barnes case 694 
 
 2. When reference has been 
 made the judicatory refer- 
 ring can regain jurisdiction 
 only by the action of the 
 superior judicatory 695 
 
 3. Reference must be carried 
 to the next higher judica- 
 tory 696 
 
 Section 80. Voters on references. 696 
 Section 81. Higher judicatory 
 
 may remit references 696 
 
 1. A memorial treated as a 
 
 reference 696 
 
 Section 82. Transmission of 
 
 record 696 
 
 1. Testimony attested by the 
 Moderator and Clerk suffi- 
 cient 696 
 
 2. A superior judicatory may 
 entertain a reference which 
 is not accompanied by the 
 testimony and proceed itself 
 
 to take it 697 
 
 III. Of complaints. 
 Section 83. Definition of com- 
 plaint 697 
 
 1. Complaints by judicatories. .697 
 
 2. The distinction between an 
 appeal and a complaint 
 must be observed 697 
 
 3. The same matter may be the 
 subject both of appeal and 
 complaint 698 
 
 4. Complaint not allowed 
 against a judicatory for 
 obeying the orders of the 
 superior judicatory 698 
 
 5. Complaint not allowed 
 against advice given on 
 memorial 698 
 
 6. Complaint not allowed 
 against a refusal to adopt a 
 proposed paper 698 
 
 7. Complaint not allowed 
 
 against an opinion expressed 
 by the superior judicatory. .702 
 
 8. Nor against a judicatory for 
 the exercise of its discretion. 702 
 
 9. Discretion is reviewable as 
 
 to its abuse or misuse 702 
 
 10. Complaint not allowed in a 
 case already decided by the 
 Assembly 703 
 
 11. Nor against a decision of the 
 Moderator unappealed from 
 
 at the time 703 
 
 12. Nor from the decision of a 
 commission not yet con- 
 firmed 704 
 
 13. Nor where the action com- 
 plained of does not con- 
 travene the doctrine or the 
 Constitution of the Church. 704 
 
 14. Nor where there is do suffi- 
 cient ground of complaint. .705 
 
 15. Nor where the complainant 
 is not subject and submit- 
 ting to the judicatory com- 
 plainedof 705 
 
 16. Nor in a case of mere review 
 
 of records 705 
 
 17. Nor against the refusal to 
 read the printed minutes... .706 
 
 18. Nor against postponement 
 of action on a report of a 
 Committee 706 
 
 19. Complainant has have to 
 withdraw with or without 
 reasons 706 
 
 20. Withdrawal of complaint 
 may have the same effect as 
 its dismissal 707 
 
 21. Leave to withdraw, the end 
 desired being accomplished. 707 
 
 22. Complainants have leave to 
 withdraw because : 1 . The 
 proceedings of a civil court 
 are not conclusive as against 
 the ecclesiastical; 2/ Trial 
 by a commission is not 
 ground of complaint ; 3. In- 
 formality in the decision 
 does not invalidate the re- 
 sult intended to be reached. 707 
 
 23. Complaints dismissed and 
 leave to withdraw, because, 
 1. Of the indefiniteness of 
 the complaints, and 2. That 
 the matters should be left to 
 the wisdom and discretion 
 
 of the Synod ....709 
 
 24. Leave to withdraw on re- 
 quest of the parties 710 
 
 25. Complaint dismissed because 
 no parties were aggrieved . .711 
 
 26. Complaint dismissed as not 
 in due form. To strike from 
 the roll without notice or 
 citation disapproved 711 
 
XXXV111 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 27. Subject matter of complaints 
 entertained - 711 
 
 28. Complainants satisfied by- 
 conference and leave to 
 withdraw 713 
 
 Section 84. Notice and records. .714 
 
 1. Reasons as well as notice 
 must be given 714 
 
 2. Notice and reasons must be 
 given within ten days after 
 the action is taken 714 
 
 3. Complaint dismissed when 
 no notice has been given. . .714 
 
 4. Complaint against the ac- 
 tion of a judicatory can law- 
 fully be signed only by those 
 who signed it, or gave no- 
 tice of their intent within 
 the constitutional limit of 
 time 715 
 
 5. Complaint and appeal dis- 
 missed as not lodged in time 
 and no one appearing to 
 prosecute the complaint . . . 715 
 
 6. Dismissed because no notice 
 
 of complaint given 715 
 
 7. Evidence must be furnished 
 that notice was given 716 
 
 8. Right to complain lost by 
 failure to observe the rules .716 
 
 9. A judicial case once adjudi- 
 cated may not be revived on 
 memorial 716 
 
 Section 85. Effect of complaint in 
 
 certain cases 717 
 
 Section 86. Lodgment of com- 
 plaint 717 
 
 Section 87. Steps in hearing 717 
 
 Section 88. Effect of complaint, if 
 sustained 717 
 
 1. The judicatory issuing a com- 
 plaint may not decline to 
 adjudicate the merits of the 
 case, and must observe the 
 alternatives of the Book. It 
 may not assume original 
 jurisdiction 717 
 
 2. Reversal places matters in 
 statu quo 718 
 
 3. Does a complaint suspend 
 the dissolution of a pastoral 
 relation? 718 
 
 4. Censure of the lower j udica- 
 tories 718 
 
 5. Complaint sustained and the 
 errors of the inferior judica- 
 tories detailed 719 
 
 Section 89. Parties in cases non- 
 judicial 719 
 
 Section 90. Voters on complaints. 719 
 
 Section 91. Right of appeal 719 
 
 Section 92. Papers and records to 
 
 be sent up 719 
 
 1. In the absence of the respon- 
 dent and of the papers in the 
 
 case decision suspended un- 
 til the record is produced . .720 
 
 Section 93. Consolidation of ap- 
 peal and complaint 720 
 
 IV. Of Appeals. 
 
 Section 94. Definition of appeal. 
 
 Parties 720 
 
 1. The death of the appellee 
 bars the prosecution of an 
 appeal 721 
 
 2. Appeals limited to judicial 
 cases 721 
 
 3. Original parties only may 
 appeal, others may com- 
 plain 721 
 
 4. Decisions as to original par- 
 ties 721 
 
 (a) The person prosecutedand 
 the prosecutor 721 
 
 (6) The person claiming to be 
 aggrieved and the judicatory 
 appealed from 722 
 
 (c) The prosecuting commit- 
 tee and the appellee 722 
 
 (d) The appellant and the ap- 
 pellee 722 
 
 5. Members of the judicatory 
 trying a case are not parties 
 in the case and may not ap- 
 peal 722 
 
 6. An appeal may be made to 
 the next superior judicatory 
 by either of the parties to a 
 complaint 723 
 
 7. No constitutional provision 
 for a second appeal 723 
 
 Section 95. Grounds of appeal . . .723 
 
 1. Appeals have been enter- 
 tained and issued for refus- 
 ing to permit a call 724 
 
 2. Appeal against an installa- 
 tion in the face of a protest .724 
 
 3. Appeal against a refusal to 
 obe}^ the superior judicatory. 724 
 
 4. Appeal for refusing to re- 
 ceive an applicant 725 
 
 5. Against an order or decision 
 
 of a judicatory 725 
 
 6. An appeal will not lie 
 against a judicatory for 
 obeying the order of its 
 superior 725 
 
 7. An appeal dismissed because 
 no evidence is presented to 
 sustain the allegation 726 
 
 8. Appeal will not lie against a 
 refusal to adopt a paper or 
 to determine a constitutional 
 question in thesi 726 
 
 9. Nor where a judicatory acts 
 within the limits of its power 
 and authority 727 
 
 10, Nor where Uie action was 
 regular and equitable 727 
 
 11 Nor when the appeal is in- 
 definite and general 727 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 12. Where no question of doc- 
 trine or law is assigned, the 
 
 appeal not entertained 728 
 
 Section 96. Notice and records.. .729 
 
 1. Notice of appeal, with rea- 
 sons in writing, must be 
 given within ten days after 
 judgment 729 
 
 2. Evidence required that no- 
 tice has been given 730 
 
 3. When a new trial is granted 
 by the superior judicatory, 
 notice must be given by the 
 appellant of his intent to 
 prosecute 730 
 
 4. Failure of the judicatory to 
 receive notice does not bar 
 the appellant 731 
 
 5. Leave to show that notice 
 has been given to the judi- 
 catory appealed from 731 
 
 6. On evidence of notice the 
 case reinstated 731 
 
 Section 97. Appearance of appel- 
 lant and lodgment of appeal. 731 
 
 1. Personal attendance of the 
 appellant is not necessary. .732 
 
 2. Where neither the appellant 
 nor any one in his behalf 
 appears the appeal is dis- 
 missed 732 
 
 3. In the absence of the appel- 
 lant the judicatory assigns 
 counsel 732 
 
 4. In the failure of the com- 
 plainant to appear and prose- 
 cute, the complaint dismiss- 
 ed and defendant sustained. 733 
 
 5. Case continued on satisfac- 
 tory reasons given 733 
 
 6. Dismissed as not lodged in 
 time 733 
 
 7. Right to appeal lost by de- 
 fault of the appellant 734 
 
 8. The appellant must furnish 
 the necessary documents. . .734 
 
 9. Deferred in the absence of 
 necessary documents 735 
 
 10. Where the appeal was in the 
 house in season the rule is 
 virtually complied with.... 735 
 
 11. The rule interpreted liber- 
 ally where due diligence has 
 been used 735 
 
 12. In the absence of records 
 through the non-attendance 
 of the commissioner, the ap- 
 peal received and referred. .736 
 
 13. Where the appeal failed to 
 be lodged in due time 
 through mistake of the ap- 
 pellant, it was entered and 
 referred 736 
 
 14. Where the case is continued 
 at the request of the appel- 
 lant, the sentence remains 
 
 in full force until the case is 
 issued 737 
 
 15. Dismissed in absence of the 
 appellant, with privilege of 
 renewal 737 
 
 16. When an appeal has been 
 dismissed in error, the As- 
 sembly grant a restoration 
 when satisfied of the error. .737 
 
 17. The original rule as to 
 abandonment of an appeal ..738 
 
 Section 98. Voters on appeals 739 
 
 1. The Moderator, being a mem- 
 ber of the judicatory appeal- 
 ed from, will not sit 739 
 
 2. An interested party should 
 not sit on a trial 739 
 
 3. Members of the judicatory 
 appealed from may not vote. 740 
 
 4. Members of a judicatory ap- 
 pealed from may speak on 
 postponement . .740 
 
 5. An elder belonging to the 
 judicatory appealed from, 
 though not a member of the 
 judicatory when the case 
 was issued, may not sit 740 
 
 6. Ministers who have been dis- 
 missed to other bodies be- 
 fore the action complained 
 
 of are not excluded 741 
 
 7. A case is remanded where 
 members of the judicatory 
 appealed from, act in their 
 own case .... 741 
 
 Section 99. Steps in hearing ap- 
 peal 741 
 
 i. Initiation of proceedings. 
 
 1. The appeal or complaint is 
 transmitted to the Judicial 
 Committee 742 
 
 2. The Judicial Committee and 
 its duties . .742 
 
 3. In the absence of records 
 the decision of the appeal 
 should be suspended. Parol 
 evidence will not supply the 
 place of the records 743 
 
 4. The appeal (or complaint) 
 found in order 743 
 
 5. The judgment notice of ap- 
 peal, etc, read 745 
 
 6. The appeal entertained 745 
 
 ii. Reading the record. 
 
 1. Reading of the documents 
 by consent dispensed with. 745 
 
 2. Certified copies distributed 
 by consent 747 
 
 3. Matters foreign to the issue 
 may by consent be omitted 
 
 in the reading 747 
 
 4. Documents not read may be 
 used in pleading 747 
 
 5. Reasons assigned by an ap- 
 pellant must be recorded. 
 They must be couched in 
 
xl 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 decent and respectful lan- 
 guage .« 748 
 
 iii. Hearing the parties. 
 
 1. Case remanded for new- 
 trial because the original 
 parties had not been heard. 748 
 
 2. Case issued and complaint 
 sustained where no person 
 appears on behalf of the re- 
 spondent 748 
 
 3. Time limit for hearing 748 
 
 4. Case of Charles A. Briggs, 
 D.D., 1892 748 
 
 5. Case of Charles A. Briggs, 
 D.D.,1893 749 
 
 6. Case of Henry Preserved 
 Smith, D.D., 1894 749 
 
 iv. Hearing members of the judi- 
 catory appealed from. 
 
 1. Interpretation and applica- 
 tion of section 99 749 
 
 v. Hearing members of the supe- 
 rior judicatory. 
 
 1. Limitation of time to speak- 
 ers 750 
 
 2. Constitutional right to be 
 heard cannot be destroyed 
 though time limit may be 
 set. Speeches by roll call. .750 
 
 vi. Taking the vote. 
 
 1. The final vote must be 
 taken 750 
 
 2. It is taken separately on 
 each charge 751 
 
 3. The final vote taken and 
 the appeal sustained 751 
 
 vii. Case may be submitted to a 
 judicial commission. 
 
 1. The Judicial Committee ap- 
 pointed such commission.. . .752 
 
 2. Report of judicial commis- 
 sion 752 
 
 3. Findings of judicial com- 
 mission , 752 
 
 4. Case of William P. Craig, 
 complainant, vs. the Synod 
 
 of California 755 
 
 5. Complaint of David R. 
 Breed et al. vs. the Synod 
 
 of Pennsylvania 756 
 
 viii. Decisions and their effect. 
 
 (1) The decision may confirm 
 that of the lower judicatory. 
 
 1. Section 99 (5) explained... .757 
 
 2. Decision confirmed 757 
 
 3. In confirming the decision 
 the Assembly directs that if 
 a new trial as ordered be not 
 instituted within six months 
 the decision shall be final.. .758 
 
 (2) The decision may reverse 
 that of the lower judicatory. 
 
 1. Reversed on review of tes- 
 timony 759 
 
 2. Reversed without assigning 
 
 a reason for its action. . . , . . .759 
 
 3. Reversed because of dispro- 
 portionate censure 759 
 
 4. Reversal on the ground of 
 undue severity, does not 
 determine the innocence of 
 the accused nor relieve him 
 from other process 759 
 
 5. Decision of Synod reversed 
 as in error in prescribing a 
 form of dismission 760 
 
 6. Reversed because of uncon- 
 stitutional action of the judi- 
 catory appealed from 760 
 
 7. Where sentence is reversed 
 for irregularity either party 
 may institute a new trial. If 
 process be not commenced 
 within the time limited he 
 may demand a letter as in 
 good standing 761 
 
 8. Reversed for haste and un- 
 constitutional action 761 
 
 9. Sentence reversed and the 
 appellant declared to be in 
 regular standing 762 
 
 10. The decision may declare 
 the acts of the lower judica- 
 tories void 762 
 
 11. The reversal annuls the 
 acts complained of . 762 
 
 12. The decision reversed and 
 the case remanded 763 
 
 (3) The decision may confirm 
 or reverse in part. 
 
 1. Reversed in part on the 
 ground of irregularity. Sus- 
 tained in part 763 
 
 2. Reversed in part on the 
 ground that irregularity of 
 proceedings does not neces- 
 sarily invalidate 764 
 
 3. Sustained in part, reversed 
 
 in part. Minute in the case. 764 
 
 4. The decision censures the 
 irregular excommunication 
 of a member and prescribes 
 the steps which should have 
 been taken 765 
 
 5. The decision finds error in 
 the judicatories below. A 
 Presbytery may not unduly 
 direct and control a Session. 
 Synod may not refuse an 
 appeal from a party ag- 
 grieved 766 
 
 (4) The decision may remit 
 the case to the lower judi- 
 catory. 
 
 1. It may remand the cause 
 for reconsideration 767 
 
 2. A Synod required to re- 
 mand the case to a Presby- 
 tery for rehearing 767 
 
 3. Complaint sustained and 
 Synod ordered to hear and 
 issue the case 768 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Xli 
 
 4. Judgment reversed and case 
 remanded for new trial 768 
 
 5. Judgment reversed and case 
 remitted on grounds stated.. 768 
 
 6. Referred back to the judi- 
 catory below with instruc- 
 tions 769 
 
 7. The decision details the ir- 
 regularities of the judica- 
 tories below 769 
 
 8. The case remitted with in- 
 structions 771 
 
 9. Unconstitutional acts de- 
 tailed. The case remanded. 772 
 
 10. Referred back by consent of 
 parties 773 
 
 11. Discretion of a judicatory 
 not subject to review 773 
 
 12. Remitted on the recom- 
 mendation of the Judicial 
 Committee 773 
 
 13. In passing judgment a judi- 
 catory may not open a case 
 already settled 773 
 
 14. The decision sustains the 
 lower judicatory in part, but 
 a person once restored can 
 be condemned again only 
 by new process and convic- 
 tion 774 
 
 15. The decision reverses all 
 the judicatories below and 
 restores the appellant 774 
 
 16. The decision declares and 
 decides the several issues in- 
 volved 774 
 
 17. The decision restores the 
 status quo 775 
 
 18. A superior judicatory may 
 not compel an inferior to 
 reverse its decision without 
 assigning reasons 775 
 
 19. The decision explains the 
 true intent of the action com- 
 plained of. Deposition by 
 another denomination after 
 reception to membership in 
 Presbytery does not impair 
 good standing 776 
 
 Section 100. Effect of notice of 
 appeal 777 
 
 1. An appeal arrests all further 
 proceedings until it be is- 
 sued 777 
 
 2. Interpretation of Section 100.777 
 
 3. To proceed to trial while the 
 appeal is pending is uncon- 
 stitutional and void. The 
 Assembly and not the in- 
 ferior judicatories is the 
 judge of the question of con- 
 stitutionality 778 
 
 4. Suspension is continued until 
 the issue of the appeal, which 
 must be at the next meeting 
 
 of the judicatory above 778 
 
 5. An appeal against a certain 
 action does not debar the 
 judicatory from acting on 
 the continued disturbed state 
 
 of the church 778 
 
 6. Where a Session is dissolved 
 an appeal continues the 
 rights of the elders as to the 
 higher judicatories until it is 
 issued 779 
 
 Section 101. Records must be 
 sent up 779 
 
 1. Copies made by an appel- 
 lant not sufficient. The rec- 
 ords or authenticated copies 
 required 779 
 
 2. On the failure of the judica- 
 tory to send up authenticated 
 copies of the testimony the 
 appeal is sustained 779 
 
 3. Where judicatories fail to 
 send up documents the case 
 is remanded 780 
 
 4. The judicatory directed to 
 perfect its records and send 
 up to the Assembly its rea- 
 sons for the action com- 
 plained of. 780 
 
 5. Judgment suspended until a 
 record is supplied on which 
 the issue may be tried 780 
 
 6. In the absence of papers re- 
 ferred to in the records and 
 of attested copies of the 
 charges the case postponed.. 781 
 
 7. Case remanded with direc- 
 tions as to procedure and as 
 
 to the records 781 
 
 8. In the absence of records 
 the Synod censured and the 
 case postponed 781 
 
 9. The case dismissed and the 
 papers returned. . ... .781 
 
 10. Where the absence of papers 
 is the fault of the defendant, 
 the case dismissed and the 
 
 judgment affirmed 782 
 
 Section 102. Appeals to next 
 superior judicatory 782 
 
 1. Appeals may be carried di- 
 rectly to the" Assembly 782 
 
 2. Appeals dismissed because 
 not first brought in the lower 
 judicatories and no sufficient 
 reasons given 784 
 
 3. Where there is no common 
 relation a complaint is 
 allowed 785 
 
xlii 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 Chapter X. Op Dissents and Protests. 
 
 Section 103. Definition of a dissent. 786 
 1. Dissent entered without re- 
 ply. Dissent with reasons 
 is a virtual protest 786 
 
 Section 104. Definition of protest. 786 
 
 1. The right to protest for the 
 relief of conscience 786 
 
 2. The dissent or protest must 
 be entered before the rising 
 
 of the Assembly 786 
 
 3. A protest arguing the case is 
 refused 786 
 
 4. The protest must confine 
 itself to the reasons on which 
 
 it is founded 786 
 
 5. A protest calls attention to 
 the action protested against. 787 
 
 Section 105. To be entered on 
 records 787 
 
 1. Protests admitted to record 
 without answer 787 
 
 2. Protests refused record as 
 being disrespectful 788 
 
 3. A protest should be recorded 
 
 only by order of the judica- 
 tory 789 
 
 4. Protest received and put on 
 record 789 
 
 5. Protest, if in order, must be 
 recorded and filed with the 
 clerk. A printed copy duly 
 signed is valid 789 
 
 Section 106. Answers to protests.790 
 
 1. No answer deemed necessary 
 when the assumptions have 
 been refuted 790 
 
 2. The answer denies the im- 
 putations of the protest 790 
 
 3. The answer defines the ac- 
 tion protested against 790 
 
 Section 107. Who may dissent or 
 protest 791 
 
 1. Protests will not be received 
 from those not members of 
 the body 791 
 
 2. A protest can be brought 
 only by the minority of a 
 judicatory itself 791 
 
 Chapter XI. Op Jurisdiction in Cases op Dismission. 
 
 Section 108. Jurisdiction over 
 
 offences 791 
 
 1. Cases connected with extinct 
 
 Presbytery 791 
 
 2. Reception of a member on a 
 
 qualified letter is void 791 
 
 3. Jurisdiction over one charged 
 
 with an offence is in that 
 Presbytery of w T hich he is a 
 member 791 
 
 4. A Presbytery within whose 
 
 bounds an offence is com- 
 mitted fulfills its duty in 
 notifying the Presbytery to 
 which the offender belongs. 792 
 Section 109. Jurisdiction over dis- 
 missed members 792 
 
 1. A suspended member may 
 
 not be received on profession 
 by another church. If re- 
 ceived without knowledge 
 of the facts, his name to be 
 stricken from the roll 793 
 
 2. A letter of dismission takes 
 
 effect as soon as granted so 
 far as rights and privileges 
 
 are concerned 793 
 
 Section 110. Jurisdiction over dis- 
 missed ministers 793 
 
 1. Jurisdiction over a deposed 
 
 minister is in the Presbytery 
 which deposed him 794 
 
 2. Where a minister is deposed 
 
 the name should not be 
 formally stricken from the 
 roll until the proceedings 
 are finally issued 794 
 
 3. The privileges of membership 
 
 cease with the granting of 
 the letter 795 
 
 4. While a minister is in transitu 
 
 he is a member of the Pres- 
 bytery which gave him his 
 letter 795 
 
 5. A suspended minister is under 
 
 the jurisdiction of the Pres- 
 bytery which suspended 
 him. When sentence has 
 been reversed for infor- 
 mality, if process is not 
 commenced in six months, a 
 dismission in good standing 
 may be claimed 795 
 
 6. A minister holding a letter 
 
 of dismission is a member of 
 the Presbytery dismissing 
 him until received by 
 another body 796 
 
 7. Where the reception was in- 
 
 valid by reason of fraud he 
 remains under the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Presbytery dis- 
 missing him 796 
 
 Section 111. Certificates of dismis- 
 sion must name body 796 
 
 1. Presbytery must specify the 
 
 body to which a member is 
 dismissed . . 796 
 
 2. He must unite with the body 
 
 designated 796 
 
 3. The Presbytery receiving a 
 
 minister on a certificate must 
 notify the Presbytery that 
 dismissed him 796 
 
DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP. 
 
 xliii 
 
 4.. The dismission may not be 
 by a standing committee... .796 
 Section 112. Extinct church 796 
 
 1. Members of an extinct church 
 amenable to Presbytery. . . .797 
 Section 113. Extinct Presbytery. .797 
 
 Chapter XII. Op Removals, and Limitations of Time. 
 
 Section 114. Rules as to certificates 
 
 of members 797 
 
 1. A certificate of dismission 
 
 should be required 797 
 
 2. Names of baptized children, 
 
 not adults or communicants, 
 should be included 798 
 
 3. To receive members of 
 
 churches of our own con- 
 nection without a certificate 
 is irregular 798 
 
 4. Members received from other 
 
 denominations without tes- 
 timonials or evidence, to be 
 received on profession 798 
 
 5. Dismission to join another 
 
 denomination 798 
 
 The form of dismission to 
 other denominations left to 
 the discretion of the Session798 
 
 Dismission of a suspended 
 member 799 
 
 A suspended person being 
 restored by the superior 
 judicatories may claim dis- 
 mission in good standing. . .799 
 
 A dismission may be irregular 
 and yet valid 799 
 
 Members removing should be 
 furnished with testimonials 
 of standing, and should be 
 counseled to transfer their 
 relation 799 
 
 Churches receiving members 
 by letter should notify the 
 church from which they 
 come. Blank forms of the 
 
 6. 
 
 8. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 Board of Publication com- 
 mended 800 
 
 12. The limit of one year does 
 
 not ordinarily exclude, 
 where the Session has knowl- 
 edge of the reasons and of 
 the religious life 800 
 
 13. Certificate of dismission 
 
 granted only by vote of the 
 Session regularly constituted800 
 
 14. The above modified. The 
 
 Moderator or Stated Clerk 
 may be authorized to issue 
 letters in the interim 801 
 
 Section 115. Rules as to certificates 
 
 of ministers 801 
 
 1. Notice of reception to be 
 given 801 
 
 Section 116. Certificates of ab- 
 sentee members 801 
 
 1. The standing of members ab- 
 sent and unknown. Such 
 absence without a certificate 
 is itself censurable. If will- 
 ful, they should be cen- 
 sured 801 
 
 Section 117. Limitation on prose- 
 cutions 802 
 
 1. Limitation not to be pleaded 
 
 against the order of a superior 
 judicatory 802 
 
 2. The plea is good where the 
 
 offence was known to mem- 
 bers of the judicatory more 
 than a year before process 
 was begun 803 
 
 Chapter XIII. Of Judicial Commissions. 
 
 Section 118. What judicatories 
 
 may appoint 803 
 
 1. The Judicial Committee may 
 be appointed a Judicial 
 Commission 803 
 
 Section 119. Cases to be submitted, 
 
 and powers 803 
 
 1. Matters of law referred to the 
 appointing judicatory 803 
 
 Section 120. Times of meeting and 
 
 quorum 805 
 
 Chapter XIV. Of Differences between Judicatories. 
 
 Section 121. Steps in procedure. . .805 
 Section 122. Committee of prose- 
 cution 805 
 
 Section 123. Power of judicatory 
 
 having jurisdiction 805 
 
 PART V. THE DIRECTORY FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD. 
 Chapter I. Of the Sanctification of the Lord's Day. 
 
 Section 1. The duty 806 J distributing the mails upon 
 
 1. The Assembly petition Con- the Sabbath 806 
 
 gress against carrying and | Section 2. The whole day to be kept. 808 
 
xliv 
 
 SYLLABUS. 
 
 1. Deliverance on the profana- 
 
 tion of the Sabbath Disci- 
 pline enjoined 808 
 
 2. The observance of the Sab- 
 
 bath indispensable to the 
 preservation of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty 809 
 
 3. For the better observance of 
 
 the Sabbath 810 
 
 4. Church Sessions enjoined to 
 
 greater fidelity 811 
 
 5. Resolutions on the sanctifica- 
 
 tion of the Sabbath 812 
 
 6. The opening of art galleries 
 
 on the Sabbath disapproved. 
 Deliverances of former As- 
 semblies reaffirmed 812 
 
 7. Traveling on the Sabbath con- 
 
 demned 812 
 
 8. Duty of all to sanctify the 
 
 Sabbath. Testimony against 
 its desecration by railroads 
 and by recreations 813 
 
 9. Former deliverances affirmed 
 
 and enlarged upon 814 
 
 10. The divine sanction and obli- 
 
 gation of the Sabbath 815 
 
 11. Reading of secular newspa- 
 
 pers on the Sabbath discoun- 
 tenanced 816 
 
 12. The value and necessity of 
 
 Sabbath observance 816 
 
 13. American Sabbath Union. . . .817 
 14 The Columbian Exposition. .818 
 
 15. The divine authority and uni- 
 
 versal and perpetual obliga- 
 tion of the Sabbath. Na- 
 tional Sabbath Societies 819 
 
 16. Decoration of soldiers' graves 
 
 on the Sabbath disapproved .821 
 Section 3. Family arrangements. .821 
 
 Section 4. Private devotions 821 
 
 Section 5. Attendance on religious 
 
 services 821 
 
 Section 6. Use of time after relig- 
 ious services 821 
 
 1. Instruction in the Holy Scrip- 
 
 tures 821 
 
 2. On Sabbath-schools and in- 
 
 struction of the young 822 
 
 3. Pastoral letter on Sabbath- 
 
 schools 824 
 
 4. Catechetical instruction en- 
 
 joined 826 
 
 5. Relation of Sabbath-schools 
 
 to the family 826 
 
 6. Relation of the Sabbath- 
 
 school to the Session 827 
 
 7. Superintendents to be ap- 
 
 pointed or approved by the 
 Session 829 
 
 8. Teachers to be approved by 
 
 Session 829 
 
 9. Primary instruction to be 
 
 given 829 
 
 10. The Shorter Catechism to be 
 
 taught in the schools 829 
 
 11. The schools to be supported 
 
 by the churches 830 
 
 12. Sessions to supervise the con- 
 
 tributions of the schools. . . .830 
 
 13. Children's day commended. .830 
 
 14. Presbyterian Lesson Helps to 
 
 be used 830 
 
 15. Loyalty to our own Sabbath- 
 
 school agencies recom- 
 mended 830 
 
 16. Standing Committees of Pres- 
 
 byteries and Synods on Sab- 
 bath-school work 830 
 
 17. Systematic Bible study by the 
 
 whole congregation* 831 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Of the Assembling of the Congregation and Their 
 Behavior During Divine Service. 
 
 Sections 1, 2 831 | 1. Posture in public prayer 831 
 
 Chapter III. Of the Public Reading of the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 Section 1. Ministers' duty 832 
 
 Section 2. Most approved transla- 
 tion 832 
 
 The Revised Version. 
 
 1. The Assembly expresses 
 neither approval nor disap- 
 proval 832 
 
 2. Inexpedient to authorize its 
 use in public worship 832 
 
 3. Inexpedient to direct its use 
 
 in public worship 832 
 
 4. No official sanction of its use 
 necessary 833 
 
 5. Appointment of commission 
 declined 833 
 
 Section 3. Extent of reading 833 
 
 1. The early rule for the reading 
 
 of the Scriptures 833 
 
 2. Responsive services in public 
 
 worship unwise 833 
 
 3. Responsive reading not a sub- 
 
 ject of church discipline. . . .834 
 
 4. Responsive reading judicially 
 
 declared not to be a viola- 
 tion of the Constitution 834 
 
 5. The present freedom of wor- 
 
 ship under the Directory re- 
 liable and edifying 8'35 
 
 6. The Apostles' Creed may be 
 
 used in public worship 835 
 
DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP. 
 
 xlv 
 
 Chapter IV. Of the 
 
 Section 1. The duty of praise 835 
 
 1. Early action on the subject of 
 
 psalmody 835 
 
 Section 2. Manner of praise 836 
 
 1. The Book of Tunes 836 
 
 2. The Hymnal 836 
 
 3. The " Social Hymn and Tune 
 
 Book" 836 
 
 4. The report on sacred music. 
 
 The Hymnal commended... 837 
 
 Singing of Psalms. 
 
 5. The Presbyterian Hymnal ac- 
 
 cepted and approved 837 
 
 6. Hymns for social meetings 
 
 and the Sunday-school 837 
 
 7. The new Hymnal 837 
 
 Section 3. Congregational singing. 837 
 Section 4. Amount of time allowed. 837 
 
 1. Church music is under the 
 control of the minister and 
 the Session 837 
 
 Chapter V. Of Public Prayer. 
 
 Section 1. Invocation 838 
 
 Section 2. Prayer before sermon. .838 
 Section 3. Prayer after sermon. . . .839 
 Section 4. Minister's duty and au- 
 thority 839 
 
 1. Liturgical forms not needed.. 839 
 
 2. Book of Forms. Liberty to 
 
 use the forms of the Re- 
 formed Churches 840 
 
 Chapter VI. Of the Worship of God by Offerings. 
 
 Section 1. The duty 840 
 
 Section 2. Order and nature 840 
 
 1. General recommendations . . .840 
 
 2. Inquiry to be made by the 
 
 Presbytery as to compliance 
 with the recommendations 
 of the Assembly 841 
 
 3. Plan for securing pledges and 
 
 contributions from each 
 member of each congrega- 
 tion 841 
 
 4. Collections ordered must be 
 
 taken 842 
 
 5. Proportionate giving 842 
 
 6. Individual pledges 842 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 7. Combination of collections 
 
 discouraged 842 
 
 Fairs, etc., discountenanced .842 
 
 Money value of boxes 842 
 
 Public announcement of offer- 
 ings 843 
 
 Offerings to be made as acts 
 
 of worship 843 
 
 Section 3. Distribution 843 
 
 1. Schedule for contributions .. .843 
 
 2. Designated months for the 
 
 Boards 843 
 
 Section 4. Duty of minister 843 
 
 1. Ministers to furnish informa- 
 tion t , 844 
 
 Chapter VII. Of the Preaching of the Word. 
 
 Section 1. Importance 844 j Section 3. Method of preaching.. .845 
 
 1. Reading sermons 844 j Section 4. Sermons not to be 
 
 Section 2. Subjects of sermons . . .844 | lengthy 845 
 
 1. Expository preaching com- | Section 5. Close of service 845 
 
 mended 844 I Section 6. Who may preach 845 
 
 Chapter VIII. Of the Administration of Baptism. 
 
 Section 1. When and by whom to 
 
 be performed 845 
 
 1. Age of infancy not deter- 
 
 mined 845 
 
 2. Baptism by Unitarians, Ro- 
 
 mish baptism, etc 846 
 
 Section 2. Where usually to be 
 
 administered 846 
 
 Section 3. Presentation of chil- 
 dren 846 
 
 1. Who may be presented for 
 
 baptism 846 
 
 2. The duty of Christian mas- 
 
 ters to have their servants 
 baptized, etc 846 
 
 3. Orphan children of heathen 
 parents in the care of our 
 
 missions 846 
 
 Section 4. Addresses preceding 
 
 baptism 847 
 
 1. Obligations and qualifications 
 
 of parents 848 
 
 2. Parents required to enter into 
 
 engagements 848 
 
 3. Instruction to be given and 
 
 discipline urged for neglect. 848 
 Section 5. Order of administra- 
 tion 849 
 
 1. Mode of baptism 849 
 
xlvi SYLLABUS. 
 
 Chapter IX. Op the Administration of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Section 1. Times of celebration.. 849 
 
 plied in the invitation to 
 
 1. Where there is no church 
 
 commune 851 
 
 organized 849 
 
 4. Baptism with water is essen- 
 
 2. Not usually in the bounds of 
 
 tial to communion in the 
 
 a congregation without con- 
 
 Presbyterian Church 851 
 
 sent 849 
 
 5. Communicants' classes com- 
 
 3. Where a minister may stated- 
 
 mended 852 
 
 ly preach he may administer 
 
 Section 5. Order of administra- 
 
 the Lord's Supper 850 
 
 tion 852 
 
 4. Administered in a private 
 
 1. Communion wine, the purest 
 
 house in sickness 850 
 
 attainable to be used 853 
 
 Section 2. Who to be excluded. . .850 
 
 2. Unfermented fruit of the vine 
 
 Section 3. Public notice and in- 
 
 fulfills every condition 853 
 
 struction 850 
 
 3. Individual communion cups 
 
 Section 4. Address before ad- 
 
 not approved 853 
 
 ministration 850 
 
 4. The number of cups left to 
 
 1. The ignorant and scandalous 
 
 the discretion of the Session. 854 
 
 excluded 851 
 
 5. No rule as to persons to aid 
 
 2. Not the custom to invite 
 
 the minister 854 
 
 those who have not pro- 
 
 6. Deacons may aid in the dis- 
 
 fessed Christ 851 
 
 tribution of the elements. . .854 
 
 3. Church membership is im- 
 
 Section 6. Preparatory services . 854 
 
 Chapter X. Of the Admission op Persons to Sealing Ordinances. 
 
 Section 1. Duties and privileges 
 
 of baptized children 854 
 
 1. Pastoral care over baptized 
 
 children 855 
 
 2. Discipline of baptized chil- 
 
 dren. The subject post- 
 poned 855 
 
 3. Diligent oversight enjoined 
 
 in the care of the baptized 
 children 855 
 
 4. The duty of home training 
 
 urged upon the attention of 
 the Church 855 
 
 5. Children should be trained in 
 
 the faith of our fathers 856 
 
 6. Catechetical instruction en- 
 
 joined on parents 856 
 
 7. Family training essential to 
 
 the increase of the ministry 
 and of the Church 856 
 
 8. Placing children in Romanist 
 
 schools a violation of cove- 
 nant engagements. 856 
 
 Section 2. Years of discretion 857 
 
 Section 3. Examinations of appli- 
 cants . 857 
 
 1. Universalists not to be ad- 
 
 mitted to sealing ordinances. 857 
 
 2. Persons refusing to present 
 
 their children in baptism not 
 to be refused communion, 
 but the expediency of re- 
 ceiving them to be judged of 
 by the Session 857 
 
 3. Duelists to be received only 
 
 on evidence of repentance. .858 
 
 4. Postmasters officiating on the 
 
 Sabbath 858 
 
 5. Proprietor of mail stages run 
 
 ning on the Sabbath 858 
 
 6. Persons engaged in the sale of 
 
 intoxicating drink 858 
 
 7. Subjection to the discipline of 
 
 the church requisite 859 
 
 8. To be admitted only by a Ses- 
 
 sion regularly constituted.. .859 
 
 9. Session the judge of the quali- 
 
 fication of candidates for 
 membership . 859 
 
 10. Question as to the baptism of 
 
 a member of the Society of 
 Friends 859 
 
 11. Intercommunion with those 
 
 who maintain an irregular 
 ministry discouraged 859 
 
 12. Polygamists cannot be re- 
 
 ceived into the church while 
 remaining in that relation. .860 
 
 13. Examination of candidates 
 
 ought ordinarily to be in the 
 
 presence of the Session 860 
 
 Section 4. Public profession by 
 
 unbaptized persons 861 
 
 1. Baptism may follow upon 
 
 a general profession of faith. 861 
 
 2. An excommunicated member, 
 
 if restored, is not to be rebap- 
 tized 861 
 
 3. To admit to sealing ordinances 
 
 belongs exclusively to the 
 Session. Forms of admis- 
 sion 861 
 
DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP. XlVll 
 
 Chapter XL Op the Mode op Inflicting and Removing Censures. 
 
 Section 6. Form of excommunica- 
 
 Section 1. Tenderness toward of- 
 fenders 862 
 
 Section 2. Form of sentence 862 
 
 Section 3. Prayers for offenders . .862 
 Section 4. Restoration upon re- 
 pentance 863 
 
 Section 5. Excommunication may 
 
 be necessary 863 
 
 tion 863 
 
 Section 7. Restoration after ex- 
 communication 863 
 
 Section 8. Discretion of judicatory 
 
 as to censures 864 
 
 Chapter XII. Op the Solemnization of Marriage. 
 
 Section 1. Marriage not a sacra- 
 ment 864 
 
 Section 2. Christian marriage to 
 
 be by a minister 864 
 
 1. Marriage solemnized by licen- 
 
 tiates' 864 
 
 2. Marrying in the Lord defined864 
 
 Section 3. Who may marry 864 
 
 Section 4. Consent of parents and 
 
 guardians 864 
 
 1. Clandestine marriage dis- 
 couraged 865 
 
 Section 5. Rights of parents 865 
 
 Section 6. Public notice and obe- 
 dience to the law 865 
 
 1. Publication of purpose of 
 
 marriage 865 
 
 2. Caution enjoined in solemniz- 
 
 ing marriages 865 
 
 Section 7. Witnesses and certifi- 
 cate 866 
 
 Section 8. Form of marriage 866 
 
 Chapter XIII. Of the Visitation of the Sick. 
 Sections 1-10 867, 868 
 
 Chapter XIV. Of the Burial of the Dead. 
 
 Sections 1, 2. 
 1. Carousin« 
 
 and ostentatious 
 
 869 
 
 parades discountenanced .. .869 
 
 Chapter XV. Of Fasting, and of the Observation of the Days of 
 
 Thanksgiving. 
 
 Section 1. The Lord's Day the 
 
 only holy day 869 
 
 Section 2. Fasting and thanks- 
 giving Scriptural 869 
 
 1. The duty of fasting 869 
 
 2. Churches should observe days 
 
 appointed by the local au- 
 thorities 870 
 
 Section 3. Who should observe. . .870 
 
 Section 4. Who may appoint 870 
 
 Special days appointed by the 
 supreme judicatory. 
 
 1. Upon the occasion of the 
 French War 870 
 
 2. On the war with Spain 870 
 
 3. On account of trouble with 
 England 870 
 
 4. Before the second war with 
 England 870 
 
 5. During the second war with 
 England 871 
 
 6. On the outbreak of the 
 Civil War 871 
 
 7. On account of the profana- 
 tion of the Sabbath 872 
 
 8. For the conversion of the 
 world 872 
 
 9. The week of prayer. The 
 first entire week in January. 872 
 
 10. Day of prayer for colleges, 
 theological seminaries, etc. .874 
 
 11. Monthly concert of prayer 
 for missions 874 
 
 12. Children's day, special ser- 
 vices to be held 874 
 
 Section 5. Public notice 875 
 
 Section 6. Public worship obliga- 
 tory 875 
 
 Section 7. Method of observing 
 
 fast days 875 
 
 Section 8. Method of observing 
 
 thanksgiving days 875 
 
xlviii SYLLABUS. 
 
 Chapter XVI. The Directory for Secret and Family Worship. 
 
 Sections 1-5 875, 876 
 
 1. Duty of ministers to urge 
 
 family religion 876 
 
 2. The evening of the Lord's 
 
 Day especially set apart for 
 family training. The Stand- 
 ards need no change to fit 
 them for the present time. . .876 
 
 ADDITIONS TO ACTS, DECISIONS, AND DELIVERANCES. 
 
 1. Qualifications of voters for pas- 
 
 tors, elders, and other offi- 
 cers 878 
 
 2. Close of the ecclesiastical year. .880 
 
 3. Annual Narrative of the State 
 
 of Religion 880 
 
 4. Reorganization of the Board of ■ 
 
 Home Missions 881 
 
 5. Action as to legacies, etc., Board 
 
 of Relief. 881 
 
 6. Act relating to the reception and 
 
 probation of ministers from 
 other Churches 881 
 
 Index 883-909 
 
 
DIGEST 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ACTS AND DELIVERANCES 
 
 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 I. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. The General Presbytery. 
 
 [Note.— We have no history of the organization of the First Presbytery in what is 
 now " The United States of America." No record is to be found prior to Decem- 
 ber 27, 1706, when we find the Presbytery in session engaged in the work of examin- 
 ing Mr. John Boyd as a candidate for ordination, in the manner and form familiar 
 to us at this day. — Records of the Presbyterian Church, 1706, p. 9. 
 
 It seems to have had no other designation than " The Presbytery," and was, until 
 1717, the supreme judicatory of our Church.] 
 
 2. The General Synod. 
 
 In 1716 the Presbytery adopted the following: 
 
 It having pleased divine Providence so to increase our number, as 
 that, after much deliberation, we judge it may be more serviceable to the 
 interest of religion, to divide ourselves into subordinate meetings or Pres- 
 byteries, constituting one annually as a Synod, to meet at Philadelphia 
 or elsewhere, to consist of all the members of each subordinate Presby- 
 tery or meeting for this year at least: Therefore it is agreed by the 
 Presbytery, after serious deliberation, that the first subordinate meeting 
 or Presbytery, to meet at Philadelphia or elsewhere, as they shall see fit, 
 do consist of these following members, viz. : Masters Andrews, Jones, 
 Powell, Orr, Bradner and Morgan. And the second to meet at New 
 Castle or elsewhere, as they shall see fit, to consist of these, viz. : Masters 
 Anderson, McGill, Gillespie, Wotherspoon, Evans, and Conn. The 
 third to meet at Snow Hill or elsewhere, to consist of these, viz. : 
 Masters Davis, Hampton and Henry. And in consideration that only 
 1 1 
 
Z HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 our brethren Mr. McNish and Mr. Pumry are of our number upon 
 Long Island at present, we earnestly recommend it to them to use their 
 best endeavors with the neighboring brethren that are settled there, 
 which as yet join not with us, to join with them in erecting a fourth 
 Presbytery. And as to the time of the meeting of the respective Pres- 
 byteries, it is ordered that that be left to their own discretion. — 1716, 
 p. 45. 
 
 Our next meeting being appointed as a Synod, it was ordered that the 
 present Moderator (Rev. George McNish) open the same by preaching. 
 .... Appointed that the first meeting of our said Synod be at Phila- 
 delphia, on the third Tuesday of September in the year 1717. — 1716, 
 p. 46. 
 
 3. The General Assembly. 
 
 a. Preparatory act. 
 
 The Synod, considering the number and extent of the churches under 
 their care, and the inconvenience of the present mode of government 
 by one Synod, 
 
 Resolved, That this Synod will establish out of its own body three or 
 more subordinate Synods, out of which shall be composed a General 
 Assembly, Synod or Council, agreeably to a system hereafter to be 
 adopted.— 1786, p. 517. , 
 
 b. The Synod divided and the General Assembly constituted. 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That this Synod be divided, and it is hereby 
 divided, into four Synods, agreeably to an act made and provided for 
 that purpose in the sessions of Synod in the year one thousand seven 
 hundred and eighty -six; and that this division shall commence on the 
 dissolution of the present Synod. 
 
 Resolved, That the first meeting of the General Assembly, to be con- 
 stituted out of the above said four Synods, be held, and it is hereby 
 appointed to be held, on the third Thursday of May, one thousand 
 seven hundred and eighty -nine, in the Second Presbyterian Church in 
 the city of Philadelphia, at eleven o' clock a. m. ; and that Dr. Wither- 
 spoon, or, in his absence, Dr. Rogers, open the General Assembly with 
 a sermon, and preside till a Moderator be chosen. — 1788, pp. 547, 548. 
 
 II. ADOPTION, ETC., OF THE STANDARDS. 
 
 I. THE ADOPTING ACTS OF 1729 AND 
 EXPLANATORY ACTS. 
 
 1. The Overture laid over for a year. 
 
 There being an overture presented to the Synod in writing, having 
 reference to the subscribing to the Confession of Faith, etc. , the Synod, 
 judging this to be a very important affair, unanimously concluded to 
 defer the consideration of it till the next Synod, withal recommending 
 it to the members of each Presbytery present to give timeous notice 
 thereof to the absent members. — 1728, p. 91. 
 
ADOPTION OF THE STANDARDS. 6 
 
 2. The Confession of Faith, Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the 
 Westminster Assembly adopted. 
 
 a. Act relating to Subscription. 
 
 The committee brought in an overture upon the affair of the Confes- 
 sion, which was agreed upon in hcec verba : 
 
 Although the Synod do not claim or pretend to any authority of 
 imposing our faith upon other men's consciences, but do profess our just 
 dissatisfaction with and abhorrence of such impositions, and do utterly 
 disclaim all legislative power and authority in the Church, being willing 
 to receive one another as Christ has received us to the glory of God, and 
 admit to fellowship in sacred ordinances all such as we have grounds to 
 believe Christ will at last admit to the kingdom of heaven, yet we are 
 undoubtedly obliged to take care that the faith once delivered to the 
 saints be kept pure and uncorrupt among us, and so handed down to our 
 posterity. And do therefore agree that all the ministers of this Synod, 
 or that shall hereafter be admitted into this Synod, shall declare their 
 agreement in and approbation of the Confession of Faith, with the 
 Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westmin- 
 ster, as being, in all the essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound 
 words and systems of Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the said 
 Confession and Catechisms as the confession of our faith. And we do 
 also agree, that all the Presbyteries within our bounds shall always take 
 care not to admit any candidate for the ministry into the exercise of the 
 sacred function, but what declares his agreement in opinion with all the 
 essential and necessary articles of said Confession, either by subscribing 
 the said Confession of Faith and Catechisms, or by a verbal declaration 
 of their assent thereto, as such minister or candidate shall think best. 
 And in case any minister of this Synod, or any candidate for the minis- 
 try, shall have any scruple with respect to any article or articles of said 
 Confession or Catechisms, he shall at the time of his making said declar- 
 ation declare his sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, 
 notwithstanding, admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our 
 bounds, and to ministerial communion, if the Synod or Presbytery shall 
 judge his scruple or mistake to be only about articles not essential and 
 necessary in doctrine, worship or government. But if the Synod or 
 Presbytery shall judge such ministers or candidates erroneous in essential 
 and necessary articles of faith, the Synod or Presbytery shall declare 
 them uncapable of communion with them. And the Synod do solemnly 
 agree that none of us will traduce or use any opprobrious term of those that 
 differ from us in these extra -essential and not necessary points of doc- 
 trine, but treat them with the same friendship, kindness and brotherly 
 love, as if they had not differed from us in such sentiments. — 1729, 
 p94. 
 
 b. The Adopting Act proper, f 
 
 On the afternoon of the same day, 
 
 All the ministers of this Synod now present, except one * that declared 
 himself not prepared, viz. : Masters Jedidiah Andrews, Thomas Craig- 
 head, John Thomson, James Anderson, John Pierson, Samuel Gelston, 
 Joseph Houston, Gilbert Tennent, Adam Boyd, Jonathan Dickinson, 
 John Bradner, Alexander Hutchinson, Thomas Evans, Hugh Stevenson, 
 * Daniel Elmer, who subscribed the next year.— 1730, p. 97. t See p. 5. 
 
4 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 William Tennent, Hugh Conn, George Gillespie and John Wilson, after 
 proposing all the scruples that any of them had to make against any 
 articles and expressions in the Confession of Faith and Larger and 
 Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, have 
 unanimously agreed in the solution of those scruples, and in declaring 
 the said Confession and Catechisms to be the confession of their faith, 
 excepting only some clauses in the twentieth and twenty -third chapters, 
 concerning which clauses the Synod do unanimously declare that they 
 do not receive those articles in any such sense as to suppose the civil 
 magistrate hath a controlling power over Synods with respect to the 
 exercise of their ministerial authority, or power to persecute any for their 
 religion, or in any sense contrary to the Protestant succession to the 
 throne of Great Britain. 
 
 The Synod, observing that unanimity, peace and unity which appeared 
 in all their consultations and determinations relating to the affair of the 
 Confession, did unanimously agree in giving thanks to God in solemn 
 prayer and praises. — 1729, p. 95. 
 i 
 3. The ''Directory" recommended. 
 
 The Synod do unanimously acknowledge and declare, that they judge 
 the Directory for Worship, discipline and government of the Church, 
 commonly annexed to the Westminster Confession, to be agreeable in 
 substance to the word of God, and founded thereupon, and therefore do 
 earnestly recommend the same to all their members, to be by them 
 served as near as circumstances will allow and Christian prudence 
 direct.— 1729, p. 95. 
 
 4. Intrants and candidates to adopt the Confession in the same 
 manner and as fully as those then present. 
 
 a. Whereas some persons have been dissatisfied at the manner of 
 wording our last year's agreement about the Confession, etc.; supposing 
 some expressions not sufficiently obligatory upon intrants ; Overtured, That 
 the Synod do now declare that they understand these clauses that 
 respect the admission of intrants or candidates in such a sense as to 
 oblige them to receive and adopt the Confession and Catechisms at their 
 admission in the same manner and as fully as the members of the Synod 
 did that were then present. Which overture was unanimously agreed to 
 by the Synod.— 1730, p. 98. 
 
 b. Ordered, That the Synod make a particular inquiry during the 
 time of their meeting every year, whether such ministers as have been 
 received as members since the foregoing meeting of the Synod have 
 adopted, or have been required by the Synod, or by the respective 
 Presbyteries, to adopt the Westminster Confession and Catechisms with 
 the Directory, according to the acts of the Synod made some years since 
 for that purpose, and that also the report made to the Synod in answer 
 to said inquiry be recorded in our minutes. — 1734, p. 109. 
 
 5. To be inscribed in the book of each Presbytery. 
 
 Ordered, That each Presbytery have the whole Adopting Act inserted 
 in their Presbytery book. — 1735, p. 115. 
 
 
ADOPTION OF THE STANDARDS. 5 
 
 6. An act explaining the Adopting Act. 
 
 An overture of the committee upon the supplication of the people of 
 Paxton and Derry was brought in and is as followeth: That the Synod 
 do declare, that inasmuch as we understand that many persons of our 
 persuasion, both more lately and formerly, have been offended with some 
 expressions or distinctions in the first or preliminary act of our Synod 
 contained in the printed paper, relating to our receiving or adopting the 
 Westminster Confession and Catechisms, etc. ; That in order to remove 
 said offense, and all jealousies that have arisen or may arise in any of 
 our people's minds on occasion of said distinctions and expressions, the 
 Synod doth declare that the Synod have adopted and still do adhere to 
 the Westminster Confession, Catechisms and Directory, without the least 
 variation or alteration, and without any regard to said distinctions. 
 And we do further declare that this was our meaning and true intent in 
 our first adopting of said Confession, as may particularly appear by our 
 Adopting Act which is as followeth : ' 'All the ministers of the Synod now 
 present (which were eighteen in number, except one that declared 
 himself not prepared), after proposing all the scruples any of them had 
 to make against any articles and expressions in the Confession of Faith 
 and Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at 
 Westminster, have unanimously agreed in the solution of these scruples, 
 and in declaring the said Confession and Catechisms to be the confession 
 of their faith, except only some clauses in the twentieth and twenty- 
 third chapters, concerning which clauses the Synod do unanimously 
 declare, that they do not receive these articles in any such sense as to 
 suppose the civil magistrate hath a controlling power over Synods with 
 respect to the exercise of their ministerial authority, or power to perse- 
 cute any for their religion, or in any sense contrary to the Protestant 
 succession to the throne of Great Britain. ' ' 
 
 And we hope and desire that this our Synodical declaration and 
 explication may satisfy all our people, as to our firm attachment to our 
 good old received doctrines contained in said confession, without the least 
 variation or alteration, and that they will lay aside their jealousies that 
 have been entertained through occasion of the above hinted expressions 
 and declarations as groundless. This overture approved nemine contra- 
 dicente.— 1736, p. 126. 
 
 7. Mode of adopting the Confession. 
 
 The Synod of New York and Philadelphia adopt, according to the 
 known and established meaning of the terms, the Westminster Confession 
 of Faith as the confession of their faith, save that every candidate for 
 the gospel ministry is permitted to except against so much of the twenty - 
 third chapter as gives authority to the civil magistrates in matters of 
 religion. The Presbyterian Church in America considers the Church of 
 Christ as a spiritual society, entirely distinct from the civil government, 
 having a right to regulate their own ecclesiastical policy, independently 
 of the interposition of the magistrate. — 1786, p. 519. 
 
 8. The Directory for Worship and Form of Government. 
 
 The Synod also receives the Directory for public worship and the 
 Form of church government recommended by the Westminster Assembly 
 as in substance agreeable to the institutions of the New Testament. This 
 mode of adoption we use, because we believe the general platform of our 
 
6 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 government to be agreeable to the sacred Scriptures; but we do not 
 believe that God has been pleased so to reveal and enjoin every minute 
 circumstance of ecclesiastic government and discipline as not to leave 
 room for orthodox churches of Christ, in these minutiae, to differ with 
 charity from one another. — 1786, p. 519. 
 
 9. Authority of Par do van's Collections. 
 
 The rules of our discipline and the form of process in our Church 
 judicatures are contained in Pardovan's (alias Stewart's) Collections, id 
 conjunction with the acts of our own Synod, the power of which, in 
 matters purely ecclesiastical, we consider as equal to the power of any 
 Synod or General Assembly in the world. Our Church judicatures, like 
 those in the Church of Scotland, from which we derive our origin, are 
 Church Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods, to which it is now in contem- 
 plation to add a National and General Assembly. — 1786, p. 519. 
 
 It was moved and carried, That the Form of Process in Stewart of 
 Pardovan's Collections, be read and considered as a basis of deliberation 
 along with the draught. — 1787, p. 535. 
 
 II. THE CONSTITUTION OF 1788. 
 1. The Constitution revised and amended. 
 
 [Note.— In 1786 the " Book of Discipline and Government" was referred to a com- 
 mittee " to digest such a system as they shall think to be accommodated to the state 
 of the Presbyterian Church in America." The committee consisted of Drs. Wither- 
 spoon, McWhorter, Rodgers, Sproat, Dufheld, Alison and Ewing, Mr. Matthew 
 Wilson and Dr. Smith, with Isaac Snowden, Esq., Mr. Robert Taggart and John 
 Pinkerton, Elders— 1786, p. 525. 
 
 In 1787, the Synod, preparatory to forming the General Assembly, ordered a thor- 
 ough revision of the standards, altering the articles excepted to in the Adopting Act 
 of 1729, and making such amendments as were found to be necessary.— 1787, p. 539.] 
 
 2. Form of Government, Discipline, and Confession of Faith, 
 ratified and adopted. 
 
 The Synod having fully considered the draught of the Form of Gov- 
 ernment and Discipline, did, on a review of the whole, and hereby do 
 ratify and adopt the same, as now altered and amended, as the Constitu- 
 tion of the Presbyterian Church in America, and order the same to be 
 considered and strictly observed as the rule of their proceedings, by all 
 the inferior judicatories belonging to the body. And they order that a 
 correct copy be printed, and that the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
 as now altered, be printed in full along with it, as making a part of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 Resolved, That the true intent and meaning of the above ratification 
 by the Synod is, that the Form of Government and Discipline and the 
 Confession of Faith, as now ratified, is to continue to be our Constitution 
 and the confession of our faith and practice unalterable, unless two- 
 thirds of the Presbyteries under the care of the General Assembly shall 
 propose alterations or amendments, and such alterations or amendments 
 shall be agreed to and enacted by the General Assembly. — 1788, p. 546. 
 
 3. Directory for Worship and Catechisms, Larger and Shorter. 
 
 The Synod having now revised and corrected the draught of a Directory 
 for Worship, did approve and ratify the same, and do hereby appoint the 
 
OBLIGATION OF THE STANDARDS. 7 
 
 said Directory, as now amended, to be the Directory for the worship of 
 God in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 They also took into consideration the Westminster Larger and Shorter 
 Catechisms, and having made a small amendment of the Larger, did 
 approve, and do hereby approve and ratify the said Catechisms, as now 
 agreed on, as the Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church in the said 
 United States. And the Synod order that the said Directory and Cate- 
 chisms be printed and bound up in the same volume with the Confession 
 of Faith and the Form of Government and Discipline, and that the 
 whole be considered as the standard of our doctrine, government, disci- 
 pline and worship, agreeably to the resolutions of the Synod at their 
 present sessions. — 1788, p. 547. 
 
 4. Assembly enacts part of the Directory. 
 
 Dr. Witherspoon, Dr. Smith, and the Moderator, were appointed a 
 committee to revise the chapter of the draught of the directory, respect- 
 ing the mode of inflicting church censures, and to lay it, as by them 
 revised, before the General Assembly at their first meeting, to be by 
 them considered and finally enacted. — 1788, p. 547. 
 
 The committee appointed by the late Synod of New York and Phila- 
 delphia, to revise the chapter of the Directory entitled, ' ' Of the mode 
 of inflicting church censures," laid before the Assembly the chapter, as 
 by them revised; which, being considered and amended, was finally 
 enacted, and ordered to be printed and published with the Constitution. 
 —1789, p. 9. 
 
 III. THE OBLIGATION, ETC., OF THE STANDARDS. 
 1. The Adopting Acts and their force. 
 
 [Note.— For the text of the adopting acts and the acts explanatory of them, see 
 pp. 2 and 5.] 
 
 2. Use and obligation of the Standards. 
 
 1. That, in the opinion of this Assembly, Confessions of Faith, 
 containing formulas of doctrine, and rules for conducting the discipline 
 and worship proper to be maintained in the house of God, are not only 
 recognized as necessary and expedient, but as the character of human 
 nature is continually aiming at innovation, absolutely requisite to the 
 settled peace of the Church, and to the happy and orderly existence of 
 Christian communion. Within the limits of Christendom, few are to 
 be found in the attitude of avowed hostility to Christianity, The name 
 of Christian is claimed by all, and all are ready to profess their belief in 
 the Holy Scriptures, too many reserving to themselves the right of 
 putting upon them what construction they please. In such a state of 
 things, without the aid of Confessions, Christian fellowship can exist 
 only in a very limited degree, and the disorder of the Corinthian Church, 
 condemned by the apostle, would be realized : ' ' I am of Paid and I of 
 Apollos. ' ' 
 
 2. That, though the Confession of Faith and Standards of our Church 
 are of no original authority, independent of the Scriptures, yet we 
 regard them as a summary of those divine truths which are diffused 
 throughout the sacred volume. 
 
 They, as a system of doctrines, therefore, cannot be abandoned, in 
 
8 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 our opinion, without an abandonment of the word of God. They form 
 a bond of fellowship in the faith of the Gospel, and the General Assem- 
 bly cannot but believe the precious immortals under their care to be 
 more safe in receiving the truth of God's holy word, as exhibited in the 
 standards of our Church, than in being subject to the guidance of any 
 instructor, whoever he may be, who may have confidence enough to set 
 up his own opinions in opposition to the system of doctrines which men 
 of sound learning, full of the Holy Ghost, and mighty in the Scriptures, 
 have devised from the oracles of the living God. It should never be 
 forgotten, that the Church is solemnly cautioned against the danger of 
 being carried about by every wind of doctrine. 
 
 3. This Confession of Faith, adopted by our Church, contains a 
 system of doctrines professedly believed by the people and the pastors 
 under the care of the General Assembly, nor can it be traduced by any 
 in the communion of our Church, without subjecting the erring parties 
 to that salutary discipline which hath for its object the maintenance of 
 the peace and purity of the Church, under the government of her great 
 Master.— 1824, p. 114. 
 
 3. Adoption of the Standards in every case required. 
 
 The committee appointed on an overture respecting the consistency of 
 admitting into this Church ministers who manifest a decided hostility to 
 ecclesiastical creeds, confessions, and formularies, make the following 
 report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. That the Constitution, as is well known, expressly requires of all 
 candidates for admission, a solemn declaration that they sincerely receive 
 and adopt the Confession of Faith of this Church, as containing the 
 system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 2 That the last Assembly, in a report of their committee, to be seen 
 on the minutes, have so explicitly and fully declared the sentiments of 
 this Church in regard to her ecclesiastical standards, and all within her 
 communion who may traduce them, that no further expression of our 
 views on this subject is deemed necessary. — 1825, p. 155. 
 
 4. The Catechisms an integral part of the Standards of the Church. 
 
 a. The committee to whom was referred Overture No. 5, viz.: " On 
 subscribing the Confession of Faith," made the following report, which 
 was unanimously adopted, viz. : 
 
 That, in their judgment, any further legislation on the subject by the 
 Assembly would be unnecessary and inexpedient. They consider the 
 formula contained in our book, and the rule adopted by the Assembly in 
 1830 — viz. : " That, in their judgment, every licentiate coming by certifi- 
 cate to any Presbytery, in connection with the General Assembly, from 
 any portion of a corresponding ecclesiastical body, should be required to 
 answer in the affirmative, the constitutional questions directed by chapter 
 fourteenth of our Form of Government, to be put to our candidates 
 before they are licensed; and that in like manner every ordained minister 
 of the Gospel, coming from any church in correspondence with the 
 General Assembly by certificate of dismission and recommendation, 
 should be required to answer affirmatively the first seven questions 
 directed by chapter fifteenth of our Form of Government, to be put to 
 one of our own licentiates when about to be ordained to the sacred 
 office" (p. 287, 1830)— sufficiently explicit; and would earnestly 
 
OBLIGATION' OF THE STANDARDS. 9 
 
 recommend these to the attention of the Presbyteries under the care of 
 the Assembly. 
 
 b. As to the question submitted to them, "Whether the Catechisms, 
 Larger and Shorter, are to be considered a.- a part of the Standards of 
 our Church, and are comprehended in the words, Confession of Faith of 
 this Church ?" the committee feel no hesitation in answering that ques- 
 tion in the affirmative. It does not appear that any doubts on that sub- 
 ject have ever been entertained until very recently. The committee find 
 in the minutes of the old Synod, at the union of the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia with the Synod of New York, in 1758, that the first article of the 
 Plan of Union contains the following words (Digest 1820, p. 118), viz. : 
 " Both Synods, having always approved and received the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms as an orthodox 
 and excellent system of Christian doctrine founded on the word of God, 
 we do still receive the same as the Confession of our Faith; and also the 
 plan of worship, government and discipline, contained in the Westmin- 
 ster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all our members and probationers 
 for the ministry that they preach and teach according to the form of 
 sound words in said Confession and Catechism-, and avoid and oppose all 
 error contrary thereto." In the recital of the manner in which a 
 Presbytery was received by the Synod of New York, 1763, we have the 
 following record, which is contained in the Assembly's Digest, p. 50: 
 " It was agreed to grant their request, provided that they agree to adopt 
 our Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, and engage to 
 observe the Directory as a plan of worship, discipline and government, 
 according to the agreement of this Synod." 
 
 In 1788, in the Adopting Act of the Confession, as entered in the 
 Digest, p. 124, the Catechisms are distinctly mentioned as a part of our 
 standards. " They also took into consideration the Westminster Larger 
 and Shorter Catechisms, and having made a small amendment of the 
 Larger, did approve, and do hereby approve and ratify the said Cate- 
 chisms as now agreed on, as the Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the said United States. And the Synod order that the said Directory 
 and Catechisms be printed and bound up in the same volume with the 
 Confession of Faith and the Form of Government and Discipline; and 
 that the whole be considered as the standard of our doctrine, govern- 
 ment, discipline and worship, agreeably to the resolutions of the Synod 
 at their present sessions" — one of which resolutions was (p. 123), 
 " that the Form of Government and Discipline, and the Confession of 
 Faith, as now ratified, is to continue to be our constitution and the 
 confession of our faith and practice unalterably, unless two-thirds of 
 the Presbyteries under the care of the General Assembly shall propose 
 alterations or amendments, and such alterations or amendments shall be 
 agreed to and enacted by the General Assembly. ' ' Accordingly, in the 
 Directory for the administration of baptism, the Larger and Shorter 
 Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly are mentioned in connection 
 with the Confession of Faith, as adopted by this Church, and are to be 
 recommended as containing a summary of the principles of our holy 
 religion, taught in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. 
 
 The committee therefore recommend to the Assembly the adoption of 
 the following resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, by the Assembly, that in receiving and adopting the 
 Confession of Faith, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the 
 
10 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Holy Scriptures, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster 
 Assembly of Divines are included, and do constitute an integral part of 
 the standards of this Church.— 1832, p. 372. 
 
 5. Adoption of the Confession includes the Catechisms. 
 
 When ministers and other officers are ordained in the Presbyterian 
 Church, and give an affirmative answer to the question : Do you sincerely 
 receive and adopt the Confession of this Church as containing the 
 system of doctrines taught in the Holy Scriptures ? are such ministers 
 and officers to be understood as embracing and assenting to the doctrines, 
 principles, precepts and statements contained in the Larger and Shorter 
 Catechisms, in the same unqualified sense in which they are understood 
 to embrace and assent to the doctrines, principles, precepts and state- 
 ments contained in other parts of the Confession of Faith ? 
 
 The committee recommend that the question be answered in the 
 affirmative, and the recommendation was adopted. — 1848, p. 18, O. S. 
 
 6. Ministers who cannot adopt the Standards, not to be received. 
 
 On an overture from the Presbytery of Bethel relative to a Union 
 with the Independent Presbyterian Church, the Assembly answers, 
 " The privilege claimed by the Independent ministers, of holding and 
 teaching doctrines not in harmony with the Confession of Faith, is a 
 privilege, which, even if harmless in this particular case, might be 
 abused as a precedent, and lead in other quarters and in other relations 
 to serious mischief. The Assembly expresses the desire that these minis- 
 ters may soon be able to embrace our standards, without reservation, and 
 in that case the Presbytery of Bethel is hereby authorized to ratify the 
 Union, without further application to this body; but in the event that 
 the Independent ministers and churches cannot relinquish their peculiari- 
 ties, with a good conscience, this Assembly will cherish them in the 
 bonds of a Christian love, but it cannot see its way clear to embrace them 
 in the same Denomination." — 1857, p. 42, O. S. 
 
 7. The "Heidelberg Catechism" approved. 
 
 The resolutions reported by the Committee on the Heidelberg Cate- 
 chism were adopted, as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That this General Assembly recognizes, in the Heidelberg 
 Catechism, a valuable Scriptural compendium of Christian doctrine and 
 duty. 
 
 2. Resolved, That if any churches desire to employ the Heidelberg 
 Catechism in the instruction of their children, they may do so with the 
 approbation of this Assembly. 
 
 3. Resolved, That this Assembly cordially rejoices at the continued 
 and increasing evidences of agreement and union, among those whose 
 symbols maintain in common the faith once delivered to the saints. — 
 1870, p. 120. 
 
 8. The Standards subordinate to and in harmony with the Word of God. 
 
 The grounds for the insertion in this title [Constitution] of the words 
 " Standards subordinate to the Word of God," are as follows: 
 The Presbyterian Church acknowledges and maintains: 
 1. That " all the books of the Old and New Testaments are given by 
 inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life" (Confession of 
 
OBLIGATION OF THE STANDARDS. 11 
 
 Faith, Chap, i, Sec. 2); and "that the Holy Scriptures are the only 
 rule of faith and manners " (Form of Government, Chap, i, Sec. 7). 
 
 2. That all Church power, whether exercised by the body in general, 
 or in the way of representation by delegated authority, is only minis- 
 terial and declarative; that is to say, that no Church judicatory ought to 
 pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in virtue of their own 
 authority, and that all their decisions should be founded upon the 
 revealed will of God (Form of Government, Chap, i, Sec. 7). 
 
 3. That " all Synods or Councils since the apostles' times, whether 
 general or particular, may err and many have erred; therefore they are 
 not to be made the rule of faith and practice, but to be used as a help 
 in both" (Confession of Faith, Chap, xxxi, Sec. 13). 
 
 4. That " the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion 
 are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient 
 writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in 
 whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit, 
 speaking in the Scripture. ' ' 
 
 These principles set forth clearly the fact that the Holy Scriptures in 
 their entirety have been and are held by this Church to be the only and 
 infallible rule of religious faith and practice. This Christian Church 
 requires its standards of doctrine and government to contain as essential 
 and necessary articles only those things which are " either expressly set 
 down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequences may be 
 deduced from Scripture" (Confession of Faith, Chap, i, Sec. 6). In 
 matters which are non-essential, and which may be " ordered by the 
 light of nature and Christian prudence, " it is the law of the Church, 
 that in their ordering the ' ' general rules of the Word are always to be 
 observed" (Confession of Faith, Chap, i, Sec. 6). 
 
 Along with this insistence upon the unique supremacy of the Holy 
 Scriptures there is in the Standards the acknowledgment of human 
 fallibility. Christian Churches and their judicatories, being composed of 
 fallible men, may err. This admission of liability to error, however, is 
 not to be used as if it lessened the authority of the doctrinal and govern- 
 mental Standards of the Church over those who have voluntarily 
 accepted them. Far otherwise! It is simply the declaration by the 
 Church of its dependence upon the Divine Author of the Scriptures, for 
 the guidance of His Spirit in the interpretation of His Word and in the 
 formulation and application of its Standards. This Church holds not 
 only to the Word of God as the supreme and infallible rule of faith and 
 practice, but further, that its Confession of Faith contains the system of 
 doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures (Form of Government, Chap, 
 xiv, Sec. 1), and that its government, discipline and worship are agree- 
 able to and founded upon the Scriptures (Form of Government, Chap, 
 viii, Sec. 1; Book of Discipline, Sees. 3 and 4; Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, xxi, Sec. 1). The Holy Scriptures are acknowledged as alike 
 the source and sanction in all matters of faith and practice. 
 
 In view of these statements the following resolutions are offered for 
 adoption : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly, in directing the insertion in the title 
 to the Constitution of the words ' ' Standards subordinate to the Word of 
 God, " is to be understood as setting forth the relation of the Confession 
 of Faith and the other Standards of the Church to the Word of God aa 
 their sole source and sanction. 
 
12 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That this Assembly draws the attention of the judicato- 
 ries and members of the Church to the declarations of the Standards 
 above quoted, which set forth in explicit terms the belief of the Church, 
 that all the Standards are founded upon and in accordance with the Holy 
 Scriptures.— 1896, pp. 168, 169. 
 
 IV. THE AMENDMENTS OF THE STANDARDS. 
 
 1. Method of amendments. 
 
 The General Assembly of 1887 appointed a Committee on " The 
 mode of effecting changes in the Constitution of the Church," consisting 
 of Ministers — William Henry Koberts, D.D., Chairman, James T. 
 Leftwich, D.D. ; and Ruling Elders — Hon. William Strong and Hon. 
 Robert N. Willson. This Committee was increased in the General As- 
 sembly of 1890 by the addition of the following members: Ministers — 
 Everard Kempshall, D.D., Henry J. Van Dyke, D.D., Francis L. 
 Patton, D.D., Herrick Johnson, D.D., and Robert M. Patterson, D.D. ; 
 and Ruling Elders — George Junkin, Henry B. Sayler and Henry Day. 
 This Committee reported to that Assembly [Minutes, pp. 62-64] an 
 overture containing an amendment to the Form of Government, being 
 Chapter xxiii. Of Amendments. This chapter was adopted by the Presby- 
 teries, and formally declared by the Moderator of the Assembly of 1891, 
 to be a part of the Constitution of the Church. See for the text of the 
 chapter in the proper place in the Form of Government, and also in the 
 same place the law enacted by the Assembly of 1891, with reference to 
 the mode of action upon the returns of the Presbyteries to overtures from 
 the Assembly. See also, Adopting Act of 1788, p. 6. 
 
 2. List of amendments. 
 The following list of amendments to the Standards of the Church is 
 given here for information. The subject matter of each amendment 
 will be found in other parts of this Digest under the proper head. 
 
 (1) The Confession of Faith, adopted 1729, amended 1788 and 1887. 
 1887, p. 98. — Chap, xxiv, Sec. iv, the last clause stricken out. 
 
 [Note.— The intent was declared to be " To remove any obstacle which may have 
 existed to the marrying of a deceased wife's sister.] 
 
 (2) The Form of Government, adopted 1788, amended 1805 and 1821. 
 
 1803, p. 282.— The Rev. Drs. Blair, Tennent and Green, the Rev. 
 Messrs. Irwin, Milledoler, Potts, Linn and Janeway, were appointed a 
 Committee to report alterations in the Constitution. 
 
 1805, p. 333. — Chap, viii (now ix), Sec. i (now ii); Chap, x (now 
 xi), Sees, i, ii; Chap, xi (now xii), Sec. vi; Chap, xii (now xiii), Sec. 
 ii; Chap, xiv, Sec. i; Chap, xiv (now xv), Sees, i, ii, iii, iv, v; Chap, 
 xv (now xvi). 
 
 1819, p. 700. — Chap, xi (now xii), Sec. ii — the ratio of representa- 
 tion was altered. 
 
 1820, p. 737. — A Committee appointed 1816, ''To revise the Forms of 
 Government and Process, ' ' made its final report, which was adopted by 
 the Assembly, and sent to the Presbyteries as an overture (p. 739). 
 The Committee consisted of John B. Romeyn, D.D., A. Alexander, 
 D.D., S. Miller, D.D., and E. Nott, D.D. 
 
ADOPTION OF THE STANDARDS. 13 
 
 1821, p. 9. — " The whole of the proposed amendments sent down by 
 the last Assembly to the Presbyteries ratified and declared to be a part of 
 the Constitution." 
 
 (3) Amendments Form of Government since Reunion. 
 
 1871, p. 593— Chap, x, Sec. ii; 1894, p. 176— Sec. viii. 
 
 1881, p. 523— Chap, xi, Sec. i; 1881, p. 523— Sec. iv; 1885, p. 637. 
 
 1826, p. 168— Chap, xii, Sec. ii; 1885, p. 630— Sec. ii; 1885, p. 
 637— Sec. iv. 
 
 1891, p. 142 — Chap, xii, Sec. vi, stricken out. 
 
 1892, p. 172 — Chap, xii, Sec. iv, new, adopted. 
 
 1875, p. 521— Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, added; 1886, p. 108— amended. 
 1891, p. 139 — Chap, xxiii, " Of Amendments," added. 
 
 (4) The Book of Discipline, adopted 188J/., amended 1885 to 1894-. 
 
 In 1878, Minutes, p. 70, in answer to certain overtures, the Com- 
 mittee on the Polity of the Church recommended, that a Committee of 
 six ministers and five elders be appointed to consider whether any 
 changes, amendments or additions should be made in our present Form 
 of Government and Book of Discipline, and if so, what; to report to 
 the next Assembly. The recommendation was adopted, and the Com- 
 mittee appointed: 
 
 Ministers— Elijah R. Craven, D.D., Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., 
 Alexander T. McGill, D.D., LL.D., William E. Moore, D.D., 
 Nathaniel West, D.D., Robert W. Patterson, D.D., Francis L. Patton, 
 D.D., LL.D. Elders — Hon. William Strong, LL.D., Hon. Joseph 
 Allison, LL.D., Hon. Samuel M. Breckenridge, LL.D., Hon. Samuel 
 M. Moore, LL.D., Hon. John T. Nixon, LL.D.— p. 119. 
 
 The Committee made report in 1879 (Minutes, pp. 550, 551), and was 
 continued. Also 1880, pp. 34, 35; 1881, pp. 527, 528. This report 
 was recommitted with instructions (pp. 573, 574). The revision of 
 the Form of Government was withdrawn from the Committee. 
 
 The following action was taken with reference to the final report of 
 the Special Committee on the Revision of the Form of Government and 
 Book of Discipline: 
 
 Resolved, That the consideration of the report of the Committee on 
 the Revision of the Form of Government and Book of Discipline be 
 postponed until the next Assembly, and that the printed report be sent 
 down to the Presbyteries for their consideration and examination, and 
 that the Stated Clerk be instructed to send a copy to every minister and 
 church Session. — 1882, p. 52. 
 
 In 1883 (3Iinutes, p. 685), it was 
 
 Resolved, That the proposed revision of the Book of Discipline, and 
 of Chap, x of the Directory for Worship, be overtured to the Presby- 
 teries for their adoption as a part of the Constitution of the Church, in 
 place of the existing Book of Discipline and the existing Chap, x of the 
 Directory for Worship. 
 
 1884 (Minutes, p. 27) — The Special Committee on the Answers of the 
 Presbyteries to the Overtures on the Book of Discipline, reported their 
 adoption by a vote of 131 affirmatives to 36 negatives. 
 
 The Moderator then made a formal declaration that the Revised Book 
 
14 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 of Discipline with the revision of Chap, x of the Directory for Worship, 
 have been adopted, and are now a part of the Constitution of the Church. 
 —1884, p. 31. 
 
 For the Revised Book as adopted in 1884, see Minutes, pp. 658-673. 
 
 Effect of the adoption of the revised Discipline on cases pending. 
 
 The following paper was adopted with reference to the Eevised Book 
 of Discipline: 
 
 ' ' The General Assembly does hereby declare that no process heretofore 
 commenced should abate by reason of the adoption of the Revised Book 
 of Discipline, and all judicatories before which such process is now pend- 
 ing are hereby advised to issue and determine such cases in accordance 
 with the mode of procedure and under the provisions of the Revised 
 Book of Discipline."— 1884, p. 111. 
 
 1885. — Chap, i, Sec. v, was adopted, as found below. — p. 601. 
 
 Chap, iv, Sec. xviii, was amended, so as to read as below. — p. 601. 
 
 Chap, iv, Sec. xxvi, was substituted, so as to read as below. — p. 601. 
 
 Chap, vi, Sec. xlvi, was amended by striking out Acting Elder.— p. 
 601. 
 
 Chap, viii, Sec. lxv, was omitted, and numbers following changed. — 
 p. 602. 
 
 Chap, ix, Sec. iii, sub -Sec. lxxxiii, was changed so as to read as Sec. 
 lxxxiv below. — p. 602. 
 
 Chap, xii, Sec. cxii, was amended, so as to read as below. — p. 602. 
 
 Chap, xiii, Sec. cxviii, on Judicial Commissions, was added. — p. 638. 
 
 1894. — Chap, xiii, Sec. cxviii, was amended, and Sees, cxix and exx 
 were added. — p. 176. 
 
 1895. — Chap, xiv, on Differences between Judicatories, was added, 
 —p. 108. 
 
 (5) Directory for Worship, adopted 1788-89, amended 1881^-1886. 
 
 1884, p. 31. — Chap, x (now xi), revised and adopted. 
 1886, p. 107. — Chap, vi adopted, and the numbers of all succeeding 
 sections made higher by one. 
 
 1886, p. 107. — Chap, vi (now vii), Sec. v, amended. 
 
 III. PUBLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 1. Committee to supervise publication, 1788. 
 
 Ordered, That Dr. Duffield, Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Green, be a ' 
 committee to superintend the printing and publishing the above said 
 Confession of Faith and Catechisms, with the Form of Government 
 and Discipline and the Directory for the Worship of God, as now 
 adopted and ratified by the Synod, as the Constitution of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, and that they divide the 
 several parts into chapters and sections properly numbered. — 1788, p. 
 547. 
 
 2. Committee authorized to publish. 
 
 The committee appointed to superintend the printing and publishing 
 of the Constitution, etc., was ordered to call on Mr. Bradford, the 
 
PUBLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 15 
 
 printer, whom they employed to print said Constitution, and to inquire of 
 him the reasons why the publication has been so long delayed. — 1789, 
 p. 6. 
 
 Resolved, That the Constitution be printed at the expense of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly; and that the committee, or a majority of them, enter 
 into an agreement with Mr. Bradford; and that, on the best terms they 
 can, they have a number of copies, not less than a thousand, nor greater 
 than fifteen hundred, printed and bound in such a manner as may best 
 promote the sale; and that the committee draw, for the price of printing 
 and binding, on the Treasurer of the Assembly, who is hereby ordered 
 to pay it out of the present moneys in the funds. And the Assembly 
 earnestly recommend it to the different Presbyteries, to pay particular 
 atteution to have the fund reimbursed out of the sale of the book. — 
 1789, p. 13. 
 
 3. Committee of 1792. 
 
 1. Edition with proof -texts added. . 
 
 a. The committee appointed to consider the expediency of a new 
 impression of the Confession of Faith, Form of Government and 
 Discipline of this Church, reported .... that another impression 
 appeared expedient, in which, if the Scripture proofs were inserted at 
 length, it would become more acceptable, and might be of greater utility 
 to the churches; -and proposed that a committee be appointed properly to 
 select and arrange the Scripture texts to be adduced in support of the 
 articles in the Confession of Faith, Form of Government and Discipline, 
 and prepare the same to be laid before the next General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That Dr. Robert Smith, and Messrs. Mitchell and Grier, be 
 a committee to carry the above into execution. — 1792, p. 58. 
 
 b. A letter was received and read from Mr. Mitchell, one of the 
 members of a committee appointed by the Assembly of 1792, to revise 
 and prepare for publication an edition of the Confession of Faith, Cate- 
 chisms, and Form of Government and Discipline of this Church, 
 informing this Assembly that considerable progress had been made in the 
 business, but that it was still incomplete. Whereupon the business was 
 recommitted, and the Moderator (the Rev. James Latta) added to the 
 committee in the place of the Rev. Dr. Robert Smith, deceased, and 
 they were directed to report to the Assembly in 1794. — 1793, p. 66. 
 
 C. The committee appointed to prepare the Scripture proofs in sup- 
 port of the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, the Catechisms, etc., 
 of the Presbyterian Church, submitted their report, which was read, 
 examined, and approved as a specimen of the work. Whereupon Dr. 
 Green, Messrs. John B. Smith, James Boyd, William M. Tennent, 
 Nathaniel Irwin and Andrew Hunter, were appointed a committee to 
 compare the proofs prepared by said committee, and now reported to the 
 General Assembly, with the proofs annexed to the Westminster Confes- 
 sion of Faith, Catechisms and Directory; to revise the whole, prepare it 
 for the press, to agree with the printer for its publication, and to super- 
 intend the printing and vending of the same. — 1794, p. 88. 
 
 2. Authority of the notes. — The text alone contains the Constitution. 
 
 [Note. — The "Notes" referred to are not found in the constitution as revised in 
 1820. For the history concerning them see Digest, 1886, pp. 52-54.] 
 
16 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 4. Unauthorized editions discountenanced. 
 
 Resolved, That the Rev. Drs. Blair, Tennent, and Green, the Rev. 
 Messrs. Irwin, Milledoler, Potts, Linn and Janeway, be a committee to 
 take into consideration the expediency of publishing a new edition of the 
 Confession of Faith, etc., of this Church; to consider whether any, and 
 if any, what alterations ought to be made in the said Confession of 
 Faith, etc., to make such preparatory arrangements on this subject as 
 they shall judge proper, and to report to next Assembly. 
 
 Whereas, This Assembly have been informed, that one or more 
 unauthorized editions of the Confession of Faith, and the Form of Gov- 
 ernment and Discipline of this Church, have been published within a 
 short period, 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly cannot recognize as accurate, or recom- 
 mend to the churches under their care, any edition of the said Confession 
 of Faith, published since that which was printed by Robert Aitken, in 
 the year 1797, under the direction of the General Assembly. And the 
 Assembly would further declare to the churches in their communion, that 
 no edition of the said Confession of Faith ought, in future, to be 
 purchased or encouraged by them, except such as may be published by 
 the authority of the Assembly. — 1803, p. 282. 
 
 5. Committee on circulation. 
 Resolved, That Mr. Hotchkin, Drs. Blatchford and Romeyn, Messrs. 
 Potts, Patterson, John H. Rice, Drs. Blythe, Hall, Thompson and Mr. 
 Kemper, be a committee to report some plan for more extensively circu- 
 lating the Confession of Faith and the Book of Discipline of our 
 Church.— 1816, p. 613. 
 
 6. Presbyteries and churches to stimulate circulation. 
 
 The committee appointed to inquire whether some plan cannot be 
 devised for the wider circulation of the Confession of Faith, and of the 
 Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, reported, and their report being 
 read and amended, was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. That it be strictly enjoined on all the Presbyteries under the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, to endeavor, by such means as upon careful examination 
 shall to them appear best, to promote the diffusion and wider circulation 
 of the Confession of Faith, and Book of Discipline of the Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 2. That it be recommended to the congregations in our connection to 
 take measures to supply their own poor with the Confession of Faith, 
 Catechisms, and Book of Discipline of our Church. 
 
 7. Committee of supervision of 1821. 
 Drs. Blatchford, M'Dowell and Wilson, and Messrs. Herron and 
 William Williams, were appointed a committee to determine upon the 
 plan of printing a new edition of the Confession of Faith, and Constitu- 
 tion of the Church.— 1821, p. 9. 
 
 8. Committees of supervision appointed from the Synods. 
 
 The committee appointed to determine upon the plan of printing a new 
 edition of the Confession of Faith and Constitution of the Church, 
 presented a report, which was accepted; whereupon the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Rev. Dr. Ely be appointed a committee to pro- 
 
PUBLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 17 
 
 cure in the name of the Trustees of the General Assembly, the privilege 
 of a copyright for the publishing of the Confession of Faith, and 
 Constitution of the Church; and that he be charged with seeing that 
 every part of the law concerning the securing said right be fully 
 complied with. 
 
 2. That any printer so disposed, may print any number of copies of 
 said book, as he shall think proper, subject to the following restrictions: 
 
 3. That to secure authentic copies of so important a publication three 
 ministers of each of the Synods of our Church be designated as a com- 
 mittee in their respective bounds, whose duty it shall be to form contracts 
 for the payment of the premium hereinafter mentioned, and carefully to 
 examine the proof sheets of said book. Their signatures shall be 
 regarded as necessary certificates of authenticity. 
 
 4. That each printer of said book, for the privilege of printing, shall 
 pay the sum of three cents per copy, to the Treasurer of the General 
 Assembly; to be equally divided between the missionary funds belonging 
 to this Assembly, and the funds of the Theological Seminary at Prince- 
 ton. 
 
 5. That the committee of the Synod of Philadelphia be directed to 
 have the book printed as speedily as possible. 
 
 The Assembly then proceeded to appoint the following committees 
 in their respective Synods, to act in conformity with the preceding resolu- 
 tions, viz. — 1821, p. 18. 
 
 9. Committees responsible for accuracy. 
 
 Resolved, That the members of these several committees, respectively, 
 shall be considered as responsible to the Church for the accuracy of the 
 editions which may be printed under their superintendency. — 1821, 
 p. 18. 
 
 10. Board of Publication to print and sell. 
 
 Resolved, That the permission heretofore granted by the Assembly to 
 publish the Confession of Faith in contravention of the copyright, be, 
 and the same is, hereby revoked. 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbyterian Board of Publication is hereby 
 directed to take the charge, oversight, and agency of printing and selling 
 the authorized copy of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America.— 1839, p. 177, O. S. 
 
 11. Synodical committees abolished. 
 
 Resolved, That the standing committees to supervise the publication of 
 the Constitution, within the bounds of the several Synods, be, and the 
 same are, hereby abolished. — 1839, p. 177, O. S. 
 
 12. Permanent committee of supervision appointed. 
 
 Resolved, That the Stated and Permanent Clerks be a committee to 
 supervise the publication of any and all editions of the Constitution 
 hereafter issued by the Board of Publication, and also of the Rules for 
 Judicatories. — 1886, p. 113. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Permanent Committee on Editions of the Constitu- 
 tion be enlarged by the addition, ex-officio, of the Rev. E. R. Craven, 
 D.D., LL.D. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That no change of the text of any of the several 
 Standards of Doctrine, Government, Discipline and Worship, included 
 2 
 
18 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 in the Constitution, shall hereafter be made except after report to the 
 General Assembly, and due constitutional procedure. — 1891, p. 37. 
 
 13. Attestation by the committee of supervision. 
 
 The Permanent Committee appointed to supervise all editions of the 
 Constitution, having carefully examined this edition, herewith state that 
 the text has been carefully compared with those of the editions of 1789, 
 1797, 1815, 1821, 1885 and 1888, the edition of 1789 being regarded 
 as the Princeps, and also with the texts of the amendments as they 
 appear in the Minutes of the General Assembly. In their judgment, 
 this edition contains what may be regarded as the authoritative text of 
 the Standards of the Presbyterian Church in the "United States of 
 America. The proof -texts are those approved by the Assembly of 1894, 
 and have been carefully edited. The Index has been greatly enlarged, 
 and it is believed will prove a decided help in consulting the work. 
 
 [Edition of 1896.] Wm. H. Roberts, 
 
 Wm. E. Moore, 
 E. R. Craven. 
 
 14. Standard copy of the Shorter Catechism. 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly approve the revised copy of the Shorter 
 Catechism with the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the 
 Creed, presented by the Board of Publication, and hereby adopt the 
 same as the standard edition of our Church. — 1872, p. 22. 
 
 [Note. — See Report of the Committee on Proof-texts, 1894, p. 24.] 
 
 15. Report on corrections in punctuation, etc. 
 
 The Special Committee on a New Edition of the Constitution pre- 
 sented its Report, which was accepted, and adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Permanent Committee, consisting of the Stated and Permanent 
 Clerks, appointed to supervise the editions of the Constitution of the 
 Church, would respectfully report to the General Assembly of 1891 that 
 a new edition of the Constitution has been prepared under the super- 
 vision of the Committee, and published by the Board of Publication and 
 Sabbath -school Work. Great care has been taken in the preparation of 
 this edition, and it is believed to be more accurate than any preceding 
 issue. The text has been carefully compared with the editions of 1789, 
 1797, 1815, 1885 and 1888, the edition of 1789 being regarded as the 
 Princeps, and also with the texts of the several amendments as they 
 appear in the Minutes of the General Assembly. In the judgment 
 of the Committee this edition contains what may be regarded as the 
 authoritative text of the Standards of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America. The proof- texts have been carefully com- 
 pared with those contained in the edition of 1797. The Index has 
 been enlarged, and it is believed will prove a decided help in consulting 
 the work. 
 
 The Committee thankfully acknowledge the faithful, painstaking 
 services and valuable assistance rendered in the preparation and publica- 
 tion of this edition by the Rev. Elijah R. Craven, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 As a result of the work done by him and your Committee, the following 
 restorations of the true text of the Constitution have been made. 
 
PUBLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 19 
 
 The principal emendations of the text of the Constitution are as 
 follows : 
 
 Confession. 
 
 1. The title of Chapter iii is altered from " Of God's Eternal 
 Decrees " to " Of God's Eternal Decree.'" 
 
 2. Chapter vii, 3 — " offered " changed to " offereth." 
 
 3. Chapter xi, 3 — the punctuation altered so as to read: " Yet, 
 inasmuch as He was given by the Father for them; and His obedience 
 and satisfaction accepted in their stead; and, both freely," etc. 
 
 4. Chapter xiii, 1 — a colon (:) after " dwelling in them:" and a 
 semi-colon (;) after " weakened and mortified;". 
 
 5. Chapter xv, 6 — a semi-colon (;) after " the pardon thereof;". 
 
 6. Chapter xxi, 6 — "into" is altered to "unto" in the phrase 
 " either tied unto." 
 
 7. Chapter xxiii, 4 — the article " the " is omitted in the first clause 
 before ' ' people " so as to read : " It is the duty of people. ' ' 
 
 8. Chapter xxix, 2 — " one " changed to " once " in the clause: " a 
 commemoration of the once offering up of himself." (This change is 
 made in accordance with the American Princeps. The British editions, 
 so far as they have been examined, all read ' ' one. ' ' ) 
 
 Larger Catechism. 
 
 9. Answer 113 — altering "the" to "His" in the clause: "using 
 His titles, attributes, ' ' etc. 
 
 10. Answer 113 (near end) — substituting "wise" for "ways" in 
 the clause: " or any wise opposing," etc. 
 
 11. Answer 120 — inserting " day" in the clause: " the seventh day 
 is the Sabbath, ' ' etc. 
 
 12. Answer 135 (near end) — substituting "forbearing" for "for- 
 bearance. ' ' 
 
 13. Answer 139 (near end) — substituting semi-colon (;) for comma 
 ( , ) after ' ' stage-plays. ' ' 
 
 14. Answer 142 — substituting " depredation " for " depopulations." 
 (The word employed by the Westminster divines was " depopulations," 
 and it was appropriately used in thickly settled Britain. In this coun- 
 try, however, which was sparsely settled, the word ' l depredation ' ' 
 appears in the Princeps, and, beyond doubt, was the term designed by 
 the Synod. The change to * l depopulations ' ' was made subsequent to 
 the year 1842, doubtless to bring the Catechism into conformity with the 
 original Westminster. ) 
 
 15. Question 164 — inserting " in his church " after " instituted." 
 
 16. Answer 172 (near middle) — substituting "desires" for "desir- 
 ous ' ' in the clause : ' ' unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ. ' ' 
 
 17. Answer 175 — substituting "relapses" for "relapse." 
 
 Shorter Catechism. 
 
 18. Answer 19 — the reading of the American Princeps, restored so 
 that the third clause shall read: " and so made liable to all the miseries 
 of this life." 
 
 (There are three forms of this answer: (1) The American Princeps, 
 
20 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 as above, which was continued in all editions until 1842. (2) The 
 Westminster and Scotch, adopted in the N. S. edition of 1850, and 
 introduced into the editions of the Presbyterian Board after 1872 — 
 11 and so made liable to all miseries in this life. (3) A form introduced 
 subsequent to 1842, and which seems to have been an attempted compro- 
 mise between the American and Westminster forms — " and so made 
 liable to all the miseries in this life. ' ' ) 
 
 19. The words " End of the Catechism" restored after the Creed. 
 (These words appear in the American Princeps, and in all editions 
 
 previous to those of 1821.) 
 
 Form of Government. 
 
 20. Chapter viii, 1 — last line, " or in " substituted for " and " in the 
 clause : " in opinion or in practice. ' ' 
 
 21. Chapter xiv, 7 — in Question 1, substituting " the " for " and " 
 in clauses: " the word of God, the only infallible rule." 
 
 22. Chapter xxii, 1 — substituting " their" for " the " in the clause: 
 " for their commissioners to attend to their duty." 
 
 The Committee has also prepared a summary, setting forth in brief the 
 history of the Standards of the Church, and this has been published on 
 page 4 of the new edition. 
 
 Your Committee would recommend the passage and adoption of the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved , 1. That the Permanent Committee on Editions of the Con- 
 stitution be enlarged by the addition, ex-offieio, of the Rev. E. R. 
 Craven, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That no change of the text of any of the several Stand- 
 ards of Doctrine, Government, Discipline and Worship, included in the 
 Constitution, shall hereafter be made except after report to the General 
 Assembly, and due constitutional procedure. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Wm. H. Roberts, 
 Wm. E. Moore. 
 —1891, pp. 34-37. 
 
 16. Title-page of the Constitution changed. 
 
 The Committee on the Constitution respectfully reports that a new 
 edition of the Constitution has been issued under its direction, by the 
 Board of Publication; that said edition contains the revised proof -texts 
 reported to and approved by the General Assembly of 1894, and also 
 acts of the Assembly of a general administrative character, as directed 
 by the same Assembly. 
 
 The Committee draw particular attention to the title-page of the next 
 edition, which will read: " The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the U. S. A. , being its Standards, subordinate to the Word of God, 
 viz., The Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the 
 Form of Government, and the Directory for the Worship of God, " etc. 
 —1896, p. 168. 
 
 [Note. — See for full report on the change in title p. 10.] 
 
PROOF -TEXTS TO THE STANDARDS. 21 
 
 IV. PROOF-TEXTS TO THE STANDARDS. 
 
 1. Proof-texts authorized, 1794. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare the Scripture proofs in support of 
 the doctrines of the Confession of Faith, the Catechisms, etc., of the 
 Presbyterian Church, submitted their report, which was read, examined, 
 and approved as a specimen of the work. Whereupon Dr. Green, 
 Messrs. John B. Smith, James Boyd, William M. Tennent, Nathaniel 
 Irwin and Andrew Hunter, were appointed a Committee to compare the 
 proofs prepared by said Committee, and now reported to the General 
 Assembly, with the proofs annexed to the Westminster Confession of 
 Faith, Catechisms and Directory; to revise the whole, prepare it for the 
 press, to agree with the printer for its publication, and to superintend the 
 printing and vending of the same. — 1794, p. 88. 
 
 2. Revision of proof-texts, 1894. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, asking the appoint- 
 ment of a Committee of competent divines to revise the proof -texts of 
 our Standards, and to suggest such changes as may, on examination, be 
 found desirable, to be reported to a future Assembly. 
 
 It is recommended that the request be approved, and that the follow- 
 ing Committee be appointed to report to the next Assembly : Ministers — 
 Samuel T. Lowrie, William H. Green, Howard Crosby, Joseph T. 
 Smith, Marvin R. Vincent, David C. Marquis, Matthew B. Riddle. 
 Adopted.— 1888, p. 59. 
 
 The next year the Committee reported that the Rev. M. R. Vincent, 
 D.D., had declined to serve. On its recommendation, W. G. T. Shedd, 
 D.D., Edward D. Morris, D.D., and Ransom B. Welch, D.D., were 
 added to the Committee. — 1889, p. 19. 
 
 In 1890 the Committee reported progress, and was continued. — 1890, 
 pp. 117-119. 
 
 The next year the Committee presented its report, with recommenda- 
 tions which were adopted. The Moderator was empowered to fill the 
 vacancies in the Committee. [Dr. R. B. Welch, and Dr. Howard 
 Crosby having died since the last report.] 
 
 The Committee also reported to the Assembly the chief rules that 
 were adopted for its guidance, as follows: 
 
 The proof -texts as they have heretofore been printed by the authority 
 of the General Assembly, and the original Westminster texts, were 
 taken together as the basis of the work. 
 
 Westminster texts were restored, where they seemed better, or even as 
 good as those that were substituted for them in our book. For it is 
 desirable, as far as possible, to have the original texts, and thus, also, 
 the same proofs as are printed by other Presbyterian Churches that have 
 the Westminster Standards and retain the Westminster texts. 
 
 Reject texts of our book (a) where such restoration or supplying new 
 texts makes them redundant; or (b) where locating texts differently 
 seems expedient, and occasions their redundancy, or (c) where the proof 
 is defective in itself, or because of a rejected or much-disputed reading 
 in the original, or 'because the sense is much debated. 
 
 Supply texts not used before where they afford the most pertinent 
 proof. 
 
22 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Locate texts differently where they are more exactly adapted to other 
 statements of the Confession or Catechism, than to those to which they 
 are attached. 
 
 Arrange the texts under a letter in the order that corresponds to the 
 order of topics in the clause to which the letter refers. 
 
 Print the texts in full more generally than they now appear; using 
 simple references only to avoid repetition of the words in full in near 
 proximity, or where the passage is long. 
 
 The Committee took into consideration the " Note attached to the 
 Title of the Shorter Catechism," which explains the omission to supply 
 proof -texts to that compendium as the Westminster divines had done. 
 It reads as follows: " The Shorter Catechism is simply an abridgment of 
 the Larger; so that the proofs of both must be the same. The reader, 
 therefore, who desires to see the Scripture authorities for any doctrine 
 taught in this Catechism, will turn to that doctrine in the Larger Cate- 
 chism," etc. To say that " the Shorter Catechism is simply an abridg- 
 ment of the Larger," expresses a relation of the two that is inconsistent 
 with the facts of their preparation, and with the differences that appear 
 in their composition. We recommend that the note shall read as 
 follows: " The Shorter Catechism being a brief compendium of what 
 is taught in the Larger, the reader who desires to see the Scripture 
 authorities," etc. 
 
 The Committee recommend that in printing the proof -texts, the method 
 of referring to them from the statements of the Confession of Faith and 
 Larger Catechism, viz., by small letters, be made to conform as much as 
 possible to the usage in the standard editions of the same as published 
 by the Church of Scotland; especially in the following particulars: 1. 
 Omit the letters j and v. 2. At the beginning of each chapter of the 
 Confession of Faith, begin with the first letter of the alphabet to mark 
 the references. 3. In the Confession of Faith, mark the proof -texts 
 belonging to one chapter from those of another by spacing with leads; 
 and the proof -texts of one section from those of another by setting the 
 number of the section before the first letter that marks the texts belong- 
 ing to it. 4, In the Larger Catechism, mark the proof -texts belonging 
 to each question by setting the number of the question before the first 
 letter referring to it. 5. That in respect to spelling, italics and punctua- 
 tion, the printing of the proof -texts be made to conform to some recog- 
 nized standard of printing the English Bible. 
 
 A copy of the Confession of Faith, printed by the Board of Publi- 
 cation from newly made plates, in preparation for a new and more 
 correct edition of our Standards, was taken by the Committee and called 
 its Official Copy. The results of their labor, viz., the changes in the 
 proof -texts that they recommend, and the change in the note attached to 
 jthe title of the Shorter Catechism, have been entered in the margins of 
 the Official Copy of the Confession of Faith. This Official Copy we 
 herewith submit to the General Assembly as the embodiment of our 
 work. 
 
 In respect to the acceptance of this report, and the disposition to be 
 made of your Committee's work, the Assembly will necessarily consider 
 the following subjects: 
 
 1. Since this revision of the proof -texts was instituted, the Confession 
 of Faith itself has been submitted to revision with a view to possible 
 " alterations and amendments." 
 
PROOF-TEXTS TO THE STANDARDS. 23 
 
 2. Shall the changes in the proof -texts recommended by your Com- 
 mittee be adopted by this Assembly ? 
 
 In respect to the first of these considerations, when it is remembered 
 that the revision of the Confession of Faith now in progress is expressly 
 limited " not [to] propose any alterations or amendments that will in 
 any way impair the integrity of the Reformed or Calvinistic system of 
 doctrine taught in the Confession of Faith" (Assembly's " Minutes," 
 1890, p. 86), it appears that the most of the work done by this Com- 
 mittee is unaffected by the revision of the Confession of Faith; and it 
 may be assumed that for the most part the proof -texts recommended by 
 this Committee will still be found appropriate in places where the text of 
 the Confession of Faith may be modified. The readjustment of them, 
 with such omissions or other selections as may become expedient, might 
 be referred to this Committee. 
 
 With regard to the second consideration above, your Committee would 
 remind the Assembly that the present revision of the proof -texts was 
 instituted in view of the following facts, viz. : 
 
 1. Since the selection of such texts by the Westminster divines, two 
 and a half centuries ago, much light has been shed on the texts used by 
 them, and on others not so used, and especially much has been done to 
 settle the correct text of the Scriptures, particularly of the New Testa- 
 ment. Consequently some changes of the proof-texts had become 
 important. 
 
 2. The proof -texts as printed by authority of our Church differ much 
 from the original proof -texts furnished by the Westminster Assembly. 
 That Assembly did its work in a very thorough way. Referring it first 
 to Special Committees, the proof -texts recommended by these were can- 
 vassed in sessions of the Assembly extending through many days and 
 even months. The finished work of that Assembly was then reported to 
 Parliament, and approved and adopted by it. 
 
 3. No one can suppose that the work of revising those texts could be 
 attempted by one of our General Assemblies, in the fashion used by 
 the Westminster Assembly. This was not thought necessary by the 
 General Assemblies of 1792-4, that brought about the revised proof -texts 
 that our Church has printed ever since. But the method used at that 
 time was faulty. The preparation of proof -texts was consigned to a 
 small Committee, and the actual work appears to have been done by only 
 two ministers, one of whom did the work on the Confession of Faith, 
 and the other that on the Larger Catechism. On their report and 
 recommendation, the Assembly of 1794 adopted the proof -texts and 
 ordered their printing, in the form the Church has used to the present. 
 (See Presbyterian Review, July, 1888.) 
 
 4. The Assembly that instituted the present revision of the proof -texts 
 improved on the methods of the earlier revision by appointing a Com- 
 mittee of nine ministers, all but one of whom have been able to devote 
 much labor to the work. The Committee was intended to be fairly 
 representative of the whole Church, by the character, qualification, and 
 position of its members, and by their geographical distribution, and by 
 numbers not too many to be practically cooperative. The Committee, as 
 their reports show, have done the work of revision by methods that have 
 exacted the attention of every member to the whole of it, while by parts 
 it has been subjected to particular study. Leaving it to the Assembly 
 
24 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 to vindicate the selection of the workmen that was made, the Committee 
 itself trusts that it will be approved as having used due diligence. 
 
 Having these facts before it, the Assembly can judge whether a more 
 perfect work may be achieved by a further process. For ourselves, 
 having experience of the comprehensive consideration, the patient 
 scrutiny, and deliberate wisdom required in this work, and supposing 
 that by our combined knowledge, with the use of commentaries and 
 theological works, we have been confronted with the criticisms that it 
 may encounter, and that we have paid due attention to such different 
 views, as it was our aim and duty to do, we are of the opinion that any 
 good that might come of submitting our work to a wider scrutiny and 
 judgment, would not justify the pains and cost of the printing that 
 would be necessary, nor be commensurate with the confusion and trouble 
 that would attend such 'a course. 
 
 We therefore conclude with the following recommendations for adop- 
 tion by this Assembly: 
 
 1. That this report be printed in the " Minutes " of this Assembly. 
 
 2. That, in view of the revision of the Confession of Faith, and 
 other circumstances that make it impossible to treat the revision of the 
 proof -texts as a completed work at present, the Committee on Proof- 
 texts be continued. 
 
 3. That when this Committee's work is finally adopted by the Assem- 
 bly, the Church shall provide for the children a form of the Catechism 
 with proof -texts appended. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Samuel T. Lowrie, Chairman. 
 
 —1891, pp. 129-134. 
 
 B. B. Warfield, D.D., Timothy G. Darling, D.D., and Wallace 
 Radcliffe, D.D., were appointed to fill the vacancies in the Committee. 
 —1891, p. 185. 
 
 The Committee reported " Progress."— 1892, p. 42; 1893, p. 206. 
 
 In 1894 the Committee presented its final report. The resolu- 
 tions were adopted seriatim, and the report as a whole was adopted, and 
 is as follows: 
 
 1. The Shorter Catechism with proof -texts, as ordered by the Assem- 
 bly of 1893 {Minutes, pp. 206, 207), was printed by the Board of 
 Publication and Sabbath -school Work, and seven thousand copies of the 
 same were by it distributed, about January 1, 1894, to ministers and 
 Sessions, as a sample of the Committee's whole work on the proof -texts. 
 In the same pamphlet was printed also a statement by the Committee of 
 the methods used by it in its work. This pamphlet will be referred to in 
 the progress of this Report as the Sample Pamphlet. A copy of the 
 same is also herewith submitted to the Assembly. 
 
 2. The action of the Assembly referred to invited criticism to be 
 received and considered as the Assembly would direct. No direction, 
 however, was given. It was therefore arranged by those charged with 
 issuing the Sample Pamphlet that criticisms or suggestions should be 
 enclosed to the Rev. E. R. Craven, D.D., Secretary of the Board of 
 Publication and Sabbath-school Work, who would acknowledge receipt 
 of the same and transmit them to the Committee. A notice to this effect 
 appears on page 10 of the Sample Pamphlet. 
 
 Three communications of this sort came to the Committee in the way 
 
PROOF-TEXTS TO THE STANDARDS. 25 
 
 indicated. One was a criticism of the fitness of a certain text as used 
 for proof; another recommended a text for a certain place; another 
 suggested eleven texts as desirable proofs for places it indicated. These 
 communications being few and brief, they were submitted to the mem- 
 bers of the Committee by copies sent through the post-office. From the 
 replies thereto returned to the Chairman it appears that four of the 
 suggested texts were approved, and the same are adopted as part of 
 the Committee's report of proof -texts for the Shorter Catechism; in 
 token of which they are supplied at the proper places in the copy of the 
 Sample Pamphlet herewith submitted, as well as in the Committee's 
 official copy of the Confession of Faith, which has been referred to in 
 previous reports to the Assembly as representing the results of the Com- 
 mittee's work. 
 
 3. In the Sample Pamphlet an explanatory note on page 2 states that 
 the Board of Publication and Sabbath -school Work is responsible for 
 editing the text of the Shorter Catechism, and the Chairman of the 
 Committee for editing the proof -texts. 
 
 In this connection there emerges a matter that the Committee deems 
 important. Agreeably to rules of editing adopted by the Board, the 
 text of the Shorter Catechism conforms to an American fashion of 
 spelling. The proof -texts conform in spelling to the text of a Cam- 
 bridge Bible used in editing them. The confusion arising from this 
 appears, e.g., at Question 57, ''labor" and "labour;" Questions 
 63-65, " honor" and " honour;" Questions 69-71 and 75-81, " neigh- 
 bor ' ' and ' ' neighbour. ' ' This discrepancy must appear in a much 
 larger degree in editing the Confession of Faith and the Larger Cate- 
 chism with proof -texts, should that be done in the same way. 
 
 It is the opinion of the Committee that uniformity in spelling should 
 be observed in the text of these Standards and in the proof -texts attached 
 to them. But for the proof -texts it recommends that they be printed to 
 conform precisely, in text, punctuation and spelling, to the best recog- 
 nized standard of printing the English Bible in England, or to the best 
 and standard edition of the English Bible printed by the American 
 Bible Society.* 
 
 4. The Committee reiterates the recommendation of the Eeport of 
 1891 (see iVssembly's Minutes, 1891, pp. 131-134) concerning the 
 editing of the proof -texts as the same appears on pp. 6 and 7 of the 
 Sample Pamphlet. 
 
 5. The action of the Assembly of 1893, that concluded the consider- 
 ation of the revision of the Confession of Faith that was initiated in 
 1889, leaves the situation the same as that of 1888, when the Committee 
 on Proof -texts was appointed. Having now submitted a finished work, 
 and that work, as represented in the Sample Pamphlet, having in the 
 appointed way been challenged in only one instance as to the fitness of 
 the proof -texts it has prepared, the Committee supposes that the time has 
 come for finally disposing of its work, and that the Committee may be 
 discharged. 
 
 Should the Assembly approve the work submitted, it may appear to 
 some members that its adoption should be referred to the Presbyteries. 
 It seems expedient, therefore, to call to mind the process by which the 
 proof -texts that have been used for a century were adopted. A state - 
 
 *See Resolution No. 2, p. 26. 
 
26 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 ment of this, given in the report of 1891 {Minutes, p. 132), appears on 
 pp. 7-9 of the Sample Pamphlet. An authorized record of it is in 
 Moore's Digest, (1886) Book i, Chap, i, 9 a. b. c. These proof -texts were 
 the work of a Committee appointed by the Assembly of 1792, which the 
 Assembly of 1794 approved and confided to a Committee especially 
 appointed for the purpose, which was to prepare the same for the press, 
 agree with the printer for publication, and superintend the printing and 
 vending of the same. The second Committee was obviously the expe- 
 dient of that time for doing what the Church has since then created the 
 Board of Publication to do. This was doing as had been done with the 
 original Westminster proof -texts, which were reported by the Westmin- 
 ster Assembly to Parliament and adopted by the latter. 
 
 These precedents make it plain that the adoption of the present work 
 should take place in the same way, viz. , by action of the Assembly to 
 that effect. Adopted in that way, the proof -texts will continue to have 
 the same relation to the text of the Standards that such proof -texts have 
 always had. And this, it is supposed, was the intention in undertaking 
 the present work. 
 
 Understanding the matter so, your Committee cherishes the hope that 
 its work will now be adopted by this Assembly and that the Committee 
 may be discharged. It has existed and labored for six years; an unex- 
 pected duration. In that period God has called to heaven two of the 
 members appointed on this Committee, viz., Drs. Crosby and Welch. It 
 is reason for wonder and gratitude that all but one of those appointed in 
 1888 still survive. The unexpected duration of this work has provi- 
 dentially brought us to the exact centennial of the adoption of the 
 proof -texts that have hitherto been printed with the Standards of our 
 Church. This is a very interesting coincidence, which every one may 
 point out in his own way. The Assembly will say whether it shall be 
 signalized by beginning another century with the proof -texts as revised 
 and amended by the work of this Committee. 
 
 The Committee respectfully offers for adoption the following recom- 
 mendations : 
 
 1. That the General Assembly adopt the proof -texts for the Confession 
 of Faith, the Larger Catechism and the Shorter Catechism as the same 
 have been prepared by the Committee on Proof -texts, and authorize the 
 same to be printed henceforth instead of those heretofore authorized to be 
 printed with the Church's Standards. 
 
 2. That the General Assembly require the editing of the said proof- 
 texts to conform precisely in text and punctuation to the best and 
 standard edition of the English Bible, printed by the American Bible 
 Society, except where the Board of Publication shall order otherwise. 
 
 3. That the General Assembly require the said proof -texts to be 
 printed with the text of the Confession of Faith and of the Larger 
 Catechism in the way recommended by the Committee on Proof -texts in 
 its report to the Assembly of 1891 (see Minutes, pp. 131, 132), and as 
 the same is set forth, pp. 6, 7, of the Sample Pamphlet; and with the 
 text of the Shorter Catechism, as they appear in the Sample Pamphlet 
 that accompanies this report, subject to the standard of printing the 
 Bible that the Assembly shall adopt. 
 
 That this report be spread on the minutes of the General Assembly. 
 5. That the Committee on Proof -texts be discharged. — 1894, pp. 
 157-160. 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 27 
 
 V. SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 
 
 I. 1. Withdrawal of the Synod of New York, 1745. 
 
 [Note. — In 1745 sundry ministers and elders of the Presbyteries of New York, New- 
 Brunswick and New Castle withdrew from the Synod of Philadelphia, and formed 
 themselves into a Synod under the name and title of the Synod of New York.] 
 
 The following articles were agreed upon as 
 
 THE PLAN AND FOUNDATION OF THEIR SYNODICAL UNION. 
 
 1. They agree that the Westminster Confession of Faith, with the 
 Larger and Shorter Catechisms, be the public confession of their faith 
 in such manner as was agreed unto by the Synod of Philadelphia, in the 
 year 1729; and to be inserted in the latter end of this book. And they 
 declare their approbation of the Directory of the Assembly of Divines 
 at Westminster, as the general plan of worship and discipline. 
 
 2. They agree that in matters of discipline, and those things that 
 relate to the peace and good order of our churches, they shall be deter- 
 mined according to the major vote of ministers and elders, with which 
 vote every member shall actively concur or pacifically acquiesce; but if 
 any member cannot in conscience agree to the determination of the 
 majority, but supposes himself obliged to act contrary thereunto, and 
 the Synod think themselves obliged to insist upon it as essentially neces- 
 sary to the well-being of our churches, in that case such dissenting mem- 
 ber promises peaceably to withdraw from the body without endeavoring 
 to raise any dispute or contention upon the debated point, or any unjust 
 alienation of affection from them. 
 
 3. If any member of their body supposes that he hath anything to 
 object against any of his brethren with respect to error in doctrine, immo- 
 rality in life, or negligence in his ministry, he shall not, on any account, 
 propagate the scandal until the person objected against is dealt with 
 according to the rules of the gospel, and the known methods of their 
 discipline. 
 
 4. They agree, that all who have a competent degree of ministerial 
 knowledge, are orthodox in their doctrine, regular in their lives, and 
 diligent in their endeavors to promote the important designs of vital 
 godliness, and that will submit to their discipline, shall be cheerfully 
 admitted into their communion. 
 
 And they do also agree, that in order to avoid all divisive methods 
 among their ministers and congregations, and to strengthen the discipline 
 of Christ in the churches in these parts, they will maintain a correspon- 
 dence with the Synod of Philadelphia in this their first meeting, by 
 appointing two of their members to meet with the said Synod of Phila- 
 delphia at their next convention, and to concert with them such measures 
 as may best promote the precious interests of Christ's kingdom in these 
 parts. —Records, 1745, pp. 233, 234. 
 
 [Note. — For subsequent actions of the Synod of New York until the Reunion, in 
 1758, see Records, 1749, pp. 238, 239 : 1750, pp. 240, 241, 243; 1756, p. 272; 1757, p. 279, 
 and Baird's Digest, pp. 609-613.] 
 
 2. The Reunion of 1758 : forming the Synod of New York and 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The two Synods of Philadelphia and New York, reunited in 1758, 
 May 29, when the following Plan of Union was adopted, viz. : 
 
 The Synods of New York and Philadelphia taking into serious consid- 
 
28 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 eration the present divided state of the Presbyterian Church in this land, 
 and being deeply sensible that the division of the Church tends to weaken 
 its interests, to dishonor religion, and consequently its glorious Author; 
 to render government and discipline ineffectual, and finally to dissolve 
 its very frame; and being desirous to pursue such measures as may most 
 tend to the glory of God and the establishment and edification of His 
 people, do judge it to be our indispensable duty to study the things that 
 make for peace, and to endeavor the healing of that breach which has 
 for some time subsisted amongst us, that so its hurtful consequences may 
 not extend to posterity; that all occasion of reproach upon our society 
 may be removed, and that we may carry on the great designs of religion 
 to better advantage than we can do in a divided state; and since both 
 Synods continue to profess the same principles of faith, and adhere to 
 the same form of worship, government and discipline, there is the greater 
 reason to endeavor the compromising those differences which were 
 agitated many years ago with too great warmth and animosity, and unite 
 in one body. 
 
 For which end, and that no jealousies or grounds of alienation may 
 remain, and also to prevent future breaches of like nature, we agree to 
 unite and do unite in one body, under the name of the Synod of New 
 York and Philadelphia, on the following plan: 
 
 I. Both Synods having always approved and received the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms as an orthodox 
 and excellent system of Christian doctrine founded on the word of God, 
 we do still receive the same as the confession of our faith, and also 
 adhere to the plan of worship, government and discipline contained in 
 the Westminster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all our members and 
 probationers for the ministry, that they preach and teach, according to 
 the form of sound words in said Confession and Catechisms, and avoid 
 and oppose all errors contrary thereto. 
 
 II. That when any matter is determined by a major vote, every member 
 shall either actively concur with or passively submit to such determina- 
 tion; or if his conscience permit him to do neither, he shall, after 
 sufficient liberty modestly to reason and remonstrate, peaceably withdraw 
 from our communion without attempting to make any schism. Provided 
 always that this shall be understood to extend only to such determina- 
 tion as the body shall judge indispensable in doctrine or Presbyterian 
 government. 
 
 III. That any member or members, for the exoneration of his or their 
 conscience before God, have a right to protest against any act or proce- 
 dure of our highest judicature, because there is no further appeal to 
 another for redress; and to require that such protestation be recorded in 
 their minutes. And as such a protest is a solemn appeal from the bar of 
 said judicature, no member is liable to prosecution on the account of his 
 protesting. Provided always that it shall be deemed irregular and 
 unlawful to enter a protestation against any member or members, or to 
 protest facts or accusations instead of proving them, unless a fair trial be 
 refused, even by the highest judicature. And it is agreed, that protesta- 
 tions are only to be entered against the public acts, judgments or 
 determinations of the judicature with which the protester's conscience is 
 offended. 
 
 IV. As the protestation entered in the Synod of Philadelphia, Ann. 
 Dom. 1741, has been apprehended to have been approved and received 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 29 
 
 by an act of said Synod, and on that account was judged a sufficient 
 obstacle to an union; the said Synod declare that they never judicially 
 adopted the said protestation, nor do account it a Synodical act, but 
 that it is to be considered as the act of those only who subscribed it; and 
 therefore cannot in its nature be a valid objection to the union of the 
 two Synods, especially considering that a very great majority of both 
 Synods have become members since the said protestation was entered. 
 
 V. That it shall be esteemed and treated as a censurable evil, to 
 accuse any member of heterodoxy, insufficiency or immorality in a 
 calumniating manner, or otherwise than by private brotherly admonition, 
 or by a regular process according to our known rules of judicial trial in 
 cases of scandal. And it shall be considered in the same view if any 
 Presbytery appoint supplies within the bounds of another Presbytery 
 without their concurrence; or if any member officiate in another's con- 
 gregation without asking and obtaining his consent, or the session's in 
 case the minister be absent; yet it shall be esteemed unbrotherly for any 
 one, in ordinary circumstances, to refuse his consent to a regular member 
 when it is requested. 
 
 VI. That no Presbytery shall license or ordain to the work of the min- 
 istry, any candidate, until he give them competent satisfaction as to his 
 learning, and experimental acquaintance with religion, and skill in 
 divinity and cases of conscience; and declare his acceptance of the 
 Westminster Confession and Catechisms as the confession of his faith, 
 and promise subjection to the Presbyterian plan of government in the 
 Westminster Directory. 
 
 VII. The Synods declare it is their earnest desire that a complete 
 union may be obtained as soon as possible, and agree that the united 
 Synod shall model the several Presbyteries in such manner as shall 
 appear to them most expedient. Provided, nevertheless, that Presby- 
 teries, where an alteration does not appear to be for edification, continue 
 in their present form. As to divided congregations, it is agreed that 
 such as have settled ministers on both sides be allowed to continue as 
 they are; that where those of one side have a settled minister, the other 
 being vacant, may join with the settled minister, if a majority choose so 
 to do; that when both sides are vacant they shall be at liberty to unite 
 together. 
 
 VIII. As the late religious appearances occasioned much speculation 
 and debate, the members of the New York Synod, in order to prevent 
 any misapprehensions, declare their adherence to their former sentiments 
 in favor of them, that a blessed work of God's Holy Spirit in the con- 
 version of numbers was then carried on; and for the satisfaction of all 
 concerned, this united Synod agree in declaring that as all mankind are 
 naturally dead in trespasses and sins, an entire change of heart and life 
 is necessary to make them meet for the service and enjoyment of God; 
 that such a change can be only effected by the powerful operations of 
 the Divine Spirit; that when sinners are made sensible of their lost 
 condition and absolute inability to recover themselves, are enlightened in 
 the knowledge of Christ and convinced of his ability and willingness to 
 save, and upon gospel encouragements do choose him for their Saviour, 
 and renouncing their own righteousness in point of merit, depend upon 
 his imputed righteousness for their justification before God, and on his 
 wisdom and strength for guidance and support; when upon these appre- 
 hensions and exercises their souls are comforted, notwithstanding all their 
 
30 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 past guilt, and rejoice in God through Jesus Christ; when they hate and 
 bewail their sins of heart and life, delight in the laws of God without 
 exception, reverentially and diligently attend his ordinances, become 
 humble and self -denied, and make it the business of their lives to please 
 and glorify God and to do good to their fellow -men — this is to be 
 acknowledged as a gracious work of God, even though it should be 
 attended with unusual bodily commotions or some more exceptionable 
 circumstances, by means of infirmity, temptations or remaining corrup- 
 tions; and wherever religious appearances are attended with the good 
 effects above mentioned, we desire to rejoice in and thank God for them. 
 But, on the other hand, when persons seeming to be under a religious 
 concern, imagine that they have visions of the human nature of Jesus 
 Christ, or hear voices, or see external lights, or have fainting and con- 
 vulsion-like fits, and on the account of these judge themselves to be truly 
 converted; though they have not the Scriptural characters of a work of 
 God above described, we believe such persons are under a dangerous 
 delusion; and we testify our utter disapprobation of such a delusion, 
 wherever it attends any religious appearances, in any Church or time. 
 
 Now as both Synods are agreed in their sentiments concerning the 
 nature of a work of grace, and declare their desire and purpose to promote 
 it,' different judgments respecting particular matters of fact ought not to 
 prevent their union; especially as many of the present members have en- 
 tered into the ministry since the time of the aforesaid religious appearances. 
 
 Upon the whole, as the design of our union is the advancement of the 
 Mediator's kingdom, and as the wise and faithful discharge of the 
 ministerial function is the principal appointed means for that glorious end, 
 we judge that this is a proper occasion to manifest our sincere intention 
 unitedly to exert ourselves to fulfill the ministry we have received of the 
 Lord Jesus. Accordingly, we uuanimously declare our serious and fixed 
 resolution, by divine aid, to take heed to ourselves that our hearts be 
 upright, our discourse edifying, and our lives exemplary for purity and 
 godliness; to take heed to our doctrine, that it be not only orthodox, but 
 evangelical and spiritual, tending to awaken the secure to a suitable con- 
 cern for their salvation, and to instruct and encourage sincere Christians, 
 thus commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of 
 God; to cultivate peace and harmony among ourselves, and strengthen 
 each other's hands in promoting the knowledge of divine truth, and 
 diffusing the savor of piety among our people. 
 
 Finally, we earnestly recommend it to all under our care, that instead 
 of indulging a contentious disposition, they would love each other with 
 a pure heart fervently, as brethren who profess subjection to the same 
 Lord, adhere to the same faith, worship and government, and entertain 
 the same hope of glory. And we desire that they would improve the 
 present union for their mutual edification, combine to strengthen the com- 
 mon interests of religion, and go hand in hand in the path of life; which 
 we pray the God of all grace would please to effect, for Christ's sake. 
 Amen. 
 
 The Synod agree, that all former differences and disputes are laid 
 aside and buried ; and that no future inquiry or vote shall be proposed in 
 this Synod concerning these things; but if any member seek a Synodical 
 inquiry or declaration about any of the matters of our past differences, 
 it shall be deemed a censurable breach of this agreement, and be refused, 
 and he be rebuked accordingly. — 1758, pp. 285, 288. 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 31 
 
 II. THE SEPARATION OF 1837. 
 1. The excluding act of 1837. 
 
 [See Baird's Digest, rev. ed., pp. 715-770; and Minutes, 1837, pp. 419-488. 
 
 The plan of Union of 1801, with the Congregational Churches, was abrogated. — 
 1837, pp. 420^22. 
 
 By the operation of the abrogation of the Plan of Union of 1801, the Synod of the 
 Western Reserve was declared to be no longer a part of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America.— 1837. p. 440. 
 
 The Synods of Utica, Geneva and Genesee, which were formed and attached to 
 this body under and in execution of said " Plan of Union," were declared to be out of 
 the ecclesiastical connection of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, and not in form or in fact an integral portion of said Church.— 1837, p. 444.] 
 
 2. The Division of the Church. 
 
 Tivo General Assemblies organized. 
 
 [See Baird's Digest, rev. ed., pp. 770-784 ; and Minutes, 1838, pp. 3, 7, 19, O. S. 
 Also Minutes, 1838, pp. 635-645, N. S. 
 
 Thenceforth until 1869 the two Assemblies met as independent bodies. 
 For the relations of the two Assemblies prior to reunion see Digest, 1886, pp. 57, 58 ; 
 and Minutes, 1849, pp. 174, 175 ; 1850, p. 306, N. S. ; 1850, p. 467, O. S.] 
 
 III. THE REUNION OF 1869. 
 1. Initiation of correspondence between the Assemblies. 
 
 a. In the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, in session at Columbus, Ohio, the matter of a frater- 
 nal correspondence by commissioners, with the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church (New School), in session at Cincinnati, Ohio, being 
 duly considered, is decided as follows: 
 
 this Assembly, having considered certain overtures sent to it by a few 
 of the Presbyteries under its care, proposing that steps should be taken 
 by it towards an organic union between this Church and the Church 
 under the care of the Presbyterian General Assembly (New School) ; and 
 having determined against the course proposed in said overtures, has also 
 been informed that the other General Assembly has, about the same time, 
 come to a similar conclusion on similar overtures laid before it by a 
 certain number of its own Presbyteries. Of its own motion, this General 
 Assembly, considering the time to have come for it to take the initiative 
 in securing a better understanding of the relations which it judges are 
 proper to be maintained between the two General Assemblies, hereby 
 proposes that there shall be a stated, annual, and friendly interchange of 
 Commissioners between the two General Assemblies; each body sending 
 to the other one minister and one ruling elder, as Commissioners, year 
 by year; the said Commissioners to enjoy such privileges, in each body 
 to which they are sent, as are common to all those now received by this 
 body from other Christian denominations. 
 
 the Moderator of this Assembly will communicate this Deliverance to 
 the Moderator of the other Assembly, to be laid before it with our 
 Christian salutations.— 1862, pp. 633, 634, O. S. 
 
 [This action was communicated to the Assembly, N. S., of 1863, 
 whose response was as follows.] 
 
 b. The Committee, to whom was referred the communication from 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, that met at Columbus, Ohio, in May, 1862, addressed to 
 this General Assembly, and proposing " a stated, annual, and friendly 
 interchange of Commissioners between the two General Assemblies," 
 recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
32 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly, with heartfelt pleasure and Christian 
 salutations, accept the proposition thus made, hoping and praying, that 
 it may result " in securing a better understanding of the relations," 
 which, in the judgment of this Assembly, ' ' are proper to be maintained 
 between the two Assemblies. " 
 
 2. That, in accordance with the suggestion of the Moderator of the 
 Assembly that met at Columbus, Ohio, in May, 1862, that this inter- 
 change of Commissioners should commence at the earliest practicable 
 period, the Rev. Robert W. Patterson, D.D. , and the Hon. William H. 
 Brown, Principals, and the Rev. Arthur Swazey and Mr. Oliver H. Lee, 
 Alternates, all of the Presbytery of Chicago, be appointed Commissioners, 
 to represent this General Assembly in the General Assembly now in 
 session at Peoria, 111. 
 
 3. That it be suggested that future General Assemblies of the two 
 branches of the Presbyterian Church in the United States hereafter 
 designate each other respectively by the places in which their sessions are 
 appointed to be held. 
 
 4. That a certified copy of this action be at once transmitted to the 
 Moderator of the General Assembly now in session at Peoria, 111. , and 
 that the Commissioners appointed be requested to repair to that body, 
 and express to them the fraternal and Christian regards of this General 
 Assembly.— 1863, p. 230, N. S. 
 
 2. Action of the Assemblies looking to reunion— Committee appointed. 
 
 a. Overture of the Old School Assembly. 
 
 The Committee of Bills and Overtures report Overture No. 10, on 
 the subject of the reunion of the two branches of the Presbyterian 
 Church, from the Presbyteries of Leavenworth, Muncie, New Lisbon, 
 Madison, Erie and Oxford. These Presbyteries ask the Assembly to 
 take measures at this Session to secure, at an early day, the organic 
 union of the two bodies whose General Assemblies are now in session in 
 this city. 
 
 The Committee recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly expresses its fraternal affection for 
 the other branch of the Presbyterian Church, and its earnest desire for 
 reunion at the earliest time consistent with agreement in doctrine, order 
 and polity, on the basis of our common Standards, and the prevalence of 
 mutual confidence and love which are necessary to a happy union, and 
 to the permanent peace and prosperity of the united Church. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That it be recommended to all our churches and church 
 courts, and to all our ministers, ruling elders, and communicants, to 
 cherish fraternal feelings, to cultivate Christian intercourse, in the wor- 
 ship of God and in the promotion of the cause of Christ, and to avoid 
 all needless controversies and competitions adapted to perpetuate division 
 and strife. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That a Committee of nine ministers and six ruling elders 
 be appointed, provided that a similar Committee shall be appointed by 
 the other Assembly now in session in this city, for the purpose of con- 
 ferring in regard to the desirableness and practicability of reunion, and 
 if, after conference and inquiry, such reunion shall seem to be desirable 
 and practicable, to suggest suitable measures for its accomplishment, 
 and report to the next General Assembly. — 1866, p. 44, 0. S. 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 33 
 
 b. Response of the N. S. Assembly. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church reported on several over- 
 tures relating to Reunion with the Other Branch of the Presbyterian 
 Church. The report was unanimously adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church report overtures, num- 
 bered 5 to 16, on the subject of the Reunion of the two branches of the 
 Presbyterian Church: from the Presbyteries of New York, 3d, and New 
 York, 4th, Newark, Dubuque, Greencastle, Alton, Steuben, Athens, 
 Monroe, Keokuk, Long Island, Trumbull and San Jose. All these 
 Presbyteries, with different degrees of urgency, recommend to this 
 Assembly to initiate, or to respond to, proposals looking to an entire 
 Reunion of the churches represented by the two General Assemblies 
 now in session in the city of St. Louis. 
 
 The General Assembly now in session at the Second Presbyterian 
 Church of this city has also adopted resolutions appointing a Committee 
 to confer with a similar Committee of our own Church in regard to the 
 desirableness and practicability of such Reunion. 
 
 Your Committee recommend to this Assembly the adoption of the 
 following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly tender to the Assembly representing 
 the Other Branch of the Presbyterian Church, its cordial Christian 
 salutations and fellowship, and the expression of its earnest wish for 
 Reunion, on the basis of our common Standards, received in a common 
 spirit. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of fifteen, nine of whom shall be minis- 
 ters of the Gospel, and six ruling elders, be appointed to confer on this 
 subject, in the recess of the Assemblies, with the Committee to be 
 appointed by the other General Assembly, and to report the results to 
 the next General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That we enjoin upon this Committee, and upon all our 
 ministers and church members to abstain from whatever may hinder a 
 true Christian fellowship, and to cherish and cultivate those feelings and 
 purposes which look to the peace and prosperity of Zion, the edifying 
 of the body of Christ, and the complete union of all believers, especially 
 of those who live in the same land, and have the same history, and the 
 same Standards of Doctrine and Polity. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, with the names of our 
 Committee, be sent to the other General Assembly now in session in this 
 city.— 1866, pp. 273, 274, N. S. 
 
 C. Committees on Reunion, 1866. 
 
 1. Old School. 
 
 Ministers— J. M. Krebs, D.D., of the Synod of New York, C. C. 
 Beatty, D.D., of the Synod of Wheeling, J. T. Backus, D.D., of the 
 Synod of Albany, P. D. Gurlev, D.D., of the Synod of Baltimore, J. 
 G. Monfort, D.D., of the Synod of Cincinnati, W. D. Howard, D.D., 
 of the Synod of Pittsburg, W. E. Schenck, D.D., of the Synod of 
 Philadelphia, Villeroy D. Reed, D.D., of the Synod of New Jersey, 
 F. T. Brown, D.D., of the Synod of Chicago. Ruling Elders — James 
 M. Ray, of the Synod of Northern Indiana, Robert McKnight, of the 
 Synod of Allegheny, Samuel Galloway, of the Synod of Ohio, H. K. 
 Clarke, of the Synod of Sandusky, George P. Strong, of the Synod of 
 Missouri, Ormond Beatty, of the Synod of Kentucky, — 1866, p. 48, O. S. 
 3 
 
34 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 2. New School. 
 
 Ministers — Thomas Brainerd, D.D., Chairman; William Adams> 
 D.D., Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., Jonathan F. Stearns, D.D., Philemon 
 H. Fowler, D.D., James B. Shaw, D.D., Henry L. Hitchcock, D.D., 
 Robert W. Patterson, D.D., and Henry A. Nelson, D.D., with Ruling 
 Elders — Joseph Allison, LL.D., Henry W. Williams, LL.D., and 
 Messrs. Truman P. Handy, Edward A. Lambert, Robert W. Steele and 
 William H. Brown.— 1866, p. 278, 1ST. S. 
 
 [The joint Committees thus constituted reported to the Assemblies of 
 1867.] 
 
 3. Terms of Reunion of the Assemblies of 1867 and 1868. 
 
 [The terms of reunion proposed by the Joint Committee on Reunion 
 appointed in 1866, and continued by the Assemblies of 1867 and 1868, 
 were sent down to the Presbyteries by both the Old and the New School 
 Assemblies. Of the Old School Presbyteries, only 110 sent up answers, 
 and these indicated " an unsettled and fluctuating judgment, probably 
 without a parallel in the history of our Church." Of the New School 
 Presbyteries, 100 were in the affirmative, and 4 in the negative.] 
 
 [Note. — See for the entire history of this subject, with the protest in the Old School 
 Assembly 1869, of Dr. E. P. Humphrey and others, and the answer to the protest, by 
 Dr. W. G. T. Shedd and others.— Digest of 1886, pp. 70-90.J 
 
 4, General Assemblies of 1869 at New York. 
 
 A new Joint Committee appointed. 
 
 a. [On the first day of the session.] 
 
 On motion of Dr. Musgrave, the following was unanimously adopted: 
 Resolved, That a Committee of Conference, consisting of five minis- 
 ters and five ruling elders, be appointed to confer with a similar Com- 
 mittee, if appointed by the other General Assembly now in session in 
 this city, on the subject of the Reunion of the two branches of the 
 Presbyterian Church; to report during the present sessions, and at as 
 early a day as practicable, what further action, if any, should be taken 
 on the subject. 
 
 The Moderator appointed as said Committee: Ministers — George W. 
 Musgrave, D.D., A. G. Hall, D.D., L. H. Atwater, D.D., Willis 
 Lord, D.D., and Henry R. Wilson, D.D. Ruling Elders — Robert 
 Carter, J. C. Grier, Charles D. Drake, Henry Day and William M. 
 Francis.— 1869, p. 890, O. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, That a Committee of five ministers and five elders be 
 appointed to-morrow morning by the Moderator, to confer with any like 
 Committee of the Assembly of the Other Branch, on the subject of 
 Reunion. 
 
 Ministers — William Adams, D.D., Robert W. Patterson, D.D., 
 Samuel W. Fisher, D. D. , LL. D. , Jonathan F. Stearns, D. D. , James 
 B. Shaw, D.D. Ruling Elders — Hon. William Strong, Hon. Daniel 
 Haines, Hon. William E. Dodge, Hon. Jacob S. Farrand, Hon. John 
 L. Knight.— 1869, pp. 252, 257, N. S. 
 
 5. The Report of the Joint Committee presented in both Assemblies, 1869. 
 
 The Committee of Conference appointed by the two General Assem- 
 blies has attended to the duty assigned to it; and after a very free 
 interchange of views, with prayer to Almighty God for His guidance, is 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 35 
 
 unanimous in recommending to the Assemblies for their consideration, 
 and, if they see fit, their adoption, the accompanying three papers, to wit: 
 
 1. Plan of Keunion of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America; 
 
 2. Concurrent Declarations of the General Assemblies of 1869; and 
 
 3. Recommendation of a Day of Prayer. 
 
 I. Plan of Reunion of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America. 
 
 Believing that the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom would be 
 promoted by the healing of our divisions, and that the two bodies bear- 
 ing the same name, having the same Constitution, and each recognizing 
 the other as a sound and orthodox body according to the principles of 
 the Confession common to both, cannot be justified by any but the most 
 imperative reasons in maintaining separate and, in some respects, rival 
 organizations; we are now clearly of the opinion that the reunion of 
 those bodies ought, as soon as the necessary steps can be taken, to be 
 accomplished, upon the basis hereinafter set forth: 
 
 1. The Presbyterian Churches in the United States of America, name- 
 ly, that whose General Assembly convened in the Brick Church in the 
 city of New York, on the 20th day of May, 1869, and that whose 
 General Assembly met in the Church of the Covenant in the said city, 
 on the same day, shall be reunited as one Church, under the name and 
 style of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, pos- 
 sessing all the legal and corporate rights and powers pertaining to the 
 Church previous to the division in 1838, and all the legal and corporate 
 rights and powers which the separate Churches now possess. 
 
 2. The Reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical 
 basis of our common Standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and 
 the only infallible rule of faith and practice ; the Confession of Faith 
 shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing the 
 system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and the Government 
 and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be 
 approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity. 
 
 3. Each of the said Assemblies shall submit the foregoing basis to its 
 Presbyteries, which shall be required to meet on or before the 15th day 
 of October, 1869, to express their approval or disapproval of the same, 
 by a categorical answer to the following question : 
 
 Do you approve of the reunion of the two bodies now claiming the 
 name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, on the following basis, namely : ' ' The reunion shall be effected 
 on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards; the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be 
 the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and prac- 
 tice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and 
 adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and 
 rules of our polity ?" 
 
 Each Presbytery shall, before the 1st day of November, 1869, 
 forward to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly with which it is 
 connected, a statement of its vote on the said Basis of Reunion. 
 
36 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 4. The said General Assemblies now sitting shall, after finishing their 
 business, adjourn, to meet in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 
 second Wednesday of November, 1869, at eleven o'clock A.M. 
 
 If the two General Assemblies shall then find and declare that the 
 above-named Basis of Reunion has been approved by two -thirds of the 
 Presbyteries connected with each branch of the Church, then the same 
 shall be of binding force, and the two Assemblies shall take action 
 accordingly. 
 
 5. The said General Assemblies shall then and there make provision 
 for the meeting of the General Assembly of the United Church on the 
 third Thursday of May, 1870. The Moderators of the two present 
 Assemblies shall jointly preside at the said Assembly of 1870 until 
 another Moderator is chosen. The Moderator of the Assembly now 
 sitting at the Brick Church aforesaid, shall, if present, put all votes, 
 and decide questions of order; and the Moderator of the other Assembly 
 shall, if present, preach the opening sermon ; and the Stated Clerks of 
 the present Assemblies shall act as Stated Clerks of the Assembly of 
 the united Church until a Stated Clerk or Clerks shall have been chosen 
 thereby; and no Commissioner shall have a right to vote or deliberate in 
 said Assembly until his name shall have been enrolled by the said 
 Clerks, and his commission examined and filed among the papers of the 
 Assembly. 
 
 6. Each Presbytery of the separate Churches shall be entitled to the 
 same representation in the Assembly of the united Church in 1870 as it 
 is entitled to in the Assembly with which it is now connected. 
 
 II. Concurrent Declarations of the General Assemblies 
 
 of 1869. 
 
 As there are matters pertaining to the interests of the Church when it 
 shall have become reunited, which will manifestly require adjustment on 
 the coming together of two bodies which have so long acted separately, 
 and concerning some of which matters it is highly desirable that there 
 should be a previous good understanding, the two Assemblies agree to 
 adopt the following declarations, not as articles of compact or covenant, 
 but as in their judgment proper and equitable arrangements, to wit: 
 
 1. All the ministers and churches embraced in the two bodies should 
 be admitted to the same standing in the united body, which they may 
 have held in their respective connections, up to the consummation of the 
 union. 
 
 2. Imperfectly organized churches are counseled and expected to 
 become thoroughly Presbyterian, as early within the period of five years 
 as may be permitted by the highest interests to be consulted; and no 
 other such churches shall be hereafter received. 
 
 3. The boundaries of the several Presbyteries and Synods should be 
 adjusted by the General Assembly of the united Church. 
 
 4. The official records of the two branches of the Church, for the 
 period of separation, should be preserved and held as making up the 
 one history of the Church; and no rule or precedent, which does not 
 stand approved by both the bodies, should be of any authority, until 
 reestablished in the united body, except in so far as such rule or prece- 
 dent may affect the rights of property founded thereon. 
 
 5. The corporate rights, now held by the two General Assemblies, 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. Si 
 
 and by their Boards and Committees, should, as far as practicable, be 
 consolidated, and applied for their several objects, as defined by law. 
 
 6. There should be one set of Committees or Boards for Home and 
 Foreign Missions, and the other religious enterprises of the Church; 
 -which the churches should be encouraged to sustain, though free to cast 
 their contributions into other channels, if they desire to do so. 
 
 7. As soon as practicable after the union shall have been effected, the 
 General Assembly should reconstruct and consolidate the several Perma- 
 nent Committees and Boards, which now belong to the two Assemblies, 
 so as to represent, as far as possible, with impartiality, the views and 
 wishes of the two bodies constituting the united Church. 
 
 8. The publications of the Board of Publication and of the Publica- 
 tion Committee should continue to be issued as at present, leaving it to 
 the Board of Publication of the united Church to revise these issues. 
 and perfect a catalogue for the united Church so as to exclude invidious 
 references to past controversies. 
 
 9. In order to a uniform system of ecclesiastical supervision, those 
 theological Seminaries that are now under Assembly control, may, if 
 their Boards of Direction so elect, be transferred to the watch and care 
 of one or more of the adjacent Synods; and the other seminaries are 
 advised to introduce, as far as may be, into their Constitutions, the 
 principle of Synodical or Assembly supervision ; in which case they shall 
 be entitled to an official recognition and approbation on the part of the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 10. It should be regarded as the duty of all our judicatories, minis- 
 ters, and people of the united Church, to study the things which make 
 for peace, and to guard against all needless and offensive references to 
 the causes that have divided us ; and, in order to avoid the revival of 
 past issues, by the continuance of any usage, in either branch of the 
 Church that has grown out of former conflicts, it is earnestly recom- 
 mended to the lower judicatories of the Church that they conform their 
 practice in relation to all such usages, as far as is consistent with their 
 convictions of duty, to the general custom of the Church prior to the 
 controversies that resulted in the separation. 
 
 III. Reco^oiendatiox of a Day of Prayer. 
 
 That the counsels of infinite Wisdom may guide our decisions, and 
 the blessings of the great Head of the Church rest upon the result of 
 our efforts for Reunion, it is earnestly recommended to the churches 
 throughout both branches of the Presbyterian Church, that they observe 
 the second Sabbath in September, 1869, as a day of fervent and united 
 prayer to Almighty God, that he would grant unto us all " the spirit of 
 counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the 
 Lord, ' ' and in the new relations now contemplated, enable us to " keep 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 
 
 [The foregoing report was adopted by the Old School Assembly, 
 by a vote of yeas 285, nays 9 (p. 914) ; by the Xew School Assembly 
 unanimously (p. 275), when it was:] 
 
 a. Re-solved, That in pursuance of the foregoing action of this General 
 Assembly, the Basis of Reunion now adopted be sent down to the Pres- 
 byteries for their approval or disapproval, and each Presbytery is hereby 
 required to meet on or before the 15th day of October, 1869, to express 
 
38 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 its approval or disapproval of the same by a categorical answer to the 
 following question: 
 
 Do you approve of the Reunion of the two bodies now claiming the 
 name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, on the following basis, viz. : ' ' The Reunion shall be effected 
 on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards; the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be 
 the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and prac- 
 tice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and 
 adopted as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and 
 rules of our polity ?' ' 
 
 Each Presbytery is also hereby required, before the first day of Novem- 
 ber, 1869, to forward to the Stated Clerk of this General Assembly a 
 statement of its vote on the said Basis of Reunion. — 1869, pp. 916, 
 917, O. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, That this Assembly does hereby submit to the Presbyteries 
 in connection with it the Basis of Reunion adopted May 27, 1869; and 
 that the Presbyteries be required to meet on before October 15, 1869, 
 to express their approval or disapproval of the same by a categorical 
 answer to the following question: 
 
 Do you approve of the Reunion of the two bodies now claiming the 
 name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, on the following basis, namely : ' ' The Reunion shall be effected 
 on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards; the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be 
 the inspired Word of God, and the only infallible rule of faith and prac- 
 tice; the Confession of Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and 
 adopted as containing the system of doctrines taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures; and the Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States shall be approved as containing the principles and 
 rules of our polity ?" 
 
 Resolved, That each Presbytery shall, before the first day of November, 
 1869, forward to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly a statement 
 of its vote on the said Basis of Reunion. — 1869, p. 283, N. S. 
 
 |Tn accordance with the plan adopted above, the two Assemblies 
 adjourned to meet in Pittsburg, Pa., Nov. 10, A.D. 1869, at 11 o'clock 
 A.M., the one in the First Churchy the other in the Third Church.] 
 
 6. Adjourned meetings of the Assemblies at Pittsburg, 1869. 
 
 a. The report of the Stated Clerk of the Assembly, O. S., Rev. A. 
 T. McGill, D.D., on the vote of the Presbyteries, was read and 
 amended, so as simply to give the result of the vote, after which it was 
 adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Presbyteries in connection with this General Assembly have all 
 reported in writing, on the overture of Reunion, as ordered in the Brick 
 Church, at New York, except the following eleven, viz. , Austin, Coris- 
 co, Knox, Knoxville, Maury, Milwaukee, Ogdensburg, Shantung, Siam, 
 Stockton and Western Africa. The Stated Clerk of the Sante Fe 
 Presbytery has reported by letter that it is impossible for this Presbytery 
 to have a meeting, in present circumstances. The Presbyteries of 
 Allahabad and Canton, being unable to meet within the time specified. 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 39 
 
 have sent circulars, signed by a majority of each, to indicate the will of 
 the Presbytery, in favor of Reunion, as now proposed; but these are not 
 counted in declaring the result. Another Presbytery, Lahore, formed 
 by the Synod of Northern India, in December last, but not regularly 
 reported as yet, by any officer of that Synod, has sent its answer to this 
 overture, in written form, and this has been counted, on the presumption 
 that the Assembly will recognize, at this meeting, the existence of that 
 Presbytery on the roll. 
 
 We have thus one hundred and forty -four Presbyteries. One hundred 
 and twenty -six of these have answered the overture sent down affirma- 
 tively, in writing. Three, viz., Hudson, Rio de Janeiro, and West 
 Lexington, have answered in the negative. 
 
 On motion it was ordered that the Stated Clerk admit to record the 
 answer of the Presbytery of Lahore to the overture on Reunion. 
 
 The Assembly was, on motion, led in prayer by Rev. John Hall, 
 D.D., in gratitude for the result of the negotiations on Reunion, and 
 the doxology was sung. — 1869, p. 1158, O. S. 
 
 b. The Stated Clerk presented the report of the Presbyteries on the 
 overture for Reunion, as follows: 
 
 Report of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, N. S., on the answers 
 of the Presbyteries to the overtures on the Reunion of the two Branches 
 of the Church: 
 
 The number of Presbyteries connected with this General Assembly is 
 one hundred and thirteen. Official responses have been received from 
 every one of them. They have all answered the overture in the affirma- 
 tive. In each of the Presbyteries of Albany, Wellsborough, and the 
 District of Columbia a single negative vote was cast. In each of the 
 remaining one hundred and ten Presbyteries the vote was unanimous. 
 
 Edwin F. Hatfield, Stated Clerk. 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa., November 10, 1869. 
 
 The Assembly united in prayer and thanksgiving to God for this 
 auspicious result. — 1869, p. 485, N. S. 
 
 7. Report of Joint Committee of Conference. 
 
 ' ' The Joint Committee of Conference on Reunion ' ' presented its 
 report, which was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. That each Assembly should declare the vote of the Presbyteries in 
 the following language: 
 
 " This Assembly having received and examined the statements of the 
 votes of the several Presbyteries, on the Basis of Reunion of the two 
 bodies, noAV claiming the name and rights of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, which basis is in the words following, viz. , 
 ' The Reunion shall be effected on the doctrinal and ecclesiastical basis 
 of our common Standards; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of God, and the 
 only infallible rule of faith and practice; the Confession of Faith shall 
 continue to be sincerely received and adopted, as containing the system 
 of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, and the Government and 
 Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States shall be 
 approved, as containing the principles and rules of our polity:' Does 
 hereby find and declare that the said Basis of Reunion has been 
 
40 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 approved by more than two -thirds of the Presbyteries connected with 
 this Branch of the Church: and whereas the other Branch of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the United States of America, now sitting in the 
 Third [or, the First] Presbyterian Church in the city of Pittsburg, has 
 reported to this Assembly that said basis has been approved by more 
 than two -thirds of the Presbyteries connected with that Branch of the 
 Church, now, therefore, we do solemnly declare that said Basis of 
 Reunion is of binding force." 
 
 2. This Committee recommends that a Special Committee of five from 
 each Branch of the Church, shall be appointed to take into consideration 
 the affairs of each of the Boards and Committees of both Branches of the 
 Church, and to recommend to the Assembly of the united Church, next 
 to be held, what changes are required in said Boards and Committees. 
 
 3. That each Assembly shall also pass the following: Whereas, It is 
 apparent, from the size of the two Assemblies, that some changes must 
 be made in the present method of representation; therefore, Resolved, 
 That each of the Assemblies of 1869 shall appoint a Committee of five, 
 to constitute a joint Committee of ten, whose duty it shall be to prepare 
 and propose to the General Assembly of the united Church a proper 
 adjustment of the boundaries of the Presbyteries and Synods, and the 
 ratio of representation, and any amendments of the Constitution which 
 they may think necessary to secure efficiency and harmony in the admin- 
 istration of the Church, so greatly enlarged, and so rapidly extending. 
 
 4. That the Assemblies shall meet at 9 o'clock on Friday morning next, 
 and that the vote of the Presbyteries be declared in each Assembly at 
 10 o'clock, and that each Assembly be then dissolved in the usual man- 
 ner prescribed by the Form of Government. That each Assembly shall 
 immediately repair to the Third Presbyterian Church, in this city, there 
 to hold a joint meeting for prayer and praise; and that a joint com- 
 munion service be held on the same day, at three o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 That all business before each Assembly shall be concluded this (Thurs- 
 day) evening, and no new business taken up thereafter. 
 
 5. That a Committee of Arrangements, consisting of two from each 
 Church, be appointed to decide upon the form, manner and place of our 
 public meeting, and to prepare a statement upon the subject of raising 
 funds for the use of the Church, which shall be read to said meeting. 
 It is proposed that the Rev. A. G. Hall, D.D., Robert Carter, Esq., 
 Rev. S. W. Fisher, D.D., and William E. Dodge, Esq., be appointed 
 said Committee. 
 
 6. That the first meeting of the General Assembly of the united 
 Church be held in the First Presbyterian Church in the city of Philadel- 
 phia, on the third Thursday of May,A.D. 1870, at 11 o'clock A.M. 
 
 —1869, pp. 1159, 1160, O. S. 
 —1869, pp. 495, 496, N. S. 
 
 8. Basis and Consummation of the Reunion. 
 
 The declaration was adopted unanimously in both Assemblies, by a 
 rising vote, as follows, viz. : 
 
 This Assembly having received and examined the statement of the 
 votes of the several Presbyteries on the Basis of the Reunion of the 
 two bodies now claiming the name and the right of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, which basis is in the words 
 following, namely: " The Union shall be effected on the doctrinal and 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 41 
 
 ecclesiastical basis of our common Standards ; the Scriptures of the Old 
 and New Testaments shall be acknowledged to be the inspired Word of 
 God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice ; the Confession of 
 Faith shall continue to be sincerely received and adopted as containing 
 the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures ; and the Govern- 
 ment and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 shall be approved as containing the principles and rules of our polity:" 
 Does hereby find and declare that said Basis of Union has been approved 
 by more than two -thirds of the Presbyteries connected with this Branch 
 of the Church — and whereas the other Branch of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States, now sitting in the Third [or, the First] 
 Presbyterian Church in the city of Pittsburg, has reported to this Assem- 
 bly that said basis has been approved by more than two -thirds of the 
 Presbyteries connected with that Branch of the Church: 
 
 now therefore we do solemnly declare that said basis of 
 Reunion is of binding force. 
 
 —1869, p. 1163, O. S. 
 
 —1869, p. 500, N. S. 
 
 9. The Reunion Convention. 
 Pittsburg, Pa., Friday, November 12, 1869. 
 
 The two General Assemblies of the Presbyterian Church, meeting 
 respectively in the First and Third Churches of Pittsburg, Pa., having 
 both been in due form dissolved on Friday, November 12, 1869, at 10 
 o'clock A.M., a Joint Convention, in accordance with previous mutual 
 agreement, was held immediately after in the Third Church. 
 
 The members of the late N. S. Assembly, preceded by their Modera- 
 tor, Clerks, and Reunion Committee, formed in order, two by two, and 
 proceeded from the Third Church down Sixth avenue to Wood street, 
 and took position on the west side of the street, opposite the First 
 Church. At the same time, the members of the late O. S. Assembly, 
 preceded in like manner by their Moderator, Clerks and Reunion 
 Committee, came forth from the First Church and took position on the 
 east side of the street, directly opposite the other column, the head of 
 each line looking south toward Fifth avenue. 
 
 The following gentlemen had been appointed and consented to serve 
 as marshals of the day: Gen. J. K. Morehead, and Messrs. John D. 
 McCord, William Rea and George H. Stuart. 
 
 The signal for the march having been given, the two Moderators met 
 in the middle of the street, shook hands, and joined arms ; as was done 
 also by the Stated Clerks, the Permanent and Temporary Clerks, the 
 two Reunion Committees, and the remainder of the two columns — the 
 joint procession meanwhile marching forward two by two, Old and New 
 School interlocked along the whole line, down Wood street and up Fifth 
 avenue, Smithfield street, and Sixth avenue (the whole distance attended 
 by a rejoicing crowd of people), to the Third Church. 
 
 As the procession entered by the right middle aisle, Wesley's noble 
 hymn, 
 
 " Blow ye the trumpet, blow," etc., 
 
 was sung by the choir and the ladies, who had been previously admitted 
 to seats assigned them. The greater part of the procession found seats 
 on the immense platform occupying the southern end of the great 
 church, the remainder occupying the pews in front of the platform ; after 
 
42 HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 which the doors were opened and the house was immediately thronged to 
 its utmost capacity. 
 
 The services commenced at 11 o'clock A.M., and were continued with 
 unwearied interest for more than three hours. Addresses were made 
 by the Moderators and others, both ministers and elders, previously 
 designated, intermingled with prayer and songs of devout praise and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 The following preamble and resolutions, reported in behalf of the 
 Committee of Arrangements, by the Rev. S. W. Fisher, D.D., LL.D., 
 were passed unanimously: 
 
 Preamble and Resolutions Adopted in Joint Convention by the 
 Members of the Two Assemblies — November 12, 1869. 
 
 In the Providence of God, the two Branches of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, after a separation of more than 
 thirty years, are again united. This event, in its magnitude, is unpar- 
 alleled in the ecclesiastical history of this country and almost of the 
 world. It evidences to all men the presence and unifying power of the 
 divine Spirit. A fact so remarkable and significant attracts interest and 
 creates expectation among even worldly minds. It awakens the sympa- 
 thies and the hopes of all who truly love Christ among other denomina- 
 tions. It awakens hope since it illustrates the evident purpose of God 
 to bring all His followers into closer union in spirit, combine them in 
 action for the overthrow of error and the diffusion of His truth; it 
 awakens expectation, since they justly anticipate, on our part, from this 
 union of resources, spirit and action, a far more vigorous assault upon 
 the forces of darkness and more decided efforts to spread the Gospel 
 among all classes in our own and other lands. 
 
 To us, as a Church, it is an era in our history most memorable and 
 hopeful; memorable, as it signalizes the triumph of faith and love over 
 the strifes and jealousies of more than a quarter of a century; hopeful, 
 since it is not the result of decadence and torpor, but of progress and aug- 
 mented strength. It buries the suspicions and the rivalries of the past, 
 with the sad necessity of magnifying our differences in order to justify 
 our separation. It banishes the spirit of division, the natural foe of true 
 progress. In this union are seen the outflashing of a divine purpose to 
 lead us on to greater self-sacrifice, and a more entire consecration to the 
 evangelization of the world. God has elevated us to this commanding 
 position, that we may see His glory, and in the strengthened faith it in- 
 spires devote our united resources more directly and efficiently to the sal- 
 vation of men. New and grander responsibilities rest upon us. Jesus 
 summons us to a holier faith and more perfect consecration. He summons 
 this Church to answer His loving -kindness by deeds commensurate with 
 our renewed resources. The times are auspicious; everywhere peace 
 reigns; the gates are open, and the millions of our own and other lands 
 wait for the Gospel. Our position is commanding; our resources great; 
 our methods of action well settled, simple and efficient. The Spirit of 
 God that has united us will inspire, direct and bless our efforts. While 
 we maintain the faith which Paul so fully unfolded, and our Church, 
 in the centuries past, has, through manifold persecution and martyrdom, 
 so gloriously upheld, we are summoned, as by the will of God, to arise and 
 build, to form new, broader and bolder plans for the extension of Christ's 
 kingdom, and to enter upon and execute them with apostolic enthusiasm. 
 
SEPARATIONS AND REUNIONS. 43 
 
 Let us, then, the ministers, elders and members of this Church here 
 assembled, as, in spirit, standing in the presence of and representing 
 the entire body of believers in our connection, and the beloved mission- 
 aries in foreign lands who now await, with tender and prayerful interest, 
 this consummation of our union — let us, in humble dependence upon our 
 dear Redeemer, with deep humility in view of our past inefficiency and 
 present unworthiness, and as an expression of our devout gratitude to 
 Him who has brought this once dissevered, now united Church up to this 
 Mount of Transfiguration, signalize this most blessed and joyous union 
 with an offering in some good degree commensurate with the abundant 
 pecuniary gifts that He has bestowed on us. And to this end be it 
 
 Resolved, That it is incumbent on the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, one in organization, one in faith, and one in 
 effort, to make a special offering, to the treasury of the Lord, of 
 FIVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS: and we pledge ourselves, first of all, 
 to seek in our daily petitions the blessing of God to make this resolution 
 effectual ; and second, that we will, with untiring perseverance and per- 
 sonal effort, endeavor to animate the whole Church with the purpose to 
 secure the accomplishment of this great work before the third Thursday 
 of May, 1871. 
 
 Resolved, further, That the Stated Clerks of the Assemblies of 1869 
 be requested to publish this paper, with the names of the Moderators, 
 Clerks and Joint Committee on Reunion, and the Commissioners now in 
 attendance appended thereto. 
 
 At 3 J o'clock P.M., the Convention united in the celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper at the First Presbyterian Church, which also was thronged 
 in every part. 
 
 —1869, pp. 502-504, N. S. 
 —1869, pp. 1165-1167, O. S. 
 
 10. Memorial Contribution. 
 
 [Note. — The Memorial Fund Committee, Winthrop S. Gilman, Esq., Chairman, and 
 F. F. Ellinwood, D.D., LL.D., Secretary, reported to the Assembly of 1872 that the 
 sum total of all contributions reported were $7,607,499.91. See further, Digest of 1886, 
 pp. 99-106.] 
 
 11. Quarter-Centenary of Reunion. 
 
 [Note. — The One Hundred and Seventh General Assembly celebrated at Pittsburg, 
 Pa., May 23, 1895, the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Reunion of the Old and New 
 School Churches. From 1869 to 1894, the membership of the Church increa-ed 
 from 446,561 to 895,997, an increase of more than one hundred per cent. ; and the 
 Sabbath-school membership grew from 448,857 to 951,199, an increase of one hundred 
 and twelve per cent. The total contributions for these twenty-five years to the 7\'is- 
 sionary and Benevolent Boards amounted to $47,306,426 ; to miscellaneous benevolent 
 causes' outside of the Boards, S24, 280. 002 were given, and for congregational support 
 there was collected $192,044,780, making a grand total of $263,631,208, or an average of 
 $10,500,000 per annum. 
 
 During this same period also there were added to the Church more than one million 
 members on profession of their faith. 
 
 A public meeting was held at the Third Presbyterian Church on the evening of 
 May 23, at which addresses were delivered by the Rev. Francis L. Patton, D.D., 
 LL.D., Rev. Henry M. Booth, D.D., LL.D., and Rev. William Henry Roberts, D.D. 
 LL.D. 
 
 In view of the blessings, spiritual and financial, attending Reunion, the Assembly, 
 on May 24, by a unanimous rising vote, determined to mark the milestone, so auspi- 
 ciously passed, by an effort to raise a Quarter-Century Anniversary Reunion Fund. 
 
 Of the Committee of thirty appointed for the raising of this Fund, Rev. W. L. 
 McEwan, D.D., was the Chairman, and Rev. W. H. Roberts, D.D., Treasurer. The 
 sum raised was about S384,000, and was used mainly in liquidating the debts of the 
 Boards of Home and Foreign Missions.— See Minutes, 1895, pp. 97, 105. 119, and 1896, 
 pp. 108-113.] 
 
44 
 
 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 
 
 I. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and 
 providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, 
 as to leave men inexcusable ; yet they are not sufficient to give that 
 knowledge of God and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation ; 
 therefore it pleased the Lord , at sundry times, and in divers manners, to 
 reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and 
 afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and 
 for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the 
 corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to 
 commit the same wholly unto writing : which maketh the Holy Scripture 
 to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing His will 
 unto His people being now ceased. 
 
 II. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, 
 are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which 
 are these: 
 
 OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 Hosea. 
 
 Joel. 
 
 Amos.' 
 
 Obadiah. 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 Micah. 
 
 Nahum. 
 
 Habakkuk. 
 
 Zephaniah. 
 
 Haggai. 
 
 Zechariah. 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 
 The Epistle of James. 
 
 The first and second Epis- 
 tles of Peter. 
 
 The first, second and third 
 Epistles of John. 
 
 The Epistle of Jude. 
 
 The Revelation. 
 
 All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith 
 and life. 
 
 Genesis. 
 
 II Chronicles. 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Esther. 
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 Job. 
 
 Joshua. 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 Judges. 
 
 Proverbs. 
 
 Ruth. 
 
 Ecclesiastes. 
 
 I Samuel. 
 
 The Song of Songs. 
 
 II Samuel. 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 I Kings. 
 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 II Kings. 
 
 Lamentations. 
 
 I Chronicles. 
 
 Ezekiel. 
 
 
 OF THE NEW TES 
 
 The Gospels according to 
 
 Galatians. 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 Ephesians. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Philippians. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 Colossians. 
 
 John. 
 
 Thessalonians, I. 
 
 The Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 Thessalonians, II. 
 
 Paul's Epistles to the 
 
 To Timothy, I. 
 
 Romans. 
 
 To Timothy, II. 
 
 Corinthians, I. 
 
 To Titus. 
 
 Corinthians, II. 
 
 To Philemon. 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 45 
 
 1. Deliverance on the so-called Higher Criticism. 
 
 The Special Committee to whom certain overtures were referred on the 
 so-called " Higher Criticism " presented their report, which was adopted, 
 and is as follows: 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Ebenezer, Jersey City, Louisville, 
 Morris and Orange, aud St. Louis, requesting the Assembly to make a 
 deliverance by which pastors and teachers should be cautioned against 
 the false teaching which is commonly known by the name of the 
 ' ' Higher Criticism, ' ' having been referred to this Committee, we hereby 
 respectfully report the following deliverance : 
 
 The General Assembly feels constrained to express itself clearly and 
 decidedly on the rationalistic treatment of the Holy Scriptures by 
 Protestant teachers in Europe whose works are introduced into our 
 country, and whose evil influence is felt in our Church. Our Confession 
 of Faith (Chap, i, Sec. ii), after giving the names of the books of the 
 Old and New Testaments, adds, " all which are given by inspiration of 
 God to be the rule of faith and life. ' ' The denial of the authenticity 
 or truthfulness of the Holy Scriptures is a denial of their inspiration ; 
 and any teaching that suggests such denial should be not only carefully 
 avoided, but studiously repelled. The Assembly would not discourage 
 the full use of all light in critical study; nor does it assume that any 
 erroneous teaching is welcomed or offered within the bounds of the 
 Church; but it would warn all pastors and teachers of the danger to 
 young and inexperienced minds in the free use of crude theories and 
 unproved speculations on the part of religious instructors, and would 
 remind them of the paramount importance of sustaining in positive 
 doctrine the authenticity, integrity, truthfulness and inspiration of the 
 Holy Scriptures, against the unsanctified learning by which an unbe- 
 lieving world, through nominallv Christian channels, assaults the Church 
 of God. 
 
 The Assembly would also remind the Presbyteries of their special 
 responsibility as guardians of the faith, and that, in view of the appre- 
 hensions excited throughout the Church by the rationalistic handling of 
 the Word of God, it is incumbent upon them to see to it that the appro- 
 priate constitutional action be taken if at any time it should become 
 manifest that any minister of our Church was promulgating theories 
 of dangerous tendencv or contra-confessional doctrine concerning the 
 Holy Scriptures.— 1883, pp. 631, 632. 
 
 2. The inspired Word, as it came from God, is without error. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Chester, and overture from the Presby- 
 tery of Genesee, asking the General Assembly, in view of certain publi- 
 cations during the past year, to make a deliverance concerning subscrip- 
 tion to the Standards of the Church which our ministers and elders make 
 at their ordination. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following: 
 
 The General Assembly would remind all under its care that it is a fun- 
 damental doctrine that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired 
 and infallible Word of God. Our Church holds that the inspired 
 Word, as it came from God, is without error. The assertion of the 
 contrary cannot but shake the confidence of the people in the sacred 
 books. All who enter office in our Church solemnly profess to receive 
 them as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. If they change 
 
46 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 their belief ou this point, Christian honor demands that they should 
 withdraw from our ministry. They have no right to use the pulpit or 
 the chair of the professor for the dissemination of their errors until they 
 are dealt with by the slow process of discipline. But if any do so act, 
 their Presbytery should speedily interpose, and deal with them for 
 violation of ordination vows. The vow taken at the beginning is obliga- 
 tory until the party taking it is honorably and properly released. The 
 General Assembly enjoins upon all ministers, elders and Presbyteries, to 
 be faithful to the duty here imposed. — 1892, pp. 179, 180. 
 
 3. Case of the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D. 
 
 a Preliminary Note. 
 
 [January 20, 1891, the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., LL.D., a member of the Pres- 
 bytery of New York, delivered an inaugural address on the occasion of his induction 
 as Professor of Biblical Theology in Union Theological Seminary. This address was 
 brought to the attention of the Presbytery of New York. A Committee of Investiga- 
 tion was appointed April 13, 1891, and on its report a Committee of Prosecution was 
 appointed May 11, 1891. 
 
 Charges and specifications were duly tabled, citations were issued to the parties and 
 the case was heard at a meeting of the Presbytery held November 4, 1891. 
 
 At this meeting the accused appeared and presented his objections to the suffi- 
 ciency of the charges and specifications in form and legal effect. 
 
 The Presbytery then entered on its record its decision and final judgment, dismiss- 
 ing the case in the following words : 
 
 ''Resolved, That the Presbytery of New York, having listened to the paper of the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., in the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America against him as to the sufficiency of the charges and specifications 
 in form and legal effect ; and, without approving of the positions stated in his 
 Inaugural Address, at the same time desiring earnestly the peace and quiet of the 
 Church, and in view of the declarations made by Dr. Briggs touching his loyalty 
 to the Holy Scriptures and the Westminster Standards, and of his disclaimers of 
 interpretations put on some ot his words, deem it best to dismiss the case, and does so 
 dismiss it." 
 
 From this action of the Presbytery of New York, dismissing the case, the Prosecu- 
 ting Committee took an appeal in the name of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America. See for the Appeal, Minutes, 1892, pp. 232-241, Appendix. 
 
 This Appeal was presented to the General Assembly in session at Portland, Oreg., 
 May, 1892, and found in order (1892, p. 90). After full argument the Appeal was 
 sustained (1892, p. 141) and judgment was rendered as follows :] 
 
 b. Action of the Assembly of 1892. 
 
 The General Assembly having, on the 28th day of May, 1892, 
 duly sustained all the specifications of error alleged and set forth in the 
 appeal and specifications in this case. 
 
 It is now, May 30, 1892, ordered, that the judgment of the Presby- 
 tery of New York, entered November 4, 1891, dismissing the case of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America against Rev. 
 Charles A. Briggs, D.D., be, and the same is hereby, reversed. And 
 the case is remanded to the Presbytery of New York for a new trial, 
 with directions to the said Presbytery to proceed to pass upon and deter- 
 mine the sufficiency of the charges and specifications in form and legal 
 effect, and to permit the Prosecuting Committee to amend the specifica- 
 tions or charges, not changing the general nature of the same, if, in 
 the furtherance of justice, it be necessary to amend, so that the case 
 may be brought to issue and tried on the merits thereof as speedily 
 as may be practicable. 
 
 And it is further ordered, that the Stated Clerk of the General Assem- 
 bly return the record, and certify the proceedings had thereon with the 
 necessary papers relating thereto, to the Presbytery of New York. — 
 1892, p. 152. 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 47 
 
 C. The Charges passed upon by the Presbytery of New York, 189S. 
 
 In obedience to this mandate of the General Assembly, the Presby- 
 tery of New York, sitting in a judicial capacity, January 9, 1893, 
 passed upon the amended Charges and Specifications, which are: 
 
 Charge I. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister of the said Church, 
 and a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that the 
 Reason is a fountain of divine authority which may and does savingly 
 enlighten men, even such men as reject the Scriptures as the authoritative 
 proclamation of the will of God, and reject also the way of salvation 
 through the mediation and sacrifice of the Son of God as revealed 
 therein ; which is contrary to the essential doctrine of the Holy Scripture 
 and of the Standards of the said Church, that the Holy Scripture is 
 most necessary, and the rule of faith and practice. 
 
 Specification I. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D., delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., and has been repub- 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences: 
 
 Page 24, lines 7-10 and 31-33: " Divine authority is the only author- 
 ity to which man can yield implicit obedience, on which he can rest in 
 
 loving certainty and build with joyous confidence There are 
 
 historically three great fountains of divine authority — the Bible, the 
 Church and the Reason." 
 
 Page 27, lines 9-21: " Martineau could not find divine authority in 
 the Church or the Bible, but he did find God enthroned in his own soul. 
 There are those who would refuse these rationalists a place in the com- 
 pany of the faithful. But they forget that the essential thing is to find 
 God and divine certainty, and if these men have found God without the 
 mediation of Church and Bible, Church and Bible are means and not 
 ends; they are avenues to God, but are not God. We regret that these 
 rationalists depreciate the means of grace so essential to most of us, 
 but we are warned lest we commit a similar error, and depreciate the 
 Reason and the Christian consciousness." 
 
 Inaugural Address, Appendix, Second Edition, pp. 88, 89: 
 
 " (c) Unless God's authority is discerned in the forms of the Reason, 
 there is no ground upon which any of the heathen could ever have been 
 saved, for they know nothing of Bible or Church. If they are not 
 savingly enlightened by the Light of the World in the forms of the 
 Reason the whole heathen world is lost forever." 
 
 Specification II. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D., delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , and has been repub- 
 
48 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences: 
 
 Page 28, lines 1-22: " (3) The Authority of Holy Scripture.— We have 
 examined the Church and the Reason as seats of divine authority in an 
 introduction to our theme, The Authority of the Scriptures, because they 
 open our eyes to see mistakes that are common to the three departments. 
 Protestant Christianity builds its faith and life on the divine authority 
 contained in the Scriptures, and too often depreciates the Church and the 
 Reason. Spurgeon is an example of the average modern Evangelical, 
 who holds the Protestant position, and assails the Church and Reason in 
 the interest of the authority of Scripture. But the average opinion of 
 the Christian world would not assign him a higher place in the kingdom 
 of God than Martineau or Newman. May we not conclude, on the 
 whole, that these three representative Christians of our time, living in or 
 near the world's metropolis, have, each in his way, found God and 
 rested on divine authority ? May we not learn from them not to depre- 
 ciate any of the means whereby God makes himself known to men ? 
 Men are influenced by their temperaments and environments which of 
 the three ways of access to God they may pursue." 
 
 These declarations are contrary to Scripture: Isa. viii. 20; Matt. x. 
 32, 33; Luke xvi. 29-31; John v. 39; John xiv. 6; 1 John v. 10; 
 Gal. i. 9; 2 Tim. iii. 15-17; 2 Peter i. 19-21. 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, i, v, vi, x; Larger Catechism, questions 2, 3; Shorter 
 Catechism, question 2. 
 
 Charge II. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , being a minister of the said Church and 
 a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that the 
 Church is a fountain of divine authority, which, apart from the Holy 
 Scripture, may and does savingly enlighten men; which is contrary to 
 the essential doctrine of the Holy Scripture and of the Standards of the 
 said Church, that the Holy Scripture is most necessary and the rule of 
 faith and practice. 
 
 Specification I. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D. D. , delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., and has been repub- 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences: 
 
 Page 24, lines 7-10 and 31-33: " Divine authority is the only author- 
 ity to which man can yield implicit obedience, on which he can rest in 
 
 loving certainty and build with joyous confidence There are 
 
 historically three great fountains of divine authority — the Bible, the 
 Church and the Reason." 
 
 Page 25, lines 1-14 inclusive: " (1) The Authority of the Church. — 
 The majority of Christians from the apostolic age have found God 
 through the Church. Martyrs and Saints, Fathers and Schoolmen, the 
 profoundest intellects, the saintliest lives, have had this experience. In- 
 stitutional Christianity has been to them the presence-chamber of God. 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 49 
 
 They have therein and thereby entered into communion with all saints. 
 It is difficult for many Protestants to regard this experience as any 
 other than pious illusion and delusion. But what shall we say of a 
 modern like Newman, who could not reach certainty, striving never so 
 hard, through the Bible or the Reason, but who did find divine authority 
 in the institutions of the Church ?" 
 
 Specification II. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. 
 Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in 
 the City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induc- 
 tion into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , and has been repub • 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences: 
 
 Page 28, lines 1-22, are: " (3) The Authority of Holy Scripture. — We 
 have examined the Church and the Reason as seats of divine authority in 
 an introduction to our theme, The Authority of the Scriptures, because 
 they open our eyes to see mistakes that are common to the three depart- 
 ments. Protestant Christianity builds its faith and life on the divine 
 authority contained in the Scriptures, and too often depreciates the 
 Church and the Reason. Spurgeon is an example of the average modern 
 Evangelical, who holds the Protestant position, and assails the Church 
 and Reason in the interest of the authority of Scripture. But the aver- 
 age opinion of the Christian world would not assign him a higher place 
 in the kingdom of God than Martineau or Newman. May we not con- 
 clude, on the whole, that these three representative Christians of our 
 time, living in or near the world's metropolis, have, each in his way, 
 found God and rested on divine authority ? May we not learn from 
 them not to depreciate any of the means whereby God makes himself 
 known to men ? Men are influenced by their temperaments and environ- 
 ments which of the three ways of access to God they may pursue. ' ' 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the Holy Scripture: Isa. viii. 20; 
 Matt. x. 32, 33; Luke xvi. 29-31; John v. 39; John xiv. 6; 1 John 
 v. 10; Gal. i. 9; 2 Tim. iii. 15-17; 2 Peter i. 19-21. 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, i, v, vi, x; Larger Catechism, questions 2, 3; Shorter 
 Catechism, question 2. 
 
 Charge III. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister of the said Church and 
 a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that errors 
 may have existed in the original text of the Holy Scripture, as it came 
 from its authors, which is contrary to the essential doctrine taught in the 
 Holy Scripture and in the Standards of the said Church, that the Holy 
 Scripture is the Word of God written, immediately inspired, and the 
 rule of faith and practice. 
 
 Specification. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D. D. , delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., and has been repub- 
 4 
 
50 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences, beginning with line 4 of p. 35 : 
 
 " I shall venture to affirm that, so far as I can see, there are errors in 
 the Scriptures, that no one has been able to explain away ; and the theory 
 that they were not in the original text is sheer assumption, upon which 
 no mind can rest with certainty. If such errors destroy the authority of 
 the Bible, it is already destroyed for historians. Men cannot shut their 
 eyes to truth and fact. But on what authority do these theologians drive 
 men from the Bible by this theory of inerrancy ? The Bible itself 
 nowhere makes this claim. The creeds of the Church nowhere sanction 
 it. It is a ghost of modern evangelicalism to frighten children. The 
 Bible has maintained its authority with the best scholars of our time, 
 who with open minds have been willing to recognize any error that might 
 be pointed out by Historical Criticism; for these errors are all in the 
 circumstantials and not in the essentials; they are in the human setting, 
 not in the precious jewel itself; they are found in that section of the 
 Bible that theologians commonly account for from the providential 
 superintendence of the mind of the author, as distinguished from divine 
 revelation itself. It may be that this providential superintendence gives 
 infallible guidance in every particular; and it may be that it differs but 
 little, if at all, from the providential superintendence of the fathers and 
 schoolmen and theologians of the Christian Church. It is not important 
 for our purpose that we should decide this question. If we should 
 abandon the whole field of providential superintendence so far as inspir- 
 ation and divine authority are concerned and limit divine inspiration and 
 authority to the essential contents of the Bible, to its religion, faith and 
 morals, we would still have ample room to seek divine authority where 
 alone it is essential, or even important, in the teaching that guides our 
 devotions, our thinking, and our conduct." 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the statements of Scripture: Zech. 
 vii. 12; Mark vii. 13; Romans iii. 1, 2: 1 Cor. ii. 13; Gal. iii. 8; 
 2 Peter i. 20, 21 ; 2 Tim. iii. xvi. 
 
 These statements are contrary to the Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, i, ii, iv, viii. 
 
 Charge IV. 
 
 [Note. — This charge was stricken out by the Presbytery of New York. The Assem- 
 bly declared that the Presbytery erred in so doing, but did not sit in judgment upon 
 the charge. It is printed here, without the specification, for information.] 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister in said Church and a 
 member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that many of 
 the Old Testament predictions have been reversed by history, and that 
 the great body of Messianic prediction has not been and cannot be ful- 
 filled, which is contrary to the essential doctrine of Holy Scripture and 
 of the Standards of the said Church, that God is true, omniscient and 
 unchangeable. 
 
 Charge V. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , being a minister of the said Church, and 
 a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that Moses is 
 not the author of the Pentateuch, which is contrary to direct statements 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 51 
 
 of Holy Scripture and to the essential doctrines of the Standards of 
 the said Church, that the Holy Scripture evidences itself to be the Word 
 of God by the consent of all the parts, and that the infallible rule of 
 interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. 
 
 Specification. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Kev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D., delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Kev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., and has been repub- 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occurs the following sentence : 
 
 Page 33, lines 6-8: " It may be regarded as the certain result of the 
 science of the Higher Criticism that Moses did not write the Pentateuch." 
 
 This declaration is contrary to direct statements of Scripture: Ex. 
 xxiv. 4; Num. xxxiii. 2; Deut. v. 31; Deut. xxxi. 9; Josh. i. 7, 8; 1 
 Kings ii. 3; 1 Chron. vi. 49; Ezra iii. 2; Ezra vi. 18; Neh. i. 7; Luke 
 xxiv. 27, 44; John v. 45-47; Acts vii. 38; Acts xv. 21. 
 
 This declaration is contrary to the Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, v and ix. 
 
 Charge VI. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister of the said Church and 
 a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that Isaiah is 
 not the author of half of the book that bears his name, which is con- 
 trary to direct statements of Holy Scripture and to the essential doctrines 
 of the Standards of the said Church that the Holy Scripture evidences 
 itself to be the Word of God by the consent of all the parts, and that 
 the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. 
 
 Specification. — In an Inaugural Address which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D., delivered at the Union Theological Seminary in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., and has been 
 republished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, 
 there occurs the following sentence: 
 
 Page 33, lines 14, 15: " Isaiah did not write half of the book that 
 bears his name. ' ' 
 
 This declaration is contrary to direct statements of Scripture: Matt. 
 iv. 14, 15; Matt. xii. 17, 18; Luke iii. 4; Acts xxviii. 25, 26; John 
 xii. 38, 41; Rom. x. 16, 20. 
 
 This declaration is contrary to the Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, v and ix. 
 
 Charge VII. 
 
 [Note.— This charge was stricken out by the Presbytery of New York. The As- 
 sembly declared that the Presbytery erred in so doing, but did not sit in judgment 
 upon the charge. The charge is printed here for information.] 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister of said Church and a 
 member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that the pro- 
 
52 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 cesses of redemption extend to the world to come in the case of many 
 who die in sin ; which is contrary to the essential doctrine of Holy Scrip- 
 ture and the Standards of the said Church, that the processes of redemp- 
 tion are limited to this world. 
 
 Charge VIII. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being a minister of the said Church 
 and a member of the Presbytery of New York, with teaching that sanc- 
 tification is not complete at death, which is contrary to the essential 
 doctrine of Holy Scripture and of the Standards of the said Church 
 that the souls of believers are at their death at once made perfect in 
 holiness. 
 
 Specification. — In an Inaugural Address, which the said Rev. Charles 
 A. Briggs, D.D., delivered at the Union Theological Seminary, in the 
 City of New York, January 20, 1891, on the occasion of his induction 
 into the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology, which Address 
 has been published and extensively circulated with the knowledge and 
 approval of the said Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , and has been repub- 
 lished by him in a second edition with a preface and an appendix, there 
 occur the following sentences: 
 
 Pages 53, 54, 55: \ 
 
 "(c) Another fault of Protestant theology is in its limitation of the pro- 
 cess of redemption to this world, and its neglect of those vast periods of 
 time which have elapsed for most men in the Middle State between death 
 and the resurrection. The Roman Catholic Church is firmer here, 
 though it smears the Biblical doctrine with not a few hurtful errors. 
 The reaction agaiust this limitation, as seen in the theory of second pro- 
 bation, is not surprising. I do not find this doctrine in the Bible, but I 
 do find in the Bible the doctrine of a Middle State of conscious higher 
 life in the communion with Christ and the multitude of the departed of 
 all ages ; and of the necessity of entire sanctification, in order that the 
 work of redemption may be completed. There is no authority in the 
 Scriptures, or in the creeds of Christendom, for the doctrine of immedi- 
 ate sanctification at death. The only sanctification known to experience, 
 to Christian orthodoxy, and to the Bible, is progressive sanctification. 
 Progressive sanctification after death is the doctrine of the Bible and 
 the Church ; and it is of vast importance in our times that we should 
 understand it, and live in accordance with it. The bugbear of a 
 judgment immediately after death, and the illusion of a magical trans- 
 formation in the dying hour, should be banished from the world. They 
 are conceits derived from the ethnic religions, and without basis in the 
 Bible or Christian experience as expressed in the symbols of the Church. 
 The former makes death a terror to the best of men, the latter makes 
 human life and experience of no effect; and both cut the nerves of 
 Christian activity and striving after sanctification. Renouncing them as 
 hurtful, unchristian errors, we look with hope and joy for the continua- 
 tion of the processes of grace, and the wonders of redemption in the 
 company of the blessed, to which the faithful are all hastening. ' ' 
 
 Inaugural Address, Appendix, 2d ed., pages 107, 108: " Sanctification 
 has two sides — a negative and a positive — mortification and vivification ; 
 the former is man ward, the latter is God ward. Believers who enter the 
 Middle State enter guiltless; they are pardoned and justified; they are 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 53 
 
 mantled in the blood and righteousness of Christ; and nothing will be 
 able to separate them from His love. They are also delivered from all 
 temptations such as spring from without, from the world and the devil. 
 They are encircled with influences for good such as they have never enjoyed 
 before. But they are still the same persons, with all the gifts and 
 graces, and also the same habits of mind, disposition and temper they 
 had when they left the world. Death destroys the body. It does not 
 •change the moral and religious nature of man. It is unpsychological 
 .and unethical to suppose that the character of the disembodied spirit will 
 all be changed in the moment of death. It is the Manichean heresy to 
 hold that sin belongs to the physical organization and is laid aside with 
 the body. If this were so, how can any of our race carry their evil 
 natures with them into the Middle State and incur the punishment of 
 their sins ? The eternal punishment of a man whose evil nature has 
 been stripped from him by death and left in the grave is an absurdity. 
 The Plymouth Brethren hold that there are two natures in the redeemed 
 — the old man and the new. In accordance with such a theory, the old 
 man might be cast off at death. But this is only a more subtle kind of 
 Manicheism, which has ever been regarded as heretical. Sin, as our 
 Saviour teaches, has its source in the heart — in the higher and immortal 
 part of man. It is the work of sanctification to overcome sin in the 
 higher nature. ' ' 
 
 These declarations are contrary to Scripture: 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52; Heb. 
 xii. 23. 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the Standards : Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, xxxii, Sec. i; Larger Catechism, question 86; Shorter Catechism, 
 question 37. 
 
 d. Decision and final judgment of the Presbytery of New York, 1893. 
 
 The Presbytery of New York, sitting in a judicial capacity, January 
 9, 1893, made and entered on its record its decision and final judgment 
 in the above case, in the following words, viz. : 
 
 ' ' The case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Amer- 
 ica against the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., having been dismissed 
 by the Presbytery of New York on November 4, 1891, was remanded 
 by the General Assembly of 1892 to the same Presbytery, with instruc- 
 tions that ' it be brought to issue and tried on the merits thereof as 
 speedily as possible. ' 
 
 ' ' In obedience to this mandate, the Presbytery of New York has tried 
 the case. It has listened to the evidence and argument of the Com- 
 mittee of Prosecution, acting in fidelity to the duty committed to them. 
 It has heard the defense and evidence of the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, 
 presented in accordance with the rights secured to every minister of the 
 Church. 
 
 " The Presbytery has kept in mind these established principles of our 
 polity, ' that no man can rightly be convicted of heresy by inference or 
 implication;' that ' in the interpretation of ambiguous expressions 
 candor requires that a court should favor the accused by putting upon 
 his words the more favorable rather than the less favorable construction, ' 
 and ' there are truths and forms with respect to which men of good char- 
 acter may differ. ' 
 
 " Giving due consideration to the defendant's explanation of the 
 language used in his Inaugural Address, accepting his frank and full 
 
54 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 disclaimer of the interpretation which has been put upon some of its 
 phrases and illustrations, crediting his affirmations of loyalty to the Stan- 
 dards of the Church and to the Holy Scriptures as the only infallible 
 rule of faith and practice, the Presbytery does not find that he has 
 transgressed the limits of liberty allowed under our Constitution to 
 scholarship and opinion. 
 
 " Therefore, without expressing approval of the critical or theological 
 views embodied in the Inaugural Address, or the manner in which they 
 have been expressed and illustrated, the Presbytery pronounces the Rev. 
 Charles A. Briggs, D.D., fully acquitted of the offenses alleged against 
 him, the several charges and specifications accepted for probation having 
 been < not sustained.' "—1893, pp. 232, 233. 
 
 Against this action of the Presbytery of New York, an appeal to 
 the General Assembly was taken by the Prosecuting Committee in accor- 
 dance with the provisions of Sections 94 to 102 inclusive of the Book 
 of Discipline.— 1893, p. 234. 
 
 e. Action of the Assembly of 1893. 
 (i. ) Hearing and Judgment. 
 
 The Judicial Committee in the case of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the U. S. A. vs. the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., reported, and it was 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly finds that due notice of appeal 
 in this case has been given, and that the appeal and the specifications of 
 the errors alleged have been filed in due time, and that the appeal is in 
 order in accordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline. — 
 1893, p. 70. 
 
 After full discussion the appeal was entertained, 410 to 145. — 1893, 
 pp. 95-104. 
 
 The parties having been fully heard, the appeal was sustained : to 
 sustain as a whole, 295; to sustain in part, 84; not to sustain, 116. 
 The Moderator declared the appeal to be sustained. — 1893, pp. 140-150. 
 
 It was then Resolved, That the specifications of error, excepting 
 Ground iv, Specifications 1 and 5, in Judicial Case No. 1, having been 
 sustained, and the appeal in said case having been sustained, the question 
 of the reversal of the judgment of the Presbytery of New York, of the 
 form of the judgment of the Assembly, and all other matters connected 
 with the case, be referred to a Committee of fifteen, of which the Rev. 
 Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D., shall be Chairman, said Committee to report at 
 the earliest opportunity. — 1893, p. 150. 
 
 The Judgment 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 United States of America, I Qn appeal from the final judgment 
 
 of the Presbytery of New 
 
 Appellant, 
 
 vs. 
 
 Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., \ York. 
 
 Appellee. 
 
 This appeal being regularly issued, and coming on to be heard on the 
 judgment, the notice of appeal, the appeal, and the specifications of 
 errors alleged, and the record in the case from the beginning, and the 
 reading of said record having been omitted by consent, and the parties 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 55 
 
 hereto having been heard before the judicatory in argument, and the 
 opportunity having been given to the members of the judicatory ap- 
 pealed from to be heard, and they having been heard, and opportunity 
 having been given to the members of this judicatory to be heard, and 
 they having been heard, as provided by the Book of Discipline, and 
 the General Assembly, as a judicatory sitting in said cause on appeal, 
 having sustained the following specifications of error, to wit: 
 
 All of said specifications of errors set forth in said five grounds of 
 appeal, save and except the first and fifth under the fourth ground of 
 appeal, on consideration whereof, this judicatory finds said appeal should 
 be and is hereby sustained, and that said Presbytery of New York, the 
 judicatory appealed from, erred in striking out said amended charges 
 four and seven, and erred in not sustaining, on the law and the evidence, 
 said amended charges one, two, three, five, six and eight ; on considera- 
 tion whereof this judicatory finds that said final judgment of the Presby- 
 tery of New York is erroneous, and should be and is hereby reversed ; 
 and this General Assembly sitting as a judicatory in said cause coming 
 now to enter judgment on said amended charges, one, two, three, five, 
 six and eight, finds the appellee, the said Charles A. Briggs, has uttered, 
 taught and propagated views, doctrines and teachings, as set forth in 
 said charges contrary to the essential doctrine of Holy Scripture and the 
 Standards of said Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 and in violation of the ordination vow of said appellee, which said 
 erroneous teachings, views, and doctrines strike at the vitals of religion, 
 and have been industriously spread ; wherefore, this General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, sitting as 
 a judicatory in this cause on appeal, does hereby suspend Charles A. 
 Briggs, the said appellee, from the office of a minister in the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, until such time as he 
 shall give satisfactory evidence of repentance to the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, for the viola- 
 tion by him of the said ordination vow as herein and heretofore found. 
 
 And it is ordered that the Stated Clerk of this General Assembly 
 transmit a certified copy of this judgment to the Presbytery of New 
 York, to be made a part of the record in this case. It is also ordered 
 that a copy be furnished to the appellee, the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, 
 D.D.— 1893, pp. 164, 165. 
 
 e. (#.) Explanatory minute — Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D. 
 
 The Committee on the Judgment in Judicial Case No. 1 also presented 
 a judicial deliverance and explanatory minute, which was adopted, as 
 follows : 
 
 Your Committee, to whom was entrusted the duty of formulating an 
 explanatory minute of this Assembly on the doctrinal points involved in 
 the appeal of the Committee of Prosecution from the judgment of the 
 Presbytery of New York, in the case of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America vs. the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , reports 
 as follows: 
 
 1. We find that the doctrine of the errancy of the Scripture as it 
 came from them to whom, and through whom, God originally com- 
 municated His revelation, is in conflict with the statements of the Holy 
 Scripture itself, which assert that ' ' all Scripture " or " every Scripture ' ' 
 is given by " inspiration of God " (2 Tim. iii. 16); " That the prophecy 
 
56 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. IT. 
 
 came not of old by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost " (2 Peter i. 12), and also with the 
 statements of the Standards of the Church which assert that " the Holy 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God ' ' 
 (Larger Catechism, Question 3), " of Infallible Truth " and " Divine 
 Authority" (Confession of Faith, Chap, i, Sec. v). 
 
 2. That we find in this case involved the questions of the sufficiency 
 of the human reason and of the Church, as authorized guides in the 
 matter of salvation. Your Committee recommend that this General 
 Assembly declare that the reason and the Church are not to be regarded 
 as fountains of divine authority; that they are unreliable and fallible, 
 and whilst they may, and no doubt are, channels or media through which 
 the Holy Spirit may reach and influence for good the human soul, they 
 are never to be relied upon as sufficient in themselves, and aside from 
 Holy Scripture, to lead the soul to a saving knowledge of God. To 
 teach that they are sufficient is most dangerous, and contrary to the 
 Word of God and our Standards, and our ministers and church members 
 are solemnly warned against such teachings. 
 
 3. We find involved in this case a speculation in regard to the process 
 of the soul's sanctification after death, which in the judgment of this 
 Assembly is a dangerous hypothesis, in direct conflict with the plain 
 teaching of the divine Word and the utterance of the Standards of our 
 Church. ' ' These Standards distinctly declare that ' the souls of believ- 
 ers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass 
 into glory, while their bodies being still united to Christ do rest in their 
 graves till the Resurrection' " (Shorter Catechism, Question 37; 2 
 Cor. v. 8; Phil. i. 23; John xvii. 24). 
 
 The judgment, with the judicial deliverance and explanatory minute, 
 were ordered to be entered on the record, and the Stated Clerk was 
 directed to forward a copy of the same to the Presbytery of New York, 
 and also to the appellee, the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D. — 1893, pp. 
 164, 165. 
 
 4. Protest against action of the Assembly on inerrancy. 
 
 The Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., LL.D., for himself and others, pre- 
 sented the following protest, which was received and ordered to be recorded : 
 
 The undersigned enter respectful and earnest protest against the action 
 of this Assembly which declares the inerrancy of the original autographs 
 of Scripture to be the faith of the Church. We protest against this 
 action. 
 
 1. Because it is insisting upon a certain theory of inspiration, when 
 our Standards have hitherto only emphasized the fact of inspiration. So 
 far as the original manuscript came from God, undoubtedly it was with- 
 out error. But we have no means of determining how far God controlled 
 the penmen in transcribing from documents in matters purely circum- 
 stantial. 
 
 2. Because it is dogmatizing on a matter of which, necessarily, we 
 can have no positive knowledge. 
 
 3. Because it is insisting upon an interpretation of our Standards 
 which they have never borne, and which, on their face, is impossible. 
 No man in subscribing to his belief in the Scriptures as the Word of 
 God, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice, has his mind on 
 the original autographs. 
 
OF THE HOLY SCEIPTURE. 57 
 
 4. Because it is setting up an imaginary Bible as a test of orthodoxy. 
 If an inerrant original Bible is vital to faith, we cannot escape the 
 conclusion that an inerrant present Bible is vital to faith. 
 
 5. Because it is disparaging the Bible we have, and endangering its 
 authority under the pressure of a prevalent hostile criticism. It seems 
 like flying for shelter to an original autograph, when the Bible we have 
 in our hands to-day is our impregnable defense. 
 
 Believing these present Scriptures to be " the very Word of God ' ' 
 and " immediately inspired by God," "kept pure in all ages" and 
 * ' our only infallible rule of faith and practice, ' ' notwithstanding some 
 apparent discrepancies in matters purely circumstantial, we earnestly 
 protest against the imposing of this new interpretation of our Standards 
 upon the Church, to bind men's consciences by enforced subscription to 
 its terms. —1893, p. 167. 
 
 5. Answer to the foregoing protest. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare an answer to the protest of Revs. 
 Herrick Johnson, D.D., LL.D., S. J. Niccolls, D.D., LL.D., and 
 others, presented its report, which was received, and is as follows: 
 
 As already announced by this General Assembly, the deliverance of 
 the Portland Assembly, and the deliverances of this body, touching the 
 inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, impose no new test of orthodoxy, 
 nor do they set forth any theory of inspiration, but only reaffirm the 
 statements of our Confession of Faith, Chap, i, Sees, i, ii, iv, v, viii, x, 
 and the Larger Catechism, Ques. 3 ; statements to which every minister 
 and every elder in the Church gives his assent at his ordination in 
 response to the f ollowing question : ' ' Do you believe the Scriptures of 
 the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible 
 rule of faith and practice ?" 
 
 We can, therefore, say with the protestants, we believe ' ' these present 
 Scriptures to be the very Word of God," and " immediately inspired 
 by God, " " kept pure in all ages, ' ' and ' ' our only infallible rule of 
 faith and practice ;' ' while if errors were found in the original autographs 
 they could not have proceeded from " God, who is truth itself, the 
 author thereof. ' ' In behalf of the Committee, 
 
 E. D. Warfield, Chairman. 
 —1893, p. 169. 
 
 6. The Bible as we now have it is the very Word of God. 
 
 [See below, Chap, i, Sec. viii.] 
 
 7. The General Assembly makes no new definitions of dogma. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Rochester, declaring that said 
 * ' Presbytery viewed with apprehension the attempt of the General As- 
 sembly to make new definitions of dogma, by deliverance and by judicial 
 decision, and expresses its conviction that no doctrinal statement, which 
 is not explicitly contained in the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of 
 the Church, is binding on the office bearers. ' ' We recommend the fol- 
 lowing action: The General Assembly has never undertaken to make 
 new definitions of dogma, either by deliverance or judicial decision, and 
 we hope that this declaration of former Assemblies repeated by this 
 General Assembly will allay the apprehensions of our worthy brethren 
 of this Presbytery. Adopted. — 1894, p. 45. 
 
58 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 8. Case of the Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., on an appeal from 
 the decision of the Synod of Ohio. 
 
 a. Charges and specifications. 
 
 [Note.— On the 12th of December, 1892, the Presbytery of Cincinnati found the 
 Rev. Henry Preserved Smith guilty on two out of three charges. The charges sus- 
 tained are as follows :] 
 
 Charge II. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges 
 the Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., being a minister in said Church 
 and a member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, with teaching, in a pam- 
 phlet entitled " Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration," contrary to a 
 fundamental doctrine of the Word of God and the Confession of Faith, 
 that the Holy Spirit did not so control the inspired writers in their 
 composition of the Holy Scriptures as to make their utterances absolutely 
 truthful, i. e., free from error when interpreted in their natural and 
 intended sense. 
 
 SPECIFICATION I. 
 
 In a pamphlet entitled " Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration," pub- 
 lished by the said Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D. D. , in different 
 editions in the year 1891, which pamphlet has been extensively circu- 
 lated with his knowledge and approval, he teaches that the inspired 
 author of Chronicles has asserted sundry errors of historic fact. — Pages 
 92, 100, 101 and 102, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION II. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 inspired author of Chronicles has suppressed sundry historic truths, 
 owing to inability or unwillingness to believe them. — Pages 104, 105, 
 107, 109 cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION III. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 inspired author of Chronicles incorporated into his narrative and en- 
 dorsed by his authority material drawn from unreliable sources. — Pages 
 101, 103, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION IV. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 historic unreliability of the inspired author of Chronicles was so great 
 that the truth of history therein contained can only be discovered by 
 such investigation, discrimination and sifting as is necessary to the dis- 
 covery of the truth in histories by uninspired and fallible men. — Page 
 100, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION V. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches the historic 
 unreliability of the inspired author of Chronicles to have been such that 
 * ' the truth of events ' ' cannot be ascertained from what he actually 
 asserts, but from what he unwittingly reveals. — Pages 100, 108, 109, 
 cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION VI. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 historic unreliability of the inspired author of Chronicles extended to 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 59 
 
 other inspired historic writers of the Old Testament. — Page 102, cited 
 below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION VII. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 historic unreliability charged by him upon the inspired historical writers 
 of the Old Testament is chargeable, though in a less degree, upon the 
 inspired writers of the New Testament. — Page 115, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION VIII. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 disclosures of religious experience given by the inspired authors of the 
 Psalms are not in accord with the mind of the Holy Spirit, and free 
 from moral defect. — Page 101, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION IX. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 assertions made by the inspired authors of the Psalms are not to be relied 
 upon as absolutely true. — Page 101, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION X. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the last 
 twenty -seven chapters of the Book of Isaiah are not correctly ascribed 
 to him. — Pages 95, 96, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION XI. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he specifically affirms 
 the impossibility of the Old Testament Scriptures being free from all 
 error of fact. — Page 92, cited below. 
 
 Quotations from " Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration." 
 
 Page 92: "I have always supposed Dr. Charles Hodge to mean the 
 same thing when he says (Theol., i, 152) that the Scriptures are ' free 
 from all error, whether of doctrine, fact or precept.' If what the 
 sacred writers assert, he says later (p. 163), ' God asserts, which, as 
 has been shown, is the Scriptural idea of inspiration, their assertions 
 must be free from error. ' Again, he says, ' The whole Bible was written 
 under such an influence as preserved its human authors from all error, 
 and makes it for the Church the infallible rule of faith and practice.' 
 Notice there are two statements here. Had Dr. Hodge contented himself 
 with affirming that the whole Bible Avas written ' under such an influence 
 as makes it for the Church the infallible rule of faith and practice, ' no 
 one could have objected. The other clause is the one to which we object, 
 and ivhose application to the Old Testament I affirm to be impossible." 
 
 Pages 94 and 95 : " The first class of facts is the least important, and 
 may be said not to bear upon inerrancy. It includes the cases where 
 writings have been included in the books of those who were not their 
 authors 
 
 " Strictly speaking, the hypothesis does not contradict the doctrine of 
 inerrancy, and I should not have alluded to it except to prepare the way 
 for a similar case which has made no small scandal in the theological 
 world. I allude, of course, to the Book of Isaiah. Divest your mind 
 now of preconceptions, and look at this case. Let us suppose the redac- 
 tor of the book of the minor prophets to have had a Book of Isaiah, 
 which included only the first thirty -nine chapters of our book of that 
 
60 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 name. He has also in his possession the magnificent evangelical prophecy 
 which is (p. 95) more familiar to us than almost any other part of the 
 Old Testament. He does not know the author's name, or perhaps it is 
 not safe to have it known. What more likely than that he should make 
 of it an appendix to the book of the kindred prophet — the two together 
 make up a roll about the size of the book of the twelve ? This would 
 not be out of harmony with the process of gathering the other book, and 
 the only way in which it would violate the strictest theory of inspiration 
 is in making appear as Isaiah' s what is not his. ' ' 
 
 Page 96: " Read this and you will feel that the message could have 
 come with appropriateness to the people in the captivity, and not to the 
 people of Isaiah's time, whose situation was so different. This is, at any 
 rate, the conclusion of the majority of the critics. No one denies the 
 genuineness of the prophecy; no one denies that it is a genuine prophecy 
 that is, and this being admitted, it gains in force and beauty on the criti- 
 cal theory." 
 
 Page 100: " For arguing on the basis of individual style, we discover 
 that the redactor has generally left unaltered the documents he has 
 embodied in his narrative. His supervision has generally gone only so 
 far as to make an occasional note, or insert a connecting phrase. Or 
 does his inerrancy extend simply to the reproduction, so that our confi- 
 dence extends only to the accuracy of his quotation ? This, indeed, is 
 what the critics generally accept. But it is far from what the advocates 
 of inerrancy claim. Unless we can assume the standing miracle, the 
 historical sources of the Old Testament need, in order to discover the 
 truth of events, the same sort of analysis, sifting and cross-questioning 
 that must be given to other sources of history, and this analysis, sifting 
 and cross-questioning, is precisely — higher criticism." 
 
 Page 101: " The value of the Book of Job lies in the spectacle of a 
 human soul in the direst affliction, working through its doubts, and at 
 last humbly confessing its weakness and sinfulness in the presence of its 
 Maker. The inerrancy is in the truth of the picture presented. It 
 cannot be located in any statement of the author or of any of his char- 
 acters. The same is true of the Psalms. They present us a picture of 
 pious experience in all its phases. We see every variety of soul in every 
 variety of emotion. The assertions of the authors cannot be taken for 
 absolute truth 
 
 " The Psalms present us a record of actual experience of believers in 
 the past. We can study and profit by this experience all the more that 
 it has in it human weakness. The subjects of the experience doubtless 
 had the power of correctly expressing their feelings, but that is not the 
 inerrancy which has been claimed for them, and which the theologians 
 desire. The imprecations, which have been such a stumbling-block to 
 some, are enough to prove this point." 
 
 Pages 101-103: (101) " So far we have noticed the difficulty of apply- 
 ing the theory of inerrancy. We are in a position, however, to go 
 further. We have, as you know, tw T o parallel histories in the [102] Old 
 Testament. One is contained in the books from Genesis to 2 Kings; the 
 other is contained in the Books of Chronicles. These latter, indeed, 
 once were joined with Ezra and Nehemiah, so as to form a continuous 
 narrative (if narrative it may be called, where so much is simply genea- 
 logical) from Adam to the Persian monarchy. But this does not now con- 
 cern us. For our present inquiry, we are interested in the two forms of 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 61 
 
 the history of Israel as presented on the one side by the Books of Samuel 
 and Kings; and on the other in the Books of Chronicles. The study of 
 these books shows the method of the authors with a definiteness which 
 leaves nothing to be desired. "We see that the chronicler had before him 
 our Book of Kings as one of his sources. He takes from it what suits 
 his purpose. What he takes he generally transfers without material 
 change. He omits a good deal which does not answer his purpose, and 
 he inserts a good deal from other sources. He pursues exactly the plan, 
 that is, which we suppose to have been followed by the other historical 
 writers. Now compare the following passages." (Dr. Smith then 
 compares 2 Sam. viii. 4 with 1 Chron. xviii. 3; 2 Sam. x. 16 with 
 1 Chron. xxix. 6; 2 Sam. x. 18 with 1 Chron. xix. 18; 2 Sam. xxiv. 
 9 with 1 Chron. xxi. 5; 2 Sam. xxxiv. 24 with 1 Chron. xxi. 25; 1 
 Kings iv. 26 with 2 Chron. ix. 25 ; 1 Kings xvi. 2 with 2 Chron. iii. 4, 
 and 1 Kings vii. 26 with 2 Chron. iv. 5. ) 
 
 Page 103: " Now it will be said at once that these are all discrepancies 
 in numbers, which are very liable to corruption, and that, therefore, these 
 are all cases of error in transmission. But I ask you to notice that these 
 are all, but one, cases in which the larger number is in the text of the 
 chronicler. Where the age of a king or the length of his reign is con- 
 cerned, I have not taken account of the difference. But in matters of 
 statistics it is curious that the errors should be nearly all one way. Re- 
 membering that the chronicler was much further aAvay in time from the 
 events narrated, we find it natural that he should have an exaggerated 
 idea of the resources of his country in the days of her glory. In the case 
 of David's purchase of the field of Oman, he finds the price a niggardly 
 one for the prince to pay. He, therefore, does not hesitate (supposing 
 that a mistake has been made) to put in a larger sum. Of course we 
 need not lay this to the charge of the final redactor of the book. He had 
 probably before him other written elaborations of the history in which 
 his exaggerated idea of the past was already embodied. The personal 
 equation is as difficult to suppress in the historian as is individuality of 
 style. Why should one be overruled any more than the other ? " 
 
 Page 104: " Now, we all know how difficult it is to picture to ourselves 
 a different piety from our own. Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, 
 we picture to ourselves as an enlightened Christian of the nineteenth 
 century. We do not like to confess that he was guilty of deception, or 
 that Jacob, the prince of God, took an unfair advantage of his own 
 brother. So with the chronicler. He could think of David only as a 
 saint of his own pattern. Therefore he does not copy from the older 
 history the shadows that rest upon David' s life — his adultery, the trouble 
 with Amnon, the usurpation of Absalom and Adonijah, the charge of 
 vengeance he delivered to Solomon— these are left out of his history alto- 
 gether. To him David is the nursing father of the legitimate priest- 
 hood, and the virtual builder of the Temple." 
 
 Pages 104, 105: " But you will say this does not give us error in the 
 record. Let me then call attention to the following: [Dr. Smith then 
 compares 1 Kings ix. 11 with 2 Chron. viii. 2; and 1 Kings xv. 14 
 with 2 Chron. xiv. 3-5.] 
 
 " These certainly look on their face like direct contradictions, and if 
 we allow for the personal equation of which I have spoken, we can 
 easily explain them. It would be hard, indeed, for a Jew of the Persian 
 period to imagine Solomon giving away the sacred territory of Israel to 
 
62 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 the heathen king. Rather must he suppose the mighty Solomon to he 
 the recipient of gifts of territory. The same line of reasoning is [105] 
 followed in the second quotation. The high places were the old sanctu- 
 aries of Jehovah, regarded as legitimate before the building of the 
 Temple, even by the author of the Book of Kings (1 Kings iii. 2), and 
 used without reserve by Samuel. As time went on they fell more and 
 more into disrepute, and after the exile the requirements of the law were 
 carried out, and the only sanctuary of the people was the temple at 
 Jerusalem. The remembrance of the high places was only that of 
 illegitimate places of worship. The chronicler and his generation could 
 not imagine a good king as even tolerating them. Hence the change in 
 his account." 
 
 Pages 108, 109: " It is clear that we cannot ascribe freedom from error 
 to the statements of a book compiled in this way. You will say, then it 
 should be cast out of the Canon. To which I reply, by no means. The 
 Book of Chronicles is invaluable to us, not for what it directly teaches, 
 but for the light it throws indirectly upon its own time. What the Jews 
 of the Persian monarchy were thinking, how they regarded the older 
 history, how they were preparing the way for the scribes and Pharisees, 
 for the crucifixion and the Roman war, for the Talmud and Barkochba 
 — this is made known to us in the Book of Chronicles and by almost no 
 other book in the Bible. But it is made known to us by reading between 
 the lines, that is to say, by considering and weighing not what the 
 author says of others, but by what he betrays of himself. What is the 
 truth of history, my friends ? Is it simply the narrative of events 
 definitely defined, and labeled, and arranged in order ? Is it a catalogue 
 of kings, of each of which it records that he was born, made war and 
 died ? Is it not rather a series of pictures, each of which describes an 
 age with its thoughts, its aspirations, its ideals ? If so, sacred history 
 cannot be made up by a string of inerrant statements. ' ' 
 
 Note, page 108: "As some questions have been raised by my assertions 
 about the chronicler, I will add that of course I do not suppose him 
 guilty of intentional falsification of the record. He had before him, it 
 would appear, a considerable literature which commented on the history 
 in the spirit of the time — his changes are made from these documents. 
 The ideas which govern this literature were a part of the mental furni- 
 ture of the chronicler himself. His inspiration, which made him a 
 source of religious edification to his contemporaries, and which makes his 
 work still a part of the infallible rule of faith, did not correct his his- 
 torical point of view, any more than it corrected his scientific point of 
 view, which no doubt made the earth the centre of the solar system. ' ' 
 
 Page 109: " It must show unconsciously and by suggestion the spirit 
 that informs the Church of God and makes it live and grow. To secure 
 us an inerrant chronicle of dates and names would not give us this 
 history. To give us the pictures of the men drawn by themselves is to 
 give us this history. To discover these pictures, and to locate them, 
 and set them in their true light, is the work of Biblical theology working 
 by criticism." 
 
 Page 115 : "Only it should be observed that the chances for error in the 
 Old Testament are much greater than in the New Testament. The Old 
 Testament took form in a cruder state of society and its books cover a 
 much greater period of time than is the case in the New Testament. 
 We should naturally expect greater difficulties in the Old Testament. 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 63 
 
 The caution exercised with regard to a priori theories in regard to the 
 New Testament commends itself with double force, when we come to the 
 Old." 
 
 These declarations are contrary to the Scriptures: 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 
 2 Peter i. 20, 21; 2 Peter iii. 15, 16, R.V.; John x. 34-36; Deut. iv. 
 2; Rev. xxii. 18, 19; Exod. iv. 14-16; Num. xvi. 28-30, 33; Num. 
 xxiii. 7, 8; Num. xxiii. 12, 13; Num. xxiii. 25, 26; Num. xxiv. 12, 
 13; 1 Cor. x. 11; 1 Cor. xiv. 37; Num. xii. 6-8; Deut. xxviii. 1, 15; 
 Jer. xxxvi. 16; Isa. li. 1-6; Jer. i. 9; Jer. ii. 1; Psa. xcv. 7, 8; Heb. 
 iii. 7, 8; Heb. i. 1, 2, R.V.; Jer. xxxi. 33; Heb. x. 15, 16, R.V.; 
 Matt. x. 19, 20; Luke xii. 11, 12; John xiv. 26; John xvi. 13-15; 
 Luke xxiv. 27; Luke xxiv. 44, 45; John v. 46, 47; Matt. iv. 4, 7, 
 10; Matt. v. 17, 18; Isa. viii. 20; 1 Peter i. 23, 25; 2 Sam. xxiii. 2; 
 Psa. xix. 7; Dan. x. 21; Num. xxiii. 19; Psa. cxix. 160; Prov. xxx. 
 5, 6; Matt. i. 22, cf also R.V. ; Acts i. 16; John xvii. 16, 17; Matt. 
 xxiv. 35; Matt. xxii. 29, 32; John xvii. 12; Acts xxiv. 14; Mark xii. 
 36; Actsiv. 24, 25; Acts iii. 21; 1 Thess. ii. 13; Gal. iii. 8; Gal. iii. 
 16; 1 Peter i. 10, 11 ; James iv. 5, cf. also R.V. ; John xix. 24; John 
 xix. 36, 37; Matt. iii. 3, cf Isa. xl. 3; Matt. viii. 17, cf. Isa. liii. 4; 
 Matt. xii. 17, 18; Matt. xii. 17, cf. Isa. xl. 1; Luke iii. 4, 5, 6, cf. 
 Isa. xl. 3, 4, 5; Luke iv. 17-19, cf Isa. lxi. 1, 2; John i. 23, cf. 
 Isa. xl. 3; Rom. x. 16, 20; John xii. 38, cf. Isa. liii. 1; Acts viii. 28, 
 30, cf Isa. liii. 7, 8. 
 
 These declarations are contrary to our Standards: Confession of Faith, 
 Chap, i, Sees, i, ii, iv, v, viii, ix, x; Chap, xiv, Sec. ii; Larger Cate- 
 chism, [questions] 2 and 3, 4 and 157. 
 
 Charge III. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America charges the 
 Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., a minister in said Church, a mem- 
 ber of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, in a pamphlet entitled " Biblical 
 Scholarship and Inspiration," while alleging that the Holy Scriptures 
 are inspired, and an infallible rule of faith and practice, with denying 
 in fact their inspiration in the sense in which inspiration is attributed to 
 the Holy Scriptures, by the Holy Scriptures themselves and by the 
 Confession of Faith. 
 
 SPECIFICATION I. 
 
 In a pamphlet entitled " Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration," pub- 
 lished by the said Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., in different 
 editions in the year 1891, which pamphlet has been extensively circulated 
 with his knowledge and approval, he teaches that the inspiration of the 
 Holy Scriptures is consistent with the unprofitableness of portions of the 
 sacred writings. — Page 116, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION II. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is consistent with error of fact in their 
 affirmations.— Pages 92, 95, 96, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 
 115, cited under Charge II; 93, cited below. 
 
 SPECIFICATION III. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is consistent with such unreliability in 
 
64 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. I, SECT. II. 
 
 their utterances that the truth of events cannot be ascertained from their 
 utterances themselves. — Pages 100, 102, 108, 109, cited under Charge II. 
 
 SPECIFICATION IV. 
 
 In the pamphlet referred to in Specification I, he teaches that the 
 inspiration of the Holy Scriptures is consistent with a bias in the inspired 
 writers, rendering them incapable of recording the truth of events 
 because incapable of believing it. — Pages 104, 105, 107, 109, cited 
 under Charge II. 
 
 Quotations from "Biblical Scholarship and Inspiration." 
 
 Page 116: "All Scripture is God -inspired — true. But the remarkable 
 thing is that the text affirms more than this. All Scripture is not only 
 God -inspired, but all Scripture is ' profitable for teaching, for reproof, 
 for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness ; that the man of 
 God may be furnished completely unto every good work. ' This seems 
 to me the hardest part of it. I find no difficulty in supposing the list of 
 dukes of Edom God -inspired, even though in the original autographs it 
 had some names wrongly placed, but do you make it profitable for 
 instruction in righteousness ? Do you make it profitable to yourself for 
 completely furnishing yourself to every good work ? If not, you can 
 not lightly condemn me for not drawing your deduction from its inspira- 
 tion." 
 
 Page 93 : " First, however, allow me a word of personal explanation. 
 Some years ago, when a candidate for ordination, I received as a text 
 for my trial sermon the well-known passage of 2 Timothy: 'All Scrip- 
 ture is given by inspiration of God.' In that sermon I took the 
 very ground of the authors I have been quoting. For more than fifteen 
 years since that time I have been engaged in direct daily study of the 
 Old Testament. It has been my duty to familiarize myself with the 
 facts of the record, and as well with the statements of scholars about 
 these facts. I well recall the reluctance which I felt to read some 
 books which departed from ' the views commonly received among us,' 
 and on reflection I cannot convict myself of undue sympathy with 
 German mysticism or rationalism. But I have felt it my duty to know 
 facts, and I sincerely believe that the truth of God is evident in all the 
 facts of His Word. But in the examination of facts to which I now 
 proceed, remember that it is my desire to give no one pain, and I ask 
 you not to take my statement, but to examine the record itself. ' ' 
 
 b. Finding and judgment of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. 
 
 On December 13, Presbytery suspended the accused from the ministry 
 in the following action: 
 
 ' ' Charges II and III have thus been proved, and Dr. Smith is found 
 guilty of both charges. 
 
 " Therefore the judgment of the Presbytery sitting as a Court is, that 
 the Eev. Henry Preserved Smith, D. D. , be, and hereby is, suspended 
 from the ministry of the Presbyterian Church until such time as he shall 
 make manifest, to the satisfaction of Presbytery, his renunciation of the 
 errors he has been found to hold, and his solemn purpose no longer to 
 teach or propagate them." 
 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE. 65 
 
 C. Appeal of Dr. Smith to the Synod of Ohio. 
 
 [From this action of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, Dr. Smith took an 
 appeal to the Synod of Ohio, meeting in Cincinnati, October 10-13, 
 1893. 
 
 The appeal was entertained by the Synod, and, after trial had, it was 
 not sustained, 51 to 78. 
 
 No one of the specifications of error having been sustained, and no 
 error having been found in the record, the Moderator declared the judg- 
 ment of the inferior judicatory to be affirmed.] — Minutes, Synod of 
 Ohio, 1893, p. 173. 
 
 d. Appeal of Dr. Smith to the General Assembly ; judgment of Synod 
 
 affirmed. 
 
 From this decision and final judgment of the Synod of Ohio, Dr. 
 Smith took an appeal to the General Assembly. 
 
 [Note. — For the Appeal in full, see Minutes, 1894, pp. 197-201.] 
 
 The appeal was entertained, and, after full discussion and trial had, 
 was not sustained, 102 to 396. 
 
 The Moderator made announcement as follows: 
 
 No specification of error having been sustained, and the appeal as a 
 whole not having been sustained, the judgment of the Synod of Ohio in 
 the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America vs. 
 Rev. H. P. Smith, D.D., has been and is afiirmed.— 1894, p. 106. 
 
 [Note.— See also in this connection the action of the Assembly on a Memorial from 
 the Independent Synod of Missouri.— 1874, p. 30. J 
 
 III. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine 
 inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture; and therefore are 
 of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved, 
 or made use of, than other human writings. 
 
 IV. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be 
 believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or 
 church, but wholly upon God, (who is truth itself,) the author thereof; 
 and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. 
 
 V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church 
 to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture; and the heaven - 
 liness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the 
 style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, (which is to 
 give all glory to God,) the full discovery it makes of the only way of 
 man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the 
 entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evi- 
 dence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full per- 
 suasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, 
 is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with 
 the Word in our hearts. 
 
 VI. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for 
 his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set 
 down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be 
 
66 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. I-II. 
 
 deduced from Scripture : unto which nothing at any time is to be added, 
 whether by new revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men. Never- 
 theless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to 
 be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed 
 in the Word: and there are some circumstances concerning the worship 
 of God and government of the Church, common to human actions and 
 societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian 
 prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always 
 to be observed. 
 
 VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor 
 alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, 
 believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and 
 opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but 
 the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a 
 sufficient understanding of them. 
 
 VIII. The Old Testament in Hebrew, (which was the native language 
 of the people of God of old,) and the New Testament in Greek, (which 
 at the time of the writing of it. was most generally known to the na- 
 tions, ) being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and 
 providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all 
 controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But 
 because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God 
 who have right unto and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, 
 in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be 
 translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they 
 come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may wor- 
 ship him in an acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of 
 the Scriptures, may have hope. 
 
 1. The Bible, in its various translations, is the very Word of God. 
 
 The following deliverance was offered on the inspiration and integrity 
 of the Scriptures: 
 
 Resolved, That the Bible as we now have it, in its various translations 
 and versions, when freed from all errors and mistakes of translators, 
 copyists, and printers, is the very Word of God, and consequently 
 wholly without error. 
 
 This deliverance was unanimously adopted. — 1893, p. 169. 
 
 Resolved, That all our ministers be careful, in expounding the Word 
 publicly, so to expound, as to inspire and sustain confidence in our excel- 
 lent version, as truly the Word of God ; believing, as we do, that the 
 honest -hearted inquirer searching after the truth, with a teachable spirit, 
 will find it.— 1855, N. S., p. 28. 
 
 IX. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture 
 itself ; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full 
 sense of any scripture, (which is not manifold, but one, ) it may be 
 searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. 
 
OF THE SCRIPTURES, GOD, AND THE TRINITY. 67 
 
 X. The Supreme Judge, by whom all controversies of religion are to 
 be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, 
 doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose 
 sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in 
 the Scripture. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 OF GOD, AND OF THE HOLY TRINITY. 
 
 I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being 
 and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or 
 passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, 
 most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things 
 according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, 
 for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, 
 abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and 
 sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just 
 and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means 
 clear the guilty. 
 
 II. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; 
 and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of 
 any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, 
 but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he 
 is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to 
 whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, 
 to do by them, for them, and upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. 
 In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, 
 infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him 
 contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his 
 works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, 
 and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, he is 
 pleased to require of them. 
 
 III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons of one sub- 
 stance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God 
 the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor pro- 
 ceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father ; the Holy Ghost 
 eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. 
 
 [Note. — See under Chap, vi, case of John Miller, Specification 3.] 
 
 1. Refusal to alter the language of the Confession. 
 
 Overture from Rev. Sayres Gazley in relation to changes in the lan- 
 guage of our Confession of Faith, regarding the doctrine of the Trinity 
 and other doctrines. 
 
 The Committee recommend as an answer, that no change in the Ian- 
 
bO CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. III-V. 
 
 guage of the Confession, respecting the points suggested, is desirable, 
 or consistent with the Word of God. Adopted unanimously. — 1859, 
 p. 532, 0. S. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 OF GOD'S ETERNAL DECREE. 
 
 I. God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of 
 his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass : 
 yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered 
 to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second 
 causes taken away, but rather established. 
 
 II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon ' 
 all supposed conditions; yet hath he not decreed anything because he 
 foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such 
 conditions. 
 
 [Note. — See case of Samuel Harker, under Chap, vii, below.] 
 
 III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some 
 men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore- 
 ordained to everlasting death. 
 
 IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated and fore -ordained, are 
 particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain 
 and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. 
 
 V. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the 
 foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable 
 purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen 
 in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, 
 without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either 
 of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes mov- 
 ing him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace. 
 
 VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by the 
 eternal and most free purpose of his will, fore-ordained all the means 
 thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam, are 
 redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his 
 Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept 
 by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other 
 redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, 
 and saved, but the elect only. 
 
 VII. The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the un- 
 searchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth 
 mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his crea- 
 tures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, 
 to the praise of his glorious justice. 
 
THE ETERNAL DECREE, CREATION AND PROVIDENCE. 69 
 
 VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be 
 handled with special prudence and care, that men attending the will 
 of God revealed in his Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, 
 from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal 
 election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and 
 admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consola- 
 tion, to all that sincerely obey the Gospel. 
 
 [Note. — See case of Thomas B. Craighead, under Chap, xi, below.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 OF CREATION. 
 
 I. It pleased God the Father, Son , and Holy Ghost, for the manifes- 
 tation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the 
 beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things 
 therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very 
 good. 
 
 II. After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male 
 and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, 
 righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image, having the law of 
 God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under a pos- 
 sibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which 
 was subject unto change. Besides this law written in their hearts, they 
 received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good 
 and evil; which while they kept they were happy in their communion 
 with God, and had dominion over the creatures. 
 
 [Note.— See case of John Miller, under Chap, vi, Sec. vi, Specification 1.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 OF PROVIDENCE. 
 
 I. God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose, 
 and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the 
 least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible 
 foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to 
 the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy. 
 
 H. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge, and decree of God, 
 the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly, yet, by 
 the same providence, he ordereth them to fall out according to the 
 nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently. 
 
70 CONFESSION OF FAITH. CHAPS. V-VI. 
 
 III. God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of means, yet is 
 free to work without, above, and against them, at his pleasure. 
 
 IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness 
 of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth 
 itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men, and 
 that not by a bare permission, but such as hath joined with it a most 
 wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering and governing of 
 them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; yet so, as the 
 sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God ; 
 who being most holy and righteous, neither is, nor can be the author or 
 approver of sin. 
 
 V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave 
 for a season his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption 
 of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover 
 unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their 
 hearts, that they may be humbled ; and to raise them to a more close and 
 constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them 
 more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other 
 just and holy ends. 
 
 VI. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous 
 judge, for former sins, doth blind and harden, from them he not only 
 withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their 
 understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts ; but sometimes also 
 withdraweth the gifts which they had, and exposeth them to such objects 
 as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and withal, gives them over 
 to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan: 
 whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those 
 means which God useth for the softening of others. 
 
 VII. As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all crea- 
 tures; so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his Church, 
 and disposeth all things to the good thereof. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF THE FALL OF MAN, OF SIN, AND OF THE 
 PUNISHMENT THEREOF. 
 
 I. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptation of 
 Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was 
 pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having pur- 
 posed to order it to his own glory. 
 
 II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness, and com- 
 munion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all 
 the faculties and parts of soul and body. 
 
OF THE FALL OF MAN, OF SIN, AND OF THE PUNISHMENT THEREOF. 71 
 
 III. They being the root of all mankind, the gnilt of this sin was im- 
 puted, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed, to all 
 their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation. 
 
 [Note.— See case of John Miller, under Sec. vi, below.] 
 
 IV. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, 
 disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, 
 do proceed all actual transgressions. 
 
 V. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those 
 that are regenerated: and although it be through Christ pardoned and 
 mortified, yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and 
 properly sin. 
 
 VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the 
 righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, 
 bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of 
 God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all 
 miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal. 
 
 1. Case of Rev. Hezekiah Balch. 
 
 The -consideration of the references relative to Mr. Balch was re- 
 sumed, and after some amendments made on the draught brought in by 
 the Committee, it was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 They remark upon the first article of the creed aforesaid that Mr. 
 Balch is erroneous in making disinterested benevolence the only definition 
 of holiness or true religion, because this may perplex the minds of 
 those not accustomed to abstract speculations, is questionable in itself, 
 and may convey the idea that an absolute God, or a God out of Christ, 
 is the object of the highest affection to the renewed mind. 
 
 On the second article they remark that he has confounded self-love 
 with selfishness in an abstract speculation calculated to puzzle plain Chris- 
 tians and lead to unprofitable disputes. 
 
 On the third article they remark that the transferring of personal sin 
 or righteousness has never been held by Calvinistic divines, nor by any 
 person in our Church, so far as is known to us, and therefore that Mr. 
 Balch' s observations on that subject appear to be either nugatory or 
 calculated to mislead. With regard to his doctrine of original sin, it is 
 to be observed that he is erroneous in representing personal corruption 
 as not derived from Adam, making Adam' s sin to be imputed to his pos- 
 terity in consequence of a corrupt nature already possessed, and derived 
 from ive know not what; thus, in effect, setting aside the idea of Adam's 
 being the federal head or representative of his descendants, and the 
 whole doctrine of the covenant of works. 
 
 It is also manifest that Mr. Balch is greatly erroneous in asserting 
 that the formal cause of a believer's justification is the imputation of the 
 fruits and effects of Christ's righteousness, and not that righteousness 
 itself, because righteousness, and that alone, is the formal demand of the 
 law, and consequently the sinner's violation of the divine law can be par- 
 doned only in virtue of the Redeemer's perfect righteousness being 
 imputed to him and reckoned as his. It is also not true that the benefits 
 of Christ's righteousness are, with strict propriety, said to be imputed at 
 
72 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. VI, SECT. VI. 
 
 all, as these benefits flow to and are possessed by the believer as a con- 
 sequence of his justification and having an interest in the infinite merits 
 of the Saviour. 
 
 On the fourth article no remark is necessary. 
 
 With regard to the fifth article it is to be remarked that Mr. Balch 
 appears to confound sentiment with the mere perception of truth, whereas 
 it always partakes of the disposition of the heart, and consequently in- 
 volves in it either sin or holiness. The article as stated by him contra- 
 dicts the principle laid down in the introduction to our Form of Govern- 
 ment, and levels the important distinction between truth and falsehood 
 so as to be liable to the construction that it is no matter what a man 
 believes. And though Mr. Balch may not, and probably did not, 
 intend to insinuate anything disrespectful to the Holy Scriptures, where he 
 asserts that ' ' there are wrong sentiments in the Bible, ' ' yet, as his ex- 
 pression is liable to such a construction, we judge it highly censurable. 
 
 With regard to the sixth and seventh articles, no remarks seem to 
 be necessary, except that the offense given by the reflection cast 
 on his brethren, the Presbyterians, in the seventh, has been sufficiently 
 removed by his candid acknowledgment before the Synod and General 
 Assembly. 
 
 The eighth, ninth and tenth articles require no remark, except that 
 they appear to be unimportant. 
 
 With regard to the twelfth article it is remarked that his observation 
 upon love as exercised by the human race, so far as it may be applicable 
 to a state of infancy, is unintelligible, and that though a distinction may 
 be made between regeneration and conversion, yet the terms in which the 
 article is expressed are exceptionable, as they seem to discourage the 
 use of the means of grace. 
 
 With regard to the thirteenth article it is remarked that in making 
 repentance and faith to proceed wholly from love or charity, Mr. Balch 
 has expressed an opinion unnecessary and improper. 
 
 In regard to the subject of false doctrine, in discoursing from Psalm 
 li. 5 and Isaiah xlviii. 8, nothing seems necessary to be added to the 
 remarks made on the subject of original sin as contained in Mr. Balch' s 
 creed, except that he charges Calvinistic divines with holding sentiments 
 relative to infants which they do not hold; and that he makes positive 
 declarations in regard to the state of infants, when it has pleased a wise 
 and holy God to be silent on this subject in the revelation of his will. 
 
 In regard to the subject of indecent language alleged to have been used 
 in the pulpit by Mr. Balch, it is remarked, that if he was not misun- 
 derstood by the witnesses, he has, notwithstanding, declared such a deep 
 and suitable abhorrence of all such language in public discourse as ren- 
 ders it unnecessary to take any further notice of it. 
 
 On the whole, your Committee recommend that Mr. Balch be required 
 to acknowledge before the Assembly that he was wrong in the publica- 
 tion of his creed; that in the particulars specified as above he renounce 
 the errors therein pointed out; that he engage to teach nothing hereafter 
 of a similar nature; that the Moderator admonish him of the divisions, 
 disorder, trouble and inconvenience which he has occasioned to the 
 Church and its judicatories by his imprudent and unwarrantable conduct, 
 and warn him against doing anything in time to come that may tend to 
 produce such serious and lamentable evils. That if Mr. Balch submit to 
 this, he be considered as in good standing with the Church, and that the 
 
OP THE FALL OF MAN, OF SIN, AND OF THE PUNISHMENT THEREOF. 73 
 
 reference and queries of the Synod of the Carolinas be considered as 
 fully answered by the adoption of these measures. — 1798, pp. 155, 156. 
 Mr. Balch appeared before the Assembly, acknowledged his error in 
 publishing his creed, disavowed the errors imputed to him, and submitted 
 to the admonition of the Assembly. — 1798, p. 158. Digest, 1886, pp. 
 220-222. 
 
 2. Appeal of Rev. John Miller, D.D., from the judgment of the Synod 
 
 of New Jersey. 
 
 After a full hearing of the evidence as presented by both parties in the 
 case, the Assembly reached the decision not to sustain the appeal by 
 the following vote: to sustain, three [3] ; to sustain in part, eighteen 
 [18] ; not to sustain, two hundred and seventy -four [274]. 
 
 This expression of the General Assembly approaches' the nearer to 
 practical unanimity, since, as it is understood, those who voted to sustain 
 in part have doubts only in regard to the conclusiveness of the proof 
 adduced for Specification No. 2, viz. : 
 
 ' ' Mr. Miller teaches that Christ, as a child of Adam, was personally 
 accounted guilty of Adam's sin; that, like other children of Adam, he 
 inherited a corrupt nature; and that he needed to be, and was, redeemed 
 by his own death." 
 
 Not to recount his own admissions and assertions in the presence of the 
 General Assembly, it is proper to state that the multiplied evidences 
 drawn from Mr. Miller's book conclusively established the original 
 charge preferred by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, viz. : 
 
 " We charge Mr. Miller with publicly denying and assailing import- 
 ant doctrines of the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of our 
 Church." 
 
 Under this charge are the three following specifications : 
 
 " Specification 1. — Mr. Miller teaches that the soul is not immortal; 
 that at the death of the body it dies, becomes extinct, and so continues 
 until the resurrection. 
 
 "Specification 2. — Mr. Miller teaches that Christ, as a child of Adam, 
 was personally accounted guilty of Adam's sin; that, like other children 
 of Adam, he inherited a corrupt nature, and that he needed to be, and 
 was, redeemed by' his own death. 
 
 ' ' Specification S. — Mr. Miller teaches that there is but one person in 
 the Godhead." 
 
 This decision of the General Assembly confirms the action of the 
 Synod of New Jersey, which approves the resolution unanimously 
 adopted by the Pr" esbytery of New Brunswick, May 4, viz. : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Rev. John Miller, be, and hereby is, suspended 
 from the ministry of the Presbyterian Church until such time as he shall 
 make manifest to the satisfaction of the Presbytery his renunciation of 
 the errors he has been found to hold, and his solemn purpose no longer to 
 proclaim them." 
 
 Whilst the Assembly thus declare their unwavering adherence to our 
 confessional symbols, they desire at the same time to express only the 
 kindest feelings toward Mr. Miller; and they make this disposition of the 
 case only because the interests of truth imperatively demand it. 
 
 While in accordance with complete freedom of conscience the General 
 Assembly would urge upon all fidelity to our doctrinal Standards, they 
 would, at the same time, earnestly advise any one who may entertain 
 
74 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. VII, SECT. VI. 
 
 views irreconcilable with our Standards to take the authorized course, 
 after consultation with his Presbytery, and peacefully withdraw from the 
 ministry of our Church.— 1878, pp. 98, 99. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 OF GOD'S COVENANT WITH MAN. 
 
 I. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that 
 although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Crea- 
 tor, yet they could never have any fruition of him, as their blessedness 
 and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which 
 he hath been pleased to express by way of covenant. 
 
 II. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, 
 wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon 
 condition of perfect and personal obedience. 
 
 [Note. — See case of William C. Davis, under Chap, xi, below, p. 79.] 
 
 III. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that 
 covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the 
 covenant of grace: wherein he freely offereth unto sinners life and salva- 
 tion by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be 
 saved; and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life, 
 his Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe. 
 
 IV. This covenant of grace is frequently set forth in the Scripture by 
 the name of a testament, in reference to the death of Jesus Christ, the 
 testator, and to the everlasting inheritance, with all things belonging to 
 it, therein bequeathed. 
 
 V. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, 
 and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was administered by 
 promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other 
 types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all fore- 
 signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and effica- 
 cious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the 
 elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they*had full remission 
 of sins, and eternal salvation ; and is called the Old Testament. 
 
 VI. Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the 
 ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the 
 Word, and the administration of the Sacraments of Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper; which, though fewer in number, and administered with 
 more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them it is held forth in 
 more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews 
 and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There are not, there- 
 fore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same 
 under various dispensations. 
 
OP THE COVENANT AND OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 75 
 
 Case of Samuel Harker. 
 
 A reference was brought into the Synod from the New Brunswick 
 Presbytery respecting Mr. Samuel Harker, one of their members, as 
 having imbibed and vented certain erroneous doctrines. The further 
 consideration of this affair is deferred till the next sederunt — 1758, 
 p. 283. 
 
 [The matter was continued from year to year, Synod endeavoring to 
 remove the difficulty and bring Mr. Harker to a sense of his error. In 
 1761, Mr. Harker printed and published his views, and the Synod 
 (1762) appointed a Committee to examine the book, who reported the 
 next year.] 
 
 The Synod proceeded to consider Mr. Harker' s principles, collected 
 from his book by the Committee, which are in substance as follows: 
 
 1 . That the covenant of grace is in such a sense conditional that fallen 
 mankind in their unregenerate state, by the general assistance given to 
 all under the gospel, have a sufficient ability to fulfill the conditions 
 thereof, and so by their own endeavors to ensure to themselves regenera- 
 ting grace and all saving blessings. 
 
 2. That God has bound Himself by promise to give them regenerating 
 grace upon their fulfilling what he (Mr. Harker) calls the direct condi- 
 tions of obtaining it, and, upon the whole, makes a certain and an 
 infallible connection between their endeavors and the aforesaid blessings. 
 
 3. That God's prescience of future events is previous to and not 
 dependent on His decrees; that His decrees have no influence on His 
 own conduct, and that the foresight of faith was the ground of the decree 
 of election. 
 
 It is further observed that he often uses inaccurate, unintelligible and 
 dangerous modes of expression that tend to lead people into false notions 
 in several important matters, as that Adam was the federal father of his 
 posterity in the second covenant as well as in the first; that the regener- 
 ate are not in a state of probation for heaven, and several such like. 
 
 The Synod judge that these principles are of a hurtful and a danger- 
 ous tendency, giving a false view of the covenant of grace, perverting it 
 into a new modeled covenant of works, and misrepresent the doctrine of 
 the divine decrees as held by the best reformed Churches, and, in fine, 
 are contrary to the Word of God and our approved Standards of doc- 
 trine.— 1763, p. 329. 
 
 [Note.— See Baird's Digest, pp. 624-626; Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 218, 219.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I. It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the 
 Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and 
 man ; the prophet, priest, and king ; the head and Saviour of his Church ; 
 the heir of all things, and judge of the world; unto whom he did, from 
 all eternity, give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time 
 redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. 
 
76 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. VIII, SECT. 
 
 II. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and 
 eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the 
 fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the 
 essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin : being 
 conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin 
 Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct 
 natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together 
 in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which 
 person is very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator 
 between God and man. 
 
 III. The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the divine, 
 was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure; having 
 in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in whom it pleased 
 the Father that all fullness should dwell: to the end that being holy, 
 harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly 
 furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. Which office 
 he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father; who 
 put all power and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment 
 to execute the same. 
 
 IV. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake: which, 
 that he might discharge, he was made under the law, and did perfectly 
 fulfill it; endured most grievous torments immediately in his soul, and 
 most painful sufferings in his body; was crucified, and died; was buried, 
 and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption. On the 
 third day he arose from the dead, with the same body in which he 
 suffered; with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at 
 the right hand of his Father, making intercession; and shall return to 
 judge men and angels, at the end of the world. 
 
 V. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, 
 which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God, hath fully 
 satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased not only reconciliation, 
 but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those 
 whom the Father hath given unto him. 
 
 VI. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by 
 Christ till after his incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and benefits 
 thereof, were communicated unto the elect, in all ages successively from 
 the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and sacri- 
 fices, wherein he was revealed and signified to be the seed of the woman 
 which should bruise the serpent's head, and the Lamb slain from the 
 beginning of the world, being yesterday and to-day the same, and for 
 ever. 
 
 VII. Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both 
 natures; by each nature doing that which is proper to itself: yet by reason 
 of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature, is some- 
 
OF FREE WILL AND EFFECTUAL CALLING. 77 
 
 times in Scripture, attributed to the person denominated by the other 
 nature. 
 
 VIII. To all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption, he 
 doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same; making 
 intercession for them, and revealing unto them, in and by the Word, the 
 mysteries of salvation; effectually persuading them by his Spirit to 
 believe and obey; and governing their hearts by his Word and Spirit; 
 overcoming all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom, in such 
 manner and ways as are most consonant to his wonderful and unsearcha- 
 ble dispensation. 
 
 [Note. — See case of Thomas B. Craighead, under Chap, xi, below.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 OF FREE WILL. 
 
 I. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it 
 is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined 
 to good or evil. 
 
 II. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will 
 and to do that which is good and wdll -pleasing to God; but yet mutably, 
 so that he might fall from it. 
 
 III. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of 
 will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, 
 being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by 
 his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto. 
 
 IV. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state 
 of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and, by his 
 grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually 
 good; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not 
 perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which 
 is evil. 
 
 V. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good 
 alone, in the state of glory only. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OF EFFECTUAL CALLING. 
 
 I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he 
 is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his 
 Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are 
 by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their 
 minds spiritually and savingly, to understand the things of God; taking 
 
78 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XI, SECT. III. 
 
 away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renew- 
 ing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that 
 which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ, yet so as 
 they come most freely, being made willing by his grace. 
 
 II. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not 
 from any thing at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, 
 until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby 
 enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and con- 
 veyed in it. 
 
 Note. — See case of William C. Davis, under Chap, xi, below, Doctrine v.] 
 
 III. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by 
 Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he 
 pleaseth. So also are all other elect persons, who are incapable of being 
 outwardly called by the ministry of the Word. 
 
 IV. Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry 
 of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet 
 they never truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much 
 less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other 
 way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according 
 to the light of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess; and 
 to assert and maintain that they nfay is very pernicious, and to be 
 detested. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 OF JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 I. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not 
 by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by 
 accounting and accepting their persons as righteous: not for anything 
 wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone: not by 
 imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical 
 obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience 
 and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him 
 and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, 
 it is the gift of God. 
 
 II. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, 
 is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person 
 justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no 
 dead faith, but worketh by love. 
 
 III. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt 
 of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and full 
 satisfaction to his Father's justice in their behalf. Yet, inasmuch as he 
 was given by the Father for them; and his obedience and satisfaction 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION. id 
 
 accepted in their stead; and, both, freely, not for any thing in them, 
 their justification is only of free grace; that both the exact justice, and 
 rich grace of God, might be glorified in the justification of sinners. 
 
 IV. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect; and 
 Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for 
 their justification: nevertheless they are not justified, until the Holy 
 Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them. 
 
 V. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified : 
 and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they 
 may by their sins fall under God's fatherly displeasure, and not have 
 the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble them- 
 selves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repent- 
 ance. 
 
 VI. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all 
 these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under 
 the New Testament. 
 
 1. Case of Rev. William C. Davis. 
 
 An overture from the Synod of the Carolinas was referred to a Com- 
 mittee, whose report was adopted, as follows: 
 
 The Committee, presuming that a complete and perfect enumeration 
 of all the objectionable parts of said book is not expected, called the 
 attention of the Assembly only to the following doctrines, supposed to 
 be contrary to the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church: 
 
 Doctrine I. That the active obedience of Christ constitutes no part of 
 that righteousness by which a sinner is justified, pp. 257, 261, 264, 3d 
 corollary. 
 
 Doctrine II. That obedience to the moral law was not required as the 
 condition of the covenant of works, pp. 178, 180. 
 
 These pages being read, the Assembly resolved that they do consider 
 these doctrines as contrary to the Confession of our Church. 
 
 Doctrine III. God Himself is as firmly bound in duty (not obedience) 
 to His creatures as His creatures are bound in obedience or duty to Him, 
 pp. 164, 166. Also, that God's will is not the standard of right and 
 wrong. If God's will is the primary rule of His own actions, He would 
 be: 1. Entirely void of holiness; 2. There could be no justice in God; 
 3. It would be impossible for God to be unchangeable; 4. If the will 
 of God is the standard of right and wrong, then it would be no infringe- 
 ment on the divine character to be unfaithful to His Word and promise, 
 pp. 168-171. 
 
 These pages being read, 
 
 Resolved, That, without deciding on the question whether these senti- 
 ments are contrary to our Confession of Faith, the Assembly consider 
 the mode in which they are expressed as unhappy, and calculated to 
 mislead the reader. 
 
 Doctrine IV. God could not make Adam, or any other creature, 
 either holy or unholy. Compare p. 194 with 166. 
 
 Doctrine V. Regeneration must be a consequence of faith. Faith 
 precedes regeneration, p. 352. 
 
80 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XI, SECT. VI. 
 
 Doctrine VI. Faith, in the first act of it, is not a holy act, p. 358, etc. 
 
 These pages being read, 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly do consider the three last-mentioned 
 doctrines contrary to the Confession of Faith of our Church. 
 
 Doctrine VII. Christians may sin willfully and habitually, pp. 532, 
 534. 
 
 These pages being read, 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly consider the expressions in the pages 
 referred to as very unguarded; and so far as they intimate it to be the 
 author's opinion that a person may live in an habitual and allowed sin, and 
 yet be a Christian, the Assembly consider them contrary to the letter 
 and spirit of the Confession of Faith of our Church, and in their 
 tendency highly dangerous. 
 
 Doctrine VIII. If God has to plant all the principal parts of salva- 
 tion in a sinner' s heart to enable him to believe, the ' ' Gospel Plan ' ' is 
 quite out of his reach, and consequently does not suit his case; and it 
 must be impossible for God to condemn a man for unbelief, for no just 
 law condemns or criminates any person for not doing what he cannot 
 do, p. 413. 
 
 This page, and several others on the same subject, being read, 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly do consider this last-mentioned doctrine 
 contrary to the Confession of Faith of our Church. 
 
 On the whole, 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly cannot but view with disapprobation 
 various parts of the work entitled ' ' The Gospel Plan, ' ' of which Wil- 
 liam C. Davis is stated in the title-page to be the author. In several 
 instances in this work, modes of expression are adopted, so different 
 from those which are sanctioned by use and by the best orthodox writers, 
 that the Assembly consider them as calculated to produce useless or 
 mischievous speculations. 
 
 In several other instances there are doctrines asserted and advocated, 
 as has been already decided, contrary to the Confession of Faith of our 
 Church and the Word of God; which doctrines the Assembly feel 
 constrained to pronounce to be of very dangerous tendency; and the 
 Assembly do judge, and do hereby declare, that the preaching or 
 publishing of them ought to subject the person or persons so doing to be 
 dealt with by their respective Presbyteries, according to the discipline of 
 the Church relative to the propagation of errors. — 1810, pp. 448, 452, 453. 
 
 [Note. — See Baird's Digest (revised edition), pp. 646-648. Mr. Davis was subse- 
 quently suspended and deposed by the Presbytery of Concord, October, 1811.] 
 
 2. Case of Rev. Thomas B. Craighead. 
 
 [On an appeal from the Synod of Kentucky. After speaking of 
 certain irregularities in the conduct both of the Synod and the appellant, 
 they say,] 
 
 But from matters of form the General Assembly will now pass to the 
 merits of the case; and for the sake of brevity, the first and second 
 charges only shall be brought into view. 
 
 " Charge 1. We charge him with denying and vilifying the real 
 agency of the Spirit in regeneration, and in the production of faith and 
 sanctification in general." 
 
 And first they would observe that there can be no doubt that the 
 denial of the real agency of the Spirit is a dangerous and fundamental 
 
OF JUSTIFICATION. 81 
 
 error; and if Mr. Craighead taught such an error, he ought to have 
 been suspended. 
 
 The question then is, Do the passages of Mr. Craighead's sermon 
 referred to in the charge prove that he did deny the reality of the opera- 
 tions of the Spirit ? 
 
 Here it will be important to remark that a man cannot fairly be 
 convicted of heresy for using expressions which may be so interpreted as 
 to involve heretical doctrines if they may also admit of a more favorable 
 construction, because no one can tell in what sense an ambiguous expres- 
 sion is used but the speaker or writer, and he has a right to explain 
 himself; and in such cases candor requires that a court should favor the 
 accused, by putting on his words the more favorable, rather than the less 
 favorable, construction. 
 
 Another principle is that no man can rightly be convicted of heresy 
 by inference or implication — that is, we must not charge an accused 
 person with holding those consequences which may legitimately flow from 
 his assertions. Many men are grossly inconsistent with themselves; and 
 while it is right in argument to overthrow false opinions by tracing them 
 in their connections and consequences, it is not right to charge any man 
 with an opinion which he disavows. 
 
 With these principles in view, the General Assembly proceed to 
 observe that there is abundant evidence that Mr. Craighead did deny 
 the immediate agency of the Spirit, but no clear evidence that he denied 
 the real agency of the Spirit. These are very different things, and the 
 proof of the one does by no means establish the other. Immediate 
 agency or operation is opposed to mediate. This is a well-known dis- 
 tinction in theology, and a point which has been greatly controverted. 
 The Reformed Church, of which ours is a part, in all their purest times, 
 maintained the doctrine of the immediate operation of the Spirit, not 
 without the Word, but distinct from it, and in the order of nature 
 preceding it. Other Protestant Churches, never charged with funda- 
 mental error, have as uniformly maintained the doctrine of a mediate 
 agency, and those commonly believe that this operation is not occasional, 
 but uniform, and diversified in its effects by the difference of resistance 
 with which it meets. Neither the Presbytery nor the Synod appear to 
 have attended sufficiently to this distinction. They appear to have 
 thought that a denial of immediate agency was a denial of all real 
 agency. It deserves special regard here that our Confession takes no 
 notice of these nice distinctions about the mode in which the Holy Spirit 
 operates. It usually mentions the Word and the Spirit together, and 
 the former as the instrument of the latter. And they who believe in 
 the immediate agency of the Spirit do not exclude the instrumentality of 
 the Word; they, however, explain it in a different way from those who 
 hold that there is no agency of the Spirit distinct from the AVord. But 
 this is the more favorable construction; there is another which, if not 
 more probable, is more obvious. Mr. Craighead may be understood as 
 teaching that the only real agency of the Spirit was in inspiring the 
 Scriptures and confirming them by signs and miracles. There is much 
 in his discourse that has this bearing, and undoubtedly this is the 
 common impression among the people where it is best known. This was 
 the idea of the Synod of Kentucky when they condemned him, and this 
 is in fact denying the reality of the operation of the Spirit in our days; 
 and whether his expressions have been fairly interpreted or not, they are 
 
82 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XI-XIII. 
 
 dangerous, and ought to be condemned. In justice to Mr. Craighead, 
 however, it ought to be remembered that he utterly disclaims this mean- 
 ing in his defense set up to this Assembly; and would it be fair to 
 continue to charge upon him opinions which he solemnly disavows ? Of 
 the sincerity of his disavowal God is the judge. The conclusion is that 
 the first charge, though supported by strong probabilities, is not so con- 
 clusively established as to remove all doubts, because the words adduced 
 in proof will bear a different construction from that put on them by the 
 Presbytery and Synod. 
 
 The evidence in support of the second charge is still less clear and 
 conclusive. The charge is: 
 
 " We charge him with denying, vilifying and misrepresenting the 
 doctrine of divine fore-ordination and sovereignty and election." 
 
 It might, perhaps, be shown by argument that Mr. Craighead uses 
 many expressions not consistent with these doctrines; but agreeably to 
 the principle laid down above, he must not be charged with holding these 
 consequences unless he has avowed them. These passages of his dis- 
 course, it is true, contain erroneous and offensive things, but they do not 
 establish the charge of denying, vilifying, etc. In one single instance 
 he seems to deny that everything should be referred to the sovereignty 
 of God's will, but the words in their connection may have an innocent 
 meaning. Here again it must be observed that Mr. Craighead solemnly 
 declares his belief in the doctrine of decrees and election as expressed 
 in our Standards. 
 
 But whilst the General Assembly are of opinion that the charges 
 against Mr. Craighead are not clearly and fully supported by the refer- 
 ences, they feel it to be their duty to say that the impression which they 
 have received from hearing extracts from this discourse are very unfav- 
 orable, and they do believe that Mr. Craighead by preaching and print- 
 ing this sermon did subject himself justly to censure. 
 
 Moreover, the Assembly are of opinion that the doctrines of this 
 sermon, in the most favorable construction, are different from those of 
 the Reformed Churches and of our Church, and are erroneous, although 
 the error is not of fundamental importance. They have observed also, 
 that this discourse contains many unjust and illiberal reflections on the 
 doctrines which have been the common and uniform belief of the great 
 majority of the preachers and writers of the Reformed Churches. He 
 mentions the names of a few persons as favoring the doctrine which he 
 opposes; but he might have put into the list almost every standard writer 
 of our own and sister Churches since the Reformation. 
 
 The sermon also contains much declamation which confounds fanati- 
 cism and piety, and representations of opinions which are true and 
 important, so associated with error and absurdity, as to exhibit them in 
 a ridiculous and odious light. 
 
 Finally, the General Assembly are deeply impressed with the evidences 
 of an improper spirit and an evil tendency in this sermon, and are of 
 opinion that Mr. Craighead ought so to retract or explain his sentiments 
 as to afford reasonable satisfaction to his brethren. 
 
 Whereupon, Resolved, That as the proceedings in the case of Mr. 
 Craighead have been, in many respects, irregular, and he has suffered 
 much injury from the delay produced by these irregularities, and 
 whereas, also, the charges are not so conclusively established as to remove 
 all doubt, the General Assembly cannot see their way clear finally to 
 
 
OF ADOPTION AND SANCTIFICATION. 83 
 
 confirm the sentence of the Synod of Kentucky, although they are of 
 the opinion that Mr. Craighead has subjected himself, by preaching and 
 printing this sermon, to just censure. But as Mr. Craighead has had no 
 fair opportunity of vindicating himself, or of making satisfactory expla- 
 nations or retractions, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the whole cause be transmitted to the Presbytery of 
 West Tennessee, in the bounds of which Mr. Craighead resides; and 
 that they be directed to give him an early opportunity of offering that 
 satisfaction which the Church expects, for the offense received; and that 
 upon receiving such explanation or retractions as to them shall be satis- 
 factory, Mr. Craighead be restored to the Gospel ministry, from which he 
 has been suspended. — 1824, pp. 122-124. 
 
 [Note. — Mr. Craighead was restored. See Baird's Digest (revised edition), pp. 649- 
 655.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 OF ADOPTION. 
 
 I. All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for his only 
 Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption: by which 
 they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of 
 the children of God; have his name put upon them; receive the Spirit 
 of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are 
 enabled to cry Abba, Father; are pitied, protected, provided for, and 
 chastened by him as by a Father ; yet never cast off, but sealed to the day 
 of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 OF SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 I. They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new 
 heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and 
 personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by his 
 Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of 
 sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weak- 
 ened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strength- 
 ened, in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which 
 no man shall see the Lord. 
 
 II. This sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect 
 in this life: there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every 
 part, whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting 
 against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. 
 
 III. In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may 
 much prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength from the 
 sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome: and so 
 the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 
 
84 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XIV-XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 OF SA VING FAITH. 
 
 I. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the 
 saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts; 
 and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word: by which also, 
 and by the administration of the Sacraments, and prayer, it is increased 
 and strengthened. 
 
 II. By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true, whatsoever is re- 
 vealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein : 
 and acteth differently, upon that which each particular passage thereof 
 containeth ; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threat- 
 enings, and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which 
 is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith are, accepting, re- 
 ceiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, 
 and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace. 
 
 III. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often 
 and many ways assailed and weakened, but gets the victory; growing 
 up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is 
 both the author and finisher of our faith. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 
 
 I. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof 
 is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of 
 faith in Christ. 
 
 II. By it a sinner, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, 
 but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the 
 holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of 
 his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his 
 sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to 
 walk with him in all the ways of his commandments. 
 
 III. Although repentance be not to be rested in as any satisfaction 
 for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God's 
 free grace in Christ; yet is it of such necessity to all sinners, that none 
 may expect pardon without it. 
 
 IV. As there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation ; so there is 
 no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. 
 
 V. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance, 
 but it is every man' s duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins, 
 particularly. 
 
OF SAVING FAITH, REPENTANCE AND GOOD WORKS. 85 
 
 VI. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to 
 God, praying for the pardon thereof; upon which, and the forsaking of 
 them, he shall find mercy: so he that scandalizeth his brother, or the 
 Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession 
 and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are 
 offended; who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to 
 receive him. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 OF GOOD WORKS. 
 
 I. Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy 
 Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men 
 out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention. 
 
 II. These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, 
 are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them 
 believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify 
 their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the 
 adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in 
 Christ Jesus thereunto; that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may 
 have the end, eternal life. 
 
 III. Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but 
 wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled there- 
 unto, besides the graces they have already received, there is required an 
 actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to work in them to will and to 
 do of his good pleasure: yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, 
 as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special 
 motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the 
 grace of God that is in them. 
 
 IV. They who, in their obedience, attain to the greatest height which 
 is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate and to 
 do more than God requires, that they fall short of much which in duty 
 they are bound to do. 
 
 V. We cannot, by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal 
 life, at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is 
 between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that is 
 between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit, nor satisfy 
 for the debt of our former sins; but, when we have done all we can, we 
 have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants; and because, as 
 they are good, they proceed from his Spirit; and, as they are wrought by 
 us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfec- 
 tion, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment. 
 
 VI. Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted 
 through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him, not as though 
 
86 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XVII-XIX. 
 
 they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable in God's 
 sight; but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept 
 and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many 
 weaknesses and imperfections. 
 
 VII. Works done by unregenerate men, although, for the matter of 
 them, they may be things which God commands, and of good use both 
 to themselves and others: yet, because they proceed not from a heart 
 purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word; 
 nor to a right end the glory of God; they are therefore sinful, and 
 cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God. And 
 yet their neglect of them is more sinful, and displeasing unto God. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 
 
 I. They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called 
 and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from 
 the state of grace ; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and 
 be eternally saved. 
 
 II. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free- 
 will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from 
 the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of 
 the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and 
 of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of 
 grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. 
 
 III. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of 
 the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the 
 neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and 
 for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and 
 grieve his Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their 
 graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened, and their consciences 
 wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments 
 upon themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OF THE ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION 
 
 I. Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly 
 deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in 
 the favor of God and estate of salvation; which hope of theirs shall 
 perish: yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in 
 sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in 
 
OF PERSEVERANCE, ASSURANCE AND THE LAW. 87 
 
 this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may 
 rejoice in the hope of the glory of God ; which hope shall . never make 
 them ashamed. 
 
 II. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, 
 grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith, 
 founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward 
 evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testi- 
 mony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the 
 children of God: which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby 
 we are sealed to the day of redemption. 
 
 III. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, 
 but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties 
 before he be partaker of it: yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know 
 the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraor- 
 dinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. 
 And therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his 
 calling and election sure; that thereby his heart may be enlarged in 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and 
 in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits 
 of this assurance: so far is it from inclining men to looseness. 
 
 IV. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers 
 ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted : as, by negligence in preserv- 
 ing of it; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, 
 and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by 
 God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such 
 as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they 
 never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith ; that love of 
 Christ and the brethren; that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty; 
 out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due 
 time be revived, and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported 
 from utter despair. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 OF THE LAW OF GOD. 
 
 I. God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he 
 bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual 
 obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon 
 the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it. 
 
 II. This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righte- 
 ousness, and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai in ten 
 commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments 
 containing our duty towards God, and the other six our duty to man. 
 
88 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XIX-XXI. 
 
 III. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to 
 give to the people of Israel, as a Church under age, ceremonial laws, 
 containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring 
 Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding 
 forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws 
 are now abrogated under the New Testament. 
 
 IV. To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, 
 which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any 
 other, now, further than the general equity thereof may require. 
 
 V. The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as 
 others, to the obedience thereof; and that not only in regard of the 
 matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the 
 Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any way dis- 
 solve, but much strengthen, this obligation. 
 
 VI. Although true believers be not under the law as a covenant of 
 works, to be thereby justified or condemned; yet is it of great use to 
 them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life, informing them of 
 the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accord- 
 ingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their nature, hearts, and 
 lives; so as, examining themselves thereby, they may come to further 
 conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against sin; together with a 
 clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and the perfection of his 
 obedience. It is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their cor- 
 ruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings of it serve to show 
 what even their sins deserve, and what afflictions in this life they may 
 expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the 
 law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God's approbation 
 of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance 
 thereof, although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works: 
 so as a man's doing good, and refraining from evil, because the law 
 encourageth to the one, and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of 
 his being under the law, and not under grace. 
 
 VII. Neither are the forementioned uses of the law contrary to the 
 grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it; the Spirit of Christ 
 subduing and enabling the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully, 
 which the will of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be done. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY, AND LIBERTY OF 
 CONSCIENCE. 
 
 I. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the 
 gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning 
 
OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. 89 
 
 wrath of God, the curse of the moral law, and in their being delivered 
 from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, 
 from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, 
 and everlasting damnation; as also in their free access to God, and their 
 yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a child-like 
 love, and a willing mind. All which were common also to believers 
 under the law : but under the New Testament, the liberty of Christians 
 is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial 
 law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected; and in greater boldness 
 of access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the 
 free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. 
 
 II. God alone is lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the 
 doctrines and commandments of men which are in any thing contrary to 
 his Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. So that to believe 
 such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out of conscience, is to 
 betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an implicit faith, 
 and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, 
 and reason also. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, i, Sees, i and vii.] 
 
 III. They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, do practice any 
 sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty; 
 which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we 
 might serve the Lord Avithout fear, in holiness and righteousness before 
 him, all the days of our life. 
 
 IV. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the 
 liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, 
 but mutually to uphold and preserve one another; they who, upon pre- 
 tence of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful 
 exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of 
 God. And for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such 
 practices, as are contrary to the light of nature; or to the known princi- 
 ples of Christianity, whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation; 
 or to the power of godliness : or such erroneous opinions or practices, as 
 either, in their own nature, or, in the manner of publishing or main- 
 taining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ 
 hath established in the Church : they may lawfully be called to account, 
 and proceeded against by the censures of the Church. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE SABBATH-DAY. 
 
 I. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship 
 and sovereignty over all; is good, and doeth good unto all; and is there- 
 
90 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXI-XXII. 
 
 fore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with 
 all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the 
 acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and 
 so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped accord- 
 ing to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, 
 under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the 
 Holy Scripture. 
 
 II. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost; and to him alone: not to angels, saints, or any other crea- 
 ture: and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation 
 of any other but of Christ alone. 
 
 III. Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious 
 worship, is by God required of all men; and, that it may be accepted, 
 it is to be made in the name of the Son, by the help of his Spirit, 
 according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, 
 faith, love, and perseverance; and, if vocal, in a known tongue. 
 
 IV. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men 
 living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of 
 whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death. 
 
 V. The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound preach- 
 ing, and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with 
 understanding, faith, and reverence; singing of psalms with grace in the 
 heart; as, also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the 
 Sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious 
 worship of God: besides religious oaths, and vows, solemn fastings, and 
 thanksgivings upon special occasions; which are, in their several times 
 and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner. 
 
 VI. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, 
 under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by, any place 
 in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed: but God is to be 
 worshiped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, 
 and in secret each one by himself; so more solemnly in the public assem- 
 blies, which are not carelessly or willfully to be neglected or forsaken, 
 when God, by his Word or providence, calleth thereunto. 
 
 VII. As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion 
 of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his Word, by a posi- 
 tive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, 
 he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, to be 
 kept holy unto him: which, from the beginning of the world to the 
 resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the 
 resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which 
 in Scripture is called the Lord's Day, and is to be continued to the end 
 of the world, as the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 VIII. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after 
 
OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND LAWFUL OATHS. 91 
 
 a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs 
 beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own 
 works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments and recrea- 
 tions; but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private 
 exercise of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chaps, i, hi, iv, vii, viii and xv.] 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS. 
 
 I. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein, upon just 
 occasion, the person swearing, solemnly calleth God to witness what he 
 asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or false- 
 hood of what he sweareth. 
 
 II. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and 
 therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear 
 vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all 
 by any other thing, is sinful and to be abhorred. Yet as, in matters of 
 weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the Word of God, under 
 the New Testament, as well as under the Old; so a lawful oath, being 
 imposed by lawful authority, in such matters, ought to be taken. 
 
 [Note. — For the form of the oath or affirmation, see Book of Discipline, Chap, viii, 
 Sec. 61, p. 672.] 
 
 III. Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness 
 of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully 
 persuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself by oath 
 to any thing but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, 
 and what he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a sin to refuse 
 an oath touching any thing that is good and just, being imposed by law- 
 ful authority. 
 
 IV. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the 
 words, without equivocation or mental reservation. It cannot oblige to 
 sin; but in any thing not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, 
 although to a man's own hurt: nor is it to be violated, although made 
 to heretics or infidels. 
 
 V. A vow is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought to 
 be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with the like 
 faithfulness. 
 
 VI. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone: and, that 
 it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily; out of faith and con- 
 science of duty; in way of thankfulness for mercy received; or for 
 obtaining of what we want: whereby we more strictly bind ourselves to 
 
92 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXIII-XXIV. 
 
 necessary duties; or to other things, so far and so long as they may fitly 
 conduce thereunto. 
 
 VII. No man may vow to do anything forbidden in the Word of 
 God, or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which 
 is not in his own power, and for the performance whereof he hath no 
 promise or ability from God. In which respects, popish monastical vows 
 of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so 
 far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious 
 and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 
 
 I. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained 
 civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory 
 and the public good; and, to this end, hath armed them with the power 
 of the sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, 
 and for the punishment of evil doers. 
 
 II. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a 
 magistrate, when called thereunto: in the managing whereof, as they 
 ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the 
 wholesome laws of each commonwealth; so, for that end, they may law- 
 fully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary 
 occasions. 
 
 III. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administra- 
 tion of the Word and Sacraments; or the power of the keys of the 
 kingdom of heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. 
 Yet, as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the 
 Church of our common Lord, without giving the preference to any 
 denomination of Christians above the rest, in such a manner that all 
 ecclesiastical persons whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unques- 
 tioned liberty of discharging every part of their sacred functions, with- 
 out violence or danger. And, as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular 
 government and discipline in his Church, no law of any commonwealth 
 should interfere with, let, or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among 
 the voluntary inenibers of any denomination of Christians, according to 
 their own profession and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to 
 protect the person and good name of all their people, in such an effectual 
 manner as that no person be suffered, either upon pretence of religion or 
 of infidelity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any 
 other person whatsoever : and to take order, that all religious and ecclesi- 
 astical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance. 
 
OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE AND OF MARRIAGE. 93 
 
 IV. It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates, to honor their 
 persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their lawful com- 
 mands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience' sake. 
 Infidelity or difference in religion, doth not make void the magistrate's 
 just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to 
 him : from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted ; much less hath 
 the Pope any power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over 
 any of their people ; and least of all to deprive them of their dominions 
 or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pre- 
 tence whatsoever. 
 
 [Note. — See "Testimony of the Assembly on the Outbreak of the Civil War," 
 Digest, 1886, pp. 235, 236 ; Minutes, 1861, p. 446, N. S. See, also, under Form of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, viii, Sec. ii, p. 154.] 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 
 
 I. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman : neither is it 
 lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to 
 have more than one husband, at the same time. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, xii, Sec. iii.] 
 
 1. A minister, having married again, required to cease officiating until 
 
 proof is furnished of the death of his first wife. 
 
 The business concerning Mr. Van Vleck and his people again taken 
 into consideration. 
 
 It was concluded that after the Presbytery had examined the several 
 evidences brought in relation to the crime of bigamy, alleged against 
 Mr. Van Vleck, as also the exceptions offered by the said Van Vleck 
 against the evidences and in vindication of himself, the Presbytery not 
 finding the evidences clear and positive enough to prove the crime against 
 him, and yet Mr. Van Vleck' s vindication not sufficient to take off the 
 scandal wholly, do therefore, till such time as Mr. Van Vleck bring 
 satisfying proof of his first wife's death, for the honor of the Gospel, 
 advise that he do not officiate as a minister of the Gospel — 1712, p. 26. 
 
 2. A bigamist to be excluded from the privileges of the Church. Will- 
 
 ful desertion a just cause for divorce. If just cause exist and 
 divorce be refused, the Church may receive him. 
 
 [Note.— See the case stated, Digest, 1886, p. 812 ; Minutes, 1790, p. 28.] 
 
 3. Deliverances on polygamy and Mormonism. 
 
 Polygamy a criminal offence, and to be suppressed. 
 
 a. Overture. — The Committee also recommended the adoption of the 
 following preamble and resolutions, referred to them by the Assembly: 
 
 Whereas, By a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, the sin of polygamy has been declared to be a criminal offence 
 against the Constitution and the laws of our country, and under it prose- 
 cution and conviction have followed ; 
 
94 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXIV, SECT. I. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly hereby records its grateful acknowl- 
 edgment to God that the legal status of this affront to our Christian 
 civilization and this menace to our social order has been finally deter- 
 mined, and so determined as to declare the laws and the policy of our 
 country, in respect to this crime, to be in accord with the conscientious 
 convictions of all patriotic and Christian men. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That this Assembly earnestly invokes the continued and 
 persistent efforts of all executive officials for the maintenance and the 
 execution of this law, and hereby also appeals to the patriotic Christian 
 men and women of our land to use their united influence in support of 
 that public sentiment, now formulated into legal enactment, which has 
 exposed the pretence of this monstrous practice to be a religious observ- 
 ance, and which justly holds it to companionship with other vices which 
 are the contempt and abhorrence of mankind. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That these resolutions be transmitted to the Assemblies 
 now in session at Louisville and Memphis, with a request for concurrent 
 action. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That these resolutions be transmitted, as an official 
 expression from this body, to His Excellency the President of the 
 United States. —Adopted 1879, pp. 586, 587. 
 
 b. Overture. — In reply to the overture on Mormonism, we recommend 
 the adoption of the following: 
 
 Resolved, That, inasmuch as the General Assembly of 1879 expressed 
 its abhorrence of the abominations of Mormonism in the action taken on 
 the subject of polygamy, and did further heartily commend the steps 
 taken by the civil power towards the total suppression of this great 
 iniquity, it is deemed unnecessary for this Assembly to make any further 
 deliverance in this matter, other than to express its earnest hope that the 
 General Government will use its utmost endeavor to wipe out the last 
 vestige of this monstrous evil at the earliest practicable period. — Adopted. 
 1880, p. 77. 
 
 C. Overtures from the Presbyteries of Chicago and Logansport, pray- 
 ing the Assembly to take further action on the subject of polygamy. 
 Your Committee would respectfully offer the following for adoption by 
 the Assembly: 
 
 Action, condemnatory of polygamy, has been taken at several recent 
 meetings of the Assembly. Yet, as the practice of this vice continues, 
 not only unsuppressed but unabated, within the bounds of our national 
 territory, and since a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States makes the attempt to strike it more difficult than before, the 
 Assembly feels that silence on the subject would now be inexcusable. 
 This enormous wickedness has gradually grown through a period of years, 
 organizing itself into a government for its own defence, under the eye of 
 the National Government, until it has gained sufficient force to defy the 
 legislative and executive power of the nation. It now stands more 
 haughty and resolved than ever. Its efforts to strengthen itself by 
 immigration of the weak and ignorant from Europe, and by despotic 
 suppression of liberty among its votaries and victims, are systematically 
 exerted. For its own fortification, it is forcing its way from its original 
 stronghold into adjacent territory, where, unobserved, it may take root 
 and fasten on the land by finding quiet recognition in local laws. 
 
 Its spirit grows, with age, no less hostile to the law of Christianity, to 
 the instincts of morality, to the essential principles of civilization, and 
 
OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 95 
 
 to the existence of liberty for the people. It is condemned alike by the 
 Church, by the State, by the family, and by the individual conscience. 
 It is abhorred by God. It seems all the more detestable because it hides 
 its crime for shelter under the sacred garb of religion. It is growing as 
 slavery grew, from infancy to maturity of grasp upon the national life. 
 The terrible conflict required for the extermination of the one should 
 sound timely warning as to the latent perils of the other. The Territo- 
 ries in which polygamy yet exists are under the control of the President 
 and of Congress, i. e., of the National Government. The nation, as 
 such, is therefore responsible for its continuance. The Christian citizens 
 of the nation bear their share in this common responsibility. 
 
 Should these Territories once become States, with polygamy maintained, 
 the difficulty of reaching it would be vastly heightened. They are 
 rapidly increasing in wealth and in population, and will soon be knocking 
 for admission as States at the national door. Efficient action for its 
 obliteration must then, if taken at all, begin without delay. 
 
 1. We, therefore, as an Assembly, solemnly protest before God and 
 before men against this heinous and abominable crime, as a foul blot 
 on the face of our country, for the existence of which God will hold the 
 nation to account, and for which He will surely call it into judgment 
 except the evil be speedily abated. 
 
 2. We rejoice in the determination of the President of the United 
 States, as expressed in his inaugural address, to deal vigorously with this 
 iniquity. And we assure him of our sympathy and support in all lawful 
 and just efforts for its extinction, praying him not to withhold his hand. 
 
 3. We reiterate our hearty approval of the stand taken by Governor 
 Murray of Utah and his counselors, and by the United States courts of 
 the Territory, in hostility to polygamous marriages. 
 
 4. We respectfully memorialize the National Legislature to enact 
 whatever laws may seem most wise and most efficient for the utter oblit- 
 eration of this vice, whether as an organized system or as an individual 
 practice. 
 
 5. And we urge our own members, without respect to party lines, 
 zealously to exert their influence in every lawful method for the enact- 
 ment of an amendment to the national Constitution that shall forever 
 forbid the existence of polygamy in the nation. 
 
 Your Committee would also recommend that a copy of this action be 
 officially laid before the President of the United States and the presiding 
 officers of the two houses of Congress, as conveying the unanimous 
 sentiment of the ministry and membership of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States. —Adopted 1881, pp. 549, 550. 
 
 d. The Special Committee on Mormonism respectfully recommend to 
 the General Assembly the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Presbyterian Church regards the doctrines and 
 practices of the Mormon institution with loathing and abhorrence, and 
 the continued existence, in this country and age, of an organization that 
 encourages and defends polygamy as a foul blot on our national character 
 and institutions. 
 
 2. That we have noticed with great gratification the recent vigorous 
 action of Congress in the enactment of laws for the suppression of this 
 great evil, and look with confidence to the Government of the United 
 States for their prompt and vigorous execution. 
 
 3. That, in view of our profound conviction that the National Legis- 
 
96 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXIV, SECT. III-VI. 
 
 lature will succeed in removing this evil, only when accompanied by the 
 spread of the Gospel of Christ, this Assembly, while commending the 
 Board of Home Missions for its past efforts, urges still greater effort in 
 all the territory in which Mormonism and polygamy exist. — Adopted 
 1882, pp. 65, 66. 
 
 II. Marriage is ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife; 
 for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church 
 with an holy seed; and for the preventing of uncleanness. 
 
 III. It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with 
 judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians to marry 
 only in the Lord. And, therefore, such as profess the true reformed 
 religion should not marry with infidels, papists or other idolaters : neither 
 should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as 
 are notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies. 
 
 1. Marriage of converts with heathen. The Presbyteries to judge. 
 
 A memorial from the Presbytery of Ningpo in China, asking for 
 advice from this General Assembly on the subject of the marriage of 
 professing Christians with the heathen. 
 
 The Committee recommended that it be answered as follows: 
 In performing the work of missions among the heathen, many difficul- 
 ties will arise which will require great wisdom and forbearance, and 
 which can only be overcome by a wise application of Scriptural rules. 
 Of this kind are the cases respecting marriage, which will frequently 
 occur so long as the great majority of the people are heathen. And 
 this application of these rules must be made with a sound discretion, and 
 be very much modified by particular circumstances. That the apostolical 
 direction, ' ' be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, ' ' is the 
 advice of the Lord by the apostle, and is to be observed carefully in all 
 cases, as far as practicable, is true. But like other divine injunctions, it 
 must be applied in all cases with due consideration of circumstances. It 
 is not, therefore, in the circumstances stated in the overture, to be 
 regarded as sinful universally and necessarily for a Christian to marry a 
 heathen; nor is a Christian to be subjected to discipline on this account, 
 unless the circumstances show criminality and require the infliction of 
 censure, of which circumstances the missionaries are the best judges. 
 [The overture was] referred back to the Presbytery of Ningpo. — 1850, 
 pp. 458, 482, O. S. 
 
 IV. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or 
 affinity forbidden in the Word; nor can such incestuous marriages ever 
 be made, lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as those 
 persons may live together as man and wife. 
 
 Prior to 1887, Section iv, Chap, xxiv, read: 
 
 Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or 
 affinity forbidden in the Word ; nor can such incestuous marriages ever 
 be made lawful by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those 
 persons may live together as man and wife. The man may not marry 
 any of his wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor 
 the woman of her husband's kindred nearer in blood than of her own. 
 
ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 97 
 
 In that year the following amendment was adopted: 
 Whereas, One hundred and fifty -six (156) Presbyteries, being more 
 than two-thirds of the Presbyteries under the care of the General 
 Assembly, have, in writing, approved of an amendment to Chapter 
 xxiv, Section iv, of the Confession of Faith, by striking out the last 
 period thereof; therefore, be it enacted by the General Assembly that 
 the following words: " The man may not marry any of his wife's 
 kindred nearer in blood than he may of his own, nor the woman of her 
 husband's kindred nearer in blood than her own," be and are hereby 
 stricken from Chapter xxiv, Section iv, of the Confession of Faith. 
 
 [Note. — The section as amended was referred to a Committee to consider and 
 
 •report if any further action was necessary to accomplish the purpose aimed at. The 
 
 Committee reported that the purpose aimed at in the amendment was " To remove 
 
 any obstacles that may have existed to the marriage of a deceased wife's sister," and 
 
 that in their judgment no further action by the Church was now needed. — 1887, p. 138. 
 
 For Decisions, and Deliverances under Sec. iv prior to its amendment, see under 
 Directory for Worship, Digest of 1886, pp. 814-818. The following case does not come 
 under the intent of the amendment.] 
 
 1. Marriage with a sister's daughter. 
 
 The report of the Committee on Bills and Overtures in answer to the 
 two questions, " May a man, in accordance with the teachings of the 
 Scriptures, marry a daughter of his own sister ?' ' and ' ' When members 
 of the Church have contracted such a marriage, may they still retain 
 their standing in the Church ?" was taken up for consideration. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the first question be answered in the negative, such 
 marriages being evidently contrary to the teachings of the Scripture, 
 and incestuous. See Lev. xviii. 6, 12, 13. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the second question in the overture be answered as 
 follows, viz., in the judgment of this Assembly, such a connection as is 
 contemplated by the overture demands the judicial action of the Church, 
 and, if not repented of, should incur Church censure. — 1853, p. 339, 
 N. S. 
 
 V. Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract, being 
 detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the innocent party to 
 dissolve that contract. In the case of adultery after marriage, it is law- 
 ful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and after the divorce to 
 marry another, as if the offending party were dead. 
 
 1. In divorce for adultery the innocent party may marry again. 
 
 The following question, referred to Synod by the Presbytery of Done- 
 gal for their decision, was brought in by the Committee of Overtures, 
 viz. : 
 
 Whether, on full proof of adultery by one party, the Presbytery has 
 a right to declare the marriage so far void as that the innocent party 
 may marry again without being liable to Church censure ? 
 
 And after some time spent in debating the case, it was moved and 
 agreed that each member should speak to the question in the order of the 
 roll. After which the vote was put, and the question carried in the 
 affirmative, by a small majority. — 1785, p. 509. 
 
 VI. Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study argu- 
 ments, unduly to put asunder those whom God hath joined together in 
 marriage; yet nothing but adultery, or such willful desertion as can no 
 
98 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXIV, SECT. VI. 
 
 way be remedied by the Church or civil magistrate, is cause sufficient of 
 dissolving the bond of marriage: wherein a public and orderly course 
 of proceeding is to be observed; and the persons concerned in it not left 
 to their own wills and discretion in their own case. 
 
 1. Marriage with a woman divorced for cause other than adultery. 
 
 [The Assembly, by a vote of 106 to 52, sustained the complaint of 
 the Presbytery of Des Moines, in the case of Rev. James H. Shields. 
 The minute adopted states the case — ] 
 
 In the year 1853, Maria C. Cowles presented a petition under oath to 
 the District Court of Wayne county, Iowa, praying for a divorce from* 
 her husband, William A. Cowles, in which it was stated substantially, 
 that she had been lawfully married to said Cowles in January, 1839, in 
 the State of Massachusetts; that they had lived together there until 
 August, 1851, when she separated herself from him, and proceeded to 
 Iowa, where she has since resided. That, previous to her departing from 
 him in 1851, her husband was in the habit of becoming intoxicated, and 
 when so intoxicated, was ill-natured and abusive — so much so that her 
 situation as his wife became intolerable ; and she had been under the 
 necessity of leaving his house, and of making her own living since that 
 time, the defendant having neglected to make provision for her support 
 since the period of her separation from him. No pertinent proof of. the 
 truth of these allegations was made; but the court, notwithstanding, 
 granted her a divorce a vinculo matrimonii; when James H. Shields, 
 then a member of the Presbytery of Des Moines, being cognizant of all 
 the facts in the case, was married to the said Maria C. Cowles, and has 
 continued to cohabit with her as his wife. In April, 1856, the Presby- 
 tery instituted proceedings against him for adultery, and finally convicted 
 •him of that offence, and deposed him from the ministry and excom- 
 municated him from the Church. Thereupon the said Shields appealed 
 to the Synod of Iowa, who reversed the decision of Presbytery. The 
 case is before this General Assembly on a complaint of the Rev. Thomp- 
 son Bird, on behalf of the Presbytery, against the action of Synod. 
 
 In view of all the testimony brought before the Assembly, the 
 complaint is sustained. 
 
 It has not been made to appear that the said Maria C. Cowles 
 attempted to establish the fact of adultery against her husband, William 
 A. Cowles. Neither has there been proved ' ' such willful desertion ' ' on 
 his part, " as can no ivay be remedied by the Church or civil magis- 
 trate,' " as is recognized in the Confession of Faith (Chap, xxiv, Sec. 
 vi), as " cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage." 
 
 The General Assembly do, therefore, consider that the said James H. 
 Shields was properly convicted of adultery ; and the decision of the 
 Synod of Iowa in this case is hereby reversed, and the judgment of the 
 Presbytery of Des Moines therein confirmed. 
 
 The Assembly, whilst rendering this decision, takes occasion to call 
 the attention of the churches under its care to a tendency, manifest in 
 some portions of our country, to relax the sacredness of the marriage 
 tie. Lying, as the institution of marriage does, at the very foundation 
 of order, purity and prosperity in the State and in the Church, the 
 Assembly cannot view without abhorrence any attempt to diminish its 
 
OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 99 
 
 sanctity or to extend beyond the warrant of the Holy Scriptures the 
 grounds of divorce.— 1858, pp. 599, 600, N. S. 
 
 2. Marriage on a divorce obtained on other than Scriptural grounds. 
 
 The Assembly resumed the consideration of the appeal of the Rev. 
 George Sheldon. 
 
 The original parties having been fully heard, the roll was called, and 
 opportunity was given to the members of the Assembly to express their 
 opinions on the case. After which the final vote was taken, and the 
 appeal was not sustained, nineteen voting in the affirmative, and fifty - 
 four in the negative. — 1858, p. 607, N. S. 
 
 [Mr. Sheldon was deposed by the Presbytery of Portage, on the 
 ground of adultery, in having married a second wif e during the life of 
 his first wife, from whom he had obtained a divorce in the civil courts, 
 in the judgment of the Presbytery on other than Scriptural grounds. 
 From the decision of the Presbytery he took an appeal to the Synod of 
 the Western Reserve. The Synod decided as follows, viz. : 
 
 After a full and patient hearing of the whole case of appeal by 
 George Sheldon, from the Presbytery of Portage, the Synod are 
 constrained to believe that the decision of the Presbytery was just; and 
 that the Presbytery conducted the case with as much order and tender- 
 ness as the inherent difficulties of the case would admit.] 
 
 In view of the whole case : 
 
 Resolved, That the decision of the Presbytery of Portage be sustained. 
 —1858, p. 607, N. S. 
 
 3. Deliverance on marriage, divorce and infanticide. 
 
 a. Overture No. 44, relating to unscriptural views of marriage, 
 divorce and infanticide. The Committee recommends the following, 
 which was adopted: 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures, to which was referred the 
 paper relating to divorce and infanticide, begs leave to report that it 
 recommends the adoption of the following: 
 
 That it is with great pain we are constrained to admit the increasing 
 prevalence in many parts of our country of unscriptural views of the 
 marriage relation, in consequence of which the obligations of that rela- 
 tion are disregarded by many, and separations of husband and wife and 
 divorces for slight and unwarrantable reasons are becoming more 
 frequent every year. Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact that the 
 horrible crime of infanticide, especially in the form of destruction by 
 parents of their own offspring before birth, also prevails to an alarming 
 extent. The evils which these errors and crimes have already brought 
 upon our country, and the worse evils which they threaten in the near 
 future, make it imperative, as we believe, that the whole power of the 
 ministry and Church of Jesus Christ should be put forth in maintenance 
 of the truth and of virtue in regard to these things. Many causes have 
 operated to produce a corruption of the public morals so deplorable, 
 prominent among which may be mentioned the facility with which 
 divorces may be obtained in some of the States, the constant promulga- 
 tion of false ideas of marriage and its duties by means of books, lectures, 
 etc., and the distribution through the mails of impure publications. 
 But an influence not less powerful than any of these is the growing 
 
100 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXV. 
 
 devotion to fashion and luxury of this age, and the idea which practi- 
 cally obtains to so great an extent that pleasure, instead of the glory of 
 God and the enjoyment of his favor, is the great object of life. It is, 
 therefore, the duty of the Church of Christ to oppose in every practica- 
 ble way, these and all other corrupting agencies and tendencies, and we 
 especially urge upon all ministers of the Gospel the duty of giving 
 instruction to the people of their respective charges as to the Scriptural 
 doctrine concerning the marriage relation. We warn them against 
 joining in wedlock any who may have been divorced upon other than 
 Scriptural grounds. We also enjoin upon church sessions the exercise of 
 due discipline in the cases of those members who may be guilty of 
 violating the law of Christ in this particular. 
 
 This Assembly regards the destruction by parents of their own off- 
 spring before birth with abhorrence, as a crime against God and against 
 nature; and as the frequency of such murders can no longer be con- 
 cealed, we hereby warn those that are guilty of this crime that, except 
 they repent, they cannot inherit eternal life. We also exhort those who 
 have been called to preach the Gospel, and all who love purity and the 
 truth, and who would avert the just judgments of Almighty God from 
 the nation, that they be no longer silent or tolerant of these things, but 
 that they endeavor by all proper means to stay the floods of impurity 
 and cruelty. 
 
 We call upon all to remember that marriage is honorable not only in 
 itself, but in its ends. Therefore all who seek to avoid the responsibili- 
 ties and cares connected with the bringing up of children not only 
 deprive themselves of one of the greatest blessings of life, and fly in the 
 face of God's decrees, but do violence to their own natures, and will be 
 found out of their sins even in this world. — 1869, p. 937, O. S. 
 
 b. From the Presbytery of Cleveland on divorce. Recommending 
 that the Assembly refer, in reply, to the deliverances already made in 
 full on the subject, as published in the Digest [1873], pp. 494, 682, 
 683. —Adopted 1874, p. 26. 
 
 C. The following resolution was adopted: 
 
 Whereas, The preservation of the marriage relation as an ordinance 
 of God is essential to social order, morality and religion ; and, 
 
 Whereas, That relation, in the popular mind, is shorn of its divine 
 sanctions, to such an extent, that, not only are its sacred bonds often 
 sundered for insufficient and trifling reasons, but the action of the civil 
 courts, and the divorce laws in many of the States, are in direct contra- 
 vention of the law of God; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly hereby bears testimony against 
 this immorality, and earnestly advises the churches and Presbyteries 
 under its care to use all proper measures to correct this widespread evil. 
 —1883, p. 689: 1885, p. 639. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I, The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of 
 the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 101 
 
 into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, 
 the fullness of him that fillet h all in all. 
 
 II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the 
 gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of 
 all those throughout the world, that profess the true religion, together 
 with their children ; and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility 
 of salvation. 
 
 III. Unto this catholic visible Church, Christ hath given the ministry, 
 oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the 
 saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and doth by his own pres- 
 ence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual there- 
 unto. 
 
 IV. This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less, 
 visible. And particular churches, which are members thereof, are more 
 or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and 
 embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more 
 or less purely in them. 
 
 V. The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and 
 error: and some have so degenerated, as to become no churches of 
 Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a 
 Church on earth, to worship God according to his will. 
 
 VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head thereof; but is that 
 antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, 
 in the Church, against Christ, and all that is called God. 
 
 1. The Roman Catholic Church essentially apostate. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly, in full accordance with the words of 
 our Confession of Faith respecting the Church of Rome and its so-called 
 spiritual head, do now reaffirm the deliverance, upon this subject, of 
 the Assembly of 1835, as applying to that Roman hierarchy headed by 
 the pope, falsely claiming to be the Church; which, opposed absolutely 
 and irreconcilably to the doctrines of Holy Scripture, is corrupting and 
 degrading a large part of Christ's Church over which it has usurped 
 supreme control. — 1879, p. 630. 
 
 The deliverance (of 1835) referred to is as follows: 
 
 1. Resolved, That it is the deliberate and decided judgment of this 
 Assembly that the Roman Catholic Church has essentially apostatized 
 from the religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and therefore 
 cannot be recognized as a Christian Church. 
 
 2. Resolved, That it be recommended to all in our communion to 
 endeavor, by the diffusion of light by means of the pulpit and the press, 
 and all other proper and Christian means, to resist the extension of 
 Romanism, and lead its subjects to the knowledge of the truth as it is 
 taught in the Word of God. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it is utterly inconsistent with the strongest obligations 
 
102 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXVI-XXVIII. 
 
 of Christian parents to place their children for education in Roman 
 Catholic seminaries. — 1835, p. 490. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession, Chap, xxviii, No. 7, and Directory for Worship, Chap. viii,. 
 Sec. L] 
 
 2. The Salvation Army not a Church. 
 
 Overture on the recognition of the Salvation Army as a Church, from 
 the Presbytery of Denver. It is recommended that the Assembly 
 recognize with thankfulness the work done by the Salvation Army. But 
 as they make no claim to be a Church, no action is necessary. Adopted. 
 —1895, p. 76. 
 
 3. Declaration of principles as to Church unity. 
 
 a. All believers in Christ constitute one body, mystical, yet real, 
 and destined to grow into the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. 
 
 b. The universal visible Church consists of all those throughout the 
 world who profess the true religion, together with their children. 
 
 C. Mutual recognition and reciprocity between the different bodies 
 who profess the true religion is the first and essential step towards practical 
 Church unity. —1887, p. 133; 1894, p. 29. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 OF THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 
 
 I. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit 
 and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, 
 resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they 
 have communion in each other's gifts and graces; and are obliged to the 
 performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their 
 mutual good, both in the inward and outward man. 
 
 II. Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship 
 and communion, in the worship of God, and in performing such other 
 spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification ; as also in relieving 
 each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and 
 necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be 
 extended unto all those, who, in every place, call upon the name of the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 III. This communion which the saints have with Christ, doth not make 
 them in any wise partakers of the substance of his Godhead, or to be 
 equal with Christ in any respect: either of which to affirm, is impious 
 and blasphemous. Nor doth their communion one with another, as 
 saints, take away, or infringe the title or property which each man hath 
 in his goods and possessions. 
 
OF THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS AND THE SACRAMENTS. 103 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 OF THE SACRAMENTS. 
 
 I. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, 
 immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and his benefits, and 
 to confirm our interest in him: as also to put a visible difference between 
 those that belong unto the Church, and the rest of the world; and 
 solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to 
 his Word. 
 
 II. There is in every Sacrament a spiritual relation, or sacramental 
 union, between the sign and the thing signified ; whence it comes to pass, 
 that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other. 
 
 III. The grace which is exhibited in or by the Sacraments, rightly 
 used, is not conferred by any power in them ; neither doth the efficacy 
 of a Sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth 
 administer it, but upon the work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, 
 which contains, together with a precept authorizing the use thereof, a 
 promise of benefit to worthy receivers. 
 
 IV. There be only two Sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in 
 the gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord: neither 
 of which may be dispensed by any, but by a minister of the Word, 
 lawfully ordained. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, Sec. i.] 
 
 V. The Sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spiritual 
 things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the same 
 with those of the New. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 OF BAPTISM. 
 
 I. Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus 
 Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the 
 visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant 
 of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of 
 sins, and of iiis giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in 
 newness of life: which Sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to 
 be continued in his Church until the end of the world. 
 
 II. The outward element to be used in this Sacrament is water, where- 
 with the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the 
 Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, lawfully called 
 thereunto. 
 
 1. Ruling elders may not administer sealing ordinances. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Peoria on the authority of ruling 
 elders to administer sealing ordinances. The Committee recommend 
 
104 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 that they be referred to the Standards, Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, 
 Sec. i, and Chap, ix, throughout. 
 Adopted. —1870, p. 22. 
 
 2. Baptism by an impostor null and invalid. 
 
 Whereas, A certain person pretending at Egg Harbor to be a minister 
 regularly ordained among the Presbyterians, under that character 
 baptized some adults and infants, and it appearing to the Synod that his 
 pretences were false, having at that time no license or ordination, it is 
 our opinion that all the Gospel ordinances he administered under that 
 false and pretended character are null and invalid. — 1752, p. 249. 
 
 3. By a profligate.— Cases to be judged of by the Session. 
 The following question was proposed by the Committee of Overtures, 
 viz. : 
 
 Ought such persons to be rebaptized as have been offered in baptism 
 by notoriously profligate parents, and baptized by ministers of the same 
 description ? 
 
 Resolved, That it is a principle of the Church that the un worthiness of 
 the ministers of the Gospel does not invalidate the ordinances of religion 
 dispensed by them. It is also a principle that as long as any denomina- 
 tion of Christians is acknowledged by us a Church of Christ, we ought 
 to hold the ordinances dispensed by it as valid, notwithstanding the 
 unworthiness of particular ministers. Yet, inasmuch as no general rule 
 can be made to embrace all circumstances, there may be irregularities in 
 particular administrations by men not yet divested of their office, either 
 in this or in other Churches, which may render them null and void. 
 But as these irregularities must often result from circumstances and 
 situations that cannot be anticipated and pointed out in the rule, they 
 must be left to be judged of by the prudence and wisdom of church 
 sessions and the higher judicatories to which they may be referred. In 
 such cases, it may be advisable to administer the ordinance of baptism 
 in a regular manner, where a profane exhibition of the ceremony may 
 have been attempted. These cases and circumstances, however, are to 
 be inquired into by the church sessions, and referred to a Presbytery 
 before a final decision. — 1790, p. 26. 
 
 4. Unitarian Baptism. 
 
 A person who had been baptized in infancy by Dr. Priestly applied 
 for admission to the Lord's table. Should the baptism administered by 
 Dr. Priestly, then a Unitarian, be considered valid ? 
 
 Resolved, That this question be answered in the negative. 
 
 In the present state of our country, whilst Unitarian errors in various 
 forms are making their insidious approaches; whilst the advocates of 
 this heresy in many cases are practicing a system of concealment, and 
 insinuating themselves into the confidence of multitudes who have no 
 suspicion of their defection from the faith, the Assembly feel it to be 
 their duty to speak without reserve. 
 
 It is the deliberate and unanimous opinion of this Assembly that those 
 who renounce the fundamental doctrine of the Trinity, and deny that 
 Jesus Christ is the same in substance, equal in power and glory with the 
 Father, cannot be recognized as ministers of the Gospel; and that their 
 ministrations are wholly invalid. — 1814, p. 549. 
 
OF BAPTISM. 105 
 
 5. By a minister after lie is deposed. 
 
 A reference from the Presbytery of Hudson, requesting of the Assem- 
 bly an answer to the following question, was received and read, viz. : 
 
 Is baptism administered by a minister after he is deposed from office 
 valid ? 
 
 Resolved, That in answer to this question, the Presbytery be referred 
 to Chap, vii [viii], Sec. i, of the Directory for Public Worship. — 1819, 
 p. 701. 
 
 6. By a suspended minister. 
 
 The following overture was presented by the Committee of Overtures, 
 viz. : ' ' Can a Presbytery consistently acknowledge as valid the ordi- 
 nance of baptism as administered by those who are regularly suspended 
 by a higher judicatory of the Church ? 
 
 " If not, how are we to regard the baptism of the Cumberland 
 Presbyterians ?" 
 
 The Assembly resumed the consideration of the report of the Com- 
 mittee on the overture respecting the Cumberland Presbyterians. After 
 considerable discussion, the report of the Committee was adopted, and 
 is as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. That in the opinion of this Assembly, ministers of the Presbyterian 
 Church, when regularly suspended by the competent judicatories, have 
 no right to exercise the functions of a minister during that suspension. 
 
 2. That while those persons styling themselves the Cumberland 
 Presbytery were under suspension, their administrations are to be consid- 
 ered as invalid; but after the General Assembly have declared them to 
 be no longer connected with our Church, their administrations are to be 
 viewed in the same light with those of other denominations not con- 
 nected with our body. This decision is grounded on the opinion that the 
 Act of the Assembly of 1814 precluded the propriety of deposition, or 
 any other process in the case. — 1825, pp. 145, 156. 
 
 7. The question, Is Baptism in the Church of Rome valid ? answered 
 
 in the negative. 
 
 a. The question presented to this Assembly by overture from the 
 Presbytery of Ohio, "Is baptism in the Church of Home valid?" is one 
 of a very grave character and of deep practical importance. The 
 answer to it must involve principles vital to the peace, the purity and 
 the stability of the Church of God. 
 
 After a full discussion, carried through several days, this Assembly 
 has decided, by a nearly unanimous vote [173 yeas to 8 nays], that 
 baptism so administered is not valid. 
 
 b. Because, since baptism is an ordinance established by Christ in His 
 Church (Form Gov., Chap, vii; Matt, xxviii, 19, 20), and is to be 
 administered only by a minister of Christ, duly called and ordained to 
 be a steward of the mysteries of God (Directory, Chap, viii, Sec. i), it 
 follows that no rite administered by one who is not himself a duly 
 ordained minister of the true Church of God visible, can be regarded as 
 an ordinance of Christ, whatever be the name by which it is called, 
 whatever the form employed in its administration. The so-called 
 priests of the Romish communion are not ministers of Christ, for they 
 are commissioned as agents of the papal hierarchy, which is not a Church 
 of Christ, but the Man of Sin, apostate from the truth, the enemy of 
 
106 COMPRESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXVJII. 
 
 righteousness and of God. She has long lain under the curse of God, 
 who has called His people to come out from her, that they be not 
 
 partakers of her plagues 
 
 In 1835 the Assembly declared the papacy to be apostate from 
 Christ, and no true Church. As we do not recognize her as a portion of 
 the visible Church of Christ, we cannot, consistently, view her priest- 
 hood as other than usurpers of the sacred functions of the ministry, her 
 ordinances as unscriptural, and her baptism as totally invalid. — 1845, 
 pp. 15, 34, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — For the whole deliverance assigning the reasons for the decision of the 
 Assembly, see Digest, 1886, pp. 789-792.] 
 
 8. The deliverance of 1845 affirmed. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Tuscaloosa, asking whether the 
 ordinance of baptism ought to be administered to a person before recep- 
 tion into our Church who presents a certificate of good and regular 
 standing in the New School Presbyterian Church, but who has received 
 only Roman Catholic baptism. 
 
 The Committee answer that the mere fact that a person has been a 
 member of another Church has nothing to do with his original baptism. 
 The memorialists are referred to the action of the Assembly in 1845. 
 Adopted.— 1859, p. 535, O. S. 
 
 9. The question of rebaptism of a convert from Romanism left to the 
 judgment of the session. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures further reported as follows : 
 No. 11. From the Presbytery of Genesee, asking a deliverance on the 
 question, " Should a convert from Romanism, applying for admission 
 into the Presbyterian Church, be again baptized ?" to which they 
 recommend the following answer be given: That the decision of the 
 question be left to the judgment of each church Session, guided by the 
 principles governing the subject of baptism, as laid down in the Stand- 
 ards of our Church. 
 
 The report was unanimously adopted. — 1875, p. 514. 
 
 10. The above deliverance sustained. 
 
 The Judicial Committee presented the following, which was unani- 
 mously adopted : 
 
 Judicial Case No. 1. — An appeal of Elder Walter Bradshaw from 
 the Synod of New York. 
 
 Statement of the Case. — The Session of Princetown church declined to 
 recognize the validity of Roman Catholic baptism, and required a candi- 
 date, Mr. Edward Francis Graham, for admission to the Church, who was 
 a Roman Catholic, to be baptized. Mr. Bradshaw, an elder of the 
 Princetown church Session, complained to the Presbytery of Albany, 
 upon the ground that Roman Catholic baptism was recognized by the 
 Church as valid, and that an applicant for the privileges of the com- 
 munion of the Church should not be rebaptized. 
 
 The Presbytery of Albany declined to entertain the complaint of Mr. 
 Bradshaw on the grounds ' ' that the Presbyterian Church has given no 
 judicial decision upon the subject of the validity of Roman Catholic 
 baptism, and has by the deliverances of the General Assembly (Minutes, 
 1875, p. 514) left the decision of the validity of Roman Catholic bap- 
 tism to the judgment of Sessions." 
 
OF BAPTISM. 107 
 
 Mr. Bradshaw appealed from this decision of the Presbytery of 
 Albany to the Synod of New York, on the grounds that the Presbytery 
 had refused to consider the question of the validity of Koman Catholic 
 baptism, and had dismissed the complaint, basing their action upon the 
 deliverance of the Assembly, leaving the question of validity to Sessions. 
 The Synod of New York, acting under Sec. xcix of the revised Book 
 of Discipline, declined to entertain Mr. Bradshaw' s appeal and com- 
 plaint, and directed the fact to be recorded that its decision was unani- 
 mous. 
 
 From this decision of the Synod, Mr. Bradshaw appeals to this 
 General Assembly, on the grounds that Roman Catholic baptism is valid, 
 and that it was unconstitutional for the Session to require the applicant 
 to be rebaptized. Your Committee can discover no reasons for opening 
 this question, and being convinced that the Synod of New York had 
 good and sufficient reasons for declining to entertain the complaint of 
 Mr. Bradshaw, and further persuaded that these reasons should likewise 
 prevail with this General Assembly — viz. , that the deliverances of the 
 General Assembly have left with Sessions the right to decide upon the 
 validity of Koman Catholic baptism in particular cases, and that the 
 Princetown church acted upon such deliverances — your Committee recom- 
 mends that the appeal and complaint of Mr. Bradshaw against the 
 action of the Synod of New York be not entertained. — 1885, pp. 593, 
 594. 
 
 [Note. — See also Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, Sees, iv, v.3 
 
 11. The Assembly declines to make a new deliverance on the validity 
 of Roman Catholic baptism. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the Assembly of 1876, and continued 
 (with certain changes) by the Assembly of 1877, to " consider and 
 report upon the validity of Roman Catholic baptism," respectfully 
 recommend the following for adoption by this General Assembly: 
 
 Resolved, That it is inexpedient for this Assembly to make any new 
 deliverance on this subject. 
 
 It was adopted. — 1878, p. 23. 
 
 III. Dipping of the person into the Avater is not necessary ; but bap- 
 tism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the 
 person. 
 
 1. Mode of baptism. 
 
 Is it expedient, in the present state of the Church, for a Presbyterian 
 minister to baptize by immersion in any case ? 
 
 The Confession of Faith, Chap, xxviii, Sec. iii, teaches as follows, 
 viz. : Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary ; but baptism 
 is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling of water upon the 
 person. Your Committee see no cause for adding anything to the doc- 
 trine of the Confession on this subject. Adopted. — 1834, p. 433. 
 
 IV. Not only those that do actually profess faith in, and obedience 
 
 unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to 
 
 be baptized. 
 
 [Note. — Book of Discipline, Chap, i, Sec. v; and Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, 
 Sec. iii.] 
 
108 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXVIII-XXIX. 
 
 1. The duty of Christian masters to have their servants baptized. 
 
 The following case of conscience from Donegal Presbytery was over- 
 tured, viz., whether Christian masters or mistresses ought, in duty, to 
 have such children baptized as are under their care, though born of 
 parents not in the communion of any Christiau Church. Upon this 
 overture Synod are of opinion that Christian masters and mistresses, 
 whose religious professions and conduct are such as to give them a right 
 to the ordinance of baptism for their own children, may and ought to 
 dedicate the children of their household to God in that ordinance when 
 they have no scruple of conscience to the contrary. — 1786, p. 527. 
 
 2. Of Christian slaves to have their children baptized. 
 It was overtured whether Christian slaves, having children at the 
 entire direction of unchristian masters, and not having it in their power 
 to instruct them in religion, are bound to have them baptized, and 
 whether a Gospel minister iu this predicament ought to baptize them, 
 and Synod determined the question in the affirmative. — 1786, p. 527. 
 
 3. Infant slaves of Christian masters. 
 Ought baptism, on the profession and promise of the master, to be 
 administered to the children of slaves ? 
 
 1. It is the duty of masters who are members of the Church to pre- 
 sent the children of parents in servitude to the ordinance of baptism, 
 provided they are in a situation to train them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord, thus securing to them the rich advantages which 
 the Gospel provides. 
 
 2. It is the duty of Christ's ministers to inculcate this doctrine, and 
 to baptize all children of this description when presented by their masters. 
 —1816, p. 617. 
 
 4. Orphan children of heathen parents in the care of our missions. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, Sec. iii.] 
 
 V. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, 
 yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that 
 no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are 
 baptized are undoubtedly regenerated. 
 
 VI. The efficacy of Baptism is not tied to that moment of time where- 
 in it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this 
 ordinance the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited 
 and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) 
 as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's own will, 
 in his appointed time. 
 
 VII. The Sacrament of Baptism is but once to be administered to 
 any person. 
 
 1. Rebaptism disorderly. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of the Cherokee Nation, asking, ' l What 
 is the standing of an elder or member of the Presbyterian Church, who, 
 becoming dissatisfied with his baptism by sprinkling, secures rebaptism by 
 immersion, by one not a minister of the Presbyteriau Church ?" 
 
 Answer : The action is clearly disorderly and in violation of Chap. 
 
OF BAPTISM AND THE LOKD's SUPPER. 109 
 
 xxviii, Sec. vii, of the Confession of Faith. But as it concerns the 
 mode, rather than the substance, of a sacrament, whether the act is to 
 be regarded as disciplinable, must be determined by the Session, in the 
 light of the circumstances attending each particular case. 
 
 In the case of an elder, the Form of Government (Chap, xiii, Sees. 
 vi, vii) makes it clear that in certain circumstances he should at least 
 1 ' cease to be an acting elder, ' ' and the Session should ' ' take order on 
 the subject."— 1890, p. 46. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 I. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted 
 
 the Sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be 
 
 observed in his Church unto the end of the world, for the perpetual 
 
 remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all 
 
 benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and 
 
 growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they 
 
 owe unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with 
 
 him, and with each other, as members of his mystical body. 
 
 [Note. — See for decisions and deliverances on the Lord's Supper, Director}'' for Wor- 
 ship, Chap, ix.] 
 
 II. In this Sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any 
 real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but 
 only a commemoration of that once offering up of himself, by himself, 
 upon the cross, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all possible 
 praise unto God for the same: so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, 
 as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice, 
 the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect. 
 
 III. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers 
 
 to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the 
 
 elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a 
 
 common to an holy use: and to take and break the bread, to take the 
 
 cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the 
 
 communicants; but to none who are not then present in the congregation. 
 
 [Note. — The Lord's Supper may be administered in a private house under certain 
 circumstances. See Directory for Worship, Chap, ix, Sec. i, 1863, p. 37, 0. S.] 
 
 IV. Private masses, or receiving this Sacrament by a priest, or any 
 other, alone; as likewise the denial of the cup to the people; worshiping 
 the elements ; the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, 
 and the reserving them for any pretended religious use ; are all contrary 
 to the nature of this Sacrament, and to the institution of Christ. 
 
 V. The outward elements in this Sacrament, duly set apart to the uses 
 ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, 
 yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the 
 
110 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXX-XXXI. 
 
 things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in 
 substance and nature, they still remain truly, and only, bread and wine, 
 as they w T ere before. 
 
 VI. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of 
 bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly 
 called transubstantiation) by consecration of a priest, or by any other 
 way, is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense 
 and reason; overthroweth the nature of the Sacrament; and hath been, 
 and is the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries. 
 
 VII. Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements 
 in this Sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet 
 not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon 
 Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of 
 Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread 
 and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers 
 in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses. 
 
 VIII. Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward 
 elements in this Sacrament, yet they receive not the thing signified there- 
 by; but by their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and 
 blood of the Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore all ignorant 
 and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so 
 are they unworthy of the Lord's Table, and cannot, without great sin 
 against Christ, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, • 
 or be admitted thereunto. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 OF CHURCH CENSURES. 
 
 I. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his Church, hath therein 
 appointed a government in the hand of church- officers, distinct from the 
 civil magistrate. 
 
 II. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed, 
 by virtue whereof they have power respectively to retain and remit sins, 
 to shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the word and cen- 
 sures; and to open it unto penitent sinners, by the ministry of the gospel, 
 and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall require. 
 
 III. Church censures are necessary for the reclaiming and gaining of 
 offending brethren; for deterring of others from like offences; for purg- 
 ing out of that leaven which might infect the whole lump ; for vindica- 
 ting the honor of Christ, and the holy profession of the gospel; and for 
 preventing the wrath of God, which might justly fall upon the Church, 
 if they should suffer his covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned 
 by notorious and obstinate offenders. 
 
OF CHURCH CENSURES AND COUNCILS. Ill 
 
 IV. For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the Church 
 
 are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the Sacrament of the 
 
 Lord's Supper for a season, and by excommunication from the Church, 
 
 according to the nature of the crime, and demerit of the person. 
 
 [Xote. — For the censures which may be inflicted, see Book of Discipline, Chap, v, 
 Sees, xxxiv and xl. Also Directory for Worship, Chap, xi, and Forni of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, viii, Sec. ii ; Chap, ix, Sec. vi.] 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 OF SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 
 
 I. For the better government and further edification of the Church, 
 there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called synods or coun- 
 cils: and it belongeth to the overseers and other rulers of the particular 
 churches, by virtue of their office, and the power which Christ hath 
 given them for edification and not for destruction, to appoint such assem- 
 blies; and to convene together in them, as often as they shall judge it 
 expedient for the good of the Church. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, viii, Sees, i andii, and Chaps, ix-xii.] 
 
 II. It belongeth to synods and councils, ministerially, to determine 
 controversies of faith, and cases of conscience; to set down rules and 
 directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and 
 government of his Church; to receive complaints in cases of mal-admin- 
 istration, and authoritatively to determine the same: which decrees and 
 determinations, if consonant to the Word of God, are to be received 
 with reverence and submission, not only for their agreement with the 
 Word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an 
 ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in his Word. 
 
 [Xote. — See Form of Government, Chap, i, Sec. vii and Chap, xii.] 
 
 III. All synods or councils since the apostles' times, whether general 
 or particular, may err, and many have erred; therefore they are not to 
 be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a help in both. 
 
 [Xote.— See Form of Government, Chap, i, Sec. vii.] 
 
 IV. Synods and councils are to handle or conclude nothing, but that 
 which is ecclesiastical : and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which 
 concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases 
 extraordinary; or by way of advice for satisfaction of conscience, if 
 they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate. 
 
 1. The Spiritual Character of the Church. 
 
 The following paper, offered by Elder George H. Shields, was unani- 
 mously adopted by a rising vote : 
 
 Whereas, The Synod of Missouri, in connection with the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 at its meeting in Fulton, Mo., in October, 1886, unanimously adopted 
 the following paper and declaration of principles, to wit: 
 
112 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAPS. XXXI-XXXIII. 
 
 1 ' It has come to the knowledge of this Synod that many brethren 
 belonging to the Synod in connection with the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Chnrch in the United States, are under a misapprehension 
 with regard to the position of this body touching the spiritual or non- 
 political character of the Church, and also touching the rights of indi- 
 viduals under the Constitution of the Church. Owing to this misappre- 
 hension, and to the continued separation of the two Synods, many of the 
 congregations on both sides are greatly weakened, our educational 
 institutions are partially paralyzed, and all of our interests are seriously 
 crippled. With the hope of healing forever the breach between us, we 
 once more affectionately extend the hand of fellowship to our separated 
 brethren, and cheerfully reaffirm the action unanimously taken by this 
 Synod in 1873, as follows: 
 
 "1. We affirm the spiritual character of the Church as separated 
 from the kingdoms of this world, and, having no other head than the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as entitled to speak only where He has spoken, and to 
 legislate only where He has legislated ; we also recognize the rights of 
 conscience, and the right of respectful protest on the part of the hum- 
 blest member of the Presbyterian household of faith, and declare the 
 obligation of all our judicatories to be subject to the authority and to 
 follow the doctrines of our ecclesiastical constitution. 
 
 ' ' 2. We distinctly and particularly affirm our belief in the following 
 principles and statements found in our Standards, to wit: ' Synods and 
 councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical, 
 and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the Common- 
 wealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary, or by 
 Avay of advice for the satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto 
 required by the civil magistrate ' (Confession of Faith, Chap, xxxi, 
 Sec. iv). ' That God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it 
 free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any- 
 thing contrary to His Word, or beside it in matters of faith or worship. ' 
 * That all Church power, whether exercised by the body in general, or 
 in the way of representation by delegated authority, is only ministerial 
 or declarative; that is to say, that the Holy Scriptures are the only rule 
 of faith and practice, that no Church judicatory ought to pretend to 
 make laws to bind the conscience in virtue of their own authority, and 
 that all their decisions should be founded upon the revealed will of God ' 
 (Form of Government, Chap, i, Sees, i, vii); and that process against 
 a Gospel minister should always be entered before the Presbytery of 
 which he is a member (Book of Discipline, Sees, xviii, cviii). 
 
 "3. In order to give the strongest possible ground of confidence to those 
 of our brethren in the other Synod, who desire organic union with us, 
 we do hereby express confidence in the soundness of doctrine, and in the 
 Christian character of these brethren, and cannot doubt that a more 
 intimate communion would lead to the speedy removal of the barriers 
 that now separate those of like precious faith, and to increased mutual 
 affection and esteem." 
 
 Now, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly heartily approves the action of 
 the Synod of Missouri in adopting said paper, and the declaration of 
 principles therein set forth.— 1887, pp. 26, 27; 1888, p. 147. 
 
OF THE RESURRECTION AND THE LAST JUDGMENT. 113 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE 
 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 I. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption ; 
 but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal sub- 
 sistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the 
 righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the 
 highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, 
 waiting for the full redemption of their bodies: and the souls of the 
 wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter 
 darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two- 
 places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgetli 
 none. 
 
 [Note. — See case of Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., under Confession, Chap, i, Sec. ii, 
 Charge ii ; case of John Miller, under Chap, vi, Specification.] 
 
 II. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be 
 changed: and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies, 
 and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united 
 again to their souls for ever. 
 
 III. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised 
 to dishonor; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor, and be 
 made conformable to his own glorious body. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 OF THE LAST JUDGMENT 
 
 I. God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in 
 righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given 
 of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be 
 judged ; but likeAvise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear 
 before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, 
 and deeds ; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, 
 whether good or evil. 
 
 II. The end of God's appointing this day is for the manifestation of 
 the glory of his mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his 
 justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobe- 
 dient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive 
 that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence 
 of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be 
 punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
 from the glory of his power. 
 
 III. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there 
 shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the 
 
114 CONFESSION OF FAITH, CHAP. XXXIII. THE CREED. 
 
 greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that 
 day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and 
 be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will 
 come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come 
 quickly. Amen. 
 
 End of Confession. 
 
 General Deliverances on Doctrine. 
 
 [Note. — For the deliverances of the Assembly of 1837 on doctrinal errors, and for 
 the Auburn Declaration, see under Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v, p. 281.] 
 
 THE CREED. 
 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: 
 And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the 
 Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, 
 was crucified, dead, and buried ; he descended into hell ;* the third day 
 he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on 
 the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come 
 to judge the quick and the dead. 
 
 I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy Catholic Church ; the communion 
 of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the 
 life everlasting. Amen. 
 
 [Note. — The creed was formally adopted by the Westminster Assembly, as a part 
 of the Shorter Catechism, and was adopted also by the General Synod of this Church 
 in 1729 and 1788.] 
 
 1. Authorized alterations in the Creed. Use in worship. 
 
 " Resolved, That the propriety of omitting from or changing in the 
 so-called Apostles' Creed the phrases, ' He descended into hell,' and 
 ' The Holy Catholic Church, ' be referred to the Committee on a Consen- 
 sus Creed to consider what is wise in the way of action and to report to 
 the General Assembly." 
 
 The Committee, having carefully considered the subject of this resolu- 
 tion, respectfully recommend that no change in the Creed be attempted, 
 and would call attention to the fact that the footnote connected with it 
 and explanatory of the phrase, ' ' He descended into hell, " is a part of 
 the Creed itself. The note reads, " Continued in the state of the dead, 
 and under the power of death, until the third day. ' ' This note is not 
 the work of an editor, but of the Westminster Assembly, and was 
 confirmed and adopted by our General Synod in 1788. The Apostles' 
 Creed, as a Standard of the Presbyterian Church, includes this explana- 
 tory note, and neither the Creed nor the note could be changed except 
 by due constitutional procedure. The Committee, however, feel that it 
 would be unwise, in any event, to attempt to revise this venerable 
 Formula of Faith, which, though not of apostolic origin, has yet back 
 of it Christian antiquity and the veneration of all Christian commu- 
 nions. 
 
 * i. e. Continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, until the 
 third day. 
 
 [See the answer to the 50th question in the Larger Catechism.] 
 
OF THE CREED. 115 
 
 Resolved, The attention of our congregations is hereby called to the 
 fact that the Apostles' Creed is one of the Standards of the Presbyterian 
 Church ; that the instruction of the children of the Church therein is 
 commended in the Directory for Worship, Chap, x, Sec. i, and that its 
 use in worship is not contrary to any law or regulation of our denomina- 
 tion. 
 
 Resolved, That when the Apostles' Creed is used in the worship of our 
 congregations, the Assembly judges that ministers are at liberty to substi- 
 tute for the phrase, ' ' He descended into hell, ' ' the equivalent words, 
 " He continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, 
 until the third day."— 1892, pp. 34, 35. 
 
116 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. I. 
 
 PART III. 
 
 THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Adopted 1788. Amended 1805—1894. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRELIMINAR Y PRINCIPLES. * 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, in pre- 
 senting to the Christian public the system of union, and the form of 
 government and discipline which they have adopted, have thought 
 proper to state, by way of introduction, a few of the general principles 
 by which they have been governed in the formation of the plan. This, 
 it is hoped, will, in some measure, prevent those rash misconstructions, 
 and uncandid reflections, which usually proceed from an imperfect view 
 of any subject; as well as make the several parts of the system plain, 
 and the whole perspicuous and fully understood. 
 
 They are unanimously of opinion: 
 
 I. That " God alone is Lord of the conscience; and hath left it free 
 1 ' from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything* 
 ' ' contrary to his word, or beside it in matters of faith or worship :"f there- 
 fore they consider the rights of private judgment, in all matters that 
 respect religion, as universal and unalienable : they do not even wish to 
 see any religious constitution aided by the civil power, further than may 
 be necessary for protection and security, and, at the same time, be equal 
 and common to all others. 
 
 II. That, in perfect consistency with the above principle of common 
 right, every Christian Church, or union or association of particular 
 churches, is entitled to declare the terms of admission into its communion, 
 and the qualifications of its ministers and members, as well as the whole 
 system of its internal government which Christ hath appointed: that, in 
 the exercise of this right they may, notwithstanding, err, in making the 
 terms of communion either too lax or too narrow; yet, even in this case, 
 they do not infringe upon the liberty, or the rights of others, but only 
 make an improper use of their own. 
 
 III. That our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visible 
 Church, which is his body, hath appointed officers, not only to preach 
 
 * This introductory chapter, with the exception of the first sentence, was first drawn 
 up by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, and prefixed to the Form of Gov- 
 ernment, etc., as published by that body in 1788. In that year, after arranging the 
 plan on which the Presbyterian Church is now governed, the Synod was divided into 
 four Synods, and gave place to the General Assembly, which met for the first time in 
 1789. 
 
 t Confession of Faith, Chap, xx, Sec. ii. 
 
PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES. 117 
 
 the gospel and administer the sacraments ; but also to exercise discipline, 
 for the preservation both of truth and duty; and, that it is incumbent 
 upon these officers, and upon the whole Church, in whose name they act, 
 to censure or cast out the erroneous and scandalous; observing, in all 
 cases, the rules contained in the Word of God. 
 
 IV. That truth is in order to goodness ; and the great touchstone of 
 truth, its tendency to promote holiness; according to our Saviour's rule, 
 * ' by their fruits ye shall know them. ' ' And that no opinion can be 
 either more pernicious or more absurd, than that which brings truth and 
 falsehood upon a level, and represents it as of no consequence what a 
 man's opinions are. On the contrary, they are persuaded that there is 
 an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. 
 Otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth, or to 
 embrace it. 
 
 V. That while under the conviction of the above principle, they 
 think it necessary to make effectual provision, that all who are admitted 
 as teachers, be sound in the faith ; they also believe that there are truths 
 and forms, with respect to which men of good characters and principles 
 may differ. And in all these they think it the duty both of private 
 Christians and societies, to exercise mutual forbearance towards each other. 
 
 VI. That though the character, qualifications, and authority, of 
 church officers, are laid down in the Holy Scriptures, as well as the proper 
 method of their investiture and institution ; yet the election of the persons 
 to the exercise of this authority, in any particular society, is in that 
 society. 
 
 VII. That all church power, whether exercised by the body in gen- 
 eral, or in the way of representation by delegated authority, is only 
 ministerial and declarative ; that is to say, that the Holy Scriptures are 
 the only rule of faith and manners; that no church judicatory ought to 
 pretend to make laws, to bind the conscience in virtue of their own 
 authority; and that all their decisions should be founded upon the 
 revealed will of God. Now, though it will easily be admitted, that all 
 synods and councils may err, through the frailty inseparable from 
 humanity ; yet there is much greater danger from the usurped claim of 
 making laws, than from the right of judging upon laws already made, 
 and common to all who profess the gospel ; although this right, as 
 necessity requires in the present state, be lodged with fallible men. 
 
 VIII. Lastly, That, if the preceding scriptural and rational principles 
 be steadfastly adhered to, the vigor and strictness of its discipline will 
 contribute to the glory and happiness of any Church. Since ecclesias- 
 tical discipline must be purely moral or spiritual in its object, and not 
 attended with any civil effects, it can derive no force whatever, but from 
 its own justice, the approbation of an impartial public, and the counte- 
 nance and blessing of the great Head of the Church universal. 
 
118 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I. Jesus Christ, who is now exalted far above all principality and 
 power, hath erected, in this world, a kingdom, which is his church. 
 
 II. The universal church consists of all those persons, in e very- 
 nation, together with their children, who make profession of the holy 
 religion of Christ, and of submission to his laws. 
 
 1. Deliverances on Church Unity. 
 
 On receiving the report of the Special Committee on Church Unity 
 appointed in 1887 on a memorial from the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 [see Minutes, p. 154], the following action was had: 
 
 1. The General Assembly reaffirms the declaration of the General 
 Assembly of 1887 [pp. 133, 134 and 156] as follows, viz.: "The 
 General Assembly is in cordial sympathy with the growing desire among 
 the evangelical Christian Churches for practical unity and cooperation in 
 the work of spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout 
 all the earth." 
 
 2. It reaffirms the further declaration of the same Assembly, viz. : 
 
 a. All believers in Christ constitute one body, mystical, yet real, 
 and destined to grow into the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. 
 
 b. The universal visible Church consists of all those throughout the 
 world who profess the true religion, together with their children. 
 
 C. Mutual recognition and reciprocity between the different bodies 
 who profess the true religion is the first and essential step towards practi- 
 cal Church unity.— 1894, p. 28. 
 
 The Committee on Church Unity presented its report on correspon- 
 dence with the Protestant Episcopal Commission. The following resolu- 
 tions were adopted: 
 
 1. That the Committee on Church Unity be, and hereby is, discharged 
 from further conference with the Commission of the Protestant Episco- 
 pal Church on this subject. 
 
 2. That one thousand copies of the correspondence with the Commis- 
 sion, accompanied by the report of the Committee to this Assembly, be 
 printed as a permanent record. 
 
 3. That the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
 desires a closer affiliation with other evangelical Churches, and expresses 
 the hope that the time may soon come when the suspended correspon- 
 dence with the Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church may be 
 reopened by the acceptance by that Church of the doctrine of " mutual 
 recognition and reciprocity." — 1896, p. 104. 
 
 III. As this immense multitude cannot meet together in one place, to 
 hold communion, or to worship God, it is reasonable, and warranted by . 
 Scripture example, that they should be divided into many particular 
 churches. 
 
 IV. A particular church consists of a number of professing Chris- 
 tians, with their offspring, voluntarily associated together, for divine 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 119 
 
 worship and godly living, agreeably to the Holy Scriptures ; and submit- 
 ting to a certain form of government. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, Book of Discipline, Chap, i, Sec. v ; Directory for Worship, Chap, 
 x, Sec. i. 
 
 A larger type is used to indicate to the reader that the parts thus printed are from 
 the Form of Government, Book of Discipline, or Directory for Worship.] 
 
 1. Mode of organization of new churches. 
 
 The Committee to whom was recommitted the report of the last As- 
 sembly, on the organization of new churches, reported again, and their 
 report was read and adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That a particular Presbyterian church, so far as adults are concerned, 
 is constituted and organized as such, by a number of individuals, pro- 
 fessing to walk together as the disciples of Jesus Christ, on the principles 
 of the Confession of Faith and Form of Government of the Presby- 
 terian Church, and the election and ordination of one or more ruling 
 elders, who, by the ordination service, become the spiritual rulers of the 
 persons voluntarily submitting themselves to their authority in the Lord. 
 
 a. This organization ought always to be made by application to the 
 Presbytery, within the bounds of which the church to be organized is 
 found, unless this be exceedingly inconvenient, in which case it may be 
 done by a duly authorized missionary, or a neighboring minister of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 b. At the time appointed for the purpose, after prayer for divine 
 direction and blessing, the presiding minister, or Committee appointed 
 by the Presbytery, should first receive from those persons to be organized 
 into the new church, if they have been communicants in other churches, 
 letters of dismission and recommendation; and in the next place, exam- 
 ine and admit to a profession of faith, such persons as may offer them- 
 selves, and may be judged suitable to be received on examination. If 
 any of these persons admitted to a profession on examination have not 
 been baptized, they should in this stage of the business be made the 
 subjects of Christian baptism. 
 
 C. The individuals ascertained in the foregoing manner to be desirous 
 and prepared to associate as a church of Christ, should now, by some 
 public formal act, such as rising, joining hands, or subscribing a written 
 statement, agree and covenant to walk together in a church relation, 
 according to the acknowledged doctrines and order of the Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 d. The next step is to proceed to the election and ordination of ruling 
 elders, in conformity with the directions given on this subject in the 
 Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Deacons are to be elected and ordained in like manner as in the case 
 of ruling elders. 
 
 e. When a church has been organized in the manner already described, 
 report of the same should be made, as soon as practicable, to the Pres- 
 bytery within whose bounds it is located. And when a missionary, or 
 other minister of the Gospel, not especially appointed to the work by a 
 Presbytery, has, in the manner above specified, organized a church, not 
 within the known bounds of any Presbytery, the church thus organized 
 should as soon as practicable make known to some Presbytery, with 
 which it may be most naturally and conveniently connected, the time 
 and manner of its organization, and desire to be received under the care 
 of said Presbytery. 
 
120 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 In cases in which churches are to be formed within the known boun- 
 daries of any Presbytery, it is most desirable that persons wishing to be 
 organized as a Presbyterian church, should petition that Presbytery to 
 receive them under its care for the purpose of organizing them in due 
 form. 
 
 f. There may be people in destitute portions of our land, who may be 
 disposed to associate for the purpose of forming a Presbyterian congre- 
 gation, when no minister of the Gospel can be obtained to aid them. 
 The forming of associations for such a purpose, in the circumstances 
 contemplated, should be considered not only as lawful, but highly com- 
 mendable. And such associations, when formed, should, as speedily as 
 possible, take measures for obtaining the preaching of the Gospel, and 
 for becoming organized as regular churches. 
 
 g. Cases may also occur, in various places, in which a collection or 
 association of people may desire the preaching of the Gospel, and be 
 willing, in whole or in part, to support it, and yet may not have suitable 
 men among them to sustain the office of ruling elders. 
 
 Such people may and ought to obtain a preacher of the Gospel to labor 
 among them, and occasionally to administer ordinances, under the direc- 
 tion of some Presbytery, till they shall find themselves in circumstances 
 to make a proper choice of ruling elders, and to have them regularly 
 set apart to their office.— 1831, pp. 326, 327. 
 
 2. Enrollment of imperfectly organized churches. 
 
 [Note. — The Presbytery of West Jersey overtured the Assembly for an answer to 
 the question whether a number of professing Christians associated for divine wor- 
 ship substantially as set forth in the Form of Government, Chap, ii, Sec. iv, has a right 
 to be enrolled as a Presbyterian church before the election of elders. For the overture 
 and the answer of the Assembly, which was adopted, see Minutes, 1888, p. 109. The 
 next year the Synod of New Jersey overtured the Assembly upon the same subject, 
 and the answer of the Committee on the Polity of the Church was referred to a 
 Special Committee {Minutes, 1889, pp. 100, 101), to report to the next Assembly. The 
 report of the Special Committee to the Assembly of 1890, which was adopted, is as 
 follows :] 
 
 Your Committee would respectfully report: 
 
 According to the Form of Government, Chap, ii, Sec. iv, "A particu- 
 lar church consists of a number of professing Christians, with their 
 offspring, voluntarily associated together for divine worship and godly 
 living, agreeably to the Holy Scriptures, and submitting to a certain 
 form of government." 
 
 In 1831, the General Assembly declared, that " a particular Presby- 
 terian Church, so far as adults are concerned, is constituted and 
 organized as such, by a number of individuals, professing to walk 
 together as the disciples of Jesus Christ, on the principles of the Con- 
 fession of Faith and Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and the election and ordination of one or more ruling elders, who by 
 the ordination service become the spiritual rulers of the persons volun- 
 tarily submitting themselves to their authority in the Lord." In 
 describing the proper organization of a particular Presbyterian church, 
 the Assembly requires that application be made to the Presbytery, which 
 should appoint a Committee to accomplish. the desire of the applicants, 
 by receiving those who are full communicants, on certificates from their 
 several churches; and, others, after examination, on profession of faith. 
 Those thus received " should now, by some public formal act, such as 
 rising, joining hands, or subscribing a written statement, agree and 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 121 
 
 covenant to walk together in a church relation, according to the 
 acknowledged doctrines and order of the Presbyterian Church " (Digest, 
 1886, p. 107). This formal act constitutes them a Presbyterian 
 church, according to the above-quoted section of the Form of Govern- 
 ment. The "Book of Church Order" of the Southern Church re- 
 quires that the Committee should then by its Chairman say: " I now 
 pronounce that you are constituted a church according to the Word of 
 God and the faith and order of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy 
 Ghost" (Chap, ii, Sec. v). 
 
 Thus the communicants are organized a Presbyterian church, before 
 they can proceed to elect officers. This is evident from our Form of 
 Government, which says: " In all cases the persons elected (ruling 
 elders or deacons) must be male members, in full communion, in the 
 church in which they are to exercise their office " (Chap, xiii, Sec. ii). 
 And they can be elected only by the communicants of that particular 
 church. 
 
 In 1888, the General Assembly was asked " whether such a body of 
 believers, so organized, has a right to be enrolled as a church by the 
 Presbytery, though the election of elders and deacons be postponed 
 temporarily for reasons of prudence or necessity ; and further, what is 
 the status of such a church, or of one which has lost its officers by death 
 or removal, and, for the time being, is without suitable material for the 
 election of successors ?" The Assembly replied that " a body of Chris- 
 tians thus formed is essentially and potentially a church, with the right 
 of enrollment and recognition, though not prepared to exercise the func- 
 tions of government and discipline until its representative officers, as 
 required by the Presbyterian system, be chosen and duly set apart for 
 these purposes. Meanwhile the Presbytery shall appoint one or more of 
 its members to take oversight of the spiritual affairs of such a church 
 until a Session may be regularly constituted. ' ' The same Assembly was 
 also asked : ' ' May a minister of a Presbyterian church receive members 
 by examination and profession of their faith into a church in which no 
 ruling elder or elders can be foimd, all having died or removed from the 
 bounds of the church, and would members so received and recognized 
 by the congregation and chosen as officers of the church be legally 
 entitled to their positions as church officers ?" The Assembly gave an 
 affirmative answer to these questions, " provided such action is taken 
 under the authority and direction of the Presbvtery " (Minutes, 1888, 
 p. 109). 
 
 A fully constituted Presbyterian church must have a pastor, ruling 
 elders and deacons. But its existence as a church does not depend upon 
 its officers. It would not be ipso facto dissolved should they all be 
 removed. The church, under a proper call, would be competent to elect 
 others in their stead. 
 
 From the above harmonious declarations of our Form of Government 
 and of the General Assembly, it is evident that a distinction is properly 
 made between the existence of a church and the agents through which 
 it performs its functions — between the organization of a Presbyterian 
 church, possessing under our Form of Government certain offices, and 
 the election of individuals to fill these offices. 
 
 We therefore recommend that the following reply be sent to the Synod 
 of New Jersey: 
 
122 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 1. A particular Presbyterian church consists of a number of com- 
 municants, together with their offspring, associated by the direction of 
 Presbytery, professing to walk together as the disciples of Jesus Christ, 
 on the principles of the Confession of Faith and the Form of Govern- 
 ment of the Presbyterian Church, and should be recognized and enrolled 
 as such. 
 
 2. The first act of the newly organized church should be the election, 
 under the supervision of the Committee of Presbytery, of ruling elders 
 and deacons. The Committee should at once appoint a minister of the 
 Presbytery as Moderator of Session, until the church shall elect a pastor, 
 and the Presbytery takes further action. 
 
 3. The Committee of Presbytery should carefully consider the char- 
 acter and other qualifications of every candidate for ruling elder or 
 deacon, and should discountenance the election or ordination of those who 
 appear unsuitable. 
 
 4. When, however, proper persons cannot be found among the com- 
 municants for church officers, all the facts should be reported to Presby- 
 tery, which should regard the organization as potentially a church, and 
 therefore entitled to enrollment and supervision; but as imperfect in its 
 condition, being disqualified, lacking the proper officers, from exercising 
 government and discipline, and from representation in the judicatories 
 of the Church. The Presbytery should therefore appoint a Special 
 Committee to take the oversight of the church, and to secure, as soon as 
 possible, the election of proper officers — ruling elders and deacons — that 
 it may perform all the functions of a Presbyterian church. — 1890, pp. 
 113-116. 
 
 3. Church charters should be consistent with the ecclesiastical order 
 and principles of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Considering that it is necessary to the due and orderly maintenance of 
 the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in its various provisions, 
 that care be taken, in obtaining legal enactments of a secular kind, that 
 they be so formed as not to come in conflict with any such provisions — 
 and whereas, it is known, that instances have existed, and probably do 
 still exist, in which the charters of churches, and perhaps other legal 
 instruments, are so framed that the laws of the Church and the laws of 
 the land are not reconcilable with each other: Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly earnestly recommend it to all 
 the congregations under their supervision, that in resorting to the legis- 
 latures or tribunals of our country, they use the utmost care to ask 
 nothing which, if granted, will in any respect contravene the principles 
 or order of our Church; and in any cases in which civil enactments, 
 heretofore obtained, do militate with any of the principles or order of 
 our Church, they endeavor, as soon as possible, to obtain the repeal or 
 modification of such enactments, so as to make them consistent with the 
 ecclesiastical order and principles of the Presbyterian Church. — 1838, p. 
 26, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — Full information as to charters for church corporations will be found in 
 " Laws Relating to Religious Corporations : Being a Collection of the General Stat- 
 utes of the Several States," etc. By Rev. W. H. Roberts, D.D., LL.D. Pp. lxvi, 591, 
 8vo. Philadelphia, Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1896.] 
 
 4. Trustees, recognition by General Synod. 
 
 It is not inconsistent with the Presbyterian plan of government, nor 
 the institution of our Lord Jesus Christ, that trustees, or a Committee 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 123 
 
 chosen by the congregation, should have the disposal and application of 
 the public money raised by said congregation, to the uses for which it 
 was designed; provided that they leave in the hands and to the manage- 
 ment of the deacons what is collected for the Lord's table and the poor. 
 And that ministers of the Gospel, by virtue of their office, have no 
 right to sit with or preside over such trustees or Committees. — 1752, p. 
 249. 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, vi.] 
 
 5. Control of trustees over a house of worship. 
 
 Supposing that a musical convention desire the use of the church for 
 its sessions and exhibition; can the Board of Trustees give the use of 
 the house of worship for that purpose without the consent of the Session ? 
 
 Resolved, That the trustees of a church hold the property for religious 
 purposes; and their legal rights are only to be determined by the State 
 laws and charters under which they act as custodians of the church. 
 Still, they have no moral right to convert the house of God into a place 
 of business or amusement. — 1860, pp. 53, 54, O. S. 
 
 6, Respective rights of trustees and Session in controlling the use of 
 church property. 
 
 a. Overture, being a request from the Presbytery of Cincinnati, that 
 the Assembly define the respective rights of the trustees and Session in 
 the control of the edifice used for public worship, and direct what steps 
 be taken in case of disagreement or collision between them, with a report 
 thereon as follows: 
 
 Where a church edifice is held by trustees, the legal title is vested in 
 them : and having the title, the custody and care of the property pertains 
 to them, for the uses and purposes for which they hold the trust. These 
 uses and purposes are the worship of God, and the employment of such 
 other means of spiritual improvement as may be consistent with the 
 Scriptures, and according to the order of the Church: to which may be 
 added, congregational meetings for business relating to the church or 
 corporation. By the Constitution of the Church, the Session is charged 
 with the supervision of the spiritual interests of the congregation ; and 
 this includes the right to direct and control the use of the building for 
 the purposes of worship, as required or established by the special usage 
 of the particular church, or the Directory for Worship. This being the 
 principal purpose of the trust, the trustees are bound to respect the 
 wishes and action of the Session as to the use and occupation of the 
 house of worship. The Session is the organ or agent through whom the 
 trustees are informed how and when the church building is to be occu- 
 pied; and the trustees have no right to refuse compliance with the 
 action of the Session in this regard. These are general principles appli- 
 cable to all cases, except, perhaps, in some localities where special statu- 
 tory enactments by competent authority may confer other rights, or 
 prescribe other duties. 
 
 But there are other purposes for which the use of the church edifice is 
 sometimes desired, which, though they partake of a religious or intel- 
 lectual character, do not fall within the class of objects which are prop- 
 erly described as belonging to the worship of that congregation. The 
 house may not be used for such purposes without the consent of the 
 trustees; and this consent they may properly, in their discretion, refuse. 
 
124 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP II. 
 
 As the function to determine what is a proper use of the house is vested 
 in the Session, the trustees have no legal right to grant the use' of it 
 for purposes which the Session disapprove. And as the strict rights of 
 those who are represented by the Session to the use of the house are 
 limited to the worship of that congregation, the trustees are under no 
 obligation to grant it for any other purpose. 
 
 When the trustees grant the use of the house to others, contrary to 
 the expressed wishes of the Session, and, as they suppose, to the preju- 
 dice of the cause of religion and of that church, the proper appeal is, 
 first, to the persons composing the congregation to whom the trustees 
 are responsible; secondly, to the Presbytery, for their advice; and 
 finally, if necessary, to the legal tribunals. 
 
 The report was accepted and adopted. — 1863, pp. 43, 44, 0. S. See 
 1874, p. 84. 
 
 b. The commissioners from the Presbytery of Wilmington have been 
 instructed to ask information of the Assembly on the following points : 
 
 1. Who are voters in an election for trustees of a church ? 
 
 2. Who have power to call a meeting for the election of trustees of 
 a church ? 
 
 3. Who have power to close and hold possession of a church — the 
 trustees or the Session ? 
 
 The Committee reported: 
 
 1. That the questions asked are wholly legal questions, to be deter- 
 mined by the local laws, relating to church property, in the State where 
 the church lies. 
 
 2. That, in the absence of any statutory law relating to the mode in 
 which trustees shall proceed, the by-laws of the corporation shall govern 
 the mode of proceeding. 
 
 3. That in the absence of any specific rules of proceedings, the gen- 
 eral principle of law, that the trust shall be executed for the sole use of 
 those for whom it is held, shall govern the case. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1864, p. 478, N. S. 
 
 C. On the respective rights of Sessions and boards of trustees in 
 regard to church and Sabbath-school property, the Committee recommend 
 the adoption of the following, viz. : 
 
 1. That the Constitution of our Church charges the Session with the 
 supervision of the spiritual interests of the congregation, and all services 
 and matters pertaining thereto; and that any action, by the board of 
 trustees, unauthorized by the congregation, tending to annul or contra- 
 vene in any way such supervision and control, is illegal and void. 
 
 2. That, as regards the church building, Sabbath-school, and lecture- 
 room, the trustees have no right to grant or withhold the use of either, 
 against the wishes or consent of the Session. — 1874, p. 84. 
 
 [Note. — Confirmed in answer to the Presbytery of Bloomington, 1891, p. 187. See 
 under Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi.] 
 
 7. Trustees and congregational meetings. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Chester, asking: 
 
 (1) Should not all special congregational meetings (i. e., such meet- 
 ings as are not required by charter for the election of trustees, etc. ) be 
 called by order of the Session, or, if by trustees, at least subject to the 
 approval of the Session ? 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 125 
 
 (2) Is a church charter which precludes the Session from calling such 
 meetings consistent with our Constitution ? 
 
 Your Committee would recommend as an answer to this Overture, 
 that the decision of the Supreme Court, quoted in the Minutes of the 
 General Assembly, O. S., 1863, p. 43; 1872, pp. 177-190, Appendix, 
 has settled the question that in the use of the property of the church for 
 all religious purposes or ecclesiastical uses, the trustees are under the 
 control of the Session. The General Assembly has also declared that 
 in any case of conflict between the Session and trustees the first appeal 
 is to be taken to the people composing the congregation, and, if neces- 
 sary, then to the civil tribunals. But your Committee recommend that 
 no answer further is possible to this Overture without inspection of the 
 articles of incorporation of the particular church, and some knowledge 
 of the laws of the State under which such charter is granted. — 1892, 
 p. 189. 
 
 8. In the use of the property for all religious services or ecclesiastical 
 purposes, the trustees are under the control of the Session. 
 
 [The following extract from the decision of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, in the Walnut Street Church case, Louisville, Ky., is 
 inserted by order of the General Assembly, and answers clearly and 
 authoritatively many of the questions asked above. See the whole 
 decision, No. 9 below.] 
 
 " One or two propositions, which seem to admit of no controversy, 
 are proper to be noticed in this connection. 1. Both by the act of the 
 Kentucky Legislature, creating the trustees of the church a body 
 corporate, and by the acknowledged rules of the Presbyterian Church, 
 the trustees were the mere nominal title-holders and custodians of the 
 church property ; and other trustees were or could be elected by the con- 
 gregation, to supply their places, once in every two years. 2. That in 
 the use of the property for all religious services or ecclesiastical purposes, 
 the trustees were under the control of the church Session. 3. That by 
 the constitution of all Presbyterian churches, the Session, which is the 
 governing body in each, is composed of the ruling elders and pastor; 
 and in all business of the Session a majority of its members govern, the 
 number of elders for each congregation being variable. 
 
 ' ' The trustees obviously hold possession for the use of the persons who, 
 by the constitution, usages and laws of the Presbyterian body, are 
 entitled to that use. They are liable to removal by the congregation for 
 whom they hold this trust; and others may be substituted in their 
 places. They have no personal ownership or right beyond this, and are 
 subject, in their official relations to the property, to the control of the 
 Session of the church. 
 
 " The possession of the elders, though accompanied with larger and 
 more efficient powers of control, is still a fiduciary possession. It is as a 
 Session of the church alone that they could exercise power. Except by 
 an order of the Session in regular meeting, they have no right to make 
 any order concerning the use of the building; and any action of the 
 Session is necessarily in the character of representatives of the church 
 body by whose members it was elected. 
 
 " If, then, this true body of the church — the members of that con- 
 gregation — having rights of user in the building, have in a mode which 
 is authorized by the canons of the general Church in this country elected 
 
126 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 and installed other elders, it does not seem to us inconsistent or at vari- 
 ance with the nature of the possession which we have described, and 
 which the Chancery Court orders to be restored to the defendants, that 
 they should be compelled to recognize these rights, and permit those who 
 are the real beneficiaries of the trust held by them to enjoy the uses to 
 protect which that trust was created." — U. S. Supreme Court, Watson 
 vs. Jones, 13 Wallace, 679. 
 
 9. Decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Case of the 
 Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Ky. 
 
 [Note. — Printed by order of the Assembly, Minutes, 1873, p. 480.] 
 
 John Watson et al. vs. William A. Jones et al. 
 
 [1. Where the pendency of prior suit is set up to defeat another, the 
 case must be the same; there must be the same parties, or at least such 
 as represent the same interest; there must be the same rights asserted 
 and the same relief prayed for. 
 
 2. Where the subject-matter of dispute is strictly and purely ecclesi- 
 astical in its character, a matter which concerns theological controversy, 
 church discipline, ecclesiastical government, or the conformity of the 
 members of the church to the standard of morals required of them, and 
 the ecclesiastical courts claim jurisdiction, the civil courts will not 
 assume jurisdiction; they will not even inquire into the right of juris- 
 diction of the ecclesiastical court. 
 
 3. A spiritual court is the exclusive judge of its own jurisdiction ; its 
 decision of that question is binding on the secular courts.] 
 
 Appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for District of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 Opinion by Miller, J. 
 
 This case belongs to a class, happily rare in our courts, in which one of 
 the parties to a controversy, essentially ecclesiastical, resorts to the 
 judicial tribunals of the State for the maintenance of the rights which 
 the Church has refused to acknowledge, or found itself unable to pro- 
 tect. Much as such dissensions among the members of a religious society 
 should be regretted — a regret which is increased when, passing from the 
 control of the judicial and legislative bodies of the entire organization 
 to which the society belongs, an appeal is made to the secular authority 
 — the courts when so called on must perform their functions as in other 
 cases. 
 
 Eeligious organizations come before us in the same attitude as other 
 voluntary associations for benevolent or charitable purposes, and their 
 rights of property, or of contract, are equally under the protection of 
 the law, and the actions of their members subject to its restraints. Con- 
 scious as we may be of the excited feeling engendered by this contro- 
 versy, and of the extent to which it has agitated the intelligent and 
 pious body of Christians in whose bosom it originated, we enter upon its 
 consideration with the satisfaction of knowing that the principles on 
 which we are to decide so much of it as is proper for our decision are 
 those applicable alike to all of its class, and that our duty is the simple 
 one of applying those principles to the facts before us. 
 
 It is a bill in chancery in the Circuit Court of the United States for 
 the District of Kentucky, brought by William A. Jones, Mary J. Jones 
 and Ellenor Lee, citizens of Indiana, against John Watson and others 
 
OP THE CHURCH. 127 
 
 named, citizens of Kentucky, and against the trustees of the Third or 
 Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, in Louisville, a corporation created 
 by an act of the Legislature of that State. The trustees, McDougall, 
 McPherson and Ashcraft, are also sued as citizens of Kentucky. Plain- 
 tiffs allege in their bill that they are members in good and regular 
 standing of said church, attending its religious exercises under the 
 pastorship of the Rev. John S. Hays, and that the defendants, George 
 Fulton and Henry Farley, who claim without right to be trustees of the 
 church, supported and recognized as such by the defendants, John 
 Watson and Joseph Gault, who also without right claim to be ruling 
 elders, are threatening, preparing and about to take unlawful possession 
 of the house of worship and grounds belonging to the church, and to 
 prevent Hays, who is the rightful pastor, from ministering therein, 
 refusing to recognize him as pastor, and to recognize as ruling elder 
 Thomas J. Hackney, who is the sole lawful ruling elder ; and that, when 
 they obtain such possession, they will oust Hays and Hackney and those 
 who attend their ministrations, among whom are complainants. 
 
 And they further allege that Hackney, whose duty it is as elder, and 
 McDougall, McPherson and Ashcraft, whose duty as trustees it is to 
 protect the rights thus threatened, by such proceeding in the courts as 
 will prevent the execution of the threats and designs of the other defen- 
 dants, refuse to take any steps to that end. 
 
 They further allege that the Walnut Street Church, of which they 
 are members, now forms, and has, ever since its organization in the year 
 1842, formed, a part of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, known as the Old School, which is governed by a written 
 constitution that includes the Confession of Faith, Form of Government, 
 Book of Discipline and Directory for Worship, and that the governing 
 bodies of the general Church, above the Walnut Street Church, are, in 
 successive order, the Presbytery of Louisville, the Synod of Kentucky 
 and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States. That while plaintiffs and about one hundred and fifteen members 
 who worship with them, and Mr. Hays, the pastor, Hackney, the ruling 
 elder, and the trustees, McDougall, McPherson and Ashcraft, are now 
 in full membership and relation with the lawful general Presbyterian 
 Church aforesaid, the defendants named, with about thirty persons 
 formerly members of said church, worshiping under one Dr. Yandell as 
 pastor, have seceded and withdrawn themselves from said Walnut Street 
 Church, and from the general Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
 and have voluntarily connected themselves with, and are now members 
 of, another religious society, and that they have repudiated, and do now 
 repudiate and renounce, the authority and jurisdiction of the various 
 judicatories of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and 
 acknowledge and recognize the authority of other church judicatories 
 which are disconnected from the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States and from the Walnut Street Church. And they allege that 
 Watson and Gault have been, by order of the General Assembly of said 
 church, dropped from the roll of elders of said church for having so 
 withdrawn and renounced its jurisdiction, and the Assembly has declared 
 the organization to which plaintiffs adhere to be the true and only 
 Walnut Street Presbyterian Church of Louisville. 
 
 They pray for an injunction and for general relief. 
 
 The defendants, Hackney, McDougall, McPherson and Ashcraft, 
 
128 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 answer, admitting the allegations of the bill, and that, though requested, 
 they had refused to prosecute legal proceedings in the matter. 
 
 The other defendants answer and deny almost every allegation in the 
 bill. They claim to be lawful officers of the Walnut Street Presbyterian 
 Church, and that they and those whom they represent are the true mem- 
 bers of the church. They deny having withdrawn from the local or the 
 general church, and deny that the action of the General Assembly 
 cutting them off was within its constitutional authority. They say the 
 plaintiffs are not, and never have been, lawfully admitted to membership 
 in the Walnut Street Church, and have no such interest in it as will 
 sustain this suit, and they set up and rely upon a suit still pending in the 
 Chancery Court of Louisville, which they say involves the same subject- 
 matter, and is between the same parties in interest as the present suit. 
 They allege that in that suit they have been decreed to be the only true 
 and lawful trustees and elders of the Walnut Street Church, and an 
 order has been made to place them in possession of the church property, 
 which order remains unexecuted, and the property is still in the posses- 
 sion of the marshal of that court as its receiver. These facts are relied 
 on in bar to the present suit. 
 
 This statement of the pleadings is indispensable to an understanding of 
 the points arising in the case. So far as an examination of the evidence 
 may be necessary, it will be made as it is required in the consideration 
 of these points. 
 
 The first of these concerns the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, which 
 is denied; first, on the ground that the plaintiffs have no such interest in 
 the subject of litigation as will enable them to maintain the suit, and, 
 secondly, on matters arising out of the alleged proceedings in the suit in 
 the Chancery Court of Louisville. 
 
 The allegation that plaintiffs are not lawful members of the Walnut 
 Street Church is based upon the assumption that their admission 
 as members was by a pastor and elders who had no lawful authority 
 to act as such. As the claim of those elders to be such is one 
 of the matters which this bill is brought to establish, and the denial of 
 which makes an issue to be tried, it is obvious that the objection to the 
 interest of plaintiffs must stand or fall with the decision on the merits, 
 and cannot be decided as a preliminary question. Their right to have 
 this question decided, if there is no other objection to the jurisdiction, 
 cannot be doubted. Some attempt is made, in the answer, to question 
 the good faith of their citizenship, but this seems to have been aban- 
 doned in the argument. 
 
 In regard to the suit in the Chancery Court of Louisville which the 
 defendants allege to be pending, there can be no doubt but that court is 
 one competent to entertain jurisdiction of all the matters set up in the 
 present suit. As to those matters, and to the parties, it is a court of con- 
 current jurisdiction with the Circuit Court of the United States, and as 
 between those courts the rule is applicable that the one which has first 
 obtained jurisdiction in a given case must retain it exclusively until it 
 disposes of it by a final judgment or decree. 
 
 But when the pendency of such a suit is set up to defeat another, the 
 case must be the same. There must be the same parties, or at least such 
 as represent the same interest, there must be the same rights asserted and 
 the same relief prayed for. This relief must be founded on the same 
 facts, and the title or essential basis of the relief sought must be the same. 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 129 
 
 The identity in these particulars should be such that, if the pending 
 case had already been disposed of, it could be pleaded in bar as a former 
 adjudication of the same matter between the same parties. 
 
 In the case of Barrow vs. Kindred, 4 Wallace, 397, which was an 
 action of ejectment, the plaintiff showed a good title to the land, and 
 defendant relied on a former judgment in his favor, between the same 
 parties for the same land, the statute of Illinois making a judgment in 
 such an action as conclusive as in other personal actions, except by way 
 of new trial. But this court held that, as in the second suit, plaintiff 
 introduced and relied upon a new and different title, acquired since the 
 first trial, that judgment could be no bar, because that title had not been 
 passed upon by the court in the first suit. 
 
 But the principles which should govern in regard to the identity of 
 the matters in issue in the two suits, to make the pendency of the one to 
 defeat the other, are as fully discussed in the case of Buck vs. Colbath, 
 3 Wallace, 334, where that was the main question, as in any case we 
 have been able to find. It was an action of trespass, brought in a 
 State court, against the marshal of the Circuit Court of the United 
 States for seizing property of plaintiff, under a writ of attachment from 
 the Circuit Court. And it w T as brought while the suit in the Federal 
 Court was still pending, and while the marshal held the property subject 
 to its judgment. So far as the lis pendens and possession of the prop- 
 erty in one court, and a suit brought for the taking by its officer in 
 another, the analogy to the present case is very strong. In that case the 
 court said : ' ' It is not true that a court, having obtained jurisdiction of 
 a subject-matter of suit, and of parties before it, thereby excludes all 
 other courts from the right to adjudicate upon other matters having a 
 very close connection with those before the first court, and in some 
 instances requiring the decision of the same question exactly. In exam- 
 ining into the exclusive character of the jurisdiction in such cases, we 
 must have regard to the nature of the remedies, the character of the 
 relief sought, and the identity of the parties in the different suits." 
 And it might have been added, to the facts on which the claim for relief 
 is founded. 
 
 "A party," says the court, by way of example, " having notes 
 secured by a mortgage on real estate, may, unless restrained by statute, 
 sue in a court of chancery to foreclose his mortgage, and in a court of 
 law to recover a judgment on his note, and in another court of law in an 
 action of ejectment for possession of the land. Here, in all the suits, 
 the only question at issue may be the existence of the debt secured by 
 the mortgage. But as the relief sought is different, and the mode of 
 proceeding different, the jurisdiction of neither court is affected by the 
 proceedings in the other. ' ' This opinion contains a critical review of 
 the cases in this court of Hagan vs. Lucas, 10 Peters, 402; Peck vs. 
 Jenness, 7 How., 624; Taylor vs. Carry, 20 How., 594; and Freeman 
 vs. Howe, 24 How., 450, cited and relied on by counsel for appellants; 
 and we are satisfied it states the doctrine correctly. 
 
 The limits which necessity assigns to this opinion forbid our giving at 
 length the pleadings in the case in the Louisville Chancery Court. But 
 we cannot better state what is and what is not the subject-matter of that 
 suit or controversy, as thus presented and as shown throughout its course, 
 than by adopting the language of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, in 
 its opinion delivered at the decision of that suit in favor of the present 
 
130 FOEM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 appellants. ' ' As suggested in argument, ' ' says the court, ' ' and appar- 
 ently conceded on both sides, this is not a case of division or schism in a 
 church, nor is there any question as to which of two bodies should be 
 recognized as the Third or Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. Neither 
 is there any controversy as to the authority of Watson and Gault to act 
 as ruling elders, but the sole inquiry to which we are restricted in our 
 opinion is whether Avery, McNaughton and Leech are also ruling elders, 
 and therefore members of the Session of the church. ' ' 
 
 The summary which we have already given of the pleadings in the 
 present suit shows conclusively a different state of facts, different issues 
 and a different relief sought. This is a case of division or schism in the 
 church. It is a question as to which of two bodies shall be recognized 
 as the Third or Walnut Street Presbyterian Church. There is a con- 
 troversy as to the authority of Watson and Gault to act as ruling elders, 
 that authority being denied in the bill of complainants, and so far from 
 the claim of Avery, McNaughton and Leech to be ruling elders being 
 the sole inquiry in this case, it is a very subordinate matter, and it 
 depends upon facts and circumstances altogether different from those set 
 up and relied on in the other suit, and which did not exist when it was 
 brought. The issue here is no longer a mere question of eldership, but 
 it is a separation of the original church members and officers into two 
 distinct bodies, with distinct members and officers, each claiming to be 
 the true Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, and denying the right of 
 the other to any such claim. 
 
 This brief statement of the issues in the two suits leaves no room for 
 argument to show that the pendency of the first cannot be pleaded either 
 in bar or in abatement of the second. 
 
 The supplementary petition filed by plaintiffs in that case, after the 
 decree of the Chancery Court had been reversed on appeal, and which 
 did contain very much the same matter found in the present bill, was, 
 on motion of plaintiff's counsel, and by order of the court, dismissed, 
 without prejudice, before this suit was brought, and of course was not a 
 lis peyidens at that time. 
 
 It is contended, however, that the delivery, to the trustees and elders 
 of the body of which plaintiffs are members, of the possession of the 
 church building, cannot be granted in this suit, nor can the defendants 
 be enjoined from taking possession as prayed in the bill, because the 
 property is in the actual possession of the marshal of the Louisville 
 Chancery Court as its receiver, and because there is an unexecuted 
 decree of that court ordering the marshal to deliver the possession to 
 defendants. 
 
 In this the counsel for appellants are, in our opinion, sustained, both 
 by the law and the state of the record of the suit in that court. 
 
 The court, in the progress of that suit, made several orders concerning 
 the use of the church, and finally placed it in the possession of the 
 marshal as a receiver, and there is no order discharging his receivership; 
 nor does it seem to us that there is any valid order finally disposing of 
 the case so that it can be said to be no longer in that court. For though 
 the Chancery Court did, on the 20th of March, 1867, after the. reversal 
 of the case in the Court of Appeals, enter an order reversing its former 
 decree and dismissing the bill, with costs, in favor of the defendants, the 
 latter, on application to the appellate court, obtained another order dated 
 June 26. By this order or mandate to the Chancery Court it was 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 131 
 
 directed to render a judgment in conformity to the opinion and mandate 
 of the court, restoring possession, use and control of the church property 
 to the parties entitled thereto according to said opinion, and so far as 
 they were deprived thereof by the marshal of the Chancery Court under 
 its order. 
 
 In obedience to this mandate, the Chancery Court, on the 18th of 
 September, three months after the commencement of this suit, made an 
 order that the marshal restore the possession, use and control of the 
 church building to Henry Farley, George Fulton, B. F. Avery, or a 
 majority of them, as trustees, and to John Watson, Joseph Gault and 
 Thomas J. Hackney, or a majority of them, as ruling elders, and to 
 report how he had executed the order, and reserving the case for such 
 further order as might be necessary to enforce full obedience. 
 
 It is argued here by counsel for appellees that the case was, in effect, 
 disposed of by the order of the Chancery Court, and nothing remained to 
 be done which could have any practical operation on the rights of the 
 parties. 
 
 But if the Court of Appeals, in reversing the decree of the chancellor 
 in favor of plaintiffs, was of opinion that the defendants should be 
 restored to the position they occupied in regard to the possession and 
 control of the property before that suit began, we have no doubt of their 
 right to make such order as was necessary to effect that object ; and as 
 the proper mode of doing this was by directing the chancellor to make 
 the necessary order and have it enforced as chancery decrees are enforced 
 in his court, we are of opinion that the order of the Court of Appeals 
 above recited was, in essence and effect, a decree in that cause for such 
 restoration, and that the last order of the Chancery Court, made in 
 accordance with it, is a valid subsisting decree, which, though final, is 
 unexecuted. 
 
 The decisions of this court in the cases of Taylor vs. Carryl, 20 How. , 
 594, and Freeman vs. Howe, 24 How., 450, and Burk vs. Colbath, 5 
 Wallace, are conclusive that the marshal of the Chancery Court cannot 
 be displaced as to the mere actual possession of the property, because 
 that might lead to a personal conflict between the officers of the two 
 courts for that possession. And the act of Congress of March 2, 1793, 
 1 IT. S. Statute, 334, § 5, as construed in the cases of Diggs vs. Walcott, 
 4 Cranch, 129, and Peck vs. Jenness, 7 How., 625, are equally conclu- 
 sive against any injunction from the circuit court forbidding the defen- 
 dants to take the possession which the unexecuted decree of the Chancery 
 Court requires the marshal to deliver to them. 
 
 But though the prayer of the bill in this suit does ask for an injunc- 
 tion to restrain Watson, Gault, Fulton and Farley from taking possession, 
 it also prays such other and further relief as the nature of the case 
 requires, and especially that said defendants be restrained from inter- 
 fering with Hays, as pastor, and plaintiffs in worshiping in said church. 
 Under this prayer for general relief, if there was any decree which the 
 Circuit Court could render for the protection of the right of plaintiffs, 
 and which did not enjoin the defendants from taking possession of the 
 church property, and which did not disturb the possession of the marshal 
 of the Louisville Chancery, that court had a right to hear the case and 
 grant that relief. This leads us to inquire what is the nature and char- 
 acter of the possession to which those parties are to be restored. 
 
 One or two propositions, which seem to admit of no controversy, are 
 
132 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 proper to be noticed in this connection. 1 . Both by the act of the 
 Kentucky Legislature creating the trustees of the church a body corpo- 
 rate, and by the acknowledged rules of the Presbyterian Church, the 
 trustees were the mere nominal title-holders and custodians of the church 
 property, and other trustees were or could be elected by the congregation 
 to supply their places once in every two years. 2. That in the use of 
 the property for all religious services or ecclesiastical purposes, the 
 trustees were under the control of the church Session. 3. That by the 
 constitution of all Presbyterian churches, the Session, which is the 
 governing body in each, is composed of the ruling elders and pastor, and 
 in all business of the Session a majority of its members govern, the 
 number of elders for each congregation being variable. 
 
 The trustees obviously hold possession for the use of the persons who, 
 by the constitution, usages and laws of the Presbyterian body, are 
 entitled to that use. They are liable to removal by the congregation for 
 whom they hold this trust, and others may be substituted in their places. 
 They have no personal ownership or right beyond this, and are subject, 
 in their official relations to the property, to the control of the Session of 
 the church. 
 
 The possession of the elders, though accompanied with larger and 
 more efficient powers of control, is still a fiduciary possession. It is as a 
 Session of the church alone that they could exercise power. Except by 
 an order of the Session in regular meeting, they have no right to make 
 any order concerning the use of the building, and any action of the 
 Session is necessarily in the character of representatives of the church 
 body by whose members it was elected. 
 
 If, then, this true body of the church — the members of that congre- 
 gation — having rights of user in the building, have, in a mode which is 
 authorized by the canons of the general Church in this country, elected 
 and installed other elders, it does not seem to us inconsistent or at vari- 
 ance with the nature of the possession which we have described, and 
 which the Chancery Court orders to be restored to the defendants, that 
 they should be compelled to recognize these rights, and permit those who 
 are the real beneficiaries of the trust held by them, to enjoy the uses, to 
 protect which that trust was created. Undoubtedly, if the order of the 
 Chancery Court had been executed, and the marshal had delivered the 
 key of the church to defendants, and placed them in the same position 
 they were before that suit was commenced, they could in any court 
 having jurisdiction, and in a case properly made out, be compelled to 
 respect the rights we have stated, and be controlled in their use of the 
 possession by the court, so far as to secure those rights. 
 
 All that we have said, in regard to the possession which the marshal is 
 directed to deliver to defendants, is equally applicable to the possession 
 held by him pending the execution of that order. His possession is a 
 substitute for theirs, and the order under which he receives that posses- 
 sion, which we have recited, shows this very clearly. 
 
 The decree which we are now reviewing seems to us to be carefully 
 framed on this view of the matter. While the rights of plaintiffs and 
 those whom they sue for are admitted and established, the defendants 
 are still recognized as entitled to the possession which we have described; 
 and while they are not enjoined from receiving that possession from the 
 marshal, and he is not restrained from obeying the Chancery Court by 
 delivering it, and while there is no order made on the marshal at all to 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 133 
 
 interfere with his possession, the defendants are required by the decree to 
 respect the rights of plaintiffs, and to so use the possession and con- 
 trol to which the} r may be restored as not to hinder or obstruct the true 
 uses of the trust which that possession is intended to protect. 
 
 We are next to inquire whether the decree thus rendered is based upon 
 an equally just view of the law as applied to the facts of this controversy. 
 These, though making up a copious record of matter by no means 
 pleasant reading to the sincere and thoughtful Christian philanthropist, 
 may be stated with a reasonable brevity, so far as they bear upon the 
 principles which must decide the case. 
 
 From the commencement of the late war of the insurrection to its close 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at its annual meetings 
 expressed, in declaratory statements or resolutions, its sense of the obliga- 
 tion of all good citizens to support the Federal Government in that 
 struggle; and when, by the proclamation of President Lincoln, emanci- 
 pation of the slaves of the States in insurrection was announced, that 
 body also expressed views favorable to emancipation and adverse to the 
 institution of slavery. And at its meeting in Pittsburg in May, 1865, 
 instructions were given to the Presbyteries, the Board of Missions, and 
 to the Sessions of the churches, that when any persons from the Southern 
 States should make application for employment as missionaries, or for 
 admission as members or ministers of churches, inquiry should be made 
 as to their sentiments in regard to loyalty to the government and on the 
 subject of slavery; and if it was found that they had been guilty of 
 voluntarily aiding the war of the rebellion, or held the doctrine an- 
 nounced by the large body of the churches in the insurrectionary States, 
 which had organized a new General Assembly that " the system of 
 Negro slavery in the South is a divine institution, and that it is the 
 peculiar mission of the Southern Church to conserve that institution, ' ' 
 they should be required to repent and forsake these sins before they could 
 be received. 
 
 In the month of September thereafter, the Presbytery of Louisville, 
 under whose immediate jurisdiction was the Walnut Street Church, 
 adopted and published in pamphlet form what it called a " Declaration 
 and Testimony against the erroneous and heretical doctrines and practices 
 which have obtained and been propagated in the Presbyterian Church of 
 the United States during the last five years. ' ' 
 
 This declaration denounced, in the severest terms, the action of the 
 General Assembly in the matters we have just mentioned, declared their 
 intention to refuse to be governed by that action, and invited the cooper- 
 ation of all members of the Presbyterian Church who shared the senti- 
 ments of the declaration in a concerted resistance to what they called the 
 usurpation of authority by the Assembly. 
 
 It is useless to pursue the history of this controversy further with 
 minuteness. 
 
 The General Assembly of 1866 denounced the Declaration and Testi- 
 mony, and declared that every Presbytery which refused to obey its 
 order should be ipso facto dissolved, and called to answer before the next 
 General Assembly, giving the Louisville Presbytery an opportunity for 
 repentanceand conformity. The Louisville Presbytery divided, and the 
 adherents of the Declaration and Testimony sought and obtained admis- 
 sion, in 1868, into " The Presbyterian Church of the Confederate States," 
 of which we have already spoken as having several years previously 
 
134 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II 
 
 withdrawn from the General Assembly of the United States and set up 
 a new organization. 
 
 We cannot better state the results of these proceedings upon the 
 relations of the church organizations and members, to each other and to 
 this controversy, than in the language of the brief of appellants' coun- 
 sel in this court. 
 
 In January, 1866, the congregation of the Walnut Street Church 
 became divided in the manner stated above, each claiming to constitute 
 the church, although the issue as to membership was not distinctly made 
 in the chancery suit of Avery vs. Watson. Both parties at this time 
 recognized the same superior church judicatories. 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1866, the Synod of Kentucky became divided, 
 the opposing parties in each claiming to constitute respectively the true 
 Presbytery and the true Synod, each meanwhile recognizing and claiming 
 to adhere to the same General Assembly. Of these contesting bodies 
 the appellants adhered to one, the appellees to the other. 
 
 On the 1st of June, 1867, the Presbytery and Synod recognized by 
 the appellants were declared by the General Assembly to be " in no 
 sense a true and lawful Synod and Presbytery in connection with and 
 under the care and authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the United States of America, ' ' and were permanently 
 excluded from connection with or representation in the Assembly. By 
 the same resolution the Synod and Presbytery adhered to by appellees were 
 declared to be the true and lawful Presbytery of Louisville and Synod 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 The Synod of Kentucky, thus excluded, by a resolution adopted the 
 28th of June, 1867, declared " that in its future action it will be gov- 
 erned by this recognized sundering of all its relations to the aforesaid 
 revolutionary body (the General Assembly) by the acts of that body 
 itself." The Presbytery took substantially the same action. 
 
 In this final severance of Presbytery and Synod from the General 
 Assembly, the appellants and appellees continued to adhere to those 
 bodies at first recognized by them respectively. 
 
 In the earliest stages of this controversy it was found that a majority 
 of the members of the Walnut Street Church concurred with the action 
 of the General Assembly, while Watson and Gault as ruling elders, 
 and Fulton and Farley as trustees, constituting, in each case, a majority 
 of the Session and of the trustees, with Mr. McElroy, the pastor, 
 sympathized with the party of the Declaration and Testimony of the 
 Louisville Presbytery. This led to efforts by each party to exclude the 
 other from participation in the Session of the church and the use of the 
 property. This condition of affairs being brought before the Synod of 
 Kentucky before any separation, that body appointed a Commission to 
 hold an election, by the members of the Walnut Street Church, of three 
 additional ruling elders. Watson and Gault refused to open the church 
 for the meeting to hold its election, but the majority of the members of 
 the congregation, meeting on the sidewalk in front of the church, organ- 
 ized and elected Avery, Leech and McNaughton additional ruling elders, 
 who, if lawful elders, constituted, with Mr. Hackney, a majority of the 
 Session. Gault and Watson, Farley and Fulton, refused to recognize 
 them as such, and hence the suit in the Chancery Court of Louisville, 
 which turned exclusively on that question. 
 
 The newly elected elders and the majority of the congregation have 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 135 
 
 adhered to, and been recognized by, the General Assembly as the regular 
 and lawful Walnut Street Church and officers, and Gault and Watson 
 Fulton, Farley and a minority of the members, have cast their fortunes 
 with those who adhered to the Declaration and Testimony party. 
 
 The division and separation finally extended to the Presbytery of 
 Louisville and the Synod of Kentucky. It is now complete and appar- 
 ently irreconcilable, and we are called upon to declare the beneficial uses 
 of the church property, in this condition of total separation between the 
 members of what was once a united and harmonious congregation of the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The questions which have come before the civil courts concerning the 
 rights to property held by ecclesiastical bodies may, so far as we have 
 been able to examine them, be profitably classified under three general 
 heads, which, of course, do not include cases governed by considerations 
 applicable to a Church established and supported by law as the religion 
 of the State: 
 
 1. The first of these is when the property which is the subject of con- 
 troversy has been, by the deed or will of the donor, or other instrument 
 by which the property is held by the express terms of the instrument, 
 devoted to the teaching, support or spread of some specific form of 
 religious doctrine or belief. 
 
 2. The second is when the property is held by a religious congregation 
 which, by the nature of its organization, is strictly independent of other 
 ecclesiastical associations, and so far as church government is concerned 
 owes no fealty or obligation to any higher authority. 
 
 3. The third is where the religious congregation or ecclesiastical body 
 holding the property is but a subordinate member of some general 
 Church organization, in which there are superior ecclesiastical tribunals, 
 with a general and ultimate power of control, more or less complete, in 
 some supreme judicatory, over the whole membership of that general 
 organization. 
 
 In regard to the first of these classes, it seems hardly to admit of a 
 rational doubt that an individual or an association of individuals may 
 dedicate property by way of trust to the purpose of sustaining, support- 
 ing and propagating definite religious doctrines or principles, provided 
 that in doing so they violate no law of morality, and give to the instru- 
 ment by which their purpose is evidenced the formalities which the laws 
 require. And it would seem also to be the obvious duty of the court, in 
 a case properly made, to see that the property so dedicated is not diverted 
 from the trust which is thus attached to its use. So long as there are 
 persons qualified within the meaning of the original dedication, and who 
 are also willing to teach the doctrines or principles prescribed in the act 
 of dedication, and *so long as there is any one so interested in the execu- 
 tion of the trust as to have a standing in court, it must be that they can 
 prevent the diversion of the property or fund to other and different uses. 
 This is the general doctrine of courts of equity as to charities, and it 
 seems equally applicable to ecclesiastical matters. 
 
 In such case, if the trust is confided to a religious congregation of the 
 Independent or Congregational form of church government, it is not in 
 the power of the majority of that congregation, however preponderant, 
 by reason of a change of views on religious subjects, to carry the prop- 
 erty so confided to them to the support of new and conflicting doctrine. 
 A pious man, building and dedicating a house of worship to the sole and 
 
136 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IL 
 
 exclusive use of those who believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, 
 and placing it under the control of a congregation which at the time 
 holds the same belief, has a right to expect that the law will prevent that 
 property from being used as a 'means of support and dissemination of 
 the Unitarian doctrine and as a place of Unitarian worship. Nor is the 
 principle varied when the organization to which the trust is confided is of 
 the second or associated form of church government. The protection 
 which the law throws around the trust is the same. 
 
 And though the task may be a delicate one and a difficult one, it will 
 be the duty of the court in such cases, when the doctrine to be taught or 
 the form of worship to be used is definitely and clearly laid down, to 
 inquire whether the party accused of violating the trust is holding or 
 teaching a different doctrine or usiug a form of worship which is so far 
 variant as to defeat the declared objects of the trust. In the leading 
 case on this subject in the English courts, of the Attorney General vs. 
 Pearson, 3 Merrivale, 353, Lord Eldon said, " I agree with the defen- 
 dants that the religious belief of the parties is irrelevant to the matters 
 in dispute, except so far as the king's court is called upon to execute the 
 trust. ' ' This was a case in which the trust deed declared the house 
 which was erected under it was for the worship and service of God. And 
 though we may not be satisfied with the very artificial and elaborate 
 argument by which the chancellor arrives at the conclusion — that because 
 any other view of the nature of the Godhead than the Trinitarian view 
 was heresy by the laws of England, and any one giving expression to 
 the Unitarian view was liable to be severely punished for heresy by the 
 secular courts, at the time the deed was made, that the trust was, there- 
 fore, for Trinitarian worship — we may still accept the statement that the 
 court has the right to enforce a trust clearly defined on such a subject. 
 
 The case of Miller vs. Gable, 2 Denio, 492, appears to have been 
 decided in the Court of Errors of New York on this principle, so far as 
 any ground of decision can be gathered from the opinions of the majority 
 of the court as reported. 
 
 The second class of cases which we have described has reference to the 
 case of a church of a strictly congregational or independent organization, 
 governed solely within itself either by a majority of its members or by 
 such other local organism as it may have instituted for the purpose of 
 ecclesiastical government; and to property held by such a church, eilher 
 by way of purchase or donation, with no other specific trust attached to 
 it in the hands of the church, than that it is for the use of that congre- 
 gation as a religious society. In such cases, where there is a schism 
 which leads to a separation into distinct and conflicting bodies, the rights 
 of such bodies to the use of the property must be determined by the 
 ordinary principles which govern voluntary associations. If the principle 
 of government in such cases is that the majority rules, then the numeri- 
 cal majority of members must control the right to the use of the 
 property. If there be within the congregation officers in whom are 
 vested the powers of such control, then those who adhere to the acknowl- 
 edged organism by which the body is governed are entitled to the use of 
 the property. 
 
 The minority, in choosing to separate themselves into a distinct body, 
 and refusing to recognize the authority of the governing body, can claim 
 no rights in the property from the fact that they had once been members 
 of the church or congregation. 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 137 
 
 This ruling admits of no inquiry into the existing religious opinions of 
 those who comprise the legal or regular organization; for if such was 
 permitted, a very small minority, without any officers of the church 
 among them, might be found to be the only faithful supporters of the 
 religious dogmas of the founders of the church. There being no such 
 trust imposed upon the property when purchased or given, the court will 
 not imply one for the purpose of expelling from its use those who, by 
 regular succession and order, constitute the church, because they may 
 have changed in some respect their views of religious truth. 
 
 Of the cases in which this doctrine is applied, no better representative 
 can be found than that of Shannon vs. Frost, 3 B. Monro, 253, where 
 the principle is ably supported by the learned chief justice of the Court 
 of Appeals of Kentucky. 
 
 The case of Smith vs. Nelson, 18 Verm., 511, asserts this doctrine in 
 a case where a legacy was left to the associate congregation of Ryegate, 
 the interest whereof was to be annually paid to their minister for ever. 
 In that case, though the Ryegate congregation was one of a number of 
 Presbyterian churches connected with the general Presbyterian body at 
 large, the court held that the only inquiry was whether the society still 
 exists, and whether they have a minister chosen and appointed by the 
 majority and regularly ordained over the society, agreeably to the usage 
 of that denomination. 
 
 And though we may be of opinion that the doctrine of that case needs 
 modification so far as it discusses the relation of the Ryegate congrega- 
 tion to the other judicatories of the body to which it belongs, it certainly 
 lays down the principle correctly if that congregation was to be treated 
 as an independent one. 
 
 But the third of these classes of cases is the one which is oftenest found 
 in the courts, and which, with reference to the number and difficulty or 
 the questions involved and to other considerations, is every way the most 
 important. 
 
 It is the case of property acquired in any of the usual modes for the 
 general use of a religious congregation which is itself part of a large and 
 general organization of some religious denomination, with which it is 
 more or less intimately connected by religious views and ecclesiastical 
 government. 
 
 The case before us is one of this class, growing out of a schism which 
 has divided the congregation and its officers and the Presbytery and 
 Synod, and which appeals to the courts to determine the right to the use 
 of the property so acquired. Here is no case of property devoted for 
 ever by the instrument which conveyed it, or by any specific declaration 
 of its owner, to the support of any special religious dogmas or any 
 peculiar form of worship, but of property purchased for the use of a 
 religious congregation ; and so long as any existing religious congregation 
 can be ascertained to be that congregation or its regular and legitimate 
 successor, it is entitled to the use of the property. In the case of an 
 independent congregation, we have pointed out how this identity or 
 succession is to be ascertained, but in cases of this character w T e are 
 bound to look at the fact that the local congregation is itself but a mem- 
 ber of a much larger and more important religious organization, and is 
 under its government and control, and is bound by its orders and 
 judgments. There are in the Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical gov- 
 ernment, in regular succession, the Presbytery over the Session or local 
 
138 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP II. 
 
 church, the Synod over the Presbytery, and the General Assembly over 
 all. These are called, in the language of the Church organs, judica- 
 tories, and they entertain appeals from the decisions of those below, and 
 prescribe corrective measures in other cases. 
 
 In this class of cases we think the rule of action which should govern 
 the civil courts, founded in a broad and sound view of the relations of 
 Church and State under our system of laws, and supported by a prepon- 
 derating weight of judicial authority, is that, whenever the questions of 
 discipline or of faith or ecclesiastical rule, custom or law, have been 
 decided by the highest of these church judicatories to which the matter 
 has been carried, the legal tribunals must accept such decisions as final, 
 and as binding on them in their application to the case before them. 
 
 We concede at the outset that the doctrine of the English courts is 
 otherwise. In the case of the Attorney General against Pearson, cited 
 before, the proposition is laid down by Lord Eldon and sustained by the 
 peers that it is the duty of the court in such cases to inquire and decide 
 for itself not only what was the nature and power of these church 
 judicatories, but what is the true standard of faith in the church organi- 
 zation, and which of the contending parties before the court holds to this 
 standard. And in the subsequent case of Craigdallie vs. Aikman, 2 
 Bligh, 529, the same learned judge expresses in strong terms his chagrin 
 that the Court of Sessions of Scotland, from which the case had been 
 appealed, had failed to find on this latter subject, so that he could rest 
 the case on religious belief, but had declared that in this matter there 
 was no difference between the parties. 
 
 And we can very well understand how the lord chancellor of England, 
 who is, in his office, in a large sense, the head and representative of the 
 Established Church, who controls very largely the Church patronage, 
 and whose judicial decision may be, and not infrequently is, invoked in 
 cases of heresy and ecclesiastical contumacy, should feel, even in dealing 
 with a dissenting church, but little delicacy in grappling with the most 
 abstruse problems of theological controversy, or in construing the instru- 
 ments which those churches have adopted as their rules of government, 
 or inquiring into their customs and usages. The dissenting church in 
 England is not a free church, in the sense in which we apply the term in 
 this country; and it was much less free in Lord Eldon' s time than now. 
 Laws then existed upon the statute book hampering the free exercise of 
 religious belief and worship in many most oppressive forms; and though 
 Protestant dissenters were less burdened than Catholics and Jews, there 
 did not exist that full, entire and practical freedom for all forms of 
 religious belief and practice which lies at the foundation of our political 
 principles. And it is quite obvious, from an examination of the series 
 of cases growing out of the organization of the Free Church of Scot- 
 land, found in Shaw's reports of cases in the Court of Sessions, that it 
 was only under the pressure of Lord Eldon' s ruling, established in the 
 House of Lords, to which final appeal lay in such cases, that the 
 doctrine was established in the Court of Sessions after no little struggle 
 and resistance. 
 
 The full history of the case of Craigdallie vs. Aikman in the Scottish 
 court, which we cannot further pursue, and the able opinion of Lord 
 Meadowbank in Galbraith vs. Smith, 15 Shaw, 808, show this conclu- 
 sively. 
 
 In this country the full and free right to entertain any religious belief, 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 139 
 
 to practice any religious principle, and to teach any religious doctrine 
 which does not violate the laws of morality and property, and which does 
 not infringe personal rights, is conceded to all. The law knows no 
 heresy, and is committed to the support of no dogma, the establishment 
 of no sect. The right to organize voluntary religious associations, to 
 assist in the expression and dissemination of any religious doctrine, and 
 to create tribunals for the decision of controverted questions of faith 
 within the association, and for the ecclesiastical government of all the indi- 
 vidual members, congregations and officers within the general association, 
 is unquestioned. All who unite themselves to such a body do so with an 
 implied consent to this government, and are bound to. submit to it. But 
 it would be a vain consent, and would lead to the total subversion of such 
 religious bodies, if any one aggrieved by one of their decisions should 
 appeal to the secular courts and have them reversed. It is of the essence 
 of these religious unions, and of their right to establish tribunals for the 
 decision of questions arising among themselves, that those decisions 
 should be binding in all cases of ecclesiastical cognizance, subject only 
 to such appeals as the organism itself provides for. 
 
 Nor do we see that justice would be likely to be promoted by submit- 
 ting those decisions to review in the ordinary judicial tribunal. Each of 
 these large and influential bodies (to mention no others, let reference be 
 had to the Protestant Episcopal, the Methodist Episcopal, and the 
 Presbyterian Churches) has a body of constitutional and ecclesiastical 
 law of its own, to be found in their written organic laws, their books of 
 discipline, in their collections of precedents, in their usage and customs, 
 which as to each constitute a system of ecclesiastical law and religious 
 faith that tasks the ablest minds to become familiar with. It is not to 
 be supposed that the judges of the civil courts can be as competent in 
 the ecclesiastical law and religious faith of all these bodies as the ablest 
 men in each are in reference to their own. It would, therefore, be an 
 appeal from the more learned tribunal in the law which should decide 
 the case to one which is less so. 
 
 We have said that these views are supported by the preponderant 
 weight of authority in this country; and for the reasons which we have 
 given, we do not think the doctrines of the English Chancery Court on 
 this subject should have with us the influence which we would cheerfully 
 accord to it on others. 
 
 We have already cited the case of Shannon vs. Frost, 3 Ben. Monro, 
 in which the appellate court of the State, where this controversy orig- 
 inated, sustains the proposition clearly and fully. " This court," says 
 the chief justice, "having no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, cannot revise or 
 question ordinary acts of church discipline. Our only judicial power 
 in the case arises from the conflicting claims of the parties to the church 
 property and the use of it. We cannot decide who ought to be members 
 of the church, nor whether the excommunicated have been justly or 
 unjustly, regularly or irregularly, cut off from the body of the church." 
 
 In the subsequent case of Gibson vs. Armstrong, 7 B. Monro, 481, 
 which arose out of the general division of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, we understand the same principles to be laid down as governing 
 that case; and in the case of Watson vs. Avery, 2 Bush., 332, the case 
 relied on by appellants as a bar, and considered in the former part 
 of this opinion, the doctrine of Shannon vs. Frost is in general terms 
 conceded, while a distinction is attempted which we shall consider here- 
 after. 
 
140 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. II. 
 
 One of the most careful and well-considered judgments on the subject 
 is that of the Court of Appeals of South Carolina, delivered by Chan- 
 cellor Johnson, in the case of Harmon vs. Dreher, 2 Speer's Eq., 87. 
 The case turned upon certain rights in the use of the church property 
 claimed by the minister, notwithstanding his expulsion from the Synod 
 as one of its members. 
 
 " He stands," says the chancellor, " convicted of the offences alleged 
 against him, by the sentence of the spiritual body of which he was a 
 voluntary member, and by whose proceedings he had bound himself to 
 abide. It belongs not to the civil power to enter into or review the 
 proceedings of a spiritual court. The structure of our government has, 
 for the preservation of civil liberty, rescued the temporal institutions 
 from religious interference. On the other hand, it has secured religious 
 liberty from the invasion of the civil authority. The judgments, therefore, 
 of religious associations bearing on their own members are not examinable 
 here, and I am not to inquire whether the doctrines attributed to Mr. 
 Dreher were held by him, or whether if held were an ti -Lutheran, or 
 whether his conduct was or was not in accordance with the duty he owed 
 
 to the Synod or to his denomination When a civil right depends 
 
 upon an ecclesiastical matter, it is the civil court, and not the ecclesiasti- 
 cal, which is to decide. But the civil tribunal tries the civil right and 
 no more, taking the ecclesiastical decisions out of which the civil right 
 arises as it finds them." The principle is reaffirmed by the same court 
 in the John's Island Church case, 2 Richardson Eq., 215. 
 
 In Den vs. Bolton, 7 Halstead, 206, the Supreme Court of New 
 Jersey asserts the same principles; and though founding its decision 
 mainly on a statute, it is said to be true on general principles. 
 
 The Supreme Court of Illinois in the case of Ferraria vs. Vaucan- 
 celles, 25 111., 456, refers to the case of Shannon vs. Frost, 3 B. Monro, 
 with approval, and adopts the language of the court, that ' ' the judicial 
 eye cannot penetrate the veil of the Church for the forbidden purpose of 
 vindicating the alleged wrongs of excised members; when they became 
 members, they did so upon the condition of continuing or not as they 
 and their churches might determine, and they thereby submit to the 
 ecclesiastical power, and cannot now invoke the supervisory power of the 
 civil tribunals." 
 
 In the very important case of Chase vs. Cheny, recently decided in 
 the same court, Judge Lawrence, who dissented, says, we understand the 
 opinion as implying that in the administration of ecclesiastical discipline, 
 and where no other right of property is involved than loss of the clerical 
 office or salary incident to such discipline, a spiritual court is the exclu- 
 sive judge of its own jurisdiction, and that its decision of that question 
 is binding on the secular courts. And he dissents with Judge Sheldon 
 from the opinion because it so holds. 
 
 In the case of Watson vs. Farris, 45 Missouri, 183, which was a case 
 growing out of the schism in the Presbyterian Church in Missouri in 
 regard to this same declaration and testimony and the action of the 
 General Assembly, that court held that whether a case was regularly or 
 irregularly before the Assembly was a question which the Assemby had 
 the right to determine for itself, and no civil court could reverse, modify 
 or impair its action in a matter of merely ecclesiastical concern. 
 
 We cannot better close this review of the authorities than in the 
 language of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the case of the 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 141 
 
 German Reformed Church vs. Siebert, 5 Barr., 291: " The decisions of 
 ecclesiastical courts, like every other judicial tribunal, are final, as they 
 are the best judges of what constitutes an offence against the Word of 
 God and the discipline of the Church. Any other than those courts 
 must be incompetent judges of matters of faith, discipline and doctrine; 
 and civil courts, if they should be so unwise as to attempt to supervise 
 their judgments on matters which come within their jurisdiction, would 
 only involve themselves in a sea of uncertainty and doubt which would 
 do anything but improve either religion or good morals. ' ' 
 
 In the subsequent case of McGinnis vs. Watson, 41 Penn. Stat., 21, 
 this principle is again applied and supported by a more elaborate 
 argument. 
 
 The Court of Appeals of Kentucky, in the case of Watson vs. Avery, 
 before referred to, while admitting the general principle here laid down, 
 maintains, " that when a decision of an ecclesiastical tribunal is set up in 
 the civil courts, " it is always open to inquiry whether the tribunal acted 
 within its jurisdiction; and if it did not, its decisions could not be con- 
 clusive. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no word in legal terminology so frequently used as 
 the word jurisdiction, so capable of use in a general and vague sense, 
 and which is used so often by men learned in the law without a due 
 regard to precision in its application. As regards its use in the matters 
 we have been discussing, it may very well be conceded that if the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church should undertake to try 
 one of its members for murder, and punish him with death or imprison- 
 ment, its sentence would be of no validity in a civil court or anywhere 
 else. Or if it should, at the instance of one of its members, entertain 
 jurisdiction as between him and another member as to their individual 
 right to property, real or personal, the right in no sense depending on 
 ecclesiastical questions, its decisions would be utterly disregarded by any 
 civil court where it might be set up, and it might be said, in a certain 
 general sense very justly, that it was because the General Assembly had 
 no jurisdiction in the case. Illustrations of this character could be 
 multiplied in which the proposition of the Kentucky Court would be 
 strictly applicable. 
 
 But it is a very different thing where a subject-matter of dispute 
 strictly and purely ecclesiastical in its character — a matter over which 
 the civil courts exercise no jurisdiction — a matter which concerns 
 theological controversy, church discipline, ecclesiastical government 
 or the conformity of the members of the church to the standard of 
 morals required of them — becomes the subject of its action. It may be 
 said here, also, that no jurisdiction has been conferred on the tribunal to 
 try the particular case before it, or that in its judgment it. exceeds the 
 powers conferred upon it, or that the laws of the Church do not authorize 
 the particular form of proceeding adopted; and in a sense often used in 
 the courts, all of those may be said to be questions of jurisdiction. But 
 it is easy to see that if the civil courts are to inquire into all these 
 matters, the whole subject of the doctrinal theology, the usages and 
 customs, the written laws and fundamental organization of every 
 religious denomination, may and must be examined into with minuteness 
 and care, for they would become in almost every case the criteria by 
 which the validity of the ecclesiastical decree would be determined in the 
 civil court. This principle would deprive these bodies of the right of 
 
142 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. III-IV. 
 
 construing their own church laws, would open the way to all the evils 
 which we have depicted as attendant upon the doctrine of Lord Eldon, 
 and would, in effect, transfer to the civil courts, where property rights 
 were concerned, the decision of all ecclesiastical questions. 
 
 And this is precisely what the Court of Appeals of Kentucky did in 
 the case of Watson vs. Avery. Under cover of inquiries into the 
 jurisdiction of the Synod and Presbytery over the congregation, and of 
 the General Assembly over all, it went into an elaborate examination of 
 the principles of Presbyterian Church government, and ended by over- 
 ruling the decision of the highest judicatory of that Church in the United 
 States both on the jurisdiction and the merits, and substituting its own 
 judgment for that of the ecclesiastical court, decides that ruling elders, 
 declared to be such by that tribunal, are not such, and must not be 
 recognized by the congregation, though four-fifths of its members believe 
 in the judgment of the Assembly and desire to conform to its decree. 
 
 But we need pursue this subject no further. Whatever may have 
 been the case before the Kentucky court, the appellants, in the case 
 presented to us, have separated themselves wholly from the church 
 organization to which they belonged when this controversy commenced. 
 They now deny its authority, denounce its action and refuse to abide by 
 its judgments. They have first erected themselves into a new organiza- 
 tion, and have since joined themselves to another totally different, if not 
 hostile, to the one to which they belonged when the difficulty first began. 
 Under any of the decisions which we have examined, the appellants in 
 their present position have no right to the property, or the use of it, 
 which is the subject of this suit. 
 
 The novelty of the questions presented to this court for the first time, 
 their intrinsic importance and far-reaching influence, and the knowledge 
 that the schism in which the case originated has divided the Presbyterian 
 churches throughout Kentucky and Missouri, have seemed to us to justify 
 the careful and laborious examination and discussion which we have 
 made of the principles which should govern the case. 
 
 For the same reasons we have held it under advisement for a year, not 
 uninfluenced by the hope that, since the civil commotion which evidently 
 lay at the foundation of the trouble has passed away, that charity which 
 is so large an element in the faith of both parties, and which, by one of 
 the apostles of that religion, is said to be the greatest of all the Christian 
 virtues, would have brought about a reconciliation. 
 
 But we have been disappointed. It is not for us to determine or 
 apportion the moral responsibility which attaches to the parties for this 
 result. We can only pronounce the judgment of the law as applicable 
 to the case presented to us, and that requires us to affirm the decree of 
 the circuit court as it stands. 
 
 The chief justice did not sit on the argument of this case, and took 
 no part in its decision. — 1872, pp. 177-190. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 I. Our blessed Lord at first collected his Church out of different 
 nations, and formed it into one body by the mission of men endued with 
 miraculous gifts, which have long since ceased. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxv, Sec. iii.I 
 
OF BISHOPS OR PASTORS. 143 
 
 II. The ordinary and perpetual officers in the Church are Bishops or 
 Pastors; the representatives of the people, usually styled Puling Elders; 
 and Deacons. 
 
 [Note. — See under Chapters iv, v, vi.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF BISHOPS OR PASTORS. 
 
 The pastoral office is the first in the Church, both for dignity and 
 usefulness. The person who fills this office hath in the Scripture 
 obtained different names expressive of his various duties. As he has the 
 oversight of the flock of Christ, he is termed bishop.* As he feeds 
 them with spiritual food, he is termed pastor. As he serves Christ in his 
 Church, he is termed minister. As it is his duty to be grave and prudent 
 and an example of the flock, and to govern well in the house and 
 kingdom of Christ, he is termed presbyter or elder. As he is the mes- 
 senger of God, he is termed the angel of the Church. As he is sent to 
 declare the will of God to sinners and to beseech them to be reconciled 
 to God through Christ, he is termed ambassador. And as he dispenses 
 the manifold grace of God and the ordinances instituted by Christ, he is 
 termed steward of the mysteries of God. 
 
 I. THE PASTORAL RELATION. 
 
 1. Fidelity in pastoral duties enjoined. 
 
 a. Upon an overture to the Synod, in pursuance of an order of the 
 Committee to that purpose, viz. , to use some proper means to revive the 
 declining power of godliness, the Synod do earnestly recommend it to all 
 our ministers and members to take particular care about ministerial 
 visiting of families, and press family and secret worship, according to 
 the Westminster Directory, and that they also recommend it to every 
 Presbytery at proper seasons to inquire concerning the diligence of each 
 of their members in such particulars. 
 
 This overture was approved neniine contradicente. — 1733, p. 105. 
 
 b. And the Synod does further recommend unanimously to all our 
 Presbyteries to take effectual care that each of their ministers are faith- 
 ful in the discharge of their awful trust. And in particular, that they 
 frequently examine, with respect to each of their members, into their 
 life and conversation, their diligence in their work, and their methods 
 of discharging their ministerial calling. Particularly that each Presby- 
 tery do, at least once a year, examine into the manner of each minister's 
 preaching, whether he insist in his ministry upon the great articles of 
 Christianity, and in the course of his preaching recommend a crucified 
 Saviour to his hearers as the only foundation of hope, and the absolute 
 necessity of the omnipotent influences of the divine grace to enable them 
 to accept of this Saviour ; whether he do, in the most solemn and affect- 
 ing manner he can, endeavor to convince his hearers of their lost and 
 
 * As the office and character of the gospel minister is particularly and fully de- 
 scribed in the Holy Scriptures under the title of " bishop," and as this term is pecu- 
 liarly expressive of his duty as an overseer of the flock, it ought not to be rejected. 
 
144 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IV. 
 
 miserable state whilst unconverted, and put them upon the diligent use 
 of those means necessary in order to obtaining the sanctifying influences 
 of the Spirit of God; whether he do, and how he doth, discharge his 
 duty toward the young people and children of his congregation in a way 
 of catechising and familiar instruction; whether he do, and in what 
 manner he doth, visit his flock and instruct them from house to house. 
 
 And the Synod hereby orders that a copy of this minute be inserted 
 into the books of each of our Presbyteries, and be read at every of their 
 Presbyterial meetings, and a record of its being read minuted in said 
 books at the beginning of every session, and that there be also an annual 
 record in each Presbytery book of a correspondence with this minute. 
 And in case any minister within our bounds shall be found defective in 
 any of the above-mentioned cases, he shall be subject to the censure of 
 the Presbytery, and if he refuse subjection to such censure, the Presby- 
 tery are hereby directed to represent his case to the next Synod. And 
 the Synod recommends to each of the ministers within our bounds to be 
 as much in catechetical doctrines as they in prudence may think proper. 
 —1734, p. 111. 
 
 C. That in the discharge of pastoral duties, they take the utmost care 
 that the Word of God be known and understood by the people, and that 
 for this purpose, in their public instructions the practice of lecturing on 
 certain portions of holy Scripture be not laid aside, but rather revived 
 and increased ; that they endeavor, where it is prudent and practicable, 
 to institute private societies for reading, prayer, and pious conversation ; 
 above all, that they be faithful in the duties of family visitation and the 
 catechetical instruction of children and youth. And that in order to aid 
 these views, they endeavor to engage the sessions of the respective con- 
 gregations, or other men most distinguished for intelligence and piety in 
 them, to assume as trustees the superintendence and inspection of the 
 schools established for the initiation and improvement of children in the 
 elements of knowledge; to see that they be provided with teachers of 
 grave and respectable characters; and that these teachers, among other 
 objects of their duty, instruct their pupils in the principles of religion, 
 which should be done as often as possible in the presence of one or more 
 of the aforesaid trustees, under the deep conviction that the care and 
 education of children, the example set before them, and the first impres- 
 sions made on their minds are of the utmost importance to civil society 
 as well as to the church. — 1799, p. 182. 
 
 [Note. — See also under Directory for Worship, Chaps, i, vi and Minutes passim, for 
 duties, etc., of a pastor, and under Form of Government, Chaps, xv, xvi and xvii, for 
 questions relating to the pastoral office. Also Chap, x, Sec. viii.] 
 
 2. The pastoral relation emphasized and encouraged. 
 
 The following paper in reference to the pastoral relation was adopted : 
 The General Assembly deems it important to reiterate and eu force the 
 doctrine of our Standards in regard to the pastoral relation, as the scrip- 
 tural, apostolic, and permanent order for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ and the extension of saving influences throughout the world. 
 This was evidently the view of the subject held by those who laid the 
 foundations of the Presbyterian Church, who drew the wondrous plan of 
 its organization, and impressed upon it those features which give it so 
 striking a resemblance to the churches presided over by the apostle 
 John, by Timothy, by the venerable Polycarp, and others in those times 
 
OF BISHOPS OR PASTORS. 145 
 
 of early development under the special guidance of divine inspiration. 
 Nothing is more fundamental in our order than the law which calls for an 
 educated, pious, ordained, settled, permanent ministry. Our Book 
 recognizes no ministerial relation to the Church as thoroughly legitimate 
 and vital but that of a regularly constituted pastorate; all besides this it 
 regards as exceptional and temporary. 
 
 As an Assembly we feel solemnly bound to remind the Presbyteries 
 and churches of these facts, and to express our deep sense of the danger 
 which threatens us, in consequence of a very manifest decline from the 
 law and the practice of our fathers on this subject, and the growing evil 
 of frequent change of pastoral relations, in consequence of which we are 
 somewhat losing a peculiarity which has given us distinction in times 
 past, and are becoming more and more, in this respect, like those denom- 
 inations among whom change is not exceptional, but an adopted 
 principle and a confirmed habit. For Presbyterians this tendency is 
 alarming. The Assembly would therefore warn all concerned to be on 
 their guard against it. Since much depends upon the views of the 
 subject with which young men enter the ministry, we would respect- 
 fully suggest, to the teachers in our theological seminaries, the importance 
 of emphasizing their instructions in regard to the pastoral office, as one 
 to be desired and sought as a divine and permanent institution, and as 
 absolutely essential to the most healthful development and increase of 
 the Church and the Christian cause. We would also earnestly call upon 
 all our churches to cooperate with their Presbyteries in creating and 
 extending a public sentiment favoring the formation of pastoral rela- 
 tionships which time and years shall only serve to strengthen and to 
 hallow, and which may suitably represent in outward form the stable 
 tendencies of our ancient and orthodox faith. Our people must be 
 encouraged to call pastors with a view of keeping them; and our minis- 
 ters must enter the pastorate to abide. When the two parties come 
 together with such views and purposes, they will be so joined together 
 that man may not and only God can put them asunder. At the same 
 time, the Assembly would deprecate undue haste in the consummation of 
 pastoral ties as itself prophetic of speedy dissolution. We would advise 
 the parties to take time to ascertain whether they have a proper liking 
 and fitness for each other, and not marry under the first impulse of 
 inclination, much less on account of what, at the moment, may appear 
 the best or the only chance. Relationships designed to be lasting must 
 be carefully considered and prayerfully entered into; then will the 
 causes which so frequently unsettle or disturb be powerless, and the 
 beautiful order of the pastorate will remain, to the praise of God and 
 the glory of the Church, in the midst of changes which mar all other 
 relations and vitiate so many of the works of man. — 1877, pp. 542, 543. 
 
 3. Ministerial rights unaffected by being honorably retired. 
 
 From the Synod of Cleveland, inquiring whether those ministers whose 
 names in the Assembly's Minutes are followed by the letters " H. R." 
 have still the right to preach, to administer the sacraments, to sit in the 
 higher judicatories of the Church, and to exercise other functions of the 
 ministry, as in former times. The Committee recommend that the 
 following answer be returned : The designation referred to in the overture 
 does not affect, in any way, the status of the minister, or deprive him of 
 any of the functions of his office. — Adopted 1875, p. 507. 
 
 [Note. — See also Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii.] 
 10 
 
146 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IV. 
 
 4. Installation of pastors-elect insisted on, and none to be designated as 
 P. E. whose call has not been regularly acted on. 
 
 The Committee of Bills and Overtures reported the following reso- 
 lution : 
 
 Whereas, It is commonly reported that in several of our Presbyteries 
 the custom prevails, first, of permitting ministers who have received calls 
 from churches to serve such churches through a series of years without 
 installation; and, secondly, of placing the names of such ministers in 
 the statistical tables as pastors-elect (P.E. ); and, 
 
 Whereas, Such customs are manifestly inconsistent with the express 
 requirements or implications of Form of Government, Chap, xv, viii, 
 and xvi, iii; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That all our Presbyteries be enjoined: 
 
 1. To take order that as soon as possible after a licentiate or ordained 
 minister has been called by a church and the call been approved and 
 accepted such person be installed as pastor of the church calling him. 
 
 2. To place the names of none in the statistical tables as pastors -elect 
 (P.E. ) whose calls have not been regularly approved by the Presbytery 
 having charge of the church issuing the call, and who have not signified 
 their acceptance thereof and readiness for installation. — Adopted 1886, 
 p. 5Q. 
 
 II. STATED SUPPLIES. 
 
 1. Stated supplies to be discouraged. 
 
 a. The Committee on Overture No. 9, viz., a memorial from East 
 Hanover Presbytery on inefficiency in the ministry, made the following 
 report, which was adopted, viz. : . . . . 3. That it be enjoined on all 
 the Presbyteries to take such measures as they may deem expedient for 
 forming the pastoral relation in a regular manner in all cases where 
 churches are now served by stated supplies, unless there be special 
 reasons to the contrary, of which reasons the Presbytery is required to 
 judge, and to make their judgment matter of record on their minutes. — 
 1834, p. 450. 
 
 b. "Resolved, That it be enjoined on all the Presbyteries to take early 
 and efficient measures for terminating, as far as possible, the growing evil 
 of the system of stated supplies, and for leading all our churches to seek 
 the regular installation of their stated teachers as pastors in the full sense 
 of the term, as used in our Form of Government." — 1839, p. 177, O. S. 
 
 C. " The pastoral office should be more and more highly appreciated, 
 practically honored and mainly promoted in all our judicatories and 
 churches as the ordinary, the permanent, and the incomparable way of 
 the Lord in promoting his own cause and in educating his people for 
 heaven."— 1840, p. 17, N. S. ; confirmed 1886, p. 56. 
 
 d. " That the relation of stated supply which has grown up between 
 many of our churches and ministers is unknown in our system, and 
 tends to disorder and injury in many ways. The Presbyteries are there- 
 fore directed to supplant it, as far as possible, in all cases by the regular 
 pastoral relation; and to discountenance it as a permanent relation." — 
 1842, p. 29, O. S. ; 1895, p. 102. 
 
 e. " Churches having stated supplies only are not such churches as are 
 contemplated in Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. iv, and have a 
 right of representation according to the principles of the Form of Gov- 
 ernment, Chap, x, Sec. v."— 1851, p. 15, N. S. ; 1886, p. 56. 
 
OF STATED SUPPLIES. 147 
 
 f. Resolved, That this Assembly observes with solicitude and deep 
 regret, the wide extent to which the practice of admitting stated supplies 
 prevails throughout the Church, and would call the attention of our 
 Presbyteries especially to the importance of discouraging this practice, 
 and would recommend that our Presbyteries, as far as possible, insist 
 upon the institution of the pastoral relation. — 1887, p. 141. 
 
 2. Presbytery can terminate stated supply at discretion. 
 
 " Resolved, That as Mr. Clapp was merely a stated supply of the 
 church in New Orleans, the Presbytery of Mississippi had a right, and 
 it was their duty, under existing circumstances, to adopt measures to 
 detach him from said congregation." — 1831, p. 340. 
 
 3. Evangelists not to be ordained to serve as stated supplies. 
 
 ' ' That while the instability of the pastoral relation arises out of the 
 uneasiness incident to growing and changing communities, and so cannot 
 be removed by legislation, still the Presbyteries themselves can do much 
 to abate it by honoring the pastoral relation, and declining, except in 
 extraordinary cases, to ordain young men as evangelists to serve as stated 
 supplies."— 1869, p. 262, K S. ; 1886, p. 56. 
 
 4. Stated supplies have no pastoral powers. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Knox, asking a reply to the question, 
 Has a stated supply the right, power, and prerogative in the church 
 Session as a pastor ? 
 
 The Committee respectfully recommend that the Assembly answer the 
 overture in the negative. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1877, p. 549. 
 
 5. Have only such rights as may be conferred by Presbytery. 
 
 It was Resolved, That the question submitted by the Presbytery of 
 [Los Angeles, as to what rights and prerogatives belonging to a pastor a 
 stated supply had not, be answered, That stated supplies have such rights 
 and prerogatives as may be expressly conferred on them by the Presby- 
 tery, and no other. — 1878, p. 120. 
 
 6. Should not preach in the pulpits of any Presbytery without its 
 
 consent. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Lackawanna and Binghamton. 
 Stated supplies should not preach in the pulpits of any Presbytery without 
 its consent; and, when the consent is refused, the Presbytery to which 
 such minister serving as stated supply belongs, being notified, should 
 recall him within its own bounds. — Adopted 1874, p. 83. 
 
 7. A pastor-elect not stated supply ipso facto. 
 
 A pastor -elect is not stated supply by any virtue of the call in prog- 
 ress. — 1880, p. 45. 
 
 [See also under Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. iii, below.] 
 
 8. Deliverances on stated supplies reaffirmed. 
 
 The Committee recommend the adoption of the following: Resolved, 
 That the careful attention of Presbyteries be directed to the deliverances 
 of past Assemblies on the subject of stated supplies, as they are set forth 
 
148 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. V. 
 
 in Chap, iv of Moore's Digest (1886, pp. 112, 113), and also in the 
 Supplement of said Digest, pp. 476-178, all which deliverances are 
 hereby reaffirmed by this Assembly. — 1886, p. 56. 
 
 9. What is a stated supply ; and what is a vacant church? 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Bloomington, asking an answer to 
 the following questions: 1. What is a stated supply ? 2. What is a 
 vacant church ? 
 
 Answer. Question 1. The official title " stated supply " is unknown 
 to our system (Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 113). Inasmuch, however, as 
 the growing evil has been recognized by the Assembly, in so far as to 
 adopt a rule for the record of stated supplies in its Minutes (see Minutes, 
 1894, p. 350, Item 5), it is recommended that the Assembly reply to the 
 overture, that a stated supply is a minister employed by a church, with 
 the authority of Presbytery, for a definite time or period of service. 
 
 Answer. Question 2. " Every congregation or church is vacant 
 which has not a pastor duly installed " (Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 139). 
 Adopted.— 1895, p. 102. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 OF RULING ELDERS. 
 
 Ruling Elders are properly the representatives of the people, chosen by 
 them for the purpose of exercising government and discipline, in con- 
 junction with pastors or ministers. This office has been understood, by 
 a great part of the Protestant Reformed Churches, to be designated in 
 the holy Scriptures, by the title of governments ; and of those who rule 
 well, but do not labor in the Word and doctrine. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xiii.] 
 
 1. Ruling elders assistants to ministers. 
 
 For the better establishing and settling congregations, it is ordered and 
 appointed that in every congregation there be a sufficient number of 
 assistants chosen to aid the minister in the management of congregational 
 affairs.— 1714, p. 37. 
 
 2. The eldership essential to the existence of a Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The report of the Committee to examine the records of the Synod of 
 the Western Reserve was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : That the 
 records be approved, with the exception of the sentiment on page 154, 
 viz. , that the eldership is not essential to the existence of the Presby- 
 terian Church. In the opinion of the Committee the Synod advance a 
 sentiment that contravenes the principles recognized in our Form of 
 Government, Chap, ii, Sec. iv; Chap, iii, Sec. ii; Chap, v; Chap, ix, 
 Sees, i, ii.— 1833, p. 404. 
 
 [Note. — This does not forbid the forming of congregations for religious worship, 
 where they may not have suitable persons among them to sustain the office of ruling 
 elder. See Chap, ii, Sec. iv, and Minutes, 1890, pp. 113-119.] 
 
 3. Elders must be duly elected and set apart. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sees, i, ii, iv, viii. 
 
OF RULING ELDERS. 149 
 
 4. A ruling elder without charge has no seat in a church court. 
 
 Resolved, That no ruling elder, who has retired from the active exer- 
 cise of his office in the church to which he belongs, can be admitted as 
 a member of Presbytery, Synod, or General Assembly. — 1835, p. 489. 
 
 Note.— See Chap, xiii, Sec. viii (Term Service): ''Provided, That elders, once 
 ordained, shall not be divested of the office when they are not reelected, but shall be 
 entitled to represent that particular church in the higher judicatories, when appointed 
 by the Session or the Presbytery."] 
 
 5. An elder cannot hold office in two churches at the same time. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported that, by permission of the Assembly, 
 a complaint was presented to them by the Rev. Dr. Ashbel Green, in 
 behalf of a minority, against a decision of the Synod of Philadelphia,* 
 recorded on the Synod book, page 168, by which complaint the follow- 
 ing question is presented for the decision of the Assembly, viz. : 
 
 Is it consistent with the Constitution of this Church for the same 
 individual to hold the office of ruling elder in two different churches at 
 the same time ? 
 
 When it was resolved by the Assembly that the decision of the Synod 
 be affirmed, and the complaint dismissed. — 1827, p. 204. 
 
 6. Nor adjudicate in a church of which he is not an elder. 
 
 [Note. — See under Chap, ix, Sec. i (3) , p. 158.] 
 
 7. An elder has the same right to sit in Synod as in Presbytery. 
 
 Has an elder, whom the discipline of our Church authorizes to sit as a 
 member in Presbytery, from a vacant congregation or united congrega- 
 tions, a right by that discipline to sit in Synod, as a representative of 
 such congregation or congregations ? 
 
 The question was determined in the affirmative. — 1808, p. 403. 
 
 8. When an elder has been suspended from church privileges, and is 
 
 restored, he is not thereby restored to office. 
 
 1 ' When an elder has been suspended from church privileges, for an 
 offence, and again restored to the privileges of the church, is he also 
 restored to his office as a ruling elder ?' ' should be answered in the nega- 
 tive. The two things are distinct; and since an elder, as well as a 
 minister, may be suspended from his office, and not from the communion 
 of the church, so there may be reasons for continuing his suspension 
 from his office after he is restored to the privileges of the church. He 
 cannot be restored to the functions of his office without a special and 
 express act of the Session for that purpose, with the acquiescence of the 
 church.— 1836, p. 521. 
 
 9. Elders are not to participate in the ordination of ministers by the 
 
 laying on of hands. 
 
 a. In answer to a communication from the Presbytery of the Western 
 District on the subject of allowing ruling elders to unite in the imposi- 
 tion of hands in the ordination of bishops: The Committee unanimously 
 recommend an adherence to the order, and, until recently, the uniform 
 
 * The Synod having rejected a resolution declaring it lawful for an elder to exercise 
 the office in two different congregations at the same time. 
 
150 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. V-VI. 
 
 practice of our Church on this subject, viz. : to allow preaching elders or 
 bishops only to engage in that service. 
 
 Which was adopted.— 1842, p. 16, O. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, That it is the judgment of this General Assembly that 
 neither the Constitution nor the practice of our Church authorizes ruling 
 elders to impose hands in the ordination of ministers. [Yeas 138, 
 nays 7, non liquet 1, excused 2.] — 1843, p. 183, O. S. 
 
 C. In answer to a request to reverse the above decision, the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of this Assembly, the last Assembly, in 
 determining that ruling elders are not authorized by the Form of Gov- 
 ernment to impose hands in the ordination of ministers, did not depreciate 
 the office of ruling elder, nor did they in any respect contravene the 
 letter or the spirit of the Constitution, or the principles and practice of 
 Presbyterian Churches in Europe or America since the Reformation ; but 
 in conformity with both the principles and practice of our own and other 
 Presbyterian Churches, they did decide that as the rite of ordination is 
 simply a declaratory ministerial act, the laying on of hands as a part 
 thereof belongs properly to ordained ministers, while to ruling elders is 
 left unimpaired and unquestioned the full and rightful power of ordering 
 the work of ordination, and of judging in the discipline of ministers in 
 common with those Presbyters who labor in word and doctrine, as in all 
 other cases. [Yeas 154, nays 25.]— 1844, p. 370, O. S. 
 
 [Against the above action a protest, signed by twenty- two members 
 of the Assembly, was entered and received. The protest and the answer 
 of the Assembly may be found in Baird's Collection, revised edition, 
 pp. 75-80.] 
 
 d. The Committee on the Polity of the Church reported an answer to 
 the inquiry, " Ought the eldership to participate in the ordination of 
 ministers by laying on of hands ?' ' as follows : 
 
 It is a recognized principle of our Church polity, in accordance, as we 
 believe, with apostolic teaching, that bishops, ministers and elders 
 constitute but one grade or rank of officers in the Christian Church, and 
 hence that in all our Church judicatories they have equal rights and 
 powers. In all the judicial business of the Church all are Presbyters 
 alike. (See Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sees, i, ii, iv; Chap, x, 
 Sees, ii to vii; Chap, xi, Sees, i, ii; and Chap, xii, Sec. ii. ) Still it 
 cannot be denied that in the Bible a distinction is recognized between 
 those Presbyters who rule only and those who both rule and preach. In 
 the practice of the Presbyterian Church in all its branches this distinc- 
 tion has become very marked. Some are set apart expressly to preach 
 the Gospel and to administer the ordinances of God's house. They are 
 Presbyters in common with others; but as ministers of Christ, they have 
 functions and rights peculiar to themselves, and are required to possess 
 proper qualifications. In the ordination of ministers your Committee 
 believe there are two distinct things to be done : 1 . The examination and 
 approval of the candidate. In this all the members of the Presbytery 
 participate alike; and, 2. The formal act of induction into office, in 
 which, by almost universal consent, as we suppose, only ministers 
 officiate. It is true our Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xiv, 
 speaks of the whole Presbytery as laying on hands and giving the right 
 hand of fellowship. But every statute should be construed consistently 
 with itself and with general usage under the statute. Your Committee 
 would suggest that the act of induction is ministerial, not judicial. And 
 
OF RULING ELDERS. 151 
 
 as in respect to baptism," the elders, jointly with the pastor, determine 
 who shall be admitted to this ordinance; yet the pastor only administers 
 it; so in ordination — the whole Presbytery determine the fitness of the 
 candidate, but only the ministers present induct into office. This, we 
 believe, has been the universal practice under this rule; and that this 
 usage was intended by the framers of the book seems probable from the 
 fact that in the form of induction those aiding in the service are directed 
 to extend to the new minister their right hands, saying, " We give you 
 the right hand of felloivship to take part of this ministry with us." This 
 language manifestly implies that those welcoming him do themselves 
 occupy places in that ministry to which they welcome him. The Com- 
 mittee therefore recommend that the question be answered in the nega- 
 tive. The report was adopted.— 1860, p. 242, N. S. ; 1890, p. 113. 
 See also under Chap, xv, Sec. xiv, F. G. 
 
 10. Ruling elders may not administer sealing ordinances. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported as follows: 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Peoria, on the authority of ruling 
 elders to administer sealing ordinances: The Committee recommend that 
 they be referred to the Standards, Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, 
 Sec. i, and Chap, ix throughout. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1870, p. 22. 
 
 11. Ruling elders may explain the Scriptures and exhort in the absence 
 
 of the pastor. 
 
 On page 10, Yol. iv of these Minutes, Mississippi Synod takes excep- 
 tions to the minute of Louisiana Presbytery; because this Presb} r tery 
 considers it not inconsistent with the principles of our Church for ruling 
 elders, in the absence of the pastor, to read the Scriptures and explain 
 them, and to endeavor to enforce the truth upon the conscience by 
 suitable exhortations. The Assembly believe the Presbytery of Louisiana 
 were right, according to Chap, xxi, Form of Government. — 1856, p. 
 538, O. S. 
 
 12. The proper court to try ruling elders in a given case. 
 
 The following question from the Presbytery of Genesee was presented 
 by the Committee of Overtures, viz. : 
 
 Common fame accuses two ruling elders of a church (they being the 
 only acting elders) of unchristian conduct, which took place several 
 years ago, but which has lately been made known to the Presbytery with 
 which said church is connected. What is the duty of the Presbytery 
 in the case ? 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery is the competent court to try these two 
 elders, and that it is their duty to cite the offending persons before them, 
 and proceed to issue the case. — 1825, pp. 142, 144. [See below under 
 Chaps, ix and xiii.] 
 
 13. Ministers are not eligible to the ruling eldership. 
 
 [Note. — See below under Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, 9, a, b, c, d, e, f, g.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OF DEACONS. 
 
 The Scriptures clearly point out Deacons as distinct officers in the 
 Church, whose business it is to take care of the poor, and to distribute 
 
152 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. VI-VII. 
 
 among them the collections which may be raised for their use. To them 
 also may be properly committed the management of the temporal affairs 
 of the Church. 
 
 1. Their functions.— They have no judicial power. 
 
 We need only represent unto you the ends and institution of Scrip- 
 ture deacons, and that there is no juridical power allowed them in the 
 Scriptures.— 1716, p. 42. 
 
 2. The temporalities of the church may be committed to them. 
 
 In answer to the inquiry, " What are the nature and duties of the 
 office of deacon ?" we reply: The answer we conceive to be explicitly 
 given in our Form of Government, Chap. vi. Their duties there are 
 plainly made to consist in distributing the charities of the church to 
 which they belong to the poor of that church. Over charities collected 
 for any other purpose than those specified, their office gives them no 
 control. In addition to this, the temporalities of the church generally 
 may be committed to their care. — 1833, p. 405. 
 
 [Note. — See Report of the Special Committee on Church Temporalities, 1896, pp. 
 183-186. See, also, for powers of deacons as trustees, under Trustees, on p. 122.J 
 
 3. The appointment of deacons urged- 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Pittsburgh, on the subject of deacons. 
 The Committee recommend — in response to the memorial regarding the 
 functions of deacons, and requesting that, in respect to the care of the 
 poor, their business be so defined as not to exclude the poor and the sick 
 outside the Church — the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Assembly regards the office of deacon as pro- 
 viding proper Scriptural and feasible means for such exercise of charity, 
 as will aid in extending the influence of the Church among the poor, 
 and opening the way for more direct spiritual ministrations. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Assembly, rejoicing in all that is accomplished 
 by others, express their most decided approval of all institutions for the 
 care of the poor and sick, conducted by Presbyterians, and regarding 
 with pleasure their increasing number, earnestly advises their multiplica- 
 tion. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Presbyterian Church has always recognized the 
 office of deacon; and the Assembly renewedly call the attention of the 
 churches to the provisions of the Form of Government in the case. 
 [See F. G., Chap, xiii, Sec. ii.]— 1871, pp. 588, 589; also, 1840, p. 
 286, O.S.; 1841, p. 418, O. S. ; 1856, p. 535, O. S. 
 
 4. May a person at once be deacon and elder? 
 
 a. Resolved, That while it is important and desirable that the several 
 offices in the Christian Church should be kept distinct, and be sustained 
 by different individuals wherever a sufficient number of competent men 
 can be found, yet in the opinion of this Assembly it is not inconsistent 
 with the constitution of the Presbyterian Church, nor with the precedent 
 furnished in filling the office of deacon at its first institution, that where 
 a necessity exists, the same individual should sustain both offices. — 
 1840, p. 306, O. S. 
 
 b. Overture, being a petition from Eev. Moses D. A. Steen, asking 
 the following question: 
 
OF DEACONS. 153 
 
 "When a deacon in any church is elected and installed a ruling elder in 
 the same church, does he cease to exercise the functions of his office as 
 deacon? — Answer. Not necessarily. See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 119. 
 —Adopted 1880, p. 56. 
 
 5. Deacons may distribute the bread and wine at the communion. 
 
 a. Overture, asking, " Is it in accordance with Presbyterian law and 
 usage that deacons distribute to the church members the bread and wine 
 in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ?" The Committee recommend 
 that the Assembly answer " Yes," and refer to the Digest, 1873, p. 119. 
 —Adopted 1874, p. 84; 1867, p. 497, N. S. 
 
 b. Is the action taken by the Assembly of 1874, p. 84, of Minutes, 
 Overture No. 25, to be interpreted as directing that the serving of the 
 elements at the Lord's Supper belongs indifferently to the elders and 
 deacons ? 
 
 Your Committee would respectfully recommend the following reply: 
 The above question is answered on p. 119 of Moore's Digest, which says 
 that, " Inasmuch as we have no rule in relation to the subject, the 
 matter is referred to the discretion of the Sessions of the churches." 
 Adopted.— 1877, p. 516. 
 
 6. To the deacons belongs exclusively the control of funds for the poor. 
 
 1. Has the church Session any original or direct control over the 
 management and distribution of the fund collected and in the hands of 
 the deacons for the benefit of the poor of the church ? 
 
 2. Or does the management of this fund belong exclusively to the 
 deacons ? 
 
 3. If the Session has any control over this fund, what is the nature and 
 extent of that control ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the first inquiry be answered in the 
 negative, the second in the affirmative, and that the third be answered, 
 " They may advise respecting the use of funds." Adopted. — 1857, p. 
 24, O. S. 
 
 7. Deacons may not represent the church in church courts. 
 
 The record [Synod of Buffalo], p. 156, would lead to the belief that 
 a deacon of the Church was admitted to a seat in Synod, which, if so, 
 is in violation of the principles of our Church government. — 1860, p. 
 34, O. S. [See 1 above.] 
 
 [Note. — For questions pertaining to the election, ordination and installation of 
 deacons, see Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sees, ii, viii.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 OF ORDINANCES IN A PARTICULAR CHURCH. 
 
 The ordinances established by Christ, the head, in a particular church, 
 which is regularly constituted with its proper officers, are prayer, singing 
 praises, reading, expounding and preaching the word of God; administer- 
 ing Baptism and the Lord's Supper; public solemn fasting and thanks- 
 giving, catechising, making collections for the poor and other pious 
 purposes; exercising discipline, ami blessing the people. 
 
 [Note.— See under Directory for Worship, Chaps, iii, iv, v, vi. vii, viii, xiv and xv. 
 The subject of collections tor pious uses has occupied much o( the attention of the 
 Assemblies for many years. t in 1854 the Assembly, O, S., issued an address at once 
 comprehensive and exhaustive. See Baird, pp. 17 l- ISO. See also under Chap, xii, 
 Sec. v, on Benevolence and Finance.] 
 
154 POBM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. VIII. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT, AND THE SEVERAL KINDS 
 OF JUDICATORIES. 
 
 I. It is absolutely necessary that the government of the church be 
 exercised under some certain and definite form. And we hold it to be 
 expedient, and agreeable to Scripture and the practice of the primitive 
 Christians, that the church be governed by Congregational, Presbyterial, 
 and Synodical Assemblies. In full consistency with this belief, we 
 embrace, in the spirit of charity, those Christians who differ from us, in 
 opinion and practice, on these subjects. 
 
 II. These assemblies ought not to possess any civil jurisdiction, nor to 
 inflict any civil penalties. Their power is wholly moral or spiritual, and 
 that only ministerial and declarative. They possess the right of requir- 
 ing obedience to the laws of Christ; and of excluding the disobedient 
 and disorderly from the privileges of the church. To give efficiency, 
 however, to this necessary and scriptural authority, they possess the 
 powers requisite for obtaining evidence and inflicting censure. They 
 can call before them any offender against the order and government of 
 the church ; they can require members of their own society to appear and 
 give testimony in the cause; but the highest punishment to which their 
 authority extends, is to exclude the contumacious and impenitent from 
 the congregation of believers. 
 
 1. Union of Church and State disavowed. Relation to the State. 
 
 The Committee to whom was recommitted the report on the reference 
 from the Presbyteries of Madison and Lancaster, reported, and their 
 report was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That said Presbyteries invite the attention of the General Assembly to 
 certain slanderous reports extensively circulated against the Presbyterian 
 and other denominations, involving the charge of an attempt on the part 
 of these denominations to unite Church and State, and thus subvert the 
 civil institutions of our country, and intimate their desire that this 
 Assembly would take order on the subject, and by some public act 
 disabuse themselves and their constituents of such unfounded and injurious 
 imputations. 
 
 In the opinion of your Committee no public act is necessary on the 
 part of this Assembly to refute a charge wholly unsupported by testimony 
 and facts; nor any exposition of their principles in relation to civil 
 magistracy and the claims of the Church demanded, other than that 
 contained in our acknowledged ecclesiastical Standards, and published to 
 the world. For the better information, however, of any who may be in 
 danger of imposition from unfounded statements, the Assembly would 
 refer to the following exhibition of their principles as contained in the 
 accredited constitution of the Church. 
 
 " God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained 
 civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory and 
 the public good, and to this end hath armed them with the power of the 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND JUDICATORIES. 155 
 
 sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and 
 for the punishment of evil-doers. 
 
 " It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of magis- 
 trate, when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, as they ought 
 especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the whole- 
 some laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they may lawfully, 
 now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary 
 occasions. 
 
 " Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration 
 of the Word and Sacraments; or the power of the keys of the kingdom of 
 heaven; or, in the least, interfere in matters of faith. Yet, as nursing 
 fathers, it is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the Church of our 
 common Lord, without giving the preference to any denomination of 
 Christians above the rest, in such a manner, that all ecclesiastical persons 
 whatever shall enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharg- 
 ing every part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. 
 And, as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline 
 in his church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, or 
 hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any 
 denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief. 
 It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person and good name 
 of all their people, in such an effectual manner as that no person be 
 suffered, either upon pretence of religion or infidelity, to offer any indig- 
 nity, violence, abuse, or injury, to any other person whatsoever; and 
 to take order, that all religious and ecclesiastical assemblies be held 
 without molestation or disturbance. 
 
 "It is the duty of the people to pray for magistrates, to honor their 
 persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their lawful com- 
 mands, and to be subject to their authority, for conscience' sake. Infi- 
 delity or difference in religion doth not make void the magistrate's just 
 and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience to him ; 
 from which ecclesiastical persons are are not exempted; much less hath 
 the Pope any power or jurisdiction over them in their dominions, or over 
 any of their people; and least of all, to deprive them of their dominions 
 or lives, if he shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pretence 
 Avhatsoever. ' ' * 
 
 ' ' Synods and councils are to handle or conclude nothing, but that 
 which is ecclesiastical; and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs 
 which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition, in 
 cases extraordinary; or by way of advice for satisfaction of conscience, 
 if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate. " f 
 
 " That God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from 
 the doctrine and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary 
 to his word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. Therefore 
 they consider the rights of private judgment in all matters that respect 
 religion, as universal and unalienable. They do not even wish to see any 
 religious constitution aided by the civil power, further than may be 
 necessary for protection and security, and at the same time, be equal and 
 common to all others. ' ' J 
 
 Such are the constitutional principles of the Presbyterian Church in 
 these United States. They were our fathers' principles before and 
 
 * Confession of Faith, Chap, xxiii. t Form of Government, Chap, i, Sec. i.l 
 
 f Ibid., Chap, xxxi, Sec. 4. 
 
156 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. VIII-IX. 
 
 during the revolution, which issued in the consummation of our liberty 
 and independence, and under the influence of which they prayed, and 
 fought, and bled, by the side of the father of our country. They have 
 been the principles of their descendants ever since. They are our princi- 
 ples still, adopted from conviction, to whose support we have pledged 
 ourselves under the most solemn sanctions, and by the preservation of 
 which We believe that the common interests of evangelical religion and 
 civil liberty will be most effectually sustained. 
 
 In closing this statement the Assembly would affectionately and earnestlv 
 exhort the members of their communion that in the fulfillment of their 
 civil and religious duties they watch against all unhallowed feelings, and 
 that they suffer reproach meekly, not rendering railing for railing, nor 
 evil for evil, but by patient continuance in well-doing, they commend 
 themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. — 1830, pp. 
 299, 300. [See also Minutes, 1873, pp. 502, 503.] 
 
 2. Right of any judicatory to bear testimony against erroneous and 
 injurious publications. 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly it is the 
 right, and may be the duty, of any judicatory of our Church to take up, 
 and if it see cause, to bear testimony against any printed publication 
 which may be circulating within its bounds, and which, in the judgment 
 of that judicatory, may be adapted to inculcate injurious opinions; and 
 this whether the author be living or dead, whether he be in the com- 
 munion of our Church or not, whether he be a member of the judicatory 
 expressing the opinion or of some other. A judicatory may be solemnly 
 called upon to warn the churches under its care, and especially the rising 
 generation, against an erroneous book while the author may not be 
 within their bounds, or immediately responsible at their bar, and while, 
 even if he were thus responsible and within their reach, they might not 
 think it necessary to arraign him as a heretic. To deny our judicatories, 
 as guardians of the churches, this right would be to deny them one of 
 the most precious and powerful means of bearing testimony against dan- 
 gerous sentiments, and guarding the children of the Church against 
 ' ' that instruction which causeth to err. ' ' The writer of such a book 
 may reside at a distance from the neighborhood in which his work is 
 circulating and supposed to be doing mischief, or he may be so situated 
 that, even if it be proper to commence process against him, it may not 
 be possible to commence, or at any rate, to issue that process within a 
 number of months. In the meanwhile, if the right in question be 
 denied, this book may be scattering poison without the possibility of 
 sending forth an effectual antidote. Indeed, it may be indispensably 
 necessary in cases which may easily be imagined, to send out such a 
 warning, even though the author of the book were fully acquitted from 
 the charge of heresy. — 1835, p. 485. 
 
 3. Judicial authority cannot be granted to bodies other than those 
 established by the Constitution. 
 
 Overture from Rev. John H. Morrison, the Moderator of the Second 
 Council of the Presbyterian Alliance of India, asking the Assembly, in 
 behalf of the Council: 
 
 1. To recognize its judicial authority, so far as to authorize it to decide 
 finally cases of appeal in matters of discipline referred to the Alliance 
 
OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND JUDICATORIES, 157 
 
 by the parties concerned, in accordance with the rules of their respective 
 churches, in regard only to native churches, office-bearers, and ministers. 
 
 2. To grant a part of the Church' s outlay in India (the precise portion 
 to be settled by correspondence with the Boards of other Presbyterian 
 bodies concerned in its support) for the maintenance of an efficient 
 theological college at Allahabad, which shall have a staff of at least three 
 ordained professors, under the control of the Presbyterian Alliance of 
 India, for the training of young men for spiritual work. 
 
 It is not asked, in behalf of the Alliance, that any legislative powers 
 should be given them, or any judicial authority to deal with cases of 
 heresy, until such times as a common standard of faith and polity has 
 been adopted by all the native Presbyterian bodies of India. 
 
 In response to these requests, and in view of the important statements 
 made by the Council that the " twelve Presbyterian churches now 
 represented in India are all Presbyterian in government and Calvinistic 
 in doctrine," 
 
 The Committee recommend: 
 
 1. That this Assembly renew the approval, by the Assembly of 1879, 
 of the confederation of the churches and ministers connected with the 
 Synod of India, with other similar bodies holding the same faith and 
 order, not only so far as regards periodical meetings for friendly consul- 
 tation for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom in that land, and 
 the promotion of brotherly cooperation among the Presbyterian bodies 
 in India, but also for the purpose of forming organic relations with each 
 other, so soon as, in the providence of God, the way may seem clear for 
 more united and efficient work in that great field of Christian evangeli- 
 zation. 
 
 2. That this Assembly renew, also, the judgment of the Assembly of 
 1879, that, for purposes of representation only, the ministers, both 
 foreign and native, connected with the Synod of India, retain their 
 connections with their respective Presbyteries, so as to be entitled to vote 
 in the appointment of Commissioners to the General Assembly, and so 
 as to be able to conduct all their ecclesiastical affairs in a constitutional 
 and orderly manner, especially until such times as a common standard of 
 faith and polity shall be adopted by the churches represented in the 
 Presbyterian Alliance of India. 
 
 3. Inasmuch as the Synods have now been made judicatories of the 
 last resort in all cases of appeal " not involving the Constitution or 
 doctrine of the Church, ' ' the Committee recommend, that the Assembly 
 declare, that the request to confer judicial authority on the Presbyterian 
 Alliance, to decide cases of appeal in matters of discipline not involving 
 cases of heresy, cannot be granted in accordance with the Constitution. 
 Adopted.— 1881, pp. 589, 590. (See 1879, p. 620.) 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. i, 1896, p. 147.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 
 
 1. The church session consists of the pastor or pastors, and ruling 
 elders, of a particular congregation. 
 
158 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 1. A special Session unconstitutional. An offender must be tried by the 
 constitutional judicatories. 
 
 a. The Presbytery of Miami did appoint a special Session composed of 
 elders belonging to different congregations, for the purpose of trying 
 Mr. Lowrey, and the decision of such a special Session was affirmed by 
 the Synod of Ohio; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal of Mr. Lowrey be sustained, and it hereby 
 is sustained ; and that all the proceedings in the case be, and they hereby 
 are reversed, on the ground that the appointment of such a special 
 Session is entirely unconstitutional; and if Mr. Lowrey has done any- 
 thing offensive, he ought to be tried by the courts that have been 
 instituted by the Constitution of our Church. — 1823, p. 92. 
 
 b. This Assembly concur in opinion with the last General Assembly, 
 that the special Session appointed by the Presbytery of Miami for the 
 trial of S. Lowrey was an unconstitutional court, and that all the proceed- 
 ings of that body in this case, and of the Presbytery of Miami and of 
 the Synod of Ohio, sanctioning the acts of that body, are irregular. 
 And the allegation of the Synod in their memorial that this body, though 
 called a Session, was, in reality, no more than a Committee of Presby- 
 tery, is incorrect, for they are not only denominated a Session, but they 
 performed the acts which belong peculiarly to a church Session ; they sat 
 in judgment upon a member of the church and an elder, and condemned 
 and suspended him; but no Presbytery has authority, according to the 
 Constitution of our Church, to delegate to a Committee a power to per- 
 form such acts as those. — 1824, p. 115. 
 
 C. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Ohio reported. The report was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That the minutes be approved to page 191, with the exception of the 
 minutes on page 169, where a select Session was appointed by the Pres- 
 bytery of Miami, which, in the judgment of the Assembly, was uncon- 
 stitutional, and of which the Synod has taken no notice. — 1824, p. 117. 
 
 [Note. — For a special case where a Session could not act because of the relations of 
 the only elder to the accused, see above, Chap, v, 11. J 
 
 d. Overture from the Presbytery of Kaskaskia, asking the General 
 Assembly to make provision for the calling of special sessions of ruling 
 elders from neighboring churches to obviate delays in cases of discipline 
 for want of quorums of church Sessions. 
 
 The Assembly can afford no relief of the nature proposed to the 
 difficulties contemplated. — 1860, p. 28, O. S. 
 
 [Xote. — See 1 above.] 
 
 2. A Session may consist of foreign missionaries. 
 
 As to the matter of reception and discipline of members, answer is 
 made that the Session of each church is vested, under the Form of 
 Government, with full power in regard thereto. In the absence of 
 ordained elders a Session may consist of the missionaries in charge of the 
 work on a foreign field. — 1896, p. 147. 
 
 3. An elder may not adjudicate in any church in which he is not an 
 
 elder. 
 
 Overture No. 14, viz., the following question from the Presbytery of 
 Salem, " Has a ruling elder in any case a legal right to adjudicate in 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 159 
 
 another church than that of which he is an elder ?' ' was taken up and 
 decided in the negative. — 1831, p. 324. 
 
 4. A minister may not sit as a corresponding member of Session nor be 
 
 assigned as counsel for the accused. 
 
 May a Session of a church invite a minister of the Gospel belonging to 
 the same Presbytery or Synod to which the church belongs to sit as a 
 corresponding member of said Session ? and when so invited, may such 
 minister, at the request of an accused brother, be assigned as counsel for 
 the accused ? 
 
 The Committee recommended that both questions be answered in the 
 negative, and the report was adopted. — 1851, p. 20, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See the definition of the Church Session, Chap, ix, Sec. i.] 
 
 5. Elders must be ordained. Neglect of ordination invalidates decisions. 
 
 The Committee on Church Polity reported two questions with the 
 recommendation that they be answered in the negative : 
 
 a. 1. Is an elder-elect a member of the Session, and competent to sit 
 in a judicial case before he has been ordained according to the Form of 
 Government ? 
 
 b. 2. Would a decision in a case of discipline, made by a Session 
 whose members have never been ordained according to the Form of 
 Government, Chap, xiii, be a valid and lawful decision, and binding 
 upon the accused. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1868, p. 58, N. S. 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sees, iii, iv.] 
 
 II. Of this judicatory, two elders, if there be as many in the congre- 
 gation, with the pastor, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. 
 [Note. — See 3. below.] 
 
 1. A minister with one elder, if there be but one, may constitute a 
 
 quorum. 
 
 a. The inquiry, which is in these words, " Can a minister with one 
 elder form a Session capable of transacting judicial business ?" is suffi- 
 ciently answered in the Constitution, Form of Government, Chap, ix, 
 Sec. ii, where it seems to be implied that cases may occur with infant or 
 feeble churches, in which it would be impracticable for a time to have 
 more than one elder, and yet be necessary to perform acts of a judicial 
 character. 
 
 For such the Constitution provides; but if there be more than one 
 elder, then two at least, with a minister, are necessary to form a Session. 
 —1836, p. 521; 1892, p. 188. 
 
 b. A request from the Presbytery of Muncie, that the Assembly take 
 the necessary steps for procuring such an alteration in the Form of Gov- 
 ernment, as will enable a minister and one elder to perform Sessional 
 acts, when the other elder shall, in the judgment of the Presbytery, be 
 from any cause incompetent to act in the case. 
 
 The Committee recommended to the Assembly to adopt the following 
 minute: Resolved, That no alteration of our constitutional rules is need- 
 ful to secure the ends of discipline, in the premises. The report was 
 adopted.— 1852, p. 210, O. S. 
 
160 
 
 2. A single elder may constitute the Session. 
 
 To advise that, if Mr. Armstrong, as alleged, refuses to act as a 
 ruling elder, and has left the church, Mr. Chandler constitutes the 
 Session of the First Church of Wilmington, and is entitled to act as 
 such.— 1869, p. 911, O. S. 
 
 3. Where elders are non-resident, the remaining' members authorized 
 
 to act. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Wellsborough, asking, " What is 
 and will be the legal quorum of the Mt. Jewett Session, where of the 
 three elders two are non-resident and their residences unknown, and there 
 is no prospect of securing additional elders in the future V ' 
 
 The Committee recommend that the pastor and the one elder actually 
 ' ' in the congregation ' ' be recognized under existing circumstances, and 
 so long as the present condition of affairs may continue, as the legal 
 quorum of the Session. See Minutes of the General Assembly, 1836, 
 p. 521. Adopted.— 1892, p. 188. 
 
 4. Less than a quorum incapable of any organic act. 
 
 The law of a quorum is not a mere rule of procedure, a provision of 
 order, but a matter respecting the very being of the judicatory. Any 
 number of members less than a constitutional quorum do not make a 
 judicatory, and are not competent to any organic act. — 1861, p. 456, 
 
 N. S. 
 
 [Note.— See also under Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. vii, 3, a, denning the 
 Law of a Quorum.] 
 
 5. Official acts of Session can be performed only when it is regularly 
 convened. Prayer in opening and closing recommended. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church reported: 
 Overture from the Stated Clerk, representing the Presbytery of Boul- 
 der, inquiring: 
 
 1. Wherein consists the distinction between an " informal" meeting of 
 a Session and a ' ' regular ' ' meeting ? 
 
 2. Ought the acts of informal meetings to be entered on the records 
 before they have been ratified in a regular meeting ? 
 
 3. Is it regular to receive members to the church, especially on a 
 profession of their faith, or to appoint delegates to the Presbytery or the 
 Synod, at such informal meetings of Session ? 
 
 4. Ought not the validity of an elder's seat in the superior judicato- 
 ries to be determined by the record of his due appointment at a regular 
 meeting of the Session; and in the absence of such a record might not 
 an elder, in a test case involving important issues, be denied his seat 
 constitutionally ? 
 
 5. Ought a Session to send up its records for review without first 
 reviewing them itself, and formally ratifying any informal acts at a 
 regular meeting ? In particular, is it proper that the last entry should 
 be a memorandum acted upon at an informal meeting, which can be 
 approved only after the Presbytery has adjourned ? 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 a. The acts referred to in this overture are properly official acts, 
 which the judicatory is competent to perform only when regularly con- 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 161 
 
 vened, and making due record of its proceedings. (See Form of Gov- 
 ernment, Chap, ix, Sees, i, ii, iii, iv, v, vii, viii. ) 
 
 b. While the act of opening and closing the meetings of a Session 
 with prayer is not enjoined by the Constitution, this Assembly, in 
 accordance with the views expressed by the Assembly of 1877, judges 
 it to be in harmony with the spirit of the Constitution and the prevail- 
 ing usage of the Church to observe this solemnity at all meetings of 
 record, except that the opening prayer may properly be omitted after a 
 divine service. Adopted. — 1884, p. 113. 
 
 6. The Session has discretion as to the circumstances under which a 
 meeting should be opened and closed with prayer. 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed to hear and issue " The complaint 
 of the Revs. R. Conover and C. H. Little and Elder W. B. Rundell, 
 against the action of the Synod of Illinois, for refusing to sustain the 
 complaint of Rev. R. Conover against the action of the Presbytery of 
 Bloomington in placing upon the records of various church Sessions at 
 their stated meeting, April 15, 1891, exceptions to the records, because 
 ' they did not always open and close their meetings with prayer,' " 
 reports its finding in the case as follows: 
 
 Finding. — The Constitution of the Church requires that every judica- 
 tory above the church Session shall be opened and closed with prayer. 
 
 The General Assembly has declared that, " While the act of opening 
 and closing the meetings of a Session with prayer is not enjoined by the 
 Constitution, it judges it to be in harmony with the spirit of the Consti- 
 tution, and the prevailing usage of the Church, to observe this solemnity 
 at all meetings of record, except that the opening prayer may properly 
 be omitted after a divine service " (1877, p. 575). 
 
 It is obvious, therefore, that the Session has discretion as to the 
 circumstances under which any given meeting may be opened and closed 
 with prayer. 
 
 This Commission, therefore, find that the complaint is sustained by 
 the Constitution of the Church, and the judgment of the Synod is here- 
 by reversed. 
 
 The effect of this is to remove the exception placed on the Session 
 records, which exception is of the nature of a judicial censure. 
 
 The report was received, and its judgment ordered to be recorded. — 
 1892, pp. 212, 213. 
 
 III. The pastor of the congregation shall always be the moderator of 
 the Session; except when, for prudential reasons, it may appear advisa- 
 ble that some other minister should be invited to preside ; in which case, 
 the pastor may, with the concurrence of the Session, invite such other 
 minister as they may see meet, belonging to the same Presbytery, to 
 preside in that case. The same expedient may be adopted in case of 
 the sickness or absence of the pastor. 
 
 1. A pastor-elect not moderator or stated supply by virtue of the call 
 
 in progress. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Erie, presenting two questions: (1) 
 When a minister has accepted a call to a congregation, said call having 
 11 
 
162 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 been placed in his hands by the Presbytery, is he ex- officio moderator of 
 the Session of that congregation previous to his installation ? 
 
 The Committee recommend this answer: A pastor -elect is not mod- 
 erator ex-officio, as he yet has no official connection with that church. 
 But he may become moderator, if a member of the Presbytery under 
 whose care the church is, by invitation of the Session or by appointment 
 of Presbytery. 
 
 (2) "Is such a pastor-elect stated supply previous to his installation ? 
 Or is it in the power of the Presbytery to appoint other supplies ?' ' We 
 recommend this answer: He is not stated supply by any virtue of the 
 call in progress; and the Presbytery may appoint supplies or give the 
 Session permission to supply the pulpit. Adopted. — 1880, p. 45. * 
 [Note. — See under Chap, iv, above, p. 147.] 
 
 2. Who may moderate a Session in the absence of a pastor ? 
 
 TNote. — In a case substantially described in the answer given below the Presby- 
 tery of the District of Columbia overtured the Assembly for answer to the above 
 question. 1 
 
 The Committee recommended the following response, which was 
 adopted: 
 
 The question proposed is limited to specified circumstances — namely, 
 " In the absence of the pastor," and " the great inconvenience of pro- 
 curing a moderator," " having no ordained minister of the same Pres- 
 bytery residing within forty miles." 
 
 The Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. iii, provides that, in " case 
 of the sickness or absence of the pastor," another minister " belonging 
 to the same Presbytery ' ' may be invited ' ' to preside. ' ' There is no 
 provision for inviting any minister not ' ' belonging to the same Presby- 
 tery," to preside over a meeting of the Session, much less any minister 
 of the Word. 
 
 Section iv declares it to be " expedient at every meeting of the Session, 
 more especially when constituted for judicial business, that there be a 
 presiding minister;" but, after providing for a moderator, " where a 
 church is without a pastor," and, of course, in the case stated, Sec. iii, 
 it adds, " But where it is impracticable, without great inconvenience, to 
 procure the attendance of such a moderator, the Session may proceed 
 without it." 
 
 The Committee would, therefore, recommend that the answer to the 
 overture be : That in cases similar to that stated, the Session, under its 
 responsibility to the Presbytery, is the judge of the impracticability of 
 procuring a moderator."— 1869, p. 272, N. S. Confirmed 1891, p. 107. 
 
 3. When another minister acts as moderator the pastor is a member of 
 the Session and may be appointed a prosecutor. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Missouri, asking: Is a pastor a member 
 of a Session when by the action of Session another minister acts as 
 moderator, and is he such a member of the Session that he may be 
 appointed by the Session as prosecutor in a trial of a member ? Answer: 
 Yes.— 1890, p. 47. 
 
 IV. It is expedient, at every meeting of the session, more especially 
 when constituted for judicial business, that there be a presiding minis- 
 ter. When, therefore, a church is without a pastor, the moderator of 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 163 
 
 the session shall be either the minister appointed for that purpose by the 
 Presbytery, or one invited by the session to preside on a particular occa- 
 sion. But where it is impracticable, without great inconvenience, to 
 procure the attendance of such a moderator, the session may proceed 
 without it. 
 
 1. Where a minister is the accuser, a minister should preside. 
 After stating the cause and reading the judgment of the Session, and 
 the appeal, both parties were fully heard; and the Synod finding, that 
 as the Session had not a minister of the Word to preside through the 
 course of the trial, and that a minister was the accuser of the appellant, 
 it was judged it was at least inexpedient to proceed to trial; and upon 
 the whole we think it best, and do remit the matter back to the Presby- 
 tery to be heard and judged of by them de novo. — 1773, p. 447. 
 
 2. Moderator usually to be of the same Presbytery. Session cannot 
 invite minister of another Presbytery. 
 
 a. From the Presbytery of Tombeckbee, the question: Is it orderly 
 that a member of one Presbytery moderate a church Session of another 
 Presbytery ? — which question the Assembly answered in the affirmative. 
 —1843, p. 198, O. S. 
 
 b. 1. Is it orderly for a Session under the care of one Presbytery, to 
 request a minister of another Presbytery to moderate them, without first 
 obtaining leave from their Presbytery ? 
 
 2. Is it constitutional for a minister to moderate a Session under the 
 care of a different Presbytery from his own, without first asking and 
 obtaining leave of the Presbytery having jurisdiction over said Session ? 
 
 Resolved, That the last Assembly, in deciding that a Session may invite 
 a minister who is a member of another Presbytery to sit as their moder- 
 ator, did not include any of those cases in which it is required either in 
 express terms, or by plain implication [Form of Government, Chap, ix, 
 Sees, iii and iv] , that the moderator shall be of the same Presbytery as 
 the congregation; but are of opinion that in cases of a different kind, 
 for which no provision is made, a member of another Presbytery may 
 be invited to act as moderator, if it be found to be expedient. — 1844, 
 p. 359, O. S. 
 
 C. Overture from the Presbytery of Winnebago, asking: " Is it law- 
 ful for the Session of a church that is without a pastor, to invite a minis- 
 ter of another Presbytery to moderate its meetings ? ' ' Answer : No. 
 (See Digest, 1886, p. 126, a, b, c.) Adopted.— 1891, p. 107. 
 
 V. In congregations where there are two or more pastors, they shall, 
 when present, alternately preside in the session. 
 
 VI. The Church session is charged with maintaining the spiritual gov- 
 ernment of the congregation; for which purpose they have power to 
 inquire into the knowledge and Christian conduct of the members of the 
 church, to call before them offenders and witnesses, being members of 
 their own congregation, and to introduce other witnesses where it may be 
 necessary to bring the process to issue, and when they can be procured 
 to attend; to receive members into the church; to admonish, to rebuke, 
 to suspend or exclude from the sacraments those who are found to deserve 
 
164 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 censure; to concert the best measures for promoting the spiritual interests 
 of the congregation, and to appoint delegates to the higher judicatories 
 of the Church. 
 
 1. The Session has original jurisdiction over church members. 
 
 a. It [the Assembly] has no power to commence a process of discipline 
 with an individual offender. That, by a just and wise arrangement, 
 belongs to the Session in the case of a layman, to the Presbytery in the 
 case of a minister. — 1856, p. 200, N. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the church of Genoa be referred to the minute of 
 the Assembly formed in the case of David Price in the year 1825, from 
 which it will appear that in the judgment of the Assembly, " an admo- 
 nition ' ' was ' ' deserved ' ' by the said Price in consequence of his 
 unchristian conduct. And it is the judgment of this Assembly that the 
 Session ought immediately to have administered such admonition; that 
 they ought still to administer it; and that if the said Price refuse to submit 
 to such admonition, or do not thereupon manifest repentance and Chris- 
 tian temper to the satisfaction of the church, he ought not to be received 
 into the communion of that or any other Presbyterian church. — 1827, 
 p. 203. 
 
 C. The Synod [of Genesee] seems to have forgotten the nature and 
 limits of its appellate as distinguished from the original jurisdiction in the 
 case, in that they censure at their bar the appellant in a way competent 
 in any circumstances only to the Session of the church to which the 
 appellant was primarily amenable. — 1840, p. 11, N. S. 
 
 d. No vote of the congregation of a Presbyterian church can affect 
 the rights of a communing member as such. All such power is vested 
 in the Session. — 1866, p. 54, O. S. 
 
 2. The Session has oversight of the conduct of church members. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly warns the churches under its care against 
 the spirit of worldly conformity now prevailing, and reminds the church 
 Sessions that all known departures from the Word of God in all the 
 pleasures and duties of private, social and civil life of their members are 
 under their supervision. — 1874, p. 85. 
 
 [Note. — See Discipline, Chap, iv, Sec. xviii, last clause.] 
 
 3. The Session has oversight of Young People's Societies. 
 
 The General Assembly heartily commends to the loving sympathy and 
 oversight of the pastors, Sessions and Presbyteries of our Church, these 
 various Young People's Associations, and recommends especially that 
 each Presbytery shall appoint a Permanent Committee to cooperate and 
 counsel with them in such ways as the circumstances in each case may 
 indicate as being wise and necessary for the highest interests of all 
 departments of the Church's work and worship. — 1891, p. 113; 1893, 
 p. 127. 
 
 4. Statement of relation between the individual society and the Church. 
 This Assembly recognizes as under the jurisdiction of the Church, all 
 Young People's religious organizations of every name, which are to be 
 found within its churches or composed of the members of its churches. 
 The variety in the forms of these organizations cannot affect the substan- 
 tial relation which they all alike sustain to the Church in her organized 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 165 
 
 capacity. That relation is, in one sense at least, the relation of a child 
 to its mother, and involves thereby mutual obligations. The Church in 
 her courts owes it to her young people to take account of their aspira- 
 tions and activities, and to provide proper media for the exercise of 
 these; and the young people, on their part, as members of the Church, 
 have a duty of recognizing fully her spiritual authority, implying, as this 
 does, her right to advise with them, and to direct their movements. It 
 is this authority which unites together all Presbyterian churches into one 
 common body, and it must reach to all of its organizations. Such being 
 the case, the Assembly deems it unnecessary to prescribe any specific 
 form of organization for individual Young People's Societies, while it 
 expects them to conform to certain acknowledged principles, both gen- 
 eral and particular, as follows: 
 
 In general, these societies are to be organized and to work in con- 
 formity with the historic position of the Church as expressed in her 
 Standards and interpreted by her courts. This historic position of the 
 Church needs to be emphasized to-day with reference to 
 
 a. The reverence due to the Word of God as the infallible rule of 
 faith and practice. The Church cannot countenance as teachers of her 
 young people any men in whom she could not repose confidence as teach- 
 ers of her older people. 
 
 b. The honor due to the Holy Spirit in the development of the Chris- 
 tian life, and the emphasis to be placed, under His divine tuition, on the 
 spiritual rather than the formal. 
 
 C. The primary authority and inclusive scope of the vows assumed by 
 our members, when they unite with the Church. 
 
 d. The chief means for growth in grace and in the knowledge of 
 Christ for our young people, as for our older people, are the divinely 
 appointed ordinances of the sanctuary, including prayer, praise and the 
 reading and preaching of the Word and the administration of the 
 sacraments, under the direction of the ordained ministry. 
 
 e. The separation of the Church in its organic capacities from all 
 political creeds and all methods of political action. Our Young People's 
 Societies may not be utilized for the advancement of any political 
 project, however apparently laudable. The Church inculcates upon her 
 members the loyal discharge of their responsibilities as citizens, but, in 
 political matters, leaves it to the individual conscience to determine as to 
 political parties and candidates and platforms. 
 
 The particular relations of all our Young People's Societies to the 
 Church are sustained, in the first instance, to the Session of a particular 
 church, and thence, through the Session, to the Church at large. Each 
 such society is under the immediate direction, control and oversight of 
 the Session of that church in which it is formed, and that oversight is 
 not merely general, but applies to 
 
 a. The constitution of the Society, which the Session must be careful 
 to see is framed in accordance with the general principles named herein- 
 before, and the received usages of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 b. The schedule of its services, including the time of meeting, the 
 course of topics, and the general leadership, in order that such services 
 may form an integral part of the work and worship of the Church. 
 
 C. The election of its officers to this extent, that each society shall 
 submit for the approval of the Session, the list of those whom it has 
 chosen, lest unsuitable persons should be placed in positions of influence. 
 
166 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 d. The distribution of its funds, that the regular benevolent work of 
 the Church, under the care of our Boards, be not allowed to suffer 
 through indiscriminate contributions to miscellaneous objects, which 
 appeal to individual sympathy. — 1896, p. 62. 
 
 5. Jurisdiction over a suspended member is in the church which 
 suspended him. 
 
 Overture from certain members of the Presbytery of Madison. 
 
 We desire to make the following statement and inquiries : 
 
 A person is, we will suppose, under suspension in one of our own 
 churches. He removes, and unites, on examination, with another of our 
 churches, the Session of the latter one being wholly ignorant of his 
 former membership, and, of course, of his suspension. The facts are, 
 however, afterward discovered. 
 
 Would this discovery of itself vitiate his second membership, and 
 leave him simply a suspended member of the former church ? 
 
 Would unworthiness for church membership, clearly manifested while 
 in the latter church, and before said discovery, rightfully add any 
 efficacy toward producing this result ? 
 
 To the first of the above questions the Committee recommend an 
 answer in the affirmative; to the second, if the question mean whether 
 the Session of the second church has jurisdiction in the case of unwor- 
 thinesses manifested in the second relation, the Committee recommend an 
 answer in the negative; but if the question mean whether the unworthi- 
 nesses manifested in the second relation be proper ground of separate 
 process by the Session of the first church, the Committee recommend an 
 answer in the affirmative. In respect to the whole case the Committee 
 agree in the statement following: 
 
 The person, uniting with the second church on examination, unites 
 deceptively. So soon as the facts in the case are ascertained by the 
 Session of this second church, the proper order of procedure is for this 
 Session, after conference with the accused person, to strike his name 
 from their roll of church members as not under their jurisdiction, to 
 communicate their action to the Session suspending him, with the reasons 
 for it, and to request the said Session to proceed against him on separate 
 process for duplicity and disorder. 
 
 The reply of the Committee was adopted. — 1866, p. 269, N. S. 
 [Note.— See under Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sec. xlix.] 
 
 6. The vote of the Session is the reception to membership. It must involve 
 baptism. The use and authority of local confessions and covenants. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported on Overture No. 9, 
 making inquiry concerning the relation of persons received, by act of 
 Session, during the interval of such reception and the subsequent sacra- 
 mental Sabbath. The report was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 In answer to the several questions contained in the above overture, the 
 Assembly refers to the Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, in which 
 the reception of "members into the church," is expressly specified as one 
 of the duties and powers of the church Session. For this purpose the 
 Session is the church, and its act of admission the act of the church. 
 When, therefore, an applicant for admission by letter is received by a 
 vote of the Session, he is at once a member of the church, entitled to all 
 the privileges, and subject to all the responsibilities, of this relation. 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 167 
 
 The same rule equally applies to candidates for admission into the 
 church on a profession of their faith. The vote of the Session is the 
 essential and final act by which they are thus received, and needs no 
 subsequent action of the church to give it reality or validity. The 
 administration of baptism according to the Word of God, in the case of 
 unbaptized persons, must, of course, be involved in, and attendant 
 upon, this Sessional act, either at the time, which would be • entirely 
 proper, or at a subsequent period appointed for this purpose. The 
 Session, if thus choosing, may prescribe a public profession of faith 
 before the whole church as a convenient usage, and for this purpose may 
 employ a church confession and covenant. This is the practice with 
 many Sessions, and, where this practice is adopted, it is proper that the 
 officiating minister or clerk of the Session should report a statement of 
 the fact in accordance therewith, and that the report should be formally 
 entered upon the record of the Session. 
 
 It is well, however, to remember that the confessions of faith and 
 covenants in use among local churches, though regarded by many as 
 convenient and useful, and certainly sanctioned by a very prevalent 
 usage, are nevertheless not essential to the organization of a church, or 
 the establishment of membership therein, since they are not the authori- 
 tative standard of faith or practice in the Presbyterian Church. Such 
 confessions and covenants, with the accompanying form of a public 
 profession, may or may not be used, as shall seem most expedient to the 
 Session. Whether used or not, the vote of the Session is, by the con- 
 stitution of the Presbyterian Church, the act on which the membership 
 depends, and, in all cases, the records of the Session should be made to 
 correspond with this fundamental principle of the polity of the Church. 
 
 These principles cover all the points submitted in the above overture. 
 Their application is simple, and hence the Assembly sees no occasion for 
 giving a more detailed and specific answer to the several questions pre- 
 sented for its consideration. — 1865, pp. 22, 23, N. S. 
 
 7. An unbaptized person applying for admission to the church must 
 
 be baptized. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church reported an overture, 
 asking, ' ' Whether a vote of a Session entitles a person to the privileges 
 of the church, who is not baptized and has not made a public profession 
 of faith. ' ' They recommended the following answer : 
 
 The vote of the Session does not entitle an unbaptized person to the 
 privileges of the church, for the reason that baptism, as our Confession of 
 Faith declares (Chap, xxviii, Sec. i), is declared to be a sacrament for 
 the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church. 
 
 The public profession of one's faith may for sufficient reasons, as our 
 Directory for Worship allows, be omitted; but the exceptional case does 
 not respect baptism, which precedes the admission of the party to the 
 Lord's table. The vote of the Session to this effect must be conditioned 
 upon the baptism, and can in no case be a substitute for the sacrament 
 itself. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1867, p. 496, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, x, Sec. iv.] 
 
 8. Certificate of dismission required. 
 
 Nor can the Assembly forbear to regret that the Session of the 
 church of Chillicothe had not acted in a more formal manner in receiv- 
 
168 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 ing Mr. McCalla, and had not required a regular certificate of dismission 
 from the church to which Mr. McCalla belonged before they received 
 him.— 1821, p. 21. 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, xii, Sec. cxiv.] 
 
 9. Examination of candidates ought ordinarily to be in the presence 
 
 of the Session. 
 
 [Note.— See Directory for Worship, Chap, x, Sec. iii, and Minutes, 1885, p. 638.] 
 
 10. Members should be received to the church only by a Session 
 regularly constituted. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the subject involved in so much 
 of the records of the Synod of Cincinnati as relates to the admission of 
 persons to church privileges at the great meetings common in that region, 
 made the following report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 a. 1. Resolved, That the order of the churches requires that all per- 
 sons making a public profession of religion be introduced to the 
 communion of the church only by an individual Session regularly con- 
 stituted. 
 
 b. 2. Resolved, That it is the right and duty of Sessions to take the 
 exclusive oversight of their respective congregations, and the practice of 
 one Session admitting to a Christian profession persons belonging or 
 intending to belong to a congregation under the care of another Session, 
 is irregular. —1832, p. 373. 
 
 11. Session can receive persons only into the organized church of which 
 
 it is the governing body. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of St. Louis, with reference to the 
 reception of members into mission organizations or chapels. Recommen- 
 dation: The Assembly answers that Sessions cannot receive persons on 
 profession of their faith in Christ, or by letter, into any body except 
 into the organized church of which any given Session is the governing 
 body. Adopted.— 1893, p. 86. 
 
 12. Duty of the Session in the case of those who have joined another 
 
 church and are in other respects irregular. 
 
 A paper from the Presbytery of Detroit, asking : ' ' What course shall 
 a Session pursue in regard to a member who has left the church, and 
 become a member of another church, without having asked for or 
 obtained a letter of dismission ?' ' The Presbytery puts four cases : ( 1 ) 
 " Those who have preceded or accompanied their departure to another 
 church by absenting themselves from the ordinances of the church to 
 which they owe allegiance." (2) " Those who have been guilty of such 
 errors in doctrine as amount to heresy ; or such errors in practice as 
 amount to practical immorality or apostasy." (3) " Those who, by 
 change of conviction, without any such flagrant departure from doctrine 
 or morality, have been induced to unite with a church which does not 
 hold correspondence with our church. " (4) " Those who have entered 
 an organization or endorsed a creed outside of what we recognize as 
 evangelical. ' ' 
 
 The Committee would reply that almost every phase of neglect of 
 church duty, or departure from church connection, has been acted upon 
 by the Assembly before the separation, or by the separate branches 
 during the separation, or by the reunited Assembly. The Committee 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 169 
 
 would, therefore, recommend that these petitioners be referred to these 
 past actions: (1) To the action of the Assembly of 1825, paragraph iii, 
 Sees. 3 and 4, pp. 625 and 626, Moore's Digest, 1873; 1886, p. 756. 
 (2) Action of the Assembly of 1872, paragraph i, Sees. 3 and 4, 
 Moore's Digest, 1873, p. 628; 1886, p. 756. (3) Action of N. S. 
 Assembly, 1868, last two sections on p. 130, of Moore's Digest, 1886. 
 (4) Action of the N. S. Assembly of 1839, p. 24, Sec. c, on p. 169, 
 Moore's Digest, 1886. Adopted.— 1880, p. 45; also 1879, p. 613; 
 1828, p. 240. 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, on "Cases without process," Sec. Iii.] 
 
 13. Sessions may not receive members of other churches without regular 
 
 dismission. 
 
 The same Committee reported an overture, asking if it be in accord- 
 ance with ecclesiastical law and order in the Church, to receive members 
 of another church who have not been regularly dismissed, with a view to 
 such a change of relation. 
 
 The Committee recommended that, so far as churches in our own 
 connection are concerned, the question be answered in the negative, and 
 refer to the Book of Discipline (old), Chap, xi, Sec. 1; (new) Sec. 
 cxiv. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1868, p. 58, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Chap, xii, Sec. cxiv.] 
 
 14. Duty of the Session in case of those who doubt their personal piety. 
 
 [Note— See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sees, xlviii and 1, " Cases without pro- 
 cess," and Larger Catechism, Question 172.] 
 
 15. The examination of candidates for admission to sealing ordinances 
 should, except in special cases, be in the presence of the Session. 
 
 Your Committee recommend the following action: Inasmuch as the 
 members of the Session are the judges of the qualifications of those to be 
 admitted to sealing ordinances, and the reception of such is their act, the 
 examination of candidates ought manifestly to be in their presence, unless 
 in special cases of sickness or other hindrance, when this duty may be 
 performed by a Committee under direction of the Session. (See Moore's 
 Digest, 1886, p. 130.) Adopted.— 1885, p. 638. 
 
 [Note.— See Directory for Worship, Chap, ix, Sec. iii.] 
 
 16. The Session has no power to prohibit collections ordered by the 
 
 Assembly. 
 
 a. Ordered, That every minister, according to our former agreement, 
 propose the collection for the fund to his congregation, and as it is a 
 Synodical appointment, it is inconsistent with our Church government 
 to be under the check or prohibition of a church Session: they indeed 
 may give or withhold their charity, but may not prevent a minister to 
 propose it publicly, according to our appointment. Ordered, likewise, 
 That every Presbytery take care of the conduct of their members, how 
 they observe this agreement previous to their coming to the Synod, and 
 that they gather the collection from absent members. — 1755, p. 215. 
 
 b. Whereas, it appears that some of the congregations under the care 
 of this Assembly, though duly informed of the injunction made at our 
 last sessions respecting the raising of contributions for the support of 
 missionaries to the frontiers of the country, have not complied with the 
 
170 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 same, the Assembly, therefore, thought proper to continue the above- 
 mentioned order, and do hereby enjoin it on all the Presbyteries to give 
 particular attention that every congregation raise the specified contribu- 
 tion, and that all the contributions be sent forward as soon as possible to 
 the treasurer of the General Assembly. — 1790, p. 24. 
 
 17. Representation in the superior courts required. 
 
 a. Mr. McNish's reasons for not bringing an elder or representative 
 with him were heard and sustained. 
 
 Mr. Henry's representative of the congregation being absent, and his 
 reasons for not coming being inquired into, he said the present condition 
 of his people made it necessary that there should be a particular collec- 
 tion made by the congregation for defraying the charges of the represen- 
 tative to the Presbytery, and it was allowed that there should. 
 
 The reasons of Mr. Pumry's elder's absence were inquired into and 
 sustained. — 1716, p. 43. 
 
 b. The Synod do recommend it to the several Presbyteries belonging 
 to their body to call those Sessions to account that do not send elders to 
 attend upon the Synod and Presbyteries, and to enjoin these Sessions to 
 call those elders to account that do not attend upon judicatories, when 
 sent by them.— 1753, p. 256. 
 
 18. Attendance on the superior courts enforced. 
 
 Expenses of elders should be paid. 
 
 a. Upon calling over the roll it being found that many of the elders 
 have gone home without leaving any reasons for their so doing, the Synod 
 do order that such elders as do withdraw from the Synod without leave, 
 shall be left to the censure of their Sessions, and report made thereof to 
 the next Synod. And the Synod do recommend it to the several con- 
 gregations to defray the necessary charges that their elders be at, during 
 their attendance upon the Synod. — 1735, p. 117. 
 
 Ruling elders should be called on for reasons of absence. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Pittsburgh were approved, with the 
 exception, " that ruling elders were not called upon for reasons for 
 absence, as in the case of teaching elders. — 1859, p. 531, O. S. 
 
 19. The same elder must represent his church at an adjourned meeting 
 who represented it at the stated meeting. 
 
 Exception to the records of the Synod of Columbus, " That on p. 73, 
 this minute is made: Your Committee would recommend that Overture 
 No. 2, ' Can a Session be represented by a different elder at adjourned 
 meetings of Presbytery, be answered in the affirmative. Adopted.' 
 This action of the Synod is in direct variance with a deliverance of the 
 Assembly of 1827."— 1872, p. 68. 
 
 The deliverance referred to is as follows, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly, the con- 
 struction of the Constitution (Form of Government, Chap, xxii, Sec. i), 
 which allows Commissioners, after holding their seats for a time, to resign 
 them to their alternates, or which allows alternates to sit for a while and 
 then resign their places to their principals, is erroneous; that the practice 
 growing out of this construction is inexpedient; and that it ought to be 
 discontinued. [Adopted. ] —Minutes, 1827, p. 209, 210. 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 171 
 
 20. In appointing delegates to the higher judicatories the Session should 
 designate the service to be performed. 
 
 Overture. — A request from the Presbytery of Newton that the Assem- 
 bly answer the following questions: 
 
 1. Is a ruling elder, appointed to represent a Session in the Synod, by 
 virtue of that appointment also its representative at any adjourned meet- 
 ing of his Presbytery which may be held during the intervals of the 
 sessions of the Synod ? 
 
 2. May a Session, which has appointed a ruling elder its delegate to a 
 stated meeting of the Presbytery, appoint an elder whom it delegates to 
 the Synod to represent it, also, at any adjourned meeting of the same 
 stated meeting of the Presbytery which may be held during the intervals 
 of the Session of the Synod ? 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 That no rule is laid down in our Standards as to the particular term or 
 time of service of delegates appointed by church Sessions to the higher 
 judicatories of the Church; and the Committee therefore recommend that 
 it be left to each Session to prescribe the particular terms for which, or 
 times at which, its delegates shall attend as its representatives in such 
 judicatories. Under this view, the first branch of the overture is 
 answered in the negative; but the questions involved in both branches are 
 subject in each individual case to the control of each Session. — 1878, 
 p. 69. 
 
 21. Communion wine : the purest attainable to be used. 
 
 [Note.— See under Directory for Worship, Chap, ix, Sec. v, p. 853.] 
 
 22. Baptism of Roman Catholic converts discretionary. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, vii.] 
 
 23. Discretion of the Session as to women's part in meetings for prayer. 
 
 a. [In 1872 the Assembly was asked to transmit to the Presbyteries 
 such rules as would forbid the licensing and ordaining of women to the 
 Gospel ministry, and the teaching and preaching of women in our pulpits 
 or in the public and promiscuous meetings of the Church of Christ. 
 
 The Assembly reply that there is no necessity for a change of the Con- 
 stitution, and refer to the deliverance of 1832 as expressing its judgment. 
 —1872, p. 89. 
 
 The deliverance referred to is as follows, viz. :] 
 
 Meetings of pious women by themselves for conversation and prayer, 
 whenever they can conveniently be held, we entirely approve. But let 
 not the inspired prohibitions of the great apostle of the Gentiles, as 
 found in his Epistles to the Corinthians and to Timothy, be violated. 
 To teach and exhort or to lead in prayer, in public and promiscuous 
 assemblies, is clearly forbidden to women in the holy oracles. — Pastoral 
 Letter.— 1832, p. 378; Digest, 1886, p. 304. 
 
 [In reference to this we have the following :] 
 
 b. From the Presbytery of Rock River: " Does the Assembly mean 
 to enjoin, that in the regular weekly prayer meetings of the church no 
 woman shall speak or lead in prayer ?' ' 
 
 [Referred to a Special Committee, whose report was adopted, viz. :] 
 In response to the overture the Assembly expresses no opinion as to the 
 Scriptural view of woman's right to speak and pray in the social prayer 
 
172 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 meeting, but commits the whole subject to the discretion of the pastors 
 and elders of the churches. — 1874, pp. 32 and 66. 
 
 C. Overture from the Presbytery of Zanesville, on the part women may 
 take in public and promiscuous assemblies. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 1. The Assembly regards all prohibitions contained in God's Word 
 as equally binding on the Church to-day as at any period of its history, 
 but does not regard the passages cited as forbidding the participation of 
 women in certain of the assemblies for worship in the Church. 
 
 2. The extent of this participation, in our judgment, should be left to 
 the wise discretion of the pastor and elders in each particular church. 
 Adopted.— 1893, p. 114. i 
 
 24. Church music is under the control of the minister and the Session. 
 
 Overture asking the Assembly to reaffirm the action of the Assemblies 
 of 1845 and 1858, on the relations of the church Session to the music as 
 a part of the worship of God. 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 
 This General Assembly hereby reaffirms the action taken by the 
 Assemblies of 1845, p. 21, O. S., and 1858, p. 281, O. S., as follows: 
 
 Whereas, By our Constitution (Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. 
 vi, and Directory for Worship, Chap, iv, Sec. iv) the whole internal 
 arrangement of a church as to worship and order is committed to the 
 minister and Session; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly do not feel themselves called upon and 
 obliged to take any further order on this subject, but leave to each 
 Session the delicate and important matter of arranging and conducting 
 the music as to them shall seem most for edification, recommending great 
 caution, prudence and forbearance in regard to it. Adopted. — 1884, 
 p. 115. 
 
 [Note. — See Directory for Worship, Chap, iv, Sec. iv.] 
 
 25. Functions and duties of trustees in their relation to Sessions. 
 Overture from the Bloomington Presbytery, with reference to the 
 functions and duties of trustees in their relation to Sessions. The Com- 
 mittee recommends that this overture be answered by reiterating the 
 deliverance of the Assembly of 1874, that " the Constitution of our 
 Church charges the Sessions with the supervision of the spiritual inter- 
 ests of the congregation and all services and matters pertaining thereto, 
 and that any action by the Board of Trustees tending to annul or contra- 
 vene in any way such supervision and control is illegal and void." 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 187. See pp. 123 and 125, above. 
 
 26. The Session has exclusive authority over the worship of the Church. 
 
 Resolved, That meanwhile, this Assembly adopt the following deliver- 
 ance for the immediate guidance of all our congregations, Sessions, 
 deacons, trustees, and inferior judicatories : 
 
 The General Assembly takes notice that the exclusive authority of the 
 Session over the worship of the Church, including not only the times and 
 places of preaching the Word, but also the music and the use of the 
 church buildings, is not sufficiently appreciated by the Church at large, 
 and that there are frequent complaints that trustees of congregations 
 assume powers and authority, especially over music and the use of church 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 173 
 
 buildings, which are not warranted by, but in conflict with, the Consti- 
 tution of the Church. 
 
 The Assembly enjoins upon the churches loyal adherence to our Form 
 of Government, providing that the authority of the Session over all 
 matters of worship is paramount, and at the same time recommends that 
 all such questions be treated by the Session with Christian tact and cour- 
 tesy, in the spirit of love and forbearance. — 1893, p. 90. 
 
 VII. The pastor has power to convene the session when he may judge 
 it requisite; and he shall always convene them when requested to do so by 
 any two of the elders. The session shall also convene when directed so 
 to do by the Presbytery. 
 
 VIII. Every session shall keep a fair record of its proceedings, which 
 record shall be at least once in every year submitted to the inspection of 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 1. The records should be full. 
 
 It appearing from the official certificates of the Stated Clerks of all the 
 courts below, that important documents in evidence before the Session 
 which first tried the case of Beck and McMahon were not sent up to the 
 Presbytery and Synod, it is therefore ordered that this case be sent back 
 to the Presbytery of Charleston for a new trial, and that the Session of 
 the church of Columbia be directed to correct their record, and to send 
 to the Presbytery an authentic copy of all the evidence and all the docu- 
 ments before them.— 1843, p. 186, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Index, " What the Records Must Show."] 
 
 2. Testimony injudicial cases should be engrossed upon the records. 
 
 Also overture from the Presbytery of Catskill, asking whether, in 
 cases of judicial process by church Sessions, the testimony of witnesses 
 should be engrossed on the book of permanent Record. The Commit- 
 tee recommended that the following answer be given: 
 
 The testimony of witnesses, in all cases of judicial process by church 
 Sessions, should be engrossed on the book of permanent Records. The 
 end to be secured by such a record is indicated in our Book of Discipline, 
 (old) Chap, iv, Sec. xxiii, (new) Sec. xxiv, where it is required that 
 everything which had an influence on the judgment of the court must be 
 exhibited by the record. Files are liable to be separated from the book 
 of permanent Records, and nothing but what is contained in the Record 
 may be taken into consideration in reviewing the proceedings in a supe- 
 rior court. The recommendation was adopted. — 1862, p. 33, N. S. 
 
 [Xote. — See, however, Book of Discipline, Sec. xxiv, which permits Evidence sim- 
 ply to be filed.] 
 
 3. Records once approved by a superior judicatory may not be altered 
 
 by the inferior. 
 
 Also overture from the Session of the church of Wabash, Ind., on 
 the following questions: 
 
 1. After the records of a church Session have been examined and 
 approved by the Presbytery, and those of the Presbytery in like manner 
 approved by the Synod, has either the Session or the Presbytery a right 
 or any authority to change or erase the record ? 
 
174 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. IX. 
 
 2. If not, has the Session any legal right to make a second record 
 declaring the first erroneous and void ? 
 
 The Committee recommended that the following answer be given: 
 
 A record, once approved by a higher court, cannot be altered or 
 annulled by a lower one. If there be an error in the record, the 
 remedy is to be sought by an application to the highest judicatory that 
 has endorsed such mistake. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1862, p. 34, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — For general rules as to Records, see under Form of Government, Chap, xi, 
 Sec. vi, this Digest; and especially as to what is a "fair record of its proceedings;" 
 also Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxi, first clause, and Sees, xxiv and xxvii. See also in 
 the Index " What the Records Must Show."] 
 
 IX. It is important that every church Session keep a fair register of 
 marriages; of baptisms, with the times of the birth of the individuals 
 baptized; of persons admitted to the Lord's table, and of the deaths, 
 and other removals of church members. 
 
 1. Statistical reports should show only the actual membership. 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbyteries be instructed to institute inquiries 
 among the several churches under their care, as to the number of their 
 communicants; so that it may be ascertained, that the utmost care has 
 been taken to clear their church registers of all deceased, dismissed and 
 lost members; and that it may thus be known what is the actual member- 
 ship of each of their churches. — 1869, p. 272, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sees, xlviii, xlix.] 
 
 2. Ordained ministers not to be enrolled as members of the church they 
 
 serve. 
 
 Whether ordained ministers of the Gospel ought not to be considered 
 church members, and to have their names enrolled on the Sessional 
 records of the church, where they are settled as pastors, or stated supplies, 
 which question the Committee recommended to be answered in the nega- 
 tive. Adopted.— 1843, p. 176, O. S. 
 
 3. The aggregate number of elders and of deacons to be reported. 
 
 The aggregate numbers of the ruling elders, and also of the deacons, 
 in the churches are required to be inserted in the Statistical Reports of 
 the General Assembly. — 1878, p. 57. 
 
 4. Acting elders only to be reported : all communicants included. 
 
 Overture asking the following questions: 
 
 a. 1. In reporting the number of ruling elders in any church, is the 
 number to be that simply of those in active service at the time, or all 
 ruling elders who are members of the church ? Answer. Only those in 
 active service. 
 
 b. 2. In reporting the number of communicants, are the elders and 
 deacons who have been reported in their appropriate columns to be 
 included or not ? In other words, is the column for communicants in 
 future to be for private members or for all communicants (members and 
 officers), excepting ministers ? Answer. All members in communion are 
 to be enrolled, including the officers. Adopted. — 1880, p. 56. 
 
OF THE CHURCH SESSION. 175 
 
 5. Rolls of baptized children, not communicants, to be kept. 
 
 a. From the Presbytery of St. Lawrence in regard to baptized mem- 
 bers. The Assembly directs church Sessions to exercise greater care in 
 preserving accurate rolls of their baptized members who are not com- 
 municants. — 1881, p. 548. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of St. Lawrence, asking the Assem- 
 bly to take such action as may better recognize the relation of baptized 
 children to the Church. Your Committee recommend the following 
 action by the Assembly: (1) Churches are urged to keep a full and 
 permanent roll of all baptized children, and carefully to note their public 
 confession of Christ, their passing beyond the watch and care of the 
 church, or their removal by death. (2) When parents, with their 
 families, are dismissed to other churches, the names of baptized children, 
 who have neither come to years of discretion nor become communicants, 
 should be embraced in the certificates given. Adopted. — 1882, p. 98. 
 
 6. Annual narrative of the state of religion. 
 
 [Note.— See, also, in this Digest, p. 878.] 
 
 The Church of 
 
 Presbytery of 
 
 Inquiries for the guidance of church Sessions in the preparation of the 
 Narrative. 
 
 I. CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES. 
 
 1. To what extent has your congregation been supplied with preaching 
 during the year ? 
 
 2. How many services do you usually hold on the Lord's Day, what is 
 the nature of these services, and has the attendance been encouraging ? 
 
 3. To what extent are the children and the youth of the congregation 
 present at these services ? 
 
 4. What meetings for worship are held on days other than the Lord's 
 Day, and is the interest in these meetings well sustained ? 
 
 II. SABBATH-SCHOOLS. 
 
 5. How many Sabbath-schools are there in connection with your con- 
 gregation ? 
 
 6. Are they church, union, or mission schools ? 
 
 7. Is the Shorter Catechism regularly taught ? 
 
 8. Are the Westminster Lesson Helps used ? If not, what Helps ? 
 
 9. Has the school a library, and is proper care used in the selection of 
 books ? 
 
 10. State what encouragements or discouragements there are in the 
 work. 
 
 III. SOCIETIES OF MEN OR WOMEN. 
 
 11. How many of these societies are there in the congregation ? 
 
 12. What objects do they include in their work ? 
 
 13. What services or meetings are held in connection with their work ? 
 
 14. Are these societies prospering and is the result of their work 
 encouraging ? 
 
 IV. YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES. 
 
 15. What societies for the young are there in the congregation ? 
 
 16. What services are held in connection with these societies ? 
 
176 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. IX-X. 
 
 17. In what manner and to what extent do these societies further the 
 spiritual interests of their members and the general welfare of the con- 
 gregation ? 
 
 V. SPIRITUAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 18. Have there been special efforts for the revival of religion during 
 the year ? 
 
 19. Has there been any marked religious interest in the congregation ? 
 
 20. Are there any unusual obstructions to the progress of religion in 
 your field ? 
 
 21. Are the lives of your church members in harmony with their cove- 
 nant obligations and helpful to religion ? 
 
 22. How many have united with your church by profession of faith 
 during the past year ? 
 
 VI. BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 23. Does the congregation contribute, according to a definite plan, to 
 all the Boards of the Church ? 
 
 24. Is there a growth in giving in accordance with the abilities of the 
 church ? 
 
 25. Does the Sabbath -school contribute statedly to the Boards of the 
 Church and other benevolent objects ? 
 
 26. To what Boards of the Church do the societies of men and women 
 contribute ? 
 
 27. To what Boards do the Young People's Societies contribute ? 
 
 28. Is proper provision made for the poor of the church ? 
 
 VII. FAMILY RELIGION. 
 
 29. Are Christian parents faithful in presenting their children for 
 baptism, and are they well instructed in respect to this duty ? 
 
 30. Are the obligations of family worship and the Christian training of 
 children urged in public and private instruction ? 
 
 31. Is the Session faithful in its care of " children born within the 
 pale of the visible Church and dedicated to God in baptism," and does it 
 inform them, " when they come to years of discretion," that " it is their 
 duty and their privilege to come to the Lord's Supper ?" (Directory for 
 Worship, Chap. x). 
 
 VIII. MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 32. Are the financial obligations of the congregation met with fidelity ? 
 
 33. Are the temporalities managed by the deacons or by Boards of 
 Trustees ? 
 
 34. Is any work done for the judicious advancement, by Christian 
 methods, of legitimate measures of moral reform ? 
 
 35. Does the Session exercise due supervision over the Sabbath -school 
 and all the societies referred to above ? — 1895, pp. 127-129. 
 
 [Note.— It is not intended that the Narrative shall be restricted to bare and formal 
 answers. It should be, however, very concise, consisting of statements of fact rather 
 than reflections. Number the paragraphs to correspond with the subjoined topics.] 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 177 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 OF THE PRESBYTERY. 
 
 I. The Church being divided into many separate congregations, these 
 need mutual counsel and assistance, in order to preserve soundness of 
 doctrine, and regularity of discipline, and to enter into common measures 
 for promoting knowledge and religion, and for preventing infidelity, error, 
 and immorality. Hence arise the importance and usefulness of presby- 
 terial and synodical assemblies. 
 
 II. A presbytery consists of all the ministers, in number not less than 
 five, and one ruling elder from each congregation, within a certain district. 
 
 1. The first presbyteries constituted of ministers. 
 
 a. It having pleased divine Providence so to increase our number, as 
 that, after much deliberation, we judge it may be more serviceable to the 
 interest of religion, to divide ourselves into subordinate meetings or Pres- 
 byteries, constituting one annually as a Synod, to meet at Philadelphia or 
 elsewhere, to consist of all the members of each subordinate Presbytery 
 or meeting for this year at least : Therefore it is agreed by the Presbytery, 
 after serious deliberation, that the first subordinate meeting or Presbytery, 
 to meet at Philadelphia or elsewhere, as they shall see fit, do consist of 
 these following members, viz. : Masters Andrews, Jones, Powell, Orr, 
 Bradner and Morgan. And the second to meet at New Castle or else- 
 where, as they shall see fit, to consist of these, viz. : Masters Anderson, 
 McGill, Gillespie, Wotherspoon, Evans and Conn. The third to meet at 
 Snow Hill or elsewhere, to consist of these, viz. : Masters Davis, Hamp- 
 ton and Henry. And in consideration that only our brethren, Mr. McNish 
 and Mr. Pumry, are of our number upon Long Island at present, we 
 earnestly recommend it to them to use their best endeavors with the 
 neighboring brethren that are settled there, which as yet join not with us, 
 to join with them in erecting a fourth Presbytery. And as to the time 
 of the meeting of the respective Presbyteries, it is ordered that that be 
 left to their own discretion. — 1716, p. 45. 
 
 b. Agreed that Messrs. Cross, Gilbert Tennant, Francis Alison, Treat, 
 Chesnut, Martin, Beatty, Greenman, Hunter, Ramsey, Lawrence, and 
 Kinkead, be the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Agreed that Messrs. John 
 Miller, Tuttle, Harris, Henry, and Wilson, be a Lewestown Presbytery, 
 and have under their care the congregations in Kent on Delaware, Sussex, 
 Worcester, Somerset, Dorset, Queen Anne's, and Kent in Maryland. — 
 1758, p. 288. 
 
 Agreed, that Messrs. Craighead, Black, Craig, Miller, Davies, Todd, 
 Henry, Wright, Brown, and Martin, in Virginia and southward, be the 
 Presbytery of Hanover, to meet for the first time at Mr. Wright' s congrega- 
 tion in Cumberland county, on the second Wednesday of July next. — 1758, 
 p. 289. 
 
 C. An overture was laid before the Assembly, through the Synod of 
 Philadelphia, requesting a division of the Presbytery of Carlisle. 
 Whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, That the said Presbytery be divided into two Presbyteries. 
 —1765, p. 349. 
 
 [Note.— Carlisle and Huntingdon, 1794, p. 89. See also Columbia, 1802, p. 251; 
 Oneida, p. 252; Shenango, 1826, p. 176; Detroit, 1827, p. 206; and the Missionary 
 
 12 
 
178 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 Presbyteries generally. Later usage is to specify the congregations within the bounds 
 assigned. A Presbytery may, however, be formed without any organized churches. 
 See 1848, p. 20, O. S.; 1851, p. 35, O. S. But not without a definite territory- 1834, p. 
 441. Nor within the bounds of another Presbytery. — 1873, pp. 506, 525.] 
 
 2. The Assembly refuses to erect a Presbytery of less than the constitu- 
 tional number. 
 
 Overture from eight ministers and ruling elders in the Indian Territory, 
 petitioning for a new Presbytery of that name. The Committee report 
 that it does not appear that the number of ministers now constitutionally 
 requisite for the formation of a Presbytery are found among the petition- 
 ers or in the proposed region. They, therefore, recommend that the 
 answer be in the negative. Adopted. — 1871, p. 545. 
 
 3. A Presbytery with less than five ministers dissolved. 
 The Presbytery of New Orleans not having had, for several years, the 
 constitutional number of ministers, was dissolved, and its ministers and 
 churches were ordered to be attached to the Presbytery of Austin. — 1880, 
 p. 83. 
 
 4. Mission Presbyteries with less than five ministers may be continued. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Santa Fe, asking for an explana- 
 tion of the meaning of Chap, x, Sec. ii, of the Form of Government, as 
 recently amended, and specially inquiring whether that section as amended 
 contemplates the dissolution of Presbyteries previously organized with less 
 than five ministers. 
 
 Your Committee respectfully recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolutions : 
 
 1. That the attention of the members of the Presbytery of Santa Fe 
 be called to the exact language of the chapter and section referred to, 
 which is: "A Presbytery consists of all the ministers, in number not 
 less than five, and one ruling elder from each congregation, within a cer- 
 tain district. ' ' 
 
 2. This section, as it now reads, does not contemplate the dissolution of 
 Presbyteries previously organized in remote and isolated regions with less 
 than five ministers. 
 
 3. The attention of the members of the Presbytery of Santa Fe is 
 called to p. 143 of Moore's Digest, 1886, where it may be seen that the 
 General Assembly is disposed to excuse remote and isolated Presbyteries 
 from strict compliance with certain general rules, when it shall appear 
 that every reasonable effort has been made to comply with said rules. 
 
 4. The Presbytery of Santa Fe are referred to their Synod for further 
 direction as to the general contents of their overture. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1877, p. 549. 
 
 5. "Elective affinity" Presbyteries condemned. 
 
 Resolved, That the erection of church courts, and especially of Pres- 
 byteries and Synods, on the principle of "elective affinity" — that is, 
 judicatories not bounded by geographical limits, but having a chief regard 
 in their erection to diversities of doctrinal belief and of ecclesiastical 
 polity — is contrary both to the letter and the spirit of our constitution, 
 and opens a wide door for mischiefs and abuses of the most serious kind. 
 One such Presbytery, if so disposed, might in process of time fill the 
 whole Church with unsound and schismatic ministers, especially if the 
 principle were adopted that regular testimonials must of course secure the 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 179 
 
 admission of those who bore them into any other Presbytery. Such a 
 Presbytery, moreover, being without geographical bounds, might enter the 
 limits and disturb the repose of any church into which it might think 
 proper to intrude, and thus divide churches, stir up strife, and promote 
 party spirit and schism with all their deplorable consequences. Surely a 
 plan of procedure in the Church of God which naturally and almost 
 unavoidably tends to produce effects such as these, ought to be frowned 
 upon, and, as soon as possible, terminated by the supreme judicatory of 
 the Church.— 1835, p. 486. 
 
 [Note. — Exceptions were made in behalf of the missionaries among the Indians. 
 Minutes 1826, p. 181 ; 1828, pp. 246, 247 ; 1829, p. 259.] 
 
 6. Presbyteries to be denned by geographical lines or lines of travel. 
 
 1 . That each several Presbytery, with the ministers and churches within 
 its limits, be defined as to boundaries by geographical lines, or with 
 respect to the most convenient lines of travel. — 1870, p. 88. 
 
 7. Presbyteries may not be organized so as to cover the same ground. 
 
 a. A memorial from David M. Wilson, of the Presbytery of Kingston, 
 Synod of Tennessee, praying this General Assembly to give an authorita- 
 tive deliverance in reference to the right of a Synod to organize a colored 
 Presbytery on territory included in Presbyteries already existing. 
 
 The Committee on Polity recommend that this request be not granted, 
 and that the authoritative deliverance be made according to the definition 
 of a Presbytery, in Chap, x, Sec. ii, of our Form of Government, viz. : 
 "A Presbytery consists of all the ministers, in numbers not less than five, 
 and one ruling elder from each congregation within a certain district." 
 The General Assembly must forbid the organization of more Presbyteries 
 than one upon the same ground, allowing no distinctions of race or color 
 or language to interfere with the unity and simplicity of that oversight 
 which the Constitution of this Church requires. Adopted. — 1873, p. 525. 
 
 b. The Committee (on Polity) would give the same reply to the appli- 
 cation for a German Presbytery that was given to the application for a 
 colored Presbytery. (See above. ) Adopted. — 1873, p. 539. 
 
 C. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Tennessee recom- 
 mended their approval, except that the organization of a Presbytery as 
 authorized by the action of Synod, recorded on p. 361 (see a, above), 
 would be irregular, for the reason that the new Presbytery would cover 
 territory already belonging to other Presbyteries, and the same territory 
 thus come under the jurisdiction of different Presbyteries. Adopted. — 
 1873, p. 506. 
 
 8. Presbyteries and Synods in foreign missionary fields. 
 
 The Committee, to whom was referred the report of the Special Com- 
 mittee on Missionary Presbyteries and Synods appointed by the last 
 General Assembly, presented their report, recommending the adoption of 
 the following rules in reference to the formation of Synods and Presby- 
 teries in foreign missionary fields: 
 
 I. In regions occupied by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions 
 only : 
 
 1. In such regions, Presbyteries, and eventually Synods, may be organ- 
 ized, at discretion, if not already organized; under whose care the native 
 churches in the missions shall be placed. 
 
180 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 2. Each Presbytery shall consist of all the ministers, foreign and 
 native, not less than five in number, and a ruling elder from each church 
 within its bounds. 
 
 3. Such Synod shall regularly send to the General Assembly certified 
 copies of their minutes ; and such Presbyteries, narratives of the state of 
 religion and statistical reports. 
 
 II. In regions occupied by the Board and by the missions of other 
 Presbyterian denominations: 
 
 1. In such regions, missionary churches, Presbyteries, and Synods, 
 holding the same faith and order, should be encouraged to enter into 
 organic relations with each other for joint work in the common field. 
 
 2. For purposes of representation, however, the ordained ministers, 
 foreign and native, connected with the Board of Foreign Missions, if 
 sufficient in number, shall, with an elder from each of their churches, be 
 regarded as a distinct Presbytery, entitled to appoint Commissioners to the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 3. In all organizations constituted on this plan it is understood that no 
 allowance is to be given to any departure from the Confession of Faith of 
 the Presbyterian churches of Great Britain and America. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1879, p. 620. 
 
 9. Union Presbyteries in foreign fields. 
 
 a. That the formation of Union Presbyteries in foreign fields jointly 
 occupied by organizations in harmony with the reformed system of doc- 
 trine and with the Presbyterian polity is encouraged; and that the whole 
 subject of the relation of our American ordained missionaries to these 
 Union Presbyteries is referred to a Committee of three ministers and two 
 ruling elders, whose duty shall be carefully to define the ecclesiastical 
 status of such missionaries, and report to the next General Assembly for 
 approval. — 1886, p. 54. 
 
 b. On the report of the Committee the following resolutions were 
 adopted : 
 
 1. That in order to build up independent national churches holding to 
 the Reformed doctrine and the Presbyterian polity, on foreign fields, the 
 more general and complete identification of our missionaries with the 
 native ministers and churches and other foreign missionaries on these 
 fields, is of the most vital importance, and needs to be pushed forward as 
 rapidly as is consistent with a due regard to the interests of all parties to 
 these unions. 
 
 2. That in countries were it is possible satisfactorily to form Union Pres- 
 byteries, the further organization of Presbyteries in connection with this 
 General Assembly is discouraged, and in countries where there are now 
 Presbyteries in connection with this General Assembly, but where it is 
 possible satisfactorily to form Union Presbyteries, it is strongly urged that 
 the steps be taken as rapidly as this can wisely be done, to merge the 
 membership in Union Presbyteries, and to dissolve the Presbyteries of 
 this General Assembly. 
 
 3. That in the case of our ordained foreign missionaries who are not in 
 full membership of Union Presbyteries covering the territory where they 
 reside, it is urged that so soon as practicable, they become full members ; 
 and also that when our foreign missionaries are full members of these or 
 as rapidly as they become such, they are urged to ask letters of dismissal 
 from their Presbyteries to these Union Presbyteries; and, it is hereby 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 181 
 
 ordered, that so soon as these letters are accepted, they cease to be regular 
 members of these Presbyteries. 
 
 4. That in case any missionary thinks it undesirable to make this trans- 
 fer of ecclesiastical membership, the decision as to the question shall be 
 left to the home Presbytery to which he belongs; before which body, if so 
 desired by it, he shall lay his reasons for the delay ; and the Presbyteries 
 are requested to use patience in dealing with such cases. 
 
 5. That each home Presbytery shall from year to year, in its statistical 
 report, place on a supplementary roll, to be published with the remainder 
 of the report in the Minutes of the General Assembly, the names of all 
 ordained missionaries who, having been sent out by it, are still engaged 
 in our foreign missionary work, but who, by joining Union Presbyteries 
 in harmony with the Reformed doctrine and Presbyterian polity, have 
 severed their former membership with the home Presbytery. 
 
 6. That in all regions where, through the organization of Union Pres- 
 byteries, there are no Presbyteries in connection with this Assembly, each 
 mission organized as such under our Board of Foreign Missions may send 
 to the General Assembly an ordained missionary, or ruling elder, as a 
 delegate; and the standing rules of the Assembly are hereby so amended 
 that such delegate is entitled to sit as an advisory member in the Assem- 
 bly, and to speak, under the rules, on all questions, and that his expenses 
 from his domicile in this country to and during the Assembly and return, 
 shall be met as those of Commissioners out of the funds of the Assem- 
 bly; and further that Synods be requested to make a suitable provision 
 for a similar representation at their meetings. 
 
 7. That Presbyteries are advised that the rule as to foreign ministers 
 who seek to enter our Presbyteries is interpreted, as not applying to mis- 
 sionaries who have been placed on the supplementary rolls of Presby- 
 teries, and who bring letters of dismissal from Union Presbyteries. - - 
 1887, pp. 23, 24. 
 
 10. Ministers without charge are constituent members of Presbytery. 
 
 Are ministers without charges constituent members of our church judi- 
 catures, and have they an equal voice with settled pastors and ruling 
 elders of congregations in ecclesiastical governments ? 
 
 In the judgment of this Assembly this question is answered affirma- 
 tively, Chap, x, Sec. ii, of the Form of Government of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, in these words : ' 'A Presbytery consists of all the ministers 
 and one ruling elder from each congregation within a certain district." 
 —1816, p. 615. 
 
 11. Elders without charge and membership in Presbytery. 
 
 [Note. — See under Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, p. 541.] 
 
 12. Ministers without charge must unite with the Presbytery within 
 whose bounds they reside. 
 
 5. That ministers without charge are required to unite with that Pres- 
 bytery, within the geographical limits of which they ordinarily reside, or 
 are nearest to, and to which they shall be amenable for the proper 
 discharge of their ordination engagements. — 1870, p. 88. 
 
 13. The Presbytery to judge each case of those living out of their 
 
 bounds, 
 a. Overture, being a request from the Presbytery of Cleveland: 1. 
 That this Assembly lay down some general rule for dealing with those 
 
182 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 members of Presbyteries who, not actively engaged in the pastoral work, 
 neglect to report to their Presbyteries; and, 
 
 2. To lay down some uniform rule concerning those ministers who 
 leave the bounds of their own Presbytery and neglect to remove their 
 connection, though their residence is permanently fixed within the bounds 
 of another Presbytery. The Committee recommend that each such case 
 be decided by the Presbytery on its own merits. Adopted. — 1878, p. 57. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in reference to the 
 case of Rev. James Smith. 
 
 As the Rev. James Smith, at the time of the reconstruction of our 
 Synods and Presbyteries, resided in the territory covered by the Presby- 
 tery of Wisconsin River, he should have united with that Presbytery. 
 Having failed to do so, and the Presbytery of Philadelphia having 
 informed the Presbytery of Wisconsin River of his status at the time of 
 the reconstruction, the latter Presbytery should communicate with him as 
 to his duty, ascertain why he failed to report to them, and enroll him 
 as one of their members. — 1879, p. 612. 
 
 14. Non-residents to be transferred to the Presbyteries within the 
 bounds of which they reside. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred an overture from the Synod of 
 Albany, in regard to non-resident members of Presbyteries, made the 
 following report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 In conformity with the overture from the Synod of Albany, the Com- 
 mittee would recommend to the Assembly the adoption of the following 
 resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That it be enjoined on the Presbyteries to inquire carefully 
 in regard to any of their members, who may be residing without the 
 bounds of their respective Presbyteries, whether there be sufficient cause 
 for such non -residence; and if not, that measures be taken to transfer 
 the relation of such ministers to the Presbyteries in the bounds of which 
 they reside.— 1836, p. 530. 
 
 15. The above rules defined and affirmed. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported back Overture No. 
 32, which was adopted as explanatory of principle 5, page 88, of the 
 Minutes of the Assembly of 1870, as follows: 
 
 The Assembly, in reconstructing the Church, did, by the act of recon- 
 struction, design to return to the exact language of the Form of Gov- 
 ernment, which declares that a ' ' Presbytery consists of all the ministers 
 and one ruling elder from each congregation within a certain district. 
 Ministers residing within the geographical limits of a Presbytery were, 
 ipso facto (provided they were in good standing in the Presbytery to 
 which they belonged), members of that Presbytery, and should have 
 been so enrolled. " 
 
 After the Presbyteries were reconstructed, all ministers uniting with 
 them could only be received by regular letters of dismission and recom- 
 mendation. 
 
 The Assembly also affirms the duty of ministers to unite with the 
 Presbyteries within whose bounds they reside; except where their minis- 
 terial labors are in an adjacent Presbytery. — 1872, p. 94. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 183 
 
 16. Jurisdiction over members non-resident. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, xi, Sec. ex.] 
 
 III. Every congregation which has a stated pastor has a right to be 
 represented by one elder; and every collegiate church by two or more 
 elders, in proportion to the number of its pastors. 
 
 1. Collegiate church, denned. 
 
 Overture from a member of the Synod of Pittsburgh, as follows: 
 
 a. Is a church having two pastors, one aged or infirm, the other asso- 
 ciate or co-pastor, entitled to two elders in Presbytery and Synod ? Or 
 what is the meaning of a <( collegiate church, ' ' in Chap, x, Sec. iii, of 
 the Form of Government ? 
 
 The Committee recommended this answer: 
 
 The general principle of our polity is that there shall be in our church 
 courts an equal number of ministers and ruling elders. But vacant 
 churches are entitled to a representation. The term ' * collegiate church ' ' 
 is used in two senses — first, of a church with more than one pastor; 
 second, of two or more churches united under the care of one pastor. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1868, p. 651, O. S. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of Cleveland in regard to representa- 
 tion of collegiate churches. The Committee recommend that no action 
 be taken, reference being made to the Digest, 1873, p. 138. Adopted. 
 —1874, p. 83. 
 
 [Note.— See below, under Sec. iv.] 
 
 IV. Where two or more congregations are united under one pastor, 
 all such congregations shall have but one elder to represent them. 
 
 1. United congregations represented by one elder. 
 
 An overture from the Synod of Mississippi, asking, " When two or 
 more congregations have separately called one and the same minister to 
 become the pastor of each church, and he accepts these calls, and is 
 installed over these congregations as pastor, are these churches entitled 
 to one or more elders to represent them in Presbytery ?" The Com- 
 mittee recommended the following resolution, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the question be answered in the negative. — 1847. p. 
 377, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — The meaning of the above is that the united congregations are entitled to 
 be represented in Presbytery by one elder.] 
 
 2. Where a minister is pastor of one church and stated supply of 
 another each is entitled to be represented. 
 
 Where a minister is at the same time pastor of one church, and acts 
 as stated supply of another, has each of said churches a right to be 
 represented by its own elder, at the same meeting of the Presbytery or 
 Synod ? or does this case come under the rule Chap, x, Sec. iv, Form of 
 Government ? 
 
 The Assembly answer, That churches having stated supplies only are 
 not such churches as are contemplated in the article referred to, and 
 have a right of representation according to the principles of the Form of 
 Government, Chap, x, Sec. v. — 1851, p. 15, N. S. ; also 1847, p. 377, 
 O. S. 
 
184 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 3. Churches in different Presbyteries under one pastor, as permitted 
 
 by the Reconstruction Act. 
 
 Overture No. 16, from the Presbytery of Kittanning, asking further 
 action from the Assembly in reference to churches in different Presby- 
 teries united in one pastoral charge. 
 
 The Assembly judge any additional action upon the subject to be 
 unnecessary, as the action of the previous Assembly was intended to 
 cover all such cases, and is valid, until repealed. — 1872, p. 86. 
 
 The action referred to is as follows, viz. : 
 
 4. That when two or more congregations, on different sides of a 
 Synodical or Presbyterial line, are under one pastoral charge, they shall 
 all, for the time, belong to that Presbytery with which the minister is 
 connected, but only so long as such pastoral relation continues. — 1870, 
 p. 88. 
 
 4. Churches in different Presbyteries, under one pastor, are under the 
 
 care of the Presbytery to which the pastor belongs, while the relation 
 continues. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Kittanning, Clarion and Blairs- 
 ville: " When two churches in different Presbyteries or Synods are so 
 situated as to make it apparent to the Presbyteries to which they belong, 
 that they should be united in one pastoral charge, the pastoral relation 
 may be constituted, and both churches shall, for the time being, be under 
 the care of that Presbytery of which the pastor is a member; and this 
 Presbyterial relation shall continue only so long as they retain the same 
 pastor." The Committee recommend the adoption of the overture. 
 Adopted.— 1874, p. 82. 
 
 5. The course to be pursued when the pastoral relation is to be consti- 
 
 tuted over churches in different Presbyteries or Synods. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Cayuga. The following action was 
 taken by the General Assembly of 1874 (see Minutes, p. 82): 
 
 " When two churches in different Presbyteries, or Synods, are so situ- 
 ated as to make it apparent to the Presbyteries to which they belong that 
 they should be united in one pastoral charge, the pastoral relation may 
 be constituted; and both churches shall for the time being be under the 
 care of that Presbytery of which the pastor is a member, and this Pres- 
 byterial relation shall continue only so long as they retain the same 
 pastor. ' ' 
 
 The above action is silent as to how and by whom this pastoral relation 
 over two churches in different Presbyteries is to be constituted, and as to 
 the time when, and the process by which, one of such churches shall be 
 transferred to the jurisdiction of the other Presbytery. 
 
 The Presbytery of Cayuga, having experienced certain difficulties in 
 carrying out said ' ' action, ' ' and having had our act under it declared 
 < ( irregular ' ' by the Synod of New York (see printed Minutes of the 
 Synod of New York for 1889, p. 47), respectfully overtures the Gen- 
 eral Assembly to take such further action, supplementing the action of 
 1874, and in harmony therewith, as shall specifically authorize either of 
 the Presbyteries to which the two congregations belong, upon the consent 
 and concurrence of the other Presbytery, to constitute the pastoral 
 relation over the two congregations; and as shall authorize the Stated 
 Clerks of said Presbyteries to transfer, for the time being, either church, 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 185 
 
 as required, to the roll and jurisdiction of the Presbytery of which the 
 pastor is a member. Without presuming to judge the matter, we also 
 respectfully suggest that the Presbytery of which the minister is a mem- 
 ber, and to the care of which the congregation is to be transferred, is 
 naturally the one to constitute, with the consent and concurrence of the 
 other Presbytery, the pastoral relation over both congregations. 
 
 Answer : The Committee recommend the following answer as supplemen- 
 tal to the action of 1874 (Digest, 1886, p. 491) : 
 
 The Presbytery of which the minister is a member, and to the care of 
 which, for the time being, one of the churches is to be transferred, shall 
 constitute, with the consent and concurrence of the other Presbytery, 
 the pastoral relation over both churches. But the Presbytery from 
 which the church is temporarily to be removed, should first authorize the 
 transfer of said church, and direct its Stated Clerk to give notice of the 
 same both to the church and to the other Presbytery. — 1890, pp. 46, 47. 
 
 V. Every vacant congregation which is regularly organized shall be 
 entitled to be represented by a ruling elder in Presbytery. 
 
 1. Every congregation is vacant which has not a pastor duly installed. 
 
 a. Should every congregation be considered as vacant which is not 
 united to any minister in the pastoral relation ? and if it should, is not 
 every such congregation entitled to be represented by a ruling elder in 
 Presbytery ? 
 
 Resolved, That from a comparison of Sees, iii and v, of Chap, x, Form 
 of Government, it is evident that every congregation without a pastor 
 is to be regarded as a vacant congregation, and consequently, if regu- 
 larly organized, is entitled to be represented by a ruling elder in a Pres- 
 bytery.— 1843, pp. 190, 196, O. S. 
 
 b. When a domestic missionary has organized in his field of labor two 
 or more churches to which he statedly ministers, though not installed as 
 pastor over any of them, are these churches to be considered vacant, and 
 have they a right each to send an elder to represent them in Presbytery ? 
 
 Answer: That in the cases specified the churches are vacant, and 
 entitled to be represented by elders. — 1860, p. 38, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See iv, above.] 
 
 C. Overture from the Presbytery of Bloomington, asking, " What is 
 a vacant church?" Answer: "Every congregation or church is 
 vacant which has not a pastor duly installed " (Moore's Digest, 1886, 
 p. 139). Adopted.— 1895, p. 102. 
 
 . VI. Every elder not known to the Presbytery shall produce a certifi- 
 cate of his regular appointment from the church which he represents. 
 VII. Any three ministers, and as many elders as may be present 
 belonging to the Presbytery, being met at the time and place appointed, 
 shall be a quorum competent to proceed to business. 
 
 1. A quorum may be constituted wholly of ministers, 
 a. Resolved, That any three ministers of a Presbytery, being regularly 
 convened, are a quorum competent to the transaction of all business, 
 agreeably to the provision contained in the Form of Government, Chap. 
 x, Sec. vii.— 1843, p. 196, O. S. 
 
186 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 In answer to memorials on this subject, the Assembly — 
 b. Resolved, That the last Assembly, in determining that three minis- 
 ters are a quorum of the Presbytery when no ruling elders are present, 
 did not detract in any degree from the dignity and importance of this 
 office, nor did they question the perfect right or duty of elders to be 
 present and take part in all acts of government and discipline, but only 
 declared that according to the true intent and meaning of our constitu- 
 tional rules, their absence does not prevent the Presbytery from constitu- 
 ting and transacting business if three ministers are present; and this 
 decision is based upon the fact that ministers are not only preachers of 
 the Gospel and administrators of sealing ordinances, but also ruling 
 elders in the very nature of their office. — 1844, p. 370, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — Against this action of the Assembly a protest was entered by twenty-eight 
 members of the Assembly. For protest and answer see Baird's Digest, revised 
 edition, pp. 71-75. The Assembly disavows the charges by the following :] 
 
 C. Resolved, That this Assembly, in reaffirming those decisions of the 
 last Assembly which have been called in question, design to maintain the 
 purity, order and peace of the Church, and the continued and faithful 
 observance of those principles and regulations which have heretofore 
 been found to consist with true Christian liberty and secure the common 
 welfare of all classes in the Church. Also, they reaffirm and maintain 
 the Scriptural authority of the office of ruling elder, and the great 
 importance and solemn obligation of the attendance of elders on the 
 meetings of the judicatories of the Church, and of their equal participa- 
 tion in the exercise of government and discipline. — 1844, p. 371, 0. S. 
 
 2. Less than three ministers cannot be a quorum. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Genesee were excepted to because the 
 Synod made two clerical members of a Presbytery a quorum for 
 business. — 1857, p. 387, N. S.. 
 
 3. Less than a quorum can do no Presbyterial act other than to adjourn. 
 They cannot receive a member, so as to form a quorum. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the last Assembly with reference to a 
 Presbyterial quorum presented their report, which was adopted, and is 
 as follows : 
 
 The overture is presented in three several branches, and is in the 
 following words, viz. : 
 
 1. Has any number of members of a Presbytery less than a quorum 
 for the transaction of business, as mentioned in the Form of Government, 
 Chap, x, Sec. vii, authority to transact any business except to adjourn ? 
 Have they authority to receive members into the Presbytery, to send 
 delegates to the General Assembly, etc. ? 
 
 2. And where members received into the Presbytery by a number less 
 than a quorum take up charges on ' ' common fame ' ' against a minister 
 of the Gospel belonging to such Presbytery, is a trial founded on 
 charges so taken up authorized by our Book of Discipline ? 
 
 3. Is a Presbytery duly organized, when the Moderator and Tempo- 
 rary Clerk are ministers, who have not been admitted into the Presbytery 
 by a quorum for the transaction of business ? And is any business 
 transacted by a Presbytery so organized constitutional, especially the 
 trial of a minister of the Gospel ? 
 
OP THE PRESBYTERY. 187 
 
 The Committee are unanimous and unhesitating in the following views, 
 presented under the several branches of the overture in their order: 
 
 a. The law of a quorum. 
 
 As to the first branch of the overture: 
 
 The law of a quorum is not a mere rule of procedure, a provision of 
 order, but a matter respecting the very being of the judicatory. Any 
 number of members less than the constitutional quorum do not make a 
 judicatory, and are not competent to any organic act. Nor can they, by 
 associating others with themselves, under the pretence or form of receiv- 
 ing them as members of the judicatory, make a constitutional quorum. 
 Their acts are simply null and void. Ex nihilo nihil fit. This state- 
 ment applies to every judicatory in the series from the church Session to 
 the General Assembly. 
 
 Any number of persons less than ' ' three ministers and as many elders 
 as may be present belonging to the Presbytery," do not constitute a 
 Presbytery, and are not competent to do a Presbyterial act. Of course 
 they have not ' ' authority to receive members into the Presbytery, ' ' nor 
 ' ' to send delegates to the General Assembly. ' ' Ministers received by 
 them do not thereby become members of the Presbytery, and, if they 
 assume to act as such, they are simply aliens and intruders. Commis- 
 sioners sent by them to the General Assembly should not be allowed to 
 sit, when the facts of their appointment are understood. 
 
 The doings of such a meeting should not have a place on the records, 
 But if the Stated Clerk records them, the Presbytery itself, when consti 
 tutionally organized, should take action to adopt or disaffirm them; and 
 in failure of this, the Synod, under its power of review and control 
 should, on inspection of the records, notice the unconstitutional proceed 
 ings, and require the Presbytery to make the necessary correction. 
 
 Were it necessary to confirm these positions, it would be sufficient to 
 refer to the decision of the General Assembly (Moore's Digest, 1861, p. 
 105) in regard to a quorum of Sessions, to the effect, that what is 
 ' ' necessary to constitute a quorum, " is " necessary to form a Session ;' ' 
 and to the deliverance of the Assembly of 1860 (see Minutes, pp. 260, 
 261, N. S. ), on an overture respecting certain disorderly proceedings of a 
 church, in which the principle is involved and affirmed, that an " uncon- 
 stitutional act," is " utterly null and void;" and that " being void," 
 it ' ' works no effect. ' ' 
 
 b. Talcing up charges equivalent to entering process. 
 
 As to the second branch of the overture : 
 
 1 ' Taking up charges ' ' is equivalent to ' ' entering process, " or " com- 
 mencing process" (cf. Book of Discipline (old), Chap, iii, Sec. v, 
 with Chap, v, Sees, ii and v). It is the beginning, or first formal step, 
 of a judicial proceeding; and is of course the act of the judicatory. 
 Now, all the provisions of the Book of Discipline, in relation to the trial 
 of persons subject to the jurisdiction of a judicatory, presuppose and 
 assume, that " the charges have been taken up," as well as that every 
 subsequent step of the proceedings has been had by the judicatory itself. 
 Hence the Book of Discipline does not ' ' authorize ' ' the trial of a 
 minister of the Gospel by his Presbytery, ' ' on charges taken up " by 
 individuals usurping its prerogatives, but only on charges taken up by 
 itself. 
 
188 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 The Book of Discipline (old), however, prescribes (Chap, vii, Sec. i, 
 sub sec. iv) that " no judicial decision of a judicatory shall be reversed, 
 unless it be regularly brought up by appeal or complaint." 
 
 The trial of a minister, under the circumstances proposed in the over- 
 ture, must be regarded as any other trial, where there has been infor- 
 mality or irregularity in the citation, or other preliminary stages of the 
 process. The trial, with the judgment based upon it, must be respected, 
 until the Synod, as the superior judicatory, shall judge how far the 
 irregularity vitiates the proceedings, and defeats the ends of justice, and 
 shall annul or confirm the same. 
 
 C. The Moderator and Clerk ministerial officers merely and not necessarily 
 members of the judicatory. 
 
 As to the third branch of the overture : 
 
 The Moderator and Clerk are ministerial officers of the judicatory. 
 In respect of their office, they are servants merely, and not members of 
 the body. 
 
 Of the Clerk, this would seem to be unquestionably true. The Consti- 
 tution knows nothing of the Temporary Clerk as distinguished from the 
 Stated Clerk. As far as any provision of the ' ' Book ' ' is involved, it is plain 
 that a judicatory may select any convenient person, though not a mem- 
 ber, to record its transactions, and discharge all other duties pertaining 
 to a Clerk. For the part of those duties usually devolved upon the 
 Temporary Clerk, we believe, it is no unfrequent thing for a Presbytery 
 to employ a licentiate, or other person not a member of the body. 
 
 Nor does the Constitution explicitly, at least, require the Moderator to 
 be chosen from the members of the judicatory. It does indeed prescribe 
 (Chap, xix, Sec. ii) that, in a certain contingency, " he shall possess the 
 casting vote. ' ' And as voting is the act of a member, the implication 
 seems to offer itself that the Moderator himself must be a member. But 
 against this implication some other facts of the Constitution may be 
 cited. Thus (Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. iii), there is the 
 provision for inviting, in certain contingencies, a minister to moderate 
 the church Session, who is not the pastor of the church, and of course 
 not a member of the Session ; while the general law of ' ' Moderators ' ' 
 (Chap, xix) gives him the casting vote. Then, again, the Form of 
 Government (Chap, xii, Sec. vii), prescribes, concerning the General 
 Assembly, that " the Moderator of the last Assembly, if present, or, in 
 case of his absence, some other minister, shall preside, until a new Mod- 
 erator be chosen." Under this provision, it is not necessary that the 
 minister called to preside in the Assembly should himself be in commis- 
 sion (Moore's Digest, 1861, p. 173). It may be said, that this is 
 merely for organization. True. But the whole principle seems to be 
 involved. For the time being, one, not a member of the Assembly, is 
 its Moderator, and as such has a casting vote on the numberless issues 
 that may be raised between the formation of the roll and the choice of a 
 new Moderator. And in the former case, pertaining to church Sessions, 
 no such limitation for mere organization exists. Hence these two points 
 are clearly recognized: 1. That it is not essential to the idea of a Mod- 
 erator that he be a member. 2. That the privilege of a casting vote does 
 not necessarily imply membership. 
 
 In the United States Senate, we have an instance of the Moderator 
 being foreign to the body over which he presides. By the constitution 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 189 
 
 of the United States, the Senate " shall be composed of two senators 
 from each State, ' ' etc. The senators make the whole body ; and yet, by 
 the same instrument, the " Vice-President of the United States shall be 
 President of the Senate," with a casting vote. In the State of New 
 York (as perhaps in other States) the Speaker of the Assembly may 
 have two votes, one as a member of the body, and the casting vote 
 besides; a fact which rebuts the supposition that the casting vote is an 
 incident of membership. 
 
 All this is urged, without respect to the immemorial usage of our 
 Church courts, but solely in view of what is essential by the provisions 
 of the written constitution and the nature of the subject. 
 
 If these suggestions are sound, then a Presbytery in the position pro- 
 posed by the overture is " duly organized," and every business done by 
 it is constitutional — quoad hoe. 
 
 2. But, if it be not admitted that the Constitution allows a Presby- 
 tery to choose for its Moderator one foreign to its body, it may still be 
 said, the selection of officers is a matter relating not to the being of the 
 judicatory (like the presence of a quorum), but to its form and order 
 merely. An irregularity here does not nullify the body. It is still a 
 judicatory, with all the essential elements, and competent for business. 
 Its business may be constitutional, though done in an unconstitutional 
 way, and liable to correction by a superior judicatory. 
 
 3. Besides, though the persons chosen officers " are ministers who 
 have not been admitted into the Presbytery by a quorum," or (which is 
 its meaning) have been received by a number less than a quorum, and are 
 not thereby constitutionally members, it would still be open to the infer- 
 ence, that the Presbytery (with a constitutional quorum), in choosing 
 such persons to office, thereby virtually affirmed and adopted the pre- 
 vious unconstitutional act, by which they were received into the body, 
 made it their own, and made it good. 
 
 Hence, in every view, the Committee are clearly of the opinion that, 
 in the case proposed in the third branch of the overture, the answer 
 should be, that the Presbytery is " duly (that is, validly) organized," 
 and competent to any business, including the trial of a minister of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 Still it is obvious, that the presence in the Presbytery of persons re- 
 ceived as members by any number less than a quorum, and in virtue thereof 
 claiming to exercise the privilege of members (whether chosen to office or 
 not), may work great wrong and vexation, by overruling the voice of the 
 majority of the lawful members of the judicatory. And every member has 
 the constitutional right, in some appropriate way, to cany any grievance 
 from this source to the notice of the Synod for correction. We would, 
 therefore, qualify the above answer to this branch of the overture, by 
 adding, that, however the acts of a Presbytery so organized may be 
 irregular, they are not necessarily void and null (as where there is the 
 want of a quorum), but voidable only in the judgment of the superior 
 judicatory, when brought before it in a constitutional way. — 1861, p. 
 455-459, N. S. ; Digest, 1886, pp. 140-143. 
 
 4. Reception of a member by less than a quorum sanctioned by the 
 
 Assembly, as an exceptional case. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Santa Fe' on the reception of 
 John Annin without a constitutional quorum ; recommending that it be 
 
190 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 sanctioned, by reason of the singularity of the case. The recommenda- 
 tion was adopted. — 1870, p. 49. 
 
 b. A similar case. — Overture from the Presbytery of East Florida, 
 with a statement, that owing to the decease of one of their ministers, 
 and the removal of another, they were reduced to a membership of only 
 two ministers ; and that by the advice of the Stated Clerk of the General 
 Assembly, they had at their recent meeting received a third minister, and 
 having thus obtained a constitutional quorum, had transacted the busi- 
 ness of their stated meeting. 
 
 They ask the Assembly to legalize this proceeding. The Committee 
 recommend that the action of the Presbytery of East Florida, in receiv- 
 ing the Kev. Matthew L. P. Hill, under the circumstances stated in the 
 memorial, be and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed. Adopted. 
 —1871, p. 538. 
 
 C. Also legalizing the action of the Presbytery of East Florida, in 
 receiving Calvin E. Stowe, D. D. , and Rev. James K. Warner, a quorum 
 of members not being present. — 1872, p. 87. 
 
 d. The Presbytery of Montana respectfully represent to the General 
 Assembly, that at its late meeting, April 3, 1877, only two ministers 
 and two elders were present to constitute the same. Before any business 
 was transacted, Rev. John D. Hewitt was received by letter from the 
 Presbytery of New Brunswick. After this action, the regular Presby- 
 terial business was attended to. Whereas doubt exists whether such 
 proceedings were regular according to the rules of the Church, this 
 Presbytery respectfully requests the Assembly to affirm this action and 
 declare it valid. 
 
 The Committee recommend that, owing to the singularity of the case 
 and the difficulty in the way of the members of the Presbytery coming 
 together, the request be granted. Adopted. — 1877, p. 529. 
 
 VIII. The Presbytery has power to receive and issue appeals, com- 
 plaints and references from church sessions brought before them in an 
 orderly manner; and in the trial of judicial cases, the Presbytery shall 
 have power to appoint and act by Judicial Commissions ; to examine and 
 license candidates for the holy ministry; to ordain, install, remove, and 
 judge ministers; to examine and approve or censure the records of the 
 church sessions; to resolve questions of doctrine or discipline seriously 
 and reasonably proposed ; to condemn erroneous opinions which injure 
 the purity or peace of the Church ; to visit particular churches, for the 
 purpose of inquiring into their state, and redressing the evils that may 
 have arisen in them; to unite or divide congregations, at the request of 
 the people, or to form or receive new congregations, and in general to 
 order whatever pertains to the spiritual welfare of the churches under 
 their care. 
 
 I. TO RECEIVE AND ISSUE APPEALS, COMPLAINTS AND REFERENCES 
 FROM CHURCH SESSIONS. 
 
 1. The acts of Presbytery subject to appeal ; but must be obeyed until 
 
 repealed or modified. 
 The acts of Presbytery may be appealed from or complained of to a 
 higher judicatory; and in the absence of such appeal or complaint they 
 are to be respected and obeyed until repealed or modified. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 191 
 
 Where complaint against the action of Presbytery is taken to Synod, 
 and when no one appears to prosecute such complaint, and the com- 
 plaint is dismissed by the Synod, this action of the Presbytery remains 
 in full force and effect. — 1896, p. 131. 
 
 [Note. — See under Appeals, etc., Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sees, i, iii, iv.] 
 
 II. TO EXAMINE AND LICENSE CANDIDATES FOR THE HOLY MINISTRY. 
 
 1. Licentiates should be regularly received. Caution to be used. 
 
 [Note. — See case of John McClean, 1772, p. 435 ; of Francis Hindman, 1791, p. 37 ; 
 and of James McCoy, 1791, p. 38 ; Digest, 1886, pp. 144, 145. Also Form of Government, 
 Chap. xiv. Of Licensing Candidates or Probationers to Preach the Gospel.] 
 
 2. Time-limit for licenses. 
 
 The Committee recommend the Assembly to adopt the following rules: 
 
 1. Every license to preach the Gospel shall expire at the end of the 
 period of four years, unless the candidate holding the same shall, before 
 the expiration of that time, be called to permanent labor in the work of 
 the Church. But the Presbytery, under whose care such licentiate may 
 be, may, in its discretion, extend his license for the period of one year. 
 
 2. The Presbyteries are enjoined to take the oversight of their licenti- 
 ates and their vacant churches, bringing in the one for the supply of the 
 other; and, through the Home Missionary Committees of the Synods to 
 which the Presbyteries belong, to seek to introduce their candidates to 
 the widest fields of labor, and to furnish them full opportunity of practi- 
 cally showing their fitness for the Christian ministry. Adopted. — 1872, 
 p. 87. 
 
 3. The Assembly's constitutional powers in licensure. 
 
 Overture No. 3, from the Presbytery of Westchester, asking the 
 Assembly to determine, 
 
 1. In what way the action of the General Assembly of 1872, in the 
 matter of limiting licenses to preach [Digest, p. 401] , shall be applied 
 to those who were licentiates at the time such action was taken. 
 
 2. In what sense the words, " extraordinary cases," in the action of 
 1873 {Minutes 1873, p. 524), on this subject, are to be understood. 
 
 3. To make an explicit deliverance, as to the powers of the General 
 Assembly over the functions of the Presbytery in granting and continu- 
 ing licenses to preach the Gospel. 
 
 The Committee recommended the following answer: 
 
 1. The action of the Assembly of 1872 requires, that all licenses then 
 in force expire in four years from the date of that action. 
 
 2. The determination of the sense of the words " extraordinary cases, " 
 must be left to the Presbytery, in connection with the circumstances of 
 each case. 
 
 But it is clear that their reference is to the preparatory studies of the 
 candidates, and not to a class who had only a higher usefulness, and not 
 the ministry, in view. 
 
 3. The Assembly has no power over the functions of the Presbytery 
 in granting and continuing licenses, save that of review and control. — 
 1874, p. 81. 
 
 4. Rights and duties of the Presbyteries in licensing candidates. 
 
 While fully recognizing the constitutional right of Presbyteries in the 
 matter of licensing candidates for the ministry (Form of Government, 
 Chap, xiv), we are nevertheless urgent that Presbyteries have special 
 
192 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 care of their examinations in subjects required by the Form of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, xiv, Sec. iv, and that due respect be given to the deliver- 
 ances of the General Assembly in the matter of the education of students 
 for the Gospel ministry. — 1896, p. 161. 
 
 III. TO ORDAIN MINISTERS. 
 
 1. Ordination by a Commission of Presbytery. 
 
 [Note. — For cases of ordination, by a Commission see Digest of 1886, pp. 145, 146 
 a, 6, c, d.] 
 
 2. Ordination by a Commission unconstitutional. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Jersey City, asking the Assembly 
 to declare whether a Presbytery has the right to perform the act of 
 ordination by a Commission (the examination of the candidate and the 
 vote to ordain him having been previously passed in Presbytery). Your 
 Committee recommend the following answer: Ordination either by a 
 Committee or by a Commission of Presbytery is contrary to the express 
 provisions of Chapter xv, Sec. xii, of the Form of Government. 
 Adopted.— 1894, p. 76. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbyterian Mission in Korea, asking for advice 
 as to the ecclesiastical power of a Mission. The Committee submits the 
 following answer to the said overture: We recommend as answer the 
 following: The only recognized authority in the Presbyterian Church in 
 matters of licensure and ordination is the Presbytery or a Commission 
 duly constituted by a Presbytery. A Mission has no such authority. — 
 1896, p. 146. 
 
 3. Ordination on the Sabbath day inexpedient, but left to discretion of 
 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 An overture was received from the Presbytery of Orange, requesting 
 the opinion of the General Assembly on the question whether it be 
 proper to ordain licentiates to the office of the Gospel ministry on the 
 Sabbath day. The General Assembly think it would not be for edifica- 
 tion to adopt a uniform rule on the subject. In general they think it 
 is not expedient that ordinations should take place on the Sabbath, yet 
 that there may be cases in which urgent or peculiar circumstances may 
 demand them. The Assembly therefore judged it best to leave it to the 
 Presbyteries to act in this concern as they may judge that their duty 
 requires. — 1821, p. 10. 
 
 4. Ordination by foreign bodies not approved. 
 
 The Assembly took up the report of the Committee on Overture No. 3, 
 which was laid on the table; which being read and amended, was 
 adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, Many of the ministers who are to supply the vacant churches 
 and destitute places in the more new and growing parts of our Church 
 must, for some time to come, continue to be educated in the older sections 
 of our country, and at a great distance from the field where they are to 
 be employed; and whereas, it is important to the happy and useful 
 settlement of these ministers, in their several fields of labor, that they 
 should enjoy the full confidence of the ministers and churches among 
 whom they are to dwell; and whereas, the ordination of ministers in the 
 presence of the people among whom they are to labor, is calculated to 
 endear them very much to their flocks, while it gives their fathers and 
 brethren in the ministry an opportunity of knowing their opinions and 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 193 
 
 sentiments on subjects of doctrine and discipline; and whereas, our Form 
 of Government seems to recognize the right and privilege of each Presby- 
 tery to examine and ordain those who come to the pastoral office 
 within their bounds, and who have never before exercised that office ; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That it be earnestly recommended to all our Presbyteries, not 
 to ordain, sine titulo, any men, who propose to pursue the work of their 
 ministry in any section of the country where a Presbytery is already 
 organized to which they may go as licentiates and receive ordination. 2. 
 That the several bodies with which we are in friendly correspondence in 
 the New England States, be respectfully requested to use their counsel 
 and influence to prevent the ordination, by any of the Councils or Con- 
 sociations, of men who propose to pursue the work of the ministry within 
 the bounds of any Presbytery belonging to the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church ; and that the delegates from this Assembly to those 
 bodies respectively be charged with communicating this resolution. — 
 1834, p. 428. 
 
 5. Lay ordination invalid. 
 
 a. The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 15, viz., on 
 ordination by a deposed minister or by laymen, made the following 
 report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That this paper contains a letter from a minister in South Carolina to 
 the Stated Clerk, requesting him to obtain a decision of the General 
 Assembly on the question, " whether the ordination of a minister of the 
 Gospel by the interposition of the hands of the laity is valid. ' ' That 
 the answer to this question should be in the negative is so obvious and 
 evident on all correct principles of ecclesiastical order, that your Com- 
 mittee are of the opinion that it is unnecessary for the General Assembly 
 to give any further consideration to the subject. — 1832, p. 366. 
 
 b. The Committee on Overture No. 3, viz., a question from the Pres- 
 bytery of Bethel respecting holding communion with the followers of 
 William C. Davis, a deposed minister, and calling themselves Indepen- 
 dent Presbyterians, reported that in their judgment the questions proposed 
 in said overture ought to be answered in the negative. They therefore 
 would recommend the adoption of the following resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That while this Assembly readily acknowledges the right of 
 the Session to determine according to the Scriptures and the Constitution 
 of our Church the qualifications for admission to sealing ordinances, yet 
 they feel it to be their duty to declare that in their judgment the ser- 
 vices of those who have received only lay ordination and of those who 
 have been deposed from the Gospel ministry are unscriptural and unwar- 
 rantable, and therefore an attendance on their ministrations cannot be in 
 the order of the Gospel, and ought to be discouraged and discounte- 
 nanced by every friend of the Redeemer's kingdom. — 1833, p. 407. 
 
 6. Ordination procured by fraud valid, but the Presbytery should depose. 
 
 Is the ordination of a minister valid which has been procured by 
 forgery and unwarrantable means ? 
 
 Confining the answer of the Assembly to this case as verbally 
 explained, this question is answered in the affirmative, but that the 
 Presbytery should in such case proceed immediately to depose him. — 
 1843, p. 198, O. S. 
 
194 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 7. Presbyteries only are competent to ordain ministers. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Western New York, asking if an evan- 
 gelist, laboring in a foreign field, where Gospel institutions have not been 
 established, is authorized to establish them by organizing churches and 
 ordaining ministers, until there shall be a sufficient number of ministers 
 to form a Presbytery. Your Committee recommend the adoption of the 
 following answer: It is the judgment of the Assembly, without expressing 
 any opinion as to whether there should be a constitutional provision to 
 meet extraordinary cases in the foreign field, that, under the exist- 
 ing law of the Church, Presbyteries only are competent to ordain minis- 
 ters; and the Assembly also judges that churches organized in foreign 
 missionary fields, where no Presbytery exists, may, with the consent of 
 the Synod, be enrolled by the Presbytery to which the missionary on the 
 field belongs. Adopted.— 1882, pp. 96, 97. 
 
 [Note. — See also above, p. 192, Sec. 2, b.] 
 
 8. If one who has been deposed, or who has demitted the ministry, is 
 restored, he must be reordained. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Schuyler, as follows. : 
 
 Is reordination necessary in the restoration of a deposed minister to the 
 sacred office ? And in view of the provisions of the Revised Book of 
 Discipline, will reordination be necessary in the restoration to the ministry 
 of those by whom the office has been demitted ? 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 It is the judgment of this General Assembly that when a minister is 
 deposed his office is taken from him, he becomes a layman, and, accord- 
 ing to the new Book of Discipline, Sec. xliv, he is to be enrolled as a 
 communicant in a particular church. Should he be recalled to the 
 ministry, therefore, he should be reordained. 
 
 The same course ought to be adopted in the restoration of one who has 
 demitted the ministry; inasmuch as the Book of Discipline, Sec. li, 
 describes one who has demitted the sacred office as returning " to the 
 condition of a private member of the Church." Adopted. — 1884, p. 115. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Chap, vi, Sees, xliv and li.J 
 
 9. Rule in respect to receiving a minister from another denomination. 
 
 a. The consideration of the report of the Committee to which had 
 been referred the question of validity of ordination in the case of a 
 Baptist elder was resumed, and the report being read was adopted, and 
 is as follows, viz. : 
 
 It is not among the principles or usages of the Presbyterian Church 
 to consider the ordination of ministers by other Protestant churches as 
 invalid ; on the contrary, the Presbyterian Church has always considered 
 the ordinations of most other Protestant churches as valid in themselves, 
 and not to be repeated when those who have received them become mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church. Nor is it perceived that there is any 
 sufficient reason why the ordinations in the Baptist Church should not be 
 considered as valid, and be sustained as such. 
 
 But while the Presbyterian Church can act as has now been stated in 
 regard to ordinations, it is among those principles and usages which she 
 regards as most sacred and important, to secure for her churches both a 
 pious and a learned ministry, and she cannot admit of any usage or exer- 
 cise any apparent liberality inconsistent with security in this essential 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 195 
 
 particular. On the whole, therefore, the Committee recommend the 
 following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That when applications are made by ministers of the Baptist 
 or any other Protestant denomination to be connected with the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, the Presbytery to which the applications are made shall 
 require all the qualifications both in regard to piety and learning which 
 -are required of candidates for licensure or ordination of those who have 
 originally belonged to the Presbyterian Church; and shall require the 
 applicants from other denominations to continue their study and prepara- 
 tion till they are found on trial and examination to be qualified in learn- 
 ing and ability to teach in the manner required by our Standards; but 
 that when found to be thus qualified, it shall not be necessary to reordain 
 the said applicants, but only to install them when they are called to 
 settle in Presbyterian congregations. — 1821, p. 23. 
 
 b. Overture. — A request of the Rev. J. G. Monfort that the Assembly 
 answer the following question: " Is it the duty of Presbyteries, when 
 elders or deacons from the Methodist Episcopal Church apply to become 
 ministers in our Church, to recognize their ordination as sufficient, or to 
 ordain them as in the case of other candidates ?" 
 
 The Committee recommended that the overture be answered by a refer- 
 ence to the action on the subject, of the General Assembly of 1821. 
 The report was adopted.— 1852, p. 210, O. S. 
 
 10. The reasons for receiving" an ordained minister from another 
 denomination to be recorded. 
 
 The Committee of Overtures brought in the following resolution, 
 which, having been read and amended, was adopted, and is as follows, 
 viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of this Assembly the decisions of the 
 General Assembly in 1792, and referred to by the Assembly of 1800, 
 respecting the reordination of ministers regularly ordained in the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, and desiring to connect themselves with the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, however expedient 
 at the time of its formation, ought not to be considered as a precedent to 
 guide the future decisions of the judicatories of this Church; and that 
 the Presbyteries under the care of this Assembly, when they receive into 
 their connection an ordained minister from any other denomination, be 
 careful to record the circumstances of the case and the reasons which 
 induced them to receive such ordained minister. — 1810, p. 441. 
 
 11. Leave to ordain refused where there is no Presbytery. 
 
 Overture, a memorial from the Presbytery of New York, referring to 
 this Assembly the following case : Application was made 1 to the Presby- 
 tery of New York in April to receive by letter from the Presbytery of 
 Cincinnati, the Rev. John Beveridge, now a resident of Northern 
 Mexico, and to authorize the Rev. Andrew J. Park, now a member of 
 the Presbytery of New York, and residing in Northern Mexico, and the 
 Rev. John Beveridge, when received by the Presbytery, to ordain to the 
 work of the ministry, if the way be clear on examination, Mr. Brigide 
 Sepulveda, a converted Roman Catholic priest. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 Resolved, That inasmuch as there is no Presbytery, and not a sufficient 
 number of ministers of whom to form a Presbytery, in Northern 
 
196 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 Mexico, such request be not granted. In consideration, however, of the 
 urgency and peculiarity of the case, the Board of Foreign Missions are 
 hereby instructed to defray the expenses of Mr. Sepulveda's journey to 
 and from New York for his ordination by the Presbytery of New York, 
 if the way be clear. — 1871, p. 592. 
 
 12. Reception of foreign ministers. The rule. 
 
 [Note. — The original rule on this subject may be found in the Minutes for 1735, 
 p. 118. Action was also taken in 1773, p. 448, and 1774, p. 455. In 1784 the matter 
 forced itself anew upon the Synod, and particular care was enjoined upon all its 
 members, 1784, p. 504. See also Baird's Collection, revised edition, pp. 254, 257. In 
 1798, p. 148, the Assembly adopted " regulations intended to embrace and extend the 
 existing rules." In 1800 these regulations were modified and amended, and constitute 
 the present rule, viz. :] 
 
 I. When any minister or licentiate from Europe shall come into this 
 country, and desire to become connected with the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States, he may apply to any Committee appointed to direct 
 the services of traveling ministers and candidates; which Committee 
 shall inspect his credentials, and, by examination or otherwise, endeavor 
 to ascertain his soundness in the faith and experimental acquaintance 
 with religion; his attainments in divinity and literature; his moral and 
 religious character, and approbation of our public standards of doctrine 
 and discipline. If the result shall be such as to encourage further trial, 
 said Committee may give him appointments to supply and recommend 
 him to the churches till the next meeting of the Presbytery to which 
 such Committee belongs. It shall then become the duty of such minister 
 or licentiate to apply to that Presbytery, or to any other in whose 
 bounds he may incline to labor; provided always that he make his appli- 
 cation to the Presbytery at their first meeting after Ins coming within 
 their bounds ; and also that, immediately on coming within the bounds 
 of any Presbytery, he apply to their Committee to judge of his certificate 
 of approbation, and, if they think it expedient, to make him appoint- 
 ments; or, if it shall be more convenient, the application may be made 
 to the Presbytery in the first instance; but it shall be deemed irregular 
 for any foreign minister or licentiate to preach in any vacant church till 
 he have obtained the approbation of some Presbytery or Committee of 
 Presbytery, in manner aforesaid. 
 
 The Presbytery to which such minister or licentiate may apply, shall 
 carefully examine his credentials, and not sustain a mere certificate of 
 good standing, unless corroborated by such private letters, or other 
 collateral testimony, as shall fully satisfy them as to the authenticity and 
 sufficiency of his testimonials. After inspecting any evidences of his 
 literary acquirements which may be laid before them, the Presbytery 
 shall enter into a free conversation with him, in order to discover his 
 soundness in the faith and experimental acquaintance with religion. If 
 they shall obtain satisfaction on these several articles, they shall proceed 
 to examine him on the learned languages, the arts, sciences, theology, 
 church history and government; nor shall they receive him, unless he 
 shall appear to have made such attainments in these several branches as 
 are required of those who receive their education or pass their trials 
 among ourselves. But if, upon the whole, he appears to be a person 
 worthy of encouragement, and who promises usefulness in the Church, 
 they shall receive him as a minister or candidate on probation, he first 
 adopting our Standards of doctrine and discipline, and promising sub- 
 jection to the Presbytery in the Lord. During this state of probation he 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 197 
 
 may preach the Gospel where regularly called, either as a stated or occa- 
 sional supply; and if an ordained minister, perform every part of the 
 ministerial functions, except that he may not vote in any judicatory or 
 accept a call for settlement. 
 
 If the foreigner who shall apply to any Presbytery or Committee, as 
 aforesaid, be an ordained minister, such Committee and Presbytery may, 
 at their discretion, dispense with the special examination on literature in 
 this act prescribed, provided he shall exhibit satisfactory evidence that 
 he has received such education, and made such progress in languages, 
 arts, and sciences, as are required by the Constitution of our Church as 
 qualifications for the Gospel ministry. But in all other respects, the 
 examination shall be the same as in the case of a licentiate. 
 
 If from prospects of settlement, or greater usefulness, a minister or 
 licentiate under probation in any Presbytery, shall wish to move into the 
 bounds of another, he shall receive a dismission, containing a certificate 
 of his standing and character, from the Presbytery under whose care he 
 shall have been ; which certificate shall entitle him to the same standing 
 in the Presbytery into whose bounds he shall come, except that from the 
 time of his coming under the care of this latter Presbytery, a whole year 
 shall elapse before they come to a final judgment respecting his reception. 
 
 When any foreign minister or licentiate, received on certificate, or 
 pursuant to trials in any Presbytery, shall have resided generally and 
 preached within their bounds and under their direction, for at least one 
 year, they shall cause him to preach before them (if they judge it expe- 
 dient), and taking into consideration, as well the evidence derived from 
 their former trials as that which may arise from his acceptance in the 
 churches, his prudence, gravity, and godly conversation, and from the 
 combined evidence of the whole, determine either to receive him, to 
 reject him, or to hold him under further probation. In case of receiving 
 him at that, or any subsequent period, the Presbytery shall report the 
 same to their Synod at its next meeting, together with all the certificates 
 and other testimony on which they received him; or, if it shall be more 
 convenient, this report may be made to the General Assembly. The 
 said Assembly or Synod, as the case may be, shall then inquire into the 
 proceedings of the Presbytery in the affair, and if they find them to 
 have been irregular or deficient, they shall recommit them to the Presby- 
 tery, in order to a more regular and perfect process. But if the pro- 
 ceedings had in the Presbytery appear to have been conformable to this 
 regulation, they shall carefully examine all the papers laid before them 
 by the Presbytery, or which shall be exhibited by the party concerned, 
 and, considering their credibility and sufficiency, come to a final judg- 
 ment, either to receive him into the Presbyterian body, agreeably to his 
 standing, or to reject him. 
 
 In order, however, to facilitate the settlement of foreign ministers as 
 soon as may consist with the purity and order of the Church, it is fur- 
 ther ordained, that if the proper Synod or the General Assembly are not 
 to meet within three months after that meeting of a Presbytery at which 
 a foreign minister on probation is expected to be received, the Presby- 
 tery may, if they see cause, lay his testimonials before the meeting of 
 the Assembly or Synod which shall be held next before said meeting of 
 the Presbytery. If this Assembly or Synod shall approve the testimo- 
 nials, they shall give the Presbytery such information and direction as 
 the case may require, and remit the same to them for final issue. In all 
 
198 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 other cases, it shall be deemed irregular for any Synod or General As- 
 sembly to receive a foreign minister or licentiate, until he shall have 
 passed his period of probation, and been received and reported by some 
 Presbytery, in manner aforesaid. 
 
 No minister or licentiate, after being rejected by one Presbytery, shall 
 be received by another, or if received through mistake or otherwise, he 
 shall be no longer countenanced or employed, after the imposition is 
 discovered. If, however, any minister or licentiate shall think himself 
 aggrieved by the sentence of any Presbytery, he shall have a right to 
 carry the matter by complaint to the proper Synod, or to the next Gen- 
 eral Assembly, giving notice thereof to the Presbytery during the 
 meeting at which the sentence was pronounced, or at the meeting next 
 following. 
 
 These regulations and provisions relative to the reception of foreign 
 ministers and licentiates are to be considered as coming in place of all 
 that have heretofore been established on this subject; and all judicatories 
 and individuals under the care of the Assembly are to regard them 
 accordingly.— 1800, pp. 200-202. 
 
 13. The rule enforced. 
 
 a. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Albany recommend that they be approved, " excepting the case of 
 receiving a foreign licentiate, by the Presbytery of St. Lawrence, with- 
 out laying their proceedings in the case before the Synod or General 
 Assembly."— 1822, p. 38. 
 
 b. Papers touching the reception of the Rev. William Windle, a 
 foreign minister, to the Presbytery of Philadelphia. 
 
 These were remitted to that Presbytery, inasmuch as no record of its 
 proceedings in the case had been placed in the hands of the Committee, 
 by which they might ascertain how far the Presbytery has complied with 
 the order of the Assembly, in such cases made and provided. — 1852, p. 
 221, O. S. 
 
 C. Overture was taken up, viz. : An application from the Presbytery 
 of Watertown, for leave to receive Mr. William Lockhead, a foreign 
 licentiate, who, after being under the care of the Presbytery of Cham- 
 plain for five months, had been dismissed to the Presbytery of Water- 
 town, and had been under the care of the latter Presbytery since the 9th 
 of February last. The Presbytery of Watertown requests that the 
 Assembly will allow them to take into the account, for the term of trial, 
 the time which Mr. Lockhead spent on trials in the Presbytery of Cham- 
 plain. On this request the Assembly resolved, that the standing rule 
 which requires that the foreign licentiate must spend a year in the Pres- 
 bytery to which he is dismissed, be not dispensed with. — 1830, p. 299. 
 
 [Note. — See a similar case, 1858, p. 273, O. S.] 
 
 14. Rule applies to minister seeking to be restored. 
 
 A reference from the Presbytery of St. Clairsville, of the case of the 
 Rev. Samuel Boyd, who haxing retired in good standing from the 
 Presbyterian ministry in Ireland in 1842, on account of a change in his 
 views of Infant Baptism, now seeks a restoration to the exercise of the 
 ministry among us, inasmuch as he adopts again, with full conviction, 
 the whole Confession of our faith. 
 
 The Committee recommended that the Presbytery of St. Clairsville be 
 
OF THE PKESBYTERY. 199 
 
 instructed to proceed according to the rule relating to foreign ministers, 
 the probation of one year commencing at the time of their next stated 
 meeting. The recommendation was adopted. — 1849, p. 239, 0. S. 
 
 15. Privilege lost by a return to Europe. 
 
 An application from the Presbytery of Philadelphia for advice and 
 direction in the case of Rev. James T. Irvine. Mr. Irvine, after having 
 been regularly received, returned to Ireland, and was installed there. 
 Afterwards returning to America, the Presbytery asked, " Does Mr. 
 Irvine come under the denomination of a foreign minister ?' ' subject to 
 the rule as to probation. 
 
 The Assembly replied that he did.— 1848, p. 22, O. S. 
 
 16. Rule repealed as to ministers from the Presbyterian Churches of 
 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Overture on receiving ministers from foreign countries. The Commit- 
 tee recommend the adoption of the following : 
 
 Inasmuch as intercourse between the Presbyterian Churches of Great 
 Britain and our General Assembly is now much more frequent and 
 intimate than in former years, affording the opportunity for mutual 
 acquaintance, and knowledge of the character and standing of the min- 
 isters in the different Churches of both countries; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the regulation requiring ministers coming among us 
 from the Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain, to submit to a year's 
 probation before maintaining ministerial standing, is no longer necessary, 
 and is hereby repealed. Adopted. — 1872, p. 70. 
 
 17. The rule repealed as to the Presbyterian Churches of Canada. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Dayton, asking, " That, inasmuch 
 as the intercourse between the Presbyterian Church of Canada and our 
 General Assembly is now very direct and intimate, affording us facilities 
 for knowing the character and standing of that Church, such action be 
 taken by this Assembly as will dispense with the year's probation now 
 required of ministers coming to us from that border province. ' ' 
 
 Your Committee recommend the following answer: Inasmuch as the 
 rule requiring such probation Jias been repealed as to ministers from the 
 Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain (see Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 
 159), that said rule be repealed so far as it relates to ministers coming 
 from the Presbyterian Churches of Canada. Adopted. — 1883, p. 625. 
 
 [Note. — The rule is enforced as to all other foreign Churches. See Digest of 1886, 
 p. 493; Minutes of 1875, p. 506; 1876, p. 80; 1883, p. 626; 1888, p. Ill; 1894, p. 88; 
 1895, p. 75 ; 1896, p. 146.] 
 
 18. The rule waived in the case of ministers from Presbyteries in corre- 
 spondence with the Assembly. 
 
 [Note — See Digest, 1886, p. 159; Minutes, 1869, p. 281, N. S.] 
 IV. TO INSTALL MINISTERS. 
 
 1. The cognizance of settling pastors belongs to Presbytery. 
 
 That it belongs to the Presbyteries to take cognizance of the proceed- 
 ings of Sessions and congregations in the important concern of settling 
 pastors, and to adopt the most effectual measures on the one hand to 
 prevent all undue delay by the Session, or the people, and on the other, to 
 prevent all precipitancy in the settlement of any minister, or the adoption 
 
200 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 of any system of proceedings in the congregation inconsistent with the 
 real and permanent edification of the people. — 1814, p. 560. 
 
 2. The Presbytery may refuse to install even where parties are agreed. 
 
 When a congregation and minister agree on the amount of salary to 
 be paid and received, and both parties being fully satisfied, request the 
 pastoral relation to be constituted according to the order of the Presby- 
 terian Church, has Presbytery the right to refuse to install, because, in 
 their judgment, the salary is insufficient ? 
 
 Answered in the affirmative.— 1855, p. 272, O. S. ; 1875, p. 510, 
 confirms. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xv.] 
 
 3. The Presbytery may refuse to install at its discretion. 
 [Where an appeal was brought against a refusal to put a call into the 
 hands of the appellant, it was held :] 
 
 That as the General Assembly has repeatedly decided that the Presby- 
 teries have discretionary power in such cases (Digest, 1886, p. 694), 
 which decisions are clearly in accordance with the Form of Gov- 
 ernment (Chap, xv, Sec. ix), the appeal should be dismissed. — 1875, 
 p. 510. 
 
 [Note. — See below, Chap, xv, Sec. ix.] 
 
 V. TO REMOVE MINISTERS. 
 
 1. The Presbytery has power to dissolve a pastoral relation at its own 
 
 discretion. 
 
 a. Overture No. 22, from the Synod of Illinois, asking the following 
 question, viz. : 
 
 Has a Presbytery the constitutional power to dissolve the pastoral rela- 
 tion against the remonstrance of the j>astor and a majority of the church, 
 when a large and influential minority of the church request it, by 
 petition, and in the judgment of Presbytery the interests of religion in 
 that congregation require it ? 
 
 Your Committee beg leave to recommend the following answer, viz. : 
 
 The General Assembly think that the Presbytery has the constitutional 
 power to dissolve the pastoral relation, according to Chap, x, Sec. viii, 
 and Chap, xvii of our Book; but that great regard ought to be had to 
 expediency in all such cases. 
 
 Adopted.— 1860, p. 39, O. S. 
 
 b. To the same question the next year the Assembly answers by 
 referring to the above, with the caution, " That such power should in all 
 cases be exercised with the greatest caution and discretion, and the 
 reasons for such action should be always fully recorded." — 1861, p. 
 306, O. S. 
 
 2. A Synod, on appeal, directs the dissolution of the pastoral relation, 
 
 and is sustained. 
 Your Commission had this case several days before them, and bestowed 
 upon it careful consideration; and have unanimously determined to 
 report to the Assembly that the sense of this Commission is, that the 
 interests of the church of Hopewell require the dissolution of the 
 pastoral relation, and that they agree with the decision of Synod, and 
 they recommend the following minute: 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 201 
 
 This Assembly recognizes the right of each congregation to decide 
 whether a pastor is acceptable to them, and the wishes of a majority 
 are to be set aside only for weighty reasons; yet such a state of things 
 may exist between the pastor and a portion of his people, as shall require, 
 for the fair name of religion, that the relation be dissolved. And for 
 this reason the appeal and complaint of Joseph Connell against the 
 Synod of Pittsburgh is not sustained. — 1868, p. 649, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See the case in full below, Chap, xvii.] 
 
 3. A pastor may not be dismissed to a body other than that to which his 
 church belongs. 
 
 The Committee report Overture No. 2 : " Is a member of Presbytery, 
 desirous of withdrawing connection with our Church to a foreign body at 
 a distance, entitled to a letter of dismission and recommendation on 
 demand, while occupying the position of pastor of one of our churches ?' ' 
 
 The Committee report, that he is not thus entitled. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1861, p. 471, N. S. 
 
 4. To dismiss by a committee is unconstitutional. 
 
 a. The report of the Committee on the reference from the Presbytery 
 of Cayuga relative to the constitutionality of a rule of that body which 
 had been laid on the table, was taken up. The rule of the Presbytery 
 of Cayuga referred to the Assembly is as follows, viz. : The Moderator 
 for the time being and the Stated Clerk, ex-offieio, were appointed a 
 Committee to grant letters of dismission to ministers without charge, and 
 to licentiates and candidates under the care of this Presbytery, to unite 
 with other Presbyteries, and were directed to report at each stated 
 meeting. 
 
 In relation to this rule the following resolution, reported by the Com- 
 mittee, was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the rule hitherto acted upon by the Presbytery of 
 Cayuga is inexpedient and unconstitutional. — 1830, p. 302. 
 
 b. Also Overture No. 16, from the Presbyteries of Steuben ville and 
 Washington, asking whether it is competent and constitutional for a 
 Presbytery to appoint a Committee to dismiss unsettled ministers, licenti- 
 ates and candidates without a call for the body to assemble. This ques- 
 tion has already been decided by the General Assembly in the negative. 
 (See Minutes of the General Assembly for 1830, p. 302.) 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1865, p. 569, O. S. 
 
 5. Presbytery may not authorize its clerk to grant letters of dismission 
 during the intervals of its sessions. 
 The same Committee further reported as follows: May a Presbytery 
 authorize its Stated Clerk during the intervals of its sessions to grant, at 
 their own request, letters certifying the regular standiog and dismission 
 of its members to join other ecclesiastical bodies in connection, or corre- 
 spondence with the General Assembly ? Answered in the negative. — 
 1865, p. 12, N. S. 
 
 VI. TO JUDGE MINISTERS. 
 
 1. The Presbytery alone must judge of the fitness of its members. 
 
 Your Committee doubted the correctness of the order given by the 
 Synod to the Presbytery of Geneva, to reconsider their proceedings on 
 the subject of the admission of the Rev. Shipley Wells, a constituent 
 
202 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 member of that Presbytery, which order, though it be not appealed 
 from, appears to have given rise to the protest in question. 
 
 The Synod of Geneva were beyond doubt, in the opinion of your Com- 
 mittee, competent to censure the Presbytery of Geneva for admitting 
 hastily, and on slight evidence, into their body, an unworthy or even 
 a suspicious character. But it is, in the opinion of your Committee, 
 equally clear, that the right of deciding on the fitness of admitting Mr. 
 Wells, a constituent member of the Presbytery of Geneva, belonged to 
 the Presbytery itself; and that having admitted him, no matter how 
 improvidently, their decision was valid and final. The individual 
 admitted became a member in full standing; nor could the Presbytery, 
 though it should reconsider, reverse its own decision, or in any way sever 
 the member so admitted from their body, except by a regular process. 
 Adopted.— 1816, p. 612. 
 
 2. The Presbytery has discretion in receiving members. 
 
 [Note. — See case of Rev. H. E. Mott, received and enrolled by the Presbytery of 
 Dubuque. Complaint vs. the Synod of Iowa. ] 
 
 The Assembly fail to discover anything that would indicate that the 
 Presbytery of Dubuque has taken any action not justified by its exercise 
 of constitutional discretion in the management of affairs within its own 
 bounds.— 1889, p. 92. 
 
 3. A Presbytery may reject an applicant. 
 
 A complaint and appeal of Rev. Thomas Ledlie Birch against certain 
 proceedings of the Presbytery of Ohio in the case of Mr. Birch, particu- 
 larly for refusing to receive him as a member of their body, on the 
 ground of a supposed want of acquaintance with experimental religion, 
 together with a representation of the congregation of Washington, in the 
 bounds of the said Presbytery, on the subject, was brought in by the 
 Committee on Bills and Overtures. 
 
 Subsequently Resolved, That no evidence of censurable procedure in 
 the Presbytery of Ohio, in the case of Mr. Birch, has appeared to this 
 house, inasmuch as there is a discretionary power necessarily lodged in 
 every Presbytery to judge of the qualifications of those whom they 
 receive, especially with respect to experimental religion. — 1801, pp. 
 213, 218. 
 
 4. But not without sufficient reasons. 
 
 a. A complaint was brought in by the Rev. George Duffield against 
 the Second Philadelphia Presbytery, that they had, by one of their 
 members, obstructed his entrance into a church in this city under their 
 care, to which he had accepted a call, and had also refused to receive 
 him as a member, although he was dismissed from, and recommended by, 
 the Presbytery of Donegal, which was read. 
 
 After having maturely considered this matter, the Synod judge that 
 Mr. Duffield has just cause for complaint against the conduct and judg- 
 ment of the Second Philadelphia Presbytery, w T ho ought to have admitted 
 him to membership with them, and allowed him a fair trial ; wherefore 
 we now declare him to be minister of the Pine Street or Third Presby- 
 terian congregation in this city, and order that he be put upon the list of 
 the aforesaid Presbytery. — 1773, p. 446. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the appeal of the Presbytery of Abingdon from 
 the decision of the Synod of Virginia, in the case of the Rev. Robert 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 203 
 
 Glenn, be dismissed, on the ground that the substantial cause of appeal 
 has been removed by the act of that Presbytery, in their receiving Mr. 
 Glenn, in conformity with the decision of the Synod. The appeal was 
 accordingly dismissed. — 1822, p. 55. 
 
 5. Rule as to a member of an extinct Presbytery, charged with an 
 
 offence. 
 
 The Committee appointed to consider the overture sent up by the Pres- 
 bytery of Baltimore respecting the course proper to be pursued by a 
 Presbytery when a minister with a certificate of good standing from a 
 Presbytery which has no longer any existence applies for admission, but 
 is supposed to be chargeable with some offence subsequently to the date 
 of that certificate, made the following report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That after the most attentive consideration of the question presented 
 in said overture, it appears to them that the proper answer is embraced 
 in the following particulars, viz. : 
 
 1. It is well known that the Book of Discipline of our Church 
 expressly provides that when a minister shall be dismissed by one Presby- 
 tery with a view to his joining another, he shall always be considered as 
 remaining under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery which dismissed him 
 until he actually becomes a member of another. In the case stated in 
 the overture, however, as the dismissing Presbytery had become extinct, 
 it was physically impossible to act according to the letter of this rule. 
 In these circumstances every principle of sound interpretation seems to 
 direct that in ordinary cases the Presbytery into which admission is 
 sought should receive the applicant, and if he be charged with any 
 offence, conduct the process against him. 
 
 2. Nevertheless, it is the privilege of every Presbytery to judge of the 
 character and situation of those who apply to be admitted into their 
 own body, and unless they are satisfied, to decline receiving the same. 
 A Presbytery, it is true, may make an improper use of this privilege, in 
 which case the rejected applicant may appeal to the Synod or the Gen- 
 eral Assembly. 
 
 3. When any minister dismissed in good standing by an extinct Pres- 
 bytery is charged with an offence subsequently to the date of his dismis- 
 sion, the Presbytery to which he applies for admission not only may, if 
 they see cause, decline receiving him, but if their own situation be such, 
 that there is no prospect of their being able to conduct process against 
 him in an impartial and efficient manner, ought to decline admitting 
 him into their body. 
 
 4. In this case ministers dismissed by an extinct Presbytery and not 
 received into any other are to be considered as under the direction of 
 their proper Synod, and ought to be disposed of as the Synod may order. 
 —1825, pp. 146, 147. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, xi, Sec. cxiii.] 
 
 6. How ministers and licentiates from corresponding bodies are to be 
 
 received. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1829, to con- 
 sider and report to the Assembly of 1830 on the manner in which minis- 
 ters and licentiates are to be received into any of our Presbyteries from 
 ecclesiastical bodies in the United States which correspond with this 
 General Assembly, made the following report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
204 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 That in their judgment every licentiate coming by certificate to any 
 Presbytery in connection with the General Assembly from any portion of 
 a corresponding ecclesiastical body, should be required to answer in the 
 affirmative the constitutional questions directed by Chap, xiv of our 
 Form of Government, to be put to our own candidates before they are 
 licensed; and that in like manner every ordained minister of the Gospel, 
 coming from any Church in correspondence with the General Assembly 
 by certificate of dismission and recommendation, should be required to 
 answer affirmatively the first seven questions directed by Chap, xv of 
 our Form of Government to be put to one of our own licentiates when 
 about to be ordained to the sacred office. 
 
 The course which is thus recommended by the Committee they believe 
 has been generally practiced by our Presbyteries, and the impropriety of 
 admitting strangers into our connection on other terms than our own 
 licentiates and ministers is too obvious to require remark. It is the assent 
 of licentiates and ministers to these questions which brings them under 
 the watch and care of the Presbyteries which receive them, and without 
 which they ought not to enjoy the privileges of preachers of the Gospel 
 in our ecclesiastical connection. — 1830, p. 287. 
 
 7. Ministers dismissed in good standing should be received on their 
 
 testimonials. 
 
 Resolved, That a due regard to the order of the Church and the bonds 
 of brotherhood require, in the opinion of this Assembly, that ministers 
 dismissed in good standing by sister Presbyteries should be received by the 
 Presbyteries which they are dismissed to join, upon the credit of their 
 constitutional testimonials, unless they have forfeited their good standing 
 subsequently to their dismissal. — 1834, p. 440. 
 
 [Note.— See next below.] 
 
 8. The right of Presbytery to satisfy itself. 
 
 a. Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly, it is the 
 right of every Presbytery to be entirely satisfied of the soundness in the 
 faith, and the good character in every respect, of those ministers who 
 apply to be admitted into the Presbytery as members, and who bring 
 testimonials of good standing from sister Presbyteries, or from foreign 
 bodies with whom the Presbyterian Church is in correspondence. And 
 if there be any reasonable doubt respecting the proper qualifications of 
 such candidates, notwithstanding their testimonials, it is the right and 
 may be the duty of such a Presbytery to examine them, or to take such 
 other methods of being satisfied in regard to their suitable character as 
 may be judged proper, and if such satisfaction be not obtained,* to 
 decline receiving them. In such case it shall be the duty of the Presby- 
 tery rejecting the applicant to make known what it has done, to the 
 Presbytery from which he came, with its reasons, it being always under- 
 stood that each Presbytery is in this concern, as in all others, responsible 
 for its acts to the higher judicatories. — 1835, p. 485. 
 
 Note. — As matters of information, the following deliverances are inserted.] 
 
 b. This Assembly do now render it imperative on the Presbyteries to 
 examine all w T ho make application for admission to their bodies at least 
 on experimental religion, didactic and polemic theology and church 
 government. — 1837, p. 579. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 205 
 
 C. Whereas, It is the inherent right of Presbyteries to expound and 
 apply constitutional rules touching the qualifications of their own mem- 
 bers, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the action of the last Assembly making it imperative 
 on the Presbyteries to examine all who make application to their bodies, 
 not excepting ministers coming from other Presbyteries, is null and 
 void.— 1838, p. 660, K S. 
 
 9. The right of Presbytery to examine ministers applying for admission 
 
 recognized by both Assemblies. 
 
 It is agreed that the Presbyteries possess the right to examine minis- 
 ters applying for admission from other Presbyteries : but each Presbytery 
 shall be left free to decide for itself when it will exercise the right. — 
 1868, p. 629, O. S.; 1868, p. 32, N. S. 
 
 10. Examination of a minister bringing a letter from another Presbytery 
 
 discretionary. 
 
 When a minister brings a certificate of dismission in good and regular 
 standing, and a recommendation from one Presbytery to another, has the 
 Presbytery to which he comes a right to require him to submit to an 
 examination before receiving him ? Recommended that the matter be 
 left to the Presbyteries, as the rightful judges of the qualifications of 
 their own members. Adopted. — 1880, p. 56. 
 
 11. A Presbytery may not give a qualified dismission nor receive a 
 minister except on a letter of dismission. Where reception is void, 
 the name should be stricken from the roll. 
 
 Can a Presbytery, under any circumstances, rescind its action in the 
 reception of a member ? The Committee recommends the following 
 answer : 
 
 It appears in the case referred to in this overture that a minister, 
 having taken a qualified letter of dismission from his Presbytery, was 
 received by the Presbytery to which he was dismissed upon other testi- 
 monials. 
 
 It is the opinion of this Assembly, 
 
 1. That no Presbytery has the right to grant qualified letters of 
 dismission to any of its members. 
 
 2. That no Presbytery can receive a minister except upon a letter of 
 dismission from the Presbytery to which he belongs (Discipline, Sec. 
 cxv). 
 
 3. That the action of the Presbytery in the case referred to, in receiv- 
 ing said minister, being void, the proper course would have been to strike 
 his name from the roll, and notify the Presbytery to which he belonged 
 of his irregularity. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 922, O. S. 
 
 12. Ministers from other denominations to be carefully examined 
 
 in theology. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the Presbyteries be enjoined, when dealing, with 
 applications from ministers of other denominations for admission into our 
 Church, to demand of such applicants evidence of having had a course 
 of collegiate and theological instruction equivalent to that demanded in 
 the case of candidates for the ministry under the care of our Presby- 
 
206 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 teries; and that such applicants shall be subject to a particular and careful 
 examination in theology. — 1880, p. 85. 
 
 b. As to ministers " from other denominations," the General Assem- 
 bly having had no care or supervision of their theological instruction, 
 requires an examination as to their change, and reasons therefor, of 
 conviction in doctrinal belief and in the Form of Church Government, 
 and of their approval of and sincere acceptance of the Standards of the 
 Church. -1896, p. 161. 
 
 13. A Presbytery may not restore a minister deposed by another. 
 
 Also, a memorial of the Rev. George D. Stewart and others, that the 
 General Assembly would take action and give relief in the case of Rev. 
 Michael Hummer, who, having been deposed by the Presbytery of Iowa, 
 had been restored by the Presbytery of Highland, against the remon- 
 strance of the Presbytery of Iowa, just as if he was an independent 
 minister. 
 
 It is recommended that this General Assembly declare that it is irregu- 
 lar and unconstitutional for any Presbytery to receive and restore a 
 member of another Presbytery who has been deposed; and therefore the 
 action of the Presbytery of Highland in restoring Mr. Hummer was 
 improper; and the Presbytery of Highland is directed to reconsider its 
 action, and proceed according to the requirements of the Constitution. 
 
 The report was adopted. —1862, p. 608, O. S. ; confirmed, 1883, p. 628. 
 
 14. A minister who has withdrawn can be restored only by the Pres- 
 bytery from which he withdrew. 
 
 Mr. David Austin, who had been formerly a member of the Presby- 
 tery of New York, and had withdrawn from the Presbytery and the 
 Presbyterian Church, appeared before the Assembly and renewed his 
 request of last year to be again received into ministerial communion and 
 regular standing in the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Austin, having been 
 fully heard in support of his petition, withdrew; when the Assembly, 
 after maturely considering the case, 
 
 Resolved, That as it would be disorderly for this Assembly to restore 
 Mr. Austin to his standing in the Presbyterian Church in the form in 
 which it is sought by him, inasmuch as he withdrew from the Presbytery 
 of New York, against whom he makes no complaint, and to whom, of 
 course, he ought to apply, so this Assembly, in the course of the discus- 
 sion had on the subject of Mr. Austin's application, have had before 
 them sufficient evidence that it is inexpedient at present to recommend 
 his reception by any judicature of this Church. Yet the Assembly are 
 willing to hope that the time may come when the restoration of Mr. Austin 
 to his former standing may take place to his own satisfaction and the 
 edification of the Church.— 1802, p. 238. 
 
 15. The name of a suspended minister is to remain upon the roll. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Northern Indiana approved except that 
 on page 54, the Synod censure the Presbytery of Michigan for retaining 
 the name of Mr. Nicoll on the roll after suspending him from the Gospel 
 ministry. Your Committee are of the opinion that the name of a sus- 
 pended minister should be retained on the roll of Presbytery till they 
 proceed to the higher censure, though he be deprived of the exercise of 
 his ministerial functions. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 207 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1847, p. 398, O. S. ; confirmed, 1882, p. 96. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of Redstone, asking if it is proper 
 to remove the name of a suspended member of the Presbytery from its 
 roll, and place it in a private register. Your Committee recommend 
 that this overture be answered in the negative (Digest, 1886, p. 160, 
 Sec. 39).— 1882, p. 96. 
 
 16. Deposition does not necessarily infer also excommunication. When 
 both are intended, it should be so expressed. 
 
 a. The Committee to which was referred the consideration of a report 
 made by the Committee which had been appointed to examine the records 
 of the Synod of Geneva reported, and their report being read, was 
 adopted, and is as follows, viz. : That the records of the Synod be 
 approved to page 45, with the exception of a resolution on page 28, 
 which declares that a deposed minister ought to be treated as an excom- 
 municated person. In the judgment of this Assembly, the deposition and 
 excommunication of a minister are distinct things, not necessarily 
 connected with each other, but when connected ought to be inflicted by 
 the Presbytery to whom the power of judging and censuring ministers 
 properly belongs. — 1814, p. 549. 
 
 b. Overture No. 20. A question submitted by John Warnock of 
 Alabama, " Does deposition from the ministry exclude from church 
 privileges ?' ' The Committee recommended the following resolution, 
 which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That though the causes which provoke deposition are almost 
 always such as to involve the propriety of exclusion from the sacraments, 
 yet the two sentences are not essentially the same, the one having refer- 
 ence to office and the other to the rights of membership, and, therefore, 
 Presbyteries should be explicit in stating both when they mean both. 
 When, however, a Presbytery interpret deposition to involve suspension 
 from the sacraments, and pronounce the censure in that sense, the 
 sentence obviously includes both. — 1848, p. 34, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, v, Sec. xxxiv, and Chap, vi, Sec. xl.] 
 
 17. The name of a deposed minister to be published in case he does not 
 cease from ministerial functions. 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the Presbyteries under the care 
 of the General Assembly when they shall depose any of their members 
 from the exercise of the ministerial office, and when any person so 
 deposed shall, without having been regularly restored, assume the minis- 
 terial character, or attempt to exercise any of the ministerial functions, 
 that in such case, with a view to prevent such deposed person from 
 imposing himself on the churches, Presbyteries be careful to have his 
 name published in the Assembly' s magazine as deposed from the ministry, 
 that all the churches may be enabled to guard themselves against such 
 dangerous impositions. — 1806, p. 360. 
 
 VII. MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO MINISTERS AND 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 1. Ministers who neglect their duty to be summoned to answer. 
 Inasmuch as Mr. Stevenson has from time to time, and for years past, 
 neglected attending on our judicatures, and also omitted his ministry 
 without giving us any reasons for his said conduct, it is therefore agreed 
 
208 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 that his name shall be struck out of our records till he come before us 
 and give an account of his proceedings. — 1741, p. 156. 
 
 2. If persistent to be regularly excluded or deposed. 
 
 That if any minister of the Gospel, through a worldly spirit, a disrel- 
 ish for the duties of his office, or any other criminal motive, become 
 negligent or careless, he is by no means to be suffered to pursue this 
 course so as at length to be permitted to lay aside the ministry -without 
 censure, because this would be to encourage a disregard of the most 
 solemn obligations by opening a way to escape from them with impunity. 
 
 But in all such cases Presbyteries are seasonably to use the means and 
 pursue the methods pointed out in the Word of God and the rules of 
 this Church to recall their offending brother to a sense of duty; and if 
 all their endeavors be ineffectual, they are at length regularly to exclude 
 or depose him from his office. 
 
 If any cases or questions relative to this subject arise in Presbyteries 
 which are not contemplated by the provisions of this rule, such cases or 
 questions should be referred to the General Assembly for a special de- 
 cision.— 1802, p. 259. 
 
 3. Presbyteries to inspect the fidelity of their members. 
 
 The constitutional remedy for these evils is in the hands of the Presby- 
 tery, to whom it belongs to ordain, install, remove and judge ministers 
 (see Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii); and whose duty it is to 
 inspect the fidelity of those whom they have solemnly set apart to the 
 work of the ministry by the imposition of hands. — 1834, p. 450. 
 
 4. Reasons for withdrawal to be required and recorded. 
 
 That when ministers have withdrawn, or may hereafter withdraw, from 
 the work of the ministry, wholly or in part, it be enjoined upon the 
 Presbyteries to which they belong to require of such ministers their 
 reasons for so doing, which reasons are to be put upon record by the 
 Presbytery, with an expression of their approbation or disapprobation of 
 the same.— 1834, p. 450. 
 
 5. Compliance with the rule of 1834 enforced. 
 
 1. That the attention of the Synods be called to the rule adopted by 
 the General Assembly of 1834. (Minutes, p. 450). 
 
 2. That the Synods be required at their next regular meeting to obtain 
 replies from their several Presbyteries to the two following questions, 
 namely : 
 
 (1) Whether the above-recited rule of the Assembly of 1834 has 
 been observed by the Presbytery. 
 
 (2) Whether proper discipline has been exercised, in cases where the 
 reasons for withdrawal from ministerial duty have been disapproved by 
 the Presbytery; and also in cases of habitual absence from the meetings 
 of the Presbytery without the rendering of sufficient excuse. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 263, N. S. 
 
 6. Ministers engaged in secular callings. 
 
 From the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, asking the Assembly, " for 
 
 the relief of our minutes, our ecclesiastical courts, and our ministerial 
 
 name, to define whether a minister who turns aside from his calling, not 
 
 from bad health or moral delinquency, to some secular employment. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 209 
 
 should demit the sacred office, or be denied the full immunities of the 
 Presbytery. ' ' 
 
 Resolved, 1. • That the former deliverances of the Assembly on that 
 subject, to wit, in the years 1802, 1834 and 1839 are sufficient. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Presbyteries be enjoined to execute the rule of 
 the Assembly of 1834, as to any members " who have withdrawn in 
 whole or in part, without justifiable cause, from the work of the minis- 
 try."— 1869, pp. 935, 936, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sec. liii.] 
 
 7. When providentially incapacitated ministerial privileges remain. 
 
 Resolved, That it is a principle of this Church that no minister of the 
 Gospel can be regularly divested of his office, except by a course of 
 discipline, terminating in his deposition; that if any minister, by provi- 
 dential circumstances, become incapable of exercising his ministerial 
 functions, or is called to suspend them, or to exercise them only occa- 
 sionally, he is still to be considered as possessing the ministerial character 
 and privileges; and his brethren of the Presbytery are to inspect his 
 conduct; and while they treat him with all due tenderness and sympathy, 
 they are to be careful that he do not neglect ministerial duty beyond 
 what his circumstances render unavoidable. — 1802, p. 258. 
 
 8. Ministers without charge are constituent members of Presbytery. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. ii.] 
 
 9. All ministers are of equal power and privilege. 
 
 In reply to an overture in relation to the right of ministers, not 
 engaged in the ministerial work, to sit in church courts, the Assembly 
 answers : 
 
 According to the Constitution of our Church, ministers, as such, 
 whether with or without charge, are of equal power and privilege. If 
 the defection of any minister from the duties implied in his ordination 
 vows is serious enough to disfranchise him, it is sufficiently serious to call 
 for the orderly exercise of discipline. The remedy, therefore, for the 
 evil complained of lies with the Presbyteries, and cannot be reached by 
 any action of the Assembly. Touching the alleged inequality between 
 the ministers and the elders in our judicatories, it need only be remarked 
 that the number of vacant churches in a growing land like this greatly 
 exceeds the number of uneniployed ministers, and in the Church at large 
 the elders could at any time obtain a large majority, if disposed so to do. 
 Apprehending no danger in this direction, and recognizing no antag- 
 onism between the teaching and the ruling elders in the Church, this 
 Assembly sees no reason for special action in the case, leaving the Pres- 
 byteries in our large cities, where ministers without charge are prone to 
 collect, to deal with them in an orderly manner as their wisdom may 
 suggest.— 1859, p. 533, O. S. 
 
 10. May a minister hold a civil office ? 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the communication from the 
 Presbytery of Ohio respecting the Rev. Boyd Mercer and his letter to the 
 Moderator of the Assembly, exhibited their report. 
 
 The report, having been read and amended, was adopted, and is as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 With respect to the abstract question, whether the tenure of a civil 
 14 
 
210 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 office be or be not incompatible with that of the holy ministry, the 
 Assembly is of the opinion that there is nothing in the holy Scriptures, 
 or in the Constitution, acts or proceedings of the Presbyterian Church in 
 these United States, expressly prohibitory of such union of offices. 
 
 With respect to the particular case referred to their consideration, as 
 Mr. Mercer in his letter expressly asserts that it is not his intention to 
 decline the office of the holy ministry, and that he was led to devote 
 himself for the present to the functions of an associate judge by a state 
 of health so infirm as to interrupt the regular discharge of his public 
 duties as a minister of religion, your Committee are of opinion that the 
 Presbytery of Ohio ought not to censure him unless there be some 
 circumstances in the case unknown to the Assembly. 
 
 That none, however, may so far misconstrue these sentiments as to per- 
 suade themselves that they countenance a covetous, ambitious spirit, your 
 Committee further beg leave to suggest the propriety of cautioning your 
 clergy against worldly- mindedness; of exhorting them not to aspire after 
 places of emolument or civil distinction; of reminding them that the 
 cure of souls is their peculiar business, and that they who serve at the 
 altar ought, as far as possible, to avoid temporal avocations. — 1806, p. 
 363; reaffirmed, 1808, p. 399. 
 
 11. He may hold the office of chaplain in the army or navy. 
 
 a. Application was made to Synod by Mr. Beatty, desiring to know 
 their mind with respect to his going as chaplain to the forces that may 
 be raised in the Province of Pennsylvania, if he shall by the Govern- 
 ment be called to that service. The Synod do judge it to be his duly. — 
 1756, p. 275. 
 
 b. Application having been made to Mr. Beatty by Colonel Arm- 
 strong to serve as chaplain to the first battalion of the Pennsylvania 
 Provincials for the ensuing campaign, he requested the advice and 
 judgment of this Synod with respect to his duty therein. The Synod do 
 unanimously agree that it is his duty to go. — 1758, p. 282. 
 
 C. 'Tis allowed that Messrs. Alexander McDowel and Hector Allison 
 go as chaplains to the Pennsylvania forces, and that Mr. Kirkpatrick go 
 with the New Jersey forces, the ensuing campaign. — 1760, p. 302. 
 
 d. The First Philadelphia Presbytery report that they have ordained 
 Mr. Israel Evans and Mr. William Lynn* to qualify them to act as 
 chaplains in the army to which they had been appointed. — 1776, p. 472. 
 
 e. Also ordained Mr. Robert Keith to qualify him to act as a chaplain 
 in the army. — 1777, p. 477. 
 
 f. A reference from the Presbytery of Philadelphia on the propriety 
 of their ordaining to the work of the Gospel ministry a licentiate under 
 their care who now holds the office of a chaplain in the navy of the 
 United States was considered, whereupon the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, That this judicature of the Presbyterian Church feels a 
 deep and lively interest in the spiritual welfare of the mariners of this 
 country, and especially of those who are engaged in the naval service of 
 our Union; and that the Assembly therefore will rejoice if any Presby- 
 tery under its care has the opportunity of ordaining any well -qualified 
 persons, men of piety and learning, with a view to their rendering 
 permanent ministerial services to large congregations of our fellow - 
 citizens who dwell in ships-of-war. — 1826, p. 171. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 211 
 
 12. Demission of the ministry now permitted. 
 
 [Note. — SeeZ%e$f'ofl886,pp. 165-168. The sentiment of the Assembly was uniformly 
 against allowing a minister to demit the ministry. See Minutes, 1802, p. 258 ; 1858, 
 p. 299 ; 1859, p. 532, O. S., when an overture providing for the demission of the minis- 
 try was rejected : Affirmative, 24 Presbyteries ; negative, 84 Presbyteries. 
 
 In 1860 the Assembly, N. S., adopted a full minute on the demission of the ministry. 
 Minutes, pp. 234-236, N. S. See Digest of 1886, pp. 166-168. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1871 an overture on the demission of the ministry was committed 
 to Rev. Drs. Z. M. Humphrey, Charles Hodge, Henry B. Smith, George W. Musgrave 
 and Elijah P. Craven, to report to the next Assembly, p. 590. For the report and 
 overture, see Minutes, 1872, pp. 46-50. The overture was rejected: Affirmative, 45 
 Presbyteries ; negative, 65 ; not voting, 69. — 1873, p. 526. 
 
 These decisions and deliverances are annulled by Sec. li, Book of Discipline.] 
 
 13. Ministers who withdraw from Presbytery and unite with another 
 denomination stricken from the roll. 
 
 a. The Committee on the reference from the Chenango Presbytery in 
 the case of the Rev. Edward Andrews, made the following report, 
 which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, As the sense of this Assembly, that though the conduct of 
 Mr. Andrews was disorderly, it be recommended to the Presbytery to do 
 nothing further in the case than simply to strike his name from the list 
 of their members. —1828, p. 240. 
 
 [Note. — Mr. Andrews had withdrawn to the Episcopal Church and been reor- 
 dained.] 
 
 b. Resolved, That when a minister otherwise in good standing gives 
 notice in form to the Presbytery to which he belongs that he renounces 
 the fellowship of the Presbyterian Church, or by neglecting to attend the 
 meetings of its judicatories, after being dealt with for such neglect, gives 
 evidence that he has done so in fact, his name ought to be struck from 
 the roll of its members, a notice of this procedure communicated to the 
 disowned member, and if necessary published to the Church. 
 
 The congregation under the care of such minister ought to be held as 
 still under the care of Presbytery unless they give evidence that they also 
 have been withdrawn, in which case their name ought also to be struck 
 from the list of congregations belonging to the Presbytery. — 1830, p. 305. 
 
 C. Resolved, That it be recommended to the majorities of Presbyteries 
 and church Sessions to take no other action in relation to members who 
 have left them to join other ecclesiastical bodies not in connection with us 
 than to strike their names from the roll. — 1839, p. 24, N. S. ; 1879, p. 
 613. 
 
 d. Overture No. 5, from the Second Presbytery of New York, asking 
 the direction of the Assembly as to the action to be taken by Presbytery 
 in the case of a member who, without previous conference with his 
 co-presbyters, or without receiving a certificate of dismission, leaves the 
 Presbytery, and abandons the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. The 
 Committee recommend to the Assembly the adoption of the following 
 resolution as an answer to the request of the Presbytery: 
 
 Resolved, That in such cases as that presented in the overture, the 
 Presbytery ought simply to erase the name of the minister from the 
 roll, provided he leaves the Church without being chargeable with fun- 
 damental error in doctrine or immorality of life. Adopted. — 1854, p. 
 17,0. S. 
 
 [Note — See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sec. liii.] 
 
212 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 14. Names of church members and ministers who withdraw irregularly 
 to be stricken from the roll under specified circumstances. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Elizabeth, asking, " What is the duty 
 of the Session in regard to a church member who has united with another 
 denomination without having previously given any notice to the Session of 
 such purpose ?" 
 
 The Committee recommends that this inquiry be answered by referring 
 to the action of the General Assembly (N. S. ) of 1839, as found in 
 Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 169; and also to the action of the General As- 
 sembly of 1828, with reference to ministers who withdraw from the Pres- 
 bytery and unite with another denomination, as found on the same page 
 of the Digest. -1879, p. 613; 1880, p. 45. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sees, lii, liii.] 
 
 15. Duty of Presbytery in case of members who do not report. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Boston with reference to absentees 
 of whose whereabouts the Presbytery knows nothing, or who, absenting 
 themselves from year to year, give no heed to the communications of the 
 Presbytery. As to the former class, the Committee recommend that their 
 names be retained on the roll till some knowledge can be obtained of such 
 brethren; as to the latter class, that a process of discipline be entered 
 upon for violation of ordination engagements to be subject to their brethren 
 in the Lord. Adopted.— 1876, p. 80; 1885, p. 604. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of Pueblo, asking whether the rule 
 which forbids the granting of a letter to a member of a church who has 
 been absent from all meetings and services of said church for two years 
 without satisfactory explanations, applies also in principle to a minister in 
 his relation to a Presbytery. 
 
 Your Committee answer this inquiry in the negative, and would recom- 
 mend that each Presbytery is competent to decide each particular case on 
 its own merits. Adopted. — 1883, p. 626. 
 
 TNote. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, xii, Sec. cxvi.] 
 
 16. Authority for taking from the roll the names of ministers serving 
 churches in other denominations. 
 
 A request, from the Presbytery of Westchester, that the Assembly shall 
 define the authority of Presbyteries in regard to taking from the roll the 
 names of ministers serving churches in other denominations. The Com- 
 mittee recommend the adoption of the following: 
 
 Since the adoption of the Revised Book of Discipline, especially Sec. 
 liii, Chap, vii, a Presbytery has no authority to take a minister's name 
 from the roll without his consent, except by discipline, unless he has said 
 or done something which either recognizes some other ecclesiastical juris- 
 diction over him or declares his independence. Presbyteries should, 
 however, by correspondence, urge those who have identified themselves 
 with other denominations to take regular dismissions. Ministers of our 
 own Church ought to connect themselves with those Presbyteries within 
 which is located either their field of labor or their residence, unless very 
 special and unusual reasons exist to the contrary. Adopted. — 1885, p. 
 604. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sees. li. liii.] 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 213 
 
 VIII. TO EXAMINE AND APPROVE OR CENSURE CHURCH RECORDS. 
 
 1. Presbyteries must review the records of Sessions. 
 
 Whereas, It appeared in the course of the free conversation on religion 
 that in one of the Presbyteries under the care of the General Assembly 
 the Sessional records of the several church Sessions were not regularly 
 called up and examined every year by the said Presbytery, and there is 
 reason to believe that other Presbyteries had conducted in the same man- 
 ner, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it be and it hereby is required of all the Presbyteries 
 within the bounds of the General Assembly annually to call up and 
 examine the Sessional records of the several churches under their care, as 
 directed in the Book of Discipline.— 1809, p. 429; 1810, p. 453. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. viii.] 
 
 IX. TO RESOLVE QUESTIONS OF DOCTRINE OR DISCIPLINE. 
 
 X. TO CONDEMN ERRONEOUS OPINIONS. 
 [Note. — See above under Chap, viii, Sec. iii (2).] 
 XL TO VISIT PARTICULAR CHURCHES, TO INQUIRE AND REDRESS. 
 
 1. Overture on the right of a church to dismiss its elders ; to deny the 
 right of appeal and to deny the authority of the Presbytery. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church, to whom was referred 
 the overture — When a church shall dismiss its ruling elders, and deny to 
 its members the right of appeal and complaint, and deny the authority of 
 Presbytery over it, has it a right to be represented in the judicatories of 
 our Church ? — reported as follows: 
 
 Our Church is organized on constitutional principles, with powers and 
 duties appropriate to each branch or part thereof ; and with a gradation 
 of subordinate and superior judicatories, designed to preserve unity of 
 doctrine, and orderly discipline, according to the Scriptures. 
 
 This Constitution does not recognize a right of revolution, and makes 
 no provision therefor; but treats all such cases simply as breaches of 
 order, and visits them with appropriate constitutional remedies. Any 
 individual church is represented in the Church judicatories constitutionally 
 only by the pastor or an elder, one or both; and it can find admission 
 into such judicatories only through such a mode of representation. 
 
 The overture supposes three cases: (1) a dismissal of elders; (2) a denial 
 of the right of appeal and complaint; and (3) a denial of the authority 
 of the Presbytery. 
 
 Each of these is an unconstitutional act, is utterly null and void, and 
 subjects the offending church to visitation and discipline at the hands of 
 the Presbytery. The Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, empow- 
 ers the Presbytery ' ' to visit particular churches for the purpose of inquir- 
 ing into their state, and redressing the evils that may have arisen in them; 
 to unite or divide congregations, at the request of the people; or to form 
 or receive new congregations ; and, in general, to order whatever pertains 
 to the spiritual welfare of the churches under their care. ' ' 
 
 The above-named acts of insubordination, being void, work no effect ; 
 the Session have still the right, and it is their duty, to send one of the 
 elders to the Presbytery and the Synod ; and his votes and acts in these 
 bodies are the votes and the acts of the church. So, too, the Presbytery may 
 send any one of such elders to the General Assembly; and should such 
 
214 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 church refuse obedience to the acts of the judicatories so constituted, it 
 would be subject to the discipline, in due form, of our ecclesiastical law. 
 Such church has a right to be represented by elders, and it cannot pass by 
 them and substitute a private member as its representative. A void act 
 of deposition, or dismission of its elders, does not incapacitate the church. 
 In sending one of its dismissed elders to the Presbytery or the Synod, it 
 disaffirms its illegal act, and that is an end of it; and if it should send 
 a delegate, not an elder, he could not be received; and the church would 
 be simply unrepresented (except by the pastor), pro hdc vice; but the 
 church is still under the care of the Presbytery, and subject to its govern- 
 ment. The bond of union, which was formed by mutual and concurrent 
 consent and act, cannot be dissolved by an ex parte act of insubordination 
 or revolution, until the other party has acted thereon. The Committee, 
 therefore, recommend the following answer to the overture: 
 
 Resolved, That the acts of insubordination, specified in the overture, 
 do not, of themselves, infer a forfeiture of the church's right to be repre- 
 sented in the Church judicatories; but such representation must be in the 
 mode, and by the persons specified in the Constitution of the Church. — 
 1860, pp. 260, 261, N. S. 
 
 2. Unconstitutional acts of a portion of a church are void. 
 
 Where one portion of a church connected with, and under the 
 jurisdiction of, the Presbytery, denies the jurisdiction and authority of the 
 Presbytery and every other body, and all right to review its proceed- 
 ings, and the right of appeal to the Presbytery, and declare their deter- 
 mination so to continue; and the other portion of such church declare to 
 the Presbytery their wish to continue their connection with the Presbytery 
 as heretofore, instead of setting up as an independent church, what is 
 the duty of the Presbytery toward that portion who remain faithful to- 
 such jurisdiction ? 
 
 And recommended the following answer: That in the judgment of the 
 Assembly, the report on the subject last year (see Minutes, pp. 260, 
 261) implies that the church sustains the same relation to the Presbytery 
 as before the denial of its jurisdiction ; and that the delegate of the 
 church is entitled to a seat in the Presbytery, as in years previous to the 
 act aforesaid.— 1861, p. 478, N. S. 
 
 3. Presbytery may, without petition, direct an elder to cease acting. 
 
 Overture from the Session of the Presbyterian church at Ironton, Mo. , 
 in reference to the power of the Presbytery to declare that a member of 
 the Session shall cease to be an acting elder, without request from the 
 Session, or any members of the church. 
 
 The Committee would recommend the following answer (see Form of 
 Government, Chap, x, Sec viii) : Presbytery has power to visit particular 
 churches for the purpose of inquiring into their state, and redressing the 
 evils that may have arisen in them, and to order whatever pertains to 
 their spiritual welfare, without being requested by the Session. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 924, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. vii.] 
 
 4. A church may not withdraw without consent of Presbytery. 
 
 a. From the Presbytery of Bloomington, asking, Has any church, or 
 any part of a church in our connection, the constitutional right to with- 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 215 
 
 dra-w from a Presbytery without its consent, and to unite with another 
 body ? Answered in the negative. — 1866, p. 54, O. S. 
 
 b. From the Presbytery of Iowa City: Can a Presbyterian church,, 
 under the care of a Presbytery, withdraw regularly without first asking 
 consent and leave of the Presbytery ? 
 
 We unhesitatingly reply that no Presbyterian church, under care of a 
 Presbytery, can withdraw regularly without first asking consent and leave 
 of the Presbytery under whose care and jurisdiction it voluntarily placed 
 itself.— 1867, pp. 511, 512, N. S. ; confirmed, 1876, p. 80. 
 
 C. Overture. — A question from the Presbytery of Wisconsin: How 
 shall a church be orderly transferred to another denomination ? The 
 Committee recommend the following answer: So far as it is ecclesiastically 
 concerned, it cannot withdraw regularly without first asking consent and 
 leave of the Presbytery under whose care and jurisdiction it voluntarily 
 places itself (see Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 172). Questions of property 
 must be determined by the courts of the State. Adopted. — 1876, p. 80. 
 
 5. Course to be pursued when a church wishes to withdraw. 
 
 Also Overture No. 4, from certain members of the Presbytery of 
 Athens, asking ' ' whether it is allowable for a Presbytery and a church 
 under its charge to dissolve their connection by mutual consent, the 
 church retaining its organization and standing as an independent body. ' ' 
 The Committee recommended that the following answer be given: 
 The only proper method of dissolving the relation between a Presbytery 
 and a church desiring to become an independent body is for such church 
 to withdraw, declining the further jurisdiction of the Presbytery, and the 
 Presbytery to make such a record of its withdrawal as the character of 
 the action of the withdrawing church requires. The recommendation was 
 adopted.— 1862, p. 33, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See 4, a, b, c, above.] 
 
 6. Presbytery may dissolve a church. 
 
 a. The appeal and complaint of Smiley Shepherd against the Synod of 
 Illinois. The report was as follows: 
 
 The following facts are stated in the records of the Presbytery of Bloom - 
 ington, and are not denied by the complainant : The Second Church of 
 Union Grove in October, 1859, had for about twenty years neither meet- 
 ing-house, pastor nor stated supply, nor had it submitted, through the 
 whole of that period until 1859, either statistical reports or Sessional 
 records. It had worshiped regularly with the First Church of Union 
 Grove. In fact, in 1859 it consisted of the complainant and his family 
 alone; but the complainant claimed and exercised the right, as ruling 
 elder, to receive members to his church and to sit and vote in Presbytery 
 and Synod. For about fifteen years the Presbytery had considered the 
 church as without even a nominal existence, having in 1841 dropped it 
 from the roll, and it was not restored to the roll till 1856, and then only 
 with a view of having it regularly united with the First Church of 
 Union Grove. On the 11th of October, 1859, Presbytery dissolved the 
 said Second Church, and directed the Stated Clerk to furnish its members 
 with the usual certificates to some other Presbyterian church. 
 
 Against this proceeding Mr. Shepherd appealed, and complained to the 
 Synod of Illinois, but his complaint was not sustained. He now appeals 
 and complains to the General Assembly. 
 
216 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 He does not deny the facts as stated by the Presbytery, but alleges 
 that both Presbytery and Synod were guilty of certain gross irregularities 
 and an arbitrary use of power in the proceeding. But the papers do not 
 contain evidence sustaining these allegations. There is no testimony of 
 any kind filed with these papers. It is impossible for the Assembly to 
 determine from the record whether the power of the Presbytery was 
 discreetly exercised. The Committee therefore recommend that the 
 appeal and complaint be dismissed. 
 
 The report was adopted, and the appeal and complaint dismissed. — 
 1863, p. 36, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — The action of the Preshytery was sustained.] 
 
 b. Overture, from the Presbytery of Council Bluffs, asking: 
 
 1. Has the Presbytery the power, under any circumstances, to dissolve 
 a church organization ? 
 
 2. When a church becomes greatly reduced in numbers, and its exist- 
 ence is made unnecessary by the new organization of Presbyterian 
 churches in more favorable localities, to which a majority of its members 
 have removed, has the Presbytery power to dissolve such a church 
 organization, overruling the wishes of a majority of the members of said 
 church organization ? 
 
 3. Is this power of the Presbytery subject to reversal by the higher 
 courts on any other ground than that of injudicious exercise ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the overture be answered by a refer- 
 ence to the case of Shepherd vs. The Presbytery of Bloomington 
 (Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 172, Sec. 48;. Adopted. -1875, p. 507. 
 
 7. Dissolution is in the discretion of the Presbytery, subject to appeal. 
 
 A memorial to the General Assembly, signed by a number of its min- 
 isters and elders, asking an answer to the following questions: Whether, 
 under the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, a Presbytery has the 
 power to dissolve a Presbyterian church, regularly constituted with a 
 Session, communicants and trustees, supporting the preaching of the 
 Gospel, no formal charges made against the church, and yet acting 
 against the wishes of the Session and congregation, or rather while they 
 are protesting against such action ? 
 
 The Committee recommended the following reply: 
 
 1. A Presbytery, in the exercise of the powers given it by Sec. viii, 
 Chap, x, of our Form of Government, must be its own judge as to the 
 causes that are sufficient to justify it in dissolving any church in its 
 connection (see Digest, 1886, p. 172). 
 
 2. If any wrong is done to a church by such a Presbyterial act its 
 remedy is to be found in an appeal to a higher judicatory. Adopted. — 
 1879, p. 615. 
 
 8. The church must have notice of the proposed dissolution. 
 
 [The Presbytery of Philadelphia North dissolved the Hermon Church. On com- 
 plaint, the Assembly reversed the Synod and the Presbytery, onthe ground that the 
 church had not had notice (see Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. iv, sub-Sec. 
 xcix) . The Presbytery, after due notice, again dissolved the church, and its action 
 was brought by complaint before the Assembly.] 
 
 The Judicial Commission, appointed on Case No. 1, submitted the 
 following report, which was ordered to be recorded as the judgment of 
 the Assembly: 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 217 
 
 The Judicial Commission to whom was referred Judicial Case No. 1, 
 being an appeal of Addison Bancroft and R. W. Stewart, ruling elders 
 in the Hermon Presbyterian Church, Frankford, Pa., from an action of 
 the Synod of Philadelphia, present the following report: 
 
 The appellants appealed from the action of the Presbytery of Phila- 
 delphia North in dissolving the Hermon Church, and deciding the field 
 occupied by it a mission station under the care of the Presbytery. The 
 Synod of Philadelphia, at its stated meeting at Chester, Pa., October 
 19, 1877, sustained the action of the Presbytery; whereupon the appel- 
 lants brought their appeal from said action of the Synod to this General 
 Assembly; and the case having been, by consent of parties, referred by 
 the General Assembly to this Commission for hearing and decision, and 
 the Commission having thereupon proceeded to issue the appeal under the 
 order prescribed by the Judicial Committee of General Assembly, and 
 having fully heard the original parties and the members of the inferior 
 judicatory, decided that the said appeal from the Synod of Philadelphia 
 be not sustained, and for the following reason: It appears from the 
 minutes of the General Assembly of 1877 that this case was brought 
 before said Assembly upon its merits, and that the action of the Synod 
 of Philadelphia and of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, in the 
 premises, was by the General Assembly reversed, for the reason that Her- 
 mon Church had no previous notice of the contemplated action of the 
 Presbytery in dissolving the church, while at the same time regret is 
 expressed as to the necessity of reversing the decision of the Synod of 
 Philadelphia upon a ground which may seem merely technical ; where- 
 upon the Presbytery of Philadelphia North did, at a regularly called 
 meeting on June 15, 1877, proceed anew in the whole matter, and, 
 having served proper notice upon Hermon Church of its purpose to dis- 
 solve said church, did dissolve it. After a full hearing of the case, this 
 Commission is satisfied that the Presbytery of Philadelphia North was 
 fully justified by the facts and by our Form of Government in the action 
 then taken; and that the Synod of Philadelphia was fully justified in 
 sustaining the Presbytery in its action. Adopted. — 1878, p. 41. 
 
 XII. TO ORGANIZE, UNITE AND DIVIDE CHURCHES. 
 
 1. The organizing of churches belongs to Presbytery. 
 
 Is a minister of the Gospel in our connection, ex- officio, authorized 
 to organize churches in the bounds of Presbyteries without any previous 
 order of Presbytery directing such organization ? 
 
 a. Resolved, That except in frontier and destitute settlements, where, 
 by Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xv, it is made a part of the 
 business of evangelists to organize churches, and except in cases where it 
 is exceedingly inconvenient to make application to a Presbytery (for 
 which provision is made in the act of Assembly of 1831), it is not the 
 prerogative of a minister of the Gospel to organize churches without the 
 previous action of some Presbytery directing or permitting it, since in 
 Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, to form new congregations is 
 enumerated among the powers of a Presbytery, and since in Chap, iv, 
 1 ' Of Bishops or Pastors, ' ' no mention is made of any such power being 
 lodged in the hands of an individual minister. — 1833, p. 410; Form of 
 Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xv. 
 
 b. No church shall be organized by a missionary within the limits of 
 
218 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 any Presbytery, unless authority has been previously obtained from the 
 Presbytery.— 1883, p. 644. 
 
 2. To divide and organize on petition of a minority. 
 
 a. Has a Presbytery the constitutional right to divide a church where 
 a majority of the members of said church are opposed to its division ? 
 
 Resolved, That where the minority request it, and the Presbytery has 
 reason to believe that the interests of religion will be promoted by it, the 
 Presbytery has the right to form the minority into a new congregation. 
 —1848, p. 29, O. S. 
 
 b. Presbytery, under our form of government, has the sole power, 
 within its jurisdiction, to form, unite, and divide churches and to estab- 
 lish and dissolve pastoral relationships, subject to the provisions of the 
 Constitution, including the provisions for complaint, appeal, review and 
 control.— 1896, p. 131. 
 
 3. Presbytery may prohibit an organization. 
 
 [Note. — The people about White Clay Creek, in Xew Castle county, Delaware, peti- 
 tioned Presbytery to have the ordinances of the Gospel administered with more con- 
 venience and nearness to the place of their abode, for the greater advantage and ease 
 to their several families. Against this the people of New Castle protested, craving 
 that the people of White Clay Creek may not be suffered to set up a meeting-house in 
 the country, that their meeting-house and congregation in New Castle may not be 
 damaged by this rupture of their fellow-members of White Clay Creek.] 
 
 The General Presbytery, 
 
 Ordered, That the people of New Castle and the country should not 
 be divided by setting up two separate meetings. — 1708, pp. 11, 12. 
 
 4. When new congregations may be formed. 
 
 The Assembly censure a minister for irregularity in dividing the church 
 in Peoria, by which he did not make a separation from the great body 
 of the Presbyterian Church, but a schism in the body, contrary to the 
 Word of God and the government of the Church, which allow of the 
 division of the Church universal into separate congregations only when 
 the people of God are too numerous, or remote from each other, to 
 assemble in one place to worship God. — 1840, p. 302, O. S. 
 
 5. Churches should not be organized where the people can be supplied 
 with church privileges by existing Presbyterian churches. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of East Florida, asking for advice 
 regarding the organization of new churches within its own bounds, and 
 the right of the Presbytery to solicit aid from the Boards of Home 
 Missions and Church Erection. Your Committee recommend the follow- 
 ing action: 
 
 1. It is inexpedient and contrary to the expressed spirit of the Church 
 to multiply church organizations in any field already well supplied with 
 Gospel privileges, and especially so when the churches occupying the 
 field are closely related to us in doctrine and polity. 
 
 2. In the particular field seeking advice — viz. , that which is occupied 
 by the Presbytery of East Florida — w T e see no reason either for disturb- 
 ing work already undertaken, or for putting any definite prohibition 
 upon wise Christian zeal which seeks the extension of the Church's work 
 and care in the bounds of the said Presbytery. 
 
 3. However, we think it unwise, and a waste of the means and power 
 of the Church, to organize separate churches when the persons desiring 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 219 
 
 such organizations are not only few in number, but may be supplied 
 with church privileges by existing Presbyterian churches. Adopted. — 
 1882, p. 96. 
 
 6. Presbytery has power over the location of a church. 
 
 Overture proposing the following question: " Does Chap, x, Sec. viii, 
 of the Form of Government, defining the powers of the Presbytery, 
 give the Presbytery the right to exercise control over the erection of 
 church buildings within its bounds, both in the case of new organizations 
 expecting to build and of old congregations proposing a change of loca- 
 tion ?" Answered in the affirmative. — 1884, p. 77. 
 
 7. Presbytery has power to divide a church. 
 
 The Commission appointed to try the appeal and complaint from the 
 Lost Creek congregation against the Synod of Harrisburg, presented 
 their report, which was accepted, and ordered on record in the minutes 
 of the Assembly, as follows: 
 
 The Commission, to whom was referred Judicial Case No. 5, being an 
 appeal from and a complaint against the Synod of Harrisburg, in the 
 matter of sustaining the action of the Presbytery of Huntingdon, 
 dividing the church of Cedar Creek, beg leave to report, recommending 
 that the paper be accepted as a complaint alone, and that it be dismissed. 
 
 The Cedar Creek Church consists of members of the two congregations 
 of Mifflintown and Lost Creek, eight miles apart, and united as one 
 incorporated society. The people at Mifflintown petitioned the Presby- 
 tery to be organized into a new and separate church, and a Committee 
 was appointed by the Presbytery for this purpose. Having been in- 
 formed that an organization into a new church might jeopard their claim 
 to any portion of the property they hold in common with the people of 
 Lost Creek, the members of the Cedar Creek Church at Mifflintown 
 recalled their previous request, and asked the Committee of the Presby- 
 tery to divide the old church, and set them off as a part of it, and 
 organize them into a distinct -church. The Committee acceded to this, 
 and the act was approved and adopted by the Presbytery. 
 
 The people at Lost Creek complained to the Synod, that the division 
 of the church was irregular, unconstitutional and injurious: (1) Because 
 the Committee of the Presbytery were appointed to organize a new 
 church, and not to divide the old one; (2) because the Presbytery were 
 incompetent to divide the church without the consent of that part of it 
 connected with the Lost Creek congregation; (3) because no notice of 
 an appointment of the Committee of the Presbytery had been given to 
 the Lost Creek people; and (4) because a division of the church must 
 be injurious to Lost Creek, by the resources that must be withdrawn 
 from it, and injurious to both places by the alienation that must be 
 produced. 
 
 The Synod dismissed the complaint, and sustained the Presbytery. 
 
 The complaint of the action of the Synod is brought up to the General 
 Assembly, on the same grounds on which complaint of the action of the 
 Presbytery was based. 
 
 The dismissal of the complaint is recommended to the Assembly, 
 because (1) the action of the Committee of Presbytery was made their 
 own by the Presbytery ; the Presbytery are competent to divide a church 
 on the petition of a portion of its members, and especially of a majority 
 
220 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 of its members; (2) notice of the coming of the Committee of the 
 Presbytery was published from the pulpit at Lost Creek, and the pro- 
 posed coming of the Committee was well known to the people there ; 
 (3) because the Presbytery and Synod, well qualified to judge of this, 
 deemed it expedient and for the interests of both congregations that the 
 church should be divided; and that the apportionment of the property 
 between the two congregations is left for future adjustment. — 1876, pp. 
 93, 40; 1896, p. 131. 
 
 8. The Presbytery has the power to unite churches. 
 
 A complaint of certain members of the former Central Church, Jack- 
 sonville, 111., against the action of the Presbytery of Springfield, in 
 uniting the First and Central Churches of Jacksonville. 
 
 The Synod is the court of last resort in such cases. — 1886, p. 73; 
 1896, p. 131. 
 
 9. A Presbytery may not dismiss or receive a church without the 
 consent of Synod. 
 
 Resolved, That it is unconstitutional for a Presbytery to dismiss a con- 
 gregation under their care, and for any other Presbytery to receive the 
 congregation so dismissed, without the approbation of the Synod to 
 which such Presbyteries respectively belong. — 1823, p. 91. 
 
 XIII. TO ORDER WHATEVER PERTAINS TO THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE 
 
 OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 1. A Presbytery dissolves a pastoral relation on its own discretion, for 
 the peace and welfare of the church. 
 
 The Moderator explained the state of the question, and read the action 
 of the Presbytery of St. Louis complained against, which was as follows: 
 
 The memorial of certain members of Pine Street Church having been 
 presented, after discussion, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That by the action of Presbytery in June, 1863, the 
 pastoral relation between Dr. McPheeters .and the Pine Street Church 
 was dissolved, and Dr. McPheeters ceased to be the pastor of that 
 church, and ceased to have the right to exercise discipline, or perform 
 the functions of the pastoral office in that church. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That inasmuch as this action was taken by Presbytery in 
 the exercise of its power ' ' to ordain whatever pertains to the spiritual 
 welfare of the churches under their care," and is its solemn judgment 
 that the interests of the Pine Street Church required that Dr. McPhee- 
 ters should cease to exercise the functions of minister to that church, 
 therefore Presbytery learn with regret that Dr. McPheeters is still offici- 
 ating as minister in that church, whether by invitation of Session or at 
 his own instance is not known to Presbytery, but in either case they do 
 hereby ordain and declare that in the judgment of Presbytery the peace 
 and harmony and spiritual interests of Pine Street Church, as well as a 
 proper respect for the feelings of a large minority opposed to the minis- 
 tration of their former pastor, require that Dr. McPheeters shall cease 
 all connection with that church, and no longer attempt to minister to 
 that congregation. 
 
 The vote in the case was then taken : 
 
 Whereupon the Moderator announced that the complaints in this case 
 against the Presbytery of St. Louis were not sustained. 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 221 
 
 The following is the minute in the case, viz. : 
 
 The Assembly does not sustain the complainants, because the proceed- 
 ings of the Presbytery of St. Louis in this case appear constitutional and 
 regular, and, so far as we can perceive, were judicious, equitable, and 
 for the edification of the church. 
 
 These complaints, both in their language and the necessity of the case, 
 brought the whole proceeding under our review. The question of a 
 dissolution of the pastoral relation between Dr. McPheeters and the Pine 
 Street Church was originally brought in an orderly manner before the 
 Presbytery, by petition of a minority of said church, and a personal 
 tender of resignation by the pastor; and after all the constitutional steps 
 were taken with care and deliberation, was decided by the Presbytery, 
 acting for the peace and welfare of that church. That which was called 
 an appeal and complaint to Synod against that action could not so sus- 
 pend all further proceedings as to prevent the Presbytery from consider- 
 ing and acting upon the continued disturbed state of that congregation; 
 and when, at a subsequent stated meeting of that body, this subject came 
 before them, they did, almost unanimously, deem it unadvisable that 
 the late pastor should continue ministerial labors in that congregation. 
 Against this decision of the Presbytery, Dr. McPheeters and others have 
 uttered these complaints, which we do not sustain. 
 
 The Assembly has patiently listened to the history of this case from 
 the opposite points of view taken, but in their decision have strictly 
 confined themselves to the facts on record. The resignation of the 
 pastoral relation, and the distracted state of the church, seemed plainly 
 to call for the action of the Presbytery; and being upon the ground, 
 and conversant with all the circumstances and demands of the case, they 
 seem most competent to understand and decide what that action should 
 be. The question of the pastor's loyalty to his national government, 
 which seemed to be so largely a disturbing element in the church, has 
 not been properly before the Assembly, as it was not pronounced upon 
 in any Presbyterial action. They judged it best for the peace and 
 prosperity of that particular church that the late pastor should retire 
 altogether, and cease from his public ministrations to them; and this 
 Assembly cannot decide otherwise. And though many of the members 
 of the Presbytery were absent from that meeting which so decided, this 
 could not invalidate their proceedings, as it was a regular and lawful 
 meeting of that body. 
 
 The right and duty of the Presbytery " to order whatever pertains to 
 the spiritual welfare of the churches under their care, and especially to 
 heal dissensions, by seeking to remove the occasions of them, is a dis- 
 tinctive and important feature in our Presbyterian polity. And when 
 the pastor himself so far recognized the propriety of his withdrawal as 
 to tender to the Presbytery his resignation, it was clearly competent for 
 that body not only to grant his request, but to order, if necessary, that 
 he cease his ministrations to that people, if they believed that by longer 
 continuing to serve them the dissensions would be fomented, the strife 
 become embittered, and the spiritual interests of the church endangered. 
 And when the Presbytery did, at length, so interfere and direct, without 
 pronouncing upon the rumors and side issues which were the occasions of 
 the strife and unhappy condition of the church, they simply undertook 
 to control the relations of pastor and people for the welfare of the 
 church, without impeaching, by any expression, the moral character and 
 
222 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 ministerial standing of that pastor. They only ordered, as a prudential 
 measure, that the resignation which he had himself voluntarily tendered 
 to them, should properly and entirely be carried out, by his ceasing in 
 any way to keep up this unhappy state of things, and by ceasing to 
 minister to them as their pastor. — 1864, pp. 327, 328, O. S. 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap x, Sec. viii.] 
 
 2. Power of the Presbytery over the pulpits of its churches. 
 
 a. That stated supplies should not preach in the pulpits of any Pres- 
 bytery without its consent ; and when the consent is refused, the Presby- 
 tery to which such minister serving as stated supply belongs, being 
 notified, should recall him within its own bounds. — 1874, p. 83. 
 
 b. The Presbytery has power to determine who shall statedly preach 
 in the pulpits of its churches, as declared in the answer to the overture 
 of the Presbytery of Lackawanna [see above] on essentially the same 
 subject. Adopted. — 1874, p. 85. 
 
 3. The power of the Presbytery over unemployed ministers and vacant 
 
 churches. 
 
 [Note. — The subject of vacant churches and unemployed ministers was brought 
 before the Assembly by an overture from the Synod of Toledo. — 1871, p. 547. A 
 Special Committee of seven was appointed to consider and report upon it to the next 
 Assembly, p. 594. Its report was referred to the next Assembly.— 1872, p. 54. The 
 next year the Assembly considered the report as referred to it by the Committee on 
 Church Polity and adopted it.— 1873, pp. 562, 563. See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 176. 
 
 This scheme did not prove satisfactory in operation. A Committee was appointed 
 to report to the next Assembly on Overtures on Unemployed Ministers and Vacant 
 Churches— 1880, p. 82. 
 
 That Committee reported a plan which was adopted. — 1881, pp. 544, 548. See 
 Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 498, 499, where the report is given in full. Neither did this 
 scheme accomplish the desired results.] 
 
 (1) Committee of seven appointed, 1888. 
 
 a. The following paper was referred to the Committee on Vacant 
 Churches and Unemployed Ministers: 
 
 In view of the acknowledged difficulty of bringing our unemployed 
 ministers and pastorless churches into communication with each other, 
 the ministerial force of our Church being thereby often subject both to 
 disuse and misuse, and the ministry sometimes exposed to personal 
 humiliation ; 
 
 And in view of the challenge of our present method of preparing 
 men for the ministry, and the plea that is urged in many quarters for 
 an alternative English course of study; 
 
 And in view of the wide need of more laborers of some sort, if we 
 would reach the destitute districts adjacent to our regularly established 
 churches, which outside and independent, and sometimes irresponsible 
 agencies are being organized to meet; 
 
 And in view of the latent and untrained power for effective and 
 evangelistic service in many of our church officers and members: 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of seven, four ministers and three elders, 
 be appointed to take these and any other questions strictly germane 
 thereto into consideration, and report to the next Assembly whether any, 
 and if any, what action is desirable concerning any one or all of these 
 points.— 1888, p. 135. 
 
 [Note. — See its report of progress. — 1889, p. 107. 
 
 This Committee on the Increase of the Supply of Ministers and on Unemployed 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 223 
 
 Ministers and Vacant Churches made a report which was referred to the next Assem- 
 bly and may be found in full in Minutes, 1890, Appendix, pp. 157-160 ; 1890, p. 110. 
 
 The report of this Special Committee on Unemployed Ministers and Vacant 
 Churches was taken up. — 1891, pp. 48, 54, 129, 189. For the report in full, see Minutes, 
 1891, pp. 209-213, Appendix. The Stated Clerk was directed to transmit the report 
 to the Presbyteries for their opinions to be considered by the Committee and reported 
 to the next Assembly.— 1891, p. 209.] 
 
 b. The Committee on Unemployed Ministers and Vacant Churches 
 presented its report, which was amended, and adopted. The Stated Clerk 
 was directed to send down the overture contained therein to the Presby- 
 teries, for action by them. — 1892, p. 215. 
 
 [Note. — For the report of the Committee in full, see Minutes, 1892, pp. 215-217.] 
 
 C. The Committee of Canvass on the Answers of the Presbyteries 
 reported that the overture, having failed of receiving a constitutional 
 majority, is not adopted. — 1893, p. 204. 
 
 (£) Committees of Presbytery to be appointed. 
 
 In answer to overtures from some forty Presbyteries asking the Assem- 
 bly to adopt some plan of regulating pulpit supply, and' ministerial 
 service, and suggesting a plan for the same, the Assembly reply: 
 
 The General Assembly, by frequent Committees, through many years, 
 has wrestled with this problem. It has thus far failed to formulate a 
 plan that has proved to be acceptable and serviceable to the Church. 
 The duties herein proposed to be recommended to Presbyteries, ministers 
 and vacant churches are such as might be reasonably commended, includ- 
 ing also the Synod. The methods suggested are such as clearly belong 
 to our system. But the reiteration of these methods at this time would 
 seem to be useless, unless it be accompanied by the creation of some form 
 of central agency to serve as the medium of communication. The 
 central agency proposed in most of these overtures is The Church at 
 Home and Abroad. Your Committee is not prepared to recommend this 
 as an agency that could or would be used by the Presbyteries, churches 
 or ministers for this purpose. Some of the overtures propose an officer 
 of the General Assembly as the agency. We recommend, therefore, 
 that the General Assembly call the attention of Presbyteries, Synods, 
 ministers and churches to this subject; that the Assembly recommend to 
 Presbyteries and Synods the appointment of Committtees on Vacant 
 Churches and Unemployed Ministers, and that the question of a central 
 agency be held in abeyance for the present. — 1894, p. 142. 
 
 4. The higher judicatories may institute process in cases in which the 
 lower have been directed so to do and have refused or neglected to 
 obey. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xviii. Complaint of the Sewickley Church con- 
 sidered as an overture.] 
 
 1. This Assembly reaffirms the resolutions adopted by the Synod and 
 Presbytery, setting forth the binding obligations of the Fourth Command- 
 ment as expounded in the Standards of the Presbyterian Church and 
 in the repeated deliverances of the General Assembly, and also the 
 declarations of the Synod and the Presbytery, that any voluntary and 
 responsible participation in the publication and sale of a Sunday news- 
 paper is inconsistent alike with obedience to the law T of God and with 
 membership in the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 2. That it is entirely within the constitutional authority of a Presby- 
 
224 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 tery to direct the Session of a church under its care to proceed to the 
 discipline of any member of said church ; and that it is competent for a 
 Synod to reaffirm such instructions on a reference of a case asking for its 
 advice. That the Session of the church of Sewickley were bound to 
 carry out the plain meaning of the instructions of the Presbytery of 
 Allegheny, and that their reasons for declining to do so are insufficient. 
 
 3. That the proper remedy for the Presbytery to apply to that Session, 
 if they continue to disobey the instructions of the Presbytery, is to put 
 the Session under discipline for contumacy. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1877, p. 531. 
 
 IX. It shall be the duty of the Presbytery to keep a full and fair 
 record of their proceedings, and to report to the Synod every year, licen- 
 sures, ordinations, the receiving or dismissing of members, the removal 
 of members by death, the union or division of congregations or the forma- 
 tion of new ones, and, in general, all the important changes which may 
 haye taken place within their bounds in the course of the year. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xi, Sec. vi. Nearly every case there 
 applies equally to the records of Presbytery.] 
 
 1. Narratives and all important papers to be recorded. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly earnestly recommend to the Synods 
 and Presbyteries to record in their minutes the Narrative of Religion and 
 all other papers.— 1870, p. 91; 1892, p. 200. 
 
 2. Minutes of Presbyteries may be kept in print. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of New York, asking the Assembly to make 
 a definite deliverance as to whether the principle established in relation 
 to the records of Synods (Minutes, 1884, p. 75) does not apply to those 
 of Presbyteries also. 
 
 This answer referred to has reference to the keeping the minutes of the 
 Synods in print. 
 
 Your Committee recommend an answer in the affirmative; and to say 
 that all our Church courts may follow the same rule, only observing 
 with care: 
 
 1. That the minutes be fully and accurately kept and recorded. 
 
 2. That they be preserved in volumes, and not left to separate pam- 
 phlets, and be carefully paged. 
 
 3. That they have blanks left for corrections and approval. 
 
 4. That the minutes of every meeting be duly authenticated by the 
 written name of the Stated Clerk, or some officer appointed to authenti- 
 cate them. Adopted. — 1889, p. 101. 
 
 3. Churches holding services in foreign languages to be designated in 
 
 statistical reports. 
 
 It was Resolved, That the Stated Clerks of the Presbyteries indicate, 
 in the statistical reports, the nationality of all churches in which services 
 are held in a foreign language, by adding to or inserting in the name 
 of a given church the customary national name of the persons worshiping 
 therein.— 1882, p. 18. 
 
 4. The Stated Clerk of the Assembly may upon explicit official 
 information correct errors. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Mahoning, asking the General As- 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 225 
 
 sembly to restrain its Stated Clerk from making alterations in statistical 
 reports, in face of the deliberate action and order of the Presbytery, on 
 the subject of putting to the names of ministers the designations 
 " W.C." and " H.R." Your Committee recommend the following 
 answer: The General Assembly enjoins its Presbyteries to carefully attend 
 to sending their statistical reports as full and complete as practicable. 
 And further, it is the judgment of the Assembly that it is within the 
 province of the Stated Clerk to correct obvious errors and to supply 
 evident omissions in the statistical reports sent up by the Presbyteries; it 
 being understood, however, that changes shall be made only upon explicit 
 official information. — 1882, p. 96. 
 
 5. It is required of every Presbytery to prepare and forward Reports 
 to the General Assembly. 
 
 1. A Statistical Report, according to the form exhibited on page 385 
 of the present Appendix; a printed blank for which will be furnished 
 in due season, by order of the Assembly, to the Stated Clerk of every 
 Presbytery. This report should, if possible, embrace all the changes 
 in the Presbytery previous to the first day of April. 
 
 2. A Narrative of the State of Religion within the bounds of the 
 Presbytery for the vear ending April 1. A blank for the Narrative was 
 adopted by the General Assembly of 1891, and a copy will be forwarded 
 to every Stated Clerk. By order of the Assembly of 1880, a blank for 
 a Tabulated Statement of facts will annually be forwarded to the Stated 
 Clerk of each Presbytery, to be filled properly, and duly reported to the 
 Assembly. This Tabulated Statement should be sent to the Stated Clerk 
 of the Assembly at least ten days before the meeting of that body. As 
 the Narratives are not to be publicly read, less care may be given to 
 their style, and more to the details of particulars, such as will aid the 
 Committee of the Assembly in preparing their Annual General Narrative 
 of the State of the Church. The blank for the Congregational Narra- 
 tives, ordered by the Assembly of 1895, can be had from the Board of 
 Publication. 
 
 X. The Presbytery shall meet on its own adjournment; and when 
 any emergency shall require a meeting sooner than the time to which it 
 stands adjourned, the moderator, or, in case of his absence, death, or 
 inability to act, the stated clerk, shall, with the concurrence, or at the 
 request of two ministers and two elders, the elders being of different 
 congregations, call a special meeting. For this purpose he shall send a 
 circular letter, specifying the particular business of the intended meeting, 
 to every minister belonging to the Presbytery, and to the Session of every 
 vacant congregation, in due time previous to the meeting; which shall 
 not be less than ten days. And nothing shall be transacted at such 
 special meeting besides the particular business for which the judicatory 
 has been thus convened. 
 
 1. Presbytery may meet without its own bounds. 
 
 1. Resolved, That Synod has power to order a Presbytery to meet and 
 to transact such business as in the judgment of Synod is intimately 
 connected with the good order and well-being of the Church. 
 
 2. Resolved, That as such meetings are of the nature of pro re nata 
 
 15 
 
226 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. X. 
 
 meetings, the rules that are laid down in our book for the regulation of 
 such called meetings ought to regulate and govern in all cases these meet- 
 ings ordered by Synod, except when ordered to meet during the sessions 
 of Synod on business immediately connected with the proceedings of 
 that body. In such cases the Presbytery may be required to meet at 
 once by order of the Synod. 
 
 3. Resolved, That whilst it would be inexpedient and wrong for the 
 Synod to order a Presbytery to meet beyond its own bounds without the 
 express consent of its members, we see no constitutional or valid objec- 
 tion against a Presbytery agreeing to meet without its own geographical 
 limits.— 1848, p. 60, O. S. 
 
 2. A meeting pro re nata must be called by the Moderator chosen at 
 a stated meeting". 
 
 [The records of the Synod of Mississippi approved,] with the ex- 
 ception that the Synod acknowledges the constitutionality of a meeting 
 of the Presbytery of Clinton that had been called by a Moderator chosen 
 pro tempore at a previous pro re nata meeting, instead of being called by 
 the Moderator appointed at the last stated meeting of the Presbytery. — 
 1842, p. 28, O. S. 
 
 3. When meetings pro re nata may be called. 
 
 In answer to the first query, the Synod judge that meetings of judica- 
 tures pro re nata can only be necessary on account of important occur- 
 rences unknown at their last meeting, and which cannot be safely 
 deferred till their stated meeting, such as scandal raised on a minister's 
 character tending to destroy his usefulness and bring reproach on religion, 
 or feuds in a congregation threatening its dissolution, or some dangerous 
 error or heresy broached; but not matters judicially deferred by the 
 judicature, except some unforeseen circumstance occurs, which makes it 
 appear that some principal things on which the judgment depends may 
 then be had, and cannot be obtained if it is deferred till their stated 
 meeting, nor for any matters that ordinarily come in at their stated 
 meetings. And when such occasional meetings appear necessary to the 
 Moderator himself, it is proper to call the judicature together, or upon 
 the application of any two members judging it necessary, provided always 
 that seasonable notice be given to all the members of the occasion, time 
 and place of meeting, and that it be appointed at such a season as may 
 render the attendance of the members practicable. — 1760, p. 305. 
 
 4. Applicants for a meeting pro re nata may name a time and place 
 
 which the Moderator may not change. 
 
 1 . In an application to the Moderator of a Presbytery to call a pro re 
 nata meeting of that body, is it competent for applicants to specify a 
 particular time and place for such meeting ? 
 
 2. If a particular time or place, or both, be specified in the application 
 for a pro re nata meeting of Presbytery, has the Moderator a right, on 
 such application, to call a meeting at a different time and place ? 
 
 The first question was answered affirmatively, the second negatively, 
 at the recommendation of the Committee. — 1856, p. 522, O. S. 
 
 5. What business may be done at a pro re nata meeting. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Newton, asking the General Assem- 
 bly if, at a pro re nata meeting, business, necessarily resulting from 
 
OF THE PRESBYTERY. 227 
 
 action taken at such meeting, but not included in the call, can be prop- 
 erly transacted. For example: at a pro re nata meeting to dissolve a 
 pastoral relation and dismiss the pastor, the following items which were 
 not in the call were transacted : 
 
 Arrangements were made for declaring the pulpit vacant; 
 
 Supplies were furnished for the vacant pulpit; 
 
 A neighboring pastor was appointed Moderator of the Session of the 
 vacant church, according to a standing rule of the Presbytery ; 
 
 The minister dismissed left the important Committee on Systematic 
 Beneficence without a chairman, of which Committee the remaining 
 members were not able to act : at this pro re nata meeting this vacancy 
 was filled. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: Only such action 
 should be had at a pro re nata meeting as is essential to complete the 
 business directly connected with that named in the call for said meeting. 
 
 In the case submitted the appointment of the chairman of a permanent 
 Committee of the Presbytery was not within the limits of the call for 
 the pro re nata meeting. Adopted. — 1874, p. 81. 
 
 6. How the place of the regularly appointed meeting may be changed. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Bellefontaine, asking the Assembly 
 to provide a plan for the more convenient change of the place of meeting 
 of the Presbyteries, similar to that provided for the Synods, as found in 
 Moore's Digest, p. 509. 
 
 Answer. Whenever from any cause it shall be necessary to change 
 the place of the regularly appointed meeting of a Presbytery, its Stated 
 Clerk shall, at the request of at least three -fourths of the Clerks of its 
 church Sessions, be authorized to secure another place of meeting, and 
 to issue his official call for the meeting of the Presbytery accordingly. 
 (See Digest of 1886, p. 509, similar action as to Synod.) — 1890, p. 45. 
 
 XL At every meeting of Presbytery a sermon shall be delivered, if 
 convenient; and every particular session shall be opened and closed 
 with prayer. 
 
 1. The preacher not necessarily a member of that Presbytery. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Indiana approved, except that on page 
 253 it appeared that the Presbytery of Madison, at a certain meeting, 
 in the absence of the Moderator, invited a minister from another Pres- 
 bytery to preach the opening sermon. This act of Presbytery the Synod 
 condemn as unconstitutional. The Committee are of the opinion that 
 the Presbvtery by so doing violated no principle of the Constitution. 
 
 Adopted.— 1849, p. 250, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — It will be observed that Sec. xi does not require that the sermon shall be 
 delivered at the opening of the meeting.] 
 
 XII. Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any sister 
 churches, who may happen to be present, may be invited to sit with the 
 Presbytery as corresponding members. Such members shall be entitled 
 to deliberate and advise, but not to vote in any decisions of the Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
__- FOP.M OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. X-XE 
 
 1. Synods and Presbyteries may correspond with local bodies. 
 
 a. Resolved, That while this Assembly would not interfere authorita- 
 tively with the lower judicatories in the exercise of their prerogative, 
 they would recommend that no ministers should be invited to sit as corre- 
 spondents who do not belong to some body in correspondence with this 
 Assembly.— 1843, p. 22 E - 
 
 b. The report of the Committee in reference to correspondence with 
 the Methodist Episcopal conferences, which had been pot upon the 
 docket, was taken up T and the following resolution was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, The communication of the Oneida Annual Conference of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church solicits only a correspondence between 
 themselves and the Synod oi New York and New Jersey, and not with 
 the Presbyterian Church generally; and 
 
 Whereas, The Synod has referred the matter to the Assembly without 
 submitting any specific proposition or plan for such correspondence; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the communication be referred back to the Synod to 
 adopt such measures as they may deem proper in pursuance of the 
 for a correspondent - — 1850, _ ^ 
 
 C. our Pre- Byn - I invite 
 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church to sit as corresponding 
 members ? which was answered by the Assembly unanimously in the 
 affirmatk- — 174, K fi 
 
 2. The ecclesiastical bodies must be named. 
 
 Minutes ('Synod of Albany) approved, with the exception of having 
 invited several mi: take their seats -ponding members 
 
 without describing the ecclesiastical bodies to which such ministers belong. 
 — 1815 
 
 3. An elder cannot sit as a corresponding member. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Milwaukee, for an answer to the 
 following question: " In a meeting of Presbytery, is there constitutional 
 objection to inviting a ruling elder presK . ' [oderator, 
 
 but not a dele. orresponding member?' 7 It is recom- 
 
 mended that this answer be returned: " He cannot be invited to si' 
 corresponding member in the Presbytery, because he is from no body 
 in correspondence with it, and becau ligible to the Presbytery as 
 
 one of its constituency, and has not been delegated by his Session/' 
 
 Adopte< : — 18 . p. 48. 
 
 4. A Unitarian minister may not be invited to sit. 
 
 Exception to records of the Synod of the Columbia. We find on 
 
 . 17 this reord: That " The Rev. T. L. Elliott, of the Unitarian 
 
 Church of Portland, being present, was invited to the privileges of the 
 
 floor." 
 
 To this action of the Synod the Assembly excepts, — 1886, p. 110. 
 
"IT. 
 
 ::: 
 
 THE Y^OD. 
 
 I. As :. Mr- :~:t:~ is : - ~--'.. \- : : t Is! ~ :_ t_ . - v: . 
 
 certain district: so a synod is a convention of the bishops and eldera 
 within a larger district, including at least three presbYteries. The synod 
 may be composed, at its own option, with the consent of a majority of lis 
 presbyteries, either of all the bishops and an elder from each congrega- 
 tion in its district, with the same modifications as in the presbytery, or 
 of equal delegations of bishops and elders, elected by the presbyteries : ■ 
 — :.-_'. :_ : ::.~ ':::._;::.' Lz Hi _:ii:: ; li-e - '_ .' —'.z iz.i 
 its presbyteries. 
 
 1 X: ie : 
 
 This r-fs'il: sl:C ' 
 ; or, if the Syr 
 derator and Clei 
 
 -t sf"fr-: . F:-fs" ~: 
 
 
 2 $~-:i zl:-.~ i:: :sr:sf :■: receive :ie ~t~:t:s :: ::> rrfsrvcer: 
 
 their 
 
 I - ;-- ids of Michigan and Indiana. FnceaBs«itaiicaQal actkn.] 
 3 Trie Svnris is c—rzniii ± 1S70 
 The order of the day, viz., the Enabling Act, was then taken from 
 the docket, amended, and passed as follows: 
 
 Besolned, That, in order to carry into foil efSeet the plan of Reunion, 
 the fifty-one Synods, into which the Presbyteries of this Church are now 
 distributed, be and they are hereby so arranged as to make but thirty- 
 four Synods, to be constituted as follows: — 1870, p. 91. 
 
 [X art— For the history of the oisanuasiNTn of %nods pi*w to : 
 
 I-:-- -■;• -j-.-. : . r. : . :>:■? -:: --.-.": :.: : .M.-.^f:~. ■■■■ > . r: >--l.^ 
 
 - — - - ' IT - -. ". ■; "f 5 _ " :•;•* 
 
 1886U ->~ and Mbmtts 1STO. pp. 91-97. For changes in tlw boundaries of these 
 
 -St:::-:? " " :7-..:-.;:' : :f .: „~. _-:_!_-. --.:» . :' :?- . ■ :-.:. -.5 :: .-.'-:._- ^t . -.-.-- iri:-:-; 
 
 4. Churches of Presbyteries beyond the bounds of the United States. 
 Besofaed, That the churches connected with any of the Presbyteries of 
 this Church that are located bevond the bounds of the United States be. 
 
230 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 and they hereby are, attached to the Presbyteiy and Synod as newly- 
 arranged to which they are next adjacent. — 1870, p. 127. 
 
 5. Synods organized between 1870 and 1881. 
 
 (1) The Synod of Colorado. 
 
 The Synod of Colorado is hereby constituted ; to consist of the minis- 
 ters and churches in the Presbyteries of Colorado, Santa Fe and Wyo- 
 ming ; and that said Synod meet at Pueblo, Colo. , on the fourth day of 
 September, 1871, at 11 o'clock A.M — 1871, p. 547. 
 
 [Note— Divided, 1883, p. 630. See under (6) below, Synod of Utah.] 
 
 (2) The Synod of Nebraska. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Omaha, Nebraska City and Kear- 
 ney, praying to be constituted a Synod to be called " The Synod of 
 Nebraska." The Committee recommend that their petition be granted, 
 and that the time of the first meeting of the Synod be the first Thursday 
 in October next, at 7 o'clock P.M., in the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Nebraska City; that the Rev. Nahum Gould preach the sermon, and 
 preside at the organization of the Synod until a Moderator be chosen ; or, 
 in case of his absence or inability to act, the oldest minister present. 
 Adopted.— 1874, p. 82. 
 
 (#) The Synod of the Columbia [now Oregon], 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Oregon, asking the General Assem- 
 bly to erect a Synod on the territory now embraced within the bounds of 
 said Presbytery, as herein described, under the name of " The Synod of 
 the Columbia," with the following Presbyteries, viz. : 
 
 1. The Presbytery of Oregon, which shall be defined as within that 
 part of the State of Oregon situated between the Columbia river on the 
 north, and a line beginning at the southwest corner of Benton county, 
 and running along the south line of said county to the southeast corner, 
 thence along the east line to the southwest corner of Linn county, thence 
 along the south line of said county to the summit of the Cascade Moun- 
 tains, also t\\Q counties of Wasco, Umatella, Union, Grant and Baker, 
 in eastern Oregon, together with the Territory of Idaho; and to consist 
 of the following churches, served by seven ministers: Portland, Browns- 
 ville, Bethany, Tualitin Plains, Corvallis, Salem, Pleasant Grove, 
 Albany, Eagle Park, Kamia, Lapwai, Astoria, Clatsop and Lewiston; 
 said Presbytery to convene at Salem, Tuesday, October 17, 1876, at 7.30 
 P.M., in the First Presbyterian Church, and be opened with a sermon 
 by Rev. Aaron L. Lindsley, D. D. , or, in his absence, by the oldest min- 
 ister present, who shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. 
 
 2. The Presbytery of Puget Sound, to be reorganized under the same 
 name, and entitled to the books, papers, and other immunities which 
 belonged to the old Presbytery of Puget Sound, now in the care of Rev. 
 George F. Whitworth ; this Presbytery to include all the Territory of 
 Washington, and to consist of the following churches, served by nine 
 ministers: Olympia, White River, Seattle, Port Townsend, Puyallop 
 Mission, San Juan Islands, Steilacoom, Tumwater, Puyallop, Spokane 
 Falls, and Snohomish City; said Presbytery to convene at Olympia, in 
 the First Presbyterian Church, on Tuesday, October 17, 1876, at 7.30 
 P.M., and to be opened with a sermon by the Rev. George F. Whit- 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 231 
 
 worth, or, in his absence, by the oldest minister present, who shall preside 
 until a Moderator be chosen. 
 
 3. The Presbytery of South Oregon, to be constituted and include all of 
 the rest of the State of Oregon not heretofore described; and to consist 
 of the following churches, served by seven ministers: Eugene City, 
 Empire City, Roseburgh, Jacksonville, Marshfield, Phoenix, and Ash- 
 land; said Presbytery to convene Tuesday, October 17, 1876, at 7.30 
 P.M., in the First Presbyterian Church of Eugene City, and to be 
 opened with a sermon by the Rev. M. Allen Williams, or, in his absence,, 
 by the oldest minister present, who shall preside until a Moderator be 
 chosen. 
 
 The first meeting of the Synod of the Columbia shall be convened to 
 meet Thursday, October 19, 1876, at 7.30 P.M., in the First Presby- 
 terian Church of Portland, and be opened with a sermon by the Rev. 
 Edward R. Geary, D D., or, in his absence, by the oldest minister 
 present. Adopted. — 1876, p. 75. 
 
 (4) Change of name, Columbia to Oregon. 
 
 Be it Enacted, That the Synod of the. Columbia shall hereafter be 
 known as the Synod of Oregon, and shall include all Presbyteries within 
 the State of Oregon, and the Synod of Oregon is hereby declared to be 
 the legal successor of the said Synod of the Columbia. — 1891, p. 187. 
 
 (5) The Synod of Texas. 
 
 Overture, being a request from the Synod of Kansas that the three 
 Presbyteries of Austin, North Texas and Trinity, into which the Pres- 
 bytery of Austin has been divided, be organized as a Synod. The 
 Committee recommend that the request be granted; that the new Synod 
 be known as the Synod of Texas; and that their first meeting be held 
 in the First Presbyterian Church of Austin, on the second Thursday of 
 October, 1878, at 7.30 o'clock P.M., and be opened with a sermon by 
 the Rev. William G. Bell, or in his absence by the oldest minister 
 present, who shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. Adopted.—- 
 1878, p. 57. 
 
 (6) The Synods of Colorado and Utah. 
 
 The Standing Committee on the Polity of the Church presented 
 
 Overtures, being overtures from the Presbytery of Denver and from 
 the Synod of Colorado, asking for the division of the Synod of Colorado. 
 
 Your Committee recommend that, as the proposed division seems to be 
 expedient for important geographical and other reasons, and is unani- 
 mously agreed to by all the parties concerned, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the request be granted, in form as desired, viz. : 
 
 1. Out of the Presbyteries of Denver, Pueblo and Santa Fe to con- 
 struct a new Synod, to be called The Synod of Colorado, and to be the 
 legal successor in all respects of the present Synod of Colorado. 
 
 2. Out of the Presbyteries of Utah, Montana and Wood River (re- 
 cently formed) to erect a new Synod, to be known as The Synod of 
 Utah. 
 
 3. To authorize the new Synod of Colorado to meet on Wednesday, 
 October 10, 1883, at 7.30 P.M., at Del Norte, Colo., and to appoint the 
 Rev. John W. Partridge to open the Synod with a sermon, and preside 
 until it shall be formally organized by the election of officers. 
 
232 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 4. To authorize the new Synod of Utah to meet at Salt Lake City, 
 Utah, on Tuesday, August 22, 1883, at 7.30 P.M., and to appoint the 
 Rev. Calvin M. Parks to open the Synod with a sermon, and preside until 
 it shall be formally organized by the election of officers. 
 
 5. To transfer from the Synod of Columbia and the Presbytery of 
 Idaho to the Synod of Utah and Presbytery of Wood River so much of 
 the Territory of Idaho as lies east and south of the southern boundary 
 of Idaho county, Idaho Territory. Adopted — 1883, p. 630. 
 
 (7) The Synod of Dakota [now South Dakota]. 
 
 The Standing Committee on the Polity of the Church reported 
 Overture from the Synod of Minnesota, asking that certain of its 
 Presbyteries be set off and erected into a new Synod; also, on the same 
 subject, from the Presbytery of Southern Dakota. 
 
 The Committee recommends that these requests be complied with, and 
 that the Synod of Dakota be hereby constituted, to include all that part 
 of the Territory of Dakota lying south of the 46th parallel of north 
 latitude, and to consist of the Presbyteries of Aberdeen, Central Dakota, 
 Dakota (including all the ministers and churches among the Dakota 
 Indians) and Southern Dakota, now in connection with the Synod of 
 Minnesota; and that the said Synod of Dakota convene at Huron, on 
 Thursday, the ninth day of October next, at half-past seven o'clock 
 P.M., and be opened with a sermon by the Rev. Walter S. Peterson, 
 or, in case of his absence, by the senior minister present, who shall 
 preside until a Moderator be chosen. Adopted. — 1884, pp. 74, 75. 
 
 (8) Name changed, Dakota to South Dakota. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported overture from the Synod 
 of North Dakota, asking the Assembly to change the name of the 
 * ' Synod of Dakota ' ' to the ' ' Synod of South Dakota. ' ' 
 
 In view of the representations made in behalf of both Synods, and 
 inasmuch as no objection has been presented by the Synod of Dakota, it 
 is recommended that the request be granted, and that the Synod of 
 Dakota be styled hereafter the Synod of South Dakota. Adopted. — 
 1888, p. 71. 
 
 (9) The Synod of North Dakota. 
 
 Overtures and papers requesting the erection of a Synod of North 
 Dakota, and showing the assent thereto of all the parties interested. 
 We therefore recommend that the request be granted by the adoption 
 of the following: 
 
 The Synod of North Dakota is hereby constituted to consist of the 
 Presbyteries of Pembina, Northern Pacific and Bismarck, as these Presby- 
 teries are bounded by the following constituting act of the Synod of 
 Minnesota at its sessions in Rochester, Minn., October 11, 1884: 
 
 1 All that part of Dakota Territory lying between Montana on the 
 west, the provinces of Canada on the north, Red river on the east, and 
 the north line of Traill, Steel and Griggs counties, due west to the 
 Missouri river, and thence along its course to the Montana border, to 
 be known as the Presbytery of Pembina. 
 
 2. All that part of the Territory south of this to the 46th parallel, 
 west to the east line of Emmons, Burleigh and Sheridan counties (except 
 
of the synod: 233 
 
 T. 139, R. 73, in Kidder county), to be known as the Northern Pacific 
 Presbytery. 
 
 3. All the remaining part of the Territory (including T. 139, R. 73, 
 in Kidder county) to be formed into the Presbytery of Bismarck. 
 
 The Synod of North Dakota, thus erected, shall meet at Fargo, 
 Dak., on the second Thursday of October, 1885, at 7.30 o'clock P.M. ; 
 and the Rev. Francis M. Wood, or, in his absence, the oldest minister 
 present, shall preach the opening sermon, and preside until a Moderator 
 is chosen. Adopted. — 1885, p. 605. 
 
 [Note. — See for boundary lines under Synod of South Dakota, below.] 
 
 (10) Bounds of the Synods of South and North Dakota. 
 
 Overture, on a change of boundary lines, from the Synod of North 
 Dakota. It is recommended that the following action be taken : 
 
 Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, this twenty- third day of 
 May, 1895, that the north line of the South Dakota Synod and the 
 south line of the North Dakota Synod shall be the seventh standard 
 parallel, so making the lines of these two Synods coterminous with the 
 lines of the States within which they are located. Adopted. — 1895, 
 p. 79. 
 
 (11) The Synod of Catawba. 
 
 There has also been referred to your Committee an overture from the 
 Synod of Atlantic, requesting the Assembly to divide this Synod into 
 two Synods, making the boundary line between the States of North and 
 South Carolina the Southern boundary of the new Synod, with the 
 following result: Within the new Synod, three Presbyteries (Cape Fear, 
 Catawba and Yadkin), fifty-four ministers, eighty-nine churches and 
 5490 church members; within the at present existing Synod, six Presby- 
 teries, sixty-eight ministers, 114 churches and 7719 church members. 
 Your Committee recommend that this request be granted, and that, in 
 accordance with the request of the Synod of Atlantic, the new Synod be 
 called the Synod of Catawba, the old Synod retaining its original name. 
 It is also directed that the Synod of Catawba meet at Charlotte, N. C. , 
 on the first Wednesday of November, at 7.30 P.M., for organization 
 and the transaction of whatever business may come before it, and that 
 the Rev. Stephen Mattoon, D.D., or, in his absence, the oldest member 
 of the new Synod present, preach the opening sermon and preside until 
 a Moderator is elected. Adopted. — 1887, p. 107. 
 
 (12) The Synod of the Indian Territory. 
 
 The Standing Committee on the Polity of the Church reported: 
 There have been referred to your Committee two overtures, the one 
 from the Synod of Kansas, and the other from the Presbytery of the 
 Cherokee Nation, both requesting the formation of a new Synod, to be 
 called the Synod of the Indian Territory. 
 
 At its late session at Emporia, held October 8, 1886, the Synod of 
 Kansas divided the Presbytery of Indian Territory into three Presby- 
 teries, to be called the Presbytery of the Cherokee Nation, the Presby- 
 tery of Choctaw, and the Presbytery of Muscogee. It also requested 
 the General Assembly at its present session to form these Presbyteries 
 into a new Synod. 
 
234 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 Your Committee therefore recommends that these three Presbyteries be 
 constituted a Synod, to be called the Synod of the Indian Territory; 
 that the new Synod hold its first meeting at Vinita, I. T., on the 7th 
 day of September, 1887, at 11 o'clock A.M. ; and that the Rev. Robert 
 M. Loughridge, D.D., or, in his absence, the oldest minister of these 
 Presbyteries present, preach the opening sermon, and preside until a 
 Moderator is elected. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1887, p. 69. 
 
 (13) The Synod of New Mexico. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Colorado, asking the Assembly to erect a 
 new Synod out of the Synod of Colorado, to be composed of the Pres- 
 byteries of Arizona, Rio Grande and Santa Fe, to be known as the 
 Synod of New Mexico, and to include the Territories of New Mexico, 
 Arizona, etc. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the request be granted; and that this 
 new Synod be known as the Synod of New Mexico, and hold its first 
 meeting at Albuquerque, N. M., on the second Tuesday of October, 
 1889, at such hour as maybe most convenient; and that the Rev. G. W. 
 Riggle, or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the oldest minister 
 present, be appointed to open the meeting with a sermon and preside 
 until a Moderator be chosen. — 1889, p. 102. 
 
 (14-) The Synod of Washington. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbytery of Olympia and from the Presbytery 
 of Puget Sound, asking for the erection of the Synod of Washington. 
 
 Answer. We recommend that the General Assembly erect a Synod to 
 be called the Synod of Washington, which Synod shall be composed of 
 the four Presbyteries of Puget Sound, Idaho, Alaska and Olympia. The 
 said Synod of Washington shall meet in the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Tacoma, in the State of Washington, October 9, 1890, at 7.30 
 o'clock P.M., and be opened with a sermon by the Rev. J. R. Thomp- 
 son, D.D., or, in his absence, by the minister present who has been 
 longest within the bounds of the new Synod. We also recommend that 
 the Church of Sumner remain in connection with the Presbytery of 
 Puget Sound. —1890, p. 37. 
 
 (15) The Synod [of Montana. 
 
 Overtures from the Synod of Utah, and overture from the Presbytery 
 of Montana, requesting that the boundaries of the Synod of Utah be 
 changed, and the Synod of Montana be created. We recommend that 
 the request be granted, and to this end recommend the following action: 
 
 1. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the boundaries of 
 the Synod of Utah be, and hereby are, changed so that it shall be com- 
 posed hereafter of the ministers and churches in the Presbyteries of Utah, 
 Boise and Kendall. The Rev. R. G. McNiece, D.D., is hereby ap- 
 pointed Moderator (or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the old- 
 est minister in commission) to convene the Synod, preach the opening 
 sermon and preside until the Synod shall be regularly organized. 
 Adopted. 
 
 2. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the Presbytery of 
 Butte be, and hereby is, erected, to consist of Ministers Adam Johnson, 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 235 
 
 J. I. Campbell, James E. Russell, Eiko J. Groeneveld, Albert R. 
 Crawford, James Reid, C. Howard Grube, J. W. Millar, William Clyde, 
 I. N. Roberts and A. C. McMillan, with the churches in the counties 
 of Missoula, Ravalli, Granite, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow and Beaver 
 Head, Montana. The Rev. Eiko J. Groeneveld is hereby appointed 
 Moderator (or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the oldest 
 minister in commission) to convene the Presbytery, preach the opening 
 sermon and preside until the Presbytery shall be regularly organized. 
 Adopted. 
 
 3. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the Presbytery of 
 Helena be, and hereby is, erected, to consist of Ministers Dirk E. Den- 
 ninck, William B. Reed, Lyman E. Hanna, Andrew Wormser, Thomas 
 A. Wickes, Thomas V. Moore, John Dunlap, John F. Lynn, Davis Will- 
 son, R. M. Donaldson and Joseph W. Sanderson, with the churches in 
 the counties of Lewis and Clarke, Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin, Park, 
 Yellowstone and Custer, Montana. The Rev. Thomas V. Moore is 
 hereby appointed Moderator (or, in case of his absence or inability to 
 act, the oldest minister in commission) to convene the Presbytery, preach 
 the opening sermon and preside until the Presbytery be regularly 
 organized. Adopted. 
 
 4. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the Presbytery of 
 Great Falls be, and hereby is, erected, to consist of Ministers John Reid, 
 Jr., George McVey Fisher, Edwin M. Ellis, John C. Lenhart, George 
 Edwards, J. C. Wiggins and David Walker, with the churches in the 
 counties of Flathead, Teton, Cascade, Fergus, Meagher, Valley and 
 Dawson, Montana. The Rev. George McVey Fisher is hereby appointed 
 Moderator (or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the oldest 
 minister in commission) to convene the Presbytery, preach the opening 
 sermon and preside until the Presbytery shall be regularly organized. 
 Adopted. 
 
 5. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the Presbytery of 
 Butte be, and hereby is, constituted the legal successor of the Presby- 
 tery of Montana, and all records belonging to the Presbytery of Montana 
 shall be turned over to the Stated Clerk of the said Presbytery of 
 Butte. Adopted. 
 
 6. Be it Enacted, by the General Assembly, that the Synod of Mon- 
 tana be, and hereby is, erected, its boundaries to be coterminous with 
 the boundaries of the State of Montana, said Synod to be composed of 
 the Presbyteries of Butte, Helena and Great Falls (or such names as 
 may be selected by these Presbyteries at their organization). The Rev. 
 Andrew Wormser is hereby appointed Moderator (or, in case of his 
 absence or inability to act, the oldest minister in commission) to convene 
 the Synod, preach the opening sermon and preside until the Synod shall 
 be regularly organized. Adopted. — 1893, pp. 130, 131. 
 
 [16) Name of the Synod of the Pacific changed to California. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of the Pacific, desiring that its name be 
 changed to the Synod of California. 
 
 The Committee would recommend that the request be granted, and 
 proposes the following act for adoption by the General Assembly : 
 
 Be it Enacted, That the Synod of the Pacific shall hereafter be known 
 as the Synod of California, and shall include all Presbyteries now included 
 within the bounds of the said Synod of the Pacific; and that the Synod 
 
236 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 of California is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the said 
 Synod of the Pacific— 1892, p. 189. 
 
 6. The Synods as reorganized in 1881. 
 
 [Note. — A Committee was appointed by the Assembly of 1879 {Minutes, p. 614) to 
 report on the propriety of proposed changes looking toward the reorganization of the 
 Synods of the Church. This Committee was continued, and reported to the Assembly 
 in 1881 ; Minutes, pp. 559-562.] 
 
 a. Recommendations adopted. 
 
 1. That the Synods of Albany, Central New York, Geneva, Long 
 Island, New York and Western New York be consolidated, and together 
 constitute the Synod of New York ; said Synod to comprise within its 
 bounds the State of New York, together with our ministers and churches 
 in the New England States, and those under the care of the foreign 
 missionary Presbyteries of Oroomiah and Siam. 
 
 2. That the Synods of Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh 
 be consolidated, and together constitute the Synod of Pennsylvania; said 
 Synod to comprise within its bounds the State of Pennsylvania, together 
 with our ministers and churches within the bounds of the State of 
 West Virginia, and those under the care of the foreign missionary 
 Presbytery of Western Africa. 
 
 3. That the Synods of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo 
 be consolidated, and together constitute the Synod of Ohio; said Synod 
 to have its bounds coterminous with the State of Ohio. 
 
 4. That the Synods of Illinois Central, Illinois North and Illinois 
 South be consolidated, and together constitute the Synod of Illinois; 
 said Synod to have its bounds coterminous with the State of Illinois. 
 
 5. That the Synods of Indiana North and Indiana South be consoli- 
 dated, and together constitute the Synod of Indiana; said Synod to have 
 its bounds coterminous with the State of Indiana. 
 
 6. That the Synods of Iowa North and Iowa South be consolidated, 
 and together constitute the Synod of Iowa; said Synod to have its 
 bounds coterminous with the State of Iowa. 
 
 The Committee would also recommend that the Presbyteries in connec- 
 tion with the Synods thus consolidated be advised, at their sessions next 
 preceding the meeting of the new Synod to which they wall belong, to 
 adjourn to meet during the sessions of said Synod. 
 
 The Committee would also respectfully add, that they have prepared a 
 draft of an enabling act, which they append to this report, awaiting 
 the pleasure of the Assembly. 
 
 b. The enabling act. 
 
 Resolved, That, in order to carry into full effect the plan for the recon- 
 struction of certain Synods, adopted by this Assembly, the following 
 action be now taken : 
 
 1. The Synods of Albany, Central New York, Geneva, Long Island, 
 New York and Western New York are hereby consolidated, and consti- 
 tuted into the Synod of New York; which Synod shall include all the 
 Presbyteries within the State of New York, and within New England, 
 together with the foreign Presbyteries of Oroomiah and Siam, and all 
 the churches and ministers under the care of said Presbyteries; and the 
 Synod of New York, as thus constituted, is hereby declared to be the 
 legal successor of the Synods of Albany, Central New York, Geneva, 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 237 
 
 Long Island, New York and Western New York, and, as such, entitled 
 to the possession and enjoyment of all the rights and franchises, and 
 liable to the performance of all the duties, of those Synods. 
 
 The Synod of New York, as thus constituted, shall meet on the third 
 Tuesday' of October, A.D. 1882, at half-past seven o'clock P.M., in the 
 First Church of Utica, N. Y., and shall be opened with a sermon by 
 the Rev. Henry A. Nelson (or, in his absence, by the Rev. David R. 
 Frazer), who shall preside until a Moderator be elected. This resolution 
 and action shall take effect on the second day of January, in the year of 
 our Lord 1882. 
 
 2. The Synods of Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are 
 hereby consolidated, and constituted into the Synod of Pennsylvania; 
 which Synod shall include all the Presbyteries within the State of Penn- 
 sylvania, together with those within the State of West Virginia, and the 
 foreign Presbytery of Western Africa, and all the ministers and churches 
 under the care of said Presbyteries; and the Synod of Pennsylvania, as 
 thus constituted, is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the Synods 
 of Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and, as such, entitled 
 to the possession and enjoyment of all the rights and franchises, and 
 liable to the performance of all the duties, of those Synods. 
 
 The Synod of Pennsylvania, as thus constituted, shall meet on the 
 third Thursday of October, A.D. 1882, in the Market Square Church 
 of Harrisburg, Pa., at three o'clock P.M., and shall be opened with a 
 sermon by the Rev. Henry S. Butler (or, in his absence, by the Rev. 
 Wallace Radcliffe), who shall preside until a Moderator be elected. This 
 resolution and action shall take effect on the second day of January, in 
 the year of our Lord 1882. 
 
 3. The Synods of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo are 
 hereby consolidated, and constituted into the Synod of Ohio; which 
 Synod shall include all the Presbyteries within the State of Ohio, and 
 all the ministers and churches under the care of said Presbyteries; and 
 the Synod of Ohio, as thus constituted, is hereby declared to be the legal 
 successor of the Synods of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, 
 and, as such, entitled to the possession and enjoyment of all the rights 
 and franchises, and liable to the performance of all the duties, of those 
 Synods. 
 
 The Synod of Ohio, as thus constituted, shall meet on the second 
 Monday of October, A.D. 1882, at half -past seven o'clock P.M., in 
 the Second Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Ohio, and be opened with 
 a sermon by the Rev. Charles C. Beatty (or, in his absence, by the 
 Rev. E. Perkins Pratt), who shall preside until a Moderator be elected. 
 This resolution and action shall take effect on the second day of January, 
 in the year of our Lord 1882. 
 
 4. The Synods of Indiana North and Indiana South are hereby con- 
 solidated, and constituted into the Synod of Indiana; which Synod shall 
 include all the Presbyteries within the State of Indiana, and all the 
 ministers and churches under the care of said Presbyteries; and the 
 Synod of Indiana, as thus constituted, is hereby declared to be the legal 
 successor of the Synods of Indiana North and Indiana South, and, as 
 such, entitled to the possession of all the rights and franchises, and liable 
 to the performance of all the duties, of those Synods. 
 
 The Synod of Indiana, as thus constituted, shall meet on the second 
 Thursday of October, A.D. 1882, at half-past seven o'clock P.M., in 
 
238 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, Ind., and shall be 
 opened with a sermon by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle (or, in his absence, by 
 the Rev. Daniel W. Fisher), who shall preside until a Moderator be 
 elected. This resolution and action shall take effect on the second day 
 of January, in the year of our Lord 1882. 
 
 5. The Synods of Illinois Central, Illinois North and Illinois South 
 are hereby consolidated, and constituted into the Synod of Illinois; 
 which Synod shall include all the Presbyteries within the State of Illinois, 
 and all the ministers and churches under the care of said Presbyteries; 
 and the Synod of Illinois, as thus constituted, is hereby declared to be 
 the legal successor of the Synods of Illinois Central, Illinois North and 
 Illinois South, and, as such, entitled to the possession and enjoyment of 
 all the rights and franchises, and liable to the performance of all the 
 duties, of those Synods. 
 
 The Synod of Illinois, as thus constituted, shall meet on the third 
 Tuesday of October, A.D. 1882, at half-past seven P.M., in the Second 
 Presbyterian Church of Springfield, 111., and shall be opened with a 
 sermon by the Rev. Robert W. Patterson (or, in his absence, by the 
 Rev. Thomas W. Hynes), who shall preside until a Moderator be elected. 
 This resolution and action shall take effect on the second day of January, 
 in the year of our Lord 1882. 
 
 6. The Synods of Iowa North and Iowa South are hereby consolidated, 
 and constituted into the Synod of Iowa; which Synod shall include all 
 the Presbyteries within the State of Iowa, and all the ministers and 
 churches under the care of said Presbyteries ; and the Synod of Iowa, as 
 thus constituted, is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the 
 Synods of Iowa North and Iowa South, and, as such, entitled to the 
 possession and enjoyment of all the rights and franchises, and liable to 
 the performance of all the duties, of those Synods. 
 
 The Synod of Iowa, as thus constituted, shall meet on the third 
 Thursday of October, A.D. 1882, at half-past seven o'clock P.M., in 
 the Central Presbyterian Church of Des Moines, la., and shall be 
 opened with a sermon by the Rev. Samuel S. Howe (or, in his absence, 
 by the Rev. Alexander S. Marshall), who shall preside until a Modera- 
 tor be elected. This resolution and action shall take effect on the second 
 day of January, in the year of our Lord 1882. — 1881, pp. 562-565. 
 
 7. Custody of the records of the Synods thus consolidated. 
 Resolved, That the Stated Clerks of the several Synods now consoli- 
 dated in other Synods, be directed to deposit the records of said Synods 
 with the Stated Clerks of the Synods which are their legal successors. — 
 1882, p. 94. 
 
 [Note. — For Synods formed since 1882, see under (5), above: Utah, 1883; South 
 Dakota, 1884, 1888, 1895; North Dakota, 1885; Catawba, 1887; Indian Territory, 
 1887 ; New Mexico, 1889 ; Washington, 1890 ; Montana, 1893.] 
 
 8. The official relation of the Stated Clerk of a judicatory terminates 
 
 by his removal from its bounds. The custody of the records is with 
 
 the Permanent Clerk or the Moderator. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Chester, asking whether the Stated 
 
 Clerk of a Synod who changes his Presbyterial and Synodical connection, 
 
 terminates thereby his official connection with the Synod as Stated 
 
 Clerk; and, if so, into whose hands the books, papers and other 
 
 property of the Synod are to be delivered. 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 239 
 
 Answer. While the Stated Clerk, whether a member of the judicatory 
 
 or not, is only its servant, his official relation therewith terminates by 
 his removal beyond its bounds, and the records, books, etc. . should go 
 into the hands of the Permanent Clerk, till a successor is elected, and if 
 there be no Permanent Clerk, then into the hands of the Moderator. 
 Adopted.— 1895, p. 101. 
 
 II. Any seven ministers, belonging to the Synod, who shall convene 
 at the time and place of meeting, with as many elders as may be present, 
 shall be a quorum to transact synodical business ; provided not more than 
 three of the said ministers belong to one Presbytery. 
 
 1. When a Synod consists of three Presbyteries, the withdrawal of one 
 of them, for judicial business, does not destroy the quorum. 
 
 a. An overture from the Presbytery of New Castle, asking the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, " in view of the withdrawal of the Presbytery of Rio 
 de Janeiro from the Synod of Baltimore, causing that Synod to be left 
 without a constitutional quorum of Presbyteries in issuing judicial cases, 
 to enlarge the Synod of Baltimore by the addition of one or more Pres- 
 byteries.' 3 
 
 The Committee refers to Chap, xi, Fomi of Government, and says, 
 " The Synod of Baltimore, as now constituted, comprises the three 
 Presbyteries of Baltimore, New Castle and Washington City," and 
 recommend that no action be taken. The report was adopted. — 1889, 
 p. 80. 
 
 b. Overture, from the Synod of Atlantic, concerning a quorum of 
 Synod, questions : 
 
 (1) In the case of a Synod composed of three Presbyteries and seven 
 ministers, not more than three of whom are from one Presbytery, does 
 this constitute a quorum for all Synodical business ? 
 
 The answer recommended is. Yes. See Form of Government, Chap, 
 xi. Sec. 2. 
 
 (2) Does the withdrawal of one Presbytery, as required by the Book 
 of Discipline (Sees. 90 and 98), in judicial cases, vacate the quorum of 
 Synod for judicial business ? Your Committee recommend as an answer: 
 The Synod being constituted with a quorum present, remains legally 
 constituted for judicial business after such withdrawal of one of the 
 Presbyteries. Adopted.— 1892, p. 189. 
 
 2. The rule as to a quorum must be observed. Irregular proceedings, 
 
 how treated. 
 
 It appears from the record that certain members of the Synod of West 
 Tennessee met at Knoxville, Tenn. , October 12, 1848, and constituted 
 themselves the Synod of West Tennessee, contrary to the Fonn of 
 Government, Chap, xi. Sec. 2, there being seven ministers present, but 
 four of them were from one Presbytery. 
 
 1. The Assembly declare all proceedings and acts of those members of 
 the Synod of West Tennessee found recorded on pp. 211—230 unconstitu- 
 tional and invalid, except so far as relates to the appointment of the time 
 and place for the next meeting of Synod. 
 
 2. That the Synod be directed to review, at its first regular meeting 
 hereafter, the proceedings and acts of said members of the Synod, and 
 
240 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 that they adopt or reject the same, in whole or in part, as they may see 
 fit— 1849, p. 248, O. S. See 191, p. 144. 
 
 3. The acts of less than a quorum are unconstitutional and void. 
 
 a. In regard to the minutes of 1855, Synod of Arkansas, the Assem- 
 bly declares: 
 
 1. That the proceedings and acts of the members of said Synod, met 
 at Little Rock, September 20, 1855, are unconstitutional and void — 
 inasmuch as they proceeded without such a quorum as the Constitution 
 requires — except so far as relates to the appointment of the time and 
 place of the next meeting. 
 
 2. The Synod is directed to review, at its next regular meeting, the 
 proceedings and acts of said members, and to adopt or reject them, in 
 whole or in part, as they may see fit. — 1856, p. 539, O. S. See 191, 
 p. 144. 
 
 b. The Judicial Commission appointed in the case of the Appeal and 
 Complaint of James A. Rainey presented its report, as follows : 
 
 Report of the Judicial Commission appointed to find judgment in the 
 case of the Appeal and Complaint of the Rev. James A. Rainey against 
 the action of the Synod of Atlantic, viz.: Judicial Case, No. 2: 
 
 Finding. — It appears from the records of the Synod of Atlantic that 
 the action complained against by Rev. James A. Rainey was taken 
 without a quorum required by the Constitution, and that therefore said 
 action was unconstitutional and is void. 
 
 The Synod is directed to review at its next regular meeting the 
 proceedings and action regarding this case, and complained against by 
 Rev. James A. Rainey, and to adopt or reject them, in whole or in part, 
 as the Synod may determine. 
 
 The report of the Commission was confirmed, and its finding entered 
 on the minutes. — 1891, p. 144. 
 
 4. Meetings pro re nata constitutional. 
 
 a. The Committee of Overtures also reported Overture No. 13. 
 This overture was taken up, and is as follows, viz. : ' ' An answer is 
 
 requested to the following question, viz. : Has the Moderator of a Synod 
 a right to call a meeting of the Synod during the interval of its stated 
 sessions ?' ' 
 
 Resolved, by the Assembly, That this question be answered in the 
 affirmative.— 1829, p. 268. 
 
 b. The Assembly took up the protest and complaint of a minority of 
 the Synod of Virginia against a decision of said Synod in favor of called 
 meetings of Synod. The complainants and Synod were heard, after 
 which it was resolved that the complaint be not sustained. — 1832, p. 368. 
 
 C. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Tennessee reported 
 that after a careful examination of those records they find them correct ; 
 and the attention of the Committee having been called to the report of 
 a Committee of the Synod of Tennessee relating to the constitutionality 
 of a called meeting of said Synod, convened in accordance with a declar- 
 atory resolution of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 1796, and found on page 321 of the Digest published in 1820, after a 
 careful examination of the whole subject, they recommend the following 
 action in the case: That in the judgment of this General Assembly the 
 meeting of the Synod of Tennessee at Knoxville, in said State, on the 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 241 
 
 ninth day of November, was in accordance with the Constitution of the 
 Presbyterian Church, aud the Assembly do so declare. The report was 
 adopted.— 1855, p. 16, N. S. 
 
 5. The authority for a meeting pro re nata is not found in Chap, x, 
 Sec. x, Form of Government. 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Michigan reported, recommending their approval as far as written, with 
 this exception, viz. , the calling of a pro re nata meeting at Petersburg, 
 September 4, 1873, for the purpose of changing the time of the regular 
 meeting, in order that the Synod might not be in session during the meet- 
 ing of the Evangelical Alliance in the city of New York. 
 
 It appears from the record that the Moderator issued a call for this 
 special meeting of the Synod, basing his authority on the Form of 
 Government, Chap, x, Sec. x. 
 
 Your Committee think that this section refers to Presbyteries, and not 
 to Synods. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1874, p. 85. 
 
 [Note. — In this case the Assembly is not to be understood as denying the constitu- 
 tionality of the meeting pro re nata, but the relevancy of the authority quoted. 
 
 The authority for calling a meeting pro re nata of Synods is to be found in Form of 
 Government, Chap, xix, Sec. ii, last clause. See also next below.] 
 
 6. A pro re nata meeting to approve the minutes sustained. 
 
 The Committee on the Minutes of the Synod of Cincinnati, inter alia, 
 call the attention of the Assembly to two protests — one, the minutes of 
 the Synod against important action of that body; the other, the act of 
 the Moderator in convening a pro re nata meeting of the Synod to 
 approve the minutes. Your Committee, after careful consideration, are 
 of the opinion that both these actions should be approved. Adopted. — 
 1878, p. 118. 
 
 7. The Moderator must specify the object of the meeting. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Kentucky were approved, except the record 
 of a meeting of Synod, which was convened pursuant to call of the 
 Moderator, without a specification of the object for which they were con- 
 vened.— 1823, p. 74. 
 
 8. When a Synod has failed to meet on its adjournment, the Moderator 
 is competent to call a meeting. 
 
 As it appeared from the representations of ministers and elders assem- 
 bled at Yorktown, the 20th of October, 1795, and signed Robert David- 
 son, that the Synod of Philadelphia did not meet according to its last 
 adjournment, nor since the time to which it was adjourned : On motion, 
 
 Resolved, That the Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia, the Rev. 
 Dr. Robert Davidson, ought to be considered as competent to call a 
 meeting of the same, and that he do accordingly call a meeting, to be 
 held in the Third Presbyterian Church in the city of Philadelphia, on 
 the fourth Wednesday of October next; and that he give due notice 
 thereof by a circular letter to the Moderators of the several Presbyteries 
 composing the said Synod, whose duty it shall be to acquaint the other 
 members. 
 
 Resolved, as the opinion of the Assembly, That from the nature of 
 the thing, two or more members of any judicatory, meeting according to 
 .16 
 
242 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 the adjournment, may adjourn from day to day until a sufficient number 
 attend for the transacting of business, and in case a quorum should not 
 attend within a reasonable time, that the Moderator shall be considered 
 as competent to fix any time and place he may judge proper for con- 
 vening the body ; and if he be absent, that the members assembled shall 
 represent the matter speedily to him, that he may act accordingly. — 
 1796, p. 113. 
 
 9. The Assembly may fix time and place. 
 
 A request from the Moderator of the Synod of Upper Missouri, that 
 as the Synod failed to meet last fall, according to adjournment, in 
 Kansas City, owing to the distracted state of the country, the Assembly 
 would enjoin upon said Synod to meet in Liberty Church, Clay county, 
 Missouri, on the 1st day of October next, at 7 o'clock P.M. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the request be granted, and the Synod 
 be and hereby is directed to meet accordingly. — 1862, p. 596, O. S. 
 Time changed to October 8, and report adopted. — p. 610, 
 
 At the same meeting a similar request from the Synod of Baltimore 
 was answered in the same manner. — p. 596, O. S. 
 
 Also Synod of Missouri, N. S.— 1862, p. 14; O. S., 1842, p. 16. 
 
 On petition of the Presbytery of Albany, the Assembly changed the 
 time of the meeting of the Synod of Albany on account of the meeting 
 of the Evangelical Alliance. — 1873, p. 525; Synod of China, 1888, p. 
 57; Synod of New Jersey, 1896, p. 48. 
 
 10. Moderator may not change the time of meeting. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the records of the Synod of North Carolina be 
 approved, with the exception of the postponement of the regular meeting 
 of Synod by the Moderator, which this Assembly consider irregular. — 
 1848, p. 36, O. S. 
 
 b. Records of the Synod of Illinois approved, except in the case of 
 the action of that body, as recorded on page 415, sustaining the act of 
 the Moderator of the Synod in changing the time of its annual meeting. 
 —1854, p. 500, N. S. 
 
 11. Action of Synod, changing the place of meeting, legalized. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of New York, asking the Assembly to 
 acknowledge and authorize the regularity of a meeting of the Synod, 
 which was held at Peekskill in October, 1880, instead of at Newbury - 
 port, according to previous adjournment. Reasons beyond the control of 
 the Synod made the change necessary, and the action of the Synod was 
 unanimously approved by its own members. The Committee recommend 
 that the action of the Synod be hereby legalized. Adopted. — 1882, 
 p. 95. 
 
 12. How the place of meeting may be changed. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Lansing, asking the Assembly to 
 provide a plan for the more convenient change of place for the meeting 
 of a Synod when it proves to be impracticable for it to meet at the place 
 to which it stands adjourned. 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 
 Whenever, from any cause, it shall be necessary to change the place 
 of the regularly appointed meeting of a Synod, its Stated Clerk shall, 
 at the request of the Stated Clerks of at least three -fourths of its Pres- 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 243 
 
 byteries, be authorized to secure another place of meeting, and to issue 
 bis official call for the meeting of the Synod accordingly. Adopted. — 
 1884, p. 78. 
 
 13. Business session on the Sabbath censured. 
 
 a. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 North Carolina reported, when the records were approved, with the 
 exception that on page 48 it is recorded that Synod held a session on 
 Sabbath evening. This was the closing meeting; and though it does not 
 seem to have been one of much business, still, in the opinion of the 
 Assembly, it was not proper. — 1834, p. 445. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Peoria approved, with the exception 
 " that on page 33 there is the record of a business meeting held on Sab- 
 bath evening."— 1846, p. 18, K S. 
 
 C. The records of the ' Synod of South Dakota were approved with 
 the following exception, viz., Exception is taken to the transaction of 
 business on the Sabbath day, as recorded on pp. 307-309 of the minutes, 
 session of Sabbath evening, October 9, 1892.— 1893, p. 213. 
 
 III. The same rule, as to corresponding members, which was laid 
 
 down with respect to the Presbytery, shall apply to the Synod. 
 
 [Note. — The rule is as follows : (Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. xii) : 
 "Ministers in good standing in other Presbyteries, or in any sister churches, who 
 may happen to be present, may be invited to sit with the Presbytery as corresponding 
 members. Such members shall be entitled to deliberate and advise, but not to vote 
 in any decisions of the Presbytery." 
 For decisions under it, see ante, Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. xii, p. 228.] 
 
 1. The record should name the body to which a corresponding member 
 
 belongs. 
 
 a. The proceedings of the Synod of Albany approved, with the 
 exception of having invited several ministers to take their seats as 
 corresponding members, without describing the ecclesiastical body to 
 which such ministers belong. — 1815, p. 578. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Illinois approved, " except the Rev. 
 Messrs. James H. Dickey, Dewey, Whitney and W. Comstock, minis- 
 ters of the Church of Jesus Christ, being present, were invited to sit as 
 corresponding members, ' ' the bodies to which the ministers respectively 
 belong not being mentioned. — 1840, p. 296, O. S. 
 
 C. The records of the Synod of Peoria were approved, with the excep- 
 tion that on page 28 mention is made of a minister being invited to sit 
 as a corresponding member without designating the ecclesiastical body to 
 which he belonged.— 1846, p. 18, K S. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Illinois, p. 440, " do not state the 
 ecclesiastical connection of the Rev. Amasa Lord, who was invited to 
 sit as a corresponding member." — 1857, p. 387, N". S. 
 
 e. The Synod of Tennessee, with the exception that a minister was 
 invited to sit as a corresponding member from the ' ' Holston Confer- 
 ence," no denominational designation being given to the Conference — 
 1895, p. 125. 
 
 IV. The Synod has power to receive and issue all appeals regularly 
 brought up from the Presbyteries, provided, That in the trial of 
 judicial cases the Synod shall have power to act by commission, in 
 accordance with the provisions on the subject of Judicial Commissions 
 
244 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 in the Book of Discipline ; to decide on all references made to them ; its 
 decisions on appeals, complaints and references, which do not affect the 
 doctrine or Constitution of the Church, being final ; to review the records 
 of Presbyteries, and approve or censure them; to redress whatever has 
 been done by Presbyteries contrary to order; to take effectual care 
 that Presbyteries observe the Constitution of the Church; to erect new 
 Presbyteries, and unite or divide those which were before erected ; gener- 
 ally to take such order with respect to the Presbyteries, Sessions and 
 people under their care, as may be in conformity with the Word of God 
 and the established rules, and which tend to promote the edification of 
 the Church; and, finally, to propose to the General Assembly, for their 
 adoption, such measures as may be of common advantage to the whole 
 Church. 
 
 [Note— As amended, 1880, p. 74 ; 1881, p. 524 ; 1884, p. 89 ; 1885, p. 637.] 
 
 1. The Synod has appellate, but not original, jurisdiction. 
 
 a. The Assembly having maturely considered the appeal of Mr. 
 Davis from the proceedings of the Synod of the Carolinas in his case, 
 
 Resolved, That, although they highly approve of the zeal of the Synod 
 to preserve the purity and peace of the Church within their bounds, yet 
 they cannot but decide that in their proceedings in the above case, in 
 deciding that they had a right to try Mr. Davis, when there was no 
 reference nor appeal in his case before them, they have not strictly 
 adhered to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. — 1810, p. 448. 
 
 b. The Committee appointed to report on the petition of the Presby- 
 tery of South Carolina relative to a reconsideration of a decision of last 
 Assembly reported, and recommended the reconsideration. Their report 
 was rejected and the Committee discharged. Whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, That though the General Assembly regret the dissatisfaction 
 of the Presbytery of South Carolina in the case of Mr. Davis, yet they 
 cannot see it to be expedient or proper to reconsider the judgment of the 
 General Assembly of last year on the case in question. — 1811, p. 468. 
 
 C. That the Synod (of Genesee) seem to have forgotten the nature 
 and limits of their appellate, as distinguished from the original, jurisdic- 
 tion in the case, in that they censure at their bar the appellant in a way 
 competent, in any circumstances, only to the Session of the church to 
 which the appellant was primarily amenable. — 1840, p. 11, N. S. 
 
 2. The Synod may not institute judicial process. 
 
 The proceedings of the Synod of Cincinnati, in the institution and 
 prosecution of judicial process against William Graham, are unconsti- 
 tutional and irregular, and therefore null and void; and the Synod is 
 hereby enjoined to take constitutional action in the case, and to revise 
 and correct its proceedings accordingly. — 1846, p. 31, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Chap, iv, Sec. xviii.] 
 
 3. The Synod may reverse and correct the action of Presbytery, but 
 must observe the rules of discipline. 
 
 The Assembly having heard the complaint of the Presbytery of Car- 
 lisle against the Synod of Philadelphia, in the case of William S. 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 24-3 
 
 M' Dowell, with the facts and arguments offered both by the Presbytery 
 and the Synod, judge that the Synod had a constitutional right to reverse 
 the decision of the Presbytery in this case, either in whole or in part, as 
 to them might seem proper, but that in the exercise of this right the 
 Synod have not duly regarded the principles of discipline prescribed in 
 the Constitution; inasmuch as it appears by their records that they have 
 removed all censure from a man whom they declare to be deserving of 
 rebuke, without directing that rebuke to be administered, and without 
 receiving any evidence of his penitence. — 1823, p. 81. 
 
 4. The Synod has jurisdiction over the members of an extinct Presbytery 
 not received by any other Presbytery.— 1825, p, 147. 
 
 [Note. — See above, Chap, x, Sec. viii; also Book of Discipline, Chap, xi, Sec. cxiii.] 
 
 5. A Synod visits a church to ascertain the acceptability of its elders. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the Assembly expresses no opinion upon the action of 
 the Synod (of New Jersey) in appointing a Committee to visit the Third 
 Church, Newark, in order to ascertain if any member of the Session 
 were unacceptable to the people. — 1862, p. 631, O. S. 
 
 b. The next year the complaint of William B. Guild against the 
 action of the Synod was sustained pro forma. — 1863, p. 35, O. S. 
 
 6. Synod may direct the dissolution of the pastoral relation. 
 
 A Synod directs a Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation, and on 
 complaint to the Assembly is sustained. (See above, Chap, x, Sec. viii, 
 etc., appeal of Jos. Connell vs. Synod of Pittsburgh.) — 1868, p. 648, 
 O. S. 
 
 7. The Synod has power to direct a Presbytery to issue a certificate 
 
 of dismission. 
 
 No. 2 is an appeal of Mrs. Nannie J. Dull from the action of the 
 Synod of Harrisburg. The facts, as set forth in this appeal, are these: 
 The Session of the church of McVeytown, after being repeatedly 
 directed by the Presbytery of Huntingdon to grant Mrs. Dull a certifi- 
 cate of dismission, still refused to do so; thereupon the Synod of Harris- 
 burg ordered the Presbytery to issue to her a certificate of good and 
 regular standing in the church of McVeytown. This order was com- 
 plied with by the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery. This certificate Mrs. 
 Dull returned to the Stated Clerk, and appeals from the action of the 
 Synod, on the ground " that such certificate not being, in her judgment, 
 in accordance with the Discipline of our Church, must necessarily be 
 considered not a valid document, and must arouse suspicion unless 
 endorsed by the highest authority." Your Committee recommend the 
 following action by the Assembly in this case: The Synod had the power 
 to issue the order complained of, and the certificate so issued is a valid 
 document. Adopted. — 1875, p. 511. 
 
 8. The Assembly will not entertain appeals which do not affect the 
 doctrine or Constitution of the Church. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Div. iv, " Of Appeals," Sec. xcv, 
 pp. 723-729.] 
 
 a. Complaint of Rev. N. West, D.D., against the Synod of Minne- 
 sota. A careful examination of the instructions of the last General 
 Assembly, of the action of the Synod of Minnesota, and of the 
 
246 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 Complaint of Dr. West, fails to discover any question of doctrine or any 
 constitutional question involved in the decision of the Synod of Minne- 
 sota, or presented in the Complaint of Dr. West, which would justify 
 the consideration of this Complaint by the General Assembly. In the 
 judgment of your Committee, the action of Synod being final, according 
 to our law, the Complaint of Dr. West cannot come properly before 
 the Assembly. We recommend, therefore, that the Complaint of Rev. 
 Dr. West be dismissed. Adopted. — 1891, p. 143. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1890, p. 109 ; and the report in full, 1891, pp. 143, 144.] 
 
 b. Appeals of John W. Ellis, D.D., vs. the Synod of the Pacific. — 
 1892, p. 214. 
 
 C. Appeal of E. C. Battelle vs. Synod of Nebraska dismissed 
 
 " The questions involved do not affect the doctrine or constitution of the 
 Church."— 1896, p. 84. 
 
 V. The Synod shall convene at least once in each year; at the open- 
 ing of which a sermon shall be delivered by the Moderator, or, in case 
 of his absence, by some other member; and every particular session 
 shall be opened and closed with prayer. 
 
 1. The above rule construed literally, and must be obeyed. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Pittsburgh approved, except ' ' that at 
 the opening of the Synod no sermon was delivered, as the Constitution 
 requires, but on the following evening." — 1827, p. 205. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Albany, except that " the Synod was 
 opened without a sermon, whereas the Form of Government, Chap, xi, 
 Sec. v, requires that a sermon shall be preached." — 1843, p. 181, O. S. 
 
 C. Records of Synod of Buffalo, except, 
 
 3. That it appears by the record on page 75 that a meeting of the 
 Synod was opened without a sermon, whereas the Form of Government, 
 Chap, xi, Sec. v, requires that a sermon shall be preached. 
 
 And again, on page 79, that at the opening of the Synod no sermon 
 was delivered, as the Constitution requires, but on the following evening. 
 —1856, p. 520, O. S. 
 
 2. The records should state that the meetings were opened and closed 
 
 with prayer. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. lxxii, censures of Synods for 
 failing to record the opening or closing with prayer.l 
 
 VI. It shall be the duty of the Synod to keep full and fair records of 
 
 its proceedings, to submit them annually to the inspection of the General 
 
 Assembly, and to report to the Assembly the number of its Presbyteries, 
 
 and of the members and alterations of the Presbyteries. 
 
 [Note. — For exceptions to the records of Synods, see below, and also under Book 
 of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. lxxii.] 
 
 1. The records must be full and fair. Reasons for decisions must be 
 
 recorded. 
 
 a. Synod of Pittsburgh, except resolution on page 74, disapproving of 
 the proceedings of a Presbytery, without assigning the reasons. — 1820, 
 p. 728. 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 247 
 
 b. Synod of Ohio, except a minute on page 243, disapproving of a 
 decision of a Presbytery, and ordering said Presbytery to reconsider 
 that decision, without any reasons being assigned. — 1827, p. 202. 
 
 C. The Synod of Onondaga approved with the following exception : 
 
 On page 186 we find the Synod administering censure to the Presby- 
 tery of Cayuga for an act of discipline toward one of its churches, on 
 the ground that the reasons for such discipline were not given according 
 to the requirements of our Book of Discipline ; yet on the next page we 
 find said Synod reaffirming the acts of a church censured by its Presby- 
 tery, and reversing the decision of the Presbytery without giving the 
 required reasons for such a singular proceeding. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1863, p. 277, K S. 
 
 d. The Synod (of Illinois) have not discharged their duty. They 
 ought to have spread upon their record everything which influenced 
 their judgment in the case. — 1840, p. 303, O. S. 
 
 2. The subject matter of the complaints must be recorded. 
 
 1. The records of the Synod of Cincinnati were approved with the fol- 
 lowing exceptions, that on page 36 the minute is defective in that a 
 complaint was received, referred and decided, without any statement 
 with regard to the subject matter of said complaint. 
 
 2. This defect in the record disables this Assembly from deciding as 
 to the validity of the recorded reasons given for the decision of the 
 Synod in the case on page 37. 
 
 3. This defect in the minutes is the more to be excepted against, inas- 
 much as it records the implied censure of the complainant, while the 
 Assembly is deprived of the opportunity to pass upon the case. — 1866, 
 p. 50, O. S. 
 
 3. Reasons for judicial action must be recorded. 
 
 a. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod 
 of Harrisburg reported, recommending their approval, with the excep- 
 tion of the judicial case on pp. 179 and 180, in which the Synod found 
 the papers of a complaint in order, and dismissed the case without 
 assigning a reason. The report was adopted. — 1874, p. 85. 
 
 b. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of the Pacific 
 reported, recommending their apjDroval with the folloAving exceptions: 
 
 That a slight irregularity appears in the proceedings had in the case of 
 the complaint of Rev. Frederic E. Shearer, and others, against the 
 action of the Presbytery of San Francisco, in dropping from the roll 
 the name of Rev. John D. Strong. From p. 532 it appears that the 
 Synod refused to sustain the complaint, without recording any reason 
 for its action. This exception corresponds with the action of the Assem- 
 bly on Paper No. VIII of the report of the Judicial Committee. The 
 report was adopted. — 1881, p. 573. 
 
 C. The Committee on the records of the Synod of the Columbia 
 reported, recommending their approval, with the following exception, 
 to wit: 
 
 That in the case of an appeal of Rev. Isaac H. Condit in re Presby- 
 tery of Oregon vs. Rev. Harlan P. Peck, it appears that the Synod, 
 after hearing the case and taking its final vote, on notice of an appeal 
 against the findings of the Synod decided to postpone further action in 
 the case until after hearing the decision of the Assembly, and that ' ' no 
 
248 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 formal minute of the action of the Synod was entered upon its records, 
 and no reasons for its action given." (See Rep. Judicial Com., Paper 
 No. XL) The report was adopted.— 1881, p. 593. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, iv, Sec. xxiv.] 
 
 4. Synod of Atlantic, defects excepted to and the Synod required to 
 
 review and correct its proceedings, which were of a judicial charac- 
 ter. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Atlantic were approved with the follow- 
 ing exceptions: 
 
 1. That the minutes lack in fullness. Important reports are referred 
 to as on file, which should appear on the minutes (see pages 413 and 
 414) (Digest, 194, 513). On page 417 a paper is recorded without 
 reference to its source, or whether it was acted on by the Synod. The 
 minutes are not complete enough to give the knowledge properly to 
 judge of the proceedings in many cases. 
 
 No report of the Committee on Leave of Absence is made, enabling 
 one to determine the state of the roll after it was made up at the opening 
 of the session. 
 
 The Synod omitted to approve the minutes of the last day of its meet- 
 ing before sending their records to the Assembly. 
 
 2. The irregularity of its proceedings in entering upon the transaction 
 of business without a quorum. 
 
 And also, although a quorum was subsequently present, the issuing of 
 a judicial case by a vote of five to one. 
 
 Your Committee would recommend that with respect to the irregularity 
 of its proceedings, this Assembly direct the Synod of Atlantic to review 
 and correct so much of its proceedings as were of a judicial character, in 
 accordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline (Chap. Ixxiv), 
 care being had in such review and correction to the direction of this 
 Assembly in the matter of the appeal of the Eev. James A. Rainey 
 against the Synod of Atlantic (see p. 144), no part of this recommenda- 
 tion being understood as characterizing the proceedings as other than 
 irregular.— 1891, p. 188. 
 
 5. Records should show a complete roll and action upon reports ; cen- 
 
 sure may not be passed without trial or self-accusation. 
 
 The records of the Synod of North Dakota were approved with the 
 following exceptions: 
 
 1. The roll of Synod fails to record absentees (Minutes, General 
 Assembly, 1882, p. 94). 
 
 2. On p. 5 of the minutes it is stated that the names of additional 
 members were added, but the names were not given, and the record 
 nowhere shows the completed roll of members in attendance. 
 
 3. On pp. 31 and 32 of the minutes the report of the Committee on 
 Finance is recorded, but the record fails to show any action thereon. 
 The report should in some way have been acted upon or excluded from 
 the records. 
 
 4. We note that in the appointment of Standing Committees of 
 Synod, in four out of seven no elder was appointed, and while we do 
 not make exception, we would suggest that it is more in conformity with 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 249 
 
 Presbyterian usage to put elders with ministers on Committees, thus 
 giving proper recognition to the eldership. 
 
 5. In the judgment of the Committee, the Synod erred in striking out 
 the exceptions named in the report of Synod's Committee on the Records 
 of Minnewaukon Presbytery, and in so doing sustained the action of the 
 Presbytery in adopting the recommendation of its Judicial Committee 
 that a vote of censure should be passed upon the Rev. R. J. 
 Cresswell, without trial and without his coming forward as his own 
 accuser, as provided in Sec. 47 of the Book of Discipline. — 1896, pp. 
 154, 155. 
 
 6. Judicial cases must be described; their character defined and the 
 significance of and reasons for the judgment set forth. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Philadelphia were approved, with the 
 following exceptions, viz. : 
 
 1. That there is no record of absentees from the meeting. 
 
 2. That it appears, from page 282, that an appeal and complaint was 
 issued in the usual form, without any intimation of what the sentence or 
 proceeding was against which the complaint was made. 
 
 3. That it appears, from page 273, that another complaint was issued, 
 without any record of the proceeding complained of, or the body whose 
 proceeding was the subject of complaint. — 1852, p. 216, O. S. 
 
 b. Exception to the records of the Synod of Cincinnati. On pp. 6 
 and 13 a complaint was received, referred and decided, without any 
 statement in regard to the character of said complaint. — 1865, p. 553, 
 O. S. 
 
 C. The records of the Synod of Pennsylvania were approved with the 
 following exceptions : 
 
 1 . That in Judicial Cases Nos. 2, 3 and 6 the cases are not stated in 
 the records as required (see Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 658, 4). 
 
 2. That in Case No. 3 neither the facts in the case nor the judgment 
 was entered upon the record. — 1893, p. 213. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Ohio were approved, with the excep- 
 tions: 1. That on page 77 it is stated that after discussion certain resolu- 
 tions were adopted as follows. None of these resolutions appear on record, 
 and their character is not described. 2. In a judicial case, on its issue, 
 the final record, containing the sentence of the court, is defective, inas- 
 much as its statement gives no clue to the merits or significance of the 
 decision, or the reasons for it. — 1861, p. 315, O. S ; see 1895, pp. 124, 
 125. 
 
 e. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Pennsylvania 
 recommended their approval " with the exception of the fact that the 
 particulars in the complaint of the Rev. John Peacock against the Pres- 
 bytery of Philadelphia North are not fully recorded, in agreement with 
 the requirements of our Form of Government, and the requirements of 
 the Digest of 1886. Adopted.— 1889, p. 134. 
 
 f. The records of the Synod of Michigan were approved, with the 
 exception that the minute on page 29, taking exception to the records of 
 the Presbytery of Grand Rapids, does not show the matter of error 
 alleged against the records of said Presbytery. — 1894, p. 181. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Of Complaints, Sees, lxxxiii-xciii, Of Appeals, 
 Sees, xciv cii.] 
 
250 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 7. The subject-matter of a complaint, and the disposal made of it, must 
 
 be recorded. 
 
 a. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Illinois Central 
 recommended their approval, as far as written, with the following excep- 
 tions : 
 
 1. That notice appears, on p. 241, of a complaint made by Rev. 
 Arthur Rose, against the Presbytery of Peoria, which was taken up by 
 the Synod, considered and voted upon, and reasons for the vote were 
 given, while the subject-matter of the said complaint is not recorded. 
 This defect disables this Assembly from deciding as to the validity of the 
 reasons given for the vote of the Synod in this case. 
 
 2. It does not appear from their records whether the Synod took 
 farther action upon said complaint than to vote upon it, and give reasons 
 for that vote; thereby leaving this Assembly in doubt whether the Pres- 
 bytery complained of was censured, or whether the matter of the 
 complaint was referred back to them for readjudication, or whether the 
 Synod dropped it entirely. Adopted. — 1878, p. 60; also 1883, p. 688. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Baltimore were approved, with the 
 exception that on pp. 327 and 348 the Synod records the issuing of 
 " Judicial Cases" " No. 1 " and " No. 2," but in neither case is the 
 subject-matter of the complaint recorded, and the Assembly is left with- 
 out the means of knowing what was decided. This is not " a full and 
 fair record of its proceedings, ' ' as required by the Form of Government, 
 Chap, xi, Sec. vi. (See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 194, 1, C and g; also 
 Minutes of the General Assembly, 1878, p. 60.) 
 
 Inasmuch as the Synod is now, in most cases, the final appellate 
 judicatory, it is essential to the right discharge of the duty of review 
 and control by the Assembly that an intelligible statement be made by 
 the Synods of every case judicially decided by them. — 1885, p. 661. 
 
 8. The Synod directed to correct its records so as to conform to the facts 
 
 in the case. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Nebraska were approved with the follow- 
 ing exceptions: 
 
 1. The mistake in the date of the year, beginning on p. 22, and 
 running to the end of the minutes; which mistake the Stated Clerk of 
 said Synod is hereby directed to correct. 
 
 2. The record in the judicial proceedings in the case of Rev. W. R. 
 Smith, appellant, against the Presbytery of Hastings (p. 35); which 
 record is defective in the following particulars, viz. : 
 
 (1) There is nothing in the record to show the grounds of appeal. 
 
 (2) The record does not show that both of the original parties were 
 heard on the question of sustaining the appeal, and that the roll of the 
 Synod was called to give members an opportunity to express their opinion 
 upon the case. 
 
 3. There is no record whatever of any vote upon the question of 
 sustaining the appeal ; and the words, ' ' Synod resolved to entertain the 
 appeal, ' ' are wholly inappropriate and insufficient to express the final 
 decision of the Synod upon that question. 
 
 Your Committee recommend that the said Synod be directed to correct 
 these defects so that the record shall conform to the actual facts in the 
 case. Adopted.— 1885, p. 662. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Div. iv, Sec. xcix.] 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 251 
 
 9. A special record must be sent up of all judicial decisions. 
 
 In view of the importance of the judicial decisions made by Synods and 
 Synodical Commissions, the Synods are enjoined to send up to the Assem- 
 bly, in special communications, all records of such decisions. — 1885, p. 
 662. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1886, p. 72; 1887, pp. 68, 74 ; 1890, pp. 129, 130.1 
 
 10. The records must be " full and fair." 
 
 [Note.— See under Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. lxxii.] 
 
 11. The records should be fair and without abbreviations. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Northern Indiana were approved, 
 with the exception of the mode of recording the minute of a joint session 
 of the two Synods of Indiana and Northern Indiana, which, instead of 
 being written, is cut from a newspaper and pasted in the book. — 1868, p. 
 640, O. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Texas approved, except that there are 
 too many abbreviations used in the record of proceedings. — 1883, p. 688. 
 
 12. The records should be fair. Corrections may not be made after their 
 review by the Assembly. 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Atlantic presented the 
 following report, which was adopted: 
 
 The Committee respectfully report to the General Assembly: 
 
 That the record -book of the Synod of Atlantic placed in their hands 
 has been found to contain eight and one -half pages of printed matter 
 which professedly set forth the transactions of this Synod during a session 
 held in December, 1877; at the end of which printed matter a name 
 appears as that of the Stated Clerk, as " Attest," but in print only. 
 No written account of the proceedings or of any part of them is found. 
 
 In the judgment of your Committee, therefore, the record required by 
 our Form of Government (see Chap, xi, Sec. vi) has not been sent up 
 for review by the Assembly; what appears to be a copy of their transac- 
 tions has been placed in the record-book. 
 
 Your Committee could not feel justified if they should recommend the 
 approval of this copy, although on learning from other sources that the 
 printed matter is a copy, they have not questioned its correctness, and 
 have examined carefully what has been sent up in this form. 
 
 If the transactions of this session of the Synod of Atlantic had been 
 found recorded, your Committee would have recommended their approval 
 with the following important exception: on p. 98 of the record-book 
 appears the statement that the minutes, approved by the Assembly of 
 1876, were, after that endorsement, corrected by the Synod themselves 
 at this session of 1877. Nor are the corrections specified or indicated. 
 
 Under a sense of the great importance of accuracy in the records of 
 our Church judicatories, and of their preservation in written form intact 
 after their examination and endorsement by the Assembly, your Com- 
 mittee, while commending the excellent spirit of devotion and labor 
 apparent in the matter offered for review by this Synod as regards their 
 efforts for the Church and for the elevation of their race, respectfully 
 recommend to the Assembly the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 1. That the Synod of Atlantic be and hereby are directed to record the 
 minutes of the session of December, 1877, and submit the record to the 
 next General Assembly. 
 
252 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 2. That this Synod report to the next Assembly the corrections appear- 
 ing to have been made to their minutes after their review by the previous 
 Assembly of 1877.— 1878, p. 52. 
 
 13. Sundry omissions and irregularities censured. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Wisconsin were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exceptions, viz. : 
 
 1. The records are marked by several verbal omissions and the neglect 
 of orthography and punctuation, and the absentees of 1852-1853 are 
 not recorded. 
 
 2. During the sessions of 1852 there is no evidence that the Synod 
 read, corrected or approved the records, though on page 16 it appears 
 that the records of that year were read twelve months after in Synod, 
 though still there is no evidence that they were approved by it. The 
 minutes of 1853 do not appear to have been ever read or approved in 
 Synod. And the records of 1854 were not read and approved till the 
 meeting of 1855. 
 
 3. On page 23 it appears that the Synod, October 13, 1853, adjourned 
 to meet at Neenah the second Thursday of October, 1854. A quorum 
 having failed to meet at that time, the members present adjourned to a 
 different time and place (Madison, October 26), and there is no evidence 
 that any steps were taken to cause their Moderator to notify all the min- 
 isters and church Sessions of the new meeting. This is contrary to the 
 spirit of the precedents approved by the Assembly (see Minutes, 1796, 
 p. 113; Baird, p. 212), and transcends the liberty allowed for such cases 
 by the third general rule for judicatories. 
 
 4. On pages 23, 27 and 32, are recorded adjournments without any 
 evidence that the sessions were closed with prayer. 
 
 5. On pages 35, 36, the report of a Committee of Review on the 
 Records of the Presbytery of Dane, containing an exception against the 
 action of the Presbytery for appointing Rev. J. "W. Sterling its lay com- 
 missioner to the General Assembly, is entered on the records of Synod 
 without any record of its adoption by Synod ; and again it is stated that 
 this report was amended by striking out the exception, and there is still 
 no evidence of its adoption as amended. Also, on pages 39, 40, 
 the report of a Committee touching the complaints of J. Y. Smith is 
 made a part of the records of Synod, though, so far as these records 
 show, it was only accepted and laid on the table. 
 
 6. The records of the Synod's action on the complaints of said J. Y. 
 Smith against the Presbytery of Dane are not complete enough to fulfill 
 the demands of the Book of Discipline, (old) Chap, iv, Sec. xxiii (new, 
 Chap, iv, Sec. xxiv), which says that the record ought to " exhibit 
 everything which had an influence on the judgment of the court. ' ' No 
 exception is proposed against the action of Synod touching those com- 
 plaints, inasmuch as they have been brought before this Assembly through 
 another channel (the Judicial Committee) and passed upon. — 1856, p. 
 520, O. S. 
 
 14. Papers must be preserved, pages numbered. 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Wisconsin presented 
 the following report, which was adopted: 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Wisconsin report, 
 recommending their approval as far as written, with these exceptions: 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 253 
 
 1. The pages are not numbered. 2. There seems to have been a want of 
 proper care in the preservation of papers, as the Committee on the 
 Minutes of the General Assembly made a verbal report which was 
 accepted, but the report is wanting. This thing the Synod itself con- 
 demns in the case of the Presbytery of Dane. — 1865, p. 541, O. S. 
 
 15. Overture answered must be described. 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Pittsburgh presented 
 the following report, which was adopted: 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Pittsburgh report, 
 recommending their approval, with exception of a minute, page 152, of 
 the records, where an overture from the United Presbyterian Synod of 
 Pittsburgh appears to have been answered without any description being 
 given of it.— 1865, p. 541, O. S. 
 
 16. The record must state the character of a complaint and whether due 
 notice was given. Reports adopted must be recorded. Record 
 must be made of action taken. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of the Columbia were approved with the 
 following exceptions: 
 
 1. That a complaint was received and issued against the Presbytery of 
 Oregon in the usual form, without statement in regard to the character 
 of said complaint. 
 
 2. That the records do not show whether notice of said complaint was 
 given to the Presbytery of Oregon, either before its rising or within ten 
 days thereafter. 
 
 3. That a report was recommitted to the Committee of Bills and Over- 
 tures, and no record is made of its further disposition (p. 261). 
 
 4. That the report of the Committee on Home Missions, Indian 
 Affairs, and Church Erection, with recommendations, was adopted, and 
 no record is made of the recommendations, or even upon which, if any, 
 of the three different parts the report was made. — 1883, p. 688. 
 
 b. The minutes of the Synod of Minnesota were approved, with the 
 following exception: 
 
 In several instances the written minutes merely state that reports are 
 made, which reports were received and adopted, while the minutes show 
 that such reports contained important recommendations or resolutions. 
 —1884, p. 116. 
 
 C. The records of the Synod of Missouri were approved, with this 
 exception, to wit: 
 
 The report of the Standing Committee on Schools and Colleges is 
 entered in full upon the records, pp. 333 to 335, but no action of the 
 Synod with respect to this report is recorded. — 1883, p. 688. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Texas were approved, with the excep- 
 tion: That on pp. 223 and 224, the record is made of the approval of 
 reports of Committees on Systematic Beneficence, Publication and 
 Foreign Missions, but no record of the reports themselves, nor of their 
 having been placed on file. — 1890, p. 105. 
 
 e. The records of the Synod of North Dakota for 1888 were 
 approved. The records of the same Synod, for 1889, were approved, 
 with the following exceptions: 1. The omission from p. 3 of a report, 
 which had been received and adopted. 2. There is no record that the 
 
254 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 minutes of the last three sessions of the Synod were approved. — 1890, 
 p. 105. 
 
 f. The records of the Synod of South Dakota were approved with the 
 exception that the report of the Committee on Home Missions, after being 
 adopted, was recorded only " substantially " instead of in full. — 1894, 
 p. 181. 
 
 g. The records of the Synod of Kansas, except that in three places, 
 viz., pp. 346, 347, it is stated that the report of a certain Committee 
 was adopted, but the report itself is not given either in form or sub- 
 stance.— 1895, p. 124. 
 
 h. The records of the Synod of North Dakota for 1893 and 1894 
 were approved, with the following exceptions: 
 
 Minutes of 1893: 1. That the written reports of the Committees are 
 not attached to the minutes, and that the resolutions and recommendations 
 of the same are not written up and embodied in the minutes. 
 
 2. That the report of the Synodical missionary referred to on p. 6, as 
 filed under N, does not appear in the minutes, nor on the file. 
 
 3. That the exceptions of the Synod's Committee on the Minutes of the 
 Presbytery of Bismarck (see p. 6) do not appear in the minutes of the 
 Synod, and are not clearly written upon the file. 
 
 Minutes of 1894: That the Treasurer' s report, p. 18, is neither attached 
 to the minutes nor on file. — 1895, pp. 124, 125. 
 
 i. The records of the Synod of Texas were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exception: That on pp. 223 and 224, the record is made of the 
 approval of reports of Committees on Systematic Beneficence, Publication 
 and Foreign Missions, but no record of the reports themselves nor of their 
 having been placed on file. 
 
 The records of the Synod of North Dakota for 1888 were approved. 
 The records of the same Synod for 1889 were approved, with the 
 following exceptions: 1. The omission from p. 3 of a report, which had 
 been received and adopted. 2. There is no record that the minutes of 
 the last three sessions of the Synod were approved. — 1890, p. 105. 
 
 k. Synod of North Dakota, except that the report of the Committee 
 on Finance is recorded, but the record fails to show any action thereon. 
 —1896, p. 155. 
 
 17. A narrative of the state of religion should be prepared and recorded. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Illinois were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exception, viz. : 
 
 At the sessions of Synod in October, 1846, it does not appear from the 
 records that a narrative of the state of religion was prepared. Such an 
 omission is considered contrary to the general usage of Synods, and not 
 for the edification of the Church.— 1849, p. 176, N. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Illinois were approved, except " that 
 they do not contain the narrative on the state of religion which was 
 presented by the Committee on that subject at the sessions of the Synod 
 in 1854, p. 434."— 1857, p. 387, N. S.; 1861, p. 462, N. S. ; 1862, 
 p. 28, N. S. 
 
 C. Resolved, That the Assembly earnestly recommend to the Presby- 
 teries and Synods to record in their minutes the narrative of religion, and 
 all other important papers. — 1870, p. 91. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Illinois approved except in the 
 omission of the narrative. — 1881, p. 593. 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 255 
 
 e. The records of the Synod of Washington were approved, with the 
 following exceptions: 
 
 The omission of the report of the Treasurer, p. 23; of the report 
 concerning Spokane University, p. 33, and also of the narrative, p. 36. 
 It is proper that these reports, as approved by Synod, should be 
 engrossed, that a reference index of the minutes should be continued, 
 and that care be taken in engrossing the minutes. — 1892, p. 200. 
 
 18. The records must be presented annually. 
 
 a. Ordered, That the minutes of the respective Synods be laid yearly 
 before the General Assembly, to be by them revised. — 1789, p. 7. 
 
 b. Overture No. 6 was taken up, viz., a request of the Synod of 
 Indiana, that the General Assembly be requested to dispense with Synodi- 
 cal reports in future. 
 
 Resolved, That this request cannot be granted because it is unconstitu- 
 tional.— 1830, p, 302. 
 
 C. Resolved, That the respective Synods make yearly reports to the 
 General Assembly of all the licensures, ordinations and installments, trans- 
 lations and deaths, and whatever changes may take place among the 
 members within their bounds. — 1789, p. 7. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. Ixxi.] 
 
 d. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Wisconsin reported 
 that they have been subjected to an increased amount of labor in exam- 
 ining the minutes of this Synod in consequence of the failure of the 
 Stated Clerk to send up the records annually to the Assembly, as our 
 rules require. The minutes of this body have not been brought under the 
 inspection of the Assembly since May, 1860, leaving an accumulation of 
 four years of unexamined and unapproved records. 
 
 There are indications that the Stated Clerk has been delinquent in 
 punctually recording the annual minutes as taken by the Temporary 
 Clerk. In this way the records were probably not in readiness to be sent 
 to the Assembly at the proper time by the commissioners annually 
 appointed. The report was adopted. — 1864, p. 482, N. S. [See 1856, 
 p. 519, O. S.] 
 
 e. Records of the Synod of Wabash approved, except that they have 
 not been presented to the Assembly since 1859. — 1861, p. 462, N. S. 
 
 f. Records of Synod of Columbus, except that these records have not 
 been presented to the Assembly since the reconstruction of the Synod in 
 1870.— 1872, p. 68. 
 
 g. Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be directed to remind the Synod of 
 Alta California of its neglect of duty in the failure for several years to 
 send its records to the General Assembly for review. — 1868, p. 15, N. S. 
 
 h. The Synods of Atlantic, China, Harrisburg, Illinois South, 
 Indiana North, Kansas and Pacific were directed, at their next regular 
 meeting, to call their Stated Clerks to account for not having sent up their 
 records to this Assembly. — 1872, p. 68. 
 
 i. Synod of Baltimore. No certified copy of the minutes present in 
 the Assembly. Directed to send a certified copy of its minutes to the 
 next Assembly. — 1884, p. 116. 
 
 j. The records of the Synod of Texas were approved, with the excep- 
 tion that the minutes of this Synod were not presented last year to the 
 Assembly for examination and review. — 1894, p. 181. 
 
256 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XI. 
 
 k. The records of the Synod of North Dakota were not presented for 
 review.— 1894, p. 181. 
 
 19. The Synod of Tennessee directed to expunge certain matter. 
 
 That the attention of the Synod is called to the unhappy wording of a 
 resolution on the inspiration of the Scriptures found on p. 223, and the 
 Synod is directed to expunge the second clause of said resolution, begin- 
 ning with the words, " and if there are any errors." — 1895, p. 125. 
 
 20. The records must show all changes in the Presbyteries. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Albany approved as orderly and correct, 
 excepting that the Presbyterial reports are not so fully recorded as to 
 exhibit in detail even the changes which take place from time to time in 
 the Presbyteries.— 1811, p. 479. 
 
 21. Absentees must be called to answer, and reasons given for tardiness. 
 
 a. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Virginia reported, and the book was approved to page 83, with the 
 exception of a resolution found on page 82, in which the Synod deter- 
 mined to discontinue the practice of calling upon their members for the 
 reasons of their absence from its meetings. — 1825, p. 140. 
 
 b. Synod of New York, except " that reasons for tardiness do not 
 appear to have been required of those who were not present at the opening 
 of Synod."— 1873, p. 506. 
 
 22. Names of absentees should be recorded, and excuse for absence 
 
 required. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Peoria were approved, except ' ' that in 
 the roll of the Synod record is made that no members of the Presbytery 
 of Belvidere were present, but no record of the names of absentees. ' ' — 
 1850, p. 314, N. S. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Mississippi approved, except ' * that the 
 absentees are not recorded in their meetings of 1854 and 1855." — 1856, 
 p. 538, O. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Philadelphia approved, except " that 
 there is no record of absentees from the meeting." — 1852, p. 216, O. S. 
 
 C. The records of the Synod of Philadelphia were approved, with 
 the exception that no record is made of the names of absentees, and no 
 excuse for absence required. — 1868, p. 640, O. S. 
 
 d. Synod of Missouri, except that there is no record of absentees from 
 the last meeting. (See Moore's Digest, 1873.)— 1882, p. 94. 
 
 e. Synod of North Dakota, except (1) that the roll of Synod fails to 
 record absentees {Minutes, General Assembly, 1882, p. 94). 
 
 (2) On p. 5 of the minutes, it is stated that the names of additional 
 members were enrolled, but the names are not given, and the roll nowhere 
 shows the completed roll of members in attendance. — 1896, p. 154. 
 
 23. Synod may not suspend absentees without trial. 
 
 The records of the Synod of the Carolinas were approved, with the 
 exception of the resolution to make a minister liable to suspension, with- 
 out trial, for three years' absence from Synod, without sending forward 
 his reason for absence. — 1811, p. 468. 
 
OF THE SYNOD. 257 
 
 24. The minutes should be read and approved. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Cincinnati approved, except " the 
 omission at the opening of each session to read the minntes of the previ- 
 ous session, with no evidence in the records that the minutes were approved 
 by Synod."— 1849, p. 177, N. S. 
 
 b. Synod of Wabash, except " that on pp. 51 and 52 the Synod met 
 and proceeded to business without reading the minutes of the previous 
 day's session. On page 59, the Synod closed its annual sessions and 
 adjourned without reading or approving the minutes of the Clerk." — 
 1854, p. 500, N. S. 
 
 C. The records of the Synod of Wisconsin, except that " during the 
 sessions of 1852 there is no evidence that the Synod read, corrected or 
 approved the records; though on p. 16 it appears that the records of 
 that year were read twelve months after, in Synod, though still there is 
 no evidence that they were approved by it. The minutes of 1853 do not 
 appear to have been ever read or approved in Synod. And the records 
 of 1854 were not read and approved till the meeting of 1855." — 1856, 
 p. 520, O. S. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Pennsylvania were approved, except- 
 ing * ' that it does not appear from the book that the records have ever 
 been approved by the Synod." — 1857, p. 387, N. S. 
 
 e. Synod of Arkansas, ' ' the minutes were not read and approved. ' ' 
 —1860, p. 34, O. S. 
 
 f. Exception (to the records of the Synod of Cincinnati) in not 
 approving the minutes of the last day of the meeting of the Synod, 
 held at Cincinnati, February 14, 1878, before their adjournment. — 
 1878, p. 118. 
 
 g. The Synod of Minnesota adjourned without the reading and ap- 
 proval of their minutes of the last day of the session. — 1884, p. 116. 
 
 h. The Synod of Atlantic omitted to approve the minutes of the last 
 day of its meeting, before sending their records to the Assembly. — 1891, 
 p. 188. 
 
 i. There is no record that the minutes of the last three sessions of the 
 Synod of Dakota were approved. — 1890, p. 105. 
 
 25. No second approval of the minutes is required. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Kittanning and Butler, asking 
 whether it is necessary formally to approve, after they are engrossed, 
 minutes which were approved before they were engrossed ? Your Com- 
 mittee recommend that the answer be as follows: 
 
 It is the regular custom of our Presbyteries to read all minutes at the 
 close of the session from the original copy for approval, and to record 
 such approval in the minutes themselves. It is usual to read the 
 engrossed copy at the next session of Presbytery for information, and if 
 clerical errors be discovered they should be corrected by resolution, but 
 no second resolution for the approval of said minutes is or should be 
 required.— 1892, p. 188. 
 
 26. The minutes must be attested by the Stated or Permanent Clerk. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Erie approved, except that they lack 
 attestation by the signature of either the Stated or Permanent Clerk. — 
 1882, p. 94; 1854, pp. 500, 501, N. S. ; 1862, p. 28, N. S. 
 
 The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Tennessee reported 
 
 17 
 
258 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAPS. XI-XII. 
 
 that, having examined these records, they found them well kept and in 
 good order; they have, however, only the attestation of the Temporary 
 Clerks. This is due to the sad fact that the Stated Clerk, the Rev. T. 
 J. Lamar, was seriously sick at home during the meeting of the Synod, 
 and died soon after. Your Committee therefore recommend that the 
 attestation of the Temporary Clerks be accepted and the minutes ap- 
 proved. Adopted.— 1887, p. 131. 
 
 27. Records should be kept in handwriting. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Iowa were presented in printed form, and 
 were approved, but the Synod was advised hereafter to keep the same in 
 handwriting.— 1883, p. 688. 
 
 28. Permission to present printed records : conditions prescribed. 
 
 Overtures from the Synod of Iowa, requesting permission to keep its 
 records hereafter in printed instead of written form; and from the Stated 
 Clerks of several of the Synods, presenting a similar request, and asking 
 that some uniform plan be adopted for the guidance of the Synods in this 
 matter. 
 
 The Committee recommends that any Synod, which shall so elect, be 
 authorized to keep its minutes in printed form, and to dispense with written 
 records; provided, 
 
 (1) That such printed minutes be complete and accurate in all details. 
 
 (2) That they be uniform as to size of page with the minutes of the 
 Assembly. 
 
 (3) That the copy submitted by each Synod to the Assembly for 
 review be attested by the certificate of the Stated Clerk of the Synod in 
 writing; and that blank pages be left at the end for recording any excep- 
 tions that may be taken. 
 
 (4) That at least two additional copies of each and every issue be 
 transmitted to the Stated Clerk of the Assembly, and two deposited in 
 the Library of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Adopted. — 1884, 
 p. 75. 
 
 29. All the church judicatories may follow the above rule. 
 
 From the Synod of New York, asking whether the principle established 
 in relation to the records of Synods {Minutes, 1884, p. 75) does not 
 apply to those of Presbyteries also. 
 
 Answer in the affirmative. All our Church courts may follow the same 
 rule, only observing with care the provisos 1, 2, 3 and 4 above. — 1889, 
 p. 101. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, sub-Sec. lxxi.] 
 
 30. The prescribed conditions must be complied with. 
 
 a. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of China reported that 
 the printed copy submitted does not conform to the conditions required 
 by the Assembly, as given in the Digest (p. 512), with reference to 
 printed records, viz. : 
 
 1. " That they be uniform as to size of page with the Minutes of the 
 Assembly. 
 
 2. " That the copy submitted by each Synod to the Assembly for review 
 be attested by the certificate of the Stated Clerk of the Synod in writing, 
 and that blank pages be left at the end for recording any exceptions that 
 may be taken. ' ' 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 259 
 
 Your Committee therefore recommend that the copy of the minutes of 
 the Synod of China be returned to the Stated Clerk of said Synod for 
 correction, in accordance with the above rules, and that it be presented for 
 examination to the next General Assembly. Adopted. — 1889, p. 133. 
 
 b. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of India recommended 
 their approval with the exceptions: 1. That the certificate of the Stated 
 Clerk is not affixed in writing. 2. That no blank pages have been left 
 for corrections, as is required in the case of records presented in print 
 (Digest, p. 513). Adopted.— 1889, p. 133. 
 
 C. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Michigan recom- 
 mended their approval with the exceptions: 1. As the minutes are 
 printed, they are not attested by the certificate of the Stated Clerk in 
 writing. 2. There is no blank page for the recording of the Assembly's 
 approval. Adopted. — 1889, p. 133. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Baltimore were approved with the 
 following exception: That the printed copy submitted to your Committee, 
 though properly certified, does not correspond to the General Assembly's 
 requirements in two other particulars, viz. : (a) In that the pages are not 
 conformable in size to those of the General Assembly's Minutes; (6) 
 though a leaf of writing paper has been pasted in, blank pages have not 
 been left as required, in the make-up of the printed copy, for the record- 
 ing of exceptions. — 1890, p. 105. 
 
 31. Synodical Reports to the Assembly. 
 
 A Statistical Report is to be forwarded to the Assembly by the Stated 
 Clerk of every Synod, in which are to be stated the number of Presby- 
 teries, ministers, churches, licentiates and candidates, within their bounds, 
 and how distributed, the changes which may have been made in the num- 
 ber or arrangement of their Presbyteries, the names of the Stated Clerks 
 of the Presbyteries, the place and hour of the next annual meeting, and 
 the name of the Moderator and Stated Clerk of the Synod. Such a 
 report is necessary in order to the correctness of the tabular report of the 
 Synods printed in the appendix to the Minutes. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY* 
 
 I The General Assembly is the highest judicatory of the Presbyterian 
 Church. It shall represent, in one body, all the particular churches of 
 this denomination; and shall bear the title of The General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 
 * The radical principles of Presbyterian church, government and discipline are : 
 That the several different congregations of believers, taken collectively, constitute one 
 Church of Christ, called emphatically the Church ; that a larger part of the Church, 
 or a representation of it, should govern a smaller, or determine matters of contro- 
 versy which arise therein ; that, in like manner, a representation of the whole should 
 govern and determine in regard to every part and to all the parts united — that is, that 
 a majority shall govern; and consequently that appeals may be carried from lower to 
 higher judicatories, till they be finally decided by the collected wisdom and united 
 voice of the whole Church. For these principles and this procedure, the example of 
 the apostles and the practice of the primitive Church are considered as authority. 
 iSee Acts xv. 1-29, xvi. 4, and the proofs adduced under the last three chapters. 
 
260 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 1. Formation of the General Assembly. 
 
 a. The Synod, considering the number and extent of the churches 
 under their care, and the inconvenience of the present mode of govern- 
 ment by one Synod, 
 
 Resolved, That this Synod will establish out of its own body three or 
 more subordinate Synods, out of which shall be composed a General 
 Assembly, Synod or Council, agreeably to a system hereafter to be 
 adopted.— 1786, p. 517. 
 
 b. Resolved unanimously, That this Synod be divided, and it is hereby 
 divided, into four Synods, agreeably to an Act made and provided for 
 that purpose in the sessions of Synod in the year one thousand seven 
 hundred and eighty-six; and that this division shall commence on the 
 dissolution of the present Synod. 
 
 Resolved, That the first meeting of the General Assembly, to be con- 
 stituted out of the above said four Synods, be held, and it is hereby 
 appointed to be held, on the third Thursday of May, one thousand seven 
 hundred and eighty-nine, in the Second Presbyterian Church in the city 
 of Philadelphia, at eleven o'clock A.M.; and that Dr. Witherspoon, or, 
 in Ins absence, Dr. Rogers, open the General Assembly with a sermon, 
 and preside till a Moderator be chosen. — 1788, p. b±&. 
 
 2. Organization of the Assembly. 
 
 Usage has fixed the third Thursday of May, at 11 A.M., as the time 
 for the annual meeting of the Assembly. The last Moderator present, 
 being a commissioner, or, if there be none, the senior member present, 
 preaches the sermon, and then opens the session with prayer, and presides 
 during the organization of the Assembly. The Committee on Commis- 
 sions report; irregular commissions are referred to a special Committee, 
 who report, and the roll is completed. A Moderator and Temporary 
 Clerks are chosen, and the Assembly is ready for business. 
 
 3. Rules of organization. Committee on Commissions. 
 
 Resolved, That the Permanent and Stated Clerks be and they hereby 
 are appointed a Standing Committee of Commissions; and that the com- 
 missioners to future Assemblies hand their commissions to said Committee, 
 in the room in which the Assembly shall hold its sessions, on the morning 
 of the day on which the Assembly opens, previous to 11 o'clock; and 
 further, that all commissions which may be presented during the sessions 
 of the Assembly, instead of being read in the house, shall be examined 
 by said Committee, and reported to the Assembly. — 1829, p. 269. 
 
 I. That the Committee of Commissions shall, in the afternoon, report 
 the names of all whose commissions shall appear to be regular and con- 
 stitutional and the persons whose names shall thus be reported shall 
 immediately take their seats and proceed to business. 
 
 II. The first act of the Assembly, when thus ready for business, shall 
 be the appointment of a Committee of Elections, whose duty it shall he 
 to examine all informal and unconstitutional commissions, and report on 
 the same as soon as practicable. — 1826, p. 191. 
 
 STAXDIXG ORDER. 
 
 The credentials of commissioners and delegates are to be presented at 
 a previous hour of the same day, or of the preceding day, according to 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 261 
 
 public notice, to the Stated and Permanent Clerks, acting as a Standing 
 Committee on Commissions. 
 
 [Note — For usage as to informal and unconstitutional commissions, see under 
 Form of Government, Chap, xxii, Sec. ii.] 
 
 4. Of the mode of choosing the Moderator of the Assembly. 
 
 On motion agreed that it be the standing rule of the General Assembly, 
 in choosing a Moderator, that any commissioner may nominate a candidate 
 for the chair. The candidates so pointed out shall then severally give 
 their votes for some one of their number, and withdraw; when the remain- 
 ing commissioners shall proceed, viva voce, to choose by a plurality of 
 votes one of said candidates for Moderator. — 1791, p. 39. 
 
 In the Assembly of 1846, O. S., it was 
 
 Resolved, That a majority of all the votes given for Moderator be nec- 
 essary for a choice. — p. 189. See 1887, p. 10. But the Standing Rule 
 is as above. 
 
 5. Of the manner of installing the Moderator. 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the rules of the house, and to 
 add to them, if they should judge it necessary, a rule directing the 
 method in which a Moderator, after his election, shall be introduced to his 
 office, made their report, which was agreed to, and is as follows: 
 
 Your Committee report that when a new Moderator hath been elected, 
 before he take the chair, the former Moderator shall address him and the 
 house, in the following or like manner, viz. : 
 
 Sir: It is my duty to inform you, and announce to this house, that you 
 are duly elected to the office of Moderator in this General Assembly. For 
 your direction in office, and for the direction of this Assembly in all your 
 deliberations, before I leave this seat, I am to read to you and this house 
 the rules contained in the records of this Assembly, which I doubt not 
 will be carefully observed by both, in conducting the business that may 
 come before you. 
 
 [Here the Moderator is to read the rules,* and afterward add:] 
 
 Now, having read these rules, according to order, for your instruction 
 as Moderator, and for the direction of all the members in the management 
 of business, praying that Almighty God may direct and bless all the 
 deliberations of this Assembly for the glory of His name, and for the 
 edification and comfort of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
 I resign mv place and office as Moderator. — 1791, p. 34; 1822, pp. 
 43, 44. 
 
 Rules relating to the Moderator. 
 
 1. The Moderator shall take the chair precisely at the hour to which 
 the judicatory stands adjourned, shall immediately call the members to 
 order, and on the appearance of a quorum shall open the session with 
 prayer. 
 
 4. It shall be the duty of the Moderator, at all times, to preserve 
 order, and to endeavor to conduct all business before the judicatory to a 
 speedy and proper result. 
 
 5. It shall be the duty of the Moderator carefully to keep notes of the 
 
 * Instead of reading the rules, it has become usage to put the book containing them 
 formally in the hands of the new Moderator, and to make the necessary change in 
 the formula above. See General Eules for Judicatories. For convenience such as 
 concern the Moderator in the discharge of his duty are given here. 
 
262 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 several articles of business which may be assigned to particular days, and 
 to call them up at the time appointed. 
 
 6. The Moderator may speak to points of order, in preference to other 
 members, rising from his seat for that purpose, and shall decide questions 
 of order, subject to an appeal to the judicatory by any two members. 
 
 7. The Moderator shall appoint all Committees, except in those cases 
 in which the judicatory shall decide otherwise. 
 
 8. When a vote is taken by ballot in any judicatory, the Moderator 
 shall vote with the other members ; but he shall not vote in any other case, 
 unless the judicatory be equally divided; when, if he does not choose to 
 vote, the question shall be lost. 
 
 6. Communications addressed to the Moderator. 
 
 Resolved, That every letter or communication addressed to the Modera- 
 tor be opened and read by him, and at his discretion be either communi- 
 cated immediately to the Assembly for their decision, or to the Committee 
 of Overtures, to be by them brought before the house in the ordinary 
 channel. — 1794, p. 79. 
 
 This rule was superseded by Rule xi of General Rules for Judicatories: 
 ' ' The Stated Clerk shall receive all memorials, overtures and other papers 
 addressed to the General Assembly, shall make record of the same, and 
 shall then deliver them to the Standing Committee of Bills and Over- 
 tures."— 1884, p. 106, 107. 
 
 7. The Moderator may not have a double vote. 
 
 On the question being taken, the Moderator claimed a right to a vote 
 as a commissioner from the Presbytery of Albany, distinct from the cast- 
 ing vote. He left it to the house to decide on the claim. The house, 
 having taken a vote on the subject, decided by a great majority against 
 the Moderator's claim. — 1798, p. 140. 
 
 8. The Moderator, when a member of a court appealed from, or a party 
 in the case, will not preside. 
 
 a. The Moderator, being a member of the Synod of Philadelphia 
 (appealed from), withdrew, and Dr. M' Knight took the chair. — 1792, 
 p. 56. 
 
 b. Appeal of Pope Bushnell. The Moderator, being a member of the 
 Synod appealed from, Mr. Jennings, the last Moderator present, took 
 the chair. —1826, p. 184. 
 
 C. Judicial Case No. 1 was taken up. The Moderator, being a party 
 in the case, vacated the chair, and on motion, Dr. Krebs was requested 
 to act as Moderator during the trial of the case. — 1866, p. 48, O. S. 
 
 9. Standing orders and rules. 
 
 1. The General Assembly meets invariably on the third Thursday of 
 May, annually, at 11 o'clock A.M. 
 
 2. The credentials of commissioners and delegates are to be presented 
 at a previous hour of the same day, or of the preceding day, according 
 to public notice, to the Stated and Permanent Clerks, acting as a Per- 
 manent Committee on Commissions. 
 
 3. The Lord's Supper is to be celebrated by the Assembly on the 
 evening of Thursday, the first day of its sessions. 
 
 4. The evenings of the days of session are assigned to popular meetings 
 in the following order; 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 263 
 
 The evening of Friday, the second day, to the Presbyterian Board of 
 Publication and Sabbath- school Work and the Sabbath-school interests of 
 the Church. 
 
 The afternoon of the first Sunday to the Woman's Executive Com- 
 mittee of Home Missions; the evening to Young People's Work for 
 Home and Foreign Missions. 
 
 The evening of Monday, the fourth day, to Missions among the 
 Freedmen. 
 
 The evening of Tuesday, the fifth day, to the Home Mission Work. 
 
 The evening of Wednesdav, the sixth day, to the Foreign Mission 
 Work. 
 
 The evening of Friday, the eighth day, to the cause of Temperance. 
 
 The evening of the second Sunday to Aid for Colleges and Academies. 
 
 5. The reports of the Standing Committees shall be considered at the 
 times herein designated, viz. : 
 
 Ministerial Relief, Saturday, at 10 o'clock A.M. 
 
 Freedmen, Monday, at 10 o'clock A.M. 
 
 Education, Monday, at 3 o'clock P.M. 
 
 Home Missions, Tuesday, at 10 o'clock A.M. 
 
 Aid for Colleges and Academies, Tuesday, at 3 o' clock P. M. 
 
 Foreign Missions, Wednesday, at 10 o'clock A.M. 
 
 Publication and Sabbath -school Work, Wednesday, at 3 o'clock P.M. 
 
 Church Erection, second Thursday, at 3 o'clock P.M. 
 
 Benevolence, second Thursday, at 7.30 o'clock P.M. 
 
 Temperance, second Friday, at 3 o'clock P.M. 
 
 6. That the Standing Committees on Home Missions and Foreign 
 Missions have each two and a half hours; and those on Education, 
 Publication, Church Erection, Ministerial Relief, Freedmen, Temper- 
 ance and Aid for Colleges, have each one and a half hours. That the 
 •Secretaries and the Chairmen of the Standing and Special Committees be 
 requested to make their statements within the limits of half an hour. 
 
 7. The Stated Clerk shall receive all memorials, overtures, and other 
 miscellaneous papers addressed to the General Assembly, shall make 
 record of the same, and then deliver them for distribution or reference 
 to the Standing Committee on Bills and Overtures. All complaints and 
 appeals, however, shall be transmitted by the Stated Clerk directly to 
 the Judicial Committee. 
 
 8. All Special Committees appointed by one General Assembly to 
 report to the next Assembly, shall be ready to present their reports on the 
 second day of the session. 
 
 9. The Stated Clerk shall have printed and ready for distribution, so 
 far as practicable, on the morning of the day fixed for their considera- 
 tion, the resolutions appended to the reports of Special Committees 
 appointed at previous Assemblies to report at that meeting. 
 
 10. The Stated Clerk and Permanent Clerk shall be a Committee to 
 revise the phraseology of all papers sent down to the Presbyteries to be 
 voted upon, provided that in no case shall this Committee so change the 
 phraseology as to alter the meaning. — 1886, p. 113. 
 
 11. The Stated and Permanent Clerks shall be a Committee to super- 
 vise the publication of any and all editions of the Constitution, hereafter 
 issued by the Board of Publication, and also of the Rules for Judica- 
 tories.— 1886, p. 113. 
 
 12. Each Board and Permanent Committee is instructed to send up its 
 
264 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 minutes with its report, that these minutes may be reviewed by the 
 Assembly on the report of the appropriate Standing Committee. — 1885, 
 p. 690. 
 
 13. A sufficient number of the reports of the Boards and Committees 
 shall be forwarded by them to the place of meeting of each Assembly, 
 prior to the day of meeting; and a complete file of the same, stitched 
 together, shall be delivered to each commissioner. — 1886, p. 77. 
 
 14. In all regions where, through the organization of Union Presby- 
 teries, there are no Presbyteries in connection with this Assembly, each 
 mission organized as such under our Board of Foreign Missions may send 
 to the General Assembly an ordained missionary, or ruling elder, as a 
 delegate ; and the Standing Rules of the Assembly are hereby so amended 
 that such delegate is entitled to sit as an advisory member in the Assem- 
 bly, and to speak, under the rules, on all questions, and that his expenses 
 from his domicile in this country to and during the Assembly and return, 
 shall be met as those of commissioners, out of the funds of the Assem- 
 bly.— 1887, p. 240. 
 
 15. No person shall serve as a member of a Board who is an executive 
 officer or employe of said Board, or a member of any other benevolent 
 Board of the Church; and no more than one ruling elder from the same 
 congregation shall serve on a Board at the same time. — 1887, pp. 51, 
 108. 
 
 16. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of any of the Boards 
 of the Church during the interval between the Assemblies, may be filled 
 until the next succeeding meeting of the Assembly, by the Board in 
 which such vacancy may occur. — 1887, p. 128. 
 
 17. The Moderator is authorized to fill by appointment any vacancies 
 which may occur, by resignation or otherwise, in any of the Special 
 Committees.— 1892, p. 209. 
 
 18. All resolutions for the appropriation of money, outside the 
 Boards, should be brought before the Finance Committee, before action 
 by the Assembly.— 1892, p. 199. 
 
 19. The recommendation of any particular congregation to the benev- 
 olence of the denomination, by the General Assembly, is not to be 
 understood as creating either a legal or a moral obligation upon the 
 Assembly for the payment of the amount recommended to be contributed 
 by the churches.— 1892, p. 36; 1893, p. 41. 
 
 20. All overtures must be presented to the Assembly not later than 
 the fifth day of its sessions. — 1894, p. 160. 
 
 21. The Stated and Permanent Clerks shall be a Committee to have 
 the oversight of arrangements for the entertainment of the General 
 Assembly.— 1896, pp. 130, 349g. 
 
 10. Rules of order for the General Assembly. 
 
 The General Rules for Judicatories, as adopted by the Assem- 
 bly, have appended the following note, as defining their authority, viz. : 
 
 The following rules, not having been submitted to the Presbyteries, 
 make no part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. Yet the 
 General Assembly of 1821, considering uniformity in proceedings in 
 all the subordinate judicatories as greatly conducive to order and dispatch 
 of business, and having revised and approved these rules, recommend 
 them to the Synods, Presbyteries and Sessions as a system of regulations 
 which, if they think proper, may be advantageously adopted by them. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 265 
 
 The rules, as modified and adopted by the Assembly for its guidance 
 in 1822, pp. 42-45, may be found in full in new Digest (Moore, 1861), 
 pp. 168-171. Some alteration was made chiefly with regard to the 
 previous question— e.g., 1835, p. 473; 1851, p. 27, K S. The rules 
 as in use in the N. S. Assembly may be found in new Digest (Moore, 
 1861), pp. 602-605, the O. S. in Baird's Digest, 866-870. On the 
 reunion the Assembly resolved to adopt the general rules for judicatories 
 contained in the appendix to the Constitution as the rules of this Assem- 
 bly, except that the 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th rules were modified. — 
 1870, p. 12. See Digest, 1886, p. 204. 
 
 A Committee — Rev. George W. Musgrave, D.D., Rev. Z. M. Hum- 
 phrey, D.D., Rev. J. C. Watson, D.D., Hon. William Strong, LL.D., 
 and Hon. J. Ross Snowden — was appointed to revise the rules for judi- 
 catories, and report to the next General Assembly. — 1870, p. 13. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the last General Assembly to revise the 
 general rules for judicatories respectfully present the following report : 
 
 The Committee found, on a comparison of the rules in use in the two 
 former branches of the Church, that they were, with very few excep- 
 tions, identical, and that very few changes were necessary. The Com- 
 mittee propose only four changes, each of which is indicated in the 
 margin of the report. The proposed changes relate to the presentation 
 of minutes, motions to amend, to lay on the table, and the previous 
 question; and are numbered respectively 12, 20, 21 and 22. 
 
 For the sake of a more convenient reference, the rules have been 
 rearranged, so as to bring those relating to the same or kindred subjects 
 more nearly together. 
 
 We are happy to add that the Committee are unanimous in recom- 
 mending to the Assembly the adoption of the subjoined rules, and would 
 respectfully suggest that, if adopted, the Board of Publication should 
 be directed to publish them as thus arranged and modified. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1871, p. 491. 
 
 11. General rules for judicatories. 
 
 [Note. — The following "General Rules for Judicatories," not having been sub- 
 mitted to the Presbyteries, make no part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian 
 Church. Yet the General Assembly of 1871, considering uniformity in proceedings in 
 all the subordinate judicatories as greatly conducive to order and dispatch in business, 
 having revised and approved these rules, recommended them to all the lower judica- 
 tories of the Church for adoption. The rules were amended by the General Assem- 
 blies of 1885, 1887 and 1896.] 
 
 I. The Moderator shall take the chair precisely at the hour to which 
 the judicatory stands adjourned; and shall immediately call the members 
 to order; and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall open the session 
 with prayer. 
 
 II. If a quorum be assembled at the time appointed, and the Modera- 
 tor be absent, the last Moderator present, being a commissioner, or if 
 there be none, the senior member present, shall be requested to take his 
 place without delay, until a new election. 
 
 III. If a quorum be not assembled at the hour appointed, any two 
 members shall be competent to adjourn from time to time, that an 
 opportunity may be given for a quorum to assemble. 
 
 IV. It shall be the duty of the Moderator, at all times, to preserve 
 order, and to endeavor to conduct all business before the judicatory to a 
 speedy and proper result. 
 
266 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 V. It shall be the duty of the Moderator, carefully to keep uotes of 
 the several articles of business which may be assigned for particular 
 days, and to call them up at the time appointed. 
 
 VI. The Moderator may speak to points of order, in preference to 
 other members, rising from his seat for that purpose; and shall decide 
 questions of order, subject to an appeal to the judicatory by any two 
 members. 
 
 VII. The Moderator shall appoint all Committees, except in those 
 cases in which the judicatory shall decide otherwise. In appointing the 
 Standing Committees, the Moderator may appoint a Vice-Moderator, 
 who may occupy the chair at his request, and otherwise assist him in the 
 discharge of his duties. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 VIII. When a vote is taken by ballot in any judicatory, the Modera- 
 tor shall vote with the other members ; but he shall not vote in any other 
 case, unless the judicatory be equally divided; when, if he do not choose 
 to vote, the question shall be lost. 
 
 IX. The person first named on any Committee shall be considered as 
 the chairman thereof, whose duty it shall be to convene the Committee; 
 and, in case of his absence or inability to act, the second named member 
 shall take his place and perform his duties. 
 
 X. It shall be the duty of the Clerk, as soon as possible after the 
 commencement of the sessions of every judicatory, to form a complete 
 roll of the members present, and put the same into the hands of the 
 Moderator. And it shall also be the duty of the Clerk, whenever any 
 additional members take their seats, to add their names, in their proper 
 places, to the said roll. 
 
 XI. It shall be the duty of the Clerk immediately to file all papers, 
 in the order in which they have been read, with proper indorsements, 
 and to keep them in perfect order. The Stated Clerk shall receive all 
 overtures, memorials and miscellaneous papers addressed to the judica- 
 tory; shall make record of the same and deliver them to the Committee 
 on Bills and Overtures for appropriate disposition or reference. This 
 Committee shall have the floor on the reassembling of the judicatory 
 after each adjournment, to report its recommendations as to reference of 
 papers, and this right of the Committee shall take precedence of the 
 Orders of the Day. This Committee shall report the papers retained 
 by it as well as those recommended for reference to other Committees, 
 and no Committee shall report on matters which have not been referred 
 to it by the judicatory. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 XII. The minutes of the last meeting of the judicatory shall be pre- 
 sented at the commencement of its session, and, if requisite, read and 
 corrected. 
 
 XIII. Business left unfinished at the last sitting is ordinarily to be 
 taken up first. 
 
 XIV. A motion made must be* seconded, and afterwards repeated by 
 the Moderator, or read aloud, before it is debated ; and every motion 
 shall be reduced to writing, if the Moderator or any member require it. 
 
 XV. Any member who shall have made a motion, shall have liberty 
 to withdraw it, with the consent of his second, before any debate has 
 taken place thereon; but not afterwards, without the leave of the 
 judicatory. 
 
 XVI. If a motion under debate contain several parts, any two mem- 
 bers may have it divided, and a question taken on each part. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 267 
 
 XVII. When various motions are made with respect to the filling of 
 blanks, with particular numbers or times, the question shall always be 
 first taken on the highest number and the longest time. 
 
 XVIII. Motions to lay on the table, to take up business, to adjourn, 
 and the call for the previous question, shall be put without debate. On 
 questions of order, postponement, or commitment, no member shall speak 
 more than once. On all other questions, each member may speak twice, 
 but not oftener, without express leave of the judicatory. 
 
 XIX. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, 
 unless to adjourn, to lay on the table, to postpone indefinitely, to post- 
 pone to a day certain, to commit, or to amend; which several motions 
 shall have precedence in the order in which they are herein arranged; 
 and the motion for adjournment shall always be in order. 
 
 XX. An amendment, and also an amendment to an amendment, may 
 be moved on any motion ; but a motion, to amend an amendment to an 
 amendment, shall not be in order. Action on amendments shall precede 
 action on the original motion. A substitute shall be treated as an 
 amendment. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 XXI. A distinction shall be observed between a motion to lay on the 
 table for the present, and a motion to lay on the table unconditionally, 
 namely: A motion to lay on the table, for the present, shall be taken with- 
 out debate; and, if carried in the affirmative, the effect shall be to place 
 the subject on the docket, and it may be taken up and considered at any 
 subsequent time. But a motion to lay on the table, unconditionally, 
 shall be taken without debate; and, if carried in the affirmative, it 
 shall not be in order to take up the subject during the same meeting of 
 the judicatory, without a vote of reconsideration. 
 
 XXII. The previous question shall be put in this form, namely, Shall 
 the main question be now put ? It shall only be admitted when de- 
 manded by a majority of the members present ; and the effect shall be 
 to put an end to all debate and bring the body to a direct vote : First, 
 on a motion to commit the subject under consideration (if such motion 
 shall have been made) ; secondly, if the motion for commitment does 
 not prevail, on pending amendments; and lastly, on the main question. 
 
 XXIII. A question shall not be again called up or reconsidered at 
 the same sessions of the judicatory at which it has been decided, unless 
 by the consent of two-thirds of the members who were present at the 
 decision; and unless the motion to reconsider be made and seconded by 
 persons who voted with the majority. 
 
 XXIV. A subject which has been indefinitely postponed, either by 
 the operation of the previous question, or by a motion for indefinite 
 postponement, shall not be again called up during the same sessions of 
 the judicatory, unless by the consent of three-fourths of the members 
 who were present at the decision. 
 
 XXV. Members ought not, without weighty reasons, to decline 
 voting, as this practice might leave the decision of very interesting 
 questions to a small proportion of the judicatory. Silent members, 
 unless excused from voting, must be considered as acquiescing with the 
 majority. 
 
 XXVI. When the Moderator has commenced taking the vote, no 
 further debate or remark shall be admitted, unless there has evidently 
 been a mistake, in which case the mistake shall be rectified, and the 
 Moderator shall recommence taking the vote. If the house shall pass , 
 
268 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the motion to ' ' vote on a given subject at a time named, ' ' speeches shall 
 thereafter be limited to ten minutes. Should the hour for adjournment 
 or recess arrive during the voting, it shall be postponed to finish the 
 vote, unless the majority shall vote to adjourn; in which case the voting 
 shall, on the reassembling of the house, take precedence of all other busi- 
 ness till it is finished. Under this rule the " yeas and nays " shall not 
 be called, except on the final motion to adopt as a whole. This motion 
 to fix a time for voting shall be put without debate. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 XXVII. The yeas and nays on any question shall not be recorded, 
 unless required by one-third of the members present. If division is 
 called for on any vote, it shall be by a rising vote, without a count. If 
 on such a rising vote the Moderator is unable to decide, or a quorum rise 
 to second a call for * ' tellers, ' ' then the vote shall be taken by rising 
 and the count made by tellers, who shall pass through the aisles and 
 report to the Moderator the number voting on each side. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 XXVIII. No member, in the course of debate, shall be allowed to 
 indulge in personal reflections. 
 
 XXIX. If more than one member rise to speak at the same time, the 
 member who is most distant from the Moderator's chair shall speak first. 
 In the discussion of all matters where the sentiment of the house is 
 divided, it is proper that the floor should be occupied alternately by those 
 representing the different sides of the question. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 XXX. When more than three members of the judicatory shall be 
 standing at the same time, the Moderator shall require all to take their 
 seats, the person only excepted who may be speaking. 
 
 XXXI. Every member, when speaking, shall address himself to the 
 Moderator, and shall treat his fellow -members, and especially the Moder- 
 ator, with decorum and respect. 
 
 XXXII. No speaker shall be interrupted, unless he be out of order; 
 or for the purpose of correcting mistakes or misrepresentations. 
 
 XXXIII. Without express permission, no member of a judicatory, 
 while business is going on, shall engage in private conversation; nor shall 
 members address one another, nor any person present, but through the 
 Moderator. 
 
 XXXIV. It is indispensable that members of ecclesiastical judica- 
 tories maintain great gravity and dignity while judicially convened; that 
 they attend closely in their speeches to the subject under consideration, 
 and avoid prolix and desultory harangues; and, when they deviate from 
 the subject, it is the privilege of any member, and the duty of the Mod- 
 orator, to call them to order. 
 
 XXXV. If any member act, in any respect, in a disorderly manner, 
 it shall be the privilege of any member, and the duty of the Moderator, 
 to call him to order. 
 
 XXXVI. If any member consider himself aggrieved by a decision of 
 the Moderator, it shall be his privilege to appeal to the judicatory, and 
 the question on the appeal shall be taken without debate. 
 
 XXX VII. No member shall retire from any judicatory without the 
 leave of the Moderator, nor withdraw from it to return home without the 
 consent of the judicatory. 
 
 XXXVIII. All judicatories have a right to sit in private, on business, 
 which in their judgment ought not to be matter of public speculation. 
 
 XXXIX. Besides the right to sit judicially in private, whenever they 
 think proper to do so, all judicatories have a right to hold what are 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 269 
 
 commonly called " interlocutory meetings," in which members may 
 freely converse together, without the formalities which are usually 
 necessary in judicial proceedings. 
 
 XL. Whenever a judicatory is about to sit in a judicial capacity, it 
 shall be the duty of the Moderator solemnly to announce, from the chair, 
 that the body is about to pass to the consideration of the business assigned 
 for trial, and to enjoin on the members to recollect and regard their high 
 character as judges of a court of Jesus Christ, and the solemn duty in 
 which they are about to act. 
 
 XLI. In all cases before a judicatory, where there is an accuser or 
 prosecutor, it is expedient that there be a Committee of the judicatory 
 appointed (provided the number of members be sufficient to admit it 
 without inconvenience), who shall be called the " Judicial Committee," 
 and whose duty it shall be to digest and arrange all the papers, and to 
 prescribe, under the direction of the judicatory, the whole order of 
 proceedings. The members of this Committee shall be entitled, notwith- 
 standing their performance of this duty, to sit and vote in the cause as 
 members of the judicatory. 
 
 XLII. The permanent officers of a judicatory shall have the rights of 
 corresponding members in matters touching their several offices. — 1885, 
 p. 590. 
 
 XLIII. The Moderator of every judicatory above the church Session, 
 in finally closing its sessions, in addition to prayer, may cause to be sung 
 an appropriate psalm or hymn, and shall pronounce the apostolical bene- 
 diction. 
 
 12. Officers of the General Assembly. 
 
 I. THE MODERATOR. 
 
 [Note. — See above, Rules for Judicatories ; also, Form of Government, Chap. xix. 
 Of Moderators.] 
 
 II. THE STATED CLERK. 
 
 Appointment. 
 
 a,. Ordered, That Dr. Duffield be appointed Stated Clerk of the As- 
 sembly, procure a proper book into which to transcribe their minutes, 
 and lay the expense of the book and of transcribing the minutes before 
 the General Assembly at their next meeting. — 1789, p. 13. 
 
 Duties of the Stated Clerk. 
 
 b. The Stated Clerk shall transcribe for the press such parts as may 
 be necessary of the minutes ordered to be published from year to year. 
 He shall correct the press, and superintend the printing of all the min- 
 utes and papers which shall be ordered to be printed by the General 
 Assembly. As soon as the extracts are printed from year to year, he 
 shall send one copy by mail to each Presbytery, and apportion and send 
 the rest by private conveyance to the Presbyteries and other bodies, as 
 shall be prescribed by the Assembly, only reserving a sufficient number 
 of copies for binding. He shall have the charge of all the books and 
 papers of the General Assembly, shall cause their minutes to be fairly 
 transcribed into the book or books provided for the purpose, and give 
 attested copies of all minutes and other documents, when properly 
 required so to do. — 1807, p. 377. 
 
270 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Notification of Presbyteries whose commissioners have left without leave. 
 
 C. Whereas, It has frequently happened that members of this Assem- 
 bly, neglecting their duty and inattentive to the rules of decorum, have 
 abruptly left the Assembly and returned home without leave of absence, 
 
 Resolved, That in all similar cases which shall occur in future, it shall 
 be the duty of the Clerk of this house to give notice thereof to the 
 Presbyteries to which such delinquent members may belong. — 1801, p. 
 233. 
 
 Resolved, That as the names of persons who have left the Assembly 
 without leave are to be published in the printed journals, therefore the 
 Stated Clerk is liberated from the duty, enjoined by a standing rule, of 
 writing to the Presbyteries on the subject. — 1824, p. 125. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1801, p. 233, and 1820, p. 723.] 
 
 Stated Clerk to be Treasurer of the Assembly. 
 
 d. The Committee on Finance also recommend that the Stated Clerk 
 have added to his duties that of Treasurer of the General Assembly. — 
 1871, p. 512. 
 
 [Note. — Prior to theReunion the Treasurer of the Trustees acted as Treasurer of the 
 Assembly in the Old School branch. The New School Assembly had a Treasurer of 
 its own from 1839. In 1871 the duties of the Treasurer of the General Assembly were 
 laid upon the Stated Clerk. In 1884, after the death of Dr. Hatfield, who had filled 
 the offices of Stated Clerk and Treasurer, the Assembly elected the Rev. Hugh W. 
 Torrence Treasurer, but subsequently—] : 
 
 The Standing Committee on Finance reported as follows: 
 Resolved, That the office of Treasurer of the General Assembly, as a 
 separate office, be discontinued, and the duties thereof imposed upon the 
 Stated Clerk, who shall receive therefor the additional sum of one hun- 
 dred dollars per annum, and who shall give bonds in the sum of five 
 thousand dollars, to be signed by himself and two sureties to be approved 
 by the Board of Trustees of the General Assembly. Adopted. — 1884, 
 p. 33. 
 
 That the Stated Clerk, as Treasurer, be authorized to employ a clerical 
 assistant, to act as Assistant Treasurer, who shall take charge, under the 
 direction and control of the Treasurer, of the receipts and disbursements 
 of the Mileage Fund during the meeting of the Assembly. — 1896, p. 157. 
 
 Arrangements for transportation of commissioners placed permanently in 
 the hands of the Stated Clerk. 
 
 e. We recommend that the matter of railroad arrangements for the 
 transportation of commissioners be placed permanently in the hands of 
 the Stated Clerk.— 1885, p. 687. 
 
 The duties of the Stated Clerk. His salary. 
 
 f. Resolved, That the subject of the duties of the Stated Clerk be 
 referred to the chairmen of the Committees on Mileage and Finance, 
 as a Special Committee, to consider the same, and report to this Assem- 
 bly.— 1894, p. 89. 
 
 g. The Special Committee upon the subject of the duties of the Stated 
 Clerk, presented its report, which was unanimously adopted, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 The chairmen of the Standing Committees on Mileage and Finance, to 
 whom, as a Special Committee, was referred for consideration and report 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 271 
 
 the subject of the duties of the Stated Clerk, respectfully report as 
 follows : 
 
 They have carefully examined into the subject referred to them; and 
 they find that the duties of the Stated Clerk have been steadily increasing 
 in number and variety, and in the laborious character of the work im- 
 posed by them. At the present time, the Stated Clerk is required to 
 transcribe for the press the Minutes ordered to be published from year to 
 year; to superintend the printing of the Minutes, and papers ordered to 
 be printed; to distribute 'the Minutes to persons entitled to them; to have 
 charge of all the books and papers of the General Assembly; to give 
 attested copies of all minutes and other documents; to receive all memo- 
 rials, overtures and other papers addressed to the Assembly ; to distribute 
 the bound volumes of the Reports of the Boards; to have charge of the 
 entire railroad arrangements for the transportation of commissioners; to 
 transmit all overtures to the Presbyteries and receive the answers; under 
 the direction of the Moderator, to prepare and carry forward the business 
 of the Assembly, including the printing of the roll, etc., during its 
 sessions; to carry on the correspondence of the Assembly ; to report to 
 the Assembly upon the statistics of the Church ; to perform all the duties 
 of Treasurer, and to transact such other business directly pertaining to 
 his office, as the Assembly may from time to time appoint. 
 
 Besides performing these duties, your Committee are of the opinion 
 that the Stated Clerk might advantageously be employed as Secretary, 
 and Custodian of the correspondence, of the ad interim Committees, 
 without membership therein, and recommend that he be so designated. 
 
 In view of the facts stated, your Committee regard the compensation 
 heretofore allowed to his office as wholly inadequate. They therefore 
 recommend that, for the services hereinbefore specified and recom- 
 mended, the compensation be fixed at the sum of three thousand dollars 
 ($3000) per annum, payable upon December 31, for the calendar year 
 then closing. 
 
 Your Committee are also of opinion, that permanent quarters for the 
 accommodation of the Stated Clerk, and the preservation of the records 
 of the Assembly, should be arranged for. They therefore recommend 
 that the Board of Publication and Sabbath -school Work be requested 
 to assign to the Stated Clerk such rooms, not needed for their own use, 
 as will afford suitable accommodations as an office and a document room, 
 the expense of fitting up such rooms to be defrayed out of the Contin- 
 gent Fund.— 1894, pp. 161, 162. 
 
 The Stated Clerk authorized to engage stenographic and other clerical help. 
 
 h. (a) That the Stated Clerk be authorized to employ a Clerk to aid him 
 in his correspondence, and also in the preparation of the Minutes of the 
 Assembly for publication. — 1890, p. 112. 
 
 (b) That the Stated Clerk be authorized to employ such clerical 
 assistants as may be needed to secure early publication of the Minutes. — 
 1893, p. 72. 
 
 (c) That whereas it is expedient to lighten as far as possible the labors 
 of the Moderator and of the chairmen of the Standing Committees 
 during the meetings of the General Assembly, the Stated Clerk be 
 authorized to engage such stenographic and other clerical help as may be 
 needed to this end while the Assembly is in session. — 1896, p. 118. 
 
272 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 III. THE PERMANENT RECORDING CLERK. 
 
 Appointment and Duties. 
 
 a. Whereas, The business of former Assemblies has been impeded by 
 the want of a Kecording Clerk, possessing that facility in the business 
 which is acquired by experience; and Whereas, It is not to be expected 
 that any one person should perform this service permanently without receiv- 
 ing an adequate compensation for his labor; and Whereas, This Assembly 
 are persuaded that future Assemblies will see the reasonableness of the 
 measure now contemplated, and cooperate on their part in giving it 
 effect; 
 
 Resolved, That a Permanent Recording Clerk be chosen, whose duty it 
 shall be from year to year to draught the minutes of the Assembly during 
 their sessions, and afterward to perform such services respecting the 
 transcribing, printing and distributing the extracts as shall be assigned 
 to him from time to time. — 1802, p. 235. 
 
 b. The Permanent Clerk shall furnish all the stationery for the use of 
 the Assembly and the several Clerks. He shall make the original 
 draught of all the minutes, and give certified copies, as occasion may 
 require, of all such as may be proper to be transmitted to the Trustees of 
 the General Assembly or any of their officers. After the Assembly rises 
 from year to year he shall carefully revise the manuscript, render it 
 correct and legible, and deliver it over to the Stated Clerk. — 1807, p. 377. 
 
 Salary of the Permanent Clerk. 
 
 C. That the salary of the Permanent Clerk be fixed at the rate of 
 three hundred dollars per annum. — 1870, p. 127. 
 
 d. The Committee to which was referred a recommendation of the 
 Committee of Bills and Overtures, a resolution concerning the increase 
 of the salary of the Permanent Clerk, recommend that such salary be 
 increased from three hundred dollars, as at present, to five hundred 
 dollars per annum, which was unanimously adopted by the General 
 Assembly at Pittsburgh, Pa., Monday, May 27, 1895.— 1896, p. 170. 
 
 IV. THE TEMPORARY CLERKS. 
 
 a. Resolved, also, That a Temporary Clerk be chosen by each Assem- 
 bly as heretofore to read the minutes and communications to the Assem- 
 bly, and otherwise aid the Permanent Clerk as occasion may require, and 
 that he be paid one dollar per day for his services. — 1802, p. 235. 
 
 b. The Temporary Clerk shall hereafter receive no pecuniary compen- 
 sation for his services. — 1806, p. 372. 
 
 [Note. — The usage is to choose four Temporary Clerks, one or more of whom are 
 usually ruling elders.] 
 
 The Temporary Clerks nominated by the Stated and Permanent Clerks. 
 
 C. The following standing rule was adopted: That the Stated and Per- 
 manent Clerks shall have the privilege of nominating their own assistant 
 Clerks.— 1875, p. 533. 
 
 Choice of Clerks not confined to members of the Assembly. 
 
 d. Resolved, That it be considered as the right of every member of the 
 Assembly to vote for a Clerk who is not a member of the body. — 1793, 
 p. 64. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 273 
 
 e. The Moderator and Clerk are ministerial officers of the judicatory. 
 In respect to their offices they are servants merely, and not members, 
 of the body. 
 
 Of the Clerk this would seem to be unquestionably true. The Consti- 
 tution knows nothing of the Temporary Clerk as distinguished from the 
 Stated Clerk. As far as any provision of the ' ' Book ' ' is involved, it is 
 plain that a judicatory may select any convenient person, though not a 
 member, to record its transactions, and discharge all other duties pertaining 
 to a Clerk. For the part of those duties usually devolved upon a Tem- 
 porary Clerk, we believe it is no infrequent thing for a Presbytery to 
 employ a licentiate or other person not a member of the body. — 1861, 
 p. 457, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— As to the Moderator of the Assembly, see Rule ii of Rules for Judicatories, 
 p. 265.] 
 
 13. Standing Committees of Each Assembly. 
 
 [Note. — The Committees appointed at the beginning of each Assembly are desig- 
 nated as "Standing Committees."] 
 
 The Standing and Permanent Committees of the Judicatories should 
 consist of ordained men. 
 
 Overture No. 58, from the Presbytery of Cincinnati: May a judica- 
 tory of the Presbyterian Church, such as a Presbytery, place unordained 
 men on its Standing and Permanent Committees ? The Committee 
 recommend that a negative answer be returned. Adopted. — 1896, p. 
 145. 
 
 Number of members of each Committee. 
 
 The Committee on Polity having considered the resolution referred to 
 it with reference to the Standing Committees of the Assembly, would 
 recommend that hereafter each Standing Committee, except the Standing 
 Committee on Mileage and the Standing Committee on Finance, be com- 
 posed of eleven ministers and ten ruling elders; the Standing Committee 
 on Mileage shall be composed of ten ruling elders; the Standing Com- 
 mittee on Finance shall be composed of ten ruling elders; and that each 
 of the Committees on Sy nodical Records shall be composed of four minis- 
 ters and three elders. — 1892, p. 190. 
 
 (i) The Committee of Bills and Overtures, duties of . 
 [Note.— See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 213.] 
 
 The Standing Committee of Bills and Overtures presented a final 
 report, which was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Committee deem it a duty to call the attention of this Assembly 
 to the action of our Church concerning the powers and duties of the 
 Committee of Bills and Overtures. 
 
 In 1710, the Presbytery (there being at that time no higher court) 
 appointed " Mr. Henry, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wade a Committee to 
 prepare and bring in overtures to the Presbytery, and also to take cogni- 
 zance of whatever may be laid before them to prepare it for the Presby- 
 tery."— 1710, p. 17; Digest, 1886, p. 213. 
 
 In 1769 the Synod, in answer to the question concerning the duties and 
 powers of the Committee of Overtures proposed last year, said: " That 
 Committee is intended to introduce business into the Synod in an orderly 
 manner, that they may give advice concerning either the matter or 
 manner of overtures brought to them, but have not power to suppress 
 18 
 
274 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 anything that comes regularly before them from inferior judicatures 
 according to our known rules, or such overtures and petitions as inferior 
 judicatures or particular persons desire to have laid before this Synod." 
 —1769., p. 393; Digest, 1886, p. 213. 
 
 The General Assembly of 1789 declared: " The General Assembly, at 
 every meeting, shall appoint a Committee of Bills and Overtures to 
 prepare and digest business for the Assembly." — 1789, p. 8; Digest, 
 1886, p. 213. 
 
 The Assembly of 1822 enacted as follows: " Petitions, questions relat- 
 ing to doctrine, or order, and usually all new propositions tending to 
 general laws, should, be laid before the Committee of Bills and Overtures 
 before they be offered to the Assembly."— 1822, p. 42; Digest, 1886, p. 
 213. 
 
 The report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction adopted by the 
 General Assembly of 1870, said: " It is recommended that the Assembly 
 order that hereafter bills and overtures come up only from Synods or 
 Presbyteries; yet, that this may not prevent any Committee of Bills and 
 Overtures from bringing before the house, of its own motion, upon a 
 two-thirds vote of the Committee, any matter which they may deem of 
 sufficient importance to engage the attention of the Assembly." — 1870, 
 p. 90; Digest, 1873, p. 547. 
 
 In view of these deliverances, which, so far as we can find, have never 
 been changed, it seems to be plain that the Committee of Bills and Over- 
 tures is the proper business Committee of the Assembly, and that it 
 belongs to this Committee to receive and to consider all bills, overtures, 
 petitions, etc., before they are laid before the Assembly, and to recom- 
 mend the proper disposition or reference of the same. 
 
 That the action herein described has been the historic practice of the 
 Assembly up to a comparatively recent date is, we believe, undisputed. 
 
 More recently, however, it has become customary for the Stated Clerk 
 to receive and consider such documents as are to be laid before the 
 Assembly, and to recommend the proper reference and disposition of 
 them. 
 
 Your Committee believe this practice to be an error, and for these 
 reasons : 
 
 1. It is a departure from the established order and the historic practice 
 of the Church. 
 
 2. It practically concentrates to a large extent, the powers and duties 
 of the Committee of Bills and Overtures in a single person, the Stated 
 Clerk, who usually is not a member of the Assembly. 
 
 3. It partly defeats the object for which the Committee of Bills and 
 Overtures was appointed, viz., " To prepare and digest business for the 
 Assembly." And it is manifestly impossible for any one person to give 
 to the documents which come before the Assembly such consideration as 
 they deserve. 
 
 The Committee therefore recommend " that Standing Order No. 6 be 
 •changed so as to read: Rule 6. The Stated Clerk shall receive all memo- 
 rials, overtures and other papers addressed to the General Assembly, 
 shall make record of the same, aud shall then deliver them to the 
 Standing Committee of Bills and Overtures." Adopted. — 1884, pp. 
 106, 107. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 275 
 
 (2) The Judicial Committee. 
 
 The Assembly shall also, at every meeting, appoint a Committee to be 
 styled the Judicial Committee, whose duty it shall be to take into consid- 
 eration all appeals and references brought to the Assembly, to ascertain 
 whether they are in order, to digest, and arrange all the documents 
 relating to the same, and to propose to the Assembly the best method of 
 proceeding in each case. — 1819, p. 718. 
 
 [Note. — See also Rule xli of General Rules for Judicatories.] 
 
 (3) Committee on Polity of the Church. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of seven members be appointed on the 
 Polity of the Church, and that it be referred to this Committee to exam- 
 ine and settle the true roll of the Presbyteries and Synods connected 
 with the Assembly; and that they receive the reports of the several 
 Presbyteries on amending the Constitution of the Church. — 1840, p. 
 7, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — Now referred to a Committee of Canvass.] 
 
 To consist of eleven ministers and ten ruling elders. — 1892, p. 190. 
 
 (4-) On Foreign Missions. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (5) On Home Missions. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (6) On Education. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (7) On Publication and Sabbath-school Work. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (8) On Church Erection. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (9) On Theological Seminaries. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (10) On Ministerial Relief. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (11) On Freedmen. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (12) On Aid for Colleges and Academies. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 [Note. — To these Committees are referred the reports of the several Boards, etc., 
 together with the subjects to which they pertain, to report to the Assembly at aa 
 early a day during its sessions as is possible.] 
 
 (IS) On Correspondence. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 To this Committee is referred the matter of correspondence with other 
 Churches ; they also nominate to the Assembly delegates to corresponding 
 bodies. 
 
276 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 (14-) On Benevolence. 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (15) On the Narrative. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 That the General Assembly take measures to bring into distinct view 
 at its different sessions the situation of the Presbyterian Church under 
 its jurisdiction in the United States of America, with respect to the 
 state of religion in the different Presbyteries, and the most probable 
 expedients for reviving and promoting the essential interests of Christ's 
 kingdom in the world; whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to each Synod to enjoin it upon the 
 respective Presbyteries within their bounds, to specify the above particu- 
 lars in the annual reports which they make of the state of their respective 
 churches, to be laid before the General Assembly at its stated meetings. 
 —1792, p. 59. 
 
 a. The narrative may not be omitted. — Overture from the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia North, on the omission of the annual Presbyterial narrative 
 to the Assembly on the state of religion. In reply the Committee would 
 recommend the answer that the Presbyterial narratives on the state of 
 religion are too valuable to be omitted. Adopted. — 1893, p. 130. 
 
 b. Narrative to notice the decease of ministers. — Resolved, That the 
 narrative on the state of religion annually contain a notice of the decease 
 of all the ministers of our Church who may have been removed by death 
 during the preceding year; and the several Presbyteries are ordered to 
 incorporate with their reports on the state of religion, made to the 
 Assembly, the case of every such removal within their bounds. — 1822, 
 p. 38. 
 
 [Note. — It is the usage for the Stated Clerk to read the Necrological Report in 
 the Assembly, after which the Assembly is led in prayer by a member designated by 
 the Moderator.] 
 
 (16) On Temperance. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. 
 
 (17) On Leave of Absence. 
 
 Resolved, That, as a standing rule of the Assembly, a Committee of 
 five be appointed, whose duty it shall be to consider all applications for 
 leave of absence, with power to decide on the same, in place of the 
 house, and with instructions to require in every case satisfactory reasons 
 for the necessity of such absence, and report to the house, at the com- 
 mencement of every session, the members so dismissed; and that an 
 appeal to the Assembly may be made in any instance of refusal on the 
 part of the Committee to grant the application. — 1833, p. 390. 
 
 Eleven ministers and ten elders. — 1892, p. 190. 
 
 (18) On Mileage. 
 Consists of ten ruling elders. 
 
 [Note. — See under Chap. xxii. Of Commissioners to the General Assembly.] 
 
 (19) On Finance. 
 
 Resolved, That a Standing Committee of Finance be appointed, to 
 whom the Treasurer's account (of the Trustees) shall be referred. — 1842, 
 p. 8, O. S. 
 
 Consists of ten ruling elders. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 277 
 
 (20) On the Records of the Synods. 
 Consists of four ministers and three elders for each Synod. 
 
 14. Corresponding members. Ministers casually present not invited. 
 
 Upon motion, it was agreed that whereas this Assembly, copying the 
 example of their predecessors, have admitted several ministers who are 
 not commissioners to join in their deliberations and conclusions, but not 
 to vote on any question, and although this Assembly has been much 
 indebted to the wise counsels and friendly assistance of these correspond- 
 ing ministers, nevertheless, on mature deliberation, it was 
 
 Resolved', As the opinion of this house, 
 
 1. That no delegated body has a right to transfer its powers, or any 
 part thereof, unless express provision is in its Constitution. 
 
 2. That this Assembly is a delegated body, and no such provision is 
 in its Constitution. — 1791, p. 42. 
 
 15. Delegates from corresponding bodies. 
 
 At first these were not allowed to vote, but in 1794 the Assembly 
 asked, and the General Association of Connecticut acceded to the 
 request, that the delegates from these bodies respectively shall have a 
 right not only to sit and deliberate, but also to vote, on all questions 
 which may be determined by either of them. — 1794, p. 80; 1795, p. 96. 
 
 The Assembly afterward (1827) asked that the right of voting be 
 given up, and since 1830 corresponding members have the right only to 
 sit and deliberate, but not to vote. 
 
 16. Secretaries of the Boards and Permanent Committees, with Stated 
 and Permanent Clerks, have the privileges of corresponding members. 
 
 a. Resolved, That it be a standing rule of the Assembly that the 
 Secretary of any of the Permanent Committees shall be entitled to the 
 same privilege as the delegates from corresponding bodies, while the busi- 
 ness entrusted to that Committee is under consideration in the house. 
 
 The Assembly voted that the same privilege be extended to the Stated 
 and Permanent Clerks in reference to matters pertaining to their official 
 duties.— 1858, p. 581, N. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, That all the Secretaries of the Boards of the Church have 
 the privilege of corresponding members of the General Assembly, in 
 discussions bearing upon the interests of the Boards which they severally 
 represent. — 1870, p. 85. 
 
 [Note.— Privilege of Corresponding Members : " Such members shall be entitled 
 to deliberate and advise, but not to vote in any decisions." Form of Government, 
 Chap, x, Sec. xii. See this Digest, p. 228.] 
 
 17. Manual of the General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That the Stated Clerk is hereby empowered to prepare for 
 the use of the General Assembly a Manual, containing the Rules for 
 Judicatories, the Standiag Orders and Rules, Directions to Committees, 
 and such other items as may be of service to the Officers and Commis- 
 sioners in connection with the business of the Assembly. — 1893, p. 218. 
 
 Overture No. 227, being a communication from the Stated Clerk, 
 submitting a copy of the " Manual of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A.," prepared by him by order of 
 the last Assembly. We recommend that this Manual be approved; that 
 the thanks of the General Assembly be given to the Stated Clerk for his 
 
Z/5 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 useful volume, and that he be authorized to print another edition, with 
 the Docket of the next Assembly and other matters added to the 
 present contents. — 1894, p. 157. 
 
 II. The General Assembly shall consist of an equal delegation of 
 bishops and elders from each Presbytery in the following proportion, viz. : 
 each Presbytery consisting of not more than twenty- four ministers shall 
 send one minister and one elder, and each Presbytery consisting of more 
 than twenty-four ministers shall send one minister and one elder for each 
 additional twenty-four ministers, or for each additional fractional number 
 of ministers not less than twelve, and these delegates so appointed shall 
 be styled Commissioners to the General Assembly. — As amended, 1884, 
 p. 103— Adopted, 1885, pp. 629, 630. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xxii.] 
 
 1. The former ratios of representation. 
 
 That every Presbytery shall, at their last stated meeting preceding the 
 meeting of the General Assembly, depute to the General Assembly com- 
 missioners in the following proportion: each Presbytery consisting of not 
 more than six ministers shall send one minister and one elder; each 
 Presbytery consisting of more than six ministers and not more than 
 twelve shall send two ministers and two elders, and so in the same pro- 
 portion for every six ministers. — 1786, p. 524. 
 
 In 1819, p. 700, the ratio was altered by substituting the word nine 
 for the word six, and the word eighteen in place of the word twelve. In 
 1826, p. 168, the ratio was increased from nine to twelve and from 
 eighteen to twenty-four. In 1833, p. 401, the ratio was made as follows, 
 viz., each Presbytery consisting of not more than twenty-four ministers, 
 shall send one minister and one elder; and each Presbytery consisting of 
 more than twenty- four ministers, shall send two ministers and two elders; 
 and in the like proportion for every twenty-four ministers in each Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
 The ratio as above was adopted. — 1885, p. 630. 
 
 2. Where a Presbytery sends more than its proper representation, the 
 
 last elected are refused. 
 
 The right of two persons to a seat in the Assembly from the Presbytery 
 of Portage was questioned, whereupon their case was referred to the 
 Committee of Elections. After considering the subject, the Committee 
 reported that the names of the minister and elder last appointed should 
 be erased, because the Presbytery is entitled to no more than two com- 
 missioners. This report was adopted. — 1835, p. 466. 
 
 3. Sec. ii is mandatory both as to the proportion of ministers and elders, 
 
 and as to sending the full number. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore, asking, " Is the provision 
 of the Form of Government (Chap, xii, Sec. ii) for sending commis- 
 sioners to the General Assembly by each Presbytery mandatory or 
 discretionary ? 1. As to sending an equal number of bishops and 
 elders ? 2. As to sending the full number to which each Presbytery is 
 entitled?" 
 
 Answer : Mandatory as to both. — 1890, p. 46. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 279 
 
 4. An elder who is a member of a church under the care of the Presby- 
 tery may be elected. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Holston, asking, would the election 
 of a ruling elder as a commissioner to the General Assembly be valid, if 
 at the time of his election he were not in the Presbytery electing him ? 
 Such election would be valid, if he is a member of a church under the 
 care of Presbytery. Adopted.— 1889, p. 102. 
 
 III. Any fourteen or more of these commissioners, one-half of whom 
 shall be ministers, being met on the day and at the place appointed, 
 shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. 
 
 IV. The General Assembly shall receive and issue all appeals, com- 
 plaints and references that affect the doctrine or Constitution of the 
 Church, which may be regularly brought before them from the inferior 
 judicatories; Provided, That in the trial of judicial cases the General 
 Assembly shall have power to act by commission, in accordance with the 
 provisions on the subject of Judicial Commissions in the Book of Disci- 
 pline. They shall review the records of every Synod, and approve or 
 censure them ; they shall give their advice and instruction in all cases 
 submitted to them in conformity with the Constitution of the Church ; 
 and they shall constitute the bond of union, peace, correspondence and 
 mutual confidence among all our churches. 
 
 [Note.— As amended, 1880, p. 74, and 1881, p. 523 ; 1884, p. 89, and 1885, p. 637. See 
 Digest, 1886, pp. 217, 218 ; and Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sees, lxx-cii.] 
 
 1. The Assembly will not ordinarily decide questions in thesi. 
 
 a. But while the General Assembly is invested with the power of 
 deciding in all controversies respecting doctrine and discipline, of reprov- 
 ing, warning, or bearing testimony against error in doctrine in any 
 church, Presbytery or Synod, or of suppressing schismatical contentions 
 and disputations, all such matters ought to be brought before the Assem- 
 bly in a regular and constitutional way. And it does not appear that 
 the Constitution ever designed that the General Assembly should take up 
 abstract cases and decide on them, especially when the object appears to 
 be to bring those decisions to bear on particular individuals not judicially 
 before the Assembly. Neither does it appear that the Constitution of the 
 Church intended that any person or persons should have the privilege of 
 presenting for decision, remonstrances respecting points of doctrine, on 
 the conduct of individuals, not brought up from the inferior judicatories 
 by appeal, reference or complaint, and this especially when such remon- 
 strances contain no evidence whatsoever of the facts alleged, but mere 
 statements, of the truth or justness of which the Assembly have no 
 means of judging, inasmuch as a contrary course would allow of counter 
 and contradictory remonstrances without end. — 1822, p. 50. See 1870, 
 p. 28. 
 
 b. It is ordinarily undesirable for the General Assembly to decide 
 questions in thesi which are liable to be brought before it in its judicial 
 capacity, as it may thus virtually prejudge cases of discipline ; it appears 
 better that it should ordinarily follow in this respect the uniform practice 
 of civil courts to decide legal principles only on actual cases presented. 
 —1856, p. 213, N. S. 
 
280 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 C. Overture No. 13, being a request of the Rev. Samuel C. McCune 
 that the Assembly would answer various questions connected with judicial 
 processes in the lower courts. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: These questions 
 pertain either to supposed or to actual judicial processes. In either case 
 it is not deemed proper that the Assembly should give specific answers to 
 them. Adopted.— 1866, p. 47, O. S. 
 
 d. Overture No. 28, from the Presbytery of Santa Fe. (1) Is it in 
 accordance with the spirit and Constitution of the Church for a Board or 
 Committee of the Assembly to receive complaints against the character 
 and conduct of a minister without giving him full information on the 
 subject or refuse to do so when asked ? (2) What course should the 
 Committee on Missions of a Presbytery take when a missionary sent into 
 its bounds by a Board of the Assembly refuses to occupy the field 
 assigned him by said Committee ? (3) Is it the province of a mission- 
 ary Presbytery to designate the field of labor of its members or of a 
 missionary sent into its bounds by any Board of the Assembly ? or 
 does this right of designation belong to the Board sustaining the mis- 
 sionary ? 
 
 The Committee recommend no action, inasmuch as it presents the case 
 in thesi, and the questions involved will probably be settled ere long by 
 the action of the Board of Foreign Missions. Adopted. — 1872, p. 73; 
 1888, p. 133. 
 
 e. An overture from the Presbytery of Geneva, asking a deliverance 
 of the Assembly interpreting the action of 1825 (Moore's Digest, ed. 
 1873, p. 626) ; of 1853 (p. 626) ; of 1856 (p. 627) ; of 1865 (p. 627) ; 
 of 1872 (p. 628). 
 
 Answer : That it is inexpedient to answer in thesi questions which the 
 Assembly may be called to answer judicially {Minutes, 1822, p. 50 ; 1856, 
 p. 213, N. S. ; 1866, p. 47, O. S. ; 1870, p. 28; 1872, p. 73; Moore's 
 Digest, ed. 1873, pp. 217, 218) ; especially as the subject is under con- 
 sideration by the Revision Committee. Adopted. — 1881, p. 586; also, 
 p. 589. 
 
 f. Overture, being a paper from Dr. J. M. W. Farnham, from 
 Shanghai, China, touching the lawfulness of reading a defamatory paper 
 in open Presbytery before a trial has been initiated. We recommend 
 that as this is a case in thesi the General Assembly declines to answer. 
 Adopted.— 1893, p. 118; 1892, p. 213. 
 
 2. The Assembly cannot remit the final decision of any matter affecting 
 the doctrine of the Church to an inferior judicatory. 
 
 The report of the Special Committee on the Memorial of the Synod of 
 India in the matter of the baptism of polygamists was taken up, adopted, 
 and is as follows: .... 
 
 On only one point was your Committee unanimous, namely, that under 
 the existing Constitution of the Presbyterian Church the request of the 
 memorial cannot be granted. The request is in these words: 
 
 " We respectfully request the General Assembly, in view of the 
 exceedingly difficult complications which often occur in the cases of 
 polygamists who desire to be received into the Church, to leave the 
 ultimate decision in all such cases in India to the Synod of India." 
 
 Your Committee are unanimously of the opinion that as the request 
 contemplates a matter of doctrine it cannot be granted in view of the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 281 
 
 provision contained in Chap, xii, Sec. iv, of the Form of Government, 
 which is as follows: 
 
 " The General Assembly shall receive and issue all appeals, complaints 
 and references that affect the doctrine or Constitution of the Church 
 which may be regularly brought before them from the inferior judica- 
 tories. ' ' 
 
 The provision is mandatory. The General Assembly has no right to 
 remit the final decision of any matter affecting the doctrine of the Church 
 to an inferior judicatory. 
 
 According to the Constitution the duty of admitting candidates to the 
 communion of the Church pertains to the Session of the local church. 
 Should questions arise as to the propriety of admission or refusal they 
 may be carried by appeal or complaint to the superior judicatories, and 
 for ultimate decision to the General Assembly 
 
 The only recommendation reported to the Assembly is: That in view 
 of the mandatory nature of Chap, xii, Sec. iv, of the Form of Govern- 
 ment, the request of the Synod of India contained in the memorial 
 cannot be granted. Respectfully submitted, 
 
 E. R. Craven, 
 John D. Wells, 
 George Junkin. 
 
 —1896, pp. 149, 150. 
 
 [Note. — See at large under Sec. v, below, and Book of Discipline, Chap, ix.] 
 V. To the General Assembly also belongs the power of deciding in all 
 controversies respecting doctrine and discipline; of reproving, warning 
 or bearing testimony against error in doctrine or immorality in practice 
 in any church, Presbytery or Synod; of erecting new Synods when it 
 may be judged necessary; of superintending the concerns of the whole 
 Church; of corresponding with foreign churches on such terms as may 
 be agreed upon by the Assembly and the corresponding body; of sup- 
 pressing schismatical contentions and disputations; and, in general, of 
 recommending and attempting reformation of manners, and the promo- 
 tion of charity, truth and holiness through all the churches under their 
 care. 
 
 I. DECISIONS AND DELIVERANCES ON DOCTRINE. 
 
 [Note. — See for the fundamental provision in connection with the Assembly's 
 power in relation to doctrine and discipline, the Confession of Faith, Chap, xxxi, 
 Sec. 2. Also for deliverances upon the Holy Scriptures, Confession of Faith, Chap, i, 
 pp. 45, 54, 57, 65, 66 of this Digest. For the case of Samuel Harker, p. 75 ; Hezekiah 
 Balch, p. 71 ; William C. Davis, p. 79 ; Thomas G. Craighead, p. 80 ; John Miller, p. 73. 
 The testimony of the Assembly of 1837 against doctrinal errors, as well as the Auburn 
 declaration, and the deliverance of the Assembly of 1869, 0. S., with reference to the 
 latter document, are given below.] 
 
 II. TESTIMONY AGAINST DOCTRINAL ERRORS. 
 
 1. Deliverance of the Assembly of 1837. 
 
 The Assembly adopted that part of the report of the Committee on 
 the memorial which relates to doctrinal errors, as follows, viz. : 
 
 As one of the principal objects of the memorialists is to point out 
 certain errors more or less prevalent in our Church, and to bear testimony 
 against them, your Committee are of opinion that as one great object of 
 the institution of the Church was to be a depository and guardian of the 
 
282 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 truth, and as by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States it is made the duty of the General Assembly to testify 
 against error; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the testimony of the memorialists concerning doctrine 
 be adopted as the testimony of this General Assembly (with a few verbal 
 alterations), which is as follows: 
 
 1. That God would have prevented the existence of sin in our world, 
 but was not able without destroying the moral agency of man, or that, 
 for aught that appears in the Bible to the contrary, sin is incidental to 
 any wise moral system. 
 
 2. That election to eternal life is founded on a foresight of faith and 
 obedience. 
 
 3. That we have no more to do with the first sin of Adam than with 
 the sins of any other parent. 
 
 4. That infants come into the world as free from moral defilement as 
 was Adam when he was created. 
 
 5. That infants sustain the same relation to the moral government of 
 God in this world as brute animals, and that their sufferings and death 
 are to be accounted for on the same principles as those of brutes, and 
 not by any means to be considered as peual. 
 
 6. That there is no other original sin than the fact that all the posterity 
 of Adam, though by nature innocent or possessed of no moral character, 
 will always begin to sin when they begin to exercise moral agency; that 
 original sin does not include a sinful bias of the human mind and a just 
 exposure to penal suffering; and that there is no evidence in Scripture 
 that infants, in order to salvation, do need redemption by the blood 
 of Christ and regeneration by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 7. That the doctrine of imputation, whether of the guilt of Adam's 
 sin or of the righteousness of Christ, has no foundation in the Word of 
 God, and is both unjust and absurd. 
 
 8. That the sufferings and death of Christ were not truly vicarious 
 and penal, but symbolical, governmental and instructive only. 
 
 9. That the impenitent sinner is by nature, and independently of the 
 renewing influence or almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, in full posses- 
 sion of all the ability necessary to a full compliance with all the com- 
 mands of God. 
 
 10. That Christ does not intercede for the elect until after their regen- 
 eration. 
 
 11. That saving faith is not an effect of the special operation of the 
 Holy Spirit, but a mere rational belief of the truth or assent to the 
 Word of God. 
 
 12. That regeneration is the act of the sinner himself, and that it 
 consists in a change of his governing purpose which he himself must 
 produce, and which is the result, not of any direct influence of the Holy 
 Spirit on the heart, but chiefly of a persuasive exhibition of the truth 
 analogous to the influence which one man exerts over the mind of 
 another, or that regeneration is not an instantaneous act, but a progres- 
 sive work. 
 
 13. That God has done all that He can do for the salvation of all 
 men, and that man himself must do the rest. 
 
 14. That God cannot exert such influence on the minds of men as 
 shall make it certain that they will choose and act in a particular manner 
 without impairing their moral agency. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 283 
 
 15. That the righteousness of Christ is not the sole ground of the 
 sinner's acceptance with God, and that in no sense does the righteousness 
 of Christ become ours. 
 
 16. That the reason why some differ from others in regard to their 
 reception of the Gospel is that they make themselves to differ. 
 
 Against all these errors, whenever and wherever and by whomsoever 
 taught, the Assembly would solemnly testify, and would warn all in 
 connection with the Presbyterian Church against them. They would 
 also enjoin it upon all the inferior judicatories to adopt all suitable measures 
 to keep their members pure from opinions so dangerous. Especially 
 does the Assembly earnestly enjoin on all the Presbyteries to guard with 
 great care the door of entrance to the sacred office. Nor can the As- 
 sembly regard as consistent with ministerial ordination vows an unwilling- 
 ness to discipline according to the rules of the Word of God and of our 
 Standards any person already a teacher who may give currency to the 
 foregoing errors. Yeas 109; nays 6; non liquet 11. — 1837, pp. 468-470. 
 
 [Note.— For the memorial referred to above, see Baird's Digest, 1858, pp. 710-715 ; 
 especially p. 711. Minutes, 1837, pp. 468, 469 ; also Reprint Minutes, 1821-1837, pp. 618- 
 620.] 
 
 2. An explication of doctrines. 
 
 Protest to the Assembly of 1837, including the document afterwards known 
 as the Auburn Declaration. 
 
 The following final article of a protest on the general action of the 
 Assembly in reference to the ' ' Memorial ' ' was ordered to be placed 
 upon the minutes, viz.. : 
 
 We protest finally, because, in view of all the circumstances of the case, we 
 feel that while we were prevented from uniting in the final vote with the 
 majority in their testimony against error, for the reasons above stated, we owe 
 it to ourselves, to our brethren, to the Church and to the world to declare and 
 protest that it is not because we do, directly or indirectly, hold or countenance 
 the errors stated. We are willing to bear our testimony in full against them, 
 and now do so, when, without misapprehension and liability to have our vote 
 misconstrued, we avow our real sentiments, and contrast them with the errors 
 condemned, styling them, as we believe, the true doctrine, in opposition to the 
 erroneous doctrine condemned, as follows, viz : 
 
 First Error. "That God would have prevented the existence of sin in our 
 world, but was not able without destroying the moral agency of man ; or that, 
 for aught that appears in the Bible to the contrary, sin is incidental to any wise 
 moral system." 
 
 True Doctrine. God permitted the introduction of sin, not because he was 
 unable to prevent it, consistently with the moral freedom of his creatures, but 
 for wise and benevolent reasons which he has not revealed. 
 
 Second Error. "That election to eternal life is founded on a foresight of 
 faith and obedience." 
 
 True Doctrine. Election to eternal life is not founded on a foresight of faith 
 and obedience, but is a sovereign act of God's mercy, whereby, according to 
 the counsel of his own will, he hath chosen some to salvation ; "yet so as 
 thereby neither is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty 
 or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established," nor does 
 this gracious purpose ever take effect independently of faith and a holy life. 
 
 Third Error. " That we have no more to do with the first sin of Adam than 
 with the sins of any other parent." 
 
 True Doctrine. By a divine constitution, Adam was so the head and repre- 
 sentative of the race that, as a consequence of his transgression, all mankind 
 became morally corrupt and liable to death, temporal and eternal. 
 
 Fourth Error. " That infants come into the world as free from moral defile- 
 ment as was Adam when he was created." 
 
 True Doctrine. Adam was created in the image of God, endowed with 
 
284 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 knowledge, righteousness and true holiness. Infants come into the world not 
 only destitute of these, but with a nature inclined to evil, and only evil. 
 
 Fifth Error. "That infants sustain the same relation to the moral govern- 
 ment of God in this world as brute animals, and that their sufferings and death 
 are to be accounted for on the same principles as those of brutes, and not by 
 any means to be considered as penal." 
 
 True Doctrine. Brute animals sustain no such relation to the moral govern- 
 ment of God as does the human family. Infants are a part of the human 
 family ; and their sufferings and death are to be accounted for on the ground 
 of their being involved in the general moral ruin of the race induced by the 
 apostasy. 
 
 Sixth Error. "That there is no other original sin than the fact that all the 
 posterity of Adam, though by nature innocent, will always begin to sin when 
 they begin to exercise moral agency ; that original sin does not include a sinful 
 bias of the human mind and a just exposure to penal suffering ; and that there 
 is no evidence in Scripture that infants, in order to salvation, do need redemp- 
 tion by the blood of Christ and regeneration by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 True Doctrine. Original sin is a natural bias to evil, resulting from the first 
 apostasy, leading invariably and certainly to actual transgression. And all 
 infants, as well as adults, in order to be saved, need redemption by the blood 
 of Christ and regeneration by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Seventh Error. "That the doctrine of imputation, whether of the guilt of 
 Adam's sin or of the righteousness of Christ, has no foundation in the word of 
 God, and is both unjust and absurd." 
 
 True Doctrine. The sin of Adam is not imputed to his posterity in the sense 
 of a literal transfer of personal qualities, acts and demerit; but by reason of 
 the sin of Adam, in his peculiar relation, the race are treated as if they had 
 sinned. Nor is the righteousness of Christ imputed to his people in the sense 
 of a literal transfer of personal qualities, acts and merit ; but by reason of 
 his righteousness, in his peculiar relation, they are treated as if they were 
 righteous. 
 
 Eighth Error. "That the sufferings and death of Christ were not truly 
 vicarious and penal, but symbolical, governmental and instructive only." 
 
 True Doctrine. The sufferings and death of Christ were not symbolical, 
 governmental and instructive only, but were truly vicarious — i. e., a substitute 
 for the punishment due to transgressors. And while Christ did not suffer the 
 literal penalty of the law, involving remorse of conscience and the pains of 
 hell, he did offer a sacrifice which infinite wisdom saw to be a full equiva- 
 lent. And by virtue of this atonement overtures of mercy are sincerely made 
 to the race, and salvation secured to all who believe. 
 
 Ninth Error. " That the impenitent sinner is by nature, and independently 
 of the renewing influence or almighty energy of the Holy Spirit, in full pos- 
 session of all the ability necessary to a full compliance with all the commands 
 of God." 
 
 True Doctrine. While sinners have all the faculties necessary to a perfect 
 moral agency and a just accountability, such is their love of sin and opposition 
 to God and his law that, independently of the renewing influence or almighty 
 energy of the Holy Spirit, they never will comply with the commands of God. 
 
 Tenth Error. " That Christ does not intercede for the elect until after their 
 regeneration." 
 
 True Doctrine. The intercession of Christ for the elect is previous as well as 
 subsequent to their regeneration, as appears from the following Scripture, viz.: 
 " I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are 
 thine. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on 
 me through their word." 
 
 Eleventh Error. "That saving faith is not an effect of the operations of 
 the Holy Spirit, but a mere rational belief of the truth or assent to the word of 
 God." 
 
 True Doctrine. Saving faith is an intelligent and cordial assent to the testi- 
 mony of God concerning his Son, implying reliance on Christ alone for pardon 
 and eternal life, and in all cases it is an effect of the special operation of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 Twelfth Error. "That regeneration is the act of the sinner himself, and 
 that it consists in a change of his governing purpose which he himself must 
 produce, and which is the result, not of any direct influence of the Holy Spirit 
 on the heart, but chiefly of a persuasive exhibition of the truth, analogous to 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 285 
 
 the influence which one man exerts over the mind of another, or that regenera- 
 tion is not an instantaneous act, but a progressive work." 
 
 True Doctrine. Regeneration is a radical change of heart, produced by the 
 special operations of the Holy Spirit, "determining the sinner to do that which 
 is good," and is in all cases instantaneous. 
 
 Thirteenth Error. " That God has done all that he can do for the salvation 
 of all men, and that man himself must do the rest." 
 
 True Doctrine. While repentance for sin and faith in Christ are indispensa- 
 ble to salvation, all who are saved are indebted from first to last to the grace 
 and Spirit of God. And the reason that God does not save all is not that he 
 wants the power to do it, but that in his wisdom he does not see fit to exert that 
 power further than he actually does. 
 
 Fourteenth Error. " That God cannot exert such influence on the minds of 
 men as shall make it certain that they will choose and act in a particular man- 
 ner without impairing their moral agency." 
 
 True Doctrine. While the liberty of the will is not impaired, nor the estab- 
 lished connection betwixt means and end broken by any action of God on the 
 mind, he can influence it according to his pleasure, and does effectually deter- 
 mine it to good in all cases of true conversion. 
 
 Fifteenth Error. "That the righteousness of Christ is not the sole ground of 
 the sinner's acceptance with God, and that in no sense does the righteousness 
 of Christ become ours." 
 
 True Doctrine. All believers are justified, not on the ground of personal 
 merit, but solely on the ground of the obedience and death, or, in other words, 
 the righteousness, of Christ. And while that righteousness does not become 
 theirs in the sense of a literal transfer of personal qualities and merit, yet, from 
 respect to it, God can and does treat them as if they were righteous. 
 
 Sixteenth Error. "That the reason why some differ from others in regard 
 to their reception of the Gospel is that they make themselves to differ." 
 
 True Doctrine. While all such as reject the Gospel of Christ do it not by 
 coercion, but freely, and all who embrace it do it not by coercion, but freely, 
 the reason why some differ from others is because God has made them to differ. 
 
 George Duffield, E. W. Gilbert, Thomas Brown, Bliss Burnap, N. S. S. 
 Beman, E. Cheever, E. Seymour, George Painter, F. W. Graves, Obadiah 
 Woodruff, N. C. Clark, Robert Stuart, Nahum Gould, Absalom Peters, Alex- 
 ander Campbell.— 1837, pp. 484-486 ; also Reprint Minutes, 1821-1837, pp. 634- 
 636 
 
 3. Action of Old School Assembly, 1869, on alleged toleration of doctrinal 
 errors by the New School. 
 
 [Note. — A Protest "Against the Terms of Union approved by the Assembly and its 
 action in relation to them," was offered by Dr. E. P. Humphrey and others. — 1869, 
 p. 658, 0. S. For the Protest, see Digest, 1886, pp. 81-86, and Minutes, pp. 658-661, O. S. 
 The answer of the Assembly to this Protest was adopted and ordered to be entered on 
 the minutes.] 
 
 4. Answer to the Protest. 
 
 In reply to the Protest against its action on the Terms of Union, the 
 Assembly observes: 
 
 The authors of the Protest first speak of a series of doctrinal errors and here- 
 sies, which may be concisely stated as follows : (1) There is no moral char- 
 acter in man prior to moral action, and therefore man was not created holy. 
 (2.) There was no covenant made with Adam, his posterity did not fall with 
 him, and every man stands or falls for himself. (3) Original sin is not truly 
 and properly sin bringing condemnation, but only an innocent tendency lead- 
 ing to actual transgression. (4) Inability of any and every kind is inconsis- 
 tent with moral obligation. (5) Regeneration is the sinner's own act, and 
 consists in the change of his governing purpose. (6) God cannot control 
 the acts of free agents, and therefore cannot prevent sin in a moral system. 
 (7) Election is founded upon God's foreknowledge that the sinner will repent 
 and believe. (8) The sufferings of Christ are not penal, and do not satisfy 
 retributive justice. (9) Justification is pardon merely, and does not include 
 restoration to favor and acceptance as righteous. 
 
 These doctrinal errors the authors of the Protest are careful to say are repu- 
 diated by the great mass of the New School Church. They say that "they 
 
286 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 are far from believing or insinuating that these doctrines are generally approved 
 by the New School Church" — that "they do not impute these errors to a 
 majority, or to any definite proportion of our New School brethren " 
 
 The charge that is made in this Protest, and the only charge made in this 
 reference, is, that while the other branch of the Presbyterian Church repudiate 
 these doctrines for themselves, they at the same time hold that they are consis- 
 tent with the Calvinism of the Confession of Faith The authors of the Pro- 
 test allege that it is the judgment of the New School body that a person can 
 logically and consistently accept the Westminster symbol and these nine or 
 ten Pelagian and Arminian tenets at one and the same time. This is the sub- 
 stance of their charge. 
 
 The Assembly pronounces this allegation to be without foundation, because : 
 
 1. Such a position, if taken by the New School Church, or by any Church 
 whatsoever, would simply be self-stultifying and absurd. That a great reli- 
 gious denomination, which from the beginning of its organization in 1837, 
 down to the present time, has held up the Westminster Confession as its 
 symbol, has compelled every one of its ministers and elders to subscribe to 
 that symbol, and has received its membership into church communion upon 
 professing faith in the doctrines of that symbol ; that an ecclesiastical body 
 which has thus stood before the other churches of this and other lands as a 
 Calvinistic body, and has been reckoned and recognized as such, should at the 
 same time be jealous in behalf of the distinguishing doctrines of Pelagianism 
 and Arminianism, and insist that these latter are consistent with the tormer, 
 and are to be tolerated in a Calvinistic body, is too much for human belief. 
 The entire history of the Church does not present such a phenomenon as that 
 of a denomination adopting before the world a definite type of doctrine, and 
 at the same time claiming that exactly the contrary type of doctrine is com- 
 patible with it, and must be tolerated within its communion. If the New 
 School Church are really doing what the signers of this Protest allege they are, 
 then their position before the churches and the world would be as absurd as 
 would have been the position of the Nicene Church if, at the very time that it 
 adopted and defended the Trinitarianism of Athanasius, it had insisted that 
 the tenets of Arius or those of the Humanitarians w r ere consistent with those 
 of the great father of orthodoxy, and must be allowed in the Catholic Church. 
 The human mind, even in its natural condition, never did work in this manner 
 and never will ; and still less will the human mind, when renewed and sanc- 
 tified by divine grace, be guilty of such a palpable inconsistency. 
 
 2. These very errors, charged by the signers of the Protest as allowed by 
 the New School Presbyterians, have already been distinctly repudiated by 
 them. The Auburn Convention, held in 1837 under the influence and doctrinal 
 guidance of that excellent and sound divine, the late Dr. Richards, specified 
 sixteen doctrinal errors, which contain the very same latitudinarian and heret- 
 ical tenets mentioned in the Protest, rejected them in toto and set over against 
 them sixteen "true doctrines," w r hich embrace all the fundamentals of the 
 Calvinistic creed. This Assembly regards the "Auburn Declaration" as an 
 authoritative statement of the New School type of Calvinism, and as indicat- 
 ing how far they desire to go, and how much liberty they wish in regard to 
 w r hat the Terms of Union call "the various modes of explaining, illustrating, 
 and stating " the Calvinistic faith. We believe that a large number of our 
 New School brethren would preferthe modes of " explaining and illustrating " 
 the tenets of Calvinism which are employed by the authors of this Protest 
 themselves, and the other portions of the body claim only that degree of vari- 
 ation from these modes which would be represented by the theology of 
 Richards and the Auburn Declaration. 
 
 The Assembly is fully satisfied that any instances of laxity of doctrine among 
 the New School which have been exhibited, are exceptional cases, and that 
 the great body of the other Church sincerely and firmly stand upon the basis of 
 our common Standards. The many disclaimers of the unsound views charged, 
 and declarations that the standards are received as by us, which have been 
 made by distinguished and representative men, and in the periodicals of the 
 New School Church, leave no room to doubt that the interests of sound doc- 
 trine will be safe in the united Church. 
 
 4. That the allegation of this Protest is unfounded is proven by the fact that 
 the New School Church have adopted, by a unanimous vote, the Basis of Doc 
 trine presented by the Joint Committee. Whatever may be the preferences 
 and opinions of individuals respecting particular clauses in the first article in 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 287 
 
 this basis, this General Assembly holds and affirms that it not only commits, 
 but binds any ecclesiastical body that should receive it to pure and genuine 
 Calvinism. It will be so understood by all the world. For it expressly lays 
 down the Westminster symbol as the doctrinal platform, and expressly 
 requires that no doctrine shall be taught that is not Calvinistic in the old, 
 ancestral, "historical" meaning of this "term, or that "impairs the integrity " 
 of the Calvinistic system. We affirm that there is not a man upon the globe, 
 possessed of a sane mind, and acquainted with the subject of doctrine, who 
 would assert that the list of errors and heresies mentioned by the signers of 
 this Protest is "Calvinistic " in the accepted and historical signification of the 
 term, or that their reception would not impair the integrity of the Calvinistic 
 system. 
 
 And it must be distinctly observed that if any doctrines had been hitherto 
 allowed by the New School body which "impair the integrity of the Calvin- 
 istic system," they are not to be allowed in the united Church under the terms 
 of union. Such doctrines are condemned, and any one who may teach them 
 will be subject to discipline. It is the testimony of some of the protesters 
 themselves that the great body of the New School are sound in doctrine ; our 
 own body being the large majority in the union, when fortified by the acces- 
 sion of the great body of sound men in the other, will establish and confirm 
 the testimony of the Church to the truth ; will preserve it, by God's help, from 
 error, and maintain intact, while it extends, the purifying and saving power 
 of our venerated Confession. 
 
 5. The errors and heresies alleged in the Protest are combated and refuted 
 in the Theological Seminaries of the New School. 
 
 Such Seminaries, in any denomination, are important exponents of its doc- 
 trinal position and character. The Assembly knows that in the three Semi- 
 naries of our New School brethren, Westminster Calvinism is fully and firmly 
 taught. The Professors in these are obliged to subscribe the Westminster 
 Confession, and heretical teaching throws the Professor out of his chair by the 
 very constitution of these Seminaries. The Assembly notices this point par- 
 ticularly, because the authors of the Protest assert that the doctrinal errors 
 specified by them "have been taught in some of the Theological Seminaries 
 of our land." This is not the proper manner in which to affix so grave and 
 damaging a stigma upon our New School Presbyterian brethren. The authors 
 of this Protest ought to have made this allegation, not in the way of insinua- 
 tion, but by distinct assertion and proof. Many things are "taught in the 
 Theological Seminaries of our land," which are not taught in the Presbyterian 
 Seminaries of the land, either New School or Old. 
 
 6. The Protest alleges it to be a "notorious fact" that the New School 
 Church insists that the heresies mentioned are compatible with Calvinism. If 
 the alleged fact had been so "notorious," as the Protest affirms, it would cer- 
 tainly have been known to this Assembly, and would have made it simply 
 impossible to have secured for the Basis of the Joint Committee, or for any 
 other conceivable basis, any favorable consideration. The idea of reunion 
 would not have been entertained for a moment. 
 
 Furthermore, this Assembly emphatically holds up to the Church and to the 
 world, that it receives into its ministry and" membership those who adopt "the 
 system of doctrine taught in our Confession," and that it never has held, and 
 does not now hold, that its ministers or members shall "view, state, or 
 explain " that system in any other than the words of the Holy Scriptures and 
 our Standards ; and to show that this is the sentiment not only of the Assem- 
 bly, but of the protesters themselves also, the Assembly here cites the testi- 
 mony of one of the signers of the Protest, whose words have been referred to 
 in the discussions just closed. Says Dr. Hodge : 
 
 "If a man comes to us, and says he adopts 'the system of doctrine ' taught 
 in our Confession, we have a right to ask him, ' Do you believe there are three 
 persons in the Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — and that 
 these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory?' If 
 he says, Yes, we are satisfied. We do not call upon him to explain how three 
 persons are one God, or to determine what relations in the awful mysteries of 
 the Godhead are indicated by the terms Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. If we 
 ask, Do you believe that ' God created man male and female, after his own 
 image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the crea- 
 tures ? ' and he answers, Yes, we are satisfied. If he says he believes that 
 'the covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his pos- 
 
288 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 terity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, 
 and fell with him, in his first transgression,' we are satisfied. If he says that 
 he believes that ' the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell consists in 
 the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the cor- 
 ruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together 
 with all actual transgressions which proceed from it,' we are satisfied. If he 
 says, ' Christ executes the office of a priest in his once offering himself a sacri- 
 fice to satisfy Divine justice, and reconcile us to God, and in making continual 
 intercession for us ;' we are satisfied. If he says he believes justification to be 
 'an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth 
 us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteous of Christ imputed to us, and 
 received by faith alone,' we are satisfied. Is not this what is meant when a 
 man says he adopts our ' system of doctrine ' ? Is not this — nothing more and 
 nothing less — that which we are authorized and bound to require? God grant 
 that we may unite on terms so simple, so reasonable, and, I must hope, so sat- 
 isfactory to every sincere, humble, Christian brother." — {Remarks of the Rev. 
 Charles Hodge, D.D., in the Philadelphia Convention.) 
 
 The Assembly cannot enlarge the basis beyond the platform of God's truth 
 as stated in our Standards, and it would not narrow the basis by taking one 
 tittle from the form of sound words therein contained. We declare our wil- 
 lingness to unite with all those who profess their faith in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and their adoption of "the Confession of Faith and Form of Govern- 
 ment " of our beloved Church. 
 
 The protesters object to the eighth item of the Basis, because it makes the 
 united Church responsible for the publications of the New School Committee. 
 This is a misapprehension. The publications of the New School Committee 
 and our Board are to be issued as now, with the imprint of each, until the new 
 Board shall prepare a new catalogue, for which alone the united Church will 
 be responsible. 
 
 Again, the protesters object to the fourth article as unsettling past acts of 
 our Church. This a matter of necessity where the action of the two bodies 
 differs. It is believed, however, that except in the case of the imperative 
 clause of the examination rule of 1837, no important difference can be found. 
 If it is otherwise, the united Church is the proper body to establish its own 
 usages. We do not believe that our brethren of the New School Church have 
 now any sympathy with Congregational views of government, or any objec- 
 tion to usages that are strictly Presbyterian. 
 
 The various amendments proposed by the protesters were laid on the table, 
 not because they were contrary to the sentiment of the Assembly, but because, 
 under the circumstances, it was not possible to engraft them upon the terms of 
 the union, and, in the judgment of the Assembly, they were not essential to 
 the integrity of the Calvinistic basis on which the union is to be effected. 
 
 William G. T. Shedd, J. G. Monfort, S. Irenams Prime, H. H. Leavitt, 
 Robert McKnight, Committee.— 1869, pp. 658-665, O. S. 
 
 III. TO RECEIVE PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, APPEALS, COMPLAINTS, ETC. 
 
 1. The right to petition and to memorialize the Assembly affirmed. 
 
 a. We, the undersigned, members of Assembly, respectfully enter 
 our protest against the action of the General Assembly, in postponing 
 indefinitely the resolution offered by Dr. Neill, in favor of the right of 
 petition by our Presbyteries and Synods; because — 
 
 1. No opportunity was offered to any member to express his views on 
 the subject previously to the vote ; thus the Assembly was hurried into a 
 decision, without opportunity to consider the great injuries done by thus 
 virtually denying this sacred right. 
 
 2. Because the spirit of our free form of government is thus violated, 
 inasmuch as it secures to the lower judicatories the right of being heard 
 on all moral and religious subjects, when they present their views in a 
 regular and constitutional manner. 
 
 To this the Assembly reply: 
 
 The protest imputes to this Assembly a principle which it never 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 289 
 
 adopted, viz., the denial of the right of petition. The true reason of 
 the indefinite postponement of Dr. Neill's paper was, that as no one 
 doubted the right of petition, a further consideration of the subject 
 would consume time by useless debate and legislation. The Committee 
 regard this statement as a sufficient answer to the protest in question. — 
 1841, p. 449, O. S. 
 
 b. The Committee to whom was referred the protest of W. Bushnell 
 and others in relation to the action of the Assembly on certain petitions 
 respecting the abolition of slavery, reported, recommending the adop- 
 tion of the following minute: 
 
 The General Assembly, recognizing the right of inferior judicatories, 
 and private members, upon their own responsibility, to memorialize this 
 body on any subject which they may regard as connected with the inter- 
 ests of the Church, and finding no fault with the language of the 
 protest, admit it to record without further notice. — 1844, p. 376, O. S. 
 
 2. One who does not submit is debarred the right to petition. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the petition of Mr. Bourne 
 reported, and their report, being read, was accepted. Whereupon it was 
 resolved, that as it appears to be a fact that Mr.' Bourne has not sub- 
 mitted to the judgment of the Assembty in affirming a decision by which 
 he was deposed from the Gospel ministry, he be permitted to withdraw 
 his petition.— 1823, p. 93. 
 
 3. Overtures on any pending judicial case will not be received. 
 
 The Judicial Committee has had referred to it overtures from the 
 following Presbyteries, to wit: Indianapolis, Chicago, Bloomington, 
 La Crosse, Kingston, Monroe, Denver, Elizabeth, Montana, Petoskey, 
 Lake Superior, Mattoon, Trinity, Lyons, Milwaukee, Boston, White 
 Water, Chippewa, Austin, Steuben, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Cayuga, 
 Albany, Mankato, Binghamton, Niagara, Utica and North River, all 
 of which overture the Assembly to take certain specific action, some in 
 one direction and some in another, in a judicial case pending before this 
 Assembly. It has also had referred to it overtures from the following 
 Presbyteries, viz. : North River, Utica, Niagara, Binghamton, Man- 
 kato, Albany, Cayuga, Mattoon, Steuben, Grand Rapids, Rochester, 
 Montana, Newark, Syracuse and Grand Rapids, all of which overture 
 that certain changes be made in the Book of Discipline to prevent any 
 appeal being taken, in the future, direct from the Presbytery to the 
 General Assembly. Your Committee, having carefully considered all 
 of said overtures, recommend the adoption by the Assembly of the 
 following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That a Presbytery has the undoubted right of petition to 
 the General Assembly, as to all matters relating to the polity of the 
 Church; but an overture from a Presbytery, advising the Assembly what 
 action should be taken by said Assembly in a pending judicial case, is 
 an irregular and unprecedented ecclesiastical procedure. Every Presby- 
 tery has the right and the opportunity to have its opinion on a pending 
 judicial case expressed through its commissioners on the floor of the 
 Assembly; but it has not the right by overture to try to influence the 
 decision of the Assembly on any pending judicial case. It is, therefore, 
 recommended that all such overtures, in so far as they relate to the action 
 19 
 
290 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 of the Assembly in any case now pending before it, be laid upon the 
 table.— 1893, p. 91. 
 
 4. The rule as adopted at the Reunion, 1870: Bills, overtures, etc.. 
 received only from Presbyteries and Synods. 
 
 The report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction recommended 
 the following, which was adopted : 
 
 As much time is consumed and the attention of the Assembly dis- 
 tracted with overtures and questions of minor importance coming up 
 from various quarters, impeding the transaction of business of more 
 general interest, it is recommended that the Assembly order that, here- 
 after, bills and overtures come up only from Synods or Presbyteries; yet, 
 that this may not prevent any Committee of Bills and Overtures from 
 bringing before the house, of its own motion, upon a two -thirds vote of 
 the Committee, any matter which they may deem of sufficient importance 
 to engage the attention of the General Assembly. — 1870, p. 90. 
 
 5. The rule of 1870 affirmed and enforced. 
 
 a. From the Rev. Joseph Mathers, pastor of the church of Logan's 
 Valley, Pa., asking .advice regarding the church relations of persons 
 who felt aggrieved by a certain disposition of church property. While 
 your Committee recognize the rule that might have debarred this over- 
 ture, they recommend the Assembly to direct the parties to make their 
 complaints to their Presbytery or Synod. Adopted. — 1882, p. 97. 
 
 b. Overture on the subject of communion wine, signed by Rev. 
 Henry K. Hennigh. The Committee are of opinion that an overture 
 coming from a private individual, instead of from a lower Church judi- 
 catory, should not be regarded as properly before the Assembly. This 
 was so held by the Assembly of 1870 (see Digest, 1886, p. 523). 
 
 But if this point could be considered doubtful, the deliverance of the 
 Assembly of 1881 (p. 548) fully covers the subject of this overture, 
 and a reference thereto is a sufficient answer. We therefore recommend 
 that no further answer be given. Adopted. — 1882, p. 57; 1885, p. 
 685. 
 
 C. Overture. — A memorial from the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D. D. , 
 LL.D., and Rev. Raymond H. Leonard, in relation to the use of the 
 New Version of the New Testament by the Board of Publication in its 
 Sabbath-school helps. This memorial is affected by the same rule referred 
 to in answer to No. 10. It comes up to the Assembly through none of 
 the lower judicatories of the Church. But if the right of the memori- 
 alists to be heard is considered, the Committee are not aware of any 
 action of the Board relating to the New Version, or of any use made of 
 the same in its Sabbath -school helps, except as an aid to a proper 
 understanding of the text of the Standard Version. No action, there- 
 fore, seems to be needed. — 1882, p. 58. 
 
 d. Overture from the pastor and the President of the Board of Trus- 
 tees of the West Union Church, Presbytery of Washington, W. Va., 
 asking that Chap, xv, Sec. iv, of our Form of Government, be thus 
 interpreted: " The congregation have the right, when assembled for the 
 transaction of secular business or the election of a pastor, to decline 
 receiving the votes of such church members as may either refuse to sup- 
 port the church or as may refuse to contribute, according to the rules of 
 that congregation, to all its necessary expenses. ' ' 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 291 
 
 Your Committee would respectfully answer this overture by referring 
 to the rule of the General Assembly on p. 523, Moore's Digest, 1886, 
 which debars the reception of overtures except such as are presented 
 through a Synod or Presbytery. Adopted. — 1883, p. 627. 
 
 e. Overture from the Rev. John Pym Carter, with reference to a 
 constitutional amendment which shall empower the Presbyteries to take, 
 in the election, ordination and installation of ruling elders, the same 
 oversight as in the case of pastors. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: The overture is 
 irregular, as the General Assembly has decided that all overtures shall 
 come to it through Presbyteries or Synods, and not through individuals 
 or Sessions. Adopted. — 1883, p. 627. 
 
 [Note.— See under (8) below, 1887, p. 118.] 
 
 6. The rule does not deny the right of petition: its repeal inexpedient. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore, asking the repeal of the 
 Standing Rule in the Minutes of the Assembly for 1870, p. 90, which 
 limits the right of petition or overture to the Presbyteries and Synods, 
 and thus " deprives the Church at large of the inalienable right of 
 petition." 
 
 The Committee recommends that as the rule referred to does not deny 
 the right of petition, but only prescribes .an orderly method of action, 
 and saves the Assembly from unnecessary demands upon its time, the 
 overture be answered in the negative. Adopted. — 1884, pp. 75, 76. 
 
 [Note. — The rale gives wide discretion to the Committee of Bills and Overtures, 
 see No. 4, above: "Any matter which they may deem of sufficient importance to 
 engage the attention of the General Assembly." — 1870, p. 90.] 
 
 7. Memorial from an individual received. 
 
 a. A memorial from David M. Wilson, of the Presbytery of King- 
 ston, Synod of Tennessee, praying this General Assembly to give an 
 authoritative deliverance in reference to the right of a Synod to organize 
 a colored Presbytery on territory included in Presbyteries already 
 existing. 
 
 The Committe on Polity recommend that this request be granted, and 
 that the authoritative deliverance be made according to the definition of a 
 Presbytery in Chap, x, Sec. ii, of our Form of Government. Adopted. 
 —1873, p. 525. 
 
 b. From the Rev. Luther Dodd, a member of the Presbytery of Fort 
 Dodge (received and answered). — 1879, p. 613. 
 
 C. From a member of the Presbytery of Iowa City, asking, etc. 
 (received and answered ; see below, Chap, xiii, Sec. iv). — 1880, 
 p. 46. 
 
 d. From parties unknown to your Committee (received and answered). 
 —1880, p. 46. 
 
 e. An overture, " from the venerable patriarch, the Rev. Samuel C. 
 Jennings, asking the Assembly to urge the importance of practical work 
 in the cause of temperance" (answered by referring to former testi- 
 monies; Digest, 1886, pp. 595-605).— 1881, p. 550. 
 
 f. From Chaplain Blake, answered: " Do not think it wise for this 
 Assembly to interfere in the case as an Assembly." — 1889, p. 111. 
 
292 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 8. The overtures contemplated by the Rule of 1870 defined. 
 
 The Standing Committee on the Polity of the Church presented a 
 report, which was adopted, and is as follows : 
 
 An overture has been referred to your Committee from Mr. David H. 
 Miller, of Chicago, 111., propounding several questions which he desires 
 this Assembly to answer, as explanatory of Chapter x. Sec. viii, of our 
 Form of Government. The practice of the Assembly with respect to 
 the reception and consideration of papers, originating with private indi- 
 viduals, as distinguished from Presbyteries and Synods, is by no means 
 imiform. For the most part, however, the Assembly has distinguished 
 in this matter between overtures or papers bearing upon general topics on 
 the one hand, and memorials or papers relating to personal interests on 
 the other. In the judgment of your Committee, this distinction deserves 
 to be emphasized. The right of petition is inviolable in the Church as 
 in the State; and whenever private interests are involved, a memorial 
 sent to this body ought to be received, and the determination of the 
 Assembly considered. When, however, papers of a general character, 
 which may properly be called overtures, are presented, in order to be 
 entertained by the Assembly, they should come through the medium of 
 the Presbytery or the Synod. 
 
 The paper of Mr. Mitchell, which has been referred to your Commit- 
 tee, is presented in this, and belongs to the latter class. Your Com- 
 mittee, therefore, recommends that with reference to it no action be taken. 
 Adopted.— 1887, p. 118. 
 
 9. Memorials, overtures, etc., have been received from— 
 
 a. The Broadway Presbyterian Church, Rock Island (answered). — 
 
 1878, p. 71. 
 
 b. From the Session of the First Church, Dayton, O. (^answered). — 
 1882, pp. 98, 99. [See below, Form of Government, Chap. xiii. S 
 iv.] 
 
 C. From the Presbvteriau Annuitv and Life Insurance Co. — 1876, p. 
 44 and pp. 72, 73; 1881, p. 550. 
 
 d. Overture. — A request from the Woman's Presbyterial Missionary 
 Society of the Presbytery of Alton, that the Assembly define the boun- 
 dary lines between the Woman's Board of the Northwest and the 
 Woman's Board of the Southwest, with the view of preventing confusion 
 and embarrassment in the operations of said societies. 
 
 The Committee recommend that no action be taken. Adopted, l v "v 
 p. 69. 
 
 [Note. — All memorials, overtures, petitions, etc.. are referred to the Committee of 
 Bills and Overtures, which reports to the Assembly and recommends what disposition 
 shall be made of them.] 
 
 IV. POWER OF VISITATION. 
 
 1. The power of visitation exercised by the Assembly. 
 
 a. In the examination of the appeal of Mr. Chavis it has appeared 
 that great irregularities of administration and discipline exist in the 
 Presbytery of Atlantic and in some of its churches, which require inves- 
 tigation and correction ; and, to that end, your Committee beg leave to 
 recommend the following: 
 
 Resolved, That the Rev. E. E. Swift. D.D., the Rev. James Allison, 
 D.D., the Rev. R. H. Allen, D.D., James B. Lyon, Esq.. and John 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 293 
 
 C. McComb, Esq., officers and members of the Board of Missions for 
 Freedmen, be and they are hereby appointed a Committee, and are 
 instructed to visit the Presbytery of Atlantic and the churches thereof, 
 to inquire into their condition, and any irregularities of practice or disci- 
 pline which may exist therein ; and to aid with their advice in correct- 
 ing the same, and, so far as possible, to strengthen and encourage the 
 churches, pastors and missionaries in the bounds of said Presbytery ; and 
 that the Committee make report of their doings to the next General 
 Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That the necessary expenses of the Committee be audited by 
 said Board, and be paid out of the treasury thereof. Adopted. — 1884, 
 p. 108. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sees, lxxv, lxxvi.] 
 
 Report of the Committee. 
 
 b. The Special Committee appointed by the last Assembly to visit the 
 Synod of Atlantic {Minutes, 1884, p. 108) presented its report, which 
 was accepted, approved, and the Committee discharged. The report is 
 as follows: 
 
 A judicial case, involving the moral character of one of the members 
 of the Presbytery, was brought, by complaint, to the attention of the last 
 Assembly. It was, perhaps, the knowledge of this case that created the 
 impression in that Assembly that licentiousness was too often tolerated or 
 too leniently dealt with, and occasioned the appointment of your Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 With the settlement of that judicial case your Committee could have 
 nothing to do. The last Assembly had directed the Synod of Atlantic 
 to take proper action in the premises. The business of the Committee 
 was confined to inquiries with regard to the state of morals among the 
 colored people within the limits of the Presbytery of Atlantic, and the 
 faithfulness of Sessions in the maintenance of discipline. — 1885, p. 584. 
 
 [Note. — For the report of the Committee of the result of their inquiries and 
 .action, see Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 527, 528.] 
 
 2. Committee to Visit Lane Seminary. 
 
 [Note. — See under Lane Seminary, Chap, xii. Sec. v, below.] 
 
 V. PASTORAL LETTERS AND DELIVERANCES ON TOPICS OF 
 VITAL INTEREST. 
 
 [Note. — Under its general powers, as defined in Sec. v, the Assembly from time to 
 time, as the exigencies of the times demanded, issued pastoral letters and deliverances 
 on topics of vital interest. Those designated in this paragraph are omitted in this 
 Digest, for the reason that the most of them were called forth by events and situations 
 which are now largely historical, and for the further reason that they may be found 
 in the several Digests named.] 
 
 1. On Missions. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 280, 281 ; Minutes, 1719, p. 58.] 
 
 2. On occasion of the old French War. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 281, 2S2 ; Minutes, 1756, p. 276.] . 
 
 3. On the repeal of the Stamp Act. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 282-284; Minutes, 1766, p. 362.] 
 
294 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 4. Upon occasion of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 284-287 ; Minutes, 1775, pp. 466-469.] 
 
 5. Address to Washington on his election to the Presidency and reply. 
 
 [Note— See Digest, 1886, pp. 287-289; Minutes, 1789, p. 11.] 
 
 6. On the results of the French Revolution. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 289-291 ; Minutes, 1798, p. 152.] 
 
 7. On disturbances in Kentucky and the Southwest. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 291-294 ; Minutes, 1804, pp. 314-317.] 
 
 8. On the Sabbath. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 294-296 ; Minutes, 1814, pp. 569, 570.] 
 
 9. On Christian activity. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 296-300; Minutes, 1817, pp. 661-664.] 
 
 10. On prevalent vices and immoralities. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 300-302; Minutes, 1818, pp. 689, 690.] 
 
 11. On revivals and their abuses. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 302-306 ; Minutes, 1832, pp. 377-380.] 
 
 12. On the maintenance of doctrinal purity. 
 
 [Note— See Digest, 1886, pp. 306-313 , Minutes, 1839, pp. 183-187, 0. S.] 
 
 13. On revivals of religion. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 313-320 ; Minutes, 1849, pp. 424-429, 0. S.] 
 
 14. On repairing the wastes of the war. 
 
 [Note— See Digest, 1886, pp. 320-322 ; Minutes, 1865, pp. 600-602, 0. S.] 
 
 15. On the observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 322-325 ; Minutes, 1867, pp. 385-387, 0. S.] 
 
 16. On the Civil War. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1866, pp. 82-90, 0. S.] 
 
 [Note. — For the pastoral and circular letters of the Assembly of 1837, see Baird's 
 Digest, 1858, pp. 760-763 ; Minutes, 1837, pp. 499-502. For the pastoral of 1838, 0. S., 
 see Baird's Digest, pp. 780-784; Minutes, pp. 48-51, 0. S. For the pastoral of 1838, 
 N. S., see Moore's new Digest, 1861, pp. 522-526 ; Minutes, 1838, pp. 663-667, N. S.J 
 
 17. Report on the perils which beset the system of popular education. 
 
 The Committee on the Perils which Beset the System of Popular 
 Education preseuted their report, which, having been read and consid- 
 ered, was adopted, and is as follows : 
 
 The Committee appointed to consider the perils which beset the system 
 of popular education in this country, and to prepare a minute expressive 
 of the sentiment of the General Assembly on this momentous question, 
 beg leave to report: 
 
 The public school in the United States is a most precious heirloom of 
 American liberty. Planted in the early colonial days, it has grown and 
 expanded into one of the most beneficent and fruitful institutions of the 
 country. Its history is interwoven with that of the nation. No other 
 agency, if we except the Church of God, has had so large a share in 
 laying the foundations of popular intelligence, virtue and freedom in the 
 United States. In hardly any other institution is the characteristic 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 295 
 
 American idea so happily and fully realized. It cannot be endangered, 
 therefore, without peril to the vital interests of American society. 
 
 In this view the recent assaults upon it are fitted to arrest the attention 
 of every Christian patriot and philanthropist. These assaults resemble 
 skirmishes which precede and are intended to draw on a great battle. 
 But the motives and ultimate aim of those who have made them are very 
 different ; they have joined hands merely to gain a temporary advantage. 
 One party hold that the public school should be purged of every vestige 
 of religion, that inasmuch as all the people are taxed for its support there 
 should be recognized in it no form of Christian instruction or influence to 
 which any of the tax-payers profess conscientious objections. This is the 
 position maintained by the advocates of a total divorce of popular educa- 
 tion from the Christian life and morals of the nation. The other party 
 regard such a theory of popular education as false and unchristian ; they 
 hold that there should be careful instruction in religious truth and duty 
 under the direction of the Church; and inasmuch as this is not possible 
 in the common school, they advocate for themselves the sectarian school, 
 and demand their share of the public school fund to enable them to 
 sustain it. 
 
 The importance of the question thus raised cannot be easily overesti- 
 mated. The question of popular education, indeed, both at home and 
 abroad, is one of the great problems of the age. Its decision among 
 ourselves involves consequences of vast moment to the American people. 
 Shall the old system be revolutionized, and every form of Christian 
 instruction or influence in the public school be prohibited ? Or shall the 
 institution itself be given up, and sectarian schools take its place ? 
 
 We should regard the successful attempt to expel all religious instruc- 
 tion and influence from our public schools as an evil of the first magni- 
 tude. Nor do we see how, according to the principles upon which it is 
 advocated, this can be done, without inflicting a deadly wound upon the 
 intellectual and moral life of the nation. It is contended that the rights 
 of the individual conscience, as also the just limits of political power 
 under our constitution of government, are violated by the existing sys- 
 tem. But scarcely more, we reply, than they are violated by the very 
 genius and organization of American society; no more than they are 
 violated by all public acknowledgment of God and His providential gov- 
 ernment, by oaths of office, by the recognition of the Lord's day, by 
 chaplaincies in the army and navy, or by laws against polygamy, blas- 
 phemy, perjury and other forms of open immorality and crime ; no more, 
 in a word, than they are violated by the fundamental ideas and order of 
 our Christian civilization. We look upon the State as an ordinance of 
 God, and not a mere creature of the popular will, and under its high 
 responsibility to the Supreme Ruler of the world, we hold it to be both 
 its right and bounden duty to educate its children in those elementary 
 principles of knowledge and virtue which are essential to its own security 
 and well-being. The union of Church and State is indeed against our 
 American theory and constitutions of government, but the most intimate 
 union of the State with the saving and conservative forces of Christi- 
 anity is one of the oldest customs of the country, and has always ranked 
 as a vital article of our political faith. What impressive illustrations of 
 this occur along the whole line of our history, and especially during our 
 late national struggle ! We cannot, therefore, help regarding the notion 
 of an absolute secularization of the public school, so that no Christian 
 
296 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 element shall remain in it, as un-American, wrong and impracticable. 
 We do not see how it can be done without a complete revision of the 
 literature and very dictionary of the language, without reducing the 
 education of the future citizens of the republic to the most meagre and 
 pitiable skeleton of knowledge, without training up the children of the 
 people in ignorance of some of the most interesting and glorious incidents 
 and characters of their own history. Nor do we see how it can be done 
 without sooner or later stamping downright atheism, not only upon the 
 public school, but upon every other institution of the State, and upon the 
 whole action of government itself. The American people, we cannot 
 doubt, are utterly opposed to so baleful a dogma. It is contrary to their 
 history, to their practice from the beginning and to their deepest convic- 
 tions. 
 
 But while they can never constent, as we believe, to expel all recogni- 
 tion of God and His truth from the public school, neither can they 
 consent, on the other hand, to let a portion of the public schools pass 
 under the control of any particular denomination, and thus become the 
 instruments of sectarian instruction and influence. It is a matter of the 
 utmost importance that the children of the people should be educated 
 together, under the same roof, in the same atmosphere of American 
 thought and feeling, and in those common elements of knowledge, virtue, 
 fraternal symphy, humanity and patriotism which go to form a good 
 and loyal citizen of our great republic. 
 
 We sincerely trust, therefore, that our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens, 
 who agree with us on the importance of the moral and religious element 
 in popular education, will continue to cooperate with us in sustaining 
 our American common -school system, and in infusing into it as far as 
 possible those universal and benign principles — such as love to God and 
 love to our neighbor — which lie at the foundation of human duty and 
 are essential to the right training of the youthful mind. On this patri- 
 otic and catholic platform we should hope that a very large majority of 
 those even who dissent entirely from our theological views, and belong, 
 indeed, to no branch of the Christian Church, would be willing to stand 
 with us. We cannot think that there are many of our countrymen 
 who would seriously object to having their children trained up in the 
 public school under the influence of these ancestral and truly democratic 
 principles. The number of such in the past has been exceedingly small, 
 and we cherish the confident hope that it will be so in the future. We 
 believe that the roots of our human and Christian nationality lie deep in 
 the heart of the American people. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing views, your Committee submit the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly regard the free public school 
 as an essential part of our republican system as conducive in the highest 
 degree to the moral unity, common spirit and kindly sympathies of Ameri- 
 can citizenship, and as closely connected with all the best interests of 
 Christian society in the United States. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That in the judgment of the General Assembly the divorce 
 of popular education from all religious elements, while involving a radical 
 departure from the spirit and principles in which our public school had 
 its origin, would be eminently unwise, unjust and a moral calamity to the 
 nation. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the General Assembly are also entirely opposed to 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 297 
 
 the appropriation of any portion of the public school funds for the support 
 of sectarian institutions, and would regard the establishment of such a 
 policy as fraught with the greatest mischief not only to the cause of 
 popular education, but hardly less to the interests of American freedom, 
 unity and progress. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That whereas the Bible is not only the Magna Charta of 
 the spiritual rights and liberties of mankind, but is also preeminently our 
 national book, the best model of our mother tongue and the fountain of 
 our highest thought and of our ruling ideas, both in private and public 
 life, the General Assembly would regard its expulsion from the schools of 
 the people as a deplorable and suicidal act, nor can they perceive that 
 any real advantage could thereby be gained to the cause of popular 
 education. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the General Assembly, conscious of being actuated 
 in this matter by no other motive -than the greatest good of the whole 
 country, hereby profess their readiness to cooperate with all Christian 
 people, of whatever name, and with all good citizens, in so modifying 
 and perfecting our noble public school system as to obviate, as far as 
 practicable, the conscientious scruples and difficulties of any of its friends, 
 and thus to render it a fountain of still greater light and benediction to 
 us and our children after us to the latest generation. — 1870, pp. 49-52. 
 
 18. Testimony against the support of Roman Catholic and other denomi- 
 national institutions by public funds. 
 
 The following minute was adopted; 
 
 Whereas, Legislatures of different States of this Union have been in 
 the habit, at the instance of members of the Roman Catholic Church, of 
 appropriating public money, collected by taxation from citizens, members 
 of other Churches, to various institutions in connection with said Church, 
 all of which are as really devoted to the propagation and advancement 
 of that religion as their schools and colleges and churches can be ; and 
 
 Whereas, Such appropriations so made are, more or less, the State com- 
 pelling members of other denominations against their will and against 
 their consciences to support and build up that Church and its institutions, 
 in violation of the fundamental principles and the constitutional rights 
 which the people of this nation have always held most sacred; and 
 
 Whereas, Such appropriations are really a union of Church and State, 
 in which the people and members of all Protestant Churches are compelled 
 by such action to support a religion against which they protest, the same 
 is not only unfair, unjust, but oppressive to the consciences of the whole 
 Protestant community, and a trampling upon their rights and liberty; 
 therefore 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly unites with the other Protestant 
 denominations, and all citizens feeling themselves thus aggrieved by this 
 action, and protest against it as an act of civil and religious oppression. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we call the attention of all our ministers, church 
 officers and members, and all friends of civil and religious liberty 
 throughout the whole nation, to lift up their voices and use their influence 
 in preserving to all our people and to generations to come those glorious 
 privileges and principles which our fathers secured to us at such great 
 cost. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That no principle has been better established in regard to 
 this nation than the entire separation of the Church and the State, and 
 
298 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 that the State has no more right to compel by taxation one of its citizens 
 to contribute money to the building up and advancing of the Roman 
 Catholic or any other denomination than it has to compel us to unite with 
 their Church; and that moneys or grants should not be appropriated to 
 any denominational institution, or any institution of any kind which is 
 not connected with and under the control of the State. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That at this time it behooves all our people to be watchful 
 on this subject, when the declared policy and principle of the Roman 
 Catholic Church is, that a separation of Church and State is under its curse, 
 and it is laboring to secure a union to advance its power. — 1878, p. oo. 
 
 19. Protest against appropriation of public funds for ecclesiastical uses. 
 
 a. The Committee has received a copy of a bill now pending in Con- 
 gress, which involves large appropriations of public funds for religious 
 institutions. They recommend that this Assembly hereby heartily reaffirms 
 the action of the Assembly of 1892 (Minutes, p. 46) and of the Assem- 
 bly of 1893 (Minutes, p. 115). 
 
 They furthermore recommend, that believing the gift of public moneys 
 for the support of religious institutions is not only fatally prejudicial to 
 the national welfare, but is also in conflict with the First Amendment to 
 our National Constitution, and in view of the enormous and portentous 
 grants of financial aid which are persistently bestowed by the Govern- 
 ment upon the Romish Church, this Assembly does hereby protest most 
 earnestly against any donation of National, State or municipal funds for 
 ecclesiastical uses, by whomsoever sought, or upon whatsoever pretext. — 
 1894, p. 166. 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbyterian Mission in India asking for an in- 
 terpretation of the above deliverance, and putting the following questions: 
 
 "1. Is this declaration intended to discourage the acceptance of such 
 funds for like objects on the foreign mission fields of our Church as well 
 as in the United States of America ? 
 
 ' ' 2. Does it discourage the acceptance of land or of buildings to be 
 used in mission work ?" 
 
 Your Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 The deliverance of the General Assembly of 1894 to which reference 
 is made was designed to apply to conditions existing in the United States 
 of America, and was in no wise intended to discourage the acceptance of 
 gifts of any kind to mission work in foreign lands. Adopted. — 1896, 
 pp. 118, 119. 
 
 VI. POWER OF THE ASSEMBLY OVER ITS MEMBERS. 
 
 1. To exclude from the rights of membership pending process. 
 
 a. That as citation on the foregoing plan is the commencement of a 
 process involving the right of membership in the Assembly, therefore 
 
 Resolved, That agreeably to a principle laid down, Chap, v, Sec. ix, of 
 the Book of Discipline (old), the members of said judicatories be excluded 
 from a seat in the next Assembly until their case shall be decided. 
 Adopted by yeas 128, nays 122.— 1837, p. 425. 
 
 b. The Assembly of 1866, O. S., excluded the commissioners from 
 Louisville Presbytery from a seat until the Assembly should decide upon 
 the conduct of their Presbytery.— 1866, p. 12, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See also Book of Discipline, Chap, vi, Sec. xxxix.] 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 299 
 
 2. To expel a commissioner from membership. 
 
 Mr. Galloway rose to a question of privilege, and read an article from 
 the Ohio Statesman, reflecting severely upon his character and that of the 
 Genera] Assembly, which article he attributed to the Kev. W. M. Fer- 
 guson, a member of this house. 
 
 Dr. Krebs offered the following : 
 
 Resolved, That unless the Rev. William M. Ferguson forthwith retract 
 the offensive publication, and make an ample apology to the satisfaction 
 of this house, he be immediately expelled. 
 
 The Moderator having waited a suitable length of time for an explan- 
 ation or retraction, and Mr. Ferguson having declined to speak, the 
 Moderator took the vote, and the resolution was adopted, when the Mod- 
 erator declared Mr. Ferguson to be expelled from the Assembly. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson having declared that he had not understood that an ex- 
 planation at that time was demanded, the vote was, on motion of Dr. 
 Krebs, reconsidered, in order to renew to Mr. Ferguson the opportunity 
 he had failed to use before the resolution to expel him was adopted. Mr. 
 Ferguson then rose and explained, after which Mr. McKnight offered 
 the following as an amendment to the motion of Dr. Krebs : 
 
 Resolved, That the Rev. William M. Ferguson, a commissioner to this 
 General Assembly, because of a gross, abusive and scandalous libel, pub- 
 lished in the Ohio Statesman, on members of this body, which he has now 
 qualified in the presence of this Assembly, is entitled to and does hereby 
 receive the grave censure of this Assembly. 
 
 Various resolutions to substitute, to amend and to commit were pro- 
 posed, which were all laid upon the table in order that by general consent 
 Dr. Krebs might offer the following resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That whereas the Rev. W. M. Ferguson, a commissioner to 
 this General Assembly from the Presbytery of Zanesville, is, by his own 
 acknowledgment, guilty of writing and publishing in the Ohio Statesman 
 a gross, abusive, scandalous and slanderous libel against the members of 
 this Assembly, and against this Assembly itself, and although he has 
 qualified it in the presence of this Assembly this morning, his explanation 
 is not deemed satisfactory ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Rev. William M. Ferguson be forthwith expelled 
 as a member of this house. 
 
 On these resolutions the previous question was called for, and the call 
 was sustained. The main question was then put, and the resolutions 
 were adopted, when the Moderator again announced that the Rev. W. M. 
 Ferguson, a commissioner from the Presbytery of Zanesville, had been 
 expelled from membership in this General Assembly. — 1866, p. 58, O. S. 
 
 VII. OF ERECTING NEW SYNODS, CHANGING THEIR BOUNDARIES, DIS- 
 SOLVING THEM, TRANSFERRING PRESBYTERIES AND CHURCHES. 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xi, supra; Moore's Digest, 1886; 
 Minutes, passim, especially 1870, pp. 86-88 ; Digest, pp. 182-187, when the Assembly- 
 exercised its power to consolidate, adjust and define the boundaries of the Synods ; 
 and again, in 1881, Minutes, pp. 562-565, Digest, pp. 503-506, when the Assembly con- 
 solidated the existing Synods, bounding them as far as possible by State lines. 
 
 For changes in the boundaries of Synods see also Chap, xi, Form of Govern- 
 ment, Digest, 1886, pp. 187, 188, and the acts constituting new Synods since the con- 
 solidation of 1881.] 
 
 1. To dissolve a Synod and transfer its Presbyteries. 
 
 a. [The Synod of Chesapeake was formed on petition. — 1833, p. 395.] 
 Resolved, 1. That the Synod of the Chesapeake be and the same is 
 hereby dissolved. 
 
300 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 2. That the Presbytery of East Hanover be and the same is hereby 
 restored to the Synod of Virginia. 
 
 3. That the Presbyteries of Baltimore and of the District of Columbia 
 be and the same are hereby restored to the Synod of Philadelphia. — 
 1834, p. 451. 
 
 C. The Synod of Delaware [Erected. — 1834, p. 451.] dissolved. 
 
 Resolved, That at and after the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia 
 in October next the Synod of Delaware shall be dissolved, and the Pres- 
 byteries constituting the same shall be then and thereafter annexed to the 
 Synod of Philadelphia, and that the Synod of Philadelphia thus consti- 
 tuted by the union aforesaid shall take such order concerning the organiza- 
 tion of its several Presbyteries as may be deemed expedient and constitu- 
 tional, and that said Synod, if it shall deem it desirable, make application 
 to the next General Assembly for such a division of the Synod as may 
 best suit the convenience of all its Presbyteries and promote the glory of 
 God.— 1835, p. 486. 
 
 [Note. — For Synods erected since 1882, see under Chap, xi, Sec. i ; also changes of 
 boundaries, 1883, p. 630 ; 1884, p. 74 ; 1885, p. 605 ; 1889, p. 102 ; 1890, p. 37 ; 1893, 
 p. 131; 1895, p. 79.] 
 
 VIII. OF ERECTING AND DISSOLVING PRESBYTERIES. 
 
 1. Cases before 1870. 
 
 a. See the act of the General Synod {Minutes, 1786, p. 522). It 
 assumed jurisdiction over the whole matter of dividing, erecting, etc. 
 The Presbytery of Carlisle was divided, and the Presbytery of Hunting- 
 don formed on " an overture through the Synod of Philadelphia." — 
 1794, p. 89. 
 
 b. On petition of the Presbytery of Albany, that Presbytery was 
 divided, and the Presbyteries of Columbia, Oneida and Albany formed. 
 At the same time the following was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, The Assembly have this day determined, upon an application 
 from the Presbytery of Albany, that the said Presbytery may be divided 
 into three, and in the investigation of this subject circumstances were 
 stated to exist which led the Assembly to judge such division proper, and 
 perhaps necessary, at this time; and 
 
 Whereas, Doubts arose whether it was proper for the Assembly to inter- 
 fere for the purpose of making such division, the proposal not having 
 been first laid before the Synod, as it would establish a precedent which 
 might tend to confusion and in the end to schism; the Assembly think 
 it expedient to declare that their decision in this case has been particu- 
 larly influenced by the pressure of circumstances, and is not to be con- 
 sidered as forming a precedent for future conduct. — 1802, p. 252. 
 
 C. On petition of the Presbytery of Oneida it was divided, and the 
 Presbytery of Geneva formed. — 1805, p. 324. On application of 
 certain ministers and churches in the Territory of Michigan, the Pres- 
 bytery of Detroit was formed. — 1827, p. 206. Chenango. — 1826, p. 
 176. 
 
 d. Philadelphia Second (Assembly's). The Synod of Philadelphia, 
 having merged the two Presbyteries of Philadelphia, and divided them 
 by a line, an appeal was taken. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the appeal and complaint of the Second Presbytery 
 of Philadelphia against the Synod of Philadelphia, be and the same are 
 hereby sustained, and the act of said Synod, so far as it was intended to 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 301 
 
 unite the said Second Presbytery with the Presbytery of Philadelphia, is 
 hereby declared void. 
 
 2. That this resolution shall not be so construed as to affect the integ- 
 rity of the Presbytery which was constituted under the order of the Synod 
 of Philadelphia by the name of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia 
 in November last, but the same is hereby recognized as a constituent part 
 of the Synod of Philadelphia. The Assembly, however, recommend to 
 the Synod to change the name of said Presbytery. — 1834, p. 432. 
 
 [Against the action of the Assembly a protest was entered, viz. :] 
 
 We believe the power exercised by the General Assembly of 1832, and 
 now reexercised by this Assembly, to form a Presbytery within the 
 bounds of the Synod and against her decision, is without foundation in 
 our Form of Church Government. 
 
 In the constitutional distribution of powers and checks and designa- 
 tion of rights and duties among the several judicatories of the Church, the 
 power to ' ' erect new Presbyteries, and unite or divide those which were 
 before erected " (Form of Government, Chap, xi, Sec. iv), is distinctly 
 and exclusively secured to Synods. And the practice of the General 
 Assembly, from the establishment of this body till the present, has been, 
 we believe, in accordance with these views. The principle assumed by the 
 majority in this body and recognized by the Assembly in the above 
 decision, and on which the appellants rest their plea, that the duty " of 
 superintending the concerns of the whole Church" (Form of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, xii, Sec. v) invests the Assembly with all powers necessary 
 to accomplish that object, at her own discretion, tends to abolish the con- 
 stitutional rights of Synods, Presbyteries and church Sessions, to con- 
 found and contravene those original and essential principles of ecclesiastical 
 government and order which constitute and characterize the Presbyterian 
 Church.— 1834, p. 446. 
 
 [To this the Assembly replies:] 
 
 1. That the Form of Government vests in the General Assembly the 
 power of " deciding in all controversies respecting doctrine and disci- 
 pline, ' ' and to ' ' issue all appeals and references brought before them 
 from the inferior judicatories" (see Form of Government, Chap, xii, 
 Sec. v). Now, as the question as to the erection and existence of the 
 Second Presbytery of Philadelphia came regularly before the Assemblies 
 of 1832 and 1834, by appeal and complaint from the lower judicatories, 
 the said Assemblies not only had a right to ' ' decide ' ' finally, but were 
 imperiously called upon to ' ' issue ' ' the case. 
 
 2. The minutes of the General Assembly for 1794, 1802, 1805 and 
 1826 show that the Assembly has in extraordinary cases claimed and 
 exercised the right of organizing new Presbyteries, and such Presbyteries 
 have always been regarded as regularly and constitutionally organized. 
 
 3. The Form of Government vests the right of deciding questions of 
 constitutional law, not in the Synods, but in the General Assembly; conse- 
 quently, if it be proved, which is not the fact, that the General Assembly 
 has exceeded their powers in organizing the Second Presbytery of Phila- 
 delphia, it would by no means follow that the Synod of Philadelphia had 
 authority to rejudge and disannul the solemn acts of the highest judicatory 
 of the Church. In this view of the subject, the General Assembly were 
 bound to sustain the appeal and complaint of the Second Presbytery, 
 from respect to the grave decision of former Assemblies, as well as from 
 regard to the rights of the complainants. — 1834, p. 451, 
 
302 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 e. The Third Presbytery of Philadelphia.— 1836, p. 278. 
 
 f. The Presbytery of Luzerne was formed by the Assembly. — 1843, 
 p. 195, O. S. 
 
 g. The Presbytery of Wisconsin. — 1846, p. 194, O. S. In this case 
 the Assembly directed " that upon their organization the ministers afore- 
 said be ipso facto detached from the Presbyteries to which now they 
 respectively belong." 
 
 h. The Presbytery of Ningpo. Resolved, That the Rev. Messrs. M. 
 S. Culbertson, of the Presbytery of Carlisle; A. W. Loomis, of the 
 Presbytery of Albany; R. Q. Way, of the Presbytery of Charleston, 
 and J. W. Quarterman, of the Presbytery of Georgia, be and they here- 
 by are detached from their respective Presbyteries and constituted a 
 Presbytery, to be called the Presbytery of Ningpo. — 1848, p. 20, O. S. 
 
 That the Rev. A. P. Happer and William Speer, of the Presbytery 
 of Ohio, and the Rev. John B. French, of the Presbytery of Baltimore, 
 be and they hereby are detached from their respective Presbyteries and 
 constituted a Presbytery to be called by such name as those brethren may 
 choose. 
 
 The Presbytery of Amoy. And that the Rev. John Lloyd, of the 
 Presbytery of Huntingdon, and Hugh S. Brown, of the Presbytery of 
 Logansport, so soon as a third minister of our Church shall be associated 
 with them, be authorized to form themselves into a Presbytery, to be called 
 the Presbytery of Amoy, and shall ipso facto be detached from the 
 respective Presbyteries with which until then they shall be connected. — 
 1848, p. 20, O. S. 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing new Presbyteries shall meet for the pur- 
 pose of being organized at such times and places as the members thereof 
 shall respectively agree on, and that the eldest minister of each who may 
 be present shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. 
 
 Resolved, That the aforesaid Presbyteries be rated for the present as 
 component parts of the Synod of New York, but that as soon as the 
 Presbytery of Amoy shall be organized, the three Presbyteries in China 
 shall be authorized to form themselves into a Synod, to be called the 
 Synod of China; that they meet for the purpose of being organized at 
 such time and place as they shall mutually agree upon, and that the eldest 
 minister who may be present shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. 
 
 i. Presbytery of Western Africa. Resolved, That the Rev. James M. 
 Connelly, of the Presbytery of West Tennessee ; James M. Priest, of the 
 Presbytery of New York, and the Rev. H. W. Ellis, of the Presbytery 
 of Tuscaloosa, be and they hereby are detached from their respective 
 Presbyteries and constituted a Presbytery, to be called the Presbytery of 
 Western Africa; that they shall meet for the purpose of being organized 
 at such time and place as they shall mutually agree upon, and that the 
 eldest minister present shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. And 
 further, that the Presbytery of Western Africa shall be attached for the 
 present to the Synod of Alabama. — 1848, pp. 20, 21, O. S. 
 
 j. Presbytery of the Creek Nation. Resolved, That the Rev. R. M. 
 Loughridge, of the Presbytery of Tuscaloosa; H. Ballentme, of the 
 Presbytery of New Brunswick, and D. W. Eakins, of the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia, be and they hereby are detached from their respective 
 Presbyteries and constituted a Presbytery, to be called the Presbytery .of 
 the Creek Nation; that they shall meet for the purpose of being organized 
 at such time and place as they shall mutually agree upon, and that the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 303 
 
 eldest minister present shall preside until a Moderator be chosen. And 
 further, that the Presbytery of the Creek Nation be attached for the 
 present to the Synod of Mississippi.— 1848, pp. 20, 21, O. S. 
 
 k. Presbytery of California.— 1849, p. 264, O. S. Presbytery of 
 San Francisco. — 1849, p. 176, N. S. The persons named are hereby 
 detached from their respective Presbyteries and constituted a Presbytery. 
 
 Presbytery of Oregon. Resolved, That the Assembly do hereby order 
 and constitute a Presbytery in Oregon, consisting of Messrs. Thompson, 
 Geary and Robe; and that they be empowered to assemble and constitute 
 themselves a Presbytery at such time and place during the ensuing 
 summer or autumn as may be found most convenient to them, and report 
 to the next General Assembly, and for this purpose these brethren be 
 detached from the Presbytery to which they belong, and when formed, the 
 said Presbytery be attached to the Synod of New York ; and the Presby- 
 tery to be called the Presbytery of Oregon. — 1851, p. 35, O. S. 
 
 1. Presbyteries of Sierra Nevada and San Jose. — 1857, p. 383, N. S., 
 
 and passim. 
 
 [Note. — See also the changes, consolidations and transfers of Presbyteries brought 
 about by the consolidation of the Synods in 1870.— Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 182-187. 
 Also, in 1881, Digest, pp. 503-505.] 
 
 2. Presbyteries formed or recognized by the Assembly since the 
 reunion of 1870. 
 
 The Presbytery of Yedo, 1870, p. 71; Wyoming, 1871, p. 546; Mon- 
 tana, 1872, p. 88; Oregon (reconstructed), 1876, p. 75; Puget Sound, 
 1876, p. 75; South Oregon, 1876, p. 75; Denver, 1880, p. 55; Alaska, 
 1883, p. 631; Chile, 1884, p. 23; Zacatecas, 1884, p. 78; Pembina, 
 1885, p. 605; Northern Pacific, 1885, p. 605; Bismarck, 1885, p. 605; 
 Southern Virginia, 1888, p. 114; Butte, 1893, p. 131; Helena, 1893, 
 p. 131; Great Falls, 1893, p. 131; Oklahoma, 1894, p. 177; Sequoyah, 
 1894, p. 177; Cimarron, 1894, p. 177; Chinan, 1896, p. 146. 
 
 3. Presbyteries dissolved. 
 Japan, 1880, p. 82; New Orleans, 1880, p. 83. Not having for 
 several years the constitutional number of ministers. 
 
 IX. TO TRANSFER CHURCHES FROM ONE PRESBYTERY AND SYNOD 
 
 TO ANOTHER. 
 
 a. A petition from the congregation of Solesbury, under the care of 
 the Presbytery of Philadelphia, referred to the Assembly by said Presby- 
 tery, was overtured and read. This petition requested that the congre- 
 gation of Solesbury be separated from the Presbytery of Philadelphia 
 and attached to the Presbytery of New Brunswick. This request having 
 previously been before the Synod of Philadelphia, and having been 
 referred to the Presbytery by the Synod, and the Presbytery having 
 given their consent, it was resolved that the request be granted, and it 
 hereby is granted, and the congregation of Solesbury is detached from 
 the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and connected with the Presbytery of 
 New Brunswick. — 1824, p. 105. 
 
 [Note.— See also 1827, pp. 201, 202, 205 ; 1829, p. 260 ; 1831, p. 354 ; 1868, p. 633, 
 0. S., et passim. See also under Chap, xi, Sec. i, 4, for changes since the Reunion. — 
 1871, pp. 540, 541, 545, 546 ; 1872, pp. 86, 88 ; 1873, p. 525 ; 1888, p. 71 ; 1889, p. 77 ; 1891, 
 p. 186.] 
 
 b. Overture from the Presbytery of Erie, and from the Session of the 
 •churches of Bradford and Kendall Creek, requesting that the said 
 
304 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 churches of Bradford and Kendall Creek, with their pastors, be trans- 
 ferred from the Presbytery of Buffalo to the Presbytery of Erie — the 
 Synod of New York and the Presbytery of Buffalo concurring 
 
 We recommend that the request be granted, and the proposed transfer 
 of the churches and ministers therein named be and is hereby directed. 
 Adopted.— 1887, p. 81. 
 
 C. The churches of Oakes and Hudson, from the Presbytery of Aber- 
 deen, to the Presbytery of Fargo, Synod of North Dakota. — 1888, p. 71. 
 
 d. Certain territory transferred from the Presbytery of Catawba and 
 Synod of Catawba, to the Presbytery of Holston, Synod of Tennessee. 
 —1889, p. 77. 
 
 e. Overture, a petition of churches in Douglas county, Wisconsin, 
 asking to be transferred from the Presbytery of Duluth, Synod of Min- 
 nesota, and reinstated in the Presbytery of Chippewa, Synod of Wiscon- 
 sin. The Committee recommends that the request be granted. Adopted. 
 —1891, p. 186. 
 
 f. Overture with reference to change of boundary line between Synods 
 of Utah and Colorado ; also overtures with reference to the same subject. 
 The Committee recommends that, all the petitioners agreeing, these 
 overtures be answered in the affirmative. Adopted. — 1891,, p. 187. 
 
 g. Overtures from Presbyteries of Lake Superior and the Synod of 
 Michigan, with reference to the transfer of the Presbytery of Lake 
 Superior to the Synod of Michigan. The Committee recommends that 
 these overtures be answered in the affirmative, and the Presbytery of 
 Lake Superior be and hereby is transferred to the Synod of Michigan. 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 187. 
 
 h. Overtures from the Presbyteries of Baltimore and Westminster, 
 and the Synods of Baltimore and Pennsylvania, requesting a change in 
 the boundary line between the Synods of Baltimore and Pennsylvania. 
 This is a case where a church in Pennsylvania, connected with the Pres- 
 bytery of Westminster, in erecting a new church building, located the 
 same in the State of Maryland, within the bounds of the Synod of Bal- 
 timore. They desire, however, to retain their ecclesiastical connection 
 with the Presbytery of Westminster, and with the Synod of Pennsyl- 
 vania. To this, all the parties in interest are agreed, and all unite in 
 requesting the General Assembly to authorize the same. Answer : The 
 General Assembly, without enacting any change in existing boundary 
 lines, directs that the Slate Ridge Church, while occupying its present 
 site, shall continue to be connected with the Presbytery of Westminster, 
 and with the Synod of Pennsylvania. — 1894, p. 141. 
 
 X. TO TRANSFER MINISTERS FROM ONE PRESBYTERY TO ANOTHER. 
 
 OR TO A NEW ONE. 
 
 a. There being no quorum of Presbytery. — 1858, pp. 268, 280, O. S. 
 
 b. In forming new Presbyteries or Synods, see above. Also the 
 Enabling Act of 1870, Chap, xi, Sec. ii.— 1872, p. 94. 
 
 [Note. — See also a, under Division viii, p. 303.] 
 
 XI. TO RECEIVE OTHER ECCLESIASTICAL BODIES. 
 
 a. The Presbytery of Suffolk.— 1749, p. 238. Of Dutchess County. 
 —1763, p. 330. See Baird's Revised Edition, p. 562. 
 
 b. The Presbytery of Charleston. 
 
 Resolved, That the prayer of the petition be granted, and that said 
 Presbytery, retaining their name and their charter of incorporation, 
 
OF THE UENEKAL ASSEMBLY. 305 
 
 be and they hereby are taken into connection with the General Assem- 
 bly; Provided, however, That the members of said Presbytery shall have 
 adopted the Confession of Faith and the Constitution of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, and shall also effect a compro- 
 mise or union with the Presbytery of Harmony, which transaction shall 
 be subject to the review and control of the Synod of the Carolinas. — 
 1811, p. 475. 
 
 C. The Associate Reformed Synod.-— 1822, pp. 39-42. See Baird, 
 pp. 565-569. 
 
 d. Presbytery of Pittsburgh of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The same Committee also reported an application from the Presbytery 
 of Pittsburgh, of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to unite as a Pres- 
 bytery with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and to 
 become subject to the jurisdiction of this body, on the simple condition 
 of being allowed to remain, as they are still attached to the great prin- 
 ciples of the Reformation, without being disturbed in their time-honored 
 modes of worship and economical usages generally. 
 
 On the recommendation of the Committee the request was granted. 
 
 The Committee also recommended that the Presbytery of Pittsburgh be 
 attached to the Synod of Allegheny, and that Rev. John McMillan be 
 enrolled as a member of this General Assembly as a delegate from that 
 Presbytery. 
 
 Which was adopted.— 1870, p. 30. 
 
 XII. TO DEFINE THE SUCCESSION OF PRESBYTERIES. 
 
 Overture No. 7, from the Presbytery of Chester, respecting the succes- 
 sion to the late Presbytery of New Castle: The Committee report that 
 the Synod of Philadelphia, in its reconstruction of Presbyteries, declared 
 that the Presbytery of Chester was the legal successor of the late Pres- 
 bytery of New Castle, and that the Synod of Baltimore also declared 
 that its present Presbytery of New Castle was the legal successor of the 
 old organization. It appears, however, that the ministers and churches 
 of the old Presbytery are equally divided between the present Presby- 
 teries of New Castle and Chester, and so neither is entitled to the succes- 
 sion. The Committee think that as the present Presbytery of New 
 Castle has the name of the late organization, the town where the first 
 organization was made, the chief part of the original territory, early 
 history and associations and a valuable charter from the State of Dela- 
 ware, under which some property is now held, it should also have the 
 succession, and the following resolution is, therefore, recommended: 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of New Castle, in the Synod of Balti- 
 more, be and the same is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the 
 late Presbytery of New Castle, and as such is entitled to the possession 
 and enjoyment of all the rights and franchises, and liable to the perform- 
 ance of all the duties of that Presbytery. 
 
 It is also recommended that the candidates and licentiates who were 
 under the care of the former Presbytery of New Castle, at the date of 
 the Reconstruction Act of 1870, but who resided in the territory embraced 
 in the present Presbytery of Chester, be attached to the latter Presbytery. 
 —1871, p. 539. 
 
 [Note.— See also under the Reconstruction Act of 1870, Minutes, pp. 91-97 ; Moore's 
 Digest, 1886, pp. 182-187 ; and under the act of reorganization, 1881, Minutes, pp. 562- 
 565 ; Digest, 1886, pp. 502-505.] 
 20 
 
306 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 XIII. TO CORRESPOND WITH FOREIGN CHURCHES. 
 I. CHURCHES IN GENERAL. 
 
 It belongs to the Assembly "to correspond with foreign Churches" 
 (Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v).— 1827, p. 219; 1866, p. 80, 
 O. S. 
 
 1. Bodies with which the Assembly is at present in correspondence. 
 
 1. General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 2. General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 
 
 3. General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. 
 
 4. Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Great Britain and 
 Ireland. 
 
 5. General Assembly of the Canada Presbyterian Church. 
 
 6. Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Canada in connection with 
 the Church of Scotland. 
 
 7. General Synod of the Reformed Church in America. 
 
 8. General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in North 
 America. 
 
 9. General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the United 
 States. 
 
 10. General Synod of the Reformed Church in the U. S. 
 
 11. General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
 
 12. General Assembly of the Welsh Presbyterian Church in America. 
 
 13. General Synod of the Reformed Church of France. 
 
 14. National Council of the Congregational Churches in the United 
 States of America. 
 
 15. Synod of the Waldensian Church.— 1873, p. 537. 
 
 16. Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
 
 17. General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
 
 18. Associate Reformed Synod of the South. 
 
 19. General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. 
 
 20. All the Churches, wherever located, which, in addition to the 
 above-named, are in the Alliance of the Reformed Churches throughout 
 the world, holding the Presbyterian System. 
 
 [Note. — Delegates are not now sent to Churches which are in the Presbyterian 
 Alliance. See this Digest, p. 310. J 
 
 2. Churches in Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 (i) Report on foreign correspondence. 
 
 The Committee on Foreign Correspondence reported in part as follows: 
 The Committee on Foreign Correspondence respectfully recommend to 
 the Assembly that the Rev. William Arnot and the Rev. William G. 
 Blaikie, D.D., from the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scot- 
 land; the Rev. Robert Watts, D.D., and Mr. Thomas Sinclair, from the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland; the Rev. John 
 Edmond, D.D., and the Rev. John McLeod, D.D., from the Synod of 
 the United Presbyterian Church of Great Britain and Ireland, and the 
 Rev. David Inglis, and the Rev. Thomas Lowry, from the Synod of the 
 Canada Presbyterian Church, be admitted to seats in this Assembly as 
 delegates from the several ecclesiastical bodies they represent, and that 
 they be heard in the order above named at a session of the Assembly to 
 be held for that purpose on Wednesday next, at 7. 30 o' clock P. M. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 307 
 
 The Committee further recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly cordially receives the delegates from the 
 Synod of the United Presbyterian Church of Great Britain and Ireland 
 — a body not hitherto in correspondence with either branch of our 
 reunited Church — and that the Committee on Correspondence be directed 
 to nominate delegates who shall present our greetings to that Synod at 
 its meeting next year. — 1870, pp. 17, 18. 
 
 [Note.— See next Section, entitled "The Presbyterian Alliance."] 
 
 3. The Presbyterian Alliance. 
 
 The delegates to the General Council of the "Alliance of the Reformed 
 Churches throughout the world holding the Presbyterian System," held 
 in London in 1875, presented their report, which was approved, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 (i) Report of the delegates to the London Conference of 1875. 
 
 The undersigned were appointed by the General Assembly of 1875 
 (see Minutes, p. 528) as a delegation to the General Council of Pres- 
 byterians which was to meet in London on the 21st of July of that year. 
 They were also vested with power to substitute, or add to their member- 
 ship, other ministers or laymen from the Presbyterian Church, to take 
 part with them in the deliberations of the proposed Conference. Under 
 this provision the following brethren, some of whom had been conspicu- 
 ous from the beginning in furthering the object contemplated in this 
 appointment, were invited to share with the original delegation in repre- 
 senting our Church in this General Council: Rev. James McCosh, D.D., 
 Rev. Philip SchafF, D.D., Rev. Alexander M. Reid, Ph.D., Rev. 
 Albert T. Chester, D.D., Rev. W. Wallace Atterbury, Rev. Elijah R. 
 Craven, D.D. , Rev. William H. Hornblower, D.D., John Wana- 
 maker, Esq., John S. Kennedy, Esq., Rev. George D. Mathews, Rev. 
 Alexander Reed, D.D., Rev. Thomas H. Robinson, D.D., Rev. Robert 
 M. Patterson, Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D., Rev. John Hall, 
 D.D., William E. Dodge, Jr., Hon. Stanley Matthews. 
 
 Five of these brethren, together with two of the original Committee 
 — Drs. Crosby and Hatfield — were prevented, by various causes, from 
 attending the sessions of the Conference. 
 
 The remaining twelve were present, together with two members of the 
 Committee — Rev. Samuel J. Wilson, D.D., LL.D., and Prof. Edward 
 D. Morris. 
 
 The Council was held in the city of London on the 21st, 22d and 23d 
 of July. Sixty-four delegates, representing twenty-two Presbyterian 
 organizations in various parts of the world, were present during the 
 sessions. Rev. Dr. McCosh, of our delegation, presided. The deliber- 
 ations were characterized by a spirit of brotherly love and by a strong 
 desire to establish closer relations between all Presbyterian bodies through- 
 out the world. A copy of the minutes, containing a full record of the 
 proceedings, is herewith submitted as a part of this report. 
 
 The chief business of the Conference was the preparation of a form of 
 constitution which provides for a permanent " Presbyterian Alliance to 
 meet in General Council from time to time in order to confer upon 
 matters of common interest. " It is for this General Assembly to deter- 
 mine whether our branch of the Presbyterian Church shall enter into 
 
308 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 such an Alliance, and whether the constitution proposed by the Confer- 
 ence (as incorporated in their minutes), shall be approved as a proper 
 basis for such a confederation. 
 
 It was resolved that the first meeting of this Alliance should be held 
 at Edinburgh, Scotland, on the first Tuesday of July, 1876; and it was 
 agreed that the several bodies choosing to enter into the Alliance under 
 the proposed constitution may be represented on that occasion in such a 
 proportion as would entitle our Church to send forty delegates. These 
 delegates, accordingly, are to consist, " as far as practicable," of an 
 equal number of ministers and elders. The time of this meeting has 
 been changed to July, 1877, yet it is important that this General Assem- 
 bly should take action with respect to the delegation to be sent from our 
 Church. We would respectfully suggest that such selection be entrusted 
 to a Special Committee, consisting of the Moderator and the Stated and 
 Permanent Clerks of this Assembly, together with Rev. Howard Crosby, 
 D.D., Rev. James McCosh, D.D., and Rev. S. Irenreus Prime, D.D. 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Howard Crosby, 
 Samuel J. Wilson, 
 Edwin F. Hatfield, 
 Edward D. Morris. 
 
 (2) The constitution of the Alliance. 
 
 Whereas, Churches holding the Reformed faith and organized on 
 Presbyterian principles are found, though under a variety of names, in 
 different parts of the world ; whereas, many of these were long wont to 
 maintain close relations, but are at present united by no visible bond, 
 whether of fellowship or of work; and whereas, in the providence of 
 God, the time seems to have come when they may all more fully mani- 
 fest their essential oneness, have closer communion with each other, and 
 promote great causes by joint action : It is agreed to form a Presbyterian 
 Alliance to meet in General Council from time to time, in order to 
 confer upon matters of common interest, and to further the ends for 
 which the Church has been constituted by her divine Lord and only 
 King. In forming this Alliance the Presbyterian Churches do not mean 
 to change their fraternal relations with other Churches, but will be 
 ready, as heretofore, to join with them in Christian fellowship, and in 
 advancing the cause of the Redeemer, on the general principle main- 
 tained and taught in the Reformed Confessions, that the Church of God 
 on earth, though composed of many members, is one body in the com- 
 munion of the Holy Ghost, of which body Christ is the Supreme Head, 
 and the Scriptures alone are the infallible law. 
 
 Articles. 
 
 I. Designation. — This Alliance shall be known as " The Alliance of 
 the Reformed Churches throughout the World holding the Presbyterian 
 System. ' ' 
 
 II. Membership. — Any Church organized on Presbyterian principles 
 which holds the supreme authority of the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments in matters of faith and morals, and whose creed is in har- 
 mony with the consensus of the Reformed Confessions, shall be eligible 
 for admission into the Alliance. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 309 
 
 III. The Council. 
 
 1. Its Meetings. — The Alliance shall meet in General Council ordi- 
 narily once in three years. 
 
 2. Its Constituency. — The Council shall consist of delegates, being 
 ministers and elders appointed by the Churches forming the Alliance, the 
 number from each Church being regulated by a plan sanctioned by the 
 Council, regard being had generally to the number of congregations in 
 the several Churches. The delegates, as far as practicable, to consist of 
 an equal number of ministers and elders. The Council may, on the 
 recommendation of -a Committee on Business, invite Presbyterian breth- 
 ren not delegates to offer suggestions, to deliver addresses and to read 
 papers. 
 
 3. Its Powers. — The Council shall have power to decide upon the 
 application of Churches desiring to join the Alliance ; it shall have power 
 to entertain and consider topics which may be brought before it by any 
 Church represented in the Council, or by any member of the Council, 
 on their being transmitted in the manner hereinafter provided; but it 
 shall not interfere with the existing creed or constitution of any Church 
 in the Alliance, or with its internal order or external relations. 
 
 4. Its Objects. —The Council shall consider questions of general inter- 
 est to the Presbyterian community ; it shall seek the welfare of Churches, 
 especially such as are weak or persecuted; it shall gather and disseminate 
 information concerning the kingdom of Christ throughout the world; it 
 shall commend the Presbyterian system as Scriptural and as combining 
 simplicity, efficiency, and adaptation to all times and conditions; it shall 
 also entertain all subjects directly connected with the work of evangeli- 
 zation, such as the relation of the Christian Church to the evangeli- 
 zation of the world, the distribution of mission work, the combination of 
 Church energies, especially in reference to great cities and destitute 
 districts, the training of ministers, the use of the press, colportage, the 
 religious instruction of the young, the sanctification of the Sabbath, 
 systematic beneficence, the suppression of intemperance and other pre- 
 vailing vices, and the best methods of opposing infidelity and Romanism. 
 
 5. Its Methods. — The Council shall seek to guide and stimulate public 
 sentiment by papers read, by addresses delivered and published, by the 
 circulation of information respecting the allied Churches and their mis- 
 sions, by the exposition of Scriptural principles, and by defences of the 
 truth ; by communicating the minutes of its proceedings to the supreme 
 courts of the Churches forming the Alliance, and by such other action 
 as is in accordance with its constitution and objects. 
 
 6. Committee on Business. — The Council, at each general meeting, 
 shall appoint a Committee on Business, through which all communica- 
 tions and notices of subjects proposed to be discussed shall pass. The 
 Committee appointed at one general meeting shall act provisionally, so 
 far as is necessary, in preparing for the following meeting. 
 
 [Note —1881, pp. 516, 542. See 1885, pp. 704, 705.] 
 
 IV. Change of Constitution. — No change shall be made in this 
 constitution, except on a motion made at one general meeting of Council, 
 not objected to by a majority of the Churches, and carried by a two- 
 thirds vote at the next general meeting. 
 
 The following resolutions were then offered, and adopted unanimously: 
 Resolved, 1. That our branch of the Presbyterian Church, as repre- 
 sented in this General Assembly, approves the constitution proposed by 
 
310 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the London Conference, and cordially enters into the Presbyterian Alli- 
 ance on this basis. 
 
 2. That the Moderator and the Stated and Permanent Clerks of this 
 Assembly, and Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D., Rev. James McCosh, D.D., 
 and Rev. S. Irenseus Prime, D. D. , be a Special Committee, to appoint 
 delegates from this Church to the first meeting of the Presbyterian Alli- 
 ance at Edinburgh, July, 1877.— 1876, pp. 50-53. 
 
 (#) Provision for expenses of Executive Commission. 
 
 In order to act with efficiency in furthering the interests of Presbyterians 
 scattered over the world, the Council found it necessary to appoint a 
 Standing Commission with a Permanent Secretary. The quota of annual 
 expense of this Commission falling to our great branch of this Church 
 
 is , which your Committee recommend to be paid annually out of 
 
 the General Assembly's Contingent Fund on and after May 15, 1886. — 
 Adopted. 1885, p. 684. 
 
 The "Executive Commission," is divided into the Eastern and 
 Western Sections. The General Secretary is the Rev. George D. Ma- 
 thews, D.D., London, England; and the American Secretary, the Rev. 
 W. H. Roberts, D.D., LL.D., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Overture No. 200, being the annual report of the " Alliance of the 
 Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System, ' ' requesting the 
 customary annual appropriation for its expenses. The Committee being 
 informed that the Assembly is committed to pay this amount each year, 
 for their fifty- one delegates at $15 each, have no alternative but to 
 recommend that this request for an appropriation of $765 be complied 
 with, and that the Treasurer be authorized to pay the same. Adopted. 
 —1895, p. 117; 1896, p. 69. 
 
 (4) The Assembly will not appoint delegates to Churches represented in 
 
 the Alliance. 
 
 Whereas, The different branches of the Presbyterian Church through- 
 out the world are now associated with each other in the General Presby- 
 terian Alliance; and 
 
 Whereas, At the Councils of the Alliance delegates from all these 
 Churches are present on a footing of perfect equality, and in the 
 enjoyment of the most unreserved fellowship; and 
 
 Whereas, Under such circumstances there seems to be little necessity 
 for retaining the custom of appointing delegates to visit the supreme 
 courts of other Presbyterian Churches — a custom involving a not incon- 
 siderable outlay of time, money and labor; therefore 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly, with the most cordial esteem for the 
 brethren of the other Presbyterian Churches, will in future decline to 
 appoint any such delegates, and content themselves with the appointment 
 of commissioners to the General Councils of the Alliance. — 1879, p. 616. 
 
 a. An exception to the above action was made in favor of the South- 
 ern Presbyterian Church. — 1883, p. 687. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the invitation of Rev. Mr. Lortsch for the Assem- 
 bly to appoint a representative be approved, and that the Rev. George 
 F. Moore, of the Presbytery of Boston, is hereby appointed to perform this 
 service at the next meeting of the Synod of the Free Evangelical Church 
 of France, at St. Foy la Grande (Gironde), on the 23d of September, 
 1885.— 1885, p. 632. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 311 
 
 (5) The basis of representation altered. 
 
 That the representation in the Council be for each 100 congregations 
 or less, two delegates, up to 1000 congregations; above 1000 congrega- 
 tions, one delegate for each additional 100, up to 2000 congregations; 
 above 2000 congregations, one delegate for each additional 250 congre- 
 gations. 
 
 In the case of the union of Churches represented in the Alliance, it is 
 recommended that the number of delegates remain as previous to union ; 
 on the union being reported to the Council, the future number of dele- 
 gates shall be determined. — 1889, p. 113. 
 
 [Note. — See p. 308 of the Minutes of the Fourth General Council.] 
 
 (6) Plan of cooperation in work on the North American Continent. 
 
 The Committee of Bills and Overtures presented, with their approval, 
 the annual report of the Commission of the Alliance of the Reformed 
 Churches holding the Presbyterian System, which was received, and, 
 after an address by the President of the Alliance, the Rev. William H. 
 Roberts, D.D., LL.D., was approved, and it was unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That the plan of cooperation in Home Missions contained 
 in the report be cordially adopted: 
 
 " The Boards and Committees of Home Missions, Church Erection, 
 Freedmen's Missions and Sabbath- school Work of the American 
 Churches in ' The Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the Pres- 
 byterian System,' both in the United States and Canada, recognizing 
 with gratitude to God their substantial unity both in faith and polity, do 
 agree upon the following principles of action for their guidance in their 
 work, viz. : 
 
 "1. That in the work of all these Boards as related to each other the 
 authority of the Church courts is to be recognized as final. 
 
 "2. That there shall be no interference with churches, missions or 
 Sabbath-schools at present existing, unless by voluntary agreement 
 between the denominations directly concerned. 
 
 " 3. That ordinarily, no churches, missions or Sabbath -schools shall 
 be established in small communities where the field is fully occupied by 
 other Presbyterian or Reformed Churches. 
 
 " 4. That the supreme judicatories of the several Churches recommend 
 their Church members when moving into new communities in which there 
 is no congregation of their own Church, to unite, for the time being, 
 with some other Presbyterian or Reformed Church, if such there be. 
 
 "5. That if cases of difference of opinion arise in connection with the 
 work, they shall be referred for consideration and amicable adjustment 
 to the missionary authorities of the denominations directly concerned." 
 —1896, pp. 66-68. 
 
 XIV. (II) CORRESPONDENCE. CHURCHES IN AMERICA. 
 
 1. Proposals for correspondence with the New England churches. 
 
 [Note.— See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 266 ; Minutes, 1766, p. 364 ; 1767, p. 374 ; 1790, 
 p. 29; 1791, p. 33.] 
 
 2. Plan of correspondence with the General Association of Connecticut. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, pp. 268-270 ; Minutes, 1827, p. 213. For terms of corre- 
 spondence with the various Congregational bodies, see Moore's new Digest, 1861, pp. 
 435-469, and Baird's Digest, pp. 506-525.] 
 
312 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 3. The plan of union and action under it. 
 
 [Note.— See Moore's new Digest, 1861, pp. 452^69, and Minutes, 1801, pp. 221, 224. 
 225 ; 1835, p. 486; 1837, pp. 421, 458, 464; also Baird's Digest, pp. 570-581.] 
 
 4. Correspondence with the Reformed Churches. 
 
 [Note. — For a full history of the early relations of the Assembly with the Dutch 
 and Associate Reformed Churches, see Baird's Digest, pp. 525-533. In 1820 a plan of 
 correspondence with the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Church was 
 adopted, Minutes, p. 731; Digest, 1886, pp. 270, 271. The Synod united with the 
 General Assembly in 1822. 
 
 For correspondence with the Reformed Dutch Church, see Digest, 1886, p. 271, and 
 Minutes, 1823, p. 76 ; 1830, p. 287.] 
 
 5. Proposal of the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America declined. 
 
 Dr. Scott, delegate from the Reformed Dutch Church, presented to 
 the Assembly the following minute from the General Synod of that body 
 respecting the transference of churches: 
 
 Resolved, That if the General Assembly shall concur, no church shall 
 be transferred from the one body to the other without the formal dismissal 
 of the Presbytery or Classis with which it shall have been connected. — 
 1851, p. 17, O. S. 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly great prudence and 
 courtesy should be manifested by the Presbyteries in the reception of 
 churches from the Classis of the Reformed Dutch Church, and that, 
 Avhere it is practicable, the consent of all parties concerned should be at 
 least sought and, if possible, secured ; but that the adoption of an abso- 
 lute rule, such as is proposed by the General Synod of the Reformed 
 Dutch Church, would probably be productive of hardships to churches 
 and inconvenience to both denominations; and therefore, for the present 
 at least, the Assembly very respectfully and fraternally beg leave to 
 decline its concurrence in the adoption of said rule. — 1851, p. 21, O. S. 
 
 6. Complaint against the Presbytery of North River. 
 
 On a complaint of the Reformed Dutch Church against the Presbytery 
 of North River, the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, 1. That though the consistory of the Second Reformed 
 Dutch Church of Kingston may have acted arbitrarily in refusing certi- 
 ficates to its members applying for them, to join one of our churches, this 
 Assembly regards as irregular, and as wanting in the due exercise of 
 Christian forbearance, the proceeding of North River Presbytery, in so 
 hastily organizing a church composed mostly of the members whom said 
 consistory had refused to dismiss. 
 
 2. That though the Classis of Ulster may have done wrong in with- 
 holding from the Rev. Mr. Smuller the certificate for which he applied 
 to join the Presbytery of North River, this Assembly cannot approve 
 of the act of said Presbytery in receiving him, regarding their act, in so 
 doing, as deficient in the exercise of that forbearance which should 
 obtain in the intercourse of sister Churches. 
 
 3. That the Stated Clerk express to the Dutch Church the deep regret 
 which this Assembly feels that there should have been any cause for 
 complaint or recrimination. — 1855, p. 302, O. S. 
 
 7. Relations to the Presbyterian Church in the XJ. S. 
 
 (i) The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. (South) recognized as an 
 independent body. 
 
 The Special Committee appointed to take into consideration certain 
 matters relating to the Southern churches respectfully reports that the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 313 
 
 following papers have been placed in its hands, and have been carefully 
 considered, viz. : 
 
 1. An overture from the Presbytery of Zanesville, asking " that the 
 Assembly strike from the lists of Synods, Presbyteries and churches 
 those at the South which have ceased to report or be in connection with 
 us, and that they be recognized as an independent body of Presbyte- 
 rians, and overtures of friendly correspondence be made to them." 
 
 2. An overture from the Presbytery of St. Clairsville of like import. 
 
 3. An overture from the Presbytery of Steubenville, asking that the 
 aforementioned Synods, Presbyteries and churches be stricken from the 
 roll. • 
 
 4. A memorial signed by certain ministers and ruling elders, asking 
 in general terms that the General Assembly " devise such wise and con- 
 ciliatory measures as may open the way for the renewal of fraternal 
 relations with our brethren of the Southern churches." 
 
 In view of all these your Committee would recommend the adoption 
 of the following preamble and resolutions: 
 
 Whereas, The Synods of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Memphis, 
 Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, with 
 the several Presbyteries under their care, have, with the exception of the 
 Presbytery of New Orleans in the Synod of Mississippi, voluntarily 
 withdrawn from our connection and organized themselves into a separate 
 Church. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Permanent Clerk is directed to drop their names 
 from the list of our Synods and Presbyteries, and they are no longer to 
 be regarded as a part of the Presbyterian Church under the care of this 
 Assembly, with the exception of the Presbytery of New Orleans, which 
 is hereby attached to the Synod of Nashville. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Assembly does hereby recognize the organiza- 
 tion into which these Synods have formed themselves as a separate and 
 independent Church, sustaining to us the same relation which we accord 
 to other branches of the Presbyterian Church; and hereafter it is to be 
 treated accordingly by all the courts under our care. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Assembly also takes this occasion to say that 
 while it cannot justify those brethren in separating themselves from the 
 Church of their fathers, it regrets their withdrawal, and expresses the 
 earnest hope that thev may see their way clear to return to their former 
 relations.— 1868, p. 642, O. S. 
 
 2. Correspondence with the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. 
 
 a. The following preamble and resolutions, presented by Kev. William 
 Adams, D.D., were unanimously adopted, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, This General Assembly believes that the interests of the 
 kingdom of our Lord throughout our entire country will be greatly pro- 
 moted by healing all unnecessary divisions; 
 
 Whereas, This General Assembly desires the speedy establishment of 
 cordial fraternal relations with the body known as the ' ' Southern Pres- 
 byterian Church, ' ' on terms of mutual confidence, respect, Christian 
 honor and love; 
 
 Whereas, We believe that the terms of reunion between the two 
 branches of the Presbyterian Church at the North, now so happily con- 
 summated, present an auspicious opportunity for the adjustment of such 
 relations; therefore, be it 
 
314 
 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Resolued, 1. That a Committee of five ministers and four elders be 
 appointed by this Assembly to confer with a similar Committee, if it 
 shall be appointed by the Assembly now in session in the city of Louis- 
 ville, Ky., in respect to opening a friendly correspondence between the 
 Northern and Southern Presbyterian Churches, and that the result of 
 such conference be reported to the General Assembly of 1871. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That with a view to the furtherance of the object con- 
 templated in the appointmeut of said Committee, this Assembly hereby 
 reaffirms the ' ' Concurrent Declaration ' ' of the two Assemblies which 
 met in the city of New York last year, viz. : 
 
 ' ' That no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both 
 bodies shall be of any authority in the reunited body, except in so far as 
 such rule or precedent may affect the rights of property founded thereon. ' ' 
 
 Resolved, 3. That two ministers and one elder of the Committee ap- 
 pointed by this Assembly be designated as delegates to convey to the 
 Assembly now in session at Louisville, Ky. , a copy of these resolutions, 
 with our Christian salutations. — 1870, p. 18. 
 
 b. William Adams, D.D., C. C. Beatty, D.D., P. H. Fowler, D.D., 
 H. J. Van Dyke, D.D., J. C. Backus, D.D., Henry Green, LL.D., 
 Hon. William E. Dodge, Mr. James Brown and Hon. Daniel Haines 
 were appointed a Committee of Correspondence with the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church South, now in session at Louisville, Kv. 
 —lb., p. 20. 
 
 C. J. C. Backus, D.D., and Hon. William E. Dodge, two of the 
 above Committee, made a verbal report of their visit to Louisville, which 
 was accepted. — lb., p. 34. Subsequently, 
 
 d. The Stated Clerk reported a communication from the General As- 
 sembly of the Presbyterian Church South, which was read. 
 
 [Note.— For the letter in full see Minutes, 1870, pp. 56-58.] 
 
 Whereupon the following response, reported by the Committee on 
 Correspondence with the Church South, was adopted: 
 
 Whereas, This General Assembly, at an early period of its sessions, 
 declared its desire to establish cordial fraternal relations with the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, commonly 
 known as the Southern Assembly, on the basis of Christian honor, con- 
 fidence and love, and with a view to the attainment of this end appointed 
 a Committee of five ministers and four elders to confer with a similar 
 Committee, if it should be appointed by the Assembly then in session at 
 Louisville, Ky., " in regard to the amicable settlement of all existing 
 difficulties, and the opening of a friendly correspondence between the 
 Northern and Southern Churches;" and for the furtherance of the 
 objects contemplated in the appointment of said Committee, and with a 
 view to remove the obstacles which might prevent the acceptance of our 
 proposals by our Southern brethren, reaffirmed the Concurrent Declara- 
 tion of the two Assemblies which met in New York last year, to the 
 effect that ' ' no rule or precedent which does not stand approved by both 
 the bodies shall be of any authority in the reunited body, except so far 
 as such rule or precedent may affect the rights of property founded 
 thereon, ' ' and as a further pledge of our sincerity in this movement sent 
 a copy of our resolutions, together with our Christian salutations, to the 
 Assembly at Louisville by the hands of delegates chosen for that purpose ; 
 
 And whereas, The Southern Assembly, while receiving our delegates 
 with marked courtesy and formally complying with our proposition for 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 315 
 
 the appointment of a Committee of Conference, has nevertheless accom- 
 panied that appointment with declarations and conditions which we cannot 
 consistently accept, because they involve a virtual prejudgment of the 
 very difficulties concerning which we invited the conference; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the further consideration of the subject be postponed, 
 and the Committee be discharged. At the same time, we cannot forbear 
 to express our profound regret that a measure designed and, as we 
 believe, eminently fitted to promote the establishment of peace and the 
 advancement of our Redeemer's kingdom in every part of our country 
 has apparently failed to accomplish its object. We earnestly hope that 
 the negotiations thus suspended may soon be resumed under happier 
 auspices, and hereby declare our readiness to renew our proposals for a 
 friendly correspondence whenever our Southern brethren shall signify 
 their readiness to accept it in the form and spirit in which it has been 
 offered.— 1870, p. 58. 
 
 e. Overture No. 15, from the Presbytery of Des Moines, with refer- 
 ence to union with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 South. The Committee recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That as the General Assembly has heretofore declared its 
 willingness to resume fraternal relations and Christian union with the 
 Assembly South, and still retains the same sentiment, it is deemed unwise 
 to take any action at present on this overture. Adopted. — 1872, p. 70. 
 
 (3) Action touching those adhering to the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the U. S. and Old School Synod of Missouri 
 declared null and void. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore, asking the Assembly 
 to affirm the doctrines of the Standards of our Church pertaining to the 
 civil magistrate and the relation of Church and State; also one from the 
 Presbytery of Austin, concerning certain rules passed previously to the 
 Reunion with regard to members of the Southern Presbyterian Church. 
 
 As the subjects of these overtures greatly concern the peace and pros- 
 perity of the Church, especially in those regions more directly affected 
 by the late civil war, the Committee would recommend the adoption of 
 the following paper: 
 
 The General Assembly, deploring the divisions that have occurred, 
 and that continue, among Presbyterians in the United States of America, 
 and earnestly desiring to do whatever is consistent with duty and fidelity 
 to the Lord toward healing these divisions, and furthermore, having 
 good reason to hope that the action contemplated in the following paper 
 will promote and secure this happy result, do solemnly declare: 
 
 1. That in accordance with a resolution unanimously adopted by each 
 of the two bodies now constituting the reunited Church, all action touch- 
 ing the brethren adhering to the body popularly known as the Southern 
 General Assembly, together with all action touching the brethren adher- 
 ing to the body known as the Old School Synod of Missouri, has been 
 since the Reunion null and void, and therefore of no binding effect, and 
 not to be pleaded as a precedent in the future. 
 
 2. The Assembly also express confidence in the soundness of doctrine 
 and in the Christian character of these brethren, and cannot doubt that 
 a more intimate communion would lead to the speedy removal of the 
 barriers that now separate those of like precious faith, to increased 
 
316 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 mutual affection and esteem, and to a practical manifestation of our one- 
 ness in Christ. 
 
 3. With regard to the civil magistrate and the relations of Church and 
 State, the Assembly deem it sufficient to call attention to the following 
 principles and statements found in these Standards, to wit: I. " Synods 
 and Councils are to handle or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesi- 
 astical, and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the 
 commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary, 
 or by way of advice for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto 
 required by the civil magistrate" (Confession of Faith, Chap, xxxi, 
 Sec. iv). II. " That God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath 
 left it free from the doctrine and commandments of men, which are in 
 anything contrary to His Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or wor- 
 ship;" "that all Church power, whether exercised by the body in 
 general or in the way of representation by delegated authority, is only 
 ministerial and declarative — that is to say, that the holy Scriptures are 
 the only rule of faith and manners; that no Church judicatory ought to 
 pretend to make laws to bind the conscience in virtue of their own 
 authority, and that all their decisions should be founded upon the 
 revealed will of God " (Form of Government, Chap, i, Sees, i and vii). 
 
 4. For the purpose of carrying out the spirit of the foregoing resolu- 
 tions, the Assembly will appoint two Committees to confer with similar 
 Committees, if appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States and by the Old School Synod of Missouri, 
 to seek closer and more fraternal relations with these bodies. — 1873, 
 p. 502. 
 
 (4-) Correspondence with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the U. S. 
 
 a. A Committee was appointed to confer with a like Committee, if 
 appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States, to seek closer and more fraternal relations with that body. 
 —1873, p. 503. 
 
 b. Enlarged, 1874, p. 61, so as to consist of Re vs. Samuel J. Niccolls, 
 Henry Darling, Edwin F. Hatfield, Thomas H. Skinner, H. J. Van 
 Dyke, Ebenezer Erskine and Messrs. Benjamin Whitely, James K. 
 Moorhead, Joseph W. Edwards and Samuel M. Breckinridge. 
 
 This Committee met with a like Committee of the Southern Church iu 
 Baltimore, January 7, 1875. Their report is found in the Minutes of 
 1875, pp. 483-486; and the correspondence in the Appendix, 1875, pp. 
 627-641. 
 
 The Assembly, regretting that the negotiations in reference to fraternal 
 correspondence between the two churches have failed, 
 
 Resolved, That it deemed it inexpedient to press the question of frater- 
 nal relations at present by further negotiations through the appointment 
 of another Committee. See in full, 1875, pp. 492, 493; 1876, pp. 43, 
 44, 55, 56. 
 
 C. In 1877 the following action was taken: 
 
 Inasmuch as the General Assembly of 1870 and 1873 have solemnly 
 declared that all the deliverances of the General Assemblies during the 
 late war, so far as they impeach the Christian character and doctrinal 
 soundness of the body known as the Southern Presbyterian Church, are 
 null and void; and 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 317 
 
 Whereas, Our last General Assembly, reiterating the action of former 
 Assemblies declared our confidence in the Christian character and doc- 
 trinal soundness of the Southern Presbyterian Church, and our desire to 
 enter into fraternal correspondence with them upon terms of perfect 
 equality and reciprocity, and cordially invited the Southern Assembly to 
 send corresponding delegates to this Assembly: 
 
 Therefore, Resolved, That, while we are sincerely desirous to be 
 reunited in closer relations with the brethren from whom we have been 
 separated, we do not deem it expedient at present to take any further 
 action upon the subject, except to repeat the declaration of the last 
 Assembly, that we are ready cordially to receive a representative from 
 the Southern Church, and to send a delegate to their Assembly, when- 
 ever they may intimate a willingness to enter into fraternal relations upon 
 such terms. — 1877, pp. 570, 571. 
 
 d. In 1882 (Minutes, p. 50) a message was received from the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. 
 
 [Note.— For which see Minutes, 1882, pp. 50, 66, 83, 84; Digest, 1886, pp. 537, 538.] 
 
 e. Delegates were mutually appointed by the two Assemblies. 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1882, pp. 102, 103 ; Digest, 1886, pp. 537, 538.] 
 
 f. The Assembly U. S. A. , Resolved, To continue correspondence with 
 the Assembly U. S. by delegates, and telegraphed its resolution to that 
 Assembly. 
 
 In response the Assembly U. S. reply: The Assembly has determined 
 to adhere to the action of the last Assembly, which is to correspond by 
 letter. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1884, p. 101 ; Digest, 1886, p. 538.] 
 
 g. A Committee of Correspondence was accordingly appointed. 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1884, p. 113.] 
 
 Special Committee on Cooperation appointed. 
 
 h.. A special Committee of seven was appointed by the Assembly 
 
 U. S. A. to confer with a like Committee of the Assembly U. S. , if one 
 
 should be appointed. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1883, p. 591 ; Digest, 1886, p. 538. 
 
 For the report of the Committee on Cooperation, see Minutes, 1884, pp. 67-70 ; 
 Digest, 1886, pp. 539-541.] 
 
 i. In the Minutes, 1885, pp. 705-707 (Appendix), will be found a 
 letter from the Assembly U. S., and a reply from the Assembly U. S. A., 
 [Note.— See also Minutes, 1886, pp. 125, 126.] 
 
 j. In 1887 the Assembly U. S. proposed to the Assembly U. S. A., 
 the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry as to certain points suggested 
 by that Assembly. The Assembly U. S. A. responded by the appoint- 
 ment of a Committee of nine to confer, and report to the next Assembly. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1887, pp. 116, 117, 128.] 
 
 The report of this joint Committee of Conference was referred to a 
 Special Committee.— 1888, p. 85, 92. 
 
 The report of the joint Committee of Conference, together with the 
 correspondence between the two Committees is found — 1888, pp. 93-102. 
 
 The Special Committee (1888, p. 92) presented its report, which was 
 unanimously adopted. The Committee of Conference was enlarged by 
 five members, and continued. — 1888, p. 93. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1889, pp. 20, 68.] 
 
318 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 (5) Cooperation with the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. 
 
 The Special Committee, appointed to confer with a like Committee of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States on modes of cooperation, 
 
 presented its report, which was read A minority report by the 
 
 Hon. S. M. Breckinridge was also received and read, and the considera- 
 tion of both reports, after being printed, was made the order of the day 
 for Wednesday next at 9.30 A.M.— 1889, p. 20. 
 
 The following telegram was received from the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States: 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., May 23, 1889. 
 To the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, 
 Fourth Avenue, New York : 
 
 The vote on cooperation was taken at 11 P.M., and passed, 99 to 27 
 
 Joseph R. Wilson, Stated Clerk. 
 —1889, p. 68. 
 
 The whole report was then adopted, and it was 
 
 Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be directed to telegraph to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly in session at Chattanooga, the action of this Assembly, 
 with a statement appended showing the amendments, and giving the 
 reason therefor. 
 
 The telegram was read to the Assembly,* adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 in session at Chattanooga, Tenn. : 
 
 The General Assembly in session in New York city have adopted the 
 report of the Joint Committee of Conference on Cooperation, with the 
 following amendments: 
 
 In Paper No. 2, on Cooperation in the Home Field, Resolutions 3 and 
 4 have been consolidated ioto one resolution numbered Resolution 3. In 
 Paper No. 3, on Cooperation in the Evangelization of the Colored People, 
 the sixth paragraph of the statement preceding the resolutions was 
 amended by the omission of the words, " While, by conceding the exist- 
 ing situation, it approves the policy of separate churches, Presbyteries 
 and Synods, subject to the choice of the colored people themselves." 
 The Assembly further resolved that this clause was stricken out, not to 
 prejudice future action, nor to outline the future policy of this Church, 
 but simply because this Assembly did not believe that it stated the histor- 
 ical fact in the case. Your concurrence in this action is requested. 
 
 In behalf of the Assembly, 
 
 Wm. H. Roberts, Stated Clerk 
 
 The report of the Committee on Cooperation as adopted is as follows: 
 
 The Committee of Conference on Fraternal Cooperation in Christian 
 Work respectfully presents the following report: 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, in accepting the report of its Committee of Confer- 
 ence with a Committee of Conference of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States, adopted, inter alia, the following: 
 
 " The Assembly devoutly cherishes the hope that the Centennial Cele- 
 bration, in which the representatives of the two Churches have, within 
 the past few days so cordially united, may prove the beginning of an 
 era of closer fellowship and more cordial cooperation in the conduct of 
 *See for answer, p. 322. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 319 
 
 their work for Christ, aud for the more effectual performance of this, 
 recommends that the Committee be enlarged by five new members, and 
 be continued, with instructions to confer with a similar Committee of 
 the other Assembly, if it should be appointed, in devising such methods 
 of conducting our common work, both at home and abroad, as shall 
 open the door to the fullest and heartiest cooperation. 
 
 ' ' We recommend that the following persons be added to the Commit- 
 tee: Ministers — Henry Darling, Charles S. Pomeroy, William C. 
 Young; Ruling Elders — Samuel M. Breckinridge, Henry M. Knox " 
 (Minutes, 1888, p. 93). 
 
 The Moderator, the Rev. Charles L. Thompson, D.D., was subsequently 
 added to the Committee (Minutes, 1888, p. 147). 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States, Resolved, That, " in response to the action of the Northern 
 Assembly, we cheerfully agree to appoint a Committee, whose duty it 
 shall be to confer with a similar Committee appointed by them in refer- 
 ence to all such modes of fraternal cooperation in Christian work, both 
 at home and abroad, as may be considered practical and edifying. ' ' 
 
 This Committee consisted of the Rev. M. D. Hoge, D.D. , Chairman; 
 Joseph R. Wilson, D.D., G. B. Strickler, D.D., M. H. Houston, D.D., 
 J. K Craig, D.D., C. A. Stillman, D.D., T. D. Witherspoon, D.D., 
 and Thomas J. Kirkpatrick, William M. McPheeters, M.D., W. S. 
 Primrose, R. T. Simpson, D. N. Kennedy, A. M. Machen (Minutes 
 JPres. Church U. S., 1888, pp. 422, 435). 
 
 These Committees met in joint convention in the city of New York, 
 December 28, 1888, and continued in frank interchange of opinions 
 until January 1, 1889. 
 
 Finding itself unprepared for final action, the convention appointed 
 Subcommittees, to which were assigned the topics: I. Of Cooperation 
 in the Foreign Field ; II. Of Cooperation in the Home Field ; III. Of 
 Cooperation in the Evangelization of the Colored People; IV. Of 
 Cooperation between the two Churches in matters of Publication, etc. 
 These Subcommittees were directed to report to a meeting of the conven- 
 tion to be held in Atlanta, Ga., April 17, 1889, at 11 o'clock A.M. 
 
 Accordingly the Committees met in joint convention in the Kimball 
 House, Atlanta, Ga., April 17, 1889, at 11 A.M. The several Sub- 
 committees reported on the subjects assigned them, and after full, free 
 and most fraternal consideration, it was 
 
 Resolved, That these two Committees, in joint convention, agree to 
 recommend to their respective Assemblies to adopt the following Papers, 
 I, II, III, IV, as a basis of cooperation in the matters to which they 
 respectively refer, viz. : 
 
 I. As to Cooperation in the Foreign 3fission Work. 
 
 The two Committees do agree to report to the General Assemblies which 
 they respectively represent the following: 
 
 It is a matter of great satisfaction, for which we are bound to thank 
 God always, that the missionaries of our two Churches have from the 
 beginning maintained the most cordial relations as co-laborers in all the 
 fields abroad in which they have had a common work. In Japan and in 
 Brazil the missionaries of the two Churches, with the native Christians 
 under their care, have united to form, in each country, a separate Pres- 
 byterian Church. In China, measures have been adopted looking to the 
 same end. It may be regarded as the established policy of the two 
 
320 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Churches that their missionaries should, in every field where their work 
 is contiguous, unite in planting and developing one Presbyterian Church, 
 having no ecclesiastical connection with either Church in the United States. 
 
 In view of these facts it is recommended that the General Assemblies 
 of the two Churches counsel the people under their care to avail them- 
 selves of the missionary literature of both Churches, that they may thus 
 have a full and intelligent view of the great work in which they are 
 happily co-laborers: and further, that each of the Churches may recog- 
 nize the duty resting upon it to consider kindly the mission work of the 
 other, to pray for it, and in every way practicable to promote its success. 
 
 II. As to Cooperation in the Home Field. 
 
 The Committees representing the General Assemblies of the Presby- 
 terian Church, known as Northern and Southern, believing that both 
 parties do earnestly desire so to conduct their Home Mission work as to 
 prevent antagonism or hurtful rivalry, and to avoid even the appear- 
 ance, on the part of either, of interfering with the work of the other, 
 do agree to recommend to their respective Assemblies for adoption, the 
 following, viz. : 
 
 1. Where Presbyteries belonging to the two Assemblies cover the same 
 ground, they are advised to endeavor, either as Presbyteries, or through 
 their Committees, to agree as brethren to have the efforts of one Church 
 expended in certain fields, and the efforts of the other Church expended 
 in certain other fields, within their common bounds, so as to prevent 
 hurtful rivalry or antagonism. 
 
 2. Where there are weak churches, which, standing alone, cannot 
 support a minister, but which can be grouped with churches connected 
 with the other Assembly so as to form one ministerial charge, Presby- 
 teries having jurisdiction are advised to allow such churches to be 
 grouped under a minister from either body to whom their respective 
 Presbyteries are willing to give them in charge, and to have their con- 
 tributions to the general benevolent funds passed through the channels 
 appointed by their respective Assemblies; and where such churches are 
 sufficiently near, they are recommended, a majority of each congrega- 
 tion agreeing, to consolidate and form one congregation, with such 
 Presbyterial connections as may be most agreeable to the membership. 
 
 3. That persons connected with churches under the care of one of 
 these Assemblies who may remove into the bounds of churches under the 
 care of the other Assembly, be advised to unite with those churches, and 
 to seek their peace and prosperity. And where such persons are found 
 in sufficient numbers to organize a church (there being no other Presby- 
 terian church in their immediate vicinity), they should form such organ- 
 ization under the care of the Presbytery with which the contiguous 
 Presbyterian churches are connected; provided said Presbytery belongs 
 to either of these Assemblies. Within the bounds of the Presbytery 
 connected with one Assembly there may be communities composed 
 largely of persons who are members of churches connected with the 
 other Assembly, whose affiliations and preferences are too strong to 
 permit them to sever their connection. In such cases, when these persons 
 shall have been organized into a church under the care of the nearest 
 Presbytery connected with that Assembly to which they belong, they 
 should receive from the Presbytery within whose bounds they reside that 
 sympathy and good -will which are implied in the fraternal relations 
 established between the two Assemblies. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 321 
 
 III. As to Cooperation in the Evangelization of the Colored People. 
 
 The Conference Committees of the two Presbyterian Assemblies, now in 
 joint session at Atlanta, recognize that no subjects likely to come under 
 their consideration among the topics regarding cooperation are fraught 
 with profounder interest, or touch graver issues, than the evangelization 
 of the colored people within our bounds, as well as the settlement of 
 their wisest and most profitable ecclesiastical relations among us. 
 
 Whatever difference of opinion may prevail on other points, happily 
 all good men agree in the earnest wish to bring the colored race to a 
 saving knowledge of God's truth, and to secure the best practical devel- 
 opment of their Christian life and effort. 
 
 Many of the colored people are now members of our respective 
 Churches, while many of the actual and prospective ministers of their 
 own race are in training in the schools belonging to one or the other 
 Assembly, or are members of Presbyteries in connection with these 
 bodies. They are now receiving our fostering care, and require our 
 unremitting efforts to instruct them, not only in the fundamental elements 
 of the Christian faith, but in the practical duties of church life, that, 
 grounded in the truth, and guarded from the danger of a mere emo- 
 tional religion, and from the superstition and fanaticism to which impres- 
 sible natures are especially liable, they may become intelligent, consis- 
 tent, faithful followers of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the van of all discussion upon methods of cooperation to this end, 
 we find ourselves confronted by a difference of opinion between the two 
 Assemblies, so far as we can gather from their deliverances, as to the 
 theory upon which such concerted efforts are to be undertaken, and the 
 distinct aim of their accomplishment. 
 
 In the Southern Assembly, the policy was adopted many years since, of 
 entire independence for the colored people in their church organizations, 
 as the ultimate issue of the cordial efforts of that Assembly, in behalf 
 of their colored brethren (see Minutes of Southern Assembly, 1888, 
 p. 458). 
 
 The Northern Assembly, on the other hand, has pronounced itself as 
 not in favor of setting forth its colored members into a separate, inde- 
 pendent organization. 
 
 It believes that our great work among the colored people, for their 
 moral and religious development, is to be done by recognizing those who 
 are in the Church as entitled to all the rights and privileges which are 
 involved in Church membership and ordination (see Minutes of North- 
 ern Assembly, 1888, p. 99). 
 
 However, since the status in both Churches finds them practically 
 employing the same methods at present in their respective bodies, as 
 regards the education of colored ministers, the progressive evangelization 
 of that race and the organization of their churches into Presbyteries, we 
 do not believe that two great denominations like ours, so near akin, should 
 be prevented from cordial cooperation, so far as may be thought wise, in 
 such vital concerns as these, by any different preferences of opinion as 
 to a final policy, which might be safely left to settle itself in the provi- 
 dence of God, either by the formal decision of the colored people them- 
 selves eventually, or by the clearer and more decided conviction of these 
 cooperating Assemblies. 
 
 Hence this Joint Committee, waiving the consideration of these differ- 
 ences heretofore stated, agrees to recommend to the two Assemblies: 
 
 21 
 
322 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 1. That the relations of the colored people in the two Churches be 
 allowed to remain in statu quo, the work among them to proceed on the 
 same lines as heretofore. 
 
 2. That all proper aid, comfort and encouragement, in a spirit of 
 kindly Christian sympathy, brotherhood and confidence, shall be extended 
 by each Church to the educational and evangelizing efforts of the other 
 for the colored race, with a view to the encouragement of every laudable 
 effort to this end on both sides. 
 
 3. The schools and churches under care of the Board of Missions for 
 Freedmen, and any corresponding work undertaken by the Southern 
 Assembly, especially its Tuscaloosa Institute for the Education of Colored 
 Ministers, shall be heartily recommended to the givers of our respective 
 Churches for practical aid, as mutually concerned in the same great 
 missionary work for the glory of God and the blessing of our common 
 country. 
 
 IV. As to Cooperation in Publication. 
 
 Your Committee appointed to consider the subject of cooperation 
 between the Churches in the interests of publication, etc. , respectfully 
 report: That such cooperation is already secured between the business 
 departments of the Committee of Publication at Richmond and the Board 
 of Publication at Philadelphia; the latter having, in effect, made the 
 Publication House at Richmond a depository of its issues. The Rich- 
 mond House keeps a large stock of the books of the Philadelphia Board 
 on hand; it takes subscriptions for its Presbyterian periodicals, and 
 receives in turn any orders the Publication Board receives from the 
 Southern field. 
 
 In like manner publications of the Richmond Committee are on the 
 shelves of the Publication House in Philadelphia, and find circulation 
 whenever there is any demand for them. It would seem, therefore, that 
 we have reached the limits of cooperation, so far as publication is con- 
 cerned. 
 
 We make no report with regard to cooperation in educational institu- 
 tions, as that question is comprehended in the larger one of the evangeli- 
 zation of the colored people, and will, no doubt, be controlled by the 
 decision of our General Assemblies in relation to that great interest. 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 Joseph T. Smith, Chairman. 
 —1889, pp. 69-74. 
 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., May 24, 1889. 
 To the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 Session in New York: 
 The General Assembly, in session at Chattanooga, concurs in the 
 amendment as conveyed in the telegram from your body, received to-day. 
 
 Joseph R. Wilson, Stated Clerk. 
 —1889, pp. 79. 
 The following resolutions were then adopted: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly would record its devout gratitude to 
 the great Head of the Church, for the result reached by the Committee 
 of Conference on Methods of Cooperation. 
 
 2. That we record our appreciation of the ability, fidelity and zeal of 
 our own Committee. 
 
 3. That this Committee be now discharged. — 1889, p. 80. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 323 
 
 (6) Committee of Conference with Presbyterian Church in the U. S. on 
 
 Colored Work. 
 
 [Note. — A telegram was received from the Presbyterian Church in theU. S., inform- 
 ing the Assembly that it had appointed a Committee of Conference on Colored Work 
 and asking the appointment of a like Committee by the Assembly U. S. A., which was 
 done. — 1892, p. 125. See Report of the Special Committee, Minutes, 1893, pp. 19, 20. 
 The Committee was continued with additions. The next year, this Committee, 
 through its Chairman, Dr. William C. Young, presented the report of the Committee, 
 which was received and ordered to be printed in the Minutes, for information, and 
 the Committee was discharged, see Minutes, 1894, pp. 129-131.] 
 
 (7) Cooperation in Foreign Missions with Presbyterian Church 
 in the U. S. 
 
 a. Overture, an official communication from the Presbyterian Church 
 in the U. S. , with reference to cooperation in Foreign Missions. 
 
 Recommended, That the General Assembly approve of the project of 
 securing some plan of cooperation with the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States in Foreign Mission work, and refer this communication to 
 the Board of Foreign Missions for action. Adopted. — 1892, p. 178. 
 
 b. The Standing Committee on Foreign Missions presented the follow- 
 ing supplementary report, which was adopted: 
 
 The Standing Committee on Foreign Missions respectfully report: 
 
 1. The General Assembly has learned with pleasure that during the 
 past year conference and correspondence have been had by the Board of 
 Foreign Missions with the Committee on Foreign Missions of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the United States, touching cooperation in Foreign Mission 
 fields. On the invitation of the Executive Council of our Board, the 
 Rev. M. H. Houston, D.D. , Secretary of the Committee on Foreign 
 Missions, visited New York last March for a conference on this subject. 
 Subsequently, under date of April 12, 1892, Dr. Houston forwarded to 
 our Board a minute from the Committee on Foreign Missions suggest- 
 ing that the General Assemblies of the two Churches be requested to 
 authorize further conference on the subject with a view to framing some 
 recommendations to be submitted to the respective Assemblies. 
 
 In response to this minute, our Board took the following action: 
 1 ' The Board of Foreign Missions acknowledges with devout gratitude to 
 God the receipt of the above minute from the Committee on Foreign 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and welcomes 
 it as an important step in the direction of our practical cooperation in 
 the foreign field. The Board cordially acquiesces in the suggestion of 
 the Committee that stej)S should be taken without delay to bring about 
 this much desired result. It is therefore ordered that the General 
 Assembly be requested to authorize the Board to confer with the Com- 
 mittee of the Southern General Assembly on the whole question of prac- 
 tical cooperation on the foreign field, it being understood that the Board 
 shall have no power in the premises except to consult and to frame 
 recommendations which shall be submitted to the General Assembly." 
 
 The General Assembly most cordially approves this action of the 
 Board, and hereby authorizes it to confer with the Committee on Foreign 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States on the subject 
 named, and to submit a report of the conference, together with any 
 recommendations which may be agreed upon, to the next General 
 Assembly.— 1892, pp. 196, 197. 
 
 The Assembly hereby approves of the action taken by the Joint Con- 
 ference of our Board, and the Executive Committee on Foreign Missions 
 
324 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, touching cooperation 
 on the Foreign Mission fields. — 1893, p. 82. 
 
 (<9) Overtures for organic union with Presbyterian Church in U. S. 
 
 a. The Committee on Bills and Overtures also reported on the over- 
 tures on Organic Union with the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States, as follows: 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Allegheny, Benicia, Chester, 
 Dubuque, Holston, Huntingdon, Kingston, Osborne, Ozark and Utica, 
 asking this Assembly to appoint a Special Committee of Conference to 
 confer with a similar Committee, if one should be appointed, by the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, to take 
 into consideration the whole question of organic union of the two bodies 
 aforesaid, upon the basis of our common Standards, and to report to the 
 next Assembly. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the following action be taken by this 
 Assembly : 
 
 Whereas, We have heard with great joy that the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States, now in session in Nash- 
 ville, Tenn. , has before it overtures from its own Presbyteries asking for 
 the appointment of a Special Committee to confer upon the subject of 
 organic union with a similar Committee of this Assembly, if one should 
 be appointed; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That a Special Committee of nine be appointed by the 
 Moderator to confer with a similar Committee, if one should be ap- 
 pointed, by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States^ to take into consideration the whole question of the 
 organic union of the two bodies upon the basis of our common Stand- 
 ards, and to report to the next Assembly ; and that the Moderator and 
 Stated Clerk be authorized to communicate this action by telegraph to 
 the General Assembly now in session at Nashville, Tenn. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1894, pp. 31, 32. 
 
 b. In answer to the above, the following telegram from the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, in session at 
 Nashville, Tenn., was received, read and ordered placed on record. 
 
 Nashville, Tenn., May 23, 1894. 
 
 To the General Assembly in Session at Saratoga : 
 
 The blessing of God having rested upon our Church in her separate 
 existence and work, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States, in session at Nashville, with affectionate fraternal 
 greetings to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, in session at Saratoga, and wishing it God- 
 speed in every good word and work, regard it as unwise to reopen the 
 question of organic union. 
 
 James R. Graham, Moderator. 
 
 Joseph R. Wilson, Stated Clerk. 
 —1894, p. 92. 
 
 Action of the Assembly on the above communication. 
 
 C. In the matter of the Special Committee of Conference with the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 with a view to organic union, it was 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 325 
 
 Resolved, That while this Assembly accepts the action of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, of which it 
 has been notified, as sufficiently indicating the wisdom of suspending for 
 the present everything like overtures looking to a union with that body, 
 it desires to put on record its expression of regret for such suspension. — 
 1894, p. 140. 
 
 This Assembly reiterates its hearty readiness to take active steps toward 
 such a union, as soon as the Lord in His providence shall open the way. 
 —1897, p. 83. 
 
 XIV.* RELATIONS TO NON-ECCLESIASTICAL BODIES. 
 (1) The Assembly will not petition partisan conventions. 
 
 A request from the Presbytery of Wooster, asking the Assembly to 
 petition the various party conventions, to place in their platform a full, 
 clear recognition of the two great truths, viz. , that our Lord Jesus Christ 
 is the Sovereign Ruler of our nation, and that His moral law is the rule 
 of our conduct in all civil and political affairs, and to declare for — 1. 
 The American Sabbath; 2. A Uniform Christian Marriage Law ; 3. The 
 Right of the Bible in the Public Schools; and, 4. Against the Ameri- 
 can Saloon. 
 
 The Committee recommend the answer, that while the Assembly 
 believes that all its officers and members are in the fullest sympathy with 
 these ends, it does not see its way clear to be a petitioner to partisan con- 
 ventions. Adopted. — 1891, p. 135. 
 
 (2) The Assembly receives and appoints delegates only in case of 
 ecclesiastical bodies. 
 
 a. Certain papers purporting to be the credentials of friendly visitors 
 from the Woman's National Christian Temperance Union were pre- 
 sented to the Assembly by the Stated Clerk, and the following resolution 
 in reference to them was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That it is the judgment of this Assembly that friendly dele- 
 gates or visitors should be received only from corresponding ecclesiastical 
 bodies: but that the Assembly nevertheless expresses its deep sympathy 
 with the work in which the Woman's National Christian Temperance 
 Union is engaged. — 1880, pp. 42, 43. 
 
 b. Overture. — A paper referred to this Committee by the Assembly. 
 It is a printed document, not addressed specially to the Assembly, but to 
 all associations of ministers and churches, all General Assemblies and 
 Synods, all General and Annual Conferences, all Woman's National and 
 State Unions, Grand Divisions of the Sons of Temperance, Grand 
 Lodges of Good Templars, asking that delegates be appointed by these 
 bodies to attend a National Temperance Convention, to be held at Sara- 
 toga Springs, June 21, 1881. 
 
 We recommend the following answer: 
 
 Whilst this General Assembly feels a deep interest in the subject of 
 temperance, it is not our custom to appoint delegates except to ecclesias- 
 tical bodies. Adopted. — 1881, p. 551. 
 
 C. An invitation from the National Temperance Society and Publica- 
 tion House, inviting the Assembly to send delegates to the National 
 Temperance Convention, to be held at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., July 15, 
 1891. 
 
326 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 To this invitation we recommend the reply that while in full sympathy 
 with every movement for the promotion of Temperance, it is not the 
 habit of the Assembly to send delegates to any but ecclesiastical bodies. 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 135; 1893, p. 86. 
 
 XV. POWERS IN DEFINING AND DETERMINING WHICH ARE TRUE 
 AND LAWFUL JUDICATORIES. 
 
 Synods and Presbyteries in Kentucky and Missouri. 
 
 The Committee to whom were referred sundry papers relating to the 
 divisions of the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri, and pi the Presby- 
 teries under their care, which has resulted in two sets of commissioners 
 claiming seats in this General Assembly from several of these Presby- 
 teries, and also sundry papers concerning the signers of a paper entitled 
 a " Declaration and Testimony," etc., together with the citation of the 
 said signers, who were summoned by the last General Assembly to appear 
 before this present Assembly, beg leave to report: 
 
 That they have had the matters committed to them under considera- 
 tion, and have had full personal conference with the several claimants 
 for seats, and recommend to the General Assembly for adoption the 
 following propositions: 
 
 I. The ecclesiastical judicatories hereinafter named are the true and 
 lawful judicatories in connection with and under the care and authority 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, namely: 
 
 The Synod of Kentucky which met at Henderson, Ky., in October, 
 1866, and adjourned to meet, and did meet, in Lexington, Ky., in 
 November, 1866, of which Synod the Rev. J. T. Lapsley is now the 
 Moderator and the Rev. S. S. McRoberts is the Stated Clerk, this Synod 
 having under its care and authority, and within its ecclesiastical bounda- 
 ries, the following Presbyteries, viz., the Presbytery of Louisville, of 
 which the Rev. J. P. McMillan is now the Moderator and the Rev. R. 
 Valentine is the Stated Clerk; the Presbytery of Ebenezer, of which the 
 Rev. J. F. Hendy is now the Moderator and the Rev. R. F. Caldwell is 
 the Stated Clerk; the Presbytery of West Lexington, of which the Rev. 
 Stephen Yerkes, D. D. , is now the Moderator and the Rev. J. K. Lyle 
 is the Stated Clerk ; the Presbytery of Transylvania, of which the Rev. 
 G. J. Read is now the Moderator and the Rev. S. S. McRoberts is the 
 Stated Clerk; the Presbytery of Muhlenburg, of which the Rev. A. D. 
 Metcalf is now the Moderator and the Rev. S. Y. Garrison is the Stated 
 Clerk; and the Presbytery of Paducah, of which the Rev. J. P. Riddle 
 is now the Moderator and the Rev. James Hawthorn is the Stated Clerk; 
 and these several Presbyteries having in their connection and under their 
 care and authority and within their ecclesiastical boundaries respectively 
 the ministers, churches, licentiates and candidates belonging to, and 
 claiming to belong to, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America. The foregoing described judicatories, namely, the Synod, 
 Presbyteries and church Sessions within their respective jurisdictions, are 
 to be respected and obeyed as the true and only lawful judicatories 
 possessing the names above recited within the State of Kentucky, which 
 are in connection with and under the care and authority of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; 
 and the commissioners sent to and enrolled in this General Assembly 
 from the above-described Presbyteries are true and lawful commissioners* 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 327 
 
 The Synod of Missouri, which met at Boonville, Mo. , October 10 r 
 1866, of which Synod the Rev. J. P. Finley was elected Moderator and 
 the Rev. J. A. Paige was elected the Stated Clerk, and which adjourned 
 to meet in Kansas City on the second Wednesday in October, 1867, this 
 Synod having under its care and authority, and within its ecclesiastical 
 boundaries, the following Presbyteries, viz. , the Presbytery of St. Louis, 
 of which the Rev. J. F. Fenton is now the Moderator and the Rev. H. 
 
 C. McCook is the Stated Clerk; the Presbytery of Palmyra, of which 
 the Rev. A. Steed is now the Moderator and the Rev. J. P. Finley is 
 the Stated Clerk; the Presbytery of Potosi, of which the Rev. G. W.. 
 Harland is now the Moderator and the Rev. A. Munsen is the Stated 
 Clerk; the Presbytery of Lafayette, of which the Rev. Charles Sturde- 
 vant is now the Moderator and the Rev. George Fraser is the Stated 
 Clerk; the Presbytery of Southwest Missouri, of which the Rev. Wil- 
 liam R. Fulton is now the Moderator and the Rev. James A. Paige is 
 the Stated Clerk; and the Presbytery of Upper Missouri, of which the 
 Rev. Mr. Pinkerton is now the Moderator and the Rev. W. C. McPhee- 
 ters is the Stated Clerk ; and these several Presbyteries having in their 
 connection and under their care and authority and within their ecclesias- 
 tical boundaries respectively the ministers, churches, licentiates and 
 candidates belonging to, and claiming to belong to, the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America. The above-described judica- 
 tories, namely, the Synod, Presbyteries and church Sessions within their 
 respective jurisdictions, are to be respected and obeyed as the true and 
 only lawful judicatories possessing the names above recited within the 
 State of Missouri, which are in connection with and under the care and 
 authority of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America; and the commissioners sent to and enrolled 
 in this General Assembly from the above -described Presbyteries are true 
 and lawful commissioners. — 1867, p. 335, O. S. The remainder of the 
 deliverance is omitted, in conformity with the action of the Assembly of 
 1873. 
 
 CASE OP THE WALNUT STREET CHURCH, LOUISVILLE, KY. THE 
 ASSEMBLY PASSES UPON THE VALIDITY OP THE ELECTION OP 
 RULING ELDERS. 
 
 a. The Committee on Bills and Overtures, to whom were referred the 
 petition and memorial of Benjamin F. Avery, D. McNaughton, James 
 A. Leech and Thomas J. Hackney, ruling elders in the Walnut Street 
 Church in Louisville, praying for such redress as in the wisdom of the 
 General Assembly may seem just and necessary to redress the grievances 
 of said church, as set forth in said memorial and petition, report that 
 they have considered the matter referred, and recommend the adoption 
 of the following: 
 
 Whereas, On the second day of January last, D. McNaughton, Benja- 
 min F. Avery and James A. Leech were elected ruling elders by the 
 congregation of said church, and on the ninth day of January the said 
 
 D. McNaughton was installed and Benjamin F. Avery and James A. 
 Leech were duly ordained and installed ruling elders in said church ; 
 and 
 
 Whereas, The Presbytery of Louisville, after the election of said 
 ruling elders, with the apparent design of discrediting said election, 
 denied to one of their number a seat in said Presbytery, notwithstanding 
 
22S 
 
 FORM OF GOVERNMENT. CHAP. XII. 
 
 he had beep duly elected to represent said church at a meeting of said 
 Presbytery ; and 
 
 Whereas, It is evident that the peace of said church ami their 
 congregational rights are in great danger unless this Assembly shall inter- 
 pose its authority; 
 
 Therefore, this General Assembly, by virtue of its authority and 
 obligation to give advice and instruction in all cases submitted 
 to them, does truly declare that the said D. MeXaughton, Benjamin 
 F. Avery and James A. Leech are to be recognized and acknowl- 
 edged as ruling elders in the said church, and all Church courts and 
 Sessions, subject to or under the care of this Assembly, are solemnly 
 enjoined to respect and sustain their authority as such. 
 
 The report on this overture was adopted. — 1866, p. 54, 0. S. 
 
 [Notk. — For the full and final action, on this matter, see Diaest, !SSt>. pp. 217 
 IMS, and Minutes, 1866, pp. 64, (>S : 1868, p. 652; 1869, p. 942, O. S., and L870, p. 127. and 
 1872, p. 52.] 
 
 b. This Assembly expresses its sympathy with the churches in the 
 Synod of Kentucky in the difficulties and trials into which they have 
 been brought by their adherence to the Presbyterian Church. We will 
 aid them to the full extent of our ability in defending and protecting 
 their church property. And we will encourage the people of (rod every- 
 where under our charge, to contribute liberally to repair the pecuniary 
 losses which may be sustained by their churches and schools of learning. 
 
 We counsel these brethren also, on the one hand, to yield a cheerful 
 obedience to the laws of the land, even to the extent of taking " joyfully 
 the spoiling of their goods." But, on the other hand, we counsel the 
 courts of the Church to continue to administer the spiritual government 
 of Christ's house which is in their hands, always disregarding the judg- 
 ments of the secular tribunals on questions which belong to the spiritual 
 jurisdiction alone. It is the constant faith of this Church that civil 
 magistrates may not assume to themselves " the powers of the keys of 
 the kingdom of heaven, or in the least interfere in matters oi" faith:" 
 c< and as Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline 
 in His Church, no law o{ any commonwealth should interfere with, let 
 or hinder the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members of any 
 denomination of Christians, according to their own profession and belief" 
 (Confession of Faith, Chap. xxiii\ 
 
 The report was unanimously adopted. — 1868. p. 652, 0. S. 
 
 C. The report of the Committee on Bills and Overtures was amended 
 and adopted, and is as follows : 
 
 The various Presbyteries of the Synod of Kentucky respectfully call 
 the attention of the General Assembly to the judicial decisions accom- 
 panying this memorial, as follows: 
 
 The first is a decision of the Court of Appeals in the State of Ken- 
 tucky, in which the right of the civil courts to review and reverse the 
 proceedings and decisions of ecclesiastical courts on purely ecclesiastical 
 matters is directly maintained, and in pursuance of which it is adjudged 
 that three ruling elders, whose election and ordination was ordered by 
 the Synod of Kentucky and confirmed by the General Assembly, were 
 not ruling elders in the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The second is a decision of the same court, in which the same superi- 
 ority of the civil tribunals over the ecclesiastical is maintained, and in 
 pursuance of which the deliverances of the General Assembly during 
 
OF THE GENEKAL ASSEMBLY. 329 
 
 the late war on loyalty, freedom, etc., are adjudged to be unconstitu- 
 tional, in which its condemnation of the Declaration and Testimony is 
 adjudged to be erroneous, and its dealings with the signers of that paper 
 to be null and void. 
 
 The third is a decision of the Circuit Court of the United States, in 
 which, in opposition to the decisions mentioned, it is decided that the civil 
 courts are bound to respect and enforce the decisions of all ecclesiastical 
 courts, particularly the General Assembly, on all purely ecclesiastical 
 matters whatsoever. 
 
 From this last decision an appeal has been taken to the Supreme Court 
 of the United States, and thus the rights and prerogatives of the General 
 Assembly are placed in a posture where they must be determined by that 
 court of last resort. 
 
 A case so directly involving the rights of the General Assembly, and 
 so essentially determining the extent to which we shall be permitted 
 to enjoy our religious liberties, ought not, in our judgment, to be left to 
 the management of, nor should the expense fall solely upon, a single 
 church. 
 
 We, therefore, respectfully request the General Assembly to take such 
 action and to make such provision as will be necessary in order to a thor- 
 ough vindication of its rights and prerogatives before tlfat tribunal. 
 
 As an answer to this memorial, the Committee on Bills and Overtures 
 recommends the adoption of the following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, 1. This General Assembly expresses its deepest sympathy for 
 those churches in the bounds of the Synod of Kentucky which have 
 l>ecome involved in expensive and harassing litigation while faithfully 
 complying with the orders of the superior judicatories of the Church, 
 and directs the Board of Domestic Missions and the Board of Church 
 Extension to afford them all such assistance as it may be in their power to 
 give. 
 
 Resolved. 2. While the General Assembly fully recognizes its obliga- 
 tion to be in subjection to the powers that be, yet, so long as anything 
 can legally be done, it must not and will not remain silent and inactive 
 when its own rights and liberties and the rights and liberties of the whole 
 Church are put in peril by injurious decisions in the civil courts; it 
 expresses gratification at the decision that has been rendered by the Cir- 
 cuit Court of the United States in the case referred to in the memorial, 
 and it hereby appoints E. P. Humphrey, D.D., Edgar Needham, and 
 Gen. John M. Harlan, of Louisville, Ky., a Committee to counsel and 
 cooperate with the proper parties in the appeal which has been taken in 
 this case to the Supreme Court of the United States, and for the necessary 
 expenses of said case in the court from which and in the court to which 
 it has been appealed, said Committee is authorized to draw on the Board 
 of Publication for a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars. — 1869, p. 
 942. O. - 
 
 d. The report of the Committee was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, ask the General Assembly to allow us to 
 use the unexpended balance of the $5000 appropriation, that balance 
 being $3000, for the purpose of amicably adjusting the Walnut Street 
 case; 
 
 Provided, 1. That the sum of $2000 shall be contributed by our 
 brethren for this purpose ; and 
 
 2. That all the cases pending in any of the courts, involving the title 
 
330 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 to houses of worship or parsonages in Kentucky, shall be also amicably 
 adjusted and settled. Such an adjustment would, we trust, exert a most 
 salutary influence upon the cause of Christ and the welfare of the Presby- 
 terian Church. — 1870, p. 127. 
 
 e. The Supreme Court at Washington has, in a judgment lately ren- 
 dered, upheld all the rights of property asserted by the Walnut Street 
 Church; and, what is of far more importance, that high court has fully 
 sustained the doctrine for which the General Assembly has contended. In 
 an elaborate written opinion the judges have held, for substance, that the 
 courts of law must accept as final and conclusive the decisions of the 
 General Assembly on questions purely ecclesiastical, and must give mil 
 effect to these decisions in settling the property rights of parties litigant. 
 
 The General Assembly will not be slow to appreciate the value of this 
 opinion, in the protection which it affords to the liberties of a free Church, 
 and to the funds which may be entrusted to the Assembly and to its 
 congregations for pious uses. 
 
 For this reason the Assembly is respectfully overtured to publish the 
 opinion of the court at length, in the Appendix to its Minutes, and to 
 order a faithful abstract thereof to be prepared and inserted in the forth- 
 coming Digest. 
 
 The Board of Publication have promptly honored the drafts of the 
 Committee to the full amount appropriated by the Assembly of 1869. 
 A large part of this money has been expended in the payment of ex- 
 penses incident to the litigation, leaving a moderate compensation for 
 the labors of our legal couusel. 
 
 The Assembly are respectfully asked to accept this as our final report 
 and to discharge the Committee. — 1872, p. 52. 
 
 XVI. THE ASSEMBLY MAY PROPOSE RULES RE< M7LATIVE OF THE CON- 
 STITUTIONAL POWERS OF PRESBYTERIES AND SYNODS. 
 
 VI. Before any overtures or enactments proposed by the Assembly 
 to be established as rules regulative of the constitutional powers of Pres- 
 byteries and Synods shall be obligatory upon the Church, it shall be 
 necessary to transmit them to all the Presbyteries, and to receive the 
 returns of at least a majority of them, in writing, approving thereof, 
 and such rules, when approved, shall be appended to the Constitution 
 of the Church.— 1892, p. 172. 
 
 [Note. — Prior to 1892, Sec. vi read as follows : 
 
 VI. Before any overtures or regulations proposed by the Assembly to be estab- 
 lished as constitutional rules shall be obligatory on the churches, it shall be necessary 
 to transmit them to all the Presbyteries, and to receive the returns of at least a 
 majority of them, in writing, approving thereof. 
 
 For decisions and deliverances under this section now stricken out, see Digest, 1886, 
 pp. 325-329, 542, 543. 
 
 See also Form of Government, Chap, xxiii. Of Amendments.] 
 
 I. LOCAL EVANGELISTS. 
 
 Constitutional Bute Xo. 1. — It shall be lawful for Presbytery, after 
 proper examination as to his piety, knowledge of the Scriptures and 
 ability to teach, to license as a local evangelist any male member of 
 the Church, who, in the judgment of Presbytery, is qualified to teach 
 the Gospel publicly, and who is willing to engage in such service under 
 the direction of Presbytery. Such license shall be valid for one year 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 331 
 
 unless renewed, and such licensed local evangelist shall report to the 
 Presbyter}^ at least once each year, and his license may be withdrawn 
 at any time at the pleasure of Presbytery. The person securing such 
 license shall not be ordained to the Gospel ministry, should he desire 
 to enter it, until he shall have served at least four years as a local 
 evangelist, and shall have pursued and been examined upon what 
 would be equivalent to a three years' course of study in Theology, 
 Homiletics, Church History, Church Polity and the English Bible, 
 under the direction of Presbytery. i 
 
 The Assembly also directs that the said constitutional rule be appended 
 to the Constitution of the Church, and instructs the Stated Clerk of the 
 General Assembly to carry this direction into effect. Adopted. — 1893, 
 p. 200. 
 
 Form for licensing local evangelists. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, xiv, Sec. vii.] 
 II. EXAMINATION FOR LICENSURE. 
 
 Constitutional Rule No. 2. — Candidates for licensure, in addition to 
 the examination required by Chap, xiv, Sec. 4, of the Form of Govern- 
 ment, shall be diligently examined in the English Bible, and shall be re- 
 quired to exhibit a good knowledge of its contents and of the relation of 
 its separate parts and portions to each other. — 1897, p. 119. 
 
 VII. The General Assembly shall meet at least once in every year. 
 On the day appointed for that purpose, the Moderator of the last Assem- 
 bly, if present, or, in case of his absence, some other minister, shall 
 open the meeting with a sermon, and preside until a new Moderator be 
 chosen. No commissioner shall have a right to deliberate or vote in the 
 Assembly until his name shall have been enrolled by the Clerk, and his 
 commission examined and filed among the papers of the Assembly. 
 
 1. Adjourned meetings of the Assembly. 
 
 In 1846, the Assembly, N. S., then meeting triennially, was adjourned 
 by the Moderator, in accordance with a previous vote, to meet in the 
 city of Cincinnati, O., on the third Thursday of May, 1847. On the 
 constitutionality of such adjournment the opinion of Chancellor Kent, 
 of New York, was sought, and given as follows: 
 
 The question is, Had the General Assembly, under the Constitution of 
 the Presbyterian Church, a lawful or rightful power to so adjourn ? 
 
 Answer. — In my opinion, the power of adjournment rests in the sound 
 discretion of the General Assembly. I consider the power to be neces- 
 sarily incident to every deliberative assembly, unless specially prohibited 
 by its charter or Constitution. It appertains, of course, to all legislative 
 assemblies, and is occasionally exercised. This is the case with the Eng- 
 lish Parliament, and with the legislative assemblies in the United States. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States says that Congress shall assem- 
 ble at least once in every year, and on the first Monday in December. 
 The only inhibition in the Constitution is that neither House shall 
 adjourn without the consent of the other for more than three days, nor 
 to any other place. The Constitution is silent as to any other adjourn- 
 ment, and yet no question has ever been raised as to the power of 
 
332 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Congress or both Houses concurrently to adjourn the session to a future 
 time. 
 
 So in the Constitution of New York, the legislative term begins on the 
 first of January, and the Legislature are to assemble every year on the 
 first Monday in January, and neither House without the consent of the 
 other can adjourn for more than two days. No doubt is raised as to the 
 competency of the two Houses jointly to adjourn, in their discretion, to 
 any future or distant day. And though the Legislature are to meet as 
 prescribed, and are, as to the Assembly, elected annually, it is now in 
 contemplation at the present session to adjourn over to the month of 
 September. 
 
 The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church leaves silently the same 
 power of adjournment, precisely on the same footing of discretion. Thus 
 the General Assembly are to meet at least triennially or once in every 
 third year. And the last Moderator, with the concurrence of the Stated 
 and Permanent Clerks, may call a pro re nata meeting of the General 
 Assembly, in case of any emergency, on four months' notice.* And 
 the Assembly is to be considered as the same with the previous one. 
 
 The adjournment preserves the identity of the Assembly. I have no 
 doubt that upon a sound construction of the Constitution the General 
 Assembly has the same analogous power as all other political legislative 
 bodies to which I have alluded. If any greater restriction had been 
 intended, it would have been expressed. The language quoted implies 
 as of course the power of adjournment. It is a wise and necessary 
 power to guard against calamities, and overruling necessities, such as a 
 desolating sickness, or conflagration, or insurrection, etc. It may be 
 safely confided to such a representation, if anything may. 
 
 Even in ordinary civil corporations, where powers are granted very 
 guardedly and construed strictly, it is adjudged that a corporation may 
 transact any business at an adjourned meeting which they might have 
 transacted at an original meeting (11 Yt. Reports, 385). 
 
 For these reasons briefly I conclude that the power of adjournment by 
 the General Assembly the last year to Cincinnati was constitutional. 
 
 James Kent. 
 
 New York, April 19, 18^7. —1847, p. 147, N. S. 
 
 2. The adjourned meeting of 1869. 
 
 The two Assemblies of 1869, meeting in New York, mutually agreed: 
 
 a. That the said General Assemblies now sitting shall, after finishing 
 their business, adjourn, to meet in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa., on the 
 second Wednesday of November, 1869, at 11 o'clock A.M.— O. S., p. 
 915; N. S., p. 277. 
 
 b. It was ordered that when the Assembly adjourns this afternoon it 
 be to meet in the First Church of Pittsburgh, on Wednesday, the 10th 
 day of November next, at 11 o'clock A.M.— 1869, p. 949, O. S. 
 
 In accordance with previous action, the Assembly, with prayer and 
 the apostolic benediction by the Moderator, adjourned to meet at the 
 Third Presbyterian Church, in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. , on the second 
 Wednesday of November, A.D. 1869, at 11 o'clock A.M.— 1869, p. 
 304, N. S. 
 
 *It was so provided in the plan under which triennial Assemblies were held.— 1839, 
 p. 27, N. S. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 333 
 
 3. Who may sit as commissioners in an adjourned Assembly. 
 
 a. The Committee (Hon. Daniel Haines and Hon. Joseph Allison, 
 LL.D.) on Instructing the Presbyteries concerning their representation 
 at the adjourned meeting of this Assembly presented a report, which 
 was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 Whereas, It has been questioned whether this Assembly at the pro- 
 posed adjourned meeting in November next, at Pittsburgh, Pa., can be 
 properly constituted of "the principal or alternate commissioners not in 
 attendance on the sessions of the body at this time; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, In the judgment of the Assembly those commissioners only 
 who have presented their commissions, and whose names have been 
 placed on the roll, will be entitled to participate in the meeting of the 
 Assembly in November, except in case of a vacancy occasioned by death, 
 resignation, refusal or inability of any such commissioner to attend, in 
 Avhich event it will be competent and proper for the Presbytery to supply 
 the vacancy by a new election or appointment. — 1869, p. 290, N. S. 
 
 b. W. E. Schenk, D.D., Permanent Clerk, from the Committee on 
 Commissions, reported that several gentlemen w T ere present with commis- 
 sions as alternates, the principals being absent. On motion of G. W. 
 Musgrave, D.D., it was 
 
 Resolved, That all alternates presenting regular commissions be en- 
 rolled, the principals being absent. Mr. Henry Day was requested to 
 communicate this action to the Assembly of the other branch, now 
 sitting in the Third Presbyterian Church in this city, w T hich he did. 
 
 The alternates present were enrolled as follows: W. A. Scott, D.D., 
 from the Presbytery of New York; Rev. Joseph A. Hanna, from the 
 Presbytery of Oregon; Rev. A. B. Cross, from the Presbytery of Balti- 
 more; Ruling Elder William Carpenter, from the Presbvtery of Newton. 
 —1869, p. 1143, O. S. 
 
 VIII. Each session of the Assembly shall be opened and closed with 
 prayer. And the whole business of the Assembly being finished, and 
 the vote taken for dissolving the present Assembly, the moderator shall 
 say from the chair — ' ' By virtue of the authority delegated to me by the 
 Church, let this General Assembly be dissolved, and I do hereby dissolve 
 it, and require another General Assembly, chosen in the same manner, 
 to meet at on the day of A.D. " — after 
 
 which he shall pray and return thanks, and pronounce, on those present, 
 the apostolic benediction. 
 
 1. The place of meeting determined by the vote of the Assembly. 
 
 The Committee on the minute to be made concerning the place of meet- 
 ing of this Assembly presented their report, which was adopted, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 The Committee having under consideration the minute to be made con- 
 cerning the place of meeting of the Assembly would report: The Assem- 
 bly of 1879, on the 26th day of May, at Saratoga, appointed " Madison, 
 Wis. , " as the place of meeting for the present Assembly. No house or 
 place of meeting in this city was named or designated (see Minutes of 
 1879, p. 619). 
 
 When the Moderator of the last Assembly declared that body dissolved, 
 
334 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 he did announce that the present Assembly would meet in the First 
 Presbyterian Church of Madison, Wis. (Minutes of 1879, p. 634). 
 The law of our Church requires the Moderator to dissolve the Assembly, 
 
 *' and to require another .... to meet at , on the day 
 
 of " (Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. viii). 
 
 The Assembly, and not the Moderator, has the right and the power of 
 iixing the place of meeting. The Assembly fixed the city of Madison, 
 and left the present Assembly to seek its own place or house in which to 
 meet. This Assembly selected this hall, after it was so kindly and gen- 
 erously tendered by His Excellency the Governor of this State. There 
 can be no question but that the meeting in this hall is regular, and in 
 conformity with the order of the last Assembly, and of the law and Con- 
 stitution of the Church. 
 
 Your Committee ask to be discharged from the further consideration 
 of the matter committed to them. — 1880, p. 81. 
 
 2. Permanent committee on the place of meeting of the next Assembly. 
 
 The Moderator and the Stated and Permanent Clerks were appointed 
 a Committee to report from year to year on the place of the meeting of 
 the next ensuing Assembly. — 1881, p. 59. 
 
 3. Form of minute of dissolving the Assembly. 
 After solemn praise and thanksgiving, the business of the Assembly 
 having been completed, and the vote taken for the dissolution, the Mod- 
 erator dissolved the Assembly, saying, " By virtue of the authority dele- 
 gated to me by the Church, let this General Assembly be dissolved, and 
 I do hereby dissolve it, and require another General Assembly, chosen 
 in the same manner, to meet at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. , on the third 
 Thursday of May, 1896." The sessions were closed with singing, prayer 
 and the apostolic benediction. 
 
 THE TRUSTEES, THE BOARDS, AND THE SEMINARIES. 
 
 [Note.— As illustrating and explaining the powers of the Assembly it has 
 seemed both logical and convenient to put under Chap, xii, Sec. v, the charter of the 
 Trustees ; the legislation concerning the Boards and the action of the Assembly 
 relating to theological instruction and the theological seminaries.] 
 
 I. THE TRUSTEES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 1. Charter of the Trustees. 
 
 An Act for Incorporating the Trustees of the Ministers and Elders constitu- 
 ting the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America. 
 Whereas, The ministers and elders forming the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, consisting of citizens of 
 the State of Pennsylvania, and of others of the United States of America 
 aforesaid, have by their petition represented that by donations, bequests or 
 otherwise, of charitably disposed persons, they are possessed of moneys for 
 benevolent and pious purposes, and the said ministers and elders have reason 
 to expect further contributions for similar uses ; but from the scattered situa- 
 tion of the said ministers and elders, and other causes, the said ministers and 
 elders find it extremely difficult to manage the said funds in the way best cal- 
 culated to answer the intention of the donors ; Therefore, 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same : That John Rogers, Alexander Mc* 
 Whorter, Samuel Stanhope Smith, Ashbel Green, William M. Tenant, Patrick 
 Allison, Nathan Irvin, Joseph Clark, Andrew Hunter, Jared Ingersoll, Robert 
 Ralston, Jonathan B. Smith, Andrew Bayard, Elias Boudinot, John Nelson, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 335 
 
 Ebenezer Hazard, David Jackson and Robert Smith, merchant, and their suc- 
 cessors duly elected and appointed in manner as is hereinafter directed, be and 
 they are hereby made, declared and constituted, a corporation and body pol- 
 itic and corporate, in law and in fact, to have continuance forever, by the 
 name, style and title of "Trustees of the General Assembly of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the United States of America ; " and by the name, style and title 
 aforesaid, shall, forever hereafter, be persons able and capable in law as well to 
 take, receive and hold, all and all manner of lands, tenements, rents, annuities, 
 franchises and other hereditaments, which at any time or times heretofore have 
 been granted, bargained, sold, enfeoffed, released, devised, or otherwise con- 
 veyed, to the said ministers and elders of the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States, or any other person or persons, to their 
 use, or in trust for them : and the same lands, tenements, rents, annuities, lib- 
 erties, franchises and other hereditaments, are hereby vested and established in 
 the said corporation and their successors forever, according to the original use 
 and intent for which such devises, gifts and grants were respectively made ; and 
 the said corporation and their successors are hereby declared to be seized and 
 possessed of such estate and estates therein, as in and by the respective grants, 
 bargains, sales, enfeoffments, releases, devises and other conveyances thereof, 
 is or are declared, limited and expressed ; also, that the said corporation and 
 their successors, at all times hereafter, shall be capable and able to purchase, 
 have, receive, take, hold and enjoy, in fee simple, or of lesser estate or estates, 
 any lands, tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and other hereditaments, by 
 the gift, grant, bargain, sale, alienation, enfeoffment, release, confirmation or 
 devise, of any person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, capable and 
 able to make the same : And further, That the said ministers and elders, under 
 the corporate name aforesaid, and their successors, may take and receive any 
 sum or sums of money, and any portion of goods and chattels, that have been 
 given to the said ministers and elders, or that hereafter shall be given, sold, 
 leased or bequeathed to the said corporation, by any person or persons, bodies 
 politic or corporate, that is able or capable to make a gift, sale, bequest or 
 other disposal of the same ; such money, goods, or chattels, to be laid out and 
 disposed of, for the use and benefit of the aforesaid corporation, agreeably to 
 the intention of the donors, and according to the objects, articles and condi- 
 tions of this act. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That no mis- 
 nomer of the said corporation and their successors shall defeat or annul any 
 gift, grant, devise or bequest, to or from the said corporation, provided the 
 intent of the party or parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, 
 will, grant or other writing, whereby any estate or interest was intended to 
 pass to or from the said corporation. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation and their successors shall have full power and authority to make, 
 have and use one common seal, with such device and inscription as they shall 
 think fit and proper ; and the same to break, alter, and renew at their pleasure. 
 
 Sec 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation and their successors, by the name, style and title aforesaid, shall 
 be able and capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any 
 court, or before any judge or justice, in all and all manner of suits, complaints, 
 pleas, matters and demands of whatsoever nature, kind and form they may 
 be ; and all and every matter and thing to do, in as full and effectual a manner 
 as any other person, bodies politic or corporate, within this Commonwealth, 
 may or can do. 
 
 Sec. 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation and their successors shall be and hereby are authorized and em- 
 powered. to make, ordain and establish by-laws and ordinances and do every- 
 thing incident and needful for the support and due government of the said 
 corporation in managing the funds and revenues thereof; Provided, The said 
 by-laws be not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, 
 to the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth, or to this act. 
 
 Sec 6.* And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation shall not, at any time, consist of more than eighteen persons ; 
 whereof the said General Assembly [at any annual meeting wherever held, 
 
 * Portions in brackets comprise the amendments of October 27, 1885, anthorized by 
 Court of Common Pleas (No. 4) of Philadelphia County, Sept. Term, 1885, Xo. 422. 
 
336 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 may at their discretion], change one-third, in such manner as to the said Gen- 
 eral Assembly shall seem proper [and also at like times and in like manner fill 
 any vacancies therein] : and the corporation aforesaid shall have power and 
 authority to manage and dispose of all moneys, goods, chattels, lands, tene- 
 ments and hereditaments, and other estate whatsoever, committed to their care 
 and trust by the said General Assembly; but in cases where special instruc- 
 tions, for the management and disposal thereof, shall be given by the said 
 General Assembly in writing, under the hand of their Clerk, it shall be the 
 duty of said corporation to act according to such instructions : Provided, The 
 said instructions shall not be repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States, or to the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth, or to the 
 provisions and restrictions in this act contained. 
 
 Sec. 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That six mem- 
 bers of this corporation, whereof the President, or in his absence the Vice- 
 President, to be one, shall be a sufficient number to transact the business 
 thereof, and to make By-Laws, rules and regulations: Provided, That previous 
 to any meeting of the Board or corporation, for such purposes, not appointed 
 by adjournment, ten days' notice shall be previously given thereof, in at least 
 one of the newspapers printed in the city of Philadelphia : And the said cor- 
 poration shall and may, as often as they shall see proper, and according to the 
 rules by them to be prescribed, choose out of their number a President and 
 Vice-President, and shall have authority to appoint a Treasurer, and such 
 other officers and servants as shall by them, the said corporation, be deemed 
 necessary ; to which officers the said corporation may assign such a compensa- 
 tion for their services, and such duties to be performed by them, to continue 
 in office for such time, and to be succeeded by others, in such way and manner 
 as the said corporation shall direct. 
 
 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That all ques- 
 tions before the said corporation shall be decided by a plurality of votes, 
 whereof each member present shall have one, except the President, or Vice- 
 President when acting as President, who shall have only the casting voice and 
 vote, in case of an equality in the votes of the other members. 
 
 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation shall keep regular and fair entries of their proceedings, and a just 
 account of their receipts and disbursements, in a book or books to be provided 
 for that purpose; and their Treasurer shall, once in every year, exhibit to the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
 an exact state of the accounts of the corporation. 
 
 Sec 10. And be it further enacted by the autliority aforesaid : That the said 
 corporation may take, receive, purchase, possess and enjoy, messuages, houses, 
 lands, tenements, rents, annuities, and other hereditaments, real and personal 
 estate of any amount, not exceeding * [fifty] thousand dollars a year value, 
 but the said limitations not to be considered as including the annual collec- 
 tions and voluntary contributions made in the churches under the care of the 
 said General Assembly. Cadwalader Evans, Jr., 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 Robert Hare, 
 
 Approved March 28, 1799. Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Thomas Mifflin, 
 Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
 2. The charter accepted. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church to endeavor to obtain from the Legislature of the State of Penn- 
 sylvania an act of incorporation authorizing certain trustees to hold the 
 property of the Assembly, etc. , report that on application to the Legis- 
 lature they obtained the act of incorporation for which they were directed 
 to apply, a copy of which accompanies this report, corresponding exactly 
 with the draught which was last year submitted to the Assembly, except- 
 ing only the sum which the trustees are authorized to hold is somewhat 
 smaller than was inserted in that draught. 
 
 * Supplement approved March 23, 1864. Pamphlet Laws, 1865, p. 648. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 337 
 
 The above report, and act of incorporation accompanying it, were 
 read and approved. — 1799, p. 173. 
 
 [Note.— See adjustment at the Reunion, Digest, 1886, p. 336; Minutes, 1870, p. 98.] 
 
 3. Trustees of the Presbyterian House. 
 
 For the successive steps which led to the appointment of the Board see 
 New Digest, Moore, 1861, p. 404. In 1854 a charter was obtained from 
 the Legislature of Pennsylvania which is as follows, viz. : 
 
 An Act to Incorporate the Trustees of the Presbyterian House. 
 
 Whereas, The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America which held its sessions in the First Presbyterian Church, on 
 Washington Square, in the city of Philadelphia, in May, Anno Domini one 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, did appoint John A. Brown, Samuel H. 
 Perkins, Charles S. Wurts, Matthias W. Baldwin and John C. Farr, trustees 
 of the Presbyterian Publication House, and recommended that the said Board 
 obtain an act of incorporation under the laws of this State, and that the said 
 act should contain a general provision, authorizing the said trustees to hold in 
 trust for said Assembly any property committed to them by donations, 
 bequests or otherwise ; and 
 
 Whereas, Several gentlemen in the city of Philadelphia, feeling the neces- 
 sity of some suitable place for the business of the societies and churches con- 
 nected with the said Assembly, purchased a property for that purpose which 
 they are desirous of conveying to the said trustees ; and 
 
 Whereas, . The said trustees will labor under serious disadvantages as to 
 receiving and holding the title of said property, as well as any that may be 
 committed to them by donations, bequests or otherwise in trust for said Assem- 
 bly; therefore 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same : That John A. Brown, Samuel H. Perkins, 
 Charles S. Wurts, Matthias W. Baldwin and John C. Farr, citizens of the 
 United States and of this Commonwealth, and their successors, are hereby 
 constituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate by the name of 
 "The Trustees of the Presbyterian House," and as such shall have perpetual 
 succession, and be able to sue and be sued, and to purchase and receive, take 
 and hold, to them and their successors for ever, lands, tenements, and heredi- 
 taments, goods, money and chattels, and all kinds of property and estate, 
 which may be devised or bequeathed or given to them, or to said Assembly 
 for them, and the same to sell, alien, demise and convey, also to make a com- 
 mon seal, and the same to alter and renew at their pleasure, and also to make 
 such rules, by-laws and ordinances as ma}' be needful for the government of 
 said corporation, and not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the 
 United States and of this State : Provided always, That the clear yearly income 
 of the real estate held by the said corporation shall not at any time exceed the 
 sum of five thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec 2. That the trustees above named shall hold their office till the first day 
 of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty -five, and until 
 their successors are duly qualified to take their places, who shall be chosen by 
 the said Assembly and their successors, who may at any annual meeting 
 increase the number of said trustees to ten, if, in their judgment, the interest 
 of the churches under their care require it. 
 
 Sec. 3. That the said Assembly and their successors shall, at their annual 
 meeting in each and every year, wherever held, elect at least five trustees, 
 who shall hold their office for one year, and until their successors are elected 
 and qualified; Provided, That the said corporators shall be citizens of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Sec 4. That the trustees hereby incorporated, and their successors, shall, 
 subject to the direction of the said Assembly and their successors, have full 
 power to manage all funds, property and effects committed to their care by 
 gift, purchase, bequest or otherwise, and to execute any trusts confided to them 
 by the said General Assembly or their successors, in such manner as shall be 
 deemed most advantageous, and not contrary to law or the intention of the 
 donor or testator. 
 
 Sec 5. That the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Trustees of the 
 
338 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Constitutional Presbyterian Publication House," approved the thirteenth day 
 of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, be and the 
 same is hereby repealed. 
 
 Henry K. Strong, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Wm M. Hiester, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 [Note.— This charter was accepted, 1855, p. 26, N. S. See also Digest, 1886, p. 457. 
 The trustees were directed to act as trustees for "The Presbyterian Publication Com- 
 mittee," 1857, p. 410, N. S. Digest, 1886, p. 458, "The Presbyterian House" was 
 declared to be held in trust for the "Presbyterian Publication Committee." — 1863, 
 p. 274, N. S. i 1864, p. 539, N. S. ; 1871, p. 671.] 
 
 4. Consolidation and merger of the trustees of the General Assembly 
 and of the Presbyterian House. 
 
 The trustees of the Presbyterian House, as authorized and directed by 
 the General Assembly, concurrently with the trustees of the General 
 Assembly, made application in September, 1885, to the Court of Com- 
 mon Pleas No. 4, of Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, for the consoli- 
 dation and merger of the two corporations. The application was success- 
 ful, and the necessary transfers and assignments having been made, the 
 union of the two corporations, under the corporate title of ' ' The Trus- 
 tees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America," was completed. The corporate powers of " The 
 Trustees of the Presbyterian House," with their officers, were, by the 
 terms of the consolidation and merger, continued as far as necessary to 
 enable them to receive and take any bequests, devises and gifts made to 
 them. 
 
 5. Business regulations. 
 
 Resolved, That the management and disposal of all moneys, goods, 
 chattels, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and all other estate whatever, 
 committed to their care and trust by the General Assembly, is invested 
 in the said trustees ; unless where special instructions for the management 
 and disposal thereof shall be given by the General Assembly in writing 
 under the hand of their Clerk ; in which case, the corporation is to act 
 according to said instructions. That an exact state of the accounts of 
 the trustees is to be exhibited by their treasurer to the General Assembly, 
 once in every year ; whereupon it is recommended : 
 
 1. That this state of the accounts be laid before the General Assembly 
 as early in their sessions as possible, in order that the General Assembly 
 may know what appropriations it may be in their power to make, or what 
 instructions to give to their trustees, respecting the moneys in hand. 
 
 2. That when any appropriations are made by the General Assembly, 
 a copy of their minute for that purpose, signed by the Clerk, shall be 
 transmitted to the trustees, and shall be their warrant for the payment 
 of all moneys thus appropriated. 
 
 3. That when any measures are taken, or any resolutions adopted by 
 the General Assembly, or the Board of Trustees, which it concerns the 
 other to be acquainted with, due information of the same shall be given, 
 as soon as possible, to the other. — 1801, p. 232. 
 
 6. Manner of election of trustees. 
 1. When this subject is called up annually, a vote shall first be taken 
 whether for the current year the Assembly will or will not make any 
 election of members in the Board of Trustees. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 339 
 
 2. If an election be determined on, the day on which it shall take 
 place shall be specified, and shall not be within less than two days of 
 the time at which such election shall be decided on. 
 
 3. When the day of election arrives, the Assembly shall ascertain 
 what vacancies in the number of the eighteen trustees incorporated have 
 taken place, by death or otherwise, and shall first proceed to choose 
 other members in their places. When this is accomplished, they shall 
 proceed to the trial whether they will elect any, and if any, how many 
 of that third of the number of the trustees which by law they are per- 
 mitted to change in the following manner, viz. : The list of the trustees 
 shall be taken, and a vote be had for a person to fill the place of him 
 who is first on the list. In voting for a person to fill said place, the vote 
 may be given either for the person who has before filled it, or for any 
 other person. If the majority of votes shall be given for the person 
 who has before filled it, he shall continue in office. If the majority of 
 votes shall be given for another person, this person is a trustee, duly 
 chosen in place of the former. In the same form the Assembly shall 
 proceed with the list, till they have either changed one-third of the trus- 
 tees (always including in the third those who have been elected by the 
 sitting Assembly to supply the places become vacant by death or other- 
 wise), or by going through the list, shall determine that no further alter- 
 ation shall be made. — 1801, p. 217. 
 
 7. Record of election by the Assembly. 
 
 By unanimous consent the Stated Clerk was empowered to cast, and 
 did cast, the vote of the Assembly, for Hon. William M. Lanning as 
 trustee of the Assembly. — 1897, p. 145. 
 
 8. Trustees authorized to receive and hold in trust bequests made to the 
 Presbyterian Historical Society. 
 
 Overture from the Presbyterian Historical Society, requesting the 
 General Assembly to authorize the trustees of the General Assembly to 
 receive any bequests which may be made to the Presbyterian Historical 
 Society, and to hold the same in trust for the benefit of that Society, in 
 a manner similar to that which now obtains in case of bequests for vari- 
 ous objects approved by the General Assembly. Recommended that the 
 request be granted. Adopted. — 1896, p. 47. 
 
 9. The official seal of the Church. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported the following: 
 
 a. In view of the interest recently awakened in the device known as 
 the " Seal of the Presbyterian Church," 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed, to report to the 
 next General Assembly upon the history and symbolism of the " Seal of 
 the Trustees of the General Assembly, ' ' and make such recommendation 
 as may be deemed advisable. Adopted. — 1889, p. 121. 
 
 The Committee were Ministers — Henry C. McCook, D.D., George D. 
 Baker, D.D. ; Ruling Elder — George Junkin. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the sense of this Assembly, that an open Bible be 
 the central symbol of the Church's seal, and that this Committee be 
 instructed to prepare drawings which shall appropriately display the same, 
 and report to the next Assembly. — 1891, p. 134. 
 
 [Note —See the full report of the Committee, 1892, pp. 25-33, containing the 
 .description of the seal, which the Rev. Dr. H. C. McCook was authorized to prepare.} 
 
340 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 b. Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly hereby adopts as its official 
 seal the following, namely: For a central device the figure of an open 
 Bible displayed upon a circular field, and in form as represented upon 
 the seal of the Westminster Assembly of Divines; upon the dexter page 
 thereof to be inscribed the motto, ' ' The Word of God, ' ' within an oval 
 field, and upon the upper margin of the said page the Scriptural refer- 
 ence, " 1 Peter i. 23." 
 
 Upon the opposite or sinister page, within a similar oval field, the fol- 
 lowing device, namely: The figure of a brazen serpent suspended from a 
 cruciform pole uplifted within a wilderness, in form as represented upon 
 the official seal of the trustees of this General Assembly. In addition 
 thereto, upon the background of the field, and behind the central figure, 
 a miniature of the emblem upon the seal of the Kirk of Scotland, namely, 
 a burning bush within a radiating circle of rays of light; further, a 
 decorative wreath of palm upon the lower margin of the oval field, and 
 in corresponding position upon the upper margin, the motto, " Christus 
 Exaltatus Salvator, ' ' and upon the upper margin of the page itself, the 
 Scriptural reference, " John iii. 14." 
 
 In addition to this central emblem thus differenced, it is directed that 
 a semicircular wreath of branches of palm in form, as nearly as may be, 
 like the decorative wreath upon the Westminster Assembly's seal, be 
 placed upon the upper margin of the circular field, and in corresponding 
 position below the Book, a wreath of olive and oak combined. Further, 
 that there be placed behind the Book and the wreath radiating rays of 
 light filling the vacant spaces of the field. 
 
 Surrounding the whole device the scroll of the seal shall bear the words, 
 " Seal of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America." As further indicating the will of the As- 
 sembly as above expressed, the Assembly refers to the accompanying 
 drawing and engraving submitted by the Committee upon the seal. 
 
 Resolved, 2. The Committee is hereby directed to procure an engraved 
 stamp or die of the device and scroll, as above adopted, for the use of 
 the General Assembly, and they are authorized to make any merely 
 technical changes in the lettering of the scroll and grouping of the motto 
 and figures of the device, as above described, that may be found neces- 
 sary or advantageous in the engraving of the same. 
 
 Resolved, 3. The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly shall be the 
 official custodian of the seal. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That the Committee be directed to prepare an accurate 
 drawing of the seal as thus adopted, and deposit it with the Presbyterian 
 Historical Society, for reference as the authorized form of the same. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the Committee be directed to procure a copyright of 
 the seal and place the same in the keeping of the Trustees of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly.— 1892, pp. 32, 33. 
 
 II. THE BOARDS OF THE CHURCH. 
 GENERAL MATTERS. 
 
 1. Concurrent declarations, Assembly of 1869. 
 
 5. The corporate rights now held by the two General Assemblies, and 
 by their Boards and Committees, should, as far as practicable, be con- 
 solidated, and applied for their several objects, as defined by law. 
 
 6. There should be one set of Committees or Boards for Home and 
 Foreign Missions, and the other religious enterprises of the Church; 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 34 L 
 
 which the churches should be encouraged to sustain, though free to cast 
 their contributions into other channels, if they desire to do so. 
 
 7. As soon as practicable after the union shall have been effected, the 
 General Assembly should reconstruct and consolidate the several Perma- 
 nent Committees and Boards, which now belong to the two Assemblies, 
 so as to represent, as far as possible, with impartiality, the views and 
 wishes of the two bodies constituting the united Church. — 1869, pp. 
 916, O. S., and 278, N. S. 
 
 2. Assembly regulations as to minutes, reports and membership. 
 
 1. Each Board and Permanent Committee is instructed to send up 
 its minutes with its report, that these minutes may be reviewed by the 
 Assemblv on the report of the appropriate Standing Committee. — 1885, 
 p. 690. 
 
 2. A sufficient number of the reports of the Boards and Committees 
 shall be forwarded by them to the place of meeting of each Assembly, 
 prior to the day of meeting; and a complete file of the same, stitched 
 together, shall be delivered to each commissioner. — 1886, p. 77. 
 
 3. Xo person shall serve as a member of a Board who is an executive 
 officer or employe of said Board, or a member of any other benevolent 
 Board of the Church; and no more than one ruling elder from the same 
 congregation shall serve on a Board at the same time [1887, pp. 51, 108]. 
 
 4. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of any of the Boards 
 of the Church during the interval between the Assemblies, may be filled 
 until the next succeeding meeting of the Assembly, by the Board in 
 which such vacancy may occur [1887, p. 128]. — 1896, pp. 349p, 349c<. 
 
 5. It is recommended that the Annual Reports of the Boards for the 
 year 1897 be printed and distributed as heretofore (seven thousand 
 copies), under the direction of the Stated Clerk, the expenses to be 
 borne by the several Boards in proportion to the space occupied by each 
 Report in the bound volume. Adopted. — 1897, p. 143. 
 
 3. Regulation as to use of legacies. 
 Resolved, That when any Board receives a legacy the use of which is 
 not indicated in the will of the testator, the funds shall either be used 
 for current work, or shall be invested in accordance with the laws pro- 
 vided for the care of trust funds in the State where the Board is located. 
 But if not so used, the funds shall be held until the General Assembly 
 approves of some different use of them, which the Board may propose 
 to make. — 1897, p. 50. 
 
 4. No trustee or director of a charitable or benevolent institution may- 
 receive any salary or emolument from said institution. 
 On the 12th of March, 1872, the following Act was passed by the 
 New York Legislature in relation to trustees and directors of charitable 
 and benevolent institutions: 
 
 Section 1. No trustee or director of any charitable or benevolent institution, 
 organized either under the laws of the State or by virtue of a special charter, 
 shall receive, directly or indirectly, any salary or emolument from said institu- 
 tion, nor shall any salary or compensation whatever be voted or allowed by 
 the trustees or directors of any institution organized for charitable or benevo- 
 lent purposes to any trustee or director of said institution for services either as 
 trustee or director or in any other capacity. — 1872, p. 42. 
 
 [Note. — Substantially the same law is in effect in Pennsylvania and some other 
 Suites.] 
 
342 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 I. THE BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS. 
 
 1. History. 
 
 [Note. — For a full account of the early mission work of the Church and of the 
 origin and progress of the work, culminating in the present Board of Home Missions, 
 see Assembly's Digest (Baird), revised edition, 1858, pp. 321-362, with the annual 
 Minutes of the Assembly, 0. S., from 1858 to 1869. Also Moore's new Digest, 1861, with 
 the annual Minutes, N. S., from 1861 to 1869, and Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 422-426 
 
 " The Standing Committee of Missions " was appointed by the Assembly in 1802, 
 p. 258. In 1816, p. 633, the Committee was enlarged and its title changed to "The 
 Board of Missions, acting under the authority of the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the United States." In 1827, p. 217, and again in 1828, p. 244, its 
 powers were enlarged. Up to 1837 the " Board of Missions" was the only agency of 
 the General Assembly for carrying on the work of missions at home and abroad. " In 
 that year it was : 
 
 "Resolved, That the General Assembly will superintend and conduct by its own 
 proper authority the work of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church by a 
 Board appointed for that purpose and directly amenable to said Assembly." — 1837, 
 pp. 452, 453. 
 
 The N. S. Assembly continued to cooperate with the American Home Missionary 
 Society until 1861. In 1852 a Report on Church Extension was adopted, and a Com- 
 mittee of Conference with the A. H. M. S. appointed, who next year, reported, 
 recommending the continuance of cooperation (see Moore's new Digest, 1861, pp. 
 361-367; also pp. 368, 369). After full discussion., action was taken, establishing 
 "The Church Extension Committee," which was chartered by the Legislature of New 
 York in 1862. For Charter see Digest, 1886, pp. 425, 426.] 
 
 2. Consolidated Board as established at reunion. 
 
 The unfinished business was resumed, viz., the report of the Joint 
 Committee on Home Missions, which, after protracted discussion, was 
 adopted as follows: 
 
 The Joint Committee appointed by the two Assemblies of 1869 to 
 arrange for the consolidation of the " Board of Domestic Missions" 
 and " The Committee of Home Missions," would respectfully report 
 that, in full attendance, they have given the subject with which they were 
 charged their most careful deliberation. 
 
 Some things pertaining to the proposed new organization were very 
 readily adjusted, as appears in the following recommendations, adopted 
 with entire unanimity, viz.: 1. The name to be " The Board of Home 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. ' ' 
 
 2. That this Board consist of fifteen members, five constituting a quorum. 
 
 3. That the Board be authorized to appoint one Secretary, with so 
 much assistance as the Board may deem necessary. 
 
 After proceeding so far, your Committee were advised by eminent legal 
 counsel that, inasmuch as the Board and Committee now existing hold 
 their respective charters from different States, legislative action in the 
 States of Pennsylvania and New York would be necessary before the 
 contemplated consolidation could be effected, so that the property now 
 held by the one could legally and safely be transferred to the other. As 
 instructed by counsel, your Committee cannot see any mode in which this 
 General Assembly itself, without further legislation, can create such a 
 consolidated Board, or will be competent in law to execute the trusts 
 imposed on the existing corporate bodies in wills or other writings here- 
 tofore executed. 
 
 As necessary steps to the obtaining of such necessary legislation as is 
 suited to the case, your Committee report the following recommendations, 
 to wit: 
 
 1 . That this Assembly should designate the locality in which the chief 
 operations of the new Board shall be carried on, and in which the prin- 
 cipal office for that purpose shall be located. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 343 
 
 2. That a Committee be appointed by this Assembly, whose duty it 
 shall be to endeavor to procure all the legislation required by the exigen- 
 cies of the case, and direct the transfer of property now held by the two 
 bodies above described, on receiving the opinion of competent counsel 
 that the authority of the new body is perfect. 
 
 3. Meantime, till such a result has been reached, that both of the 
 existing organizations should be kept up in the form required by their 
 respective charters. — 1870, p. 54. 
 
 The following places were then named for the location of the Board of 
 Home Missions, viz., Philadelphia and Xew York; whereupon the roll 
 was called, and Xew York was chosen, by a vote of 306 for New York, 
 and 153 for Philadelphia. — lb., p. oh. 
 
 The action of the Assembly adopting the report of the Joint Commit- 
 tee on Home Missions was reconsidered, and the number of members of 
 the Board changed from twenty (20) to fifteen (15), and the number 
 of Corresponding Secretaries from one (1) to (2). 
 
 The Rev. Henry Kendall, D. D., and the Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D.D., 
 were by acclamation elected Corresponding Secretaries, and Mr. Samuel 
 D. Powel, Treasurer, of the Board of Home Missions, it being expressly 
 understood that this was not to be considered as a precedent by any future 
 Assembly.— 1870, p. 100. 
 
 3. The act of incorporation. 
 
 An Act to incorporate the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, aud to enable the Presbyterian Board of 
 Home Missions, formerly the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, 
 to transfer its property to said new corporation, and to vest in such new 
 corporation the corporate rights, franchises and privileges of the former 
 body, and also to enable said new corporation to accept a transfer of the 
 property of the trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 and to become the leo-al successor of the said last-mentioned corporation. 
 —Passed April 19. 1872. 
 The people of the State of Xew York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. George L. Prentiss, Thomas S. Hastings, William M. Paxton, 
 William C. Roberts, I. F. Stearns, Henry J. Van Dyke, James O. Murray, 
 Edward A. Lambert, Jacob D. Vermilye, George W. Lane, Thomas C. M. 
 Paton, Joseph F. Joy, Robert L. Kennedy, George R. Lockwood, John 
 Taylor Johnston (designated for this purpose by the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which met in Chicago, 
 in the' State of Illinois, in May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and winch 
 is the legal successor of the'two religious bodies theretofore existing under 
 that same name), and their successors in office, chosen from time to lime by 
 the said General Assembly, are hereby constituted a body politic and corpo- 
 rate by the name of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America ; the object of which shall be to assist in sus- 
 taining the preaching of the Gospel in feeble churches and congregations in 
 connection with the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and generally 
 to superintend the whole work of Home Missions in behalf of said Church, as 
 the General Assembly may from time to time direct ; also, to receive, take 
 charge of, and disburse all property and funds which at any time and from 
 time to time may be intrusted to said Church or said Board for Home Mission- 
 ary purposes. 
 
 Sec 2. The said corporation shall possess the general powers, and be sub- 
 ject to the provisions contained in title three of chapter eighteen of the first 
 part of the Revised Statutes, so far as the same are applicable and have not 
 been repealed or modified. 
 
 >E( '. 3. The management and disposition of the affairs and property of said 
 corporation shall be vested in the persons named in the first section of this 
 
344 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Act, and their successors in office who shall remain in office for such period, 
 and be removed and succeeded by others chosen at such time and in such 
 manner as the said General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America shall from time to time direct and appoint. 
 
 Sec. 4. The said corporation shall be in law capable of taking, receiving 
 and holding any real or personal estate which has been or may hereafter be 
 given, devised or bequeathed to it or to the said Church for the purposes 
 aforesaid, or which may accrue from the use of the same ; subject, however, to 
 all the provisions of law relating to devises and bequests, by last will and 
 testament ; but the said corporation shall not take and hold real and personal 
 estate, the annual rental or income of which shall exceed the sum of two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 5. The Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions incorporated under 
 the laws of this State by an Act passed on the eighteenth day of April, eigh- 
 teen hundred and sixty-two, the name of which was changed to that of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, by an Act passed on the twentieth of 
 January, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, are hereby authorized to assign, 
 transfer, convey and deliver unto the corporation created by this Act, all the 
 property, estate and rights of any and every description now held or enjoyed 
 by them, and which may hereinafter be received by them by virtue of any grant, 
 gift, bequest or devise or otherwise howsoever, which assignment, transfer, 
 conveyance and delivery, the corporation established by this Act is hereby 
 authorized and empowered to accept and receive ; and the said corporation, 
 hereby created, shall be and is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the 
 said Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, formerly the Committee of Home 
 Missions, and shall have, hold, use and enjoy all the corporate powers, fran- 
 chises and privileges of the said corporation last named, and all the property, 
 estates and rights so assigned, transferred, conveyed, and delivered in the same 
 manner and to the same extent as the said corporation last named might have 
 done, and shall be entitled to receive, sue for and recover all legacies, devises, 
 bequests and property which have heretofore been or may hereafter be made 
 or given to the said corporation last named ; Provided, however, and it is hereby 
 expressly declared, that the said corporation created by this Act, shall receive 
 and hold the said property, estates and rights upon the same trusts and for the 
 same purposes, only as the same are or otherwise would be held by the said 
 Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, formerly the Presbyterian Committee 
 of Home Missions. 
 
 Sec. 6. Whenever the requisite power shall be given by the proper author- 
 ity of the State of Pennsylvania to the trustees of the Board of Domestic Mis- 
 sions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, a corporation created and established and now existing 
 under the laws of the said State of Pennsylvania, to assign, transfer, con- 
 vey and deliver unto the corporation created by this Act, all the property, 
 estate, and rights of any and every description, held or enjoyed, or 
 which may be hereafter held or enjoyed, by the said corporation first 
 named in this section by virtue of any gift, grant, bequest or devise, or 
 otherwise howsoever, then the said corporation hereby created is hereby 
 authorized to accept and receive the assignment, transfer, conveyance and 
 delivery aforesaid, and shall be and is hereby declared to be the legal successor 
 of the said trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and shall 
 have, hold, use and enjoy all the corporate powers, franchises and privileges 
 of the said corporation last named, and all the property, estates and rights 
 w T hich may be so assigned, transferred, conveyed and delivered in the same 
 manner and to the same extent as the said corporation last named might have 
 done, and shall be entitled to receive, sue for and recover all legacies, devises, 
 bequests and property which have heretofore been or may hereafter be made 
 or given to the said corporation last named: Provided, however, and it is 
 hereby expressly declared that the said corporation created by this Act shall 
 receive and hold the said property, estates and rights upon the same trusts and 
 for the same uses and purposes only as the same are or otherwise would be 
 held by the said trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America hereto- 
 fore created by virtue of the law r s of the State of Pennsylvania ; and it is 
 hereby further provided and declared, that all the grants, conveyances, 
 devises and bequests, which, after the several assignments, transfers and con- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 345 
 
 veyances hereinbefore authorized to be made to the corporation created by 
 this Act, shall have been made and completed as hereinbefore directed, shall 
 be made or which shall purport to be made to the Presbyterian Committee of 
 Home Missions, or to the trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church hereinbefore named, shall be 
 deemed and taken to be made to the corporation hereby created with the same 
 effect as if made to such new corporation hereby created. 
 
 Sec. 7. This Act shall take effect immediately — Chapter 287, Laws of 
 1872, N. Y. 
 
 4. First amendment of the act of incorporation. 
 
 An Act to amend chapter two hundred and eighty-seven of the laws of 
 eighteen hundred and seventy -two, entitled "An Act to incorporate the 
 Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America," and to enable the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
 formerly the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, to transfer its 
 property to said new corporation, and to vest in such new corporation the 
 corporate rights, franchises and privileges of the former body, and also to 
 enable said new corporation to accept a transfer of the property of the 
 trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of 
 the Presb}'terian Church in the United States of America, and to become 
 the legal successor of the said last-mentioned corporation. — Passed, May 8, 
 1880 : three-fifths being present. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Section four of chapter two hundred and eighty-seven of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled "An Act to incorporate 
 the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, and to enable the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, formerly 
 the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, to transfer its property to said 
 new corporation, and to vest in such new corporation the corporate rights, 
 franchises and privileges of the former body, and also to enable said new cor- 
 poration to accept a transfer of the property of the trustees of the Board of 
 Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, and to become the legal successor of the said 
 last-mentioned corporation," is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 4. The said corporation shall be in law capable of taking, receiving, 
 holding and conve}dng, or otherwise disposing of any real or personal estate 
 which has been, or may hereafter be given, devised or bequeathed to it, or to 
 the said Church, for the purpose aforesaid, or which may accrue from the use 
 of the same; subject, however, to the provisions of chapter three hundred 
 and sixty of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty, entitled "An Act relat- 
 ing to wills ; " but said corporation shall not hold real or personal estate, the 
 annual rental or income of which shall exceed the sum of two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars.— Chapter 227, Laws of 1880, N. Y. 
 
 5. Second amendment of the act of incorporation. 
 
 An Act to amend section three of chapter two hundred and eighty-seven of 
 the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled "An Act to incor- 
 porate the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, and to enable the Presbyterian Board of Home 
 Missions, formerly the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, to 
 transfer its property to said new corporation, and to vest in such new cor- 
 poration the corporate rights, franchises and privileges of the former body, 
 and also to enable said new corporation to accept a transfer of the 
 property of the trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 and to become the legal successor of the said last-mentioned corporation." 
 — Approved by the Governor, April 18, 1892. Passed : three-fifths being 
 present. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Section three of chapter two hundred and eighty-seven of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled, "An Act to incorporate 
 the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 
346 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 of America, and to enable the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, formerly 
 the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, to transfer its property to said 
 new corporation, and to vest in such new corporation the corporate rights, 
 franchises and privileges of the former body, and also to enable said new cor- 
 poration to accept a transfer of the property of the trustees of the Board of 
 Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, and to become the legal successor of the said 
 last-mentioned corporation," is hereb} r amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 3. The management and disposition of the affairs and property of such 
 corporation shall be vested in fifteen trustees w T ho shall be appointed from 
 time to time by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, for such terms as the Assembly may determine. 
 But the number of such trustees may be increased or decreased at any time by 
 the said General Assembly, and in case of an increase the additional trustees 
 shall be appointed by such General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America ; Provided, hoicever, That the members of the 
 Board, as at present constituted, shall continue to hold office until their suc- 
 cessors have been appointed by the General Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect immediately. — Chapter 335, Laws of 1892. 
 
 6. Pennsylvania act authorizing transfer of property. 
 
 An Act to authorize the trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America to transfer the property held by them to the Board of Home 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and 
 to declare the latter corporation to be the legal successor of the former. 
 
 Whereas, The two religious bodies heretofore existing, each under the name 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, having united the congregations under their care, and the General 
 Assembly of the Church thus united which met in Philadelphia on the nine- 
 teenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy, and which is the legal suc- 
 cessor of both the former bodies, has directed that the home missionary work 
 previously carried on under the direction of the said two bodies shall be here- 
 after carried on under its direction by one Board ; and 
 
 Whereas, The Legislature of the State of New York has for the purpose 
 aforesaid incorporated the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America; therefore 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is 
 hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that the trustees of the Board 
 of Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America be and they are hereby authorized to grant, 
 assign, transfer, convey and deliver all property, estates and rights, real, 
 personal and mixed, of every kind and description, now held or enjoyed 
 by them, and which may hereafter be received, held or enjoyed by them, 
 in any manner whatsoever, unto the said the Board of Home Missions of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which corporation 
 is hereby declared to be the legal successor of the said the Trustees of the 
 Board of Domestic Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America ; and shall have, hold, use and 
 enjoy all the corporate powers, franchises and privileges of the said corpo- 
 ration last named, and all the property, estates and rights which shall be 
 so granted, assigned, transferred, conveyed and delivered in the same manner 
 and to the same extent as the said corporation last named might have done 
 (including the power to convey, assign and transfer" the same), and shall 
 be entitled to receive, sue for and recover all legacies, devises, bequests and 
 property which have heretofore been or may hereafter be made, given or 
 granted to the said corporation last named ; Provided, however, and it is hereby 
 expressly declared, that the said the Board of Home Missions of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America shall receive and hold the said 
 property and estates, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, upon the same trusts and 
 for the same uses and purposes only, as the same are or otherwise would be 
 held by the said trustees of the Board of Domestic Missions of the Genera'i 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ; and 
 it is hereby further provided and declared that all grants, conveyances, devises 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 347 
 
 and bequests which shall be made, or purport to be made, to the said corpora- 
 tion last named shall be deemed and taken to be made to the said the Board 
 of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
 with the same effect as if made directly thereto. 
 
 W. Elliott, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 Geo. H. Anderson, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved the twenty-ninth day of January, Anno Domini one thousand 
 eight hundred and seventy-three. 
 
 J. F. Hartranft. 
 
 Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, 
 Harrisburg, February 7, A.D. 1873. 
 Pennsylvania, ss. 
 
 I do hereby certify, That the foregoing and annexed is a full, true and 
 j ^ correct copy of the original Act of the General Assembly, entitled 
 "An Act to authorize the Trustees of the Board of Domestic Mis- 
 sions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America to transfer the property held by them to the Board 
 of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 and to declare the latter corporation to be the legal successors of the former," 
 as the same remains on tile in this office. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the 
 Secretary's office to be affixed the day and year above written. 
 
 M. S.Quay, Secretary of the Commonwealth. 
 
 7. Principles and rules for the work of Home Missions. 
 
 1. Within the bounds of a Presbytery the work of the Board of Home 
 Missions should be carried on in harmony with the Presbytery, according 
 to the principles and rules hereinafter stated; but a discretion should be 
 allowed to the Board in outlying districts, where direct Presbyterial 
 control is difficult or impracticable. 
 
 2. The Board should not, in ordinary cases, decline to grant an appro- 
 priation recommended by a Presbytery, unless, in its judgment, after 
 viewing the whole field to be supplied, it shall appear that the funds at 
 its disposal are all needed for more deserving or more promising work ; 
 and whether it does thus appear must be determined by the Board. 
 But in all questions touching the organization of churches or the 
 character of ministers, the Board, in case of difference between itself and 
 the Presbytery, should abide by the final judgment of the Presbytery. 
 
 3. The formal issuing of commissions should be discontinued, and in 
 lieu thereof the Board shall issue to the missionary an agreement for the 
 amount to be paid to him. 
 
 4. Synodical missionaries should hold to the Board the same relation 
 as other missionaries whose support is provided, in whole or in part, by 
 the Board, and their work shall be conducted in harmony with the inter- 
 ests of the Synod and of the Board. 
 
 5. No church shall be organized by a missionary within the limits of 
 any Presbytery, unless authority has previously been obtained from the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 6. Each Synod shall appoint a Home Missionary Committee, to consist 
 of the chairmen of the Presbyterial Committees within its bounds. The 
 Committee shall meet annually, near or during the meeting of the Synod. 
 It shall be the duty of the Committee to ascertain, as nearly as possible, 
 the whole number of churches and missionary fields needing aid within 
 the bounds of the Synod, and, as nearly as possible, equalize the salaries 
 
348 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 of missionaries in the Presbyteries. They shall ascertain the amount it 
 will be fair to expect for the work of home missionaries from the churches 
 of the Synod, and, as nearly as possible, determine the amount of aid 
 that will likely be asked for the support of missionary work within the 
 bounds of the Synod. The Committee shall confer, when practicable, 
 with the representatives of the Board. These Synodical Committees 
 shall, as soon as possible after the meetings of the Synod, report to the 
 Board the necessities of the fields, and the probable amount of money 
 required, together with the probable contributions from the Synods to 
 the Board. The reports of these Synodical Committees shall be sent 
 every year to the Assembly, and be referred, either to a Special Com- 
 mittee, or to the Standing Committee of the Assembly on Home Missions. 
 The Committee, after considering the wants of the whole field, as they 
 shall be set forth in the reports from the various Synods, shall make their 
 report to the Assembly, with such recommendations as the exigencies of 
 the work may seem, in their judgment, to require. — 1883, pp. 643, 
 644. 
 
 8. The school work: Woman's Executive Committee, or Board of 
 Home Missions. 
 
 a. The organization of our Christian women in several of our large 
 cities, with auxiliaries in a large number of the churches, in behalf of 
 Foreign Missions, has infused new life into the work for the heathen, and 
 has brought large increase to the resources of that excellent Board, 
 without diminution of other contributions. To some extent, such societies 
 have also helped forward the cause of Home Missions, both in money 
 and in sending boxes of clothing to the families of missionaries. Memo- 
 rials have reached the Committee from different parts of the Church, 
 asking for some more effective plan of woman's work for the evangeliza- 
 tion of our own land. We beg leave to suggest that the Assembly now 
 recommend the organization of a Woman's Home Missionary Society, 
 with auxiliary societies, under the advice and counsel of the Board of 
 Home Missions, or its officers. And, further, that the formation of dis- 
 tinct auxiliary societies be recommended, in those churches in which this 
 course may be deemed expedient, and that in those in which one society 
 only — embracing, if possible, all the ladies in the church — may seem 
 best, the disposition of its funds be left to the determination of every such 
 society for itself. Such recommendation, without restricting the liberty 
 of the women of each congregation, will express the clear judgment of 
 the Assembly, that home evangelization and the conversion of the heathen 
 are one and the same work of the Lord. In the distinction and the 
 blending this is but following the Master, who said, " But ye shall receive 
 power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be wit- 
 nesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and 
 unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Adopted. — 1875, p. 489; 
 1878, p. 110. 
 
 b. The report of the Board, and also the overtures from the Presby- 
 teries of Utah and Colorado, present for the consideration of the Assem- 
 bly a subject which, so far as the work of this Board is concerned, is 
 entirely new, viz. , the establishment of schools as distinct from, and in 
 advance of, the establishment of churches, and, consequently, the 
 employment and commissioning of teachers as distinct from ministers of 
 the Gospel. The report and the overtures inform us that such schools are 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 349 
 
 already in operation through the use of funds specially contributed for 
 the purpose, and the Assembly are asked to ' * authorize or advise, or at 
 least approve, this new department of labor. 
 
 In the progress of Home Mission work an emergency has arisen, call- 
 ing for a change oi action on the part of the Board in the peculiar states 
 of society in the Territories of Utah and Xew Mexico, and in a limited 
 degree in the work already carried on among the Indians. 
 
 The Home Board is the only one that does, or is likely to do. anything 
 in either of the Territories mentioned. The work is peculiar, arising 
 from the utter absence of anything like a true Christian population to 
 which the work of Home Missions can at rlrst come. 
 
 In these Territories, we must be^in at the very bottom: and it is found 
 practically necessary, in order to success, to have schools under direct 
 conduct of the missionaries. Such schools care not for secular instruction 
 alone, but for religious instruction in connection with direct Gospel 
 instruction. These schools should not be left uncontrolled; and it seems 
 eminently desirable that the Board should control them. We would 
 recommend, then, that the Board be allowed to sustain such schools by the 
 payment of the teachers needed: such teachers to be recommended by the 
 Presbyteries in which they are, and commissioned by the Board. It is 
 expected that the funds for such schools will be raised by laches mainly. 
 Adopted. — 1877, p. 513. 
 
 We call the attention of the Assembly to the fact that, according to 
 their advice, a " Woman's Executive Committee of Home Missions of 
 the Presbyterian Church " has been formed, having its office and treas- 
 urer in New York. — 1879, p. 594. 
 
 [Nora. — See Report of Board of Home Missions. 1879, pp. 678, 679 : 1881, p. 531 : 1882, 
 
 p. 38 : 1883, p. 603 : and annually thereafter : 1S96, p. 50 : 1S97. p. 45. Known now as 
 the Woman's Board of Home Missions.] 
 
 The Sustentation Scheme. 
 
 [Xote. — In 1S71. Minutes, pp. 556-561. the Special Committee appointed in 1S70 pre- 
 sented a scheme of sustentation which was adopted. For the scheme and its modifi- 
 cations and amendments see Moore's Digest. 1SS6. pp. 452-455 and 561-566. In 1594 
 the Assembly :] 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Home Missions be authorized to use 
 yearly the surplus fund winch may hereafter come into the treasury to the 
 credit of the old Sustentation Scheme for the general work of Home 
 Missions; that the Sustentation column in the Minutes of the General 
 Assembly be abolished, and that the gifts to Sustentation be included in 
 the Home Mission column. — 1894, p. 137. 
 
 II. THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 1. History. 
 
 The work of Foreign as well as of Home Missions was under the 
 care of " The Board of Missions" until 1837. when it was 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly will superintend and conduct, 
 by its own proper authority, the work of Foreign Missions of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, by a Board appointed for that purpose and directly 
 amenable to said Assembly. 
 
 [Nora. — See for the Constimtion of the Board of Foreisn Missions as then adopted. 
 Digest. 1888, pp. 430, 431. 
 
 A very full account of the various steps taken by the Church in the interests of 
 Foreign Missions will be found in Baird's Digest, 1S55. pp. 363-374. 
 
 The New School Assembly cooperated with the American Board of Commissioners 
 for Foreign Missions up to the time of the reunion in 1870. 
 
350 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 In 1854 a Standing Committee was appointed, which was incorporated by the 
 Legislature of Pennsylvania, April, 1865, under the title of " The Permanent Com- 
 mittee on Foreign Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America." 
 
 See for this Charter, Digest, 1886, pp. 432, 433. Upon the reunion the Assembly 
 adopted the following :] 
 
 2. The organization of the Board of Foreign Missions. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions shall hereafter consist of fifteen mem- 
 bers besides the Corresponding Secretaries and the Treasurer, who shall 
 be members ex- officio. 
 
 The term of service of the present members of the Board, the Execu- 
 tive Committee and the Permanent Committee shall end with the first 
 meeting of the Executive Committee after the dissolution of the General 
 Assembly, when a new Board shall be constituted. 
 
 This Assembly will select fifteen members of the Board in three classes 
 of five each. The first shall serve three years, the second class two years 
 and the third class one year. 
 
 Each subsequent General Assembly shall elect five members of the 
 Board to hold office for three years, and shall fill any vacancies in either 
 of the other classes for the unexpired term of service. 
 
 Any five members of the Board shall form a quorum. 
 
 One of the ex- officio members, to be designated by the Board, shall be 
 entitled to a seat in the General Assembly as a corresponding member on 
 all subjects relating to Foreign Missions. 
 
 Besides the duties already committed to their charge the Board shall 
 perform the duties heretofore assigned to the Executive Committee of the 
 Board and to the Permanent Committee on Foreign Missions, in so far as 
 these have not been superseded or modified by this minute. — 1870, p. 46. 
 
 3. Alterations necessitated by legislation. 
 
 The Committee further report that on the 12th of March, 1872, the 
 following Act was passed by the New York Legislature in relation to 
 trustees and directors of charitable and benevolent institutions: 
 
 Section 1. No trustee or director of any charitable or benevolent institu- 
 tion organized either under the laws of the State or by virtue of a special char- 
 ter, shall receive, directly or indirectly, any salaiy or emolument from said 
 institution, nor shall any'salary or compensation whatever be voted or allowed 
 by the trustees or directors of any institution organized for charitable or 
 benevolent purposes to any trustee or director of said institution for services 
 either as trustee or director or in any other capacity. 
 
 In view of the above Act, the Committee recommend the adoption of 
 the following resolution: 
 
 In view of the Act of the Legislature of New York concerning chari- 
 table and benevolent institutions, passed March 12, 1872, that the 
 Constitution of the Board of Foreign Missions be so changed that the 
 executive officers shall hereafter be consulting members only, without the 
 right to vote, but having the right to propose resolutions and discuss all 
 matters before that body; and further, that the quorum necessary to 
 transact business be reduced to four. — 1872, p. 42. 
 
 4. Charter of the Board of Foreign Missions. 
 
 An Act to incorporate the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America. — Passed April 12, 1862. Chapter 187. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Walter Lowrie, Gardiner Spring, William W. Phillips, George 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 351 
 
 Potts, William Bannard, John D. Wells, Nathan L. Rice, Robert L. Stuart, 
 Lebbeus B. Ward, Robert Carter, John C Lowrie, citizens of the State of New 
 York, and such others as they may associate with themselves, are hereby con- 
 stituted a body corporate and politic for ever, by the name of the Board of 
 Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 for the purpose of establishing and conducting Christian missions among the 
 unevangelized or pagan nations and the general diffusion of Christianity ; 
 and by that name they and their successors and associates shall be capable of 
 taking by purchase, grant, devise or otherwise, holding, conveying or other- 
 wise disposing of any real or personal estate for the purposes of the said cor- 
 poration, but which estate within this State shall not at any time exceed the 
 annual income of twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 2. "The said corporation shall possess the general powers, rights and 
 privileges, and be subject to liabilities and provisions, contained in the eigh- 
 teenth^chapter of the first part of the revised statutes so far as the same are 
 applicable, and also subject to the provisions of chapter three hundred and 
 sixty of the laws of eighteen hundred and sixty. 
 
 Sec. 3. This Act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 5. Amendment of the Charter. 
 
 An Act to amend chapter one hundred and eighty-seven of the laws of eigh- 
 teen hundred and sixty-two, entitled "An Act to incorporate the Board of 
 Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America," and to regulate the number of trustees. — Became a law, April 
 19, 1894, with the approval of the Governor. Passed: three-fifths being 
 present. 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Section three of chapter one hundred and eighty-seven of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, entitled "An Act to incorporate the 
 Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America," is hereby amended to read as follows : 
 
 Sec 3. "The management and disposition of the affairs and property of the 
 said Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America shall be vested in twenty-one trustees, who shall be 
 appointed from time to time by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America for such terms as the Assembly may 
 determine. But the number of such trustees may be increased or decreased at 
 any time by the said General Assembly, and in case of an increase the addi- 
 tional trustees shall be appointed by such General Assembly of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in the United States of America ; Provided, however, That the 
 members of the Board, as at present constituted, shall continue to hold office 
 until their successors have been appointed by the General Assembly. Not 
 less than eleven members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the 
 purpose of electing officers, making by-laws, or for holding any special meet- 
 ing ; but for all other purposes, and at stated meetings, five shall be a quorum." 
 
 Sec 2. This Act shall take effect immediately. — Laws of 1894, Chapter 326. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1894, pp. 73, 74.] 
 
 III. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 
 
 1. History. 
 
 [Note. — For a full history of the early efforts of the Presbyterian Church to enlarge 
 her ministry by aiding pious youth needing assistance, see Baird's Digest, revised 
 edition, pp. 388-401. In 1819 the Assembly resolved to establish a General Board of 
 Education.— Minutes, 1819, p. 712. 
 
 For the constitution of the Board and its charter obtained in 1811, and amended in 
 1852, see Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 353-355. 
 
 With such amendments as experience showed to be necessary, the Assembly, 0. S., 
 conducted its work of education for the ministry from 1838 to the reunion. For 
 various amendments of the plan, see Baird, as above, pp. 401-412. 
 
 From 1838 to 1854 the N. S. branch cooperated chiefly with the American Education 
 Society or its branches. In 1854 the "Permanent Committee of Education for the 
 Ministry " was established. — Minutes, 1854, pp. 506, 507. By the Assembly of 1856 the 
 plan was more fully matured, pp. 222-224; see also 1857, pp. 388-392. A charter 
 
352 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 obtained from the Legislature of New York, April 17, 1858, was accepted and approved 
 by the Assembly.— 1858, pp. 597, 598. 
 
 For the charter of the " Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry," see 
 Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 355, 356.] 
 
 2. The Board of Education of the reunited Church. 
 The Joint Committee appointed by the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church to adjust the affairs of the " Board of Education," and 
 of the ' ' Permanent Committee on Education, " so as to adapt them to 
 the new condition of things in the now united Church, met, according to 
 the call of the chairmen of the respective Committees, in the .rooms of 
 the Board of Education in Philadelphia, February 9, and also again at 
 an adjourned meeting May 18, and after mature consideration they have 
 agreed upon and recommend the following Constitution for adoption by 
 the General Assembly: 
 
 3. Constitution of the Board of Education. 
 
 Article I. 
 
 Title. — There shall be a Board of Education under the corporate title 
 of " The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America." 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Objects. — The Board of Education shall be the organ of the General 
 Assembly of the Church for the general superintendence of the Church's 
 work in furnishing a pious, educated and efficient ministry, in sufficient 
 numbers to meet the calls of its congregations, to supply the wants of the 
 destitute classes and regions in our own country, and to go into all the 
 world and preach the Gospel to every creature. It shall provide for the 
 collection and judicious distribution of the funds which may be requisite 
 in the proper education of candidates for the ministry under its care, and 
 it shall, in cooperation with the ecclesiastical courts, do whatever may 
 be proper and necessary to develop an active interest in education through- 
 out the Church. 
 
 Article III. 
 
 Members. — The General Assembly shall elect the members of the 
 Board. The Board shall consist of twelve members * (besides those who 
 shall be members ex-offieio), of whom six shall be ministers and six lay- 
 men of the Presbyterian Church. The members shall be divided into 
 three equal classes, consisting of two ministers and two laymen each, to 
 serve respectively for the terms of one, two and three years. At any 
 meeting of the Board, regularly convened, five members shall constitute 
 a quorum to transact business. The Board shall also have power to fill 
 any vacancy by resignation, death or otherwise until the next meeting 
 of the General Assembly. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 Officers. — Section 1. The Board shall elect its officers annually by 
 ballot. They shall consist of a President, Vice-President, Corresponding 
 Secretary and Treasurer. The Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer 
 shall be ex-officio members of the Board. All other officers must be mem- 
 bers of the Board at the time of their election. The Board shall have 
 
 * Increased by the addition of one minister and one elder to each class, making the 
 Board to consist of eighteen members instead of twelve. — 1876, p. 25. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 353 
 
 gular meetings, to nil vacancies which may have 
 occurred in any of the above offices by death, resignation or otherwise, 
 when due notice of such election shall be given. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Corresponding Secretary shall be the execu: 
 the Board. He -hall take charge of the office, conduct the corres 
 deuce and superintend the publications of the Board, prepare the regular 
 business for its meetings, and always be considered as its official org 
 He shall, as tar as he can. visit the Synods and Presbyteries, for the 
 purpose of awakening their interest and concentrating their energies in 
 this w.;>rk. visit the students aided by the Board, and exercise a general 
 supervision over thern. employ the means necessary to bring to the atten- 
 tion of young men the claims and ends of the ministry, and discharge 
 such other duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the 
 Board, in furtherance of the general object of education for the ministry. 
 He shall also have authority to employ such assistance as in the judgment 
 of the Board may be deemed necessary. 
 
 Sbc. 3. The Treasurer shall have charge of all the funds of the Board, 
 and shall disburse the same under its direction. He shall keep a com- 
 plete register of the students under the care of the Board, and an account 
 with them individually. He shall give bonds tor the proper discharge 
 of his duties. 
 
 Article V. 
 
 F - s. — Section 1. The Board shall act through the Presbytc 
 
 of the Church. Candidates for the ministry, when properly examined 
 and received by the Presbyteries and recommended for aid to the Board. 
 shall receive the amount specified within the limits prescribed by the As- 
 sembly, provided in all cases that a discretionary power, necessary to the 
 general trust committed, shall be exercised by the Board, and the Board 
 shall require that each recommendation shall be accompanied with such 
 information as may be necessary to the intelligent and judi 
 pertbrmance of its duties. 
 
 Sbc. 2. It shall exercise a general supervi sory care over the students, 
 through annual renewals of reeornniendations from Presbyteries and 
 quarterly reports from instructors, through the correspondence of its 
 Secretary and his personal visits to literary and theological institutions 
 and the judicatories of the Church, and by other appropriate instrumen- 
 talities. 
 
 Sbc. 3. It shall take all suitable means to inform the Church as : 
 duties and interests relating to the consecration of her young men : 
 office of the ministry and their sound and thorough education, and to 
 urge the effective care of her judicatories over them, audit shall make 
 such statements and appeals as are calculated to secure contributions 
 sufficient for the accomplishment of its ends. It shall make a full annual 
 report of its work to the G-eneral Assembly. 
 
 Artiek VI. 
 
 Rel the JVes la the B • : . — It shall be the duty of 
 
 each Presbytery to see that collections are taken up annually for this 
 cause in all the churches under its care: to make the increase of candi- 
 dates for the ministry a topic <:>f serious consideration in its meetin_ 
 
 nee a year : to appoint a Standing Committee to act for the Pres- 
 bytery in all matters pertaining to this cause when it is not in session : to 
 -J 
 
354 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 recommend to the Board proper cases for its aid, and to make an annual 
 report of the transactions of the Presbytery on the whole subject to the 
 Board, previous to the meeting of the General Assembly. 
 
 Article VII. 
 
 Duties of Synods. — It shall be the duty of the Synods to call up this 
 subject annually, to inquire what the Presbyteries and churches under 
 their care are doing in relation to it, and to adopt such measures as shall 
 promote the interests of this department of Christian work. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 By-Laws. — The Board shall have power to make for itself all necessary 
 by-laws, not inconsistent with this Constitution, subject to the approval 
 of the General Assembly. 
 
 The Joint Committee present also for the consideration of the General 
 Assembly the following resolutions: 
 
 1. That the Secretary shall have the privilege of a corresponding 
 member of the General Assembly in the discussion of all matters pertain- 
 ing to the work of education. 
 
 2. That the Board of Education shall be located in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, Pa. 
 
 3. It is recommended to the General Assembly to instruct the Board of 
 Education to take such legal steps as are necessary to secure to it the 
 present property of the Board of Education located at Philadelphia, and 
 of the Permanent Committee located at New York, so that this property, 
 and any funds with which either is or may be entrusted, or which may 
 hereafter be received by bequest or otherwise for purposes of ministerial 
 education, shall be managed by one and the same Board and its succes- 
 sors, as trustees thereof, and that said Board have authority to apply for 
 and obtain a charter of incorporation or such modification of the existing 
 charter as they may deem proper. It is further recommended that the 
 organizations of the " Permanent Committee on Education" and the 
 " Board of Education " be continued, so far as may be necessary for the 
 purpose of holding and transferring to the Board of Education, as arranged 
 by the present General Assembly, such funds and trusts as may have 
 been or shall be committed to them. Adopted. — 1870, pp. 81-84. 
 
 4. Act of incorporation of the Board of Education. 
 
 Legislature of Pennsylvania. 
 
 An Act to incorporate The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, and to make them the successors of The 
 Trustees of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, and of The Permanent Committee on Educa- 
 tion for the Ministry of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America. 
 
 Whereas, The two religious bodies heretofore existing, each under the name 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, have united the congregations under their care, and the General 
 Assembly of the Church thus united, which met in Philadelphia on the nine- 
 teenth day of May, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy, 
 and which is the legal successor of both the former bodies, has directed that 
 the work of assisting pious young men in their education for the ministry of 
 the said Church shall be hereafter carried on under its direction by one Board, 
 the location of which has been fixed in the city of Philadelphia ; therefore, 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 35") 
 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by authority of the same : That Herrick Johnson, Elias R. Beadle, 
 Thomas J. Shepherd, Benjamin L. Agnew, Peter Stryker, Alexander Reed, 
 Morris Patterson, Samuel Field, Benjamin B. Comegys, Henry D. Gregory, 
 Benjamin Kendall and James F. Gayley, who were elected at the said meet- 
 ing of the said General Assembly in May, Anno Domini one thousand eight 
 hundred and seventy, as The Board of Education of the said Church, and 
 their successors, are hereby constituted and declared to be a body politic and 
 corporate, which shall henceforth be known by the name of The Board of 
 Education of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and 
 as such shall have perpetual succession, and be able to sue and be sued in all 
 the courts of record and elsewhere, and to purchase and receive, take and 
 hold, to them and their successors for ever, lands, tenements, hereditaments, 
 money, goods and chattels and all kinds of estates which may be devised, be- 
 queathed, conveyed or given to them, and the same to sell, alien, demise and 
 convey ; and also to make a common seal and the same to alter and renew 
 at their pleasure ; and also to make such rules, by-laws and ordinances as may 
 be needful for the government of the said corporation, and not inconsistent 
 with the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State ; Pro- 
 vided always, That the clear yearly value of the real and personal estate held 
 by the said corporation shall not at any time exceed the sum of twenty thou- 
 sand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 2. The corporators above named shall hold their office until their suc- 
 cessors are duly qualified to take their places, who shall be chosen by the said 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, at such time and in such a manner as it shall direct ; Provided, Not 
 more than one-third of the said Board shall be removed in any one year. 
 
 Sec. 3. The Board hereby incorporated and their successors shall, subject 
 to the direction of the said General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, have full power to manage the funds and prop- 
 erty committed to their care in such manner as shall be deemed most advan- 
 tageous, not being contrary to law. 
 
 Sec. 4. That the Trustees of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, heretofore incorporated under the 
 laws of this Commonwealth, are hereby authorized to assign, transfer and 
 convey unto the corporation established by this act all the property; estates 
 and rights of any and every description now held or enjoyed, or which may 
 hereafter be helcl or enjoyed by them, by virtue of any grant, gift, bequest or 
 devise, and the said The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America hereby established shall be and become the full 
 legal successor of all the corporate rights, franchises and privileges now 
 belonging to the said The Trustees of the Board of Education of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, and shall and may hold, use 
 and enjoy all the property, estates and rights assigned, transferred or con- 
 veyed, so as aforesaid, in the same manner and to the same extent, but sub- 
 ject to the same limitations and trusts as the said The Trustees. of the Board 
 of Education of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
 might have done, and shall be entitled to receive, sue for and recover all lega- 
 cies or devises which have heretofore been or may hereafter be made to the 
 said The Trustees of the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America. 
 
 Sec. 5. That in case the requisite power shall be given by the proper author- 
 ity of the State of New York to the said The Permanent Committee on Educa- 
 tion for the Ministry of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, a corporation established by the Legislature of 
 the said State of New York, to assign, transfer and convey unto the corpora- 
 tion established by this act all the property, estates and rights, of any and 
 every description, now held or enjoyed, or which may hereafter be held or 
 enjoyed, by them, by virtue of any grant, gift or bequest or devise, and in 
 case the said proper authority of the State of New York shall also give full 
 power to the corporation hereby established, thereupon to be and become the 
 legal successors of all corporate rights, franchises and privileges now belong- 
 ing to the said The Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry of 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America to all intents and purposes, the said corporation hereby established is 
 authorized to accept and receive the assignment, transfer and conveyance 
 
356 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 made as aforesaid, and upon such assignment, transfer or conveyance being 
 made, and also upon the granting of power by the proper authority of the 
 State of New York to the corporation hereby established to become the full 
 legal successors as aforesaid of the said The Permanent Committee on Educa- 
 tion for the Ministry of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, the Board of Education of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America hereby established shall be and 
 become the full legal successors of all the corporate rights, franchises and 
 privileges now belonging to the said The Permanent Committee on Education 
 for the Ministry of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, and may and shall hold, use and enjoy all the prop- 
 erty, estates and rights assigned, transferred or conveyed so as aforesaid in 
 the same manner and to the same extent, but subject to the same limitations 
 and trusts, as the said The Permanent Committee on Education for the Minis- 
 try of the Genera] Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America might have done, and shall be entitled to receive, sue for and 
 recover all legacies and clevises which have heretofore been or may hereafter 
 be made to the said The Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 
 James H. Webb, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 William H. Wallace, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved the twelfth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
 one. 
 
 John W. Geary, Governor. 
 
 5. Act authorizing the transfer of property of the Permanent Committee 
 on Education to the Board of Education. 
 
 Legislature of New York. 
 
 An Act to enable "The Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America" to transfer its property to the new Board created by the 
 General Assembly, when the same shall have been incorporated, and to 
 vest in such new incorporation the rights, franchises and privileges of 
 the former body. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. The said "Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry 
 of the General Assembly in the United States of America " are hereby author- 
 ized and empowered to assign, transfer and convey to the said The Board of 
 Education of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, when- 
 ever the same shall have become duly incorporated, all the property, estates 
 and rights of any and every description now held or enjoyed, or which may 
 hereafter be held or enjoyed, by them, by virtue of any grant, gift, bequest 
 or devise, and the said The Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, whenever the same shall have become duly 
 incorporated as aforesaid, shall thereupon be and become the full legal succes- 
 sors of all the corporate rights, franchises and privileges now belonging to 
 the said "The Permanent Committee on Education for the Ministry of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America." 
 
 Sec. 2. This Act shall take effect whenever the several persons elected at 
 the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in May, 
 eighteen hundred and seventy, as the Board of Education, shall have been 
 duly incorporated. 
 
 Approved the twentieth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight 
 hundred and seventy-one. 
 
 John T. Hoffman, Governor. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 357 
 
 State of New York, ) 
 Office of the Secretary of State, $ ' ' 
 
 I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, 
 and do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of 
 the whole of said original law. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal of office at the city of Albany, 
 L.S. this eighth day of May, in the year one thousand eight hun- 
 
 dred and seventy -one. 
 
 D. Willers, Jr., Deputy Secretary of State. 
 
 6. Rules. Candidates for the ministry. 
 
 (i) Dependence of the Board of Education upon the Presbyteries 
 of the Church. 
 
 1. The Board of Education shall receive and aid candidates for the 
 ministry of the Gospel only upon the recommendation of a Presbytery 
 of the Church; and the Presbytery is responsible for their examination, 
 subsequent care, and the designation of the annual amount of aid to be 
 granted to them, within the limits set by the General Assembly. 
 
 2. The Board will in each case look especially to the Education Commit- 
 tee of the Presbytery for filling out and forwarding the form of recom- 
 mendation required for the reception of a candidate, and also for the 
 pastoral care of the same, until his entrance upon his official duties. 
 
 3. As a general rule, the Board Avill receive any young man of whose 
 examination and recommendation in conformity with its requirements 
 proper notification has been given; but it shall be at liberty to refuse 
 new candidates beyond its ability to support them; and it will not give 
 aid to students from the foreign missionary field unless they have been 
 recommended by our foreign missionaries abroad, or have come to study 
 in this country by a special invitation given from this Board upon the 
 request of other duly recognized Church authorities, or of missionaries 
 resident on the fields from Avhich they come. 
 
 (#) Reception of candidates. 
 
 1 . The encouragement of a voting man to enter the Gospel ministry is 
 a matter of serious concern both to himself and to the Church ; and it 
 should be given only by those who have proper knowledge of his mental 
 and moral character, accompanied with much counsel and prayer, and 
 directly by a single desire for the glory of God. Every candidate should 
 join that Presbytery to which he would most naturally belong ; and he 
 should be introduced to it either by his pastor or by some member of the 
 Education Committee after such acquaintance as will warrant his taking 
 the responsibility of so doing. 
 
 2.* The Presbytery, in examining students with a view to their recom- 
 mendation for aid, must embrace such points as are indicated by the 
 following questions, to which definite answers, by the direction of the 
 Assembly, will invariably be required by the Board: Give name of can- 
 didate in full. Age ? Kesidence ? Has Presbytery (or the Education 
 Committee in the interim between the meetings of Presbytery) examined 
 him on the following points, and were his answers satisfactory : — Piety ? 
 Motives for seeking the ministry ? Talents ? Health ? Promise of prac- 
 tical efficiency ? Is he free from expensive and injurious habits ? How 
 long has he been a communicant in a Presbyterian church ? Give the 
 
 * This rule is as altered in 1897. See Minutes, 1897, p. 33, g 2. 
 
358 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 name of the church. If in an academy, give name of academy and class. 
 If in college, or ready to enter, give name of college and class. If in 
 seminary, or ready to enter, give name of seminary and class. If in a 
 theological seminary, has he pursued a full collegiate course ? If so, 
 give the name of the college of which he is a graduate. If not a college 
 graduate, has he had the equivalent of a college course ? If so, send a 
 detailed statement of his previous studies and career. Has he been 
 recommended to Presbytery by his church Session ? Can he recite the 
 Westminster Shorter Catechism ? What is the smallest amount required 
 to meet his really necessary expenses to the end of the fiscal year, viz. , 
 April 1 ? Has he read a copy of the rules ? Does he accept the 
 requirements contained in them ? At a meeting of the Presbytery of 
 
 (or of the Education Committee) held at on the 
 
 day of 18 , the candidate for the ministry named above, having 
 
 been satisfactorily examined as to the points indicated by the foregoing 
 questions, was recommended to the Board of Education for aid to the 
 amount specified. Signed by Chairman Educational Committee. 
 
 3. No candidate shall be received by the Board who has not been a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church, or of some closely related body, for 
 at least one year ; who has not been recommended to the Presbytery by 
 the Session of the church of which he is a member; and who is not 
 sufficiently advanced in study to enter college, except in extraordinary 
 cases. 
 
 (3) Scholarships. 
 
 1 . The annual scholarships to candidates shall be the same in amount for 
 theological and collegiate students, and not exceed $150; for those in 
 the preparatory course the amount shall not exceed $100. 
 
 2. These scholarships shall be paid to a student only on the reception 
 of particular and satisfactory reports from his professors, embracing the 
 following points: Christiau character ? Scholarship ? Rhetorical abil- 
 ity "? Punctuality ? Economy ? 
 
 3. The Board may increase or diminish, in a general ratio, the scholar- 
 ships in case of unusual surplus or deficiency in funds. 
 
 4. No payment shall be made in advance. Each payment shall 
 be acknowledged by a receipt signed by the candidate, or by the 
 person authorized by him to receive it. And this receipt shall contain a 
 pledge to return the amount given, with interest, in case he of his own 
 accord turn aside from his ministerial calling. 
 
 5. In order to suit the period when the students most need assistance, 
 and when the reports from professors can be most satisfactorily made, 
 the reports shall ordinarily be made on the first days of October, Janu- 
 ary and April. The payments of a student whose recommendation is 
 made at any time between those days may be expected to commence at 
 the date of it. 
 
 6. The Board will in no case be responsible for the debts of students; 
 but it is expected of them that the scholarship shall be first applied to 
 the payment of tuition and boarding. 
 
 7. The payments to the candidates shall cease regularly at the close of 
 the collegiate year; or earlier, when the time for which they were recom- 
 mended by the Presbytery has expired; and also as soon as it is deter- 
 mined that they are suffering from prolonged ill health which may unfit 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 359 
 
 them for the work of the ministry ; or as soon as their private circum- 
 stances enable them to dispense with assistance ; and if they have been 
 manifestly improvident, or have contracted debts without reasonable 
 prospect of payment, or if they have married since the last payment, or 
 if thev have received assistance from any other educational Board or 
 Society, the entire three months' appropriation shall be forfeited. 
 
 8. The sums of money appropriated by the Board shall be . refunded 
 to it, with interest, in case a student fails to enter on, or continue in, 
 the work of the ministry (unless it appears that he is providentially 
 prevented); or if he ceases to adhere to the Standards of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church; or if he changes his place of study contrary to the direc- 
 tions of the Presbytery, or continues to prosecute his studies at an 
 institution not approved by it or by the Board; or if he withdraws his 
 connection from the Church of which this Board is the organ, without 
 furnishing a satisfactory reason. 
 
 9. A scholarship afforded by the Presbyterian Church, through the 
 Board of Education, is not to be given or regarded as a loan, to be 
 refunded by those who comply with these rules and regularly enter the 
 ministry, but as her cheerful contribution to facilitate and expedite their 
 preparation for it ; and they are only obliged by it to a warmer interest 
 in her efforts for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, and 
 especially to the use of the means necessary to instruct and stimulate her 
 members in the duty of multiplying and sending forth preachers of the 
 Gospel of salvation to all the world. 
 
 10. While the Church, in providing scholarships for her candidates, 
 makes no specific conditions as to the particular kind of service in the 
 ministry which they will be expected to render upon the completion of 
 their theological training, nor as to the character or situation of the place 
 where they shall labor, nevertheless her judgment is that they ought to 
 cultivate a missionary spirit as Christlike, apostolic and timely ; and that 
 it would be highly becoming in them, under all ordinary circumstances, to 
 offer their services at the conclusion of their education, for work in mis- 
 sionary fields; ever remembering the abounding destitution in our own 
 country, as well as in foreign lands ; the peculiar fitness of young men 
 for such work; the honor, privilege and advantage pertaining to it; the 
 natural expectations of the Church which has trained them in the hope 
 that they would endure hardness as good soldiers; and, above all, the 
 spirit of the last command of our ascended Lord. 
 
 (4) Care of candidates. 
 
 1. Candidates are required, except in extraordinary cases, and then 
 only with the explicit permission of their Presbyteries, to pursue a 
 thoreugh course of study, preparatory to that of theology, in institutions 
 that sympathize with the doctrinal teachings of the Presbyterian Church; 
 and, when prepared, to pursue a three years' course of theological studies 
 in some seminary connected with the same Church, and no work of 
 preaching is allowed to interfere with the diligent and faithful prosecution 
 of their prescribed studies until the close. 
 
 2. The Board can rely only upon the Education Committee of each 
 Presbytery for the regular care of its own candidates, which should 
 include the constant exercise of a parental oversight over them in spiritual 
 things, and the bestowment of the counsel they need as to their mode of 
 preparation, their place of study, their trials, and the occupation of their 
 
360 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 time, while not engaged in study, in employments which will tend to 
 qualify them for effective usefulness as pastors or evangelists. 
 
 3. The Board shall assist the Presbytery in its care of candidates, by 
 furnishing annually to the Education Committee, a summary of informa- 
 tion from the professors' reports' as to the standing of each student; and 
 the Corresponding Secretary shall exercise a general supervisory care over 
 them, also visit and address them, when practicable, at the institution 
 where they are, in regard to their duties and the claims of the office 
 which they have in view. 
 
 4. The recommendation of each candidate must be annually renewed 
 by his Presbytery, if possible, at the spring meeting, in connection with 
 one from the Session of the church of which he is a member, and a 
 specification must be made of the amount needed by him ; and until the 
 notification of these points has been received, a student will not be 
 considered as upon the roll for the year. 
 
 5. Recommendations, or renewals of them, made by an Education 
 Committee in the interim of the sessions of a Presbytery, shall be received 
 as sufficient, provided its action is reported to the Presbytery at the next 
 session, and not countermanded to the Board. 
 
 6. If, at any time, there be discovered in a student such defect in 
 capacity, diligence, and especially in piety, as would render his introduc- 
 tion into the ministry a doubtful measure, it shall be the sacred duty of 
 the Board to communicate without delay the information received to the 
 Education Committee of his Presbytery ; and if, on careful inquiry on 
 the part of the Presbytery, no satisfactory explanation of the defect can 
 be obtained, or if no response be received by the Board from the Pres- 
 bytery or from its Committee on Education within the current quarter, it 
 shall be the duty of the Board to withdraw its aid altogether. 
 
 7. Special care should be exercised by the Presbytery in the examina- 
 tion of students who are about to enter upon the theological course, 
 according to the instructions of the Form of Government (Chap, xiv, 
 Sec. iii) ; and this examination should be conducted by the Presbytery, 
 and be entirely satisfactory as to the ' ' real piety ' ' of the students 
 " and the motives which have influenced them to desire the sacred 
 office," before they are allowed to take the final step towards assuming 
 its great responsibilities. 
 
 8. The annual report, occasional publications of this Board, and a 
 copy of the Confession of Faith, shall be sent gratis to all students under 
 its care who request them. 
 
 (5) Particular duties of candidates. 
 
 1. Inasmuch as the great aim of the Church, in the establishment of 
 the Board of Education, is the increase of holy and faithful preachers of 
 the Gospel, the young brethren who look to this work are earnestly and 
 affectionately reminded that all intellectual acquisitions are of little value 
 without the cultivation of piety, and that they are expected aud required 
 to pay special attention to the practical duties of religion, such as read- 
 ing the Scriptures ; secret prayer and meditation ; occasional acts of 
 special consecration of themselves to Christ and to His service, as their 
 Redeemer and as the Lord of all ; attendance at regular meetings on the 
 Sabbath and during the week; endeavors to promote the salvation of 
 others; and the exhibition at all times of a pious and consistent example. 
 
 2. Inasmuch as the scholarships granted by the Board will necessarily 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 361 
 
 fall short of a full support of the students, it will be expected that they 
 and their friends will make all proper exertions to supply whatever may 
 be wanting. 
 
 3. When a student shall find it necessary to relinquish study for a 
 time, in order to increase his means for support, by teaching or other- 
 wise, he shall first obtain the consent of the Education Committee of the 
 Presbytery, or of the Board ; and if, when given, he shall not be absent 
 from study more than three months, his scholarship will be continued ; 
 but if longer, it will be discontinued, or continued in part according to 
 circumstances. 
 
 4. It shall be the duty of each candidate connected with the Board to 
 report himself, soon after the meeting of the General Assembly, to the 
 Education Committee of his Presbytery, as to his progress, wants and 
 prospects ; and when any of the requisitions of the Board which affect 
 him may not be carried out by teachers or others, it becomes his duty to 
 see that they are attended to, that delays and losses to himself may be 
 prevented. 
 
 5. The reception of a scholarship by a student shall be considered as 
 expressing a promise to comply with all the rules and regulations of the 
 Board. 
 
 (6) Exceptional Cases. 
 
 1. The Board will not ordinarily take under its care as candidates for 
 the ministry any who have not completed a course preparatory to college. 
 If exceptional cases are recommended by Presbyteries the Board should be 
 certified that there has been a season of thorough trial and approval under 
 competent teachers, through two or three years. 
 
 2. Such students are not to expect the benefit of scholarships for more 
 than two years before entering college. 
 
 7. Plan for the encouragement of a missionary spirit in candidates. 
 
 1. The Board of Education is hereby directed to use its influence to 
 incline the candidates under its care, at the conclusion of their studies in 
 preparation for the holy ministry, to offer their services, under all ordi- 
 nary circumstances, for missionary labor for a longer or shorter period of 
 time as the providence of God may indicate. 
 
 And further, in order effectively to bring this influence to bear upon 
 its candidates, the Board is hereby authorized to add the following to its 
 rules relating to candidates for the ministry. 
 
 "in. Scholarships.— 10." 
 
 [Xote— See Rule 10, on p. 359.] 
 
 2. It is hereby made the duty of the Board, through its Correspond- 
 ing Secretary, by correspondence with the candidates, the Education and 
 the Mission Committees of Presbyteries, Synodical Superintendents, and 
 the Board of Home Missions, and the Mission Committees of Synods, to 
 bring about, to as large a degree as possible, the employing of the proba- 
 tioners of the Church in missionary labor at the conclusion of their 
 studies. 
 
 3. Each Theological Seminary is hereby requested to cooperate in this 
 plan by so ordering the course of instruction, and the. general life of 
 the seminary, as to put increased emphasis, if possible, upon the dignity, 
 privilege, and preeminent importance, in this crisis of the world's history, 
 of missionary labor; and to use its influence to incline the young men 
 
362 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 whom it has under its care, without distinction, to a willingness to conse- 
 crate the strength and zeal of their early manhood to a task so appropri- 
 ate to men in their situation, and so rich with promise of large results. 
 
 4. The Presbyteries are hereby requested to cooperate by making 
 themselves acquainted, through the Board of Education and the authori- 
 ties of the theological seminaries, or otherwise, with the number and qual- 
 ifications of the candidates who are prepared to offer themselves for mis- 
 sionary service, and, as far as possible, to employ them promptly upon 
 the conclusion of their studies ; that thus efficient measures may be taken 
 to supply some at least of our destitute mission fields, and to make use 
 without delay of the men whom the Church is at so much pains to 
 educate. 
 
 IV. THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK. 
 
 1. History. 
 
 In 1838, the Assembly, O. S., Resolved, That the General Assembly 
 will superintend and conduct by its own proper authority the work of 
 furnishing the churches under its care with suitable tract and Sabbath- 
 school publications, by a Board appointed for that purpose, and directly 
 amenable to said Assembly. — 1838, p. 23, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— The plan as adopted may be found in the Digest, 1886, pp. 433-435. In 1862 
 the Assembly, N. S., appointed a Standing Committee, on Publication, Minutes, 1852, 
 p. 176, N. S. ; 1853, p. 330, N. S. ; 1856, p. 214, N. S. ; 1860, pp. 246-248. See Moore's 
 new Digest, 1861, pp. 394-404, and Digest, 1886, pp. 435, 436. In 1855, p. 13, N. B., the 
 name was changed to "The Presbyterian Publication Committee." The trustees of 
 the Presbyterian House were authorized and directed to act as trustees of the Publi- 
 cation Committee.— 1857, p. 410, N. S.] 
 
 2. The Board of Publication organized, 1870. 
 
 The unfinished business, viz., the report of the Joint Committee on 
 Publication, was resumed, and, after amendment, was adopted as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 The Special Committee of five from each of the recent branches of the 
 Church, appointed ' ' to take into consideration the affairs ' ' of the Pub- 
 lication Board and Committee of said branches, and to " recommend to 
 the Assembly of the united Church what changes are required ' ' in said 
 Board and Committee, respectfully report: 
 
 That they have endeavored to give the matter referred to them that 
 earnest and prayerful consideration which its importance demands. 
 
 They regard the work of the Church to be prosecuted through this 
 agency as scarcely second to that of any of our Boards. It is not only 
 closely related to our missionary enterprises, but is itself, in many of its 
 aspects, a missionary work. Its aim is the dissemination of vital truth, 
 both among congregations already established and among the people who 
 are never reached by the heralds of salvation. It is at once auxiliary 
 to the ministry and of itself a ministry. Every tract is, or should be, a 
 message from God. Every Sunday-school book should be a preacher of 
 righteousness. 
 
 To effect this work involves a liberal use of money, of mind, and of 
 every resource committed by God to numan hands. 
 
 The first necessity is a central house of publication, which should be 
 endowed with every appliance needed for the preparation and the diffusion 
 of religious literature. Economy, of course, should be studied. It is 
 not, in our view, essential that large sums be invested in the machinery 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 363 
 
 of publication, such as presses and binderies. The use of this machinery 
 can be commanded without purchase. But it is essential that a proper 
 house be provided for the transaction of the business of this agency, and 
 for the issue and circulation of its literature. The buildings erected for 
 this purpose, and now under the control of the Assembly, are wholly inad- 
 equate. Both are small and ill-arranged. Neither has been found 
 sufficient for the wants of the Church as divided; the work before the 
 Church as united will be vastly greater than has ever yet been attempted. 
 It is believed also, that, so far as possible, all the operations of the 
 united Church conducted from Philadelphia should be concentrated 
 under one roof. The house of publication should be virtually a Presby- 
 terian house, a centre and a home for the denomination, a rallying -point 
 for all the interests of the Church which the Assembly in its wisdom may 
 localize in this city. The advantages of such a concentration in facili- 
 tating the transaction of the business of the Church, in promoting the 
 general convenience, and in fostering a proper denominational life and 
 spirit, are too obvious to require remark. But to effect this a new and 
 extensive building must be erected ; and it is believed that the recogni- 
 tion of this necessity by the Assembly will so enlist the sympathy of the 
 Church as to secure the ready accomplishment of the plan submitted in 
 the subjoined resolutions. 
 
 The second necessity is an efficient Board and proper officers. The 
 Board should be constituted, we believe, of a comparatively small num- 
 ber of thoroughly practical, wise and energetic men, all of whom can be 
 relied upon to attend the meetings of the Board, and to devote their 
 personal attention to its operations. This number should be larger than 
 may be required by the other Boards of the Church, inasmuch as its 
 work will necessitate several sub -Committees. It should be also somewhat 
 larger than may be required by the constitution of these sub -Committees, 
 in order that vacancies in the Committees themselves may be readily 
 filled by men of experience, and in order that perplexing questions may 
 be submitted to the wisdom of a full council ; yet the number should not 
 be so large as to weaken a sense of individual responsibility. 
 
 Experience has proved that a few T men, each of whom can be easily 
 reached, all of whom have a vital interest in the trusts confided to them, 
 will perform any given labor more efficiently than a large Board Avhose 
 members are so diffused as to be seldom collected, or as to forget the 
 claims of a duty whose immediate field is far away. 
 
 The officers of this Board should be men adapted to their sphere, care- 
 fully selected, in number sufficient to conduct the business placed in their 
 hands, and so remunerated that they can devote their entire time and 
 energies to the w T ork. The Board should also be empowered to employ 
 such other assistants as in their judgment may be required. 
 
 The third necessity is the maintenance of a force of colporteurs suffi- 
 ciently large to reach the outlying population of the land by the Gospel, 
 and to prepare the way for the establishment of churches wherever they 
 may be made permanent and effectual. Provision should also be made 
 for the supply of Sunday-school libraries and of the general literature of 
 the Board on the liberal terms of an enlarged Christian benevolence. 
 
 The fulfillment of these conditions will be found to require some 
 changes, notwithstanding the admirable manner in which this work has 
 been conducted hitherto. Our beloved Church has already accom- 
 plished so much in the direction' indicated that we can refer to its past 
 
364 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 operations with just thanksgiving; but, while we think no great and 
 radical changes in this department of our Christian work are desirable, the 
 day has now come for an enlargement of all our plans — a fresh and more 
 vigorous movement in the development of a spirit of enterprise for Christ. 
 
 God's promises were always full. His providence now calls us to new 
 ■faith in the promises, and to a new consecration to that work with which 
 the fulfillment of the sure and glorious prophecy is associated. 
 
 We therefore respectfully recommend the adoption, by this General 
 Assembly, of the following resolutions as comprehending the changes in 
 our judgment required in order to the union and reorganization of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Publication and the Presbyterian Publication 
 Committee, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. The said Board and Committee are hereby united under 
 the name and title of the " Presbyterian Board of Publication." 
 
 2. The said Board shall henceforth be composed of forty -eight mem- 
 bers, one-half of whom shall be ministers and one-half laymen. These 
 members shall be divided into three classes, one class containing eight 
 ministers and eight laymen, after the present year to be elected annually 
 by the General Assembly for a term of three years. 
 
 3. In order to an immediate and thorough reorganization of the 
 Board, all persons now members of the Board and the Committee are 
 discontinued, and their membership ceases, and the following persons, 
 taken in equal numbers from each of the late branches, are recommended 
 to fill the three classes. 
 
 For the class whose term shall expire in May, 1871: 
 
 Ministers — Alexander Reed, D.D., J. Grier Ralston, D.D., Robert 
 
 M. Patterson, Thomas Murphy, Peter Stryker, D.D., Stephen W. 
 
 Dana, Richard H. Allen, D.D.,* William T. Eva. 
 
 Laymen — Henry E. Thomas, John Sibley, James T. Young, H. 
 
 Lenox Hodge, M.D., Edward R. Hutchins, M.D., William L. Hilde- 
 
 burn, William E. Camp, Horatio B. Lincoln. 
 
 For the class whose term shall expire in May, 1872: 
 
 Ministers — George F. Wiswell, D.D., Johu W. Dulles, Daniel 
 
 March, D.D., H. Augustus Smith, Willard M. Rice, D.D., F. Reck 
 
 Harbaugh, Matthew B. Grier, D.D., Matthew Newkirk. 
 
 Laymen — George W. Simons, Joseph Allison, LL.D., Henry M. 
 
 Paul, Edward Miller, James Ross Snowden, John D. McCord, Gilbert 
 
 Combs, Gustavus S. Benson. 
 
 For the class whose term shall expire in May, 1873: 
 
 Ministers — William P. Breed, D.D., William E. Schenck, D.D., 
 
 David A. Cunningham, Benjamin L. Agnew, Zephaniah M. Hum- 
 phrey, D.D., William E. Moore, Thomas J. Shepherd, D.D., Herrick 
 
 Johnson, D.D. 
 
 Laymen — Morris Patterson, Winthrop Sargent, Archibald Mclntyre, 
 
 George Junkin, Samuel C. Perkins, William E. Tenbrook, Robert N. 
 
 Willson, Alexander Whilldin. 
 
 4. The said Board shall hold at least four regular meetings in the 
 course of each year, in the months of June, October, January and 
 April. Its first meeting shall be held at 821 Chestnut street, at four 
 o' clock P. M. , on the second Tuesday of June of the present year. 
 
 5. The executive officers of the Board shall be a Secretary or Secre- 
 taries, whose titles and duties shall be defined by the Board, and a 
 Treasurer. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 365 
 
 6. All other internal arrangements necessary for carrying out the 
 purposes of its orgnization shall be made by the Board of Publication 
 after its reorganization. 
 
 7. Each Presbytery is directed to appoint one or more of its members 
 a Presbyterial Publication Committee; which Committee shall, in that 
 Presbytery, supervise the work of securing an annual collection for this 
 Board from each of its churches; shall search out and recommend to the 
 Board suitable persons to act as colporteurs; shall correspond with the 
 Board in reference to its work in that Presbytery ; and shall do whatever 
 else may tend to promote the work and interests of the Board, and to 
 secure a thorough distribution of the Board's publications within and 
 throughout the bounds of the Presbytery. 
 
 8. All the property, of every kind, now owned by the " Presbyterian 
 Board of Publication" and by the "Presbyterian Publication 
 Committee" or held by any Board of Trustees for the use and 
 benefit of either of them, is hereby directed to be united, and 
 placed in possession of " The Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of 
 Publication," incorporated by the Legislature of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and whose charter was approved by the Governor of that State on 
 the 13th day of February, A.D. 1847. And in order that the late two 
 branches of the Presbyterian Church, now happily reunited, may have, 
 as nearly as possible, an equal representation in said Board of Trustees 
 of the Presbyterian Board of Publication (there now being enough 
 vacancies by death and resignation to effect the changes proposed), the 
 Board of Publication is directed, at its next meeting in the month of 
 June, to elect the following persons to be members of this Board of 
 Trustees: 
 
 For one year. — Alexander Whilldin, Samuel C. Perkins, Archibald 
 Mclntire. 
 
 For two years. — Morris Patterson, William E. Tenbrook. 
 
 For three years. — George Junkin, James Ross Snowden and Robert 
 N. Willson. 
 
 9. The " Trustees of the Presbyterian House " are hereby directed to 
 convey, by a good and sufficient legal title, to " The Trustees of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Publication," the house and lot, Nos. 1334 and 
 1336 Chestnut street, now occupied by the Presbyterian Publication 
 Committee in part as a bookstore, and any other property now in their 
 possession, or which may hereafter come into their possession, for the use 
 of the Presbyterian Publication Committee. And should any legal 
 difficulties be found in the way of making such a conveyance or transfer, 
 then ' ' The Trustees of the Presbyterian House ' ' and ' ' The Trustees 
 of the Presbyterian Board of Publication " are hereby directed to 
 procure, as speedily as possible, such special enactments from the Legis- 
 lature of this State or decrees of any courts of competent jurisdiction, as 
 shall remove those difficulties. 
 
 10. The General Assembly recommends the Board of Publication, as 
 soon as practicable after its reorganization, to sell its house and lot, No. 
 821 Chestnut street, and to provide a larger house, adequate to its now 
 extended operations, and to the prospective growth of its business, on 
 the premises Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street, or in that vicinity. 
 
 11. In order that the above recommendation may be carried out, so 
 as to provide ample accommodations for the Board's future business, 
 and for all other Presbyterian interests in this city, it is recommended 
 
366 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 that the sum of one hundred thousand dollars be raised among our 
 churches and people for the erection and equipment of said Presbyterian 
 house, and all contributions made thereto shall be recognized as a part 
 of the offering of five millions of dollars which it was at Pittsburgh 
 resolved to raise. 
 
 12. All the Committees and officers of the Board of Publication, and 
 of the Publication Committee, are requested to continue to perform 
 their respective duties as at present, until otherwise directed by the 
 newly organized Board of Publication. 
 
 13. The Board of Publication and the Publication Committee are 
 directed to submit to the next General Assembly, and each year there- 
 after, a full statement of the property of said Boards, consisting of real 
 estate, copyrights, books, papers, plates and any other assets, with an 
 estimate of the value thereof. — 1870, pp. 113-116. 
 
 3. The Sabbath-school Work of the Board. Three branches. 
 
 a. 1. That the Board of Publication be instructed so to enlarge its 
 arrangements as to make the Sabbath-school work a prominent and 
 organic part of its operations; and that it is exceedingly desirable that 
 the entire congregations in our churches, old and young, be permanently 
 connected with the Sabbath-school, either as scholars or teachers. 
 
 2. That the Board, so enlarged in the sphere of its operations, keep 
 before it these three branches of the Sabbath -school work: 
 
 (A) To furnish a complete literature for Sabbath-schools, consisting 
 of its own and other well-selected books for libraries, helps of all kinds 
 for the study of the Scriptures and catechism, periodicals for teachers 
 and scholars, and all other apparatus fitted to give efficiency to the work 
 of teaching. 
 
 (B) To establish such agencies as it may deem suitable for elevating 
 the standard of teaching, and more thoroughly developing the great 
 idea of Sabbath- schools — that of imparting the knowledge of God to 
 the young and drawing them to the salvation of Christ. 
 
 (C) In appointing colporteurs, as far as possible, to select such 
 persons as may also be suitable for Sabbath -school missionaries, and 
 instruct them to establish Sabbath -schools in destitute localities, under 
 the supervision of the Presbyteries. 
 
 3.. That the churches be urged to contribute more largely to the mis- 
 sionary fund of this Board, to meet the increased expense which the 
 working of this branch of its operations will demand. — 1871, p. 524. 
 
 b. In the Sabbath -school department the instructions of the last 
 Assembly have been carried out. A general superintendent has been 
 appointed — Mr. J. Bennet Tyler — who in January last entered upon his 
 duties, has performed much preparatory work, and everywhere found 
 interest and sympathy with the plans of the Assembly. To the West- 
 minster series of Sabbath-school lessons for teachers and scholars three 
 numbers have been added, in continuation of a plan which embraces a 
 full curriculum of Bible study. — 1872, p. 20. 
 
 4. Charter of the Board. 
 
 An Act to Incorporate "The Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publica- 
 tion." 
 Whereas, The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America have a Board of Publication composed of ministers and lay- 
 men of the Presbyterian Church, the design of which is "the publication of 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 367 
 
 such works, permanent or periodical, as are adapted to promote sound learn- 
 ing and true religion ; " and. 
 
 Whereas, The aforesaid Board of Publication labors under serious disad- 
 vantages, as to receiving donations and bequests, and as to the management 
 of funds entrusted to them for the purpose designated in their Constitution, 
 and in accordance with the benevolent intentions of those from whom such 
 bequests and donations are received ; therefore, 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, that Matthew Newkirk, James N. Dick- 
 son, William S. Martien, James B. Ross, Archibald Mclntyre, Joseph B. Mit- 
 chell, Alexander W. Mitchell, M.D., Robert Soutter, Jr., and James Dunlap, 
 citizens of the United States and of this Commonwealth, and their successors, 
 are hereby constituted and declared to be a body politic and corporate, which 
 shall henceforth be known by the name of "The Trustees of the Presbyterian 
 Board of Publication,"* and as such shall have perpetual succession, and be 
 able to sue and be sued in all courts of record, and elsewhere ; and to pur- 
 chase and receive, take and hold, to them and their successors, forever, lands, 
 tenements, hereditaments, goods, money and chattels, and all kinds of estate 
 which may be devised, or bequeathed, or given to them ; and the same to sell, 
 alien, demise and convey ; also to make a common seal, and the same to alter 
 and renew at their pleasure ; and also to make such rules, by-laws and ordi- 
 nances as may be needful for the government of the said corporation, and not 
 inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this 
 State ; Provided, always, That the clear yearly income of the real estate held • 
 by the said corporation shall not at any time exceed the sum of five thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Trustees above named shall hold their offices for one year from 
 the date of this incorporation, and until their successors are duly qualified to 
 take their places ; who shall be chosen by the aforesaid Board of Publication, 
 at such times and in such manner as shall be provided by the said General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, pro- 
 vided not more than one-third of the Trustees shall be removed in any one 
 year. 
 
 Sec 3. The Trustees hereby incorporated, and their successors, shall (sub- 
 ject to the direction of the said Board of Publication) have full power to 
 manage the funds and property committed to their care, in such manner as 
 shall be deemed most advantageous, and not contrary to law. 
 
 James Cooper, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 Ch. Gibbons, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved the thirteenth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and 
 forty-seven. Fe. R. Shunk. 
 
 5. Relations of the Missionary and Publishing Departments. 
 
 a. The report of the Special Committee on the Missionary Depart- 
 ment of the Board of Publication was then taken up aud adopted. The 
 report is as follows: 
 
 The Committee appointed by the General Assembly of 1881 to con- 
 sider and report to the next General Assembly what changes and 
 measures, if any, are needed in order to increase the work and efficiency 
 of the Missionary department of the Board of Publication, would 
 respectfully submit the following report: 
 
 [Note. — See report in full, Minutes, 1882, pp. 73-80. The action recommended and 
 adopted is as follows :] 
 
 1. That the General Assembly instruct the Board of Publication to 
 maintain a separation as complete as practicable between the Publishing 
 
 * Title amended by decree of the Court of Common Pleas, No. 1, of Philadelphia, 
 November 19, 1887, to "The Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and 
 Sabbath-school Work." 
 
368 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 and the Colportage departments in their business affairs; so that the 
 relation between the two, in this respect, shall be the same as between 
 the Publishing department and any other purchaser — the terms of sale 
 to the Colportage department to be as favorable as those offered to any- 
 other purchaser. 
 
 2. The Publishing department is to employ all legitimate agencies 
 which shall promote the sale of its publications, and not be required to 
 assume, in whole or in part, the support of any office or agency which it 
 does not feel justified in assuming because of its commercial value. 
 It is to keep in view the important object of furnishing its publications 
 at the lowest possibje cost; and all advantages which it may possess, by 
 virtue of the capital placed at its disposal, are to bear fruit chiefly in 
 the lower price and consequent wider diffusion of its publications. 
 
 3. The Board shall present to the General Assembly a yearly statement 
 of the expenses of the Publishing department, and also a statement 
 of its profits in such a manner that it shall be made to appear, (1) 
 whether any reduction in the price of its publications is practicable, and 
 (2) what sum this department may yield, year by year, for Sabbath- 
 school work and colportage, or other missionary purposes. 
 
 . 4. That the work of colportage, including the selection and appoint- 
 ment of colporteurs, shall be under the exclusive supervision of the 
 Corresponding Secretary and the appropriate Committee of the Board, 
 who shall be allowed adequate clerical aid. No colporteur, however, 
 shall be sent to labor within the bounds of any Presbytery, unless first 
 recommended by the Presbytery or its appropriate Committee. 
 
 6. The funds necessary for the maintenance of the Missionary depart- 
 ment are to be sought, as now, directly from the churches, as a benevolent 
 gift. From these funds the Board shall provide for the entire salary 
 of the Secretary of Sabbath-school Work, and so much of the salary of 
 the Corresponding Secretary as is not provided for by an express 
 arrangement of the Publishing department, with their expenses; also 
 for the salaries of the colporteurs, the grants of books, etc., which it 
 shall allow; and for the other expenses of the Missionary department. 
 
 7. That, in the instructions of the Missionary department to the 
 colporteurs, the main emphasis is to be laid upon the work of religious 
 visitation, and the Sabbath-school work expected from them among the 
 spiritually destitute; and that the selling of books, while still continued, 
 so far as it can be usefully done, is to be in all cases subordinated to 
 these more directly benevolent and religious labors. 
 
 8. That the Board be directed to invite correspondence through its 
 Missionary department with our pastors, and especially with our 
 missionaries, to secure voluntary help in the wider diffusion of our litera- 
 ture; and that, in pursuance of this policy, it be directed to make grants 
 of books and other publications with all possible liberality whenever 
 satisfied that those making application for such grants will use them 
 wisely for the benefit of the religiously destitute and will report to the 
 Board the manner in which they are used. — 1882, pp. 77, 78. 
 
 6. The Sabbath-school work of the Board. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the Board of Publication shall continue as at 
 present, with a collection from the churches for its missionary work. 
 
 The department having this work in charge shall be separately con- 
 stituted, and shall keep a distinct account with the Board. It shall be 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 369 
 
 its duty to disseminate the publications of the Board by donations to 
 ministers and to needy churches, and by sale through its appointees, who 
 shall be called the missionaries of the Board of Publication, and who 
 shall be appointed, subject to the approval, and shall be under the 
 control, of the Presbyteries. 
 
 It shall also supervise the whole Sabbath- school work of the Church, 
 in connection with the Presbyteries ; and it shall aim to lift this important 
 agency of Christian evangelization into the prominence and efficiency 
 which it deserves, and which the great needs of our own country have so 
 largely called for at the present time. 
 
 And, furthermore, in addition to the amount appropriated by the Board 
 from the collections made by the churches, it shall receive and apply 
 donations specifically designated for the Sabbath-school work. — 1874, p. 
 31; 1876, p. 38; 1877, p. 526. 
 
 b. 1. That the pastors, Sessions, and people of our several congrega- 
 tions be affectionately and earnestly urged to appreciate the value of the 
 Christian literature supplied by this Board, to procure for their families 
 and Sabbath- schools a supply of the same, and to contribute more liberally 
 to its missionary and colportage funds, so that its publications may be 
 more widely distributed, and the indigent be gratuitously supplied. 
 
 2. That the Assembly recognize with peculiar gratification and approval 
 the missionary and Sabbath-school work of the Board, and recommend 
 to all our Presbyteries, Sessions, and people, and especially to our 
 Sabbath -school laborers, to cooperate with the Board in this branch of 
 its work, and, with a spirit loyal to our own denomination, to prefer the 
 publications and missionaries of our own to those of other organizations. 
 And the editors of our publications are urged to continue to make them 
 as lively and attractive as those issued by other houses. 
 
 3. That the Assembly approve of the appointment of Rev. James A. 
 Worden as Superintendent of Sabbath -school Work, and anticipate much 
 benefit from the judicious performance of the functions of that office. 
 
 4. That it be earnestly requested of the Sabbath -schools of our 
 Church to contribute at least once every year to the Sabbath-school Mis- 
 sionary department of this Board. 
 
 5. That the Assembly solemnly remind the churches in our connection 
 that church discipline, in the Scriptural sense, includes not only the 
 reformation of offenders and the removal of scandals, but also the pre- 
 vention of offenses by the proper instruction and training of the children 
 of the Church in knowledge and godliness; and that to this end it is the 
 duty of the pastor and Sessions to take authoritative supervision of the 
 instruction of youth, so far as to see to it that the baptized children of 
 the Church are properly educated in the family and the Sabbath -school — 
 so that the Sabbath-school exercises shall be considered a part of Church 
 work, and the children be more distinctly recognized and treated as 
 belonging to the congregation of the Lord; and, with a view to this, it 
 is recommended that in all of our Sabbath- schools superintendents be 
 chosen or appointed subject to the approval of the church Session. That 
 the pastor and Session visit, encourage, and if need be work in, the 
 Sabbath-school, and that, in congregations where the Shorter Catechism 
 is neglected, it be introduced and used with due prominence. 
 
 6. That it is recommended that each Presbytery appoint a Committee 
 or a Presbyterial Superintendent, whose duty it shall be to oversee and 
 encourage, as far as may be, the Sabbath -schools in the bounds of the 
 
 24 
 
370 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Presbytery, and especially to take order for collecting and transmitting 
 
 to the General Superintendent the statistics of each school ; and, with a 
 
 view to this part of the work, the General Superintendent is requested 
 to furnish blank statistical tables. — 1878, pp. 25, 26. 
 
 C. Normal class instruction. 
 
 4. That we hereby renew the deliverance of former Assemblies, in 
 asserting the right and duty of Sessions to exercise authoritative super- 
 vision of the Sabbath-school work of their congregations. 
 
 5. That it is recommended that each Presbytery appoint a Sunday- 
 school Committee, which shall collect and tabulate at the spring meeting 
 of the same, and transmit to the General Superintendent of Sunday- 
 school Work, statistics of each school; and this Committee shall also 
 supervise and direct its general Sunday-school work within the bounds 
 of the Presbytery. Also that the Superintendent be directed to furnish 
 blanks for the use of Sunday-school statistics. 
 
 7. That the Assembly approve the action of the Board in preparing 
 a three-years' course of Normal Class Instruction, and the lists of sub- 
 jects announced for the first year to the Assembly at its annual Sabbath- 
 school meeting, last evening, and earnestly recommend the formation of 
 normal classes wherever practicable. — 1879, p. 558; 1881, p. 555. 
 
 d. Bible Correspondence. School. 
 
 The General Assembly approves the proposed organization of the 
 Board, through its Secretary, of the Bible Correspondence School, in the 
 interest of the better training of teachers. — 1883, p. 616. 
 
 e. Ohildreri's and Rallying Days. 
 
 That we urge the general observance of Children's Day on the second 
 Sabbath of June, and Rallying Day on the last Sabbath of September, 
 and that liberal offerings be secured on one of those days for the Board 
 for the use of its missionary work. — 1897, p. 73. 
 
 7. Blanks printed by the Board to be approved by the proper authority, 
 
 and so indorsed. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of New Brunswick respecting blanks for 
 reports of the work of the Assembly. 
 
 Answer-. That the Board of Publication is directed, in printing blanks 
 to submit them to the approval of that officer of the Church who is spe- 
 cially responsible for the same, and, in particular, that the blanks for 
 congregational and Presbyterial statistics be approved by the Stated Clerk 
 of the General Assembly. The Board is also directed to print upon the 
 blanks, in fine type, the authority approving the publication. Adopted. 
 —1885, p. 625. 
 
 8. Reorganization of the Board, 1887. 
 
 On the report of the Special Committee on Publication, the following 
 resolutions were adopted: 
 
 1. The Presbyterian Board of Publication shall be hereafter desig- 
 nated and known as the " Presbyterian Board of Publication and 
 Sabbath-school Work," and shall consist of twenty-four members, of 
 whom twelve shall be ministers and twelve ruling elders. 
 
 2. No one shall serve as a member of the said Board who is an execu- 
 tive officer or employe of said Board, or a member of any other benevo- 
 

 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 371 
 
 lent Board of the Church, and no more than one ruling elder from the 
 same congregation shall serve on said Board, at the same time. 
 
 3. This General Assembly shall elect as members of the " Board of 
 Publication and Sabbath -school Work," four ministers and four ruling 
 elders, who shall serve for one year; four ministers and four ruling 
 elders who shall serve for two years ; four ministers and four ruling elders 
 who shall serve for three years from the third Tuesday of June, 1887, 
 and each succeeding General Assembly shall elect four ministers and four 
 ruling elders to serve for three years thereafter. In case this recommen- 
 dation is adopted by the General Assembly, we recommend that the Stand- 
 ing Committee on Publication be directed to nominate members of the 
 Board herein provided for. Members of the Board thus elected shall 
 meet for organization at the publishing house at Philadelphia on the 
 third Tuesday of June, 1887, and when such organization shall have 
 been effected, the membership of the Board as at present constituted 
 shall terminate. For the purpose of effecting such organization, a 
 majority of the members-elect shall constitute a quorum. 
 
 4. The annual collection taken up in the churches for the benefit of 
 this Board shall hereafter be known as the collection for Sabbath-school 
 work, and be so designated in the Minutes of the Assembly. 
 
 5. The Sabbath -school and colportage work shall be consolidated in 
 one department, subject to the supervision and control of an officer who 
 shall be designated the " Superintendent of Sabbath-school and Mission- 
 ary Work." The editorial work of the Board shall be organized in 
 another department, under the supervisory control and care of an officer 
 who shall be designated as the " Editorial Superintendent." The gen- 
 eral business interest shall be organized into a Business department, 
 which shall be under the supervisory control of an officer who shall be 
 designated the " Business Superintendent." All these officers shall be 
 appointed by, and their duties defined by, the Board, as may be directed 
 in the By-Laws. 
 
 6. Standing Committees shall be appointed or elected by the Board, to 
 be known as the " Sabbath-school and Missionary Committee," the 
 " Editorial Committee," and the " Business Committee," which shall 
 have charge of their respective departments, under such rules and regu- 
 lations as the Board may by By-Law establish ; provided that the Board 
 shall have power to appoint any other Committees which shall be deemed 
 necessary for the proper conduct of its business. 
 
 7. The present executive officers shall be continued in the following 
 
 positions, to wit: * as Secretary; Rev. James A. Worden, D.D., 
 
 Superintendent of Sabbath-school and Missionary Work; Rev. J. R. 
 Miller, D.D., as Editorial Superintendent; and John A. Black, Esq., 
 as Business Superintendent; until their successors are appointed by the 
 Board, each in charge of his own department, subject to such rules and 
 regulations, with such powers as the Board may from time to time pre- 
 scribe by By-Laws, in harmony with the general principles herein laid 
 down. 
 
 8. The Board shall elect a Secretary of the Board, who shall be its 
 chief executive officer, and shall have general supervisory control of all 
 the officers herein named, subject to an appeal to the Board itself. 
 
 9. All By-Laws of the Board now in force, not in conflict with the 
 
 * In the report adopted by the Committee this blank was rilled by the name of the 
 Rev. John W. Dulles, D.D., now deceased. 
 
372 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 principles herein laid down, are hereby continued in force until altered, 
 amended or repealed by the Board. All such as conflict with the princi- 
 ples herein stated are repealed. 
 
 10. The Board is directed to organize its work in accordance with the 
 plans herein set forth on the third Tuesday of June, 1887, or as soon 
 thereafter as possible, and to report its action to the next General 
 Assembly. 
 
 11. This General Assembly directs the consolidation of the Presby- 
 terial and Synodical Committees of Publication and Sabbath- school 
 Work, to the end that this work, which has heretofore been under the 
 supervision of two Committees, shall be committed to the care of one, 
 and earnestly enjoins that in the appointment of such Committees care be 
 taken to secure members who will actively enter into and push this great 
 work.— 1887, pp. 51, 52. 
 
 V. CHURCH ERECTION. 
 THE TRUSTEES OF THE CHURCH ERECTION FUND. 
 
 1. The Organization. 
 
 The report of the Joint Committee on Church Erection was adopted, 
 as follows: 
 
 In entering on their work the Committee found that the trusteeship of 
 the Church Erection Fund was a chartered institution, formed under the 
 laws of the State of New York, and possessed of a permanent fund of 
 $126,000, more or less, of which about $90,000 were invested in inter- 
 est-bearing securities in the State of New York, and the remainder in 
 various liabilities given by feeble churches which had been aided. They 
 also learned that, in accordance with certain amendments of the plan 
 passed by the General Assembly which met at St. Louis in 1866, the 
 system of loans had been abandoned, and a so-called Supplementary 
 Fund created, to consist of the yearly interest of the Permanent Fund, 
 together with such sums as should be raised by the annual contributions 
 of the churches, all of which, in absolute donations, to be devoted to the 
 current demands of the work. This Board of Trustees, having charge 
 of both the Permanent and the Supplementary Fund by the terms of 
 the charter, consists of nine members residing in New York or its vicin- 
 ity, and are elected in classes from year to year by the General Assembly, 
 according to the chartered rules prescribed. 
 
 On the other hand, the Committee learned that the Board of Church 
 Extension, having its centre of operations in St. Louis, Mo. , was without 
 a charter and without permanent funds, holding only current receipts 
 appropriated and unappropriated, together with certain temporary 
 investments in real estate; that the said Board of Church Extension was 
 therefore free from any legal obstacles which might prevent a change 
 either of location or of name, or stand in the way of its being united 
 under the charter of the organized and localized Board of Church 
 Erection. 
 
 In view of these considerations the Joint Committee do respectfully and 
 .unanimously recommend : 
 
 1. That the operations of the United Church be carried on under the 
 charter of " The Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, ' ' and that its location 
 be continued in the city of New York. 
 
 2. That the members of the Board be chosen impartially from both 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 373 
 
 branches of the Church, that their number be twenty-one, consisting of 
 ten ministers and eleven laymen acting in connection with the Presby- 
 terian Church, and that the entire Board so formed be expected to meet 
 at least once a year. 
 
 3. That fifteen members, seven ministers and eight laymen, shall 
 reside in the city of New York, or its vicinity; that at an early day an 
 amendment of the charter be obtained, authorizing these fifteen local 
 members to act as trustees of the fund, but until such change shall be 
 secured nine of the fifteen members shall continue to hold the said trus- 
 teeship under the provisions now existing. 
 
 4. That six members of the Board, three ministers and three laymen, 
 shall be chosen from the West. This recommendation is made in view of 
 the fact that certain properties held by the Board of Church Extension 
 are temporarily located in Missouri, and require a local supervision. It 
 also seems desirable that the Board shall have representatives on the 
 ground who may secure those grants of land which are so freely offered 
 for church purposes by railroad and town companies throughout the 
 West, also to have special oversight in the matter of insurance on 
 church properties — a matter of great importance, in which it is feared 
 there is at present great neglect. 
 
 5. That a Secretary be appointed who shall reside in New York, and 
 whose functions shall be similar to those of the present Secretaries of 
 Church Erection and Church Extension; also that the Board shall have 
 authority to appoint an additional Secretary and define his duties. 
 
 6. While the Committee appreciate and would earnestly encourage all 
 local efforts to build churches and chapels in the cities and in Presby- 
 teries by special contributions, they unanimously recommend that the 
 Assembly take the most efficient measures to secure an annual contribu- 
 tion from all the churches for the general work of the Board. The 
 suburbs of our large cities must be cared for, but at the same time the 
 demands of the great wastes of the continent are most imperative upon 
 the Avhole Church. 
 
 In conclusion, the Committee would express the hope that this depart- 
 ment of the Church work, so fundamental to all permanent success, may 
 be brought into greater prominence and receive a larger degree of favor 
 and support. It should be not merely a passive resource to which the 
 needy may resort for a stinted dole, but a powerful aggressive agency 
 arousing and stimulating the Church to substantial conquest everywhere 
 in the cities, on the prairies, along the railroads and on the far-off 
 shores of the Pacific. In view of the fact that legal questions might 
 arise in connection with some of the points in this report, Messrs. S. T. 
 Bodine and J. C. Havens were appointed to consult legal authorities 
 thereupon, and report to the Committee at a subsequent meeting. 
 
 The Committee then adjourned to meet in the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Philadelphia during the sessions of the General Assembly. 
 
 At a conference of certain members of the Joint Committee, held in 
 Philadelphia since the sessions of the General Assembly began, a quorum 
 not being present, Mr. Samuel T. Bodine reported that he had consulted 
 proper authorities in regard to legal points in the above report, and had 
 obtained the following opinions: 
 
 1. That the Church Erection Fund, located by charter in the State of 
 New York, would be embarrassed if not imperiled by any change in the 
 place of business. 
 
374 . FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 2. That at an early day steps should be taken to secure a change in 
 the charter, raising the number of trustees from nine to twenty -one, of 
 whom five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 
 
 3. That fifteen of the twenty -one members of the Board, namely, 
 seven ministers and eight elders, should reside in the city of New York 
 or its vicinity. — 1870, p. 116. 
 
 2. The plan for the custody, care and management of the Church Erec- 
 tion Fund, as adopted by the Assembly of 1854 and amended by the 
 Assembly of 1866, N.S. 
 
 [Note. — Approved by the Assembly of 1870, amended by subsequent Assemblies 
 and approved by the Assembly of 1889, p. 77.] 
 
 [1854] Preamble. 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America having, through the liberality of the cougregations con- 
 nected with this body, established a Fund for the purpose of aiding feeble 
 congregations in erecting houses of worship, do hereby adopt the follow- 
 ing plan under which this Fund shall be held, administered and used: 
 [1854] Article I. 
 
 The Fund having been committed to the General Assembly as a special 
 trust, no part of it as now established, nor any additions which may 
 hereafter be made to it, shall ever be used for any other purpose than that 
 of aiding feeble congregations in connection with the General Assembly 
 in erecting houses of worship, except so much as may be absolutely 
 necessary to defray the expenses incident to the administration of this 
 plan. 
 [1854] Article II 
 
 The custody, care and management of this Fund, and of all securities 
 of every kind belonging to it or growing out of it, together with all 
 claims, dues and property that may at any time pertain to it, and all 
 additions that may hereafter be made to it by donations, bequests or other- 
 wise, shall be committed to a Board of Trustees, to be called " The 
 Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." The Board 
 shall consist of twenty-one members, being ministers and elders in con- 
 nection with some Presbytery or Church under the care of the General 
 Assembly, who shall reside in the city of New York or its immediate 
 vicinity, and whom the General Assembly shall elect by ballot on a 
 nomination to be made at least one day before such election. The trus- 
 tees shall continue in office until the election and induction of their 
 successors. The certificate of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly 
 shall be necessary to entitle a trustee to take his seat as a member of the 
 Board, which certificate it shall be his duty to furnish as soon as practi- 
 cable after the election. 
 
 The trustees first elected shall arrange themselves into three equal 
 classes. The term of office of the first class shall expire in one year from 
 their election, that of the second class in two years, and that of the 
 third class in three years. After the first election, the General Assembly 
 shall annually elect trustees to supply the place of the class whose term 
 is about to expire, to hold their office for three years, the same persons 
 always being reeligible ; and each General Assembly shall also by elec- 
 tion supply any vacancy in the Board caused by death, resignation or 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 375 
 
 otherwise. If any trustee shall, during the term for which he is 
 elected, cease to be connected with a Presbytery or church under the 
 . care of the General Assembly, he shall thereby cease to be a member of 
 the Board, and the vacancy shall be reported to the next General Assem- 
 bly. In the case of vacancies in the Board, occasioned by resignation, 
 death, removal, or otherwise, during the interim of the General Assem- 
 blies, the Board shall be authorized to fill such vacancies [1883]. 
 
 [1854] Article III. 
 
 The first meeting of the Board shall be held on the second Tuesday of 
 June next, in the city of New York, at such place and hour as the 
 Stated Clerk of the General Assembly may appoint, who shall preside 
 until the Board is organized by the choice of its president. 
 
 [1854] Article IV 
 
 The Board shall make their own By-Laws. They shall annually, a,t 
 their first meeting after the adjournment of the General Assembly, elect 
 one of their number President of the Board, and shall appoint a Secre- 
 tary and a Treasurer, who shall give security to the Board for the faithful 
 performance of his duties. They shall keep complete books of record 
 and account, in which shall be recorded all their proceedings, and the 
 true state at all times of all matters relating to this Fund, which records 
 and accounts or any part of them shall at all times be open to the inspec- 
 tion of any Committee appointed by the General Assembly for this 
 purpose. They shall also keep full and correct copies and files of all the 
 correspondence which may be conducted or received by them or in their 
 name, and shall annually present to the General Assembly not later than 
 the third day of its sessions, a full report of their proceedings and of the 
 state of the Fund, together with any suggestions or recommendations 
 which they may deem necessary or suitable. 
 
 [1854] Article V 
 
 The Board are hereby directed, either by procuring a special act of the 
 Legislature of the State of New York, or in accordance with the existing 
 statutes of said State, to incorporate themselves and their successors in 
 office, always to be elected, as aforesaid into a body corporate and 
 politic, invested with all such legal powers as may be necessary to enable 
 them to hold and administer this Fund in conformity with the provisions 
 of this plan. 
 [1866, Art, VI, VIL] Article VI 
 
 The Board is directed to invest and to keep at interest on sufficient 
 security the Fund as now established, and as the same shall hereafter 
 be increased by gift, bequest or otherwise, and [1866, Art. X] the 
 interest accruing therefrom shall be distributed as hereinafter provided. 
 
 [1866, Sup. Art.] Article VII. 
 
 In order to enable the Board fully to meet all the reasonable demands 
 of feeble congregations for aid in erecting houses of public worship, the 
 General Assembly earnestly recommends all the congregations within its 
 bounds to take up annual collections, and transmit them to the Treasurer 
 of the Board to be appropriated by said Board, and distributed by gift, 
 with the interest of the Permanent Fund, for the objects contemplated 
 in the Plan, and on the conditions and limitations hereinafter pre- 
 scribed. 
 
376 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 [1879-85, Minutes.] Article VIII. 
 
 In addition to the aiding of feeble churches in the erection of houses 
 of worship, ' ' The Board of Church Erection is permitted to aid in the 
 establishment of schools and chapels among the exceptional populations 
 of Mormons, Indians, and Spanish-speaking people of the United States." 
 [1885-86, Minutes.'] Article IX. 
 
 An additional fund, to be known as the Manse Fund, shall be raised 
 by special gifts and such portions of church collections as may be desig- 
 nated by the givers to this end, to be used as hereinafter provided, to 
 enable feeble congregations to erect Manses for the use of their 
 ministers. 
 [1854, Art. XI.] Article X. 
 
 In order to be entitled to make application in behalf of its churches 
 for aid from the Board, each Presbytery [1871] connected with the 
 General Assembly shall annually elect a Committee on Church Erection, 
 consisting of at least five members. The Stated Clerk of the Presbytery 
 [1871] shall, immediately after the election of said Committee, transmit 
 to the President or Secretary of the Board his certificate of such election, 
 giving the name and residence of each member. 
 
 [1854, Art. XII.] Article XI. 
 
 APPLICATIONS. 
 
 All applications for aid shall be made, in the first instance, to the 
 Committee on Church Erection of the Presbytery [1871] to which the 
 applicants belong, or within whose bounds they are situated. Every 
 such application shall be in writiug, and shall particularly state: The 
 location of the house or site for its erection ; the number of families or 
 persons attached to the congregation, or that propose to unite in building 
 a house of worship ; the description of the house which they propose to 
 build with its estimated and probable cost, or the description and cost of 
 the house and lot owned by the congregation ; the amount of reliable 
 subscriptions which have been obtained, and how much has been paid 
 thereon ; the amount of available means possessed by the congregation, 
 if any ; whether the congregation is in debt, and if so, to what amount, 
 for what purpose, and when the same becomes due ; and also any other 
 facts which may aid the Committee of the Presbytery [1871] in judging 
 of the application. This application shall be accompanied by the certifi- 
 cate of one of the legal advisers of the Board that the title to the lot on 
 which the house is to be built, is vested in said congregation, in fee, and 
 is free from all legal incumbrance and liability. 
 
 If the Committee of the Presbytery [1871], to whom application for 
 aid has been made as above provided, shall, after a careful examination 
 into the condition and prospects of the congregation so applying, be 
 satisfied that such congregation have done all that should reasonably be 
 expected of them, and that with the aid for which application is made, 
 they can build or possess a house of worship adapted to their wants and 
 be free from indebtedness ; then the Committee shall sign a certificate 
 addressed to the Board, stating the application, and that they have 
 examined and approve of it ; and also stating the amount which it is 
 proper to grant to the congregation. This certificate, together with the 
 application made to the Committee of the Presbytery [1871], shall be 
 transmitted to the Board. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 377 
 
 [1854, Art. XIV.] Article XII 
 
 APPROPRIATIONS — I. HOUSES OF WORSHIP. 
 
 
 1. [1854, Art. XIV.] No grant shall be made to any congregation 
 unless such congregation own in fee simple, and free from all legal incum- 
 brance, the lot on which their house of worship is situated, or on which 
 they propose to build. 
 
 2. [1854, Art. XIV.] No grant shall be made for the payment of 
 any debt, except that which may have been contracted within one year 
 previous in erecting a house of worship. 
 
 3. [1866, Art. XI.] The sum granted to any congregation shall never 
 be more than one-half of the amount contributed and secured by them- 
 selves for the house and lot, i. e. , one-third of the entire cost. 
 
 [1891, Minutes, p. 84.] In cases where, owing to the rapid settlement 
 of lands newly opened, the establishment of preaching stations, and the 
 organization of churches, for the maintenance of home missionary work 
 are imperatively demanded, in advance of the growth of the ordinary 
 measure of self-help, the Board at its discretion, after conference with the 
 officers of the Home Missionary Board, may exceed the usual limit of 
 aid permitted, namely, one-third of the value of the property, provided 
 such additional aid shall in no case exceed one -half of the value of the 
 property, or the sum of $1500. 
 
 4. [1880-85.] In all ordinary cases, the grant to any church shall not 
 exceed $1000, and in making grants, the Board shall give special consid- 
 eration and preference to the weaker churches, and less costly buildings, 
 when other things are equal. 
 
 5. [Charter, Sec. I.] The church must in every case be incorporated, 
 unless in the State or Territory in which it is located there is no law for 
 the incorporation of religious societies. 
 
 6. [1854, Art. XIV.] The condition of all donations from this source 
 shall be, that, in case the church or congregation shall cease to be con- 
 nected with the General Assembly, or their corporate existence shall 
 cease, or their house of worship be alienated except for the building or 
 purchase of a better house of worship, they shall refund to the Board 
 the amount which they have so received, with interest from the time of 
 receiving it. 
 
 That the Board be directed, whenever practicable, and in accordance 
 with the best interests of the church aided, to engage with said church, 
 that the amount granted shall be regarded as a loan, not bearing interest, 
 and to be repaid to the Board in specified annual payments, to be 
 credited to the church as its annual contribution [1893, Minutes, p. 
 108]. 
 
 The fufillment of the above condition shall, in all cases, be secured by 
 the bond of the trustees of the congregation, and a mortgage on their 
 house and lot, made in favor of the Board; which bond and mortgage, 
 duly executed and recorded, shall always be placed in the possession of 
 the Board, before any money is paid over to the congregation. 
 
 [1886, Minutes.'] n. manses. 
 
 1. The appropriations of the Board for Manses shall be made only 
 from such special gifts, and such portions of Church collections as may 
 be designated by the givers lor this end. 
 
 2. The appropriations, in all ordinary cases, shall be made as loans, 
 
378 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the amount without interest, to be repaid by installments or otherwise, 
 within three years, such loans never to exceed one- half of the cost of 
 the building. In case the appropriation, for exceptional reasons, is a 
 grant, then the amount shall not exceed one -third of the cost of the 
 building. 
 
 3. Such limit shall be fixed as will confine the work to the feebler and 
 mission churches. 
 
 4. Before the appropriation is paid, the proper mortgage and insurance 
 must be effected in the same way and under the same conditions as in 
 the case of church edifices. 
 
 [1879-85, Minutes.'] m. chapels. 
 
 1. The grant shall be made upon the recommendation of the Presby- 
 tery, or its authorized Committee, and in consultation with the Board of 
 Home Missions, and only to such work as is under the control of the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 2. No grant shall be made for more than one-half of the entire cost 
 of the property. 
 
 3. No grant shall exceed the sum of $600. 
 
 4. In other respects the conditions shall be the same as in the case of 
 churches, so far as applicable. 
 
 Article XIII. 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 [1854, Art. III.] When any application is granted, the Board shall, 
 as soon as practicable, forward the necessary papers to be executed by 
 the trustees of the congregation and to be approved by their legal 
 adviser or some other attorney proposed by the congregation and accepted 
 by the Board, and before payment of any grant is made, the following 
 conditions shall be fulfilled, viz. : 
 
 1. [1887, Minutes.'] Before any church shall receive the amount 
 of aid granted it by the Board, the trustees shall certify that the amount 
 necessary to erect and complete their house of worship, less the amount 
 of the grant of the Board, has been collected and actually expended 
 upon the building, and that the sum to be received from the Board will 
 entirely complete the building and leave the congregation free from debt; 
 Provided, That in the case of a grant to a church that is the first to be 
 organized in a new community, in which there is previously no church of 
 any evangelical denomination, the Board, after the lot has been secured 
 to the congregation in fee simple, and after a mortgage upon it to the 
 Board for the amount of its grant has been effected, may, at its discre- 
 tion, advance to the church from time to time before the completion of 
 the edifice, such installments of the amount of the grant as shall not at 
 any time exceed one-half of the amount collected for the erection of the 
 building, and one-half of the value of the lot, no such installment, 
 however, being less than one- quarter of the amount of the grant. 
 
 2. [1854, 1866.] A mortgage upon the church property duly exe- 
 cuted, and acknowledged by the trustees, and recorded in the County 
 Clerk's or Register's office, is to be returned to the Board, with a certifi- 
 cate indorsed upon said mortgage by an attorney-at-law, designated by 
 the Presbytery, to the effect that the church has a valid title, in fee,* 
 to the property, and has full liberty to mortgage the same, and that said 
 
 * Special provision for Indian churches, see Art. XII, Sec. i, 6. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 379 
 
 mortgage is a first lien upon the property, and has been properly exe- 
 cuted, acknowledged, and recorded, according to law. 
 
 3. [1870, 1874.] A policy of insurance in some trustworthy com- 
 pany is to be procured by the Board, said policy to run five years. The 
 premiums upon these policies are deducted from the amount of the grant 
 in the first instance, and afterwards the policies are renewed at the 
 expense of the church aided. 
 
 [1854, Art. XIV.] Article XIV 
 
 When the papers so executed, approved and properly recorded are 
 returned to the Board, they shall authorize the Treasurer of the trustees 
 of the congregation or any other person duly appointed by them for this 
 purpose to draw on the Treasurer of the Board for the amount of the 
 grant. 
 
 [1888, Minutes.] Article XV. 
 
 REPAYMENT OF GRANTS. 
 
 Any church making an annual contribution to this Board of not less 
 than ten per cent, of the amount originally granted to it, shall be deemed 
 as paying in such contribution an installment of like amount upon the 
 mortgage held by the Board ; and when such payments in the aggregate 
 shall equal the amount of the grant, the Board shall execute a release 
 of the mortgage and thus remove its lien from the property of the 
 church ; Provided, That such church, at the time such contribution is 
 sent, shall notify the Board that it desires such application thereof to be 
 made.* 
 
 [1854, Art. VII. ] Article XVI. 
 
 The Board shall prepare blank forms of all such legal and other papers 
 as may be required for the proper distribution and management of the 
 funds committed to it, and the accruing interest and the annual contribu- 
 tions received; and the forms so prepared and no others shall be used in 
 all matters and transactions relating to the fund to which they may be 
 applicable. The Board shall also designate such legal advisers within 
 the bounds of each Presbytery as by a correspondence with the Church 
 Erection Committee of the Presbytery may be found desirable, to exam- 
 ine all certificates of title and all conveyances and other documents 
 connected with the donation of any part of the accruing interest or other 
 funds, including a careful investigation in regard to the legal incorporation 
 of the Board of Trustees of the congregation concerned; and they shall 
 further have power to appoint an agent in each Presbytery, and to 
 require that all payments of moneys that may become due to the fund 
 shall be made to such agent. 
 
 [1866, Sup. Art.] Article XVII. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the Board to present with their annual report 
 an estimate of the amount probably needed for the ensuing year, together 
 with the facts and reasons upon which such estimate is based, in order 
 that the Assembly may determine the amount it will recommend the 
 churches to raise by voluntary contributions. 
 
 * Minutes, 1890, p. 71. The Board may in its discretion accept a cash payment of 
 seventy-seven per cent, of the face of the mortgage in lieu of the annual payments 
 above referred to. 
 
380 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 [1854, Art. XVI.] Article XVIII. 
 
 No change shall be made in any part of the foregoing plan by any future 
 General Assembly except by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the 
 members whose names have been entered upon the roll. 
 
 3. Acts of incorporation. 
 
 An Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 Passed March 31, 1855. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 1. Samuel T. Spear, Asa D. Smith, Edwin F. Hatfield, James W. McLane, 
 Walter S. Griffith, Oliver H. Lee, Norman White, William E. Dodge, and 
 Stephen H. Thayer (designated for the purpose by the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church, which met in Philadelphia, in May, 1854), and their 
 successors in office, are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic, by the 
 name of "The Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," for the 
 purpose of aiding feeble congregations in connection with the said General 
 Assembly in the erection of houses of worship, and by that name, they and their 
 successors shall and may have perpetual succession. Provided, That no money 
 shall be furnished by said corporation for the erection of any house of wor- 
 ship in any State or territory in which there shall exist at the time a law for 
 the incorporation of religious societies, the title to which is not held by a 
 religious corporation under and according to the laws of the respective States 
 or territories in which such places of worship are located, frovided also, That 
 the title shall in no instance be vested in any priest, bishop, or other eccle- 
 siastic. 
 
 2. The said corporation shall possess the general powers, and be subject to 
 the provisions, contained in Title 3 of Chapter 18 of the first part of the Re- 
 vised Statutes, so far as the same are applicable, and have not been repealed 
 or modified. 
 
 3. The management and disposition of the affairs and funds of said corpora- 
 tion shall be vested in the individuals named in the first section of this act, 
 and their successors in office, who shall remain in office for. such period, and 
 be displaced and succeeded by others, to be elected at such time and in such 
 manner as the said General Assembly shall direct and appoint ; and such 
 election shall be made, and the said funds shall be held and administered, 
 invested and disposed of, for the purposes aforesaid, in conformity with the 
 provisions of the plan adopted by the said General Assembly. 
 
 4. The said corporation shall in law be capable of taking, receiving and 
 holding any real or personal estate, which has been or may hereafter be given, 
 devised or bequeathed to them for the purpose of their incorporation, or 
 which shall accrue from the use of said fund ; but the said corporation shall 
 not take and hold real and personal estate above the sum of two hundred and 
 fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 5. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 State of New York, ) 
 Secretary's Office. $ 
 
 I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, 
 and I do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of 
 the whole of such original. 
 
 under my hand and seal of office, at the city of Albany, 
 L.S. this second day of April, 1855. 
 
 A. G. Johnson, Deputy Secretary of State. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 381 
 
 4. The charter amended. 
 
 Chapter 182. 
 
 An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Trustees of the 
 Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America," passed March 25, 1855. Passed 
 March 27, 1871. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented^ Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Section one of the "Act to incorporate the Trustees of the 
 Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America," passed March thirty -first, eighteen hundred 
 and fifty-five, is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 Sec. 1. Joseph Fewsmith, John Thomson, Elijah R. Craven, Norman 
 Seaver, John Hall, Charles A. Dickey, Frank F. Ellinwood, Morris C. Sut- 
 phen, Henry R. Wilson, Samuel J. Nicholls, Joseph R. Skidmore, Frederick 
 G. Burnham, Jonathan C. Havens, Otis D. Swan, George W. Lane, John P. 
 Crosby, Winthrop S. Gilman, Nathan Lane, Hezekiah King, Russell Scarritt, 
 James M. Brauner (designated for the purpose by the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church, which met in Philadelphia, in May, eighteen hun- 
 dred and seventy), and their successors in office, are hereby constituted a body 
 corporate and politic, by the name of "The Board of the Church Erection 
 Fund of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America," for the purpose of aiding feeble congregations in connec- 
 tion with the said General Assembly, in erecting houses of worship, and by 
 that name they and their successors shall and may have perpetual succession ; 
 Provided, That no money shall be furnished by said corporation for the erection 
 of any house of worship in any State or territory in which there shall exist at 
 the time a law for the incorporation of religious societies, the title to which is 
 not held by a religious corporation under and according to the laws of the 
 respective States or territories in which such places of worship are created ; 
 Provided, also, That the title shall in no instance be vested in any priest, 
 bishop, or other ecclesiastic. 
 
 Sec 2. All acts done by said Trustees, in the proper performance of their 
 trust, since their designation by said General Assembly, are hereby ratified 
 and confirmed. 
 
 Sec. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 State op New York, > 
 
 Office of the Secretary of State, $ ' 
 
 I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, and 
 do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of the 
 whole of the said original law. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal of office, at the city of .\lbany, 
 L. S. this first day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred 
 
 and seventy-one. 
 
 D. Willers, Jr., Deputy Secretary of State. 
 
 Chapter 305. 
 
 An Act further to amend chapter one hundred and thirty-one of the laws of 
 eighteen hundred and fifty-five, entitled "An Act to incorporate the 
 Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." Passed May 10, 
 1886 ; three-fifths being present. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- 
 bly, do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. Section one of chapter one hundred and thirty-one of the 
 laws of eighteen hundred and fifty-five, entitled "An Act to' Incorporate 
 the Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America," is hereby further 
 amended so as to read as follows : 
 
 § 1. Joseph Fewsmith, John Thompson, Elijah R. Craven, Norman Sea- 
 ver, John Hall, Charles A. Dickey, Frank F. Ellinwood, Morris C. Sutphen, 
 Henry R. Wilson, Samuel J. Nicholls, Joseph R. Skidmore, Frederick G. 
 
382 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Burnhaui, Jonathan C. Havens, Otis D. Swan, George W. Lane, John P. 
 Crosby, Winthrop S. Gilman, Nathan Lane, Hezekiah King, Russell Scarrett, 
 James M. Brauner (designated for the purpose by the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church, which met in Philadelphia, in May, eighteen hundred 
 and seventy), and their successors in office, are hereby constituted a body cor- 
 porate and politic, by the name of "The Board of the Church Erection Fund 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America," for the purpose of aiding feeble congregations in connection with 
 the said General Assembly in erecting houses of worship and manses, and also 
 of aiding in the establishment of schools and chapels among the exceptional 
 populations of Mormons, Indians and Spanish-speaking people in the United 
 States, and by that name they and their successors shall and may have per- 
 petual succession ; Provided, That no money shall be furnished by said corpora- 
 tion for the erection of any house of worship in any State or Territory (except 
 for the schools and chapels aforesaid), in which there shall exist at the time a 
 law for the incorporation of religious societies, the title to which is not held 
 by a religious corporation under and according to the laws of the respective 
 States or Territories in which such places of worship are located ; Provided, 
 also, That the title shall in no instance be vested in any priest, bishop or other 
 ecclesiastic. 
 § 2. This Act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 State of New York, > . 
 
 Office of the Secretary of State, $ " 
 
 I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office 
 and do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of 
 the whole of said original law. 
 
 Frederick Cook, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 Laws of New York — By Authority. 
 
 [Every law, unless a different time shall be prescribed therein, shall com- 
 mence and take effect throughout the State on and not before the twentieth 
 day after the day of its final passage, as certified by the Secretary of State. — 
 Sec. 12, Title 4, Chap. 7, Part 1, Revised Statutes.] 
 
 5. Plan and rules for the General Fund. 
 
 1. Applications. — The Board meets statedly upon the fourth Monday 
 in each month, and applications, in order to be considered, should reach 
 the office not later than the preceding Friday. 
 
 [Owing to the meeting of the General Assembly, the May meeting is 
 usually omitted and the June meeting held on the second Monday.] 
 
 (1) An application for aid in building should be made in form and 
 upon the official blank which will be furnished by the Board. 
 
 (2) The questions upon the blank should be answered as fully as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 (3) The application, when filled out, should be sent to the Committee 
 upon Church Erection of the Presbytery to which the church belongs, in 
 order to be approved by said Committee. 
 
 (4) The certificate upon the third page of application should be filled 
 up and signed by the counsel designated by the Committee upon Church 
 Erection of the Presbytery. 
 
 (5) With the application there should be sent a copy of the deed by 
 which the church holds title to the property, and a diagram of the lots 
 upon which a mortgage will be given, if a grant or loan is received. 
 
 (6) The papers thus perfected should be forwarded, together with any 
 correspondence that may be of service in considering the matter, to the 
 Corresponding Secretary of the Board. 
 
 It is important that before formal application is made to the Board, 
 every effort be used to secure subscriptions in the community to be bene- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 383 
 
 fited by the proposed church edifice; but it is especially advised that 
 private appeals be not made to other churches. 
 
 2. Appropriations. — (1) No grant shall be made to any congregation, 
 unless such congregation own in fee simple, and free from all legal incum- 
 brance, the lot on which their house of worship is situated, or on which 
 they propose to build ; Provided, That in the case of churches building 
 upon lease -hold property, the Board, at its discretion, if it deems the 
 security sufficient, may make the grant or loan upon such mortgage as the 
 Finance Committee and the counsel shall approve. 
 
 (2) The church must in every case be incorporated, unless in the State 
 or Territory in which it is located there is no law for the incorporation of 
 religious societies, and the title to the property must be in said corporation. 
 
 (3) No grant shall be made for the payment of any debt except that 
 which may have been contracted within one year previous in erecting a 
 house of worship. 
 
 (4) The sum granted to any congregation shall never be more than 
 one -half of the amount contributed and secured by them for the house 
 and lot, i. e., one-third of entire cost. 
 
 (5) In all ordinary cases, the grant to any church shall not exceed 
 81000, and in making grants the Board shall give special consideration 
 and preference to the weaker churches, and less costly buildings, when 
 other things are equal. 
 
 (6) The Board is directed whenever practicable and in accordance 
 with the best interests of the church aided, to engage with said church that 
 the amount granted shall be regarded as a loan, not bearing interest, 
 and to be repaid to the Board in specified annual payments to be also 
 credited to the church as its annual contribution to the work of the 
 Board [General Assembly, 1893]. 
 
 (7) Whenever any congregation is able to raise towards the erection 
 of a house of worship the sum of 83000, the propriety of obtaining (if 
 help be needed) a loan without interest, upon the plan proposed by the 
 Assembly of 1893, instead of asking a grant, should be carefully con- 
 sidered, so that the weaker churches, not having such ability, may receive 
 the grants they really need, and in case of buildings exceeding 85000 
 in cost, the application should be made ordinarily to the Loan Fund 
 [General Assembly, 1897]. 
 
 (8) The appropriation, whether grant or loan, is subject to the follow- 
 ing provisions of Article xii of the General Assembly's plan, viz. : 
 
 ' ' The condition of all donations from this source shall be that in case 
 the church or congregation shall cease to be connected with the General 
 Assembly, or their corporate existence shall cease, or their house of 
 worship be alienated, except for the building or purchase of a better house 
 of worship, they shall refund to the Board the amount which they have 
 so received, with interest from the time of receiving it." 
 
 3. Chapels. — By an amendment to its charter, secured May 10, 1886, 
 and by direction of the General Assembly, the Board is permitted in 
 conjunction with the Woman's Board of Home Missions, and under 
 specified conditions, to aid " in the establishment of schools and chapels 
 among the exceptional populations of Mormons, Indians and Spanish- 
 speaking people of the United States." 
 
 4. Payments. — After the appropriation is made, the conditions to be 
 fulfilled before the payment of the money are as follows: 
 
 (1) Before any church shall receive the amount of aid granted it by 
 
384 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the Board, the trustees shall certify that the amount necessary to erect 
 and complete their house of worship, less the amount of the grant of 
 the Board, has been actually collected and expended upon the building, 
 and that the sum to be received from the Board will entirely complete 
 the building and leave the congregation free from debt; Provided, That 
 in the case of a grant to a church that is the first to be organized in a 
 new community in which there is previously no church of any evangeli- 
 cal denomination, the Board, after the lot has been secured to the con- 
 gregation in fee -simple, and after a mortgage upon it to the Board for 
 the amount of its grant has been effected, may, at its discretion, advance 
 to the church from time to time before the completion of the edifice 
 such installments of the amount of the grant as shall not at any time 
 exceed one-half of the amount collected for the erection of the building, 
 and one -half of the value of the lot, no such installment, however, 
 being less than one -quarter of the amount of the grant. 
 
 (2) A mortgage upon the church property duly executed and acknowl- 
 edged by the trustees, and recorded in the County Clerk's or Register's 
 office, is to be returned to the Board with a certificate endorsed upon 
 said mortgage by an attorney -at -law, designated by the Presbytery, to 
 the effect that the church has a valid title to the property, and has full 
 liberty to mortgage the same, and that said mortgage is a first lien upon 
 the property, and has been properly executed, acknowledged and recorded 
 according to law. 
 
 [" Provided, That in the case of churches located upon Indian reserva- 
 tions, where no title in fee-simple is attainable, the Board may accept, 
 in place of the mortgage, a certificate of the trustees of the church, 
 promising to carry out, as far as possible, the usual conditions of the mort- 
 gage; and also promising to execute the proper mortgage so soon as the 
 laws of the Territory or of the State will permit " [General Assembly, 
 1889]. 
 
 (3) A policy of insurance in some trustworthy company is to be pro- 
 cured by the Board, said policy to run five years. The premiums upon 
 all policies are deducted from the amount of the grant in the first 
 instance, and afterward, in accordance with the terms of the mortgage, 
 the policies are renewed at the expense of the church aided. 
 
 [Blanks for the above -mentioned mortgages and for insurance surveys 
 will be furnished by the Board. Care should be taken to secure accuracy 
 in the form of the papers — especially the mortgage instruments — to be 
 executed at the time of receiving the appropriation, as thus vexatious 
 delay will be prevented. The Board is not at liberty to depart from the 
 rules established by its charter and by the General Assembly.] 
 
 5. Release of Mortgage. — (1) Any church making an annual contri- 
 bution to this Board of not less than ten per cent, of the amount origi- 
 nally granted to it shall be deemed as paying in such contribution an 
 installment of like amount upon the mortgage held by the Board ; and 
 when such payments in the aggregate shall equal the amount of the 
 grant, the Board shall execute a release of the mortgage, and thus 
 remove its lien from the property of the church; Provided, That such 
 church, at the time such contribution is sent, shall notify the Board that 
 it desires such application thereof to be made [Art. xv] . 
 
 (2) As securing the same result as the above provision, the Board will 
 release any such mortgage upon the receipt, in one payment, of seventy- 
 seven per cent, of the amount secured by such mortgage. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 385 
 
 (3) Churches electing to receive the appropriations as a loan, and to 
 make specified annual payments as provided (ii, 6), are also entitled, 
 when full payment is made, to a release of the mortgage. 
 
 6. Plan and rules for Loan Fund. 
 
 1. Special contributions shall be invited from churches and individuals 
 to establish " The Loan Fund of the Board of the Church Erection 
 Fund," which fund shall be under the charge of said Board and admin- 
 istered by it as hereinafter provided. 
 
 2. Contributions to the Loan Fund may be also accepted by the Board, 
 with the provision that such contributions shall be subject to the payment 
 of interest to the donors during their lifetime; Provided, however, That 
 all amounts so received shall be loaned only upon adequate securities,, 
 and that the aggregate amount of annual life-interest that the Board 
 shall undertake to pay shall never be allowed to exceed two- thirds of 
 the annual interest receivable on the entire loan fund of the Board. 
 
 3. No part of said fund shall ever be disposed of by gift for any 
 purpose, or be used for current expenses, but it shall be preserved with- 
 out diminution as a perpetual fund. 
 
 4. This fund shall be administered as entirely distinct from the gen- 
 eral fund from which ordinary grants are made. 
 
 5. The Board may at its discretion make use of its permanent fund or 
 the interest accruing therefrom as a part of the loan fund, and Article 
 VI of the plan of the Board as reenacted by the Assembly of 1889 
 shall be construed in accordance with this rule. 
 
 6. Conditions of loaning. — Said fund may be loaned in small sums 
 to such churches as shall be proper recipients under the following condi- 
 tions: 
 
 (1) Loans shall be made only to such churches as give promise of 
 permanent life and strength. 
 
 (2) No loan shall be made ordinarily to aid in the erection of an 
 edifice costing more than $10,000. 
 
 (3) No loan to any one church shall ordinarily exceed either the sum 
 of $5000, or one-half the value of the proposed lot and edifice. 
 
 (4) No loan shall be made to any church which is not incorporated 
 (as provided by the charter of this Board), and which does not hold 
 the title to its property in fee simple and unincumbered otherwise than to 
 this Board; Provided, That in the case of churches building upon lease- 
 hold property, the Board, at its discretion, if it deems the security 
 sufficient, may make the loan upon such mortgage as the Finance Com- 
 mittee and the counsel may approve. 
 
 7. Provisions before payment. — In the case of all such loans the 
 following provisions shall be made: 
 
 (1) Satisfactory proof shall be given as to the title to the property by 
 which the loan is to be secured. 
 
 (2) The loan shall be secured by the bond or notes of the corporation, 
 by a mortgage upon the property benefited, and by a satisfactory collateral 
 personal bond. 
 
 (3) Interest at six per cent, shall be charged in all ordinary cases, 
 payable semi-annually. 
 
 8. Return of Loans. — (1) Loans shall be ordinarily returned within 
 ten years in annual installments, the amount of each annual installment 
 to be at the discretion of the Board. 
 
 25 
 
386 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 (2) In all cases where interest and annual installments are promptly 
 and fully paid, the Board may upon the final payment allow a rebate 
 equal to one -half of the aggregate annual interest. 
 
 9. Responsibilities of Presbyteries. — (1) Applications for loans shall 
 be indorsed by the Presbytery to which the church belongs, or 
 by its Standing Committee upon Church Erection, under the same 
 rules, so far as applicable, provided for the administration of the general 
 fund. 
 
 (2) In cases of default in payment of either principal or interest, the 
 Presbytery or its Committee shall cooperate with the Board in enforcing 
 such payment, and loans may be withheld from churches within the 
 bounds of Presbyteries where previous loans or the interest thereupon, 
 more than a year overdue, remain unpaid. 
 
 10. Preservation of the Fund. — In order that the Fund may remain 
 undiminished, the Board shall insist upon promptness in payment by 
 the churches to which loans have been made, of both principal and inter- 
 est; and in all ordinary cases after default has continued for more than 
 a year it shall take the proper steps to enforce its claims. 
 
 In no ordinary case shall the Board make a subsequent grant from its 
 general fund to relieve a church from the responsibility of repaying a 
 previous loan. 
 
 7. Plan and rules of the Manse Fund. 
 
 1. Applications. — The Board meets statedly upon the fourth Monday 
 in each month, and applications, in order to be considered, should 
 reach the office not later than the preceding Friday. 
 
 [Owing to the meeting of the General Assembly, the May meeting is 
 usually omitted and the June meeting held on the second Monday of the 
 month.] 
 
 (1) Au application for aid in building a manse should be made in 
 form and upon a blank which will be furnished by the Board. 
 
 (2) The questions upon the blauk should be answered as fully as 
 possible. 
 
 (3) The application, when filled out, should be sent to the Committee 
 upon Church Erection of the Presbytery to which the church belongs, 
 in order to be approved by said Committee. 
 
 (4) The certificate (upon the third page of application) should be 
 filled up and signed by the counsel designated by the Committee upon 
 Church Erection of the Presbytery. 
 
 (5) The application thus perfected should be forwarded (together with 
 any correspondence that may be of service in considering the matter) to 
 the Corresponding Secretary of the Board. 
 
 It is recommended that before formal application is made to the Board, 
 every effort be used to secure subscriptions in the community benefited by 
 the church or proposed manse; but it is especially advised that private 
 appeals be not made to other churches. 
 
 2. Appropriations. — (1) No loan shall be made to any congregation, 
 unless such congregation own in fee-simple, and free from all legal incum- 
 brance, the lot on which their manse is situated, or on which they 
 propose to build. 
 
 (2) No loan shall be made for the payment of any debt of long 
 standing, formerly contracted in building a manse. 
 
 (3) The appropriations of the Board for manses shall be made only 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 387 
 
 from such special gifts, and such portions of church collections as may 
 be designated by the givers for this end. 
 
 (4) The appropriations in all ordinary cases shall be made as loans, 
 the amount, without interest, to be paid by installments or otherwise, 
 within three years, such loans never to exceed one- half of the cost of 
 the building. In case the appropriation, for exceptional reasons, is a 
 grant, then the amount shall not exceed one- third the cost of the 
 building. 
 
 (5) Such limit shall be fixed as will confine the work to the feebler 
 and mission churches. 
 
 3. Payments. — After the loan is voted, the conditions to be fulfilled 
 before the payment of the money are as follows: 
 
 (1) Before any church shall receive the loan, the trustees shall certify 
 that the amount necessary to erect and complete their manse, less the 
 amount of the loan of the Board, has been collected and actually ex- 
 pended upon the building, and that the sum to be received from the 
 Board will entirely complete the building, and leave the congregation 
 free from debt for its erection. 
 
 (2) A mortgage upon the manse property duly executed and acknowl- 
 edged by the trustees and recorded in the County Clerk's or Register's 
 office, is to be returned to the Board with a certificate endorsed upon said 
 mortgage by an attorney -at- law, designated by the Presbytery, to the 
 effect that the church has a valid title to the property, and has full 
 liberty to mortgage the same, and that said mortgage is a first lien upon 
 the property, and has been properly executed, acknowledged and 
 recorded, according to law. 
 
 (3) A policy of insurance in some trustworthy company is to be pro- 
 cured by the Board, said policy to run five years. The premiums upon 
 all policies are deducted from the amount of the loan in the first instance, 
 and when the loan is repaid, a rebate of unearned premium, if any, is 
 returned. 
 
 [Blanks for the above-mentioned forms of mortgages and insurance 
 will be furnished by the Board. Care should be taken to secure accu- 
 racy in the form of the papers — especially the mortgage instruments — to 
 be executed at the time of receiving the appropriation, as thus vexatious 
 delay will be prevented. The Board is not at liberty to depart from the 
 rules established by its charter and by the General Assembly.] 
 
 VI. RELIEF FUND FOR DISABLED MINISTERS, AND THE WIDOWS AND 
 ORPHANS OF DECEASED MINISTERS. 
 
 1. Early History. 
 
 a. The Assembly of 1849, O. S., adopted the following, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, There are many disabled and superannuated ministers in 
 connection with the Presbyterian Church, and widows and families of 
 Presbyterian ministers who are in indigent circumstances, and as the 
 Church increases their number is likely to increase; and 
 
 Whereas, It is the duty of the Church to provide for those who have 
 devoted their time and spent their energies in her service, and also for 
 their families; and 
 
 Whereas, No local provision can effectually meet this object, and no 
 efficient general provision has ever yet been made; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That in order to constitute a fund for the support of the 
 widows and families of deceased ministers, and for the relief of super- 
 
388 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 animated and disabled living ministers, it is hereby enjoined upon all our 
 Synods and Presbyteries to take such action as may secure a contribution 
 annually. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That a column be added to the table of Statistical Reports 
 for these contributions. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the funds thus contributed be placed in the hands 
 of the Board of Trustees of the General Assembly, to be disbursed by 
 the Board of Publication upon the recommendation of Presbyteries, as 
 the funds for Domestic Missions, Education and Church Extension are 
 now appropriated. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That in order to the founding of a permanent fund for 
 this same object, special contributions and legacies be invited from all 
 parts of the Church, the principal of which shall be safely invested by 
 the Board of Trustees of the General Assembly, and the interest to be 
 added to the general fund provided for in a foregoing resolution. — 1849, 
 p. 266, O. S. 
 
 Overture No. 25. — A request from the Board of Publication, in 
 answer to which the following minute was ordered, at the recommenda- 
 tion of the Committee, viz. : 
 
 The duty of disbursing the fund in aid of superannuated and disabled 
 ministers and their families is hereby transferred from the Board of 
 Publication to the trustees of the General Assembly. — 18-52, p. 224, O. S. 
 
 On a report of the trustees the Assembly adopted the following, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That it be earnestly recommended to the Presbyteries to 
 take such action in regard to this matter as will tend to bring up the 
 Church to the performance of her duty in regard thereto. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That every minister and church Session be earnestly 
 requested to present this subject to their congregation during the coming 
 year, and obtain a contribution to the object; which contribution shall 
 be transmitted to the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the General 
 Assembly, to be disbursed in an economical way, and upon an equitable 
 ratio, upon application made through the Presbytery to which the party 
 applying for relief naturally belongs, or a Committee of that Presby- 
 tery; the Board to report to the next General Assembly. — 1856, p. 533, 
 O. S. 
 
 A Committee was also appointed to digest and report to the next 
 Assembly a scheme for future operations. 
 
 [Note.— See the report, Minutes, 1857, p. 218.] 
 
 b. The Assembly of 1861, N. S., in answer to an overture from the 
 Presbytery of the District of Columbia, " On the subject of raising a 
 fund to be applied to the aid of disabled ministers and their families, 1 ' 
 appointed a Committee to report to the next Assembly a plan of opera- 
 tions. — 1861, p. 473. The Committee was enlarged and continued 
 (1862, p. 38) ; discharged and a new Committee appointed (1863, p. 
 280). This Committee reported (1864, pp. 497-502), and the follow- 
 ing was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That a fund, to be called " The Ministerial Relief 
 Fund," for the relief of disabled ministers of good and regular standing, 
 in connection with this body, and the families of ministers who have 
 deceased while in our connection, be constituted, to be supplied by annual 
 collections in all our churches, donations and legacies. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That in order to constitute and maintain such fund, it is 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 389 
 
 hereby enjoined upon all our Presbyteries to take such action as shall 
 secure from every church an annual contribution thereto. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That this fund be entrusted to the trustees of the Presby- 
 terian House, to be by them disbursed upon the recommendation of 
 Presbyteries, upon such principles and rules of distribution as they shall 
 deem most equal and beneficial. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That for the special oversight and care of the interest 
 thus committed to them, the trustees are authorized to appoint a Secre- 
 tary, prescribe his duties and determine his salary. — 1864, p. 502, N. S. 
 
 That every Presbytery be directed to appoint a Standing Committee, 
 whose duty it shall be to inquire into the necessities of disabled minis- 
 ters, and of the widows and orphans of those deceased, with a view of 
 bringing the cases of such to the notice of the Executive Committee of 
 the Relief Fund.— 1865, p. 30, N. S. 
 
 The Fund was committed by the Assembly to the Board of Trustees 
 of the General Assembly. — 1870, p. 123. 
 
 2. The Board of Relief constituted. 
 
 The Board of Ministerial Relief shall consist of twelve members, the 
 Secretary and Treasurer being added as members, ex-offieio, five members 
 to constitute a quorum. 
 
 [Note. — For the members of the Board see Digest, 1886, p. 562.] 
 
 The new Board were instructed to meet at Philadelphia, June 20, for 
 the purpose of organizing and taking the necessary steps looking to their 
 incorporation under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania. — 1876, p. 63. 
 
 3. The charter obtained. 
 
 Your Committee call attention to the fact that, in pursuance of the 
 action of the last General Assembly (see Minutes of the General Assem- 
 bly, 1876, p. 63), the late " Relief Committee" have been changed 
 into ' ' The Presbyterian Board of Relief for Disabled Ministers and the 
 Widows and Orphans of Deceased Ministers," and a proper charter 
 obtained from the legal authorities of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
 vania. A copy of this charter is found in the annual report of the 
 Board, pp. 15-17. The Board asks the attention of the General 
 Assembly (see Report, p. 11) to a requisition of the charter that this 
 General Assembly shall, at its present meeting, elect twelve directors, 
 in three equal classes, to serve respectively for one, two and three 
 years, and until their successors shall be elected. — 1877, p. 557. 
 
 4. The charter. 
 
 Whereas, "The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America" has heretofore held and administered a fund for the relief 
 of its disabled ministers and the needy widows and orphans of its deceased 
 ministers, through a Committee of its Board of Trustees ; 
 
 And Whereas, At meetings of said General Assembly, held at Brooklyn, in 
 the State of New York, on May 29 and 31, 1876, it erected a Board of 
 Ministerial Relief, and directed said Board to adopt suitable measures to 
 obtain a proper charter from the legal authorities of the Commonwealth of 
 Penns} T lvania ; 
 
 Now, in pursuance of said direction, the subscribers, composing said Board, 
 adopt the following as the articles of said charter, viz.: 
 
 I. The name of the corporation shall be "The Presbyterian Board of 
 Relief for Disabled Ministers and the Widows and Orphans of Deceased 
 Ministers." 
 
390 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 II. The purpose for which this corporation is formed is to receive, hold and 
 disburse such real and personal estate as may be given to it for the relief and 
 support of disabled ministers and the needy widows and orphans of deceased 
 ministers of the said Church. 
 
 III. The place where its business is to be transacted is the city of Philadel- 
 phia, in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 
 IV. The term for which it is to exist is in perpetuity. 
 
 V. The number of its directors for the first year, expiring in May, 1877, shall 
 be twelve, and the corresponding secretary and treasurer, whose names and 
 residences are as follows, viz.: 
 
 Villeroy D. Reed, Camden, New Jersey. 
 
 Elias R. Beadle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Charles A. Dickej', Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Henry E. Niles, York, Pennsylvania. 
 
 J. H. Mason Knox, Bristol, Pennsylvania. 
 
 J. Frederick Dripps, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 John C. Fan*, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 William G. Crowell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 George Junkin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Samuel Hood, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 William E. Tenbrook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Robert Cornelius, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
 George Hale, Pennington, New Jersey, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 Eugene G. Woodward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Treasurer. 
 
 VI. The business of the corporation shall be managed by a Board of Direc- 
 tors, consisting of twelve, and the corresponding secretary and treasurer, who 
 shall be ex officio members, and of whom five shall be a quorum, and such offi- 
 cers and committees under its supervision as it may elect and appoint. 
 
 The said General Assembl}' shall, at its next annual meeting, in May, 1877, 
 elect twelve directors in three equal classes, to serve respectively for one, two 
 and three years, and until their successors shall be elected ; and at each annual 
 meeting thereafter shall elect four persons to serve as directors for three years 
 and until their successors shall be elected, and shall fill all vacancies that may 
 exist in the Board. 
 
 At least one person in each class, and on each annual election, shall be a 
 citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
 VII. The officers of the Board shall be a president, vice-president, corre- 
 sponding secretary, recording secretary and treasurer, who shall be elected by 
 the Board by ballot at the annual meeting which shall be held during the 
 month next succeeding the annual meeting of the General Assembly, and 
 whose duties shall be defined by the by-laws. 
 
 VIII. All the business of the corporation shall be conducted by the Board 
 under and subject to the direction of the said General Assembly, and in accord- 
 ance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Penns} r lvania and of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 The foregoing Charter was obtained on October 21, 1876, under the Act of 
 the Legislature of Pennsylvania of 29th April, 1874, and on the same day was 
 recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for the City of Philadelphia, in 
 Charter Book No. 3, page, 186, etc. 
 
 The Act aforesaid provides that a corporation created under it shall have the 
 following powers (see Brightly 's Digest), viz.: 
 
 "I. To have successors by its corporate name, for the period limited by its 
 charter ; and when no period is limited thereby, or by this Act, perpetually : 
 subject to the power of the General Assembly under the Constitution of this 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 "II. To maintain and defend judicial proceedings. 
 
 "III. To make and use a common seal, and to alter the same at pleasure. 
 
 "IV. To hold, purchase and transfer such real and personal property as the 
 purposes of the corporation require, not exceeding the amount limited by its 
 charter or by law. 
 
 "V. To appoint and remove such subordinate officers and agents as the 
 business of the corporation requires, and to allow them a suitable com- 
 pensation. 
 
 "VI. To make by-laws, not inconsistent with law, for the management of 
 its property, the regulation of its affairs and the transfer of its stock. 
 
 "X. Each of the said corporations may hold real estate to an amount 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 391 
 
 the clear yearly value or income whereof shall not exceed twenty thousand- 
 dollars." 
 
 5. Rules of the Board of Relief. 
 
 Appropriations. — 1. Only members of Presbyteries in connection with 
 the General Assembly of our Church, and the families of those who were at 
 their death in such connection, and lay missionaries and their families, 
 are entitled to aid ; and no adults shall be entitled to aid, who are not 
 members of, and who do not acknowledge the jurisdiction, nor submit to 
 the discipline of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Amer- 
 ica, unless such extraordinary circumstances should exist, as to make it, 
 in the judgment of the Board, wise and right to admit their claim. 
 
 2. The General Assembly of 1880 directed that in ordinary cases no 
 appropriations can be made to ministers simply because they are poor. 
 In order to receive aid they must be disabled by disease, or the infirmities 
 of age, so as to be unable to sustain themselves by some suitable employ- 
 ment (Minutes of General Assembly, 1880, p. 21, and 1889, p. 32). 
 
 3. The General Assembly of 1880 directed, " That, in case of a min- 
 ister who voluntarily, and in health, leaves the work of the ministry for 
 some secular employment, and follows that for a series of years, and 
 then, by failure of business, has come to want, such a course should 
 ordinarily be regarded as a voluntary relinquishment of all claim upon 
 the funds of the Board " (Minutes of General Assembly, 1880, p. 21). 
 
 4. Except for ministers Honorably Retired, all appropriations are 
 made for one year, unless otherwise ordered; and the renewals for appro- 
 priations must be made from year to year. 
 
 5. All the appropriations are paid in advance, provided the funds of 
 the Board will allow this to be done. If the appropriation is not more 
 than one hundred and fifty dollars it is paid in advance in one payment. 
 When an appropriation is more than one hundred and fifty dollars per 
 annum, it is paid in two equal installments, semi-annually in advance. 
 
 6. While the responsibility of recommending applicants rests with the 
 Presbyteries, and these recommendations largely govern the action of 
 the Board, yet there is reserved to the Board the right to appropriate 
 according to the merits of the case, and the state of the treasury. 
 
 Honorably Retired Ministers. — 7. Every honorably retired minister 
 over seventy years of age, Avho is in need, and who has served our 
 Church as a missionary of the Home or Foreign Board, or of the Board 
 of Missions for Freedmen, or as a pastor, or stated supply, for a period 
 in the aggregate not less than thirty years, shall be entitled by such 
 service to draw from the Board of Ministerial Relief an annual sum for 
 his support, without the necessity of being annually recommended there- 
 for by the Presbytery. When such a minister shall certify to the Pres- 
 bytery the fact and amount of his need, not exceeding $300 per annum, 
 it shall be the duty of the Stated Clerk to forward the application to the 
 Board, with his endorsement thereon, as to the years of service such 
 minister has rendered, his field or fields of labor, with the term of 
 service in each, and also to certify that the same has been reported to the 
 Presbytery and is recorded upon its Minutes. It shall then be the duty 
 of the Board to pay such annual amount so long as the applicant shall 
 live, unless otherwise directed by the Presbytery or the applicant himself, 
 in view of a change in his circumstances that may make the appropriation 
 iu whole or in part no longer necessary (Minutes of General Assembly 
 of 1889, p. 32; 1891, pp. 33 and 44; 1894, p. 35). 
 
392 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Disabled Ministers. — 8. An annuity to a minister who has not been in 
 the aggregate thirty years in active service in the Presbyterian Church as 
 a missionary of the Home or Foreign Board, or of the Board of Missions 
 for Freedmen, or as pastor or stated supply, is made on the recommen- 
 dation of that Presbytery, or of a Standing Committee of that Presby- 
 tery to which the applicaut belongs; and the recommendation in each 
 case must be annually renewed. An application for aid should in case 
 of such minister, state his age, his circumstances and the number of 
 years he has been in the ministry; aud the sex and age of the children 
 who are dependent on him for support. 
 
 Lay Missionaries. — 9. The Assembly of 1889 directed as the best 
 method for the present for supplying a felt need, that the names of 
 regularly appointed Lay Missionaries of the Foreigu Board and their 
 families shall also be placed upon the roll of the Board the same as min- 
 isters. In their applications for aid, lay missionaries shall be governed 
 by the rules that apply to ministers (Minutes of General Assembly of 
 1889, p. 32, and report of Board in Minutes of Assembly of the same 
 year, p. 240). 
 
 Women. — 10. Women who have given themselves to missionary work, 
 and have labored five years under the Home or Foreign Board, or under 
 the Board of Missions for Freedmen, may receive aid from this Board, 
 upon the same conditions as ministers. They may be recommended by 
 the Presbytery in the bounds of which they reside, or by the Presbytery 
 having jurisdiction of the church of which such missionaries may be 
 members, and their applications should have the endorsement of the 
 Board under which they have held commissions (Minutes of General 
 Assembly of 1885, p. 592; 1888, p. 33; 1894, p. 35). 
 
 11. If the application for aid be for a widow of a minister, it may be 
 made by the Presbytery within whose bounds the family resides, or prefer- 
 ably by the Presbytery with which her husband was connected at the 
 time of his death (Minutes of General Assembly of 1884, p. 48). 
 
 Unless the applicant is well known, the Committee of Ministerial Relief 
 should always secure the endorsement of the Session of the church of 
 which the applicant is a member, to the effect that she needs, and is 
 deserving of the aid for which application is made. 
 
 12. When a woman contracts marriage with a retired minister who is 
 receiving aid from the Board, she shall not be entitled at his death to 
 become a beneficiary of the Board. 
 
 13. The widow of a minister who remarries outside of the ministry 
 thereby relinquishes all claims upon the Board, and should she again 
 become a widow she would not be entitled to aid. 
 
 14. Except in extraordinary cases, no appropriation will be made to 
 the widow of a minister who has children able to give her support 
 (Minutes of General Assembly of 1880, p. 21). 
 
 Orphans. — 15. Aid may be given to orphans of ministers and lay 
 missionaries, as the General Assembly says, w 7 ho are ' ' under the age at 
 which they are able to earn their own living, ' ' and in exceptional cases 
 to orphans who have been from early years " chronic invalids." The 
 same rule applies in case of orphans asking for aid, as in the case of 
 other beneficiaries of the Board in regard to recommendations and annual 
 renewals ( Minutes of General Assembly of 1889, p. 32). 
 
 Guests at Perth Amboy. — 16. Applications for admission to the Pres- 
 byterian Ministers' House, at Perth Amboy, N. J., are to be made by 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 393 
 
 the Presbyterial Committee in accordance with the foregoing rules. 
 Guests are admitted to the Ministers' House in lieu of an appropriation 
 of money. Any guest of the House, who, in the judgment of the 
 Superintendent, may be a hindrance to its usefulness and to the comfort 
 of the other guests, shall be reported by her to the Committee in charge, 
 who shall have power, after an investigation of all the circumstances, to 
 recommend to the Board an appropriation in money for the support of 
 such guest, in lieu of a residence at the House. Guests at the Ministers' 
 House must be annually recommended for free residence there by the 
 Presbyteries. 
 
 VII. THE BOARD OF MISSIONS FOR FREEDMEN. 
 
 1. The plan adopted in 1870. 
 
 In view, therefore, of all the papers submitted, and of the whole sub- 
 ject as we have been able to examine it, your Committee would recom- 
 mend the adoption of the following resolutions, to wit: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Assembly's Committee on Freedmen, and the 
 Freedmen's Department of the Presbyterian Committee of Home 
 Missions, and their Secretaries, are hereby commended for their fidelity 
 and energy in the prosecution of the work committed to their charge, 
 that their reports be printed for circulation in the churches, and that 
 they be directed to continue the work until the reorganization is com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the work of the Presbyterian Church for the colored 
 race in this country, including both their religious and educational inter- 
 ests, shall be conducted by a Committee to be located in the city of 
 Pittsburgh, Pa., to be known by the name, style and title of " The 
 Presbyterian Committee of Missions for Freedmen," and that this 
 Committee shall consist of twelve members, of whom five shall be a 
 quorum, to meet on their own adjournment. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That this Committee be directed to organize on Thursday, 
 June 16, at 3 o'clock P.M., in the lecture-room of the First Presby- 
 terian Church of Pittsburgh, Pa., and that the Stated Clerk of the 
 Assembly be directed to give official notice to the members of their 
 election. 
 
 Vacancies occurring in this Committee, by resignation or otherwise, 
 may be filled by the Committee (until the meeting of the next Assem- 
 bly) at any regular meeting, of which election due notice has been 
 given. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That the Assembly's Committee on Freedmen, and the 
 Freedmen's Department of the Presbyterian Committee of Home Mis- 
 sions, are hereby directed, on the organization of this Committee, or at 
 as early a time as can be done safely, to transfer to the Committee of 
 1 Missions for Freedmen all papers, documents, moneys and properties 
 then in their hands or under their control pertaining to the work; and 
 further, these organizations are continued as at present constituted for 
 the purpose of receiving and paying over to the Committee of Missions 
 for Freedmen all moneys which may come into their hands for this work 
 by legacy or otherwise. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the Assembly recommend to the Boards of the 
 Church to cooperate with the Committee of Missions for Freedmen in 
 conducting its work. 
 
 Resolved, 6. That in view of the fact that only one -third of our 
 
394 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 churches contributed to this cause during the past year, each Presbytery 
 be required to appoint a Committee of one, whose duty it shall be, by 
 correspondence or otherwise, to see that this cause is brought before each 
 church for its generous contribution. 
 
 To conclude: In the judgment of your Committee, the great need of 
 the Freedmen to-day is a supply of competent preachers and teachers, 
 raised up from among themselves. For help in this matter we look with 
 hope to Lincoln University, at Oxford, Pa. ; to Biddle Memorial Institute, 
 at Charlotte, N. C. ; to the Normal School of Winchester, Va. ; and to 
 other similar institutions established by our Church. We urge especially 
 the necessity of providing schools where females may enjoy advantages 
 that may enable them to keep pace with the other sex in intellectual and 
 moral elevation. 
 
 The Committee beg leave to nominate the following persons to consti- 
 tute the Presbyterian Committee of Missions for Freedmen : 
 
 Ministers — James Allison, D.D., Samuel J. Wilson, D.D., John 
 Gillespie, Peter S. Davies, Frederick A. Noble, Elliott E. Swift. 
 
 Laymen — Joseph Albree, John C. McComb, Robert C. Totten, Oliver 
 
 McClintock, James B. Lyon, George B. Logan. — 1870, p. 105. 
 
 [Note. — The Committee was authorized to apply for a charter (Minutes, 1882, p. 32), 
 which was obtained under the title of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions for 
 Freedmen of the Presbycerian Church in the United States of America.— 1883, p. 592. 
 See below, 3.] 
 
 2. Relative duties and authority of the Board and the Presbyteries. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Washington City, asking the Assem- 
 bly to define the relative duties and authorities of the Freedmen' s Board 
 and the Presbyteries, in relation to the Freedmen churches under their 
 care. 
 
 Your Committee recommend : That all operations of the Board, within 
 the bounds of any Presbytery, should be originated and conducted with 
 due recognition of the Presbytery and its agencies, according to the 
 following specifications: 
 
 1. While appropriations of aid to churches are to be made on the 
 recommendation of Presbyteries, the Assembly regards the Board as 
 having the right to refuse or modify such appropriations ; but in every 
 case of refusal or modification, the Board shall promptly present to the 
 Presbytery a written statement of the reasons for so doing. 
 
 2. In questions touching the organization of churches, or the charac- 
 ter of ministers, the Board, in case of differences between the Presby- 
 tery and itself, should abide by the final judgment of the Presbytery. 
 
 3. In the establishment and maintenance of schools, the Board should 
 carefully consider the recommendations of the Presbytery; but should 
 act finally on its own judgment. 
 
 The recommendations of the Committee were adopted. — 1884, p. 48. 
 
 3. Charter of the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America. 
 
 To the Honorable the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, of Alle- 
 gheny County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania : 
 The undersigned citizens of the said Commonwealth respectfully represent : 
 That under the rules and usages of the Presbyterian Church of the United 
 States of America they are desirous of being incorporated pursuant to the Act 
 of the General Assembly of the said Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, en- 
 titled "An Act to provide for the incorporation and regulation of certain Cor- 
 porations, approved the twenty-ninth day of April, A.D. one thousand eight 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 395 
 
 hundred and seventy-four, and the several supplements thereto." Herewith 
 stating the object and purposes thereof: 
 
 Section l/Elliott E. Swift, James Allison, Samuel J. Wilson, Samuel J. 
 Fisher. Charles L. Thompson, John M. Richmond, John C McCombs, Robert 
 C. Totten, James B. Lyon, William C. Aughinbaugh. Robert S. DaVis and 
 Charles W. Hubbard designated for this purpose by the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America which met at Spring- 
 field, in the State of Illinois, in the month of May, Anno Domini one thousand 
 eight hundred and eighty-two. and their successors in office chosen from time 
 to time by the said General Assembly, are hereby constituted a body politic 
 and corporate, to have perpetual succession "by the name of "'The Board of 
 Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America/' the object of which shall be to assist in sustaining the preaching of 
 the Gospel among the freedmen of the United States of America, in building 
 and erecting and maintaining churches, schools, academies, colleges and insti- 
 tutions of learning, for their benefit and to superintend the whole work of 
 missions and education among them in behalf of the said Church, as the 
 General Assembly may from time to time direct ; also to receive, take charge 
 of and disburse all property and funds which may at any time and from 
 time to time, be entrusted to said Church or said Board of "Missions for said 
 freedmen for missionary or educational purposes. 
 
 Sec. 2. The said corporation shall possess the general powers and be sub- 
 ject to the provisions contained in Section one of the said Act of Assembly, ap- 
 proved the twenty-ninth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and seventy-four and its supplements, so far as the same is applicable. 
 
 Sec. 3. That said corporation shall in law be capable of taking and receiv- 
 ing and holding any real or personal estate which has been or may hereafter be 
 given, devised or bequeathed to it or to the General Assembly, or to any one 
 in trust for the purposes aforesaid and in conformity with existing statutes, or 
 which may accrue from the use of the same, and the same to sell, mortgage, 
 alien, demise and convey, and to invest and reinvest in mortgages, stocks, bonds 
 or other securities, any money received for purposes aforesaid by gift, devise or 
 bequest ; Provided always, That the clear yearly income of real estate held 
 by said corporation shall not at any time exceed the amount fixed by law or 
 existing statutes. 
 
 Sec.^4. The management and disposition of the funds and affairs of said 
 corporation shall be vested in the individuals named aforesaid and their suc- 
 cessors in office, who shall remain in office for such period and be displaced 
 and succeeded by others, to be elected at such time and in such time and in 
 such manner as the said General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America shall direct and appoint. 
 In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 
 
 day of August, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and 
 
 eighty-two. 
 
 Elliott E. Swift, (Seal) 
 
 James Allison, (Seal) 
 
 S. J. Wilson, (Seal) 
 
 Robert C. Totten. (Seal) 
 
 James B. Lyon, (Seal) 
 
 Robert S. Davis, (Seal) 
 
 C. W. Hubbard, (Seal) 
 
 W. C. Aughinbaugh, (Seal) 
 
 John C. McCombs. (Seal) 
 
 State of Pennsylvania 
 County of Alleghen 
 
 Before me, William H. Graham, Recorder of said county, personally came 
 Robert S. Davis, William C. Aughinbaugh and J. C. McCombs, three" of the 
 subscribers to the foregoing Articles of Association, who acknowledged the 
 same on behalf of themselves and their associates to be their act and deed as 
 required by the Act of Assembly in such case made and provided. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and official seal this twen- 
 ty-fourth day of August, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and 
 eighty-two. 
 
 rL g -. William H. Graham, 
 
 L * * J Recorder. 
 
 ffIA, ) 
 NY. $ 
 
396 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 In Court of Common Pleas No. 2 of Allegheny County. 
 In the matter of the incorporation of 
 " The Board of Missions for Freed- 
 men of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America." 
 The within certificate and Articles of Association having been presented to 
 the Honorable J. W. F. White, a Law Judge of the Court of Common Pleas 
 No. 2, of said county, the certificate of the Recorder of said county being en- 
 dorsed thereon, accompanied with proofs of publication as required by law, 
 and the said Judge having perused and examined said instrument and it being 
 found in proper form, in accordance with the second section of the Act of 
 Assembly approved twenty-ninth of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
 seventy-four, and said intended corporation appearing to be lawful and not 
 injurious to the community. 
 
 And now, to wit, September sixteenth, one thousand eight hundred and 
 eighty-two, it is ordered and decreed that the said Charter be approved, and 
 upon the recording of the same with this order the subscribers thereto and 
 their associates shall be a corporation for the purpose and trusts therein stated, 
 and that this decree and said charter shall be recorded in the Office for Re- 
 cording Deeds in said County of Allegheny, and thenceforth the persons 
 named therein and subscribed thereto, with their associates and successors, shall 
 be a corporation by the name herein given. Per Curiam. 
 
 rT q -, From the record, 
 
 lLt - D,J J. O. Brown, Prothonotary. 
 
 VIII. THE BOARD OF AID FOR COLLEGES AND ACADEMIES. 
 
 1. Establishment and constitution of the Board. 
 
 The Special Committee on Education appointed by the Assembly of 
 1881, enlarged and continued by the Assembly of 1882, herewith report 
 (see Minutes, 1883, pp. 581-590). The recommendations were adopted, 
 viz. : 
 
 1. That a definite agency be instituted that shall have in charge the 
 interests of higher education as connected with the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 2. That this agency be a separate and independent Board, with its 
 distinct officers and work. 
 
 3. That the Board be constituted under the following provisions, viz. : 
 
 A. The name of this Board shall be " The Presbyterian Board of Aid 
 for Colleges and Academies;" and the general work shall have the limita- 
 tions indicated by its title. 
 
 B. The Board shall consist of twenty- four members, divided into three 
 classes, composed equally of ministers and laymen, and one class shall 
 be elected each year. 
 
 C. The officers of this Board shall be a President, Vice-President, 
 Treasurer and Permanent Secretary. 
 
 D. In the constitution of the Board the different parts of the country 
 shall be equitably represented. 
 
 E. The headquarters of the Board shall be at Chicago, and the Exec- 
 utive Committee of the Board shall be residents in Chicago or in the 
 immediate vicinity. 
 
 F. Meetings of the Board may be held at different points in the coun- 
 try as the Board shall elect. 
 
 G. The province of the Board shall be to secure an annual offering 
 from the churches for this cause; to cooperate with local agencies in 
 determining sites for new institutions; to decide what institutions shall be 
 aided; to assign to those institutions seeking endowment the special 
 fields open to their appeals, that clashing between them may be avoided; 
 and to discourage all independent appeals to the Church at large. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 397 
 
 H. The funds received by the Board shall be devoted either to current 
 expenses of struggling institutions, or to permanent endowments. 
 
 The funds shall be secured (a) by annual offerings from the churches, 
 mainly for current expenses of the institutions; (6) by special applica- 
 tions for endowment under the approval and general direction of the Board. 
 
 I. (a) Every institution hereafter established, as a condition of 
 receiving aid, shall be either organically connected with the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, or shall by charter provision 
 perpetually have two-thirds of its Board of Control members of the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 (b) In the case of institutions already established, and not included 
 under the above provisions, appropriations for endowment shall be so 
 made as to revert to the Board whenever these institutions shall pass from 
 Presbyterian control. 
 
 (c) In all other respects the disbursement of funds by the Board shall 
 be wholly discretionary with the Board, both as to amount and direction, 
 subject always to the control of the General Assembly. 
 
 4. That the Board be chartered under the laws of the State of Illinois, 
 and under the laws of such other States as may at any time hereafter, 
 by said Board, be deemed necessary or advisable, and be empowered to 
 receive legacies, bequests and devises. 
 
 5. That a Committee be now appointed to report to this Assembly the 
 names of twenty- four members for this Board, and any needed directions 
 for organization ; and that when so reported and approved by this Assem- 
 bly, said members shall be authorized and enjoined to perfect the organi- 
 zation of the Board at the earliest possible date, and to proceed at once 
 to its vast and responsible work. — 1883, p. 589. 
 
 [Note. — For the organization of the Board, see Minutes, 1883, pp. 645, 646; Digest, 
 1886, pp. 570.] 
 
 2. The Bible to be used as a text-book. 
 
 a. Resolved, That no institutions be taken under the care of this Board, 
 unless the Bible be systematically used as a text- book in the curriculum; 
 and that the institutions be required to show in detail, in their spring 
 reports to the Board, what response they have made to this requisition; 
 and that the Board be instructed to withhold, at its discretion, the annual 
 appropriation in all cases in which the spirit of this requisition does not 
 appear to have been met. — 1889, p. 48. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the General Assembly hereby directs the Board to 
 adhere diligently to the following points in the policy of its management, 
 viz., the systematic study of the Bible by every student. The rules by 
 which it assures full Presbyterian control of institutions and of all prop- 
 erty funds invested through the Board. The refusal of the Board to 
 incur debt or to allow its institutions to live beyond their income. The 
 prohibition of the solicitation of funds by institutions except from personal 
 friends or in their own regions, the Board itself to solicit, and to distribute 
 funds, and to secure them to the Church. — 1894, p. 86. 
 
 3. The Charter of the Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies. 
 
 State of Illinois — Department op State. 
 
 Henry D. Dement, Secretary of State. 
 
 To all to whom these presents shall come — Greeting : 
 
 Whereas a certificate, duly signed and acknowledged, having been filed in 
 the office of the Secretary of State on the sixth day of October, Anno Domini 
 one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three, for the organization of "The 
 
398 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Presbyterian Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies," under and in accord- 
 ance with the provisions of "An Act Concerning Corporations," approved 
 April eighteen, one thousand eight hundred and seventy -two, and in force 
 July one, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, a copy of which cer- 
 tificate is hereto attached. 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Henry D. Dement, Secretary of State of the State of Illi- 
 nois, by virtue of the powers and duties vested in me by law do hereby certify 
 that the said "The Presbyterian Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies " is a 
 legally organized corporation under the laws of this State. 
 
 In testimony whereof I hereto set my hand and 
 cause to be affixed the great seal of State. 
 
 seal, of the Done at the city of Springfield this sixth day of 
 
 state op October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
 
 Illinois. hundred and eighty- three, and of the Independence 
 
 of the United States the one hundred and eighth. 
 Henry D. Demext, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 State op Illinois, > . 
 County of Cook, j " 
 To the Secretary of State of the State of Illinois : 
 
 Whereas, The " General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, " at its annual meeting held at Saratoga Springs, in the 
 State of New York, in the month of May, Anno Domini one thousand eight 
 hundred and eighty-three, did constitute and establish a Board or Commission 
 under the name, style and title of "The Presbyterian Board of Aid for Col- 
 leges and Academies," the same to be subordinate and subject to the general 
 supervision and control of the said General Assembl3 r , which said Board was 
 by said General Assembly charged and entrusted with the interests of higher 
 education as connected with the said Presbyterian Church. 
 
 And Wliereas, The said General Assembly at said meeting ordered that said 
 Board shall consist of twenty-four members, divided into three classes, com- 
 posed equally of ministers and laymen of said Church, and that one class 
 shall be elected each year, the same to be elected by said General Assembly. 
 
 And Whereas, The said General Assembly did elect the following named 
 persons to be members of said Board to serve for the periods as stated below, 
 to wit : 
 Ministers to serve for one year — 
 
 Rev. Howard Crosby, of New York, N. Y. 
 
 Rev. Matthew Newkirk, of Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Rev. Hervey D. Ganse, of St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Rev. John De Witt, of Cincinnati, O. 
 Laymen to serve for one year — 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, of Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 John S. McDonald, of Fond du Lac, Wis. 
 
 William O. Hughart, of Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
 William A. Woods, of Indianapolis, Ind. 
 Ministers to serve for two years — 
 
 Rev. George D. Baker, of Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Rev. John N. Freeman, of Milwaukee, Wis. 
 
 Rev. Abbot E. Kittredge, of Chicago, 111. 
 
 Rev. Robert F. Semple, of Minneapolis, Minn. 
 Laymen to serve for two years — 
 
 Samuel M. Breckenridge, of St. Louis, Mo. 
 
 Dan P. Eells, of Cleveland, O. 
 
 Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr., of Chicago, 111. 
 
 Otis D. Swan, of Emporia, Kans. 
 Ministers to serve for three years — 
 
 Rev. Herrick Johnson, of Chicago, 111. 
 
 Rev. Simon J. McPherson, of Chicago, 111. 
 
 Rev. John W. Dinsmore, of Bloomington, 111. 
 
 Rev. Thomas H. Cleland, of Keokuk, la. 
 Laymen to serve for three years — 
 
 Charles M. Henderson, of Chicago, 111. 
 • Charles M. Charnley, of Chicago, 111. 
 
 Homer N. Hibbard, of Hyde Park, 111. 
 
 Robert H. McClellan, of Galena, 111. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 399 
 
 And Whereas, Said General Assembly did order and direct that said Board 
 obtain a charter and become incorporated under the laws of the State of 
 Illinois : » 
 
 Now, therefore, we the undersigned, Herrick Johnson, John N. Freeman, 
 Abbot E. Kittredge, John W. Dinsmore, Simon J. McPherson, Matthew New- 
 kirk, Hervey D. Ganse, OtisD. Swan, William O. Hughart, John S. McDonald, 
 Charles M. Henderson, Robert H. McClellan and Homer N. Hibbard, citizens 
 of the United States, propose to form a corporation under an Act of the 
 General Assembly of the State of Illinois, approved April eighteenth, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and that for the purpose of said or- 
 ganization we hereby state as follows, to wit : 
 
 1. The name of such corporation is "The Presbyterian Board of Aid for 
 Colleges and Academies." 
 
 2. Said corporation is not for pecuniary profit. 
 
 8. The objects for which it is formed are the securing and receiving money 
 or other property in any legal manner authorized and approved by the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The 
 money and property thus received to be devoted to current expenses or to per- 
 manent endowments of struggling institutions of learning or to the establish- 
 ment of new institutions and to defray the necessary expenses of said Board. 
 
 Every institution of learning, as a condition of receiving aid, shall be either 
 organically connected with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, or shall by charter provision have two-thirds of its Board of Control 
 members of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 In the case of institutions already established and not included under the 
 above provisions appropriations for endowment shall be so made as to revert 
 to the Board whenever such institution shall pass from Presbyterian control. 
 
 4. The management of the aforesaid corporation shall be vested in the entire 
 Board of twenty-four members, who shall hereafter be designated and elected 
 by the General 'Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, as recited in the preamble to this certificate ; and the persons who 
 may be so elected shall be, by virtue of such election, members of the Board 
 incorporated pursuant to this certificate. 
 
 5. The person whose names are written in the preamble to this certificate 
 are hereby selected to control and manage said corporation for the first year of 
 its corporate existence. 
 
 6. The location is in the city of Chicago, in the County of Cook and State 
 
 ofIllinois - Herrick Johnson, 
 
 Abbot E. Kittredge, 
 John N. Freeman, 
 Charles M. Henderson, 
 John W. Dinsmore, 
 Simon J. McPherson, 
 William O. Hughart, 
 Otis D. Swan, 
 Matthew Newkirk, 
 Robert H. McClellan, 
 John S. McDonald, 
 Hervey D. Ganse, 
 
 State op Illinois, \ , . HoMER N ' Hibbard. 
 
 County of Cook, j 
 
 I, James J. Noble, a Notary Public in and for the County and State afore- 
 said, do hereby certify that on this nineteenth day of September, Anno Domini 
 one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three, personally appeared before me 
 Herrick Johnson, Abbot E. Kittredge, John N. Freeman, Charles M. Hender- 
 son, John W. Dinsmore, Simon J. McPherson, William O. Hughart, Otis D. 
 Swan, Matthew Newkirk, Robert H. McClellan, John S. McDonald, Hervey 
 D. Ganse and Homer N. Hibbard, to me personally known to be the same 
 persons who executed the foregoing statement, and severally acknowledged 
 that they had executed the same for the purposes therein set forth. 
 
 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and notarial seal the day 
 and year last above written. 
 
 James J. Noble, 
 (Seal) Notary Public. 
 
400 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 United States op America, > . Opetoe oe Sfcrftary 
 
 State of Illinois. S Uffice of secretary. 
 
 I, Isaac N. Pearson, Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, do hereby 
 certify that the foregoing is a true copy of The Articles of Incorporation of The 
 Presbyterian Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies, the original of which 
 is now on file in this office. 
 
 In witness whereof I hereto set my hand and affix the great seal of State at 
 the city of Springfield this thirteenth day of March, Anno Domini one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and ninety. 
 
 I. N. Pearson, 
 (Seal) Secretary of State. 
 
 IX. THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON SYSTEMATIC BENEFICENCE. 
 
 [Note. — In 1871, Minutes, p. 551, the Assembly appointed "A Committee on Benevo- 
 lence and Finance," and adopted a plan of its proceedings. See Minutes, 1871, p. 551. 
 In 1872 the plan was amended and adopted (1872, pp. 49, 50 ; see Digest, 1886, p. 455 ; 
 Minutes, 1873, p. 507). The "Committee on Benevolence and Finance" was discon- 
 tinued (1874, p. 26; 1875, p. 530; 1878, p. 574). In 1879 the Standing Committee on 
 Benevolence presented a resume of the action of the Assembly since 1871 (Minutes, 1879, 
 pp. 622, 623; Digest, 1886, pp. 566, 567).] 
 
 1. Appointment. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly appoint a Permanent Com- 
 mittee on Systematic Beneficence (a Committee of organization and 
 instruction), whose duties shall be those specified in this report, who 
 shall make their report annually to the General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, This Committee shall consist of five members, three min- 
 isters and two elders. Adopted.— 1879, pp. 622, 623. 
 
 2. The committee enlarged to twelve. 
 
 1. That the Permanent Committee be enlarged to twelve, so as to 
 distribute its labors more widely ; and they suggest that Cleveland be its 
 centre, with the following persons as members of the Committee: Min- 
 isters — Arthur Mitchell, Charles S. Pomeroy, Henry M. MacCracken, 
 I. Williams Cochran, Arthur T. Pierson, William T. Wylie; Elders — 
 Dan P. Eells, Archibald McClure, William Bate well, Thomas Kane, 
 Walter Carter, H. C. Noble. 
 
 2. We recommend that the work be prosecuted in the future, as in the 
 past two years, in full sympathy with all of our Boards, endeavoring to 
 secure from every member of every church, an adequate contribution for 
 each of our objects of benevolence, and that, for this purpose, every 
 Presbytery and Synod should have a Committee on Systematic Benefi- 
 cence, each church should have a plan of giving, and each member should 
 be taught to set apart regularly a certain proportion of his income to the 
 Lord. 
 
 3. Each Session is desired to fill, according to past injunctions of the 
 Assembly, the statistical blank sent them in the interests of this Commit- 
 tee. Adopted.— 1881, p. 572. 
 
 3. Name changed. Work and expenses. 
 
 Resolved, That the name of the " Permanent Committee on Systematic 
 Beneficence ' ' be changed to the ' ' Special Committee on Systematic 
 Beneficence. ' ' 
 
 That the expenses of the Committee for the past year to the 
 amount of $490.30 be paid out of the Contingent Fund of the General 
 Assembly.— 1887, p. 122. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 401 
 
 Resolved, That a sum not to exceed $1000 be appropriated to carry on 
 the work of this Committee for the next year. — 1894, p. 147; 1895, p. 
 84; 1896, p. 90; 1897, p. 99. 
 
 That instruction and authority be given to the Committee on System- 
 atic Beneficence to furnish, free of charge, subscription blanks and 
 collection envelopes, to all who apply for them, for the purpose of secur- 
 ing larger gifts for the work of our Church, the cost of the same, includ- 
 ing the postage, to be met by the several Boards in whose interests this 
 service is rendered. — 1897, p. 99. 
 
 X. THE PERMANENT COMMITTEE ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 1. Organization and work. 
 
 [Note. — A Special Committee of nine was appointed in 1880 {Minutes, p. 75), to 
 whom was referred the question of a Permanent Committee of the Assembly on Tem- 
 perance ; they report :] 
 
 They would, therefore, recommend that this Assembly appoint a 
 Permanent Committee on Temperance, which shall consist of fifteen 
 members, eight ministers and seven laymen, a majority of whom shall 
 reside in and near New York ; who shall hold their first meeting in that 
 city on the second Tuesday of June next ; and then and there divide by 
 lot into three separate sections of five each, to hold office for one, two 
 and three years ; their successors to be appointed each year for a term of 
 three years by the General Assembly ; the said Committee to adopt their 
 own by-laws, subject to the approval of the Assembly. 
 
 The duty of this Permanent Committee shall be, to seek to quicken 
 and to unite our Synods and churches in suitable measures for promoting 
 the Temperance reform ; to mature and report action on the subject to 
 the General Assembly ; to gather and report such statistics as may be of 
 value and interest to the Church ; to call attention to the deliverances of 
 the Assembly on temperance, and recommend to the Board of Publica- 
 tion the issue of suitable work on the subject ; to codify the previous 
 acts of the Assembly on temperance for publication by the Board ; and 
 to initiate measures for promoting similar action by other branches of 
 the evangelical Church. The expense of such publications shall be 
 borne by the Board. Adopted. — 1881, p. 537. 
 
 2. The committee reorganized and located at Pittsburgh. 
 
 Resolved, That the Permanent Committee on Temperance be continued 
 as the natural complement to the similar Committees in Presbyteries and 
 Synods, and as completing the organic bond between the Presbyterian 
 Church and the great temperance movement. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the judgment of this Assembly, the work thus far 
 practicable on the part of this Committee is not sufficiently large or 
 extensive to demand a Corresponding Secretary, all of whose time shall 
 be given to this work, and that the contributions from the churches do 
 not justify at present such an outlay. 
 
 Resolved, That the resignation of the Corresponding Secretary should 
 be accepted by the Committee, and that the Committee be requested to 
 carry on the work as economically as possible, leaving the future to show 
 whether the work shall so expand and the cooperation of the churches so 
 increase as to justify larger administrative force and corresponding expen- 
 diture. 
 
 Resolved, That the Permanent Committee be reorganized, as follows: 
 26 
 
402 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 That its headquarters shall be in Pittsburgh, Pa. ; that it be composed of 
 the following: Ministers — Elliott E. Swift, D.D. , Chairman; William 
 O. Campbell, D.D., William J. Holland, Isaac K Hays, D.D., J. P. 
 E. Kumler, D.D., Neville B. C. Comingo; Elders— C. L. Rose, O. L. 
 Miller, M.D., J. H. Baldwin, Thomas H. Rabe, Robert S. Totten, 
 William B. Negley. And the Committee shall determine by lot the sev- 
 eral terms of their service and report the result to the Stated Clerk for 
 insertion in the Minutes of the Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That the deficiency of the late Permanent Committee on 
 Temperance, to the amount of $2100, be paid by the Stated Clerk of the 
 General Assembly, out of the Contingent Fund of the Assembly of 
 1887, provided there be no objection made to such appropriation of said 
 fund on the part of a majority of the Presbyteries. — 1886, p. 235. 
 
 3. Cooperation with Committee. Provision for expenses. 
 
 a. The report of the Standing Committee on Temperance was recon- 
 sidered, and the fourth recommendation (p. 72) of the Committee appro- 
 priating $500 for the expense of the Permanent Committee on Temper- 
 ance was disapproved; whereupon the Permanent Committee on 
 Temperance was recommended to the churches for contributions to defray 
 the necessary expenses of their work during the present year. — 1882, 
 p. 106. 
 
 b. That the Permanent Committee be continued and recommended 
 to the continued confidence of the Church, and that where Synodical 
 and Presbyterial Committees do not already exist, it is recommended 
 that they be constituted, and that all the Committees place them- 
 selves in communication with the Secretary of the Permanent Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Whereas, The last General Assembly resolved " that the deficiency 
 of the late Permanent Committee on Temperance, to the amount of 
 $2100, be paid by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, out of 
 the Contingent Fund of the Assembly of 1887, provided there be no 
 objection made to such appropriation on the part of a majority of the 
 Presbyteries," and, 
 
 Whereas, In response to this resolution, a majority of the Presbyteries 
 not only did not object, but a majority of those which voted upon the 
 subject, favored the payment of the said indebtedness ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Stated Clerk be directed to pay the said deficiency 
 out of the Contingent Fund of this Assembly, and that inasmuch as part 
 of said deficiency has been paid, that the subject of its true amount be 
 referred for ascertainment and settlement to the Permanent Committee 
 on Temperance and the Stated Clerk. — 1887, p. 127 ; 1889, p. 98. 
 
 C. We earnestly suggest that" a work so worthy is deserving of and 
 ought to receive a more generous support, and that, so far as possible, all 
 our churches make an offering to the work of this Committee, either on 
 Temperance Day, or at such other time as may be most convenient. — 
 1897, p. 125. 
 
 d. This Assembly reaffirms the action of the Assembly of 1896, 
 "That the third Sabbath in November of each year," or some other 
 convenient day, " shall be known as Temperance Day, and be observed 
 by all our churches, if practicable ;' ' that in our preaching and prayers, 
 in our Sabbath-school teaching, in the services of our Young People's 
 Societies, and in our homes, we may turn the hearts and lives of men 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 403 
 
 away from the awful curse that rests upon those who go the way of the 
 drunkard.— 1897, p. 128. 
 
 e. That it is recommended to the Session of each church, and the 
 several Presbyteries and Synods, to appoint Standing Committees, if any 
 have not already done so, to cooperate with the Permanent Committee 
 of the General Assembly, in the endeavor to quicken and inspire, to 
 unify and direct the energies of our people effectively and constantly 
 against this evil and in the establishment of the opposite virtue. — 1897, 
 p. 128. 
 
 XL THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
 
 [Note. — In 1883, p. 617, a Special Committee of five was appointed to take into con- 
 sideration the whole subject of the missionary periodicals published by the Boards; 
 to report to the next Assembly. For the report of that Committee see Minutes, 1884, 
 pp. 60-62. The Committee was continued and enlarged. — 1885, p. 586 ; in 1886, see 
 report, pp. 30, 36.] 
 
 1. The magazine established. 
 It was : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That, commencing with January, 1887, there shall be 
 but one authorized periodical to present the work, need and claims of 
 all our benevolent Boards to the churches under the care of the General 
 Assembly.— 1886, p. 37. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the whole subject of the organization and methods of 
 the consolidated magazine, as determined upon by this Assembly, is now 
 referred to a Special Committee consisting of Ministers — Marvin R. 
 Vincent, D.D., Howard Crosby, D.D., LL.D., Erskine K White, D.D., 
 W. P. Breed, D.D., Charles A. Dickey, D.D., Arthur T. Pierson, 
 D.D., John S. Macintosh, D.D., and Ruling Elders — Anson D. F. 
 Randolph, Warner Van Norden, John H. Dey and Robert N. Willson. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That this Committee is hereby directed to consult with all 
 the Boards through their respective Secretaries, so as to be fully informed 
 as to their wishes and the reasons thereof, as to the arrangements for this 
 new magazine. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That this Committee shall have power to determine 
 whether an editor shall be employed; and if one is employed, then to 
 choose the editor, to determine his duties, and to fix his salary, to appor- 
 tion the expenses of the magazine among the Boards, and to do what- 
 ever may be necessary to start this publication, and to conduct it until 
 the next General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That this Committee is directed to report to the next 
 General Assembly any measures which they may deem necessary to 
 continue the magazine in the manner best adapted to meet its purposes, 
 and that when their report is accepted their duties shall cease. — 1886, 
 pp. 101, 102. 
 
 [Note. — The Committee as above appointed presented a full report, which was 
 adopted (1887, pp. 60-67). It announced the election of Rev. Henry A. Nelson, D.D., 
 as editor and his acceptance of the position, p. 62 ; and gave the title of the magazine 
 as The Church at Home and Abroad. It outlined the general plan of the magazine, and 
 assigned its publication to the Presbyterian Board of Publication. See for changes of 
 details and instructions of the Assembly, the annual Minutes from 1888 onward.] 
 
 2. The special committee continued, with powers. 
 
 Resolved, That the Special Committee on The Church at Home and 
 Abroad be continued, with the same powers which have been already 
 conferred, and be directed to report to the Assembly of 1889; that the 
 expenses of the Committee be paid out of the funds of the magazine, 
 
404 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 and that, inasmuch as two vacancies exist — Dr. Erskine N. White and 
 Dr. M. R. Vincent having resigned — it is recommended that Rev. 
 Stealy B. Rossiter, in the place of Dr. White, and Rev. Henry T. 
 McEwen, in the place of Dr. Vincent, be added to the Committee. — 
 1888, p. 24; 1889, p. 25; 1890, p. 12; 1891, p. 16. 
 
 3. The committee enlarged. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Secretaries nominated by the Boards of Home 
 and Foreign Missions be added to the Assembly's Committee —one from 
 each of these Boards, increasing the number of the Committee by an 
 additional member — there being now a single vacancy. 
 
 2. That the Committee be recommended to confer with the Boards 
 with a view of having the matter furnished by them presented to the 
 Church in a more attractive, compact and popular form ; that the Com- 
 mittee be advised to consider the propriety of a more liberal use of illus- 
 trations in the magazine ; and also to have each Board appoint as special 
 representative one of its Secretaries or members, who shall be the Board' s 
 special correspondent with the editor of the magazine and the Chairman 
 of the Assembly's Committee, and that a full list of these representatives 
 appear on the cover of the magazine. 
 
 3. That the Committee be reappointed, with the same powers, and be 
 directed to report to the Assembly of 1893.' — 1892, pp. 24, 25; 
 1893, p. 136; 1894, p. 22; 1895, p. 40; 1896, p. 23. 
 
 XII. THE ASSEMBLY HERALD. 
 
 1. The paper established. 
 
 1. The Committee on Bills and Overtures presented requests from 
 ninety Presbyteries, asking the Assembly to adopt some plan, whereby 
 information as to the work of our Church through its various Boards 
 may be periodically printed in an inexpensive newspaper form, for gen- 
 eral distribution among all the families of our Church, and this, in 
 addition to the circulation of our regular missionary magazine, The 
 Church at Home and Abroad. 
 
 The following action is recommended : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly assume the responsibility of 
 publishing an inexpensive missionary paper. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the various Boards of the Church be directed to 
 furnish material and assume pro rata any deficit that may be incurred, 
 and receive any surplus. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Rev. W. H. Hubbard and the Rev. Rufus S. 
 Green, D.D., be appointed managers and editors for the ensuing year, 
 without financial compensation, and make full report to the next Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That the size of the paper shall be sixteen pages. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That the paper shall be published ten months in the year, 
 no paper to be issued during July and August. 
 
 Resolved, 6. That the price of the paper shall be ten cents per annum 
 to clubs, and twenty-five cents to individuals. 
 
 Resolved, 7. That the name of the paper shall be The Assembly Herald. 
 —1894, pp. 155, 156. 
 
 [Note. — For the report of the managers and editors of the Assembly Herald, see 
 Minutes, 1895, pp. 24, 25. The report was referred to a Special Committee of five : 
 Hon. James A. Beaver, M. D. Kneeland, D.D., W. W. McKinney, D.D., Alexander 
 W. Dickson and Frank H. Clement.— p. 25.] 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 405 
 
 2. Report of special committee, 1895. 
 
 2. The Special Committee on The Assembly Herald presented its report, 
 which, after an address by the Hon. James A. Beaver, Chairman of 
 the Committee, was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Special Committee on The Assembly Herald respectfully report the 
 following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly continue the publication of 
 The Assembly Herald. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the various Boards of the Church be directed to 
 furnish material, and assume pro rata any deficit that may be incurred, 
 and that any surplus shall be reserved until such time as General Assem- 
 bly orders a division among the various Boards. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Rev. W. H. Hubbard and the Rev. Rufus S. 
 Green, D.D., be continued as manage rs a ud editors, without financial 
 compensation, and make full report to the next Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, 4. Recognizing the dependence of intelligent and generous 
 giving upon the dissemination of information, the General Assembly 
 recommends that each church, in the way of its own choosing, subscribe 
 for a sufficient number of copies, to place the paper in every one of its 
 families, not making such circulation conditioned upon individual sub- 
 scriptions, any more than in the case of Sabbath-school Lesson Helps and 
 papers. 
 
 R&solved, 6. That The Assembly Herald be sent, at the expense of the 
 Boards of the Church, to all pastors, superintendents and elders, who 
 do not subscribe directly for themselves. 
 
 Resolved, 7. That the managers of The Assembly Herald are authorized 
 to send sample copies from time to time to the non-subscribing churches, 
 and that the expense of the same shall be borne by the Boards of the 
 Church pro rata; Provided, That the copies thus becoming a charge on 
 the Boards by Resolutions 6 and 7 shall not exceed one hundred thousand 
 copies per month. 
 
 It was also Resolved, That the General Assembly heartily commend 
 the faithful and unsalaried labors of Rev. W. H. Hubbard and Rev. 
 Rufus S. Green, D.D., in the interests of the Boards of the Church 
 and of the Church at large. They have paid out the past year some 
 twelve thousand dollars for paper, printing and other expenses, and have 
 distributed throughout the Church printed matter equivalent to twenty - 
 three million pages or six hundred thousand octavo volumes of one 
 hundred and fifty pages each. In this large business venture they 
 have shown a rare business sagacity and enterprise, as they have not 
 only received, through subscriptions and advertising, sufficient funds to 
 meet all obligations, but have some five thousand dollars in the bank and 
 hold some two thousand dollars more in bills and furnishings. This 
 record of the past year is certainly unexampled in our Church, and 
 promises much larger and much broader possibilities for the future under 
 the same efficient and enthusiastic management. In view of these 
 possibilities, this Assembly pledges its hearty cooperation in securing 
 through Presbyterial and church action, a circulation for the ensuing 
 year of a quarter of a million copies. — 1895, pp. 110, 111 ; 1896, 
 p. 139. 
 
406 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 3. Authority for editing. 
 
 Resolved, That to the editor of The Assembly Herald be given the 
 right and that he be requested to carefully edit all copy coming into his 
 hands from whatever source, with a view to condensing all articles and 
 wiping out unnecessary words and sentences. The subject matter not to 
 be altered in any other way than heretofore; and that he be held alone 
 responsible.— 1896, p. 170. 
 
 XIII. woman's work for missions. 
 1. Home Missions. 
 
 [Note.— See pp. 348, 349.] 
 
 2. Foreign Missions. 
 
 a. It is also recommended to the Board (For. Mis.), for the better 
 support of this branch of the service, to encourage the formation of 
 Female Missionary Associations, to work in connection with that body. 
 —1870, p. 38. 
 
 b. Early in the past year, " The Women's Foreign Missionary Soci- 
 ety" was organized in the city of Philadelphia, as auxiliary to the 
 Board of Foreign Missions, with the pious determination to assume the 
 support of every woman, called of God and commissioned by the Board, 
 in the foreign field. The organization in Philadelphia was followed by 
 the enlargement of the organization of " The Ladies' Board of Mis- 
 sions " in New York, and " The Women's Presbyterian Board of the 
 Northwest" in Chicago. There are Ladies' Associations in many of 
 the churches, some of which have sustained the work of evangelizing 
 the heathen for many years. 
 
 The General Assembly recognize the hand of God, and the spirit of 
 pious consecration and prayer, in this whole movement, and direct the 
 Board of Foreign Missions to encourage and control this effort as far as 
 practicable. — 1871, p. 536. 
 
 C. We have received the report of the Women's Societies and Boards 
 of the Church for 1896-97. Your Committee is deeply impressed with 
 the faithful and devoted labor of these women of our beloved Church. 
 They report 7387 Auxiliary Societies aud Young People's organizations, 
 and have raised $317,635.59 during the year. — 1897, p. 63. 
 
 3. Freedmen's Missions. 
 
 a. Resolved, 1. That this Assembly recommends the Woman's Execu- 
 tive Committee of Home Missions to permit such societies, under its care, 
 as may desire to do so, to contribute according to their pleasure to the 
 cause of the Freedmen, and send the results to the Woman's Executive 
 Committee, to be forwarded to the treasurer of the Board of Missions 
 for Freedmen. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Board of Missions for Freedmen be directed to 
 provide means by which the necessary information as to the needs of 
 the Board, methods of operation, etc., can be furnished to these societies 
 when desired, keep a separate account of what is thus accomplished, and 
 report the same to each General Assembly. — 1884, p. 64. 
 
 b. Acting upon the recommendation of the last General Assembly, 
 the Woman's Executive Committee of Home Missions, with the coopera- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 407 
 
 tion of the Board of Missions for Freedmen, and the approval of the 
 Board of Home Missions, organized a Freedmen' s Department, with 
 headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pa. — 1885, p. 681. 
 
 C. The Board gratefully acknowledges the generous aid received from 
 the various societies connected with the Woman's Executive Committee. 
 —1897, p. 30. 
 
 III. THEOLOGICAL INSTRUCTION. 
 I. GENERAL MATTERS. 
 
 1. Overtures for the establishment of a theological school. 
 
 The Committee [of Bills and Overtures] laid before the Assembly an 
 overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia for the establishment of a 
 theological school. 
 
 The overture was read, and the Rev. Dr. D wight * and the Rev. 
 Messrs. Irwin, Hosack, Romeyn, Anderson, Lyle, Burch, Lacy, and 
 Messrs. Bayard, Slaymaker and Harrison, elders, were appointed a 
 Committee to take the overture into consideration and report upon it. — 
 1809, p. 417. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the overture in relation to the 
 establishment of a theological school brought in the following report, 
 which, being read, was adopted, viz. : 
 
 The Committee appointed on the subject of a theological school, over- 
 tured from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, report: 
 
 That three modes of compassing this important object have presented 
 themselves to their consideration. 
 
 The first is to establish one great school in some convenient place near 
 the centre of the bounds of our Church. 
 
 The second is to establish two schools in such places as may best accom- 
 modate the northern and southern divisions of the Church. 
 
 The third is to establish such a school within the bounds of each of 
 the Synods. In this case your Committee suggest the propriety of leaving 
 it to each Synod to direct the mode of forming the school and the place 
 where it shall be established. 
 
 The advantages attending the first of the proposed modes are that it 
 would be furnished with larger funds, and therefore with a more exten- 
 sive library and a greater number of professors. The system of educa- 
 tion pursued in it would, therefore, be more extensive and more perfect; 
 the youths educated in it would also be more united in the same views, 
 and contract an early and lasting friendship for each other — circumstances 
 which could not fail of promoting harmony and prosperity in the 
 Church. The disadvantages attending this mode would be principally 
 those derived from the distance of its position from the extremities of 
 the Presbyterian bounds. 
 
 The advantages attending the second of the proposed modes and the 
 disadvantages will readily suggest themselves from a comparison of this 
 with the other two. 
 
 The advantages which attend the third — to wit, the establishment of 
 theological schools by the respective Synods — would be the following: 
 The local situation of the respective schools would be peculiarly convenient 
 
 * President of Yale College, who sat in the Assembly as a delegate from the General 
 Association of Connecticut. 
 
408 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 for the several parts of a country so extensive as that for the benefit of 
 which they were designed. The inhabitants, having the seminaries 
 brought near to them, would feel a peculiar interest in their prosperity, 
 and may be rationally expected to contribute to it much more liberally 
 and generally than to a single school, or even to two. The Synods also, 
 having the immediate care of them, and directing either in person or by 
 delegation all their concerns, would feel a similar interest, and would 
 probably be better pleased with a system formed by themselves, arid 
 therefore peculiarly suited to the wishes and interests of the several 
 parts of the Church immediately under their direction. Greater efforts, 
 therefore, may be expected from ministers and people to promote the 
 prosperity of these schools than of any other. The disadvantages of 
 this mode would be the inferiority of the funds, a smaller number of pro- 
 fessors, a smaller library and a more limited system of education in each. 
 The students also would, as now, be strangers to each other. 
 
 Should the last of these modes be adopted, your Committee are of 
 opinion that everything pertaining to the erection and conduct of each 
 school should be left to the direction of the respective Synods. If either 
 of the first, the whole should be subject to the control of the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee also suggest that in the former of these cases the 
 funds for each school should be raised within the bounds of the Synod 
 within which it was stationed. In the latter they should be collected from 
 the whole bodv of the Church. 
 
 Your Committee therefore submit the following resolution, to wit: 
 
 Resolved, That the above plan be submitted to all the Presbyteries 
 within the bounds of the General Assembly for their consideration, and 
 that they be careful to send up to the next Assembly, at their sessions in 
 May, 1810, their opinions on the subject. — 1809, p. 430. 
 
 2. Answer to a memorial on entire uniformity in the government 
 and course of study in the theological schools of our Church. 
 
 a. The Committee to which was referred a memorial from the West 
 Lexington Presbytery, on the subject of Theological Seminaries, in which 
 is submitted a plan for the attainment: 
 
 1. Of entire uniformity in the government and course of study in the 
 theological schools of our Church; and, 
 
 2. The most unqualified dependence upon the General Assembly as a 
 bond of union between all the churches and all her seminaries, in order 
 to secure, to the satisfaction of the memorialists, the future peace and 
 purity of the Church, by securing unity of sentiment and consequently of 
 effort among all the ministers of the Presbyterian Church in these United 
 States, make the following report, which w r as adopted, viz. : 
 
 The subject of this memorial is too serious in its character and too 
 important in its bearing and its consequences to be discussed at so late a 
 period of the Assembly's sessions, and inasmuch as it would materially 
 affect the rights of individuals, of Presbyteries, and indeed of the whole 
 Presbyterian Church, and would also call for important alterations in the 
 Constitution, the Committee deem it inexpedient for this Assembly to 
 enter upon the consideration of the proposals submitted in the document, 
 and recommend that the memorial be referred to the consideration of the 
 next General Assembly. — Minutes, 1828 (reprint), p. 243. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEiMBLY. 409 
 
 b. The memorial of the West Lexington Presbytery on the subject of 
 theological seminaries, which was referred by the last Assembly to the 
 consideration of the present Assembly, was taken up, and committed to 
 the Rev. Archibald Alexander, D.D., the Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D., 
 and the Rev. Charles Hodge, to consider and report on the same to the 
 next General Assembly. — Minutes, 1829 (reprint), p. 273. 
 
 C. The Committee to whom was referred, by the last General Assembly, 
 the memorial of the West Lexington Presbytery, made the following 
 report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That the said memorial sets forth the evils which, in the opinion of the 
 memorialists, threaten the Church from the operation of numerous theo- 
 logical seminaries existing independently of the General Assembly, and 
 adopting the different systems of government, and different courses of 
 study. To counteract these evils it proposes that the General Assembly 
 should take all the theological seminaries throughout our bounds under 
 its immediate and absolute control, and prescribe a course of study which 
 shall be uniform in them all. 
 
 These are the prominent points of the memorial under consideration. 
 Your Committee are ready to acknowledge that there are evils of a 
 very formidable character, which are likely to arise from the indefinite 
 multiplication of theological seminaries, under the care of a single Synod 
 or Presbytery. They fear that the standard of theological education, 
 in the Presbyterian Church, will ultimately fall far below that main- 
 tained in some other Christian denominations, and thus the respectability 
 and usefulness of our clergy be greatly impaired. They believe, also, 
 that much good that might have resulted from having a larger portion of 
 our young men brought into personal acquaintance with each other, and 
 educated upon the same plan, must now be lost; and that we must con- 
 tent ourselves with less of harmony of feeling and unity of sentiment 
 than might, under other circumstances, have been secured. Believing, 
 however, that it is perfectly competent to every Presbytery or Synod, to 
 adopt what plan they may think best, not inconsistent with the Consti- 
 tution of the Church, for the education of their own young men; and 
 finding that the Assembly has long sanctioned their so doing, your Com- 
 mittee are of opinion that this subject is not within the rightful jurisdic- 
 tion of the General Assembly; and that even if it were, it would, under 
 existing circumstances, be highly inexpedient to adopt the course pro- 
 posed by the memorialists. They therefore beg to be discharged from 
 the further consideration of the subject. — Minutes, 1830 (reprint), p. 288. 
 
 3. Plans proposed. 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the reports of the several Presby- 
 teries on the subject of theological schools, and to report to the Assembly 
 the opinions expressed by them severally on the three different plans 
 sent down for their consideration, reported that after carefully examining 
 the reports of the several Presbyteries on this subject they find the follow- 
 ing results: Ten Presbyteries have expressed an opinion in favor of the 
 first plan, viz., the establishment of a single school. One Presbytery 
 has given an opinion in favor of the second plan, viz. , the establishment 
 of two schools. Ten Presbyteries have expressed a judgment in favor of 
 the third plan, viz. , the establishment of a school in each Synod. Six 
 Presbyteries have expressed an opinion that it is not expedient at present 
 
410 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 to attempt the establishment of any school; and from the remaining 
 Presbyteries no report has been received. — 1810, p. 439. 
 
 [Note. — For the Plan of the seminary at Princeton, and the agreement with 
 the trustees of the College of New Jersey, see under Princeton Seminary, in this 
 Digest.] 
 
 4. Report on theological seminaries, 1870. 
 
 The Committee on Theological Seminaries presented a report, which 
 was adopted, as follows: 
 
 The number of theological seminaries connected with the General As- 
 sembly, directly or indirectly, is seven. 
 
 These were founded after different methods and at different epochs, thus 
 representing more or less important changes of sentiments and events in 
 the history of the Church and the country. 
 
 I. The seminary at Princeton was founded by the General Assembly 
 itself in the year 1812. Coming into existence in the early part of this 
 century, immediately after the organization of the American Board of 
 Foreign Missions and the seminary at Andover, when there was a very 
 general unity and cooperation of good men throughout the land, it must 
 be regarded and honored as the first of those great movements in the 
 Presbyterian Church which looked to the spreading of the kingdom of 
 Christ at home and abroad. 
 
 II. The seminary at Auburn was founded in the year 1819, for the 
 purpose of training up a ministry in what was then known as " the 
 Western country." 
 
 III. The seminary at Allegheny was established in 1825. Lane 
 Seminary, at Cincinnati, in 1829. 
 
 IV. These three seminaries are associated with two things: 1. The 
 beginning of that tide of emigration from the East to the West which 
 has been rolling and surging onward ever since; and, 2. That spirit of 
 active evangelism which most happily was simultaneous with westward 
 emigration, a new power and life of religion distinguishing that memor- 
 able period. 
 
 V. Union Theological Seminary, in New York, was founded in the 
 year 1836, one year preceding the disruption of the Church. Coming 
 into existence at that extraordinary time, the design of its founders, who 
 were then largely members of churches known after the division as Old 
 School, was, in their own language, ' ' to provide a seminary which might 
 commend itself to all men of moderate views and feelings desiring to live 
 free from party strife, and to stand aloof from all extremes of doctrine 
 and of practice." 
 
 VI. The seminary at Danville, Ky. , was founded in the year 1853. 
 
 VII. That now at Chicago, 111. , was established in that city in the 
 year 1859 by removal from New Albany — dates sufficiently distinct to 
 represent advanced stages in those conflicts of opinion w 7 hich subsequently 
 convulsed the country and the Church, and which have not as yet entirely 
 passed away. 
 
 The seminaries now enumerated were founded not only at different 
 times, but after different methods. Those at Princeton, Allegheny, Dan- 
 ville and Chicago were established by the General Assembly, and are 
 under its direct supervision and control. 
 
 The seminary at Auburn is controlled by a Board of Commissioners, 
 elected by certain Presbyteries in Central and Western New York, and a 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 411 
 
 Board of Trustees, elected by the Commissioners. Its faculty, appointed 
 by the Commissioners, report to the General Assembly. 
 
 Lane Seminary, at Cincinnati, and Union Seminary, at New York, 
 were founded by individuals, members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
 by their charters, most cautiously prepared, are made Presbyterian insti- 
 tutions, recognizing our Standards of doctrine and polity, though not 
 under any ecclesiastical control. 
 
 The administration of these seminaries is after different methods, though 
 in some cases the difference is more in name and form than in essential 
 fact. 
 
 Princeton Seminary is administered by two Boards, known as the Board 
 of Directors and the Board of Trustees. The former are elected by the 
 General Assembly in annual classes. The latter, having control of the 
 property, is a close corporation, filling its own vacancies. In like man- 
 ner, the seminaries at Allegheny, Danville and Chicago have each two 
 administrative Boards — a Board of Directors and a Board of Trustees. 
 
 Lane and Union Seminaries have each but one Board — a Board of 
 Trustees at Lane, a Board of Directors at Union — by which the property 
 is held and the general control of the seminary is administered, certainly 
 a simpler method, by which all differences of opinion are avoided, such 
 as have arisen and are likely to arise in other seminaries between two 
 separate Boards, one of trust and the other of direction. 
 
 That the relations of these several theological seminaries, differing in 
 origin and administration, to the reunited Church should be regarded as 
 a matter of no little delicacy and difficulty was inevitable. On the one 
 hand, it is obvious that a matter so important as the education of its 
 ministry should in some way be under the supervision and control of the 
 Church, so as to secure the entire and cordial confidence of the Church. 
 On the other hand, there is a liberty and flexibility in the matter which 
 must be respected and allowed. If individuals or associations are dis- 
 posed to found and endow seminaries of their own, there is no power in 
 the Presbyterian Church to forbid it. 
 
 The difficult task of undertaking to reconcile these ideas and principles 
 received the early and careful attention of the joint Committee on Re- 
 union, as appears from one of the concurrent declarations adopted by 
 both Assemblies, providing for the transfer of those seminaries now under 
 the control of the Assembly to the care and control of one or more 
 adjacent Synods, if they should so elect. The object was to allay the 
 apprehensions of any who might imagine that the sudden accession and 
 intermingling of great numbers might overbear those who had hitherto 
 administered those seminaries which had been under the control of one 
 branch of the Church. It was intended as a measure for the mainte- 
 nance of confidence and harmony, and not as indicating the best method 
 for all future time. 
 
 As to any project by which the entire control and administration of all 
 our theological seminaries — for example, as to the election of trustees — 
 can be transferred to the General Assembly, on any principle of complete 
 uniformity, your Committee regard it as wholly impracticable, and the 
 attempt to accomplish it altogether undesirable. To bring it about, 
 should it be undertaken, would require an amount of legislation, in six 
 or seven different States, which would be portentous. 
 
 In some cases alterations of existing charters are impossible, by reason, 
 as in Ohio, of changes in the Constitution enacted subsequently to the 
 
412 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 granting of that charter upon which Lane Seminary was incorporated. 
 Surely it would be to the last degree unwise to attempt such alterations 
 in so many charters, putting in jeopardy so large an amount of property, 
 when the object contemplated may be secured in another and better way. 
 
 Besides, the intentions and wishes of benevolent men, who have 
 founded and endowed some of these seminaries, and aided others on 
 their present footing, should be honorably and zealously protected. 
 Your Committee, therefore, would recommend no change, and no attempt 
 at change, in this direction, save such as may safely and wisely be 
 effected under existing charters. 
 
 For example, the directors of the seminary at Princeton have memori- 
 alized this Assembly, with the request that the Assembly would so far 
 change its ' ' plan ' ' of control over that institution as to give the Board 
 of Directors enlarged rights in several specified particulars, subject to 
 the veto of the General Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee are unanimously of the opinion that the changes asked 
 for are eminently wise and proper. If it were within the power of the 
 General Assembly to remit the entire administration of this venerable 
 institution to its Board of Directors, without any of the restrictions they 
 have mentioned as to the supply of their own vacancies, they would cor- 
 dially recommend it. But inasmuch as the endowments of this seminary 
 are held on the condition that it should be the property and under the 
 control of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States, that trust cannot be vacated nor transferred to any other 
 body. The method desired and proposed by the directors themselves is 
 open to no such objection and is believed to be quite within the provisions 
 of the law as now defined, being only a convenient and wise mode of 
 executing by the General Assembly itself the trust which it now holds. 
 
 A memorial has been presented to this Assembly from the directors of 
 Union Theological Seminary, in New York, bearing upon the point of 
 uniformity as to a certain kind and amount of ecclesiastical supervision. 
 
 It had appeared to them — many of them having taken an active part 
 in founding that seminary thirty -three years ago, in a time, as already 
 noticed, of memorable excitement — that there were great disadvantages 
 and perils in electing professors and teachers by the Assembly itself, with- 
 out sufficient time or opportunity for acquaintance with the qualifications 
 of men to be appointed to offices of such responsibility. 
 
 It is self-evident, as your Committee are agreed, that a body so large 
 as the General Assembly, and composed of men resident, most of them, 
 at so great a distance from the several seminaries, is not so competent to 
 arrange for their interests and usefulness as those having local and personal 
 intimacy with them. Desirous of bringing about as much uniformity as 
 was possible in the relation of the seminaries to the General Assembly 
 of the Church, the directors of Union Seminary have memorialized this 
 Assembly to the effect that the Assembly would commit, so far as practi- 
 cable, the general administration of all seminaries now under the control 
 of the Assembly to their several Boards of Directors, proposing, if this 
 be done, to give to the General Assembly, what it does not now possess, 
 the right of veto in the election of professors at Union. In this gener- 
 ous offer, looking solely to the peace and harmony of the Church, the 
 memorialists did not include the same veto in regard to the election of 
 their own directors, inasmuch as these directors hold the property of the 
 seminary in trust. The trustees of Princeton Seminary, being one of 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 413 
 
 two Boards, are a close corporation. The directors of Union Seminary 
 in New York, being but one Board, are the trustees. 
 
 Leaving all the diversities of method and administration in the several 
 seminaries intact, save in the particulars hereinafter provided for, your 
 Committee are happy to report that there is one mode of unifying all the 
 seminaries of the Presbyterian Church, as to ecclesiastical supervision, 
 so far as unification is in any way desirable. It is the mode suggested 
 in the several memorials of the directors of Union and Princeton, and 
 approved, or likely to be approved, from information in our possession, 
 by the directors of Auburn and Lane. This is to give to the General 
 Assembly a veto poAver upon the appointment of professors in all these 
 several institutions. This seems to your Committee to secure all the uni- 
 formity, as to the relation of these seminaries to the Church, which can 
 be necessary to ensure general confidence and satisfaction. Less than 
 this might excite jealousy ; more than this is cumbersome and undesirable. 
 
 Your Committee, in accordance with these views, report the following 
 plan and resolutions: 
 
 1. Accepting the offer so generously made by the directors of the 
 Union Theological Seminary, in New York — a seminary independent 
 hitherto of all direct ecclesiastical control — to invest the General Assem- 
 bly with the right of a veto in the election of professors in that institu- 
 tion, this Assembly would invite all those theological seminaries not now 
 under the control of the General Assembly to adopt at their earliest 
 convenience the same rule and method, to the end that, throughout the 
 whole Presbyterian Church, there may be uniform and complete confi- 
 dence in those entrusted with the training of our candidates for the 
 ministry. 
 
 2. That the several Boards of Directors of those seminaries which are 
 now under the control of the General Assembly shall be authorized to 
 elect, suspend and displace the professors of the seminaries under their 
 care, subject in all cases to the veto of the General Assembly, to whom 
 they shall annually make a full report of their proceedings, and to 
 whom their minutes shall be submitted whenever the Assembly shall 
 require them to be produced. These Boards shall further be authorized 
 to fix the salaries of the professors, and to fill their own vacancies, sub- 
 ject in all cases to the veto of the General Assembly. 
 
 3. That a Committee of five be appointed by the Assembly to propose 
 such alterations in the ' ' plans ' ' of the seminaries now under the control 
 of the Assembly as shall be deemed necessary to carry into effect the 
 principles above stated, and that said Committee report to this or to 
 the next succeeding Assembly. 
 
 4. In case the Board of Directors of any theological seminary now 
 under the control of the General Assembly should prefer to retain their 
 present relation to this body, the plan of such seminary shall remain 
 unaltered.— 1870, pp. 50-64. 
 
 [Note.— See further, Digest, 1886, pp. 387-397. See, also, Concurrent Declaration, 
 No. 9, p. 416.] 
 
 5. Proposal of Union Theological Seminary. 
 
 a. A communication was received by the Rev. William Adams, D. D. , 
 from the directors of the Union Theological Seminary in the city of New 
 York, proposing on certain terms to place their institution under the care 
 of the General Assembly. 
 
414 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 A communication was also received from the directors of the Theologi- 
 cal Seminary at Princeton, asking that the change contemplated in the 
 above communication may be made, and proposing other matters of 
 interest to the seminary. These communications were referred to the 
 Standing Committee on Theological Seminaries. — 1870, p. 17. 
 
 The Committee subsequently reported inter alia, as follows: 
 
 b. Your Committee, in accordance with these views, report the follow- 
 ing plan and resolutions: 
 
 Accepting the offer so generously made by the directors of the Union 
 Theological Seminary in New York — a seminary independent hitherto of 
 all direct ecclesiastical control — to invest the General Assembly with 
 the right of a veto in the election of professors in that institution, this 
 Assembly would invite all those theological seminaries not now under the 
 control of the General Assembly to adopt at their earliest convenience 
 the same rule and method, to the end that throughout the whole Presby- 
 terian Church there may be uniform and complete confidence in those 
 entrusted with the training of our candidates for the ministry. — 1870, 
 p. 63. 
 
 C. Memorial of the Directors of Union Theological Seminary in the City 
 of New York to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, New York, May 18, 1870. 
 
 Whereas, In the recent negotiations for reuniting the two branches of 
 the Presbyterian Church, great importance was attached to some uniform 
 system of ecclesiastical supervision over the several theological seminaries 
 of the denomination; and, 
 
 Whereas, The directors- of the Union Theological Seminary in New 
 York — an institution founded before the disruption of the Presbyterian 
 Church, belonging exclusively to neither of its branches, and adminis- 
 tered upon its own independent charter — are desirous of doing all in 
 their power to establish confidence and harmony throughout the whole 
 Church, in respect to the education of its members ; and, 
 
 Whereas, It has appeared to many, and especially to those who took an 
 active part in founding the Union Theological Seminary, that there are 
 many disadvantages, infelicities, not to say at times pe.ils, in the election 
 of professors of those seminaries directly and immediately by the General 
 Assembly itself — a body so large, in session for so short a time, and 
 composed of members to so great an extent resident at a distance from 
 the seminaries themselves, and therefore personally unacquainted with 
 many things which pertain to their true interest and usefulness ; there- 
 fore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Directors of the Union Theological 
 Seminary in the city of New York, being all of them ministers or mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church, do hereby memorialize the General 
 Assembly to the following effect, viz. : That the General Assembly may 
 be pleased to adopt it as a rule and plan, in the exercise of the proprie- 
 torship and control over the several theological seminaries, that so far as 
 the election of professors is concerned the Assembly will commit the 
 same to their respective Boards of Directors on the following terms and 
 conditions: 
 
 1. That the Board of Directors of each theological seminary shall be 
 authorized to appoint all professors for the same. 
 
 2. That all such appointments shall be reported to the General Assem- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 415 
 
 bly, and no such appointment of professor shall be considered as a com- 
 plete election if disapproved by a majority vote of the Assembly. 
 
 And further be it Resolved, That the Board of Directors of the Union 
 Theological Seminary in the city of New York, persuaded that the plan 
 proposed in the memorial will meet the cordial approval of the patrons, 
 donors and friends of all these seminaries, and contribute to the peace 
 and prosperity of the Church, do hereby agree, if the said plan shall be 
 adopted by the General Assembly, that they will agree to conform to the 
 same, the Union Seminary in New York being in this respect on the 
 same ground with other theological seminaries of the Presbyterian 
 Church.— 1870, pp. 148, 149. 
 
 The Assembly complied with this request. See pp. 60-64. 
 
 6. Limitations of the time within which the Assembly may exer- 
 cise its veto in the election of a professor. 
 
 That the Assembly declare that the true meaning of the act subjecting 
 the election of a professor to the veto of the Assembly is that such elec- 
 tion be reported to the next General Assembly thereafter ; and if not 
 vetoed by that Assembly, the election shall be regarded as complete, 
 according to the plan ratified by the Assembly of 1870; see Minutes, pp. 
 64, 65, 148.— 1871, p. 581. 
 
 7- Committee on the Relations of the Assembly and the Seminaries, 
 
 1892. 
 
 [Note. — For the action of the Assembly of 1891 in the veto of the election of Prof. 
 Charles A. Briggs, see under Union Theological Seminary.] 
 
 I. In response to an overture concerniug ministerial education, your 
 Committee reports : 
 
 Whereas, The Form of Government, Chap, xiv, Sec. vi, declares, 
 " that the most effectual measures may be taken to guard against the 
 admission of inefficient men into the sacred office, it is recommended 
 that no candidate, except in extraordinary cases, be licensed, unless, 
 after his having completed the usual course of academical studies, he 
 shall have studied divinity at least two years under some approved divine 
 or professor of theology," and, 
 
 Whereas, Disorders are appearing in the Church, doing great injury to 
 its doctrinal purity and unity, we recommend that the Assembly call 
 special attention to this provision of the Form of Government, and 
 enjoin our Presbyteries to see that students under their care be prepared 
 for their sacred office in seminaries and under teachers who are under 
 the oversight and direction of the Assembly, and that the Board of 
 Education be directed to restrict appropriations for the education of stu- 
 dents to those who are pursuing their studies under such above-named 
 institutions or private instructors. 
 
 II. Having due regard to the overtures and all the other papers in the 
 case of Union Theological Seminary, etc., referred to the Committee, the 
 Assembly takes the following action: 
 
 1. That the Assembly indorses the interpretation of the compact of 
 1870 as expressed by the action of the Assembly of 1891. 
 
 2. That the Assembly declines to be a party to the breaking of the 
 compact with Union Theological Seminary. 
 
 3. That the Assembly is persuaded that the Church should have direct 
 connection with and control over its theological seminaries. 
 
416 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 4. That the Assembly appoints a Committee of fifteen, eight ministers 
 and seven ruling elders, to take into consideration the whole subject of 
 the relation of the Assembly to its theological seminaries, confer with the 
 directors of these seminaries, and report to the next General Assembly 
 such action as in their judgment will result in a still closer relation 
 between the Assembly and its seminaries than that which at present 
 exists. 
 
 5. That the Assembly dismisses the Committee of Conference appointed 
 last year, with the heartiest thanks for its faithfulness, and highest 
 appreciation of the service rendered the Church. — 1892, pp. 175, 176. 
 
 8. Committee on Theological Seminaries, Report, 1893. 
 
 [Note.— In its report, presented to the General Assembly at Washington, May Ik, 
 1893, the Committee considered the subject assigned to it, in so far as it had then 
 reached any results, under the following heads :] 
 
 1. The present legal status of the theological seminaries, including the 
 ownership and control of the property held in trust for them. 
 
 2. The present control possessed by the Presbyterian Church, through 
 its General Assembly, Synods and Presbyteries, over the teaching and 
 property of the theological seminaries. 
 
 (1) The charters of the independent civil corporations holding the 
 property in trust for the seminaries differ more or less in detail, but have 
 this common feature, that these corporations own the property and have 
 its control and management, free from any direct interference by the 
 General Assembly, save as to the property given to them by the Assem- 
 bly, as to which the Assembly may direct the management. 
 
 The greater portion of the property held by these corporations, 
 and which amounts to between eight and nine millions of dollars, is not 
 held in trust for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, nor 
 is it given the direct control, management or disposition of the same by 
 the terms of their charters. 
 
 (2) By the terms of the compact of 1870 and the plan of reunion the 
 supervision and control exercised by the General Assembly over the vari- 
 ous theological seminaries, it is claimed, is limited to the exercise of the 
 right of approval, or veto of the appointment of professors. In addi- 
 tion to this, each seminary reports annually to the General Assembly its 
 receipts, disbursements, the number of students and the number of 
 graduates, with such special information as the various Boards in charge 
 of these institutions may see fit to communicate. 
 
 The foregoing, however, is not all of the control possessed by the 
 General Assembly over the teaching of the theological seminaries. It 
 has greater power which it may exercise, if occasion arises, unless by 
 the terms of reunion and the compact of 1870 it has surrendered the 
 same. According to the plan of government of Princeton, Western, 
 McCormick, Danville, and Omaha, the General Assembly has the right 
 to control the election of the Boards of Directors, to whom are entrusted 
 the appointment of professors and the management of the seminary gen- 
 erally, save and except the holding of the title to property, its manage- 
 ment, sale, disposition and investment. 
 
 Under the original plan of the seminaries, known as the Old School 
 seminaries, the General Assembly had the power to remove the profes- 
 sors, as well as to approve or veto their appointment. In order to secure 
 uniformity of teaching, in so far as it is practicable, the General Assem- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 417 
 
 bly could, under the power thus possessed over the seminaries named, 
 unless the power has been surrendered by the compact of 1870, issue 
 such instructions as might secure such uniformity of teaching. But the 
 General Assembly has, by the terms of the charters of the civil corpora- 
 tions, no direct control over the property of the seminaries, except over 
 such property as it has given them. 
 
 Under the first division of this report, to wit, the present legal status 
 of the seminaries, and the Appendix hereto, the different methods of 
 control and the extent of the jurisdiction of these Boards have been set 
 forth. The General Assembly has the power to change the plan of 
 management of some of the aforesaid seminaries to the extent herein 
 indicated, but control is not limited, by the compact of 1870, to the 
 veto of the election of directors in certain seminaries, and to the veto of 
 the appointment of professors in all of the seminaries. 
 
 The power or right of veto without adequate provision for its enforce- 
 ment in cases of disobedience to its mandate is practically valueless. 
 Where obedience is a matter of choice, and not of legal obligation and 
 enforceable as such, it is difficult to see how the veto power in cases of 
 disobedience is of any value. To veto the election of directors or profes- 
 sors without legal power to enforce the veto by the removal of the person 
 vetoed, "and then leave to the body whose elections are thus vetoed the 
 exclusive right to nominate, elect or appoint, is, in all cases of difference, 
 to place the body possessing the right to veto absolutely in the power of 
 the body whose acts are vetoed. 
 
 The power vested in the General Assembly by the Constitution of the 
 Presbyterian Church, to try by judicial process those who occupy a ministe- 
 rial relation to the Church, and are acting as teachers, and the power of 
 discipline, cannot be said to be control over the seminaries, affecting their 
 teaching and property. While it is true that under these powers the 
 General Assembly may reach individuals, and thus directly affect the 
 teaching in the seminaries, we do not regard the exercise of these powers 
 as within the term " control." 
 
 How far the compact of 1870 and the terms of reunion affected the 
 powers of the General Assembly, which up to that time it possessed and 
 exercised, we do not deem it necessary to discuss or to express any opinion. 
 It is sufficient for the purpose of this report to say that since the compact 
 of 1870 the General Assembly has substantially exercised no other 
 control over the seminaries than that provided for by that compact, and 
 whatever dormant and unexercised powers it possesses are limited as herein 
 stated, and have not affected either the teaching or the property of the 
 seminaries.— 1893, pp. 24, 27. 
 
 [Note.— For the full report, see Minutes, 1893, pp. 20-40.] 
 
 9. Committee on Theological Seminaries, Report, 1894. 
 
 After a full consideration of the subject assigned the Committee, and 
 after a very extended investigation of the management by other denomi- 
 nations of their theological seminaries, and in the light of the experience 
 of our own Church, your Committee unanimously agrees on the follow- 
 ing fundamental principles as controlling the future management of the 
 theological education of the ministry of our Church, and embodies the 
 same in two resolutions, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That it is the judgment of this Committee that the instruc- 
 tion given in the theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church in 
 27 
 
418 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the United States of America should be under the control and direction 
 of that Church. 
 
 Resolved, That all funds and property held for the purpose of theologi- 
 cal instruction shall be used only for theological education in the doc- 
 trines set forth in the Standards of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America. 
 
 The Committee recommends the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 1. That each and all of the seminaries of the Church be requested to 
 secure, at the earliest moment practicable, such changes in their charters, 
 or amendments thereto, as will provide: 
 
 (a) That all of their funds and property, subject to the terms and 
 conditions of existing or specific trusts, shall be declared to be held by 
 them in trust for the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, for the purposes of theological education according to the 
 Standards of said Church, and that no part of the funds and property so 
 held in trust shall be used for any other purpose than for theological 
 education in the doctrines set forth in the Standards of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America. 
 
 (6) That the election of the trustees, directors or commissioners, or 
 whatever the bodies governing the teaching or property shall be named, 
 shall be subject to the approval of the next succeeding General Assem- 
 bly, and that no election shall take effect until approved by the General 
 Assembly; failure of the General Assembly to which said elections are 
 reported for approval to act thereon shall be regarded as approval of 
 said elections. 
 
 (c) That the election, appointment or transfer of all professors and 
 teachers in all seminaries shall be submitted to the next succeeding Gen- 
 eral Assembly for its approval, and that no such election, appointment or 
 transfer shall take effect, nor shall any professor or teacher be inducted 
 into office until his election, appointment or transfer shall have been 
 approved by the said General Assembly; failure of the General Assem- 
 bly to which the said elections, appointments or transfers are reported for 
 approval to act thereon shall be regarded as approval thereof, and that 
 all of said professors and teachers shall be either ministers or members 
 in good standing of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America. 
 
 (d) That in the event of the violation of any of the terms of said 
 amendments, or the misuse or the diversion of the funds or property 
 held by them, then the General Assembly shall be empowered to provide 
 against such violation of the provisions of said charters, and for the 
 enforcement of the same, and for the protection of the trusts on which 
 said property and funds are held, in such manner, and in the name of 
 such person or corporation, as it may direct by resolution certified by its 
 Clerk, in any civil court having jurisdiction over the corporations whose 
 charters are so amended. 
 
 2. That all seminaries hereafter established or organized shall contain 
 in their charters the foregoing provisions as an essential part thereof, 
 before they shall be recognized as in connection with the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, 
 
 3. That the General Assembly, having adopted the foregoing resolu- 
 tions, shall appoint a Committee of fifteen persons to confer with the 
 various seminaries, with a view to securing their approval of said resolu- 
 tions, and their consent to said changes in their charters, and for the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 419 
 
 purpose of aiding them by counsel and otherwise in securing the neces- 
 sary changes and amendments to the respective charters herein recom- 
 mended; it being understood that the adoption of said resolutions is 
 without impairment of any of the rights of the General Assembly, or 
 of said seminaries, that may have accrued by the compact of 1870; and 
 said Committee to make report to the next General Assembly for final 
 action on this whole subject by the Assembly. — 1894, pp. 60, 65-67. 
 
 [Note. — The report of the Committee was adopted by a vote of 444 in the affirma- 
 tive to 117 in the negative. For the full report, see Minutes, 1894, pp. 56-67 ; also for 
 report of the minority of the Committee, pp. 201-205.] 
 
 10. Committee on Theological Seminaries, Report, 1895. 
 
 In view of the answers of the seminaries, as published in the Appen- 
 dix, the Committee reports that Omaha and Dubuque have adopted all 
 of the recommendations of the General Assembly. 
 
 The directors and trustees of Princeton declare that they " do not 
 antagonize, but, on the contrary, cordially acquiesce in and are in the 
 fullest sympathy with the sentiment of the resolutions contained in the 
 report of the General Assembly's Committee of Conference with the 
 Theological Seminaries made to the General Assembly at its session in 
 1894, namely, ' That the Church should control the instruction given in 
 its theological seminaries and that the funds held for the purposes of 
 theological instruction should be used only for such education in the 
 doctrines set forth in the Standards of the Church. ' ' ' 
 
 The directors and trustees further say that they are advised by counsel 
 learned in the law, and believe, that the charter of the seminary now 
 embodies substantially all that the Assembly seeks to accomplish by its 
 recommendations, and therefore deem the amendment of the charter, 
 by the insertion of the same, unwise and unnecessary. 
 
 But, they further say, " if the Assembly should still be of the opinion 
 that such an amendment should be obtained, the Boards will endeavor 
 to secure such action as will insure to the General Assembly the right to 
 be represented in the courts and to enforce its proper control over the 
 seminary and its property." 
 
 The Committee recommends the Assembly to reply to Princeton's offer, 
 that while respecting the judgment of the Boards, and not prepared to 
 say that it is incorrect, the Assembly is of the opinion that in order to 
 put the matter beyond all possible question, it would be well for the 
 Boards to do what they express their willingness to do, viz. , to endeavor 
 to secure such action as will insure to the General Assembly the right to 
 be represented in the courts, and to enforce its proper control over the 
 seminary and its property. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Western Seminary, at Allegheny, 
 " being satisfied that the seminary now stands in such close relation to 
 the Presbyterian Church that both its teaching and its use of all its 
 property can be controlled by the General Assembly, sees no reason to 
 ask any change in existing relations to the Assembly." The Board of 
 Trustees has declared its hearty agreement with the principles set forth 
 in the action of the Assembly of 1894, and its readiness to secure the 
 necessary legislation to enable the General Assembly to carry out said 
 principles. The Committee recommends the General Assembly to request 
 these Boards to take such action. 
 
 The Board of Directors of Danville has resolved to adopt the recom- 
 
420 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 mendations as to By-Laws, and as a part of their Constitution. The 
 Board of Trustees states that it has an irrepealable charter, which can- 
 not be amended without danger of forfeiture. It declares its approval of 
 the substance of the recommendations, and while not deeming the same 
 necessary, in view of the control the Assembly now has over the funds of 
 said corporation, expresses its willingness to give the General Assembly 
 the approval of the election of the members of the Board. 
 
 The Committee recommends the Assembly to request the Board of 
 Trustees at Danville to secure such legislation, not imperiling the charter, 
 as will insure to the General Assembly the right to be represented in the 
 courts, and to enforce its proper supervision over the seminary and its 
 property. 
 
 San Francisco, being under Synodical care, has deemed it best to defer 
 action on the recommendations until after the next meeting of the Synod. 
 
 In regard to the seminaries which have simply answered that action is 
 not expedient, or the proposed amendments would be of doubtful valid- 
 ity, or the way is not clear to act, as at present informed, no opinion is 
 expressed, inasmuch as these seminaries assigned no specific reasons for 
 their action. The Assembly cannot, therefore, make any suggestions to 
 these seminaries, beyond the earnest request that they reconsider their 
 action, since the adoption, substantially, of the Assembly's plan, by all 
 the seminaries, will give assurance to every donor, and to all our mem- 
 bers, that these institutions are amply secured to the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 The Committee respectfully recommends the adoption of the following 
 resolutions: 
 
 1. That it is the sense of this Assembly that the Assembly of 1894 
 did not intend to prepare the way for any change in the tenure or man- 
 agement of the property of the seminaries, or to do anything which can 
 affect the autonomy of the seminaries, and that the said recommenda- 
 tions were intended to have the meaning and effect as recited in this 
 Committee's report. This Assembly, in reaffirming the resolution of the 
 Assembly of 1894, does so with the avowed purpose of leaving the tenure 
 and title to all property of the seminaries exactly where they are now, in 
 the hands of the various Boards of Trustees, and with the further pur- 
 pose of securing the veto power to the Assembly, as an effective force, by 
 charter provision, and of safeguarding by charter declaration, the trusts 
 held and to be held by Boards of Trustees against perversion or misuse. 
 
 2. That this General Assembly reaffirms the action of the Assembly 
 of 1894, and in view of the progress made, and the importance of the 
 interests involved, declares that in its judgment the effort should be 
 continued to secure the adoption, in substance, of the Assembly's plan 
 by all the seminaries. 
 
 3. That a Committee be appointed to have further charge of this 
 matter, and to make report to the next General Assembly. 
 
 Adopted unanimously, and respectfully submitted, in behalf of the 
 Committee.— 1895, pp. 31-34. 
 
 [Note. — The report of the Committee was adopted by a vote of 432 in the affirma- 
 tive to 99 in the negative. For the full report see Minutes, 1895, pp. 29-34.] 
 
 11. Committee on Theological Seminaries, Report, 1896. 
 
 The Committee presented its report, which was received, and on its 
 recommendation the following resolutions were adopted: 
 
 1. This General Assembly reaffirms the action of the General Assem- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 421 
 
 bly of 1895, and, in view of the importance of the interests involved, 
 declares that in its judgment the plan aj>proved by the General Assembly 
 of 1895 should be substantially adopted by all of the seminaries. 
 
 2. The General Assembly highly appreciates the readiness of the 
 Boards of Control in some of our theological seminaries shown during 
 the past year to carry out the plan approved by the General Assembly 
 of 1895; and whilst others of the Boards of Control have not seen their 
 way clear as yet to adopt the general provisions of that plan and carry 
 them into legal effect, the General Assembly cannot but hope that upon 
 further consideration they may see their way clear to come to such a 
 conclusion that all the funds and property in their hands, and the teach- 
 ing in said seminaries, may be so completely safeguarded to the Church 
 that benevolent persons contemplating making gifts or bequests to these 
 institutions may have the fullest confidence in the future security of 
 such gifts or bequests. With entire confidence in the integrity and 
 wisdom of the beloved brethren in control of our theological seminaries, 
 we urge them to take such measures as will secure this most desirable 
 result; and, also, that these several Boards be requested to report to the 
 next General Assembly Avhat progress they have made in this direction. 
 
 3. That the Committee be discharged from further service. — 1896, 
 pp. 123, 124. 
 
 [ISote. — For the letter of the Committee to the Boards of the theological semina- 
 ries, see Minutes, 1896, p. 186. For the answers of the Boards of the theological 
 seminaries to the letter of the Committee of Conference, see Minutes, 1896, pp. 187-196.] 
 
 12. Committee on Theological Seminaries, Report, 1897. 
 
 The Committee are fully persuaded that while these seminaries 
 have not complied in letter with the requests made by the General 
 Assembly in 1894 and reaffirmed in 1895 and 1896, yet the Boards 
 of Control of the seminaries have made conscientious and persistent 
 investigation of the matter in hand, with the desire to comply with the 
 wish of the Assembly. They find, however, many difficulties, and 
 believe that such changes would disturb rather than establish confidence, 
 thereby diminishing future gifts, and also entailing upon the seminaries 
 litigations which would probably deprive them of bequests which are 
 now their main support. They are also convinced that the teaching 
 and properties of these seminaries are already so fully safeguarded to the 
 Presbyterian Church that, in the judgment of able jurists, the changes 
 suggested would be wholly without advantage. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly accepts as sincere the repeated, posi- 
 tive and explicit written declarations of the above-named seminaries, 
 that they are loyal to the Church, and that their teachings and proper- 
 ties are in their judgment fully safeguarded to the General Assembly, 
 but if at any time in the future these seminaries should find that the 
 changes could be made in their respective charters as the General As- 
 sembly has desired, it will be gratifying to the whole Church to have 
 such changes made. — 1897, p. 110. 
 
 [Note. — The seminaries above referred to are Lane, Auburn, McCormick and New- 
 ark German.] 
 
 13. Approval or veto of elections of officers and professors. 
 
 [Note. — The elections of professors in the following institutions require the ap- 
 proval of the General Assembly : Auburn Theological Seminary, German Theologi- 
 cal School of the Northwest, and Omaha Theological Seminary. In addition, the 
 
422 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Assembly has a veto over the appointment and removal of professors in Princeton, 
 Western, McCormick and Danville Seminaries, and a veto over the elections of 
 directors in the same institutions. The elections of directors in the two German 
 Theological Schools are subject to the approval of the Assembly, and the appoint- 
 ment of professors in Lane, San Francisco and Newark Seminaries, and Lincoln 
 University, is subject to the veto of the Assembly. 
 
 The Assembly is also entitled by the provisions of the charters of Princeton and 
 Western Seminaries to change one- third of the trustees at any annual meeting, and 
 by the charter of Danville to change one-third of the trustees at any meeting in the 
 State of Kentucky.] 
 
 II. THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES. 
 
 I. Princeton Theological Seminary. 
 
 [Note. — See Baird' s Digest, 1858, pp. 434-^44, for the original Constitution of the 
 seminary, election of professors, organization, etc. ; also Moore's Diqest, 1886, pp. 375- 
 381, for the plan as amended bv the Assembly of 1870 ; see Digest, 1886, pp. 381-383 ; 
 Minutes, 1870, pp. 65, 66, and 1871, p. 579. 
 
 The following is "The Plan of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, located at Princeton, New Jersey. Adopted 
 by the General Assembly of 1811 and amended by subsequent Assemblies."] 
 
 1. Plan of Princeton Theological Seminary. 
 Article I. Of the General Assembly. 
 
 Section 1. As this institution derives its origin from the General 
 Assembly, that body is to be considered its patron and the fountain of 
 its power. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Board of Directors appointed by the Assembly shall have 
 the immediate control of the seminary. 
 
 Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall, at all times, have the power of 
 adding to the constitutional articles of the seminary, and of abrogating, 
 altering, or amending them; but in the exercise of this power, the con- 
 templated additions, abrogations, alterations or amendments, shall, in 
 every case, be proposed at one Assembly, and not adopted till the Assem- 
 bly of the subsequent year, except by a unanimous vote. 
 
 Article II. Of the Board of Directors. 
 
 Section 1. The Board of Directors shall consist of twenty-one minis- 
 ters and nine ruling elders ; of whom one-third, or seven ministers and 
 three ruling elders, shall be chosen by the said Board annually, to con- 
 tinue in office three years; and the Board shall also have power to fill 
 all vacancies which may occur in its body ; all these elections, however, 
 shall be subject to the veto of the General Assembly, to whom they 
 shall be reported at its next meeting thereafter. 
 
 Sec. 2. The Board of Directors shall have power to elect the profes- 
 sors, and to remove them from office, such election and removal to be 
 subject to the veto of the General Assembly. The said Board shall also 
 have power to suspend temporarily a professor, preliminary to and 
 pending an investigation of charges against his life or doctrine. . 
 
 Sec. 3. The Board of Directors shall meet statedly, at least once in 
 each year at the close of the session ; and oftener on their own adjourn- 
 ments, if they shall judge it expedient. Nine members of the Board 
 shall be a quorum; Provided, always, That of this number five at least 
 be ministers of the Gospel. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Board shall choose, out of their own number, a President, 
 two Vice-Presidents, and a Secretary. In the absence of the President 
 and Vice-Presidents the senior member present shall preside. 
 
 Sec. 5. The President of the Board, or, in the event of his death, 
 
OF THE UENEKAL ASSEMBLY. 423 
 
 absence or inability to act, the first Vice-President shall, at the request 
 of any three members, expressed to him in writing, call a special meet- 
 ing of the Board of Directors by a circular letter addressed to each ; in 
 which letter notice shall be given, not only of the place and time of 
 meeting, but of the business intended to be transacted at the meeting 
 notified; and this letter shall be sent at least ten days before the time of 
 said meeting. 
 
 Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Board shall keep accurate records of 
 all the proceedings of the directors; and it shall be his duty to lay these 
 records, or a faithful transcript of the same, before the General Assem- 
 bly, annually, for the unrestrained inspection of all the members. 
 
 Sec. 7. Every meeting of the Board of Directors shall be opened and 
 closed with prayer. 
 
 Sec. 8. The Board of Directors may make rules and regulations for 
 the performance of the duties assigned them, or for the preservation of 
 order, not inconsistent with the prescriptions of this plan, or the orders 
 of the General Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 9. The Board shall direct the professors of the seminary in 
 regard to the subjects and topics on which they are severally to give 
 instructions to the pupils, so far as the same shall not be prescribed by 
 this plan, or by the orders of the General Assembly. 
 
 Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to inaugurate 
 the professors of the seminary, and to direct what forms shall be used, 
 and what services performed, on such occasions. 
 
 Sec. 11. Every director, previously to his taking his seat as a member 
 of the Board, shall solemnly subscribe the following formula, viz. : 
 " Approving the plan of the theological seminary of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, I solemnly declare and promise, 
 in the presence of God, and of this Board, that I will faithfully endeavor 
 to carry into effect all the articles and provisions of said plan, and to 
 promote the great design of the seminary. ' ' 
 
 Sec. 12. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to watch over 
 the conduct of the students; to redress grievances; to examine into the 
 whole course of instruction and study in the seminary; and generally to 
 superintend and endeavor to promote all its interests. 
 
 Sec. 13. The Board of Directors shall make, in writing, a detailed 
 and faithful report of the state of the seminary to every General Assem- 
 bly; and they may, at the same time, recommend such measures for the 
 advantage of the seminary as to them may appear proper. 
 
 Sec. 14. At every stated meeting of the Board of Directors, unless 
 particular circumstances render it inexpedient, there shall be at least one 
 sermon delivered in the presence of the Board, the professors, and 
 students, by a director or directors previously appointed for the purpose. 
 
 Article III. Of the Professors. 
 
 Section 1. The number of the professors in the seminary shall be 
 increased or diminished as the Board of Directors shall from time to time 
 direct. But when the seminary shall be completely organized, there 
 shall not be less than three professors. 
 
 Sec. 2. No person shall be inducted into the office of Professor of 
 Divinity but an ordained minister of the Gospel. 
 
 Sec. 3. Every person elected to a professorship in this seminary shall, 
 on being inaugurated, solemnly subscribe the Confession of Faith Cate- 
 
424 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 chisms and Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church, agreeably 
 to the following formula, viz. : < ' In the presence of God and of the 
 directors of this seminary, I do solemnly and ex animo adopt, receive 
 and subscribe the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America as the confession of my 
 faith, or as a summary and just exhibition of that system of doctriue 
 and religious belief, which is contained in Holy Scripture, and therein 
 revealed by God to man for his salvation; and I do solemnly, ex animo, 
 profess to receive the Form of Government of said Church, as agreeable 
 to the inspired oracles. And I do solemnly promise and engage not to 
 inculcate, teach, or insinuate anything which shall appear to me to con- 
 tradict or contravene, either directly or impliedly, anything taught in the 
 said Confession of Faith or Catechisms, nor to oppose any of the funda- 
 mental principles of Presbyterian Church government, while I .shall 
 continue a professor in this seminary. ' ' 
 
 Sec. 4. The salaries of the professors shall be fixed by the Board of 
 Directors. 
 
 Sec. 5. The professors may accompany their lectures and recitations 
 with prayer as frequently as they may judge proper, in addition to those 
 daily seasous of prayer, in which all the students will unite. 
 
 Sec. 0. Each professor shall lay before the Board of Directors, as soon 
 as practicable after his appointment, a detailed exhibition of the system 
 and method which he proposes to pursue, and the subjects which he pro- 
 poses to discuss, in conducting the studies of the youth that shall come 
 under his care ; and in this system he shall make such alterations or 
 additions as the Board shall direct, so that eventually the whole course 
 through which the pupils shall be carried, shall be no other than that 
 which the Board of Directors shall have approved and sanctioned 
 conformably to Sec. 9, Art. ii. And as often as any professor shall 
 think that variations and additions of importance may be advantageously 
 introduced into his course of teaching, he shall submit the same to the 
 Board of Directors for their approbation or rejection. 
 
 Sec. 7. Every class shall, if practicable, have at least one lecture or 
 recitation every day. 
 
 Sec. 8. Any professor intending to resign his office shall give six 
 mouths' notice of such intention to the Board of Directors. 
 
 Sec. 9. The professors of the institution shall be considered as a 
 faculty. They shall meet at such seasons as they may judge proper. 
 In every meeting the senior professor present shall preside. The faculty 
 shall choose a clerk, and keep accurate records of all their proceedings, 
 which records shall be laid before the directors at every stated meeting of 
 the Board. The president of the faculty shall call a meeting whenever 
 he shall judge it expedient, and whenever he shall be requested to do so 
 by any other member. By the faculty, regularly convened, shall 
 be determined the hours and seasons at which the classes shall attend the 
 professors severally, so as to prevent interference and confusion, and to 
 afford to the pupils the best opportunities of improvement. The faculty 
 shall attend to and decide on all cases of discipline and all questions of 
 order, as they shall arise. They shall agree on the rules of order, deco- 
 rum, and duty (not inconsistent with any provision in the plan of the 
 seminary, nor with any order of the Board of Directors), to which the 
 students shall be subjected, and these they shall reduce to writing, and 
 cause to be publicly and frequently read. They shall determine the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 425 
 
 hours at which the whole of the pupils shall, morning and evening, attend 
 for social worship, and the manner in which, and the person or persons 
 of their own number, by whom the exercises of devotion shall be con- 
 ducted. 
 
 Sec. 10. The faculty shall be empowered to dismiss from the seminary 
 any student who shall prove unsound in his religious sentiments, immoral 
 or disorderly in his conduct, or who may be, in their opinion, on any 
 account whatsoever, a dangerous or unprofitable member of the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 Sec. 11. Each member of the faculty shall have an equal vote. 
 
 Sec. 12. It shall be the duty of the professors, under the direction of 
 the Board of Directors, to supply the pupils of the institution with the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of the sacraments of 
 the Christian Church, if this supply shall not, in the judgment of the 
 directors, be satisfactorily furnished by a church or churches in the place 
 where the institution shall be established. 
 
 Article IV. Of Study and Attainments. 
 
 As the particular course of study pursued in any institution will and 
 perhaps ought to be modified in a considerable degree, by the views and 
 habits of the teachers, and ought, moreover, to be varied, altered, or 
 extended, as experience may suggest improvements, it is judged proper to 
 specify, not so precisely the course of study as the attainments which 
 must be made. Therefore, 
 
 Section 1. Every student, at the close of his course, must have made 
 the following attainments, viz. , he must be well skilled in the original 
 languages of the Holy Scriptures. He must be able to explain the 
 principal difficulties which arise in the perusal of the Scriptures, either 
 from erroneous translations, apparent inconsistencies, real obscurities, or 
 objections arising from history, reason or argument. He must be versed 
 in Jewish and Christian antiquities, which serve to explain and illustrate 
 Scripture. He must have an acquaintance with ancient geography and 
 with Oriental customs, which throw light on the sacred records. Thus 
 he will have laid the foundation for becoming a sound Biblical critic. 
 
 He must have read and digested the principal arguments and writings 
 relative to what has been called the deistical controversy. Thus will he 
 be qualified to become a defender of the Christian faith. 
 
 He must be able to support the doctrines of the Confession of Faith 
 and Catechisms, by a ready, pertinent and abundant quotation of Scrip- 
 ture texts for that purpose. He must have studied, carefully and 
 correctly, natural, didactic, polemic and casuistic theology. He must 
 have a considerable acquaintance with general history and chronology, 
 and a particular acquaintance with the history of the Christian Church. 
 Thus he will be preparing to become an able and sound divine and casuist. 
 
 He must have read a considerable number of the best practical writers 
 on the subject of religion. He must have learned to compose with 
 correctness and readiness in his own language and to deliver what he has 
 composed to others in a natural and acceptable manner. He must be well 
 acquainted with the several parts, and the proper structure of popular 
 lectures and sermons. He must have composed at least two lectures and 
 four popular sermons, that shall have been approved by the professors. 
 He must have carefully studied the duties of the pastoral care. Thus 
 he will be prepared to become a useful preacher and a faithful pastor. 
 
426 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 He must have studied attentively the form of Church government 
 authorized by the Scriptures, and the administration of it as it has taken 
 place in Protestant Churches. Thus he will be qualified to exercise disci- 
 pline, and to take part in the government of the Church in all its 
 judicatories. 
 
 Sec. 2. The period of continuance in the theological seminary shall, in 
 no case, be less than three years, previously to an examination for a cer- 
 tificate of approbation. But students may enter the seminary, and enjoy 
 the course of instruction for a shorter time than three years, provided 
 they in all other respects submit to the laws of the seminary, of which 
 facts they may receive a written declaration from the professors. 
 
 Sec. 3. There shall be an examination of all the pupils in the semi- 
 nary, under the direction of the Board of Directors, at least once every 
 year. Those pupils who shall have regularly and diligently studied for 
 three years, shall be admitted to an examination on the subjects specified 
 in this article. All examinations shall be conducted by the professors, in 
 the presence of the directors, or a Committee of them. Every director 
 present shall be at liberty, during the progress of any examination, or 
 after the same shall have been closed by the professors, to put to any 
 pupils such questions as he shall deem proper. Every pupil that shall 
 have passed his final examination to the satisfaction of the directors 
 present shall receive a certificate of the same, signed by the professors, 
 with which he shall be remitted to the Presbytery, under whose care he 
 is placed, to be disposed of as such Presbytery shall direct. Those who 
 do not pass a satisfactory examination shall remain a longer space in the 
 seminary. 
 
 Sec. 4. It shall be the object of the professors to make such arrange- 
 ments in the instruction of their pupils as shall be best adapted to enable 
 them, in the space of three years, to be examined with advantage on the 
 subjects specified in this article. 
 
 Article V. Of Devotion and Improvement in Practical Piety. 
 
 It ought to be considered as an object of primary importance by every 
 student in the seminary, to be careful and vigilant not to lose that 
 inward sense of the power of godliness which he may have attained; 
 but, on the contrary, to grow continually in a spirit of enlightened 
 devotion and fervent piety; deeply impressed with the recollection, that 
 without this, all his other acquisitions will be comparatively of little 
 worth, either to himself, or to the Church of which he is to be a minister. 
 
 He must remember, too, that this is a species of improvement which 
 must of necessity be left, in a great measure, with himself, as a concern 
 between God and his own soul. 
 
 It is proper, however, to delineate the path of duty, express the wishes 
 and expectations of the founders of the seminary, and to make such 
 requirements as the nature of the subject will permit. 
 
 Section 1. It is expected that every student in the theological seminary 
 will spend a portion of time every morning and evening in devout 
 meditation and self -recollection and examination; in reading the Holy 
 Scriptures, solely with a view to a personal and practical application of 
 the passage read to his own heart, character and circumstances ; and in 
 humble, fervent prayer and praise to God in secret. 
 
 The whole of every Lord's day is to be devoted to devotional exercises, 
 either of a social or secret kind. Intellectual pursuits, not immediately 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 427 
 
 connected with devotion or the religion of the heart, are on that day to 
 be foreborne. The books to be read are to be of a practical nature. 
 The conversations had with each other are to be chiefly on religious 
 subjects. Associations for prayer and praise, and for religious confer- 
 ence, calculated to promote a growth in grace, are also proper for this 
 day ; subject to such regulations as the professors and directors may see 
 proper to prescribe. It is wished and recommended, that each student 
 should ordinarily set apart one day in a month for special prayer and 
 self-examination in secret, and also that he should, on suitable occasions, 
 attend to the duty of fasting. 
 
 Sec. 2. If any student shall exhibit, in his general deportment, a levity 
 or indifference in regard to practical religion, though it do not amount to 
 any overt act of irreligion or immorality, it shall be the duty of the 
 professor who may observe it to admonish him tenderly and faithfully in 
 private, and endeavor to engage him to a more holy temper, and a more 
 exemplary deportment. 
 
 Sec. 3. If a student, after due admonition, persist in a system of 
 conduct not exemplary in regard to religion, he shall be dismissed from 
 the seminary. 
 
 Sec. 4. The professors are particularly charged, by all the proper 
 means in their power, to encourage, cherish, and promote devotion and 
 personal piety among their pupils, by warning and guarding them, on 
 the one hand, against formality and indifference, and on the other, 
 against ostentation and enthusiasm ; by inculcating practical religion in 
 their lectures and recitations; by taking suitable occasions to converse 
 with their pupils privately on this interesting subject ; and by all other 
 means incapable of being minutely specified, by which they may foster 
 true experimental religion, and unreserved devotedness to God. 
 
 Article VI. Of the Students. 
 
 Section 1. Every student applying for admission to the theological 
 seminary shall produce satisfactory testimonials that he possesses good 
 natural talents, and is of a prudent and discreet deportment ; that he is 
 in full communion with some regular church ; that he has passed through 
 a regular course of academical study ; or, wanting this, he shall submit 
 himself to an examination in regard to the branches of literature taught 
 in such a course. 
 
 Sec. 2. The first six months of every student in the seminary shall be 
 considered as probationary ; and if at the end of this period, any student 
 shall appear to the professors not qualified to proceed in his studies, they 
 shall so report him to the Board of Directors, who, if they are of the 
 same opinion with the professors, shall dismiss him from the seminary. 
 
 Sec. 3. The hours of study and of recreation for the students shall be 
 fixed by the professors, with the concurrence of the directors ; and every 
 student shall pay a strict regard to the rules established, relative to this 
 subject. 
 
 Sec. 4. Every student shall be obliged to write on such theological and 
 other subjects, as may be prescribed to him by the professors, once a 
 month ; and shall also commit to memory a piece of his own composition, 
 and pronounce it in public, before the professors and students. 
 
 Sec. 5. Every student shall not only preserve an exemplary moral 
 character, but shall be expected to treat his teachers with the greatest 
 deference and respect, and all other persons with civility. 
 
428 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Sec. 6. Every student shall yield a prompt and ready obedience to all 
 the lawful requisitions of the professors and directors. 
 
 Sec. 7. Diligence and industry in study shall be considered as indispen- 
 sable in every student, unless the want of health shall prevent, of which 
 the professors shall take cognizance, and make the suitable allowance. 
 
 Sec. 8. Strict temperance in meat and drink is expected of every 
 student, with cleanliness and neatness in his dress and habits ; while all 
 excessive expense in clothing is strictly prohibited. 
 
 Sec. 9. Every student, before he takes his standing in the seminary, 
 shall subscribe the following declaration, viz. , ' ' Deeply impressed with a 
 sense of the importance of improving in knowledge, prudence and 
 piety, in my preparation for the Gospel ministry, I solemnly promise, in a 
 reliance on divine grace, that I will faithfully and diligently attend on all 
 the instructions of this seminary, and that I will conscientiously and 
 vigilantly observe all the rules and regulations specified in the plan for its 
 instruction and government, so far as the same relate to the students; 
 and that I will obey all the lawful requisitions, and readily yield to all 
 the wholesome admonitions of the professors and directors of the semi- 
 nary, while I shall continue a member of it. ' ' 
 
 Sec. 10. The exercises of the seminary shall be suspended during 
 eighteen weeks in every year ; the number of vacations, and the times at 
 which they shall begin and end, to be determined by the Board of Directors. 
 
 Article VII Of the Funds. 
 
 Section 1. The Board of Directors are authorized to exercise all 
 control of the funds belonging to this institution, hitherto exercised by 
 the General Assembly, as far as can be done consistently ^vith the will 
 of the testators or donors; such as fixing the salary of the professors, 
 regulating the amount required for endowment of scholarships or 
 professorships, and keeping sacred and distinct the different funds 
 already created, or to be hereafter created, for the specific objects for 
 which they are given. 
 
 Sec. 2. All matters relating to finance, fixing the salaries of profes- 
 sors, the extent of endowment and aid of students, shall be, by the 
 Board of Directors, submitted to the trustees of the seminary for their 
 approval . 
 
 Sec. 3. Fair statements shall be annually presented to the Assembly, 
 by the Board of Directors and by the trustees, of the amount of funds 
 belonging to the seminary, of the items that constitute that amount, and 
 of the expenditures, in detail, for the preceding year. 
 
 Sec. 4. The intention and directions of testators or donors, in regard 
 to moneys or other property left or given to the seminary, shall, at all 
 times, be sacredly regarded. And if any individual, or any number of 
 individuals, not greater than three, shall by will, or during his or their 
 lives, found or endow a professorship or professorships, a scholarship or 
 scholarships, or a fund or funds, destined to special purposes, said profes- 
 sorships, scholarships or funds shall forever afterwards be called and 
 known by the name or names of those who founded or endowed them; 
 and if any congregation, Presbytery, Synod or association shall found a 
 professorship or professorships, a scholarship or scholarships, or a fund 
 or funds, said professorships, scholarships or funds shall forever after- 
 wards be called and known by such names as the body founding them 
 shall give. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 429 
 
 Sec. 5. After supporting the professors, and defraying the other nec- 
 essary charges of the seminary, the funds shall be applied as far as 
 circumstances will admit, to defray or diminish the expenses of those 
 students who may need pecuniary aid, as well as to lessen, generally, 
 the expense of a residence at the seminary. 
 
 2. Property to be held by trustees of the Assembly. 
 
 That the trustees of this Assembly be directed to receive and hold, for 
 the use of the theological seminary, the transfers which have been made, 
 or shall be made, of property bequeathed to the seminary. — 1814, p. 
 562. 
 
 3. Directors ordered to secure charter. 
 
 The following resolution was submitted to the Assembly, and adopted, 
 viz.: 
 
 Whereas, The real estate of this ' General Assembly in the State of 
 New Jersey, appertaining to the theological seminary at Princeton, is at 
 present secured to the Assembly by the constituting of certain individ- 
 uals trustees of such property; and 
 
 Whereas, There is a manifest inconvenience, if not hazard, in holding 
 said property by such an expedient, 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Directors, if they judge it expedient, 
 endeavor to obtain an act of incorporation from the Legislature of said 
 State, as a measure of prudence and safety, and that they be instructed 
 to endeavor to obtain an act similar to that obtained in the State of 
 Pennsylvania, and report the charter to the Assembly for adoption. — 
 1821, p. 22. 
 
 4." Charter at first declined by the Assembly. 
 
 That the General Assembly respectfully decline, for the present, to 
 accept the act of incorporation of the Legislature of New Jersey, entitled 
 ' ' An act for incorporating trustees of the Theological Seminary of 
 the Presbyterian Church at Princeton, in the State of New Jersey, ' ' and 
 that the act be referred to the Board of Directors to procure, if practica- 
 ble, a repeal of the last clause of the act. — 1823, p. 81. 
 
 5. Orders given in connection with the charter. 
 
 The Committee on the Charter of the Theological Seminary at 
 Princeton reported and recommended the following resolutions, Avhich were 
 adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That the charter, with its supplement, be published in 
 the Appendix to the Minutes of the present year. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the trustees of the Theological Seminary of the 
 Presbyterian Church be directed to hold their first meeting at Princeton, 
 on Tuesday preceding the next annual- commencement of New Jersey 
 College, and the present Temporary Clerk of this Assembly is hereby 
 directed to give notice to each member at least ten days previous to said 
 meeting. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the individual trustees, who hold in trust the real 
 estate at Princeton, transfer said property to the incorporated trustees of 
 the seminary. 
 
 4. Resolved, That in voting for trustees of the Theological Seminary 
 of the Presbyterian Church, the Assembly adopt the rules which exist in 
 relation to voting for trustees of the General Assembly, found in the 
 Digest, pp. 198, 199.— 1824, p. 117. 
 
430 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 6. Trustees elected by the Assembly. 
 
 Agreeably to the order of the day, the Assembly proceeded to the 
 election of trustees of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, when the 
 Hon, Jonas Piatt was elected in the room of John Condict, Esq. ; Dr. 
 John T. Woodhull, in the room of Ebenezer Elmer, Esq. ; Horace 
 Stockton, Esq., in the room of John Beatty, Esq. ; Rev. James Carna- 
 han, D.D., in the room of the Rev. Alexander McClelland; and the 
 Rev. Joseph McElroy in the room of the Rev. Samuel B. How. — 1826, 
 p. 186. 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly will make no further change in the 
 Board this year. — 1826, p. 186. 
 
 7. Agreement with the trustees of New Jersey College. 
 
 a. An extract from the minutes of the trustees of the College of New 
 Jersey, stating the appointment of a Committee of their Board to confer 
 with a Committee of this Assembly on the establishment of a theological 
 school, being received, was read, and Drs. Alexander and Nott, the 
 Rev. John P. Campbell, Messrs. Connelly and Bethune, were appointed 
 a Committee to confer with the Committee of the trustees. — 1811, p. 
 466. 
 
 b. This Committee reported among other things that they deem it 
 expedient on the part of this Assembly to appoint a Committee, with 
 ample powers, to meet a Committee on the part of the trustees of the 
 College of New Jersey, invested with similar powers, to frame the plan 
 of a Constitution for the theological seminary, containing the fundamen- 
 tal principles of a union with the trustees of that college and the semi- 
 nary already established by them, which shall never be changed or altered, 
 without the mutual consent of both parties, provided that it should be 
 deemed proper to locate the Assembly's seminary at the same place with 
 that of the college. [The Committee was appointed.] — 1811, pp. 470, 
 471. 
 
 Terms of Agreement. 
 
 The following plan of agreement between a Committee appointed by 
 the last General Assembly and a Committee of the trustees of the College 
 of New Jersey for the location and establishment of a theological semi- 
 nary, was submitted to this Assembly, and was adopted: 
 
 1. That the theological seminary about to be erected by the General 
 Assembly shall have its location in Princeton or its immediate vicinity, 
 in the State of New Jersey, and in such connection with the College of 
 New Jersey as is implied in the following articles : 
 
 2. That the trustees of the college engage that the General Assembly 
 and directors to be by them appointed shall carry into complete and full 
 effect, without any interposition, interference, let or hindrance from 
 them, the trustees or their successors, the whole plan of a theological 
 seminary, as laid down and agreed upon at a meeting of the Assembly in 
 the present year of our Lord 1811. That is to say, that the General 
 Assembly shall appoint their directors, choose their professors, crrry on 
 their instruction, govern their pupils and manage their funds as to them 
 shall appear best. 
 
 3. That the trustees of the college engage to the General Assembly 
 freely to allow them to erect at their own expense, on the grounds belong- 
 ing to the college, such buildings for the accommodation of pupils and 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 431 
 
 professors as they may judge proper, and which may not interfere with 
 the buildings and their conveniences already erected by the trustees; and 
 to prevent all future dissatisfaction on this subject, that it be agreed that 
 when the General Assembly or the directors of the theological seminary 
 may wish to erect any building on the college grounds, and there shall 
 be any discordance of views, relative to the same, then the General 
 Assembly or the directors aforesaid shall appoint three men and the Board 
 of Trustees the same number, and these six shall choose one man not 
 belonging to either body; and these seven men, by a majority of votes, 
 shall determine whether said building can be properly erected on said 
 grounds, and if so, what shall be the site and size of the same; and that 
 this determination shall be conclusive and final with both parties. Pro- 
 vided, nothing contained in this article shall be understood to prohibit the 
 General Assembly or the directors of the theological seminary from making 
 use of any other ground, within the limits prescribed in article first, for 
 the purposes aforesaid. 
 
 4. That the trustees engage to the General Assembly to grant them 
 every practicable accommodation in the building now existing, not only 
 till others may be erected by the Assembly, but afterward, so long as the 
 same may be desirable. 
 
 5. That the trustees engage to endeavor to receive into the college all 
 the youth whom the Assembly, or the directors by them appointed, may 
 send to it for the purpose of education, subject to such examination at 
 entrance and to such discipline during their residence in college as the 
 other pupils of the college are subjected to, the trustees to receive for the 
 expenses of board, tuition and room-rent the same as for others, and 
 giving to the Assembly the assurance that as pupils increase and the 
 funds of the college will permit, they will reduce as low as possible all 
 the expenses of the pupils under their care. 
 
 6. That the trustees agree to receive and hold for the use of the Assem- 
 bly such sums of money as they may voluntarily choose to deposit in the 
 hands of the trustees for improvement, so as to incur no inconvenience 
 to such trustees from the limitation of their charter, and that such sums 
 of money be accordingly invested in such funds as the Assembly shall 
 direct; that the trustees pay the interest thereof, when received, to the 
 order of the Assembly, keep it wholly separate from the funds of the 
 college, and pay over or transfer to the order of the Assembly the prin- 
 cipal sum whenever they shall so direct. 
 
 7. That the trustees grant to the professors and pupils of the theologi- 
 cal seminary the free use of the college library, subject to such rules as 
 may be adopted for the preservation of the books and the good order of 
 the same. 
 
 8. That if the General Assembly shall wish to establish at Princeton 
 an elementary school for the instruction of youth in such learning as 
 usually precedes their entrance into college, the trustees agree to aid 
 them in this undertaking, by every accommodation and all the patronage 
 in their power, so, however, as not to engage to make drafts on the funds 
 of the college for that purpose. 
 
 9. That if at any time the General Assembly shall find that the con- 
 nection between their seminary and the college does not conduce suffi- 
 ciently to the great purposes contemplated to be answered by the said 
 seminary, they shall be at liberty to remove it to some other place; 
 and the trustees engage that while the theological seminary shall re- 
 
432 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 main at Princeton no professorship of theology shall be established in the 
 college. 
 
 10. That whereas the trustees of the college have in their hands a 
 fund, the annual income of which is nearly eighteen hundred dollars, 
 appropriated by the donors to the education of poor and pious youth for 
 the gospel ministry of the Presbyterian denomination, the trustees give 
 an assurance to the Assembly that if the first of these articles take effect 
 they will pay a high regard to the recommendation of the Assembly or 
 of their directors as to the youth who shall receive the benefit of this 
 fund. 
 
 Ashbel Green, 
 
 Richard Stockton, 
 
 John Woodhull, 
 
 Committee of the Trustees of New Jersey College. 
 
 Archibald Alexander, 
 Jacob J. Janeway, 
 Robert Ralston, 
 John McDowell, 
 
 Committee of the General Assembly. 
 
 Princeton, June 26, 1811. —1812, p. 499. 
 
 8. The charter. 
 
 An act for incorporating trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, at Princeton, in the State of New Jersey. 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this State, and it 
 is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That Andrew Kirkpatrick, 
 Gabriel H. Ford, Samuel L. Southard, Robert M'Neely, John Condict, of 
 Bergen, Ebenezer Elmer, John Beatty, Alexander Henry, Benjamin Strong, 
 Charles Ewing, Samuel Bayard, John Van Cleve, Ashbel Green, John 
 M'Dowell, David Comfort, George S. Woodhu]l, Isaac V. Brown, Alexander 
 M'Cleland, Jacob J. Janeway, James Richards and Samuel B. How and their 
 successors, duly elected and appointed in manner as is hereinafter directed, be 
 and they are hereby made, declared and constituted a corporation and body 
 politic and corporate, in law and in fact, to have continuance by the name, 
 style and title of "Trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
 Church," and by the name, style and title afores'aid, shall be persons able and 
 capable in law as well to take, receive and hold all and all manner of lands, 
 tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and other hereditaments which at any 
 time or times heretofore have been granted, bargained, sold, enfeoffed, released, 
 devised or otherwise conveyed for use of the Theological Seminary of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, located at Princeton, 
 in the State of New Jersey, or any other person or persons, to the use of the 
 said seminary, or in trust for the same ; and the same lands, tenements, rents, 
 annuities, liberties, franchises, and other hereditaments are hereby vested and 
 established in the said corporation and their successors according to the 
 original use and intent for which such devises, gifts and grants were respec- 
 tively made ; and the said corporation and their successors are hereby declared 
 to be seized and possessed of such estate and estates therein as in and by the 
 respective grants, bargains, sales, enfeoffments, releases, devises, and other 
 conveyances thereof is or are declared, limited and expressed ; also, that the 
 said corporation and their successors shall be capable and able to purchase, 
 have, receive, take, hold and enjoy, in fee simple, or of lesser estate or estates, 
 any lands, tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and other hereditaments by 
 the gift, grant, bargain, sale, alienation, enfeoffment, release, confirmation or 
 devise of any person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, capable and able 
 to make the same ; and further, that the said corporation and their successors 
 may take and receive any sum or sums of money, and any portion of goods 
 and chattels that have been given to and for the use of the Theological Semi- 
 nary at Princeton, or to the directors thereof, or to any other person or per. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 433 
 
 sons, body politic or corporate, in trust or for the use of the said seminary, 
 or that hereafter shall be given, sold, leased or bequeathed to the said corpo- 
 ration by any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, that is able or 
 capable to make a gift, sale, bequest or other disposal of the same ; such 
 money, goods or chattels to be laid out and disposed of for the use and benefit 
 of the aforesaid corporation agreeably to the intention of the donors and 
 according to the objects, articles and conditions of this act. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That no misnomer of the said corporation and their 
 successors shall defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise or bequest to or for the 
 said corporation; Provided, The intent of the party or parties shall sufficiently 
 appear upon the face of the gift, will, grant or other writing whereby any 
 estate or interest was intended to pass to or for the said corporation. 
 
 3. And be it enacted, That the said corporation and their successors shall 
 have full power and authority to make, have and use a common seal, with 
 such device and inscription as they shall think fit and proper, and the same to 
 break, alter and renew at their pleasure. 
 
 4. And be it enacted, That the said corporation and their successors, by the 
 name, style and title aforesaid, shall be able and capable to sue and be sued, 
 plead and be impleaded, in any court of law or equity in this State. 
 
 5. And be it enacted, That the said corporation and their successors shall be 
 and hereby are authorized and empowered to make, ordain and establish by- 
 laws and ordinances, and do everything incident and needful for the support 
 and due government of the said corporation and managing the funds and 
 revenues thereof ; Provided, The said by-laws be not repugnant to the Constitu- 
 tion and laws of the United States, to the Constitution and laws of this State, 
 or to this act. 
 
 6. And be it enacted, That the said corporation shall not, at any time, con- 
 sist of more than one-and-twenty persons, twelve of whom shall at all times 
 be laymen and citizens of this State, whereof the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States .may, at their annual meetings, 
 change one-third, in such manner as to the said General Assembly shall seem 
 proper ; and the corporation aforesaid shall have pow T er and authority to man- 
 age and dispose of all moneys, goods, chattels, lands, tenements and heredi- 
 taments, and other estate whatsoever, committed to their care and trust by 
 the said General Assembly ; but in cases where special instructions for the 
 management and disposal thereof shall be given by the said General Assembly 
 in writing, under the hand of their clerk, it shall be the duty of the said cor- 
 poration to act according to such instructions ; Provided, The said instructions 
 shall not be repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, or 
 to the Constitution and laws of this State, or to this act. 
 
 7. And be it enacted, That seven members of this corporation, whereof the 
 president, or, in his absence, the vice-president, to be one, shall be a sufficient 
 number to transact the business thereof and to make by-laws, rules and regu- 
 lations ; Provided, That previous to any meeting of the board or corporation 
 for such purposes, not appointed by adjournment, ten days' notice shall be 
 previously given thereof, by the secretary or clerk of the said corporation, to 
 each of the members of the same ; and the said corporation shall and may, as 
 often as they shall see proper, and according to the rules by them to be pre- 
 scribed, choose out of their number a president and vice-president and secre- 
 tary, and shall have authority to appoint a treasurer and such other officers 
 and servants as shall by them, the said corporation, be deemed necessary, to 
 which officers the said corporation may assign such a compensation for their 
 services and such duties to be performed by them, to continue in office for 
 such time and to be succeeded by others in such way and manner as the said 
 corporation shall direct. 
 
 8. And be it enacted, That all questions before the said corporation shall be 
 decided by a plurality of votes, whereof each member present shall have one, 
 except the president, or vice-president when acting as president, who shall 
 have only the casting vote and voice in case of an equality in the votes of the 
 other members. 
 
 9. And be it enacted, That the said corporation shall keep regular and fair 
 entries of their proceedings, and a just account of their receipts and disburse- 
 ments, in a book or books to be provided for that purpose, and shall, once in a 
 year, exhibit to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, an exact state of the accounts and funds of said 
 corporation, and also to the Legislature of this State, every five years. 
 
 28 
 
434 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHA.P. XII. 
 
 10. And be it enacted, That the said corporation may take, receive, purchase, 
 possess and enjoy messuages, lands, tenements, rents, annuities and other 
 hereditaments, real and personal estate of any amount ; Provided, That the 
 same do not yield an annual income exceeding the sum of fifteen thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 11. Provided, nevertheless, and it is hereby enacted, That nothing herein con- 
 tained shall prevent the Legislature from altering, amending or repealing this 
 act, whenever in their opinion the public good requires it. 
 
 Passed November 15, 1822. 
 
 A supplement to an act entitled "An act for incorporating trustees of the 
 Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, at Princeton, in the 
 State of New Jersey." 
 
 Whereas, by the eleventh section of the act to which this is a supplement, 
 the Legislature of this State has retained the power to alter, amend or repeal 
 the said act, whenever in their opinion the public good requires it ; and 
 whereas, the exercise of that power may leave the property which may then 
 be vested in the said corporation without proper trustees to manage and dis- 
 pose ol the same ; therefore, 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this State, and it is 
 hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That in case the Legislature of this 
 State shall, at any time hereafter, alter, amend or repeal the act to which this is 
 a supplement, the trustees of the said seminary for the time being shall be, and 
 they are hereby authorized and empowered at any time within one year after 
 any such alteration, amendment or repeal, to convey all the property belonging 
 to them, as trustees aforesaid, to any number of citizens of this State, not less 
 than three, nor more than five, whom they may select, their heirs and assigns, 
 who shall hold the said property thus conveyed to them, their heirs and 
 assigns, in trust, for the sole use of said seminary, anything in the said act to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Passed December 9, 1823. 
 
 A further supplement to the act entitled "An act for incorporating trustees 
 of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, at Princeton, in 
 the State of New Jersey," approved the fifteenth day of November, 
 eighteen hundred and twenty-two. 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That the said "Trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Presby- 
 terian Church" may take, receive, purchase, possess and enjoy messuages, 
 lands, tenements, rents, annuities and other hereditaments, real and personal 
 estate of any amount ; Provided, That the same do not yield an annual income 
 exceeding the sum of fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That the tenth section of the act to which this is a sup- 
 plement be and the same is hereby repealed. 
 
 Approved February 27, 1866. 
 
 An act to authorize the corporations of Theological Seminaries in this State 
 to increase the number of their trustees. 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That whenever by the charter of any Theological Seminary of this 
 State the number of trustees thereof is limited, it shall be lawful for the said 
 corporation or the trustees thereof, to increase the number of such trustees by 
 appointing at least six additional trustees, dividing them into classes in the 
 same manner as provided in such charter. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. 
 Approved April 20, 1876. 
 
 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to increase the number of trustees 
 in Theological Seminaries in New Jersey." 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That whenever, by the charter of any Theological Seminary in this 
 State, the number of trustees thereof is limited, it shall be lawful for the said 
 corporation or the trustees thereof to increase the number of such trustees by 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 435 
 
 appointing at least six and not more than twelve additional trustees, dividing 
 them into classes in the same manner as provided in such charter. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 Approved March 2, 1877. 
 
 An act to authorize corporations organized for religious, educational or benev- 
 olent purposes to procure an increase of their capacity to acquire and 
 hold real and personal property. 
 
 1. Beit enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That whenever any corporation of this State, incorporated for religious, 
 educational or benevolent purposes, shall, by its charter or any supplement 
 thereto, or otherwise, be limited in the amount or value of real or personal 
 property which it may acquire, have, hold and enjoy for the use and purposes 
 of suchcorporation, and the board of trustees, directors or managers of such 
 corporation shall desire to obtain for such corporation legal capacity to acquire, 
 have, hold, use and enjoy a larger amount than that to which it is or shall 
 be so limited, that it shall be lawful for such trustees, directors or managers 
 at any stated meeting of said board, and from time to time, to adopt by vote 
 of a majority of the whole number of such trustees, directors or managers, a 
 resolution declaring their desire to have the amount so enlarged, and stating 
 the amount to which it is to be so increased, and to cause a copy of such res- 
 olution, authenticated and verified as by this act directed, to be filed in the 
 office of the secretary of State. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That the copy of the resolution authorized by the first 
 section of this act to be filed with the secretary of State shall be certified and 
 authenticated under the common seal of said corporation, and shall be verified 
 by the oath of the clerk or secretary of said corporation that the seal affixed 
 to said copy is the common seal of said corporation, that the said copy is a true 
 copy of the original resolution as recorded on the minutes of said board, 
 and that it was passed as directed in the first section of this act. 
 
 3. And be it enacted, That on filing said copy of such resolution in the office 
 of the secretary of State, it shall be thereafter lawful for the said corporation 
 to take and receive by gift, grant, devise, bequest or purchase, and to have, 
 hold and enjoy for the uses and purposes of the said corporation any real or 
 personal estate not exceeding the increased amount nameoMn said resolution, 
 any provision of the charter of said corporation, or any supplement thereto, 
 to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 4. And be it enacted, That this act shall be a public act and shall take effect 
 iinmediatelv. 
 
 Approved March 27, 1889. 
 
 9. Answer of the Princeton Boards to the Assembly, 1895. 
 
 [Note. — See for the opening paragraphs of the answer, Minutes, 1895, p. 152.] 
 
 These Boards do not understand that the Assembly expects or desires 
 absolute uniformity in the charters and administration of the seminaries, 
 but that what is desired is: 
 
 1. That the property of the seminaries should be absolutely and irrev- 
 ocably secured to the Presbyterian Church and its faith and government. 
 
 2. That the actual workings and teachings of the seminaries should be 
 in true accord with the Standards of our Church ; and, 
 
 3. That the Assembly shall possess some distinct and feasible mode of 
 enforcing its control in case of any violation of duty by those to whom 
 has been committed the immediate administration of these sacred trusts. 
 
 The directors and trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Presby- 
 terian Church at Princeton do not antagonize, but, on the contrary, 
 cordially acquiesce in, and are in fullest sympathy with, the sentiment of 
 the resolutions contained in the report of the General Assembly's 
 Committee of Conference with the Theological Seminaries, made to the 
 General Assembly at its session in 1894, namely: That the Church 
 should control the instruction given in its theological seminaries, and 
 that the funds held for the purpose of theological instruction should be 
 
436 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 used only for such education in the doctrines set forth in the Standards 
 of the Church. 
 
 I. As to Item a, relating to the funds and property : 
 
 The General Assembly, in May, 1811, adopted the " Plan of the 
 Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, located at Princeton, N. J.," which had been reported to 
 it by a Committee appointed by the previous Assembly in 1810. 
 
 In the Introduction to that Plan, it stated : ' ' Influenced by the views 
 and considerations now recited, the General Assembly, after mature 
 deliberation, have resolved, in reliance on the patronage and blessing of 
 the great Head of the Church, to establish a new institution, consecrated 
 solely to the education of men for the Gospel ministry, to be denominated 
 ' The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America.' And to the intent that the true design of the founders 
 of this institution may be known to the public, both now and in time to 
 come, and especially that this design may at all times be distinctly viewed 
 and sacredly regarded, both by the teachers and the pupils of the semi- 
 nary, it is judged proper to make a summary and explicit statement of it. 
 
 " It is to form men for the Gospel ministry who shall truly believe and 
 cordially love, and therefore endeavor to propagate and defend, in its 
 genuineness, simplicity and fullness, that system of religious belief and 
 practice which is set forth in the Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and 
 Plan of Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church, and 
 thus to perpetuate and extend the influence of true evangelical piety and 
 Gospel order. 
 
 " It is to provide for the Church men who shall be able to defend her 
 faith against infidels and her doctrines against heretics. 
 
 " It is to preserve the unity of our Church by educating her ministers 
 in an enlightened attachment not only to the same doctrines, but to the 
 same plan of government." 
 
 After thus founding the seminary and publishing this Plan to the 
 public, the General Assembly proceeded to collect funds to endow and 
 build the seminary. 
 
 In 1815, with some of these moneys, it purchased the six acres of 
 ground upon which the main seminary building was erected; and subse- 
 quently the other buildings, or most of them, were built thereon. The 
 title was held by individual trustees, for the seminary, as ordered by the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 In 1821 it directed a charter to be obtained for the seminary. This 
 was procured in 1822 and submitted to the General Assembly in 1823 
 and was disapproved by it. An amendment was procured, and in 1824 
 the charter and amendment were submitted to and accepted by the 
 General Assembly, which at the same session adopted rules as to the 
 election by it of the trustees of this corporation. It also directed the 
 individual trustees to convey the real estate in Princeton to the corpora- 
 tion* which was done. 
 
 This corporation was called " Trustees of the Theological Seminary 
 of the Presbyterian Church." It was authorized to receive all real and 
 personal estate given to or acquired by it * ' for use of the Theological 
 Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 located at Princeton, in the State of New Jersey, or any other person 
 or persons, to the use of the said seminary, or in trust for the same. ' ' 
 
 The concluding paragraphs of Section i of the charter are: " And 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 437 
 
 further, that the said corporation and their successors may take and 
 receive any sum or sums of money, and any portion of goods and chat- 
 tels that have been given to and for the use of the Theological Seminary 
 at Princeton, or to the directors thereof, or to any other person or per- 
 sons, body politic or corporate, in trust or for the use of the said semi- 
 nary, or that hereafter shall be given, sold, leased or bequeathed to the 
 said corporation by any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate ; 
 that is able or capable to make a gift, sale, bequest or other disposal of 
 the same ; such money, goods or chattels to be laid out and disposed of 
 for the use and benefit of the aforesaid corporation agreeably to the 
 intention of the donors, and according to the objects, articles and condi- 
 tions of this act." 
 
 Such objects clearly are, and forever must be held to be, the objects 
 set forth in the Introduction to the plan of this seminary. They and 
 they only are the objects for which the act of incorporation was procured, 
 at the instance and desire of the General Assembly ; and with the view 
 and for the purpose of effectually and forever securing the funds of the 
 seminary for theological instruction according to the Standards of our 
 Church. It is for such purpose, under the terms of the charter itself, 
 all funds given to this institution, without any specific trust named by 
 the donor, must be held. And to such use and application the courts 
 would certainly and strictly hold the trustees. 
 
 By the sixth section, the General Assembly was authorized to change, 
 at its annual meeting, one-third of the twenty-one trustees of which the 
 corporation was to consist, " in such manner as to the said General Assem- 
 bly shall seem proper. ' ' And the corporation was empowered to manage 
 and dispose of the property " committed to their care and trust by the 
 said General Assembly; but in cases where special instructions for the 
 management and disposal thereof shall be given by the said General 
 Assembly in writing under the hand of their Clerk, it shall be the duty 
 of said corporation to act according to such instructions. ' ' 
 
 The ninth section directed that the corporation should ' ' once in a year 
 exhibit to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, an exact state of the accounts and funds of 
 said corporation." 
 
 This history has been given in order to show how singularly careful the 
 General Assembly and the men who founded the seminary were, so to 
 lay its foundations that then and in all time to come — or, to quote the 
 exact words, a now and in time to come" — the "public" and "the 
 teachers and the pupils of the seminary" might know that it was 
 established solely for the education of men for the Gospel ministry, 
 4i who shall truly believe and cordially love, and therefore endeavor to 
 propagate and defend, in its genuineness, simplicity and fullness, that 
 system of religious belief and practice which is set forth in the Confession 
 of Faith, Catechisms, and Plan of Government and Discipline of the 
 Presbyterian Church. ' ' 
 
 As these Boards understand this history and the charter of the semi- 
 nary, all the property of every kind given to the General Assembly, 
 cither directly or to its corporation since 1811, and now held in any 
 way for this seminary, is sacredly and absolutely devoted to the educa- 
 tion of men for the Gospel ministry, according to the Standards of our Pres- 
 byterian Church; and that no property thus held, or that may hereafter 
 he given to the seminary, or for it, can be used for any other purpose. 
 
438 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 This, also, we are instructed by those learned in the law, is their 
 opinion upon the subject. 
 
 These facts now recited are so inseparably interwoven into the history 
 of our Church and of this seminary, and are so susceptible of easy 
 proof, that it is not necessary, in the opinion of these Boards, to make 
 any amendment to the charter of the corporation. Even if the proposed 
 amendment was inserted in the charter, it would not make it more effec- 
 tive than it now is. 
 
 It is respectfully submitted that the words used in the Plan of this 
 seminary and already quoted are fuller, stronger and more explicit for 
 the purposes sought to be attained by the Assembly than those used in 
 Item a. And, as they are so ineffaceably engraved upon the foundation 
 stones of the semiuary, it is believed by these Boards that it is unneces- 
 sary and unwise to endeavor to add to them. 
 
 II. As to Item b, relating to the election of trustees, directors or com- 
 missioners : 
 
 In so far as this proposed amendment relates to this seminary practi- 
 cally the mode suggested is in substantial accordance with the mode of 
 election now in force. These Boards are distinctly of opinion, and have 
 been for many years, that local Boards of Directors and Trustees are best 
 suited to the proper government and control of the educational and fiscal 
 affairs of the seminaries. As at present constituted, the General Assem- 
 bly can change both Boards in the course of a little over one year. 
 
 III. As to Item c, relating to the election of professors in the semi- 
 nary: 
 
 Virtually the amendment proposed is in accordance with the mode of 
 procedure now existing, with the exception that in the Plan of the 
 seminary the only limit to the qualifications of professors is in Article 
 iii, Sec. 2, viz. : " No person shall be inducted into the office of Profes- 
 sor of Diviuity but an ordained minister of the Gospel." 
 
 If any amendment is to be made like that contemplated, it would seem 
 that c should contain at least a proviso that the directors should have 
 the power to provide such instruction as they may deem necessary, till 
 the next succeeding meeting of the General Assembly. 
 
 IV. As to Item d, relating to the mode of enforcing the views of the 
 Assembly in case of a supposed violation of their duties by the Board 
 of Directors or Trustees: 
 
 This seminary is the creation of the General Assembly, and it is right 
 that it should have a complete mode of enforcing its control of the 
 Boards to whom has been committed the actual management of the 
 educational and financial affairs of the seminary. 
 
 Should the case arise, that the General Assembly was of opinion that 
 the directors or trustees were not performing their duties aright, it could, 
 in a short time, redress the supposed wrong by turning out of office all 
 the directors and trustees. This amendment would strip the Assembly 
 of this power and limit it to an appeal to an impartial court of justice, 
 which would decide as to the alleged violation of duty. 
 
 If the Assembly should still be of opinion that such an amendment 
 should be obtained, the Boards will endeavor to secure such action as will 
 insure to the General Assembly the right to be represented in the courts, 
 and to enforce its proper control over the seminary and its property. 
 
 The foregoing expresses the views of these Boards in regard to the 
 proposed amendments. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 439 
 
 The General Assembly, however, has appointed the Committee of 
 Conference, in order to secure the " approval " and " consent " of these 
 Boards to these amendments. This necessarily implies their hearty 
 " approval" and " consent." The Boards, therefore, feel justified in 
 expressing most respectfully their judgment, that, so far as the proposed 
 amendments apply to this seminary, they are not necessary, and it is 
 better that they should not be made, and for the following reasons: 
 
 First. — As has already been fully shown, all of the property now held 
 by the seminary corporation, or that may be hereafter acquired by it in 
 any way, is distinctly and ineffaceably dedicated to the education of men 
 for the Gospel ministry who shall truly believe and cordially love ' ' in its 
 genuineness, simplicity and fullness, that system of religious belief and 
 practice which is set forth in the Confession of Faith, Catechisms and 
 Plan of Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian Church;" and 
 can be used for no other purpose. 
 
 This has already been so fully stated that no more need be added. 
 
 Second. — The proposed amendments as to the election of directors and 
 trustees and professors are substantially what now exist, and have been 
 successfully in operation during the last twenty-five years. 
 
 Third. — As to the control of the General Assembly over both Boards, 
 the proposed amendments lessen rather than increase the power of the 
 Assembly. 
 
 Under the Plan of the seminary as now existing, the Assembly can r 
 by a unanimous vote at any of its sessions, change the plan, and abolish 
 the whole Board of Directors, and commit the educational control of 
 the seminary to others; and if no unanimous vote can then be procured, 
 at its next session it can accomplish this result. This is a more speedy 
 and efficient remedy than any court of justice can supply. 
 
 Fourth. — As to the control over the trustees, the Assembly now has 
 the power, in the opinion of learned counsel, to give them special 
 instructions for the management and disposal of the property of the 
 seminary, which they are bound to obey, if not repugnant to law or to 
 the provisions of any specific trust. 
 
 In addition, it can, at any of its sessions, turn out one-third of the 
 number, and put in an equal number of its own selection, which might 
 give the Assembly at once a majority of the trustees. And if it did 
 not, then at the next annual meeting of the Assembly it could turn out 
 another third and appoint others in their places, and thus secure an 
 undoubted majority in but little over a year. This is a more speedy 
 and effective remedy than any which any court of justice could supply. 
 
 Fifth. — Should the directors and trustees still refuse to obey the Assem- 
 bly, and to give place to the directors or trustees thus elected by the 
 Assembly, we believe that a court of justice would furnish the General 
 Assembly a proper remedy. 
 
 Lastly. — During nearly eighty-four years the General Assembly has 
 been in complete harmony with the Board of Directors. During nearly 
 seventy-one years precisely the same relations have existed between the 
 General Assembly and the Board of Trustees. There has been no jar 
 with either Board. During these eighty and more years, the Board of 
 Directors and the Board of Trustees, under the wise supervision of the 
 General Assembly, have so managed the educational and financial affairs 
 of the seminary that it has wonderfully prospered; and a great army of 
 ministers of the Gospel have been educated and sent forth, all of whom, 
 
440 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 with but few exceptions, have cordially loved and sincerely believed 
 " the system of religious belief and practice which is set forth in the 
 Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and Plan of Government and Disci- 
 pline of the Presbyterian Church." 
 
 In all of these years the professors and teachers in this seminary have 
 taught and maintained, faithfully and unswervingly, the same beloved 
 Standards of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 And at no time in all its history has the fidelity of the seminary, its 
 professors, teachers, directors and trustees, to the entire Standards of 
 the Church been more clear, absolute and pronounced than at this very 
 time. And never before has its list of pupils been so great as at the 
 present session. 
 
 Is it not the wisest thing to do to let the Plan and the charter— both 
 venerable in years— stand untouched ? They have been tried and have 
 not been found wanting. 
 
 For the reasons herein above fully set forth, the trustees and directors 
 of Princeton Theological Seminary very earnestly express the hope and 
 desire that the Committee of Conference, in making their report to the 
 General Assembly, will concur with them in the belief that as to the 
 charter of this seminary no further legislation is needed or desirable to 
 secure the purposes declared in the Committee's report, adopted by the 
 General Assembly, or to secure the application of the funds and prop- 
 erty now held in furtherance of the theological education contemplated 
 by the original founders of the seminary. — 1895, pp. 153-157. 
 
 10. Action of the Assembly, 1895. 
 
 The Committee recommends the Assembly to reply to Princeton's offer, 
 that while respecting the judgment of the Boards, and not prepared to 
 say that it is incorrect, the Assembly is of the opinion that in order to 
 put the matter beyond all possible question, it would be well for the 
 Boards to do what they express their willingness to do, viz. , to endeavor 
 to secure such action as will insure to the General Assembly the right to 
 be represented in the courts, and to enforce its proper control over the 
 seminary and its property. — 1895, p. 32. 
 
 11. Answer of the Princeton Boards, 1896. 
 
 Resolved, That the two legislative bills prepared by the Joint Com- 
 mittees of the Directors and Trustees, touching the power of the General 
 Assembly to appear and sue in the courts of New Jersey, and to enforce 
 the civil rights of the Church, be approved and be transmitted to the 
 General Assembly's Committee of Conference for consideration. — 1896, 
 p. 187. 
 
 12. Action of the Assembly, 1896. 
 
 The Committee have considered the two bills sent to the Assembly by 
 Princeton Seminary in order that the Assembly might decide which of 
 the two bills submitted it prefers. Of these two bills the Committee 
 recommend the Assembly to prefer the one of three sections. — 1896, p. 
 122. 
 
 13. Request of the Princeton Boards, 1897. 
 
 Resolved, That the Boards of the seminary very respectfully express 
 the hope that the General Assembly will concur in the view entertained 
 by the Boards that all that is necessary to secure the control desired by 
 the Assembly over the seminary will be fully attained by the shorter of 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 441 
 
 the two bills already submitted to the Assembly by the Boards. — 1897, 
 p. 169. 
 
 14. Action of the Assembly, 1897. 
 
 Princeton Seminary again asks the Assembly to designate which of the 
 two legislative bills submitted to the last General Assembly should be 
 adopted. This Assembly refers the directors to the decision of the 
 Assembly of 1896, recorded ou p. 122 of the Minutes, declaring prefer- 
 ence for the short bill of three sections as printed in the Appendix of 
 the Minutes of the last Assembly on p. 187, which decision we recom- 
 mend this Assembly to reaffirm. — 1897, p. 105. 
 
 II. THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT AUBURN. 
 
 [Note, — The Seminary at Auburn was founded in the year 1819, for the purpose of 
 training up a ministry in what was then known as " The Western Country." — 1871, 
 p. 579. Its charter is given here. There is no other printed Plan. The Seminary is 
 under the control of a Board of Trustees and a Board of Commissioners. The latter 
 is composed of three members from each Presbytery of the Synods of Albany, Utica, 
 Geneva and Western New York.— 1873, p. 528. The Presbyteries are eighteen in 
 number, and now included in the Synod of New York.] 
 
 1. The Charter. 
 
 An act to incorporate the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, established by 
 the Synod of Geneva, at Auburn, in the County of Cayuga. Passed 
 April 14, 1820. 
 
 Whereas, It has been represented to this Legislature, by the Committee ap- 
 pointed by and on behalf of the said Synod, that they have established a Theo- 
 logical Seminary at Auburn, in the County of Cayuga, for the purpose of com- 
 pleting the education of pious } r oung men for the Gospel ministry, and have 
 obtained funds to a considerable amount ; and that an act of incorporation 
 would better enable them to obtain and manage the necessary funds for the 
 accomplishment of their benevolent object. Therefore : 
 
 Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate 
 and Assembly, That John Lincklaen, Glen Cuyler, Henry Davis, David Hyde, 
 Thaddeus Edwards, Henry M'Neil, Levi Parsons, Benjamin B. Stockton, Dirck 
 C. Lansing, William Wisner, Henry Axtel, Ebenezer Fitch, David Higgins, 
 Seth Smith and William Brown and their successors, to be appointed as herein- 
 afteris provided, shall be and hereby are constituted a body corporate and politic 
 in fact and in name, by the name of "The Trustees of the Theological Semi- 
 nary of Auburn, in the State of New York," and by that shall have succes- 
 sion and be in law capable of suing and being sued, defending and being de- 
 fended, in all courts and places, and in all manner of action, suits and causes 
 whatsoever, and may have a common seal, and change the same at pleasure ; 
 and by that name and style be capable in law of taking, purchasing, holding 
 and conveying, both in law and equity, any estate, real or personal ; Pro- 
 vided nevertheless, That the clear annual value or income of their real estate 
 shall not exceed three thousand dollars, and that of their personal estate seven 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That there shall forever hereafter be fifteen 
 Trustees of the said corporation, who shall be divided into three classes, to be 
 numbered one, tw T o and three. The places of the first class shall become 
 vacant on the first Wednesday of September, in the year eighteen hundred 
 and twenty-one ; the places of the second class in one year thereafter, and the 
 places of the third class in one year from that time ; and the vacancies in the 
 said several classes occasioned by the expiration of the time of service as 
 aforesaid, or by resignation, death or otherwise, shall be from time to time filled 
 up in the manner hereinafter mentioned and provided. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the said trustees and their successors shall 
 have the immediate care of the said seminary and the management of the 
 estate, both real and personal, of the said institution, and shall have power to 
 sell and otherwise dispose of the same, for the purpose of benefiting the funds 
 of the said institution, and of applying the avails of those funds from time to 
 time to the purposes of the said institution, in such way and manner only, and 
 in such sums as shall be appointed and directed hj the Board of Commission- 
 ers hereinafter mentioned, and shall have power to make necessary by-laws 
 
442 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 and ordinances for the management of the said seminary ; Provided, That the 
 same be not inconsistent with the laws or Constitution of this State or of the 
 United States. And further, it shall be the duty of the said trustees to keep a 
 record and make an annual report to the said Board of Commissioners, of their 
 doings, of the state of their funds and of the names of those whose term of ser- 
 vice is about to expire, and of such other matters as they shall think proper, 
 and also to report the state of their funds to the Legislature as often as they shall 
 be thereunto required. Provided, however, That no student of any Christian 
 denomination shall be excluded from a participation in the privileges of this 
 institution on the ground of his religious persuasion. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the aforesaid John Lincklaen, Glen Cuyler, 
 Henry Davis, David Hyde, Thadcleus Edwards, Henry M'Neil, Levi Parsons, 
 Benjamin B. Stockton, Dirck C. Lansing, William Wisner, Henry Axtel, 
 Ebenezer Fitch, David Higgins, Seth Smith and William Brown be the first 
 trustees of the said corporation, and that they shall hold their first meeting at 
 Lynch's Inn, in the village of Auburn, on the second Wednesday of July 
 next, when they shall proceed to divide themselves by lot into three classes, 
 as aforesaid ; and 
 
 Whereas, The said Committee, on behalf of the said Synod, have further 
 represented that there are other Presbyteries within the State of New York, 
 not connected with the said Synod, who are disposed to associate with them 
 for the purpose of aiding in the accomplishment of the aforesaid benevolent 
 object; therefore, 
 
 Be it further enacted, That a representation, annually to be chosen, of two 
 clergymen and one layman from each of the following Presbyteries (and 
 such other Presbyteries as shall hereafter associate with the said Synod for the 
 purpose aforesaid), to wit : The Presbyteries of Niagara, Genesee, Rochester, 
 Bath, Ontario, Geneva, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and St. Lawrence, shall 
 compose a Board of Commissioners, who shall have the general superintend- 
 ence, management and control of the aforesaid institution ; and who shall 
 have authority to fill the places of the aforesaid trustees as they shall become 
 vacant ; to appoint the tutors, professors and other officers of the said institu- 
 tion ; to fix and determine the salary and other compensation of the said offi- 
 cers ; to authorize and direct all such appropriations of their funds as they 
 shall think proper ; to make by-laws and regulations for themselves ; to choose 
 their own president and other officers and to determine what number of their 
 Board shall form a quorum for doing business. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the said Board of Com- 
 missioners shall be holden at Lynch's Inn, in the village of Auburn, on the 
 second Wednesday of July next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, and that the 
 said Board of Commissioners shall meet afterwards on their own adjourn- 
 ment. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That in case the funds of the aforesaid institution 
 shall at any time hereafter be applied to any purpose other than what is 
 hereby expressed or intended, then and in that case all the privileges and 
 powers hereby granted shall cease and be utterly void. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That this act shall be and hereby is declared to 
 be a public act, and that the same shall be construed benignly and favorably 
 for every beneficial purpose hereby intended ; nor shall any non-user of the 
 privileges hereby granted to the said corporation create or produce any for- 
 feiture of the same ; and no misnomer of the said corporation in any deed, 
 will, testament, gift, grant, demise or other instrument, contract or convey^ 
 ance, shall defeat or vitiate the same. Provided, The said corporation shall 
 be sufficiently described to ascertain the intention of the parties. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That the Legislature may at any time hereafter 
 amend, modify, or repeal this act. 
 
 Amendment. 
 
 An act to amend the act entitled, "An act to incorporate the Presbyterian 
 Theological Seminary, established by the Synod of Geneva, at Auburn, in 
 the County of Cayuga," passed April fourteenth, eighteen hundred and 
 twenty. Passed March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven. 
 
 The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 Section 1. Section five of said act is amended so as to read as follows : 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 443 
 
 Sec. 5. A representation of two clergymen and one layman from each of the 
 Presbyteries comprised in the bounds of the Synods of Geneva, Genesee, Utica 
 and Susquehanna, and such other Presbyteries as shall hereafter associate with 
 said Synods, for the purposes aforesaid, shall compose a Board of Commission- 
 ers, who shall have the general superintendence, management and control of 
 the aforesaid institution, and who shall have authority to fill the places of the 
 aforesaid trustees as they shall become vacant ; to appoint tutors, professors 
 and other officers of the said institution ; to fix and determine, with the con- 
 currence of the Board of Trustees, the salaries and other compensation of said 
 officers, and with the like concurrence, make all other necessary appropria- 
 tions of their funds ; to make by-laws and regulations for themselves ; to 
 choose their own president and other officers of their Board, and to determine 
 what number of their Board shall form a quorum for doing business ; the said 
 commissioners first chosen by each Presbytery, after this act shall take effect, 
 shall be divided into three classes at the next annual meeting, and shall be 
 numbered one, two and three ; the first class shall hold their offices for one 
 year, the second class for two years, and the third class for three years from 
 the time of their respective elections ; and those to be thereafter chosen to fill 
 the vacancies shall hold their offices for three years. Should vacancies occur 
 by removal, resignation or death, the same may be filled by the Presbyteries in 
 which they occur. 
 
 Sec. 2. Real and personal property may be granted and conveyed, devised 
 and bequeathed to the said institution, to beheld in trust for the uses and pur- 
 poses contemplated by the Act hereby amended, provided that the clear an- 
 nual income of their real estate shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars, and 
 that of their personal estate forty thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 3. This act shall take effect immediately, and the Legislature may at 
 any time alter, amend or repeal the same. 
 
 State of New York, 1 
 Secretary's Office, f 
 
 I have compared the preceding with the original law on file in this office, 
 and do hereby certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the 
 whole of said original law. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal of office, at the city of 
 Albany, the twenty-ninth day of May, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven. 
 
 A. N. Wakefield, 
 Deputy Secretary of State, pro tern. 
 
 2. Action of the trustees- and commissioners of Auburn Theological 
 
 Seminary, 1871. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the trustees and commissioners of the theo- 
 logical seminary at Auburn, May 11, 1871, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the Boards of commissioners and trustees of the Auburn 
 Theological Seminary are anxious to comply with the proposal of the last 
 General Assembly to submit the election of professors in this institution 
 to the concurrence of that body, and that a joint Committee be appointed 
 to consider whether the proposal of the General Assembly can be com- 
 plied with without a change of the charter of this seminary ; and if in 
 the judgment of this Committee such a change in the charter is neces- 
 sary, the Prudential Committee is hereby authorized to apply to the 
 coming Legislature in the name of these two Boards to make it. 
 
 They further intimate that one of the embarrassments in their action 
 was that no time was fixed for the action of the General Assembly in the 
 exercise of their proposed veto power. — 1871, p. 579. 
 
 3. The Assembly to approve professors. 
 The commissioners and trustees, at their annual meeting in May, 1873, 
 took final action, declaring, ''That, hereafter, the appointments of pro- 
 fessors in this seminary be primarily made conditional upon the approval 
 
444 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in* the United 
 States, and that such appointments be complete and authoritative only upon 
 securing such approval;" and the Assembly of 1873 recognized this 
 action. — See Minutes, p. 529 ; 1874, p. 104. 
 
 4. Answer of the Auburn Boards, 1895. 
 
 The Board of Commissioners of the Theological Seminary of Auburn, 
 in the State of New York, being met in their annual session on this 9th 
 day of May, 1895, express their gratification that several members of 
 the General Assembly's Committee of Conference with the Theological 
 Seminaries have accepted the invitation to meet and confer with them 
 at this time. The commissioners have listened with interest and pleasure 
 to the explanations given by these gentlemen of the various changes in 
 the charters and methods of control of the theological seminaries 
 recommended by the Assembly of 1894 ; and express the sincere trust 
 that this cordial conference, with its frank interchange of opinion, has 
 resulted in a better mutual understanding of both the views and purposes 
 of the Assembly, and of the peculiar and advantageous position occupied 
 by this seminary. 
 
 The Board desires to remind the Committee of Conference, and 
 through them the General Assembly, that the Theological Seminary of 
 Auburn is, by its charter, under the direct and efficient control of eigh- 
 teen adjacent Presbyteries within the State of New York. With these 
 Presbyteries rests the absolute and exclusive right to elect from their 
 own number the members of this Board of Commissioners, by whom in 
 turn the trustees and professors of the seminary are selected. 
 
 This constitutes a method of direct ecclesiastical control by which this 
 seminary was already, within the meaning of Article ix, of the concur- 
 rent declarations of 1868 of the Reunion compact, under Synodical 
 supervision; and which, we believe, must afford a more effective safe- 
 guard against any possible perversion of funds or franchises than restraint 
 by the General Assembly could possibly secure. This method has also 
 approved and commended itself by its successful and harmonious opera- 
 tion for three-quarters of a century. 
 
 In view of these facts, whereby the charter and government of 
 Auburn Theological Seminary seem already to secure all these substantial 
 ends desired by the General Assembly, and in view also of the difficul- 
 ties and dangers unavoidably attendant upon any attempt to modify a 
 venerable charter, this Board is constrained to reaffirm its judgment, as 
 expressed in November last, that it is inexpedient to take any action 
 which may have in view any changes in the charter, relations or methods 
 of control of this seminary. 
 
 I am directed by the trustees of Auburn Theological Seminary to 
 transmit the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted at 
 our annual meeting, May 9 : 
 
 Resolved, That it is the sense of this Board that it is not expedient to 
 consent to any change in the custody and care of the funds of this insti- 
 tution, or in the mode of the election of members of this Board. — 1895, 
 pp. 158, 159. 
 
 5. Action of the Assembly, 1895. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 11, p. 419, this Digest.] 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 445 
 
 6. Answer of the Auburn Boards, 1896. 
 
 In view of your instructions that ' ' effort should be continued to secure 
 the adoption, in substance, of the Assembly's plan by all the seminaries," 
 and that you " shall fully consider No. 9 of the Concurrent Declara- 
 tions of the Reunion Compact, ' ' we make the following historical state- 
 ment: 
 
 After the opening of Princeton Theological Seminary in 1812 the 
 Presbyteries of Central aud Western New York gave to that seminary 
 their loyal support, sending both students and money. A great need 
 was felt, however, of a theological school in this portion of the Church. 
 This need became manifest after the founding of the Western Education 
 Society in 1817 to aid students for the ministry. Accordingly, in 1818, 
 a resolution was adopted by the Presbytery of Cayuga, favoring the 
 establishment of a theological seminary within the bounds of the Synod 
 of Geneva. An overture to the Synod brought the matter before that 
 body in February, 1818. After long deliberation the Synod voted to 
 take steps preparatory to the establishment of a seminary. A Committee 
 was appointed to secure the approval of the General Assembly. The 
 General Assembly, sitting in Philadelphia in May, 1818, replied that 
 ' ' they were not prepared to give any opinion or advice on the overture, 
 believing that the said Synod are the best judges of what may be their 
 duty in this important business. ' ' 
 
 At its next meeting the Synod voted to establish a theological semi- 
 nary. Auburn was chosen as the site. A charter was prepared, and, 
 after approval by the Synod, was passed by the Legislature of New York 
 State on the 14th of April, 1820. Under the provisions of that charter 
 the governing Boards of the seminary were organized, endowments 
 secured, buildings erected, professors appointed, and at length, in 
 October, 1821, students were received and the work of teaching was 
 begun. In 1857 the charter was amended in a few particulars, but in 
 no wise changed as to its fundamental principles. 
 
 The charter of Auburn creates no self-perpetuating Board of Control. 
 Auburn Seminary has no autonomy. Its founders were intent on 
 making it organically a part of the Presbyterian Church. Their plan, 
 set in order by the Synod and with full permission of the General Assem- 
 bly, was yet wholly Presbyterial. The charter provides that the govern- 
 ment of the seminary shall be vested in a board of fifty-four commis- 
 sioners (chosen three each from eighteen Presbyteries), " who shall 
 have the general superintendence, management and control of the 
 aforesaid institution, and who shall have authority to fill the places of 
 the aforesaid trustees, as they shall become vacant ; to appoint tutors, 
 professors and other officers of the said institution; to fix and determine, 
 with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees, the salaries and other 
 compensation of said officers, and, with the like concurrence, make all 
 other necessary appropriations of their funds; to make by-laws and 
 regulations for themselves; to choose their OAvn president and other 
 officers of their Board, and to determine what number of their Board 
 shall form a quorum for doing business. ' ' A Board of fifteen Trustees is 
 elected (five each year) by the Board of Commissioners, to act as the 
 body corporate and to manage the estate of the seminary. 
 
 The supreme control of the seminary is thus entirely in the hands of 
 the Board of Commissioners. This Board is composed of two ministers 
 
446 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 and one layman from each of the eighteen Presbyteries. As elders are 
 the only laymen having seats in the Presbyteries, it has followed that the 
 Board of Commissioners is composed of thirty-six ministers and eighteen 
 elders, who have all, in their ordination as ministers and elders, solemnly 
 declared their adherence to the doctrines and constitution of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America. Moreover, the power 
 of their election rests back on the eighteen Presbyteries, which are com- 
 posed of 636 ministers and their associated elders, representing 96,546 
 members of the Presbyterian Church. May not that number of Pres- 
 byterians in good standing, being more than one-tenth of the total 
 communicants of the Church, be trusted to manage aright the affairs of 
 a theological seminary ? 
 
 It is readily seen from the above account that the charter of 
 Auburn Seminary is a simple device whereby the Presbyterian Church 
 itself holds the funds and controls the teaching of the seminary. 
 It provides, not simply for a correction of abuses if such should 
 arise (which is the principal virtue of the Assembly's plan you 
 were appointed to further), but for a direct and constant exercise of 
 supreme authority through regularly constituted Presbyteries over all the 
 affairs of the seminary. It makes Auburn Seminary as much a part of 
 the Presbyterian Church as a branch is a part of the vine whose life it 
 shares. 
 
 Under this charter the government of Auburn Seminary has been 
 administered for seventy-six years, during which the history of our 
 Church has been eventful and varied. The seminary has, of course, 
 shared the fate of its governing Presbyteries. When they were 
 exscinded, it was exscinded; when they joined in the Reunion, the 
 seminary came in along with them, and was acknowledged as a trustwor- 
 thy Presbyterian institution. Concurrent Declaration No. 9 of the 
 Reunion Compact covers Auburn's case. It is as follows: 
 
 " In order to a uniform system of ecclesiastical supervision, those 
 theological seminaries that are now under Assembly control may, if their 
 Boards of Direction so elect, be transferred to the watch and care of 
 one or more of the adjacent Synods; and the other seminaries are 
 advised to introduce as far as may be, into their Constitutions, the 
 principle of Synodical or Assembly supervision; in which case they shall 
 be entitled to an official recognition and approbation on the part of the 
 General Assembly." 
 
 We regard this as the seal of the Church's approval upon the govern- 
 ment of our seminary. 
 
 To press upon Auburn the Assembly's plan is plainly contrary to the 
 provisions of this Declaration, for according to the Assembly's plan the 
 final control of the funds and teaching of every seminary which adopts 
 it will be vested in the General Assembly, which, as far as any such 
 seminary is concerned, is made a legal entity with power to sue and 
 enforce its rights. This we regard as subversive of the Auburn princi- 
 ple of government by Presbyteries. 
 
 The efficiency of Auburn's government has been proven by three- 
 quarters of a century of successful operation. It has besides served to 
 bind the seminary very closely to the churches of Northern and Western 
 New York, arousing their interest in the seminary's work, calling out 
 their prayers in its behalf and encouraging a generous financial support. 
 In times of theological differences, Auburn Seminary has been in some 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 447 
 
 measure relieved of annoyance. No one is authorized to define its posi- 
 tion. It has no position of its own, save as it is identified with the Pres- 
 byteries which absolutely control its policy. 
 
 Never has the government of Auburn ever proved itself more flexible 
 and efficient than in this present time when the work of the seminary is 
 greatly expanding. In view of all these considerations we most warmly 
 and enthusiastically hold to our present charter, as attaining, more fully 
 than does the Assembly's plan, the worthy object for which your Com- 
 mittee was originally appointed, and which was reaffirmed in your 
 instructions by the Assembly of 1895, viz. : " That the Assembly is 
 persuaded that the Church should have direct connection with and control 
 over its theological seminaries." 
 
 In conclusion, we, the Board of Commissioners, express our firm 
 conviction that Auburn Seminary ought to be continued under its present 
 form of government, which was devised and instituted with the full 
 knowledge and permission of the General Assembly, which, being Pres- 
 byterial, has accorded well with the spirit and methods of the Presby- 
 terian Church through seventy-six years of successful administration, 
 and which is distinctly recognized and commended in Concurrent Decla- 
 ration No. 9 of the Reunion Compact referred to in your instructions. — 
 1896, pp. 189, 190. 
 
 7. Action of the Assembly, 1896. 
 
 The Committee of Conference with the Theological Seminaries also 
 reported in reference to the scope and effect of Concurrent Resolution No. 
 9, of the Assemblies of 1869, including an answer to a communication 
 from Auburn Seminary. The report was adopted and is as follows : 
 
 The General Assembly of 1895 instructed its Committee on Theological 
 Seminaries by the following resolution: 
 
 " That this Committee be instructed that in the prosecution of its 
 work, and in its report to the next General Assembly, it shall fully con- 
 sider No. 9 of the Concurrent Declarations of the Reunion Compact in 
 relation to those seminaries now under Synodical and Presbyterial 
 control. ' ' 
 
 No. 9 of the Concurrent Declarations here referred to was adopted by 
 the General Assembly of 1869, and is in the following words: 
 
 " In order to a uniform system of ecclesiastical supervision, those theo- 
 logical seminaries that are now under Assembly control may, if their 
 Boards of Directors so elect, be transferred to the watch and care of one 
 or more of the adjacent Synods ; and the other seminaries are advised to 
 introduce, as far as may be, into their constitutions, the principle of 
 Synodical or Assembly supervision ; in which case they shall be entitled 
 to an official recognition and approbation on the part of the General 
 Assembly." 
 
 Declaration No. 9 sets forth (1) a principle, viz., a uniform system 
 of ecclesiastical supervision of the seminaries, (2) methods of securing 
 such supervision by Synod or Assembly, and (3) the offer of official 
 recognition and approbation on the part of the General Assembly. 
 
 It was found that while all of the seminaries approved of the principle 
 of uniform supervision, most of them disapproved of the method of 
 direct Assembly control by which the Assembly elected the professors, 
 and no seminary approved of Synodical supervision. The next year 
 Union Seminary suggested a method which has since been known as the 
 
448 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Compact of 1870. This is the method of giving the Assembly the veto 
 power, and was acceptable to all of the seminaries. All went well until 
 it was found that the Assembly could not make its veto power ' effective. 
 
 Then the Assembly was compelled in righteousness and self-defense to 
 say to all of the seminaries that it was necessary to put the Compact of 
 1870 into legal form, so that, in the event of any seminary refusing to 
 be bound by the veto of the Assembly, such veto could be enforced. 
 
 The answer of Auburn Seminary made to this Assembly seems to your 
 Committee to be in error in two points: (1) In supposing that the intent 
 or effect of the Assembly's recommendations is to vest in the Assembly 
 the final control of the funds of our seminaries. This is replied to in the 
 main report of this Committee. (2) In affirming that the " Presbyterial 
 relation of Auburn Seminary is distinctly recognized and commended in 
 Concurrent Declaration No. 9. ' ' That declaration sets forth Synodical 
 or Assembly supervision and not Presbyterial. Auburn Seminary never 
 amended its charter so as to come under the supervision of any Synod. 
 The Presbyteries which elected the Commissioners of Auburn Seminary 
 constituted the Synod of Geneva, but the Synod, as such, never had any 
 relation to, much less supervision of, Auburn Seminary. The Assembly 
 heartily recognizes the fact that the history of Auburn Seminary puts it 
 into a different situation from that of some of the other seminaries. It is 
 in the control of eighteen Presbyteries, but the only relation existing 
 between the Assembly and the seminary is a resolution of its Board 
 giving the right of approval to the election of its professors. The Assem- 
 bly has found that a simple resolution of a seminary Board may become 
 invalid by subsequent action of that Board and thus be of no effect. 
 While there is not now and never has been any difference of judgment 
 between the Assembly and the Auburn Board, yet the Assembly desires 
 to know if there should arise a difference of judgment which judgment 
 should prevail ? We believe that those who at present have charge of 
 Auburn Seminary would reply that the judgment of the Assembly should 
 prevail. As the General Assembly has no assurance that a subsequent 
 Board would not feel at liberty to disregard the Assembly's judgment, 
 the Assembly asks Auburn Seminary that the agreement which now 
 exists under the form of a simple resolution be made legally effective and 
 binding.— 1896, pp. 124, 125. 
 
 8. Answer of the Auburn Boards, 1897. 
 
 Resolved, That the following reply be sent to the General Assembly of 
 1897, in view of the instructions voted by the General Assembly of 
 1896, to the Boards of Control of Theological Seminaries: 
 
 Having duly considered the recommendations of the last General 
 Assembly, regarding the safeguarding of the funds and teaching in 
 the several theological seminaries, we, the Board of Commissioners of 
 Auburn Theological Seminary, are happy to announce that another suc- 
 cessful year of seminary administration has confirmed us in the truth of 
 our statement made to the Assembly of 1896: 
 
 ' ' The control of Auburn Seminary, at first exercised by the Synod of 
 Geneva, through its ten Presbyteries, and later by the Synods of Geneva, 
 Genesee, Utica and Susquehanna, through their eighteen Presbyteries, 
 and now through those same eighteen Presbyteries, forming a part of the 
 great Synod of New York, and which we believe is referred to in 
 resolution No. 9 of the Reunion Compact, is so sure, so flexible, so 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 449 
 
 thoroughly Presbyterian, and has been administered with so remarkable 
 success during seventy-six years, that we can devise no changes, which, 
 in our judgment, will enable the Church to have a more effective control 
 of our seminary." 
 
 We, therefore, with great pleasure, assure you of our fulfillment of 
 the instruction of the General Assembly of 1896 to the Boards of con- 
 trol of the various seminaries, viz.: " That they may see their way clear 
 to come to such a conclusion, that all the funds and property in their 
 hands, and the teaching in said seminaries, may be so completely safe- 
 guarded to the Church, that benevolent persons contemplating making 
 gifts or bequests to these institutions may have the fullest confidence in 
 the future security of said gifts or bequests. ' ' 
 
 Adopted May 6, 1897. 
 
 A true copy of the original on file. 
 
 [1897, p. 107.] Frederick W. Palmer, Stated Clerk 
 
 9. Action of the Assembly, 1897. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 13, p. 421, this Digest.] 
 
 III. WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT ALLEGHENY, PA. 
 
 [Note.— For the history of its founding, etc., see Baird's Digest, 1858, pp. 444-447, 
 and Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 387-389 ; also pp. 393-395.] 
 
 1. The Plan of the Western Seminary. 
 Article I. Of the General Assembly. 
 
 1. As this institution derives its origin from the General Assembly, 
 that body is to be considered its patron and the fountain of its powers. 
 
 2. The Board of Directors shall have the immediate control of the 
 seminary. 
 
 3. The General Assembly shall, at all times, have the power of adding 
 to the Constitutional articles of the seminary, and of abrogating, alter- 
 ing or amending them ; but, in the exercise of this power, the contem- 
 plated additions, abrogations, alterations or amendments, shall, in every 
 case, be proposed at one Assembly, and not adopted till the Assembly 
 of the subsequent year, except by unanimous vote. 
 
 Article II. Of the Board of Directors. 
 
 1 . The Board of Directors shall consist of forty members, twenty-eight 
 ministers and twelve ruling elders ; one -fourth to be chosen annually, and 
 shall have power to fill any vacancies which may hereafter occur in 
 the body, subject always, however, to the veto of the General Assembly, 
 the election to be (by ballot) at the regular spring meeting. 
 
 2. The Board of Directors shall have power to elect the professors, 
 and to remove them from office, such election and removal to be subject 
 to the veto of the General Assembly. The said Board shall also have 
 power to suspend temporarily a professor preliminary to and pending an 
 investigation of charges against his life or doctrine. 
 
 3. The Board of Directors shall meet statedly twice in each year, once 
 in the spring and once in the fall, and oftener on their own adjourn- 
 ments, if they shall judge it expedient. Eleven members of the Board 
 shall be a quorum; Provided, always, That of this number, five, at 
 least, be ministers of the Gospel. 
 
 4. The Board shall choose out of their own number, a president, vice- 
 
450 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 president and secretary. In the absence of the president and vice-presi- 
 dent, the senior member present shall preside. 
 
 5. The president of the Board, or in the event of his death, absence, 
 or inability to act, the vice-president shall, at the request of any three 
 members, expressed to him in writing, call a special meeting of the 
 Board of Directors by a circular letter addressed to each ; in which letter 
 notice shall be given, not only of the place and time of meeting, but of 
 the business intended to be transacted at the meeting notified ; and this 
 letter shall be sent at least ten days before the time of said meeting. 
 
 6. The secretary of the Board shall keep accurate records of all the 
 proceedings of the directors; and it shall be his duty to lay these 
 records, or a faithful transcript of the same, before the General Assem- 
 bly, when required, for the unrestrained inspection of all the members. 
 
 7. The Board shall direct the professors of the seminary, in regard to 
 the subjects and topics on which they are severally to give instructions 
 to the pupils, so far as the same shall not be prescribed by this plan. 
 
 8. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to inaugurate the 
 professors of the seminary, and to direct what forms shall be used, and 
 what services performed, on such occasions. 
 
 9. Every director, previously to his taking his seat as a member of 
 the Board, shall solemnly subscribe the following formula, viz.: "Ap- 
 proving the plan of the Western Theological Seminary of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, I solemnly declare and 
 promise, in the presence of God and of this Board, that I will faithfully 
 endeavor to carry into effect all the articles and provisions of said plan, 
 and to promote the great design of the seminary." 
 
 10. The Board of Directors shall inspect the fidelity of the professors, 
 especially in regard to the doctrines actually taught; and if, after due 
 inquiry and examination, they shall judge that any professor is either 
 unsound in the faith, opposed to the fundamental principles of Presby- 
 terian Church government, immoral in his conduct, unfaithful to his trust, 
 or incompetent to the discharge of his duties, they shall forthwith 
 remove him, and appoint another in his place. 
 
 11. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to watch over the 
 conduct of the students; to redress grievances; to examine into the whole 
 course of instruction and study in the seminary, and generally to super- 
 intend and endeavor to promote all its interests. 
 
 Article III. Of the Professors. 
 
 1. The number of the professors in the seminary shall be increased or 
 diminished as the Board of Directors shall, from time to time, direct. 
 
 2. No person shall be inducted into the office of professor of divinity 
 but an ordained minister of the Gospel. 
 
 3. Every person elected to a professorship in the seminary shall, upon 
 being inaugurated, solemnly subscribe the Confession of Faith, Cate- 
 chisms and Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church, agreeably 
 to the following formula, viz.: " In the presence of God and of the 
 directors of this seminary, I do solemnly and ex animo adopt, receive 
 and subscribe the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, as the confession of 
 my faith, or as a summary and just exhibition of that system of doctrine 
 and religious belief which is contained in Holy Scripture, and therein 
 revealed by God to man for his salvation ; and I do solemnly ex animo 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 451 
 
 profess to receive the Form of Government of said Church, as agreeable 
 to the inspired oracles. And I do solemnly promise and engage, not to 
 inculcate, teach or insinuate anything which shall appear to me to con- 
 tradict or contravene, either directly or impliedly, anything taught in the 
 said Confession of Faith or Catechisms: nor to oppose any of the 
 fundamental principles of Presbyterian Church government while I shall 
 continue a professor in this seminary. 
 
 4. The salaries of the professors shall be fixed by the Board of Directors. 
 
 5. Each professor shall lay before the Board of Directors, as soon as 
 practicable after his appointment, a detailed exhibition of the system 
 and method which he proposes to pursue, and the subjects which he 
 proposes to discuss in conducting the studies of the youth that shall 
 come under his care; and in this system he shall make such alterations 
 or additions as the Board shall direct, so that eventually the whole course 
 through which the pupils shall be carried, shall be no other than that 
 which the Board of Directors shall have approved and sanctioned con- 
 formably to Art. II, Sec. 7. And as often as any professor shall think 
 that variations and additions of importance may be advantageously 
 introduced into his course of teaching, he shall submit the same to the 
 Board of Directors for approbation or rejection. 
 
 6. Any professor intending to resign his office, shall give six months' 
 notice of such intention to the Board of Directors. 
 
 7. The professors of the institution shall be considered as a faculty. 
 They shall meet at such seasons as they may judge proper. In every 
 meeting the senior professor present shall preside. The faculty shall 
 choose a clerk, and keep accurate records of all their proceedings, which 
 records shall be laid before the directors at every meeting of the Board. 
 The president of the faculty. ?'. e., the senior professor, shall call a meet- 
 ing whenever he shall judge it expedient, and whenever requested by any 
 other member. By the faculty, regularly convened, shall be determined 
 the hours and seasons at which the classes shall attend the professors 
 severally, so as to prevent interference and confusion, and to afford to 
 the pupils the best opportunities of improvement. The faculty shall 
 attend to and decide on all cases of discipline, and all questions of order, 
 as they shall arise. They shall agree on the rules of order, decorum and 
 duty (not inconsistent with any provision in the plan of the seminary, 
 nor with any order of the Board of Directors), to which the students 
 shall be subjected, and these they shall reduce to writing, and cause to 
 be publicly and frequently read. They shall determine the hours at 
 which the whole of the pupils shall, morning and evening, attend for 
 social worship ; and the manner in which, and the person or persons of 
 their own number by whom, the exercises of devotion shall be con- 
 ducted. 
 
 B . The faculty is empowered to dismiss from the seminary any student 
 who shall prove unsound in his religious sentiments, immoral or disor- 
 derly in his conduct, or who may be, in their opinion, on any account 
 whatsoever, a dangerous, or unprofitable member of the institution. 
 
 9. It shall be the duty of the professors, under the direction of the 
 Board of Directors, to supply the pupils of the institution with the 
 preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of the sacraments of 
 the Christian Church ; if this supply shall not, in the judgment of the 
 directors, be satisfactorily furnished by a church or churches in the place 
 where the institution is established. 
 
452 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Article IV. Of Study and Attainments. 
 
 As the particular course of study pursued in any institution will, and 
 perhaps ought to, be modified in a considerable degree, by the views 
 and habits of the teachers, and ought, moreover, to be varied, altered 
 or extended, as experience may suggest improvements, it is judged proper 
 to specify, not so precisely the course of study as the attainments which 
 must be made. Therefore, 
 
 1. Every student, at the close of his course, must have made the 
 following attainments, viz. : He must be well skilled in the original 
 languages of the Holy Scriptures. He must be able to explain the prin- 
 cipal difficulties which arise in the perusal of the Scriptures, either from 
 erroneous translations, apparent inconsistencies, real obscurities or 
 objections arising from history, reason or argument. He must be versed 
 in Jewish and Christian antiquities, which serve to explain and illustrate 
 Scripture. He must have an acquaintance with ancient geography, and 
 with Oriental customs, which throw light on the sacred records. Thus 
 he will have laid the foundation for becoming a sound Biblical critic. 
 
 He must have read and digested the principal arguments and writings 
 relative to what has been called the deistical controversy. Thus will he 
 be qualified to become a defender of the Christian faith. 
 
 He must be able to support the doctrines of the Confession of Faith 
 and Catechisms, by a ready, pertinent and abundant quotation of Scrip- 
 ture texts for that purpose. He must have studied carefully and correct- 
 ly, natural, didactic, polemic and casuistic theology. He must have a 
 considerable acquaintance with general history and chronology, and a 
 particular acquaintance with the history of the Christian Church. Thus 
 he will be preparing to become an able and sound divine and casuist. 
 
 He must have read a considerable number of the best practical writers 
 on the subject of religion. He must have learned to compose with 
 correctness and readiness in his own language, and to deliver what he 
 has composed to others in a natural and acceptable manner. He must 
 be well acquainted with the several parts, and the proper structure of 
 popular lectures and sermons. He must have composed at least two 
 lectures and four popular sermons, that shall have been approved by the 
 professors. He must have carefully studied the duties of the pastoral 
 care. Thus he will be prepared to become a useful preacher and a 
 faithful pastor. 
 
 He must have studied attentively the form of Church government 
 authorized by the Scriptures, and the administration of it as it has taken 
 place in Protestant Churches. Thus he will be qualified to exercise 
 discipline, and to take part in the government of the Church in all its 
 judicatories. 
 
 2. The period of continuance in the theological seminary shall, in no 
 case, be less than three years, previously to an examination for a certifi- 
 cate of approbation. But students may enter the seminary, and enjoy 
 the course of instruction for a shorter time than three years; Provided, 
 They in all other respects submit to the laws of the seminary, of which 
 facts they may receive a written declaration from the professors. 
 
 3. There shall be an examination of all the pupils in the seminary at 
 every stated spring meeting of the Board of Directors. These pupils, 
 who shall have regularly and diligently studied for three years, shall be 
 admitted to an examination on the subjects specified in this article. All 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 453 
 
 examinations shall be conducted by the professors, in the presence of the 
 directors, or a committee of them. Every director present shall be at 
 liberty, during the progress of any examination, or after the same shall 
 have been closed by the professors, to put to any pupil such questions as 
 he shall deem proper. Every pupil who shall have passed his final 
 examination, and at least one previous annual examination, to the satis- 
 faction of the directors present, shall receive a certificate of the same, 
 signed by the professors, with which he shall be remitted to the Pres- 
 bytery under whose care he is placed, to be disposed of as such Presby- 
 tery shall direct. Those who do not pass a satisfactory examination 
 shall remain a longer space in the seminary. 
 
 4. It shall be the object of the professors to make such arrangements 
 in the instruction of their pupils as shall be best adapted to enable them 
 in the space of three years to be examined with advantage on the 
 subjects specified in this article. 
 
 Article V. Of Devotion and Improvement in Practical Piety. 
 
 It ought to be considered as an object of primary importance by every 
 student in the seminary, to be careful and vigilant not to lose that 
 inward sense of the power of godliness which he may have attained ; but, 
 on the contrary, to grow continually in a spirit of enlightened devotion 
 and fervent piety; deeply impressed with the recollection that without 
 this, all his other acquisitions will be comparatively of little worth, either 
 to himself or to the Church of which he is to be a minister. 
 
 He must remember, too, that this is a species of improvement which 
 must of necessity be left, in a great measure, with himself, as a concern 
 between God and his own soul. 
 
 It is proper, however, to delineate the path of duty, to express the 
 wishes and expectations of the founders of the seminary, and to make 
 such requirements as the nature of the subject will permit. Hence: 
 
 1. It is expected that every student in the theological seminary will 
 spend a portion of time every morning and evening in devout medita- 
 tion and self- recollection and examination ; in reading the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, solely with a view to a personal and practical application of the 
 passage read, to his own heart, character and circumstances; and in 
 humble fervent prayer and praise to God in secret. 
 
 The whole of every Lord' s day is to be devoted to devotional exercises, 
 either of a social or secret kind. Intellectual pursuits, not immediately 
 connected with devotion or the religion of the heart, are on that day to 
 be foreborne. The books to be read are to be of a practical nature. 
 The conversations had with each other are to be chiefly on religious 
 subjects. Associations for prayer and praise, and for religious conference, 
 calculated to promote a growth in grace, are also proper for this day; 
 subject to such regulations as the professors and directors may see proper 
 to prescribe. It is wished and recommended, that each student should 
 ordinarily set apart one day in each month for special prayer and self- 
 examination in secret and also that he should, on suitable occasions, 
 attend to the duty of fasting. 
 
 2. If any student shall exhibit in his general deportment, a levity or 
 indifference in regard to practical religion, though it do not amount to 
 any overt act of irreligion or immorality, it shall be the duty of the 
 professor who may observe it, to admonish him tenderly and faithfully in 
 
454 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 private, and endeavor to engage him to a more holy temper, and a more 
 exemplary deportment. 
 
 3. If a student, after due admonition, persist in a system of conduct 
 not exemplary in regard to religion, he shall be dismissed from the 
 seminary. 
 
 4. The professors are particularly charged, by all the proper means in 
 their power, to encourage, cherish and promote devotion and personal 
 piety among their pupils, by warning and guarding them, on the one 
 hand, against formality and indifference, and on the other, against osten- 
 tation and enthusiasm ; by inculcating practical religion in their lectures 
 and recitations; by taking suitable occasions to converse with their pupils 
 privately on this interesting subject; and by all other means, incapable 
 of being minutely specified, by which they may foster true experimental 
 religion, and unreserved devotedness to God. 
 
 Article VI. Of the Students. 
 
 1. Every student applying for admission to the theological seminary 
 shall produce satisfactory testimonials that he possesses good natural 
 talents, and is of a prudent and discreet deportment; that he is in full 
 communion with some regular church; that he has passed through a 
 regular course of academical study, or, wanting this, he shall submit 
 himself to an examination in regard to the branches of literature taught 
 in such a course. 
 
 2. The first six months of every student in the seminary shall be 
 considered as probationary ; and if, at the end of this period, any student 
 shall appear to the professors not qualified to proceed in his studies, they 
 shall so report him to the Board of Directors, who, if they are of the 
 same opinion with the professors, shall dismiss him from the seminary. 
 
 3. The hours of study and of recreation for the students shall be fixed 
 by the professors, with the concurrence of the directors, and every 
 student shall pay a strict regard to the rules established relative to this 
 subject. 
 
 4. Every student shaH be obliged to write on such theological and other 
 subjects as may be prescribed to him by the professors. In the first 
 year, every student shall be obliged to produce a written composition on 
 such subjects at least once in every month ; in the second year, once in 
 three weeks ; in the third year, once in two weeks. Once a month each 
 student shall also commit to memory a piece of his own composition, and 
 pronounce it in public, before the professors and students. 
 
 5. Every student shall not only preserve an exemplary moral charac- 
 ter, but shall be expected to treat his teachers with the greatest deference 
 and respect, and all other persons with civility. 
 
 6. Every student shall yield a prompt and ready obedience to all the 
 lawful requisitions of the professors and directors. 
 
 7. Diligence and industry in study shall be considered as indispensable 
 in every student, unless the want of health shall prevent, of which the 
 professors shall take cognizance, and make the suitable allowance. 
 
 8. Strict temperance in meat and drink is expected of every student, 
 with cleanliness and neatness in his dress and habits; while all excessive 
 expense in clothing is strictly prohibited. 
 
 9. Every student, before he takes his standing in the seminary, shall 
 subscribe the following declaration, viz.: "Deeply impressed with a 
 sense of the importance of improving in knowledge, prudence and piety, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 455 
 
 in my preparation for the Gospel ministry, I solemnly promise, in a 
 reliance on divine grace, that I will faithfully and diligently attend to 
 all the instructions of this seminary, and that I will conscientiously and 
 vigilantly observe all the rules and regulations specified in the plan for 
 its instruction and government, so far as the same relate to the students ; 
 and that I will obey all the lawful requisitions, and readily yield to all 
 the wholesome admonitions of the professors and directors of the 
 seminary, while I shall continue a member of it." 
 
 10. The term of study in the seminary shall commence on the second 
 Monday in September, annually, and continue till Wednesday before 
 the fourth Tuesday in April of the following year. 
 
 Article VII Of the Funds. 
 
 1. The Board of Directors are authorized to exercise all the control of 
 the funds belonging to this institution, hitherto exercised by the General 
 Assembly, as far as this can be done consistently with the will of the 
 testators and donors; such as fixing the salary of the professors, 
 regulating the amount required for endowment of scholarships or profes- 
 sorships, and keeping sacred and distinct the different funds already 
 created, or to be hereafter created, for the specific objects for which they 
 are given. 
 
 2. All matters relating to the finances except fixing the salaries of 
 professors, the extent of endowment, and the aid of students, shall be, 
 by the Board of Directors, submitted to the trustees of the seminary for 
 their approval. 
 
 3. Fair and full statements shall be annually presented to the Assem- 
 bly, by the Board of Directors or by the trustees, of the amount of 
 funds belonging to the seminary, of the items which constitute that 
 amount, and of the receipts and expenditures in detail for the preceding 
 year. 
 
 4. The intention and directions of testators or donors, in regard to 
 moneys or other property left, or given to the seminary, shall, at all 
 times, be sacredly regarded. And if any individual or any number of 
 individuals, not greater than three, shall by will, or during his or their 
 lives, found or endow a professorship or professorships, a scholarship or 
 scholarships, or a fund or funds, destined to special purposes, said pro- 
 fessorships, scholarships or funds shall forever afterwards be called and 
 known by the name or names of those who founded or endowed them, 
 unless otherwise directed. And if any congregation, Presbytery, Synod 
 or association, shall found a professorship or professorships, scholarship 
 or scholarships, or a fund or funds, said professorship or professorships, 
 or scholarship or scholarships, fund or funds, shall forever afterwards 
 be called or known by such name as the body founding them shall 
 give.* 
 
 5. After supporting the professors, and defraying the other necessary 
 charges of the seminary, the funds shall be applied, as far as circum- 
 stances will admit, to defray or dimmish the expenses of those students 
 who may need pecuniary aid, as well as to lessen, generally, the expense 
 of a residence at the seminary. 
 
 * The sum necessary to endow a professorship is not less than $25,000 ; and to endow 
 a scholarship not less than $3000. These sums, however, taking things at their 
 present value, are quite too small. New action is hence called for on this subject. — 
 Publishing Committee. 
 
456 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Article VIII. Of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 1. The Board of Trustees of the Western Theological Seminary, as 
 incorporated by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, consists of 
 thirty members, to be elected by the General Assembly when meeting 
 in the State of Pennsylvania, and no more than one-third to be changed 
 in any one year. 
 
 2. To the trustees is committed the custody and disbursement of the 
 funds of the institution for the purposes for which they were appro- 
 priated by the donors, or according to the plan of the seminary. 
 
 3. The Board of Trustees shall meet twice in each year (in April and 
 in November), at such time and place as may be designated, and oftener 
 on their own adjournment, or on the call of the president. 
 
 4. The officers of the Board shall consist of a president, vice-presi- 
 dent, secretary and treasurer, to be chosen annually, at the spring meeting 
 of the Board, and to continue in office until their successors are elected. 
 
 2. The Charter of the Western Seminary. 
 
 No. 116. 
 
 An act incorporating the Trustees of the Western Theological Seminary of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, at the City of 
 Allegheny, in the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, That David McConaughy, A. O. Patter- 
 son, Robert Dunlap, A. D. Campbell, N. Gillett, James Culbertson, Absalom 
 McCready, Robert Johnson, William Jeffrey, C. C. Beatty, Samuel McFar- 
 ren, Loyal Young, Geo. Marshall, Algernon McMaster, Alexander Laughlin, 
 Francis' G. Bailey, Thos. Kiddoo, Harmar Denny, Alexander Semple, Malcom 
 Leech, Francis Herron, E. P. Swift, Matthew Brown, W. B. Mcllvaine, John 
 Stockton, Ebenezer Graham, Jas. Alexander, Robert Wray, Benjamin Wil- 
 liams and Frederick Lorenz, and their successors duly elected and appointed 
 in the manner as is hereinafter directed, be and they are hereby made, de- 
 clared, and constituted a corporation and body politic and corporate in law 
 and in fact, to have continuance forever, by the name, style and title of " The 
 Trustees of the Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America" and by the name, style and title aforesaid shall 
 forever hereafter be persons able and capable in law, as well to take, receive 
 and hold all and all manner of lands, tenements, rents, annuities, reversions, 
 franchises, and other hereditaments whatsoever, which at any time or times 
 heretofore have been granted, bargained, sold, enfeoffed, released, devised or 
 otherwise conveyed or vested for the use of the Western Theological Semi- 
 nary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, located at 
 the City of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, in or to any other person or 
 persons, to the use of said seminary, or in trust for the same, by this Common- 
 wealth, or by any person or persons whomsoever ; and the same lands, tene- 
 ments, rents, annuities, reversions, liberties, franchises, and other heredita- 
 ments, are hereby vested and established in said corporation forever, accord- 
 ing to the original use and intent for which such devises, gifts, grants, 
 releases, or other conveyances were respectively made ; and the said corpora- 
 tion and their successors are hereby declared to be seized and possessed of 
 such estate and estates therein, as in and by their respective grants, bargains, 
 sales, enfeoffments, gifts, devises, releases/ and other conveyances thereof, is 
 or are declared, limited or expressed ; also, that the said corporation and their 
 successors at all times hereafter shall be capable and able to purchase, have 
 and receive, take, hold and enjoy in fee simple, or of lesser estate or estates, 
 all and all manner of lands, tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and hered- 
 itaments, by the gift, grant, bargain, sale, alienation, enfeoffment, release, 
 confirmation or devise, to any person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, 
 capable and able to make the same ; and further, that the said corporation and 
 their successors may take and receive any sum or sums of money and any por- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 457 
 
 tion of goods and chattels that have been given or bequeathed to, and for the 
 use of, the Western Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, at the City of Allegheny, or to the Directors 
 thereof, or to any other person or persons, body politic or corporate, in trust 
 or for the use of said seminary ; or that shall hereafter be given, sold, leased, 
 or bequeathed to the said corporation, by any person or persons, body politic 
 or corporate, that is able or capable to make sale, lease, bequeath or other dis- 
 posal of the same, such money, goods or chattels, to be laid out and disposed 
 of for the use and benefit of the aforesaid corporation, agreeably to the will 
 and intention of the donors, and according to the objects and articles, and 
 conditions of this act, or according to the articles and by-laws of said 
 corporation ; 
 
 Provided, That this act shall not be so construed as to impair or affect the 
 right of other persons or corporations, or to vest in said corporation any other 
 estate, right or title in the lands and tenements heretofore held by any person 
 or persons for the use of said Western Theological Seminary, by grant from 
 the Commonwealth or conveyance from any person or persons, than were held 
 and enjoyed by such person or persons at, or before the passage of this act ; 
 and that in all suits now pending, or hereafter brought, concerning the real 
 estate held or claimed by any person or persons, for the use of said Seminary, 
 prior to the passage of this act, the right and title to the same shall be tried 
 and determined as if this act had not been passed. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no mis- 
 nomer of the said corporation and their successors shall defeat or annul any 
 gift, grant, devise or bequest, to or for the said corporation ; Provided, The 
 intent of the party or parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the 
 gift, grant, will or other writing whereby any estate or interest was intended 
 to pass to or for the said corporation. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation and their successors shall have full power to make, have and use 
 one common seal, with such device and inscription as they shall deem proper, 
 and the same to break, alter and renew at their pleasure. 
 
 Sec. 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation and their successors by the name, style and title aforesaid, shall 
 be able and capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any 
 court or courts, before any judge or judges, justice or justices, in all and in all 
 manner of suits, complaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands, of whatso- 
 ever nature, kind or form they may be ; and all and every matter and thing to 
 do, in as full and effectual a manner as any other person or persons, body 
 politic and corporate, within this Commonwealth may or can do. 
 
 Sec 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation and their successors shall be, and hereby are, authorized and em- 
 powered to make, ordain and establish rules, by-laws and ordinances, and do 
 everything needful and incident for the due and good government and support 
 of the affairs of the said corporation, and managing the funds and revenues 
 thereof; Provided, That the said rules and by-laws and ordinances be not repug- 
 nant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, to the Constitution 
 and laws of this Commonwealth or to this act. 
 
 Sec. 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation shall not consist at any time of more than thirty persons, nine of 
 whom shall at all times be laymen, and citizens of the State of Pennsylvania, 
 whereof the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America may at their annual meeting change one-third in such man- 
 ner as to the said General Assembly shall seem proper ; and the corporation 
 aforesaid shall have power and authority to manage and dispose of all moneys, 
 goods, chattels, lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all other estates 
 whatsoever, committed to their care and trust, by the said General Assembly ; 
 but in cases where special instructions for the management and disposal 
 thereof shall be given by the said General Assembly in writing under the 
 hand of their clerk, it shall be the duty of the said corporation to act accord- 
 ing to such instructions ; Provided, That the instructions shall not be repug- 
 nant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, or to the Constitution 
 and laws of this State, or to this act. 
 
 Sec 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That seven 
 members of this corporation, whereof the president, or in his absence, the 
 
458 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 vice-president, to be one, shall be a sufficient number to transact the business 
 thereof, and to make by-laws, rules and regulations ; Provided, That previous 
 to any meeting of the Board or corporation for such purposes, not appointed 
 by adjournment, ten days' notice shall be previously given thereof by the 
 secretary or clerk of the said corporation to each of the members of the same ; 
 and the said corporation shall, as often as they shall see proper, and according 
 to the rules by them to be prescribed, choose 'out of their number a president, 
 a vice-president and secretary ; and shall have authority to appoint a treas- 
 urer and such other officers and servants, as shall by them, the said corpora- 
 tion, be deemed necessary ; to which officers the said corporation may assign 
 such a compensation for their services, and such duties to be performed by 
 them, to continue in office for such a time, and to be succeeded by others, in 
 such a way and manner, as the said corporation may direct. 
 
 Sec. 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all ques- 
 tions before the said corporation shall be decided by a plurality of rotes, 
 whereof each member present shall have one, except the president, or vice- 
 president when acting as president, who shall have only the casting voice or 
 vote in case of an equality in the votes of the other members. 
 
 Sec. 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said 
 corporation shall keep fair and regular entries of their proceedings, and a just 
 account of their receipts and disbursements, in a book provided for that pur- 
 pose ; and shall, once in a year, exhibit to the General Assembly of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the United States of America an exaet state of the ac- 
 counts and funds of the said corporation. 
 
 Sec 10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said 
 corporation may take, receive, purchase, possess and enjoy messuages, houses, 
 lands, tenements, rents, annuities and other hereditaments, real and personal 
 estate of any amount ; Provided, That the clear yearly value and income shall 
 not exceed the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 11. That the Legislature expressly reserves the right at any time here- 
 after to construe, alter, amend or repeal all or any of the provisions of this 
 act. Signed, James Ross Sxowden, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 William Bigler, 
 
 Speaker of tin Senate. 
 
 Approved the twenty-ninth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and 
 forty-four. David R. Porter. 
 
 A Supplement to "An act incorporating the Trustees of the Western Theo- 
 logical Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, at the City of Allegheny, in the State of Pennsylvania." 
 
 Whereas, By the eleventh section of the act to which this is a supple- 
 ment, the Legislature of this State has reserved the right at any time there- 
 after to construe, alter, amend or repeal all or any of the provisions of the act 
 to which this is a supplement ; and 
 
 Whereas, The exercise of that right may leave the property which 
 may be vested in the said corporation without proper trustees to manage and 
 dispose of the same ; therefore, 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby en- 
 acted by the authority of the same. That in case the Legislature of this State 
 shall at any time hereafter construe, alter, amend or repeal all or any of the 
 provisions of said act to which this is a supplement, the trustees of said sem- 
 inary for the time being shall be and they are hereby authorized and empow- 
 ered at any time within one year after an}* such construction, alteration or 
 amendment, or repeal, to convey all the property belonging to them as trustees 
 as aforesaid to any number of citizens of this State, not tess than three nor 
 more than five, whom they may select, their heirs and assigns, who shall hold 
 the said property thus conveyed to them, their heirs and assigns, for the sole 
 use of the said seminary, anything in the said act to the contrary not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 CERTIFICATE. 
 
 I do hereby certify that the above is a copy of a bill which passed both 
 branches of the Legislature and was signed bythe Governor. 
 
 E. S. GOODWELL. 
 
 Harrisburg, April 12, 1845. Clerk of the Si 
 
OF THE GEM] 
 
 3. Acceptance by directors of the plan of 1870. 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Western Theological 
 Seminary, October 14, 1870, it was 
 
 jlr.ed, That we accept the powers and authority offered by the action 
 of the General Assembly to the theological seminaries now under the 
 control of the General Assembly, as contained in the second regulation of 
 the report of the Committee on Theological !3eminaries, recorded on 
 p. 63 of the Minute* of 1870.— 1871, { KT9. 
 
 4. Assembly to approve the election of trustees. 
 
 Your Committee recommend, that the General Assembly \ con- 
 
 sent to a proposed modification of its plan for theological seminaries, so as 
 to meet the unanimous request of the Boards of Trustees and Dire. 
 according to the following paper: 
 
 Whereat, By the plan of the theological seminary trustees can be 
 elected by the General Assembly only when it meets in Pennsylvania; 
 and 
 
 Whereat, In the charter of the Board of Trustees, no such limitation 
 is emb raced ; t he r e I 
 
 >foed, That the General Assembly be requested to so modify the 
 " Plan," that the trustees may be chosen at any meeting of the Assem- 
 bly; also to consent to a reduction of the number of trustees from thirty 
 to twenty-one, to be divided into three classes, one class to be removed 
 each year; and to such modification of the " Plan " as that the trustees 
 shall nominate to the directors persons to fill vacancies, and, on the 
 approval of the directors, to the General Assembly for its approval. — 
 
 5. Answer of the Boards, 1895. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Western Theological Seminary, being 
 satisfied that the seminary now stands in such close relation to the Pres- 
 byterian Church that both its teachings and its use of all its property 
 can be controlled by t. il Assembly, subject only to a reasonable 
 
 of time and such legal restrictions set forth in the charter as hav : 
 hitherto called out obje es no reasons to ask in behalf of this 
 
 seminary any change in existing relations to the General Assembly. The 
 Board is not averse to an effort hav:: - chief end the bringing of 
 
 all our theological seminaries into closer relations of sympathy and confi- 
 dence with the Church at large, but it is the opinion of this Board that 
 this cannot be accomplished successfully except through some plan which 
 is acceptable to all the seminaries now approved by the General Assem- 
 bly, and it deprecates a division of these seminaries into different classes 
 I nds their relations to the General Assembly. 
 The Board of Trustees of the Western Theological kSeminary, af 
 annual meeting in Pittsburgh, May 10, took the following action: 
 
 The Trustees of the Western Theological Seminary, after a careful 
 ieration of na of the Committee of the General 
 
 .bly on Theological Seminaries, would affirm their hearty agree- 
 ment with the principles when tJ nittee was appointed, and the 
 end sought, as both the Committee of the General Assembly and the 
 : this seminary are agreed that the charter of the seminary is 
 one of the strongest thai be framed to secure the property to the 
 
460 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and that sub- 
 stantially the only way in which the purposes of the Committee can be 
 secured is in the way of general legislation, by the Legislature of Penn- 
 sylvania, authorizing various denominations and associations of men in 
 case of threatened or actual malfeasance in trust, to appear in court 
 through their proper officers or representatives in order to enforce the 
 execution of trusts created for their benefit, in pledging ourselves to 
 cordially unite in efforts to secure such general legislation. — 1895, pp. 
 159, 160. 
 
 6. Action of the Assembly, 1895. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Western Seminary at Allegheny, 
 " being satisfied that the seminary now stands in such close relation to 
 the Presbyterian Church that both its teaching and the use of all its 
 property can be controlled by the General Assembly, sees no reason to 
 ask any change in existing relations to the Assembly." The Board of 
 Trustees has declared its hearty agreement with the principles set forth 
 in the action of the Assembly of 1894, and its readiness to secure the 
 necessary legislation to enable the General Assembly to carry out said 
 principles. The Committee recommends the General Assembly to request 
 these Boards to take such action. — 1895, p. 32. 
 
 7. Answer of the Boards, 1896. 
 
 Whereas, The General Assembly's Committee expressed, through their 
 representative, Thomas McDougall, the opinion that the property of the 
 Western Theological Seminary can be held for the Presbyterian Church 
 under the existing charter without change, and it has, as a matter of 
 fact, always been so held and administered, and 
 
 Whereas, The Committee declared that it would be sufficient to secure 
 general legislation by which the General Assembly, representing the 
 Presbyterian Church, can be recognized in the courts, .without appeal to 
 the attorney- general of the State, and this Board cordially agreed to 
 make due effort to secure such legislation at the earliest possible day (the 
 Legislature meeting only bi-annually), and, in case of unfaithfulness of 
 the Board, the Assembly has power to remove one-third of their num- 
 ber and appoint others in their places, guaranteeing a two-thirds majority 
 in thirteen months, and any gift to the seminary can be made specific, as 
 some have been, so that the donor can be satisfied as to the use to be 
 made of his money, and, 
 
 Whereas, A question exists in the minds of able jurists and of intelli- 
 gent and liberal friends and supporters of the seminary, as to whether 
 the change of charter proposed might not subject us to vexatious litiga- 
 tion and possibly imperil important interests of the institution now 
 entrusted to their care; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this Board respectfully begs leave to adhere to their 
 former action in the premises, which, if carried out, the Assembly has 
 declared to be sufficient and acceptable. 
 
 Resolved, That the Board appoint a Committee, consisting of Messrs. 
 William Bake well, J. McF. Carpenter and W. J. Holland, to secure 
 legislation in accordance with the action of the trustees at their anuual 
 meeting in May, 1895.— 1896, pp. 188 and 120. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 461 
 
 IV. LANE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 1. Charter and amendments. 
 
 [Note. — Ohio Local Laws, Vol. xxvii, p. 118.] 
 An act to incorporate the Lane Seminary, in the county of Hamilton : 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That 
 there shall be, and hereby is established, in the county of Hamilton, a theo- 
 logical institution for the education of pious young men for the Gospel minis- 
 try, by the name of "The Lane Seminary ;" and that Joshua L. Wilson, 
 David Root, James Challen, William Skillenger, Robert Boal, junior, Jabez 
 C. Tunis, John F. Keys, Isaac G. Burnet, Ephraim Robbins, James Warren, 
 John H. Groesbeck, Robert Wallace, William W. Greene, John Thomson, 
 Daniel Hayden, Benjamin Graves, Ludwell G. Gaines, Jacob Lindley, Caleb 
 Kemper, James Thomson, Daniel Wertz, Samuel January and Abraham A. 
 Halsey, be, and they are hereby appointed Trustees of said institution ; and 
 who, together with their associates and successors, are hereby created a body 
 politic and corporate, with perpetual succession, by the name and style of 
 "The Trustees of the Lane Seminary ;" and by that name shall be competent 
 to contract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, plead and be im- 
 pleaded, answer and be answered unto, in all courts and places, and in all 
 matters whatsoever ; with full power and authority to acquire, hold, possess, 
 use, occupy and enjoy, by purchase, gift, grant or devise, and the same to 
 sell, convey and dispose of, all such real estate as shall be necessary and con- 
 venient for said institution, the transaction of its business, and the endow- 
 ment of the same ; and may have and use a common seal, and the same alter, 
 change, break and renew at pleasure ; and may, also, make, ordain and 
 establish, and put in execution, such by-laws, ordinances, rules and regulations 
 as shall be necessary and proper for the good government of said institution, 
 and the prudent and efficient management of its affairs ; Provided, That no by- 
 law, ordinance, rule or regulation of the same, shall in anywise be contrary 
 to the constitution and laws of this State or of the United States ; And pro- 
 vided also, That any future General Assembly may alter or amend this act. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the Board of Trustees aforesaid, and their successors, shall 
 have power to perpetuate their own body, by rilling all vacancies which may 
 occur therein, either by death, resignation or otherwise ; but said Board shall 
 at no time consist of a less number than twenty-three, nor more than twenty- 
 five : they shall have the direction, management and control of the estate, 
 business, property, funds and prudential concerns of said institution, and the 
 administration of its affairs : they shall appoint all professors, tutors, teachers, 
 officers, agents and clerks of the same, who shall hold their respective offices 
 and places therein during the pleasure of said Board, and perform such duties, 
 and exercise such powers as the said trustees, from time to time, may order 
 and direct : they shall, annually, on the last Wednesday in October, at such 
 time and place as the trustees shall appoint, elect, by ballot, from their own 
 body, a president, three vice-presidents, treasurer, recording secretary and 
 corresponding secretary, who, together with six other members, to be elected 
 at the same time and place, shall constitute the executive committee of said 
 institution, who shall, under the direction of the trustees, conduct the affairs 
 of the same ; and the said Board of Trustees and the executive committee shall 
 respectively do and perform all such matters and things as may be necessary 
 and proper to promote the objects of the institution ; Provided, That the 
 funds, property and revenues of the same shall not be appropriated, employed 
 or expended for any purpose other than that contemplated by this act. 
 
 Sec 3. That the officers and members of the Executive Committee shall 
 reside in the city of Cincinnati, or its vicinity, a majority of whom, together 
 with all the professors, tutors, teachers and instructors in said institution, 
 shall be members of the Presbyterian Church, in good standing, under the care 
 of the General Assembly of that Church in the United States. 
 
 Sec. 4. That at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, on the last 
 Wednesday of October, there shall be reported and presented an account 
 of the state and condition of said institution, in all its various concerns and 
 affairs ; and said Board may hold meetings at such other times as the 
 Trustees may appoint, or the president thereof shall order and direct, to be 
 notified and held in such manner as shall be provided by the by-laws of the 
 institution. 
 
4&2 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 S :c. 5. That a fundamental rule or principle of said institution shall be. that 
 every student therein, when in good health, shall be required to spend not less 
 than three, nor more than four hours, each day. in agricultural or mechanical 
 . the avails of which shall be applied towards defraying the expenses of 
 the institution, and the board and tuition of the students ; and the said Board of 
 Trustees shall have power to grant and confer on any candidate, in such form 
 as they may prescribe, all or any of the degrees in Divinity usually granted 
 and conferred in the Colleges and Universities in the United States. 
 
 Sec. 0. That the first officers of the institution shall be the Rev. Joshua L. 
 Wilson, president : Rev. David Root. Rev. Jacob Liudley and Isaac G. Burnet, 
 Esq., vice-presidents: John H Groesbeek. treasurer: Abraham A. Halsey, 
 recording secretary, and James Warren, corresponding secretary, who. to- 
 gether with John F. Keys. Jahez C. Tunis. William W, Greene. Robert Boal, 
 junior. William Skillenger and Caleb Kemper shall compose and constitute 
 the first Executive Committee, to serve in their respective othces until the next 
 annual meeting and until their successors shall be chosen. 
 
 Sec. 7. That this act shall be taken and received in all courts, and by 
 all judges, magistrates and other public officers, as a public act ; and ail 
 printed copies of the same, printed by or under the authority of the General 
 Assembly, shall be admitted as good evidence thereof, without any other proof 
 whatever. 
 
 Epwarp King. 
 Speaker of the House of Bepretmtati 
 Samuel Wheeler. 
 
 Speaker of the Sen 
 
 February 11. 1889. 
 
 [N ve. — Ohio Loeal Laws. Vol. xxxvi, p. 22.] 
 
 An act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the Lane Seminary, 
 m the county of Hamilton." 
 Sec, 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio. That the 
 Board of Trustees of the Lane Seminary shall consist of any number not less 
 than thirteen nor more than twenty-rive ; and. if from any cause, the number 
 shall be reduced below thirteen, the remaining number shall be a competent 
 Board for the purpose of tilling vacancies to make up the number of thirteen ; 
 and from and after the next election of officers, the Executive Committee of 
 said seminary shall consist only of the president, the three vice-presidents, 
 the treasurer, the recording secretary and the corresponding secretary, who 
 shall hold their offices until their successors are elected : and the annual meet- 
 ing of the Board of Trustees, for the election of officers, shall be held on 
 the second Wednesday of June, annually, instead of the last Wednesday of 
 October. 
 
 C. Anthony. 
 aker of the House of Ixepreseritati I 
 George J. Smith. 
 
 iker of the Senate. 
 January 16. 1838. 
 
 [Note. -Ohio Laws. Vol. lv, p. 16.] 
 
 An act to amend the act entitled an act to amend the act entitled "An act 
 to incorporate the Lane Seminary, in the county of Hamilton." 
 Sec 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio. That the 
 act entitled "An act to amend the act entitled an act to incorporate the 
 Lane Seminary, in the county of Hamilton."' passed January 10. 1S3S. be and 
 the same is hereby amended and enacted to read as follows, to wit : The Board 
 of Trustees of the Lane Seminary shall consist of any number, not less than 
 thirteen, nor more than twenty-five : and if. from any cause, the number shall 
 be reduced below thirteen, the remaining number shall be a competent Board 
 for the purpose of rilling vacancies to make up the number of thirteen ; and 
 the Executive Committee of said seminary shall consist only of the president, 
 the three vice-presidents, the treasurer, the recording secretary and the cor- 
 responding secretary, who shall hold their offices until their successors are 
 elected ; and the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, for the election of 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 officers, shall be held at snch time and place as the Board of Trustees shall, 
 from time to time, and at anytime, appoint; and the above mention i 
 1 January 16, 1838, is hereby repealed. 
 
 Well r am B. Woods, 
 Speaker of the House of Reprmemfatine*. 
 
 >r\RTTV WEI.EER, 
 
 President of the Seno&s. 
 
 2. The plan of the Assembly adopted by the trustees. 
 
 The Board of Trustees of the Lane Theological Seminary report that 
 they have most wwfaliy adopted tins plan by the folio win g 
 
 ry election of a professor in this institution shall be report 
 next General Assembly; and if said Assembly shall 
 diapprob;:" the professorship in question shall be 
 
 .nt from and after such vote of the General Assembly, it 
 being understood that in such case it is not the pleasure of this Board 
 that such professor shall continue in office. — 1871, p. " - 
 
 3. Report of the Standing Committee on Theological Seminaries, 
 1893. Approval withheld. 
 
 The trustees of Lane Theological Seminary find that the inco: 
 the seminary has been seriously reduced, and as a result they have 
 compelled to abolish the Chair of Practical Theol - - requiring the 
 
 a of Dr. Roberts, who was the incumber: 1" . - t _~sea»- 
 
 bly puts on record its high appreciation of the value of Dr 
 
 md exp: • regret that, as your Committee has 
 
 -ied, the Board did not advise Dr. Roberts of its purpose 
 g such derisive action. 
 In the list of l rinbly finds the name of the I 
 
 Henry P. Smith, D.D. , who was in December last suspended by the 
 
 : Cincinnati for unsoundness in the faith. On ih- 
 January, 1893, Prof. Smith t .-nation to the Board 
 
 because of that suspension. The Board declined t 
 
 aued him, by formal action, in the duties of his prof- 
 ship in the seminary. When a mir:- 
 
 from all the functions of his office. Among the most important of such 
 functions is that of training young men foe the ministry. He 
 serious the embarrassment to the seminary, the B i aid have 
 
 immediately accepted the resignation of Prof. Smith, or at least rei 
 him from the discharge of his dries L " - khe Church sh 
 
 compelled them to take such action. But they were further 
 bound so to do by faithfuL :e trust which they have assumed 
 
 with regard to that seminar;.- Efi aarter require- all the p. 
 
 -aall be members of the Presbyterian Church in g L at ' _ 
 The Assembly, therefore, is constrained to with. \s approval and 
 
 commendation of Lane Seminary until the Board has recomsadeart 
 action in this respect, and remedied the error. — 1893, p. '.' 
 
 4. Reorganization recommended Committee of Visitation appointed. 
 The seminary restored to fall standing. 
 
 The last General Assembly expressed its disapproval of the semia 
 because it retained in his Chair a professor who had been suspended from 
 the ministry by his Presbytery for heresy, and the Board 
 
 ! :>rbidden to aid students attending the institution. After 
 
464 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the professor resigned his place, and then the Board of Education 
 resumed its helpful relations to the students of Lane. We trust happier 
 days for this seminary are now near at hand, and we commend it and all 
 its interests to the approval, the sympathy and the confidence of the 
 Assembly and the Church. 
 
 In view of all the facts that have come before us and as the result of 
 thoughtful and even anxious deliberation, we respectfully recommend the 
 following, viz. : 
 
 1. The General Assembly would advise the Board of Trustees, as 
 promptly and completely as possible, to reorganize the seminary by 
 introducing new and different men into the Board of Trustees and the 
 corps of instructors, and this, not because of any question touching the 
 integrity of purpose and purity of motive in the honored brethren now 
 in charge, but simply because the differences of opinion and policy now 
 prevailing among them seem to be irreconcilable, and to forbid the hope 
 of settlement until other men are put in charge. 
 
 2. That a Committee of five, three ministers and two elders, shall be 
 appointed by this Assembly to visit the seminary and confer with the 
 Board of Trustees, and to advise with them concerning all the interests 
 of the institution, especially concerning its reorganization, as already 
 indicated; this Committee to report to the next General Assembly. 
 
 3. We recommend that in the meantime the seminary be restored to 
 full standing with the General Assembly, and that the Board of Educa- 
 tion be directed to treat its students precisely as it treats the students of 
 other seminaries. 
 
 4. Pending the visit of the Committtee suggested and the reorganiza- 
 tion proposed, it is recommended that the election of Rev. Henry W. 
 Hulbert to the Chair of Church History be disapproved, and this for 
 this reason and no other, that his confirmation would further embarrass 
 the reorganization which is now proposed. This disapproval is not to be 
 understood as raising any question of his character or orthodoxy, nor as 
 a bar to his employment as a teacher in the seminary.* — 1894, pp. 110, 
 111. 
 
 5. Report of the Special Committee to visit Lane Seminary, 1895. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the General Assembly to confer with 
 the Board of Trustees of Lane Seminary held a conference in Cincin- 
 nati, November 22, 1894. The Board of Trustees made their statement, 
 each member setting forth his personal convictions regarding the condition 
 and purposes of the Board. The meeting was continued through the 
 day, was harmonious and satisfactory, and the interchange of views and 
 opinions was most fraternal and cordial. Whatever " differences of 
 opinion and polity" may have been and to some may have seemed 
 " irreconcilable," they were not to be found when the Committee looked 
 the brethren in the face and heard their words of conciliation and earnest 
 expression of desire, harmoniously and unitedly, to promote the best 
 interests of the seminary and our Presbyterian Zion. 
 
 After hearing at length the detailed and explanatory statement of the 
 Board of Trustees concerning the financial condition of the seminary in 
 the past and in the present, showing the receipts and disbursements, also 
 the annual attendance of students from 1887 to 1895, and also the 
 
 * Prof. Hulbert was reelected Professor of Church History and his name reported 
 to the Assembly.— 1896, p. 141. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 465 
 
 teaching force of the past and the present, and concerning the prospect 
 of the future, the Assembly's Committee retired for a conference. 
 
 In the evening the conference of the Board of Trustees and the 
 Committee was resumed, when the Assembly's Committee submitted to 
 the Board of Trustees the conclusion upon which they appeared to agree, 
 and which in their present light they were disposed to submit to the 
 General Assembly. The Board of Trustees by a unanimous vote ex- 
 pressed their satisfaction with these suggestions of the Committee, which 
 were substantially as follows: 
 
 1. Having heard the full statement of the Board and the satisfactory 
 explanation in regard to the financial condition of the seminary, with the 
 hopeful outlook for the future, we advise the increase and completion of 
 the faculty in accordance with the recommendation of the General 
 Assembly, as speedily as the income of the institution will allow. 
 
 2. We will report to the General Assembly that the full, clear finan- 
 cial statement submitted to the Committee seemed to us in a large 
 measure to explain the present administration of the Board, and like- 
 wise promise an increase of the teaching force in the near future. 
 
 3. Having been informed that five vacancies exist in the Board of 
 Trustees, we would take pleasure in reporting to the Assembly that it is 
 the intention of the Board to fill these places, as soon as possible, with 
 men known to be in sympathy with the Presbyterian Church and the 
 seminary in its relation to the General Assembly. 
 
 4. We will report to the Assembly that we found the Board of Trus- 
 tees, clergymen and laymen, to be an intelligent body of earnest Chris- 
 tian men ; united in the desire and purpose to do everything in their 
 power to bring the seminary into closer relations to the Church, and to 
 ensure the hearty sympathy and support of the community and region 
 in which the seminary is located. 
 
 The Board took the following action: 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of this Board of Trustees are hereby ex- 
 tended to the Assembly's Committee of Conference on Lane Seminary, 
 for the patient and open-minded manner in which they have sought 
 information, and also for the outline of opinion and conclusion submitted, 
 in which the purpose and spirit of this Board are correctly interpreted. 
 
 Therefore your Committee recommend the Assembly to encourage the 
 Board to continue making such efforts and devising such means, as will 
 speedily and thoroughly reorganize and increase the teaching force, and 
 thus secure for Lane Seminary the constant fostering care and approval 
 of the Assembly, as well as the confidence, sympathy, and support of 
 our beloved Presbyterian Zion. 
 
 The report was accepted; its recommendations adopted, and the Com- 
 mittee continued. — 1895, pp. 19-21. 
 
 [Note — For the answer of Lane Seminary to the proposals of the General Assem- 
 bly of 1894, see Minutes, 1895, p. 160 ; and for the Assembly's reply, see Minutes, 1895, 
 p. 33, and 1896, p. 122.] 
 
 6. Final report of the Special Committee to visit Lane, 1896. 
 
 " The report of the Special Advisory Committee to visit Lane Semi- 
 nary was unanimously adopted at the meeting of the General Assembly 
 in Pittsburgh, May, 1895, together with the recommendation that ' the 
 Assembly encourage the Board to continue making such efforts and devis- 
 ing such means as will speedily and thoroughly reorganize and increase 
 30 
 
466 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the teaching force, and thus secure for Lane Seminary the constant 
 fostering care and approval of the Assembly as well as the confidence, 
 sympathy and support of our beloved Presbyterian Zion.' 
 
 " The Committee was ordered to be continued. As Chairman I now 
 report to the Assembly that there has been no regular meeting of the 
 Committee during the year, for the reason that everything has gone on 
 so satisfactorily, pleasantly and prosperously in the work of the seminary, 
 that there seemed nothing for the Committee to do. In the meantime I 
 was invited to deliver the annual address before the Society of Inquiry, 
 the alumni, and friends of the seminary, which I did on Commencement 
 Day, May 7, 1896. Having thus the opportunity of meeting the 
 professors and students, the president of the Board of Trustees, and 
 many of the members, as well as the examiners from various Presby- 
 teries, and other friends of the seminary, I received a most favorable 
 impression of the work done, and of the prospects for the future." 
 
 The report of the Advisory Committee thence continues with informa- 
 tion already given in this report, and is signed by its chairman, David 
 A. Cunningham, and dated May 16, 1896. We recommend to the 
 Assembly the approval of the report of this Special Committee. The 
 report was approved. — 1896, p. 142. 
 
 7. Answer of the trustees to the Assembly, 1895. 
 At the meeting of the Board of Trustees, May 1, 1895, it was 
 Resolved, That while this Board desires in all proper ways to show its 
 loyalty to the Presbyterian Church, and has an earnest wish to maintain 
 the most cordial and harmonious relations with the General Assembly, in 
 view of the legal and other complications which might result from the 
 proposed amendments, and the doubtful validity of such if enacted, we feel 
 constrained to decline to take any steps to effect such changes as are 
 contemplated in the resolutions of the last General Assembly regarding 
 theological seminaries. — 1895, p. 160. 
 
 8. Answer of the trustees, 1896. 
 
 The following is a true copy of the action of the Board of Trustees of 
 Lane Theological Seminary taken Wednesday, May 6, 1896 : 
 
 That this Board learns with regret of the illness of Dr. Young, and 
 that this fact has probably prevented the Committee of the General 
 Assembly meeting with the Board at this time as per appointment made 
 by the president. 
 
 That while this Board desires to maintain the most cordial and inti- 
 mate relations with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, and will do all that can be done to that 
 end, it as yet does not see the way clear to changing the action taken in 
 Mav, 1895, concerning proposed amendments to the charter. — 1896, 
 p. 194. 
 
 9. Answer of the trustees, 1897. 
 
 The trustees of Lane Seminary, having carefully considered the 
 action and request of the General Assembly of 1896 in regard to the 
 plan of seminary control, approved by the Assembly of 1895, make, 
 after due deliberation, the following statement in reply: 
 
 The trustees are thoroughly confirmed in the judgment, frankly stated 
 to the Assemblies of 1895 and 1896, that the changes proposed in the 
 charter of this seminary are impracticable. This charter clearly defines 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 467 
 
 the object of the institution, provides for the organization of its Board 
 of Trust as a civil corporation and definitely prescribes the manner in 
 which this trust shall be administered. 
 
 It is plainly the imperative duty of this Board to execute with fidelity 
 these explicit provisions. It seems to the trustees increasingly clear that 
 they have neither the legal nor the moral right to become a party to any 
 attempt to modify or alter any of the expressed terms or conditions of 
 the trust which they are appointed to administer, even were such legisla- 
 tion permissible under the present Constitution of Ohio. 
 
 Moreover, all the funds that have been donated to the seminary since 
 the enactment of this charter have been received under its specific 
 provisions. Most of these donations have been made with the assurance 
 and in the belief that these conditions are to be perpetual. The chang- 
 ing of these provisions and conditions in the manner proposed would be, 
 as it seems to the trustees, a violation of good faith on their part, as well 
 as a breach of trust, and would seriously imperil these endowments and 
 expose the institution to ruinous litigation. 
 
 For these conclusive reasons, it is their settled belief that this Board 
 ought not to initiate any proceedings which would modify or alter the 
 existing charter in any of its essential provisions. 
 
 But it seems proper to add, that, if the proposed changes were prac- 
 ticable, they are not, in the judgment of the trustees, necessary to the 
 full protection of Lane Seminary as an institution of the Presbyterian 
 Church, or for the safeguarding of its teaching and funds. This 
 appears from the following facts, namely : 
 
 1. The charter itself expressly provides that " all the professors, 
 tutors, teachers and instructors in the seminary shall be members of the 
 Presbyterian Church, in good standing, under the care of the General 
 Assembly of that Church in the United States." This provision the 
 founders deemed sufficient to safeguard the teachings of the seminary, 
 and it has been attested to be such by the entire history of the institution. 
 
 2. In connection with the union of the two branches of the Presby- 
 terian Church in 1869, the Board of Trustees of Lane Seminary took in 
 August, 1870, the following action, which was " accepted as satisfac- 
 tory " by the Assembly of 1871 (Minutes, p. 580), namely: 
 
 " Every election of a professor in this institution shall be reported to 
 the next General Assembly, and if the said Assembly shall by vote 
 express its disapprobation of the election, the professorship in question 
 shall be ipso facto vacant from and after such vote; it being understood 
 in such case, that it is not the pleasure of this Board, that such professor 
 shall continue in office.-" 
 
 From this explicit "compact" there has not been a single deviation 
 by this Board, and the trustees, for the third time, reaffirm their purpose 
 and obligation to observe its provisions. 
 
 3. The deed for the land on part of which the seminary buildings 
 stand and the rest of which still constitutes one of its chief sources of 
 support, contains the express provision that in case the seminary shall 
 ever fail of its appointed purpose as defined by its charter, this gift shall 
 be forfeited in law, and shall revert to certain organizations which are 
 specifically named. Moreover, many of the subsequent donations and 
 bequests to the seminary contain similar conditions and might be legally 
 forfeited should the Board divert such funds from their original purpose. 
 
 It is thus seen that the obligation to guard the endowments as well as 
 
468 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 the teachings of the seminary is as fundamental and imperative as it can 
 possibly be made. It may safely be assumed that no Board, present or 
 future, would ever seek to pervert a pecuniary trust so carefully pro- 
 tected, and should such attempt ever be made, the courts of Ohio are 
 open for its correction. 
 
 The trustees are constrained by the foregoing considerations to declare 
 as their final judgment that the proposed changes in the charter of the 
 seminary are impracticable and unnecessary. 
 
 At the same time, they most cordially affirm their loyalty to the doc- 
 trines and polity of the Presbyterian Church, and solemnly avow their 
 purpose to administer with fidelity the sacred trust committed to their 
 care.— 1897, pp. 105-107. 
 
 10. Action of the Assembly, 1897. 
 
 [Note.— See this Digest, No. 13, p. 421.] 
 
 V. UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 [Note. — See report on Theological Seminaries, Minutes, 1870, pp. 383-386, also pp. 63 
 148, 149; Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 383-390; and this Digest, p. 410.] 
 
 1. The agreement of 1870. 
 
 [Note. — See for this compact or agreement, p. 414.] 
 
 2. The veto of Prof. Charles A. Briggs, D.D. 
 
 It appears, then, according to the terms of the contract quoted above, 
 the directors of the Union Theological Seminary have conceded to the 
 Assembly the right to veto the appointment of professors; and that an 
 election is complete unless vetoed by the next Assembly following the 
 election. 
 
 Your Committee would have been disposed to recommend that the 
 report of the directors of the Union Theological Seminary, so far as it 
 has reference to the transfer of Dr. Briggs to the Chair of Biblical 
 Theology, be referred to the next Assembly, if such a disposition of the 
 matter had been possible. But the Assembly has clearly no power to 
 postpone action. The control of the Church over the election of Dr. 
 Briggs ceases with the dissolution of the present Assembly. Your 
 Committee are constrained, therefore, to say that, in their judgment, it 
 is the duty of the Assembly to disapprove of the appointment of Dr. 
 Briggs to the Edward Robinson Chair of Biblical Theology in the Union 
 Theological Seminary. 
 
 Your Committee desire to say, moreover, that while they are clear in 
 their judgment that the Assembly has the right to. veto the appointment 
 of Dr. Briggs to the Chair of Biblical Theology, it is possible to impose 
 a meaning upon the apparently unambiguous phraseology of the compact 
 between the General Assembly and the directors of the Union Theologi- 
 cal Seminary that would lead to a different conclusion. Fairness also 
 requires us to remember that the Assembly is one of the parties to the 
 contract that it is called upon to construe. While your Committee are of 
 the opinion that the compact in question did not contemplate the distinc- 
 tion between the election of a person to be a professor, and the appoint- 
 ment of one already a professor, to the work of a certain department of 
 instruction, it cannot be denied that such a distinction exists, the one act 
 conferring status, the other only assigning duties. 
 
 The seemingly irregular course of the directors of the Union Theologi- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 469 
 
 cal Seminary, whereby Dr. Briggs was inducted into office, before the 
 Assembly had been advised of his appointment, is doubtless to be attributed 
 to their mode of construing their compact with the General Assembly. 
 While your Committee are sure that the Assembly will not and should 
 not admit that its right of disapproval is restricted to the original elec- 
 tion of a person to a place in the faculty of the Union Theological Sem- 
 inary, and while they are of the opinion that, acting according to the 
 light it now has, the Assembly cannot but disapprove of the appoint- 
 ment of Dr. Briggs to the professorship of Biblical Theology in that 
 seminary, they are nevertheless of the opinion that in the interest of the 
 mutual relations of confidence and cordial respect subsisting between the 
 Union Theological Seminary and the General Assembly, it would be 
 eminently proper for the Assembly to appoint a Committee to confer with 
 the directors of the Union Theological Seminary in regard to the rela- 
 tions of the said seminary to the General Assembly, and to report to the 
 next General Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: 
 
 1. Resolved, That in the exercise of its right to veto the appointment 
 of professors in the Union Theological Seminary, the General Assembly 
 hereby disapproves of the appointment of the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, 
 D. D. , to the Edward Robinson Professorship of Biblical Theology in 
 that seminary, by transfer from another chair in the same seminary. 
 
 2. Resolved, That a Committee, consisting of eight ministers and seven 
 ruling elders, be appointed by this Assembly to confer with the directors 
 of the Union Theological Seminary in regard to the relations of the said 
 seminary to the General Assembly, and to report to the next General 
 Assembly.— 1891, p. 97. 
 
 3. Report, Committee of Conference, 1892. 
 
 [Note. — See for this report in full, and accompanying papers from the directors of 
 Union Seminary, Minutes, 1892, pp. 53-67. Parts of the report are given below.] 
 
 4. Agreement recognized as binding. 
 
 Resolved, That this Board without surrendering its interpretation of 
 said agreement, fully recognizes its binding force, until it shall be proved 
 to be illegal, or shall be properly abrogated. — 1892, p. 58. 
 
 5. Paper adopted by the joint conference, 1892. 
 
 It is believed that the joint conferences prepared the way in a large 
 degree for a better understanding between the Assembly and the semi- 
 nary, and in the hope that an adjustment of the question at issue might 
 be reached in the near future, the following paper was adopted by both 
 bodies on January 22, 1892, and signed jointly by the chairman of your 
 Committee and by President Hastings of the Union Theological Seminary: 
 
 The paper is as follows: 
 
 Recognizing the fact that the General Assembly and the Union 
 Theological Seminary are parties to the agreement or compact of 1870, 
 as contained in the memorial of the directors to the Assembly of 1870, 
 and also the fact that there is a wide difference of opinion in the matter 
 of the interpretation of said agreement or compact, something like the 
 following might be done : 
 
 1. Each party may fully respect the opinion of the other and con- 
 clude for the present that the difference is irreconcilable. 
 
 2. The seminary might report to the next General Assembly substan- 
 
470 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 tially that their understanding of the compact differed from that of the 
 General Assembly as applied to transfers, and that, although the General 
 Assembly had disapproved the appointment of Dr. Briggs, the directors 
 had not seen their way clear, in view of their obligations, to do other 
 than continue him in the active duties of his office. 
 
 3. The Committee, on the other hand, might report the facts to the 
 General Assembly, and, in view of the relations of the parties and in 
 due recognition of their honest difference, recommend that the status quo 
 be recognized, in the hope that some action may be taken which may 
 lead to a harmonious adjustment of all the matters at issue. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing paper adopted by the Committee of 
 Conference and the directors of the Union Theological Seminary, and in 
 view of the facts embodied in it, your Committee recommend that the 
 status quo be recognized by the Assembly, in the hope that some action 
 may be taken which may lead to a harmonious adjustment of all the 
 matters at issue. — 1892, pp. 59, 60. 
 
 6. Report of Union Seminary on the status of Prof. Briggs, 1892. 
 
 The Board, therefore, respectfully reports to the Assembly that we can 
 but regard ourselves as solemnly bound by our interpretation of the 
 agreement, and must discharge our duties as directors accordingly. For 
 having heard, and carefully considered, all that was said by the Com- 
 mittee of the General Assembly, we have seen no reason to change or 
 modify our understanding of the agreement. There is an honest differ- 
 ence of opinion in this matter. In 1870 this Board conceded one thing, 
 and only one, to the General Assembly, viz., the right to disapprove 
 the election or appointment of a professor. If Dr. Briggs had been 
 elected or appointed to the Chair of Biblical Theology, the disapproval 
 of the Assembly would have been decisive with us. But a professor can 
 be elected in this institution only in accordance with our laws; and 
 according to those laws Dr. Briggs was not elected. His inauguration 
 was a ceremonial technically unnecessary, but designed only to honor 
 publicly the generosity of the founder of the Chair of Biblical Theology, 
 in which department Dr. Briggs had been teaching for ten years. 
 
 Thanking the General Assembly for sending to us so able and so cour- 
 teous a Committee, we join with them in their recommendation, " that 
 the status quo be recognized, in the hope that some action may be taken, 
 which may lead to a harmonious adjustment of all the matters at issue. ' ' 
 —1892, pp. 63, 64. 
 
 7. Request of Union Seminary for annulment of the 
 agreement of 1870. 
 
 While there exists the undoubted right of either party to the agreement 
 of 1870 to act alone in its abrogation, yet this memorial is submitted 
 with the earnest hope that your reverend body may cordially concur 
 with us in annulling the arrangement of 1870, thus restoring Union 
 Seminary to its former relations to the General Assembly. — 1892, p. 67. 
 
 8. The Assembly declines to break the agreement of 1870. 
 Having due regard to the overtures and all the other papers in the case 
 of Union Theological Seminary, etc., referred to the Committee, the 
 Assembly takes the following action: 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 471 
 
 1. That the Assembly indorses the interpretation of the compact of 
 1870 as expressed by the action of the Assembly of 1891. 
 
 2. That the Assembly declines to be a party to the breaking of the 
 compact with Union Theological Seminary. 
 
 3. That the Assembly is persuaded that the Church should have direct 
 connection with and control over its theological seminaries. — 1892, p. 176. 
 
 9. The Assembly proffers arbitration. 
 
 An additional paper on the arbitration of the theological seminary 
 compact of 1870, in the matter of the transfer of a professor from one 
 chair to another in the same seminary, was presented, adopted, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly recognizes the status quo as 
 to the difference of interpretation given by the directors of Union Sem- 
 inary to the Theological Seminary Compact of 1870, from that given by 
 the Assembly's Committee of Conference, and in accordance with the 
 proposition suggested by the six members of the Committee of Conference 
 in their supplementary report, this General Assembly agrees to refer the 
 difference of interpretation of the said compact of 1870, as to transfers, 
 to a Committee of Arbitration. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That a Committee of five members representing this 
 Assembly shall be appointed by the Moderator, which shall select five 
 persons as arbitrators, to meet a like number selected by the directors of 
 Union Seminary ; and these ten shall select five others ; and by the 
 fifteen thus chosen shall the interpretation of this compact, viz., as to 
 the transfer of a professor, be decided. — 1892, pp. 176, 177. 
 
 10. Report on arbitration, 1893. 
 
 On the 16th of July, 1892, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly 
 notified the Board of Directors of Union Seminary of the appointment 
 of arbitrators who were to confer with said Board ; and on the 4th of 
 August, 1892, the chairman of this Committee communicated the 
 action of the General Assembly in regard to the appointment of arbitra- 
 tors, and the duties assigned them, to Mr. E. M. Kingsley, the secretary 
 or recorder of the Board of Directors of Union Seminary, and received 
 from him a reply, dated August 6, 1892, in which he stated, in substance, 
 that it would be impracticable for the Board of Directors to meet and 
 take any action on the subject before the middle of October. 
 
 On the 8th of November, 1892, your Committee received a communi- 
 cation from the Board of Directors of Union Seminary in which they 
 say: 
 
 " Since the meeting of the General Assembly at Portland, by an 
 almost unanimous vote — a vote of nineteen to one — this Board has 
 rescinded the resolution of 1870, adopting the memorial to the General 
 Assembly, in which a veto on the election of professors was offered to 
 that body, thus terminating the special relation then constituted between 
 the General Assembly and Union Seminary. By this action, the ques- 
 tion whether a transfer is an election, and subject, therefore, to the 
 Assembly's veto, is no longer to us an open question. Therefore, no 
 further action in this matter is called for." 
 
 As your Committee was appointed to arbitrate a single question at issue 
 between the General Assembly and the Board of Directors of Union 
 Seminary, and as the foregoing action of the Board of Directors, taken, 
 
472 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 as we understand, on the 13th of October, 1892, without waiting for a 
 conference with the Assembly's Committee, shows that the Board has 
 declined to have the question at issue arbitrated. — 1893, p. 159. 
 
 11. The resolution of the directors, May 16, 1870, rescinded; and 
 the arrangement between the Union Theological Seminary and 
 the General Assembly alleged to be terminated. 
 
 The following communication was received: 
 
 "New York, October 15, 1892. 
 " At a special meeting of the Board of Directors of this institution, 
 held on the 13th inst., ' to consider the relations of the seminary to the 
 General Assembly, ' the paper herewith enclosed, after the most careful 
 and deliberate consideration, was adopted with singular unanimity. 
 
 E. M. Kingsley, Recorder." 
 
 The Board of Directors of the Union Theological Seminary in the city 
 of New York addressed a memorial to the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which met at 
 Portland, May 19, 1892. In that paper we stated, with the utmost 
 courtesy, some of the practical reasons which render it necessary, in our 
 judgment, that the veto power conceded to the General Assembly in 
 1870 should no longer reside in that body. The memorial concluded 
 with this language: " There are other and weighty considerations which 
 we have preferred not to urge. While there exists the undoubted right 
 of either party to the agreement of 1870 to act alone in its abrogation, 
 yet this memorial is submitted with the earnest hope that your reverend 
 body may cordially concur with us in annulling the arrangement of 1870, 
 thus restoring Union Seminary to its former relations to the General 
 Assembly." The hope thus expressed was disappointed. With no 
 official notice whatever of the reasons assigned by us, the answer to our 
 memorial was: " That the Assembly declines to be a party to the break- 
 ing of the compact with Union Theological Seminary." In view of 
 this action of the late General Assembly, we are constrained now to urge 
 those considerations which we had preferred to reserve. They are 
 constitutional and legal. 
 
 1. The Constitutional Considerations. — There is no provision whatever 
 in our charter or Constitution for " the principle of Synodical or Assem- 
 bly supervision." The Committees on Reunion and both Assemblies in 
 1869 recognized this important fact, and advised the introduction of 
 that principle into our Constitution. Upon this advice no action was 
 taken. The Constitution was not changed. Therefore the seminary 
 could not rightfully give, and the Assembly could not rightfully receive 
 or exercise, the veto power under our existing charter and Constitution. 
 
 2. The Legal Considerations. — Since the action of the General Assem- 
 bly at Portland, our Board has obtained the best legal advice as to the 
 points at issue between the seminary and the Assembly. This advice 
 leaves us no room to doubt that, under the laws of the State of New 
 York, the attempted agreement of 1870 was beyond the powers of the 
 Board of Directors of the seminary. We " cannot abdicate any of our 
 official duties in whole or in part. ' ' 
 
 Therefore, as the sole directors of Union Seminary, we are compelled 
 by the practical considerations presented in our memorial, and by consti- 
 tutional and legal considerations, to maintain our rights and to fulfill our 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 473 
 
 chartered obligations, which can be neither surrendered nor shared. In 
 this action we regret deeply that we have been refused that concurrence 
 of the Assembly which we respectfully asked, and which would have done 
 much towards softening the past and relieving the present. Obliged to 
 act alone for the protection of the institution committed to our care, and 
 actuated by sincere regard for the highest interests both of Union Sem- 
 inary and of the Church we love, we do now 
 
 1. Resolve, That the resolution passed May 16, 1870, adopting the 
 memorial to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, which provided that all appointments of 
 professors " shall be reported to the General Assembly, and no such 
 appointment of professor shall be considered as a complete election if 
 disapproved by a majority vote of the Assembly," be, and the same is, 
 hereby rescinded. 
 
 2. Resolve, That the said arrangement between the Union Theological 
 Seminary in the city of New York and the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America be, and the 
 same is, hereby terminated; thus reinstating the relations between the 
 seminary and the General Assembly as they existed prior to May, 1870. 
 
 3. Resolve, That official notice of the action be duly given to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, and also to the public, with the assurance of the undim- 
 inished loyalty of Union Seminary to the doctrine and government of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, to which the 
 directors and faculty are personally bound by their official vow, and of 
 our earnest desire for the restoration of our former relations to the 
 General Assembly.— 1893, pp. 157, 158. 
 
 12. Action of the Assembly, 1893. All responsibility for teaching 
 disavowed. Reports declined. 
 
 The report of the Standing Committee on Theological Seminaries, to 
 which the above communication was referred, was adopted: 
 
 To the special communication from the directors of Union Seminary, 
 your Committee have given careful and prolonged consideration. While 
 they would recommend the Assembly to recognize the fact that the 
 directors of Union Seminary have declared, upon their own motion and 
 authority, that the compact of 1870 is void and of no binding effect, 
 and while insisting that such action is wholly without warrant, yet they 
 advise the Assembly, for the present, simply to place on record, by way 
 of protest, its view of the situation. 
 
 For twenty-one years the most cordial relations existed between Union 
 Theological Seminary and the General Assembly. In the discharge of 
 what seemed its plain but most painful duty, the General Assembly at 
 Detroit declared its disapproval of the appointment of Prof. Briggs to 
 the Chair of Biblical Theology. The Board of Directors, instead of 
 removing Dr. Briggs, or at least requiring him to desist from teaching 
 in the seminary until the question at issue between the Assembly and 
 the seminary as to the full and proper meaning of the compact had 
 been decided, resolved to continue Dr. Briggs in the chair which the 
 Assembly had declared he ought not to occupy. This action was the 
 more questionable, because the Assembly appointed a Committee of 
 fifteen " to confer with the directors of the Union Theological Seminary 
 in regard to the relation of the said seminary to the General Assembly. " 
 
 This conference resulted in practical failure to remove the misunder- 
 
474 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 standing, and it was so reported to the Assembly of 1892, meeting in 
 Portland. That Assembly appointed five arbitrators to meet a like 
 number selected by the directors of Union Seminary, with power to 
 select five others, to determine the interpretation of the compact, viz., 
 as to the transfer of a professor. The Stated Clerk of the Assembly 
 notified the directors of the seminary on July 16, 1892, that the Assem- 
 bly had appointed such a Committee of Arbitration. On the 4th of 
 August, Dr. T. Ralston Smith, chairman of the Committee, addressed a 
 similar communication to the directors. To this letter the recorder of 
 the Board responded that the Board could not take any action before 
 the middle of October. On the 15th of October, the Board of Direc- 
 tors met and resolved to terminate the compact. This action was taken 
 nearly three months after the Board had been officially informed of the 
 appointment of a Committee of Arbitration, and before any opportunity 
 was given to the Committee of the General Assembly to present their 
 case. This extraordinary action of the Board of Directors is inexplica- 
 ble to the Assembly. The high character of the gentlemen composing 
 the Board fully warranted the expectation that so fair a proposition as 
 that of arbitration would not be treated in such a way. While there 
 remained to the Assembly the hope that by conference or arbitration 
 the difficulty that had arisen would be removed, the Assembly did not 
 think it best to discuss the points raised by the directors of Union 
 Seminary in attempted justification of their action. But now the 
 Assembly takes issue with the statement made in the memorial presented 
 to the Portland Assembly that " there exists the undoubted right of 
 either party to the agreement of 1870 to act alone in its abrogation." 
 No such right is expressed in the agreement, and, in the nature of things> 
 no agreement where valuable interests are involved., not to say valuable 
 considerations are given and received, can in good morals be abrogated 
 by one party to the agreement without the consent and against the 
 expressed desire of the other party. The claim that the words of Dr. 
 Musgrave, spoken in the Old School Assembly of 1869, and quoted by 
 the directors in their memorial to the Portland Assembly, give warrant 
 to either party to abrogate the agreement, is not in accordance with a 
 proper understanding of those words. The "declaration" referred to 
 by Dr. Musgrave was not a compact or covenant as one of the terms of 
 reunion. The relation of the seminaries to the Assembly was a difficult 
 problem. The arrangement in the "declaration ' ' he was discussing proved 
 to be unacceptable to Union Seminary, and was not adopted. The 
 following year Union Seminary came to the Assembly with a memorial 
 setting forth an arrangement which was accepted by the Assembly and 
 agreed to by all the seminaries. This is the compact or arrangement, 
 not discussed by Dr. Musgrave in 1869, which Union Seminary has 
 declared on its own motion that it has abrogated. Whatever force the 
 constitutional and legal objections may have to the making and continu- 
 ance of such a compact by the directors, there was an easy and simple 
 way to remove them if the directors so desired. The Legislature of the 
 State of New York would doubtless have amended the charter if the 
 directors had requested it. 
 
 Because, then, of the strange and unwarranted action of the directors 
 in retaining Dr. Briggs after his appointment had been disapproved by 
 the Assembly; and because of the refusal by the directors to arbitrate 
 the single point in dispute between the Assembly and the Board; and 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 475 
 
 because of the attempt by the Board and on its own motion and against 
 the expressed desire of the Assembly to abrogate the compact of 1870, 
 the Assembly disavows all responsibility for the teaching of Union Sem- 
 inary, and declines to receive any report from its Board until satisfactory 
 relations are established. The Assembly, however, cherishes the hope, 
 and will cordially welcome any effort to bring Union Seminary into such 
 a relationship with itself, as will enable the Assembly to commend the 
 institution again to students for the ministry. — 1893, p. 161. 
 
 13. The Board of Education enjoined to aid such students only as 
 are in attendance upon seminaries approved by the Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee would further recommend that the Board of Educa- 
 tion be enjoined to give aid to such students only as may be in attendance 
 upon seminaries approved by the Assembly. Adopted. — 1893, p. 161. 
 
 14. Action of the directors on the Assembly's plan of 1894. 
 
 Whereas, The General Assembly's Committee of Conference with the 
 Theological Seminaries, through its chairman, the Rev. William C. 
 Young, D.D., has, under date of September 1, 1894, requested the 
 Board of Directors of Union Theological Seminary to adopt the recom- 
 mendations of the General Assembly with reference to the amendment of 
 our charter, and in case of our unwillingness to do so, has asked us to 
 arrange for a conference, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Directors of Union Theological Seminary 
 respectfully declines to accede to the recommendation of the General 
 Assembly to seek the amendment of our charter, and hence considers a 
 conference unnecessary. — 1895, p. 160. 
 
 15. Action of the Assembly, 1896. 
 
 The Committee of Conference with the Theological Seminaries also 
 reported on certain inquiries concerning Union Seminary, which it was 
 directed to make. The report was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 In reply to the request made by the General Assembly of this Commit- 
 tee, to inquire into and report to the next General Assembly as to the rights 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, in the 
 property now held by the Union Theological Seminary in the city of 
 New York, and to recommend what measures shall be taken to enforce 
 said rights, we respectfully submit that the property and funds held by 
 the Union Seminary, contributed during the existence of the compact 
 between the seminary and the General Assembly, viz., between 1870-92, 
 were contributed to it as a seminary which had entered into such rela- 
 tions with the General Assembly as gave the Assembly control over the 
 election of its professors and secured to it the Assembly's expressed 
 approval, and thus enabled it to secure a large sum from the Memorial 
 Fund of 1870, under the definite understanding that it had positive 
 connection with* the Presbyterian Church as a seminary; and that it had, 
 during this period, definitely recognized this relation in its appeals for an 
 increased endowment; and we furthermore report that in view of the 
 repudiation by the seminary of the compact of 1870, and the disregard 
 of the Assembly's authority and discipline in the case of one of its 
 professors, who, notwithstanding his suspension by the General Assem- 
 bly, is retained in his position in the seminary, we are compelled to 
 believe and to report that the present administration of the funds is not 
 in accord with the intention of the donors during the period above 
 
476 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 named. Nevertheless, while we are compelled to make this declaration, 
 we deem it inexpedient to recommend the General Assembly at the 
 present time to enter into any contest in the matter of the endowments 
 and property of the seminary, choosing rather to leave the whole matter 
 to the honor and stewardship of those now in charge of the seminary. 
 —1896, p. 123. 
 
 VI. DANVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. * 
 
 [Note. — Located at Danville, Ky. 
 
 For preliminary proceedings see Baird's Digest, 1858, pp. 447-453 ; see also for action 
 of the Assembly, Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 390-393.] 
 
 1. Plan as amended by the Assembly of 1873. 
 I. Location — Name. 
 
 1. The General Assembly of 1853, upon the careful consideration of 
 the whole subject, located this theological seminary at Danville in the 
 State of Kentucky. 
 
 § The minutes of that Assembly show upon what numerous and 
 urgent appeals the question of founding this seminary was taken up. 
 They also show that it was by a unanimous vote of the Assembly that 
 it was resolved to found the seminary ; and by another unanimous vote 
 resolved to determine its location by the vote of the Assembly then met. 
 
 2. The commissioners in that Assembly from the Presbyteries within 
 the bounds of the Synod of Kentucky, proposed in writing that if the 
 Assembly would erect and sustain a theological seminary under its 
 own care, of the first class, to be located in the West, the Synod and 
 people of Kentucky would contribute the sum of $20,000 towards the 
 endowment of one chair in said seminary, irrespective of its particular 
 location. But if the seminary should be located at Danville, in the 
 State of Kentucky, then the Synod and people of that State would give 
 the sum of $60,000 towards the endowment of three chairs in said 
 seminary; and would also furnish not less than ten acres of land as a site 
 for the perpetual location of it; and would secure to the Assembly, by 
 proper covenants, the use of such charters and franchises then held, or 
 that might afterwards be obtained from the civil authorities of the State 
 of Kentucky, as would enable the General Assembly to erect, endow, 
 manage, and carry on perpetually, under its own care and control, a 
 theological seminary of the first class. 
 
 § Full proof is in possession of this Assembly of 1854, and is pub- 
 lished by its authority, that all these undertakings have been complied 
 with by the Synod and people of Kentucky, and some of the more 
 important of them exceeded. The location of the seminary at Danville 
 in Kentucky by the Assembly of 1853, and the pledge of that Assem- 
 bly to strive with Divine aid to erect, endow, and sustain the said 
 seminary, under its own care and as one of the first* class, are both 
 hereby, and in consideration of the premises, ratified and made perma- 
 nent and absolute. 
 
 § The agreement by way of covenant between the General Assembly 
 by its Committee appointed in 1853 on the one side, and the Board of 
 Trustees of the Centre College of Kentucky on the other side, which 
 has been laid before the Assembly of 1854, is hereby ratified in its terms. 
 And the further agreement between the said Committee of the Assem- 
 bly on the one side and the Synod of Kentucky on the other side, by 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 477 
 
 way of covenant, is hereby ratified in its terms. And the additional 
 charter obtained by the said Committee from the Legislature of Ken- 
 tucky, and the amendment thereto, are accepted and ratified in the terms 
 thereof by this Assembly. And both of said agreements, and also the 
 said additional charter with its amendment, are made parts of the 
 permanent plan on which the theological seminary to which they all 
 relate, is to be erected, endowed, sustained, and controlled by the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 
 3. The name and. style of the said theological seminary shall be and 
 continue as enacted by the General Assembly of 1853, in the acts erect- 
 ing and organizing it, and as confirmed in the charter and its amendment 
 granted by the Legislature of Kentucky on the application of the Com- 
 mittee of the Assembly, " The Danville Theological Seminary under the 
 care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America." 
 
 II. Design of the institution — Mode of conducting it. 
 
 1. The design of this seminary is to provide the means for the proper 
 professional training of candidates for the ministry of the Gospel. 
 
 § Candidates for the ministry who are members of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States, are those who are chiefly designed to be 
 benefited, and who are in the first instance to be considered and provided 
 for. 
 
 § Other suitable persons, of which the proper officers of the institution 
 must judge, may enjoy the privileges of the seminary, though they be 
 candidates for the ministry in other denominations or already ministers 
 of the Gospel, upon their complying with all the rules and orders obliga- 
 tory upon the other students. 
 
 § No charge shall be made for any instruction given to the students in 
 this seminary by any professor or teacher thereof. So far as the students 
 are concerned, all instruction is gratuitous to all. 
 
 2. By professional training it is designed to exclude from the course of 
 instruction pursued in this seminary whatever falls appropriately, or 
 according to the custom of the country, under the departments of 
 primary, academical, collegiate and university education; and to include 
 all that falls specially under the department of professional education for 
 a minister of the Gospel, so as to fit him for whatever work the Church 
 may properly expect of him as such. The acquisitions excluded, the 
 student is presumed to have made as far as is necessary to his success in 
 the ministry before he comes to this seminary. The portion included, it 
 is the design of this institution to afford the means of obtaining. 
 
 § The Standards of the Presbyterian Church; the acts of its General 
 Assemblies passed from time to time ; this plan ; the orders of the Board 
 of Directors of this seminary; and the decisions of its faculty and the 
 several professors who at any time compose it, must determine the proper 
 course of that professional training, so far as this seminary is concerned, 
 and the proper mode of pursuing it. 
 
 § That professional training in its appropriate sphere, must be under- 
 stood as extending to everything, seeing that it contemplates a profession 
 the most peculiar, the most difficult, and the most exalted. Not only 
 that which is social and public, but also that which is private and per- 
 sonal; not only study and instruction, but discipline and practice; not 
 only growth in knowledge, but growth in grace also; everything is to be 
 
478 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 embraced, according to its importance in the future career of a minister 
 of the blessed Gospel. 
 
 3. As this institution derives its origin from the General Assembly, 
 that body is to be considered its patron and the fountain of its powers; 
 and it shall be conducted under the authority, oversight and care of the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 § Its immediate interests, in their various aspects and departments, 
 are committed in part to the control and discretion of the Board of 
 Directors; in part to that of the faculty, made up of the professors for 
 the time being; and in part to that of the Board of Trustees under the 
 charter of the seminary. 
 
 § A chapter in this plan is devoted to each of these subordinate 
 authorities, and an additional one to the students of the institution. 
 Under these four heads, all the general principles and all the detailed 
 application of them further necessary in a plan like this, will be stated. 
 
 III. The Board of Directors. 
 
 1. The Board of Directors as constituted at the expiration of the 
 sessions of the General Assembly of 1873, and their successors appointed 
 in the manner hereafter provided for, shall have the immediate control 
 of the seminary, and are authorized to exercise all the control of the 
 funds belonging to the iustitution hitherto exercised by the Assembly, as 
 far as can be done consistently with the will of the testators or donors, 
 and consistently with the objects and purposes of the covenants 
 and agreements referred to in the plan of the seminary — the 
 exercise, however, of such control of the funds by the Board of Direc- 
 tors hereby authorized being always subject to the veto of the General 
 Assembly. But all matters relating to finance, such as fixing the salary 
 of professors and the extent of aid to be given to indigent students, shall 
 be submitted by the Board of Directors to the trustees of the seminary 
 for their approval. 
 
 The true and only intent and meaning of the amendments and changes 
 now made in the plan of the seminary, are, through the enlarged powers 
 of general administration herein conferred upon the Board of Directors, 
 to provide a more convenient and effective mode of executing by the 
 General Assembly, through said Board, the trusts it now holds in refer- 
 ence to the seminary and its funds, and to increase, by a more efficient 
 local administration, the usefulness of the institution for the purposes for 
 which it was established. 
 
 § The Board of Directors shall consist of thirty members, of whom 
 one-half shall be ministers of the Gospel, and the other half ruling 
 elders in good standing in the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America. These directors shall be divided into three sections of ten 
 persons each, one-half of each section being ministers of the Gospel, 
 and the other half ruling elders ; and one of these sections of ten persons 
 shall be elected by the Board of Directors, and all vacancies filled in the 
 two other sections, at each annual meeting of the Board in such manner 
 that each section shall serve three years and until their successors are 
 elected; and the third part of the whole Board shall be elected every 
 year. The form of the election shall be as the Board, from time to time, 
 shall prescribe; and all these elections shall be subject to the veto of the 
 General Assembly, to which body they shall be reported at its next 
 meeting thereafter. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 479 
 
 The members of the Board appointed by the General Assemblies of 
 1871, 1872 and 1873, shall serve out the terms for which they were 
 respectively appointed; and the first election by the Board itself shall be 
 made at the annual meeting in 1874, to fill all vacancies that may exist 
 at that time in its body. 
 
 § Every director, before he takes his seat as such, shall subscribe in 
 the presence of the Board a written declaration, to be kept in a book for 
 that purpose, that he sincerely and truly receives and adopts the Stand- 
 ards of doctrine, government, discipline and worship of our Presbyterian 
 Church. And every director who refuses or who fails, without some 
 sufficient excuse, for one whole year next after his election to appear and 
 qualify and take his seat, shall thereby forfeit his right to do so, and his 
 place shall thereon become vacant. 
 
 § The Board of Directors shall meet on its own adjournment, or it may 
 be convened by a call on due notice of any one of its permanent officers, 
 or by any five members of the Board. Its ordinary place of meeting 
 shall be Danville in Kentucky; but it may meet at any other place where 
 the convenience of the Board, or the interests of the seminary, may 
 require it. Any six members met together at the time and place previ- 
 ously appointed, shall be a quorum competent to transact any business 
 not specially excepted. The annual meeting of the Board shall be at 
 the seminary, about the close of the seminary year, and shortly before 
 the annual meeting of the Assembly. 
 
 2. The Board of Directors shall have power to elect the professors, 
 and to remove them from office — such election and removal being subject 
 to the veto of the General Assembly. The said Board shall also have 
 power to suspend temporarily a professor, preliminary to and pending an 
 investigation of charges against his life or doctrine. In the event of a 
 vacancy in any chair of the seminary, they may employ any suitable 
 person to give instruction temporarily in the vacant department ; and 
 they may also, upon the recommendation of the faculty of the semi- 
 nary, engage the services of any suitable person to give occasional instruc- 
 tion to the pupils upon anyiparticnlar subject. 
 
 § They shall have power to make all necessary by-laws, rules and 
 regulations for the transaction of their official business as may seem 
 necessary, and to change them from time to time; but none of them must 
 conflict with this Plan. 
 
 § They may appoint Permanent Committees, having all the powers of 
 the Board or any part thereof, to act during the recess of the Board. 
 But all such Committees must report at every meeting of the Board, and 
 all of them must be renewed a least once every year, or their powers 
 cease. • 
 
 § They may also appoint such officers, agents and servants — members 
 of the Board — to exercise certain powers thereof; or not members of 
 the Board, to discharge certain functions on its behalf, as may be thought 
 necessary from time to time. And such compensation may be allowed to 
 such persons as the Board may consider reasonable, out of any funds 
 subject to control of the Board. 
 
 3. It appertains to the Board of Directors to exercise a general super- 
 vision over the professors, teachers and pupils of the seminary; to take 
 care of all the great interests thereof; and, standing between the semi- 
 nary and the General Assembly, to be the ordinary medium of communi- 
 cation between them. 
 
480 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 § The special object of this arrangement is, that on the one hand the 
 Assembly may have the assurance, derived from the careful superinten- 
 dence of the Board of Directors, that its acts and purposes are fairly and 
 truly carried out in the seminary, and with regard to it; and on the other 
 hand, that on the part of the professors, teachers, students, and 
 general interests of the seminary, such representations may be statedly 
 made to the Assembly as will encourage and enable it to execute the 
 Lord's purposes of mercy by this means. 
 
 § The management of the funds and property and the care and execu- 
 tion of the charter and franchises belonging to the seminary, are duties 
 and powers which do not appertain to the Board of Directors. But for 
 the furtherance of particular objects, which may be at any time specially 
 important, and which may not fall under the particular duties of the 
 Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors may collect, manage and 
 expend, temporarily or permanently, such funds as may be necessary ; 
 keeping a regular account and making report thereof to the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 § Whatever money may at any time be collected, managed or expended 
 by the Board of Directors, or under its authority, shall be kept perfectly 
 distinct from the permanent funds of the seminary. 
 
 4. At all the meetings of the Board of Directors, there shall be such 
 religious services as shall seem expedient to the Board. And at its 
 annual meeting there shall be such examinations or other exercises, pub- 
 lic or private, of the students of the seminary, as the Board may direct. 
 At its annual meeting, also, the Board shall draw up a report and cause 
 it to be laid before the General Assembly, giving a succinct account 
 of the preceding year's operations, and containing such suggestions and 
 recommendations as the Board may consider it proper to make to the 
 Assembly. 
 
 5. The exact period of each year at which the exercises of the seminary 
 will commence, and that at which they will close ; the number and the length 
 of the terms and of vacations; everything relating to exhibitions, exam- 
 inations and public exercises ; together with matters of a similar character, 
 belong to the Board of Directors, and are to be determined from time to 
 time, after conference with the professors, in such manner as may seem 
 most proper; the General Assembly hereby reserving to itself the power to 
 make such further provision touching all such matters as it may at any 
 time consider necessary. 
 
 § If it should so happen that less than six members of the Board of 
 Directors should convene at the time and place appointed for any regular 
 meeting of the Board, that shall not absolutely defeat the meeting; but as 
 many directors as may be present shall proceed with such ordinary busi- 
 ness as may require attention, and their actings and doings shall be valid 
 unless they are rescinded at the next regular meeting of a quorum of 
 the Board. 
 
 § It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to take care that the 
 periodical elections of the members of the Board are not omitted; that 
 vacancies in the office of professor in the seminary are duly filled; that 
 newly elected directors and professors are duly inducted into office ; that 
 all persons in any way connected with the Seminary faithfully perform 
 their respective duties; and that all the interests of the institution are 
 regularly organized and faithfully advanced, according to the great 
 design had in view in its establishment and support. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 481 
 
 § The Board of Directors shall keep a fair journal of all their proceed- 
 ings, which shall be open at all times to the inspection of the Assembly, 
 by Committee or otherwise, and which shall be laid before the Assembly 
 whenever that body shall require it. 
 
 IV. The Professors— The Faculty. 
 
 1. The professors in this seminary shall be elected by the Board of 
 Directors at any of their regular meetings or at a meeting specially called 
 for that purpose, and of which due notice shall have been given. The 
 manner of the election shall be as the Board shall deem proper at the 
 time. 
 
 § They shall hold their respective offices during the pleasure of the 
 Board of Directors. But a quorum of the Board competent to dismiss a 
 professor shall consist of not less than one-half of all the members. 
 
 § No professor shall ever be elected except to fill a chair actually exist- 
 ing and vacant ; nor shall any professor ever receive merely honorary 
 authority or compensation for past services or otherwise. 
 
 § No one shall be competent to hold the office of professor who is not 
 an ordained minister in good standing in the Presbyterian Church, and 
 who shall not have been statedly engaged as such in some employment 
 immediately connected with the cure of souls for at least five years pre- 
 ceding his election. 
 
 2. The number of professors in this seminary shall be increased or 
 diminished at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. But the Board 
 shall at all times feel obliged in this as in all other respects to treat this 
 seminary as one of the first class. 
 
 § The professors shall be inaugurated in such manner as the Board of 
 Directors shall prescribe. 
 
 § As a part of that service, and before any professor enters upon the 
 duties of his office, he shall publicly profess that the Standards of doctrine, 
 government, discipline and worship of this Church are the Standards of 
 his own faith ; and he shall subscribe a writing, to be kept in a book for 
 that purpose, setting forth that he has made the said public profession, 
 and solemnly binding himself diligently to teach the system contained in 
 said Standards, and to teach nothing contrary to that system so long as he 
 shall continue a professor in this seminary. 
 
 § Every professor who shall fail or refuse to be inaugurated in manner 
 aforesaid, in a reasonable time (to be judged of by the Board of Direc- 
 tors) after his election, shall thereby forfeit all right to said office, which 
 shall thenceforth be treated as vacant. 
 
 § No professor after being inaugurated shall be at liberty to resign his 
 office, except upon six months' written notice to the faculty of the semi- 
 nary, unless by the consent of the Board of Directors in some lawful 
 meeting. 
 
 3. The professors shall be of equal rank and authority one with another. 
 But when they meet as a faculty, and when they act jointly upon any 
 occasion, the senior professor present shall preside ; and he shall perform 
 in the name of the whole all joint official acts. If two or more professors 
 were elected at the same time, the one longest in the ministerial office shall 
 be considered the senior one of them. The faculty shall elect one of 
 their number to act as their Stated Clerk, who shall perform the duties 
 proper to that office. 
 
 § Unitedly the professors shall constitute the faculty of the seminary. 
 31 
 
482 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 The majority of the professors in office shall be a quorum to do business. 
 In all meetings every matter shall be determined according to the votes of 
 the larger part of those present, the presiding professor having always a 
 right to vote. 
 
 § Each professor shall devote himself to the duties of the particular 
 department of instruction committed to him. And the faculty as a body 
 shall have a joint advisory oversight of the conduct of each separate pro- 
 fessor, as to the manner in which his duties are discharged. 
 
 4. At present, and till the further order of the Board of Directors, 
 there shall be four professors in this seminary; and till the further order 
 of said Board, the subjects of instruction distributed amongst them shall 
 be as hereinafter provided ; namely, there shall be a professor of Didactic 
 and Polemic Theology; a professor of Biblical and Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory; a professor of Church Government and Pastoral Theology; a pro- 
 fessor of Biblical Literature and Exegetical Theology. 
 
 § It shall be the duty of these professors to give instruction in the 
 various matters that fall appropriately to their respective professorships; 
 and in the event of any difference of opinion amongst them on that 
 matter, it shall be settled by the faculty, subject to the revision of the 
 Board of Directors. 
 
 § In every department of instruction, under every prof essorship, it is 
 the Word of God that is to be kept as much as possible under the con- 
 tinual observation of the students. Nor is it either expected or desired 
 that the lines between subject and subject, or even chair and chair, 
 should be drawn in any such manner as to exclude any professor from 
 teaching according to the proportion of faith on all subjects whatever. 
 
 5. It shall be the duty of the professors, individually and collectively, 
 to watch over the students with pastoral and parental care and affection ; 
 to have regard to all that concerns their health, comfort, piety, progress 
 in knowledge and whatever beside may affect their future usefulness as 
 ministers of the Gospel, remembering the greatness of the charge com- 
 mitted to them of training those who are to win souls. 
 
 § It appertains to them to exhort, encourage, instruct, guide, and, if 
 need be, rebuke, those who are thus committed to them by the Church 
 and the Lord — they having authority for these very things. 
 
 § It belongs to them to admit students into the seminary ; to direct 
 them while they are there ; to refuse such as they may consider unsuit- 
 able, incompetent, or unprofitable; to dismiss such as may prove them- 
 selves to be unworthy or injurious ; to grant suitable testimonials to such 
 as depart with profit and credit; and to take charge of the entire disci- 
 pline of the seminary for the edification of the students, and through 
 them for the good of the Church. 
 
 § They shall meet as a faculty from time to time, statedly or otherwise, 
 and shall keep minutes of such of their proceedings as they deem proper 
 to be recorded ; and they may make such by-laws, rules and regulations, 
 touching any part of the matters devolving on them, as may from time 
 to time appear needful. Moreover, they shall always meet as a faculty 
 at the request of any member, whose duty it shall then be to notify his 
 fellow- members of his desire for such a meeting. 
 
 § They shall have power as a faculty to communicate officially with 
 the Board of Directors, with the several Boards of Trustees, and with 
 the General Assembly; and it shall be their duty, upon application of 
 any of these Boards, and upon requisition of the Assembly, to report 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 483 
 
 either statedly or occasionally, as may be necessary, such information 
 touching the proceedings and condition of the seminary as may be 
 desired. 
 
 6. The matter of text -books m each particular department is left to 
 the professor thereof, with a supervisory power, however, in the faculty 
 in extraordinary cases, of which they are the judges. 
 
 § It is not intended to intimate that instruction by particular text- 
 books and recitations is preferred as the best method in professional train- 
 ing. On the contrary, let the professors, each in his own department, 
 strive to gather from all quarters all treasures of pertinent knowledge, 
 and communicate them to the students by way of lectures, discourses, 
 prelections and the like; striving by proper examinations of the students 
 .to ground these fruits in their minds; enabling them by proper exercises 
 on their part to gain the habit of their use; and making known to 
 them carefully where in books further researches may be made, and how. 
 
 § The method to be pursued in the actual imparting of instruction 
 may be this: In the Hebrew language, let the whole number of students 
 be divided into two sections, one composed of those who are advanced 
 considerably in the knowledge of that language, the other, of those who 
 are beginners in it. In every other study let the whole of the students 
 attend every professor at every public exercise ; and let every student 
 attend two or three of these exercises every day that is devoted to them. 
 
 § In the proper arrangement of the instructions given by the professors, 
 every one of them in every part of his course ought to touch at every 
 point that divine truth with which it should be the supreme object of all 
 their endeavors to imbue their pupils, not only as a doctrine, but as a 
 living power; so that during the whole course of the student, the whole 
 of his sacred profession as a minister of Christ will be always in view; 
 nothing that concerns his proper training for it being at any time lost 
 sight of, and nothing else being at any time intruded among his studies. 
 
 § Let it be continually borne in mind that it is not merely to direct and 
 to superintend the studies of the pupils that the professors are appointed to 
 their great and difficult work, but it is actually to instruct them ; and that 
 even above this there is a higher duty still, namely, to train them in 
 such a manner that they will afterwards be competent to instruct and 
 train others. 
 
 7. The public and social worship of God on the Sabbath and statedly 
 every day, and specially as often as may be for edification, is committed 
 to the regulation of the faculty for the benefit of all connected with the 
 seminary. 
 
 § Once every day at least let all the students, assembled in one place, 
 worship God with singing, prayer, and the public reading of the Word ; 
 once at least every Sabbath day let them all meet in one place, and 
 besides singing, prayer, and reading the Word, let them have conference 
 together touching some great matter of doctrine or duty, of faith or 
 practice ; and statedly let at least one professor be present with them at 
 all the meetings indicated in this paragraph. 
 
 § It shall be the duty of the professors, under the direction of the 
 Board of Directors, to supply the pupils of the institution with the 
 preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments of 
 the Christian Church, if this supply shall not, in the judgment of the 
 directors, be satisfactorily furnished by some neighboring church or 
 churches. 
 
484 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 8. The full course of instruction given in this seminary shall occupy 
 three consecutive years; so that every student who may continue in it 
 that length of time shall enjoy all the advantages afforded by it. 
 
 § Every professor shall arrange the subjects and studies of his particu- 
 lar department, in such a manner as most effectually to present and 
 develop the whole once and thoroughly within each period of three 
 consecutive years. 
 
 9. The salaries of the professors shall be fixed by the Board of 
 Directors. 
 
 § It was enacted by the Assembly of 1853, that a suitable residence 
 should be provided for each professor free of rent, as soon as the funds of 
 the seminary would justify the purchase or erection thereof. 
 
 § The payment of the salaries of the professors, is in the order of 
 importance the first charge upon the permanent funds of the seminary ; 
 after that the erection of suitable public buildings ; then the enlargement 
 of the library ; then the erection or purchase of residences for the pro- 
 fessors ; then scholarships for students. 
 
 10. No professor shall be a member of either the Board of Directors or 
 the . Board of Trustees ; and the acceptance of a professorship by any 
 member of either of the Boards named shall be regarded as ipso facta 
 the resignation of his seat therein. 
 
 V. Boards of Trustees — Funds. 
 
 1. There are three Boards of Trustees more or less directly connected 
 with the theological seminary at Danville, and having charters of great 
 value. 
 
 First. — The Board of Trustees of the Centre College of Kentucky has 
 an amended charter, granted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the 
 year 1824, by means of which any amount of funds may be held by 
 that Board of Trustees for the purposes of theological education on the 
 terms stated therein. That Board of Trustees and the Synod of Ken- 
 tucky which elects them have both agreed, by way of covenant with the 
 General Assembly, that the benefits of this amended charter shall accrue 
 to the Danville Theological Seminary; and by similar covenants the 
 annual income of a considerable fund now held by that Board under 
 that charter, together with all future additions thereto, are to be for the 
 use and benefit of the said seminary upon the conditions agreed to by 
 the Assembly in its acts creating the seminary. 
 
 Secondly. — The Board of Trustees of the theological fund of the 
 Synod of Kentucky, who are elected by the Synod of Kentucky, have a 
 charter granted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the year 1850, 
 by means of which they may hold property to the value of $50,000, with 
 an income of $5000 a year ; and they have in their hands a large sum of 
 money contributed by a portion of the people of Kentucky, which is 
 subject to the control of the Synod of Kentucky, and is dedicated to the 
 purposes of theological education. The use of this charter and of the 
 fund held under it, and of all future additions to it, has been vested in 
 the General Assembly for the benefit of the theological seminary at 
 Danville, by covenant between the Synod of Kentucky and the General 
 Assembly, upon the same terms and conditions as the charter and funds 
 alluded to in the last preceding paragraph. 
 
 Thirdly. — The Board of Trustees of the theological seminary under 
 the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 485 
 
 United States of America has a charter granted to them by the Com- 
 monwealth of Kentucky in the year 1854, by means of which they may 
 hold property to any amount whose net income does not exceed the sum 
 of $20,000 a year, the trustees of which corporation are to be elected 
 by the General Assembly itself, and were created expressly to manage 
 the funds of the Danville Seminary and such other funds as the General 
 Assembly may commit to them for any other object designated by itself; 
 and these trustees have a large fund in their hands already accumulated, 
 the whole of it subscribed upon the conditions stated in the acts of 
 Assembly creating the Danville Theological Seminary. 
 
 2. Each of these Boards of Trustees may go on at its discretion to 
 collect additional funds for the benefit of the Danville Theological 
 Seminary, according to the provisions of their respective charters, and 
 upon the conditions stated in all the acts of the Assembly and all the 
 covenants with the Assembly relating to said seminary and distinctly 
 reaffirmed in this Plan. 
 
 § For the purpose of avoiding confusion and a multiplicity of 
 accounts, only the third named of the three Boards of Trustees herein- 
 before mentioned need report from year to year to the General Assembly ; 
 but that Board is expected and required to do so according to the provis- 
 ion contained in the eleventh section of its charter. 
 
 § Both of the other Boards may, however, whenever either of them 
 may consider it necessary, report directly to the General Assembly. But 
 it is also expected, and is hereby provided, that both of them will com- 
 municate to the Board of Trustees of the seminary once in every year 
 the exact state of the funds and property under their control respec- 
 tively, in time to enable that Board to embody the information thus com- 
 municated in its yearly report to the General Assembly ; and that both of 
 them will pay over to the said Board of Trustees of the Danville Theo- 
 logical Seminary the net income of all property and funds under their 
 control, as fast as it accrues, at least once every half year. 
 
 3. Out of the proceeds of the funds and property now in the hands of 
 all three of the aforesaid Boards of Trustees, and out of all funds, 
 subscriptions, and payments hereafter given or made to either of them, 
 the Danville Seminary is to be sustained and carried on according to the 
 fair intent of the acts of Assembly creating said seminary; of this 
 Plan ; of the several covenants entered into by the Assembly concerning 
 said seminary; and of the charters under which said Boards exist. 
 
 § The objects to be specially and immediately aimed at should be the 
 current support of the seminary on an effective basis ; the collection and 
 safe investment of a sufficient amount of money or other property to 
 defray by its income the annual expense of carrying on the seminary ; 
 the collection of additional funds to erect the permanent buildings need- 
 ful for the accommodation of the seminary, for the founding and gradual 
 enlargement of a library, and for a certain number of scholarships for 
 the support of indigent students. The Board of Trustees of the semi- 
 nary is especially charged with this work. 
 
 § The Board of Trustees of the seminary will take exclusive charge 
 of the duty of providing for all expenditures incurred in the regular 
 and ordinary support of the seminary, and in the current expenses 
 thereof; the other two Boards of Trustees mentioned in this Plan limit- 
 ing themselves in that respect to the regular payment of their income 
 respectively, as hereinbefore provided. 
 
486 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 VI. The Students. 
 
 [Omitted.] 
 
 VII. General Provisions. 
 
 1. The General Assembly reserves to itself the most ample power to 
 make amendments and alterations in this Plan. 
 
 § Those parts of it that involve only matters of detail may be changed 
 at any time by the Assembly, either on its own motion or at the sugges- 
 tion of the Board of Directors. 
 
 § No fundamental principle of the Plan shall be changed unless it is 
 proposed at one annual meeting of the Assembly and carried at the next 
 annual meeting thereof, unless such change be proposed to the Assembly 
 by the Board of Directors and carried by a vote of two-thirds of the 
 members of the Assembly. 
 
 § Those principles and parts of the Plan which are founded on the 
 covenants between the Synod of Kentucky, or the Board of Trustees of 
 the Centre College of Kentucky, and the General Assembly, shall never 
 be so changed as to affect the force or integrity of either of those cove- 
 nants, without the previous consent of the opposite parties thereto. 
 
 2. Until the further order of the Assembly, or some different provision 
 by the Board of Directors under the powers vested in them by this 
 Plan, there shall be one annual session of the seminary, which shall begin 
 on the first Thursday in September and terminate on the last Thursday 
 in April, with a short recess, at the discretion of the faculty, about 
 Christmas. 
 
 Authentication. 
 
 The Committee appointed by the last General Assembly to report to 
 the present Assembly a complete Plan for the Danville Theological Semi- 
 nary, beg leave to report that the following members of the said Com- 
 mittee, viz., J. J. Bullock, Willis Lord, J. T. Edgar, James Smith, 
 K. J. Breckenridge and J. C. Young met, agreeably to previous notice, 
 at Danville on the 11th inst., and agreed unanimously to submit to the 
 Assembly the accompanying Plan for its adoption. 
 
 Those parts of this Plan which define the powers and prescribe the 
 duties of the Board of Directors of the seminary, were submitted to that 
 Board for their judgment at their late session, and were unanimously 
 approved. Those parts of the Plan touching the professors and students 
 were also submitted to the inspection of the faculty of the institution, 
 and met their entire approval. John C. Young, 
 
 May 20, 1854. Chairman of the Committee. 
 
 Approved in the General Assembly at Buffalo, N. Y., May 26, 1854, 
 and transmitted to the Board of Directors of the Seminary at Danville. 
 
 Alex. T. M'Gill, 
 Permanent Clerk. 
 
 2. Charter. 
 
 An Act to incorporate the Trustees of the Theological Seminary, under the 
 care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, at Danville, in the State of Kentucky. 
 
 Section 1st. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 
 Kentucky, That Charles Henderson, J. F. Boyles, James S. Hopkins, Charles 
 Caldwell, J. S. Berryman, Peter R. Dunn, William Thompson, Mark Hardin, 
 W. C. Brooks, J. P. Curtis, Robert J. Breckinridge, Edward P. Humphrey, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 487 
 
 John C. Young, Robert C. Grundy, William M. Scott, William L. Breckin- 
 ridge, John Montgomery, and Robert A. Johnstone, and their successors, duly 
 elected and appointed in manner as is hereinafter directed, be, and they are 
 hereby made, declared, and constituted a corporation and body politic and cor- 
 porate, in law and in fact, to have continuance by the name, style, and title of 
 the Trustees of the Theological Seminary, under the care of the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, at Danville, 
 in*the State of Kentucky ; and by the name, style, and title aforesaid, shall be 
 capable and able in law to take, receive, and hold, all, and all manner of lands, 
 tenements, rents, annuities, franchises, and other hereditaments, which at any 
 time ortimes heretofore have been granted, bargained, sold, enfeoffed, released, 
 devised, or otherwise conveyed for the use of the Theological Seminary under the 
 care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, located at Danville, in the State of Kentucky, or any other person 
 or persons, to the use of the said seminary, or in trust for the same ; and the 
 said lands, tenements, rents, annuities, liberties, franchises and other heredita- 
 ments are hereby vested and established in the said corporation and body poli- 
 tic, and their successors, according to the original use and interest for which 
 such gifts and grants were respectively made : and the said corporation and 
 their successors are hereby declared to be seized and possessed of such estate 
 and estates therein, as in and by the respective grants, bargains, sales, enfeoff- 
 ments, releases, devises, and other conveyances thereof, is or are declared, 
 limited, and expressed ; also, that the said corporation and their successors shall 
 be able and capable to purchase, have, receive, take, hold, and enjoy in fee 
 simple or of lesser estate, or estates, any lands, tenements, rents, annuities, 
 franchises and other hereditaments, by gift, grant, bargain, sale, alienation, 
 enfeoffments, release, confirmation, or devise of any person or persons, bodies 
 politic and corporate, capable and able to make the same : and further, that 
 the said corporation and their successors may take and receive any sum or 
 sums of money, and any portion of goods and chattels that have been given to 
 and for the use of the Theological Seminary at Danville, or the Directors 
 thereof, or to any other person or persons, body politic or corporate, in trust, 
 or for the use of the said seminary, or that hereafter shall be given, sold, 
 leased, or bequeathed to the said corporation, by any person or persons, bodies 
 politic or corporate, that are able or capable to make a gift, sale, bequest, or 
 other disposal of the same ; — such money, goods, or chattels, to be laid out, and 
 disposed of for the use and benefit of the aforesaid corporation, agreeably to 
 the intention of the donors, and according to the object, articles, and condi- 
 tions of this Act. 
 
 Section 2nd. That no misnomer of said corporation and their successors, shall 
 defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise, or bequest, to or for the use of said cor- 
 poration, Provided, The intent of the party or parties shall sufficiently appear 
 upon the face of the gift, will, grant, or other writing, whereby any estate or in- 
 terest was intended to pass to or for said corporation. 
 
 Section 3rd. That the said corporation and their successors shall have full 
 power and authority to make, have, and use a common seal with such devise 
 and inscription as they may adopt, and the same to break, alter, and renew at 
 their pleasure. 
 
 Section 4th. That the said corporation and their successors, by the names, 
 titles, and style aforesaid, shall be able and capable to sue and be sued, plead 
 and be impleaded, in any court of law or equity in this State. 
 
 Section 5th. That the said corporation and their successors shall be, and 
 hereby are, authorized and empowered to make, ordain, and establish, by-laws 
 and ordinances, and do everything incident to and needful for the support and 
 due government of the said corporation, and managing the funds and revenues 
 thereof, Provided, The said by-laws be not repugnant to the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States, to the Constitution and laws of this State, or to this 
 Act. 
 
 Section 6th. That the said corporation shall not at anytime consist of more 
 than eighteen persons, at least nine of whom shall at all times be citizens of 
 this State, whereof the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, at any meeting thereof held in the State of Kentucky, 
 may change one-third, in such manner as to the said General Assembly shall 
 seem proper, and fill all vacancies then existing. 
 
 Section 7th. That the said corporation and their successors shall have power 
 and authority to manage and dispose of all monies, goods, chattels, lands, tene- 
 
488 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 merits, and hereditaments, and other estate whatsoever, committed to their care 
 and trust by the said General Assembly, and in such cases where special in- 
 structions for the management and disposal thereof, shall be given by the said 
 General Assembly, in writing, under the hand of their clerk, it shall be the 
 duty of said corporation to act according to said instructions, Provided, The 
 said instruction shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United 
 States, or to the Constitution and laws of this State, or to this Act. 
 
 Section 8th. That six members of this corporation shall be a sufficient num- 
 ber to transact the business thereof, and to make by-laws, rules, and regulations 
 Provided, That previous to any meeting of the Board of Corporation for such 
 purposes, not appointed for adjournment, ten days' notice shall be previously 
 given thereof by the President or Secretary, by advertisement in some news- 
 paper published in this State, or by written notice sent by mail to each member 
 of the Board of Trustees. And said corporation shall and w&y, as often as 
 they shall see proper, according to their rules and by-laws, choose out of their 
 number a president and vice-president and secretary ; and shall have power 
 to appoint a treasurer and such other officers and agents, as shall by the said 
 corporation be deemed necessary ; to which officers and agents, the said cor- 
 poration may assign such duties to be performed by them, and award such 
 compensation for their services, and fix the tenure of their office in such way 
 and manner as the said corporation shall direct. 
 
 Section 9th. That the said corporation shall have the power and authority 
 to take and receive a bond or bonds from the treasurer and other officers and 
 agents, in such penalty and with such conditions as said corporation may pre- 
 scribe. 
 
 Section 10th. That the members of the Board of Trustees of this corpora- 
 tion, before acting as such, shall each make and sign a declaration that each of 
 them will truly and faithfully, to the best of his ability and skill, exercise the 
 office and perform the duties of trustees, under this act and the by-law of this 
 corporation ; and in case of the refusal or neglect of any member of the Board 
 of Trustees to make and sign such declaration and perform the duties of trustee 
 aforesaid, for more than one year, or decline the same, the Board of Trustees 
 shall have power and authority to declare the said office of trustee vacant, and 
 fill the vacancy by appointment of some fit and proper person to said vacancy, 
 w r ho shall hold the same and remain in office until such vacancy shall be filled 
 by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, under the provisions of 
 this Act. 
 
 Section 11th. That said corporation shall keep regular and fair entries of 
 their proceedings, and a just account of their receipts and disbursements, in a 
 book or books to be provided for that purpose, and shall, once in a year, 
 exhibit to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, an exact statement of the accounts and funds of said cor- 
 poration. 
 
 Section 12th. That the Board of Trustees appointed by this Act, and their 
 successors, shall have no power to exercise any authority touching the course of 
 instruction and study in said Theological Seminary, or the appointment of 
 professors or teachers in said seminary ; their compensation, their tenure of 
 office, and the course of study in said institution, shall remain under the exclusive 
 power and control of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, and of such person and persons as shall be appointed 
 by the said General Assembly from time to time, and the said corporation shall 
 provide out of the estate, funds, or income thereof, in their keeping, control, and 
 management, for the payments from time to time of such salaries and compen- 
 sations of professors, and other teachers and officers of said seminary as shall 
 be allowed, directed, and established by said General Assembly at any of its 
 annual meetings. 
 
 Section 13th. That the Board of Trustees appointed by this act of incorpora- 
 tion and their successors, shall have power and authority to purchase ground, 
 erect buildings for the use of said seminary, and provide libraries and the ac- 
 commodations, out of, or by means of, any funds or estate in their hands, not 
 necessary to the annual support of the said seminary, or out of any money or 
 estate collected or received by them from time to time, for those especial 
 objects and purposes. 
 
 Section 14th. That the said corporation may take, receive, purchase, possess, 
 and enjoy messuages, lands, tenements, rents, annuities, and other heredita- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 489 
 
 merits, real and personal estate of any amount, Provided, That the same do not 
 yield a nett annual income exceeding the sum of twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Section 15th. Be it further enacted, That the General Assembly shall have 
 power to alter, modify, or repeal this Act at any time. 
 
 Charles G. Wintersmith, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 H. G. Bibb, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 Approved January 28th, 1854, by the Governor, 
 L. W. Powell. 
 
 J. P. Metcalfe, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 An act, supplemental to an act incorporating the Trustees of the Theological 
 Seminary under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, at Danville in the State of 
 Kentucky. 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 
 That section fifteen of an act incorporating the Trustees of the Theological 
 Seminary, under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, at Danville, in the State of Kentucky, ap- 
 proved January 28th, 1854, which said section reserves to the Legislature the 
 right to repeal, alter, or annul said charter at any time, be, — and the same is, 
 hereby repealed. 
 
 Charles G. Wintersmith, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 H. G. Bibb, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 Approved February 25th, 1854, by the Governor, 
 
 L. W. Powell. J. P. Metcalfe, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 3. Action of the Assembly of 1873. 
 
 Reports have been received from the directors and trustees of this 
 institution. The directors report that, the difficulties in the way of their 
 adoption of the plan of control recommended by the Assembly being 
 removed, they have approved and adopted said Plan, subject to the 
 approval of the Assembly. The necessary changes in the present plan 
 of the seminary are presented, and after close and careful scrutiny of 
 them the Committee recommend to the Assembly that they be approved, 
 and that the guardianship and control of the Danville Theological Semi- 
 nary be remitted to the Board of Directors as soon as the existing vacan- 
 cies shall have been filled, the Assembly being still considered as the 
 patron of the seminary and the fountain of its powers, and retaining a 
 veto power in the election of its directors and professors, and over all the 
 acts of the directors in financial affairs. — 1873, pp. 530, 531. 
 
 4. Answer of the Board of Directors, 1894. 
 
 The following paper was unanimously adopted November 8, 1894: 
 Being advised that, under our present charter, the Board of Directors 
 has the legal power, by the adoption of by-laws, to accomplish the 
 purpose contemplated by the General Assembly of 1894, in its Plan for 
 the government of the theological seminaries, and it being suggested that 
 there are grave legal difficulties in effecting an amendment of the charter 
 itself, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the four propositions a, b, c and d of the first resolu- 
 tion, found on pp. 65 and 66 of the Minutes of 1894, be, and the same 
 are hereby accepted by this Board as by-laws and ordinances for the 
 government of the directors of the Danville Theological Seminary, 
 
490 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 under the care of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, so far as the funds of the seminary are 
 not devoted by the donors thereof to some special purpose, or are not 
 beyond the control of this body. — 1895, p. 160. 
 
 5. Answer of the Board of Trustees, 1894. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Board is in full sympathy with the action of 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America, as appears by their adoption of the report of the Committee 
 of Fifteen on Conference with Theological Seminaries, and the Board 
 believes that the General Assembly of our Church should have and 
 retain the fullest and broadest control over its theological seminaries, 
 the professors who instruct therein and the course of instruction 
 adopted. 
 
 Resolved, 2. By reason of the fact that this Board deems it inexpedi- 
 ent to ask from the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Ken- 
 tucky, any amendment of its charter granted by said General Assembly 
 of Kentucky in 1854, and which incorporated this Board of Trustees, 
 for the reason that, imder the existing condition of arlairs. this said 
 charter is not subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by said Legisla- 
 ture, but, under the provisions of the present Constitution of Kentucky, 
 if any amendment of said charter be sought, then the Legislature will 
 have the power to make, at any time, any amendment or alteration that 
 it may deem wise and proper, the Board must decline to ask for such 
 amendments as would give it power to comply with some of the requests 
 of the General Assembly. 
 
 By reason of the limitations on the power of this B.»ard imder its 
 act of incorporation, it has no authority over or control of the election, 
 appointment or transfer of professors or teachers in its seminary, and 
 therefore the Board takes no action on that point. 
 
 Further, imder this charter, this Board feels compelled to retain 
 control of the fimds and property of said seminary in its hands, subject 
 to the terms of said charter, but the Board expresses the confident belief 
 that at no time will these funds be applied to any purpose or use opposed 
 to the direction and wishes of our General Assembly. 
 
 By Section 12 of said act of incorporation, this Board is compelled to 
 provide, out of the estate, funds or income in their keeping and control, 
 the payment, from time to time, of such salaries and compensation of 
 professors and other teachers and officers of said seminary as shall be 
 allowed, directed, and established by the General Assembly at any of its 
 annual meetings, and heretofore these payments have been made in 
 accordance with the direction of the Board of Directors of this seminary, 
 which Board is merely an agent of the General Assembly. 
 
 While this Board believes that, in accordance with the charter under 
 which it was created and exists, it cannot divest itself of, or transfer to, 
 any other body the right of electing its members, yet, as evincing in the 
 strongest possible manner, its desire to comply with the plan proposed by 
 the Assembly, the Board unanimously decides that all elections to fill 
 vacancies in its body shall not be by itself regarded as a complete and 
 final election until those elected have been approved bv the General 
 Assembly.— 1895, p. 161. 
 
 [Note. — See for the Assembly's Plan, Minutes, 1SJW. p. 417.] 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 491 
 
 6. Action of the Aammkij, 18951 
 
 The Board of Directors of Danville hag resolved to adopt the recom- 
 mendations as to By-Laws, and as a part of their Constitution. The Board 
 of Trustees states that it has an irrepealable charter which cannot be 
 amended without danger of forfeiture. It declares its approval of the 
 substance of the recommendations, and while not deeming the same nec- 
 essary, in view of the control the Assembly now has over the funds of 
 said corporation, expresses its willingness to give Use General Assembly 
 the approval of the election of the members of the Board. 
 
 The Committee recommends the Assembly to request the Board of 
 Trustees at Danville to secure such legislation, not imperiling the charter, 
 as will insure to the General Assembly the right to be represented in the 
 courts, and to enforce its proper supervision over the seminary and its 
 property.— 1895, p. 32. 
 
 tz. thz m'xzkics tzx;i:>::ai =r:::yi?,T 
 
 ~2 r ' :t — 7:: :':.- it.--. :-.-i-.r. - ':.:~-_\:- i~ I .: • Z ■■<■>- I*.".? - rider the head Sen 
 Albany T^M»loe>^Se^l3naIy. 1, Fonnded, 1839. Located at Chicago, El., since 1S5& .] 
 
 1 Constitution.. 
 
 [STora. — As adopted by the General AmemMy ©f the Presbyterian Church in the 
 ;-V- : ---.-^ ::' _Lzirn::i i: ;~a -—:.:„- i^.i ir. Z... i.i" 20: "„i I.i : ± _ . Lior iii 
 as amended at its wwakims held in Detroit, lfirih , AJ>. 1872 ; Madison, Wis., A.D. 
 UfiiO; Springfield, IB, AJ). 1SS2; and IGnneapoffiis, Minn., A.D. 1886.] 
 
 tiefe X Qf ttc iMEMe aauZ obfe&g of the Semmsay. 
 
 BBcnps 1. The name of the institution shall be " The MeConniek 
 Tzzz-z _:::.l fei^iiry :: z'z.-. ?:-" jz-zr: zzz : zz." 
 
 Bbcl _ Bbe objects of the seminary shall be, to instruct candidates for 
 -'.r >:>; r". ziiLi= rrr In :'it kzi-l^i^ : :ir "' : z ;: '>;•:_. ^:z-iiz.ri in 
 :::.r ^::l"::\:_r ; '. '--. L'li mi >t~ ^-^tiuti:-. ::e : i_~ = ::::tZ_- mi 
 infallible role of faith and life, and of the doctrine, order and institutes 
 of worship taught in the Scriptures, and summarily exhibited in the 
 Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; to cherish 
 in tl-zi 7 zl \~lz-. :_ri"_5 :: Z/z:^- zzzy/zz\zzzzz\: :z\z Iziz ;: zrze goili- 
 ness; to cultivate in them the gifts which Christ, the Head of the Church, 
 by His Spirit, confers upon those whom He calls to the ministry ; and 
 to impart to them, so far as may be, the various learning by which they 
 may be furnished for its work, to the end that there may be trained up a 
 =Ti : :•*=,?: : :. :. z '.-. izzr.zzzzl zz\ ... z -ily zzzzzzz.r.-z- :: :'z.z Zz~ : zz.z " ':ri. z- 
 the chief agency under God, who ordained die Church, for the gathering 
 zzzz p-.ir :::_. :: zzz *z:z_:~ iz :Li= 'li-_ :; :!■= -:i: :: :"-■= — :rli. 
 
 ^rtiefe U. CjjF fcfec Board of Dhvdors. 
 
 8 1 n : ■ 1. The Board of Directors shall consist of twenty ministers 
 
 ---■_.-- : v.__ r..:fr: :. ~z:z: _--: .::. ;: z.-- - ai: zz~z 
 
 elders, shall be chosen by said Board annually, to continue in office four 
 years, and until their successors are elected and qualified ; and the Board 
 shall also have power to receive resignations and declinations, and to nil 
 
 ill vi:-.iz::e= ~'zz.\'z —zy :•;::: in ::.= b:«iy : ill ::" zzz*~ rl^:~:n=. n:~- 
 ■evrr. -liill t r::;ri: :■: ::: "r:: :: :ir 'IttItmI As^ni::!-. :: -L;:i. ::.tT 
 
 of the late Hon. Cyrus H. 
 i H 11 JomiiJfk, Jr. , 
 
492 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 is hereby constituted from this time forth a special member of the Board 
 of Directors, to qualify as and to have all the privileges and prerogatives 
 of other full members of the Board, and to continue in the office during 
 the time of his natural life, or until he shall resign. 
 
 Sec. 3. The Board of Directors shall have power, at their discretion, 
 annually to elect not to exceed four honorary directors. Said honorary 
 directors shall continue in office for the same time as, and shall be entitled 
 to, and expected to exercise all the privileges of directors, except voting. 
 Said honorary members shall be the authorized representatives of the 
 Board and of the interests of the seminary in their respective places of 
 residence and fields of labor. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Board of Directors shall have power to elect and duly 
 induct and inaugurate into office the professors of the seminary; to 
 receive their resignations; also to remove them from office; such elections 
 and removals to be subject to the veto of the General Assembly. The 
 Board shall also have power to suspend temporarily a professor, prelimi- 
 nary to and pending an investigation of charges against his conduct or 
 doctrine. 
 
 Sec. 5. The Board of Directors shall have the superintendence and 
 control of the seminary and its funds and property. 
 
 Sec. 6. Every director, before taking his seat as a member, shall sub- 
 scribe the following engagements, in a book kept for that purpose, viz. : 
 
 " I do solemnly promise, in the presence of God and of this Board, 
 that I will faithfully execute the office of a director of The McCormick 
 Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, and will support its 
 Constitution and the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, so long as 
 I remain in this office. ' ' 
 
 Sec. 7. The Board of Directors shall meet once in every year at the 
 place where the seminary is located, and such annual meeting shall be 
 on the Wednesday immediately preceding the close of the seminary year, 
 unless the Board shall appoint another time ; and the Board may meet 
 at other times and places on its own adjournment, and on extraordinary 
 occasions, by the call of the president, or other officer having power to 
 convene it. 
 
 Sec. 8. Any seven directors being met at the time and place appointed, 
 shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Any two 
 directors so met, may adjourn from time to time until a quorum shall be 
 present. 
 
 Sec. 9. The Board of Directors shall choose annually from their own 
 members a president, vice-president and a secretary, who shall hold their 
 offices from the time of their election till the next annual meeting, and 
 until their successors shall be duly appointed. 
 
 Sec. 10. The president, or in case of his absence, the vice-president, 
 shall preside at all meetings of the Board, and perform such other duties 
 as naturally belong to his office, and as the Board shall appoint. He 
 may convene, and when requested by any seven members, it shall be his 
 duty to convene the Board ; and of the time and place of such special 
 meeting, and the business for which it is called, he shall send a written 
 notice by mail or otherwise, not less than twenty days before the time of 
 such meeting. 
 
 Sec. 11. The secretary shall keep a full and true record of the trans- 
 actions, of the Board, and shall keep all books of records and papers, and 
 perform such other duties as the Board shall direct. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 493 
 
 Sec. 12. In the absence of any officer, the Board may appoint some 
 other person to fill his place pro tempore. 
 
 Sec. 13. The Board may make Rules of Order and By-Laws, not 
 inconsistent with this Constitution. 
 
 Sec. 14. The Board of Directors shall have power, and it shall be their 
 duty: 
 
 (1) To superintend, either by itself or by a Committee, the annual 
 examination of the students, and to appoint such other services in connec- 
 tion therewith, as it may think proper. 
 
 (2) To provide all funds, buildings, libraries, and other means necessary 
 and proper for the use of the seminary; to appoint a Board of Trustees 
 and fill all vacancies therein, and to instruct and direct the said Board in 
 respect to the investment, custody, management and disposal of all funds 
 and property of the institution; to fix the salaries of all professors and 
 other officers; and, by itself, or the Board of Trustees, to make all 
 appropriations of moneys. 
 
 (3) To make annually to the General Assembly, in writing, a full and 
 faithful report of the whole state of the seminary and of the transac- 
 tions of the Board, and also to submit their records when required, for 
 the inspection of the Assembly. 
 
 Article III. Of the Professors. 
 
 Section 1. (1) No person shall be eligible to any prof essorship in the 
 seminary, except a member in full communion in the Presbyterian 
 Church; and no person shall be eligible to the office of professor of 
 Theology, except a regularly ordained minister in that Church. 
 
 (2) Every professor, before he enters upon the execution of his office, 
 shall subscribe the following engagement, in a book kept for that pur- 
 pose, namely: 
 
 " In the presence of God and of the Board of Directors of this semi- 
 nary, I do solemnly profess my belief that the Confession of Faith and 
 Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church contain a summary and true 
 exhibition of the system of doctrine, order and worship taught in the 
 Holy Scriptures, the only supreme and infallible rule of faith, and my 
 approbation of the Presbyterian form of Church government, as being 
 agreeable to the Scriptures ; and do promise that I will not teach, directly 
 or indirectly, anything contrary to, or inconsistent with, the said Con- 
 fession and Catechisms, or the fundamental principles of Presbyterian 
 Church government, and that I will faithfully execute the office of a 
 professor in The McCormick Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian 
 Church." 
 
 Sec. 2. (1) Each professor shall have power to conduct the course of 
 instruction in the studies assigned to his department; to preserve order 
 and due attention therein ; and to appoint such exercises of religious 
 worship in connection therewith as he may deem proper. 
 
 (2) Each professor, if required, shall lay before the Board of Direc- 
 tors, a true aud full statement of all text -books used by him, and of his 
 whole method of instruction, and shall treat with respectful considera- 
 tion any suggestions or advice which the Board may give. 
 
 Sec. 3. (1) The professors of the seminary shall constitute a faculty 
 of instruction and government; they shall appoint (unless the Board of 
 Directors otherwise order), their own chairman and secretary, and on 
 every question each professor shall have one vote. 
 
494 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 (2) The faculty shall meet at such times and places as they shall 
 appoint, and may make rules and by-laws, not inconsistent with this 
 Constitution, as they may deem proper. 
 
 (3) The faculty shall have power and it shall be their duty: 
 
 First. To appoint the portion of time and the particular hours that 
 the students shall attend the professors respectively. 
 
 Second. To appoint and direct all exercises to be performed in the 
 presence of the whole seminary or in public. 
 
 Third. To appoint the times at which all the students shall assemble 
 together for Divine worship, and to direct the conducting of the same. 
 
 Fourth. To provide the students, if they shall deem it expedient, with 
 preaching and other ordinances of worship and means of grace on the 
 Lord's day. 
 
 Fifth. To establish rules of order, decorum and duty, for the conduct 
 of the students. 
 
 Sixth. To inquire into the conduct of the students, and to admonish, 
 suspend or dismiss any student who shall be found propagating error in 
 doctrine, to be immoral, or disorderly in conduct, negligent of study or 
 other duties, or who shall be,, in their judgment, on any account a dan- 
 gerous or unprofitable member of the institution ; Provided, that such 
 student shall have opportunity to be reasonably heard in his own 
 defense, and that the faculty shall sit with due caution and a tender 
 regard to his rights and his welfare. 
 
 Sec. 4. (1) The faculty shall keep a register, in which shall be 
 entered the name of each student, his residence, the church of which he 
 is a member ; the Presbytery, if any, of which he is a candidate ; the 
 college, if any, of which he is an alumnus, the time of his entering, and 
 the time and mode of his leaving the seminary. » 
 
 (2) The faculty shall keep a journal of their proceedings, which, if 
 required, shall be laid before the Board of Directors. 
 
 (3) The faculty shall make a report of the state of the seminary to the 
 Board of Directors, at each annual meeting, and at other times when 
 required by the Board. 
 
 Article IV. Of the Course of Study. 
 [Omitted.] 
 
 Article V. Of Personal Religion. 
 [Omitted.] 
 
 Article VI. Of Admission. 
 
 Section 1. The qualifications required in students for admission to the 
 seminary are, full communion in some branch of the Christian Church, 
 a good reputation for consistent Christian character, a regular course of 
 academic study, of which evidence shall be furnished by a college degree 
 or by examination, and if from another theological seminary, a written 
 certificate of good standing and honorable dismission. 
 
 Sec. 2. Every student before admission to the seminary shall subscribe 
 the following engagement, in a book kept for that purpose, namely: " I 
 do solemnly promise that I will diligently and faithfully attend on all the 
 instructions and exercises of this seminary, observe its rules of conduct 
 relating to students, and obey the lawful requisitions and respect the 
 admonitions of the professors and of the Board of Directors, while I shall 
 continue a student of the institution. ' ' 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 495 
 
 Article VII. Of the Seminary Grounds, Buildings, and Library. 
 
 The faculty shall have the custody and control of the seminary grounds, 
 buildings, and library, which shall be subject to such regulations as they 
 may prescribe. 
 
 Article VIII Of the Funds and Financial Officers. 
 
 Section 1. All permanent funds established for the support of the 
 seminary shall be sacredly preserved inviolate, and it shall not be lawful 
 for the Board of Directors, the Board of Trustees, or any person to 
 withdraw, or to borrow, for any purpose, from any such fund, any 
 money, securities, or other property without at the same time placing to 
 the credit of such fund a value clearly and fully equivalent, 
 
 Sec. 2. The Board of Trustees, which shall appoint its own president, 
 secretary and treasurer, shall have the custody of all the funds and 
 property of the seminary, with power to invest, manage, buy, sell and 
 otherwise dispose of the same for the use of the seminary, in any manner 
 not inconsistent with this Constitution, and subject in all things to the 
 instructions of the Board of Directors. 
 
 Sec. 3. The Board of Trustees shall appoint a treasurer, who shall 
 hold his office during the pleasure of the Board, and whose duty it shall 
 be, under the direction of the Board, to keep all books of account, and 
 to have the custody of all such books of account, securities and other 
 papers and documents relating to the finances, and of all funds and other 
 property, except the seminaiy buildings, the grounds connected therewith, 
 and the library ; and to present to the Board annually, and ofbener when 
 required, a clear and full report of the whole state of finances, and of 
 the transactions of the current year; and he shall be the keeper of the 
 seal, and when required shall execute to the Board a bond in such penal 
 sum, and with such securities as they shall prescribe, for the faithful 
 discharge of his duties. 
 
 Sec. 4. The Board of Trustees shall make to the Board of Directors at 
 the annual meeting, and at other times when required, a clear and full 
 report of the whole state of the finances, and of the transactions of the 
 current year, or any part thereof, which report shall be transmitted by 
 the Board of Directors to the General Assembly. 
 
 Article IX. Constitution, how amended. 
 
 This Constitution may be altered, or amended, by a vote of three- 
 fourths of the directors present, and voting at a regular annual meeting 
 of the Board ; such alteration, or amendment, to take effect, and be in 
 force only when the same shall be approved by the General Assembly. 
 
 2. Charter and supplements. 
 
 An Act to incorporate "The Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the North- 
 west." 
 
 Whereas, It is represented to the General Assembly of the State of Illinois, 
 that the Synods of Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Northern Indiana, 
 Chicago and Indiana, of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America, did respectively on the sixth, the tenth, the eleventh, the thirteenth 
 and the eighteenth days of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hun- 
 dred and fifty-six, adopt an instrument entitled "'The Constitution of the 
 Presbyterian "Theological Seminary of the Northwest, " and have now a 
 seminary for the professional education of candidates for the Christian minis- 
 try, established and in operation under the said Constitution ; And Whereas, It is 
 
496 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 represented, that in order to the more convenient custody, management and 
 disposal of the funds and other property now possessed, and which shall here- 
 after be possessed for the use of the said seminary, by the Synods aforesaid, 
 and other Synods which shall become united with them in the direction and 
 control of the said seminary, in conformity to the said Constitution, it is neces- 
 sary that there be constituted a Board of Trustees, which shall be a corpora- 
 tion, or body corporate and politic in law and in fact ; therefore, 
 
 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General 
 Assembly : 
 
 Section 1. That John Wilson, Samuel Howe, R. J. Hamilton, R. W. Henry, 
 A. B. Newkirk, R. B. Mason, William Baily, Warren Norton and A. J. Buel. 
 who at present constitute the Board of Trustees aforesaid in said office, and 
 their successors, duly elected and appointed in the manner hereinafter pro- 
 vided, be, and they are hereby constituted and declared a corporation or body 
 corporate and politic in law and in fact, and to have continuance and perpetual 
 succession, by the name and style of " The Trustees of the Presbyterian Theo- 
 logical Seminary of the Northwest." 
 
 Sec, 2. That the said corporation shall be composed of nine trustees, of 
 whom not less than five shall be citizens of the State of Illinois ; and the Board 
 of Directors of the seminary established under the said Constitution, shall 
 have power at any meeting held in the State of Illinois, to change one-third of 
 the whole number of trustees in such manner as to the said Board of Directors 
 shall seem proper, and to fill all vacancies which may then exist in the Board of 
 Trustees ; and of every trustee, so appointed, the proper credentials shall be a 
 written certificate of his appointment by the Board of Directors, authenticated 
 by the names of its president and secretary. 
 
 Sec. 3. That before any trustee enter on the execution of his office, he shall 
 subscribe, in a book kept for that purpose, the following engagement : "In the 
 presence of God, I do solemnly promise that I will faithfully execute the office 
 of a trustee of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest, under 
 the act to incorporate the trustees thereof, and will support the Constitution of 
 the seminary so long as I continue in this office." 
 
 Sec. 4. That any five members of the said corporation, being met for the first 
 time in conformity to this Act, or afterwards, in the manner hereinafter pro- 
 vided, shall be a quorum competent to transact its business. 
 
 Sec. 5. That the said corporation shall have power to make all rules and 
 by-laws which may be necessary and proper for the transaction of its business; 
 it shall have power according to its own rules and as shall seem to it proper, to 
 appoint a president, a vice-president and a secretary out of its own members, 
 and other officers or agents at its discretion, the times and tenures of their 
 offices respectively, the duties belonging to each, and the pecuniary compensa- 
 tion which they shall receive. 
 
 Sec 6. That the first meeting of the said corporation shall be held in the 
 city of Chicago, at such time as any five of the trustees named in this act being 
 assembled together shall appoint ; afterwards it shall meet at such times and 
 places as it shall appoint, and the president, or in case of his absence, or in- 
 ability, or refusal, or neglect to act, the vice-president, or if he fail, the secre- 
 tary shall have power, and when requested by any three trustees, it shall be 
 his duty to convene the corporation ; of the time and place of which special 
 meeting, the officer calling it shall give to each trustee due notice, either by 
 himself orally, or by some other person, or by a written note left at the dwell- 
 ing or the usual place of business of such trustee, or sent to him by mail at 
 least seven days before the time of such meeting. 
 
 Sec. 7. That all questions before the said corporation shall be decided by a 
 majority of the members present at the time, and on every such question each 
 member shall have one vote, except the president, or other person when acting 
 as president, who shall have only the casting vote, in case the votes of the 
 other members shall be equally divided. 
 
 Sec. 8. That the said corporation shall have power to make, have and use 
 one common seal, with such device and inscription as it shall appoint, and the 
 same to break, change or renew at its discretion. 
 
 Sec 9. That the said corporation shall have power to appoint a treasurer, 
 who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the corporation, whose duty it 
 shall be, under the direction of the corporation, to keep all books of account, 
 to have the custody of all such books of account, securities, of every kind, and 
 other papers and documents relating to the finances, and of all funds, moneys, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 497 
 
 and other property, real and personal except the buildings and grounds con- 
 nected therewith/ occupied by the seminary, the library and furniture of 
 which, subject to the disposal of the corporation, the faculty shall have the 
 custody and control, and to present to the corporation annually, and oftener 
 whenever required, a clear, full and true report of the transactions of the cur- 
 rent year, or any part thereof, and of the whole state of the finances ; he shall 
 be the keeper of the seal, and shall have the sole right to use it for the authentica- 
 tion of such instruments as the corporation shall direct him thus to authenti- 
 cate, and shall execute to the corporation, whenever required, a bond or bonds, 
 in such penal sum or sums, and with such securities as the corporation shall 
 prescribe, for the faithful execution of his office ; and of all such bonds and 
 securities the president of the corporation shall have the custody. 
 
 Sec. 10. That the said corporation, by the name and style aforesaid, shall be 
 capable and able in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any 
 court or courts of law or of equity, before any judge or judges, in all and all 
 manner of suits, complaints, pleas, causes, matters, and demands of whatsoever 
 kind or form they may be, and all things therein, or anywise relating to do in 
 as full and effectual a manner as any person or persons, or any body politic 
 and corporate within the State, may or can do. 
 
 Sec. 11. That the said corporation is hereby expressly prohibited from exer- 
 cising, in virtue from any power derived from this act, any authority or con- 
 trol in any way whatever in respect to the doctrine or doctrines taught, the 
 course of instruction and study, or the government and discipline in the said 
 seminary, or to the appointment of professors or other instructors in the said semi- 
 nary, the tenure of their offices or the execution thereof, or to the pecuniary com- 
 pensation which any such professor shall receive, orthe time ormanner of its pay- 
 ment ; all of which matters and things shall remain under the exclusive power 
 and direction of the Synods aforesaid, and such other Synods as shall become 
 united with them therein, in conformity to the provisions of the Constitution 
 of the said seminary, as the same now exists, or as it may hereafter exist by 
 amendments provided for by the said Constitution, and of the Board of Direc- 
 tors of the said seminary, and so far as it respects the execution of their own 
 offices, to the professors of said seminary ; the said directors being in all 
 things appertaining to their own offices subject to the control of said Synods, 
 and the professors amenable to the Board of Directors, in conformity to the 
 said Constitution. 
 
 Sec 12. That the said corporation, by the name and style aforesaid, shall be 
 capable in law, and have full power to take, receive and hold all and all man- 
 ner of lands, tenements, moneys, stocks, rents, annuities, reversions, franchises, 
 legacies, hereditaments and other property, real or personal whatsoever, which 
 have at any time or times heretofore been granted, sold, bargained, released, 
 devised, or otherwise conveyed to any other body politic and corporate, or 
 any other person or persons whatever, for the use of the said seminary, or in 
 trust for the same ; and the said lands, tenements, moneys, stocks, rents, an- 
 nuities, reversions, franchises, legacies, hereditaments, and other property, 
 real and personal, are hereby vested and established in the said corporation for- 
 ever, according to the use and interest for which such gifts, grants, devises, 
 releases, or other conveyances respectively, were originally made ; and the 
 said corporation is hereby declared to be seized and possessed of such estate or 
 estates therein, as in and by their respective grants, sales, bargains, enfeoff- 
 ments, gifts, devises and other conveyances thereof, are declared limited and 
 expressed. That, further, the said corporation and their successors, shall be 
 capable in law, and shall have full power to take, receive, hold and enjoy, in 
 fee simple, or of lesser, estate or estates, in trust for the use of the said semi- 
 nary, all lands, tenements, moneys, stocks, rents, annuities, franchises, lega- 
 cies, hereditaments and other property, real and personal whatsoever, by sale, 
 bargain, grant, enfeoffment, release, gift, devise, or other conveyance of any 
 body politic and corporate, or of any person or persons capable to make the 
 same ; and that no misnomer of the said corporation and their successors 
 shall annul, defeat, or in anywise impair any gift, devise or grant of any kind 
 to the said corporation, or to any other person or persons, or any other body 
 politic and corporate for the said corporation : Provided, That the interest or 
 party or parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, grant, will 
 or other writing, whereby it was intended that any estate or interest should 
 pass to said corporation, or to any other body politic and corporate for the use 
 of the said seminary. 
 
498 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Sec. 13. That the said corporation and its successors shall have power to in- 
 vest and loan all moneys and funds, and by bargain, sale, lease, or otherwise, 
 to manage, sell and dispose of any and all lands, tenements, stocks, rents, an- 
 nuities, franchises, legacies, bequests and estates of any kind of which they 
 shall be legally seized and possessed, for the sole use of the said seminary, in 
 the promotion of the objects for which it is established, and in conformity to 
 the provisions of this act. That the said corporation shall have power and 
 it shall be its duty, out of any estate, funds and property in its possession, 
 custody, management and control, and not otherwise appropriated and limited, 
 to provide by purchase or otherwise, grounds, buildings, libraries, furniture 
 and other accommodations for the use of the said seminary ; and in like man- 
 ner to provide an income for payment of all such salaries and compensations 
 of professors, instructors and other officers and agents of the said seminary, as 
 shall be allowed and appointed by the Board of Directors of said seminary, 
 and for the payment of the salaries and compensations allowed and appointed 
 by the said corporation to its own officers, agents, or other persons, and for 
 defraying all the necessary and proper expenses for the transaction of its 
 business. 
 
 Sec 14. That in all cases in which special instructions shall be given by 
 the Board of Directors of the said seminary in writing, authenticated by the 
 names of its president and secretary, in respect to the custody, investment, 
 management or disposal of any lands, tenements, stocks, moneys, gifts, lega- 
 cies, hereditaments, property, real and personal, estate or estates of any kind, 
 of which the said corporation shall be possessed, it shall be the duty of the 
 said corporation to act in conformity to said instructions : Provided, That the 
 said instructions shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United 
 States, to the Constitution and laws of this State, or to this act. 
 
 Sec. 15. That the said corporation shall keep a journal of its proceedings, 
 and shall keep regular and fair entries of all its pecuniary transactions, and a 
 true and exact account of its receipts and disbursements in a book or books 
 kept for that purpose ; make to the Board of Directors of the said seminary a 
 clear, full and true report of the transactions of the current year, or any part 
 thereof, and of the whole state of the finances; and shall, whenever required, sub- 
 mit its journal and all books of account, securities and other papers and docu- 
 ments relating to the business of the corporation, to the examination of the 
 Board of Directors of the said seminary, or of any person or persons appointed 
 by the said board to make such examination. 
 
 Sec. 16. That the said corporation shall have power to take, receive, hold, 
 possess and enjoy for the use of the said seminary, lands, messuages, tenements, 
 stocks, rents, annuities, grants, gifts, hereditaments, and other estate, real and 
 personal. 
 
 Sec 17. This act shall be deemed and taken to be a public act, and shall 
 be of force from and after the date of its passage. 
 
 (Signed) Samuel Holmes, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 
 John Wood, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 W. H. Bissell. 
 
 Approved, February 16, 1857. 
 
 An act to amend an act, entitled "An act to incorporate the Presbyterian 
 Theological Seminary of the Northwest," approved, February 16th, 1857. 
 
 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General 
 Assembly ; 
 
 Section 1. That the transfer of the government of the said seminary by the 
 said Synods, in the act of incorporation mentioned, to the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and the amendments made" by 
 the General Assembly to the Constitution of said seminary, and the appoint- 
 ment of the Board of Directors and of the Board of Trustees, and all other 
 by-laws, rules and regulations, and other acts and doings by the said Board of 
 Directors and Trustees, be and the same are hereby satisfied and confirmed. 
 The said General Assembly shall have and may exercise all the powers now 
 or hereafter conferred upon it by the Constitution, as amended, or as it may 
 hereafter be amended by said General Assembly ; and all such amendments, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 499 
 
 by-laws, rules and regulations, now or hereafter adopted, not repugnant to the 
 laws of the land, shall have full force and effect. 
 
 Sec. 2. This act, and the act to which it is an amendment, shall be public acts; 
 and, judicially noticed, shall be liberally construed ; and all proceedings of the 
 corporation, certified, under its seal, shall be received as evidence in all courts ; 
 and shall take effect from its passage. 
 Approved, February 20, 1861. 
 
 (Signed), Shelby M. Cullom, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 Francis A. Hoffman, 
 
 cer of the Senate. 
 
 3. Relations to the General Assembly. 
 
 3. The Board of Directors of the Northwestern Theological Seminary 
 report . ..." In regard to the relations of the seminary to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, the Board, finding that there are legal points involved in 
 this question which require careful investigation, referred the whole 
 matter to a Committee, with instructions to report to the directors at 
 their next annual meeting in April, 1872." — 1871, p. 580. 
 
 The Report. 
 
 In regard to the relation of the seminary to the General Assembly, the 
 Board have carefully considered the same ; and with entire unanimity, 
 and with the consent and approval of Mr. McCormick, have adopted a 
 report and resolutions, not only approving of the principles of the 
 request and suggestion of the Assembly, but embodying the necessary 
 amendments to the Constitution in form, and requesting the Assembly 
 to adopt them. The resolution and amendments are as follows, viz. : 
 
 The Committee on the relations of the seminary to the General Assem- 
 bly presented their report, through the Hon. Samuel M. Moore, as 
 follows : 
 
 Your Committee, to whom was referred the propriety of suggesting 
 such amendments and changes of the Constitution of our seminary as 
 may bring the same in harmony with the expressed views of the General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
 would report that they have considered the matter, and that they find no 
 objections thereto. They understand that the generous and Christian- 
 spirited donor of the only portion of our property and funds that is held 
 subject to the continuance of the relations of the seminary to the General 
 Assembly consents that the management and control may be transferred 
 to the Board of Directors, the Assembly reserving the right to disap- 
 prove and forbid in certain matters. We believe the change will redound 
 to the benefit and efficiency of the seminary. — 1872, p. 125. 
 
 4. Answer of the McCormick Boards, 1895. 
 
 Board of Directors. 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Directors recognizes with pleasure the 
 close relations which this seminary must, under its Constitution and 
 charter, sustain towards the General Assembly — relations which the semi- 
 nary desires to maintain in their full integrity as to teaching and all other 
 particulars, and yet, regretting the necessity of declining any request of 
 the Assembly, in reply to the proposal of the General Assembly, does not 
 think it advisable or expedient to make the changes in our charter pro- 
 posed by the General Assembly. A. W. Ringland, Secretary. 
 
 Chicago, May 2, 1895. —1895, p. 161. 
 
500 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Board of Trustees. 
 
 In answer to your inquiry, I beg to say that inasmuch as the Board of 
 Trustees of the McCormick Seminary is elected by the Board of Directors, 
 we felt that the answer made by the directors would be sufficient for your 
 Committee in making its report to the General Assembly. 
 
 We feel that our Constitution and charter already express the closest 
 relation to the General Assembly, and that the funds and property for 
 which we are trustees are amply safeguarded. 
 
 The resolution of the Board of Directors above quoted expresses the 
 sentiment also of the Trustees. Henry W. King, 
 
 President of the Board of Trustees. 
 
 —1895, p. 162. 
 
 5. Answer of the Board of Directors, 1896. 
 
 Whereas, During the year preceding the annual meeting of this Board, 
 held in 1895, the fullest consideration was given to the proposals pre- 
 sented by the Committee from the General Assembly, looking toward a 
 change in the Constitution and charter of this seminary, the result of 
 which was the adoption by this Board of a resolution declaring it to be 
 inexpedient and unadvisable to make the changes proposed ; and the said 
 Committee has again presented the request of the General Assembly for 
 the changing of the charter of this institution upon the lines heretofore 
 proposed; and 
 
 Whereas, The further consideration of the whole matter with the 
 Committee of Conference has failed to bring forward any new light upon 
 the main questions involved, which were exhaustively examined by this 
 Board at its meeting in 1895, now, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Directors of McCormick Theological 
 Seminary of the Presbyterian Church reaffirms in strongest terms its 
 reverence for and loyalty to the Standards and to the General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church, and its sympathy in all efforts to promote 
 purity of doctrine and teaching. Nevertheless this Board believes, and 
 is so advised, by counsel learned in the law, that its relation to the 
 General Assembly now carries out fully the spirit of the proposed 
 changes; that the property and teaching are already safeguarded to the 
 Presbyterian Church; that in view of the peculiarly close relations exist- 
 ing between the General Assembly and this seminary, by reason of the 
 provisions already found in its Constitution and charter, any further 
 changes, as proposed, are unwise and unnecessary, and this Board does 
 not consider it expedient to make said changes. 
 
 Adopted by a vote of 18 for, 11 against. 
 
 Copy of order taken by the Board of Directors of McCormick Theo- 
 logical Seminary, May 7, 1896.— 1896, p. 193. 
 
 6. Answer of the Board of Directors, 1897. 
 
 The communication from the General Assembly was fully considered 
 by the directors of the McCormick Theological Seminary at their annual 
 meeting, May 6, 1897, and the following communication to the General 
 Assembly was adopted : 
 
 The General Assembly of 1896, having requested the theological semi- 
 naries to report their several attitudes toward the plan advised by the 
 Assemblies of 1894 and 1895, for changing the charters of the seminaries, 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 501 
 
 the Board of Directors of McCormick Theological Seminary have again 
 considered the matter and would respectfully submit the folio wiDg : 
 
 The Board reiterates its loyalty to the Standards and to the General 
 Assembly of our beloved Church, and its full sympathy with the endeavor 
 to safeguard the property entrusted to the seminaries, and to insure their 
 denominational faithfulness and the purity of their doctrinal teachiugs. 
 The close relations and strict subordination of this seminary to the Gen- 
 eral Assembly, secured by the charter and the Constitution of this semi- 
 nary, are entirely agreeable to this Board. 
 
 The charter and Constitution of this seminary substantially secure the 
 end which the Assembly seeks, and are capable of being altered or 
 amended only upon the approval of the Assembly. The elections of 
 directors, and the elections or removals of professors, are subject to the 
 veto of the Assembly. The teaching of the seminary has for its object, 
 according to the Constitution, " To instruct candidates for the Gospel 
 ministry in the knowledge of the Word of God . . and of the doc- 
 
 trine, order and institutes of worship taught in the Scriptures, and sum- 
 marily exhibited in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church .... 
 and to impart to them, as far as may be, the varied learning by which 
 they may be furnished for its work." 
 
 The property of this seminary is already so fully safeguarded to the 
 Presbyterian Church that, in the judgment of able jurists, the changes 
 suggested would be wholly without advantage, and might be hazardous 
 to the common interests of the Assembly and this seminary. 
 
 The relations between this seminary and the Assembly have for twenty- 
 seven years been entirely harmonious and mutually helpful. The success 
 of the existing method of supervision in the past, is its best guarantee 
 for the future. The growth and prosperity of this institution have in- 
 spired many thanksgivings to God. Every director and every professor 
 takes a solemn pledge to support the Constitution of the seminary and 
 the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 It is the belief of this Board that the proposed changes would not be 
 for the best interests of this seminary, nor promotive of future gifts to it. 
 They would disturb rather than establish confidence, and raise doubt and 
 distrust of their legal effect if they should be adopted. 
 
 While, therefore, the Board of Directors deeply regrets the necessity 
 of declining any request of the General Assembly, it does not see its way 
 clear to make the proposed changes in the charter of McCormick Semi- 
 nary. 
 
 Adopted by unanimous vote. — 1897, p. 109. 
 
 7. Answers of the Assembly. 
 
 [Note.— See in this Digest, No. 11, p. 420, and Nos. 12 and 13, p. 421.] 
 VIII. BLACKBURN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 [Note— Located at Carlinville, 111. See Digest, 1886, p. 396.] 
 The trustees of Blackburn University, at their annual meeting, held 
 in June, 1871, adopted the plan recommended by the Assembly of 
 1870, by incorporating into the Constitution of the university the follow- 
 ing section: " Whenever hereafter any person shall be elected by the 
 trustees to fill any professorship in the theological department of the 
 university, the trustees shall report their election to the next General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States ; and if the 
 
502 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 General Assembly at that meeting shall, by formal vote, refuse to 
 approve of such election, then the person elected by the trustees shall 
 cease to be a professor. ' ' 
 
 The institution was founded by Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D.D., who, 
 in the year 1838, conveyed to a Board of Trustees several thousand 
 acres of land, for the purpose of founding " an institution of learning, 
 the object of which shall be to promote the general interests of education, 
 and to qualify young men for the office of the Gospel ministry. ' ' The 
 institution was located at Carlinville, 111. 
 
 The trustees were incorporated in the year 1857 by the Legislature of 
 Illinois, with the name of ' ' The Blackburn Theological Seminary, ' ' and 
 at about the same time an academic department was established. In 
 A.D. 1867, the institution was organized as a university, and the fol- 
 lowing year its corporate name was changed by the Legislature to that 
 of " Blackburn University." The Board consists of thirteen members, 
 who must be residents of the State of Illinois. At least nine of this 
 number must ' ' be chosen from among persons who are regular members 
 of the Presbyterian Church; and if any trustee thus chosen shall at any 
 time cease to be a regular member of the Presbyterian Church, he shall, 
 ipso facto, cease to be a trustee. ' ' 
 
 Every professor appointed in the theological department, also every 
 professor in the collegiate department, whose professorship shall include 
 mental or moral science or metaphysics, and also the president of the 
 university, are required, before they can enter upon the duties of their 
 office, to subscribe their names to the following declaration: 
 
 "I do hereby avow my sincere belief in the Bible as the Word of 
 God, and in the system of doctrines contained in the Westminster 
 Confession of Faith as the system which accords with the Word of God; 
 and I do solemnly pledge myself, in all my duties as an instructor and 
 officer in Blackburn University, never knowingly to teach anything in 
 conflict with such system of doctrines." 
 
 Every other professor or instructor in any department is required also 
 to affirm his " belief in the Bible as the Word of God." 
 
 Thus every department of instruction is secured from all danger from 
 infidel teachings. 
 
 In view of these facts, your Committee gladly commend the Black- 
 burn University to the Presbyterian Church, and recommend that it be 
 recognized and reported as one of the institutions in connection with the 
 General Assembly. Adopted. — 1872, p. 65. 
 
 IX. SAN FRANCISCO THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 [Note. — Founded 1871. Located at San Anselmo, Cal.] 
 
 1. Revised Plan. 
 
 [Note— As adopted by the Synod of the Pacific, October 6, 1890, and October 15, 
 1891.] 
 
 With an eye single to the glory of God, and the promotion of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom upon earth, the Synod of the Pacific, in humble 
 dependence on the patronage and blessing of the great Head of the 
 Church, do make and ordain the following Constitution for the organiza- 
 tion and government of an institution solely consecrated to the education 
 of suitable men for the office and work of the Christian ministry, which 
 shall be denominated " The San Francisco Theological Seminary." 
 

 
 OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 50S 
 
 Article I. Of the Synod. 
 
 1. As this institution originates with the Synod, so that body is to be 
 considered at all times its patron and the fountain of its powers. The 
 Synod shall, accordingly, appoint its directors, and its sanction shall 
 be necessary to the validity of its laws, and the appointment of all 
 professors. 
 
 2. The Synod shall choose a Board of Directors consisting of twelve 
 ministers and twelve laymen, all of whom shall be in connection with 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and not less 
 than eight of said laymen shall be ruling elders in said Church ; by 
 which the seminary shall be inspected and conducted. Of this number 
 one- third, or four ministers and four laymen, shall be chosen annually, 
 to continue in office three years.* 
 
 3. The Board of Directors shall have power to fill all vacancies, which 
 may occur by death, resignation or otherwise, between the meetings of 
 the Synod, and in the event of a failure on the part of the Synod to 
 provide for vacancies occurring by expiration, the members of the Board 
 whose terms shall have expired shall be regarded as their own successors, 
 and they shall be classified accordingly. 
 
 4. The appointment of all professors of the seminary shall be subject 
 to the approval of the Synod at the time of their appointment, if the 
 Synod be then in session ; otherwise at the next regular meeting of the 
 Synod, subject to the requirement of the General Assembly {Minutes of 
 1870, p. 63). t 
 
 5. The Synod shall at all times have the power of adding to, altering 
 or amending any of the Constitutional articles of the seminary ; but in 
 the exercise of this power, no such change shall be made unless proposed 
 first at one meeting of the Synod, and then adopted at the meeting of 
 the next year, except by a unanimous vote. 
 
 Article II. Of the Board of Directors. 
 
 1 . The Board of Directors shall meet statedly twice in the year ; at 
 the close of the session of the seminary and just before the meeting 
 of the Synod of the Pacific. Eleven members of the Board shall be a 
 quorum. 
 
 2. The Board shall choose out of their own number a president, vice- 
 president and secretary. The treasurer of the seminary shall be elected 
 by the Board of Trustees, subject to confirmation by the Board of 
 Directors. 
 
 3. The president of the Board, or in the event of his death, absence, 
 resignation or inability to act, the vice-president shall, at the request of 
 any six members, expressed to him in writing, call a special meeting of 
 the Board of Directors, by a circular letter addressed to each member, in 
 which letter notice shall be given not only of the time and place of meet- 
 
 * According to the conditions of the Ladd gift, at least one-fourth of the Directors 
 shall be nominated for election by the Synod of the Columbia, to the Synod of the 
 Pacific, and these Directors so nominated shall be members of the Synod of the 
 Columbia, or of some church belonging to that Synod. 
 
 | According to the conditions of the Ladd gift, the directors representing the 
 Synod of the Columbia have the exclusive right to nominate to the Board of Direc- 
 tors, the Professor for the Chair of Practical Theology, and his election is made subject 
 to the approval of the Synod of the Columbia in addition to that of the Synod of the 
 Pacific. 
 
504 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 ing, but also of the specific business intended to be transacted at the meeting 
 notified ; and this letter shall be sent at least ten days before the time of 
 said meeting. 
 
 4. The secretary of the Board shall keep accurate records of all pro- 
 ceedings of the directors, and it shall be his duty to lay these records, or a 
 faithful transcript of them, before the Synod as often as they may be 
 required by that body, for the free inspection of any and all of its 
 members. 
 
 5. The Board of Directors may make rules and regulations for the 
 performance of the duties assigned them, or for the preservation of order, 
 not inconsistent with the provisions of this Plan, or the orders of the 
 Synod. 
 
 6. The Board shall direct the professors of the seminary in regard to 
 the subjects and topics on which they are severally to give instruction to 
 the students so far as the same shall not be prescribed in this Plan, or by 
 the orders of the Synod. 
 
 7. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to inaugurate the 
 professors of the seminary, and to direct what forms shall be used, and 
 what services performed on such occasions. 
 
 8. Every director previously to taking his seat as a member of the 
 Board shall solemnly subscribe to the following formula, viz. : "Approv- 
 ing the Plan of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, I solemnly 
 declare and promise, in the presence of God and of this Board, that I 
 will faithfully endeavor to carry into effect all the articles and provisions 
 of said Plan, and to promote the great design of the seminary." 
 
 9. The Board of Directors shall inspect the fidelity of the professors, 
 especially in regard to the doctriues actually taught, and if, after due 
 inquiry and examination, they shall judge that any professor is either 
 unsound in faith, opposed to the fundamental principles of Presbyterian 
 Church government, immoral in his conduct, unfaithful to his trust, or 
 incompetent to the discharge of his duties, it shall be the duty of the 
 Board to remove him and appoint another in his place, which transaction, 
 together with the reasons for it, shall be duly reported to the Synod at the 
 next meeting. 
 
 10. The Board of Directors, at their stated spring meeting, shall appoint 
 what shall be known as " The Seminary Committee," consisting of three 
 directors, who shall be charged with the actual oversight of the inside 
 w r ork of the institution; who shall have power, after consulting with the 
 faculty, to approve or modify the distribution of time and work made by 
 the professors themselves as provided for in Article hi, Section 8 ; who 
 shall, from time to time, visit the classes and inspect the work of each 
 department ; who shall provide temporary instruction during the prolonged 
 absence of any professor ; who shall require of the clerk of the faculty a 
 written bimonthly statement of the work done by each class and each 
 professor for the two months previous, and who shall submit a report to 
 the Board at the next spring meeting, and at such other times as may be 
 desired by either the Committee or the Board. 
 
 11. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to watch over the 
 conduct of the students; to redress grievances; to examine into the whole 
 course of instruction and study in the seminary; and generally to super- 
 intend and endeavor to promote all its interests. 
 
 12. The Board of Directors shall make, in writing, a detailed and 
 faithful report of the state of the seminary to the Synod at each annual 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 505 
 
 meeting; and they may, at the same time, recommend such measures for 
 the advantage of the seminary as to them may seem proper. 
 
 13. The Board of Directors shall nominate and elect all professors, 
 subject to the approval of the Synod and the Assembly, and shall make 
 provision for instruction, when any chair is vacant.* 
 
 14. Ordinarily the professors shall be elected only at a stated meeting 
 of the Board of Directors. When this is inexpedient, every candidate for 
 any professorship shall be nominated at least one month before the elec- 
 tion occurs, and the election shall in every case be by ballot. 
 
 15. At their first meeting, after the adjournment of the Synod of the 
 Pacific, the Board of Directors shall elect five of their own number, not 
 more than two of whom shall be trustees, as an Executive Committee, to 
 whom shall be entrusted the general duty of executing the directions and 
 managing the affairs of the Board ad interim ; the powers of this Committee 
 shall be limited by the action of the Board it is designed to represent. 
 It shall in no case originate policies or* exceed the functions of a mere 
 Committee, and it shall submit a full report in writing to the Board at 
 their stated meetings, and at any other time when so required by the 
 Board. 
 
 Article III. Of the Professors. 
 
 1. The number of professors in the seminary shall be increased or 
 diminished, as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine. 
 But when the seminary shall be fully organized and completely equipped, 
 there shall not be less than four professors. 
 
 2. No person shall be inducted into the office of professor of Exegetical 
 or Systematic or Practical Theology but an ordained minister of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 3. Every person elected to a professorship in this seminary shall, on 
 being inaugurated, solemnly subscribe to the Confession of Faith, Cate- 
 chisms, and forms of Church government of the Presbyterian Church, 
 agreeably to the following formula, viz. : "In the presence of God and 
 of the directors of this seminary, I do solemnly and ex animo adopt, 
 receive, and subscribe the Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, as the confession 
 of my faith, and as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy 
 Scriptures, and therein revealed by God to man for his salvation; and I 
 do solemnly and ex animo profess to receive the form of government of 
 the said Church as agreeable to the inspired oracles. 
 
 " And I do solemnly promise and engage, not to inculcate, teach nor 
 insinuate anything which shall appear to contradict or contravene, either 
 directly or impliedly, anything taught in the said Confession of Faith or 
 Catechisms; nor to oppose any of the fundamental principles of Presby- 
 terian Church government, while I shall continue a professor in this 
 seminary. ' ' 
 
 4. The salaries of the professors shall be fixed by the Board of 
 Directors. 
 
 5. The same person shall not be eligible to a professorship in the 
 seminary and at the same time to membership in the Board of Directors. 
 
 6. Each professor shall lay before the Board of Directors, as soon as 
 practicable after his appointment, a detailed exhibition of the system and 
 method which he proposes to pursue, and the subjects which he proposes 
 
 * See Note 2, under Article i, Section 4. 
 
506 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 to discuss in conducting the studies of the youth that shall come under 
 his care; and in this system he shall make such alterations or additions 
 as the Board shall direct; so that eventually the whole course through 
 which the pupils shall be carried shall conform to that which the Board 
 of Directors shall have approved and sanctioned, conformably to Article 
 ii, Section 6, of this Plan. And as often as any professor shall think 
 that variations and additions of importance may be advantageously 
 introduced into his course of teaching, he shall submit the same to the 
 Board of Directors, for their approbation or rejection. 
 
 7. Any professor intending to resign his office shall give at least one 
 month's notice of such intention to the Board of Directors. 
 
 8. The professors of the institution shall be considered as a faculty. 
 They shall meet at such seasons as they may judge proper. The faculty 
 shall choose a clerk and keep accurate records of all their proceedings. 
 The clerk of the faculty shall call a meeting whenever he shall deem it 
 expedient, and whenever he shall be requested to do so by any other 
 member. By the faculty, regularly convened, shall be determined the 
 hours and seasons at which the classes shall attend the professors sever- 
 ally, so as to prevent interference and confusion, and to afford the pupils 
 the best opportunities for improvement. The faculty shall attend to and 
 decide on all cases of discipline, and all cases of order, as they shall 
 arise. They shall agree on the rules of order, decorum and duty (not 
 inconsistent with any provision in this Constitution, nor with any order 
 of the Board of Directors), to which the students shall be subjected; 
 and these they shall cause to be printed and a copy to be placed in the 
 hands of each student (see Article ii, Section 10). 
 
 9. The faculty shall be empowered to receive students into the semi- 
 nary, and to dismiss from the seminary any student who shall be immoral 
 or disorderly in his conduct; or who may be, in their opinion, on any 
 account whatsoever, a dangerous or unprofitable member of the insti- 
 tution. 
 
 Article IV. Of the Students. 
 
 1. Every student applying for admission to the theological seminary 
 shall produce satisfactory testimonials that he possesses good, natural 
 talents; and that he is of prudent and discreet deportment; that he is a 
 member in full communion of some church; that he has passed through 
 a regular course of academical study; or, wanting this, he shall submit 
 himself to an examination upon the studies usually taught in such a 
 course. And if he shall appear to the professors to be qualified to 
 proceed with advantage in the studies of the seminary, he shall be 
 admitted as a member of the institution ; otherwise he shall be remanded 
 to his academical studies, or advised to relinquish them altogether, with 
 the view to the ministry, as shall seem best in the judgment of the faculty. 
 
 2. Every student before he takes his stand in the seminary shall be 
 matriculated, by entering in a book, kept for that purpose, his name in 
 full, age, place of residence, and place of previous study; and by sub- 
 scribing the following declaration, viz. : " Deeply impressed with a sense 
 of the importance of improving in knowledge, prudence and piety, in 
 my preparation for the Gospel ministry, I solemnly promise, in a reliance 
 on divine grace, that I will faithfully and diligently attend on all the 
 instructions of this seminary, and that I will conscientiously and vigi- 
 lantly observe all the rules adopted for its instruction and government, as 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 507 
 
 far as they relate to the students ; and that I will obey all the lawful 
 requisitions, and readily yield to all the wholesome admonitions of the 
 professors and directors of the seininarv, while I shall continue a member 
 of it." 
 
 3. The students, during the sessions of the seminary, shall attend 
 regularly upon the religious services of some one evangelical church as 
 each student may select at the beginning of the session, and they shall 
 engage in such useful labors in connection with the church whose services 
 they attend as may meet the approval of the faculty and the pastor of 
 the church. 
 
 Article V. Of the Studies. 
 [Omitted.] 
 
 Article VI. Of the Funds. 
 
 1. The Board of Directors shall elect at its first meeting, after the 
 regular annual meeting of the Synod, from its own members, a Board of 
 five Trustees, which shall become a body corporate to hold in trust the 
 property and manage the finances of the seminary. These trustees shall 
 make a report to the directors before the end of each Synodical year. 
 
 2. The Board of Directors shall, from time to time, adopt such plans 
 as they may think proper for the improvement and increase of the funds, 
 and make such appropriations of them for particular purposes as they 
 may think necessary, not inconsistent with the terms and conditions of 
 any devise or bequest which may hereafter be made to the seminary. 
 
 3. The trustees shall, through the proper officer, at any time and as 
 often as required, lay before the Board of Directors an explicit statement 
 in writing of the funds belonging to the seminary, of the several items 
 that constitute that amount, together with the place and manner of their 
 investment, and an accurate account of the income and expenditures in 
 detail for the preceding year. 
 
 4. 2S o money shall at any time or for any purpose be drawn from the 
 funds except by order of the Board of Trustees, which order shall in 
 every case be duly signed by the president and secretary of said 
 Board, and that order when presented shall be the treasurer's sufficient 
 voucher. 
 
 5. The intention and direction of testators or donors, in regard to 
 moneys or other properties left or given to the seminary, shall, at all 
 times, be sacredly regarded. And if any individual, or any number of 
 individuals, not greater than three, shall by will, or during his or their 
 lives, found or endow a professorship or professorships, a scholarship or 
 scholarships, or a fund or funds, destined for special purposes, such 
 professorship or professorships, scholarship or scholarships, fund or 
 funds, shall forever afterwards be called and known by the name or 
 names of those who founded or endowed them, or by such other name or 
 names as they may designate; and if any congregation, Presbytery, or 
 association shall found a professorship or professorships, a scholarship 
 or scholarships, or fund or funds, such professorships or scholarships or 
 funds shall forever afterwards be called and known by such names as the 
 body founding them shall give. 
 
 The corporate name of the seminary is " The San Francisco Theologi- 
 cal Seminary," to which may be added for more complete identity, ''of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States. ' ' 
 
508 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 2. Action on the Assembly's Plan of 1894. 
 
 The Board of Directors of the San Francisco Theological Seminary, 
 in answer to the request of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the U. S. A., respectfully represent: 
 
 1. That we are in hearty sympathy with the end aimed at by the 
 General Assembly in its requests to the theological seminaries of the 
 Church as presented in the action of said Assembly, set forth in the 
 Minutes of its sessions for the years 1894 and 1895. 
 
 2. That earnestly desiring to comply with said requests,, we, together 
 with our Board of Directors, have placed the matter in the hands of our 
 attorney, for his consideration and advice; and have received from him 
 the following, which we present as part of this our answer, to wit : 
 
 To the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Theological Seminary : 
 
 Dear Sirs : — You have referred to me the resolutions adopted by the 
 General Assembly of 1894, as set forth in its Minutes at pp. 65 and 66, 
 and you have requested me to report to you what course is necessary to 
 enable you to comply with these resolutions. I beg to submit the 
 following reply: N 
 
 The San Francisco Theological Seminary was incorporated under the 
 general laws of California, on October 15, 1872, as " a corporation for 
 religious and educational objects under the care and control of the Synod 
 of the Pacific and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America. ' ' Its articles of incorporation fixed the 
 number of its trustees as five, and the laws under which it was formed 
 provide that these trustees shall " take into their possession and custody 
 all temporalities of such corporation, whether the same was assessed for 
 real or personal estate and whether given, granted or devised, directly or 
 indirectly, to such corporation or to any person or persons for its use, 
 and in the name of such corporation may sue and be sued, may recover 
 and hold all the debts, demands, rights and privileges, all the churches, 
 houses, schoolhouses, hospitals, or other buildings, all the estate and 
 appurtenances belonging to all houses and buildings that are necessary to 
 carry out the objects of the corporation, and perform all duties imposed 
 upon them by the regulations, rules or discipline of such organization." 
 Under the rules of the seminary, the five trustees constituting this 
 governing Board are elected annually out of and by a constituent body 
 of twenty-four persons who are delegated for the purpose by the Synods 
 of California and Oregon (the successors of the former Synod of the 
 Pacific). This constituent body is known as the Board of Directors of 
 the seminary, and its members serve for three years, one-third of the 
 Board being appointed each year. The Synod of California appoints 
 three-fourths of these directors, and the Synod of Oregon appoints the 
 remaining one fourth. Although designated as directors, the Board of 
 twenty -four individuals really exercise the functions of ordinary members 
 or stockholders of a corporation. They may recommend or direct the 
 action of the trustees, but cannot compel or coerce them except by 
 electing their successors or by limiting their powers. The Synods of 
 California and of Oregon have no direct authority over the seminary 
 beyond the power of appointment of the directors. Your corporation so 
 organized has received large donations of lands and money upon trusts 
 for its purposes as a Presbyterian Theological Seminary. It administers 
 all these trusts through its Board of Trustees and has none but trust 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 509 
 
 property. The General Assembly requests (its Minutes, 1894, pp. 65 
 and 6<o): 
 
 (a) That subject to existing trusts the funds and property of the 
 seminary shall be held in trust solely for the purpose of theological educa- 
 tion in the doctrines set forth in the Standards of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America. 
 
 (£>), (c) That a veto power shall be given it over all elections of 
 directors and appointments of professors and teachers. 
 
 (rf) That in the event of violation of such trusts or disregard of such 
 veto, the General Assembly shall be empowered to " provide against 
 such violation of said charters and for the enforcement of the same and 
 for the protection of the trusts under which said property and funds are 
 held, in such manner and in the name of such person or corporation as 
 it may direct, by resolution certified by its clerk, in any civil court having 
 jurisdiction," etc. 
 
 As to subdivision (a) of these resolutions, your property is all held by 
 you under trusts which you are unable to modify or alter. If those 
 trusts correspond with the requirements of the General Assembly (and 
 I believe all of yours do) they need not be changed ; and if they do not 
 so correspond, you cannot change them. 
 
 As to subdivisions (6) and (c), I can see no effective way of surrender- 
 ing to the General Assembly the electoral powers of the Board of Direc- 
 tors and the business controlled and executed by the Board of Trustees 
 in the sense required by these resolutions. Inasmuch as your charter 
 declares that your corporation is under the control of the Synod of the 
 Pacific and of the General Assembly, no doubt, in some manner, the 
 General Assembly could be given a share in the election of the constitu- 
 ent body known as the Board of Directors, who are at present appointed 
 annually by the Synods of California and Oregon. In that way the 
 General Assembly might lawfuly exercise an indirect control, but these 
 resolutions require a practical abdication of all corporate functions by 
 the seminary, and the substitution of the General Assembly in the place 
 of the corporate authorities as at present constituted. I do not believe 
 that this can be done in any manner, and there is great danger that any 
 attempt to do it would result in a forfeiture of your corporate franchises, 
 imperiling your various trusts. No doubt the wishes of the General 
 Assembly will always be respected and followed by your corporation in 
 the matters referred to in these resolutions, but I know of no way con- 
 sistent with the statutes of California to vest in the General Assembly the 
 powers which it seeks. 
 
 (d) This portion of the resolution is merely a corollary to the require- 
 ments of (a), (6) and (c), and has been substantially answered in 
 considering them. 
 
 The performance of the trusts for the benefit of the Presbyterian 
 Church and for theological education in Presbyterian tenets can, no 
 doubt, be enforced in the several courts by the General Assembly or by 
 the Synods. 
 
 The language of resolution (d) is so uncertain that I find it difficult to 
 determine just what is desired. I see no way by which you can create 
 an interest in the trusts which you hold in favor of the General Assem- 
 bly. First, because you cannot modify or alter the terms of those trusts; 
 and, second, because the General Assembly itself is a transitory body 
 changing each year, having no permanent existence and not capable 
 
510 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 apparently of acquiring or holding property rights. The resolution 
 implies this in the suggestion that the right shall be conferred upon such 
 persons or corporations as the General Assembly may by resolution direct, 
 but it seems evident that in creating the right or transferring it by your- 
 selves, the recipient must be designated and must be capable of taking. 
 
 I am forced to the conclusion, therefore, that you cannot legally comply 
 with any of these resolutions of the General Assembly. I remain, dear 
 sirs, faithfullv vours. Charles P. Eells. 
 
 April 24. 181 
 
 That sincerely regretting that the things desired by the Assembly 
 have not been presented in such form as to harmonize with the laws of 
 the State of California, under which we are incorporated, we desire to 
 assure the Assembly of our readiness to do anything in our power which 
 may be deemed necessary for the removal of any possible doubt as to the 
 perpetual security of the funds of our seminary to our beloved Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 Approved by the Board of Directors, and respectfully submitted as 
 their answer to the General Assemblv's Committee on Theological Semi- 
 naries.— 1896, pp. 194-lV 
 
 X. GERMAN PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 re — Located at Dubuque, Iowa. Orsanir I taken under care of the 
 
 Church in 1561.] 
 
 1. Articles of incorporation. 
 
 Article I. 
 
 This corporation shall be known and designated in law by the corporate 
 name of the German Presbyterian Theological School of the Northwest. 
 
 Article II 
 
 The object of this incorporation is. and shall be. the instruction and train- 
 ing of young men in a course of mathematical, classical, scientific, literary and 
 theological studies, for the purpose of qualifying them for preaching, in the 
 German language, the Gospel, as contained in th - nptures. and 
 
 forth in the Confession of the Presbyterian Church "in the United States of 
 America ; which course shall embrace academical, collegiate and theol 
 studies; Proridtd, That, if in the judgment of the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the Unite-: :ica. the time shall have come 
 
 when there shall be no need of the preparation of students for a distinctively 
 German ministry, then this corporation may be charged with the continu- 
 ance of a general educational work, under the supervision of the said General 
 blv. 
 
 Article III. 
 
 The business of the corporation shall be managed by a Board of twenty-four 
 ~ho shall be members of the Presbyterian Church in the U"nited 
 States of America, who shall be divided into three classes of eight each. The 
 term of office of one class shall expire at the close of the regular annual meet- 
 in g in each year, and until their successors are elected the following persons 
 shall constitute the said Board of Directors, to wit : (Names omitted.) 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 At every regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors such Board shall 
 select the "successors of the class whose terms expire at the close of such meet- 
 ing, and shall also, at any meeting, elect successors to such directors whose 
 -hall have become vacant by resignation or death, or by ceasing to be a 
 member of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The 
 election of such directors shall, however, be subject to the approval of the 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 511 
 
 ueeeeding General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 
 - of America, and no election, except to fill a vacancy caused by death, or 
 \tion of a director, or his ceasing to be a member of the Presbyterian 
 
 Church, shall take effect until so approved by the General Assembly ; failure 
 of the General Assembly to which said elections are reported for approval to 
 act thereon shall be regarded as approval of said elections. 
 
 Article V 
 
 The said Board of Directors shall always be subject to the direction, review 
 and control of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 
 - of America. The election, appointment or transfer of all profc 
 and teachers shall be submitted to the succeeding General Assembly for its ap- 
 proval, and no such election, appointment or transfer shall take effect, nor 
 shall any professor or teacher be inducted into office, until his election, appoint- 
 
 *• transfer shall have been approved by the said General Assembly ; fail- 
 ure of the General Assembly to which the said election, appointment or trans- 
 fer is reported for approval to act thereon shall be regarded as approval thereof. 
 Xo one shall be eligible to the position of professor or teacher who is not either 
 a minister or a member in good and regular standing of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America. 
 
 Article VI. 
 
 The corporation shall hold all of its funds and property subject to the terms 
 -ring or specified trusts, in trust for the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 
 - of America, for the object and purposes set 'forth in these articles of in- 
 corporation, to wit : the academical, collegiate and theological education of 
 young men for the ministry of the said Presbyterian Church, and no part of the 
 funds and property so held shall be used for any other purpose ; and the theo- 
 logical education shall be in accordance with the doctrines set forth in the 
 Standards of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ; and 
 the said Board of Directors shall have full power and authority to encumber 
 and convey the real estate of said corporation ; and shall have the charge and 
 management of all its property in furtherance of the objects of their corpora- 
 tion ;ltnd are charged with the administration of its affairs, in all i> 
 
 and <: ject to the supervision, direction and authority of the General 
 
 AflBeml \y li r=aid. 
 
 Article VII. 
 
 The Board of Directors may appoint an Executive Committee consisting of 
 such number of persons as they see fit, a majority of whom shall be members 
 of the Board of Directors ; and may authorize such committee to perform 
 such duties as the Board are charged with, during the time the Board is not in 
 n. But such committee shall not have power to sell or encumber 
 the real estate of the corporation, nor to contract any debt, except for the cur- 
 rent expenses, or for repairs of the buildings or grounds, unless authorized by 
 the Board. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 Whenever it shall be expedient to the Board to do so. they are authorized to 
 :sh an academical or collegiate department, which shall be distinct and 
 : m the theological ; and provide for the investment of funds donated 
 or raised for the support of each department separately. 
 
 Article IX. 
 
 All funds or property which shall be contributed to this corporation by 
 bequest or devise shall" be kept as trust funds inviolate during the existence of 
 this corporation. And in case of dissolution of this corporation for any re 
 all property of any kind, including funds held intrust by it. shall be trans- 
 to the Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church in the V 
 B be held by it in trust as part of its permanent fund- 
 the annual income accruing therefrom to be used in the discretion of the Board 
 in the education of theological students, preference being given to the students 
 of German birth or parentage. 
 
512 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Article X. 
 
 The members, directors or officers of this incorporation shall not be liable 
 for its corporate debts. But in the event of the violation of any of the terms 
 of these articles of incorporation, or the misuse or diversion of the funds or 
 property held by the directors, then the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America shall be empowered to provide 
 against such violation of the provisions of these articles of incorporation, and 
 for the enforcement of the same, and for the protection of the trusts on which 
 said property and funds are held, in the name of such person or corporation, 
 as it may direct by resolution, certified by its clerk, in any civil court having 
 jurisdiction over this corporation. 
 
 Article XL 
 
 The said school established under the former corporate name shall continue 
 to be established and located at the city of Dubuque, county of Dubuque, State 
 of Iowa. 
 
 Article XII. 
 
 The regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held on the 
 last Wednesday of April in each year until a different day be fixed by the Board 
 of Directors. Seven directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
 business. 
 
 Article XIII. 
 
 This incorporation shall be a reincorporation of the German Theological 
 School of the Presbyterian Church of the Northwest, and shall continue fifty 
 years unless sooner dissolved by action of the Board of Directors and the con- 
 sent of the General Assembly aforesaid. 
 
 I, William Graham, Secretary of the German Presbyterian Theological 
 School of the Northwest, do hereby certify that the foregoing articles of rein- 
 corporation of the German Presbyterian Theological School of the Northwest 
 were adopted at the regular annual meeting of the directors of said school, 
 held in the city of Dubuque, on the 29th day of April, A.D. 1896, and are 
 hereby submitted to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America for approval. 
 
 Witness my hand this 14th day of May, A.D. 1896. 
 
 William Graham, Secretary. 
 
 2. Action on the Assembly's Plan of 1894. 
 It was unanimously resolved by the Board of Directors at a meeting 
 held April 25, 1895, that the recommendations of the Assembly be 
 adopted without change. — 1895, p. 162. 
 
 XI. GERMAN THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF NEWARK, N. J. 
 [Note.— Located at BLoomfield, N. J. Founded 1869; incorporated 1871.] 
 
 1. The charter. 
 
 An act to incorporate the German Theological School of Newark, N. J. 
 
 1. Be it enacted, by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That Jonathan F. Stearns, Joseph Fewsmith, Charles A. Smith, George 
 C. Seibert, Charles E. Knox, Thomas N. McCarter, F. Wolcott Jackson, 
 William F. Van Wagenen and Philip Doremus, and their successors, are hereby 
 constituted a body corporate and politic in fact and in name by the name of 
 "The German Theological School of Newark, New Jersey," and by that name 
 shall have succession and be capable in law of taking and holding by gift, 
 grant, devise, or otherwise, and of holding and conveying both in law and in 
 equity, any real or personal estate, and may have a common seal and change 
 the same at pleasure. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That the government of the said corporation shall be 
 vested in a Board of Directors, which shall consist of nine members, five of 
 whom shall be clergymen and four laymen ; the corporators above named 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 513 
 
 shall be the first Board of Directors of said corporation, and shall be divided 
 into three classes, to be numbered one, two and three ; the term of the first 
 shall expire in one, the second in two, and the third in three years from the 
 first day of May last. Joseph Fewsmith, Charles E. Knox and Thomas N. 
 McCarter shall compose the first class ; Charles A. Smith, William F. Van 
 Wagenen and Philip Doremus shall compose the second class, and Jonathan 
 F. Stearns, George C. Seibert and F. Wolcott Jackson shall compose the third 
 class ; each class of directors shall hereafter be chosen for and hold their office 
 during three years, and until a new election to supply the place of such class. 
 
 3. And be it enacted, That the Presbytery of Newark may annually here- 
 after elect, at its stated spring meeting, three directors of said corporation to 
 supply the place of the class which shall expire in that year, and shall also 
 have power to fill any vacancy that may have happened by death, resignation or 
 otherwise, in any other class, such election to be held in such manner as the 
 said Presbytery of Newark shall direct ; and any such election shall be subject 
 to review by the next General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America ; and in case the said General Assembly shall disap- 
 prove of such election, the offices of director or directors disapproved of shall 
 thereupon become vacant ; the Board of Directors shall also have power to fill 
 all vacancies in their own Board, which may happen from year to year, and 
 such appointments shall be valid until the first day of May then next follow- 
 ing, or until the election of a successor by the Presbytery as aforesaid. 
 
 4. And be it enacted, That the said directors and their successors shall have 
 the management and care of the estate both real and personal of said corpora- 
 tion, and shall have power to sell or otherwise dispose of the same in their 
 discretion for the purpose of advancing the objects of said school, and shall 
 also have power to adopt a constitution and all necessary by-laws and ordi- 
 nances for the management and government of said school ; Provided, The 
 same be not in conflict with the laws and Constitution of this State or of the 
 United States. 
 
 5. And be it enacted, That whenever, from a cessation of German immigra- 
 tion or from any other cause, it may be deemed inexpedient longer to main- 
 tain said institution as a distinctive German theological school, it shall be law- 
 ful for the directors, with the approval of the Presbytery of Newark and of 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, to use 
 the property and funds of said corporation for any other branch of theological 
 education or transfer its property and funds or any part thereof to any other 
 theological seminary ; and in case of such transfer of all the property of said 
 corporation to another seminary or seminaries, the corporate power hereby 
 granted shall cease, and said corporation shall be thereby dissolved. 
 
 6. And be it enacted, That this act shall be deemed a public act, and shall 
 go into effect immediately. 
 
 Approved, February 2, 1871. 
 
 2. The supplement to the charter. 
 
 A supplement to the act entitled "An act to incorporate the German Theo- 
 logical School of Newark, New Jersey," approved February second, one 
 thousand eight hundred and seventy-one. 
 
 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New 
 Jersey, That it shall be lawful for the Presbytery of Newark, on the recom- 
 mendation of the Board of Directors of the German Theological School of 
 Newark, New Jersey, to increase from time to time the number of the directors 
 of said corporation, to any number not exceeding twenty -five in all ; and when- 
 ever any such increase shall be made, it shall be so made that one-half of said 
 additional directors shall be clergymen and one-half laymen, and said direc- 
 tors shall be elected at the time and in the manner directed by the act to which 
 this is a supplement, for the election of Directors ; and when so elected said 
 additional Directors shall be added to the existing classes in said Board as the 
 said Presbytery may direct, but in such manner as to maintain, as nearly as may 
 be, equality among the several classes ; and when so classified, said additional 
 directors shall respectively hold their offices for the term of the class to which 
 they may be respectively assigned. 
 
 2. And be it enacted, That this act shall take effect immediately. 
 Approved, March 26, 1873. 
 
 33 
 
514 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 3. Constitution. 
 Article I. The Presbytery. 
 
 The directors, in accordance with the action of the Presbytery of Newark, 
 requiring a report to the Presbytery "at each of its stated meetings," shall 
 make their report at the stated spring meeting in a form for transmission to the 
 General Assembly, containing the financial statement for the year ; and at the 
 stated meeting in the autumn, they shall make the general annual report of the 
 seminary. 
 
 Article II The Directors. 
 
 1. The Board of Directors of the G-erman Theological School shall be an- 
 nually elected by the Presbytery of Newark, and this election of the Presby- 
 tery, as well as any election to vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise, shall 
 be held valid unless disapproved by the General Assembly. 
 
 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of Director unless he be a minister 
 or member in good standing, of some evangelical church, receiving the West- 
 minster Confession of Faith, as adopted by the Presbyterian Churches in this 
 country. 
 
 3. Every director on entering upon his office, and also after each reelec- 
 tion, shall make the following declaration in the presence of the Board, viz.: 
 
 Approving of the plan and Constitution of the German Theological School 
 of Newark and of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Presbyterian 
 form of Church government, I do solemnly promise to maintain the same, so 
 long as I shall continue to be a member of the Board of Directors. 
 
 4. In order to carry out the powers vested in them by the act of incorpora- 
 tion, the Board of Directors shall have authority to make their own by-laws ; 
 hold, manage and disburse the funds of the seminary, appoint all officers, pro- 
 fessors and teachers ; fix their salaries ; make laws for the government of the 
 institution ; determine their duties ; and in general to adopt all such measures 
 not inconsistent with the provisions of the said act and of this Constitution, as 
 the interests of this school may require. 
 
 5. The Board shall inaugurate the professors or any officers of the seminary, 
 in such manner as they may deem expedient, shall watch over the fidelity of 
 all who may be employed in giving instruction ; shall judge of their compe- 
 tency, doctrine and morals ; and shall have power, on sufficient evidence that 
 the interests of the seminary so require, to remove any officer, professor or 
 teacher from office. The Board shall also exercise a fraternal supervision over 
 the whole seminary, and shall inspect the discipline of the faculty over the 
 students. 
 
 6. The appointment of professors shall be valid until disapproved by the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 7. Five members, at any meeting of the Board regularly convened, shall be a 
 quorum for the transaction of all ordinary business ; but the purchase and con- 
 veyance of real estate, the appointment and removal of any member of the 
 faculty or permanent teacher and the fixing of their salaries shall require an 
 affirmative vote of not less than seven. 
 
 8. The Board shall annually elect from its own number, and so often as may 
 be necessary, a president of the Board, a vice-president, a secretary and a 
 treasurer, who shall hold their offices until others are elected, and whose 
 duties shall be prescribed in the by-laws. The treasurer, when required, shall 
 give his bond, with securities satisfactory to the Board for the faithful perform- 
 ance of his duties. 
 
 9. The Board shall also annually appoint from their own number, four stand- 
 ing committees, viz., a Committee on Instruction, a Committee on the Seminary 
 Buildings, a Committee on Finance aud an Auditing Committee. The duties 
 of these committees shall be fully defined in the by-laws. 
 
 10. The Board shall hold at least four stated meetings in each year ; and 
 may meet as often on their own adjournment or at the call of the presiding 
 officer as may be deemed expedient. 
 
 Article III. The Faculty. 
 
 1. The faculty shall consist of the president, professors and permanent in- 
 structors of the school, who shall be ordained ministers of the Gospel. 
 
 2. Every member of the faculty shall, on entering upon his office and trien- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 515 
 
 nially thereafter or when required by the Board, so long as he remains in 
 office, make and subscribe the following declaration in the presence of the 
 Board, viz.: 
 
 I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of 
 God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice ; and I do now, in the pres- 
 ence of God and the directors of this seminary, solemnly and sincerely receive 
 and adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith, as containing the system of 
 doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. I do also, in like manner, approve of 
 the Presbyterian Form of Government, and I do solemnly promise that I will 
 not teach or inculcate anything which shall be subversive of the said system of 
 doctrine, or of the principles of said Form of Government, so long as I shall 
 continue to be a professor or instructor in this institution. 
 
 3. If any professor or instructor shall refuse, at the stated time, to repeat the 
 above declaration, he shall forthwith cease to be a professor or instructor in 
 the institution. 
 
 4. The faculty shall have the immediate care and inspection of the students 
 and shall execute the laws of the school, subject to the advice and control of 
 the Board of Directors. They shall, in connection with the Committee on In- 
 struction, admit and dismiss students, discipline the disorderly, determine the 
 daily duties of the students, and exercise a fraternal care over all the members 
 of the school. 
 
 5. The faculty shall fix the time and manner of their own meetings, keep a 
 fair record of their proceedings and exhibit the same to the Board of Directors 
 whenever required ; and whenever required shall present to the Board a writ- 
 ten report of the condition of the several departments. 
 
 6. Any member of the faculty intending to resign his office, shall give in 
 writing at least three months' notice of such intention to the Board of Directors, 
 which notice shall be duly entered upon their minutes. 
 
 Article IV. Instruction. 
 
 [Omitted.] 
 Article V. The Students. 
 
 1. This Theological School shall be open for the admission of students of the 
 requisite qualifications from every denomination of Christians. 
 
 2. No student shall be matriculated unless he present, on examination, satis- 
 factory evidence of a truly regenerate life, and in ordinary cases of his good 
 standing in some Christian Church. 
 
 3. At his matriculation every student shall make and subscribe the following 
 declaration, in the presence of the faculty, viz. : 
 
 Deeply impressed with a sense of my duty to God and to this Theological 
 School, I do solemnly declare my intention of pursuing a full course of theo- 
 logical study, and I clo promise, so long as I shall remain a member of this 
 institution, to attend faithfully to all the duties and instructions of the regular 
 course, to observe all the laws, to yield ready obedience to the requisitions of 
 the faculty and the Board of Directors, and to observe and do, according to 
 my best knowledge, all other things pertaining to my situation as a student of 
 theology. 
 
 Article VI. The Library. 
 
 1. The librarian shall be appointed by the Board of Directors. He shall 
 have the care of the library and the library rooms, and shall report annually to 
 the Board of Directors. 
 
 2. The rules for the safe keeping and management of the library shall be 
 prepared by the librarian, with the advice of the faculty, and shall be subject 
 to the approval of the Board of Directors. 
 
 Article VII. Scholarships. 
 
 Any person or persons who shall pay into the treasury, or bequeath by will, 
 the sum of two thousand dollars or more, for the purpose of founding a scholar- 
 ship shall have the privilege not only of naming such scholarship, but also of 
 nominating, during his or their life-time, the beneficiaries who are placed upon 
 said foundation. 
 
516 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Article VIII. Donations and Endowments. 
 
 All devises, subscriptions and donations to the funds of this school shall be 
 sacredly considered as made to uphold and teach the doctrinal basis contained 
 in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 
 Article IX. Amendments to the Constitution. 
 
 1. The Board of Directors shall have power at any meeting regularly con- 
 vened, to make any amendments to this Constitution not inconsistent with the 
 acts of incorporation or with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of 
 the United States of America ; Provided, The said amendments shall have 
 been proposed at a previous meeting and shall be passed by an affirmative vote 
 of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Board. 
 
 2. All articles of the previous Constitution not embodied in the present Con- 
 stitution are hereby abrogated. 
 
 4. Action on the Assembly's Plan of 1894. 
 
 After the conference meeting between the Committee of the General 
 Assembly and the directors of the German Theological School of Newark, 
 held April 9, the Board considered the subject of the conference for two 
 hours, and postponed action to the stated meeting of the Board held yes- 
 terday, when the following resolution was adopted: " This Board, having 
 duly considered the arguments so admirably presented by the General 
 Assembly's Committee, would respectfully report that it does not see its 
 way clear to accept the changes proposed." — 1895, p. 162. Repeated, 
 1897, p. 109. 
 
 XII. LINCOLN UNIVERSITY. 
 
 [Note. — P. O., Lincoln University, Pa. Originally founded as "Ashmun Institute," 
 in 185L Its Theological Department was placed in 1871 under the care of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly.] 
 
 1. The charter. 
 
 An act to incorporate the Ashmun Institute. 
 
 Section L Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, That there shall be and hereby is estab- 
 lished at or near a place called Hinsonville, in the county of Chester, an insti- 
 tution of learning for the scientific, classical and theological education of 
 colored youth of the male sex, by the name, style and title of the "Ashmun 
 Institute," under the care and direction of a Board of Trustees, not exceeding 
 nine in number, who, with their successors in office, shall be and hereby are 
 declared to be one body politic and corporate, in deed and in law, to be known 
 by the name, style and title of the "Ashmun Institute," and by the same shall 
 have perpetual succession, and shall be able to sue and be sued, to plead and 
 be impleaded in all courts of law and equity, and shall be capable in law and 
 equity to take, hold and purchase for the use and benefit of said institute, lands, 
 goods, chattels and moneys of any kind whatever, by gift, grant, conveyance, 
 devise orbequest from any person or persons whomsoever capable of making the 
 same, and the same from time to time to sell, convey, mortgage or dispose of for 
 the use and benefit of said institute, and they shall have power to have a com- 
 mon seal ; to erect such buildings as may be necessary for the purposes of said 
 institute, and to provide libraries, apparatus and all other needful means of im- 
 parting a full and thorough course of instruction in any or all the departments of 
 science, literature, the liberal arts, classics, and theology, and to do all and singu- 
 lar the matters and things for the purposes of this act, which any corporation or 
 body politic may or can do for the well being of said institute, and for the due 
 management and ordering of the affairs thereof, w T hich may not be contrary to 
 the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States ; And Provided, 
 That the clear yearly value and income of said estates shall not exceed in 
 value the sum of six thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 2. That for the present the trustees of the said institute shall be John 
 M. Dickey, Alfred Hamilton, Robert P. Du Bois, James Latta, John B. Spotts- 
 wood, James M. Crowell, Samuel J. Dickey, John M. Kelton and William 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 517 
 
 Wilson, who, or any five of them, on and after the passage of this act, shall 
 have power to organize the said Board of Trustees, and after such organiza- 
 tion, three members of the said Board shall constitute a quorum to do business 
 at any meeting called in due form according to the by-laws established by the 
 said Board. 
 
 Sec. 3. That the Board of Trustees aforesaid, at the meeting in which they 
 are organized, shall arrange themselves in three classes of three each by lot, of 
 which classes the first shall serve one year, the second shall serve two years, 
 and the third shall serve three years ; when vacancies occur, and ever after- 
 wards, they shall be filled by persons elected by the Presbytery of New Castle, 
 who shall choose three trustees annually to serve for three years, as well as 
 fill all vacancies made by death, resignation or otherwise ; Provided, however, 
 That if the said Presbytery shall at any time fail to elect successors to those 
 whose term of office has expired, the same shall continue to act as members of 
 the Board until others shall have been chosen in their place. 
 
 Sec. 4. That the Board of Trustees, under the general instructions from the 
 Presbytery of Newcastle, shall have power to purchase, put up or procure 
 suitable buildings and improvements only as they may have the necessary 
 means, in no case ever involving the said Presbytery in pecuniary obligations ; 
 they shall have power to appoint and remove the necessary professors and 
 teachers, and name their salaries ; to establish rules and regulations for the 
 government of the institution ; to appoint such officers and agents for their 
 own body as may be deemed expedient, and to adopt and establish their own 
 by-laws and regulations ; Provided, That none of the said by-laws and regula- 
 tions shall extend to an alienation of the lands and tenements or other capital 
 stock of the institute, or to a dissolution thereof, except by the consent of the 
 said Presbytery ; they shall have power to procure the endowment of the 
 institute, not exceeding the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, and when 
 required by the aforesaid Presbytery, they shall report to it the state of the insti- 
 tute, the state of the funds, and of all the interests committed to their trust. 
 
 Sec. 5. That the trustees shall have power to confer such literary degrees 
 and academic honors as are usually granted by colleges upon such pupils as 
 shall have completed in a satisfactory manner the prescribed course of study. 
 
 Sec 6. That the trustees shall faithfully appropriate all moneys and other 
 effects that may come into their hands for the sole benefit of the said institu- 
 tion, nor shall any bequest or donation made to and accepted by the said Board 
 for specific educational objects ever be diverted from the purposes designated by 
 the donor. 
 
 Sec 7. That the institute shall be open to the admission of colored pupils of 
 the male sex of all religious denominations, who exhibit a fair moral character, 
 and are willing to yield a ready obedience to the general regulations prescribed 
 for the conduct of the pupils and the government of the institution. 
 
 Sec 8. That no misnomer of said corporation shall defeat or annul any gift, 
 grant, devise or bequest to or from the said corporation; Provided, That the 
 intent of the parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, will or 
 writing whereby any estate or interest was intended to be passed to or from 
 said corporation. 
 
 E. B. Chase, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 M. McCaslin, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved, the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty -four. 
 
 Wm. Bigler. 
 
 2. Supplements to the charter. 
 
 A supplement to an act to incorporate the Ashmun Institute, approved the 
 twenty-ninth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty-four, changing the name of said institute, enlarging the Board of 
 Trustees, increasing their right to hold property, and authorizing the con- 
 ferring of degrees. 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, That the name, style and title of the 
 Ashmun Institute shall be changed to that of the Lincoln University. 
 
518 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 Sec. 2. That the Presbytery of New Castle shall, at their next meeting, 
 elect a Board of Trustees, consisting of twenty-one members, five of whom shall 
 constitute a quorum ; which Board, at the meeting at which they shall organize, 
 shall arrange themselves in three classes, of seven each, by lot, of which classes 
 the first shall serve one year, the second shall serve two years, and the third 
 shall serve three years ; when vacancies occur, and ever afterwards, they shall 
 be filled by persons elected by said Presbytery, who shall choose seven 
 trustees, annually, to serve for three years, as well as fill all vacancies made 
 by death, resignation, or otherwise ; Provided, That if the said Presbytery 
 shall, at any time, fail to elect successors to those whose term of office has ex- 
 pired, the members of the said Board, continuing in office, shall elect proper 
 persons to succeed those whose term of office has expired. 
 
 Sec. 3. That the said corporation, or their successors, by the name, style 
 and title aforesaid, shall be able and capable in law and equity, to take and 
 hold, for themselves and their successors, for the use and objects of said cor- 
 poration, lands, tenements, goods and chattels, of whatever kind, nature and 
 quality, real, personal and mixed, which now is or shall hereafter become, the 
 property of said corporation, by gift, grant, bargain, sale, conveyance, demise, 
 bequest, or otherwise, from any person, or persons, whatsoever, capable of 
 making the same, and the same to grant, bargain, sell, or otherwise dispose of, 
 for the use of said university ; Provided, That the yearly value, or income, of 
 said estate shall not, at any time, exceed thirty thousand dollars. 
 
 Sec. 4. That the trustees of said university shall have full power to confer 
 all such literary degrees and academic honors and titles, as are usually con- 
 ferred by university corporations. 
 
 James R. Kelley, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 David Fleming, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved, the fourth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and sixty-six. 
 
 A. G. Curtin. 
 
 A supplement to an act to incorporate the Ashmun Institute. 
 
 Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby 
 enacted by the authority of the same, That so much of the charter of Ash- 
 mun Institute, approved the twenty-ninth day of April, one thousand eight 
 hundred and fifty-four, and of the supplement approved the fourth day of 
 April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, as refers to the supervision 
 of the Presbytery of New Castle in the affairs of the said Ashmun Institute, 
 now known by the corporate title of Lincoln University, be and the same is 
 hereby repealed ; and all powers and authority in the affairs of Lincoln 
 University, heretofore held by the Presbytery of New Castle, be and is hereby 
 conferred upon the Board of Trustees of said Lincoln University ; and that the 
 term of office of members of said Board, to be hereafter elected, be extended 
 from three to seven years, and that three trustees be elected each year by the 
 Board, at their annual meeting ; and in case of the failure of the Board to elect 
 trustees, the existing members shall continue in office until their successors 
 shall be elected ; and that hereafter the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States shall hold a veto power in the election of pro- 
 fessors in the theological department in the said Lincoln University. 
 
 James H. Webb, 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
 William A. Wallace, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 
 Approved, the eighteenth day of February, Anno Domini one thousand eight 
 hundred and seventy-one. 
 
 John W. Geary. 
 
 The above is a certified copy of the charter of Lincoln University and its 
 amendments made June 12, 1889, by 
 
 Charles W. Stone, 
 Secretary of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 519 
 
 Amendments, 1897. 
 
 [Note.— A certified copy of the changes in the charter of Lincoln University made 
 in 1897 is not in hand. The changes in relation to the Assembly's powers are given 
 on this page, sub-head c] 
 
 3. Action on the Assembly's plan of 1894. 
 
 a. Resolved, 1. Therefore, in view of the unique character of our 
 institution and the fact that our funds are held largely in undivided 
 interests, we do not see our way clear to take steps in the direction indi- 
 cated by the General Assembly in respect to finances. 
 
 2. As the right of the Assembly to veto the election of professors is 
 provided for by our charter, we profoundly believe that the rights of the 
 Assembly are at present secured. We understand the Assembly's right 
 to cover all transfers and appointments as well as original elections. 
 
 3. We are perfectly willing for the time to come to declare a trust to 
 be held for the Presbyterian Church in case of all funds for theological 
 education when donors so designate. — 1895, p. 163. 
 
 b. The trustees of this institution took the following action: 
 Resolved, 1. We are perfectly willing for the future to declare a trust 
 
 to be held for the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. , in case of all funds 
 for theological education when donors do not otherwise designate. 
 
 2. That in the event of the violation of any of the terms of said 
 amendments, or misuse or diversion of the funds or property held by us, 
 then the General Assembly shall be empowered to provide against such 
 violation of the provisions of said charter and for the enforcement of the 
 same and for the protection of the trusts on which said property and 
 funds are held, in such manner and in the name of such persons or cor- 
 poration as it may direct by resolution certified by its Clerk in any civil 
 court having jurisdiction over the corporation whose charters are so 
 amended. 
 
 A Committee was appointed to take legal advice and formulate changes 
 in the charter according to the above action, to be acted upon at our meet- 
 ing in June. — 1896, p. 193. 
 
 C. Amendments, 1897. — That the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America shall hold a veto power 
 in the election of professors in the theological department in the said 
 Lincoln University. That nothing shall be done or taught in the theo- 
 logical department of said institution contrary to the Constitution and 
 government of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 That all property and funds of whatever kind henceforth given to said 
 institution for theological education therein shall be held by said cor- 
 poration in trust for the said the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, for the purpose of theological education in said 
 institution, unless the donors of said property or funds shall designate 
 otherwise. 
 
 And that in the event of the violation of any of the terms of these 
 amendments, or of the misuse or diversion by said corporation of the 
 property or funds so held in trust, then the General Assembly of said 
 Church shall have power to enforce the same and to protect the trust on 
 which such property and funds are held, in any civil court having juris- 
 diction over said corporation, in such manner and in the name of such 
 person or corporation as the said General Assembly may by resolution 
 direct.— 1897, p. 210. 
 
520 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 XIII. RIDDLE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 [Note.— Located at Charlotte, N. C. Established in 1868.] 
 
 1. Charter. 
 
 An act to incorporate the Biddle University. 
 
 Whereas, It is desirable to encourage and promote useful knowledge among 
 the freedmen ; and 
 
 Whereas, An institution of learning for their benefit has been established 
 near the city of Charlotte, in the county of Mecklenburg, by the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, under a charter granted in pursuance 
 of Sections fourteen and fifteen, of Chapter twenty-six, of the Revised Code of 
 North Carolina, said institution being known and designated in said charter as 
 Biddle Memorial Institute ; and 
 
 Whereas, For a more efficient organization of the same, it is desirable to have 
 a charter from the General Assembly of North Carolina ; therefore, 
 
 Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That Luke 
 Dorland, Amos S. Billingsley, Willard Richardson, S. Loomis, J. H. Shedd, 
 D. J. Sanders, James Allison, James B. Lyon, John C. McComb, R. S. 
 Davis, E. Nye Hutchison, Rufus Barringer, W. R. Coles, and their succes- 
 sors in office, duly elected and appointed as hereinafter provided, be, and they 
 are, hereby declared, a body politic and corporate, in law and in fact, to have 
 perpetual succession by the name and style of the Biddle University, and 
 by that name and style shall have perpetual succession, and shall forever 
 be capable in law to take, receive and hold all manner of lands, tenements, 
 rents, annuities, and other hereditaments which at any time or times heretofore 
 have been granted, bargained, sold, released, devised, or otherwise conveyed 
 to said corporation ; and the same lands, rents, annuities, and other heredita- 
 ments are hereby vested in the said corporation forever; also that the said 
 corporation, at all times hereafter, shall be able and capable to purchase, have, 
 receive, take, hold and enjo}% in fee simple or lesser estate or estates, any 
 lands, tenements, rents, annuities, or other hereditaments, by the gift, grant, 
 bargain, sale, alienation, release, confirmation or devise of any person or per- 
 sons or bodies corporate or politic capable and able to make the same ; and, 
 further, shall be capable in law to take, receive and possess all moneys, aoods 
 and chattels that have been given, or shall hereafter be given, sold, released, 
 or bequeathed by any person or persons for the use of said university, and the 
 same to apply according to the will of the donors ; and all such lands, rents, 
 tenements, hereditaments, moneys, goods and chattels of what kind, nature or 
 quality soever the same may be, the said corporation shall have, hold, possess 
 and use in special trust and confidence for the use and benefit of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, for the purpose of establishing 
 and endowing said university at the site hereinbefore selected therefor, for the 
 education of men of the colored race for the ministry, for catechists, and for 
 teachers. 
 
 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation shall be able and capable in law to bargain, 'sell, grant, convey 
 and confirm to the purchaser or purchasers such lands, rents, tenements and 
 hereditaments aforesaid, when the condition of the grant to them or the will of 
 their devisor does not forbid it ; and the proceeds arising therefrom shall be 
 held in trust for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, for the education of men of the colored race and 
 others, for the ministry, for teachers, and for catechists ; and further, that the 
 said corporation may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be 
 answered in all courts of record whatever, in all manner of suits, complaints, 
 pleas, matters and demands. 
 
 Sec. 3. And be it further enacted bj' the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation shall have power to make, ordain and establish such by-laws, ordi- 
 nances and regulations for the government of said university, and the. pres- 
 ervation of order and good morals therein, as are usually made in such insti- 
 tutions and to them may seem necessary ; Provided, The same be not repugnant 
 to the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States, and be not 
 disapproved by the Board of Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America. 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 521 
 
 Sec. 4. And oe it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said 
 corporation shall have power to make and use a common seal, with such device 
 and inscription as the Board of Trustees may think fit and proper, and may 
 alter and renew the same at their pleasure. 
 
 Sec 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Board 
 of Trustees of said university shall consist of fifteen members ; said trustees, at 
 their first meeting after the ratification of this act, which meeting shall be held 
 at the university, due notice having been given thereof, shall divide them- 
 selves into three classes, each consisting of five members, of which classes one 
 shall hold office for a term of one year, one for a term of two years, and one 
 for a term of three years ; and the successors of each of said classes shall hold 
 office for a term of three years, or until their successors are elected. The 
 Board of Trustees of the university shall, on the nomination of the Board of 
 Missions for Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of* 
 America, annually elect five persons to fill the vacancies arising from the ex- 
 piration of the term of office for which any of said trustees shall have been 
 elected, and vacancies due to any other cause shall be filled in like manner ; 
 Provided, however, That no professor or instructor in the university shall be 
 elected to the office of trustee thereof; but the president of the university 
 shall have the right to be present at all the meetings of the Board of Trustees 
 and to speak on any subject that may be presented, but he shall not have the 
 right to vote. 
 
 Sec 6. Be it further enacted, That the Board of Trustees shall have the 
 power to elect a president and professors and tutors for the several colleges of 
 the said university, upon the nomination of the Board of Missions for Freed- 
 men of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and no pro- 
 fessor or tutor shall be retained in the university who is not acceptable to both 
 the Board of Trustees and the said Board of Missions for Freedmen, but the 
 Board of Trustees shall report the election of professors in the theological 
 department to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America, and said Assembly shall have the power to disapprove and 
 annul the same. 
 
 Sec 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the presi- 
 dent and professors of said university, by and with the consent of the Board of 
 Trustees, shall have the power of conferring all such degrees or marks of liter- 
 ary distinction as are usually conferred in colleges or universities. 
 
 Sec 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Board 
 of Trustees may as often as they see proper, according to rules by them to be 
 prescribed, elect out of their own number a president, whose office it shall be 
 to preside at the meetings of said Board, and said Board shall have authority to 
 appoint a treasurer, secretary and such other officers or servants as shall by 
 them be deemed necessary, to continue in office for such time and to be suc- 
 ceeded by others in such manner as the said Board shall direct ; and not less 
 than five of said trustees shall be required to constitute a quorum for the trans- 
 action of business. Said treasurer shall give to said corporation a bond, con- 
 ditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties in a penalty to be fixed and 
 with sureties to be approved by said Board of Missions for Freedmen. 
 
 Sec 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall 
 not be lawful for any person or persons to set up or continue any gaming table 
 or any device whatever for playing at any game of chance or hazard, by what- 
 ever name called, or to receive or use any license to retail spirituous liquors or 
 otherwise to sell, give or convey to any person or persons any intoxicating 
 liquors within one mile of said university, and any person or persons who shall 
 offend against the provisions of this section, or any of them, shall be deemed 
 guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 Sec 10. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the whole 
 amount of real and personal estate belonging to said corporation shall not at 
 any one time exceed in value the sum of one million dollars, and said corpora- 
 tion shall be entitled to hold two hundred acres of land free from taxation. 
 
 Sec 11. Be it further enacted, That all laws and parts of laws coming in con- 
 flict with this act be, and the same are, hereby repealed ; and that this act shall 
 be in force from and after its ratification. 
 
522 FORM OP GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XII. 
 
 XIV. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT OMAHA. 
 
 [Note.— Located at Omaha, Neb. Established in 1891.] 
 
 1. Articles of incorporation. 
 
 We, the undersigned, whose names are attached to these articles, desiring to 
 establish in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, a theological insti- 
 tution for instruction in the faith and doctrine of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, do formulate, adopt and publish as its charter 
 these articles of association. 
 
 Article I. 
 
 The name of this association shall be "The Presbyterian Theological Semi- 
 nary at Omaha " and shall be located in Douglas county, Nebraska. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 The said seminary and said association shall be under the jurisdiction 
 and amenable to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, as hereinafter more particularly provided. 
 
 Article III. 
 
 The object and purpose for which this association is formed and the said 
 seminary created is for the professional and ecclesiastical education of candi- 
 dates for the Christian ministry, according to the faith and doctrines as herein- 
 after specified. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 This association shall be controlled by a Board of forty directors, who shall 
 have the power to fill vacancies which may occur in their Board, and shall hold 
 their office until their successors are elected and qualified according to the con- 
 stitution, rules and by-laws of this association, all of which, however, at all 
 times shall be subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter named. 
 
 Article V. 
 
 There shall be elected by the Board of Directors, at each annual meeting 
 thereof, a president, vice-president, secretary, corresponding secretary and 
 treasurer, and they shall also have power to elect and transfer professors, lec- 
 turers, instructors and such other officers and agents as may be necessary, the 
 compensation of each to be fixed by said Board of Directors. Said directors 
 shall also have power to enact such by-laws as may be necessary for the gov- 
 ernment of the seminary and for conducting the affairs of this corporation, not 
 inconsistent with the terms and provisions of this charter. The election or 
 transfer of any officer or agent shall be subject to approval and removal, as 
 hereinafter provided. Before any director enters upon the execution of the 
 duties of his office, he shall subscribe in a book kept for that purpose the fol- 
 lowing engagement : 
 
 "In the presence of God I do solemnly promise that I will faithfully execute 
 the office of director of 'The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha ' in 
 accordance with its articles of association, constitution and by-laws, so long as 
 I continue in office, and shall be amenable to the provisions of said articles, 
 constitution and by-laws." 
 
 An executive committee shall be elected by the directors and be not more 
 than ten in number nor less than five ; have and exercise only such power as 
 may be vested in them by the directors and the constitution and by-laws of 
 the association. 
 
 Article VI. 
 
 This corporation shall have a seal, which shall have on its face the words, 
 " The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha. Seal." 
 
 Article VII. 
 
 This association, by and through its directors and officers, shall have power 
 to invest and loan all moneys and funds, and, by bargain, sale, lease, or other- 
 
OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 523 
 
 ■wise, to manage, sell and dispose of any and all lands, tenements, stocks, rents, 
 annuities, franchises, legacies, bequests and estates of any kind of which they 
 shall be legally seized and possessed, unless otherwise prevented by the terms 
 and conditions by which it became seized and possessed of said property, in 
 each and every case, however, for the sole use of said seminary and the promo- 
 tion of the objects for which it is established, and in conformity to the provi- 
 sions of these articles. 
 
 Article VIII. 
 
 In order that the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America may 
 have and exercise proper control over the teachings in and property of " The 
 Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha," it is hereby provided as 
 follows : 
 
 A. All funds and property of every name and nature, and the income and 
 proceeds thereof, which may at any time belong to, or be held by the said 
 " The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha," shall beheld by it in 
 trust for the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and be used 
 only for theological education in the faith and doctrine set forth in the Stand- 
 ards of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, as now or 
 hereafter interpreted by its General Assembly, and for no other purpose and 
 this provision governing all said funds or property shall be irrevocable and 
 inviolable. 
 
 B. The election of each and every director, and the election, appointment or 
 transfer of every instructor or professor in said seminary, shall be subject to the 
 approval of the next succeeding General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, and no election, appointment or transfer shall 
 take effect until so approved ; the failure of the General Assembly, to which 
 said elections, appointments or transfers are reported for approval to act 
 thereon, shall be regarded as approval of said elections. No professor, in- 
 structor or teacher shall be inducted into office until his election, appointment 
 or transfer is approved as herein provided, and each and every of said teachers, 
 instructors or professors shall be ministers or members in good standing of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. 
 
 C. Power and authority is hereby given and granted to the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, to provide through and by its General 
 Assembly, at any meeting thereof, such manner and means as said General 
 Assembly may deem wise and prudent for the enforcement of the provisions 
 of these articles of incorporation, and may do so in the name of such person or 
 corporation as it may direct by resolution certified by its clerk in any civil 
 court having jurisdiction over this corporation or its property. 
 
 2. Act of the Legislature of Nebraska. 
 
 A bill for an act to amend section 19, chapter 16 (being general section 1694) 
 of the Compiled Statutes of 1895, and to repeal said original section and to 
 add thereto provisions relating to the holding of property in trust for pur- 
 poses of theological education, and to provide for enforcement of said 
 trust and the administration thereof. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Nebraska : 
 Section 1, Section 19, chapter 16 (being general section 1694) of the Com- 
 piled Statutes of 1895, be amended to read as follows : 
 
 The trustees of any university, college, theological seminary, or academy, 
 may hold in trust any property, devised, bequeathed or donated to such insti- 
 tution upon any specific trust consistent with the object of said corporation. 
 Provided, however, That any corporation formed for the purpose of providing 
 theological education, or giving religious instruction, or for the purpose of 
 maintaining and operating a theological seminary in connection with, or on 
 the part of, any religious sect, association or denomination, is hereby authorized 
 and empowered to set forth in its articles, or certificate of incorporation, as a 
 part of the same, the name of the religious sect, association or denomination, 
 with which it is connected, and to declare that it shall acquire and hold its real 
 and personal property in trust for the purpose of theological education or in- 
 struction, according to the standards of said religious sect, association or de- 
 nomination, and it is further authorized and empowered to grant to the supreme 
 court or other ecclesiastical body of such religious sect, association or denomi- 
 nation, whether the same be a conference, Presbytery, Synod, General Assem- 
 
524 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 bly, convocation, or otherwise, the right to approve the election of its directors, 
 trustees, professors, teachers and instructors, without which approval the 
 election of said directors, trustees, professors, teachers and instructors shall 
 not be valid, and it is further authorized and empowered to grant to said 
 supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of such religious sect, association or 
 denomination, authority to appear in any court of competent jurisdiction in 
 the name of such person as it may designate for and on its behalf, to protect 
 the trust in and to said property so declared in said articles of incorporation, 
 and to provide against the misuse of the same, and to enforce the rights con- 
 ferred on said supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of such religious sect, 
 association or denomination, by the terms of said article or certificate of incor- 
 poration ; and it is further authorized and empowered to set forth, in its articles 
 or certificate of incorporation, such other rights as to the administration of the 
 purpose for which it is organized, and not inconsistent with the laws of this 
 State, or of the United States, as said incorporation may desire to confer on 
 said supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of such religious sect, associa- 
 tion or denomination, and said supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of 
 such religious sect, association or denomination, shall possess and exercise all 
 the rights and powers so set forth in said articles or certificate of incorporation. 
 Provided, further, Any corporation heretofore formed for the purpose of pro- 
 viding theological education or giving religious instruction or for the purpose 
 of maintaining and operating a theological seminary in connection with or on 
 the part of any religious sect, association or denomination, which has been in- 
 corporated under the laws of this State, whether by special act of the legisla- 
 ture or otherwise, may avail itself of the provisions of the preceding section as 
 a part of its articles or certificate of incorporation, and may declare the trust 
 on which it holds and for which it acquires its property, and may confer on the 
 supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of such religious sect, association or 
 denomination, any or all of the rights, powers and privileges provided by this 
 section to be conferred on corporations hereafter organized, and may accept 
 the provisions of this section by a vote of the majority of the trustees of said 
 corporation present at a regular meeting, and when so accepted, a certified 
 copy of such acceptance, together with a certified copy of the declaration of 
 trust on which it holds and for which it acquires its property, and of the rights 
 and powers which, pursuant to the provisions of this section, it desires to con- 
 fer and has conferred upon the supreme court or other ecclesiastical body of 
 such religious sect, association or denomination, shall be filed in the office of 
 the Secretary of Slate, and when so filed the same shall become and be a part 
 of the charter of said corporation, and said supreme court or other ecclesiasti- 
 cal body of such religious sect, association or denomination, shall possess and 
 exercise all of the rights and powers so set forth in said articles or certificate 
 of incorporation. 
 
 Sec. 2. That said original section 19 (general section 1694) of the Com- 
 piled Statutes of 1895 be and the same hereby is repealed. 
 
 3. Action of the Board of Directors, 1895. 
 
 In order that the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
 may have and exercise proper control over the teachings in, and property 
 of, ' ' The Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Omaha, ' ' the Board of 
 Directors added Article VIII to the Articles of Incorporation. See page 
 523. 
 
 [Note. — For the full action of the Board, see Minutes, 1895, p. 163.] 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS 
 AND DEACONS. 
 
 I. Having defined the officers of the church, and the judicatories by 
 which it shall be governed, it is proper here to prescribe the mode in 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 525 
 
 which ecclesiastical rulers should be ordaiued to their respective offices, 
 as well as some of the principles by which they shall be regulated in 
 discharging their several duties. 
 
 II. Every congregation shall elect persons to the office of ruling elder, 
 and to the office of deacon, or either of them, in the mode most approved 
 and in use in that congregation. But in all cases the persons elected must 
 be male members in full communion in the church in which they are to 
 exercise their office. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, v, Sec. 1, p. 148.] 
 
 1. Elders must be duly elected and set apart. 
 
 The following inquiry was referred to the decision of the Assembly by 
 the Synod of the Carolinas, viz. : 
 
 In what point of light are the elders nominated and ordained by Mr. 
 Balch to be viewed hereafter in Mount Bethel congregation? 
 
 It was determined by the Assembly that the ' ' elders ' ' mentioned in 
 the inquiry are to be henceforth viewed as private church members only, 
 unless they be duly elected and set apart as church officers hereafter. — 
 1798, p. 158. 
 
 2 The Session may propose names to the congregation. 
 
 The reports on the records of the Synod of Pittsburgh were taken up 
 and read. The majority report is as follows, viz. : * ' The Committee to 
 whom the records of the Synod of Pittsburgh were committed would 
 report that they have examined the same and find them regularly and 
 neatly kept, and would recommend their approval." 
 
 The report of the minority is as follows, viz. : ' ' The minority of the 
 Committee on the Records of the Synod of Pittsburgh recommend that 
 they be approved, with the exception of the censure passed on the Pres- 
 bytery of Redstone, p. 284, for their disapproval of the action of the 
 Session of Morgantown in nominating two persons to the office of ruling 
 elder in that congregation, and recommend that the judgment of the 
 Synod be reversed, and that the following resolution be adopted, to wit : 
 
 1 ' Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly, the nomination by 
 the Session of persons to the office of ruling elder or deacon is contrary 
 to Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, which says, ' Every congre- 
 gation shall elect persons to the office of ruling elder or deacon in the 
 mode most approved and in use in that congregation, ' and is inconsistent 
 with the freedom of elections. ' ' 
 
 On motion the report of the majority was adopted as the sense of the 
 Assembly, and the whole ordered to be entered on the minutes. — 
 1847, p. 381, O. S. 
 
 3. A meeting for the election of elders can be called regularly only 
 by the Session or by some higher court. 
 
 Overture, from two ruling elders of the Brazeau Church, Presby- 
 tery of Potosi, Synod of Missouri, as follows: "Is it regular for a 
 congregation, where there is no pastor, and a Session of two ruling 
 elders, to call a meeting of the congregation and elect a new Session 
 without consulting the Session of the church where said election was 
 made by a small minority of the church ?" 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: "The Session of a 
 
526 • FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 church should always be consulted with reference to calling a meeting 
 for the election of additional ruling elders; and it is irregular to call a 
 meeting for such a purpose, and proceed to an election, unless the meet- 
 ing is called through and by authority of the Session or some higher 
 court. ' ' 
 
 The report and recommendation were adopted. — 1867, p. 320, O. S. 
 
 4. Relation of the Session to the meeting of the electors. 
 
 In an election of elders in a particular church, should the meeting 
 for the election be presided over by the Session and is the Session alone 
 competent to conduct the election ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the Presbytery be referred to Chap, 
 xiii, Sec. ii, of the Form of Government. Adopted. — 1878, p. 57. 
 
 5. The pastor is Moderator ex-officio of a meeting to elect elders 
 
 and deacons. 
 
 Overture No. 5, being a request from the Synod of New York for an 
 answer to the following question: " Is the pastor of a church, by virtue 
 of his office, the Moderator of a meeting of the communicants of his 
 church called to elect ruling elders and deacons, and will the answer to 
 this question also apply to regularly appointed Moderators of Sessions 
 who are not pastors?" It is recommended that these questions be 
 answered in the affirmative. — 1886, p. 26. 
 
 6. A superior judicature may authorize the meeting. 
 
 That the entire church take immediate measures to elect a new bench 
 of elders, with a view to promote the peace of the church, and to 
 secure the permanent settlement of the Gospel ministry among them. — 
 1834, p. 453. 
 
 TNote. — See under vii, below. 1 
 
 7. The remedy in case the Session refuse to convene the congre- 
 
 gation is to complain to Presbytery. 
 
 The Session of a church has the authority to convene the congregation 
 for all such purposes; but should the Session neglect or refuse to con- 
 vene the congregation, the party feeling aggrieved has its remedy by 
 application to Presbytery in the form of a complaint. — 1822, p. 49. 
 
 [Note.— See 12, below, p. 530 ; 1840, p. 305, O. S. Also Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxi, 
 p. 678.] 
 
 8. Irregularity in call of meeting does not necessarily invalidate the 
 
 election. 
 
 a. G. B. Smith and J. T. Clark were elected elders of the Church 
 of Madison, Wis., at a meeting held on Sunday, August 26, 1855. 
 David Dennon and H. J. Davidson were elected deacons. Notice of 
 the meeting had been given on the previous Sabbath from the pulpit, 
 and also on the day of meeting. Messrs. G. B. Smith and J. T. Clark 
 were ordained as elders on the evening of that day. David Dennon 
 was at the same time ordained as deacon. At the next meeting of Pres- 
 bytery, called pro re nata, at the request of the party opposed to the 
 present complainants, J. T. Clark and J. Y. Smith both claimed seats 
 as the representatives of the Madison Church. Mr. Clark had been 
 appointed by the Session, the vote being a tie, and the casting vote being 
 given for him by the Moderator. The two former elders of the church, 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 527 
 
 one of whom was an ordained minister and a member of the Presbytery 
 of Dane, withdrew, alleging that they disputed the fact that the other 
 two were elders. At the Presbytery, J. Y. Smith contested the right of 
 Clark to a seat in that body, on the ground that the meeting to elect 
 elders had not been called by order of the existing Session. The exist- 
 ing or former Session and their party had due notice of the meeting, 
 and were present at its commencement. They attempted to postpone 
 the election, and withdrew after the majority had voted to proceed with 
 the election. 
 
 The Presbytery of Dane admitted Mr. Clark to his seat, thus recog- 
 nizing the validity of his election and ordination. Against this action 
 of the Presbytery, J. Y. Smith and his party complained to the Synod 
 of Wisconsin. The Synod sustained the complaint, thus pronouncing 
 the election and the ordination of the new elders invalid. Against this 
 decision of the Synod, Mr. Gardiner and Mr. J. T. Clark complain. 
 
 The above is the statement of the case as agreed upon by the parties. 
 It is submitted with a view of saving the time of the Assembly. 
 
 The Judicial Committee recommend to the Assembly the adoption of 
 the following minute, as a final settlement of the case, agreed on by 
 both parties: 
 
 1 . That the complaint be sustained pro forma, and the decision of the 
 Synod be reversed, so far as it pronounces the election and ordination of 
 the elders and deacons invalid, the Assembly being of opinion that the 
 informality in the call of the congregational meeting was not so serious 
 as to vitiate the election and ordination. 
 
 2. That the Synod was right in pronouncing the call of the congrega- 
 tional meeting irregular. 
 
 3. That although the Assembly thus recognize the validity of the elec- 
 tion and ordination of the said elders and deacons, they yet recommend, 
 the said elders having assented thereto by their representatives, that in 
 view of past and existing difficulties the said elders and deacons cease to 
 act, according to our Form of Government, until such time as in the 
 estimation of the Presbytery of Dane the church can be reasonably 
 harmonious in receiving them in their official capacity. — 1856, p. 517, 
 O. S. 
 
 9. Ministers are not eligible to the eldership. 
 
 a. Overture from sundry members of the Assembly, inquiring whether 
 an ordained minister may accept and exercise the office of ruling elder 
 in a church belonging to the same Presbytery of which he is a member. 
 
 At the recommendation of the Committee this was answered in the 
 negative.— 1856, p. 522, O. S. ; confirmed, 1871, p. 546. 
 
 b. The Special Committee, appointed by the last Assembly, on the 
 relation of unemployed ministers to the churches among whom they 
 reside, presented their report, which was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 By the last General Assembly, which met at Dayton, O., the under- 
 signed were appointed a Committee to consider and report upon the 
 following resolution (see Minutes, 1864, p. 462): 
 
 Resolved, That the subject of the relation of unemployed ministers to 
 the churches among whom they reside, and whom they may be desired 
 and are disposed to serve as ruling elders, be referred to a Committee to 
 consider and recommend what action can and ought to be taken by the 
 Assembly for removing the constitutional restriction which prevents the 
 
528 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 employment of such ministers in the service of the Church as ruling 
 elders, and report to the next Assembly. 
 
 The " constitutional restriction" referred to is found in the Form of 
 Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, where it is said that persons elected to 
 the offices of ruling elder and of deacon must "in all cases" be male 
 members in full communiou in the church in which they are to exercise 
 their office. By the practice of our Church, ministers are not members 
 of any particular church, and therefore cannot be eligible to the above 
 offices. 
 
 The case might be reached constitutionally in one of two ways. The 
 first would be an alteration of the above rule, making an express excep- 
 tion in respect to " unemployed ministers;" but this would involve the 
 infelicity and inconvenience of holding two offices, and would require 
 adjustments of other parts of the Constitution. 
 
 The other mode would be the adoption of a constitutional provision, 
 allowing, in certain well-defined cases, the demitting of the ministerial 
 office. While some of your Committee are inclined to this course, yet 
 they do not think it expedient to recommend it for adoption without 
 further discussion and more specific instructions from the Assembly. 
 
 At the same time your Committee are unanimously of the opinion that 
 any church has a right to avail itself of the experience and wisdom of 
 such unemployed ministers. While it cannot directly invest such minis- 
 ters with the office of ruling elder, yet it may, by a formal vote, request 
 them to take part in all the deliberations of the Session. What is 
 desirable in the case may thus be gained without any violation of consti- 
 tutional provision. — 1865, pp. 13, 1-1, X. S. 
 
 [Note. — See. however, F. G.. Chap, ix. Sees, i, iii. where it is affirmed that a Session 
 may not invite a minister of the Gospel to sit as a corresponding member. A minis- 
 ter cannot act as a ruling elder, since he is not a ''representative of the people" 
 nor elected by the church for that service.] 
 
 C. A minister belonging to the Presbytery of Grand River Valley, now 
 editing a paper and not preaching on account of throat difficulty, was 
 solicited to accept the office of elder by the First Presbyterian Church, 
 of Grand Haven, Mich., was elected unanimously, accepted the office, 
 and entered on his duties. The Presbytery, in reviewing the records, 
 declared it was irregular, and did nothing more. The pastor of said 
 church brought the matter before the Session ; and, after considering the 
 case, the Session did nothing. This brother, not being able to preach 
 and over sixty years of age, accepted the office of ruling elder because 
 he was willing to work in the vineyard of the Lord in a more humble 
 capacity, but has not resigned the ministerial office, holding still his place 
 as a member of the Presbytery of Grand River Valley. 
 
 The Committee recommended for answer a reference to the report of 
 the Special Committee on this subject, made to the Assembly of 1865, 
 and found in the Minutes for that year, pp. 13, 14 (see b above). 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1869, p. 282, N. S. 
 
 d. "Is a minister a member of a particular church, and, as such, is 
 he eligible to the office of ruling elder in that church V ' 
 
 The Committee recommend that the Assembly answer "No;" and 
 refer to the Digest (Moore, 1873), page 339. Adopted.— 1874, p. 84. 
 
 e. Overture from the Presbytery of Cedar Rapids, asking the General 
 Assembly to take such action as may be necessary to permit churches, 
 when they so desire, to elect as ruling elders ministers of our Church, 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACON-. ~j2\) 
 
 without charge, who are resident me rubers of their congregaii his. 
 Committee would recommend that this overture be answered in the d 
 tive, because minister- are not members of any particular church, nor 
 amenable to its discipline. See "Form of Government,' ' Chap, xiii, 
 pted.— 1893, p. 116. 
 
 f. An exception allowed in the cane of foreign mfesionaru . 
 
 Overtures from the Synod of Wisconsin and from the Presbytery of 
 -./..._ -whether a minister who fa pelled in 
 
 providence of God to lay aside active ministerial duties is eligible to the 
 eldership;" and '-whether an ordained minister can occupy the position 
 
 of a ruling elder in the Church.*' 
 
 The Committee recommend that the Synod and Presbytej 
 to the action of the General Assembly (0. S. ; of 1856 see a above;, 
 and that that action be now reaffirmed by this Assembly — that an 
 ordained minister cannot be also a ruling elder in a congregation. 
 
 And that the Presbytery of Oorisco be also informed that in excep- 
 tional cases, on foreign missionary ground, it may be expedient for a 
 rnini-ter to perform temporarily the functions of a ruling elder without 
 having been specially set apart to the office. — 1871. p. 546. 
 
 g. Overture from the Presbyterian Mission in Korea. In the absence 
 of* ordained elders a Session may consist, on a foreign held, of* the 
 missionaries in charge of the work. — 1896, p. 147. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government. Chap, ix, Sec. i, p. 157.] 
 
 10. Uniformity in the mode of election deemed impracticable. 
 
 The Committee on Overture "So. 9, relating to an amendment in the 
 Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, reported, and their report was 
 adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the consideration of Overture 
 So. 9, relating to an alteration of that part of the Constitution of our 
 Church which gives the right of choosing ruling elders and deacons to 
 the congregation, in the way most approved and in use in the congrega- 
 tion, reported, that after deliberating on the subject they find themselves 
 unable to devise any method by which a uniformity of practice can be 
 established in this interesting concern throughout the different sections 
 of our Church, and believe that any alteration effected in the Constitu- 
 tion, with a view to relieve the difficulties in one section, would produce 
 difficulties in another section of the Church. The Committee therefore 
 judge it inexpedient to propose any alteration, and recommend that the 
 Assembly dismiss this subject from any further consideration. [See 12 
 below.]— 1826. p. 187. 
 
 11. The mode most approved and in use may be changed by the 
 congregation. Direct vote advised. 
 
 And while the Assembly would recognize the undoubted right of each 
 congregation to elect their elders in the mode most approved and in u>e 
 among them, they would recommend that in all ca.ses where any dissatis- 
 faction appears to exist, the congregation be promptly convened to decide 
 on their future mode of election. And they are inclined to believe that 
 the spirit of our Constitution would be most fully sustained by having 
 in all cases a direct vote of the congregation in the appointment of 
 elders.— 1827, p. 215. 
 
 [Note.— See under Sec. viii, p. 541.] 
 34 
 
530 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 12. The right of the superior judicatory to interfere with the mode 
 
 in use disavowed. 
 
 The Assembly deem it proper, in sustaining the complaint of the 
 Presbytery of Blairsville, to declare that they do it on the ground that 
 the decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh, disapproving of the act of the 
 Presbytery, if carried into effect, would render it necessary for the 
 churches in that Presbytery, and any other within the bounds of that 
 Synod whose practice may be the same, to change their usage as to the 
 manner of electing ruling elders, which by the Constitution is left to be 
 regulated by ' ' the mode most approved and in use in each church. ' ' 
 At the same time, the Assembly, in coming to this result have no design 
 to establish a uniform mode of electing elders throughout the Church, 
 which is designedly left by the Constitution to be regulated by the usage 
 of each particular church. 
 
 And it may be added that in those churches in which the usage has 
 prevailed for the existing eldership to determine when and how large an 
 addition shall be made to the Session, the Church has an effectual 
 security against the abuse of that power, in the right of appeal or com- 
 plaint secured by the Constitution. — 1840, p. 305, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See. Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, Form of Government.] 
 
 13. Who are the electors of ruling elders and deacons ? 
 
 a. Members not communicants, where such is the usage. 
 
 The General Assembly, having gone fully into the consideration of the 
 appeal from the decision of the Synod of Ohio, by Messrs. Lowerie 
 and Kelso, and having seen with deep regret the appearance of much 
 disorder in the whole business, which they disapprove, believing, as the 
 Assembly do, that the election of elders should be conducted with all due 
 deliberation, according to the letter of the Constitution of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, and in the spirit and temper of the Gospel, and although 
 the Assembly are of the opinion that it would be most desirable to have 
 the communicants only as the electors of ruling elders, yet, as it appears 
 to be the custom in some of the churches in the Presbyterian connection, 
 to allow this privilege to others, they see no reason why the election be 
 considered void, nor any reason why the decision of the Synod of Ohio 
 should not be affirmed. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the sentence of the Synod of Ohio be and it is hereby 
 affirmed.— 1822, p. 49. 
 
 b. Only baptized persons allowed to vote for ruling elders. 
 
 Ought an unbaptized person, who yet pays his proportion for the sup- 
 port of a congregation, to be permitted to vote for ruling elders ? 
 
 The office of ruling elder is an office in the Church of Christ ; that 
 ruling elders as such, according to the Constitution, Book I, Form of 
 Government, Chap, v, are " the representatives of those by whom they 
 are chosen, for the purpose of exercising government and discipline, ' ' 
 in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ ; that the discipline lawfully 
 exercised by them is the discipline exercised through them by their 
 constituents, in whose name and by whose authority they act in all that 
 they do. To suppose, therefore, that an unbaptized person, not belong- 
 ing to the visible kingdom of the Redeemer, might vote at the election of 
 ruling elders, would be to establish the principle that the children of this 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 531 
 
 world might through their representatives exercise discipline in the 
 Church of God, which is manifestly unscriptural and contrary to the 
 Standards of our Church, and your Committee would therefore recom- 
 mend that the question on the said overture be answered in the negative. 
 —1830, reprint, p. 284. 
 
 C. Neither the presiding officer nor the Session may disqualify voters 
 whose standing has not been impaired by judicial process. 
 
 When a meeting of a church duly called is held for the election of 
 elders, may the Moderator presiding at such meeting disqualify voters 
 whose standing has not been impaired by regular judicial process ? 
 
 Answered in the negative. — 1896, p. 91. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That neither the presiding officers of church or congrega- 
 tional meetings, nor the Sessions of churches, possess the power to deprive 
 communicant members in good standing of their right to vote at meetings 
 of the church or of the congregation, except by due process of law in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline. — 1897, p. 139. 
 
 d. Most consonant to our form of government that communicants only 
 
 be the electors. 
 
 Are others than communicants entitled to vote for ruling elders ? 
 
 The Assembly, in accordance with the decision of former Assemblies, 
 judges it most consonant to our form of government that communicants 
 only should vote in the election of ruling elders. — 1855, p. 299, O. S. 
 
 Overture. — A resolution, referred by the Assembly, asking for a defini- 
 tion of the word "congregation," as used in the chapter of our Disci- 
 pline which prescribes the manner of electing ruling elders. Your 
 Committee recommend the Assembly to answer, that the term ' ' congre- 
 gation ' ' includes only the actual communicants of the particular church. 
 
 Adopted.— 1882, p. 97. 
 
 Resolved, That only communicants in good standing are qualified voters 
 at the election of ruling eiders and deacons. — 1897, p. 138. 
 
 e. No distinction to be made as to the age of electors. 
 
 As to the right of minors to vote in the election of elder and deacon. 
 
 That it is not in accordance with the principles and usages of the Pres- 
 byterian Church to distinguish between members of the Church as to 
 their ages, in voting for officers of the Church. — 1859, p. 18, N. S. 
 
 Paper No. 5, being a complaint of Rev. Arthur C. Ludlow to the 
 Synod of Ohio against the action of the Presbytery of Cleveland, touch- 
 ing the constitutionality of a provision in the Constitution of the Winder- 
 mere Church, limiting participation in the election of "Deacons and 
 Elders to communicants over eighteen years of age." Presbytery de- 
 clared this clause "plainly unconstitutional." Synod referred the sub- 
 ject to the General Assembly for an expression of its judgment. It is 
 recommended that the decision of the Presbytery be sustained. Adopted. 
 —1897, p. 131. 
 
 f. Roll of members is the list of voters. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the rolls of communicant members in good standing 
 in the possession of the clerks of Sessions shall be the authoritative lists 
 of voters at church meetings. — 1897, p. 139. 
 
532 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 g. Two-thirds vote recommended in some cases. 
 In cases of trouble within the church connected with the election of 
 elders, the Assembly has recommended (p. 537) "the persons so elected 
 not to accept the office unless they shall obtain the suffrages of at least 
 two-thirds of the electors participating in the election. — 1834, p. 453; 
 1893, p. 152. 
 
 14. All office-bearers must faithfully accept the Standards. 
 Overture from the Session of the First Church of Dayton, O. , asking 
 whether persons who do not accept the teaching of the Church regarding 
 infant baptism are eligible to the office of ruling elder or deacon. Your 
 Committee recommend that the Assembly return the following answer: 
 A faithful acceptance of the Confession of Faith is required of those who 
 accept office in our churches ; and if any cannot faithfully accept this 
 Confession of Faith, they should decline office in the Church. But, so 
 far as the overture refers to a particular case, we recommend that it be 
 returned to the church and submitted to the Presbytery. Adopted. — 
 1882, pp. 98, 99. 
 
 15. Mode of electing for a term of years. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, p. 541.1 
 
 16. No authority for election and ordination of deaconesses. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Cairo, asking: 
 
 1. Is the election of female members of the Church to the office of 
 deaconess consistent with Presbyterian polity ? 
 
 2. If proper to elect them, should they be installed; and if installed, 
 should it be done by the regular form for the ordination of deacons, or 
 otherwise ? 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 
 To questions 1 and 2: The Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, 
 declares that ' ' in all cases the persons elected must be male members. ' ' 
 In all ages of the Church godly women have been appointed to aid the 
 officers of the Church in their labors, especially for the relief of the poor 
 and the infirm. They rendered important service in the apostolic 
 Church, but they do not appear to have occupied a separate office, to 
 have been elected by the people, or to have been ordained and installed. 
 There is nothing in our Constitution, in the practice of our Church, or 
 in any present emergency to justify the creation of a new office. Adopted. 
 —1884, p. 114. 
 
 [Note. — In 1889 an overture was received calling for the consideration of the ques- 
 tion of constituting an Order of Deaconesses {Minutes, p. 77). A Committee. Ministers 
 —Benjamin B. Warfield, D.D., Samuel J. Niccolls, D.D., Henry C. McCook, D.D. ; 
 Elders— Samuel C. Perkins, LL.D., Warner Van Norden, was appointed to report to 
 the next Assembly (p. 81). That Committee reported {Minutes, 1890, pp. 119-121), 
 recommending an addition to Chap, vi and also to Chap, xiii. Form of Government. 
 See the report and proposed overtures as above (1890, pp. 119-121). Both amend- 
 ments were rejected by the Presbyteries. See report of the Committee of Canvass 
 (1891, pp. 135-139). Overtures " On the Ministrations of Women,'' "On the Official 
 Employment of Godly Women" and "On Deaconesses," were referred to the same 
 special' Committee on 'Deacons (1891, p. 134). The Committee reported {Minutes. 1892, 
 pp. 166-170), recommending alternative overtures: I. Amending Chap, xiii, ii. and 
 xiii, iv. II. Amending Chap, xiii by the addition of a section to be numbered ix. 
 Both overtures failed of adoption. See report of the Committee of Canvass (1893, pp. 
 200, 201).] 
 
 17. Systematic training of women workers commended. 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly recognizes the imperative need 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 533 
 
 for a more systematic training of women workers, which shall adapt them 
 to the opening spheres of work at home and abroad, and earnestly recom- 
 mends to the Synods and Presbyteries, the establishment, as opportunity 
 offers, of institutions and training homes for the instruction and training 
 of godly women, duly recommended by Sessions and Presbyteries for 
 practical Christian work. — 1892, p. 170. 
 [Note.— See Minifies, 1S96. p. 130.] 
 
 III. When any person shall have been elected to either of these offices, 
 and shall have declared his willingness to accept thereof, he shall be set 
 apart in the following manner: 
 
 IV. After sermon, the minister shall state, in a concise manner the 
 warrant and nature of the office of ruling elder or deacon, together 
 with the character proper to be sustained, and the duties to be fulfilled 
 by the officer elect; having done this, he shall propose to the candidate, 
 in the presence of the congregation, the following questions, viz. : 
 
 1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to 
 be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice ? 
 
 2. Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of tins 
 Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures ? 
 
 3. Do you approve of the government and discipline of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church in these United States ? 
 
 4. Do you accept the office of ruling elder (or deacon, as the case may 
 be), in this congregation, and promise faithfully to perform all the duties 
 thereof ? 
 
 5. Do you promise to study the peace, unity and purity of the church ? 
 The elder or deacon elect having answered these questions in the affirma- 
 tive, the minister shall address to the members of the church the follow- 
 ing question, viz. : 
 
 " Do you, the members of this church, acknowledge and receive this 
 brother as a ruling elder (or deacon), and do ^ou promise to yield him 
 all that honor, encouragement and obedience in the Lord to which his 
 office, according to the word of God, and the constitution of this Church, 
 entitles him ?' ' 
 
 The members of the church having answered this question in the 
 affirmative, by holding up their right hands, the minister shall proceed 
 to set apart the candidate, by prayer, to the office of ruling elder (or 
 deacon, as the case may be), and shall give to him, and to the congrega- 
 tion, an exhortation suited to the occasion. 
 
 V. Where there is an existing session it is proper that the members 
 of that body, at the close of the service, and in the face of the congre- 
 gation, take the newly- ordained elder by the hand, saying in words to 
 this purpose, — "We give you the right hand of fellowship to take part 
 of this office with us." 
 
534 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 1. Mode of ordination. Laying on of hands approved. 
 
 a. Our Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. iv, declares that such, 
 whether elder or deacon, shall be set apart to their respective offices by 
 prayer. The imposition of hands, however, we are aware, in many of 
 our churches is practiced; and as it is plainly in accordance with apostolic 
 example, it is the opinion of the Assembly that it is proper and lawful. 
 We conceive that every church in this respect may with propriety be left 
 to adopt either of these two modes as they think suitable and best. — 
 1833, p. 405. 
 
 b. An overture from the Presbytery of South Alabama on the subject 
 of ordaining elders and deacons by the imposition of hands. The Com- 
 mittee recommended that it be left to the discretion of each church Ses- 
 sion to determine the mode of ordination in this respect, which was 
 adopted.— 1842, p. 16, O. S. 
 
 C. The Session of the Mount Bethany Church, having been censured 
 by the Presbytery of Memphis for ordaining deacons with the laying 
 on of hands, memorialized the Assembly " to determine whether in the 
 ordination of elders and deacons it is unconstitutional or otherwise im- 
 proper to use the rite of laying on of hands by the existing eldership. ' ' 
 
 Resolved, That the Session of Mount Bethany Church be referred to 
 the Minutes of the Assembly of 1842 for an answer to said overture. — 
 1851, pp. 12, 35, 172, and 1852, p. 227, O. S. 
 
 2. Ordination essential to the validity of the judicial acts of an elder. 
 
 The Committee on Church Polity reported two questions, with the 
 recommendation that they be answered in the negative: 
 
 1st. Is an elder -elect a member of the Session, and competent to sit in 
 a judicial case before he has been ordained according to the Form of 
 Government ? 
 
 2nd. Would a decision in a case of discipline, made by a Session whose 
 members have never been ordained according to the Form of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, xiii, be a valid and lawful decision and binding upon the 
 accused ? 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1868, p. 58, N. S. 
 
 3. Irregularity in mode of election does not invalidate ordination. 
 
 Your Committee are of opinion that the mode of electing elders in the 
 congregation of Wheatland for a term of years was irregular, and 
 ought in future to be abandoned, but cannot invalidate the ordination of 
 persons thus elected and ordained to the office of ruling elder. — 1835, 
 p. 471. 
 
 {Note— See Minutes, 1867, p. 320, 0. S.] 
 
 4. Installation required on resuming the office. 
 
 When a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, by removal or other- 
 wise, terminates his connection with the Session by whom he was ordained, 
 does he require installation before he can regularly exercise again the 
 office in the same church or in any other one ? Answered in the affirma- 
 tive.— 1849, p. 265, O. S. ; confirmed, 1878, p. 71. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Erie, asking whether the answer 
 of the General Assembly of 1849 in relation to the installation of ruling 
 elders who have removed from one church to another has a retrospective 
 or only a prospective bearing. 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 535 
 
 The Committee recommended the following answer to the question : 
 That it has a prospective bearing. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1850, p. 454, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See under Sec. viii, No. 2, p. 541.] 
 
 5. An elder who has removed or resigned, if reelected, must be 
 
 again installed. 
 
 Question: " Whether a ruling elder, who has terminated his connec- 
 tion with the Session, by removal to another church or by resignation, 
 should be reinstalled before he can regularly exercise the duties of his 
 office in the same or another church ?" 
 
 The Committee recommend that the answer of the O. S. Assembly of 
 1849 to the same general question, be reenacted by this Assembly as the 
 answer to this overture. This action is found on page 534 of this 
 Digest— 1880, p. 46. 
 
 [Note. — The above is declared not to be retroactive. See under Sec. viii, p. 541 ; 
 Minutes, 1880, p. 84.] 
 
 6. Mode of installation of an elder already ordained. 
 
 1. Resolved, That any elder regularly ordained and installed in one 
 church and subsequently elected to the same office in another church, and 
 who has heretofore, pursuant to such election, served as an elder in such 
 church without objection, shall be presumed to have been duly installed 
 therein, and his right to act shall not now be questioned. 
 
 2. Resolved, That when an elder shall hereafter be elected to the same 
 office in a church other than that in which he has been ordained and 
 installed, the minister and Session are hereby enjoined formally to install 
 him. 
 
 3. Resolved, That this Assembly hereby declare that the existing law 
 of the Church as to the mode of such installation is as follows, viz. : 
 After sermon the minister shall speak of the office and duties of ruling 
 elders as in case of ordinations, and shall then propose to the elder-elect 
 in the presence of the congregation the following questions: Do you sin- 
 cerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this Church as 
 containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures ? Do 
 you accept the office of ruling elder in this congregation, and promise 
 faithfully to perform all the duties thereof ? Do you promise to study 
 the peace and unity and purity of the Church ? The elder-elect having 
 answered these questions in the affirmative, the minister shall ask the 
 members of the church whether they accept him, as in cases of ordina- 
 tion. The members of the church having answered in the affirma- 
 tive by holding up their right hands, the minister shall declare him 
 an elder of that church, and accompany this act by exhortation and 
 such other proceedings as he may deem suitable and expedient. — 1856, 
 p. 539, O. S. 
 
 VI. The offices of ruling elder and deacon are both perpetual, and 
 cannot be laid aside at pleasure. No person can be divested of either 
 office but by deposition. Yet an elder or deacon may become, by age or 
 infirmity, incapable of performing the duties of his office; or he may, 
 though chargeable with neither heresy nor immorality, become unaccept- 
 able, in his official character, to a majority of the congregation to Avhich 
 
536 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 he belongs. In either of these cases, he may, as often happens with 
 respect to a minister, cease to be an acting elder or deacon. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, iii, Sec. ii, p. 143.] 
 
 1. Perpetuity of the office affirmed. 
 
 a. The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 1, a communi- 
 cation from the Session of Wheatland congregation in reference to the 
 appointment of Freeman Edson as a commissioner to this Assembly, beg 
 leave to present the following report: 
 
 Agreeably to the Constitution of our Church, the office of ruling elder 
 is perpetual (see Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. vi), and cannot 
 be laid aside by the will of the individual called to that office, nor can 
 any congregation form rules which would make it lawful for any one to 
 lay it aside. Your Committee are of opinion that the mode of electing 
 elders in the congregation of Wheatland for a term of years was irregu- 
 lar and ought in future to be abandoned, but cannot invalidate the 
 ordination of persons thus elected and ordained to the office of ruling 
 elder. And whereas, it appears that Mr. Freeman Edson was once 
 elected to the office of ruling elder in the church of Wheatland, and was 
 regularly set apart to that office; whereas, there seems to be some mate- 
 rial diversity of views between the Presbytery of Rochester and the 
 church Session to which Mr. Edson once belonged as to the manner in 
 which, and the principle on which, he ceased to be an acting elder in the 
 said church, into which the Assembly have no opportunity at present of 
 regularly examining; and whereas, the Presbytery, with a distinct 
 knowledge, as is alleged, of all the circumstances attending this case, 
 gave Mr. Edson a regular commission as a ruling elder to this General 
 Assembly; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That he retain his seat as a member of this Assembly. — 
 
 1835, p. 471. 
 
 b. Length of service left to the decision of the church. 
 
 In denning its own action, the Assembly is not to be understood as 
 deciding that in any case the actual service of the eldership should be 
 either permanent or limited; but while the office is perpetual, the time 
 of its exercise in each individual congregation may be left to the decision 
 of the church itself, according to the mode approved and in use in such 
 church.— 1872, p. 75. 
 
 2. Restoration to church privileges does not restore to the eldership. 
 
 When an elder has been suspended from church privileges and again 
 restored to the privileges of the church, is he also restored to his office 
 as a ruling elder ? 
 
 The two things are distinct; and since an elder as well as a minister 
 may be suspended from his office and not from the communion of the 
 church, so there may be reasons for continuing his suspension from his 
 office after he is restored to the privileges of the church. He cannot be 
 restored to the functions of his office without a special and express act of 
 the Session for that purpose, with the acquiescence of the church. — 
 
 1836, p. 263. 
 
or i rarjwaw AND DEACONS. 537 
 
 3. An elder without charge can sit in no church court. 
 Aved* That no ruling elder who has retired from the active exercise 
 of his office in the church to which he belongs can be admitted as a 
 of a Presbyte ~ d or General Assembly. — 1835, p. 489. 
 
 — • - -r-iere who are not reelected 
 
 -_.l.":-.-: :_t j.: ■ - -...-'- fiw term sea - i 1 
 
 . Whenever a ruling elder or deacon, from either of these causes, or 
 from any other, not inferring crime, shall be incapable of serving the 
 Church to edification, the session shall take order on the subject, and 
 state the fad I _-:her with the reasons of it, on their records; Provided 
 always, that nothing of this kind shall be done without the concurrence 
 of the individual in question, unless by the advice of Presbytery. 
 
 1 Ilders who cannot acquiesce in the decisions of the superior 
 courts of the Church should 
 
 A .-7~.'. i - "Session of the Third Presbyterian 
 
 •'_:_-;.:.: :i :„:- .::;•" .-::_j /'■":-. : :;.> ";"i>" ■'.:■■ : — :-•;::: z'i~. 
 : heb* office in consequence of the judgment of the Synod 
 _• that ehurch. After it was duly considered, they returned the 
 folk)-.- via. : The Synod advise them to continue to act as 
 
 elder- se they cannot, consistently with what they apprehend 
 
 to be their duty, continue as sneh and act upon the decisions of Synod, 
 that they _ their office, and the congregation proceed to choose 
 
 other elders who may have freedom to act according to the determina- 
 - - : - .- - —1772. p. 435. 
 
 2. Ruling elder* may cease to act in order to promote the peace 
 
 of the ehurch. 
 
 a. I _: - T recommend to the whole Session, including 
 
 the majority and the minority, in view of the state of the Fifth Church, 
 to take the constitutional steps and cease from acting as ruling elders in 
 :_.: ; __-;-t_\.t. _- ;-.:_'. ::_i: '.-.-. -:_:::- :"_:.: :i :.,£t ::_.:_ rL::.:T i_t.>— "e- 
 
 - with a view to promote the peace of the 
 
 c:/::;:. :-.:_l —:::-: :"..- ^r^:.^-.r. -::^:_:i: \i :'_-. >> -\ ^__:*:?7 :.:_ :,■ 
 
 them. And further, that it be recommended to the persons so elected 
 
 not to accept the office unless they shall obtain the suffrages of at least 
 
 _ the electors participating in the election. — 1834, p. 453. 
 
 O. Besotoed, That this Assembly requests the Presbytery of Red- 
 stone to consider the expediency of recommending to said elders, in view 
 of the dissension which the Assembly has been led to believe exists in 
 said congregation, growing ont of said action of the Presbytery, that 
 said elders shall take the constitutional steps and cease from acting as 
 ruling elders in that congregation, and that the entire church take 
 immwti«ip measures to elect two elders in place of said retiring elders, 
 promote the peace of the Church ; and of further recom- 
 menc. . e persons so elected not to accept the office unless they shall 
 
 obtain the suffrages of at least two-thirds at the electors participating in 
 :;.r -:-::: i —1893, p. 151 
 
 — I : the Presbyter - :>ne vs. the Synod of Pennsyl- 
 
538 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 3. The superior court directs an elder to cease to act. 
 With the consent of parties, the complaint (of Mr. William B. Guild 
 against the Synod of New Jersey) is sustained pro forma; but under 
 existing circumstances in the congregation Mr. Guild shall cease to act 
 as a ruling elder in the Third Church at Newark, N. J. — 1863, p. 35, 
 O. S. 
 
 [Note. — The complaint was that the Synod had by a Committee visited the Third 
 Church to see if any member of the Session was unacceptable to the people.] 
 
 4. The Presbytery, without the request of the Session or of members 
 
 of the church, may declare that an elder shall cease to act. 
 
 Overture from the Session of the Presbyterian Church at Ironton, 
 Mo., in reference to the power of the Presbytery to declare that a mem- 
 ber of the Session shall cease to be an acting elder without any request 
 from the Session or any members of the church. 
 
 The Committee would recommend the following answer (see Form of 
 Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii) : Presbytery has power to visit particu- 
 lar churches for the purpose of inquiring into their state, and redressing 
 the evils that may have arisen in them, and to order whatever pertains 
 to their spiritual welfare, without being requested by the Session. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 924, O. S. 
 
 5. If a member of Session be unacceptable, and the matter cannot 
 be arranged by consent, the proper step is to memorialize Presby- 
 tery. 
 
 Overture from two members of the General Assembly, with the 
 inquiry: " Has a church Session the right to submit to their church 
 members the acceptableness or non-acceptableness of the acting Board of 
 ruling elders, or any portion of the Board, and to ask the church to 
 settle the question by a vote of the members ?" 
 
 In case of unacceptableness on the part of any member of a church 
 Session, and the matter cannot be amicably arranged by consent of 
 parties, the proper method of redress is by memorializing the Presbytery 
 to give such direction as in its judgment the necessities of the case may 
 require, under the provisions of the Form of Government, Chap. xiii. 
 —1867, p. 369, O. S. 
 
 The report was adopted. 
 
 6. Resignation of an elder or deacon to be tendered to the Session, 
 
 and to take effect when accepted. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Troy, asking, " To whom shall a 
 ruling elder or a deacon offer his resignation when desiring to retire from 
 active service, and what constitutional steps are necessary to complete 
 the act?" 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: The resignation 
 should be to the Session; and it will take effect when accepted. 
 Adopted.— 1883, p. 626. 
 
 7. The removal of suspension restores all rights and privileges to an 
 
 elder. 
 
 The Judicial Committee presented a report on a complaint of the 
 Presbytery of Redstone against the exception of the Synod of Pennsyl- 
 vania to the records of said Presbytery in the cases of J. M. Crawford 
 and A. D. Boughner, elders. 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 539 
 
 The report was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Committee has had referred to it a complaint of certain 
 members of the Synod of Pennsylvania against the action of the Synod 
 in taking exceptions to the minutes of the Presbytery of Redstone while 
 in session in Washington, Pa., October 20-24, 1892. From an examina- 
 tion of said complaint, and of a certified copy of the minutes of Pres- 
 bytery showing the action of the Presbytery to which the Synod took 
 exceptions, the following facts appear: 
 
 On the 13th day of March, 1891, after a judicial trial by the Presby- 
 tery of Redstone, J. M. Crawford and A. D. Boughner, ruling elders in 
 the congregation of Greensborough, were " suspended from office only.*" 
 On the 10th day of November following, while in session at West New- 
 ton, the Presbytery, after due consideration of the matter, removed the 
 suspension, and restored them " to their office only." Afterwards, at 
 the same meeting of Presbytery, an additional resolution was adopted, 
 restoring said elders to the active discharge of their duties as ruling 
 elders in said congregation at Greensborough. To this action of the 
 Presbytery the Synod took exception in the following language: 
 
 " The Presbytery, having suspended these elders ' from office only,' 
 had the power in due time and in due form to restore them to office. But 
 it was for the communicants of the congregation to say whether they should 
 be reinstated in the full exercise of the office in that particular church." 
 
 Your Committee, having considered the record of said case, and the 
 papers submitted to it, and having also examined the Book of Discipline 
 and the decisions of the General Assembly, are of the opinion: 
 
 1. That the judgment of the Presbytery suspending said elders from 
 office only, and not from the privileges of the Church, did not in any 
 sense terminate finally the relation of said elders to said congregation. 
 
 2. That the removal of said suspension restored said elders to all of 
 their rights and privileges (which had been temporarily suspended only), 
 including the right to exercise the functions of active ruling elders in 
 said congregation of Greensborough; and that, therefore, the second 
 resolution of the Presbytery was mere surplusage, and cannot be com- 
 plained of except upon that ground. 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, recommends the adoption of the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That said complaint be remanded to the Synod of Penn- 
 sylvania, with instructions to record in its minutes a copy of this report. 
 Adopted.— 1893, p. 151. 
 
 8. When an elder resigns, the Presbytery is not competent to 
 order his restoration. 
 
 Dr. S. F. Day, declining to have his children baptized, his wife being 
 a Baptist, the Session of Wooster Church, in which he was an elder, was 
 advised by the Presbytery that in such a case (proposed in thesi) the 
 elder should be removed from office. Hereupon Dr. Day gave notice 
 to the Session that he resigned the eldership. At a subsequent meeting 
 of Presbytery, upon a memorial from Dr. Day, the Presbytery reconsid- 
 ered its action, and ordered the Session to restore him. Upon appeal the 
 Synod sustained the Presbytery. A complaint was taken up by the 
 pastor, the Rev. James H. Baird, and by the Session. The following 
 was the decision: 
 
 Whereas, It appears from the record that Dr. Day was removed from 
 
540 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 the Session of the Church of Wooster by his own resignation of his 
 office in that church, and not by the judicial action of the Session, it 
 was not competent to the Presbytery to order his restoration to office by 
 the Session; and therefore the judgment of the Synod of Ohio confirm- 
 ing such action of the Presbytery was erroneous and ought to be and is 
 hereby reversed, and the complaint of the Session, so far as it relates to 
 this point, is sustained. — 1854, p. 33, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See above. Chap, ix, Sec. ii, p. 160, for a case where an elder refuses to act, 
 and has left the church.— 1869, p. 912, 0. S.] 
 
 9. The official relations of an elder to his church terminate with 
 
 his dismission. 
 
 The Presbytery of Iowa City desire the Assembly ' ' to determine when 
 the rights and privileges of ruling elders and private members cease, on 
 their receiving letters of dismission; and whether the same rule obtains 
 as in the dismission of ministers from a Presbytery. ' ' 
 
 The Assembly reply: 
 
 The established rule of the Presbyterian Church in relation to the 
 dismission of a minister from his Presbytery is " that in all ordinary 
 cases all the rights and privileges of an individual in a Presbytery cease 
 when at his request his dismission is granted." 
 
 He may, however, within any reasonable time before he has used his 
 letter of dismission, return it to the Presbytery, and then claim all his 
 former rights and privileges; but until he has used his letter he is amen- 
 able to the Presbytery which has dismissed him. 
 
 Your Committee have not been able to find any specific rule in our 
 Form of Government or in the Digest in relation to the dismission of 
 ruling elders or of private members from any particular church, indicat- 
 ing the precise time when their rights and privileges in that church from 
 which, at their own request, they may be dismissed cease ; but we have 
 no hesitation in declaring our belief that the same guardian care which 
 is extended over dismissed members is, by the very genius and intent of 
 our excellent Form of Government, designed also for the protection of 
 regularly dismissed elders and private members, as well as for the pre- 
 servation of the peace and purity of the Church. 
 
 We therefore respectfully recommend to this Assembly the adoption of 
 the following resolutions: That, 
 
 1. The dismission of a ruling elder by letter from a church terminates 
 his official relations with that church. 
 
 2. A letter of dismission, whether issued to a ruling elder or private 
 member, terminates the relations of the person dismissed with the church 
 giving the letter, except so far as said church is responsible for its watch 
 and care over him during the period of transition. 
 
 3. These rights and privileges can be regained in that church by 
 returning the letters of dismission to the authority which gave them. 
 
 4. These rights and privileges can be secured in any other church 
 within the jurisdiction of this General Assembly, by virtue of such 
 certificates, provided they are presented to the Session thereof within one 
 year from their date ; and until they are presented such persons are 
 amenable to the church from which the certificates were received. — 1867, 
 p. 512, N. S. 
 
 TNote.— The "rights and privileges" referred to in No. 4 are those of member- 
 ship only. See Book of Discipline, Chap, xi, Sec. 109, "Should he return the certifi- 
 
OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS. 541 
 
 cate within a year from its date, the Session shall make record of the fact, but he 
 shall not thereby be restored to the exercise of the functions of any office previously 
 held by him in that church."" See, also, Form of Gov., Chap. xxii. in this Digest.] 
 
 VIII. If any particular church, by a vote of members in full com- 
 munion, shall prefer to elect ruling elders or deacons for a limited time 
 in the exercise of their functions, this may be done; provided, the full 
 time be not less than three years and the Session or the Board of Dea- 
 cons be made to consist of three classes, one of which only shall be 
 elected each year; and provided, that elders, once ordained, shall not be 
 divested of the office when they are not reelected, but shall be entitled 
 to represent that particular church in the higher judicatories when 
 appointed by the Session or the Presbytery. — 1886, p. 108. 
 
 [Note. — Sec. viii as adopted in 1875, Minutes, p. 521, had reference to elders only. 
 In 1885 {Minutes, p. 689), request was made by the Presbyteries of Washington City, 
 Cleveland and Denver asking for term service for deacons. The section was there- 
 fore amended {Minutes, 1886, p. 108) to read as above. 1 
 
 1. Elders not reelected on the adoption of term service cease to be 
 acting elders in that particular church. 
 
 Overture from the Presbyteries of Wooster and Blairsville. As to the 
 position of existing Sessions in churches which adopt the system of elec- 
 tion of elders for a limited time, as provided for in Section viii, of Chap. 
 xiii, Form of Government, your Committee recommend this answer: A 
 constitutional rule must have power to effect whatever is necessary for 
 its practical operation. So soon, therefore, as any particular church, 
 under this new provision of the Constitution, shall determine, by a vote 
 of its members, in full communion, to elect ruling elders for a limited 
 time, and they shall be elected and set apart to their office, elders in 
 office by virtue of an earlier appointment cease to be acting elders in 
 that particular church — otherwise the Session would not consist of three 
 classes, as in such cases required. Adopted. — 1876, p. 74. 
 
 2. When reelected, should be reinstalled. 
 
 a. From the Broadway Presbyterian Church of Rock Island, inquir- 
 ing whether rotary elders, where reelected, should be reinstalled. 
 
 Answered in the affirmative. — 1878, p. 71. 
 
 b. A petition asking: Is the reinstallation of elders reelected on 
 expiration of their term of service, essential to the continued exercise of 
 their office in that church, so that, unless reinstalled, they cease to be 
 members of the Session ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that your petitioner be referred to the 
 action of the Assembly of 1878, Minutes, p. 71 (see a above). 
 Adopted.— 1880, p. 47. 
 
 3. The above not retroactive, and does not invalidate the action 
 
 of the Session. 
 
 The following resolution, relative to the reinstallation of elders, was 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the action of this Assembly on Overtures Nos. 11 and 
 18, reported on by the Committee on the Polity of the Church, in refer- 
 ence to the reinstallation of elders, is not intended to be retroactive, or 
 in any way to affect the validity of the action of Sessions in which elders, 
 
542 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 regularly elected but not reinstalled, may have sat as members. — 1880, 
 
 p. 84. 
 
 [Note. — For action on Overtures 11 and 18, see this Digest, p. 534. In both cases 
 it is affirmed that an elder who has removed or resigned, or whose term of service has 
 expired, must on reelection be reinstalled.] 
 
 4. Reinstallation of a reelected elder not essential to the validity 
 of his office, but is more orderly. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Rochester, asking the Assembly 
 to allow congregations to reinstall reelected ruling elders or not, accord- 
 ing to their usage and discretion. 
 
 The Committee, referring to the action of the last Assembly, on the same 
 subject (Minutes, 1880, pp. 47, 84), recommend the following answer : 
 While it is not essential to the validity of his office that a ruling elder, 
 reelected in a church where the limited term service prevails, be rein- 
 stalled, it is nevertheless more orderly, that the fact of his reelection be 
 recognized by his reinstallation or in some way equivalent thereto. 
 Adopted.— 1881, p. 591. 
 
 b. Overture from the Central Church of Southeast, Presbytery of 
 Westchester, asking for an interpretation of the instructions of the last 
 Assembly regarding the reinstallation of reelected elders. Your Com- 
 mittee recommend the following answer to be given by the Assembly: It 
 was the evident intention of the last Assembly to recommend the rein- 
 stallation of elders when reelected; and, to make its intention more 
 definite, the Assembly hereby strikes out of the previous action the 
 phrase, " or in some way equivalent thereto," and adopts it as its answer 
 to their overture. Adopted. — 1882, p. 98. 
 
 5. One or two elders may be elected under Sec. viii. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Southern Dakota, concerning the 
 construction to be placed upon Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, of the Form of 
 Government, relating to the election of elders for a limited term: 
 whether, in Home Missionary churches, one or two elders can be elected 
 for a limited term. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer : When from necessity 
 there can be but one elder, for the time being, he may be elected for 
 three years, as provided in Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, and reelected at the end 
 of that term ; and the division into classes as provided in that section 
 should take place as the Session can be increased in number. Adopted. 
 —1883, p. 626. 
 
 6. In introducing 1 term service, one or more classes may be 
 elected for less than three years. 
 
 In the first organization of Home Missionary churches, when from 
 necessity there can be but two elders, how may the provisions of Form 
 of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. viii, be reconciled with the decision of 
 the Assembly of 1884 (Digest, 1886, p. 548, 8) that " the provision of 
 this section cannot be carried out should the elder be elected for a longer 
 or shorter term than three years. ' ' 
 
 Also a paper from certain members of the Presbytery of Chicago, 
 asking substantially the same question. 
 
 Your Committee would reply by referring to the principle laid down 
 by the Assembly of 1876, p. 74 (Digest, 1886, p. 547, 2), viz.: "A 
 constitutional rule must have power to effect whatever is necessary for 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 543 
 
 its practical operation." In the judgment of your Committee, if, in 
 introducing the system of term service, it is found necessary to elect 
 one or more classes for less than three years, so as ultimately to make 
 the classes three, and the term of service three years, it is lawful to do 
 so, in accordance with the principle stated above. Adopted. — 1891, p. 
 106. 
 
 7. The term must be three years and the classes three. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Erie, asking the following questions: 
 
 1. Is a Presbytery right in confirming the action of congregations 
 .which elect ruling elders for terms of four and five years ? 
 
 2. Must the term of service of elders be only three years ? 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: The Form of Gov- 
 ernment, Chap, xjii, Sec. viii, provides that ruling elders may be elected 
 for " a limited time in the exercise of their functions .... provided 
 the full term be not less than three years and the Session be made to 
 consist of three classes, one of which only shall be elected every year. ' ' 
 The provisions of this section cannot be carried out should the elders be 
 elected for a longer or shorter term than three years. Adopted. — 1884, 
 p. 114. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 6, above; Minutes, 1891, p. 106.] 
 
 8. Elders not reelected under this section may be delegated to 
 the superior judicatories. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Newton, with regard to the interpre- 
 tation of the constitutional rule, Chap, xiii, Sec. viii. In the judgment 
 of this Committee, this rule contemplates that the elders referred to, by 
 due appointment of the Session or Presbytery, may become members of 
 any of the courts of the Church above the Session. Adopted. — 1876, 
 p. 74. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OF LICENSING CANDIDATES OR PROBATIONERS TO 
 PREACH THE GOSPEL. 
 
 I. The Holy Scriptures require that some trial be previously had of 
 them who are to be ordained to the ministry of the Gospel, that this 
 sacred office may not be degraded by being committed to weak or unwor- 
 thy men ; and that the churches may have an opportunity to form a 
 better judgment respecting the talents of those by whom they are to be 
 instructed and governed. For this purpose Presbyteries shall license 
 probationers to preach the Gospel, that after a competent trial of their 
 talents, and receiving from the churches a good report, they may in due 
 time ordain them to the sacred office. 
 
 1. Preaching without licensure condemned as irregular. 
 
 a. Upon information that David Evan, a lay person, had taken upon 
 him publicly to teach or preach among the Welsh in the Great Valley, 
 Chester county, it was unanimously agreed that the said Evan had done 
 
544 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 very ill and acted irregularly in thus invading the work of the ministry, 
 and was thereupon censured. 
 
 Agreed that the most proper method for advancing David Evan in 
 necessary literature to prepare him for the work of the ministry is that 
 he lay aside all other business for a twelvemonth, and apply himself 
 closely to learning and study under the direction of Mr. Andrews, and 
 with the assistance of Mr. Wilson and Anderson, and that it be left to 
 the discretion of the said ministers when to put said Evan on trials, and 
 license him publicly to teach or preach. — 1710, p. 17. 
 
 b. The Assembly disapproves the conduct of Mr. McCalla in preach- 
 ing the Gospel before he was regularly licensed. — 1821, p. 21. 
 
 2. On the licensing and ordaining of women to preach the Gospel. 
 
 a. Overture No. 39, from the Presbytery of Brooklyn, requesting the 
 Assembly to adopt and transmit to the Presbyteries for their approval 
 such rules as shall forbid the licensing and ordaining of women to the 
 Gospel ministry, and the teaching and preaching of women in our pulpits, 
 or in the public and promiscuous meetings of the Church of Christ. 
 
 The Committee recommend this answer: That there is no necessity for 
 a change in the Constitution of the Church touching this question ; and 
 the memorialists are referred to the deliverance of the Assembly of 1832, 
 which expresses the judgment of this Assembly. Adopted. — 1872, 
 p. 89. 
 
 b. The deliverance referred to is as follows, viz. : 
 
 Meetings of pious women by themselves for conversation and prayer, 
 whenever they can conveniently be held, we entirely approve. But let 
 not the inspired prohibitions of the great apostle of the Gentiles, as found 
 in his Epistles to the Corinthians and to Timothy, be violated. To 
 teach and exhort or to lead in prayer, in public and promiscuous assem- 
 blies, is clearly forbidden to women in the holy oracles. — Pastoral 
 Letter, 1832, p. 378. 
 
 3. Women may not fulfill the offices of public preachers. 
 
 a. "In sustaining the Presbytery of Newark as against the appeal of 
 the Rev. I. M. See, the Synod holds that the passages of Scripture 
 referred to in the action of Presbytery do prohibit the fulfilling by women 
 of the offices of public preachers in the regular assemblies of the Church. ' ' 
 The Assembly reaffirm the language above quoted from the decision of 
 the Synod as expressing their own opinion. — 1878, pp. 102, 103. 
 
 b. The above reaffirmed. 
 
 The Presbytery of Baltimore asks this Assembly for such an expression 
 as will indicate clearly what should govern Presbyterian churches con- 
 cerning the occupation of our pulpits by women. 
 
 In reply your Committee would call attention to the judicial deliverance 
 of the General Assembly of 1878, sustaining the Presbytery of Newark 
 in holding, " That .... passages of Scripture prohibit the fulfilling 
 by women of the offices of public preachers in the regular assemblies of 
 the churches" {Digest of 1886, p. 549). 
 
 We recommend the reaffirmation of the above deliverance of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly as in perfect harmony with the Constitution of our Church. 
 Adopted.— 1896, p. 148. 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 545 
 
 4. The Board of Education. 
 
 [Note.— For Plan and Charter of the Board of Education, see pp. 352-356.] 
 
 II. Every candidate for licensure shall be taken on trials by that 
 Presbytery to which he most naturally belongs ; and he shall be con- 
 sidered as most naturally belonging to that Presbytery within the bounds 
 of which he has ordinarily resided. But in case any candidate should 
 find it more convenient to put himself under the care of a Presbytery at 
 a distance from that to which he most naturally belongs, he may be 
 received by the said Presbytery on his producing testimonials, either 
 from the Presbytery within the bounds of which he has commonly 
 resided, or from any two ministers of that Presbytery in good standing, 
 of his exemplary piety and other requisite qualifications. 
 
 1. The usage under the Synod, prior to adoption of the Constitution. 
 
 In answer to the third query, the Synod judge that any student iu 
 divinity who professes a design to enter into the ministry has a right in 
 our present situation to study for his improvement under the direction of 
 any divine of reputation in the Synod, according to a former act ; but 
 that when he proposes to enter upon trials with a view to the ministry he 
 shall come under the care of that Presbytery to which he most naturally 
 belongs, and he shall be deemed most naturally to belong to that Presby- 
 tery in whose bounds he has been brought up and lived for the most part 
 and where he is best known. But if another Presbytery desire that any 
 student or students should come into their bounds, or if any such student 
 or students, for greater conveniency, or from any circumstances that 
 make it necessary, desire to enter upon trials in a different Presbytery, 
 upon his offering satisfactory reasons he may be dismissed ; but in either 
 case the Presbytery to which he removes shall not receive nor admit him 
 to come under trials upon his having a certificate as a regular church 
 member only, but he shall bring a testimonial from the Presbytery or 
 several neighboring ministers where he lived, recommending him as a 
 candidate for the ministry of exemplary piety and holiness of conversa- 
 tion. Nor shall any thing less be esteemed a sufficient recommendation. 
 —1764, p. 337. 
 
 2. Licensure by bodies other than those within whose bounds the 
 candidate expects to labor disapproved. 
 
 Though the Synod entertains a high regard for the associated churches 
 of New England, yet we cannot but judge that students who go to them or 
 to any other than our own Presbyteries to obtain license in order to return 
 and officiate among us act very irregularly, and are not to be approved 
 or employed by our Presbyteries, as hereby we are deprived of the right 
 of trying and approving the qualifications of our own candidates ; yet if 
 any case may happen wherein such conduct may in some circumstances 
 be thought necessary for the greater good of any congregation, it shall 
 be laid before the Presbytery to which the congregation belongs and 
 approved of by them. — 1764, p. 338. 
 
 [Note.— For action condemning the licensing of a candidate of one Presbytery by 
 another without regular dismission, see F. G., Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 191.] 
 35 
 
546 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 3. Candidates should be placed under the care of Presbytery. 
 
 a. It is recommended to the agencies and Committees to endeavor to 
 have the young men aided by the Church, especially in their theological 
 studies, placed under the care of Presbyteries, and that in all ordinary 
 cases they be licensed by those Presbyteries to which they naturally 
 belong.— 1854, p. 507, N. S. ; confirmed, 1894, p. 126. 
 
 b. It is recommended that the young men aided by the Assembly's 
 Committee be ordinarily placed, as soon as possible, under the care of 
 Presbyteries, and that in all ordinary cases they be licensed, if con- 
 venient, by the Presbyteries to which they naturally belong. — 1856, p. 
 224, K S. ; 1894, p. 126. 
 
 C. Resolved, That candidates should be required to put themselves 
 under the care of Presbytery as soon as possible, and receive careful 
 supervision during their entire course, and that whatever arrangements 
 the Presbyteries may deem expedient to facilitate their training, these 
 arrangements should not be such as will tend to shorten the full term of 
 study or induce an absence from their classes at either the opening or 
 closing of the seminary sessions. — 1857, p. 31, O. S. ; 1894, p. 126. 
 [Note.— See also Minutes, 1864, p. 315, O. S.] 
 
 4. Instructions to the Presbytery of New York in the case of theo- 
 logical students pursuing studies in certain theological semina- 
 ries. 
 
 a. ' ' The Presbytery of New York overtures the General Assembly to 
 instruct it in its relation to its duty towards students applying to be taken 
 under its care, who are pursuing or purpose to pursue their studies in 
 theological seminaries respecting whose teaching the .General Assembly 
 disavows responsibility." 
 
 The Committee recommend that the following answer be given: 
 We recoguize the general principle that a young man should stand on 
 his merits, as revealed by examination, for entrance into the Presby- 
 terian ministry, yet: 
 
 1. It is the genius of the whole Presbyterian system to educate its 
 ministers through careful training and Presbyterial supervision, " and to 
 make effectual provision that all who are admitted as teachers be sound 
 in the faith " (Form of Government, Sec. v, Chap. i). 
 
 2. Our book requires that " except in extraordinary cases," before 
 licensure the candidate ' ' shall have studied divinity at least two years 
 under some approved divine or professor of theology" (Form of Gov- 
 ernment, Sec. vi, Chap. xiv). 
 
 3. The General Assembly of 1806 recommended every Presbytery 
 under their care " to inspect the education of these youth (those prepar- 
 ing for the ministry), during the course of both their academic and 
 theological studies, choosing for them such schools, seminaries and teach- 
 ers as they may judge most proper and advantageous; so as eventually to 
 bring them into the ministry well furnished for their work" (Baird's 
 Digest, p. 398). 
 
 4. The General Assembly of 1894 affirmed, that it is the privilege of 
 the Presbytery to direct " the education of their students within reason- 
 able limits, in schools approved by the General Assembly, and to prohibit 
 their attendance at institutions disapproved by the same" (Minutes, 
 1894, p. 125). 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 547 
 
 b. Therefore, inasmuch as obedience to the Constitution of the Church 
 is obligatory on all Presbyteries, we recommend that, in accordance with 
 the provisions of the Form of Government above cited, the Presbytery 
 of New York be instructed and enjoined not to receive under its care for 
 licensure, students who are pursuing or purpose to pursue their studies in 
 theological seminaries respecting whose teaching the General Assembly 
 disavows responsibility. Adopted. — 1895, pp. 16, 17. 
 
 5. The above action explained and reaffirmed ; does not relate to the 
 licensing 1 of candidates. 
 
 The Judicial Committee presented its report on the response of the 
 Presbytery of New York to the action of the Assembly of 1895, which 
 was received and adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Committee submit and recommend the adoption of the 
 following answer to the ' ' Response ' ' of the Presbytery of New York 
 to the answer of the General Assembly to the Presbytery's overture 
 as recorded in the Minutes of the General Assembly of 1895 (pp. 76, 
 77), referred to the Judicial Committee by the General Assembly from 
 the Committee on Bills and Overtures, viz. : 
 
 1. The General Assembly of 1896 reaffirms the action of the General 
 Assembly of 1895 concerning the reception by Presbyteries of students 
 as candidates who are ' ' pursuing or intending to pursue their theological 
 studies in seminaries for whose instructions the General Assembly dis- 
 avows responsibility." In so doing we call attention to the fact that the 
 Presbytery of New York last year asked the General Assembly to 
 instruct it in relation to its duty towards students applying to be taken 
 under its care and that the Assembly in response instructed it, using 
 substantially its own words. The action of the Assembly did not relate 
 to the licensing of candidates, but to the reception of students asking to 
 be taken under care. It fully recognized the right of the Presbytery to 
 determine the qualifications of candidates for licensure. We also 
 express our understanding of the words " instruct " and " enjoin " in 
 last year's action to be simply an emphatic repetition in the expression 
 of its response to the Presbytery of New York touching the specific 
 question overtured. 
 
 2. We call attention to the difference in status between " ministers 
 from other denominations ' ' on the one hand, and students seeking to 
 enter the ministry of the Church on the other hand, in the relation they 
 sustain or seek to sustain to the Church. 
 
 As to ministers ' ' from other denominations, ' ' the General Assembly 
 having had no care or supervision of their theological instruction, requires 
 an examination as to their change, and reasons therefor, of conviction 
 in doctrinal belief and in the Form of Church Government, and of 
 their approval of and sincere acceptance of the Standards of the 
 Church. 
 
 On the other hand, students seeking to come under the care of Presby- 
 teries as candidates for the Gospel ministry have no Presbyterial or 
 ecclesiastical status, save what is implied in church membership, but 
 having a purpose to qualify themselves in doctrinal belief, for the Gospel 
 ministry, it is indispensable for the purity of the Church in doctrine and 
 polity, that Presbyteries in receiving them under their care, so direct 
 them in all cases when necessary, and if need be, require them to pursue 
 their theological studies *' under some approved divine;" or in institu- 
 
548 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 tions or seminaries which have not been disapproved by the Church, that 
 their instruction may be in all respects in accord with the doctrine and 
 polity of the Church into whose ministry they are seeking to enter. 
 
 3. While fully recognizing the constitutional right of Presbyteries in 
 the matter of licensing candidates for the ministry (Form of Govern- 
 ment, Chap, xiv), we are nevertheless urgent that Presbyteries have 
 special care of their examinations in subjects required by the Form of 
 Government, Chap, xiv, Sec. iv, and that due respect be given to the 
 deliverances of the General Assembly in the matter of the education of 
 students for the Gospel ministry. 
 
 4. We are equally urgent that the same care be taken by Presbyteries 
 in their examinations of ministers coming to us from foreign bodies, that 
 is urged upon them in the licensure of candidates already under the 
 care of Presbyteries. —1896, pp. 160-162. 
 
 6. The above action (4 and 5) universal in application. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported: 
 
 Judicial Case No. 2, an appeal of A. P. Ketchum, Esq., and twenty- 
 one others, against the Synod of New York, and 
 
 Judicial Case No. 3, a complaint of Rev. Robert Russell Booth, D. D. , 
 LL.D. , and forty-four others against the same Synod. 
 
 Both cases are against the same action of the Synod. 
 
 The appellants, being also complainants, consent to withdraw the 
 
 The complaint is in order. But we believe the differences can be satis- 
 factorily settled for all parties, and for this purpose we recommend the 
 adoption of the following, to wit: 
 
 The answer of the General Assembly of 1895 to the Presbytery of 
 New York declares that ' ' obedience to the Constitution of the Church is 
 obligatory on all the Presbyteries." 
 
 The words ' ' instruct ' ' and ' ' enjoin ' ' in this answer, reaffirmed and 
 explained in 1896, are to be regarded as universal in their application; 
 and also, " the right of the Presbytery to determine the qualifications of 
 candidates for licensure," is a declaration applicable to all Presbyteries 
 alike. 
 
 This Assembly emphasizes the fact that all the Presbyteries of the 
 Church are under one Constitution, and that what is lawful in one is law- 
 ful in all, and that what is unlawful in one is unlawful in all. And the 
 Presbyteries in the exercise and discharge of their rights and obligations 
 are subject to the Constitutional powers of the higher judicatories. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1897, p. 41. 
 
 7. Careful supervision to be exercised both in receiving candidates 
 and over their studies. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly renew the resolution of the Assembly 
 of last year {Minutes, p. 524), and " earnestly urge all our Presbyteries 
 and Committees ad interim to guard with a becoming caution and a firm 
 vigilance the door to the holy office of the ministry so as not to admit to 
 that sacred calling men wanting in mental and moral qualifications for 
 its high and holy functions. ' ' And furthermore, as a means of exclud- 
 ing improper persons, that this Assembly enjoins upon every Presbytery 
 which has not so done to appoint a Committee, whose duty it shall be 
 to make careful inquiry as to the conduct and progress in study of all the 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 549 
 
 candidates under its care, and to make report to their Presbytery at 
 every stated meeting, or oftener if Presbyterial action is needed. — 1860, 
 p. 25, O. S. 
 
 8. No candidate to be received by the Board until he has been a 
 Church member one year and passed classical studies for one year. 
 
 That it be recommended that the Board of Education hereafter receive 
 no candidate for the ministry, until he has been a member of the Church 
 at least one year, and has also passed his classical studies, for an academic 
 year; except in extraordinary cases to be determined by the Board. 
 
 That increased care be enjoined upon the Presbyteries in bringing 
 forward or recommending candidates for the sacred ministry. — 1872, p. 
 19. 
 
 9. Candidates must connect themselves with the Presbytery to which 
 
 they naturally belong, 
 a. That the candidates of the Board be required to connect themselves 
 with the Presbyteries to which they naturally belong, unless for extra- 
 ordinary reasons, of which the Presbyteries must be the judge. — 1872, 
 p. 19. 
 
 b. Should retain their connection with that Presbytery. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of St. Lawrence, asking the Assembly 
 " to enjoin upon candidates for the ministry to retain their connection 
 with the Presbyteries to which they naturally belong by residence and 
 church membership ; also to enjoin Presbyteries not to receive such can- 
 didates unless they have received dismission from the Presbyteries to 
 which they naturally belong, as above specified; also to enjoin the Board 
 of Education carefully to examine into any such cases, and only in 
 extreme instances to allow the funds of the Board to be paid to candi- 
 dates who do not receive such funds through the Presbyteries to which 
 they naturally belong. 
 
 The Committee recommends the Assembly to call the attention of the 
 Presbyteries to the Constitution of the Church, and to the action of the 
 Assembly of 1872, and to urge them to a more careful observance of the 
 principles then laid down, in order, as far as possible, to secure the ends 
 contemplated in the overture. Adopted. — 1884, p. 77. 
 
 C. Exceptional case, where no Presbytery exists. 
 
 The Committee, however, are of the opinion that in cases of this 
 sort, each should be judged by its own circumstances, and that so far as 
 the way is not positively closed by law, necessity should be regarded as 
 justifying unusual action. They are of opinion that, in accordance with 
 the spirit of Chap, xiv, Sec. 2, of the Form of Government, relating to 
 licensure, it would be competent for a candidate on a foreign field where 
 no Presbytery exists to put himself under the care of a home Presbytery, 
 by virtue of letters from missionaries on that field, and then subse- 
 quently by a commission appointed by that Presbytery, after due exami- 
 nation, to license and to ordain him, and then to report his name for 
 enrollment in the Presbytery authorizing the step. — 1887, p. 25. 
 
 [Note. — See report of Committee on the Ecclesiastical Relations of Foreign Mis- 
 sionaries, Minutes, 1887, pp. 18-25.] 
 
 10. A mission has no authority to license or ordain. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1896, p. 146 ; F. G., Chap, xv, Sec. xv, p. 575.] 
 
550 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 11. Deliverance on the relation sustained by students who have been 
 taken under the care of a Presbytery to the Presbytery receiving 
 them. 
 
 Overture, being a memorial from the Presbytery of New Brunswick, 
 in the case of William J. Krieger. In answer to the Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick, asking instructions in the case of Mr. William J. Krieger, 
 the Committee recommend in the matter of the relation which students 
 who have been received under the care of a Presbytery sustained to the 
 Presbytery receiving them, the following interpretation of former deliv- 
 erances of the General Assembly be affirmed and declared by this 
 Assembly, viz. : 
 
 That it is the duty of such students, whether receiving aid from the 
 Board of Education or not, to consult their Presbytery before changing 
 their church relation or the school in which they are pursuing their 
 studies ; that it is the privilege of the Presbytery to direct their education 
 within reasonable limits in schools approved by the General Assembly, 
 and to prohibit their attendance at institutions of learning disapproved 
 by the same. This interpretation of the law is obvious, because : 
 
 1. The recommendations of the Church upon the subject of candidates 
 are, that the candidate usually comes under the care of that Presbytery 
 to which he most naturally belongs, and he shall be deemed most natu- 
 rally to belong to that Presbytery in whose bounds he has been brought 
 up and lived for the most part, and where he is best known (F. G., 
 Chap, xiv, Sec. ii). 
 
 2. If, however, a student under care of Presbytery should desire for 
 greater convenience to enter into a different Presbytery, upon his offering 
 satisfactory reasons he may be dismissed. In such case the Presbytery 
 to which he removes shall not receive or admit him to come under trials 
 upon his having a certificate as a regular church member only, but he 
 shall bring a testimonial from the Presbytery or several neighboring 
 ministers where he lived, recommending him as a candidate for the 
 ministry, of exemplary piety and holiness of conversation, nor shall 
 anything else be deemed a sufficient recommendation (F. G., Chap, xiv, 
 Sec. ix). 
 
 3. That candidates should be required to put themselves under the 
 care of Presbytery as soon as possible, and receive careful supervision 
 during their entire course (Minutes of N. S. Assembly, 1856, p. 223, 
 and 1854, p. 506; Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 365). 
 
 4. A rule of the Board of Education (report of 1893, p. 41) is as 
 follows: " The Board can rely only upon the Education Committee of 
 each Presbytery for the regular care of its own candidates, which should 
 include the constant exercise of a parental oversight over them in spir- 
 itual things, and the counsel they need as to their mode of preparation, 
 their place of study and their trials, and the occupation of their time 
 when not engaged in study, in employments which tend to qualify them 
 for effective usefulness as pastors or evangelists. ' ' 
 
 This rule has been enforced since the Reunion. 
 
 5. In the case before us, the Presbytery of Dubuque, for reasons 
 sufficient in their judgment, declined to dismiss the candidate, William 
 J. Krieger, to the Presbytery of New Brunswick. The candidate, 
 however, obtained a letter of dismission from the church of his home to 
 the church in Princeton. This we deem to have been irregular and 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 551 
 
 wrong, as the policy of the Church is, that the church letter of the can- 
 didate should remain within the bounds of the Presbytery under whose 
 care he has placed himself. We recommend that candidates be not 
 allowed to take their church letters out of the bounds of the Presbytery 
 which has charge over them until they are dismissed to the care of an- 
 other Presbytery into whose bounds they may then be taken. 
 
 6. In the case before us, considering all the circumstances, we 
 would recommend that the Presbytery of Dubuque dismiss the can- 
 didate, William J. Krieger, to the care of the Presbytery of New 
 Brunswick. 
 
 We make these recommendations under the guidance of Sec. 5, of 
 Chapter xii, of the Form of Government, which reads as follows : ' ' To 
 the General Assembly also belongs the power of deciding in all contro- 
 versies respecting doctrine and discipline," the word discipline being used 
 in a governmental sense. — 1894, pp. 125, 126. 
 
 12. The Assembly's power over the education of students. 
 Presbyteries directed to supervise. 
 
 After maturely deliberating on the overture, the Assembly determined, 
 that the part of it which relates to the selection and education of young 
 men of piety and talents for the Gospel ministry, presents a plan which 
 they consider as well deserving their countenance and support. But as 
 the Presbyteries, of which the Assembly have the oversight, are scattered 
 over a wide extent of country, and their circumstances are known to be 
 extremely various, it occurred that an absolute injunction on all the 
 Presbyteries, immediately to enter into the execution of the plan pro- 
 posed, might bear hard on some, if not be entirely incapable of execu- 
 tion : on the other hand, merely to recommend an attention to the plan, 
 without attaching any responsibility to the neglect of the recommendation, 
 appeared to the Assembly incompatible with the high importance of the 
 subject, and with their own duty as guardians of the Church, bound 
 especially to provide for their people a supply of the Word of Life. It 
 was, therefore, determined to take a middle course between these extremes, 
 so as to avoid, if possible, the inconveniences of both. With this in 
 view it was resolved to recommend, and the Assembly do hereby most 
 earnestly recommend to every Presbytery under their care, to use their 
 utmost endeavors to increase, by all suitable means in their power, the 
 number of promising candidates for the holy ministry : to press it upon 
 the parents of pious youth, to endeavor to educate them for the Church ; 
 and on the youth themselves, to devote their talents and their lives to the 
 sacred calling; to make vigorous exertions to raise funds to assist all 
 the youth who may need assistance ; to be careful that the youth they 
 take on their funds give such evidence as the nature of the case admits, 
 that they possess both talents and piety ; to inspect the education of these 
 youth, during the course of both their academical and theological studies, 
 choosing for them such schools, seminaries, and teachers, as they may judge 
 most proper and advantageous ; so as eventually to bring them into the 
 ministry, well furnished for the work. And the Assembly did, and do 
 hereby order, that every Presbytery under their care make annually a 
 report to the Assembly, stating particularly what they have done in this 
 concern, or why (if the case shall so be) they have done nothing in it; 
 and that the Assembly will, when these reports are received, consider 
 each distinctly, and decide by vote, whether the Presbyteries severally 
 
552 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 shall be considered as having discharged or neglected their duty in this 
 important business. — Minutes (Reprint), 1806, pp. 366, 367. 
 
 13. Presbyteries to choose seminaries, etc., for all students. 
 Resolved, 2. That in view of the extreme importance of safeguarding 
 the polity and doctrine of our Church, this General Assembly affirms 
 as applicable to all theological students the deliverance made by the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of 1806 (Minutes, as reprinted, p. 367), concerning stu- 
 dents who received aid from the Presbyteries, viz. , that the Presbyteries 
 inspect their education " during the course of their theological studies, 
 choosing for them such schools, seminaries and teachers as they may 
 judge most proper and advantageous, so as eventually to bring them into 
 the ministry well furnished for their work. — 1897, p. 58. 
 
 14. Rules of the Board of Education, in relation to students. 
 
 [Note. — The Board of Education has adopted rules governing the pecuniary assist- 
 ance given to students, and these have been approved by the General Assembly. See 
 for their text, pp. 357-362.] 
 
 III. It is proper and requisite that candidates applying to the Presby- 
 tery to be licensed to preach the gospel, produce satisfactory testimonials 
 of their good moral character, and of their being regular members of 
 some particular church. And it is the duty of the Presbytery, for their 
 satisfaction with regard to the real piety of such candidates, to examine 
 them respecting their experimental acquaintance with religion, and the 
 motives which influence them to desire the sacred office. This examina- 
 tion shall be close and particular, and in most cases may best be con- 
 ducted in the presence of the Presbytery only. And it is recommended 
 that the candidate be also required to produce a diploma of bachelor or 
 master of arts, from some college or university, or, at least, authentic 
 testimonials of his having gone through a regular course of learning. 
 
 1. A liberal education required. 
 
 a. Through the Committee of Overtures it was requested by the first 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia that the Synod declare to them their sense 
 on this point, viz., whether a person without a liberal education may be 
 taken on trials or licensed to preach the Gosj^el. The question being 
 put, it was carried in the negative. — 1783, p. 499. 
 
 b. An overture was brought in in the following terms, viz. : ' ' Whether 
 in the present state of the Church in America, and the scarcity of minis- 
 ters to fill our numerous congregations, the Synod or Presbyteries ought 
 therefore to relax, in any degree, in the literary qualifications required 
 of intrants into the ministry," and it was carried in the negative by a 
 great majority. — 1785, p. 511. 
 
 C. To keep pace with the progress of society and letters. 
 
 Your Committee recommend to the General Assembly to enjoin it upon 
 all their Presbyteries to take the most effectual order in their power to 
 increase, if possible, the qualifications of candidates for the Gospel min- 
 istry with regard both to sincere piety and solid and extensive learning, 
 that the improvements of the pulpit may keep full pace with the prog- 
 ress of society and letters. — 1799, p. 181. 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 553 
 
 d. Letter to Rev. David Rice on thorough literary training for the 
 
 ministry. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes {Reprint), 1804, p. 299; Digest,l8S6, p. 367.] 
 
 2. Liberal education waived in certain cases. 
 
 a. Case of John Griffith that he might minister to the Welsh people. 
 
 That those of the Welsh here who testify to the Synod concerning his 
 useful preaching and pious conduct are known to be men of judgment 
 and integrity; and as the circumstances of that people are singular, and 
 bo other way appears in which they can enjoy ordinances, the Synod 
 agree that the said Mr. John Griffith, though he has not the measure of 
 school learning usually required, and which they judge to be ordinarily 
 requisite, be ordained to the work of the ministry, and appoint Messrs. 
 Samuel Davies, Dr. Allison, Treat Hunter and Kettletas, to be a Pres- 
 bytery pro re nata to ordain him. — 1759, p. 289. 
 
 [Note. — Mr. Griffith was accordingly ordained.] 
 
 b. Case of John Gloucester, a colored man. 
 
 In connection with a communication from the Presbytery of Union, it 
 w T as 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly highly approve the caution 
 and prudence of the Presbytery of Union in this case. 2. That consid- 
 ering the circumstances of this particular case — viz., the evidence of 
 unusual talents, discretion and piety possessed by John Gloucester — the 
 good reason there is to believe that he may be highly useful in preaching 
 the Gospel among those of his own color, and the various difficulties 
 likely to attend a further delay in proceeding in this case, the General 
 Assembly did and hereby do authorize the Presbytery of Philadelphia 
 to consider the case of John Gloucester, and if they think proper to 
 license him to preach the Gospel. — Minutes {Reprint), 1807, p. 387. 
 
 [Note.— Mr. Gloucester was licensed.] 
 
 3. Great caution prescribed in exceptional licensures. 
 
 Overture from the Trustees of Lincoln University in regard to the 
 licensure and the aid of young colored men seeking the ministry. To 
 this overture the Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 1. The General Assembly has no authority to modify the regulations 
 of our Form of Government, in respect to the qualifications of licenti- 
 ates, so as to make provision for any class of exceptional cases. At the 
 same time, the Assembly recognizes the propriety of the exercise, by 
 Presbyteries, of a wise discretion in their administration of the functions 
 entrusted to them by the Church, in view of the great work to be done 
 by our Church among the colored people in this country. The Assem- 
 bly specially accords such discretion to those Presbyteries which are 
 providentially brought into special relations to that work; meanwhile, in 
 view of the experience of several years, enjoining upon such Presbyteries 
 the obligation to take great care, lest any incompetent or unworthy men 
 be admitted into the ministry of our Church. Adopted. — 1876, p. 72. 
 
 4. In what cases aid shall be withdrawn. 
 
 [Note.— Amendment to Art. vi, Sec. iv, Rules of the Board of Education, p. 359.] 
 If at any time there be discovered in a student such defect in capacity, 
 diligence, and especially in piety, as would render his introduction in 
 
554 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 the ministry a doubtful measure, it shall be the sacred duty of the 
 nmunicate without delay the information received to the 
 Eda« imittee of his Presbytery: and if, on careful inquiry on the 
 
 part of the Presbytery, no satisfactory explanation of the defect can be 
 aed, or if no response be received by the Board from the Presbytery 
 or from their Committee on Education within the current quarter, it shall 
 be the dutv of the Board to withdraw their aid altogether. — I 
 p. 49. 
 
 5. A candidate must be a member of some particular 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Overture from a member of the Presbytery of Whitewater, asking:, 
 •• May Chap, xiv. Bee. iii. and first clause of our Form of Government 
 be so construed as to allow a Presbytery to license a member of a Meth- 
 J-. or Congregational, or other evangelical Church, without 
 his first becoming a member of a Presbyterian church ? Or does the 
 expression ' some particular church ' mean some particular Presbyte- 
 rian church ':" 
 
 The Committee recommend that, inasmuch as the candidate must be 
 under the care of the Presbytery, and promise to submit himself to its 
 iT'jVcrnment, the Assembly answer the overture in the negative, and 
 define the phr ie particular church" to mean some particular 
 
 Presbyterian church. Adopted. — 1-S74. p. , *4. 
 
 IV. Because it is highly reproachful to religion, and dangerous to the 
 Church, to entrust the holy ministry to weak and ignorant men, the 
 Presbytery shall try each candidate, as to his knowledge of the Latin 
 language, and the original languages in which the Holy Scriptures were 
 written. They shall also examine him on the arts and science 
 theology, natural and revealed; and on ecclesiastical history, the sacra- 
 ments, and church government. And in order to make trial of his 
 talents to explain and vindicate, and practically to enforce, the d- -ctrines 
 of the gospel, the Presbytery shall require of him, 
 
 1. A Latin exe_ — as me common head in divinity. 
 
 2. A critical exercise; in which the candidate shall give a specimen of 
 his taste and judgment in sacred criticism, presenting an explication of 
 the original text, stating its connection, illustrating its force and beauties, 
 removing its difficulties and solving any important questions which it 
 may present. 
 
 3. A lecture or exposition of several verses of Scripture and, 
 
 4. A popular sernioa. 
 
 1. The "Latin Exegesis " not stricken out. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Genesee, Geneva and Nassau, ask- 
 ing for an amendment to the Form of Government, with a view to the 
 omission of the Latin ea brom the parts of trial required at the 
 
 examination of probationers for the ministry. The Committee would 
 recommend that, as a sufficient relief is afforded by the right of Presby- 
 i make exce] seem needful to propose any consti- 
 
 mal amendment-. Adopted. — 1893, p. 71. 
 
or Lirzy?:: 
 
 2 Presbytery in iis:reri:z is :: 2. ?-:s:::_:e 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Utica, asking the General Assembly 
 
 : ::t : '..- I . - - : .: F;m : - -__ . . _ z.t. 
 
 Sec. It, so that the words, " The Latin exegesis on some common head of 
 divinity,"' be stricken out, and the following words substituted: 
 
 Tour Committee would recommend that this Overture be answered in 
 the negative, for the following reason: That Presbyteries are at liberty, 
 under our Constitution, to substitute such dissertation or essay at their 
 discretion. Adopted. — 1893, p. 117. 
 
 3 Examination in the English Bible ■auditory. 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly, acting under See. 6, Chap, zu, 
 
 i 1..- F:m : - iei-Iire- :!.:■: ~1- : ./^:: . l~:::_- 
 
 tional Rule having been adopted by a majority of die Presl -Tories is a 
 law of the Church, viz.: * 'Candidates for licensure, in addition to 
 
 .a- rz;.Li:L^Ti:^ :r - ml r-r I "::y '" 11-r x:~. St: - : :._t~:::_ :: V~t7z- 
 :_t_: si: II - ' . . _-. ■ - 1 :_t Zl_I:-I. I: \- 111 : -'_-"". -. re- 
 
 quired to exhibit a good knowledge of its contents and of the relation of 
 its separate pans and portions to each other/' Az. 111.1 - ^ - 
 
 ' '.-- : :iJ; - .- •.. II It zi:~ l« . : _-::: .:::._: '. 7. " - 
 
 _ : -nd shall be appended to the Constitution of the Church. 
 The Moderator announced that Constitutional Rule No. . had been 
 adopted and enacted, and was therefore a part of the la' 
 — I V p. 119. 
 
 V. Tzese, or other similar cxt-t :.: : he hscretian 
 
 -I. ■.".I 7 rii: ::- I v._::I :ifv >V/~ n~- .':::: :ei 
 the candidate's piety, literature and aptness to teach i 
 : — __i:_. i: :Lt Presi-yrery :i±ii 
 ■ir!i~rre.i in '.1- ;:::-::- :: 2. i-in^r^r.n 
 
 L Examination in the Catechisms reeommi 
 XhaJ the Presl :es be required to see that th 
 
 H-t-ISMTt It -ri Tf r>r I "._ ZL-. " ~tII I /. : _ 
 
 tare proof texts Adopted.— 1868, p. 654, - 
 VL Hat the n:«sr effectual measures may be taken 
 
 zm : niss: - : :_~ irz --' : ..-■_ :"_- : i- - . - I :zi:-e. : 
 zm n : .1^1.1111.11 -zi.-.' . 111 tI ill '. 1 _:__..: ~ ."j.s-T'5. t 
 after his having completed the usual course of acade 
 shall have studied divinitv at least two Tears under some 
 
 — ..i • ,.-r 
 
 1. Effort to extend the time of study to tiu 
 
 a. On motion, Renlwed, That it be recommended to 
 
 •es of this Church to consider whether it would be 
 
 the time necessary for young men to apply to the study* 
 
 ti.r~ t 1.1^-1 '.1 IT.l..- '. 111-- -'-1.1- .11 Ir-fiST. 1:11 I '. ' >t! 
 
 their opinion to the next General Assembly. — 1792. p. 
 
 ; " 7 : — - ; .- . - ; 
 
556 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 b. Rule of a lower judicature unconstitutional. 
 
 The records (of the Synod of New York and New Jersey) were 
 approved, except a vote of that Synod by which they determine it to be 
 constitutional for that Synod to enact, " That, in future, candidates who 
 have the Gospel ministry in view be required to attend to the study of 
 divinity at least three years before licensure, ' ' which vote was determined 
 by the Assembly to be unconstitutional.— 1792, p. 59. 
 
 C. Overture sent down, but not adopted. 
 
 Overture No. 6 was taken up, viz. : Kequests from several Presbyteries 
 that the sixth section of Chap, xiv of our Form of Government might 
 be sent down to the Presbyteries to be so altered as to read ' ' to study 
 theology at least three years, etc." The overtures were read, and it was 
 resolved that the proposed alteration be sent down as an overture to the 
 Presbyteries, and that the Presbyteries be required to send up their 
 answer to this overture in writing to the next General Assembly. — 
 1835, p. 475. 
 
 [Note. — To this overture, in 1836, thirty-five answered in the affirmative and 
 twenty in the negative. Not a majority. The overture was again referred to the 
 Presbyteries, and in 1837 fifty-two Presbyteries reported in favor and thirty-eight 
 against. Still not a majority, and the matter was dropped.— 1836, p. 276 ; 1837. 
 p. 438.1 
 
 2. Full term of three years urgently recommended. 
 
 a. Resolved, That this Assembly entirely concur in the opinion ex- 
 pressed in the report of the Board of Directors of the theological semi- 
 nary at Princeton, that it is highly important that theological students 
 continue the full time of three years in the seminary, and complete the 
 whole course of studies prescribed in the plan. — 1834, p 437. 
 
 b. Resolved, 1. That this Assembly do approve of the resolution 
 passed by the Board of Directors at their late meeting with a view of 
 securing the attendance of students during a full course of theological 
 instruction in our seminary. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Assembly notice with regret the prevalence of 
 what they deem a serious evil, not only to the seminary, but to the 
 Church at large, in the number of students who annually leave the 
 institution before the prescribed course of studies is completed. And 
 they do earnestly recommend to the students, if practicable, to continue 
 the full time prescribed in the plan. — 1826, p. 179. 
 
 C. Resolved, That in the opinion of this house it is in general highly 
 inexpedient for candidates for the ministry to apply for licensure at such 
 a period of their course of study as would prevent them from finishing 
 the three years' plan of studies adopted and approved by former Assem- 
 blies.— 1843, p. 187, O. S. 
 
 3. A pledge to a three years' course not unconstitutional. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly are deeply impressed with the 
 importance of a thorough course of theological study, and would earn- 
 estly recommend to their Presbyteries to elevate the standard of education, 
 and that the rule of the Board of Education does not conflict with the 
 Constitution when it prescribes the time of study, inasmuch as the Con- 
 stitution makes two years the shortest time allowed to complete the course 
 of theological study, but does not prescribe the maximum. — 1844, p. 
 375, O. S. 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 557 
 
 4. Regulations as to extraordinary cases. 
 
 In respect to the ' ' extraordinary cases ' ' provided for in our Form of 
 Government, Chap, xiv, Sec. vi, the discretionary power vested in the 
 Presbyteries should be exercised with great caution and with supreme 
 regard to the welfare of the entire Church. Wherever the full collegiate 
 course is found to be impracticable, the student should be required to 
 pursue, not a short or partial, but a full course of three years in some 
 theological institution, and this course should be introduced, wherever 
 possible, by at least one year of special preparatory training. The candi- 
 date for such exceptional course should be not less than twenty -five years 
 of age, of special promise as to talents and capacity for usefulness, and 
 of approved piety, having a fair degree of education, and so circum- 
 stanced providentially, that he can prosecute to the end whatever studies 
 the Presbytery may prescribe. As cases of this kind are presenting 
 themselves in considerable numbers, our theological seminaries are 
 advised to provide suitable courses of study in which the full period of 
 three years may be profitably employed, and are authorized to receive 
 such persons under their instruction when they are duly approved by the 
 Presbyteries. The Presbyteries are also hereby required to make a full 
 record of their action in each instance of this class, including a statement 
 of the several exceptions allowed and this record should be furnished to 
 the faculty of the institution where such student is received. — 1891, 
 p. 177. 
 
 [Note.— See under Sec. xi, 2 and 3, p. 559. 
 
 See, also, report in full of "the special committee to which was referred the report 
 of the special committee on increasing the number of ministers." — Minutes, 1891, 
 pp. 167-178.] 
 
 VII. If the Presbytery be satisfied with his trials, they shall then 
 proceed to license him in the following manner: The moderator shall pro- 
 pose to him the following questions: viz. 
 
 1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be 
 the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice ? 
 
 2. Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this 
 Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures ? 
 
 3. Do you promise to study the peace, unity, and purity of the Church? 
 
 4. Do you promise to submit yourself, in the Lord, to the government 
 of this Presbytery, or of any other Presbytery in the bounds of which 
 you may be called ? 
 
 1. Form for licensing local evangelists. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Troy, asking the Assembly to provide 
 a form for the licensing of local evangelists. It is recommended that the 
 form for licensing probationers for the Gospel ministry, Chap, xiv, Sec. 
 vii, of the Form of Government, be followed as far as paragraph (4), for 
 which paragraph shall be substituted the following: " Do you promise 
 to submit yourself in the Lord to the government of this Presbytery 
 during the period of your service in it as a local evangelist ?" And in 
 Sec. viii, where occurs the formula of licensure, for the phrase, 
 ' ' Wherever God in His providence may call you, ' ' substitute the 
 
558 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIV. 
 
 phrase " Within the bounds of this Presbytery." Adopted. — 1894, 
 p. 88. 
 
 [Note.— See, also, under Constitutional Rule No. 1, p. 330.] 
 
 VIII. The candidate having answered these questions in the affirma- 
 tive, and the moderator having offered up a prayer suitable to the occa- 
 sion, he shall address himself to the candidate to the following purpose : — 
 " In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by that authority which he 
 "hath given to the Church for its edification, we do license you to preach 
 ' ' the gospel, wherever God in his providence may call you : and for this 
 1 ' purpose, may the blessing of God rest upon you, and the Spirit of Christ 
 " fill your heart. — Amen /" And record shall be made of the licensure 
 in the following or like form: viz. 
 
 At the day of the Presbytery 
 
 of having received testimonials in favor of 
 
 of his having gone through a regular course of literature ; of his good 
 moral character; and of his being in the communion of the Church: 
 proceeded to take the usual parts of trial for his licensure : and he having 
 given satisfaction as to his accomplishments in literature ; as to his experi- 
 mental acquaintance with religion; and as to his proficiency in divinity 
 and other studies; the Presbytery did, and hereby do, express their 
 approbation of all these parts of trial: and he having adopted the Con- 
 fession of Faith of this Church, and satisfactorily answered the questions 
 appointed to be put to candidates to be licensed ; the Presbytery did, and 
 hereby do license him, the said to preach the gospel of 
 
 Christ, as a probationer for the holy ministry, within the bounds of this 
 Presbytery, or wherever else he shall be orderly called. 
 
 1. Record of licensure may be made in like form. 
 
 Is it right for a Clerk of Presbytery, in recording the licensure of a 
 candidate, to use any other form than that prescribed in the book ? 
 
 Answered in the affirmative. See above: " And record shall be made 
 of the licensure in like form." — 1866, p. 54, O. S. 
 
 IX. When any candidate for licensure shall have occasion, while his 
 trials are going on, to remove from the bounds of his own Presbytery 
 into those of another, it shall be considered as regular for the latter 
 Presbytery, on" his producing proper testimonials from the former, to take 
 up his trials at the point at which they were left, and conduct them to a 
 conclusion, in the same manner as if they had been commenced by them- 
 selves. 
 
 [Note. — See case of William J. Krieger, under Sec. ii, p. 550.] 
 
 X. In like manner, when any candidate, after licensure, shall, by the 
 permission of his Presbytery, remove without its limits, an extract of 
 the record of his licensure, accompanied with a Presbyterial recommenda- 
 tion, signed by the Clerk, shall be his testimonials to the Presbytery 
 under whose care he shall come. 
 
OF LICENSING CANDIDATES. 559 
 
 XI. When a licentiate shall have been preaching for a considerable 
 time, and his services do not appear to be edifying to the churches, the 
 Presbytery may, if they think proper, recall his license. 
 
 1. Limitation of the time to which a license shall extend to 
 
 four years. 
 Overture from the Synod of Philadelphia, asking the Assembly to define 
 more explicitly the relations of Presbyteries to their licentiates. Also, 
 from the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, and from the Presbytery of 
 Northumberland, on the same subject. 
 
 The Committee recommend the Assembly to adopt the following rules: 
 
 1. Every license to preach the Gospel shall expire at the end of the 
 period of four years, unless the candidate holding the same shall, before 
 the expiration of that time, be called to permanent labor in the work of 
 the Church. But the Presbytery under whose care such licentiate may 
 be, may, in its discretion, extend his license for the period of one year. 
 
 2. The Presbyteries are enjoined to take the oversight of their licen- 
 tiates and their vacant churches, bringing in the one for the supply of 
 the other, and, through the Home Missionary Committees of the Synods 
 to which the Presbyteries belong, to seek to introduce their candidates 
 to the widest fields of labor, and to furnish them full opportunity of 
 practically showing their fitness for the Christian ministry. Adopted. 
 —1872, p. 87. 
 
 2. Length of license of local evangelists. 
 
 a. Overture No. 65, from the Presbytery of St. Cloud, concerning the 
 interpretation of " Constitutional Kule No. 1." It is recommended that 
 Question 1 — "Is a Constitutional Rule of the same force as if it were 
 incorporated in the Form of Government? " — be answered in the affirm- 
 ative. That Question 2 — "Is the rule to be applied to all local evangel- 
 ists, making no discriminations as to the* man's general education, expe- 
 rience and adaptability to the work?" — be answered, The rule is gen- 
 eral in its application. That Question 3 — "Do the four years date from 
 the time of his being received under care of the Presbytery ' ' — be an- 
 swered, They date from the time of licensure. Adopted. — 1897, p. 133. 
 
 b. Overture No. 32, from the Presbytery of Saginaw, in reference to 
 "the plan of educating local evangelists." It is recommended that 
 while the employment of local evangelists is not to be altogether discon- 
 tinued, Presbyteries are hereby directed to comply exactly in this matter 
 with the regulations of Constitutional Rule No. 1, and the resolutions of 
 the General Assembly. Adopted. — 1897, p. 132. 
 
 [Note. — See for Constitutional Rule No. 1, p. 330.] 
 
 3. The above rule does not abridge the power of the Presbyteries 
 to license in extraordinary cases. 
 
 The Standing Committee on the Polity of the Church reported: 
 1. A memorial from the Presbytery of Columbus, asking this 
 General Assembly to define the action of the last General Assembly " in 
 limiting the term of licensure {Minutes, p. 87) as not referring to the 
 cases of laymen who are licensed with a view of their higher usefulness, 
 and not with a view to ordination. ' ' 
 
 The Committee recommend this minute as an answer, viz. : The Gen- 
 eral Assembly cannot sanction the practice of licensure as a means to 
 
560 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 attain a higher measure of usefulness merely, without aiming to reach 
 ordination, as this would be virtually to make two grades of preaching 
 officers. But the rules adopted by the last Assembly, to which the 
 memorial refers, should not be construed as abridging the power and 
 discretion of the Presbyteries to license probationers " in extraordinary 
 cases" (Form of Government, xiv, vi). Adopted. — 1873, p. 524. 
 
 4. Discretion of the Presbytery in granting and recalling licenses. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Westchester, asking the Assembly 
 to determine, 1. In what way the action of the General Assembly of 
 1872, in the matter of limiting licenses to preach (Digest, 1873, p. 401), 
 shall be applied to those who were licentiates at the time such action was 
 taken. 
 
 2. In what sense the words " extraordinary cases," in the action of 
 1873 on this subject (401), are to be understood. 
 
 3. To make an explicit deliverance, as to the powers of the General 
 Assembly over the functions of the Presbytery in granting and continu- 
 ing licenses to preach the Gospel. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 1. The action of the Assembly of 1872 requires that all licenses then 
 in force expire in four years from the date of that action. 
 
 2. The determination of the sense of the words " extraordinary 
 cases" must be left to the Presbytery, in connection with the circum- 
 stances of each case. 
 
 But it is clear that their reference is to the preparatory studies of the 
 candidates, and not to a class who had only a higher usefulness, and not 
 the ministry in view. 
 
 3. The Assembly has no power over the functions of the Presbytery 
 in granting and continuing licenses, save that of review and control. 
 Adopted.— 1874, pp. 81, 82. 
 
 5. Licentiates belong to the laity, and are subject to the Session. 
 
 The Committee to whom was recommitted Overture No. 1, viz.: The 
 question at what period of their preparatory course are candidates for the 
 Christian ministry to be considered as dismissed from the jurisdiction of 
 the Session and transferred to the Presbytery ? made a report, which, 
 being read and amended, was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, It appears necessary, in order to preserve the purity of the 
 Church, and uniformity of procedure in the judicatories under the care 
 of the General Assembly, that the manner of administering discipline to 
 candidates and licentiates for the Gospel ministry should be distinctly 
 specified; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That as the Word of God and the Constitution of the 
 Presbyterian Church recognize the distinction of laity and clergy, and a 
 system of procedure in discipline in some respects diverse, as the one or 
 the other of these orders of men is concerned, it becomes the judicato- 
 ries of the Church to guard against the violation of this principle in the 
 administration of discipline. 
 
 2. That although candidates and licentiates are in training for the 
 Gospel ministry, and in consequence of this are placed under the care of 
 Presbyteries, and in certain respects become immediately responsible to 
 them, yet they are to be regarded as belonging to the order of the laity 
 till they receive ordination to the whole work of the Gospel ministry. 
 
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562 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 Session of the Third Presbyterian Church in this city from the decision 
 of the Synod of Philadelphia, affirming a decision of the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia, by which the Presbytery directed the said Session, within 
 twenty days from the date of their decision, or after the final determina- 
 tion of the case, to convene the congregation for the purpose of electing 
 a pastor, was determined in the affirmative ; and Dr. Green, Dr. Neill 
 and Mr. Richards were appointed a Committee to prepare a minute stating 
 the principles on which the Assembly sustained the appeal. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare a statement of the principles and 
 grounds upon which the Assembly sustained the appeal of the Session of 
 the Third Presbyterian Church in this city reported, and their report, being 
 read and amended, was adopted in the words following, viz. : 
 
 That both to prevent misapprehension and to aid the congregations and 
 judicatures of this church in deciding on any similar cases that may 
 arise, the Assembly therefore declare, 
 
 I. That in vacant congregations which are fully organized the Session 
 of each congregation are to determine, under their responsibility to the 
 higher judicatures, when the congregation are prepared to elect a pastor, 
 as directed in the Form of Government of this Church, Chap, xv, 
 Sec. i. 
 
 II. That it is the duty of the Session, when a congregation is vacant, 
 to use their best endeavors to promote the settlement of a pastor in the 
 same, in the speediest manner possible, consistently with the peace, 
 order and edification of the congregation ; and it is the privilege of the 
 people, or of any portion of them, to complain to the Presbytery when 
 they think that the Session, after being suitably requested, neglect or 
 refuse to convene the congregation to elect a pastor. 
 
 III. That it belongs to the Presbyteries to take cognizance of the 
 proceedings of Sessions and congregations in the important concern of 
 settling pastors, and to adopt the most effectual measures on the one 
 hand to prevent all undue delay by the Session or the people, and on 
 the other to prevent all precipitancy in the settlement of any minister 
 or the adoption of any system of proceedings in the congregation incon- 
 sistent with the real and permanent edification of the people. 
 
 IV. That by the due and discreet observance of these principles by all 
 concerned it will be found that, so far from the Session of a congregation 
 having it in their power to deprive a majority of a congregation of their 
 right to make an election of a pastor when sought in an orderly and 
 Christian manner, or to keep a congregation unsettled for an indefinite 
 length of stime, the rights of the people will be most effectually secured, 
 and their precious and inalienable privilege of choosing their own pastor 
 will be exercised by them in the shortest period which their own real bene- 
 fit will permit. 
 
 V. That the conviction of this Assembly that the foregoing obvious 
 and constitutional principles had not been duly adhered to in the case 
 before them, that the congregation had not proceeded with a suitable 
 respect to the Session, and that the Presbytery did not adopt the most 
 suitable measure when they advised and directed the Session to convene 
 the congregation in twenty days, has led the Assembly to sustain this 
 appeal as the measure most constitutional, best calculated on the whole 
 to do justice to all the parties concerned, and to point the way to the most 
 speedy settlement of the unhappy differences and disorders which have 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 563 
 
 so long existed in the particular congregation immediately concerned. 
 —1814, pp. 559, 560. 
 
 II. When such a meeting is intended, the Session shall solicit the pres- 
 ence and counsel of some neighboring minister to assist them in conduct- 
 ing the election contemplated, unless highly inconvenient on account of 
 distance; in which case they may proceed without such assistance. 
 
 [Xote, — For answer to the question who may moderate a Session, see under Form 
 of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. iv, 2, a, 6, c, etc., p. 163.] 
 
 III. On a Lord's day, immediately after public worship, it shall be 
 intimated from the pulpit, that all the members of that eoogregation are 
 requested to meet on ensuing, at the church, or usual place 
 for holding public worship; then and there, if it be agreeable to them, 
 to proceed to the election of a pastor for that congregation. 
 
 IV. On the day appointed, the minister invited to preside, if he be 
 present, shall, if it be deemed expedient, preach a sermon; and after 
 sermon he shall announce to the people, that he will immediately proceed 
 to take the votes of the electors of that congregation, for a pastor, if 
 such be their desire : and when this desire shall be expressed by a major- 
 ity of voices, he shall then proceed to take votes accordingly. In this 
 election, no person shall be entitled to vote who refuses to submit to the 
 censures of the Church, regularly administered ; or who does not contrib- 
 ute his just proportion, according to his own engagements, or the rules of 
 that congregation, to all its necessary expenses. 
 
 1. Who may vote in the election of a pastor. 
 
 a. Action of the General Presbytery, 1711. 
 
 Agreed that none shall be allowed to vote for the calling of a minister 
 but those that shall contribute for the maintenance of him, and that the 
 major vote of these shall be determinative. — 1711, p. 24. 
 
 [Note. — The above decision of General Presbytery is inserted merely as history. 
 The present law of the Church is contained in Section 4, Chap, xv, Form of Govern- 
 ment, given above, which has been in force since 1788.] 
 
 b. The presiding officer may not disqualify voters whose standing has not 
 been impaired by judicial process. 
 
 When a meeting of a church duly called is held for the election of 
 elders, may the Moderator presiding at such meeting disqualify voters 
 whose standing has not been impaired by regular judicial process ? An- 
 swered in the negative. — 1896, p. 85. 
 
 Resolved, That neither the presiding officers of church or congrega- 
 tional meetings, nor the Sessions of churches, possess the power to deprive 
 communicant members in good standing of their right to vote at meetings 
 of the church or of the congregation, except by due process of law in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline — 1897, p. 139. 
 
 C. Right of voting not limited to communicants unless expressly so 
 
 declared. 
 In sustaining a complaint of R. J. Breckenridge, D.D., et al., 
 *' against the Synod of Kentucky in its action limiting the right of 
 
 is 
 
564 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 voting in the election of a pastor to communicating members of the 
 Church," the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint be sustained; but the Assembly in this 
 judgment does not intend to condemn a practice prevalent in some of our 
 congregations in which the right of voting for pastor is confined to 
 communicants. — 1863, p. 71, O. S. 
 
 d. Overture confining the vote to communicants not adopted. 
 
 Overture No. 3, being an overture from the Presbytery of Saline, ' ' in 
 favor of the enactment of a law requiring that in the election of pastors, 
 none be permitted to vote except communicants in good and regular 
 standing;" also, " that when any candidate is before a church, the 
 church shall determine whether he shall be called to the pastorate before 
 any other candidate shall be heard." 
 
 The Committee recommend for answer: That in regard to the first 
 point, the enactment of such a law would prohibit a usage quite exten- 
 sive among the churches, founded upon an interpretation of the present 
 law which has heretofore been sanctioned by the General Assembly. It 
 is, therefore, deemed inexpedient upon the application of a single Pres- 
 bytery to recommend such alteration in the Form of Government. In 
 regard to the second point, it need only be said that the authority asked 
 for is now possessed by each congregation, and may be exercised or not 
 at its pleasure; while to make such exercise binding by positive law 
 would deprive all congregations of a present liberty the use of which 
 seems wisely left to their discretion. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1867, p. 320, O. 8. 
 
 e. All communicant members have right to vote in electing a pastor. 
 
 Overture. — A resolution referred to them by the General Assembly: 
 
 Resolved, That it is the judgment of the General Assembly, that all 
 members of the church in full communion have the right to vote in the 
 election of pastor in the congregation with which they are connected. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the resolution be affirmed, subject to 
 the conditions mentioned in Sec. iv, Chap, xv, of the Form of Govern- 
 ment. Adopted.— 1879, p. 630. 
 
 2. That all communicant members in good standing, of whatever age 
 or sex, and, in addition, all non -communicants of full age who contribute 
 regularly to church support, in accordance with the rules of the congre- 
 gations, are qualified voters at meetings for the election of pastors — 1897, 
 p. 138. 
 
 f. Members of the congregation who contribute to the support of the 
 
 church entitled to vote in the election of a pastor. 
 
 ' A request from the Presbytery of New Castle for an answer to the 
 following question: '•' Have members of a congregation, not communi- 
 cants, who regularly contribute their due proportion of the necessary 
 expenses of the church and congregation, a right to vote in the election 
 of a pastor ?' ' The Committee recommend that the question be answered 
 in the affirmative, in accordance with previous deliverances — with this 
 special appended statement, that the usage of some congregations, which 
 confines the right of voting for a pastor to communicants, is wholly 
 legitimate, and might profitably become more prevalent. — 1886, p. 48. 
 That it is the right of each one of our congregations, under the Consti- 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 565 
 
 tion of the Church, to determine by rule the qualifications of non- com- 
 municants who are contributors to church expenses, as voters in the 
 election of pastors. — 1897, p. 138. 
 
 • g. Authoritative lists of voters. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the rolls of communicant members in good standing 
 in the possession of the clerks of Sessions and the lists of regular contribu- 
 tors in the possession of the secretary or treasurer of the Board of Trus- 
 tees, shall be the authoritative lists of voters at church and congregational 
 meetings.— 1897, p. 139. 
 
 V. When the votes are taken, if it appear that a large minority of 
 
 the people are averse from the candidate who has a majority of votes, 
 
 and cannot be induced to concur in the call, the presiding minister shall 
 
 endeavor to dissuade the congregation from prosecuting it further. But 
 
 if the people be nearly, or entirely, unanimous ; or if the majority shall 
 
 insist upon their right to call a pastor, the presiding minister, in that 
 
 case, after using his utmost endeavors to persuade the congregation to 
 
 unanimity, shall proceed to draw a call, in due form, and to have it 
 
 subscribed by the electors ; certifying at the same time, in writing, the 
 
 number and circumstances of those who do not concur in the call : all 
 
 which proceedings shall be laid before the Presbytery, together with the 
 
 call. 
 
 [Note. — The presiding minister should see to it that the call is made in all respects in 
 conformity with the provisions of Chap, xv, Form of Government (see p. 568), that 
 the persons signing the call are empowered to do so by the vote of the congregation, 
 and so certify the Presbytery by his indorsement upon the call.] 
 
 VI. The call shall be in the following or like form ; viz. 
 
 The congregation of being, on sufficient grounds, well 
 
 satisfied of the ministerial qualifications of you and having 
 
 good hopes, from our past experience of your labors, that your ministra- 
 tions in the gospel will be profitable to our spiritual interests, do earnestly 
 call and desire you to undertake the pastoral office in said congregation ; 
 promising you, in the discharge of your duty, all proper support, encour- 
 agement and obedience in the Lord. And that you may be free from 
 worldly cares and avocations, we hereby promise and oblige ourselves 
 to pay to you the sum of in regular quarterly (or half 
 
 yearly, or yearly) payments, during the time of your being and continuing 
 the regular pastor of this church. In testimony whereof, we have respec- 
 tively subscribed our names, this day of A. D. 
 
 Attested by A. D., moderator of the meeting. 
 
 1. Early action. Glebe and parsonage recommended. 
 
 That in every congregation a Committee be appointed, who shall twice 
 in every year collect the minister's stipend and lay his receipts before the 
 Presbytery preceding the Synod, and at the same time that ministers 
 give an account of their diligence in visiting and catechising their 
 people. 
 
566 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 The Synod recommends that a glebe, with a convenient house and 
 necessary improvements, be provided for every minister. — 1766, p. 359. 
 [Note.— See, also, under No. 5, p. 567.] 
 
 2. Adequate provision to be urged. 
 
 The Assembly enjoins it upon all the Presbyteries " that they will 
 endeavor, as far as the state of society in different parts of our Church 
 will permit, to withdraw the ministers of the Gospel from every worldly 
 avocation for the maintenance of themselves and families, that they may 
 devote themselves entirely to the work of the ministry; and that for this 
 end they labor to convince the people of the advantage that will accrue 
 to themselves from making such adequate provision for the support of 
 their teachers and pastors, that they may be employed wholly in their 
 sacred calling; and in those places where it may be found prudent and 
 practicable, that they devise means to have the contracts between congre- 
 gations and pastors examined in the Presbyteries at stated periods, 
 inquiries instituted with regard to the reciprocal fulfillment of duties and 
 engagements, and endeavors used to promote punctuality and fidelity in 
 both parties, before distress on one side or complaint on the other grow to 
 a height unfavorable to the interests of religion. — 1799, pp. 181, 182. 
 
 3. Liberality in support of the ministry urged. 
 
 a. The following preamble and resolution, proposed by Elder Walter 
 S. Griffith, was unanimously adopted: 
 
 Whereas, It is highly important to our churches that they be served 
 by competent ministers, who shall be free from worldly cares and avoca- 
 tions; whereas, the law of Christ expressly declares " that they which 
 preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel," and that he " that is 
 taught in the Word ' ' should ' ' communicate unto him that teacheth in 
 all good things," thus making it the solemn duty, as it is clearly the 
 interest, of Christian churches to provide for their ministers a competent 
 and liberal support; whereas, the cost of the necessities of life has 
 advanced so greatly as to render the salaries heretofore paid to many of 
 our ministers entirely inadequate, causing to them and to their families 
 great anxiety and distress ; and whereas, this subject demands at this time, 
 and should not fail to attract, the special attention of every Christian ; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly earnestly exhort all the churches 
 under their care to consider this question in the spirit of Christian fidelity 
 and liberality, and to make ample provision for those who minister to 
 them in word and doctrine, stipulating so to increase their compensation, 
 when necessary, as to make their salaries fully adequate to their com- 
 fortable support, in view of the enhanced expenses of living, and paying 
 the amount agreed upon with honorable and Christian promptitude. — 
 1854, p. 499, N. S. 
 
 b. A memorial from the Synod of New York on the subject of min- 
 isterial support was referred to a Committee exclusively of elders, one 
 from each Synod. 
 
 Judge Fine, from the Special Committee on Ministerial Support, 
 presented a report, which was read, amended and adopted, the resolu- 
 tions being as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That we affectionately and earnestly recommend to the 
 churches under our care that they scrupulously avoid holding out any 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 567 
 
 inducements to a minister to become their stated supply, or settled pastor,, 
 which will not be realized. 
 
 2. Resolved, That we earnestly recommend to every Presbytery that, 
 unless suitable provision be made for the support of a minister or stated 
 supply, they decline to give their aid or sanction, as a Presbytery, to 
 settle him in any congregation which is able to furnish such suitable 
 provision. 
 
 3. Resolved, That we recommend to the elders and deacons and trus- 
 tees of our churches and congregations to meet together on some day 
 before the first of November next, and yearly thereafter, or oftener if 
 necessary, and institute the inquiry whether the minister or stated supply 
 is properly and fully supported, and if they find that he is not so sup- 
 ported, to take immediate measures to increase his support, and report to 
 their Presbytery at its next meeting. 
 
 4. Resolved, That we recommend to the Presbyteries to require of 
 every minister to preach on the subject of ministerial support — " that, 
 laying aside all false delicacy, they enlighten their people upon this as 
 upon any other branch of Christian duty, pleading not for themselves, 
 but for their Master, if happily they may reclaim their respective charges 
 from a grievous sin which must bring down God's displeasure" — and 
 that the Presbyteries call upon every minister to answer whether he has 
 complied with their injunction. — 1854, p. 40, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — For the report accompanying the resolutions and ordered to be published 
 and read in the churches, see Baird's Digest, revised edition, pp. 199-203.] 
 
 4. Presbytery may refuse to install when the salary is insufficient. 
 
 From the church of Paris, HI. : " When a congregation and minister 
 agree on the amount of salary to be paid and received, and both parties, 
 being fully satisfied, request that the pastoral relation be constituted 
 according to the order of the Presbyterian Church, has Presbytery the 
 right to refuse to install because, in their judgment, the salary is insuffi- 
 cient?" Answered in the affirmative.— 1855, pp. 272, 282, O. S. 
 
 5. Congregations urged to procure parsonages. 
 
 a. For the purpose of facilitating the settlement and support of pas- 
 tors and to guard more effectually against the . temptation, or almost 
 necessity, as in some cases seems to exist, for ministers to involve them- 
 selves, to the injury of their usefulness, in procuring accommodations 
 for themselves and families, 
 
 1. Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to our churches, wher- 
 ever it is expedient and practicable, to provide suitable parsonages for 
 the accommodation of their pastors. 
 
 2. Resolved, That great care be taken to have these parsonages so 
 guarded by legal arrangements as most effectually to prevent controversy 
 and secure their perpetual enjoyment by the churches providing them for 
 the continued support of the Gospel through coming generations. — 1843, 
 p. 193, O. S. 
 
 b. Resolved, 2. That the Presbyteries be instructed to appoint Stand- 
 ing Committees on Manses, so that the subject may be brought regularly 
 and statedly before them for consideration, and that information may be 
 disseminated widely among the churches. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That ministers and elders be requested to press this 
 matter upon the attention of the churches and people, and strive to create 
 
568 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 and extend a healthy state of mind and feeling on the subject, and stimu- 
 late them in the effort to provide manses, and, even in those churches 
 where the way may not be clear to build at once, urge upon them the 
 work of preparation by securing suitable lots of ground for building when 
 the proper time may come, and that such provision of ground, whether 
 in town or country, should be on a liberal scale. — 1872, p. 37. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government Chap, xii, Sec. v (p. 377), under the head of 
 "Manses.''] 
 
 VII. But if any congregation shall choose to subscribe their call by 
 their elders and deacons, or by their trustees, or by a select committee, 
 they shall be at liberty to do so. But it shall, in such case, be fully 
 certified to the Presbytery, by the minister, or other person who presided, 
 that the persons signing have been appointed, for that purpose, by a 
 public vote of the congregation ; and that the call has been, in all other 
 respects, prepared as above directed. 
 
 VIII. When a call shall be presented to any minister or candidate, it 
 shall always be viewed as a sufficient petition from the people for his 
 installment. The acceptance of a call, by a minister or candidate, shall 
 always be considered as a request, on his part, to be installed at the same 
 time. And when a candidate shall be ordained in consequence of a call 
 from any congregation, the Presbytery shall, at the same time, if prac- 
 ticable, install him pastor of that congregation. 
 
 1. Installation of pastors elect insisted on, and none to be designated 
 as P. E. whose call has not been regularly acted on. 
 
 The Committee of Bills and Overtures reported the following resolu- 
 tion: 
 
 Whereas, It is commonly reported that in several of our Presbyteries 
 the custom prevails, first, of permitting ministers who have received calls 
 from churches to serve such churches through a series of years without 
 installation; and, secondly, of placing the names of such ministers in 
 the statistical tables as pastors elect (P.E.); and, 
 
 Whereas, Such customs are manifestly inconsistent with the express 
 requirements or implications of Form of Government, Chaps, xv, viii, 
 and xvi, iii; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That all our Presbyteries be enjoined: 
 
 1. To take order that as soon as possible after a licentiate or ordained 
 minister has been called by a church and the call been approved and 
 accepted such person be installed as pastor of the church calling him. 
 
 2. To place the names of none in the statistical tables as pastors elect 
 (P. E. ) whose calls have not been regularly approved by the Presbytery 
 having charge of the church issuing the call, and who have not 
 signified their acceptance thereof and readiness for installation. 
 Adopted.— 1886, p. 56. 
 
 IX. The call, thus prepared, shall be presented to the Presbytery, 
 under whose care the person called shall be ; that, if the Presbytery 
 think it expedient to present the call to him, it may be accordingly pre- 
 sented : and no minister or candidate shall receive a call but through the 
 hands of the Presbytery. 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 569 
 
 1. The Presbytery may refuse to permit a call. 
 
 a. The unfinished business of yesterday, viz., an appeal from a 
 decision of the Synod of Philadelphia, affirming a decision of the Pres- 
 bytery of Carlisle, in which decision the Presbytery resolved not to put 
 into his hands a call for the Rev. Henry R. Wilson from the congrega- 
 tion of Carlisle. 
 
 Resolved, That the decision of the Synod of Philadelphia be affirmed. 
 And it was accordingly affirmed. — 1814, p. 548. 
 
 b. The business left unfinished yesterday was resumed, viz., the consid- 
 eration of the appeal of the Presbytery of Hudson from a decision of the 
 Synod of New York and New Jersey, reversing a decision of said Pres- 
 bytery, by which the Presbytery determined not to give leave to the 
 congregation of Goodwill to prosecute before the Presbytery of New 
 York a call which they had prepared for the Rev. William Gray, a 
 member of that Presbytery. 
 
 It was moved and seconded that the appeal of the Presbytery of Hud- 
 son be sustained. After a full discussion of the subject, the question 
 being taken on this motion, it was determined in the affirmative, and the 
 appeal was therefore sustained. — 1817, p. 644. 
 
 C. No. 1 is an appeal and complaint of the Rev. Mr. Edgar from the 
 action of the Synod of Erie, sustaining the action of the Presbytery of 
 Clarion in refusing to put a call from the church of Collinsburgh into 
 his hands. The Judicial Committee recommend that, as the General 
 Assembly have repeatedly decided that Presbyteries have discretionary 
 power in such cases (see Digest, pp. 548, 549), which decisions are 
 clearly in accordance with the Form of Government (see Chap, xv, 
 Sec. ix), therefore, the appeal and complaint be dismissed. Adopted. 
 —1875, p. 510. 
 
 [Note. — Cases involving discretionary power now end with the Synod.] 
 
 X. If the call be to a licentiate of another Presbytery, in that case 
 
 the commissioners deputed from the congregation to prosecute the call, 
 
 shall produce, to that judicatory, a certificate from their own Presbytery, 
 
 regularly attested by the moderator and clerk, that the call has been laid 
 
 before them, and that it is in order. If that Presbytery present the call 
 
 to their licentiate, and he be disposed to accept it, they shall then dismiss 
 
 him from their jurisdiction, and require him to repair to that Presbytery, 
 
 into the bounds of which he is called ; and there to submit himself to the 
 
 usual trials preparatory to ordination. 
 
 [Note. — To facilitate the business and avoid expense and delay, it has become 
 common usage for the candidate to obtain a dismission to the Presbytery within 
 whose bounds the congregation seeking his services is located ; then being received by 
 that Presbytery, the proceedings are as in the case of their own candidates.] 
 
 XI. Trials for ordination, especially in a different Presbytery from 
 that in which the candidate was licensed, shall consist of a careful 
 examination as to his acquaintance with experimental religion; as to his 
 knowledge of philosophy, theology, ecclesiastical history, the Greek and 
 Hebrew languages, and such other branches of learning as to the Pres- 
 bytery may appear requisite; and as to his knowledge of the constitution, 
 the rules and principles of the government and discipline of the church ; 
 
570 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 together with such written discourse, or discourses, founded on the word of 
 God as to the Presbytery shall seem proper. The Presbytery, being 
 fully satisfied with his qualifications for the sacred office, shall appoint a 
 day for his ordination, which ought to be, if convenient, in that church 
 of which he is to be the minister. It is also recommended that a fast 
 day be observed in the congregation previous to the day of ordination. 
 
 1. Ordination on the Sabbath discouraged, but at the discretion of 
 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 An overture was received from the Presbytery of Orange, requesting the 
 opinion of the General Assembly on the question whether it be proper 
 to ordain licentiates to the office of the Gospel ministry on the Sabbath 
 day. The General Assembly think it would not be for edification to 
 adopt a uniform rule on the subject. In general they think it is not 
 expedient that ordinations should take place on the Sabbath, yet that 
 there may be cases in which urgent or peculiar circumstances may 
 demand them. The Assembly, therefore, judged it best to leave it to the 
 Presbyteries to act in this concern as they may judge that their duty 
 requires. — 1821, p. 10. 
 
 XII. The day appointed for ordination being come, and the Presby- 
 tery convened, a member of the Presbytery, previously appointed to that 
 duty, shall preach a sermon adapted to the occasion. The same, or 
 another member appointed to preside, shall afterward briefly recite from 
 the pulpit, in the audience of the people, the proceedings of the Presby- 
 tery preparatory to this transaction : he shall point out the nature and 
 importance of the ordinance ; and endeavor to impress the audience with 
 a proper sense of the solemnity of the transaction. 
 
 Then, addressing himself to the candidate, he shall propose to him the 
 following questions, viz. : 
 
 1. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to 
 be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice ? 
 
 2. Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith of this 
 Church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures ? 
 
 3. Do you approve of the government and discipline of the Presby- 
 terian Church in these United States ? 
 
 4. Do you promise subjection to your brethren in the Lord ? 
 
 5. Have you been induced, as far as you know your own heart, to seek 
 the office of the holy ministry from love to God, and a sincere desire to 
 promote his glory in the gospel of his Son? 
 
 6. Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in maintaining the truths 
 of the gospel, and the purity and peace of the Church ; whatever perse- 
 cution or opposition may arise unto you on that account ? 
 
 7. Do you engage to be faithful and diligent in the exercise of all 
 private and personal duties, which become you as a Christian and a min- 
 ister of the gospel; as well as in all relative duties, and the public 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 571 
 
 duties of your office; endeavoring to adorn the profession of the gospel 
 by your conversation ; and walking with exemplary piety before the flock 
 over which God shall make you overseer ? 
 
 8. Are you now willing to take the charge of this congregation, agree- 
 ably to your declaration at accepting their call ? And do you promise to 
 discharge the duties of a pastor to them, as God shall give you strength ? 
 
 1. The assent embraces the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 
 
 Overture No. 1. — The following inquiry from members of the Presby- 
 tery of Nashville: " When ministers and other officers are ordained in 
 the Presbyterian Church, and give an affirmative answer to the question, 
 Do you sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of this Church as 
 containing the system of doctrines taught in the Holy Scriptures ? are 
 such ministers and officers to be understood as embracing and assenting 
 to the doctrines, principles, precepts and statements contained in the 
 Larger and Shorter Catechisms in the same unqualified sense in which 
 they are understood to embrace and assent to the doctrines, principles, 
 precepts and statements contained in other parts of the Confession of 
 Faith ?" 
 
 The Committee recommended that the question be answered in the 
 affirmative; and the recommendation was adopted. — 1848, p. 18, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, No. 4, p. 8, this Digest.] 
 
 2. Ordination by a commission is unconstitutional. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 190 ; Minutes, 1894, 
 p. 76.] 
 
 XIII. The candidate having answered these questions in the affirma- 
 tive, the presiding minister shall propose to the people the following 
 questions : — 
 
 1. Do you, the people of this congregation, continue to profess your 
 readiness to receive whom you have called to be your 
 minister ? 
 
 2. Do you promise to receive the word of truth from his mouth, with 
 meekness and love; and to submit to him in the due exercise of disci- 
 pline ? 
 
 3. Do you promise to encourage him in his arduous labor, and to 
 assist his endeavors for your instruction and spiritual edification ? 
 
 4. And do you engage to continue to him, while he is your pastor, that 
 competent worldly maintenance which you have promised; and whatever 
 else you may see needful for the honor of religion, and his comfort among 
 you ? 
 
 XIV. The people having ansAvered these questions in the affirmative, 
 by holding up their right hands, the candidate shall kneel down in the 
 most convenient part of the church. Then the presiding minister shall, 
 by prayer, and with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery, 
 according to the apostolic example, solemnly ordain him to the holy 
 office of the gospel ministry. Prayer being ended, he shall rise from his 
 
572 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XV. 
 
 knees; and the minister who presides shall first, and afterward all the 
 members of the Presbytery in their order, take him by the right hand, 
 saying, in words to this purpose, " We give you the right hand of 
 fellowship, to take part of this ministry with us. ' ' After which the minis- 
 ter presiding, or some other appointed for the purpose, shall give a solemn 
 charge in the name of God, to the newly ordained bishop, and to the 
 people, to persevere in the discharge of their mutual duties; and shall 
 then, by prayer, recommend them both to the grace of God, and his holy 
 keeping, and finally, after singing a psalm, shall dismiss the congrega- 
 tion with the usual blessing. And the Presbytery shall duly record the 
 transaction. 
 
 1. Lay ordination invalid. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 15, viz., on ordi- 
 nation by a deposed minister or by laymen, made the following report, 
 which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That this paper contains a letter from a minister in South Carolina to 
 the Stated Clerk, requesting him to obtain a decision of the General 
 Assembly on the question, " whether the ordination of a minister of the 
 Gospel by the interposition of the hands of the laity is valid ?" 
 
 That the answer to this question should be in the negative is so obvi- 
 ous and evident on all correct principles of ecclesiastical order, that your 
 Committee are of opinion that it is unnecessary for the General Assem- 
 bly to give any further consideration to the subject. — 1832, p. 366. 
 
 2. Elders not to participate in the ordination of ministers by the 
 
 laying on of hands. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, v, " Of Ruling Elders." d. 149 
 
 No. 9.1 
 
 3. An elder, being Moderator of Presbytery, cannot preside at the 
 ordination of a minister, nor propound the constitutional ques- 
 tions, nor take part in the laying on of hands of the Presbytery, 
 nor make the ordaining prayer. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Freeport, asking: Can an elder, 
 being Moderator of Presbytery, preside at the ordination of a minister, 
 propound the constitutional questions, take part in the laying on of the 
 hands of the Presbytery, and make the ordaining prayer ? 
 
 Answer: The Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xii, speaks of " a 
 member of Presbytery appointed to preside ' ' at the ordination of a 
 minister. Sec. xiii refers to this officer as ' ' the presiding minister. ' ' 
 Sec. xiv says, ' ' the presiding minister shall by prayer and with the 
 laying on of the hands of the Presbytery .... solemnly ordain." 
 That this ' ' laying on of hands ' ' does not include the elders is clear 
 from the subsequent record, that all the members take the newly ordained 
 minister by the hand, saying, ' * We give you the right hand of fellow- 
 ship, to take part of this ministry with us." 
 
 The Assembly therefore answers that " an elder being Moderator of 
 Presbytery" cannot preside at the ordination of a minister, nor pro- 
 pound the constitutional questions, nor take part in the laying on of the 
 hands of the Presbytery, nor make the ordaining prayer. Adopted. — 
 1890, p. 113. 
 
ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF PASTORS. 573 
 
 4. The part which ministers of other bodies may take in 
 ordinations and installations. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Zanesville, on the part which minis- 
 ters of other bodies may take in Presbyterial proceedings in ordinations 
 and installations. Your Committee would recommend the following 
 answer: The spirit of the directions of our Form of Government indi- 
 cates that, in all ordinary cases, the charges should be given by members 
 of the Presbytery; recognizing, however, the episcopal power of the 
 Presbytery to deal with special cases as discretion may direct. Adopted. 
 —1893, p. 71. 
 
 XV. As it is sometimes desirable and important that a candidate who 
 has not received a call to be the pastor of a particular congregation, should, 
 nevertheless, be ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, as an evan- 
 gelist to preach the gospel, administer sealing ordinances, and organize 
 churches, in frontier or destitute settlements; in this case, the last of the 
 preceding questions shall be omitted, and the following used as a substi- 
 tute : — viz. 
 
 Are you now willing to undertake the work of an evangelist; and do 
 you promise to discharge the duties which may be incumbent on you in 
 this character as God shall give you strength ? 
 
 1. Ordination as an evangelist to labor in feeble churches. 
 
 Is it or is it not in accordance with the principles of the Presbyterian 
 Church to ordain evangelists to labor in fields having feeble churches 
 which are not able to support a pastor, and are too remote conveniently 
 to secure the services of an ordained minister ? 
 
 To ordain evangelists under the specified circumstances is in accord-' 
 ance with the practice of the Church, and is no infraction of any of its 
 laws.— 1850, p. 454, O. S. 
 
 2. Ordination of a licentiate who proposed to continue teaching. 
 
 The Presbytery of Philadelphia submitted to the Assembly for their 
 decision the case of Mr. John Jones, a licentiate under their care, who at 
 their last sessions had requested that the Presbytery would take measures 
 to ordain him sine titulo. The Presbytery stated that Mr. Jones had 
 been a licensed candidate for a number of years ; that he had always 
 sustained a good and consistent character; that he was engaged in teach- 
 ing an academy, and was so circumstanced that his being ordained might 
 render him more extensively useful. The Assembly having considered 
 the case, 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of Philadelphia be permitted and 
 authorized to ordain Mr. Jones to the work of the Gospel ministry sine 
 titulo, provided the Presbytery, from a full view of his qualifications and 
 other attending circumstances, shall think it expedient so to ordain him. 
 —1807, p. 386. 
 
 3. Presbyteries should not ordain the candidates of other 
 Presbyteries. 
 
 1. That it be earnestly recommended to all our Presbyteries not to 
 ordain sine titulo any men who propose to pursue the work of their min- 
 istry in any sections of the country where a Presbytery is already organ- 
 ized to which they may go as licentiates and receive ordination. 
 
574 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XVI. 
 
 2. That the several bodies with which we are in friendly correspon- 
 dence in the New England States be respectfully requested to use their 
 counsel and influence to prevent the ordination, by any of their councils 
 or consociations, of men who propose to pursue the work of the ministry 
 within the bounds of any Presbytery belonging to the General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church, and that the delegates from this Assembly 
 to those bodies respectively be charged with communicating this resolu- 
 tion.— 1834, p. 428. 
 
 4. Ordination sine titulo. 
 
 The Synod would bear testimony against the late too common, and now 
 altogether unnecessary, practice of some Presbyteries in the north of 
 Ireland, viz. , their ordaining men to the ministry sine titulo immediately 
 before they come over hither, thereby depriving us of our just rights, 
 viz., that we, unto whom they are designed to be co-presbyters, and 
 among whom they design to bestow their labors, should have just and 
 fair inspecting into their qualifications; we say it seems necessary that 
 the Synod bear testimony against such practice by writing home to the 
 General Synod, thereby signifying our dissatisfaction with the same. — 
 1735, p. 119. 
 
 [Note.— See for particular cases, Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 413-415. The early usage 
 was for the Presbytery proposing to ordain a licentiate sine titulo to ask the consenc of 
 the General Synod, and after 1789 of the General Assembly. Minutes, 1764, p. 337 ; 1775, 
 p. 465 ; 1795, p. 98 ; 1798, p. 146 ; 1799, p. 172 ; 1805, p. 337 ; 1809, p. 415 ; 1810, p. 459.] 
 
 5. Ordination sine titulo. Overture on rejected. 
 
 a. The following overture was brought in and read, viz. : 
 
 In what cases, except the one provided for in the fifteenth chapter of 
 the Constitution of our Church, may a Presbytery ordain a man to the 
 work of the Gospel ministry without a call to a particular charge ? — 
 1810, p. 456. 
 
 This overture was referred to Drs. Miller and Green, Messrs. Nathan, 
 Grier, Anderson and Campbell, as a Committee. — 1811, p. 464. 
 
 This Committee reported as follows, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, There may exist cases in which it may be needful for Pres- 
 byteries to ordain without a regular call ; but as the frequent exercise of 
 this power may be dangerous to the Church, and as this case does not 
 appear to be fully provided for in our Constitution and Book of Disci- 
 pline, 
 
 Resolved, That the following rule be submitted to the Presbyteries for 
 their opinion and approbation , which, when sanctioned by a majority 
 of the Presbyteries belonging to the Church, shall become a constitutional 
 rule, viz. : 
 
 That it shall be the duty of Presbyteries when they think it necessary 
 to ordain a candidate without a call to a particular congregation or con- 
 gregations to take the advice of their respective Synods or of the 
 General Assembly before they proceed to this ordination. — 1811, p. 474. 
 
 Answered in the negative — 11 to 7 — and the subject dismissed. — 1812, 
 p. 494. 
 
 b. In 1813 another rule was proposed, viz. : The rule proposed and on 
 which an affirmative or negative vote of the Presbyteries is required is 
 in the following words, viz. : 
 
 It shall be the duty of Presbyteries, when they think it necessary to 
 ordain a candidate without a call to a particular pastoral charge to take 
 
OF TRANSLATION OR REMOVING A MINISTER. 575 
 
 the advice of a Synod or of the General Assembly before they proceed 
 to such ordination. — 1813, p. 524. 
 
 Of the Presbyteries answering this overture twenty- six replied in the 
 negative and four in the affirmative. — 1814, p. 558. 
 
 6. Censure of Synod for ordination sine titulo not sustained. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Illinois were, on the recommendation of 
 the Committee, approved, with the exception of a censure, on p. 209, of 
 the action of Knox Presbytery, for ordaining a man when there was no 
 call from any part of the Church.— 1843, p. 17, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— The whole matter is at the discretion of the Presbytery.] 
 
 7. Missionaries may not ordain ministers. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 7, p. 194, this Digest.'] 
 
 8. Nor organize a church within the limits of a Presbytery without 
 leave of the Presbytery. 
 No church shall be organized by a missionary within the limits of any 
 Presbytery, unless authority has previously been obtained from the Pres- 
 bytery.— 1883, p. 644. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OF TRANSLATION OR REMOVING A MINISTER FROM 
 ONE CHARGE TO ANOTHER. 
 
 I. No bishop shall be translated from one church to another, nor shall 
 he receive any call for that purpose, but by permission of the Presbytery. 
 
 1. Removal without consent of Presbytery. 
 
 The Presbytery of East Jersey having reported that Mr. John Cross 
 has, without the concurrence of Presbytery, removed from one congre- 
 gation to another, the Synod do declare that the conduct of such minis- 
 ters .... that take charge of any congregation without the Presby- 
 teries' concurrence, to be disorderly and justly worthy of Presbyterial 
 censure, and do admonish said Mr. Cross to be no further chargeable 
 with such irregularities in the future. — 1735, p. 115. 
 
 II. Any church desiring to call a settled minister from his present 
 charge, shall, by commissioners properly authorized, represent to the 
 Presbytery the ground on which they plead his removal. The Presby- 
 tery, having maturely considered their plea, may, according as it 
 appears more or less reasonable, either recommend to them to desist from 
 prosecuting the call, or may order it to be delivered to the minister to 
 whom it is directed. If the parties be not prepared to have the matter 
 issued at that Presbytery, a written citation shall be given to the minis- 
 ter and his congregation, to appear before the Presbytery at their next 
 meeting. This citation shall be read from the pulpit in that church, by 
 a member of the Presbytery appointed for that purpose, immediately 
 after public worship; so that at least two Sabbaths shall intervene 
 betwixt the citation and the meeting of the Presbytery at which the 
 cause of translation is to be considered. The Presbytery being met, 
 
576 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XVII. 
 
 and having heard the parties, shall, upon the whole view of the case, 
 either continue him in his former charge, or translate him, as they shall 
 deem to be most for the peace and edification of the Church ; or refer the 
 whole affair to the Synod at their next meeting, for their advice and 
 direction. 
 
 1. Consent of the parties may shorten the process. 
 
 a. In the Constitution, as originally adopted, citation of the parties 
 was required in all cases. By the Assembly of 1804, p. 305, it was 
 proposed to strike out " together with a written citation," and insert 
 " if the parties be not prepared to have the matter issued at that Pres- 
 bytery, a written citation shall be given to the minister." 
 
 The amendment was adopted. — 1805, p. 333. In a note accompany- 
 ing the overture the Assembly say, " This amendment is intended to 
 provide that consent of parties shall shorten the constitutional process 
 for translating a minister." — 1804, p. 305. 
 
 b. Chap, xvi, Sec. ii, provides that where the parties are prepared 
 for the dissolution of a pastoral relation it may be dissolved at the first 
 meeting of the Presbytery.— 1866, p. 47, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See p. 578.] 
 
 III. When the congregation calling any settled minister is within the 
 limits of another Presbytery, that congregation shall obtain leave from 
 the Presbytery to which they belong, to apply to the Presbytery of 
 which he is a member ; and that Presbytery, having cited him and his 
 congregation as before directed, shall proceed to hear and issue the cause. 
 If they agree to the translation, they shall release him from his present 
 charge ; and having given him proper testimonials, shall require him to 
 repair to that Presbytery, within the bounds of which the congregation 
 calling him lies, that the proper steps may be taken for his regular 
 settlement in that congregation: and the Presbytery to which the congre- 
 gation belongs, having received an authenticated certificate of his release, 
 under the hand of the Clerk of that Presbytery, shall proceed to install 
 him in the congregation, as soon as convenient. Provided always, that 
 no bishop or pastor shall be translated without his own consent previously 
 obtained. 
 
 1. Pastor and chnrch must belong to the same Presbytery. 
 
 Overture from a member of the Presbytery of Lexington, asking 
 whether a minister who is a member of one Presbytery can be installed 
 as pastor over a church in another Presbytery; and if so, what are 
 the proceedings proper in the case. The Committee recommend the 
 Assembly to answer that he should not be installed in such a case. 
 Adopted.— 1854, p. 46, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, ix, p. 184 ; Chap, xv, p. 568.] 
 
 IV. When any minister is to be settled in a congregation, the install- 
 ment, which consists in constituting a pastoral relation between him and 
 the people of that particular church, may be performed either by the 
 
OF RESIGNING A PASTORAL CHARGE. 577 
 
 Presbytery, or by a Committee appointed for that purpose, as may appear 
 most expedient: and the following order shall be observed therein: 
 
 V. A day shall be appointed for the installment at such time as may 
 appear most convenient, and due notice thereof given to the congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 VI. When the Presbytery, or Committee, shall be convened and con- 
 stituted, on the day appointed, a sermon shall be delivered by some one 
 of the members previously appointed thereto; immediately after which, 
 the bishop who is to preside shall state to the congregation the design of 
 their meeting, and briefly recite the proceedings of the Presbytery rela- 
 tive thereto. And then, addressing himself to the minister to be installed, 
 shall propose to him the following or similar questions: 
 
 1. Are you now willing to take the charge of this congregation, as 
 their pastor, agreeably to your declaration at accepting their call ? 
 
 2. Do you conscientiously believe and declare, as far as you know your 
 own heart, that in taking upon you this charge, you are influenced by a 
 sincere desire to promote the glory of God, and the good of his Church ? 
 
 3. Do you solemnly promise, that, by the assistance of the grace of 
 God, you will endeavor faithfully to discharge all the duties of a pastor 
 to this congregation, and will be careful to maintain a deportment in all 
 respects becoming a minister of the gospel of Christ, agreeably to your 
 ordination engagements ? 
 
 To all these having received satisfactory answers, he shall propose to 
 the people the same or like questions as those directed under the head of 
 ordination ; which, having been also satisfactorily answered, by holding 
 up the right hand in testimony of assent, he shall solemnly pronounce 
 and declare the said minister to be regularly constituted the pastor of that 
 congregation. A charge shall then be given to both parties, as directed 
 in the case of ordination; and, after prayer, and singing a psalm adapted 
 to the transaction, the congregation shall be dismissed with the usual 
 benediction. 
 
 VII. It is highly becoming, that, after the solemnity of the installment, 
 the heads of families of that congregation who are then present, or at least 
 the elders, and those appointed to take care of the temporal concerns of 
 that church, should come forward to their pastor, and give him their 
 right hand, in token of cordial reception, and affectionate regard. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 OF RESIGNING A PASTORAL CHARGE. 
 
 When any minister shall labor under such grievances in his congrega- 
 tion, as that he shall desire leave to resign his pastoral charge, the Presby- 
 tery shall cite the congregation to appear, by their commissioner^, at their 
 
578 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XVII. 
 
 next meeting, to show cause, if any they have, why the Presbytery 
 should not accept the resignation. If the congregation fail to appear, 
 or if their reasons for retaining their pastor be deemed by the Presbytery 
 insufficient, he shall have leave granted to resign his pastoral charge, of 
 which due record shall be made ; and that church shall be held* to be 
 vacant, till supplied again, in an orderly manner, with another minister: 
 and if any congregation shall desire to be released from their pastor, a 
 similar process, mutatis mutandis, shall be observed. 
 
 1. Whether the relation shall be dissolved at the meeting where 
 the request is made left to the discretion of the Presbytery. 
 
 The Committee on Overture No. 9, viz. : Advice asked respecting the 
 following question of order by the Presbytery of Otsego, " Is it contrary 
 to Chap, xvii of the Form of Government, for a Presbytery to dissolve 
 the connection between a minister and his congregation at the time when 
 he presents his request for his dissolution, and the congregation joins 
 issue by commissioners duly appointed for that purpose ?" made the 
 following report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That it is not expedient for this Assembly to give a decided 
 answer to the question, but to leave every Presbytery to act according 
 to their own discretion in the premises. — 1832, p. 373. 
 
 2. If the parties are agreed, the relation may be dissolved at 
 the first meeting. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of New Jersey, proposing the following 
 query: "Is it the intent of Chap, xvii of the Form of Government 
 that a minister desiring to resign his pastoral charge shall in all cases 
 first make his request known to the Presbytery ?" 
 
 The Committee recommend that it be answered in the negative, for 
 the reason that Chap, xvi, Sec. ii, provides that where the parties are 
 prepared for the dissolution of a pastoral relation it may be dissolved at 
 the first meeting of Presbytery. Adopted. — 1866, p. 47, O. S. 
 
 3. A pastoral relation ceases with the action of the Presbytery 
 
 dissolving it, when no other time is designated. 
 Does a pastoral relation cease with the action of the Presbytery dis- 
 solving such relations, when no other time for its termination is explicitly 
 fixed by the Presbytery ? Answered in the affirmative. — 1896, p. 91. 
 [Note.— Complaint of D. R. Breed et al., vs. Synod of Pennsylvania.] 
 
 4. A meeting of the congregation without the presence and coopera- 
 tion of the pastor valid, he having requested the dissolution. 
 
 Case No. 4, the complaint of the Rev. W. P. Carson against Synod 
 of Iowa, for dismissing his complaint against the Presbytery of Du- 
 buque. The Presbytery, upon application both of the pastor and the 
 congregation, dissolved the pastoral relation, and Mr. Carson complained 
 to Synod, on the ground that the Session and trustees united in calling 
 the meeting of the congregation, without the presence or cooperation of 
 the pastor, at which action was taken asking for the dissolution of the 
 pastoral relation. The Committee recommend that the complaint be 
 dismissed, there being no sufficient ground of complaint. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1868, p. 612, O. S. 
 
OF RESIGNING A PASTORAL CHARGE. 579 
 
 5. Where a Synod on appeal dissolves the pastoral relation on the 
 petition of a minority, it is sustained. 
 
 The report of the Commission on Judicial Case No. 2 was adopted, 
 and is as follows: 
 
 This case originated in a petition presented to the Presbytery of Ohio, 
 December 27, 1866, asking the dissolution of the pastoral relation exist- 
 ing between the Rev. William Hunter and the church of Hopewell. 
 The reasons of this petition were based upon troubles in the congrega- 
 tion which arose out of a state of things upon which Presbytery and 
 Synod had already acted. This petition was signed by a minority. A 
 counter petition was presented from a large majority of the congregation, 
 begging the continuance of the pastoral relation. Presbytery refused 
 by a small majority to dissolve the relation. The case was then taken 
 by a complaint of the minority of the congregation to the Synod of 
 Pittsburgh. Synod sustained the complaint by a vote of 50 yeas to 11 
 nays, and by a unanimous vote directed the Presbytery of Ohio to 
 dissolve the pastoral relation. From this action of Synod an appeal is 
 made to the Assembly by Joseph Connell, of the church of Hopewell, 
 for the following reasons: 
 
 1. Because the pastoral relation between the Rev. William Hunter 
 and the congregation is ordered to be dissolved on the petition of less 
 than one- fourth of the members of the congregation, greatly against the 
 will of the congregation and to our injury, and in contravention of our 
 Christian and constitutional rights. • 
 
 2. Because the petitioners were not only a small minority, but because 
 some of them were not members of the congregation and those Avho were 
 members had lost their status, they having for more than a year neither 
 communed in the church nor contributed their just proportion of the 
 expenses of the congregation. 
 
 3. Because the decision of Synod is highly injurious to the pastor as 
 well as to the congregation, and hurtful also to the cause of truth, righte- 
 ousness and equity, as taught in the Holy Scriptures and assured to 
 congregations and pastors by our Church Standards. 
 
 All the papers and records relating to the case were read before the 
 Commission, and all the parties desiring a hearing were heard. 
 
 It appeared that the principal cause, if not the origin, of these difficul- 
 ties, was the use of harsh and intemperate language on the part of Mr. 
 Hunter toward some of his parishioners. This led to charges and a 
 trial before the Presbytery, the result of which was an admonition to 
 Mr. Hunter to " restrain his temper and cultivate a meek and quiet 
 spirit. ' ' In connection with this trial the request of petitioners for the 
 removal of Mr. Hunter was granted, and the pastoral relation dissolved. 
 From this act of dissolution Mr. Hunter appealed to Synod, who 
 sustained his appeal on account of deficiency in the records. 
 
 A new application for the dissolution of the pastoral relation was then 
 made to Presbytery by the discontented minority, based upon the exist- 
 ing troubles, which was refused, as already stated, by a small majority 
 of Presbytery, but granted by a unanimous vote of Synod. 
 
 The facts and statements of the parties satisfied your Commission that, 
 while a majority of the congregation clung to Mr. Hunter, he had taken 
 such a course as to alienate a part of the people and seriously to impair 
 his usefulness in that congregation. The matter has been for two years 
 
580 FOKM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 before Presbytery, and they have sought to secure a reconciliation by 
 sending Committees to confer with the people, but to no purpose. And 
 the case has become so complicated in Presbytery as to divide that body 
 about equally. When Synod came to decide upon the merits of the case, 
 their judgment was unanimous against the continuance of the pastoral 
 relation. 
 
 Your Commission had this case several days before them, and 
 bestowed upon it careful consideration, and have unanimously determined 
 to report to the Assembly that the sense of this Commission is that the 
 interests of the church of Hopewell require the dissolution of the 
 pastoral relation, and that they agree with the decision of Synod, and 
 they recommend the folio wing minute: 
 
 This Assembly recognizes the right of each congregation to decide 
 whether a pastor is acceptable to them, and the wishes of a majority are 
 to be set aside only for weighty reasons; yet such a state of things may 
 exist between the pastor and a portion of his people as shall require, for 
 the fair name of religion, that the relation be dissolved ; and for this 
 reason the appeal and complaint of Joseph Connell against the Synod of 
 Pittsburgh is not sustained.— 1868, pp. 648, 649, 0. S. 
 
 6. The rule should be strictly observed and enforced. 
 
 Overture. — The Committee have had before them an overture on 
 "The Perils of a Degraded Ministry." The title is infelicitous, and 
 fails to present the true, design of the paper, which sets forth the well- 
 known difficulties that attend the loose notions prevailing in regard to the 
 permanence of the pastoral relation and the mutual obligations of pastor 
 and people. There are many statements in the overture which deserve 
 attention, and might be properly spread before the churches in the form 
 of a tract or other publication. The Committee would, however, recom- 
 mend the following answer: 
 
 Whereas, The frequent dissolution of the pastoral relation is a growing 
 evil in our Church, arising largely out of the loose opinions which prevail 
 as to the relation of pastor and people, and the influence of men who 
 regard more the financial than the spiritual interests of the Church; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Presbyteries be reminded of the necessity of 
 giving clear and full instruction on the subject at the time of the instal- 
 lation of pastors. 
 
 2. That Article xvii of our Form of Government, in its spirit and 
 letter, should be strictly observed by all our pastors and churches, and 
 that our Presbyteries be enjoined to seek its rigid enforcement. Adopted. 
 —1880, p. 77. 
 
 7. Presbytery may dissolve a pastoral relation, without a meeting of 
 the congregation being held. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Missouri, asking: 1. Is it legal for a 
 Presbytery to dissolve a pastoral relation without a regularly called 
 meeting of the congregation being had, and its action touching the 
 pastoral relation reported to the Presbytery ? 
 
 Answer: Yes.— 1890, p. 47. 
 
OF MISSIONS. 581 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 OF MISSIONS. 
 
 When vacancies become so numerous in any Presbytery that they 
 cannot be supplied with the frequent administration of the word and 
 ordinances, it shall be proper for such Presbytery, or any vacant congre- 
 gation within their bounds, with the leave of the Presbytery, to apply to 
 any other Presbytery, or to any Synod, or to the General Assembly, for 
 such assistance as they can afford. And, when any Presbytery shall send 
 any of their ministers or probationers to distant vacancies, the missionary 
 shall be ready to produce his credentials to the Presbytery or Presbyteries, 
 through the bounds of which he may pass, or at least to a Committee 
 thereof, and obtain their approbation. And the General Assembly may, 
 of their own knowledge, send missions to any part to plant churches, or 
 to supply vacancies : and for this purpose, may direct any Presbytery to 
 ordain evangelists, or ministers without relation to particular churches : 
 provided always, that such missions be made with the consent of the parties 
 appointed ; and that the judicatory sending them, make the necessary pro- 
 vision for their support and reward in the performance of this service. 
 
 [Note. — For a fall account of the earlier missions of the Church, and of the origin 
 and progress of the work culminating in the present Board of Home Missions, see 
 New Diqest (Moore, 1861), pp. 319-341 ; annual Minutes, N. S., from 1861 to 1869 ; also, 
 Baird's Digest, rev. ed., pp. 321-360 ; annual Minutes, 0. S , from 1838 to 1869.] 
 
 1. The Standing Committee of Missions appointed. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That a Committee be chosen annually by the General 
 Assembly to be denominated the Standing Committee of Missions ; that 
 the Committee shall consist of seven members, of whom four shall be 
 clergymen and three laymen ; that a majority of this Committee shall be 
 a quorum to do business ; that it shall be the duty of this Committee to 
 collect, during the recess of the Assembly, all the information in their 
 power relative to the concerns of missions and missionaries, to digest 
 this information and report thereon at each meeting of the Assembly ; to 
 designate the places where and to specify the periods during which the 
 missionaries should be employed; to correspond with them if necessary 
 and with all other persons on missionary business ; to nominate missionaries 
 to the Assembly and report the number which the funds will permit to be 
 -employed ; to hear the reports of the missionaries and make a statement 
 thereon to the Assembly relative to the diligence, fidelity and success of 
 the missionaries, the sums due to each, and such parts of their reports as 
 may be proper for the Assembly to hear in detail; to ascertain annually 
 whether any money remains with the trustees of the College of New 
 Jersey which ought to be used for missionary purposes, agreeably to the 
 last will of James Leslie, deceased; that they also engage a suitable 
 person annually to preach a missionary sermon on the Monday evening 
 next after the opening of the General Assembly, at which a collection 
 shall be made for the support of missions, and superintend generally 
 under the direction of the Assembly the missionary business. 
 
 2. That although this Standing Committee shall be elected annually, 
 
582 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 yet each Committee shall continue in office till the end of the sessions of 
 that Assembly which succeeds the one by which the said Committee was 
 chosen. 
 
 3. That this Standing Committee of Missions, in addition to the duties 
 above specified, shall be and they hereby are empowered to direct the 
 trustees of the General Assembly, during the recess of the Assembly, to 
 issue warrants for any sums of money which may become due in conse- 
 quence of contracts, appropriations or assignments of duty made by the 
 Assembly, and for which orders may have not been issued by the Assem- 
 bly, and on this subject the Committee shall report annually to the 
 Assembly.— 1802, p. 258. 
 
 In 1805, p. 345, the number of the Committee resident in or near the 
 city of Philadelphia was increased to ten, and one other member added 
 for each Synod, making in the whole seventeen. In 1816 the Committee 
 was enlarged, and the title changed to 
 
 2. The Board of Missions. 
 
 1. That the style of the Committee be changed for that of the " Board 
 of Missions, acting under the authority of the General Asssembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States." 
 
 2. That the Board of Missions be enlarged by the addition of the Rev. 
 John B. Romeyn, D.D., Samuel Miller, D.D., and Messrs. Samuel 
 Bayard, Robert Ralston, Robert Lenox, John R. B. Rodgers, John E. 
 Caldwell, Divie Bethune, and Zechariah Lewis. 
 
 3. That, in addition to the powers already granted by the Committee 
 of Missions, the Board of Missions be authorized to appoint missionaries 
 whenever they may deem it proper, to make such advances to missionaries 
 as may be judged necessary, and to pay balances due to missionaries who 
 have fulfilled their missions, whenever in their judgment the particular 
 circumstances of the missionaries may require it. 
 
 4. That the Board be authorized and directed to take measures for 
 establishing throughout our churches auxiliary missionary societies, and 
 that the General Assembly recommend to their people the establishment 
 of such societies to aid the funds and extend the operations of the Board. 
 
 5. That the members of the Board of Missions be annually chosen by 
 the Assembly, and that they continue in office until the rising of the 
 next General Assembly, when they are to be succeeded by the persons 
 chosen for the current year. 
 
 The Committee further report that while deliberating on the subject 
 referred to them, they at first thought it would be expedient for this 
 Assembly to present to the consideration of their churches the importance 
 of foreign missions, and to direct the Board to take measures for com- 
 mencing and carrying on such missions, but on mature reflection they are 
 inclined to believe that the union of foreign with domestic missions would 
 produce too great complexity in the affairs of the Board, and render the 
 pressure of business too severe and burdensome. And this consideration 
 is strengthened by the belief which they indulge that a new society for 
 conducting foreign missions might be formed, composed not only of mem- 
 bers belonging to our churches, but also of members belonging to the 
 Reformed Dutch Church, to the Associate Reformed Church, and other 
 Churches which have adopted the same creed. Such a society is 
 highly desirable ; and were it organized on an extensive plan, so as to call 
 forth the combined energies and charity of all those sister churches, it 
 
OF MISSIONS. 583 
 
 would be productive of beneficial consequences both at home and abroad, 
 to ourselves as well as to the heathen. — 1816, p. 633. 
 
 3. Enlargement of powers. 
 
 Resolved, That the Board of Missions, in addition to the powers 
 already granted to them, be authorized to manage, appoint and direct 
 the whole concerns and business of the Assembly's missions definitely, 
 and report annually their doings to the Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That the Board be authorized to appoint, if they think 
 proper, an Executive Committee of their own number, to carry into 
 effect the details of their plan, and that they also be authorized to appoint 
 and employ an agent or agents at their discretion. — 1827, p. 217. 
 
 [Note. — The further action of the Assembly, in its efforts to fulfill its mission to 
 give the Gospel to all the world, will be found in this Digest, Chapter xii, Sec. v, 
 of the Form of Government, under the several heads of "Home Missions," 
 " Foreign Missions, " "Education for the Ministry," " Publication and Sabbath-school 
 Work," "Church Erection," "Ministerial Relief," "Missions for the Freedmen," 
 "Aid for Colleges," and "Systematic Beneficence," pp. 340-400, and also under " Synod- 
 ical Sustentation," below. 
 
 4. Synodical Sustentation. 
 
 [Note.— The Assembly, after the plan of Sustentation (see this Digest, p. 349) had 
 proven ineffective, authorized certain of the Synods to undertake, in cooperation with 
 the Presbyteries, such plans as might seem feasible, for the support of mission work 
 within their territory.] 
 
 a. The increased amount of the contributions to the Sustentation De- 
 partment over that given last year, indicates that the scheme has a strong 
 hold on the hearts of the people; and in the class of churches for which 
 it was originally designed, namely, those situated in the midst of a grow- 
 ing population, its operation has been attended with gratifying results. 
 But many, if not most, of the needy churches in the older and stronger 
 Synods, are suffering from a slow process of depletion through emigration 
 from their bounds. In such fields, and in those of very slow growth in 
 population, the requirements of the Sustentation Department are found, 
 after years of trial, too rigid to be complied with. 
 
 Instead of increasing in numbers so as to be able to reach and main- 
 tain the requisite rate of support per member, these churches are gradu- 
 ally diminishing through force of circumstances, or in other cases 
 advancing so slightly as to fail to come under the provisions of the 
 scheme. 
 
 In view of these facts, and the difficulty of devising any scheme of 
 sufficient flexibility to meet the diversities of so wide a field as that of 
 the whole Church, we are constrained to favor the adoption of such plans 
 of Synodical sustentation as may be found expedient and suitable to 
 the condition of weak churches within the limits of the Synods referred 
 to. If any plan introduced should prove deficient, it might be modified ; 
 and thus, after a few trials and modifications, we are of opinion that the 
 best method of operation would be ascertained, if not at once, at least in 
 due time. 
 
 The Committee most heartily commend all such attempts of Synods to 
 solve the problem, provided their plans are so carefully guarded as not 
 to trench on the contributions which should go into the regular channels 
 of the Board.— 1884, p. 41. 
 
 b. Several of the Synods, such as New York, New Jersey and Penn- 
 sylvania, have organized Sustentation Systems by which they care for their 
 own Home Mission work. We strongly commend this to other Synods 
 
584 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XIX-XX. 
 
 where it is feasible. Some Presbyteries in Synods which are as yet with- 
 out a Sustentation system are doing the same work in their own bounds, 
 and we think many more Presbyteries can also do so, and thus relieve 
 the Board from mission work within their territory. — 1887, p. 72. 
 
 5. Presbyterial oversight of vacant churches. 
 
 [Note. — See this Digest, p. 222, and also Form of Government, Chap, xxi, p. 588.] 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 OF MODERATORS. 
 
 I. It is equally necessary in the judicatories of the Church, as in other 
 assemblies, that there should be a moderator or president ; that the busi- 
 ness may be conducted with order and despatch. 
 
 II. The moderator is to be considered as possessing, by delegation 
 from the whole body, all authority necessary for the preservation of 
 order; for convening and adjourning the judicatory; and directing its 
 operations according to the rules of the Church. He is to propose to 
 the judicatory every subject of deliberation that conies before them. He 
 may propose what appears to him the most regular and speedy way of 
 bringing any business to issue. He shall prevent the members from 
 interrupting each other; and require them, in speaking, always to address 
 the chair. He shall prevent a speaker from deviating from the subject; 
 and from using personal reflections. He shall silence those who refuse 
 to obey order. He shall prevent members who attempt to leave the 
 judicatory without leave obtained from him. He shall, at a proper season, 
 when the deliberations are ended, put the question and call the votes. If 
 the judicatory be equally divided, he shall possess the casting vote. If 
 he be not willing to decide, he shall put the question a second time; and 
 if the judicatory be again equally divided, and he decline to give his 
 vote, the question shall be lost. In all questions he shall give a concise 
 and clear state of the object of the vote; and the vote being taken, shall 
 then declare how the question is decided. And he shall likewise be em- 
 powered, on any extraordinary emergency, to convene the judicatory, by 
 his circular letter, before the ordinary time of meeting. 
 
 1. The Vice-Moderator. 
 
 In appointing the Standing Committees the Moderator may appoint a 
 
 Vice -Moderator, who may occupy the chair at his request and otherwise 
 
 assist him in the discharge of his duties. — 1885, p. 590. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, xii. Sec. i, p. 259 ; Rules for Judic. vii, 
 p. 266.] 
 
 2. The Moderator not necessarily a member of the judicatory. 
 
 The Moderator and Clerk are ministerial officers of the judicatory. 
 In respect of their office, they are servants merely, and not members, of 
 the body. 
 
OF MODERATORS AND CLERKS. 585 
 
 Nor does the Constitution, explicitly at least, require the Moderator to 
 be chosen from the members of the judicatory. It does, indeed, pre- 
 scribe (Chap, xix, Sec. ii) that in a certain contingency " he shall 
 possess the casting vote. ' ' And as voting is the act of a member, the 
 implication seems to offer itself that the Moderator himself must be a 
 member. But against this implication some other facts of the Constitu- 
 tion may be cited. Thus (Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. iii) 
 there is the provision for inviting, in certain contingencies, a minister to 
 moderate the church Session who is not the pastor of the church, and of 
 course not a member of the Session; while the general law of " Moder- 
 ators " (Chap, xix) gives him the casting vote. Then, again, the Form 
 of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. vii, prescribes, concerning the General 
 Assembly, that * ' the Moderator of the last Assembly, if present, or in 
 case of his absence some other minister, shall preside until a new Moder- 
 ator be chosen." Under this provision it is not necessary that the 
 minister called to preside in the Assembly should himself be in commis- 
 sion. — New Digest (Moore), 1861, p. 173. 
 
 It may be said that this is merely for organization. True ; but the 
 whole principle seems to be involved. For the time being one not a 
 member of the Assembly is its Moderator, and as such has a casting vote 
 on the numberless issues which may be raised between the formation of 
 the roll and the choice of a new Moderator ; and in the former case, 
 pertaining to church Sessions, no such limitation for mere organization 
 exists. 
 
 Hence these two points are clearly recognized : 1. That it is not essen- 
 tial to the idea of a Moderator that he be a member; 2. That the privi- 
 lege of a casting vote does not necessarily imply membership. — 1861, 
 pp. 457, 458, N. S. 
 
 [Note 1. — So far as the General Assembly is concerned, Rule ii of General Rules for 
 Judicatories decides that the Moderator must be a member of it : " The last Modera- 
 tor present, being a commissioner, or if there be none, the senior member present," p. 262.] 
 
 2. The Moderator has none other than the casting vote. See Form of Government, 
 Chap, xii, Sec. i, 7, p. 262. For general principles as to Moderators, see General Rules 
 for Judicatories, p. 265; also, Form of Government, Chap, xii, i, p. 261.] 
 
 III. The moderator of the Presbytery shall be chosen from year to 
 year, or at every meeting of the Presbytery, as the Presbytery may 
 think best. The moderator of the Synod, and of the General Assembly, 
 shall be chosen at each meeting of those judicatories : and the Moderator, 
 or, in case of his absence, another member appointed for the purpose, 
 shall open the next meeting with a sermon, and shall hold the chair till 
 a new Moderator be chosen. 
 
 [Note. — See General Rules for Judicatories, Rule ii, p. 265.] 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 OF CLERKS. 
 
 Every judicatory shall choose a clerk, to record their transactions, 
 whose continuance shall be during pleasure. It shall be the duty of the 
 clerk, besides recording the transactions, to preserve the records carefully; 
 
586 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXI. 
 
 and to grant extracts from them, whenever properly required : and such 
 extracts, under the hand of the clerk, shall be considered as authentic 
 vouchers of the fact which they declare, in any ecclesiastical judicatory, 
 and to every part of the Church. 
 
 1. The term of service of their Stated Clerks is at the discretion of the 
 Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, and of the General Assembly. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Syracuse, asking to have a time limit 
 of service fixed for the Stated Clerks of all the judicatories of the 
 Church. The Committee recommend no action, inasmuch as this is a 
 matter for the discretion of Sessions, Presbyteries and Synods, as well as 
 of the General Assembly, as each body may consider wisest and best. — 
 1893, p. 72. 
 
 2. The Clerk not necessarily a member of the judicatory. 
 
 a. The Moderator and Clerk are ministerial officers of the judicatory. 
 In respect to their office, they are servants merely, and not members, 
 of the body. 
 
 Of the Clerk this would seem to be unquestionably true. The Consti- 
 tution knows nothing of the Temporary Clerk as distinguished from the 
 Stated Clerk. As far as any provision of the ' ' Book ' ' is involved, it is 
 plain that a judicatory may select any convenient person, though not a 
 member, to record its transactions and discharge all other duties pertain- 
 ing to a Clerk. For the part of those duties usually devolving upon a 
 Temporary Clerk, we believe it is no infrequent thing for a Presbytery 
 to employ a licentiate or other person not a member of the body. — 1861, 
 p. 457, N. S. ; confirmed, 1895, p. 136. 
 
 [Note.— The Clerks of the Assembly are full members of it only when they sit as 
 commissioners. See, also, this Digest, p. 269.] 
 
 b. The above confirmed. 
 
 Overture on ' ' Who may be Clerk of Session V ' from the Presbytery 
 of New Castle, to wit: 
 
 Whereas, The Clerk of the Synod of Baltimore has refused to record 
 Harold Sudell as Clerk of the Session of New Castle church, he not 
 being a member of the court ; and 
 
 Whereas, The Session of New Castle church has appealed to the Pres- 
 bytery of New Castle, and Presbytery being in doubt as to the legality 
 of their having a Clerk of Session who was not a member of the court ; 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of New Castle overtures the General 
 Assembly to make a clear interpretation of the law concerning the eligi- 
 bility of a male member of the church who is not an ordained elder for 
 election as Clerk of Session. 
 
 The following answer is recommended: 
 
 This Assembly adopts and reaffirms the action upon this subject of the 
 New School General Assembly of 1861 (see Minutes, p. 457), as quoted 
 in Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 461, Chap, xx, to wit: " As far as the pro- 
 vision of the Book is involved, it is plain that a judicatory may select 
 any convenient person, though not a member, to record its transactions 
 and discharge all other duties pertaining to a Clerk." Adopted. — 1895, 
 pp. 135, 136. 
 
OF VACANT CONGREGATIONS ASSEMBLING FOR WORSHIP. 587 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OF VACANT CONGREGATIONS ASSEMBLING 
 FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 Considering the great importance of weekly assembling of the people, for 
 the public worship of God, in order thereby to improve their knowledge ; 
 to confirm their habits of worship, and their desire of the public ordi- 
 nances ; to augment their reverence for the most high God ; and to promote 
 the charitable aifections which unite men most firmly in society : it is 
 recommended, that every vacant congregation meet together, on the Lord's 
 day, at one or more places, for the purpose of prayer, singing praises, and 
 reading the Holy Scriptures, together with the works of such approved 
 divines, as the Presbytery within whose bounds they are, may recommend, 
 and they may be able to procure; and that the elders or deacons be the 
 persons who shall preside, and select the portions of Scripture, and of the 
 other books to be read; and to see that the whole be conducted in a 
 becoming and orderly manner. 
 
 1. Vacant congregations to meet for worship on the Lord's day. 
 
 In consequence of an overture which was brought in, the Synod earn- 
 estly recommend to all vacant congregations under their care to meet 
 together every Lord's day, at one or more places, for the purpose of 
 prayer and praise and reading the Holy Scriptures, together with the 
 works of such approved divines as they may be able to procure, and that 
 the elders be the persons who shall pray and select the portions of Scrip- 
 ture and other books, to be read by any proper person whom they may 
 appoint.— 1786, p. 526. 
 
 2. Elders of vacant congregations should be interrogated as to the 
 observance of the rule. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Mississippi requesting the General 
 Assembly to recommend to the Board of Publication to issue suitable books 
 of sermons and helps for devotion, to be used by vacant congregations, 
 and to inquire whether ruling elders representing such congregations 
 should be interrogated concerning the observance of the recommendation 
 contained in Chap, xxi of the Form of Government. 
 
 Answered affirmatively. — 1847, p. 401, O. S. 
 
 3. Eight of ruling elders, in the absence of the pastor, to explain the 
 Scriptures and to exhort. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Mississippi approved, except " that on p. 
 10 of these minutes Synod takes exception to the minutes of the Louisiana 
 Presbytery, because that Presbytery considered it not inconsistent with 
 the principles of our Church for ruling elders, in the absence of the 
 pastor, to read the Scriptures and explain them, and to endeavor to 
 enforce the truth upon the conscience by suitable exhortations. The 
 Assembly believe the Presbyter} 7 of Louisiana was right according to 
 Chap, xxi of our Form of Government." — 1856, p. 538, O. S. 
 
 Next year the Assembly refused to modify the above. — 1857, p. 41, 
 O. S. 
 
588 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 4. Presbyterial oversight of vacant churches. 
 Under our Constitution, the Presbytery is officially the pastor of every 
 vacant church within its bounds. The question whether any such 
 church shall continue to exist is one which the Presbytery alone can 
 solve; and if such continued existence is deemed desirable, it is 
 directly incumbent upon the Presbytery to provide, in some way, for 
 the spiritual necessities of every such organization. It may group 
 these small churches together in a joint pastorate, or in a wider cir- 
 cuit; it may associate some weak church with some stronger one as a 
 single charge; it may appoint an adjacent pastor to be for the time the 
 minister and shepherd to the little flock; it may bring in the service of 
 intelligent elders, competent to teach and counsel, and willing to be en- 
 gaged in such oversight. The General Assembly judges that by pres- 
 byterial diligence and faithfulness in these directions, much of the evil 
 resulting from these numerous vacancies would be avoided, and many of 
 these feeble churches might speedily be nourished into vigor and useful- 
 ness. It therefore lays the obligation to such faithfulness and diligence 
 directly on the conscience of each Presbytery, and of every minister in 
 each Presbytery, whether engaged in the pastoral care or in some other 
 form of ministerial service, as one which true loyalty to the Church and 
 to Christ will permit no one to neglect. In adopting this resolution, 
 the General Assembly recognizes with special satisfactiou the allusion to 
 the ruling elders as possible agents and instruments in providing for the 
 special needs of these feeble churches. — 1891, p. 176. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 
 
 I. The commissioners to the General Assembly shall always be ap- 
 pointed by the Presbytery from which they come, at its last stated meeting, 
 immediately preceding the meeting of the General Assembly; provided, 
 that there be a sufficient interval between that time and the meeting of 
 the Assembly, for their commissioners to attend to their duty in due season ; 
 otherwise, the Presbytery may make the appointment at any stated meet- 
 ing, not more than seven months preceding the meeting of the Assembly. 
 And as much as possible to prevent all failure in the representation of 
 the Presbyteries, arising from unforeseen accidents to those first appointed, 
 it may be expedient for each Presbytery, in the room of each commis- 
 sioner, to appoint also an alternate commissioner to supply his place, in 
 case of necessary absence. 
 
 1. The rule not enforced in case of missionary Presbyteries. 
 
 a. The Committee on Elections reported that Rev. James W. Moore 
 had been nominated or selected by the Presbytery of Arkansas at their 
 meeting in last September, but that the Presbytery had been prevented 
 by high waters from meeting since then, and consequently there could be 
 no election. On motion, Mr. Moore was admitted to a seat. — 1846, p. 
 197, O. S. 
 
 b. In reply to a protest on this case, the Assembly says: " The 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 589 
 
 member admitted to a seat represents a body occupying the remote 
 confines of our ecclesiastical territory — a body whose delegates must 
 travel fifteen hundred miles to reach the usual place of meeting of the 
 General Assembly; a body too whose meetings are liable to be inter- 
 rupted by insurmountable difficulties, and in whom a technical irregu- 
 larity, occasioned by such difficulties, may justly plead exemption from a 
 rigorous application of the letter of the law. To exclude from a partici- 
 pation in the privileges of this body one who had surmounted so many and 
 such formidable obstacles to reach our place of meeting because of an 
 informality in his title, which does not, as this Assembly judges, violate 
 the spirit of the Constitution, would be to subject a zealous and self- 
 denying minister and a whole Presbytery to a serious grievance, and to 
 discourage the zeal of those who of all others most need our sympathy 
 and fostering care."— 1846, p. 215, O. S. 
 
 C. A reference to the Minutes of the General Assembly of 1844 will 
 show that the Rev. William S. Rogers, a commissioner from the Presby- 
 tery of Lodiana, in Northern India, was admitted without scruple to a 
 seat in that body, though it is evident that his appointment must have 
 been made beyond the limits of time prescribed by the Constitution. 
 The peculiar circumstances of the case no doubt influenced, and we 
 believe authorized, that Assembly to act as they did in the premises. — 
 1846, p. 214, O S. 
 
 d. Sir. Joseph B. Junkin, ruling elder of the Presbytery of the 
 Creek Nation, produces such evidence that it is the desire of his Presby- 
 tery that he should represent it as a commissioner in this Assembly, that, 
 considering the remote situation of the Presbytery, the difficulty of his 
 position, and the whole bearing of the case, Mr. Junkin may be safely 
 allowed to take his seat, without the Assembly thereby establishing any 
 precedent to operate beyond the immediate case. The Committee is 
 therefore of opinion that, though he was not regularly elected, he ought 
 to be allowed to take his seat as a member of the body. — 1853, p. 426, 
 O. S. 
 
 e. In the following case it appeared from the evidence that the breth- 
 ren of the mission designed to make the appointment. No communica- 
 tion, however, had been received from them since the meeting of the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 The Rev. J. L. Scott, missionary in Northern India, being present 
 from the Presbytery of Furrukhabad without a commission, but with 
 evidence of having been duly appointed, was, on motion of Dr. R. J. 
 Breckenridge, from the Committee on Elections, admitted to a seat, and 
 regularly enrolled.— 1853, p. 430, O. S. 
 
 2. No election through Presbytery failing to meet. 
 
 a. The Committee on Elections further reported, in the case of Mr. 
 David M. Smith, that it appeared to their satisfaction that the Presbytery 
 of Columbia failed to form a quorum at the time at which their stated 
 spring meeting should have been held according to adjournment; that 
 there were present two ministers and ruling elders from a majority of the 
 churches, the Presbytery consisting only of five ministers ; that those 
 present requested that the Assembly would receive Mr. Smith as a com- 
 missioner from their Presbytery, in which request two of the absent 
 members have expressed their concurrence in writing; and that it is* 
 believed that the appointment of Mr, Smith would have been unanimous 
 
590 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 had the Presbytery formed a quorum; and further, that the Committee 
 are divided upon the question whether, under these circumstances, Mr. 
 Smith ought or ought not to be admitted to a seat. It was moved that 
 Mr. Smith be admitted to a seat. After debate the question was decided 
 in the negative. — 1843, p. 171, O. S. 
 
 b. The same Committee also reported that Hamilton Smith, a ruling 
 elder from the Presbytery of Upper Missouri, had appeared without a 
 commission, but with a written request from several ministers and ruling 
 elders of that Presbytery, which had been able to secure no quorum for 
 two years past, that he be allowed to sit as commissioner. Admitted. — 
 1865, p. 538, O. S. 
 
 C. The Rev. L. M. Miller, D.D., Chairman of the Committee on 
 Elections, presented the following report, which was adopted, and the 
 Rev. George W. Chamberlain was ordered to be enrolled: 
 
 The Committee on Elections would report that the Rev. George W. 
 Chamberlain, of the Presbytery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is present 
 without a commission. Mr. Chamberlain asks admission to the Assem- 
 bly on this ground: He was appointed a commissioner regularly to the 
 Assembly of last year, and attended. He has remained in this country 
 ever since, doing work in behalf of his mission in that country. Only 
 three ministers belonging to that Presbytery remained in Brazil. A 
 meeting was appointed in which it was intended to recommission Mr. 
 Chamberlain. Just previous to the time indicated, the Rev. Mr. Simon- 
 ton, one of the presbyters, died, and thus prevented organization. The 
 members remaining desire that he may be permitted to represent that 
 Presbytery in this Assembly. The only principle which bears upon the 
 case is found in the Digest on p. 286, Sec. 129. The Committee recom- 
 mends that the Assembly act upon the question of his admission without 
 discussion.— 1868, p. 620, O. S. 
 
 d. That Rev. Ira M. Condit, of the Presbytery of Canton, is bearer 
 of an informal appointment, signed by all the members of Presbytery 
 who were in Canton at the time; when, however, a quorum could not be 
 assembled on account of the absence of several members in this country. 
 He was admitted to a seat. — 1869, p. 890, O. S. 
 
 3. Commissioner enrolled on petition of members of his Presbytery. 
 
 The Committee on Enrollment referred to the Assembly the case of 
 Mr. Robert Livingstone, who, in the inability of both the principal and 
 alternate, who had been elected to attend, was named to the Assembly, 
 by the majority of the members of the Presbytery of Portland, as a repre- 
 sentative of that body in the General Assembly, with a petition that he 
 be admitted to a seat. The request was granted, and Ruling Elder 
 Robert Livingstone was enrolled as a commissioner from the Presbytery 
 of Portland.— 1892, p. 10. 
 
 4. Commissioners from new Presbyteries. 
 
 a. The Committee to which was referred an overture on the subject of 
 admitting commissioners from newly formed Presbyteries to seats in this 
 house reported the following resolutions, which were adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That it be adopted as a standing rule of this house that 
 commissioners from newly formed Presbyteries shall, before taking their 
 seats as members of this body, produce satisfactory evidence that the 
 Presbyteries to which they belong have been regularly organized accord- 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 591 
 
 ing to the Constitution of the Church, and are in connection with the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 2. Resolved, also, That such commissioners shall be entitled to furnish 
 the evidence required in the foregoing resolution before the house shall 
 proceed to the choice of a Moderator. — 1822, p. 48. 
 
 b. Resolved, That no commissioner from a newly formed Presbytery 
 shall be permitted to take his seat, nor shall such commissioner be 
 reported by the Committee on Commissions, until the Presbytery shall 
 have been duly reported by the Synod and recognized as such by the 
 Assembly, and that the same rule apply when the name of any Presby- 
 tery has been changed. — 1837, p. 446. 
 
 5. Commissioners, not ruling elders, under the Plan of Union. 
 
 Under the ' ' Plan of Union ' ' in several cases members of ' ' Standing 
 Committees ' ' not ordained elders were admitted as commissioners to the 
 Assembly.— 1820, pp. 721-724; 1826, pp. 164, 178, 181; 1831, p. 
 318. Growing out of the last case was the following: 
 
 Resolved, That in the opinion of the General Assembly the appointment 
 by some Presbyteries, as has occurred in a few cases, of members of 
 Standing Committees to be members of the General Assembly, is inexpe- 
 dient and of questionable constitutionality, and therefore ought not in 
 future to be made. 
 
 The yeas and nays on this resolution were taken and required to be 
 recorded, and are as follows, viz., yeas 81, nays 54. — 18.31, p. 338. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1832, pp. 354-356 ; 1833, p. 392.] 
 
 6. Commissioners should attend to the close of the session. 
 
 Presbyteries to call their commissioners to account. 
 
 a. Whereas, Many members of the General Assembly are, from year 
 to year, in the habit of asking leave of absence long before its sessions 
 are closed ; and whereas, in receiving and acting upon these applications, 
 much of the time of the Assembly is consumed, and much of the most 
 important business has to be transacted by few members; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Presbyteries be directed to pay particular atten- 
 tion to the following minute, found in Vol. i, p. 308, of Printed 
 Extracts, and also in Digest (1820)' p. 76, viz. : " The Presbyteries are 
 informed that their Commissioners should attend with the expectation 
 that the sessions will be of two weeks' continuance, and that arrangements 
 should be made accordingly. ' ' 
 
 Resolved, 2. That it be recommended to the Presbyteries to inform 
 their commissioners, when they accept an appointment, that it is expected 
 they will continue in the Assembly until the close of its sessions, unless 
 some unforeseen and imperious reason should require them to ask leave 
 of absence. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That each Presbytery require their commissioners to report 
 whether they attended the sessions of the Assembly the whole time, and 
 that the report of the commissioners on this subject be recorded on the 
 minutes of the Presbytery. — 1824, p. 119. 
 
 b. The Committee on Leave of Absence beg leave to submit to the 
 General Assembly that, whereas it both fulfills the requirements of our 
 excellent Church polity, and facilitates the business of the Assembly, 
 and also should be regarded as both a duty and a privilege, for elders as 
 well as ministers to attend its sessions; therefore be it 
 
592 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 Resolved, That elders and ministers who from time to time may repre- 
 sent the Presbyteries in General Assembly be earnestly requested to 
 arrange their business, as far as possible, before leaving home, that they 
 may remain to the end of its sessions, and thus fulfill their high commis- 
 sions, and enjoy the valued privileges as members of the highest judica- 
 tory of our Church. 
 
 The resolution was adopted.— 1862, p. 38, N. S. 
 
 C. On the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Leave of 
 Absence, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly earnestly recommend to its 
 Presbyteries, as far as possible, the appointment as commissioners of 
 those only who are able and willing to remain to the close of its sessions, 
 to the end that all the work of the Assembly may be performed by all 
 its members.— 1867, p. 499, N. S. 
 
 7. A commissioner, having taken his seat, may not resign it to 
 his alternate or principal. 
 
 [Note.— From the origin of the General Assembly, it was frequent usage for the 
 principal to resign his seat to the alternate, and vice versa. But in 1827 the following 
 act was adopted :J 
 
 The Committee to whom were referred Overtures Nos. 4 and 5, contain- 
 ing resolutions of the Presbyteries of Richland and Charleston Union, 
 disapproving the practice of permitting members of the General Assem- 
 bly " at various stages of the sessions to resign their seats to others 
 called alternates, ' ' made the following report, viz. : 
 
 These overtures present two points of inquiry : 
 
 1. Whether the Constitution of the Church, according to a fair inter- 
 pretation, permits the practice complained of by these Presbyteries. 
 
 2. If this practice is allowed by the Constitution, whether it is expe- 
 dient that it should be continued. 
 
 As to the first question, the only authority on this subject, as far as 
 appears to your Committee, is found in Form of Government, Chap, 
 xxii, Sec. i, in these words: " And as much as possible to prevent all 
 failure in the representation of the Presbyteries, arising from unforeseen 
 accidents to those first appointed, it may be expedient for each Presby- 
 tery, in the room of each commissioner, to appoint also an alternate 
 commissioner to supply his place in case of necessary absence. ' ' 
 
 The first remark obviously presenting itself here is that the language 
 quoted, so far from making the appointment of alternates necessaiy, 
 contains nothing more than a recommendation of the measure expressed 
 in very gentle terms. 
 
 In the next place, although the terms of the article may be so inter- 
 preted as to make it provide for the necessary absence of a Commissioner 
 at any time during the sessions of the Assembly, yet it appears most 
 reasonable to suppose that the intention of the framers of the Constitution 
 was to provide for those unforeseen events which might altogether prevent 
 the attendance of the primary commissioners. For it is not at all proba- 
 ble that wise men, in drawing up a Constitution for a Church judica- 
 ture of the highest dignity, whose business is often both very important 
 and extremely difficult, would provide for a change in the members of 
 the court after it should be constituted and become deeply engaged in the 
 transaction of weighty affairs and the investigation of certain perplexing 
 questions. A measure of this kind is, the Committee believe, without 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 593 
 
 example, and therefore the construction which would support it is thought 
 to be erroneous. 
 
 If in this case the Committee have judged correctly, they are much 
 more confident in the remarks that the Constitution does not justify the 
 practice, now very common, of the arrangements for convenience made 
 by the primary commissioner and his alternate, according to which the 
 one or the other, as the case may be, takes his seat for a few days in the 
 Assembly, resigns it, and goes to his secular business. 
 
 But, secondly, if it should be determined that the Constitution permits 
 these changes in some instances, the Committee are constrained to believe 
 that the practice is, on the whole, entirely inexpedient: 
 
 1. Because it creates dissatisfaction among many brethren, as well 
 those who have complained of it as others who have held their peace. 
 
 2. It gives an invidious advantage to the neighboring Presbyteries 
 over those which are remote. 
 
 3. It may be the occasion of a number of abuses against which the 
 Assembly ought to guard, but which the Committee do not think it need- 
 ful to specify. 
 
 4. But, chiefly, it often embarrasses and retards the proceedings of 
 the Assembly, because members of Committees resign to alternates before 
 the Committees to which they belonged have finished their business or 
 received a discharge from the house ; because new members coming into 
 the Assembly in the* midst of business often cannot possibly understand 
 it sufficiently to decide on it wisely, and because speeches made in rela- 
 tion to matters imperfectly understood often shed darkness and throw 
 perplexity over them, and thus very much time is wasted in discussions 
 which profit nothing. 
 
 Finally, the practice is thought to be derogatory to the dignity and 
 usefulness of the General Assembly. For these reasons the Committee 
 recommend the adoption of the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly the construc- 
 tion of the Constitution, Form of Government, Chap, xxii, Sec. i, 
 which allows commissioners, after holding their seats for a time, to 
 resign them to their alternates, or which allows alternates to sit for a 
 while and then resign their places to their principals, is erroneous ; that 
 the practice growing out of this construction is inexpedient, and that it 
 ought to be discontinued. 
 
 The above report was accepted, and the resolution with which it closes 
 was adopted.— 1827, p. 209, 210. 
 
 [Note.— See 1872, p. 68, Form of Gov., Chap. ix. Also No. 19, p. 170 ; No. 9a, p. 594.] 
 
 8. Rule dispensed with under peculiar circumstances. 
 
 a. Rev. Jacob D. Mitchell informed the Assembly that, as the alter- 
 nate named in the commission from West Hanover, his principal, Rev. 
 James Wharey, not being present, he had at the commencement of the 
 Assembly taken his seat as a member, aud that Mr. Wharey had now 
 arrived, having been detained in the providence of God. Mr. Mitchell 
 moved that he have leave to resign his seat in favor of Mr. Wharey. It 
 was then moved and carried that, under the peculiar circumstances of 
 the case, the standing rule be dispensed with, and that Mr. Wharey be 
 admitted a member in the place of Mr. Mitchell. — 1836, p. 245. 
 
 b. The Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, of the Presbytery of Luzerne, stated 
 to the Assembly that, owing to peculiar circumstances, he as alternate 
 
 38 
 
594 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 had taken his seat as a member of the house, and that he wished to 
 resign it to Rev. John Dorrance, the principal named in the commission. 
 
 Resolved, That in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case which 
 were stated at large by Mr. Hunt, this request be granted, and that Mr. 
 Dorrance' s name be inserted on the roll instead of Mr. Hunt's. — 1844, 
 p. 368, O. S. ; see also 1847, p. 382, O. S. 
 
 C. Alexander Swaney, minister of the Presbytery of Steubenville, 
 having obtained leave of absence, his alternate, Rev. C. C. Beatty, 
 D.D., was, on motion of Judge Leavitt, admitted to a seat. — 1850, p. 
 459; see 1851, p. 24, O. S. 
 
 d. On motion of Dr. Hornblower, the name of Theodore Litle, ruling 
 elder from the Presbytery of Passaic, was substituted for that of Harvey 
 Law, who has occupied a seat as commissioner from that Presbytery 
 since the fourth day of our session. — 1861, p. 321, O. S. 
 
 9. The right of alternates to sit is at the discretion of the 
 
 judicatory. 
 
 a. The Committee upon the Records of the Synod of Colorado would 
 report their approval, with one exception, to wit: 
 
 On p. 254 the Synod excepted to the action of the Presbytery of 
 Boulder in admitting to a seat in an adjourned meeting an alternate in 
 place of a principal who had sat in a previous regular meeting. 
 
 The Committee had also referred to it the repo.rt of the Judiciary 
 Committee upon the matters involved in the complaint of Rev. J. L. 
 Reid against the action of the Synod of Colorado in excepting to the 
 action of the Presbytery of Boulder in admitting to a seat at an ad- 
 journed meeting an alternate in place of a principal who had sat in a 
 previous regular meeting. The Committee would report: 
 
 1. That, in their opinion, the very object of electing an alternate is to 
 ensure, if possible, the actual representation of each constituency in its 
 proper judicatory. 
 
 2. That, as the General Assembly has in several instances admitted to 
 seats in its own body, during the progress of its annual meeting (see 
 Digest, 1886, p. 468), an alternate in place of a principal who wished 
 to be absent during the residue of the meeting, it is expedient that this 
 subject, so far as there is no positive law, be left to the judgment of the 
 several Presbyteries, as circumstances may require. Adopted. — 1886, 
 p. 110. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 8, p. 593.] 
 
 b. The Permanent Committee on Enrollment reported that the Rev. 
 Dr. James T. Leftwich, principal commissioner from the Presbytery of 
 Baltimore, had taken his seat, but had been called away and would not 
 be able to return, and recommended that the Rev. Joseph T. Smith, 
 D. D., an alternate commissioner from the same Presbytery, be enrolled. 
 The recommendation was adopted, and Dr. Smith was enrolled. — 
 1890, p. 65. 
 
 10. At an adjourned meeting alternates enrolled. 
 The Committee on Commissions reported that several gentlemen were 
 present with commissions as alternates, the principals being absent. On 
 motion, it was Resolved, That all alternates presenting regular commis- 
 sions be enrolled, the principals being absent. — 1869, reprint, p. 504, 
 O. S. 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 595 
 
 11. Ratios and excess of representation. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, p. 278.] 
 
 12. Ruling elder need not be a member of Presbytery. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Holston, asking, would the election 
 of a ruling elder as a commissioner to the General Assembly be valid, if 
 at the time of his election he were not in the Presbytery electing him. 
 Such election would be valid, if he is a member of a church under the 
 care of Presbytery. Adopted. —1889, p. 102. 
 
 13. Ruling elders who have been dismissed from the church in which 
 they served, to another, cannot be elected. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Neosho, concerning the eligibility to 
 election as a commissioner to the General Assembly of an elder serving 
 under either the term or permanent service in a particular church, when 
 dismissed to another church under the jurisdiction of the General Assem- 
 bly. It is recommended that the overture be answered in the negative. 
 Adopted.— 1897, p. 133. 
 
 14. Power to expel commissioners. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, p. 299.] 
 
 II. Each commissioner, before his name shall be enrolled as a member 
 of the Assembly, shall produce from his Presbytery, a commission under 
 the hand of the moderator and clerk, in the following, or like form, — viz. 
 
 The Presbytery of being met at on the 
 
 day of doth hereby appoint bishop 
 
 of the congregation of [or ruling elder in the 
 
 congregation of as the case may be :] (to which the Pres- 
 
 bytery may, if they think proper, make a substitution in the following 
 form) or in case of his absence, then bishop of the con- 
 
 gregation of [or ruling elder in the congrega- 
 
 tion of as the case may be :] to be a commissioner, on 
 
 behalf of this Presbytery, to the next General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America, to meet at 
 on the day of A.D. or wherever, and 
 
 whenever the said Assembly may happen to sit; to consult, vote, and 
 determine, on all things that may come before that body, according to the 
 principles and Constitution of this Church, and the Word of God. And 
 of his diligence herein, he is to render an account at his return. 
 Signed by order of the Presbytery, 
 
 Moderator, 
 Clerk. 
 
 And the Presbytery shall make record of the appointment. 
 
 1. The rule must be complied with. A certificate of appointment 
 is not a commission. 
 
 The Committee on Commissions presented a supplemental report, which 
 was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Committee on Commissions respectfully report that the commis- 
 
596 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 sioners whose names are hereinafter given have presented to the Committee 
 certificates of appointment and not commissions, viz. : 
 The Committee recommend: 
 
 1. That these commissioners, although their credentials are informal, 
 be duly enrolled. 
 
 2. That the Stated Clerk of the Assembly notify the Stated Clerks of 
 the above-named Presbyteries, that the form of the commission of 
 commissioners to the General Assembly is printed in Chap, xxii of the 
 Form of Government, and that mere certificates of appointment are 
 not a compliance with the requirements of the Constitution. — 1896, 
 p. 11. 
 
 2. Irregularities and defects in commissions. Commissioner 
 
 received. 
 
 a. Without a commission, but brings testimony of appointment. — 
 1792, p. 48; 1793, p. 65; 1794, p. 79; 1795, p. 94; 1806, p. 347; 
 1816, p. 605; 1821, p. 7, and passim. 
 
 b. Commission signed only by the Stated Clerk. — 1795, p. 94; 1830, 
 p. 281. 
 
 C. Not in due form.— 1828, p. 226; 1829, p. 254; 1858, p. 574, 
 N. S. ; 1852, p. 201, O. S., and passim. 
 
 d. Wanting the date of the year of appointment. — 1831, p. 317. 
 
 e. Wanting signature of Moderator.— 1831, p. 317; 1833, p. 389; 
 
 1834, p. 422; 1835, p. 465; 1869, p. 889, O. S. 
 
 f. Extract from the Minutes signed by Stated Clerk.— 1834, p. 422; 
 
 1835, p. 465; 1837, p. 415; 1849, p. 166, N. S. ; 1851, p. 9, O. S., 
 and passim. 
 
 [Note.— No. 1, p. 595, forbids this.] 
 
 g. Wants the signature of the Clerk.— 1834, p. 422; 1836, p. 238; 
 1839, p. 8, N. S. 
 
 h. Dated more than seven months before Assembly. — 1834, p. 422. 
 
 i. From Presbyteries whose organization has not yet been reported 
 officially to the General Assembly.— 1855, p. 265, O. S. ; 1865, p. 528, 
 O. S.; 1868, p. 597, O. S. 
 
 k. The Committee on Elections also reported that they had satisfac- 
 tory proof that it was the wish of the Presbytery of Allahabad, in 
 Northern India, that the Rev. L. G. Hay should represent said Presby- 
 tery in the General Assembly, but that, on account of the rebellion in 
 India and consequent confusion, the Presbytery had not held a formal 
 election, and the Committee refer the case to the Assembly. 
 
 On motion it was ordered that he be admitted to a seat, and his name 
 was accordingly enrolled.— 1858, p. 262, O. S. ; 1869, p. 889, O.S. 
 
 1. The Committee on Elections reported that Rev. James M. Roberts 
 appeared before them with a commission from the Presbytery of Santa 
 Fe, regular in its form, but defective because the Presbytery has fallen 
 below the constitutional number of five members. The Committee 
 recommend that he be received, and his name enrolled. The report was 
 adopted.— 1877, p. 507. 
 
 m. John G. Kerr, M.D., an elder from the Presbytery of Canton, 
 but without a commission, was enrolled. The facts of the case were 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 597 
 
 referred to a Special Committee, to report a minute in the case — 1885, 
 pp. 587, 588 and 684. 
 
 fNoTE.— Dr. Kerr had been, but was not at the time, an acting elder in the Second 
 Church, Canton, having declined that the church might have native elders only.] 
 
 The Committee reported, recommending " that no further action be 
 taken in the case." — 1886, p. 114. 
 
 [Note. — The usage is, that where the Committee on Commissions have satisfactory 
 evidence of the appointment of the commissioner by his Presbytery, his name is en- 
 rolled. In other cases the claim is referred to the Assembly.] 
 
 3. Some evidence of appointment necessary. 
 
 The Committee on Elections reported that Rev. Augustus Brodhead, 
 D.D., of the Presbytery of Allahabad, appeared before them without a 
 commission, and also without any evidence of his election as such, or of 
 the wish of his Presbytery that he should represent them in this Assem- 
 bly. The Committee recommended no action in the case. The report 
 was adopted. — 1877, p. 500. 
 
 4. The Assembly will not go behind a commission. 
 
 In the case below, a member of the Presbytery informed the Assembly 
 that Mr. Bissell had not been set apart as an elder, but appointed, as 
 was supposed, in accordance with the Plan of Union. In answer to a 
 protest, the Assembly reply: 
 
 Mr. Bissell was admitted by the Assembly for the following reasons: 
 
 1. The commission which Mr. Bissell produced was in due form, and 
 signed by the proper officers of the Presbytery. 
 
 2. Every Presbytery has a right to judge of the qualifications of its 
 own members, and it is amenable to Synod, and not to the General 
 Assembly, except by way of appeal or reference or complaint regularly 
 brought up from the inferior judicatories, which has not been done in 
 the present case. 
 
 3. It would be a dangerous precedent, and would lead to the destruc- 
 tion of all order in the Church of Christ, to permit unauthorized verbal 
 testimony to set aside an authenticated written document. — 1826, p. 181. 
 
 5. Assembly's Permanent Committee on Commissions. 
 
 Commissioners are to present their commissions to the Permanent Com- 
 mittee on Commissions, on the morning of the first day of the sessions of 
 the Assembly. The Committee meets invariably at 8.30 A. M., of said 
 first day, at the church in which the Assembly meets. — Standing Order, 
 No. 2, see p. 262. 
 
 6. Advisory members. 
 
 In all regions where through the organization of Union Presbyteries 
 there are no Presbyteries in connection with this Assembly, each mission 
 organized as such under our Board of Foreign Missions may send to the 
 General Assembly an ordained missionary, or ruling elder, as a delegate ; 
 and the Standing Rules of the Assembly are hereby so amended that such 
 delegate is entitled to sit as an advisory member in the Assembly, and to 
 speak, under the rules, on all questions, and his expenses from his domi- 
 cile in this country to and during the Assembly and return, shall be met 
 as those of commissioners, out of the funds of the Assembly. — Standing- 
 Order, No. 14, see p. 264. 
 
598 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 7. Corresponding members. 
 
 a. Officers of the Assembly. 
 
 The permanent officers of the judicatory shall have the rights of corre- 
 sponding members in matters touching their several offices. — Rules for 
 Judicatories, No. 41, p. 269. 
 
 b. Secretaries of the Boards. 
 
 Resolved, That all the secretaries of the Boards of the Church shall 
 have the privileges of corresponding members of the General Assembly 
 in discussions bearing upon the interests of the Boards which they sever- 
 ally represent. — 1870, p. 85. 
 
 C. Delegates from corresponding bodies. Ministers casually present. 
 
 [Note.— See in this Digest, p. 277.] • 
 
 III. In order, as far as possible, to procure a respectable and full dele- 
 gation to all our judicatories, it is proper that the expenses of ministers 
 and elders in their attendance on these judicatories, be defrayed by the 
 bodies which they respectively represent. 
 
 1. The commissioners' fund. Former plans. 
 
 [Note. — The Assembly of 1792, p. 59, ordered "that each Presbytery pay their own 
 commissioners for the future, and for attending the present Assembly." In 1803, p. 
 279, the expense of attending the Assembly from distant Presbyteries was brought to 
 the notice of the body by overture, and a Committee appointed. On its report, p. 282, 
 the subject was referred to the Presbyteries, with directions to report to the next 
 Assembly. In 1804, p. 311, the following resolution was adopted, viz. :] 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the Presbyteries belonging to the 
 Synod of New York and New Jersey, and to the Synod of Philadelphia, 
 earnestly to advise the churches under their care to make an annual 
 collection, to be specially appropriated to aid in the payment of the 
 expenses of the commissioners from the more distant parts of the coun- 
 try, to enable them to attend the General Assembly, and that the money, 
 when collected, be put into the hands of the treasurer of the corpora- 
 tion, and paid to the persons who may attend as commissioners under 
 the direction of the General Assembly. 
 
 A more comprehensive plan, looking to collections in all the churches, 
 was adopted by the Assembly of 1806, pp. 369-371 ; see also 1807, pp. 
 385, 386; 1822, p. 56. 
 
 In 1833, p. 410, the Assembly urgently pressed the necessity of con- 
 tribution to the common fund on all the churches under its care. 
 
 [Note— See also Minutes, 1847, p. 395, O. S. ; 1851, p. 24, N. S. ; 1857, p. 399, N. S. 
 (Digest, 1886, pp. 471, 472) ; 1870, pp. 59, 100 (Digest, 1886, pp. 472-474).] 
 
 2. Mileage and contingent funds. 
 
 [Note— Adopted by the General Assembly of 1870; and amended 1875, 1877, 
 1884 and 1896.] 
 
 a. It is affirmed, Form of Government, Chap, xxii, Sec. iii, that, "in 
 order, as far as possible, to procure a respectable and full delegation to 
 all our judicatories, it is proper that the expenses of ministers and 
 elders, in their attendance on these judicatories, be defrayed by the 
 bodies which they respectively represent." 
 
 The principle is thus established, that provision should be made for the 
 payment of the traveling expenses of commissioners to the General 
 
OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 599 
 
 Assembly. This provision should be made by the Presbyteries. As far 
 as possible, the feebler Presbyteries should be aided in this matter by the 
 stronger. It appears just and reasonable, and so has been found by 
 experience, that the estimated contingent expenses of each Assembly, 
 and the traveling expenses of the commissioners in coming to and 
 returning from the Assembly, should be fully met by the apportionment 
 of the whole amount among the several Presbyteries, according to the 
 number of their communicants respectively. 
 It is therefore recommended: 
 
 1. That the Standing Committee on Mileage, annually appointed, be 
 instructed to present an estimate of the probable amount that will be 
 needed by the next General Assembly, in order to meet their contingent 
 expenses and the traveling expenses of their commissioners, with a state- 
 ment of the per capita rate, based on the number of communicants, that 
 will be needed to secure the amount. 
 
 2. That the Presbyteries, at their stated meeting next following the 
 adjournment of the General Assembly, apportion the amount required 
 of their churches as they deem best. 
 
 3. That the churches be instructed to pay over their respective appor- 
 tionments at the stated meeting of their Presbyteries next preceding the 
 meeting of the General Assembly — the whole amount due from the Pres- 
 bytery to be forwarded to the Assembly by their commissioners. 
 
 4. That, as early as the fourth day of the sessions of the Assembly, 
 the apportionment of each Presbytery be paid in full, and a bill of the 
 necessary traveling expenses of its commissioners be presented to the 
 Standing Committee on Mileage. — N. B. It is understood that commis- 
 sioners, both in coming to and returning from the Assembly, will avail 
 themselves of any commutation of fares that may be offered in season ; 
 and that in other cases they are to take, when practicable, the most econ- 
 omical route; no allowance to be made for extra accommodations on the 
 way. Also, that no one will charge for return expenses unless he intends 
 to go back to his field of labor ; and that no one on a business tour, or 
 excursion of pleasure, will make a convenience of the meeting of the 
 Assembly and expect payment of his traveling expenses from the Mile- 
 age Fund. Also, that commissioners, as soon after their arrival as 
 practicable, are to report themselves to the Committee of Arrangements, 
 and have their respective places of abode assigned them. 
 
 5. That the Mileage Committee, after appropriating from the whole 
 sum an amount sufficient to meet the estimated contingent expenses of 
 the Assembly, be instructed to audit these bills and that the Stated Clerk 
 pay them pro rata (if found in accordance with the preceding regula- 
 tions), as far as the funds will permit. 
 
 6. That, in order to avail themselves of the proceeds of this fund, the 
 Presbyteries must contribute their full proportion to it according to the 
 per capita rate. 
 
 7. That every minister, and every vacant church contributing to this 
 fund, connected with the Presbyteries thus complying with the provis- 
 ions of this plan, be entitled to a copy of the annual Minutes of the 
 General Assembly. 
 
 8. That the comissioners from Presbyteries in foreign lands receive their 
 necessary traveling expenses, pro rata, from their place of residence in 
 this country.— 1870, pp. 59, 60; 1897, p. 130. 
 
 In accordance with this system, every Presbytery is requested to pay 
 
600 FORM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXII. 
 
 in full, next year, to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, a sum 
 equal to (four)* cents for mileage, and (one and one-half) cents for contin- 
 gent expenses, or in all (five and one-half) cents for every communicant 
 under the care of their churches, as determined by their statistical report 
 herewith printed. This will entitle their commissioners to a full share 
 in the apportionment for necessary traveling expenses. It is expected 
 that these expenses will be fully met, if the Presbyteries comply with the 
 recommendations of the Assembly. — 1895, p. 324; 1897, p. 300. 
 They are expected, also, to provide for an 
 
 b. Entertainment Fund. 
 
 In addition to the Mileage Fund, the Assembly of 1877 made pro- 
 vision for a " Supplemental Contingent Expense Fund," to "be used 
 for the purpose of meeting the expense of entertaining such commis- 
 sioners as are not otherwise provided for. ' ' Each Presbytery is requested 
 to contribute to this fund a sum equal at least to one and one -half cents 
 per church member, and to forward it, with the Mileage Fund, to the 
 Stated Clerk of the Assembly. It is to be disbursed by the Committee 
 of Arrangements, whose bills for entertainment the Stated Clerk, as 
 Treasurer, is authorized to pay, after they have been approved by an 
 Auditing Committee. —1895, p. 325; 1897, p. 301. 
 
 C. When the apportionment should be forwarded to the Stated Clerk, 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbyteries be urged to forward the amounts of 
 their apportionments to the Stated Clerk, at least two weeks prior to the 
 meeting of the General Assembly. — 1895, p. 126. 
 
 3. None of the Church judicatories have power to assess a tax 
 upon the churches. 
 
 The Committee on Reduced Representation, to whom were referred 
 certain resolutions in reference to the Mileage and Contingent Funds of 
 the General Assembly, reported as follows : 
 
 In the judgment of the Committee, the position taken in the resolu- 
 tions is the constitutional one. None of our Church courts are clothed 
 with the power to assess a tax upon the churches. Apportionments to 
 meet the expenses of the several bodies may be made; but the payment 
 depends upon that voluntary liberality which flows from the enlightened 
 consciences of the people, who may be confidently relied upon to return 
 whatever is necessary for the conduct of our ecclesiastical business. The 
 Committee regret while they appreciate the state of affairs which has led 
 so many Presbyteries to announce their conditional purpose hereafter to 
 withhold their proportion from the Mileage Fund of this body. That 
 Fund has done so much to secure the representation of all parts of the 
 denomination in its supreme court, that it would be a calamity to have 
 it destroyed. The Committee express the hope that the current year 
 will end the embarrassment which now surrounds the fund, and has led 
 to the purposed withdrawal of Presbyterial aid; and that, this removed, 
 the Presbyteries will continue to receive from their churches, and forward 
 to the treasurer of the General Assembly, the full amount of the per 
 capita communicant apportionment. 
 
 Under the influence of this view of the subject, the Committee report 
 
 * [Note.— The amount of the apportionment for Mileage, etc., varies from time to 
 time.] 
 
OF AMENDMENTS. 601 
 
 back the resolutions referred to them, and recommend the Assembly to 
 adopt them as follows: 
 
 Whereas, Our Form of Government, Chap, xxii, Sec. ii, makes it 
 proper for each Presbytery to pay the expenses of their own commis- 
 sioners in their attendance upon the General Assembly: if any Presby- 
 tery shall choose to do so, the Assembly cannot require them to contribute 
 to the General Fund. Nevertheless, it is hereby 
 
 Resolved, 1. That each Presbytery is hereby earnestly requested to 
 contribute annually its full proportion for the commissioners and Con- 
 tingent Funds of the General Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That any law or resolution or action of previous Assem- 
 blies, contrary to, or inconsistent with the above declaration and resolu- 
 tions, be, and the same hereby is repealed. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1878, pp. 67, 68. 
 
 4. Stated Clerk authorized to pay additional bills. 
 That the Stated Clerk, as Treasurer of the Assembly, be authorized at 
 his discretion to pay commissioners for any further sums that may be 
 considered justly due them, by reason of their having underestimated 
 railroad charges, etc.— 1897, p. 137; also 1887, p. 132. 
 
 5. Power of the Assembly over these funds. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia Central, asking the 
 Assembly that the " Surplus Mileage Fund, if the way be clear, be 
 devoted to the payment of the indebtedness of the Boards of the 
 Church." 
 
 The Committee recommend for answer, that the Assembly has no 
 power to devote the funds collected for the expenses of the Assembly to 
 other purposes. — 1891, p. 107. 
 
 b. Overtures, from the Presbyteries of Carlisle, Detroit and Santa 
 Fe, each making the same request, namely, that the surplus now in the 
 hands of the Stated Clerk as Treasurer of the General Assembly, derived 
 from Presbyterial apportionments, be at once appropriated toward paying 
 the debts of the Boards of the Church. 
 
 Your Committee direct attention to the ruling of the General Assembly 
 of 1891 {Minutes, p. 107) that the Assembly " has no power to devote 
 the funds collected for the expenses of the Assembly to any other pur- 
 pose," and recommend that said overtures be answered in the negative. 
 —1896, p. 118. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 OF AMENDMENTS. 
 
 I. Amendments or alterations of the Form of Government, Book of 
 Discipline and Directory for Worship may be proposed by the General 
 Assembly to the Presbyteries, but shall not be obligatory on the Church 
 unless a majority of all the Presbyteries approve thereof in writing. 
 
 II. Amendments or alterations of the Confession of Faith, and the 
 Larger and Shorter Catechisms, may be proposed to the Presbyteries by 
 the General Assembly, but shall not be obligatory on the Church unless 
 
602 FOKM OF GOVERNMENT, CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 they shall be approved in writing by two-thirds of all the Presbyteries, 
 and agreed to and enacted by the General Assembly next ensuing, and 
 the written votes of the Presbyteries shall be returned to that Assembly. 
 
 III. Before any amendments or alterations of the Confession of Faith, 
 or the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, proposed by the General Assembly, 
 shall be transmitted to the Presbyteries, the General Assembly shall 
 appoint — to consider the subject — a committee of ministers and ruling 
 elders, in number not less than fifteen, of whom not more than two 
 shall be from any one Synod, and the committee shall report its recom- 
 mendations to the General Assembly next ensuing, for action. 
 
 IV. No alterations of the provisions contained in this chapter for 
 amending or altering the Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter 
 Catechisms, or of this fourth section, shall be made, unless an Overture 
 from the General Assembly, submitting the proposed alterations, shall be 
 transmitted to all the Presbyteries, and be approved in writing by two- 
 thirds of their number, and be agreed to and enacted by the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 V. It shall be obligatory on the General Assembly to transmit to the 
 Presbyteries, for approval or disapproval, any Overture respecting 
 amendments or alterations provided for in this chapter, which shall be 
 submitted to the same General Assembly by one -third of all the Presby- 
 teries. In such cases the Overture shall be formulated and transmitted 
 by the General Assembly receiving the same to the Presbyteries for their 
 action, subject, as to all subsequent proceedings, to the provisions of the 
 foregoing sections. 
 
 VI. Whenever it shall appear to the General Assembly that any pro- 
 posed amendments or alterations of the Form of Government, Book of 
 Discipline and Directory for Worship, shall have received a majority 
 vote of all the Presbyteries, the General Assembly shall declare such 
 amendments or alterations to have been adopted, and the same shall 
 immediately go into effect. 
 
 VII. Nothing in this chapter shall be so construed as to affect the 
 right of two- thirds of the Presbyteries to propose amendments or altera- 
 tions of the Confession of Faith, and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, 
 or of the General Assembly to agree to and enact the same. 
 
 [Note.— Adopted, 1891.] 
 
 1. Duty of the Stated Clerk in reference to answers to overtures. 
 Committee of Canvass and action of the Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the Stated Clerk to present to 
 the General Assembly next ensuing any Assembly which has sent down 
 an overture, the written answers to said overture which may have been 
 received by him from the Presbyteries. And thereupon, such statement 
 from the Clerk, together with the written answers to said overture, shall 
 be referred by the Assembly to a Committee of Canvass, to be composed 
 of three ministers and two elders, commissioners to said Assembly. 
 
OF AMENDMENTS. 603 
 
 And, upon the report of such Committee, that after canvassing the 
 written answers of the Presbyteries to any overture or overtures, amend- 
 ing or altering the Form of Government, the Book of Discipline, or the 
 Directory for Worship, it appears that it has been approved in writing 
 by a majority of the Presbyteries, the General Assembly shall by resolu- 
 tion declare such amendment or alteration to have been adopted, as a 
 part of the Form of Government, Book of Discipline or Directory for 
 Worship (as the case may be) of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America. 
 
 And further, upon the report of such Committee, that after canvassing 
 the written answers of the Presbyteries to any overture proposing to 
 amend or alter the Confession of Faith or the Larger or Shorter Cate- 
 chism, it appears that it has been approved in writing by two-thirds of 
 the Presbyteries, the General Assembly shall proceed to take such action 
 concerning said proposed amendment or alteration as may seem expedient 
 — under Sec. iv of said Chap, xxiii of the Form of Government, con- 
 cerning Amendments — which requires said amendment or alteration to 
 be agreed to and enacted by the General Assembly, before it becomes a 
 part of the Confession of Faith, or the Larger or Shorter Catechism of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. — 1891, 
 p. 142. 
 
604 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, CHAP. I. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Adopted 1884. Amended 1885—1894. 
 
 |_Note. — The present Book of Discipline was prepared by a Committee consisting of: 
 Mirtist ers— Elijah R. Craven, D.D., Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., Alexander T. McGill, 
 D.D., LL.D., William E. Moore, D.D., Nathaniel West, D.D., Robert W. Patterson, 
 D.D., Francis L. Patton, D.D., LL.D.; Elders— Hon. William Strong, LL.D., Hon. 
 Joseph Allison, LL.D., Hon. Samuel M. Breckinridge, LL.D., Hon. Samuel M. 
 Moore, LL.D., and Hon. John T. Nixon, LL.D. The revised book was submitted to 
 the Assembly of 1883, sent down in that year to the Presbyteries, whose vote was 131 
 in the affirmative and 36 in the negative, and was declared adopted by the Assembly 
 of 1884. See for the history of the undertaking, Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 575-582. 
 
 See, for Amendments to the Book of Discipline, p. 13 of this Digest.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 OF DISCIPLINE: ITS NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 1. Discipline is the exercise of that authority, and the application of 
 that system of laws, which the Lord Jesus Christ has appointed in his 
 Church : embracing the care and control, maintained by the Church, 
 over its members, officers, and judicatories. 
 
 II. The ends of Discipline are the maintenance of the truth, the vin- 
 dication of the authority and honor of Christ, the removal of offences, 
 the promotion of the purity and edification of the Church, and the spir- 
 itual good of offenders. Its exercise, in such a manner as to secure its 
 appropriate ends, requires much prudence and discretion. Judicatories, 
 therefore, should take into consideration all the circumstances which 
 may give a different character to conduct, and render it more or less 
 offensive ; and which may require different action, in similar cases, at 
 different times, for the attainment of the same ends. 
 
 1. Prompt discipline best fitted to secure a happy issue. 
 It is further the opinion of the Assembly that had the improper con- 
 duct of the appellant been made a subject of discipline at an earlier 
 period, a more happy issue might have been reached. The Assembly 
 formally and affectionately urges on the appellant a submission to the 
 sentence of his brethren and a speedy return to the path of duty and 
 privilege.— 1859, p. 547, O. S. 
 
 2. The censure must be proportionate to the offence. Sentence 
 
 reversed where the censure was too severe. 
 
 a. The Assembly proceeded to consider the appeal of Mr. Jabez Spicer 
 from the decision of the Synod of Geneva, by which Mr. Spicer had 
 been deposed from the Gospel ministry. The documents on the subject 
 were read, and the parties were heard. It was 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal of Mr. Spicer be sustained, on the ground 
 
ITS NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 605 
 
 that the sentence pronounced upon him was disproportioned to his crime, 
 it not appearing substantiated that he was guilty of more than a single 
 act of prevarication; while, therefore, the Assembly express their entire 
 disapprobation of, the conduct of Mr. Spicer, as unbecoming a Christian 
 and Christian minister, they reverse the sentence of deposition passed 
 upon him by the Presbytery, and direct that after suitable admonitions 
 and acknowledgments he be restored to the ministerial office. — 1821, 
 p. 24. 
 
 b. The discussion of the motion to reverse a decision of the Presby- 
 tery of Lexington, by which decision Mr. George Bourne was deposed 
 from the Gospel ministry, was resumed. This motion was determined in 
 the affirmative, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 The Assembly judge that the charges in the case of Mr. Bourne were 
 not fully substantiated, and that, if they had been, the sentence was 
 too severe. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the sentence of the Presbytery of Lexington, deposing 
 Mr. Bourne, be reversed, and it is hereby reversed, and that the Pres- 
 bytery commence the trial anew. — 1817, p. 646. 
 
 C. The Assembly sustain the appeal of David Price from the decision 
 of the Synod of Geneva, on the ground that the charge of intoxication 
 was not sufficiently supported by the testimony; although it does appear, 
 principally from his own confession, that he had made, an unbecoming 
 use of ardent spirits, and that an admonition was, in the view of the 
 Assembly, deserved, and would have been sufficient. — 1825, p. 155. 
 
 d. There seems to have. been, in the proceedings of the Session, too 
 much precipitation and absoluteness, and too little of that calm and prac- 
 tical vindication of their own dignity, which mildness and forbearance, 
 in the spirit of our Master, are largely necessary to inspire ; and this es- 
 pecially in reference to the sentence they pronounced. 
 
 The Assembly therefore decide in the premises, that the sentence of the 
 Session, suspending the appellant be, and it hereby is reversed, as also 
 the decision of the Presbytery confirming that of the Session. — 1839, 
 reprint, p. 64, N. S. 
 
 e. Resolved, That the decision of the Synod of Cincinnati, reversing 
 the action of the Presbytery and Session, upon the second charge, be 
 sustained in part, on the ground that the suspension of the parties accused 
 was too severe in the case, and that the Session be recommended to 
 revoke the suspension and admonish the parties. — 1865, p. 550, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See for Complaint of Session of the Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincin- 
 nati, Minutes, 1865, p, 538, 0. S.] 
 
 3. The decisions of the civil courts not conclusive in the judicato- 
 tories of the Church. Every member of the Presbyterian Church 
 entitled to a fair trial according to the methods of his church, 
 before condemnation. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Washington City, asking the Assem- 
 bly to enact that : 
 
 Any minister or member of the Church, convicted in the civil courts 
 of an offence, recognized as such by the Standards of our Church, may, 
 without further process, be suspended from all the privileges and offices 
 of the Church until the judicatories of the Church having jurisdiction in 
 the case shall, after due investigation, be satisfied of his innocence or 
 repentance. 
 
606 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 1-3. 
 
 The Committee recommend that, while admitting that some possible 
 cases may occur, in which nothing else can be done, but that which is 
 here asked, the overture be answered in the negative, because: 
 
 1. The subject-matter of the overture involves a constitutional 
 change, which must needs be overtured to the Presbyteries, which it is 
 not now desirable to do. 
 
 2. The processes of civil courts differ so much from those of our 
 Church judicatories, and their decisions are not so infallible, that our 
 Church judicatories can adopt them without investigation. 
 
 3. It is the sacred right of every member of the Presbyterian Church, 
 to have a full and fair trial, according to the laws and methods of his 
 church, before condemnation. Adopted. — 1885, pp. 602, 603. 
 
 4. Great tenderness enjoined. 
 
 Whereas, It has appeared on the trial of Judicial Cases 1 and 2 that 
 full testimony was given, as well in this court as in the trial in the 
 courts below, to the exemplary Christian character of the appellants in 
 these cases respectively; and, 
 
 Whereas, The offence which has subjected said appellants to the disci- 
 pline of the Church has arisen from a conscience misled by erroneous 
 views of their duty; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the Session of the church of 
 Caledonia to deal with these brethren with the utmost tenderness and 
 Christian affection, that they may be led to see their errors and return 
 to their duty, and that they may be restored to the fellowship of the 
 Church, from which they have been too long separated. — 1859, p. 548, 
 O. S. 
 
 III. An offence is anything, in the doctrine, principles, or practice of 
 a church member, officer, or judicatory, which is contrary to the Word 
 of God; or which, if it be not in its own nature sinful, may tempt others 
 to sin, or mar their spiritual edification. 
 
 [Note.— See Larger Catechism, Questions 104-151, and this Digest, pp. 632-634. For 
 decisions and deliverances on doctrine, see Confession of Faith, Chaps, i, ii, iii, iv, vi, x, 
 p. 45, seq. and Book of Discipline, Chap, i, Sec. iv, p. 631.] 
 
 I. DOCTRINE. 
 
 [Note. — See this Digest,, p. 115.] 
 
 II. MORALS. 
 
 1. Breach of Sabbath observance. 
 
 While, therefore, we earnestly entreat our fellow- citizens of every class 
 to * ' remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, ' ' the Assembly do here- 
 by in a special manner enjoin it upon the church Sessions to watch over 
 their brethren with tenderness and great fidelity in respect to the observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath, and to exercise wholesome discipline on those who 
 by traveling or other ways presume to trample upon this sacred institu- 
 tion; and we further enjoin it upon the Presbyteries annually to institute 
 inquiries of the eldership as to the manner in which this injunction has 
 been attended to in their respective churches. — 1853, p. 323, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See deliverances upon the Sabbath at large, under Directory for Worship, 
 Chap, i, p. 808. Also, under Confession of Faith, Chap, xxi, p. 89.] 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 607 
 
 2. Theatrical exhibitions, and dancing condemned. 
 
 a. On the fashionable, though, as we believe, dangerous, amusements 
 of theatrical exhibitions and dancing we deem it necessary to make a 
 few observations. The theatre we have always considered as a school 
 of immorality. If any person wishes for honest conviction on this sub- 
 ject, let him attend to the character of that mass of matter which is 
 generally exhibited on the stage. We believe all will agree that come- 
 dies at least, with a few exceptions, are of such a description that a virtu- 
 ous and modest person cannot attend the representation of them without 
 the most painful and embarrassing sensations. If, indeed, custom has 
 familiarized the scene, and these painful sensations are no longer felt, it 
 only proves that the person in question has lost some of the best sensibili- 
 ties of our nature, that the strongest safeguard of virtue has been taken 
 down, and that the moral character has undergone a serious depreciation. 
 —1818, p. 690. 
 
 b. With respect to dancing, we think it necessary to observe that, 
 however plausible it may appear to some, it is perhaps not the less dan- 
 gerous on account of that plausibility. It is not from those things which 
 the world acknowledges to be most wrong that the greatest danger is to 
 be apprehended to religion, especially as it relates to the young. When 
 the practice is carried to its highest extremes, all admit the consequences 
 to be fatal ; and why not, then, apprehend danger even from its incipient 
 stages ? It is certainly in all its stages a fascinating and an infatuating 
 practice. Let it once be introduced, and it is difficult to give it limits. 
 It steals away our precious time, dissipates religious impressions and 
 hardens the heart. To guard you, beloved brethren, against its wiles 
 and its fascinations, we earnestly recommend that you will consult that 
 sobriety which the sacred pages require. We also trust that you will 
 attend with the meekness and docility becoming the Christian character, 
 to the admonitions on this subject of those whom you have chosen to 
 watch for your souls. And now, beloved brethren, that you may be 
 guarded from the dangers we have pointed out, and from all other 
 dangers which beset the path of life and obstruct our common salvation, 
 and that the great Head of the Church may have you in his holy keep- 
 ing, is our sincere and affectionate prayer. Amen. — 1818, p. 690. 
 
 C. Promiscuous dancing calls for faithful and judicious discipline. 
 
 Resolved, That the fashionable amusement of promiscuous dancing is 
 so entirely unscriptural and eminently and exclusively that of " the 
 world which lieth in wickedness," and so wholly inconsistent with the 
 spirit of Christ, and with that propriety of Christian deportment and 
 that purity of heart which his followers are bound to maintain, as to 
 render it not only improper and injurious for professing Christians either 
 to partake in it, or to qualify their children for it by teaching them the 
 art ; but also to call for the faithful and judicious exercise of discipline 
 on the part of church Sessions when any of the members of their 
 churches have been guilty. — 1843, p. 14, N. S. ; reaffirmed, 1853, p. 
 340, N. S, ; also 1867, p. 513, N. S. ; 1876, p. 27. 
 
608 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 d. Social dances and private theatricals. 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Cincinnati, proposing the follow- 
 ing questions, viz. : 
 
 1. Are social dances and private theatricals included under the head 
 of " dancing and stage plays," mentioned in the Larger Catechism, 
 amongst " the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment ?" 
 
 2. Is it the duty of the church Sessions to exercise discipline upon 
 those members of the Church who send their children to dancing schools, 
 or who give and attend dancing parties ? and if so, ought such discipline 
 to be carried to the extent of exclusion from the sacraments, where other 
 means fail of producing reformation ? 
 
 The Committee recommended the following reply, which was adopted : 
 
 To the first question: 
 
 That whilst the pleasures of 'the ballroom and the theatre are primarily 
 intended by the " dancing and stage plays " forbidden in the answer to 
 the 139th question in the Larger Catechism, the spirit of the prohibition 
 extends to all kindred amusements which are calculated to awaken 
 thoughts and feelings inconsistent with the seventh commandment, as 
 explained by the Saviour in Matt. v. 27, 28.— 1860, p. 21, O. S. ; con- 
 firmed, 1891, p. 155. 
 
 [Note.— The Catechism reads, "lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancingp.stage- 
 plays." See p. 634.] 
 
 e. Promiscuous social dancing, and dancing schools. 
 To the second question : 
 
 1. That whilst we regard the practice of promiscuous social dancing 
 by members of the Church as a mournful inconsistency, and the giving of 
 parties for such dancing on the part of the heads of Christian families 
 as tending to compromise their religious profession, and the sending of 
 children by Christian parents to the dancing school as a sad error in 
 family discipline ; yet we think that the Session of each church is fully 
 competent to decide when discipline is necessary, and the extent to which 
 it should be administered.— 1860, p. 21, O. S. ; 1891, p. 155. 
 
 2. Overture on a Presbytery's approving the minutes of a Session pro- 
 hibiting dancing, from the Presbytery of Portsmouth. The Committee 
 recommend the following answer: The Presbytery of Portsmouth is 
 referred to the action of the General Assembly (Moore's Digest, 1886, 
 p. 587) on the subject of dancing, which action, while disapproving of 
 the practice of promiscuous dancing, yet leaves the whole subject of 
 dancing to the Sessions of our churches. While the power of disciplin- 
 ing for dancing is thus clearly in the hands of the Session, yet it was not 
 the intention of the Assembly to authorize the Sessions of our churches 
 to enact laws, which may be construed as creating new and unscriptural 
 conditions of church membership, and we would recommend the Presby- 
 tery so to advise the Session of the church referred to in the overture. — 
 1895, p. 106. (See 1 above,) 
 
 f. Deliverances c, d, and e confirmed. 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Clarion, Dayton, Erie, Redstone 
 and Chenango, asking for some further deliverance on the subject of 
 promiscuous dancing, in order that a felt and growing evil may be checked 
 among the membership of our churches. In reply to Overtures 5 to 9 
 inclusive, on the subject of promiscuous dancing, the Committee recom- 
 mend the following : 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 609 
 
 The overtures of previous Assemblies of both brauches of the Church, 
 ou the subject of promiscuous dancing, are agreed in deploring the prac- 
 tice as a mournful inconsistency, and as regarding the giving of parties 
 for such dancing by the heads of Christian families, as involving a com- 
 promise of their religious profession. These deliverances are also 
 agreed, in declaring that the Session of each church is fully competent to 
 decide upon what discipline is necessary, and to what extent it should be 
 administered. 
 
 This General Assembly, therefore, reaffirms these deliverances of the 
 Assemblies of both branches of the Church (see, especially, N. S., 1843, 
 p. 14, and O. S., 1860, p. 21, as recorded in Digest, 1873, pp. 476, 
 477) ; and, further, counsels church Sessions to arrest this evil, so far as 
 practicable, by wisely guiding the enthusiasm and activity of the younger 
 members of their churches, by both precept and example, into the many 
 forms of useful service now providentially presented to all who delight to 
 serve and honor Christ. — 1876, p. 27. 
 
 g. Theatres, and card-playing. 
 
 In regard to so much of the above overture as refers to ' ' theatres and 
 theatre-going," this Assembly reaffirms the action of the General Assem- 
 bly of 1818 (see Minutes, p. 690, and new Digest, Moore, 1861, pp. 262, 
 263). In this action the Assembly declared the theatre to be " a school 
 of immorality." This Assembly, seeing no occasion to modify the 
 utterance then given, earnestly exhorts all the members of the Church 
 in their practice to avoid, and by their influence to discountenance, all 
 such ' ' dangerous ' ' amusements, as being inconsistent with the spirit of 
 the Gospel, and detrimental to the best interests of piety in the heart. 
 
 In respect to "the custom of fashionable card-playing," referred to 
 by the memorialists, and represented as being " countenanced in many 
 of our Christian households, ' ' and also ' ' participated in by members of 
 our churches, ' ' this Assembly would affectionately exhort all the members 
 of the Presbyterian Church to practice the most careful watchfulness in 
 avoiding all recreations and amusements, whether in the form specified in 
 the memorial or otherwise, which are calculated to impair spirituality, 
 lessen Christian influence or bring discredit upon their profession as 
 members of the Church of Christ. — 1865, p. 45, 1ST. S. 
 
 3. Popular amusements in general. 
 
 A paper reported by the Committee on Bills and Overtures on the 
 subject of the opera, the theatre, the dance and card-playing, was 
 referred to a Committee, consisting of the Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., 
 Rev. William E. Moore and Mr. Alexander Whilldin, to report at the 
 adjourned meeting. 
 
 The Special Committee to whom was referred a paper on the subject of 
 amusements presented their report, which was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The question of popular amusements is one that cannot be settled by 
 statute. It has to do with the spirit and the life of Christianity rather 
 than with the letter of its law. Hence the impossibility of specific enact- 
 ment. But the very fact of its near and vital connection with spiritual 
 life justifies and demands for it a thoughtful consideration. 
 
 What Scriptural guidance have we in the matter ? What posture 
 ought the Church to assume toward so-called popular amusements ? A 
 sweeping condemnation of them would be a sweeping folly. To say of 
 39 
 
610 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 them all that they are inherently and positively sinful is simply to say 
 what is not true. And to protest against suitable recreation would be to 
 protest against a mental and moral necessity. A long-visaged and 
 sombre-hued piety is not after the order of the Gospel. That makes 
 recognition of the laugh, the joy of life; has no frown for the play-side 
 of our nature, bids us serve the Lord with gladness. Nowhere so much 
 as in the heart of God's people should joy have her home and go rippling 
 out in the channels of deed and speech. 
 
 But what is suitable Christian recreation ? We are without a specific 
 ' ' Thus saith the Lord ' ' for each specific form of pleasure. But this is 
 by no means to acknowledge that we are without Scriptural guidance. 
 The spirit is broader and deeper than the letter. There are general prin- 
 ciples whose profound and subtle reach makes it impossible that they 
 should be framed by a law. Those that bear on this question of popular 
 amusements are three : 
 
 I. The first general principle has respect to the relation which Chris- 
 tians sustain to each other. It is discussed in Rom. xiv and in 1 Cor. 
 viii. Christian liberty in things indifferent is there distinctly recognized, 
 but it is bounded and limited by a higher law. We must not abuse our 
 liberty to the offence of our brethren. We must bridle our knowledge 
 with charity. We are bidden to beware how we tamper with the sancti- 
 ties of a brother's conscience, and to beware how we trifle with the 
 necessities of a brother's weakness. The law of conscience and the law 
 of love are far more sacred and more precious and more to be regarded 
 than the law of liberty. To the child of God they ought to be always 
 paramount. To assert independence at the expense of wounding a 
 brother's conscience is "to sin against Christ." " It is good neither to 
 eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stum- 
 bleth." Of course, a merely personal, puerile, wretched scrupulosity is 
 not to be foisted upon the Church for its government. But amusements 
 whose tendencies are inherently and almost inevitably to excess, where 
 the weak and the unstable may stumble and perish, and against which 
 there is a general Christian conscience, are decisively condemned by this 
 plain Word of God. 
 
 II. The second general principle has respect to the relation which 
 Christians sustain to the world. It is negative and summed up in this: 
 
 " Be not conformed to this world." It is a relation of non-conformity. 
 Christians are to be unlike the world, and distinguishable from it. This 
 idea of separateness runs through all the warp and woof of Scripture. 
 And it clearly does not imply a separation from the grossly evil of the 
 world. This is specifically and positively commanded. Christians are 
 pledged and sworn to obedience by their very profession. The separation 
 involved in non-conformity is from worldliness — from the wordly spirit. 
 It is a demand that the whole tone and bent and current and spirit of 
 the Christian life shall be different from that of the worldly life — so 
 different that it shall be manifest to the world that the people of God are 
 pilgrims and strangers on the earth ; that they are walking with God ; 
 that they are a peculiar people, called out of the world while still remain- 
 ing in it; God's witnesses; living epistles; the salt of the earth; distinc- 
 tive, chosen, set apart, recognizable everywhere as having been with 
 Jesus, and as holy in all manner of conversation. Let Christians apply 
 to their lives this one central, prominent, Gospel idea of non-conformity, 
 let them press it on all their conduct until they give unmistakable exhi- 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 611 
 
 Dition of the spirit of these unmistakable words of Christ and the apos- 
 tles, and it will go very far to settle this whole question of rational or 
 irrational amusements. 
 
 III. The third general principle has respect to the relation which 
 Christians sustain to Christ. It is positive, and summed up in this: 
 *' Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus." Broad, comprehensive, universal in its applicability, yet most 
 specific, after all, in its fundamental conditions — ' ' Whatsoever ye do. ' ' 
 In another place, applied to the every-day necessity and act of our life — 
 eating and drinking; applicable, therefore, to our recreations. It is 
 Scriptural condemnation of every form of social diversion in which a 
 Christian cannot indulge ' ' in the name of the Lord Jesus. " It is 
 divine indorsement of whatever is done by a child of God, into which 
 he may go, and out of which he may come, and through the progress of 
 which he may continue, without there being one moment when it would 
 be in any way inconsistent for him to ask his Lord's approval of him 
 there, and of what he is doing, and witnessing and countenancing and 
 supporting. 
 
 Let this principle be honestly and conscientiously applied. It will 
 settle many a doubt. It will condemn many a popular amusement. It 
 bars out every indulgence that cannot be had in consistent and loving 
 remembrance of our Lord. Amusements that undermine the health and 
 waste vitality ; amusements by which the weak and lame are so often 
 turned out of the way only to stumble and perish; amusements that 
 make it appear as if God's children were as eager after and intent upon 
 the gayeties and festivities of the world as the children of the world 
 themselves ; amusements making it essential for Christians to take posi- 
 tions that ought to bring, if they do not bring, the blood to their faces ; 
 amusements that compel Christians to witness scenes, and to hear quips 
 and jests, soiling their spirits with suggested unci eanness — these all, and 
 all like these, are branded with condemnation by this divine precept. No 
 true disciple of Christ can give himself to such amusements " in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 We close as we began. This whole question must be taken out of the 
 domain of abstract casuistry. It is not so much a question of absolute 
 right and wrong as of conscience and charity. The spirit of our life is 
 far more important than the letter of our law. The rule of love is 
 higher than the law of liberty. Christianity antagonizes worldliness, it 
 does not conform to it. The Church should deal with it not so much by 
 the axe of discipline as by the sword of the Spirit. Yet, without a 
 doubt, the very law of love may sometimes require a kind, considerate, 
 thoughtful exercise of the disciplinary power of the Church. But our 
 chief appeal must be to the conscience. Our main reliance must be on 
 the spirit and the life demanded by a whole-hearted surrender and com- 
 mitment to the Lord Jesus. Those who are constrained by the love of 
 Christ can scarcely allow themselves indulgence in any business or recrea- 
 tion, any work or play, into which and through which and out of which 
 they cannot consistently go, with ever-present and affectionate remem- 
 brance of Him " who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good 
 works."— 1869, pp. 487-489, N. S.; confirmed, 1891, p. 155. 
 
612 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 4. Card-playing and games of chance. The dance and the theatre. 
 Progressive euchre. 
 
 a. The Special Committee on Certain Forms of Worldly Amusements, 
 presented its report, which had been recommitted to it. 
 
 The report was received, amended, adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Committee appear before you under the following action reported 
 from the Committee on Bills and Overtures, and adopted by the 
 Assembly : 
 
 " To report a paper for adoption by this Assembly, which shall 
 reaffirm the deliverances of former Assemblies, adding what is needed 
 for our times, and call upon the Church, by means of thoughtful and 
 godly living in its members, and through its pulpits and church Sessions, 
 to do all that can be Scripturally done to free the Church from the evils 
 flowing from these practices." 
 
 If this world is to be conquered for Christ, His servants must perceive 
 and dislodge the enemy wherever found. They should not see evil where 
 there is no evil, nor should they call that good which is really evil, 
 judged in itself, or by its fruits. Fortunately for the Church, the Mas- 
 ter has said, " By their fruits ye shall know them." We do not there- 
 fore concern ourselves, for example, with dancing or theatre-going in 
 themselves considered; or with the impersonation of character, or the 
 mimic representation of any proper subject without evil accessories, but 
 we are concerned with the dance, or the theatre, or card-playing as insti- 
 tutions, world-wide, very ancient, and, with human nature what it is, too 
 often injuriously fascinating. It is with their actual obstruction to the 
 Gospel, as intelligently perceived, that we have to deal. 
 
 In reference to card-playing and all games of chance, the Committee 
 respectfully raise the question, or perhaps it is not a question, whether 
 they are not in themselves sinful ? and, as tending to the decision of that 
 question, we submit the following reasoning, viz. : 
 
 As a matter of fact or reality, there is no such thing as chance. In 
 the place of what men call chance is the living God, omnipresent and 
 omniscient. An appeal to God without serious cause is profane. Nor 
 is this reasoning impaired by the suggestion sometimes made, that those 
 who play at games of chance do not intend to be profane. Thus, 
 an habitual swearer is not conscious of an intention to be profane, yet 
 who shall say he is not, while oaths continue to drop from his lips ? 
 Ignorance and thoughtlessness are the negative causes of his unconscious 
 guilt. Are they not also in the other case ? 
 
 The standard by which right and wrong are determined is the moral 
 law of God. Whether a responsible creature's act is right or not is to 
 be determined by his real relations to God in the act. His relation to 
 God exists. He refers to the nonentity chance for decision, a matter 
 which God only can and does determine. Hence his appeal proves to be 
 an appeal to God, and an appeal to God without proper cause is profane. 
 If this view carries with it serious consequences, we, on that account, 
 all the more beg of the Assembly, and would of the whole Church, the 
 most thoughtful and prayerful consideration of it; for, if true, it 
 behooves all to acknowledge it and be guided by it. 
 
 The Scriptures show that the lot involving the principle of chance is 
 an ordinance of God. ' ' The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole 
 disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. xvi. 33). Likewise our 
 Standards show the same; and teach that the lot improperly used is 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 613 
 
 sinful. See the answer to the 113th question of the Larger Catechism, 
 where it is declared that among the sins forbidden in the third com- 
 mandment are ' ' all sinful cursing, oaths, vows, and lots. ' ' 
 
 .In reference to card-playing under the popular style of " progressive 
 euchre," your Committee would fain hope the practice is diminishing in 
 the centres of social influence — the larger cities. But whether this is so 
 or not, it still exists to such extent as, if it be wrong, to do great harm. 
 If the principle for which we have contended be true, that games of 
 chance are necessarily sinful, that ought to settle the question for all who 
 love God and seek to obey Him. Besides this, much as we could desire 
 to say nothing which would unnecessarily shock or wound the feelings of 
 any, your Committee fail to see how this practice does not combine in 
 itself the essential elements of gambling. Our civil statutes and courts 
 of law, for substance, define gambling to consist in playing at any game 
 of chance for money, or anything else of value. That something of 
 greater or less value is generally played for in this parlor style of card- 
 playing is too well known to need any affirmation by this Committee. 
 And civil courts have already decided it to be gambling. What a sub- 
 ject for thought and humiliation it is, and an evidence that evil can 
 stealthily creep into the Church, although the most glorious body on 
 earth, that here is a practice indulged in by church members which, when 
 brought into court, has been found to be under the ban of State law, 
 which looks only to public policy. How then is the Church fulfilling 
 her mission as the light of the world ? How can her people be the salt 
 of the earth when the salt cannot be distinguished from the earth ? 
 
 No General Assembly of our Church has made a deliverance touching 
 card -playing in any form for the last fifteen years, nor upon theatre- 
 going and dancing for twelve years. In view of these facts, and in view 
 of the whole subject, involving the most weighty interests, your Commit- 
 tee would recommend for adoption the following resolutions: 
 
 1. That this General Assembly reaffirms the deliverances of past 
 Assemblies on the subject of worldly amusements, calling attention to 
 the excellent summary of Christian principles set forth in the action of 
 the Assembly of 1879, and the resolution adopted by the Assembly 
 on "the theatre and opera" (Digest, Moore, 1886, pp. 590, 591). 
 Also to the action of the New School Assembly in 1869 on 
 "the opera, the dance, the theatre and card-playing" (Digest, 
 Moore, 1886, pp. 588, 590); and the action of the Old School Assem- 
 bly of 1860, interpreting our Standards, in answer to an overture from 
 the Presbytery of Cincinnati, to the effect, that social dances and private 
 theatricals are included under the head of " dancing and stage-plays " 
 mentioned in the Larger Catechism amongst the ' ' sins forbidden in the 
 seventh commandment, ' ' and declaring church Sessions fully competent 
 to decide when and how far discipline should be exercised (Digest, 
 Moore, 1886, pp. 586). (See this Digest, pp. 613, (b) ; 609, (3); and 
 608, (d). 
 
 2. This General Assembly would affectionately call upon all the mem- 
 bers of our Church, to so regard their obligations to Christ, as to see to 
 it, that they take no part in amusements which they cannot take in His 
 name.— 1891, pp. 153-155. 
 
 b. The theatre and the opera. 
 
 The Committee recommended the following resolution: 
 
 A resolution in regard to the theatre and the opera referred to the 
 
614 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE,* SECT. 3. 
 
 Committee by the Assembly. In reporting this resolution for adoption, 
 your Committee think it wise to invite the attention of our churches to 
 those grounds of Christian principles, so easily overlooked, on which the 
 Assembly based their disapprobation of these forms of entertainment. 
 They recommend that the following minute be recorded, with the intent 
 that the pastors, at their discretion, may read it from their pulpits : 
 
 The General Assembly affectionately request all the churches and 
 church members under their care to weigh and make application of the 
 following principles and considerations : 
 
 1. Christian piety does not consist in any merely outward proprieties, 
 but chiefly in those renewed and positive affections and principles which 
 attend the life of Christ in the souls of His people. 
 
 2. Yet, inasmuch as it is impossible for the Church to look directly, 
 as God alone can, upon the affections and principles by which her mem- 
 bers are controlled; and, inasmuch as a sense of common infirmity 
 prompts all good men to judge charitably each other's characters, it 
 comes to pass that the mere external propriety which avoids gross sin 
 possesses with men a Christian currency and acceptableness which it can 
 by no means have with Christ, who died for us that we might live unto 
 Him. 
 
 3. Since Christians are of necessity intimately associated with those 
 who are not Christians, and since, especially in matters that are not 
 covered by specific divine law, men's views of what is externally proper 
 are so largely affected by the views and practices of the community about 
 them, it further comes to pass that neither the Bible, nor the Church, nor 
 the thoughtful consciences of Christians, but worldly usage, is allowed 
 to define those limits of external propriety to which a Christian may 
 reputably go. 
 
 4. It is in this way that many forms of dangerous worldly indulgence 
 come to be included as allowable elements of Christian living. No one 
 would claim that the divine development of the life of Christ in the new 
 heart of a Christian would, of itself, lead to entertainments whose prevail- 
 ing influence over those who partake of them, and, signally, over many 
 of those who provide them, is like that which the theatre and 
 the opera are known to exert. Surely no Christian will maintain 
 that his devotion to Christ binds him to use and encourage these forms of 
 entertainment. At most, he defends them, and by the plea that they are 
 not so wrong that, to love them, resort to them, and uphold them, dis- 
 proves piety. 
 
 The Assembly raise their affectionate warning against that whole princi- 
 ple of living, which sets aside the sacred and inspiring responsibilities of 
 a life wholly Christ's, in the interest of any gratifications, which are at 
 the same time gratuitous and of harmful tendency. It is true, indeed, 
 that men can find, or can make, temptations in forms of action which 
 are of indispensable use; and that fact in no way forbids a Christian to 
 share in such necessary acts. Thus the avarice of some men and the 
 gluttony of others do not forbid Christians to use food or money. But 
 when a form of action is uncommanded and entirely voluntary, being 
 chosen only for the pleasure which it gives, it can claim no allowance 
 from a loyal Christian conscience, unless it commend itself to the most 
 enlightened and enlarged Christian love for Christ, for holiness and for 
 the souls of men. 
 
 In view of this simple, fundamental, and far-reaching principle, so 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 615 
 
 frequently explained in the New Testament, the Assembly now appeal to 
 all the pastors, Sessions, and church -members under their care, that they 
 discourage, in all earnest and consistent ways, the resort of Christians 
 and their families to the theatre and to the opera. 
 
 It would be easy to enumerate with these many other forms of public 
 and social amusement which, on account of their known practical ten- 
 dency, are equally precluded by the same principle. But no list of such 
 unwholesome gratifications could possibly be made complete. The 
 Assembly, therefore, are not to be thought to be indorsing any worldly 
 usage of which they now omit to speak; but they consider that there are 
 special reasons for calling attention to those two forms of recreation which 
 have been named. They are very prevalent and very seductive; they 
 are notably unfriendly to personal spirituality, to the safe training of 
 children and youth, to the just and predominant interest of the Church's 
 members in the Church's own meetings for simple and unartistic prayer 
 and praise, and to a healthy taste for the direct and spiritual exercises of 
 public worship. In addition to this, they are publicly partaken of in 
 the presence of a multitude, and therefore they exert such a power of 
 misleading example as hardly belongs to any other form of worldliness. 
 And, finally, they are very commonly excused by abstract pleas 
 which overlook entirely their known and settled practical tendency. 
 For these reasons the Assembly count it their duty to utter in regard 
 to them a tender but explicit warning. The prayerful and considerate 
 attention of pastors and people is accordingly called to the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That, in view of the increased attendance of church mem- 
 bers at the theatre and opera, the Assembly bear earnest and solemn 
 testimony against this practice as inconsistent with Christian duty, since 
 it not only gives countenance and support to an institution, justly 
 described by a former Assembly as a school of immorality, but is in itself 
 spiritually hurtful, and tends to obliterate the line which should always 
 be plainly visible between the followers of Christ and the world. — 1879, 
 pp. 625, 626; reaffirmed, 1891, p. 155. 
 
 5. Gambling, lotteries, horse-racing, betting, etc. 
 a. These sins to be denounced and avoided. 
 
 The vice of gambling has also been forced upon our attention. We 
 indeed hope that few, or perhaps none, of our actual professors have 
 indulged themselves in the practice of what they consider as coming 
 under the denomination of gambling. But perhaps there are some 
 addicted to this practice who have evinced a predilection for our Church 
 and forms of worship, and who are not unwilling to receive the word of 
 admonition from us. Such we would earnestly exhort to consider in the 
 most serious manner the consequences of the course they are pursuing, 
 and the awful lessons which the experience of the world is every day 
 exhibiting on this subject. But it is our duty further to testify that all 
 encouragement of lotteries and purchasing of lottery tickets, all attend- 
 ance on horse-racing and betting on such, or any other occasions, and 
 all attempts of whatever kind to acquire gain without giving an equiva- 
 lent, involve the gambling principle, and participate in the guilt which 
 attaches to that vice. — 1818, p. 690. 
 
616 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 b. Lotteries to be discountenanced. 
 
 The report of the Committee on the subject of lotteries, which was laid 
 on the table, was taken up and adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That although so often sanctioned by legislative acts, although the 
 proceeds of lotteries have not unfrequently been appropriated to benevo- 
 lent and religious objects, although many wise and good men have, in 
 periods past, by their participation or agency given countenance to 
 lotteries, yet your Committee cannot view them in any other light than 
 that of legalized gambling. 
 
 It would require volumes to record all the evils resulting from this 
 system of predatory speculation. It adds nothing to the wealth of the 
 community. It too often takes from the uninformed poor the property 
 obtained by labor and skill, and transfers the same without the least 
 equivalent into the hands of the idle and unworthy. It thus becomes the 
 means of introducing and extending habits of gambling in all forms. 
 Hundreds of families yearly are reduced to dependence and beggary, and 
 not unfrequently its deluded victims terminate their miserable existence 
 in this world by suicide. 
 
 Contemplating this multitude of evils to individuals, to families and 
 to the community at large, your Committee beg leave to submit the 
 following resolutions : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That, in the opinion of this General Assembly, all lotteries 
 should be discountenanced by every professed member of the Presbyterian 
 Church as immoral in their nature and ruinous in their effects upon indi- 
 vidual character and the public welfare. 
 
 2. That the purchase and sale of lottery tickets should be avoided by 
 every member of our Church, even when the professed object of the 
 lottery may be praiseworthy, inasmuch as it is not allowable to do evil 
 that good may come. 
 
 3. That all the Presbyteries under the care of this General Assembly 
 be, and they hereby are recommended to take order on the subject of lot- 
 tery gambling, to press the consideration of it and its attendant evils upon 
 ministers and Sessions, and to adopt such plans of operation as may free 
 the Church from all participation in this sin, enlighten, arouse and 
 direct public opinion, and save our country from this and every other 
 species of gambling. — 1830, p. 306. 
 
 [Note— See No. 4, p. 612 ; Minutes, 1891, pp. 153-155.] 
 
 C. Circulation of lottery schemes through the mails. 
 
 A petition having been referred to this Committee respecting the circu- 
 lation through the mails of lottery schemes and immoral literature, the 
 Committee recommend the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly renew the expressions of the last 
 Assembly, of sympathy with the efforts to suppress the circulation, in the 
 mails and otherwise, of publications of this character. — 1880, p. 77. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1879, p. 556 ; 1890, p. 37.] 
 
 d. All games of chance discountenanced. 
 
 In view of recent notorious attempts to force the lottery system upon 
 some portions of our land by legislative enactments, the General Assem- 
 bly does hereby reiterate in the most emphatic manner its condemnation 
 of all lotteries as immoral in their nature and ruinous in their effects 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 617 
 
 upon individual character and public welfare. The members of our 
 Church are exhorted to discountenance all forms of resorting to chance 
 even for professedly praiseworthy objects; inasmuch as it is not allowable 
 to do evil that good may come. The Presbyteries under our care are 
 also recommended, to press upon the consideration of ministers and 
 Sessions the vicious influence of lotteries, and urge them to do what they 
 can to arouse public conscience against this and every other species of 
 gambling. — 1890, p. 37. 
 
 6. Duelists excluded from church privileges. Ministers should not 
 attend the funeral of a fallen duelist. 
 
 The General Assembly having taken into serious consideration the 
 unhappy prevalence of the practice of dueling in the United States, and 
 being anxiously desirous to contribute what may be in their power, con- 
 sistently with their character and situation, to discountenance and abolish 
 this practice : 
 
 Resolved unanimously, That they do, in the most unequivocal manner, 
 declare their utter abhorrence of the practice of dueling and of all 
 measures tending thereto, as originating from the malevolent dispositions 
 of the human heart, and a false sense of honor, as a remnant of Gothic 
 barbarism, as implying a presumptuous and highly criminal appeal to 
 God as the sovereign Judge, as utterly inconsistent with every just prin- 
 ciple of moral conduct, as a direct violation of the sixth commandment, 
 and destructive of the peace and happiness of families ; and the Assembly 
 do hereby recommend it to the ministers in their connection to discounte- 
 nance, by all proper means in their power, this scandalous practice. 
 
 Resolved also, That it be and it is hereby recommended to all the 
 ministers under the care of the Assembly that they scrupulously refuse 
 to attend the funeral of any person who shall have fallen in a duel, and 
 that they admit no person who shall have fought a duel, given or 
 accepted a challenge, or been accessory thereto, unto the distinguishing 
 privileges of the Church, until he manifest a just sense of his guilt, and 
 give satisfactory evidence of repentance. — 1805, p. 339. 
 
 7. Slavery and slaveholding. 
 
 Overture on selling a slave, a member of the Church. 
 
 The following resolution was submitted to the Assembly, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That a person who shall sell as a slave a member of the 
 Church, who shall be at the time of sale in good standing and unwilling 
 to be sold, acts inconsistently with the spirit of Christianity, and ought 
 to be debarred from the communion of the Church. 
 
 After considerable discussion, the subject was committed to Dr. Green, 
 Dr. Baxter and Mr. Burgess, to prepare a report to be adopted by the 
 Assembly, embracing the object of the above resolution, and also 
 expressing the opinion of the Assembly in general as to slavery. 
 
 The report of the Committee being read, was unanimously adopted 
 and referred to the same Committee for publication. — 1818, p. 692. 
 
 [Note.— For the report in full, with references to the subsequent action of both 
 Assemblies, see Moore's Digest, 1886, pp. 593-595.] 
 
 8. On the lynching of Negroes. 
 The following paper was adopted : 
 Whereas, The practice of lynching Negroes is a frequent occurrence 
 
618 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 in the South, and is a great evil, inasmuch as it deprives the accused of 
 the right of trial, which right should be accorded to the meanest person ; 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, The aforesaid practice tends to overthrow the civil law and 
 to ignore constitutional authority, and to engender strife between the 
 races; and, 
 
 Whereas, The abolition of the aforesaid evil practice will go far to 
 maintain peace, order and harmony between the races, which are so 
 essential to the welfare of both ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church does 
 hereby express its great sorrow for the existence of this aforesaid evil 
 practice, now disapproves of the same, and calls upon the good people 
 of the nation and upon all lawful authority to suppress it. — 1892, p. 
 217. 
 
 9. Intemperance. 
 
 [Note.— In 1811, Dr. Benjamin Rush presented to the Assembly one thousand copies 
 of a pamphlet, entitled " An Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits upon the 
 Human Body and Mind." At the same session it was :] 
 
 a. Resolved, That the Rev. Drs. Miller, Milledoler and Romeyn, Rev. 
 Messrs. James Richards, McNeice, Ezra Styles Ely and Gardiner Spring, 
 Dr. John R. B. Rodgers, Col. Henry Rutgers and Mr. Divie Bethune, 
 be a Committee to endeavor to devise measures which, when sanctioned 
 by the General Assembly, may have an influence in preventing some of 
 the numerous and threatening mischiefs which are experienced throughout 
 our country by the excessive and intemperate use of spirituous liquors, 
 and that this Committee be authorized to correspond and act in concert 
 with any persons who may be appointed or associate for a similar purpose, 
 and that the Committee hereby appointed report to the next General 
 Assembly. — 1811, p. 474. 
 
 Upon the report of this Committee the next year, it was 
 
 b. Resolved, 1. That it be recommended to all the ministers of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States to deliver public discourses, as 
 often as circumstances may render expedient, on the sin and mischiefs of 
 intemperate drinking, in which as well as on all suitable occasions, both 
 public and private, it will be proper pointedly and solemnly to warn 
 their hearers, and especially members of the Church, not only against 
 actual intemperance, but against all those habits and indulgences which 
 may have a tendency to produce it. 
 
 2. That it be enjoined on all church Sessions within the bounds of the 
 General Assembly that they exercise a special vigilance and care over 
 the conduct of all persons in the communion of their respective churches 
 with regard to this sin, and that they sedulously endeavor by private 
 warning and remonstrance, and by such public censures as different cases 
 may require, to purge the Church of a sin so enormous in its mischiefs 
 and so disgraceful to the Christian name. 
 
 3. That it be recommended to the ministers and other officers and 
 members of our Church that they exert themselves to diffuse as exten- 
 sively as possible among their congregations and the community at large 
 such addresses, sermons, tracts or other printed compositions on this 
 subject as may have a tendency to produce a suitable impression against 
 the use of ardent spirits, and to recommend sobriety and temperance. 
 
 4. That it be recommended to the officers and members of our Church 
 to take such measures as may be judged proper and effectual for reducing 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 619 
 
 the number of taverns, and other places of vending liquors by small 
 measure, in all those parts of our country in which either their excessive 
 numbers or the improper character of such places render them a public 
 nuisance. 
 
 It is believed that the evils arising from these sources are incalculably 
 great, and that by prudent management they admit, under Providence, 
 of very considerable diminution. — 1812, p. 511. 
 
 10. Total abstinence from the use of wines, liquors, etc., urged. 
 
 a. "We earnestly recommend to the officers and members of our 
 Church to abstain even from the common use of ardent spirits. Such a 
 voluntary privation as this, with its motives publicly avowed, will not be 
 without its effect in cautioning our fellow- Christians and fellow-citizens 
 against the encroachment of intoxication ; and we have the more confi- 
 dence in recommending this course as it has already been tried with 
 success in several sections of our Church. — 1818, pp. 689, 690 (reprint). 
 
 b. The report of the Committee on Temperance was taken up, and 
 after mature consideration was unanimously adopted, and is as follows, 
 viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly regard with devout gratitude and 
 praise the great success which has attended the efforts of the friends of 
 the cause of temperance during the past year, as evinced in the increase 
 of the number and zeal of temperance societies, in the diminution of the 
 sale of ardent spirits, and in the existence of a strong and increasing 
 public sentiment against the use of it. 
 
 2. That they cordially approve and rejoice in the formation of temper- 
 ance societies on the principle of entire abstinence from the use of ardent 
 spirits, as expressing disapprobation of intemperance in the strongest and 
 most efficient manner, and making the most available resistance to this 
 destructive and widespreading evil. • 
 
 3. That they deeply deplore the apathy manifested by many professing 
 Christians toward the cause of temperance, while many distinguished 
 persons who make no religious profession are prompt and powerful 
 fellow -laborers with Christians in this worthy and divinely sanctioned 
 cause. And especially do they grieve and wonder that members of our 
 churches, in view of an evil so debasing and so awful in its prospective 
 bearings on all the interests of the country, should not only take no part 
 in the exertions of their brethren and fellow- citizens against intemper- 
 ance, but by using and trafficking in ardent spirits be actively engaged 
 in promoting it. 
 
 4. That they earnestly recommend, as far as practicable, the forming 
 of temperance societies in the congregations under their care, and that 
 all members of the churches adopt the principle of entire abstinence 
 from the use of ardent spirits. 
 
 5. That as friends of the cause of temperance this Assembly rejoice 
 to lend the force of their example to that cause as an ecclesiastical body 
 by an entire abstinence themselves from the use of ardent spirits. — 1829, 
 p. 262. 
 
 C. Resolved, 1. That this Assembly considers itself called upon to 
 make a public acknowledgment of the goodness of God for the unpar- 
 alleled success with which he has crowned the efforts of those who are 
 actively concerned in the promotion of temperance. 
 
 2. That the experience of the past year furnishes additional and most 
 
620 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 abundant evidence of the wisdom and importance of the plan adopted 
 by the American Temperance Society. 
 
 3. That this Assembly feels bound to repeat a former recommendation 
 to the ministers, elders and members of the churches under its care, to 
 discountenance the use of distilled liquors not only by abstaining them- 
 selves from the use of such liquors, but by actively promoting every 
 prudent measure devised for the purpose of furthering the cause of 
 temperance. 
 
 4. That this Assembly earnestly recommends to all persons for 
 whose spiritual interests it is bound to consult that they favor the 
 formation of temperance societies on the plan of entire abstinence. — 
 1830, p. 298. 
 
 d. The Assembly recommend to all the members of the churches 
 under their care to be found the fast, unflinching aud active friends of 
 temperance, abstaining from all forms and fashions which would counte- 
 nance to any extent the sin of intemperance, avoiding even the appear- 
 ance of evil, disentangling themselves from all implication with the 
 traffic and manufacture, and especially presenting in their whole lives a 
 standing and unvarying exemplification of the only true principle of 
 temperance — total abstinence from everything that will intoxicate. — 
 1840, p. 15, N. S. ; 1877, p. 558. 
 
 e. The Assembly (N. S. ) reiterates the sentiments and recommenda- 
 tions of former Assemblies, and calls upon its ministers and the mem- 
 bers of its churches to renew their efforts in this direction, and especially 
 to refrain from the use of cider, beer and ale as a beverage, and also 
 from the manufacture and similar use of domestic wines. — 1864, p. 508, 
 N. S. 
 
 f. The General Assembly has repeatedly expressed its earnest desire 
 for the •universal prevalence of temperance among the people of this 
 land. But as a new exigency has arisen, growing out of the demoraliz- 
 ing tendency of war, this Assembly enjoins upon all their ministers, ruling 
 elders and church members to use their influence upon those around 
 them, particularly on our young men now returning from the army, and 
 on our youth in academies and colleges, to practice entire abstinence 
 from all intoxicating drinks as a beverage, which it is believed is the 
 only sure protection against drunkenness. Intemperance is a great sin 
 against God as well as a bitter curse to man, obstructing the progress of 
 the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the world, and weakening its 
 power over the hearts of men. Hence it is an imperative duty, required 
 alike by piety and patriotism, to do whatever may be practicable " to 
 stem the torrent that is sweeping myriads into the vortex of irretrievable 
 ruin." Especially should there be the frequent utterance of friendly 
 warning to the young and inconsiderate, ' ' Touch not, taste not, handle 
 not," accompanied by a corresponding example. This simple and 
 effective remedy, carried into all the walks of life, will make our nation 
 as prosperous and happy in peace as it has been heroic and victorious 
 in war.— 1865, p. 570, O. S. 
 
 g. Resolved, That total abstinence from all intoxicating drinks as a 
 beverage is demanded from every Christian by the condition of societv, 
 the purity of the Church and the Word of God.— 1866, p. 274, N. S. ; 
 1877, p. 558. 
 
 [Note. — Thenceforth reaffirmed by almost every Assembly. See 1897, p. 127.] 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 621 
 
 11. Manufacture and traffic in ardent spirits condemned. 
 
 a. That while this Assembly would by no means encroach upon the 
 rights of private judgment, it cannot but express its very deep regret 
 that any members of the Church of Christ should at the present day and 
 under existing circumstances feel themselves at liberty to manufacture, 
 vend or use ardent spirits, and thus, as far as their influence extends, 
 counteract the efforts now making for the promotion of temperance. — 
 1830, p. 298. 
 
 b. 2. That the practice of sending out ardent spirits to be used as a 
 drink by the unevangelized and partially civilized nations and tribes of 
 men is in our view a violation of the principles and precepts of the 
 Christian religion, and ought to be abandoned throughout the world. 
 
 3. That the traffic in ardent spirits, to be used as a drink by any 
 people, is in our judgment morally wrong, and ought to be viewed as 
 such by the Churches of Jesus Christ universally. — 1834, p. 445. 
 
 In the narrative for 1837 the Assembly say: 
 
 C. It is with the utmost surprise and pain that we learn from the 
 reports of two or three Presbyteries that some of their members, and even 
 ruling elders, still manufacture and sell ardent spirits. These things 
 ought not so to be. They are a stumbling-block to many, and have a 
 manifest tendency to bring overwhelming calamities, both temporal and 
 spiritual, on society at large. No Church can shine as a light in the 
 world while she openly sanctions and sustains any practices which are so 
 evidently destructive of the best interests of society. — 1837, p. 510. 
 
 12. The manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks an offence. 
 
 a. The great increase of intemperance throughout the land, especially 
 in our towns and large cities, renders it imperative on the Church to put 
 forth her influence to arrest it in its destructive progress. But to render 
 her influence effective she must purge herself from all participation in 
 the sin by removing from her pale all who are engaged in the manufac- 
 ture and sale of intoxicating drinks for use as a common beverage. 
 
 When a person has been admitted to sealing ordinances in Christ's 
 house, he ought not to be excluded but upon grounds which are sanc- 
 tioned by the Word of God and the discipline of the Church ; and where 
 such exclusion takes place, it is always founded upon an alleged offence 
 against the authority and laws which Christ has established in his house. 
 Hence, one of the ends of discipline, as laid down in our Standards, is 
 " the removal of offences" from the Church of Christ. In the very 
 outset, then, it becomes necessary to ascertain what is an offence. In 
 our Book of Discipline it is defined to be " anything iu the principles or 
 practice of a church member which is contrary to the Word of God, or 
 which, if it be not in its own nature sinful, may tempt others to sin, or 
 mar their spiritual edification" (Chap, i, Sec. iii). That the practice 
 of manufacturing and retailing intoxicating drinks is, in its own nature, 
 sinful, we do not affirm, and need not therefore consider, in this sense, 
 an offence against the laws of Christ's house. But that it tempts others 
 to sin and mars their spiritual edification is too obvious to require proof. 
 The retailer is the proximate agent in tempting many to drink to drunk- 
 enness, and in forming in others the appetite for strong drink which 
 leads to brutal intoxication. In doing this he offends against God's 
 children, who are grieved at his conduct, which is productive of such 
 injurious results both to the bodies and souls of men. On these grounds, 
 
622 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 therefore, he is guilty of an ' ' offence ' ' against the Word of God, which 
 is very explicit in setting its seal of condemnation on such conduct. In 
 the eighth chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle 
 has decided this point with great precision. In the church of Corinth 
 some thought it to be right to eat meat which had been offered to idols, 
 others thought it wrong. The matter was submitted to the apostle, who 
 decided that although the act was not in its own nature sinful, yet if it 
 became the occasion of offence or injury to a weak brother it ought not 
 to be done. " But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if 
 we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 
 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a sturn- 
 blingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast 
 knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him 
 that is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 
 and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom 
 Christ died ? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their 
 weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my 
 brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I 
 make my brother to offend." According to this decision of the apostle, 
 therefore, men " sin against Christ " when they " sin against the breth- 
 ren ' ' by doing that which, though not sinful in itself, becomes a stum- 
 bling-block to them, and tempts them to the commission of sin. Against 
 such a course the apostle guards professing Christians and declares that 
 he had determined to avoid it. 
 
 Now, the apostle's decision in regard to the case at Corinth applies to 
 the use of intoxicating drinks when manufactured and sold for a common 
 beverage. When prepared and sold for this purpose, those who do so 
 " sin against the brethren and wound their weak conscience," and thus 
 " sin against Christ." Hence they are guilty of "an offence," their 
 conduct being ' ' contrary to the Word of God. ' ' 
 
 Thus far the subject appears very plain. That a manufacturer and 
 retailer of intoxicating drinks for the purpose mentioned is guilty of an 
 offence proved to be such from Scripture, the foregoing remarks clearly 
 demonstrate. But is it such an offence as ought to exclude persons from 
 the full privileges of the Church ? - In maintaining the affirmative of 
 this question, it is important to remark that whatever would prevent the 
 admission of a person to the sealing ordinances of the Church, on his 
 first application, ought, if found in connection with his character or con- 
 duct after his admission, to exclude him from her communion. This is 
 so evident as to require no proof. What, then, would be considered a 
 sufficient bar to the full enjoyment of the privileges of the Church ? To 
 this we reply that anything in the principles or practice of the applicant 
 for admission which greatly impaired or destroyed the credibility of his 
 profession of faith in Christ would be a sufficient ground of refusal. 
 For the ground of admission, as presented both in the Word of God and 
 the Standards of the Church, is a credible profession of faith in the Son 
 of God. In the case of the jailer, the Ethiopian eunuch, and even of 
 Simon Magus, who afterward apostatized, a credible profession was 
 required and exhibited before they were admitted to the communion of 
 the society of the faithful. The same principle is recognized in our 
 Standards. " Those who are admitted to sealing ordinances, shall be 
 examined as to their knowledge and piety " (Directory for Worship, 
 Chap, i, Sec. iii; see also Chap, iv, Sec. iv). From these passages it is 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 623 
 
 manifest that such a profession as involves credible evidence of Christian 
 character, in which knowledge and piety are essential elements, is 
 required by our Book of those who would be admitted to sealing ordi- 
 nances. Such being the case, whatever essentially impairs or destroys 
 this evidence bars the way to their admission. Accordingly it is provided 
 that " such as are found to be ignorant or scandalous, notwithstanding 
 their profession of the faith and desire to come to the Lord' s Supper, 
 ought to be kept from that sacrament, by the power which Christ has 
 left in His Church, until they receive instruction and manifest their 
 reformation" (Larger Catechism, Q, 173). Ignorance and immorality 
 of conduct are here indicated as sufficient grounds on which to refuse an 
 applicant admissiou to the table of the Lord. The reason is that where 
 either or both exist there is a want of credible evidence of Christian 
 character ; and where this is wanting, the person ought not to be admitted. 
 And on the same ground, a person who has been admitted, if he be after- 
 ward found to be ignorant or scandalous, and thus destitute of the 
 evidence of Christian character, ought to be excluded. 
 
 In the case which we are considering, the person in question does not 
 give credible evidence in favor of his Christian character. He does not 
 give such satisfaction with respect to his " knowledge and piety " as is 
 sufficient to entitle him to continue in the full privileges of the Church 
 as a member in good standing. For the man who, at the present time, 
 is ignorant of the effects of the practice of the manufacture and sale of 
 intoxicating drinks as a common beverage, in tempting others to sin 
 and " marring their spiritual edification," must be criminally regardless 
 of what is going on around him. And he who, knowing this, perseveres 
 in the practice, evinces a state of heart directly the reverse of that which 
 is produced by " the grace of God," that " teaches us that, denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and 
 godly in this present world." On the ground, therefore, that his pro- 
 fession of religion is destitute of the attributes which are necessary to 
 render it credible he ought not to be continued in the communion of the 
 Church, nor certified as a member in good standing. 
 
 We are aware that it has been objected to this view of the case that it 
 is establishing a new term of commuuion not before known in the Church. 
 But upon the principles laid down and established, it is not. We have 
 seen that credible evidence of Christian character, involving the exhibi- 
 tion of " knowledge and piety," is the old term of communion laid 
 down in God' s Word and the Standards of our Church. It has also 
 been made to appear that the practice of manufacturing and retailing 
 intoxicating drinks as a beverage is a sin against the brethren and against 
 Christ, and while persevered in vitiates this evidence and works a forfeit- 
 ure of the privileges of Christian communion. If the practice of the 
 Church has been to any extent favorable to the admission or continuance 
 of such persons in her communion, it only proves that the Church, in 
 these cases, has overlooked or neglected to enforce the true principles of 
 her Standards. It cannot be fairly drawn into argument to prove that 
 the principle is not there, or if there, that it ought not to be applied in 
 this, as in other cases, of visible offence against Christ and his Church. 
 We conclude, therefore, that it is not adopting any new term of com- 
 munion to exclude persons from sealing ordinances on the ground of their 
 manufacturing and vending intoxicating drinks as a beverage. On the 
 contrary, it is only falling back upon the teachings of the Bible and the 
 
624 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 Constitution of the Church, which requires- visible Christianity, in a 
 credible form, of those who would partake of these ordinances, and 
 refuses the privilege to those who by overt acts of offence fail to present 
 such evidence.— 1865, p. 571, O. S. ; 1889, p. 103. 
 
 b. Those engaged in the manufacture or traffic in intoxicating liquors 
 should not be received or retained in the church. 
 
 We call upon the Sessions of our churches to guard carefully the purity 
 of the Church by refusing to admit to membership, or to retain those with- 
 in her pale, who are engaged in the manufacture or sale of intoxicating 
 liquors as a beverage or who derive their livelihood from this sinful 
 traffic— 1877, p. 558. 
 
 13. Prohibitory laws. 
 
 a. The following resolution upon the subject of temperance was unan- 
 imously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly continue to view with deep inter- 
 est the progress of the temperance reformation, most intimately connected 
 with the vital interests of men for time and eternity, and they do espe- 
 cially hail its new phase through the action of several State Legislatures 
 by which the traffic in intoxicating liquors as a beverage is entirely pro- 
 hibited. They commend this new system of legislation to the attention 
 and support of all ministers and churches connected with this body for 
 its blessed results already experienced, and as able, if universally adopted, 
 to do much to seal up the great fountains of drunkenness, pauperism 
 and crime, and relieve humanity of one of its most demoralizing and 
 distressing evils.— 1854, p. 503, N.S. 
 
 b. Whereas, Intemperance is the great antagonist of domestic peace 
 and social happiness, of sound morality and pure Christianity, and at 
 war with all the dearest interests of man for this world and the future ; 
 and whereas, the experience of two hundred years proves that this evil 
 can never be removed or effectively resisted while the traffic in intoxi- 
 cating drinks is continued, it being necessary if we would stop the effect 
 to remove the cause ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this Assembly, as lovers of our holy religion, of 
 our country and our race, and as office-bearers in the Church, can but 
 feel a lively interest in the progress of the temperance reform. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we here record our devout thanksgiving to almighty 
 God for the recent unparalleled progress of this reform, as evinced by 
 the action of the Legislatures of thirteen States and two Territories of our 
 Union, in the passage of laws prohibiting entirely the traffic in all 
 intoxicating beverages. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That in the opinion of this body laws prohibiting the 
 sale of intoxicating drinks can interfere with the rights of no man, 
 because no man has a right of any name or nature inconsistent with the 
 public good or at war with the welfare of the community, it being 
 a well-known and universally acknowledged maxim of law that " No 
 man has a right to use his own to the injury of his neighbor." 
 
 Resolved, 4. That we earnestly recommend to the ministers and con- 
 gregations in our connection, and to all others, to persevere in vigorous 
 efforts until laws shall be enacted in every State and Territory of our 
 beloved country prohibiting entirely a traffic which is the principal 
 cause of the drunkenness, and its consequent pauperism, crime, taxa- 
 

 NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 625 
 
 tion, lamentation, war and ruin to the bodies and souls of men, with 
 which the country has so long been afflicted. — 1855, pp. 30, 31, N. S. ; 
 1883, p. 655; 1889, p. 103; 1892, p. 164; 1895, p. 100. 
 
 C. Without attempting, therefore, to indicate any distinct line of 
 policy to be pursued in the effort to repress intemperance, the following 
 resolutions are recommended for adoption: 
 
 1. That this Assembly repeats the unvarying testimony of preceding 
 Assemblies against this widespread and destructive vice. 
 
 2. That in view of the evils wrought by this scourge of our race, this 
 Assembly would hail, with acclamations of joy and thanksgiving, the 
 utter extermination of the traffic in intoxicating liquors as a beverage, 
 by the power of Christian conscience, public opiuion, and the strong 
 arm of the civil law. Adopted.— 1883, p. 655; 1884, pp. 73, 74; 1885, 
 pp. 666-668; 1887, p. 127; 1889, p. 103; 1892, p. 164; 1895, p. 100. 
 
 14. Against the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors and 
 renting property for such uses. 
 
 a. Overture, from the Presbyteries of Pittsburgh and of Philadelphia 
 Central, asking the Assembly for further action, clear and unmistakable, 
 in regard to the manufacture, sale, and use as a beverage, of intoxicating 
 liquors. The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 This General Assembly, believing the manufacture, sale, and use of 
 alcoholic stimulants as a beverage, to be contrary to the spirit of God's 
 Word, and wholly inconsistent with the claims of Christian duty, reiter- 
 ate the testimonies of former Assemblies on this subject. 
 
 The Assembly also affirm their conviction of the reprehensible com- 
 plicity in the guilt of the aforesaid traffic of those who knowingly rent 
 their premises for such purpose, or indorse licenses that legalize it. 
 
 And further to give emphasis to the action now taken and the utter- 
 ances of former Assemblies above referred to, the Board of Publication 
 are directed to print an abstract of such former testimonies as cover the 
 points referred to in the overtures, and send a copy thereof to every 
 pastor and stated supply within our bounds, with the direction of the 
 Assembly to read the same publicly from their respective pulpits. 
 
 Finally, the Assembly recommend the general circulation of a temper 
 ance literature as tending to inform and arouse the public conscience 
 with reference to the evils of intemperance. And to aid in this they 
 urge upon the attention of the Board of Publication the publishing, in 
 addition to those now on their catalogue, of such other treatises as shall 
 be adapted to this end.— 1871, p. 490; 1875, p. 515; 1876, p. 85; 
 1890, p. 83. 
 
 b. 1. The General Assembly, viewing with grave apprehension the 
 persistence and spread of the use of intoxicating drinks, as among the 
 greatest evils, if not the greatest evil, of our day, as a curse resting 
 upon every nation of Christendom, as multiplying their burdens of taxa- 
 tion, pauperism and crime; as undermining their material prosperity, as 
 a powerful hindrance to the Gospel at home, and as still more deeply 
 degrading the heathen, whom we seek to evangelize abroad, would 
 rejoice at the revival, in recent years, of efforts to stay these great evils, 
 and would renew its testimony, begun as early as 1812 (and continued 
 to the present day), " not only against actual intemperance, but against 
 all those habits and indulgences which may have a tendency to pro- 
 duce it." 
 
 40 
 
626 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 2. We reiterate the judgments of former General Assemblies against 
 the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors to be used as a bever- 
 age, and against the renting of one's property knowingly for such 
 manufacture and sale. We admonish our members to avoid all com- 
 plicity in the traffic, and to use all their influence for the suppression of 
 the same, in such measures and to such degrees as shall seem to them 
 wise and expedient. 
 
 3. The efforts of the women of our own and of other Churches, in 
 the promotion of the cause of temperance, are recognized as a powerful 
 factor in the settlement of this question, and greatly increase our hope of 
 final and complete success. — 1880, p. 75. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 14, p. 625 ; Minutes, 1865, p. 561, O. S.] 
 
 15. The "saloon," licensed or unlicensed, a curse to our land. 
 
 That this Assembly regards the saloon, licensed or unlicensed, as a 
 curse to the land, inimical to our free institutions and a constant jeopardy 
 to the present and lasting peace and happiness of all members of the 
 home, and, furthermore, loyalty to Christ and His Church should con- 
 strain every Christian citizen to be earnestly zealous in securing the 
 removal of the traffic very largely responsible for the mass of crime, 
 pauperism, and the social evil that flood the land with misery, and that 
 we emphasize the great value to the cause of temperance in this country 
 which comes from the Supreme Court of the United States in its recent 
 decisions. 
 
 That we urge Congress to pass laws abolishing the sale of all intoxi- 
 cating liquors for beverage purposes from all the Territories of the United 
 States and the District of Columbia, and from all buildings and in- 
 stitutions under control of the United States Government. — 1892, 
 p. 164. 
 
 16. The Presbyterian Woman's Temperance Association indorsed. 
 
 That we indorse the work of the Presbyterian Woman's Temperance 
 Association and all kindred organizations, and, bidding them Godspeed, 
 that we urge the women of our Presbyterian churches to organize tem- 
 perance work along the same Church lines as those adopted by the women 
 of the Presbyterian churches of Pennsylvania, and this not 'in antag- 
 onism, but in perfect harmony with, the evangelistic work of other 
 temperance organizations. Also that this work be extended to the 
 children and youth.— 1892, p. 165; 1890, p. 93; 1891, p. 150; 1893, 
 p. 174; 1894, p. 154; 1896, p. 137; 1897, p. 124. 
 
 17. The deliverances of the past eighty years to be printed. 
 
 That from the pulpits of our beloved Church, emphasis should be 
 given to the deliverances of this General Assembly for the past eighty 
 years, and in order that church communicants and others who might be 
 led to be interested in temperance work, may thoroughly understand the 
 position of the Church, now and in years, past, the Permanent Com- 
 mittee be requested to have their tract, "A Summary of the Deliverances 
 of the Assembly on Temperance, ' ' sent to all pastors throughout the 
 Church, with a request that the tract be distributed among the people. 
 —1892, p. 165; 1895, p. 100. 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 627 
 
 18. Temperance training and education for the young. 
 
 a. Resolved, That we deplore the evils of intemperance, and that we 
 see in those evils a great hindrance to that coming of the Lord's king- 
 dom in human hearts for which the Church labors and prays. 
 
 We realize that the early education of the young as to the nature and 
 effects of alcoholic drinks and other narcotics is a powerful preventive 
 against intemperance. And we rejoice that laws have been enacted 
 requiring this study in the public schools of thirty -nine States and in all 
 the Territories, in the national military and naval schools, and in all 
 Indian and colored schools under Federal control — embracing fully 
 thirteen million children of school age. We recommend that our 
 churches appoint Special Committees to make efforts for the enforcement 
 of these laws. And, in cases where the law is not sufficiently mandatory, 
 we recommend that our Synods instruct their Temperance Committees to 
 petition for such amendments as the case may demand. 
 
 Resolved, That the time has fully come for the introduction of physio- 
 logical temperance into all day mission schools, home and foreign, that 
 are under the direction of the Presbyterian Church. 
 
 We, therefore, urge that the proper school authorities be required to 
 provide for instruction as to the nature of alcoholic drinks and narcotics 
 and their effect upon the human system. 
 
 Resolved, That we commend to the Presbyteries and Synods in the five 
 States yet without temperance education laws, viz., Indiana, Tennessee, 
 Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina, the example of the Synod of 
 Isew Jersey, which last autumn instructed its Temperance Committee to 
 petition the next Legislature of that State for compulsory temperance 
 education in all public schools, which petition has been granted in the 
 enactment of a very satisfactory statute requiring this study of all pupils 
 in all schools in that State under State control. — 1894, p. 154. 
 
 b. Believing that in seeking a legislative panacea for present ills, due 
 consideration is not given to preventive measures, it is urged that the 
 children and youth be instructed more diligently on this subject ; that 
 the Church give increased attention to it by teaching and preaching, and 
 by effecting temperance organizations within its own congregations, and 
 subject to its own administration; that education be emphasized as, even 
 more than legislation, an immediate need of the temperance cause, 
 remembering always that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God 
 unto salvation from this as from all other sins. Presbyteries and Synods 
 are urged to renewed and increased activity along the lines of education 
 and organization. — 1895, p. 100. 
 
 19. Men of intemperate habits and official position. 
 
 That while not abating efforts to secure more efficient repressive legisla- 
 tion, there should be increased endeavor to secure by election and appoint- 
 ment to official position men of " clean hands and pure heart, who have 
 not lifted up their soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully," and to sustain 
 them in the faithful discharge of their duties. Cordial approval is given 
 to all proper efforts to secure such legislation as will prevent the appoint- 
 ment of any man of known intemperate habits to official position under 
 national, State or municipal authority. — 1895, p. 100. 
 
628 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3. 
 
 20. Political parties and licenses. 
 1. Action of the Assembly. 
 
 a. It is the sense of this Committee, while it is not the province of the 
 Church to dictate to any man how he shall vote, yet the Committee 
 declares that no political party has the right to expect the support of 
 Christian men so long as that party stands committed to the license 
 policy, or refuses to put itself on record against the saloon. — 1892 p 
 163. 
 
 b. Resolved, That we reaffirm the deliverance of the Portland Assem- 
 bly that * ' No political party has the right to expect the support of Chris- 
 tian men so long as that party stands committed to the license policy, or 
 refuses to put itself on record against the saloon." — 1894, p. 154. 
 
 2, Protest against Resolution No. 7. 
 
 Against this resolution (No. 7) a protest was presented, signed by 
 forty-six commissioners, which was received and admitted to record, as 
 follows : 
 
 The undersigned respectfully ^ protest against so much of the action of 
 the General Assembly on temperance as declares, " That no political 
 party has the right to expect the support of Christian men so long as 
 that party stands committed to the license policy, or refuses to put itself 
 on record against the saloon." We deem this action an unwise interfer- 
 ence with a political question, and believe that it cannot fail to be 
 regarded by many of our people as hindering their free and conscientious 
 discharge of their duties as voters. — 1894, p. 178. 
 
 3. Members urged to vote against licenses. 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of this Assembly, the time has come 
 when Christian men should make their influence felt directly and with 
 power at the ballot-box ; and that all voters connected with our com- 
 munion are urged to vote against the granting of licenses for the sale of 
 intoxicating liquors. 
 
 Resolved, That we earnestly urge upon our people the desirability of 
 demanding the enforcement of the liquor laws throughout the land. — 
 1895, p. 100. 
 
 21. Temperance Sabbath. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, p. 402.] 
 
 22. Communion wine. 
 
 [Note. — For deliverances as to the Lord's Supper, see Directory for Worship, 
 Chap, ix.] 
 
 23. Permanent Committee on Temperance. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, pp. 401-403.] 
 
 24. Relation of temperance and other moral societies to the Church, 
 a. The Church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual body, to which have been 
 given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God for the gathering and 
 perfecting of the saints in this life to the end of the world. It is the 
 great instrumentality of the Saviour, through which, by His eternal 
 Spirit, He dispenses salvation to the objects of His love. Its ends are 
 holiness and life, to the manifestation of the riches and glory of divine 
 grace, and not simply morality, decency and good order, which may to 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 629 
 
 some extent be secured without faith in the Redeemer and the transform- 
 ing efficacy of -the Holy Spirit. The laws of the Church are the author- 
 itative injunctions of Christ, and not the covenants, however benevolent 
 in their origin and aim, which men have instituted of their own will; 
 and the ground of obligation which the Church, as such, inculcates, is 
 the authority of God speaking in His Word, and not pledges of honor 
 w T hich create, measure and define the peculiar duties of all voluntary 
 associations. In this kingdom of God the Holy Scriptures are the only 
 rule of faith and manners, and no Church judicatory ought to pretend to 
 make laws which shall bind the conscience, or to issue recommendations 
 which shall regulate manners, without the warrant, explicit or implied, 
 of the revealed will of God. It is, hence, beside the province of the 
 Church to render its courts, which God ordained for spiritual purposes, 
 subsidiary to the schemes of any association founded in the human will 
 and liable to all its changes and caprices. No court of Christ can exact 
 of His people to unite with the temperance, moral reform, colonization, 
 or any other society which may seek their aid. Connection with such 
 institutions is a matter of Christian liberty. Their objects may be in 
 every respect worthy of the countenance and support of all good men, 
 but in so far as they are moral and essentially obligatory, the Church 
 promotes them among its own members — and to none others does its 
 jurisdiction extend — by the means which God has ordained for the edifi- 
 cation of His children. Still, in the exercise of their Christian liberty as 
 good citizens, as patriotic subjects of the State, from motives of philan- 
 thropy and from love to God, Christian people may choose to adopt this 
 particular mode of attempting to achieve the good at which all moral 
 societies profess to aim ; they have a right to do so, and the Church, as 
 long as they indorse no false principles and countenance no wrong prac- 
 tices, cannot interfere with them. Recognizing these propositions as the 
 truths of the Word of God, this General Assembly, as a court of Jesus 
 Christ, cannot league itself with any voluntary society, cannot exact of 
 those who are subject to its discipline to do so, but must leave the whole 
 matter where the Scriptures leave it — to the prudence, philanthropy and 
 good sense of God's children, each man having a right to do as to him 
 shall seem good. 
 
 These societies must appeal not to Church courts, but to Church mem- 
 bers. When they proclaim principles that are Scriptural and sound, it is 
 not denied that the Church has a right, and under certain circumstances 
 may be bound, to bear testimony in their favor ; and Avhen, on the other 
 hand, they inculcate doctrines which are infidel, heretical, and dangerous, 
 the Church has a right to condemn them. In conformity with these 
 statements, the General Assembly has no hesitation in cordially approving 
 of abstinence from intoxicating drinks as a matter of Christian expedi- 
 ency, according to the words of the apostle in Romans xiv. 21, " It is 
 good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy 
 brother stumbleth, or is offended, oris made weak," and in expressing 
 its affectionate interest in the cause of temperance ; and would recommend 
 to its ministers and elders who have become connected with temperance 
 societies to use every effort to prevent the introduction of any other prin- 
 ciple as the ground of their pledge, and to throw around these institutions 
 those safeguards which shall be the means of rescuing them from the 
 excesses to which they are liable from influences opposed to or aside from 
 the Gospel of Christ.— 1848, p. 58, O. S. 
 
630 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 3-4. 
 
 No. 3. A memorial from the National Temperance Society, asking the 
 Assembly to send delegates to a national temperance convention. The 
 Committee recommend as an answer, that while this Assembly approves 
 all proper efforts made to suppress intemperance, it declines to send dele- 
 gates, in its name, to the proposed convention. Adopted. — 1873, p. 504. 
 
 b. In answer to an overture praying the Assembly to give the temper- 
 ance cause a proper prominence among the means of reform sustained 
 by the Church, and especially suggesting that if it would arrange or 
 recommend that some proper temperance movement should sustain the 
 same relation to the churches as the tract, the Bible, and the missionary 
 causes do, both morally and financially, it would be of immense advan- 
 tage to the cause, replied as follows: 
 
 In compliance with the request of the petitioners, the Assembly are 
 willing to assign to the cause of temperance a relation to our Church not 
 dissimilar to that which has been given to the benevolent objects with 
 which it is compared. But with none of these do we maintain any other 
 connection than that which their own moral power secures upon the free 
 affection and esteem of our members. Very cheerfully and earnestly 
 would this Assembly commend the cause of temperance to all the minis- 
 ters and members of our Church, and urge them heartily to cooperate 
 with every judicious effort in a Christian spirit to promote it; that pastors 
 frequently preach upon the subject, and especially that no countenance 
 be given to those social usages by which great temptations to intemper- 
 ance are thrown before their fellow-men. — 1860, p. 262, N. S. 
 
 25. The Assembly receives and appoints delegates only in the case 
 of ecclesiastical bodies. 
 
 [Note.— See answer to request for the appointment of delegates to National Tem- 
 perance Convention, Form of Government, Chap, xii, this Digest, p. 325.] 
 
 26. Purity in literature and art. 
 
 Papers Nos. 69 and 70, both being from certain friends of purity in 
 literature and art. The following declaration is recommended: That the 
 General Assembly has learned with profound satisfaction that the 
 National Editorial Association and the National Republican Associa- 
 tion, as well as other State Press Associations, have expressed their sym- 
 pathy with the women's movement for the promotion of purity in litera- 
 ture and art, as tending to maintain a Christian standard of morality in 
 society; and that they have pledged their Associations to make the press 
 one of the best friends of humanity, by refusing space to all impure 
 advertisements, and by excluding from their publications all that alloys 
 the truth and hardens the conscience. 
 
 The General Assembly desires the religious papers enjoying Presbyte- 
 rian patronage to give wide circulation to this pledge of the secular press, 
 and advises all Christian families and readers to give the favor of their 
 patronage to those papers and periodicals which honor this pledge by 
 excluding all questionable advertisements and immodest serials, and which 
 refrain from Sabbath editions. Adopted. — 1897, p. 84. 
 
 27. Cruelty to animals. 
 
 The consideration of the paper on cruelty to animals presented on the 
 second day of the sessions, was resumed, and the paper adopted, as 
 follows : 
 
 Whereas, It has pleased God, in His holy providence, to raise up 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 631 
 
 helpers, in these latter years, to protect the inferior creation, the com- 
 panions and helpers of man, from that formerly unrestricted tyranny and 
 cruelty to which they were exposed, so that now, in a majority of the 
 States and Territories of this country, laws in their behalf have been 
 passed, and societies authorized, to prevent all acts of barbarism and 
 cruelty against the poor dumb creatures whom God has committed to our 
 charge; and 
 
 Whereas, The courts of our country have for the most part sustained 
 these laws, by fines and imprisonments, whenever and wherever offences 
 have been committed and the facts proved, so that now great reforms are 
 manifest where these societies have existed for any length of time ; and 
 
 Whereas, The apostle Paul, in urging the proper support of the minis- 
 try upon the Church, and " That they which preach the Gospel should 
 live of the Gospel," quotes the ancient command to the Hebrews, 
 " Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the 
 corn ;' ' and 
 
 Whereas, All acts of cruelty to the inferior creation tend to produce 
 cruelty in families, and a return to barbarism in society, and are utterly 
 abhorrent to the spirit of the Gospel ; — this General Assembly do earn- 
 estly recommend their ministers and members every where to aid in this 
 good work, to sustain and defend these societies engaged in this noble 
 reform, and that they offer constant prayers to the Holy Dove, the 
 Spirit of God, for His tender influence, to inspire the hearts of men 
 with mercy, and to the Lamb of God, the Head of the Church, to 
 hasten the day when His own gentle and loving nature shall be given to 
 all men, and " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb," " and a little 
 child shall lead them."— 1875, p. 510. 
 
 IV. Nothing shall, therefore, be the object of judicial process, which 
 cannot be proved to be contrary to the Holy Scriptures, or to the regu- 
 lations and practice of the Church founded thereon ; nor anything which 
 does not involve those evils which discipline is intended to prevent. 
 
 1. New terms of communion cannot be sanctioned. 
 
 On the question whether the manufacturer, vender or retailer of intox- 
 icating drinks should be continued in the full communion of the Church, 
 the Committee recommend the following resolution, viz. : ' ' That whilst 
 the Assembly rejoice in the success of the temperance reformation, and 
 will use all lawful means to promote it, they cannot sanction the adoption 
 of any new terms of communion." Adopted. — 1842, p. 16, O. S. 
 
 2. Each case must be judged of by its own circumstances. 
 
 Resolved, That the records of the Synod of Pittsburgh be approved 
 except so far as they seem to establish a general rule in regard to the use 
 and sale of ardent spirits as a beverage, which use and sale are generally 
 to be decidedly disapproved; but each case must be decided in view of 
 all the attendant circumstances that go to modify and give character to 
 the same.— 1843, p. 189, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Chap, i, Sec. iii, p. 608, under " Promiscuous Dancing " {Minutes, 1895, 
 p. 106J, as to creating new and unscriptural conditions of church membership.] 
 
632 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 4. 
 
 3. Sins forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Larger Catechism. 
 
 [Note.— The answers to the questions from the Larger Catechism hereinafter given 
 are inserted because they are a part of the constitutional enumeration of offences. 
 Seep. 606.] 
 
 Q. 105. What are the sins forbidden in the first commandment f 
 A. The sins forbidden in the first commandment are atheism, in deny- 
 ing, or not having a God ; idolatry, in having or worshiping more gods 
 than one, or any with, or instead of the true God; the not having and 
 vouching him for God, and our God ; the omission or neglect of anything 
 due to him, required in this commandment; ignorance, forgetfulness, 
 misapprehensions, false opinions, unworthy and wicked thoughts of him; 
 bold and curious searchings into his secrets ; all profaneness, hatred of 
 God, self-love, self-seeking, and all other inordinate and immoderate 
 setting of our mind, will or affections upon other things, and taking 
 them off from him in whole or in part; vain credulity; unbelief; heresy; 
 misbelief; distrust; despair; incorrigibleness, and insensibleness under 
 judgments; hardness of heart; pride; presumption; carnal security; 
 tempting of God; using unlawful means, and trusting in lawful means; 
 carnal delights and joys; corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal; lukewarm - 
 ness, and deadness in the things of God; estranging ourselves, and 
 apostatizing from God; praying, or giving any religious worship, to 
 saints, angels, or any other creatures; all compacts and consulting with 
 the devil, and hearkening to his suggestions; making men the lords of 
 our faith and conscience ; slighting and despising God and his commands, 
 resisting and grieving of his Spirit, discontent and impatience at his 
 dispensations, charging him foolishly for the evils he inflicts on us; and 
 ascribing the praise of any good we either are, have, or can do, to 
 fortune, idols, ourselves, or any other creature. 
 
 Q. 109. What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment f 
 A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, 
 counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving any religious 
 worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation 
 of God, of all, or of any of the three Persons, either inwardly in our 
 mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature 
 whatsoever: all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of 
 any representation of feigned deities, and all worship of them, or service 
 belonging to them ; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of 
 God, adding to it, or taking from it, whether invented and taken up of 
 ourselves, or received by tradition from others, though under the title of 
 antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretence whatso- 
 ever ; simony ; sacrilege ; all ueglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing 
 the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed. 
 
 Q, 113. Wfiat are the sins forbidden in the third commandment ? 
 A. The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using 
 of God's name as is required; and the abuse of it in an ignorant, vain, 
 irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked, mentioning or otherwise 
 using his titles, attributes, ordinances, or works, by blasphemy, perjury; 
 all sinful cursing, oaths, vows, and lots ; violating of our oaths and 
 vows, if lawful ; and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful ; murmuring 
 and quarreling at, curious prying into, and misapplying of God's decrees 
 and providences; misinterpreting, misapplying, or any way perverting 
 the Word, or any part of it, to profane jests, curious and unprofitable 
 questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines ; abusing 
 
NATURE, ENDS, AND SUBJECTS. 633 
 
 it, the creatures, or any thing contained under the name of God, to 
 charms, or sinful lust and practices; the maligning, scorning, reviling, 
 or any wise opposing of God's truth, grace and ways; -making profes- 
 sion of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends ; being ashamed of it, 
 or a shame to it, by uncomfortable, unwise, unfruitful and offensive 
 walking, or backsliding from it. 
 
 Q. 119. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment? 
 
 A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions 
 of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable perform- 
 ing of them, and being weary of them; all profaning the day by idleness, 
 and doing that which is in itself sinful ; and by all needless works, 
 words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations. 
 
 Q. 128. What are the sins of inferiors against their superiors f 
 
 A. The sins of inferiors against their superiors are, all neglect of the 
 duties required toward them; envying at, contempt of, and rebellion 
 against their persons and places, in their lawful counsels, commands 
 and corrections; cursing, mocking, and all such refractory and scan- 
 dalous carriage, as proves a shame and dishonor to them and their 
 government. 
 
 Q. 130. What are the sins of superiors t 
 
 A. The sins of superiors are, besides the neglect of the duties required 
 of them, an inordinate seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, profit, 
 or pleasure ; commanding things unlawful, or not in the power of inferi- 
 ors to perform ; counseling, encouraging, or favoring them in that which 
 is evil; dissuading, discouraging, or discountenancing them in that 
 which is good; correcting them unduly; careless exposing, or leaving 
 them to wrong, temptation, and danger; provoking them to wrath; or 
 any way dishonoring themselves, or lessening their authority, by an 
 unjust, indiscreet, rigorous, or remiss behavior. 
 
 Q. 132. What are the sins of equals t 
 
 A. The sins of equals are, besides the neglect of the duties required, 
 the undervaluing of the worth, envying the gifts, grieving at the 
 advancement or prosperity one of another; and usurping preeminence 
 one over another. 
 
 Q. 136. What are the sins forbidden in the sixth commandment ? 
 
 A. The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking away 
 the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public justice, 
 lawful war, or necessary defence", the neglecting or withdrawing the 
 lawful or necessary means of preservation of life; sinful anger, hatred, 
 envy, desire of revenge; all excessive passions, distracting cares; 
 immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and recreations; provoking 
 words; oppression, quarreling, striking, wounding, and whatsoever else 
 tends to the destruction of the life of any. 
 
 Q. 139. What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment f 
 
 A. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the 
 neglect of the duties required, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, 
 sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; all unclean imaginations, thoughts, 
 purposes, and affections; all corrupt or filthy communications, or listen- 
 ing thereunto; wanton looks; imprudent or light behavior; immodest 
 apparel; prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with unlawful marriages; 
 allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them ; entangling 
 vows of single life ; undue delay of marriage ; having more wives or 
 husbands than one at the same time; unjust divorce or desertion; idle- 
 
634 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 4-8. 
 
 ness; gluttony; drunkenness; unchaste company; lascivious songs, 
 books, pictures, dancings, stage-plays; and all other provocations to, or 
 acts of uncleanness either in ourselves or others. 
 
 Q. 142. What are the sins forbidden in the eighth commandment ? 
 A. The sins forbidden in the eighth commandment, beside the neglect 
 of the duties required, are, theft, robbery, man -stealing, and receiving 
 any thing that is stolen ; fraudulent dealing ; false weights and measures ; 
 removing landmarks; injustice and unfaithfulness in contracts between 
 man and man, or in matters of trust; oppression; extortion; usury; 
 bribery; vexatious law-suits; unjust enclosures and depredation; engross- 
 ing commodities to enhance the price, unlawful callings, and all other 
 unjust or sinful ways of taking or withholding from our neighbor what 
 belongs to him, or of enriching ourselves; covetousness ; inordinate 
 prizing and affecting worldly goods; distrustful and distracting cares and 
 studies in getting, keeping, and using them; envying at the prosperity 
 of others: as likewise idleness, prodigality, wasteful gaming, and 
 all other ways whereby we do unduly prejudice our own outward estate: 
 and defrauding ourselves of the due use and comfort of that estate 
 which God hath given us. 
 
 Q. 145. What are the sins forbidden in the ninth commandment f 
 A. The sins forbidden in the ninth commandment are, all prejudicing 
 of the truth, and the good name of our neighbors as well as our own, 
 especially in public judicature; giving false evidence; suborning false 
 witnesses ; wittingly appearing and pleading for an evil cause ; outfacing 
 and overbearing the truth; passing unjust sentence; calling evil good, 
 and good evil ; rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righte- 
 ous, and the righteous according to the work of the wicked ; forgery ; 
 concealing the truth; undue silence in a just cause, and holding our 
 peace when iniquity calleth for either a reproof from ourselves, or com- 
 plaint to others ; speaking the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a 
 wrong end, or perverting it to a wrong meaning, or in doubtful and 
 equivocal expression, to the prejudice of truth or justice; speaking 
 untruth; lying; slandering; backbiting; detracting; tale-bearing; whis- 
 pering; scoffing; reviling; rash, harsh, and partial censuring; miscon- 
 structing intentions, words, and actions; flattering; vain-glorious boast- 
 ing; thinking or speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others; 
 denying the gifts and graces of God ; aggravating smaller faults ; hiding, 
 excusing, or extenuating of sins, when called to a free confession ; unnec- 
 essarily discovering of infirmities; raising false rumors; receiving and 
 countenancing evil reports, and stopping our ears against just defence; 
 evil suspicion; envying or grieving at the deserved credit of any, 
 endeavoring or desiring to impair it, rejoicing in their disgrace and 
 infamy ; scornful contempt ; fond admiration ; breach of lawful promises ; 
 neglecting such things as are of good report; and practicing or not avoid- 
 ing ourselves, or not hindering what we can in others, such things as 
 procure an ill name. 
 
 Q. 148. What are the sins forbidden in the tenth commandment f 
 A. The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontentment 
 with our own estate ; envying, and grieving at the good of our neighbor, 
 together with all inordinate motions and affections to any thing that is his. 
 
 V. All children born within the pale of the visible Church are mem- 
 bers of the Church, are to be baptized, are under the care of the Church, 
 
OF THE PARTIES IN CASES OF PROCESS. 635 
 
 and subject to its government and discipline; and when they have arrived 
 at years of discretion, they are bound to perform all the duties of church 
 members. 
 
 [Note. — See in fall under Directory for Worship, Chap, viii, Sec. i-iii, and Chap, x, 
 Sec. i, p. 845. In 1884, Sec. 5 was adopted as follows : 
 
 5. All baptized persons are members of the Church, are under its care, and subject 
 to its government and discipline. When baptized children arrive at the years of 
 discretion, they are bound to perform all the duties of church members. — 1884, p. 27. 
 In 1885, Sec. v was adopted as above.— 1885, p. 601.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 OF THE PARTIES IN CASES OF PROCESS. 
 
 VI. Process against an alleged offender shall not be commenced unless 
 some person undertakes to sustain the charge; or unless a judicatory finds 
 it necessary for the ends of discipline to investigate the alleged offence. 
 
 VII. An offence, gross in itself, may have been committed in such 
 circumstances, that plainly the offender cannot be prosecuted to convic- 
 tion. In all such cases, it is better to wait until God, in his righteous 
 providence, shall give further light, than, by unavailing prosecution, to 
 weaken the force of discipline. 
 
 VIII. No prosecution shall be allowed in a case of alleged personal 
 injury, where the injured party is the prosecutor, unless those means of 
 reconciliation have been tried, which are required by our Lord, Matthew 
 xviii, 15-17: " If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell 
 him his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou 
 hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with 
 thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every 
 word may be established. And if he*shall neglect to hear them, tell it 
 unto the Church." 
 
 1. No testimony may be introduced injurious to parties 
 not on trial. 
 
 a. An overture on a case of discipline was taken up, and is as follows: 
 Suppose a member of the Church is on trial, and his accuser is " Com- 
 mon Fame. ' ' * One specification against him is, ' ' Speaking evil of his 
 brethren A and B, while he neglects to take any Gospel steps to bring 
 them to repentance or to trial." 
 
 The specification is abundantly sustained by testimony, but the person 
 on trial proposes to introduce testimony to prove that the reports which 
 he circulated, and the opinions which he pronounced derogatory to the 
 brethren named, were true. Has the accused a right to introduce such 
 testimony tending to injure the character of parties not on trial, nor 
 connected at all with the prosecution, and having no opportunity for 
 defence ? 
 
 * Common Fame, since the adoption of the Revised Book of Discipline, is no longer 
 a ground of process. The principle, however, set forth in the above deliverance holds 
 in all cases of prosecution. See Book of Discipline, Chap, ii, Sec. vi, Clause 2, p. 635.] 
 
636 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 8-12. 
 
 Would the Session be authorized to reject such testimony, on the 
 ground that if introduced it would not exculpate the accused, inasmuch 
 as he had no right to circulate evil reports against his brethren, whether 
 true or false, while neglecting to bring them to trial ? 
 
 To this the following answer was given : 
 
 The person on trial under charges tabled on the ground of " Common 
 Fame ' ' has no right to introduce testimony which inculpates his brethren 
 who are not on trial, and who have no opportunity to defend them- 
 selves, because it was his previous duty to take proper steps, if the 
 persons are guilty of the evils which he had alleged against them, to 
 bring them to repentance or free the church from the scandal. — 1852, 
 p. 177, N. S. 
 
 b. The Committee to which was referred the petition of certain indi- 
 viduals, members of the congregation in Tammany street, Baltimore, 
 reported, and their report, being read and amended, was adopted, and is 
 as follows, viz. : 
 
 That while it is unquestionably the privilege of individuals and mem- 
 bers of the Presbyterian Church, when they think they see the peace, 
 purity or prosperity of the Church in danger, either from an individual 
 or from an inferior court, to apply to the General Assembly in an orderly 
 manner for redress or direction, yet, in such cases, unless they mean to 
 come forward as prosecutors with the necessary testimony, they should most 
 carefully avoid mentioning names connected with charges of the most 
 serious kind, in support of which no evidence has been orderly adduced ; 
 nor have the individuals thus accused had an opportunity of replying to 
 those charges, or of making any defence of themselves. The Assembly, 
 therefore, cannot witness a procedure of this kind without expressing 
 their disapprobation of it. — 1824, p. 113. 
 
 C. Resolved, That the Assembly sustain the appeals of the Session of 
 the Church of Bloomington, and of Dr. Wylie, against a decision of 
 the Synod of Indiana, and the judgment of the Presbytery and Session 
 is hereby confirmed, on the ground that Mr. Harney circulated evil 
 reports against Dr. Wylie, without showing that he did it in the due 
 performance of some indispensable duty; but it is the judgment of this 
 Assembly that Mr. Harney shall still have the privilege, if he desire it, 
 of commencing a prosecution against Dr. Wylie before the Presbytery of 
 Vincennes, and in such case, said Presbytery are hereby authorized and 
 directed to hear the whole case and issue the same in a constitutional 
 way."— 1834, p. 443. 
 
 IX. The course prescribed by the preceding section shall not be 
 required when the prosecution is initiated by a judicatory ; but in all such 
 cases, and in every case of prosecution by a private person other than 
 the injured party, effort should be made, by private conference with the 
 accused, to avoid, if possible, the necessity of actual process. 
 
 X. When the prosecution is initiated by a judicatory, the Presby- 
 terian Church in the United States of America shall be the 
 prosecutor, and an original party ; in all other cases, the individual prose- 
 cutor shall be an original party. 
 
 [Note. — See under next Section.] 
 
 XI. When the prosecution is initiated by a judicatory, it shall appoint 
 
OF THE PARTIES IN CASES OF PROCESS. 637 
 
 one or more of its own members a committee to conduct the prosecution 
 in all its stages in whatever judicatory, until the final issue be reached: 
 provided, that any appellate judicatory before which the case is pending 
 shall, if desired by the prosecuting committee, appoint one or more of 
 its own members to assist in the prosecution, upon the nomination of the 
 prosecuting committee. 
 
 1. The right of the Prosecuting Committee to appeal and to conduct 
 the prosecution as representing an original party maintained. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee presented its report in the case of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. vs. Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D. , 
 which was accepted, as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Committee respectfully reports that it has carefully con- 
 sidered the documents submitted to it in this case, and adopted the 
 following resolutions: 
 
 1. That, in the opinion of this Committee, the appeal taken by the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, an original party 
 represented by the ' ' Committee of Prosecution, ' ' appointed under Sec- 
 tion xi of the Book of Discipline, has been taken from the final judg- 
 ment of the Presbytery in dismissing the case ; and that the said Com- 
 mittee had the right to take this appeal representing the said original 
 party.— 1892, p. 90. 
 
 [Note.— For protest against this action of the Assembly, see Minutes, 1892, p. 205.] 
 
 b. In the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America against the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , being an appeal to 
 the General Assembly from a decision and final judgment of the Presby- 
 tery of New York, rendered January 9, 1893, the Judicial Committee 
 beg leave respectfully to report that they have examined the papers 
 pertaining to this case, and find: 
 
 1. That the appellant in this case is the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, represented by its Prosecuting Committee, 
 appointed by the Presbytery of New York, and, as such appellant, has 
 a right of appeal to this Assembly as an original party, and said Prose- 
 cuting Committee is entitled to conduct the prosecution, in all its stages, 
 in whatever judicatory, until the final issue be reached. — 1893, p. 104. 
 
 C. In the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America against Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., being the appeal 
 to the General Assembly from the decision, action and judgment of the 
 Synod of Ohio, rendered October 13, 1893, we have examined the 
 papers and conferred with the parties. 
 
 We find that the appellant is Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., 
 and as such appellant he has the right to appeal to the General Assem- 
 bly, the case being one of that nature in which the appeal may be taken 
 to the highest court of the Church, and we find that the Committee to 
 conduct the prosecution appointed by the Presbytery of Cincinnati, in 
 which Presbytery the case arose, has the right to conduct the prosecu- 
 tion, and hence to appear for the Presbyterian Church, the appellee in 
 this court.— 1894, p. 90. 
 
 XII. If one, who considers himself slandered, requests an investiga- 
 tion which a judicatory finds it proper to institute, one or more of its 
 
638 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 11-14. 
 
 members shall be appointed to investigate the alleged slander, and make 
 report in writing: and a record thereafter made may conclude the 
 matter. 
 
 1. Such investigation is at the discretion of the Presbytery, subject 
 to review as to misuse or abuse. 
 
 A complaint of Rev. Arthur Crosby vs. the Synod of Long Island. 
 Mr. Crosby complains against the action of the Synod of Long Island, 
 October 19, 1880, in adopting the following resolution, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, The decision of the Presbytery of Brooklyn, referred to in 
 the complaint of Rev. Arthur Crosby and others, relates to a matter 
 which it belonged to the Presbytery to determine; and, 
 
 Whereas, This decision is not for this reason a legitimate ground of 
 complaint, or a proper subject of review by the Synod on complaint; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint be dismissed. 
 
 Your Committee find the papers in order. But recommend that the 
 complaint be dismissed, for the following reasons, viz. : 
 
 1. That, upon the facts stated by the Presbytery as the basis of its 
 action, the question, whether the investigation asked for should be entered 
 upon or not, was one to be determined in the exercise of a sound discre- 
 tion on the part of the Presbytery (Book of Discipline, Old, Chap, iii, 
 Sec. vi). 
 
 2. That while the misuse or abuse of discretionary power is review- 
 able, its use, in this instance, seems to have been in regard to a subject 
 fairly within its range, and unobjectionable in its manner. Adopted. — 
 1881, p. 586. 
 
 XIII. Great caution ought to be exercised in receiving accusations 
 from any person who is known to indulge a malignant spirit toward the 
 accused, or who is not of good character, or who is himself under censure 
 or process, or who is personally interested in any respect in the conviction 
 of the accused, or who is known to be litigious, rash, or highly imprudent. 
 
 1. Admonition to prosecutors. 
 
 And the Assembly judge it more necessary to admonish Mr. Gal- 
 braith, and all those who have been and now are connected with him in 
 any controversy with Mr. Balch, not to cherish a spirit of litigation, 
 malevolence and discord equally contrary to the general tenor of the 
 Gospel and to the peace and harmony of that branch of the Church with 
 which they are connected; in particular that they withdraw, agreeably 
 to their engagements to the Synod of the Carolinas, the civil suits which 
 they have commenced, and comply with the whole recommendation of 
 the Synod on that subject. On the whole, the Assembly hope aud trust 
 that all the parties in this concern will feel the solemn obligations which 
 lie upon them as professed disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus not to 
 indulge a rancorous spirit, nor to rend and divide His Church by the 
 indulgence of a haughty, uncomplying and unforgiving temper, but to 
 unite mutually and cordially in endeavoring to close the wounds which 
 they have unhappily opened, over which they have so much reason to 
 mourn, and which we exhort and conjure them not to aggravate, but by 
 every gentle and tender application to endeavor to heal. — 1798, p. 159. 
 
OF THE PARTIES IN CASES OF PROCESS. 639 
 
 XIV. Any person who appears as a prosecutor, without appointment 
 by the judicatory, shall be warned before the charges are presented, that, 
 if he fail to show probable cause for the charges, he must himself be 
 censured, as a slanderer of the brethren, in proportion to the malignancy 
 or rashness which may appear in the prosecution. 
 
 1. Failure to show probable cause for charges involves censure 
 
 for slander. 
 
 a. An appeal by Mr. William L. McCalla from a decision of the 
 Synod of Kentucky, in which decision the Synod declared, that Mr. 
 McCalla had failed to prove certain charges which he had brought 
 against the Rev. James Blythe, was resumed. 
 
 Resolved, That the judgment of the Synod of Kentucky, with respect 
 to the charges brought by Mr. William L.. McCalla against the Rev. 
 James Blythe, be and it hereby is affirmed. — 1815, p. 596. 
 
 b. The complaint of J. W. Davidson, W. C. Koons and J. McElhinny, 
 against the Synod of Baltimore. 
 
 This case originated in the Presbytery of Carlisle, as the result of the 
 trial of a minister, by which the complainants were severely censured for 
 presenting a certain paper containing allegations against the character of 
 the said minister, which allegations, though not tabled as charges, were 
 adjudged to be slanderous. 
 
 The parties censured complained to the Synod of Baltimore, and the 
 complaint was " sustained in part," by a vote of 17 to 12. 
 
 The Synod, in its final minute, still inflict a modified censure, of which 
 the said Davidson, Koons and McElhinny complained to the last General 
 Assembly. This last complaint was laid over to this Assembly, to enable 
 the complainants to correct an informality; which they have since done. 
 
 The Committee report the case in order, and recommend that it be 
 taken up according to the directions of the Book of Discipline. 
 
 The Committee recommend, that the only part of the record to be read 
 in evidence be the paper originally read to the Presbytery of Carlisle, at 
 Newville; and this may be waived by the parties agreeing; that the paper 
 contains charges, which, if true, would be scandalous. This recommen- 
 dation is based on the following reasons : 
 
 I. That it is found by the Synod, in their judgment, that the paper 
 presented by complainants was so presented by them without their being 
 prepared to table charges, or to appear as prosecutors, and that they 
 refused to appear as accusers after having presented such a paper. 
 
 II. In the complaint presented to us, these findings of the Synod are 
 admitted, in that the complainants allege (as the ground of their com- 
 plaint in this regard) that the Synod decided that the paper presented at 
 Newville by the complainants, was of such a character that it should 
 not have been presented, unless the parties presenting it were prepared to 
 table charges upon it ; when, in fact, as they allege, it was but an offer 
 to aid Presbytery in investigating the difficulty in the congregation of 
 Big Spring, to which complainants belonged, and not as the ground of 
 charges. Thus it will be seen that they not only admit such findings of 
 the Synod, but distinctly allege another and different reason in justifica- 
 tion of such presentation, viz., that it was but an offer to aid Presbytery, 
 etc. 
 
 III. If it be claimed, on the second ground of appeal, that the testi- 
 
640 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 14-17. 
 
 mony adduced on the original trial be read before the Assembly, then 
 we say that it should not be read, for the following reasons: 
 
 1. The accused minister, after a trial (declared by the Synod to be 
 fair and impartial) was acquitted by the Presbytery, and no appeal was 
 taken from such judgment of acquittal; so that the same thereby long 
 since became final and absolute, and this Assembly has no power to 
 reverse this judgment of the Presbytery, for the purpose of relieving 
 these complainants from the censure of the Synod; to do so would be 
 to pronounce two conflicting and contrary judgments upon the same 
 evidence. 
 
 2. Because it has been already adjudicated, in the case of William S. 
 McDowell (Assembly's Digest, Baird, rev. ed., p. 159), that " no 
 discussion ought to be allowed (involving the character of an absent 
 person) in his absence," much more should this rule be applied to the 
 exclusion of the remaining record, in this case, from its peculiar charac- 
 ter, and all the circumstances attending it. 
 
 Resolved, That the judgment of the Synod of Baltimore be sustained 
 pro forma, and the paper of E. Thompson Baird be admitted to record. 
 —1860, pp. 31, 35, O. S. 
 
 2. The character of one absent and not on trial— not to be 
 impeached. 
 
 Resolved, That no discussion ought to be allowed which may involve 
 the character of Mr. McDowell in his absence. — 1823, p. 74. 
 
 3. Censure for slander may not be inflicted upon a private prosecutor 
 unless the case be fully issued. 
 
 In the complaint of John Mack et al. against a decision of the Synod 
 of Illinois, the Assembly, inter alia, declare: The action of the Presby- 
 tery upon a certain resolution was extra-judicial. 
 
 Our Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, v, Sec. vii, pronounces a man a 
 slanderer who, on trial, fails to make good his charges. 
 
 S. L. Hobson was censured as a slanderer without the court reaching 
 by trial the point contemplated by our Book. — 1867, p. 355, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — The revised Book of Discipline directs censure for slander only when the 
 prosecutor fails to show probable cause, as in Sec. xiv, above, p. 639.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 OF CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS. 
 
 XV. The charge shall set forth the alleged offence ; and the specifica- 
 tions shall set forth the facts relied upon to sustain the charge. Each 
 specification shall declare, as far as possible, the time, place, and circum- 
 stances, and shall be accompanied with the names of the witnesses to be 
 cited for its support. 
 
 1. The charge must be specific. 
 
 Mr. Ewing complains against the Commission that they received 
 charges against him which were vague and indeterminate. The Synod 
 
OF CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS. 641 
 
 agrees that these charges were rather deficient in point of specialty, but 
 are of opinion that the Commission acted with prudence and integrity in 
 receiving said charges, inasmuch as they endeavored to reduce them to a 
 specialty, and as Mr. Ewing submitted so far as to plead to them, and as 
 the particular circumstances of the First and Third Presbyterian congre- 
 gations in Philadelphia were viewed by them as so critical as in their 
 judgment required an immediate discussion of the affair. 
 
 Yet the Synod orders that all their judicatures shall for the future be 
 particularly careful not to receive or judge of any charges but such as 
 shall be seasonably reduced to a specialty in the complaint laid before 
 them.— 1770, p. 406. 
 
 2. All charges in cases of heresy, should be as definite as possible. 
 
 a. There was a great deficiency in the charges preferred against Mr. 
 Craighead as it relates to precision. All charges for heresy should be as 
 definite as possible. The article or articles of faith impugned should be 
 specified, and the words supposed to be heretical shown to be in repug- 
 nance to these articles, whether the reference is made directly to the 
 Scripture as a standard of orthodoxy, or to the Confession of Faith, 
 which our Church holds to be a summary of the doctrines of Scripture. 
 But in none of the charges against Mr. Craighead is this done, and in 
 two of them (third and fourth) it would be very difficult to say what 
 articles of faith are supposed to be contravened in the errors charged on 
 Mr. Craighead. And the last two charges appear to be so vague and 
 indefinite as to be incapable of proof. In the fifth Mr. Craighead is 
 charged with perverting, etc. , the sentiments of the preachers and writers 
 in our connection. Now, in our connection there are a multitude of 
 preachers and writers differing by many shades of opinion from each 
 other. How, then, can this be a just ground of accusation ? In the 
 sixth he is charged with the false coloring of facts, etc. But no facts 
 are established by evidence, none are specified in the charge ; and to 
 make it a just ground of accusation, it ought to have been a designed 
 and malicious discoloring of the facts, etc. — 1824, p. 121. 
 
 b. The Assembly would further advise that all the charges against 
 Mr. Spillman which may be wanting in definiteness be made, if practi- 
 cable, more specific, so that they may be conformable to the directions 
 of the Book of Discipline.— 1860, p. 46, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See for formal charges, in this Digest, p. 47, and p. 58.] 
 
 XVI. A charge shall not allege more than one offence; several charges 
 against the same person, however, with the specifications under each of 
 them, may be presented to the judicatory at one and the same time, and 
 may, in the discretion of the judicatory, be tried together. But, when 
 several charges are tried at the same time, a vote on each charge must be 
 separately taken. 
 
 [Xote. — See Book of Discipline, Chap, iv, Sec. xxiii, p. 651.] 
 
 XVII. In all cases of alleged personal injury, where the prosecution is 
 by the injured person or persons, the charge must be accompanied by an 
 averment, that the course prescribed by our Lord, Matt, xviii. 15-17, 
 has been faithfully tried. 
 
 41 
 
642 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 18-21. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF PROCESS: GENERAL RULES PERTAINING 
 
 TO ALL CASES. 
 
 XVIII. Original jurisdiction, in relation to Ministers, pertains to the 
 Presbytery ; in relation to others, to the Session. But the higher judica- 
 tories may institute process in cases in which the lower have been directed 
 so to do, and have refused or neglected to obey. 
 
 [Note. — As adopted in 1884, after the word "ministers" were the words "and 
 acting ruling elders," which were stricken out. — 1885, p. 601.] 
 
 XIX. When a judicatory enters on the consideration of an alleged 
 offence, the charge and specifications, which shall be in writing, shall be 
 read; and nothing more shall be done at that meeting, unless by consent 
 of parties, than to furnish the accused with a copy of the charge and 
 specifications, together with the names of all the witnesses then known 
 to support each specification; and to cite all concerned to appear at a 
 subsequent meeting of the judicatory, to be held not less than ten days 
 after the service of the citations. The citations shall be signed, in the 
 name "of the judicatory, by the moderator, or clerk; who shall, also, 
 furnish citations for such witnesses as either party shall name. The 
 accused shall not be required to disclose the names of his witnesses. 
 
 1. Censure without trial is unconstitutional. 
 
 a. Resolved, As the sense of this house, that no man or body of men, 
 agreeably to the Constitution of this Church, ought to be condemned or 
 censured without having notice of the accusation against him or them 
 and notice given for trial; and therefore, that if the General Assembly 
 of last year meant by the minute in question to pass a censure on the 
 Presbytery of Lewes, it was informal. — 1793, p. 71. 
 
 b. There was an error in the Synod of North Carolina in expressing 
 a judicial opinion in relation to charges against Mr. Da vies which did 
 not come before them. — 1849, p. 264, O. S. 
 
 2. A judicatory may not suspend without trial. 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of the 
 Carolinas reported, and the book was approved, with the exception of 
 the resolution to make a minister liable to suspension without trial for 
 three years' absence from Synod, without sending forward his reasons 
 for absence. — 1811, p. 468. 
 
 3. Censure upon an absent person without citation disapproved of. 
 
 The Assembly, moreover, cannot forbear expressing their regret that 
 the Presbytery of Washington should have passed a vote of censure 
 upon Mr. McCalla without citing him to appear before them or giving 
 him any opportunity of making a defence, since this mode of proceeding 
 seems to have occasioned a portion of the irregularity in the Presbytery 
 of West Lexington, of which the Presbytery of Washington have com- 
 plained.— 1821, p. 21. 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 643 
 
 4. Exclusion from the pulpit or from communion may not be 
 without trial and conviction. 
 
 Whereas, It appears from memorials sent up to this Assembly, that 
 severa] of our Presbyteries have adopted resolutions excluding slave- 
 holders from their pulpits and from their communion: And whereas, 
 Our Constitution requires that no member of the Presbyterian Church 
 shall be thus disfranchised without a regular trial and conviction, 
 .... therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the said Presbyteries be requested to rescind such reso- 
 lutions.— 1840, p. 24, N. S. 
 
 5. The accused may not be required to declare what he expects 
 to prove by his witnesses. 
 
 The Judicial Committee, in reference to the case of J. H. Spillman 
 against the Synod of Kentucky, recommend to the General Assembly 
 the adoption of the following minute disposing of the same : 
 
 While this General Assembly do not undertake to reverse the decision 
 of the Synod of Kentucky against Mr. J. H. Spillman, it cannot be 
 doubted — for it is admitted by the Synod's and the Presbytery's repre- 
 sentatives here — that there were some informalities in the proceedings of 
 the lower courts against Mr. Spillman, which this General Assembly is 
 bound to disapprove; in particular, that the Session had no right to insist 
 upon Mr. Spillman' s making known beforehand what he expected to 
 prove by his witnesses as the condition upon which he should be allowed 
 to proceed in the examination. — 1860, p. 45, O. S. 
 
 XX. Citations shall be served personally, unless the person to be 
 cited cannot be found, in which case the citation shall be sent to his last 
 known place of residence ; and, before proceeding to trial, it must appear 
 that the citations have been served. 
 
 XXL If an accused person refuses to obey a citation, a second citation 
 shall issue, accompanied by a notice that, if he do not appear at the time 
 appointed, unless providentially hindered, he will be censured for his 
 contumacy, according to the subsequent provisions of the Book of Disci- 
 pline. (See sees, xxxiii, xxxviii andxlvi.) If he does not then appear, 
 the judicatory may proceed to trial and judgment in his absence; in 
 which case it shall appoint some person to represent him as counsel. The 
 time allowed for his appearance, on any citation subsequent to the first, 
 shall be determined by the judicatory, with proper regard for all the 
 circumstances. The same rule, as to the time allowed for appearance, 
 shall apply to all witnesses cited at the request of either party. 
 
 1. Contumacy not to be hastily inferred. One may excuse himself by 
 
 letter. 
 
 In the progress of this case, the Presbytery proceeded regularly to cite 
 the accused, once and again ; and upon his not appearing, they proceeded 
 to the trial, and having gone through the evidence they referred the 
 whole to the Synod to adjudicate upon it, with the expression of their 
 own opinion that Mr. Craighead ought to be suspended. The Synod 
 met immediately after Presbytery, and took up the case, and, in concur- 
 
644 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 21. 
 
 rence with the opinion of the Presbytery, suspended Mr. Craighead from 
 the Gospel ministry. 
 
 In this proceeding the General Assembly are of opinion that there was 
 too much haste. Mr. Craighead was not guilty of contumacy, for he 
 wrote two letters to the Presbytery excusing himself for non-attendance ; 
 and if he had been guilty of contumacy, he ought to have been sus- 
 pended on that ground. — 1824, p. 121. 
 
 2. Contumacy not to be charged on first citation. 
 The Assembly sustained the appeal of Mr. Arthur from the sentence 
 of the Presbytery, by which he was suspended from the Gospel ministry 
 on the ground of contumacy, because the Presbytery appear to have 
 been precipitate, and not to have observed the constitutional rules. 
 They deem, too, the request of Mr. Arthur for a copy of the first sen- 
 tence to have been reasonable, and that it ought to have been complied 
 with.— 1822, p. 53. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline iv, Sees, xxxiii and xxxviii.] 
 
 3. Contumacious person may be restored on submission. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred the appeal of Mrs. Maria Hill 
 from the decision of the Synod of Albany, at their stated meeting at 
 Catskill, in her case respectfully report: 
 
 That after examining the documents presented, and hearing the state- 
 ments of the parties, by themselves or counsel, your Committee are satis- 
 fied that substantial justice has been done in their case. 
 
 The alleged irregularities in the lower judicatories, which are com- 
 plained of, are of a technical character, or caused by the course pursued 
 by the appellant or her agents. She could, at any time, have arrested the 
 proceedings, and prevented a conviction of contumacy, by submitting to 
 the authority of her Session, and answering their citations ; and can now, 
 at any moment, reverse the sentence and be restored, in the manner pro- 
 vided by the tenth article of the fourth chapter of our Book of Disci- 
 pline (Old). 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, recommend that the appeal of Mrs. Maria 
 Hill be not sustained. Adopted as the decision of this Assembly. — 1864, 
 p. 504, N. S. 
 
 4. To proceed in the absence of the accused, without a second cita- 
 tion, irregular; but the right to complain waived by appearing 
 afterward and pleading. 
 
 An appeal of Mr. William McElwee from the action of the Synod of 
 Toledo, for sustaining the Presbytery of Maumee in refusing to furnish 
 him with the usual letter of good standing and transfer to the Presbytery 
 of Philadelphia. The Committee report that it appears from the papers 
 put in their hands that Mr. McElwee was charged with a heinous crime, 
 of which he made a written confession ; that the Presbytery took action 
 upon this charge, and issued a citation for Mr. McElwee to answer to 
 it, the same being sent to him through the post-office. When the Pres- 
 bytery met, the accused did not appear, but this written confession was 
 presented, together with testimony that it was signed by him in the pres- 
 ence of witnesses, and with the understanding that it was to be made use 
 of in the Presbytery. Under the circumstances the Presbytery judged 
 that it was not necessary to cite him a second time, but thought them- 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 645 
 
 selves authorized to proceed as though he had been present. They there- 
 fore proceeded, deposed Mr. McElwee from the ministry, and suspended 
 him from the Church. Some time after this Mr. McElwee asked the 
 Presbytery to remove his deposition, restore him to his former good 
 standing and dismiss him to another Presbytery. He asked this on the 
 ground that he was deeply penitent for the sin of which he had been 
 guilty ; and the request was concurred in by several other persons. 
 
 The Presbytery refused to restore him, and this action the Synod 
 sustained. Mr. McElwee complains that the Presbytery adjudicated the 
 case in his absence and without a second citation. The Committee are 
 of the opinion that the Presbytery acted irregularly in disposing of this 
 case in the absence of the complainant and without a second citation. 
 But they are of the further opinion that the complainant waived his 
 further right to complain by afterward appearing before Presbytery, 
 confessing his guilt, and asking to be restored. And while a sentence of 
 deposition from the Gospel ministry and suspension from the communion 
 of the Church may be removed upon evidence of repentance, of the 
 genuineness of such repentance the Presbytery alone are to judge. Nor 
 is there any evidence that the Presbytery misjudged. The Committee 
 recommend that the case be dismissed. Adopted. — 1875, pp. 511, 512. 
 
 5. In the absence of the accused, counsel must be assigned. 
 
 But the appeal from the first sentence, by which the charge of slander 
 preferred against him by the Rev. Joshua L. Wilson was declared to be 
 substantiated and Mr. Arthur required to submit to a rebuke, the Assem- 
 bly could not sustain. For, although the Assembly noticed the omission 
 of Presbytery to assign Mr. Arthur counsel to manage his defence (see 
 Discipline (Old), Chap, iv, Sec. xiii), yet they did judge the pamphlet, 
 of which Mr. Arthur admitted himself to be the author, to contain slan- 
 der against Mr. Wilson, and could not but disapprove of the spirit under 
 the influence of which it appeared to have been written. — 1822, p. 53. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xxvi, p. 654.] 
 
 6. When the judicatory has taken the testimony as above, it may 
 proceed to trial and final judgment as if the accused were 
 present. 
 
 [Note. — The Assembly of 1865 (N. S.) appointed a Special Committee— Rev. Samuel 
 W. Fisher, D.D., Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., Rev. Ezra E. Adams, D.D., Hon. 
 William Strong, LL.D., and Hon. Joseph Allison, LL.D. — to report to the next As- 
 sembly. See Minutes, 1865, p. 49. Their report was presented the next year and was 
 adopted. The principles of this deliverance are affirmed in the last clause of Sec. xxi, 
 p. 643.] 
 
 The undersigned, a Special Committee, to whom was referred Overture 
 No. 14 by the General Assembly of 1865, together with the report of a 
 former Committee thereon, and who were instructed to report to the pres- 
 ent Assembly, respectfully submit the following: 
 
 The overture is in these words: " When the judicatory have proceeded, 
 in accordance with Chap, iv, Sec. xiii, of the Book of Discipline (Old), 
 to take the testimony in the case of an accused person, may they proceed 
 to pass judgment thereon as if he were present, or shall he be left simply 
 under censure for contumacy ?' ' 
 
 The question thus presented is exclusively one of power. It is not 
 whether, in all cases, it is advisable that a Church judicatory should pro- 
 ceed to a final determination of the case; nor is it what has been the 
 usage in some of the tribunals of the Church ; but it is strictly, What 
 
646 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 21. 
 
 does the Book of Discipline authorize ? It is freely admitted that a long 
 course of usage under a statute is no inconsiderable evidence of the 
 meaning of that statute; but it must be a usage growing out of the enact- 
 ment itself, and claimed to have been authorized by it. Mere neglect to 
 exercise powers conferred is no proof that they were not granted. Had 
 the fathers of the Church generally decided that, by the fourth chapter 
 of the Book of Discipline (Old), no power is recognized in a judicatory 
 to proceed to the trial of an accused person when he has refused to obey 
 its citations, that his contumacious refusal must arrest all steps to purify 
 the Church of the offence charged, beyond taking evidence to prove that 
 offence, and had such a construction of the Book been generally accepted, 
 it ought to have weight in answer to this overture. But there is no 
 evidence that any such judicial construction has been generally given to 
 the language of the Book. Undoubtedly there have been differences of 
 opinion, and, possibly, it may have been decided in some judicatory, that 
 jurisdiction over an offence charged is necessarily suspended, whenever an 
 accused person disobeys the citations; but this is of little value in deter- 
 mining what the framers of the Book of Discipline meant by its direc- 
 tions respecting process, trial and judgment. It is much more important 
 that, in certain cases, where the proof is clear, as where the accused has 
 confessed his guilt, or where he has been convicted of violating the civil 
 law and has absconded, church Sessions have been accustomed to proceed 
 to trial and judgment, notwithstanding a refusal of the accused to appear 
 in answer to citations. Such cases are judicial assertions of power, never 
 denied, so far as we are informed. 
 
 But there is not enough in judicial decision nor in authoritative usage 
 to settle the question. After all, it must be answered from the Book; 
 and the true inquiry is, What is the fair interpretation of the rules laid 
 down in the fourth chapter ? A universally recognized rule of construc- 
 tion is that, when the purpose of a statute is clear, the means given for 
 effectuating it are to be interpreted with reference to the purpose, and, 
 if possible, so as to secure its accomplishment. Now the ends of discipline 
 are clearly denned. They are declared, by the second section of the 
 first chapter, to be " the removal of offences, the vindication of the 
 honor of Christ, the promotion of the purity and general edification of 
 the Church, and also the benefit of the offender himself. ' ' The fourth 
 chapter contains the directions given to Church judicatories, by which 
 these ends are to be secured. Manifestly, they were intended to be a 
 complete and efficient system adequate to the purposes in view. If they 
 fail of that, the avowed object of their framers is defeated. Then there 
 is no power to remove an offence in any case where the alleged offender 
 refuses to submit himself to trial. Plainly, it is the offence charged which 
 is sought to be removed, either by bringing the offender to repentance, or 
 by the judgment of the Church upon it, and ultimately, if necessary, 
 removing the offender. It is from that offence the Church is to be 
 purified, and the honor of Christ vindicated, for by that offence the evil 
 has been done. Anything that comes short of discipline for that, fails 
 of accomplishing the avowed purposes for which the directions of the 
 fourth chapter were prescribed. Contumacious disobedience of citations 
 is another distinct offence, punishment for which is entirely collateral to 
 discipline for the cause that induced the commencement of the process. 
 It is contempt of the lawful authority of the Church, and suspension for 
 it is summary punishment for the collateral offence alone. Neither directly 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 647 
 
 nor indirectly is it an expression of opinion respecting the delinquent's 
 guilt or innocence of the charge preferred originally against him. Sus- 
 pension for contumacy would be proper, without regard to anything 
 beyond it. It is quite conceivable that an accused person may willfully 
 disobey citations and yet be innocent of the charges made against him. 
 It certainly would be an anomaly in any judicial proceeding to hold 
 that a penalty inflicted for a collateral offence vindicates the law against 
 another and possibly much greater crime. 
 
 If, therefore, the defined ends of discipline are to be secured, a church 
 Session must have power to proceed to trial and judgment, though the 
 accused person refuse to obey the citations duly served upon him ; and it 
 is not to be concluded, without clear evidence, that means given to secure 
 those ends are inadequate. When the meaning of the language used in 
 the fourth chapter is sought, the best guide to it will be found in the 
 paramount intention the language was designed to subserve. The 
 directions given must be construed consistently with that intention; to 
 further rather than to defeat it. Looking then to the sections of the 
 fourth chapter, and regarding them as part of a system designed for the 
 purposes above mentioned, to be interpreted so as to harmonize with 
 those purposes as well as with each other, the conclusion seems inevitable 
 that whenever an accusation has been made against a church member, 
 and a church judicatory has entered judicially upon its consideration and 
 obtained jurisdiction by serving of citations upon him, it may go on to 
 final judgment, though he refuses to obey the citations. It is observable 
 that the entire fourth chapter is but an outline of process. It does not 
 undertake to prescribe minutely each step that may be taken. It does 
 not even expressly authorize a judicatory to proceed to trial in any case. 
 It rather assumes that, having taken judicial cognizance of the proceed- 
 ing, the tribunal will go to trial and judgment. Like a writ of summons 
 in a civil court, the citation is notice that the judicatory has assumed 
 jurisdiction of the case, and that it mil proceed to its final determina- 
 tion. When that notice has been given as prescribed, it is contemplated 
 rather than expressly required that witnesses will be examined ; that a 
 trial will be proceeded with, and that a judgment will be given. All 
 these things are implied from what is directed respecting them. They 
 are not affirmatively enjoined or even permitted. Thus it is said, ' ' wit- 
 nesses shall be examined in the presence of the accused, or at least after he 
 shall have received a citation to attend," and that he shall be permitted 
 to ask any questions tending to his exculpation. This is a regulation of 
 the mode of examination, not a direct gift of power to take testimony, 
 yet the implication of power is irresistible. The fourteenth (20) section 
 prescribes certain things before proceeding to trial; and the fifteenth 
 (23) declares that the trial shall be fair and impartial; but nowhere is 
 it said there shall be a trial. The sixteenth (24) section requires the 
 judgment to be regularly entered on the record ; but no section in words 
 authorizes a judgment. Everywhere it is assumed that these successive 
 steps in a judicial proceeding may be taken. It would be a rash conclu- 
 sion from the absence of a specific grant of these powers to deny any 
 right to take testimony, to try and to give judgment. The powers are 
 not only to be implied, but they are comprehensively given by the general 
 provision of the first section, that " the judicatory shall judicially take 
 the offence into consideration when all other means of removing it have 
 failed ;' ' and they are included also in the directions to issue citations. 
 
648 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 21. 
 
 Nor is there any substantial distinction made between cases in which the 
 accused yields obedience to the citations and those in which he is contu- 
 maciously disobedient. The thirteenth (21) section is the only one that is 
 supposed to make a difference. By that a second citation is required, to 
 be accompanied with a notice, that if the person cited do not appear at 
 the time appointed, the judicatory, " besides censuring him for his contu- 
 macy, will, after assigning some person to manage his defence, proceed to 
 take the testimony in his case, as if he were present. ' ' It has sometimes 
 been asked, if it was intended that the judicatory might proceed in such a 
 case to final judgment, why was not notice required that they would thus 
 proceed ? Why limit the notice to taking testimony ? These questions 
 are easily answered. A notice that the judicatory will proceed to trial 
 and decision would be unnecessary and superfluous. It has already been 
 given in the assumption of jurisdiction over the case and in the citations; 
 but notice of taking testimony is a different matter. Separate notice of 
 that is generally given in all judicial proceedings. Its design is to give a 
 party an opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses produced against 
 him. And, as the judgment in all ecclesiastical courts must be founded 
 upon evidence, as a judgment for default of appearance is not authorized, 
 it is proper that the accused should have special notice of taking the 
 testimony, though he may refuse to appear in answer to the citation. In 
 fact, however, notice that the testimony will be taken is notice that the 
 judicatory will go on with the trial ; for taking testimony is a part of 
 trial, its first stage. Undue inferences are therefore drawn from the form 
 of the notice, if it is supposed to indicate that the proceedings are to stay, 
 when the testimony shall have been taken. At most, it raises but a 
 very feeble implication that, because notice of one thing is required (a 
 thing very peculiar in itself, and always demanding a special notice), 
 therefore nothing else can be done. A similar mode of reasoning would 
 render a trial in any case impossible. 
 
 Moreover, the thirteenth (21) section affords strong affirmative evidence 
 that a trial and judgment were contemplated by its framers, notwithstand- 
 ing the refusal of the accused to obey the citations. The evidence is 
 found in the notice that the judicatory will assign some person, not to 
 appear for the accused at the examination of witnesses, but to ' ' manage 
 his defence." The idea of defence in a judicial proceeding is insepar- 
 able from answer or trial. If, therefore, the non-appearing accused has 
 a defence to be managed, he has an answer to be put in, a trial to 
 undergo. Taking testimony in support of the accusation is no part of 
 the defence. Cross-examination of the witnesses may be a part, but the 
 appointee of the judicatory is to manage the whole. 
 
 It may also be argued that the provision for taking testimony at all, 
 when an accused person fails to respond to the citation, implies that the 
 case may proceed to a final determination. For what purpose take testi- 
 mony if no action is to be based upon it ? If it be said to preserve it for 
 use when the accused, repenting of his contumacy, may choose to appear 
 for trial, it may be answered that no such purpose appears in the book. 
 None of the provisions usual, when the object sought to be accomplished 
 is the perpetuation of testimony, are even, hinted at. By the sixteenth 
 section (24) the judgment is required to be entered upon the records of 
 the judicatory, but nothing is said of the preservation of unused evi- 
 dence. It is not even required to be reduced to writing, unless demanded 
 by one of the parties. 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 649 
 
 It may also be argued from the language of the fourteenth (20) section 
 that a trial for the offence charged is intended, though the citations have 
 been disobeyed. In that section it is said that judicatories, "' before 
 proceeding to trial, " ' * ought to ascertain that their citations have been 
 duly served on the persons for whom they were intended. " If a person 
 cited is in attendance, nothing is to be ascertained respecting the service 
 of the citation. It is plain, therefore, that this injunction refers mainly 
 at least to proceeding to trial of an absent accused, and it assumes that 
 the judicatory will, after having assured itself of the service of the cita- 
 tions, go on to adjudicate the case. This section is susceptible of no 
 other meaning. 
 
 A similar implication is found in the next section, the fifteenth (23), 
 which declares that "the trial shall be fair and impartial," and that 
 " the witnesses shall be examined in the presence of the accused, or, at 
 least, after he shall have received due citation to attend. ' ' This is a 
 regulation of the mode of trial, and it is expressly made applicable both 
 to cases where the accused yields obedience to the citation and to cases 
 where he does not. With these harmonize the sixteenth (24) section, 
 which assumes that there will be a judgment, and the seventeenth (34), 
 nineteenth (30) and twentieth (34) sections, prescribing the discipline 
 to be adminstered in the event of conviction. The last of these directs 
 excommunication in certain cases. Its fair interpretation evidently is 
 that the ground of such extreme action is not contumacy in disobeying 
 process, but the gross offence charged, to answer for which the accused 
 had been cited. 
 
 Taking all these sections into consideration, and regarding them as 
 parts of one system, as having reference to the same subject-matter and 
 designed to secure the ends avowed, the Committee are constrained to 
 regard them as applicable to the course of proceeding through all the 
 stages of trial alike in cases where the accused does not appear in obedi- 
 ence to the citations as when he does. In both the judicatory is empow- 
 ered to proceed to trial and to final judgment. 
 
 To this conclusion an objection has sometimes been urged that at first 
 mention seems to have some plausibility. It is that trial of a person in 
 his absence and the rendition of judgment against him are in conflict 
 with common right and justice; that even criminal courts in State govern- 
 ments do not try offenders in their absence, and that ecclesiastical courts 
 ought to avoid ex parte proceedings. The objection aims less at the 
 power of a judicatory, as recognized by the Book of Discipline, than it 
 does at the policy of exercising it. But it misapprehends what are 
 acknowledged common right and justice, what are the proceedings of 
 courts of law and equity in analogous cases, and what are ex parte pro- 
 ceedings. Nowhere is it held that a man may not deny himself his 
 plainest rights. While he may not be tried for an alleged offence with- 
 out having an opportunity to be heard, he has no just cause to complain 
 of a trial to which he has been summoned by a tribunal having jurisdic- 
 tion, and which he has persistently refused to attend. In such a case it 
 is he who throws away his own rights. They are not taken from him. 
 This is a principle universally recognized in courts of civil law and of 
 equity, and such courts go farther. They construe a refusal to obey 
 process requiring an appearance as a substantia] confession of the com- 
 plaint, and they render judgment accordingly. It is true, State courts 
 having criminal jurisdiction do not try persons for crimes and misde- 
 
650 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 22-23. 
 
 meanors in their absence. This is for two reasons: They have power to 
 compel attendance, which ecclesiastical courts have not ; and the punish- 
 ments they inflict affect the life, the liberty or the property of the con- 
 victed criminal. In fact, they concern the life or the liberty of the 
 accused ; for even if the penalty be only a fine, its payment is usually 
 enforced by detention in custody until satisfaction be made. But 
 ecclesiastical tribunals can pronounce no judgment that touches either the 
 life, the liberty or the property of the accused. Their sentences are 
 peculiar. Indeed, it is asserting a false analogy to assimilate a trial 
 before a church Session to an indictment and trial in a criminal court. 
 It bears a much stronger resemblance to proceedings very common in 
 courts of law, in which members of associations or corporations are called 
 upon to respond for some alleged breach of corporate duty, for which 
 they are liable to be punished by the imposition of penalties, or by 
 amotion from membership. In such cases, when the person summoned 
 refuses to obey the mandate of the writ, courts proceed at once to dispose 
 of his case and render final judgment. No one ever supposed that by so 
 doing injustice was done or that any right of the accused was invaded. 
 Much less can he complain who has been cited to answer an accusation 
 taken into judicial cognizance by a Church judicatory and who has con- 
 tumaciously refused to obey the citation, if the tribunal proceed to try 
 the case, presuming nothing against him but contumacy from his refusal, 
 but founding its judgment solely upon the testimony of witnesses. This 
 objection, therefore, when examined, appears to be without substance. 
 
 In conclusion, it remains only to recommend, as the opinion of the 
 Committee, that the overture be answered by a declaration of the Assem- 
 bly that in the case proposed the judicatory may proceed to trial and 
 final judgment as if the accused were present. — 1866, pp. 283-288, N. 8. 
 
 XXII. At the meeting at which the citations are returnable, the 
 accused shall appear, or, if unable to be present, may appear by coun- 
 sel. He may file objections to the regularity of the organization, or to 
 the jurisdiction of the judicatory, or to the sufficiency of the charges and 
 specifications in form or in legal effect, or any other substantial objection 
 affecting the order or regularity of the proceeding, on which objections 
 the parties shall be heard. The judicatory upon the filing such objections 
 shall, or on its own motion may, determine all such preliminary objec- 
 tions, and may dismiss the case, or permit, in the furtherance of justice, 
 amendments to the specifications or charges not changing the general 
 nature of the same. If the proceedings be found in order, and the 
 charges and specifications be considered sufficient to put the accused on 
 his defence, he shall plead ' ' guilty, " or " not guilty, ' ' to the same, which 
 shall be entered on the record. If the plea be " guilty," the judicatory 
 shall proceed to judgment; but if the plea be " not guilty," or if the 
 accused decline to answer, a plea of ' ' not guilty ' ' shall be entered of 
 record and the trial proceed. 
 
 1. Judicial cases should be continued without interruption. , 
 
 The Judicial Committee recommend this Assembly to adopt the rule of 
 the last General Assembly (Minutes of 1864, p. 321), as follows: 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 651 
 
 Whereas, In the experience of this General Assembly and others the 
 confusion arising from the frequent interruption of important business 
 by other items of business wholly disconnected has greatly hindered the 
 satisfactory interest and understanding of the members, as well as pro- 
 tracted our proceedings; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it be made a standing rule of the Assembly that all 
 judicial cases be continued without interruption during the sessions of the 
 day, after the Assembly shall have entered upon them, according to 
 appointment, for the order of the day. — 1865, p. 535, O. S. 
 
 [Note— This is the usage of the Assembly.— 1892, p. 118; 1893, p. 70.] 
 
 XXIII. The witnesses shall be examined, and, if desired, cross- 
 examined, and any other competent evidence introduced, at a meeting of 
 which the accused shall be properly notified ; after which new witnesses 
 and other evidence, in rebuttal only, may be introduced by either party. 
 But evidence discovered during the progress of the trial, may be admitted, 
 in behalf of either party, under such regulations, as to notice of the 
 names of witnesses and the nature of the proof, as the judicatory shall 
 deem reasonable and proper; and then the parties themselves shall be 
 heard. The judicatory shall then go into private session — the parties, 
 their counsel, and all other persons not members of the body, being 
 excluded ; when, after careful deliberation, the judicatory shall proceed 
 to vote on each specification and on each charge separately, and judgment 
 shall be entered accordingly. 
 
 1. The withdrawal of parties, counsel, etc., construed literally. 
 
 a. The appeal of Mr. Joseph E. Bell, from a decision of the Presby- 
 tery of Concord, suspending him from the office of the Gospel ministry, 
 was taken up. 
 
 The appellant having requested that some person may be appointed to 
 manage his appeal, the Rev. N. S. S. Beman was accordingly appointed. 
 
 The decision of the Presbytery appealed from, the reasons assigned by 
 the appellant for his appeal, which were on record, and the whole record 
 of the proceedings of the inferior judicatory in the case were read. 
 
 After which, Mr. Beman, on behalf of Mr. Bell, was heard. The 
 Presbytery of Concord was then heard by its delegate, in explanation of 
 the grounds of its decision. 
 
 Mr. Beman and the delegate from Concord then withdrew. The roll 
 was then called, to give each member an opportunity to express his opin- 
 ion ; after which the final vote was taken, and the appeal of Mr. Bell 
 was sustained.— 1828, p. 238; see also 1836, p. 265. 
 
 b. The Moderator having decided that the rule requiring the parties 
 to withdraw should be understood in the obvious and literal sense, an 
 appeal was taken from his decision, and the decision was sustained by a 
 large majority. — 1848, p. 40, O. S. 
 
 C. Judicial Case No. 2 was resumed, and the roll was called for an 
 expression of opinions, the parties, with the appellant's counsel, having 
 withdrawn from the house. — 1849, p. 262, O. S. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Georgia were approved, with the 
 exception that on p. 337 we have the following minute: " That the rule 
 in the book requiring the members of the inferior judicatory to withdraw 
 
652 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 23-24. 
 
 from the house be understood metaphorically, and that the rule be under- 
 stood as fully complied with, by excluding the Flint Presbytery from 
 any further participation in the discussion, and from voting in the case." 
 •—1858, p. 289, O.S. ; see also 1858, p. 296, O. S. ; 1859, p. 546, O. S. 
 
 2. Exclusion of stenographer of the accused questionable. 
 
 That the act of the Session excluding the stenographer, even if it were 
 within the ultimate prerogatives of the court, was of very questionable 
 wisdom, as well as of dangerous precedent, in reference to the rights of 
 respondents at their bar. — 1839, N. S. ; reprint, p. 64. 
 
 3. Testimony not on record admitted by consent. 
 
 a. The following papers were offered and ordered to be entered on the 
 minutes, viz. : 
 
 I offer to the Assembly the paper called " An Appendix," as the 
 records furnished by the Presbytery in my case, and request that it may 
 be read as containing evidence which was before the Presbytery, and 
 which was not before the Synod. 
 
 Albert Barnes. 
 
 The prosecutor in the case of Mr. Barnes, and the Committee appointed 
 by the Synod of Philadelphia, to defend their decision in the same case, 
 hereby agree to the introduction of a document entitled "An Appen- 
 dix," etc. Not, however, as a part of the records of the inferior judica- 
 tory, but as testimony adduced by the appellant to substantiate any 
 statement which he has made, or may yet make. 
 
 George Junkin, S. G. Winchester, 
 G. W. Musgrave, David McKinney, 
 
 Committee of Synod of Philadelphia. 
 
 The document called the Appendix, numbered from pp. 1 to 58 inclu- 
 sive, containing the trial, testimony of the parties, Junkin and Barnes, 
 and final decision of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, in the said 
 case of Junkin and Barnes, was read. — 1836, p. 256. 
 
 b. The decision of the Synod of New Jersey, of which J. Kirkpat- 
 rick and others complain, was read, together with the complainants' 
 reasons of complaint. The records of the Synod in the case were read, 
 and it was moved to read a paper which was not before the Synod, but 
 was admitted by the parties to be an original paper. After debate it was 
 agreed by the court that the paper offered this morning be read, which 
 was done.— 1841, p. 428, O. S. 
 
 XXIV. The charge and specifications, the plea, and the judgment, 
 shall be entered on the minutes of the judicatory. The minutes shall 
 also exhibit all the acts and orders of the judicatory relating to the case, 
 with the reasons therefor, together with the notice of appeal, and the 
 reasons therefor, if any shall have been filed; all which, together with 
 the evidence in the case duly filed and authenticated by the Clerk of the 
 judicatory, shall constitute the record of the case; and, in case of a 
 removal thereof by appeal, the lower judicatory shall transmit the record 
 to the higher. Nothing which is not contained in the record shall be 
 taken into consideration in the higher judicatory. 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 653 
 
 1. Everything influencing the judgment of the judicatory must be 
 
 spread upon the records. 
 
 The Synod of Illinois have not discharged their duty. They ought to 
 have spread upon their record everything which influenced their judg- 
 ment in the case, and also to have sent to this Assembly authentic copies 
 of the whole proceedings, with all the documents which had been regu- 
 larly before them.— 1840, p. 302, O. S. 
 
 2. Minutes of interlocutory meetings in judicial cases should be re- 
 
 corded ; also report of Judicial Committee in the case. 
 
 The Presbytery of Louisiana should have recorded the results of the 
 interlocutory meeting referred to in the complaint. The Synod acted 
 unconstitutionally in permitting the Presbytery of Louisiana to vote on 
 the adoption of the report of the Judicial Committee on the complaint 
 of Rev. Mr. Smylie. 
 
 The Synod should have placed on its records the above-mentioned 
 report— 1850, p. 481, O. S. 
 
 3. Reasons not recorded and records deficient. Case remanded. 
 
 a. A complaint of Rev. Edward Graham and others against the Synod 
 of the Pacific. 
 
 It appears that, at its meeting, June 12, 1880, the Presbytery of San 
 Francisco received from the Rev. John D. Strong, one of its members, 
 a letter dated January 7, 1880, saying: "I have determined to termi- 
 nate my connection with your body. After more than fifty years of 
 thought and study, and earnest desire to find the way of truth and duty, 
 I have ceased to believe the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, or to 
 feel respect for its practical religion. For this reason I hereby withdraw 
 from the Presbytery of San Francisco, and ask that my name be stricken 
 from its list of members." 
 
 A Committee was appointed to confer with Mr. Strong, and, at an 
 adjourned meeting of the Presbytery, no report of the Committee 
 appearing on the records, a motion was adopted to drop the name of 
 John D. Strong from the roll. For this action no reason is assigned 
 by the Presbytery, as required (Book of Discipline [Old] , Chap, iv, 
 Sec. xxiii), nor was any minute or judgment entered on the records 
 (Book of Discipline [Old], Chap, iv, Sec. xvi). Complaint against 
 this action was made to the Synod of the Pacific. At its meeting, 
 beginning October 7, 1880, the Synod proceeded to issue the complaint. 
 The Synod did not sustain the complaint, but it put on record no reasons 
 for its decision (Book of Discipline [Old], Chap, iv, Sec. xxiii), nor 
 was any minute or judgment entered (Book of Discipline [Old], 
 Chap, iv, Sec. xvi). 
 
 Your Committee find the irregularities and deficiencies in the records, 
 both of the Presbytery and of the Synod, so great, and the information 
 furnished by the records of both bodies so meagre, that, inasmuch as the 
 appellate judicatories are confined to the records, in their opinion it is 
 impossible for the Assembly to come to any intelligent decision. They, 
 therefore, recommend that the complaint be referred to the Synod of the 
 Pacific, with instructions to take such action in the premises as the inter- 
 ests of religion and the good order of the Church may seem to them to 
 demand. Adopted.— 1881, pp. 586, 587. 
 
654 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 25-29. 
 
 b. Case ordered to a new trial because the reasons for the decision of 
 Synod were not recorded according to the requisition in Chap, iv, Sec. 
 xxiii, Book of Discipline (Old).— 1861, p. 344, O. S. ; 1874, p. 74. 
 
 [Note. — See also 1881, pp. 587, 588. Appeal of Rev. Harlan Peck against the Synod 
 of the Columbia : sustained and the action of the Synod set aside, because ' l No 
 formal action of the Synod was entered upon its records, and no reason given." See 
 also this Digest, p. 246. 1878, p. 60, the records of Illinois Central censured, because, 
 in issuing a complaint, they failed to record the subject-matter of the complaint.] 
 
 XXV. Exceptions may be taken by either of the original parties in a 
 trial, to any part of the proceedings, except in the judicatory of last 
 resort, and shall be entered on the record. 
 
 XXVI. No professional counsel shall be permitted to appear and plead 
 in cases of process in any of our ecclesiastical judicatories. But if any 
 accused person feel unable to represent and plead his own cause to advan- 
 tage, he may request any minister or elder, belonging to the judicatory 
 before which he appears, to prepare and exhibit his cause as he may 
 judge proper. But the minister or elder so engaged shall not be allowed, 
 after pleading the cause of the accused, to sit in judgment as a member 
 of the judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — In 1884, Sec. xxvi was adopted, as follows : 
 
 26. In cases of process in any judicatory, either party may be assisted by counsel, 
 but such counsel shall be in full communion with the Presbyterian Church. Neither 
 the counsel nor either of the parties shall be allowed to sit in judgment, or % vote, in 
 the trial of the case. 
 
 In 1885, Sec. xxvi of the new Book of Discipline was amended by substituting in its 
 place Chap, iv, Sec. xxi, of the old book, the word "judicatory" being substituted 
 for "court," as above.— 1885, p. 601.] 
 
 1. Counsel assigned by request of the parties. 
 
 a. The appeal and complaint of Robert Finley and Smith Bloomfield 
 against the Synod of New Jersey. 
 
 R. J. Breckinridge was allowed at the request of the former appellant 
 to aid him in conducting his cause ; and James Hoge and Nathaniel 
 Hewitt were allowed at the request of Myron Barrett to aid him, in the 
 absence of two other members of a Committee appointed by the Synod 
 of New Jersey, to defend the Synod in this case. — 1858, p. 286, O. S. 
 
 b. Rev. Dr. Humphrey, chairman of the Judicial Committee, reported 
 Case No. 5, being a complaint of William B. Guild against the Synod 
 of New Jersey, and stated that the complainant requested the appoint- 
 ment of a member to take charge of his interests in the case. The Com- 
 mittee recommended the appointment of Rev. S. S. Sheddan, and he was 
 appointed.— 1863, p. 19, O. S. 
 
 C. In the absence of the appellant, counsel was appointed by the 
 court.— 1823, p. 72. 
 
 d. Elder J. R. Hogg, a member of the Assembly, was appointed 
 counsel for A. G. McAuley, D.D., at the request of the appellant, in 
 the matter of his appeal from a decision of the Synod of Pennsylvania. 
 —1896, p. 54. 
 
 2. No one not a member of the judicatory may act as counsel. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported Overture No. 5, as 
 follows : ' ' May the Session of a churchj at the request of an accused 
 brother, assign as his counsel a minister of the Gospel belonging to the 
 same Presbytery to which the Session belongs ?' ' 
 
GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO ALL CASES. 655 
 
 The Committee answered : There is no provision for snch a case in 
 our Constitution; and, though it does not appear to contravene its spirit 
 and design, and might in special cases be allowable with advantage; yet, 
 a strict interpretation of Chap, iv, Sec. xxi, of the Book of Discipline (Old) 
 seems to preclude the employment of any one as counsel who is not a mem- 
 ber of the judicatory. The report was adopted. — 1851, p. 29, N. S. 
 
 3. Professional counsel under all circumstances excluded. 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported No. 1 from the Pres- 
 bytery of Tuscaloosa, requesting the Assembly to answer the following 
 question: "Is it a violation of our Book of Discipline for professional 
 counsel, under all circumstances, to aid in the examination of witnesses ?' ' 
 
 The Committee recommended that the question be answered in the 
 affirmative. The report was adopted. — 1852, p. 205, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — The term " professional counsel" has no reference to the profession of the 
 counsel employed. It is taken as meaning any one, "minister or elder," who is not a 
 member of the 'judicatory which is engaged iri issuing the case.] 
 
 XXVII. Questions as to order or evidence, arising in the course of a 
 trial, shall, after the parties have had an opportunity to be heard, be 
 decided by the Moderator, subject to appeal; and the question on the 
 appeal shall be determined without debate. All such decisions, if 
 desired by either party, shall be entered upon the record of the case. 
 
 XXVIII. No member of a judicatory who has not been present 
 during the whole of the trial, shall be allowed to vote on any question 
 arising therein, except by unanimous consent of the judicatory and of 
 the parties; and, when a trial is in progress, except in an appellate judi- 
 catory, the roll shall be called after each recess and adjournment, and 
 the names of the absentees shall be noted. 
 
 1. By consent, members who had been absent for brief periods 
 
 allowed to vote. 
 
 The parties to the case consenting, the Assembly ordered that all 
 members of the court who had been absent during the hearing for brief 
 periods of time, and for sufficient reasons, should be permitted to vote. 
 
 The Rev. M. Henry Calkins, D.D., who had been necessarily absent 
 during the greater part of the sessions of the court, was, at his own 
 request, excused from voting. — 1894, p. 96. 
 
 [Note.— Case of Henry P. Smith, D.D.] 
 
 XXIX. The parties shall be allowed copies of the record at their own 
 expense; and, on the final disposition of a case in a higher judicatory, 
 the record of the case, with the judgment, shall be transmitted to the 
 judicatory in which the case originated. 
 
 1. Appellant entitled to a copy of the sentence. 
 They deem, too, the request of Mr. Arthur for a copy of the first 
 sentence to have been reasonable, and that it ought to have been com- 
 plied with.— 1822, p. 53. 
 
 2. The records of Church judicatories are public documents. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Council Bluffs, asking whether a 
 minister of the Gospel, once suspended, but afterward restored, may 
 
656 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 30-34. 
 
 demand that the records in his case be closed to inspection or transcript, 
 when required by subsequent judicial proceedings by his own Presbytery. 
 
 The Committee recommended the following answer: 
 
 The records of our Church courts are public and not private documents, 
 and therefore no one who has been under discipline can ' ' demand ' ' that 
 anything pertaining to his case shall be " closed to inspection or tran- 
 script. ' ' Yet a wise Christian charity would suggest that, when the end of 
 discipline in the restoration of an offender has been reached, no further 
 publicity, if possible, should be given to the matter. — 1879, p. 586. 
 
 XXX. In the infliction and removal of church censures, judicatories 
 shall observe the modes prescribed in chap, xi of the Directory for 
 Worship. 
 
 XXXI. In all cases of judicial process, the judicatory may, at any 
 stage of the case, determine, by a vote of two-thirds, to sit with closed 
 doors. 
 
 XXXII. A judicatory may, if the edification of the Church demands 
 it, require an accused person to refrain from approaching the Lord's 
 Table, or from the exercise of office, or both, until final action in the case 
 shall be taken ; provided, that in all cases a speedy investigation or trial 
 shall be had. 
 
 [Note. — See also Sees, xxxix, xlv and xlvi ] 
 
 1. The accused may be suspended pending the issuing of the case. 
 
 An inquiry from J. A. Clayton: Whereas, Our Book of Discipline 
 (Old), Chap, v, Sec. ii, says, " the same general method, substituting 
 Presbytery for the Session, " is to be observed in investigating charges 
 against a minister as are prescribed in the case of private members, Does 
 this authorize the Presbytery to apply the principle contained in Chap, 
 iv, Sec. xviii, to ministers against whom charges exist that cannot be 
 seasonably tried, so far as to suspend them from the functions of the 
 Gospel ministry until they can be tried ? P. S. — If the above will not 
 apply, what should a Presbytery do in the case ? 
 
 The Committee recommended the following resolution, which was 
 adopted, viz.: 
 
 Resolved, That when charges are tabled against a minister, and it is 
 impracticable at once to issue the case, the Presbytery has the right, if 
 the interests of religion seem to demand the measure, to suspend him 
 from the exercise of his ministerial functions until the case shall have 
 been issued.— 1848, p. 34, O. S. 
 
 2. Suspension from the ministry during process. 
 
 a. Overtured, that a Committee be sent to Rehoboth, in the affair 
 between Mr. Clement and that people; and that Mr. Clement be sus- 
 pended from the exercise of his ministry, until the determination of that 
 Committee. This overture was carried by a vote in the affirmative, 
 nemine contradieente. — 1720, p. 62. 
 
 b. On account of Mr. Miller's unjustifiable delay for some years to 
 enter his complaint before us, the irregularity of his proceedings during 
 that time, and the atrocious nature of the crimes laid to his charge, we 
 do hereby declare him suspended from the exercise of the ministerial 
 office till his complaint can be fully heard. — 1769, p. 396. 
 
SPECIAL RULES PERTAINING TO CASES BEFORE SESSIONS. 657 
 
 3. Suspension from privileges of membership. 
 
 a. That as citation on the foregoing plan is the commencement of a 
 process involving the right of membership in the Assembly, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That agreeably to a principle laid down, Chap, v, Sec. ix, 
 of the Book of Discipline (Old), the members of said judicatories be 
 excluded from a seat in the next Assembly until their case shall be decided. 
 Adopted, yeas, 128; nays, 122.— 1837, p. 425. 
 
 b. The Assembly of 1866 excluded the commissioners from the Pres- 
 bytery of Louisville from a seat, until the Assembly should decide upon 
 the conduct of their Presbytery. — 1866, p. 12, O. S. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SPECIAL RULES PERTAINING TO CASES BEFORE 
 
 SESSIONS. 
 
 XXXIII. When an accused person has been twice duly cited, and 
 refuses to appear, by himself or counsel, before a Session, or, appearing, 
 refuses to answer the charge brought against him, he shall be suspended, 
 by act of Session, from the communion of the Church, and shall so 
 remain until he repents of his contumacy, and submits himself to the 
 orders of the judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — See under Sec. xxi, p. 643, for decisions on contumacy.] 
 
 XXXIV. The censures to be inflicted by the Session are, Admonition, 
 Rebuke, Suspension or Deposition from office, Suspension from the com- 
 munion of the Church, and, in the case of offenders who will not be 
 reclaimed by milder measures, Excommunication. 
 
 [Note. — See also under Sec. xliii.] 
 
 1. Censure is not to be removed without evidence of repentance. 
 
 The Assembly having heard the complaint of the Presbytery of Car- 
 lisle against the Synod of Philadelphia in the case of William S. 
 McDowell, with the facts and arguments 'offered both by the Presbytery 
 and the Synod, judged that the Synod had a constitutional right to 
 reverse the decision of the Presbytery in the case, either in whole or in 
 part, as to them might seem proper, but that in the exercise of this 
 right the Synod have not duly regarded the principles of discipline pre- 
 scribed in the Constitution, inasmuch as it appears by their records that 
 they have removed all censure from a man whom they declare to be 
 . deserving of rebuke, without directing that rebuke to be administered, 
 and without receiving any evidence of his penitence. — 1823, p. 81. 
 
 2. Deposition and excommunication, distinct acts. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Geneva are approved, with the excep- 
 tion of a resolution, which declares that a deposed minister ought to be 
 treated as an excommunicated person. In the judgment of this Assem- 
 bly, the deposition and excommunication of a minister are distinct things, 
 not necessarily connected with each other, but when connected, ought 
 42 
 
658 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 35-37. 
 
 to be inflicted by the Presbytery, to whom the power of judging and 
 censuring ministers properly belongs. — 1814, p. 549. 
 
 b. Resolved, That though the causes which provoke deposition are 
 almost always such as to involve the propriety of exclusion from the 
 sacraments, yet the two sentences are not essentially the same, the one 
 having reference to office, and the other to the rights of membership; 
 and, therefore, Presbyteries should be explicit in stating both, when they 
 mean both. When, however, a Presbytery interpret deposition to 
 involve suspension from the sacraments, and pronounce the censure in 
 that sense, the sentence obviously includes both. — 1848, p. 34, O. S. 
 
 XXXV. The sentence shall be published, if at all, only in the church 
 or churches which have been offended. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GENERAL RULES PERTAINING TO THE TRIAL OF A 
 MINISTER, ELDER, OR DEACON. 
 
 XXXVI. As the honor and success of the gospel depend, in a great 
 measure, on the character of its ministers, each Presbytery ought, with 
 the greatest care and impartiality, to watch over their personal and pro- 
 fessional conduct. But as, on the one hand, no minister ought, on 
 account of his office, to be screened from the hand of justice, or his 
 offences to be slightly censured, so neither ought charges to be received 
 against him on slight grounds. 
 
 XXXVII. If a minister be accused of an offence, at such a distance 
 from his usual place of residence as that it is not likely to become other- 
 wise known to his Presbytery, it shall be the duty of the Presbytery 
 within whose bounds the offence is alleged to have been committed, if it 
 shall be satisfied that there is probable ground for the accusation, to 
 notify his Presbytery thereof, and of the nature of the offence; and Ins 
 Presbytery, on receiving such notice, shall, if it appears that the honor 
 of religion requires it, proceed to the trial of the case. 
 
 1. Discipline of a minister can be only by his own Presbytery. 
 
 A proposition from the Presbytery of West Lexington and Louisville 
 to the Assembly to authorize them to prosecute ministers of other Presby- 
 teries who may preach heresy within their bounds, was taken up and 
 read. 
 
 Whereupon it was Resolved, That the Constitution in Sees, ii, iii or 
 iv, of Chap, v, of the Book of Discipline (Old), contains sufficient 
 provision on the subject overtured. — 1835, p. 476. 
 
 2. Even when non-resident. 
 
 The Presbytery of New York represented to Synod that one of their 
 members now resided in the bounds of New Brunswick Presbytery, 
 whose moral character labored under some imputations, and requested the 
 advice of Synod as to which of the Presbyteries should make the inquiry 
 
TRIAL OF A MINISTER, ELDER, OR DEACON. 659 
 
 into that matter, whereupon the Synod judged it to be the duty of the 
 Presbytery of New York. — 1782, p. 495. 
 
 3. Boards have no authority to sit in judgment on ministers. 
 
 a. In answer to the questions propounded by the Presbyteries of Union 
 and French Broad, the Assembly would say, that though they do not 
 recognize in the Board of Missions the authority to sit in judgment upon 
 the orthodoxy or morality of any minister who is in good standing in his 
 own Presbytery, yet, from the necessity of the case, they must exercise 
 their own sound discretion upon the expediency or inexpediency of 
 appointing or withholding an appointment from any applicant, holding 
 themselves amenable to the General Assembly for all their official acts. 
 —1830, p. 290. 
 
 b. In all questions touching .... the character of ministers the 
 Board of Home Missions, in cases of difference between itself and the 
 Presbytery, should abide by the final judgment of the Presbytery. — 
 1883, p. 644. 
 
 4. Discipline by Boards of Missions, etc., not recognized. 
 
 The Third Presbytery of New York, by overture, inquire what order 
 it would be proper for them to take with reference to a member who has 
 been excluded from Christian fellowship by a ministerial association 
 under the patronage of the A. B. C. F. M. , and dismissed from the 
 service of that Board for immorality, and with whom a regular process 
 of discipline by the Presbytery is difficult, on account of his distance 
 from them and from any ecclesiastical body of our connection. The 
 General Assembly reply, that the ecclesiastical relations of the individual 
 in question evidently remain unchanged by the action of persons not 
 organized under any distinct form of government, and especially not 
 guided by the principles of discipline to which he was subject ; and the 
 only correct course for the Presbytery to take, if they regard him as a 
 proper subject of discipline, is to pursue precisely the forms of process 
 given in our Book of Discipline, however difficult or protracted the 
 actual process may be. — 1856, p. 194, N. S. 
 
 5. Ecclesiastical power of a mission. 
 
 Overture from the Presbyterian Mission in Korea, asking for advice 
 as to the ecclesiastical power of a mission. 
 
 Answer: The ouly recognized authority in the Presbyterian Church in 
 matters of licensure and ordination is the Presbytery, or a Commission 
 duly constituted by a Presbytery. A mission has no such authority. — 
 1896, p. 146. 
 
 6. Duty of a Presbytery to give notice of an offence. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Rock River, being a question of 
 interpretation of the Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, v, Sec. iv. 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 
 Wheu it is alleged that a minister has committed an offence in the 
 bounds of a Presbytery of which he is not a member, the Presbytery in 
 the bounds of which it is alleged the offence was committed has per- 
 formed its entire duty in the premises when it notifies the Presbytery to 
 which he belongs of the allegation and the grounds on which the allega- 
 tion is based. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 922, 0. S. 
 
660 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 37-43. 
 
 7. A suspended licentiate can be restored only by the Presbytery 
 which suspended him. Another may take testimony. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the statement of the commis- 
 sioner from the Presbytery of Fayetteville, respecting a licentiate of the 
 Presbytery of Hopewell, who had been suspended, both from the privi- 
 lege of preaching the Gospel, and from the enjoyment of the sealing 
 ordinances of God's house, reported the following, which was adopted, 
 viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the only correct mode to be pursued by the licentiate, 
 in order to obtain restoration to his former standing, is to make direct 
 application to the Presbytery of Hopewell; and that the Presbytery of 
 Fayetteville may, with propriety, collect and transmit to the Presbytery 
 of Hopewell, any testimony, touching the moral character of said licen- 
 tiate, while living within the bounds of the Presbytery of Fayetteville, 
 whenever requested by either the licentiate or the Presbytery of Hope- 
 well.— 1822, p. 39. 
 
 8. Such Presbytery has no power to try, but only to take 
 
 testimony. 
 
 That in the opinion of this Assembly, the Presbyteries both of Har- 
 mony and Steubenville appear to have misconceived the directions as 
 laid down in Chap, v, Sees, iii, iv, of the Book of Discipline (Old); 
 inasmuch as those rules do not transfer jurisdiction from a Presbytery to 
 which a minister belongs, to the one within whose bounds he resides, so 
 as to authorize the latter Presbytery to try such minister ; but only to 
 examine witnesses in the case, and transmit an authentic record of the 
 testimony to the Presbytery which made the application ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Presbytery of Harmony is at liberty to pursue 
 such a course in the case of Mr. Belknap as the circumstances of the 
 case and the good of religion shall in their opinion require. — 1831, p. 
 339. 
 
 XXXVIII. If a minister accused of an offence refuses to appear by 
 himself or counsel, after being twice duly cited, he shall, for his contu- 
 macy, be suspended from his office; and if, after another citation, he 
 refuses to appear by himself or counsel, he shall be suspended from the 
 communion of the Church. 
 
 XXXIX. If a judicatory so decides, a member shall not be allowed, 
 while charges are pending against him, to deliberate or vote on any 
 question. 
 
 XL. If the accused be found guilty, he shall be admonished, rebuked, 
 suspended or deposed from office (with or without suspension from church 
 privileges, in either case), or excommunicated. A minister suspended 
 from office may, at the expiration of one year, unless he gives satisfac- 
 tory evidence of repentance, be deposed without further trial. 
 
 1. Sentence may be passed on confession. 
 
 From the Session of the First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, la., 
 asking if the accused person, before a Committee regularly appointed by 
 the judicatory for private intervieAV, confess guilt and willful persistence 
 in sin, and, afterward appearing before the judicatory upon the first cita- 
 
TRIAL OF A MINISTER, ELDER, OR DEACON. 661 
 
 tion, again confesses guilt and willful persistence in sin, may the judica- 
 tory proceed to pass their sentence without a further process of trial ? 
 Answered in the affirmative.— 1879, p. 613. 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xlvii, " Cases without Process."] 
 
 2. A suspended minister may not exercise any function of the 
 
 ministry. 
 
 That in the opinion of this Assembly, ministers of the Presbyterian 
 Church, when regularly suspended by the competent judicatories, have 
 no right to exercise the functions of a minister during that suspension. — 
 1825, p. 156. 
 
 3. Does not rank as a "common Christian in good standing." 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Geneva reported, that the book be approved, with the exception of pp. 
 270 and 271, where the conduct of the Presbytery of Ontario is censured 
 for condemning the conduct of Mr. Foreman, a suspended minister, for 
 exercising the rights of a common Christian, in illustrating Scripture 
 and delivering exhortations; because, without deciding on the rights of 
 common Christians in this matter, Mr. Foreman, being suspended from 
 the ministry, ought by no means to be considered as occupying the ground 
 of a common Christian in good standing. — 1821, reprint, p. 15. 
 
 [Note. — Mr. Foreman was suspended for immorality, but persisted "in illustrating 
 Scripture and delivering exhortations." This conduct the Presbytery of Ontario 
 " condemned." The Synod censured the Presbytery for its condemnation of the con- 
 duct of Mr. Foreman. On review of the records of the Synod of Geneva, the Assem- 
 bly made tbe above deliverance.] 
 
 4. The name of a suspended minister is to remain upon the roll. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Northern Indiana approved except that, 
 on p. 54, the Synod censure the Presbytery of Michigan for retaining the 
 name of Mr. Mcoll on the roll after suspending him from the Gospel min- 
 istry. Your Committee are of the opinion that the name of a suspended 
 minister should be retained on the roll of Presbytery till they proceed to 
 the higher censure, though he be deprived of the exercise of his minis- 
 terial functions. The report was adopted. — 1847, p. 398, O. S. 
 
 b. From the Presbytery of Redstone, asking if it is proper* to remove 
 the name of a suspended member of the Presbytery from its roll, and 
 place it in a private register. Your Committee recommend that this 
 overture be answered in the negative. Adopted. — 1882, p. 96. 
 
 XLI. Heresy and schism may be of such a nature as to call for 
 deposition; but errors ought to be carefully considered, whether they 
 strike at the vitals of religion and are industriously spread, or whether 
 they arise from the weakness of the human understanding, and are not 
 likely to do much injury. 
 
 XLII. If the Presbytery finds, on trial, that the matter complained 
 of amounts to no more than such acts of infirmity as may be amended 
 and the people satisfied, so that little or nothing remains to hinder the 
 usefulness of the offender, it shall take all prudent measures to remove 
 the evil. 
 
 XLIII. A minister deposed for immoral conduct shall not be restored, 
 «ven on the deepest sorrow for his sin, until after some considerable time 
 
662 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 43-44. 
 
 of eminent and exemplary, humble and edifying conduct ; and he ought 
 in no case to be restored, until it shall clearly appear to the judicatory 
 within whose bounds he resides, that the restoration can be effected with- 
 out injury to the cause of religion; and then only by the judicatory inflict- 
 ing the censure, or with its advice and consent. 
 
 1. One Presbytery may not restore a minister deposed by another. 
 
 a. A memorial of the Rev. George D. Stewart and others, that the 
 General Assembly would take action and give relief in the case of Rev. 
 Michael Hummer, who, having been deposed by the Presbytery of Iowa, 
 had been restored by the Presbytery of Highland, against the remon- 
 strance of the Presbytery of Iowa, just as if he was an independent 
 minister. 
 
 It is recommended that this General Assembly declare that it is irreg- 
 ular and unconstitutional for any Presbytery to receive and restore a 
 member of another Presbytery who has been deposed ; and therefore the 
 action of the Presbytery of Highland in restoring Mr. Hummer was 
 improper; and the Presbytery of Highland is directed to reconsider its 
 action, and proceed according to the requirements of the Constitution. 
 The report was adopted.— 1862, p. 608, O. S. 
 
 b. And ivhereas, The (O. S. ) General Assembly (pp. 159 and 
 160, Moore's Digest, 1886) decided in 1862 that " a Presbytery may 
 not restore a minister deposed by another," and the (N. S. ) General 
 Assembly (pp. 617 and 618, Moore's Digest, 1873), in 1858, decided 
 " that only the Presbytery which deposed a minister has jurisdiction over 
 him," therefore Resolved, That the Presbytery of Furrukhabad erred in 
 receiving and restoring to the ministry the said John S. Woodside, while 
 he was under sentence of deposition by the Presbytery of Saharanpur, 
 and in accordance with the action of the General Assembly in a similar 
 case between Presbyteries of our own Church (see Moore's Digest, pp. 
 159 and 160), this Assembly directs the Presbytery of Furrukhabad to 
 reconsider its action, and proceed according to the requirements of the 
 Constitution, as provided for the guidance of our Presbyteries in similar 
 circumstances between themselves. Adopted. — 1883, pp. 628, 629. 
 
 2. Restoration of a deposed minister conditioned on conduct under 
 
 sentence. 
 
 An extract from the records of the Presbytery of New York was laid 
 before the Assembly and read. From this and the explanation given, it 
 appeared that a certain Aaron C. Collins, formerly a member of that 
 Presbytery, had been deposed by them from the office of the Gospel 
 ministry ; that the crimes for which he was deposed were scandalous and 
 highly aggravated ; that his submission to the sentence of deposition had 
 been only partial, he having exercised the functions of a Gospel minister 
 during a part of the time he lay under the sentence; that Mr. Collins 
 had lately applied to that Presbytery to restore him to his office, and 
 certain circumstances were stated as evidence of his penitence. The 
 Presbytery therefore requested the advice of the General Assembly in 
 the premises. And as the principal crime for which Mr. Collins had 
 been deposed had been committed within the limits of the General Asso- 
 ciation of Connecticut, which had formerly taken cognizance of the 
 offence, the Presbytery requested the cooperation of the Assembly for 
 bringing the case before the Association for their advice. 
 
TRIAL OF A MINISTER, ELDER, OR DEACON. 663 
 
 The Assembly having taken this subject into consideration, and 
 obtained the necessary information, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That they cannot advise the Presbytery of New York to 
 restore Mr. Collins under existing circumstances. 
 
 2. That this Assembly comply with the latter request made by the 
 Presbytery of New York: they accordingly did, and hereby do enjoin 
 it on their delegates to the next General Association, to take the neces- 
 sary measures for bringing this subject before that body, for their advice. 
 — 1805, reprint, p. 335. 
 
 The delegates from the last General Assembly, to the General Associa- 
 tion of Connecticut, reported, 
 
 " That they fulfilled the duties of their appointment, and attended 
 diligently all the sessions of the reverend body to which they were dele- 
 gated; that agreeably to the direction of the General Assembly, they 
 laid before the Association the papers relative to Mr. Aaron C. Collins, 
 and requested their concurrence in the resolution of the Assembly rela- 
 tive to that man. After the examination of these papers, the Association 
 readily concurred in the Assembly's resolution, and gave it as their 
 decided opinion, that as he had treated the sentence of deposition by 
 the Presbytery of New York with contempt, in partially exercising the 
 functions of the Gospel ministry when deposed from his office, it would 
 be improper to restore him till he gave better evidence of his penitence, 
 and likewise manifested sorrow for disregarding the authority of the 
 Presbytery."— 1806, reprint, p. 348. 
 
 3. The Assembly recommends restoration, the ends of discipline 
 
 being gained. 
 
 Resolved, That the prayer of the memorialist be granted so far as that 
 this General Assembly recommend to the Presbytery of Fayetteville to 
 reconsider their decision in the case of the Rev. Archibald McQueen ; 
 and if, in their judgment, it should appear conducive to the peace of 
 the Church, and the promotion of religion in the region around them, 
 to restore Mr. McQueen to the communion of the Church, and to the 
 exercise of the functions of the Gospel ministry, on the ground that in 
 his case the ends of discipline are attained by the operation of the 
 sentence under which Mr. McQueen has been lying for a period of three 
 years.— 1845, p. 32, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— Mr. McQueen had been suspended from the ministry for marrying the 
 sister of his deceased wife.] 
 
 4. When the names of deposed ministers are to be published. 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the Presbyteries under the care 
 of the General Assembly, when they shall depose any of their members 
 from the exercise of the ministerial office; and when any person so 
 deposed shall, without having been regularly restored, assume the minis- 
 terial character, or attempt to exercise any of the ministerial functions, 
 that in such case, with a view to prevent such deposed person from 
 imposing himself on the churches, Presbyteries be careful to have his 
 name published in the Assembly's magazine, as deposed from the minis- 
 try, that all the churches may be enabled to guard themselves against 
 such dangerous impositions. — 1806, p. 360. 
 
 XLIV. If a minister is deposed without excommunication, his pulpit, 
 if he is a pastor, shall be declared vacant; and the Presbytery shall give 
 
664 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 44-50. 
 
 him a letter to any church with which he may desire to connect himself 
 where his lot may be cast, in which shall be stated his exact relation to 
 the Church. If a pastor is suspended from office only, the Presbytery 
 may, if no appeal from the sentence of suspension is pending, declare 
 his pulpit vacant, 
 
 1. A minister who has been deposed returns to the condition of a 
 private member, and must be reordained if restored. 
 
 Is reordination necessary in the restoration of a deposed minister to the 
 sacred office ? And in view of the provisions of the Revised Book of 
 Discipline, will reordination be necessary in the restoration to the minis- 
 try of those by whom the office has been demitted ? 
 
 The Committee recommends the following answer: 
 
 It is the judgment of this General Assembly that when a minister is 
 deposed his office is taken from him, he becomes a layman, and according 
 to the New Book of Discipline, Sec. xliv, he is to be enrolled as a com- 
 municant in a particular church. Should he be recalled to the ministry, 
 therefore, he should be reordained. 
 
 The same course ought to be adopted in the restoration of one who has 
 demitted the ministry; inasmuch as the Book of Discipline, Sec. li, 
 describes one who has demitted the sacred office as returning " to the 
 condition of a private member of the Church." Adopted. — 1884, p. 
 115. 
 
 [Note.— See also Book of Discipline, Sec. li, p. 667.] 
 
 XLV. A Presbytery may, if the edification of the Church demand 
 it, require an accused minister to refrain from the exercise of his office 
 until final action in the case shall be taken: provided, that in all cases a 
 speedy investigation or trial shall be had. 
 
 [Note.— See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xxxii, p. 656.] 
 
 XL VI. In process by a Session against a ruling elder or deacon, the 
 provisions of this chapter, so far as applicable, shall be observed. 
 
 [Note. — As adopted in 1884, Sec. xlvi read as follows : 
 
 XL VI. " In process by a Presbytery against an acting elder, or by a Session against 
 a Deacon, the provisions of this chapter, so far as applicable, shall be observed." See 
 Note, Sec. xviii, p. 642. This form of the Section was rejected in 1885.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 OF CASES WITHOUT PROCESS. 
 
 XLVII. If a person commits an offence in the presence of a judica- 
 tory, or comes forward as his own accuser and makes known his offence, 
 the judicatory may proceed to judgment without process, giving the offender 
 an opportunity to be heard ; and in the case first named he may demand 
 a delay of at least two days before judgment. The record must show 
 the nature of the offence, as well as the judgment and the reasons there- 
 for, and appeal may be taken from the judgment as in other cases. 
 
OF CASES WITHOUT PROCESS. 665 
 
 XLVIII. If a communicant, not chargeable with immoral conduct, 
 inform the Session that he is fully persuaded that he has no right to come 
 to the Lord's Table, the Session shall confer with him on the subject, and 
 may, should he continue of the same mind, and his attendance on the other 
 means of grace be regular, excuse him from attendance on the Lord's 
 Supper; and, after fully satisfying themselves that his judgment is not 
 the result of mistaken views, shall erase his name from the roll of com- 
 municants, and make record of their action in the case. 
 
 XLIX. If a communicant, not chargeable with immoral conduct, 
 removes out of the bounds of his church, without asking for or receiving 
 a regular certificate of dismission to another church, and his residence is 
 known, the Session may, within two years, advise him to apply for such 
 certificate; and, if he fails so to do, without giving sufficient reason, his 
 name may be placed on the roll of suspended members, until he shall 
 satisfy the Session of the propriety of his restoration. But, if the 
 Session has no knowledge of him for the space of three years, it may 
 erase his name from the roll of communicants, making record of its action 
 and the reasons therefor. In either case, the member shall continue 
 subject to the jurisdiction of the Session. A separate roll of all such 
 names shall be kept, stating the relations of each to the church. 
 
 1. When one whose name is erased may be received by another 
 
 church. 
 
 Overture, from the Presbytery of Philadelphia Central : '. ' When the 
 name of a person has been erased from the roll of communicants, when 
 he has been absent three years and his residence unknown (Book of 
 Discipline, Sec. xlix), and when he is still subject to the jurisdiction of 
 the Session which erased his name, is it right for the Session of any other 
 Presbyterian church to receive such person to their communiou on profes- 
 sion of faith ?" 
 
 We recommend as answer: Not if restored standing in the church 
 to which he belongs, and regular dismission therefrom, are possible. 
 Adopted.— 1887, p. 81. 
 
 L. If any communicant, not chargeable with immoral conduct, 
 neglects the ordinances of the Church for one year, and in circumstances 
 such as the Session shall regard to be a serious injury to the cause of 
 religion, he may, after affectionate visitation by the Session, and admoni- 
 tion if need be, be suspended from the communion of the Church until 
 he gives satisfactory evidence of the sincerity of his repentance, but he 
 shall not be excommunicated without due process of discipline. 
 
 1. Willful absenting oneself from the ordinances of God's house 
 
 is an offence. 
 
 a. The decision of the General Assembly in the case of the appeal of 
 Alexander Frazer against a decision of the Synod of Buffalo refusing to 
 sustain his appeal, and affirming the decision of the lower courts suspending 
 him from the communion of the Church on the charge of a willful 
 
666 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 50-53. 
 
 absenting of himself from the ordinances of God's house for the space of 
 a year and a half, is that the appeal be not sustained, but the decision 
 of the Synod affirmed: 
 
 1. Because the conduct charged, if the appellant was justly chargeable 
 with such conduct, was a high offence. 
 
 2. Because it was openly acknowledged in court by the appellant that 
 he was chargeable with the offence charged, and this is not denied by any 
 party.— 1859, pp. 546, 547, O. S. 
 
 b. The Assembly took up the complaint of the Rev. N. West, D.D., 
 against the Synod of New York. 
 
 Mr. Rowland had absented himself from the ordinances of the Second 
 Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., for some months. Upon application for 
 his certificate, the Session gave him a certificate, omitting the words ' ' at 
 present in good and regular standing," and substituting for them a testi- 
 monial to his previous good Christian character, inserting at the same 
 time a statement of the fact of his recent absence from the ordinances of 
 the Church. Mr. Rowland brought a complaint against the Session before 
 the Presbytery of Nassau, and the Presbytery sustained the complaint. 
 Mr. West complained to the Synod against the Presbytery. The Synod 
 of New York, sustained the complaint of Rev. N. West against the 
 Presbytery, and then, in its final minute, ordered a letter in the usual 
 form to be given to Mr. Rowland. Against the decision of the Synod 
 in adopting this minute Mr. West complains It was 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint of the Rev. N. West, D.D., be sus- 
 tained, and the decision of the Synod in its final minute be and it hereby 
 is reversed ; and further that the Synod erred in prescribing to the Session 
 of the Second Church of Brooklyn the form of a certificate to be granted 
 to Mr. Rowland after they had already granted a certificate to him which 
 was agreeable to the Constitution of the Church and to the truth. — 1864, 
 p. 328, O. S. 
 
 2. Disagreement with a pastor no excuse for willful absence. 
 
 The appeal and complaint of G. A. Hotchkiss against the Synod of 
 Indiana for sustaining the Session of Pleasant Township Church and the 
 Presbytery of Madison in censuring him for absenting himself from 
 public worship on account of disagreement with his pastor. The papers 
 were read in order, the regular process prescribed in the book was 
 observed, and the Assembly voted unanimously that the action of the 
 inferior courts be sustained and confirmed. — 1854, p. 44, O. S. 
 
 3. Discipline enjoined for willful absence. 
 
 Is it consistent with regular standing in our Church for church members 
 to be supporters and attendants in other churches not of our communion, 
 while absenting themselves from and refusing to support the church to 
 which they belong ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the question be answered in the 
 negative, with an injunction on church Sessions to make such cases a 
 matter of discipline. Adopted. — 1865, p. 537, O. S. 
 
 4. Excommunication may not be without trial. 
 
 " Is it within the province of the Session to excommunicate without 
 formal trial a church member who makes a written confession of having 
 
OF CASES WITHOUT PROCESS. 667 
 
 embraced heretical views, and in consequence having violated covenant 
 by long- continued absence from the ordinances of the Church, and who 
 requests to be cut off from the church ?' ' The Committee recommend 
 that the party asking the above question be referred to the Book of Dis- 
 cipline (Old), Chap, iv, and such Session be urged to follow strictly 
 the order laid down 1 herein. Adopted. — 1865, p. 12, N. S. 
 
 LI. If a minister, otherwise in good standing, shall make application 
 to be released from che office of the ministry, he may, at the discretion 
 of the Presbytery, be put on probation, for one year at least, in such a 
 manner as the Presbytery may direct, in order to ascertain his motives 
 and reasons for such a relinquishment. And if, at the end of this period, 
 the Presbytery be satisfied that he cannot be useful and happy in the 
 exercise of his ministry, they may allow him to demit the office, and 
 return to the condition of a private member in the Church, ordering his 
 name to be stricken from the roll of the Presbj^tery, and giving him a 
 letter to any church with which he may desire to connect himself. 
 
 [Note. — Deliverances of the Assembly, so far as they forbade the demission of the 
 ministry, have been annulled by the above section.] 
 
 LII. If a communicant renounces the communion of this Church by 
 joining another denomination, without a regular dismission, although 
 such conduct is disorderly, the Session shall take no other action in the 
 case than to record the fact, and order his name to be erased from the 
 roll. If charges are pending against him, these charges may be prose- 
 cuted. 
 
 LIII. If a minister, not otherwise chargeable with an offence, 
 renounces the jurisdiction of this Church, by abandoning the ministry, 
 or becoming independent, or joining another denomination not deemed 
 heretical, without a regular dismission, the Presbytery shall take no 
 other action than to record the fact and to erase his name from the roll. 
 If charges are pending against him, he may be tried thereon. If it 
 appears that he has joined another denomination deemed heretical, he 
 may be suspended, deposed, or excommunicated. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, in this Digest, pp. 208 and 211. Sec. liii, however, makes void 
 certain deliverances of the Assembly, made before its adoption in 1884.] 
 
 1. To strike from the roll the name of a minister withdrawing while 
 under investigation, is unconstitutional and void. 
 
 The letter of Rev. T. M. Dawson to the Presbytery of San Francisco, 
 August 7, 1875, was, according to the concession of both parties to the 
 complaint, understood and acted upon as an announcement of his with- 
 drawal from the Presbyterian ministry. As such withdrawal, while the 
 Presbytery was prosecuting inquiries in regard to the character and con- 
 duct of the minister professing to withdraw, finds no sanction in the Form 
 of Government and precedents of the Church, the striking of the name 
 of Rev. T. M. Dawson from the roll of the Presbytery was unconstitu- 
 tional and void. — 1876, p. 449. 
 
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 53-56. 
 
 2. A minister's name may not be stricken from the roll, except 
 by his consent, by discipline, or by his having recognized 
 
 some other jurisdiction, or by becoming independent. 
 
 Overture, being a request from the Presbytery of West Chester that 
 the Assembly shall define the authority of Presbyteries, in regard to 
 taking from the roll the names of ministers serving churches in other 
 denominations. The Committee recommend the adoption of the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Since the adoption of the Revised Book of Discipline, especially 
 Sec. liii in Chap, vii, a Presbytery has no authority to take a minis- 
 ter's name from the roll, without his consent, except by discipline, unless 
 he has said or done something, which either recognizes some other ecclesi- 
 astical jurisdiction over him, or declares his independence. Adopted. — 
 1885, p. 604. 
 
 3. Those who entertain views irreconcilable with our Standards 
 
 urged to withdraw. 
 
 a. While, in accordance with complete freedom of conscience, the 
 General Assembly would urge upon all, fidelity to our doctrinal Stand- 
 ards, they would at the same time earnestly advise any one who may 
 entertain views irreconcilable with our Standards, to take the authorized 
 course, after consultation with his Presbytery, and peacefully withdraw 
 from the ministry of our Church. — 1878, p. 99. 
 
 b. The General Assembly would remind all under its care that it is a 
 fundamental doctrine that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired 
 and infallible Word of God. Our Church holds that the inspired Word, 
 as it came from God, is without error. The assertion of the contrary 
 cannot but shake the confidence of the people in the sacred Books. All 
 who enter office in our Church solemnly profess to receive them as the 
 only infallible rule of faith and practice. If they change their belief 
 on this point, Christian honor demands that they should withdraw from 
 our ministry. They have no right to use the pulpit or the chair of the 
 professor for the dissemination of their errors until they are dealt with 
 by the slow process of discipline. But if any do so act, their Presbyteries 
 should speedily interpose, and deal with them for violation of ordination 
 vows. The vow taken at the beginning is obligatory until the party taking 
 it is honorably and properly released. The General Assembly enjoins 
 upon all ministers, elders and Presbyteries, to be faithful to the duty 
 here imposed. — 1892, p. 179. 
 
 4. Names of ministers whose residence is unknown to be kept on 
 
 a reserved roll. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Brooklyn, asking that ministers 
 whose names are now on the rolls of Presbyteries, and are reported from 
 year to year, though it is not known Avhere they reside, or whether they 
 are living or not, may be reported apart from others, their names being 
 printed on a Reserved Roll ; and that the Presbyteries be directed to 
 place their names on Reserved Rolls in their respective reports to the 
 Assembly, and not to count them in determining their representation in 
 the Assembly. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the request be granted. Adopted. — 
 1891, p. 106. 
 
OF CASES WITHOUT PROCESS. 669 
 
 5. Minister absent and residence unknown, stricken from the roll 
 without prejudice to ministerial standing. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Columbus, asking leave to erase the 
 name of the Kev. Emil Sage from its roll without prejudice to his minis- 
 terial standing. Mr. Sage having been received into the Presbytery in 
 1882 under the regulations applicable to foreign ministers, has now been 
 absent from the country for several years, having probably returned to 
 Europe, and his residence, after due effort, cannot be ascertained. 
 
 We recommend that the permission asked for by the Presbytery be 
 granted. Adopted.— 1888, p. 110. 
 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 LIV. Judicatories ought to be very careful and impartial in receiving 
 testimony. Not every person is competent, and not every competent 
 person is credible, as a witness. 
 
 LV. All persons, whether parties or otherwise, are competent witnesses, 
 except such as do not believe in the existence of God, or a future state 
 of rewards and punishments, or have not sufficient intelligence to under- 
 stand the obligation of an oath. Any witness may be challenged for 
 incompetency, and the judicatory shall decide the question. 
 
 1. A prosecutor may testify. 
 Exception to records of Synod of Philadelphia. That on p. 18, res. 2, 
 decides, That a prosecutor cannot be a witness in the same case ; whereas 
 a prosecutor in behalf of common fame is not excluded from bearing 
 testimony, nor does our Book exclude any prosecutor from bearing testi- 
 mony on either side of a case pending. — 1858, reprint p. 565, O. S. 
 
 LVI. The credibility of a witness, or the degree of credit due to his 
 testimony, may be affected by relationship to any of the parties; by 
 interest in the result of the trial ; by want of proper age ; by weakness 
 of understanding ; by infamy or malignity of character ; by being under 
 church censure; by general rashness or indiscretion; or by any other 
 circumstances that appear to affect his veracity, knowledge, or interest 
 in the case. 
 
 1. Credibility of a witness to be determined by the judicatory. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Ningpo, China, asking: 
 
 1. In Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, are non-church- 
 members included in the expression, " other witnesses," or does it refer 
 only to witnesses from other congregations ? 
 
 2. May a heathen of good repute appear as a witness before a church 
 Session in a case of discipline ? 
 
 Answer : Persons who are not church-members, even though heathen, 
 in good repute, may be admitted to testify. Their credibility is to be 
 determined by the judicatory. (See Discipline (Old), Chap, vi, Sees. 
 i, ii and iv.) Adopted.— 18*81, p. 585. 
 
 [Xote.— See below, Sec. lvii.] 
 
670 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 57-58. 
 
 LVII. A husband or wife shall be a competent witness for or against 
 the other, but shall not be compelled to testify. 
 
 1. Husband and wife competent witnesses in the same case. 
 
 The Assembly went into the consideration of the case reported by the 
 Presbytery of Ohio, which was in the following terms: " A certain 
 married woman charges an unmarried man with immodest conversation 
 and conduct in attempts upon her chastity, of which her husband and 
 another, or indifferent person, were at a certain time witnesses. Whereas 
 our Constitution declares that a person accused shall not be convicted by 
 a single witness, can the said woman and her husband be admitted wit- 
 nesses in the above case ?' ' 
 
 To the above question the Assembly answered, that in all such cases 
 as that submitted by the Presbytery of Ohio, it is a principle that both 
 the husband and wife are to be admitted to give testimony. But in 
 every particular case as it occurs, the judicature before whom it is tried 
 ought, in order to guard against collusion, to pay a very scrupulous 
 regard to all the circumstances attending it, and especially to the charac- 
 ters of those who are admitted as evidences, so that on one hand the 
 necessity of the case may be consulted, and on the other, that no injury 
 may result to an innocent person. — 1797, p. 128. 
 
 LVIII. Evidence may be oral, written or printed, direct or circum- 
 stantial. A charge may be proven by the testimony of one witness, only 
 when supported by other evidence; but, when there are several specifica- 
 tions under the same general charge, the proof of two or more of the 
 specifications, by different credible witnesses, shall be sufficient to estab- 
 lish the charge. 
 
 1. When one of two specifications of a charge is proved the charge 
 
 itself is proved. 
 
 The Committee appointed to examine the minutes of the Synod 
 of India reported that : 
 
 From the minutes it appears that the Rev. J. C. Bose, of the Presby- 
 tery of Lahore, was tried by his Presbytery on the charge of lying and 
 deceit, and found guilty under each of two specifications, and was there- 
 upon suspended from the ministry ; that he appealed from this judgment 
 to the Synod; that the Synod, on review of the case, sustained the 
 finding of the Presbytery under one specification only, and required the 
 Presbytery to administer to Mr. Bose a severe censure and restore him to 
 the ministry. 
 
 Against this decision of the Synod a protest was made and entered 
 upon the minutes, on the grounds: 
 
 1. That though one of the specifications had not been established, the 
 crime remained the same under the other specification, which the Synod 
 sustained. 
 
 2. That the restoration enjoined upon the Presbytery of Mr. Bose to 
 the ministry, without any acknowledgment of guilt or evidence of repent- 
 ance, was contrary to the express requirement of the Book of Discipline. 
 
 So far as the records go, these objections seem to be well takeu, but no 
 answer to them by the Synod is recorded. It appears, however, that 
 
OF EVIDENCE. 671 
 
 action of the Synod turned upon the interpretation of Sec. lviii of the 
 Book of Discipline, and the consequent application of Sec. xcix. 
 
 We also find that the Synod, on review of the minutes of the Presby- 
 tery of Lodiana, adopted and ordered to be entered on the minutes of 
 that Presbytery, a report taking exceptions to these minutes, but — acci- 
 dentally, it would seem — omitted the record of this report from its own 
 minutes, and when the omission was called to the attention of the Synod, 
 at its next meeting, it then, by a vote, refused to enter the report. 
 
 Against this refusal a protest was made and recorded, on the ground 
 that among the exceptions taken in the report were matters of great 
 importance as precedents to the youthful Church of India, notably one 
 which is specified, viz. , that three ministers were received into said Pres- 
 bytery very irregularly, without certificates of dismission from the bodies 
 to which they belonged, or examination. To this protest no answer by 
 the Synod is recorded. We therefore recommend that the minutes of 
 the Synod of India be approved, with the following exceptions: 
 
 1. The requiring of the Presbytery of Lahore to restore Mr. Bose to 
 the ministry without acknowledgment of guilt or evidence of repentance 
 was a virtual reversal of the judgment and sentence of the Presbytery, 
 founded, so far as the records show, on the erroneous interpretation of 
 Sec. lviii of the Book of Discipline, that where one only of two specifi- 
 cations of a charge is proved, the charge itself is not proved. 
 
 2. The failure to record the report adopted in reference to the Presby- 
 tery of Lodiana leaves the minutes of the Synod an incomplete record 
 of its proceedings. — 1887, p. 129. 
 
 2. When the offence charged is not sustained the verdict should be 
 
 " not guilty." 
 
 Complaint of T. S. Hamlin et al. vs. the Synod of Baltimore. 
 
 The following is a statement of the case: The Rev. Francis M. Todd, 
 a member of the Presbytery of Washington City, had been tried by that 
 body, sitting in a judicial capacity, on serious charges affecting his moral 
 character, and the finding of the court, as expressed in its final vote on 
 "the calling of the roll," was, "Not Sustained." The Presbytery, 
 however, subsequently expressed its judgment in the following record, 
 viz.: " That under the provision of the Book of Discipline, Chap, viii, 
 Sec. lviii, a charge may be proven by the testimony of one witness only 
 when supported by other evidence; a majority of the judicatory have 
 voted not to sustain the specification and charges against said Todd, such 
 judgment being rendered, owing to the fact that the supporting evidence 
 to the principal witness is insufficient. ' ' From this recorded judgment 
 Mr. Todd appealed to the Synod of Baltimore upon several grounds, but 
 chiefly for the reasons of its inconsistency with the verdict of acquittal 
 previously rendered, and the unjust and damaging effect of the subse- 
 quent record upon his character. The Synod of Baltimore, by a very 
 decided vote, sustained this appeal, and directed the Presbytery " to 
 record in their minutes the verdict expressed in their vote ' Not to Sus- 
 tain.' viz., ' Not Guilty.' " And it is against this decision of the Synod 
 that the present complaint has been brought. 
 
 The judgment of the Commission is that the decision of the Synod 
 was right and ought to be sustained and consequently that the complaint 
 should be dismissed. Adopted. — 1888, p. 103. 
 
672 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 59-66. 
 
 LIX. No witness afterwards to be examined, except a member of the 
 judicatory, shall be present during the examination of another witness if 
 either party object. 
 
 LX. Witnesses shall be examined first by the party producing them; 
 then cross-examined by the opposite party ; after which any member of 
 the judicatory or either party may put additional interrogatories. Irrel- 
 evant or frivolous questions shall not be admitted, nor leading questions 
 by the parties producing the witness, except under permission of the 
 judicatory as necessary to elicit the truth. 
 
 LXI. The oath or affirmation shall be administered by the Moderator 
 in the following, or like, terms: " You solemnly promise, in the presence 
 of the omniscient and heart -searching God, that you will declare the 
 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, according to the best 
 of your knowledge, in the matter in which you are called to testify, as 
 you shall answer to the Great Judge of quick and dead." 
 
 1. The authority for administering a judicial oath. 
 
 The Committee appointed to draft an answer to the following question, 
 overtured from the Presbytery of Georgia, viz. : " Whence do the Gen- 
 eral Assembly derive authority to empower the Moderator of a church 
 Session to administer an oath ?" reported the following, which was 
 adopted, viz. : " An oath for confirmation (saith the apostle), is to them 
 an end of all strife " (Heb. vi. 16). It is a solemn affirmation, wherein 
 we appeal to God, as the witness of the truth of what we say ; and with 
 an imprecation of his vengeance if what we affirm is false, or what we 
 promise be not performed. Its force results from a belief that God will 
 punish false swearing with more severity than a simple lie, or breach of 
 promise; because perjury is a sin of greater deliberation, and violates 
 superior confidence. 
 
 That oaths are lawful is evident from the fact that our Lord, when 
 interrogated on certain occasions, answered upon oath. (See Matt, 
 xxvi. 63, 64.) Paul also uses several expressions which contain the 
 nature of an oath. (See Rom. i. 9, ix. 1 ; 1 Cor. xv. 31; 2 Cor. i. 18; 
 Gal. i. 20.) They are solemn appeals to God. It is manifest that 
 oaths are not to be used on light or trivial occasions. We are expressly 
 commanded not to take God's name in vain. But as the Bible does not 
 point out the particular occasions when oaths are to be used ; nor the 
 persons who are to administer them, these circumstances are left to the 
 discretion of individuals and communities. The necessity of oaths is 
 founded in expediency ; and all associations, whether civil or ecclesiasti- 
 cal, have a right to use them for confirmation, when, in the exercise of 
 a sound discretion, they are deemed important. It is lawful for every 
 community, in the compact on which their union is founded, to point out 
 the cases in which oaths shall be used, and who shall administer them. 
 The authority of Moderators in the Presbyterian Church to administer 
 oaths is not derived from the General Assembly, but from the Constitu- 
 tion, or articles of compact, which our churches have adopted, and by 
 which they have agreed to be governed as a Christian community. It 
 may be proper also to add, that the oaths prescribed by ecclesiastical 
 authority and administered by civil authority, in no respect interfere 
 
OF EVIDENCE. 673 
 
 with our relations to civil society. Nor can the administering of them, 
 if rightly viewed, be considered as a violation of those laws of the State, 
 which prescribe the manner in which civil oaths shall be administered. — 
 1823, p. 87. 
 
 [Note.— See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxii, p. 91.] 
 
 2. Testimony should be under oath and recorded. 
 
 Statements were given as evidence by the members of Presbytery, 
 which are not recorded, and which do not appear to have been given 
 under the usual solemnity of an oath. Craighead's case. — 1824, p. 122. 
 
 LXII. Every question put to a witness shall, if required, be reduced 
 to writing. And, if either party desire it, or if the judicatory shall so 
 decide, both question and answer shall be recorded. The testimony, thus 
 recorded, shall be read to the witnesses, in the presence of the judicatory, 
 for their approbation and subscription. 
 
 [Note.— See also under Section lxi, 2, above.] 
 
 LXIII. The records of a judicatory, or any part of them, whether 
 original or transcribed, if regularly authenticated by the Clerk, or in case 
 of his death, absence, disability or failure from any cause, by the Mod- 
 erator, shall be deemed good and sufficient evidence in every other 
 judicatory. 
 
 LXIV. In like manner, testimony taken by one judicatory, and 
 regularly certified, shall be received by every other judicatory, as no 
 less valid than if it had been taken by themselves. 
 
 [Note. — 65. All the evidence introduced in any judicatory shall be received under 
 and according to the general rules of evidence, except as otherwise defined and 
 limited by the provisions of this chapter. (New. ) 
 
 Adopted, 1881. Omitted 1885, p. 602, and the following sections renumbered.] 
 
 LXV. Any judicatory, before which a case may be pending, shall 
 have power, whenever the necessity of parties or of witnesses shall 
 require it, to appoint, on the application of either party, a commission 
 of ministers, or elders, or both, to examine witnesses; which commission, 
 if the case requires it, may be of persons within the jurisdiction of an- 
 other body. The commissioners so appointed shall take such testimony 
 as may be offered by either party. The testimony shall be taken in 
 accordance with the rules governing the judicatory, either orally or on 
 written interrogatories and cross-interrogatories, duly settled by the judi- 
 catory, due notice having been given of the time when, and place where, 
 the witnesses are to be examined. All questions, as to the relevancy or 
 competency of the testimony so taken, shall be determined by the judi- 
 catory. The testimony, properly authenticated by the signatures of the 
 commissioners, shall be transmitted, in due time, to the Clerk of the 
 judicatory before which the case is pending. 
 
 LXVI. A member of the judicatory may be called upon to testify in 
 
 a case which comes before it. He shall be qualified as other witnesses 
 43 
 
674 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 66-69. 
 
 are, and, after having given his testimony, may immediately resume his 
 seat as a member of the judicatory. 
 
 1. A member of the judicatory required to testify; to refuse is 
 
 contumacy. 
 
 a. Resolved, That a member of the judicatory, present when the judi- 
 catory is taking testimony, is bound, if called upon to do so, to give his 
 testimony in the case that is in process, and that his refusal to do so, on 
 the ground that he had not been cited beforehand, would subject him to 
 censure for contumacy. — 1854, p. 45, O. S. 
 
 b. Records of the Synod of Cincinnati excepted to for not sustaining 
 Exception 2 to the minutes of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, p. 409, in 
 the following words : ' ' Denying to the prosecution the right to introduce 
 members of the court on the spot, without a citation, to disprove and 
 rebut certain testimony of the defence." — 1878, p. 118. 
 
 LXVII. A member of the church, summoned as a witness, and 
 refusing to appear, or, having appeared, refusing to testify, shall be cen- 
 sured according to the circumstances of the case for his contumacy. 
 
 1. A minister cited to testify before a Session. 
 
 A request from certain ministers and ruling elders of the Synod of 
 Alabama, for the opinion of the General Assembly touching certain 
 questions that may arise in the case of a minister, who, when cited by a 
 church Session as a witness, declines to appear before that court. The 
 Committee recommended that the brethren be referred to the Book of 
 Discipline (Old), Chap, i, Sec. v; Chap, iv, Sees, xxi, xxxiii and lxvii; 
 Chap, v, Sees, xxxvi, xviii and cxviii; Chap, vi, Sec. lxvii of this 
 Book, for answer to their questions. Adopted. — 1854, p. 17, O. S. 
 
 LXVIII. If, after a trial before any judicatory, new evidence is dis- 
 covered supposed to be important to the exculpation of the accused, he 
 may ask, if the case has not been appealed, and the judicatory shall 
 grant, if justice seems to require it, a new trial. 
 
 1. New trial may be had on the allegation of new testimony. 
 
 a. That as new evidence, apparently of an important kind, has been 
 alleged in this case since the decision of the Synod, it is proper that a 
 new trial be instituted thereon. — 1793, p. 68. 
 
 b. Resolved, That as only one of the parties in this case is present, 
 this General Assembly do not consider themselves as placed in circum- 
 stances which admit of their reconsidering the decision of last Assembly 
 on Mr. Hindman's appeal from the Synod of Philadelphia, even if the 
 existence of new evidence were ever so unquestionable. 
 
 Resolved, also, That it is the well-known privilege of Mr. Hindman, 
 if he consider himself as having new evidence to offer in this case, to 
 apply to the Presbytery for a new trial upon that new evidence. — 1811, 
 p. 479. 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee reported on the appeal of John Ward from 
 a decision of the Synod of Genesee, that on the ground of new testimony 
 the appellant be directed to apply to the church of Bergen for a new 
 trial. The report was adopted.— 1829, p. 266; also 1841, p. 307, O. S. 
 
OF EVIDENCE. 675 
 
 2. If the judicatory refuse to grant a new trial upon the allega- 
 tion of new testimony a complaint may lie. 
 
 a. A complaint from Mr. Francis Hindman against the Presbytery of 
 New Castle, for not granting him a new trial in his case agreeably to 
 the resolution of last Assembly, having been put into the hands of the 
 Moderator, was read, together with several papers accompanying it [and 
 referred to a Committee] who were authorized to call for other papers, and 
 to cite witnesses, if they deem it necessary, and were directed to report 
 to the Assembly the result of their attention to the subject. — 1812, p. 
 496. 
 
 b. The Committee to which the complaint of Mr. Hindman against 
 the Presbytery of NeAV Castle had been referred, reported, and the 
 report being read, was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That having carefully examined the papers committed to them, and 
 having heard Mr. Hindman in his own case, as also a member of the 
 Presbytery of New Castle in explanation of their conduct, they find no 
 cause of complaint against said Presbytery in their treatment of Mr. 
 Hindman.— 1812, p. 504. 
 
 3. Appeal remitted for new trial on new testimony. 
 
 The consideration of the appeal of Mr. Todd, from the decision of the 
 Synod of Kentucky, affirming a decision of the Presbytery of Transyl- 
 vania, by which decision Mr. Todd was deposed from the Gospel minis- 
 try, was taken up, and the following resolution was adopted, viz. : 
 
 The Assembly, having heard the documents in this case, were of opin- 
 ion, that the way is not clear, at present, for the reversal of the sentence 
 of suspension; but as it appears to the Assembly, that Mr. Todd's 
 opinions have not been perfectly understood; and whereas there appears 
 to have been some irregularity, as to the nature of the testimony 
 admitted on the trial before the Presbytery; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of Transylvania be directed to recon- 
 sider the case of Mr. Todd; to afford him another opportunity, of explain- 
 ing himself; and, if they should be satisfied, to restore him to his former 
 standing. — 1817, p. 666. 
 
 4. A superior judicatory may not order a new trial without the 
 allegation of new testimony. 
 
 Appeal of Mrs. M. J. Browning from a decision of the Synod of 
 Geneva. The Committee report that it has read the decision appealed 
 from, and the reasons assigned for the appeal, and has heard the parties. 
 They recommend that the General Assembly sustain the appeal. 
 
 a. 1. Because a superior court cannot order an inferior court to rehear 
 a case already decided when no intimation of additional evidence is given. 
 
 [Xote— In cases of appeal, irregularity of proceedings may require a new trial, 
 which may be ordered. Case of H. Donaldson ; 1882, p. 107.] 
 
 Nor pass by the next lower, in which the ease has once been adjudicated. 
 
 b. 2. Because in sending back the case, the Synod passed by the 
 Presbytery in which the case had once been adjudicated. Adopted. — 
 1878,' p. 34. 
 
 LXIX. If, in the prosecution of an appeal, new evidence is offered, 
 which, in the judgment of the appellate judicatory, has an important 
 
676 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 69-70. 
 
 bearing on the case, it shall either refer the whole case to the inferior 
 judicatory for a new trial ; or, with the consent of the parties, take the 
 testimony, and hear and determine the case. 
 
 1. On the ground of new testimony, the case referred. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported on the appeal of John Ward, from 
 a decision of the Synod of Genesee, that having duly considered the case, 
 they recommend that, on the ground of new testimony, the appellant be 
 directed to apply to the church of Bergen for a new trial. The above 
 report was adopted. — 1829, p. 266. 
 
 2. The fact and importance of new evidence must be shown. 
 
 a. In the case of Rev. George Sheldon (see under Directory for Wor- 
 ship, Chap, xii, Sec. iii), the Assembly sustained the inferior courts, and 
 in answer to a protest, reply: 
 
 1. The action of the Presbytery in the case was irregular, only tech- 
 nically, and not in such a sense as to vitiate the substantial justice of the 
 result. The case had been on trial during a period of some three years, 
 and ample opportunity had been given in this period for the accused to 
 defend himself. 
 
 2. Although it is asserted, that only extracts from Mr. Sheldon's 
 letters were admitted in evidence, yet it appears that one letter, and the 
 most important one, is given in full ; that the extracts from the other 
 letters are undisputed, and that these fairly and clearly present the truth 
 in the case. 
 
 3. As to the alleged new evidence, it appears that it was before the 
 Judicial Committee of the Presbytery, and read in full before the Synod, 
 and was unanimously decided by these judicatories to be no ground for 
 reopening the case ; and it also appears, that this testimony is wholly 
 irreconcilable with statements made by Mr. Sheldon in the letters above 
 referred to. 
 
 4. Inasmuch as the Assembly, after a full hearing of the case, by a 
 vote of more than two-thirds, decided that there have been no material 
 deviations from the rules of the Book of Discipline for conducting judi- 
 cial cases, it is deemed unnecessary at this late hour of their sessions, to 
 reply further to the allegations of the protestants. — 1858, p. 609, N. 8. 
 
 b. Rev. L. R. Lockwood asks that the Assembly direct the Presbytery 
 of Dubuque to grant him a new trial, on the ground of new testimony. 
 
 The Committee recommend that this application be referred to the 
 Presbytery of Dubuque, to the end that if the new testimony be found of 
 sufficient importance to justify, that Presbytery may afford Mr. Lock- 
 wood the relief he asks. But if, in their judgment, a new trial ought 
 not to be granted, that then the appeal shall stand for trial on the record 
 as now existing, before the next General Assembly. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1866, p. 72, O. S. 
 
 C. On examining the new testimony the decision affirmed. 
 
 The consideration of Mr. Gwinn's appeal from the decision of the 
 Synod of Pittsburgh was resumed; and the following decision in the case 
 was adopted : 
 
 The Assembly, having carefully heard and considered the appeal of 
 Mr. Andrew Gwinn from a decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh affirming 
 
OF EVIDENCE. 677 
 
 the judgment of the Presbytery of Ohio, adopted the following resolution, 
 viz. : That whereas, in the judgment of this Assembly, it does not appear 
 that the new testimony offered by Mr. Gwinn has in any important point 
 changed the aspect of his case: therefore resolved, that the decision of 
 the Synod in his case be affirmed. — 1823, p. 90. 
 
 3. The Assembly, after investigation, refuses to refer the case, de- 
 spite alleged new testimony, or to grant any further judicial trial. 
 
 The Judicial Committee in the case of the complaint of Rev. James 
 Smylie from a decision of the Presbytery of Louisiana, in the case of 
 the Rev. Dr. Scott, recommended the following, which was adopted: 
 
 There are three ways in which this complaint might be disposed of : 
 
 1. The Assembly might take it up, wade through the testimony, 
 receive the new testimony that, it is understood, the complainant wishes 
 to offer, to decide the case. But against this course, besides other 
 difficulties, it may be mentioned as a very serious one, that the bare 
 reading of the records of the Presbytery would consume four or five days. 
 
 2. Another mode might be adopted, by referring the case for reconsid- 
 eration to the Presbytery of Louisiana, who might be directed to take 
 any new testimony that should be properly offered. 
 
 3. Or the General Assembly might remand the case to the Synod of 
 Mississippi, to hear the complaint, and dispose of it in a regular and 
 constitutional manner. This, it is deemed, would be the wisest course. 
 
 But, were either of these modes adopted, it would require a great 
 consumption of time, and subject the judicature that might adjudicate 
 on the case to great inconvenience and no inconsiderable expense; and 
 instead of resulting in practical good, might produce great excitement 
 and consequences injurious to the peace and edification of an important 
 section of our Church. The testimony is so voluminous, that to form a 
 correct judgment on it, would require a retentive memory, patient atten- 
 tion, diligent comparison of its several parts, as well as a discriminating 
 mind. It is to be regretted that the Presbytery sanctioned by their 
 authority the publication of the speeches on both sides of the ques- 
 tion 
 
 The Committee recommend to the Assembly the adoption of the follow- 
 ing resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That in view of the representation of the case given in the 
 above statement by the Judicial Committee, of the voluminous nature of 
 the testimony, and of the difficulties attending the case, and believing 
 that the interests of the Church will be best promoted by adopting the 
 course recommended by the Committee, and being willing to assume the 
 responsibility of acting accordingly, this General Assembly do hereby 
 terminate this unhappy case without any further judicial trial. Adopted. 
 —1847, p. 385, O. S. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE WA YS IN WHICH A CA USE MA Y BE CARRIED 
 FROM A LOWER TO A HIGHER JUDICATORY. 
 
 LXX. All proceedings of the Session, the Presbytery, and the Synod 
 (except as limited by Chap, xi, Sec. iv, of the Form of Government), 
 
678 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 70-71. 
 
 are subject to review by, and may be taken to, a superior judicatory, by 
 General Review and Control, Reference, Complaint, or Appeal. 
 
 1. A judicial case can come before the Assembly only in some one of 
 the above-mentioned ways. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported that they have had under considera- 
 tion the letter of the Rev. A. G. Fraser to this General Assembly — 
 that Mr. Fraser states that he has been unavoidably prevented from per- 
 sonally prosecuting an appeal from the decision of the Synod of New Jersey, 
 of which due notice was given that Synod, and requesting the General 
 Assembly to appoint a Committee of ministers and elders to hear and ad- 
 judicate the whole matter ; or, if such a plan is not Avithin the jurisdiction 
 of the General Assembly, that then this matter of appeal stand over to 
 their next stated meeting. The Committee recommended that the following 
 answer be given, viz. : According to the Book of Discipline of our 
 Church, there are but four ways in which the General Assembly can 
 have cognizance of a judicial case. As neither of these ways is contem- 
 plated in the request of Mr. Fraser, the Assembly cannot, without a 
 violation of constitutional rules, take any action in the premises. In 
 regard to a future prosecution of his appeal, the appellant must present 
 his case, with the reasons for previous failure, before the next General 
 Assembly, whose province it will then be to decide upon the whole 
 subject. Adopted.— 1850, p. 463, O. S. 
 
 I. OF GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 
 
 LXXI. All proceedings of the church shall be reported to, and 
 
 reviewed by, the Session, and by its order incorporated with its records. 
 
 Every judicatory above a Session shall review, at least once a year, the 
 
 records of the proceedings of the judicatory next below; and, if the 
 
 lower judicatory shall omit to send up its records for this purpose, the 
 
 higher may require them to be produced, either immediately, or at a 
 
 specified time, as circumstances may determine. 
 
 [Note.— The first sentence of the Section makes it obligatory upon the Session to 
 review and record all proceedings of the church in a congregational meeting ; as, e.g., 
 the election of elders and deacons ; the fixing of the term of service under Form of 
 Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. viii ; the election of a pastor, or the request to Presby- 
 tery to dissolve the pastoral relation, and all other matters in which the congregation 
 acts. It thus brings all the ecclesiastical proceedings of congregational (i. e., church) 
 meetings under the review and control of the superior judicatories.] 
 
 1. The incorporation of church proceedings is mandatory. 
 Explanation of the meaning of this rule. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Pittsburgh, relative to Article lxxi, 
 Chapter ix, of the Book of Discipline, asking, first, whether, under that 
 article, it is discretionary with church Sessions, to order the minutes of 
 congregational meetings to be incorporated with the records of the 
 Session; and second, if the rule is mandatory, what portion of the pro- 
 ceedings of the church must be included, and what may be omitted, and 
 whether the reports of Boards or Committees, i. e. y those of Trustees, 
 must be included in the records of the Session ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the following answer be given : 
 1. That the rule is not discretionary, but mandatory, that church 
 Sessions shall order the incorporation of proceedings of congregational 
 meetings with their own records. 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 679 
 
 2. That it is in the power of church Sessions to direct that the pro- 
 ceedings of such meetings, or of the church (whether said proceedings 
 are reported to the Session in the form of minutes of meetings, or as 
 reports of Boards or Committees) shall be incorporated in the Sessional 
 records in such a manner, and to such an extent only, as will faithfully 
 exhibit the action taken. 
 
 This construction of the rule in question is to be understood to apply 
 to the proceedings of Trustees in all cases, in which, under the laws of 
 the places where they exercise their functions, their action is subject to 
 review by the Session. Adopted. — 1887, pp. 117, 118. 
 
 2. The incorporation in Session records of the minutes of the Board 
 of Deacons is discretionary. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Washington City, relative to Art. 
 lxxi, Chap, ix, Book of Discipline, whether under that article it is 
 discretionary with church Sessions to order the minutes of the Board of 
 Deacons to be incorporated with the records of Session ? Answer : It is 
 discretionary. — 1891, p. 107. 
 
 3. Annual review of the records of all the judicatories required. 
 
 a. Whereas, It appeared in the course of the free conversation on the 
 state of religion, that in one of the Presbyteries under the care of the 
 General Assembly, the Sessional records of the several church Sessions 
 were not regularly called up and examined every year by the said Pres- 
 bytery, and there is reason to believe that other Presbyteries had con- 
 ducted in the same manner; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it be and it hereby is required of all the Presbyteries 
 within the bounds of the General Assembly annually to call up and 
 examine the Sessional records of the several churches under their care, 
 as directed in the Book of Discipline. — 1809, p. 429. 
 
 b. The Assembly, after seriously reviewing the order of the last 
 Assembly, and maturely deliberating on the remonstrance of the Presby- 
 tery of Philadelphia against it, can by no means rescind the said order, 
 inasmuch as they consider it as founded on the Constitution of our 
 Church, and as properly resulting from the obligation on the highest 
 judicatory of the Church to see that the Constitution be duly regarded; 
 yet, as it is alleged that insisting on the rigid execution of this order, 
 with respect to some of the church Sessions, would not be for edification, 
 the Assembly are by no means disposed to urge any Presbytery to pro- 
 ceed, under this order, beyond what they may consider prudent and 
 useful. —1810, p. 453. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. viii, p. 173 ; Chap, x, Sec. ix, p. 
 224; Chap, xi, Sec. vi, p. 246.J 
 
 4. The Synods required to send up their records annually. 
 
 Whereas, It is an essential feature of the government of the Presby- 
 terian Church that the records of all its Synods should be transmitted 
 annually to its highest court —the General Assembly — for examination ; 
 and, 
 
 Whereas, This Assembly has painful evidence that this important 
 regulation is by some of its Synods frequently, and by others entirely, 
 neglected; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That all our Synods be enjoined to take such order on this 
 subject as shall ensure hereafter a faithful observance of the above 
 
680 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 71. 
 
 regulation ; and in all cases where the Stated Clerks of any of our Synods 
 have failed this year, or may hereafter fail, to obey their order, or the rule 
 of the Assembly respecting this matter, such Synods are hereby required 
 to judge of the reasons which such Clerks may offer for their delinquency, 
 and to excuse or censure them according to the circumstances of the 
 case.— 1839, p. 165, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See also other decisions on p. 255 of this Digest.] 
 
 5. After records have been approved corrections can be made only 
 by recurrence to the judicatory approving. 
 
 Overture from the Session of the church of Wabash, Ind., on the 
 following questions: 
 
 1. After the records of a church Session have been examined and 
 approved by the Presbytery, and those of the Presbytery, in like man- 
 ner, approved by the Synod, has either the Session or the Presbytery a 
 right or any authority to change or erase the record ? 
 
 2. If not, has the Session any legal right to make a second record 
 declaring the first erroneous and void ? 
 
 The Committee recommended that the following answer be given: 
 A record, once approved by a higher court, cannot be altered or 
 annulled by a lower one. If there be an error in the record, the remedy 
 is to be sought by an application to the highest judicatory which has 
 indorsed such mistake. Adopted. — 1862, p. 34, N. S. 
 
 6. Leave given to correct the record on error shown. 
 
 On p. 51, Vol. ii (of the records of the Synod of Cincinnati), a 
 minute is found stating that in 1878 there is a record that had found its 
 way among the proceedings of the Synod, although the same had not 
 been ordered. The records have been approved by the Assembly of 
 1879, with this error in them. The Synod asks permission of this 
 Assembly to declare this minute " to be no part of their proceedings." 
 We recommend that the Synod have such permission. Adopted. — 1880, 
 p. 81. 
 
 7. A minute recording a fact can be amended or stricken out only 
 by a unanimous vote or by a reconsideration of the original action. 
 It was moved to strike out the exceptions takeu to the records of the 
 Synod of New Jersey. The Moderator suggested that the motion was 
 out of order, but he would put it to the house ; which having been done, 
 the motion was sustained with the exception of one No. The Moderator 
 then declared the motion lost, as a minute recording a fact could not be 
 amended but by a unanimous vote of the house, and he suggested that 
 the case could be reached only by a motion to reconsider the vote of 
 yesterday, by which the house refused to reconsider the vote adopting the 
 report of the Committee on the records of the Synod of New Jersey. 
 On appeal, the Moderator' s decision was sustained. The vote was recon- 
 sidered. The report of the Committee was reconsidered and the records 
 approved.— 1841, p. 424, O. S. 
 
 8. A case judicially issued may be reviewed. 
 A protest against the Synod of Cincinnati in reviewing, under the 
 power of review and control, certain actions of the Presbytery in the 
 case of the Rev. Mr. McCune, which case had been judicially issued by 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 681 
 
 the Synod. The Committee recommend that the action be approved, 
 for reasons set forth in the answer to the protest. Adopted. —1878, p. 
 118. 
 
 [Note.— See Sec. lxxii (4) and (5), p. 682.] 
 
 9. Copies of original records accepted in certain cases. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of China, kept in Chinese, were accepted 
 in a translated copy by the Assembly of 1871. 
 
 b. The Committee on the records of the Synod of India reported that 
 a certified printed English translation of the minntes of the Synod had 
 been placed in their hands. They recommend the approval of the records 
 extending from December 27, 1877, to January 3, 1878. Adopted. — 
 1878, p. 43. 
 
 10. Records in print must conform to the requirements. 
 
 [Note— See in this Digest, pp. 258, 259.] 
 
 LXXII. In such review, the judicatory shall examine, first, whether 
 
 the proceedings have been correctly recorded ; second, whether they 
 
 have been constitutional and regular; and third, whether they have been 
 
 wise, equitable, and for the edification of the Church. 
 
 [Note. — For decisions on records, in addition to those which here immediately fol- 
 low, see, in this Digest, Session, pp. 173, 174 ; Presbytery, pp. 224, 225, and Synod, pp. 
 246-259. it is important to consult the decisions given on the pages indicated.] 
 
 I. WHETHER THE PROCEEDINGS ARE CORRECTLY RECORDED. 
 
 1. Omitting to record the opening or closing with prayer. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Pennsylvania approved, except that 
 " there is no evidence from the records that the last meeting of the Synod 
 was opened with prayer."— 1850, p. 314, K S. ; 1859, p. 531, O. S. ; 
 Kentucky, 1854, p. 501, N. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Tennessee were approved, with the 
 following exceptions: 
 
 1. On p. 34 it appears from the record that the Synod adjourned at 
 the close of the day without prayer. 
 
 2. On p. 36, it is recorded that the Synod was constituted with prayer, 
 it being the second day of the sessions of the Synod. — 1854, p. 500, N. S. 
 
 C. Records of Synod of Minnesota approved, except " that on p. 54, 
 in the record of the session of Friday, September 30, 1859, no mention 
 is made of the opening services." — 1860, p. 239, N. S. 
 
 d. The opening minute of each session of the Synod of Cincinnati is 
 defective, in not recording the meeting of the Synod before its being 
 opened with prayer. — 1849, p. 177, N. S. 
 
 e. Records of Synod of Cincinnati approved, except " that (on p. 5) 
 the Synod adjourned without prayer." — 1865, p. 553, O. S. 
 
 f. The Synod of Colorado took recess from 9.30 P.M. to 9.30 A.M., 
 and did not close with prayer. — 1887, p. 129. 
 
 [Note.— See also Synod of Colorado, 1887, p. 129 ; Texas, 1888, p. 135 ; Nebraska, 
 1889, p. 133 : Indian Territory, 1889, p. 133. 
 Church Sessions are not required to open and close with prayer. See p. 161.] 
 
 2. Failing to record absentees. 
 Judicial case, the protest of J. B. Roberts against the action of the 
 Synod of the Pacific, in excepting to the records of some of the Presby- 
 
682 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 72. 
 
 teries in said Synod, on the ground that the names of the absentees are 
 not recorded. 
 
 The Committee recommends that the action of said Synod be main- 
 tained as final. Adopted. — 1887, p. 68. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, in this Digest, p. 256.] 
 
 3. Churches not represented must be recorded. 
 
 Synod of Tennessee. The unrepresented churches are not recorded. 
 —1894, p. 181. 
 
 4. The roll should be called prior to adjournment. 
 
 The minutes of the Synod of Kansas were approved, except that the 
 roll was not called prior to the adjournment of the Synod, whereas it 
 should have been called, and the names of absentees unexcused recorded, 
 if there were any such, and if not, that fact recorded. — 1895, p. 124. 
 
 5. The narrative of the state of religion to be recorded. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Illinois were approved, with the 
 following exception, viz. : 
 
 At the sessions of Synod in October, 1846, it does not appear from the 
 records that a narrative of the state of religion was prepared. Such an 
 omission is considered contrary to the general usage of Synods, and not 
 for the edification of the Church.— 1849, p. 176, N. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Illinois were approved, except " that 
 they do not contain the narrative on the state of religion which was 
 presented by the Committee on that subject at the sessions of the Synod 
 in 1854: p. 434."— 1857, p. 387, N. S. ; 1861, p. 462, N. S. ; 1862, 
 p. 28, N. S. 
 
 C. Resolved, That the Assembly earnestly recommend to the Presby- 
 teries and Synods to record in their minutes the narrative of religion, and 
 all other important papers. — 1870, p. 91. 
 
 d. Synod of Illinois, in " the omission of the narrative from the 
 record."— 1881, p. 593; Synod of Washington, 1892, p. 200. 
 
 [Note.— See, also, in this Digest, p. 254.] 
 
 6. Cases acted upon must be described, and the disposal made of 
 
 them indicated. 
 
 a. Synod of Cincinnati. On pp. 6 and 13 a complaint was received, 
 referred and decided, without any statement in regard to the character 
 of said complaint. — 1865, p. 553, O. S. 
 
 b. Synod of Philadelphia, except that it appears from p. 282 that an 
 appeal and complaint was issued in the usual form without any intimation 
 of what the sentence or proceeding was against which the complaint was 
 made; and that it appears, from p. 273, that another complaint was 
 issued without any record of the proceeding complained of, or of the 
 body whose proceeding was the subject of complaint. — 1852, p. 216, 
 O. S. 
 
 C. The Synod of Baltimore, except that on pp. 327 and 348 the 
 Synod records the issuing of Judicial Cases " No. 1 " and " No. 2," 
 but in neither case is the subject-matter of the complaint recorded. — 
 1885, p. 661. 
 
 [Note.— See, also, in this Digest, pp. 249, 250 and 253.1 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 683 
 
 II. WHETHER THEY HAVE BEEN CONSTITUTIONAL AND REGULAR. 
 
 1. Unconstitutional and irregular proceedings. 
 
 a. The Synod of Philadelphia (resolution 3), annuls a sentence of 
 suspension, and in resolution 4 substantially acknowledges the justice of 
 the sentence thus annulled. 
 
 The Synod interposes to restore a man to the exercise of the ministry 
 of the Gospel who, they acknowledge, has frequently made representations 
 without due regard to truth and candor. Thereupon 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly direct the Synod to review and amend 
 the record on p. 18, in the case of the appeal from the Presbytery of 
 Donegal. Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. i, Sub-sees, ii, iii. — 1858, 
 reprint, p. 565. 
 
 b. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of 
 Geneva reported, and the book was approved to p. 257, with the follow- 
 ing exception, viz. : That the Synod decided improperly in saying that 
 the complaint of D. C. Hopkins was not strictly sustained, while they at 
 the same time say that each and every act of the Presbytery of Onon- 
 daga complained of was irregular and improper. — 1822, p. 40. 
 
 2. A Synod may not institute and prosecute judicial proceedings. 
 
 That the proceedings of the Synod of Cincinnati, in the institution 
 and prosecution of judicial process against William Graham, subjecting 
 him first to censure, and afterwards to suspension, under which he now 
 labors, are unconstitutional and irregular, therefore null and void; and 
 that the Synod be, and is hereby enjoined to take constitutional action 
 in the case, and to revise and correct its proceedings accordingly. While 
 the Assembly thus speak on the constitutionality of the matter, they do 
 it without reference to the error or truth of the sentiments he advocated. 
 —1846, p, 31, N. S. 
 
 3. A Synod may not refuse to receive the members of its 
 Presbyteries. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Michigan were approved, with the 
 following exception: That on pp. 137, 138, 139, 140, the Synod 
 declined to receive two members whose names appear on the minutes of 
 two of the Presbyteries, and that the Synod also directed said Presby- 
 teries to strike the names of said members of Presbytery from their roll, 
 one of the members belonging to the Presbytery of Monroe, the other to 
 the Presbytery of St. Joseph.— 1849, p. 176, N. S. 
 
 TNote.— See c, p. 684.] 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Indiana approved, with the following 
 exception : 
 
 On pp. 157 and 158 the record declares that Synod refused to enroll 
 the Rev. E. B. Smith, because he had made no public contradiction of 
 the fact that his name appears in the public prints as a signer of the 
 Declaration and Testimony, although he privately informed the Stated 
 Clerk of Synod that he had neither himself signed the " Declaration 
 and Testimony," nor authorized any one to sign it for him, as appears 
 from p. 153 of the records. 
 
 It seems to the Committee that the Synod should have directed the 
 Rev. Mr. Smith to make a public contradiction before taking further 
 action, because, as the record now stands, it implies that the Synod has 
 
684 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 72. 
 
 no confidence in his statements. If his statements are unworthy of 
 belief he should be disciplined. The Committee recommend that the 
 Synod be directed to review its action. — 1867, p. 357, O. S. 
 
 C. Overture on the doings of the Synod of Michigan, the matter of 
 enjoining the Presbyteries of St. Joseph and Monroe to erase the names 
 of Rev. Marcus Harrison and Rev. A. L. Payson from their rolls, was 
 taken up. It was Resolved, That the action of the Synod in the prem- 
 ises is unconstitutional. — 1849, p. 177, N. S. 
 
 4. A superior judicatory may not compel an inferior court to reverse 
 its decision, without assigning specific reasons. 
 Synod of Pittsburgh. Inasmuch as it is contrary to the spirit and 
 principles of the Presbyterian Church, and subversive of the true design 
 of ecclesiastical discipline, for a superior judicatory to compel an inferior 
 court to reverse its decision, rendered after a full, fair and impartial 
 trial, without assigning and placing on record some specific reason for 
 such reversal, — that the records, so far as they relate to this point in the 
 case, be disapproved. — 1874, p. 86. 
 
 5. The reasons assigned are subject to review. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Kentucky were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exception: 
 
 On pp. 128 and 129, the Synod except to the action of a Presbytery 
 in approving the Sessional records of a certain church, because of the 
 alleged irregularity of said Session in receiving members into the church 
 on return of certificates alone, after undue length of time, knowledge of 
 such irregularity being brought to the Synod's notice by a protest (Book 
 of Discipline, Old, Chap, ii, Sec. ii). Your Committee recommend 
 that exception be taken to this action of the Synod, because in their 
 judgment the Synod's exception to the Presbytery's action is not well 
 taken; for the reason that it appears to your Committee, from papers 
 placed in their hands, and which ought to have been in the Synod's 
 possession before taking action in the case, that the parties in question 
 had good and sufficient reasons for such 'delay: being unsettled as to a 
 permanent home, their moral and religious life meantime being well 
 known to all the Session as fully comporting with the requirements of 
 the Gospel of Christ.— 1880, p. 79. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxiv.] 
 
 6. Censure without due examination condemned. 
 
 The records of the Synod of the Pacific approved, with the following 
 exception, viz., that on p. 632 a Committee, appointed to answer a pro- 
 test, report that they have not had time to examine the authorities 
 referred to, yet proceed to pass severe judgment in the case. — 1882, p. 94. 
 
 7. No second approval of the minutes necessary. 
 
 Overtures from the Presbyteries of Kittanning and Butler, respec- 
 tively, asking whether it is necessary formally to approve, after they are 
 engrossed, minutes which were approved before they were engrossed ? 
 Your Committee recommend that the answer be as follows: 
 
 It is the regular custom of our Presbyteries to read all minutes at the 
 close of the session from the original copy for approval, and to record 
 such approval in the minutes themselves. It is usual to read the 
 engrossed copy at the next session of Presbytery for information, and if 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 685 
 
 clerical errors be discovered they should be corrected by resolution, but 
 no second resolution for the approval of said minutes is or should be 
 required.— 1892, p. 188. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, in this Digest, p. 247.] 
 
 III. WHETHER THEY HAVE BEEN WISE, EQUITABLE, AND FOR THE 
 EDIFICATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 1. The lower judicatories must respect the decisions of the superior. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of Missouri were approved, except a 
 resolution on p. 324, viz.: " That the action of the General Assembly 
 in May last, in relation to the political condition of the country, was 
 unscriptural, unconstitutional, unwise, and unjust; and we therefore 
 solemnly protest against it, and declare it of no binding force whatever 
 upon this Synod, or upon the members of the Presbyterian Church within 
 our bounds.' '—1862, p. 631, O. S. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Kentucky were approved with the 
 following exception: 
 
 That this General Assembly cannot approve the Synod's disapproval 
 of the action of the Assemblv of 1861, as recorded in the Synod's 
 minutes on pp. 49 and 50.— 1862, p. 631, O. S. 
 
 2. Synods censured for insubordination and disrespect. 
 
 a. Resolved, That this Assembly does not approve the records of the 
 Synod of Missouri ; that so much of said records as attempt to declare 
 null and void the previous action of the Synod, which had been formally 
 approved by the Assembly, is an act of insubordination, which said 
 Synod is hereby required to reconsider and reverse ; that they report to 
 the next Assembly what they have done or failed to do in the premises 
 and until that time the usual certificate of the Moderator be withheld.* 
 
 The remaining portion of the report was then adopted as follows: 
 On p. 365, where the Synod reaffirm their testimony of November, 
 1861, with regard to the action of the Assembly of the same year, 
 known as the Spring Resolutions— which testimoDy declares the action of 
 that Assembly on the state of the country to be " unscriptural, uncon- 
 stitutional, unwise and unjust; of no binding force whatever on this 
 Synod, or upon the members of the Presbyterian Church within our 
 bounds. ' ' 
 
 The Committee also recommend that, besides excepting to the record 
 as above stated, the repeated exhibition of such a rebellious spirit, on the 
 part of any inferior court toward the supreme judicatory of the Church, 
 should not pass without censure. — 1866, p. 97, O. S. 
 
 b. The Committee recommended approval with the following excep- 
 tion : The Synod of Albany claim and exercise the right of disregarding 
 the exceptions to their records by the General Assembly of 1847, which 
 they consider disrespectful and disorderly. — 1848, reprint, p. 42, O. S. 
 
 C. Finally, the Assembly cannot but express their disapprobation of 
 the concluding paragraph of the memorial of the Synod of Ohio, in 
 which they say, " the Synod consider the judgments entered upon their 
 records against Samuel Lowery in October, 1822, as remaining in full 
 force," etc. 
 
 * The next year, the Synod having complied with the requirements of the Assem- 
 bly, as appeared from an official transcript of its records on the subject read to the 
 Assembly, the Moderator was directed to approve the records of the Synod of Mis- 
 souri of last year— 1867, p. 316, 0. S. 
 
686 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 72. 
 
 This declaration, notwithstanding the respectful expressions of the 
 Synod, is apparently wanting in the respect due from an inferior to a 
 superior judicatory; and is repugnant to the radical principles of the 
 government of the Presbyterian Church. If an inferior court has 
 authority to declare that its own decisions are in force, after they have 
 been reversed by a superior court, then all appeals are nugatory, and our 
 system, as it relates to -judicial proceedings, is utterly subverted. The 
 Assembly are willing to believe, however, that the Synod of Ohio did 
 not mean to set themselves in opposition to the highest judicatory of the 
 Church, and that when they have reconsidered the matter, they will 
 rescind what is so manifestly inconsistent with the principles of the 
 Constitution, which they have bound themselves to support. — 1824, p. 
 116. 
 
 3. Irregularities recited and animadverted on. Complaint will lie 
 against decisions not judicial. Action insufficient and unjust. A 
 member of the court may be called as a witness. Minutes should 
 be approved before adjournment. 
 
 The minutes of the Synod of Cincinnati were approved, with the 
 following exceptions: 
 
 a. Exception 1. The dismissal of Complaints Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5; the 
 paper entitled Appeal No. 6 (pp. 345-347); and the complaint of the 
 Rev. Thomas H. Skinner (pp. 441, 442), on the ground that they were 
 not from judicial decisions. 
 
 b. Exception 2. That the action of Synod in reference to the case of 
 the Rev. N. West, D.D., against the Rev. B. P. Aydelotte, D.D., was 
 both insufficient and unjust. The action referred to is the first exception 
 to the minutes of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, adopted November 20, 
 1877, and is as follows: " The Presbytery seems to have gone to the 
 extreme of leniency in being satisfied with Dr. B. P. Aydelotte' s explana- 
 tion of an article published in the Christian Press of May, 1876, which 
 Dr. N. West deemed slanderous, and for which he tabled charges against 
 the author. We do not mean to say that judicial process should have 
 been instituted, but we think Dr. Aydelotte should have been exhorted 
 to be more careful in publishing articles capable of so offensive a per- 
 sonal interpretation." The Synod, in view of their own declarations, 
 should either have directed the Presbytery to entertain the charge of 
 Dr. West, or to have adopted a minute declaring him free from the 
 imputations of published articles which they declared capable of an 
 " offensive personal interpretation," especially in view of the complete 
 vindication of Dr. West by the Presbytery a few weeks before (see 
 minutes of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, at Glendale, April 13, 1876). 
 
 C. Exception 3. That the action of Synod in reference to the second 
 exception (printed p. 27) is manifestly insufficient and unjust; each 
 action of the Presbytery, if it was as Synod declares it to be, should 
 have called down upon the Presbytery the severest rebuke for malfea- 
 sance. 
 
 And further, there seems to be no evidence of any kind, on the 
 records of the Presbytery, of any such statements made by Dr. West as 
 are alleged to have been made in Resolution 2 of the Judicial Committee 
 of the Presbytery; and the fact that said resolution was adopted a year 
 subsequent to the time alluded to, and in the absence of Dr. West, and 
 the Synod's own statement that it seems to have been prepared for a 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 687 
 
 purpose, demand that the said resolution be expunged from the records 
 of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. 
 
 d. Exception 4. That the action of Synod in reference to the third 
 exception (printed p. 27) is insufficient and unjust, because the act 
 barely disapproved, involved the subjection of Dr. West, without cause, 
 in a matter of private affliction, to the suspicion of improper conduct, 
 when a Committee of the Presbytery, in a report approved by the Pres- 
 bytery, had declared themselves satisfied as to the propriety of his con- 
 duct. The action of the Presbytery should have been rebuked. 
 
 Exception 5. In not sustaining Exception 2 to the minutes (p. 409), 
 in the following words, ' ' Denying to the prosecution the right to intro- 
 duce members of the court on the spot, without a citation, to disprove 
 and rebut certain testimony of the defence. ' ' 
 
 Exception 6. In not approving the minutes of the last day of the 
 meeting of the Synod at Cincinnati, February 14, 1878, before their 
 adjournment. Adopted. — 1878, pp. 117, 118. 
 
 4. The approval of the minutes does not affect the right of appeal or 
 complaint against any action taken. 
 
 Overture from Rev. Luther Dodd, a member of the Presbytery of 
 Fort Dodge, asking the General Assembly to reply to the following 
 questions : 
 
 1. Does the approval of the minutes of a lower court, as those of a 
 Presbytery by a Synod, not necessarily carry with it an approval of any 
 and every judicial decision recorded in those minutes ? 
 
 2. Is it competent for a Synod, having approved the records of a 
 Presbytery, to remand a case recorded in those records for new trial, on 
 grounds reflecting censure on the Presbytery ? 
 
 3. Or would it be proper for a Synod, in a case where they approve 
 the minutes of Presbytery, to require a new trial on any other grounds 
 than alleged new testimony ? 
 
 The Committee recommended the following reply: The constituted 
 right of appeal, " either from a part of the proceedings of a judicatory 
 or from a definitive sentence, ' ' and the right of complaint ' ' respecting a 
 decision by an inferior judicatory," " either before its rising, or within 
 ten days thereafter, ' ' cannot be in any way affected by the approval of 
 the minutes of the judicatory, against the action of which the appeal or 
 complaint may be taken. Adopted. — 1879, p. 613. 
 
 5. The approval of the minutes does not validate all action had. 
 
 a. A memorial from the Synod of Minnesota with reference to the 
 relation of the churches of Douglass county, Wis. , to the Presbytery of 
 Duluth. 
 
 Answer: The approval of the minutes of the Synods of Wisconsin 
 and Minnesota by the General Assembly of 1889 does not make valid 
 the action taken by said Synods in relation to the churches of Douglass 
 county, Wis.— 1890, pp. 128, 129. 
 
 b. A memorial from the Synod of Minnesota, inquiring whether the 
 approval by the General Assembly of the minutes of Minnesota and of 
 Wisconsin did not carry with it a grant of their petition for a change 
 in the boundaries of the two Synods. Recommended that the inquiry be 
 answered in the negative. — 1890, p. 130. 
 
688 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 72-74. 
 
 6. Review and control does not extend to statistical items 
 in Session records. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Chicago, on the following points: 
 
 1. Does the right of "general review and control" extend to the 
 statistical items of baptisms and administrations of the Lord's Supper, 
 inserted for record and convenient reference, in chronological order, 
 between the minutes of actual proceedings ? 
 
 7. Nor to the agreement of the action of Sessions with Presbyterial 
 
 rules for Sessions, not warranted by the Constitution. 
 
 2. Can the Presbytery pass rules for the conduct of church Sessions, 
 and then take exception to the proceedings of church Sessions that are 
 not according to said rules, when the rules are not prescribed bv our 
 Form of Government or Book of Discipline ? 
 
 Your Committee recommend that both these questions be answered in 
 the negative. Adopted. — 1883, p. 631. 
 
 8. Action modified or reversed by the reviewing judicatory may be 
 
 excepted to. 
 
 a. The records of the Synod of California were approved except so 
 far as the actions therein recorded have been modified or reversed in 
 Judicial Cases Nos. 5, 6 and 7.— 1896, p. 154. 
 
 b. Synod of Pennsylvania, except: 
 
 1. So much of the record as refers to the West Elizabeth church case 
 (pp. 47, 48), the judgment of the Synod being reversed by the General 
 Assembly (see Judicial Case No. 2, p. 85). — 1896, p. 155. 
 
 LXXIII. Members of a judicatory, the records of which are under 
 review, shall not be allowed to vote thereon. 
 
 Cases cited. 
 
 a. A protest signed by a number of members of the Synod of Geneva, 
 against a decision of that Synod, excluding the Presbytery of Geneva 
 from voting on the question, Whether their own records should be 
 attested by the Moderator of the Synod as approved. Your Committee 
 were, however, of opinion that the decision of the Synod was consonant 
 to the prevalent usage of the judicatories of the Presbyterian Church, as 
 well as to the usage of other analogous bodies in similar cases, and that 
 it ought therefore to be approved. Adopted. — 1816, p. 611. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Kentucky approved, except " that 
 the members of the West Lexington Presbytery voted in approbation of 
 their own proceedings, which is deemed to be irregular." — 1821, p. 28. 
 
 C. The Moderator and elder from the Session of Irish Grove claimed 
 the right to vote on the disapproval of their records; which was refused 
 by Presbytery. The Session complained. The Assembly inter alia 
 decide : 
 
 That the Presbytery of Sangamon acted correctly in not permitting the 
 raenibers of Irish Grove Session to vote for approving or disapproving 
 their own records. — 1851, p. 33, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See also, under Book of Discipline, Sees, xc and xcviii.] 
 
 LXXIV. In most cases the superior judicatory may discharge its 
 duty, by simply placing on its own records, and on those under review, 
 the censure which it may pass. But irregular proceedings may be found 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AJO 
 
 so disreputable and injurious, that the inferior judicatory must be 
 required to review and correct, or reverse them, and report, within a 
 specified time, its obedience to the order: provided, :. that no 
 
 judicial decision shall be reversed, unless regularly taken up by appeal 
 
 ut complaint. 
 
 1. The Assembly may not reverse the judicial acts of a former 
 
 Assembly, except in case of manifest injustice. 
 
 a. This Assembly has no authority to reverse the judicial acts of a 
 former General Assembly, except in cases of such palpable error a~ 
 would manifestly tend to interfere with the substantial administrat: 
 justice. Case : B. Lowry. — 1824, p. 115. 
 
 b. This Assembly are of opinion that the correct mode of proc 
 ing for the last Assembly would have been to have suspended the 
 
 on the appeal, until th- : the inferior judicatories should have 
 
 been present, because the rules in our Form of Government prescribe, 
 that before a judgment is given, all the proceedings of the inferior judica- 
 - in the case should be read, and it is a sound maxim, generally 
 admitted in courts of justice, that the best evidence which the case 
 admits of should be required, which in all trials is undoubtedly the record 
 of the judicatory . But while they entertain this opinion of the m<\ 
 proceeding, they believe that the decision of the last General Assembly 
 substantially c md was not different from what it would have 
 
 been if they had had all the proceedings of the inferior judicatories 
 before them. — Ibid. 
 
 C. A memorial of the pastor and ruling elders of the church of 
 Bloomington, 111., in respect : the decision of the last Assembly upon 
 the appeal of Dr. T. F. Worrell. 
 
 The Committee recommend that this memorial be dismissed, on the 
 ground that it is not competent for this Assembly to revise the proceed- 
 ings f a previous Assembly in a judicial case. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1864. p. 313. 0. - 1 . 
 
 2. But will correct error when shown to exist. 
 
 In the case of the memorial of the Synod of Onondaga (see Jfti 
 1864. p. 474. ST. 8. . ti was determined inter alia as folk 
 
 2. In view of the whole case, your Committee further find that the 
 last Assembly seern to have acted without such a knowledge of all the facts 
 of the case as a regular presentation of the complaint and the re 
 would have given them; and that, therefore, the case is ne which 
 justifies the action of this Assembly in relief of the Synod. 
 
 3. Your Committee further find that the action of the Synod 
 scrupulously conformed to the requirements of our Book. 
 
 They had the right to send the case back to the Presbytery, or to 
 review the whole of it, according to their discretion. It is not for this 
 court to decide which would have been the wiser course. The Synod 
 judge it best to review the whole case, and their discretion is not a 
 matter of review by this body. 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, recommend : 
 
 That the requisition of the last Assembly on the Synod of Onondaga 
 be rescinded, and that the case be dismissed. 
 
 While the Committee come to this conclusion, thev feel constrained 
 44 
 
690 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 74. 
 
 also to express decidedly their disapproval of tlie language of the Synod, 
 pronouncing the action of the Assembly " unjust and unconstitutional." 
 The report was adopted.— 1864, p. 475, N. S. 
 
 3. The Assembly, on memorial, and error proven, revokes its action 
 and remands the case. 
 
 Paper No. 3 is a memorial of the Presbytery of Furrukhabad to the 
 General Assembly, dated February 21, 1884, asking that the resolution 
 of the last General Assembly, censuring the said Presbytery, and 
 directing it to reconsider its action in restoring Rev. John S. Woodside 
 to the ministry (see Minutes, p. 628, 4), be revoked, and that the case 
 be referred to the Synod of India for final adjudication. 
 
 1. Your Committee find that said action was taken upon a complaint of 
 the Presbytery of Saharanpur against the Board of Foreign Missions, 
 for employing Mr. Woodside while under sentence of deposition by said 
 Presbytery of Saharanpur. 
 
 2. That the Presbytery of Furrukhabad was not complained of, nor 
 even named or referred to in said complaint. 
 
 3. That the Presbytery of Furrukhabad was not notified of the pre- 
 sentation of said complaint, nor was it cited to appear in answer to the 
 same, nor to give reasons for its action; it had no representative in the 
 Assembly, and its records were not before the Assembly or its Committee; 
 the Presbytery, therefore, had no opportunity to defend itself nor to 
 justify its action before the General Assembly. 
 
 All the facts in respect to the deposition and restoration of Mr. Wood- 
 side took place in India, and the Synod of India, being on the ground, 
 has means and facilities for examining the case and reaching a just and 
 fair decision upon all the merits of the question at issue between the 
 Presbyteries which it is difficult, if not impossible, for the General 
 Assembly to avail itself of; and to that Synod the whole matter should, 
 in the opinion of your Committee, be remitted for determination, subject 
 to final review in a regular way by the General Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee, therefore, recommend the following resolution: 
 Resolved, That the resolution of the last General Assembly (Minutes, 
 p. 628, 4), in respect to the action of the Presbytery of Furrukhabad, 
 in restoring John S. Woodside to the ministry, and the direction there 
 given to the Presbytery, be and they are hereby revoked, and that the 
 whole case be and the same is hereby referred to the Synod of India, for 
 its review, examination and adjudication, according to the Constitution 
 of the Church. Adopted.— 1884, pp. 108, 109. 
 
 4. Exceptions must be recorded by the judicatory excepting. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Columbus, requesting the Assem- 
 bly to direct the insertion, in the minutes of this Assembly, of the excep- 
 tions taken by the last Assembly to the records of the Synods of Cincin- 
 nati, Illinois Central, Indiana North, New Jersey, and Tennessee, as 
 noted on p. 580, Minutes of 1877; and further, to direct the Clerks 
 hereafter carefully to observe the constitutional rules in tins respect. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 That while the Assembly does not deem it expedient to order the inser- 
 tion of the exceptions taken to the records of the Synods in question the 
 last year, it calls the particular attention of the Recording Clerks of the 
 General Assembly to the duty of complying with the requirements of the 
 
GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL. 691 
 
 Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. i, Sub-sec. 3. Adopted. — 
 1878, p. 27. 
 
 b. The records of the Synod of Indiana approved, " except that on 
 p. 342 the records of Greencastle Presbytery are reported as approved, 
 with exceptions, while these exceptions are not spread on the minutes of 
 the Synod, as required by the Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. 
 i, Sub-sec. 3."— 1857, p. 387, N. S. 
 
 C. Synod of Wheeling, p. 409. The exceptions to the records of 
 New Lisbon Presbytery are not recorded, in violation of the Book of 
 Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. i, Sub-sec. 3.— 1859, p. 550, O. S. 
 
 d. The Synod of Illinois North, except the omission from record of 
 the exceptions to the minutes of the Presbytery of Chicago, which, it is 
 stated on p. 285, were adopted by the Synod. Adopted. — 1881, p. 593. 
 
 [Xote.— See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 665.] 
 
 5. Irregular and injurious proceedings censured. Reasons for 
 discipline must be given. 
 
 Exception to the records of the Synod of Onondaga. " On p. 186 
 we find the Synod administering censure to the Presbytery of Cayuga 
 for an act of discipline toward one of its churches on the ground that 
 the reasons for such discipline were not given according to the require- 
 ments of our Book of Discipline, yet on the next page we find the said 
 Synod reaffirming the acts of a church censured by its Presbytery, and 
 reversing the decision of the Presbytery, without giving the required 
 reasons for such a singular proceeding." — 1863, p. 277, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, under Sec. lxxii, p. 681.] 
 
 6. Judicial decisions may not be reversed on review, but must be 
 respected until passed upon by the superior judicatory. 
 
 [In a case where the organization of a Presbytery was irregular, see 
 Form of Government, Chap, x, pp. 178 and 189. The Assembly inter 
 alia declare :] 
 
 a. The Book of Discipline (Old), however, prescribes, Chap, vii, 
 Sec. i, Sub-sec;. 4, that " no judicial decision of a judicatory shall be 
 reversed unless it be regularly brought up by appeal or complaint." 
 
 The trial of a minister under the circumstances proposed in the over- 
 ture, must be regarded as any other trial, where there has been informality 
 or irregularity in the citation, or other preliminary stages of the process. 
 The trial, with the judgment based upon it, must be respected, until 
 the Synod, as the superior judicatory, shall judge how far the irregularity 
 vitiates the proceedings, and defeats the ends of justice, and shall annul 
 or confirm the same. — 1861, p. 457, N. S. 
 
 b. The Synod likewise seems to have erred in censuring as they did the 
 Committee of the Miami Presbytery, and in acting inconsistent with 
 Constitutional Rules (Discipline, Old), Chap, vii, Sec. i, Sub-sees. 2 
 and 4, by virtually reversing a judicial decision, and this without citing 
 the Presbytery to appear and answer, on the mere review of their 
 records.— 1857, p. 45, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See, also, under Sec. lxxii, p. 681 ; 1874, p. 86 ; and 1879, p. 613.] 
 
 7. On review a Synod is directed to review and correct 
 its proceedings. 
 With respect to the irregularity of its proceedings, the Assembly 
 directs the Synod of Atlantic to review and correct so much of its pro- 
 
692 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 74-78. 
 
 ceedings as were of a judicial character (case of James A. Rainey, 1891, 
 p. 144) in accordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline, 
 Section Ixxiv, care being had, in such correction, to the direction of this 
 Assembly in the matter of the appeal of the Rev. James A. Rainey 
 against the Synod of Atlantic. — 1891, p. 188. 
 
 LXXV. If a judicatory is, at any time, well advised of any uncon- 
 stitutional proceedings of a lower judicatory, the latter shall be cited to 
 appear, at a specified time and place, to produce the records, and to show 
 what it has done in the matter in question ; after which, if the charge is 
 sustained, the whole matter shall be concluded by the judicatory itself, 
 or be remitted to the lower judicatory, with directions as to its disposition. 
 
 [Note. — See, Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v, p. 281, and Book of Discipline, 
 Sec. lxxvi.] 
 
 LXXVI. Judicatories may sometimes neglect to perform their duty, 
 by which neglect heretical opinions or corrupt practices may be allowed 
 to gain ground, or offenders of a gross character may be suffered to 
 escape ; or some part of their proceedings may have been omitted from 
 the record, or not properly recorded. If, therefore, at any time, the 
 superior judicatory is well advised of such neglects, omissions, or irregu- 
 larities on the part of the inferior judicatory, it may require its records 
 to be produced, and shall either proceed to examine and decide the 
 whole matter, as completely as if proper record had been made; or it 
 shall cite the lower judicatory, and proceed as in the next preceding 
 section. 
 
 1. Citation of judicatories on review or on advice. 
 
 a. Resolved, 1. That the proper steps be now taken to cite to the bar 
 of the next Assembly such inferior judicatories as are charged by com- 
 mon fame with irregularities. 
 
 2. That a Special Committee be now appointed to ascertain what 
 judicatories are thus charged by common fame ;* prepare charges and 
 specifications against them ; and to digest a suitable plan of procedure 
 in the matter ; and that said Committee be requested to report as soon as 
 practicable. 
 
 3. That, as citation on the foregoing plan is the commencement of a 
 process involving the right of membership in the Assembly ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That agreeably to a principle laid down in Chap, v, Sec. ix, 
 of the Book of Discipline (Old), the members of said judicatories be 
 excluded from a seat in the next Assembly, until their case shall be 
 decided.— 1837, p. 425. 
 
 II. OF REFERENCES. 
 LXXVII. A Reference is a representation in writing, made by an 
 inferior to a superior judicatory, of a judicial case not yet decided. 
 Generally, however, it is more conducive to the public good that each 
 judicatory should fulfill its duty by exercising its own judgment. 
 
 * "Common Fame" is not recognized by the present Book of Discipline as an 
 accuser. A. judicatory can act only when "well advised," i. e., by competent and 
 credible testimony, whether of person or of record. See this Digest, p. 635. 
 
OF REFERENCES. 693 
 
 1. Reference is voluntary. 
 
 Appeal of Mrs. M. J. Browning from a decision of the Synod of 
 Geneva, sustained, inter alia, 
 
 Because reference is by a lower to a superior court, and is voluntary, 
 and not subject to the order of a higher court. Adopted. — 1878, p. 34. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 223 ; complaint of Sewickley 
 church.] 
 
 LXXVIII. Cases which are new, important, difficult, or of peculiar 
 delicacy, the decision of which may establish principles or precedents of 
 extensive influence, on which the inferior judicatory is greatly divided, 
 or on which for any reason it is desirable that a superior judicatory should 
 first decide, are proper subjects of reference. 
 
 1. References have been entertained, e. g. 
 
 a. The Synod of the Carolinas referred to the Assembly the case of 
 Kev. Hezekiah Balch, charged with error in doctrine. — 1798, p. 151. 
 
 b. The Presbytery of Philadelphia on the propriety of their ordain- 
 ing to the work of the Gospel ministry a licentiate under their care who 
 now holds the office of a chaplain in the navy of the United States. 
 See Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xv. — 1826, p. 171. 
 
 C. The Presbytery of Cayuga relative to the constitutionality of a 
 rule of that body. See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii. — 
 1830, p. 284. 
 
 d. The Synod of Philadelphia in relation to the right of Presbyteries 
 to require every minister or licentiate, coming to them by certificate from 
 another Presbytery or other ecclesiastical body, to submit to an examina- 
 tion before he be received. — 1832, p. 355. 
 
 e. A reference from the Presbytery of West Tennessee, requesting an 
 answer to the two following questions, viz.: "1. What are the nature 
 and duties of the office of deacons ? 2. What is the Scriptural and 
 appropriate mode of ordination ?" was taken up, and after some discussion 
 committed to Mr. Beach, Mr. Vail and Mr. Hoyt.— 1833, p. 393. 
 
 f. From the Presbytery of Chenango, asking advice in the case of 
 Rev. Edward Andrews, a member of that body, who had recently with- 
 drawn, and received Episcopal ordination. — 1828, p. 239. 
 
 2. When the review of a decision without new testimony is desi- 
 rable, the case should be referred to the next higher judicatory. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 2 made a report, 
 which was read and adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 The Committee appointed to consider and report on Overture No. 2, 
 which is in the following words: " Is it lawful and consistent with the 
 order of our Church for a church court to reconsider and set aside its 
 own decision in a case of discipline, after a lapse of five or six years 
 from the time the decision was made, after the court has so changed 
 that many of its members were not members at the time of the decision, 
 and when no new testimony is proposed ?' ' beg leave to report that, in 
 their opinion, the proper answer to this overture will be found included 
 in the following principles, viz. : 
 
 1. Our Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, ix, Sec. 1, provides that if, 
 after a trial before any judicatory, new testimony be discovered, which 
 
694 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 78-79. 
 
 is supposed to be highly important to the exculpation of the accused, it 
 is proper for him to ask, and for the judicatory to grant, a new trial. 
 
 2. It is very conceivable that after the lapse of five or six years the 
 sentence of an ecclesiastical court, which was originally considered as 
 just and wise, although no new testimony, strictly speaking, has appeared, 
 may in the view of the Church appear under an aspect equivalent to new 
 testimony, and calling for reconsideration; yet, 
 
 3. Inasmuch as the frequent reconsideration of cases adjudged by the 
 inferior judicatories, without the appearance of new testimony, admits of 
 great and mischievous abuse, and might lead to an endless recurrence of 
 reviews and reversals of former decisions, in the absence of a majority 
 of the court pronouncing the same; it is evidently more regular, safe and 
 for edification, when a review of a decision, without the disclosure of new 
 testimony, is thought desirable, to refer the case to the next higher judi- 
 catory.— 1833, p. 405. 
 
 LXXIX. References are, either for mere advice, preparatory to a 
 decision by the inferior judicatory, or for ultimate trial and decision by 
 the superior; and are to be carried to the next higher judicatory. If 
 for advice, the reference only suspends the decision of the inferior judica- 
 tory; if for trial, it submits the whole case to the final judgment of the 
 superior. 
 
 1. Reference. Disposal of the Barnes Case. 
 
 The Permanent Clerk announced to the Assembly that there had been 
 put into his hands a reference from the Presbytery of Philadelphia of 
 the whole case of the Rev. Albert Barnes before that body. This case 
 was referred to the Judicial Committee. — 1831, p. 321. 
 
 Against the reference above a complaint was entered, as also a com- 
 plaint against the action of the Presbytery in the case. After the whole 
 proceedings of the Presbytery had been read, and the sermon entitled 
 ' ' The Way of Salvation, ' ' the parties then agreed to submit the case to 
 the Assembly without argument, when it was resolved to refer the whole 
 case to a select Committee. Dr. Miller, Dr. Matthews, Dr. Lansing, 
 Dr. Fisk, Dr. Spring, Dr. J. McDowell, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Ross, Mr. 
 E. White, Mr. Jessup and Mr. Napier were appointed this Committee. 
 —1831, p. 325. 
 
 Subsequently, the Committee to whom was referred the whole case in 
 relation to the Rev. Albert Barnes made a report, which being read 
 was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That after bestowing upon the case the most deliberate and serious 
 consideration, the Committee are of the opinion that it is neither neces- 
 sary, nor for edification, to go into the discussion of all the various and 
 minute details which are comprehended in the documents relating to this 
 case. For the purpose, however, of bringing the matter in controversy, 
 as far as possible, to a regular and satisfactory issue, they would recom- 
 mend to the Assembly the adoption of the following resolutions, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly, while it appreciates the con- 
 scientious zeal for the purity of the Church, by which the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia is believed to have been actuated in its proceedings in the 
 case of Mr. Barnes ; and, while it judges that the sermon by Mr. 
 Barnes, entitled " The Way of Salvation," contains a number of 
 unguarded and objectionable passages, yet is of opinion that, especially 
 
OF REFERENCES. 695 
 
 after the explanations which were given by him of those passages, the 
 Presbytery ought to have suffered the whole to pass without further 
 notice. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That in the judgment of this Assembly, the Presbytery 
 of Philadelphia ought to suspend all further proceedings in the case of 
 Mr. Barnes. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That it will be expedient, as soon as the regular steps can 
 be taken, to divide the Presbytery in such way as will be best calcu- 
 lated to promote the peace of the ministers and churches belonging to 
 the Presbytery. 
 
 With respect to the abstract points proposed to the Assembly for their 
 decision in the reference of the Presbytery, the Committee are of the 
 opinion that if they be answered they had better be discussed and decided 
 in thesi separate from the case of Mr. Barnes. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported that the other complaints and the 
 reference in relation to the case of Mr. Barnes, they considered as 
 merged in the report just adopted. This report was accepted. 
 
 The Assembly, having finished the business in relation to Mr. Barnes, 
 united in special prayer, returning thanks to God for the harmonious 
 result to which they have come; and imploring the blessing of God on 
 their decision.— 1831, p. 329. 
 
 2. When reference has been made the judicatory referring can regain 
 jurisdiction only by the action of the superior judicatory. 
 
 In the case of the appeal of James W. Hamilton against the Synod 
 of Sandusky (1863, p. 36, O. S. ), the following report was made by the 
 Judicial Committee: 
 
 " When this case was first before the Session, the Session being com- 
 posed of the Moderator and one ruling elder, the Moderator, as appears 
 from the minutes, * waived his right to sit in judgment on the case;' but 
 an order was then made that the Session then proceed to take the testi- 
 mony in the case, and submit the same to the Presbytery at its next 
 meeting. ' ' 
 
 The testimony having been taken, the whole case, charges and evidence, 
 were then accordingly submitted and referred to the Presbytery. The 
 action of the Presbytery was to the effect " that the case be not issued 
 before Presbytery." But the Presbytery directed that " the accused 
 be admonished to give none occasion for evil to be spoken of his charac- 
 ter ; to look more carefully to his conduct, and walk more uprightly, as 
 becometh the Gospel;" and recommended the minister of the church to 
 read said action before the congregation; which duty was performed on 
 the 25 th day of August, 1861. 
 
 After this, on the 7th day of September following, the Session, with- 
 out notice to the accused, and without giving him an opportunity to be 
 heard, proceeded to give judgment on the charges and evidence as origi- 
 nally before the Session and Presbytery. 
 
 The case, having been submitted to Presbytery, passed from the posses- 
 sion and proper jurisdiction of the Session, and Presbytery alone could 
 again give the Session such jurisdiction, by reference back to the Session. 
 This was not done. Even if the case had been in some proper way 
 referred back by Presbytery to the Session the accused was entitled to 
 notice of any further proceedings before the Session, and especially so of 
 any new matter of accusation. 
 
696 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 79-83. 
 
 The Presbytery, although, in terms, they did not " issue the case," 
 did substantially make a decision, and by that decision subjected the 
 accused to a mortifying public admonition, which was carried into effect, 
 as directed by the Presbytery. 
 
 The Session, in afterwards giving judgment on the charges, in effect 
 subjected the accused a second time to discipline on the same charges. 
 This is not allowable. If the accused, since he was publicly admonished, 
 as directed by the Presbytery, has been guilty of offences, or disorderly 
 conduct, he should be tried for the same on proper charges and notice. 
 
 Resolved, That for the informalities and errors above mentioned, the 
 appeal be and is hereby sustained, and all proceedings in the case, by the 
 Session, Presbytery and Synod, since the admonition before the congre- 
 gation, on the 25th of August, 1861, are hereby annulled and set aside. 
 MS. indorsement on records of Synod of Sandusky, 1863. — 1863, p. 
 36, O. S. 
 
 3. Reference must be carried to the next higher judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — Under the former Book, references were allowed from the lower courts to 
 the Assembly. See Digest, 1873, p. 546 ; this Sec. lxxix forbids.] 
 
 LXXX. In cases of reference, members of the inferior judicatory 
 may sit, deliberate, and vote. 
 
 LXXXI. A judicatory is not necessarily bound to give a final judg- 
 ment in a case of reference, but may remit the whole case, either with 
 or without advice, to the inferior judicatory. 
 
 1. A memorial treated as a reference. 
 
 The Committee appointed to draw /a minute on the subject of the 
 memorial from the Session of the First Church in Genoa, reported the 
 following, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the church of Genoa be referred to the minute of the 
 Assembly formed in the case of David Price in the year 1825; from 
 which it will appear that, in the judgment of the Assembly, " an admo- 
 nition ' ' was ' ' deserved ' ' by the said Price, in consequence of his 
 unchristian conduct. And it is the judgment of this Assembly that the 
 Session ought immediately to have administered such admonition ; that 
 they ought still to administer it; and that if the said Price refuse to 
 submit to such admonition, or do not thereupon manifest repentance and 
 Christian temper, to the satisfaction of the church, he ought not to be 
 received into the communion of that or any other Presbyterian church. 
 —1827, p. 202. 
 
 LXXXII. The whole record of proceedings shall be promptly trans- 
 mitted to the superior judicatory, and, if the reference is accepted, the 
 parties shall be heard. 
 
 1. Testimony attested by the Moderator and Clerk sufficient. 
 
 The following question, signed by William C. Davis, ' ' Whether testi- 
 mony taken before a Session, and sent up to the Presbytery under the 
 signature of Moderator and Clerk, will not be sufficient in references as 
 well as appeals to render the case thus referred both orderly and cogniza- 
 ble by Presbytery," was answered in the affirmative. — 1797, p. 128. 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 697 
 
 2. A superior judicatory may entertain a reference which is not 
 accompanied by the testimony and proceed itself to take it. 
 The records of the Synod of Kentucky approved, " with one excep- 
 tion, viz. : According to the record on p. 66, the Synod taught and acted 
 on the principle that a Presbytery acts irregularly, which, upon the refer- 
 ence of a church Session, takes the testimony and issues the case accord- 
 ing to its bearings, even when the parties concerned agree to the reference. 
 Your Committee are of opinion that this principle is wrong in itself, 
 and evil in its tendency, and therefore recommend this Assembly to 
 express its disapprobation of it." — 1853, p. 455, O. S. 
 
 In reply to a protest against this decision, the Assembly says: 
 The action condemned is not " in exact accordance with the Constitu- 
 tion, Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. ii, Art. ix," as asserted by the 
 protestant; the article referred to containing a rule designed to facilitate 
 business, but, as its language shows, it does not preclude a Presbytery 
 from taking original testimony in certain cases, and it does not appear 
 from the records that the Presbvtery of Muhlenburg was irregular in so 
 doing.— 1853, p. 456, O. S. 
 
 III. OF COMPLAINTS. 
 LXXXIII. A Complaint is a written representation, made to the 
 next superior judicatory, by one or more persons, subject and submitting to 
 the jurisdiction of the judicatory complained of, respecting any delin- 
 quency, or any decision, by an inferior judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — Under the practice prior to 1884, complaints, as well as appeals, were car- 
 ried over the next superior judicatory, when satisfactory reasons were assigned. See 
 under Appeals, Book of Discipline, Sec. cii. Under the head of " Person or Persons" 
 the judicatories of the Church are included. In 1885 the words "or by any other 
 reputable person or persons" were stricken out. — 1885, p. 602.] 
 
 1. Complaints by judicatories. 
 Complaints were entertained: 
 
 a. Of the Presbytery of Washington, O. , against the Presbytery of 
 West Lexington. — 1821, p. 21. [These Presbyteries belonged to differ- 
 ent Synods.] See also 1828, p. 237. 
 
 b. Of the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia against the Presbytery of 
 Luzerne Brought before the Assembly, because of these Presby- 
 teries having had no common Synodical relation. — 1870, p. 27. 
 
 [Note. — Such cases would now be adjudicated under Book of Discipline, Sec. cxxi- 
 cxxiii.] 
 
 C. Of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in America against 
 the Presbytery of Philadelphia.— 1874, pp. 62-64. 
 
 d. Of the Presbytery of Saharanpur of the Reformed Presbyterian 
 Church against the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
 Church.— 1883, pp. 628, 629; 1884, p. 108. 
 
 [Note. — The following decisions, under the head of Complaints, are cited. Some of 
 them, it is probable, do not conform to the present section. But all are of value, as 
 showing the practice of the Assembly. The decisions under them, as a rule, are not 
 affected by the changes in the Book. Cases c. and d. would be adjudicated under 
 Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v, p. 281] 
 
 2. The distinction between an appeal and a complaint must be 
 
 observed. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Utica were approved, with the exception 
 that, on p. 275, the Synod recognizes a reference to them as an appeal 
 
698 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 which should have been considered and acted on merely as a complaint 
 against, and not as an appeal from, the decision of Presbytery concerning 
 the settlement of a pastor. — 1843, p. 22, N: S. 
 
 3. The same matter may be the subject both of appeal and 
 
 complaint. 
 
 The question was taken on sustaining the appeal and complaint (of 
 the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia against the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia). A division being called for, the question was first taken on the 
 complaint. Sustained. The question was then taken on the appeal. 
 Sustained.— 1834, p. 431. 
 
 4. Complaint not allowed against a judicatory for obeying the 
 orders of the superior judicatory. 
 
 a. Whereas, The Rev. Archibald McQueen prosecuted a complaint 
 before the Assembly of 1845 against the Presbytery of Fayetteville for 
 refusing to restore him to the exercise of the Gospel ministry, and did 
 at the same time memorialize that Assembly to decree his restoration; 
 and whereas, that Assembly did take up and judicially entertain the 
 said complaint, and pronounced judgment in the case by authorizing 
 and recommending the Presbytery to restore the said Archibald McQueen 
 to the Gospel ministry, provided that in the judgment of the Presbytery 
 it was wise so to do ; and whereas the Presbytery, in the exercise of the 
 discretion thus confided to them, did restore Mr. McQueen ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint of the Rev. Colin Mclver and others 
 against the Synod of North Carolina, for having sustained the action of 
 the Presbytery of Fayetteville in restoring the said Archibald McQueen, 
 in accordance with the judicial decision of the Assembly of 1845, cannot 
 be entertained by this house, and is hereby dismissed. 
 
 In making this disposition of the above-mentioned complaint, this Gen- 
 eral Assembly wishes it to be distinctly understood that they do not mean 
 either to retract or modify any judgment hitherto expressed by any 
 Assembly respecting the offence for which Mr. McQueen was suspended 
 from the exercise of the Gospel ministry. They simply declare that his 
 case cannot be regularly brought before them by this complaint. — 
 1847, p. 395, O. S. 
 
 b. The complaint of Mr. Alexander Cowan against the Presbytery of 
 Sidney is not sustained, the Presbytery having acted entirely in accord- 
 ance with the directions of the Assembly of 1867.— 1868, p. 641, O. S. 
 
 5, Complaint not allowed against advice given on memorial. 
 
 The complaint of members of the Park Church, Newark, N. J., 
 against the Synod of New York and New Jersey, was dismissed, on the 
 ground that the action of the Presbytery was not a subject-matter of 
 complaint, or removal of the case to a higher judicatory, their proceed- 
 ings having been merely advisory upon the memorial of the complainants. 
 —1852, p. 166, N. S. 
 
 6. Complaint not allowed against a refusal to adopt a proposed 
 
 paper. 
 
 The Judicial Committee having had under consideration the appeal 
 and complaint of the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D., and others, 
 against a decision of the Synod of Philadelphia on the quorum question ; 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 699 
 
 and the appeal and complaint of the Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, D.D., 
 and others, against a decision of the Synod of Philadelphia on the ques- 
 tion of the imposition of hands in ordination, report, that in their 
 opinion the Form of Government and Discipline of the Presbyterian 
 Church do not authorize the appellants and complainants to bring before 
 the General Assembly either an appeal or complaint in the cases referred 
 to. Adopted.— 1844, p. 366, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — Against this decision a protest was entered. See Baird's Digest, rev. ed., • 
 p. 145. and Minutes, 1844, p. 380. In answer the Assembly reply inter alia:} 
 
 In replying to the protest in question, little more is necessary than to 
 state distinctly what was the action of the Synod of Philadelphia, com- 
 plained of by R. J. Breckinridge and others. Two papers were offered 
 by Dr. Breckinridge for the adoption of the Synod ; the one relating to 
 the constitution of a quorum in Presbytery, the other to the imposition 
 of hands by ruling elders in the ordination of ministers of the Gospel. 
 In relation to each paper, the question on which the Synod voted was in 
 the following words: " Shall this paper be adopted ?" By a large 
 majority the Synod refused to adopt these papers. The Assembly know 
 of no law in our Book of Discipline requiring a Presbytery or a Synod to 
 adopt any paper or papers submitted to them by any individual or any 
 number of individuals ; and if there is no such law, there could be no 
 transgression of law or neglect of duty, and consequently no ground of 
 complaint. 
 
 The papers in question condemn the interpretation of certain clauses in 
 our Constitution, given by the last Assembly, propose an opposite inter- 
 pretation, and overture the General Assembly to repeal the overtures 
 adopted by the last Assembly, and to adopt interpretations of an opposite 
 character. In regard to these papers, it is proper to remark: 
 
 1 . There was no case before the Synod. No elder complained that he 
 had been deprived of what he regarded as a constitutional right. No 
 Presbytery was charged with having constituted and proceeded to business 
 without a constitutional quorum. The Synod, therefore, was not called 
 upon to administer law, but to interpret our Constitution — to decide con- 
 stitutional questions m thesi. How far it is expedient to give expositions 
 of our Constitution, or to decide constitutional questions in thesi, it may 
 be difficult to determine; but certain it is that no church judicatory is 
 bound, in any state of case, to give such decisions. But " where there 
 is no law, there is no transgression, ' ' and, of course, there can be no 
 ground of complaint. The protestants allege that the Synod did act, 
 and that their action was complained of. The answer is, that the only 
 action of the Synod in the case was a refusal to adopt certain papers 
 offered by a member of that body. To this action, if it be proper to 
 call it so, the Synod was forced by the member who offered the papers. 
 They were obliged either to adopt them or to refuse them. They deemed 
 it wise, as they had the perfect right, to do the latter. 
 
 2. Again : these papers, if adopted, required the Synod to send to this 
 Assembly an overture or request to give an interpretation of our Con- 
 stitution contrary to that given by the last Assembly. But, although it 
 is the right of Sessions, Presbyteries or Synods to overture the Assembly 
 whenever they may deem it wise to do so, there is in our Book no law 
 requiring them or any one of them to do so in any case. In declining 
 to send up an overture, therefore, the Synod of Philadelphia violated no 
 
700 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 law, committed no transgression against ecclesiastical law, and conse- 
 quently a complaint against that body cannot lie. The very idea of 
 forcing either individuals or bodies to overture or petition is absurd. 
 
 But the protestants strangely contend that " every inferior court is 
 responsible to the courts above it for the proper exercise of its discretion, 
 and therefore they may be complained of as regards its exercise." 
 Where there is responsibility there can be no discretion. To maintain 
 the contrary is to contend that an individual or a body may use their 
 discretion, provided they use it in a certain way — that they may do as 
 they please, provided they are pleased to act in a particular manner. 
 The truth is, that where ecclesiastical rights of individuals or bodies are 
 concerned, there is no discretion. All such rights are guarded by our 
 Constitution, by which every church court is bound. The admission of 
 the protestants that the Synod had the right to exercise its own discretion 
 in the matter complained of is, in effect, an admission that the complaint 
 is not legitimate, and ought not to have been entertained by this body. 
 
 Still more strangely, if possible, the protestants allege that " if the 
 Synod be not obliged to act except in cases in which it is compelled by 
 positive law, then Synods could not be complained of for even the gross- 
 est violations of duty, such as refusing to receive and issue appeals 
 brought regularly before them, or refusing to redress what has been done 
 by Presbyteries contrary to order." Do they, then, maintain that it is 
 merely discretionary with Presbyteries and Synods whether they will 
 receive and issue appeals, etc., regularly brought before them, as they 
 admit it was with the Synod of Philadelphia, whether they would con- 
 demn the doings of the last Assembly and overture this Assembly to do 
 the same ? But they say ' ' there is no positive command or law requiring 
 Synods to exercise any of their specified powers. ' ' To prove that this 
 statement is wholly incorrect, it is necessary only to refer to Chap, vii, 
 Sees, i, iii and iv, of our Book of Discipline (Old). Sec. i treats of 
 the duties of church judicatories in relation to review and control ; Sees. 
 iii and iv treat of the right to appeal and complain in certain cases, etc. 
 Where there are duties there can be no discretion, and where there is a 
 right to appeal and complain there is positive obligation on the part of 
 the judicatory to receive and issue such appeals and complaints. But 
 where, in our Constitution, is it said to be the duty of any church judi- 
 catory either to adopt papers that may be offered, to decide constitutional 
 questions in thesi, or to overture a higher court ? Or where is the right 
 given to individuals in any case to have their interpretations of our Con- 
 stitution adopted ? There are no such duties on^he one hand or rights 
 on the other, and consequently, no right of appeal or complaint. 
 
 3. An additional objection to the appeals and complaints is that, were 
 they entertained, the Synod of Philadelphia would, in the final vote, 
 be excluded from voting. This, in the administration of law, where the 
 inferior court has decided the case, and the appeal or complaint is against 
 their decision, would be perfectly proper. But in the mere interpreta- 
 tion of our Constitution, in regard to which all have a common interest, 
 and, therefore, common rights, such a course would be unconstitutional 
 and grossly unjust. The Synod of Philadelphia, if the complaints had 
 been entertained, would have been excluded, as having decided the ques- 
 tions involved. But the Synod of Kentucky has also given its decisions 
 of the same questions. Why, then, should the one vote and the other 
 be excluded ? Nay, it is believed, that a large majority of the members 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 701 
 
 of this Assembly have, in one form or another, decided upon them. 
 Why, then, permit them to vote, and exclude the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia ? What interest has this Synod more than other Synods or Presby- 
 teries, in giving a wrong exposition of our Book ? When we interpret 
 our Constitution, the voice of the whole Church should be heard. 
 
 But the protestants say, this is an argument against our Constitution. 
 In this, however, they are mistaken. It is only an argument against 
 their incorrect interpretation of it. It gives no right to appeal or com- 
 plain against a judicatory for declining to decide a constitutional question 
 in thesi, or to overture the higher court. 
 
 4. That the complaint is illegitimate, is further evident from the con- 
 sequences which would follow the adoption of the principle involved in 
 it. If our church courts are bound, in any case, to decide constitu- 
 tional questions in thesi, and to overture the higher court, it follows: 
 
 (1) That any member of a Session, Presbytery or Synod can, at any 
 time, force the Assembly to discuss and decide, in thesi, any constitu- 
 tional question he may choose to raise, or any number of them. He 
 has only to offer his interpretation to the lower court, and come up with 
 his complaint, which must be regularly issued. 
 
 (2) The Assembly can be forced to discuss and decide the same ques- 
 tion repeatedly at the same session. The minority of the Synod of 
 Kentucky might have complained of its action on the same points ; and, 
 according to the doctrine of the protestants, the Assembly must have 
 regularly tried both complaints, regularly hearing the parties from both 
 Synods discuss the same points, not in relation to the administration of 
 law, where both parties claim to have been aggrieved, but in relation to 
 the interpretation of law. 
 
 (3) The Assembly could be forced to decide great constitutional ques- 
 tions by only a part of the delegates from the Presbyteries, thus exclud- 
 ing a large number of Presbyteries from a vote on the interpretation of 
 the Constitution by which they are to be governed. 
 
 (4) The Assembly, by the exclusion of different Synods, in deciding 
 the different complaints, might be placed in the humiliating attitude of 
 giving contradictory expositions of the Constitution at the same sessions. 
 
 Who will pretend that our Constitution is so defective, so strangely 
 inconsistent, as to expose our church courts to difficulties and absurdities 
 such as those just mentioned ? 
 
 In answer to the third reason assigned by the protestants it is sufficient 
 to state, that it has not been, and we believe it cannot be proved, that 
 any General Assembly of our Church ever entertained a complaint such 
 as the one in question — a complaint against a church judicatory for 
 refusing to decide a constitutional question in thesi, or to overture a 
 higher judicatory. The complaint under consideration is, so far as this 
 Assembly is informed, strictly sui generis. 
 
 Finally, our Constitution prescribes the mode in which constitutional 
 questions may be brought before the General Assembly. The proper 
 course was pursued by the Presbytery of Cincinnati in regard to the 
 matters embraced in Dr. Breckinridge's papers; and they were brought 
 before this body untrammeled by judicial proceedings, and the voice of 
 the representatives of the Church decided on the true meaning of the 
 clauses in our Constitution concerning which there has been a difference 
 of opinion. 
 
 In reply to the complaint of the protestants, that the Assembly refused 
 
702 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 to hear the complainants on the right of jurisdiction, it is sufficient to 
 say: (1) That it cannot be shown that our Book gives such rights. (2) 
 The adoption of the principle involved in such a claim would be 
 followed by most of the difficulties already enumerated as consequent 
 upon entertaining the complaint. The Assembly must, from year to 
 year, agree to hear every member of a Session, Presbytery or Synod, 
 who may choose to try to convince them that they have jurisdiction over 
 all kinds of subjects. (3) There was properly no question as to right 
 of jurisdiction. The matter of complaint against the Synod belongs 
 not to the department of discipline. 
 
 In reply to the complaint of the protestants that the Assembly did not 
 sit as a court, and that the members were not charged by the Moderator, 
 it is sufficient to state, that as the Assembly could not sit in a judicial 
 capacity until the complaint was decided to be orderly and legitimate, 
 the objection is wholly without force. 
 
 The protestants think the course pursued by the Assembly calculated 
 to foster all kinds of diversity in practice and opinion. They seem not 
 to see, that the course pursued by the complainants and by themselves, 
 in relation to the decisions of the highest court of our Church, to which 
 it properly belongs to expound the Constitution and settle all controver- 
 sies, is directly calculated to produce the very result they seem to depre- 
 cate.— 1844, p. 383, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — This answer was prepared by Drs. James Hoge, John McClean, C. C. Cuy- 
 ler, B. H, Rice and Henry A. Boardman. It is of great value, as defining the rights 
 of complainants, and also the limits of the exercise of those rights.] 
 
 7. Complaint not allowed against an opinion expressed by the 
 superior judicatory. 
 
 A complaint of the Presbytery of St. Clairsville against the Synod of 
 Wheeling, for taking exception to their minutes on the ground " that 
 their entire action in the case of the church of Kirkwood was unwise 
 and inexpedient." 
 
 The Committee recommend that this complaint be dismissed, on the 
 ground that in the action complained of, the Synod passed no judgment 
 in the case, but only expressed an opinion, and that there is therefore no 
 constitutional ground for complaint. [See Book of Discipline (Old), 
 Chap, vii, Sec. iv, Sub-sec. ii.] The report was adopted. — 1864, p. 
 312, O. S. 
 
 8. Nor against a judicatory for the exercise of its discretion. 
 
 The complaint of the Rev. W. P. Carson against Synod of Iowa for 
 dismissing his complaint against the Presbytery of Dubuque. The Pres- 
 bytery, upon application both of the pastor and the congregation, 
 dissolved the pastoral relation, and Mr. Carson complained to Synod, on 
 the ground that the Session and trustees united in calling the meeting of 
 the congregation without the presence or cooperation of the pastor, at 
 which action was taken asking for the dissolution of the pastoral relation. 
 The Committee recommend that the complaint be dismissed, there being 
 no sufficient ground of complaint. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1868, p. 612, O. S. 
 
 9. Discretion is reviewable as to its abuse or misuse, 
 a. Complaint of Rev. Arthur Crosby vs. The Synod of Long Island. 
 Dismissed for the following reasons, viz. : 
 [Note.— See in full, under Sec. xii,p. 638.] 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 703 
 
 1. That upon the facts stated by the Presbytery as the basis of its 
 action, the question whether the investigation asked for should be entered 
 upon or not was one to be determined in the exercise of a sound discre- 
 tion. — Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, iii, Sec. vi. 
 
 2. That while the misuse or abuse of discretionary power is reviewable, 
 its use, in this instance, seems to have been in regard to a subject fairly 
 within its range and unobjectionable in its manner. — 1881, p. 586. 
 
 b. The complaint of the Kev. Samuel M. Gould against the action of 
 the Synod of Philadelphia. The action complained of was taken on the 
 petition of A. Bancroft, who signs himself " a member of the Session 
 of the original Hermon church, ' ' and asks the Synod ' ' to investigate 
 the condition in which Hermon church has been placed ' ' by several acts 
 which are recited in the petition. The petition of Mr. Bancroft was 
 presented to the Synod at its sessions in October, 1881, and denied on 
 the ground that the matter had been adjudicated in the various courts of 
 the Church. The Judicial Committee are unable to find, from the com- 
 plaint, that the decision of the Synod affects the doctrine or the Constitu- 
 tion of the Church; nor can they find, in the statement of the action of 
 the Synod, anything which was not within their discretion ; and therefore 
 no case is presented which the Assembly can properly entertain and 
 review. We recommend that the case be dismissed, and the Committee 
 be discharged from its further consideration. Adopted. — 1882, p. 100. 
 
 C. Appeal and complaint of the Rev. Mr. Edgar from the action of 
 the Synod of Erie, sustaining the action of the Presbytery «of Clarion in 
 refusing to put a call from the church of Collingsburgh into his hands. 
 The Judicial Committee recommend that, as the General Assembly have 
 repeatedly decided that Presbyteries have discretionary power in such 
 cases (see Digest, 1886, p. 548), which decisions are clearly in accord- 
 ance with the Form of Government (see Chap, xv, Sec. ix), therefore 
 the appeal and complaint be dismissed. Adopted. — 1875, p. 510. 
 
 10. Complaint not allowed in a case already decided by the 
 
 Assembly. 
 
 The complaint of James Russell against the Presbytery of Flint River 
 and the Synod of Georgia. 
 
 The Committee report that the case has already been adjudicated by 
 the General Assembly in Philadelphia, in the sessions of 1853, and cannot 
 properly come again before this body ; and therefore recommend that the 
 case be dismissed, and the papers be returned to Mr. Russell. Adopted. 
 —1855, p. 271, O. S. 
 
 11. Nor against a decision of a Moderator unappealed 
 from at the time. 
 
 Complaint of the Session of the First Presbyterian church, St. 
 Charles, Mo. 
 
 A complaint of Rev. Robert P. Farris against the Synod of Missouri. 
 
 These two cases are substantially identical, and may be regarded as 
 one. The Committee find that in the matter complained of there was no 
 action of the Synod as such, but only a decision of the Moderator affect- 
 ing the complainants, from which they made no appeal to the body of 
 the Synod, and consequently they have no just ground of complaint. 
 They therefore recommend that it be dismissed, and that the complain- 
 ants have leave to withdraw their papers. The report was adopted. — 
 1865, p. 543, O. S. 
 
704 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 12. Nor from the decision of a commission not yet confirmed. 
 
 The Judicial Committee, through Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D., reported 
 the appeal of the church of Mifflinburg agaiust the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia for its action in the matter of the appeal and complaint of the Rev. 
 Isaac Grier. 
 
 The Committee reports that this complaint must be dismissed because 
 no complaint will lie from the decision of a Commission of Synod until 
 that decision has been reported to Synod and approved thereby. The 
 Committee therefore recommends that the Assembly direct the Commis- 
 sion in this case to report its decision to the Synod for its action. The 
 report was adopted.— 1869, p. 902, O. S. ; 1862, p. 608, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxx.] 
 
 13. Nor where the action complained of does not contravene the 
 doctrine or the Constitution of the Church. 
 
 a. The Rev. James H. Baird complains of the action of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania at its recent meeting in the Central church, Allegheny, in 
 adopting the eighth resolution on the subject of temperance in the follow- 
 ing words, viz.: " We endorse Constitutional Amendment and pray for 
 its submission to the people." 
 
 The Committee submit that, in its judgment, the subject-matter of the 
 complaint does not contravene the doctrine or the Constitution of the 
 Church, and therefore recommend that the complaint be not entertained. 
 Adopted.— 1^887, p. 128. 
 
 b. Judicial Case No. 2. — The complaint of Oakland church against 
 the Synod of Tennessee. The complaint is as follows : The Presbytery 
 of Holston recommended that Mount Bethel and Tusculum churches 
 cooperate or group together for the purpose of sustaining preaching at 
 those two points, and did recommend them, as thus grouped, to the 
 Board of Home Missions for aid. Of this Oakland church complained 
 to the Synod, alleging that the effect of this action would be to withdraw 
 families from Oakland church. The Synod overruled the complaint. 
 Of that action of Synod, Oakland church complains to the General 
 Assembly. Your Committee recommends that the complaint be dis- 
 missed, because it is a case in which the Assembly has no jurisdiction, 
 having regard to matters which refer neither to constitutional nor doctrinal 
 questions (see Chap, xi, Sec. iv, Form of Government). The report 
 was adopted. — 1888, p. 77. 
 
 C. The report of the Judicial Committee, in the case of Rev. N. 
 West against the Synod of Minnesota, was read. Mr. West was heard 
 on the question of the constitutionality of the appeal. The report was 
 adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Judiciary Committee, to which was referred the appeal of the 
 Rev. Nathaniel West, from the action of the Synod of Minnesota, and 
 his complaint of the same action, respectfully submit the following report: 
 
 A brief statement of the facts as they have been made to appear to 
 your Committee is all that is needful for understanding the merits of the 
 case. On the 21st of April, 1887, the Presbytery of St. Paul adopted 
 the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That all duties, authority and relations of Dr. West to said 
 church (the First Presbyterian Church of St. Paul), by virtue of any 
 authority of this Presbytery, or its constituted commission, are hereby 
 terminated. 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 705 
 
 From this action Dr. West appealed to the Synod. 
 
 It is manifest that this appeal presented in no sense a judicial case, 
 such as is intended by the ninety-fourth section of the Book of Disci- 
 pline. It was not therefore, appealable to the Synod. It could be 
 brought into the Synod only by complaint. It was a case of administra- 
 tion merely. The Synod treated it as such, and disposed of it by resolv- 
 ing that the appeal be not entertained as such, since this is not a judicial 
 case. (Hodge's Presbyterian Law, p. 131: " Judicial business is any act 
 of discipline, but especially the formal trial of an accused person, and 
 appeals are admissible only in judicial cases." Referring to Revised 
 Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. iv, Art. xciv. ) 
 
 In thus disposing of the case your Committee discover no error. More- 
 over, it is plain that the action of the Synod did not, in any sense, affect, 
 or have relation to the doctrine or Constitution of the Church. The 
 Assembly has no jurisdiction of any appeal from, or complaint of, the 
 action of the Synod. Complaint and appeal in such a case are alike 
 prohibited by the fourth section of the eleventh chapter of our Form of 
 Government, which declares that the decisions of Synods on appeals, 
 eomplaints and references, which do not affect the doctrine or Constitu- 
 tion of the Church, shall be final. 
 
 Your Committee therefore recommend that the appeal and complaint 
 of Dr. West be dismissed.— 1888, p. 124. 
 
 14. Nor where there is no sufficient ground for complaint. 
 
 Complaint of J. L. Woods and F. E. Shearer vs. The Synod of 
 California, for refusing to take exception to the records of the Presby- 
 tery of San Jose. 
 
 Your Committee recommend that the complaint be dismissed : Because 
 there does not appear to be any sufficient ground on which to lodge a 
 complaint; and because the complainants should more properly have 
 sought redress in the matter complained of by way of review and 
 control.— 1894, p. 127. 
 
 15. Nor where the complainant is not subject and submitting to 
 the jurisdiction of the judicatory complained of. 
 
 Judicial case, a complaint of the Presbytery of La Crosse against the 
 Presbytery of Mattoon and the Synod of Illinois, in the case of the 
 Rev. J. H. Lish. 
 
 The Judicial Committee find that the complaint is not in order, for the 
 reason that due notice has not been given to the Synod of Illinois, and 
 that the Presbytery of La Crosse, not being subject and submitting to 
 the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of Mattoon or the Synod of Illinois, has 
 not the right of complaining against them (Book of Discipline, Sec. 
 lxxxiii), aud that the complainant should seek redress by way of over- 
 ture, memorial or petition.- 1894, p. 127. 
 
 [Note.— See, however, in this Digest, No. 1, p. 697, and Book of Discipline, Sec. 
 cxxi.] 
 
 16. Nor in a case of mere review of records. 
 
 In the case of the complaint of Nathaniel West and Thomas H. 
 Skinner against the Synod of Cincinnati, in a case of review and control, 
 the Committee recommend that, it being a question of mere review of 
 records, a judicial complaint does not lie, and that the case be dismissed. 
 —1877, p. 576. 
 45 
 
706 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 17. Nor against the refusal to read the printed minutes. 
 
 Case of Rev. J. W. Martin vs. the Synod of Cleveland. 
 
 Mr. Martin complains of a suggestion of the Moderator, sustained by 
 vote of the Synod, that the minutes of the previous session need not be 
 read at the beginning of the sessions in October, 1872, because they had 
 been printed and were in the hands of the members; also that the 
 Moderator refused to hear him speak against this action, and requests the 
 Assembly to express a judgment respecting the authority of Moderators 
 and Church courts under our Book. The Committee find that the 
 minutes of the previous session had been read and approved by the Synod 
 at the close of that session, and therefore would have been read only for 
 information, which was already in possession of the members in the 
 printed copies; that they have no proof that the complainant was unjustly 
 treated by the Moderator, beyond what often occurs in such cases ; and 
 that our Book of Discipline very definitely states the authority and pro- 
 vince of Moderators. Therefore, we do not deem the case of sufficient 
 importance to require the action of the Assembly. Adopted. — 1873, p. 
 509. 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline. Sec. lxxii, p. 684.] 
 
 18. Nor against postponement of action on a report of a Committee. 
 In the case of Thomas H. Skinner and others against the Synod of 
 Cincinnati for not taking up and issuing a complaint of Dr. Skinner 
 against the Presbytery of Cincinnati in the McCune case, then pending, 
 the Committee recommend that, as there had been no judicial action of 
 the Synod in the case, against which a complaint could lie, but simply 
 and only a postponement of action on a report of the Judicial Committee 
 of the Synod, therefore the case be dismissed. —1877, p. 576. 
 
 19. Complainant has leave to withdraw with or without reasons. 
 
 a. The complaint of Alexander Guy, M.D., against the action of 
 the Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 The complainant, Dr. Guy, having reason to believe that the language 
 employed by the Synod, in determining the case, was inadvertently used, 
 is on this account willing to withdraw his complaint. The Committee 
 recommend that leave be granted, and that Dr. Guy be allowed to with- 
 draw his papers. 
 
 The report was accepted and adopted. — 1867, p. 331, O. S. 
 
 b. The complaint of the Rev. S. J. Niccolls and others against the 
 action of the Synod of Missouri, passed at its sessions in October, 1865, 
 whereby it declared the previous meeting of its own body " not a free 
 court of Christ, and its entire acts null, void and of no binding force." 
 
 This complaint was found in order, and referred from the last General 
 Assembly to this; but inasmuch as the Synod has reconsidered and 
 reversed the action complained of, and reported the same to this General 
 Assembly, in accordance with the requirement of the last Assembly, 
 passed with reference to the Synod of Missouri, the complainants request 
 leave to withdraw their complaint. Your Committee recommend that 
 their request be granted, and the case dismissed. Adopted. — 1867, p. 
 331, O. S. 
 
 C. The appeal and complaint of D. W. Irvine and others against the 
 action of the Presbytery of New Castle. The Committee, having satis- 
 factory evidence that the ground of the appeal and complaint in this case 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 707 
 
 las been removed by the subsequent action of the Presbytery complained 
 of, recommend that the appeal and complaint be dismissed without 
 prejudice. The report was adopted. — 1867, p. 327, O. S. 
 
 d. A complaint of certain members of the Session of the church of 
 Eaton, O., against the Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the complainants have leave to with- 
 draw their complaints without prejudice, and that they be advised to 
 present the same to the Synod of Cincinnati. — 1871, p. 547. 
 
 e. A complaint by John C. Means and others against the Synod of 
 Illinois. The complainants having requested leave to withdraw their 
 complaint, the Committee recommends that their request be granted. 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 143. 
 
 f. The complaint of Rev. J. D. Robertson against the Synod of Penn- 
 sylvania. The Committee recommend that the complainant, having 
 asked leave to withdraw his papers, be allowed to do so. Adopted. — 
 1895, p. 69. 
 
 20. Withdrawal of complaint may have the same effect as its 
 
 dismissal. 
 
 The Judicial Commission to whom was referred the complaint of the 
 Rev. John W. Martin against the Synod of Philadelphia in the matter 
 of the Hermon church, reported that after the announcement of their 
 decision in Case Xo. 1, the complainant, by his counsel, the Rev. Robert 
 Herron, D.D., asked leave to withdraw his complaint, which was granted; 
 and the Commission adjudge that such withdrawal shall have the same 
 effect as if the complaint had been dismissed. — 1878, p. 43. 
 
 21. Leave to withdraw, the end desired being accomplished. 
 
 a. " Inasmuch as the complaint of W. W. Colmery and others 
 against the Synod of Cincinnati was made wholly in behalf of our excel- 
 lent Standards of doctrine and order, and as these have been sufficiently 
 vindicated by the discussion and action of this Assembly on the com- 
 plaint of Thomas H. Skinner and others, I respectfully ask leave to 
 withdraw the complaint. William W. Colmery." 
 
 The request was granted. — 1878, p. 81. 
 
 b. On the adoption of the report of the Committee to review the 
 records of the Synod of Cincinnati (see the report in full under Sec. 
 lxxii, hi (3) above), Drs. West and Skinner asked leave to withdraw 
 their complaints against the Synod of Cincinnati, the grounds of said 
 complaint having been virtually covered by the report. Leave was given 
 the complainants to withdraw their papers. — 1878, p. 118. 
 
 22. Complainants have leave to withdraw because : 1. The proceedings 
 of a civil court are not conclusive as against the ecclesiastical; 
 2. Trial by commission is not ground of complaint; 3. Infor- 
 mality in the decision does not invalidate the result intended to 
 be reached. 
 The complaint of Joseph S. Van Dyke and others against the Synod 
 of Xew Jersey for dismissing their complaint against the Presbytery of 
 Monmouth, for acquitting Elder L. E. Brown of an alleged criminal 
 offence. 
 
 A brief statement of the case is as follows: 
 
 Brown was indicted in a civil court for a serious crime ; was tried, and 
 found guilty. The case was taken to the Supreme Court, which reversed 
 
708 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 the judgment at the hearing, and remanded the case for a new triaL 
 The accused, under the advice of counsel, in order to save the notoriety, 
 risk and expense of a new trial, plead guilty to a lesser grade of offence, 
 and was fined by the court. 
 
 He then applied at once to his Session for the most ' ' searching investi- 
 gation ' ' into the charges made against him. The Session referred the 
 matter to the Presbytery of Monmouth, which accepted the reference. 
 The case was tried by a Commission of the Presbytery appointed at the 
 request of all parties. The Commission, after a full trial, acquitted the 
 accused. 
 
 Upon his acquittal, these complainants complained to the Synod of 
 New Jersey. The Synod, by consent of parties, appointed a new Com- 
 mission, who again tried the case upon its merits, and also considered 
 certain irregularities alleged to exist in the action of the Presbytery. 
 The Commission brought in a decision in these words: " The complaint 
 is sustained pro forma ; but, inasmuch as the informalities and irregu- 
 larities complained of do not seriously affect the matters at issue, the case 
 be. and hereby is dismissed." The decision of the Commission was 
 accepted by the Synod, and ordered to be entered of record. 
 
 These complainants now complain of this action of the Synod. 
 
 They do not ask that the case be tried again by this Assembly, but 
 that it be remitted for a new trial to the Presbytery of Monmouth. 
 
 The reasons given for this complaint are obscure, but, in the opinion 
 of this Committee, are as follows: 
 
 1. The decision of the Commission of the Synod was in couflict with 
 the plea of ' ' guilty ' ' in the civil tribunal. 
 
 2. Because the case was twice tried by Commissions, and not by the 
 Presbytery or Synod itself. 
 
 3. That the decision of the Commission of the Synod was not in proper 
 form; that, instead of dismissing the complaint as it did, it should have 
 in so many words declared the accused ' ' guilty or not guilty, ' ' and have 
 affirmed or reversed the action of the Presbytery. 
 
 In regard to the first ground of complaint, in the judgment of your 
 Committee all the presumptions arising from the proceedings of the civil 
 courts adverse to Mr. Brown are overbalanced and neutralized by the 
 much stronger presumptions arising from his acquittal, after patient and 
 careful investigation, by two ecclesiastical courts in succession, and those 
 among the largest and weightiest in our Church. 
 
 With regard to the second ground of complaint, that the case was 
 tried by Commissions by consent of parties, we do not see that it fur- 
 nishes any just ground for complaint. Should the prayer of the com- 
 plainants be granted, and the case be remanded to the Presbytery of 
 Monmouth for a new trial, it would probably be tried again by a Com- 
 mission, for the best of reasons. 
 
 With regard to the third reason for this complaint, we think the 
 Commission of the Synod was not happy in the form of its decisiou. 
 The intention of the Commission was, it is evident, to acquit the accused 
 and confirm the actiou of the Presbytery. The Committee consider that 
 this was the actual result of its dismissal of the complaint. 
 
 The form of the decision has harmed and can harm no one, and it is 
 for the accused, if any one, to complain of the indefinite judgment in 
 his own favor. 
 
 This Committee are somewhat in doubt as to what was expected of 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 709 
 
 them on the recommitment to them of the report before made in 
 the case.. They however report the case a second time, with a fuller 
 statement of the facts of the case and of your Committee's opinion 
 thereon. 
 
 Your Committee deem it their official province and solemn duty, in 
 accordance with the long and unquestioned practice of the Judicial Com- 
 mittee of the General Assembly, to give to the Assembly their opinion as 
 to the sufficiency of these grounds of complaint, and to propose to the 
 body the course they recommend it to pursue in regard thereto. 
 
 In view of all this, it appears to your Committee, that this case has 
 been sufficiently and properly adjudicated. We think, with the light 
 now before us, that it would be imposing an unjust burden and an 
 unedifying labor on the Presbytery of Monmouth to require it to retry 
 this case. 
 
 We therefore unanimously recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That, in the matter of the complaint of Joseph S. Van Dyke 
 and others against the Synod of New Jersey, praying that the Presby- 
 tery of Monmouth be required by this Assembly to readjudicate the case 
 of L. E. Brown, their petition be not granted, and that the complainants 
 have leave to withdraw their papers. — 1880, pp. 64, 65. 
 
 .23. Complaints dismissed and leave to withdraw, because, 1. Of in- 
 definiteness in the complaints, and 2. That the matters should 
 be left to the wisdom and discretion of the Synod. 
 
 The report of the Judicial Committee was adopted, viz. : 
 
 No. 8, Rev. Nathaniel West vs. The Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 No. 9, Rev. Nathaniel West vs. The Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 No. 10, Rev. William H. James et al. vs. The Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 The Judicial Committee have had under consideration these three 
 complaints and find that they are about the very same subject-matter, 
 and may well be considered at once and together. 
 
 Two of the three are complaints (Nos. 8 and 9) by Rev. Nathaniel 
 West against the action of the Synod, on the — day of October, A.D. 
 1879, at its session then held at Lebanon. The Synod at that time and 
 place did consider a certain complaint against the Presbytery of Cincin- 
 nati, did reverse the proceedings of the Presbytery, and at the same 
 time, in severe terms, did ceusure the Presbytery. This we learn from 
 the records of the Synod, and not from the complaints. The complaints, 
 however, do complain that certain censures and requirements pronounced 
 by the Synod are not sufficiently severe as against the Presbytery. 
 
 The complaint No. 10 is the complaint of the Rev. William H. James 
 et al., members of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, complaining of the 
 same action of the Synod. They complain, however, that the action is 
 unwarrantably severe as against Presbytery. But, like the Rev. 
 Nathaniel West, they fail to describe the action they complain of as being 
 too severe, and we are left to examine the records of the Synod to ascer- 
 tain what was done by the Synod. 
 
 The notices of complaint in each of these three cases, and the com- 
 plaints themselves, were all filed in due time ; yet they are all so indefinite 
 that they would require much additional elaboration before the real 
 points and issues, on which the parties seek the judgment of this Assem- 
 bly, can be brought under its ready comprehension for intelligent judicial 
 
710 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 review; and, therefore, the Committee find that neither of the three com- 
 plaints is in order. 
 
 When we consider that the grounds of complaint are so indefinitely 
 stated in each of the three complaints that we are not only left in great 
 doubt as to the precise points complained of, but actually required to 
 examine the records to ascertain these points, and when we consider the 
 controversy itself, we the more cheerfully come to the conclusion at which 
 we have arrived. The record shows that the whole matter might well 
 be left to be determined by the wisdom, and in the exercise of a sound 
 discretiou, of the Synod. The Committee fail to find anything in these 
 cases that should occupy the time of the Assembly. We are sure that 
 by ending the controversy now the peace of the Church and the comfort 
 and usefulness of all concerned will be promoted. 
 
 Of course it is the imperative duty of every inferior court to obey the 
 direction and mandate of the superior, and such obedience, if necessary, 
 should be enforced by the superior court. 
 
 We arrive at these conclusions all the more gladly, because a course 
 different from that herein indicated does not appear to be needed for the 
 vindication of Rev. Nathaniel West. That has already been done in 
 the most ample manner. It appears that there is nothing derogatory to 
 his moral, religious or ministerial character. 
 
 The premises considered, the Judicial Committee recommend that each 
 of the three complaints be dismissed, and that the respective complainants 
 have leave to withdraw all papers filed by them. — 1880, pp. 80, 81. 
 
 24. Leave to withdraw on request of the parties. 
 
 a. The complaint of the Rev. James P. Hendrick and thirteen others 
 against the action of the Synod of Kentucky for rejecting an exception 
 to the records of the Presbytery of Ebenezer, which were before the 
 Synod under general review and control. The Committee report that in 
 this case the Rev. Stephen Yerkes, D. D. , who is one of the complainants, 
 has appeared before the Committee and asked leave to withdraw the 
 complaint, which action he represents will be satisfactory to the parties. 
 We therefore recommend that leave be granted to withdraw the com- 
 plaint, and that this Committee be discharged from its further considera- 
 tion. Adopted.— 1882, p. 100. 
 
 b. A complaint against the Presbytery of Cincinnati, because it did 
 not sustain Charge One (1) in the case of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America against the Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, 
 D.D., signed by John Junkin Francis, P. Robertson, J. Conzett, 
 William H. James, and others. 
 
 Rev. William H. James, D.D., for himself, and as counsel for the 
 other complainants, asks leave respectfully to withdraw the complaint. 
 
 The Judicial Committee, therefore, recommend to the General Assem- 
 bly that the complainants, at their own request, have leave to withdraw 
 their complaint. Adopted. — 1894, p. 87. 
 
 [Note. — See also complaint of John J. McCook et al. vs. the Synod of New York, 
 under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiv, p. 715.] 
 
 C. Judicial case, being the complaint of the Rev. George W. F. 
 Birch, D. D. , against the Synod of New York. Your Committee would 
 report that they have examined the papers in the complaint of Dr. Birch 
 against the action of the Synod of New York and have found them in 
 order. In view of the fact that at the time the minutes of the Presby- 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 711 
 
 tery of North River were reviewed by the Synod of New York, the case 
 of the candidate for admission had not been completed, and inasmuch as 
 the case will come before the Synod at its next meeting upon the review 
 of the subsequent action of Presbytery, the complainant agrees to with- 
 draw the complaint. Your Committee therefore recommends that this 
 action be approved. Adopted. — 1895, p. 69. 
 
 25. Complaint dismissed because no parties were aggrieved. 
 
 A complaint of Thomas W. Hynes, of certain action taken by the 
 Presbytery of Alton and the Synod of Illinois, South. Whilst there is 
 some ground, through a technical informality, for his complaint, yet, as 
 no parties were aggrieved by the action of Presbytery, it is recommended 
 that the complaint be dismissed. Adopted. — 1880, p. 29. 
 
 26. Complaint dismissed as not in due form. To strike from the 
 roll without notice or citation disapproved. 
 
 A complaint against the Synod of Colorado in confirming the action 
 of the Presbytery of Wyoming, in striking the name of Rev. Thomas 
 Cooper from its roll without notice or citation. The Committee report 
 that, while the Assembly cannot approve of the action of the Presbytery 
 in dropping Mr. Cooper's name without notice or citation, nor the subse- 
 quent action of the Synod of Colorado in confirming the action in review, 
 yet, as nothing would be gained by a reopening of the case, and as the 
 case does not come before us in due form, the Committee recommend that 
 the case be dismissed. Adopted. — 1875, p. 511. 
 
 27. Subject matter of complaints entertained. 
 
 a. Relative to a decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh reversing a 
 decision of the Presbytery of Ohio, which had restored Mr. Wherry to 
 church privileges. — 1820, p. 738. 
 
 The complaint was sustained. 
 
 b. In the case of the complaint of members of the Presbytery of 
 Carlisle against the Synod of Philadelphia, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint ought to be considered by the Assembly, 
 only so far as it regards the regularity of the proceedings of the Synod 
 in reversing the judgment of Presbytery in the case. — 1823, p. 74. 
 
 C. Complaint of the Presbytery of Washington, O. , against the Pres- 
 bytery of West Lexington, for licensing and ordaining the Rev. William 
 L. McCalla, contrary, in the opinion of the complainants, to Presbyterial 
 order, Mr. McCalla having been suspended from church privileges by 
 the Presbytery of Washington, in consequence of a reference on the 
 subject from the Session of the church of Chillicothe. — 1821, p. 21. 
 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, xiv, p. 544.] 
 
 d. Complaint of Ashbel Green and others, by which complaint the 
 following question is presented for the decision of the Assembly, viz. : 
 Is it consistent with the Constitution of this Church for the same indi- 
 vidual to hold the office of ruling elder in two different churches at the 
 same time? 
 
 The complainants were heard in support of their complaint ; the Synod 
 was heard in defence of their decision ; and the complainants concluded 
 with a reply: 
 
 When it was resolved by the Assembly, that the decision of the Synod 
 be affirmed, and the complaint dismissed. — 1827, p. 204. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, v, No. 5, p. 149.] 
 
712 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 83. 
 
 e. A complaint by Mr. David McClure, against the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia, in relation to the mode in which certain ruling elders had 
 lately been elected in the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. 
 —1827, p. 211. 
 
 Decision of Presbytery affirmed. — p. 215. 
 
 f. Complaint of the minority of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, against 
 a reference by said Presbytery of the case of Rev. Albert Barnes. — 
 1831, p. 319. 
 
 Complaint sustained. — p. 329. 
 
 g. Complaint of Thomas Bradford et al. against the decision of the 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia, relative to the installation of Mr. Duffield. 
 Sustained.— 1835, p. 490. 
 
 h. The complaint of Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Pickands in behalf of 
 themselves and other members of the late Presbytery of Wilmington 
 against the Synod of Philadelphia, for dissolving them. Sustained. — 
 1836, p. 279. 
 
 i. Complaint of Rev. Thompson Bird against the Synod of Iowa for 
 reversing the decision of the Presbytery of Des Moines, deposing a min- 
 ister for adultery in marrying a divorced woman. — 1858, p. 599, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, p. 98.] 
 
 j. A complaint of certain members of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, 
 against the Synod of Philadelphia, for refusing to divide said Presbytery, 
 was taken up. — 1832, p. 356. 
 
 The complaint was sustained without casting censure on the Synod of 
 Philadelphia.— 1832, p. 360. 
 
 k. The complaint of John Turbitt against the Synod of Illinois, for 
 refusing to take up and consider, at their meeting in October, 1859, his 
 appeal from, and complaint against, the Presbytery of Peoria; and 
 would recommend to the Assembly to dispose of the case by adopting the 
 following minute: 
 
 It is earnestly recommended by this Assembly to the Synod of Illinois 
 to reconsider their judgment in the case of Mr. John Turbitt, declared 
 at their late meeting, October, 1859, and, without regarding the circum- 
 stance of his having originally passed over the Synod and appealed 
 directly to the Assembly, nor the circumstance of so much time having 
 elapsed since the decision of the Presbytery against him, to take up his 
 case, and either try it as an appeal against the Presbytery upon the old 
 evidence, or else remand it to the Presbytery for their hearing of the 
 new testimony. — 1860, p. 46, O. S. 
 
 1. The complaint of the Rev. Alexander M. Cowan against the action 
 of the Presbytery of Sydney, for refusing to enroll his name on the 
 ground that he acknowledged himself to be a signer of the " Declaration 
 and Testimony, ' ' and refused to sign the declaration prescribed by the 
 Assembly of 1867 in such cases. 
 
 The Committee finds the case to be in order, and recommends that it 
 be tried according to the order prescribed in the Book of Discipline. — 
 1868, p. 639, O. S. 
 
 The following minute in the case was adopted: 
 
 The General Assembly having heard the complaint of Mr. Cowan, it 
 is resolved that it be not sustained, the Presbytery having acted entirely 
 in accordance with the directions of the Assembly of 1867. 
 
 But inasmuch as the emergency that called for the action of that and 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 713 
 
 of the previous Assembly has passed ; and inasmuch as many throughout 
 the Church, and entirely loyal to it, have scruples in respect to the consti- 
 tutionality and expediency of the orders of 1866; and inasmuch as Mr. 
 Cowan declares that in signing the Declaration and Testimony he had no 
 intention to rebel against, or to show any disrespect to, the Church, but 
 merely to protest against what he regarded as an unconstitutional act ; 
 and inasmuch as he desires to adhere to the General Assembly and to be 
 subject to its authority ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That his case be referred to the Presbytery to which he 
 belonged, with instructions to deal tenderly with his scruples, and if in 
 the judgment of said Presbytery he can be restored in accordance with 
 the spirit of the action of 1867, that Presbytery have authority to 
 restore him without further acknowledgment than that stated above in 
 the hearing of this body.— 1869, p. 641, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— For other causes of complaint see below. See also in the index under 
 "Complaints."] 
 
 28. Complainants satisfied by conference and leave to withdraw. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported the complaint of the Second Presby- 
 tery of Philadelphia against the Synod of Philadelphia, and also the 
 complaint of Messrs. Robert Cathcart, George Duffield and E. W. Gil- 
 bert against the Synod of Philadelphia, as in order, and reported also an 
 order to be pursued in prosecuting these complaints. 
 
 Resolved, That these complaints be referred to a select Committee, to 
 endeavor to effect a compromise, if practicable, between the parties con- 
 cerned. 
 
 Dr. Spring, Dr. Hoge, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Jessup and Mr. Wilkinson 
 were appointed this Committee. 
 
 The Assembly united in prayer for the divine direction and blessing 
 upon this Committee and the parties concerned in these complaints. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported on the petition and remonstrance of 
 the Synod of Philadelphia against the last General Assembly's proceed- 
 ings in relation to the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia. This 
 paper was referred to the same Committee of Compromise. 
 
 The Judicial Committee further reported the complaint and petition of 
 E. W. Gilbert in behalf of himself and the Hanover Street Church of 
 Wilmington, Del., against the Synod of Philadelphia, as in order and 
 reported an order of proceeding to be followed in case the complaint is 
 taken up. This complaint also was referred to the same Committee of 
 Compromise. 
 
 The Judicial Committee further reported on a paper purporting to be 
 a complaint of the Synod of Cincinnati, remonstrating against the 
 division of Presbyteries on the principle of elective affinity. This paper 
 was also committed to the same Committee of Compromise. — 1833, p. 
 396. 
 
 The Committee subsequently reported that after an interview with 
 members of the Presbytery and of the Synod, as a result of a free con- 
 ference with both parties, they w T ere enabled to recommend to the Assem- 
 bly the following: 
 
 Resolved, That the complainants in all these cases have leave to with- 
 draw their complaints, and that the consideration of all the other papers 
 relating to the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia be indefinitely post- 
 poned.— 1833, p. 399. 
 
714 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 84. 
 
 LXXXIV. Written notice of Complaint, with the reasons therefor, 
 
 shall be given, within ten days after the action was taken, to the Clerk, 
 
 or, in case of his death, absence, or disability, to the Moderator, of the 
 
 judicatory complained of, who shall lodge it, with the records and all the 
 
 papers pertaining to the case, with the Clerk of the superior judicatory, 
 
 before the close of the second day of its regular meeting next ensuing 
 
 the date of the reception of said notice. 
 
 [Note. — The ten days within which notice must be given, it will be noted, run from 
 the time when the action was taken, and not from the rising of the judicatory, as was 
 the provision of the former Book of Discipline.] 
 
 1. Reasons as well as notice must be given. 
 
 Overture No. 3, from the Synod of Cincinnati, as follows: Does the 
 language of the Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iv, imply that 
 when notice of complaint is given to a judicatory of the Church, reasons 
 for such complaint must be given, as in the case of appeal ? 
 
 A majority of the Committee recommend that the question propounded 
 in the overture be answered in the affirmative. The minority are of the 
 opinion that it should be answered in the negative. 
 
 It was moved that the Assembly sustain the answer of the majority in 
 the affirmative. Adopted. — 1855, p. 271, O. S. ; confirmed by Sec. 
 lxxxiv. 
 
 2. Notice and reasons must be given within ten days after the 
 action is taken. 
 
 a. A complaint of Rev. John Pym Carter against the Synod of Balti- 
 more: 
 
 The certificate of the Moderator of the Synod of Baltimore shows that 
 Mr. Carter did complain to Synod of its decision, but that the grounds 
 of complaint were lodged by him on the 3d of November, 1880, the 
 Synod having adjourned October 21. 
 
 The Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iv, Sub-sec. iv, requires 
 notice of complaint to be given within ten days after the rising of the judi- 
 catory, as in the case of an appeal (Book of Discipline [OldJ, Chap, vii, 
 Sec. iii, Sub- sec. v, which requires an appellant to lay the reasons of his 
 appeal in writing before the judicatory appealed from within ten days 
 after its rising). 
 
 The General Assembly (Moore's Digest, 1873, p. 605, 1) directed 
 that " when notice of complaint is given to a judicatory of the Church, 
 reasons for such complaint must be given as in case of appeal." 
 
 Mr. Carter's reasons were not given until the thirteenth day after the 
 adjournment of the Synod. He not having complied with the require- 
 ments of the Book of Discipline, your Committee recommend that the 
 complaint be dismissed. Adopted. — 1881, p. 587. 
 
 b. Complaint of the Rev. Samuel M. Gould against the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia North. There is no evidence that notice and reasons of 
 complaint were given by the complainant, as required by the Book of 
 Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iv, Sub-sec. iv, and no sufficient reason 
 for passing over the Synod. We recommend that the complainant have 
 leave to withdraw his complaint. Adopted. — 1881, p. 585. 
 
 3. Complaint dismissed when no notice has been given. 
 
 A complaint of Fisk Harmon against the Synod of Iowa North in 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 715 
 
 approving the decision of the Presbytery of Fort Dodge, in declining, 
 for reason, to restore him to the ministry from which he had been 
 deposed by the Presbytery of Des Moines the year before. The Com- 
 mittee recommend that the complaint be dismissed, and the papers be 
 returned to the complainant, because it does not appear that he gave any 
 notice at any time to the Synod of his intentions to complain. Adopted. 
 — 1875, p. 511. 
 
 Also case of J. C. Bose.— 1893, p. 132. 
 
 4. Complaint against the action of a judicatory can lawfully be 
 signed only by those who signed it or gave notice of their intent 
 within the constitutional limit of time. 
 
 Resolved, That it is unnecessary at this time for the General Assembly 
 to take any action looking to the reversal of the action of the Synod of 
 New York complained of by John J. McCook and others, inasmuch as 
 the Synod has dismissed the complaint of Rev. Francis Brown, D.D., 
 and others, on which the complaint to the General Assembly was 
 founded. But it is expedient that the General Assembly put upon 
 record an explicit ruling that a complaint against the action of a judica- 
 tory cannot lawfully and constitutionally be signed by persons other than 
 those only who have signed the same or given notice thereof within the 
 ten days' constitutional limit of time. And Synod should have stricken 
 from the complaint the 113 names, and let it stand as the complaint of 
 him only who signed in time the notice thereof. — 1894, pp. 127, 128. 
 
 [Note. — In the case of the complaint of John J. McCook et al. vs. the Synod of New 
 York, see Minutes, 1894, p. 127, it appeared that the Synod allowed 113 persons, in ad- 
 dition to the complainant, Francis Brown, to appear before the Synod as com- 
 plainants and that none of said 113 had given notice of intent to complain within the 
 constitutional limit.] 
 
 5. Complaint and appeal dismissed as not lodged in time, and 
 no one appearing to prosecute. 
 
 A complaint and appeal to the General Assembly against the decision 
 of the Synod of Catawba, in session at Charlotte, N. C, November 2, 
 1887, signed by seven persons. This complaint and appeal pertains to 
 the action of the Synod in sending back to the Presbytery of Yadkin 
 the case of Kev. E. H. Garland for a rehearing. The Stated Clerk of 
 the Synod filed this complaint as having been received by him on the 
 14th day of November, 1887, whereas the action complained of was 
 taken November 2, 1887, twelve days before the complaint was filed with 
 the Stated Clerk, which was two days after the expiration of the time 
 allowed for filing a complaint or appeal (see Book of Discipline, Sees. 
 lxxxiv and xevi). For this reason, and because no complainant or 
 appellant has appeared before the Committee, we recommend that the 
 complaint and appeal be dismissed as not in order. The report was 
 adopted.— 1888, p. 77. 
 
 [Note. — See Sec. xcvi.] 
 
 6. Dismissed because no notice of complaint given. 
 
 a. The complaint of J. C. Bose against the Synod of India. The 
 Committee recommend no action, the case being found not in order, for 
 the reason that no notice of complaint was given to Synod. Adopted. 
 —1893, p. 132. 
 
 b. Complaint of the Presbytery of La Crosse, against the Presbytery 
 of Mattoon and the Synod of Illinois, in the case of Rev. J. H. Lish. 
 
716 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 84-88. 
 
 Not in order, for the reason that due notice has not been given to the 
 Synod of Illinois.— 1894, p. 127. 
 
 [Note. — See also under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiii, p. 697.] 
 
 7. Evidence must be furnished that notice was given. 
 
 a. Dismissed for want of evidence that notice of the complaint was 
 given to the superior judicatory. — 1834, p. 434; 1863, p. 23, O. S. ; 
 1875, p. 511; 1881, p. 585. 
 
 b. Leave given to show that notice has been given as required (1834, 
 p. 454) and the complaint entertained. — 1836, p. 274. 
 
 [Note. — Where a mistake had been made, see Book of Discipline, Sec. xcvi.] 
 
 8. Right to complain lost by failure to observe the rules. 
 
 The report of the Judicial Committee No. 3, viz., the complaint of 
 Messrs. Tate, Mclver and others, against the Presbytery of Fayette ville, 
 in the case aforesaid, was taken up and adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 A complaint of the Rev. Robert Tate, Colin Mclver and others, was 
 put into the hands of the Committee, in which they complain of a 
 decision of the Presbytery of Fayetteville, by which they refused to 
 reconsider certain decisions made at a former meeting of the Presbytery 
 touching the case of the Rev. Archibald McQueen. The Committee are 
 unanimously of the opinion that the General Assembly cannot entertain 
 this complaint, inasmuch as the complainants did not avail themselves of 
 their right to complain of the aforesaid decisions within the time and in 
 the manner specified in our Book of Discipline. The Committee believe 
 that it was never intended that those who thus waived their right should 
 have the right, at a subsequent meeting of the judicatory, on a mere 
 motion to reconsider, to bring the whole previous action by complaint 
 before the higher judicatory. — 1846, p. 202, O. S. ; see also next below. 
 
 9. A judicial case once adjudicated may not be revived on memorial. 
 
 The complaint of the Rev. James P. Fisher against the action of the 
 Synod of Albany, in the case of the Rev. George H. Thatcher. It 
 appears that the Presbytery of Albany allowed Mr. Thatcher to demit 
 the office of the Gospel ministry, of which action complaint was made 
 by Mr. Fisher to the Synod in 1856. This complaint was sustained, but 
 no copy of it appears on record, nor are the minutes of the Presbytery, 
 out of which the complaint grew, before us. The Synod, in sustaining 
 the complaint, did not make any order to the Presbytery as to what dis- 
 position they should make of Mr. Thatcher; but no protest was entered 
 against this action, nor was any complaint taken to this body at that 
 time. At the meeting of the Synod in 1857, a memorial was presented 
 from the Presbytery of Albany, asking Synod to define their action in 
 the case, which memorial was laid on the table. The complaint now 
 before us purports to lie against this latter action, but it is entitled a 
 " complaint of the action of the Synod in the case of the Rev. George 
 H. Thatcher," and undoubtedly all the reasons of complaint are aimed 
 against that action. The Judicial Committee recommend that the case 
 be dismissed for the following reasons, viz. : 
 
 1. The complainant having failed at the proper time to make his com- 
 plaint of the action of the Synod in the case of Mr. Thatcher, has 
 thereby forfeited his right to complain. 
 
 2. Were the Assembly to allow a judicial case, when once adjudicated, 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 717 
 
 to be revived on a simple memorial, it would give rise to endless litigation, 
 insomuch that no judicial case could ever be known to be finally settled. 
 3. Even if the Assembly were disposed to entertain the complaint, no 
 intelligent or just decision could be had in the case, in the absence of the 
 complaint which the Synod sustained, and of the records of the Presby- 
 tery in the original case. — 1858, p. 297, O. S. 
 
 LXXXV. Whenever a Complaint, in cases non-judicial, is entered 
 
 against a decision of a judicatory, signed by at least one- third of the 
 
 members recorded as present when the action was taken, the execution 
 
 of such decision shall be stayed, until the final issue of the case by the 
 
 superior judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxviii, below, in case of the dissolu- 
 tion of a pastoral relation.] 
 
 LXXXVI. The complainant shall lodge his Complaint, and the 
 reasons therefor, with the Clerk of the superior judicatory before the 
 close of the second day of its meeting next ensuing the date of the 
 notice thereof. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. xcvii. The same rule applies to appeals.] 
 
 LXXXVII. If the higher judicatory finds that the Complaint is in 
 order, and that sufficient reasons for proceeding to trial have been 
 assigned, the next step shall be to read the record of the action com- 
 plained of, and so much of the record of the lower judicatory as may be 
 pertinent; then the parties shall "be heard, and, after that, the judicatory 
 shall proceed to consider and determine the case, as provided for in cases 
 of original process. In cases of Complaint involving a judicial decision, 
 proceedings in an appellate judicatory shall be had in the order and as 
 provided in Sec. xcix, Chap, iv, entitled " Of Appeals." 
 
 LXXXVIII. The effect of a Complaint, if sustained, may be the 
 reversal, in whole or ic part, of the action of the lower judicatory; and 
 may also, in cases non-judicial, be the infliction of censure upon the 
 judicatory complained of. When a Complaint is sustained, the lower 
 judicatory shall be directed how to dispose of the matter. 
 
 1. The judicatory issuing a complaint may not decline to adjudicate 
 the merits of the case, and must observe the alternatives of the 
 Book. It may not assume original jurisdiction. 
 
 On the complaint of Mr. William H. Beecher and others against the 
 Synod of Genesee, in the ca?e of the appeal of Dr. Frank from the 
 decision of the Presbytery of Genesee, the General Assembly sustain the 
 complaint and reverse the judgment of the Synod on the following 
 grounds, viz. : 
 
 1. That the merits of the case seem to be expressly declined by the 
 Synod as the subject-matter of adjudication. 
 
 2. That the Synod appear not to have adhered to the alternatives pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution (see Book of Discipline [Old], Chap, vii, 
 Sec. iii, Sub-sec. x). 
 
 3. That the Synod seem to have forgotten the nature and the limits of 
 
718 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 88-92. 
 
 their appellate, as distinguished from the original jurisdiction in the 
 ease; in that they censure at their bar the appellant in a Avay competent, 
 in any circumstances, only to the Session of the church to which the 
 appellant was primarily amenable. 
 
 4. That they seem to have forgotten also, in restoring the appellant, 
 that some expression of repentance ought to have been exacted, espe- 
 cially if their reprimand could, from any tribunal, have been deserved. 
 The Assembly, therefore, rule that the Synod of Genesee should review 
 their proceedings in this case; and, regarding alike the rules of the 
 Constitution and the merits of the case, that they proceed to issue the 
 same with equity and wisdom. 
 
 In the matter of defining in what calumny consists, as connected with 
 the case, the Assembly feel it not necessary to express any opinion farther 
 than to recommend the principles of our Constitutional discipline. — 
 1840, p. 11, N. S. 
 
 2. Reversal places matters in statu quo. 
 
 [In the complaint of T. B. Clark and others against the decision of 
 the Synod of Cincinnati :] 
 
 The parties having been heard, the Synod withdrew, and the roll was 
 called for the opinions of the members. The question was then put, " Is 
 the complaint well founded ?" and it was answered in the affirmative. 
 
 And it was 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint be sustained, and the decision of the 
 Synod of Cincinnati be reversed, and matters placed in the same situa- 
 tion in which they were before the Synod entered up its judgment in the 
 case.— 1841, p. 450, O. S. 
 
 3. Does a complaint suspend the dissolution of a 
 
 pastoral relation? 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Erie, viz. : 
 
 Does the dissolution of pastoral relations take effect immediately, 
 
 although notice has been given of a complaint to a higher court ? 
 
 Answer: A complaint alone does not suspend or arrest the action 
 
 complained of. Adopted. — 1881, p. 586. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxv, p. 717, which was adopted in 1884, and 
 by which the law was changed.] 
 
 4. Censure of the lower judicatories. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare a minute to be adopted by the 
 Assembly, in relation to the appeal and complaint of the Rev. Josiah 
 B. Andrews, against a decision of the Synod of New Jersey, affirming 
 a decision of the Presbytery of Jersey, by which Mr. Andrews was 
 admonished, reported, and their report being read, was adopted, and is 
 as follows, viz. : 
 
 The General Assembly, after maturely and prayerfully considering the 
 appeal and complaint of the Rev. Josiah B. Andrews, from a sentence 
 of the Synod of New Jersey, adopted the following minute, viz. : 
 
 While in the opinion of this Assembly, the Presbytery of Jersey in 
 originating, conducting and issuing this prosecution, do not appear to 
 have exercised that cautious regard to the provisions of the Constitution, 
 in cases of process, which are so efficient in matters of discipline, and 
 while they deem this applicable to the proceedings of the Presbytery in 
 relation to both the parties, 
 
OF COMPLAINTS. 719 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the sentence of the Presbytery and Synod, so far as 
 it censures the Rev. Josiah B. Andrews, for an imprudence of conduct 
 and a want of tenderness toward the reputation of certain members of 
 the church in Perth Amboy, be affirmed and it hereby is affirmed. 
 
 2. That the sentence of the Presbytery and Synod, censuring the Rev. 
 Josiah B. Andrews for '•' a very reprehensible degree of equivocation," 
 be reversed, and it hereby is reversed. — 1824, p. 106. 
 
 [Note.— See also under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxii, No. 3, d, p. 687, censure of 
 the Synod of Cincinnati on review of records.] 
 
 5. Complaint sustained, and the errors of the inferior 
 judicatories detailed. 
 
 The Committee appointed to bring in a minute in reference to the com- 
 plaint of the Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D.D., and others against the 
 Synod of Cincinnati, respectfully report the following, viz.: 
 
 The complaint of the Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D.D., and others 
 against the Synod of Cincinnati, in the matter of Rev. William C. 
 McCune, was found to be in order ; and, after being heard, the vote on 
 the same was taken. 
 
 The complaint was declared to be sustained, and the action of the 
 Synod reversed. 
 
 In this decision the Assembly affirm their judgment that the original 
 charges brought against the Rev. William C. McCune before the Presby- 
 tery of Cincinnati in this case were proved by sufficient evidence under 
 several of the specifications subjoined to the same. The Presbytery 
 therefore erred in not sustaining these charges, and in not reprimanding 
 Mr. McCune for his unsound statements and his disloyal action in the 
 premises. The Presbytery also erred in dismissing Mr. McCune under 
 these circumstances to another denomination as in good standing. The 
 Synod of Cincinnati erred in refusing to sustain the complaint made 
 against the Presbvtery of Cincinnati for its action in this case. Adopted. 
 —1878, p. 103. " 
 
 [Note. — See also under Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix, 4.] 
 
 LXXXIX. The parties to a Complaint, in cases non-judicial, shall be 
 known, respectively, as Complainant and Respondent — the latter being 
 the judicatory complained of, which should always be represented by one 
 or more of its number appointed for that purpose, who may be assisted 
 by counsel. 
 
 XC. Neither the complainant nor the members of the judicatory 
 complained of shall sit, deliberate, or vote in the case. 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xcviii.] 
 
 XCI. Either of the parties to a Complaint may appeal to the next 
 superior judicatory, except as limited by chap, xi, sec. iv, * of the 
 Form of Government. 
 
 XCII. The judicatory against which a Complaint is made shall send 
 up its records, and all the papers relating to the matter of the Complaint, 
 and filed with the record; and, for failure to do this, it shall be censured 
 
 * i. e., " Which do not affect the doctrine or Constitution of the Church," in which 
 cases the decision of the Synod is final. See p. 244. 
 
720 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 92-94. 
 
 by the superior judicatory, which shall have power to make such orders, 
 pending the production of the records and papers, and the determination 
 of the Complaint, as may be necessary to preserve the rights of all the 
 parties. 
 
 1. In the absence of the respondent and of the papers in the case 
 decision suspended until the record is produced. 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed to hear and issue the complaint of 
 John J. McCook, William Waith, John Machlin, M. L. Miller and 
 James Gardner against the action of the Synod of New York on October 
 21, 1892, in finding in order a complaint of the Kev. Francis Brown, 
 D.D., against the action of the Presbytery of New York, on November 
 4, 1891, in sustaining the ruling of the Moderator as to the status of the 
 Prosecuting Committee, to which complaint the names of 113 persons 
 had been added after the ten days' limit fixed by the Book of Discipline 
 had expired, met on May 27, at 8 P.M. 
 
 The record containing the action was read, and one of the complain- 
 ants, Mr. John J. McCook, was heard. 
 
 In the absence of any appointed representative from the Synod of New 
 York, the Rev. Francis Brown, D.D., and Ruling Elder Alfred B. 
 Smith, members of that body, were invited to address the Commission 
 concerning the action of the Synod in the case. A letter was read from 
 the Stated Clerk of the Synod, stating that the original complaint, from 
 some cause which does not seem to be any fault of his, had passed out of 
 his reach. 
 
 The complaint was found to be in order, and it was entertained. The 
 following action was then taken : 
 
 The Finding : The Judicial Commission finds that the Synod of New 
 York has failed to appear before the court by any appointed representa- 
 tive ; they further find that the Synod of New York, against which this, 
 complaint is made, has failed to send up all the papers in the case, as 
 provided for in Sec. xcii of the Book of Discipline. The Commission 
 recommends that the decision complained of be suspended until the 
 record is produced on which the issue can be thoroughly tried; and that 
 the Synod of New York be directed to send up all the papers relating to 
 this complaint with the record, to the next General Assembly, and that 
 the Synod appoint one or more of its members to represent it at said 
 General Assembly.— 1893, pp. 152, 153. 
 
 [Note. — See this Digest, p. 715, for the final action in this case.] 
 
 XCIII. If a case should be carried to an appellate judicatory by both 
 Appeal and Complaint, the same shall be consolidated for trial, if deemed 
 proper by the appellate judicatory. If the Appeal be abandoned, the 
 case shall be heard only on the Complaint. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiii, p. 697.] 
 IV. OF APPEALS. 
 
 XCIV. An Appeal is the removal of a judicial case, by a written 
 representation, from an inferior to a superior judicatory; and may be 
 
OF APPEALS. 721 
 
 taken, by either of the original parties, from the final judgment of the 
 
 lower judicatory. These parties shall be called Appellant and Appellee. 
 
 [Note. — Prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1821, no distinction was made 
 between an appeal and a complaint. The common form used was " We appeal and 
 complain." Under this broad title any decision whatever was carried by any parties 
 from the lower judicatories to the higher. The Constitution of 1821 defined "an 
 appeal" to be " the removal of a cause already decided, from an inferior to a superior 
 judicatory by a party aggrieved. 11 Under the term "cause" all cases of whatever 
 character which had been the subject of a decision by an inferior judicatory were 
 included. Hence under this section "Of Appeals" will be found many decisions of 
 cases which, under the present Constitution, would be acted on only as complaints. 
 They appear here because of the questions decided.] 
 
 1. The death of the appellee bars the prosecution of an appeal. 
 
 The records of the Synod of New York were approved, except that, 
 on p. 277, it appears that the Synod decided that the death of the Rev. 
 Mr. Griffith should be no bar in the way of the prosecution of an appeal 
 by his prosecutor from the decision of the Presbytery of Bedford, 
 acquitting Mr. Griffith.— 1833, p. 400. 
 
 [Note. — The right to appeal or complain is not affected by the approval of the min- 
 utes of the judicatory complained of. See Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxii, Nos. 4 and 
 5, p. 687.] 
 
 2. Appeals limited to judicial cases. 
 The complaint of A. D. Metcalf, etc., against the Synod of Virginia, 
 for deciding that appeals may lie in cases not judicial, was taken up. 
 The complaint was sustained. — 1839, p. 160, O. S. 
 
 3. Original parties only may appeal. Others may complain. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee reported a paper, signed by Dr. Cathcart 
 and others, members of the Presbytery of Carlisle, purporting to be an 
 appeal or complaint relative to a decision of the Synod of Philadelphia. 
 The Committee gave it as their opinion that the subject could not be 
 taken up on the ground of an appeal, because these persons were not one 
 of the original parties, but that it might be taken up in the character of 
 a complaint. — 1823, p. 69. 
 
 b. Judicial Case No. 4, the complaint and appeal of the Presbytery 
 of Passaic against the Synod of New Jersey. It was 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly cannot entertain this case as one of 
 appeal, inasmuch as it has not been* made by one of the original parties. 
 
 The case was then continued as a complaint. — 1861, p. 344, O. S. 
 
 C. In the case of the appeal of Thomas H. Skinner et al. , from the 
 Presbytery of Cincinnati, the Committee recommend that, inasmuch as 
 the so-called appellants were not an original party, they are not entitled 
 to an appeal (Book of Discipline [Old], Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. 
 xvii), and that, therefore, the case be dismissed. Adopted. — 1877, p. 
 575. 
 
 d. In the appeal of George Fishbach vs. The Synod of Illinois South, 
 the case was dismissed, inter alia, " because the appellant is not a party 
 aggrieved."— 1874, p. 62. 
 
 4. Decisions as to original parties. 
 
 a. The person prosecuted and the prosecutor. 
 
 [In the case of Mr. Barnes] Mr. Barnes was heard in support of his 
 appeal. Dr. Junkin, the original prosecutor, was heard in support of 
 the charges until he finished. The Synod was heard by their Committee 
 in explanation of the grounds of their decision. — 1836, p. 260, etc. 
 46 
 
722 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 94-95. 
 
 The appeal of W. J. Frazer against the Synod of Illinois. The 
 sentence appealed from, the appellant's reasons for appealing and the 
 records of the inferior court, were read. Mr. Frazer, the appellant, and 
 Mr. James Stafford, his prosecutor, who were the original parties, were 
 heard.— 1840, p. 288, O. S. 
 
 "b. The person claiming to be aggrieved and the judicatory appealed from. 
 
 The parties in the case were then called, and R. J. Breckinridge was 
 heard on behalf of Robert S. Finley. 
 
 A question arose when he concluded, respecting the original parties, 
 w r hether the Presbytery of Elizabethtown or the Synod of New Jersey 
 should be regarded as the other party, upon which the Moderator decided 
 that the action of the Assembly in allowing James Hoge and Nathaniel 
 Hewit to take the place of absent members of the Committee appointed 
 by the Synod of New Jersey, did virtually recognize the Synod as the 
 party to be heard at this stage of the proceedings. — 1858, p. 291, O. S. 
 
 C. The Prosecuting Committee and the appellee. 
 
 In the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Amer- 
 ica against the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., being an appeal to the 
 General Assembly from a decision and final judgment of the Presbytery 
 of New York, rendered January 9, 1893, the Judicial Committee beg 
 leave respectfully to report that they have examined the papers pertaining 
 to this case, and find: 
 
 1. That the appellant in this case is the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States of America, represented by its Prosecuting Committee, 
 appointed by the Presbytery of New York, and, as such appellant, has 
 a right of appeal to this Assembly as an original party, and said Prose- 
 cuting Committee is entitled to conduct the prosecution, in all its stages, 
 in whatever judicatory, until the final issue be reached. — 1893, p. 104. 
 [Xote. — See Book of Discipline, Sees, x, xi, p. 636.] 
 
 d. The appellant and the appellee. 
 
 The Judicial Committee, in the matter of Judicial Case No. 1, begs 
 leave to report: 
 
 In the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of Amer- 
 ica against Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D. D. , being the appeal to the 
 General Assembly from the decision, action and judgment of the Synod 
 of Ohio, rendered October 13, 1893, we have examined the papers and 
 conferred with the parties. 
 
 AVe find that the appellant is Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., 
 and as such appellant he has the right to appeal to the General Assem- 
 bly, the case being one of that nature in which the appeal may be taken 
 to the highest court of the Church, and we find that the Committee to 
 conduct the prosecution appointed by the Presbytery of Cincinnati, in 
 which Presbytery the case arose, has the right to conduct the prosecu- 
 tion, and hence to appear for the Presbyterian Church, the appellee in 
 this court.— 1894, p. 90. 
 
 [Xote. — See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xi, p. 637.] 
 
 5. Members of the judicatory trying a case are not parties in 
 the case and may not appeal. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee also reported on the appeal of Dr. Joshua 
 L. Wilson and others, against a decision of the Synod of Cincinnati, in 
 
OF APPEALS. 72o 
 
 the case of Dr. Beecher, that they have examined the same, and are of 
 opinion that Dr. Wilson and others were not a party in the case, and 
 consequently cannot constitutionally appeal ; and recommend that they 
 have leave to withdraw their appeal. This report was adopted. — 1834, 
 p. 432. 
 
 b. An appeal of the Presbytery of Omaha against the decision of the 
 Synod of Iowa, in the case of Dr. G. C. Morrill. This case originated 
 in the Session of the Second Church of Omaha, in which common fame 
 was the accuser against Dr. Gilbert C. Morrill. After trial and judg- 
 ment before the Session, it was carried, by appeal of the accused, to the 
 Presbytery of Omaha, from whose judgment it was again carried, by 
 appeal of the accused, to the Synod of Iowa. The Synod remanded the 
 case to the Session for a new trial, of which decision the Presbytery 
 seeks a review by appeal to this Assembly. 
 
 In the judgment of the Judicial Committee, the Presbytery of Omaha 
 is not one of the original parties to this case, and is therefore not compe- 
 tent to bring it before the Assembly by appeal (Book of Discipline 
 [Old], Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sees, i and xvii). And they therefore 
 recommend that the appellants have leave to withdraw their papers. 
 Adopted.— 1870, p. 27. 
 
 6. An appeal may be made to the next superior judicatory by 
 either of the parties to a complaint. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xci.] 
 
 7. No constitutional provision for a second appeal. 
 
 An appeal and complaint from Rev. E. Bailey Smith against the action 
 of the Synod of Xew Jersey. It appearing that Mr. Smith had appealed 
 from this same action to a former Assembly, the Committee are unable 
 to perceive how this second appeal can be entertained. The Book of 
 Discipline (Old) makes no provision for any such second appeal. Be- 
 sides, even if such an appeal were allowable, the reasons for it in this 
 case were not lodged with the Assembly before the close of the second 
 day of the session (as required by the Book of Discipline), and no new 
 reasons are now assigned for it. It is, therefore, recommended that the 
 appeal be dismissed. Adopted. — 1876, p. 28. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xcvi.j 
 
 XCY. The grounds of Appeal may be such as these : Irregularity in 
 the proceedings of the inferior judicatory; refusal to entertain an Appeal 
 or Complaint; refusal of reasonable indulgence to a party on trial; 
 receiving improper, or declining to receive important, testimony ; hasten- 
 ing to a decision before the testimony is fully taken; manifestation of 
 prejudice in the conduct of the case ; and mistake or injustice in the 
 decision. 
 
 [Note.— In a majority of the cases cited below, it will be seen at once that under 
 Sec. xciv, they would be received only as complaints, not being judicial cases, or 
 brought by " either of the parties to a complaint." They are cited here, however, be- 
 cause they contain valuable precedents — decisions which are not affected by the form 
 in which they were brought. 
 
 In cases of complaint involving a judicial decision, proceedings in an appellate 
 judicatory shall be had in the order and as provided in Sees, xcix and lxxxvii.J 
 
724 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 95. 
 
 1. Appeals have been entertained and issued for refusing to permit 
 
 a call. 
 
 a. Appeal of Rev. Henry R. Wilson vs. the Synod of Philadelphia. 
 Sustained.— 1814, p. 548. 
 
 b. Appeal of Presbytery of Hudson vs. the Synod of New York and 
 New Jersey. The appeal was sustained. — 1817, p. 644. 
 
 C. Appeal of Rev. Mr. Edgar vs. the Synod of Erie. Dismissed on 
 the ground that Presbyteries have discretionary power in such cases. — 
 
 1875, p. 510. 
 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. ix, p. 569.] 
 
 2. Appeal against an installation in the face of a protest. 
 
 The Commission to whom was referred Judicial Case No. 1, being an 
 appeal by the minority of the church and congregation of Westfield from 
 the judgment of the Synod of New Jersey, report : 
 
 The appellants complained to the Synod of the action of the Presbytery 
 of Elizabeth in installing the Rev. Alexander McKelvey as pastor of said 
 church and congregation, in disregard of the protest of the minority. 
 
 The Synod, at its annual meeting, held in Orange, October, 1875, 
 tried the appeal, with the following result of votes: to sustain the appeal, 
 39 ; not to sustain, 39; to sustain in part, 4. The Moderator ruled that 
 the votes to sustain in part should not be counted, thus rendering the 
 vote of Synod a tie of 39 to 39. He then gave a casting vote not to 
 sustain the appeal. The Synod then, for reasons stated, recommended 
 that the Presbytery of Elizabeth use its influence to secure the dissolution 
 of the pastoral relation existing between Mr. McKelvey and the church 
 and congregation of Westfield. Your Commission decides that the 
 appeal from the judgment of the Synod should be and is hereby sus- 
 tained. The four votes to sustain in part should have been counted with 
 those to sustain, and the Synod is directed to correct its record in this 
 regard. 
 
 In view of the fact that a very large and influential minority of the 
 congregation of Westfield have, from the beginning, been opposed to the 
 pastorate of Mr. McKelvey, and since it seems certain that harmony 
 will not be restored under his pastorate, and since it is in evidence that 
 many of the members of the Synod who voted not to sustain the appeal 
 are of opinion that this pastoral relation should be dissolved, and in 
 consideration of the fact that many of the acts of the Presbytery in the 
 case have been hasty and irregular, the Synod of New Jersey is required 
 and directed to enjoin the Presbytery of Elizabeth to dissolve, at as 
 early a day as practicable, the pastoral relation of the Rev. Alexander 
 McKelvey to the church and congregation of Westfield. Adopted. — 
 
 1876, pp. 63, 64; 1877, p. 508. 
 
 3. Appeal against a refusal to obey the superior judicatory. 
 
 An appeal from, and complaint against, a vote of the Synod of Phila- 
 delphia, in the case of Mr. Hindman. 
 
 The Committee appointed to draught a minute respecting the appeal 
 from the decision of the Synod of Philadelphia, whereby they refused 
 to revise a minute of their preceding sessions, in the case of Mr. Hind- 
 man, and refused to take into consideration the conduct of the Presby- 
 tery of Lewes in the affair of his licensure, produced a draught to that 
 
OF APPEALS. 725 
 
 purpose, which, after some amendment, was approved, and is as follows. 
 viz. : 
 
 The Assembly having had the whole affair laid before them, and fully 
 heard the parties, after mature deliberation, judged, that in the case of 
 Mr. Hindman, there appeared to have been such a want of attention to 
 the rules of this body, and neglect of order, as to afford just ground of 
 uneasiness to the appellants, and to deserve the disapprobation of the 
 Assembly. But inasmuch as acts which have been performed in an 
 informal manner must often, when done, be sustained, the Assembly do 
 hereby sustain the licensure and ordination of Mr. Hindman, while at 
 the same time they enjoin it, in the most pointed manner, on the Synod 
 of Philadelphia, to give particular attention that no Presbytery under 
 their care depart, in any respect, from that rule of the former Synod of 
 New York and Philadelphia.— 1792, p. 56. 
 
 4. Appeal for refusing to receive an applicant. 
 A complaint and appeal of the Rev. Thomas Ledlie Birch, against 
 certain proceedings of the Presbytery of Ohio, in the case of Mr. Birch, 
 particularly for refusing to receive him as a member of their body. The 
 appeal was not sustained — 1801, pp. 213, 218. 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, No. 3, p. 202.] 
 
 5. Against an order or decision of a judicatory. 
 
 a. An appeal from the Session of the Third Presbyterian Church of 
 Philadelphia from the decision of the Synod of Philadelphia, affirming 
 a decision of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, in which decision 
 the Presbytery required said Session within twenty days from 
 the date of their decision, or after the final determination of the case, to 
 convene the congregation for the purpose of electing a pastor, was 
 determined in the affirmative. — 1814, p. 559. 
 
 b. The Second Presbytery of Philadelphia appealed against and com- 
 plained of the act of the Synod of Philadelphia, ordering it to be merged 
 in the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Both appeal and complaint were 
 sustained and the act of the Synod pro tanto declared void. — 1834, p. 
 432. 
 
 C. The Assembly took up the appeal and complaint of the Second 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia in relation to the decision of the Synod of 
 Philadelphia dissolving them as a Presbytery. 
 
 The final vote was taken, first on the appeal, which was sustained, and 
 then on the complaint, which was also sustained. — 1836, pp. 273-276. 
 
 6. An appeal will not lie against a judicatory for obeying the 
 order of its superior. 
 
 Appeal of Rev. Mr. Hummer against the Presbytery of Highland. 
 The last General Assembly passed the following order, viz. : That the 
 General Assembly would take action and give relief in the case of Rev. 
 Michael Hummer, who, having been deposed by the Presbytery of Iowa, 
 had been restored by the Presbytery of Highland against the remon- 
 strance of the Presbytery of Iowa, just as if he was an independent 
 minister. 
 
 In answer, the Assembly declares that it is irregular and unconstitu- 
 tional for any Presbytery to receive and restore a member of another 
 Presbytery who had been deposed, and therefore the action of the Pres- 
 bytery of Highland, in restoring Mr. Hummer, was improper; and the 
 
726 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 95. 
 
 Presbytery of Highland is directed to reconsider its action, and proceed 
 according to the requirements of the Constitution. 
 
 The report was adopted. 
 
 The Presbytery of Highland adopted the following minute : 
 
 Whereas, We believe that our action in the reception of Brother 
 Hummer was unconstitutional ; and whereas, we have no choice, in view 
 of the direct injunction of the General Assembly; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we do now proceed to reconsider the action of this 
 Presbytery, by which Mr. Hummer was received into this body. 
 
 Resolved, That this action of Presbytery be understood as putting the 
 case into the position it occupied previous to his reception. 
 
 Resolved, That Presbytery earnestly advise Mr. Hummer to appeal 
 once more to the Presbytery of Iowa to take up his case, in order that, 
 in the event of their refusal to do him justice, he may appeal to the 
 Synod, and thence, if necessary, to the General Assembly, which resolu- 
 tion was adopted. 
 
 Against this proceeding Mr. Hummer appeals. 
 
 But it appears that the Presbytery of Highland did nothing more than 
 they were required to do by the General Assembly ; that is to say, they 
 reconsidered and set aside the action which the Assembly had declared 
 " irregular," " unconstitutional," and " improper." In the judgment 
 of the Committee, an appeal does not lie in such a case, and they recom- 
 mend that it be dismissed, and Mr. Hummer have leave to withdraw his 
 papers. 
 
 The report was accepted and adopted, and the case dismissed. — 1863, 
 p. 35, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See, also, in this Digest, p. 206.] 
 
 7. An appeal dismissed because no evidence is presented to 
 sustain the allegation. 
 
 Appeal and complaint of certain persons claiming to be ruling elders- 
 of the church at Little Falls vs. the Synod of Albany. 
 
 That they have examined the records and papers in said case ; and 
 although the appeal has been taken in proper form, and after due notice, 
 yet, as there has been presented no evidence to sustain the allegations set 
 forth as grounds of reversal, and as the allegations cannot therefore be 
 tried by the Assembly, the Committee recommend that the said appeal 
 and complaint be dismissed. Adopted. — 1861, p. 312, O. S. 
 
 Also case of William McElwee vs. Synod of Toledo. — 1873, p. 509. 
 
 8, Appeal will not lie against a refusal to adopt a paper; or to 
 determine a constitutional question in thesi, 
 
 The Judicial Committee having had under consideration No. 1, the 
 appeal and complaint of the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.D. , and 
 others, against a decision of the Synod of Philadelphia, on the quorum 
 question; and No. 2, the appeal and complaint of the Rev. R. J. Breck- 
 inridge, D.D., and others, against a decision of the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia, on the question of the imposition of hands in ordination, report, 
 that in their opinion the Form of Government and Discipline of the 
 Presbyterian Church do not authorize the appellants and complainants 
 to bring before the General Assembly, either an appeal or complaint in 
 the cases referred to. The report was adopted. — 1844, p. 366, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiii, p. 698.] 
 
OF APPEALS. 727 
 
 9. Nor where the judicatory acts within the limits of its power 
 and authority. 
 
 The Special Committee, appointed to prepare a minute expressive of 
 the sense of the Assembly in passing the vote in the case of the appeal 
 of Silas Miller from the decision of the Synod of Illinois, recommended 
 the adoption of the following minute: 
 
 The Assembly, having heard the appeal of Silas Miller from the 
 decision of the Synod of Illinois, the sentence appealed from and the 
 reasons assigned therefor, the whole record of the proceedings of the 
 Synod in the case, including all the testimony and the reasons of their 
 decision; and having heard the original parties by their counsel, namely, 
 the appellant, by his counsel, Rev. George I. King, D.D. , and the 
 Session of the church of Tuscola, by the Rev. Edwin Black; and 
 having also heard the Rev. Livingston M. Glover, D.D., and others, 
 members of the said Synod, in explanation of the grounds of their 
 decision, and having carefully considered said appeal and the reasons 
 assigned therefor by the appellant, are of the opinion that there is no 
 valid ground for the appeal, in that it does not appear that the Synod 
 exceeded its power and authority in the premises, or that it did any of 
 the matters or things specified in Chap, vii, Sec. iii, paragraph 3, of the 
 Book of Discipline (Old), as being proper grounds of appeal; and 
 therefore the Assembly do now order the appeal of said Silas Miller to 
 be dismissed, and the decision of the Synod of Illinois to be confirmed. 
 —1867, p. 516, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — See also under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiii, " Of Complaints," p. 697.] 
 
 10. Nor where the action was regular and equitable. 
 
 Case of M. A. Rockefeller, H. N. Waples and M. E. Starick vs. the 
 Synod of Harrisburg. 
 
 These persons complain and appeal, because the Synod decided their 
 case without hearing both sides fully, since their representative was 
 absent on the last day of the hearing ; and because of injustice, in that 
 the Synod did not regard the embarrassments of their position, and the 
 irregularity of the action of the Session and the Presbytery, from which 
 they appealed. 
 
 The Committee learn from the records of the Synod, to which these 
 appellants refer, as their only testimony, that a full hearing was granted, 
 their representative being heard as long as he desired to speak, and in 
 his absence, after having addressed the Synod, another representative was 
 permitted to serve in his place ; and all the provisions of the Book were 
 granted the appellants. Moreover, the decision of the Synod, from 
 which the appeal was taken, contained an injunction upon the Presbytery, 
 to enjoin the Session to invite these members of the Church to return to 
 their duties and privileges in the Church, with the assurance that, if they 
 would do so, the action against them should be annulled. The Com- 
 mittee, therefore, fail to find ground for their complaint, for either of the 
 reasons they specify, and recommend that the case be dismissed. 
 Adopted.— 1873, p. 509. 
 
 11. Nor when the appeal is indefinite and general. 
 An appeal of E. Bailey Smith from the decision of the Synod of New 
 York, sustaining the decision of the Presbytery of Westchester deposing 
 him from the Gospel ministry. Your Committee report that, having 
 
728 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 95-96. 
 
 considered the appeal of E. Bailey Smith, they find the same to be 
 indefinite and general in its character, presenting no specific statement of 
 facts in support of the reasons assigned in the appeal, as cause of com- 
 plaint against the act of the Synod. They, therefore, recommend that 
 the appeal of E. Bailey Smith be dismissed. Adopted. — 1875, p. 511. 
 
 12. Where no question of doctrine or law is assigned the appeal 
 
 not entertained. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, xi, Sec. iv; also Chap, xii, Sec. iv.] 
 a. An appeal of J. H. Rogers from an action of the Synod of 
 Illinois. 
 
 Statement of the Case. — Mr. Rogers was suspended from church privi- 
 leges by the Session of Prospect church, and, being dissatisfied with his 
 sentence, appealed to the Presbytery of Peoria. The Presbytery declined 
 to pass judgment upon the guilt or innocence of Mr. Rogers on the 
 charges preferred, but decided that other conduct of Mr. Rogers, during 
 the progress of his trial, justified his suspension. Mr. Rogers appealed 
 to the Synod of Illinois from the decision of the Presbytery of Peoria 
 on the grounds: 
 
 1. That they should have pronounced him guilty or innocent of the 
 charges preferred. 
 
 2. That the Presbytery should not have sustained the Session's sentence 
 which was not according to the indictment, but in condemnation of con- 
 duct and spirit indulged in during the progress of the trial. 
 
 The Synod sustained the appeal of Mr. Rogers in both specifications 
 as a whole, and remanded the case to the Presbytery, with instructions 
 to find a definite judgment according to the evidence, and in a form 
 prescribed by the law of the Church. 
 
 Your Committee is not able to discover, in the action of Synod in favor 
 of the appellant, or in the reasons assigned by the appellant, any ques- 
 tion of doctrine or law, and, not regarding it within our province to pass 
 judgment upon the merits of the case, we recommend: 
 
 That the appeal be not entertained. Adopted. — 1885, p. 642. 
 
 "b. An appeal of Rev. W. W. Campbell from an action of the Synod 
 of Baltimore. 
 
 Statement of the Case. — At the joint request of Mr. Campbell and the 
 Grove church, under the care of the Presbytery of Baltimore, the pas- 
 toral relation existing between Mr. Campbell and the Grove church 
 was dissolved. The Synod of Baltimore sustained the action of the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 Your Committee is of the opinion that the case does not come under 
 the rule determining the character of cases to be judged by the General 
 Assembly, but should be left to the discretion and judgment of the lower 
 courts. 
 
 We therefore recommend that the appeal of Rev. Mr. Campbell be 
 not entertained. Adopted. — 1885, p. 643. 
 
 C. An appeal of Rev. Samuel Storrs Howe from an action of the 
 Synod of Iowa. 
 
 Statement of the Case. — Mr. Howe complains that the Synod of Iowa 
 refused his application for aid for a mission chapel and academy. 
 
 This case is so evidently out of the province of the Assembly, and so 
 manifestly a case to be decided by the discretion of the lower courts, and 
 of the Boards from which aid is asked, that 
 
OF APPEALS. 729 
 
 The Committee recommends that the appeal of Rev. Mr. Howe be not 
 entertained. Adopted. — 1885, p. 643. 
 
 d. The complaint of Oakland church, against the Synod of Ten- 
 nessee.— 1888, p. 77. 
 
 e. The complaint of Rev. J. W. Cummings and Rev. S. C. Faris to 
 the Synod of Ohio, against the Presbytery of Wooster, for changing the 
 terms of a call without the consent of parties. 
 
 The Committee report that final jurisdiction in the case belongs to the 
 Synod. Adopted.— 1886, p. 73. 
 
 f. The complaint of certain members of the former Central church, 
 Jacksonville, 111., to the Synod of Illinois, against the action of the 
 Presbytery of Springfield in uniting the First and Central churches of 
 Jacksonville. 
 
 The Committee report that the Synod is the court of last resort in such 
 cases. Adopted. — 1886, p. 73. 
 
 g. The report of the Judicial Committee, in the case of Rev. N. West 
 against the Synod of Minnesota, was read. Mr. West was heard on the 
 question of the constitutionality of the appeal. The report was adopted. 
 —1888, p. 124. 
 
 [Note.— See this Digest, p. 704.] 
 
 h. Complaint of Rev. William M. Campbell against the Synod of 
 Baltimore. 
 
 In the judgment of your Committee, this complaint does not involve 
 questions of doctrine or Constitution, and the judgment of Synod being 
 final in all other cases, your Committee recommend that it be dismissed. 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 144. 
 
 i. Appeal of A. G. McAuley vs. the Synod of Pennsylvania. " This 
 appeal involves no question of Constitution or doctrine, ' ' the Committee 
 recommend that it be dismissed. Adopted. — 1896, p. 128. 
 
 XCVI. Written notice of Appeal, with specifications of the errors 
 alleged, shall be given, within ten days after the judgment has been ren- 
 dered, to the Clerk, or, in case of his death, absence, or disability, to the 
 Moderator, of the judicatory appealed from, who shall lodge it, with the 
 records and all the papers pertaining to the case, with the Clerk of the 
 superior judicatory, before the close of the second day of its regular meet- 
 ing next ensuing the date of his reception of said notice. 
 
 1. Notice of appeal, with reasons in writing, must be given within 
 ten days after judgment. 
 
 a. An appeal of Mr. Benjamin Bell, from a decision of the Presby- 
 tery of Geneva, and also an appeal of Mr. Bell from the decision of the 
 Synod of Geneva, were laid before the Assembly by the Judicial Com- 
 mittee. These appeals were both dismissed, on account of the judica- 
 tories, from whose decisions they had been taken, not having received 
 due notice from Mr. Bell that he designed to prosecute them before this 
 Assembly.— 1821, p. 25. 
 
 b. The appeal of Mr. Charles Yale from a sentence of the Presbytery 
 of Bath, deposing him from the Gospel ministry, was taken up and 
 dismissed, because it appeared that Mr. Yale gave notice to said Presby- 
 tery that he should appeal to the Synod of Geneva, several days before 
 
730 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 96-97. 
 
 he signified his desire to the Moderator of Presbytery to appeal to the 
 General Assembly.— 1826, p. 187. 
 
 C. Resolved, That the appeal [of certain pew owners of the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Troy] be dismissed, on the ground that the 
 Synod has not had the constitutional notice of the reasons of the appeal. 
 —1828, p. 242. 
 
 d. Appeal of George Fishbach dismissed because he did not file his 
 reasons within ten days after Synod. — 1874, p. 62. 
 
 [Note.— Under the old Book of Discipline, notice of appeal, with reasons, was given 
 within ten days after the rising of the judicatory. See also under "Book of Discipline, 
 Sec. lxxxiv, "Of Complaints," p. 714. 
 
 2. Evidence required that notice has been given. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee recommend that said appeal be dismissed 
 on the ground that the only paper which appears to be intended as an 
 appeal is without date or signature, or evidence that it was ever before 
 the Synod of Genesee, or lodged with the Moderator of said Synod. — 
 Appeal of Bergen church. — 1830, p. 292. 
 
 b. The complaint of John Cochran against the Synod of Philadelphia. 
 The complainant had leave to withdraw his papers on the ground that 
 the Committee have no evidence that notice of said complaint was given 
 to the Synod.— 1834, p. 434. 
 
 C. Protest and appeal of Kev. J. W. Martin against certain action of 
 the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, with regard to the Hermon 
 church, Frankford. The Committee recommend that the protest and 
 appeal be dismissed, for the reason that it does not appear that any notice 
 of the same has been given to the Synod appealed from. Adopted. — 
 1880, p. 68. 
 
 d. The records of the Synod of Utica were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exceptions: 
 
 1. That the Synod issued an appeal from the inferior judicatory, when 
 it appeared before them that an appellant had not given notice in writing 
 that he should appeal, with his reasons assigned for appealing, as 
 required by the Book of Discipline (Old), before the rising of the 
 judicatory appealed from, or within ten days thereafter. 
 
 2. That the Synod violated the principles of the Constitution in quali- 
 fying the members of the inferior judicatory to ascertain whether an 
 appeal had been given, when the Book of Discipline requires that the 
 appeal shall be lodged in the hands of the Moderator; and further, that 
 the inferior judicatory shall send authentic copies of all the records, and 
 of all the testimony relating to the matter of appeal, up to the Synod, 
 whose duty it is to issue the appeal when found in order, and in accord- 
 ance with the Book of Discipline. — 1840, p. 12, N. S. 
 
 3. When a new trial is granted by the superior judicatory, notice 
 must be given by the appellant of his intent to prosecute. 
 
 This appeal of Mr. Craighead from a decision of the Synod of Ken- 
 tucky was taken up, and, being read, it appeared on inquiry that the 
 Synod of Kentucky was not ready for trial, because Mr. Craighead had 
 failed to give them notice that he intended to avail himself of the privi- 
 lege granted by the last Assembly, by prosecuting his appeal ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the further consideration of this appeal be postponed, 
 and that Mr. Craighead be informed, that if he wishes to prosecute his 
 
OF APPEALS. 731 
 
 appeal before the next General Assembly, he must give notice of his 
 intention to the Synod of Kentucky. — 1823, p. 92. 
 
 4. Failure of the judicatory to receive notice does not 
 bar the appellant. 
 
 This Assembly are of opinion that Mr. Lowrey complied with the rule 
 
 of the Book of Discipline, respecting the notice given, in the case of his 
 
 appeal ; but as this notice appears not to have been received by the Synod, 
 
 they were not censurable for not sending up the records. — 1824, p. 115. 
 
 [Note. — In this case the Assembly satisfied itself that the notice was sent within 
 the ten days after the rising of the judicatory.] 
 
 5. Leave to show that notice has been given to the judicatory 
 
 appealed from. 
 
 On motion of E. P. Humphrey, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the case be referred to the next General Assembly, with 
 leave to appellants to show them that they gave the Synod notice for an 
 appeal. — Case of Davidson, Koons, et at. — 1859, p. 540, O. S.. 
 
 6. On evidence of notice the case reinstated. 
 
 No reasons accompany the complaint, and there is no evidence that 
 any notice of complaint was given to the Synod. Complaint dismissed 
 and leave given to withdraw papers. — 1865, p. 542, O. S. 
 
 The next year the complainant above came before the Assembly by 
 overture or memorial, when action was taken as follows, viz. : 
 
 Also Overture No. 21, relating to an appeal of the Eev. L. R. Lock- 
 wood, presented by his counsel, Rev. James Remington. 
 
 This appeal against the Synod of Iowa, for not sustaining his appeal 
 from the Presbytery of Dubuque, was dismissed by the last Assembly, 
 on the ground that no reason accompanied the complaint, and there was 
 no evidence that any notice of complaint was given to the Synod. Mr. 
 Lockwood now memorializes this Assembly, and alleges that the required 
 notice of appeal was given to the Synod, and that he was then, and still 
 is, prevented from attending the Assembly during its last and present 
 sessions, and he asks that his appeal may be reinstated, and referred to 
 the next Assembly for trial. 
 
 The Committee recommend that his request be granted. He further 
 asks that the Assembly direct the Presbytery of Dubuque to grant him 
 a new trial on the ground of new testimony. 
 
 The Committee recommend that this application be referred to the 
 Presbytery of Dubuque, to the end that if the new testimony be found 
 of sufficient importance to justify, that Presbytery may afford Mr. Lock- 
 wood the relief he asks. But if, in their judgment, a new trial ought 
 not to be granted, that then the appeal shall stand for trial on the record 
 as now existing, before the next General Assembly. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1866, p. 72, O. S. 
 
 XCVII. The appellant shall appear in person or by counsel before the 
 judicatory appealed to, on or before the close of the second day of its 
 regular meeting next ensuing the date of the filing of his notice of 
 Appeal, and shall lodge his Appeal and specifications of the errors 
 alleged, with the Clerk of the superior judicatory, within the time 
 above specified. If he fail to show to the satisfaction of the judicatory 
 
732 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 97. 
 
 that he was unavoidably prevented from so doing, he shall be considered 
 as having abandoned his Appeal, and the judgment shall stand. 
 
 [Note. — The first clause applies equally to complaints. See Sec. lxxxvi, p. 717.] 
 
 1, Personal attendance of the appellant is not necessary. 
 
 Personal attendance on the superior judicatory is not essential to the 
 regular prosecution of an appeal. — 1822, p. 53. 
 
 2. Where neither the appellant nor any one in his behalf appears 
 the appeal is dismissed. 
 
 a. The complaint of Rev. Henry Davis against a decision of the 
 Synod of Utica, was taken up, and dismissed on the ground that the 
 complainant has not appeared to prosecute his complaint, nor any other 
 person in his behalf. — 1834, p. 454. 
 
 b. The complaints of Rev. G. Duffield and W. R. de Witt were 
 dismissed on the ground that neither the complainants themselves, nor 
 any person on their behalf, are present to prosecute those complaints. — 
 1835, p. 490; 1864, p. 313, O. S. ; 1865, p. 535, O. S. 
 
 C. The Committee reports two appeals of the Rev. John W. Ellis, 
 D.D., from decisions of the Synod of the Pacific. 
 
 The Committee nods that the papers in these cases are not sufficiently 
 full and explicit to warrant a judicial procedure in this body. And as 
 the appellant is not present, in person or by counsel, and there is doubt 
 whether the facts are such as to authorize an appeal to the General 
 Assembly on constitutional grounds, it is recommended that the appeals 
 be not entertained, and that the papers be returned to the appellant. 
 Adopted.— 1892, p. 214. 
 
 d. An appeal by H. H. Hammond, E. H. Kerr and L. W. O'Brien 
 against the action of the Synod of Ohio in dismissing the appeal taken 
 by said parties from the action of the Presbylery of Dayton in the 
 matter of said Hammond, Kerr and O' Brien vs. Rev. W. F. McCauley, 
 a minister in said Presbytery. Your Committee recommends that the 
 appeal to the General Assembly be dismissed because not in order, the 
 appellants not being present, either in person or by counsel, to prosecute 
 their appeal, as required by Sec. xcvii of the Book of Discipline. 
 Adopted.— 1894, p. 128. 
 
 e. Complaint of Rev. Donald Fletcher against the Synod of Iowa 
 North for its action taken October 7, 1879, in the matter of his com- 
 plaint against the Presbytery of Waterloo. The Committee recommend 
 that this complaint be dismissed, on the ground of the failure of the 
 complainant to appear, either in person or by counsel, to prosecute it. 
 Adopted.— 1880, p. 68. 
 
 f. Appeal of E. C. Battelle vs. Synod of Nebraska — inter alia — " That 
 no one appears to prosecute the case." — 1896, p. 84. 
 
 3. In the absence of the appellant the judicatory assigns counsel. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee brought before the Assembly an appeal of 
 Mr. Newton Hawes from a decision of the Synod of Genesee, affirming his 
 suspension from the ordinances of the Church, which suspension had 
 been determined by the church of Warsaw. Mr. Hawes not being pres- 
 ent, Dr. Janeway and Mr. Phillips were appointed to defend and support 
 his appeal. — 1823, p. 72. 
 
 b. The Assembly took up the complaint against the Synod of Virginia 
 
OF APPEALS. 733 
 
 by the Rev. Samuel Houston and Rev. Samuel B. Wilson, reported 
 by the Judicial Committee. The complainants did not appear, but a 
 written communication, containing the reasons of their complaint, was laid 
 before the Assembly. At the request of the complainants, Mr. Weed 
 was appointed to manage their cause in their absence. — 1827, p. 210. 
 
 4. In the failure of complainant to appear and prosecute, the 
 complaint dismissed and defendant sustained. 
 
 The Judicial Committee report the complaint of E. N. Sawyer and 
 others against the decision of the Synod of Chicago, in the case of O. M. 
 Hoagland, as being fallen from by the failure of the complainants to 
 appear and prosecute their complaint. They, therefore, recommend that 
 the complaint be dismissed, and that Mr. Hoagland be considered as 
 entitled to all Ins former rights and privileges in the church of Hope- 
 well.— 1858, p. 276, O. S. 
 
 5. Case continued on satisfactory reasons given. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee reported an appeal by Mr. James Taylor, 
 from a decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh, and that the communication of 
 Mr. Taylor gave information that by reason of ill-health he was unable 
 to attend to prosecute his appeal before the present Assembly. 
 
 Resolved, That Mr. Taylor have leave to prosecute his appeal before 
 the next General Assembly. — 1827, p. 211. 
 
 b. A complaint of William M. Lively against a decision of the Synod 
 of New York. Mr. Lively being unable, through sickness in his family, 
 to attend at this time and prosecute his complaint, the Committee recom- 
 mend that, agreeably to his request, his complaint be referred to the next 
 General Assembly. This report was adopted. — 1851, p. 19, O. S. 
 
 C. An appeal of Rev. M. Davis, from a decision of the Synod of 
 Memphis, deposing him from the office of the holy ministry. The 
 appellant being unable, by reason of ill health, to attend the sessions of 
 the present Assembly, and desiring, in consequence, the continuance of 
 his cause until the next General Assembly. The report was adopted. — 
 1851, p. 19, O. S. 
 
 6. Dismissed as not lodged in time. 
 
 a. The Committee report that the complaint of George P. Strong and 
 others, against the Presbytery of St. Louis, was not put into the hands 
 of the Clerk of the Assembly until the third day of its business, it is 
 therefore barred by the rule. 
 
 It was dismissed.— 1863, p. 23, O. S. 
 
 b. Also complaint of Dr. Alfred Nevin, against the Synod of Phila- 
 delphia. The complaint did not come into the hands of the Moderator 
 of this Assembly until Monday, the fourth day of the sessions. It is 
 therefore barred bv the rule. 
 
 Dismissed.— 1863, p. 24, O. S. 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee reported an appeal and complaint of Rev. 
 Dr. John W. Martin, against the action of the Presbytery of Allegheny 
 City, for alleged irregularity in dissolving a pastoral relation. Also an 
 appeal and complaint of Dr. Martin, against the Synod of Allegheny, 
 in reference to its approval of the minutes of the Presbytery alleged to 
 be defective. Also an appeal from the Synod of Southern Iowa, in the 
 case of Robert Fulton, with the statement, in each of these cases, that 
 the papers were not placed in the hands of the Assembly within the 
 
734 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 97. 
 
 constitutional time ; and, therefore, they recommended, that the appellants 
 have leave to withdraw the papers. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1870, p. 106. 
 
 d. The Permanent Clerk reported that a complaint had been put into 
 his hands this morning, the ninth day of the session, from Mr. James 
 Dickinson, a ruling elder in the church of Ripley, in the Presbytery of 
 Buffalo. 
 
 Resolved, That inasmuch as this complaint was not presented within 
 the constitutional time, the Assembly do not receive it. — 1834, p. 429; 
 see also 1837, p. 480. 
 
 e. A complaint of Erwin Wheeler and A. Hallstraft, against the 
 Presbytery of Des Moines, in the case of the Rev. Fisk Harmon. The 
 papers in this case were not presented until the fourth day of the sessions 
 of the Assembly, and they are also imperfect. The Committee recom- 
 mend that the parties have leave to withdraw their papers. The recom- 
 mendation was adopted. — 1872, p. 51. 
 
 f. Case of Robert Byers vs. the Synod of Illinois South. 
 
 The papers in this case did not come into the hands of the Committee 
 until the fourth day of the session, and after parties interested in it had 
 left, having been told that no such papers had come before us within the 
 time prescribed by the book, and we report no action in the case. 
 Adopted.— 1873, p. 509. 
 
 [Note. — See also under " Complaints," Sec. lxxxiv, p. 715.] 
 
 7. Right to appeal lost by default of the appellant. 
 
 a. An appeal of John F. Severance from, and complaint of, a decision 
 of the Synod of Cleveland at their last meeting, at St. Clairsville, O. 
 As the matter involved was adjudicated more than two years ago, and 
 the complainant suffered his right of appeal to be lost by default, and 
 cannot now reclaim it, and as he also failed to appear and prosecute his 
 case, as required by Chap, vii, Sec. iii. Art. xi, of the Book of Disci- 
 pline (Old), for which failure he has made no apology and given no 
 reasons, the Committee recommended that the case be dismissed. Ap- 
 proved.— 1879, p. 589. 
 
 b. Whereas, in Judicial Case No. 4, as reported by the Judicial 
 Committee of 1878, and referred, by consent of parties, to this Assem- 
 bly, being an appeal of Mrs. Anna B. Harris from a decision of the 
 Synod of Missouri, no steps have been taken by the appellant to prose- 
 cute the appeal before this Assembly ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the case be dismissed. — 1879, p. 618. 
 
 8. The appellant must furnish the necessary documents. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee reported that they had had under their 
 consideration papers marked "Benjamin Bell's Appeal," which purports 
 to be an appeal from a decision of the Synod of Geneva; but there has 
 been laid before the Committee no copy of the decision appealed from, 
 no appeal, nor reasons of the appeal, nor indeed anything but Mr. Bell's 
 plea, intended by him to be laid before the Assembly ; wherefore the 
 Committee requested to be discharged from further consideration of this 
 case. 
 
 The request of the Committee was granted, and they were accordingly 
 discharged. — 1822, p. 45. 
 
 b. The Judicial Committee reported that they had before them an 
 
OF APPEALS. 735 
 
 appeal of Mr. Benjamin Bell, and requested that they be discharged 
 from any further consideration of this appeal, inasmuch as Mr. Bell has 
 presented no documents but his plea, and no notice of this appeal is to 
 be found on the records of the Synod of Geneva; and their request was 
 granted.— 1823, p. 87. 
 
 9. Deferred in the absence of necessary documents. 
 
 Mr. Bourne's petition states a decision to have passed against him in 
 the Lexington Presbytery, which by a supplementary paper, he says, 
 was on the 27th of December last, and contained a sentence of deposi- 
 tion, from which, on the next day, he gave notice to the Presbytery that 
 he claimed an appeal to the General Assembly. By his affidavit, taken 
 before an alderman of this city, he further declares, that he, by the 
 permission of the Presbytery, transcribed the minutes of their proceed- 
 ings; that he afterward wrote in form what he denominates an appeal 
 (meaning, it is presumed, his causes of appeal), and transmitted it to 
 the Clerk of the Presbytery with a demand of the copy of the records, 
 and of that paper; but that he had received a letter from the Clerk 
 refusing to remove them from the post-office. By his petition, he asks 
 to prosecute his cause before the Assembly, without having first 
 brought his case before the Synod of Virginia; and that if such 
 hearing cannot be granted him at present, that the Assembly will assign 
 him a day. Whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That inasmuch as the records of the Lexington Presby- 
 tery, the names of the parties to the suit, the charges made before them 
 in writing against Mr. Bourne, the depositions of the witnesses, and other 
 written documents, are not before the Assembly ; and as every principle 
 of equity forbids a process in the absence of documents so essential to 
 its being rightly conducted — prayer for a hearing at this time cannot be 
 granted.— 1816, p. 626. 
 
 [Note.— The appeal was taken up and issued. — 1817, pp. 644, 646.] 
 
 10. Where the appeal was in the house in season, the rule is 
 virtually complied with. 
 
 The Chairman of the Judicial Committee stated to the Assembly that an 
 appeal had been put into his hands from Duncan Hamilton and his wife, 
 from a decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh, which appeal had not been 
 reported to the Clerk of the house, and asked the direction of the 
 Assembly in the case. On inquiry, it appeared this appeal was in the 
 house in season; aad the persons to whom it was entrusted were not 
 aware of the constitutional rule requiring that it be lodged with the 
 Clerk. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of the Assembly, the rule has virtually 
 been complied with. — 1830, p. 302. 
 
 11. The rule interpreted liberally where due diligence has been used. 
 
 That, in examining the papers and records in the matter so referred, 
 your Committee find as follows: 
 
 1. That although, in bringing the case before the General Assembly, 
 there are some mistakes and omissions in the required forms of procedure, 
 such has been the good faith and diligence of the complainant and such 
 would be the manifest and irretrievable injury he must experience if his 
 complaint be dismissed, that your Committee believe that, according to 
 the spirit of our Book of Discipline (Old), the complaint is properly 
 
736 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 97. 
 
 before this body. That, in proof of the good faith and diligence of the 
 complainant, it appears, that he was advised, by one of the oldest mem- 
 bers of the Synod, to lodge his complaint in the hands of the Stated 
 Clerk; that, according to the certifying of the Stated Clerk, the com- 
 plaint was directed to him within the time prescribed by the Book of 
 Discipline ; and that the Stated Clerk of the Synod, when receiving the 
 notice, believing it to be properly directed, neither informed the Modera- 
 tor of it, nor advised Mr. Todd of any mistake in its direction; but 
 informed other members of the Synod of the complaint, and finally put 
 all the documents into the hands of the commission to this Assembly, to 
 place them in due form before it. Your Committee are also assured, that 
 Mr. Todd wrote to the Stated Clerk, two or three days previous to the 
 opening of the Assembly, earnestly requesting that the papers might not 
 fail of coming before the Assembly; and, also, that he expressed the 
 desire that, if his presence were necessary, he might be notified of it by 
 telegram.— 1863, p. 278, N. S. 
 
 12. In the absence of records through the non-attendance of the 
 
 commissioner, the appeal received and referred. 
 
 The appeal of Rev. C. J. Abbott against the action of the Synod of 
 Missouri. The Committee reported as follows: 
 
 The Committee are verbally informed, that this case originated in the 
 Presbytery of St. Louis, upon charges preferred by common fame 
 against the appellant. The charges were sustained in the Presbytery, 
 and on appeal to the Synod were also sustained by the Synod of Missouri. 
 
 The Committee were also verbally informed, that an appeal was taken 
 from the action of the Synod, which in due course ought to have been 
 presented to the last Assembly ; that the record was forwarded to the 
 city of Philadelphia, but in consequence of the absence from that body 
 of the commissioner to whose care the record was committed, it failed to 
 be presented ; and the appellant now asks that his appeal may be entered, 
 and that it be referred to the next General Assembly for trial. Adopted. 
 —1862, p. 608, O. S. 
 
 13. Where the appeal failed to be lodged in due time through 
 
 mistake of the appellant, it was entered and referred. 
 
 The appeal of Rev. John Turbitt from the decision of the Synod of 
 Illinois, by which the action of the Presbytery of Peoria, in deposing 
 the appellant, was affirmed. 
 
 The Committee reported as follows: 
 
 This appeal appears to have been regularly taken, but was not lodged 
 with the Clerk of this Assembly before the close of the second day's 
 sessions (see Discipline [Old], Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. vii). The 
 Committee have reason to believe that the appellant was under the 
 impression that the present meeting of this Assembly was to be at Day- 
 ton, in this State, and by forwarding his papers to that place they were 
 delayed, so that they were not received here until after the end of the 
 fourth day's sessions. Under these circumstances, the Committee 
 recommend that the appeal be docketed. And as it satisfactorily 
 appears to the Committee that the appellant has been providentially hin- 
 dered from attendance at this session, they further recommend that the 
 case be deferred to the next Assembly for trial. 
 
 The report and recommendation were adopted. — 1862, p. 611, 0. S. 
 
OF APPEALS. 737 
 
 14. Where the case is continued at the request of the appellant, the 
 sentence remains in full force until the case is issued. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported that a paper had been put into their 
 hands, purporting to be a request from Mr. C. H. Baldwin, to the 
 Moderator of the Assembly, that his appeal from a decision of the Synod 
 of Genesee be continued to the next General Assembly, and offering 
 reasons for his failure to appear and prosecute it. It appears from the 
 Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Art. xi, that his case is 
 regularly before us for reference to the next General Assembly, if his 
 excuse for now failing to appear shall be deemed sufficient. 
 
 The Committee recommend that the Assembly, in view of the reasons 
 offered, and out of a desire to grant the appellant every reasonable 
 indulgence, continue his case agreeably to his request, it being under- 
 stood that the sentence of the Presbytery remain in full force against him 
 till the case be finally issued, in accordance with the provisions of our 
 Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Art. xv. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1858, p. 580, N. S. 
 
 15. Dismissed in absence of appellant with privilege of renewal. 
 
 a. The appeal of Dr. James Snodgrass against a decision of the Synod 
 of Pittsburgh was called up, and the appeal was dismissed on the ground 
 that the appellant has not appeared, either in person or by proxy, to 
 prosecute said appeal. 
 
 The Assembly, however, give to Dr. Snodgrass the privilege of prose- 
 cuting his appeal before the next General Assembly, if he can then show 
 sufficient cause for its further prosecution. — 1832, p. 376. 
 
 b. In regard to a future prosecution of his appeal, the appellant must 
 present his case, with reasons for previous failure, before the next Gen- 
 eral Assembly, whose province it will then be to decide upon the whole 
 subject.— 1850, p. 463, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— Case of A. G. Fraser.] 
 
 16. Where an appeal has been dismissed by error, the Assembly grant 
 a restoration when satisfied of the error. 
 
 The consideration of the report of the Committee to which had been 
 referred the Rev. T. B. Craighead's letter was resumed, and the report 
 was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 In the year 1811, an appeal from a decision of the Synod of Ken- 
 tucky, by T. B. Craighead, accompanied by a letter from the same, was 
 laid before the General Assembly. But Mr. Craighead not appearing iu 
 person to prosecute his appeal, permission was given by the Assembly, 
 od the last day of their sessions, to the members of the Synod of Ken- 
 tucky, who were present, to enter a protest against the prosecution of 
 the aforesaid appeal, at any future time. This was supposed to be 
 required by a standing rule of the Assembly. The appeal of Mr. 
 Craighead was therefore not heard, and the sentence of the Synod of 
 Kentucky was rendered final. 
 
 It moreover appears, that the General Assembly of the year aforesaid, 
 having adopted the protest of the members of the Synod of Kentucky as 
 their own act, did declare that Mr. Craighead had been deposed, whereas 
 the decision of the Synod was suspension ; and, although the Synod did 
 direct the Presbytery to which Mr. Craighead belonged to depose him, 
 if he did not, at their next stated meeting, retract his errors, vet this 
 47 
 
738 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 97-98. 
 
 sentence could not have been constitutionally inflicted, because Mr. 
 Craighead appealed from the decision of Synod, the effect of which was 
 to arrest all further proceedings in the case, until the appeal should be 
 tried; therefore the sentence of the Assembly declaring Mr. Craighead 
 deposed does not accord with the sentence of the Synod, which was 
 suspension. 
 
 From the above history of facts, your Committee, while they entirely 
 dissent from many of the opinions contained in Mr. Craighead's letter, 
 and consider its publication before it was presented to the Assembly 
 indecorous and improper, are of opinion, that he has just ground of com- 
 plaint in regard to the proceedings of the General Assembly of 1811 in his 
 case, and that the construction put on the standing rule of the Assem- 
 bly was not correct ; for personal attendance on the superior judicatory is 
 not essential to the regular prosecution of an appeal. Moreover, the 
 sentence of the Assembly, being founded in error, ought to be consid- 
 ered null and void, and Mr. Craighead ought to be considered as placed 
 in the same situation as before the decision took place, and as possessing 
 the right to prosecute his appeal before this judicatory. 
 
 Ordered that the Stated Clerk forward to Mr. Craighead a copy of 
 the foregoing minute. — 1822, p. 52. 
 
 17. The original rule as to abandonment of an appeal. 
 On motion Resolved, That in case of an appeal or complaint entered 
 in an inferior judicatory to a superior, if the appellant or appellants do 
 not appear at the first meeting of the superior judicatory, protest may be 
 admitted, at the instance of the respondents, at the last session of such 
 meeting, that the appeal is fallen from, and the sentence so appealed 
 from shall be considered as final. — 1791, p. 39; see 1791, p. 45. 
 
 Examples of the operation of the rule. 
 
 a. The Committee to which was referred the letter and appeal of the 
 Rev. Thomas B. Craighead reported that, after having carefully 
 attended to the duty assigned them, they did not discover any sufficient 
 reason why he has not come forward to prosecute his appeal before the 
 Assembly, nor why his case should not now be brought to issue ; and 
 therefore recommend that the representation from the Synod of Kentucky 
 be permitted, if so disposed, to enter their protest in proper time against 
 a future prosecution of his appeal, and thus give effect to a standing 
 order of the General Assembly, that the sentence of the Synod be con- 
 sidered as final. 
 
 Resolved, That the foregoing report be accepted, and that Mr. Craig- 
 head be furnished with an attested copy of this decision in his case. 
 
 The members of the Synod of Kentucky brought forward their protest, 
 which being read, was accepted, and is as follows : 
 
 The Rev. Thomas B. Craighead having appealed to the General 
 Assembly from a decision of the Synod of Kentucky, made in the month 
 of October last, by which decision the said Synod directed the Presbytery 
 of Transylvania to depose the said Thomas B. Craighead from the Gos- 
 pel ministry, which was done accordingly, and whereas the said Mr. 
 Craighead has not prosecuted his appeal to the General Assembly, and 
 the subscribers, members of the Synod of Kentucky, have waited till 
 the last day of the sessions of the Assembly, to afford opportunity for 
 the prosecution of said appeal; we do, therefore, now protest in our own 
 
OF APPEALS. 739 
 
 name, and on behalf or the Synod of Kentucky, against the future prose- 
 cution of said appeal, and declare the sentence of the Synod final, agree- 
 ably to a standing order of the General Assembly. Adopted. — 1811, 
 p. 481. 
 
 b. From the records of the Synod of Kentucky, it appeared that 
 Guernsey G. Brown had appealed from a decision of that body in his 
 case to the General Assembly. As Mr. Brown has not appeared to pros- 
 ecute his appeal, and the commissioners from the Synod of Kentucky 
 required that his absence may, according to a rule of the Assembly on 
 the subject, preclude him from a future hearing ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That Guernsey G. Brown be considered as precluded from 
 prosecuting his appeal. — 1821, p. 30. 
 
 C. The appeal of Benedict Hobbs from a decision of the Synod of 
 Kentucky was taken up, and the appellant not being present to prosecute 
 his appeal, it was dismissed, and the sentence of the inferior court 
 affirmed.— 1834, p. 452. 
 
 d. The appeal of Chloe G. Giles, from a decision of the Synod 
 of Utica, was taken up, and the appellant not being present to prosecute 
 her appeal, it was dismissed, and the sentence of the inferior court 
 affirmed.— 1834, p. 452. 
 
 e. An appeal of Mr. Thomas Davis from a decision of the Synod of 
 Memphis. The Committee recommended the following action in this 
 case, viz. : 
 
 Whereas, Mr. Thomas Davis has failed to appear before this Assembly 
 to prosecute his appeal from the Synod of Memphis ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, In accordance with the rule of the Book of Discipline 
 (Old), in this case provided, that his appeal be dismissed from the 
 further attention of this body.— 1852, p. 212, O. S. 
 
 XCVIII. Neither the appellant, nor the members of the judicatory 
 appealed from, shall sit, deliberate, or vote in the case. 
 
 1. The Moderator, being a member of the judicatory appealed 
 from, will not sit. 
 
 a. Resolved, That no minister belonging to the Synod of Philadelphia, 
 nor elder who was a member of the judicature when the vote appealed 
 from took place, shall vote in the decision thereof by this Assembly. 
 
 The Moderator, being a member of the Synod of Philadelphia, with- 
 drew, and Dr. McKnight took the chair. — 1792, p. 56. 
 
 b. The appeal of Mr. Pope Bushnell was resumed. The Moderator 
 being a member of the Synod appealed from, Mr. Jennings, the last 
 Moderator present, took the chair. — 1826, p. 184. 
 
 C. Judicial Case No. 1 was taken up. The Moderator being a party 
 in the case, vacated the chair, and on motion, Dr. Krebs was requested 
 to act as Moderator during the trial of the case. — 1866, p. 48, O. S. 
 
 d. The Moderator, on the ground of his being a member of the Synod 
 complained of, voluntarily relinquished the chair, while this case should 
 be pending. —1852, p. 164, N. S. 
 
 2. An interested party should not sit on a trial. 
 
 The records of the Synod of Genesee were approved, with the follow- 
 ing exception: Of a decision of the Moderator, recorded on p. 151, that 
 a member of a Synod, who might be interested in a case under trial, 
 
740 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 98-99. 
 
 cannot be challenged; which decision is unconstitutional, and ought to 
 be reversed by that Synod. —1846, p. 20, N. S. 
 
 3. Members of the judicatory appealed from may not vote. 
 
 a. The Synod of Mississippi acted unconstitutionally in permitting 
 the Presbytery of Louisiana to vote on the adoption of the report of 
 the Judicial Committee on the complaint of Rev. Mr. Smylie. — 1850, 
 p. 481, O. S. 
 
 b. The action of the Synod of Harrisburg in the complaint of Ebene- 
 zer Erskine declared irregular and unconstitutional, inter alia, " 3. 
 Because the Presbytery of Carlisle was allowed to vote in the case, 
 contrary to the Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iv, Sub -sec. 
 vii."-1874, p. 74. 
 
 C. The Judicial Commission presented its finding in the judicial case 
 of Lee vs. the Synod of Missouri, and the same was ordered to be entered 
 on the record. The report is as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Commission, to which was referred the appeal of the 
 Rev. William J. Lee, D.D., by his counsel, Hon. Selden P. Spencer, 
 from the action of the Synod of Missouri, in refusing to entertain the 
 appeal from the judgment of the Presbytery of St. Louis, beg leave to 
 report : 
 
 That without entering upon the merits of the case as determined by 
 the Synod, we sustain the appeal upon grounds of irregularities in the 
 mode of procedure ; first, in that the members of the Presbytery of St. 
 Louis were permitted to vote on the question of an appeal from their 
 own judgment, and, second, in that no reason is assigned for refusing to 
 entertain the appeal ; and the case is hereby remanded to the Synod of 
 Missouri, with an injunction that the question of entertaining the appeal 
 from the judgment of the Presbytery of St. Louis be reconsidered and 
 acted upon in a regular and constitutional manner. — 1897, p. 95. 
 
 [Note.— Applies also to " Complaints," Sec. xc, p. 719.] 
 
 4. Members of a judicatory appealed from may speak on 
 
 postponement. 
 
 Appeal and complaint of R. S. Finley, etc., against the Synod of 
 New Jersey. 
 
 A motion was made by James Hoge to postpone the trial of this cause to 
 the next General Assembly. 
 
 This motion was discussed at length, the Moderator deciding, in the 
 course of the discussion, that the members of the Synod of New Jersey 
 might speak on such a motion. — 1858, p. 291, O. S. 
 
 5. An elder belonging to the judicatory appealed from, though not 
 a member of the judicatory when the case was issued, may not 
 sit. 
 
 A question was raised by Mr. Cunningham, an elder from the Synod 
 of Philadelphia, who was not a member of Synod at the meetiDcr at 
 which the case of Mr. Barnes was tried and issued, whether he has a 
 right to vote in this case in the Assembly. After some discussion, the 
 Moderator decided that Mr. Cunningham, and any other members of 
 the Assembly from that Synod similarly situated, have a right to vote in 
 the Assembly. From this decision of the Moderator an appeal was taken, 
 when, by a vote of the Assembly, the decision of the Moderator was 
 not sustained, and it was decided that Mr. Cunningham, and others 
 
OF APPEALS. 741 
 
 similarly situated, have no right to vote on the case in the Assembly. — 
 1836, reprint, p. 524. 
 
 6. Ministers who have been dismissed to other bodies before the 
 action complained of are not excluded. 
 
 A motion was made that Dr. Skinner and Mr. Dashiell, who, at the 
 time the trial was commenced in the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, 
 were either not dismissed from that body, or had not yet connected them- 
 selves with any other, though they did not meet with the Presbytery, and 
 before the meeting of Synod were members of other Presbyteries, 
 should not sit in judgment in the case of Mr. Barnes. This motion was 
 decided in the negative. — 1836, reprint, p. 524. 
 
 7. A case is remanded where members of the judicatory appealed 
 from act in their own case. 
 
 Cases of Mr. Jefferson Ramsey and Rev. Andrew B. Cross vs. the Synod 
 of Baltimore. 
 
 The persons named appeal from a decision of the Synod, by which a 
 complaint of Mr. Ramsey against the Presbytery of New Castle, and 
 one of Mr. Cross against the Presbytery of Baltimore, were dismissed as 
 having no ground, on report of the Judicial Committee of the Synod. 
 
 Your Committee learn from the records of the Synod that one clergy- 
 man and one layman respectively from each of these Presbyteries were 
 members of the Judicial Committee; that the Moderator of the Synod 
 was a member of the Presbytery of New Castle, and the Moderator, pro 
 tern. , who was in the chair at the time of the action complained of, was a 
 member of the Presbytery of Baltimore ; that the case was not stated in 
 any form to the Synod, but when the Judicial Committee reported, in 
 each case, that there was no ground of complaint, their report was adopted 
 under the call for the previous question. From all these facts, the Com- 
 mittee are of opinion that the cases should be readjudicated by the Synod 
 of Baltimore, and so recommend to the Assembly. Adopted. — 1873, 
 p. 508. 
 
 XCIX. When due notice of an Appeal has been given, and the 
 Appeal and the specifications of the errors alleged have been filed in due 
 time, the Appeal shall be considered in order. The judgment, the notice 
 of Appeal, the Appeal, and the specifications of the errors alleged, shall be 
 read ; and the judicatory may then determine, after hearing the parties, 
 whether the Appeal shall be entertained. If it be entertained, the fol- 
 lowing order shall be observed : 
 
 (1) The record in the case, from the beginning, shall be read, except 
 what may be omitted by consent. 
 
 (2) The parties shall be heard, the appellant opening and closing. 
 
 (3) Opportunity shall be given to the members of the judicatory 
 appealed from to be heard. 
 
 (4) Opportunity shall be given to the members of the superior judica- 
 tory to be heard. 
 
 (5) The vote shall then be separately taken, without debate, on each 
 specification of error alleged, the question being taken in the form: 
 "Shall the specification of error be sustained?" If no one of the 
 
742 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99. 
 
 specifications be sustained, and no error be found by the judicatory in 
 the record, the judgment of the inferior judicatory shall be affirmed. 
 If one or more errors be found, the judicatory shall determine, whether 
 the judgment of the inferior judicatory shall be reversed or modified, 
 or the case remanded for a new trial; and the judgment, 
 accompanied by a recital of the error or errors found, shal] be entered 
 on the record. If the judicatory deem it wise, an explanatory minute 
 may be adopted which shall be a part of the record of the case. 
 
 [Note.— Sec. lxxxvii provides that " in cases of complaint involving a judicial 
 decision, proceedings in an appellate judicatory shall be had in the order and as 
 provided in Sec. xcix, Chap, iv, entitled "Of Appeals." 
 
 For decisions as to due notice of appeal, and the filing of the appeal and specifica- 
 tions in due time, see under Sec. xcvi, p. 729; alsounderSec. lxxxiv, " OfComplaints," 
 p. 714. 
 
 Under the former Book it was held by many that when an appeal or complaint was 
 "found to be in order" it must necessarily be tried. The Assembly of 1874, p. 74. 
 decided "that the action of the Synod of Harrisburg in dismissing without trial the 
 complaint of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine against the Presbytery of Carlisle, is hereby 
 declared irregular and unconstitutional, for the following reasons: 1. Because the 
 Synod dismissed the case without trial, after having admitted that the papers were in 
 order." 
 
 On the other hand, appeals and complaints found to be in order have been dis- 
 missed for reasons assigned, e. g., case of Mr. Smylie, 1*47, O. S., p. 385 ; below. Sec. 
 xcix, 3, 1874, p. 62; because the decision of another case covered the one presented. 
 
 1878, p. 117. The complaint of the Rev. Drs. N. West and Thomas H. Skinner 
 against the Synod of Cincinnati : The papers are found in order, and an order of trial 
 adopted. But, p. 118, leave was given the complainants to withdraw their com- 
 plaints, "the ground of said complaint having been virtually covered by the report 
 of the Committee on the Records of the Synod of ( 'iucimiati." See this Digest, p. 707. 
 
 1881, p. 586. Complaint of the Rev. Arthur Crosby vs. the Synod of Long Island. 
 The Committee (Judicial) find the papers in order, but recommend that the complaint 
 be dismissed, for reasons assigned. See this Digest, pp. 702-703. 
 
 Under the present rule the judicatory, after hearing the parties, may determine 
 whether the appeal shall be entertained.— M.] 
 
 XCIX. When due notice of an Appeal has been given, and the 
 
 Appeal and the specifications of the errors alleged have been filed in due 
 
 time, the Appeal shall be considered in' order. The judgment, the 
 
 notice of Appeal, the Appeal, and the specifications of the errors 
 
 alleged, shall be read; and the judicatory may then determine, after 
 
 hearing the parties, whether the Appeal shall be entertained. 
 
 [Note.— For convenience, the principal parts of Sec. xcix are printed separately. 
 The entire Section is given above on p. 741.] 
 
 I. INITIATION OF PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 1. The appeal or complaint is transmitted to the Judicial Committee. 
 
 All complaints and appeals shall be transmitted by the Stated Clerk to 
 the Judicial Committee. — Standing Order No. 7, 1897, p. 263. 
 
 2. The Judicial Committee and its duties. 
 
 In all cases before a judicatory, where there is an accuser or prosecu- 
 tor, it is expedient that there be a Committee of the judicatory appointed 
 (provided the number of members be sufficient to admit it without 
 inconvenience), who shall be called the " Judicial Committee," and 
 whose duty it shall be to digest and arrange all the papers, and to 
 prescribe, under the direction of the judicatory, the whole order of pro- 
 ceedings. The members of this Committee shall be entitled, notwith- 
 standing their performance of this duty, to sit and vote in the cause as- 
 
OF APPEALS. 743 
 
 members of the judicatory. — Rules for Judicatories, No. 41, p. 269,, 
 this Digest. 
 
 3. In the absence of records, the decision of the appeal should -be 
 suspended. Parol evidence will not supply the place of the 
 records. 
 
 In the case of Samuel Lowrey (see 1823, p. 92) it appeared on 
 inquiry that neither the records of the Synod of Ohio nor the records of 
 the Presbytery of Miami were brought to the Assembly; but as the 
 delegates belonging to the Synod admitted it to be a fact, as stated in Mr. 
 Lowrey' s appeal, that the Presbytery of Miami did appoint a special 
 session, composed of elders belonging to different congregations, for the 
 purpose of trying Mr. Lowrey, and that the decision of such a special 
 session was affirmed by the Synod of Ohio ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal of Mr. Lowrey be sustained, and it hereby 
 is sustained. — 1823, p. 92. 
 
 Against this decision the Synod of Ohio memorialized the Assembly, 
 and the Assembly inter alia declare : 
 
 This Assembly are of opinion that the correct mode of proceeding for 
 the last General Assembly, would have been, to have suspended a 
 decision on the appeal, until the records of the inferior judicatories should 
 have been present, because the rules in our Form of Government 
 prescribe, that before a judgment is given, all the proceedings of the 
 inferior judicatories in the case should be read and it is a sound 
 maxim, generally admitted in courts of justice, that the best 
 evidence which the case admits of should be required, which, in all trials, 
 is undoubtedly the record of the judicatory. But while they entertain 
 this opinion of the mode of proceeding, they believe that the decision of 
 the last General Assembly was substantially correct, and was not differ- 
 ent from what it would have been if they had had all the proceedings of 
 the inferior judicatories before them ; for the fact on which they founded 
 their judgment has been fully confirmed to this Assembly, by the records 
 which have been read in the discussion of the case. — 1824, p. 115. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xcii, p. 719.] 
 
 4. The appeal (or complaint) found in order. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee presented its report in the case of The 
 Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. vs. Rev. Charles A. Briggs, which 
 was accepted, as follows : 
 
 The Judicial Committee respectfully reports that it has carefully con- 
 sidered the documents submitted to it in this case, and adopted the follow- 
 ing resolutions: 
 
 1. That, in the opinion of this Committee, the appeal taken by the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, an original party 
 represented by the '■ Committee of Prosecution," appointed under 
 Section xi of the Book of Discipline, has been taken from the final judg- 
 ment of the Presbytery in dismissing the case ; and that the said Com- 
 mittee had the right to take this appeal representing the said original 
 party. 
 
 2. That it finds that the notice of the appeal has been given, and that 
 the appeal, specifications of error, and record have been filed in accord- 
 ance with Sections xcvi and xcvii of the Book of Discipline, and the 
 appeal is in order. 
 
744 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99. 
 
 3. That in the judgment of the Committee, the appeal should be 
 entertained, and a time set apart for the hearing of the case. 
 
 In view of these considerations, the Committee reports that the appeal 
 is in order, and that the General Assembly should proceed in accordance 
 with the provisions of Section xcix of the Book of Discipline, by caus- 
 ing the judgment appealed from, the notice of appeal, the appeal, and 
 the specifications of the errors alleged, to be read; then to hear the appel- 
 lant by the Committee of Prosecution; then the defendant in person, or by 
 his counsel; then the appellant by the Committee of Prosecution in 
 reply, upon the question " whether the appeal shall be entertained ?" — 
 1892, p. 90. 
 
 So much of this report as relates to the appeal being found to be in 
 order, was adopted. — 1892, p. 118. 
 
 b. The Judicial Committee presented a report in the case of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the U. S. A. vs. the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., 
 being Judicial Case No. 1. It was 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly finds that due notice of appeal 
 in this case has been given, and that the appeal and the specifications of 
 the errors alleged have been filed in due time, and that the appeal is in 
 order in accordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline. 
 Adopted.— 1893, p. 70. 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee, in the matter of Judicial Case No. 1, 
 begs leave to report: 
 
 In the case of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America against Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D,, being the appeal 
 to the General Assembly from the decision, action and judgment of the 
 Synod of Ohio, rendered October 13, 1893, we have examined the papers 
 and conferred with the parties. 
 
 We find that the appellant is Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., 
 and as such appellant he has the right to appeal to the General Assembly, 
 the case being one of that nature in which the appeal may be taken to 
 the highest court of the Church, and we find that the Committee to con- 
 duct the prosecution appointed by the Presbytery of Cincinnati, in which 
 Presbytery the case arose, has the right to conduct the prosecution, and 
 hence to appear for the Presbyterian Church, the appellee in this court. 
 
 The notice of appeal has been timely and duly given, and the appeal 
 and specifications of error alleged and the record in the case filed, all in 
 accordance with the provisions in the Book of Discipline, and said 
 appeal is found to be in order. 
 
 In our conference with both parties it has been agreed by both parties 
 respectively, that the reading of the record in the case be omitted and 
 waived, except such parts thereof as either party may deem necessary to 
 read in person, and also that their respective arguments on the entertain- 
 ment of the appeal be omitted. The Committee, therefore, recommends 
 that the appeal be entertained. Any discussion on the question whether 
 the appeal should be entertained will require the opening of the whole 
 case, which would require somewhat of a repetition of the trial proper. 
 The parties having agreed to waive, being heard on that question before 
 the Assembly, it is understood that the parties shall be at liberty to 
 argue the whole case on the merits of the question of sustaining the 
 appeal, which would include, naturally, any questions, not purely formal 
 or technical, which would arise on the question of entertaining the 
 appeal. This waiver by the parties of their right to be heard orally 
 
OF APPEALS. 745 
 
 before the Assembly on that first question, is all to this end, that by the 
 Assembly deciding at once to entertain the appeal, time may be saved, 
 a double presentation of the same statement of the merits avoided, and 
 no party be prejudiced or lose any right, by going at once to the merits 
 of the main questions involved. The recommendation which we make 
 as to time to be allowed to the parties is made after full consultation with 
 the parties. The Committee, therefore, recommend the adoption of the 
 following: 
 
 Resolved, 1 . That the General Assembly finds that due notice of the 
 appeal in the case has been given, and that the appeal and specification 
 of the errors alleged have been filed in due time, and that the appeal is 
 in order in accordance with the Book of Discipline. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That after the judgment, notice of appeal, appeal and 
 specifications of errors have been read, the Assembly shall, by its vote 
 determine whether the appeal shall be entertained. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the General Assembly having first decided to enter- 
 tain the appeal, the appellant shall have three hours to present his case, 
 that the appellee be allowed four hours to present the case of the appel- 
 lee, that the appellant have one hour to close, that one hour be given to 
 the Synod of Ohio, the judicatory appealed from, due regard being had 
 to the hearing of both sides alternately, that the roll be called to give the 
 members of the Assembly an opportunity to be heard, not longer than 
 three minutes each, no speaker to speak more than once unless the 
 Assembly shall otherwise order, and that thereafter the vote shall be 
 taken upon each specification of error alleged, the form of the question 
 being: Shall this specification of error be sustained ? Adopted. — 1894, 
 pp. 90, 91. 
 
 5. The judgment, notice of appeal, etc., read. 
 
 Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D. : 
 
 The judgment, the notice of appeal, the appeal, and the specifications 
 of the errors alleged were read, as directed in the Book of Discipline, 
 Sec. xcix, by the Stated Clerk.— 1892, p. 118. 
 
 [Note— See also case of Dr. C. A. Briggs, 1893, p. 70; of Dr. H. P. Smith, 1894, 
 p. 91 ; of Burt Estes Howard ; J. C. Salisbury ; and William P. Craig, 1896, p. 48 ; and 
 of David R. Breed, D.D., 1896, p. 84.] 
 
 6. The appeal entertained. 
 
 Case of Dr. Charles A. Briggs: 
 
 The Assembly determined, after hearing the judgment, the notice of 
 appeal, the appeal, and the specifications of the errors alleged, that the 
 appeal shall be entertained. — 1892, p. 119; 1893, p. 95. 
 
 [Note— See also cases of Dr. H. P. Smith, 1894, p. 91 ; of Burt Estes Howard ; J. C. 
 Salisbury; and W. P. Craig, 1896, p. 48 ; and of David R. Breed, D.D., 1896, p. 84.] 
 
 IT. READING THE RECORD. 
 If it be entertained, the following order shall be observed : 
 XCIX. (1) The record in the case, from the beginning, shall be 
 read, except what may be omitted by consent. 
 
 1. Reading of the documents by consent dispensed with. 
 a. The Assembly entered on the consideration of the two appeals of 
 the Rev. Robert B. Dobbins, from the decision of the Synod of Ken- 
 
746 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (1). 
 
 tucky, in the cases of the Rev. William L. Maccalla, and the Session of 
 the Church of Augusta. The Rev. Dr. E. S. Ely appeared in behalf 
 of Mr. Dobbins. The parties were heard until they declared themselves 
 satisfied (the facts having been admitted by them, and the reading of the 
 documents by consent dispensed with). The roll was then called, that 
 the members of the Assembly might express their opinions on the sub- 
 ject; after which Drs. Wylie, M'Dowell and Leland were appointed a 
 Committee to prepare a minute on the subject. — 1824, p. 120. 
 
 b. On the questions of the reading of the record of the case, and as 
 to what constituted said record, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the record as certified by the Stated Clerk of the Pres- 
 bytery of New York be read, or agreed to be considered as read by the 
 appellant and the appellee, and that the parties be heard afterwards 
 upon their objections to the record or any part of the same, as certified, 
 without any waiver of their rights as to the said record being made, by 
 their having consented to the record as certified, being read, or considered 
 as read. It was also 
 
 Resolved, That it is the judgment of the General Assembly that we 
 cannot here correct the records of the Presbytery of New York in this 
 case, and that having heard objections and contra-objections to these 
 records, we refer the parties to the Presbytery of New York as the only 
 body having the right and power to hear objections and make corrections; 
 and that we accept the written records in this case ; and that the official 
 stenographic report be considered part of the record. 
 
 The Hon. Jason W. Strevell gave notice that in due time he would 
 enter his protest against the above decision. 
 
 The appellant and appellee consented to waive the reading of the 
 record of the case, and agreed to submit said consent in writing to-mor- 
 row morning.— 1892, pp. 119-120. 
 
 [Note.— Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D., 1892.] 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee presented a report recommending the 
 following order in the determination of the appeal, which has been 
 entertained by the General Assembly, in Judicial Case No. 1. The 
 report was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That inasmuch as the reading of the record in the case 
 has been, by consent of parties, omitted, except such parts thereof as 
 they may deem necessary in presenting their respective arguments, the 
 parties shall at once be heard, the appellant opening and closing the 
 case, four hours and a half being allowed to the appellant and seven 
 hours to the appellee. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the members of the judicatory appealed from, 
 namely, the Presbytery of New York, shall then be heard, two hours 
 being allowed for this purpose, and ten minutes being granted to each 
 speaker, it being understood, however, that any member shall have the 
 privilege of yielding his time to another member. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the members of the General Assembly shall then be 
 heard for two hours, speakers to be limited to ten minutes, according to 
 the standing rule. 
 [Note. — This third resolution declared unconstitutional. Seep. 750.] 
 
 Resolved, 4. That thereafter the vote shall be taken upon each specifi- 
 
OF APPEALS. 747 
 
 cation of error alleged, the form of the question being, " Shall this 
 specification of error be sustained ?" — 1893, p. 132. 
 
 [Note. — Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D., 1893. See, also, cases of Burt Estes How- 
 ard and of J. C. Salisbury et aL, 1896, pp. 132, 133. Complaint of William P. Craig, 
 1896, p. 152 ; complaint of David R. Breed, D.D., 1896, pp. 90, 91.] 
 
 2. Certified copies distributed by consent. 
 
 a. Appeal of the Rev. Isaac M. See from a decision of the Synod of 
 New Jersey. This is in order. 
 
 The papers are present in pamphlet form, certified by the Stated Clerk 
 of the Synod to be correct, and accepted by the appellant. A copy of 
 this pamphlet will be furnished to each member of the Assembly, and 
 the Committee recommend that this distribution be in place of reading 
 the records. Adopted.— 1878, p. 22. 
 
 b. Appeal of the Rev. John Miller from a decision of the Synod of 
 New Jersey. The whole proceedings of the Synod in the case are in 
 print, certified by the Stated Clerk, and will be distributed among the 
 members of the Assembly. 
 
 The Committee recommend that this distribution be in place of the 
 reading of the records, all parties having consented thereto ; that the 
 order of procedure in the argument be as laid down in the Book, the 
 appellant having the right to close, but not to introduce new matter ; 
 and that the time allowed for argument by the parties do not exceed four 
 hours, to be divided equally. Adopted. — 1878, p. 28; also pp. 32, 53. 
 
 3. Matters foreign to the issue may by consent be omitted in the 
 
 reading. 
 
 a. Resolved, That in reading the minutes of Lexington Presbytery, 
 the names of the voters in calling the yeas and nays be omitted, unless 
 called for by one or other of the parties litigant; and that the proceed- 
 ings of Presbytery, in reference to other matters foreign to the issue 
 before us, be also omitted, unless called for specially by one of the 
 parties.— 1848, p. 30, O. S. 
 
 b. The Assembly then proceeded to take up the business, according 
 to the recommendation of the Judicial Committee. After the usual 
 admonition, read from the Book, to the members in their judicial capac- 
 ity, the papers were read, according to the constitutional order; and 
 after all the papers presented by the Committee had been read, a recess 
 was taken for half an hour. 
 
 After the recess, George Howe moved that the whole records of the 
 Presbytery in relation to the case now before the Assembly be read. 
 
 This motion was carried, and the minutes of the Presbytery of Eliza- 
 bethtown were accordingly read, in everything pertaining to the case, 
 until it was carried by appeal to Synod of New Jersey ; the Moderator 
 deciding that any subsequent record should not be read. — 1858, p. 291, 
 O. S. 
 
 4. Documents not read may be used in pleading. 
 
 In the appeal of Alexander Frazer, against the Synod of Buffalo, the 
 course required in the Book for conducting appeals was then pursued ; 
 and at the third stage of the proceedings, a question having arisen as to 
 the reading of certain printed pamphlets as a part of the evidence, it was 
 
 Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly it is not necessary to 
 read the pamphlets in extenso, but counsel can make such use of them 
 as they see fit in the course of their argument. — 1859, p. 542, O. S. 
 
748 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (2-3). 
 
 5. Reasons assigned by an appellant must be recorded. They must 
 be couched in decent and respectful language. 
 
 Overture from certain ministers and ruling elders, requesting the 
 Assembly to decide whether the clause in the Book of Discipline (Old), 
 Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. viii, " and which are on record," requires 
 that these reasons are to be spread on the books of the minutes of the 
 court appealed from, or whether they may be considered as on record 
 when simply on file. And if said clause requires the reasons to be 
 spread on the minutes, whether the judicatory has authority to require 
 that the reasons be couched in decent and respectful language, and 
 contain no offensive reflections or insinuations against the judicatory, as 
 in the case of dissent and protest. 
 
 Recommended that this Assembly decide, first, that the reasons must 
 be spread on the minutes; second, that the question respecting the lan- 
 guage be answered affirmatively. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1862, p. 596, O. S. 
 
 III. HEARING THE PARTIES. 
 XCIX. (2) The parties shall be heard, the appellant opening and 
 closing. 
 
 1. Case remanded for new trial because the original parties 
 had not been heard. 
 
 Complaint and appeal of the Presbytery of Passaic against the Synod 
 of New Jersey [not entertained as an appeal because not made by one 
 of the original parties. See Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub- 
 sec, xvii] continued as a complaint. 
 
 Resolved, That the case be returned to the Synod for a new trial, if 
 a new trial be required. 
 
 1. Because it appears from the record of the Synod that the original 
 parties in the case were never heard by them, the original parties, in the 
 judgment of the Assembly, being Mr. William B. Guild and the Com- 
 mittee prosecuting for common fame. — 1861, p. 344, O. S. 
 
 2. Case issued and complaint sustained where no person appears 
 on behalf of the respondent. 
 
 The Assembly took up the complaint of the minority of the Synod of 
 Kentucky, against a decision of the majority of said Synod, in the case 
 of Mr. Benedict H. Hobbs. 
 
 The decision complained of, the complaint and the proceedings of the 
 several judicatories in the case were read. The complainants were then 
 heard; no persons appeared on the part of the Synod. 
 
 After due consideration, the following resolution was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That the complaint be, and it is hereby sustained, aud the judgment 
 of the Synod is reversed. — 1831, p. 342. 
 
 3. Time limit for hearing. 
 
 The parties shall be heard, the appellants opening and closing the case, 
 four and a half hours being allowed to the appellants, and seven hours 
 to the appellee.— 1893, p. 132. 
 
 4. Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D., 1892. 
 George W. F. Birch, D.D., opened on behalf of the appellant, and 
 was followed by the appellee, the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D. D. , who 
 
OF APPEALS. 749 
 
 continued his argument until he had finished. — 1892, p. 119, and p. 
 126. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph J. Lampe followed on behalf of the appellants. 
 After he had concluded, Elder John J. McCook took the floor : and the 
 appellants rested their case. — 1892, p. 140. 
 
 5. Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D., 1893. 
 
 The Assembly proceeded to hear the parties. The Rev. George W. 
 F. Birch, D. D. , Chairman of the Committee of Prosecution, opened on 
 behalf of the appellants. — 1893, p. 84. 
 
 The Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., was then heard in response. — 
 1893, pp. 84, 93. 
 
 Elder John J. McCook continued his argument in behalf of the appel- 
 lants until he had concluded. — 1893, p. 93. 
 
 6. Case of Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., 1894. 
 
 The Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., the appellant, addressed the 
 Assembly in his own behalf. — 1894, pp. 91, 92. 
 
 The Rev. William McKibben, D. D. , Chairman of the Committee of 
 Prosecution, addressed the court in behalf of the appellee. — 1894, p. 92. 
 
 The appellant, the Rev. Henry P. Smith, D.D., addressed the court 
 in his closing argument. — 1894, p. 93. 
 
 [Note. — See also cases of Burt Estes Howard, 1896, p. 132; of J. C. Salisbury et al., 
 1896, p. 133 ; of David R. Breed, D.D., 1896, p. 85 ; and of William R. Craig, 1896, p. 152.] 
 
 IV. HEARING MEMBERS OF THE JUDICATORY APPEALED FROM. 
 
 XCIX. (3) Opportunity shall be given to the members of the judi- 
 catory appealed from to be heard. 
 
 1. Interpretation and application of Section xcix. 
 
 a. On the question of the interpretation and application of Book of 
 Discipline, Sec. xcix, 3, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the members of the Presbytery of New York, present, 
 whether they are commissioners or not, be heard. 
 
 The members of the judicatory appealed from were heard. The Mod- 
 erator decided that such of the members of the Presbytery of New York 
 as are appellants had been heard. — 1892, p. 140. 
 
 b. It was Resolved, That in the action taken by the General Assembly 
 in the judicial case of the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., granting a 
 hearing to members of the New York Presbytery, whether they were 
 commissioners or not, this General Assembly did not intend to decide the 
 constitutional point as to the right of all the members of an inferior 
 judicatory to be heard, and the said action is not to be pleaded as a 
 precedent on the one side or the other of this question of constitutional 
 interpretation. — 1892, p. 151. 
 
 C. The Moderator stated that Rule xxix of the Rules for Judicatories 
 would be observed so far as possible, and the floor given alternately to 
 the speakers on opposite sides of the question. — 1893, p. 94. 
 
 d. Resolved, That the members of the judicatory appealed from, 
 namely, the Presbytery of New York, shall then be heard, two hours 
 being allowed for this purpose, and ten minutes being granted to each 
 speaker; it being understood, however, that any member shall have the 
 privilege of yielding his time to another member. — 1893, p. 132. 
 
 Note.— Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D.] 
 
750 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (4-5). 
 
 e. The members of the court appealed from, viz., the Synod of Ohio, 
 were heard. — 1894, p. 93. 
 [Note— Case of Henry P. Smith, D.D.] 
 
 V. HEARING MEMBERS OF THE SUPERIOR JUDICATORY. 
 
 XCIX. (4) Opportunity shall be given to the members of the supe- 
 rior judicatory to be heard. 
 
 1. Limitation of time of speakers. 
 
 a. Resolved, 1. That after the parties in this case shall have been heard 
 the speeches of the members of the judicatory appealed from be limited 
 to five minutes each. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the same time limit be applied to the speeches of 
 the members of the appellate judicatory, and that the time allowed for 
 the speeches of members of the Assembly be confined to the period of 
 one hour. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Assembly proceed, immediately after the mem- 
 bers of the appellate judicatory shall have been heard, to vote upon the 
 charges and specifications now pending before us. — 1892, p. 139. 
 [Note. — Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D.] 
 
 b. The members of the superior judicatory were heard. — 1892, p. 
 140. 
 
 2. Constitutional right to be heard cannot be destroyed, though 
 time limit may be set. Speeches by roll-call. 
 
 a. On the question as to the time to be allowed members of the 
 Assembly, the Moderator decided that the court could not by a simple 
 resolution destroy the constitutional right of any commissioner to be 
 heard upon a judicial case, but that the court could limit the time for 
 each speaker. It was then 
 
 Resolved, That the roll of the members of the court be called, in 
 order that " opportunity shall be given to the members of the superior 
 judicatory to be heard." It was also 
 
 Resolved, That the time of each member be limited to three minutes. 
 The roll was then duly called, until it was concluded. — 1893, p. 139. 
 
 [Note.— Case of Dr. Briggs.] 
 
 b. The roll of the court was called, to give its members opportunity 
 to express their opinions. The calling of the roll was continued .... 
 until the names of all the members had been called. — 1894, pp. 94-96. 
 
 [Note— Case of Dr. H. P. Smith.] 
 
 VI. TAKING THE VOTE. 
 
 XCIX. (5) The vote shall then be separately taken, without debate, 
 on each specification of error alleged, the question being taken in the 
 form: " Shall the specification of error be sustained ?" 
 1. The final vote must be taken. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Synod of Indiana did not take an express vote on 
 sustaining the appeal of Mr. Harney, and the sentence on record is 
 vague and inconsistent with itself, that the whole case be remitted to the 
 said Synod, with an injunction to them to reconsider the case, and pass a 
 definite, precise and just sentence. — 1837, p. 480. 
 
OF APPEALS. 751 
 
 2. It is taken separately on each charge. 
 
 The business left unfinished yesterday was resumed, viz., the trial of 
 Mr. Bourne's appeal from the decision of the Presbytery of Lexington, 
 by which Mr. Bourne was deposed from the Gospel ministry, and the 
 following resolution was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal of Mr. Bourne be dismissed, and that the 
 decision of the Presbytery of Lexington, declaring him deposed from 
 the Gospel ministry, be and it is hereby confirmed, on the first, second, 
 third, fifth and sixth charges. 
 
 The vote was taken separately on each of these charges, and was 
 declared in the affirmative. — 1818, p. 682. 
 
 3. The final vote taken and the appeal sustained. 
 
 a. The steps prescribed by the Book of Discipline, Chap, ix, Sec. 
 xcix, Sub-sees. 1, 2, 3 and 4, having been taken, the Assembly pro- 
 ceeded to vote, in accordance with Sub-sec. 5, upon the specifications of 
 error, when it appeared : 
 
 That Specifications 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the first ground of 
 appeal were sustained; 
 
 That Specifications 1 and 2 of the second ground of appeal w T ere 
 sustained ; 
 
 That Specification 1 of the third ground of appeal w r as sustained; 
 
 That Specifications 1 and 2 of the fourth ground of appeal were 
 sustained ; 
 
 That Specifications 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the fifth ground of appeal were 
 sustained; and 
 
 That Specifications 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the sixth ground of 
 appeal were sustained. 
 
 The question was then put, " Shall the appeal be sustained ?" Upon 
 which the yeas and nays were ordered, and the vote was, to sustain as a 
 w T hole, 307; to sustain in part, 124, and not to sustain, 87, or, to sustain 
 the appeal, 431, not to sustain, 87. — 1892, pp. 140, 141. 
 
 [Note. — Case of Dr. Briggs.] 
 
 b. The vote was then taken on each specification of error alleged in 
 the appeal in said Judicial Case No. 1, the question on each being, 
 " Shall this specification of error be sustained ?" 
 
 The result of the vote was as follows: 
 
 Under the first ground of appeal, viz. Irregularity in the proceedings 
 of said Presbytery of New York, Specifications 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
 9, 10, 11 and 12 were sustained. 
 
 Under the second ground of appeal, viz. : Receiving improper testi- 
 mony, Specifications 1, 2 and 3 were sustained. 
 
 Under the third ground of appeal, viz. : Declining to receive impor- 
 tant testimony, Specifications 1 and 2 were sustained. 
 
 Under the fourth ground of appeal, viz. : Manifestation of prejudice 
 in the conduct of the case, Specifications 1 and 5 were not sustained. 
 Specifications 2, 3, 4 and 6 were sustained. 
 
 Under the fifth ground of appeal, viz. : Mistake or injustice in the 
 decision, Specifications 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were sus- 
 tained. 
 
 The question was then put, " Shall the appeal be sustained ?" upon 
 which the yeas and nays were called, and ordered to be recorded. The 
 
752 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 vote was, to sustain as a whole, 295; to sustain in part, 84; not to sus- 
 tain, 116, or, to sustain the appeal, 379; not to sustain, 116. — 1893, 
 p. 140. 
 
 [Note.— Case of Dr. Briggs.] 
 
 C. The court proceeded to vote upon the specifications of err or alleged by 
 the appellant, the question in each case being: " Shall the specification 
 of error be sustained V 
 
 The first ground of appeal was read, and the vote was taken thereon, 
 and a division being called for, the result was announced as follows: 
 
 To sustain, 62; not to sustain, 403. So the first specification of error 
 was not sustained. 
 
 Each of the other grounds of appeal was read, the vote upon each 
 ground being taken separately, and the Moderator announced in each 
 case that the specification of error was not sustained. 
 
 All the specifications of error having been voted upon and not sus- 
 tained, the roll was then called upon the question, ' ' Shall the appeal be 
 sustained ?" and the yeas and nays were ordered to be recorded. — 1894, 
 pp. 96, 97. 
 
 [Note.— Case of Dr. H. P. Smith.] 
 
 VII. CASE SUBMITTED TO A JUDICIAL COMMISSION. 
 
 1. The Judicial Committee appointed such commission. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported on Judicial Cases Nos. 5, 6 and 7, 
 as follows: 
 
 Judicial Case No. 5. — The Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America vs. Rev. Burt Estes Howard, being an appeal from the 
 Synod of California. The Committee find that due notice of appeal has 
 been given, that the specifications of the errors alleged have been filed 
 in due time, and that the appeal should be entertained. The appellant 
 and appellee consenting thereto, the Committee, in view of such consent 
 already given, recommends that the case be submitted to a Judicial 
 Commission to be appointed by this Assembly. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 6.— The Presbyterian Church in the United States 
 of America vs. Ruling Elders J. C. Salisbury et al., being an appeal from 
 the Synod of California. The Committee makes the same report, find- 
 ings and recommendations as in Case No. 5, wherein the appellant is the 
 same as in this case, and the appellee is Burt Estes Howard. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 7. — The complaint of the Rev. William P. Craig 
 vs. the Synod of California. The Committee makes report that the same 
 is in order, and by desire and consent of parties recommends that the 
 same be submitted, along with Cases Nos. 5 and 6, to the Judicial Com- 
 mission to be appointed to try the said causes. The recommendations 
 were adopted, and by formal resolution the Judicial Committee was 
 appointed the Judicial Commission to try Judicial Cases Nos. 5, 6 and 7. 
 —1896, p. 48. 
 
 2. Report of the Judicial Commission. 
 
 The Judicial Committee, sitting as a Judicial Commission, reported on 
 Judicial Cases Nos. 5 and 6, submitting three questions of constitutional 
 law, viz,, 1, 2 and 3, which were answered in the affirmative, and are as 
 follows:— 1896, p. 131. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxix.] 
 
OF APPEALS. 753 
 
 3. Findings of the Judicial Commission. 
 
 a. The Judicial Commission then submitted the findings in Judicial 
 Cases Nos. 5 and 6, together with an explanatory minute, both of which 
 were ordered to be placed upon record, and are as follows: 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., by William R. Henderson, 
 William P. Craig and E. Edgar Galbreath, its Prosecuting Committee, 
 appellant, vs. Rev. Burt Estes Howard, appellee. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 5, on appeal from the Synod of California. 
 
 This appeal being regularly issued and coming on to be heard on the 
 judgment, the notice of appeal and the specifications of errors alleged 
 and the record in the case from the beginning and the reading of so 
 much of said record as was not read, having been omitted by consent, 
 and the parties hereto having been heard before the judicatory in argu- 
 ment, and opportunity having been given to the members of the judica- 
 tory appealed from to be heard, they having been heard, and opportunity 
 having been given to the members of this judicatory to be heard, and 
 they having been heard as provided by the Book of Discipline, and this 
 Judicial Commission of the General Assembly sitting as a judicatory in 
 such case on appeal, having sustained the following specifications of 
 error, to wit: " all of said specifications save and except the first and 
 second specification under the first ground of appeal," to wit: " irregu- 
 larity in the proceedings," and all of the specifications under the second 
 ground of appeal, to wit: " manifestations of prejudice in the conduct 
 of the case," which were not sustained, on consideration whereof this 
 judicatory finds said appeal should be and is hereby sustained, and that 
 said Synod of California, the judicatory appealed from, erred in not 
 sustaining on the law and the evidence the charges and the judgment in 
 this case in the Presbytery of Los Angeles, and that said final judgment 
 of the Synod of California is erroneous, and should be and is hereby 
 reversed, and said Synod is directed to afiirm the judgment of the Pres- 
 bytery of Los Angeles, and this case is remanded to the Synod of Cali- 
 fornia to carry this judgment into execution, and it is further ordered 
 that the Stated Clerk of this General Assembly transmit a certified copy 
 of the judgment in this case to the Stated Clerk of the Synod of Cali- 
 fornia to be made a part of the record in this case. — 1896, pp. 131, 132. 
 
 b. The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A., appellant, vs. Ruling 
 Elders J. C. Salisbury, J. K. Hoffman, H. G. Wylie, H. N. Avery 
 and H. T. Gordon, constituting the Session of Westminster Presbyterian 
 church, of Los Angeles, appellee. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 6, on appeal from the Synod of California. — 1896, 
 pp. 132, 133. 
 
 [Note. — See the findings under Judicial Case No. 5, above, in precisely the same 
 words.] 
 
 C. Explanatory Minute. — The Judicial Commission, the judicatory in 
 the above cases, deems it wise to submit the following explanatory minute 
 to be adopted as a part of the record in each of said cases. 
 
 These cases arise out of the action of the Presbytery of Los Angeles, 
 Cal., in dividing the First Presbyterian church of the city of that name. 
 
 In the matter of a power of a Presbytery under the Constitution of 
 
 our Church to divide a congregation and the effect of such a division 
 
 on the ecclesiastical body known as the congregation, as distinguished 
 
 from the civil corporation known as the Board of Trustees holding legal 
 
 48 
 
754 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 title to the property for the use of the congregation which is the eccle- 
 siastical body : 
 
 We hold: 
 
 The Presbytery has the sole and exclusive power to divide a congrega- 
 tion under and subject to the provisions of the Constitution, and its 
 action in so dividing the congregation, the ecclesiastical body, is final 
 unless complaint or appeal is duly taken to the superior judicatories. 
 
 No such complaint or appeal was taken from the action of the Presby- 
 tery of Los Angeles in dividing the First church of the city of that 
 name, which included the assigning of the pastor, Rev. Burt Estes 
 Howard, to the Westminster church and also the Session of said First 
 church to the same church. The division of the ecclesiastical body 
 known as the congregation of the First church did not dissolve the civil 
 corporation holding the legal title to the property for the use of said 
 ecclesiastical body, nor could it do that which could only be done by the 
 civil power which created the civil corporation, pursuant to the manner 
 prescribed by such civil power. No act of the civil corporation or civil 
 power could or did affect the ecclesiastical body or congregation. Over 
 it they had no power or jurisdiction, and could neither create, divide 
 nor dissolve it. The membership of the ecclesiastical body or congrega- 
 tion was created by and as such is exclusively within the jurisdiction of 
 the judicatories of the Church, under its Constitution, and all lawful 
 orders or decrees affecting said ecclesiastical organization or congregation 
 made by any of the said judicatories acting as such under the Constitution 
 should be implicitly obeyed by each and every member of said ecclesias- 
 tical body or congregation and every pastor and Session, so long as the 
 same remain in full force and effect and not reversed. Obedience to 
 lawful authority is fundamental and essential to the maintenance and 
 prosperity of our beloved Church. Our Constitution provides ample 
 remedies and procedure for determining the lawfulness of all authority 
 exercised thereunder, and until the same is set aside or reversed pursuant 
 to the Constitution, it is in full force and effect and merits the obedience 
 of all subject thereto. Consistent with this obedience, and without miti- 
 gating its force, but rather to make it more effective, is due consideration 
 in the exercise of the largest charity consistent with righteousness in all 
 cases of contumacy of conduct which involve disobedience .to the orders 
 and decrees of the various judicatories of our Church, of all the circum- 
 stances controlling all of the parties charged with the disobedience and 
 all of the interests of the Church, local or at large, affected by the result 
 of the case. It is to be assumed that the various judicatories of our 
 Church, in the lawful exercise of the powers vested in them by the 
 Constitution, whether it be in the case of a Presbytery dividing a con- 
 gregation or otherwise, will not act arbitrarily, but with the fullest con- 
 sideration and in the earnest purpose to secure under the guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit the peace and purity of our beloved Church. The parties 
 thus charged with contumacy, if found guilty by the court of original 
 jurisdiction, have the right of review of its action by the superior judica- 
 tories under our Constitution, and until the questions have been finally 
 adjudicated they may sincerely and conscientiously believe that their 
 conduct is not contumacious, however mistaken they may be as to its 
 character. 
 
 In the event that the superior judicatory finds them guilty of the 
 offence and affirms the judgment of the lower judicatory, in order to 
 

 OF APPEALS. 755 
 
 further proceedings therein by said lower judicatory, the parties thus 
 under its jurisdiction should in all proper cases be fully and kindly 
 advised of the final action of the superior judicatory, its purpose and 
 effect, and an opportunity offered the parties thus charged to reconsider 
 their conduct in order to render obedience to the final decision in their 
 case. All of this in order to secure and maintain the peace and purity 
 of the Church. 
 
 In view of this we submit that in these cases the Presbytery of Los 
 Angeles should fully and kindly advise the appellees of the action of the 
 General Assembly in their cases, and request them to reconsider the posi- 
 tion taken by them with reference to the action of the Presbytery and 
 the subject matter of their cases, which position and conduct is declared 
 by them to be the result of their sincere belief that they were serving 
 the best interests of the church in their care, as well as the interests 
 of the Church in the Presbytery of Los Angeles and the Synod 
 of California, and Presbytery is further recommended that in the 
 event that the appellees in these cases express their purpose to now 
 recognize and obey the action of the Presbytery in their cases pursuant 
 to the decision of the General Assembly, the sentence be removed, and 
 that they and each of them be restored to the full exercise and enjoyment 
 of their offices in the church, and we earnestly express the hope that 
 these appellees will so express themselves and obey the orders of the 
 General Assembly and the Presbytery pursuant thereto, and that in so 
 doing the churches of the Presbytery of Los Angeles and the Synod of 
 California will have rest, and be edified ; and walking in the fear of the 
 Lord, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, be multiplied. (Acts ix. 31.) 
 By order of the Judicial Commission, 
 
 F. C. Monfort, Chairman. 
 
 The Stated Clerk was directed to transmit certified copies of the action 
 of the Commission to the Synod of California. — 1896, pp. 133-135. 
 
 4. Case of William P. Craig, Complainant, vs. the Synod 
 of California. 
 
 The Commission presented the findings on Judicial Case No. 7, which 
 were ordered to be placed on record, and are as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed by the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, to try Judicial 
 Case No. 7, reports for record its final judgment as follows: 
 
 Rev. William P. Craig, complainant, vs. The Synod of California, 
 defendant — No. 7. 
 
 The Judicial Commission, sitting as a judicatory in the above case, find 
 said complaint in order, aud having read the record from the beginning, 
 and heard the parties, and the members of the judicatory complained 
 of, and the members of the judicatory, finds the complaint well taken 
 and sustains the same ; and further finds in so sustaining the same, that 
 the whole and each of the ministerial acts and functions performed by 
 the Rev. Burt Estes Howard during the time covered by, and embraced 
 in, the action, and up to the time when the final judgment of this judi- 
 catory, in reversing the final judgment of the Synod of California, in 
 the case of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. against the said 
 Howard, is duly certified to and received by the Stated CJerk of the 
 Synod of California, are valid and remain in full force and effect, 
 
756 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 and unaffected by any action of this judicatory in this case. — 1896, 
 p. 152. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxix.] 
 
 5. Complaint of David R. Breed et a/, vs. the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Judicial Commission presented its report on Judicial Case No. 2, 
 as follows : 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed by the General Assembly to try 
 the complaint of David R. Breed and others, members of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania, against the action of said Synod and the finding of its 
 Judicial Commission in Judicial Case No. 1, in its session held in the 
 Presbyterian church of Butler, Pa., October 17-21, 1895, do respect- 
 fully report as follows: 
 
 That after the opening of the Commission by prayer, and the solemn 
 charge by the Moderator, the Commission, of which a quorum was 
 present, proceeded to consider the case. The facts briefly are as follows: 
 On February 5, 1895, the Presbytery of Pittsburgh dissolved the 
 pastoral relation between Rev. C. J. Forsythe and the church of West 
 Elizabeth and appointed Rev. Dunlop Moore, Moderator of Session. 
 On February 17, 1895, the elders of said church requested Mr. For- 
 sythe to act as Moderator of a Sessional meeting, and Session called a 
 congregational meeting for February 22 inter alia to elect additional 
 elders. At this meeting, the Rev. S. J. S. Moore, not the appointed 
 Moderator, was requested to moderate the congregational meeting. Two 
 elders were elected. Certain members of the church complained to the 
 Presbytery of Pittsburgh with reference to this meeting, alleging certain 
 irregularities and unjust rulings, which specifications were sustained by 
 the Presbytery of Pittsburgh against this action of Presbytery. By its 
 Judicial Commission twenty-five persons, members of Pittsburgh Pres- 
 bytery, complained to the Synod of Pennsylvania, alleging in several 
 specifications the irregularity of the action and the injustice of the find- 
 ings and procedure. This complaint was tried by Commission of Synod 
 of Pennsylvania, at its meeting in Butler, October 17-21, 1895, and 
 the first report was recommitted to have points of law and Constitution 
 considered. The Commission again reported, sustaining the complaint, but 
 not referring any questions of law to Synod for its determination. The 
 case before Assembly's Commission is the complaint against this action 
 of Synod, to which reference is here made as part of this report. 
 
 In the trial before the Commission, the record of the action com- 
 plained of, and so much of the record of the lower judicatory as was 
 pertinent, were read, and the parties were heard, the complainants open- 
 ing and closing. 
 
 Commission referred the two points of law set forth in the complaint 
 to the Assembly for adjudication according to Chap, xiii, Sec. cxix, B 
 D., which points of law are as follows: 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxix.] 
 
 The Commission having received this Assembly's adjudication of the 
 points of law, and in accordance therewith, do find as follows: 
 
 That the complaint is sustained, affirming the action of the Presbytery 
 of Pittsburgh, pro forma, and finding the Synod of Pennsylvania in error 
 in that the Judicial Commission of said Synod did not submit the points 
 
OF APPEALS. 757 
 
 of law to the Synod as provided for in Chap, xiii, Sec. cxix, B. D. 
 Inasmuch as the elders elected at the congregational meeting complained 
 of have since been ordained and installed, the decisions of both Synod 
 and Presbytery are not hereby otherwise affected and the Synod is 
 directed to take no further action in the matter. 
 
 Only those present at all the sessions of the Commission voted in the 
 case.— 1896, pp. 90-92. 
 
 VIII. DECISIONS AND THEIR EFFECT. 
 I. THE DECISION MAY CONFIRM THAT OF THE LOWER JUDICATORY. 
 
 If no one of the specifications be sustained, and no error be found by 
 the judicatory in the record, the judgment of the inferior judicatory 
 shall be affirmed. 
 
 1. Section xcix (5) explained. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Lodiana, inquiring whether, in the 
 trial of an appeal, a higher court, discovering one or more errors in the 
 proceedings of the court below, is bound by Section xcix (5) of the 
 Book of Discipline, to reverse or modify the judgment of the inferior 
 judicatory or else remand the case for a new trial. 
 
 Clearly there is no such requirement, but, on the contrary, " the 
 judicatory shall determine," in its own discretion, whether " the judg- 
 ment of the inferior judicatory shall be reversed or modified," or " the 
 case remanded," and that, for the obvious reason, that there may be 
 enough in that part of the decision which has been sustained by the 
 higher court, to warrant the full sentence which has been imposed. 
 Adopted.— 1888, p. 109. 
 
 2. Decisions confirmed. 
 
 a. Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. i. Appeal of the Third 
 Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, vs. the Synod of Philadelphia. — 
 1814, pp. 559, 560. 
 
 b. Form of Government, Chap. xvii. Appeal of Joseph Connell vs. 
 the Synod of Pittsburgh.— 1868, p. 648, O. S. 
 
 C. Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii. Appeal of S. Shep- 
 herd vs. the Synod of Illinois.— 1863, p. 36, O. S. 
 
 d. Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii. Appeal of members 
 of Pine Street Church vs. the Presbytery of St. Louis. — 1864, pp. 327, 
 328, O. S. 
 
 e. Book of Discipline, Chap, vii, Sec. l. Appeal of Alexander 
 Frazer vs. the Synod of Buffalo. Also Appeal of Alexander Gordon vs. 
 the same Synod.— 1859, pp. 546, 547, O. S. 
 
 f. Book of Discipline, Chap, v, Sec. v (Old). Case of Samuel 
 Boyd. The decision of the Synod of Wheeling confirmed. In this case 
 it was held that the appellant, not having objected to alleged informali- 
 ties at the time of trial, " had waived all informalities in the proceed- 
 ings antecedent to trial. " — 1866, p. 74, O. S. 
 
 g. The Commission in the case of the appeal of the Rev. L. R. 
 Lockwood from the judgment of the Synod of Iowa, affirming the 
 judgment of the Presbytery of Dubuque, suspending the appellant 
 from the Gospel ministry, recommend that the appeal be not sustained, 
 and that the judgment of the lower courts be affirmed. — 1867, p. 347, 
 O. S. 
 
758 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 h. Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v. Appeal of Eev. Isaac 
 M. See vs. the Synod of New Jersey. Judgment of the Presbytery and 
 Synod affirmed.— 1878, pp. 102, 103. 
 
 i. Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v. Appeal of the Rev. 
 John Miller vs. the Synod of New Jersey. Action of the Synod 
 affirmed, and his suspension from the ministry approved. — 1878, p. 98. 
 
 j. Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii. Appeal of Addison 
 Bancroft and R. W. Stewart vs. the Synod of Philadelphia. The Synod 
 sustained. — 1878, p. 41. 
 
 k. Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi. Appeal of Walter 
 Bradshaw vs. the Synod of New York. The Synod sustained. — 1885, 
 pp. 593, 594. 
 
 1. Directory for Worship, Chap, iii, Sec. ii. Appeal of Charles D. 
 Drake vs. the Synod of Baltimore. Judgments of the Synod of Balti- 
 more affirmed.— 1888, pp. 112, 113. 
 
 m. Appeal of Rev. Henry Preserved Smith, D.D. No specification 
 of error having been sustained, and the appeal as a whole not having 
 been sustained, the judgment of the Synod of Ohio, in the case of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States of America vs. Rev. H. P. 
 Smith, D.D., has been and is affirmed. — 1894, p. 106. 
 
 n. Judicial case, being the appeal of J. A. Cooper against a de- 
 cision of the Synod of Pennsylvania. The Committee would recom- 
 mend that the Synod of Pennsylvania be sustained in refusing to 
 entertain the appeal of one J. A. Cooper vs. Presbytery of Erie, on 
 the ground that there is no evidence to show that Synod was incorrect 
 in its statements (see p. 30, Minutes, Synod Penna. ). Adopted. — 
 1895, p. 85. 
 
 O. Presbyterian Church U. S. A., appellant, vs. Burt Estes Howard, 
 appellee. Sustained. — 1896, p. 132. 
 
 p. Also Presbyterian Church U. S. A., appellant, vs. J. C. Salisbury 
 etal., appellee. Sustained. — 1896, p. 133. 
 
 q. Also, David R. Breed, complainant, vs. Synod of Pennsylvania, 
 respondent. Sustained. — 1896, p. 91. 
 
 r. And William P. Craig, complainant, vs. the Synod of California, 
 respondent. Sustained. — 1896, p. 152. 
 
 3. In confirming the decision the Assembly directs that if a new 
 trial as ordered be not instituted within six months the deci- 
 sion shall be final. 
 
 And, therefore, the Assembly do now order and direct that the appeal 
 of the said Silas Miller be dismissed and the decision of the Synod of 
 Illinois be confirmed ; and the Assembly further order and direct that, if 
 the Session of the church of Tuscola do not, within six months from the 
 date hereof, refer the case to the Presbytery of Wabash for a new trial, 
 in accordance with the decision of the Synod of Illinois, then the 
 decision of the said Synod sustaining the appeal shall become absolute 
 and final, and the said Silas Miller shall be thereupon restored to all the 
 rights and privileges which he had and enjoyed as a member of the 
 church of Tuscola, and from which he was suspended by the judgment 
 and sentence of said church. — 1867, p. 517, N. S. 
 
 Decision confirmed because the new testimony offered " did not in any 
 important respect change the aspect of his case." — 1823, p. 90. 
 
OF APPEALS. 759 
 
 II. THE DECISION MAY REVERSE THAT OF THE LOWER JUDICATORY. 
 
 If one or more errors be found, the judicatory shall determine whether 
 the judgment of the inferior judicatory shall be reversed or modified, or 
 the case remanded for a new trial; and the judgment, accompanied by a 
 recital of the error or errors found, shall be entered on the record. If 
 the judicatory deem it wise, an explanatory minute may be adopted which 
 shall be a part of the record of the case. 
 
 1. Reversed on review of testimony. 
 
 An appeal was taken by Mr. John Gordon from the decision of the 
 Synod of Pittsburgh. The Assembly having before them the evidence 
 which had been before the Synod, and having fully heard the members 
 of that Synod present in defence of their decision, it was, on motion, 
 
 Resolved, That the decision of the Synod in affirming the judgment of 
 the Presbytery of Redstone be reversed. 
 
 And it, therefore, was reversed. — 1807, p. 386. 
 
 2. Reversed without assigning a reason for its action. 
 
 The consideration of the appeal of the Presbytery of Ohio from the 
 decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh, in the case of Mr. Gwinn, was 
 resumed, and the parties were heard until they said they had nothing 
 further to add. 
 
 The decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh reversed a decision of the 
 Presbytery of Ohio, by which decision the Presbytery had suspended 
 the Rev. Andrew Gwinn, sine die, from the office of the Gospel ministry. 
 
 A motion was made and seconded that the appeal of the Presbytery 
 of Ohio be sustained, and the decision of the Synod in the case be 
 reversed, which was determined in the affirmative. — 1819, p. 709. 
 
 [Note.— See also 1821, p. 25. And Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix, last clause.] 
 
 3. Reversed because of disproportionate censure. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. ii, p. 604.] 
 
 4. Reversal on the ground of undue severity does not determine the 
 innocence of the accused nor relieve him from other process. 
 
 The appeal of T. F. Worrall against the Synod of Illinois. The 
 usual charge was read by the Moderator, and the Assembly proceeded 
 with the case according to the order prescribed in the report of the Com- 
 mittee, which is as follows : 
 
 The Committee report as follows: This case originated before the 
 Session of the church of Bloomington, on charges preferred against the 
 appellant by the Session on " general rumor." 
 
 After an examination the Session convicted him, and passed sentence 
 excluding him from the communion of the church. 
 
 An appeal was taken from this decision to the Presbyter) 1 - of Bloom- 
 ington, which refused to sustain the appeal. An appeal was taken from 
 thence to the Synod, which refused also to sustain the appeal. From 
 this decision of the Synod of Illinois this appeal is taken to the General 
 Assembly. The appeal was sustained and it was: 
 
 Resolved, As the expression of the judgment of this Assembly, That 
 the sentence of excommunication against T. F. Worrall, by the Session 
 of the church at Bloomington, 111., be reversed, as being unduly severe. 
 The Assembly, however, do not intend by this decision to restore Dr. 
 
760 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 Worrall to the communion of the church, from which he is now under- 
 stood to be suspended, on other charges still under adjudication ; nor do 
 the Assembly intend to decide that he did not deserve censure for the 
 improper language which is set forth in the charges against him. — 1861, 
 pp. 344, 346, O. S. 
 
 5. Decision of Synod reversed as in error in prescribing a 
 form of dismission. 
 
 Complaint of Rev. N. West, D.D., vs. the Synod of New York. — 
 1864, p. 328, O. S. 
 [Note.— See under Book of Discipline, Sec. 1, p. 666.] 
 
 6. Reversed because of unconstitutional action of the judicatory 
 
 appealed from. 
 
 a. Whereas, A complaint has been made by the Presbytery of Saha- 
 ranpur, of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, against the Board of 
 Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, for reappointing, as one 
 of their missionaries in India, Rev. John Sinims Woodside, who had 
 been deposed from the ministry by said Presbytery: 
 
 Your Committee recommend the following action touching the matters 
 contained in said complaint which relate to the polity of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church, viz. : 
 
 1. It appears that an agreement was entered into, years ago, by which 
 the ministers of the so-called " Covenanter," or Reformed Presbyterian 
 Church, became missionaries of our Foreign Board. 
 
 2. It does not appear that this agreement gave to any of the judica- 
 tories of our own Church the authority of ' ' Review and Control ' ' over 
 any of the judicatories of said Reformed Presbyterian Church; but it is 
 implied that, both by agreement and comity, the judicial decisions of the 
 Presbyteries of said Reformed Presbyterian Church, touching the eccle- 
 siastical standing of their ministers, should receive the respect from our 
 Presbyteries due to like decisions of one another. 
 
 3. The main facts of this case are, that John S. Woodside, a minister 
 of the Reformed Presbytery of Saharanpur, was deposed by that Pres- 
 bytery in February, 1880; and the gist of this complaint is that, not- 
 withstanding said deposition, he has since been received as a minister, in 
 good standing, by our Presbytery of Furrukhabad, and has been 
 appointed a missionary by our Board. 
 
 4. And whereas, The (O. S. ) General Assembly (pp. 159 and 160, 
 Moore's Digest, 1873) decided in 1862 that " a Presbytery may not re- 
 store a minister deposed by another," and the (N. S. ) General Assembly 
 (pp. 617 and 618, Moore's Digest), in 1858, decided " that only the 
 Presbytery which deposed a minister has jurisdiction over him, ' ' therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of Furrukhabad erred in receiving and 
 restoring to the ministry the said John S. Woodside, while he was under 
 sentence of deposition by the Presbytery of Saharanpur, and in accord- 
 ance with the action of the General Assembly in a similar case between 
 Presbyteries of our own Church (see Moore's Digest, pp. 159 and 160), 
 this Assembly directs the Presbytery of Furrukhabad to reconsider its 
 action, and proceed according to the requirements of the Constitution, 
 as provided for the guidance of our Presbyteries in similar circumstances 
 between themselves. Adopted. — 1883, pp. 628, 629. 
 
 b. The Judicial Commission to whom was referred Judicial Case No. 2, 
 

 OF APPEALS. 761: 
 
 being a complaint of Addison Bancroft to the General Assembly against 
 the action of the Synod of Philadelphia in the Hermon church case, 
 presented the following report: 
 
 That the complainant complained of the action of the Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia North, in dissolving Hermon church and declaring the 
 field occupied by it a mission station under the care of the Presbytery. 
 
 The Synod of Philadelphia, at its stated meeting in Philadelphia, 
 October 23, 1876, sustained the action of the Presbytery, and dismissed 
 the complaint, whereupon the complainant brought his complaint against 
 such action of the Synod to this General Assembly, and the case having 
 been, by the consent of the parties, referred by the General Assembly to 
 this Commission for hearing and decision, and the Commission having there- 
 upon proceeded in due order to examine the case and to hear the parties 
 and members of the inferior judicatory, it is thereupon by this Commis- 
 sion decided that the said action and decision of the Synod of Philadel- 
 phia and of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North be and the same are 
 hereby reversed for the following reason : 
 
 That it appears that Hermon church had no previous notice of the 
 contemplated action of the Presbytery in dissolving the church. While 
 the Commission regrets the necessity of reversing the decision of the 
 Synod of Philadelphia upon a ground which may seem merely technical, 
 we regard the precedent of dissolving a church without notice to it as 
 too dangerous to be upheld ; and we hold that without such notice and 
 an opportunity for the church to be heard, the Presbytery had not 
 jurisdiction of the case. Adopted. — 1877, pp. 543, 544. 
 
 7. Where sentence is reversed for irregularity, either party may 
 
 institute a new trial. If process be not commenced within the 
 
 time limited, he may demand a letter as in good standing. 
 
 The appeal of Mr. Joseph E. Bell, from a decision of the Presbytery 
 
 of Concord, suspending him from the office of the Gospel ministry, was 
 
 taken up. 
 
 The appeal was sustained. The following minute was adopted : 
 
 1. Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly, Mr. Bell was and 
 still continues to be fully amenable to the Presbytery of Concord. 
 
 2. That while the Assembly do not wish to protect the guilty, they do 
 judge that great caution, deliberation, and, as far as may be, the rules 
 of discipline, where ministerial character is impeached, ought to be 
 strictly observed, and that in this case the informality was exceptionable. 
 
 3. That if it be deemed necessary for the good of religion and the 
 honor of the ministerial character, the Presbytery of Concord are entirely 
 competent to commence a new trial ; or if Mr. Bell shall desire, for his 
 own sake, a new trial, the door is still open. 
 
 4. That in the meantime, Mr. Bell's ministerial standing shall be con- 
 sidered regular, and if no process shall be commenced by either party 
 within the space of six months from the first of June next, then Mr. 
 Bell may claim from the Presbytery of Concord a dismission, declaring 
 him to be in regular standing. — 1828, p. 240. 
 
 [Note. — See also under Book of Discipline, Sec. lxviii, p. 651.] 
 
 8. Reversed for haste and unconstitutional action. 
 The Assembly sustained the appeal of Mr. Arthur, from the sentence 
 of Presbytery, by which he was suspended from the Gospel ministry on 
 
762 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 the ground of contumacy, because the Presbytery appeared to have been 
 precipitate, and not to have observed the constitutional rules. See Dis- 
 cipline (Old), Chap, iv, Sees, xix, xxi, xxxiii, lxviii. — 1822, p. 53. 
 
 9. Sentence reversed and the appellant declared to be in 
 regular standing. 
 
 The unfinished business of the forenoon was resumed, viz., the consid- 
 eration of the appeal of Mr. James Atwater from the decision of the 
 Synod of Geneva, affirming a decision by which Mr. Atwater had been 
 excommunicated by the church at Genoa. 
 
 The parties were fully heard, and the following resolution, after some 
 discussion, was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal of Mr. Atwater be sustained, and it hereby 
 is sustained ; and that Mr. Atwater have liberty, as a member of the 
 Presbyterian Church in regular standing, to connect himself with any 
 church which may be disposed to receive him. — 1821, p. 27. 
 
 10. The decision may declare the acts of the lower judicatories void. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the appeal and complaint of the Second Presbytery 
 of Philadelphia against the Synod of Philadelphia be, and the same are, 
 hereby sustained; and the act of said Synod, so far as it was intended 
 to unite the said Second Presbytery with the Presbytery of Philadelphia, 
 is hereby declared void.— 1834, p. 432; 1854, p. 33, O. S. 
 
 b. In the appeal of persons claiming to be the church of St. Charles, 
 it was 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly herein sustains the appeal, pro forma, and 
 orders the entire setting aside of all the proceedings in the whole case in 
 all its stages, from the time that notice was first given to call a meeting 
 of the congregation for the election of the three elders, and directs all 
 the parties to stand precisely where they did before any step was taken in 
 it.— 1838, p. 19. 
 
 C. Resolved, That this Assembly understands the act of the Assembly 
 of 1838, as sustaining the appeal of Rev. Hiram Chamberlain, not upon 
 the merits of the case, but on account of informality of the courts below, 
 and that " in the entire setting aside of all the proceedings in the whole 
 case, they intended not only to annul the past, but also to forbid all sub- 
 sequent action contrary to the will of the regularly constituted authorities 
 of that church, and they hereby declare any such unconstitutional action 
 that may have been had by any person, or persons, in connection with 
 that church, to be null and void. — 1840, p. 302, O. S. 
 
 d. Resolved, That for the informalities and errors above mentioned, 
 the appeal be and is hereby, sustained, and all proceedings in the case by 
 the Session, Presbytery and Synod since the admonition before the con- 
 gregation on the 25th of August, 1861, are hereby annulled and set 
 aside.— 1863, p. 36, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See under Sec. lxxix, p. 695, Appeal of James W. Hamilton vs. the 
 Synod of Sandusky.] 
 
 11. The reversal annuls the acts complained of. 
 
 a. The appeal and complaint of Thomas Bradford and others from a 
 decision of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, relative to the 
 installation of Mr. Duffield were taken up. The appeal, with the reasons 
 of it, and all the documents in the case, were read. The parties were 
 heard, and were then considered as withdrawn from the house. The roll 
 
OF APPEALS. 763 
 
 was called to give the members an opportunity of expressing their opinion. 
 After which, the final vote was taken, and the appeal and complaint were 
 sustained. 
 
 The following resolution was then adopted as explanatory of the above 
 decision, viz. : 
 
 That the appeal be sustained, and the acts of the Presbytery in rela- 
 tion to the call and installation of Mr. Dufneld be and they hereby are 
 reversed.— 1835, p. 490. 
 
 b. In regard to the complaint of Mr. Dobbins against the Session of 
 the church of Augusta for receiving members suspended by the Session 
 of the church of Smyrna, the Assembly are of opinion that both Sessions 
 acted unconstitutionally, the Session of Smyrna in suspending said 
 members, and the Session of Augusta in receiving them when suspended. 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal on this complaint be and it is hereby sus- 
 tained ; and the members in question are hereby declared to be still 
 members in good standing in the church of Smyrna, and the Session of 
 the church of Smyrna are hereby directed to dismiss said members, if 
 they still desire it, that they may regularly connect themselves with the 
 church of Augusta. — 1824, p. 125. 
 
 12. The decision reversed and the case remanded. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. vs. Rev. Charles A. Briggs, 
 D. D. : Appeal from the judgment of the Presbytery of New York, dis- 
 missing the case. 
 
 The General Assembly having, on the 28th day of May, 1892, duly 
 sustained all the specifications of error alleged and set forth in the appeal 
 and specifications in this case: 
 
 It is now, May 30, 1892, ordered, that the judgment of the Presby- 
 tery of New York, entered November 4, 1891, dismissing the case of 
 the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America against Rev. 
 Charles A. Briggs, D.D., be, and the same is hereby, reversed. And 
 the case is remanded to the Presbytery of New York for a new trial, with 
 directions to the said Presbytery to proceed to pass upon and determine 
 the sufficiency of the charges and specifications in form and legal effect, 
 and to permit the Prosecuting Committee to amend the specifications of 
 charges, not changing the general nature of the same, if, in the furtherance 
 of justice, it be necessary to amend, so that the case may be brought to 
 issue and tried on the merits thereof as speedily as may be practicable. 
 
 And it is further ordered, that the Stated Clerk of the General 
 Assembly return the record, and certify the proceedings had thereon, 
 with the necessary papers relating thereto, to the Presbytery of New 
 York.— 1892, p. 152. 
 
 III. THE DECISION MAY CONFIRM OR REVERSE IN PART. 
 
 1. Reversed in part on ground of irregularity. Sustained in part. 
 
 a. The judicatory may not inflict a new sentence without new trial. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly, having heard and considered in 
 detail the circumstances and merits of the appeal of Newton Hawes, are 
 of the opinion that in the proceedings of the Synod of Genesee in the 
 case, there appears to be nothing irregular or censurable until they come 
 to their last decision, in which they pass a new and severe censure on the 
 
764 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 appellant. In this particular, the Assembly judge that the proceedings 
 of the Synod were not regular, inasmuch as they inflicted a new censure 
 without a new and regular trial. Had the Synod contented themselves 
 with approving the doings of the church of Warsaw, in declining to 
 restore the appellant to their communion, and left him in the condition 
 of a suspended member, they would have acted with entire regularity; 
 but not pausing at this point, the Assembly consider them as acting on 
 matters not regularly brought before them; and therefore resolved, that 
 the sentence of the Synod, requiring the appellant to make a new and 
 second confession, be reversed, and it is hereby reversed, and that the 
 other part of their proceedings and decision be affirmed, and they are 
 hereby affirmed.— 1823, p. 79. 
 
 b. Nor remove all censure where they find rebuke deserved. 
 
 The Assembly having heard the complaint of the Presbytery of Carlisle 
 against the Synod of Philadelphia iu the case of William S. McDowell, 
 with the facts and arguments offered by the Presbytery and the Synod, 
 judge that the Synod had a constitutional right to reverse the decision of 
 the Presbytery in the case, either in whole or in part, as to them might 
 seem proper ; but that in the exercise of this right the Synod have not 
 duly regarded the principles of discipline prescribed in the Constitution, 
 inasmuch as it appears by their records that they have removed all 
 censure from a man whom they declare to be deserving of rebuke, with- 
 out directing that rebuke to be administered, and without receiving any 
 evidence of his penitence. — 1823, p. 81. 
 
 2. Reversed in part on the ground that irregularity of proceeding 
 does not necessarily invalidate. 
 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, 8, a, p. 526.] 
 
 3. Sustained in part, reversed in part. Minute in the case. 
 a. The Committee to whom was referred the judicial case originating 
 in the Session of the Seventh Presbyterian church in Cincinnati, beg 
 leave to report: 
 
 1. They find that said Session tried certain parties upon five several 
 charges, and found them guilty upon the first, second and fifth, and 
 adjudged them worthy of serious admonition on the ground of the first 
 and fifth, and suspension upon the second. 
 
 2. The Presbytery of Cincinnati, deciding the case upon appeal, 
 affirmed the decision of the Session. 
 
 3. The Synod of Cincinnati also acting upon it under appeal, reversed 
 the decision of the Presbytery and Session. 
 
 4. Your Committee, after hearing all the testimony in the case, and 
 all the parties thereto by their representatives ; and after full and pro- 
 tracted consideration, while they find in the proceedings of the Session 
 and Presbytery no evidence of other than a kind and conscientious desire 
 to do justice to all the parties concerned, respectfully recommend the 
 following as the judgment of the Assembly in the case: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the decision of the Synod, reversing the action of 
 the Presbytery and Session upon the first and fifth charges be itself 
 reversed, and the Session be instructed to administer the serious admoni- 
 tion of which they wisely judged the parties to be worthy. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the decision of the Synod, reversing the action of 
 the Presbytery and Session upon the second charge, be sustained in part, 
 
OF APPEALS. 765 
 
 on the ground that the suspension of the parties accused was too severe 
 in the case, and that the Session be recommended to revoke the suspen- 
 sion and admonish the parties. — 1865, p. 550, O. S. 
 
 b. The order of the day was taken up, viz., the appeal and complaint 
 of Rev. John Skinner, LXD., against a decision of the Presbytery of 
 Lexington declaring him guilty of libel and defamation, and a sentence 
 of suspension from ministerial functions founded thereon 
 
 The question was then taken on Judicial Case No. 3, viz., the appeal 
 and complaint of John Skinner, D.D., against the Presbytery of Lex- 
 ington, and the complaint of Rev. Mr. Calhoun against the same Pres- 
 bytery ; and the result was as follows, viz. : To sustain the appeal, 40 ; 
 to sustain in part, 58 ; not to sustain, 6Q. 
 
 The Special Committee in the case of Rev. John Skinner, D.D., 
 presented a report, which was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 The appeal and complaint of the Rev. John Skinner, D.D., against 
 the Presbytery of Lexington, is sustained pro forma ; the sentence of the 
 Presbytery is revoked, and the appellant restored to all the functions of 
 the ministry of the Gospel. 
 
 The complaint of the Rev. William Calhoun and others against the 
 same Presbytery is dismissed. 
 
 While the Assembly do fully restore the appellant to the functions of 
 the ministry, and take pleasure in recording that for about seven years 
 he exhibited talents and zeal well adapted to edify the Church of God, 
 and while they trust that he will hereafter show the same ability and 
 fidelity in the Master's cause, they are constrained to express their deep 
 concern at the uncharitable temper and litigiousness exhibited by him 
 before the inferior judicatory, and their disapprobation of his course in 
 printing and circulating his Lexington speech, pending his complaint to 
 the Synod of Virginia. 
 
 Wherefore, he is hereby solemnly admonished in relation to these 
 matters, and warned carefully to avoid them in future. 
 
 The Assembly regret, moreover, that they find no evidence that any 
 of the parties have, at any stage of this unhappy controversy, resorted 
 to the more private and fraternal methods of making peace among 
 brethren, which are suggested in the Word of God. 
 
 And the Assembly do now affectionately and solemnly enjoin on all 
 concerned to cultivate a spirit of charity and forgiveness, to study the 
 things that make for peace, and to seek by importunate prayer the 
 influences of the Holy Spirit, that the wounds inflicted in the progress of 
 this painful case may be healed, and the kingdom and glory of Christ 
 may prevail in the region where these brethren are called to labor. — 
 1848, pp. 26, 41 and 49, O. S. 
 
 [Note, — See Book of Discipline, Sec. ix, p. 636.] 
 
 4. The decision censures the irregular exclusion of a member. And 
 prescribes the steps to be taken under the old book. 
 
 Complaint of Rev. William Perkins et at. against the Synod of 
 Illinois. The final vote was taken, with the following result, viz.: To 
 sustain the complaint, 38; to sustain in part, 43; not to sustain, 79. A 
 Committee was appointed to bring in a minute, which was adopted, as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 The Committee appointed to bring in a minute in reference to Judicial 
 Case No. 1, report, first, the facts in the case. A communicant, by the 
 
766 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 name of Ambrose Stone, in the Irish Grove church, for a long time 
 abstained from partaking of the communion of the Lord's Supper. He 
 also, for a long time, ceased to worship God in his family. He repeat- 
 edly requested the Session to dissolve his connection with the Church of 
 Christ, assigning as the only reason for this course of conduct, that he 
 believed he had never been born again, and that he had no love to 
 Christ. The Session did eventually comply with this request, and resolved 
 that his connection with the Church be dissolved. 
 
 This church was under the care of Sangamon Presbytery. The Pres- 
 bytery upon reviewing the records of the Session of Irish Grove church 
 considered this a case of excommunication, and declared the action of 
 the Session not only unconstitutional, but also null and void, and that 
 Mr. Stone was still a member of the Irish Grove church. The Modera- 
 tor and elder from that Session claimed the right to vote in this disap- 
 proval of their records, which was refused by Presbytery. The Session 
 then complained to the Synod of Illinois of the whole action of the 
 Presbytery in the case. The Synod sustained and approved the action 
 of the Presbytery. 
 
 The case was then brought before the General Assembly by the Irish 
 Grove church Session, in the form of a complaint agaiust the Synod of 
 Illinois, because it sustained the action of the Presbytery. The Assem- 
 bly having fully heard the parties in the case, adopted the following 
 resolutions, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That no church Session has authority to dissolve the 
 connection of a communicant with the Church of Christ, except by 
 excommunication, and that the Sessions of our Church are bound to 
 proceed according to the directions given in our Book of Discipline, 
 when they do excommunicate a member. The Assembly does, there- 
 fore, condemn the action of the Irish Grove Session in dissolving the 
 connection of Mr. Stone with the Church of Christ, in the manner in 
 which it did, as irregular and unconstitutional. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Presbytery of Sangamon acted correctly in not 
 permitting the members of the Irish Grove Session to vote for approving 
 or disapproving their own records ; that the Presbytery acted correctly 
 in declaring the action of the Session, in Mr. Stone's case, to be irregu- 
 lar and unconstitutional; and that then the Presbytery, without proceed- 
 ing further, ought to have required the Session to review and correct its 
 proceedings, in this case, according to the directions given in our Book 
 of Discipline. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Synod ought to have directed the Presbytery to 
 require the Session to review and correct its proceedings, according to the 
 directions given in our Book of Discipline. — 1851, p. 33, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xlviii. " Cases without Process," p. 665.] 
 
 5. The decision finds error in the judicatories below. A Presbytery 
 may not unduly direct and control a Session. Synod may not 
 refuse an appeal from a party aggrieved. 
 This General Assembly sustains the appeal and complaint of Robert 
 S. Finley and Smith Bloomfield, against the Synod of New Jersey. 
 
 In this decision, it is not intended to censure the courts below for 
 want of zeal and faithfulness in doing according to their best judgment 
 what the case required. Much less is it intended to reverse, in form, 
 what has been done in the case of Mr. Finley, so as to restore him to 
 
OF APPEALS. 767 
 
 his pastoral relation, in the Second church of Woodbridge; for this 
 would be not only impracticable, in the circumstances, as they now exist, 
 but inexpedient, even if it were practicable. 
 
 But the Presbytery of Elizabethtown erred in attempting too much to 
 direct and control the action of that Session, interfering without being 
 called to do so, according to the forms of our Constitution; in arresting 
 the process of discipline, before it had been issued, while the Session were 
 pursuing it in an orderly manner; and in dissolving the pastoral relation 
 upon a mere presumption of a majority of the people desiring it, with- 
 out the regular application of either party; thus making what they 
 judged a necessity in the case, of more importance than the forms of the 
 Constitution. 
 
 The Synod of New Jersey erred, not only in sustaining the action of 
 the Presbytery in this case, but also in refusing to entertain as an appeal 
 the remedy sought by a party who was both injured and aggrieved by 
 said action of the Presbytery. — 1858, p. 300, O. S. 
 
 IV. THE DECISION MAY REMIT THE CASE TO THE LOWER 
 JUDICATORY. 
 
 1. It may remand the cause for reconsideration. 
 
 The business left unfinished yesterday, viz., the consideration of the 
 appeal of Mr. Todd from the decision of the Synod of Kentucky, affirm- 
 ing a decision of the Presbytery of Transylvania, by which decision Mr. 
 Todd was deposed from the Gospel ministry [was taken up] , and after 
 considerable discussion of the subject of the appeal, the following 
 resolution was adopted, viz. : 
 
 The Assembly having heard the documents in this case, were of 
 opinion that the way is not clear at present, for a reversal of the sentence 
 of suspension; but as it appears to the Assembly that Mr. Todd's 
 opinions have not been perfectly understood, and whereas, there appears 
 to have been some irregularity as to the nature of the testimony admitted 
 on the trial before the Presbytery ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Presbytery of Transylvania be directed to reconsider 
 the case of Mr. Todd, to afford him another opportunity of explaining 
 himself, and if they should be satisfied, to restore him to his former 
 standing. — 1817, p. 666. 
 
 2. A Synod required to remand the case to a Presbytery for 
 
 rehearing. 
 
 The Judicial Commission, to which was referred the complaint of the 
 Rev. William Bryant and others, against the action of the Synod of 
 Iowa, in the case of A. R. Day, presented its report, which was ap- 
 proved, and ordered on record: 
 
 The Commission decide that the case presents a question of interpreta- 
 tion of the Constitution, and, therefore, the General Assembly has 
 jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The Commission adjudges that the 
 Synod of Iowa had the right in this case to entertain the petition of A. R. 
 Day, for rehearing, and in its discretion to make an order for rehearing 
 of the appeal from the Presbytery of Waterloo. But the Commis- 
 sion is of the opinion, and so adjudges, that the Synod of Iowa erred in 
 its judgment in dismissing the case, and adjudges that the Synod of 
 Iowa should have remanded the case to the Presbytery of Waterloo for 
 retrial. It is, therefore, the order of the General Assembly that the 
 
768 BOOK OP DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 appeal be sustained, and that the Synod of Iowa is hereby ordered and 
 required to remand said case to the Presbytery of Waterloo for a rehear- 
 ing upon the specifications originally filed therein. — 1888, p. 132. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. iv, p. 279.] 
 
 3. Complaint sustained and Synod ordered to hear and issne the case. 
 
 The Judicial Commission in the case of the complaint of the Rev. 
 Nathaniel West, D. D. , against the Synod of Minnesota, reported their 
 finding, which was received, confirmed, ordered to be entered on the 
 minutes, and is as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed to hear the complaint of the Rev. 
 Nathaniel West, D. D. , against the Synod of Minnesota, referred by the 
 General Assembly of 1889 to this General Assembly, sustain so much of 
 said complaint as refers to the refusal of the Synod of Minnesota to hear 
 the complaint of Dr. West against the Presbytery of St. Paul. We 
 judge that the reasons assigned by the Synod for that refusal are insuffi- 
 cient. The Synod of Minnesota is therefore directed at its next stated 
 meeting to hear fully the complaint of Dr. West against the Presbytery 
 of St. Paul, upon its merits, and to issue the same according to the 
 provisions of the Book of Discipline. The facts of the complaint 
 subsequent to the point just decided are necessarily involved in the full 
 and fair hearing of Dr. West's complaint against the Presbytery of St. 
 Paul, as the latter complaint covers not only the constitutional powers of 
 the Presbytery, but also the wisdom of their exercise under the circum- 
 stances of the case. — 1890, p. 109. 
 
 4. Judgment reversed and case remanded for new trial. 
 
 [Note.— See case of Dr. Charles A. Briggs, this Digest, p. 46.] 
 
 5. Judgment reversed and case remitted on grounds stated. 
 On the complaint of William H. Beecher and others against the 
 Synod of Genesee, in the case of the appeal of Dr. Frank from the 
 decision of the Presbytery of Genesee, the General Assembly sustain the 
 complaint and reverse the judgment of the Synod on the following 
 grounds, viz. : 
 
 1. That the merits of the case seem to be expressly declined by the 
 Synod as the subject-matter of adjudication. 
 
 2. That the Synod appear not to have adhered to the alternatives 
 prescribed by the Constitution. See Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, 
 vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. x. 
 
 3. That the Synod seem to have forgotten the nature and the limits of 
 their appellate, as distinguished from the original jurisdiction in the case, 
 in that they censure at their bar the appellant, in a way competent, in 
 any circumstances, only to the Session of the church to which the appel- 
 lant was primarily amenable. 
 
 4. That they seem to have forgotten also, in restoring the appellant, 
 that some expression of repentance ought to have been exacted, especially 
 if their reprimand could, from any tribunal, have been deserved. 
 
 The Assembly therefore rule, that the Synod of Genesee should review 
 their proceedings in this case, and regarding alike the rules of the Con- 
 stitution and the merits of the case, that they proceed to issue the same 
 with equity and wisdom. — 1840, p. 11, N. S. 
 
OF APPEALS. 769 
 
 6. Referred back to the judicatory below, with instructions. 
 
 a. Whereas, It appears that the decision of the Synod of Missouri in 
 the case of the complaint of Franklin Knox has been recorded in reso- 
 lutions which set forth, not the reasons for the decision in the case, but 
 which are, in fact, a compromise ; which also admit that, at most, there 
 is a strong presumption of guilt, but not evidence, agreeably to the Con- 
 stitution, sufficient to convict; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the complaint of Franklin Knox against the Synod of 
 Missouri be referred back to the lower judicatory, and that the Synod be 
 and hereby is instructed to reconsider said resolutions, and record their 
 decision agreeably to the evidence and the principles of justice recognized 
 in our Constitution. — 1852, p. 173, N. S. 
 
 b. The Judicial Commission to whom was referred the appeal and 
 complaint of the Second Presbyterian church of Jacksonville, 111., and 
 Rev. Emanuel R. Pirez vs. a decision of the Synod of Illinois Central, 
 presented their report, which was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 Your Judicial Commission in the case of the appeal and complaint of 
 the Second Presbyterian church of Jacksonville, 111. , and Rev. Emanuel 
 R. Pirez against a decision of the Synod of Illinois Central, beg leave to 
 report that they find the action of the Synod of Central Illinois defective 
 in that it does not recognize the fact, which appears upon the records of 
 the Presbytery, that charges had been made against Rev. Mr. Pirez, 
 affecting his moral and ministerial character, which charges had been 
 made by persons recognized, by formal vote of the Presbytery, as accus- 
 ers, and which charges were referred by the Presbytery to a Judicial 
 Committee with instructions to report thereupon, but which charges have 
 never been brought to an issue. 
 
 This Committee do, therefore, sustain the complaint and appeal of the 
 Second Portuguese church and of Rev. Emanuel R. Pirez, so far as to 
 direct the Synod to remand the case to the Presbytery, with instructions 
 to try, or formally dismiss, the charges above mentioned, and, in case of 
 his innocence, determine the question of the expediency of the continu- 
 ance of the pastoral relation, in such a manner as they may judge to be 
 just to the contending parties and for the interests of religion. — 1874, 
 p. 46. 
 
 7. The decision details the irregularities of the judicatories below. 
 
 The consideration of the report of the Committee appointed to prepare 
 a minute on the subject of Mr. Craighead's appeal from a decision of 
 the Synod of Kentucky, suspending him from the Gospel ministry on 
 certain charges of heresy, founded on a sermon preached before the 
 Synod, was resumed, and after some discussion, the report was adopted, 
 and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 1. The General Assembly are of opinion that the conduct of Mr. 
 Craighead in preaching such a sermon, and in such circumstances, before 
 the Synod of Kentucky, especially as he had been suspected by his 
 brethren of holding erroneous opinions, was highly reprehensible. 
 
 2. The General Assembly approve the conduct of the Synod in relation 
 to this matter. While they were firm and zealous in maintaining what 
 they believed to be truth, they were to an uncommon degree, respect- 
 ful and affectionate in their manner of dealing with Mr. Craighead. As 
 the sermon was delivered in their hearing, believing, as they did, that it 
 
770 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 contained dangerous error, they were bound to take notice of it and 
 
 express their opinion to the preacher 
 
 6. It is not surprising that in a case so new and difficult some con- 
 siderable errors in point of form should have occurred; the principal of 
 these the General Assembly will now briefly point out. 
 
 (a) There was a great deficiency in the charge preferred against Mr. 
 Craighead as it relates to precision. All charges for heresy should, be as 
 definite as possible. The article or articles of faith impugned should be 
 specified, and the words supposed to be heretical shown to be in repug- 
 nance to these articles, whether the reference is made directly to the 
 Scriptures as a standard of orthodoxy, or to the Confession of Faith, 
 which our Church holds to be a summary of the doctrines of Scripture. 
 But in none of the charges against Mr. Craighead is this done; and in 
 two of them, third and fourth, it would be very difficult to say what 
 articles of faith are supposed to be contravened in the errors charged on 
 Mr. Craighead. And the last two charges appear to be so vague and 
 indefinite as to be incapable of proof. In the fifth Mr. Craighead is 
 charged with perverting, etc., the sentiments of the preachers and 
 writers in our connection. Now, in our connection, there are a multitude 
 of preachers and writers differing by many shades of opinion from each 
 other. How then can this be a just ground of accusation ? In the 
 sixth, he is charged with the {alse coloring of facts, etc. But no facts are 
 established by evidence; none are specified in the charge; and to make 
 it a just ground of accusation, it ought to have been a designed and 
 malicious discoloring of the facts, etc. 
 
 (b) In the progress of this case, the Presbytery proceeded regularly to 
 cite the accused, once and again, and upon his not appearing, they 
 proceeded to the trial, and having gone through the evidence, they 
 referred the whole to the Synod to adjudicate upon it, with the expression 
 of their own opinion, that Mr. Craighead ought to be suspended. The 
 Synod met immediately after Presbytery, and took up the case, and in 
 concurrence with the opinion of the Presbytery, suspended Mr. Craighead 
 from the Gospel ministry. 
 
 (c) In this proceeding, the General Assembly are of opinion that there 
 was too much haste. Mr. Craighead was not guilty of contumacy, for 
 he wrote two letters to the Presbytery, excusing himself for non-attend- 
 ance; and if he had been guilty of contumacy, he ought to have been 
 suspended on that ground. Perhaps no man ought to be tried on 
 charges preferred, and to be supported by evidence, who is not present, 
 without his own consent. A trial, in the nature of things, cannot be 
 impartial when there is but one party heard. And in this case no 
 injury would have been sustained by delay, for the Synod might have 
 proceeded instantly to condemn the errors of Mr. Craighead's book, as 
 the General Assembly did in the case of The Gospel Plan of W. C. 
 Davis; the process against the author, however, did not commence till 
 some time afterward. But, however this may be, the General Assembly 
 think that the Synod were in too much haste. It was reasonable that 
 Mr. Craighead should have been informed of this transfer of the cause 
 to a higher tribunal. 
 
 (d) There is only one other thing in the proceedings on which the 
 General Assembly will remark, which is, that statements were given as 
 evidence, by the members of Presbytery, which are not recorded, and 
 
OF APPEALS. 771 
 
 which do not appear to have been given under the usual solemnity of an 
 oathr— 1824, pp. 120-122. 
 
 8. The case remitted with instructions. 
 
 a. Resolved, That as the proceedings in the case of Mr. Craighead 
 have been, in many respects, irregular, and he has suffered much injury 
 from the delay produced by these irregularities: And, whereas, also the 
 charges are not so conclusively established as to remove all doubt, the 
 General Assembly cannot see their way clear finally to confirm the 
 sentence of the Synod of Kentucky, although they are of opinion, that 
 Mr. Craighead has subjected himself, by preaching and printing this 
 sermon, to just censure. But as Mr. Craighead has had no fair oppor- 
 tunity of vindicating himself or of making satisfactory explanations or 
 retractions, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the whole cause be transmitted to the Presbytery of 
 West Tennessee, in the bounds of which Mr. Craighead resides; and 
 that they be directed to give him an early opportunity of offering that 
 satisfaction which the Church expects, for the offence received; and that 
 upon receiving such explanations or retractions as to them shall be satis- 
 factory, Mr. Craighead be restored to the Gospel ministry from which he 
 had been suspended. — 1824, p. 124. 
 
 [Note.— Mr. Craighead was restored to the ministry by the Presbytery of West 
 Tennessee, but died before the next Assembly.] 
 
 b. See complaint of Edward Graham et al. vs. the Synod of the 
 Pacific. The irregularities are detailed and the case remanded to the 
 Synod with instructions. See Book of Discipline, Chap, v, Sec. xxiv, 
 above.— 1881, pp. 586, 587. 
 
 C. In the matter of the complaint of Rev. Edward Graham and 
 others, against the Synod of the Pacific, for refusing to sustain the com- 
 plaint of Frederic E. Shearer, and others, against the Presbytery of San 
 Francisco, for its action in dropping the name of the Rev. John D. 
 Strong from its roll, and its proceedings in regard thereto, the General 
 Assembly of 1881 found the irregularities and deficiencies in the records, 
 both of the Presbytery and of the Synod, so great, and the information 
 furnished by the records of both bodies so meagre, that it could not come 
 to any intelligent decision. The General Assembly therefore ordered 
 " that the complaint be referred to the Synod of the Pacific, with 
 instructions to take such action in the premises as the interests of religion 
 and the good order of the Church may seem to them to demand ' ' (see 
 Minutes, 1881, pp. 586, 587). It now appears that the Synod of the 
 Pacific, being in session on the 11th day of October, A.D. 1881, and 
 having before it the above-recited action of the General Assembly of 
 1881, adopted the following resolutions: 
 
 1. " The Presbytery of San Francisco is hereby instructed to correct 
 its records in the case of John D. Strong, by putting on record a minute 
 giving reasons for its action in dropping the name of John. D. Strong 
 from its rolls." 
 
 2. " The Synod of the Pacific, in the case of the complaint of Rev. 
 Frederic E. Shearer and others against the Presbytery of San Francisco, 
 hereby corrects the deficiency of its records by adopting the following 
 minute or record as its judgment in the case : Resolved, That the Synod 
 of the Pacific do not sustain the complaint against the action of the 
 Presbytery of San Francisco in the case of John D. Strong, believing 
 
772 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 that the action of the Presbytery was, under the circumstances, the best 
 course for the interests of religion and the good order of the Church 1 ." 
 
 Against this action of the Synod of the Pacific, complaint is now made 
 to the Assembly by Rev. Frederic E. Shearer and seventeen other 
 members of that Synod. It appears, therefore, that the Synod of the 
 Pacific, while declaring its intention to correct the deficiency of its 
 records, did not in any respect correct, but did in reality increase, the 
 irregularities in its proceedings, by directing the Presbytery of San 
 Francisco to correct its records by giving reasons for its action, and 
 thereupon immediately proceeding to assign the reasons for its own action, 
 forgetting apparently that, as an appellate judicatory, the Synod must 
 await the correction and completion of the record of the Presbytery 
 before it could correct its own. Perhaps the irregularity of this action 
 is more evident when it is observed that the reason assigned by the 
 Synod for not sustaining the complaint against the Presbytery is couched 
 in the same language used by the General Assembly of 1881 in its 
 instructions to the Synod, and asserts that the action of the Presbytery, 
 declared by the General Assembly of 1881 to be so defective and irregu- 
 lar, was the best " for the interests of religion and the good order of the 
 Church." 
 
 It is difficult to understand how this action could be supposed to satisfy 
 the instructions of the General Assembly of 1881; and yet the Commit- 
 tee would be very reluctant to infer that the Synod intended to be obedi- 
 ent to the letter and disobedient to the spirit of those instructions. But 
 the good order of the Church certainly requires that the Synod should 
 in a proper manner obey them. And it is manifest that it is no more 
 possible for this General Assembly than it was for that of 1881 to reach 
 an intelligent decision in the present condition of the records. 
 
 The Committee recommend, therefore, that the complaint be referred 
 to the Synod of the Pacific, with instructions to refer the matter to the 
 Presbytery of San Francisco, with instructions to that Presbytery to 
 proceed in the case in an orderly manner. Adopted. — 1882, pp. 100, 
 101. 
 
 9. Unconstitutional acts detailed. The case remanded. 
 
 The Committee to prepare a minute expressive of the sense of the 
 Assembly in sustaining the complaint of Rev. J. A. Smylie against the 
 Synod of Mississippi, submitted the following, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. That the decision of this Assembly in sustaining the complaint of 
 Rev. Mr. Smylie against the Synod of Mississippi is not to be regarded 
 as deciding the merits of the original question — that is, the guilt or in- 
 nocence of the individual in respect to whom this case originated. 
 
 2. That the Presbytery of Louisiana should have recorded the results 
 of the interlocutory meeting referred to in the complaint. 
 
 3. That the Synod acted unconstitutionally in permitting the Presby- 
 tery of Louisiana to vote on the adoption of the report of the Judicial 
 Committee on the complaint of Rev. Mr. Smylie. 
 
 4. That the Synod should have placed on its records the above-men- 
 tioned report. 
 
 5. That the Presbytery of Louisiana erred in pleading the limitation 
 of time for their non-compliance with the resolution of the Synod, 
 referring this whole case to them for a full investigation. 
 
 6. That the case be remanded to the Presbytery of Louisiana accord- 
 
OF APPEALS. 773 
 
 ing to the resolution of the Synod, for such action as is demanded by 
 the Book of Discipline. 
 
 7. That the decision of the Assembly, together with the foregoing 
 minute, be recorded in the minutes of the Synod of Mississippi and of 
 the Presbytery of Louisiana. — 1850, p. 481, O. S. 
 
 10. Referred back by consent of parties. 
 
 Judicial business No. 9, reported by the Judicial Committee, viz., the 
 complaint of Alexander M. Cowan against the Synod of Utica, was 
 taken up and the complaint read, when, with the consent of Mr. Cowan 
 and the members of the Synod present, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the subject be referred back to the Synod of Utica; 
 and they are hereby directed to issue the case as referred to them by the 
 Presbytery of Otsego.— 1834, p. 434. 
 
 11. Discretion of a judicatory is not subject to review. 
 
 They had the right to send the case back to the Presbytery or to 
 
 review the whole of it, according to their discretion. It is not for this 
 
 court to decide which would have been the wiser course. The Synod 
 
 judged it best to review the whole case, and their discretion is not a 
 
 matter of review by this body. — 1864, p. 475, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — Case of S. Edwards Todd. See also Book of Discipline, Sec. lxxxiii, 7 and 
 8 ; the misuse or abuse of discretionary power is reviewable ; see Book of Discipline, 
 Sec. xii, p. 638.] 
 
 12. Remitted on the recommendation of the Judicial Committee. 
 
 a. Also, a complaint of Christian Kern and others of the First Pres- 
 byterian church of New Orleans. 
 
 The Committee recommend that it be again referred to the Presbytery 
 of New Orleans, with the injunction that the complainants be allowed a 
 hearing. Adopted. — 1871, p. 547. 
 
 b. The Judicial Committee reported an appeal of the Rev. Francis 
 M. Dimmick from the Presbytery of Missouri River, recommending 
 that the papers in the case be returned to the parties presenting them, 
 that they may be adjudicated by the Synod of Iowa South. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1872, p. 50. 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee reported a complaint of the Rev. Christian 
 Kern against the Presbytery of New Orleans. The Committee recom- 
 mend that the complainant be referred to his Synod for redress. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1872, p. 84. 
 
 13. In passing judgment a judicatory may not open a case 
 already settled. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 11 is the appeal of Dr. Thomas F. Worrell against 
 the Synod of Illinois, together with the complaint of the Rev. Isaac A. 
 Cornelison against the same Synod. 
 
 The Committee report that the appeal and complaint relate to the same 
 matter, and they recommend that they be tried together as one cause. 
 
 The papers are in order, and the case is ready for trial. 
 
 The Committee find, further, that the Synod, in a minute expressing 
 its judgment in a case then pending, to which Dr. Worrell was a party, 
 adopted the following as a part of their judgment: "And, further, inas- 
 much as this trial grew out of a previous one with Dr. Worrell, in which 
 the adjustment partook of the nature of a compromise, and certain irregu- 
 
774 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 99 (5). 
 
 larities which are not constitutional ; and as the ends of discipline were not 
 accomplished in the case of Dr. Worrell, the Session of that church 
 should review their proceedings in his case. ' ' This part of the minutes 
 is the subject-matter of the appeal and complaint. In the judgment of 
 the Committee, it was not competent for the Synod, when judicially 
 determining one case, to open another case already settled and deter- 
 mined; this last case having been adjusted two years before, and the 
 record of the adjustment having already passed before Synod by way of 
 review and control. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the 
 appeal of Dr. Worrell be sustained. The complaint of Mr. Cornelison 
 being to the same effect is determined by this judgment on the appeal. — 
 1863, p. 67, O. S. 
 
 14. The decision sustains the lower judicatory in part, but a person 
 once restored can be condemned again only by new process and 
 conviction. 
 
 The appeal of the Presbytery of Onondaga, from a decision of the 
 Synod of Geneva, relative to the restoration of the Rev. John Shepherd 
 to the Gospel ministry, who had been deposed by the Association of 
 Fairfield, Conn. The following resolutions were adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the decision of the Synod of Geneva relative to the 
 restoration of the Rev. John Shepherd to the office of the Gospel minis- 
 try, so far as it censures the restoration of said Shepherd, who was 
 deposed by a judicatory of the Church of Christ in fellowship with us, 
 be and hereby is confirmed; because it did not appear from the records 
 of the Presbytery of Onondaga, that said restoration took place in con- 
 sequence of any confession of the alleged crime for which the said Shep- 
 herd was deposed, or of any profession of penitence for it, or of any 
 conference with the judicatory which deposed him. 
 
 2. That the appeal of the Presbytery of Onondaga, so far as it relates 
 to the rescinding of their vote to restore the Rev. John Shepherd, be and 
 hereby is sustained on the second reason of appeal, and upon that alone; 
 because the Assembly judges that a minister of the Gospel, when once 
 restored by Presbyterial authority, cannot be deprived of his office, 
 except it be by a new process and conviction. — 1818, p. 687. 
 
 15. The decision reverses all the judicatories below and restores 
 
 the appellant. 
 
 The Assembly took up the appeal of Dr. John Rollins from a decision 
 of the Synod of West Tennessee, affirming a decision of the Presbytery 
 of Mississippi, affirming a decision of the Session of the First church 
 of New Orleans, by which he had been excluded from the privileges of 
 the church 
 
 The final vote was taken when the appeal was sustained, and the 
 decision of the Synod was reversed, and Dr. Rollins was restored to the 
 privileges of the church. — 1830, p. 307. 
 
 16. The decision declares and decides the several issues involved. 
 
 The Committee appointed to express the judgment of this Assembly 
 on the memorial and complaint of the Session of the Fifth church of 
 Philadelphia, recommended the adoption of the following resolutions, 
 which were accordingly adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. Inasmuch as the act of the Synod of Philadelphia, uniting the 
 Second Presbytery of Philadelphia to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, 
 
OF APPEALS. 775 
 
 was in contravention of the act of the General Assembly passed in 
 1832, by which that Presbytery was erected, and inasmuch as the act of 
 the Synod aforesaid, by an appeal, was to be reviewed and acted on, by 
 the next General Assembly; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the complainants of the Fifth church erred in chang- 
 ing their Presbyterial relation, and uniting with the Second Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia Synodical. 
 
 2. While Presbyteries have the right, according to the Constitution, 
 to visit the churches under their care, to take measures to correct any 
 evils that may exist in them, nevertheless, as in this case, the Session 
 presented no request, and there was no apprehension that the pulpit 
 would not be supplied, the Assembly think the Second Presbytery erred 
 in insisting on the right to supply the pulpit of the Fifth church under 
 the then existing state. 
 
 3. As the majority of the Session felt themselves constrained to leave 
 their house of worship, and were accompanied by a large number of the 
 communicants, and as they had a show of reason for applying to the 
 Second Presbytery Synodical, by the act of the Synod of Philadelphia 
 forming that Presbytery, the decision of the Second Presbytery in 
 declaring the four elders no longer elders of the Fifth church under their 
 care, if designed to affect either their character or their standing, is 
 hereby declared to be void. 
 
 4. In the opinion of this Assembly, the entire Fifth church is under 
 the care of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and it is hereby 
 declared to be an integral part of it. — 1834, p. 452. 
 
 17. The decision restores the status quo. 
 
 The appeal and complaint of Thomas Bradford, Esq., and others 
 against a decision of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, dividing 
 the Fifth Presbyterian church in Philadelphia into two churches. 
 
 The question was put, " Shall the appeal and complaint be sustained ?" 
 and was carried in the affirmative. 
 
 Whereupon it is ordered and decreed by this General Assembly that 
 the act and decision of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, which 
 divides the Fifth Presbyterian church of the city of Philadelphia into 
 two distinct churches be and the same is hereby reversed ; and the said 
 Presbytery is hereby directed to restore to the Session of said church the 
 book of minutes of said Session. — 1835, p. 478. 
 
 18. A superior judicatory may not compel an inferior to reverse 
 its decision without assigning reasons. 
 
 a. The report of the Committee on the Records of the Synod of 
 Pittsburgh, as amended, was adopted as follows: 
 
 Your Committee would respectfully report that the records have been 
 well kept, and are in good order. 
 
 And would further report that on pages 214 and 215 we find this 
 minute: " The Judicial Committee report," etc., etc. (See Minutes.) 
 
 The case appears to have been taken up, and the parties heard ; and 
 on page 227 it is recorded, " The complaints," etc., etc.; also, "A 
 Committee," etc. ; and on page 231, " The report of said Committee," 
 " In not sustaining," etc. We also find, on page 227, this minute, 
 ' ' The Committee on the Records, ' ' etc. 
 
 With reference to this action, your Committee would respectfully move 
 
776 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 100. 
 
 the adoption of the following minnte, viz. : Inasmuch as it is contrary to 
 the spirit and principles of the Presbyterian Church, and subversive of 
 the true design of ecclesiastical discipline, for a superior judicatory to 
 compel an inferior court to reverse its decision, rendered after a full, fair 
 and impartial trial, without assigning and placing on record some specific 
 reason for such reversal, that the records, so far as they relate to this 
 point in this case, be disapproved. Adopted. — 1874, p. 86. 
 
 b The Judicial Commission appointed in case No. 5, being the appeal 
 of Mrs. M. J. Browning from a decision of the Synod of Geneva, pre- 
 sented the following report, which was ordered on record as the judgment 
 of the Assembly: 
 
 That the Assembly sustain the appeal: 
 
 1. Because a superior court cannot order an inferior court to re- 
 hear a case already decided, when no intimation of additional evidence 
 is given. 
 
 2. Because, in sending back the case the Synod passed by the Presby- 
 tery, in which the case had once been adjudicated. 
 
 3. Because reference is by a lower to a superior court, and is vol- 
 untary and not subject to the order of a higher court. — 1878, p. 34. 
 
 19. The decision explains the true intent of the action complained of. 
 Deposition by another denomination after reception to member- 
 ship in Presbytery does not impair good standing. 
 The General Synod of the Reformed Church in America complained 
 
 against the Presbytery of Philadelphia Central, for the following causes: 
 
 1. The Presbytery, on the 9th of June last, received under its care a 
 congregation which had, until that time, been under the care of a Classis 
 of the Reformed Church and had been known as the Third Reformed 
 church of Philadelphia, and united it with the Western Presbyterian 
 church of Philadelphia, giving the new organization the name of Im- 
 manuel Church. 
 
 2. On November 17, 1873, the Presbytery received, as a member, 
 Rev. Charles Wadsworth, a member until then of the Classis of Phila- 
 delphia — the Classis having refused to grant him letters of dismission. 
 
 The delegate of the Reformed Church, as instructed by the General 
 Synod, presents these facts to the consideration of the General Assembly, 
 alleging that the action of the Presbytery " is not in accordance with 
 the friendly spirit of the terms of the correspondence which exists 
 between the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and the 
 General Synod of the Reformed Church." 
 
 The Special Committee reported, and their report was adopted, viz. : 
 Your Committee, after attentive study of the case, reach the following 
 conclusions : 
 
 1 . There is no reason to think that the Presbytery had any disposition 
 to encroach upon the province of the Classis, or to disturb either the 
 pastoral or ecclesiastical relations of one of its congregations. 
 
 They appear simply to have been willing to receive, in brotherly love, 
 a congregation and a minister who wished to come to them from a sister 
 Church, to whose judicatory no unkindness and no discourtesy was 
 intended, and with which the Presbytery desired the most cordial fellow- 
 ship. 
 
 2. The Presbytery seems to us to have erred in not directly consulting 
 the Classis, so as to make sure that there had been no mistake as to the 
 
OF APPEALS. 777 
 
 facts, and that the fraternal spirit in which the Presbytery desired to act 
 might have been manifest to the Classis from the beginning. 
 
 3. While we regret this unintended lack of courtesy on the part of 
 the Presbytery, we cannot deny the right of a congregation or of a minis- 
 ter to withdraw from the jurisdiction of either a Classis or Presbytery for 
 reasons such as those alleged in this case. To forbid this would seem to 
 us " not in accordance with the friendly spirit of the terms of the corre- 
 spondence" between the two bodies, and an injurious abridgment of 
 congregational and ministerial liberty. 
 
 4. The question of property is to be left to the civil tribunal. The 
 Assembly exhorts the congregation to submit it frankly and unreservedly 
 and by no means to imperil spiritual interests by protracted or strenuous 
 litigation. 
 
 5. The Assembly cannot regard the act of the Classis, in deposing 
 Mr. Wadsworth, after his reception to membership in the Presbytery, in 
 the state of facts already recited, as impairing his good standing in the 
 Church and the ministry. — 1874, pp. 62, 63. 
 
 C. When the judgment directs admonition or rebuke, notice of Appeal 
 shall suspend all further proceedings ; but in other cases the judgments 
 shall be in force until the Appeal is decided. 
 
 1. An appeal arrests all further proceedings until it be issued. 
 
 It moreover appears that the General Assembly of the year aforesaid, 
 having adopted the protest of the members of the Synod of Kentucky 
 as their own act, did declare that Mr. Craighead had been deposed, 
 whereas the decision of the Synod was suspension; and although the 
 Synod did direct the Presbytery to which Mr. Craighead belonged to de- 
 pose him, if he did not at their next stated meeting, retract his errors, 
 this sentence could not have been constitutionally inflicted, because Mr. 
 Craighead appealed from the decision of Synod ; the effect of which was to 
 arrest all further proceedings in the case until the appeal should be tried; 
 therefore, the sentence of the Assembly declaring Mr. Craighead deposed 
 does not accord with the sentence of the Synod, which was suspension. 
 —1822, p. 52. 
 
 [Xote. — Where the case is continued at the request of the appellant, the sentence 
 remains in full force until the case is issued.— 1858, p. 580, N. S. See Sec. xcvii, above, 
 case of C. H. Baldwin, p. 737.] 
 
 2. Interpretation of Section 100. 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed by the General Assembly to try 
 Judicial Case No. 7 reports for approval its judgment upon the following 
 questions of Constitution and law: 
 
 1. According to Sec. 100 of the Book of Discipline, " When the judg- 
 ment directs admonition or rebuke, notice of appeal suspends all further 
 proceedings, but in other cases" (viz., when the judgment directs sus- 
 pension, deposition or excommunication, see Sec. iv) " the judgment 
 shall be in force until the appeal is decided," and this we interpret to mean 
 until it is finally decided by the highest judicatory to which the case is 
 carried. 
 
 2. After a Synod or a Commission of Synod, sitting as a court for the 
 trial of a case, has concluded the case, and adopted its final judgment, 
 and the same is a matter of record, it is not competent for the Synod in 
 
778 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 100-101. 
 
 ordinary session and not constituted as a court, to interpret the judgment 
 or in any way to modify it. Approved. — 1896, p. 151. 
 
 3. To proceed to trial while the appeal is pending is unconstitu- 
 tional and void. The Assembly and not the inferior judicatories 
 is the judge of the question of constitutionality. 
 
 Appeal of John W. Chambers vs. the Presbytery of St. Clairsville. 
 In this case, Mr. Chambers gave notice of appeal and complaint, which 
 is duly certified by the Stated Clerk of the Synod of Ohio as having 
 been lodged in due time. A copy of the appeal, etc., and reasons are 
 annexed. 
 
 In this case the Judicial Committee are not able, from the record, or 
 from the papers of the appellant, to decide that the decision of the 
 Synod was irregular in the respects specified. But it appears from the 
 accompanying papers that the Session of the church at St. Clairsville 
 proceeded at once to cite the appellant to appear for trial notwithstand- 
 ing the fact that he had notified them of the fact that he had taken an 
 appeal from the decision of the Synod, on the ground of the irregularity, 
 i. e., unconstitutionality of its action. The Assembly, not the inferior 
 judicatories, is the judge of the question of constitutionality. The 
 Committee recommend that the appeal be dismissed, and that the 
 proceedings of the Synod be approved; but that the action of the Ses- 
 sion of the church of St. Clairsville, in proceeding to trial, while the 
 appeal was pending, is unconstitutional and void. — 1890, p. 130. 
 
 4. Suspension is continued until the issue of the appeal, which 
 must be at the next meeting of the judicatory above. 
 
 T. F. Worrell requested the Assembly to answer the following ques- 
 tion, viz., Whether, when a person is suspended from the church by a 
 Session, and restored by the Presbytery, the notice of appeal by the Ses- 
 sion continues the person under suspension ; and if so, how long can such 
 suspension be continued without the appeal being issued ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that the following answer be returned, viz. : 
 That the notice of appeal does continue the person under suspension until 
 the appeal is issued, which must be at the next meeting of the upper 
 court. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1862, p. 597, O. S. 
 
 5. An appeal against certain action does not debar the judicatory 
 from acting upon the continued disturbed state of the Church. 
 The question of a dissolution of the pastoral relation between Dr. 
 McPheeters and the Pine Street church was originally brought in an 
 orderly manner before the Presbytery, by petition from a minority of said 
 church, and a personal tender of resignation by the pastor, and after all 
 the constitutional steps were taken with care and deliberation was decided 
 by the Presbytery acting for the peace and welfare of the church. 
 
 That which was called an appeal and complaint to Synod from that 
 action could not so suspend all further proceedings as to prevent the 
 Presbytery from considering and acting upon the continued disturbed 
 state of that congregation. — 1864, p. 327, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii. Also Book of Discipline, 
 Sec. lxxxv. One-third of a judicatory can suspend the operation of a complaint in 
 cases non-judicial. See p. 717.] 
 
OF APPEALS. 779 
 
 6. "Where a Session is dissolved an appeal continues the rights of 
 the elders as to the higher judicatories until it is issued. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Louisville: 
 
 " When, by an act of Presbytery, a church Session is dissolved, and 
 the elders composing said Session are ordered to cease any longer to exer- 
 cise their office, does an appeal from this action to a higher court, by 
 said elders, secure to them the right to sit in the various judicatories of 
 the Church until said appeal is decided ?' ' 
 
 Answer: The effect of an appeal is to continue all the rights of the 
 elders, as to representation in the higher courts, until the appeal is finally 
 issued by the higher judicatories. Adopted. — 1881, p. 587. 
 
 [Xote. — Under the present Book this could be entertained as a complaint only, in 
 which case Sec. lxxxv, p. 717, provides that one-third of the members may stay the 
 execution of the decision until the final issue of the case.] 
 
 CI. The judicatory whose judgment is appealed from shall send up its 
 records, and all the papers relating thereto, and filed with the record. 
 If it fails to do this, it shall be censured ; and the sentence appealed from 
 shall be suspended, until a record is produced on which the issue can 
 be fairly tried. 
 
 1. Copies made by the appellant not sufficient. The records or 
 authenticated copies required. 
 
 That by the " forms of processes," etc., Mr. Bourne ought to be 
 " allowed copies of the whole proceedings " in his case; yet " the judi- 
 catory appealed from ' ' is, by the same rules, ' ' to send authentic copies 
 of the whole process;" his copy, therefore, which he says was taken by 
 himself, but is not shown to the Assembly, is not sufficient; his affidavit 
 is not required by the course of proceeding in this body ; and the three 
 papers presented by him are not to be considered as the commencement of 
 a cause, or the entry of an appeal in this judicatory. Nevertheless, Mr. 
 Bourne shall not suffer any inconvenience which the Assembly can pre- 
 vent on the account of any failures of the inferior judicatories, if a 
 default should in future appear on their part, the evidence of such 
 circumstance being not as yet made clear to this Assembly. — 1816, p. 627. 
 
 2. On the failure of the judicatory to send up authenticated 
 copies of the testimony, the appeal is sustained. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare a minute on the decision of the 
 Assembly sustaining the appeal of Mr. Pope Bushnell from a decision of 
 the Synod of New York, affirming the decree of the Presbytery of Hud- 
 son, by which the said Mr. Bushnell had been suspended from the 
 privileges of the Church, made the following report, which was adopted, 
 viz. : 
 
 That the appellant, having given due notice that he did appeal, 
 appeared regularly before the Assembly ; and that while the Presbytery 
 and Synod have sent up their records in the case, neither has forwarded 
 to this Assembly an authentic copy of the testimony taken on the trial. 
 The Assembly did therefore decide that Mr. Bushnell' s appeal be and it 
 hereby is sustained, so that he is restored to all his rights and privileges 
 as a member of the Church of Christ. — 1826, p. 187. 
 
780 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 101. 
 
 3. Where judicatories fail to send up documents the case is 
 
 remanded. 
 
 It appearing from the official certificates of the Stated Clerks of all 
 the courts below that important documents in evidence before the Session 
 which first tried the case were not sent to the Presbytery and Synod, it 
 is therefore 
 
 Ordered, That this case be sent back to the Presbytery of Charleston 
 for a new trial, and that the Session of the church of Columbia be 
 directed to correct their record and to send to Presbytery an authentic 
 copy of all the evidence and all the documents before them. — 1843, p. 
 186, O. S. 
 
 4. The judicatory directed to perfect its records and send up to the 
 Assembly its reasons for the action complained of. 
 
 Complaint of the Rev. Dr. N. West against the Synod of Minnesota. 
 Dr. West complains against the Synod of Minnesota for its refusal to 
 entertain a complaint against the Presbytery of St. Paul on certain 
 grounds stated in his complaint. Our Book requires that the judicatory 
 whose judgment is appealed from shall send up its records, and all the 
 papers relating thereto, and filed with the record, and failing to do so the 
 sentence appealed from shall be suspended until a record is produced on 
 which the case can be fairly tried. 
 
 In view of the fact that the Synod of Minnesota has failed to record 
 its reasons for rejecting the complaint of Dr. N. West, and also that the 
 records in the case are otherwise incomplete, your Committee recommend 
 that the hearing of the complaint be deferred to the next General Assem- 
 bly and that in the meantime the Synod of Minnesota be directed to 
 perfect the records and to forward to the next General Assembly the 
 reasons for their action in the matters complained of by Dr. West, and 
 that the Synod shall furnish him with a copy of all new matter. — 1889, 
 p. 110. 
 
 5. Judgment suspended until a record is supplied on which the 
 issue may be tried. 
 
 1. The appeal of Rev. John Peacock against the action of the Synod 
 of Pennsylvania, in the matter of the complaint of Rev. John Peacock 
 against the action of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North. Your 
 Committee find that the Synod of Pennsylvania considered and acted 
 upon said complaints, but failed to record their subject-matter. This 
 defect in the minutes makes it impossible for the Assembly to determine 
 whether there is any constitutional question involved in the case, or 
 whether the reasons assigned for the appeal are valid. It is recom- 
 mended, in accordance with Sec. ci, of the Book of Discipline, that the 
 judgment appealed from be suspended until a record is produced on 
 which the issue can be fairly tried. 
 
 2. The complaint of Rev. William P. White against the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania relates to the same action as the appeal of Rev. John 
 Peacock and is obscured by the same defect in the record. It is recom- 
 mended that action be deferred. The hope is expressed that the case 
 may be satisfactorily issued by the Synod of Pennsylvania, and that 
 there may be no occasion for a renewal of the appeal or the complaint. 
 —1889, p. 110. 
 
OF APPEALS. 781 
 
 6. In the absence of papers referred to in the records and of attested 
 copies of the charges, the case postponed. 
 
 The Judicial Committee reported No. 1, the complaint of James Rus- 
 sell against the Synod of Georgia. 
 
 It appears to the Committee that Mr. Russell has conducted his com- 
 plaint in due form, but the Synod has failed to furnish the documents 
 needful to its prosecution. The minutes of Synod are present, and 
 complainant has furnished attested copies of minutes of Presbytery and 
 of the testimony of witnesses examined. But we have still no attested 
 copy of the charges which had been the basis of the original trial, nor 
 of sundry papers referred to in the Presbytery's records, and which had 
 been received as testimony. The Committee recommend to the Assembly 
 the adoption of the following resolutions in the case: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Synod of Georgia be directed to send up to the 
 next Assembly authenticated copies of all their records, and of the whole 
 testimony relating to the matter of the complaint, together with their 
 reasons for not sending up the papers to this Assembly, unless the case 
 shall be previously adjusted. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That all the papers received from the complainant be 
 returned to his own custody. Adopted. — 1852, p. 212, O. S. 
 
 7. Case remanded with directions as to procedure and as to the 
 
 records. 
 
 Appeal of Heber Donaldson against the Synod of Erie. 
 
 The Assembly finds that there are two branches to this case: the first 
 involving questions of jurisdiction; and the second, the merits of the 
 case. This Assembly is not now able to determine either of these ques- 
 tions, on account of the meagreness of the records, and on account of 
 certain irregularities which are alleged to have occurred in the trials 
 below. Therefore the Assembly, reserving its judgment, both on the 
 questions of jurisdiction and the merits of the case, hereby remands the 
 whole case to the Session of the church at Emlenton, with the direction 
 to table new charges with adequate specifications, and cite the accused to 
 answer, taking care that the specifications, if confessed, or, if they are 
 denied, the evidence, shall show a case which will justify the judgment 
 they may render. And the Session are instructed to conduct the trial 
 in exact accordance with the Book of Discipline, and make a clear and 
 full record of all their proceedings in the case. 
 
 The report of the Committee was adopted. — 1882, p. 107. 
 
 8. In the absence of records the Synod censured and the case 
 
 postponed. 
 
 Complaint of Smiley Shepherd vs. the Synod of Illinois. The records 
 of the Presbytery of Bloomington, necessarily involved in the case, 
 being absent, the Committee recommend that the Synod be censured for 
 neglecting to send up the records, and that the case be deferred for trial 
 until the records appear. Adopted. — 1861, p. 304, O. S. 
 
 9. The case dismissed and the papers returned. 
 The Commission on " a complaint of Rev. James "W. Wightman and 
 others vs. the Synod of Pittsburgh " reported, recommending that, as all 
 the papers are not before the Commission, be it 
 
782 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 101-102. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the attention of the Synod be called to the Book of 
 Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. xvi. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the case be dismissed and the papers returned. 
 The report was adopted. — 1874, p. 47. 
 
 10. Where the absence of papers is the fault of the defendant, the 
 case dismissed and the judgment affirmed. 
 
 Complaint of J. G. Monfort, D.D. , et at. vs. the Synod of Cincinnati. 
 It appearing from the minutes of the Presbytery that its judgment and 
 action were correct upon the facts stated therein, and there being no 
 showing of any other facts in the minute of the Synod whereon to rest 
 its action, and the absence of the papers (if there are any) being the 
 fault of the Synod, your Committee recommend that the proceedings be 
 dismissed and the judgment of the Presbytery stand affirmed. Adopted. 
 —1867, p. 331, 0. S. 
 
 CII. Appeals are, generally, to be taken to the judicatory immediately 
 superior to that appealed from. 
 
 1. Appeals may be carried directly to the Assembly. 
 
 a. That inasmuch as the request of Mr. Bourne to be tried on an 
 appeal before the General Assembly rather than the Synod may be 
 reasonable, and inasmuch as the words of our Constitution, viz., " The 
 Assembly shall receive and issue all appeals and references which may 
 be regularly brought before them from the inferior judicatories," etc., 
 have been interpreted favorably to such a request, the General Assembly 
 do order, that a certified copy of the records of the Lexington Presby- 
 tery in this case be duly made, and transmitted to the next Assembly, 
 unless the Synod of Virginia, to which the Assembly can have no objec- 
 tion, shall have previously received the appeal. [But that this constitu- 
 tional question, as well as the merits of the case, shall remain open for 
 discussion at that time.] — 1816, p. 626. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the records of the Synod of Virginia be approved, 
 except their censure of the Presbytery of Lexington for allowing an 
 appeal from their decision directly to the Assembly, without noticing the 
 supposed irregularity of such appeal. — 1818, p. 688. 
 
 C. The Committee, on an overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore, 
 in relation to the practice of inferior judicatories in carrying appeals and 
 complaints directly to the General Assembly, without first bringing them 
 to their respective Synods, made the following report, which was 
 adopted, viz. : That the Constitution of our Church is so explicit that it 
 requires no order of the Assembly in relation to the case brought to 
 view in this overture. — 1833, p. 396. 
 
 d. The order of the day, viz., the consideration of Mr. Rowland's 
 motion to refer to the Synod of New York, the adjudication of the 
 appeal of Louis Tappan, was taken up. The motion to refer the case 
 to Synod was lost. The Assembly then decided to hear the case. — 1839, 
 p. 56, reprint, N. S. 
 
 e. An appeal by the Rev. William W. McLane, from a decision of 
 the Presbytery of Steubenville. The Committee report that they find 
 
OF APPEALS. 783 
 
 the case in order. The appellant was tried by the Presbytery at the 
 spring meetings held in Augusta and "Wellsville, O., in the months of 
 April and May, 1883, on the charge of heresy. The Presbytery 
 sustained the charge, and suspended the appellant from the Gospel minis- 
 try. Dr. McLane appeals directly to the General Assembly, and asks 
 that the case be taken up and issued by this Assembly. Chap, vii, Sec. 
 iii, Sub-sec. vi, of the Book of Discipline (Old), is as follows: "Ap- 
 peals are generally to be carried in regular gradation from an inferior 
 judicatory to the one immediately superior." 
 
 Your Committee do not find, in the reasons given by the appellant, 
 sufficient cause to warrant them in recommending to the Assembly a 
 departure from the above rule of our Book of Discipline, by granting 
 the request of the appellant ; they, therefore, recommend that the papers 
 in the case be referred to the Synod of Ohio. — -1883, p. 597. 
 
 [Note. — This report was not adopted, but was referred back to the Judicial Com- 
 mittee, "to prepare and issue the case before the Assembly." — 1883, p. 617.] 
 
 The Judicial Committee presented a report in Judicial Case No. 1, 
 reporting the case in order, and recommending the steps to be pursued in 
 issuing it. They also presented a written request from the appellant, the 
 Rev. William W. McLane, that he have leave to withdraw his appeal 
 against the action of the Presbytery of Steubenville. The request was 
 read, and it was Resolved, That the appellant have leave to withdraw his 
 appeal.— 1883, p. 629. 
 
 f. An appeal of the Rev. Jared M. Chavis, a member of the Presby- 
 tery of Atlantic, from the decision of the Presbytery, upon charges 
 brought against him for alleged immorality. 
 
 From the certified copy of the decision, sent up by the Presbytery, it 
 appears that the charges were not investigated on the merits, but failed 
 of trial because of the refusal of witnesses to attend and testify; and 
 for this cause the Presbytery decided to drop the case against the Rev. 
 J. M. Chavis as charged in the indictment. But in the recital of the 
 charge, and the facts grounding the decision, the Presbytery insert an 
 opinion in the following words: .... 
 
 Your Committee are of the opinion that the Presbytery erred in 
 incorporating such an opinion in their decision, in the absence of all 
 testimony to justify the same. 
 
 Your Committee are of the opinion that the appellant has shown a 
 sufficient reason for bringing this appeal to the General Assembly, with- 
 out first going to the Synod of Atlantic. 
 
 After discussion, the Assembly directed that the case be referred to the 
 Synod of Atlantic, with instructions to take the proper action in the 
 premises. Adopted. — 1884, pp. 107, 108. 
 
 g. Case of Charles A. Briggs, D.D. The minority report was read 
 and laid on the table. The Moderator also announced that the only 
 remaining part of the majority report which had not been adopted was, 
 " Third, that in the judgment of the Committee, the appeal should be 
 entertained, and a time set apart for the hearing of the case." This 
 part of the majority report was then adopted, carrying in the affirmative 
 the question of the entertainment of the appeal. — 1892, p. 119. 
 
 The court then proceeded to vote; the question being, " Shall the 
 appeal be entertained ?' ' 
 
784 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 102. 
 
 The vote was taken by ayes and noes, and was ordered to be recorded. 
 The ayes were 410, the noes 145.— 1893, p. 95. 
 
 [Note. — The appeal in this case was directly from Presbytery to Assembly. The 
 principle as to appeals guiding the Assembly seems to be that where there is no 
 sufficient reason for passing by the next superior court, the case should go there. 
 But where good reasons for carrying it directly to the Assembly are assigned, it will 
 be entertained.] 
 
 2. Appeals dismissed because not first brought in the lower judicato- 
 ries and no sufficient reasons given. 
 
 a. The Judicial Committee made the following report on the complaint 
 of the Presbytery of Philadelphia against the Presbytery of Columbia, 
 relative to the licensure of Mr. Samuel Shaffer, which was adopted, viz. : 
 That it is a desirable thing to prevent the unnecessary accumulation 
 of business before the General Assembly ; that no good reason appears 
 why the Synod of Albany, who must be entirely competent to issue the 
 complaint, should be passed by, and that, therefore, in their judgment, 
 the matter ought to go before that body. — 1828, p. 237. 
 
 b. The Judicial Committee made a report in relation to the appeal of 
 Mr. Matthew H. Rice, from a decision of the Presbytery of East Hano- 
 ver, which was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 That the appellant had leave to withdraw his appeal on the following 
 ground, viz., no reasons are assigned by the appellant for making this 
 appeal to the General Assembly instead of the Synod. — 1830, p. 298. 
 
 C. The Judicial Committee reported two appeals of Samuel Lowrey; 
 the first from a special decision of the Session of the Second Presbyte- 
 rian church of Cincinnati ; the second from a decision of the Presbytery 
 of Miami. These appeals were dismissed because the appellant had not 
 prosecuted his appeals before the inferior judicatories. — 1822, p. 36; 
 1833, p. 409; 1834, p. 432; 1826, p. 187; 1859, p. 516, O. S. ; 1860, 
 p. 46, O. S. 
 
 d. Case of Rev. W. M. White vs. the Presbytery of Washington. 
 From the papers before the Committee it appears that Mr. White was 
 suspended from the ministry, and excluded from the communion of the 
 Church by the Presbytery of Washington at its sessions in November, 
 1870; that since that time he has resided within the bounds of the Pres- 
 bytery of Pittsburgh, and that he made application to the Presbytery of 
 Washington, at its sessions in April, 1873, for a dismission, with a certi- 
 ficate of his standing, to the Presbytery of Pittsburgh. This request 
 the Presbytery of Washington declined to grant ; and, respecting their 
 decision, have come into the hands of your Committee, 1. A complaint 
 of Rev. W. M. White; 2. A complaint of Revs. David McKinney and 
 Richard Lea, resident in Pittsburgh ; 3. A petition, signed by ministers 
 and church members, living in and near the city of Pittsburgh, praying 
 that the decision of the Presbytery of Washington may be reversed, 
 together with the answers of said Presbytery to these complaints. 
 
 The complaints have not been before the Synod, with which these 
 Presbyteries are connected, for the alleged reason that there has been no 
 meeting of the Synod since the action of Presbytery, and the complain- 
 ants prefer not to wait until the session of the Synod in the autumn. 
 Your Committee, however, do not see sufficient cause in this case for 
 departure from the rule of our Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, vii, 
 Sec. iii, viz. : " Appeals are generally to be carried in regular gradation 
 from an inferior judicatory to the one immediately superior " — and there- 
 
OF APPEALS. 785 
 
 fore recommend that all the papers in the case be referred to the Synod 
 of Pittsburgh. Adopted.— 1873, p. 508. 
 
 e. Complaint of Nathaniel West against the Presbytery of Cincin- 
 nati. The Committee recommend: That as no sufficient reasons for 
 direct complaint to the General Assembly have been presented, the 
 complaint be referred to the Synod of Cincinnati. Adopted. — 1877, p. 
 576." 
 
 f. In the case of the complaints of ( 1 ) Nathaniel West and Thomas 
 H. Skinner against the Presbytery of Cincinnati, for an alleged decision 
 against the said West; (2) the same, against the same, for adopting a 
 resolution of its Judicial Committee; (3) E. D. Ledyard and others 
 against the same for the same proceeding; and (4) Thomas H. Skinner 
 and others against the same for not sustaining the charges against the 
 Rev. W. C. McCune — the Committee recommend that, as the reasons 
 for direct complaint to the General Assembly, as presented to the Com- 
 mittee, and in their hands, are deemed insufficient ; and as the constitu- 
 tional jurisdiction and rights of the Synod over its lower courts are* to 
 be sacredly respected; therefore, these several complaints be referred to 
 the Synod of Cincinnati. Adopted. — 1877, pp. 575, 576. 
 
 g. A complaint by Nathaniel West, Thomas H. Skinner, J. P. E. 
 Kumler and L. H. Long, of certain action taken by the Presbytery of 
 Cincinnati, at their meetings, December 7 and 23, 1878. 
 
 Also, a complaint by Nathaniel West, of action taken by the Presby- 
 tery of Cincinnati, at their meetings, April 9 and 10, 1879. 
 
 In respect to these two complaints, the Committee recommended that, 
 as the reasons presented by one of the complainants for himself and 
 the others, for direct complaints to the Assembly, are deemed insufficient, 
 and as the constitutional jurisdiction of the Synod over its lower judica- 
 tories is to be carefully guarded and sacredly respected ; therefore, these 
 complaints be referred to the Synod of Cincinnati, to which they should 
 have been taken, according to the provisions of the Book of Discipline 
 (Old), Chap, vii, Sec. iii, Sub-sec. vi. 
 
 The Rev. Nathaniel West, D.D., presented a paper setting forth the 
 reasons of the complainants for making direct complaint from the Pres- 
 bytery of Cincinnati to this Assembly, which was read. 
 
 After which the report of the Judicial Committee was adopted.-^- 
 1879, p. 631. 
 
 3. Where there is no common relation a complaint is allowed. 
 
 Judicial Case No. 3, being a complaint of the Third Presbytery of 
 Philadelphia against the Presbytery of Luzerne, for an alleged invasion 
 of Presbyterial jurisdiction. The case is brought before the Assem- 
 bly, because of these Presbyteries having had no common Synodical 
 relations. 
 
 The Committee propose that the new Synod take up the case, and that 
 the Presbytery of Luzerne cease all action until the Synod decides. — 
 1870, p. 27. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sees, exxi-exxiii, " Of Differences between Judica- 
 tories."! 
 
 50 
 
786 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 103-105. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 OF DISSENTS AND PROTESTS. 
 CIII. A Dissent is a declaration of one or more members of a minor- 
 ity in a judicatory, expressing disagreement with a decision of the major- 
 ity in a particular case. 
 
 1. Dissent entered without reply. Dissent with reasons is a 
 virtual protest. 
 Had the dissent been offered without reasons, and simply as a record of 
 the vote of the dissenters, it would have been entirely proper to enter 
 it on the minutes of the Assembly without reply. It would then have 
 been in the nature only of a record in part of ayes and nays. But, as it 
 is accompanied with reasons, it is virtually a protest. — 1872, p. 85. 
 
 CIV. A Protest is a more formal declaration, made by one or more 
 members of a minority, bearing testimony against what is deemed a mis- 
 chievous or erroneous proceeding, decision, or judgment, and including a 
 statement of the reasons therefor. 
 
 1. The right to protest for the relief of conscience. 
 That any member or members, for the exoneration of his or their 
 conscience before God, have a right to protest against any act or pro- 
 cedure of our highest judicature, because there is no further appeal to 
 another for redress; and to require that su^h protestation be recorded in 
 their minutes. And as such a protest is a solemn appeal from the bar of 
 said judicature, no member is liable to prosecution on account of his 
 protesting. Provided always, that it shall be deemed irregular and 
 unlawful to enter a protestation against any member or members, or to 
 protest facts or accusations instead of proving them, unless a fair trial be 
 refused, even by the highest judicature. And it is agreed that protesta- 
 ions are only to be entered against the public acts, judgments or determi- 
 nations of the judicature with which the protestor's conscience is offended. 
 —1758, p. 286. 
 
 2. The dissent or protest must be entered before the rising 
 of the Assembly. 
 
 Any member who may think himself aggrieved by a decision of the 
 General Assembly, shall have Ins dissent, or protest, with his reasons, 
 entered on the records of the Assembly, or filed among their papers, if 
 given in before the rising of the Assembly. — 1822, p. 44. 
 
 3. A protest arguing the case is refused. 
 
 Dr. Martin presented and read a protest against the decision made in 
 his judicial case, when, on motion of the Rev. D. J. Waller, it was 
 
 Resolved, That Dr. Martin's protest is only such in name, while it is 
 in reality an argument of the case which the Assembly has refused to 
 hear, as not regularly before it, and that he therefore have leave to 
 withdraw the same. — 1865, p. 592, O. S. 
 
 4. The protest must confine itself to the reasons on which it is 
 
 founded. 
 
 The appropriate business of the protestants was simply to give the 
 reasons on which their protest was founded, not to answer the arguments 
 
OF DISSENTS AND PROTESTS. 787 
 
 of individuals in debate, for which the Assembly is not responsible. — 
 1844, p. 382, O. S. 
 
 5. A protest calls attention to the action protested against. 
 
 The records of the Synod of New Mexico were approved with the 
 following exceptions: .... 
 
 2. On page 20 it is noted that the Synod took no action on the protest 
 presented by Revs. J.J. Gilchrist and T. M. Marshall against the action 
 of the Presbytery of Arizona, with reference to the appointment of a 
 Committee outside of its bounds to organize a church. — 1892, p. 200. 
 
 CV. If a Dissent or Protest be couched in decorous and respectful 
 language, and be without offensive reflections or insinuations against the 
 majority, it shall be entered on the records. 
 
 1. Protests admitted to record without answer. 
 
 a. Dr. Stuart Robinson read a protest signed by himself and others, 
 against the adoption of the paper of Dr. R. J. Breckinridge on the state 
 of the Church. 
 
 This protest was, on motion, admitted to record without answer. 
 Another protest, signed by Rev. A. P. Forman and others, was like- 
 wise admitted to record without answer. — 1862, p. 636, O. S. 
 
 b. The following protest was presented and ordered to be entered on 
 the Minutes of the Assembly without answer. 
 
 We, the undersigned, ministers and elders, commissioners of the One 
 Hundred and Fourth General Assembly, do hereby enter and record our 
 protest against the action of the General Assembly in entertaining the 
 appeal in the case of " The Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
 America against the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D.," and so giving to 
 the Committee which preferred the charges against Dr. Briggs standing 
 before the Assembly and right of appeal as an " original party," beyond 
 the control of the Presbytery and its power to discharge them when 
 dismissing the case. 
 
 We protest against this as being, we believe, contrary to the scope and 
 intention of our Book of Discipline, and as involving interpretations of 
 the Constitution of the Church which might prove subversive of the 
 rights of ministers, elders, deacons and individual members throughout 
 the Church. 
 
 Signed by thirty-six ministers and eighteen ruling elders. — 1892, p. 
 205. 
 
 C. The Rev. E. P. Sprague, D.D. , for himself and others, presented 
 the following protest, which was received, ordered to be recorded, and 
 is as follows: 
 
 We, the undersigned ministers and elders in the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, declaring our hearty belief in and 
 love for the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and our 
 entire loyalty to the principles of the Presbyterian Church, desire 
 respectfully to record our solemn protest against the verdict and judg- 
 ment of suspension, and the proceedings leading to the verdict, in the 
 case against the Rev. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., in the General Assem- 
 bly of 1893: 
 
 1. As involving, in our judgment, acts of doubtful constitutionality. 
 
 2. As seeming to abridge the liberty of opinion hitherto enjoyed under 
 our Standards by office -bearers in the Church. 
 
788 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 105. 
 
 3. As tending, we believe, to the discouragement of thorough study of 
 the Bible and reverent advance in apprehension of divine truth ; and, 
 
 4. As inflicting what we cannot but feel is an injustice to a Christian 
 scholar of acknowledged high character and learning, as well as to the 
 Presbytery of New York, Avhich had fully acquitted him of the charges 
 alleged against him. 
 
 Edward P. Sprague and sixty-one others. — 1893, pp. 172, 173. 
 It was Resolved, That the protest just presented needs no answer by 
 the General Assembly. — 1893, p. 173. 
 
 d. The following protest was received and ordered to be recorded 
 without answer: 
 
 The undersigned respectfully protest against the action of this One 
 Hundred and Fifth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States of America, determined in the morning session of May 
 29, with regard to the exclusion of the Chinese from this land, and 
 against the action of this Assembly, determined on May 30, with regard 
 to Decoration Day, on the following grounds and for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 1. Because said actions are contrary to Chap, xxxi, Sec. iv, of the 
 Confession of Faith, which provides that " Synods and Councils are to 
 handle or conclude nothing but that which is ecclesiastical, and are not to 
 intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth. 
 
 2. Because such actions are opposed to the deliverance of this General 
 Assembly in 1874, wherein it was declared that our church courts are 
 to consult, vote and determine only according to the principles and Con- 
 stitution of this Church and the Word of God, and that, therefore, no 
 subject of a secular character will be entertained, and no subject with 
 moral bearings and results will be carried beyond the plain and unques- 
 tioned testimony and direction of the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 Selden P. Spencer, James H. Brooks. —1893, p. 212. 
 
 e. Rev. John Fox, D.D., on behalf of himself and others, presented 
 a protest against certain action of the Assembly, as recorded in the 
 report of the Committee upon Temperance. The protest was received 
 and admitted to record, and is as follows: 
 
 The undersigned respectfully protest against so much of the action of 
 the General Assembly on temperance as declares, " That no political 
 party has the right to expect the support of Christian men so long as 
 that party stands committed to the license party, or refuses to put itself 
 on record against the saloon." We deem this action an unwise interfer- 
 ence with a political question, and believe that it cannot fail to be 
 regarded by many of our people as hindering their free and conscientious 
 discharge of their duties as voters. 
 
 John Fox and forty-five others. — 1894, p. 178, 
 
 2. Protest refused record as being disrespectful. 
 
 A protest was received from Dr. Boardman and others against the action 
 of the Assembly in the matter of the Louisville Presbytery. After 
 discussion, on motion, it was 
 
 Resolved, That it be the sense of this General Assembly that the 
 protest of Dr. Boardman and others is not respectful in language, and 
 that it be returned to the author. — 1866, p. 104, O. S. 
 
OF DISSENTS AND PROTJ23TS. 789 
 
 3. A protest should be recorded only by order of the judicatory. 
 
 Exception to the records of the Synod of Albany. A protest on pp. 
 323, 324, which was handed to the Stated Clerk, and by him recorded, 
 when it does not appear that he was directed by Synod to make such 
 insertion. — 1828, p. 242. 
 
 4. Protest received and put on record. 
 
 a. In the case of the complaint of Nathaniel West, against the Pres- 
 bytery of Cincinnati, in the case of West vs. the Rev. B. P. Aydelotte, 
 the Committee recommend that, as no sufficient reasons for direct 
 complaint to the General Assembly have been presented, the complaint 
 be referred to the Synod of Cincinnati. 
 
 The following protest against this action was presented, and ordered on 
 record : 
 
 [Note.— See for this protest, Minutes, 1877, pp. 576-580.] 
 
 The Committee appointed to answer this protest reported: " That in 
 their judgment no answer is required." Adopted. — 1877, p. 580. 
 
 b. A protest was received from Rev. Josiah B. Bittinger, D. D. , Rev. 
 Henry W. Ballantine and Rev. George L. Kalb, D.D., against the 
 action of the Assembly in the adoption of the report of the Committee 
 on Bills and Overtures, in the case of the Sewickley church against the 
 Synod of Erie, and ordered to be put on the records of the Assembly. 
 
 [Xote.— See Minutes, 1877, pp. 582, 583.] 
 
 C. A protest was presented by Rev. Royal G. Wilder against the 
 action of the Assembly in adopting the report of the Special Committee 
 on his paper relating to the Board of Foreign Missions, and ordered on 
 the records.— 1877, p. 583. 
 
 d. The Rev. John G. Hall, D.D., in behalf of himself and others, 
 offered a protest against the action of the Assembly in reference to the 
 report of a minority of the Committee on Publication, which was 
 received and ordered to be put on record. — 1884, p. 110. 
 
 5. Protest, if in order, must be recorded and filed with the clerk. 
 A printed copy duly signed is valid. 
 
 Paper No. 66, being a memorial from certain members of the Presby- 
 tery of Westchester, concerning the recording of a protest. It is asked: 
 
 Question 1. — " When a protest conforms to the conditions of the Book 
 of Discipline, Sec. cv, may a Presbytery rightfully refuse to order it 
 entered upon the records ?" It is recommended that this inquiry be 
 answered in the negative. 
 
 Question 2. — " Is a protest to be considered as having been presented 
 to the body when read by the protestant, before it has been placed in the 
 hands of the Clerk ?" It is recommended that it be answered in the 
 negative. 
 
 Question 3. — " When a protestant reads his protest to a Presbytery 
 and the Moderator thereupon declares to him, without objection, that 
 his protest is received, is a vote of the Presbytery necessary to authorize 
 the recording of the protest V ' It is recommended that the answer be 
 given, On account of the ambiguity of the language, no definite reply 
 can be made. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 2, p. 788.] 
 
790 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 105-108. 
 
 Question 4. — " Does a protestant forfeit his right to have' his protest 
 recorded, if he furnish to the Clerk, in place of the original manuscript 
 read by him to the body, a printed copy of the same, duly signed by 
 him, provided he inform the Clerk in good faith of his intention to do 
 so, and the latter make no objection ?" It is recommended that this 
 question be answered in the affirmative. Adopted. — 1897, p. 130. 
 
 CVI. The judicatory may prepare an answer to any protest which 
 imputes to it principles or reasonings which its action does not import, 
 and the answer shall also be entered upon the records. Leave may 
 thereupon be given to the protestant or protestants, if they desire it, to 
 modify their Protest; and the answer of the judicatory may also, in 
 consequence, be modified. This shall end the matter. 
 
 1. No answer deemed necessary when the assumptions have been 
 
 refuted. 
 
 The Committee appointed to answer the protest against the proceedings 
 of the General Assembly on the " memorial complaining of sundry 
 grievances abroad in the Church," made the following report, which 
 was adopted, viz. : 
 
 That after a due consideration of the whole subject, and believing the 
 protest to be founded on assumptions which were fully refuted and proved 
 untenable in the course of a long and thorough discussion of the several 
 resolutions adopted, they deem it inexpedient for the Assembly to assign 
 any further reasons for the course pursued in relation to the above 
 memorial. — 1834, p. 450. 
 
 2. The answer denies the imputations of the protest. 
 The Assembly deems the following a sufficient answer to the protest 
 against the action of the Assembly upon matters connected with the 
 " Declaration and Testimony:" 
 
 1. It is apparent upon the face of the protest, that its signers deeply 
 sympathize in principle, spirit and action, with the signers of the said 
 " Declaration and Testimony," in opposition to the General Assembly. 
 
 2. The paper imputes to the Assembly, in several particulars, that 
 which does not appear from anything contained in its action in the case ; 
 but the Assembly is disposed to pass over this infirmity, and the disre- 
 spectful language employed in the protest, attributing these to an apparent 
 inability, on the part of these brethren, to divest themselves wholly of 
 prejudices which have grown out of the unhappy contest in which the 
 country and the Church have been engaged during the last several years. 
 —1867, p. 365, O. S. 
 
 3. The answer defines the action protested against. 
 
 A protest of Francis B. Hall and others, against the response of 
 the Assembly to the overture of the Women's Christian Temperance 
 Union of Wisconsin was received and admitted to record. — 1885, p. 
 649. 
 
 The Assembly answer as follow T s: 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare an answer to the protest of the 
 Rev. Francis B. Hall and others reported an answer, which was 
 amended, adopted and is as follows : 
 
 The action of the Assembly is a reaffirmation of the action of former 
 
OF JURISDICTION IX CASES OF DISMISSION. 791 
 
 Assemblies, on the subject of communion wine, to the effect " that the 
 control of this matter be left to the Sessions of the several churches, with 
 the earnest recommendation that the purest wine attainable be used. " 
 We find nothing in the alleged protest that has any pertinency or appli- 
 cation to this action, and therefore no further answer is needed.- 1885, 
 p. 685. 
 
 [Note — In many cases the answer of the Assembly to a protest gives the fullest 
 explication of its sentiments.] 
 
 CVII. No one shall be allowed to dissent or protest who has not a 
 right to vote on the question decided, and, in judicial cases, no one shall 
 be allowed to dissent or protest who did not vote against the decision. 
 
 1. Protest will not be received from those not members of the body. 
 A paper of the nature of a protest was offered by the Rev. W. G. Craig 
 from persons not members of the Assembly, which was read, and on 
 motion, returned to Mr. Craig. — 1867, p. 359, O. S. 
 
 2. A protest can be brought only by the minority of a judicatory 
 
 itself. 
 
 a. The Committee on Minutes of the Synod of Sandusky recommend 
 their approval , except that the Synod has entered upon its minutes, on 
 p. 75, a "formal protest" against the action of the last General 
 Assembly. 
 
 Your Committee judge that remonstrance or complaint, for the reopen- 
 iDg of a question, may be made by an inferior judicatory to a superior; 
 but that protest against the action of the General Assembly can be made 
 only by a minority of the body itself. — 1864, p. 307, O. S. 
 
 b. The Synod erred in this .... that they permitted certain mem- 
 bers of the Presbvterv of Waterloo to enter a protest on their records. 
 —1888, p. 136. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF JURISDICTION IN CASES OF DISMISSION. 
 
 CVIII. The judicatory, to which a church member or a minister 
 belongs, shall have sole jurisdiction for the trial of offences whenever or 
 wherever committed by him. 
 
 [Note. — See under Book of Discipline, Sec. xxxvii, p. 658.] 
 
 1. Cases connected with extinct Presbytery. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. cxiii, p. 797.] 
 
 2. Reception of a member on a qualified letter is void. 
 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, No. 11, p. 205.] 
 
 3. Jurisdiction over one charged with an offence is in that 
 Presbytery of which he is a member. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of New Castle, asking the General 
 Assembly to determine, whether that Presbytery or the Presbytery of 
 Cleveland has jurisdiction of Rev. J. F. Severance. The facts in the 
 case, appearing in the overture, are as follows: Mr. Severance was a 
 
792 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 108-110. 
 
 member of the Presbytery of Wilmington (which was succeeded by the 
 Presbytery of New Castle), but left the bounds of that Presbytery in 
 1868. In 1870 he was within the bounds of the Presbytery of Cleve- 
 land; and, after the reconstruction, twice sat in the Presbytery of Cleve- 
 land as a corresponding member from the Presbytery of New Castle. 
 In September, 1871, he was received a member of the Presbytery of 
 Cleveland, under the operation of Principle 5, adopted by the Assembly 
 for the purpose of reconstruction. 
 
 Before the Presbytery of Cleveland adjourned the sessions at which Mr. 
 Severance was received, that Presbytery obtained information, that 
 rumors affecting the Christian character of Mr. Severance had come to 
 the knowledge of the Presbytery of New Castle, and said Presbytery 
 had appointed a Committee to inquire into the facts and correspond with 
 Mr. Severance in regard to them ; and this Committee had not been 
 discharged, when Mr. Severance was received by the Presbytery of 
 Cleveland. After the Presbytery of Cleveland had received this infor- 
 mation from the Presbytery of New Castle, they reconsidered their action 
 receiving Mr. Severance, and declared said action null and void. The 
 question is, To which Presbytery does Mr. Severance belong ? The 
 Committee recommend the following answer: .... 
 
 The decision of the Assembly, made in 1816, settles the principle that 
 membership in any church judicatory is an entirety, and is not divisible. 
 The judicatory is the judge of the fitness of an applicant for member- 
 ship in it. The vote of the judicatory invests the applicant with all the 
 rights of membership, of which lie cannot be divested except by due 
 course of discipline according to the Book. Hence, Mr. Severance is a 
 member of the Presbytery of Cleveland, and that Presbytery has juris- 
 diction in his case. — 1872, p. 72. 
 
 4. The Presbytery within whose bounds an offence is committed ful- 
 fills its duty in notifying the Presbytery to which the offender 
 belongs. 
 
 When it is alleged that a minister has committed an offence in the 
 bounds of a Presbytery of which he is not a member, the Presbytery in 
 the bounds of which it is alleged the offence was committed, has per- 
 formed its entire duty in the premises when it notifies the Presbytery to 
 which he belongs, of the allegation and the grounds on which the 
 allegation is based. 
 
 The report was adopted.— 1869, p. 922, O. S. 
 
 CIX. A member of a church, receiving a certificate of dismission to 
 
 another church, shall continue to be a member of the church giving 
 
 him the certificate, and subject to the jurisdiction of its Session (but shall 
 
 not deliberate or vote in a church meeting, nor exercise the functions of 
 
 any office), until he has become a member of the church to which he is 
 
 recommended, or some other evangelical church; and, should he return 
 
 the certificate, within a year from its date, the Session shall make record 
 
 of the fact, but he shall not thereby be restored to the exercise of the 
 
 functions of any office previously held by him in that church. 
 
 [Note. — For the jurisdiction of the Session over members non-resident, see Book of 
 Discipline, Sec. cxvii ; over licentiates, see Form of Government, Chap, xiv, Sec. xi. 
 p. 559] 
 
OF JURISDICTION IN CASES OF DISMISSION. 793 
 
 1. A suspended member may not be received on profession by another 
 
 church. If received without knowledge of the facts, his name to 
 be stricken from the roll. 
 
 Overture from certain members of the Presbytery of Madison: 
 
 We desire to make the following statement and inquiries: 
 
 A person is (we will suppose) under suspension in one of our own 
 churches. He removes, and unites, on examination, with another of our 
 churches, the Session of the latter one being wholly ignorant of his 
 former membership, and, of course, of his suspension. The facts are, 
 however, afterward discovered. 
 
 Would this discovery, of itself, vitiate his second membership, and 
 leave him simply a suspended member of the former church ? 
 
 Would un worthiness for church membership, clearly manifested, while 
 in the latter church, and before said discovery, rightfully add any 
 efficacy toward producing this result ? 
 
 To the first of the above questions the Committee recommend an answer 
 in the affirmative; to the second, if the question mean whether the 
 Session of the second church has jurisdiction in the case of unworthiness 
 manifested in the second relation, the Committee recommend an answer 
 in the negative; but if the question mean whether the unworthiness 
 manifested in the second relation be proper ground of separate process 
 by the Session of the first church, the Committee recommend an answer 
 ' in the affirmative. In respect to the whole case, the Committee agree 
 in the statement following : 
 
 The person uniting with the second church on examination unites 
 deceptively. So soon as the facts in the case are ascertained by the 
 Session of this second church, the proper order of procedure is, for this 
 Session, after conference with the accused person, to strike his name 
 from their roll of church members as not under their jurisdiction, to 
 communicate their action to the Session suspending him, with the reasons 
 for it, and to request the said Session to proceed against him, on sepa- 
 rate process, for duplicity and disorder. 
 
 The reply of the Committee was adopted. — 1866, p. 269, N. S. 
 
 2. A letter of dismission takes effect as soon as granted so far as 
 
 rights and privileges are concerned. 
 
 a. A letter of dismission, whether issued to a ruling elder or private 
 member, terminates the relations of the person dismissed with the church 
 giving the letter, except so far as said church is responsible for its watch 
 and care over him during the period of transition. 
 
 b. These rights and privileges can be regained in that church by 
 returning the letters of dismission to the authority which gave them. 
 
 C. These rights and privileges can be secured in any other church 
 within the jurisdiction of this General Assembly, by virtue of such cer- 
 tificates, provided they are presented to the Session thereof within one 
 year from their date ; and, until they are presented, such persons are 
 amenable to the church from which the certificates were received. — 
 1867, p. 512, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— The "rights and privileges " do not include the functions of any office pre- 
 viously held by him in that church. See Book of Discipline, Sec. cix, last clause.] 
 
 CX. In like manner, a minister shall be subject to the jurisdiction of 
 the Presbytery which dismissed him (but shall not deliberate or vote, nor 
 
794 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 110. 
 
 be counted in the basis of representation to the General Assembly), 
 until he actually becomes a member of another Presbytery ; but, should 
 he return the certificate of dismission within a year from its date, the 
 Presbytery shall make record of the fact, and restore him to the full 
 privileges of membership. 
 
 1. Jurisdiction over a deposed minister is in the Presbytery which 
 
 deposed him. 
 
 a. The Presbytery of Des Moines deposed Rev. James H. Shields 
 from the ministry. Subsequently, Mr. Shields applied for restoration to 
 the Presbytery of Keokuk, within whose bounds he resided at the time 
 of his application. 
 
 The Committee on Polity reported an overture from the Presbytery of 
 Keokuk, asking if they have jurisdiction over the case of James H. 
 Shields, deposed by the Presbytery of Des Moines. 
 
 The Committee recommended to the Assembly, that the question sub- 
 mitted by the Presbytery of Keokuk be answered in the negative; and 
 the recommendation was adopted. — 1859, p. 18, N. S. 
 
 b. In the case of Rev. Michael Hummer, deposed by the Presbytery 
 of Iowa, and restored by the Presbytery of Highland, the Assembly 
 declare it irregular and unconstitutional for any Presbytery to receive 
 and restore a member of another Presbytery who has been deposed. — 
 1862, p. 608, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 207 ; also Book of 
 Discipline, Sec. xliii, p. 662.] 
 
 2. Where a minister is deposed the name should not be formally 
 stricken from the roll until the proceedings are finally issued. 
 
 An inquiry, proposed to the Assembly by Fisk Harmon, of Swede 
 Point, la., respecting a case of discipline which has occurred in what 
 
 he calls the Presbytery of D . A minister is said to have been 
 
 deposed, and the sentence of deposition to have been pronounced, but 
 his name was not ordered to be stricken from the roll. The Clerk, how- 
 ever, assumed the responsibility of erasing his name ; and when the case 
 was appealed to the Synod, and remanded by it to the Presbytery that 
 new evidence might be presented by the appellant, and the deposed 
 minister demanded that his name might be replaced on the roll before the 
 Presbytery proceeded to the reception of the evidence, he was informed 
 by the Moderator that his name did not belong there. The inquiry is: 
 " Can this new sentence of striking the name of the deposed minister 
 from the roll be constitutionally inflicted without a new and regular trial ? ' ' 
 
 The Committee recommend the following reply: 
 
 As the name of every minister under trial must be properly on the roll 
 of some Presbytery, it should not be finally erased until the completion 
 of all the ecclesiastical proceedings connected with the case. In the 
 present instance, the Assembly decide that the name of the minister 
 referred to should be restored to the roll of the Presbytery, and retained 
 until the case has been finally disposed of. — 1869, p. 270, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— Nor is the name of a suspended minister to be removed from the roll of 
 Presbytery and placed upon a private register. See Form of Government, Chap, x, 
 Sec. viii, No. 15, p. 206.] 
 
OF JURISDICTION IN CASES OF DISMISSION. 795 
 
 3. The privileges of membership cease with the granting of 
 
 the letter. 
 
 The established rule of the Presbyterian Church, in relation to the 
 dismission of a minister from his Presbytery is, ' ' that, in all ordinary cases, 
 all the rights and privileges of an individual in a Presbytery cease when, 
 at his request, his dismission is granted." 
 
 He may, however, within any reasonable time before he has used his 
 letter of dismission, return it to the Presbytery, and then claim all his 
 former rights and privileges; but, until he has used his letter, he is 
 amenable to the Presbytery which has dismissed him. — 1867, p. 512, 
 N. S. 
 
 4. While a minister is in transitu he is a member of the 
 Presbytery which gave him his letter. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Marion, as follows: 
 A minister receives a dismission to unite with a distant Presbytery, 
 and travels in the region indicated, but does not remove his family. 
 After an absence of months, perhaps of more than a year, he returns to 
 the residence of his family. During his absence, however, the Synod 
 sets off ' ' all the ministers ' ' of his Presbytery ' ' residing north of the 
 south line ' ' of his county to form part of a new Presbytery. Holding 
 the original certificate, to which Presbytery does he belong, and in case 
 of the necessity of process for unminislerial conduct, which Presbytery 
 is bound to proceed in his case ? It was 
 
 Resolved, That the minister in question be held to belong to the Pres- 
 bytery which granted him the certificate. — 1864, p. 314, O. S. 
 
 5. A suspended minister is under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery 
 which suspended him. When sentence has been reversed for 
 informality, if process is not commenced in six months, a dis- 
 mission in good standing may be claimed. 
 
 Mr. Bell had been suspended, and took an appeal to the Assembly, 
 which was sustained. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare a minute expressive of the sense 
 of the Assembly concerning the appeal of Joseph E. Bel], reported the 
 following resolutions, which were adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly, Mr. Bell was, 
 and still continues to be, fully amenable to the Presbytery of Concord. 
 
 2. That while the Assembly do not wish to protect the guilty, they do 
 judge that great caution, deliberation, and, as far as may be, the rules of 
 discipline, where ministerial character is impeached, ought to be strictly 
 observed, and that in this case the informality was exceptionable. 
 
 3. That if it be deemed necessary for the good of religion, and the 
 honor of the ministerial character, the Presbytery of Concord are entirely 
 competent to commence a new trial. Or if Mr. Bell shall desire for his 
 own sake a new trial, the door is still open. 
 
 4. That in the meantime Mr. Bell's ministerial character shall be con- 
 sidered regular ; and if no process shall be commenced by either party 
 within the space of six months from the 1st of June next, then Mr. Bell 
 may claim from the Presbytery of Concord a dismission declaring him to 
 be in regular standing. — 1828, pp. 240, 241. 
 
796 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 110-112. 
 
 6. A minister holding a letter of dismission is a member of the 
 Presbytery dismissing him until received by another body. 
 
 In answer to an inquiry from the Mileage Committee as to the status 
 of a minister in transitu, it was Resolved, That the ruling of the Assem- 
 bly of 1860, N. S. (see Moore's Digest, 1873, p. 619), be adopted as 
 the ruling of this Assembly, to wit : He is a member of the Presbytery 
 dismissing him until received by another body. — 1883, p. 648. 
 
 7. Where the reception was invalid by reason of fraud he remains 
 under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery dismissing him. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Northumberland, relative to the 
 question of jurisdiction in the case of Rev. Samuel E. Webster, who 
 had obtained admission to the Presbytery of East Florida upon a letter 
 whose date had been changed by said Webster, to bring it within the 
 usual limit of one year. We recommend the following action : Inasmuch 
 as the letter by which Samuel E. Webster was received into the Presby- 
 tery of East Florida was forged, so far as the date was concerned, his 
 reception by it was invalid, and he is still under the jurisdiction of the 
 Presbytery of Northumberland. — 1894, pp. 44, 45. 
 
 CXI. A Presbytery, giving a certificate of dismission to a minister, 
 licentiate, or candidate for licensure, shall specify the particular body to 
 which he is recommended; and, if recommended to a Presbytery, no 
 other than the one designated, if existing, shall receive him. 
 
 1. Presbytery must specify the body to which a member is 
 
 dismissed. 
 
 Resolved, That, whereas it is a fundamental principle of the govern- 
 ment and discipline of the Presbyterian Church, that every minister of 
 the Gospel belonging to it be subject, at all times, to his brethren in the 
 Lord, and accountable to them for the orthodoxy of his principles, and 
 for his moral, religious, and orderly deportment; it is therefore, 
 
 Ordered, That every Presbytery under the care of this Assembly, 
 whenever they dismiss a member, be careful particularly to specify with 
 what Presbytery, association, or classis, or other religious body, he is to 
 be associated after his dismission (to w T hich some of the Presbyteries do 
 not appear to have been sufficiently attentive) ; and that every member 
 so dismissed be, in all cases, considered as amenable to the Presbytery 
 which has dismissed him till he shall become connected with the ecclesias- 
 tical body which he shall have been directed to join. — 1806, p. 351. 
 
 2. He must unite with the body designated. 
 
 Can a minister of one Presbytery unite with any other Presbytery than 
 that designated in his letter of dismission ? Answered in the negative 
 (see Chap, x, Sec. ii-iv, Book of Discipline, Old). — 1877, p. 550. 
 
 3. The Presbytery receiving a minister on a certificate must 
 notify the Presbytery that dismissed him. 
 
 [Note. — See below, Sec. cxv.] 
 
 4. The dismission may not be by a standing committee. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 201.] 
 CXII. If a church becomes extinct, the Presbytery with which it was 
 connected shall have jurisdiction over its members, and grant them letters 
 
OF REMOVALS AND LIMITATION OF TIME. 797 
 
 of dismission to some other church. It shall, also, determine any case of 
 discipline begun by the Session and not concluded. 
 
 1. Members of an extinct church amenable to Presbytery. 
 
 A church has been dissolved by the Presbytery, letters having been 
 given the members to unite with any evangelical church where God may, 
 in His providence, cast their lot. 
 
 One of these members holds such a letter more than eighteen months 
 old, not having used said letter. Is such a member amenable to the 
 Presbytery, and is the Presbytery under obligation to receive, entertain, 
 and pass upon a complaint entered against such party, holding said letter ? 
 
 The Committee recommend that this overture be answered in the 
 affirmative, on the following grounds: 
 
 1. That every church member is amenable to some appropriate 
 tribunal, and that, in the case specified in the overture, this tribunal 
 must be the Presbytery. 
 
 2. That every member of a church continues to be amenable to that 
 church, until he becomes regularly connected with another. — 1869, p. 
 266, N. S. 
 
 CXIII. If a Presbytery become extinct, the Synod, with which it 
 was connected, shall have jurisdiction over its members, and may transfer 
 them to any Presbytery within its bounds. It shall, also, determine any 
 case of discipline begun by the Presbytery and not concluded. 
 
 [Xote. — See under Form of Government, Chap, x, Sec. viii, p. 333.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 OF REMOVALS AND LIMITATION OF TIME. 
 
 CXIV. When any member shall remove from one church to another, 
 he shall produce a certificate, ordinarily not more than one year old, of 
 his church membership aud dismission, before he shall be admitted as a 
 regular member of that church. 
 
 The names of the baptized children of a parent seeking dismission to 
 another church shall, if such children are members of his household and 
 remove with him and are not themselves communicants, be included in 
 the certificate of dismission. The certificate shall be addressed to a 
 particular church, and the fact of the reception of the person or persons 
 named in it shall be promptly communicated to the church which gave it. 
 [Note.— See also Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, p. 163.] 
 
 1. A certificate of dismission should be required. 
 
 Nor can the Assembly forbear to regret that the Session of the church 
 of Chillicothe had not acted in a more formal manner in receiving Mr. 
 McCalla, and had not required a regular certificate of dismission from 
 the church to which Mr. McCalla belonged before they received him. — 
 1821, p. 21. 
 
798 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 114. 
 
 2. Names of baptized children, not adults or communicants, 
 
 should be included. 
 
 When parents with their families are dismissed to other churches, the 
 names of baptized children who have neither come to years of discretion 
 nor become communicants should be embraced in the certificate given. — 
 1882, p. 98. 
 
 3. To receive members of churches of our own connection 
 
 without a certificate is irregular. 
 
 The same Committee reported an overture, asking if it be in accord- 
 ance with ecclesiastical law and order in the Church to receive members 
 of another church who have not been regularly dismissed, with a view 
 to such change of relation. 
 
 The Committee recommended that, so far as churches in our own con- 
 nection are concerned, the question be answered in the negative, and 
 refer to the Book of Discipline (Old), Chap, xi, Sec. i. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1868, p. 58, N. S. 
 
 4. Members received from other denominations without testimonials 
 or evidence, to be received on profession. 
 
 Overture No. 24 from the Presbytery of Elizabeth, inquiring what 
 evidence of standing is to be deemed the equivalent of a certificate in the 
 case of persons coming from denominations which do not give certificates 
 to a Presbyterian church. It is recommended that, in the absence of 
 satisfactory testimonials as to church membership or of personal knowl- 
 edge of the piety and good standing of such persons in other evangelical 
 churches, the applicant is to be received on a profession of faith in 
 Christ.— 1897, p. 132. 
 
 5. Dismission to join another denomination. 
 
 a. Resolved, That in all cases where members of any of our churches 
 apply for dismission to unite with a church of another denomination, the 
 proper course is to give a certificate of Christian character only. — 1839, 
 p. 177, O. S. 
 
 b. The Presbytery of Hudson, requesting that this rule be rescinded, 
 the Assembly replied: 
 
 The Presbytery of Hudson has misapprehended the spirit and scope of 
 the resolution in question. It is neither a censure on the individuals, nor 
 the churches to which they seek to be dismissed, but sets forth the only 
 fact which it is important that those churches should know. — 1848, p. 
 22, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — Churches in correspondence should be treated as if of our own connection.] 
 
 6. The form of dismission to other denominations left to the 
 discretion of the Session. 
 
 Shall members of our churches, who may wish to join churches not in 
 correspondence with the General Assembly, receive certificates in the 
 same form as if they wished to join another church, in our communion, 
 or in correspondence with the Assembly ; or has the church Session done 
 all that it ought to do, when in such cases the good and regular standing 
 of the persons so applying is duly certified ? 
 
 Resolved, That this whole subject is one that ought to be left to the 
 sound discretion of the various church Sessions, according to the Consti- 
 tution of the Presbyterian Church. — 1851, p. 28, O. S. 
 
OF REMOVALS AND LIMITATION OF TIME. 799 
 
 7. Dismission of a suspended member. 
 
 Is it orderly in any case to dismiss to another church a suspended 
 member, stating the case, and submitting it to the Session to which he 
 has removed ? 
 
 It may be orderly in circumstances of necessity arising from removal 
 to an inconvenient distance, provided that in no instance the Session to 
 Avhich he be dismissed be allowed to review or rejudge the case. — 1849, 
 p. 239, O. S. 
 
 8. A suspended person being restored by the superior judicatories 
 may claim dismission in good standing. 
 
 a. In regard to the complaint of Mr. Dobbins, against the Session of 
 the church of Augusta, for receiving members suspended by the Session of 
 the church of Smyrna, the Assembly are of opinion that both Sessions 
 acted unconstitutionally; the Session of Smyrna in suspending said mem- 
 bers, and the Session of Augusta in receiving them when suspended. 
 Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the appeal, on this complaint, be and it is hereby 
 sustained ; and the members in question are hereby declared to be still 
 members in good standing in the church of Smyrna; and the Session of 
 the church of Smyrna are hereby directed to dismiss said members if they 
 still desire it, that they may regularly connect themselves with the 
 church of Augusta. — 1824, p. 124. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the Presbytery of Nashville having fully exon- 
 erated the appellant from all blame in the matters respecting which he 
 was charged before the Session of the church at Clarksville, his character 
 is unimpeached, and that he is now, and ever has been since the action of 
 the Presbytery in his case, entitled to a dismission from the church at 
 Clarksville, whenever applied for, in order to connect himself with any 
 church in the vicinity of his present residence. — 1849, p. 237, O. S. 
 
 9. A dismission may be irregular yet valid. 
 
 A memorial from individuals in the Presbytery of Concord, formerly 
 under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Davies, asking the Assembly to 
 determine whether they are to be considered members of the Prospect 
 church, or whether their dismission from the church of Centre is to be 
 considered null and void. The Committee recommended that the Assem- 
 bly, while not approving of the haste and confusion with which their 
 dismission was given, declare their actual connection with the church of 
 Prospect now to be valid and regular. The recommendation was 
 adopted.— 1849, p. 266, O. S. 
 
 10. Members removing should be furnished with testimonials of 
 standing, and should be counseled to transfer their relations. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Iowa, asking the Assembly to make 
 it the duty of every church to give a letter of dismission to every mem- 
 ber when removing to another locality where there is a Presbyterian 
 church, etc. The following answer was adopted: 
 
 The Committee recommends that it be enjoined upon the Sessions of 
 our churches, on the removal of any members beyond the boundaries of 
 their own organizations, to furnish such members, whether in full com- 
 munion or members by baptism only, with testimonials of their standing; 
 which testimonials it shall be the duty of such persons at once to present 
 
800 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 114-116. 
 
 to some church of our connection, and the Sessions shall earnestly counsel 
 these members to transfer their relation immediately, if practicable, or at 
 the earliest opportunity. 
 
 Also, that in case but a single organization of our order is within 
 reach of the parties so removed, the Sessions having care of them shall 
 transmit to that church Session a copy of the testimonials foregoing; if 
 there be more than one such organization, then the parties transferred 
 may elect to which organization these testimonials shall be sent. — 1869, 
 p. 923, O. S. 
 
 11. Churches receiving members by letter should notify the church 
 from which they come. Blank forms of the Board of Publication 
 commended. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Neosho, on the dismission of church 
 members. 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly urge upon the Sessions of 
 cl lurches the importance of giving to members who remove from them 
 either letters of dismission and recommendation to a particular church, 
 or in case of uncertain destination, letters of credence, and that, on the 
 reception of members from other churches, they notify immediately the 
 church from which the member has been dismissed. And they also urge 
 upon all our churches the use of the printed blanks for the dismission 
 and reception of members furnished by our Board of Publication. — 
 1871, p. 587. 
 
 [Note.— See also under Sec. cxv, p. 801.] 
 
 12. The limit of one year does not ordinarily exclude, where the 
 Session has knowledge of the reasons and of the religious life. 
 
 The Synod (of Kentucky) except to the Sessional records of a certain 
 church, because of the alleged irregularity of said Session in receiving 
 members on return of certificates alone, after undue length of time, 
 knowledge of such irregularity being brought to the Synod's notice by a 
 protest (Book of Discipline, Old, Chap, xi, Sec. ii). Your Committee 
 recommend that exception be taken to tins action of the Synod because, 
 in their judgment, the Synod's exception to the Presbytery's action is 
 not well taken, for the reason that it appears to your Committee, from 
 papers placed in their hands, and which ought to have been in the 
 Synod's possession before taking action in the case, that the parties 
 in question had good and sufficient reasons for such delay, being unsettled 
 as to a permanent home ; their moral and religious life, meantime, being 
 well known to the Session as fully comporting with the requirements of 
 the Gospel of Christ,— 1880, p. 79. 
 
 13. Certificate of dismission granted only by vote of the Session 
 
 regularly constituted. 
 
 An overture from the Presbytery of Steuben ville asking: Is it 
 regular to grant a certificate of dismission to a member of the Church 
 otherwise than by a vote of the Session regularly constituted ? For 
 example, by a Session informally assembled, or by a pastor or Clerk 
 acting for the Session ? 
 
 Your Committee recommends the following answer: It is not regular. 
 Adopted.— 1890, p. 113. 
 
OF REMOVALS AND LIMITATION OP TIME. 801 
 
 14. The above modified. The Moderator or Stated Clerk may be 
 authorized to issue letters in the interim. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore, asking the Assembly " to 
 modify the deliverance of the Assembly of 1890 (Minutes, p. 113), so 
 that church Sessions may delegate authority to issue letters of dismission 
 to those in good and regular standing, the granting of such certificates 
 to be affirmed at the next meeting of the Session. ' ' 
 
 The Committee answer, that it does not find in the Form of Govern- 
 ment anything which would invalidate the custom of authorizing, by 
 vote of Session, its Moderator or Stated Clerk to issue letters in the 
 interim of the meetings of the Session to members who are in good stand- 
 ing, and to report such dismissions to the Session at its next meeting. 
 Adopted.— 1891, p. 106. 
 
 CXV. In like manner, when a minister, licentiate, or candidate, is 
 dismissed from one Presbytery to another, the certificate shall be pre- 
 sented to the Presbytery to which it is addressed, ordinarily within one 
 year from its date, and the fact of his reception shall be promptly com- 
 municated to the Presbytery dismissing him. 
 
 1. Notice of reception to be given. 
 
 1. That on the reception of a minister by certificate of dismission from 
 another Presbytery, it be recommended to the Stated Clerk of the Pres- 
 bytery receiving him to notify the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery grant- 
 ing the certificate of the fact of the reception. 
 
 2. That the name of every minister receiving a certificate of dismission 
 be retained on the roll of the Presbytery dismissing him until notice of 
 his reception be received from the Stated Clerk of the Presbytery receiv- 
 ing him. 
 
 3. That similar recommendations be sent to Sessions concerning the 
 dismission and reception of church members. — 1874, p. 82. 
 
 CXVI. If a church -member, more than two years absent from the 
 place of his ordinary resideace and church connections, applies for a 
 certificate of membership, his absence, and the knowledge of the church 
 respecting his demeanor for that time, or its want of information con- 
 cerning it, shall be distinctly stated in the certificate. 
 
 1. The standing of members absent and unknown. Such absence 
 without certificate itself censurable. If willful, they should be 
 suspended. 
 
 The Committee appointed on the overture from the Synod of New 
 Jersey, inquiring what a church Session ought to do with members in 
 communion who have been absent for years without having taken a certi- 
 ficate of dismission, and whose place of residence is unknown, made a 
 report which, being read and amended, was adopted, and is as follows, 
 viz. : 
 
 That although this particular case is not provided for by a specific 
 
 regulation in our Book of Discipline (Old), yet it is embraced by certain 
 
 general principles which are recognized in that book and interwoven with 
 
 many of its provisions. These principles, together with the result bear- 
 
 51 
 
802 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 116-119. 
 
 Ing on the case in question, the Committee beg leave most respectfully to 
 state: 
 
 1. Every church member is amenable to some appropriate tribunal, by 
 the wisdom and fidelity of which, in case of his falling into any error, 
 immorality or negligence, he may be dealt with according to the Word 
 of God. 
 
 2. No member of a church can properly ever cease to be such but by 
 death, exclusion, a regular dismission, or an orderly withdrawing to join 
 some other Christian denomination ; and must of necessity continue to be 
 amenable to that church until he becomes regularly connected with 
 another. 
 
 3. For a church member to withdraw from a use of his privileges as a 
 member, either by irregularly connecting himself with another denom- 
 ination, or by going to a distant part of the world to reside for a number 
 of years, without making known his removal to the church Session, and 
 asking a certificate either of good standing, for the purpose of enjoying 
 occasional communion elsewhere, or of dismission, to join some other 
 church, is itself a censurable violation of the principles of church fellow- 
 ship, and may infer suspension from its privileges. 
 
 4. Church members, therefore, who have been absent for a number of 
 years in unknown places, are by no means to have their names erased 
 from the churches to which they respectively belong, but are to be held 
 responsible to their respective churches ; and if they should ever return, 
 or be heard from, are to be regularly dealt with according to the Word 
 of God and the principles of our Church; and although great caution 
 and tenderness ought to be exercised toward those whose withdrawing 
 from Christian privileges may be occasioned by the unavoidable dispensa- 
 tions of Providence, without any material fault of their own, yet in all 
 cases in which a church Session has good reason to believe that any of 
 the church under their care have absented themselves with design, either 
 from a disregard of Christian privilege or from a wish to escape from the 
 inspection and discipline of the Church, they ought, without unnecessary 
 delay, to declare such persons suspended from the privileges of the 
 church until they give evidence of repentance and reformation, and of 
 course, in making their statistical reports, ought to enumerate such 
 among the members under suspension. — 1825, pp. 138, 139. 
 
 [Note. — See Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi ; a decision on the duties 
 of the Session in case of certain irregularities, No. 12, p. 168. See also Book of Disci- 
 pline, Sees, xlix and lii, pp. 665, 667.] 
 
 CXVII. Prosecution for an alleged offence shall commence within one 
 year from the time of its alleged commission, or from the date when it 
 becomes known to the judicatory which has jurisdiction thereof. 
 
 1. Limitation not to be pleaded against the order of a superior 
 
 judicatory. 
 
 [Note. — In a case carried by complaint to the Synod of Mississippi, the Synod re- 
 ferred the whole matter back to the Presbytery. The Presbytery entered upon the 
 case ; but, finding that two years had elapsed since the act was committed, declined 
 to proceed further, on the ground of the limitation above.] 
 
 The Assembly declared: 
 
 That the Presbytery of Louisiana erred in pleading the limitation of 
 time for their non-compliance with the resolution of Synod, referring this 
 whole case to them for a full investigation. — 1850, p. 481, O. S. 
 
OF JUDICIAL COMMISSIONS. 803 
 
 2. The plea is good where the offence was known to members of 
 the judicatory more than a year before process was begun. 
 
 Overture No. 19 was then taken up from the docket, which is as 
 follows : 
 
 When a church Session has tabled charges against a church member 
 for falsehood, and summoned the accused with the witnesses, is it compe- 
 tent for the Session to dismiss the charges on the plea of the accused that 
 a prosecution is barred by the limitation of time in Chap, xi, Sec. xv, 
 of the Discipline (" Process in case of scandal," etc.), the alleged crime 
 having been committed and " become flagrant," and known to members 
 of Session more than twelve months before process was instituted ? 
 
 The Committee recommended that this inquiry be answered in the 
 affirmative. Adopted.— 1857, p. 42, O. S. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OF JUDICIAL COMMISSIONS. 
 
 CXVIII. The General Assembly, each Synod, and each Presbytery 
 under its care, shall have power to appoint Judicial Commissions from 
 their respective bodies, consisting of ministers and elders, in number not 
 less than eighteen (18) from the General Assembly, not less than twelve 
 (12) from any Synod, and not less than seven (7) from any Presbytery. 
 
 1. The Judicial Committee may be appointed a Judicial Commission. 
 
 By formal resolution the Judicial Committee was appointed the Judi- 
 cial Commission to try judicial cases Nos. 5, 6 and 7. — 1896, p. 48. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix (5), p. 752.] 
 
 CXIX. All judicial cases may be submitted to such Commissions, and 
 their decisions shall be subject to reversal only by the superior judicatory 
 or judicatories, except in matters of law, which shall be referred to the 
 appointing judicatory for adjudication; and also all matters of Constitu- 
 tion and doctrine may be reviewed in the appointing body and by the 
 superior judicatory or judicatories. 
 
 1. Matters of law referred to the appointing judicatory. 
 
 a. The Judicial Commission in Case No. 2, to try the complaint of 
 Rev. David R. Breed, D.D., and others, members of the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania, against the action of said Synod, and the finding of its 
 Judicial Commission in Judicial Case No. 1. in its session held in the 
 Presbyterian church of Butler, Pa., October 17 to 21, 1895, report in 
 part, as follows : . . . . 
 
 The Synod of Pennsylvania, in receiving the report of its Judicial 
 Commission on Case No. 1, did err, in that, after said Synod had recom- 
 mitted the report of its Judicial Commission to have points of law and 
 Constitution considered, the Synod declined (p. 47) to recognize that 
 there were matters of Constitution involved in the case which the Synod 
 was competent to review, in acting upon the finding of said Judicial 
 
804 BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, SECT. 119-123. 
 
 Commission as provided for in Chap, xiii, Sec. cxix, of the Book of 
 Discipline, which matters of Constitution are as follows: 
 
 1. Does a pastoral relation cease with the action of Presbytery dissolv- 
 ing such relation, when no other time for its termination is explicitly 
 fixed by the Presbytery ? 
 
 2. When a meeting of a church duly called is held for the election of 
 elders, may the Moderator presiding at such meeting disqualify voters 
 whose standing has not been impaired by regular judicial process ? 
 
 Your Commission respectfully refer the above points of law and Con- 
 stitution to the Assembly for adjudication, according to provision made 
 in Chap, xiii, Sec. cxix, and we recommend that question number one 
 be answered in the affirmative, and question number two be answered in 
 the negative. 
 
 The first question was answered by the Assembly in the affirmative 
 and the second in the negative. — 1896, pp. 84, 85. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix, No. 5, p. 756.] 
 
 b. The Judicial Committee, sitting as a Judicial Commission, reported 
 on Judicial Cases Nos. 5 and 6, submitting three questions of constitu- 
 tional law, viz., 1, 2 and 3, which were answered in the affirmative, and 
 are as follows: 
 
 The Judicial Commission to which were referred Judicial Cases Nos. 
 5 and 6 reports to the General Assembly, for its approval, the following 
 points of Constitution and law, to wit: 
 
 1. Presbytery, under our form of government, has the sole power, 
 within its jurisdiction, to form, unite, and divide churches, and to estab- 
 lish and dissolve pastoral relationships, subject to the provisions of the 
 Constitution, including the provisions for complaint, appeal, review and 
 control. 
 
 2. The acts of Presbytery may be appealed from or complained of to 
 a higher judicatory ; and in the absence of such appeal or complaint they 
 are to be respected and obeyed until repealed or modified. 
 
 3. Where complaint against the action of Presbytery is taken to 
 Synod, and when no one appears to prosecute such complaint, and the 
 complaint is dismissed by the Synod, this action of the Presbytery remains 
 in full force and effect.— 1896, p. 131. 
 
 [Note. — See also Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix, p. 752.] 
 
 C. The Judicial Commission appointed by the General Assembly to 
 try Judicial Case No. 7 reports for approval its judgment upon the 
 following questions of Constitution and law: 
 
 1. According to Sec. 100 of the Book of Discipline, " When the judg- 
 ment directs admonition or rebuke, notice of appeal suspends all further 
 proceedings, but in other cases " (viz., when the judgment directs sus- 
 pension, deposition or excommunication, see Sec. xxxiv) " the judgment 
 shall be in force until the appeal is decided, ' ' and this we interpret to 
 mean until it is finally decided by the highest judicatory to which the 
 case is carried. 
 
 2. After a Synod or a Commission of a Synod, sitting as a court for 
 the trial of a case, has concluded the case, and adopted its final judg- 
 ment, and the same is a matter of record, it is not competent for the 
 Synod, in ordinary session and not constituted as a court, to interpret 
 the judgment, or in any way modify it. — 1896, pp. 151, 152. 
 
 [Note. — See Book of Discipline, Sec. xcix, p. 756.] 
 
OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUDICATORIES. 805 
 
 CXX. Such Commissions shall sit at the same time and place as the 
 body appointing them, and their findings shall be entered upon the 
 minutes of the appointing body ; provided, however, that a Commission 
 appointed by a Presbytery may also sit during the intervals between the 
 meetings of the appointing Presbytery. The quorum of any such Com- 
 mission shall not be less in number than three- fourths of the members 
 appointed, and shall be the same in all other respects as the quorum of 
 the appointing judicatory. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JUDICATORIES. 
 
 CXXI. Any judicatory deeming itself aggrieved by the action of any 
 other judicatory of the same rank, may present a memorial to the judi- 
 catory immediately superior to the judicatory charged with the grievance 
 and to which the latter judicatory is subject, after the manner prescribed 
 in the sub-chapter on Complaints (Sees. 83-93, Book of Discipline), 
 save only that with regard to the limitation of time, notice of said memo- 
 rial shall be lodged with the Stated Clerks, bolh of the judicatory charged 
 with the grievance and of its next superior judicatory, within one year 
 from the commission of the said alleged grievance. 
 
 CXXII. When any judicatory deems itself aggrieved by another 
 judicatory and determines to present a memorial as provided for in the 
 preceding section, it shall appoint a committee to conduct the case in all 
 its stages, in whatever judicatory, until the final issue be reached. 
 
 CXXIII. The judicatory with which the memorial is lodged, if it 
 sustain the same, may reverse in whole or in part the matter of griev- 
 ance, and shall direct the lower judicatory how to dispose of the case, 
 and may enforce its orders. Either party may appeal to the next higher 
 judicatory, except as limited by Chap, xi, Sec. iv, of the Form of Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 [Note.— See Book of Discipline, Sec. cii, No. 3, p. 785.] 
 
806 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 THE DIEECTOEY FOE THE WOESHIP OF GOD. 
 
 Adopted 1788. Amended 1789-1886. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE SANOTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 I. It is the duty of every person to remember the Lord's day; and to 
 prepare for it, before its approach. All worldly business should be so 
 ordered, and seasonably laid aside, as that we may not be hindered there- 
 by from sanctifying the Sabbath, as the Holy Scriptures require. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxi, Sec. viii, p. 90.] 
 
 1. The Assembly petition Congress against carrying and distributing 
 the mails upon the Sabbath. 
 
 a. The petition of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States of America, to the honorable the Senate and House 
 of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled: 
 
 Humbly Sheweth — That your petitioners view with deep regret the infrac- 
 tions of the Lord's day, occasioned by the opening of the mail on that 
 day, and the circumstances accompanying such opening. 
 
 A variety of considerations, temporal and spiritual, combine, in the 
 judgment of your petitioners, to produce this regret. The institution of 
 the Sabbath by the Creator and Ruler of the world, whilst it clearly 
 proves His benevolent regard for men, imposes upon them the reasonable 
 obligation of devoting this day to His service. He makes it their duty 
 to rest from the toils and labors of six days, and requires from them that 
 they should statedly assemble together for His worship on the seventh. 
 Both these objects contemplated by the institution of the Sabbath, the 
 opening of the mail on that day and the circumstances accompanying 
 it, do contravene and oppose. They who carry the mail, and they who 
 open it, together with those to whom letters or papers are delivered, under 
 the sanction of civil law, neglect the public worship of God in part or 
 whole. Besides this, the noise and confusion attending the carrying and 
 opening of the mail in post towns too frequently in a most painful man- 
 ner disturb the devotion of those who prefer their spiritual to their 
 temporal interests. Moreover, the carrying of the mail encourages 
 persons to hire out their carriages on the Lord's day to those who have 
 no fear of God before their eyes, thus adding to the open violation of the 
 day; and to say no more, the brute creatures are made to work on this 
 day over and above the six days, and thus are deprived of the rest to 
 which they are entitled by the authority of God, whilst they are forced 
 to administer to the cupidity of those who forget the truth, that " the 
 righteous man is merciful to his beast. ' ' 
 
 Your petitioners are the more deeply impressed with the importance of 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 807 
 
 observing the Sabbath, on account of the influence which such observ- 
 ance has in promoting true morality and social happiness. 
 
 On this day all classes of men assemble together in the presence of God 
 on terms of perfect equality, for in His presence the ruler is not more 
 important than the ruled, since both meet as sinners needing the exercise 
 of sovereign and free mercy. 
 
 On this day they are taught from the Scriptures, the only source of 
 truth, their duty, their interest and their happiness. 
 
 On this day they unite according to the direction of God, in prayer 
 for all men — for magistrates as well as subjects — for the nation as well 
 as individuals — for every description of persons. 
 
 On this day they manifest the gratitude which they owe to God for 
 benefits received, thanking Him for His mercies, and supplicating His 
 grace. 
 
 The effects arising from the duties in which they engage, the instruc- 
 tion which they receive, and their assembling together before God, are all 
 calculated to produce such a state of heart and such a line of conduct 
 as directly promote individual and social happiness. 
 
 Your petitioners are aware of the plea which is used to justify the 
 infractions of the Sabbath of which we complain. Works of necessity, 
 such as arise out of extraordinary circumstances, or such as are unavoid- 
 able for the support and comfort of life, together with works of charity, 
 are admitted to be lawful, for God delighteth in mercy rather than 
 sacrifice. 
 
 But your petitioners cannot conceive that the ordinary occupations of 
 life, in ordinary times, or the exercise of charity, require such infractions 
 of the Sabbath as are occasioned by the carrying or opening of the mail 
 on that day. For the cases of sickness, to take one of the strongest and 
 most plausible facts included in the plea of necessity, which are commu- 
 nicated by the mail, are too few, and happen at intervals too long, to 
 justify the habitual breach of the Sabbath. As to the ordinary business 
 of life, any prospect of gain, or fear of loss, cannot be admitted as 
 legitimate causes for disobeying the command of God to keep the* Sabbath 
 holy. No one ever yet has suffered, or will suffer, in obeying God,, 
 rather than his cupidity, his ambition, or his lusts. 
 
 Your petitioners, moreover, feel themselves constrained in their office 
 as rulers in the Church, to exercise the discipline of that Church against 
 those of their members who break the Sabbath in the carrying or open- 
 ing of the mail on that day. In doing this they are not conscious of any 
 disrespect to the civil authority of the land. They wish to render unto 
 Caesar the things which are Caesar's, but must, at every hazard, render 
 unto God the things which are God's. In thus honoring God more than 
 men, they trust their motives will be respected, and their conduct 
 approved. 
 
 Your petitioners are the more deeply impressed with the importance of 
 a strict observance of the Sabbath, and the necessity of an alteration in 
 the existing regulations of the post-office, as far as they relate to the 
 Sabbath, from the prospect of a war. As they firmly believe in the 
 special providence of God, and that this providence is exercised accord- 
 ing to those principles of truth and equity revealed in the Scriptures, 
 they fear, and have just reason to fear, that the infractions of the Sab- 
 bath allowed by civil law will draw down upon our nation the divine 
 displeasure. God honors those who honor Him, and casts down those 
 
808 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 who forget Him. Obedience to His will adds dignity to rulers, and 
 enforces subjection in those who are ruled. 
 
 From all these considerations which have been given in detail, your 
 petitioners pray for such an alteration in the law relative to the mails, as 
 will prevent the profanation of the Sabbath, which now takes place in 
 conveying and opening the mail. And your petitioners, as in duty 
 bound, will ever pray, etc. 
 
 Ordered, That this petition be signed by the Moderator, and attested 
 by the Clerk, and be committed to the Moderator to forward to Congress. 
 —1812, p. 513. 
 
 b. Dr. Flinn, to whom was committed the petition of the last Assem- 
 bly to the Congress of the United States, on the subject of carrying and 
 opening the mail on the Sabbath, reported that he put the petition into 
 the hands of Mr. Cheves, a member of the House of Representatives, 
 who afterward informed him that the prayer of the petition was not 
 granted. — 1813, p. 519. 
 
 C. In 1814 a petition on the same subject was prepared, and the Pres- 
 byteries directed to take order for circulating the same, and forwarding 
 it to Congress. — 1814, p. 566. 
 
 [Note. — For like action see Minutes, 1815, pp. 597, 601.] 
 
 II. The whole day is to be kept holy to the Lord ; and to be employed 
 in the public and private exercises of religion. Therefore, it is requisite, 
 that there be a holy resting, all the day, from unnecessary labors ; and 
 an abstaining from those recreations which may be lawful on other days ; 
 and also, as much as possible, from worldly thoughts and conversation. 
 
 1. Deliverance on the profanation of the Sabbath. Discipline 
 
 enjoined. 
 The Committee to whom was referred the overture respecting the pro- 
 fanation of the Lord's day, presented the following resolutions, which 
 were adopted, viz. : 
 
 1. Resolved, That this Assembly regard with pain and deep regret the 
 profanation of the Lord's day, which exists in our country in various 
 forms, and which is calculated in an alarming degree to create a neglect 
 of public worship, a contempt of the authority of Almighty God, a 
 corruption of morals, and eventually to bring down the judgment of 
 God on our land. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the Assembly repeat the warnings which have here- 
 tofore been frequently given on this subject, and do solemnly and earn- 
 estly exhort the churches and individuals in their connection to avoid a 
 participation in the guilt of profaning this holy day. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it be earnestly recommended to the ministers of the 
 Presbyterian churches who have pastoral charges, frequently and solemnly 
 to address their people on the subject of the sanctification of the Lord's 
 day, and to urge its vital importance to our moral, social and civil, as 
 well as religious welfare. 
 
 4. Resolved, That it be solemnly enjoined on all the Presbyteries and 
 church Sessions in our connection to exercise discipline on their respective 
 members whenever guilty of violating the sanctity of the Sabbath; and 
 that an inquiry should be annually instituted in each Presbytery relative 
 to this subject; and that each pastor should at the earliest opportunity 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 809 
 
 practicable present this subject in all its solemn importance to the Session 
 of the church under his pastoral charge, and invite the cooperation of 
 its members in all proper and prudent measures for the suppression of 
 Sabbath breaking: and further, that it be recommended to all our minis- 
 ters and church members when traveling, to give preference to such 
 livery establishments, steamboats, canal boats and other public vehicles 
 as do not violate the law of God and of the land in relation to the 
 Sabbath.— 1826, p. 182. 
 
 2. The observance of the Sabbath indispensable to the preservation 
 of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 1. Resolved, That the observance of the Sabbath is indispensable to 
 the preservation of civil and religious liberty, and furnishes the only 
 security for eminent and abiding prosperity, either to the Church or the 
 world. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the growing desecration of the Sabbath in our 
 country must be speedily arrested and the habits of the community 
 essentially reformed, or the blessings of the Sabbath, civil, social and 
 religious, will soon be irrecoverably lost. 
 
 3. Resolved, That inasmuch as the work of a general reformation 
 belongs, under God, to the Christian Church, it is the duty of the 
 Church to apply the corrections of a firm and efficient discipline to all 
 known violations of the Sabbath on the part of her members. 
 
 4. Resolved, That inasmuch as ministers of the Gospel must act a 
 conspicuous part in every successful effort to do away the sin of Sabbath- 
 breaking, it is their duty to observe, both in their preaching and their 
 practice, the rule of entire abstinence from all profanation of the Lord's 
 day, studiously avoiding even the appearance of evil. 
 
 5. Resolved, That in the judgment of this General Assembly, the 
 owners of stock in steamboats, canals, railroads, etc., which are in the 
 habit of violating the Sabbath, are lending their property and their 
 influence to one of the most widespread, alarming and deplorable systems 
 of Sabbath desecration which now grieves the hearts of the pious, and 
 disgraces the Church of God. 
 
 That it be respectfully recommended to the friends of the Lord's day, 
 as soon as possible, to establish such means of public conveyance as shall 
 relieve the friends of the Sabbath from the necessity under which they 
 now labor, of traveling at any time in vehicles which habitually violate 
 that holy day, and thus prevent them from being in any way partakers 
 in other men's sins in this respect. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the power of the pulpit and the press must be 
 immediately put in requisition on behalf of a dishonored Sabbath, that 
 the magnitude and remedy of the evils which its violation involves may 
 be fully understood by the whole community. 
 
 7. Resolved, That this Assembly solemnly enjoin it upon the churches 
 under their care to adopt, without delay, all proper measures for accom- 
 plishing a general and permanent reformation from the sin of Sabbath- 
 breaking and all its attendant evils. 
 
 8. Resolved, That a Committee of one from each Synod under the care 
 of this Assembly be now appointed to hold correspondence with ministers 
 and churches, for the purpose of carrying out and applying the leading 
 principles of the foregoing report and resolutions. — 1836, p. 281. 
 
810 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 3. For the better observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 5, to wit, a 
 memorial from the Presbytery of Cleveland on the subject of Sabbath 
 mails, having been instructed to report on the general subject of Sabbath 
 desecration, submit the following: 
 
 In the deliberate judgment of your Committee, it is an unquestionable 
 fact that, in despite of all which has been said and done to check it, the 
 profanation of the Lord's day is, on the whole, increasing. There are, 
 indeed, some local and cheering exceptions to this remark, which we are 
 happy to acknowledge. As a national sin, however, it steadily gathers 
 strength, and puts on a more unblushing face every year. We hear 
 much of the moral machinery which has been set in motion for the 
 salvation of our country and of the world — of the blessed light of the 
 nineteenth century, and the glory of our free institutions. Too often 
 do we seem to forget that the very institution which is the chief support 
 of liberty, learning and religion, is itself standing in fearful jeopardy. 
 All those whose lot is cast in any of the great centres of business, or on 
 any of the principal avenues of intercommunication, know that what 
 your Committee assert is true. Their own eyes have seen it, their own 
 ears have heard it, and their hearts have bled over it a thousand times. 
 It is, in fact, universally conceded, that the desecration of the Sabbath 
 has become a giant evil, calling loudly for the most efficient measures of 
 reform. Your Committee desire not unnecessarily to publish the faults 
 of the Christian Church. But they are compelled to confess, that in 
 many parts of the country the frequent violations of the Sabbath by 
 ministers of the Gospel, and by other professors of religion, is a serious 
 obstacle in the way of all attempts at radical and permanent reforma- 
 tion. Till the ministry and the Church have purified themselves, all else 
 will be, as it has been, ' ' beating the air. ' ' Traveling on the Sabbath, 
 a practice to which the convocation of the highest judicatory of our 
 Church lends its guilty sanction; voluntary participation in enterprises 
 and improvements which are prosecuted at the expense of the Sabbath ; 
 the legalized profanation of this holy day by the transmission of the mail 
 on all the principal routes; and the frequent neglect of Church discipline, 
 are among the many causes of the rapid spread of this enormous evil. 
 The bare enumeration of these causes suggests the proper remedy. 
 Resolutions, addresses, conventions, and all the stirring appeals which 
 the subject has called forth, are, by themselves, utterly ineffectual. The 
 leviathan with which we are now contending is not to be so tamed. A 
 more potent corrective must be applied, or we shall become more and more 
 a nation of Sabbath-breakers. The Church undoubtedly possesses the 
 power to cleanse her own garments, and till she has done this, she has no 
 strength to put on for the reformation of others. Having done this, the 
 next step will be to lift up a united voice against all that immoral legis- 
 lation behind which the sin of Sabbath-breaking now stands entrenched. 
 What has been found true in the " Temperance Reform," will be 
 found true in the ' ' Sabbath Reform. ' ' The sanction of law must be 
 removed from every evil which you would frown upon and exterminate. 
 To do this, the public mind must be waked up, and held awake till the 
 combined energy of patriotism and piety is enlisted and pledged for the 
 protection of the Sabbath against every tangible form of profanation and 
 abuse. Your Committee accordingly recommend for your adoption the 
 following resolutions, viz. : 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 811 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly regard the prosecution of a journey on 
 any part of the Sabbath, whether by ministers, elders or church mem- 
 bers, for the sake of convenience or of avoiding expense, as deserving of 
 special notice and unqualified disapprobation. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly affectionately urge upon all the judica- 
 tories of the Church to take suitable measures for enforcing the wise 
 discipline of the Church against all violations of the Sabbath within their 
 own cognizance and jurisdiction. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of the Christian ministry to unite in more 
 concentrated and persevering effort to assert the claims of the Christian 
 Sabbath upon the habitual regard of the whole community. 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly will give its most cordial approbation to 
 any and every wise plan for uniting the sympathies and strength of all 
 evangelical denominations in defence of the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of nine be appointed to correspond with 
 other evangelical denominations on the subject of measures for promoting 
 a better observance of the Lord's day. 
 
 Resolved, That the Clerks of this Assembly be requested to cause these 
 resolutions to be officially published and circulated as widely as possible, 
 through the religious press, and that all ministers within our bounds be 
 requested to present them before their respective congregations. — 1838, 
 pp. 658, 659, N. S. 
 
 [Note— See also Minutes, 1840, p. 14; 1843, p. 13; 1846, p. 15, N. S. ; 1859, p. 534; 
 1861, p. 316, 0. S., for substantially the same action. Reaffirmed 1872, Minutes, p. 
 71 ; 1873, p. 564 ; 1876, p. 70.] 
 
 4. Church Sessions enjoined to greater fidelity. 
 
 a. Resolved, That this Assembly renewedly enjoin upon their Presby- 
 teries and churches the duty of enforcing the discipline of the Church in 
 every case of a violation of the Sabbath. — 1828, p. 242. 
 
 b. The Committee on Bills and Overtures made a report on the subject 
 of the Sabbath, which was adopted, and is as follows: 
 
 The Assembly are at a loss what to say more than what they have 
 repeatedly said, by way of urging on all our churches and congregations, 
 and the community generally, a better observance of the holy Sabbath. 
 Of its divine origin and authority we have no doubt. Nor can we 
 doubt its indisputable necessity in keeping up the institutions of religion, 
 and promoting the cause of salvation and pure morality. What could 
 we do without the Sabbath ? And where, in half a century, will be our 
 glorious civil and religious liberty, if the terrible process of Sabbath 
 desecration be permitted to go on as it has done for the past ten years ? 
 Let the history of other nations answer. Let the fearful declarations of 
 God's Word admonish us to anticipate the result. " For the nation and 
 kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish." 
 
 While, therefore, we earnestly entreat our fellow -citizens of every 
 class ' ' to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, ' ' the Assembly do 
 hereby, in a special manner, enjoin it upon the church Sessions to watch 
 over their brethren with tenderness and great fidelity in respect to the 
 observance of the Sabbath; and to exercise wholesome discipline on those 
 who, by traveling or other ways, presume to trample upon this sacred 
 institution. And we further enjoin it upon the Presbyteries annually to 
 institute inquiries of the eldership as to the manner in which this injunc- 
 tion has been attended to in their respective churches. —1853, p. 323. N. S. 
 
812 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 5. Resolutions on the sanctification of the Sabbath. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That, inasmuch as " the Sabbath was made for man," by 
 the omniscient God, and is indispensable to our highest social, civil and 
 religious welfare, this General Assembly regards it as not only the duty, 
 but the right and privilege of all men to " remember the Sabbath day to 
 keep it holy." 
 
 2. That, as the law of the Sabbath is divinely given, without limita- 
 tion of time, and unrepealed, its claims for our obedience are supreme 
 and perpetual. 
 
 3. That, in order to give full power to the Gospel in the salvation of 
 souls, professors of religion, and ministers of the Gospel especially, 
 should carefully sanctify the Lord's day, and give no countenance, 
 directly or indirectly, to its desecration. 
 
 4. That the physical and mental, as well as the moral interests of man 
 demand the day of holy rest ; and that the entire community should 
 manifest a grateful appreciation of this gift of Heaven, by an unperverted 
 sacred observance of the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 5. That, at this time of public strife, of fearful anxiety and suffering, 
 while we are heartily loyal to our government, we should most sincerely 
 deprecate and deplore any unnecessary labor, review or battle on the 
 Lord's day; lest, by disloyalty to God, we dishonor Him, incur His fierce 
 indignation, and, as a sad result, meet with signal defeat to our arms, 
 and terrible calamities to our nation, from Him who is the God of battles 
 and of nations, and who honors them that honor Him. 
 
 6. That it be earnestly requested of all the pastors of our churches, 
 fully to instruct their people as to the duty and importance of carefully 
 sanctifying the entire Sabbath, individually, in the family, and in the 
 community; in order that its healthful instructions, and its holy saving 
 influence, may everywhere permeate the State, the nation and the world. 
 
 7. That each pastor and stated supply of our churches be requested, 
 at some time during the present year, to preach especially upon the sanc- 
 tification of the Christian Sabbath.— 1863, pp. 245, 246, N. S. ; con- 
 firmed, 1873, p. 564. 
 
 6. The opening of art galleries on the Sabbath disapproved. 
 Deliverances of former Assemblies reaffirmed. 
 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly express their disapproval of the 
 opening on the Sabbath of art galleries, places of recreation and amuse- 
 ment, and all such libraries and reading rooms as by offering secular 
 reading invite men to violate the command of God, that men " re- 
 member the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Adopted. — 1872, p. 71. 
 
 [Note. — See also Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v; Pastoral Letters, 8 and 
 15 ; Digest, 1886, pp. 294-296 and pp. 322-325.] 
 
 This Assembly now reaffirms the deliverances of previous Assemblies, 
 regarding the sacredness of the Sabbath. — 1873, p. 564. 
 
 7. Traveling on the Sabbath condemned. 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly view with unfeigned sorrow and regret 
 the practice of traveling, by professors of religion and others, on the 
 Sabbath day, and that it considers all such traveling, which is not strictly 
 included in works of necessity and mercy, as a direct -violation of the 
 law of God.— 1850, p. 482, O. S. ; 1874, pp. 79, 80. 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 813 
 
 8. Duty of all to sanctify the Sabbath. Testimony against its 
 desecration by railroads and by recreations. 
 
 a. The report was accepted; the resolutions recommended by the Com- 
 mittee were adopted ; and the whole report was recommended to the Board 
 of Publication to be printed as a tract. The following are the resolu- 
 tions as adopted by the Assembly: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That it is the duty of all men to sanctify the Sabbath by 
 a holy resting on that day from all worldly cares, avocations, and amuse- 
 ments, and to devote the entire day to the public and private worship 
 of God, and to the duties of religion, according to the precepts and 
 example of our Lord and His apostles. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the observance of the Sabbath is indispensable to 
 the preservation of the knowledge of God, and to the maintenance of 
 vital religion in the Church and the world. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the observance of the Sabbath is, further, of the 
 greatest importance in order to the preservation of civil and religious 
 liberty, and as furnishing the only ground for eminent and abiding 
 national prosperity. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That inasmuch as the work of any general moral or 
 religious reformation belongs, under God, to the Christian Church, it is 
 declared to be the solemn duty of all the ministers, ruling elders, and 
 members of our Church to inculcate, respectively, from the pulpit, in 
 the Sabbath-school, and in the family, the Scriptural obligation to 
 observe the Sabbath, and always and everywhere to set a proper example 
 in this respect. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That, in the judgment of this General Assembly, it is 
 the duty of the owners of stocks in steamboats, railroads, iron works, 
 and other corporate institutions which are in the habit of desecrating the 
 Sabbath, to use all their influence to bring these companies to cease their 
 operations on the Lord's day. 
 
 Resolved, 6. That the cry of the eight thousand engineers, on the rail- 
 roads of the country, for Sabbath rest, as brought out in their convention 
 at St. Louis, and presented in their journal, and their efforts with their 
 companies to secure exemption from the violation of the law of God, and 
 the allotted time for Sabbath rest, religious instruction and worship, 
 meets with a hearty response from this General Assembly ; and that we 
 express for them our deep sympathy in their privations, exposures, and 
 trials, and our earnest desire and prayer to God for their success in this 
 direction and send our earnest remonstrance to all these companies against 
 the practice of running trains on the Lord's day, thereby excluding from 
 these important and responsible positions the Christian men of the coun- 
 try, to the dishonor of religion, and to the endangering of the lives of 
 the traveling portions of the community, by placing this business in the 
 hands of a less moral class of men. 
 
 Resolved, 7. That this Assembly invokes the power of the pulpit, and 
 of the religious and secular press of the entire country, in the vindica- 
 tion and enforcement of the sanctity of the Sabbath ; that vain excuses 
 for work and travel on the Lord's day be set aside; that the public con- 
 science be aroused ; that secular business and secular recreations on the 
 Sabbath be alike discountenanced ; and that, with a faith and zeal which 
 is according to knowledge, the friends of religion, morality and civil 
 and social order are everywhere called upon to stand up for the divine 
 
814 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 law of the Christian Sabbath, and to labor, by precept and example, to 
 secure its proper observance. 
 
 Resolved, 8. That this Assembly would solemnly admonish all our 
 people, ministers and laymen, who travel in foreign countries and in 
 remoter parts of our own laud, not to forget the divine command, " Re- 
 member the Sabbath day to keep rt holy." 
 
 Resolved, 9. That this Assembly still further, with the view of secur- 
 ing this important result, enjoin upon all the Presbyteries, at their ensuing 
 meetings, to take such action, and, without delay, to adopt and carry 
 into effect such measures, as, in their judgment, may seem best, in order 
 to the better and more general observance of the Lord's day. — 1874, 
 pp. 79, 80. 
 
 b. That, inasmuch as, prominent among the forms of Sabbath dese- 
 cration prevalent in our times, are those to which many railroad and 
 steamboat companies and publishers of Sunday newspapers are addicted, 
 the Assembly earnestly counsel all our people not to be, as owners, man- 
 agers, or employes of such companies, or as shippers or passengers on 
 the Sabbath, or as publishers or patrons of Sunday newspapers, partakers 
 in the guilt of these flagrant forms of Sabbath -breaking. Adopted. — 
 1882, pp. 85, 86; 1884, pp. 33 and 81. 
 
 9. Former deliverances affirmed and enlarged upon. 
 
 In answer to overtures asking the reaffirmation of the teaching of our 
 Standards and of the deliverances of former Assemblies on the subject 
 of the Sabbath, the Assembly reply: 
 
 In the opinion of this body the deliverances of previous Assemblies on 
 this subject have been so clear, distinct and decisive, and so often 
 repeated, that it seems as impossible that there could be any misconception 
 of the position of our Church, as that there could be any doubt as to 
 the moral and perpetual obligation of the institution of the Sabbath, 
 in the minds of any of our ministers or people. 
 
 Nevertheless, in view of the persistent efforts continually made to 
 undermine the faith of the Church in the divine authority and perpetual 
 claims of the Christian Sabbath, and to introduce among us the conti- 
 nental view of its observance, and in order to strengthen the hands of 
 our whole communion in that maintenance of this divine institution, as* 
 our fathers have maintained it, we deem it important again to declare 
 our unswerving conviction of the correctness of the teaching of our Con- 
 fession of Faith, which says: " God, in His Word, by a positive, moral, 
 and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, hath particu- 
 larly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto 
 Him" (Chap, xxi, Sec. vii). 
 
 And, also, of our Larger Catechism, which says: " The fourth com- 
 mandment requireth of all men the sanctifying or keeping holy to 
 God .... one whole day in seven ; which was the seventh from the 
 beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, and the first day of 
 the week ever since, and so to continue to the end of the world ; which 
 is the Christian Sabbath, and in the New Testament called The Lord's 
 day " (Answer 116). 
 
 And, also, of the Shorter Catechism, which says: " The Sabbath is to 
 be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly 
 employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending 
 the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION CF THE LORD'S DAY. 815 
 
 except so much as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy ' ' 
 (Answer 60). 
 
 We do also reaffirm the deliverances of former General Assemblies as 
 to the manner of the proper sanctification of this holy day ; and espe- 
 cially enjoin upon all our ministers and members, pastors, and teachers in 
 our Sabbath-schools, and upon all those charged in any way with the 
 training of the rising generation, the diligent inculcation of these teach- 
 ings of our Church, so that our children may be thoroughly furnished, 
 iu their minds, against the insidious influences brought to bear upon them 
 to lessen their veneration for the sanctity of this day of holy rest. The 
 Presbyterian Church has uttered, and desires to utter, no uncertain sound 
 in regard to the divine authority and the universal and perpetual obliga- 
 tion of this institution, as promotive of the physical, mental, and moral 
 well-being of man, and so essential to the efficiency of all the means of 
 grace and to the success of the Church of Christ in the earth. 
 
 And, to the end that the sacred character of this day may, in every 
 possible way, be kept before the minds of our people, we would further 
 commend, to our ministers and Sabbath -school teachers and superinten- 
 dents, the more general use of the Scriptural terms Sabbath and Lord's 
 day in the designation of this divine institution. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1876, pp. 70, 71. 
 
 10. The divine sanction and obligation of the Sabbath. 
 
 a. In answer to a communication from the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States: 
 
 The Assembly regard with very great sympathy the present extensive 
 revival of interest in the maintenance of our Christian and American 
 Sabbath, and cordially respond to the invitation to Christian cooperation 
 in this great cause, which they have received from their sister Assembly. 
 To this end they invite to the following resolutions the attention of all 
 the Synods, Presbyteries and churches under their care: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That, in view of the manifest and indispensable impor- 
 tance of the Sabbath m stitution to the highest welfare of our own modern 
 nation and people in all their relations, the authoritative announcement 
 of the Sabbath law in the ancient Pentateuch is, in itself, one of the 
 most obvious and unanswerable proofs that the Bible and our religion are 
 from God. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That, in view both of this divine law and of its evident 
 enduring necessity, the Assembly enjoin on ministers, parents, teachers, 
 employers, and on all Christians under their care, that they practice and 
 teach, as abiding moral duty, the scrupulous observance of the Christian 
 day of rest and worship. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Assembly address to the young, especially, a 
 warning against that error, which of late has grown so bold and prevalent, 
 by which the moral and abiding substance of indispensable Sabbath duty 
 is speciously confounded with circumstances of Jewish ceremonial, to the 
 destruction, in many minds, of all sense of Christian obligation to keep 
 the fourth commandment. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That, in direct opposition to this grave error, the sympa- 
 thy of this Assembly and of our churches is pledged to every wise 
 endeavor to maintain in our land the unceremonial but reasonable, divine, 
 and lasting authority of our religious rest day. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That, while carefully denying to civil law all right to 
 
816 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 impose, or to meddle with, religious duty, the Assembly uphold the 
 necessity of such legislation as guards the people's day of rest and 
 religion, and heartily commend all earnest and prudent efforts put forth 
 in any community for making such legislation effective. Adopted. — 
 1879, p. 627. 
 
 b. Yet, in view of the great importance of the subject, your Committee 
 are deeply impressed that this Assembly should leave nothing undone 
 which it can do to arouse the Church to do her whole duty in further- 
 ance of this cause. And, in order to this, or, at least, as contributing 
 to it, although your Committee are deeply sensible they may not recom- 
 mend the best measures, we venture to report the following resolutions 
 for your adoption : 
 
 1. The Assembly would affectionately admonish all our people to bear 
 in mind that God has, by positive, moral and perpetual law, designated 
 one day in seven as sacred time — that He ' ' hallowed ' ' the Sabbath, 
 " sanctified it," set it apart from common to sacred purposes. Hence, to 
 use it, or any part of it, for things inconsistent with it as sacred, is sinful. 
 
 2. The Assembly earnestly entreat all members and officers of our 
 churches to guard against real violations of the fourth commandment, 
 by performing labor on the Sabbath, under the claim of necessity or 
 mercy, where such claim cannot be sustained by the Word of God. 
 
 3. The Assembly would urge upon all under their care to devise liberal 
 things for the dissemination of the principles of the Gospel and sound 
 views of the sacredness of the Sabbath among the German and other 
 populations coming to our shores. 
 
 4. That the Assembly do hereby, in a special manner, enjoin it upon 
 church Sessions to watch over their brethren with tenderness and great 
 fidelity in respect to the observance of the Sabbath, and to exercise 
 wholesome discipline when necessary. 
 
 5. That we urge it upon our ministers, in the pulpit and in their 
 pastoral labors, to present this subject in season, in all its serious impor- 
 tance, as related to the welfare of the whole people and the glory of God. 
 —1882, p. 85. 
 
 11. Reading of secular newspapers on the Sabbath discountenanced. 
 
 a. Resolved, That the General Assembly, believing that the practice, 
 on the part of church members, of reading secular papers on the Sabbath 
 day is alarmingly on the increase ; and believing, also, that it is a griev- 
 ous injury to the personal piety of the readers, and a serious obstacle to 
 the cause of Christ in every community, would deprecate this practice, 
 and would urge upon all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and desire the 
 spread of His kingdom in the world, to refrain from this practice, and to 
 do all in their power to discountenance it. — 1879, p. 627; 1880, p. 76; 
 1882, p. 84. 
 
 b. The buying and selling, advertising in and reading of Sunday 
 newspapers is pernicious from beginning to end; and should cease on the 
 part of all Christians. And all Christians ought to exert their influence, 
 actively, to induce others to abandon the use of the Sunday newspaper 
 entirely.— 1892, p. 158; 1896, p. 25. 
 
 12. The value and necessity of Sabbath observance. 
 
 a. The Special Committee on Sabbath Observance presented their 
 report, which was accepted, and is as follows: 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LOED's DAY. 817 
 
 The question of Sabbath observance, always important, has rapidly 
 increased in interest in recent years; and the duty of the Church in 
 relation to it has become more difficult, because more complicated. No 
 special class is alone responsible for the increased desecration of the Sab- 
 bath. Some occupations are, no doubt, more than others. But love of 
 gain, ambitious competition, and love of pleasure, wherever they can, 
 are pressing the people into error in this respect. If there are railroad, 
 steamboat, or other corporations willing to transport freight or passen- 
 gers, there are shippers willing to furnish the freight, and passengers 
 willing to travel, on the Lord's day. If these corporations or private 
 parties are willing to furnish conveyance for excursions, there are people 
 willing to travel on excursions. If there are corporations or individuals 
 willing to pay for common labor performed on the Sabbath, there are 
 those who will accept the pay and perform the work. If there are per- 
 sons willing to publish newspapers on the Sabbath, there is a large 
 number willing to buy and read them. If they could not be sold, they 
 would not be printed. Thus all through society. Sabbath desecration, 
 as it comes to the attention of this Assembly, is almost wholly a social 
 sin. There are two parties guilty — the one tempting, and the one yield- 
 ing to temptation. Or they mutually tempt and yield to each other's 
 temptation. This dual character of Sabbath- breaking, of course, does 
 not lessen the sin by division, but increases the number of the guilty. — 
 1882, p. 84. 
 
 b. Resolved, That this Assembly, reiterating the deliverances of former 
 Assemblies on the subject of Sabbath desecration, declares its most 
 emphatic condemnation of Sunday newspapers, and pleads that our 
 people wholly abstain from their use, and warns all Christian business 
 men against advertising in them their secular business. And it is eu joined 
 upon our pastors and Sessions to see that the pulpits of our Church bear 
 no uncertain voice in the matter. — 1886, p. 114. 
 
 13. American Sabbath Union. 
 
 a. With respect to the communication received from the General 
 Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now in session in New- 
 York city, inviting this Assembly to appoint a Committee of seven to 
 unite with similar Committees of that and other evangelical bodies in 
 this country to constitute a National Sabbath Committee, whose duty it 
 shall be " to make a deliverance on new phases of the Sabbath ques- 
 tion," your Committee would recommend the appointment of such 
 Committee fcr one year, and that they report the aims and methods of 
 the National Committee to the next General Assembly. 
 
 We would name the following as that Committee: Elliot F. Sheppard, 
 New York; James A. Beaver, Philadelphia; Byron Sunderland, Wash- 
 ington City; Herrick Johnson, Chicago; Francis C. Monfort, Cincinnati ; 
 Robert J. Trumbull, San Francisco; Samuel J. Niccolls, St. Louis. — 
 1888, p. 58. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the seven persons appointed by the General Assem- 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church in 1888, as members of a Committee in 
 respect to the Sabbath day, be and are continued until others may be 
 appointed in their places respectively. 
 
 Resolved, That the general plan of the American Sabbath Union be 
 and is commended. 
 52 
 
818 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 Resolved, That we cordially invite all other Christian bodies to com- 
 mend to their churches the said American Sabbath Union. 
 
 [Note.— See also 1892, p. 159. See Report, 1889, pp. 81-85 ; 1890, pp. 65-68 ; 1891, 
 pp. 62-65 ; 1892, pp. 154-160 ; 1893, pp. 54, 55 ; 1894, pp. 22-25 ; 1895, pp. 22, 23 ; 1896, 
 p. 27 ; 1897, p. 40. See also under No. 15, p. 819.] 
 
 14. The Columbian Exposition. 
 
 a. Resolved, That this General Assembly respectfully memorialize the 
 President and the Congress of the United States, to make it a condition 
 for any appropriation of the Government's moneys to the Columbian 
 Exposition, that it shall be kept closed on Sunday, and that the said 
 memorial, properly authenticated by the seal of the General Assembly, 
 and the signatures of the Moderator and of the Stated and Permanent 
 Clerks thereof, shall be entrusted to the President of the American Sab- 
 bath Union for presentation. 
 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly heartily joins with the General 
 Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, and 
 with other branches of the Church of Christ, in recommending to all 
 Christians to abstain from patronizing the Columbian Exposition in 
 1893, either by sending exhibits there, or buying or selling goods there 
 or attending it in person, if its gates should be burst open on Sunday. 
 But if its gates shall be kept closed on Sunday, then we heartily recom- 
 mend it to the patronage of all nations, and pray God to prosper it. 
 
 Resolved, That we commend all men, everywhere, to remember the 
 Sabbath day to keep it holy.— 1892, p. 159. 
 
 b. 1. This General Assembly reiterates the action of 1891, petition- 
 ing that the Columbian Exposition be kept closed on the Lord's day. 
 
 2. We order that no exhibition be made in the interests of the Presby- 
 terian Church, or as representing this Assembly, except with the express 
 provision that we reserve the right to cover our exhibit on the Lord's 
 day, if the Exposition be opened on that day. — 1892, p. 179. 
 
 C. 1. The Assembly receives with deep regret the intelligence of the 
 death, on March 24, of Col. Elliot F. Shepard, the Chairman of the 
 Committee on Sabbath Observance, and desires to express its high 
 appreciation of the valuable services he has rendered to the Sabbath 
 cause by his tireless efforts and his liberal contributions. 
 
 2. The Assembly expresses its profound gratitude to Almighty God for 
 the success of the effort to secure in our National Legislature a prohibi- 
 tion of Sunday opening at the Columbian Exposition, and its apprecia- 
 tion of the action of Congress in deciding by so large a majority to con- 
 tinue the time-honored course of the American people in doing reverence 
 to the Lord's day. It joins the whole Church in hearty thanksgiving 
 that we have been spared the humiliation, as a Christian nation, of a 
 public sanction of the Sunday opening of the World's Fair. And it 
 hereby voices what it believes to be the well-nigh unanimous judgment of 
 the Church it represents, in declaring that any attempt, after this public 
 and official expression of the nation's will, to open the gates of the 
 Exposition on the Sabbath would be a gross affront to the Christian con- 
 science, and a flagrant breach of faith. 
 
 And inasmuch as the local managers have decided to open the gates of 
 the Exposition in defiance of the authority of Congress, and in clear 
 violation of the principles of common honesty, as well as of God's 
 command, therefore, 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 819 
 
 3. That we urge upon our people the importance of standing by their 
 consciences at whatever sacrifice of personal profit or pleasure. If the 
 trial of their integrity is come, let them not defile themselves with the 
 king's meat (Dan. i. 8) 
 
 8. That our denominational exhibit be removed from the Columbian 
 Exposition in case the Sabbath-closing rule is hereafter violated. — 1893, 
 pp. 55, 56. 
 
 15. The divine authority and universal and perpetual obligation 
 of the Sabbath. National Sabbath societies. 
 
 a. Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly reaffirms its belief in the 
 divine authority and universal and perpetual obligation of the Sabbath. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we lay upon the individual conscience the responsi- 
 bility of personal example in keeping the Lord's day, by avoiding what- 
 ever tends to desecrate it, such as the buying, reading and supporting in 
 any manner the Sunday secular newspaper, unnecessary Sunday travel, 
 amusements foreign to the spiritual purposes of the day, social enter- 
 tainments that dissipate serious thought and needless self-indulgence 
 during its sacred hours. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That we call upon all the members of our churches and 
 upon all friends of the Sabbath to use their influence in ^every lawful 
 way to prevent such legislation as would weaken civil enactments passed 
 with a view to protect the Christian Sabbath as a day of rest and wor- 
 ship. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That we view with delight the intelligent interest of 
 Sunday-schools and Young People's Societies in the proper observance of 
 the Lord's day, and would also heartily commend all Sabbath associa- 
 tions organized to maintain this sacred institution. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That as the Christian pulpit can never fulfill its sacred 
 functions without declaring fearlessly the truth of God concerning the 
 claims, sanctities and obligations of the Sabbath, we rejoice in the assur- 
 ance that sound teaching upon this subject by the ministry has never 
 been more general or effective than at present. — 1894, p. 24; 1895, pp. 
 22, 23; 1896, p. 25. 
 
 b. The Sabbath, the Lord's day of rest for the body, and of worship 
 for the soul, is especially threatened by many unscriptural innovations. 
 
 Among the chief perils are the greed of gain, which compels thousands 
 against their mil to work on the Lord's clay; the dissemination of theo- 
 ries concerning individual liberty and social order, which are destructive 
 of our best national traditions; Sunday excursions; Sunday baseball 
 games; Sunday theatres and Sunday bicycle pleasure riding; an alarm- 
 ing laxity of sentiment among many who profess and call themselves 
 Christians, in reference to the binding obligation of the fourth command- 
 ment on the individual conscience; the introduction in many Christian 
 homes on the Lord's day of social entertainment; self -indulgence on this 
 day foreign to the Scriptural standard of holy living, and subversive of 
 true Sabbath rest. Not the least of the perils to which we would refer 
 is a Sunday secular literature, which interferes with the public ministra- 
 tions of the sanctuary, causing the secular to supersede the spiritual. 
 
 We believe there is a more general and lamentable lack of conscience 
 in regard to violations of the fourth commandment than to any other of 
 the Decalogue. 
 
 The hope of the Church and of the nation is in the revival of the 
 
820 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 public conscience on all moral questions ; especially on the sacred obliga- 
 tion to ' ' Remember the Sabbath day ;' ' the natural memorial for all ages 
 of a consummated redemption and a type of the " rest that remaineth 
 for the people of God. ' ' 
 
 Your Committee would therefore ask this Assembly to enter its solemn 
 protest against all forms of Sabbath desecration destructive of this 
 weekly season of rest and worship which God has so graciously ordained 
 for our good, and would recommend the adoption of the following 
 resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. The General Assembly reaffirms its belief that the law 
 of the Lord's day is a law of perpetual binding obligation upon all men. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we entreat our members and all other persons to 
 conscientiously discountenance whatever tends to break down the distinc- 
 tion between this and other days'; as, for instance, Sunday trading; buy- 
 ing, reading or in any way supporting Sunday secular newspapers; social 
 entertainments and visitations that dissipate serious thought, and all self- 
 indulgence on the Lord's day that tends to unfit them for God's worship 
 and to impoverish their spiritual nature; and we raise our voice against 
 the desecration of the Sabbath by the opening of theatres on this day, 
 and call upon our ministers, members and all good citizens to seek the 
 stay of this great curse. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That we refer with pleasure to the efforts that are being 
 made through Sabbath-schools and Young People's Societies to educate 
 the rising generation as to the claims, sanctities and obligations of the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That we recommend to our j>astors and churches that as 
 far as practicable the last Sabbath in October shall be specially devoted 
 to the consideration of the binding obligation to ' ' Remember the Sabbath 
 day to keep it holy;" and that we earnestly invite all Christians to unite 
 with us in setting apart that Sabbath for special instruction in the home, 
 in the church, and in the Sunday-school in reference to the Lord's day. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That those Sabbath associations of our land, having a 
 Christian basis, and being in sympathy with Sunday laws passed with a 
 view to protect the day of rest and worship, should have a claim upon 
 the cooperation and practical support of the Christian public, and that 
 we especially indorse with our cordial approval the American Sabbath 
 Union and the Woman's National Sabbath Alliance (auxiliary to the 
 American Sabbath Union), and recommend these organizations espe- 
 cially to Christian men and women in all our communities. — 1896, pp. 
 24-27. 
 
 C. Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly reaffirms its belief that the 
 law of the Sabbath is a law of perpetual binding obligation upon all 
 men. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That we call upon all members of our churches, members 
 of Young People's Societies and Sabbath -schools, together with all 
 friends of God's law, to use their personal influence for the Biblical 
 observance of the day by abstaining from the purchase and reading of 
 the Sunday newspaper, from all riding of the bicycle for pleasure or 
 recreation on the Lord's day, from all forms of amusements, from unneces- 
 sary visiting and from all things that are unproductive of holiness in 
 men, and to be faithful to religious duty and life on this holy day. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That while the ministers of the Presbyterian Church are 
 to be commended for their faithful presentation of the truth concerning 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 821 
 
 the claims and obligations of the Sabbath they are reminded of the 
 necessity of renewed diligence in its defense and proper observance. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That the American Sabbath Union and the Woman's 
 National Sabbath Alliance, societies organized for the purpose of enlist- 
 ing all Christian men and women in the work of conserving the Ameri- 
 can Sabbath and also to organize auxiliary societies for the distribution 
 of Sabbath literature, and to use all methods for the quickening of the 
 public conscience, and awakening interest for the promotion of the 
 Biblical Christian Sabbath, receive our cordial indorsement and approval. 
 And we hereby heartily commend them to those who are stewards of the 
 Lord's gold and silver, a small portion of which is necessary for their 
 work.— 1897, p. 40. 
 
 16. Decoration of soldiers' graves upon the Sabbath disapproved. 
 
 Resolved, That while this Assembly sympathize most heartily with 
 the noble and touching tribute to be paid to the memory of our buried 
 soldiers whose lives were sacrificed in the cause of the Union, as, under 
 the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, their graves are to 
 be decorated with floral offerings, yet we enter our most earnest protest 
 against the proposed unnecessary desecration of the Sabbath for this pur- 
 pose ; and urgently request the proper authorities to appoint the next 
 Saturday as the time for this interesting ceremony. — 1869, p. 259, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — A committee was appointed by each of the Assemblies, 0. S. and N. S., 
 then meeting in New York (1869, p. 259, N. S. ; p. 900 O. S.) ; to confer with the 
 authorities of the Grand Army. The parade took place on Monday.] 
 
 III. Let the provisions for the support of the family on that day be 
 so ordered, that servants or others be not improperly detained from the 
 public worship of God; nor hindered from sanctifying the Sabbath. 
 
 IV. Let every person and family, in the morning, by secret and 
 private prayer, for themselves and others, especially for the assistance of 
 God to their minister, and for a blessing upon his ministry; by reading 
 the Scriptures, and by holy meditation ; prepare for communion with God 
 in his public ordinances. 
 
 V. Let the people be careful to assemble at the appointed time ; that, 
 being all present at the beginning, they may unite, with one heart, in all 
 the parts of public worship : and let none unnecessarily depart, till after 
 the blessing be pronounced. 
 
 VI. Let the time after the solemn services of the congregation in 
 public are over, be spent in reading; meditation; repeating of sermons; 
 catechising ; religious conversation ; prayer for a blessing upon the public 
 ordinances; the singing of psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs; visiting the 
 sick ; relieving the poor ; and in performing such like duties of piety, 
 charity, and mercy. 
 
 1. Instruction in the Holy Scriptures. 
 Resolved, 1. That it be recommended, and it is hereby recommended, 
 earnestly to the ministers and Sessions which are in connection with the 
 General Assembly, to pay especial attention to this subject, and provide 
 without delay for the stated instruction of the ehildreu and youth in the 
 sacred Scriptures within their respective congregations. 
 
822 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That although the particular manner of instruction and 
 recitation in the congregations ought to be left to the discretion of their 
 ministers and Sessions respectively ; yet as some degree of uniformity is 
 desirable in a business of so much magnitude, it is recommended as the 
 most effectual means of promoting the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, 
 that in all our churches, classes be formed of the youth to recite the 
 Scriptures in regular order; that the recitations, if convenient, be as 
 often as once a week, and from two to five chapters appointed for each 
 recitation ; that the youth be examined on, 
 
 (1) The history of the world, but more especially of the Church of 
 God, and of the heathen nations who were God's agents in accomplishing 
 His purposes toward His Church. 
 
 (2) Persons noted for their piety or ungodliness, and the effects of 
 their example in promoting or injuring the best interests of mankind. 
 
 (3) Doctrines and precepts, or " what man is to believe concerning 
 God, and what duty God requires of man." 
 
 (4) Positive ordinances, or the directions which God has given as to 
 the way in which He is to be worshiped acceptably. 
 
 (5) The particular features of character of which the Spirit of God 
 has given notice, both in wicked and good persons ; in the last particu- 
 larly regarding those who were types of Christ, and in what the typical 
 resemblance consisted. 
 
 (6) The gradual increase from time to time of information concerning 
 the doctrines contained in the Scriptures; noting the admirable adapta- 
 tion of every new revelation of doctrine to the increased maturity of the 
 Church. The nature of God's law, its immutability, as constituting an 
 everlasting rule of right and wrong, the full and perfect illustration of 
 its precepts given by Christ. 
 
 (7) The change which God has made from time to time in the positive 
 ordinances, together with the reasons of that change. The difference 
 between the moral law, and those laws which are positive. 
 
 (8) The illustrations of the divine perfections in the history, biog- 
 raphy, doctrines and precepts, together with the positive ordinances of 
 the Scriptures. 
 
 (9) The practical lessons to regulate our conduct in the various rela- 
 tions of life. 
 
 On all these particulars the meaning of the words used in Scripture 
 must be ascertained, and thus we may understand what we read. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the Presbyteries under the care of the Assembly be 
 directed to take order on this subject, and they are hereby informed that 
 this is not to come in the place of learning the Catechism of our Church, 
 but to be added to it, as an important branch of religious education. — 
 1816, p. 627. 
 
 2. On Sabbath-schools and instruction of the young. 
 
 a. In all parts of the Church, Sunday-schools are established, and , 
 there is but one sentiment respecting them. The Assembly consider them 
 as among the most useful and blessed institutions of the present day. 
 They have a most extensive reforming influence. They apply a power- 
 ful corrective to the most inaccessible portions of the community. They 
 begin moral education at the right time, in the best manner, and under 
 the most promising circumstances. They act indirectly, but most power- 
 fully, upon teachers and parents, and frequently become the means of 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD ? S DAY. 823 
 
 bringing them to the church, and to the knowledge and love of the truth. 
 Sunday-schools are highly useful everywhere; but they are peculiarly 
 adapted to new and destitute regions of the Church. The plan is sim- 
 ple and easily accomplished. It requires comparatively little knowledge 
 and experience to conduct them with ability. Very much good has been 
 accomplished by the instrumentality of young ladies and gentlemen. 
 The pleasing scene is often witnessed in some of our new settlements, of 
 large meetings of children on the Lord's day, in schoolhouses, or beneath 
 the shade of the original forest. The voice of praise and prayer is 
 heard, and the Word of the living God is proclaimed, amid the most 
 beautiful works of His hand. — 1824, p. 129. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the General Assembly do cordially approve of the 
 design and operations of the American Sunday-school Union; and they 
 do earnestly recommend to all ministers and churches under their care to 
 employ their vigorous and continued exertions in the establishment and 
 support of Sabbath -schools. — 1826, p. 181. 
 
 C. Resolved, 1. That the Assembly regard the religious education of 
 youth as a subject of vital importance, identified with the most precious 
 interests and hopes of the Christian Church. 
 
 2. That the present indications of divine providence are such as impe- 
 riously to demand of the Christian community unusual effort to train up 
 the rising generation in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 3. That the Board of Missions be and hereby are instructed to enjoin 
 it on their missionaries sedulously to attend to the religious education of 
 the young ; and particularly that they use all practical efforts to establish 
 Sabbath- schools; and to extend and perpetuate the blessings of Sabbath- 
 school instruction. 
 
 4. That the system of Sabbath-school instruction, now in prevalent 
 and cheering operation, be and hereby is most earnestly recommended to 
 the attention of the pastors and Sessions of all our churches. 
 
 5. That the Presbyteries be and hereby are enjoined to make the 
 progress of the Sabbath- school cause within their bounds the subject of 
 special inquiry, and annually to transmit the results of such inquiry to 
 the General Assembly. 
 
 6. That inasmuch as the advantages of the Sabbath -school may, in 
 some cases, be the occasion of remissness in the important duty of family 
 instruction, it be and hereby is earnestly recommended to heads of 
 families not to relax in their personal religious efforts at home, and in 
 the domestic circle ; but that they abound more and more in the use of all 
 appropriate means, to promote sound knowledge and experimental piety, 
 in every member of their households. 
 
 7. That as there is reason to apprehend that the Catechisms of this 
 Church have not, in some parts of our Zion, received that measure of 
 attention to which their excellence entitles them, it be and hereby is 
 recommended to pastors, Sessions, heads of families, superintendents of 
 Sabbath- schools, and all charged with the education of youth, in our 
 connection, to give these admirable summaries of Christian truth and 
 duty a prominent place in their instructions to the youth and children 
 under their care. 
 
 8. That it be and hereby is recommended to the pastors and Sessions 
 of our churches to make themselves acquainted with the system of infant- 
 school instruction, now in happy progress in many places, and if practi- 
 
824 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 cable to establish such schools in their congregations. — 1830, pp. 303, 
 304. 
 
 [Note.— See under Form of Government, Chap, xii, Sec. v, Board of Publication 
 and Sabbath-school Work, p. 366, seq.~\ 
 
 3. Pastoral Letter on Sabbath-schools. 
 
 The Committee appointed to prepare a Pastoral Letter presented their 
 report, which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Chnrch in the United States 
 of America, greeting, to the Sessions of the churches, and through them 
 to the parents and Sabbath- school teachers in our connection: 
 
 As ministers and ruling elders representing the Presbyteries and 
 churches, and met in the highest judicatory of our Church, we address 
 to you, as coworkers with us, this Pastoral Letter. 
 
 We address you in behalf of the vast crowds of children springing 
 into life and rapidly rising into manhood and womanhood, than which no 
 more affecting vision looms up to the view of the Christian and the Chris- 
 tian Church. 
 
 Grave questions force themselves upon us as to these : What is to be their 
 aim ? What is to be their character ? What is to be their destiny ? 
 What duty is each of us called to in reference to the rising race ? In 
 the language of Manoah concerning his son, who was to be the avenger 
 of Israel, " How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto 
 him?" 
 
 As Samson, his son, was to go forth, after suitable training, in the 
 prowess of his physical strength to compete with the enemies of Israel, 
 so are the children under our training to go forth to the great spiritual 
 conflict. How, then, shall they be ordered ? how trained as Christian 
 athletes, to be able to burst asunder the green withes and the new ropes 
 with which sin would bind them, and to push down the pillars of 
 Dagon's temple ? Not only are they to be trained to stand firm when 
 assaulted with temptations, but to make onslaughts upon the powers of 
 darkness. 
 
 In view of the seductive influence of much of our modern literature 
 on the one hand, and the facilities for effecting good by well aimed 
 efforts on the other, the children are to be taught, not only to use defen- 
 sive armor, but to employ the weapons which are mighty through God to 
 the pulling down of strongholds. 
 
 Are the lives of our children to be a failure, and worse than a failure ? 
 or are they to ^be examples of virtue and piety, in whose light others 
 shall walk in the path of life ? 
 
 Among the instrumentalities to lead our children to safety and useful- 
 ness we recognize the Sabbath school as occupying a position of very 
 high prominence. But the value of the Sabbath-school depends upon 
 the kind of instruction imparted. 
 
 We concede that the International Sabbath- school system recently 
 inaugurated is one of great excellence, and the blessings flowing from its 
 introduction, we trust, will be many and substantial. But it is our hope 
 and expectation to engraft upon it still better scions, that shall yield 
 richer and better fruit. We are already, as many of you know, sending 
 forth helps, through our Board of Publication, which weave into the 
 lessons the Shorter Catechism, suggested, illustrated and enforced by the 
 passages of Scripture forming the basis of these Lessons. We have 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 825 
 
 recommended to the Board " to incorporate into its system of Lesson 
 Papers and Question Books brief expositions of the answers of the 
 Shorter Catechism. ' ' 
 
 We feel constrained, therefore, to exhort you affectionately to have 
 introduced, if it has not been done, into the Sabbath-schools the Question 
 Books and Lesson Papers published by our own Board of Publication 
 rather than to depend upon helps from sources less decided for the truth. 
 We affectionately exhort that the Shorter Catechism be used in all our 
 Sabbath-schools, that parents assist the teachers in encouraging their 
 children to commit the same to memory, and that teachers make these 
 young disciples familiar, not only with the tried and eminently rich 
 doctrines and important duties taught in our Standards, but with our 
 Form of Government and Directory for Worship. Let each Session, at 
 its earliest convenience, take action on the subject. 
 
 If parents and teachers would honor these Standards in their families 
 and schools, there would be wrought into the hearts and minds of the 
 rising race a love for the good and the true, such as no false system could 
 displace. Formulated and wholesome doctrines would not be dispar- 
 aged, and pure gold would not give place to tinsel. 
 
 We need not remind you that the apostles frequently inculcate, in 
 their epistles, the importance of adhering to sound doctrine. The disci- 
 ple whom Jesus loved, and who leaned upon His breast at the holy com- 
 munion, rejoiced greatly in his fellowship with the Father and with His 
 Son Jesus Christ. And yet he says, "I have no greater joy than to 
 know that my children walk in truth " (3 John 4). So every minister 
 and parent and Christian should rejoice in knowing that the hearts of 
 the young are brought under the influence of divine truth. 
 
 The history of the progress and decline of truth, alternately assaulting 
 and yielding to error, presents a story full of interest and instruction. 
 With what a glorious light did it burst upon the European world three 
 centuries ago, when the Papacy received a blow from which it has never 
 recovered ! And how did it rise again when France and Germany and 
 the most of the nations of Europe were declaring for Protestantism! 
 Then it was that the founder of the Jesuits contrived to bring back the 
 waning power of Popery. He trained teachers, he sent them out into all 
 the lands, men of popular address and of missionary zeal to make prose- 
 lytes; and schools were established, and young hearts were won for 
 Rome, and Popery again stood up erect. This has been Rome's policy 
 ever since, and this has been the secret of her success. 
 
 Who shall teach the young, and how shall they be taught ? is the ques- 
 tion of the age. The conflict between truth and error will continue, and 
 parents and teachers must gird themselves for the earnest battle. 
 
 Beloved brethren in the Lord, let us awake to the vast importance of 
 training a people for God and for our country. Our children should 
 learu that this land is given them for the salvation of the world. Let 
 teachers be impressed with the truth that the child is more important than 
 the man, because it has a better opportunity to be moulded for the work 
 of God, and because it has a longer future for its work. When the heart 
 of the fathers shall be turned to the chidren, and the heart of the chil- 
 dren to their fathers, God will not come and smite the land with a curse. 
 Sow the seed, then, in hope; for " he thatgoeth forth and weepeth, bear- 
 ing precious seed, shall doubtless return again with rejoicing, bringing his 
 sheaves with him." 
 
826 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 The words which you utter to your children and your classes are letters 
 inscribed on veiled tablets, to be unveiled, if not sooner, when the Great 
 Assembly shall meet. The minds of these young immortals are so many 
 phonographs, to receive your words, and to reproduce them when your 
 tongues shall be silent in death, and they may be rehearsed to millions in 
 the great future. Abel, " being dead, yet speaketh." — 1878, pp. 
 95-98. 
 
 4. Cathechetical instruction enjoined. 
 
 a. Resolved, That as there is reason to apprehend that the Catechisms 
 of this Church have not in some parts of our Zion received that measure 
 of attention to which their excellence entitles them, it be, and hereby is 
 recommended to pastors, Sessions, heads of families, superintendents of 
 Sabbath -schools, and all charged with the education of youth, in our 
 connection, to give these admirable seminaries of Christian truth and duty 
 a prominent place in their instructions to the youth and children under 
 their care.— 1830, p. 304. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the use of the Catechism in the religious instruction 
 of the young, and of the children under the care of the Church, be 
 affectionately and earnestly recommended to the Sessions in connection 
 with the General Assembly, as the most effectual means under God of 
 preserving the purity, peace and unity of the Church. — 1832, p. 372. 
 
 C. The following resolutions on the subject of catechetical instruction 
 were unanimously adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly consider the practice of cate- 
 chetical instruction as well adapted to the prosperity and purity of our 
 Zion. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That this Assembly view also with deep regret the neglect, 
 on the part of many of our churches, of this good old practice of our 
 fathers; a practice which has been attended with such blessed results to 
 the cause of pure and undefiled religion. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the institution of Sabbath -schools does not exonerate 
 ministers and parents from the duty of teaching the Shorter Catechism 
 to the children of the Church. 
 
 Resolved, 4. That this Assembly earnestly and affectionately recommend 
 to all ministers and ruling elders in its connection to teach diligently the 
 young of their respective congregations the Assembly's Shorter Cate- 
 chism.-1849, p. 181, N. S. 
 
 d. Resolved, That the Assembly regard Christian training at all periods 
 of youth and by all practicable methods, especially by parents at home, 
 by teachers in institutions of learning, and by pastors through catechetical 
 and Bible classes, as binding upon the Church according to the injunction, 
 " Train up a child in the way he should go," and as having a vital 
 connection with the increase of numbers and efficiency, of the ministry 
 and of the stability and purity of the Church. — 1854, p. 30, O. S. 
 
 e. Resolved, That this Assembly recommend that the Westminster 
 Assembly's Catechism be introduced as a text-book into all the Sabbath- 
 schools under our supervision and control, where it is not now used. — 
 1866, p. 278, N. S. 
 
 5. Relation of Sabbath-schools to the family. 
 We are pleased to find that our Sabbath-school system appears to be 
 gaining upon the confidence of the churches, but we caution heads of 
 families against the idea that their duties may be delegated to the Sab - 
 
OF THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 827 
 
 bath-school teacher. The obligations of parents are intransferable. The 
 teacher is not the parent's substitute, but his helper; and it is equally 
 the duty of the parent to superintend the instruction of his family as 
 though there were no such thing as a Sabbath- school. — 1840, p. 310, O. 
 S.; 1877, p. 516. 
 
 6. Relation of the Sabbath-school to the Session. 
 
 a. These schools should always be under the direction of the pastor 
 and Session, and they should see to it that our Catechisms constitute, in 
 all cases, a part of the regular course of instruction. — 1840, p. 310, 
 O. S. ; 1877, p. 516. 
 
 b. The Sabbath -school — like all the religious institutions and agencies 
 of each individual church — is and ought to be under the watch and care 
 of the Session, and should be regarded not as superseding but as cooper- 
 ating with the entire system of pastoral instruction, the responsibilities 
 of which it should not in any manner diminish. — 1863, p. 241, N. S. ; 
 1877, p. 516. 
 
 C. The Assembly resumed the unfinished business, being the considera- 
 tion of the report of the Committee on Sunday-schools, which was 
 amended, adopted, and is as follows: .... 
 
 Resolved, 1. That it belongs emphatically to the pastor and elders of 
 each congregation to direct and supervise the whole work of the spiritual 
 training of the young, and that it is an important part of the functions of 
 their office both to encourage parents to fidelity in bringing up their chil- 
 dren in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and also to secure the 
 cooperation of all the competent members of the Church in the religious 
 education of all the children and youth to whom they can gain access. 
 
 2. That great attention ought to be paid to the work of inculcating 
 lessons from the sacred Scriptures, and of fixing in the memory the 
 Catechisms of our Church both as to its doctrine and polity ; and still 
 further, of combining all the schools of a congregation in united worship 
 as far as possible, and especially of leading them to Jesus in the exercise 
 of a liviDg faith and continued reliance on the Holy Spirit. 
 
 3. That to the above end we would further recommend to the pastors 
 that they adapt, wherever practicable, the second discourse of every 
 Sabbath particularly to the young of their flock; thus affording to this, 
 the most susceptible and hopeful portion of their fields, at least one-half 
 of their time and labor, and giving their children distinctly to feel that 
 they have a place, no less in the sanctuary than in the Sunday-school, 
 both for worship and instruction. 
 
 4. That church Sessions be required to furnish in their statistical 
 reports a full account of the number of Sunday-school scholars and 
 teachers in their respective congregations, to be embodied in the Assem- 
 bly's minutes. 
 
 5. That a Permanent Committee of the Assembly be appointed, whose 
 duty it shall be to take charge of this great interest, and to report what- 
 ever may quicken and stimulate the Church in its duty of training the 
 young according to the Word of God. 
 
 6. That this General Assembly earnestly recommend to the pastors of 
 the churches within its bounds to present before their congregations, in 
 one or more discourses, the relation of baptized children to the Church, 
 and the reciprocal duties between parents and children growing out of 
 
828 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. I. 
 
 this relation, as defined in the Word of God and declared in the doctrines 
 of our Church. 
 
 7. That it is exceedingly desirable that the entire congregation, old 
 and young, be permanently connected with the Sunday-school either as 
 scholars or teachers.— 1864, pp. 507, 508, N. S. ; reaffirmed, 1877, p. 
 516. 
 
 d. The Committee to whom were referred certain resolutions on the 
 subject of Sabbath- schools would respectfully report the following 
 minute : 
 
 The Sabbath -school, in its original design, as it lay in the mind of its 
 founder, was simply a means of imparting instruction to the children of 
 the poor. While that great purpose should never be lost sight of, yet 
 the institution has grown to be an important auxiliary to the Church in 
 the instruction and religious culture of her children. As such, it 
 naturally comes under the direction of the pastor and Session of each 
 church, and they should ever be recognized as its proper guardians and 
 supervisors. They have no more right to relinquish this solemn respon- 
 sibility than they have to give up the care and discipline and instruction 
 of the church. He who said to His apostle, "Feed my sheep," said 
 also, " Feed my lambs." With this obvious fact of the responsibility 
 of pastors for the children of their churches, the General Assembly does 
 hereby set forth the following principles as guides to pastors and Sessions 
 in fulfilling their duties in respect to the Sabbath-school work. 
 
 1. The pastoral office involves the practical supervision of the Sab- 
 bath-school. The pastor should frequently, if not constantly, be present 
 to counsel and aid those who may under him be engaged in the work of 
 instruction. 
 
 2. While the Holy Bible is the great text-book of the Sabbath -school, 
 it is eminently fitting that the summary of Christian doctrine as contained 
 in our admirable Shorter Catechism should also be taught, and that a 
 lesson therefrom should be recited at least once a month, and that at least 
 once in a quarter the pastor himself should examine the whole school 
 therein, adding thereto such explanations and illustrations as may to him 
 seem proper. 
 
 3. The books of the Sabbath -school library should be wholly subject 
 to the supervision of the pastor and ruling elders, and no work, except 
 it be published by our Board of Publication, shall be admitted, which 
 they have not approved. In this examination care should be taken that 
 no book receives their sanction which might give the minds of children 
 a bias unfavorable to the order, doctrine and practices of our Church, 
 or which might beget a taste for frivolous literature, or which does not 
 impart some weighty truth or important information. 
 
 4. In addition to the exercises of the Sabbath- school, every pastor 
 should hold frequent meetings, especially for the children, in which the 
 addresses and services are adapted to their intellectual capacities and 
 wants. 
 
 5. Presbyteries are hereby enjoined, in their annual inquiry into the 
 state of the churches within their bounds, to ascertain whether these 
 principles are adhered to, and how far they are carried into practice. 
 
 6. The Assembly furthermore recognizes the importance of securing 
 for those engaged in the work of Sabbath -school instruction all the aids 
 that may have been prepared either in our own country or abroad, 
 whether in illustration or explanation of the doctrines of the Word of 
 
OF THE S A NOTIFICATION OF THE LORD'S DAY. 829 
 
 God, or in reference to the conduct and discipline of the Church, or in 
 regard to the best methods of securing its prosperity and largest success. 
 For this purpose the Board of Publication is directed to add to their list 
 of works all such helps to Sabbath-school instruction as may be found 
 valuable and useful, either by the republication of standard foreign 
 works, or the issue of those which may be obtained from authors at 
 home, and to procure for the use of pastors and teachers, at their request, 
 such works published by other societies or establishments as may be valu- 
 able auxiliaries in the great work of the Sabbath -school. 
 
 7. It should be the aim of all engaged in the religious culture 
 of the young, whether parents or guardians, or pastors and teachers, to 
 counteract, as far as possible, the tendencies of the age to unhealthy 
 excitements, to a vapid and enervating literature, which only enfeebles 
 and demoralizes the mind, and often corrupts the heart; to induce the 
 youth under their care to seek for sound and wholesome doctrine ; to 
 correct their taste ; to beget in them a love for those noble and substantial 
 works which were the food on which our fathers fed, and by which they 
 grew into a strength and greatness which has made them ever after to be 
 remembered.— 1867, p. 351, O. S. ; confirmed, 1877, p. 516. 
 
 e. We again call the attention of our Sabbath -schools to the deliver- 
 ances of former General Assemblies, which refer the supervision of their 
 work, the selection of officers and teachers, the direction of the benevo- 
 lence, and the general conduct of the school to the Session of the church. 
 —1885, p. 627. 
 
 7. Superintendents to be appointed or approved by Session. 
 
 a. In all of our Sabbath- schools superintendents should be chosen or 
 appointed, subject to the approval of the Session. — 1878, p. 26. 
 
 b. The Assembly earnestly recommends the Sessions of all our 
 churches, in the exercise of their right, to appoint the superintendent 
 and maintain a careful and authoritative supervision of all the Sabbath- 
 school work of their congregations and mission enterprises. — 1882, p. 49. 
 
 8. Teachers to be approved by Session. 
 
 The selection of teachers belongs to the Session of the church. — 1885, 
 p. 627. 
 
 9. Primary instruction to be given. 
 
 It is recommended to the pastors and Sessions of our churches to make 
 themselves acquainted with the system of infant-school instruction, and 
 to establish such schools in their congregations. — 1830, p. 303. 
 
 10. The Shorter Catechism to be taught in the schools. 
 
 The use of the Catechism in the religious instruction of the young, 
 and of the children under the care of the church, is affectionately and 
 earnestly recommended to the Sessions, as the most effectual means, under 
 God, of preserving the purity, peace and unity of the Church. — 1832, 
 p. 372. 
 
 The pastors and Sessions should see to it that in congregations where 
 the Shorter Catechism is neglected, it be introduced and used with due 
 prominence. — 1878, pp. 25, 26. 
 
 The Assembly earnestly recommends the systematic study of the 
 Shorter Catechism in all the Sabbath-schools. — 1891, p. 129. 
 
830 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. I— II. 
 
 11. The schools to be supported by the churches. 
 Many of our schools are left by the particular churches to which they 
 belong without any proper provision for their support. The schools are 
 left to provide the funds for their current expenses; and the inteK 
 interest and affection of the children are centred iu self-care. No more 
 should parents expect their little children to pay for their own bread, 
 clothes and schoolbooks than should the church expect them to bear the 
 expense of their instruction in the Sabbath -school. — 1895, p. > s 
 
 12. Sessions to supervise the contributions of the schools. 
 
 That pastors and Sessions be urgently requested to maintain a careful 
 supervision of the objects for which collections are made in the Sabbath- 
 schools, and to secure their contribution to our own benevolent causes. — 
 1882, p. 4-. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church should " make the Sabbath-school a training 
 school in methods and objects of Christian benevolence, to the eud that 
 our young people may understand the work and love the great Boards of 
 our Church — not part, but all of them. — 1895, p. ^ v 
 
 13. Children's Day commended. 
 The General Assembly notices with approval the observance by our 
 churches and Sabbath-schools of the second Sabbath oIl June, designated 
 as • Children's Day," and emphasizes the importance of seeking the 
 presence and power of the Holy Spirit in these service-, that they may 
 not be simply attractive, but profitable, contributing to the conversion 
 and Christian nurture of the young. — 1885, p. 62 
 
 14. Presbyterian Lesson Helps to be used. 
 There is nothing now in the complaint, so often heard in former years. 
 that Presbyterian Lesson Helps are too expensive. A careful compari- 
 son with the price of " Helps " published by the leading houses in this 
 business, shows that our Board is furnishing better goods for les- 
 and if this were not enough, it is giving free of all cost supplies to needy 
 schools. There is no shadow of justification, or even excuse, for patron- 
 izing irresponsible concerns whose supplies would be dear at any price. — 
 1895, p. 88. * 
 
 15. Loyalty to our own Sabbath-school agencies recommended. 
 There is no force in the plea for non-denominational work as being 
 
 better adapted to reach the masses. People will love the agency that 
 cares for them ; they will love the Presbyterian Church, and come into 
 it gladly, if the Presbyterian Church proves that she lovgs them and 
 seeks their good. So we urge our people to stand loyally by their own 
 Church agency for this work, and to give what they have for this cause, 
 through our own Board. — 1895, p. 88. 
 
 16. Standing Committees of Presbyteries and Synods on Sabbath- 
 
 school Work. 
 
 The Assembly recommends that a Standing Committee on Sabbath - 
 schools be appointed by each Presbytery and Synod for the purpose of 
 holding Sabbath-school institutes, stimulating normal classes, guarding 
 against the intrusion of outside lesson helps, purifying the literature of 
 Sabbath -school libraries, and to obtain statistics for the use of the secre- 
 tary of this department. — 1882, p. 48. 
 
OF THE ASSEMBLING AND BEHAVIOR OF THE CONGREGATION. 831 
 
 17. Systematic Bible study by the whole congregation. 
 
 1. Pastors and Sessions are urged to put forth practical and persistent 
 efforts to enlist their entire congregations in systematic Bible study and 
 teaching in connection with the Sabbath-school. 
 
 2. The General Assembly again emphasizes the duty of church Ses- 
 sions to exercise supervision over their Sabbath-schools, especially in the 
 choice of officers and teachers 
 
 3. In the judgment of the General Assembly, greater prominence 
 should be given in Sabbath-school contributions to the causes represented 
 by our Boards, that the scholars may be educated intelligently to con- 
 tribute to each always, and especially remembering the Sabbath-school 
 Missionary Department of the Board of Publication. Adopted. — 1883, 
 p. 616. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE ASSEMBLING OF THE CONGREGATION AND 
 THEIR BEHAVIOR DURING DIVINE SERVICE. 
 
 I. When the time appointed for public worship is come, let the people 
 enter the church, and take their seats in a decent, grave, and reverent 
 manner. 
 
 II. In time of public worship, let all the people attend with gravity 
 and reverence ; forbearing to read anything, except what the minister is 
 then reading or citing; abstaining from all whisperings; from salutations 
 of persons present, or coming in; and from gazing about, sleeping, 
 smiling, and all other indecent behavior. 
 
 1. Posture in public prayer. 
 
 a. On an overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, asking the 
 
 Assembly to adopt measures for arresting or abating the growing evil of 
 sitting in public prayer, the Assembly took action, viz. : 
 
 While the posture of standing in public prayer, and that of kneeling 
 in private prayer, are indicated by examples in Scripture, and the 
 general practice of the ancient Christian Church, the posture of sitting 
 in public prayer, is nowhere mentioned, and by no usage allowed; but, on 
 the contrary, was universally regarded by the early Church a3 heathenish 
 and irreverent, and is still, even in the customs of modern and Western 
 nations, an attitude obviously wanting in the due expression of rever- 
 ence; therefore this General Assembly 
 
 Resolve, That the practice in question be considered grievously 
 improper, whenever the infirmities of the worshiper do not render it 
 -ary; and that ministers be required to reprove it with earnest and 
 persevering admonition. — 1849, p. 255, O. S. 
 
 b. Pteaffirmed by the Assembly of 1857, p. 38, O. S. 
 
 C. An overture from the Presbytery of Michigan in relation to 
 posture in prayer and praise, with the answer that action is inexpedient, 
 which was adopted. — 1870, p. 28. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1854, p. 509. H. S.] 
 
832 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. III. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE PUBLIC READING OF THE HOLY 
 SCRIPTURES. 
 
 I. The reading of the Holy Scriptures, in the congregation, is a part 
 of the public worship of God, and ought to be performed by the minis- 
 ters and teachers. 
 
 II. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament shall be 
 publicly read, from the most approved translation, in the vulgar tongue, 
 that all may hear and understand. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, i, Sec. viii, p. 66.] 
 
 THE REVISED VERSION. 
 
 1. The Assembly expresses neither approval nor disapproval. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Dayton, asking that the Assembly 
 commend the use of the Revised Version of the Scriptures, and from the 
 Synod of Baltimore, on the same subject. 
 
 We recommend answer as follows: The Revised Version, however 
 valuable it may be as a help in the study of the Scriptures, is still upon 
 its trial among English-speaking people. Therefore the time has not 
 arrived for the Assembly to express approval or disapproval. Meanwhile 
 we call the attention of ministers and Sessions to Chap, iii, Sec. ii, of 
 the Directory for Worship. Adopted.— 1887, p. 82. 
 
 2. Inexpedient to authorize its use in public worship. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Baltimore, and from the Presbytery of 
 Dayton, the former asking whether the use of the Revised Version of 
 the Holy Scriptures in public worship is consistent with Chap, iii, Sec. 
 ii, of the Directory for Worship ; and the latter asking the Assembly to 
 allow the use of the Revised Version in the public services of the sanc- 
 tuary, with a view to removing an occasion of complaint in some churches. 
 
 It is recommended that in the present unsettled condition of opinion 
 regarding the Revised Version of the Sacred Scriptures, it be deemed 
 inexpedient for the General Assembly to authorize its use in the public 
 worship of the sanctuary. Adopted. — 1888, p. 72. 
 
 3. Inexpedient to direct its use in public worship. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Dayton, as follows : ' ' The Presbytery 
 of Dayton, being persuaded that good could be done by the more general 
 use of the ' Revised Version of the Scriptures ' in the services of the 
 sanctuary, because of the light it throws on God's truth, respectfully 
 overtures the General Assembly to commend its use by the ministry and 
 teachers in our Sabbath -schools, and thus relieve the minds of such as, 
 from scruples of conscience, refrain from the use of it, because its use 
 has not been formally sanctioned by the General Assembly." The 
 Committee answer, that while in the present unsettled condition of 
 opinion regarding the Revised Version of the Scriptures, the Assembly 
 deems it inexpedient to direct its use in the public worship of God, its 
 
OF THE PUBLIC READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Sod 
 
 action must not be construed as intending to detract from the value of the 
 Revised Version, or to express any want of confidence in it. The As- 
 sembly feels assured that the recent revision will, if found worthy, estab- 
 lish its value in the estimation of the people of God, and that the 
 sanction of the Assembly is not needful. Adopted. — 1889, p. 80. 
 
 4. No official sanction of its use necessary. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Los Angeles, asking the sanction of 
 the Assembly on the use of the Revised Version of the Scriptures in 
 public worship. 
 
 Recommended, That in view of the liberty already received no official 
 sanction is necessary. Adopted.— 1892, p. 178. 
 
 5. Appointment of commission declined. 
 
 In answer to overtures asking the General Assembly of 1887 to com- 
 mend the use of the Revised Version of the Holy Scriptures, the Assem- 
 bly replied as follows: 
 
 " That, however valuable it may be as a help in the study of the 
 Scriptures, it is still upon its trial among English-speaking people; there- 
 fore the time has not arrived for the Assembly to express approval or 
 disapproval. Meanwhile, we call the attention of ministers and Sessions 
 to Chap, iii, Sec. ii, of the Directory for Worship " (Minutes, General 
 Assembly, 1887, p. 82). 
 
 Directory for Worship, Chap, iii, Sec. ii, reads as follows : 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, shall be pub- 
 licly read, from the most approved translation, in the vulgar tongue, that 
 all may hear and understand." 
 
 And Sec. iii says, the minister " may, when he thinks it expedient, 
 expound any part of what is read." 
 
 As our Directory for Worship authorizes our ministers in reading ' ' the 
 most approved translation, in the vulgar tongue, " to " expound any part 
 of what is read," and as it is not probable that the Authorized Version 
 of the Holy Scriptures will be displaced by any New Version in this 
 generation, we do not recommend the appointment of the Commission 
 asked for in this overture. Adopted. — 1896, p. 158. 
 
 III. How large a portion shall be read at once, is left to the discretion 
 of every minister : however, in each service, he ought to read, at least, 
 one chapter ; and more, when the chapters are short, or the connection 
 requires it. He may, when he thinks it expedient, expound any part of 
 what is read : always having regard to the time, that neither reading, 
 singing, praying, preaching, or any other ordinance, be disproportionate 
 the one to the other; nor the whole rendered too short, or too tedious. 
 
 1. The early rule for the reading of the Scriptures. 
 Overtured, That every minister, in their respective congregations, read 
 and comment upon a chapter of the Bible every Lord's day as discretion 
 and circumstances of time, place, etc., will admit. Adopted. — 1707, 
 p. 10. 
 
 2. Responsive services in public worship unwise. 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore in regard to responsive 
 and ritualistic services. 
 53 
 
834 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. III-IV. 
 
 The Committee recommend these resolutions: 
 
 1. That the practice of responsive service in the public worship of the 
 sanctuary is without warrant in the New Testament, and is unwise and 
 impolitic in view of its inevitable tendency to destroy uniformity in our 
 mode of worship. 
 
 2. That the Sessions of the churches are urged to preserve, in act and 
 spirit, the simplicity of service indicated in the Directory for Worship. 
 Adopted.— 1874, p. 83. 
 
 [Note.— See Digest, 1886, p. 784 ; Minutes, 1869, p. 926, 0. S.] 
 
 3. Responsive reading not a subject of church discipline. 
 
 Overture from the Synod of Toledo, asking that the General Assembly 
 transmit to the Presbyteries an overture which shall settle clearly that 
 responsive readings are a permissible part of public worship, or the 
 opposite. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following answer: 
 
 This Assembly does not deem it advisable to send down such an over- 
 ture. Referring to past action of the General Assembly for an opinion 
 as to the usage in question, this Assembly is not prepared to recommend 
 to the Sessions to make it a subject of church discipline. — 1876, p. 79. 
 
 4. Responsive reading judicially declared not to be a violation 
 of the Constitution. 
 
 The Judicial Commission, in the case of the appeal of Charles D. 
 Drake, against the Synod of Baltimore, made report as follows, which 
 was adopted, and ordered on record: 
 
 In the matter of the appeals of Charles D. Drake from the judgments 
 of the Synod of Baltimore, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America, entitled: Charles D. Drake 
 vs. George O. Little, appeal from judgment of Synod of Baltimore; 
 and Charles D. Drake vs. Teunis S. Hamlin, appeal from same Synod, 
 the duly constituted Commission make up the following record and 
 report: .... 
 
 Charles D. Drake presented two complaints to the Presbytery of 
 Washington City against the defendants above named. The same com- 
 plaints were alike, and contained substantially the following charge and 
 specification : 
 
 Charge. — The violation of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church 
 in the United States. 
 
 Specification. —That the said defendants, being ministers, in the months 
 of March and April of A.D. 1887, did in the Assembly's churches, 
 introduce into the public worship of the congregations, respectively, the 
 practice of responsive service in the reading of portions of the Holy 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The Presbytery of Washington City dismissed the complaints of the 
 said Charles D. Drake as not sufficient in substance to furnish grounds to 
 order process. 
 
 The Synod of Baltimore refused to entertain the appeals of the said 
 cases by the said Charles D. Drake from the judgments of the said Pres- 
 bytery of Washington City, and dismissed the said appeals and sustained 
 the action of the said Presbytery. 
 
 The appellant assigned the refusal of the Synod of Baltimore to sustain 
 Iris appeals from the judgments of the Presbytery of Washington City in 
 
OF THE SINGING OF PSALMS. 835 
 
 the said cases and the ordering of said appeals to be dismissed, as his 
 specification of error. 
 
 Finding. — After full consideration of the cases, as consolidated, the 
 vote of the Commission was taken upon the specification of error alleged, 
 whereupon it was unanimously determined that the specification be not 
 sustained. 
 
 Judgment. — And now, to wit, May 26, 1888, it is ordered, adjudged, 
 and decreed, by the Commission aforesaid, that the judgments of the 
 Synod of Baltimore in the cases aforesaid be and the same are hereby 
 affirmed. Adopted and ordered on record. — 1888, pp. 112, 113. 
 
 5. The present freedom of worship under the Directory 
 reliable and edifying. 
 
 The Standing Committee on Bills and Overtures further reported on 
 the resolution referred by the Assembly, proposing that the Assembly 
 reappoint a Committee on Uniformity in Worship, recommending no 
 action, inasmuch as in the judgment of the Committee the present free- 
 dom under the limits of our Directory for Worship is more reliable and 
 edifying. Adopted.— 1896, p. 39. 
 
 6. The Apostles' Creed may be used in public worship. 
 
 Resolved, 4. The attention of our congregations is hereby called to the 
 fact that the Apostles' Creed is one of the Standards of the Presbyterian 
 Church; that the instruction of the children of the Church therein is 
 commended in the Directory for Worship, Chap, x, Sec. i, and that 
 its use in worship is not contrary to any law or regulation of our 
 denomination. 
 
 Resolved, 5. That when the Apostles' Creed is used in the worship of 
 our congregations, the Assembly judges that ministers are at liberty to 
 substitute for the phrase, " He descended into hell," the equivalent 
 words, ' ' He continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of 
 death, until the third day."— 1892, p. 35. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 OF THE SINGING OF PSALMS. 
 
 I. It is the duty of Christians to praise God, by singing psalms, or 
 hymns, publicly in the church, as also privately in the family. 
 [Note— See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxi, Sec. v, p. 90.] 
 
 1. Early action on the subject of psalmody. 
 
 a. A query was brought in, in these words: "As sundry members and 
 congregations within the bounds of our Synod judge it most for their 
 edification to sing Dr. Watts' imitation of David's Psalms, does the 
 Synod so far approve said imitation of David's Psalms as to allow such 
 ministers and their congregations liberty of using them ?' ' 
 
 As a great number of this body have never particularly considered Dr. 
 Watts' imitation, they are not prepared to give a full answer to the 
 question. Yet as it is well approved by many of this body, the Synod 
 have no objection to the use of said imitation by such ministers and con- 
 
836 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. IV. 
 
 gregations as incline to use it, until the matter of psalmody be further 
 considered. And it is recommended to the members of this body to be 
 prepared to give their sentiments respectiDg this subject at our next 
 meeting. — 1763, p. 331. 
 
 b. After some consideration of the query concerning the use of Dr. 
 Watts' imitation of the Psalms, the Synod judged it best, in present 
 circumstances, only to declare that they look on the inspired Psalms in 
 Scripture to be proper matter to be sung in divine worship according to 
 their original design and the practice of the Christian Churches, yet will 
 not forbid those to use the imitation of them whose judgment and 
 inclination leads them to do so. — 1765, p. 345. 
 
 [Note.— The book in general use was Rouse's version of the Psalms. In addition to 
 the action given above, the Synod allowed that Dr. Watts' imitation of David's 
 Psalms, as revised by Mr. Barlow, be sung in the churches and families under their 
 care (1787, p. 535). In 1802, p. 249, the hymns of Dr. Watts were also allowed. In 
 1819, p. 76, the subject of Psalmody was considered and referred to the next Assem- 
 bly. A Committee, composed of Drs. Caldwell and Romeyn and Mr. Andrew Wylie, 
 presented a report on the subject which was adopted (1820, p. 740). The result was 
 " The Book of Psalms and Hymns," which was approved and authorized to be used 
 in all our churches (1830, p. 306.) "The Church Psalmist," prepared by Dr. N. S. 
 Beman, was approved by the N. S. Assembly, Minutes, 1840, p. 24 ; 1846, p. 19: 1857, 
 pp. 410, 411 ; 1859, p. 38. See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 779.] 
 
 II. In singing the praises of God, we are to sing with the spirit, and 
 with the understanding also; making melody in our hearts unto the 
 Lord. It is also proper, that we cultivate some knowledge of the rules 
 of music; that we may praise God in a becoming manner with our voices, 
 as well as with our hearts. 
 
 1. The Book of Tunes. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed by the Publication 
 Committee to prepare a book of tunes adapted to the Church Psalmist, 
 and that this Committee be instructed to consult and correspond with 
 pastors and leaders of choirs in the churches, as to the particular tunes 
 most in use and most popular in the congregations, and that this Com- 
 mittee report to the next General Assembly. — 1857, p. 410, N. S. 
 
 [Note. — The Committee reported progress to the Assembly in 1858. The book, 
 "The Eclectic Tune Book," was laid before the Assembly in 1860, Minutes, p. 246.] 
 
 2. The Hymnal. 
 
 [Note.— In consequence of overtures from various Presbyteries, the Assembly of 
 1863, O. S., appointed a Committee to take the whole subject into consideration, and 
 report to the next Assembly. This Committee reported on the whole subject, and the 
 Assembly 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the report be adopted and printed in the Appendix 
 to the Minutes. 
 
 2. That this Assembly approve the Hymnal as published, and allow 
 the same to be used in all our churches ; but it is not required that it shall 
 supersede the books in present use. — 1866, p. 95, O. S. 
 
 3. " Social Hymn and Tune Book." 
 
 [Note.— " The Social Hymn and Tune Book" was prepared by the Publication 
 Committee under the direction of the General Assembly and laid before it in 1866.] 
 
 Resolved, That the " Social Hymn and Tune Book," recently pub- 
 lished by the Committee, be commended as preeminently adapted to social 
 and congregational worship. — 1866, p. 272, N. S. 
 
OF THE SINGING OF PSALMS. 837 
 
 4. Report on sacred music. The Hymnal commended. 
 
 [Note — For the report in fall, see Minutes, 1867, pp. 365-367, 0. S.] 
 
 5. The Presbyterian Hymnal accepted and approved. 
 
 The Committee on the ' ' Book of Praise, ' ' through their Chairman, 
 
 the Rev. Herrick Johnson, D.D., presented their report, which was 
 
 accepted, their work approved, and the Committee discharged, with 
 
 thanks, for the efficient manner in which thev had performed their duty. 
 
 —1875, p. 508. 
 
 [Note.— For the report of the Committee, which was adopted, see Minutes, 1875, 
 pp. 508, 509 ; Digest, 1886, p. 842.] 
 
 6. Hymns for social meetings and the Sunday-school. 
 
 1. That a collection of hymns suitable for use in meetings for social 
 prayer and in the Sunday-school should be provided by the Presbyterian 
 Church for use by its churches. 
 
 2. That the Board of Publication be directed to take this subject into 
 consideration, and to prepare and publish, at as early a date as practi- 
 cable, a collection of hymns, such as is contemplated by this overture, 
 and furnish the same at such prices as shall place the collection within 
 the reach of our Sunday-schools. — 1882, p. 42. 
 
 7. The new Hymnal. 
 
 a. The Board of Publication reported that the new Hymnal is so 
 far advanced that its publication is promised in a few months. Sample 
 pages of the hymns and tunes were put in the hands of the Assembly, 
 and it was 
 
 Resolved, That we heartily recommend the new Hymnal, now approach- 
 ing completion, to our churches, and express the earnest hope for the 
 general adoption of this collection as the book of praise throughout our 
 Church ; and that we record our grateful appreciation of the labors of 
 the Committee in charge of its preparation. — 1895, pp. 89, 90. 
 
 b. The Assembly heartily commends to the Church the new Hymnal, 
 and recommends its adoption in all our churches, as the best attainable 
 manual of praise.— 1896, p. 83; 1897, p. 72. 
 
 III. The whole congregation should be furnished with books, and 
 ought to join in this part of worship. It is proper to sing without 
 parceling out the psalm, line by line. The practice of reading the 
 psalm, line by line, was introduced in times of ignorance, when many in 
 the congregation could not read : therefore, it is recommended, that it be 
 laid asfde, as far as convenient. 
 
 IV. The proportion of the time of public worship to be spent in sing- 
 ing is left to the prudence of every minister: but it is recommended, that 
 more time be allowed for this excellent part of divine service than has 
 been usual in most of our churches. 
 
 1. Church music is under the control of the minister and 
 the Session. 
 
 a. In reply to an overture from the Synod of Cincinnati on the sub- 
 ject of instrumental music, the following minute was adopted: 
 
 Whereas, by our Constitution (Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. 
 vi, and Directory for Worship, Chap, iv, Sec. iv), the whole internal 
 
838 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. IV-V. 
 
 arrangement of a church, as to worship and order, is committed to the 
 minister and Session ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this Assembly do not feel themselves called upon and 
 obliged to take any further order on this subject, but laeve to each Ses- 
 sion the delicate and important matter of arranging and conducting the 
 music as to them shall seem most for edification, recommending great 
 caution, prudence and forbearance in regard to it. — 1845, pp. 21, 22, 
 O. S. 
 
 b. A memorial asking the Assembly ' ' to define the rights of a Session 
 of a church in regard to the singing in the house of God, ' ' answered by 
 referring to the above action. — 1858, p. 281, O. S. 
 
 [Note. — See also Form of Government, Cbap, ix, Sec. vi, No. 26, p. 172; also Direc- 
 tory for Worship, Chap, iii, Sec. iii, p. 833.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 OF PUBLIC PRAYER. 
 
 I. It seems very proper to begin the public worship of the sanctuary 
 by a short prayer: humbly adoring the infinite majesty of the living 
 God; expressing a sense of our distance from him as creatures, and 
 un worthiness as sinners; and humbly imploring his gracious presence, the 
 assistance of his Holy Spirit in the duties of his worship, and his accept- 
 ance of us through the merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 II. Then, after singing a psalm, or hymn, it is proper that, before 
 sermon, there should be a full and comprehensive prayer: First, Adoring 
 the glory and perfections of God, as they are made known to us in the 
 works of creation, in the conduct of providence, and in the clear and full 
 revelation he hath made of himself in his written Word: Second, Giving 
 thanks to him for all his mercies of every kind, general and particular, 
 spiritual and temporal, common and special; above all, for Christ Jesus, 
 his unspeakable gift, and the hope of eternal life through him : Third, 
 Making humble confession of sin, both original and actual; acknowl- 
 edging, and endeavoring to impress the mind of every worshiper, with a 
 deep sense of the evil of all sin, as such; as being a departure from the 
 living God ; and also taking a particular and affecting view of the various 
 fruits which proceed from this root of bitterness: — as sins against God, 
 our neighbor, and ourselves ; sins in thought, in word, and in deed ; 
 sins secret and presumptuous ; sins accidental and habitual. Also, the 
 aggravations of sin, arising from knowledge, or the means of it; from 
 distinguishing mercies ; from valuable privileges ; from breach of vows, 
 etc. : Fourth, Making earnest supplication* for the pardon of sin, and 
 peace with God, through the blood of the atonement, with all its impor- 
 tant and happy fruits; for the Spirit of sanctifi cation, and abundant 
 supplies of the grace that is necessary to the discharge of our duty; for 
 support and comfort, under all the trials to which we are liable, as we 
 
OF PUBLIC PRAYER. 839 
 
 are sinful and mortal ; and for all temporal mercies that may be neces- 
 sary, in our passage through this valley of tears: always remembering to 
 view them as flowing in the channel of covenant love, and intended to 
 be subservient to the preservation and progress of the spiritual life: 
 Fifth, Pleading from every principle warranted in Scripture : from our 
 own necessity ; the all-sufficiency of God ; the merit and intercession of 
 our Saviour ; and the glory of God in the comfort and happiness of his 
 people : Sixth, Intercession for others, including the whole world of 
 mankind; the kingdom of Christ, or his Church universal; the church 
 or churches with which we are more particularly connected; the interest 
 of human society in general, and in that community to which we imme- 
 diately belong; all that are invested with civil authority; the ministers 
 of the everlasting gospel; and the rising generation: with whatever else, 
 more particular, may seem necessary, or suitable, to the interest of that 
 congregation where divine worship is celebrated. 
 
 [Xote. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxi, Sec. hi, p. 90.] 
 
 III. Prayer after sermon, ought generally to have a relation to the 
 subject that has been treated of in the discourse; and all other public 
 prayers, to the circumstances that gave occasion for them. 
 
 IV. It is easy to perceive, that in all the preceding directions there is 
 a very great compass and variety; and it is committed to the judgment 
 and fidelity of the officiating pastor to insist chiefly on such parts, or to 
 take in more or less of the several parts, as he shall be led to by the 
 aspect of Providence; the particular state of the congregation in which 
 he officiates; or the disposition and exercise of his own heart at the 
 time. But we think it necessary to observe, that although we do not 
 approve, as is well known, of confining ministers to set or fixed forms of 
 prayer for public worship; yet it is the indispensable duty of every min- 
 ister, previously to his entering on his office, to prepare and qualify 
 himself for this part of his duty, as well as for preaching. He ought, 
 by a thorough acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, by reading the 
 best writers on the subject, by meditation, and by a life of communion 
 with God in secret, to endeavor to acquire both the spirit and the gift 
 of prayer. Not only so, but when he is to enter on particular acts of 
 worship, he should endeavor to compose his spirit, and to digest his 
 thoughts for prayer, that it may be performed with dignity and pro- 
 priety, as well as to the profit of those who join in it; and that he may 
 not disgrace that important service by mean, irregular, or extravagant 
 effusions. 
 
 1. Liturgical forms not needed. 
 
 A paper from the Synod of Albany, containing suggestions in relation 
 to the use of liturgical forms of worship, w T hich they desire to be adopted 
 by this General Assembly, was considered; it was 
 
 Resolved, That, as the usages and forms of the Presbyterian Church 
 
840 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. V-VI. 
 
 have been so uniform and acceptable for years past, from their Scriptural 
 simplicity; and as no extensive departure from, or change of, these 
 usages and forms is likely to take place in the Presbyterian denomina- 
 tion, therefore it is the judgment of this Committee that no action by 
 this Assembly is at present demanded. — 1867, p. 498, N. S. 
 
 2. Book of Forms. Liberty to use the forms of the Reformed 
 
 Churches. 
 
 From the Presbytery of Puget Sound, asking the General Assembly 
 to prepare and publish a Book of Forms for public and social worship, 
 and for special occasions, which shall be the authorized service-book of 
 the Church, to be used whenever a prescribed formula may be desired. 
 Your Committee recommend the following answer: In view of the action 
 of previous General Assemblies on this subject, and the liberty which 
 belongs to each minister to avail himself of the Calvinistic or other 
 ancient devotional forms of the Reformed churches, so far as may seem 
 to him for edification, it is inexpedient for this General Assembly to 
 make any special order in the premises. — 1882, p. 95. 
 
 [Note.— See also Directory for Worship, Chap, iii, Sec. ii, p. 832.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD BY OFFERINGS. 
 
 Adopted 1886. 
 
 I. In order that every member of the congregation may be trained 
 to give of his substance systematically, and as the Lord hath prospered 
 him to promote the preaching of the Gospel in all the world and to 
 every creature, according to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, it 
 is proper and very desirable that an opportunity be given for offerings 
 by the congregation in this behalf every Lord's day, and that, in 
 accordance with the Scriptures, the bringing of such offerings be per- 
 formed as a solemn act of worship to almighty God. 
 
 II. The proper order, both as to the particular service of the day and 
 the place iu such service for receiving the offerings, may be left to the 
 discretion of the minister and Session of the Church; but that it may be 
 a separate and specific act of worship, the minister should either precede 
 or immediately follow the same with brief prayer, invoking the blessing of 
 God upon it and devoting the offerings to his service. 
 
 1. General recommendations. 
 
 Your Committee present for the Assembly's approval the following 
 resolutions: 
 
 1. That the plan of weekly worshipful offerings, " as God has pros- 
 pered, ' ' commended in the newly adopted chapter of our Directory for 
 Worship, be urged upon the earnest practical attention of all our minis- 
 ters and Sessions. 
 
 2. That the system of individual pledges either to the general benefi- 
 
OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD BY OFFERINGS. 841 
 
 cences of the Church, or to the work of any special Board, be favored 
 as superior both iu principle and practice to any mode of sporadic con- 
 tribution. 
 
 3. That every Presbytery be charged to press towards au adequate 
 beneficence, auy of its churches that are manifestly laggiug behiud their 
 duty and ability; also to encourage every church towards an improve- 
 ment every year upon its own previous giving. 
 
 4. That inasmuch as this General Assembly has recommended the 
 churches to raise definite and largely increased amounts for several of 
 the Boards, the Session of each church be urged to calculate what pro- 
 portionate increase in their contributions is necessary to comply with this 
 recommendation and that they endeavor earnestly to raise that sum. 
 
 5. That this Assembly reiterate the instructions of its predecessors to 
 all Synods and Presbyteries within our bounds, that they appoint and 
 maintain efficient Committees on Beneficence who shall report to and 
 cooperate with the Assembly's Committee. 
 
 6. That Presbyteries and churches be recommended to hold services at 
 convenient periods each year at which pastors may call to their aid elders 
 and lay members to testify, out of their own knowledge and experience, 
 to the benefits and blessings of systematic principled giving to the Lord. 
 Adopted.— 1887, p. 121. 
 
 [Note.— See also Minutes, 1888, pp. 127, 128 ; 1889, p. 67 ; 1890, p. 78.] 
 
 2. Inquiry to be made by Presbytery as to compliance with the 
 recommendations of the Assembly. 
 
 This Assembly reiterates the recommendation of the General Assem- 
 bly of 1890 : " That Presbyteries be advised to call their churches annu- 
 ally to account, at some regular meeting, in reference to their com- 
 pliance with the recommendations of the Assembly." — 1892, p. 195. 
 
 3. Plan for securing pledges and contributions from each member 
 of each congregation. 
 
 The Committee on Benevolence have been entrusted with an overture 
 from the Presbytery of Redstone, setting forth an excellent and elaborate 
 plan for securing pledges and contributions from each member of each 
 congregation. The Committee consider that they would transcend the 
 province of the work assigned to them should they formulate and advo- 
 cate any specific mode in which this important matter should be adopted 
 in each Presbytery and church. 
 
 A certain flexibility of method must be allowed for varying needs 
 under differing conditions. 
 
 There are certain general lines, however, within which it would appear 
 the plan may be included. There are certain aims which may be indi- 
 cated together with certain evils which should be avoided. 
 
 From our excellent sixth chapter of the Directory for "Worship and 
 from the deliverances of late Assemblies we may note these charac- 
 teristics: 
 
 1. A stated offering on each Lord's day for the proclamation of the 
 Gospel to all the world and to every creature. This need not be the 
 Board of Foreign Missions exclusively, but it is evidently not intended 
 to signify the local church exclusively or mainly. 
 
 2. An offering annually or more frequently from each church to each 
 of our regular Boards. The Committee consider that the main responsi- 
 
842 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. VI. 
 
 bility for this offering rests on the Session of the church and the Presby- 
 terial Committee on Systematic Beneficence. 
 
 3. An offering from each regular worshiper in the local church to 
 each cause that is presented. Responsibility for this offering rests on 
 the conscience of the worshiper and the energy of the Session. 
 
 4. A full and definite presentation to each church, annually or more 
 frequently, of the work, needs and hopes of the various Church causes. 
 Responsibility for which presentation rests entirely upon the minister in 
 charge. 
 
 5. A plan which avoids general scrutiny or publicity given to subscrip- 
 tion lists. 
 
 6. A plan that equalizes as far as practicable the offerings according 
 to the percentages of the recommendations, to the Boards, by the Gen- 
 eral Assembly. 
 
 7. A plan that prevents the unnecessary and vexatious delay in the 
 return of the offerings to the Boards until the last day of the fiscal year. 
 
 8. A plan that will be effectual on stormy Sabbaths. — 1896, pp. 
 88, 89. 
 
 4. Collections ordered must be taken. 
 
 In the matter of collections ordered by a higher judicatory, such as 
 the General Assembly, " it is inconsistent with our Church government 
 to be under the check or prohibition of a church Session ; they indeed 
 may give or withhold their charity, but may not prevent a minister to 
 propose it publicly according to our appointment. — 1755, p. 215. 
 
 5. Proportionate giving. 
 
 The General Assembly recommends, " that it be the unwearied effort 
 of all elders of our churches to secure a general acceptance of the prin- 
 ciple and adoption of the practice of proportionate giving." — 1889, 
 p. 68. 
 
 6. Individual pledges. 
 
 That the system of individual pledges, either to the general beneficence 
 of the Church, or to the work of auy special Board, be favored as 
 superior both in principle and practice to any mode of sporadic contribu- 
 tion.— 1887, p. 121. 
 
 7. Combination of collections discouraged. 
 
 This Assembly discouraged the practice of combining the offerings for 
 pure benevolence and those for the church's current expenses, in the 
 same collection, as injurious to both causes; nothing in this is to be 
 construed against individual liberty as set forth in Chap, vi, Sec. iii, 
 of the Directory for Worship.— 1887, p. 122. 
 
 8. Fairs, etc., discountenanced. 
 
 That the Assembly commends most highly the efforts to abolish the 
 makeshifts of fairs and suppers, and similar unbiblical and secularizing 
 expedients for filling the treasury of our Lord. — 1893, p. 122. 
 
 9. Money value ^f boxes. 
 
 The money value of boxes, etc., is properly included in the contribu- 
 tions reported in the appropriate column. — 1893, p. 114. 
 
OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD BY OFFERINGS. 843 
 
 10. Public announcement of offerings. 
 Sessions are " advised to make frequent report before their several 
 churches of the amount contributed in their benevolent offerings, and the 
 disposition made of the same." — 1889, p. 67. 
 
 11. Offerings to be made as acts of worship. 
 
 Resolved, 8. That the General Assembly calls the especial attention of 
 every pastor of the Church to Chap, vi, Directory for Worship, to the 
 end that the offerings of the Church may be made, as therein provided, 
 as acts of worship. — 1894, p. 148. 
 
 III. The offerings received may be apportioned among the Boards of 
 the Church and among other benevolent and Christian objects, under the 
 supervision of the church Session, in such proportion and upon such 
 general plan as may from time to time be determined; but the specific 
 designation by the giver of any offering to any given cause or causes 
 shall always be respected and the will of the donor carefully carried out. 
 
 1. Schedule for contributions. 
 
 After conference with representatives of several of the Boards of the 
 Church, the Committee recommends: 
 
 1. That the schedule of distribution of the offerings of the churches 
 be hereafter applied to the entire contributions of the Church, and not 
 as heretofore confined to the undesignated balances. 
 
 2. That the schedule be fixed as follows: 
 Foreign Missions, 33 per cent. 
 
 Home Missions, 31 per cent. 
 Church Erection, 6 per cent. 
 Sabbath-school Work, 6 per cent. 
 Freedmen, 6 per cent. 
 Education, 6 per cent. 
 Ministerial Relief, 6 per cent. 
 Aid for Colleges, 6 per cent. 
 Adopted.— 1895, p. 103; 1896, p. 90. 
 
 2. Designated months for the Boards. 
 
 For churches that have not yet adopted the scheme of weekly offerings 
 set forth in the Directory for Worship, Chap, vi, it is recommended that 
 the first Lord's days of the following months be set apart for contribu- 
 tions to the Boards: 
 
 1. Home Missions, Whenever deemed advisable. 
 
 2. Foreign Missions, January. 
 
 3. Aid for Colleges, February. 
 
 4. Sabbath -school Work, May. 
 
 5. Church Erection, July. 
 
 6. Ministerial Relief, September. 
 
 7. Education, October. 
 
 8. Freedmen, December. 
 
 IV. It is the duty of every minister to cultivate the grace of liberal 
 giving in his congregation, that every member thereof may offer accord- 
 ing to his ability, whether it be much or little. 
 
844 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. VI-VIII. 
 
 1. Ministers to furnish information. 
 
 Every minister is charged to keep his people thoroughly informed 
 concerning the work of the Boards, and the demand that such work is 
 making upon every member. — 1887, p. 122. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 OF THE PREACHING OF THE WORD. 
 
 I. The preaching of the Word being an institution of God for the 
 salvation of men, great attention should be paid to the manner of 
 performing it. Every minister ought to give diligent application to it ; 
 and endeavor to prove himself a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 
 
 1. Reading sermons. 
 
 a. It is further enjoined that all our ministers and probationers for- 
 bear reading their sermons from the pulpit, if they can conveniently. — 
 1761, p. 309. 
 
 b. The General Assembly has reason to believe that the practice of 
 reading sermons in the pulpit is greatly on the increase amongst our min- 
 isters, and being decidedly of the opinion that it is not the best method 
 of preaching the Gospel, it hereby recommends the discontinuance of the 
 practice as far as possible, and earnestly exhorts our younger ministers to 
 adopt a different method, as more Scriptural and effective. — 1841, p. 
 448, O. S. 
 
 C. Whereas, This General Assembly has reason to believe that the 
 practice of reading sermons in the pulpit is on the increase amongst our 
 ministers ; and being decidedly of opinion that it is not the most effec- 
 tive and acceptable method of preaching the Gospel ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we do earnestly repeat the recommendation of the 
 Assembly of 1841, that this practice be discontinued as far as practica- 
 ble; and affectionately exhort our younger ministers and candidates for 
 the ministry to adopt a different method as more Scriptural and effective, 
 and more generally acceptable to God's people. — 1849, p. 271, O. S. 
 
 II. The subject of a sermon should be some verse or verses of Scrip- 
 ture: and its object, to explain, defend and apply some part of the 
 system of divine truth; or, to point out the nature, and state the bounds 
 and obligation, of some duty. A text should not be merely a motto, 
 but should fairly contain the doctrine proposed to be handled. It is 
 proper also that large portions of Scripture be sometimes expounded, 
 and particularly improved, for the instruction of the people in the mean- 
 ing and use of the Sacred Oracles. 
 
 1. Expository preaching commended. 
 
 That in the discharge of pastoral duties they take the utmost care that 
 the Word of God be known and understood by the people, and that for 
 
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 845 
 
 this purpose, in their public instructions, the practice of lecturing on 
 certain portions of the Scripture be not laid aside, but rather revived 
 and increased. — 1799, p. 182. 
 
 III. The method of preaching requires much study, meditation, and 
 prayer. Ministers ought, in general, to prepare their sermons with care; 
 and not to indulge themselves in loose, extemporary harangues; nor 
 to serve God with that which cost them naught. They ought, however, 
 to keep to the simplicity of the Gospel : expressing themselves in lan- 
 guage agreeable to Scripture, and level to the understanding of the 
 meanest of their hearers ; carefully avoiding ostentation, either of parts 
 or learning. They ought also to adorn, by their lives, the doctrine 
 which they teach ; and to be examples to the believers, in word, in con- 
 versation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 
 
 IV. As one primary design of public ordinances is to pay social acts 
 of homage to the most high God, ministers ought to be careful not to 
 make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the more 
 important duties of prayer and praise; but preserve a just proportion 
 between the several parts of public worship. 
 
 V. The sermon being ended, the minister is to pray, and return thanks 
 to almighty God : then let a psalm be sung, and the assembly dismissed 
 with the apostolic benediction. 
 
 VI. It is expedient that no person be introduced to preach in any of 
 the churches under our care, unless by the consent of the pastor or 
 church session. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 
 
 I. Baptism is not to be unnecessarily delayed ; nor to be administered, 
 in any case, by any private person ; but by a minister of Christ, called 
 to be the steward of the mysteries of God. 
 
 1. Age of infancy not determined. 
 
 The Committee to which was referred the question, "At what age 
 ought children to be considered too old to be baptized on the faith of 
 their parents?" reported the following answer; which, being read, was 
 adopted, viz. : 
 
 The precise time of life when the state of infancy ceases, is not deter- 
 mined in the Word of God, nor by the Standards of our Church, and, 
 from the nature of the case, is incapable of being regulated by any 
 uniform rule, but should be left to the judgment of ministers and 
 Sessions, to be determined according to the particular circumstances of 
 each case. The Assembly, therefore, deem it inexpedient to attempt to 
 fix the precise time at which children ought to be considered too old to 
 be baptized on the faith of their parents. — 1822, p. 53. 
 
846 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. VIII. 
 
 2. Baptism by Unitarians, Romish baptism, etc. 
 
 [Note.— See in this Digest, pp. 104-107.] 
 
 II. It is usually to be administered in the church, in the presence of 
 the congregation; and it is convenient that it be performed immediately- 
 after sermon. 
 
 III. After previous notice is given to the minister, the child to be 
 baptized is to be presented, by one or both the parents, signifying their 
 desire that the child may be baptized. 
 
 1. Who may be presented for baptism. 
 
 a. Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto 
 Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be 
 baptized. — Confession of Faith, Chap, xxviii, Sec. iv. 
 
 b. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible 
 Church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till they profess 
 their faith in Christ and obedience to him ; but infants descending from 
 parents, either both or but one of them, professing faith in Christ and 
 obedience to Him, are, in that respect, within the covenant, and are to 
 be baptized. — Larger Catechism, Ques. 166; Shorter Catechism, Ques. 
 95. 
 
 2. The duty of Christian masters to have their servants baptized, etc. 
 
 [Note. — See in this Digest, p. 108.] 
 
 3. Orphan children of heathen parents in the care of our missions. 
 
 The Genera] Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States of America to the Presbytery of Lodiana: 
 
 Dear Brethren : — You have submitted to us questions respecting a 
 subject which we have no doubt is one of very great importance in 
 regard to the progress of religion among the heathen. We have seri- 
 ously considered it, and give you here the result of our deliberations. 
 
 You present to us three questions, to which we reply in the order in 
 which the same are presented. 
 
 a. 1. Are all orphan children of heathen parents, committed to the 
 care of our missions, entitled to the benefits of the ordinance of baptism 
 without respect to their ages ? 
 
 We reply, certainly they are not. 
 
 You must make the same distinction that you would make if their 
 parents were alive and members of the Christian Church, and desiring to 
 have them baptized, the same distinction Avhich is made in Christian 
 countries. We add, let those children only be baptized in every case 
 who are so committed to the missions or other Christian tuition, as to 
 secure effectually their entire religious education. On this point great 
 caution is necessary. 
 
 b. 2. You ask (on the presumption that the preceding question is 
 answered in the negative), Are those only to be baptized who have not 
 attained to years of discretion ? 
 
 This question we answer in the affirmative. 
 
 c. 3. Your third question is in substance as follows : If those only who 
 have not attained to years of discretion are to be baptized, at what age 
 
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 847 
 
 shall the federal right be supposed to cease and personal responsibility to 
 commence ? 
 
 Although it is not difficult to answer this question in accordance with 
 the Standards and the practice of the Presbyterian Church, yet the rule 
 may frequently be found difficult of application. Our answer to the 
 question, however, is: 
 
 The officers of the Church must judge in each particular case whether 
 the proposed subject of baptism has arrived at years of discretion or not. 
 We can adopt no other rule in our own practice, and we can recommend 
 no other to you. We refer you to Chap, x, Sec. ii, of our Directory for 
 Worship. If the person proposed to be baptized has acquired that matu- 
 rity of mind which renders him capable of making an intelligent profes- 
 sion of religion himself, he ought not to be baptized on the faith of 
 another. Our Confession of Faith recognizes the right to baptism of 
 the infant children only of such parents as are members of the Church. 
 We do not doubt that in heathen countries children of heathen parents 
 ordinarily arrive at what are called years of discretion later than those 
 who enjoy the advantages of Christian instruction in early life; but in a 
 country where the religion of all consists in forms and ceremonies, great 
 care should be taken that the Christian religion does not even appear to 
 partake of the formality and emptiness of Mohammedanism and Pagan- 
 ism.— 1843, p. 179, O. S. 
 
 IV. Before Baptism, let the minister use some words of instruction, 
 respecting the institution, nature, use, and ends of this ordinance; 
 showing, 
 
 ' l That it is instituted by Christ ; that it is a seal of the righteousness 
 " of faith: that the seed of the faithful have no less a right to this ordi- 
 ' ' nance, under the gospel, than the seed of Abraham to circumcision, 
 ' ' under the Old Testament ; that Christ commanded all nations to be 
 ' * baptized ; that he blessed little children, declaring that of such is the 
 ' ' kingdom of heaven ; that children are federally holy, and therefore 
 ' ' ought to be baptized ; that we are, by nature, sinful, guilty, and pol- 
 ' ' luted, and have need of cleansing by the blood of Christ, and by the 
 " sanctifying influences of the Spirit of God." 
 
 The minister is also to exhort the parents to the careful performance 
 of their duty : requiring, 
 
 ' ' That they teach the child to read the Word of God ; that they 
 ' ' instruct it in the principles of our holy religion, as contained in the 
 " Scriptures of the Old and New Testament; an excellent summary of 
 ' ' which we have in the Confession of Faith of this Church, and in the 
 " Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly, which 
 ' ' are to be recommended to them, as adopted by this Church, for their 
 " direction and assistance, in the discharge of this important duty; that 
 " they pray with and for it; that they set an example of piety and 
 " godliness before it, and endeavor, by all the means of God's appoint- 
 " ment, to bring up their child in the nurture and admonition of the 
 "Lord." 
 
848 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAPS. VIII-IX. 
 
 1. Obligations and qualifications of parents. 
 
 a. The Synod do also exhort all the ministers within our bounds to take 
 due care in the examination of all candidates for baptism, or that offer 
 to dedicate their children to God in that sacred ordinance, that they are 
 persons of a regular life, and have suitable acquaintance with the princi- 
 ples of the Christian religion; that that seal be not set to a blank, and 
 that such be not admitted to visible church relation that are manifestly 
 unfit for it. — 1735, p. 115. 
 
 b. That previously to the administration of baptism, the minister shall 
 inquire into the parents' knowledge of the great and fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Gospel, and the regularity of their lives; and being satisfied 
 so as to admit them, shall, in public, point out the special duties of the 
 parents, and particularly that they teach their children the doctrines and 
 precepts of Christianity, contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New 
 Testaments, and comprised in the Westminster Confession of Faith and 
 Catechisms, which therefore he shall recommend unto them. — 1755, p. 
 267. 
 
 C. The following reference from the Synod of Philadelphia was laid 
 before the Assembly: As baptism is to be administered to the infants of 
 those who are members of the visible Church (but our Directory leaves 
 the description of the visible and credible profession of Christianity 
 vague and indefinite), it is humbly proposed to the Assembly to give some 
 precise direction and definition of such a profession for the information 
 of its ministers. In answer to the above reference, the Assembly judged 
 it unnecessary, and perhaps impracticable, to deliver rules more explicit 
 than those contained in the Standards of our Church; but should cases 
 of difficulty arise, they must be decided respectively, according to their 
 own merits, before the proper judicatories. — 1794, p. 91. 
 
 d. Our Confession of Faith recognizes the right to baptism of the 
 infant children only of such parents as are members of the Church. — 
 1843, p. 180, O. S. 
 
 2. Parents required to enter into engagements. 
 
 The following question, through the Committee of Overtures, was 
 read, viz. : 
 
 Whether, besides requiring of parents dedicating their children to God 
 in baptism, an express acknowledgment of the duties of parents, and 
 recommending to them the observance thereof, it should be considered 
 as essential to require that they come under an explicit vow or solemn 
 engagement also to perform those duties ? whereupon the Assembly 
 
 Resolved, That an answer to this question is contained in the Directory 
 for Public Worship of this Church, under the head of the Administra- 
 tion of Baptism, which requires an express engagement upon the part of 
 parents. — 1794, p. 89. 
 
 3. Instruction to be given and discipline urged for neglect. 
 The Committee on Polity reported an overture from the Presbytery of 
 West Virginia, asking the Assembly to appoint a day of fasting, humilia- 
 tion and prayer, and to take further action, in view of the alleged 
 general and extensive neglect, on the part of church members, of pre- 
 senting their infant children for baptism. 
 
 The Committee recommended the following in answer : 
 
 The Assembly cannot regard an extensive neglect of this important 
 
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 849 
 
 ordinance to be as general as is alleged in the overture; it admits, how- 
 ever, that there may be considerable, and even extensive, neglect in 
 certain sections of the Church. Nevertheless, in view of the vital 
 importance of the subject, it adopts, with some modification, one of the 
 suggestions of the overture, namely, that our Sessions and Presbyteries 
 be enjoined to make careful inquiry in regard to the matter; that they 
 see to it that their pastors carefully instruct their churches on this sub- 
 ject; and also that Sessions be directed to exercise proper discipline when 
 neglect exists and is persisted in. Adopted. — 1886, p. 38. 
 
 V. Then the minister is to pray for a blessing to attend this ordi- 
 nance ; after which, calling the child by its name, he shall say, 
 
 " I baptize thee, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 "the Holy Ghost." 
 
 As he pronounces these words : he is to baptize the child with water, 
 by pouring or sprinkling it on the face of the child, without adding any 
 other ceremony: and the whole shall be concluded with prayer. 
 
 Although it is proper that Baptism be administered in the presence of 
 the congregation: yet there may be cases Avhen it will be expedient to 
 administer this ordinance in private houses; of which the minister is to 
 be the judge. 
 
 1. Mode of baptism. 
 
 [Note.— See in this Digest, Confession, Chap, xxviii, Sec. iii, p. 107.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 1. The Communion, or Supper of the Lord, is to be celebrated 
 frequently ; but how often, may be determined by the minister and elder- 
 ship of each congregation, as they may judge most for edification. 
 
 1. Where there is no church organized. 
 
 It was moved that the restriction laid by the last General Assembly 
 on our missionaries, which confines them to administer the ordinance of 
 the Lord's Supper in such places only where there are church officers 
 regularly appointed, be repealed, and it is hereby repealed accordingly. 
 —1798, p. 146. 
 
 2. Not usually in the bounds of a congregation without consent. 
 
 While the Assembly, as a general principle, disapprove of the admin- 
 istration of the sacraments, by one of their ministers, within the bounds 
 of a congregation with which he is not connected, without the consent of 
 the minister and Session of said congregation ; yet under the peculiar 
 local circumstances of the people among which Mr. Maccalla occasionally 
 administered ordinances, the Assembly cannot decide that he deserves 
 censure. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the decision of the Synod of Kentucky, affirming a 
 decision of the Presbytery of Ebenezer in regard to the complaint of the 
 54 
 
850 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. IX. 
 
 Kev. Mr. Dobbins, against the Rev. Mr. Maccalla, be, and it hereby is 
 affirmed.— 1824, p. 124. 
 
 3. Where a minister may statedly preach he may administer 
 the Lord's Supper. 
 
 The Judicial Commission appointed to hear and try an appeal and 
 complaint of the church and congregation of Mifflinburg against the 
 action of the Synod of Philadelphia, on the appeal and complaint of 
 the Rev. Isaac Grier, D.D., beg leave to report: 
 
 That they have issued the case pro forma, according to the directions 
 of the Book of Discipline in the case of appeals and complaints, and 
 after a full hearing, do unanimously adjudge: 
 
 1. That the decision of the Synod of Philadelphia, affirming the right 
 of Rev. Mr. Grier to preach in Mifflinburg to the people of his charge, 
 be approved and confirmed. 
 
 2. That the restriction preventing him from administering the Lord's 
 Supper in Mifflinburg, except under extraordinary circumstances, be 
 removed.— 1870, p. 31. 
 
 4. Administered in a private house in sickness. 
 
 Overture No. 12, from the Central Presbytery of Philadelphia, asking 
 the Assembly to decide whether, in no case of sickness or of conversion, 
 however peculiar, the Session of the church is not at liberty to adminis- 
 ter the Lord's Supper in a private house. 
 
 The Committee recommend the following minute: 
 
 The Standards of our Church are clear in their teaching, that the 
 Lord's Supper is not to be received by any one alone, yet, in cases of 
 protracted sickness or approaching death, when the desire is very strongly 
 urged by a member of the Church, to enjoy the administration of the 
 Lord's Supper, a pastor, having duly admonished the applicant that such 
 ordinance, however a source of spiritual comfort, is not; in such cases, 
 an imperative duty, or indispensable to salvation, may, with a member of 
 his Session, and such communicants as may appropriately be permitted 
 to partake in such solemnity, proceed to administer this sacrament — a 
 minute of every such act to be entered on the records of Session. 
 
 The recommendation was adopted. — 1863, p. 37, O. S. 
 
 II. The ignorant and scandalous are not to be admitted to the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 III. It is proper that public notice should be given to the congrega- 
 tion, at least the Sabbath before the administration of this ordinance, 
 and that, either then, or ou some day of the week, the people be 
 instructed in its nature, and a due preparation for it; that all may come 
 in a suitable manner to this holy feast. 
 
 IV. When the sermon is ended, the minister shall show, 
 
 ' ' That this is an ordinance of Christ ; by reading the words of institu- 
 tion, either from one of the evangelists, or from 1 Cor. xi chapter; 
 «' which, as to him may appear expedient, he may explain and apply; 
 * ' that it is to be observed in remembrance of Christ, to show forth his 
 ' ' death till he come ; that it is of inestimable benefit to strengthen his 
 * ' people against sin ; to support them under troubles ; to encourage and 
 
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 851 
 
 " quicken them in duty; to inspire them with love and zeal; to increase 
 f ' their faith, and holy resolution ; and to beget peace of conscience, and 
 " comfortable hopes of eterual life." 
 
 He is to warn the profane, the ignorant, and scandalous, and those 
 that secretly indulge themselves in any known sin, not to approach the 
 Holy Table. On the other hand, he shall invite to this Holy Table, 
 such as, sensible of their lost and helpless state of sin, depend upon the 
 atonement of Christ for pardon and acceptance with God; such as, 
 being instructed in the gospel doctrine, have a competent knowledge to 
 discern the Lord's body; and such as desire to renounce their sins, and 
 are determined to lead a holy and godly life. 
 
 1. The ignorant or scandalous excluded. 
 
 Such as are found to be ignorant or scandalous, notwithstanding their 
 profession of the faith, and desire to come to the Lord's Supper, may 
 and ought to be kept from that sacrament by the power which Christ 
 hath left in His Church, until they receive instruction, and manifest 
 their reformation. — Larger Catechism, Ques. 173. 
 
 2. Not the custom to invite those who have not professed Christ. 
 
 Overture No. 42, asking if it accords with the spirit and usage of the 
 Presbyterian Church, to invite persons, believers, not members of any 
 evangelical Church, to partake of the Lord's Supper. The Committee 
 recommend the reply, that ' * it is not in accordance with the spirit and 
 usage of the Presbyterian Church to extend such invitations. ' ' Adopted. 
 —1872, p. 75. 
 
 3. Church membership is implied in the invitation to commune. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Rochester, asking the question: 
 " Does it comport with the Standards and the usage of the Presbyterian 
 Church to invite persons to the Lord's Supper who are not connected 
 with any branch of the visible Church ?" The Committee recommend 
 the following answer: That, according to the action of the General 
 Assembly of 1872 (p. 75), it is not in accordance with the spirit of the 
 Presbyterian Church to extend such an invitation. " The language of 
 the Book (Directory for Worship, Chap, viii [now Chap, ix], Sec. iv), 
 relied upon by some to authorize indiscriminate communion, is not cor- 
 rectly interpreted by them. Although, in describing the persons there 
 invited to the Lord's table, church membership is not expressed, it is 
 clearly implied. " Adopted.— 1876, p. 79. 
 
 4. Baptism with water is essential to communion in the 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of North Texas, asking: 1. Can one 
 be admitted to membership in the Presbyterian Church who has not 
 received water baptism in any mode, and who does not believe in other 
 baptism than the baptism of the Holy Ghost ? 2. If not, can such 
 persons — e. g., Quakers— be invited to the Lord's table ? 
 
 Your Committee most respectfully answer the first question in the 
 negative. And, as an answer to the second question, would refer the Pres- 
 bytery to the Directory of Worship, Chap, viii [ix] , Sec. iv, in regard 
 to the proper qualifications of communicants. Adopted. — 1883, p. 627. 
 
852 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. IX. 
 
 5. Communicants' classes commended. 
 
 To secure intelligent confession of Christ at His table, it is desirable 
 that there be something of the nature of a communicants' class in each 
 congregation, duly made known from the pulpit, conducted by the 
 pastor, or, in exceptional cases, by a competent member of the church. 
 This class should be, if not continuous, for, say, a month before each 
 communion season; it should be so conducted as to elicit free statements 
 of belief and experience of religious truth and devotional feelings. — 
 1889, p. 63. 
 
 V. The table, on which the elements are placed, being decently cov- 
 ered, the bread in convenient dishes, and the wine in cups, and the 
 communicants orderly and gravely sitting around the table (or in their 
 seats before it, ) in the presence of the minister ; let him set the elements 
 apart, by prayer and thanksgiving. 
 
 The bread and wine being thus set apart by prayer and thanksgiving, 
 the minister is to take the bread, and break it, in the view of the people, 
 saying, in expressions of this sort : 
 
 " Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the same night in which he was betrayed, 
 ' ' having taken bread, and blessed and broken it, gave it to his disciples ; 
 ' ' as I, ministering in his name, give this bread unto you ; saying, [here 
 " the bread is to be distributed] Take, eat: this is my body, which is 
 " broken for you : this do in remembrance of me." 
 
 After having given the bread, he shall take the cup, and say — 
 
 " After the same manner our Saviour also took the cup; and having 
 " given thanks, as hath been done in his name, he gave it to the disci - 
 " pies; saying, [while the minister is repeating these words let him give 
 " the cup] This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for 
 " many, for the remission of sins: drink ye all of it." 
 
 The minister himself is to communicate, at such time as may appear to 
 him most convenient. 
 
 The minister may, in a few words, put the communicants in mind — 
 
 " Of the grace of God, in Jesus Christ, held forth in this Sacrament; 
 "and of their obligation to be the Lord's; and may exhort them to 
 " walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called; and, as they 
 " have professedly received Christ Jesus the Lord, that they be careful 
 " so to walk in him, and to maintain good works. ' ' 
 
 It may not be improper for the minister to give a word of exhortation 
 also to those who have been only spectators, reminding them — 
 
 " Of their duty; stating their sin and danger, by living in disobedi- 
 " ence to Christ, in neglecting this holy ordinance; and calling upon 
 " them to be earnest in making preparation for attending upon it, at the 
 " next time of its celebration." 
 
 Then the minister is to pray, and give thanks, to God, 
 
 " For his rich mercy, and invaluable goodness, vouchsafed to them in 
 " that sacred communion; to implore pardon for the defects of the whole 
 
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 853 
 
 " service; and to pray for the acceptance of their persons and perform - 
 * ' ances ; for the gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit, to enable them, 
 " as they have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so to walk in him; that 
 ' ' they may hold fast that which they have received, that no man take 
 " their crown; that their conversation may be as becometh the gospel; 
 " that they may bear about with them, continually, the dying of the 
 1 ' Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in their mor- 
 " tal body; that their light may so shine before men, that others, seeing 
 ' ' their good works, may glorify their Father who is in heaven. ' ' 
 
 The collection for the poor, and to defray the expense of the elements, 
 may be made after this ; or at such other time as may seem meet to the 
 eldership. 
 
 Now let a psalm or hymn be sung, and the congregation dismissed, 
 with the following or some other gospel benediction : 
 
 " Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord 
 ' ' Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the 
 * ' everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his 
 " will, working in you that which is well -pleasing in his sight, through 
 ' ' Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ' ' 
 
 1. Communion wine, the purest attainable to be used. 
 
 a. A memorial from several Presbyteries on communion wine. Your 
 Committee recommend the following answer: That the control of this 
 matter be left to the Sessions of the several churches, with the earnest 
 recommendation that the purest wine attainable be used. Adopted. — 
 1877, p. 542; 1885, p. 685. 
 
 b. Asking if the use of fermented wine is necessary to the proper 
 observance of the Lord's Supper, and if our churches are at liberty to 
 use unfermented wine if they can get it. Answer: The essential ele- 
 ments of the Lord' s Supper are bread and wine. The General Assembly 
 has always recognized the right of each church Session to determine 
 what is bread, and what is wine. In the judgment of the Assembly no 
 new legislation is needed on this subject. Adopted. — 1881, p. 548; 
 1882, p. 57. 
 
 2. Unfermented fruit of the vine fulfils every condition. 
 
 Resolved, Whereas, it is the duty of the Church of Jesus Christ to 
 avoid even the appearance of evil, and whereas there is a well-grounded 
 belief that danger lies in the use of fermented wine at the communion 
 table, therefore it is the sense of this Assembly that unfermented fruit of 
 the vine fulfils every condition in the celebration of the sacrament. — 
 1895, p. 100. 
 
 3. Individual communion cups not approved. 
 
 Overture on Individual Communion Cups, from the Presbytery of 
 Winona. The following answer is recommended : 
 
 The General Assembly sees no sufficient reason to change the primitive 
 and historic method of administering the Lord's Supper, by the intro- 
 duction of what is known as " the individual communion cup," and 
 
854 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. X. 
 
 urges upon its churches not to make this change. Adopted. — 1895, 
 p. 75. 
 
 4. The number of cups left to the discretion of the Session. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, with reference to the 
 number of cups to be used in celebrating the Lord's Supper. It is 
 recommended that the Assembly answer that, 
 
 Whereas, The Directory for Worship, Chap, ix, Sec. v, says, " The 
 table on which the elements are placed, being decently covered, the 
 bread in convenient dishes, and the wine in cups, etc." — not the wine 
 in a cup, but " the wine in cups " — therefore 
 
 Resolved, That this General Assembly leaves the matter of the number 
 of cups to be used in the celebration of the Lord's Supper to the Sessions 
 of our churches, where it constitutionally belongs. Adopted. — 1896, 
 p. 47. 
 
 5. No rule as to persons to aid the minister. 
 
 Inasmuch as we have no rule in relation to the subject, the matter is 
 referred to the discretion of the Sessions of the churches. — 1877, p. 516. 
 
 6. Deacons may aid in the distribution of the elements. 
 
 It is " in accordance with the Presbyterian law and usage that deacons 
 distribute to the church members the bread and wine in the sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper. "—1874, p. 84. 
 
 VI. As it has been customary, in some parts of our Church, to 
 observe a fast before the Lord' s Supper ; to have a sermon on Saturday 
 and Monday; and to invite two or three ministers on such occasions; and 
 as these seasons have been blessed to many souls, and may tend to keep 
 up a stricter union of ministers and congregations; we think it not 
 improper that they who choose it may continue in this practice. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OF THE ADMISSION OF PERSONS TO SEALING 
 ORDINANCES. 
 
 I. Children, born within the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated 
 to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government of the 
 Church ; and are to be taught to read and repeat the Catechism, the 
 Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. They are to be taught to pray, 
 to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. And, 
 when they come to years of discretion, if they be free from scandal, 
 appear sober and steady, and to have sufficient knowledge to discern the 
 Lord' s body, they ought to be informed it is their duty and their privi- 
 lege to come to the Lord's Supper. 
 
 [Note.— See also Book of Discipline, Chap, i, Sec. v, p. 634.] 
 
OF THE ADMISSION OF PERSONS TO SEALING ORDINANCES. 855 
 
 1. Pastoral care over baptized children. 
 
 a. Whereas, The Book of Discipline states that children born within 
 the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are 
 under the inspection and government of the Church, and specifies vari- 
 ous important particulars in which that inspection and government should 
 be exercised, as also directs the mode in which they shall be treated if 
 they do not perform the duties of church members; *and whereas, there 
 is reason to apprehend that many of our congregations neglect to cate- 
 chise the children that have been admitted to the sealing ordinance of 
 baptism, and do not exercise suitable discipline over them; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the different Presbyteries within our bounds are hereby 
 directed to inquire of the different Sessions whether a proper pastoral 
 care be exercised over the baptized children in their congregations, that 
 they learn the principles of religion, and walk in newness of life before 
 God, and that said Presbyteries do direct all Sessions delinquent in this 
 respect to attend to it carefully and without delay. — 1809, p. 431. 
 
 b. Resolved, That the General Assembly recommend, and they do 
 hereby recommend to the pastors and Sessions of the different churches 
 under their care, to assemble as often as they may deem necessary during 
 the year the baptized children, with their parents, to recommend said 
 children to God in prayer, explain to them the nature and obligations of 
 their baptism, and the relation they sustain to the Church. — 1818, 
 p. 691. 
 
 2. Discipline of baptized children. The subject postponed. 
 
 How far, and in what sense, are persons who have been regularly 
 baptized in infancy, and have not partaken* of the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, subject to the discipline of the Church ? 
 
 Resolved, That the public Standards of this Church contain a sufficient 
 answer to the question stated in the above reference. — 1799, p. 171. 
 
 [Note. — The subject of the disciplining of baptized persons arriving at maturity, not 
 in communion, was before the Assembly in 1811, pp. 468, 475, 480 ; 1812, p. 509 ; 1814, 
 pp. 543, 551, when it was referred to a Committee. This Committee was subsequently 
 discharged and the whole subject indefinitely postponed, 1814, p. 567; also 1815,, 
 pp. 578, 579. See Moore's Digest, 1886, p. 801.] 
 
 3. Diligent oversight enjoined in the care of the baptized children. 
 
 In consequence of but little being said [in the Presbyterial narra- 
 tives] in regard to the care and instruction of the baptized children of 
 the Church, the Assembly fears that there is a lamentable deficiency in 
 this respect. Let us, as we value that covenant which makes the promise 
 not only ours but our children's, take a more diligent oversight of these 
 youthful members of our Church. Too often are they left to wander 
 unrestrained and forgotten in the paths of error and of sin. Can the 
 Church answer to her great Head, if this neglect of duty be not 
 mourned over and corrected ?— 1835, p. 37. 
 
 4. The duty of home training urged on the attention of the Church. 
 Whereas, This Church holds and teaches that " children born within 
 
 the pale of the visible Church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are 
 under the inspection and government of the Church, and are to be taught 
 to read and repeat the Catechism, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's 
 Prayer ; they are to be taught to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to 
 obey the Lord Jesus Christ; and when they come to years of discretion, 
 
856 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. X. 
 
 if they be free from scandal, appear sober and steady, and to have suffi- 
 cient knowledge to discern the Lord's body, they ought to be informed it 
 is their duty and their privilege to come to the Lord's Supper;" and 
 
 Whereas, There seems to be inadequate attention given by parents, 
 pastors and Christians generally to this first and divine provision for the 
 perpetuity, prosperity and extension of the Church; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the General Assembly hereby specially directs the 
 attention of the whole Church to this momentous subject, in the full 
 assurance that no part of the Avork of the Church is more fundamental 
 and important than that which is performed in the quietness and sanctity 
 of homes where Christian parents are the divinely chosen and responsible 
 guardians, guides, examples and teachers of their children, in the way 
 of the Lord; and the General Assembly desires that the utmost diligence 
 may be shown in this work; that a generation of God's people, renewed 
 in heart in their infancy, may grow up in the practice of God's worship 
 and service from their earliest years, so that His Church may be more 
 intelligent, zealous, holy and progressive than in any former age. — 1875, 
 p. 594. 
 
 [Note.— See Pastoral Letter on Sabbath-schools, 1878, pp. 95-98.] 
 
 5. Children should be trained in the faith of our fathers. 
 We have two suggestions to make to Christian parents on this general 
 subject. One is, that they cause their children to be brought up in the 
 faith of their fathers. We do not mean by this that our youth should 
 be prevented from following out their honest convictions of duty; but 
 that they should be dissuaded from uniting with other denominations 
 from mere caprice or childish fancies. We consider the conduct of those 
 parents who suffer their children to abandon our own Church without any 
 adequate reason, as in a high degree reprehensible, and calculated to inflict 
 a serious injury both on the Church and on their divided households. — 
 1840, p. 310, O. S. 
 
 6. Catechetical instruction enjoined on parents. 
 It was unanimously Resolved, That the Assembly hereby most earnestly 
 remind parents and others of the duty of catechising children and 
 youth, and enjoin this duty upon them, as one whose performance no 
 instruction the children receive in the Sabbath -school or elsewhere, out- 
 side the family, can supersede or supply. — 1870, p. 123. 
 
 7. Family training essential to the increase of the ministry and 
 
 the Church. 
 
 Resolved, That the Assembly regard Christian training at all periods of 
 youth, and by all practicable methods, especially by parents at home, by 
 teachers in institutions of learning, and by pastors through catechetical 
 and Bible classes, as binding upon the Church, according to the injunc- 
 tion, Train up a child in the way he should go, and as having a vital 
 connection with the increase of the numbers and efficiency of the minis- 
 try and of the stability and purity of the Church. — 1 854, p. 30, O. S. 
 
 8. Placing children in Catholic schools a violation of covenant 
 
 engagement. 
 
 What course ought church Sessions to pursue with members of the 
 Church who send their children to Catholic boarding-schools, where they 
 are entirely deprived of the evangelical means of grace, and are obliged 
 to attend upon papistical services ? 
 
OF THE ADMISSION OF PERSONS TO SEALING ORDINANCES. 857 
 
 1. Resolved, That this Assembly deem such conduct ou the part of 
 any Protestant parents, whether church members or not, as highly inju- 
 dicious, fraught with great danger to their children, and utterly incon- 
 sistent with every principle of Protestantism. 
 
 2. Resolved, That we deem such conduct in church members, whose 
 children have been dedicated to God in baptism, as a violation of their 
 vows made in that ordinance, and a great hindrance to the training up 
 of their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 3. Resolved, That it be recommended to all ministers in our connection 
 where such a practice exists, to present this subject from the pulpit, and 
 in other suitable ways to admonish those who offend. — 1849, p. 265, 
 O. S. 
 
 II. The years of discretion, in young Christians, cannot be precisely 
 fixed. This must be left to the prudence of the eldership. The officers 
 of the church are the judges of the qualifications of those to be admitted 
 to sealing ordinances; and of the time when it is proper to admit young 
 Christians to them. 
 
 III. Those who are to be admitted to sealing ordinances, shall be 
 examined as to their knowledge and piety. 
 
 1. Universalists not to be admitted to sealing" ordinances. 
 
 a. A question from the Synod of the Carolinas was introduced as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 Are they who publicly profess a belief in the doctrine of the universal 
 and actual salvation of the whole human race, or of the fallen angels, 
 or both, through the mediation of Christ, to be admitted to the sealing 
 ordinances of the Gospel ? 
 
 The Assembly determined that such persons should not be admitted. — 
 1792, p. 60. 
 
 b. The consideration of Dr. McCorkle's letter was resumed. On the 
 proposition in the letter, requesting a reconsideration of the sentence of 
 the General Assembly, respecting the doctrine of universal salvation, 
 passed at Carlisle in 1792, the Assembly unanimously agreed to adhere 
 to the aforesaid decision. — 1794, p. 86. 
 
 2. Persons refusing to present their children in baptism not to be 
 refused communion, but the expediency of receiving them to be 
 judged of by the Session. 
 
 The Committee appointed on Overture No. 7, from the Session of 
 Union Grove church, Illinois, made the following report, which was 
 adopted, viz. : 
 
 That two questions are submitted in this overture to the judgment of 
 the Assembly, viz. : 
 
 1. Is it the duty of church Sessions to admit to membership persons 
 who refuse to present their children to God in the ordinance of baptism ? 
 
 2. What is the duty of the Session in case of parents, members of the 
 church, who refuse from conscientious scruples to present their children 
 for baptism ? 
 
 For a reply to these questions, the Session are referred to the Digest, 
 Part iv, Chap, ii, Sec. vii, p. 98, where the decision of the Assembly on 
 the principle involved in both is recorded as follows: 
 
 A letter also came through the Committee of Overtures, from Bethuel 
 
858 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. X. 
 
 Church, Esq., inquiring whether he may be admitted to occasional 
 communion, whilst he has scruples concerning infant baptism. 
 
 The letter from Bethuel Church, Esq., as overtured, was read, and 
 the motion formerly made thus amended : That the Session of the church 
 of Cambridge be permitted to receive Mr. Church upon satisfactory 
 evidence of his good character, his scruples notwithstanding, was taken 
 up and agreed to. 
 
 But while it is clear, that persons otherwise of good Christian charac- 
 ter, are not to be excluded from the communion of the church, because 
 they have scruples concerning infant baptism, there is in every case, 
 where such persons apply for admission, a question as to the expediencv 
 of receiving them, upon which the Session of the church must decide. 
 —1834, p. 449. 
 
 3. Duelists to be received only on evidence of repentance. 
 
 Resolved, also, That it be, and it is hereby recommended to all the 
 ministers under the care of the Assembly, that they scrupulously refuse 
 to attend the funeral of any person who shall have fallen in a duel ; 
 and that they admit no person who shall have fought a duel, given or 
 accepted a challenge, or been accessory thereto, unto the distinguishing 
 privileges of the Church until he manifest a just sense of his guilt, and 
 give satisfactory evidence of repentance. — 1805, p. 339. 
 
 4. Postmasters officiating on the Sabbath. 
 
 a. An appeal by Mr. Wiley, postmaster in Washington, Pa., from a 
 decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh, by which it is determined that Mr. 
 Wiley's officiating as postmaster on the Sabbath day, in existing circum- 
 stances, is a sufficient reason to exclude him from the special privileges 
 of the Church, was overtured and read. 
 
 Resolved, That the above decision of the Synod of Pittsburgh be 
 affirmed.— 1810, p. 456. 
 
 b. A petition signed by a number of persons in Washington, Pa., 
 and vicinity, praying the revision, with a view to its being rescinded, of 
 the decision of the General Assembly of 1810, respecting the case of Mr. 
 Wiley, postmaster, was overtured. 
 
 Resolved, That the prayer of the petitioners be not granted. — 1812, p. 
 508. 
 
 5. Proprietor of mail stages running on the Sabbath. 
 
 An overture relative to receiving a person as a member of the Church 
 who is a proprietor in a line of stages which carries the mail, and runs 
 on Sabbath. 
 
 Resolved, That it is the decided opinion of this Assembly that all 
 attention to worldly concerns on the Lord's day, further than the works 
 of necessity and mercy demand, is inconsistent both with the letter and 
 spirit of the fourth commandment; and consequently all engagements 
 in regard to secular occupations on the Lord's day, with a view to secure 
 worldly advantages, are to be considered inconsistent with Christian 
 character, and that those who are concerned in such engagements ought 
 not to be admitted into the communion of the Church while they con- 
 tinue in the same. — 1819, p. 713. 
 
 6. Persons engaged in the sale of intoxicating drinks. 
 
 [Note.— See No. 12 (6), p. 624, and Nos. 1 and 2, p. 631.] 
 
OF THE ADMISSION OF PERSONS TO SEALING ORDINANCES. 859 
 
 7. Subjection to the discipline of the Church requisite. 
 
 Is a church Session authorized by the principles laid down in the 
 Confession of Faith, to admit individuals to the Lord's table, who do 
 not subscribe to the doctrines and submit to the discipline of the Church ? 
 
 There can be no doubt that all persons admitted to the communion of 
 the Presbyterian Church do in fact and form submit to its discipline 
 (except in cases of occasional communion by members of other churches) ; 
 but every Session must judge for themselves of that degree of knowl- 
 edge of Christian doctrine and adherence thereto on the part of those 
 examined by them which may render their reception suitable, and for 
 their own edification and the peace of the Church. — 1853, p. 434, O. S. 
 
 8. To be admitted only by a Session regularly constituted. 
 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, p. 168.] 
 
 9. The Session the judge of the qualification of candidates for 
 
 membership. 
 
 Has a Session or church constitutional power, in examining a candi- 
 date for membership, to require abstinence from any error, practice or 
 custom, which the members adjudge to be sinful, and decidedly injurious 
 to personal piety, and to the interests of the Church of Christ ? And, 
 if they have this power, then is it expedient to admit persons to member- 
 ship who practice and defend promiscuous dancing, card -playing, and 
 the use, manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage ? 
 
 The Committee recommended the following answer: 
 
 It is the province of the Session to judge of the qualifications of can- 
 didates for membership in the church. For their guidance in the 
 matters noticed in the overture, reference is made to past acts of the 
 Assembly found in the Digest (Moore, 1861), Chap, vii, on " Moral 
 Questions, ' ' Sees, iii, iv and v. 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1864, p. 510, N. S. 
 
 [Note.— See also No. 3, p. 609.] 
 
 10. Question as to the baptism of a member of the Friends' Society. 
 
 Overture No. 7, from the Presbytery of St. Clairsville. Would it be 
 consistent for a minister of the Presbyterian Church to administer the 
 ordinance of baptism to a member of the Friends' Society, who professes 
 to believe that ' l Jesus is the Son of God ' ' and the essential doctrines 
 of the Christian religion, but declares his intention to continue his con- 
 nection with the Friends' Society ? 
 
 The Committee on Bills and Overtures reported a recommendation that 
 the inquirers be referred to the answers in the Larger and Shorter Cate- 
 chisms, to the question, " To whom is baptism to be administered ?" 
 
 The report was adopted. — 1864, p. 314, O. S. 
 
 11. Intercommunion with those who maintain an irregular ministry 
 
 discouraged. 
 
 The Committee on Overture No. 3, viz., a question from the Presby- 
 tery of Bethel, respecting holding communion with the followers of 
 William C. Davis, a deposed minister, and calling themselves Indepen- 
 dent Presbyterians, reported, that in their judgment the questions pro- 
 posed in said overture ought to be answered in the negative. They 
 therefore would recommend the adoption of the following resolution, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That while this Assembly readily acknowledges the right of 
 
860 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. X. 
 
 the Session to determine according to the Scriptures and the Constitution 
 of our Church, the qualifications for admission to sealing ordinances, 
 yet they feel it to be their duty to declare that, in their judgment, the 
 services of those who have received only lay ordination, and of those 
 who have been deposed from the Gospel ministry, are unscriptural and 
 unwarrantable ; and therefore an attendance on their ministrations cannot 
 be in the order of the Gospel, and ought to be discouraged and discoun- 
 tenanced by every friend of the Redeemer's kingdom. — 1833, p. 407. 
 
 12. Polygamists cannot be received into the Church while remaining 
 
 in that relation. 
 
 No. 14, from the Presbytery of Kolapore, asking for an answer to 
 the following questions, namely: 
 
 Can a man who, before his conversion from heathenism, had been the 
 husband of two wives, each the mother of several children, and with 
 whom he continues to live in apparent harmony, be received into the 
 Christian Church while retaining them both, or should he be required to 
 separate from one of them ? In the latter case, from which ought he to 
 separate ? and why should he be separated from her ? 
 
 The Committee report that they have given the subject the most care- 
 ful consideration, and have called before them all the foreign missionaries 
 in attendance on the Assembly, and fully consulted with them. As the 
 result of all their deliberations, the Committee recommend that the 
 following answer be returned: 
 
 Under the light of the Gospel no man may marry a second wife while 
 his first is living without offending against the law of Christ. Such a 
 relation, although it may be justified by human law and entered into in 
 ignorance of the truth, cannot be perpetuated by one who has become a 
 follower of Christ; neither can it be justified by His Church. Converts 
 from heathenism should be treated very tenderly in this most painful 
 situation, and yet they should be dealt with in all fidelity; and, when a 
 converted man is called on to separate from all but his first and only 
 wife, he should be enjoined to make suitable provision for her that is put 
 away, and for her children, if she have any, to the full extent of his 
 ability. The report was unanimously adopted. — 1875, p. 507. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxiv, Sec. i, p. 93.] 
 
 13. Examination of candidates ought ordinarily to be in the 
 presence of the Session. 
 
 ^Overture from the Presbytery of Troy, asking: " Must the examina- 
 tion of candidates for admission to the sealing ordinances spoken of in 
 Chap, ix, Sec. iii, of the Directory for Worship, be in the presence of 
 the Session ? Or may it be conducted by the pastor or a Committee, and 
 the result be reported to the Session to guide them in their action ?" 
 
 Your Committee recommend the following action: Inasmuch as the 
 members of the Session are the judges of the qualifications of those to 
 be admitted to sealing ordinances, and the reception of such is their act, 
 the examination of candidates ought manifestly to be in their presence, 
 unless in special cases of sickness or other hindrance, when this duty 
 may be performed by a Committee, under direction of the Session (See 
 Moore's Digest, p. 130). Adopted.— 1885, p. 638. 
 
OF THE ADMISSION OF PERSONS TO SEALING ORDINANCES. 861 
 
 IV. When unbaptized persons apply for admission into the Church, 
 the) 7 shall, in ordinary cases, after giving satisfaction with respect to 
 their knowledge and piety, make a public profession of their faith, in 
 the presence of the congregation; and thereupon be baptized. 
 
 1. Baptism may follow upon a general profession of faith. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church reported au answer to the 
 following inquiry : 
 
 " Is it forbidden by our Standards to baptize adult converts upon a 
 general confession of faith in Christ, previous to their being received 
 into a particular church, and assenting to its articles of faith?" as 
 follows, viz. : 
 
 A profession of faith in Christ and obedience to Him is all that is 
 required in our Standards of those who are out of the visible Church, 
 in order to their being baptized (see Confession of Faith, Chap, xxviii, 
 Sec. iv; Larger Catechism, Ques. 166; Shorter Catechism, Ques. 95). 
 
 Hence, cases may occur in which, as in the case of Philip and the 
 Ethiopian eunuch, it may be proper to baptize a person who does not 
 expect immediately to connect himself with any particular Church. But 
 inasmuch as it was the obvious intent of the Saviour that all His disci- 
 ples should be associated in local churches, and inasmuch as we cannot 
 obey one of His commandments, that requiring us to remember Him at 
 His table, without such connection: therefore, your Committee believe 
 that in no ordinary circumstances can a person give good evidence of a 
 readiness to obey Christ in all things, who, having the opportunity, does 
 not connect himself with some particular branch of the visible body of 
 Christ. In the practice of our Church, and according to her Standards, 
 baptism is manifestly regarded as a part of the general profession of 
 faith in, and obedience to, Christ, which constitute his initiation into the 
 visible Church, and into some particular branch of it ; and in no ordinary 
 case ought the several parts of this solemn profession to be separated. — 
 1860, p. 244, N. S. 
 [Note.— See Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, pp. 166, 167.] 
 
 2. An excommunicated member, if restored, is not to be 
 rebaptized. 
 
 A question by the Presbytery of Holston, whether the excommunica- 
 tion of a church member vitiates his baptism, and, on being restored, 
 shall he be rebaptized ? Both questions answered in the negative. — 
 1881, p. 586. 
 
 3. To admit to sealing ordinances belongs exclusively to the Session. 
 Forms of admission. 
 
 Overture No. 38, from the Presbytery of Brooklyn, on the methods 
 of receiving members to the communion of our churches and urging 
 the importance of uniformity in these methods, as well as calling atten- 
 tion to ' ' serious and hurtful evils ' ' growing out of a disregard of the 
 teachings of our Standards on this subject. 
 
 The following answer is recommended by the Committee: 
 
 1. That the admission of persons to sealing ordinances is confided, by 
 the Form of Government, really and exclusively to the church Session. 
 
 2. That any forms, for publicly recognizing those who have been thus 
 
862 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XI. 
 
 admitted to sealing ordinances, should keep in view the principle thus 
 declared, and should give effect to the distinction, so clearly laid down 
 by our Standards, between admitting the children of the Church to the 
 Lord's table, and the unbaptized to membership in the Church. — 1872, 
 p. 89. 
 [Note. — See under Form of Government, Chap, ix, Sec. vi, p. 168.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF THE MODE OF INFLICTING AND REMOVING 
 CENSURES. 
 
 [Note. — See for cases, Confession of Faith, Chap, xxx, p. 110, Form of Govern- 
 ment, pp. 206-212, and 536, and Book of Discipline, pp. 657 to 662.] 
 
 I. The power which Christ has given the rulers of his Church is for 
 edification, and not destruction. When, therefore, a communicant shall 
 have been found guilty of a fault deserving censure, the judicatory shall 
 proceed with all tenderness, and restore the offending brother in the spirit 
 of meekness, its members considering themselves, lest they also be 
 tempted. Censure ought to be inflicted with great solemnity: that it 
 may be the means of impressing the mind of the delinquent with a 
 proper sense of his sin; and that, with the divine blessing, it may lead 
 him to repentance. 
 
 II. When the judicatory has resolved to pass sentence, suspending a 
 communicant from church privileges, the Moderator shall pronounce the 
 sentence in the following form : 
 
 ''Whereas you have been found guilty [by your own confession, or by 
 " sufficient proof , as the case maybe'] of the sin of [here mention the 
 "particular offence'], we declare you suspended from the sacrament of 
 " the Lord's Supper, till you give satisfactory evidence of repentance." 
 
 To this shall be added such advice, admonition, or rebuke, as may be 
 judged necessary; and the whole shall be concluded with prayer to 
 Almighty God, that he would follow this act of discipline with his bless- 
 ing. In general such censure should be inflicted in the presence of the 
 judicatory only; but, if the judicatory think it expedient to rebuke the 
 offender publicly, this solemn suspension may be in the presence of the 
 church. 
 
 III. After a person has been thus suspended, the minister and elders 
 should frequently converse with him, as well as pray for him in private, 
 that it would please God to give him repentance. And, particularly on 
 days preparatory to the dispensing of the Lord's Supper, the prayers of 
 the church should be offered up for those who have shut themselves out 
 from this holy Communion. 
 
OF THE MODE OF INFLICTING AND REMOVING CENSURES. 863 
 
 IV. When the judicatory shall be satisfied as to the reality of the 
 repentance of any suspended member, he shall be allowed to profess his 
 repentance, and be restored to fellowship, in the presence of the Session, 
 or of the church. 
 
 V. When a suspended person has failed to manifest repentance for his 
 offence, and has continued in obstinate impenitence not less than a year, 
 it may become the duty of the judicatory to excommunicate him without 
 further trial. The design of excommunication is to operate upon the 
 offender as a means of reclaiming him, to deliver the Church from the 
 scandal of his offence, and to inspire all with fear by the example of his 
 punishment. 
 
 VI. When a judgment of excommunication is to be executed, with or 
 without previous suspension, it is proper that the sentence be publicly 
 pronounced against the offender. 
 
 The minister shall, therefore, at a regular meeting of the church, 
 make a brief statement of the several steps which have been taken, with 
 respect to the offender, announcing that it has been found necessary to 
 excommunicate him. 
 
 He shall begin by showing (from Matt, xviii. 15, 16, 17, 18; 1 Cor. 
 v. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) the power of the Church to cast out unworthy members, 
 and shall briefly explain the nature, use, and consequences of this cen- 
 sure. 
 
 Then he shall pronounce the sentence in the following or like form, viz. : 
 
 " Whereas A. B. hath been, by sufficient proof, convicted of [here 
 insert the sin~\ , and after much admonition and prayer refuseth to hear 
 the Church, and hath manifested no evidence of repentance; therefore, 
 in the name, and by the authority, of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pro- 
 nounce him to be excluded from the communion of this Church. ' ' 
 
 After which, prayer shall be made for the conviction and reformation of 
 the excommunicated person, and for the establishment of all true believers. 
 
 But the judicatory may omit the publication of the excommunication, 
 when it judges that there is sufficient reason for such omission. 
 
 VII. When an excommunicated person shall be so affected by his state 
 as to be brought to repentance, and desires to be readmitted to the 
 privileges of the Church, the Session of the church which excommuni- 
 cated him, having obtained, and placed on record, sufficient evidence of 
 his sincere repentance and deep contrition, shall proceed to restore him, 
 recording, in explicit terms, the grounds on which such conclusion has 
 been reached. 
 
 The sentence of restoration shall be pronounced by the minister, at a 
 regular meeting of the church on the Lord' s day, in the following words : 
 
 " Whereas A. B. has been excluded from the communion of the 
 Church, but has now given satisfactory evidence of repentance; in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by his authority, I declare him 
 
864 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XII. 
 
 absolved from the sentence of excommunication formerly pronounced 
 against him ; and I do restore him to the communion of the Church, that 
 he may be a partaker of all the benefits of the Lord Jesus, to his eternal 
 salvation. ' ' 
 
 After which, he shall be commended to God in prayer. 
 
 VIII. Censures, other than suspension from church privileges, or 
 excommunication, shall be inflicted in such mode as the judicatory may 
 direct. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 OF THE SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE. 
 
 I. Marriage is not a Sacrament ; nor peculiar to the Church of Christ. 
 It is proper that every commonwealth, for the good of society, make laws 
 to regulate marriage ; which all citizens are bound to obey. 
 
 II. Christians ought to marry in the Lord : therefore it is fit that their 
 marriage be solemnized by a lawful minister; that special instruction 
 may be given them, and suitable prayers made, when they enter into 
 this relation. 
 
 1. Marriage solemnized by licentiates. 
 
 That while our Form of Government does not recognize licentiates as 
 ministers of the Gospel, yet this Assembly do not consider them as vio- 
 lating any rules of the Church by solemnizing marriage in those States 
 where the civil laws expressly authorize them to do it. — 1844, p. 377, 
 O. S. 
 
 2. Marrying- in the Lord defined. 
 
 It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with judg- 
 ment to give their consent, yet it is the duty of Christians to marry only 
 in the Lord. And, therefore, such as profess the true reformed religion 
 should not marry with infidels, papists or other idolaters : neither should 
 such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are 
 notoriously wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresies. — Con- 
 fession of Faith, Chap, xxiv, iii. 
 
 III. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman only : and 
 they are not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity pro- 
 hibited by the word of God. 
 
 [Note. — See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxiv, Sec. iv, pp. 93-96.] 
 
 IV. The parties ought to be of such years of discretion as to be capa- 
 ble of making their own choice : and if they be under age, or live with 
 their parents, the consent of .the parents or others, under whose care 
 they are, ought to be previously obtained, and well certified to the min- 
 ister, before he proceeds to solemnize the marriage. 
 
OF THE SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE. 865 
 
 1. Clandestine marriage discouraged. 
 
 The Synod do recommend it to all their members to use the greatest 
 caution that they do not countenance any clandestine marriages, and 
 especially that they do not marry any that they have reason to suspect to 
 go contrary to the minds of their parents and guardians in seeking it.— 
 1735, p. 115. 
 
 V. Parents ought neither to compel their children to marry contrary 
 to their inclinations, nor deny their consent without just and important 
 reasons. 
 
 VI. Marriage is of a public nature. The welfare of civil society, 
 the happiness of families, and the credit of religion, are deeply inter- 
 ested in it. Therefore the purpose of marriage ought to be sufficiently 
 published a proper time previously to the solemnization of it. It is 
 enjoined on all ministers to be careful that, in this matter, they neither 
 transgress the laws of God, nor the laws of the community: and that 
 they may not destroy the peace and comfort of families, they must be 
 properly certified with respect to the parties applying to them, that no 
 just objections lie against their marriage. 
 
 1. Publication of purpose of marriage. 
 
 What is a sufficient publication of the purpose of marriage according 
 to the second sentence of the sixth section of the eleventh chapter of the 
 Book of Discipline ? 
 
 Resolved, That the following be given as an answer to this question, 
 viz. : That the Presbyteries are the best judges in the case. — 1820, p. 740. 
 
 2. Caution enjoined in solemnizing marriages. 
 
 Overture from the Presbytery of Monroe requesting that, in view of 
 the great evils resulting from the frequency of divorce, and the ease with 
 which it is obtained, ministers be enjoined to use great caution in per- 
 forming the marriage ceremony, and in all cases refuse when either of 
 the parties has been divorced for any other than Scriptural reasons. 
 
 The Assembly cannot too emphatically pronounce its condemnation 
 upon the loose views and practices so alarmingly prevalent in our day, 
 on the subject of marriage and divorce, nor too earnestly call upon its 
 ministers and people to use their influence, both by precept and exam- 
 ple, for the promotion of a healthier moral sentiment in the community 
 on this subject. The formation of the marriage relation is attended with 
 the gravest responsibility, and " nothing but adultery, or such willful 
 desertion as can no way be remedied by the Church or civil magis- 
 trates " (Confession of Faith, Chap, xxiv, Sec. vi), can warrant its 
 rupture by any human authority. Let, therefore, the pulpit and the 
 religious press, as well as parents, teachers and others, instruct and warn 
 the young concerning these great evils and dangers. And our ministers 
 are urged to the greatest possible care that ' ' they neither transgress the 
 laws of God nor the laws of the community " in marrying persons who 
 have been divorced on grounds not warranted in the sacred Scriptures, or 
 any other persons whose lawful right may be justly called in question 
 (Directory for Worship, Chap, xii, Sec. vi). Nor may we, as conserva- 
 tors of the public morals, omit to appeal to the Legislatures of our 
 55 
 
866 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XII. 
 
 several States for the enactment of such laws of marriage, license, regis- 
 tration and other regulations as will at once protect the rights of minis- 
 ters, parents and society, as well as guard against hasty and improper 
 marriages, and so take away, to a great extent, occasion for divorce. 
 Adopted.— 1885, p. 639. 
 
 [Note.— See Confession of Faith, Chap, xxiv, Sec. vi, p. 96.] 
 
 VII. Marriage must always be performed before a competent number 
 of witnesses; and at any time, except on a day of public humiliation. 
 And we advise that it be not on the Lord's Day. And the minister is 
 to give a certificate of the marriage when required. 
 
 VIII. When the parties present themselves for marriage, the minister 
 is to desire, if there is any person present who knows any lawful reason 
 why these persons may not be joined together in the marriage relation, 
 that they will now make it known, or ever after hold their peace. 
 
 No objections being made, he is then severally to address himself to 
 the parties to be married, in the following or like words: 
 
 " You, the man, declare in the presence of God, that you do not 
 " know any reason, by precontract or otherwise, why you may not law- 
 " fully marry this woman." 
 
 Upon his declaring he does not, the minister shall address himself to 
 the bride, in the same or similar terms: 
 
 " You, the woman, declare in the presence of God, that you do not 
 " know any reason, by precontract or otherwise, why you may not law- 
 fully marry this man." 
 
 Upon her declaring she does not, he is to begin with prayer for the 
 presence and blessing of God. 
 
 The minister shall then proceed to give them some instruction from the 
 scriptures, respecting the institution and duties of this state, showing — 
 
 ' ' That God hath instituted marriage for the comfort and happiness of 
 " mankind, in declaring a man shall forsake his father and mother, and 
 " cleave unto his wife; and that marriage is honorable in all; that he 
 ' ' hath appointed various duties, which are incumbent upon those who enter 
 ''into this relation; such as, a high esteem and mutual love for one 
 *' another; bearing with each other's infirmities and weaknesses, to which 
 " human nature is subject in its present lapsed state; to encourage each 
 " other under the various ills of life; to comfort one another in sickness; 
 *' in honesty and industry to provide for each other's temporal support; to 
 " pray for and encourage one another in the things which pertain to God, 
 " and to their immortal souls; and to live together as the heirs of the 
 •' grace of life." 
 
 Then the minister shall cause the bridegroom and bride to join their 
 hands, and shall pronounce the marriage covenant, first to the man, in 
 these words : 
 
 " You take this woman, whom you hold by the hand, to be your law- 
 
OF THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 867 
 
 " ful and married wife; and you promise, and covenant, in the presence 
 " of God and these witnesses, that you will be unto her a loving and 
 " faithful husband, until you shall be separated by death." 
 
 The bridegroom shall express his consent, by saying, ' ' Yes, I do. ' ' 
 
 Then the minister shall address himself to the woman, in these words: 
 
 " You take this man, whom you hold by the hand, to be your lawful 
 u and married husband; and you promise, and covenant, in the presence 
 ' ' of God and these witnesses, that you will be unto him a loving, f aith- 
 " ful, and obedient wife, until you shall be separated by death." 
 
 The bride shall express her consent, by saying, ' ' Yes, I do. " 
 
 Then the minister is to say, 
 
 " I pronounce you husband and wife, according to the ordinance of 
 * ' God ; whom therefore God hath joined together let no. man put asunder. ' ' 
 
 After this the minister may exhort them in a few words, to the mutual 
 discharge of their duty. 
 
 Then let him conclude with prayer suitable to the occasion. 
 
 Let the minister keep a proper register for the names of all persons 
 whom he marries, and of the time of their marriage, for the perusal of 
 all whom it may concern. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 OF THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 
 
 I. When persons are sick, it is their duty, before their strength and 
 understanding fail them, to send for their minister, and to make known 
 to him, with prudence, their spiritual state; or to consult him on the 
 concerns of their precious souls. And it is his duty to visit them, at 
 their request, and to apply himself, with all tenderness and love, to 
 administer spiritual good to their immortal souls. 
 
 II. He shall instruct the sick out of the Scriptures, that diseases arise 
 not out of the ground, nor do they come by chance; but that they are 
 directed and sent by a wise and holy God, either for correction of sin, 
 for the trial of grace, for improvement in religion, or for other impor- 
 tant ends: and that they shall work together for good to all those who 
 make a wise improvement of God's visitation, neither despising his 
 chastening hand, nor fainting under his rebukes. 
 
 III. If the minister finds the sick person to be grossly ignorant, he 
 shall instruct him in the nature of repentance and faith, and the way of 
 acceptance with God, through the mediation and atonement of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
868 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XIII. 
 
 IV. He shall exhort the sick to examine himself; to search his heart, 
 and try his former ways, by the word of God; and shall assist him, by 
 mentioning some of the obvious marks and evidences of sincere piety. 
 
 V. If the sick shall signify any scrapie, doubt, or temptation, under 
 which he labors, the minister must endeavor to resolve his doubts, and 
 administer instruction and direction, as the case may seem to require. 
 
 VI. If the sick appear to be a stupid, thoughtless, and hardened 
 sinner, he shall endeavor to awaken his mind ; to arouse his conscience ; 
 to convince him of the evil and danger of sin ; of the curse of the law, 
 and the wrath of God due to sinners ; to bring him to an humble and 
 penitential sense of his iniquities ; and to state before him the fullness of 
 the grace and mercy of God, in and through the glorious Redeemer ; the 
 absolute necessity of faith and repentance, in order to his being interested 
 in the favor of God, or his obtaining everlasting happiness. 
 
 VII. If the sick person shall appear to have knowledge, to be of a 
 tender conscience, and to have been endeavoring to serve God in upright- 
 ness, though not without many failings and sinful infirmities; or if his 
 spirit be broken with a sense of sin, or through apprehensions of the 
 want of the divine favor ; then it will be proper to administer consola- 
 tion and encouragement to him, by setting before him the freeness and 
 riches of the grace of God, the all -sufficiency of the righteousness of 
 Christ, and the supporting promises of the gospel. 
 
 [Note. — For cases where it may be proper to administer the Lord's Supper in the 
 sick chamber, see Directory for Worship, Chap, ix, Sec. i, 4, p. 850.] 
 
 VIII. The minister must endeavor to guard the sick person against 
 ill-grounded persuasions of the mercy of God, without a vital union to 
 Christ ; and against unreasonable fears of death, and desponding discour- 
 agements ; against presumption upon his own goodness and merit, upon 
 the one hand, and against despair of the mercy and grace of God in 
 Jesus Christ, on the other. 
 
 IX. In one word, it is the minister's duty to administer to the sick 
 person instruction, conviction, support, consolation, or encouragement, as 
 his case may seem to require. 
 
 At a proper time, when he is most composed, the minister shall pray 
 with and for him. 
 
 X. Lastly, the minister may improve the present occasion to exhort 
 those about the sick, to consider their mortality ; to turn to the Lord 
 and make their peace with him ; in health to prepare for sickness, death, 
 and judgment. 
 
OF FASTING AND THANKSGIVING. 869 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 OF THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 
 
 I. When any person departs this life, let the corpse be taken care of 
 in a decent manner; and be kept a proper and sufficient time before 
 interment. 
 
 II. When the season for the funeral comes, let the dead body be 
 decently attended to the grave, and interred. During such solemn 
 occasions, let all who attend conduct themselves with becoming gravity; 
 and apply themselves to serious meditation or discourse: and the minister, 
 if present, may exhort them to consider the frailty of life, and the 
 importance of being prepared for death and eternity. 
 
 1. Carousing and ostentatious parades discountenanced. 
 
 That as the too great use of spirituous liquors at funerals in some parts 
 of the country is risen to such a height as greatly to endanger the 
 morals of many, and is the cause of much scandal, the Synod earnestly 
 enjoin, that the several Sessions and committees shall take the most 
 effectual methods to correct these mischiefs, and discountenance by their 
 example and influence all approaches to such practices and all ostenta- 
 tious and expensive parades, so inconsistent with such mortifying and 
 distressing occasions. — 1766, p. 359. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 OF FASTING, AND OF THE OBSERVATION OF THE 
 DAYS OF THANKSGIVING. 
 
 I. There is no day under the gospel commanded to be kept holy, 
 except the Lord's Day, which is the Christian Sabbath. 
 
 II. Nevertheless, to observe days of fasting and thanksgiving, as the 
 extraordinary dispensations of divine providence may direct, we judge 
 both scriptural and rational. 
 
 1. The duty of fasting. 
 We will further observe, that the duty of fasting, as united with 
 prayer, appears to be too much disregarded, if not entirely neglected by 
 many Christians of the present day. We agree with our fathers of the 
 Reformation, that the appointment of annual or stated fasts is not author- 
 ized under the Gospel dispensation ; but occasional fasting, both public 
 and private, such as is called for by peculiar circumstances, or by the 
 dispensations of heaven, are still among the appointed means of grace, 
 
870 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XV 
 
 and form an important part of Christian duty. Our Saviour said, the 
 children of the bride-chamber would fast when the bridegroom was taken 
 from them; surely such a dispensation. as we have lately witnessed should 
 lead those children to fast. — 1838, p. 50, O. S. 
 
 2. Churches should observe days appointed by the local authorities. 
 
 In this connection, the Committee further recommend that this Assem- 
 bly sanction and approve the practice of particular churches observing, 
 with appropriate worship, days of thanksgiving, recommended in procla- 
 mation by the governors of commonwealths in which they are located. 
 
 The recommendations were adopted. — 1849, p. 266, O. S. 
 
 III. Fasts and thanksgivings may be observed by individual Chris- 
 tians; or families, in private; by particular congregatioDs ; by a number 
 of congregations contiguous to each other; by the congregations under 
 the care of a Presbytery, or of a Synod; or by all the congregations of 
 our Church. 
 
 IV. It must be left to the judgment and discretion of every Christian 
 and family to determine when it is proper to observe a private fast or 
 thanksgiving; and to the church Sessions to determine for particular con- 
 gregations; and to the Presbyteries or Synods to determine for larger 
 districts. When it is deemed expedient that a fast or thanksgiving 
 should be general, the call for them must be judged of by the Synod or 
 General Assembly. And if at any time the civil power should think it 
 proper to appoint a fast or thanksgiving, it is the duty of the ministers 
 and people of our communion, as we live under a Christian government, 
 to pay all due respect to the same. 
 
 DAYS OP FASTING APPOINTED BY THE SUPREME JUDICATORY. 
 
 1. Upon the occasion of the French War. 
 
 a. The Synod, under a sense of the present distressed and calamitous 
 state of the country, do agree that they will recommend to all their con- 
 gregations to unite in observing the last Thursday of October instant, as 
 a day of public humiliation, fasting and prayer. — Synod of New York, 
 1756, p. 276. 
 
 b. In 1758 the reunited Synod recommended that' a day of fasting 
 and prayer be observed by all the congregations under our care to depre- 
 cate the wrath of God, to pray for a blessing on his majesty's armaments 
 by sea and land, in order to procure a lasting and honorable peace. — 
 1758, p. 290; also 1760, p. 305, and 1761, p. 310. 
 
 2. On the war with Spain. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes, 1762, p. 315. Digest, 1886, p. 827.] 
 
 3. On account of trouble with England. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1774, p. 460 ; 1775, p. 465 ; 1777, p. 478 ; 1778, p. 481 ; 1779, p. 483 ; 
 1780, p. 488. Digest, 1886, pp. 827, 828.] 
 
 4. Before the second war with England. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1808, p. 409. Digest, 1886, p. 828.] 
 
OF FASTING AND THANKSGIVING. 871 
 
 5. During the war with England. 
 
 [Note— See Minutes, 1812, p. 497 ; 1813, p. 524; 1814, p. 572. Digest, 1886. p. 828.] 
 
 6. On the outbreak of the Civil War. 
 
 a. Gratefully acknowledging the distinguished bounty and care of 
 Almighty God toward this favored laud, and also recognizing our obliga- 
 tions to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, this 
 General Assembly adopt the following resolutions: 
 
 Resolved, 1. That in view of the present agitated and unhappy condi- 
 tion of this country, the first day of July next be hereby set apart as a 
 day of prayer throughout our bounds, and that on this day ministers 
 and people are called on humbly to confess and bewail our national sins; 
 to offer our thanks to the Father of light for His abundant and unde- 
 served goodness toward us as a nation; to seek His guidance and blessing 
 upon our rulers and their counsels, as well as on the Congress of the 
 United States about to assemble; and to implore Him, in the name of 
 Jesus Christ, the great High Priest of the Christian profession, to turn 
 away His anger from us, and speedily restore to us the blessings of an 
 honorable peace. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That this General Assembly, in the spirit of that Chris- 
 tian patriotism which the Scriptures enjoin, and which has always charac- 
 terized this Church, do hereby acknowledge and declare our obligations 
 to promote and perpetuate, so far as in us lies, the integrity of these 
 United States, and to strengthen, uphold and encourage the Federal 
 Government in the exercise of all its functions under our noble Constitu- 
 tion ; and to this Constitution m all its provisions, requirements and prin- 
 ciples we profess our unabated loyalty. 
 
 And to avoid all misconception, the Assembly declare that by the 
 terms " Federal Government," as here used, is not meant any particu- 
 lar administration, or the peculiar opinions of any particular party, but 
 that central administration, which being at any time appointed and 
 inaugurated according to the forms prescribed in the Constitution of the 
 United States, is the visible representative of our national existence. 
 
 This paper was adopted by the following vote: yeas 156, nays 66. — 
 1861, p. 329, O. S. 
 
 b. In view of the turbulence and the menace of our times, the drear 
 inauguration of civil war, and the prospect of its ravages of physical 
 and moral desolation in our country, 
 
 Resolved, 1. That we acknowledge the agency and the just judgments 
 of our God in all this and would humble ourselves before Him with the 
 prayer— O Lord, in wrath remember mercy! spare Thy people, and 
 restore peace in all our borders ! 
 
 Resolved, 2. That Friday, June 28, be appointed, in these national 
 and solemn relations, as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer before 
 God, to confess our sins, to supplicate His mercy and gracious return to 
 us, almighty to save ; and especially that He would prepare the members 
 of both houses of Congress, so soon to convene, in this crisis of our 
 affairs, for all their duties, with wisdom, piety and patriotic sincerity of 
 devotion to the good of our one great nation; and that He would bless our 
 President and his Cabinet, our army and our navy, and order all the 
 operations of this new and dreadful war, for His own glory, the pros- 
 perity of His own Zion, and the ultimate good of our country for this 
 and all coming ages. — 1861, p. 464, N. S. 
 
872 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XV. 
 
 7. On account of the profanation of the Sabbath. 
 
 The Committee appointed to consider the measures proper to be adopted 
 to promote the sanctification of the Sabbath made a report, which, 
 being read and amended, was adopted, and is as follows, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That the second Thursday of November next be and it here- 
 by is recommended to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation and 
 prayer on account of the sin which rests upon the Church and on the 
 whole land by the profanation of the Sabbath ; and that it be given in 
 charge to all Synods and Presbyteries in our connection, to take such 
 order on this subject as may be most effectual in securing the observance 
 of that day by the churches. —1 830, p. 302. 
 
 8. For the conversion of the world. 
 
 The Committee to whom was referred Overture No. 11, viz.: " On 
 the appointment of a day of prayer for the conversion of the world," 
 made the following report, which was unanimously adopted, viz. : 
 
 It being understood that Christians and churches, both in this country 
 and in Europe, have at different times desired the public designation of 
 a day to be observed by all Christians throughout the world as a day of 
 fasting and prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the whole 
 family of man, and this Assembly being deeply impressed with the 
 importance and high privilege of such an observance, and feeling urged 
 and encouraged to more importunate supplications in view of the recent 
 revivals of religion in this land, as well as the signs of the present time 
 in relation to the prospects of the Church in other nations, therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the ministers and churches under 
 the supervision of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States, and of the churches in correspondence with the 
 same, to observe the first Monday in January, 1833, as a day of fasting 
 and prayer for the divine blessing on the ministry of the Gospel through- 
 out the world, for the revival of religion in the whole of Christendom, 
 and for the entire success of those benevolent enterprises which have 
 for their object the world's conversion to God. 
 
 Resolved, That other denominations of Christians in the United States, 
 and the Christian Churches in all other countries, be, and they hereby are 
 affectionately, and with Christian salutations, invited to concur in the 
 observance of the day above specified. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be published with the signature of the 
 Moderator and Clerk of the General Assembly for the information of 
 such Synods, Assemblies, Associations, Conferences, Conventions and 
 other ecclesiastical bodies as may choose to recommend the above observ- 
 ance to the churches under their care. And may grace, mercy and 
 peace be multiplied to all throughout the world who love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.— 1832, p. 365. 
 
 [Note.— See also Minutes of 1833, pp. 397-399. It became thenceforth a custom for 
 the Assembly to designate the first Monday in January of each year as a day of fast- 
 ing and prayer for the conversion of the world, and to recommend the last Thursday 
 in February as a day of prayer for colleges, theological seminaries and other institu- 
 tions of learning. See Minutes, passim, and below, the Week of Prayer.] 
 
 9. The Week of Prayer. The first entire week in January. 
 
 a. On the appointment of a concert of prayer for the conversion of 
 the world. 
 
 This overture is based upon a proposal from the missionary brethren of 
 
OF FASTING AND THANKSGIVING. 873 
 
 Northern India to observe the second Monday of January, 1860, and 
 the succeeding week, as a season of special prayer all over the globe for 
 the conversion of the world. This General Assembly cordially sympa- 
 thize with the object contemplated, as it implies the desire that Christians 
 everywhere may more directly regard the missionary and aggressive 
 character of our faith, as it tends to call forth their affections toward 
 each other, and toward a perishing world ; and especially as it recognizes 
 the great truth of our dependence upon divine power for the success of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 We, therefore, recommend to the churches under our care to observe 
 the time thus specified in such manner as the various Sessions or Presby- 
 teries may direct. Adopted. — 1859, p. 532, O. S. 
 
 [Note.— See also 1860, p. 21, 0. S. ; 1861, p. 335, 0. S. ; 1862, p. 620, 0. S ; and annu- 
 ally to 1867.] 
 
 b. In 1861, p. 469, the Assembly, N. S., appointed the first week in 
 December "as a season of special prayer for the outpouring of the 
 Spirit on our congregations, and in special religious services calculated to 
 edify the saints and lead sinners to Christ." In 1862, p. 16, the Assem- 
 bly recommends " that another week of prayer be observed during the 
 coining ecclesiastical year; but that the time be changed so as to corre- 
 spond with that recommended first by the Lodiana Mission — the first 
 entire week in January. ' ' 
 
 [Note.— See also 1863, p. 277, N. S. ; 1864, p. 432, N. S. ; annually thereafter to 
 1869.] 
 
 C. The observance of the first week of each new year, as a special 
 season of united supplication throughout the Christian world, has already 
 been attended and followed by results too grand to allow of a question as 
 to its claims upon our churches. — 1872, p. 94. 
 
 [Note. — Continuous until 1887. In 1888, p. 56. an overture was received urging a 
 change of time for the observance of the Week of Prayer.] 
 
 d. That it be considered inexpedient for the Assembly to recommend 
 the observance of any special time as a Week of Prayer, inasmuch as 
 the arrangements for such an observance have been, for years, practically 
 under the direction of the Evangelical Alliance, and may safely and 
 wisely be left to its further care. 
 
 It is also recommended that, in furtherance of the aim set forth in 
 this overture, the Stated Clerk be requested to communicate with the 
 Evangelical Alliance in reference to a change of time for the Week of 
 Prayer, and a thorough revision of the topics presented for consideration, 
 giving special emphasis to the interests of Foreign Missions. — 1888, p. 
 56; 1891, p. 182. 
 
 e. Overture from the Presbytery of Carlisle, on the observance of a 
 week of prayer. Kecommended, That in the observance of this special 
 season of prayer, the General Assembly urge upon the churches the more 
 general return in their observance to the original idea and early practice, 
 so that the cause of world-wide missions may be specially brought to the 
 mind and heart of the Church during this season of devotion. — 1893, 
 p. 208. 
 
 f. Overture from the Presbytery of St. Paul, concerning (1) a change 
 of time in the date of the week of prayer. Recommended, That inas- 
 much as the Assembly of 1891, after a full discussion, decided adversely, 
 that no action at present be taken. (2) A stricter adherence to its 
 
874 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XV. 
 
 world-wide subject of missions. Recommended, That they be referred 
 to the answer of this Assembly to overture of Presbytery of Carlisle. — 
 1893, p. 209. 
 
 10. Day of prayer for colleges, theological seminaries and other 
 institutions of learning. 
 
 The Standing Committee on Education, to which were referred overtures 
 concerning the change in the time of the Day of Prayer for Schools and 
 Colleges, report, recommending: 
 
 That since our sister Churches have not made a change in the date of 
 the Day of Prayer for Schools and Colleges, and we are therefore out of 
 line with them and evangelical Churches, and are breaking the concert 
 of prayer ; therefore, we return to the date of the day observed previous 
 to the action of the Assembly of 1895, viz., the last Thursday of Janu- 
 ary, and that this be appointed as our Day of Prayer for Schools and 
 Colleges. In this report the Committee on Aid for Colleges and Acade- 
 mies concurs. Adopted. — 1896, p. 46. 
 
 11. Monthly concert of prayer for missions. 
 
 a. Overture from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, asking the Assembly 
 to name a day in each month for united prayer throughout our churches 
 for the conversion of the world ; and, furthermore, that it be recom- 
 mended that, on the first Sabbath of each month, one of the services, in 
 whole or in part, be devoted to the consideration of this subject. 
 
 The Committee recommended the following action : 
 
 The attention of pastors and church Sessions is called to the great 
 importance of maintaining regular services, with specific reference to the 
 spread of the Gospel throughout the world. This General Assembly 
 would express their earnest desire that the " Monthly Concert of Prayer 
 for Missions ' ' be more generally observed by their churches, and they 
 recommend that, in every congregation, the first devotional meeting of 
 each month be given up to the consideration of the work of the Lord 
 throughout the world, and to prayer for the world's conversion. 
 Adopted.— 1879, p. 585; 1880, p. 51. 
 
 b. Resolved, That this Assembly enjoins upon all our churches the 
 continued and devout observance of the time-honored Monthly Concert 
 of Prayer for Missions ; and earnestly urges upon the members of our 
 Church to seek, by the careful study both of God's Word and the present 
 condition of the heathen world, to know more of God's will and our 
 duty in this matter ; and to pray earnestly that God would send forth 
 laborers into His harvest; and that the Holy Spirit may be poured out 
 on all nations; and that we and all God's people may be disposed and 
 enabled freely to consecrate to the service of the Master, ourselves, our 
 sons and daughters, and our worldly possessions. Adopted. — 1891, p. 
 182. 
 
 12. Children's Day. Special services to be held. 
 
 The General Assembly hereby designates the second Sabbath of June 
 as the Children's day, on which special services for the children shall be 
 held, and the vital topics of the Christian nurture and the conversion of 
 the young shall be pressed upon the thought of the entire congregation. 
 —1883, p. 616. 
 
 [Note.— See Minutes of each year and in this Digest, p. 370, and Directory for Wor- 
 ship, Chap, vi, No. 13.] 
 
SECRET AND FAMILY WORSHIP. 875 
 
 V. Public notice is to be given a convenient time before the clay of 
 fasting or thanksgiving comes, that persons may so order their temporal 
 affairs, that they may properly attend to the duties thereof. 
 
 VI. There shall be public worship upon all such days; and let the 
 prayers, psalms, portions of Scripture to be read, and sermons, be all in 
 a special manner adapted to the occasion. 
 
 VII. On fast days, let the minister point out the authority and provi- 
 dences calling to the observation thereof; and let him spend a more than 
 usual portion of time in solemn prayer, particular confession of sin, 
 especially of the sins of the day and place, with their aggravations, 
 which have brought down the judgments of heaven. And let the whole 
 day be spent in deep humiliation and mourning before God. 
 
 VIII. On days of thanksgiving, he is to give the like information 
 respecting the authority and providences which call to the observance of 
 them ; and to spend a more than usual part of the time in the giving of 
 thanks, agreeably to the occasion, and in singing psalms or hymns of 
 praise. 
 
 It is the duty of people on these days to rejoice with holy gladness of 
 heart; but let trembling be so joined with our mirth, that no excess or 
 unbecoming levity be indulged. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE DIRECTORY FOR SECRET AXD FAMILY WORSHIP. 
 
 I. Besides the public worship in congregations, it is the indispensable 
 duty of each person, alone, in secret; and of every family, by itself, in 
 private, to pray to, and worship God. 
 
 II. Secret worship is most plainly enjoined by our Lord. In this duty 
 every one, apart by himself, is to spend some time in prayer, reading 
 the Scriptures, holy meditation, and serious self-examination. The many 
 advantages arising from a conscientious discharge of these duties, are 
 best known to those who are found in the faithful discharge of them. 
 
 III. Family worship, which ought to be performed by every family, 
 ordinarily morning and evening, consists in prayer, reading the Scriptures, 
 and singing praises. 
 
 IV. The head of the family, who is to lead in this service, ought to 
 be careful that all the members of his household duly attend; and that 
 none withdraw themselves unnecessarily from any part of family worship; 
 and that all refrain from their common business while the Scriptures are 
 read, and gravely attend to the same, no less than when prayer or praise 
 is offered up. 
 
876 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XVI. 
 
 V. Let the heads of families be careful to instruct their children and 
 servants in the principles of religion. Every proper opportunity ought to 
 be embraced for such instruction. But we are of opinion, that the Sab- 
 bath evenings, after public worship, should be sacredly preserved for this 
 purpose. Therefore we highly disapprove of paying unnecessary private 
 visits on the Lord's day; admitting strangers into the families, except 
 when necessity or charity requires it; or any other practices, whatever 
 plausible pretences may be offered in their favor, if they interfere with 
 the above important and necessary duty. 
 
 1. Duty of ministers to urge family religion. 
 
 a. [As means] ' ' to revive the declining power of godliness, the Synod 
 do earnestly recommend it to all our ministers and members to take 
 particular care about ministerial visiting of families, and press family 
 and secret worship, according to the Westminster Directory; and that 
 they also recommend it to every Presbytery, at proper seasons to inquire 
 concerning the diligence of each of their members in such particulars." 
 Unanimously adopted. — 1733, p. 105. 
 
 b. The Synod do not only renew the order, but earnestly obtest every 
 of our brethren of the ministry, conscientiously and diligently to pursue 
 the good design thereof. — 1734, p. 107. 
 
 C. Let heads of families be careful to instruct their children and those 
 committed to their care in the great principles of our holy religion. Let 
 their morning and evening sacrifices be daily offered up in their families 
 to God.— 1799, p. 178. 
 
 d. Parents, train your children in the " nurture and admonition of 
 the Lord ; your houses should be temples of the living God, in which 
 should ascend to His mercy -seat the continual incense of your daily sacri- 
 fices. Pious parents can most effectually preach to the hearts of their 
 children by their affectionate precepts, and their holy example. Your 
 instructions will best prepare them to receive benefit from the public 
 ordinances of religion. And oh ! can you see these dearest portions of 
 yourselves ready to perish, without earnestly reaching forth a hand to 
 pluck them as brands from the burnings ?" — 1804, p. 316. 
 
 e. We have observed with pain, that in some Presbyteries the duties 
 of family religion, and of catechetical instruction, are neglected. Truly 
 it is shameful in men, who call themselves by the name of Christ, not to 
 honor Him before their families, by worshiping Him statedly. Every 
 head of a family is responsible for all its members to God and his coun- 
 try. How can he expect to fulfill his duty if he does not pray for and 
 with them, and instruct them from the Word of God ? If he does not 
 honor God, it cannot be expected his family will. And a Christian fam- 
 ily living without family religion is a contradiction. It argues, on the 
 part of such professors, an awful declension and a criminal dereliction of 
 duty. — 1808, p. 402, and Minutes, passim. 
 
 2. The evening of the Lord's day especially set apart for family 
 training. The Standards need no change to fit them to the pres- 
 ent times. 
 
 The Committee on the Polity of the Church have had under considera- 
 tion the following overture from the Presbytery of Genesee: 
 
SECRET AND FAMILY WORSHIP. 877 
 
 Overture of the Presbytery of Genesee to the General Assembly 
 meeting at Philadelphia, May 21, 1863: 
 
 We petition for a revision of the Directory for Worship, with a view 
 to the following points : 
 
 1. To reclaim the Sabbath afternoon, or evening, expressly for family 
 instruction, and to enforce the duty of parents. 
 
 2. To give a constitutional recognition to the Sabbath- school, as a 
 cherished instrumentality of the Church for the nurture of her own 
 youth, and the evangelization of others ; and to provide that the time 
 appropriated be ample, as esteeming this to be a cardinal means of grace. 
 
 3. To restrict its assemblies, in all ordinary cases, to one part of the 
 day, so as to avoid trenching upon the time appropriated to the para- 
 mount duties of parents. 
 
 4. To secure to the pastor, unequivocally, as the divinely appointed 
 teacher of the lambs of the flock, the prerogative, and hold him to the 
 responsibility, of presidency over the school, with provision for a vice- 
 president or superintendent, to serve in the absence of the pastor. 
 
 5. To recognize the church Session as invested with authority, and 
 responsible for the details of the organization, the appointment and 
 removal of teachers, and the whole government of the school. 
 
 6. To provide for such a system of distinctive instruction as will secure 
 to our youth a thorough training, not only in the doctrines of grace, but 
 in the principles of order which the Scriptures set forth, and keep con- 
 tinually before their minds the burden of baptismal obligations, and the 
 value of covenant privileges, as sealed to the children of God's people. 
 
 The Committee recommend, that the Assembly reply to the above 
 overture as follows : 
 
 The matters, in view of which the Presbytery of Genesee ask a revis- 
 ion of the Directory for Worship, are mainly such that, according to 
 our Constitution, it is already competent to every church to regulate them 
 for itself, agreeably to its own view's of what will best promote its growth 
 and spiritual welfare. 
 
 The Directory for Worship expresses the opinion of the Church, that 
 the evenings of the Lord's day, after public worship, should be sacredly 
 reserved for the religious instruction of children by their parents (see 
 Chap, xvi, Sec. v). 
 
 The Sunday-school, like all the religious institutions and agencies of 
 each individual church, is, and ought to be, under the watch and care of 
 the Session ; and should be regarded, not as superseding, but as cooper- 
 ating with, the entire system of pastoral instruction, the responsibilities of 
 which it should not in any manner diminish. 
 
 There is nothing in our Constitution which prescribes the number of 
 public services to be held on the Lord's day, or which restrains any 
 church from appropriating to the Sunday-school such a portion of the 
 day as may seem to them desirable. 
 
 The peculiar position of baptized children as members of the church, 
 to be, as members, trained in all Christian virtues and duties, is so 
 expressly set forth in our Standards, that no revision of them could 
 present it with greater clearness, or in a more authoritative form (see 
 Confession, Chap, xxv, Sec. ii; Larger Catechism, Ques. 166; Form of 
 Government, Chap, ii, Sees, ii, iv; Book of Discipline, Chap, i, Sec. 
 vi; Directory for Worship, Chap, x, Sees, i-iii). 
 
 The Assembly, therefore, judge that no necessity demands the revision 
 
878 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XVI. 
 
 which is asked for, and simply recommend to the churches to conform 
 their ideas and usages to our own Standards. — 1863, pp. 240, 241, N. S. 
 
 ADDITIONS TO ACTS, DECISIONS, AND DELIVERANCES, 
 
 1. Qualifications of voters for pastors, elders, and other officers. 
 
 The report of the Special Committee on the Qualifications of Voters 
 in the Election of Pastors, Elders and other Officers of Presbyterian 
 Churches was adopted, as follows: 
 
 The Committee on the Election of Pastors, Elders and other Officers 
 of Presbyterian Churches appointed by the General Assembly of 1896, 
 respectfully report as follows: 
 
 The Committee was constituted by the subjoined action of the Assem- 
 bly, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That all Overtures relating to the election of pastors, elders 
 and officers of Presbyterian churches be referred to a Committee consist- 
 ing of the Moderator, with the Stated and Permanent Clerks, to report 
 to the next Assembly {Minutes, 1896, p. 129). 
 
 Upon this subject the Committee draws attention, first, to the lan- 
 guage of the Constitution, which reads, " in this election no person shall 
 be entitled to vote who refuses to submit to the censures of the church, 
 or who does not contribute his just proportion, according to his own 
 engagement, or the rules of that congregation, to all its necessary 
 expenses" (Form of Government, Chap, xvi, Sec. iv). 
 
 This Constitutional Rule contains the following provisions affecting 
 elections for pastors: 
 
 1. The right of each congregation to make rules for the conduct of 
 certain of its affairs, among these being rules as to the methods and 
 extent of contributions by its members for necessary expenses. 
 
 2. The qualifications of voters, indicated by the declaration that two 
 classes of persons shall not be entitled to vote: (a) those who refuse to 
 submit to the censures of the church, and (6) those who do not contrib- 
 ute their just proportion to necessary expenses. 
 
 This much being clear, the issue next arises as to the meaning of the 
 word congregation in the Constitution. This term, in relation to pas- 
 toral elections, has been decided by the General Assembly to include all 
 persons associated together in a given organization for the worship of 
 God, whether communicants in good standing or regular contributors to 
 church expenses. The deliverances of the Assembly read: (a) "It is 
 the judgment of the General Assembly that all members of the* church 
 in full communion have the right to vote in the election of pastor in the 
 congregation with which they are connected" (Minutes, G. A., 1879, 
 p. 630). (6 ) " Members of a congregation, not communicants, who 
 regularly contribute their due proportion of the necessary expenses of 
 the church and congregation, have a right to vote in the election of a 
 pastor" (Minutes, G. A., 1886, p. 48). These decisions are based not 
 only on Form of Government, Chap, xvi, Sec. iv, but also on the 
 
ADDITIONS TO ACTS, DECISIONS, AND DELIVERANCES, 1897. 879 
 
 phraseology of other parts of the Constitution. The word congrega- 
 tion, as used in Chap, xiii, Sec. ii, Form of Government (the chapter 
 dealing with the election of ruling elders and deacons), is, it is true, 
 expressly limited to the members of the church, by the form of the 
 question addressed to the congregation at the installation of elders and 
 deacons, the opening words of which are, '* Do you, the members of 
 this church, acknowledge and receive this brother as a ruling elder?" 
 (Form of Government, Chap, xiii, Sec. iv). The form of this question 
 determines the meaning of the word congregation in the elections of 
 ruling elders and deacons. When we come, however, to the questions 
 at the installation of a pastor, we find that the words used are the 
 following, " Do you, the people of this congregation, continue to profess 
 
 your readiness to receive Rev. , whom you have called to be your 
 
 minister?" (Form of Government, Chap, xv, Sec. xiii). Further, 
 throughout the section, the expression ' ' members of the church ' ' found 
 in Chap, xiii is nowhere used, but instead the word " people " is con- 
 stantly employed. This use of the term " people " can only mean that 
 the congregation is taken as including both church members and con- 
 tributors. 
 
 This difference in the meaning of the word congregation, as between 
 Chap, xiii and xv of the Form of Government, is emphasized by the 
 usage of the Church, having since 1788 the force of law, by which the 
 pastor of a congregation was and is recognized as the pastor of all 
 persons connected therewith, either as communicants or as contributors. 
 In connection with the installation of pastors, it is declared that " it is 
 highly becoming that after the solemnity of the installation, at least the 
 elders and those appointed to take care of the temporal affairs of that 
 church, should come forward to their pastor and give him their right 
 hand in token of cordial reception and affectionate regard" (Form of 
 Government, Chap, xvi, Sec. vii). The persons ordinarily appointed in 
 our churches to the care of the temporal concerns are the trustees, some 
 of whom are not communicants, but whatever their relation to tta 
 church, the minister of the congregation which they serve is recognized 
 in the Constitution as their pastor. Further, the fact is important as 
 bearing upon this subject that State legislation and the decisions of the 
 civil courts, as they affect our Church, have been in harmony with the 
 right of contributors as well as communicant members to vote in elections 
 for pastors. Even a change in our Constitution, limiting voting for 
 pastors to communicants, would not in some States avail to prevent pew- 
 holders from having a voice in pastoral elections. 
 
 The Committee, therefore, in view of the considerations named, recom- 
 mend the General Assembly to pass the following resolutions, viz. : 
 
 1. That it is the right of each one of our congregations, under the 
 Constitution of the Church, to determine by rule the qualifications of 
 non -communicants who are contributors to church expenses, as voters in 
 the election of pastors. 
 
 2. That all communicant members in good standing, of whatever age 
 or sex, and, in addition, all non- communicants of full age who contribute 
 regularly to church support, in accordance with the rules of the congre- 
 gations, are qualified voters at meetings for the election of pastors. 
 
 While no overture was referred to the Committee as to the election of 
 other church officers than pastors, yet the terms of appointment warrant 
 the members in reporting as to voters for elders, deacons and trustees. 
 
880 DIRECTORY FOR WORSHIP, CHAP. XVI. 
 
 With reference to the election of elders and deacons, in view of the 
 statements already made respecting the phraseology of Chap, xiii, Form 
 of Government, it is recommended that the following resolution be 
 adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That only communicants in good standing are qualified 
 voters at the election of ruling elders and deacons. 
 
 With reference to the qualifications of voters at congregational meet- 
 ings for the election of trustees, the Committee would respectfully report 
 that this matter is in the control of the civil power, and that the quali- 
 fications of voters as fixed by law vary in matters of detail in the several 
 States and Territories. Ordinarily it is true that communicant members 
 of the church and pew-holders who are of full age are qualified to vote 
 for trustees. While, however, the General Assembly cannot interfere 
 with the legislation adopted by the States in this matter, it is recom- 
 mended, in view of the fact that in many States denominational law is 
 regarded as controlling, that action be taken by the Assembly. The 
 State regards religious societies and churches as voluntary associations 
 and therefore entitled to make rules for their own internal government 
 even in matters of property, and where congregations are associated as 
 they are in the Presbyterian Church, regards the denomination as the 
 unit. It is therefore recommended that this Assembly adopt the follow- 
 ing resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That the voters in the congregations under the care of this 
 General Assembly, at elections for trustees or other persons to manage 
 the temporal affairs, shall be the communicant members in good standing, 
 and, in addition, such other persons as contribute by regular payments 
 at stated periods to the support and necessary expenses of the congrega- 
 tion in accordance with its rules; Provided, That nothing in this regula- 
 tion shall be valid which contravenes the provisions of the laws of any 
 of the States, of the United States, or of special church charters. 
 
 The Committee also recommends the adoption of the following resolu- 
 tions as essential to complete the rules for the proper management of 
 elections of church officers: 
 
 Resolved, That neither the presiding officers of church or congrega- 
 tional meetings, nor the Sessions of churches, possess the power to 
 deprive communicant members in good standing of their right to vote at 
 meetings of the church or of the congregation, except by due process of 
 law in accordance with the provisions of the Book of Discipline. 
 
 Resolved, That the rolls of communicant members in good standing in 
 the possession of the clerks of Sessions and the lists of regular contribu- 
 tors in the possession of the secretary or treasurer of the Board of 
 Trustees, shall be the authoritative lists of voters at church and con- 
 gregational meetings. — 1897, pp. 136-139. 
 
 • 2. Close of the ecclesiastical year. 
 
 It is recommended that this declaration be made: The ecclesiastical 
 year closes on the 31st day of March. Statistical reports for the sake of 
 uniformity should be prepared upon that basis. Adopted. — 1897, 
 p. 38. 
 
 3. Annual Narrative of the State of Religion. 
 
 [Note.— The Annual Narrative as printed on p. 175 of this Digest, was altered in 
 some minor particulars by the General Assembly of 1897, p. 121, and can be had in 
 its latest form on application to the Stated Clerk of the Assembly.] 
 
ADDITIONS TO ACTS, DECISIONS, AND DELIVERANCES. 881 
 
 4. Reorganization of the Board of Home Missions. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That the Board of Home Missions be directed to so reor- 
 ganize its methods of administration that the executive work shall be 
 placed in charge of one secretary, with whatever assistants may be 
 necessary, and that he be accountable to the Board for its faithful and 
 efficient management. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Board be directed to make, at the beginning of 
 each fiscal year, an estimate of the probable income for the ensuing year, 
 by taking the average amount received from legacies, church offerings 
 and all other sources, for a period of preceding years; and that the sum 
 thus obtained shall be considered the available amount for the work of 
 the Board during the ensuing year. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That the policy of the Board shall be to avoid debt. 
 Where debt has been unavoidably incurred, then allowance shall be made 
 for the payment of the debt, as far as possible, during the ensuing year, 
 out of the estimated receipts. — 1897, p. 56. 
 
 5. Action as to legacies, etc., Board of Relief. 
 
 Resolved, 1. That this General Assembly approves of the change the 
 Board has made in By-Law, Art. iv, Sec. 5, and authorizes the Board 
 to transfer to the Current Fund, unrestricted legacies, with which to pay 
 its indebtedness and to meet special emergencies. 
 
 Resolved, 2. That the Assembly approve the codified rules of the 
 Board as found in the annual report on pp. 10, 11, 12 and 13. 
 
 Resolved, 3. That our Presbyteries direct every church Session to 
 appoint a Committee to take the subject of Ministerial Relief under its 
 special charge, and to place upon this Committee representatives from 
 all the organizations of the church, especially enlisting the cooperation 
 of the women, and to see to it that the leaflets furnished by the Board 
 are distributed in the church prior to the time of taking a collection for 
 this cause, and that Sessions be instructed that their reasons will not be 
 sustained by Presbytery, for not giving the people under their care a 
 fair opportunity to contribute to this Board, unless their reasons are 
 special and providential. — 1897, p. 24. 
 
 6. Act relating to the reception and probation of ministers from other 
 
 Churches. 
 
 "When application is made by a minister of another Church for admis- 
 sion to Presbytery. Presbytery shall inquire concerning his character, his 
 educational and professional training, the fact of his ordination, his 
 ministerial standing in the body to which he belongs, and the motives 
 which lead him to apply for admission to Presbytery. If this inquiry 
 shall prove satisfactory, Presbytery may place his name on its roll. All 
 applicants from other bodies shall be required, previous to their enroll- 
 ment, to give their assent, in a public session of Presbytery, to the first 
 seven questions prescribed in the Form of Government for ordination ; 
 but should the applicant not possess the same educational qualifications 
 for ordination as those prescribed in our Standards, he shall not be en- 
 rolled as a member of Presbytery until at least six months after his appli- 
 cation shall have been presented to Presbytery. He may be permitted 
 to labor, in the interval, within the bounds of Presbytery. — 1891, p. 177. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abandoning the ministry, 667 
 Abandonment of a case, 733, 737, 738, 
 
 739 
 Abbott, a J., 736 
 
 Ability of the unregenerate, 75, 77, 80 
 Absence, of respondent, 720 
 
 of records, 720, 736, 743, 779, 780, 
 781 
 
 from ordinances, 665, 666. 801 
 Absentees, from judicatories. 170, 256, 
 640 
 
 from the trial of a cause, 665 
 
 roll of, 665 
 Accusations, caution in receiving, 638 
 Accused, conference with, 635 
 
 privileges of, 643, 644 
 
 citation of, 151, 643, 644 
 
 second citation, 643, 644 
 
 counsel for. 643, 645, 720 
 
 may appear by counsel, 720 
 
 time lor appearance, 643 
 
 trial in absence of, 645- 650 
 
 suspension of, pending trial, 656 
 Accuser in judicial cases, 635, 638, 639 
 Adam, sin of. 71, 73. 283, 284 
 Additions (1897), 878 881 
 Address to President Washington, 294 
 Adjournment, 267 
 Administration, of Bapti>m, 845-849 
 
 of the Lord's Supper, 849-854 
 Admission, to sealing ordinances, 854- 
 862 
 
 examination on. 857, 858, 859, 860 
 
 baptism on, 861 
 
 no rebaptism, 106, 108 
 Admonition, judicial, 657, 660, 804 
 
 to the prosecutor, 638, 639 
 
 to the judicatory, 269, R. 40 
 Adopting Acts, the, "2-7 
 Adoption, of, 83 
 Adoption, of the Standards, 2, 8, 13 
 
 mode of. 5 
 
 required of all office-bearers, 8 
 Adultery. 97-99, 633 
 Advice of the Assembly, 692 
 Advisory members, 181 
 Affinity, degrees of, 96, 97 
 
 elective, 178 
 Age of discretion, 857 
 Agency, of the Holy Spirit, 80 
 
 moral. 77 
 Aid for Colleges and Academies, 
 
 Committee, 275 
 
 Board, 396-400 
 
 Alliance, of Reformed Churches, 307 
 
 of Presbyterian Churches in India, 
 156 
 Almsgiving, 840-843 
 Alternates, 170, 588 
 Ambassador for Christ, 143 
 Amendments to motions, 267, R. 20 
 Amendments to the Standards, 12, 601- 
 603 
 
 list of, 12-14, 
 Amusements, social, 607-615 
 Andrews, Edward, 211 
 
 Josiah B., 7i8 
 Angel of the Church, 143 
 Animals, cruelty to, 630, 631 
 Anniversary Reunion Fund, 43 
 Annual Narrative of the State of Re- 
 ligion, 880 
 Apocrypha, not authoritative, 65 
 Apostles' Creed, 835 
 Appeal, from the chair, 268, R. 36 
 Appeal, judicial : 
 
 of parties to complaint, 719, 723, 
 805 
 
 in cases without process, 664 
 
 no second, 723 
 
 defined, 720 
 
 limited to judicial cases, 721 
 
 bar to, 244 
 
 original parties only mav, 721, 722, 
 723 
 
 who are original parties, 721, 722 
 
 counsel in, 637, 654 
 
 grounds of, 723 
 
 entertained, 724, 725 
 
 will not be entertained, 722, 723, 
 725-728 
 
 notice and reasons required, 729- 
 731, 741, 742 
 
 entry on minutes, 652 
 
 proof of notice required, 730, 731 
 
 time within which, 729, 730, 733, 
 736 
 
 where lodged, 729 
 
 right to, lost by default, 734 
 
 not lost by approval of minutes, 687 
 
 deferred in absence of documents, 
 735, 736, 743 
 
 dismissed with privilege, 737 
 
 abandonment of, 732 
 
 continued on request, 737 
 
 dismissed, 726, 727, 729, 730 
 
 dismissed in error, 737 
 
 remanded with instructions. 723 
 
884 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Appeal, judicial: 
 
 new trial on, 675 
 
 new evidence, 675 
 
 notice of, 741, 742 
 
 effect of notice of, 738, 777, 779 
 
 when in order, 741, 742 
 
 sequence of, 782 
 
 • directly to Assembly, 782, 783, 784 
 
 failure to send up records, 779 
 
 failure, censure for, 779 
 
 and complaint consolidated, 720 
 
 initiation of proceedings, 741-745 
 
 when in order, 741-745 
 
 order of proceedings, 741-752 
 
 reading of records, omitted by con- 
 sent, 744-746 
 
 shall it be entertained, 741, 742, 
 744-746, 752 
 
 who may vote, 739, 740 
 
 hearing the parties, 748, 749 
 
 hearing the judicatories, 749, 750 
 
 hearing, limit of time for, 748 -750 
 
 taking final vote, 750 
 
 the decision, 757-777 
 
 the judgment, 651 
 
 explanatory minute, 55, 742, 753 
 Appellant, when to appear, 731-733 
 
 may appear by counsel, 732, 733 
 
 may not sit nor vote, 739 
 
 rights of, 642, 655 
 Appellants, Abbott, C. J., 736 
 
 Andrews, Josiah B., 718 
 
 Arthur, William, 645, 761 
 
 Atwater, James, 762 
 
 Baldwin, C. H., 737 
 
 Bancroft, Addison, 758 
 
 Barnes, Albert, 721 
 
 Battelle, E. C, 732 
 
 Bell, Benjamin, 729, 734 
 
 Bell, Joseph E., 651, 761, 795 
 
 Bergen, church of, 730 
 
 Birch, Thomas L., 725 
 
 Bloomington, church of, 636 
 
 Bourne, George, 779, 782 
 
 Boyd, Samuel, 757 
 
 Bradford, Thomas, 775 
 
 Bradshaw. Walter, 106, 758 
 
 Breckinridge, Robert J., 698, 726 
 
 Briggs, Charles A., 46-56, 637, 722, 
 748, 763, 768, 783 
 
 Brown, Guernsey G., 739 
 
 Browning, M. J., 675, 693, 776 
 
 Bushnell, Pope, 739, 779 
 
 Campbell, W. W., 728 
 
 Chamberlain, Hiram, 762 
 
 Chambers, John W., 778 
 
 Chavis, Jared M., 292, 783 
 
 Connell, Joseph, 579, 757 
 
 Cooper, J. A., 758 
 
 Craighead, Thomas B., 80-83, 643, 
 644, 730, 737-739, 761, 769, 771, 
 777 
 
 Cross, Andrew B., 741 
 
 Davis, Henry, 732 
 
 Davis, M., 733 
 
 Davis, Thomas, 739 
 
 Appellants, Dimmick, Francis M., 773 
 Dobbins, Eobert B., 745, 746 
 Donaldson, Heber, 781 
 Drake, Charles D., 758 
 Dull, Nannie J., 245 
 Edgar, M., 703, 724 
 Ellis, John W., 732 
 Finley, Eobert S., et aL, 654, 740, 
 
 766 
 Fishback, George. 721, 730 
 Fisher, James P., 716 
 Frazer, Alexander, 665, 747, 757 
 Frazer, W. J., 722 
 Giles, Chloe G., 739 
 Gordon, John, 759 
 Gwinn, Andrew, 676, 759 
 Hamilton, Duncan, 735 
 Hamilton, James W., 695 
 Hammond, H. H. et aL, 732 
 
 Harney, , 750 
 
 Harris, Anna B., 734 
 
 Hawes. Newton, 732, 763 
 
 Hill, Maria, 644 
 
 Hindman, Francis, 674, 724 
 
 Hotchkiss, G A., (.<J6 
 
 Howard, Burt Estes, 752, 753 
 
 Howe, S. Storrs, 728 
 
 Hudson, Presbytery of, 569, 724 
 
 Hummer, Michael, 725, 726 
 
 Ketelmm. A. P., 548 
 
 Lee, W. J., 740 
 
 Lockwood, L. R., 676, 731, 757 
 
 Lowrey, Samuel, 689, 743, 784 
 
 McCalla, William L., 639 
 
 McCauley, A. G., 729 
 
 McElwee, William, e>44 
 
 McLane, W. W., 783 
 
 Martin John W.. 733 
 
 Mifflinburgh, church of, 704 
 
 Miller, John, 73, 747, 758 
 
 Miller, Silas, 727, 758 
 
 Omaha, Presbytery of, 723 
 
 Onondaga, Presbytery of, 774 
 
 Peacock, John, 780 
 
 Peck, Harlan, 654 
 
 Perkins, William. 765 
 
 Philadelphia, Third Presbyterian 
 
 church, 725, 757 
 Philadelphia, Second Presbytery of, 
 
 698, 725 
 Pine Street church, 757 
 Presbyterian Church U. S. A., 
 
 637, 722, 743, 744, 752, 758 
 Price, David, 164, 605, 696 
 Rainey, James A., 692 
 Ramsey, Jefferson, 741 
 Rice, Matthew H., 784 
 Rockefeller M. R., et ah, 727 
 Rogers, J. H., 728 
 Rollins, Dr. John, 774 
 St. Clairsville, church of, 702 
 St. Clairsville, Presbytery of, 702 
 Salisbury, J. C, ei al., 752, 758 
 See, Isaac M., 747, 758 
 Severance, John F., 734 
 Sheldon, George 99, 676 
 
INDEX. 
 
 885 
 
 Appellants, Shepherd, Smiley, 757 
 
 Shields, James, 98 
 
 Skinner, John, 765 
 
 Skinner, Thomas H., 686, 721 
 
 Smith, E. Bailey, 723. 727 
 
 Smith, Henry P., 58-65, 722,744,758 
 
 Snodgrass, Dr. James, 737 
 
 Spillman, J. H., 643 
 
 Spicer. Jabez, 6U4 
 
 Tappan, Lewis, 782 
 
 Taylor, James, 733 
 
 Todd, John, 675, 735, 736, 767 
 
 Troy, church of, 730 
 
 Turbitt, John, 736 
 
 Ward, John, 674, 676 
 
 West. Nathaniel, 704, 729, 760 
 
 Westfield, church of, 724 
 
 White, William M., 784 
 
 Wilson, Henry E., 724 
 
 Wilson, Joshua L., et ah, 722 
 
 Wilson, Samuel B., 733 
 
 Worrell. T. F., 759, 773 
 
 Yale, Charles, 729 
 Appellate judicatory, jurisdiction of, 244 
 
 must send up records. 779 
 
 effect of its neglect, 692 
 Appellee, 721 
 
 death of, 721 
 Approval, of minutes, effect of, 686, 687 
 
 or disapproval of election, 420 
 Apportionment of expenses, G. A., 600, 
 
 601 
 Ardent spirits. See Temperance. 
 Art galleries, Sabbath, 812 
 Arthur, William, 644, 645, 761 
 Articles, subscription of, 3 
 Ashmun Institute, 518 
 Assembly. General, The, 259-524 
 Assembling of the congregation. See 
 
 Worship, public. 
 Assembly Herald, 404-406 
 Assent to Standards, declaration of, 3, 
 
 533, 570 
 Assessments, unconstitutional, 600 
 Assistants to ministers. See Elders. 
 Assurance of grace and salvatioD, 86 
 Atlantic, Synod of, 691, 692 
 Atonement of Christ, 76 
 Atwater, James, 762 
 A uburn Theological Seminary, 441-449 
 Augusta church, Session of, 799 
 Authority of Confession, 8 
 Autographs of Scripture, 56 
 Aydelotte, B. P., 686 
 
 Baied. E. T. 640 
 
 Baird, James H., 704 
 
 Balch. Hezekiah, 71-73 
 
 Baldwin, C. H., 737 
 
 Bancroft, Addison, 703, 758, 761 
 
 Baptism, of, 103-109 
 
 Baptism, administration of, 845, 849 
 
 who may baptize, 845 
 
 only a minister, 845 
 
 elders may not, 103 
 
 subjects of, 107, 108, 634, 846, 848 
 
 Baptism : 
 
 of children of believers, 846, 847 
 
 age of infancy, 845, 846 
 
 of orphans of heathen parents, 108, 
 846 
 
 of servants, 103, 846 
 
 of adults, 167 
 
 of a "Friend," 859 
 
 mode of, 107, 849 
 
 formula of, 849 
 
 by one deposed or suspended, 105 
 
 by an impostor or profligate, 104 
 
 by a Unitarian, 104, 846 
 
 by a Roman Catholic, 105, 106, 107, 
 846 
 
 rebaptism, 106, 108 
 
 essential to membership, 167 
 
 instruction to parents, 847, 848 
 
 discretion, as to place, 849 
 
 neglect of, 848 
 
 private, 849 
 Baptized children, roll of, 175 
 
 care of, 634, 635 854 
 
 home training of, 855, 856 
 
 included in letter, 175, 798 
 
 relation to church, 634 
 
 years of discretion, 857 
 Barnes, Albert, 652, 694. 695, 721, 740, 
 
 741 
 Battelle, E. C, 732 
 Beecher, W. H., 717, 768 
 Behavior during divine service, 831 
 Bell, Benjamin, 729, 734 
 Bell, Joseph E.. 651, 761, 795 
 Benediction, 333, 571, 572 
 Beneficence, Systematic, Committee on, 
 
 400 
 Benevolence, disinterested, 71 
 
 Committee, 275 
 Bergen, church of. 730 
 Betting and horse-racing, 615 
 Bible, The, decisions affecting, 44-67 
 
 translations of, 66 
 Biddle University, 520. 521 
 Bigamist, to be excluded, 93 
 Bills and Overtures, Committee, 267, 
 B. 11; 273, 274 
 
 right to floor, 266, R. 11 
 Birch, George W. F.. 710 
 Birch, Thomas L., 202. 725 
 Bird, Thompson, ft al. 712 
 Bishops or pastors, 143 148 
 Blackburn University, 501 
 Blanks, filling of, 267, R. 17 
 Blessing the people, 153 
 Bloomington, church of, 636 
 Boards of the Church. 340-400 
 
 concurrent declarations concerning, 
 340, 341 
 
 regulations as to minutes and re- 
 ports, 263, 264, 341 
 
 as to the use of legacies, 341, 881 
 
 trustees and salaries, 341 
 
 may not judge ministers, 659 
 Boards, qualifications of members, 264 
 
 vacancies, 264 
 
886 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies 
 396-400 
 constitution of, 396 
 charter, 397-399 
 Board of Church Erection, 372-387 
 the organization, 372-374 
 plan of management, 374 380 
 acts of incorporation, 380-382 
 plan and rules, of General Fund, 
 382-385 
 of Loan Fund, 385 
 of Manse Fund, 386 
 Board of Education, 351-362, 545, 553 
 constitution of, 352-354 
 charter of, 354-357 
 rules for candidates, 357-362 
 Board of Foreign Missions, 349-351 
 organization of, 1870, 350 
 charter of, 350. 351 
 Board of Missions for Freed men, 393-396 
 plan adopted, 1870, 393 
 charter, 394. 395 
 Board of Home Missions, 342-349 
 history, 342 
 
 as established at Reunion, 342, 343 
 act of incorporation of. 343-346 
 act for transfer of property, 346, 347 
 principles and rules for work, 347, 
 
 348 
 as reorganized, 881 
 Sustentation Scheme, 349 
 Board of Publication and Sabbath-school 
 Work. 362-372 
 as organized, 1870, 362-366 
 reorganized, 1887, 370-372 
 charter of, 366 
 
 Sabbath-school work of, 366-372 
 Board of Relief, 387-393 
 charter of 389 
 rules of Board, 391 
 action as to legacies. 881 
 Book of Discipline : text of, and de- 
 cis'ons. 
 Chap. I. Of discipline : its nature, 
 ends, and subjects, 
 Sec. i, 604 
 Sec. ii, 604-606 
 Sec. iii, 606-631 
 Sec. iv, 631-634 
 Sec. v, 634, 635 
 Chap. II. Of the parties in cases of 
 process, 
 Sec. vi. 635 
 Sec. vii. 635 
 Sec. viii, 635, 636 
 Sec. ix. 636 
 Sec. x. 636 
 Sec. xi, 636, 637 
 Sec. xii, 637, 638 
 Sec. xiii, 638 
 Sec. xiv, 639, 640 
 Chap. III. Of charges and specifi- 
 cations, 
 Sec. xv, 640, 641 
 Sec. xvi, 641 
 Sec. xvii, 641 
 
 Chap. IV. Of process: general rules 
 pertaining to all cases, 
 
 Sec. xviii, 642 
 
 Sec. xix, 642, 643 
 
 Sec. xx, 643 
 
 Sec. xxi, 643-650 
 
 Sec. xxii, 650, 651 
 
 Sec. xxiii, 651, 652 
 
 Sec. xxiv, 652-654 
 
 Sec. xxv, 654 
 
 Sec. xxvi. 654, 655 
 
 Sec. xxvii, 655 
 
 Sec. xxviii, 655 
 
 Sec. xxix, 655, 656 
 
 Sec. xxx, 656 
 
 Sec. xxxi 656 
 
 Sec. xxxii, 656, 657 
 Chap. V. Special rules pertaining 
 to cases before sessions, 
 
 Sec. xxx iii, 657 
 
 Sec. xx xiv, 657, 658 
 
 Sec. xxxv, 658 
 Chap. VI. General rules pertain- 
 ing to the trial of a minister, 
 elder, or deacon, 
 
 Sec. xxxvi, 658 
 
 Sec. xxxvii. 658-660 
 
 Sec. xxxviii, 660 
 
 Sec. xxxix, 660 
 
 Sec. xl, 660, 661 
 
 Sec. xli, 661 
 
 Sec. xlii, 661 
 
 Sec. xliii 661-663 
 
 Sec. xliv, 663, 664 
 
 Sec. xiv. 664 
 
 Sec. xlvi, 664 
 Chap. VII. Of cases without pro- 
 cess. 
 
 Sec. xlvii 664 
 
 Sec. xlvii i. 665 
 
 Sec. xlix, 665 
 
 Sec. 1. 665 667 
 
 Sec, li, 667 
 
 Sec. Iii, 667 
 
 Sec. liii, 667-669 
 Chap. VIII, Of evidence, 
 
 Sec. liv, 669 
 
 Sec. Iv, 669 
 
 Sec. lvi, 669 
 
 Sec. Ivii, 670 
 
 Sec. lviii, 670, 671 
 
 Sec. lix, 672 
 
 Sec. Ix, 672 
 
 Sec. lxi, 672, 673 
 
 Sec. lxii. 673 
 
 Sec. lxiii, 673 
 
 Sec. lxiv, 673 
 
 Sec, lxv, 673 
 
 Sec. lxvi, 673, 674 
 
 Sec, lxvii, 674 
 
 Sec. lxviii, 674 675 
 
 Sec. lxix, 675-677 
 Chap. IX. Of the ways in which a 
 cause may be carried, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 88? 
 
 i. Of general review and control. 
 678-668 
 See. Lxxi. 678-681 
 See. lxxii. 
 
 1 Whether the proceed- 
 ings are correct ly re- 
 oarded, 681, 689 
 0. Whether they have 
 been eonstitv.: 
 regular. 683-685 
 [%. Whether they have 
 been wise, equitable, and 
 for :. f the 
 
 Church, 6S0-688 
 See. '.xx:.-. 
 See. Lxxiv, I B8 
 ix.w. 690 
 See. ixxvi. 692 
 ii. Of references. 693-697 
 See. Ixxrii, 692, 693 
 
 - t Ixxviij 69a 694 
 See. ixxix. 694-696 
 Sec. Ixxx. 696 
 S< - 'xxxi. 69'^ 
 
 b i j 
 iii. Of eomplai: its, 97-790 
 See. \xxz -713 
 
 See. lxxxiv. 714-717 
 See. lxxxv. 717 
 See. ixxxvi, 717 
 Bee Ixxxrii, 717 
 Sec. lxxxviii. 717-719 
 Si c lxxxix. 719 
 See. xc. 719 
 S( . sea, 719 
 
 ten, 719. 700 
 
 KCiii 700 
 iv. Of appeals, 720-781] 
 
 xeiv. 720-723 
 S< xcv. 703-7C9 
 
 xcvi. 709-781 
 -739 
 See. x. . ' -741 
 
 - - icix, 741-777 
 
 777-77! 
 Si b. ci. 779-7-0 
 782-785 
 CV.a: X 
 
 , 78 
 
 781 ~-7 
 . 787-790 
 
 3 
 Chap. XI. Of jurisdiction in cases 
 of dismiss 
 
 792,795 
 
 exiii. 797 
 
 XII. Of removals, and limi- 
 
 - 
 - - . - 
 
 . •. - 901 
 
 901, 809 
 
 Sec. cxvr 
 Chap. XIII. i ial commis- 
 
 sions, 
 See. cxviii. S03 
 six, - 
 
 3X3 
 
 Chap. XIV. Of differences between 
 jndi< 
 Sei Bam, £05 
 Sec oxxO 91 IS 
 Set szxfij 905 
 Book f I 1 - rion and amend- 
 
 ment. 6. 13. 14 
 Booth. Robert K.. 
 Bourne. Geoige, 77m, 782 
 
 , 715 
 Boyd. Jehu. 1 
 Boyd, Samuel, 757 
 Bradfo: s, 712, 762, 775 
 
 -haw. Walter, 106, 758 
 See (. ommunion. 
 Breckinridge, Eobert J , 698, 726 
 
 756 75S, 803, 804 
 rgs Charles A.. ~ ' ' 700. 748. 
 
 749 76 6, 7--. 783 
 
 Is, 715 720 
 
 v Gr., 7, : 9 
 
 675, 693, 7 76 
 
 :. William, ri nJ , 767 
 
 ; .u£^. dran 770 
 
 779 
 
 Business, eondm: : 265, K. 4 
 unfinished. 066. K. 13 
 
 ', E. IS 
 
 Caledonia. Sess : 606 
 Calhoun. William. 765 
 Calkins, Iff. Hei 
 Call pasta 
 
 by v ': - - 565, 568 
 
 how 
 
 5 B 
 
 yrosecnttd. "— 
 only through Presbytery. 5 - 
 Presbytery refuses to permit. 569 
 acceptaiK si for installation, 
 
 :' another F 
 569 
 Campbell, W. W 
 
 ..da, ministers. I i 
 Candidates for the mix fefan ~ 
 
 bv wha: o on 
 
 ' trial 
 
 transfer. - 
 
 examination as to character, 331, 
 
 ... 
 
 mus: belong 1 son :erian 
 
 church, 
 liberal education requv 
 
 where t: 
 
 Presbyterial oversiC '-549 
 
888 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Candidates, relation of, to Presbytery- 
 receiving, 550, 552 
 time of study for licensure, 555 
 as to extraordinary cases, 556, 559 
 rules as to, Board of Education, 
 357-362 
 
 Canonical Books, 44 
 
 Canvass. Committee of, 602, 603 
 
 Card playing and games of chance, 609, 
 612, 616 
 
 Carlisle, Presbytery of, 657, 764 
 
 Carson, W. P., 578, 702 
 
 Carter, John Pym, 714 
 
 Cases, before Sessions, 657, 658 
 without process, of, 664-669 
 delay may be demanded, 664 
 what the record must show, 664 
 striking from the roll, 665, 669 
 excommunication not without pro- 
 cess, 665 
 pending charges, effect of, 667 
 
 Catechising, public, 153 
 
 Catechism, standard copy of Shorter, 18 
 Heidelberg, approved, 10 
 
 Catechisms, adopted, 3, 6, 10 
 
 integral parts of the Standards, 8 
 instruction in, enjoined, 823, 826- 
 829, 856 
 
 Cathcart, Eobert, 713, 721 
 
 Censure, not removed without evidence 
 of repentance, 657 
 proportionate to the offence, 604 
 not without citation, 642 
 without trial unconstitutional, 642 
 
 643 
 disproportionate, 759, 765 
 of lower judicatories, 246-258, 685, 
 
 686, 691, 718, 719, 781 
 of private prosecutor, 639 
 when unconstitutional, 683, 684 
 
 Censures, church, infliction and removal 
 of. 862-864 
 inflicted by the Session, 657 
 
 Certificate. See Dismission and Mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Chairman of committee, 266, K. 9 
 
 Chamberlain, Hiram, 762 
 
 Chambers, John W., 778 
 
 Chaplains, 210 
 
 Charge, at ordination, 571 
 at installation, 577 
 
 Charge, alleges but one offence, 640, 641 
 must be in writing, 642 
 must be specific, 770 
 especially in case of heresy, 641 
 process upon, 642-657 
 proof of one or more specifications 
 
 proves the charge, 670 
 proven by one witness, 670, 671 
 what must be of record, 652-654 
 taking up charges, the entering of 
 process, 187 
 
 Charges, of, 640, 641 
 
 Charges, in case of C. A. Briggs, D.D., 
 47-53 
 in case of H. P. Smith, D.D., 58-64 
 
 Charters, of the Boards, etc. See Boards, 
 and Theol. Seminaries. 
 
 of churches, 122-125 
 
 Trustees, Assembly, 334 
 Chavis, Jared M., 292, 783 
 Children, relation of, to the church, 634 
 
 instruction of, 634, 855, 856 
 Children's Day commended, 830, 874 
 Christ the Mediator, of, 75 
 
 righteousness of, 71 
 
 active obedience of, 79 
 
 inherited nature of, 73 
 Christian liberty, 88 
 Christians cannot live in habitual sin, 
 
 80 
 Church, Bethuel, Esq., 858 
 Church, of the, 100, 101 (Conf.) 118-142 
 (F.G.) 
 
 spiritual society, 5 
 
 catholic or universal, 100 
 
 distinct from civil government, 5 
 
 includes many denominations, 6, 92 
 
 invisible, 100 
 
 visible. 101 
 
 unity of, 102, 118 
 
 authority of, 117, 154 
 
 spiritual character of, 111 
 
 censures, of, 110 
 
 officers of. See Officers. 
 
 ordinances in. See Ordinances. 
 
 government and judicatories, 154 
 157 
 
 relation of, to the State, 111, 154- 
 156, 316 
 Church, particular, defined, 118, 120,122 
 
 mode of organization of, 118, 119, 
 120, 217 
 
 extinct, amenable to Presbytery, 
 797 
 
 collegiate, defined, 183 
 
 confessions and creeds, 166 
 
 covenants, local, 166 
 
 membership, reception to, 166, 167 
 
 withdrawal of a, 214 
 
 imperfectly organized, 120 
 
 dissolution of a, 215, 216 
 
 property of. control of, 123-142 
 
 trustees of a, 122-142 
 Church registers, 174, 175 
 Church Erection, Board of, 372- 387 
 
 Committee, 275 
 Churches in different Presbyteries, 184 
 Citation, the beginning of process, 657, 
 692 
 
 how served, 643 
 
 service must be ascertained, 643 
 
 of accused, 151, 163, 643, 644 . 
 
 of parties, 642 
 
 of witnesses, 642 
 
 refusal to obey, 643, 660 
 
 second, when to be served, 643, 644 
 
 when not necessary, 667 
 
 of a congregation, 57t>, 577 
 
 of a pastor, 575,-577 
 
 of a judicatory, 692 
 
 how attested, 642 
 
INDEX. 
 
 889 
 
 Civil, courts, decisions of not conclusive, 
 605, 707 
 
 magistrate, 4, 5, 92, 111, 154, 316 
 Civil War, the, 294, 871 
 Clapp, Theodore, 147 
 Clark, T. B., 717 
 Clerk, Stated, 269-271 
 
 Permanent, 272 
 
 Temporary, 188, 272 
 Clerks, of, 585, 586 
 
 not necessarily members, 586 
 
 term of service discretionary, 586 
 
 duties of, 585, 642, 673, 714, 729 
 
 to form a complete roll, 266, R. 10 
 
 to file all papers in order, 266, R. 
 11 
 
 to receive all overtures, etc., and 
 hand to committee of B. and O., 
 266, R. 11 
 Cochran, John, 730 
 Colmery, William W., 707 
 College of New Jersey, agreement, 430- 
 
 432 
 Collins, Aaron C, 662 
 Colored, members, 321 
 
 candidates, 553 
 Columbian Exposition, 818 
 Commandments, Ten, 632 
 Commission , General Assembly, form of, 
 595 
 
 irregularities and defects in, 596, 
 597 
 
 formal, required, 595 
 
 in absence of, 589, 590 
 Commission for taking testimony, 673 
 Commission, judicial. See Judicial 
 
 Commissions. 
 Commissioners to the General Assem- 
 bly, 588-601 
 
 when appointed. 588, 589 
 
 alternate. 588, 592, 594 
 
 ratio of. 278. 595 
 
 irregularity in appointing, 589 
 
 attendance enjoined, 591 
 
 expenses to be borne, 598 
 
 excluded, pending action, 657 
 
 expelled, 299 
 Commissioners to prosecute a pastoral 
 
 call, 569, 575 
 Commissions, committee on, 260, 595 
 Commit, motion to, 267, R. 18, 19 
 Committee, how appointed, 266, R., 7. 
 
 chairman of, 267, R. 9 
 
 of judicial business, 269, R. 41 
 
 of prosecution, 269, R. 42 
 
 men, plan of union, 591 
 
 of compromise, 713 
 Committees of the Assembly : 
 
 Aid for Colleges and Academies, 
 275 
 
 Benevolence, 275 
 
 Bills and Overtures, 267, R. 11, 
 273, 274 
 
 Church Erection, 275 
 
 Commissions, 260 
 
 Correspondence, 275 
 
 Committees of the Assembly : 
 
 Education, 275 
 
 Finance, 276 
 
 Foreign Missions, 275 
 
 Freedmen, 275 
 
 Home Missions, 275 
 
 Judicial, 269, R. 41 ; 275 
 
 Leave of Absence, 276 
 
 Mileage, 276 
 
 Ministerial B 
 
 Narrative, 2* 
 
 Place of Next Meeting, 334 
 
 Polity of the Church. 275 
 
 Publication and Sabbath-school 
 Work, 275 
 
 Records of the Synods, 277 
 
 Systematic Beneficence, 400 
 
 Temperance, 276 
 
 Theological Seminaries, 275 
 Committees, special appointments, va- 
 cancies, 264 
 Common fame, not ground of process, 
 
 635 
 Communicant classes, 852 
 Communicants as voters, 530, 531, 878- 
 
 880 
 Communion of saints, of the, 102, 
 Communion, admission to. See Sealing 
 Ordinances. 
 
 occasional, 858 
 
 wine, 628, 853 
 
 bread, 853 
 
 cups, individual, 853 
 
 no new terms of, 631 
 
 invitation, 851 
 Complainant, 697 
 Complainants : 
 
 Baird, E. T., 640 
 
 Baird, James H., 704 
 
 Balch, Hezekiah, 71-73 
 
 Bancroft, Addison, 703, 761 
 
 Beecher, W. H., et aZ., 717, 768 
 
 Birch, George W. F., 710 
 
 Birch, Thomas L., 725 
 
 Bird, Thompson, et ah, 712 
 
 Bose, J. C, 715 
 
 Bradford, Thomas, 712, 762 
 
 Breed, David R., 756, 758 
 
 Brown, Francis, 715, 720 
 
 Bryant, William, etal., 767 
 
 Calhoun, William, 765 
 
 Campbell, AV. W., 729 
 
 Carlisle, Presbytery of, 657, 764 
 
 Carson, W. P., 578, 702 
 
 Carter, John Pym, "*< 14 
 
 Cathcart, Robert, tt a/., 713, 721 
 
 Cincinnati, Seventh church, 764 
 
 Clark, T. B.. 717 
 
 Cochran, John, 730 
 
 Colmery, W. W., 707 
 
 Cooper, Thomas, 711 
 
 Cornelison, Isaac A., 773, 774 
 
 Cowan, Alexander M., 698, 712, 
 773 
 
 Craig, W. P., 755 
 
 Craighead, Thomas B., 641-643, 769 
 
890 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ComplaiDants : 
 
 Crosby, Arthur, 638, 702 
 Cross, Andrew B., 741 
 Cummings, J. W., et al, 729 
 Davidson, J. W., 639 
 Davis, Henry, 732 
 Dickinson, James, 734 
 Dobbins, Robert B., 763 
 Duffield. George 713, 732 
 Drake, Charles D., ct al, 834, 835 
 Eaton, chnrch of, 707 
 Edgar, M., 569, 703 
 Erskine, Ebenezer, 740 
 Erwin, Wheeler, 734 
 Farris, Robert P., et al, 703 
 Fin ley, R. S., et ah, 740, 766 
 Fisher, James P., 716 
 Fletcher. Donald, 732 
 Francis, John J., et al, 710 
 Gilbert, E. W., et al., 712 
 Gould, Samuel M , et al., 703, 714 
 Graham, Edward, et al, 771 
 Green, Ashbel, et al., 711 
 Guild, William B., 651 
 Guy, Alexander, 706 
 Hamlin, T. S., etal., 671 
 Harmon, Fisk, 714 
 Hendrick, James P., etal., 710 
 Hindman, Francis, 675, 724 
 Hobbs, Benedict, 748 
 Hopkins, D. C. 683 
 Hotchkiss, G. A., 666 
 Houston, Samuel, etal., 733 
 Hynes, Thomas W., 711 
 Irish Grove church, 766 
 James, W. H., etal, 709 
 Kern, Christian, 773 
 Knox, Franklin, 769 
 La Crosse, Presbytery of, 705, 715 
 Ledyard, E. D., 785 
 Lively, William M., 733 
 McClure, David, 712 
 McCook, John J., etal.. 715, 720 
 Mclver, Colin, tt al, 698, 716 
 Mack, John, et al., 640 
 McQueen, Archibald, 663, 698, 
 
 716 
 Martin, J. W 7 ., 707, 733 
 Means, John C , 707 
 Metcalf, A. D., 721 
 Mifflinburgh, church of, 704 
 Monfort. J. G., et al., 782 
 Nevin, Alfred, etal, 733 
 Niccolls, S. J., et al., 706 
 Oakland, church of, 704 
 Onondaga, Presbytery of, 774 
 Park church, Newark, 698 
 Passaic, Presbytery of, 721, 748 
 Perkins, William, et al. , 765 
 Philadelphia, Fifth church, 774 
 Pirez, Emanuel R., 769 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia, 784 
 Ramsey, Jefferson, et al. , 741 
 Reformed Church in America, 776 
 Robertson, J. D., 707 
 Rockefeller, M. A., etal, 727 
 
 Complainants : 
 
 Rollins, Dr. John, 774 
 Russell, James, 703, 781 
 Saharanpur, Presbytery of, 760 
 St. Clairsville, Presbytery of, 702 
 St. Paul, First church of, 704 
 Salisbury, J. C, et al, 752 
 Sawyer, E. M., 733 
 Shearer, F. E., 705, 771, 772 
 Shepherd, Smiley, 781 
 Skinner, Thomas H., 705, 706, 719, 
 
 784. 785 
 Smylie, James A., 633, 667, 772, 
 
 740 
 Strong, George P., 733 
 Synod General Reformed Church, 
 
 776 
 Tate, Mclver, et al, 698, 716 
 Turbitt, John, 712, 736 
 Van Dyke, Joseph S., et al, 707 
 Washington, O., Presbyterv of, 
 
 711 
 W T est, Nathaniel, 666, 705, 709, 
 
 729, 768, 780, 784, 785 
 Wheeler, Erwin, etal, 734 
 Weightman, James W., et al, 781 
 White, William P., 780 
 W T oods, J. L., tt al, 705, 781 
 Complaint, defined, 697 
 who may complain. 697 
 distinguished from appeal, 697 
 same matter, appeal and complaint, 
 
 698, 720 
 should be consolidated, 720 
 not allowed, 686, 698-700, 702- 
 
 707 
 subjects entertained, 711-713 
 counsel, 654 
 sustained, 717, 719 
 dismissed, 671, 707, 709, 711, 714- 
 
 717, 732, 733 
 withdrawn, 706, 707, 709, 710, 
 
 713, 714 
 effect of withdrawal, 707 
 written notice with reasons re- 
 quired, 714-716 
 when notice must be given, 714- 
 
 717 
 right to complain lost, 716, 732, 
 
 733 
 when lodged with Clerk, 717 
 not in order, 705, 709, 710, 711, 
 
 715, 716 
 in cases non-judicial, the parties, 
 
 719 
 may stay execution, 717 
 if in order, mode of procedure, 717, 
 
 743-748 
 who may not sit and vote in the 
 
 case, 719 
 either party may appeal, 719 
 right not lost by approval of min- 
 utes, 687 
 to the Assembly direct, 785 
 See Appeals, and Decisions. 
 Concurrent declarations, 36 
 
INDEX. 
 
 891 
 
 Confession of Faith : text of, and de- 
 cisions. 
 
 Chap I. Of the Holy Scripture, 
 Sees i ii, 44-65 
 Sees, iii-x, 65-67 
 Chap. II. Of God and of the Holy 
 Trinity, 
 Sees, i-iii, 67 
 Chap. III. Of God's eternal de- 
 cree. 
 Sees, i-viii, 68, 69. 
 Chap. IV. Of creation, 
 
 Sees, i, ii, 69 
 Chap. V. Of providence, 
 
 Sees, i-vii, 69, 70 
 Chap. VI. Of the fall of man, of 
 sin, etc., 
 Sees, i-vi, 70-74 
 Chap. VII. Of God's covenant 
 with man, 
 Sees, i-vi, 74, 75 
 Chap. VIII. Of Christ the Media- 
 tor, 
 Sees, i-viii, 75-77 
 Chap. IX. Of free will, 
 
 Sec. iv, 77 
 Chap. X. Of effectual calling, 
 
 Sees, i-iv, 77, 78 
 Chap. XI. Of justification, 
 
 Sees, i-vi, 78-83 
 Chap. XII. Of adoption, 
 
 Sec. i, 83 
 Chap. XIII. Of sanctification, 
 
 Sees, i-iii, 83 
 Chap. XIV. Of saving faith, 
 
 Sees, i-iii, 84 
 Chap. XV. Of repentance unto 
 life, 
 Sees, i-vi, 84, 85 
 Chap. XVI. Of good works, 
 
 Sees, i-vii, 85, 86 
 Chap. XVII. Of the perseverance 
 of the saints, 
 Sees, i-iii, 86 
 Chap. XVIII. Of the assurance of 
 grace and salvation, 
 Sees, i iv, 86, 87 
 Chap. XIX. Of the law of God, 
 
 Sees, i-vii, 87, 88 
 Chap. XX. Of Christian liberty, 
 and liberty of conscience, 
 Sees, i-iv, 88, 89 
 Chap XXI. Of religious worship 
 and the Sabbath day, 
 Sees, i-viii, 89-91 
 Chap. XXII. Of lawful oaths and 
 vows, 
 Sees, i-viii, 91, 92 
 Chap. XXIII. Of the civil magis- 
 trate, 
 Sees, i-iv, 92, 93 
 Chap. XXIV. Of marriage and 
 divorce, 
 Sec. i. 93-96 
 Sees, ii-iv, 96, 97 
 Sees, v, vi, 97-100 
 
 Chap. XXIV. Of the Church, 
 Sees, i-v, 100, 101 
 Sec. vi, 101, 102 
 Chap. XXVI. Of the communion 
 of saints, 
 Sees, i-iii, 102 
 Chap. XXVII. Of the sacraments, 
 
 Sees, i-v, 103 
 Chap. XXVIII. Of Baptism, 
 Sees, i, ii, 103-107 
 Sees, iii, iv, 107, 108 
 Sees, v-vii, 108, 109 
 Chap. XXIV. Of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, 
 Sees, i-viii, 109, 110 
 Chap. XXX. Of church censures, 
 
 Sees, i-iv, 110, 111 
 Chap. XXXI. Of synods and 
 councils, 
 Sees, i-iv, 111, 112 
 Chap. XXXII. Of the state of 
 man after death, and of the 
 resurrection of the dead, 
 Chap. XXXIII. Of the last judg- 
 ment, 
 Sees, i-iii, 113, 114 
 The Creed, 114, 115 
 Confession of Faith, the, 44-115 
 adopted, 17*29, 2, 3, 4 ; 1788, 6 
 mode of adopting, 5 
 authority of, 7, 38 
 how amended, 19, 601, 602 
 Confession of guilt, 664 
 
 sentence upon, 660, 661 
 Congregation denned, 878, 879 
 organization of, 118, 119, 120 
 transfer of 220 
 vacant, 148, 185, 588 
 Congregational meetings, 124, 125 
 
 records of, 678, 679 
 Connell, Joseph, 579, 757 
 Consanguinity, degree of, 96, 97 
 Conscience, freedom of 116, 155 
 
 liberty of, 88 
 Consent of parties, 576, 652, 675 
 Constitution, of the Church, 3 
 adoption of, 3 
 amendments to, 6 
 publication of, 14-20 
 publication and circulation of, 14-16 
 Permanent Committee of Super- 
 vision, 17 
 new edition, 1891, 18-20 
 title-page changed, 20 
 proof-texts, 1794-1894, 21-26 
 how amended, 602 
 Constitutional principles, 155 
 Constitutional rule, No. 1, 330 
 
 No. 2, 331 
 Contingent Fund, 598 
 Continuance of cases, 733, 736, 737, 768, 
 
 769 
 Contributors to support of church, 564, 
 
 565, 878-880 
 Contumacious, submission of, 644 
 exclusion of, 754 
 
892 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Contumacy, 643, 657, 674, 770 
 
 refusal to testify is, 674 
 
 censure for, 644 
 
 not charged on first citation, 644 
 
 not to be hastily inferred, 643, 770 
 
 rights of those charged with, 754,755 
 
 suspension for, 657, 660 
 Conversion, 80 81, 857 
 Cooper, J. A., 758 
 Cooper, Thomas, 711 
 Copy, of proceedings, 642 
 
 of charges, etc., 642 
 
 of sentence, 655 
 Cornelison, Isaac A., 773, 774 
 Correction, of error, 689, 690 
 
 of records, 680 
 Correspondence, Committee, 275 
 Correspondence, with foreign Churches, 
 306 
 
 Churches in America, 311 
 
 only with ecclesiastical bodies, 325, 
 630 
 Corresponding members, of Presbytery, 
 227, 228 
 
 of Synod, 243 
 
 of the Assembly, 277 
 Counsel, for accused, 645, 654 
 
 for the respondent, 654 
 
 professional, not allowed, 654, 655 
 
 must be a member of the judica- 
 tory, 654 
 
 may not vote, 654 
 CovenaDt, God's, with man, of, 74, 75 
 
 of grace, 74, 75 
 
 of works, 74, 79 
 Covenants, church, 166, 167 
 Cowan, Alexander M., 698, 712, 773 
 Craig, W. P., 755 
 
 Craighead, Thomas B., 80-83, 641, 643, 
 
 644, 730, 737-739, 761, 769, 771, 777 
 
 Craven, E. R., v, vi, vii, 13, 17, 18, 20, 
 
 24 
 Creation of, 69 
 Creed, the Apostles', 114 
 
 authorized alterations, 114 
 Critical exercise, 554 
 Criticism, Higher, 45-56, 58-65 
 Crosby, Arthur, 638, 702 
 Cross, Andrew B., 741 
 Cross, John, 575 
 Cross-examination, 651 
 Cruelty to animals, 630 
 Cumberland Presbyterians, 105, 307 
 Cummings, J. W., et al., 729 
 
 Dancing, promiscuous, 607-609 
 
 schools, 608 
 
 social, 608, 612 
 Danville Theological Seminary, 476- 
 
 491 
 Davidson, J. W., 639 
 Davis, Henry, 732 
 Davis, M., 733 
 Davis, Thomas, 739 
 Davis, William C, 79, 770 
 Deaconesses, no authority for, 532 
 
 Deacons, of, 151-153 
 functions of, 152 
 may be also elders, 152 
 may serve the Lord's Table, 153, 
 
 854 
 control funds for the poor, 153 
 may not sit in church courts, 153 
 election of, 525, 529 
 ordination of, 533, 534 
 term of service, 535, 536, 541, 543 
 may cease to act, 537 
 resignation of, 538 
 must be males, 525 
 office perpetual, 535 
 as trustees, 152 
 Dead, burial of the, 869 
 Death of appellee bars prosecution, 721 
 Decision, judicial, 757-785 
 reasons for, given, 780 
 must be respected until set aside, 
 
 685, 686, 689, 691, 754, 755 
 may not be reversed on review o] 
 
 records, 691 
 or without assigning reason, 775 
 confirms lower judicatory . 639, 640. 
 
 644, 751, 752, 757, 758 
 confirms in part, 763, 764 
 reverses lower judicatory, 604, 605. 
 
 651, 753, 759, 760-764, 774 
 reverses in part, 763, 764 
 restores the stains quo, 775 
 annuls the act complained of, 759- 
 
 762 
 annuls the appeal, 740, 743 
 sustains the lower judicatory, 743. 
 
 753, 760-763, 766 
 sustains, and reverses, 717, 763 
 and orders hearing. 768 
 sustains in part, 764, 774 
 declares and decides the issue, 774 
 sustains pro forma, 756, 762, 765 
 remands, for new trial, 46, 763, 767, 
 768, 772, 780 
 with instructions, 653, 769, 771, 
 
 772 
 for reconsideration, 740, 741, 
 753, 763, 767, 768 
 revokes sentence. 765, 774 
 explains intent of action, 776 
 suspends in absence of records, 
 
 720, 743 
 dismisses, 698, 702, 703 
 dismisses in absence of appellant, 
 
 739 
 gives leave to withraw, 706-711 
 stay of execution, 717 
 may not open a case settled, 773 
 postpones in absence of records, 
 
 781 
 restores the censured, 762, 764, 765, 
 774, 775, 779, 863 
 Decisions of civil courts, 605, 707 
 Declaration and Testimony, the, 683, 
 
 712, 713, 790 
 Decree, Eternal, 68 
 Defendant. See Accused. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 893 
 
 Delegates to judicatories, expenses of, 
 548 
 Assembly appoints only to ecclesi- 
 astical bodies, 325, 630 
 Demission, of ministry, 211 
 eldership, 535 
 diaconate, 535 
 Deposed minister, 662, 794 
 standing of, 664 
 
 name to be published, when, 663 
 who may restore, 662 
 if restored, to be reordained, 664 
 condemned again only on new pro- 
 cess, 774 
 Deposition, from ministry, '661, 667, 
 751 
 by another denomination, 776, 777 
 from office, 657 
 
 and excommunication distinct, 207, 
 657, 658 
 Desecration of Sabbath, 808, 809 
 Desertion, willful, ground of divorce, 
 
 93 
 Dickinson, James. 734 
 Differences between judicatories, 805 
 Digest, proposed, 1809, iii 
 
 committee appointed, 1818, iii 
 published, 1820, iii 
 1850 (Webster), iii 
 1856 (Baird), iii 
 1859 (revision), iii 
 1861 (Moore), iv 
 1873 (Moore), iv 
 1886 (Moore), iv 
 1898 (Moore), v 
 1898, Plan of, vi 
 Dimmick, Francis M., 773 
 Dieectoey for Worship : text of, and 
 decisions. 
 Chap. I. Of the sanctification of 
 the Lord's day, 
 Sec. i, 806-808 
 Sec. ii, 808 821 
 Sees, iii-v, 821 
 Sec. vi, 821-831 
 Chap. II. Of the assembling of the 
 congregation and their be- 
 havior during divine service, 
 Sees, i, ii, 831 
 Chap. III. Of the public reading 
 of the holy scriptures, 
 Sees, i, ii. 832, 833 
 Sec. iii, 833-835 
 Chap. IV. Of the singing of 
 psalms, 
 Sec. i, 835, 836 
 Sec. ii, 836, 837 
 Sees, iii, iv, 837, 838 
 Chap. V. Of public prayer, 
 
 Sees, i-iv, 838-840 
 Chap. VI. Of the worship of God 
 by offerings, 
 Sees, i, ii, 840-843 
 Sec. iii, 843 
 Sec. iv, 843, 844 
 
 Chap. VII. Of the preaching of 
 the Word, 
 Sec. i, 844 
 Sec. ii, 844, 845 
 Sees, iii-vi, 845 
 Chap. VIII. Of the administration 
 of Baptism, 
 Sec. i, 845, 846 
 Sees, ii, iii, 845, 847 
 Sec. iv, 847-849 
 Sec. v, 849 
 Chap. IX. Of the administration 
 of the Lord's Supper, 
 Sec. i, 849, 850 
 Sec. ii, 850 
 Sec. iii, 850-854 
 Sec. iv, 850-852 
 Sec. v, 852-854 
 Chap. X. Of admission to sealing 
 ordinances, 
 Sec. i. 854-857 
 Sec. ii, 857 
 Sec. iii, 857-860 
 Sec. iv, 861-862 
 Chap. XL Of the mode of inflict- 
 ing and removing censures, 
 Sees, i-iii, 862 
 Sees, iv-vii, 863 
 Sec. ™, 864 
 Chap. XII. Of the solemnization 
 of marriage, 
 Sees, i-iv, 864 
 Sees, v, vi, 865 
 Sees, vii, viii, 866, 867 
 Chap. XIII. Of the visitation of 
 the sick, 
 Sees, i-iii, 867 
 Sees, iv-x, 868 
 Chap. XIV. Of the burial of the 
 dead, 
 Sees, i, ii, 869 
 Chap. XV. Of fasting and thanks- 
 giving, 
 Sees, i, ii, 869 
 Sees, iii, iv, 870, 871. 
 Sees, v-viii, 875 
 Chap. XVI. Secret and family 
 worship, 
 Sees, i-v, 875, 878 
 Directory for Worship adoption, 4, 
 7, 14 
 amended. 1884-86, 14 
 Directory for secret and family wor- 
 ship, 875-877 
 Discipline, Book of. See Book of Dis- 
 cipline. 
 Discipline, its nature, ends, and sub- 
 jects, 604-635 
 reasons for must be given, 691 
 subjection to, 859 
 enjoined, 808 
 
 of a minister, only by his own Pres- 
 bytery. 658 
 by Boards, not recognized, 659 
 not subject to review, 773 
 not subject of complaint, 702,703 
 
894 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Discretion, of judicatories, 728, 729, 
 757 
 
 of Presbytery, 147, 192, 200, 202, 
 205, 216, 220, 638 
 
 of Session, 104, 106, 161, 169, 171, 
 854, 857 
 
 age of, 847. 857, 864 
 
 years of, 857 
 
 misuse of, is reviewable, 638. 702 
 Dismission, letter of, 167, 169, 205, 540, 
 666, 796-798 
 
 sbould include baptized children, 
 798 
 
 effect of, 793, 795 
 
 when it takes effect, 741, 795, 796 
 
 must specify the church, 796 
 
 who may grant, 796, 800, 801 
 
 not by a standing committee, 201, 
 796 
 
 to join another denomination, 798 
 
 of a suspended member, 799 
 
 may be irregular but valid, 7{>9 
 
 return of, 792 
 
 should be acknowledged, 800-801 
 
 of elders, 792 
 
 of ministers, 794, 796, 801 
 
 of licentiates, 796, 801 
 Dissents and protests', of, 786-791 
 Dissolution, of a church, 215-217 
 
 of pastoral re'ation, 200, 575-580 
 
 of Assembly, Formula, 334 
 Distinctions of iace, color or language 
 
 not allowed, 179 
 Diversion of funds, 601 
 Division on a vote, 268, E. 27 
 Division of the Church in 1838, 31 
 Divorce, for adultery, 97 
 
 for cause oiher than, 98, 99 
 
 desertion cause for, 93 
 Dobbins, Kobt. B., 745, 746, 763 
 Doctrinal, purity, letter on, 294 
 
 errors, testimony against, 281-283 
 Doctrine, deliverances on, 114 
 
 explication of, 283-285 
 
 action on, 1869, O.S., and protest, 
 285 
 
 answer to protest, 285-288 
 Dodd, Luther, 687 
 Documents, historical, 1-43 
 Dogma no new definition of, 57 
 Donald, Fletcher, 732 
 Donaldson, He her, 781 
 Drake, Charles D.. et al., 758, 834, 835 
 Dubuque Theological Seminary, Ger- 
 man, 510-512 
 Due diligence, 735, 736 
 Duffield, Geo., 713, 732 
 Dull, Nannie J., 245 
 Dueling, 617 
 
 Eaton, church of, 707 
 Ecclesiastical year, close of, 880 
 Edgar, M., 569, 703, 724 
 Education, Committee, 275 
 Board, 351-362 
 
 Education for the ministry. See Board 
 of, 351-362 
 
 liberal, required, 552, 554, 555 
 
 in exceptional cases, 553, 557 
 Effectual calling, of, 77 
 Elders, ruling, of, 148-151 
 
 must be male, 525 
 
 office perpetual, 535 
 
 assistants to minister, 148 
 
 ministers may not be, 151, 527, 
 528, 529 
 
 rule only where elected, 149, 158 
 
 rule in but one church, 149 
 
 essential to the existence of a Pres- 
 byterian church, 148 
 
 may not administer sealing ordi- 
 nances, 103, 151 
 
 without charge, 149, 537, 595 
 
 rights and duties of, 151, 587 
 
 laying on of hands by, 149, 572 
 
 electing and ordaining of, 524-543 
 
 meeting to elect, called by the Ses- 
 sion, £25, 526 
 
 should the Session refuse, 526 
 
 the pastor presides, 526 
 
 election of, 148, 529, 532 
 
 electors of, 5:W, 531, 878 
 
 elder-elect, 159 
 
 nonresident, 160 
 
 ordination, necessary, 159, 534 
 mode of, 533. 534 
 
 installation of, 533 
 
 reinstallation, on reelection, 534, 
 535, 541, 542 
 mode of, 535 
 
 may cease to act 214, 537, 538, 539, 
 540, 541 
 
 to whom to resign, 538, 539 
 
 how they may be removed, 537, 
 538 
 
 trial of, 158, 664 
 
 term service of, 541, 542, 543 
 
 a perpetual office, 535, 536 
 Eldon's, Lord, ruling, 138 
 Election, God's, to salvation, not on fore- 
 sight, 68, 75 
 Election and ordination of bishops or 
 pastors, and evangelists, 561-575 
 
 steps to be taken, 561-563 
 
 who calls the meeting, 561, 562 
 
 who presides, 563 
 
 who are the electors, 563-565, 878- 
 880 
 authoritative list of, 565 
 
 majority, rights of, 565 
 
 the call. 565, 568, 569. See Call. 
 
 ordination trials for, 569 
 
 order of, 569-573 
 
 form of, 571, 572 
 
 part of elders in , 149, 572 
 
 lay, invalid, 572 
 
 sine tHulo, 574 
 
 by a commission unconstitutional, 
 192, 571 
 Elections, deacons, 525, 878 
 
 elders, 529 
 
INDEX. 
 
 895 
 
 Elections, ministers, 561, 878 
 trustees, of Assembly, 338 
 trustees of a church, 124, 880 
 Elective affinity Presbyteries, 178 
 Ellis, John W., 732 
 Engineers, Sunday work, 813 
 Entertainment, Committee on, 264 
 Error, specifications of, 729 
 
 corrected on proof, 689, 690 
 See Records. 
 Erskine, Ebenezer, 740 
 Erwin, Wheeler, 734 
 Evangelist, ordination as, 573 
 functions of, 573, 575 
 local, 330, 331, 557 
 Evidence, of, 669-677. 
 
 caution in receiving, 669 
 
 kinds of, 670 
 
 under oath and recorded, 672, 673, 
 
 771 
 taken by commission, 673 
 new, 674-676 
 new trial, 674-677 
 records of judicatories are, 673 
 filing of, 652 
 
 See Testimony and Witnesses. 
 Evil reports, spreading of, 635, 636 
 Examination. See Admission, Candi- 
 dates, Ministers. 
 Exceptions, to proceedings, 654 
 to records of Synods : 
 Baltimore, 682 
 California, 688 
 Cincinnati, 681, 682, 683, 686, 
 
 687 
 Colorado, 681 
 Geneva, 683 
 Illinois, 682 
 Illinois, North, 691 
 Indiana, 683-691 
 Kansas, 682 
 
 Kentucky, 684, 685, 688, 697 
 Michigan, 683 
 Minnesota, 681 
 Missouri, 685 
 Onondaga, 691 
 Pacific, 681, 684 
 Pennsylvania, 681, 688 
 Philadelphia, 682, 683 
 Pittsburgh, 684 
 Tennessee, 681, 682 
 Utica, 697 
 Wheeling, 691 
 Exceptions must be recorded, 690, 691 
 Excluding Act, 1837, 31 
 Exclusion, from communion, 643 
 from the judicatory, 656, 664 
 of stenographer, 652 
 of witnesses and parties, 651 
 Excommunicated restored, 861 
 Excommunication, 657, 863, 864 
 form of, 863 
 of one suspended, 660 
 Exegesis, Latin., 554 
 Explanatory minute, 55, 742, 753 
 Explication of doctrines, 283-285 
 
 Expounding the Scriptures, 153 
 Expulsion of commissioner, 299 
 Extinct, church, 797 
 Presbytery, 203 
 
 Faith, articles of, 3, 80, 84 
 Fall of man, of, 70 
 
 Family, instruction and training, 826, 
 848, 856 
 religion, 875-877 
 Farris, Robert P., 703 
 Fasting, duty of. 153, 869 
 Fasting and thanksgiving, days of, 869- 
 
 875 
 Ferguson, William M., 299, 
 Filing, objections, 650 
 
 reasons for appeal, 714, 729 
 Finance Committee, 276 
 
 appropriations referred, 264 
 Finley, Robert S., 654, 740, 766 
 Fishback, George, 721, 730 
 Fisher, James P., 716 
 Fletcher, Donald, 732 
 Francis, John J., et al., 710 
 Frazer, Alexander, 665, 747, 757 
 Frazer, W. J., 722 
 Foreign ministers, 196 
 Foreign Missions, Committee, 275 
 
 Board, 349-351 
 Foreknowledge, of God, 75 
 Form of Government : text of, and 
 decisions. 
 Chap. I. Preliminary principles. 
 
 Sees, i-viii, 116 
 Chap. II. Of the Church. 
 Sec. i, 118 
 Sec. ii, 118 
 Sec. iii, 118 
 Sec. iv, 118-142 
 Chap. III. Of the officers of the 
 Church. 
 Sec. i, 142 
 Sec. ii, 143 
 Chap. IV. Of bishops or pastors, 
 
 143-148 
 Chap. V. Of ruling elders, 148-151 
 Chap. VI. Of deacons, 151-153 
 Chap. VII. Of ordinances in a 
 
 particular church, 153 
 Chap. VIII. Of church government, 
 and the several kinds of 
 judicatories 
 Sec. i, 154 
 Sec. ii, 154-157 
 Chap. IX. Of the church Session. 
 Sec. i, 157-159 
 Sec. ii, 159-161 
 Sec. iii, 161,162 
 Sec. iv, 162 
 Sec v, 163 
 Sec. vi, 163-173 
 Sec. vii, 173 
 Sec. viii, 173, 174 
 Sec. ix, 174-176 
 
896 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Chap. X. Of the Presbytery. 
 
 Sec. i, 177 
 
 Sec. ii, 177-183 
 
 Sec. iii, 183 
 
 Sec. iv, 183-185 
 
 Sec. v, 185 
 
 Sec. vi, 185 
 
 Sec. vii, 185-190 
 
 Sec viii, 190-224 
 
 Sec. ix, 224, 225 
 
 Sec. x, 225-227 
 
 Sec. xi, 227 
 
 Sec. xii, 227, 228 
 Chap. XI. Of the Synod. 
 
 Sec. i, 229-239 
 
 Sec. ii, 239-243 
 
 Sec. iii, 243-246 
 
 Sec. iv, 243-246 
 
 Sec v, 246 
 
 Sec. vi, 246-259 
 Chap. XII. Of the General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 Sec. i, 259-278 
 
 Sec. ii, 278, 279 
 
 Sec. iii, 279 
 
 Sec. iv, 279-281 
 
 Sec. v, 281-330 
 
 Sec. vi, 330, 331 
 
 Sec. vii, 331-333 
 
 Sec. viii, 333-524 
 Chap. XIII. Of electing and or- 
 daining ruling elders and 
 deacons. 
 
 Sec. i, 524 
 
 Sec. ii, 525-533 
 
 Sees, iii-iv, 533 
 
 Sec. v, 533-535 
 
 Sec. vi, 535 537 
 
 Sec vii, 537-541 
 
 Sec. viii, 541-543 
 Chap. XIV. Of licensing candi- 
 dates or probationers to 
 preach the Gospel. 
 
 Sec. i, 543-545 
 
 Sec. ii, 545-552 
 
 Sec. iii, 552-554 
 
 Sec. iv, 554, 555 
 
 Sec. v, 555 
 
 Sec. vi, 555-557 
 
 Sec. vii, 557 
 
 Sees, viii-x, 558 
 
 Sec. xi, 559-561 
 Chap. XV. Of the election and or- 
 dination of bishops or pastors, 
 and evangelists. 
 
 Sec. i, 561-563 
 
 Sec. ii-iii, 563 
 
 Sec. iv, 563-565 
 
 Sec. v, 565 
 
 Sec. vi, 565-568 
 
 Sec. vii, 568 
 
 Sec. viii, 568 
 
 Sec ix, 568, 569 
 
 Sec. x, 569 
 
 Sec. xi, 569, 570 
 
 Sec. xii, 570, 571 
 
 Sec xiv, 571-573 
 Sec xv, 573-575 
 Chap. XVI. Of translation, or re- 
 moving a minister from one 
 charge to another. 
 Sec. i, 575 
 Sec. ii, 575, 576 
 Sec. iii, 576 
 Sec. iv, 576 
 Sees, v-vii, 576, 577 
 Chap. XVII. Of resigning a pas- 
 toral charge, 577-580 
 Chap. XVIII. Of missions, 581-584 
 Chap. XIX. Of Moderators. 
 Sec. i, 584 
 Sec. ii, 584, 585 
 Sec. iii, 585 
 Chap. XX. Of Clerks, 585, 586 
 Chap. XXI. Of vacant congrega- 
 tions assembling for public wor- 
 ship, 587, 588 
 Chap. XXII. Of commissioners to 
 the General Assembly. 
 Sec. i, 588-595 
 Sec. ii, 595-598 
 Sec. iii, 598-601 
 Chap. XXIII. Of amendments. 
 Sees, i, ii, 601 
 Sees, iii-vi, 602 
 Sec. vii, 602, 603 
 Form of Government, the, adopted, and 
 amended, 12 
 amendments to, 12, 13 
 Form, of ordination of elders and dea- 
 cons, 533 
 of ordination of ministers, 571, 572 
 of licensure, 558 
 of call, 565 
 of installation, 577 
 of oaths or affirmations, 672 
 of administration of Baptism, 847 
 of administration of the Lord's Sup- 
 per, 849 854 
 of suspension, 862 
 of excommunication, 863 
 of restoration, 863. 864 
 of marriage, 866, 867 
 Fraud, effect of, 166 
 Free agency, 77 
 Free Church of Scotland, 138 
 Freedmen, .Committee, 275 
 
 Board, 393-396 
 Free will, 77 
 Funerals, 869 
 
 Gambling, 615, 616 
 
 Games of chance, 612, 613 
 
 Gazley, Sayres, 67 
 
 General Assembly, of the, 259-524 
 
 formation of, 260 
 
 organization of, 260, 261 
 
 time of meeting, 260 
 
 place of meeting, 333 
 
 standing orders and rules of, 262- 
 265 
 
INDEX. 
 
 897 
 
 General Assembly, officers of, 269-273 
 
 standing committees of, 273-277 
 
 commissioners to, 278, 588-601 
 
 quorum of, 279 
 
 members of, corresponding, 277, 598 
 advisory, 597 
 
 dissolution, 333 
 
 trustees of, 334 
 
 adjourned meetings, 331 
 
 powers of. See Powers. 
 
 Lord's Supper, 262 
 General Presbytery, 1706, 1 
 General review and. control, 678-682 
 General rules for judicatories, 265-269 
 General rules of process, 642-657 
 General Synod, 1717, 1, 2 
 German Theological Seminaries, 
 
 Dubuque, 510-512 
 
 Newark. 512-516 
 Gilbert, E. W., 712 
 Giles, ChloeG., 739 
 Glebe and parsonage, 565-567 
 Glenn, Eobert. 202 
 Gloucester, John, 553 
 God, of, 67 
 
 God's covenant with man, of, 75 
 God's eternal decree, of, 68 
 Good standing. See Dismission. 
 Good works, of, 85 
 Gordon, John, 759" 
 Gospel Plan, Davis, 770 
 Gould, Samuel M., 703, 714 
 Graham. Edward, 771 
 Green, Ashbel, 711 
 Griffiths, John, 553 
 Guild, William B., 654 
 Guy, Alexander, 706 
 Gwirm, Andrew, 676, 759 
 
 Hamilton, Duncan, 735 
 Hamilton, Jas. W., 695 
 Hamlin, T. S., etal, 671 
 Hammond, H. H., et al., 732 
 Harker, Samuel, 75 
 Harmon, Fisk. 714, 794 
 
 Harney, , 750 
 
 Harris, Anna B. , 734 
 
 Haste, undue, judicial cases, 639, 643 
 
 Hawes, Newton, 732, 763 
 
 Heathen as witnesses, 669 
 
 Heidelberg Catechism, 10 
 
 Hendrick, James P , et al., 710 
 
 Heresy, conviction of, not by inference, 
 
 53. 81 
 Heresy and schism, charge of, 661 
 Hermon church, 703, 730, 761 
 Higher Criticism, 45-56, 58-65 
 Hill, Maria. 644 
 
 Hindman, Francis, 674, 675, 724 ' 
 Historical Documents, 1-43 
 Hobbs, Benedict, 748 
 Holy Spirit, agency of, 80, 81 
 Home Missions, Committee, 275 
 
 Board, 342-349 
 Honorably retired ministers,rights of, 145 
 annual stipend, 391 
 
 Hopkins, D. C, 683 
 
 Horse racing and betting, 615 
 
 Hotchkiss, G. A., 666 
 
 House of worship, control of, 123-126 
 
 Houston, Samuel, et at., 733 
 
 Howard, Burt Estes, 752-755 
 
 Howe, S. S., 728 
 
 Hudson, Presbytery of, 569, 724 
 
 Hulbert, H. W., 464 
 
 Hummer, Michael, 725. 726, 794 
 
 Husband and wife, testimony of, 670 
 
 Hymnal, 836, 837 
 
 Hymns, singing of, 835-837 
 
 Hynes, Thomas W., 711 
 
 Ignoeance of Rules, 735, 736 
 Imposition of hands, 149-1 51, 534, 698, 726 
 Impostor, baptism by, 304 
 Imputation, 71 
 Incestuous marriages, 96, 97 
 Incompetency, challenge for, 669 
 Independent, Presbyterians, 10 
 
 ministers, 212 
 Index, 883-909 
 India, Synod of, 157 
 Individual prosecutor, 635 
 Inerrancy of the Word of God, 45, 46 v 
 
 57, 668 
 Infanc y, age of, 845, 846 
 Infants, baptism of See Baptism. 
 
 salvation of, 72 
 Informality, effect of, 188 
 
 waiver of, 644, 645 
 Inspiration of the Scriptures, 44-65 
 Installation, of deacons, 533 
 
 elders, 533, 541 
 
 pastors, 576, 577 
 
 insisted on. 568 
 
 refused, 567 
 Instruction of youth, 821, 822, 826, 829 
 Instructions in iudicial cases, 80-83. 
 653, 675, 712, 713, 717, 767, 769, 771, 
 772, 783 
 Insubordination censured, 684, 685 
 Intemperance. See Temperance. 
 Interested parties, 638, 669, 688, 719, 
 
 739, 741 
 Interlocutory meetings, 268, R. 39 
 
 minutes of, 653, 772 
 Interpretation, of Sec. 99, 749, 750 
 
 of Sec. 100, 777 
 In ihesi deliverances, 279, 280, 699-702, 
 
 726 
 In transitu, 795, 796 
 Introduction, iii-vii 
 Invalid acts, 104, 106, 189, 190 
 
 legalized, 189, 190 
 Investigation, demanded, 637, 638, 702 
 
 discretionary, 638 
 Irregular action, 684, 686, 691, 726, 764, 
 765 
 
 not necessarily invalid, 526, 534 
 
 effect of, 683, 761, 762 
 Irregular ministry, 859 
 Irish Grove church, 766 
 Irvine, D. W., 706 
 
 o7 
 
898 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 James, W. H., 709 
 Judgment, affirmed, 742 
 entering of, 651 
 reversed, 717, 742 
 without process, subject to appeal, 
 
 664 
 in absence of accused, 645, 660 
 on coufession, 660 
 in appeals, 651 
 Judgment, the last, of, 113 
 Judicatories, neglect by, 692 
 censure of, 718, 719 
 extent of power, 645-650 
 members of not voting, 267, R. 25 
 conduct of, 268, R. 31-35 
 order in speaking, 268, R. 29, 30 
 may not sit on appeal, 739-741 
 aggrieved, 268, R. 36 
 may not vote on their own 
 records, 688 
 different kinds, 154 
 citation of, 692 
 minutes of, 652, 772 
 private sessions of, 268, R. 38 
 interlocutory sessious, 268, R. 39 
 judicial sessions, 269, R. 40 
 closing services, 269, R. 43 
 Judicial authority, where lodged, 156 
 Judicial case, to be without interrup- 
 tion, 651 
 suspended for records, 720, 780 
 continued, 733 
 referred by consent, 773 
 referred by advice, 773 
 vote in, 752, 772. See Instructions. 
 Judicial commissions, 740, 752, 834, 835 
 findings of. 753, 755, 756, 834, 835 
 provisions for, 803-805 
 members, number of, 803 
 quorum of, 805 
 
 what may be tried by, 707, 708, 803 
 questions of law referred to, 803 
 who may sit on, 805 
 Judicial committee, duties of, 269, R. 
 41 ; 742 
 report of, 743, 744 
 as a judicial commission, 752 
 Judicial decision, not reversed on re- 
 view, 691 
 reversed, 719. See Decisions. 
 Judicial trial, records must be sent, 
 779-781 
 may not order rehearing, except 
 on new evidence, 675 
 Jurisdiction, in cases of dismission, 791- 
 797 
 over suspended member, 166, 793 
 over deposed minister, 794 
 over suspended minister, 795 
 Jurisdiction, original, 163, 164, 265, 
 642, 683, 717 
 defined, 141 
 Presbytery, 190 
 Synod, 244. 683. 797 
 General Assembly, 279-281 
 appellate, 244, 717 
 
 Jurisdiction, of Session, 560, 791, 792 
 effect of notice on, 761, 777, 778, 
 804 
 Justification, of, 78-83 
 
 Kent, Chancellor, 331 
 Kern, Christian, 773 
 Ketchum, A. P., 548 
 Kingdom of Christ, 100, 839 
 Kirkpatrick, J., 652 
 Knox, Franklin, 769 
 Krieger, W. J., 550, 551 
 
 LA Crosse, Presbytery of, 705, 715 
 Lane Seminary, 461-468 
 
 Committee on, 293 
 Last judgment, the, 113 
 Latin, exegesis, 554, 555 
 
 language required, 554 
 Law of God, of tbe, 87 
 Law, questions of, submitted, 752, 756, 
 
 803, 804 
 Lay, preaching, 543, 544 
 
 ordination, 193, 194, 572 
 Laying on of bands, 534, 571, 572, 699 
 Laying on the table, 267, R. 18, R. 21 
 Leave of absence, 268, R. 37 
 
 Committee, 276 
 Leave to withdraw, judicial, 703, 706- 
 711, 723, 726, 734, 783, 784, 
 
 motions, 266, R. 15 
 Lecture, as a part of trial, 554 
 Ledyard, E. D., 785 
 Lee, W. J., 740 
 Legacies, 341, 897 
 Letters, the pastoral, 293, 294 
 
 of dismission, 169, 205, 540, 666, 
 796-798. See Dismission. 
 License, form of, 557, 558 
 
 limit of, 191, 559 
 
 to be recorded, 558 
 
 for local evangelists, 557 
 
 recall of, 559 
 Licensing candidates. See Candidates. 
 Licensure, in exceptional cases, 553, 
 559, 560 
 
 preaching without, 543 
 
 of women forbidden, 544 
 
 by other bodies, 545 
 
 parts of trial for, 554 
 
 power of Assembly in, 191 
 
 certificate, 558 
 Licentiates, are laymen, 560 
 
 power of the Session over, 560, 561 
 of Presbytery over, 191, 561 
 
 suspended, how restored, 660 
 Limitation of time, of process, 802 
 
 when it may be plead, 802, 803 
 
 for entering complaint or appeal, 
 717, 729 
 
 for a veto, 414 
 
 of letters of dismission, 797 
 
 of certifying standing, 800 
 
 for new trial, 745, 748, 749 
 
 of a license, 191, 559 
 
 Assembly Committee*, 263 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 899 
 
 Lincoln University, 516-519 
 
 Litigious snirit, 638 
 
 Liturgical forms not needed, 839 
 
 Lively, William M., 733. 
 
 Local evangelists, 330. 557 
 
 Lockwood, L. R., 676, 731, 757 
 
 Lord's Day, sanctification of, 806-831 
 
 Lord's Supper, of the, 109 
 administration of, 849 
 order of administer: eg, 849-854 
 Church members, 851 
 when in a private house, 850 
 the ignorant and scandalous, ex- 
 cluded, 850 
 
 Los Angeles, Presbytery of , 752-755 
 First church of, 753, 754 
 Westminster church of, 754 
 
 Lotteries, 615, 616 
 
 Louisville church case, 125-142 
 
 Lowrey, Samuel, 689, 731 
 
 Lynching of negroes, 617 
 
 McCalla, William L., 168, 639, 746 
 
 McCauley, A. G., 729 
 
 McClure^ David, 712 
 
 McCook, John .1. et a/., 715, 720 
 
 McCormlck Theological Seminary, 491- 
 
 501 
 McCtme, W. C., 719 
 McEhvee, Wm., 644 
 Mclver, Colin, et al, 698, 716 
 Mack, John, 640 
 McKelvey, Alex., 724 
 McLane, W. W., 783 
 McPheeters, Dr. S. B., 220, 778 
 McQueen, Archibald, 663, 698, 716 
 Magistrate, civil, 92, 315 
 Mails, Sabbath, 806-808, 816 
 Manses, 567 
 
 Manual of the General Assembly, 277 
 Marriage, solemnization of, 864-867 
 
 should be by lawful minister, 864 
 
 by licentiate, 864 
 
 in the Lord defined, 96, 864 
 
 who may contract, 864, 865 
 
 not within degrees of consanguin- 
 ity, 96, 97, 864 
 
 with a sister's daughter, 97 
 
 witnesses to, 866 
 
 formula of, 866, 867 
 
 register of, 867 
 
 publication ot purpose, 865 
 
 unlawful, 93 96, 864 
 
 clandestine, 865 
 
 of minors, 864 
 
 certificate, 866 
 Marriage and divorce, 93-100 
 
 deliverances on, 99 
 Martin, John W.. 707, 733 
 Means, John C, 707 
 Members of the church, 118, 634, 854 
 
 admission of, 119, 163, 166, 168, 
 169, 857, 859, 860 
 
 absent and unknown, 801, 802 
 
 dismission of, 167, 797-801 
 
 suspension of, 862 
 
 Members of the Church, excommunica- 
 tion of, 863 
 restoration of, 863, 
 who withdraw, 206, 212, 667, 668 
 Members of a judicatory, 
 
 not voting, motions, 267, E. 25 
 
 judicial cases, 752, 772 
 conduct of, 268, E. 28, 31, 33-35 
 order in speaking, 268, E. 29 
 
 aggrieved, 268, E. 36 
 Memorial, 696 
 Memorial Contribution, 43 
 Memorialize, right to, 288-292 
 Memorials, lodged with Clerk, 266, E. 11 
 
 received, 291, 292 
 Metcalf, A. D., 721 
 Mileage, Committee, 276 
 
 Fund, 598-600 
 Middle State, the, 52 
 Mifflinburg, church of, 704 
 Miller, John, 73, 747, 758 
 Miller, Justice, opinion by, 126 
 MiUer, Silas, 727, 758 
 Minister, translation of a, 575-577 
 Ministerial, privileges, 209 
 
 duties, neglect of, 207, 208 
 Ministerial Relief, Board 387-393 
 
 Committee, 275 
 Ministers, are elders, 186 
 
 ordination of. etc., 561-575 
 
 installation of, 571, 572, 576, 577 
 
 reception of, 194, 195, 196-199 
 
 foreign, 196 
 
 examination of, 204-206 
 
 fiom other bodies, 4, 8, 10, 194, 
 203, 798,' 881 
 
 serving other churches, 212 
 
 who withdraw, 206, 208, 211, 668 
 
 without charge. 181, 209 
 
 non-resident, 181, 183 
 
 not members of church, 174 
 
 not ruling elders, 528 
 
 jurisdiction over, 183, 642, 659 
 
 residence unknown, 668, 669 
 
 urged to withdiaw, 45, 73, 668 
 
 accused of an offence, 658-660 
 
 suspended, 54, 64, 65, 206, 660, 698 
 
 deposed, 206, 661, 662, 664 
 
 excommunication, 660 
 
 re>tored, 698 
 
 cited to testify, 674 
 
 strickeu from the ioll, 668 
 
 may hold civil office ? 209 
 
 in secular dllings, 208 
 
 letters of dismission, 794, 796, 801 
 Ministry, fundamental law of, 145 
 
 support of, 566, 567 
 
 demission of, 211 
 
 restoration to, 663, 670, 671 
 
 irregular, 859 
 Minors as voters, 531 
 Minutes of Judicatories, must be read, 
 684, 686, 687 
 
 no second approval of, 634 
 
 may be in print, 258 
 
 See Eecords. 
 
900 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Minutes of Gen. Assembly, Reprint, vi 
 Old School, vi 
 New School, vi 
 Annual, 269, 271 
 Mission, ecclesiastical power of, 192 
 Missionaries, 581 
 
 not to organize churches without 
 permission of Presbytery, 194, 575 
 home. 581 
 foreign, 180, 181 
 
 Session may consist of, 158 
 as ruling elders, 529 
 Missions, of, 581-584 
 
 have not ecclesiastical power, 659 
 Mode of inflicting censures, 862-864 
 Moderators, of, 584-586 
 
 authority and duties of, 188, 584 
 of church Sessions, 161-163, 173, 
 
 563 
 of Presbytery, 585 
 of the Synod, 585 
 of the General Assembly, 261, 585 
 rules relating to, 261, 262, 265, 266 
 vote of, 266 
 
 Vice- Moderator, 265, E. 7 
 Monfort, Joseph G. tt al., 782 
 Monthly concert of prayer, 874 
 Moore, Wm. E., i, iii-vii, 13, 18, 20 
 Mormonism and polygamy, 93-96 
 Motions, rules as to, 266, R. 14-16 ; 267, 
 R. 17-22 
 what debatable, 266, R. 14-16; 267, 
 
 R. 17-19 
 what not debatable, 267, R. 18, 21, 
 
 22, 26 
 withdrawal of, 266, R. 15 
 Music, church, control of, 172, 837, 
 838 
 rights of Session over, 838 
 
 Names of absentees to be recorded, 170, 
 256, 681, 682 
 
 Narrative, Committee, 276 
 
 Narrative of State of Religion, 175, 224 
 
 Neglect of duty, of ministers, 207, 208 
 of lower judicatory, 692 
 
 Nevin, Alfred, et ah, 733 
 
 Newark Theological Seminary, German, 
 512-516 
 
 New Castle, Presbytery of, 305 
 
 New evidence, 674, 675, 676 
 
 New School Assembly, 31-43 
 
 New sentence, 763, 764 
 
 Newspapers, Sunday, 816 
 
 New trial, 654, 674-676, 730, 731, 758, 
 761, 763 
 
 New Version, the, 832, 833 
 
 Niccolls, S. J., et aL, 706 
 
 Notice, of complaint, etc., 714, 715, 729- 
 731 
 evidence of required, 715, 716, 730 
 of appeal, effect of, 777, 778 
 
 Null and void, acts that are. See Void. 
 
 Oakland, church of, 704 
 Oath or affirmation, 91, 672 
 
 Oath or affirmation, form of, 672 
 authority for administering, 672 
 testimony under, 673, 770, 771 
 Oaths and vows, of, 91 
 Obedience, the, of Christ, 79, 80 
 Obligation of the Standards, 7 
 Objections, filing of, 650 
 Offence, denned, 606 
 
 cases of, 606-626, 808-814 
 when not prosecuted, 635 
 in presence of the judicatory, 664 
 notice of, 659 
 Offerings, 840-844 
 
 Officers, of the Church, of the, 142, 143 
 ordinary and perpetual, 143, 535, 
 
 536 
 character and qualifications of, 117 
 of Assembly, 269-272 
 Old School Assembly. 31-43 
 Omaha, Presbytery of, 723 
 Omaha Theological Seminary, 522-524 
 Onondaga, Piesbyteiy of, 774 
 Opera and theatre, 609, 613 
 Order, points of, 266, R. 6; 267, R. 18 
 
 call to, 268, R. 34, 35 
 Ordinances in a paiticular church, 153 
 willful absence from, 665, 666 
 sealing, 854-862 
 Ordination of bishops, etc., 561-575 
 the act of Presbytery, 192-194, 572, 
 
 573 
 trials for, 569 
 questions proposed, 570 
 mode of, 570-572 
 lay, invalid, 193, 572 
 fraudulent, 193 
 by commission, unconstitutional, 
 
 192 
 by foreign bodies, 192 
 sine titulo, 193, 573-575 
 part taken by ministers of other 
 
 bodies, 573 
 part of elders in, 149, 572, 699 
 on the Sabbath, 570 
 Ordination of elders and deacons, 524- 
 543 
 essential to judicial at ts, 534 
 Ordination of evangelists, 573 
 Ordination, valid, 194 
 
 by other denominations, 194, 203, 
 798, 881 
 Organization, of the Church, 1 
 
 of new churches, 119, 217, 218 
 Original jurisdiction, 244, 245, 642, 683 
 of Session, 642 
 of Presbytery, 1 90, 642 
 Original parties, 636, 637, 743 
 who are, 721, 722 
 must be heard , 748 
 only, mav appeal, 721 
 Original sin, 71, 73, 282, 284 
 Overtures, Committee of, 266, R. 11, 
 273 
 from whom received, 288, 290-292 
 how disposed of, 273, 274 
 not received, 290 
 
INDEX. 
 
 901 
 
 Overtures, on Constitutional Rules, 330 
 on Constitutional Rule No. 1, 330 
 on Constitutional Rule No. 2, 331 
 canvass of, 602 
 limitations of time, 264 
 
 Papers, received by Clerk, 266, R. 11 
 not lodged in time, 733, 734 
 
 Pardovan's Collections, authority of, 6 
 
 Parents, duties of, 848, 856, 857, 876 
 engagements of, 848 
 
 Park church, Newark, 698 
 
 Parole testimony, 670, 743 
 
 Parsonage?, 566, 567 
 
 Parties in cases of process, 635-641 
 copies of proceedings for, 655 
 
 Passaic, Presbytery of, 721, 748 
 
 Pastoral charge, constitution of, 576 
 resignation of, 577-580 
 
 Pastoral care of baptized, 634, 855 
 
 Pastoral letters : 
 
 on missions, 293 
 
 on French War, 293 
 
 on repeal of Stamp Act, 293 
 
 on Revolutionary War, 294 
 
 on French Revolution, 294 
 
 on disturbances in Kentucky, 294 
 
 on Sabbath, 294 
 
 on Christian activity, 294 
 
 on prevalent vices, 294 
 
 on revivals and their abuses, 294 
 
 on doctrinal purity, 294 
 
 on revivals, 294 
 
 on repairing the wastes of the Civil 
 
 War, 294 
 on observance of the Sabbath, 294 
 on Sabbath-Schools, 824 
 on the Civil War, 294 
 
 Pastoral relation, 143-146 
 enjoined, 144 
 dissolved, 577, 57H, 579, 580, 702, 
 
 718 
 when terminated, 578, 804 
 effect of complaint on, 717, 718 
 to be permanent, 145 
 insisted on, 147 
 
 Pastor elect, 146, 147, 161 
 status of, 568 
 
 installation of,required, 568 
 immediate installation, 146 
 acceptance of call, 146 
 readiness for installation, 146 
 approval of Presbytery, 146 
 prerequisites of title " P. E.," 146 
 as Moderator of Session, 162 
 as stated supply, 162 
 
 Pastors or bishops, 143-145 
 
 are members of Session, 157, 159 
 necessary to a quorum, 159, 160 
 Moderator of Session, 161 
 Moderator of meeting to elect eld- 
 ers, etc., 526 
 election of, 561-575 
 who may vote, 563-565, 878-880 
 list of voters, 565, 880 
 majority necessary, 563 
 
 Pastors, translation of, 575-577 
 installation of, 199, 200 
 removal of, 200, 220, 575 
 support of, 565, 566, 567 
 Peacock, John, 780 
 Peck, Harlan, 654 
 Penitence, evidence of, required, 764, 
 
 768 
 Perkins, William, 765 
 Permanent Clerk, 272 
 Perseverance of the saints 86 
 Personal, attendance, 650, 731 
 injury, prosecutor, 635, 641 
 reflections, 268, R. 28 
 Petition, right to, 288, 292 
 Philadelphia, Third church, 725, 757 
 Philadelphia, Fifth church, 774 
 Philadelphia, Second Presbytery of, 
 
 698, 725 
 Phraseology of overtures, 263 
 Pine Street church, St. Louis, 757 
 Pirez, Emanuel R., 769 
 ! Place of Next Meeting, Committee, 334 
 Plan of Reunion, 1869, 35 
 Plan of Union, 1758, 27-30 
 Plea on trial, 650 
 Pleadings on trial, 650, 741, 742 
 limit of time for, 746, 748 
 documents not read, used, 746, 747 
 speakers, alternately, 749, 268, R. 29 
 hearing the parties, 748, 749 
 hearing members of appellate ju- 
 dicatories, 749 
 Political parties and licenses, 628 
 Polity of the Church, Committee, 275 
 Polygamists, baptism of, 280, 860 
 Polygamy and Mor monism, 93-96 
 Poor, funds for, control of, 153 
 Popular amusements, 609-611, 613 
 Popular education, 294-297 
 Popular meetings, 263 
 Postmasters, Sunday work, 858 
 Postponement, indefinite, 267, R. 24 
 of trial, 733, 735. 743, 780. 781 
 members may speak on, 740 
 Posture in prayer, 831 
 Power, church, force of, 117, 154, 645- 
 
 650 
 Powers of the General Assemb'y, 279- 
 603 
 over Synods, 229-239. 299, 679 
 over Presbyteries, 300-302 
 to visit Presbyteries, 292, 293 
 to define succession of Presbyteries, 
 
 305 
 to dissolve Presbyteries. 303 
 to transfer churches, 303, 304 
 to receive foreign churches, 304, 
 
 305 
 to correspond with foreign churches, 
 
 306, 311-313 
 to transfer ministers, 304 
 over pastoral relations, 580, 724 
 over its own members, 298, 299 
 to decide questions of doctrine and 
 discipline, 281, 677-785 
 
902 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Powers of the General Assembly : 
 
 to receive petitions, memorials, 
 
 etc., 288 
 to determine lawful judicatories, 
 
 326-328, 330 
 to propose Constitutional Rules, 330 
 over Trustees, 334 
 over Boards, 340 
 over Theological Seminaries, 406- 
 
 525 
 to propose amendments, 601-603 
 to declare their adoption, 602 
 to pass on validity of elections, 327- 
 
 330, 595-597 
 to advise and instruct, 279 
 to review all proceedings, 279, 678- 
 688 
 except as limited, 243, 677 
 to send missions, 581-584 
 over Mileage Fund, 601 
 Powers of the Synod : 
 
 to become a delegated body, 229 
 over Presbyteries, 220, 229, 243-245 
 over churches, 245 
 over Sessions, 245 
 over pastoral relation, 200, 245, 579 
 to review records, 243 
 of appellate jurisdiction, 244 
 in discipline, 243-246 
 over Sy nodical Home Missions, 583 
 Powers of the Presbytery : 
 
 to review the records of Sessions, 173 
 
 over Sessions, 688, 766 
 
 over pastoral relation, 190, 200, 
 
 220, 580. 804 
 over unemployed ministers, 222, 
 
 223 
 to ordain ministers, 192-194, 561- 
 
 575 
 to receive ministers, 194-199, 202- 
 
 204 
 to refuse to receive ministers, 202 
 to install, 199 
 to refuse to install, 200 
 to remove ministers. 200, 201, 575- 
 
 580, 704 
 to remove censure, 662 
 to judge ministers, 201, 202, 204, 
 
 205 
 to examine ministers, 205 
 to restore a minister, deposed or 
 
 withdrawn, 206, 207 
 over licentiates, 191 
 over candidates, 190 
 to examine and license candidates, 
 
 191, 543-561 
 to recall license, 559 
 over vacant churches, 222, 584 
 over extinct churches, 797 
 to organize churches, 217, 218 
 to unite churches, 220 
 to divide churches, 219, 753, 754, 
 
 804 
 to dissolve churches, 215, 217, 761 
 to visit churches, 213, 220, 222 
 over location of churches, 219 
 
 Powers of Presbytery : 
 
 over missions, 581-584 
 
 to receive and issue appeals, etc., 
 
 190 
 to notify of offence, 658, 659 
 to issue a case, 797 
 to take testimony, 660 
 to review church records, 213 
 to try elders, 151 
 to remove elders, 537, 538 
 to elect commissioners, 229, 588 
 Powers of the Session : 
 
 in receiving members, 166-169, 797, 
 
 800, 859. 860, 798 
 in excluding members, 657, 664, 
 
 665, 667, 862-864 
 in restoring members, 862, 864 
 in dismissing members, 797-800 
 over members dismissed, 791-793 
 over members suspended, 1H6, 793 
 over absent members, 792, 793 
 over licentiates, 560 
 over collections, 169 
 over Sabbath-schools, 824, 827-829 
 over house of worship, 123-126, 142 
 over church music, 172, 837, 838 
 over the worship of the church, 
 
 163-173 
 oversight of church members, 164, 
 
 168, 169 
 oversight of Young People's Socie- 
 ties. 164-166 
 to admit to sealing ordinances, 857, 
 
 861 
 in election of pastors, 561-563 
 in election of elders, 525, 526 
 to exercise original jurisdiction, 
 
 164 
 to take testimony, 154, 669, 672- 
 
 674 
 to call witnesses, 673, 674 
 to appoint delegates, 171 
 Prayer, public, 838-840 
 
 in the Session, 160, 161, 265 
 in the Presbyterv, 227, 265, 269, 681 
 in the Synod, 246, 265, 269, 681 
 in the General Assembly, 265, R. 1, 
 
 333, 334 
 in public worship, 838-840 
 liturgical forms, 839 
 book of forms, 840 
 in secret, 875 
 in the family, 876-878 
 posture in, 831 
 Prayer, days of, 869, 874, 875 
 
 week of. 872, 873 
 Preaching the Word, 844, 845 
 without license, 543, 544 
 reading sermons, 844 
 expository, 844 
 method of, 845 
 Preface, iii-vii 
 Preliminary principles of government, 
 
 116, 117 
 Presbyterian Alliance, 307-310 
 in India, 156, 157 
 
INDEX. 
 
 903 
 
 Presbyterian Church, U.S., 312-325 
 
 U. S. A., 636, 722, 743, 744, 752, 
 758 
 
 U. S. recognized, 312 
 
 correspondence, 313, 325 
 
 cooperation, 318-325 
 Presbyterian House, trustees of, 337- 
 
 338 
 Presbyterian Woman's Temperance As- 
 sociation, 626 
 Presbytery, the, of, 177-228 
 
 how constituted, 177, 178 
 
 bounds of, 179 
 
 quorum of, 185-190 
 
 meetings of, 225 
 
 members of, 177 181 
 
 special meeting of, 225-227 
 
 extinct, 203 
 
 missionary, 179, 180, 588 
 
 powers of. See Powers. 
 
 prayer at, 227 
 
 sermon at, 227 
 
 corresponding members of, 227 
 
 acts of, subject to appeal or com- 
 plaint, 804 
 how voidable, 189 
 
 dissolution of, 178 
 Presbytery, the General, 1 
 Presbytery of New York, instructions 
 to/5i6 
 
 of Philadelphia, 784 
 Previous question, 267, E. 18, E. 22 
 Price, David, 164, 605, 696 
 Princeton Theological Seminary. See 
 
 Theological Seminaries. 
 Princeton University. See College of 
 
 New Jersey. 
 Principals and alternates, 1 70, 592-594 
 Private sessions, 268, E. 38, 651, 656 
 Process, general rules, 642-657 
 
 what are objects of, 631 
 
 in case of church officers, 658-664 
 
 cases without. 664-669 
 
 delay in, 635 
 
 parties in cases of, 635-640 
 
 commencement of, 164, 642 
 
 arrested by appeal, 777-779 
 
 directed by judicatory, 223, 636, 642 
 Profession of religion, public, 168 
 Professional counsel excluded, 655 
 Pro forma decisions, 640, 708, 756, 762, 
 
 765 
 Progressive euchre, 612, 613 
 Prohibitory laws, 624. 625 
 Proof-texts to the Standards, 15, 21-26 
 Property, questions as to, 215, 777 
 Proportional giving, 842, 843 
 Pro re nata meetings, 226, 227, 240, 241 
 Prosecution, by injured party, 635, 641 
 
 by a judicatory, 635-637, 657, 664, 
 692 
 
 when it shall commence, 802, 803 
 
 Committee of, 269, E. 42; 636, 637, 
 743, 744 
 rights of, 637, 722 
 
 bar to, 721, 802 
 
 Prosecutor, public, the Presbyterian 
 
 Church, 636 
 Prosecutor, private, the injured party, 
 635 
 
 warning to, 639 
 
 admonition to, 638 
 
 may testify, 669 
 Protestant succession, 4 
 Protests and dissents, 786 791 
 
 who may enter, 28, 786 
 
 when to be entered, 786 
 
 must not argue case, 786 
 
 must be respectful, 788 
 
 only by members of the body, 791 
 
 when recorded, 787, 789, 790 
 
 refusal to record, 788 
 
 answer to, 57, 790 
 
 no answer to, 790 
 
 cases of, 301, 628, 786, 787-790 
 
 installment in face o f , 724 
 Providence, of, 69 
 Psalms, singing, 835-838 
 
 early action on, 835 
 
 Hymnal (1866), 836 
 
 New Hymnal (1896), 837 
 Public, profession of religion, 168 
 
 schools, 296 
 Public reading, of the Scriptures, 832- 
 835 
 
 of the Eevised Yers ; on, 832-835 
 Publication, Board of, 1870, 362 
 
 Committee of, 362, 365 
 Publication and Sabbath-school Work, 
 Committee, 275 
 
 Board, 362-372 
 Publication of Constitution, 14 
 Publications, erroneous and injurious, 
 
 156 
 Pulpit, when vacant, 577, 663 
 Purity in literature and art, 630 
 
 Questions, at ordinatim, elders and 
 deacons, 533 
 
 at licensure, candidates, 557 
 
 at ordination, ministers, 570, 571 
 
 at installation, 570, 576, 577 
 
 of order or evidence, 267, E. 18; 
 655, 673 
 
 of law, 654, 656, 657 
 
 to witnesses, 672, 673 
 
 leading, 672 
 
 when to be recorded, 673 
 
 Ire then. See In thesi. 
 Quorum, Session, 159, 160 
 
 Presbytery, 185-190 
 
 Synod, 239 
 
 Assembly, 279 
 
 necessary, 265, E. 1, 2, 186 
 
 law of a, 187 
 
 less than, may adjourn, 187 
 
 Eaixey, James A., 692 
 Eamsey, Jefferson, 741 
 Eatio of Commissioners, 278,595 
 Eeason, authority of, 47 sg. } 55, 56 
 
904 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Seasons must be given, for complaint, 
 714 
 for appeal, 729 
 for decisions, 653, 780 
 Rebuke, judicial, 650, 677 
 Rebuttal, evidence in, 651 
 Reception of members, 163, 166-169, 
 
 797, 859, 861 
 Reconsideration of a vote, 267, R. 23 
 Record, of the case, 652, 654, 655, 746 
 of investigation, 637 
 of testimony, 673 
 
 special, of all judicial decisions, 251 
 Record, of judicatories, 173, 213, 224, 
 246, 251 
 are public documents, 655 
 copies of, accepted, 681, 747 
 may be in print, 224, 258, 681 
 how authenticated, 673 
 taken as evidence, 673 
 review of, 678, 679-681, 683, 685, 
 
 705 
 who may vote on, 686, 688 
 alteration of, 173 
 how corrected, 680 
 effect of approval of, 687 
 what they must show : 
 
 opening and closing with 
 
 prayer, 246, 252 
 all proceedings of the church, 
 
 173, 224, 246-259 
 acts of the congregation, 678 
 reasons for decisions, 246, 247, 
 
 780 
 reasons for appeal, 729, 748 
 reasons for judicial action, 247, 
 
 684 
 subject matter of complaints, 
 
 247, 250, 253 
 all papers adopted, 246, 248, 
 
 253-255, 682 
 charges and specifications, 640, 
 
 641 
 attestation by Clerk, 257 
 all changes, 256 
 whatever influenced the judica- 
 tory, 247, 252, 653, 654 
 complete roll, 248, 256 
 that the minutes were approv- 
 ed, 252, 254, 257 
 exceptions to records, 253, 254, 
 
 688 
 description of judicial cases, 
 
 249, 250, 253, 682 
 members present or absent, 248 
 that due notice was given, 253 
 narrative, state of religion, 224, 
 
 254, 255, 682 
 cases acted on, and disposal of 
 
 them, 682 
 report of Judicial Committee, 
 
 653 
 censures inflicted , 682 
 if required, must show : 
 
 yeas and nays, 267, R. 26; 268, 
 R. 27 
 
 Records, if required, must show : 
 
 decisions on order or evidence, 
 
 655 
 questions and answer on trial, 
 673 
 
 to be sent up, 246, 652, 678, 
 679, 696, 714, 719, 729 
 
 as evidence, 585, 586, 673 
 
 absence of, 734-736, 743, 779-782 
 
 Synod censured for absence of, 781 
 Records, of Presbyterian Church, vi, 1 
 
 of the Synods, Committee, 277 
 Recreation, Christian, 609-611 
 References, of, 190, 279, 677, 692-697 
 
 defined, 692 
 
 to the next higher judicatorj T , 693, 
 69J, 696 
 
 when proper, 693, 694, 696 
 
 effect of, 693-695 
 
 cases of, 201, 693, 694, 697 
 
 jurisdiction abandoned by, 695 
 
 who may vote on, 696 
 
 memorial treated as reference, 696 
 
 transmission of record, 696 
 
 testimony, how attested, 696 
 Reformed Church in America, 776 
 Reformed Churches, 305, 312, 760, 776 
 
 Alliance of, 307-310 
 Regeneration, 177 
 Register, church, 174 
 
 of marriages, 1 74, 867 
 Reinstatement of case, 731 
 Relief Fund. See Board of Relief. 
 Religious worship and the Sabbath, 89- 
 
 91 
 Removals, and limitations of time, of, 
 
 797-803 
 Reordination, 194, 664 
 Repentance, unto life, 84-85 
 
 evidence of, required, 657, 661, 662, 
 Representation in judicatories, 170 
 Reserved roll, 665 
 Resigning, a pastoral charge, 577-580 
 
 office of elder i r deacon, 537-539 
 Respondent, 719, 720 
 
 absence of, 716 
 
 counsel for, 719 
 
 death of, 721 
 Responsive and ritualistic services, 833 
 Restoration, to ministry, 661, 662, 663 
 
 of one suspended, 663, 664 
 
 to office, 149, 536. 792 
 
 to communion, 536, 663, 779, 863 
 Resurrection of the dead, of the, 1 13 
 Reunion, 1758, 27-30 
 
 1869, 31-43 
 Reversal of judicial decisions, 717, 719, 
 759-763, 764-767 
 
 not on review, 689 
 
 effect of, 718, 759, 760. 762 
 Review and control, general. See 
 
 Records. 
 
 not exteuded to statistical items, 
 688 
 Revivals of religion, 294 
 Rice, Matthew H., 784 
 
INDEX. 
 
 905 
 
 Eight baud of fellowship, 149-151, 533, 
 
 577 
 Eighteousness of Christ, 71, 284 
 Eoberts, Win. H., v-vii, 12, 18, 20, 43, 
 
 311, 463 
 Eobertson, J. D., 707 
 Eockefeller, M. A., 727 
 Eodgers, JohD, 2 
 Eogers, J. H., 728 
 Eoll of judicatory, 266, E. 10 
 
 when called, 655 
 
 of absent members, 665, 801 
 
 supplementary, 181 
 
 reserved, 668 
 Eollins, Dr. John, 774 
 Eoniish, baptism, 105-107, 171, 846 
 
 Church, 101, 102 
 
 schools, 856 
 Eules, general, pertaining to trial, 658- 
 
 664 
 Eules for judicatories, 265-269 
 Euling elders. See Elders. 
 Eush, Dr. Benjamin, 618 
 Russell, James, 703, 781 
 
 Sabbath, observance, 294, 606, 812-817, 
 
 824-826 
 observance of, essential, 809-811, 
 
 816 
 profanation of, 633, 808, 809, 813, 
 
 814, 818, 819. 
 
 discipline for profanation of, 811, 
 
 812 
 - mails, 806-808 
 ^•sessions of judicatories on, 243 
 ordination on, 192, 570 
 marriage on, 866 
 traveling on, 812. 813 
 decoration of soldiers' graves on, 
 
 821 
 art galleries, open on, 812 
 newspapers, 816, 817 
 sanctions and obligations of, 812, 
 
 815, 816, 819, 820 
 
 duty to keep holy, 813, 814 
 
 recreations on, 808, 813 
 
 World's Fair on, 818 
 Sabbath-schools, 827-830 
 
 superintendent and teachers, 827- 
 829 
 
 relation to church, 830 
 
 relation of Session to, 827, 829, 830 
 
 instruction, 822, 823 
 
 relation to family, 826 
 Sabbath school work. See Board of 
 
 Publication. 
 Sabbath -school Union, American, 823 
 Sabbath Union, American, 817, 820, 821 
 Sacraments, the, of, 103 
 Sacred musie, report on, 837 
 Sage, Emil, 669 
 Saharanpur Presbytery, 760 
 St. Clairsville, Presbytery of, 702 
 St. Paul, First church of, 704 
 Salary, insufficient, 567 
 Salisbury, J. C, et al, 752 
 
 Saloon, a curse, 626 
 
 Salvation Army, not a church, 102 
 
 Sanctification, of, 83 
 
 after death, 51-53, 55, 56 
 
 of the Lord's Day, 806, 831 
 San Francisco Theological Seminary, 
 
 502-508 
 Saving faith, 84 
 Sawyer, E. M., 733 
 Scripture, the Holy, 44-67 
 
 authority of, 49-51, 55, 56 
 
 integrity of, 66 
 
 inerrancy of, 45, 55-57 
 
 errancy of, denied, 56 
 
 authenticity, denials of, 45 
 
 Eevised Version of, 832, 833 
 Scriptures, public reading of, 832, 833 
 
 responsive reading of, 833-835 
 Scruples, 4, 665 
 
 as to non-essentials, 3 
 
 annual inquiry as to, 4 
 Sealing ordinances, admission to, 854- 
 862 
 
 who may administer, 151, 845, 849, 
 850 
 Second to motions, 266, E. 14 
 Sectarian institutions, in the U. S., 
 State aid to, 297 
 
 foreign, 298 
 See, Isaac M., 544, 747, 758 
 Sentence, on conviction, 657, 660, 862- 
 864 
 
 on confession, 660, 664 
 
 when published, 207, 658 
 
 how published, 862-864 
 ' reversed, 604, 605 
 
 disproportionate, 604, 605 
 Separation, right of, 28 
 Separation, of 1745, 27 
 
 of 1838, 31 
 Separations and Eeunions, 27-43 
 Sermon, required at Assembly and Sy- 
 nod, 246, 331 
 
 optional at Presbytery, 227 
 
 subject and methods of, 844, 845 
 Session, church, of the, 157-176 
 
 defined, 157 
 
 members of, 157 
 
 quorum of, 159, 160 
 
 official acts of, 160, 168, 169 
 
 Stated Clerk of, 586 
 
 special, illegal, 158, 743 
 
 Moderator of, 161-163 
 
 prayer at meeting of, 161 
 
 powers of. See Powers. 
 
 records of, 173, 174, 678 
 
 statistical reports of, 174 
 
 jurisdiction of, 164, 166, 781 
 
 no corresponding members of, 159 
 
 closing services of, 269, E. 44 
 Severance, John F., 734, 791, 792 
 Shearer, F. E., 705, 771, 772 
 Sheldon, George, 99, 676 
 Shepherd, John, 774 
 Shepherd, Smiley, 215, 757, 781 
 Shields, James H., 98 
 
906 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Shorter Catechism, standard copy of, 
 
 18, 24 
 Sick, visitation of the, 867, 868 
 Sin, of, and its punishment, 70 
 Adam's, 71, 73, 283, 284 
 original, 71, 72, 282, 284 
 imputation of, 284 
 Sins forbidden in 
 
 1st commandment, 632 
 2d commandment, 632 
 3d commandment, 632 
 4th commandment, 633 
 5th commandment, 633 
 6th commandment, 633 
 7th commandment, 633 
 8th commandment, 634 
 9th commandment, 634 
 10th commandment, 634 
 Sine titulo ordination, 193, 573-575 
 Singing of psalms, 835-838 
 Hymnal, 836, 837 
 proportion of time for, 838 
 Skinner, John, 765 
 Skinner, Thomas H., 686, 705, 706, 719, 
 
 721, 784, 785 
 Slander, investigation of, 637, 638 
 
 censure for, 639, 640 
 Slavery and slave-holding, 617 
 Slaves, baptism of, 108 
 Smith, E. Bailey, 683, 684, 723-727 
 Smith, H. P., 58-65, 637, 722, 744, 758 
 Smith, J. Y., 526, 527 
 Smylie, James A., 653, 677, 740, 772 
 Smyrna, church of, 799 
 Snodgrass, James, 737 
 Societies, moral, relation to Church, 628- 
 
 630 
 Solemnization of marriage, 864-867 
 Soul, immortality of, 73 
 Speakers, rights of, 268, R. 29-32 
 Special rules, cases before Sessions, 657, 
 
 658 
 Specifications, 640-642, 741, 742. See 
 Charges, 
 must be entered, 652, 653 
 voted on separately, 651, 741, 742 
 Speeches, how many, 267, R. 18 ; 268, 
 
 R. 34 
 Spicer, Jabez, 604 
 Spillman, J. H., 643 
 Spiritual court, judge of its own juris- 
 diction, 140 
 Spring Resolutions, 685 
 Standards of the Church, adoption of, 2, 
 14. 
 See Adoption. 
 
 refusal to alter language of, 67 
 subscription required, 4, 8, 10, 352 
 obligation of, 7 
 amendments of, 12 
 proof-texts, 15, 21-26 
 Standing orders, 262 
 State of man after death, 113 
 State, the, relations to the Church, 4, 
 111, 154, 316 
 aid to sectarian institutions, 297 
 
 Stated Clerk, of the General Assembly, 
 244, 269-273, 600, 602 
 Synod, 238, 257 
 Presbytery, 188 
 Session, 586, 801 
 Stated supplies, 146-148, 183 
 rights, 147 
 powers, 147 
 
 system to be terminated, 146 
 system foreign to Form of Govern- 
 ment, 146 
 defined, 148 
 Statistical reports, 224, 225, 259, 688 
 Stay of execution of decision, 717 
 Stenographer, exclusion of, 652 
 Stewart's collections. See Pardovan. 
 Stone, Ambrose, 765, 766 
 Striking from the roll, 166, 211, 212, 
 
 213, 661, 667-669, 711, 793, 794 
 Strong, George P., 733 
 Strong, John D., 771, 772 
 Subscription of articles, 3 
 
 compulsory, 4 
 Substitute is an amendment, 267* R. 20 
 Sunday. See Sabbath. 
 
 newspapers, 223 
 Support of ministry, 566, 567 
 Suspended minister, 206, 656, 657, 660, 
 661, 795 
 services of, 105, 661 
 standing of, 661 
 Suspended elder, 149, 536 
 Suspended members, 166, 536, 728, 793, 
 862, 863 
 roll of, 665 
 
 restored in good standing, 799 
 restoration of, 863, 864 
 dismission of, 799 
 Suspension, effect of removal of, 536- 
 539, 799, 863, 864 
 from office, 657, 660, 663 
 not without trial, 642 
 pending charges, 660, 664 
 for contumacy, 643, 657, 660 
 from communion, 645, 657, 665 
 pending process, 656 
 from privileges of membership, 657 
 church privileges, 536 
 sentence of, 862 
 of further proceedings, 777, 778 
 removal of, 863 
 Sustain in part, vote to, 724, 751, 752 
 
 effect of, 724 
 Sustentation, Fund. See Home Missions. 
 
 Sy nodical, 583 
 Syllabus, ix-xlviii 
 Synod, of the, 229-259 
 
 as a delegated body, 229 
 custody of records of, 238 
 members of, 229 
 quorum of, 239, 240 
 adjourned, 241 
 stated meetings of, 246 
 pro re nata meetings of, 240-242 
 time and place of meeting, 241, 
 242 
 
INDEX. 
 
 907 
 
 Synod, opening sermon at, 246 
 
 prayer at sessions of, 246 
 
 in Foreign Mission fields, 179 
 
 powers of. See Powers. 
 
 records of, 246, 679 
 
 censured for insubordination, 685 
 
 censured for harsh language, 689- 
 690 
 
 censured for Sabbath sessions, 243 
 
 directed to review and correct pro- 
 ceedings, 691 
 
 dissolved, 299, 300 
 Synod, General, 1 
 
 Synods, as constituted, 1870-1881, 229- 
 231 
 
 prior to 1870, 229 
 
 as reorganized in 1881, 236-238 
 
 since 1881, 231-235 
 Synods and councils, 111 
 Systematic Beneficence, Committee on, 
 
 400 
 Systematic giving, 840 
 
 Tappan, Lewis, 782 
 Tardiness, reasons for, 256 
 Tate, Robert, 716 
 Taylor, James, 733 
 Tate, Mclver, et ah, 698, 716 
 Tax, no church court empowered to, 600 
 Tellers, in voting, 268, R. 28 
 Temperance, Permanent Committee on, 
 401-403 
 
 deliverances on, 618-630 
 
 National, Society, 325, 630 
 
 terms of communion, new, 631 
 
 Committee, 276 
 Temporary Clerk, 272, 273 
 Term of service, delegates to Presby- 
 tery, 170, 171 
 
 elders and deacons, 541 
 Terms of communion. See Communion. 
 Testimonials of standing, 799 
 Testimony : 
 
 who may testify, 669 
 
 what admissible, 635, 669, 673 
 
 should be under oath, 673, 770, 771 
 
 should be recorded, 173, 673 
 
 to be engrossed, 673 
 
 taken by a commission, 673 
 
 how authenticated, 673 
 
 Presbyterv may take, 660, 673, 
 677, 697 
 
 not on record, admitted, 652 
 
 amount required, 670 
 
 the right of any judicatory to bear, 
 156 
 
 how attested, 673, 696 
 
 new, alleged, 674-677 
 
 parole, 670, 743 
 
 See Evidence, Witnesses. 
 Testimonies of the Assembly, 293, 294 
 Thanksgiving, days of, 869-875 
 
 public, 153 
 Thatcher, Geo. H., 716 
 Theatricals, 607, 609, 612, 613, 615 
 Theological instruction, 407-409 
 
 Theological Seminaries. 
 
 Princeton, 422-441 
 
 Auburn, 441-449 
 
 Western, 449-460 
 
 Lane, 461-468 
 
 Union, 468-476 
 
 Danville, 476-491 
 
 McCormick, 491-501 
 
 Blackburn, 501 
 
 San Francisco, 502-510 
 
 German, Dubuque, 510-512 
 
 German, Newark, 512-516 
 
 Lincoln, 516-519 
 
 Biddle, 520-521 
 
 Omaha, 522-524 
 Theological Seminaries, report on, 1870, 
 410-412 
 
 committees on relations of, 
 
 1892, 415 
 
 1893, 416 
 
 1894, 417 
 
 1895, 419 
 
 1896, 420 
 
 1897, 421 
 
 Theological Seminaries, Committee, 275 
 Time, of removals, and limitations of, 
 
 797-803 
 Todd, John, 675, 735, 767 
 Translation of ministers, 575-577 
 Translations of the Bible, 66 
 Treasurer of the Assembly, 270, 271 
 Trial of a cause, 635-669, 741-777 
 
 what may be tried, 606, 631, 635 
 the parties in the case, 635-640 
 case of minister, elder or deacon, 
 
 658-664 
 who may preside, 161-163, 584 
 who may not sit and vote, 655, 660, 
 
 719, 739-741 
 counsel in the case, 654, 655 
 the charges and specifications, 640, 
 
 641 
 notice must be given, 253, 642, 714- 
 
 716, 729-731 
 evidence of notice required, 716, 
 
 730 
 rules must be observed, 658 
 order of proceedings, 642, 650-654, 
 
 741-777 
 hearing the parties, 748 
 time allowed parties, 745, 748, 749 
 sides heard alternately, 268, R. 
 
 29 ; 745, 749 
 in absence of accused, 643, 650, 731, 
 
 748 
 postponement, 733, 735-737, 781 
 the vote, 741, 750, 752 
 votes on each specification, 746, 
 
 750, 751 
 a final vote must be taken, 750 
 new trial, 674-676, 748, 761, 780 
 same on claim of new testimony, 
 
 674, 675 
 time within which allowable, 694, 
 
 758 
 records, reading of, 745 
 
90S 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Trial, things omitted by consent, 741, 
 745 
 certified copies in place of, 747 
 use of printed pamphlets, 747 
 by commission not ground of com- 
 plaint, 707, 708 
 decision may not be reversed on re- 
 view, 691 
 case of church member, 606 
 
 Trials, for licensure, 554 
 for ordinatiou, 569 
 
 Trinity, the, 67, 73 
 
 Troy, church of, 730 
 
 Trustees, of the Assembly, 334-339 
 of a church, 122-142, 172, 679 
 of a benevolent institution, 341 
 of the Presbyterian House, 337, 
 
 338 
 of Church Erection Fund, 372 ff. 
 
 Tune books, 836 
 
 Turbitt, John, 712, 736 
 
 Un acceptability, of an elder, 538 
 
 of a minister, 535 
 Unconstitutional acts, 229, 240, 244, 
 556, 683-685, 692, 725, 726, 740, 760, 
 772, 778 
 Unemployed ministers, 222, 223 
 may not be elders, 527-529, 
 Unfermented wine, 853 
 Unfinished business, 266, R. 13 
 Uniformity in mode of election imprac- 
 ticable, 529 
 Union, loyalty to the, 871 
 Union of Church and State disavowed, 
 
 154 
 Union of Old and New School, 31-43 
 Union Presbyteries, 180, 264, 597 
 Union Theological Seminary, 468-475 
 Unitarian, baptism, 104, 846 
 Unitarian minister, may not be a cor- 
 responding member, 228 
 United congregations, 183-185 
 United States Supreme Court, decision, 
 
 141 
 Unity of Church, 102 
 Universalists not received, 857 
 
 Vacancies, Boards, 264 
 
 Special Committees, 264 
 Vacant congregations, 148 
 
 assembling for worship, 587, 588 
 
 power of Presbytery over, 222, 578, 
 581 
 
 representation of, 185 
 
 supply of, 222, 581 
 
 duty of elders and deacons in, 587, 
 588 
 Van Dyke, Joseph S., 707 
 Van Vleck, Paul, 93 
 Verdict, form of, 671 
 Veto, of Assembly, 413-414, 420, 421 
 
 cases of, 464, 468, 469 
 Vice-Moderator, 266, R. 7 ; 584 
 Vice and immorality, 294 
 
 Visitation, of the sick, 867, 868 
 of churches, 213 
 
 by Assembly, 292, 463. Cf. 538 
 Void, acts that are, 186, 187, 205, 213, 
 214, 240, 315, 667, 683, 725, 762, 
 766, 775, 778 
 Voidable acts of Presbvtery, 189 
 Vote, casting, 262, 266", R. 8 ; 584, 585 
 in judicial cases, 651, 655, 660, 638, 
 719, 739, 741, 742, 750-752, 772 
 in approving records, 688 
 on reference, 696 
 on complaint, 719 
 on appeal, 739 
 
 necessary to elect Moderator, 261 
 to amend the Constitution, 
 601-603 
 to elect pastor, 565 
 of the Moderator, 266, I 
 of silent members, 267, R. 25 
 taking of, 267, R. 26 
 mistake in taking, 267, R. 26 
 at a time named, 267, 268, R. 26 
 division on, 268, R. 27 
 tellers, 268, R. 27 
 yeas and nays, 268, R. 26 ; 75! 
 to sustain in part, 724. 751, 752 
 on each charge separately, 661 
 Voters, in election of pastors, 563, 564 
 of elders and deacons, 530, 531 
 lists of, 531, 565, 878-880 
 disqualified, how, 531, 880 
 no distinction as to age of, 531 
 Vows, lawful. 91, 92 
 
 Wadsworth, Charles, 776, 777 
 Waiver, of rights, 744 
 
 of right to read records, 74(5 
 
 of right to complain, (544 
 
 of informalities, 757 
 Walnut Street church, Louisville, case 
 
 of, 125-142, 327 
 Ward, John, 674. 676 
 War, Civil, the, 294, 871 
 
 Revolutionary, 870 
 
 of 1812, 870, 871 
 
 French, 293, 870 
 
 with Spain, 870 
 
 See Pastoral Letters and Special 
 Days. 
 Washington, President, address to, 284 
 Washington, Presbytery of, 711 
 " Way of Salvation," the, 694 
 Ways of carrying a cause, 677-786 
 Webster, Samuel E., 796 
 Week of prayer, 872-874 
 Wells, Shipley, 201 
 West, Nathaniel, 666, 686, 687, 704, 
 
 705, 709, 729, 760, 768, 780, 785 
 Western Theological Seminary, 449-460 
 Westfield, church of, 724 
 Westminster Standards, 2-14 
 Wheeler, Erwin, et al., 734 
 White, William P., 780 
 White, W. ML, 784 
 Whitman, James W., et ah, 781 
 
INDEX. 
 
 909 
 
 Will, liberty of, 285 
 
 Willful absence from ordinances, 665, 
 
 666 
 Willful desertion, divorce for, 97, 98 
 "Wilson, David M., 179 
 Wilson, Henry E., 724 
 Wilson, Joshua, L., et al., 722 
 Wilson, Samuel B., 733 
 Wine, communion, 171, 853 
 Withdrawal of appeal, 732 
 Withdrawal, of ministers, irregular, 211, 
 212, 667 
 
 urged, 45, 73, 668 
 
 of church members, 212, 667 
 
 of a church, 214, 215 
 
 of parties, actual, 651 
 
 of motion, 266, E. 15 
 
 of complaint, 706-710 
 
 effect of, 707 
 Witherspoon, John, 2 
 Witnesses, names to be given, 640, 642, 
 651 
 
 to be cited, 640, 642 
 
 time for appearance, 643 
 
 to be sworn, 672, 673 
 
 challenge of, 669 
 
 credibility of, 669 
 
 competency of, 670 
 
 examination of, 651, 672, 673 
 
 non- church members as, 669 
 
 heathen as, 669 
 
 prosecutors as, 669 
 
 husband and wife as, 670 
 
 form of oath of, 672 
 
 Witnesses, question and answer in 
 writing, 673 
 
 commission to examine, 673 
 
 contumacy of, 674 
 
 new, in rebuttal only, 651 
 
 members of judicatory as, 673, 674, 
 687 < 
 
 See Evidence, Testimony. 
 Witnesses at marriages, 866 
 Woman's Board, of Home Missions, 348 
 
 Foreign Missions, 406 
 
 Freedmen, 406 
 Women, part of in meetings for prayer, 
 171 
 
 may not fulfill the offices of public 
 preachers, 544 
 
 as deaconesses, no authority "for, 532 
 
 Home Mission work, 348, 349 
 
 workers, training of, 532 
 Woodside, John S., 662, 690, 760 
 Woods, J. L., et al, 705 
 Word of God, without error, 45, 46 
 Worrell, T. F., 759, 773 
 Worship of God by offerings, 840-844 
 Worship, public, 831 
 
 freedom of, 835 
 
 family and secret, 875-878 
 
 Yale, Charles, 729 
 
 Yeas and nays, 267, E. 26 ; 268, E. 27 ; 
 
 751, 752 
 Young People's Societies, 164-166 
 Youth, instruction of, 821-829, 854-857, 
 
 876-878 
 

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