3. The Assembly will Adhere to the Letter of Section ii., above.

The Judicial Committee reported that they have had under consideration the letter of the Rev. A. G. Fraser to this General Assembly. That Mr. Fraser states that he has been unavoidably prevented from personally 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 adjudicate the whole matter; or, if such a plan is not within 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 contemplated 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.

The recommendation was adopted.-1850, p. 463, O. S.
See under Form of Government, chap. xii., sec. v.

SECTION I.

GENERAL REVIEW AND CONTROL.

I. It is the duty of every judicatory above a church session, at least once a year, to review the records of the proceedings of the judicatory next below. And if any lower judicatory shall omit to send up its records for this purpose, the higher may issue an order to produce them, either immediately, or at a particular time, as circumstances may require.

1. Annual Review Required.

Ordered, That the minutes of the respective Synods be laid yearly before the General Assembly to be by them revised.—1789, p. 7.

b. 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 Presbytery, and there is reason to believe that other Presbyteries had conducted 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.

c. The Assembly, after seriously reviewing the order of the last Assembly, and maturely deliberating on the remonstrance of the Presbytery 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 proceed, under this order, beyond what they may consider prudent and useful.-1810, p. 453.

d. Whereas, It is an essential feature of the government of the Presbyterian 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 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 of 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.

e. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Wisconsin reported, That they had been subjected to an increased amount of labor in examining 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.-1864, p. 482, N. S., et passim.

See above, Form of Government, chap. x., sec. ix., and chap. xi., sec. vi.; also Discipline, chap. iv., sec. xxiii.

2. After Records have been Approved Corrections can be made only by Recurrence to the Court Approving.

a. Also Overture No. 7, from the session of the church of Wabash, Indiana, 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?

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 endorsed such mistake. Adopted.-1862, p. 34, N. S.

b. When Records have been Approved, they can be Amended only by a Unanimous Vote.

It was moved to strike out the exceptions taken 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.

An appeal was taken from this decision, and the decision was sustained.-1841, p. 424, O. S.

3. Records of Recent Meetings may be Demanded for Review. The records of the Synod of Cincinnati approved, except "that on pp. 114-116, it appears that on a motion to require the Presbytery of Chillicothe to produce the records of their session in Sept., 1837 (the month be fore), which records were reported to contain decisions demanding the immediate review of the Synod, it was decided that, as there was no complaint, nor appeal requiring the records in question, and as the Presbytery have regularly presented their book for review by the Synod, and the Committee of Review have made no charge of delinquency in the Presbytery in not transcribing the minutes of their late meeting, the Synod have no right to demand said minutes."-1839, p. 161, O. S.

4. Copies of the Originals Accepted only in Extraordinary Cases. a. It is recommended to the Synods of Virginia and the Carolinas, to send attested copies of their minutes by their delegates to the Assembly yearly, whenever they find it inconvenient to send their books.-1790, p. 23.

b. Resolved, That the dispensation allowed to the Synods of Virginia and the Carolinas by the Assembly of 1790, to send up attested copies of their records instead of the records, be and it is hereby rescinded.—1841, p. 423, O. S.

c. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of West Tennessee reported, and their report was adopted, and is as follows, viz.: "That the document presented to your Committee is not the original book of records, but purports to be a true copy from the original record under the hand of the stated clerk. Accompanying this report is a letter from the clerk, urging the acceptance of the transcript, on the ground of a standing rule of the Assembly, authorizing the reception of a transcript when the original cannot be transmitted. Your Committee are not aware of such a standing rule, and are of opinion that the document produced does not come up to the requirement of the Constitution. Your Committee therefore cannot report as to the manner in which the records are kept. Your Committee recommend that the Synod of West Tennessee be required to produce their original book of records for examination at the next General Assembly."-1847, p. 381, O. S.

[The records of the Synod of China, kept in Chinese, were accepted in a translated copy by the Assembly of 1871.]

5. Members of a Judicatory may not Vote upon Review of their own Records.

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. 23.

[See also under vii., iii., xii., iv.]

II. In reviewing the records of an inferior judicatory, it is proper

to examine, First, Whether the proceedings have been constitutional and regular; Secondly, Whether they have been wise, equitable, and for the edification of the Church; Thirdly, Whether they have been correctly recorded.

[See under vii., i., vi., below.-1857, p. 45, O. S. Also under iii., below, for specimens of the application of this rule.]

1. Unconstitutional and Irregular.

a. The Synod of Philadelphia, resolution 3d, annuls a sentence of suspension; and in resolution 4th, 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; therefore,

Resolved, That the Assembly direct the Synod to review and amend their record on p. 18, in the case of the appeal of the Presbytery of Donegal. Discipline, chap. vii., sec. i., sub-secs. ii., iii.

[MSS. indorsement on records of Synod of Philadelphia.]-1858, p. 298. b. The Committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of Geneva, reported, and the book was approved to page 257, with the following 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 Onondaga complained of, was irregular and improper.-1822, p. 40.

c. 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 afterward 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 advanced.-1846, p. 31, N. S.

III. In most cases, the superior judicatory may be considered as fulfilling its duty, by simply recording, on its own minutes, the animadversion, or censure, which it may think proper to pass on records under review; and, also, by making an entry of the same in the book reviewed. But it may be, that, in the course of review, cases of irregular proceedings may be found, so disreputable and injurious as to demand the interference of the superior judicatory. In cases of this kind, the inferior judicatory may be required to review and correct its proceedings.

1. The Records must be Full.-Reasons for Decisions Required. a. The records of the Synod of Pittsburg approved, "excepting the resolution on p. 74, disapproving the proceedings of a Presbytery without assigning the reason."-1820, p. 728.

b. The records of the Synod of Ohio were approved, with the "excep

tion of a minute on p. 243, disapproving of a decision of a Presbytery, and ordering said Presbytery to reconsider that decision, without any reasons being assigned."-1827, p. 202.

And Satisfactory Reasons given for all Decisions.

c. The Synod of Pennsylvania in approving the action of a Presbytery in a judicial case, p. 259, assigned an entirely unsatisfactory reason.1850, p. 314, N. S.

The Subject Matter of Process must be Stated.

d. The records of the Synod of Philadelphia approved, 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.

That it appears from p. 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.

e. Records of the Synod of Albany approved, "except that on page 257 we read of 'a complaint of the Minority of the Presbytery of Albany' to the Synod; but there is no intimation what they complained of; and when Synod took up the business, there is no evidence on record that the moderator gave notice that they were about to proceed to judicial business, as the Constitution requires."-1848, p. 48, O. S. See 1853, p. 434, O. S.

2. Exceptions must be Recorded in the Minutes.

a. 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, chap. vii., sec. i., art. iii.' 1857, p. 387, N. S.

b. Synod of Wheeling, p. 409. The exceptions to the records of New Lishon Presbytery are not recorded, in violation of the Book of Discipline, chap. vii., sec. i., sub-sec. 3.-1859, p. 550, O. S.

c. 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 requirements 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.

d. Records of the Synod of Cincinnati, "except that 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.

e. Records of Synod of Cincinnati, approved, "except that on p. 36 the minute is defective, in that a complaint was received, referred and decided without any statement in regard to the subject matter of said complaint."

This defect in the minutes disables this Assembly from deciding as to the validity of the recorded reasons given for the decision of the Synod in the case on p. 37.

This defect in the minutes is the more to be excepted against, inasmuch 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.