b. Overture No. 6 was taken up, viz., a request of the Synod of Indiana, that the General Assembly be requested to dispense with synodical reports in future.

Resolved, That this request cannot be granted because it is unconstitutional.-1830, p. 302.

c. Resolved, That the respective Synods make yearly reports to the General Assembly of all the licensures, ordinations and installments, translations and deaths, and whatever changes may take place among the members within their bounds.-1789, p. 7.

d. The Committee on Overture No. 7, viz., "a request from the Synod of Ohio to change the form of statistical reports from the Synods to the General Assembly," made the following report, which was adopted, viz.: That inasmuch as the General Assembly has required all the Presbyteries to send up their statistical reports immediately after the last stated meeting prior to the next succeeding Assembly, and as these reports anticipate the information communicated in the synodical reports about a year; therefore,

Resolved, That each Synod shall not be required to report in detail, but simply to report to the Assembly, the number of its Presbyteries, and of the members and alterations of the Presbyteries, agreeably to the sixth section of chapter eleventh on Form of Government.-1832, p. 371.

e. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Wisconsin reported that they have 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.

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 ap pointed.

With these exceptions, the Committee recommended that the records be approved as far as written, in the usual form.

The report was adopted.-1864, p. 482, N. S. [See 1856, p. 519, O. S.] f. Records of the Synod of Wabash approved, except that they have not been presented to the Assembly since 1859.-1861, p. 462, N. S.

g. 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.

h. 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.

i. 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.

4. 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.

5. The Record should State 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, ministers 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 exception 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, N. 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.

6. 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 minutes 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, excepting "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.

7. The Minutes should be Attested by the Stated Clerk.

a. The records of the Synod of Tennessee are not attested by the stated clerk.-1854, p. 500, N. S.

b. The records of the Synod of Kentucky not approved by the Synod, and some not attested by the stated clerk.-1854, p. 501, N. S.

c. Synod of Wabash, "not signed by the stated clerk, as our Church order requires."-1862, p. 28, N. S.

8. Absentees must be called to Answer.

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 in page 82, in which the Synod determined 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.

9. Names of Absentees should be Recorded.

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.

10. Synod may not Discipline Absentees.

"The records of the Synod of the Carolinas were 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 reason for absence."-1811, p. 468.

11. A Narrative of the State of Religion should be Prepared and Recorded.

a. The records of the Synod of Illinois were, on the recommendation of the Committee, 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 Presbyteries and Synod to record in their minutes the narrative of religion, and all other important papers.-1870, p. 91.

SYNODICAL REPORTS.

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 Presbyteries, ministers, churches, licentiates and candidates within their bounds, and how distributed, the changes which may have been made in the number 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 controversy 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. See Acts xv. to the 29th verse, and the proofs adduced under the last three chapters.

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 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. 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 dis solution of the present Synod.

Resolved, That the first meeting of the General Assembly, to be constituted out of the above said four Synods, be held, and it is hereby appointed to be held, ou 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 his absence, Dr. Rogers, open the General Assembly with a sermon, and preide till a moderator be chosen.-1788, p. 548.

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 preaches the sermon, and then opens the session with prayer, and presides during the organization of the Assembly. The Committee on Commissions 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.]

"Last Moderator present," Not necessarily in Commission.

PITTSBURG, May 21, 1835. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church met in the First Presbyterian Church in this city, and the Rev. Dr. Lindsley, the moderator of the last Assembly, being absent, was opened with a sermon by the Rev. Samuel Miller, D. D., at the request of the Rev. Dr. William A. McDowell, the last moderator present, with a sermon on 2 Corinthians iv. 7: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." After the sermon the stated clerk called the house to order and informed them, that the Rev. Dr. Lindsley, the moderator of the last Assembly, being absent, the duties of the chair devolved upon the last moderator who is present, and has a commission to sit in this Assembly, and therefore he moved that the Rev. Nathan S. S. Beman, D. D., be called to the chair. This motion prevailed, and Dr. Beman took the chair, and constituted the Assembly with prayer.-1835, p. 461.

The Assembly met.

Thursday afternoon, 3 o'clock.

A motion was made to reconsider the vote by which Dr. Beman was called to the chair, on the ground that many persons voted in the apprehension that Dr. Wm. A. McDowell, the moderator immediately preceding Dr. Lindsley, was not in the house, and that many others believed the rule of the house required the constituting moderator to be in commission, which Dr. McDowell was not. This motion, after considerable discussion, was adopted unanimously.

After some further remarks, it was agreed that the original motion of the stated clerk should be again submitted to the house, and the vote be taken by him. Whereupon Dr. Ely put the question: "All who are in favor of sustaining the resolution passed in the morning, by which Dr. Beman was called to the chair, will signify it by saying Aye." This motion was lost.

It was then moved that the Rev. Wm. A. McDowell, D. D., being the last moderator present, be requested to take the chair. This motion prevailed, and Dr. McDowell took the chair accordingly.-1835, p. 466.

Who shall open the Assembly, the Moderator being absent?-A Commissioner.

Whereas, there exists a difference of opinion as to the proper person to open the sessions of the General Assembly, in case the moderator of the Assembly immediately preceding be not present; therefore,

Resolved, That it is the deliberate judgment of this General Assembly, that by the Constitution of our Church no person is authorized to open the sessions of the General Assembly, or to preside at the opening of said sessions, except the moderator of the Assembly immediately preceding, or, in case of his absence, a commissioner to the Assembly, selected for the purpose by the other commissioners, met at the time and place fixed for said meeting.-1843, p. 194, O. S.

The Rule as Adopted in 1871.

If a quorum be assembled at the hour appointed, and the moderator be absent, the last moderator present, or, if there be none, the senior member present, shall be requested to take his place without delay until a new election. (Rule ii.)-1871, p. 491.