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 preride 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 moder ator 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.

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 commissioners 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, shal! 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 constitutional, and the persons whose names shall thus be reported shall immediately take their seats and proceed to business.

a. 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 be to examine all informal and unconstitutional commissions, and report on the same as soon as practicable.--1826, p. 191.

STANDING 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 public notice, to the stated and permanent clerks, acting as a standing Committee on Commissions.

b. The Committee on Commissions reported that several persons had appeared as commissioners whose commissions were either entirely wanting or defective.

Whereupon a Committee on Elections, consisting of the Rev. George C Heckman, D. D., the Rev. Samuel M. Morton and Mr. David Robinson, was appointed, to whom these cases were referred.-1870, p. 3.

[Subsequently] on recommendation of the Committee on Commissions and the Committee on Elections, the following persons were recognized as duly appointed commissioners of this General Assembly, and their names entered on the roll of the Assembly.--1870, p. 4.

c. The Rev. Daniel W. Poor, D. D., and Rev. David X. Junkin, D. D., ministers, and Hon. James Pollock and Benjamin F. Butler, elders, were appointed a Committee on Elections, who presently reported, recommending the enrollment of a number of ministers and elders, present without commissions, or with informal commissions, but with evidence satisfactory of appointment by their respective Presbyteries; and their report was adopted.-1871, p. 490.

[For usages as to defective 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 remaining 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 necessary for a choice. p. 189.

A like resolution was passed by nearly every Assembly from 1851 to 1869.

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 my 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 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 moderator be opened and read by him, and at his discretion be either communicated 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.

* 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 page 205 for the rules in full. For convenience such as concern the moderator in the discharge of his duty are given here.