Pomini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, be and the same is hereby repealed. HENRY K. STRONG, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 2. The Charter Accepted.-Duties and Powers of the Trustees. Whereas, The Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania, by an Act appoved by the governor, April 21, 1855, incorporated "The Trustees of the Presbyterian House," in Philadelphia, who are by said Act to be erected by this body; therefore, Resolved, By the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America: 1. That the said charter be and the same is hereby accepted, and that the trustees created by said Act of incorporation be directed to perform all the duties required by their appointment. Resolved, 2. That the said trustees be directed to give such official notification to the proper authorities of the State of Pennsylvania, as may be necessary, of the acceptance of the charter by the General Assembly. Resolved, 3. That the Assembly do now elect ten trustees under this charter, five of whom shall be ministers and five laymen, all of whom shall be connected with some Presbytery or church under the care of the General Assembly. Resolved, 4. That the first meeting of the trustees shall be at such time and place as shall be fixed by the trustee first elected, or in case of his inability to act, the trustee next elected, who shall act as chairman, until the Board is constituted by the election of a President and Secretary. Resolved, 5. That the trustees, at their first meeting, be directed to divide themselves into two portions, and in such manner that there shall always be in the Board five ministers and five laymen. Resolved, 6. That in electing these trustees a nomination shall be made in the Assembly, and that the election shall be by ballot, on the day following that on which the nomination is made. Resolved, 7. That these trustees be directed to keep an accurate record of all their proceedings, and report the same annually to the Assembly. Resolved, 8. That these trustees be directed to take such measures for raising the amount pledged by the last Assembly for the purchase of the "Presbyterian House" as they may deem expedient and proper.-1855, p. 26, N. S. Quorum of the Board of Trustees. The Assembly decides that five members of the trustees shall be a quorum for the transaction of business.-1864, p. 487. Legal Title to the House secured through the Liberality of John A. Brown. Resolved, That the General Assembly notice with pleasure the manifestation of promptness and liberality in the President of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian House, John A. Brown, Esq., of Philadelphia, who by a munificent donation has secured to the trustees the legal title of the Presbyterian House.-1857, p. 410, N. S. 3. The Trustees to Act as the Corporators of the Publication Committee. Resolved, By the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that "The Trustees of the Presbyterian House" be, and they hereby are, authorized and directed to act in their corporate capacity as trustees of the Permanent Committee of this Assembly, called "The Presbyterian Publication Committee," as fully and in the same manner as if "The Presbyterian Publication Committee" were themselves constituted a corporation by the same authority which incorporated "The Trustees of the Presbyterian House."-1857, p. 410, N. S. 4. Declaration of Trust.-The House held for the Publication Committee. The Presbyterian Publication Committee respectfully present to the General Assembly the following overture: Whereas, The General Assembly of 1854 authorized the acceptance of the property Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, upon certain conditions which have since been complied with, and the legal title to said property was accordingly on the fourth day of February, 1859, vested for the Assembly in The Trustees of the Presbyterian House," but no trust has ever been declared of the same; and 66 Whereas, In view of all the circumstances attending the acquisition of said property, and the purposes for which it was designed, it is desirable that the General Assembly should declare the trust upon which the said property is and shall be held. The Presbyterian Publication Committee overture the Assembly to adopt the following Resolutions and Declaration of Trust: Whereas, Among other trusts, the legal title of the property Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, is held for the Assembly by the "Trustees of the Presbyterian House," but no trust has ever been declared of the same, and circumstances render it expedient and desirable that the trusts upon which said property is and shall be held should be formally declared; and Whereas, The trustees of the Presbyterian House did, by resolution adopted March 27, 1863, express their desire that the Publication Committee should ask the Assembly for a formal declaration that the property Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, is and shall be held by the trustees for the use and benefit of the Publication Committee; therefore, Resolved, 1st, That the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. in the United States of America do hereby declare that the property Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, is and shall be held by the trustees of the Presbyterian House to, for and upon the following uses, intents and purposes; that is to say: In trust to permit and suffer the Presbyterian Publication Committee, subject to the said General Assembly and their successors, to let and demise, use, occupy and enjoy the said property and every part thereof; to receive and take the rents and income thereof, they paying all the taxes and ground-rent thereon, and all proper and necessary repairs, and other expenses and charges thereon; and that the said trustees shall have power, at the request of the said Publication Committee, to mortgage and improve the said property, or any part thereof; Resolved, 2d. That the trustees of the Presbyterian House be, and they hereby are, directed to execute under their corporate seal, and deliver to the said Publication Committee, such deed or deeds of declaration of trust for the purpose aforesaid, with all such powers, authorities, limitations and provisions as shall be settled and advised by a Committee of three legal gentlemen, to be appointed by the Assembly, to be, requisite and necessary for the fully carrying into effect these resolutions. JOHN W. DULLES, Secretary of the Pres. Publication Committee. PHILADELPHIA, May, 26, 1863. The Committee recommend the adoption of the overture, and the appointment of Samuel H. Perkins, Esq., Samuel C. Perkins, Esq., and Hon. Joseph Allison as the Committee of legal gentlemen referred to in the last resolution. The report was adopted.-1863, p. 274, N. S. The trustees report further that, in accordance with the direction of the last General Assembly, they have executed under their corporate seal, and have delivered to the Presbyterian Publication Committee, the deed of declaration of trust prescribed by the Assembly.-1864, p. 539, N. S. 5. Title Executed to the Board of Publication. The trustees further report that, in accordance with the direction of the Jast General Assembly, they have conveyed to "the Trustees of the Presbyterian Board of Publication" the house and lot Nos. 1334 and 1336 Chestnut street.-1871, p. 671. 6. Trusts Transferred.-Ministerial Relief Fund. The trustees report that, in accordance with the commitment by the last General Assembly of the management of the Ministerial Relief Fund to the trustees of the General Assembly, they have discharged the Executive Committee of the Ministerial Relief Fund Agency, and have directed the treasurer of said Committee to pay to the treasurer of "the Relief Fund for Disabled Ministers and the Widows and Orphans of Deceased Ministers" the funds belonging to the Ministerial Relief Fund. They have also directed their own treasurer to pay to the treasurer of the Relief Fund the interest which from time to time shall accrue from the Permanent Fund.-1871. p. 671. 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 business 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 comes 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 mem bers 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 empowered, on any extraordinary emergency, to convene the judicatory, by his circular letter, before the ordinary time of meeting. 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. 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 moderator be chosen." Under this provision it is not necessary that the minister called to preside in the Assembly should himself be in commission.-New Digest, 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, pertain ing to church sessions, no such limitation for mere organization exists. Hence these two points are clearly recognized: 1st. That it is not essential to the idea of a moderator that he be a member; 2d. That the privilege of a casting vote does not necessarily imply membership.-1861, pp. 457, 458, N. S. [The moderator has none other than the casting vote, see xii., sec. i., 7. For general principles as to moderators, see Rules for Judicatories; also, Form of Government, chap. xii., i., above.] 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. 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, 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. The Clerk 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 the clerk this would seem to be unquestionably true. The Constitution 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 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. See under chap. xii., sec. i., 10, for sundry acts relating to clerks. 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 ordinances, to augment their reverence for the most high God, and to promote the charitable affections which unite men most firmly in society, it is recommended that every vacant congregation |