Resolved, That this Assembly cordially accept this overture as exhibiting the principles of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and consider all actions of the Church in the past, if any, which may have been done contrary to these principles, to be null and void.1874, pp. 29, 30.

VI. Before any overtures or regulations proposed by the Assembly to be established 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.

[See Digest, pp. 325-330.]

6. The Clerks Authorized to Declare an Amendment Adopted. Resolved, That the Presbyteries be directed to take action upon the "Overture on Representation in the General Assembly as sent down to them, at their next stated meeting after the reception of the overture, that the result of their action, duly attested by the respective stated clerks, be forwarded to the stated clerk of the General Assembly; and should a majority of the Presbyteries be found to have voted for the overture affirmatively, the stated clerk of the Assembly shall, in conference with the permanent clerk, on or before the first day of March next, publish the fact, with the state of the vote; and the basis of representation thus adopted shall be the basis upon which the Commissioners to the next General Assembly shall be chosen.-1883, p. 686.

[The constitutionality of the above action of the Assembly was widely questioned. The stated clerk, however, the Rev. Dr. Hatfield, having died before the answers were received, they were submitted to the Assembly in the usual manner.-M.]

7. Returns on Overtures Referred to a Committee of Canvass. a. A committee of ten-viz.: Ministers-Elijah R. Craven, D. D., William R. Bingham, D. D., Thomas R. Crawford, D. D., James H. Shields, Edward L. Warren; Elders-Hon. Hooper C. Van Vorst, Hon. John T. Nixon, LL.D., Hon. Henry W. Williams, Hugh D. McCarty, LL.D., Ebenezer M. McPherson-was appointed to receive all the papers relative to the Revised Book of Discipline, and to report to this body what action shall be taken in the premises.-1884, pp. 11, 12.

b. The answers of the Presbyteries to the overtures sent down by the last Assembly were presented by the stated clerk, and referred to special committees, as follows:

The overtures on the Book of Discipline to Ministers-William J. McKnight, D. D., William P. Breed, D. D., Silas Cooke, and Raymond H. Leonard; Elders-Silas B. Brownell, John C. Angell, Stephen Torrey.

The overtures on Reduced Representation to Ministers-William O. Campbell, Samuel B. Bell, D. D., Isaac T. Whittemore, Joseph L. Polk; Elders-Woolsey Welles, LL.D., Michael D. Dague, Robert Scott.

The overtures on Judicial Commissions to Ministers-Alfred H. Fahnestock, Philo M. Semple, Lewis I. Drake, D. D., William R. Stewart; Elders-Hon. Charles D. Drake, James C. Postlethwaite, Asahel A. Shumway.-1885, pp. 583, 584.

c. Answer Recorded after the Result is Declared.

Overture from the Presbytery of Huntingdon, asking that their answer to the overture of the General Assembly on the term-eldership question,

which failed to reach the stated clerk at the time, be now recorded, and in the negative. The Committee recommend that the request be granted. -Adopted 1876, p. 74.

8, Formal Declaration that Overtures have been Adopted, and become a Part of the Constitution of the Church.

a. The moderator then made a formal declaration that the Revised Book of Discipline, with the revision of chap. x. of the Form of Government, had been adopted, and was now a part of the Constitution of the Church.-1884, p. 31.

b. The report of the Committee to report on the answers of the Presbyteries on overtures on the Book of Discipline (Minutes, 1884, pp. 30, 31 and 115) was accepted and adopted, and the moderator then made a formal declaration that the subject-matter of overtures Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 had been adopted, and were now a part of the Constitution of the Church. He also announced that section 65 was no longer a part of the Book of Discipline.-1885, p. 602.

c. Also that the overture No. 1 on Reduced Representation (Minutes, 1884, p. 103) has been adopted, and is now a part of the Constitution of the Church.-1885, p. 630.

d. Also, in like terms, that the overtures on judicial commissions (1884, p. 89) have been adopted and ratified, and are now a part of the Constitution of the Church.-1885, p. 638.

[On the adoption of the Constitution in 1821, the reports of the Presbyteries on the overtures were committed to Dr. McDowell and Mr. Chester to ascertain precisely the decisions of the several Presbyteries on the subject, and report their decisions to this Assembly." Subsequently "the committee appointed to ascertain the decisions of the several Presbyteries, on the subject of the revised Form of Government and forms of process, and the amendments to the Directory, sent down by the last Assembly, reported, and their report, being read, was adopted, and is as follows, viz.:

"That there are connected with this Assembly sixty-two Presbyteries; that, therefore, the affirmative vote of thirty-two Presbyteries is necessary to make any one article binding; that forty-five Presbyteries have reported to the Assembly their decisions on each chapter, section, and article; that from these reports it appears that the most of the articles have been adopted unanimously, and that every chapter, section, and article has been adopted by a majority of the whole number of Presbyteries; that the smallest number of votes given for any one article is thirty-seven; that, therefore, the whole of the proposed amendments sent down by the last Assembly to the Presbyteries is ratified, and becomes a part of the Constitution."-1821, p. 9.

For a case where overtures were answered in the affirmative by a majority of the Presbyteries, but not adopted by the Assembly (see Digest, pp. 328, 329; Minutes of 1826, pp. 188-191; 1827, pp. 215 and 218). The usage is to refer the answers of the Presbyteries to overtures for constitutional changes to a committee, to canvass and report. See above and also 1833, pp. 400, 401. On the adoption of the report of the committee of canvass, recent and correct usage is for the moderator officially to declare the result.-M.]

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.

[See Digest, p. 332.]

2. The Place of Meeting Determined by the Vote of the Assembly. The Committee on the minute to be made concerning the place of meeting of this Assembly presented their report, which was adopted, and is as follows: The Committee having under consideration the minute to be made concerning the place of meeting of the Assembly, would report: The Assembly of 1879, on the 26th day of May, at Saratoga, appointed "Madison, Wisconsin," 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, 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 (Form of Govt., ch. xii., sec. viii.).

on the day of

The Assembly, and not the moderator, has the right and the power of fixing 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 generously 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 Constitution of the Church.

Your Committee ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the matter committed to them.-1880, p. 81.

3. 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.

CHAPTER XIII.

OF ELECTING AND ORDAINING RULING ELDERS AND DEACONS

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.

[See Form of Government, chap. v., and Digest, p. 337.]

15. Election Governed by the Mode Approved in Use.

Question by the Presbytery of Kittanning:

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 com petent 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.

[i. e. the question is determined in all such cases by the usage, the mode most approved and in use in that congregation. (See also Digest, chap. xiii., sec. ii., p. 341, par. 9.)—M.]

16. A Minister not Eligible as a Ruling Elder.

"Is a minister a member of a particular church, and, as such, is he eligible to the office of ruling elder in that church?"

The Committee recommend that the Assembly answer "No," and refer to the Digest, p. 339.-Adopted 1874, p. 84.

17. By "Congregation" Communicants are Meant. Overture.-A resolution, referred by the Assembly, asking for a definition of the word "congregation," as used in the chapter of our Discipline which prescribes the manner of electing ruling elders. Your Committee recommend the Assembly to answer, that the term 'congregation" includes only the actual communicants of the particular church. (Digest, p. 342.)-Adopted 1882, p. 97.

18. All Office-Bearers must Faithfully Accept the Standards. Overture from the Session of the First Church of Dayton, Ohio, 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.

19. 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.

20. Deliverance on the Term-Service of Deacons.

a. 3. Does the Presbyterial action, authorizing the election and installation of elders for a limited term of service, apply also to deacons? To question 3: The Form of Government gives no authority for the

election of deacons for a limited term of service. (See Minutes of 1883, p. 626.) Adopted 1884, p. 114.

b. Overture inquiring whether the action of the last Assembly annuls the election of deacons chosen to serve for a term of years.

The Committee recommends the following answer: That as there is no provision in the Constitution for limiting the service of deacons, those who have been chosen to that office cannot be divested of it at the expiration of any designated term, unless by their own resignation or according to the provisions of the Constitution.-Adopted 1884, p. 114.

[See a, above.]

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:

[See Digest, pp. 346-348.]

5. An Elder who has Removed or Resigned, if Re-elected, must be again Installed.

Question: "Whether a ruling elder, who has terminated his connection 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 re-enacted by this Assembly as the answer to this overture. This action is found on p. 347 of Moore's Digest.-1880, p. 46.

[The above is declared not to be retroactive. See under sec. viii., below, 1880, p. 84.-M.]

VII. 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 fact, together 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.

9. Resignation of an Elder or Deacon to be Tendered to the Session, and Takes 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.

VIII. If any particular church, by a vote of members in full communion, shall prefer to elect ruling elders 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 be made to consist of three classes, one of which only shall be elected every year; and provided that elders, once ordained, shall not be divested of the office when they