There are too many abbreviations used in the record of proceedings.1883, p. 688. 22. The Minutes should be Read and Approved before Adjournment. a. Exception (to the records of the Synod of Cincinnati) in not ap proving the minutes of the last day of the meeting of the Synod, held at Cincinnati, Feb. 14, 1878, before their adjournment.-1878, p. 118; anté, p. 198. b. Exception to the records of the Synod of Minnesota: Synod adjourned without the reading and approval of the minutes of the last day of the session.-1884, p. 116. 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. [See anté, pp. 200-211.] 11. Organization of the Assembly. a. The Rule of 1871 Amended. The Committee recommend that Rule II. of the General Rules for Judicatories be amended by inserting the words "being a commissioner," after the words "the last moderator present," so that it shall read: “If a quorum be assembled at the hour appointed, and the moderator be absent, the last moderator present, being a commissioner, or, if there be none, the senior member present, shall be requested to take his place without delay, until a new election."-Adopted 1880, p. 45; anté, p. 201. b. Standing Orders. 1. The General Assembly meets invariably on the third Thursday of May, annually, at 11 o'clock A. M. 2. 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 Permanent Committee on Commissions. 3. The Lord's Supper is to be celebrated by the Assembly on the evening of Thursday, the first day of its sessions." 4. The evenings of the days of session are assigned to popular meetings in the following order: The evening of Friday, the second day, to the Sabbath-school interests of the Church. The evening of Monday, the fourth day, to Missions among the Freed men. The evening of Tuesday, the fifth day, to the Home-Mission Work. The evening of Wednesday, the sixth day, to the Foreign-Mission Work. The evening of Friday, the eighth day, to the cause of Temperance. 5. The reports of the standing committees shall be considered at the times herein designated, viz.: Ministerial Relief, Saturday, at 10 o'clock A. M. Home Missions, Tuesday, at 10 o'clock A. M. Aid for Colleges and Academies, Tuesday, at 3 o'clock P. M. Foreign Missions, Wednesday, at 10 o'clock A. M. Publication, Wednesday, at 3 o'clock P. M. Education, second Thursday, at 10 o'clock A. M. 6. That the Standing Committees on Home Missions and Foreign Missions have each two and a half hours; and those on Education, Publication, Church Erection, Ministerial Relief, Freedmen, Temperance and Aid for Colleges, have each one and a half hours. That the secretaries and the chairmen of the standing and special committees be requested to make their statements within the limits of half an hour. 7. The stated clerk shall receive all memorials, overtures and other papers addressed to the General Assembly, shall make record of the same, and then deliver them for distribution or reference to the Standing Committee on Bills and Overtures. 8. All special committees appointed by one General Assembly to report to the next Assembly, shall be ready to present their reports on the second day of the session.-1885, p. 841. 12. General Rules for Judicatories. As amended: Rule ii., 1880, p. 45; Rules vii., xi., xx., xxvi., xxviii., xxix. and xliii., 1885, p. 590. (See also Digest of 1873, pp. 205-208.) I. The moderator shall take the chair precisely at the hour to which the judicatory stands adjourned, and shall immediately call the members to order, and on the appearance of a quorum shall open the session with prayer. II. If a quorum be assembled at the hour appointed, and the moderator be absent, the last moderator present, being a commissioner, or, if there be none, the senior member present, shall be requested to take his place without delay, until a new election. III. If a quorum be not assembled at the hour appointed, any two members shall be competent to adjourn from time to time, that an opportunity may be given for a quorum to assemble. IV. 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. V. It shall be the duty of the moderator carefully to keep notes of the several articles of business which may be assigned for particular days, and to call them up at the time appointed. VI. 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. VII. The moderator shall appoint all committees, except in those cases in which the judicatory shall decide otherwise. In appointing the standing committees, the moderator may appoint a vice-moderator, who may occupy the chair at his request, and otherwise assist him in the discharge of his duties. VIII. 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 do not choose to vote, the question shall be lost. IX. The person first named on any committee shall be considered as the chairman thereof, whose duty it shall be to convene the committee; and in case of his absence or inability to act, the second named member shall take his place and perform his duties. X. It shall be the duty of the clerk, as soon as possible after the commencement of the sessions of every judicatory, to form a complete roll of the members present, and put the same into the hands of the moderator. And it shall also be the duty of the clerk, whenever any additional members take their seats, to add their names, in their proper places, to the said roll. XI. It shall be the duty of the clerk immediately to file all papers, in the order in which they have been read, with proper endorsements, and to keep them in perfect order. The stated clerk shall receive all overtures, memorials and miscellaneous papers addressed to the judicatory; shall make record of the same and deliver them to the Committee on Bills and Overtures for appropriate disposition or reference. This Committee shall have the floor on the reassembling of the judicatory after each adjournment, to report its recommendations as to orders of business or reference of papers, and this right of the committee shall take precedence of the orders of the day. XII. The minutes of the last meeting of the judicatory shall be presented at the commencement of its sessions, and, if requisite, read and corrected. XIII. Business left unfinished at the last sitting is ordinarily to be taken up first. XIV. A motion made must be seconded, and afterward repeated by the moderator, or read aloud, before it is debated; and every motion shall be reduced to writing, if the moderator or any member require it. XV. Any member who shall have made a motion shall have liberty to withdraw it, with the consent of his second, before any debate has taken place thereon; but not afterward, without the leave of the judicatory. XVI. If a motion under debate contain several parts, any two members may have it divided, and a question taken on each part. XVII. When various motions are made with respect to the filling of blanks, with particular numbers or times, the question shall always be first taken on the highest numbers and the longest time. XVIII. Motions to lay on the table, to take up business, to adjourn. and the call for the previous question, shall be put without debate. On questions of order, postponement or commitment, no member shall speak more than once. On all other questions, each member may speak twice, but not oftener, without express leave of the judicatory. XIX. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, unless to adjourn, to lay on the table, to postpone indefinitely, to postpone to a day certain, to commit or to amend, which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are herein arranged; and the motion for adjournment shall be always in order. XX. An amendment, and also an amendment to an amendment, may De moved on any motion, but a motion to amend an amendment to an amendment, shall not be in order. Action on amendments shall precede action on the original motion. A substitute shall be treated as an amendment. XXI. A distinction shall be observed between a motion to lay on the table for the present, and a motion to lay on the table unconditionally, viz.: A motion to lay on the table for the present shall be taken without debate; and if carried in the affirmative, the effect shall be to place the subject on the docket, and it may be taken up and considered at any subsequent time. But a motion to lay on the table, unconditionally, shall be taken without debate; and if carried in the affirmative, it shall not be in order to take up the subject during the same meeting of the judicatory, without a vote of reconsideration. XXII. The previous question shall be put in this form, namely, Shall the main question be now put? It shall only be admitted when demanded by a majority of the members present; and the effect shall be to put an end to all debate, and bring the body to a direct vote: First, on a motion to commit the subject under consideration (if such motion shall have been made); Secondly, if the motion for commitment does not prevail, on pending amendments; and lastly, on the main question. XXIII. A question shall not be again called up or reconsidered at the same sessions of the judicatory at which it has been decided, unless by the consent of two-thirds of the members who were present at the decision, and unless the motion to reconsider be made and seconded by persons who voted with the majority. XXIV. A subject which has been indefinitely postponed, either by the operation of the previous question or by a motion for indefinite postponement, shall not be again called up during the same sessions of the judicatory, unless by the consent of three-fourths of the members who were present at the decision. XXV. Members ought not, without weighty reasons, to decline voting, as this practice might leave the decision of very interesting questions to a small proportion of the judicatory. Silent members, unless excused from voting, must be considered as acquiescing with the majority. XXVI. When the moderator has commenced taking the vote, no further debate or remark shall be admitted, unless there has evidently been a mistake, in which case the mistake shall be rectified, and the moderator shall recommence taking the vote. If the house shall pass the motion to "vote on a given subject at a time named," speeches shall thereafter be limited to ten minutes. When the time named shall arrive no further discussion shall be allowed either as explanation or argument, but the moderator shall proceed to put to vote in their proper order all pending propositions, and also all those of which notice has been given during the discussion. Should the hour for adjournment or recess arrive during the voting, it shall be postponed to finish the vote, unless the majority shall vote to adjourn; in which case the voting shall on the reassembling of the house take precedence of all other business till it is finished. Under this rule "the yeas and nays" shall not be called except on the final motion to adopt as a whole. This motion to fix a time for voting shall be put without debate. XXVII. The yeas and nays on any question shall not be recorded, unless required by one-third of the members present. XXVIII. No member, in the course of debate, shall be allowed to indulge in personal reflections. If division is called for on any vote, it shall be by a rising vote without a count. If on such a rising vote the moderator is unable to decide, or a quorum rise to second a call for "tellers," then the vote shall be taken by rising, and the count made by tellers, who shall pass through the aisles and report to the moderator the number voting on each side. XXIX. If more than one member rise to speak at the same time, the member who is most distant from the moderator's chair shall speak first. In the discussion of all matters where the sentiment of the house is divided, it is proper that the floor should be occupied alternately by those representing the different sides of the question. XXX. When more than three members of the judicatory shall be standing at the same time, the moderator shall require all to take their seats, the person only excepted who may be speaking. XXXI. Every member, when speaking, shall address himself to the moderator, and shall treat his fellow-members, and especially the moderator, with decorum and respect. XXXII. No speaker shall be interrupted, unless he be out of order, or for the purpose of correcting mistakes or misrepresentations. XXXIII. Without express permission, no member of a judicatory, while business is going on, shall engage in private conversation, nor shall members address one another, nor any person present, but through the moderator. XXXIV. It is indispensable that members of ecclesiastical judicatories maintain great gravity and dignity while judicially convened; that they attend closely in their speeches to the subject under consideration, and avoid prolix and desultory harangues; and when they deviate from the subject, it is the privilege of any member, and the duty of the moderator, to call them to order. XXXV. If any member act, in any respect, in a disorderly manner, it shall be the privilege of any member, and the duty of the moderator, to call him to order. XXXVI. If any member consider himself aggrieved by a decision of the moderator, it shall be his privilege to appeal to the judicatory, and the question on the appeal shall be taken without debate. XXXVII. No member shall retire from any judicatory without the leave of the moderator, nor withdraw from it to return home without the consent of the judicatory. XXXVIII. All judicatories have a right to sit in private on business which in their judgment ought not to be matter of public speculation. XXXIX. Besides the right to sit judicially in private whenever they think proper to do so, all judicatories have a right to hold what are commonly called "interlocutory meetings," in which members may freely converse together, without the formalities which are usually necessary in judicial proceedings. XL. Whenever a judicatory is about to sit in a judicial capacity, it shall be the duty of the moderator solemnly to announce from the chair that the body is about to pass to the consideration of the business assigned for trial, and to enjoin on the members to recollect and regard their high character as judges of a court of Jesus Christ, and the solemn duty in which they are about to act. XLI. In all cases before a judicatory, where there is an accuser or prosecutor, it is expedient that there be a committee of the judicatory appointed (provided the number of members be sufficient to admit it without inconvenience), who shall be called the "Judicial Committee," and whose duty it shall be to digest and arrange all the papers, and to prescribe, under the direction of the judicatory, the whole order of proceedings. The members of this committee shall be entitled, notwithstanding their performance of this duty, to sit and vote in the cause, as members of the judicatory. XLII. But in case of process on the ground of general rumor, where there is, of course, no particular accuser, there may be a committee |