in the second relation be proper ground of separate process by the Session of the first church, the Committee recommend an answer in the affirmative. In respect to the whole case, the Committee agree in the statement following:

The person uniting with the second church on examination unites deceptively. So soon as the facts in the case are ascertained by the session of this second church, the proper order of procedure is, for this session, after conference with the accused person, to strike his name from their roll of church members as not under their jurisdiction, to communicate their action to the session suspending him, with the reasons for it, and to request the said session to proceed against him, on separate process, for duplicity and disorder.

The reply of the Committee was adopted.-1866, p. 269, N. S.

2. A Letter of Dismission takes Effect as soon as Granted, so far as Rights and Privileges are Concerned.

a. A letter of dismission, whether issued to a ruling elder or private member, terminates the relations of the person dismissed with the church giving the letter, except so far as said church is responsible for its watch and care over him during the period of transition.

b. These rights and privileges can be regained in that church by returning the letters of dismission to the authority which gave them.

c. These rights and privileges can be secured in any other church within the jurisdiction of this General Assembly, by virtue of such certificates, provided they are presented to the session thereof within one year from their date; and, until they are presented, such persons are amenable to the church from which the certificates were received.-1867, p. 512, N. S. [The "rights and privileges" do not include the functions of any office previously held by him in that church. See above, sec. cix., last clause. —M.]

CX. In like manner, a minister shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Presbytery which dismissed him (but shall not deliberate or vote, nor be counted in the basis of representation to the General Assembly) until he actually becomes a member of another Presbytery; but, should he return the certificate of dismission within a year from its date, the Presbytery shall make record of the fact, and restore him to the full privileges of membership. [X. 2, largely amended.]

1. Jurisdiction over a deposed Minister is in the Presbytery which Deposed him,

a. The Presbytery of Des Moines deposed Rev. James H. Shields from the ministry. Subsequently, Mr. Shields applied for restoration, to the Presbytery of Keokuk, within whose bounds he resided at the time of his application.

The Committee on Polity also reported Paper No. 2. An overture from the Presbytery of Keokuk, asking if they have jurisdiction over the case of James H. Shields, deposed by the Presbytery of Des Moines.

The Committee recommended to the Assembly, that the question submitted by the Presbytery of Keokuk be answered in the negative; and the recommendation was adopted.-1859, p. 18, N. S.

b. In the case of Rev. Michael Hummer, deposed by the Presbytery of Iowa, and restored by the Presbytery of Highland, the Assembly declare

it irregular and unconstitutional for any Presbytery to receive and restore a member of another Presbytery who has been deposed.-1862, p. 608,

O. S.

[See under Form of Government, chap. x., sec. viii.; also Book of Discipline, sec. xliii.—M.]

2. Where a Minister is Deposed, the Name should not be formally stricken from the Roll until the Proceedings are finally Issued.

The other paper is an inquiry, proposed to the Assembly by Fisk Harmon, of Swede Point, Iowa, respecting a case of discipline which has occurred in what he calls the Presbytery of D. A minister is said to have been deposed, and the sentence of deposition to have been pronounced, but his name was not ordered to be stricken from the roll. The clerk, however, assumed the responsibility of erasing his name; and when the case was appealed to the Synod, and remanded by it to the Presbytery that new evidence might be presented by the appellant, and the deposed minister demanded that his name might be replaced on the roll before the Presbytery proceeded to the reception of the evidence, he was informed by the moderator that his name did not belong there. The inquiry is : "Can this new sentence of striking the name of the deposed minister from the roll be constitutionally inflicted without a new and regular trial ?" The Committee recommend the following reply:

As the name of every minister under trial must be properly on the roll of some Presbytery, it should not be finally erased until the completion of all the ecclesiastical proceedings connected with the case. In the present instance, the Assembly decide that the name of the minister referred to should be restored to the roll of the Presbytery, and retained until the case has been finally disposed of.-1869, p. 270, N. S.

[Nor is the name of a suspended minister to be removed from the roll of Presbytery and placed upon a private register. See Form of Government, Appendix, chap. x., sec. viii. 8, 1882, p. 96.-M.]

3. The Privileges of Membership cease with the Granting of the

Letter.

The established rule of the Presbyterian Church, in relation to the dismission of a minister from his Presbytery, is, "that, in all ordinary cases, all the rights and privileges of an individual in a Presbytery cease when, at his request, his dismission is granted."

He may, however, within any reasonable time before he has used his letter of dismission, return it to the Presbytery, and then claim all his former rights and privileges; but, until he has used his letter, he is amenable to the Presbytery which has dismissed him. See Digest (of 1860), chap. v., sec. ii., sub-sec. viii.-1867, p. 512, N. S.

4. While a Minister is in transitu he is a Member of the Presbytery which gave him his Letter.

Overture from the Presbytery of Marion, as follows:

A minister receives a dismission to unite with a distant Presbytery, and travels in the region indicated, but does not remove his family. After an absence of months, perhaps of more than a year, he returns to the residence of his family. During his absence, however, the Synod sets off "all the ministers" of his Presbytery "residing north of the south line" of his county to form part of a new Presbytery. Holding the original certificate, to which Presbytery does he belong, and in case of the neces

sity of process for unministerial conduct, which Presbytery is bound to proceed in his case?-1864, p. 314, O. S.

It was

Resolved, That the minister in question be held to belong to the Presbytery which granted him the certificate.-1864, p. 314, O. S.

5. A suspended Minister is under the Jurisdiction of the Presbytery which suspended him.-When Sentence has been Reversed for Informality, if Process is not commenced in Six Months, a Dismission in Good Standing may be claimed.

Mr. Bell had been suspended, and took an appeal to the Assembly, which was sustained.

The Committee appointed to prepare a minute expressive of the sense of the Assembly concerning the appeal of Joseph E. Bell, reported the following resolutions, which were adopted, viz. :

1. Resolved, That in the judgment of the Assembly, Mr. Bell was, and still continues to be, fully amenable to the Presbytery of Concord.

2. That while the Assembly do not wish to protect the guilty, they do judge that great caution, deliberation, and as far as may be, the rules of discipline, where ministerial character is impeached, ought to be strictly observed, and that in this case the informality was exceptionable.

3. That if it be deemed necessary for the good of religion, and the honor of the ministerial character, the Presbytery of Concord are entirely competent to commence a new trial. Or if Mr. Bell shall desire for his own sake a new trial, the door is still open.

4. That in the mean time Mr. Bell's ministerial character shall be considered regular; and if no process shall be commenced by either party within the space of six months from the 1st of June next, then Mr. Bell may claim from the Presbytery of Concord a dismission declaring him to be in regular standing.-1828, pp. 240, 241.

6. A Minister Holding a Letter of Dismission is a Member of the Presbytery Dismissing him until Received by another Body. In answer to an inquiry from the Mileage Committee as to the status of a minister in transitu, it was Resolved, That the ruling of the Assembly of 1860, N. S. (see Moore's Digest, p. 619), be adopted as the ruling of this Assembly, to wit: He is a member of the Presbytery dismissing him until received by another body.-1883, p. 648.

[See Minutes, 1860, p. 239, N. S.-M.]

CXI. A Presbytery, giving a certificate of dismission to a minister, licentiate, or candidate for licensure, shall specify the particular body to which he is recommended; and, if recommended to a Presbytery, no other than the one designated, if existing, shall receive him. [X. 4.] 1. Presbytery must Specify the Body to which a Member is Dismissed.

Resolved, That, whereas it is a fundamental principle of the govern ment and discipline of the Presbyterian Church, that every minister of the gospel belonging to it be subject, at all times, to his brethren in the Lord, and accountable to them for the orthodoxy of his principles, and for his moral, religious, and orderly deportment; it is therefore,

Ordered, That every Presbytery under the care of this Assembly, whenever they dismiss a member, be careful particularly to specify with what

Presbytery, association, or classis, or other religious body, he is to be associated after his dismission (to which some of the Presbyteries do not appear to have been sufficiently attentive); and that every member so dismissed be, in all cases, considered as amenable to the Presbytery which has dismissed him till he shall become connected with the ecclesiastical body which he shall have been directed to join.—1806, p. 351.

2. He must Unite with the Body Designated.

Can a minister of one Presbytery unite with any other Presbytery than that designated in his letter of dismission? Answered in the negative. See chap. x., sec. ii.-iv., Book of Discipline (Old).-1877, p. 550.

3. The Presbytery receiving a Minister on a Certificate must Notify the Presbytery that Dismissed him.

[See below, sec. cxv.-M.]

4. The Dismission may not be by a Standing Committee. [See Form of Government, chap. x., sec. viii. 23.-M.]

CXII. If a church becomes extinct, the Presbytery with which it was connected shall have jurisdiction over its members, and grant them letters of dismission to some other church. It shall, also, determine any case of discipline begun by the Session and not concluded. [New.]

5. Members of an Extinct Church Amenable to Presbytery. A church has been dissolved by the Presbytery, letters having been given the members to unite with any Evangelical Church where God may, in his providence, cast their lot.

One of these members holds such a letter more than eighteen months old, not having used said letter. Is such a member amenable to the Presbytery, and is the Presbytery under obligation to receive, entertain, and pass upon a complaint entered against such party, holding said letter?

The Committee recommend that this overture be answered in the affirmative, on the following grounds:

1. That every church member is amenable to some appropriate tribunal, and that, in the case specified in the overture, this tribunal must be the Presbytery.

2. That every member of a church continues to be amenable to that church, until he becomes regularly connected with another.-1869, p. 266, N. S.

CXIII. If a Presbytery become extinct, the Synod, with which it was connected, shall have jurisdiction over its members, and may transfer them to any Presbytery within its bounds. It shall, also, determine any case of discipline begun by the Presbytery and not concluded. [New.]

[See Digest, anté, pp. 151, 152.-M.]

CHAPTER XII.

OF REMOVALS, AND LIMITATION OF TIME.

CXIV. WHEN any member shall remove from one church to another, he shall produce a certificate, ordinarily not more than one year old, of his church-membership and dismission, before he shall be admitted as a regular member of that church. The names of the baptized children of a parent seeking dismission to another church shall, if such children are members of his household and remove with him and are not themselves communicants, be included in the certificate of dismission. The certificate shall be addressed to a particular church, and the fact of the reception of the person or persons named in it shall be promptly communicated to the church which gave it. [XI. 1, 2; 2d and 3d periods new.]

1. A Certificate of Dismission should be Required.

a. Nor can the Assembly forbear to regret that the Session of the church of Chillicothe had not acted in a more formal manner in receiving Mr. McCalla, and had not required a regular certificate of dismission from the church to which Mr. McCalla belonged before they received him.-1821, p. 21.

b. When parents with their families are dismissed to other churches, the names of baptized children who have neither come to years of discretion nor become communicants should be embraced in the certificate given.— 1882, p. 98.

2. To Receive Members of Churches of our own Connection without a Certificate is Irregular.

The same Committee reported an overture, asking if it be in accordance with ecclesiastical law and order in the Church to receive members of another church who have not been regularly dismissed, with a view to such change of relation.

The Committee recommended that, so far as churches in our own connection are concerned, the question be answered in the negative, and refer to the Book of Discipline (Old), chap. xi., sec. i. The report was adopted.-1868, p. 58, N. S.

3. Dismission to Join another Denomination.

a. Resolved, That in all cases where members of any of our churches apply for dismission to unite with a Church of another denomination, the proper course is to give a certificate of Christian character only.-1839, p. 177, O. S.

b. The Presbytery of Hudson requesting that this rule be rescinded, the Assembly replied:

The Presbytery of Hudson has misapprehended the spirit and scope of the resolution in question. It is neither a censure on the individuals, nor the churches to which they seek to be dismissed, but sets forth the only fact which it is important that those churches should know.-1848, p. 22, O. S.

[Churches in correspondence should be treated as if of our own con. nection.-M.]