"The Synod made two clerical members of Presbytery a quorum for transacting business."-Minutes, 1857, p. 387.

SECTION 3.-OF THE SYNOD.

1. The Synod is a convention of Bishops and Elders.-2. Where a Synod has failed to meet on its adjournment, the Moderator may fix the time and place. -3. Special or called meetings of Synod are constitutional.-4. The Moderator has no power to change the place of meeting.-5. A Synod may not refuse the members of its Presbyteries.-Nor, 6. Order the erasure of their names from the roll of Presbytery.-7. The Synod may not act judicially when there is no reference or appeal to it.-8. The Records are to be sent up annually for review.-9. The members of an inferior Judicatory may not vote on the approval of their own Minutes.-10. When exceptions are taken to the records of inferior Judicatories, the exceptions should be stated and the reasons assigned.-11. Sessions on the Sabbath censured.-12. The Records should state the body to which a corresponding member belongs.-13. The Records should state that the meetings were opened and closed with prayer.-14. The Minutes should be read and approved.-15. They should be attested by the stated clerk.-16. A narrative of the State of Religion should be prepared and recorded.-17. Names of absentees should be recorded.-18. Reasons called for; and absentees not to be suspended without trial.-19. Formation of the Synods, 1-38.

1. The Synod is a Convention of Bishops and Elders.

"As a Presbytery is a convention of the Bishops and Elders within a certain district, so a Synod is the convention of several Presbyteries within a larger district, including at least three Presbyteries."-Form of Government, chap. xi, sec. 1, 1789. Amended, 1804-5, so as to read as at present: "So a Synod is a convention of the Bishops and Elders within a larger district including several Presbyteries."-Minutes, 1804, p. 304.

Approved by the Presbyteries.-Minutes, 1805, p. 333.

"This amendment goes to make a Synod consist not of Presbyteries, but, as it ought, of Bishops and Elders."—Note, Minutes, 1804, p. 304.

2. Where a Synod has failed to meet on its Adjournment. The Remedy. "As it appeared from the representations of ministers and elders assembled at Yorktown, the 20th of October, 1795, and signed Robert

Davidson, that the Synod of Philadelphia did not meet according to its last adjournment, nor since the time to which it was adjourned. On motion,

"Resolved, That the Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia, the Rev. Dr. Robert Davidson, ought to be considered as competent to call a meeting of the same, and that he do accordingly call a meeting, to be held in the Third Presbyterian Church in the city of Philadelphia, on the fourth Wednesday of October next; and that he give due notice thereof by a circular letter to the Moderators of the several Presbyteries composing the said Synod, whose duty it shall be to acquaint the other members.

"Resolved, as the opinion of the Assembly, That from the nature of the thing, two or more members of any judicatory, meeting according to adjournment, may adjourn from day to day until a sufficient number attend for the transacting of business; and in case a quorum should not attend within a reasonable time, that the Moderator shall be considered as competent to fix any time and place he may judge proper for convening the body; and if he be absent, that the members assembled shall represent the matter speedily to him that he may act accordingly."Minutes, 1796, p. 113.

3. Meetings pro re nata constitutional.

a. The Committee of Overtures also reported Overture No. 13. This overture was taken up, and is as follows, viz. : “An answer is requested to the following question, viz., Has the Moderator of a Synod a right to call a meeting of the Synod during the interval of its stated sessions?" Resolved, by the Assembly, That this question be answered in the affirmative. Minutes, 1829, p. 268.

b. The Assembly took up the protest and complaint of a minority of the Synod of Virginia, against a decision of said Synod in favor of calling meetings of Synod. The complainants and Synod were heard, after which it was resolved that the complaint be not sustained.— Minutes, 1832, p. 368.

c. The Committee on the Records of the Synod of Tennessee reported, that after a careful examination of said Records, they find them correct; and the attention of the committee having been called to the report of a committee of the Synod of Tennessee, relating to the constitutionality of a called meeting of said Synod, convened in accordance with a de

claratory resolution of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in 1796, and found on page 321 of the Digest published in 1820, after a careful examination of the whole subject, they recommend the following action in the case: That, in the judgment of this General Assembly, the meeting of the Synod of Tennessee at Knoxville, in said State, on the 9th day of November, was in accordance with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, and the Assembly do so declare. The report was adopted.-Minutes, 1855, p. 16.

4. Moderator may not change the Time of Meeting.

Records of the Synod of Illinois, approved: "Except in the case of the action of that body, as recorded on p. 415, sustaining the act of the Moderator of the Synod, in changing the time of its annual meeting." -Minutes, 1854, p. 500.

5. Synod may not refuse to receive the Members of its Presbyteries.

"The Records of the Synod of Michigan were, on the recommendation of the committee, approved, with the following exception, That on pages 137, 138, 139, 140, the Synod declined to receive two members, whose names appear on the minutes of two of the Presbyteries; and that the Synod also directed said Presbyteries to strike the names of said members of Presbytery from their roll: one of the members belonging to the Presbytery of Monroe, the other to the Presbytery of St. Joseph.". Minutes, 1849, p. 176.

6. Nor enjoin the Erasure of their Names.

"Overture No. 28. On the doings of the Synod of Michigan, the matter of enjoining the Presbyteries of St. Joseph and Monroe to erase the names of Rev. Marcus Harrison and Rev. A. L. Payson from their rolls, was taken up. It was Resolved, That the action of the Synod in the premises is unconstitutional."-Minutes, 1849, p. 177.

7. The Synod may not act judicially upon Review, when there is no appeal or reference to it.

"The Assembly, having maturely considered the appeal of Mr. Davis, from the proceeding of the Synod of the Carolinas in his case

"Resolved, That although they highly approve of the zeal of the Synod to preserve the purity and peace of the Church within their bounds, yet they cannot but decide that, in their proceedings in the above case, in deciding that they had a right to try Mr. Davis, when there was no reference or appeal in his case before them, they have not strictly adhered to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church." Minutes, 1810, p. 448.

8. The Synods to send up their Records annually.

a. "Ordered, That the Minutes of the respective Synods be laid yearly before the General Assembly, to be by them revised."-Minutes, 1789, p. 7.

To report all Changes within their bounds.

b. "Resolved, That the respective Synods make yearly reports to the General Assembly of all the licensures, ordinations, instalments, translations, resignations, deaths, and whatever changes may take place among the members within their bounds."-Minutes, 1789, p. 7.

9. The Members of an inferior Judicatory may not vote on the approval of their own Minutes.

a. "A protest, signed by a number of members of the Synod of Geneva, against a decision of that Synod, excluding the Presbytery of Geneva from voting on the question, Whether their own records should be attested by the Moderator of the Synod, as approved. Your committee were, however, of opinion that the decision of the Synod was consonant to the prevalent usage of the judicatures of the Presbyterian Church, as well as to the usage of other analogous bodies in similar cases; and that it ought therefore to be approved." Adopted.-Minutes, 1816, p. 611.

b. The records of the Synod of Kentucky approved, except, "That the members of the West Lexington Presbytery voted in approbation of their own proceedings, which is deemed to be irregular."-Minutes, 1821, p. 23.

10. When Exceptions are taken to the Records of the inferior Court, the Exceptions should be stated, and reasons assigned.

a. "The committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of Pittsburg, reported, and the book was approved, excepting the resolution on page 74, disapproving of the proceedings of a Presbytery without assigning the reason."-Minutes, 1820, p. 728.

b. "The records of the Synod of Ohio were approved, with the exception of a minute on page 243, disapproving of a decision of a Presbytery, and ordering said Presbytery to reconsider that decision, without any reasons being assigned.”—Minutes, 1827, p. 202.

C. 'The Synod of Pennsylvania, in approving the action of a Presbytery in a judicial case, assigned an entirely unsatisfactory reason, p. 259.”—Minutes, 1850, p. 314.

d. "The records of the Synod of Indiana were approved, excepting that on page 342, the records of Greencastle Presbytery are reported as approved, with exceptions, while these exceptions are not spread upon the Minutes of the Synod, as required by the Form of Government, chap. vii, sec. 1, art. 3."-Minutes, 1857, p. 387.

11. Session on the Sabbath censured.

a. The committee appointed to examine the records of the Synod of North Carolina, reported, when the records were approved, with the exception that on page 48 it is recorded that Synod held a session on Sabbath evening. This was the closing meeting, and though it does not seem to have been one of much business, still, in the opinion of the Assembly, it was not proper.-Minutes, 1834, p. 445.

b. The records of the Synod of Peoria were approved, with the exception that "" on p. 33, there is a record of a business meeting held on Sabbath evening."-Minutes, 1846, p. 18.

12. The Record should state the Body to which a Corresponding

Member belongs.

a. "The proceedings of the Synod of Albany approved, with the exception of having invited several ministers to take their seats as corresponding members, without describing the ecclesiastical body to which such ministers belong."-Minutes, 1815, p. 578.