their own funds and make appointments to be confirmed by this committee, and pay over to it their surplus.

"6. Applications should always be specific. They should state such particulars as the following: The circumstances which make the case one proper for the action of this committee, and not for that of the American Home Missionary Society; the extent and location of the field; the name of the agent or missionary; if a church or congregation, its name and location; the number of communicants; the average number of attendants on public worship; the state of the country and population, and prospects of the field; the denominations and size of congregations immediately contiguous; the total amount of salary which they can raise for the given time, or which can be raised in the Synod or Presbytery; and every other particular calculated to throw light upon the case.

"7. All co-operating committees will make an annual report to the committee, and all agents or missionaries receiving from it the whole or a part of their support, will make a quarterly report. The annual reports shall be forwarded in time to be received by the second Tuesday of April in each year, and the quarterly reports by the second Tuesdays of July, October, and January."

SECTION 3.-COMMITTEE ON CHURCH ERECTION.

1. Initiatory measures.-2. The committee appointed; its number, classification, and duties.-3. The church erection plan of the Assembly.-4. The charter accepted by the Assembly. The fund transferred to the trustees. The Synods enjoined to appoint committees of Church extension.-5. The fund completed. -6. The trustees authorized to require church edifices to be kept insured, at their discretion.-7. Rigid adherence to the plan required. Amendment of art. xiv, sec. 3.—8. Appropriations not to be made, when there is no organized congregation. The trustees are the sole custodians of the fund. The Assembly refuse to alter the plan.-9. Act of incorporation of the Trustees of the Church Erection Fund.-10. By-laws of the trustees.-11. Rules and regulations for the use of applicants for aid from the fund.

1. Initiatory Measures.

"Resolved, That it be recommended to our churches to strive earnestly to render our religious institutions permanent, by the erection of church edifices and the settlement of pastors, whenever this can be done; and in this work the older and wealthier churches ought to co-operate with the younger and feebler."-Minutes, 1850, p. 315.

2. Committee appointed; its Duties, &c.

[The Committee on "Church Extension" reported, reciting certain statistical facts, and recommending the following action. Adopted.]

"Resolved, 1. That the General Assembly, relying on the assisting grace of God and the hearty co-operation of his people, will undertake to raise, within the present year, the sum of $100,000, which shall constitute a permanent fund to aid feeble congregations in erecting houses of worship.

"Resolved, 2. That, in the furtherance of this object, the Assembly do now elect, by ballot, and annually hereafter, a Church Erection Committee, to be composed of ten members, one-half of whom shall be ministers, six to reside in or near the city of New York, and four in or near the city of Philadelphia,-including the stated and permanent clerks and the treasurer of the Assembly, with power to fill their own vacancies; said committee to employ, at their discretion, a corresponding secretary, who shall be paid a suitable salary, together with his travelling

expenses.

"Resolved, 3. This Church Erection Committee shall meet in the city of New York, on the second Wednesday of June next, and thereafter, on their own adjournment, in the cities of Philadelphia and New York alternately, at least once in three months, their necessary taavelling expenses being defrayed.

"Resolved, 4. The General Assembly hereby authorize said committee to take such measures as to them may seem best to bring the claims of this great object before our churches, so as to secure as soon as possible the fund above named; said committee to be authorized, also, to renew the appeal annually to our churches, in order to make up any deficiency which may exist in the first simultaneous subscriptions to complete the fund, or which may arise thereafter; it being the purpose of the Assembly to raise and maintain a permanent fund of $100,000, for the purposes herein specified.

"Resolved, 5. The General Assembly recommend that a collection or subscription be taken in all our churches in behalf of this object, on the second Sabbath of November next; and that the money thus raised be forwarded to Anthony P. Halsey, Esq., the treasurer of the General Assembly, or to his successor duly appointed, to be held in trust for the use, and subject to the order, of the above-named committee.

Resolved, 6. The stated clerks of the several Presbyteries shall constitute a committee of correspondence for their respective Presbyteries,

with the Church Erection Committee; communicating all needed information in respect to the state and wants of their churches; and the Church Erection Committee, thus informed, shall report to the General Assembly, from year to year, the facts as they exist in respect to the relative wants of the different Synods, and also, the amount and condition of the fund under their direction, and their opinion of the proper apportionment of the same; whereupon the Assembly shall determine the amount to which each Synod shall be entitled for the year next ensuing. And thus, at each successive Assembly, the committee shall report as aforesaid; and, further, they shall report a full statement of all moneys loaned or donated from the fund, and the securities taken therefor. And the Assembly shall direct, as before, the distribution of said fund among the Synods in our connection.

"Resolved, 7. Each Synod, through its Committee on Church Extension, of which the stated clerk of the Synod shall be ex-officio secretary, shall draw on the Church Erection Committee for such portion of the fund as has been allotted to it, in such sums as it shall, from time to time, loan or donate to particular churches within its bounds. But no draft shall be made by any Synod for any portion of the fund allotted to it, until, where the money is loaned, each particular loan shall have been definitely agreed upon, and sufficient security in bond and mortgage or personal notes shall have been duly executed and placed in the hands of the stated clerk of said Synod, who shall with his draft transmit a statement of the loan thus made and the security taken; nor shall any draft be made until such accompanying statement, satisfactory to the committee, shall have been received.

"Provided, That the Church Extension Committee of each Synod, when, in their estimation, the circumstances of the case demand it, may also donate to feeble churches within their bounds, or remit on previous loans, such sums as they shall judge proper; not to exceed, however, in the aggregate, a sum equal to one-fourth part of the amount apportioned to said Synod for the current year. And the Church Erection Committee shall pay the drafts for such donations in the same manner as for the loans above authorized. All moneys thus donated or remitted to be secured on the house, in case of a change in the ecclesiastical relations of the church thus aided.

"Provided further, That all churches, to whom moneys are thus donated or remitted, shall take an annual collection in behalf of the Church Erection Fund, at least until they shall have thus repaid the amount

which was granted them. No interest shall ever be demanded for any moneys loaned to congregations from this fund, until by the terms of the loan the principal has become due."-Minutes, 1853, pp. 317, 318.

3. Church Erection Plan.

"The Church Erection Committee, appointed by the General Assembly of 1853, after a full consideration of the trust committed to them, beg leave to report the following plan for the proper control and management of the Church Erection Fund:

"PREAMBLE. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, now holding its sessions in the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, having, through the liberality of the congregations connected with this body, established a fund for the purpose of aiding feeble congregations in erecting houses of worship, do hereby adopt the following plan, under which this fund shall be held, administered, and used:

"ART. 1. This fund having been committed to the General Assembly as a special trust, no part of it as now established, nor any additions which may hereafter be made to it, shall ever be used for any other purpose, than that of aiding feeble congregations in connection with the General Assembly in erecting houses of worship; except so much as may be absolutely necessary to defray the expenses incident to the administration of this plan.

"ART. 2. The custody, care, and management of this fund, and of all securities of every kind belonging to it, or growing out of it, together with all claims, dues, and property that may at any time pertain to it, and all additions that may hereafter be made to it by donations, bequests, or otherwise, shall be committed to a board of trustees, to be called 'The Trustees of the Church Erection Fund of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.' The board shall consist of nine members, four of them being ministers and five of them elders, in connection with some Presbytery or church under the care of the General Assembly, who shall reside in the city of New York, or its immediate vicinity, and whom the General Assembly shall elect by ballot, on a nomination to be made at least one day before such election. The trustees shall continue in office until the election and induction of their successors. The certificate of the stated clerk of the General Assembly shall be necessary, to entitle a trustee to take his seat

as a member of the board, which certificate it shall be his duty to furnish as soon as practicable after the election.

"The trustees first elected shall arrange themselves into three equal classes. The term of office of the first class shall expire in one year from their election; that of the second class in two years; and that of the third class in three years. After the first election, the General Assembly shall annually elect three trustees, to supply the place of the class whose term is about to expire, to hold their office for three years, the same persons always being re-eligible; and each General Assembly shall also by election supply any vacancy in the board, caused by death, resignation, or otherwise. If any trustee shall, during the term for which he is elected, cease to be connected with a Presbytery or church under the care of the General Assembly, he shall thereby cease to be a member of the board; and the vacancy shall be reported to the next General Assembly.

"ART. 3. The first meeting of the board shall be held on the second Tuesday of June next, in the city of New York, at such place and hour as the stated clerk of the General Assembly may appoint, who shall preside until the board is organized by the choice of its president.

"ART. 4. The board shall make their own by-laws. They shall annually, at their first meeting after the adjournment of the General Assembly, elect one of their number president of the board; and shall appoint a secretary, and a treasurer who shall give security to the board for the faithful performance of his duties. They shall keep complete books of record and account, in which shall be recorded all their proceedings, and the true state at all times of all matters relating to this fund; which records and accounts, or any part of them, shall at all times be open to the inspection of any committee appointed by the General Assembly for this purpose. They shall also keep full and correct copies and files of all the correspondence which may be conducted or received by them, or in their name; and shall annually present to the General Assembly, not later than the third day of its sessions, a full written report of their proceedings and of the state of the fund, together with any suggestions or recommendations which they may deem necessary or suitable. The General Assembly shall annually appoint a committee of three of its members, to audit the accounts and to examine the securities of the board, and report at the next General Assembly.

"ART. 5. The board are hereby directed, either by procuring a special act of the Legislature of the State of New York, or in accordance with the