the council, or through the paper or regular | lutions offered by a single member of the organ of the church, within twenty days Eldership, shall be referred to the comafter the rising of said council. A majority mittee on resolutions without debate, and of the council, as above constituted, shall said committee shall have discretionary form a quorum to transact business. power to suppress or to return the same, either with or without amendments. Art. 16. All matters of controversy or dispute which may arise between members of the several annual Elderships, shall be settled, either by their respective standing committees, or in their yearly meetings; and their decision shall in all cases be final, except where two-thirds shall sanction an appeal, or consent to refer it to the General Eldership. Art. 17. No person shall be considered an accredited Minister in the Church, of God, without a regular license; and all the preachers in good standing shall have their license renewed annually by the Elderships of which they are members. Art. 18. All persons expelled from any given Eldership, shall be treated as such by all the rest. Art. 24. No member shall speak more than twice, on the merits of one question, whilst under consideration, without leave of the house. Art. 25. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be in order, except it be to amend, strike out, commit, postpone or adjourn. Art. 26. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, and shall be decided without debate. Art. 27. All questions shall be decided by a plurality of votes, and all voting shall be done viva voce, except when otherwise called for. Art. 28. On no question before the Eldership shall the yeas and nays be orderArt. 19. No preacher shall be trans-ed, except they are called for by at least ferred from one Eldership to another, with- one-fourth of the members present. out mutual consent. Art. 20. No minister shall be eligible to an appointment, as a delegate to the General Eldership, who shall not have held a license for five years previous to appointment; except in new Elderships, or in cases where it is unavoidable. Art. 21. The General Eldership shall have power to employ suitable persons as missionaries or agents, whether they are members of an annual Eldership or not; provided they go into their employ voluntarily, and give due notice thereof-if members of an Eldership, to the standing committee, or to the annual Eldership of which they are members. Art. 22. All persons in the employ of the General Eldership shall have the credentials expressive of their appointment, signed by the Speaker and Clerks thereof, to whom they shall also be held accountable for the faithful performance of the same; but all such as are ministers of the gospel shall be amenable, for their moral and religious character, to the annual Eldership of which they are members. Art. 23. Any resolution or set of resolutions, brought forward by the committee on resolutions, shall be acted on immediately; but any resolution or set of reso Art. 29. No member shall be permitted to withdraw from the Eldership before the close of the session, without first obtaining leave of absence. Art. 30. Two-thirds of the members in attendance, at any stated or regular meeting of the General Eldership, shall have power and authority to annul, to add, change or amend any article or articles of this constitution. The General Eldership, also, passed the following resolutions: RESOLUTION ON THE BIBLE CAUSE. Resolved, That we regard the Bible cause as being emphatically the cause of God; and, therefore, we earnestly recommend this noble cause to the special care and patronage of the "Church of God," hoping that she will not be a whit behind the most forward in supporting the same. RESOLUTIONS ON EDUCATION. Resolved, That this Eldership consider the subject of education of vital importance, both in a civil and religious point of view. Resolved, That we recommend to the members of the churches to have their children liberally educated to the utmost extent of their ability. Resolved, That we highly approve of Sabbath schools, Bible classes, and all systems and modes of instruction, calculated to impart useful and scriptured knowledge to the young and rising generation. RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING THE DEEDING OF CHURCH PROPERTY. 1. Resolved, That this General Eldership recommend to all the brethren in the Church of God to have their Bethels, or meeting houses, parsonages, &c., deeded to the elders of their respective local churches, and their successors in office, to be held by them in trust for the church. 2. Resolved, That we also advise them to have inserted in the deed, a provisionary clause, transferring and conveying all their right, title and interest in, of and to the property of the church so deeded, to the annual eldership of the Church of God, in the bounds of which it is located, in the event that the local church should become extinct, or cease to exist. RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING A BOOK CONCERN. 1. Resolved, That we recommend the establishment of a general book concern, as soon as practicable; and the publication of such books and pamphlets, as the funds will justify, and the wants of the churches demand. 2. Resolved, That the SPEAKER, TREASURER, and CLERKS of this Eldership be, and they are hereby constituted a publishing committee, and are authorized to do all they can towards commencing a Book Establishment. RESOLUTION ON THE LORD'S DAY, Whereas, the sanctification or proper observance of the Lord's day is a subject of vital importance, intimately connected with the glory of God, the salvation of the soul, and the moral and political welfare of our country; Therefore, Resolved, That we heartily and zealously recommend to all our brethren of the Church of God, to avoid the desecration of the Sabbath by travelling, feasting, sleeping, working, worldly conversation, &c.; but duly to sanctify the same by meditation, prayer, reading, worshipping God privately and publicly, according to the requirements of his law. RESOLUTIONS ON SLAVERY. Whereas, it is the duty of the ministers of God to testify against sin in every form and place; Therefore, 1. Resolved, That it is the unequivocal and decided opinion of this General Eldership of the Church of God, that the system of involuntary slavery, as it exists in the United States of North America, is a flagrant violation of the natural, unalienable and most precious rights of man, and utterly inconsistent with the spirit, laws and profession of the Christian religion. 2. Resolved, That we feel ourselves authorized by the highest authority, and called upon by the strongest ties and obligations, to caution our brethren in the Church of God, against supporting and countenancing, either directly or indirectly, the said iniquitous institution of involuntary slavery; and should any of our ministers or members ever become guilty of this great and crying sin, we do most earnestly and religiously recommend and advise, that all such be excommunicated, or cast out of the church, and denied the right of Christian fellowship among us. RESOLUTIONS ON TEMPERANCE. 1. Resolved, That we are grateful to Almighty God, for his goodness in smiling upon the efforts made to promote the Temperance cause. 2. Resolved, That in our opinion the time has fully come, when men in every condition of life, who have the welfare of the human family at heart, should come forward and sign the pledge of TOTAL ABSTINENCE, and strive to advance the noble cause of temperance by precept and example. 3. Resolved, That the friends of temperance remember, that the cause in which they are engaged is a cause whose advocates and supporters are of no particular creed; that its aim is to reform the life, and fit men for the society of the good here, and under God, for the society of the blessed hereafter; and therefore, they should take care not to "fall out by the way," but to join in one united effort to do something worthy of their day, which shall cause their children to rise up and call them blessed. 4. Resolved, That we are sorry that there are yet ministers of the Gospel in this country, who are so far influenced by selfishness, as to refuse to give their views and influence in favor of a cause like that of temperance, which is so closely allied to that of Christianity. 5. Resolved, That we consider it inconsistent for professors of Christianity in any way to countenance the traffic in intoxicating drink; and especially to assist the rumseller to procure a license by signing his petition, which is nothing less than signing the death warrant of many poor inebriates. nually the sum of fifty cents, or upwards, shall be a member of this Society. ARTICLE 4. Any person paying the sum of five dollars, for five years in succession, or the sum of twenty dollars at any one time, shall be a life member. ARTICLE 5. All the members of the General Eldership, who are members of the Society, shall constitute a Board of Missions, competent to transact all the business of the Society; and the Speaker, Treasurer and Clerks, shall be the regu lar officers of the Society, ex-officio; (provided they are members; if not, they shall be elected by the Society;) and form its Executive Committee-three of whom shall be a quorum; and shall have power to carry on the operations of the Society, during its recess, as the Board of Missions shall direct. ARTICLE 6. The Society shall meet at every regular meeting of the General Eldership, at which time the Board of Missions shall exhibit a particular account of the funds of the Society; of their receipts and expenditures; of the Missionaries employed by them, and the places to which they are sent. ARTICLE 7. All the Ministers in the 6. Resolved, That we consider the traffic in intoxicating liquors as a drink, al- Church of God, and all such as shall be ways sinful and demoralizing in its re-appointed by them, shall have full power sults; and that no man is entitled to mem- and authority to act as agents on behalf bership in the Church of God who is enof this Society, to exert themselves in getgaged in it. ting members to the Society-to receive their yearly subscriptions, life subscrip MISSIONARY RESOLUTION AND SO- tions, donations, &c., and to transmit CIETY. Resolved, That this Eldership form itself into a Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, under the following constitution, to wit: CONSTITUTION OF THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. ARTICLE 1. This society shall be called, THE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE CHURCH OF GOD IN NORTH AMERICA. ARTICLE 2. The object of this Society shall be to employ, send out, and support, both Domestic and Foreign Missionaries. ARTICLE 3. Any person paying an them to the chairman of the standing committees of the several Elderships, and by them they shall be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Society. ARTICLE 8. This Constitution may be altered or amended by two-thirds of the Board of Missions, at any regular or stated meeting of the Society. BOUNDARIES OF THE ANNUAL ELDERSHIPS. 1st. The East Pennsylvania Eldership shall include the whole of the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, East of the Allegheny mountains. 2nd. The West Pennsylvania Eldership shall comprehend that part of Pennsyl HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. BY THE REV. E. W. ANDREWS, PASTOR OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, NEW YORK. censure for the indulgence he showed to Popish superstitions. It was evident in this reign, that a portion of the Protestants in England were far in advance of the standard set up by the king and the prelates; and that the distance between them was daily widening. But the dividing line between the supporters of the hierarchy and the non-conformists was not distinctly drawn, until the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity passed, in the early part of Elizabeth's reign. From this period there was little hope of permanent reconciliation between the two parties, although it was not until about the year 1565, that separate assemblies were held. It is from this time that the Puritans are to be regarded as a distinct party. The first open attempt to suppress these assem blies seems to have been made two years after, when a congregation was arrested at Plumbers' Hall, and thirty of them confined in Bridewell, for more than a year. THE origin of the Congregationalists, with the Protestant party, did not escape as a modern sect, is commonly ascribed to Robert Browne, who organized a church in England, in 1583. But it appears probable that there were churches formed upon congregational principles in the reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary, although it is impossible to speak with any certainty respecting them. It is well known that Cranmer, the chief promoter of the Reformation in England, admitted the right of the churches to choose their own pastors, and the equality of the clergy; and it is worthy of note that, in the Bible published by him, the word ecclesia is always rendered congregation. Some of the bishops went further, and advanced opinions which would now be regarded as amongst the distinctive principles of the Congregationalists. But the right of any individual to judge for himself what the scriptures taught in matters of religion was not recognized. The government insisted upon an entire conformity to the established church, both in doctrines, and in rites and ceremonies. The Reforma. tion advanced slowly; for its progress was controlled by subtle statesmen, who sought the reasons of any innovation, not in the word of God, but in the calculations of state policy. Many of the leading early reformers were greatly dissatisfied at the slow progress of the Reformation, and would gladly have introduced a more simple and scriptural form of worship. Even Edward VI., popular as he deservedly was Without enumerating all the points of difference between the prelates and the Puritans, it may perhaps be doubted whether an abrogation of all the rites and ceremonies complained of as superstitious, would not have allayed the storm that was rising against the Establishment, and prevented, for many years at least, the sepa ration that afterwards took place. However this might have been, the attempt to enforce these ceremonies led the Puritans |