copacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church is indeed a moderate one; that the bishops are the creatures of the eldership, and constantly amenable to it; and may at any time, for cause, be deposed from their high office and authority; that, in fact, with the exception of appointing the preachers to their respec tive fields of labor, they possess but little more power-if indeed as much—than is possessed by the humblest and most obscure travelling preacher.

SECTION II.

OF THE PRESIDING ELDERS AND THEIR DUTY

1. The presiding elders, as shown in the preceding section, are chosen and stationed by the bishops, and like all other travelling ministers, are amenable to the annual conference of which they are members, for their private and official acts.

2. It is the duty of the presiding elder to take charge of all the elders, deacons, travelling and local preachers and exhorters in his district; to change, receive, and suspend preachers in his district during the intervals of the conferences, and in the absence of the bishop; to preside also, in the absence of the bishop-if appointed by the latter-in the annual conference; to be present, as far as practicable, at all the quarterly conferences, and preside therein; to oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the church in his district; to promote the cause of Missions, Sunday Schools, and the circulation of religious books; to decide all questions of law in a quarterly conference, subject to an appeal to the president of the next annual conference; to attend the bishops when present in his district, and advise them of the state of his district when absent.

3. From the above it will be seen that the presiding elder is properly the representative of the bishop, and that such office is not only a responsible one, but is absolutely necessary to the proper government of the church, more especially as, by virtue

of his office and by common consent, the presiding elder is made the adviser of the bishop in fixing the appointments of the preachers, and in arranging the boundaries of the districts, circuits, and stations.

SECTION III.

OF THE ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF TRAVELLING ELDERS AND THEIR DUTY, AND OF THE MODE OF TRYING THEM.

1. A travelling elder is constituted by the election of an annual conference, and the laying on of the hands of a bishop and some of the elders who are present.

2. The duty of a travelling elder is to administer baptism and the Lord's Supper, and to perform the office of matrimony, and all parts of divine worship, and to do all the duties of a travelling preacher.

3. A travelling elder is eligible to an election as delegate to the General Conference, and also to the Episcopacy even although he never has been a presiding elder; he may assist in the ordination of other elders, and even of bishops, if through death, resignation, or otherwise, there are no bishops.

4. A travelling elder is responsible to his conference for all his private and official acts, and by his conference may be tried, suspended, deposed, or expelled from the church. In the intervals of an annual conference, if reported guilty of some crime, the presiding elder, in the absence of the bishop, shall call a committee of at least three travelling ministers, and investigate the truth of the report. If the elder be clearly convicted of unchristian conduct, he shall be suspended from all ministerial services and church privileges until the next session of the annual conference. If the charge is not preferred until the session of the conference, the case may be referred to a committee, who shall keep a faithful record of the proceedings and

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testimony, and lay the same before the conference, on which, with such other evidence as may be admitted, the case shall be decided.

5. In cases of improper words, tempers, and actions, the person offending shall be reprehended by his senior in office. On a second transgression, two or three ministers or preachers are to be taken as witnesses. If not then cured, he shall be tried at the next annual conference, and if guilty and impenitent shall be expelled from the connection.

6. When a travelling elder, or other member of an annual conference, fails in business, or is unable to pay his debts, the presiding elder shall appoint three judicious members of the church to examine into the state of his affairs, and if, in the opinion of such members, the minister has behaved dishonestly, or has contracted debts without the probability of paying, the presiding elder shall then bring him before a committee of at least three ministers, who may suspend him until the ensuing conference.

7. When a travelling elder, or other member of an annual conference, disseminates, publicly or privately, doctrines which are contrary to our Articles of Religion, the same process is to be observed as in cases of gross immorality, unless the offending minister shall engage not to disseminate such doctrines, in which case the offender may be borne with until the next annual conference.

8. When a travelling minister is accused of being so unacceptable, inefficient, or secular, as to be no longer useful as a travelling preacher, the annual conference shall investigate the case, and if the complaint is well founded, and the accused will not voluntarily retire, the conference may locate him without his consent.

9. Provided, that in all the above cases, the minister so suspended, deposed, located, or expelled, shall be allowed an appeal to the next General Conference, if he signify his intention to appeal at the time of his condemnation, or as soon thereafter

as he is informed of the same, and when the General Conference shall have heard both sides of the question, they shall finally decide the whole matter.

10. When any travelling elder, or other minister, shall be deprived of his credentials, they shall be filed with the papers of the annual conference of which he was a member; and should he, at any future time, give satisfactory evidence of his amendment, and procures a recommendation from a quarterly or other annual conference, for the restoration of his credentials, the same may be restored to him, by vote of the conference of which he was a member.

SECTION IV.

OF THE ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF TRAVELLING DEACONS, AND THEIR DUTY.

1. A travelling deacon is constituted by the election of an annual conference, and by the laying on of the hands of the bishop.

2. It is the duty of the travelling deacon to baptize, and perform the office of matrimony, in the absence of the elder; to assist the elder in the administration of the Lord's Supper, and to do all the duties of a travelling preacher.

3. A travelling deacon is eligible to the office of an elder, after having travelled two years as a deacon, and has qualified himself in the course of study prescribed by the bishops.

4. An accused travelling deacon is brought to trial in the same manner as an accused travelling elder; for information in regard to which, we refer the reader to the preceding section.

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SECTION V.

OF SUPERNUMERARY AND SUPERANNUATED PREACHERS.

1. A supernumerary preacher is one so worn out in the itinerant service, as to be rendered incapable of preaching constantly, but at the same time is willing to do any work which the conference may direct, and his strength enable him to perform.

2. A superannuated preacher is one so worn out in the itinerant service, as to be considered incapable of doing any efficient work as a minister, and consequently receives no appointment from the bishop, but is at liberty to go where he pleases, and improve his time and remaining strength as best he may.

3. None but regular travelling preachers, or members of an annual conference, or bishops, can be supernumerary or superannuated, and while sustaining either of the above relations, they are entitled to a portion of the conference funds, and are subject, like all other effective preachers, to the conference of which they are members.

SECTION VI.

OF TRAVELLING PREACHERS, AND THEIR DUTY.

1. The term travelling preacher is frequently used to designate all who belong to the conference, whether presiding elders, elders, deacons, or licentiates, but in its proper and technical sense, it includes only the latter class, and in this sense it is used in this section-to denote those, who, not having been received into full connection in the conference, nor been ordained, are on trial, and are candidates for the ministerial office.

2. A travelling preacher is received on trial by the annual