THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. EXODUS XX. GOD spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. V. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt not kill. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VIII. Thou shalt not steal. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. THE CREED. I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; he descended into hell;* the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. GENERAL RULES FOR JUDICATORIES.t 1. THE moderator shall take the chair precisely at the hour to which the judicatory stands adjourned; shall immediately call the members to order; and, on the appearance of a quorum, shall open the session with prayer. 2. If a quorum be assembled at the hour appointed, and the moderator be absent, the last moderator present shall be requested to take his place without delay. 3. If a quorum be not assembled at the hour appointed, any two members shall be competent to adjourn from time to time, that an opportunity may be given for a quorum to assemble. 4. After calling the roll, and marking the absentees, the minutes of the last sitting shall be read, and, if requisite, corrected. 5. It shall be the duty of the moderator, at all times, to preserve order, and to endeavour to conduct all business before the judicatory to a speedy and proper result. 6. It shall be the duty of the clerk, as soon as possible after the commencement of the sessions of every judicatory, to form a complete roll of the members present, and put the same into the hands of the moderator. And it shall also be the duty of the clerk, whenever any additional members take their seats, to add their names, in their proper places, to the said roll. That is, he continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, until the third day. + The following rules, not having been submitted to the presbyteries make no part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. Yet the General Assembly of 1821, considering uniformity in proceedings in all the subordinate judicatories as greatly conducive to order and des. patch of business, and having revised and approved these rules, recommend them to the synods, presbyteries, and sessions, as a system of regulations, which, if they think proper, may be advantageously adopted by them. 7 It shall be the duty of the clerk, immediately to file all papers, in the order in which they have been read, with proper indorsements, and to keep them in perfect order. 8. It shall be the duty of the moderator, carefully to keep notes of the several articles of business which may be assign ed to particular days, and to call them up at the time appointed 9. The moderator may speak to points of order, in prefer ence to other members, rising from his seat for that purpose, and shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal to the judicatory by any two members. 10. Business left unfinished at the last sitting, is ordinarily to be taken up first. 11. A motion made must be seconded, and afterwards repeated by the moderator, or read aloud, before it is debated; and every motion shall be reduced to writing, if the modera tor or any member require it. 12. Any member, who shall have made a motion, shall have liberty to withdraw it with the consent of his second, before any debate has taken place thereon; but not afterwards, without the leave of the judicatory. 13. Motions to lay on the table, to take up business, and to adjourn, and the call for the previous question, shall be put without debate. On questions of order, postponement, or commitment, no member shall speak more than once. On all other questions, each member may speak twice, but not oftener, without express leave of the judicatory. 14. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, unless to adjourn, to lay on the table, to postpone indefinitely, to postpone to a day certain, to commit, or to amend; which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are herein arranged; and the motion for adjournment shall always be in order. 15. An amendment may be moved on any motion, and shall be decided before the original motion. 16. If a motion under debate contains several parts, any two members may have it divided, and a question taken on each part. 17. The previous question shall be in this form; "Shall the main question be now put?" and when demanded by a majority of the members present, shall be put without debate; and until it is decided, shall preclude all amendment and further debate on the main question. 18. If the previous question be decided in the affirmative, the main question shall be immediately put without debate; in the negative, the debate may proceed. 19. A question shall not be again called up, or reconsider ed at the same sessions of the judicatory at which it has been decided, unless by the consent of two-thirds of the members who were present at the decision; and, unless the motion to reconsider be made and seconded by persons who voted with the majority. 20. A subject which has been indefinitely postponed, either by the operation of the previous question, or by a direct motion for indefinite postponement, shall not be again called up during the same sessions of the judicatory, unless by the con sent of three-fourths of the members who were present at the decision. 21. Every member, when speaking, shall address himselt to the moderator, and shall treat his fellow-members, and especially the moderator, with decorum and respect. 22. Without express permission, no member of a judicatory while business is going on, shall engage in private conversation; nor shall members address one another, nor any person present, but through the moderator. 23. No speaker shall be interrupted, unless he be out of order, or for the purpose of correcting mistakes or misrepre sentations. 24. It is indispensable that members of ecclesiastical judicatories maintain great gravity and dignity while judicially convened; that they attend closely, in their speeches, to the subject under consideration, and avoid prolix and desultory harangues; and when they deviate from the subject, it is the privilege of any member, and the duty of the moderator, to call them to order. 25. No member, in the course of debate, shall be allowed to indulge in personal reflections. 26. If more than one member rise to speak at the same time, the member who is most distant from the moderator's chair shall speak first. 27. When more than three members of the judicatory shall be standing at the same time, the moderator shall require all to take their seats, the person only excepted who may be speaking. 28. If any member act, in any respect, in a disorderly manner, it shall be the privilege of any member, and the duty of the moderator, to call him to order. 29. If any member consider himself as aggrieved by a decision of the moderator, it shall be his privilege to appeal to the judicatory; and the question on such appeal shall be taken without debate. 30. Members ought not, without weighty reasons, to decline voting, as this practice might leave the decision of very interesting questions to a small proportion of the judicatory. Silent members, unless excused from voting, must be considered as acquiescing with the majority. 31. It is the duty of the moderator to appoint all committees, except in those cases in which the judicatory shall decide otherwise. 32. The person first named on any committee, shall be considered as the chairman thereof, whose duty it shall be to convene the committee; and, in case of his absence, or inability to act, the second named member shall take his place, and per form his duties. 33. When various motions are made with respect to the filling of blanks with particular numbers or times, the question shall always be first taken on the highest number, and the longest time. 34. When the moderator has commenced taking the vote, no further debate or remark shall be admitted, unless there has evidently been a mistake; in which case, the mistake shall be rectified, and the moderator shall recommence taking the vote. 35. When a vote is taken by ballot in any judicatory, the moderator shall vote with the other members; but he shall not vote in any other case, unless the judicatory be equally divi, ded; when, if he do not choose to vote, the question shall be lost. 36. The yeas and nays on any question shall not be recorded, unless it be required by one-third of the members pre sent. 37. All judicatories have a right to sit in private, on business which, in their judgment, ought not to be matter of public speculation. 38. Besides the right to sit judicially in private, whenever they think it right to ao so, al. judicatories have a right to hold what are commonly called "interlocutory meetings," or a sort of committees of the whole judicatory, in which members may freely converse together without the formalities which are usually necessary in judicial proceedings. 39. Whenever a judicatory is about to sit in a judicial capacity, it shall be the duty of the moderator, solemnly to announce from the chair, that the body is about to pass to the consideration of the business assigned for trial; and to enjoin` on the members to recollect and regard their high character, |