1804. The eighth item reads, "Who are the supernumerary, superannuated, and worn-out preachers ?"

1812. The seventh item reads, "Who have located this year?" The eighth item of 1804 is divided so as to read,-"8. Who are the supernumeraries ? 9. Who are the superannuated or worn-out preachers?" The following item was added :-"11. Who have withdrawn from the connection this year?"

1832. After the ninth item, (1812,) the following was added:" Every superannuated preacher, who may reside without the bounds of the conference of which he is a member, shall annually forward to his conference a certificate of his Christian and ministerial conduct, together with an account of the number and circumstances of his family, signed by the presiding elder of the district, or the preacher in charge of the circuit or station within whose bounds he may reside; without which the conference shall not be required to allow his claim."

The fifteenth item (fourteenth, 1800) was thus expressed :- "What amounts are necessary for the superannuated preachers, and the widows and orphans of preachers, and to make up the deficiencies of those who have not obtained their regular allowance on the circuits?" The sixteenth (fifteenth, 1792) thus:-" What has been collected on the foregoing accounts, and how has it been applied?" A new item was also inserted, namely, "17. What has been contributed for the support of missions, and what for the publication of Bibles, tracts, and Sunday-school books?"

1840. After the eighth item, (1812,) the following was added:-"A supernumerary preacher, who refuses to attend to the work assigned him, unless in case of sickness, or other unavoidable cause or causes, shall not be allowed to exercise the functions of his office, nor even to preach among us; nevertheless, the final determination of the case shall be with the annual conference of which he is a member, who shall have

power to acquit, suspend, locate, or expel him, as the case may be."

Third, Miscellaneous Questions.

1787. The following was added:

"Quest. 3. Is there any other business to be done in the conference?

"Ans. The electing and ordaining of bishops,* elders, and deacons.'

1792. The following was added:

"Quest. 11. How are the districts to be formed? "Ans. According to the judgment of the bishop. "N. B. In case that there be no bishop to travel through the district, and exercise the Episcopal office, on account of death, the districts shall be regulated in every respect by the district conferences and the presiding elders till the ensuing General Conference, (ordinations only excepted.")+

1796. The following question was inserted :"Quest. 7. Are there any other directions to be given concerning the yearly conferences?

"Ans. There shall be six conferences in the year, as follows, namely:" [The boundaries of the annual conferences are given, in this and in subsequent editions until 1804, in this connection; but as this

* It will be remembered that this was prior to the distinction be. tween general and annual conferences. When that took place, (in 1792,) the word "bishops" was struck out of this answer. This was the first time that the title " bishop" was applied to the "superintendents" in the Discipline. Afterward it was generally substituted for the latter.

+ It will be perceived that in 1792 the Discipline contemplated the holding of an annual conference in each presiding elder's district. And such was the practice of that day, as many as four such confer. ences being held in a month, and twenty of them in a year, by a single bishop. In 1796 the yearly conferences, as they were now called, were reduced in number to six, each including a number of districts, and their boundaries were fixed by the General Conference. Never. theless, the above question and note were still retained, only chang ing the name " district conferences," in the note, to "yearly confer ences." But as a presiding elder's district was now but a fraction of a conference, the provisions of this clause were, of course, more limited in their application.

portion of the Discipline was afterward transferred to Part ii, Sec. 1, we shall there present a connected view of the whole.]

1800. The following was added at the close of the section:-"A record of the proceedings of each annual conference shall be kept by a secretary, chosen for that purpose; and let a copy of the said record be sent to the General Conference.

"Each annual conference is to pay its proportionable part toward the allowances of the bishops."

1804. The following portions of this section were transferred to Part ii, and constituted its first section, namely, the boundaries of the annual conferences, (1796) Question 11 and the note (1792,) and the last sentence added in 1800. These have been the subjects of Section 1, Part ii, from that time to the present.

The number and order of the questions relating to the annual conferences have not been altered since 1804.

SECTION IV.

Of the Election and Consecration of Bishops, and of their Duty.*

1784. At the organization of the church the following provisions were introduced respecting the superintendency :

"Quest. 26. What is the office of a superintendent? "Ans. To ordain superintendents, elders, and deacons; to preside as a moderator in our conferences; to fix the appointments of the preachers for the several circuits; and, in the intervals of the conference, to

* Prior to the organization of the church, the superintendence of the societies was committed to the general assistant. In 1779 we find the following minute as to his authority :

"Quest. 13. How far shall his power extend?

"Ans. On hearing every preacher for and against what is in debate, the right of determination shall rest with him according to the Minutes."

change, receive, or suspend preachers, as necessity may require; and to receive appeals from the preachers and people, and decide them.*

"N. B. No person shall be ordained a superintendent, elder, or deacon, without the consent of a majority of the conference, and the consent and imposition of hands of a superintendent; except in the instance provided for in the twenty-ninth minute.

"Quest. 27. To whom is the superintendent amenable for his conduct?

"Ans. To the conference; who have power to expel him for improper conduct, if they see it necessary. "Quest. 28. If the superintendent ceases from travelling at large among the people, shall he exercise his office in any degree?

"Ans. If he ceases from travelling without the consent of the conference, he shall not thereafter exercise ministerial function whatsoever in our church.

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Quest. 29. If by death, expulsion, or otherwise, there be no superintendent remaining in our church, what shall we do?

"Ans. The conference shall elect a superintendent, and the elders or any three of them shall ordain him, according to our Liturgy."

1789. This subject was treated in the fourth section, entitled, "On the constituting of Bishops, and their Duty."

The following was substituted for the "N. B.," 1784:

Quest. 2. How is a bishop to be constituted in future?

"Ans. By the election of a majority of the conference, and the laying on of the hands of a bishop."

The following is added to the duties of a bishop, (Question 26, 1784):-" To travel through as many circuits as he can, and to direct in the spiritual business of the societies;" and he was now deprived of the power to receive appeals from the preachers and people, and to decide them."

Question 29, (1784,) struck out.

1792. The section took the place and the title which it now holds, and read as follows:

“Quest. 1. How is a bishop to be constituted in future?

"Ans. By the election of the General Conference, and the laying on of the hands of three bishops, or at least of one bishop and two elders.

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Quest. 2. If by death, expulsion, or otherwise, there be no bishop remaining in our church, what shall we do?

"Ans. The General Conference shall elect a bishop; and the elders, or any three of them, that shall be appointed by the General Conference for that purpose, shall ordain him according to our office of ordination. "Quest. 3. What is the bishop's duty?"

"Ans. 1. To preside in our conferences.

"2. To fix the appointments of the preachers for the several circuits.

"3. In the intervals of the conferences to change, receive, or suspend preachers, as necessity may require.

"4. To travel through the connection at large. "5. To oversee the spiritual and temporal business of the societies.

"6. To ordain bishops, elders, and deacons. Quest. 4. To whom is the bishop amenable for his conduct?

"Ans. To the General Conference, who have power to expel him for improper conduct, if they see it necessary.

Quest. 5. What provision shall be made for the trial of an immoral bishop, in the interval of the General Conference ?

"Ans. If a bishop be guilty of immorality, three travelling elders shall call upon him, and examine him on the subject and if the three elders verily believe that the bishop is guilty of the crime, they shall call to their aid two presiding elders from two districts in the neigh

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