Trust-deeds are forms of conveyances of real es- tate specifying some trust for which the property is held. At an early period of his history Wesley pub- lished a model deed for the settlement of chapels, to the effect that the trustees, for the time being, should per- mit Wesley himself, and such other persons as he might from 'time to time appoint, to have the free use of such
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premises, to preach therein God's word. After his death, and that of Charles Wesley and William (Irinishaw, the chapels were to be held in trust for the sole use of such persons as might be appointed at the yearly conference of the people called Methodists, provided tliat the said persons preached no other doctrines than those contain- ed in Wesley's Kotes on (he New Teal., and in liis four volumes of iSe?-moiis. This was followed, on Feb. 28, 1784, by the Deed of Declaration, explaining the words '• yearly conference of the people called Methodists." This Deed of Declaration is recognised in the trust- deeds of all the chapels built by the Wesleyans. In the Methodist Episcopal Church it is directed tliat the fol- lowing trust-clause shall be inserted in each deed: "In trust, that said premises shall be nsed, kept, maintained, and disposed of as a place of divine worship for the use of the ministry and membership of the Methodist Epis- copal Church in the United States of America; subject to the discipline, usage, and ministerial appointments of said Church, as from time to time authorized and de- clared by the General Conference of said Church, and the Annual Conference within whose bounds the said prem- ises are situate. In trust, that said premises shall beheld, kept, and maintained as a place of residence for the use and occu]iancy of the preachers of the Metiiodist Epis- copal Church in the United States of America who may, from time to time, be stationed in said place; siil)ject to the usage and discipline of said Church, as from time to time authorized and declared by the General Confer- ence of said Church, and by the Annual Conference within whose bounds said premises are situate."
Trustees are Church officers appointed for the pur- poses of holding the legal title to Church property, and of taking care thereof. In the different branches of Jlethodisin there are some differences of provision, but in general principles they are the same. In the Meth- odist Episcopal Church the Discipline says, " Each board of trustees of our Church ]jroperty shall consist of not less than three nor more than nine persons, each of whom shall be not less than twenty-one years of age, two thirds of whom shall be members of the jMethodist Episcopal Church." Where the Church has not received a legal act of incorporation or charter, and where the law of the state does not specify any particular mode of election, " the trustees are elected annually by the Fourth (Quarterly Conference . . . upon the nomination of the preacher in charge, or the presiding elder of the district. Where the state or territory directs the mode of elec- tion, that mode must be strictly observed; and where charters of incorporation are obtained, they specify the particular qiialilications and time of election of these officers."
The trustees have the charge of all re]iairs to be made on Cliurch property, and of all financial matters pertaining to its preservation; are directed by the 7Vi,<- eipline to make an annual report to the Fourth Quarter- ly Conference of the amount and value of the property, expenditures and liabilities, etc.; and are held amena- ble to the Quarterly Conference for the manner in which they perform their duty. By the action of the (ieneral Conference of 1876 trustees are forbidden to '■ mortgage or encumber the real estate for the current expenses of the Church."
TRUSTEES, General Boakd of. The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1864, appointed a committee of seven to report a plan of trus- teeship. The report of the committee was adopted, and is siilistantially the same as the section of the Discipline on that suljject. The General Conference appointed a board whose headquarters should be at Cincinnati, and which was incorporated with the title of " the Board of Trustees of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States," and its char- ter was recorded July 11, 1865. According to the Dis- <-ipline, "The duty of the board shall be to hold in trust, for the benetit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, any
and all donations, bequests, grants, and funds in trust, etc., that may be given or conveyed to said board, or to the Methodist Episcopal Church, as such, for any be- nevolent object, and to administer the said funds, and the proceeds of the same, in accordance with the direc- tion of the donors," etc.
Truth, conformity to fact.
1. It has been distinguished by most philosophical writers, according as it respects being, knowledge, and speech, into
(1.) Veritas enfis, or truth of the thing. The founda- tion of all truth is in truth of being — that truth by which a thing is what it is, by which it has its own nature and jjroperties; and has not merely the appear- ance, but reality, of being. Philosophy is the knowl- edge of being; and if there were no real being — that is, if truth could not be predicated of things— there could be no knowledge.