"In case one diocese shall be divided into two or more dioceses, the diocesan of the diocese divided may elect the one to which he will be attached, aud shall thereupon become the diocesan thereof; and the assistant bishop, if there be one, may elect the one to which he will be at- tached; and if it be not the one elected by the bishop, he shall be the diocesan thereof.
"Whenever the division of a diocese into two or more dioceses shall be ratified by the General Convention, each of the dioceses shall be subject to the constitution and canons of the diocese so divided, except as local circum- stances may prevent, until the same may be altered in ei- ther diocese by the convention thereof. And whenever a diocese shall be formed out of two or more existing dio- ceses, the new diocese shall be subject to the constitu- tion and canons of that one of the said existing dioceses to which the greater number of clergymen shall have be- longed prior to the erection of such new diocese, until the same may be altered by the convention of the new dio- cese.
"Art. VI. The mode of trying bishops shall be pro- vided by the General Convention. The court appointed for that purpose shall be composed of bishops only. Iu every diocese, the mode of trying presbyters and deacons may be instituted by the convention of the diocese. None but a bishop shall pronounce sentence of admonition, sus- peusion, or degradation from the ministry, on any clergy- man, whether bishop, presbyter, or deacon.
"Art. VII. No person shall be admitted to holy orders until he shall have been examined by the bishop and by two presbyters, and shall have exhibited such testimoni-
als and other requisites as the canons in that case pro- vided may direct. Nor shall any person be ordained un- til he shall have subscribed the following declaration :
" 'I do believe the Holy Scriptures oflhe Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation ; and 1 do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and worship of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church in the United States.'
"No person ordained by a foreign bishop shall be per- mitted to officiate as a minister of this Church until he shall have complied with the canon or canons iu that case provided, and have also subscribed the aforesaid declaration.
"Art. VIII. A Book of Common Prayer, administra- tion of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, articles of religion, and a form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating bishops, priests, and deacons, when established by this or a future Gener- al Convention, shall be used in the Protestant Episcopal Church in those dioceses which shall have adopted this Constitution. No alteration or addition shall be made in the Book of Common Prayer, or other offices of the Chinch, or the articles of religion, unless the same shall be proposed in one General Convention, aud by a resolve thereof made known to the convention of every diocese, and adopted at the subsequent General Convention, Pro- vided, however, that the General Convention shall have power, from time to lime, to amend the Lectionary; but no act for this purpose shall be valid which is not voted for by a majority of the whole number of bishops entitled to seats in the House of Bishops, and by a majority of all the dioceses entitled to representation in the House of Deputies.
"Art. IX. This Constitution shall be unalterable, un- less in General Convention, by the Church, in a majority of the dioceses which may have adopted the same; and all alterations shall be first proposed iu one General Con- vention, and made known to the several diocesan conven- tions, before they shall be finally agreed to or ratified in the ensuing General Convention.
"Art. X. Bishops for foreign countries, on due appli- cation therefrom, may be consecrated, with the approba- tion of the bishops of this Church, or a majority of them, signified to the presiding bishop, he thereupon taking or- der for the same, and they being satisfied that the person designated for the office has been duly chosen and prop- erly qualified; the Order of Consecration to be conform- ed, as nearly as may he, in the judgment of the bishops, to the one used in this Church. Such bishops, so conse- crated, shall not be eligible to the office of diocesan or assistant bishop in any diocese in the United States, nor be entitled to a seat in the House of Bishops, nor exer- cise any episcopal authority iu said states."
From the constitution just given it is evident that the General Convention is the highest legislative au- thority in the Church, and its legislation is for the ben- efit of the whole Church throughout the United States. There is as yet no Court of Appeals, although it is felt that there is need of such a court. It is believed that it will ere long be constituted, so as to adjudicate upon all those matters which a body, made up as the General Convention is, cannot adequately judge or act upon. Each diocese, whether a whole state or a portion of a state, is independent of all control except that of the general laws of the Church enacted by the General Con- vention. Each bishop, and the clergy and laity under his jurisdiction, meet in annual convention and legis- late upon all subjects which specially concern the dio- cese and the preaching of the Gospel within its limits. Each parish also, consisting of its rector, vestry, and congregation, is independent in its sphere of labor, sub- ject only to the canons of the diocese and of the whole Church, and to a visitation, at least yearly, of the bish- op of the diocese. Thus freedom of thought and action is secured to all, with a due and proper subordination to higher authority in all cases where higher authority must needs supervene.