THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
burg, and Schaffhausen. Those instituted at Bern and Basel soon lapsed. In Graubunden (Grisons) the synod had almost independent conduct of church affairs. In Geneva, the choice of the clergy lay with the Compagnie des pasteurs, and the church discipline in the hands of a consistory whose members were the six pastors of the town, and twelve men chosen by the council. The entire church government in Neuchatel lay in the hands of the Compagnie des pasteurs. In canton Vaud, the discipline and the appointment of pastors, subject to confirmation by the government, was vested in the five classes. The union of classes into synods was not invariable, and ceased in the seventeenth century. The current church administration was conducted by a board of examiners in Zurich, consisting of members of the council, pastors, and professors, presided over by the antistes, i.e., the pastor of the Great Minster and president of the synod. It examined and ordained candidates, offered suggestions to the council for the election of pastors, and had supervision of the clergy. Similar boards existed in Schaffhausen, Basel, and other cantons under an antistes or dean. The chapter of Roman Catholic times survived in the assemblies of the clergy of smaller districts, under the name of classes as in Bern and Vaud, or colloquies as in Graubunden, their presiding officer being generally called dean. In Glarus, Appenzell, and Graubunden, the congregations had the right to choose and dismiss their pastors, but in most cantons this was the prerogative of the government, or of the hitherto existing collators acting on the suggestion of the examiners or church conventions. Even from the time before the Reformation the congregations in many cantons had variously constituted and differently named administrative boards which regulated discipline and morals, the observance of festivals, attendance at church, management of church property, and charities, and formed the first court of marriage discipline. Absolute church discipline to the extent of exclusion from the communion devolved on these boards only in the cantons of Basel, Schaffhausen, Xeuchatel, and Geneva, in the last of which very severe civil penalties were associated with those of the Church, such as expulsion. The synods began to lose power, or ceased altogether in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the church interests became more and more those of the State. With the founding of the Helvetian republic, a plan was projected for a unified church organization, but was not put into effect. The Helvetian eovernment held the highest ecclesiastical authority, the minister of arts and sciences being also minister of religion. During the intermediate period the old forms were revived. The newly formed cantons of St. Gall and Thurgau were given synods and church councils, but Aargau, only a church council. In 1 830 the political changes occasioned alterations in the church constitution looking toward more independence from the State. A few church synods obtained the right of decision in purely church matters, subject to the ratification of the grand council, and the right of approval in matters not purely ecclesiastical, as in Zurich, St. Gall, Thurgau. Others, as in Schaffhausen, Appen-
zell, had only, even in purely church affairs, the right to propose measures. Mixed synods, with a limited clerical representation, were established in Bern (1852), Neuchatel (1848), Freiburg (1854), and Glarus (1845). Popular synods, with absolute free choice, belong to a recent date. Basel-Stadt had a church council, but no synod; Basel-Land no definite church constitution. The chapter-general in Aargau had the right of decision in purely church matters; and in others the right of approval. The cantons are independent of each other in church matters, there being no Swiss Reformed Church, in the legal sense; but only cantonal state churches. No one is obliged to belong to the established church of his canton; however, 2. Present a Protestant removing from one can- Church ton to another is ipso facto regarded Constitution, as an adherent of the state church where he takes up his residence. Between 1863 and 1903 new church laws were made in thirteen principal cantons, including Bern and Geneva (1874), and Zurich (1902). In Schaffhausen the law of 1854 is in contradiction with the constitution of 1876. Basel-Land has as yet no church law. In purely internal church affairs (worship, hymnal, liturgy, or materials for religious instruction), the organizations decide, with or without the pleasure of the State; but in mixed affairs the State decides, subject to the approval of the church organization (supervision of church properties, pay of the clergy, or division of parishes). In Glarus, Freiburg, Appenzell, St. Gall, Thurgau, the independence of the Church or of individual churches is predominant; in Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Aargau, Vaud, and Geneva, the material competence of the state authorities. The churches set up no formal creed, but declare themselves members of the Christian church, or of the Evangelical church, or avow the principles of the Reformation. Some deny all confessional form as qualification for synodal rights and ecclesiastical offices. All citizen voters who belong to the Reformed faith, or submit to the church regulations, constitute a parish community. Outsiders have a church vote in Appenzell and Neuchatel. Parishes in all the cantons may choose their pastor; in Vaud, however, they have only two nominations to the government. Most have the choice of the church governing boards; many the choice of the members of the synod; some have either the sole right with reference to worship, hymn-book, and liturgy, or the right to veto the proposals of the synod. The church board of which the pastor is member ex officio or advisory member, generally has supervision of the order of worship, of pastoral activity, specially of instruction, moral discipline, and official or non-official charge of the poor. The synods (consistory in Geneva) are either absolute legislative bodies, in purely church affairs, or are subject to the state authorities or to the churches. They are constituted of representatives of the parishes, or of parishes and the State combined, or election districts, or of the entire canton, or of district boards. The term is three, four, or six years, and the sessions are usually annual (monthly in Geneva). The highest board of administration, variously