if he fail to show sufficient cause for such refusal, he shall be expelled.

¶ 265. If any member of our Church shall refuse, in case of debt or other dispute, to refer the matter to arbitration when recommended so to do by the Preacher in Charge, or shall enter into a lawsuit with another member before these measures are taken, he shall be brought to trial, and if he fail to show that the case is of such a nature as to require and justify a process at law, he shall be expelled.

¶ 266. If, in the case of debt or dispute, one of the parties is a Minister, the duties laid on the Preacher in Charge in the foregoing paragraph shall be performed by the District Superintendent of the Minister concerned. If both are Ministers, the District Superintendent of either may act in the case.

VI. Insolvency

267. Preachers in Charge are required to execute all our Rules fully and strenuously against all frauds, and particularly against dishonest insolvencies, suffering no one to remain in our Church on any account who is found guilty of any fraud.

¶ 268. To prevent scandal, when any member of the Church fails in business, or contracts debts which he is not able to pay, let two or three judicious members of the Church inspect the accounts, contracts, and circumstances of the supposed delinquent; and if they judge that he has behaved dishonestly, or borrowed money without a probability of paying, let him be brought to trial, and, if found guilty, expelled.

VII. General Directions Concerning Trials

269. In all cases of trial of members let all witnesses for the Church be duly notified by the Preacher in Charge. The order concerning absent witnesses and witnesses from without shall be the same as that observed in the trial of Ministers. The accused shall have the right to call to his assistance as counsel any member or Minister in good and regular standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

¶ 270. In all cases requiring the accused member to be expelled the Preacher in Charge shall pronounce the sentence of expulsion.

¶ 271. An expelled person shall have no privileges of Society or of the Sacraments in our Church with. out confession, contrition, and satisfactory reformation.

¶ 272. In all cases of trial and appeal it is improper for the Presiding Officer to deliver a charge to the Committee explaining the evidence and setting forth the merits of the case.

273. The several Annual Conferences shall, at each session, select five Elders, men of experience and sound judgment in the affairs of the Church, who shall be known as Triers of Appeals.

274. When notice of Appeal is given to the President of an Annual Conference, he shall proceed, with due regard to the wishes and rights of

the Appellant, to designate three Conferences conveniently near to that from which the Appeal is taken, whose Triers of Appeals shall constitute a Judicial Conference, and to fix the time and place of its session. He shall also give notice thereof to all concerned. When said Judicial Conference shall have assembled it shall be competent to try Appeals which may be presented to it from any Conference conveniently near, due notice having been given to all concerned.

¶ 275. The Appellant shall have the right of peremptory challenge, yet so that the Triers of Appeals present, and ready to proceed with the hearing, shall not fall below eleven, which number shall be required for a quorum.

¶ 276. A Bishop shall preside in the Judicial Conference, and shall decide all Questions of Law arising in its proceedings, subject to an appeal to the General Conference. The Conference shall appoint a Secretary, who shall keep a faithful record of all the proceedings, and shall, at the close of the trial, transmit the records made and the papers submitted in the case, or certified copies thereof, to the Secretary of the preceding General Conference, to be filed for review at the next General Conference.

284. And

in all cases the findings of the Judicial Conference shall be reported by its Secretary to the Secretary of the Annual Conference whose membership is affected thereby, and the same shall be published in the Minutes of said Conference.

CHAPTER VIII

APPEAL OF BISHOP

¶ 277. A Bishop shall have the right of Appeal to the ensuing General Conference, if he signify his intention to appeal within three months of the time when he is informed of his conviction. And in case of an Appeal, the record of the trial and all the documents relating to the case, including the charges and specifications, shall be transmitted to the ensuing General Conference, which record and documents only shall be used in evidence in the trial of the Appeal. The General Conference may, at its discretion, hear the Appeal by a Judicial Committee of its own number.

CHAPTER IX

APPEAL OF MEMBER OF CONFERENCE

278. In all cases of trial and conviction of Members of the Annual Conferences, an Appeal shall be allowed to a Judicial Conference, constituted as herein before provided, if the condemned person signify his intention to appeal within three months of the time when he is informed of his conviction.

¶ 279. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Annual Conference carefully to preserve the minutes of the trial, whether before a Select Number or before the Conference, and all the documents relating to the case, together with the charge or charges, and the specification or specifications; which minutes and documents only, in case of an Appeal

from the decision of an Annual Conference, shall be presented to the Judicial Conference as evidence in the case.

¶ 280. In all cases where an Appeal is made, and admitted by the Judicial Conference, after the charges,, findings, and evidence have been read, the Appellant shall state, either personally or by his representative, the grounds of his Appeal, showing the reason why he appeals, and he shall be allowed to make his Appeal without interruption. After which the Representatives of the Annual Conference from whose decision the Appeal is made shall be permitted to respond in presence of the Appellant, who shall have the privilege of replying to such Representatives, which reply shall close the pleadings on both sides. This done, the parties shall withdraw, and the Judicial Conference shall decide the case. It may reverse, in whole or in part, the findings of the Annual Conference, or it may remand the case for a new trial. It may determine what penalty, not higher than that affixed by the Annual Conference, shall be imposed. If it neither reverse, in whole or in part, the judgment of the Annual Conference, nor remand the case for a new trial, the judgment of the Annual Conference shall stand. But it shall not reverse the judgment, nor remand the case for a new trial on account of errors plainly not affecting the result. Counsel on both sides shall be Members of an Annual Conference.

281. Appeals from an Annual Conference in the United States not easily accessible, may, at the discretion of the President thereof, be heard by a Judicial Conference selected from among the more accessible Conferences. Appeals from an Annual or Mission