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 PRESBYTERIANISM 809 merly crowned, the palace of the archbishop of Gran, the city hall, and a German theatre. The city has a law school, a Roman Catholic seminary, a Protestant lyceum, and a number of other institutions. Among the historical curiosities are the old castle, once a royal resi- dence, ruined by a fire in 1811, and the "coro- nation hill," an artificial mound, which the newly crowned kings ascended, brandishing the sword of St. Stephen. Cotton, woollen, and silk goods, leather, oil, and tobacco are manu- factured. Presburg became the capital of Hun- gary after Buda was taken by the Turks in 1529, and remained so till Joseph II. again made Buda the administrative capital in 1784. It continued, however, to be the legislative capital down to 1848, when the seat of the diet was transferred to Pesth. Presburg was cap- tured in 1619 by Bethlen Gabor, prince of Transylvania, but was recaptured by the impe- rial troops in 1621. After the battle of Aus- terlitz, the treaty between France and Austria was concluded at Presburg (Dec. 26, 1805). The city was taken by the French in 1809. PRESBITERIANISM (Gr. Kpeafttrepoc, elder), a system of church government by presbyters. These consist of two classes, teaching and ruling elders, the former answering to pastors or ministers, and the latter being the elected representatives of the congregation, and uniting with the pastor in the exercise of discipline. The pastor of a church and its ruling elders constitute the session of the local church, and manage its internal affairs. From its decision an appeal may be taken to the presbytery, which is composed of the pastor and an elder from each of the congregations within its bounds. In this country ministers without charge may also be members of the presbytery. The synod, to which appeal maybe made from presbytery, is composed of several adjoining presbyteries. The general assembly, composed of representatives from all the presbyteries, may entertain appeals from synods ^ in cer- tain cases, but it can make no constitutional changes till the matter in question has been submitted to the presbyteries and has met their approval. In the established church of Scot- land, a " commission " appointed by the assem- bly exercises to some extent executive and ju- dicial functions. Notwithstanding the diver- sity in the names and methods of these judi- catures, a church may be strictly presbyterian without being dependent on the higher judi- catories. Presbyterians believe in the parity of the ministry, and that each congregation has the right to elect its own officers. Elders are generally elected for life, although the French Reformed church elected them for a specified term, and this practice has of late been quite extensively revived in the United States. By the action of the northern general assembly in May, 1875, based upon the favor- able response of a majority of the presbyte- ries to an overture sent down to them in 1874, all the churches under its care are now at lib- erty to adopt in the election of elders the prin- ciple of term service. Presbyterians believe that the representative system of church gov- ernment, in opposition to that which is con- ducted by the entire ecclesiastical population, has its germ in the Old Testament ; inasmuch as the people of Israel, at various periods of their history, had " wise and able men " set over them, who were styled elders ; and especially as this is well known to have been a distinctive feature of the synagogue system up to the time of the advent of Christ. And as each par- ticular synagogue was governed by a bench of elders, of which the bishop or " angel of the church " was the presiding officer, so the whole Jewish body was reckoned as one. In cases of alleged erroneous judgment, there were al- ways appeals admitted to the "great syna- gogue " at Jerusalem, where .there was an op- portunity of having wrong decisions reversed. The first converts to Christianity being all native Jews, who had been accustomed to the exercise of government by benches of elders, it was natural that they should adopt the rep- resentative plan in organizing the primitive church. Accordingly, we read in the New Testament of " elders being ordained in every church;" of an important question being re- ferred to a synod made up of " apostles and elders;" of "elders who ruled well, but did not labor in the word and doctrine;" of the " elders of the church being called for to visit and pray over the sick," &c. So also Presby- terians hold that preaching the gospel, " feed- ing the sheep and the lambs " of Christ, and administering the Christian sacraments, are the highest offices intrusted to Christian min- isters; that a plurality of elders was, by di- vine direction, ordained in every church ; that in no instance in the New Testament do we find an organized congregation under the watch and care of a single officer; that bishop and elder are titles given interchangeably to the same persons, showing that the title of bishop in the apostolic age designated the pastor or overseer of a single flock or church. They hold that there is but one commission given to the authorized ministers of the word and sacraments; that the ordaining power is mani- festly represented as possessed and exercised by ordinary pastors, and that ordination is performed by " the laying on of the hands of the presbytery;" that there is not a solitary instance recorded in the New Testament of an ordination being performed by a single indi- vidual ; that even when deacons were set apart to their office, it is evident from the narrative (Acts vi. 1-6) that a plurality laid hands upon them with fasting and prayer. They more- over believe that the whole visible church was regarded as one body, subject to the same au- thority, and regulated by the same judicial de- cisions; in illustration of which they refer to the fact that when a question arose which was of common interest to the whole Christian community, it was decided by a synod of the