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ARTICLES. requires subscription. It was felt that subscrip- tion to a body of doctrinal statements was an excessive obligaticjn, if it were meant to imply literal agreement with every sentence'. To avoid further ambigviities, and to relieve clerical con- sciences on this point, the Clerical Subscription Act of 1866 did away with subscription in the <"ase of the clergy, and substituted a declaration of assent to the Articles and Prayer Book. The University Test Act of 1871 relea.sed members of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durliam universities (except divinity students and holders of offices with clerical functions i from the obligation of signing them, and threw open the doors of these institutions to jjcrsons of varying religious beliefs.

They were ado])ted by the Convocation of the Irish Church in 163.5. and by the Scottish Epis- copal Church in 1804. After the oi-ganization of the American Episcopal Church they were adopted by the General Convention of 1801, with a few slight changes covering references to civil affairs, to the Athanasian Creed, which that body dropped from the Prayer Book, and to the Book of Homilies. That they are not, in their original form, satisfactory to extreme Protestants is shown by the fact that the Reformed Episcopal Church modified a number of them into a more Tjjimistakably anti-Roman sense in 1875, and that Wesley modified and shortened them into 2.5 for the Jlethodist Episcopal Church in America in 1784. Consult: Browne, Expositimi of the Thirly-nine Articles (London, 1850) : Forbes, An Expla- nation of the Thirty-nine Articles (London, 1867).

ARTICLES OF ASSO'CIA'TION. A written instrument, setting forth the purposes, terms, and conditions of the association of several persons for the prosecution of a Joint enterprise. It is primarily a contract, binding the parties thereto, severally, to one another for its per- formance; but it may, when duly executed and filed, have by law the force and efi'ect of a charter of incorporation. Such is the usual mode of in- corporating companies under the general corpora- tion laws of the I'nited States. See Comp. t; Corporation ; Incorporation.

In England the term is employed to describe the printed regulations for the conduct of the business of a joint-stock company, organized and registered under the Companies Act of 1862. See Joint-Stock Company.

ARTICLES OF CONFED'ERA'TION. See United States, section on nistori/.

ARTICLES OF FAITH. The summarized statements of the views held and taught by a religious body as the essential doctrine of its system. They have been divided, by Protestant writers, into articles that are fundamental and those that are non-fundamental. The best-known articles of faith are the Apostles' Creed ; the Nicene Creed, established by the Council of Nice (A.I). 325); the Athanasian Creed; the state- ments of faith promulgated by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381), and by the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431); the Thirty-nine Articles (see Articles, The Thirty-nine) of the Church of England, drawn up by Cranmer and Ridley, the Augsburg Confession, the Helvetic Confes- sion, the Thirty seven Articles of the Church of the Netherlands, the Westminster Confession, and the Articles of the Methodist Ejiiscopal Church. No definite articles of faith appear to have been drawn up by the primitive Church until the spread of Christianity and the geo- graphical separation of its different branches made some brief formularies necessary as a basis of union. See Creed.s and Confessions.

ARTICLES OF WAR, United States. The discipline and disciplinary procedure code of the United States Army. The articles, or rules, were originally copied from the English JIutiny Act, July 30, 1775, and then enlarged, Septemuer 20, 1776. The present articles, which are substantially the same as the former, were enacted April 10, 1806, and form Section 1342, United States Revised Statutes, being printed in full in the United States Army Regulations. They commence by a statement declaring that the armies of the United States shall be governed by these rules and articles; that the word officer, as used therein, shall be understood to designate commissioned officers; and the word soldier — all non-commissioned officers, musicians, artificers, privates, and other enlisted men; and the convictions mentioned therein shall be understood to be convictions by courts-martial. There are 128 articles altogether, to which all commissioned officers must subscribe on appointment. Under these articles expressions or conduct implying disrespect or disobedience toward the President, or those placed in authority, are prohibited; but provision is made for appeal against the decision or conduct of a superior, ilutiny, sedition, quarrels, frays and other disorders; dueling, and all that pertains to it; drunkenness on duty; sleeping on duty; and desertion of duty, as well as all other forms of misconduct during war, come under distinct clauses. The authority and order of procedure for every description of courts-martial or courts of inquiry is explicitly stated, as well as the law to be obseired in the discharge or dismissal of officers; the disposal of the effects of deceased officers or men; and the treatment of spies. Subordination to civil authority is enjoined, attendance at divine service encouraged, and punishment ordered in instances of profanity or abuse. Soldiers are also forbidden to hire other soldiers to perform any of their duties. The concluding article ordains that the articles shall be read and published once in every six months to every garrison, regiment, troop, or company in the services of the United States, and shall be duly observed and obeyed by all officers and soldiers. See Military Law and Courts, Military.

ARTIC'ULA'TA (Lat. nom. neut. plur. of arliculatus, jointed, from articuhis. joint) or Articulated Animals. One of the primary di- visions of the animal kingdom, according to the system of Cuvier, now divided into several. See Annulata ; Artiiropoda; Scolecida.

ARTIF'ICER (from Lat. art if ex. a master in the liberal arts, an artist). A soldier who is a mechanic, blacksmith, farrier, wheelwright, carpenter, harness-maker, or machinist, and who is carried on the rolls as an artificer. In the United States Army such a soldier is enlisted as a private, and is appointed artificer by the company commander. He receives the pay of a corporal. In England, he would be assigned to the ordnance store corps, and work at his particular trade. Each regiment has also its corps of pioneers, who are mechanics, and receive extra pay for their