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INTERNAL ORGANISATION.
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terms they may be thus stated. The deacon conducts divine service in the absence of the presbyter, and also manages the Sunday-school, where one exists. All the church books are in his keeping; records of births, deaths, marriages; lists of the poor needing assistance, and of the well-to-do who are willing to assist. He is usually a young man for whose zeal this outlet has been found. The presbyter is a man of greater experience in affairs, looked up to by the whole district, whose decisions are held in the highest respect. His immediate duties are the conduct of public worship, and of services connected with deaths and marriages. He must visit frequently all the villages in his district where the brethren may be scattered, and this in such a cautious way as not to excite the suspicion of the authorities. The cash accounts of the various communities are usually kept by him, and from time to time he gives an account of his management of the funds to the assembled brethren or their delegates. One of the most important duties of the presbyter is to conduct a correspondence with the presbyters of other districts, and to be the medium between any brethren he may know who are in gaol or in exile and their relatives. Of course, strict adherence to these arrangements is not always obtained, but this is a sketch of the model which is generally sought after, and which is most popular.[1] It should be added that ordination by laying on of hands is not always the rule among the Stundists; and the further remark will also be useful, that neither in dress nor in occupation is a Stundist presbyter or deacon to be distinguished from his fellows. His dress

  1. Our remarks on the details of the organisation of Stundist communities deal with, the normal position of the affairs of this body. Within the last three years, however, the persecution has been so fierce, and the consequent internal disorder be complete, that at the present moment it can hardly be said that the Stundists have any well-ordered communities at all.