f instruction than the Word of God contained
in the Holy Scriptures". Every candidate for the ministry is required by
the ecclesiastical law of December 14, 1839, to "swear that he will
discharge conscientiously the duties which the National Reformed
Evangelical Church imposes upon its ministers, and that he will preach
the Word of God in its purity and integrity as it is contained in the
Holy Scriptures". "When accusation is brought against any minister on
the ground of doctrine, the proceedings are distinctly marked; but in
reality it is simply required that 'the jurymen give a conscientious
verdict'."

The _Free Evangelical Church_ of the Canton of Vaud requires that
candidates for the ministry be examined as to their religious life,
their calling to the ministry, their doctrine and their ecclesiastical
principles by a committee of the synodical commission, with pastors and
elders. After examination the candidate must "declare his cordial
adhesion to the doctrines and institutions of the Free Church". This
pledge is verbal.

_Independent Evangelical Church of Neuchatel._

The ancient Reformed Church of Neuchatel never put forth any special
Confession of Faith. The assembly of Pastors, the governing body of the
Church, down to 1848, accepted the Holy Scriptures, the forms used in
baptism and the communion, and the Apostles' Creed as fully adequate to
express the faith of the Church. The Synod, who took over the government
of the Church in 1848, maintained the same position, refusing in 1857 to
sanction an abridged Confession.

On May 20, 1873, the Grand Council of the Republic and Canton of
Neuchatel passed a new law regulating the relation of Church and State.
Article 12 says: "Liberty of conscience in matters of religion is
inviolable; it may neither be fettered by regulations, vows, or
promises, by disciplinary penalties, by formulas or a creed, nor by any
measures whatsoever".

Hence resulted the separation of those that formed the Independent
Evangelical Church of Neuchatel, which, in 1874, adopted a Confession
"acknowledging as the only source and rule of its faith the Old and New
Testaments, and proclaiming the great truths of salvation contained in
the Apostles' Creed". The ministers, on ordination, take an oath to
advance the honour and glory of God above all things; to maintain his
word at the risk of life, body, and property; to be in unity with the
brethren in the doctrines of religion and in the h