Note 5 — Chapter XV · THE SIBERIAN CHURCH.

Besides this parish church committee, there was formerly, and may be now in some instances, in large towns, a “directory,” consisting of about four members. In each diocese there is a “consistory,” of from five to seven members, presided over by the bishop, the whole being under the synod. Appeals, therefore, lie from the directories (where they exist) to the consistory, from the consistory to the bishop, and from the bishop to the synod. The synod, which has equal civil rank with the senate, and the ecclesiastical rank of a patriarch, consists of bishops and priests, whose nomination, appointment, and length of membership depend on the will of the Sovereign. There sits also with them a lay procurator, who is the crown representative, and who has a veto which can be reversed only by appeal to the Emperor.