554 



MEXICO. 



On June 21st a convention of delegates from 

 the four non-episcopal bodies of Methodists in 

 the United States (Methodist Protestant, Wes- 

 leyan Methodist, Free Methodist, and Independ- 

 ent Methodist) met at Cleveland, Ohio, for the 

 purpose of deliberating on the subject of a per- 

 manent union between these bodies. The con- 

 vention was attended by about 150 delegates, 

 and passed the following resolutions : 



1. That the union of the Methodist bodies here 

 represented is respectfully recommended to the early 

 consideration of the Annual Conferences of the Meth- 

 odist Protestant Church, of the Wesleyan Methodist 

 Connection, of the Free Methodist Church, of the In- 

 dependent Methodist Conference, here represented, 

 and any others of like character who may desire to 

 unite with these. 



2. That we recommend the calling of a convention, 



to be held in Union chapel, Cincinnati, on the second 

 Wednesday of May, 1866, and constituted on the 

 following basis of representation, namely, one min- 

 ister and one layman for each five hundred members, 

 and fractions of over half of five hundred. Said con- 

 vention to be fully authorized to fix upon a basis of 

 union and the mode of its consummation, subject to 

 such confirmatory action by the bodies here repre- 

 sented as may be agreed upon by said convention. 



3. That we recommend that the plan of union shall 

 fully and entirely secure the liberty of the local 

 churches on New Testament principles ; that an 

 efficient itinerant ministry shall be maintained; and 

 that annual and general conferences shall be main- 

 tained, with power to make such regulations con- 

 sistent with the principles and institutions of the 

 New Testament as may be necessary to carry into 

 effect the great principles of Scriptural Christianity. 



The following table presents a statistical sum- 

 mary of all the bodies of Methodists in 1865 : 



* Statistics last reported (I860). Since then this denomination has lost a large number of members in consequence of the war. 



MEXICO. At the commencement of 1865 

 the imperialists were firmly established in all 

 the important places of central Mexico, and 

 controlled probably more than three-fourths of 

 the population of the entire country. The re- 

 publican party had its principal strength in the 

 extreme southern States and in the thinly- 

 populated States bordering on the territory of 

 the United States, though scarcely a town of 

 importance, save Oajaca, in the State of that 

 name, and the seaport Acapulco, was in its pos- 

 session. At Oajaca an army of seven thousand 

 men under Portirio Diaz, aided by secret subsi- 

 dies from the Church party, now in fierce oppo- 

 sition to the imperial cause, had been collected 

 during the latter part of 1864, and was prepared 

 to do battle for the republic. Juarez, with the 

 bare nucleus of an army and a government, occu- 

 pied the town of Chihuahua, in the State of the 

 same name, and between that place and Micho- 

 acan, a distance of about eight hundred miles, 

 were scattered small and imperfectly organized 

 bodies of republican troops under Arteaga, 

 Ortega, Negrete, and others, which maintained 



scarcely a show of resistance to the imperialists. 

 The system of strategy adopted by these generals 

 was to avoid pitched battles, and to rely upon 

 their superior knowledge of the country to sur- 

 prise and defeat detached parties of the enemy, 

 to interrupt communications, and generally to 

 harass and weaken the imperial forces. The 

 regular troops in the republican service, if in- 

 deed such an organization can be said to have 

 been in existence since 1864, probably did not 

 exceed fifteen thousand in number, and were 

 poorly armed and clad, and without discipline. 

 The well-trained foreign troops of the Emperor 

 found little difficulty in defeating them when- 

 ever a battle was risked, and their lack of small- 

 arms, artillery, and munitions made them de- 

 cidedly inferior even to the native troops in tho 

 imperial service. But in the guerrilla bands 

 which infested every province of the country 

 and prowled around the gates of populous and 

 well-guarded cities (the capital itself proving no 

 exception), the republican cause had a most 

 formidable auxiliary ; nor could the utmost 

 severity or vigilance of the imperial generals 



