630 



METHODISTS. 



a loyal minister who has been appointed by a loyal 

 bishop of said church, does not afiiciate. 



It is a matter of great importance to the Govern- 

 ment in its efforts to restore tranquillity to the commu- 

 nity, and peace to the nation, that Christian Ministers 

 should, by precept and example, support and foster 

 the loyal sentiments of the people. 



Bishop Ames enjoys the entire confidence of this De- 

 partment, and no doubt is entertained that all Minis- 

 ters who may be appointed by him will be entirely 



You are expected to give him all the aid, counte- 

 nance and support practicable in the execution of his 

 important mission. You are also authorized to furnish 

 Bishop Ames and his clerk with transportation and 

 subsistence when it can be done without prejudice to 

 the service, and you will afford them courtesy, assist- 

 ance and protection. 



By order of the Secretary of War, 



E. p. TOWNSEND, 

 Assistant Adjutant-General. 

 



The Missionary Board of the Church appro- 

 priated $35,000 for reorganizing the Church in 

 the reoccupied slave States, and two of the 

 bishops were to this end sent south. 



The Evangelical Association, also called Ger- 

 man Methodists or Albrights, had, according 

 to their almanac (Kalender derEoang. Gfemein- 

 schafl) for 1864, 47,388 members in nine con- 

 ferences (East Pennsylvania, Central Pennsyl- 

 vania, Pittsburg, Illinois, New York, "Wiscon- 

 sin, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana), 386 travelling preach- 

 ers, 589 Sunday schools with 27,070 scholars 

 and 6,046 teachers and officers, 549 churches, 

 of an estimated value of $630,300 and 131 par- 

 sonages, of an estimated value of $69,822. 

 The denomination has 3 literary institutions : 

 Greensburg Seminary, at Greensburg, Summit 

 co., O. ; Union Seminary, at New Berlin, Union 

 co.. Pa. ; and Plainfield Seminary, at Plainfield, 

 Will co., 111. Another one was in the course 

 of construction near Buffalo, N. Y. The Evan- 

 gelical Association held in 1863 its quadrennial 

 General Conference, which began on Oct. iSt 

 at Buffalo. 



The Wesleyan Methodists of England held, 

 in 1863, their 120th Annual Conference, in 

 Sheffield, on July 30th, and the following days. 

 Rev. Dr. Osborn was elected president and 

 Rev. J. Farrar, secretary. Of the " Legal 

 Hundred " ministers who form the Conference, 

 two had died and eight had retired. 



The Missionary Society, according to the last 

 annual report, sustains 4,618 chapels and other 

 preaching places, 889 missionaries, 17,035 sub- 

 ordinate agents, and has in the missionary 

 congregation 142,789 members, besides 13,804 

 on trial, and 146,457 scholars in schools. 



The most important event in the history of 

 British Methodism is the movement toward a 

 union of the several " liberal Methodist 

 bodies/' meaning all the Methodist organiza- 

 tions except the main branch, the Wesleyan 

 Methodists. This movement was inaugurated 

 by the New Connection Methodists, at the an- 

 nual conference, where a resolution was intro- 

 duced and carried with acclamation, in which 

 the hope was expressed " that the day may 

 not be far distant when the several sections of 



liberal Methodism shall become united in more 

 intimate relations." The proposition was well 

 received and cordially seconded by the Primi- 

 tive Methodist Conference. The Conference of 

 the United Methodists adopted by acclamation 

 a resolution, that a union of the various libe/al 

 Methodist communities, founded on a mutually 

 satisfactory basis, would be productive of great 

 advantages to themselves and promote the 

 cause of ecclesiastical freedom and the diffusion 

 of evangelical truth ; and at the same time au- 

 thorized the Connectional Committee to confer 

 with any of the liberal Methodist bodies who 

 might be willing to enter into negotiations, 

 with a view to give effect to the preceding reso- 

 lution. The Conference of the Bible Christians 

 expressed high gratification "that the Method- 

 ist New Connection Conference had shown an 

 earnest disposition to fraternize " with them 

 and the other branches of the Methodist 

 Church, yet in reply to resolutions from the 

 London and Portsmouth districts, recommend- 

 ing the Annual Conference to consider the pro- 

 priety of effecting an amalgamation with the 

 Methodist New Connection, expressed the 

 conviction that "for the present we had better 

 persevere in the work allotted to us by Provi- 

 dence in our separate capacity, but, should the 

 hand of Providence, at any future period, 

 appear to lead us into closer binding with that 

 estimable denomination, we shall be prepared 

 to deliberate seriously on the subject." The 

 Wesleyan Reform Union also declared they had 

 heard with pleasure the resolution of the New 

 Connection Conference, but in view of the fact 

 that the Union is composed of self-governing 

 churches, united more upon the model of the 

 Independent and Baptist Unions than as a Con- 

 nection governed by a Conference or annual 

 assembly, the essential principles which govern 

 the churches of the Union would be violated 

 by any attempt to amalgamate them with any 

 other body. 



At the same time, when the Union move 

 ment was inagurated in England by the 

 Connection Conference, it was started by 

 Canada Conference of the same denominatic 

 in British North America. The organ of the 

 Canadian New Connection Methodists suggest- 

 ed that the different Methodist bodies of Can- 

 ada might unite in establishing a General Con- 

 ference, to be held every four years, or that 

 the executive committees of the several bodies 

 might meet to deliberate on the execution of 

 this plan. The hope for a union between the 

 liberal branches of Methodism was generally 

 shared by the Methodist denominations of 

 Canada. 



In the United States, the Methodist Protest- 

 ants generally signified their willingness to 

 unite with the Methodist Episcopal Church, as 

 soon as lay delegation should be introduced. 

 The prospective abolition of slavery is more- 

 over expected to remove the most important 

 obstacle to a reunion of the Wesleyun Meth- 

 odists with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



