METHODISTS. 



525 



VIII. WESLEYAN CONNECTION IN CANADA. 

 The Wesleyan Conference of Canada met at 

 Montreal, June 5th. Senator James Ferrier 

 and other gentlemen of Montreal had offered 

 a gift of from $40,000 to $50,000 as an endow- 

 ment for a theological school, to be under the 

 entire control of the Conference. This offer 

 was accepted, and provision was made for the 

 appointment of a board of management for 

 the proposed institution. A committee was 

 appointed to consider the subject of employ- 

 ing evangelists to aid ministers on occasions 

 of special emergency. Another committee 

 was appointed to consider the expediency 

 of organizing a connectional fire-insurance 

 company. The report of the committee on 

 the educational fund showed a total of re- 

 ceipts of $3,599 ; of payments, $795. A meas- 

 ure was adopted, looking to the division of the 

 conference into several Annual Conferences, 

 which, together, shall form a General Confer- 

 ence, to meet at stated periods. A committee 

 was appointed to hold this subject under con- 

 sideration. The committee on the union of 

 Methodist churches reported on the lay vote 

 of the Quarterly Meetings on certain questions 

 which had been submitted to them, to the 

 effect that the number of Quarterly Meetings 

 voting was 364. On the first question sub- 

 mitted, whether, in view of the contemplated 

 union, they would prefer direct representation 

 in a General Conference to the power which 

 was already in their hands, the vote was 187 

 yeas and 168 nays. On the second question, 

 whether, if a majority of them should entertain 

 weighty objections to such a proposal in itself, 

 they would be willing to waive them for the 

 sake of union, the vote was 132 yeas, 50 nays. 

 A two-thirds majority was required. The vote 

 on the second question showed this majority, 

 and a surplus of 77 votes. The Conference was 

 addressed on the subject of union by a depu- 

 tation from the New Connection Conference, 

 who expressed the hearty desire of their con- 

 stituency for the proposed measure. The con- 

 ference unanimously adopted a resolution as 

 follows : 



While we rejoice in the substantial oneness of 

 New Connection Methodism with ourselves, we ear- 

 nestly express a hope that the day is not far distant 

 when Wesleyan Methodism and New Connection 

 Methodism shall not only be one in spirit, faith, and 

 purpose, but one also in organized unity of effort in 

 the great work of spreading scriptural holiness 

 through this vast Dominion. 



The anniversary of the Wesleyan Methodist 

 Missionary Society of Canada was held at 

 Brockville, on the 8th of October. The re- 

 ceipts for the year were reported to have been 

 $93,882.28 ; the expenditures, $87,710.46. The 

 increase of receipts over those of the previous 

 year was $10,397.25. The Society maintains 

 eleven missions among the settlers of British 

 Columbia and Manitoba, with nine missiona- 

 ries ; thirty-four missions to the Indians of the 

 Saskatchewan, Hudson's Bay Territory, Brit- 



ish Columbia, and the provinces of Ontario 

 and Quebec, with 28 missionaries and 4 assist- 

 ants ; 138 domestic missions in the provinces 

 of Ontario and Quebec, with 158 missionaries ; 

 four missions to the Germans, with 4 mission- 

 aries ; five missions to the French, with 4 mis- 

 sionaries and one paid agent: total, 192 mis- 

 sions and 203 missionaries. The total number 

 of church-members under the care of the So- 

 ciety is 17,383. 



The Wesleyan Conference of Eastern Brit- 

 ish America met at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 

 July. The most important action of the Con- 

 ference related to the projected union with 

 the Canada Conference. Resolutions were 

 unanimously adopted, expressing the opinion 

 that the formation of one Wesleyan Methodist 

 Conference for the whole of British North 

 America was exceedingly desirable, and a 

 committee of eight persons was appointed to 

 act with the committee of the Canada Confer- 

 ence "to devise a plan of federal union, and 

 to draft a constitution for the proposed United 

 Church, to be submitted to the Conference at 

 its next annual session." 



The Committees on Union of the Wesleyan 

 Conferences of Canada and of Eastern British 

 America met in October, and agreed upon a 

 plan of union, to be submitted to their respec- 

 tive conferences for ratification. It was with- 

 held from publication, but it is understood 

 that it contemplates the division of the Cana- 

 dian Conference into three Annual Confer- 

 ences, and of the Eastern Conference into 

 two ; and the organization of a separate Mis- 

 sion Conference in Newfoundland. 



IX. PEIMITIVE METHODISTS IN CANADA. 

 The following are the statistics of the Cana- 

 dian Conference of the Primitive Methodist 

 Connection, for the year ending in June, 1872. 

 Ministers, 91 ; local preachers, 266 ; class- 

 leaders, 317; connectional churches, 204; 

 other preaching-places, 228 ; parsonages, 29 ; 

 Sabbath-schools, 135 ; Sabbath-schoolteachers, 

 1,203; Sabbath-school scholars, 8,351 ; church- 

 members, 6,710; value of church property, 

 $221,943. 



The Conference met at London, Ontario, 

 June 7th. Visiting delegates were in attend- 

 ance from the Primitive Methodist Confer- 

 ence of the Western States (United States), 

 who reported that about 500 additions had 

 been made to the number of members of their 

 churches during the year. The Conference 

 fixed the salaries of the married ministers as 

 follows: "In addition to house-rent, a part 

 of the furniture in the house, and the chil- 

 dren's allowance, ministers in cities will be 

 allowed $650 a year; in towns, $550 ; and in 

 country stations, $450 and their fuel." The 

 question of organic union with the other 

 Methodist bodies in Canada was fully ^ dis- 

 cussed. A motion was offered to appoint a 

 committee to confer upon the subject, with 

 committees appointed by other Methodist 

 bodies, but it was withdrawn. Finally, a com- 



