METHODISTS. 



491 



teachers, 48.973; Sunday-school scholars, 296,- 

 612; day-schools, 44; scholars in the same, 

 4,317. 



The fifty-fourth Conference met in London, 

 June llth. The Rev. S. Autliff was elected 

 president. The Missionary Committee re- 

 ported the year's contributions greater thnn 

 ever before. The gross amount was 32,257, 

 11*. \d. The missions were generally in good 

 condition. Additional missionaries were need- 

 ed for the colonies and Africa. The reports 

 of the statistical committee showed a decrease 

 of 806 in the number of members from the 

 previous year. 



The report of the Primitive Methodist Mis- 

 sionary Society, which was made April 29th, 

 shows that the society had in the United 

 Kingdom 64 missions, 11 circuit missions, 

 and 126 missionaries ; in Canada, 38 missions, 

 and 46 missionaries ; in New Zealand, 6 sta- 

 tions nnd 7 missionaries ; in New South Wales 

 and Queensland, 22 missions and 22 mission- 

 aries ; in Victoria and Tasmania, 12 missions 

 and 12 missionaries ; in South Australia, 

 6 missions and 7 missionaries ; in Africa, 4 sta- 

 tions and 6 missionaries : in all, 150 missions 

 and 226 missionaries. The sum of 32,257 

 had been expended during the year in the 

 support and enlargement of missionary opera- 

 tions. 



The following are the statistics of the Prim 

 itite Methoditt Connection in Canada : Num- 

 ber of ministers, 91 ; local preachers, 270 ; 

 class - leaders, 269 ; connectional churches, 

 196 ; other preaching-places, 121 ; parsonages, 

 31 ; value of church property, $218,037 ; 

 church debts, $25,190; Sunday-schools, 136; 

 teachers, 1,170; scholars, 8,260; church-mem- 

 bers in Sunday-schools, 6,609. The reports 

 show a decrease of 238 members. 



The following are the statistics of the 

 Primitive Method ut Churehei in the United 

 States, as reported at the two Conferences in 

 May, 1873 : 



Eastern District, Conference held at Ply- 

 month, Pa., May 14th to 19th: Circuits, 16; 

 members (approved, 909 ; probationers, 214), 

 1,123; traveling preachers, 10; local preach- 

 ers, 89; class - leaders, 64; churches, 17; 

 other preaching-places, 24 ; Sunday-schools, 

 26 ; teachers, 360 ; scholars, 1,918 ; mission- 

 ary contributions, $371,64. 



Western District, Conference held at New 

 Divings, Wis., May 22d to 27th : Circuits and 

 'ins, 19; members (approved, 1,632, pro- 

 bationers, 110), 1,742; traveling preachers, 

 18 ; local preachers, 102 ; class-leaders, 93 ; 

 churches, 36 ; other preaching-places, 42 ; 

 Sunday-schools, 42; teachers, 463; scholars, 

 2,495. Contributions for missions, $1,418.58; 

 for the superannuated preachers' fund, $161.90. 



Total members in the two Conferences, 2,865 ; 

 traveling preachers, 28; local preachers, 191. 



XI. USITED METHODIST FREE CHITBCHES. 

 The following are the statistics of this de- 

 nomination, as presented at the Conference of 



1873 : Ministers, 329 ; supernumeraries, 24 ; 

 local preachers, 3,374; leaders, 4,309; mem- 

 bers, 66,566 ; members on trial, 4,861 ; chapels, 

 1,303 ; preaching-rooms, 277 ; Sunday-schools, 

 1,218; teachers, 24,152; scholars," 160,037; 

 day-schools, 91; teachers, 180 ; scholars, 11,- 

 148; chapels registered, 978 ; cbapels settled 

 on the connectional deed, 335. The reports 

 of the home circuits showed a decrease of 670 

 members, while those of the foreign circuits 

 showed an increase of 335 members. Thus 

 there appeared a net decrease of 341 members. 

 A communication was received from the 

 Vigilance Committee appointed at the con- 

 ference of Churchmen and Nonconformists 

 which had recently been held, asking the as- 

 sembly to aid the committee in their efforts 

 against ritualism and the confession. The res- 

 olutions adopted by the assembly in reply to 

 this communication expressed regret at the 

 progress of "anti-Protestant teachings and 

 practices in the Established Church ; " advised 

 ministers and members to cooperate with all 

 true Protestants in efforts to disseminate in- 

 formation among the people on the points of 

 difference between Protestantism and Roman 

 Catholicism ; expressed the belief that " Ro- 

 manizing doctrines and practices," so far as 

 Protestants are concerned, were almost exclu- 

 sively confined to the Established Church, and 

 that the privileges of this Church were used by 

 " a large and rapidly-increasing section of the 

 clergy," to the subversion of the Protestant 

 faith ; and declared that it saw in these facts 

 additional evidences of the desirability of dis- 

 establishing the Church. 



XII. BIBLE CHRISTIANS. The fifty-sixth nn- 

 nnal conference of the Bible Christian Connec- 

 tion met at Landport, Portsmouth Circuit, July 

 30th. The Conference was composed of sixty 

 ministers and ten lay delegates. The Rev. J. 

 B. Vanstone was elected president. The sta- 

 tistical reports showed the numbers, etc., in 

 the Connection to be as follows: Itinerant 

 preachers, 259; local preachers, 1,727; chapr 

 els, 870; other preaching-places, 202; mem- 

 bers, 25,815 ; on trial, 812 ; teachers in schools, 

 9,411 ; scholars, 48,678. The number of mem- 

 bers had decreased 394. The receipts of the 

 Missionary Society for the year were 6,253, 

 or 300 more than those of the preceding year, 

 and considerably more than those of any pre- 

 vious year. The amounts contributed for the 

 support of the ministry were nbout 250 more 

 than those of any previous year. 



The Canadian Conference of the Bible 

 Christian denomination was held at Lindsay. 

 The Rev. E. Roberts was chosen president. A 

 small increase was reported in the number of 

 members. 



XIII. WESLEYAS REFORM UNION. The an- 

 nual delegate meeting of the Wesleyan Reform 

 Union in England was held at Bnkewell, com- 

 mencing August 19th. It was ordered that a 

 friendly letter be sent to those circuits which 

 had reported a decrease in membership, urg- 



