METHODISTS. 



Ml 



was adopted: " Profession of religion, att. -mi- 

 nt class-meetings according to discipline, 

 ilar attendance on means of grace ; ana 

 supporter.-, of the cause of God." The, 

 l '.inference resolved that in future the salary of 

 a minister in full Connection should be not leu 

 than $630 a yonr; and that circuits able to 

 .re without injury to connoctional funds 

 requested to do so. Strong resolutions were 

 opted in t a vor of the temperance movement. 

 The Western Conference met in its thirtieth 

 ion at Dodgoville. \\ is., May 21st. The 

 r, .'. Sharp was chosen president. New 

 were enacted in regard to the new con- 

 itutioti of the (. '.inference and lay delegation, 

 the following ellect: "1. That all existing 

 regulations on delegates to the Conferences be 

 repealed ; 2. That in future the Annual Con- 

 o shall be composed of the connectional 

 otlicers, of all the traveling preachers in good 

 standing and in full work, and one lay dele- 

 gate from each charge, who shall be selected 

 at the third quarterly meeting. Circuits (not 

 mi->ions) having one hundred members, or 

 more, may send two lay delegates." Action 

 \\ as taken requiring preachers and quarterly 

 meetings building churches to have the prop- 

 erty properly secured to connectional uses. 

 Kcsolntions were adopted condemning intem- 

 perance and the use of tobacco. 



VI. FREE METHODIST CHURCH. The Gen- 

 eral Conference of the Free Methodist Church 

 met at Albion, N. Y., in October. The gen- 

 eral superintendent, in an address at the open- 

 ing of the session, described the progress which 

 had been made in the work of the Church dur- 

 ing the preceding four years. New fields had 

 been opened in the South, and hi these, as well 

 as in the North and West, the Church was 

 making considerable advances, and was repre- 

 sented as exerting a powerful influence. The 

 General Conference having secured an act of 

 incorporation, the Rev. Joseph Travis, the Rev. 

 J. E. Terrill, O. P. Rogers, and J. L. Ward, 

 were elected a Board of Trustees. A general 

 missionary board was organized, to have its 

 central office in New York City. It is to con- 

 sist of the superintendents of the Church, two 

 ministers, and two laymen. The course of 

 study for ministers was revised and improved. 

 The Conference decided to elect two general 

 superintendents, the Rev. B. T. Roberts, of 

 the General Conference, New York, and the 

 Rev. E. P. Hart, of Michigan, were chosen to 

 that office. Two new conferences, the Wis- 

 consin and the Iowa Conferences, were organ- 

 ized. The Illinois Conference was made to 

 embrace the entire State of Illinois, and the 

 city and vicinity of St. Louis, Mo. 



VII. WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH IN CAN- 

 ADA AND EASTERN BRITISH AMERICA. The re- 

 port on Sunday-schools submitted to the Wes- 

 leyan Conference of Canada showed that there 

 were 1,002 such schools, with 9,617 teachers, 

 and 71,583 scholars. The receipts of the chil- 

 dren's fund were reported to have been $24,- 



VOL. xiv. 85 A 



144, and the payments on account of it $23,- 

 977. The income of the superannuation fund 

 was given at $27,627 ; of the contingent fund, 

 $7,47y. The missionary fund had increased 

 upward of $6,000. The cash-sales of the Book 

 Concern had increased during the year $5,000, 

 and its assets exceeded all liabilities $55,276. 



financial prospects of the unitcraity 

 were represented to bo hi a very promising 

 condition. The agent had obtained $31,000 

 of subscriptions since the preceding Conference ; 

 the debt bad been reduced to $8,412.25, and 

 a bequest and a gift of $10,000 each had 

 made to the endowment fund. 



The fifty-first annual session of the Confer- 

 ence of the Wesley an Methodist Church in Can- 

 ada was held at Hamilton, beginning June 3d. 

 The Rev. 8. D. Rice, D. D., presided. Returns 

 were made as follows of the vote of the quar- 

 terly meetings npon the questions submitted 

 to them concerning the division of the Con- 

 ference into Annual Conferences, confedera- 

 tion with the Conference of Eastern British 

 America, and union with the Methodist New 

 Connection. The number of quarterly meet- 

 ings entitled to vote was 418, of which 280 

 were required to make up the two-thirds ma- 

 jority necessary to carry the proposed changes 

 into effect. They had voted, concerning con- 

 federation with the Conference of Eastern Brit- 

 ish America, 370 yeas, 2 nays ; concerning 

 union with the Methodist New Connection, 

 360 yeas, 12 nays; concerning the surrender 

 of the veto-power, hitherto possessed by the 

 quarterly meetings, and the acceptance by the 

 laity of representation in the General Confer- 

 ence instead thereof, 339 yeas, 83 nays ; on a 

 change in the constitution, proposed to take 

 effect if union should be effected, 341 yeas, 31 

 nays ; on a change of the constitution of the 

 Canadian Conference, proposed to take effect 

 if union should not be carried, 305 yeas, 67 nays. 

 The president stated that official instructions 

 had been received from the Conference of East- 

 ern British America that all the propositions 

 submitted in connection with the plans of union 

 had been accepted almost unanimously. A 

 deputation was received from the Conference 

 of the Methodist New Connection, who asked 

 the consent of the Conference to an alteration 

 which that body desired to have made in the 

 23d section of the Articles of Union. As 

 originally adopted, the section in question 

 read: "Any act of the General Conference 

 affecting the rights and privileges of the Annual 

 Conference shall become law only when it se- 

 cures a majority of two-thirds of the members 

 of the General Conference, who may vote 

 thereon, and also a majority of the members 

 of the several ensuing Annual Conferences who 

 may be present and vote thereon." 



The Conference of the New Connection 

 asked that the latter clause be omitted, and in 

 its stead there be inserted : " Provided also 

 that such act be not disapproved of by a ma- 

 jority of the next ensuing Annual Confer- 



