METHODISTS. 



587 



templating an object having a more direct bear- 

 ing upon the moral and social well-being of the 

 population of the country than almost any 

 other which might claim attention. A minute 

 was passed, declaring the use of the trust prop- 

 erty of the Connection for political meetings 

 not contemplated by the provisions of any of 

 the trust deeds to be unlawful ; and expressing 

 the conviction that any such use of the prem- 

 ises would be detrimental to the best interests 

 of the societies. 



III. Primitive Methodist Church. The follow- 

 ing is a summary of the statistics of this Church 

 as they were reported to the Conference in 

 June : Number of traveling preachers, 1,042 ; of 

 local preachers, 15,785 ; of leaders, 10,653 ; of 

 members, 192,389. The number of Sunday 

 schools in the home districts was returned as 

 3,748, with 57,991 teachers and 380,815 schol- 

 ars. In connection with the home missions 

 there were returned 162 chapels, with 17,074 

 lettable sittings and 11,082 free sittings. 



The annual meeting of the Primitive Meth- 

 odist Missionary Society was held May 19. The 

 gross income for the year for home and colo- 

 nial work had been 18,700. In the United 

 Kingdom the society had employed 67 mis- 

 sionaries at 53 stations, in connection with 

 which 6,395 members were enrolled. The colo- 

 nial districts returned an increase of 700 mem- 

 bers. Favorable reports were made of the 

 missions in Fernando Po and in South Africa. 



The sixty-sixth annual conference of the 

 Primitive Methodist Connection met at Read- 

 ing, June 10. The Rev. R. Fen wick was chosen 

 president. The Missionary Committee re- 

 ported the receipt during the year of 18,700 

 to the general fund and 1,903 to the African 

 fund, besides the amount that had been con- 

 tributed toward the extinction of the debt 

 a measure which had been carried to success. 

 Report was made of interference with the mis- 

 sions in West Africa by the Spanish authori- 

 ties, and measures were taken to make repre- 

 sentations to the Government on the subject. 

 A committee which was appointed to consider 

 the subject of extending the missions of the 

 Connection reported, recommending the open- 

 ing of new missions to the heathen, mention- 

 ing Opobo and the Congo as suitable places, 

 and advising inquiry respecting the establish- 

 ment of a new station in South Africa. Re- 

 ports were made of the condition of the book- 

 room ; the superannuated preachers', widows', 

 and orphans' fund; the chapel fund; the Con- 

 nectional Insurance Company ; and the Metro- 

 politan Chapel fund. On the subject of letting 

 chapels and school-rooms for political meet- 

 ings, the Conference decided that, under cer- 

 tain restrictions, school-rooms, but not chapels, 

 could be used for such purposes. A resolution 

 of sympathy with Mr. Gladstone was passed, 

 in which his action in preventing war with 

 Russia was especially referred to. A petition 

 to Parliament in favor of the Sunday Closing 

 Bill was adopted. 



IV. United Methodist Free Churches. The fol- 

 lowing is a summary of the statistics of this 

 body as they were reported to the Annual As- 

 sembly in July : Number of circuits, 221 home 

 and 63 foreign ; of itinerant ministers, 382 ; 

 of supernumeraries, 37 ; of leaders, 3,312 ; of 

 preachers, 4,078 ; of members, 71,385 ; of mem- 

 bers on trial, 8,268 ; of chapels, 1,353 ; of 

 preaching-rooms, 195; of Sunday schools, 1,353, 

 with 26,934 teachers and 196,706 pupils. 



The annual meeting in behalf of the home 

 and foreign missions of the United Methodist 

 Free Churches was held April 27. The receipts 

 of the Missionary Committee had been 18,- 

 803, and the expenditures 18,793. Reports 

 were made of the progress of the missions in 

 East Africa (Zanzibar coast), where land had 

 been secured for the extension of the mission 

 into the Galla country, Sierra Leone, China, 

 Jamaica, and Australia and New Zealand. 



The twenty-ninth annual assembly of the 

 United Methodist Free Churches met at Not- 

 tingham, July 14. The Rev. Alfred Jones was 

 chosen president. The Committee of the Com- 

 memorative fund, which had been instituted as 

 a memorial of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 

 the union of the "Wesley an Methodist Associa- 

 tion and the Wesley an Reformers into the pres- 

 ent organization, reported that a total sum of 

 32,293 had been contributed to its purposes. 

 The Committee of the Chapel Relief fund re- 

 ported that it had assisted in the building or 

 enlargement of 98 chapels, 15 schools, and 3 

 ministers' homes, at a cost of 46,767. The 

 book-room returned sales to the amount of 

 5,438. The Children's fund returned an in- 

 come of 2,620. The Conference, by resolu- 

 tion, affirmed that co-operation was desirable 

 with the different Methodist bodies in relation 

 to evangelistic enterprises and the extension 

 and consolidation of Methodist spiritual life. 



V. Methodist New Connection. The Conference 

 of the Methodist New Connection met in Man- 

 chester, June 15. The Rev. A. McCurdy was 

 chosen president. The numerical returns 

 showed a decrease of 60 members, but an in- 

 crease of 211 in the number of probationers. 

 The Chapel Fund Committee reported the ex- 

 penditure during the year of more than 26,- 

 000 ; the home missions returned an increase 

 of 82 members. The Paternal (or Children's) 

 fund returned a large capital, with a slight in- 

 crease of balance in hand, while 310 children 

 had claims upon it. The Missionary Com- 

 mittee returned an income of 6,782, and an 

 expenditure, in England, Ireland, Australia, 

 and China, direct from the fund, of 6^652 ; 

 besides which moneys had been raised and 

 spent locally on all the mission -stations. The 

 Conference resolved to make an effort to ex- 

 tinguish the debt of 2,957 standing against 

 the Missionary Society. 



VI. Wesleyan Church in South Africa. The Con- 

 ference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 

 South Africa met in its third annual session at 

 Durban, Natal, April 14. The Rev. R. Ridgill 



