METHODISTS. 



551 



one, the retiring minister to be eligible to be 

 one of the three, and to be elected. The rule 

 as amended was also made applicable to the 

 offices which were excepted in the original reso- 

 lution. A question arose during the discussion 

 of foreign missionary work as to the expedi- 

 ency of continuing the missions in Roman Cath- 

 olic countries and the colonies. It was pleaded 

 in support of the Continental missions that 

 some of the results of Methodist influence might, 

 perhaps, be seen to an extent which no one 

 could determine in the modern revival of 

 evangelical religion in France, and that no mis- 

 sion was dearer to the people of the Church 

 than the one in Italy; while from the colonial 

 missionary work had sprung the Methodist 

 Churches of America, Canada, and Australasia ; 

 with a South African Conference in existence, 

 the missions within the range of which would 

 soon cost the parent committee nothing, while 

 the West Indies, under the new constitution of 

 their Conference would soon become less bur- 

 densome. The approval of the Conference 

 was given to the efforts made by the general 

 committee to secure an increase in the income 

 of the Missionary Society. 



The subject of the reunion of the Wesleyan 

 Connection and of the Methodist New Con- 

 nection, which separated from the former body 

 in 1797, was brought under discussion in No- 

 vember through the publication of a corre- 

 spondence between the Rev. H. P. Hughes and 

 four ex-Presidents of the Wesleyan Conference. 

 Mr. Hughes wrote to each of the ex-presidents 

 viz., the Rev. William Arthur, the Rev. A. 

 McAuley, the Rev. E. E. Jenkins, and the Rev. 

 Charles Garrett propounding to each of them 

 the question, " Ought we to propose reunion 

 with the Methodist New Connection? " The 

 persons addressed all responded favorably to 

 the idea of reunion, saying that they had long 

 hoped that it might be' brought about. Mr. 

 Arthur had talked with the late Dr. Cooke, of 

 the New Connection, upon the subject forty 

 years before, and would be u friendly to all 

 action that is not forced or driven forward." 

 Mr. McAuley pointed to the unification of 

 Methodism in Ireland as an example to be imi- 

 tated. Mr. Jenkins, while he thought that the 

 Methodist " (Ecumenical Conference" of 1881 

 might have opened the way, if not to actual 

 incorporation, to a unity which should make 

 Methodists work together where they were 

 now working without concert, referred to some 

 difficulties in the way. Mr. Garrett related an 

 incident showing how the divisions of the 

 Churches, which were really "one in name, one 

 in doctrine, and one in heart," led to waste of 

 energy by splitting what might, in the case of 

 a local church, be a strong body if united, into 

 a number of weak, ineffective, and often con- 

 flicting organizations. Mr. Hughes having re- 

 ceived the answers of the four ex-presidents, 

 addressed a letter to all the ministers and a 

 number of laymen of the connection, asking 

 for their opinions on the subject. 



The proposition of Mr. Hughes and the 

 overtures of the four ex-Presidents of the Wes- 

 leyan Conference were seconded in the Meth- 

 odist New Connection, of which seven ex-Presi- 

 dents of the Conference had at the beginning 

 of December expressed their approval of the 

 movement and desire that it might succeed. 



V. Methodist New Connection. The summary 

 of the statistics of this Church, as presented to 

 the Conference in June, showed that the num- 

 ber of chapels was 514; number of societies, 

 479 ; of circuit preachers, 186 ; of local preach- 

 ers, 1,242; of members, 29,914; of proba- 

 tioners, 4,440 ; of Sunday - schools, 459, with 

 11,135 teachers, and 83,704 pupils. Three more 

 societies were recorded than in the previous 

 year, and the number of members had in- 

 creased by 587. 



The Conference of the Methodist New Con- 

 nection met at Newcastle-on-Tyne, June 14. 

 The Rev. William Townsend was chosen presi- 

 dent. Reports were made of the condition of 

 the funds and societies of the Connection. The 

 Book - Room returned an income of 3,078, 

 with profits amounting to 180. The income 

 of the Paternal fund, the purpose of which is 

 to assist in making the incomes of ministers 

 proportionate to the size of their families, was 

 3,144. The Temperance and Band of Hope 

 Union included 245 bands with 31,538 mem- 

 bers, and had published 323,437 copies of 

 tracts, etc., since it was organized. Ranmoor 

 College, Sheffield, had an endowment fund of 

 7,331. The total amount of subscriptions to 

 the Aid and Extension fund, which was to be 

 completed in the middle of the financial year, 

 had been, to the date of making the report, 

 10,998. The income for the Benevolent fund 

 (for aged ministers and their widows) had been 

 3,255. 



The receipts for the Mission funds (including 

 both home and foreign missions), apart from 

 sums raised and expended in the mission-fields, 

 had been 6,450, and the total expenditure 

 5,741. The Connection had in its foreign 

 mission, in China, 7 English missionaries, 60 

 native preachers, and about 1,351 Chinese con- 

 verts. A recently established mission in the 

 Isle of Man was adopted by the Conference. A 

 report was approved recommending that pub- 

 lic services (of worship) should be made as 

 evangelistic as possible, without adopting 

 means that would tend to lessen the faith of 

 the people in the saving power of the ordinary 

 means of grace ; and that special services should 

 be held at intervals in all the circuits, in order 

 to guard against any tendency to formalism. 

 The annual address to the ministers, members, 

 and friends of the Connection contained a pas- 

 sage bearing upon the subject of Methodist 

 union with reference to the indications of a 

 nearer approximation to each other of the va- 

 rious Methodist bodies, and of the mutual re- 

 spect and love with which they now regarded 

 one another. The paper took notice of the 

 fact, as alleged, that every Methodist body 



