METHODISTS. 



507 



ministers, 126 ; of churches, 161 ; of members, 

 11,000. The General Assembly met at Chi- 

 cago, 111., September 18th. The Synods of New 

 York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, 

 and Minnesota, were represented by equal 

 numbers of ministers and elders, as delegates. 

 The Rev. Rees Evans, of Cambria, "Wis., was 

 chosen moderator. The proceedings of the 

 Assembly were conducted in the Welsh lan- 

 guage. 



V. METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUBOH IN CAN- 

 ADA. The following is a summary of the sta- 

 tistics of this Church as compiled from the 

 reports of the three Annual Conferences which 

 were held in 1877 : 



Total number of preachers in 1877, 270; of 

 Sunday-schools, 394; of officers and teachers 

 in the same, 2,976; of Sunday-school scholars, 

 16,346; value of church property, $1,061,964. 



VI. WESLEYAN CONNECTION. The annual 

 meeting of the Wesleyan Missionary Society 

 was held in London, April 30th. Mr. S. D. 

 Waddy, M. P., presided. The report stated 

 that the home receipts for the year had been 

 122,630, and the foreign receipts (those from 

 the Australasian Conference and mission dis- 

 tricts), 23,600, making a total of 146,230. 

 The expenditures had been 164,195. The 

 missions of the Society were divided into two 

 classes: 1. The missions under the immediate 

 direction of the principal committee and the 

 British Conference, situated in Europe, India, 

 China, South and West Africa, and the West 

 Indies ; and, 2. Other missions of the Society 

 having also relation to Conferences in Ireland, 

 France, and Australasia. The missions of the 

 former class included 328 principal stations, 389 

 ministers and assistant missionaries, and 81,706 

 full members ; those of the latter class, 350 

 principal stations, 440 ministers and assistant 

 missionaries, and 58,211 full members. 



The mission in Ireland reported 36 ministers, 

 and 3,611 members ; that in France, 88 minis- 

 ters, and 1,987 members. An increase of mem- 

 bers was shown in Italy. In Spain the mission 

 was threatened with interruption, but for the 

 present a restricted liberty of worship was 

 allowed. In Portugal, the chapels were filled, 

 the schools were well attended, and some ad- 

 ditional members had joined the Church. The 

 German mission had stations in Wurtemberg, 

 Baden, Bavaria, Austria, and Silesia, with 2 

 English and 20 German ministers, 2,858 mem- 

 bers, and about the same number of scholars, 

 with about 10,000 attendants on worship. 



In all the Continental missions there were 



53 ministers, with 3,902 members, 4,546 schol- 

 ars, and 18,666 attendants on worship. In 

 India and Ceylon, 90 stations were manned by 

 95 missionaries, with about 750 subordinate 

 agents, 3,683 members, and 20,000 scholars. In 

 China, 11 missionaries were reported, with 

 about 30 subordinate agents, 801 members, 

 and 419 scholars. In Southern Africa, 100 

 missionaries and 800 subordinate agents pre- 

 sided over colonial and mission churches, with 

 more than 16,000 church members, 17,000 

 scholars, and 90,000 attendants on worship. 

 The missions on the west coast of Africa, in- 

 cluding the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the Gold 

 Coast, employed 31 missionaries and 200 

 agents, and reported 13,345 members, 9,499 

 scholars, and about 50,000 attendants. Nicety- 

 nine missionaries labored in the West Indian 

 islands (including British Guiana and Hon- 

 duras), with 270 subordinate agents, 43,920 

 members, 26,980 scholars, and nearly 150,000 

 attendants. The High-School in Jamaica 

 promised well. 



The one hundred and fourth annual Confer- 

 ence of Wesleyan ministers met in Bristol, July 

 25th. The Rev. William B. Pope, D. D., was 

 elected president. The most important sub- 

 jects acted upon were those of the represen- 

 tation of the laity in the conference, and of 

 temperance. A committee had been appointed 

 at a previous conference to consider the sub- 

 ject of lay delegation, and prepare a draft of a 

 scheme for such representation for the action 

 of the conference. The scheme prepared by 

 this committee was reviewed by the confer- 

 ence of 1876, referred back for revision, was 

 modified and completed, and was finally pre- 

 sented. It was adopted with but few altera- 

 tions. It provides for the creation of a confer- 

 ence of two classes, one a conference of minis- 

 ters only, the other a mixed conference of 

 ministers and laymen, to which different classes 

 of subjects are assigned for consideration. 



The number of laymen to be elected in each 

 district is to be determined by the preceding 

 conference. Fifteen subjects are specifically 

 described as coming within the exclusive prov- 

 ince of the conference when consisting of min- 

 isters only. They are such as relate to minis- 

 terial or pastoral affairs, or affect the ministe- 

 rial and pastoral supervision of the connection. 

 Fifteen other subjects, relating to missions, 

 education, and schools, the trust funds, and 

 other matters of kindred nature, as well as the 

 religious observance of the Lord's Day, tem- 

 perance, and proposed alterations of districts 

 and circuits, against which there is any appeal, 

 are assigned to the mixed conference. A pro- 

 vincial allocation of ministerial and lay del- 

 egates was made for the next conference, and 

 a mixed committee was appointed, to sit during 

 the year and report to the next conference " as 

 to the principles by which in future the num- 

 ber of ministers and laymen to be elected to 

 attend the conference shall be determined." It 

 was decided that the complete scheme of lay 



