Wesleyan Methodist Conference.-The one hundred and sixth Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Conference was held in the Oldham-street Chapel, Manchester, beginning the 25th of July, and closing on the 14th of August. It was in many respects the most exciting, as well as the most important, conference that has been held for many years.. Thirty-seven young men were admitted into full connexion, and sixty-seven came forward as candidates for examination, but one of whom was rejected. . . . Twelve members of the hundred had died during the year. The net increase of members in Great Britain, Ireland, and the foreign stations was 8,747. Ninety-eight chapels have been built and twenty-two embarrassed chapels relieved during the year. There have been 21,367 young persons under catechetical instruction, of whom 1,913 have been added to the Church. The number of Sunday-schools is 4,344; of children, 461,197; and of teachers, 18,972. In the Wesleyan Day Schools there are 38,962, including boys, girls, and infants.

The most painful feature in the proceedings of the Conference was the expulsion of three of its members,-Rev. James Everett, the Rev. Samuel Dunn, and the Rev. Wm. Griffith, junr., preachers severally of forty, thirty, and thirteen years' standing in the Conference. The causes that led to this sad result may be thus briefly traced. Between the years 1844 and 1847 certain publications appeared, without name, place, or date, entitled "Fly Sheets," in which violent attacks were made upon the eminent men at the head of the various administrative branches of the Church service. We have never seen these anonymous issues, but take the following statement of their character and contents from the official account of the proceedings of the Conference in the case:-"These papers were characterized by intense bitterness of feeling in reference to certain excellent ministers, whom they described as ' indolent,' 'selfish,' 'artful,' 'ambitious,' and 'tyrannical;' and also by other personalities, so grossly offensive and libellous that the parties issuing them did-not dare to affix the name of either printer or publisher. Not content with endeavouring to damage the character of individuals who had hitherto been regarded with the highest esteem, the

writers attacked the administration of the affairs of the Connexion in general. They declared that its resources were perverted to uphold a system of favouritism, oppression, and extravagance; that many of the public acts of the Conference proceeded from corrupt motives, or were of a mischievous tendency; and, while suggesting extensive changes in its system of proceeding, and representing the members of the Conference as enslaved, and longing for emancipation, they exhorted them to vigorous and united efforts to shake off the unhallowed yoke. The certain and obvious tendency—not to say the avowed design-of these publications was to destroy the mutual confidence upon which our Connexion is based, and to subvert, or at least greatly to impede the operation of, our several institutions." The Conference, in 1847, passed a resolution, (with only two dissentients, of whom Rev. Samuel Dunn was one,) testifying, in effect, that the "Fly Sheets" were wicked slanders. Still their evil effects continued to be apparent; and although it was deemed certain that some members of the Conference were concerned in their publication, no trace of their origin was discovered until some time during the past year, when it was found that a manuscript of Rev. Daniel Walton's had been inserted in one of the issues. Mr. Walton was arraigned before the District Meeting, and the fact was established that he had been "cognizant and concerned in the preparation of the Fly Sheets." At the Conference, however, Mr. Walton expressed his disapprobation of the Fly Sheets, and promised to aid his brethren in "putting them down, so far as he could with a good conscience do so." In his case, therefore, it was simply resolved that "Mr. Walton be solemnly admonished from the chair," and that "he be declared disqualified, for the present, for being the superintendent of a circuit.” Suspicion had been fixed also upon the Rev. Messrs. Everett, Burdsall, George Dunn, and Griffith; the two last of whom had been engaged in the publication also of the "Wesley Banner,"-a monthly periodical, supposed to have views and aims similar to those of the "Fly Sheets." They were required, in effect, to purge themselves by a declara tion that they were not guilty, or to pledge themselves to a certain line of conduct dio

tated by the Conference. The authority to put direct questions, involving the guilt or innocence of parties against whom no charges had been brought, was founded on what was said to be ancient usage, "supported especially by the Minutes of 1777 and the Declaratory Resolutions of 1835,"-one of which declares, that “not only the Conference, but all its district committees, whether ordinary or special, possess the undoubted right of instituting, in their official and collective character, any inquiry or investigation which they may deem expedient, into the moral, Christian, or ministerial conduct of the preachers under their care, even although no formal or regular accusation may have been previously announced on the part of any individual." The parties refused to answer, and the final action of the Conference in their cases, therefore, was grounded on their contumacy. Messrs. Everett, Dunn, and Griffith were expelled; Mr. Burdsall, an aged man, admonished; and Mr. George reproved from the chair, and declared “disqualified, for the present, for the office of superintendent.”

In all these proceedings the decisions of the Conference were almost entirely unánimous. It may be hazardous in us, with our imperfect knowledge of the circumstances of each case—for it is plain that much more was known to the Conference, or at least believed by it, than appears in the printed reports-to express any opinion whatever upon so unhappy an affair. On the presumption that the brethren who have suffered were really concerned in so base and dastardly a procedure as the concoction and publication of a series of coolly prepared and anonymous slanders upon the leaders of Wesleyan Methodism, we have no sympathy to expend upon them. Such movements, if not unEnglish, (to use a favourite phrase of our trans-Atlantic friends,) are most certainly un-American, and as certainly un-Christian. Warfare, even severe and cruel, has its possible palliations; but for assassination there can be none. That good men might be driven to resort to unusual measures under such provocation, and especially when unusual measures were the only ones that would or could restore peace and bring back lost confidence, is not much to be wondered at. But, on the other hand, that men should be required either to criminate or to clear themselves by their own assertion, in the absence of charges, is so utterly foreign to our own modes of precedure in courts, either civil or ecclesiastical, that we cannot help an involuntary shudder, and ask whether it might not have

been better, in the long run, to endure the wrong than so to right it. Certainly no American Conference would venture upon such a course. Yet the British Conference is not an American Conference; and we cannot judge its action by our own notions and usages. With us, such a course would be illegal and unconstitutional; with them, it was fully covered by the law or declaration of 1835—a declaration by which every minister in the Connexion was bound. The expelled ministers and their friends make it their chief ground of complaint, that the Conference did what a law court would not do, in requiring the parties concerned to criminate themselves. But, it strikes us, the analogy does not hold. The State courts can command witnesses; the Church cannot. Violations of the moral law, which do not affect society, are not noticed by the State: they must be by the Church. A Church Court is more analogous to a Court of Equity, where a reply must be made to a declaration of facts on oath, than to a court of Law. And, what is most weighty of all, in a Criminal Court the prisoner's plea of " Not Guilty" does not purge him; in the Wesleyan Conference, that plea, alone, would have been equivalent to acquittal.

We cannot refrain from expressing our surprise, that in England a Methodist Conference should find it necessary to sit with closed doors, (except when character is in question,) and to exclude reporters for the press. Year after year we have looked for some rational explanation of this necessity, but we have looked in vain. Nor can we reconcile to our notions of propriety the frequent expressions of applause and censure, in the form of cheers and clamours,which are, it appears, fully allowed in the Conference. In worse taste still must we deem the habit of interrupting and putting down an obnoxious speaker. Here, the very fact that a man was in a hopeless minority, or that he was under suspicion, still more under trial, would ensure him the most uninterrupted attention. He might say almost what he pleased, subject only to arrests for violation of the known rules of order, by which deliberative bodies are governed in both hemispheres. Will some of our English brethren explain these things to us?

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.-We extract the following Summaries from the Report for 1848-49-Missionaries: In Ireland, 24; Continent of Europe, 21; Western Africa, 18; South Africa, 38; South India, 20; North Ceylon, 7; South Ceylon,

12; New South Wales, 11; Australia, 8; Van Diemen's Land, 5; New-Zealand, 20; Friendly Islands, 10; Feejee Islands, 8; Demerara, 21; Honduras, 2; West Indies, 63; British America, 98: Total, 386, besides 9 supernumeraries; of whom 220 are principally connected with the Heathen, Negroes, and converts from Heathenism, and 166 labour among Europeans and British Colonists. Assistants: These Missionaries are assisted by 742 paid Catechists and Readers, and 7242 gratuitous Sunday-school and other Teachers; of whom 615 paid, and 4603 gratuitous Teachers are connected with the Heathen and Negroes; and 127 paid, and 2639 gratuitous Teachers labour among Colonists or professed Christians.

Members in Society :-In Ireland, 2485; Continent of Europe, 1829; Gambia, 292; Sierra Leone, 4354; Cape Coast, 879 ; South Africa, 4135; South India, 377; North Ceylon, 325; South Ceylon, 1171; New South Wales, 1859; Australia, 1075; Van Diemen's Land, 563; New-Zealand, 4076; Friendly Islands, 7166; Feejee Islands, 1730; Demerara, 14,001; Honduras, 460; West Indies, 37,625; British America, 15,829: Total, 100,231; of whom 76,593 are chiefly among the Heathen, and 23,638 among Colonists and professed Christians.

Scholars :-În Ireland, 3834; Continent of Europe, 1637; Gambia, 354; Sierra Leone, 2525; Cape Coast, 1119; South Africa, 6858; South India, 1851; North Ceylon, 1802; South Ceylon, 2268; New SouthWales, 2994; Australia, 1657; Van Diemen's Land, 992; New-Zealand, 6804; Friendly Islands, 8206; Feejee Islands, 2064; Demerara, 5008; Honduras, 250; West Indies, 13,101; British America, 10,994: Total, 74,318; being a decrease of 262; and consisting of 52,210 chiefly among the Heathen and Negroes, and 22,108 among Colonists and professed Christians.

Missionaries sent out in 1848-49.-To Sierra Leone, Mr. Garry; Gambia, Mr. and Mrs. Badger, and Mrs. Lynn; Gold Coast, Mr. Allen, Mr. Frederick Hart; South Af rica, Mr. and Mrs. Parsonson; Madras, Miss Knaggs; New-Zealand, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, and Mr. and Mrs. Reid; West Indies, Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, and Mr. and Mrs. English; Newfoundland, Mr. and Mrs. Brettell.

Missionaries returned to Foreign Service.Of those above enumerated, Messrs. Allen, Badger, English, and Parsonson, who have been before honourably and usefully employed in various Missions, but had returned home for a season, have again been appointed to the Foreign Work.

Deceased Missionaries.—In France, Mr. Le Bas; Sierra Leone, Mr. Purslow; Gambia, Mr. Lean; Feejee Islands, Mr. Hunt; West Indies, Mr. M'Bryon; British America, Mr. Bamford. To this affecting record must be added that of two excellent females, wives of Missionaries, who have also exchanged mortality for life.

must ever bear, in the order of divine Provi-
dence, as a necessary and essential though
subordinate means, to the great end we
have in view, the Society's present financial
position must be regarded with the most
solemn and religious concern.
Total Income, received from
all sources, for 1848
Expenditure for 1848.

Excess of Expenditure over
Income, in 1848

Deficiency of 1847 .

Total Deficiency for 1847 and 1848

£. 8. d. 104,126 19 7 111,492 9 3

7,365.9 8 5,993 6 5

£13,358 16 1 The Committee deem it right here to offer a few brief remarks on the Expenditure and on the Receipts of the year now reported.

Expenditure.-The cost of the Society's operations, as exhibited in this statement, being less than that of the previous year by £3,114 88. 3d., has not been reduced to the amount now stated by any great or considerably restricted expenditure on the Foreign Stations, which, on the average, and in the aggregate, have required and received nearly the usual amount of support, but by a lessened outlay in the items of "outfits and passages" of Missionaries, in part occasioned by the kindness of some Christian ship-owners, among whom, the liberality of Mr. Cooper and his friends, of the Isle of Wight, is here most respectfully and gratefully recorded, in the gift of FREE PASSAGES for Missionaries; but chiefly, because the. Committee have found themselves under the painful necessity of refusing to send out any STRICTLY ADDITIONAL Missionaries during the year, and even of delaying to supply many vacancies occasioned by sickness and death, until the requisite funds should be placed at their command.

Receipts. The income of the year from all sources, both regular and contingent, and Home and Foreign, has been £104,126 198. 7d. The Committee contemplate with gratitude to the Author of all grace the large amount of Christian love, liberality, self-denial, and missionary zeal, to which expression and form have been given in the contributions and labours called forth for the accumulation of so gratifying a total, during a year of great commercial depression and monetary embarrassment. But it becomes their duty to repeat distinctly and emphatically, that, even with this somewhat improved imcome, they are left under a debt for 1847 and 1848 amounting to £13,358 16s. ld., and with the prospect of an INCREASE of that debt during the current year, which can be avoided only, either by a most de'plorable restriction of the Society's operations in continuance of the restrictions of last year, and in addition to them, or, as the most desirable alternative, a very large addition to the ordinary Home Receipts of the Society.

PRIMITIVE METHODIST CONNEXION."The thirtieth Annual Conference of this section of the Christian Church, commenced its sittings in Sunderland, on Wednesday, June 6th, 1849. The Connexion is reported There are to be in a prosperous state. 95,557 members, 513 travelling preachers, 8,291 local preachers, 5,679 class-leaders, 1,511 connexional chapels, 3,345 rented chapeis, &c., 1,194 Sunday-schools, 94,876 scholars, and 18,169 gratuitous teachers The increase for the present year is reported to be 6,166 members, 235 local preachers, 157 class-leaders, 38 connexional chapels, 58 Sunday-schools, 7,603 scholars, and 1,700 gratuitous teachers."

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.-We alluded in our April number to the case of the Rev. Mr. Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter. The decision of the Arches Court, in reference to the question whether Baptismal Regeneration is, or is not, the doctrine of the Church of England, has now been made, and the result is, that the highest Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court, Sir H. J. Fust, has decided that any minister of the Church of England who denies the doctrine is legally disqualified to hold any preferment in that Church! This, we say, is the substantial result; and it places the so-called Evangelical Clergy of the Church of England in a most painful and anomalous position. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, several of the Bishops, and even the Queen herself, are, in effect, unchurched by this decision given by a lay Judge. The decision was given on the 2d of August, and an appeal at once taken to the Privy Council. Should the decision be confirmed, as in all probability it will, the spirit and firmness of the Evangelical Clergy will be put to the test. They must, choose whether they will "obey God rather than man." The Record, which is the organ of the Evangelicals, speaks thus on the 23d of August :

"It is to be hoped that those who have ready access to men in high office, will give them faithful warning of the peril, for the future, and actual injury, at the present moment, arising to the Church out of the recent judg ment of Sir H. J. Fust. Even were the reversal of that judgment matter of certainty, it is no slight loss that the Church is suffering now, in the paralyzing effects of a state of doubt and alarm, on all her wide-spread machinery of Christian benevolence. Various plans, as we well know, for raising churches, schools, &c., which were in the most hopeful circumstances a month since, are now languishing. Liberal contributors ask, What is the Church going to do? What

is the Church going to be? Where will these things end? Into whose hands will these churches and schools fall? And until such questions can be satisfactorily answered, they postpone, at least, giving such aid as in times past they have been used to give. We do not discuss at present the reasonableness of such apprehensions; we only speak to the fact. This, we know, is the present state of things. As for the result of what we trust is not probable,-a confirmation of Sir H. J. Fust's judgment, -it would probably be, in the same way, still more injurious. It would shake the confidence of the laity, and loosen their affections, and relax their efforts. Of other and still greater perils we do not now speak. But should any such decision be given, all plans for extending the Church would be likely to be received with coolness, if not absolutely repelled, by a large proportion of the most liberal of our laity. This, of itself, would be no trifling evil. Those in. stations of influence will, however, look still further than this. With the lamentable experience of Scotland before their eyes, they will be warned that even to the length of secession men will go, when once they have persuaded themselves that conscience prescribes such a course. And how the Church of England could bear such a trial as has come upon the Church of Scotland, no man can say. But he would be a rash statesman who would run the risk of trying it." The sentiments of the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK were fully given in his Charge given at his primary visitation at Thirsk, on June 4th, in which he used the following language:-"One of the important questions now occupying a large share of attention in the Church was that of Baptism. On the subject of adult baptism, little difference of opinion prevailed; but on infant baptism a great deal of discussion was taking place. This much, however, was quite clear, that the compilers of the services, both in the sixth of Edward and also in that of Queen Elizabeth, held the peculiar doctrines of Calvin, almost without exception, on the doctrines of election, predestination, and final perseverance. Hence they taught and believed, that spiritual regeneration in baptism could only be partaken of by the elect, and all men were not elected, and thus they could not be supposed as believing it to be received by all, to be received by all, nor could frame it to convey such a meaning, unless with the gross dishonesty practised by some parties now, who teach one doctrine, and at the same time believe another. No such hypocrisy was theirs; they did not believe it to be, and you are not called upon to take it as a rule of the Church, that all who are baptized are spiritually regenerated. No such doctrine is taught by the Articles, and you are not to force upon them a construction they will not admit. Our Reformers took the doctrines as they found them in the Scriptures on infant baptism; they neither added to them, nor diminished from

THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY has not yet spoken out, though his sentiments are well known. But he has presented the Rev. W. Goode, the Bishop of Exeter's literary antagonist, to the rectory of Allhallows, in London, in significant testimony, it is thought, of his dissent from the recent decision of the Arches Court, Mr. Goode has recently written a new work upon the subject, entitled, "The Doctrine of the Church of England as to the Effects of Baptism in the case of Infants," in which he argues the subject, it is said, in a lucid and masterly way.

BAPTIST NOEL.-The Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel has connected himself with the Baptist Church. He was baptized on the 9th of August, in the John-street chapel, in the immediate neighbourhood of the church in which he had preached as a minister of the Church of England for more than twenty years. The house was crowded to its utmost capacity. He delivered an address on the occasion,from which we extract the following:

"I will not speak of the convictions of others, but I speak of the conviction of my own mind, after very much examination. It appears to me to be distinctly proved, first, that baptism, as ordained by Christ, is an immersion in water, a being buried in the water; and, secondly, that immersion is meant to be a profession of faith in Christ. If those two conclusions are correct, (and I believe they will completely prevail with the Christian world eventually,) then it follows that a person who, like myself, has only been sprinkled in infancy, is unbaptized; because such a person has neither been immersed, nor has he made a baptismal profession of faith; and these two things constitute Christian baptism. So that, if these conclusions are correct, then I, and others, who have been only sprinkled in infancy, are in neither sense baptized. Should we, then, after having professed our faith in Christ at the Lord's table, at many times, come to this, which is the initiatory rite of Christi anity, and begin again a profession of faith