only unassailed, but not the least confusion or disorder took place. The Annual Conference delegated their defence to one of their members, who very ably replied. The contrast was great. The harshest thing he said,— what every body could easily perceive, was that brother so and so possessed "all manner of sense but common sense." The argument of the appellant on the law question was submitted to the decision of the bishops. They, like impartial judges, gave the prisoner the benefit of a doubt, and pronounced that the omission of the secretary's copy, according to rule, was fatal to the trial; and that the case must go back to the Annual Conference.

The other case was not conducted by the appellant in person, but by Dr. Holditch. The form of the argument, the appeals to law, the technical objections raised, the eloquence and zeal evinced, might have led a spectator to suppose himself listening to an appeal case before the Privy Council, or in the House of Lords. The whole subject was managed with an ability, regularity, and order, both on the part of the counsel and the court, which would have done credit to any tribunal of justice in the world. These cases impressed me with the idea, that the personal rights and privileges of the Methodist preachers, in the American body, were held as very sacred things.

One other matter remains, the privilege of petition. Numerous petitions were presented on various subjects, and great numbers were read at length. The most numerous class related to the division of the church. Many societies on the borders of the division, which held anti-slavery views, had, by the arrangement, been placed on the South. side of the line of demarcation, and handed over to the pro-slavery church. These parties felt sorely aggrieved. They remonstrated, not only in energetic tones against the impropriety of being incorporated with the South, but they argued the question in all its breadth; and some of them with much force and ability. These, and all other petitions of the people, were received with great deference, and many of them read in full, and sent for investigation to their appropriate committees.

One word on these committees. They are appointed on the opening of the Conference, and embrace all the subjects which can come before the attention of that body. They sit concurrently, during the whole period of the session, and usually meet in the afternoon of each day. We had committees on the Episcopacy,-on the state of the

Church, on the Itinerancy,-on the Missions,-on the Sunday-schools, on the Temperance question,-on the Boundary subject,-on the Book-Concern, &c.; so that instead of appointing a committee to consider separate matters of interest, every thing needing the examination of such a body was sent to one of these standing committees.

Such, in substance, was the Pittsburgh Conference. There was much to admire in the parties present, merely considered as men. They exhibited, with religion, the real American character. Individualism is one of its obvious characteristics. But this is not selfish, egotistic, or flippant and vain. It is rather the exhibition of the freedom of the soul, connected with calm judgment and conscious strength. Deliberation in the movements of the mind, in speech, in coming to a decision, is an evident feature of American character. Nobody seems to be in a hurry, to indulge in fidgetty feelings, impassioned exclamations, or haste either in mind or body. This affects the character of their oratory. There is infinitely less of the impassioned, the figurative, the ornate, than amongst us; but much more of the force of reason, of natural logic. I was surprised at this, after hearing so much of American violence and passion; and also considering the exciting atmosphere in which some of them live. There appears, indeed, some difference betwixt the Northern and Southern men; but the latter were less fiery than might be expected.

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In its aggregate character, the Conference may sidered as near what is desirable as it seems possible to carry the order of a large deliberative assembly. All things combined to produce this effect. The dignified impartiality of the presiding bishops on the one hand, and the willing deference paid to them on the other; the establishment of exact and well-digested rules of debate, not only in written codes, but as carried out in practice, and the scrupulous regard paid to them by all parties; the avoidance of all irritating modes of address in reference to each other, together with perfect courtesy in language and bearing constantly manifested; the absence of all party strife, and the apparently simple purpose of every one to bring his best faculties to support the common cause of Christ; the religious spirit blending, like heavenly unction and influence, with all things, and impressing them with purity and piety;-in fine, the fear of God, and the love of each other, all tended to present a picture such as the mind

loves to dwell upon, and desires to see prevail every where. Were there, then, no blots and drawbacks? no dark shades? I only report what I saw, and the impressions left on my own mind. Illusions are common, sometimes pleasant; but what one sees with one's eyes, can hardly be an illusion.

This, then, is the church of John Wesley. He did not consider Methodism in England, in his days, as a church, but as Christian societies. He felt himself free to act, in respect to America; and we have a right to infer, that had he entertained any other notions of what a real Christian church ought to be, he would have attempted its establishment. He gave them the platform of their present episcopacy; and, consequently, this was his "ideal of a church." He, indeed, refused to call his superintendents bishops; but that is of no consequence; he gave the order and the office, and the name followed as a matter of course.

No doubt this agreed with his most cherished and mature opinions. At the period he established this order of things, he could have little temptation to falsify his own convictions by doing a thing repugnant to his judgment. He was nearly at the end of his eventful journey; the opinions of men could be of little consequence to him, and he heeded them as little; he expected constantly to be called to give his account, and yield up his spirit to God ;in this state it is impossible to conceive that he would perpetuate a practical falsehood, and finish his life by establishing a system which he did not fully believe to be accordant with the truth of God, and the good of man. But, besides, these convictions were the mature judgment of a minister of religion who possessed all the means of studying the whole question, of acquainting himself with the voice of antiquity, of observing the operation of all religious systems, almost in every part of the world; and the conclusion, we find, was, the establishment of the episcopal order.

The progress of the American church is only the developement of this idea. History must judge whether the anticipations of Mr. Wesley have been realized. Time has now been given for this. The trial has been made, and made on a most magnificent scale. Has this trial failed, or has it succeeded? Facts must answer this question. And, in order to meet this important query as fairly and fully as possible, we now go to the consideration of our next point, the territorial progress of the American Methodist Episcopal church.

PART IV.

TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF THE AMERICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

Ir is desired, in attempting to give some account of the territorial progress of the Methodist Episcopal church in the United States, to notice such educational and other institutions as are found existing in the several localities, hoping by this to attain to a pretty accurate notion of the practical operations of the entire system. And, moreover, as the different States and churches have each something characteristic and peculiar, it is intended to notice, briefly, these circumstances, by way of enlivening the narrative of details. These details, in themselves, are necessarily dry, as statistics must be; but we have always something interesting, where living men are found, to give vivacity to subjects in themselves tedious and barren.

It is hardly necessary to say, that the investigation has been found beset with difficulties. It has, indeed, cost much trouble and research; and even, after all, exactness and perfect accuracy cannot be claimed for these statements. All that can be hoped,-all which is possible under the circumstances, is, to give a general outline of a great work. It would require an American, with much leisure, great experience, and a command of documents, to do justice to such a subject. And it is a subject well worthy of the attention of some master-mind in the United States.

The authorities possessed have been consulted with much attention; and the whole ground has been carefully examined and gone over, so far as these guides could lead the way. By the kindness of my friends in the States, I have been put into possession of most valuable historical documents; and with more time and leisure, a much better digest and analysis would have been possible.

To secure order and precision, as well as to render our survey intelligible, it is proposed to take certain lines of country separately, making the Annual Conferences the basis of our statistical calculations. By this it is hoped, that something clear and tangible may be kept

before the mind of the reader; whereas, if we allowed ourselves to wander at large on a space so great as the American continent, we must soon feel ourselves lost in a perfect labyrinth.

Adopting this principle, we propose to examine the state of Methodism, 1. On the Atlantic seaboard. 2. By the line of the Hudson and the Lakes. 3. Along the Ŏhio and the adjoining country. 4. The Mississipi.

I. THE ATLANTIC CONFERENCES.

Ir seems natural that we should begin our survey where population had its commencement. The Atlantic States embrace a line of sea-coast extending eighteen hundred miles from north to south, and stretch into the interior for a distance constantly varying, but in some places amounting to between three and four hundred miles. These States are filled with great cities; possess the most magnificent bays and harbours in the world; a considerable amount of manufacturing industry, in various branches; a great and flourishing commerce; and the country parts are occupied by beautiful villages, and a prosperous agriculture. The people of these States, being the descendants of the original settlers, constitute the élite classes of society; and the living mind of these people has always predominated.

I. We begin our survey at the northern point of the Atlantic line, the MAINE CONFERENCE. In connexion with this division we find six districts; namely, Portland, Gardiner, Readfield, Bangor, Thomaston, and Buckport. One hundred and sixty-four circuits and stations; one hundred and sixty-one ministers, with one hundred and sixty-seven local preachers; and twenty thousand two hundred and eighty-one church-members.

Methodism was introduced into Maine in 1793, by the indefatigable Jesse Lee.

"A few weeks after the adjournment of Conference, he entered upon what in those days was a journey of considerable magnitude. Leaving Lynn, he passed through Newburyport into NewHampshire, Greenland, and Portsmouth, preaching as he went; and thence, on the 16th of September, entered Maine, and, at a little village called Laco, on the same night preached in a private house, crowded with attentive hearers, on Acts xiii. 41. As the most of his time, until the Conference of 1794, was employed in the formation of a circuit in Maine, we may very properly give a brief narra