WILL.
CONFERENCE, HAMPTON-COURT. A confer- ence held at Hampton Court in the year 1604, between nine bishops and as many other dignitaries of the Church on the one side, and four Puritan divines on the other. It was held in the presence of James I, and lasted for three days. Some of the demands of the Puritans were acceded to, but others were rejected. One lasting advantage, however, resulted from this conference, namely, our present authorized version of the Bible. Some alterations also were made in the liturgy; all the thanksgivings now in use were insert- ed except the " general" one, which was subsequently introduced ; and there was annexed to the Catechism the portion explaining the sacraments. — Eden, Church^ nan's Dietiomtrtf, s. v. ; Neal, Bietory of the Puritans, ii, 80; Moshehn, Ch. Bid. iii, 408.
CONFERENCE, METHODIST. There are three synods or judicatories styled Coirferences in the Meth- odist E|nscopal Church.
I. The Quarterly Conference of each circuit or sta- tion consists of the ** travelling and local preachers, exhorters, stewards, and class-leaders of the circuit or statbn. The presiding elder, and, in his absence, the {ffeacher in charge, is president. The regular business of the Qnarterly Conference is to hear complaints, and to receive and try appeals ; to superintend the inter- U.-GO
ests of Sunday-schools, to license local preachers, to appoint stewards," etc {Diseipline, pt ii, ch. i, § 8).
II. The Anmud Conference is composed of all the ministers in a certain territory included in the ** Con- ference." There are now (1867) fifty-nine Confer- ences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, including Mission Conferences, besides those of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The Amotions of the An- nual Conference are purely administrative. At each session the preachers are *' appointed" to their several stations for the ensuing year by the bishop {Discipline, ptii,ch.i,§2).
III. The General Conference is " composed of one member for every twenty-seven members of each An- nual Conference, appointed either by seniority or choice, at the discretion of such Annual Conference." It meets once in four years, and is presided over by the bishops. It has faHl power to "make rules and regulations for the Church," subject to certain limita- tions known as " constitutional restrictions'* (BiscU pline, pt ii, ch. i, § 1). See Methodism.
In the Weeleyan Church, in England, ^1 the min- isters meet in one Conference. '^The first Conference of the Wesley an Methodists was held in London in the year 1744. It was attended only by six persons, five of whom were clergymen. By them the characters of the preachers were examined, difierencee of theologic- al opinions repressed, the stations of the preachers de- termined, and their hearts wanned and cheered by mutual consultation and prayer. As Mr. Wesley de- clined into the vale of years, the perpetuity of that system of doctrine and discipline, which had been so signally owned of Ood in the conversion and salvation of men, became a matter of anxious concern both to himself and his people. The appointment of the preachers to the various chapels, and to the consequent pastoral charge of the societies, presented the greatest difilculty. The preachers felt the importance of the case, and requested Mr. Wesley to consider what could be done in this emergency, so that, in the event of his death, the connection might not be dissolved. He took legal advice, and drew up the *deed of declara- tion,' constituting one hundred {teachers by name ' the Conference of the people called Methodists ;* at the same time defining their powers, and making pro- vision for the filling up of all vacancies occasioned by death, superannuation, or expulsion. This deed he caused to be enrolled in the High Court of Chancery in the year 1784. Thus the power of govemnMnt which Mr. Wesley possessed during his life, by his ap- pointment devolved upon the Conference after his de- cease, he having nominated its members, provided for its perpetuity, and defined its powers by the * deed of declaration.* To prevent any abuse of this instrup ment on the part of the * legal hundred,' Mr. Wesley left a letter, to be read by the Conference at its first aa- sembling after his death, of which we subjoin an ex- tract : ' I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that yon never avail yourselves of the '*deed of declaration" to assume any superiority over your brethren, but let all things go on, among those itinerants who choose to re- main together, exactly in the same manner as when I was with you, so fer as circumstances will permit. Have no respect of persons in stationing the preachers, in choosing children for Kingswood school, in dispos- ing of the yearly contribution and the preachers' ftmd, or any other public money, but do all things with a single eye, as I have done from the beginning.* When this letter was read after Mr. Wesley's decease, the Conference unanimously resolved that all the preach- ers who are in fhll connection with them shall enjoy every privilege that the members of the Conference enjoy, agreeably to the above-written letter of our venerable deceased fiftther in the GospeL The Confer- ence of the preachers of the Methodist societies is held annually in some one of the principal cities and towns in the Idngdom. Representatives horn the Irish Con-