the ratification with entire unanimity of Coke's ordi- nation, and the election of one of their own number, Francis Asbury, to the same office. The Conference also received Wesley's abridgment of the Articles of the Church of England, which continue to be their standard of doctrine to the present day, and also an abridgment- of the Book of Common Prayer, prepared by the same hand, and sent over with the recommendation that it should be used in the Methodist chapels. This was done in some of the large cities for a season, but soon fell into disuse, with the exception of the sacramental services and the forms of ordinations, which are still re- tained and used. The bishops are elected by a General Conference, which meets even,' four years, and is com- posed of delegates from the several Annual Conferences in the ratio of one delegate for a certain number of members, which has been changed from time to time according to the increase of the general body. The ra- tio fixed by the General Conference of 1872 as a basis of future representation is one delegate for every forty- five members of an Annual Conference. At the same Conference lay members, in the ratio of two for every Annual Conference, were also admitted. The bishops, like the preachers, are itinerant; and it is*specially en- acted that if one of them ceases from travelling with- out the consent of the General Conference, he shall not thereafter exercise the episcopal office. His powers are similar to those of the president of the English Confer- ence, with the additional duty of fixing the appoint- ments of the preachers, deciding all questions of law in an Annual Conference, and ordaining bishops, elders, and deacons. The limit of three years, beyond which the preachers of the British Wesleyan Connection may not continue in the same place, is now also the rule of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States ; and to this is added the regulation that they may not be returned to the same place more than three years in six. Presiding elders in this branch of the Church oc- cupy a position very similar to that of the chairmen of districts in England, except that they have no sepa- rate pastoral charge. They are appointed by the bish- ops, and may remain four years on the same- dis- trict. They form a kind of advisory committee in as- sisting the bishops to fix the appointments of the preachers. The " I3ook Concern," situated in New York, with a branch at Cincinnati, and depositories in various other cities, has a capital of more than a million of dol- lars, and is one of the largest publishing houses in the world. Under the patronage and control of the Church are weekly papers published in New York, Syracuse (N. Y.). Pittsburgh (Pa.), Cincinnati (0.), Chicago (111.), St. Louis (Mo.), San Francisco (Cal.), Portland (( )n'-on), and Atlanta (Ga.). They publish also several iUnst rated papers for Sunday-schools, one of a similar kind I'm- tlie Tract Society, a monthly Sunday-school journal, a monthly magazine in English, another in German, and a quarterly review. See IMethodist Episcopai. Ciup.ch.
1 1. The IMethodist Episcopai- Church, South, pro- jected at Louisville, Ky., in 1845, was formally organ- ized by delegates from Conferences within the slave- holding states in JMay, 1846. In doctrine, discipline, and general usages, it is the same as the preceding. -The same is true of its forms of worship and usages. But while the Church North made open declaration against the institution of slavery, the Church South ignored the subject. Now that the institution is abolished in the United Stites, the two bodies can hardly be said to dif- fer. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has a flourishing publishing house (at Nashville, Tenn.), and issues several periodicals. See Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
12. The Methodist Protestant Church was or- ganized in the city of Baltimore, Md., in the year 1830, by a convention composed of an equal number of cler- ical and lay delegates from various states of the Union. The convention continued in session three weeks, and adopted a " Constitution" for the new association. Its
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fundamental doctrines, and most of its usages, are the | same as those of the Episcopal Methodists, the body 1 from which it seceded. Following tlie example of the Britisli Wesleyans, the episcopal olfice is denied, and a president called to rule over each Amiual Conference, elected by the ballot of that body. The laity is admit- ted to an equal participation with the clergy in all Church legislation and governmejit. The General Con- ference, wliich meets every four years, consists of an equal number of ministers and laymen, who are elected by the Ainnial Conferences. The slavery question di- vided tlie Metlindist Protestant Church into two bodies — tlie Methiiditt J'roti'stant Church of the North-wtstern J^httes and the Methodist Protestants of the Southern Slates. The head-ciuarters of the former were estab- lished at Springtield, Ohio; those of the latter at Balti- more, ^Id. Their members were found only in certain jiarts of the United States. Their greatest strength is in Virginia, Maryland, and in some portions of Ohio and IVniisylvania. Of late years, a union of all non- episcopal Mctliodists having been proposed, tlie Protes- tant Mctliodists North changed their official name to Th,-M<th„dist Church. The Wesleyau Methodist Church was one of the churches expected to be nurgccl into tliis iicwly-constitnted body, but hitherto all etlbrts at niiioii have failed, and there seems to be no immediate prospect of their amalgamation. The Mdhodist t 'hiirch numbers about 75,000 members ; altogether the ^Meihod- ist Protestants count about 140,000. The head-quar- ters of the Church South remain at Baltimore, Md. ; those of The Methodist Church have been removed from Springfield, Ohio, to Pittsburgh, Pa. See Mkthodist Protestant Ciiuuch; Methodists. The.