The Conference of 1790 was the last presided over by Mr. AVesley. As if premonitory of his death, two committees were appointed, one to manage the mission newly established in the West Indies, and one to super- intend the erection of chapels both in England and Ire- land A plan of the order of business in conducting the Coulerence was drawn up and published in the Minutes.
3. History of the Wesleyan Body since 3T>: Wesley^s Decease. — The death of John Weslej-, in March, 1791, was a blow so heavy when it occurred that it produced a feeling of awe and submission among the preachers, which prevented the introduction of various reforms for several years which had been contemplated and were required. During tlie whole year the Arminiun Mag- azine scarcely named Mr. Wesley; more important du- ties devolving on both preachers and officers of the Con- nection. It was resolved to elect a president from the senior preachers at each Conference, and in other re- spects to carry on the Connection on the plan previous- ly observed, England was divided into districts, and chairmen appointed to superintend them. The num- ber of districts were, England, nineteen ; Scotland, two ; Ireland, six. By this plan the best possible arrange- ment was made for giving to the societies that careful oversight which they had previously received from Mr. Wesley himself. Each district was required to meet its own expenses.
A spirit of restlessness soon appeared among some of the societies after j\Ir. Wesley's death. William Hara- meth, whom Mr. AVesley had ordained to labor in the West Indies, went to America in 1792 in search of health. He made a division in the society at Charles- town, appealed to the English Conference, and the re- sult was his exclusion from tlie ministrv. In England, one at least of Mr. Wesley's ordained preachers assumed the title of reverend, wore a gown in the pulpit, and ad- ministered the Lord's supper without the consent of the Conference. During the three years following, much unrest was manifested in many parts of England by the people asking to have the Lord's supper administered by their own preachers instead of having to go to Church for the purpose.
In 1794 the trustees of some IMethodist chapels, es- pecially in Bristol, refused to allow any preacher to officiate in their chapel who had not previously been approved by them for that purpose. The dispute at
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Bristol ran so liigli as to threaten a division of the j whole Connection.
Ill IT'Jo the dispute with tlie Bristol trustees, and the ; (juestion of the preachers administerinj; the Lord's sup- I per to the societies, had created so much painful un- rest that, to save a disruption, a plan of pacification was drawn up by nine preachers, which, when approved by the Conference, was submitted to the discontented trus- tees, and when accepted by them was sent to the socie- ties, and was the means of averting for that year anj' division. The plan included nine points concerning public worship, and nine points concerning discipline. The concessions consisted mainly of authorizing the continuance of sacramental services by the preachers where they had been practiced without tlic consent of the Conference. Preachers and officers who spoke for or against the introduction of the Lord's supper were to be subject to trial and ])enalties. That clause was re- sisted so determinedly by a few preachers and by very many members, both in public addresses and by the wide distribution of pamphlets, chietly written by Mr. Alexander Kilhara, one of the preachers, that at the Conference of 1790 the first business done was the trial, and finally the expulsion from the ministry, of ]\Ir. Kil- ham. Tliose who had the direction of the affairs of the Connection acted with determination in this matter, but many of the junior preachers and several thousand members considered that decision unjust, unwise, and impolitic.
The year between the expulsion of Mr. Kilham and the Conference of 1797 was passed by him in visiting the societies in various parts of England, to ascertain their views respecting the action of the Conference in his case. The result was the formation, in the summer of 1797, of a new Methodist Connection, which included at least three preachers from the old body and about five thousand members. That was the first division of the Methodist people after Mr. Wesley's death, and in thirty years it was followed by three others, all which might have been averted by the exercise of more Chris- tian forbearance and the concession of points of disci- pline deemed " non-essentials," which have in later j'ears been nearly all conceded by the Methodist Conference. Tlie New Connection Methodists ought to be now united with the parent society, from which they should not have been separated. The three preachers who sep- arated themselves from the Conference on that occasion were William Thom, Stephen Eversfield, and Alexander Cummin, all of whom assisted in forming the New Con- nection. Tlie Conference of 1797 issued a pastoral ad- dress to the societies, to allay as much as possible the spirit of unrest which so widely prevailed. For over ' sixty years a pastoral address has been annually issued by the Conference, commencing with the year 1819.
The foreign missions of Methodism were considered and recognised by the Conference of 1798. Those missions were commenced by Dr. Coke in 178G, and were entirely under his direction and management till 1791, wJien the Conference appointed a committee of nine of the brethren to assist him in examining candi- dates for foreign service, and also the accounts and let- ters relating to the missions. The Conference of 1793 appointed the first general collection to be made through- out the ('onnection in support of the missions. The second collection was made in 1790, and it has been con- tinued yearly ever since. These missions were under the control and management of Dr. Coke, Avitli the aid, though little more than nominal, of a committee, un- til tlic year 1813, when he arranged with the Confer- ence for his journey to India. The doctor closed his earthly pilgrimage while crossing the Indian Ocean, and in the following year the Foreign jMissionarj' Soci- ety was originated at Leeds, since which time it has be- come one of the most useful and important missionary organizations in the world, with nearly five hundred ministers and one hundred thousand members in society at the Conference of 1880; the voluntary contributions