The three following extracts, from John Angell James, Dr. Beaumont, and Dr. Campbell, respectively, explain the peculiar genius of this denomination :
"In cottages, in barns, and iu theatres; in public houses, in market-places, in streets, in lanes, and In fields, they (Primitive Methodist preachers) held meetings for prayer and exhortation. They were assailed by personal violence, and put in peril of their lives; but they perse- vered, in meekness and in gentleness, and have conquered by their passive power."
"The Primitive Methodists are a laborious, and not an idle community ; they are a plain, and not an artificial community ; they are a useful community."
"Every "day serves hut to confirm us that it is less tal- ents, less culture, less intelligence that, is required than a thorough knowledge of tbe'Gospel — a. perfect acquaint- ance with the Word of God— simplicity, affection, fervor, activity, tact, and flexibility, facility in adapting actions to circumstances, and such other things as these imply."
The latest statistics of the Connection are, 17,000 ministers and local preachers, 10,000 class - leaders, 59,000 Sunday-school teachers, and 180.000 Church members. They publish several periodicals.
The doctrine of the Connection may be said to be identical with that of other Methodist churches. The form of Church government is substantially Presbyte- rian, but with a larger mixture of the lay element than is found in Presbyterian or in other Methodist denomi- VIII.— P p
nations. The official business is transacted by the lead- ers' meeting, composed of the class-leaders, the society steward, and the travelling preachers of the circuit. No such meeting " can be legally held without the presence of the minister or travelling preacher, extraordinary cases excepted." As in other Methodist bodies, there are travelling and local preachers. The latter usually follow some worldly occupation for a maintenance, "and preach on the Sabbath as opportunities permit, but re- ceive no pecuniary remuneration for their sen ices. They are chosen to their office by the representatives of the united societies to which they minister; and should their labors prove unacceptable to the people generally, their services are discontinued." '-In the transaction of the business of the circuit's quarterly meeting, travelling and local preachers are equal." Be- tween the quarterly meetings, the ordinary business of the circuit is transacted by the "circuit committee," composed of such local preachers, class-leaders, or stew- ards as are appointed by the preceding quarterly meet- ing to represent the respective societies. The travelling preachers are ex-ojficio members of this court. Circuits are sometimes divided into branches, each having its own officials and its regular meetings for business, but subordinate to the quarterly meeting. "Places visited through missionary labors, and united in one station, are called a ' mission,' " most of which are under the control of the general missionary committee. A "dis- trict" consists of a number of circuits, branches, and missions. Its court, called a "district meeting," has an annual session. It is composed of one delegate from each circuit, the circuits sending a travelling preacher one year and a layman the two following years, so as to secure, as nearly as possible, two laymen to one trav- elling preacher. This meeting receives statistical re- ports of all the circuits, inquires into the state of each, and stations the travelling preachers within the dis- trict, "subject, however, to appeals from the stations or preachers, and to alterations at conference."
"The 'conference' is a yearly meeting of delegates from all the districts in the Connection, of twelve per- manent members, and of four persons appointed ai the preceding conference, in the proportion of two laymen to one travelling preacher. This is the highest court in the Connection, from whose decisions there is no appeal."
A "general committee," composed of ministers and laymen, holding its sessions in London, is appointed to transact the business of the Connection in the intervals of the sessions of conference. A district committee, subordinate to the general committee, is appointed for each district, and adjudicates on certain cases submitted to its examination by the stations within the district.
The Connection is represented in the United States by two Conferences, Eastern and Western, having, for the last six years, only fraternal relations with the par- ent Conference in Great Britain. There are also sepa- rate conferences in Canada, Australia, and New Zea- land, strictly associated with England. The statistics for the American Conferences for 187 C are as follows:
t-1
en
o
g
o
g
8
a.
3 <
3
H
1-
y
3
1
t
?
?
1
f
1
J""*
Eastern
1124 1 3S4
16
92
44
33
SI 31, 700
Western ....
Total....
1452 | 112
15
97
77
44
56,750
25T6 J 490
31
1S9
121
77 |$188,450
The Connec
tion
ias it
s full
shar<
of M
ethoc
istic zeal
Missionari 75
es. Members.
(No returns.) 1406
24
10
Queensland
New South Wales
6
17
317 939 104
Native Missionaries
3
PPJMITIYK WKSLKVAX
594
PRINCE
The foreign work is chiefly in British colonies and among English-speaking people. The missionary income for the year was £45,234. The mosl striking peculiarities of the < lonnection are— 1st, the vasl amounl of unpaid
labor performed by laymen; 2d, the influenc the
laity in Church government; 3d, the devoted and zeal- ous attention paid to the lower classes. In the United .. the Primitive Methodisl Connection has established itself, and has. especially near the borders of Canada and in the Eastern States, gained a strong footing, so that the American < !hurch is about of equal strength with the Canadian. They support a paper called the Primitivi Methodist and the Christian Pa- triot, a semi-monthly journal. See Petty, History of th Primitivi Methodist Connection; Church, History of the Primitivi Methodists (3d ed., revised and en- larged i: Herod, Sketches of Primitivi Methodist Preach- ers: Memorial of the Centenary of Hugh Bourne; Mar- ran. <;<tll<r>i of Ihceasril M '!i,i'.</> r.< ; A r/ir/.-s by Rev. W. II. Farrow, in Primitivi Methodist Record for 1*77.