course of study to be conducted by the conferences on question papers prepared by a central board-to go into effect in the year 1900; a resolution disapproving the admission and advancement in certain instances of ministers and evangelists who had not passed the educational tests required by the Discipline, or were behind in some of their studies, and insisting on full compliance with the prescribed tests; and a resolution directing that no person shall be licensed as a local preacher who has not been previously licensed as an exhorter and recommended. The Conference refused to allow the name of a woman preacher to be placed upon the list of claimants upon the Superannuate fund; but in the case of another woman it refrained from disapproving the appearance of her name in the list of members of the Kansas Conference, on the ground that she had been received into the Conference prior to the action of 1890, which barred the admission of women. The sense of the Conference was expressed that it has been a violation of Discipline, since the action referred to, to receive a woman into an annual Conference on trial or in full connecnection. A proposition to substitute the title of "bishop" for the words "general superintendent where they occur in the Discipline was rejected, and the title of the officer remains general superintendent. A recommendation to expunge the general rule relating to slavery was adopted, conditioned upon its receiving the assent of the requisite majority of the annual conferences. The Conference resolved to begin proceedings to close the business of the Methodist Association for the Perpetuation of Church Property, and appointed a committee to attend to the details of the transaction. A delegate, with a reserve delegate, was appointed to the Ecumenical Methodist Conference to be held in London in 1901, and also to a preliminary meeting in anticipation of the conference to be held in Plainfield, N. J. Two delegates were appointed to attend the Ecumenical Missionary Conference to be held in New York city in the spring of 1901. The action of a previous General Conference urging the people to vote "with the party committed fully to the overthrow of the saloon" was reaffirmed. Provision was advised for the publication of a list of the best books for Sunday-school libraries, and for having the books kept on sale at the publishing house. A number of measures were directed for the promotion of Sunday-school work, including annual Sunday-school conventions, monthly Sunday-school board meetings, the furnishing of lesson helps to the schools, and the institution of a Sunday-school secretary, who shall also be associated with the editorial departments of the Church and Sunday-school papers. E. P. Hart, George W. Coleman, Burton R. Jones (all re-elected), and Walter A. Sellen (elected for the first time) were chosen general superintendents. The salary of the general superintendent was fixed at $800 a year, with $200 for traveling expenses. Special collections were authorized to be taken at points where the superintendents are called to labor, the proceeds to be applied to their salaries; they to give receipts for the money if required to do so.

VII. Methodist Protestant Church.-"The Methodist Protestant," the official organ of this Church, publishes a comparative table of numbers and the net gain of members of this Church by periods of ten years from 1828 to 1896, which shows that in the former year it had 5,000 members; in 1838, 39,000 members, a gain of 680 per cent.; in 1848, 58,000 members (gain, 48.73 per cent.); in 1858, 75,000 members (gain, 29.31 per cent.); in 1868, 99,000 members (gain, 32 per cent.); in 1878, 116,000 members (gain, 17.17 per cent).; in 1888, 147,000 members (gain, 26.72 per cent).; and in

1896 (eight years), 181,000 members (gain, 23.12 per cent). To the present number of full members should be added nearly 3,000 ministers and preachers and perhaps 5,000 probationers. The 50 conferences return, for the beginning of 1898, 2,294 churches, 512 parsonages, 2,200 Sunday schools, with 19,363 officers and teachers and 130,562 pupils, and Church property valued at $4,913,809; colleges at Westminster, Md., Adrian, Mich., Yadkin, N. C., La Harpe, Ill., Westminster, Texas, and a theological seminary at Westminster, Md.; 3 book concerns, at Baltimore, Md., Pittsburg, Pa., and Greensboro, N. C.; 8 church papers; a complete set of Sunday-school papers; and Boards of Home and Foreign Missions, Ministerial Education, Church Extension, Ministerial Relief (superannuate preachers), and local interests.

VIII. Methodist Church in Canada.-The General Conference statistician has published statistics of this Church for 1898, the summary of which gives for the western section, including the London, Toronto, Hamilton, Bay of Quinte, Montreal, Manitoba and Northwestern, British Columbia, and Japan conferences, and the China mission, 239,622 members, showing an increase of 2,638 during the year, and for the eastern section, including the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland conferences, 40,915 members, a decrease of 226; total, 280,537 members, with a net increase of 2,412. A comparison with the tables of the 3 previous quadrennial terms shows that the Church has realized a net increase of 110,734 members during the past fifteen years. Of the members returned in 1898, 2,370 were connected with the Japan Conference and 31 with the China mission.

The tables prepared by the General SundaySchool and Epworth League Board represent 8,387 Sunday schools, with 270,239 pupils, showing an increase of 136 schools and 17,783 pupils in four years. The Home Department, consisting of persons who, without attending the Sunday schools regularly, study the lessons at home and make stated reports of their work, has been developed rapidly, the number of members having risen from 1,856 in 1895 to 7,151 in 1898. The board also reported that there were 658 Epworth Leagues and 869 Epworth Leagues of Christian Endeavor, besides a number of Young People's societies, making the whole number of such societies within the Church 1,947, with 81,935 members, showing an increase in four years of 915 societies and 34,760 members. The collections for the general fund amounted to $1,374. The total collections of the Sunday-School Aid fund for the past four years had exceeded those of any previous quadrennium. The amount for the last year was $2,665. A debt of $2,600 existing four years ago had been extinguished. A joint commission of the Epworth League, Christian Endeavor Societies, Baptist Young People's Union, and other societies was arranging for the preparation of common topics to be used in the Young People's prayer meeting.

The capital stock of the Book Room amounted now to nearly $400,000, having increased $60,000 in four years. During this period $34,000 had been paid to the Superannuation fund.

The total sum of $23,435 had been raised during the quadrennium for the General Conference fund, $8,020 below the estimate set by the last General Conference fund.

The capital of the Parsonage and Church Aid fund was returned at $23,790, of which $19,799 were invested. The receipts had been $14,688, and the expenditures $10,698.

The income of the Educational Society for four years had been $86,002. Grants had been made to colleges amounting to $44,279, and the fees paid to

student probationers amounted to between $10,000 and $11,000. The loans had amounted to about $14,000, and $8,753 had been repaid on loans. Seven hundred and fifty-three notes held by the treasurers aggregated $38,007.

The General Board of Missions, at its annual meeting, Sept. 23, made appropriations of $20,886 to missions in Japan, $9,592 to those in China, $6,725 to French evangelistic and educational work, and $85,534 to domestic missions. The arrangements made for the Indian missions by the last annual conferences were continued.

The Missionary Society had in Japan 25 missionaries, 33 assistants, 15 teachers, and 2,370 members; in China, 10 missionaries, 2 assistants, and 4 teachers; in the 59 missions among the Indian tribes, 37 missionaries, 17 assistants, 32 teachers, 11 interpreters, and 5,407 members. The 408 domestic missions were supplied by 390 missionaries and 34 assistants, and returned 37,603 members. A mission to the Japanese in British Columbia reported 83 members. The aspect of the missionary work among the Canadian French was not encouraging. The sum of $21,455 was spent upon the mission in Japan, besides $990 on the Japanese work in British Columbia; $12,193 upon the Chinese mission; $85,946 upon the work among the Indians; and $92,881 upon the domestic missions.

The Woman's Missionary Society had laborers at four stations in Japan-Tokio, Shizuoka, Kofu, and Kanagawa, and had recently entered also Nagano. About 30 pupils had been graduated from the 3 schools during the quadrennium; 29 pupils and more than 80 women had been baptized; and 30 children were cared for in the orphanages at Tokio and Kanagawa. The pupils at Tokio have for several years maintained a school for 50 poor children, and were contributing to the work in China. Four missionaries had been sent to China since the previous General Conference, one of whom had died. A rescue home for Chinese girls was maintained at Victoria, British Columbia. Among the Indians of the Northwest, the Crosby Girls' Home was maintained at Fort Simpson, and the Coqualectza Home at Chilliwack had become an Indian institute, where about 100 children were taught and trained. The French institute in Montreal was attended by 80 pupils.

The fifth General Conference met at Toronto, Sept. 1. The Rev. Dr. Carman, general superintendent, presided, and presented in his official address a review of the history of the Church during the past four years, and of its relations to the ecclesiastical, fraternal, and the moral movements of the day. On the presentation of the report of a committee on that subject, the Conference expressed approval of an Ecumenical Conference of Methodism which it is proposed to hold in London in 1901, and its readiness to co-operate in carrying the scheme out upon the basis proposed; appointed a delegate, with an alternate, to represent the Canadian Church; and arranged for the other delegates to be apportioned to the different annual conferences. In response to the address of a fraternal delegate of the Presbyterian Church, the Conference declared "that in such fraternal fellowship we find more than mere interdenominational courtesy. Our cordial esteem for the Presbyterian Church amounts to warm Christian love"; and that the approximation of the two leading churches of the Dominion was "an encouraging guarantee of the continuance of an active evangelical influence." The action of the General Conference of 1894 upon the subject of a federal court for Protestant churches was reaffirmed. A committee was appointed to consider any proposals from other denominations looking towards union. The committee on the "Twen

tieth-Century Thanksgiving fund" of $1,000,000, which it is proposed to raise, reported that several memorials and resolutions had been received from districts and annual conferences, all favorable to the scheme, and suggested the details of a plan for carrying it out. The plan as adopted by the Conference contemplated that contributors be allowed to designate the objects for which their subscriptions shall be used, and recommended as the interests from which this choice may be made: Educational institutions; missions, home or foreign; Superannuation and Supernumerary funds; and local church debts. Donors were permitted, if they prefer, to leave their contributions to be distributed among the institutions, funds, and objects mentioned as the committee to be appointed by the General Conference might deem advisable. It was insisted upon that the givings to the TwentiethCentury fund must not be allowed to interfere with customary givings to the various Connectional funds. A motion proposing to strike out a note in the Discipline specifying what amusements and worldly practices were regarded by the Church as inconsistent with Christian life, and also a motion to modify the rule by making it a mere general statement, were voted down by an overwhelming majority, and the rule was left to stand unchanged. In the revision of the disciplinary provisions regarding the superannuation of ministers, stipulations are inserted for medical examination before superannuation; for the refunding of only one half of the money paid in by the minister to the Superannuation fund, instead of the whole amount, as formerly, in case he withdraws from the Church; and permitting the suspension or withdrawal of annuities in cases where the minister does not intend to return to active work. The rule limiting the number of years for which a minister may be returned to the same station was amended so as to provide that by the request of the Quarterly Board expressed by a three fourths vote taken according to specified forms, the Stationing Committee may continue the appointment for four or five years in succession. The Transfer Committee was constituted to consist of the general superintendent and the presidents of the annual conferences other than mission conferences, to meet annually. It was given authority to transfer a minister from one Conference to another, by a two thirds majority, without his consent. It was directed that four ministers shall be transferred during the quadrennium from Newfoundland into some of the other conferences, no Conference, however, to receive more than one such transferred minister. It was further provided that after a man had stayed ten years in Newfoundland he could be brought back into one of the western conferences if he desired it. In a resolution expressing regret at signs of the decline of class meetings, the Conference "strongly recommended that earnest efforts be put forth to make our class meetings more and more attractive and spiritually helpful, and that more importance should be attached to the holding of leaders' meetings, to the preparation and diffusion of useful literature on the subject, and to the holding of class-leaders' conventions or institutes in connection with our conferences and district meetings, and at educational centers." It was ordered that the allowance of home missionaries shall include all items of a minister's support, such as salary, board, fuel, and traveling expenses, but not house rent. The missionary work among the Indians was put under the immediate control of the mission board. Mission councils were constituted, to consist severally of the missionaries sent to any foreign field, when not less than five in number, to be subject to such regulations and rules within its authority as the mission board may from time

for Christian workers. The house had been continued as a ministerial residence since the death of Mr. Wesley, in 1791. It being no longer needed for this purpose, a scheme was proposed by the Rev. T. E. Westerdale, superintendent, for freeing the Wesley's chapel trust from debt, and providing for the permanent settlement and endowment of this house for the purpose mentioned. This having been accomplished, and an endowment fund of £5,000 secured, the ceremonies of opening the Wesley house were celebrated in connection with the anniversary of John Wesley's death. One of the purposes for which the house will be used will be as a Methodist historical museum, toward which a considerable collection of books, manuscripts, and articles associated with Wesley and with Methodist history has been gathered.

X. Primitive Methodist Church.-The statistical reports of this Church, presented to the Conference in June, give it 1,088 ministers, 16,617 local preachers, 10,418 class leaders, and 197,182 members, showing an increase during the year of 1,455; 4.308 Sunday schools, with 61,000 teachers and 465,089 pupils (49,785 were church members); and 4,628 chapels, valued at upward of £3,000,000, and capable of accommodating 595,038 hearers. Five hundred and sixty-six Christian Endeavor Societies returned 15,657 active members and 5,774 associate members. Increase was shown in every department of denominational activity.

The total receipts for missions had been £16,671, and the expenditures £14,252. The receipts for the African fund had been £6,811, and the expenditure £4,146. This fund was represented to be winning increasing support. In addition to the money which had passed through the hands of the treasurers, there had been raised and appropriated locally for home missions £15,691, and for African missions £2,485. The 41 home missions returned 10,819 hearers, 51 ministers, 5 lay missionaries, 6 Bible women, 377 local preachers, 118 Sunday schools, 1,126 teachers, 9,129 scholars, and 4,719 members. The mission in Africa comprised 8 principal stations, with 25 outstations, 8 European and 4 native missionaries, 4 trained native evangelists, 50 native local preachers, 8 native day schools, 40 native class leaders, and 1,286 members, showing a gain of 40 members during the year.

The Conference met at Leeds, June 8. The Rev. John Smith was chosen president. The report upon the attempt to raise a jubilee fund of £50,000, initiated seven years previously, represented that only £38,000 had so far been raised, while the enthusiasm had somewhat diminished under the pressure of local claims. The Conference decided to leave the fund open another year and reappointed its committee. The income of the Aged and Necessitous Local Preachers' fund had increased by £341, and was now £788. Sixty students were at tending the Manchester College for the training of ministers. The Chapel Aid Association had a deposit account of £219,339, and a loan account of £206,652. It had during its operations helped trustees diminish their liabilities by £49,630. The Connectional Insurance Company had issued 7,769 policies, 5,038 of which were still current. It had a reserve of £26,384. The General Chapel fund had during the year co-operated with trustees in reducing their debt by £17,000. The Chapel Loan fund stood at £8,500, and had lent to trustees during the year £1.584. The sales of the Book Room had reached £34,566, the highest amount in its history. The Joint Committee on Union with the Bible Christians reported that in this Church 18 out of 24 districts were in favor of continuing the negotiations; only 2 districts had approved the change in the composition of the Conference from two laymen to VOL. XXXVIII. 29 A

one minister to equal representation of ministers and laymen; while the Bible Christians objected to the large official element which it was proposed to incorporate in the united Conference. The Conference decided to continue the negotiations. The joint committee on concerted Methodist action had labored to promote that object and Methodist fellowship. It found that the freest scope for united action lay in social and philanthropic questions. A Methodist Yearbook was recommended, and the churches were urged to hold united services once a year. The consent of the Conference was given to the accomplishment of the scheme for Methodist union in Australia. A committee on the institution of a system of pensions was reappointed. A measure for the creation of a sustentation fund was passed, with a proviso that it should come up for revision within the next five years.

XI. Methodist New Connection.-The one hundred and second Conference met at Nottingham, June 13. The Rev. David Heath, of Sheffield, was chosen president. The Committee on the State of the Connection reported that there had been a net increase during the year of 886 members and 637 probationers. The Sunday schools included 10,979 teachers and 83,838 pupils in England and Ireland. A system of visitation of grant-aided circuits and home-mission stations was instituted, under which a minister and a layman are to be appointed by the Conference on the recommendation of the Home Mission Committee, whose duty it shall be to visit the circuits or stations once or twice a year, inquire into their condition, and give advice. The opinion of the Conference was expressed (in a case involving the question) that there is nothing in the constitution of the Connection to prevent the appointment of a minister in a home-mission station for a sixth year. A uniform financial system for all Connectional funds was instituted, with provisions for common banking, or a kind of clearinghouse exchanges between them.

XII. United Methodist Free Churches.-The statistical reports of this denomination, made to the Conference in July, give it 397 ministers, 3,409 local preachers, 82,307 members, with 9,116 on trial, and 25,051 teachers, with 201,467 pupils in Sunday schools. The total income from circuits for home and foreign missions was £9,840, exceeding the income of the previous year by nearly £2,000. The missionaries numbered 56; the native and local preachers, 563; church members, 11,152, with 2,785 on trial; chapels, 137; preaching rooms. 132; day and Sunday scholars, 9,983; teachers, 933.

The Conference met at Lincoln, July 19. The Rev. E. D. Cornish, of Manchester, was chosen president. The Chapel Relief fund returned an income of £1,382 and a balance in hand of £808; the Chapel Loan fund, a capital of £14,000, of which £11,300 was out on loan; the Connectional Fire Insurance Association, an income exceeding the losses by £368, and a capital of £2,063; the Superannuation and Benevolent fund, an income of £11,800, and a balance in hand of £2.300. The sales of the Book Room had reached £5,500, and the profits £351, while the borrowed capital had been reduced by £700.

XIII. Bible Christians.-The Bible Christian Conference met at Cardiff, July 26. The Rev. W. B. Lark, of Davenport, was chosen president. The report of the Joint Committee on Union with the Primitive Methodist Church, presenting the records of the meetings of the committee and the resolutions passed by the Primitive Methodist Conference in June, was adopted, and the negotiations were directed to be continued, with instructions to the committee to make any modification that may be found necessary in the constitution of district

meetings and committees. It was understood, however, by the Conference and the committee, that no concession should be made of the BibleChristian principle of equal representation of ministers and laymen in Conference, the Primitive Methodists proposing as the basis of representation two laymen to one minister. A scheme was adopted for the raising of a "New-Century fund," the precise amount of which was not fixed, to be applied (1) to making provision for the aid of local preachers in sickness and old age; (2) to the increase of the Chapel fund; (3) to the augmentation of the Superannuated Ministers' fund; and (4) to provision for the more efficient training of candidates for the ministry. The total receipts of the Missionary Society were reputed to have been £7,594, and the expenditures £8,332, leaving a balance due the treasurer of £738. Special mention was made in the annual report of the society of the success of the Bush mission in South Australia. Favorable reports were made of the Christian Endeavor Societies, the fire assurance department, and of the examinations of probationers.

XIV. Wesleyan Reform Union.—This society had according to the statistics reported to the Conference in August, 195 chapels and preaching places, 16 ministers, 422 preachers, 7,178 members, and 171 Sunday schools, with 2,738 teachers and 20,799 pupils. The Conference met at Clayton West in August. Mr. W. Brooks, of Sheffield, was chosen president. The need was pointed out in the annual report of a whole-hearted service, in the face of the growing worship of physical amusement, the increasing evil of gambling, and the liquor traffic. The spread of sacerdotalism in the Anglican Church called for the united watchfulness of all the Protestant Free churches. A pastoral letter was directed to be sent to the churches urging them to increase their zeal and labors among the young people.

XV. Wesleyan Methodist Church in South Africa. The statistics published in connection with the South African Conference give this Church 147 circuits, with 2,517 chapels and churches, 199 ordained ministers. 193 evangelists, 3,143 local preachers, 46,024 native and 5,882 English members, the whole number showing an increase of 4,034 during the year; 500 Sunday schools, with 2,438 teachers and 32,639 pupils; 500 day schools, with 794 teachers and 31,800 pupils; and 3,972 class leaders. The Conference, including churches in Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Natal, met at Cape Town, with the Rev. James Thompson as president.

XVI. Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church. The following are the members attending worship in the several South Sea missions of the Australasian Wesleyan Missionary Society: Samoa, 6,192; Fiji, 96,421; New Guinea, 9,318; New Britain, 8,812; total, 120,743. These figures show an increase, in two years, of 183 churches, 5 native ministers, 741 members, and 2,451 adherents. The financial accounts, however, showed a deficiency of £1,197 upon the year's work, making a total indebtedness against the society of about £4,500. The General Conference was held in Auckland, New Zealand, with the Rev. H. T. Burgess as president. Progress was reported in the movement for the union of all the Methodist bodies in the Australian colonies into a single church, which had reached different stages of advancement in the different colonies. The prospect of an ultimate successful issue was considered good. Action upon a number of propositions for constitutional changes offered to the Conference was deferred, in order that they might be presented, if the scheme for union should be consummated, to the General Conference

of the united church. In view of a contemplated extension of the foreign mission work to continental Asia and Japan, an additional organizing secretary was appointed. A friendly letter was ordered sent to the divided churches in Tonga, describing what was being done to secure union in the colonies, and expressing the hope that their difficulties might be healed. Resolutions were adopted emphasizing the importance of preserving the class meeting in its integrity; condemning the holding of lotteries and games of chance for the benefit of religious enterprises; and commending proportionate giving to the cause of God. The establishment of a central institution in connection with Queens College, Melbourne, for training candidates for the ministry, was decided upon.

MEXICO, a republic in North America, composed of 27 federated States and a federal district, each represented by two Senators in Congress. The House of Representatives has 227 members, elected for two years by universal manhood suffrage. The Presidential term is four years. Gen. Porfirio Diaz has been elected five times in all, and for four terms in succession, the last time on July 15, 1896. The Cabinet was composed in the beginning of 1898 as follows: Secretary of Foreign Affairs, I. Mariscal; Secretary of the Interior, Gen. M. Gonzalez Cosio; Minister of Justice and Public Instruction, J. Baranda; Minister of Fomento, M. Fernandez Leal; Minister of Finance and Commerce, J. Y. Limantour; Minister of Communications and Public Works, Gen. F. Z. Mena; Minister of War and Marine, Gen. F. B. Berriozabal; State Treasurer, F. Espinosa.

Area and Population.-The area of Mexico is 767,005 square miles, including 1,420 square miles of uninhabited islands. The population of the Atlantic States, area 124,692 square miles, was 1,585,031 at the census of Oct. 20, 1895; of the central States, area 316,125 square miles, 6,684,078; of the Pacific States, area 324,768 square miles, 4,309,752; total population, 12,578,861, giving a density of 16.4 per square mile. The City of Mexico had 344,377 inhabitants.

Finances. The revised budget for the year ending June 30, 1899, makes the revenue of the Federal Government $52,500,000, of which $25,000,000 are derived from customs, $20,900,000 from stamps, $2,700,000 from direct taxes, $2,300,000 from posts and telegraphs, $200,000 from succession duties, and $1,400,000 from various sources. The total expenditure was estimated at $52,672.448, of which $26,155,717 are for debt and financial administration, $11,996,356 for war and marine, $5,652,111 for communications and public works, $3,685,516 for the interior department, $2,345,311 for justice and education, $540,648 for foreign affairs, $449,451 for the Supreme Court, $745,626 for the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and $82,469 for the executive. The budgets of all the States amounted in 1895 to $18,000,000.

The Federal debt on Dec. 8. 1898, amounted to $201.143,121, of which $108,555,100 was a foreign gold debt paying 6 per cent. interest, all except $13,500,000 of 5 per cent. Tehuantepec railroad bonds.

The Army and Navy. The standing army in the beginning of 1898 consisted of 7,249 cavalry, including 118 gendarmes and 261 rural guards, 2.289 artillery and train, and 22,605 infantry; total, 32,143, including 2,068 officers. The war strength is given as 20,000 cavalry, 8,000 artillery, and 123,500 infantry. The infantry is armed with Mauser rifles, the cavalry with carbines of the same system, the artillery with 7.9 centimetre Bange field pieces and Gruson mountain guns. The naval force consists of 2 dispatch vessels, 2 gunboats, and a