Accessible on easy terms to ministers and local
preachers, and within the reach of many others, this library should
be a useful stimulus to the taste for study among ministers and
people.
The other event of the year was the meeting of the second Oecumenical
Conference in October, at Washington, in the country where Methodism
obtained great triumphs. The Conference lasted twelve days, like its
predecessor; the opening sermon, prepared by the Rev. William Arthur,
was read for him, Mr. Arthur's voice being too weak to be heard; and
the President of the United States gave a reception at the Executive
Mansion, and also visited the Conference. Many topics of deep
interest were discussed on this occasion, and not the least
attractive subject was the statistical report presented. The
difficulty of estimating the actual strength and influence of
Methodism is very great.
In the present year the membership of the Wesleyan Methodists, for
Great Britain and Ireland, is estimated at 494,287; of other
Methodist bodies in the United Kingdom at 373,700; the affiliated
Conferences of Wesleyan Methodists in France, South Africa, the West
Indies, and Australasia at 212,849, being 1,942 for France, 62,812
for South Africa, 50,365 for the two West Indian, and 97,730 for the
Australasian Conferences.
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