THE RECENT WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4442, 15 June 1875, Page 3

THE RECENT WESLEYAN CONFERENCE.

The announcement that the Kev. Mr. Morley would give a resume of the proceedings of the recent Wesleyan Conference, held in Melbourne, led to a large gathering of members of the Wesleyan body last evening, in the schoolroom attached to the Mannersstreet Chapel. The proceedings were opened by the singing of a hymn, at the conclusion which "** The Kev. Mr. Morley began by reminding •$» his hearers that Methodism in this southern world had entered.upon a third phase of its existence, although it had scarcely been planted sixty years, the first missionaries having come out to New South Wales in ISI2, and to New Zealand in ISI4. Those who came to these southern lands, for a considerable time afterwards no doubt regarded it as a great act of heroism that they should come at all; but the mere fact of .their coming showed at least that they had a heartfelt interest in their work. For forty years subsequent to 1812 the missionaries were subjected to the direction of the authorities in England, who regulated their affairs and directed the management of the mission stations. The missionaries were supposed to keep an account of what presents they received from their people during the year, and an amount corresponding in value was deducted from their stipends. This state of things went on until 1852, when the gold discoveries attracted a large munber of people from all lands, and a demand came for more ministers. As the number of ministers increased it was felt to be a hardship that all the appointments and all matters relating to Church government in New Zealand should be settled in England, and tho consequence was that the authorities at Home were asked to authorise the holding of a Conference in Australia. Authority being given, the first Conference was held in 1855. That inaugurated the second era in Australian Methodism, and during the twenty years which have elapsed since that time, Conferences had been held alternately at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Hobarton. Satisfactory as thi3 arrangement might be to the colonies named, it was scarcely satisfactory to this colony, for New Zealand could only send two or three representatives every year, and those ministers who could not go felt it hard that they should not be present. The outcome of a feeling of dissatisfaction which thi3 arrangement engendered was, that at the Conference held in 1572 it was determined that a change should be made, and that instead of there being one Conference for all Australasia, there should bo four—one for New South Wales and Queensland, one for Victoria and Tasmania, one for South Australia, and one for New Zealand. The Conference of 1873 perfected that plan, but being split up in this manner, it was thought unwise to give these Conferences allpower, and it was therefore determined that there should be annual Conferences as already stated, with a Triennial General Conference for purposes of legislation. The Conference recently held was therefore the triennial Conference. It was provided in the plan that the ministers of each colony should be represented in the proportion of one in eight, and thus the Conference was composed. There were in all 43 ministers entitled to be present, 14 from New South Wales, 16 from Victoria, 7 from South Australia, and 6 from New Zealand ; but actually there were only 38 present, 4 from New South Wales and 1 from South Australia having from various causes failed to attend. Of course the ages and talents of those present varied a 3 one might expect. In the matter of age they ranged from the Kev. Mr. Eggleston and Kev. Mr. Gaud, who had been in the ministry since 1833, down to such jivniors as the Kev. Mr. Fitehett, Kev. Mr. Brentnall, and himself, who were boys when those aged men entered upon their work. Some of them were men who had taken a pro-minent-part in the history of the Church in these colonies. Mr. Gaud, for example, was sent out in the first instance to Tasmania, and ministered for some years at Port Arthur, where there were sometimes as many as 800 and 900 convicts—the very scum of the population of England.. Then there were others who had labored hard-in the mission field, such as Kev. Mr. Eggleston, Rev. T. Williams (author of "FijiandtheFijians,")andMr. Langham, who was now laboring at the Fijis. Qne'was the first minister in Port Phillip— Mr. Wilkinson —who arrived there when there were not more than 100 houses upon the site whereMelbournenowstands.andhaslived to see it become a city witb.2Bo,ooo inhabitants. What a change to be effected within thelife of onemau! Where there were so many worthy of the position, it was only fair that they should preside over the Conference in rotation. Thus Mr. Wilkinson presided one day, Mr. Buller the next, Mr. Harcourt the next, and so on. He hoped he would not be charged with disrespectful conduqf; when he said that the members of the Conference were not easily kept in order, for it was quite true, and the meeting would readily understand that a minister who has been in the habit of talking at length for the greater part of the year, found it rather hard to be cut off summarily by the ruling of the president ; but the tide of democracy had been carried so far that if any member felt dissatisfied with the ruling he could appeal to the whole Conference, a power which led to the ruling of the president being frequently disputed and appealed against. Where there was so much talking it would naturally be supposed that they required a, good secretary, and they were fortunate in finding one in Mr. Waterhouse, of South Australia, whohadthreeassistants, Messrs. Williams, Stephenson, and Daniel. A question of considerable interest was discussed the first day the Conference met, namely, whether the sittings of the Conference should be open to the public or not. This question derived factitious importance from the fact that during the last Conference held in Victoria there had been an unhappy quarrel between the Conference and the Pres 3 of that city—a quarrel in which the Conference came off a little the worst. The Conference in that colony was not anxious to go too fast. The Victorian ministers, instead of throwing open their doors to the public as a body, proposed that only persons who worshipped in Wesleyan chapels should be admitted, and that they should show their tickets of church membership at the door. This was argued for three or four days, but no decision was come to, .'inasmuch as the New Zealand members had not arrived. When they did arrive the subject was again discussed for two days more, and by a majority of three it was resolved that the Conference doors should be opened. The decision did not produce a great rush of the public, for the greatest number present at the Conference upon any one day was about thirty. The first question discussed was what is known &3 the Children's Fund, which made itinerary possible by providing for those ministers who might have large families without imposing any additional burden upon the circuits. The subject was discussed for some time, but the result was that the matter remained much as it was before. Then they discussed questions relating to the funds for the support of aged ministers and their wives, who were maintained upon a principal somewhat similar to the mutual insurance system. The Conference decided that imnisterij in' tho position of Mr. Lew-is, who wa3 recently in Wellington, should have sufficient to live upon in casV of ill health. According to the new code a minister retiring would receive £4B a-year after; five years' service, and' the rate increased to £2OO upon retiring after 44 years' service. ,' Then came the subject of foreign missions, for,which they raised £14,544, their expenditure being within £IOO of that amount. The new mission to the VuUa q{ York's Mand, of which Mr. Brown ha*^f t ,r"med them, was now fairly started, so "~i«&t was. evidence that thoy did not • intend to let tho missionary spirit die out. In connection with this aubject he felt sure the meeting would bo sorry to hear of the ravages made upon tho population of Fiji by the measles. They were informed, in a letter from Mr. Waterhouse, that by the time the epidemic had abated one-eighth of the entire population of the islands would have been swept away. In the island of Bau the mortality had been so great that large numbers of bodies had only been partially interred, many having been eaten by pigs and dogs. The mission station had received promises of assist-

ance from Sydney, and he trusted to hear shortly that matters were in a more satisfactory condition. The subject of lay representation was the next topic taken up. No doubt they were all aware that from the beginning of their Church the annual Conference was composed wholly of ministers. It had, however, been felt for some time past that the lay office-bearers should take part in the discussion of financial matters, and also in other questions affecting Church government. The subject had been agitated by ministers as well , as laymen ; and two years ago the Conference approved of the principle of lay representation, but left the details to be decided at the last Conference. They affirmed two principles—first of all that the annual Conference should be composed of an equal number of ministers and laymen; and secondly, that each circuit should have the privilege of electing at least one representative, and then, supposing the number of lay representatives did not equal the number of ministers, that the larger circuits should elect two or three more laymen, as the case might be. It was also determined that -lay representatives must be Church members of four years' standing, and that they must live in the circuit they represented. Then came the question of stationing ministers —as to whether this should be left to _ the decision of the ministers alone or be decided upon by the ministers and laymen conjointly —and the prevailing opinion being that the laymen would not understand the difficulties of the case, it was. determined that for the present the decision should rest with the ministers alone. He felt sure in his own mind that it would not remain so for more than a year or two, for he felt convinced that before long the laymen would be permitted to take their share in the deliberations of the Conference from first to last. The proposal to permit laymen to take part in'the proceedings of the Conference had been forwarded to England for the sanction of the Home authorities, but whether it would reach its destination in time for the sessions of the British Conference was somewhat doubtful, but if it did, he believed they would next year see the plan in operation. The status of communicants, and thesubject of interchange of ministers were very fully discussed, and resolutions were introduced upon the Sabbath question. It was felt that while a great many persons were crying out to have the museums opened on Sunday the Conference as a body of Christian ministers could not consent to such a course, and they therefore deprecated its adoption in any of the colonies. Then came the subject of temperance. Some of the members were staunch Good Templars ; others were Kecabites ; while there were others for freedom of action upon such a subject. The residt was something in these terms : " That we, believing the Christian Church in itself to be the foe of all kinds of evil, including the drinking customs of the day, regard the agency of the Church as the best agency that can be used. That we regard the members of these societies as doing a special work, and that although we cannot go the full length they desire, we wish them God speed." The question of expense to ministers attending the Conference was also touched upon, and an agreement come to that each colony should pay an equitable share, which showedthat the Australian colonies were anxious for unity, and willing to pay for it, otherwise the cost would have been greater to New Zealand. Then there was the settlement of the model deed under the new constitution. They considered that a large question, and consequently thought it prudent to take the counsel of the annual Conferences which meet in the respective colonies. That, therefore, was remitted to those bodies, and will be finally settled when the General Conference next meets. A resolution was passed upon the subject of hymnbooks for use in the Church. The conference was given to understand that a new book was being arranged in England, and it was decided • to bring it into use here, and a supply was ordered, which might be expected to reach the colonies about three months-after the time the order arrived. All the subjects which it had been intended to decide upon were not attended to, and several were left over for consideration at a future time, for with the Conference as with other bodies of a similar nature, matters brought on at the tail-end of the sitting were not discussed fully. Therefore there had been the usual slaughter of the innocents (laughter), as it was termed, for they felt it would be better to let those matters which they had not time to discuss go by than to decide them without due consideration. Amongst those questions was that of Methodist union. The movement sought. to unite all Methodists, whether Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists, or Bible Christians, but it had to be left over" for the present. Another question was the proposal to extend a minister's time of residence in a circuit from three to five years. This they did not feel inclined to deal with, and it was left over till next Conference, as was also the question of the relation in which baptised children should stand to the Church. There was one graceful act performed by the Conference which he was sure would be heard of with great pleasure by the different churches in New Zealand. It was reported that the Rev. Mr. Buller intended at the close of the present year to become a supernumerary, and obtain leave to visit England, and the Conference therefore decided to honor him by sending him to represent the Church in these colonies, and passed a resolution, to forward Home, expressing the pleasure which his fellow-workers out here had in sending him to be their representative at the annual gathering of their fathers and brethren in the old country, and assuring them of the high place he occupied in the ranks of our ministers out here. (Applause.) Before leaving the subject of the doings of the Conference, he might say that the next meeting would be in Sydney, in the month of May, 1878. Of the manner in which the business was generally conducted he could speak in the highest admiration. Amongst their number they had several good skilled debaters, who were quite as capable of parrying and fencing, and as fully alive to the advantage of the last.word as were those who met in other deliberative assemblies; also as ready to be down upon a speaker who was unfortunate enough to make a slip as were the members of a young men's debating class. (Laughter.) The monotony was also occasionally relieved by a little good-humored banter. For instance, when it was proposed that at future sittings of the Conference instead of the presidents of the various annual Conferences presiding in turn, the- president of tho General Conference should be chosen by the members themselves, some wore anxious that a staid man should always be secured, and therefore wished to add a stipulation that the chairman should have been at least not less than fifteen years in the ministry. But some one else, perhaps a young man, who looked forward to the honor—(a lawh)—proposed that the chairman should not°be over forty years of age, arguing that if a man had travelled a long time, and had had much experience in ministerial work, it did not follow that he would be the wisest chairman who could be got ; and with such a stipulation the motion was passed. During the session there had been a good deal of hard speaking, and on several occasions some of them frequently gave proof that they considered their doctrine orthodox by giving hard knocks to opponents. Yet, however much they might have fought inside, when they came outside they forgot their contention, and the utmost good fellowship reigned round the dinner table. Whether that was owing to the mollifying influence of the good things provided he knew not. As to the task of attending Conference, to some it might be very pleasant. So far as the voyage was concerned, to those who were good sailors that part mi"ht be pleasant; to others, amongst whom he might class himself, it was the reverse. The life in Melbourne was by no means an easy one. Tho ordinary sittings were from ten to one, and from two to five, but in addition to these, committee meetings had to be attended, as well as occasional evening sittings, and as a rule, members who left their residences at halfpast ei"ht in the morning did not return till ten at night. Tho rev. gentleman then went on to speak of tho religious services which were held during the time he was in Melbourne, referring particularly to a sermon by the Rev. Mr. ■ Kellynack at the opening of a

new church, also a lecture on oratory, delivered by the same gentleman. Services of song, by Mr. Philip Phillips, who intended to visit New Zealand if possible ; Home Mission and other meetings. He also expressed the pleasure he had derived from a visit to the Town-hall, by invitation from the Mayor of Melbourne. Several other matters were passed in review, and, in closing, the rev. gentleman said the Conference would ever be remembered by its .settlement of the question of lay representation, and expressed a belief that if nothing else had been accomplished, a work would have been done well worth the trouble and expense of the meeting. (Applause.) Mr. Wrigley proposed a vote of thanks, which was accorded by acclamation ; and of which Mr. Morley expressed his appreciation.

After a couple of verses of a hymn had been sung, and the benediction pronounced, the meeting separated.