positions on Union passed at the Huddersfield Conference and ratified at the Longton Conference, and by our resolution to continue negotiations, with a specific view to a formal Union with them. These several acts of our Conference the Bible Christians have received in good faith, and, therefore, to oppose Union at this stage, and more especially to oppose it on frivolous and insufficient grounds, is to do them a great wrong; and, at the same time, to repudiate a policy which the Conference has initiated, and again and again affirmed, will brand ourselves with inconsistency and insincerity.

2. Union will lessen the dishonour attaching to liberal Methodism, that it is factious and divisive, having no cohesive principle within itself. This objection may be stale, but it is still put forward on occasions; and though it may have no foundation in reason, yet great plausibility is given to it by the fact that the numerous sections which at various times have been divided from the parent body on purely ecclesiastical grounds, instead of uniting with each other, and thus forming, as they might have done, a strong and harmonious body, have set up separate organizations which differ from each other only in mere trifles, to the dishonour of their principles and damage of their practical influence. As the first and oldest body of liberal Methodists, let us, at least, exonerate ourselves from this reproach by promoting Union with our brethren, and thus help to make our principles great in themselves, great also in the number of their adherents and in their social influence.

3. Union will increase our power for good in the world. Union with the Bible Christians will nearly double our numbers, and it requires no elaborate calculations to show that, with a membership so increased, we shall be able to do more Christian work in the world than we are now. Union will economize our means and agencies, as in a number of places one minister will be sufficient where two are now labouring, and in other cases two where four are now labouring. The agents thus liberated will be available for the opening of new fields. A liberal and active missionary spirit is growing up amongst the Bible Christians, and, stimulated by a very generous offer of pecuniary help from one of their friends, they are seriously entertaining a proposition to open a mission in a heathen country. Our brethren will thus rally round our Chinese mission as an institution they desire to complete their missionary organization. One of the grounds on which we advocate our Home Mission is, that by increasing the number of our English circuits we shall increase our means of doing more mission work abroad; but if the rate of progress in the past of our Home Mission is the measure of its progress in the future, very many years must elapse before we shall have created as many circuits with as many members as we shall gain at once by Union with the Bible Christians.

4. Union is in harmony with the will of God concerning his Church. If to cause division in the Church on factious and insufficient grounds is sinful, to perpetuate divisions when the causes which necessitated and justified them no longer exist, is scarcely less sinful. Both the one and the other are essentially schismatical. What, then, shall we say in justification of a refusal to unite with a body of Christians so closely resembling ourselves as the Bible

Christians? I cannot conceive it possible that any number of people will ever agree to unite with us on conditions more favourable than the Bible Christians now propose; and, therefore, to refuse to unite with them amounts to a declaration on our side of perpetual isolation and exclusiveness.

As far as Union amongst the disciples of Christ is possible it ought to be promoted, and we hold that in every instance in which two denominations possess in common the faith and love which are the fundamental elements of Christian union, it is their duty to become formally one; their separation is without reason, and their union is but a consummation and visible expression of that essential unity which already exists between them. Thus the case stands between us and the Bible Christians, and the Union of the two will give practical effect to the Saviour's sacerdotal prayer; it will recover in its measure the normal condition of the Church which existed in the apostolic age, and will help to build up that divine spectacle of the healing, holy, and happy influence of Christianity in gathering again into one the family of man scattered by the divisive influence of sin-a spectacle so grand and Godlike, that when beheld by the world, which through long centuries has witnessed our bickerings and divisions, it will, according to the prayer which Jesus Christ addressed to the Father, believe that God has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Connexional Department.

UNITED MEETINGS FOR PRAYER.

We hope our brethren will not forget the recommendation of the Annual Committee, as to united and simultaneous prayer throughout the Connexion in the second week of January, to secure Divine direction on the important question of Union, being assured that God will graciously hear our supplications.

It will gratify our readers to know that our Canadian brethren are following up the resolution of their last Conference, by publishing the address of our "Annual Committee on Union" in their authorized Journal, the "Evangelical Witness," accompanied with the Editor's expression of hope that the Union will be carried forward to its consummation. We may, therefore, expect the thousands of our brethren in Canada to unite with us in holding the week of prayer. How delightful the thought that so many thousands of our people on each side of the Atlantic Ocean shall be engaged simultaneously in supplicating God's guiding wisdom on our important movement for Union, and his abundant blessing on our beloved community in general! If this be faithfully done, may we not expect a general outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our Churches? God grant that it may be so!

The Annual Committee have felt it a duty to issue a circular expressing their views as to the best and safest mode in which the

proposed Union should be presented to the consideration of our Circuits :

THE ANNUAL COMMITTEE TO THE MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.

DEAR BRETHREN,-The Annual Committee, at a Meeting held in Manchester, December 1st, had their attention called to the fact that the 15th Resolution of the last Conference on the subject of Union between our Body and the Bible Christians, required the Committee to offer on this subject "such suggestions as may be deemed necessary or desirable ;" and that therefore it was our duty to give a statement of our views as to the safest and most practicable mode in which the question of Union may be entertained by our friends, when submitted for their deliberation.

After a free conversation, it was the opinion of the Committee that, without prejudice to amalgamation at a future period, but rather in the hope of preparing for that desirable event, whenever Divine Providence shall clearly open the way, the present action of the Connexion should not proceed beyond the accomplishment of a "FEDERAL UNION," which the distinct localities occupied by the two Denominations, and their special interests, render feasible and practicable.

The "FEDERAL UNION" which the Committee contemplate embraces the following as its main features:

FIRST.-ONE NAME FOR THE UNITED BODY, as recommended by the conjoint Committees in March, and reported to the last Conference.

SECONDLY.-ONE BOOK-ROOM. Our own cheap and incomparable Hymn-Book, it is thought, might well serve the two Bodies when united; and the same periodicals and general literature meet the requirements of the people of the same Denomination. This arrangement would secure a great saving in the expense of management and in the production of literature, and thus double the amount of annual profits.

THIRDLY.-ONE COLLEGE. Each Body recognizes a separated ministry as God's ordinance, and feels the importance of a collegiate training for its Candidates; and our own College, being spacious, would afford accommodation for twice the number of students, and in proportion thereto save a large amount of expenditure.

FOURTHLY.-ONE COLONIAL AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY ORGANI- · ZATION. Each Body having important and flourishing Missions in Canada and Australia which are longing for Union as a means of mutual strength and consolidation, and both Bodies being desirous of extending the Gospel among the heathen, one fund supported by both, yet directed by one organization, would be likely to secure economy and give concentration, unity, and vigour to our operations.

FIFTHLY. THE HOME CIRCUITS OF THE UNITED DENOMINATION TO BE WORKED IN TWO SECTIONS. The two Bodies, occupying for the most part distinct geographical spheres of labour, present obvious facilities for distinct working in two Sections under the jurisdiction of Two CONFERENCES. This arrangement interferes not with the status, salary, or funds of existing ministers, and leaves the question of interchange open for mutual convenience, without necessitating any pecuniary embarrassment.

SIXTHLY.-MODE OF SECURING UNITY OF CONNEXIONAL ACTION. This might be provided for by united Book-room, College, and Missionary Committees; also, if need be, a Connexional Committee, chosen in equal numbers from both Sections, to deliberate on matters of imperial interests; also by an Annual Deputation from each Sectional Conference; and further, by a General Conference composed of Representatives from both Conferences, to assemble every fourth or fifth year,

This programme is not presented as a perfect scheme, but suggested by the Annual Committee as a practicable one worthy of calm and prayerful deliberation; and its practicability is recommended by the example of the American Methodist Churches, where a similar system prevails in both the Parent Body and its offshoots, and where Methodism has flourished with continuous and unparalleled success for more than a century.

Further, as the 15th Resolution of the last Conference contemplates a response from our people, and as the April Quarterly Meetings are much occupied with local matters, the Annual Committee recommend the approaching January Quarterly Meetings for considering the important question of Union. But should any of our circuits deem the April Quarterly Meeting more suitable for them, or should they prefer to leave the question to the deliberation of Conference, they are at liberty to use their own discretion.

Commending this matter to your serious and prayerful consideration, and looking to God for his guiding Spirit, I am, dear Brethren, on behalf of the Committee, yours affectionately in the Lord, London, December, 1869.

NEW CHAPEL AND SCHOOLS,

LIVERPOOL CIRCUIT.

ATTENDANTS at our last two Conferences will be aware that, from various causes, the Liverpool Circuit has fallen into a very critical state, awakening fear in the minds of many friends as to the very existence of our cause in this town. The Conference of 1868 took special action in its behalf by passing a series of resolutions as to its future course, and appointing a deputation to visit Liverpool, and advise with the friends as to the best method of carrying them out. That deputation fulfilled its mission, and the resolutions of Conference were, on the whole, cordially adopted by the representatives of the circuit met thereon. The Conference recommended the sale of Hotham Street, Bevington Hill, and Chatham Place Chapels, and the erection of a suitable chapel in a neighbourhood best adapted to meet the requirements and convenience of our scattered friends. As applying to the two first-named chapels, the wisdom of the Conference recommendation is

WILLIAM COOKE, President.

generally admitted, but many regret that it included Chatham Place. In this regret I participate myself. We have made a mistake in parting with that chapel, for, retained and properly worked, it could not but have proved a success, and would have served to keep with us many friends whom we shall lose by the closing of Bethesda. For Bevington Hill Chapel a purchaser has not yet been obtained, but Bethesda has been sold for £3,800, and Chatham Place for £1,050. The last place was purchased by the Independents, who have settled a pastor there, and are working it with satisfactory results.

After paying off mortgages and certain legal expenses, the sum of £2,766 was left in hand. Immediate steps were taken to obtain a suitable site for the new chapel, and, after considerable inquiry, a plot of land at the top of St. Domingo Vale, Breckfield Road North, Everton, was fixed upon as, all things considered, the most eligible situation; and our friends, Mr. J. Robinson and Mr. J. Wade, purchased about 1,813 yards of it for the sum of £2,200. Circumstances