separated by wide distances, some of them by intervening oceans, are yet one in doctrine, one in spirit, one in the love of a common work. May our geographical separation be the most serious that shall ever divide us! The result of such a Conference must be good. Whether the subjects of discussion be general, such as the right way of maintaining the sanctity of the Sabbath, or disseminating a healthful Christian literature, or promoting revivals of religion, or training the young to an early consecration to God and his service in every department of Christian work, or, if the subjects should be more particular, a mutual agreement as to the partition of the mission field so as to take possession of the world for Christ in the most systematic and expeditious manner possible, the possibility of a Pan-Methodist hymn book, the practicability of a confederation of all the Methodist bodies under the shining sun of heaven on a well-understood fraternal basis, we shall have the prayers of all good men and the blessings of the Head of the Church.

The elaborate report of the Ecumenical Conference Committee was ordered printed in the "Daily Christian Advocate," and also in the Journal of the General Conference. The report of the Joint Committee, summoning an Ecumenical Council, was accorded a similar honor. The General Conference also adopted resolutions, providing for the appointment of two members of the Executive Committee, to perfect arrangements for the Council, and authorizing the Bishops of the Church to select the delegates to the Ecumenical Conference. Nothing more is needed in the way of legislation, or necessary pre-arrangement, to bring this grand undertaking to a happy consummation.

Not the least notable of the public services held during the session of the General Conference were those arranged and carried out by the Ecumenical Committee. In accordance with the request of the Committee, Rev. William Arthur preached in St. Paul's Church, May 9, from the words, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all," discussing Christian unity as resting on two things; first, a common nature, and, secondly, a common origin. Said Mr. Arthur:

Let all Methodists love one another and promote harmony, which will, in time, bring unity. The world has need of our light. Let the Bishops of the South strive with the Bishops of the North, and the laymen of each section strive with each other, striving together, and not against each other. God send us the day of unity! God grant us this day an antepast of this union,

and of the time when all the world shall be compelled to say that Christians love one another!

The Monday night following there was a meeting of great interest, devoted to prayer, brief addresses, and sacred songs. Bishop Simpson presided, assisted by Rev. William Arthur, Bishop D. S. Doggett, Rev. Wallace M'Mullen, and Rev. Dr. E. B. Ryckman. Remarks were made by Rev. E. H. Dewart, of the Methodist Church of Canada; Rev. F. W. Macdonald, of the British Wesleyan Conference; Rev. W. Nast, D.D., "the father of German Methodism;" Rev. B. Lane, A.M., of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada; Rev. J. G. Mitchell, D.D., of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; J. H. Carlisle, LL.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; Hon. Charles J. Baker, of the Independent Methodist Church; Rev. N. Wardner, of the American Wesleyan Church; Babu Ram Chandra Bose, lay delegate from North India to the General Conference; and by Dr. J. B. M'Ferrin, Bishop Doggett, and Rev. William Arthur. We quote one paragraph from Mr. Arthur, which is decidedly ecumenical in its strain. He said:

I thank God for what I have seen to-night; I thank God that we have had here different colors and accents and nationalities. I thank God for the German accent; I thank God for the black complexion; I thank God for the Hindu complexion. Methodism was born with the word upon its lips, "The world is my parish." That was its birth-cry. There is a vast deal of its parish into which it has never set foot. We sometimes say that Methodism is to be found in all the world. Aye, aye, found in all the world the same as gas lamps are to be found in all America. They are here and there, but there is many an acre, many a mountain, and many a valley, where there is no gas lamp. We have only begun; but, thank God, we are a band of brothers every-where. We may be Anglo-Saxons, Hindus, Negroes, Caffirs, Malays and New Zealanders, and yet we are a common brotherhood.

This meeting, attended by the representative men of so many different Methodist bodies, will, doubtless, be productive. of wide-spread and glorious results.

Such a movement as this proposed Methodist Ecumenical Conference will have to be guarded against many perils. It may degenerate into a mutual admiration society. It may waste itself in gush and glorification of Methodism. It may

fall into the hands of ambitious men, seeking chiefly for distinction. It may prove to be more social than devout. Methodists need to remember that in holding this Council they are placing themselves and their Church in the focus of the world's observation. Methodism will be on exhibition, and will be studied, scanned, and criticised as never before in its history. There is no place in such a Council for platitudes, and no demand for oratory. There is some practical, earnest work to be done which will benefit the Church and hasten the glad hour of the world's redemption. This object, this chiefly, this only, now demands the brain and heart of Methodism. Mr. Gladstone, in his short speech after his great Mid-Lothian victory, said:

What we have now to show, gentlemen, is that we can use the strength which we have shown ourselves to possess, and that we can turn the victory we may be said to have obtained both here and elsewhere to good account for the common and universal benefit of our country.

So, in this Ecumenical Council, Methodism, now conceded to have strength and ability to achieve noted triumphs, must demonstrate to the world that she can use her resources wisely, that she can turn her victories to good account, and that she has learned how to employ her wealth, culture, influence, piety, organic life, and practical expedients, for the benefit of mankind. Great responsibility rests on those who have the authority to appoint the delegates to this Conference, and even greater, perhaps, on the general Executive Committee, which must make a programme of exercises, indicate the topics to be considered, and select the men who are to present them to the Council.

Methodism is not only world-wide in extent, but many-sided in development and Christian work. To carry religion into all the affairs of life and to make every secular thing sacred, has been its fundamental purpose. Methodism, therefore, has vital relations to the home, to the school, to citizen-duties, to reforms, and to all missionary modes. Methodism has peculiar means of evangelization, such as camp-meetings, an itinerant ministry, and the employment of the lay element in the Church for the performance of certain ministerial and pastoral work. How far these may need to be modified or adjusted, so as to secure the greatest efficiency, are legitimate questions for an

Ecumenical Conference. How Methodist unity may be maintained, increased, and made manifest to the world, is an inquiry of great importance. It is possible that a common psalmody, a common liturgy and order of worship, co-operation in missionary work, the perpetuation of a general executive committee, a pastoral address to the Methodism of the world, and Ecumenical Conferences at stated periods, are among the things contributing to that end which may be realized. The safety of small craft in a turbulent sea will not, perhaps, be increased by having them lashed together; but they ought to be within hailing distance of each other, and to have a wellunderstood system of signs and signals, to which each and all will be ready to respond. Methodism cannot afford to have her smallest ship sink, while there are abundant resources in the whole squadron to bring every galley which floats her flag at its mast-head safely into the harbor. We heartily concur in the conclusion, reached by the Committee of Correspondence, that a Methodist Ecumenical Conference, while not imperiling the autonomy of any society, "would produce a salutary visible unity; would bring the stimulation and strength of a great growing body to each of the several parts; would secure a wiser and less wasteful expenditure of the resources and energies of the Church; would make the practical experience of each body the property of all; would demonstrate the adaptation of Methodism to every demand of Christ's cause in every part of the earth; would combine the strength and influence of all Wesleyan organizations against the giant sins and wrongs of the age; and would impart new impulses of spiritual life to Christendom and the world."

This ultimate Protestant unity-the practical co-operation of all who are in Jesus Christ by faith-must be kept constantly in view as the great object to be realized. This is the convincing argument for the Messiahship of Jesus. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." To show that love to the world is the business of Christendom. When it does this, thoroughly and effectually, the world will speedily be saved. "Great as the Presbyterian Church may be," said Professor Patton, in his sermon before the General Assembly, "in that for which she is distinguished, she is greater still in that which she shares in common with the Christian

world." So also of Methodism. Great as this movement is, in its peculiar usages and distinctive features, and worthy as it is when thus considered of the world's study, it is greater stil! as the conservation of the common orthodoxy of Christendom, as a revival of that spiritual life which is possessed, to a greater or less degree, by all bodies of Christians, and as an aggressive agency against that Antichrist, in whatever form revealed, which is the deadly antagonist of the whole Church of God.

We shall only discover the true and wide significance of such convocations as the Pan-Anglican Convention, in Lambeth; the Pan-Presbyterian Convention, in Edinburgh and in Philadelphia; and the Methodist Ecumenical Conference, in City Road Chapel, London; when we see that the ultimate consummation must be a confederation of Churches, a practical union of the several tribes of our Israel in one godly commonwealth, a spiritual and powerful republic, which shall demonstrate to the world that the invisible and divine oneness of all who are in Christ, of whatever denominational name, is more real, effective, and available for the maintenance and extension of the truth of God and the victory of the cross in all lands, than any enforced uniformity in doctrine or discipline, or any array of ecclesiastical machinery with a pretended infallible head. When Anglican Episcopal Convention, Presbyterian PanCouncil, Methodist Ecumenical Conference, world-wide Baptist Association, and other bodies of similar import, can speak in the name and with the authority of the great Churches which they represent, there will soon come to be, not only a growing feeling of fraternity, but also more practical exhibitions of the common brotherhood of worship, work, and warfare for the common object of the world's evangelization. In a word, our children will see, if we do not, a Parliament of Protestantism, aiming not at uniformity, but rejoicing in spiritual unity, helping the coming, and heralding the advent of the millennial glory.

It is a mistake to suppose that this Protestant unity will be at the expense or sacrifice of denominational integrity. The several bodies of Christians will still exult in all that is grand and heroic in their history, will still cling to their respective confessions of faith, and will still maintain their own peculiar forms and usages; but every one will admit every other one's