reason of his becoming a slaveholder, and he appealed from this action to the General Conference. The delegates from the slaveholding states and a few from the free states were in favor of reversing the action of the Baltimore Conference, though it was in strict accordance with the Discipline; but the majority decided that it should stand. The vote on reversing the action was 56 affirmative and 117 negative. Further, many petitions and memorials on the subject of slavery were presented, and were referred to the committee. Thus the lines were drawn between those who opposed the spread of slavery among the ministers and those who favored it.

The appeal of Bradford Frazee, of the Michigan Conference, located without his consent, was heard, and the action of the conference reversed; the appeal of Luman H. Allen, of the North Ohio Conference, was presented, and the action of the conference in suspending him affirmed; William Houston, of Baltimore, located, action reversed; J. S. Lent, of Genesee, located, action affirmed.

Many petitions were presented, asking for the rescission of the resolutions passed by the General Conference of 1840, allowing the testimony of colored persons in certain cases to be received against white members. What are known as the "black laws" were still in force in many of the states, and the petitioners desired the Church law to conform to the civil.

It was known that Bishop James O. Andrew had recently come into possession of two slaves by inheritance, and he had also married a lady who owned slaves when he took her to wife. This connection of the bishop with slavery placed him on the same footing with Francis A. Harding, who had been suspended from his ministerial functions for the same offense-the holding of human beings in bondage in contravention of the order of the Church as set forth in the Discipline. Although he was not arraigned before the Conference, or before the Committee on Episcopacy, it was well understood that there would be a fierce contest between the two great sections of the Church over his case. In fact, the issue was joined before the Conference met. The delegates began in private to discuss the great question of the Church and slavery, and two of the leading members,

Stephen Olin and William Capers, representing the anti-slavery and slavery sentiments, introduced the following resolution:

"Resolved, That a committee of three from the North and three from the South be appointed to confer with the bishops, and report within two days, as to the possibility of adopting some plan, and what, for the permanent pacification of the Church."

John A. Collins moved to amend the resolution by making it read, "That a committee of six be appointed;" and thus amended the resolution was unanimously adopted. The committee appointed were William Capers, Stephen Olin, William Winans, John Early, Leonidas L. Hamline, and Phineas Crandall.

John P. Durbin offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

"Resolved, That to-morrow be observed by this Conference as a day of fasting and humiliation before God, and prayer for his blessing upon the committee of six in conjunction with the bishops, on the present difficulties; and that the hour from twelve to one be devoted to religious services in the Conference."

In accordance with this resolution the hour between twelve and one on Wednesday, May 15th, was observed as a prayermeeting. Bishop Andrew who was presiding officer during the morning session called Bishop Soule to the chair a few minutes before twelve o'clock. Bishop Soule gave out two hymns which were sung, and at his request, Matthew Richey, representative of Missionary Committee of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in England, John Early, Phineas Crandall, and William Winans led in prayer. Bishop Hedding then assumed the chair, and announced another hymn, after the singing of which William Capers and Gleezen Fillmore offered prayers. Soon after one o'clock, Bishop Hedding pronounced the benediction.

William Capers, John P. Durbin, Peter Akers, Charles Elliott, and Elihu Scott were appointed a committee to prepare on behalf of the Conference a pastoral address to the Churches. William Capers was excused from this committee, June 2d, on his own request.

The delegates from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada presented an address from their Church, which was

read, and referred to the Committee of Publication to be printed, and to the Committee of Correspondence to prepare a reply to it. The delegates from Canada were John Ryerson, Anson Green, and Egerton Ryerson, the first two of whom, only, were present.

The delegation appointed by the General Conference of 1840 to the General Conference of the Evangelical Association which sat in October, 1843, presented its report through John F. Wright. The report and correspondence were read, and referred to the Committee of Publication to be printed.

The Committee of Conference on the subject of pacification with regard to slaveholding in the ministry, and especially in the case of Bishop Andrew, were not able to come to an agreement within the limit assigned them. Bishop Soule requested the delegates from the Northern Conferences to meet at the church where the Conference held its sessions, at three o'clock P. M., on Friday, May 17th; and the delegates from the Southern Conferences to assemble in the lecture-room of the church, at the same hour, to confer about the situation.

James J. Boswell, Samuel Mead, and John Rhile were elected trustees of the Chartered Fund, to fill vacancies in the Board.

On Saturday, May 18th, Bishop Soule in behalf of the Committee of Conference with the bishops, made the following report, which was accepted, and the committee was discharged from further service:

"The Committee of Conference have instructed me to report, that, after a calm and deliberate investigation of the subject submitted to their consideration, they are unable to agree upon any plan of compromise to reconcile the views of the northern and southern conferences."

Although the Committee on Episcopacy had not brought in any report, on the 20th day of May, the case of Bishop Andrew was specially referred to them. John A. Collins offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

"WHEREAS, It is currently reported and generally understood that one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church has become connected with slavery; and

"WHEREAS, It is due to this General Conference to have a proper understanding of the matter; therefore,

"Resolved, That the Committee on the Episcopacy be instructed to ascertain the facts in the case, and report the results of their investigation to this body to-morrow morning."

The bishops were authorized and requested to form our German missions, where they deemed it necessary, into districts, irrespective of conference boundaries, and to appoint presiding elders to said districts; and it was provided that the German preachers within these districts should be members of the conference to which the presiding elder belonged. William Nast was granted permission to visit Germany, with a view to more extended usefulness among his brethren of the German nation, many of whom were migrating to America.

A committee was appointed to inquire respecting the publication of the Life of Bishop McKendree, to wit: Nathan Bangs, John P. Durbin, and Charles Elliott. It was expected that Bishop Soule would prepare the biography, and he had been appointed to do so, but he informed the Conference that since 1836 his official duties had not allowed him to do more than arrange a large mass of papers bequeathed to himself and the late Thomas L. Douglass by Bishop McKendree. Upon Bishop Soule's report to the Conference, the committee was discharged.

The Life of Bishop Asbury had, also, never been written. William Beauchamp, to whom the work had been intrusted by the General Conference of 1824, died soon after his appointment, and Dr. S. K. Jennings had made but little progress in the undertaking when the papers that he had prepared were placed in the hands of Mr. Beauchamp. In 1828 the General Conference authorized the bishops to appoint some one to write the proposed Life, but nothing had been done. At the present Conference, however, Robert Emory asked permission to examine all the Journals of the General Conference, with a view to preparing a Life of Bishop Asbury. The permission was granted; but the contemplated Life was never written.

Bishop Soule was requested to give, at some suitable time, an account of his visit to the British Conference, and to different parts of the Continent.

The delegates from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada, John Ryerson and Anson Green, were requested to address the Conference, and to give some account of the Connection which they represented. This they did; after which they took formal leave. Samuel Luckey, who as the alternate of Bishop Hedding had visited the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of Canada, made a brief report of his visit, and of the religious prosperity and progress of their Church.

A committee of one from each conference to be selected by the delegates was ordered to collect and report to the next General Conference, all the papers belonging to this body in reference to the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to collect materials for it, and memoirs of the bishops and other ministers, etc.

On Wednesday, May 21st, the Committee on Episcopacy brought in their report concerning Bishop Andrew's connection with slavery, accompanied with a communication to them from the bishop himself, showing how he had become legally, though not willingly, a slaveholder. The report was laid on the table until the next day. On Thursday, when the report was taken up, Alfred Griffith and John Davis offered a preamble, reciting the facts concerning the bishop's connection with slavery, and concluding with the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Rev. James O. Andrew be, and he is hereby, affectionately requested to resign his office as one of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church."

This resolution was discussed during the morning and afternoon sessions of Wednesday, May 22d, and on Thursday James B. Finley and Joseph M. Trimble offered a substitute for the resolution, as follows:

"WHEREAS, The Discipline of our Church forbids the doing anything calculated to destroy our itinerant general superintendency; and

"WHEREAS, Bishop Andrew has become connected with slavery by marriage and otherwise, and this act having drawn after it circumstances which in the estimation of the General Conference will greatly embarrass the exercise of his office as an itinerant superintendent, if not in some places entirely prevent it; therefore,