At the General Conference of 1864, held at Philadelphia, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted :

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Whereas, Methodism in the United States of America will complete the first century of its history in 1866;

"And whereas, under the special blessing of God, it has risen in power, and extended in usefulness, to a degree hardly paralleled in the history of the church;

"And especially in view of the many thousands that have been saved through its instrumentality, the influence it has exerted upon the theology of its times, and the evangelization of the world, we deem it right to observe the closing period of this first Centenary with special solemnities and pious offerings, which shall present before God some humble expressions of our devout gratitude, and lead to a renewed consecration of ourselves, our services and means, to the glory of our Divine Master; therefore be it

"Resolved by the delegates of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church in General Conference assembled, as follows:—

"1. The Centenary of Methodism in America shall be celebrated by all our churches and people with devout thanksgiving, by special religious services and liberal thank-offerings.

"2. This celebration shall commence on the first Tuesday in October 1866, and be continued through the month, at such times and places as may best suit the convenience of the Societies.

"3. The primary object of the celebration shall be the spiritual improvement of our members, and especially by reviewing the great things God hath wrought for us, the cultivating of feelings of gratitude for the blessings received through the agency of Methodisın.

"4. As the gratitude of the heart ever seeks expression in outward acts, we invite as a spontaneous offering to Almighty God on this occasion pecuniary contributions from each, according as God hath prospered him ;' to be so appropriated as to render more efficient in the century to come those institutions and agencies to which the Church has been so deeply indebted in the century past.

"5. Two departments of Christian enterprise shall be placed before our people; one, Connexional, central, and monumental; the other, local and distributive; and all shall be urged to make liberal appropriations to both, according to their own discretion.

"6. The Board of Bishops shall appoint twelve travelling preachers and twelve laymen, who, in connexion with the members of their own board, shall be a committee to determine to what objects and in what proportions the moneys raised as Connexional funds shall be appropriated, and have power to take all steps necessary to their proper distribution.

"7. The local funds shall be appropriated to the cause of education and church extension, under the direction of a committee, consisting of an equal number of ministers and laymen appointed by the several Annual Conferences within the bounds of which they are raised.

"8. Each Annual Conference shall provide for the delivery of a memorial

sermon before its own body at the session next preceding the Centennial celebration, and also appoint a committee of an equal number of ministers and laymen to give advice and direction for the appropriate celebration of the Centennial in our principal churches.

"9. As the highest authority of the Methodist Episcopal Church, we commend this whole subject to the prayerful consideration of every minister, travelling and local, and every official and private member of the church, calling for the most systematic and energetic efforts everywhere to carry out in their true spirit these noble plans; and, after due consideration, we deem it right to ask for and to expect not less than two millions of dollars, for achievements which will be worthy of our great and honoured church, and which shall show to our descendants to the latest generations the gratitude we feel for the wonderful Providence which originated, and has so largely blessed and prospered, our beloved church.

"10. We cordially invite our brethren in all the branches of the great Methodist family, in this and in other lands, to unite with us in this grand Centennial celebration, that together we may lift our thanksgivings to the God of our fathers, and renew our consecration to His spiritual service."

In accordance with the sixth of the above resolutions, the Board of Bishops appointed a committee of twelve ministers and twelve lay gentlemen, representing all sections of the country, and the various church interests, with the single exception of the important German element, which was inadvertently omitted. This was the General Centenary Committee, which met for the first time at Cleveland, Ohio, February 22d, 1865. The venerable senior bishop, Thomas A. Morris, D.D., was elected president, and Rev. J. F. Chalfant, of Ohio, secretary. The proceedings were fully reported in all the organs of the church, and were subsequently published in a pamphlet, which was scattered in tens of thousands over the land, thus preparing the people for general, united, and vigorous action, when the decisive moment should arrive. The spirit of this memorable commitfee was admirable; the utmost freedom of speech prevailed; bishops, ministers, and laymen took part, more or less, in the varied discussions of its protracted sessions.

The General Committee requested the Rev. Abel Stevens, LL.D., to prepare a Centenary volume, for general circulation throughout the land; and they could not have made a more happy choice for this delicate and important task. The veteran and accomplished historian entered on this new enterprise con amore; and, "with an admiration sufficiently near heroworship," sketched the noble lives and triumphant labours of the pioneers of the Methodist Church in America. The book was published in October, 1865, twelve months before the Centenary celebration, and has nobly done its part in the good work. Much is due to this volume for the success which has crowned the whole movement. The author

* Journal of General Conference, 1864, pp. 445-447.

discusses three questions:-I. What is Methodism? The question historically answered. II. What has Methodism achieved, entitling it to the proposed commemoration? III. What are its capabilities and responsibilities for the future? The first part is mainly historical, dwelling upon the origin of Methodism in England and America, and is an outline of the author's well known history of Methodism. In part the second, he sketches with no ordinary hand the special adaptation and usefulness of Methodism to America, and its marked influence in relation to literature, education, Sunday-schools, and Missions. Its loyalty and distinguished patriotic character are not forgotten; the section concluding with the following testimony from the late lamented President Lincoln to the valuable public service rendered by Methodism during the recent war:-" Nobly sustained as the Government has been by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. Yet without this it may fairly be said, that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is by its greater numbers, the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven, than any. God bless the Methodist Church! bless all the churches! and blessed be God who in this our great trial giveth us the churches!" Part the third is very brief, but suggestive, spiritstirring, and masterly. Those who remember the great service rendered in this country by the publication of the Centenary volume by the venerable Thomas Jackson, in 1839, can understand to some extent what influence a book like the present would exert in American Methodism in its Centennial year.

An adjourned meeting of the General Committee was held at New York, on the 8th of November, 1865, in the library of Daniel Drew, Esq., whose name has since become so prominent in connexion with the movement. The entire body of bishops was present: Bishop Thomson, just returned from organizing a Methodist Conference in India; Bishop Kingsley, fresh from several new Conferences organized by the General Conference of 1864, and from California and Oregon; and Bishop Janes, recently returned from the British and Irish Conferences, and from the American Methodist Missions in Germany and Sweden. "The world is my parish," said the veteran Wesley; and certainly no one could deny to these noble men the honour of being worthy successors to the name and spirit of their illustrious founder. There was a careful review and revision of the arrangements made at Cleveland, in February; and the following resolutions were adopted, as to the objects to which the Centenary funds would be appropriated.

"Resolved-That it is the sense of this committee that the Centenary Educational Fund ought to be placed before our people as the prominent object for Connexional contributions.

"Resolved-That if any contributors desire to specify the precise objects

of their Centenary subscriptions, in whole or in part, it shall be open to them to name the following objects, namely:

"1. The Centenary Educational Fund.

"2. The Garrett Biblical School at Evanston.

"3. The Methodist General Biblical Institute at Concord, to be removed to the vicinity of Boston.

"4. A Biblical Institute in the Eastern Middle State

"5. A Biblical Institute in Cincinnati, or vicinity.

"6. A Biblical Institute on the Pacific Coast.

"7. The erection of Centenary Missionary buildings for the MissionHouse at New-York.

"8. The Irish Connexional Fund.

"9. The Biblical School at Bremen, Germany.

"10. The Chartered Fund: such sums as contributors may desire to appropriate in that way to the support of worn-out preachers, their widows, and orphans.

"Resolved-That all the unspecified funds raised throughout the church, and also all sums specifically contributed for the Centenary Educational Fund,' be placed in the hands of a Board, to be appointed as provided in a subsequent resolution, to be called the 'Centenary Connexional Educational Board of the Methodist Episcopal Church.'"*

Before adjourning, the following were appointed a "Central Centenary Committee of Arrangements and Correspondence :"-Revs. Dr. M'Clintock, Dr. Curry, Dr. Crooks, and Messrs. Oliver Hoyt, James Bishop, and Charles C. North. It may safely be said that nothing could exceed the zeal and efficiency with which this New-York Central Committee discharged the onerous duties which devolved upon it. Branch Committees were formed in every city, and a similar one in each Presiding Elder's District, under his special care and supervision. The Committee further recommended,

"That the first Sunday in January, 1866, be observed as a day of special and united prayer for the Divine blessing upon the Centenary services of the year, and for a general revival of religion; that the Centenary year may prove to be an epoch in the spiritual progress of the church; and that the pastors of all our churches be requested to read the Centenary Resolutions of the General Conference, and to expound them to their people on that occasion.

"That a special service be set apart in each of our Societies where there is a Sunday-school, in October, 1866, for a children's celebration of the Centenary festival; and that suitable arrangements be made in due time by the Branch Committees, in concert with the pastors and Sunday-school teachers.

Statement by Dr. M'Clintock, appueded to Dr. Stevens's "Centenary of American Methodism," p. 251.

"That the last Sunday of October, 1866, be observed as a day of special Centenary services; and that the Central Committee prepare and publish a proclamation and programme in reference to the observance of the day."

Never were arrangements more timely and complete, or publicity more general. From Maine to Oregon the Centenary note sounded, and every Methodist in the United States heard it, and recognised it as the call to action on an unprecedented scale. The General Conference, as we have seen, had named two millions of dollars as the minimum amount to be raised; and many of the feeble-hearted smiled incredulously at such an extravagant suggestion: "If the Lord were to open windows in heaven, then might such things be." But happily there were not wanting men of a different class, who thought two millions of dollars utterly unworthy of such a church at such a time. The veteran Bishop Morris named five millions of dollars, and from eighty to a hundred thousand new members, as his conception of what such a church should realize in its Centenary year. It required boldness to publish such a statement. How far the worthy bishop's faith was honoured of God in relation to both particulars, we shall presently see. Nor were even these startling figures quite satisfactory to the more advanced wing of the supporters of the movement. A member of the Central Committee, Charles C. North, Esq., named ten millions of dollars as the proper aim of the church on the occasion. In a series of papers, characterized by remarkable power, he put his manly views before hundreds of thousands of readers, and thus taught many to devise liberal things.

It will be seen that the leading idea which our American brethren agreed to impress upon their churches in the way of claim upon the Centenary Fund, was EDUCATION. They resolved to equip and sustain existing Educational Institutions as fully as possible; then to found several new Institutions of a similar kind in promising and important centres ; and to sink a large proportion of the sum realized by the Centenary movement, as a permanent endowment for each such Institution, according to circumstances. The idea was a noble one; and at once commended itself to the strong, practical mind of American Methodism. One of their colleges, Troy Conference Academy, after a protracted struggle, had passed out of the hands of the former proprietors, and is now occupied by the Romanists; and many others were in struggling circumstances, and a million or two of dollars might permanently extricate them from every difficulty, and cause many a heart to bless God for the Centenary year. Hence the main appropriation will doubtless be under this head, including the munificent donation of Daniel Drew, Esq., of New-York, who has built and equipped the "Drew Theological Seminary," New-York, and the "Carmel Female College," at an expense of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and endowed them with two hundred and fifty thousand more !

Another object contemplated is the building of a Mission-House in