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REPORT
OF THEIR MISSION TO ENGLAND, BY THE REPRESENTATIVES
OF THE CANADA CONFERENCE,
To the Conference and Members of the Wesley an- Methodist
Church in Canada,
Honoured and Dear Brethren:
Having been duly appointed by our Brethren assembled in Conference in
June last, as their Representatives to the Wesley an Conference in England, we
immediately proceeded on our Mission, and laid, as far as circumstances would
permit, the several subjects committed to us before the Wesleyan Conference
asiembled at Newcastle-upcn-Tyne, in August. The result was, that the Wes-
leyan Conference in England has refused to abide any longer by the Articles of
Union into which it entered in 1833 with the Conference of the Wesleyan Metho-
dist Church in Canada. This proceeding affects, in no respect whatever, any
part of the Discipline or Institutions of the Church in Canada-it simply leaves
our Conference, Ministers and People, to pursue, in their own way, without
any further interference on the part of the Conference in England, the great
•vork of cultivating the Vineyard of their Divine Master, and their various
plans of Christian enterprise for the religious and moral improvement of Upper
Canada; whilst it involves the English Conference in the responsibility and
consequences of a formal Secession from deliberately adopted and regularly
ratified Articles of Agreement with the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist
Church in Canada.
The causes and circumstances of an event so extraordinary in its character
and so important in its ronsequences, are worthy of serious attention ; and a
brief narrative of them, and of the manner in which wo have discharged the
duties imposed upon us in reliition to them, is due to those by whom we were
appointed, and cannot fail to interest the Members of our Church generally
and a large portion of the Canadian Public.
It is known to all the Members of our Conference, and is clear from the
Correspondence which took place in 1831 and 1832, between our Missionary
Board and the Wesleyan Missionary Committee in London, that the Union
was suggested on our part, in the first place, not as a measure desirable in
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itself, but as cxpedient,Wo prevent the disgrace and evils of collision between
two regular brunches of the Wesleyan family ; and that it was not proposed by
our Conference until after the failure of every possible persuasion and remon-
strance to induce the Conference in England to continue the same fraternal
arrangements with the Church in Canada, in its position as an independent
Body within the Province, free from any foreign ecclesiastical control, as they
had done for manv years, by a formal agreement, with the American Genera
Conference, when our Societies were connected with the Methodist Episcopal
in the United States. The arrangement, however, which the Conference m
Enc-land adopted and observed in regard to Upper Canada while we had a
cun°nexion with the United States Methodist Conference, the Wesleyan Mis-
sionarv Commhtefe in London- refused to o-bserve after *he dissolution of that
foreign ecclesiastical connexion. Under such circumstances our Conference
suggested the propriety of a formal c-operation between the English and
Canada Conferences-hoping thereby to prevent the anomaly and mischief ot
establishing rival pulpits, societies and interests, and to secure the accession
of an additional amount of piety, experience, talent, and means to our then
rapidly expanding operations for the conversion of the Indian Tribes, and the
religious instruction of the new settlements.
Such were the circumstances which gave birth to the proposition ot the
Union on the part of our Conference ; and such were the objects contetnplated
by it. In carrying out that measure, and with a view to promote the Christian
and benevolent objects which we contemplated by it, concessions of different
kinds and on different occasions were made in deference to the views and
feelings of the Conimittea in London, which exposed the motives of our Con-
ferenceto imputations, and its character to attacks, from different quarters, and
alienated not a few individuals from our communion and congregations.
But it now appears, fram indubitable evidence, that the Missionary Secre-
taries in London, and olher Members of the English Conference, had also
other and unavowed objects in view in recommending and adopting the Articles
of Union ; objects the conr,eu;plation and pursuit of which have obviously
prevented that harmonious and successful operation of the Union which was
anticipated by its friends and advocates in Canada. These objects were,— the
gradual extinction of every sort of influence as identified with the Canada
Conference— the transfer of that influence into other channels and into other
hands- and the absolute supremacy of the Committee and Conference in
England over all the Departments and Institutions of the Church in Canada.
The Union seems to have been chiefly preferred and adopted by the Missionary
Secretaries in London as, in their judgment, the most feasible and expeditious
method of rendering all the labours, and fruits, and influences of Methodism
in Canada tributary to the establishment of their own complete ascendancy
and control over every thing connected with that name. This was in substance
avowed by Mr. Alder, and more explicitly stated by others in the late Con-
ference in England, and was disputed by none ; and it will be found to be
embodied in Resolutions of the English Conference.
Now, to a certain extent and upon certain principles, we offer no objection
to the contemplation and pursuit of such objects. Superior piety, wisdom,
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(ntelligencc, solf-dciiial, /ciil, labours and success, must ami ought to commami
superiority of influonco and authority in every community united by voluntary
rules and upon moral principles. But this authority does not and ought not
to consist in the letter of written rules in n Christian Church, but in the power
of moral influence — not in the assumptions of theoretical prerogative, but in
the supremacy of religious cixcellence and intelleclujl worth, which will, by
the very laws of men's moral constitution, as surely secure to itself the homage
which is its due, as the sun in the solar system evinces, by his own unrivalled
splendour and diffusive effulgence, his unquestioned and unquestionable supre-
macy over the other planetary bodies of our material universe. But it involves
the eseence of despotism, tyranny and oppression, to claim and exercise a power
upop the abstract ground of prerogative, irrespective of superior qualifications
nnd virtuej, which results from the natural order of things where those pre-
eminent qualifications and virtues manifestly exist.
These remarks in no degree contravene the necessity and importance of dif-
ferent offices and authorities in the Church of Christ; but they do legitimately
and properly apply to arbitrary and unnatural distinctions amongst labourers
and ministers of the same order and vocation. If the Conference in England
has not acquired, through its Representatives, that supremacy over the Church
in Canada which was intended and anticipated by the London Missionary Sec-
retaries, it has not been for want of an ample and most favourable opportunity.
The members of the British Conference in Upper Canada have occupied, for
several years, the most important and influential stations in the Canada Con-
ference ; they have been put forward and distinguished on all special occasions ;
they have been noticed in the annual addresses of the Conference from year to
year in language of courtesy and praise, such as the members of the Canada
Conference have never adopted in respect to each other. If, after all, the
attachment of our congregations is strong and universal, with a few individual
exceptions, to those Ministers who have been called out into the work in the
country, and who like their congregations, are emigrants from various parts
of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as natives of the Province, who suffer
with the poverty, nnd rise with the wealth, and are involved in the destinies,
and partake in all the sympathies, of their congregations, we believe that the
inheritance of respect and affection and influence thus obtained by our Minis-
ters has been legitimately acquired, ought to be diligently and scripturally
employed in the service of the Church, and cannot be sacrificed at the shrine of
any distant prerogative, without unfaithfulness to their People and infidelity to
their Providential trust.
For five years and upwards after the Union, the representatives asd members
ef the British Conference in Upper Canada co-operated harmoniously and with
apparent cordiality with the Conference in the Province, in reference to both
ecclesiastical and civil affairs, and received every mark of affectionate respect
and distinction whi-^h our Ministers and people could bestow upon them.
During this period the Missionary Secretaries and other members of the Brit-
ish Conference entered decidedly and publicly into leading questions of civil
polity agitated in the Mother Country, espousing the cause of the Church
«8tablishmeQt against tlie Dissenters, and assuming an attitude of avowed hoa-
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tility against the Government on the question of Public Education. The Mis-
sionary Secretaries determine-] at length to nxercise their assumed authority
and influence (which they supposed by this time to be sufficiently established)
in Upper Canada, in relation to these mattors. Consequently, in February,
1839, they add rebsed a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada
relative to the "'position of the Methodists of Upper Canada" "as to certain
ecclesiuHical r/tte«<to«s"— disclaiming ail participation in the sentiments of
Methodist publications in Upper Canada on these subjects— and informing His
Excellency that they had appointed one of their number, Mr. Alder, to prOv eed
to Canada and " exert his well-earned consideration and influence" with the
Ministers and members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, in order to enforce
and carry out the views of the London Missionary Committee on these " eccle-
siastical questions." Such a communication to the Head of the Government in
Upper Canada was a bold and officious interference on the part of the Mission-
ary Secretaries in London with matters in which the feelings and rights and
interests of the inhabitants of Canada alone were concerned. The obvious
intention and tendency of their communication was to impress upon the Gov-
ernment of Upper Canada, that the Missionary Secretaries and their Agenta
were alone to be consulted on the part of" the Methodists of Upper Canada"
in the settlement of those " ecclesiastical questions"— thus striking a fatal
blow at the rights and authority of the Conference in Canada as the Head and
Representative of the Wesleyan Methodist Churcl in the Provincec When
published in Canada, this lette- was universally reptobated both by Methodists
and other classes of the community. The Lieutenant Governor, however,
acted upon it, and, during the latter part of March and April, 1839, when the
Clergy Reserve Question was under the consideration of the Provincial
Legislature, His Excellency conferred exclusively with the Representatives
of the Missionary Secretaries; their name and influence were employed
amongst the members of the Legislature in opposition to the senfimentu
of the organ of the Canada Conference ; and in a bill introduced into the
Provincial Legislaure it was provided that the portion of the proceeds
of the Reserves professedly intended for the Wesleyan Methodist Church
should be given to the " Wesleyan Methodists in connexion with the British
.Wesleyan CoNFERENCE"-not recognizing the Conference in Canada,
leaving us very name as well as authority entirely out of the question. Our
ministerial Brethren doubtless recollect that when their Secretary and Editor
laid these circumstances before the Conference assembled at Hamilton in June,
1839, and stated the embarrassments which he had experienced in consequence
of them In maintaining the views and rights of the Church during the preced-
ing session of the Legislature, that his Brethren not only expressed their dis-
approbation of any such interference, but, at his suggestion, and in compliance
with his wish, after they had re-appointed him their organ and reprewntative
for the ensuing year, they did,— ira order to prevetU any such counter-repre'
sentaiiom, under any apparently official sanction, being made to the Gov-
emment, and in order to secure the proper representation and guardian-
ship of the views and rights of the Church in Canaio,— refer the Clergy
Reserve Question specially to the Book Committee.
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Within a few days of tin* ilotc of the above mentioned loiter to the Lieutenant
Govamor of Upper Canada, the MissioHary Secrctnries addressed a letter to
their Representative in this Province, dated Januury 14, 1839,(1) condemning
the views advocated in the Cliiisitian Guardian on the question of tho Clergy
Reserves; (2) objecting to the di-cussion of the Clergy Reserve Question alsll
in the Conference Journai; (3) directing their Representative to employ bia
influence with the Editor of the Guardian to cnrry out tho views of the Mis-
sionary Secretaries— adding— " If you should fail in your attempt, then it will
be for you to consider, whether you are not, as President of tho Conference,
empowered to interfere officially and authoritatively with the management of
the Conference Journal, and to require, that, untd the meeting of the next
Conference, questions which 'tend to strife rather than to godly edifying,' ^hall
be excluded from its pnges."
A few days before Mr. Alder left London on his late Mission to Upper Cana-
da, the President of the British Conference addressed a letter to the Secretary
of the Canada Conference on the subject and objects of Mr. Alder's Mission.
This letter is dated London, March 23, 1839, and contains the following state-
inents and declarations : " Dear Sir— The advocacy in the Christian Guardian
newspaper of the principles of strict and systematic dissent, in opposition to
all religious establishments, has given deep and just offence to many of our
best friends in England ; and is regarded as a direct violation of the terms of
Union between your Conference and our own. If the Guardian persist in the
course which it has for some time pursued, the Union of the two Conferences
can no longer be maintained.— The matter is deemed of such serious conse-
quence, that Mr. Alder has been expressly appointed to visit Canada, for the
purpose of obtaining a strict and faithful adherence to the stipulated conditiont
of Union between your Conference and our own ; although his mission will
occasion considerable expense, and his absence from England be very injurious
to the interests of our Missions. The consequences of an open rupture be-
tween tht two Conferences, especially in the present state of the Colony, and
of your own Indian Missions, I trust you will seriously weigh, and not persist
in a course which has occasioned loud and just complaints. I am," &c.
(Signed) " Thomas Jackson."
Here several things are to be observed. (1.) This was the first interference
of the London Missionary Committee with the question of the Clergy Reserves
or Church Establishment in Upper Canada ; although the question had been
formally discussed in the columns of «he Conference Journal both before and
after the Union down to 1839. (2.) The discussion of the question is here
stated, for the first time, to be "a direct violation of the terms of the Union"
between the English and Canada Conferences; although the Representa-
ti»e of the Canada Conference in his Report of his Mission to England ia
1833, on the subjec*- of the Union, stated the reverse — stated that the co-op«nk-
tion and influence of the Committee in London would be exerted to maintain
the expressed views and equal rights of the Wesleyan Methodist Church io
Canada on the question of the Clergy Reserves ; and of the two Repreaenta-
tivea of the British Conference (Messrs. Marsden and Stinson) concurred in
the correctness of that E . nort when it was read in our Conference, assembled
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in Toronto, October, 1«3:{, wlif^ii all iho c.irci!,n»tan(<r« to -hich it refrrre.l
were fresh in their recollection ; and alihnugh thn Rnprcsentaiivesof the Brit-
ish Conferencoin Canada had co-opeiated with our Conference in resolutions
and addresses upon, and the advocacy of the Clergy Reserve Question during
the entire period from 1833 to 183!>. (3.) Though the Canada Conference
had reserved its full right to act according to its own judgment and discretion
on the question of a Cliurch establishment in Canada, as admitted and con-
cuiTpd in by the Representatives of the British Conference from 1833 to 1839;
yet, for the sake of peace, and out of respect for the British Conference, the
abstract principle of religious EstablishmenU had not been interfered with,
but had even been admitted on the part of our Conference and by its official
organ, which had gone so far as to say, and to repeat at different times—" We
have not a word to say on tha expediency and wisdom of the Ecclesiastical
Establishment of England ; nor on the subject of Imperial Parliamentary
appropriations in aid of Colonial Clergy. We aro not an advocate for the
subversion of the English National Church Establishment, interwoven as it is
by the operations of a thousand years with the entire civil and social institu-
tions of England, however opposed we may be, upon the most weighty con-
siderations, to its introduction into anew and difierently constituted state of
society." " Nor have we any thing to say in objection to the right or proprie-
ty of any people or country legislating for the encouragement of a particular
form of religion when the great majority of them are agreed in its belief and
profession, and in the expediency of adopting such a method to inculcate it.
We do not feel it necessary to express an opinion on either of the^e points ;
but we concede them in the present discussion." Adding again-—" All civil
laws and legislation ought to be based on the Christian Religion ; we believe
that civillegislation will be amongst the trophies of Christian triumph— that
the collective homage of irations will be the inheritance of the Son of God,
as well as the love and obedience of individuals." Indeed, our large conces-
sions on this subject have given offence to many sincere and esteemed fiiends of
our Church in Canada ; and so narrow, and entirely local and practical was
the ground we occupied on this subject, that we consented to an equitable
division of the interest of the proceeds of the sales of the Clergy Reserves
amongst the different Christian denominations recognized by the laws of
Upper Canada ; only insisting that that division should be upon terms equally
accessible to them— that while some churches could apply the proportion al-
lotted to them for the support of their Clergy, others should have equal liberty
to apply their proportion to the building of chapels and parsonages and the
chrisUan education of their youth. (4.) But even under such circumstances,
and after the acknowledged reservation of the Clergy Reserve Question to the
discretionary consideration and action of our Conference, did the Wesloyan
Missionary Secretaries in London commence an interference with the question,
and deputed Mr. Alder on a Church Establishment Mission to Upper Canada.
(5.) And let it be observed lastly, that the entire ground of avowed objection
and interference related, not to any secular matter, but to the question of a
Church Establishment in Upper Canada, and that this was the ground and
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solely avowed object of Mr. Aldei'tt Mission to ilu» riovitice in respect to ih«
proceedings of o. Conteroncu and its otlicitil organ.
But on Mr. Alder's arrival in Upper Canada, he found the views and feel-
ings of our Coaference — of the Members of our Church, whether emigrants
from Great Biitain and Ireland or natives of the country — indeed of the inha-
bitants generally — so strong and almost unanimous against the letter and inter-
ference of the Missionary Secretaries and his own published communications,*
that he deemed it expedient at our ConffrcL'^e assembled at Hamilton in June
1839, to avoid the introduction of the primary and real object of his mission,
and directed his objections chiefly to the then recently expressed views of the
Editor of the Guardian respecting Lord Durban' and his Report — a Report
which did not reach Canada until six days after Mr. Alder sailed from
England ; and which could not therefore by any po.ssibility have formed any
part of his appointed Mission. Our brethren in the Ministry will recollect
that the Secretary had to read the official letters above referred to, in order to
put the Conference in possession of tho real objects of Mr. Alder's Mission ;
and not only did the Conference maintain its position and rights on the ques-
tion of the Clergy Reserves; but such were the facts elicited by the discussion,
">' . Alder did not even request tho Conference to rescind several reaolu-
"h it had unanimously adopted on that subject in 1837 j (of which
however, the late British Conference state, in its proceeding!, it
troves ;) and even at length assented to a resolution in which our
terated its previously expressed sentiments on the question of a
C- ishment in Canada, and our constitutioiiui rights, and our deter-
minaticn to maintain them.
It became perfectly evident that tho Missionary Secretaries in London could
not acquire the absolute asccnde., ,y over the affairs of Methodism in Uppei'
* Note by E. Ryerson.— It is worthy of remark that the Old Country part of
the Members of our Church were the most forward and ardent in the expression
of their views and feelings on this subject. The Editor of the Guardian received
communicalionr, from Hamilton, Guelph, Toronto (Township) Circuit, Yonge
Street, Bytown, &c., condemning tho interference of the London Missionary
Secretaries, and strongly appi-oving of the course w*hich he had pursued. In
these places the ofEcial memuers of our church were almost entirely emigrants
from Great Britain and Ireland, This was especially the case in regard to
Hamilton, Guelph, and Bytown, where the official members were unanimous
and strong in the expression of their sentiments on the occasion. Motives of
delicacy induced the Editor to withhold those communications from the readers
of the Guardian, though they are still in his posses.sion, and he still jetains a
giatt al recollection of the principles and feelings which dictated them. Natives
of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as natives of Canada, with very few
exceptions, know how to appreciate their rights and privileges on the Western,
as well as on the Eastern side of the Atlantic, and prefer guarding their own
rights and managing their own affairs to leaving them to be disposed of by the
Missionary Secretaries in London. Their interests, themselves and [losterity,
are located in Canada, not in London ; and the place of residence is the most
appropriate place of management ; and in our Conference, the President, Secre-
tary, Editor, Book-Steward, and all the principal Committees, are elected
annually by ballot, by the suffrages of all the Members of the Conference.
Hundreds of Emigrants have been sought in the wilderness and gathered into
the Church, and supplied with the ordinances of the Sanctuary ; and some have
been raised up to be Ministers of the Word.
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Canada which ihoy h.id c..Mk-.i.,.|Hi,..l ai.JcIaimt'd, w.ihouladoptinii aihc, nioao.
than thogo wi.ich iht-y hud hiiheiio employed, h wa» alsi, clear, from the
«tute ot feeling ihroushuui our Connexion, that the breaking up of the Union
ai that time would offcctuQlly defeat their o-.vn objects. Claiming th- P^ission.
in Upper Canada us their exclunive properly, and assuming the right to send
what Missionaries, and station them n'lien and where they pleased,— making
iho line of distinction between the Mhnonary and regvlar Circv.it work as
marked as possible-and securing to t» « British Conference a control over
the disposal ol the Methodist portion of tv. Clergy Reserves, in the event of a
division of them— stems to have been considered a co-ordinate and now the
only means of weakening and ultimately ove -powering the distinctive influence
and energies of the Canada Connexion on iie one hand, and of attaining the
earnestly desired supremacy o*" the London Committee on the other. Hence,
as the members of our Conference will remember, the claims which Mr. Alder
made to the entire j roperty in our Miss' is, and his most strenuous efforts to
procure the erasure of a certain note in our Discipline, and to get the assent
of our Conference, in some form or another, t^ the right of the London
Missionary Committee to send Missionaries at their discretion into any part
of Upper Canada , also his reluctance and peculiar remarks at the appointment
of a Committee to guard our rights on the Clergy Reserves— the appointment
of which Committee, in his statements at the late Engiiih Conference, Mr.
Alder termed " an innovation." It is clear, that the Lieutenant Governor had
been induced and was determined to employ his influence to have whatever
part of the proceeds of the Reserves the Wesleyan Methodist Church in
Canada might be entitled to, on the settlement of that question, placed at th«
disposal of the British Wesleyan Conference ; and we havo been informed
from private sources,— but have no official authoritv for the statement— that it
was understood between Mr. Alder and the Lieu.enant Governor, that, in
adjusting the titles of Indian Lands, the Mission premises at the various sta-
tions should be secured to the Wesleyan Missionary Committee in London,
independent of the Canada Conference, notwithstanding the establishment of
all those Missions, but one, by our Conference.
At this critical juncture of our alfa^rs, and of the affairs of the Province- by
the good providence of God, the Governor General assumed the Government
of Upper Canada. It has come to our knowledge, (but not from any person
connected with the Government) that the Governor General was advised from
high quarters to confer with the Agent of the London Missionary Committee
on the question of the Clergy Reserves, and by no means to consult Mr. E.
Ryerson-the appointed repreaentative of the Canada Conference ; but His
Excellency, wit", that discernment and sense of justics which becomes a wise
and impartial Governor of a country, determined to hear all parties and then
judge for himself. Accordingly, he sent for Messrs. Stioson and Richey on the
part of the London Missionary Committee, and for Mr. E. Ryerson on the
part of the Canada Conference. The differing views of the parties on some
points, and the important interests involved, induced His Excellency to inves-
tigate the relations of the English and Canada Connexions, and all the cireum-
atanccs connected with the Grant to the Wesleyan Missionary Committee out
! !
' i!
I.i
^WIH^KHW»**awi';n?fiM^»ag*y>j
ol ttie Casual and lerntoriai Kevo;,ua — knowing sonit thing pernonally lettpacl-
inj the design and objects of the original Cira;:t iitclf, as he was a Member ol
His late Majesty's Governm>.nt in 1832, when the Grant was made. The
conclusions of His lOxcollency weru in cl.aruclor vith the just and noble feeling
which dictated his inquiries. Thoy have already called forth the grateful
acknowledgments of our Conference, and secured liio aft'ectionate esteem of
the members and friends of our Church generally, as far as thoy have been
understood, and will do so to a still greater extent as they will now bo more
widely and more fully made known.
One of the two letters addressed by Mr. E. Ilyerson to the Governor General
on the subject r I'v rtnanciiil relations of the Conferences in England and
Caiada, was trai-.nitted by His Excellency to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, in illustration of view* stated at lar;^o in an accompanying despatch
of his own. The circumstances under which that letter was written not being
known to the Secretary of State for tho Colonies, a copy of it was sent to the
Missionary Secretaries. A favourable opportunity seemed now to present itself
lor them tc put down the individual memijer of the Canada Conference who
had in the fulfilment of his ofliciai relations and duties, opposed the principal
obstacles to their views of Miitical and ecclesiastical power in Canada, and
also for them to put forth those assumptions of power which they had l.ilherto
attempted in vain to sbcure. Hence, instead of trausmitling a copy of that
letter to our Conference for investigation, and for explanation or condeiT'.afion,
as the case might require, a few London Members of a Special Committee
were called together, who adopted a series of Resolutions, containing assump-
tions of prerogative and power, accusations, and sentences of condemnation
against the author of that letter, and calling upon our Conference to carry
them into execution on pain of a dissolution of the Union. Our Conference
entered into a careful and thorough investigation of the whole matter; and
whilst it maintained, in the most inotlbnsive and respectful lan''uage, its own
rights and privileges, it more than disclaimed the slightest imputatibn upon
the motives of the London Committee ; and concluded its proceedings on tlie
subject by appointing two of its own Members to proceed to England, to
explain the whole matter, and to do all in their power to maintain the Articles
of the Union inviolate.
Tho circumstances which wo 'tave th.'s narrated are, for the most parf,
familiar to the members of the Conference ; but we have deemed this brief
sketch of them essential to a correct understanding of tho whole ca^e by out
bretiiren and friends generally throughout tho" Province.
We received our appointment as Reprcspntatives of the Conference, by tlio
ballot votes of our Brethren, on tho 20th of .June ; and on the 1st of July wo
embarked at New York for Liverpool, where we arrived after a pleasant pas-
sage of 21 days. We entered upon our mission deeply sensible of the difficul-
ties and responsibilities involved in it; but with a full determination, in hum-
ble dependence upon Divine aid and blessing, to represent most truly the views
and feelings of our constituen s — to concede, if necessary for the sake of peace,
any thing except what was essen'^il to iheir rights and interests — and to uso
our best endeavours to presetve inviulato the articles of the Union between the
C
10
two Connexions. On the same rloy that we embarkeii on board of a packet
ship for Liverpool, Messrs. Stinson and Rioliey embarked on board of iho
" Great Wescern" for London, where they arriveu eight days before us. On
our arrival in London, we found that an impression and feeling derogatory and
unfriendly to the Canada Conference had been widely diffused ; and, on our
arrival at Hewcastle-upon-Tyne, Thursday the 30th of July, we found the same
impression and feeling prevalent amongst the members of the English Confer-
ence.
We learnt, on arriving in England, that the Bill for the sale of the Clergy
Reserves of Upper Canada and the appropriation of the proceeds thereof was
»8till before Parliament, and that Lord .lolui Russell, in deference to the Bish-
ops in the House of Lords, had admitted amendments into that Bill which
rendered it materially different in its character and provisions from what it was
when his Lordship brought it into the House of Commons. We had an inter-
view with his Lordship on the subject of the Bill; stated verbally, and after-
wards in writmg, various objections to the amended or altered Bill. We also
applied to and obtained from his Lordship -i copy of a very long letter which,
as we had been informed, Mr. Alder had addressed to his Lordship in April
last on the subject of the Government Grant to t|^^ Missionary Committee out
ot the Casual and Territorial Revenue, and the financial relations of the Eng-
ish and Canada Conferences. Mr. Alder's letter purported to be a reply to
the letter of Mr. E. Ryerson to the Governor General, dated 17th Janua4 last,
and contained many incorrect statements, and some unbecoming reflections
both upon the American Connexion in the United States and the Conference
of the Weslnyan Methodist Church in Canada. We improved the earliest
ShT'^An '"^^'"'" ^°"^ •^°^" ^"^^''" " '■"" ^^P'y '^ ^'^- Alder's letter.
Both Mr. Alder s letter and our reply will be found amongst the documents
accompanying this Report.
On arriving at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, we went to the chapel in which the
Conference was assembled, and sent in a card with our names. Mr. Marsden
came out and received us Idn<liy. We were then directed to a boarding-house!
where we lodged dnrmg our stay^n Newcastle. The morning after our arrival
^^■e received a card of admittance into the Conference Chapel. The afternoon
of the same day, we addressed a note, of which the following is aconv t^T
President of the Conference : ""owing ,s a copy, to the
n.v q,„ '' f "^^'^"'^f ^7f ' Ncn^caslle-upon-Tyne, July 3Ist, 1840.
^^^^^tidtn^^^
to the Conferen'ce'';he A-ddt: 'I rR "solErof^fe'S T «"'
which stace their appointment and specify tl.el^ctl of t "^' '^°"'"^"'=*
>> e aro, Rev. Sir, your very obedient humble servants.
The Rev. R. Newton, ^!^' R^^RScn,
Presidr.nl of tkc Conference, l'>- Kvkrson.
n
11
In answer to ihe t'orcgoiiig nolo, ilie PresiJeiu ol' ilie ConftToncc loturiicd a
verlml niessawc — " presenting h\i coini'linients to thj Messrs. Rycrson —
acknowledging the receipt of their n(jte — stating that as soon as convenient he
would give way for the reading of their documents, when a Committee would
be appointed to take them into consideration. In the mean time he hoped they
were comfortably situated.'
During tiie same evening, as we afterwards learnt, the Committee which had
been appointed at the Conference of 1839 met. It appeared, that the resolu-
tions which had been adopted in Inndon, April 29, 1840, and sent out to
Canada, and which gave rise to our mission to England, had been adopted
only by those members of that Committee who resided in London,— there being
no time, as it was stated, to give notice to the "country members," who were
now called together with their London brethren to hear rcsolulions which had
been adopted by the few in London in April last. Those resolutions were now
read to the whole Committee and re-affirmed. The following day this Com-
mittee reportefl to the Conference in a few words — stating that thev had met
the previous evening and re-atlirmcd the resolutions which had been adopted
by the London members of the Committee the 29th of April last on Canadian
affairs, and recommending the Conference to appoint and refer the whole
affair to a larger Committee.
On Saturday afternoon, the 1st of August, our names were mentioned to the
Conference by the President as the Representatives of the Canada Conference ;
and we were invited — not to take our seats on the platform, (a courtesy inva-
riably extended hitherto to the Representatives of other Conferences through-
out the Methodist world,) where th 3 Representatives of the American and Irish
Conferences had always been invited to sit — where the Representatives of the
Irish Conference were then sitting — where the Representative of the Canada
Conference had sat on two former occasions — but we were invited to take our
seats in the body of the chapel— receiving intimation thereby, as well as from
various other circumstances, that the Canada Conference must not presume to
consider itself of equal standing with other Conferences of Methodism, espe-
cially with the Conference in England
On this introduction to the Conference, we presented to the President the
Address and Resolutions of the Conference we represented ; but they were
not read in Conference until thirteen days afterwards.
During the subsequent days we urged, by notes to the President, and in
conversation with such leading members of the Conference as we had access
to, the early consideration of the Canadian business ; but it wr3 not until
Thursday afternoon, tho Gth of August, just beforo the adjournment, that any
movement was made in it. It was then proposed to appoint a large Committee
to investigate the whole matter and report thereon. To this mode of proceed-
ing we objected in tho present stage of the business. (1.) Because neither
the Resolutions nor Address of the Canada Conference had been rend ; and
we knew of no example of referring documents of that nature to a Committee
before they had been read by tho Body to whom they were addressed. (2.)
We stood before them in behalf of the Canada Conference, as Appellants or
Complainants against the encroachments and proceedings of a Committee of
flmt Conference ; niul it was at variance* -vith Methodistic mage when, even
an individual member of the Conference, complained or appealed against the
proceedings of a District Meeting, or any Conference Committee, to refer him
back to the same Meeting or Committee, perhaps with the* addition of a few
other members— that, in judicial proceedings, it was never known that an ap-
peal from the decision of a Judge of the Assizes was referred by the Judges
of the Queen's Bench to the same Judge whose decision had been appealed
from. (3.) We were representatives of the Canada Conference to that Con-
ference, and not to a Committee ; and we desired to lay the whole matter be-
fore the Members of the Conference at large, from a full conviction that when
they were made acquainted with all the facts of the case, they would not justi-
fy the proceedings of the London Committee, but would coincide with the
Canada Conference.
But Dr. Bunting contended, on the contrary, that they were the complain-
ants and we were the defendants, and that proceeding by Committee was the
only proper mode of considering and disposing of the business.
There was, however, a strong and general feeling amongst the Preachers to
have the case investigated in Conference ; and the President at length assured
them ind us, that a full opportunity should be given of stating and hearing the
whole case in Conference. We replied, that with that assurance and under-
standing we had no objection to go before a Committee.
A large Committee was then appointed, consisting of the Members of the
Canada Commitlee of the previous year with about as many more additional
Members.
The first meeting of the Committee did not take place until Saturday the
8th of August; when Mr. Alder appeared on behalf of the London Commit-
tee, and made a very lengthened statement, giving a history (in part) of the
origin and design and progress of the Union from 1832 to the present time;
introducing his above-mentioned voluminous letter (which was read) to Lord
John Russell. Mr. Alder was followed in continuation and confirmation by
Mr. Stinson ; after which we were called upon to reply. At almost every
stage of our reply, we were mot by objections, explana ' -ns and rejoinders,
which very greatly protracted the discussion, and put it out of our power to do
justice to some of the points at issue. It is unnecessary for us to state tho
order or features of the discussions which ensueri during three ensuing even-
ings. On Thursday evening the 13th of August, the Committee made a re-
port to the Conference. The Report was read, but was not taken into con-
sideration that evening on account of the lateness of the hour. Wo requested
a copy and then the perusal of the Report, but were not allowed either.
The Conference having now been in Session upwards of a fortnight, more
than three-fourths of the Members had left for their Circuits ; so that there
were leas than eighty preseni, Hiring the consideration of the subject of our
Mission. Consequently mora than three-fourths of the Members of the
English Conference are ignorant to this day of the nature of the articles of
Union (as they have never been printed in England) and of all the circumstan-
ees which have transpired between the two Connexions.
When the Report was taken up next day, Friday the 14th of August, th«
t
13
Jasl ilay of the Session, wo mlvcrtPil to tho inconvenience wo experiencctl iti
speaking to the Report of the Committee, as we had not been favoured with a
copy or with the perusal of it. It was then frankly admitted, that we hftd a
right to a copy of the .oport and time to examine it before we were called
upon to express our views respecting it.
Having obtained a copy of the Report as first presented by the Comniittee,
we retired and examined it. That Report (which »ve afterwards returned by
request,) did not contain such an enumeration of statements and synopsis ot
certain documents as are contained in the published Report of the Committee;
but the leading sentiments of the Repoit in both stages »nd forms are the
same. That Report, which, together with the decision of the English Con-
ference, will be found amongst the documents appended to this Report, con-
tained, amongst other things, —
1 . A repetition and confirmation of the allegations, and assumptions of
power, and decisions, which had been embodied in the Resolutions of the
Loadon Committee, dated April 29, 1840; and also a vote of thanks to that
Committee.
2. A declaration against any interference on the part of the " Christian
Guardian" with " party political reasonings and discussions."
3. The admission and maintenance by the Christian Guardian of " the
duty of civil Governments to employ their influence, and a portion of their
resources, for the support of the Christian religion."
4. The advocacy by Mr. E. Rycrson, and " by the Upper Canada brethren,"
of the right of the London Missionary Committee to the Government Grant
" even if its payment should bo transferred to the Clergy Reserve Fund.''
5. A vote of "hearty esteem and approbation" to Messrs. Stinson and
Richey for " the ability, fidelity, and diligence" with which they had " per-
formed the duties officially confided to them."
6. A declaration that the English Conference could not be identified " with
any Body, however respected, over whose public proceedings it is denied the
right and power of exerting any official influence, so as to secure a reasonable
and necessary co-ordinate but efficient direction, during the continuance
of the Union :" (of the natvre and extent of which " efficient direction" the
English Conference was, of course, to be the Judge.)
7. A recommendation that " the Conference now remit the whole affair to
the management of a Special Committee, whose duty it shall be to draw up a
statement, in a more detailed manner, of the points on which full satisfaction
will be expected from the Conference of Upper Canada, and to make such a
report of the Resolutions of that body thereupon, as may enable our 7text Con-
.'(srence, assembling in Manchester, (in 1841,) to determine, finally, the course
which, in reference to this Union, it may then be proper to adopt in the settle-
ment of the whole affair."
Such were the leading sentiments and positions of the Report, from the
beginning to the end of which there was not the slightest inclination expressed
to aid the institutions or interests of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada
in any way whatever— but only a wish to rule over it, to employ its name and
influence to obtain tlie patronage of Government, and to use it for the advance-
14
tiiPJit of ilio vievvj niul pLiri-A «{ tlio :\2;otit3 i.t' the Missiaiinry Socrotaries of il.f
Englisli CoiifcnMnjo. Indfod, ilirougliout tlie wliolo of tlif proceodinffH, the
idea (lid not appear to he .idmiiicil by a siiiglo inemlipr of the London Com-
mittee, that any Ciiniidian Treacher should stand upon similar footing with the
Members of tho Englisli ConfcTencc.
To the above poiiions and reqiiiremcntd of the Committee we replied, in
substance, as follows :*
1. With respect to the alleijations, and assumptions, and proceedings of the
London Committee, dated 2.9th April last, our Conference had expressed all
the views we had to state. The ilesolulions of our Conference, which" had
been adopted with unusual unanimity, after the most mature deliberation, we
had no authority to amiul or modify. Ncr did wo see any reason to desire to
do so, as we believed they were just, and expressed views and feelings by which
our Brethren would abide.
2, With respect to the Christian Guardian, wo were prepared, as we had
been from the beginning, to go with them all lengths in making it a strictly
religious and literary Journal— such it had already been made by its conductor
and by order of the Conference ; and the exigencies which had given rise to
its departure, on some occasions, from strict neutrality in certain questions of
civil polity, existed no longer.!
3. As to advocating the duly of civil Governments to support Religion, —
the views of our Conference and People on that subject had been adopted and
avowed long betore the Union— were explicitly stated at the time of the Union
— Iiad been officially expressed and advocated for years since the Union, and
with the concurrence of their own Representatives, and without the slightest
I
* Note. — We would rot wish to convey the idea, tliat we employed in the
Conference the identical words which are used in the following paragraphs ; or
that our remarks were made in tiie order in wiiicli they arc here inserted ; or
that they were all made in that connexion. We spoke after a few moments'
examination of the Report of the Committee. On some points we expatiated at
considerable length ; on other points we referred to what we had stated in the
course of previous disci.'fjsions. The following puragraphs, therefore, contain a
mere summary or brief outline of wiiat we stated during the investigation of the
affair, on the several points referred to.
t Note by E. R.—lla.d the Agents of the London Missionary Committee
represented to the local Government the views and feelings of the Conference
and Members of the Wesloyan Metliodist Church in Canada, instead of the
opposite views and feelings of the Missionary Secretaries in London, there is
reason to believe that the late Executive would not have been prompted and
encouraged to pursue the policy which rendered so strong a discussion of some
points necessary in the columns of the Guardian. While the Executive looked
to the Agents of the London Committee, and not to the Guardian, as the inter-
preter of the riglits, and interests, and views of the Wcslcyan Body in Canada,
it pursued a pa lial and unjust course of policy. The Governor General
satisfied himself that the Editor of the Guardian, and not the Agents of the
London Committee, was the true Representative of the interests and sentiments
of our Church. His Excellency has therefore acquired the confidence and
support^of our People generally, though he has been denounced liy the Agent*
of the London Committee. The Guardian lias ceased from the discussion of
any political questions ; and the adherents of the London Missionary Secretaries
cherish, in our judgment, stronger political party feelings than any other portion
of the Methodist community in Canada.
15 .
objeciion on llicir part before 1831) ; that wc Ir.ul no inclination to oppose that
principle, nor had we done so ; but wc could not regard the principle itself,
much less the advocacy of it, as any part of IValcyan Mc/kodium, however
it might have been adopted by tho British Conference, as it was not contained
in Mr. Wesley's Four Volumes of Sermons or Notes on tho New Testament ;
that we fully agreed wfth Mr. V/osloy that a Cjuirch Establishment was a
human institution, (and not of Divine appointment,) and therefore liable to the
modifications and contingencies of all other human institutions, which might
be suitable in some cases but not in others ; that wc saw no occasion at the
present time in Upper Canada to discuss the question at all on either side;
that we thought the attention and fe-lings of our reople might now be directed
to more profitable subjects ; and that we could not assent to such a proposition
which formed an entirely new and very remarkable Article of Union.
4. In regard to the Government Grcml—ihey had alleged a fact, tliat the
Secretary of the Canada Conference had applied for that Grant in behalf of his
Conference. We had answered to that ollegcd fad, and proved, by the tes-
timony of tho Governor General himself, that the Secretary of the Canada
Conference had made no such application. Further than this wc could not be
reasonably required, nor were wc prepared, to gc ; that we, as well as they,
had undoubtedly a right to our opinions on the subject; and we were not
prepared to array ourselves in opposition to the views of tho Governor General
on the subject; that when it came, not to a matter oi fact, but a matter of
opinion, we fully concurred in the opinions of the Governor General, as did
our Conference ; and we felt the more grateful to His Excellency, and the
more fully satisfied of tho correctness of his views, because they had been
adopted without any influence from without,— because he was' personally
knowing to the intentions of Government in making that Grant,— was con-
fessedly competent to investigate all the circumstances connected with it, and
vas unquestionably a disinterested Judge. With H is Excellency the Governor-
General of Canada, we objected to their having claim to any portion of
the Clergy Reserve Fund. All the claims which Methodism had acquired to
B participation in that Fund, had been acquired by our exertions— that they
had opposed our advocacy on that question, and their Representatives had
expressed their belief that that fund was intended for the Church of England
alone, and that they had no objection to its enjoyment of the whole of that
Fand ; it was therefore most unreasonable, now that our views had prevailed
and their views had been set aside, that they should come forward even as first
claimants upon that very Fund, and insist upon our advocating their claim*
as a condition of continuing the Union. We adverted to the fact, that they
had large pecuniary resources for tho support of their Institutions in England
—that they had large funds for the education of their children ; whilst the
brethren in Canada, who had endured toils and privations such as no Preacher*
in England of the present day had endured, had no such means at their dis-
posal in that new country. We likewise mentioned tho circumstance, that the
Clergy Reserve Fund was a provincial revenue, and intended to aid tho funds
of Christian denominations in Upper Canada, and not the funds of Christian
denommaiions in England ; that this was the case with each of tlio Churches
.16
in Upper OanuJa who loceivcd a pi^iii(.'n of liiu proiet'ds ol tho Clergy
Reserves, with the exception of the Church of England ; in respect to which
the Propagation Society had assumed tlie responsibility of supporting the
Episcopal Clergy in that Province ; that if the Wesleyan Conference in England
would assume tho same responsibility in re^gard to the support of the Ministers
of our Church in Upper Canada that the Propagation Society sustained in
regard to the support of the ICpiscopal Clergy, we would very readily give our
consent and support to their claims upon the Clergy ileserve Fund.
5. In regard to Messrs. Stinson and Richey, such was the course of proceed-
ing which they had thought proper to pursue, that we should feel it our duty
to make a statement of it for the information of our brethren, many of whom
would feel not a little astonished and grieved to learn, that notwithstanding
the marked attentions which had been paid to them by their brethren both in
the ministry and amongst the laity of our churcli in Canada, Messrs. Stinson
and Richey had been, during the last two years, writing letters to London of
a disparaging and calumnious character against their fellow labourers in
Canada ; that Mr. Stinson had stated in letter dated as laie as the 20lh of
last March that it was a " degradation" for the Committee in London to con-
tinue a union with " such men ;"" that Mr. Richey had stated that, during his
four years' residence in Upper Canada, he had been " treated as a stranger,
tL foreigner, and a.n alien;" and that during this whole proceeding both
Messrs. Stinson and Richey had done every thing in their power against the
Canada Conference.
6. Respecting the general and undefined claim of "efficient direction" over
llie " public proceedings" of the Canada Conference, it should be observed —
(1) That the articles of union already gave thorn very great power— every
thing indeed that we conceived could be reasonably desired ; (2) That if they
demanded an "efficient direction" over the " public proceedings" of tho
Canada Conference generally, they ought to assume the responsibility of sup-
porting the institutions generally of the Wesleyan Methodist Churf h in Cana-
da. How could a father be responsible for the support even of his own chil-
dren, if he were not the master of his own talents and energies and resources —
if he were the property, as to "efficient direction," of another? The pro-
prietor was, of course, the properly responsible person for the support of both
the slave and his children. How could they therefore insist upon " an efficient
direction over the public proceedings" of the Canada Conference, and yet
actually maintain at the same time, as a written article of agreement, that the
Canada Conference should have "mo claim upoti the funds of the English
Conference ?" If the Canada Connexion was responsible, and entirely depend-
ing upon its own " proceedings" for the support of its own institutions, it must
be the judge and director of those proceedings. The contrary pnnciple is an
absurdity in all tho civil and religious and social relations of life. Not even a
father claims an " efficient direction" over the proceedings of his children when
* Note by E. R. — The Editor of the Guardian and his friends supported, at
this eventful crisis, the administration of the Governor General ; this Mr. Stinsoa
lepresents as -a, " degradaiioti."
17 ^
tliey are thrown upon dieir own resources for ilieii own Bujipoit; inucli IdSA
ought one community to claim such a direction over another sell'-sustaincd and
eelf-gupported community on an opposite »ido of the Atlantic.
7. And even upon theso terms they did not propose a permanent contimia-
tion of the Union, but only until the next Conference to be assembled in Man-
chester, July, 1841, when they would " determine finally the course which, in
reference to this Union, it may then be proper to adopt in the settlement of
the whole afl'air" — thus insisting upon the use of the nn le ar d influence and
advocacy of " the Upper Canada Brethren" in order to secure tlie claims of
the Committee in London upon the patronage and support of the Government;
requiring the Canada Conference \jo divest itself of the attributes essential to
any Body responsible for its own proceedings and the support of its own mem-
bers and institutions, and oven calling upon the Canada Conference ''to admit
and MAINTAIN," in its official organ, the principle that it is the " duty n[
civil governments to apply a portion of their resources for the support of the
Christian rehgion ;" and after all, by a solemn act of their Conference, making
the Union a question of agitation and electioneering for twelve months to come ;
at the end of which they would decide whether their own purposes could be
best promoted by continuing or discontinuing the Union !
Moreover, wo sUted to the Committee at different times, and adverted to it
more particularly in our concluding observations to the Conference, that the
whole of their views and proceedings seemed to bo founded upon the suppo-
sition and assumption, that the Brethren in Canada were but mere children,
comparatively ignorant of the principles of Wesleyan Methodism, incompetent
and unfit to judge and act for themselves ; .whereas, the Connexion in that Pro-
vince, in relation to the Ministry or Laity, ought not to be treated as mere
children. For, (I) in no part of the world, did wo think the Ecclesiastical
polity of Methodism was so well understood by the members of the Church
generally as in Upper Canada; the reason of which was obvious from the facts,
that, in addition to the ordinary means and inducements for information on tlie
various branches of that great system, a vigorous attempt was made in 1828 to
introduce lay delegation and other essential changes in the economy of Meiho
dism in that Province, which led to an elaborate discussion of all its essential
and distinctive principles, and resulted in its more permanent establishment in
its purity and integrity. In 1833-4, in consequence of the Union, every part
of the polity of Methodism underwent a second rigid scrutiny and thorou-^h
discussion. Subsequently, in 1836-7, in consecpience of legal proceedings
affecting our title to chapel property which iiad been instituted against us, our
whole poli;y in relation to the civil law, the powers of ihe Conference, Sec,
was elaborately and fully discussed by the .fudges of the land, and several pub-
lic writers. During the last twelve years, therefore. Upper Canada has been a
sort of manual labour scliool for the study of Methodist Church polity ; and
the leading features of it wnro as familiar as household words to the
members of our church generally. They ought not to be i-egarded, there-
fore, as untutored children. (2) Whilst we admitted many advantages in
England for tho improvement of the Ministry which wo did not possess in
Cftoada, we must say that our examinationb of candidates for the ministry were
D
18
- 1
alreinly more extensive nnd thorough than tuoirs. Tlieir cxaminaiiona were
wholly conliiiod to Divinity — ilid not oven embrace the Evidences of Chris-
tianity — a circumslunco which had been regretted by several members of the
British Conleronce in their remarks a day or two before; while, on the contrary,
the examinations of candidates for the ministry imder the direction of our Con-
ference were quite as extensive and as minute as their even on the various doC'
trinea in Divinity ; in addition to which, a general course of study, with the
proper books, was proscribed to them during their four years of probation ; and
they were examined on the Evidences of Ckrislianily, Moral Philosophy,
Mental Philosophy, Natural Theology, Logic, Rhetoric, Ancient and
Modern History, Ecclesiastical History, and Wesley an Church Polity,
including the pretensions to the Divine Episcopal Succession, the authority and
functions of the Ministry, the Administration and Rules of the Discipline.
At this point the President interposed, intimiting that he thought these
observations did not relate to the subject before tho Conference, and could not
bo admitted at that advanced hour after so much time had been occupied in
the investigation of thia affair.
It was then observed on our part, in conclusion, that we considered the
adoption of that Report by the Conference as equivalent to a relinquishment of
the Articles of Union, which it was our duty and object to maintain inviolate ;
that while we had felt disposed, and again and again expressed a willingness,
to concede any thing that was not unjust to our constituents and our country,
and to consult in the most amicable and liberal spirit for the promotion of tho
great objects and interests of religion there by the agency of Methodism, we
could not, on the part of the Conference we represented, nor did we believe the
Canada Conference ever would, accede to the demands and new conditions
embodied in the Report of their Committee.
We were then requested to retire ; but at that juncture the Rev. Dr. Beau-
mont rose, to move a dissolution of the Union, ol)3erving — " there is just as
much reason in the Canada Conference sending Presidents to us as for us to
send Presidents to them ; and they are just as competent to manage their own
affairs, as we are to manage our affairs." Tho Rev. Dr. Bunting said he
thought so too — that ho respected the Canada Conference; and what had just
been stated (resjjecting the acquaintance of the Methodists in Upper Canada
with their Church polity and the examinations of Candidates for the Ministry)
confirmed him (Dr. B.) in the opinion which he had long entertained, that the
Union had been wrong from tho beginning. He (Dr. B.) believed it had been
a great evil to the Canada Conference, and no good to the British Conference.
It was in his (Dr. B's) opinion a weil-intended, but an ill-advised measure.
Wo then retired ; and were infer in the course of the evening, that
quite a majority of the Conference had voted against that clause of the ReporJ
which recommended the continuation of the Union, but had adapted with one
or two verbal alterations, the other parts of the Report. We were informedj
indeed, that 13 to 17 of the Committee voted against the adoption of that
clause of the Report. It is however, deserving of remark, that at Manches-
ter, 1833, upwards of three hundred Preachers adopted the Articles of Union
hy V. unanimous \oic-, but that at Ncwcastlc-upon-Tyno, 1840, those Articles
■were relinquished on ilin pnrt of the IkitisJi (.'oiift'ience l-y tho votf of a ma-
jority of seventy two Preachers.
The following mo-nin?, Aiiifust If,, wo loft Newcastle-upon-Tyne for Lon-
don ; and ien days nftorwanls, 'J5th of August, wo received an official copy of
the R sport of the Committee and of the proceedings of the Conference.
During the early part of thc3 proceedings of the Committee of tho British
Confer<?nco. wo intimated our intention, sliould ihey proceed to relinquish the
Union, to puhlish in England as well as m Canada, tho official proceedings of
both Conferences and a full statement of the case. Subsequently, however, we
abandoned that intention, and concluded to return, to Canada with all conveni-
ent despatch; but on examining the Report of tiio Trocoedings of the British
Conference on the subject of our Mission, we found it to be, in our judgment,
so defective and partial in its statements, and calculated to convey so errone-
ous an impression in regard to the whole aft'air, that we felt wo should do in-
justice to our Church and to ourselves not to publish in London, as well as in
Canada, tho whole of the official proceedings and correspondence relative to
the Union and the recent events which have grown out of it. During four
days of our last week's stay in London we prepared in a letter to the Rev. Dr.
Hannah, Secretary of the British Conference, a full reply to its reported pro-
ceedings, and got a pamphlet of 120 pages passed throug! the press, entitled,
"Wesleyan Methodist Co.nference: iis Union %cilh the Conference of
the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canudain August 1833, and its sepa-
ration from the Canada Conference in August 1840 : consisting of the
Official Proceedings and Correspondence of both Bodies and their Repre"
sentatives. ByW. & E. Ryerson, Representatives of the Canada Con-
ference. Published in consequence of the Publication of the Proceedings
of the English Conference in the printed Minutes."
We refer to our letter to Dr. Hannah for a more full discussion of the pro-
ceedings of the English Conference, and of the nature and merits of its as.
•umptions over the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. VVc will there-
fore conclude this Report with a few general remarks.
1. While communications have from time to time been transmitted to England
during the last two years and upwards, by Members of the British Conference
derogatory to the cliaractcr of their Brethren in Canada who had cordially re-
ceived them amongst them, and whosuj/posed they were acting in mutual good
faith and confidence ; and while the Missionary Secretaries ia London have
thought proper to employ these clandestine and heretofore unsuspected commu-
nications to justify their own aggressions upon the expressly reserved rights
and privileges and interests of the Canada Conference, and the governing por-
tion of the English Conference have sanctioned such a course of proceeding
and have acted upon these representations and embodied the substance of some
of them in its own Resolutions, it is a matter of thankfulness to Almighty God
honorable to our Church, and calculated to aflbrd satisfaction in the review
that up to the jnoment of tho relinquishment of its connexional relations with
the Canada Conference, not a line, in any shape or form, could be produced
from the publication or pen of any member of our Conference derogatory to
the character of the British Conferisnce or of individual memoers of it. On
20
all occasions, and lliroiighoiil the wliolo period of our cnnnexional Union with
tliu Ktiyiis'ii Conference, our lan^npc has lu-en respectful and affectionate.
2. It ought not to 1)0 supposed that all those Membors of the English Con-
ference who advocated the abrogation of the Articles cf the Union on their
part, were influenced by unfiiendly feelings towards the connexion in Canada,
or were actuated by those notions of jxorogalivo and power which have char-
acterised tht! communications and proceedings of the Missionary Secretaries in
London. On the contrary, we have the best reason to believe that many even
of that portion of the British Conference were actuated more by a regard to
the efllcient operations and best interests of the Wesleyan Methodii;! Church
in Canada than to the pretension* set up in London — believing that such claims
of authority over, and sucli perpetual intermeddling with our aifairs, without
any personal or adequate knowledge of thtm, without any identification of in-
terest with U3, without any residence in this country, or any personal liability
to the consequences of such intermeddling, must be injurious to our peace and
harmony, enfeebling to our energies, and unfavourable to the prosperity of our
Church, to an amouiitfar overbalancing any advantages which could be ration*
ally supposed to arise from our nominal connexion with the English Conference.
We are satisfied that the great majority of the Members of the Conference in
England sincerely desire the pence and prosperity of Methodism in this coun-
try in connexion with our Conference; and towards them in return we should
continue to deem it alike our duty and our privilege to cherish sentiments of
respect and affection.
3. Though every reasonable eftbrt has been made on the part of our Confer*
enoe to maintain the Articles of the Union inviolate, and to prevent a dissolu-
tion of it, the circumstances which have transpired — the system of espionage
upon our proceedings and theofiicial and private conversations of our Preach-
ers which has been carried on by official members of the British Conference as*
sociated with us, the clandestine and slanderous correspondence between them
and the Missionary Secretaries in London, and their party agitations amongst
us, and the interference of the Missionary Secretaries with our local and inter-
nal affairs —render it very doubtful whether its operations could have been har-
moniously and advantageously maintained for any great length of time ; in ad-
dition to which circumstances may be mentioned, the strong inclinations that
are cherished and the efforts which are being made by leading Members of the
British Conference, and especially on the part of the Missionary Secretaries,
under whose control and management the affairs of Canada must always bo
placed — to introduce the use of gowns into Methodist pulpits, and the use of
the forms of prayer and the liturgy into Methodist Chapels as far as possible
throughout their whole work ;* the almost universal opposition in the British
Conference to Societies whose object is to promote total abstinence from tb«
♦ Note by E. R. — It is not intended to cast any reflection upon those Clergy
who wear gowns and use the Liturgy , but they constitute no part of the
paraphernalia of Methodism ; and we think, those who desire the use of them
had better go to the Church of England, where such appendages to publia
worship appear appropriate, than to attempt to introduce the use of them into
Methodist Congregations.
21
ordinary u«e of all !.pirituo«» liquors, and their prohibitic.n of the use of iheir
Chapels for the meetings of any such Societies. In these, as well as m
othoi matters, an " efficient direclion," would, of course, be soon claimed
"over the proceedings" of our Church, in order to maintain our adherence to
principles and proceedings to which, as it would be stated, ihe Body in Eng-
land h?id pledged itself.
4. The circumstances under which the English Conf<-renr,o havs refused to
continue the Union, place our Church in the most favorable position which
could have been desired in the event of such an occurrence. This proceeding
of the English Conference is not hasod upon the alleged, much less proved
violaion «f any article of the Unioi on the pan of our Confe:L>nce, but upon
our non-compliance with demands and conditions which amount to so many new
Articles of Union. All contracts are binding upon each of the contracting par-
ties. Articles of contract or agreement can only be dissolved by mutual ^con-
sent of the parties concerned, by death, or by legal process. The act of the
British Conference, therefore, under the circumstances referred to, is no diaso-
lutioa of the Union ; but a Secession, fr jm it, and involves all the consequen-
ces of a secession to the Seceder, p,nd corresponding advantages to the party
seceded from. A party seceding from a contract incurs, at least, the loss of
all that he had acquired under the contract. The Articles of Union remain
effective to our Conference until it agrees to the dissolution. Our connexion
is therefore secure in the legal possession of all the Missions, the appointment
of the Missionaries, and the election of the President ; we have not to alter a
single line of our Discipline ; the position of our Conference is unchanged,
though the position of the English Conference is essentially changed. "We
have only to proceed onward in our work of faith and labour of love, mmding
the same thing, and perfectly joined together in the same judgment and m the
same heart-redoubling our united exertions in support of the cause of Missions
as well as the cause of personal piety and of pure religion generally-trusting
in the name and promises of Him who hath always caused us to " tnumph in
every place," and the days of peace, of joy, and success will return upon u«
with more than former splendour.
WltLlAM RtKKSOK,
EOERTON RtKBSON.
Toronto, Sept. 23, 1840.