since 1866, when his now gray hair was coal-black, and his eyes were keen and piercing, instead of dull and cold, as they now are, save when the fire comes as he addresses an audience. His address on the freedom of the press was listened to with undivided attention by the multitude, who did not understand him, as he spoke in French. And yet there was something in his manner of speech that gave the audience a clear idea of what he was saying. We heard his strong words before we reached the church in which he was making his address, and when we entered the building it was difficult to get even standing-room near his desk. Pressensé represents the effort of reviving French Protestantism to get a hearing and assert its prerogatives. He threw himself into the heart of the humanitarian part of the late Franco-German war, and when peace came he became one of the national representatives. He has gained the confidence of all classes, and it is not unlikely that he will become a senator for life. Count Bismarck-Bohlen is tall and slender, and without the massive appearance of the prince, his cousin. He was attentive to all the sessions; calm, self-possessed, full of sympathy with earnest work by every believer and every denomination. Only once did he seem to possess the fire of the family, and that was when he made an address at the close of the session. His eyes flashed with a strange brilliancy, and his whole manner was animated and magnetic.

Dr. William Arthur has been suffering for years from a throat difficulty, but has now-at least so it seemed to his hearersentirely recovered his tone of voice. His health is not firm, yet when he speaks one comes in a moment within the power of his old charm of voice and manner. His face and whole bearing are exceedingly captivating. When he illustrated the virtue of interdenominational comity by an allusion to the benefits that come to the human body by a judicious rubbing of the surface, every one saw the aptness of his analogy, and greatly enjoyed it. He is to be a visitor to our approaching General Conference, where many who remember his former visit here will again hear him, and those who have never heard him will have the privilege of listening to one who has long been an ornament to British Methodism. Ebrard is a short, genial gentleman; brusque, ready for conversation, and full of plans for his pen in the years to come. Godet is one of the greatest

Protestants south of the Rhine, and for his keen analysis of the fundamental thoughts of Scripture, and especially for his comprehension of John's Gospel, has no superior in Europe. Dr. Rigg is well known to Americans from his two visits to this country. He has marvelous executive power, and has lost no flesh because of the arduous duties that have fallen to him through his presidency of the British Conference. His relations to the non-Wesleyan leaders of England are of the most intimate character, and honorable alike to them and him.

Dr. Nippert stands in the front of our German ministers. He has all the vigor of his earlier years, and is destined to do great service in the years to come. He wields a strong polemic pen, and his new work on "Pastoral Theology and Homiletics" will still more extend his influence.

The social features of the Alliance were peculiarly Swissand that means an open heart and hand. It was not expected by the Basle people that many guests would be present, and when they were surprised by the large number they set to work to entertain them in the best possible manner. The national representation of members present was as follows: From Germany, 554; Switzerland, 522; Great Britain, 252; France, 68; Holland, 63; America, 61; Belgium, 9; Italy, 7; Austria and Turkey, 6 each; Spain and Africa, 5 each; Russia, 4; East Indies, 3; Denmark, Greece, and Canada, 2 each; Sweden, 1; and 600 other delegates unclassified.

The Committee of Reception met the delegates at the railway station, and did all in their power to make them feel at home. No pains were spared to contribute to the comfort and pleasure of the guests from the beginning to the end of the session. The British branch of the Alliance, thinking that the Swiss brethren would be overburdened financially, sent them a handsome sum of money to supplement their own gifts. But this has been returned intact, the Basle people saying that they wished the gratification of meeting all expenses themselves. Afternoon garden fêtes were held in the grounds of prominent citizens, where refreshments were served, and many thousands met in all the freedom of Christian brotherhood.

ART. IV.-DISTRICT CONFERENCES.

EVIDENTLY the problem of District Conferences is unsolved, and they have failed to be utilized as an arm of service in the polity of the Methodist Episcopal Church. An organization of this character was an imperative necessity, to develop a deeper popular interest in the affairs of the Church, and to strengthen the connectional bonds of the District. There ever has been a want of unity in our Conference system for the lack of a suitable body between the Quarterly and Annual Conferences, and the friction has increased with the growth of time. There are departments of Church work that are now almost obsolete and stagnant for the lack of using proper means to convert into practical use the vast power going to waste under the exist ing condition of things.

With the introduction of the District Conference, the regular gradation of Conferences seemed perfected; but the legislation establishing them was defective, and the usefulness of this new department was crippled at the outset, and it has since been imperfect in its operations, and is singularly weighted with objectionable conditions. First, in the gradation, is the Quarterly Conference, having supervision of a single Circuit or Station. Second, the District Conference, comprising all the charges in a Presiding Elder's District. The members of both bodies are the same, with the exception that only one Steward and one Superintendent of the Sunday-school are admitted as representatives in the District Conference, and Trustees have no standing in the body. In. the Quarterly Conference all the Stewards, Trustees, and Superintendents of Sunday-schools in each are members. Third, the Annual Conference is composed exclusively of ministers, who are wholly under the control of the appointing power. Fourth, the Judicial Conference is composed of ministers elected as Triers of Appeals from the action of the Annual Conferences, comprising members of three different Conferences to secure impartiality of review in appeal cases. Fifth, the General Conference, which has supreme supervision as the highest ecclesiastical legislature, overshadowing all other departments of the Church; and, being purely representative by ministerial and lay delegates, it

is the highest exponent of the will of the Church in all vital interests. This gradation of Conferences gives a unity and completeness to our system of government that has established harmony in every part. Take out the District Conference, and the unity and harmony of the system are disturbed, and the gap between the Quarterly and the Annual Conferences is too wide; and the consequence is, the connectional interests of the Church are neglected and must suffer. While the former Conference is almost exclusively comprised of the lay element, the latter is wholly ministerial, and the need of the blending of the clerical and lay elements in the District Conference, or some other intermediate body that will fuse the interests of both for the general good of the Church, is obviously necessary.

Legislation that provided for District Conferences, purely for Local Preachers, in 1820, and of a general character in 1872, was forced, unnatural, and the outgrowth of a pressure, wholly diverse from the natural causes that were recognized in organizing other forms of Conferences. When Mr. Wesley instituted class-meetings, the necessity for "leaders' meetings" was imperative; and, with the advance of the Church, the Annual Conference was a creation of the Founder of Methodism. What we need, as an intermediate feature, called the District Conference, is represented in the English Wesleyan body by the District Meeting and Local Preachers' Meeting; the first being organized at the first Conference after Mr. Wesley's death, while the other was instituted in 1796, by the Wesleyan Conference, which directed the Superintendents of Districts "regularly to meet the Local Preachers once a quarter; none to be admitted but those who are proposed and approved at this meeting." What has been accomplished by the Wesleyans through these channels, enforced by method, system and rigid authority worthy of the followers of John Wesley, we have imperfectly attempted by the District Conference. The incomplete working of the General Conference at first arose because it was not a delegated body, which made it necessary to perfect the organization as it is now constituted, and its authority ever since is sustained by all the law-power inherent in the Church. So the constituting of the Judicial Conference was the outcome of a necessity, and its requirements are rigidly ob served

But the District Conference presents the strange anom

aly of being optional in its organization. It is to be created by the consent of the parties concerned, and may be dissolved by the action of the same constituency. The seeds of its death were sown when it was ushered into being; and its sickly existence and dissolution on every hand are the natural results of imperfect legislation. How long would the Quarterly and Annual Conferences exist if option were allowed, or, indeed, any other institution of Methodist economy as it relates to Conferences? Efforts were made by those in charge of the measure and action of the General Conference of 1872 to blend the most popular features, by combining in one body certain functions of the Quarterly Conference, a Ministerial Association for biblical and theological literary exercises, and a Sunday-school Institute, with just enough religious and literary exercises at each session to increase its popularity. Had these features been pressed more, the District Conference would now have a stronger hold upon the Church. Instead of the movement in some quarters for its extirpation from the Discipline, it would have steadily grown into favor. History amply demonstrates that the completeness and unity of Methodist economy require some kind of intermediate body between the Quarterly and Annual Conferences, by which the lay power of the Church should be employed, and that Local Preachers could be vested with some form of recognition which is not now accorded them.

The District Meeting in Great Britain, to a considerable extent, represents the District Conference in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its functions, however, are somewhat different, but it supplies the intermediate benefits; being always convened at a stated period by absolute authority, and without being held at the pleasure of a district. In the English Wesleyan system, which has no quadrennial General Conference, the Annual Conference being the highest ecclesiastical court, the District Meeting is ordered to be held in May, between certain dates, and is the second court in English Methodism. It was instituted, as stated at the first Conference after Mr. Wesley's death, "for the preservation of our whole economy." It is an important body in matters ministerial and financial, and is composed of all the ministers of the district, including supernumeraries and preachers on trial. That portion of business relating to ministerial functions is first transacted, and on the second day the laymen