fluences, we consider the degree of power and purity existing amongst us as an evidence of the divine approval and blessing; and as a source of encouragement to persevering exertion in promoting the same great work.

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The preservation and growth of the spirit of piety we esteem to be most essential to our connexional prosperity, as well as your individual security and happiness. Therefore permit us, dear brethren, to urge upon you the paramount importance of cherishing in your own souls, and promoting in your respective spheres, the life, power, and sanctity of our holy religion. The great mercies of our redemption, and the rich and varied promises of the word of God, are intended to lead us to the blessed experience of a state of exalted privilege and holiness. The Gospel which is entrusted to us is "not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." The doctrines of the Gospel, whether found in the sacred writings themselves, the creeds of the church, or the exercises of the pulpit, are designed to lead the people of God to the experimental attainment of the several blessings which they exhibit and offer; and if the doctrine be received without a correspondent possession of privilege, you will have "the form of godliness without the power." By a constant believing application to the "blood of the covenant," you will "stand" in a state of gracious acceptance with God, and in the enjoyment of the witness of the Holy Spirit. All progress in the divine life is intimately connected with the attainment and retention of this great and primary blessing. No stability of principle, growth in grace, victory over sin and the world, rich spiritual consolation, close and steady walk with God, and usefulness in the church, can be enjoyed unless you cultivate the life of faith in the Son of God. Brethren, permit us with affectionate importunity, to exhort you to employ all suitable means to become "rooted and grounded" in this state of pardon and adoption. If, through the deceitfulness of "the evil heart of unbelief," the temptations of a probationary state, the cares and perplexities of business, the afflictions and troubles of life, or the exercises and trials of the spiritual warfare, you discover your faith to be weak, and your evidence of acceptance beclouded, flee to the "propitiation for our sins;" and wait in confidence for renewed displays of saving grace. Never live in "the spirit of bondage unto fear," when you are called to receive the "Spirit of adoption," and when the "Spirit itself" is constantly ready "to bear witness with your spirits that ye are the children of God." Never remain in a state which renders it questionable whether you are partakers of the grace of God in power, when the fruit of the Spirit in "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," may fill the soul, and adorn the

life; and, above all, never allow yourselves to pass through life with an uncertain hope of eternal happiness, when you are called to "know in whom you have believed," and that "if your earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, you have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

And while we bring before you the necessity of retaining the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, we exhort you, in the language of the Apostle, to "go on unto perfection." With great reason our venerable Founder considered the maintenance of this doctrine, and the attainment of this state on the part of the people, as essential to the perpetuation of that great work of which he was the instrument. Amid much obloquy and opposition, he succeeded in establishing the scriptural evidence of the truth of this tenet; and the Holy Spirit sanctioning the doctrine has in all periods of our history raised up numerous, constant, and unquestionable witnesses of its reality. We entreat you, dear brethren, to follow the example of these eminent saints. As the holy Scriptures unequivocally speak of an adult or perfect state of holiness, patience, love, and conformity to the will of God; and as this state is presented to our faith through the provisions of the atonement and of the influence of the Spirit; it is impossible that a people holding these principles should neglect the attainment of the state without injury to their souls. Fidelity to the truth, to the love of God, to our Saviour's death, to the promised assistance of the Holy Spirit, as well as to their own sacred professions, unite to urge them to seek the high privilege of perfect Christian holiness.

We remind you that the blessings of the Gospel, as found in the sacred records, and expounded and illustrated in the writings of our venerable Founder, are clear, distinctive, and experimental. It was his great object, as it has been that of your Ministers in every period, not to organize an ecclesiastical system for its own sake, but by the mercy of God to raise up a pardoned, regenerate, holy, and happy seed, who, having served God in their generation according to his will, may transmit the same blessings to others, while they themselves pass into that "inheritance which is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." It is the anxious desire of the Preachers of this Conference again to pledge themselves to these high and original designs of Providence in raising them to the ministerial and pastoral office, and to invite their beloved brethren, in every place, to unite with them to preserve in their own souls, and the societies to which they belong, the spirit of a living, experimental, and practical piety.

The different duties of religion may not have an equal bearing on our spiritual state or final salvation; but as all the precepts found in the Scriptures rest on the same inspired authority, they are

of equal obligation. Hence, the domestic and relative duties, being enjoined on this authority, are not to be considered as the result of prudential rules, but of divine precepts. In this view we wish to bring before your attention the great importance and obligation of the religious instruction and government of your families. It has always been, and continues to be, a subject of mourning and grief, that any of the children and youth of our people should not only depart from us, but depart from God, and become a prey to ruin and sin. We are aware that no human means can eradicate the seeds of sin from the human heart. We can of ourselves provide no effectual restraints against its principle; but Christian parents possess an instrumentality much greater than human restraints, and it is their indispensable duty wisely and faithfully to employ it. Their children are redeemed of the Lord; the promise of the Spirit is to them; they have been consecrated to God in holy baptism; they are certainly the subjects of a divine influence; they are the objects of the paternal providence and love of their heavenly Father; and they are placed in the covenant of grace and promise. From these provisional advantages, prepared by the merciful economy of God, you may derive great encouragement in your attempts to bring your families under the direct influence of the blessings of religion. We fear one of the great causes of the evil deplored, is the want of this direct attempt to bring children into the real and experimental enjoyment of religion. The indirect influence of Christian piety and truth cannot save the souls of children any more than of adults. The renewal of their nature is necessary in order to their preservation from sin and the spirit of the world; and if they fail to obtain this under the paternal roof, it cannot be matter of surprise that, when they are sent forth into the world, they break through the restraints under which the indirect influence of religion has brought them; and that, following the evil propensities of their own hearts, they plunge into a life of sin. We affectionately entreat the heads of families throughout our Connexion, to reflect seriously on this question, and to endeavour to lead their children into the faith of Christ, and the grace of a converted state. order to secure this, it is not only needful to imbue their minds with a general knowledge of the evidences, doctrines, and precepts of the Christian faith, in connexion with prayer, and a constant reading of the holy Scriptures; but also to explain to them the urgent necessity of personal faith, the attainment of pardon, and the blessings of regeneration. It is to be feared that the erroneous notion, that education without religion is sufficient to rear the youth of the age to a virtuous state, may, if not guarded against, weaken the sense of obligation on the part of parents to instruct their children and domestics in the religion of the Bible.

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We entreat you, with the firmest resolution to resist this pernicious principle. If it be admitted, either in whole or in part, as the rule of your domestic management, it will leave you utterly powerless. No principles can be successfully placed in opposition to the sinful propensities of your children, no truth can enlighten their minds, no influence can soften and renew their hearts, no mercy can forgive their sins, no blessings can make them happy in life or joyful in death, and no security can shield them against the evil machinations of wicked men, but those which are furnished by the sacred truths of the Bible, in connexion with the power of saving grace.

Whilst on this subject, the Conference takes the opportunity of expressing its anxious desire to promote, by every means in its power, the scriptural instruction of the children of its people, by means of well-conducted day and infant schools. For the want of these institutions, generations of children from within the pale of Methodism have been left to the precarious and scanty assistance which their parents have been enabled to give them; have had to depend altogether on Sabbath instruction, whilst through the week their morals, from a defect of needful care, have been exposed to great hazard: they have been driven to seek instruction in connexion with other systems of religion; or, which is most to be deplored, have been left to wander untaught. The Conference ventures to indulge the hope, that the time is not distant when, by the united exertions of the Preachers and people, it will be possible to establish and maintain in the larger Circuits of the Connexion schools which shall embrace a purely scriptural and Wesleyan system of education. In some few places this has been done, to the great advantage of the rising generation; and although many difficulties must present themselves to such a project in the beginning, yet no doubt much assistance may be afforded. But we remind you that even if such assistance as we have adverted to should not be given, it cannot, in the slightest degree lessen the obligation which rests on every parent himself to bring up his children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." This duty can never be delegated to others.

In commending to your attention a strict and conscientious observance of the ordinances of religion, we remind you of their divine appointment, and of your obligation on that account. Some of the means of grace are prudential; but the Lord's supper being instituted by our redeeming Saviour himself, to be observed by his disciples till his appearing again, becomes binding on the consciences of all his followers. From the solemn manner in which the Apostle Paul speaks of eating and drinking the holy supper "unworthily," and of the "condemnation" which he describes as the consequence, it is obvious that serious preparation,

devout feeling, and humble faith are requisite. It is greatly to be regretted that this service is neglected by many of the members of our societies; and it is to be feared is not observed with due solemnity by others. The practice of communicants retiring from the chapels in a disorderly manner, one after another, as soon as they have received the sacred elements, and leaving the officiating Minister to conclude the service almost alone, marks either a thoughtless or an irreverent state of mind. This evil, as well as that of neglect, ought to be diligently and universally avoided. Surely when the service is to commemorate the sacrifice of our dying Lord, to feast the soul on his death, and to proclaim our affection towards him before his church, and in obedience to his command, we ought to be prepared gladly and profitably to attend on such an ordinance. We earnestly recommend to you diligence in this duty, as one of the means of spiritual edification. Are not some of you "weak and sickly" by reason of neglect? Your spiritual health and life must be recovered by a diligent observance of this, amongst other means of grace.

The ordinance of baptism is also to be considered as one of the two sacraments established on divine authority, and regarded by all Christians as such. A recent Act of Parliament having made provision for the legal registration of children, independently of baptism, now places that sacred rite on its own purely religious footing, and may lead some inadvertently to lose sight of its peculiar religious sanction. On this account, it becomes necessary that you should well consider your obligations to consecrate your children to God in this sacrament, from those motives which Christianity supplies. Assuming that you admit the divine institution of this ordinance, together with the scriptural right of the children of Christian parents to enjoy it, we remind you that you cannot neglect it without evidently disregarding the appointment of God, and depriving your offspring of a most valuable privilege. Although your children are redeemed by the death of Christ, and in consequence of that redemption are placed in a virtual state of acceptance, as well as made the subjects of the Holy Spirit's visitation and influence, yet it is evidently your duty to place them under the bond of the covenant, by consecrating them to God in his visible church. This must affect their spiritual interests, as well as impose on yourselves new and peculiar obligations. By baptism you place your children within the pale of the visible church, and give them a right to all its privileges, the pastoral care of its Ministers, and, as far as their age and capacity will allow, the enjoyment of its ordinances and means of grace. These children are not offshoots of the church, enjoying only a distant relation to it, but they are of it as a part; they are grafted into the body of Christ's disciples;