The Union. [volume] (Georgetown, Del.) 1863-1866, 1864-03-11
corrsepordsnss Of shs pu,on,
A LETTER FROM CONFERENCE.
WGLxlNoroE, DEL,
March 9th. 1854.

neon, by ire up tram on toe fehtnsoR NAlA
Read. The train, from Harrington was quite
loag. and fsll 81 passsngers. Weareglad %
leazp that t6e rSadris now upon paying bat!
siss Thd ctnd uetSr remarked that he would
ventsrs 10 give four bundled And 6fsy dsiiari
for tho pfSoesds Of The tiain.i . l.-s-' = A.
''lFxsf Tfxas iAlO q
Ia tho old dsys,of aaitbosts and .sslow
coaches.s people In cur parts scarcely cared
for anything that took place beyond the smoke
Of Their own chimney; unless IL were sopae-'
thing Of startling interest. that came along,
now and then, TO wake them up. Wy '-5
But Etess are different times. Wehave cur
railroads and teIegraphs rs we'll as anybody.
Tho tiasss are fast, and people like to keep up
with them. The times are wide awake and
nobody likes to be caught mapping. Tho
veins Of men ere extended, they look outward
and want to know what is going on abroad.
l therefore venture to believe, that letter
from me, giving brief report of the proceed
ings ofou Conference, will be interesting to
your readers. sr.s
CoNFKRKNcx.
The RhilAdefphia Conference is the largest
body of ministers in the m. E, Church, con-
tang nearly three hundred members. It
meets this year in Wilmington, one of the
largest and most beautiful towns within its
conference limits. Homes are kindly volun-
teered by the people for the ministars during
their stay, which is usually about ten days,
this being sufficient TO finish the ordinary
business Of the Conference, which consists In
examining the character and conduct of the
preachers during the year; hearing COM
plants, trials, &c.. receiving and appropria-
ting the moneys collected for Missionaries,
WORKOUT preachers, and other purposes; max
ing out the Statistics of the Conferences; re-
ceiying the Candidates for admission; and
making the appointments for the next year.
This year there will be other interesting bust
ness before the Conference, viz: the division
of the Conference, and the election of dele
gates to the General Conference.
DIVISION OF CoNFERENcE.
The General Conference alone has power, by
the Constitution of our church, to divide any
portion of the work into two or more Confer
ences, but gave the Philadelphia Conference,
at its last session in 1860, the power to divide
itself. The achen and ,ehere Of snGh division
has never yet been decided, and the Confer
enco still remains intact. There are three
lines of division proposed.
First. All agree that as far as shape is
concerned, the best division would be by State
lines, making one Conference out Of tn. Penn.
sylvania portion, another out of the Peninsu-
la. This division would give to us a Confer
ence of about three hundred and seventy
churches, one hundred and ten or TWEEN
ministers, and thirty thousand MEMBERS
The principal objection to this arises from
Wilmington, which is not willing to sever he
connection with Philadelphia in hope of fall
ing heir to herfcast-of preachers.
Second. The Wilmingtonians propose t,
divide by line running through Marke
street, Phila., thence south or Southwest t.
|, Mason's and pixone line, thence .westwar,
along said line teahe Sqsquehanna. The OBJ
lection to this plan arises from the lower par
| of the Peninsula, who object in the first plac
that Philadelphia will continue as heretofor
| to draw all her best preachers, and second
that the Conference will still be too large t
: meet in our Peninsula towns, such as Sails
e bury, Cambridge, Easton, or your own me
: tropolis, Georgetown. -f
a Third. If, then, Wilmington is not willin
/ to go with the Peninsula, third line Of div
: sion is proposed, namely, by the Chesapeak
d and Delaware canal, leaving Wilmingto
g where she is, and wishes to be, with Philade
!, phia. This would give Conference of abor
9 ninety preachers, and would be amply larg
Q for the Peninsula. 1915 rise a-
y ELECTION OF DELEGATES.
) The General Conference meet in Philade
n phia on the first day Of May. 1t is the la,
d making body Of the church, and is compose
n of delegates from each annual Conferent
If elected according to a certain uniform rati
e The candidate to be presented by us is IL
!; Rev. A. WALLACE.
d This gentleman is Presiding Elder of Sno
Hill District which consists of all the territor
5, on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Ba,
Ie lying south of line beginning at the Del
"A ware Bay three or four miles south of Milfor
lie extending thence westward to the Chaptar
n river, thence down said river to its mouth.
10 He was placed on this District in 1861,
7, this time the church was obliged to strugg
Il for its very existence. Men Of certain p
y litical stripe prosecuted her rslentlessly, an
n sought to infame the minds of the peop
d against her ministers, asserting that the
Is ought not to be permitted to preach, nor eve
l. to remain in their midst In the Virgin
l. portion of the werk, State law had bee
p passed and enforced to take the "Christis
# Advocate and journal" from the post ofic
10 and burn it, without allowing the subscrib
D the privilege of reading tho paper he hi
< paid for, and which by the law Of right, if n
n by the law Of Virgins was really his
IS Preachers had been maltreated, dragged fro
ot their pulpits, and threatened with tar al
N feathers. And all this too by men who clair
y most ihconsistontly, to be ardent advocates
n liberty of speech, personal liberty, and !
lr freedom of the press