UNDER the general designation of METHODISTS are included all those religious bodies which owe their existence, directly or indirectly, to the efforts of the Revds. John and Charles Wesley. The most numerous and influential of them

are,

Wesleyan Methodists, the original body founded in 1739 by these two brothers. While students at Oxford, in 1729, they gathered a number of young men together for purposes of study and devotion, who were nicknamed, first, "The Holy Club," and afterwards "The Methodists.' In 1739 John Wesley founded the "Religious Societies," in which the first beginnings of Methodism are to be found. The number of members rapidly increased, until a more definite and extensive organization than Wesley at first gave them was imperatively demanded. The first Conference, consisting of six persons, all clergymen, was held in 1744. The Conference is now composed of 240 ministers and 240 laymen, with a ministerial president and secretary at its head, elected year by year; by semi-annual meetings of the ministers in each district, over which a chairman is appointed by the conference; and by quarterly meeting of the ministers and lay officers of each circuit. The authority of both these last meetings is subordinate to the Conference, which has the supreme legislative and judicial power in Methodism. When Wesley died the number of members was 76,968, and since then the increase has been so great that above 15,000,000 people are said to be now receiving Methodist instruction in various parts of the world. President, Rev. R. N. Young, D.D.; Sec., Rev. D. J. Waller.

Various distinct bodies of Methodists have been formed, the most important being these:

1. The Methodist New Connexion, which was formed in 1797, by the Rev. Alexander Kilham; the original difference between it and the parent

The number of Members is for the United Kingdom; of Chapels and Scholars, Great Britain only.

body being the different degrees of power allowed to the laity.-President, Rev. W. J. Townend. 2. The Primitive Methodists, who sprang up in Staffordshire, in 1810, under the leadership of Hugh Bourne. Next to the Wesleyans they are the most numerous of all the denominations which have arisen out of the Methodist movement.-President, Rev. J. Atkinson.

3. The Bible Christians, founded in 1815 by William O'Bryan, a Wesleyan lay preacher in Cornwall. They exist principally in the West of England. President, Rev. A. Trengrove.

4. The United Methodist Free Churches, which are an amalgamation of three different secessions the Protestant Methodist, formed in 1828; the Wesleyan-Methodist Association, which sprang out of a controversy in 1834. concerning the training of ministers; and the Wesleyan Reform Association, founded in 1849, during a great agitation in the Wesleyan societies. The union was effected in 1857. President, Rev.T.Sherwood.

The following table does not include the Methodists of America, Canada, Australia, the West Indies, and other British colonies.

Finances.--The amount raised for sustentation by the Methodist bodies can only be approximately estimated. The Wesleyans raised in 1885-86 £138,165 to sustain their very extensive missionary operations. At the same time their Home missionary income was £37,789; £21,832 were expended on the education of ministers' children at the Connexional schools; £289,301 were contributed in Great Britain for chapelbuilding; and 11,321 for the training of candidates for the ministry, of whom there are 180 in the four theological colleges. By the Methodist New Connexion the following sums were raised: For chapel fund, £660; for missions, £6,004; for Home Missions, £921. The Primitive Methodists raised £26,062 for new chapels, and the United Methodist Free Churches £21,248 fortheir missions.

Wesleyan Methodists

7,145

879,112

Methodist New Connexion

179

Primitive Methodists...

Bible Christians

1,217 28,544 16,120 191,641

4,262

444

82,486

177

1,463

23,614 525

580

37.021

188.089

UNIVERSITIES is the name given to those institutions which agree in being close corporate bodies for the promotion of the higher branches of learning, and in possessing the right of granting degrees in several faculties, such as arts, science, law, medicine, theology, and philology. As a general rule the corporation includes also a body of lecturers or teachers for the instruction of the students, but the University of London shows that such is not a necessary part of the institution. In the common acceptance of the term, universities are of comparatively modern origin, no degrees having been granted earlier t an the twelfth century; while the term University itself, in its present sense, is of still more recent date. In a document of the year 1201 the following phrase is to be found applied to Ox. ford Universitas magistrorum et auditorun (the whole body of masters and listeners"), but even here the peculiar technical meaning of the word University is not to be understood. The university, as we now use the term, is simply a conglomeration of colleges, originally entirely distinct, and still only linked together by reason of their being in the same city and incorporated under the same charter. The early history of the colleges themselves is obscure; probably they were founded by charitable persons for the furtherance of religion and learning. The student life of the university has passed through four distinct stages of growth. First, the common bonds holding them together were those of study and discipline, and the students lodged wherever they could; afterwards hostels or boarding-houses were founded by the several religious fraternities, each for the members of its own order--where some kind of superintendence over the scholars was exercised. After a time, these hostels began to be endowed by rich donors, so that poor scholars might enjoy free lodgings; and, lastly, when further sums of money were left for the payment of a certain definite number of students, they were gathered together into one group of buildings, and the foundation of the college was complete. When various colleges in the same town or city came to gain renown as a seat of great learning, they often became imperceptibly welded into one nominal whole, and were known as the University of the city in which they were situated. In this way, almost simultaneously, grew up the three oldest universities of Europe, viz., those of Bologna, Paris, and Oxford. At first they were entirely independent of both Church and State, and were absolutely free and self-governing corporations; however, as the ecclesiastical influence increased, their individual power waned; the Pope granted bulls of confirmation to such as already existed, and granted or refused permission for the formation of new ones. With the Reformation the Pope naturally lost in Protestant countries the power, formerly his, of regulating the universities. The colleges form ing the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge are academical institutions, often richly endowed with revenues, and whose fellows, lecturers, and students live and work together in their own set of buildings and under their own head. The president of each college (who is known variously is Warden, Master or Provost, Principal or Rector) forms, together with the rest of the governing body, the teachers, and the students, a corporation independent, not only of the other colleges, but also of the university. Certain

graduates who are maintained by the bequests of particular founders are known as fellows, and postmasters, scholars, exhibitioners, and prizemen are the names of classes partly supported by the college funds; while most of the colleges include chaplains, choristers, and clerks or sextons. Each college is ordinarily administered, according to the statutes of the foundation, by the Head and his fellow-officers, while disputed cases are decided by the visitor, who is a bishop or lord. The income attaching to a fellowship has in general to be given up when the holder is ap pointed to a living, or inherits any estate of larger revenue, or upon marriage-this last being explicable by the fact that all those colleges which were of Roman Catholic origin were founded in order to supply the Church with ministers.

The Universities of the United Kingdom may be broadly divided into three classes, viz.: (1) the residential universities, in which attendance st particular lectures is necessary to the taking of a degree, as Oxford and Cambridge; (2) the non-residential universities, which also demate attendance during certain terins, as the Scottis Universities; and (3) those which are simply examining bodies, as London University.

The University of Oxford is a corporate body, and has been known for some centuries by the style and title of "The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford," a title which was confirmed by the chartet granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1570, though it has be urged that the university received an earlier royal recognition at the hands of Henry III. Ia 1604 the elective franchise was conferred upon it, since which time it has enjoyed the privilege of sending two members to Parliament. The number of colleges and halls forming the uni versity has fluctuated considerably in the course of years; for example, early in the 14th century there were only three colleges and 300 halls 200 years later there were twelve colleges and fifty-five halls; while at the present day there are twenty-one colleges, three halls, and two private halls. The university has always been governed by statutes of its own making, which for centuries were simply a confused chaotic mass; but, since the chancellorship of Archbishop Laud, by a digested code under the name of " Corpus Statutorum Universitatis Oxoniensis," which, after being carefully compiled by special delegates, was solemnly ratified in Convocation, A New Code of Statutes, however, was approved by Queen Victoria in Council in 1882. The whole business of the university in its corporate capacity is transacted by the Hebdomadal Council, and two distinct assemblies, known technically as the House of Congregation and the House of Convocation. Congregation includes all those professors, resident doctors, heads of colleges ar halls (or their deputies, and deans, and censors), of colleges who are members of Convocation, together with all doctors and all masters of arts for two years from the term in which they are admitted; while Convocation is made up of all! those who have been admitted to regency, provided their names have been constantly ke on the books. The functions of Congregation are to grant ordinary degrees, and to ratify the nomination of examiners by the Nominating boards; while Convocation confers all honorary degrees, elects to nearly all the offices in the gift of the university, gives the final sane

of creating doctors and masters, and enrolling readers and students, the whole of whom were to enjoy the same rights and privileges as the University of Bologna. At first it had neither property nor endowment, but in 1460, James, Lord Hamilton, bequeathed to the then Regent and his successors à tenement in the High Street, with four acres of land adjoining for the "use of the College of Arts." Between 1577-when a new charter was issued and the Restoration, the university flourished in every way, but the re-establishment of episcopacy detached from it a large part of its revenues, and many of its professorships were abandoned. In 1864 the old buildings were sold for £100,000, and a government grant of £120,000 was obtained; these amounts, together with public subscriptions and college funds, were laid out in the new buildings now to be seen at the west end of the city. The University of Glasgow includes four faculties, viz., arts, theology, law, medicine; it was reconstituted, as were its fellow universities, by the Act of 1858, and, conjointly with the University of Aberdeen, sends one member to Parliament.

The present University of Aberdeen derives its origin from two distinct foundations, viz., University and King's College of Aberdeen, founded in 1494 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, under the authority of a Papal bull; and Marischal College and University of Aber deen, founded (1593) by George Keith, Earl Marischal, by a charter afterwards ratified by Act of Parliament. In 1860, by another Act of Parliament, the two foundations were united and incorporated into one university and college, under the title of the University of Aberdeen. The four faculties are arts, divinity, law, and medicine; and at the end of the arts curriculum scholarships and prizes are given of the annual value of about £1,000. The university library contains more than 80,000 volumes.

Of a different type altogether is the University of London, which was first incorporated by Royal Letters Patent dated December 5, 1837, the royal charter being issued in 1863, and a supplemental charter in 1878. So far as the functions of a university are concerned, this is simply an examining body which, by reason of its unquestionable integrity and its severely high standard, has gained an excellent reputation. The fees are moderate, ranging from £2 to £10, and there are no honorary degrees whatever. The various faculties are arts, science, medicine, law, and music; and the matriculation and the pass examinations in arts and in science are held at a large number of provincial colleges, while the

bi-annual matriculation examinations are also held at several colonial centres. The corporate body of the university includes the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, fellows, and graduates; and the colleges forming the university are University College and King's College. In 1886 the number taking the B.A. degree was 176, and the M.A. degree, 11; while the number of those who passed either of the matriculation examinations was 1,067.

Of late years much has been done in the way of extending university teaching and advantages. Both Oxford and Cambridge now hold what are called "Local" Examinations, senior and junior, in many parts of the country, and the certificates granted to the successful candidates are accepted in different branches of business and the professions as equivalent to a guarantee of competency from an educational point of view. The University of London, too, not to be behind in the march of progress, has arranged a definite scheme, which is now in full working, for the inspection and examination of schools other than primary, to be conducted under the direc. tion of the Senate. More than this, however, the older universities have organized what is known as the "University Extension Lectures,” given in many parts of the kingdom by some of the most successful lecturers of Oxford and Cambridge, and which may be attended by students on the payment of a very small sum.

But the most noticeable feature in the progress of higher education is the growth of university colleges in all directions. The majority of our large towns have now each its own college or school of science, and, until the year 1880, it seemed to be only a question of years before the country would be covered with a too numerous body of young and unnecessary Universities. Fortunately for the status of the home degrees, in that year both Oxford and Cambridge passed statutes enabling them to affiliate colleges to themselves subject to certain well-defined conditions; and since that time, two well-known provincial institutions. St. David's College, Lampeter, and University College, Nottingham, have taken full advantage of the new regula tions. The movement was, however, too late to serve the cause as well as it deserved, for University College, Liverpool, and Owens College, Manchester, had already united and obtained for themselves a charter of incorporation under the style and title of Victoria University; and the university colleges of Wales, at Aberyst with and Bangor, are striving to attain a similar ¦ status.