soon after Asbury's great soul had ascended to the peaceful fellowship of the Church triumphant. On the 7th of May, Samuel Merwin moved the following amendment to the section of the Discipline relating to presiding elders:

1st Question: How shall the presiding elders be chosen and ap-pointed? Answer: At an early period at each Annual Conference the bishop shall nominate a person for each district that is to be supplied, and the Conference shall without debate proceed in the choice, the person nominated being absent; and if the person nominated be not chosen according to nomination, the bishop shall nominate two others, one of whom it shall be the duty of the Conference to choose.

2d Question: By whom shall the preachers be appointed to their stations? Answer: By the bishop, with the advice and counsel of the presiding elders.

On the 12th of May, Merwin's motion was called up and made the order of the day, and the Conference resolved itself into a committee of the whole for the consideration of the question. Nathan Bangs offered an amendment, which was admitted by the original mover, by which the answer to the first question was made to read:

The bishop at an early period of the Annual Conference shall nominate an elder for each district, and the Conference shall without debate either confirm or reject such nomination. If the person or persons so nominated be not elected by Conference, the bishop shall nominate two others, for each of the vacant districts, one of whom shall be chosen. And the presiding elder so elected and appointed shall remain in office four years, unless dismissed by the mutual consent of the bishop and Conference, or elected to some other office by the General Conference. But no presiding elder shall be removed from office during the term of four years without his consent, unless the reasons for such removal be stated to him in presence of the Conference, which shall decide, without debate, on his case.*

A final vote in the General Conference on the report of the committee of the whole was reached on the 13th of May. The vote on the first part of the motion was 38 to 63, although in the committee of the whole the vote stood 42 to 60. The contest was renewed at the General Conference of 1820; but a review of the extraordinary proceedings of that body must be deferred to another time.

*General Conference Journal, vol. i, pp. 135-140.

In the middle of the Irish Sea, and within sight of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, rises Ellan Vannin Veg Veen, the "dear little Isle of Man." Nine established lines of steamers connect it with the sister countries. From Douglas to Liverpool is a distance of 75 miles; to Barrow or Fleetwood, 40; Whitehaven, 37; Glasgow, 140; Silloth, 66; Dublin, 94; Greenore, 50, and Belfast, 80 miles. Of superficial area it embraces 130,000 statute acres. The Calf of Man, containing 800 acres, 54° 15′ N. lat. and 4° 30' W. long., lies southwest of the island. From N. E. by N. to S. W. by S., or from the Point of Ayre to the Sound of the Calf, the island is 334 miles long. Its widest part is from Banks's Howe to Ballanayre, a distance of 12 miles. The coast line is frequently indented by bays, and presents a singularly bold, abrupt, and dangerous front. Several points rise precipitously from the sea to a commanding altitude. Bradda Head is 390; Maughold Head, 373; Banks's Howe, 394, and Spanish Head, 350 feet above the water-level. Away from the shore, among other eminences of less or greater height, Cronk-na-Irey-Lhaa, "the hill of the rising day," attains an elevation of 1,445 feet; Bein-y-Phot, of 1,772; North Barrule of 1,842, and Snaefell of 2,024 feet. From the summit of the latter the eye ranges over portions of all the circumjacent realms.

In geologic structure the Isle of Man is typical of the Cambrian and carboniferous periods. Underlying the stratified rocks, and breaking through them in veins and mountain masses, are the igneous rocks. Exceedingly hard syenite, softer granite, porphyritic greenstone, and imperfect basalt are of frequent occurrence. Near the great granitic outbursts are situated the mines of lead and other metals. Resting on the primary rocks is an immense deposit of slaty strata from 20,000 to 25,000 feet thick. Beyond a few unnamed fucoids, and the supposed traces of some great Cambrian crustaceans, it contains no fossil remains. In some sections it assumes the texture of a fine-grained slate, with the cleavage so well developed that it answers all roofing purposes about as well as the best products of Welsh quarries. Next follows a deposit

of dark red conglomerate on the southern, of soft red sandstone on the north-western, and of Peel sandstone on the western portion of the island. Each has its own characteristic fossils, particularly Orthis Sharpei in the southern and Favosites polymorpha in the western. Subsequent upheaval raised the carboniferous limestones, with their remains of gigantic reeds and huge tree-ferns, into the sunlight. Vast numbers of fossil species, suited to warm, shallow waters, are found in the later limestones of Poolvash Bay. At intervals throughout these lengthy periods of deposition, repeated volcanic eruptions occurred. The latest mixed its streams of molten lava with fragments of limestone, and thus formed the trap breccia which is one of the most interesting of the insular rocks. The strata intermediate between the carboniferous period and the deposits of the drift are wanting. Of ossiferous caves there are none. Complete specimens of the bones of the great elk, Cervus megaceros, have been discovered. Fascinating to scientists as the physical history of the island is, the fact that less than 100,000 acres of its surface are arable is of more immediate practical value.

The scenery is exquisitely beautiful. The rounded hills nestle among admirably cultivated farms, and raise lordly heads crowned with golden furze and fragrant pink heather to the embrace of overhanging clouds. The climate is remarkably salubrious. The mean annual temperature is higher than that of any other section on the same parallel of latitude. Situated on the culminating point of the isothermal curve of 49.84 degrees, it has a mean winter temperature of 42 degrees Fahr. Consumptives find great relief in the singularly elastic and bracing atmosphere of its mountain ranges. Less than twenty degrees of temperature cover the difference between the hottest and coldest months. Neither Montpelier nor Madeira nor Milan is more healthy. The arboreal flora differ but slightly from those of the other British Isles, but shrubs and flowers which cannot survive the winter there flourish here in rich profusion. Whole hedges of large-sized fuchsias charm the visitor by their superb perfection. Hydrangeas, laurels, and laurestinas luxuriate in every garden. Arbutus and myrtle attain the dignity of trees. Forms of New Zealand vegetation take kindly to the soil, and verbenas spring up without culture in the open air.

Tailless cats and tailless chickens, and a small hardy breed of sheep, whose flesh is of exquisite flavor, are species of the fauna peculiar to this locality.

Part of the population, drawn hither in pursuit of health, is only transient. That which is permanent numbered 25,760 males and 27,798 females at the last census in 1881, and was less by 484 persons than the number returned in 1871. The number of inhabited houses had risen within that decade from 9,413 to 9,425, of uninhabited houses from 856 to 1,018, and of houses in process of erection from 60 to 112. The increase of population in sixty years was 13,477, or 33.6 per cent., and of houses 2,798. There were reported 304 persons over 80 years of age, and one had passed the limit of 105. 16,853 males and 17,149 females were unmarried. 7,875 men and 8,086 women were married. 1,032 males and 2,563 females were widowed. The discrepancies between these numbers of unmarried, married, and widowed find explanation in the fact that during the month of March, 1881, 161 fishing boats, with 1,256 men, started from the port of Peel, and 104 boats, with 766 men, from Rushen and other ports for the mackerel fishery at Kinsale in Ireland. Not less than 2,293 men were occupied in maritime affairs. From 1871 to 1880, including both years, 15,205 births and 11,372 deaths were registered. This excess of 3,833 births over deaths evidences a fecundity that in brief time would cause the population to pass beyond the local means of subsistence. Every small country is a demonstration of the Malthusian theory, except as it is affected by the introduction. of manufactures and foreign trade.

The population is moderately of European character as differentiated from a purely aborginal stock. 45,453 in 1881 were natives of the island, 5,197 of England, 183 of Wales, 802 of Scotland, and 1,532 of Ireland. More than a dozen different countries, including the United States of America, were also represented.

The basis of this composite nationality is undoubtedly Celtic. A Belgic tribe called the Menapii caused great trouble for Cæsar. Part of the same tribe settled at Waterford in Ireland, and may have bestowed a name similar to their own upon Man. Pliny terms it Monabia; Orosius and Bede, Menavid; Gildas, Mangu and Eubonia; Cæsar and Tacitus, Mona. But

a local antiquary is of opinion that this latter denomination was shared in common with the Isle of Anglesey, as a Sedes Druidarum, or abode of the holy wise men; "and that it has the same connection with the Sanskrit root mán, in reference to religious knowledge, as our word monk. So also Moonshee and the names of eminent lawgivers, as Manu, son of Brahma, Menu, Minos, and Menes." Its name may, however, have been derived from its position as the center of the British Isles. Man is styled Vannin or Mannin, the Middle Island, by the native Manx; Ireland, N'erin, or Western Island; England, Sausin, or Southern Island; Wales, Bretin, or British Island; and Scotland, Alpin, or Mountainous Island. On an ancient cross in the wall of Kirk Michael churchyard, the name of the island is spelled in Runic characters as Maun. These variant orthographies are all explicable by the political vicissitudes of the inhabitants. Man it is now, and Man it is likely to be.

The native language is unquestionably a dialect of the Celtic, and is said to be easily understood by those who speak the Erse, Gaelic, Cymric, and Breton varieties of the same tongue. It is rapidly dying out as the vernacular, but does not deserve the epithet of " gibberish," by which some of the native Manx stigmatize it. The venerable and Rev. William Drury, Rector of Kirk Braddan, still preaches in it every Sunday afternoon, and the Rev. Henry Cubbon, a Wesleyan Methodist lay evangelist of the island, also holds forth the word of life with thrilling eloquence in the speech of his ancestors. Thanks to the exertions of "The Manx Society for the Publication of National Documents," the literature of the country has been saved from destruction. During the episcopacy of Bishops Wilson and Hildesley the Prayer Book and the Bible were translated into the Manx language, but in very few if any of the parish churches is the service conducted in Manx. The author of "The Bible in Spain" states, that "the Manx possess a literature peculiarly their own, entirely in manuscript. This literature consists of ballads on sacred subjects which are called carvals, a corruption of the English word carols. These carvals are preserved in uncouth-looking, smoke-stained volumes, in low farm-houses and cottages situated in mountains, gills, and glens. They constitute the genuine literature of Ellan Vannin. There are, in addition, a few scattered poems

35-FIFTH SERIES, VOL. III.