by a mere majority vote of the General Conference. The Doctor sometimes
writes more clearly than he speaks, and it was so in the occasion of
writing this article. Over against this we have one of (as Dr. Hamilton
would say) the "subtle insinuations" of the Episcopal Address, which
declares that no definition of "layman" settles the question of
eligibility as to any class of persons. For many are classed as
laymen for the purposes of lay representation, and have to do with it
officially as laymen, yet themselves are ineligible as delegates. Well,
in this case, we have the Episcopal Board over against the editor. Both
are right and both are wrong. The editor is right when he said of a
woman, if she be a lay member her right is clear as that of any duly
elected man. But he is wrong when he denies to her a right to a seat in
this body as a layman. The Episcopal Address is wrong when it says
that "no definition of the word 'layman' settles the question of
eligibility." But it is right when it says, "Many are classed as laymen
for purposes of lay representation, and have to do with it officially as
lay members who are not themselves eligible as delegates."

In the practical work of the Church, and in the administration of its
laws, women have been regarded as laymen from the beginning until now.
They pay quarterage. If they did not pay quarterage some of our salaries
would be very short. They contribute to our benevolent collections, and
if it were not for their contributions, we would not to-day be shouting
over the "Million dollars for Missions." They pray and testify in our
class-meetings and prayer-meetings, and but for their presence among
us, many of those meetings would be as silent as the grave. They are
amenable to law, and must be tried by the very same process by which men
are tried. They are subject to the same penalty. They may be suspended;
they may be expelled. In all these respects they have been regarded as
laymen from the beginning. Indeed, we have never recognized more than
two orders in our Church. We have laymen and ministers. Up to 1872 but
one of these orders was represented in this General Conference. This
General Conference was strictly a clerical organization. But in 1872 we
marked a new epoch in Methodist history, and a new element came into
this body, and has been in all our sessions since that date. The first
step, as has been mentioned here before, was taken in 1868, when the
question of lay del