BAPTISTS. 



largely through the refusal of England to par- 

 ticipate. 



In spite of the still subsisting guarantees of 

 the powers, Denmark was compelled to sur- 

 render her choicest provinces in the Schleswig- 

 Holstein campaign a federal execution, as it 

 was called, by the German powers, and in 

 1886 Austria was driven from the confedera- 

 tion in a startlingly energetic incursion by the 

 Prussians. This was the first war of any mag- 

 nitude undertaken in defiance of possible inter- 

 ference under the compact of Vienna, and the 

 humiliation of France followed as a natural 

 consequence four years later. Taking advan- 

 tage of the crisis in Western Europe, Russia 

 abrogated the pledges made at the end of the 

 Crimean war, and thus passed away almost the 

 la<t vestige of the Treaty of Vienna. 



At the present time no open alliances can be 

 said to exist among any of the European na- 

 tions. The balance of power, as it was under- 

 stood in 1815 and the following years, has dis- 

 appeared, though its influence is no doubt still 

 indirectly felt. The autonomy of Switzerland 

 and Belgium would probably be defended by a 

 general alliance, should it be seriously threat- 

 ened, but the main idea of all the great powers 

 at present is to make an efficient soldier of 

 every able-bodied man. To all appearance, 

 the military power of the German Empire far 

 exceeds that of any other single state, a con- 

 dition of affairs wholly at variance with the 

 principles laid down at Vienna, but against 

 which no power on earth is at present entitled 

 to remonstrate. 



That a third step toward permanent pea^e 

 and possible disarmament will ere long be 

 taken, may probably be counted upon with 

 some degree of confidence, and if the lessons 

 taught by Westphalia and Vienna are per- 

 mitted to have their due effect, the third gen- 

 eral congress may effect still more lasting and 

 beneficial results. 



BAPTISTS. The "American Baptist Year- 

 Book" for 1888 gives statistics of the Baptist 

 churches in the United States, of which the 

 following is a summary : Number of associa- 

 tions, 1,281 ; of ordained ministers, 20,477 ; of 

 churches, 31,891; of members, 2,917,315; of 

 Sunday-schools, 15,447, with 116,453 officers 

 and teachers, and 1,126,405 pupils; number of 

 additions by baptism during the year, 158,373. 

 Amount of contributions : for salaries and 

 expenses, $5,849,756 ; for missions, $905,673 ; 

 for miscellaneous purposes, $1,961.332. Value 

 of church property, $48,568,686. In all North 

 America, including the United States, Canada, 

 Mexico, the West Indies, etc., are returned 

 1.305 associations, 32,861 churches, 21,071 min- 

 isters, 3,031,845 members, and 165,835 bap- 

 tisms; in South America (Brazil), 6 churches, 

 14 ministers, 175 members, and 30 baptisms; 

 in Europe, 80 associations, 3,506 churches, 

 2,592 ministers, 387,645 members, and 6,013 

 baptisms; in Asia, 8 associations, 718 churches, 

 558 ministers, 68,618 members, and 3,287 bap- 



tisms ; in Africa, 3 associations, 88 churches, 

 85 ministers, 3,247 members, and 142 bap- 

 tisms; in Australia, 6 associations, 175 churches, 

 131 ministers, and 15,189 members; total for 

 the world, 1.402 associations, 37,354 churches, 

 24.451 ministers, 3,506,719 members, and 175,- 

 307 baptisms. 



Of the Baptist educational institutions in the 

 United States, seven theological institutions 

 return 48 instructors and 579 pupils; 30 uni- 

 versities and colleges, 255 instructors and 4,012 

 pupils, of whom 687 were preparing for the 

 ministry ; 30 seminaries for the education of 

 young women exclusively, 276 instructors and 

 3,597 pupils ; 42 seminaries and academies for 

 young men and for pupils of both sexes, '2'H 

 instructors and 4,125 pupils, of whom 237 

 wore preparing for the ministry ; and 19 insti- 

 tutions for the colored race and Indians, 157 

 instructors and 5,408 pupils, 342 of whom were 

 ]>reparing for the ministry. The total value of 

 the grounds and buildings of these 128 insti- 

 tutions was $9.118,096; and the amount of 

 their endowments, so far as was reported, was 

 $8,763,385. Twelve Baptist homes, ministers' 

 homes, and orphanages, with a total valuation 

 of $553,000 of property, had the care of 626 

 inmates. Four of them possessed endowments 

 to the amount of $92,792. 



1. American Baptist Societies. The statistics of 

 the women's Baptist societies for 1887 were 

 as follow : Woman's Baptist Foreign Mission 

 Society (Boston); receipts, $64,668. The so- 

 ciety sustained 29 missionaries and 102 schools, 

 in which 3,428 pupils were enrolled; Woman's 

 Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of the West 

 (Chicago) ; receipts, $32,114 ; missionaries sup- 

 ported, 24 ; Women's Baptist Home Mission 

 Society (Chicago) ; receipts $35,691; mission- 

 aries (in the United States and Mexico), in- 

 cluding Bible women and helpers, 71. The 

 society sustains a training-school at Chicago, 

 from which 11 pupils had been graduated; 

 Woman's American Baptist Home Mission So- 

 ciety (Boston); receipts, $23,573. It supports 

 teachers at schools in the United States, In- 

 dian Territory, Mexico, and Alaska. 



The tenth annual meeting of the Woman's 

 American Baptist Home Missionary Society, 

 the object of which is the education of women 

 and children among the freed people, Indians, 

 and immigrants, was held in Worcester, Mass., 

 in May. The receipts had been $30,805, and 

 the expenditures $26,935. 



Publication Society. The sixty-fourth annual 

 meeting of the American Baptist Publication 

 Society was held in Washington, D. 0., May 

 18. The Hon. Samuel Crozer presided. The 

 total receipts of the society for the year in all 

 of its departments had been $582,491. A re- 

 served fund for the purchase of machinery 

 and enlargement of business had been set aside 

 from the profits of the book department dur- 

 ing previous years, which now amounted to 

 $87,463. The cash receipts in the book de- 

 partment had been $449,882, and the entire 



