76 



BAPTISTS. 



tury fund had called for large additional contribu- 

 tions, chapel debts had been reduced by 86,839. 



The annual meeting of the Baptist Union of 

 Ureat Britain and Ireland was held in London in 

 April. The secretary, in presenting the annual 

 report, represented that the year had been one of 

 unprecedented progress, with advance and in- 

 crease everywhere. While the condition of the 

 denominational funds the Home Mission fund. 

 the Augmentation fund, and the Annuity fund 

 could not be pronounced entirely satisfactory, 

 the fact was to be accounted for by the special 

 efforts which had been made in connection with 

 the Century fund. The whole amount of this fund 

 not having yet been promised, it had been deter- 

 mined to extend the period allowed for the collec- 

 tion of it. and instead of closing it Dec. 31, 1901, 

 to keep it open to the close of the current presi- 

 dential year. The total amount promised was 

 173.000. leaving 73.000 yet to be secured, while 

 1<MUMM) had been received' in cash. The report of 

 the Baptist Missionary Society showed that the 

 receipts for the general work of the missions, ex- 

 cluding all special funds, had amounted to 67,- 

 954. and the expenditure to 77,870. The receipts 

 had been 1.301, and the expenditure 4,153 

 larger than in the previous year. A further 

 amount of 4,123 had been contributed in liqui- 

 dation of the debt of 1899-1900; but a deficiency 

 of 9,913 still remained. The excess of annual 

 expenditure over receipts was explained to be 

 wholly due to the recent increase of missionary 

 agency, 40 additional missionaries having been 

 placed upon the staff of the society since the cele- 

 bration of its centenary. The total receipts for 

 the year, including special funds and a special 

 gift of 10.000 by the late Mr. Robert Arthington 

 for work in Central Africa, had amounted to 98,- 

 240. the largest total ever received by the society 

 apart from the Centenary fund. The missionaries 

 in China were returning to their posts after the 

 troubles, and the attitude of the Chinese authori- 

 ties seemed to be friendly. The record of the 

 Congo Mission was described as having been 

 " marvelously full of encouragement and inspira- 

 tion." Satisfactory reports were given as to other 

 fields occupied by the society. The Zenana Mis- 

 sion returned a staff in India of 64 missionaries 

 and 200 native workers, with about 1,500 zenana 

 pupils, 3,000 houses open for regular visitation, 

 <40 villages visited for evangelistic purposes, and 

 93 girls' schools with 3,700 pupils. One of the 

 missionaries in China had been murdered during 

 the troubles. The receipts of the general fund had 

 been, including special gifts of 865, 12,189, and 

 the expenditures 13,018. The Legacy Reserve 

 fund was exhausted, but a memorial gift of 1,000 

 had In-en placed as a special reserve fund to meet 

 working expenses. The report of the Bible Trans- 

 lation Society showed that 655.000 Scripture por- 

 tions and other publications had been issued from 

 the Calcutta and CUttaek presses, and a very large 

 amount of colportage work had been carried on 

 at various stations. The progress of the revision 

 of the Singhalese Old Testament was referred to. 

 The balance-sheet showed an income of 1,537 

 and an expenditure of 1,484, with subscriptions 

 ^347 higher than in the previous year. The bal- 

 ance of the reserve fund stood at 1,306. 



The Baptist Building fund, by means of the 

 constant turnover of its capital/ now amounting 

 to 54.267, had been enabled during the year to 

 make grants of sums varying from 700 to 70 

 for building purposes. The amount lent to the 

 churches was 123 in excess of the loans of any 

 previous year. 



The memorial stone of the Baptist Church 



[louse in London was laid during the season of 

 the meetings of the union, under the direction of 

 the president of the union, the Rev. Dr. Maclaren. 

 The building will have a frontage of 80 feet on 

 Southampton Row and 140 feet on Eagle Street, 

 and is intended to accommodate the offices of the 

 Baptist Union, and to provide library rooms, a 

 large council chamber, quarters for the various 

 Baptist societies and institutions, a ladies's room, 

 and a visitors' room, where visiting friends may 

 be entertained. 



The autumnal meeting of the union was. held in 

 Edinburgh in the second week in October, in the 

 absence of the Rev. Joseph Parker, D. D., the ap- 

 pointed preacher, whose health did not permit his 

 making the journey from London, the missionary 

 sermon was preached, Oct. 8, by the Rev. R. J. 

 Campbell, of Brighton, on the subject of Christ's 

 Cosmical Significance. The statement was made 

 in behalf of the society that it was compelled to 

 turn a deaf ear to urgent calls for reenforcements, 

 because of the annual deficit of 10,000 which 

 had been the rule for three or four years past. 

 " Soon, unless the Baptists filled up the deficit, it 

 would be not merely a question of sending reen- 

 forcements, but of recalling missionaries." Nine- 

 teen missionaries were returning to their fields, 

 and 3 new ones were sent out. The meeting of the 

 union proper was opened, Oct. 9, with an address 

 on Evangelical Mysticism, by the president, the 

 Rev. Alexander Maclaren, D. D. At a reception 

 given to " Ecumenical Baptist Delegates," repre- 

 sentatives of Baptist churches in the United 

 States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South 

 Africa, the Cape Verde Islands, Jamaica, Erance^ 

 Italy, Germany, Holland, and Sweden were 

 greeted as guests of the union. A report made 

 concerning the Twentieth Century fund repre- 

 sented that of the 250,000 which the union had 

 started out to raise, 185,414 had been promised,, 

 of which 121,600 had been paid. One thousand 

 and ten churches were contributing to the fund, 

 while 567 churches having 57,000 members (many 

 of them, however, not connected with the union), 

 had not yet come into the scheme. A Baptist 

 Women's Twentieth Century fund had been 

 formed, and would attempt to collect 1,000,000 

 shillings toward completing the little more than 

 65,000 which still remained to be raised. The 

 subject, of the autumnal sermon, by the Rev. Dr. 

 Alexander Whyte, of Edinburgh, was Marrow 

 Men. Addresses were delivered on The Place of 

 Baptists in the Progress of Christianity, by the 

 Rev. Dr. Clifford; Great Laymen who have 

 Served the Church, by Mr. G. W. Macalpine, of 

 Accrington; Christian Reunion and Denomina- 

 tionalism, by the Rev. Charles Brown; The High- 

 est Churchmanship, by the Rev. F. B. Meyer; 

 and an address by the Rev. Dr. John Smith, 

 Presbyterian. Other meetings were held in be- 

 half of the Zenana Mission and the young people. 



The South African Baptist Colonial and Mis- , 

 sionary Aid Society has been formed for the pur- 

 pose of arousing interest in and collecting funds 

 for the European and native work of the South 

 African Union; to be a board of reference to ob- 

 tain suitable men as ministers and missionaries in 

 South Africa ; and to represent the South African 

 Union at the annual assemblies of the Baptist 

 Union of Great Britain and Ireland. This has 

 been done in accordance with resolutions passed 

 by the South African Baptist Union at its an- 

 nual meeting in Grahamstown. This body fur- 

 ther determined that the promotion of the work 

 in the Transvaal and Orange river colonies should 

 be a first charge upon all moneys collected by the 

 society up to June 30, 1902. ' 



