UNITARIANS. 



723 



1 orders to promise a free grant of land 

 iiinl exemption iViiiu taxation for ten years. 



On the 5th of Juno, a most disastrous con- 

 flagration broko out at Pera, that part of Con- 

 stantinople occupied by the foreign legations, 

 the greater part of tho foreign population and 

 a vast number of native Christians. About 

 noon a wooden house, situated on tho highest 

 part of tho city, called the Taxsiin, caught fire, 

 and, freshened by a violent north wind, it 

 spread with fearful rapidity over an extent al- 

 most incredible ; from the Taxsim to what is 

 called tho Petit Gamps des Morts, along tho 

 main street to some distance between the 

 Galata Saray College, consuming all of the 

 liiu- houses of the place, of stone as well as of 

 wood. An immense number of dwellings were 

 burned, and about 1,000 persons, men, women, 

 and children. The loss was estimated to be 

 nearly $25,000,000. All of the finest caf6s, the 

 opera and shops, with all of their contents, 

 were destroyed. According to careful count, 

 over 7,000 buildings of all sorts were burned, 

 many of them among the best in the city. 



A ministerial crisis occurred in August, 

 when tho following new nominations were 

 made : Mustapha Fazil Pacha, President of the 

 Council of State, was named Minister of Fi- 

 nance ; Sadik Pacha, Intendant of the Proper- 

 ties of tho Church; Edheitn Pacha, Minister 

 of Justice; and Haidar Effcndi, Prefect of 

 Constantinople ; Ilulil Bey was appointed am- 

 bassador to Vienna, and Rustem Bey ambas- 

 sador to St. Petersburg. 



At a meeting of the Divan of tho Sublime 

 Porte, on April 29th, the Sultan address, 

 councillors on the state of the empire. He 

 reviewed the events and progress of the past 

 year, and said the Government would not be 

 satisfied to stop with what had been effected. 

 He promised that reforms in tho civil polity, 

 the development of education, and the fostering 

 of trade, should have his careful attention, and 

 that steps would shortly be taken for a thorough 

 reorganization of the army and navy, and the 

 improvement of tho highways and lines of 

 communication throughout the Turkish do- 



minions. 



u 



UNITARIANS. The Year-look of the Uni- 

 tarian Congregational Churches for 1871 gives 

 lists of 847 societies in the United States and 

 British America (against 334 in the preceding 

 year), and 396 ministers (the same number as 

 in the preceding year), of whom 148 were not 

 settled. The number of Unitarian organiza- 

 tions was increased in 1870 by the establish- 

 ment of the " Cape Cod Conference of Unitari- 

 an Congregational and other Liberal Christian 

 Churches," organized November 30th, at Barn- 

 stable, Mass., and of the " Chicago Missionary 

 Society," the object of which is to assist in 

 the establishment of Unitarian Sunday-schools 

 and churches in Chicago. No changes are 

 reported in the Year-book in the list of pe- 

 riodicals, or in the Unitarian statistics of Great 

 Britain, Hungary, and India. (See the account 

 in AMERICAN AXXCA.L CYCLOPAEDIA, for 1869.) 



The Fourth National Conference of the Uni- 

 tarians of the United States began at New 

 York, on Wednesday, October 1 9th. The most 

 important topic of discussion was on the pre- 

 amble and the proposed alteration of Article IX. 

 of the Constitution, which reads as follows: 



Whereat, The great opportunities and demands for 

 Christian labor and consecration at this time increase 

 our sense of the obligations of all disciples of the 

 Lord Jesus Christ to prove their faith by self-denial, 

 and by the devotion of their lives and possessions to 

 the service of God and the building up of the king- 

 dom of His Son. Preamble of the Constitution of 

 Unitarian Conference. 



To secure tho largest unity of the spirit and the 

 widest practical coOperationj it is hereby declared 

 that all the declarations of this Conference, including 

 the preamble and constitution, are expressions only 

 of its majority, committing in no degree those who 

 object to them, and dependent wholly for their effect 

 upon tho consent they command on tncir own merits 

 from the churches here represented or belonging 



within the circle of our fellowship. Article IX. of 

 Uonetittition. 



Rev. Mr. Hepworth, of New York, began 

 the anticipated battle by presenting a resolu- 

 tion altering the contested Ninth Article. 

 With the desire to increase brotherly feeling 

 in the denomination, he proposed that all the 

 words after "Article IX." be omitted, and that 

 the following be substituted: 



Reaffirming our allegiance to the Gospel of Jesus 

 Christ, and to secure the largest unity of the spirit 

 and the widest practical cooperation, we invite to 

 our fellowship all who wish to oe followers of Christ. 



In the animated discussion on this amend- 

 ment, which lasted for two days, a number of 

 prominent members of the denomination took 

 part. Among others, Charles Lowe, Secretary 

 of the American Unitarian Association, of Bos- 

 ton, Rev. James Freeman Clarke, Rev. Dr. 

 Bellows, who was emphatic in demanding that 

 the constitution of the National Conference 

 must distinctly recognize the Christian charac- 

 ter of the Unitarian denomination, Rev. Rob- 

 ert Laird Collier, and Mrs. Julia Ward Howe. 



An amendment to Mr. Hepworth's resolu- 

 tion, offered by Rev. Mr. May, to retain Arti- 

 cle IX., but to add to it the words, " Provided, 

 that nothing in the article be construed as re- 

 moving the Conference from its Christian 

 basis," was lost. The vote was then taken on 

 the resolution of Rev. Mr. Hepworth, which 

 was carried by 266 to 82. 



The following resolutions in behalf of the 

 American Unitarian Association were also 

 adopted by the Conference : 



Jfesohed, That, in view of the great and growing 

 opportunity of making known the principles and 

 spirit of Unitarian Christianity, we earnestly recom- 

 mend every church and society within tho circle of 



