BAPTISTS. 



BELGIUM. 



77 



contributions to the Annuity fund were represented 

 ing insufficient, in view of the increasing num- 

 ber of claimants upon it. to maintain the ptv<nit 

 annuities of 45 to retired ministers and :!:! to 

 widows; and the assi-mbly recommended that an 

 effort be made at the earliest possible moment to 

 increase the Voluntary fund to 100,000. The Ex- 

 ecutive ISoard. having been commissioned a year 

 previously to consider how to secure a closer fellow- 

 ship between the churches and to guard against the 

 admission of ministers weak in doctrine, reported, 

 affirming the necessity of safeguarding the right of 

 the churches to appoint their own pastors, and of 

 not discouraging young men marked out by spe- 

 cial gifts: but also pointing it out as desirable that 

 any man seeking entrance to the ministry should 

 receive thorough and effectual training at some 

 proper college ; and recommended the appointment 

 of a special committee charged with the duty of 

 ascertaining the qualifications of candidates for 

 _-nition as Baptist ministers, with other provi- 

 sions for carrying out the purpose in view. The 

 report was adopted. Concerted opposition by the 

 congregations and appeals to Parliament against 

 the pending Education bill were advised. An ap- 

 peal was directed to be made to the Emperor of 

 Russia to use his influence to prevent the continued 

 massacre of Armenian fellow-Christians. The loans 

 granted during the year by the Baptist Building 

 fund had amounted to 12,730, the largest sum 

 ever advanced. The assistance given had been 

 shared by 40 churches. 



The seventy-first annual report of the Baptist 

 Building fund showed that 40 loans had been 

 granted, in amounts varying from 60 to 500. and 

 that the total amount," 12.730, largely exceeded 

 the grants voted in any previous year. The capital 

 of the fund was now 51.514, showing an increase 

 of 71, which the committee considered unsatisfac- 

 tory in view of the continual falling off in receipts. 

 This decrease was evident under all heads except 

 that of congregational collections. The aggregate 

 amount of loans since the foundation of the fund 

 now exceeded 250,000. but the need was still great, 

 and they had before them 25 cases desiring assist- 

 ance to the extent of 9,200. 



The ordinary income for the year of the Bible 

 Translation Society had been 1,483, besides which 

 589 had been received from legacies. After a 

 grant of 1,000 to the Baptist Missionary Society 

 and other payments, a balance of 61 remained. 



At the annual meeting of the Baptist Book and 

 Tract Society the changes made in the previous year 

 in the constitution of the body in order that it might 

 secure the support and confidence of the whole de- 

 nomination were represented to have been justified 

 by the result. An arrangement by which the so- 

 ciety was made an agent of the American Baptist 

 Publication Society had been successful. 



The autumnal meeting of the Union was held in 

 Bristol, and was mainly devoted to addresses relat- 

 ing to the condition, prospects, and various interests 

 of the churchs. In a resolution rejoicing at defeat 

 of the Education bill, the ''emphatic protest" of 

 the Union " was renewed against any further subsi- 

 dies to sectarian schools under private management, 

 and its demand that all schools supported by public 

 moneys shall be subject to local and effective public 

 control " ; and recording "its solemn determination 

 to accept no settlement of the educational controversy 

 as final until a school under public control is placed 

 within the reach of every child in the kingdom and 

 the teaching profession in state-aided schools is as 

 open to nonconformists as to the adherents of the 

 Established Church.'' A committee was appointed 

 to co-operate with similar committees of other de- 

 nominations in ascertaining the number of noncon- 



formist children in sectarian schools. A resolution 

 was pa-M'd urging -uch reconsideration by the (it, v- 

 ernment of its recent policy in Egypt and Cyprus, 

 which had " naturally awakened the distrust and 

 dislike of Europe," and assuring the ministers that 

 any well-advised effort to terminate the misrule in 

 Turkey would be supported. Another resolution 

 favored the introduction into the next Parliament 

 of a Sunday-closing bill and a bill for the earlier 

 closing of public houses on Saturday nights. 



The annual report of the Baptist Missionary So- 

 ciety showed that its year's income had been 74.- 

 816, the highest ever recorded. The deficit of the 

 previous year amounting to 22.593 had been 

 met by special contributions, the proceeds of a lega- 

 cy and 15.803 from the Centenary fund. Of this 

 fund, 36,731 remained in hand, most of which had 

 been allotted as follows : 26,000 to the Additional 

 Missionaries' fund : 7,249 for buildings at various 

 stations ; and 3,390 for the training and equip- 

 ment of native agents and for Scripture translation. 

 The society sustained 74 missionaries and 121 native 

 evangelists in India, 4 missionaries and 26 native 

 evangelists in Ceylon. 21 missionaries and 40 na- 

 tive evangelists in China, 1 missionary in Pales- 

 tine, 32 missionaries on the Congo, 6 missionaries 

 and 155 native evangelists in the West Indies, 1 

 missionary and 4 evangelists in Brittany, and 6 

 missionaries and 14 evangelists in Italy. 



The balance sheet of the zenana mission showed 

 that the general subscriptions and donations for the 

 year had amounted to 7.579, the highest figure yet 

 reached, which had been sufficient, with the excep- 

 tion of a balance of 35 due the treasurer, to meet 

 the expenditure and remove the previous deficiency. 

 In India the work had been carried on at 25 stations, 

 besides a group of villages south of Calcutta, with 

 a staff of 52 missionaries and 200 Bible women and 

 school-teachers, in about 80 schools having more 

 than 2.000 children in attendance. Twelve hundred 

 zenanas had been visited and Bible lessons given 

 in hundreds of houses. In China 4 missionaries had 

 carried on steady work at Tsing-Chou-Fu and C'hou- 

 king, but chiefly in the study of the language. 



Baptists in "Russia. The Baptist churches in 

 Russia have been formed into a union, comprising 

 the old associations of the Baltic. Poland, west 

 Russia, and south Russia, and the unattached 

 churches of St. Petersburg and 4 other cities. In 

 all they number 94 churches, with 96 ministers, 380 

 preaching stations, 18,098 members, including 1.136 

 received during the year. 126 Sunday schools, with 

 363 teachers and 4.634 pupils. The gifts of the 

 churches in the past year amounted to 52.312 rubles. 



BELGIUM, a constitutional monarchy in west- 

 ern Europe. The Senate has half as many mem- 

 bers as the House of Representatives, and a term 

 twice as long. The senatorial electorate is a select 

 class, consisting only of citizens who have real 

 property worth 12.000 francs a year or pay 1,200 

 francs of direct taxes, while 26 Senators are chosen 

 by the provincial councils. The house contains 

 1 member to every 40,000 of population, elected for 

 four years under the revised Constitution of 1*93 

 by a plural system of voting. Every male citizen 

 twenty-five years of age resident in the district 

 has one vote, and those who have families or possess 

 a certain small amount of real estate or have re- 

 ceived an academic diploma or held office have the 

 right to additional votes for these qualifications. 



The reigning King is "Leopold II, born April 9. 

 1835, son of Leopold I, the first King of the Bel- 

 gians, previously the Prince of Saxe-Coburg and 

 Gotha, who died on Dec. 10, 1865. The heir pre- 

 sumptive is Prince Albert, born April 8. 1875. son 

 of Philippe. Count of Flanders, the King's brother. 



The Cabinet, which is collectively and individ- 



