56 



BAPTISTS. 



the promotion of education and the increase of the 

 ministry in the Baptist denomination. It shall per- 

 form its work by forming centres of counsel and co- 

 operation; by collecting and diifusing information 

 spect to the cause of education as connected with 



tion of its youth ; by endeavoring to awaken and 

 sustain a profounder interest in the increase and edu- 

 cation of the ministry. 



It may perform its work further hy collecting and 

 appropriating funds for nourishing and sustaining, 

 during periods of special exigency, unendowed or 

 inadequately endowed institutions of higher learn- 

 ing in States or Territories requiring exterior aid, 

 and may receive and hold in trust moneys for the 

 endowment of such institutions of learning, given 

 under conditions, until such conditions permit their 

 transfer to the institutions for which they are de- 

 signed. It shall not take part in the work of raising 

 endowment funds, except by advising the institu- 

 tions how to proceed, so as not to interfere with each 

 other, or make unreasonable demands on the friends 

 of education. 



AKT. III. This Commission shall be composed of 

 the subscribers to the original five years' fund of the 

 Commission, and, for the time being, of the members 

 of the present National Baptist Educational Conven- 

 tion, and hereafter as follows : 



1. Of delegates from incorporate institutions of 

 learning, whose boards of control are wholly or 

 chiefly of the Baptist denomination. Colleges or 

 universities, having under-graduate classes or 

 schools, and conferring degrees, theological semina- 

 ries and educational societies of one or more States, 

 may each send two delegates. Academies or prepar- 

 atory schools may each send one delegate. 



2. Of delegates from Baptist State Conventions, or 

 General Associations, and from Baptist State Pas- 

 toral Conferences. Each such Convention, General 

 Association or Pastoral Conference, may send two 

 delegates. 



3. Of persons or associations paying money into 

 the treasury of the Commission, to promote its pur- 

 poses, as follows : Any person paying $50 annually 

 shall be a member while so paying ; any educational 

 association formed to aid the purposes of the Com- 

 mission, paying into its treasury not less than $100 

 annually, may appoint a delegate. 



ART. IV. The officers of this Commission shall 

 consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Kecord- 

 ing Secretary, a Treasurer, an Executive Commit- 

 tee of ten, whose seat shall be at New York, and 

 four Advisory Committees of twelve each, whose 

 seats shall be respectively at Boston, Chicago, Kich- 

 mond, and Nashville. These officers, when sitting 

 together, shall constitute the Board of Councillors. 

 This Board of Councillors shall appoint a Corre- 

 sponding Secretary. 



Provision is also made in the constitution for 

 triennial meetings to be held, and for annual meet- 

 ings of the Board of Councillors, for which arrange- 

 ments shall be made by the Executive Committee. 



The income of the Baptist Historical Society 

 for 1871 was $399.00. The Society received 

 during this year, chiefly by purchase in Eu- 

 rope, 419 volumes, 328 pamphlets, and 37 like- 

 nesses. It has now in its library about 6,000 

 volumes, 13,000 pamphlets, and 713 likenesses. 



The Second Baptist National Sunday-school 

 Convention was held in Cincinnati, November 

 20th, 21st, and 22d. Twentv-one States were 

 represented by 458 delegates. J. L. M. Curry, 

 of Virginia, was President. A large number 

 of papers was read on topics appropriate to 

 the object of the convention. Among the 



most noticeable were one by Dr. Jeffrey on 

 conversion, one by the Eev. M. B. Wharton, 

 of Kentucky, on church-membership. Dr. Jef- 

 frey did not demand that children should be 

 members of the church, but thought they 

 ought to be. Mr. "Wharton said: "Taking 

 the conversion of the children for granted, I 

 remark that it is clearly our duty to receive 

 them. The practice of Pedobaptists, instead 

 of influencing us to hesitate, should tend to 

 facilitate the reception of children by us." 

 One of the resolutions expressed the convic- 

 tion that, on the one hand, every member of 

 the Church should, if possible, be in the Sun- 

 day-school ; and, on the other, every member 

 of the Sunday-school should attend the preach- 

 ing of the Word. The statistical report showed 

 9,069 schools in the United States, 84,763 of- 

 ficers and teachers, 642,504 scholars, and 

 10,842 baptisms. It was stated that, including 

 those among the colored population, there 

 was probably a total of 12,000 schools and 

 1,000.000 scholars. 



The Southern Baptist Convention met at 

 Raleigh, N. C., May 9th. The Eev. J. P. Boyce, 

 D. D., presided. The Board of Foreign Mis- 

 sions reported that the receipts for the year 

 Lad been $31,861.22. The three principal 

 missions under their care are in Liberia, 

 China, and Italy. The Liberian mission has 

 six stations, at which seven missionaries are 

 laboring. The three principal stations con- 

 nected with -the Chinese mission are at 

 Shanghai, Canton, and Shantung. To these 

 are attached thirteen American missionaries 

 and assistant missionaries, two native pas- 

 tors, twelve native assistants, and 303 mem- 

 bers. The stations of the Italian mission are 

 at Civita Vecchia, Bari, Bologna, Modena, 

 and La Tour. The Eev. Dr. W. N. Cote 

 superintends the work, and has four assist- 

 ants. The number of church-members con- 

 nected with this mission is 271. The Board 

 called attention in their report to the neces- 

 sity of procuring a building for a church at 

 Eome. Assurances were given that, if $20,000 

 could be secured toward this purpose, a cor- 

 responding amount would be given by the 

 Baptists in the North. The $20,000 asked for 

 were subscribed during the session of the con- 

 vention. The Board of Domestic and Indian 

 Missions reported receipts of $38,378.66, or 

 $6,791 more than those of the previous year. 

 This Board had employed 177 missionaries, 

 who reported 5,028 persons baptized by them- 

 selves and others laboring with them, and 

 2,579 persons converted but not yet baptized. 

 The strength of the work among the Indians 

 has been largely increased. Many of the mis- 

 sionaries had devoted their labors entirely to 

 the colored people, with prosperous results. 

 A wearing away of the prejudices of color was 

 noticed as one of the fruits of this work. 



The principal Indian missions of the Board, 

 says the report, are among the Creeks and 

 Seminoles speaking the Creek language, of the 



