86 



BAPTISTS. 



, society was at Shanghai, China, where two mis- 

 sionaries and three native preachers had been 

 employed. Seventeen missionaries had been 

 employed in the home-field. 



The sixtieth session of the Seventh-Day Bap- 

 tist General Conference was held at De Ruy- 

 ter, N. Y., beginning September 23d. The 

 Rev. George E. Tomlinson, of Westerly, R. I., 

 was chosen moderator. A report from the re- 

 organization of the conference was presented, 

 and was adopted. It provided that the body 

 should be called the "Seventh Day-Baptist Gen- 

 eral Conference ; " that representation in it 

 should be fixed on the basis of two delegates 

 from each church, and one additional delegate 

 for each twenty-five members of the church ; 

 churches to be allowed to appoint as delegates 

 members of other churches. The General 

 Conference was declared to possess powers and 

 prerogatives as follows : " 1. The prerogative in 

 appeal, of an ordinary council, in all matters 

 appertaining to doctrine or discipline, faith and 

 practice, as between the churches, and between 

 the churches and their respective members ; 

 and the power of exclusion of churches from 

 membership in the conference, for the want of 

 harmony either of faith or practice with the 

 denomination. 2. It shall have power to re- 

 ceive such trusts as either societies or individ- 

 uals may, from time to time, confide to its keep- 

 ing, and to make all necessary provision for 

 the same ; to promote the cause of missions, 

 Sabbath-schools, Sabbath observances, academ- 

 ic, collegiate, and theological education, and 

 all the interests of religion as embodied and 

 expressed in the denomination, by such meas- 

 ures as may be deemed best by the denomina- 

 tion in conference assembled." 



The following resolution was adopted: 

 " Whereas, Several years have passed since an 

 expose of Christian doctrine has been publicly 

 announced by this conference; and whereas, 

 many of the younger church-members would 

 thus be much assisted in apprehending the full, 

 explicit, and orthodox system of Christian doc- 

 trine : therefore resolved, That this conference 

 now convened appoint a committee of seven 

 of the most aged Seventh-Day Baptist minis- 

 ters present, and five of the most aged Seventh- 

 Day Baptist deacons present, twelve in all, to 

 draft such an expose and present the same to 

 this conference at its next anniversary." Such 

 a committee was accordingly appointed. 



Resolutions were also adopted, declaring, 

 "that copartnerships in which we allow our 

 capital to be nsed on the Sabbath are a viola- 

 tiqn of the spirit of the fourth command- 

 ment;" condemning the use of liquors and 

 tobacco, and expressing sympathy with the 

 woman's temperance movement ; and reaffirm- 

 ing the former expressions, by the General 

 Conference, of disapproval of secret societies, 

 and urging ministers to present the subject be- 

 fore the people and churches, to consider what 

 is their duty in reference to it. 



A communication was received from the 



Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Mill Yard, 

 London, relating to the progress of the Sab- 

 bath cause in Great Britain, and was suitably 

 acknowledged. A petition was adopted to be 

 presented to Congress against the proposed so- 

 called religious amendment to the Constitution 

 of the United States. A petition was adopted 

 for presentation to the Legislature of Pennsyl- 

 vania, asking for a modification of the Sunday 

 laws of that State, so that keepers of the sev- 

 enth day might be exempted from the penal- 

 ties imposed for the infraction of Sunday. 



An account was given to the conference by 

 the Rev. N. V. Hull of an informal meeting, 

 called a biennial meeting, which was held in 

 the old meeting-house at Newport, R. I., on 

 the 16th of September, 1873. About one hun- 

 dred and fifty " Sabbath-keepers" visited this 

 church, which was regarded as the birthplace 

 of the Seventh-Day Baptist denomination in 

 America, and observed the occasion with ap- 

 propriate addresses, the relation of reminis- 

 cences, and the pledging of subscriptions to 

 the missionary and tract causes of the Church. 

 The conference adopted a resolution in favor 

 of repairing the old church at Newport. A 

 committee was appointed to consider upon 

 the organization of a Woman's Missionary So- 

 ciety. 



IV. TUNKERS. The National Convention 

 of Tunkers met at Girard, 111., May 24th. It 

 was described as the largest meeting of be- 

 lievers, who are popularly called by that name, 

 ever held in the United States. It was esti- 

 mated that 10,000 persons were present, of 

 whom about 2,000 were delegates. The con- 

 ference resolved to send out ministers on mis- 

 sionary work. A special committee was ap- 

 pointed to have the minutes of previous con- 

 ferences compiled and published. A question 

 arose as to the proper manner of wearing the 

 beard. It was decided, that while it had ever 

 been the rule of the Church to wear the full 

 beard, the wearing of mustaches alone was 

 not permitted. The voice of the conference 

 was given against allowing members to engage 

 in banking, as it was liable to lead to covetous- 

 ness, litigation, and usury. The sending of 

 children to college was discountenanced, and it 

 was determined that the name of the Church 

 should not be used in the establishment of 

 high-schools. The question, whether colored 

 brethren should be saluted with the holy kiss, 

 was left to be settled by each church making 

 its own rules on the subject. It was decided 

 to be inconsistent with the religion of the sect 

 for members to join farmers' clubs ; and, that 

 the keeping and use of " the ungodly piano," 

 and other musical instruments, was improper, 

 although it could not be prohibited. 



V. PARTICULAR BAPTISTS IN ENGLAND. 

 The anniversary meeting of the English Bap- 

 tist Union was held in London, April 27th. 

 The reports of the Union showed that dur- 

 ing the year there had been a clear increase 

 in the membership of the churches, of 2,652 



