OONGKKCATIOXALISTS. 



Ufl 



The following resolution was unanimously 

 .;>ti<l in r.iVrenco to the relations of church 

 state : 



i That this Assembly recognizes thogravi- 

 ".'ii-.il difficulties and perils arising from 

 .rtnin-s an. I ]>r. tensions or the Ultramontane 

 ae in tli'' Kornan Catholic Church, 

 ad believing that these difficulties are greatly aggru- 

 tonoe of organic relations between 

 churches, \vhetln-r Cutholio or Protestant, and civil 

 governments, desires to express its deliberate jud^- 

 ni. m that the civil supremacy of the state, which it 

 is the duty of nations and governments to defend 

 against all ecclesiastical encroachments, and the 

 ..f i- 'ii-i -i. 'iice, which it is the duty of nations 

 to respect, can be secured and per- 

 manently maintained only by the dissolution or all 

 organic relations between the church and state. 



In reference to the growth of ritualism in 

 tlu- Church of England, the following resolu- 

 tion was also unanimously adopted : 



, That, in view of the prevalence and rapid 

 growth in the Church of England of doctrines and 

 practices closely resembling those of the Church of 

 Rome, this Union earnestly calls upon Protestant 

 Nonconformists to meet the danger to which the 

 spiritual life of the nation is exposed by increased 

 activity in inculcating Scriptural truth. In particular, 

 it suggests to pastors and Sunday-school teachers the 

 desirableness of such elementary teaching whether 

 in the form of sermons, lectures, or catechetical in- 

 struction as may serve to protect the people from 

 being misled by religious teachers who misuse the 

 authority and influence with which they have been 

 invested. 



The autumnal meeting of the Congregational 

 Union of England and Wales was held at Ilud- 

 dersfield, beginning October 8th. The Rev. 

 J. G. Rogers presided, and delivered an address 

 on " The Age, and our "Work in it." He criti- 

 cised the utterances of Prof. Tyndall in his 

 address before the British Association, and 

 expressed disapproval of the schemes of the 

 Episcopal High Churchmen for the reunion of 

 Christendom. The most important subjects 

 considered by the meeting were those of finance 

 and ministerial support. The present arrange- 

 ments of the churches for supplementing the 

 stipends of ministers were declared, in the 

 opinion of the Union, to be insufficient. The 

 assembly expressed its appreciation of the im- 

 portance of the work carried on by the Home, 

 the Irish Evangelical, and the Colonial Mis- 

 sionary Societies, and invited increased con- 

 tributions to their funds. A resolution was 

 adopted recognizing " the great service which 

 the Sunday-schools of England have rendered 

 in promoting religious knowledge among the 

 young, and in leading many, whom probably no 

 other agency would have reached, to the obedi- 

 ence of faith ; " regarding the stimulus which 

 recent legislation had given to the cause of ed- 

 ucation, " as rendering it only the more impera- 

 tive that the Sunday-school system should be 

 maintained, and that efforts should be put forth 

 to raise it to the highest point of efficiency ; " 

 and suggesting a closer pastoral oversight of the 

 schools, preparatory instruction of the teach- 

 ers, cooperation in the management of the 



schools, periodical examinations of them, and 

 Bpecial services for their benefit. 



The eightieth annual meeting of the London 

 Mistionary Society was held in London, May 

 14th. The treasurer's balance-sheet showed 

 the total receipts for general purposes to have 

 been 99,954 16. IQd. ; contributions and divi- 

 dends for special objects, 12,986 4*. W. ; t. 

 tal income, 115,909 10*. IQd. The exp n.li- 

 tures had been 114,061 19. 8rf. The number 

 of English missionaries engaged by the society 

 was stated to be 155 ; but beyond these were 

 an increasing number of fairly qualified native 

 agents engaged as pastors and teachers. During 

 the year thirty-three offers of service had been 

 received by the directors, and nine of them had 

 been accepted. The results of the foreign work 

 of the year were spoken of in the report of the 

 directors as " both numerous and important." 



The annual meeting of the Congregational 

 Union of Scotland was held in April, the Rev. 

 Dr. Russell presiding. The report of the wid- 

 ows' fund showed that it had increased 480 

 during the year. 



The following are the statistics of the Con- 

 gregational Churches in the United States and 

 British America, as given in the Congregational 

 Quarterly for January, 1875 : 



