70 



BAPTISTS. 



BARYE, ANTOINE L. 



chapels had been built during the year, at a 

 cost of 64,185 ; 124 other chapels had been 

 enlarged or improved, at a cost of 49,863 ; 

 making the total outlay on churches and chap- 

 els, of 114,048. Debts on 298 churches had 

 been diminished, and there are forty-three 

 churches liquidated, amounting to 54,712. 

 Adding to these amounts the sums of 14,350 

 contributed for home missions, 60,000 for 

 foreign missions, and 15,987 for colleges, 

 the entire sum raised by the denomination in 

 the United Kingdom for the direct promotion 

 of the Gospel appears to have been 259,097, 

 without reckoning the amount spent by the 

 churches in the support of their pastors, upon 

 Sunday-schools, and for the relief of aged and 

 infirm ministers. The report of the Mission- 

 ary. Society showed the income of the society 

 for the year to have been 40,121. The ex- 

 penditure had exceeded this sum by 1,143, but 

 the deficiency had been made up by friends, 

 and the society was completely out of debt. 

 Favorable representations were given of the 

 condition of the missions in London, among 

 the Sonthals in Ceylon, Africa, the West In- 

 dies, Brittany, Norway, and Rome. The num- 

 ber of baptisms during the year in the mission- 

 fields was 3,546. Nine missionaries had been 

 added to the force, six laboring in India, and 

 one each in Africa, Hayti, and Trinidad. 



The Autumnal Meeting of the Baptist Union 

 was held at Plymouth, beginning October 4th. 

 The opening sermon was preached by the Rev. 

 J. P. Ohoun. The Rev. Alexander Maclaren 

 presided. The following action was taken in 

 reference to the subject named in the pre- 

 amble : 



This assembly, recognizing the great need of a 

 denominational fund for the assistance of aged or 

 infirm ministers and of ministers' widows, hereby 

 resolve : 1. To establish a fuu^, to be called the 

 Baptist Union Annuity Fund, or as the committee 

 shall otherwise determine. 2. To refer the scheme 

 now before the assembly to the Committee of the 

 Union for revision, instructing them to confer with 

 the representatives of existing funds having similar 

 objects, with a view to their cooperation, and to 

 decide upon a scheme, and to appoint a Committee 

 of Management. 3. To request the Kev. C. M. Bir- 

 rell, the Rev. Dr. Brock, Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 

 Bart., Mr. W. Middlemore, Mr. E. Cory, and W. 

 S. Caine, of Liverpool, to solicit contributions tow- 

 ard a capital fund, and to hold the same until the 

 fund shall be fully organized. 4. That the first 

 annual report be presented to the meeting of the 

 Union at Birmingham in October, 1876. 



With reference to the circular which had 

 been issued by the Admiralty on July 31st, di- 

 recting the return of fugitive slaves escaping 

 to British vessels, the Union declared that 

 it could not refrain from expressing profound 

 astonishment and sorrow that such a docu- 

 ment should have emanated from a depart- 

 ment of the British Government ; " and be- 

 cause this document imperils important na- 

 tional rights, reverses the national policy in 

 regard to slavery, is utterly opposed to the 

 national feeling, makes British officers the in- 



struments of upholding slavery, and, in effect, 

 sets at naught a settled doctrine of British 

 law, this assembly respectfully but most ur- 

 gently calls on the Lords Commissioners of the 

 Admiralty at once to cancel this ill-judged 

 circular." A service called a "missionary 

 designative service " was held during the ses- 

 sion of the Union, at which four new mis- 

 sionaries were commissioned to their fields. 



VI. SCOTTISH BAPTISTS. The sixth^nnual 

 report of the Baptist Union of Scotland, being 

 that for the three months ending in October, 

 1874, stated that the Union consisted of 68 

 churches, and represented a membership of 

 about 6,200. The churches of the so-called 

 Scotch Baptists are not connected with the 

 Union, and are not therefore included in the 

 enumeration. They oppose the employment 

 of paid pastors. The pastors, or elders, are 

 chosen from among the members of the church 

 by the members themselves, and discharge all 

 the duties of their office gratuitously. These 

 churches are represented as being in a declin- 

 ing condition. The " Christian Brethren," or 

 Disciples of Christ, have established a few 

 churches in Scotland. It is claimed that there 

 are many Baptists scattered among the church- 

 es of other denominations, who, if gathered 

 together, would form a considerable body. 



The annual meetings in connection with the 

 Baptist denomination in Scotland were held at 

 Glasgow, beginning October 27th. The Home 

 Missionary Society was represented as being in 

 an efficient and prosperous state. Notwithstand- 

 ing, however, the liberality of subscribers had 

 increased, the expenditures had been in excess 

 of the income. The English subscriptions had 

 amounted to 1,005, the Scotch to 761. The 

 legacy reserve fund amounted to 2,000. The 

 number of members in the mission churches in 

 1870 was about 1,000 ; the present number was 

 1,850. There had been an increase of 340 

 members during the year. The number of 

 stations was now 148, against about 80 in 1870. 

 The number of young people under instruction 

 was 1,700, against 400 in 1870. 



The meeting of the Baptist Union was held 

 October 28th. Statistics were presented show- 

 ing that the Union had had a rapid growth 

 since its formation in 1870. There were now 

 70 churches and nearly 7,000 members, against 

 50 churches and 3,000 members at that time. 

 The Union had started with a revenue of be- 

 tween 400 and 500. Its present free in- 

 come was between 700 and 800, besides 

 which it had a Ministers' Provident Fund of 

 more than 2,000. The number of members 

 had increased more than 700, or an average of 

 about ten members for every affiliated church. 

 Three new chapels had been opened during 

 the year, and six new chapels were in course 

 of erection. 



BARYE, ANTOINE Louis, a celebrated 

 French sculptor, born September 24, 1795; 

 died June 25, 1875. In his boyhood h'e was 

 placed in the workshop of a steel engraver, 



