CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS, YOUNG MEN'S. 



123 



by the English customs officials in the Chinese 

 service and ordered to Whampoa for investi- 

 gation. The captain of the Carisbrooke prom- 

 ised to follow a Chinese gunboat to that port, 

 but presently endeavored to escape to Hong- 

 Kong. After several warnings his vessel was 

 fired upon and disabled, and finally captured 

 and taken to Whampoa. Several hundred pas- 

 sengers were on board the Carisbrooke at the 

 time, but none of them were injured, the shots 

 being directed at the rudder only. 



In October an imperial decree, conceding 

 free intercourse on stated occasions between 

 foreign ministers and heads of departments at 

 Peking, was published in the Official Gazette, 

 and received with great surprise and signs of 

 irritation by a class of illiterate and inferior 

 mandarins. 



In November the Peking Gazette published 

 a decree regarding foreign travelers in the 

 provinces, requiring them to take out pass- 

 ports, with proper official seals ; foreigners 

 committing unlawful acts to be turned over to 

 the nearest consul. 



The present head of the family of Confucius 

 received in Peking the tablet from the new 

 Emperor, which, according to custom, is be- 

 stowed by each succeeding monarch to be de- 

 posited in the Confucian temple at Kuehli. 



The Dalai-Lama, the head of the Buddhists 

 of Thibet, died about the middle of the year at 

 Lhassa, the capital of Thibet. He was a child of 

 only seven years old, the son of poor parents 

 of Tadak, in Cashmere, and had been pro- 

 claimed as the thirteenth Dalai-Larna a few 

 years ago. The selection of a successor is 

 made by means of lot. The names of all chil- 

 dren who seem to bear some marks of being 

 an incorporation of Buddha are cast into an 

 urn, and imperial commissioners draw from 

 it by lot the name of the new Dalai-Lama. 

 The education of the successful child is con- 

 ducted by Buddhist priests, who, it appears, 

 pay but little attention to the bodily health of 

 their pupils, for, since 1841, no less than three 

 Dalai-Lama have died in early youth. 



CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS, YOUNG 

 MEN'S. The Twentieth Annual Convention 

 of the Young Men's Christian Associations of 

 the United States and British Provinces met 

 at Richmond, Va., May 26th. Mr. Joseph 

 Hardie, of Selma, Ala., was chosen presi- 

 dent. Three hundred and thirty-four delegates 

 and thirty-six corresponding members were 

 present. The services were continued four 

 days, during which reports were received from 

 the several general and local committees, and 

 the following topics were discussed: "The 

 Work of the International Convention ; " " The 

 "Work of the Executive Committees of State 

 and Provincial Conventions; " "How can the 

 Associations reach all Classes of Young Men ? " 

 " Association Bible Classes; " " General Evan- 

 gelistic Work ; " " Association Lectures ; their 

 Prevailing Abuses and Proper Objects ; the 

 Availability of Home Talent." The Executive 



Committee reported that seventeen State and 

 Provincial Conventions had been held during 

 the year, at which 282 Associations were rep- 

 resented by 1,250 delegates. The General Con- 

 vention been represented at all of these conven- 

 tions. The organization of associations among 

 the German citizens of the United States had 

 been furthered, with the cooperation of the Ex- 

 ecutive Committee, by the Rev. F. von Schluem- 

 bach, of Baltimore. The first meeting of the Na- 

 tional Bund of such associations had been held 

 at Baltimore in October, 1874. The Executive 

 Committee were represented in it. Arrange- 

 ments were there made for the visitation, in 

 behalf of the Bund, of leading points through- 

 out the country, and the visitation had since 

 been completed. At the report of the State 

 Committees of Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama, 

 Messrs. Thomas K. Cree and G. A. Hall had 

 been commissioned by the Executive Com- 

 mittee to make a visitation of the Southern 

 States. They were engaged in this work eight 

 days, and visited eleven States, from Virginia to 

 Texas, and held special meetings in thirty cities. 

 The following is a summary of the number 

 of associations in the several States and Brit- 

 ish Provinces, including both those which 

 reported to the convention and those which 

 failed to make reports : 



The reports of the convention also give lists 

 of 22 German associations in the United States, 

 13 associations in France (it is stated that there 

 are in all 40 associations in this country, with 

 1,200 members), five associations in Australia, 

 one in the Hawaiian Islands, one in Japan, 198 



