CONCKKCATIONALISTS. 



pendituros, $3,050. Fifteen students were in 



attendance. 'I'ln- capital stock of tliO Provi- 

 dent Fund Socictv amounted to $16,404. A 

 iv-.i>]ution was adopted approving tlie action 

 of tin- Centennial Commissioners in cloMng 

 tlir Inhibition at Philadelphia on Sundays. A 

 resolution was adopted 



That tliU Union desires to reaffirm the great 



Sriiid(>lc for which the Congregational churches iu 

 rita'm ami the colonies have HO long und so earnest- 

 ly i-"iiU'iided, that there should be an entire sepa- 

 ration of Church and state; that the civil ruler 

 ou;,'ht not to interfere in mutters of conscience und 

 religion, and that the teachers of religion should 

 not interfere with the exercise of civil rights, be- 

 yond rxhortini: tlu-ir hearers to perform their civil 

 duties, UH well as all others, conscientiously and in 

 the fear of Ood ; and while rejoicing that this prin- 

 ciple is now advocated in this Province by some 

 who were not in favor of it before, the members of 

 this Union earnestly pray that the agitation upon 

 this question which is now felt, and the means to 

 usMTt and give effect to the principle of religious 

 equality j may issue in the most perfect civil and re- 

 ligious liberty iu all parts of the Dominion. 



The annual meeting of the Congregational 

 Union of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 

 was held in St. John, N. B., in September. 

 The reports showed that there were connected 

 with the Union 20 churches. Reports from 

 17 of these churches gave the total number of 

 members at 1,186. The churches failing to 

 report had about 170 members, making, it was 

 estimated, the total number in all the churches 

 about 1,350. The total church attendance was 

 about 3,600. Eleven churches reported that 

 repairs and improvements had been made upon 

 tln-m. Nine' parsonages were reported. The 

 total value of church property above indebted- 

 ness was about $100,000. There were 14 

 Congregational ministers in the two provinces, 

 of whom 10 were connected with the Union. 

 A resolution was adopted urging the discon- 

 tinuance of the Sunday traffic on the rail- 

 ways. 



the Congregational Year-Book for 1876, 

 published in January, gave statistics showing 

 that there were in England and Wales 3,141 

 churches and " branch churches," and 972 

 preaching and evangelistic stations, making 

 in all 4,113 places of worship. It was esti- 

 mated that these churches, etc., provided sit- 

 tings for 1,354,530 persons. The number of 

 colonial and mission stations was 913, mak- 

 ing in all 5,026 churches and preaching-places 

 supported by British Congregational ists. The 

 total amount expended by the county associ- 

 ations for missions in England and Wales dur- 

 ing the year was 20,261 ; amount expended 

 by the Home Missionary Society, 3,723. An 

 expenditure of 1,712 had been made in Scot- 

 land for similar purposes. The other disburse- 

 ments by the churches were : Through the Lon- 

 don Missionary Society, 93,327; through the 

 Colonial Missionary Society, 2,536 ; through 

 the Irish Evangelical Society, 2,311 ; through 

 the Congregational Union of Victoria, 1,611 ; 

 through the Canadian Missionary Society and 

 VOL. xvi. 9 A 



Indian Mission, 1,219; through the Evangeli- 

 cal Continental Society, 3,254: total, llr. 

 957, exclusive of local expenditure for rniusioi. a 

 directly by Congregational churches. Jn the 

 27 colleges and institutes there were 397 Con- 

 gregational students in the United Kingdom 

 and the colonies, and about 500 natives quali- 

 fying themselves for evangelistic work in for- 

 eign lands. 



The forty-sixth annual meeting of the Con- 

 gregational Union of England and Wales was 

 held in London, beginning May 1st. The re- 

 port of the secretary stated that the confer- 

 ence on church finance had been held with satis- 

 factory results. The principle of a financial 

 board for the whole country, for the adminis- 

 tration of the combined funds of the Congre- 

 gational body, for the augmentation of minis- 

 terial incomes, and for home-missionary pur- 

 poses, had been approved, and a meeting was 

 appointed to be held, May 15th, to consider the 

 mode of management. Action had been taken 

 in respect to the supply of candidates for the 

 ministry, but it had yet to be submitted to the 

 county associations for approval. The Congre- 

 gational lectures had been attended with 

 marked success. The accounts of the Union 

 showed that upward of 6,000 had been re- 

 ceived from the sale of publications. The 

 Rev. Dr. Aveling presided at the meetings < f 

 the Union. A paper was read by the Rev. 

 C. Clemance on the subject of the " Evangeli- 

 zation of the Country," at the close of which 

 the following resolution was unanimously 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That it be an instruction to the com- 

 mittee to invite the committees of the several county 

 associations to make inquiries within their respective 

 bounds in regard to the spiritual condition of the 

 people, more particularly in villages and thinly-peo- 

 pled districts, and the extent to which provision 

 for a pure scriptural ministry of the gospel among 

 them is lacking, and to riport, making suggestions 

 as to the way in which the Congregational cnnrches 

 can best contribute to the want which may be shown 

 to exist. 



The subjects of u Organized Congregational- 

 ism," u University Reform," and " Temper- 

 ance, " were also discussed. On the last sub- 

 ject a resolution was adopted, declaring 



That the Assembly regards the prevalence and 

 the reputed increase of intemperance with grave 

 concern ; that it is grateful for the measure ot suc- 

 CCSH which has attended the efforts of those societies 

 which specifically aim at the promotion of sobriety 

 among the people, whether by inculcating self- re- 

 straint and abstinence, or by seeking to diminish 

 facilities for drunkenness; and expresses the hope 

 that some plan will be speedily discovered for the 

 cooperation in the interests of temperance of those ' 

 who hold divergent views in regard to the question 

 of total abstinence and that of the restriction or pro- 

 hibition of the liquor-traffic. 



The anniversary of the Home Miuionary So- 

 ciety was held in London, May 9th. The total 

 increase in the receipts of the society for the 

 year had been 4,802 18*. 6rf., and the total 

 expenditure 4,492 8*. 7rf. The reports of the 



