EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 



EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 261 



'iid in 1876 by the total defeat of the latter. 

 A plan of tin- Imperial Government to bring 

 all the railroads in the empire under its con- 

 trol, while being supported by Prussia, met 

 with a hitter opposition in South Germany. 



In Italy the financial condition of the coun- 

 try soonied to be improving, as, according to 

 tho lnnL'vt of 1876, there was to be a surplus 

 >f -, 000,000 lire. The plan of the ministry 

 to buy up the railroads led to a ministerial 

 rrisis, which ended in the resignation of the 

 Minghetti ministry in March, and the forma- 

 tion of a new body under Depretis, the leader 

 of the Left. The elections for the Chamber 

 of Deputies in November resulted in a decided 

 victory for the Government. In order to se- 

 cure to the Liberal party a majority in the 

 Senate, the King created thirty-two new sen- 

 ators on November 17th. 



In Spain the Carlist War was brought to a 

 close in February, and the country enjoyed for 

 the first time in many years internal peace. 

 In the Cortes the new constitution was adopted 

 in May. Although this document guaranteed 

 full liberty of conscience, the restrictions of 

 the Protestants continued to such a. degree 

 at England and Germany were forced to 

 terfere. 



In Denmark the old conflict between the 

 overnment and the Lower House continued 

 uring 1876, the House repeatedly refusing to 

 ote for the budget. The socialists caused 

 nsiderable excitement, being very active, al- 

 though in a considerable minority. 

 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. The eighth 

 nual meeting of the Evangelical Alliance 

 >r the United States of America was held in 

 New York City, January 31st. Mr. William 

 ~I. Dodge presided. A resolution was adopted 

 commending to the Branch Alliance in Phila- 

 delphia "the consideration of the expediency 

 and practicability of special religious services 

 "uring the time of the International Exposition 

 f 1876 in that city, illustrating the unity and 

 wer of our evangelical Christianity, and the 

 lations of the religion we teach to the prog- 

 83, perpetuity, and true glory of the Ameri- 

 Republic, and the world's civilization and 

 vation." The Philadelphia branch was also 

 respectfully requested to embrace suitable op- 

 >rtunities for acquainting distinguished vis- 

 rs to the International Exposition with our 

 ristian and philanthropic institutions." A 

 inmittee was appointed to cooperate with 

 the Philadelphia branch in carrying out this 

 measure. Reports were read from the Wis- 

 consin, St. Louis, and Newbern branches. An 

 account was given of the proceedings of the 

 first Biennial Conference of the Alliance, which 

 was held at Pittsburg, Pa., October 26 to 29, 

 1875. (See AXNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1875.) 



In March, 1875, a committee of the Alliance 

 had addressed a memorial to the Board of Edn- 

 <-at ion of the City of New York against a propo- 

 sition from the trustees of the Roman Catholic 

 parochial schools of the city to have a part of 



the public money appropriated to the support 

 of their schools. 



A memorial addressed by the Alliance in 

 1874 to the Turkish embassador at Washing- 

 ton, in behalf of persecuted Christians, and in 

 favor of religious liberty in the Turkish Em- 

 pire, had been brought to the attention of the 

 Government at Constantinople. In behalf of 

 his Government, the embassador denied that 

 the Christian subjects of the Turkish Empire 

 had any cause of complaint in the matter re- 

 ferred to. (The grievances of the Turkish 

 Christians are related in the ANNUAL CYCLO- 

 PAEDIA for 1875.) But, during the year, these 

 complaints had been continued. The Sultan 

 had lately promised important reforms, and, 

 among them, better security for religious lib- 

 erty. In accordance with the direction of the 

 executive committee, the secretary and treas- 

 urer of the Alliance had remitted, semi-an- 

 nually, to Mesdames Pronier, Carrasco, and 

 Cook (the widows of the three delegates to 

 the General Conference of the Alliance of 1873, 

 who lost their lives by the sinking of the steam- 

 er Ville du Havre), the interest of the funds 

 raised by the American friends of their de^ 

 ceased husbands. The funds were invested in 

 the following amounts : Cook fund. $7,000 ; 

 Carrasco fund, $5,000 ; Pronier fund, $5,000. 

 The " Conference fund," or the surplus left 

 from the sums contributed for the General Con- 

 ference of 1873, amounted to $6,000, and was 

 safely deposited. In view of the continued 

 financial pressure, it was proposed to conduct 

 the Alliance for the ensuing year without ex- 

 pense for salary or office-rent. 



The annual conference of the Evangelical 

 Alliance (British branch) was held at South- 

 port, beginning October 3d. The report of 

 the secretary for the past year spoke of an in- 

 crease in the number of members and the for- 

 mation of new branches. Mention was made 

 of the interest which had been taken in the 

 Alliance by the Queen and the Empress of Ger- 

 many. An address had been presented to the 

 Prince of Wales on his departure for India. 

 The Alliance had been very earnest in efforts 

 in behalf of the Christians in Turkey, and the 

 credit was claimed for its committee of hav- 

 ing been the first body more than a year pre- 

 viously to call the attention of the Govern- 

 ment to their condition. The Emperor of Ger- 

 many had offered a cordial welcome to the 

 members of the Alliance, if they should de- 

 sire to hold a conference in Berlin, and it 

 was suggested that the invitation might be ac- 

 cepted in 1878. During the sessions of the 

 Alliance a number of papers were read, prin- 

 cipally upon subjects bearing upon the condi- 

 tion of Christianity on the Continent of Eu- 

 rope. An important paper was also read by 

 the Rev. James Stephenson, of Dublin, on 

 "The Power of the Evangelical Alliance, and 

 how here to use it for Local Purposes." 



EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. The 

 following is a summary of the statistics of 



