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CHRISTIAN UNION. 



CHRISTINA, MARIA. 



Ohio, beginning October 2d. About one hun- 

 dred ministers and fifty lay members were in 

 attendance. Elder J. H. Coe presided. The 

 principal business transacted consisted in the 

 adoption of amendments to the constitution 

 of the body, by which it was given a certain 

 legislative power, and was placed in control of 

 the enterprises of the Church, particularly of 

 the missionary and publishing interests. Hith- 

 erto the Convention has had only an advisory 

 power. Under these provisions, the National 

 or Extension Society, previously a voluntary 

 organization formed in 1872, was merged in 

 the missionary department of the General Con- 

 vention ; its constitution was modified so that 

 its workings might become denominationally 

 effective ; its name was changed to that of 

 " The Missionary Society of the Christian 

 Church in America"; and its corresponding 

 secretary was elected secretary of the mission- 

 ary department of the General Convention, 

 with an Executive Board associated with him. 

 Provision was made for the organization of 

 auxiliary societies in conferences, churches, and 

 Sunday schools. Arrangements are also to be 

 made for assuming and carrying on the pub- 

 'lishing enterprises of the Church, which have 

 heretofore been conducted by a private asso- 

 ciation at Dayton, Ohio, and for placing the 

 Sunday schools under the general control of 

 the Convention. A collection was ordered to 

 be taken in all the churches in December for 

 the Biblical School, and another in January, 

 1879, for the Publishing House. 



CHRISTIAN UNION. The fourth General 

 Council of the Christian Union met at Wesley, 

 Ind., May 15th. The Rev. J. V. B. Flack, of 

 Missouri, was chosen Moderator. A paper 

 which had been adopted at the previous ses- 

 sion of the Council, defining the position of 

 the Union as an undenominational organiza- 

 tion, endeavoring to offer a common platform, 

 of principles on which all Christians can unite, 

 was readopted. It pronounces sectarianism an 

 evil, and declares that "all religious associa- 

 tions, built upon a narrower basis than that 

 which teaches and treats all the Christians of 

 the locality as equal brethren of the one church 

 of the place, and presents creeds, tests, and 

 usages which exclude a part of the Christians 

 of the place, are not built after the New Tes- 

 tament model, and have no claim to be re- 

 garded as churches of Christ, simply because 

 they have Christians among them " ; and " that 

 the church is a divine institution, is God-made, 

 not mechanical, not human, not man-made, 

 and God alone can place members in his 

 Church ; and, as every one who truly loves is 

 born of God, and therefore a member of his 

 Church, therefore it does not depend on our 

 doctrinal views, baptism, votes, or enrollment, 

 but on a loving and obedient hea/t." A reso- 

 lution, which substantially defined the doc- 

 trinal position of the church, declared that 

 "we believe the Bible to be a revelation of 

 God, and that it is, therefore, a sufficient rule 



for religion, faith, and practice; that it con- 

 tains truth for its matter, without mixture of 

 error; and contains the true sentiment of 

 Christian oneness. We therefore recommend 

 the study of it to all of our people, that we 

 may know of its cardinal principles." The 

 Council expressed its appreciation of the im- 

 portance of the Sunday school, but deprecated 

 the employment of ungodly teachers in the 

 same. The report on education urged the im- 

 portance of establishing a college in a central 

 location, free from all denominational restraint, 

 for the education of the children of the Church ; 

 and advised the ministers to study the sciences, 

 and thereby qualify themselves for greater use- 

 fulness before the world. It was ordered that 

 the General Council meet hereafter every four 

 years, instead of, as heretofore, every two years. 

 Elder Flack, the Moderator of the year, esti- 

 mates that the Union includes one hundred 

 thousand members. 



CHRISTINA, MARIA, Dowager Queen of 

 Spain, born April 27, 1806, died August 21, 

 1878. She was the second of the eleven chil- 

 dren of Francis I. of Naples, and had in her 

 earliest youth acquired great independence of 

 character. When Ferdinand VII. of Spain, 

 in 1829, had become a widower for the third 

 time, he was induced by the representations of 

 Louise Charlotte, the older sister of Christina, 

 to ask for the hand of the latter in marriage, 

 in opposition to the wishes of all his relatives. 

 She accepted the offer, and on December llth 

 was married to Ferdinand. The King was 

 soon completely influenced by his beautiful 

 and intriguing wife, and only three months 

 after the wedding, on March 29, 1830, re- 

 stored the Siete Partidas, which admitted 

 female descendants of the King to the throne. 

 This measure called forth a shower of pro- 

 tests. Charles X. of France, Francis of Na- 

 ples, the Queen's own brother, and Don Carlos 

 and Don Francisco, the younger brothers of 

 the King, all saw their claims endangered by 

 this law, and urged the King to retract his or- 

 der. But Ferdinand remained firm, and when, 

 on October 10th, Maria Christina was deliv- 

 ered of a daughter, Spain had again a Princess 

 of Asturias, a Crown Princess, who received 

 the name of Isabella. The second child of 

 Christina was also a daughter, Marie Louise, 

 who afterward became the wife of the Duke 

 de Montpensier, and the mother of Queen Mer- 

 cedes, the wife of King Alfonso XII. Ferdi- 

 nand VII. died on September 29, 1833, and 

 Queen Christina assumed the regency accord- 

 ing to his last will, in the name of her daugh- 

 ter, who was proclaimed Queen as Isabella II. 

 A civil war followed this step, in which Don 

 Carlos sought to gain the throne. After a 

 duration of seven years it was finally subdued 

 by Espartero, who promised to the Basque 

 Provinces, the principal supporters of Don 

 Carlos, the restoration' of their fueros. When 

 Queen Christina hesitated to execute this 

 promise, Espartero placed himself at the head 



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