246 DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



Carolina, New England, and several Southern 

 States, for stationing missionaries if sufficient 

 funds and the men could be secured for the 

 purpose Sunday-school conventions had been 

 held in California, New York, Ohio, Michigan, 

 Indiana, Illinois. Iowa, Missouri, and Ken- 

 tucky, besides smaller meetings in Virginia, 

 West Virginia, Texas, and Pennsylvania. 

 Sunday-school evangelists were kept in the 

 field by the State organizations of Ohio, Indi- 

 ana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Iowa. Resolu- 

 tions were adopted declaring it to be the duty 

 of each State Convention to maintain the 

 integrity and support of the missions under- 

 taken by the Convention, and requiring the 

 General Board and Secretary to collect the 

 reports of the work of the organized States 

 every year, and present a condensed statement 

 of the same to the Convention ; also recom- 

 mending a liberal appropriation for the distri- 

 bution of tracts. The State Conventions which 

 had not yet secured the service of a Sunday- 

 school evangelist were requested to appoint 

 some person to that office. The whole matter 

 of the subject of home-mission work was re- 

 ferred to a committee of seven persons, who 

 were instructed to report to the next General 

 Convention. A resolution was adopted favor- 

 ing cooperation with the temperance move- 

 ment. 



The meetings of the Foreign Missionary So- 

 ciety and the Woman's Board of Missions were 

 held in connection with the meeting of the 

 General Convention. The receipts of the 

 Foreign Missionary Society for the year had 

 been $8,795. The mission stations at South- 

 ampton, Southport, and Chester, in England, 

 Copenhagen, Denmark, and Paris, France, re- 

 turned 314 communicants, of whom 70 were at 

 Copenhagen. The continued support and ex- 

 tension as rapidly as possible of these missions 

 were recommended. A committee to which 

 was referred the subject of new missions re- 

 ported : first, that the work should not be 

 undertaken without assurance of success, but 

 that it was unnecessary to wait until full sala- 

 ries are in the treasury before employing new 

 missionaries ; second, that work, when inspired 

 by earnest faith, can never fail for lack of 

 funds ; third, that the proper work of the Dis- 

 ciples of Christ should be extended into other 

 countries of Europe, as Germany, Italy, Spain, 

 and Turkey; but the Executive Committee 

 should be left with discretion to employ men 

 in Asia, Africa, or the islands of the sea, " if, 

 in the providence of God, opportunities shall 

 appear for such work." The editors of the 

 religious papers of the denomination were 

 requested to publish all facts of interest re- 

 lating to the foreign missions, the churches 

 were requested to take up at least one collec- 

 tion a year for missions, and the preachers 

 were requested to preach on the topic on the 

 day appointed for the collection. An effort 

 was started to obtain $20,000 for the pur- 

 poses of the Society during the year, toward 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



which more than $7,000 were subscribed dur- 

 ing the meetings of the Convention. A sub- 

 scription of $100 a year for five years was 

 made for the support of a missionary in Tur- 

 key. 



The Treasurer of the "Woman's Board of 

 Foreign Missions reported that her receipts 

 for the year had been $4,290. The Corre- 

 sponding Secretary reported that the most 

 liberal support was given to the Society by 

 Illinois, and next in order by Indiana, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Missouri, while small- 

 er contributions were received from Kansas, 

 Kentucky, Virginia, New York, Alabama, Ten- 

 nessee, Michigan, and other States. A mission- 

 ary was under appointment to go to Jamaica. 



A general convention of colored Christians 

 was organized in connection with the meetings 

 of the missionary societies, and auxiliary so- 

 cieties were formed within it to cooperate with 

 the General Convention and the Woman's 

 Board. Eight ministers and several lay dele- 

 gates participated in this movement. 



DOMINION OF CANADA. A political con- 

 test of unusual excitement and importance was 

 waged during the summer, preparatory to the 

 election of a new House of Commons. The 

 commercial and general business depression had 

 made iljself felt among all classes. The Liberal 

 party in power, with its free-trade views, was 

 held responsible, and relief was sought in a 

 change of government and a tariff that should 

 afford protection to home industries. Both 

 these results were promised by the Conserva- 

 tives. The result of the election was a large 

 Conservative majority. The Mackenzie minis- 

 try resigned, and a new ministry was formed, 

 composed as follows: Sir John A. Macdonald, 

 Premier and Minister of the Interior ; S. L. Til- 

 ley, Minister of Finance ; Charles Tupper, Min- 

 ister of Public Works ; J. H. Pope, Minister of 

 Agriculture ; John O'Connor, President of the 

 Council; James Macdonald, Minister of Jus- 

 tice ; A. Wilmot, without a portfolio; L. F. R. 

 Masson, Minister of Militia; H. L. Langevin, 

 Postmaster-General; J. C. Pope, Minister of 

 the Marine and Fisheries ; Mackenzie Rowell, 

 Minister of Customs; J. 0. Aikins, Secretary 

 of State ; Alexander Campbell, Receiver-Gen- 

 eral ; L. F. G. Baby, Minister of Inland Rev- 

 enue. 



The term of office of the Earl of Dufferin 

 as Governor-General expired during the year. 

 His rule had been exceedingly popular with 

 the Canadians, and before leaving the coun- 

 try he received many marks of the general 

 esteem. The appointment of the Marquis of 

 Lome, the husband of the Princess Louise, as 

 his successor, appealed to the loyalty of the 

 people, and was enthusiastically received. The 

 Marquis and Princess reached Halifax toward 

 the close of the year, where they were met by 

 the Duke of Edinburgh, who had been dis- 

 patched with his ship to receive them, and 

 where they were welcomed by the people with 

 addresses and processions. Similar deinonstra- 



