294 EVANGELICAL UNION, SCOTLAND. 



The thirty-ninth annual meeting of the Mis- 

 sionary Society was held at Buffalo, N. Y., Oc- 

 tober 4th. The Treasurer reported that the 

 receipts to the principal treasury had been : 

 for home and European missions, $30,353.14; 

 for the heathen mission, $3,283.98 ; which, 

 with the addition of the funds furnished to the 

 Conference treasuries and the bequests to the 

 standing fund, made the total amount received 

 for the missions of the church about $82,000. 

 The expenditures had been $74,102.18, of which 

 $19,394.81 were paid from the principal trea- 

 sury for home and European missions, and 

 $4,304.93 for the heathen mission. The re- 

 ceipts were $13,748 more, and the expenditures 

 $9,540 less, than those of the previous year. 

 The sum of $3,153 had been received for church 

 buildings in Germany aud Switzerland. A pe- 

 tition was presented to the Board of Missions 

 asking them to make provisions for the organi- 

 zation of a Woman's Foreign Missionary Soci- 

 ety, but the Board declined to give the measure 

 its sanction. 



At the annual meeting of the Board of Pub- 

 lication, reports were presented showing that 

 the resources of the Publishing House amount- 

 ed to 1394,480, and its liabilities to $12,188 ; 

 and that its business had been conducted with 

 an actual profit during the year of about $26,- 

 475. The aggregate circulation of the sixteen 

 periodicals, Sunday-school papers, etc., was 

 189,640 copies, showing a total gain during the 

 year of 17,737 subscribers. 

 r EVANGELICAL UNION OF SCOTLAND. 

 The Evangelical Union of Scotland was formed 

 in 1843 by the Rev. Drs. James Morison, John 

 Guthrie, and a few other ministers who had 

 been previously connected with the United Pres- 

 byterian Church. The founders were speedi- 

 ly joined by a number of Independent ministers 

 and churches. No formal basis of membership 

 was agreed upon until 1868. The objects of the 

 Union are " mutual countenance, counsel, and 

 cooperation in supporting and spreading " the 

 gospel. It comprises Independent churches and 

 all brethren who choose to be associated for 

 the attainment of its objects, who enjoy and 

 give evidence of the possession of the Christian 

 faith, and who concur in the following distinc- 

 tive basis of the Union : " The three great uni- 

 versalities of the love of God the Father, in 

 the gift and sacrifice of Jesus Christ to all men 

 everywhere, without distinction or respect of 

 persons ; of God the Son, in the gift and sac- 

 rifice of himself as a true propitiation for the 

 sins of the world ; and of God the Holy Spirit, 

 in his present and continuous work in applying 

 to the souls of all men the provisions of Divine 

 grace." The ministers preach doctrines differ- 

 ing from the Calvinistic views of the Presby- 

 terian churches, and more like those of the 

 Wesleyans, on the subjects of predestination, 

 the limited atonement, and the special work 

 of the Holy Ghost. The government of the 

 churches is 'a modified Independency, but is not 

 uniform ; the majority of the churches are reg- 



EXPOSITION, PARIS. 



ulated after the Congregational model, while 

 in others affairs are managed by a " session " of 

 elders, as in the Presbyterian churches, which, 

 however, must refer all important matters to 

 the final decision of the Church. All the 

 churches are independent in themselves, ac- 

 knowledging no external interference with their 

 affairs. The annual meetings of the Union for 

 1878 were held at Glasgow, beginning Septem- 

 ber 30th. The Rev. Dr. Bathgate, the retiring 

 chairman, was succeeded by the Rev. Professor 

 Hunter, of Leith, the chairman for the ensuing 

 year. The death of the Rev. Dr. John Guth- 

 rie, one of the founders of the Union, which 

 had occurred during the year, was referred to 

 in an appropriate manner. The various insti- 

 tutions connected with the Union were shown 

 to be in a flourishing condition. The Theo- 

 logical Hall, of which the Rev. Dr. Morison 

 was President, had an attendance of twenty- 

 eight students ; and the Home Mission, with 

 an income of 564, aided or supported sixteen 

 churches or stations. 



EXPOSITION, PARIS. The Universal In- 

 ternational Exposition of 1878 was announced 

 by a decree issued by Marshal-President Mac- 

 Mahon on the 4th of April, 1876, inviting all 

 nations to participate in an exhibition of indus- 

 trial and agricultural products, to be opened 

 on the 1st of May, 1878, and to close on the 

 31st of the following October. Many disturb- 

 ing and discouraging conditions and events, as 

 the late war in the East, the universal depres- 

 sion in trade and industries, the international 

 differences which threatened a new war in Eu- 

 rope, and the intrigues and opposition of the 

 Bonapartist and Legitimist factions, combined 

 to obstruct the enterprise, and augured ill for 

 its success ; but the energy of M. Krantz, the 

 commissioner-general, and his coadjutors, and 

 the liberal appropriations voted by the Cham- 

 bers, were requited by the final triumphant 

 success of the exhibition. 



As the first of the series of world's fairs, the 

 London exhibition of 1851, originated by Prince 

 Albert, was intended to proclaim to the world 

 the success of the free-trade system in England ; 

 and as the one last preceding, the Centennial 

 Exhibition at Philadelphia, was a celebration of 

 liberty and progress in republican America: 

 so the exhibition of 1878 was prepared by ex- 

 traordinary efforts on the part of the French 

 Government and people, in order to demon- 

 strate to foreign nations the definite success of 

 the Republic, and incidentally to recommend 

 the French system of industrial protection. 

 The international exhibitions have successively 

 increased in size and splendor, until all were 

 surpassed by the late one of Paris ; but their 

 advantages as commercial fairs are less highly 

 appreciated than formerly, since the merchants 

 of the great commercial nations no longer ex- 

 hibit their goods as generally as they did for 

 mercantile purposes. Many well-known Eng- 

 lish and Continental houses declined to con- 

 tribute to this exhibition ; but the room left by 



