BAPTISTS. 



V. BAPTISTS IN CANADA. The twenty-first 

 annual meeting of the Canada Baptist Conven- 

 tion East was held at Montreal, beginning Octo- 

 ber 1st. D. Bentley presided. The principal 

 business related to the adoption of a union with 

 the Convention West. A plan for the organi- 

 zation of a Baptist Union of the Provinces of 

 Ontario and Quebec, which had been proposed 

 by the Western Convention, was sanctioned, 

 " subject to such modifications as on further 

 deliberation may be deemed necessary without 

 affecting the main principles of union suggest- 

 ed." To facilitate the formation of the pro- 

 posed union, it was suggested that committees 

 be appointed by the two Conventions to rep- 

 resent them in considering what modifications 

 should be made, by whose joint action both 

 Conventions should consider themselves bound. 

 In accordance with this action, a committee 

 was appointed by the Convention to represent 

 it. The Canadian Baptists, and the Baptists 

 of the maritime provinces cooperating with 

 them, sustain a mission among the Telugus in 

 India, in which thirteen missionaries including 

 wives and a female teacher are employed. The 

 mission embraces three stations, and returned 

 for 1879 467 " baptized believers." 



VI. BAPTISTS IN GEEAT BRITAIN AND IKE- 

 LAND. The following is a summary of the sta- 

 tistics of the Baptist Churches in Great Britain 

 and Ireland, as they are given in the " Baptist 

 Hand-Book " for 1879 : Number of churches, 

 2,587; of chapels, 3,451; of sittings, 1,028,- 

 833 ; of members, 276,348 ; of Sunday-school 

 teachers, 40,216 ; of Sunday-school scholars, 

 399,317; of pastors, 1,879; of Evangelists, 

 2,652. Sixty- three new chapels and 28 new 

 schoolrooms were erected during the year 

 ending September 30, 1878. The number of 

 members in the different parts of the United 

 Kingdom was, according to the tables in the 

 "Hand-Book": In England, 199,820; in Wales, 

 66,043; in Scotland, 9,234; in Ireland, 1,251. 

 The Baptists in other countries of Europe 

 returned 452 churches and 367 pastors, and 

 members as follows: Austria, 81; Denmark, 

 2,114; Finland, 400; France (part of whom 

 were in churches aided by the American Bap- 

 tist Missionary Union), 784 ; Germany, 15,- 

 287; the Netherlands, 465; Italy, 400; Swe- 

 den, 15,000 ; Norway, 615 ; Poland, 1,747 ; Rus- 

 sia, 3,686 ; Spain, 244; Switzerland, 403; Tur- 

 key, 159 ; total, about 40,000. In Africa (Cape 

 Colony, Port Natal, West Africa, and St. Hele- 

 na), there were 32 churches, 17 pastors or mis- 

 sionaries, and 1,147 members ; in the Austra- 

 lasian Colonies, 127 churches, 87 pastors, and 

 7,700 members; in Asia, 514 churches, 213 

 pastors or missionaries, and 34,006 members. 

 The estimate for the whole world is 28,505 

 churches, 17,683 pastors or missionaries, and 

 2,473,088 members. These numbers are made 

 up in part, particularly where churches in for- 

 eign lands are concerned, from the reports of 

 two or three years previous to the current year. 

 The real present number of Baptists is not 



less than 100,000 more than the number given 

 above. 



The annual meeting of the Baptist Union of 

 England and Ireland was held in London, 

 April 28th. The Eev. George Gould presided. 

 The report of the Secretary showed that 20,000 

 new sittings had been added to the chapel ac- 

 commodation during the year, and 145,000 

 had been spent upon the increase of chapel ac- 

 commodation and schoolrooms. A resolution 

 was adopted condemning the foreign policy 

 and the expenditure of the Government. The 

 expenditures of the /Society f or British and Irish 

 Home Missions had been 5,571. Three new 

 stations had been opened in England ; opera- 

 tions had been extended in some directions and 

 contracted in none. Satisfactory progress had 

 been made in Ireland. The receipts of the 

 Bible Translation Society had been 2,244,105. 

 The report gave accounts of the publication 

 and sale of editions of the Bible and New Tes- 

 tament, or of parts of the same, in the San- 

 skrit, Bengali, Mussulman Bengali, and Hindi 

 languages, the languages of Orissa, Ceylon, and 

 Japan, and one of the languages of Africa. The 

 anniversary of the Baptist Missionary Society 

 was held in London, May 1st. The Earl of 

 Northbrook presided. The total receipts of 

 the Society had been 46,092. Favorable re- 

 ports were made of the condition of the mis- 

 sions in India, where two hundred persons had 

 been baptized ; in Ceylon, in China, where 

 the missionaries had been largely occupied in 

 distributing relief to the sufferers by the fam- 

 ine ; in Brittany, where the missionaries en- 

 joyed greater freedom ; in Africa, where a mis- 

 sion to the Congo had been finally resolved 

 upon ; in Norway, where the " Union of the 

 Norwegian Baptists " had undertaken the gen- 

 eral management of the mission ; in Italy ; and 

 in Jamaica. The mission in Trinidad had suf- 

 fered from the loss of many of its members by 

 death. Four missionaries were on their way 

 to the Congo mission in Africa, and would be 

 reenforced by some native helpers from the 

 Cameroon s mission. The missions of the Soci- 

 ety in India, Ceylon, China, Brittany, Norway, 

 Italy, Africa, the West Indies, and Jamaica 

 were under the care of 88 European missiona- 

 ries, with 39 native missionaries and 186 evan- 

 gelists, and returned members as follows : India, 

 3,653 ; Ceylon, 653 ; China, 108 ; Brittany, 53 ; 

 Norway, 645; Italy, 133; Africa, 137; West 

 India islands, 4,215; Jamaica, 21,984; total, 

 31,581. Number of teachers, 147; of day 

 scholars, 4,269 ; of Sunday scholars, 4,114. 

 The expenditures of the Zenana mission in In- 

 dia had been 3,019. The mission employed 

 about 23 European lady visitors and 42 native 

 teachers and Bible women, who were laboring 

 in Calcutta, Baraset, Delhi, Benares, Allaha- 

 bad, Soorie, Barisaul, Monghyr, and Patona. 

 Nearly 700 women were receiving religious in- 

 struction in the Zenanas, and 13 girls' schools, 

 containing about 400 children, were taught by 

 the agents. 



