JEWS. 



531 



work. The Bum of $1,000 waa appropriated 

 to put into execution a plan to provide volun- 

 teer visiting preachers for such communities as 

 are not able to support a minister. The du- 

 ties of the circuit preachers will be to organ- 

 ize congregations, a\vaken the religious spirit, 

 mi'l establish religions schools. Each minister 

 will have a salary fixed by the Executive 

 Board, and his expenses, not more than $500 

 a year, will bo paid, except when the com- 

 munity visited can furnish the money. A re- 

 port on the subject of a young ladies' semi- 

 nary admitted that the establishment of such 

 an institution would be desirable, but remarked 

 upon the lack of funds for the purpose. A 

 committee was appointed to consider the ad- 

 visability and feasibility of establishing two 

 self-sustaining seminaries, one for boys and 

 one for girls, and report at the next session of 

 the Gonncil. 



A committee of the Board of Delegates to 

 whom the subject had been referred in the 

 previous year presented a report in favor of 

 the encouragement of agricultural colonies 

 and the training of youth to agricultural pur- 

 suits, and the following recommendations were 

 adopted on the subject : " That a tract of land 

 should be purchased large enough to accommo- 

 date at least fifty families and support a model- 

 farm school ; that managers of Jewish schools 

 and charitable institutions should introduce 

 into the institutions elementary instruction on 

 the subject; that the opportunity now opens 

 for a good investment of money by capitalists ; 

 and that the Executive Board of the Council 

 be empowered to select from their number 

 a committee of five on agriculture, to solicit 

 donations of land, farming implements, and 

 money ; to allot to each family in the colony 

 from fifty to eighty acres of land that shall be 

 rent-free for seven years, after which the land 

 taken up shall be offered to the incumbent for 

 a reasonable price, the money received to be 

 applied to the purchase of other land, and so 

 on ; to purchase such additional tracts of land 

 as may from time to time in the colonial life 

 be expedient, and as the funds on hand may 

 allow ; and that the Board's committee should 

 consult with kindred organizations as to the 

 best means of % accomplishing the project of the 

 colony." 



The Committee on Statistics reported that 

 they had made no further progress. It ap- 

 peared, however, that 115 congregations were 

 now joined to the Union ; that for the last fis- 

 cal year the sum of $4,374 had been received 

 for the college from congregations, with yearly 

 contributions of $957, $3,887 as gifts to the 

 sinking fund, and $1,821 for the support of 

 indigent students. The miscellaneous receipts 

 had been $2,647, and the total disbursements 

 $11,619. The college had a balance on hand 

 of $3,055, and $2,453 in the sinking fund. 

 Expressions of fellowship were exchanged 

 with the Alliance Israelite Universelle of Pa- 

 ris, the Anglo-Jewish Association of London, 



the Alliance of Vienna, and the Dentscho Go- 

 meinde Bund of Leipsic. 



The first instance of the interchange of fra- 

 ternal courtesies between Jews and a Chris- 

 tian church in the United States took place in 

 St. Louis on Juno 29th. The Second Baptist 

 Church in that city having been burned, the 

 congregation were given the use of the Syna- 

 gogue Shaari Emeth for purposes of worship 

 until they could provide themselves with a 

 nevr building. At the close of the period, 

 when the Baptists were about to go to their 

 own church, a joint religious service of the 

 two congregations was held in tiie synagogue, 

 with prayer, hymns from the Jewish and Bap- 

 tist hymn-books, Scriptural lessons, and ad- 

 dresses by the Baptist pastor and the Jewish 

 rabbi. 



A plan has been under consideration in 

 England -for the reorganization of Jews' Col- 

 lege, which contemplates a division into ju- 

 nior and senior classes. Candidates for admis- 

 sion into the junior class must have passed the 

 matriculation examination of the University 

 of London, and be between sixteen and twen- 

 ty years of age. The course of study in this 

 class is arranged for three years, during which 

 the students shall attend classes at the Univer- 

 sity College. Candidates for the senior class 

 shall have passed the second B. A. examina- 

 tion of the University of London, and shall 

 occasionally have opportunities of practicing 

 the arts of preaching, reading, and teaching, 

 and of being instructed in the theory and prac- 

 tice of Shechitah and Milah. The Council 

 shall grant certificates of competency to stu- 

 dents who have qualified themselves for the 

 offices of minister, preacher, reader, and teach- 

 er of religion. An elementary class is also to 

 be established. In Germany societies have 

 been formed among the rabbin and teachers of 

 various provinces to promote a new methodi- 

 cal system of instruction, and the German 

 Board of Delegates is working with the same 

 object. In Austria a sharp impetus has been 

 given to education by the efforts of the Vienna 

 Alliance and the Lemberg " Shomer Israel." 



The Alliance Israelite Univertelle of Paris 

 has branches in every prominent European 

 capital ; its agents are in active communication 

 with the most distant Jewish communities in 

 India, China, Abyssinia, etc. ; and its schools 

 in Palestine, Turkey, Morocco, and other coun- 

 tries are making rapid progress. Its political 

 influence was exhibited at the Congress of Ber- 

 lin, and its schools in the East attest the effi- 

 cacy of its educational influence. 



An International Jewuh Contention, under 

 the auspices of the Alliance Israelite, met in 

 Paris on August 12th, and was attended by 

 about two hundred delegates, among whom 

 were some of the most distinguished r 

 sentatives of the race in Europe and America. 

 M. Creinieux, President of the Alliance, pre- 

 sided. The opening addresses dwelt chiefly 

 upon the stipulation for the emancipation of 



