56 



BAPTISTS. 



of the annual meeting in tolerating " grave 

 departures from ancient principles," and a 

 platform of principles, among which were 

 declarations in favor of baptism by trine im- 

 iiuTsiun, '' both administrator and candidate 

 going into the stream, accompanied by the lay- 

 ing on of hands and prayer in the water, there 

 being no gospel for baptizing either sick or 

 well persons in a mechanical vessel, in a house 

 or outside " ; feet-washing by the double mode ; 

 the Lord's Supper a full meal ; sisters to have 

 their heads covered with the plain white cap, 

 brethren to have their heads uncovered in time 

 of praying or prophesying ; " plainness in all 

 things by all, and uniformity in non-conformity 

 to the world; . . . colleges and high-schools, be- 

 ing of the world, belong not to the church, nor 

 to the humble followers of Christ " ; Sunday- 

 schools not of Gospel authority ; " taxation for 

 missionary purposes unscriptural ; salaried or 

 paid ministry unscriptural, as understood by 

 our ancient brethren ; special educational prep- 

 aration for the ministry not according to the 

 Gospel, as understood by our ancient breth- 

 ren " ; no lite insurance ; no oath-bound or 

 secret orders ; non-resistance ; non-swearing ; 

 brethren not to be permitted to engage in 

 political affairs by voting and holding oath- 

 bound offices under the civil laws. The sev- 

 eral churches and meetings have been consid- 

 erably agitated in consequence of these differ- 

 ences. 



V. BAPTISTS OF THE MARITIME PROVINCES. 

 The thirty-sixth annual convention of the Bap- 

 tistsof the Maritime Provinces met at Yarmouth, 

 Nova Scotia, August 20th, and was attended by 

 an unusual number of delegates. F. H. Rand, 

 LL. D., was chosen president. The statistical 

 reports showed that 1,260 persons had been 

 baptized during the year. The convention 

 sustained three foreign mission stations in the 

 Teloogoo country of India, at which eight con- 

 verts had been baptized since the previous year's 

 report. The income of the Board of Missions 

 had been $5,400, and its expenditures $6,150. 

 The Board of Home Missions had employed 

 48 missionaries, who supplied 86 churches and 

 206 out-stations at an outlay of $5,204. The 

 " convention scheme " of finance, which con- 

 templates the raising for benevolent purposes 

 of a sum equivalent to a dollar a person for the 

 entire membership of the churches, had been 

 nearly successful. 



VI. PARTICULAR BAPTISTS IN GREAT BRIT- 

 AIN AND IRELAND. The annual meetings in 

 connection with the Baptist Union of England 

 and Ireland were held in London in April, be- 

 ginning on the 26th. The Rev. Henry Dowson 

 was chosen president of the Union for the year. 

 The financial reports showed that the number 

 of churches and of single members contribut- 

 ing to the funds of the Union had considerably 

 increased. A resolution on public affairs was 

 adopted expressing satisfaction with the domes- 

 tic and foreign policy of the Government, the 

 belief that it would persevere in its determina- 



tion to do what is just and right, and the as- 

 surance that if it pursued that course it would 

 have the support of the masses of the people. 

 A petition to Parliament was adopted in favor 

 of the suppression of the opium-trade. A pe- 

 tition coming from members of the Universities 

 of Oxford and Cambridge asking that the Bap- 

 tist Union, in connection with the Congrega- 

 tional Union, would arrange for the delivery 

 of lectures or sermons in the university towns 

 on the principles of non-conformity, was re- 

 ferred to a committee. 



The managers of the Baptist Building Fund 

 had granted thirty-five loans, amounting to 

 8,032, and reported twenty-two new chapels 

 opened and six chapels enlarged and improved. 

 The receipts of the Bible Translation Society 

 had been 2,392. The invested capital of the 

 Baptist Annuity Fund had been increased to 

 78,000. 



The Union met in its autumnal session at 

 Portsmouth, October 26th, and was opened 

 by President Dowson with an address on 

 " Spiritual Life in Connection with the As- 

 semblies and Operations of the Union." 



The eighty-ninth annual meeting of the 

 Baptist Missionary Society was held in London, 

 April 26th. The receipts of the society had 

 been 51,459, the largest amount of income 

 reported in its history. Of this amount 11,- 

 915 had been contributed for special purposes, 

 including 4,000 given by Mr. Arthington, of 

 Leeds, for the Congo mission, and 3,421 

 which had been given by the churches for the 

 benefit of sufferers by a cyclone in Jamaica. 

 The missions of the society are in India, Cey- 

 lon, China, Japan, Africa, the West Indies, and 

 Jamaica, and parts of Europe, and returned 

 95 missionaries and assistants wholly, and 18 

 partly, supported by the society, 61 pastors of 

 self-supporting churches, 258 evangelists, 536 

 stations and sub-stations, 3,373 persons baptized 

 during the year, 38,397 members, 172 teachers, 

 5,815 day-scholars, and 5,828 Sunday-scholars. 



In India, two editions of the New Testament 

 in Bengali (one with references), and one edi- 

 tion in Hindi, had been completed, and a large 

 number of Scriptures and tracts in the Kaithi 

 language had been printed. The revision of 

 the Singhalese New Testament, begun in 1876, 

 had been completed. The thirty-two native 

 churches in Shansi and Shantung were all self- 

 supporting and ministered to by Chinese pas- 

 tors, and had received a large number of con- 

 verts. In Western Africa a branch station 

 from Bukundu had been established, nearly a 

 hundred miles in the interior. The mission- 

 aries to Central Africa had not yet reached their 

 destination at Stanley Pool, on the Congo, but 

 had labored with effect in San Salvador and 

 the neighboring towns. 



VII. GENERAL BAPTISTS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

 The one hundred and twelfth annual meeting 

 of the General Baptist Association was held at 

 Norwich, June 21st. The Rev. Dawson Burns 

 presided. Reports were received from 154 



