194 DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 



DISCIPLINARY POWER. 



effectually, and satisfactorily adjusted. Such a con- 

 summation would have been worth a great struggle 

 and a great sacrifice. It could have been reached 

 without any struggle and would have involved no 

 sacrifice. It was within our grasp. It was ours for 

 the asking. It would have been a signal victory of 

 philanthropy over the selfishness of human ambition 

 a complete triumph of Christian principles as applied 

 to the affairs of nations. It would have reflected en- 

 during honor on our own country, and would have 

 imparted a new spirit and a new brotherhood to all 

 America. Nor would its influence beyond the sea 

 have been small. The example of seventeen inde- 

 pendent nations solemnly agreeing to abolish the ar- 

 bitrament of the sword, and to settle every dispute 

 by peaceful methods of adjudication, would have ex- 

 erted an influence to the utmost confines of civiliza- 

 tion, and upon the generations of men yet to come. 

 (For further diplomatic questions, see PERU.) 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. The churches 

 included under this name have no official gen- 

 eral organization ; but general voluntary mis- 

 sionary societies have been formed by the 

 association of a large proportion of them, 

 which are intended to represent the whole 

 body in their peculiar work, and to labor for 

 the propagation of its system and doctrines in 

 the United States and foreign countries. With 

 them are affiliated State and district organiza- 

 tions in the States of Arkansas, Indiana, Ore- 

 gon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Nebraska, 

 Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Carolina, 

 Michigan, Virginia, New York, California, Mis- 

 souri, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. 



The General Christian Missionary Conven- 

 tion met in its thirty-third session at Lexing- 

 ton, Ky., October 19th. B. B. Tyler, of Ken- 

 tucky, presided. The Board of Managers re- 

 ported that its total receipts, including the 

 money for the Metropolitan Church at Wash- 

 ington, D. C., and the balance in the treasury 

 at the beginning of the year, had been $25,934. 

 Not including these amounts, the general re- 

 ceipts had been $7,428. Besides this, the 

 churches in eighteen States had contributed, 

 through their several State or district organi- 

 zations, for work within their own borders, 

 $74,038, making the whole amount contributed 

 for the work the convention seeks to promote 

 $99,972. The Board of Managers had endeav- 

 ored to supply evangelistic labor, in whole or 

 in part, in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kansas, Penn- 

 sylvania, West Virginia, South Carolina, Ala- 

 bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee, 

 through the aid of which 16 churches had 

 been organized and 59 assisted, 580 members 

 added, and 237 persons baptized. The State 

 associations reported 3,612 additions, making 

 the whole number of additions 4,192. The 

 interest of Sunday-schools had been looked 

 after, and the "General Christian Sunday- 

 School Association" had been organized, with 

 100 members. The board had made an at- 

 tempt, but unsuccessfully, to carry out the 

 plans of the previous General Convention with 

 regard to a German domestic mission, begin- 

 ning at Cincinnati, O. It was advised to con- 

 tinue its efforts and sustain such a mission, 

 according as its means should allow, and to 



establish missions as soon as practicable in 

 other centers of German population. It was 

 also instructed to continue its co-operation 

 with the church in Washington, D. C., until 

 the house of worship is completed there. Since 

 the society was organized, in 1849, the total 

 contributions to its treasury had amounted to 

 $194,856, while the State treasuries had re- 

 ceived since 1870 $697,116, making the total 

 contributions of the Disciples for domestic mis- 

 sionary work $891,973. The number of ad- 

 ditions to the churches had been, through the 

 special agencies of the General Convention, 

 since 1858, 17,244, and through the State 

 agencies, since 1870, 56,040, making the total 

 number of additions by missionary effort 73,- 

 284. Continued efforts were advised by the 

 convention to extend the system of State or- 

 ganizations. D. R. Dungan, of Iowa, was 

 chosen president of the convention for the en- 

 suing year. 



The seventh annual meeting of the Foreign 

 Christian Missionary Society was held at Lex- 

 ington, Ky., October 18th and 19th. Isaac 

 Errett presided. The Board of Managers re- 

 ported that the total receipts for the year had 

 been $27,431, about twice the amount reported 

 in the preceding year. Reports were received 

 from the missions in Paris, France, 62 church- 

 members and 130 pupils in the Sunday-school 

 and Bible-class ; Copenhagen, Denmark, 12 ad- 

 ditions, 112 members of Sunday-school, and 

 2,000 subscribers for the periodical published 

 by the mission ; Bardezag, Turkey, 36 addi- 

 tions; and Southampton, Chester, and Liver- 

 pool, England, 120 additions. Two missionaries 

 had been sent to India, with four young women 

 dispatched by the Christian Woman's Board of 

 Missions as Bible-readers. Three men of Ar- 

 menian birth were preparing for service in the 

 Turkish mission, which, it was stated, was 

 chiefly supported by the churches of Ken- 

 tucky. 



DISCIPLINARY POWER OF LEGISLA- 

 TIVE ASSEMBLIES 'OVER THEIR MEM- 

 BERS. UNITED STATES, ENGLAND, GERMANY. 

 When the sovereignty of a nation is sup- 

 posed to reside in the people, the legislative 

 assembly represents that sovereignty constitu- 

 tionally assembled to declare, in conjunction 

 with the executive, its will on the administra- 

 tion of public affairs. Where this sovereignty 

 is not supposed to reside in the people, it ; 

 usually declared to rest in the King, Lords, 

 and Commons, which is simply in the execu- 

 tive and legislative departments of the state 

 thus forming a " Parliamentary Government." 

 The power of the executive is one of approval 

 or disapproval of the measures adopted by the 

 legislature ; it serves as a check upon hasty or 

 unconstitutional action. This disapproval is 

 followed by a reconsideration of the objection- 

 able measure on the part of the legislature, and 

 often by its readoption. Thus the legislative 

 assembly is the mode adopted by the sover- 

 eignty of a state by which to express its delib- 



