UNITARIANS. 



805 



to live in retirement at Mosul; but while be- carried off to a stronghold in the mountains 

 ing conducted thither he was rescued from his called Huronma. A Turkish force was sent to 

 escort by the Kurds, headed by his son, and recapture him in October. 



U 



UNITARIANS. The annual meeting of the 

 American Unitarian Association was held in 

 Boston, Mass., May 30th. The Hon. Charles 

 Allen presided. The receipts of the treasury 

 for the year had been $35,000. The number 

 of societies contributing to the funds of the As- 

 sociation had increased from 148, in the pre- 

 ceding year, to 193, and was now larger than 

 at any time during the fifty-seven years of the 

 history of the body. The work of the society 

 had included the continued assistance of feeble 

 societies in New England; the maintenance 

 and enlargement of efforts in college towns ; 

 enlargement of the number of missionaries in 

 new States and Territories ; free distribution 

 of tracts and books ; aid to societies in New 

 Orleans, La., Evansville, Ind., and Philadel- 

 phia, Pa. ; and the establishment of a mission 

 to the Scandinavians in the Northwest. The 

 Association resolved to ask the churches for 

 $50,000 for the coming year. 



The Women's Auxiliary Conference had re- 

 ceived during the year $2,866, and had sup- 

 ported a missionary in Dakota, and aided some 

 poor societies. A considerable amount of 

 work of a similar character had been per- 

 formed by branch associations. 



The National Conference of Unitarian and 

 other Christian Churches in the United States 

 met at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., September 

 29th. Governor Long, of Massachusetts, pre- 

 sided. About 600 delegates were present, and 

 the total attendance upon the meetings was 

 2,200. The report of the General Council gave 

 a summary of the work which had been ac- 

 complished by the Conference since 1866, and 

 added in respect to the work of its own term 

 of two years (the two years since the last 

 meeting of the Conference), that $18,000 had 

 been raised to build a church at Ann Arbor, 

 Mich. ; the effort to raise $50,000 for the The- 

 ological Seminary at Meadville, Pa., had failed ; 

 and only about two thirds of the $50,000 

 which the previous Conference had decided 

 were needed yearly for missionary work had 

 been raised. A large increase had, however, 

 taken place in the contributions during the 

 year. The Rev. A. D. Mayo had spent two 

 years in the South, under the auspices of the 

 Conference, in the interests of public educa- 

 tion. The Western Conference reported on 

 the building of churches, and the advance of 

 ts efforts in Colorado and New Mexico. Its 

 financial affairs were prosperous, and its soci- 

 eties were enjoying a healthy increase. The 

 Middle and Southern Conference had no mis- 

 sionaries at work, but most of its societies 

 were in good condition. The New England 

 churches had furnished during the past two 



years more than $800,000 for church and be- 

 nevolent work. A report was presented from 

 the American Unitarian Association, and the 

 subject of a union between that body and the 

 National Conference was considered. An 

 amendment to the constitution of the Confer- 

 ence was adopted, explaining that " while we 

 believe that the preamble and articles of oar 

 constitution fairly represent the opinions of a 

 majority of the churches, yet we wish distinctly 

 to put on record our declaration that they are 

 no authoritative test of Unitarianism, and are 

 not intended to exclude from our fellowship 

 any who, while differing from us in belief, are 

 in general sympathy with our practical pur- 

 poses and aims." A resolution in favor of to- 

 tal abstinence was adopted. The Conference 

 was informed that Mr. Wade had pledged him- 

 self that when the committee of the Confer- 

 ence on the endowment of the institution to 

 be called after him, the Wade Theological 

 School, at Cleveland, Ohio, had secured $150,- 

 000 toward that object, he would add $350,- 

 000 ; and that if the committee would raise 

 $50,000 more, he would add a like sum, so as 

 to make the whole endowment $600,000. The 

 Conference resolved that an endeavor should 

 be made to raise $50,000 annually, during the 

 next two years, for the American Unitarian 

 Association. 



After the adjournment of the Conference, 

 an address was issued by its Council, setting 

 forth the work of the body, and the character 

 of the enterprises for which it asked contri- 

 butions. The address stated that of the $800,- 

 000 raised for church-work by the New Eng- 

 land churches, more than $250,000 were spent 

 on enterprises outside of the churches them- 

 selves ; invited co-operation in the endowment 

 of the Wade Theological Seminary ; mentioned 

 that $30,000 had been raised toward the 

 amount of $50,000 sought for the endowment 

 fund of the Meadville Theological School; 

 commended an enterprise for raising $10,000 

 for a church in the university town of Mad- 

 ison, Wis. ; apportioned among the several 

 conferences the amount they were expected 

 to contribute toward providing $50,000 for 

 the work of the American Unitarian Associ- 

 ation ; and asked for $1,500 in support of Mr. 

 Mayo's educational mission in the South. 



The National Unitarian Conference in Eng- 

 land was held in Liverpool, in May. Mr. James 

 Heywood, F. R. S., presided. Free exchanges 

 of views were made in the essays which were 

 read on various topics of interest to the Uni- 

 tarian churches. 



The fifty-seventh anniversary of the Brit- 

 ish and Foreign Unitarian Association was 



