BAPTISTS. 



two denominations. The Rev. I. D. Stewart, 

 Free- Will Baptist, and the Rev. I. H. Coe, of 

 the Christian Connection, were elected joint 

 presidents of the convention. A paper was 

 presented embodying '' a statement of general 

 sentiments held by the Christians," which re- 

 cited that 



The Churches of the Christian denomination in 

 association with the American Christian Convention, 

 while disowning all formal creeds, considering the 

 Holy Bible to be a sufficient rule of faith and prac- 

 tice, and Christian character or vital piety the only 

 test of Christian fellowship, have yet found, as a re- 

 sult of loyalty to Scripture teaching, that in practice 

 they receive and maintain, with great unanimity, the 

 following important principles of evangelical or gos- 

 pel truth : 



1. That the Holy Bible, or Scriptures of the Old 

 and New Testaments, is given by inspiration of God, 

 and is consequently to be accepted as the authorita- 

 tive standard bv wnich religious teaching and human 

 conduct are to be regulated and judged. 



2. That Holy Scripture reveals to us one God the 

 Father Almighty, of whom arc all things and we in 

 him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten 

 of the Father, the brightness of God's glory and the 

 express image of his person, by whom are all things 

 and we by him ; and the Holy Ghost, the renewer, 

 comforter, and sanctifier, who with the Father ana 

 the Son together is worshiped and glorified. 



3. That the love of God to sinful" men has its high- 

 est expression in the gift of his Son, who, laying aside 

 the glory which he had with the Father before the 

 world was, took upon him man's nature, and at last 

 suffered upon the cross, that we through his death 

 might have life. 



4. That the grace of God in the gospel is freely 

 offered to all men, and that all who believe in Christ 

 and heartily accent him in this life as their Saviour, 

 are regenerated through the power of the Holy Ghost, 

 and become heirs of salvation. 



5. That the Church of Christ, invisible and spirit- 

 ual, comprises all true believers in Christ, whose duty 

 it is to associate themselves in churches for the pro- 

 motion of spiritual growth and Christian fellowship, 

 for the observance of the ordinances, for the teaching 

 of gospel truth, and for a zealous effort for the con- 

 version of men ; and that these churches, in fellow- 

 ship with one another, may determine each for 

 itself their organization, beliefs and forms of wor- 

 ship, and should co-operate together to manifest their 

 unity in Christ in the face of all mankind. 



6. That the Scriptures teach the ultimate preva- 

 lence of the kingdom of Christ over all the earth ; 

 the glorious appearing of the great God and our Sav- 

 iour Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and a 

 final judgment of the wicked to eternal punishment, 

 and of the righteous to life everlasting. 



NOTE. The churches of the Christian denomina- 

 tion almost uniformly administer baptism by immer- 

 sion, but regularly iuvite all Christians, without dis- 

 tinction of denomination or opinion, to the Lord's 

 Table. 



A resolution was passed expressing the sense 

 of the meeting that a union of the two denomi- 

 nations WHS desirable, if it could be accom- 

 plished without detriment to the interests of 

 the cause of either body. 



A committee was appointed to draw up a 

 basis of union, with authority to call a gen- 

 eral convention of representatives of the two 

 bodies when prepared to present its report. 



This convention met in the city of New 

 York, May 5. The Rev. J. D. Stewart, of 

 New Hampshire, presided. A draft of a basis 



of union was adopted, after several proposi- 

 tions had been received, as follows : 



The Free Baptist and Christian Churches, perceiv- 

 ing their unity in the reception of the Holy Scriptures 

 as given by inspiration of God, and as the only rule 

 of faith and conduct; and that Christian character, 

 attained in the exercise of saving faith in the Lord 

 Jesus Christ, by the washing of regeneration and the 

 renewing of the Holy Spirit, is the indispensable con- 

 dition of admission to the ordinances of the gospel, 

 and to the fellowship of the Church ; and recognizing 

 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 

 of all, who is above all and through all and in all ; 

 deploring the evils of needless division, conceding 

 the liberty of the several churches to retain or adopt 

 such local name, covenants^ forms, and usages as they 

 may desire, in due subordination to the precepts of 

 God's Word, do hereby propose to form a union as 

 follows : 



1. In efforts to carry out the command of our divine 

 Lord, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gos- 

 pel to every creature." 



2. In efforts for the more effectual preaching of the 

 gospel at home in order to the promotion of piety 

 among Christians and the conversion of sinners, re- 

 garding the gospel to be the power of God unto salva- 

 tion to every one that believeth. 



3. In improving the condition of our Sunday- 

 schools, in establishing new schools, and in taking 

 measures to have the statistics of all these schools an- 

 nually reported and published. 



4. In endowing and supporting the institutions of 

 learning already existing in either body represented 

 in this committee, and in founding such new ones as 

 may be deemed expedient. 



5. In the sustaining of such periodicals as are now 

 published by both bodies, and in publishing a year- 

 book and a religious quarterly or magazine by some 

 person or persons in good standing in either denomi- 

 nation. 



6. We recommend that such churches, conferences, 

 quarterly meetings, and other bodies, as occupy close- 

 ly connected territories, unite. That ministers of 

 each denomination form organizations for religious 

 worship, biblical research, and mutual improvement, 

 and that the weak churches and scattered families of 

 the above-named bodies be brought together as rap- 

 idly as practicable. 



7. That independent churches in sympathy with 

 this movement be advised to unite with* some associa- 

 tion already existing in either body, or to form them- 

 selves into new associations to be connected with one 

 body or the other. 



8. In entering this union, neither the Free Baptists 

 nor the Christians relinquish their name, doctrine, 

 church polity, fellowship or principles of communion ; 

 but they rather emphasize whatever they have hereto- 

 fore taught, and what they now consider, as biblical, 

 evangelical, charitable, and true ; each, however, ob- 

 serving that truth for itself, without attempting to 

 force it _ upon another; yet hoping that, by fraternal 

 association and mutual forbearance, variations may 

 vanish away, and that both may be so assimilated in 

 the spiritual church as to become one people in every 

 particular ; for which we will labor and pray. 



A joint committee was chosen, by resolu- 

 tion of the convention, to arrange for carry- 

 ing out the provisions of the basis of union, 

 with power to present questions of policy that 

 might arise to the general bodies of the two 

 denominations, if it should be deemed advisa- 

 ble for the promotion of the objects of the 

 movement. 



Seventh-Day Baptists. Statistical returns made 

 to the Seventh-Day Baptist General Confer- 

 ence from V4 out of the 97 churches of the 

 denomination, show an entire membership of 



