CONGREGATIONALISTS. 



151 



after death offering opportunities beyond the 

 grave to attain by repentance eternal life, is, 

 at any rate, not a constituent part of the gos- 

 pel of Christ, to be a portion of the message 

 sent by this society to mankind. This question 

 also must, therefore, be considered as practi- 

 cally retired from further debate at the annual 

 sessions of the board, at least for years to come, 

 and "remitted to that general and legitimate 

 outside debate which never ceases in books, 

 essays, articles, sermons, in church conferences, 

 and local associations. . . . Nothing could be 

 more conspicuously absurd than to expect the 

 board, in its corporate action, to authorize a 

 theory which most of its members thus far be- 

 lieve to be only an attractive, but a delusive, 

 human speculation, with no basis in the Script- 

 ures, and forming no part" of the Divine Mes- 

 sage. It would not be wise, in the writer's 

 judgment, " to allow altogether the same lati- 

 tude of opinion among those representing all 

 our churches in the missionary field, which is 

 allowed, whether properly or not, by local 

 churches in oar own country to those who 

 transiently minister in them." No further 

 discussions of these questions in the board 

 would be proper until the views of a majority 

 of its members upon them should have been 

 essentially modified. 



American Missionary Association. The forty-first 

 annual meeting of the American Missionary 

 Association was held in Portland, Me., begin- 

 ning October 25. 



The receipts of the association for the year 

 had been $306,761, and its expenditures, $304,- 

 507, of which there had been applied to mis- 

 sionary work, in the South, $107,768 ; among 

 the Chinese, $7,565 ; in the Indian missions 

 and schools, $47,920 ; and for purposes of for- 

 eign missions, $5,120. Adding to the amount 

 of receipts given above what had been con- 

 tributed for special objects and the receipts of 

 Berea College, Hampton Normal and Agri- 

 cultural Institute, and Atlanta University, the 

 entire amount of contributions for the general 

 work in which the association is engaged was 

 $426,589. A debt of $5,783 had been paid, 

 and a credit balance of $2,193 had accrued. 

 Fifty-four schools were sustained in the South- 

 ern States, having 246 instructors and 8,616 

 pupils. Six of them were chartered institu- 

 tions, or colleges; 16 normal and training 

 schools, and 32 common schools, distributed 

 in nine States. Three new school buildings 

 and two buildings for industrial training had 

 been erected during the year. Industrial train- 

 ing occupk-d a place of growing importance, 

 and included fanning, tinning, blacksmithing, 

 wagon -m akin*:, carpenter's work, painting, and 

 the use of steam-power, for boys ; and domes- 

 tic work for girls. In the department of 

 church work in the South were returned 127 

 churches, lit:} missionaries, 7,896 church-mem- 

 ber-^ jind 1.">,109 pupils in Sunday-schools. 

 The amount of contributions for church pur- 

 poses and benevolence had been $18,337. The 



" mountain work " included two fields ; one 

 in Kentucky, having for its base the Louisville 

 and Nashville Railroad, and one along the 

 Cumberland mountains in Tennessee, extend- 

 ing back from the Cincinnati Southern Rail- 

 road. In botli districts were five schools and 

 twelve churches. The Indian work of the 

 association was chiefly in Nebraska and Da- 

 kota, and was represented by five churches, 

 with 61 missionaries and teachers, and 370 

 members, and eighteen schools with 608 pu- 

 pils. The " Chinese work " included seven- 

 teen missions, with 28 missionaries and an 

 enrollment of 1,044 pupils. A foreign mis- 

 sionary society had been organized among the 

 Chinese brethren in California ; and a begin- 

 ning of work had been made among the Japan- 

 ese in that State. The association has ceased 

 to be directly engaged in foreign mission work, 

 but it contributes to the support of the Mendi 

 Mission in Africa, which it formerly con- 

 ducted, but which is now under the charge 

 of the society of the United Brethren in Christ. 

 Congregational Union of England and Wales, The 

 annual meeting of the Congregational Union of 

 England and Wales was held in London, be- 

 ginning May 9. The Rev. Dr. Bruce, of Hud- 

 dersfield, was elected chairman for the ensuing 

 year. The report of the secretary said that the 

 accounts of the Union showed an adverse bal- 

 ance for the year. The Jubilee fund now 

 reached 400,000. The report further gave 

 accounts of various matters that had been 

 acted upon or were awaiting action. Among 

 them were new plans for electing the chairman 

 of the Union, and for insuring a better method 

 of ministerial settlements ; the examinations of 

 young people in religious knowledge, which 

 had not been taken up in the way that had 

 been hoped, but in which another attempt was 

 to be made, with a more limited number of 

 subjects ; a conference to be held with the Bap- 

 tists in July concerning home mission work in 

 England ; the movement in behalf of social 

 purity ; the want of success in the effort to 

 come to an agreement with the Presbyterians 

 with reference to the De Foe Church at Toot- 

 ing ; the Marriage Registration Bill ; the new 

 hymnal, which was to be ready in June; and 

 the ecclesiastical history by Dr. Dale, which 

 was to be brought out on the author's own ac- 

 count, but for which the churches were asked 

 to furnish exact statistics. A special commit- 

 tee on the election of a chairman had proposed a 

 plan for the publication, at least fourteen days 

 before the day for balloting, of the names of can- 

 didates approved by at least twenty members, 

 but the Union decided not to interfere for the 

 present with the existing method of electing 

 the chairman. For facilitating the settlement 

 of pastors the Union recommended that an edu- 

 cational tractate respecting the election of 

 ministers be published, copies of which should 

 be sent to vacant churches, and advised the 

 appointment of confidential committees in aid 

 of settlements by the country associations. 



