BAPTISTS. 



Certain expressions and acts of the Rev. Dr. W. 

 II. VVhitsitt. President of the Southern Baptist 

 Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky., has afforded 

 matter of controversy among some of the members 

 of the churches connected with the convention for 

 M-vi-ral years. In historical articles written for 

 ' Johnson's Cyclopaedia" and for the "Independent " 

 newspaper, Dr. Whitsilt had affirmed as a fact that 

 immersion was not practiced by the earlier English 

 Baptists, nor down to a comparatively late date in 

 their history. A demand was setup that he be 

 disciplined and removed from his presidency on 

 account of these publications and because of a dis- 

 courtesy he was alleged to have shown toward one 

 of the trustees in refusing to allow him informally 

 to inspect his official books. The Board of Trustees 

 had declined to entertain the complaint and the 

 convention had refused to call their conduct into 

 question. The trustees reported to the present 

 meeting of the convention that they had received 

 several communications respecting the manage- 

 ment of the seminary, which they referred for con- 

 sideration ; " but, inasmuch as the communications 

 refer only to issues which were settled by the 

 trustees at their last meeting, it is proper to say 

 that after twelve months of mature and prayerful 

 reflect ion we can find no reason for modifying in 

 any degree our statement made at that meeting; 

 but, on the contrary, we feel constrained by our 

 own convictions of duty to reaffirm our adherence 

 to the action then taken." A motion to refer the 

 matter to the several State organizations was lost 

 by " an overwhelming majority " ; and the motion 

 to adopt the report of the Board of Trustees was 

 carried by a vote of about 4 to 1. A motion asking 

 for the Kentucky delegaion to the convention the 

 right hereafter to make nominations to fill Ken- 

 tucky vacancies on the Board of Trustees ; and a 

 notice of a resolution to be made at the next meet- 

 ing of the convention that "without expressing 

 any opinion whatever concerning the seminary 

 matters," " but in the interest of harmony it divests 

 itself of responsibility in the management of the 

 seminary by declining to nominate trustees for it, 

 or to entertain motions or receive reports relating 

 to it, were referred to a special committee to con- 

 sider and report at the next session of the conven- 

 tion concerning the advisability of any change in 

 the relations of that body to the seminary. 



Subsequent to the meeting of the convention. Dr. 

 WhitMtt resigned the presidency of the Theological 

 Seminary. 



The statistical secretary reported, of 687 associa- 

 tions whose minutes had been examined, while 27 

 had given no information, that there were associated 

 with the convention 18,922 churches, with 1,5(58,906 

 members and 9,770 Sunday schools ; that 98,984 

 baptisms had been reported for the past year ; that 

 the value of church property was $18,681,227; and 

 that the amount of contributions for all purposes 

 was $2,895.697. A resolution was adopted to peti- 

 tion the Government at Washington to use every 

 effort toward securing religious liberty for every 

 inhabitant of Cuba. The Home Mission Board was 

 authorized to expend $5.000 in the " mountain 

 region "in aid of Baptist schools and in holding 

 institutes for the miui>ters and laymen for biblical 

 and theological instruction and qualification for 

 religious work. Mormon missionaries were repre- 

 sented to be making formidable proselytizing efforts 

 among these people. It was reported of the Cuban 

 mission that while men missionaries had left the 

 island, women had remained and worked in Sun- 

 day schools and day schools, while laymen carried 

 on the Sunday meet ings and prayer meetings. A> 

 a result, several converts were awaiting baptism. 



The Baptij4 Young People's L'nioii of America 



is represented within the bounds of the Southern 

 Baptist Convention by an aggregate membership 

 approximating 60,000. It is represented to be diffi- 

 cuit to obtain accurate statistics. 



National Baptist Convention (Colored). The 

 National Baptist Convention (Colored) maintains a 

 home-misssion board, with a corresponding secre- 

 tary having his office at Nashville, Tenn., and 

 which publishes Sunday-school periodicals; a for- 

 eign-mission board, the receipts of which for 

 1896-'97 were $4,337, and which sustains missions 

 at Brewerville and Monrovia, Liberia ; Cape Town, 

 Queenstown, Ouanda, and four places in East Gri- 

 qualand, South Africa ; and an educational board, 

 which reported an increase of interest in its work 

 and improvement in the character and extent of the 

 instruction given in denominational schools. 



Reports of the statistician of the National Bap- 

 tist Convention, the items of which are included in 

 the tables of the "American Baptist Yearbook " and 

 in the summaries at the beginning of this article, 

 give the colored Baptist organizations in the South- 

 ern States 12,923 churches, 8,338 ministers, 1,470,- 

 876 members, and 285,806 pupils in Sunday schools. 

 The members are distributed in the several States 

 included in the showing as follow : In Alabama. 

 139,638; in Arkansas, 54,673 ; in Florida, 25,196; in 

 Georgia, 211,660 ; in Kentucky, 71,328; in Louisiana, 

 71,845 ; in Mississippi, 198,654 : in Missouri, 30.7<>r> : 

 in North Carolina, 129,265 ; in South Carolina, 132,- 

 900; in Tennessee, 47,872; in Texas, 129,373; in 

 Virginia, 223,778; in West Virginia, 3,929 ; tola! 

 amount of contributions for all purposes, including 

 benevolent objects and church expenses, $677,662. 

 The reports from which these data are derived are, 

 many of them, very incomplete. The colored 

 Baptists have regularly organized conventions in 

 all the States named, with affiliated Sunday-school, 

 educational, and missionary societies and women's 

 organizations in several of them. The Colored 

 Baptist University, at Selma, Ala., had at the 

 end of 1897 been nearly freed from a large debt of 

 fifteen years' standing, only $500 remaining un- 

 provided for. The State convention (white) of 

 Arkansas employs a suitably qualified white minister 

 todeliver weekly lectures to the ministerial students 

 of Arkansas Baptist College for the education of 

 colored people. 



The Baptist Congress. The sixteenth annual 

 meeting of the Baptist Congress was held in Buf- 

 falo, N. Y., beginning Nov. 15. The congress 

 is a voluntary meeting for discussion only, having 

 no power to fake definite action, and not even pass- 

 ing resolutions. The meeting was attended l>y 

 about 50 brethren from the United States and Can- 

 ada. The subjects were discussed of "Man's Fall 

 and Redemption in the Light of Evolution,'' by 

 President A. H. Strong, D. P., George Dana Board- 

 man. D. D., H. Peabody, D. D.. and L. C. Barnes, 

 I). D. ; "The Opportunity for Baptists in Present 

 Religious Progress," by W. C. Bitting, D. D., Prof. 

 A. H. Newman, D. D., the Rev. Everett D. Burr 

 and George E. Horr. D. D. ; "On what Grounds 

 shall we accept the Biblical Books as our Bible?" 

 by George E. Merrill, D. D.. Prof. B. O. True. D. P., 

 and the Rev. George II. Ferris; "State Help <. 

 Self-Help, or Paternalism in Government," by 

 Prof. W. Rauschenhush, Prof. Shailer Matthews, 

 and George William Douglas; " How far can the 

 Truths of Christianity be stated in Terms of Nat- 

 uralism ?" by Prof. George B. Foster, D. D., Prof. 

 W. N. Clarke. 1). P., Albert Foster. I). IX, and Prof. 

 I>. B. Purinton, LL. D. ; and "The Union of tin- 

 Believer with Christ," by the Rev. Clarence A. 

 Barbour. 



The " Hard Shell " Baptists. Three kinds or 

 branches of " Hard-Shell " Baptists are described 



