FREE CHURCHES. 



that the work be largely done there by native help- 

 ers; advised sending additional missionaries; com- 

 mended the interest manifested by the young peo- 

 ple in foreign missions and desired its extension ; 

 approved the action of the General Conference 

 Board in making apportionments to churches; 

 recommended the institution of a mission commit- 

 tee for each church, and the use of the card sys- 

 tem ; ui'ged that quarterly meetings, associations, 

 yearly meetings, and State associations devote some 

 time for presenting the missionary cause ; and ad- 

 vised measures to interest the children in missions. 

 The establishment of missions in Africa and in the 

 West Indies was authorized if the Conference Board 

 should decide upon them. The report on church 

 polity recommended consultation with some com- 

 mittee or board in the selection of men for posi- 

 tions as a step toward getting " the right man into 

 the right place " ; presented it as the duty of churches 

 and members of churches reverently to respect the 

 accepted methods of service, and to conduct Sun- 

 day schools, Young People's Societies, missionary 

 societies, and other societies doing church work, 

 under the auspices of the church, and to enter the 

 records of their transactions upon the records of 

 their respective churches. A report on doctrine set 

 forth that truth does not change, but men's con- 

 ception of it does ; that it is the duty of Free Bap- 

 tists to welcome new conceptions of truth, but that 

 there is no call for change in the Confession of 

 Faith. A report on home missions recommended 

 that $10,000 a year be raised for three years for 

 the home-mission work of the denomination, and 

 that the sum be apportioned among the churches 

 pro rata upon resident members, and approved a 

 system of institutes for the benefit of the ministers 

 in the Cairo mission. The publication of a quar- 

 terly review was approved. Delegates were ap- 

 pointed to the " Anti-Saloon Convention," to be 

 held in Cleveland, Ohio. A resolution was passed 

 in favor of proper respect for the Lord's Day and 

 observance of it. 



FREE CHURCHES, EVANGELICAL, FED- 

 ERATION OF. The National Council of the Fed- 

 eration of Evangelical Free Churches of England 

 met at Bristol. March 8. Nearly 500 local councils 

 were represented by between 600 and 700 delegates, 

 and the fact is noted that the members, instead of 

 attending on their personal responsibility, as had 

 been largely the case heretofore, were for the most 

 part elected representatives. The Rev. Dr. John 

 Clifford presided, and made the opening address, 

 the subject of which was the solution of the prob- 

 lem of church unity through federation. Unity, he 

 said, was to be found in the one Spirit of Christ, and 

 he believed, with a strong majority of churchmen, 

 that this demonstration of unity in Christ was com- 

 ing ; in fact, ' it was here in this National Council 

 of Free Evangelical Churches." The union was not 

 nominal and technical a mere junction of reluctant 

 persons but a genuine fellowship as of hearts that 

 could no longer keep apart. Figures were quoted 

 in the address citing representations which had 

 been made in the " Contempoi'ary Review " to the 

 effect that the free evangelical churches of England 

 and Wales provide more seats and have more com- 

 municants, Sunday-school teachers, and pupils in 

 Sunday schools than the Established Church, and 

 tables were quoted from the " Free Church Hand- 

 book " for 1898 showing that similar proportions pre- 

 vail among the English-speaking people as a whole, 

 including those of the British Isles, the United 

 States, the colonies, and the missions. In all these 

 countries the Anglicans have, according to the 

 'Church of England Yearbook " for 1897, 3,122,526 

 and the free evangelical churches (Methodists, Bap- 

 tists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists), ac- 



FRIENDS. 



285 



cording to official reports and estimates, 16,025,152. 

 Adding to these a number of American religious 

 bodies not exactly corresponding to any in Eng- 

 land, statistics of which are given in the tables 

 of the " Independent," New York, the whole num- 

 ber would be brought up to 20,500,000. As between 

 the Established Churches in the British Empire 

 and the English-speaking non-established churcnes, 

 the numbers are 2,573,925 communicants in Estab- 

 lished Churches, and 21,043,534 in non-established 

 churches. The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Berry gave an 

 account of his visit to the United States where he 

 had been seeking by conference and addresses to 

 promote the movement for federation. The fed- 

 eration report showed that 106 councils had been 

 formed during the year, bringing the whole number 

 up to 490. A process of consolidation had been car- 

 ried on in the formation of district federations, of 

 which 20 were named as already in existence. A se- 

 ries of united missions had been carried on in which 

 half the local councils had taken part. Excellent 

 spiritual results had followed these missions, and 

 they had also been a means of bringing the leaders 

 and workers of the different churches where they 

 had been held into closer and living association. 

 The preparation of parish maps with reference to 

 regular house-to-house visitation had been en- 

 couraged by an offer of 5 to each council of more 

 than fifteen churches which should undertake it 

 for its own district. Twenty-six councils had pre- 

 pared, or were preparing such maps. In the matter 

 of a circulating library, 202 boxes of books had 

 been sent to councils, each box containing about 50 

 volumes. The subjects of " Town Organization," 

 "County Federation," " Slavery in Africa," "Sec- 

 ondary Education," and the relation of the free 

 churches and the press were discussed. Alarm was 

 expressed at the failure of her Majesty's servants to 

 repress the systems of servitude which had arisen 

 in Pemba and Zanzibar and in South Africa. In 

 a resolution opposing the proposed establishment of 

 a Roman Catholic University in Ireland, the council, 

 " believing that the policy which has prevailed in 

 the United Kingdom for many years of founding 

 new universities on a national rather than on a sec- 

 tarian basis, and freeing the older universities from 

 denominational control, is a sound policy, favorable 

 to social peace and good will, as well as essential to 

 the highest educational efficiency," declared that it 

 condemned, " as retrograde and dangerous the pro- 

 posal to institute by authority either of the Crown 

 or of Parliament and sustain by public money a 

 Roman Catholic University in Ireland, as it would 

 similarly condemn the proposal to institute a de- 

 nominational university in England or Scotland," 

 and instructed its com'mittee vigorously to oppose 

 any measure that might be brought before Parlia- 

 ment for the foundation of such a university. 



FRIENDS. The Orthodox American Friends 

 return for 1898 1,272 ministers. 830 churches, and 

 92,073 members. The other three bodies in Amer- 

 ica have, by the latest returns, no special enumera- 

 tion for 1898 being given : The " Plicksites," 115 min- 

 isters, 201 churches, and 21,992 members; the " Wil- 

 burites," 38 ministers, 53 churches, and 4,329 mem- 

 bers ; and the Primitive Friends, 11 churches, 9 

 ministers, and 232 members, making for the whole 

 society in America 1,436 ministers, 1,093 churches, 

 and 118.626 members. These numbers show an in- 

 crease during the year of 1,152 members in the Or- 

 thodox branch, while the number of ministers is 26 

 less, and that of churches shows no change. The 

 Friends have seven institutions devoted to col- 

 legiate instruction, one new one, Friends' Univer- 

 sity, at Wichita, Kan., having been opened during 

 the year by the Kansas Yearly Meeting. It occu- 

 pies the building and property of the former Gar- 



