RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 



RHODE ISLAND. 



745 



been increased through the agency of the Alli- 

 ance, and the knowledge of each other had ad- 

 vanced; and now Presbyterians no longer looked 

 upon their Church as a small affair, but as an 

 organization extending throughout the world. 

 " We have," the secretary said, " more ministers, 

 more congregations, more elders, more church 

 members, more children under Sabbath-school in- 

 struction, than ever before, with much larger 

 sums of money contributed for home and foreign 

 Christian work." 



As several of the churches represented in the 

 council fundamentally disapprove the singing of 

 any hymns in worship except those of scriptural 

 origin, the Psalter was used exclusively in the 

 devotional services of the Council. The next 

 meeting of the Council was appointed to be held 

 in Liverpool, England, in 1904. The Rev. Princi- 

 pal William Caven, of the Presbyterian Church in 

 Canada, was designated to be its president. 



RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. The one 

 hundredth anniversary of the Religious Tract So- 

 ciety, London, was celebrated May 5. The for- 

 mation of the society, in 1799, seems to have been 

 suggested by a series of cheap tracts which had 

 been published by Hannah More, and were found 

 to be answering a very useful purpose. The Rev. 

 George Burder, of Coventry, was led by the fact 

 to think whether a further series might not be 

 published which should set out more clearly the 

 evangelical doctrines of the Gospel. On May 8, 

 1799, Mr. Burder, after the annual sermon of the 

 London Missionary Society, met the ministers 

 who had attended the meeting, when, after an ex- 

 planation of his plan, a breakfast meeting was 

 appointed for the next day at St. Paul's Coffee 

 House. This meeting was attended by about 

 40 persons, and the society was formally organ- 

 ized under a name, the Religious Tract Society, 

 which has never been changed. The total circula- 

 tion of the society's publications since 1799 has 

 amounted to more than 3,000,000,000 copies. 

 Among the special features of this circulation are 

 mentioned the publication of the Pilgrim's Prog- 

 ress in 91 languages and dialects and the circula- 

 tion of 4,649,000 copies of the tract called The 

 Swearer's Prayer, which was first published in 

 180G. The trade receipts for the Jubilee year were 

 38,421; for the past year 109,141. The mis- 

 sionary receipts for the past year had been 794 

 in excess of those of the previous year, but the 

 grants had exceeded the income by 5,309. Seven 

 hundred and one publications had been issued dur- 

 ing the year. 



RHODE ISLAND, a New England State, one 

 of the original thirteen, ratified the Constitution 

 May 29, 1790; area, 1,250 square miles. The 

 population, according to each decennial census, 

 was 68,825 in 1790; 69,122 in 1800; 76,931 in 1810; 

 83.015 in 1820; 97,199 in 1830; 108,830 in 1840; 

 147,545 in 1850; 174,620 in 1860; 217,353 in 1870; 

 276,531 in 1880; and 345,506 in 1890. By the 

 State census of 1895 it was 384,758. Capitals, 

 Providence and Newport. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers in 1899: Governor, Elisha Dyer; Lieu- 

 tenant Governor, William Gregory; Secretary of 

 State, Charles P. Bennett; Treasurer, Walter A. 

 Read; Auditor and Insurance Commissioner, 

 Charles C. Gray; Attorney-General, Willard B. 

 Tanner; Superintendent of Education, T. B. Stock- 

 well; Adjutant General, Frederick M. Sackett; 

 Commissioner of Industrial Statistics, Henry E. 

 Tiepke; Railroad Commissioner, E. L. Freeman; 

 Record Commissioner, R. Hammett Tilley; Fac- 

 tory Inspectors, J. Ellery Hudson and Helen M. 

 Jeriks; Surgeon General, George H. Kenyon; In- 



spector of Beef and Pork, James R. Chace; In- 

 spector of Lime, Herbert Harris; Commissioner 

 of Sinking Funds, John W. Danielson; Inspector 

 of Scythe Stones, Benjamin Wilson; Chief Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Charles Matteson ; Associ- 

 ate Justices, John H. Stiness, Pardon E. Tilling- 

 hast, George A. Wilbur, Horatio Rogers, W. W. 

 Douglas, and Benjamin M. Bosworth, who died 

 Feb. 9 and was succeeded by Edward C. Dubois; 

 Clerk, B. S. Blaisdell all Republicans. 



Finances. At a meeting of the Sinking Fund 

 Commission in March it was found that there 

 was $96,000 in the fund, and it was invested. In 

 order to change the investment of the permanent 

 school fund, the bank stocks in which it was in- 

 vested were sold at auction, Feb. 9, and good prices 

 w r ere realized, in many instances higher than the 

 market quotation. The reason for the change is 

 the shrinkage in value of the bank stocks since 

 the fund was placed in them. 



The Governor said in his message that the 

 State has reached the point where more money 

 than is in sight is required, not for public im- 

 provements, but for public necessities. There i& 

 a steady rise in the State's expenses, calling for 

 care in appropriations and for revenue measures. 



The valuation of Providence this year amounts 

 to $188,501,780, a gain of $6,943,660. 



Education. The fiftieth class of the State 

 Normal School, 36 members, was graduated in 

 June; and at the same time 25 completed the city 

 training course. The appropriation for the year 

 was $54,000, and $2,000 for pupils' traveling ex- 

 penses. 



The College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts,, 

 at Kingston, conferred the degree of bachelor 

 of science on 15 graduates this year, of whom 

 5 were women. Certificates were granted to 21 

 other students. Its State appropriation was $10,- 

 000. 



Among the new free public libraries are those 

 of Portsmouth and Wickford, opened this year; 

 the corner stone of one was laid at Pawtucket in 

 November. The Legislature appropriated $7,000 

 for free libraries. 



The enrollment at Brown University in 1898 

 '99 was larger than ever before 925, including 99^ 

 graduate students and 165 members of Pembroke,, 

 the women's college. The faculty numbered 79. 

 Dr. W. H. P. Faunce was inaugurated as presi- 

 dent, Oct. 17. The income for the fiscal year 1898- 

 '99 was $129,677.73; the expenditures, $142,700.- 

 24; there were guarantees amounting to $9,000, 

 leaving a net deficit of $3,022.51. The endowment 

 funds amounted to $1,158,677. The movement to 

 increase the fund by $2,000,000, which was under- 

 taken early in 1898, was retarded somewhat by 

 the uncertainties caused by the war with Spain. 

 It has reached about $550,000, all of which ap- 

 pears to be conditioned upon the whole amount 

 being subscribed. The university extension work 

 has been discontinued, interest in it having died 

 out. 



The appropriation for the public schools was 

 $142,000. 



Charities and Corrections. The number of 

 inmates at the State institutions at Cranston at 

 the close of the year were Workhouse and House 

 of Correction, 249; Hospital for the Insane, 723; 

 Almshouse, 374; Prison, 196; Providence County 

 Jail, 250; Sockanosset School for Boys, 329; Oak- 

 lawn School for Girls, 46. The total number of 

 inmates of both sexes at the different institutions 

 was: Men, 1,138; women, 614; boys, 358; girls, 

 57; total, 2,167. The total number shows a de- 

 crease of 43 during the year. The Legislature ap- 

 propriated $20,000 for repairs at the institutions. 



