UNITARIANS. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 821 



persons baptized in Europe by the Church of Rome. 

 ... It has proved, however, that the increase 

 of the Unitarian Church is especially within the 

 ranks of other congregations than ours. . . . 

 With the advancing catholicity of the creed- 

 bound churches, it is easier for conscientious Uni- 

 tarians to join them or to remain in them than 

 it was." Strong churches had been founded dur- 

 ing the preceding two years in Ottawa, Canada; 

 Amherst, Mass.; Lincoln, Neb.; Erie, Pa.; Dun- 

 kirk and Jamestown, N. Y.; and several smaller 

 places. The need of a school where Unitarian 

 principles were upheld had been met by the es- 

 tablishment of an institution of high grade at 

 Tarrytown, N. Y. A proposition was offered for 

 the purchase of Lithia Springs a convenient 

 camp ground in southern Illinois where summer 

 assemblies were held for $8,000. The order of 

 business of the meeting was so arranged that sub- 

 jects relating to the fundamental necessities of 

 religion should be discussed on the first day; 

 those concerning the practical demands which 

 the year and the country made upon .religious 

 men on the second day; and the reports of the 

 American Unitarian Association and other execu- 

 tive agencies of the Church on the third day. A 

 report on the better organization of the church 

 life of the denomination was adopted, recom- 

 mending that each church " give honor and dig- 

 nity to its statement of religious spirit and pur- 

 pose; make its statement simple, clear, and 

 strong; and having its membership involve no 

 test of creed or sacrament, shall make it expres- 

 sive of Christian purpose and a pledge of loyalty. 

 The simple statement, ' In the love of truth, and 

 in the spirit of Jesus, we unite for the worship 

 of God and the service of man,' which is in 

 use in more than 80 of our churches, is com- 

 mended; that this or some similar statement be 

 made by each parish or incorporated in the arti- 

 cles of organization of the society or parish; 

 and that all persons in the parish be urged and 

 invited to subscribe to the same, and thereby 

 become members of the Church." The report also 

 advised that the classes in the Sunday schools, 

 when their members come to maturity, be en- 

 couraged to join the Church publicly " after some 

 definite preparation and instruction." Rules were 

 adopted defining the powers and method of pro- 

 ceedings of the Fellowship Committee, the duty 

 of which is to prepare and look after the list of 

 Unitarian ministers. A resolution was adopted 

 giving advice concerning the conditions govern- 

 ing the ordination of ministers, to the effect that 

 a candidate for the Unitarian ministry should be 

 ordained "only by a church or other religious 

 society, or at the request of a church or other 

 religious society, after a call duly given has been 

 accepted by the candidate, except that, whenever 

 it is desirable to ordain a person for. special serv- 

 ice other than the pastorate of a church, then, 

 by the approval of the Fellowship Committee, the 

 faculty of a divinity school or the officers of a 

 conference may ordain." An expression of sym- 

 pathy with the Protestants in Russia was voted. 

 Other resolutions related to the appointment of 

 committees in all the parishes to look after con- 

 tributions to the American Association; declared 

 confidence in the wisdom and integrity of the 

 officers and directors of the association; and 

 commended the Young People's Religious Union, 

 recognizing in it " the means of guiding and ex- 

 pressing the religious life of our young people, 

 and a vital help to the work of our churches." 

 A message of greeting was sent to the Universal- 

 ist General Convention, which was about to meet 

 in Boston; a proposal of the American Unitarian 



Association for the appointment of a Conference 

 Committee to consider plans of closer co-operation 

 between the two denominations was approved; 

 and a fraternal delegation was appointed to visit 

 the Universalist Convention and convey to it the 

 assurance of the good will of the Unitarian Con- 

 ference. 



British Unitarians. The anniversary meet- 

 ings of the British Unitarians began with that 

 of the Sunday-school Association, May 23. Mr. 

 John Dendy, of Manchester, presided and deliv- 

 ered the opening address on the subject of The 

 Sunday-school Teacher as a Social Reformer. The 

 statistical report showed an increase of Sunday 

 schools, teachers, and pupils, the number of the 

 latter being upward of 34,000. The income and 

 expenditure for the year had nearly balanced at 

 about 1,263. An effort had been successfully 

 made to diffuse the publications of the association 

 more widely in the schools. 



The Essex Hall Lecture was delivered by the 

 Rev. P. H. Wickford, upon Media3valism and 

 Modern Thought. 



The annual report of the British and Foreign 

 Unitarian Association gave the total income for 

 the year as having been 4,816. The expendi- 

 ture included grants of money and books to con- 

 gregations and ministers amounting to 2,632. 

 Bequests had been received severally of 1,000 

 and 2,720, besides others of smaller amounts. 

 Among the chief features of the year's work had 

 been the preaching by the Rev. Stopford Brooke 

 at various churches throughout the country. 

 Special endeavors had been made to increase the 

 attention paid to the religious education of young 

 people. A missionary had been sent to India to 

 fraternize and advise with the theists of the Brah- 

 mo Somaj, and to diffuse Unitarian Christian 

 teaching, especially in the university centers. 

 Resolutions were passed disapproving the issue 

 of Sunday editions of daily newspapers, commend- 

 ing the International Conference on disarma- 

 ment, and condemning the action of the Liverpool 

 School Board in adopting the Evangelical Free 

 Church Catechism. The Central Postal Mission 

 reported concerning the work which it with affili- 

 ated societies was doing by means of advertising, 

 lending literature, and corresponding with reli- 

 gious inquirers. More than 1,000 names of cor- 

 respondents were on its books. These correspond- 

 ents were to be found in many lands, including 

 New Zealand, Cape Colony, Canada, Newfound- 

 land, India, Greece, Italy, China, Cairo, and 

 Jerusalem. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a federal 

 republic in North America. The legislative power 

 is vested in the Congress, consisting of the Senate 

 and the House of Representatives. There are 90 

 Senators, 2 from each State, elected by the State 

 Legislatures for six years, one third being re- 

 newed every two years. The House of Represent- 

 atives has 357 members, elected by the ballots of 

 all the qualified voters of the several States, which 

 are divided into congressional districts contain- 

 ing each approximately 173,900 inhabitants at 

 the census of 1890. The executive power is vested 

 in the President, who is commander in chief of 

 the military and naval forces, and has a power 

 of veto over acts of Congress, which can be over- 

 come by a two-thirds vote of each house. The 

 Vice-President is President of the Senate, and in 

 case of the death, removal, or resignation of the 

 President he succeeds the latter for the remainder 

 of the term. In case of the death or disability of 

 both President and Vice-President, the Secretary 

 *of State becomes acting President, and after him 

 the other members of the Cabinet in their order. 



