BAPTISTS. 



53 



eral bodies be urged to correspond with one 

 another ; and that the cause of education be 

 given every possible encouragement. An ex- 

 ecutive committee was appointed, of which the 

 Rev. G. H. Ball, of New York, is chairman. 



Free-will Baptist Church. The twenty-fifth Gen- 

 eral Conference of the Free-will Baptist Church 

 was held in Minneapolis, Minn., in October. 

 The Rev. Ransom Dunn, D. D., was chosen 

 moderator. The most important business trans- 

 acted was the discussion of the resolutions of 

 the General Convention of the Open-Com- 

 munion Baptists, which were approved, and, 

 so far as they affect the Free-will Baptist 

 Church, adopted. A new charter and consti- 

 tution for the Foreign Missionary Society were 

 adopted, by the operation of which the scope 

 and power of that organization, and its ca- 

 pacity to hold property, are expected to be 

 greatly increased. Among the important 

 changes made in the constitution are the incor- 

 poration of provisions for the representation of 

 the several denominations or organizations of 

 open-communion Baptists in the Executive 

 Board of the society, and for the admission of 

 women to full membership and on equal terms 

 with men. The society began the year with a 

 deficiency of several thousand dollars, but was 

 able to show a surplus above all expenditures 

 on closing its accounts. The mission is in 

 Orissa and Bengal, India, and returned 551 

 communicants. Twenty members had been 

 added by baptism during the year. The whole 

 number of pupils in the schools was 3,089 ; of 

 whom 347 were Christians, 1,043 Hindoos, 261 

 Moslems, and 1,438 Santals. Measures were 

 taken for the organization of a church exten- 

 sion department of the Home Mission Society. 

 A committee was appointed to draft a course 

 of study for general use among ministers, and 

 to encourage the organization of ministers' con- 

 ferences for discipline and study. The confer- 

 ence recommended that a pastor or stated sup- 

 ply of a church, whose membership is else- 

 where, be amenable to the church with which 

 he is laboring, as if he were a member of it. 

 Provision was made for the organization of a 

 Ministers' Relief Association. An offer by Mr. 

 M. A. Shepherd of property valued at $50,000 

 as a gift for a publishing and school fund was 

 accepted, and steps were taken toward making 

 an application of the sum. A committee was 

 appointed to revise the constitution of the Gen- 

 eral Conference. Gratification was expressed 

 over the revival of friendly feeling between the 

 North and the South. Interest was declared 

 in the education of freedmen and in civil-ser- 

 vice reform. Efforts for the suppression of 

 obscene literature were commended, and the 

 action of the Government in refusing the use 

 of mails for the circulation of such matter was 

 approved. 



Seventh-Day Baptist Church. According to the 

 statistical reports presented to the Seventh- 

 Day Baptist General Conference, in Septem- 

 ber, the whole number of members of the 



church for 1883 was 8,611, showing a net in- 

 crease during the year of 8. The whole number 

 of baptisms reported was 151. Nine churches 

 had been organized, making the whole num- 

 ber of churches connected with the denomina- 

 tion 99. The number of Sabbath-schools was 

 86, and they returned 5,773 scholars. The de- 

 nomination is represented in England by the 

 Mill- Yard Church, London, instituted in 1654, 

 and returning for 1883, 14 members, and the 

 Natton Church, Tewkesbury, instituted in 1663, 

 and returning 4 members. It has also mission 

 churches at Shanghai, China, with 18 members, 

 and at Haarlem, Holland, with 19 members. 

 The American Sabbath Tract Society had re- 

 ceived during the year $8,968, and disbursed 

 $7,109, and had distributed 179,534 pages of 

 tracts. The operations of the society were 

 carried on by the distribution of tracts and 

 periodicals in the United States, England, and 

 Holland, and by the use of tents, in which 

 preaching services were conducted, carried 

 from place to place. Under its direction are 

 published a general religious weekly newspa- 

 per, the "Sabbath Recorder," and two jour- 

 nals of a more special character. The publica- 

 tion of a quarterly periodical is contemplated. 

 The Seventh-Day Baptist Education Society 

 returned the amount of its funds and receipts 

 at $45,303. Only Milton College, Wis., and 

 Alfred University, N". Y., made detailed 

 statements of their condition. The whole 

 number of students in these two institu- 

 tions was 733. The receipts of the missionary 

 society were $8,154, in addition to which the 

 society returned a permanent fund of $1,454. 

 Twenty-six missionaries were employed to visit 

 41 churches and 94 other preaching-places, in 

 various parts of the United States, and report- 

 ed in connection with the missions, 336 

 " Sabbath-keeping " families, 937 church-mem- 

 bers, with 936 in Bible classes, and 23 added by 

 baptism during the year. An American mis- 

 sionary and his wife, two native preachers, a 

 Bible-woman, and three day-school teachers 

 were employed in connection with the mission 

 at Shanghai, China, and a woman medical mis- 

 sionary was to be sent out. Three day-schools 

 returned fi6 scholars. A boarding-school was 

 to be established. One missionary was em- 

 ployed at Haarlem, Holland, who returned 4 

 additions to the church, and Bible-schools at 

 Haarlem and Workum with 24 scholars. The 

 accounts of the Seventh-Day Baptist Memorial 

 Fund were balanced at $9,564. 



The Seventh-Day Baptist General Conference 

 met at Adams, N. Y., September 19th. W. A. 

 Rogers presided. The Committee on Denomina- 

 tional History reported that an autobiography 

 of Elder Alexander Campbell and a number of 

 papers on the u Ward family " had been pub- 

 lished during the year. Measures were taken 

 for the establishment of a " Seventh-Day Bap- 

 tist headquarters " in connection with the as- 

 sembly-grounds at Chautauqua. Resolutions 

 were passed against the system of licensing 



