EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 



283 



liance in reference to the sufferings of the 

 Christians in Bulgaria, at which it was decided 

 that, while the sympathies of the body with 

 their sufferings were deep, and the members 

 would contribute with others to their relief, 

 the political complications of the case rendered 

 it inexpedient to act in reference to the sub- 

 ject. At the same meeting a committee was 

 appointed to prepare a paper in reference to 

 the Protestant Christians of Spain, who were 

 restrained in their freedom of religious wor- 

 ship, to be presented to the American Minister 

 in that country, and also given to the public. 

 This paper, which recites the doctrines gener- 

 ally accepted by the Protestant churches in the 

 United States in regard to religious liberty, 

 was presented to Mr. Gushing, the Minister of 

 the United States to Spain, and, in return, he 

 gave an account of the provisions of the laws 

 and constitution of the kingdom on the sub- 

 ject, and of the difficulties in the way of se- 

 curing for the Protestants the privileges which 

 were desired. The publication of the protest 

 and memorial of the committee in Spain led to 

 a request from that country to send the neces- 

 sary documents to enable the Spanish Protes- 

 tants to organize a branch of the Evangelical 

 Alliance. 



The Council of the British Organization, in 

 June, forwarded to the Emperor of Germany 

 an address, thanking him for the reception ac- 

 corded, in 1876, to their secretary, the Eev. 

 James Davis, and for the communication which 

 was then made to him on the subject of hold- 

 ing, in 1878, a general conference in the city of 

 Berlin. In this address the Council stated that, 

 " after mature deliberation, however, and after 

 consulting with influential friends interested 

 in the subject, the Council have been com- 

 pelled to arrive at the conclusion that the year 

 1878 would be too soon for the proposed con- 

 ference in Berlin ; and that, in order to secure 

 the unanimity required, and thus to obtain, 

 under the Divine blessing, a success commen- 

 surate with the objects sought to be advanced, 

 it seemed desirable that the next Alliance Con- 

 ference should be held in Switzerland ; and the 

 Swiss branch having kindly given their con- 

 sent to this proposal, the town of Basle has 

 been selected for that purpose." 



A conversazione was given by the Council of 

 the British branch of the Alliance in London, 

 May 17th, which was attended by persons con- 

 nected with the religious societies whose anni- 

 versaries had been recently held, and by visit- 

 ors from abroad. Lord Waveney presided. 

 The Kev. James Davis, secretary, gave a narra- 

 tive of the work of the Council during the past 

 year, and spoke of what the Alliance had ac- 

 complished within 30 years. New branches 

 had been opened in Egypt, Spain, and else- 

 where. The Council had successfully inter- 

 fered on behalf of persecuted Christians, and 

 their action had been very thankfully received 

 by those for whom it was set on foot. The 

 annual week of prayer had been very generally 



observed, especially on the Continent, where, 

 in some parts, the people had assembled in 

 thousands and tens of thousands. The next 

 annual conference of the British Organization 

 has been appointed to be held in Oxford, and 

 it was hoped that many friends from a dis- 

 tance would be induced to attend. With re- 

 gard to the next general conference some diffi- 

 culties had arisen in the way of holding it in 

 Berlin, as had been originally intended. On 

 the invitation, however, of various committees 

 in Switzerland, it was resolved to meet in 

 Basle in the autumn of 1878. Keference was 

 made to the persevering efforts of friends in 

 Geneva to establish a confederation for the 

 better observance of the Lord's day all over 

 the Continent. Signer Gavazzi spoke of the 

 progress of the Free Christian Church of Italy, 

 which had now 27 regular stations, besides 

 20 other preaching places. Dr. Kalopathakes 

 gave an account of the condition of the Alli- 

 ance at Athens, Greece ; and the Eev. W. Farn- 

 worth described the organization of a Protes- 

 tant church in Csesarea, with a congregation 

 of 600 people. 



Another conversazione was given by the 

 same branch on July 14th, to a number of 

 Presbyterian ministers from the United States, 

 who had been attending the Presbyterian 

 Council at Edinburgh. The Earl of Shaftesbury 

 presided, and made an address, in which he 

 expressed gratification that the denominational 

 distinctions which stood in the way of united 

 action among Protestants were fast passing 

 away. Lord Waveney, in the name of the 

 Council of the Alliance, made an address of 

 welcome to its guests, and Sir Charles Reed 

 spoke of the need of a closer cooperation of 

 Christians. Appropriate addresses of response 

 were made by the American visitors, in which 

 their British hosts were invited to attend the 

 conference of the American branch of the Al- 

 liance, to be held in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1880. 



The meeting of the British branch of the 

 Evangelical Alliance was held at Oxford, be- 

 ginning September 25th. Visitors were pres- 

 ent from Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, 

 Holland, Italy, the United States, Australia, 

 Persia, and South Africa. The presiding offi- 

 cer was changed at each sitting, the Kev. D. 

 Martin, of the Congregational Church, presid- 

 ing at the opening session. An address of 

 welcome was delivered by the Rev. A. M. W. 

 Christopher, rector of the Church of St. Alda- 

 tias, which was responded to by the Dean of 

 Canterbury and several of the foreign dele- 

 gates. The annual address was delivered by 

 the Rev. Dr. Campbell, of Bradford, and de- 

 scribed the Alliance as the symbol of the 

 spiritual unity of the churches whose members 

 were represented in it. The annual report 

 narrated the efforts which the Alliance had 

 made in behalf of religious tolerance in differ- 

 ent countries. It had induced the Foreign 

 Office to address the Government of Egypt on 

 the subject, and had, in several instances, pro- 



