courage, force, and success, and you may quit with well-earned satisfaction your sphere of action, in which you have rendered the most eminent services to the monarchy and to my House. I do not consider, however, your present retreat as the end of your political activity. On the contrary, your loyalty to me and the self-sacrificing devotion with which you have testified this are a pledge to me that you will most readily follow my call whenever and in whatever sphere I may again require your trusty services. You retain my full confidence not less than my grateful recognition. The administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina was regulated as follows in the beginning of the year: The head of the Government is the Duke of Würtemberg, who is subordinate in questions relating to the civil administration to the Common Ministry only. The latter, in accord with the governments of the two halves of the empire, establishes for the transaction of the current business the Bosnian Commission, composed of three delegates of the Common Ministry and one representative of each of the two Governments of Austria and Hungary. In this Commission the three delegates of the Common Ministry form an executive committee, whose decisions were to be countersigned by Count Andrassy as President of the Common Ministry. As Count Andrassy, however, felt unable to attend to all of this business, it was ordered that these decisions should in future be signed by Baron Hofmann. After negotiations had continued over nine months, during which they were repeatedly dropped and resumed, a convention was signed on April 21st between Turkey and Austria, concerning Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the sanjak of Novi-Bazar. The convention recognizes the existing condition of affairs in Bosnia. It also recognizes the right of Austria to garrison Novi-Bazar, but it is expressly stipulated that the presence of the Austrian troops shall in no way interfere with the Turkish administration, nor shall any impediment be placed in the way of the Turkish Government if it should desire to send troops to the sanjak. The entry of the Austrian troops into the sanjak of Novi-Bazar was delayed until September. On the 8th, at 6 A. M., a brigade, composed of two regiments of infantry, a battalion of chasseurs, two mountain batteries, and half a squadron of hussars, crossed the frontier of Bosnia close by Svetlo Borje, not far from Cainitza. Every precaution was taken against any unexpected incident, columns being detached from the bulk of the brigade to cover the flanks of the Austrian force-a function which required these detached columns to make their way over almost impassable mountains. The road followed by the bulk of the army was itself sufficiently toilsome, the ground from Cainitza to the frontier rising to the height of 2,100 feet. After a six hours' march, the troops encamped near Han-Kovac. They were well received. The Turkish detachment which held Karakula Gorzd retired at the approach of the Austrian forces. Besides this brigade, which crossed the frontier on the south side of the sanjak, another entered it on the north side, by way of Visegrad. Crossing the frontier close to Ratcha, the latter portion of the Austrian troops directed their steps to Priboj, where they met with a friendly reception at the hands of the municipality; a superior Turkish officer, the Kaimakam, and the leading men of the place also turning out to welcome the brigade. The southern part of the sanjak occupied by the Albanians was closed by a cordon of twelve Ottoman battalions, extending along Sienitza, Novi-Varosch, and Bielopolje. Previous to the entry of the Austrian troops, Safvet Pasha, the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, declared to the Austrian Ambassador that he considered the Porte had the greatest interest in showing as distinctly as possible the existence of its complete understanding with the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. With this view, Husni Pasha was expressly ordered to accompany the Austrian troops upon their entry into Novi-Bazar. Fresh orders were also sent from the Sultan to the Turkish authorities in the district to afford every possible facility to the Austrian troops on their advance. The latter met with no resistance whatever, and within a week of their entry those troops not destined for garrison duty began their backward march. As for the remaining troops, a definite agreement was come to by the Duke of Würtemberg and Husni Pasha, as follows: All the important military positions were to be jointly occupied. The line of communication from Priboj to Priepol, as well as that from Cainitza, the most advanced point in Bosnia from the west to Tashlidje, was to be kept open by Austrian detachments posted on the more important points, while the line from Tashlidje to Priepol was to be held jointly by an Austrian detachment occupying the height of Jabunka, which forms the watershed, and a Turkish detachment. The rest of the line was to be held, as hitherto, by the Turks, who would perform likewise the patrolling service. Spizza was formally taken possession of by the Austrians on May 11th. The Montenegrin commissioner, in an address to the people, called upon them to be loyal to their new sovereign. On January 20th, a treaty based on the mostfavored-nation clause was signed between Austro-Hungary and France. The negotiations had been going on for some time, and, not having been concluded by December 31, 1878, it was feared that the general tariff would have to be applied on both sides, a result which would have almost put an end to commercial intercourse between the two countries. The present general tariff of France is so high that in most cases it would have caused an increase of duty of about 60 per cent. On the other hand, the Austrian tariff, though much lower, permits an addition of 10 per cent. to the duty on all articles coming from countries having no treaty with Austria. This would have told most adversely on articles from France, especially on silks, lace, and wine. The advantages over the general tariff offered by the tariff treaty just concluded, and the disadvantages of the former, were so much felt by the commercial world on both sides that representations were made which contributed to hasten the conclusion of the treaty. In the beginning of February, a treaty was concluded between Germany and Austro-Hungary, by which the latter renounced its right to enforce Clause V. of the Treaty of Prague, which provided for the retrocession of North Schleswig to Denmark, conditionally upon a popular vote being given to that effect. Prince Bismarck paid a visit to Vienna, arriving on September 21st, and leaving again on the 24th. His reception by Count Andrassy and the Emperor was of so friendly and cordial a character that it attracted general attention. Although his visit was reported to be entirely of a private character, he had several interviews with the leading Austrian statesmen, at which conclusions of far-reaching importance were supposed to have been arrived at. It was generally assumed that Prince Bismarck and Count Andrassy had concluded a treaty of alliance, and the Emperor William was said to have signed this treaty on October 15th. An article by Dr. Moritz Busch, the author of a book on Prince Bismarck, and who stands in high favor with him, confirmed the general impression. Reviewing the Prince's attitude ou the foreign questions, the author glanced at the military activity displayed by Russia since the war, imputing to that power a secret desire, among other things, to achieve yet the conquest of Constantinople, which she knew it was only possible for her to do by marching thither through Berlin and Vienna. To prevent this, and otherwise preserve the peace of Europe, there was no other course for Prince Bismarck than to seek an alliance with Austria. The Emperors of Germany and Austria met at Gastein on August 9th, and had a long and cordial interview. The Vienna papers declared officially that the meeting had no political significance, but the Hungarian journals apprehended that it implied the subordination of the Austro-Hungarian policy in the East to the views of Prince Bismarck. The silver wedding of the Emperor and Einpress of Austria, the anniversary of which fell on April 24th, was celebrated with great rejoicings throughout the empire, the festivities in Vienna continuing during the entire week. Delegations from all the provinces, including one from Serayevo, the capital of Bosnia, came to Vienna to assure the Emperor of their loyalty. The festivities in the provinces were very limited in consequence of an Imperial letter issued shortly after the catastrophe at Szegedin, which invited those who had such intentions to devote the expenses to the relief of the distressed city. The erection of a Protestant church in Innspruck, in 1879, attracted considerable attention, as being the first Protestant church in the Tyrol, in which province up to this time the Roman Catholic Church had preserved an exclusive influence. The bishops as well as the Diet sought by the exclusion of Protestants to preserve the unity of faith, and a law to that effect was passed in April, 1866. In October, 1878, an interpellation was introduced in the Diet, signed by thirty-one deputies, together with a protest against the formation of Protestant communities without the consent of the Diet. The Governor, Count Taaffe, referred the members to the Constitution of 1867, by which all recognized religious denominations were granted full liberty in the exercise of their devotions, and by which the law of 1866 had become inoperative. The Catholic General Assembly which met in Innspruck in May, 1878, resolved to use all honorable means to prevent the settlement of Protestants in the country; and that every Catholic Tyrolese not only should not sell any real estate to a member of another faith, but should try to prevent at any cost such a sale in his community. BAPTISTS. I. REGULAR BAPTISTS IN THE UNITED STATES.-The whole number of associations in 1879 was 1,075. The number of baptisms reported during the year was 102,736; number of Sunday-schools, 11,845, with 108,405 officers and teachers, and 872,862 scholars; amount of benevolent contributions, $4,439,749. The returns of educational institutions are not complete as regards the number of instructors and students, but appear, so far as they are given, as follows: 9 theological institutions, with 37 instructors and 338 students for the ministry; 31 colleges and universities, with 230 men and 93 women as instructors, and B 4,897 students, of whom 4,000 were young men and 897 young women, and 584 were students for the ministry; 47 academies, seminaries, institutes, and female colleges, with 293 instructors, of whom 123 were men and 170 women, with 4,956 students, of whom 1,993 were young men and 2,963 young women, and 416 were studying for the ministry. The total value of the property of these institutions was $11,142,904. The following is a summary of the statistics of the regular Baptist churches in the United States as they are given in the "American Baptist Year-Book" for 1879: Members. 96,898 48,005 946 597 1,867 8,568 17,986 216,962 20 69,225 41,528 5,460 24,609 159,748 9,402 48,774 6,420 115,802 52 20 2,488 had been paid in. The publications included 57,500 copies of new works, 101,925 copies of works already on the catalogue, and 106,000 copies of tracts. The number of publications on the catalogue was now 1,158. The meeting resolved that particular attention should be paid to the colored men who should emigrate from the Southern to the Northern States. It also decided to confer with the Southern Baptist Convention with reference to publishing catechisms as nearly as possible identical. The forty-seventh annual meeting of the American Baptist Home Mission Society was 15,767 held at Saratoga Springs, New York, May 58,122 29th. The receipts of the Society for the year 20,954 had been $217,093, and the expenditures $175,209. The debt had been reduced from $45,27,628 433 to $30,597. The Society had employed, including teachers, 246 missionaries, or 24 88,999 more than in the previous year, who had or3,669 ganized 42 schools, and reported 1,172 bap9.210 tisms and 19,923 children in Sunday-schools. 81,521 Nine preaching missionaries had been em118.264 ployed among the Indian tribes in the Indian 155,881 Territory. Schools were taught among the 47,810 freedmen in the Indian Territory under a con62,845 tract between the Government and the Socie10,906 ty. The chief work of the Society among the freedmen had been in maintaining the eight schools for teachers and preachers, viz.: Wayland Seminary, Washington, D. C.; Richmond Institute, Richmond, Va.; Shaw University, 325 Raleigh, N. C.; Benedict Institute, Columbia, S. C.; Augusta Institute, Augusta, Ga.; Leland University, New Orleans, La.; Natchez Seminary, Natchez, Miss.; Nashville Institute, Nashville, Tenn.; which together returned 46 teachers and 726 young men and 315 young women-in all 1,041-as pupils. A school had also been established by the colored people themselves at Selma, Ala., to which designated funds were sent through the Society. school at Augusta, Ga., was to be removed to 80 Atlanta, Ga. 180,882 71,408 9,662 202,781 28,645 62 2,102,034 The following table shows the number of Baptist churches and members in other American countries: Members. 359 110 159 12,037 27,020 1,481 5,285 152 1,013 571 90,420 15,525 2,192,454 The The Women's Baptist Home Mission Society had employed 14 missionaries, of whom 11 had labored among the freedmen, one among the Scandinavians of the North western States, and two among the Indians in the Indian Territory. The sixty-fifth annual meeting of the American Baptist Missionary Union was held at Sar19,989 atoga Springs, New York, May 27th. The receipts of the Union for the year had been $252,677, of which $17,247 were in the shape of additions to the invested funds. The sum applicable to the payment of current expenses was $235,430. Of the receipts, $46,450 were contributed through three women's societies, $357 from India, $4,242 from Burmah, $1,228 from Assam, and $836 from China. The Rangoon Baptist College had 111 pupils. A new building for this institution, called "Ruggles Hall," was dedicated on the 13th of February, 1879. The theological seminary at Rangoon was in its twentieth year, but had suffered severely from sickness, the 49 pupils The annual meeting of the American Baptist Publication Society was held at Saratoga Springs, New York, May 29th. The receipts of the Society in its business and missionary departments for the year had been $335,413, or $30,803 more than those of the previous year. Subscriptions had been secured sufficient to provide for the payment of the entire debt of the Society, about $25,000, of which $19,420 with whom the term opened having been reduced by its close to 23. The theological seminary at Ramapatam, Telugu mission, had 152 pupils. A board of councilors for a theological institute for the Baptists of France was organized in connection with the meeting of the Union, and the subject of the appointment of a professor was referred to the Executive Committee of the Society. The following is a summary of the reports of the missions: Mem- 20,811 1,207 15,054 1,828 rounding country. The receipts of the Home Mission Board had been $16,200. Thirty-five missionaries had been employed during the year, who reported 400 baptisms. The scheme for holding ministers' institutes for colored preachers, sanctioned by the last meeting of the Convention, had gone into operation under an agreement for cooperation with the American Baptist Home Mission Society. The Rev. S. W. Marston, D. D., had been appointed a superintendent of missions among the colored people, and charged with the organization and conduct of the institutes. The Board had been obliged to withdraw the white missionary appointed to labor among the wild Indian tribes, on account of the prejudices of the Indians 66 against white men, and to appoint in his stead 88,466 native preachers from the civilized tribes. A missionary had been appointed to labor among the Chinese in California. Provision was 25,000 made for the preparation of a catechism for 706 children and servants. A committee of five 6 persons was appointed to bear to the Baptists of the Northern States at their approaching anniversaries expressions of the fraternal regard of the Convention, and its assurances that, "while still holding to the wisdom and policy of preserving our separate organizations, we are ready to cooperate cordially with them in promoting the cause of Christ in our own and foreign lands." The resolutions under which this action was taken contained a recommendation for holding a meeting of representative men from all sections to devise and propose plans of cooperation, but this was struck out. 16,157 140 42,009 80,475 The Women's Baptist Foreign Mission Society reported that its receipts had been $41,472 during the year, and that it had connected with it 840 circles and 212 mission hands, with 19,500 subscribers to its periodical, the "Helping Hand." It had employed among the Burmans, Telugus, Chinese, Japanese, Shans, and Garas, 33 missionaries and 39 Bible women, under whom 38 schools were conducted. The twenty-fourth session of the Southern Baptist Convention was held at Atlanta, Georgia, beginning May 8th. All the States within the territory of the Convention were represented by about 350 delegates. The Rev. J. P. Boyce, D. D., of Kentucky, was chosen President. The receipts of the Foreign Mission Board for the year had been $54,551, of which $27,479, or more than half, were contributed for the chapel in Rome. The African mission, being near the Zooloo country, had been embarrassed by the war to which that region had been subjected. Three men and six women were employed in connection with the mission in China, with twenty-six native laborers. Regular missions were established in Shanghai, Canton, and Tung-Chow, with outlying stations in several villages. In Italy stations were established at Rome, Venice, Naples, Milan, Modena, Bari, Barietta, Carpi, Cagliari, and Torri Pellice, with more than twenty out-stations. The Board had been invited to open missions in Greece and in the island of Cuba. The "first Baptist Church of Brazil, near Santa Barbara, in the province of San Paolo," a body of forty members in comfortable circumstances, had made several applications to the Board to be received as a selfsustaining mission, and desired to conduct a religious work under its sanction in the sur The Eastern German Baptist Conference met at Berlin, Ontario, August 27th. Reports from about fifty churches showed that 364 additions had been made by baptism and 30 by letter, with a net gain of 330 members, making the whole present number of members 4,601. The Conference in part supported 20 missionaries during the year. The churches represented in this Conference are situated in the Province of Ontario and in the States of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The Western German Baptist Conference met at Racine, Wisconsin, September 17th. L. H. Donner was elected Moderator. The churches and missions represented by this Conference are situated in a territory which is described as extending from Ohio to Oregon and from Texas to Minnesota. The reports from the churches gave the number of baptisms during the year as 234, and the whole number of members as 3,878. Estimating for the churches whose reports had failed to arrive, the whole number of members was thought to be about 4,000. A new constitution was adopted, in which the name "Conference of German Baptist Churches of the West" was substituted for the old name of "Conference of Ministers, Fellow Laborers, and Delegates of the German Baptist Churches." Steps were taken to in corporate the Conference under the laws of Wisconsin. Contributions of more than $2,100 were reported for missionary work among the German population of the United States. Besides this, the Conference had during the year supported a missionary at Ramapetam, India, and some of the churches had contributed to the missions of the German Baptist Union in Russia. The Scandinavian Baptist Churches in the Northwestern States held their first General Convention at Village Creek, Iowa, in August. The Convention decided that the Scandinavian department should be continued in the theological seminary at Morgan Park, near Chicago, Illinois, and appointed a board to exercise supervision over it. It also determined to form a fund in aid of the publication and diffusion of Scandinavian Baptist literature, and resolved that the officers of the General Convention should, in the interest of Scandinavian missions, communicate directly with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, recommending to it suitable missionaries for new fields and asking aid for such missionaries. II. FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH.-The following is a summary of the statistics of the Free-Will Baptist Church in 170 quarterly meetings, as they are given in the "Free-Will Baptist Register and Year-Book" for 1880: The There are several associations of Baptists in North America which in doctrine and polity are in general agreement with the Free-Will Baptists. Among these are the associations of General Baptists in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and some adjoining States, numbering several thousand members. The General Conference of the Original Free-Will Baptists of North Carolina, which met in November, 1878, has 96 churches and 6,000 members. Southern Baptist Association has 66 churches, 68 ministers, and 3,108 members; it holds correspondence with the Chattahoochee, South Carolina, Tennessee River, and Butts County Conferences, and is represented by the "Baptist Review," La Grange, N. C. The Mount Moriah Free-Will Baptist Association, Alabama, has 21 churches, 24 ministers, and about 1,000 members. The Union Association of General Baptists, Kentucky, has 24 churches, 15 ordained ministers, 4 licensed ministers, and 1,000 members. The Free-Will Baptist Association in Texas numbers 33 ministers. The Texas Free-Will Baptist Association reports 6 churches and 5 ministers. There are other Free-Will Baptist Churches in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri, numbering some thousands of members, that have no organized connection, but are one in doctrine with the Free-Will Baptist Church. The aggregate of these and similar bodies will not fall short of 25,000 members. The Free Baptists of Nova Scotia have 52 churches and 3,368 members. The Free Baptists of New Brunswick number 148 churches and 9,389 members. The General Baptists of Great Britain are in harmony with the Free-Will Baptist Church, 4,451 and a correspondence by epistles and delega8,050 tions has long been sustained between them. 8,080 The contributions of the churches to the 1,867 missionary and educational societies of the denomination for the year ending August 1, 1879, were: to the Foreign Mission Society, $19,913; to the Home Mission Society, $7,608; to the 883 Educational Society, $2,131; total, $29,653. 1,622 Of the contributions to foreign missions, $2,595 069, and of those to home missions, $1,089 were received through the Woman's Mission Society. The Home Mission Society has a per4,608 manent fund of $4,745 and a centennial fund 1,109 of $4,895. Its most important work is among 1,382 1,839 the freedmen, for whom it sustains a school at 1,989 Harper's Ferry, W. Va. It has also stations 648 at Cairo and neighboring towns in southern 605 Illinois, in Nebraska, and near New Orleans, 2,580 La. The Educational Society has a general fund of $43,826, and a library fund of $2,225. The number of students reported in 1879 as 990 preparing for the ministry in all the schools of 584 the denomination was 88, nine more than the largest number ever given in any former re275 port of the Society. The Foreign Missionary 657 Society supports a mission in Lower Bengal and Orissa, India, which includes 8 missionaries, 4 assistants, 478 members, and 453 scholars in the Sunday-schools. 9,202 2,108 922 2,084 1,356 279 888 New Hampshire... 117 Maine Western.. 69 62 Maine Central... 100 Penobscot.. 112 5 Vermont. 60 Holland Purchase. 85 84 Union.... 4,050 American Association... Union Association.. Quarterly meetings not connected. 21 Total... 2,304 857 819 946 467 478 531 |