THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN OTHER COUNTRIES. The earliest Baptist churches in the Canadian Provinces were formed of settlers from New Eng land. A church was founded at Horton, Nova Scotia, in 1763; but this and many of the earlier churches were of mixed membership, composed equally of Baptists and Congregationalists. The preaching of Henry Allcine,an evangelist of great gifts, resulted in the founding of many churches from 1775 onward. Baptist preachers front Ver mont began soon after the Revolution to make converts and form churches across the line; and in a similar way, churches sprang up along the shore of Lake Ontario, in Upper Canada. A considerable number of Scotch immigrants set tled in the Ottawa region, and the churches there trace their origin to the labors of the Haldane brothers. The first association was formed in 1800 by the churches of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and a missionary society was formed as early as 1815 in the same region. Other so cieties followed, but in 1888 they were all con solidated in the 'Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec.' Five boards conduct the various branches of work that were formerly apportioned among as many different societies. In propor tion to their number and means, Canadian Bap tists have also been active in educational- work. Acadia College was founded in 1838, Woodstock College in 1860, and McMaster University, at Toronto, in 1880. The latter institution was be gun as a theological school, but soon afterwards an arts department was added, and later still Moulton College, for young women, was affiliated with it.
The Baptists in France owe their origin to a mission established in that country in 1832 by the Triennial Convention of American Baptists. Progress was slow for many years, owing to per secutions and other difficulties; but in later years growth has been steady and sure. The establishment of a theological school in 1879, by the aid of their American brethren, has done much to promote the welfare of French Baptists. For many years the work has been left wholly to native preachers.
The founder of the german Baptist churches, Johann Gerhard Oneken, had come by study of the Scriptures to such views of doctrine and practice as are everywhere held by Baptists, without any knowledge on his part that there were such people in existence. In 1834 he and six others were baptized at Hamburg by Rev. /lamas Sears, an American Baptist then pursu ing studies in Germany, and so the first German Baptist church was established. In spite of se vere persecutions, the progress of this work was rapid almost from the first, and has gone on with ever-aceelerating momentuth. A publishing house was started in 1828, and a theological school was opened in 1880; both have been and are flourish ing institutions. In 1849 the associations pre viously existing were combined to form the 'Ger man Baptist Union,' which, not content with fos tering the work at home, has been an active mis sionary body. Germans have preached and gath ered converts in Denmark. Finland, Poland, Hol land, Switzerland. Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Africa, until the numbers in these mission ary churches equal those in Germany itself.
The work. of Baptists was begun in Stec(len by two sailors, natives of that country—Gustaf W.
Schroeder. who was baptized in New York in 1844, and Frederick O. Nilsson, baptized at Hamburg by Oneken in 1847. Andreas \Viberg was a worthy third in this field. Opposition by the State Church and repeated fines and impris onments did not deter these preachers from carrying on their work, and the progress of the Baptist churches was rapid. The numerical re sults would be much larger but for the fact that a good proportion of the converts made have emi grated to the United States. A theological school in 1800 has done much to further the work of the Swedish Baptists. From Sweden the work has extended into Norway also.
With one exception the Baptist churches of -lfrica are of missionary origin. The Baptists of the Cape colonies owe their beginnings to English Baptist immigrants, and their earliest church was formed in 1820. For another half-century their progress was very slow; but the last two decades have seen a great advance, 18 of their 25 churches having been constituted since 1880. A missionary society sustains 4 mission stations among the natives, and a Baptist Union, formed in 1877, promotes the interests of all the churches. In Central Africa, in the Congo region, American Baptists have a flourishing mission with 8 stations. The English Baptists maintain a similar work on a still larger scale, having 12 mission stations. The Southern Baptist Conven tion has a mission with 5 stations on the \Vest Coast.
The Baptists in Asia are wholly of missionary origin. The oldest mission is that begun by Carey and the English Baptists in India proper, and since extended to Ceylon. The Australian Baptists have joined in this work, and have taken Eastern Bengal as their especial field. American and Canadian Baptists maintain mis sions in Southern India, among the Telugu peo ple. The oldest American mission, however, is that in Burma, and gradually the work has been extended to Assam, Siam, China, and Japan. The Southern Baptists have a mission also in western China. The Asiatic missions of the various Baptist societies have been the most fruitful in the history of modern missions.
The last century has produced considerable change in the doctrines and practices of Bap tists, but most of these are such as they have shared with all other bodies. They are no longer rigid Calvinists, though the general type of the ology is distinctly Calvinistic. Strict communion is yet the prevalent theory among them, but there is little enforcement of it in practice, ex cept in the Southern States, though there is also little direct encouragement of 'open' communion. Baptist churches have never had a heresy trial, and for more than 50 years a schism has been unknown among them. V In polity they are Con gregational.
Baptists began the Twentieth Century with the following membership, only what are sometimes called the 'regular' Baptists: In the United States, 4,376,066; in Canada, 100, 264; in the Spanish-American countries, 3877; in Great Britain, 365,300; in Europe, 123,569; in Asia, 119,795; in Africa, 6700; in Austral asia, 19,261. Altogether they number over 5.000. 000. Increase during the last decade throughout the, world, 1,219,802.