THE

HE excellences of the ESTEY ORGAN may not be told in an ordinary advertisement. This is more fitly done in the Illustrated Catalogue, which contains engravings, from photographs, of many elegant styles, with full descriptions of their attractive features. The Catalogue is sent free to all applicants.

THE Seventy-first Annual Meeting of the American Baptist Missionary Union will be held in the First Baptist Church, Saratoga, N.Y., on Monday, June 1, 1885, at ten o'clock, A.M.

(Signed)

PORTLAND, ME., April 1, 1885.

HENRY S. BURRAGE, Recording Secretary. •

The Seventy-first Annual Meeting of the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Missionary Union will be held in the First Baptist Church, Saratoga, N.Y., immediately after the adjournment of the Missionary Union.

(Signed)

PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 1, 1885.

MOSES H. BIXBY, Recording Secretary.

The Anniversaries will be held this year at Saratoga, beginning Wednesday, May 27. The meetings of the Home Mission Society come first, occupying Wednesday and Thursday; the Publication Society is next in order, on Friday and Saturday; and the Missionary Union will conclude the series, on Monday and Tuesday, June 1 and 2. Those who will not be able to attend the whole series can arrange their time according to the above programme.

The Fiscal Year of the Missionary Union closes March 31; but, in order to get all the contributions credited, it is usual to keep the treasurer's books open till about the middle of April. As this has been done the present year, the donations received for the month of March could not be made up in time to appear in the present number of the MAGAZINE. For the same reason, the state of the treasury at the close of the year cannot be given. But, from appearances at the time of this writing, it seems probable that a very large deficit will be found to burden the work at the beginning of another year. The Lord has given the work to be done, but the Lord's people have not given the money to

Personal. - Rev. David Smith and wife arrived at Shwaygyeen, Burma, Jan. 8, after a pleasant voyage from America. They will have charge of the Karen Mission at that station. Mr. Frank D. Phinney, Superintendent of the Mission Press at Rangoon, Burma, has a sister, Miss Hattie Phinney, teaching in the Spellman Seminary for Girls at Atlanta, Ga.; and Miss M. G. Burdette, Corresponding Secretary of the Woman's Home. Mission Society (Chicago), is a sister of Rev. C. E. Burdette of Tura, Assam. These add to the links which bind foreign and home missions together. "Diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit."

The New Edition of "The Congo Mission," just published, contains a map of Equatorial Africa, with explanations showing the division of the country, resulting from the conclusions of the Berlin Conference, and the treaties between the African International Association and other powers interested. The development of Africa is proceeding so fast that it is difficult to keep pace with it; but the new map is accurate in all essential features, and will be helpful in understanding the situation of affairs in Central Africa. The pamphlet may be obtained from the Mission Rooms, Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., or from any of the District Secretaries of the Union.

Siam and Laos, as seen by our American Missionaries," published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication at Philadelphia, is a most valuable and interesting book. on a country and people comparatively unknown to the general reader. It is prepared, as its title indicates, by the Presbyterian missionaries laboring among the Siamese and Laos, and therefore possesses the accuracy and vividness of personal observation. The value of the book is greatly increased by the numerous illustrations and the map. We are glad to recommend it to those desiring information regarding the topics of which it treats. To those interested in our own missions, it will afford information concerning the location and surroundings of the mission to the Karens in Northern Siam. Price $1.25.

Baptists in Hungary.-The readers of the MAGAZINE are familiar with the persecutions and violence which our Baptist brethren in Hungary, particularly in the neighborhood of Buda-Pesth, have suffered. They were so severe that Mr. Meyer, the missionary of the Union, brought the matter to the attention of the Council of the Evangelical Alliance; and that body memorialized the king of Hungary on the subject. Mr. Irany, a member of the Diet, lately brought a resolution before the House of Representatives, instructing the Minister of Public Worship and Education to prepare a law as to religious liberty. The resolution was opposed by the Minister, August Trefort, who, while professing to favor entire freedom in religious matters, claimed, first, that in regard to religious liberty Hungary would compare favorably with other countries; second, that, if liberty were granted, objectionable sects might take advantage of it to enter the country; third, that the Baptists are not qualified to form a church, because of their humble social standing; fourth, that they had not been persecuted; and finally, and strangest of all, he opposed the resolution because he did not "wish that any force shall be exercised over the consciences of men." This remarkably inconsistent and inconsequent argument will not relieve our brethren from their sufferings, nor free the Hungarian government from the odium which falls upon those who persecute on religious grounds. Apparently, the matter ended in this unsatisfactory manner; and the distressed brethren in Austria and Hungary should have our sympathy, and earnest prayers that the Lord would be pleased to deliver

The China Inland Mission.-A remarkable series of meetings, under the auspices of this Mission, has recently been held at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, in connection with the departure of seven young men from the Universities for

China. One of these was the captain of a university eleven, and is mentioned as the best cricketer in England. He is a man of wealth, and gives himself and his fortune

Royal Artillery and the Royal Dragoons. The consecration which has led those young men to give up the careers of earthly distinction which were open to them, and devote themselves to the work of preaching Christ's gospel to the heathen, without hope of earthly reward, is worthy of emulation. Two years ago, the friends of the mission were praying for an addition of seventy to the mission staff in China; and the prayer has been more than answered already. The present mission staff numbers one hundred and fifty in all, - fifty-eight missionaries and their wives, forty unmarried men, and fifty-two unmarried women. There are about one hundred native preachers, Bible-women, etc. The income for the last year was $90,000, and $15,000 were received in January. The growth of the income has kept pace with the enlargement of the work.

Chinese Idolatry is opposed to the teachings of Confucius, and is formally denounced by the general government; but no real attempts are made to overthrow the superstition and idolatry which have been introduced into the country by the partial infusion of Buddhistic ideas into the religion of the common people. The mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Tauism in China causes the religious ideas of the people to be extremely vague; and, while they believe to a certain extent in all these systems, they do not heartily believe in any. A small proportion of the priests and people are sincere in their religious exercises; but the literary class are generally atheists or pantheists, and to the great mass of the people religion is only a formal thing. Yet they feel the need of some religion, to satisfy their consciences; and the practice of idolatry, though in a perfunctory manner, is very general. Dr. Nevius estimates the number of idol temples in the Chinese Empire at three hundred thousand, valued at a thousand million dollars, and the number of idols at about three millions. Many of these are images of the same god, but he supposes that there are about thirty thousand distinct (so-called) deities worshipped in China. The only forms of worship universally practised are ancestral worship, the worship of the kitchen god, and the worship of heaven and earth at the beginning of each year. General as it is, the idolatry of China is more favorable to morality and religion than that of other heathen nations. It knows no deification of vice, and has no lascivious rites. As far as its direct influence on the people is concerned, this idolatry seems to have less power to degrade. Perhaps the fact that their religious practices and precepts afford a less striking contrast to Christianity than is seen elsewhere, may account for some of the difficulties which are found in winning the Chinese to the Gospel; but it also affords assurances that, once won to Christ, they may be expected to furnish a high type of Christian.