2.—THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST (OLD CON

STITUTION).

This body consists of those who hold that the act of the general conference of 1885, creating a commission to revise the confession of faith and constitution, was unconstitu

tional, and that all proceedings under it were null and void. Bishop Milton Wright and eleven delegates withdrew from the general conference of 1889 because of the announcement that its proceedings would conform to the revised constitution. They immediately convened in conference and proceeded to legislate and elect bishops and general church officers under the old constitution. The division, begun in this way, was soon widely extended, involving many of the conferences and placing the ownership and occupancy of much church property in dispute. The "Liberals," as the majority are called, continued in possession of the general church property and offices, and also of most of the churches and parsonages. The "Radicals," those who adhere to the old confession and constitution, have churches, ministers, and members in many of the conferences, the titles of which they have preserved. There are therefore two sets of conferences bearing the same names and covering the same territory. Many suits have been entered in the courts to test the control of the property involved. A final decision has not yet been reached. Those who adhere to the unamended constitution insist that the general conference of 1885 had no constitutional power to provide for the revision of the constitution and confession; that the general conference of 1889 had no right to act under the revised constitution, and that the existing constitution was and still is the organic law of the church. They maintain an exclusive attitude toward all secret societies, according to the provision of the old constitution forbidding connection with any of them.

When the statistics for the eleventh census were obtained, the line of division had not in all cases become distinct, and it was difficult to get returns from some of the

districts. A number of presiding elders reported that much of the church property in their respective districts was in dispute, being claimed by both parties. In tabulating from the schedules returned by the presiding elders of each branch, care was taken not to count the same edifices and property twice. It is possible, however, that in some cases duplication has not been prevented.

The total number of members is 22,807, and there are 795 organizations. The average seating capacity of the church edifices is 302, and their average value $1116. There are 209 halls, with accommodations for 23,285.

The totals for the two bodies are as follows: organizations, 4526; edifices, 3415; seating capacity, 991,138; value of church property, $4,937,583; communicants, 225,281.

CHAPTER XLI.

THE UNITARIAN S.

UNITARIANISM, as its name indicates, is distinguished from other systems of Christian belief chiefly by its rejection of the doctrine of the Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ. It denies that three persons-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-are united in one God, and holds that God is one, that he is uni-, not tri-personal. This view is not modern. Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria in the fourth century, held that Christ, though the greatest of created beings, was not equal in nature and dignity to God.

Unitarian organizations were formed in Poland and Hungary as early as the middle of the sixteenth century, and in the United States and England in the first quarter of the present century. King's Chapel, Boston, a Protestant Episcopal congregation, adopted in 1785 a liturgy so revised as to exclude all recognition of the Trinity, and ordained in 1787, as its pastor, on the refusal of the bishop of the diocese to do so, James Freeman, who was Unitarian in his views. Arian ideas began to influence ministers and laymen in the Congregational churches in New England at the beginning of the present century. In 1805 a Unitarian, Dr. Henry Ware, was elected to the divinity chair in Harvard University, and in 1819 a separate divinity school was organized in connection with the university with a Unitarian faculty.