holds to the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, and also to the traditions of the church as sources whence the doctrine of Christ is to be derived. It regards baptism as an ordinance for the conveyance of the new or resurrection life, and the Lord's Supper as a sacrament for the nourishing and strengthening of that life. It believes that the gift of the Spirit is conveyed by the laying on of apostles' hands. The doctrine of predestination is accepted, although it is denied that God's mercies are limited to the elect.

In its system of worship the Eucharist has the central place. It is celebrated every Sunday. There is also a daily service, morning and evening. A full ritual is used in public worship.

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and angels or chief pastors are recognized as constituting a fourfold ministry. Angels are pastors of local churches, in which there are also elders, deacons, and deaconesses. Each church is regarded as complete in itself.

The Catholic Apostolic Church has 10 organizations and 1394 members. The average seating capacity of its church edifices is 250, and their average value $22,017. There are 7 halls, with a seating capacity of 350.

CHAPTER VII.

CHINESE TEMPLES.

EVERY Chinese temple is a house of prayer or worship, but no sermon is preached, no priest installed, no religious instruction given, and no seating accommodations provided. There is always at least one shrine, the more frequented temples having several, so that a number of persons can perform the usual ceremony, each for himself, without being obliged to take turns. The worshipers do not meet in a body, nor is any particular time set for devotions. When about to enter upon a new enterprise or to take a journey, or when in doubt concerning any particular course of action, the Chinese are careful to consult their gods and patron saints. Every worshiper provides himself with incense sticks, candles, and sacrificial papers, which are generally to be had of attendants at small cost. Offerings of wine and meat are added on special occasions. The candles and incense sticks are lighted and placed in their proper receptacles. If wine is used, it is put in minute cups scarcely larger than thimbles, and these are ranged in a row before the shrine. The meat offerings may be roast chicken, roast pig, or any other table luxury. When everything is properly placed the genuflexions begin and the request is presented. If the answer required is a simple affirmative or negative, the worshiper drops a pair of lenticular pieces of wood on the floor a number of times and calculates the answer from the frequency with which each

face turns up.

Another method of obtaining responses, particularly when fuller responses are desired, is by shaking a box filled with numbered slips of bamboo, one of which will fall out, and then consulting a book containing numbered answers in Chinese verse.

The interior of Chinese temples is often highly decorated. The walls and ceilings are hung with tablets having inscriptions in the Chinese character, and there are often rows of lanterns and embroidered silk umbrellas. Fine wood carving is also to be seen. The decorations are the gifts of worshipers.

No register is

Most Chinese temples are free to all. kept of members. Of the four temples in New York City one, Chung-wa-kung-saw, claims 7000 worshipers; Chapsing-tong, 700; Hok-san-kung-saw, 1000; Lung-kongkung-saw, 1000. Chung-wa-kung-saw is an organization in which every Chinaman in New York is supposed to be interested. Chap-sing-tong admits laundrymen only, and the other temples are supported by those who come from Hok-san and Lung-kong respectively. A laundryman from the district of Hok-san may therefore be a member of three of the temples. For this reason no statistics of

members can be given.

Chinese temples are usually well supported. The revenues are derived largely from the privilege, sold at auction to the highest bidder, of selling the articles of worship, which every worshiper must have. Thus the privilege of selling for the Lung-kong-kung-saw of San Francisco brought in 1890 $12,365.50, and that for the How-wangmew in the same city $3961.60.

According to the returns of population there are 107,475 Chinese in the United States, of whom 72,472 are in Cali

fornia, 9540 in Oregon, 3260 in Washington, and 2935, the next largest number, in New York. In view of the fact that one of the four temples in New York City claims 7000 worshipers, while the whole State has a Chinese population of less than 3000, there would seem to be a large discrepancy. If that one temple has 7000 worshipers, the number of visitors must be greater than the resident Chinese population. Doubtless 7000 is the number that worship in the temple in the course of a year. In other words, the same individual is counted many times. A considerable number of the Chinese are members of Christian churches.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CHRISTADELPHIANS.

JOHN THOMAS, M.D., an Englishman, came to this country in 1844, and identified himself with the Disciples of Christ. Soon after, his views changed and he became convinced by a study of the Bible that the cardinal doctrine of the existing churches correspond with those of the apostate church predicted in Scripture. He began to publish his views, and organized a number of societies in this country, Canada, and Great Britain. No name was adopted for these societies until the Civil War broke out. The members applied to the government to be relieved from military duty in consequence of conscientious scruples, and finding it necessary to have a distinctive name, that of Christadelphians, or Brothers of Christ, was adopted.

The Christadelphians do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity. They hold that Christ was Son of God and Son of man, manifesting divine power, wisdom, and goodness in working out man's salvation and attaining unto power and glory by his resurrection. He is the only medium of salvation. The Holy Spirit is an effluence of divine power. They believe in the natural mortality of the soul, and that eternal life is only given by God to the righteous; that the devil is the evil principle of human nature; that Christ will shortly come personally to the earth and set up the kingdom of God in place of human governments; that this