Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-08-01


spect to the growth and movement Of the
various churches in this country that are
well worth a moment consideration on the
part of our readers We have no question
but that the best development of moral and
religious life viii always be found where
there Is the greatest variety Of religious de-
nominations and the sharpest rivalry he
tween them. They provoke each other to
the best thinrs, and no single church can
afford to fall behind any Of the others in
those essential properties and qualities for
which 1t Is necessary to have a church NJ all. |
Wherever one church only has possession Of
the ear and conscience Of nation, it will
grow proud, imperious, grasping and cor
rupt. The higher elements of truth and
faith are secured in the severe competition
Of different churches. The general law
which governs commerce, art, literature and
life in all its forms prevails in the move
ment OF religion among mcn.-Dr. Holland
m0urns that the churches should be sostreuu-
Gus rivals to each other in the attempt TO 81
cure the suilrages of men, yet it Is in that
rivalry that the purity Of religion, faith and
worship Is in a large measure secured.
Il appears from the census returns that
the aggregate membership Of the churches
in this country *, in exact numbers, p ,665.-
062. There has been an increase since lSjO
Of ,430, l37. The aggregate property Of
these churches amounts To 1854. ,5ol.
The increase in the value of Church proper
y, IN the the last last twenty years has been over
S7oo'VVu,uVV' ME iie iheinoerShiP HI9
au'"hceu MY Per cent; tne Naiue ot Onuiou
properly mas ad'ahcel Iour hahured per
cent IL seems also that about one-haii oi
the population belong 10 the various churCh-
t. Leaving OUT infants ana young emu
reh' more than siAty-SeFeh per cent OF 'nc
people have Church connection. inns pro-
portion Is quite large, larger IN tact than We
had supposed, and 1t indicates that the COM
FeutNe influence OF the churches creates
quite successful ana enthusiastic propa-
gandism-
The regular Baptist Church has increased
in twenty years from 3 "a .O69 to 3 3,997. ll6.
or a fraction more than ten per cent. In
the meanwhile their church propertv has
risen from eleven millions to forty millions
in value. The Congregational Church had
membership in 1880 Of so .335. In 1870 it
numbered on It's rolls I.ll7.2I2, making q
gain III twenty years Of forty per cent. Its
propertv has zone M from EIGHT TO twenty
five millions. The Episcopal Church twenty
years ago reckoned membership Of 643,-
sos. 1t now numbers 99l ,05l. Its proper
ty has increased three hundred per cent.
The Quakers have been steadily declining
innumbers though increasing in the yalueof
their church pronertv Tbcv now nnmber
less than quarter ola million souls The
war WAS too much for them and sNent too
many of them off their feet The Method
ists in 1850 numbered 4.345.5I9: in 1870
their roll had increased to &. G.52S. .209. Their
church property had appreciated from fifteen
to seventy millions The rate Of increase in
the Methodist Church for the past ten years
has been but four per cent. in the preced-
ing ten years it was fifty Der cent. The
Presbyterians have increased their member
ship in the same period only lis 900, but a
/ little over six per cent. Their property,
! however, has increased three hundred per
cent. in value The Catholic Church have
! increased in numbers from 667 .S63 in 1850,
| TO 900. .5l4 in 1870. Its property has gone
up from nine millions to sixty millions, and
the number of its churches from ,222 TO
3,S06 The Unitarians numbered l3S ,067
in 1850, and now number I55, 5,47l.-The
Uniyersalists have lost about l-2 per cent.
of their membership in the same period
II will he seen from these statistics that
the Methodist Church is the largest. The
Baptist stands second in number the Pres
bvterian third the Roman Catholic fourth :;
the Congregationalist fifth the Episcopal
sixth; the Christian seventh the Lutheran
eighth, and the German Reformed ninth
The other religious bodies, in the order of
their membership, are, Quakers, Dutch Re-
formed, United Brethren, Universalists,
Unitarian. Jews, Mornons, Second Advent,
Shakers and Spiritualists. Reckoning the
Methodist Church at 100. the Baptist will
be 6S, the PRESBYTERIAN 45-or if in the
PRESBYTERIAN Church all the churches which
are Presbyterian in form should be included
such as the Dutch, the German reformed,