The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-08-17
a speech, must always have over anything
that is merely read.-Atla,atic Monthly.
Evangelical Christianity.
It's Growth During Eighty Years and It's
Relative Increase to Catholicism.

~
same time in the religious press in rela-
ton to the relative progress Of Roman
Catholicism and Professionalism in the
world. It is continued in the last issue
of the Methodist, from which it appears
that the Protestant churches have gained
all they have since the year 1900 Then
except the small bands of Waldenses and
Hussites there were none of them; now
they number 100000 in Europe and
that represents their gain there. The
Roman Catholics have in the same time
increased in Europe from 80,O0O,OOO to
l49 100000. The population of Europe
increased threefold during this period,
but the Roman Catholics did not double
their numbers, while the Protestants
won all of theirs. Professionalism has
gained wonderfully in Roman Catholic
countries during the last twenty-five or
thirty years. Protestant countries have
grown rapidly; Roman Catholic coun-
tries have grown slowly, been stationary
or declined. France is becoming one Of
the fairest, ripest, and richest fields for
Protestant missions in the world, with
$4,000 Protestants already at hand.
Protestant churches have entered Italy
and are gaining in all parts of the King
dom. Roman Catholic ecclesiasticism
has been snubbed in Bavaria, the strong
est Catholic German State, and has suf-
fered a kind of self defeat in Germany :;
1T has met with political misfortunes in
Belgium, where alone it shows much
vigor, and is no longer able to exclude
Professionalism in Spain, Portugal, and
Austria. In Switzerland and Germany,
where prosperous Professionalism has been
tainted with Rationalism the hurt is
largely offset by the activity and bright
prospects of the Methodist and Baptist
missions and by revival of evangelical
sentiment. In Ireland Roman Catho-
licism los: and Professionalism gained be-
tween 1884 and 1871 AZ per cent. And
while in 1851 the Roman Catholics were
70 per cent of the whole population in
England, Wales, and Ireland, in 1871
they were 10 per cent, and while the
non-papal population in the three coun-
tries increased in the interval nearly s.
100000 the Catholic population de-
creased 100000.
Romanism and Professionalism in
E America.
In the American continents, also, the
discussion shows that Roman Catholicism
is losing its influence in Mexico and
South America and Protestant missions
are gaining foothold. In the present
Dominion of Canada there were at the
time of the British conquest six and
half Roman Catholics to one Protestant;
now there are 86a Protestants to 65
Catholics. Professionalism has gained 42.45
per cent and Roman Catholicism has lost
1920 per cent on the whole population.
Roman Catholicism holds its own only in
the province of Quebec, where it is still
relatively gaining little. The religious
development of the United States has
been wonderful and the chief part in it
has been taken by Evangelical Protes-
tantism. The number of evangelical
church organizations in the United
States has increased since 1900 from
5000 to $1,000, or thirty-fold, and has
increased 26,942 in the last ten years
the number of ordained ministers from
1851 to $3.50 and 22,26l in ten years.
The first report of church buildings in
the United States, in 1850, gave the
number at 34,537; the report for 1870
gave 56,l54, an increase of nearly $4,000
in twenty years And the increase
during the last decade shows proper
tionately great increase. The number
OF communicates enrolled in the evan
gelical churches has increased from 1884,
972 in 1900 to 10,065, 1853 in 1880.
The "iberal" denominations Uni-
tarians, Universalists, Swedenborgians
and Christians) have lost nineteen par
ishes since 1870. They have now 2,6O3.
They lost eight churches between 1860
and 1870, although they had 100 more
in 1870 than in 1850 The Roman
Catholics had 1880 churches in 1850, g.
$40 in 1880; 1902 priests in 1850, g..
4O2 in 1880; population of 100000 in
1900, of 1.6l4,000 in 1850 and of 6 ,367,-
$50 in 1880. These figures show a large
increase, but an Irish American stats
tician has calculated that if the descen-
dants of the Roman Catholic stock en-
tering this country had remained true to
the Church they would have given a
Roman Catholic population in 1874 of
about "a 100000, and, at the same rate
of increase, 100000, now.
Evangelical Protestantism and Pom.
lation.
Considering the growth relatively to
the population, the discussion referred
to has brought out the fact that the
evangelical denominations had in 1880
one church organization for every | 74O