Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-07-07

mediately after it the second worlds Sunday school convention will meet and sit till Sept. G, and about the same time an informal convention will be held of the international field workers in the Sunday school line. Of these three the first is the historic and important one, and among its promoters are many of the most noted religious educators in the world.
 The numbers given above are but a round estimate from the known growth of the Sunday schools, but in exact fig ures the last report showed 2,O51 ,679 teachers and Is, ,026, ,916 scholars, a grand total of 2O,07S. .595, of whom but few less than one-half, or 0.SOo. .I71, are in the United States. Add the 530, ,220 in Can ada, and it will be seen that considerably more than half of all the Sunday school attendants of the world are in English speaking North America. In Great Brit ain and Ireland are 1899. .6S5 more, and every other country is so far behind that it is not in it for comparison.
 In truth, the Sunday school was from the start and still is an English-American institution, and whether it be decided that the great hberality of thought and progressive energy of this great race, this two natioued race, so to speak, be the cause or the result of Sunday schools, or that each promotes the other, the fact is equally suggestive and instructive. Ger many comes next with 43l ,221, then Sweden with 23S, ,0S2, Holland with 157,- 676 and Switzerland with S0, ,459, after which the numbers fall of with surpris- ing suddenness. In all Austria there arc but 1, 1881, in all Russia but 6,465 and in all Spain but S.400. Yet it is a pleasant surprise to read that Mexico and Central America contain 103, ,0OO Sunday school attendants and South America 153. 900.
 Wherever English is the language the Sunday school is established as soon as a colony has children enough to form q class, and next in this line are the speak CTS of German. Dutch and the Scandi- navian tongues. Even faroff Australia, so recently great country that old peo- pie still think of it as Botany Bay, the and of exile for criminals, has 4j7, ,729 eachers and scholars, while little New Zealand, but yesterday the home of the wild Maori, has 109,S72. Hawaii-Nei Jfficial name of the Sandwich Islands) as 17,253 and the English islands gener- lily 10,S00.
 It should be noted that many sections are omitted. Very few Catholic churches sent in any returns, and a large part of the Episcopal schools are not included. as they are given a different name. So it is believed that the total of teachers and pupils in the world exceeds 22 ,000.- 900. Still more remarkable is the fact that of the 190,575 places of meeting re ported the United States alone has 10S,- | 939, or nearly three-ffths of all in the world, as in this country generally the churches are used and room is abundant, while elsewhere the schools are often held in immense halls. In St. Louis are 64 1887 teachers and pupils by the last report, and these will consider the del egates as their guests and the guests of | the city.
 St. Louis has devised and maintains in great activity an original system of house to house visitation in connection with her Sunday school work. Her Sunday School union and the Missouri State as- sociation are making thorough prepara- tions to receive and entertain the visit