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Page 220

 

Saxony

gregations, and quinquennial national synods have been held, the latter composed of 34 clergy and 43 laymen. In 1903 there were 1,46.9 clerical positions, 619 being under royal patronage, 832 controlled by private patrons, and 18 alternating in patronage. In 1903 the births of Evangelical parentage numbered 142,641 and the baptisms 138,606; in the same year there were 32,416 marriages, and 32,047 betrothals of wholly Evangelical pairs. By the law of Dec. 1, 1876, omission of baptism or betrothal involves loss of the right to be a godparent, or to have either an active or a passive vote in church affairs. The church attendance is, in general, satisfactory; and there is an increasing interest in missions and other forms of practical religion. On the other hand, the number of communicants is unmistakably declining. Besides the Evangelical Lutherans, official recognition has been accorded since 1818 to the Evangelical Reformed, represented by churches at Dresden and Leipsic.

The Roman Catholic Church in Saxony, which has enjoyed freedom of worship and complete civil equality with the Protestant denominations since 1807, has been controlled since 1763 by a vicar apostolic and by a Roman Catholic consistory under him. He resides in Dresden, but is at the same time dean of the chapter of Bautzen, and is a bishop in partibus. The State requires all measures, even those bearing simply on internal administration, to be submitted to itself; and such changes as touch in the remotest degree civil relations must be approved by the civil authorities. The Roman Catholics have in Saxony' seventy-five places of worship and ninety-seven clergy. In Upper Lusatia are the two Cistercian nunneries already mentioned, but the foundation of additional religious houses is forbidden, and every religious order is prohibited from entering the country. The only exception to the latter restriction is that of the law of Aug. 23, 1876, which admits, after approval by, and under supervision of, the civil government, such sisters as belong to orders settled in the German Empire and devoting themselves exclusively to the care of children and of the sick. The German Catholic congregations in Dresden, Leipsic, Chemnitz, and Gelenau, recognized since 1848, are now controlled by the Landeskirchenvorstand in Dresden, which convenes a synod triennially, and by the elders of each congregation. They are rapidly declining because of their increasing tendency to free thought, and are so lax that, in case of conversions to the Lutheran Church, baptism is required. In case of change of confession among the recognized bodies, the person concerned must declare his intention to his clergyman, who must warn him of the seriousness of his proposed step. If, after four weeks, he still adheres to his resolve, he is furnished a certificate of dismissal, which is sent the clergymen of the confession to which he has become a convert, and without this he can not be received into any of the recognized churches. In case the conversion is to an unrecognized church, the name of the convert must be entered in the official register of dissenters. This latter provision, dating from 1870, renders the formation of new religious bodies possible. Advantage was taken of

THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG

it in 1871 by the " Separate Lutherans " (see Lu TmsANs, II.), who charged the State Church with lapse from the Lutheran confession. They now have six congregations in Dresden, Planitz, Chemnitz, Crimmitzschau, Frankenberg, and Grim, with a membership of 1,500. (F. W. DIBEI.Ius.)

BIHLioanAP87: The best sources of information are the annuall"tatistisches Jahrbuch for das %8ni#reich Sachsen, published at Dresden, and %irchliches Jahrbuch, published at GOtersloh; and P. Drews. Daa kirchliche Leben der evangel.luther%schen Landeakirehe des R6nipreichs Sachsen, Leipsic, 1902.

SAYBROOK PLATFORM. See CoN(iazGATIONALISTS, III., § 1.

SAYCE, sk, ARCHIBALD HENRY: Church of England, archeological scholar; b. at Shirehampton (4 m. n.w. of Bristol), Gloucestershire, Sept. 25, 1845. He was educated at Queen's College (B.A., 1869), and was ordered deacon in 1870 and ordained priest in the following year. He was elected fellow of Queen's College in 1869, where he was also tutor in 1870-79. He was deputy professor of comparative philology at Oxford (1876-1889), and since 1891 has been professor of Assyriology in the same university. He was a member of the Old-Testament Revision Company, and was Hibbert lecturer in 1887, Gifford lecturer in 1900-02, and Rhind lecturer in 1906. He is a member of very many learned societies.

He has edited G. Smith's History of Babylonia (London, 1877) and Sennaehsrsv (1878); Records of the Pad, second series (5 vols., 1888-92); the English translation of G. Maspero'e Histoire ancienne des peuples de 1' orient claaeique as The Dawn ql Civilisation (3 vols., 1894-1900); Murray's Handbook to Upper Egypt (1896); The Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assouan (1908); and The Tablet from Yusgat in the Liverpool Institute of ArcAmolopy (1907). Among his numerous independent writings, special mention may be made of his Assyrian Grammar for Comparative Purposes (London, 1872); Principles of Comparative Philology (1874); Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians (1874); Elementary Assyrian Grammar (1874); Babylonian Literature (1877); Lectures on the Assyrian Language and Syllabary (1877); Introduction to the Science of Language (2 vols., 1879); The Monuments of the Hittites (1881); The ancient Empires of the East: Herodotus i.-iii (1883) ; Presh Light from the Monw menta: A Sketch of the most striking Confirmations of the Bible from recent Discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Palestine, Babylonia, and Asia Minor (1883); Asayrsa, its Princes, Priests, and People (1885); An Introduction to the Books of Esra. Nehemiah, and Bather (1885; 5th ed., 1909); Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by the Religion of the ancient Babylonians (Hibbert lectures for 1887; 1887); The Hittites: or, The Story of a Pornotten People (1888); The Races of the Old Testament (1891); Social Life among the Assyrians and Babylonians (1893); The Higher Criticism" and as Verdict of the Monuments (1894); A Primer of Assyriolopy (1894); Patriarchal Palestine (1895); The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodatus (1895); Early History of the Hebrews (1897); Israel and the Surrounding Nations (1898); Babylonians and Assyrians (New York, 1899); Genesis in The Temple Bible (London, 1901); The Religiona of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia (Gifford lectures; Edinburgh, 1902); Tobit and the Babylonian Apocryphal Writings in The Temple Bible (London, 1903); Monuments, Pads, and Higher Critical Pancies (1904); and Archowlogy of the Cuneiform Inscriptions (1907).

SCADDING, CHARLES: Protestant Episcopal bishop of Oregon; b. at Toronto, Canada, Nov. 25, 1861. He was graduated from Trinity College, Toronto (1885), and was ordered deacon in 1885 and priested in the following year. He was curate at St. George's, New York City (1886-90); rector