CHBISTIAN ENDEAVOR 490 CHRISTIANIA progress. (2) 1660-1720, trial, disputes with Great Britain, religious decline. (3) From 1720-1750, great revivals. (4) From 1750-1783, political agitation, free- dom from British rule. (5) From 1783 to the present, extensive revivals, separa- tion of Church and State, abolition of slavery, evangelization. The Protestant Episcopal Church w^as founded by the James River Colony (1607) ; its first Gen- eral Convention was in 1785; it ratified the Thirty-nine Articles in 1832. The Puritan Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, and began the development of Con- gregationalism. The Cambridge Plat- form was established in 1648. The Re- formed (Dutch) Church was established in 1628 in New Amsterdam (New York). The first independent organization w^as in 1771. The Baptists began in Providence, R. I., in 1639, through Roger Williams. The Reformed (German) Church was or- ganized in 1741. The Lutherans were established first in New York in 1669; the first Synod was held in 1748. The Presbyterians were organized at the close of the 17th century. The first Pres- bytery was established in Philadelphia in 1706, and the first General Assembly in 1789. The first Methodist Society in the United States was established in New York in 1766, and the first Conference was held in Philadelphia in 1771. The Reformed Episcopal Church was organ- ized in New York in 1873, under Bishop Cummins. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States was first established in Maryland through immigration in 1632. The Episcopal See of Baltimore was established in 1789. For statistics of the American Churches see the separate articles. CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETY OF, a society dis- tinctly religious in all its features: or- ganized Feb. 2, 1881, in Williston Church, Portland, Me., by the Rev. Francis E. Clark, D. D. From one small association it has expanded into over 77,500 societies (United States, 51,268; Canada, 4,118; foreign countries 22,181), with an aggre- gate membership of over 5,000,000. In addition to the main organizations in the United States there are various special branches, such as the Life Savers', insti- tuted by the Rev. S. Edward Young, at the United States Life-Saving Station at Asbury Park, N. J.; the Travelers' Christian Endeavor Union, organized at Philadelphia, Nov. 14, 1892, for work among commercial travelers; the Float- ing societies for work in the United States navy and among seamen general- ly; and various other organizations whose fields of labor lie among the Chi- nese, the Indian? convicts in prison, etc. The first Christian Endeavor Society in England was organized in 1887, and was followed by similar ones in other coun- tries, and the constitution has been print- ed in over 30 diff'erent languages. The movement is not a denominational one. Any society belonging to an evangelical Church, which adopts the leading prin- ciples as set forth in the constitution, in- cluding the prayer-meeting pledge, and which guarantees these principles by the name Christian Endeavor either alone or in connection with a denominational name is admitted to all the privileges of the organization. The distinctive features in the Chris- tian Endeavor movement are its work among the young people, leading them to consecrate their lives to the active service of God; the weekly prayer-meetings, which each member takes a solemn pledge to attend regularly (unless unavoidably detained), and to take part in; and the reconsecration meetings held once a month, at which special efforts are made to see if each one has been faithful to his pledges. The World's Union of Chris- tian Endeavor held its first triennial con- vention at Washington, D. C, in July, 1896, which was attended by representa- tives from all over the world. Since then several international conferences have been held, the last at Buffalo, N. Y., in August, 1919. The United Society of Christian Endeavor is a central body formed in 1885, with headquarters in Boston. It publishes the "Christian En- deavor World." The president of the religious society in 1919 was Rev, Francis E. Clark, and the general sec- retary, William Shaw. CHRISTIAN ERA, the era or epoch introduced by the birth of Christ. CHRISTIANIA, a city and port, the capital of Norway, at the head of the long narrow inlet called Christiania Fjord, about 60 miles from the open sea or Skagerrack. The houses are mostly . of brick and stone, generally plain build- ings, devoid of architectural pretension. Important public buildings are the royal palace, the house of representatives, or Storthing, the governor's palac^ and the cathedral. An interesting building is the fine old castle of Aggershuus, with its church and citadel crowning a point jut- ting out into the fjord. Attached to the university — the only one in Norway, opened in 1813 — is a museum, containing a fine collection of antiquities and a library with over 500,000 volumes. The manufactures of the city consist of woolen cloth, ironware, tobacco, paper, leather, soap, spirits, glass, etc., and there are extensive breweries. The ex- ports are principally timber and iron.
