792 EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION V. In 1769 appeared his lyrical drama of " Adam and Eve." His tragedy of Rolf Krage (1770) was the first attempt to dramatize the ancient history of Denmark, and bears evi- dence of the careful study of both Ossian and Shakespeare. About this time he became lame, and poverty, neglect, and intemperance added to his misfortunes. He was eventually deserted even by his mother, and the last two years of his life were spent in the house of a benevolent friend. But his literary activity remained undiminished, and in 1771 and 1772, while in the greatest distress of mind and body, he wrote even humorous plays, which were very successful. His most celebrated work, Balders Dod ("Baldur's Death"), a drama devoted to the heroic reminiscences of Scandinavian mythology, appeared in 1773. His finest lyrical poem, "The Fishermen," ap- peared in 1778. He also wrote a famous na- tional song of Denmark, and some works in prose. He began to prepare his poetical works for publication, but the edition was completed only after his death (4 vols., Copenhagen, 1781-'91 ; best ed., by Liebenberg, 8 vols., 1850-'55). EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE, a religious associa- tion among different denominations of Protes- tants in Europe and America. A convention, called for the formation of such an alliance, met in Freemason's hall, London, England, Aug. 19, 1846. It consisted of about 800 clergymen and laymen from France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and Canada, repre- senting 50 denominational connections. The convention sat 13 days, and adopted the basis of the religious doctrines held in common by evangelical Protestants, viz. : the inspiration and sufficiency of the Scriptures ; the right of private judgment in interpreting the Scrip- tures ; the unity and trinity of the Godhead ; human depravity ; the incarnation and atone- ment of Christ ; justification by faith alone ; conversion ; eternal rewards and punishments ; the divine institution of the ministry, and of baptism and the Lord's supper. It was de- clared that this summary of doctrines was not to be regarded in any formal or ecclesiastical sense as a creed or confession, nor its adop- tion as an assumption of the right to define the limits of Christian brotherhood, or that the doctrines adopted embrace the whole of important truth. The convention recommend- ed the formation of national branches in the different countries of Europe and America; the object of the association being to display the substantial union of Protestants of differ- ent countries and names, and to strengthen and enlarge that union. The recommendation was followed by the formation of coordinate societies, independent of each other, but united in object and sympathy, in Great Britain and Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Switzer- land, Sweden, America, and among the mis- sionaries in Turkey, Persia, the East and West Indies, Palestine, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Besides the convention in which the alliance was formed, six international confer-* ences have been held at irregular intervals: in London, 1851 ; Paris, 1855; Berlin, 1857; Ge- neva, 1861 ; Amsterdam, 1867; and New York, 1873. These conferences have been largely attended, the last (Oct. 2-12, 1873) especial- ly so, and have embraced many of the most distinguished members of the respective de- nominations, both of the clergy and laity. Be- sides the regular sessions of the conferences, during their progress special meetings have been held with reference to particular coun- tries, in which the languages of these countries were used, and their wants brought before the Christian world. At the Geneva conference in 1861 a special meeting was held with reference to the civil war in America, for the purpose of bringing the true aspects of the war before European Christians. The alliance has for sev- eral years united, through its committees, in recommending a time and subjects for special prayer, which have been generally observed by those in sympathy with the alliance through- out the world ; the first week in January be- ing the time selected, and the subjects for each day of the week being considered in all lands. The alliance has exerted an influence in favor of religious liberty in Spain, Italy, Austria, Sweden, and Turkey ; and in 1871 a commit- tee representing different branches in Europe and America proceeded to Russia, and memo- rialized the czar in behalf of the Protestants in the Baltic provinces. Reports of the proceed- ings of the several conferences have been pub- lished under the following titles : "The Reli- gious Condition of Christendom" (London, 1852); "The Religious Condition of Christen- dom " (London, 1859) ; " The Geneva Confer- ence of the Evangelical Alliance " (Edinburgh and London, 1862) ; and Evangelische Alliantie (Rotterdam, 1867), and "Proceedings of the Amsterdam Conference " (London, 1868). EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION, an ecclesiastical body, sometimes erroneously called the Ger- man Methodist church, probably because its confession of faith and its polity are very simi- lar to that of the Methodist Episcopal church, while its members are chiefly Germans or of German descent. It took its rise in the east- ern part of Pennsylvania in the year 1800, and resulted from an organization into classes and congregations of the disciples of the Rev. Jacob Albright, who, being impressed by the general decline of religious life, and the cor- ruption of doctrines and morals that prevailed in the German churches in that portion of the country, undertook about 1790 to work a re- form among them. The effect of his first ef- forts encouraged him to travel through a great part of the country, preaching in churches, in schools or private houses, in the public roads, &c. He soon found it necessary to unite his converts, scattered over several counties, into small societies for mutual support and sympa-
