Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/379

 NEW ENGLAND REVIVALS 365

While much care has been taken to avoid errors it is proba- ble that there are some due to clerical mistakes and some to defects in the original statistics, which are always taken from the official yearbooks of the various bodies reported. But as already indicated it is believed that these errors are few and comparatively unimportant and balance each other so as not to affect the conclusions to be drawn from the tables as a whole.

The first table is a general survey of the field as a whole so far as it has been practicable to gather trustworthy statistics. It shows the original additions to the churches among Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, and in the last period Episco- palians, for twelve years. Except for the Methodists the figures are for states and by each denomination. Rhode Island does not appear in this or either of the following tables, as some of its Baptist and Congregational churches were affiliated with those of Massachusetts for a long period and in later years there are no available revival figures from them that seem to require separate study. As Methodist conferences rarely fol- low state lines the figures are given for all New England, except those parts of Vermont and Connecticut and a few churches in northwestern Massachusetts which belong to New York conferences. But it has not always been easy to follow temporary changes in conference lines. The Methodist figures for New England stand first in each revival period and the states with the other denominations follow in alphabetical order. The central column shows the additions for the revival year ; the six columns on the right the additions for the following years, and the five on the left those for the five years before the revival. On the extreme left are given in a few instances the total numbers of members in the churches at the close of the revival year, including those added that year. Totals are given for each period where the figures are full or nearly so, or without the Methodists. A minus sign before Methodist figures denotes loss in members that year and a blank space denotes no official returns for the year. The ecclesiastical year varied. It has begun in April, May, June, or September with a tendency toward adherence to the calendar year, the Congre-