Fechter
CHARLES ALBERT, a French actor; born in London, England, Oct. 23, 1824; made his first public appearance in 1840 at the Salle Molière, in Paris, after which he went to Florence, Italy, with a dramatic company as leading juvenile. Subsequently he appeared as Seide in Voltaire's "Mahomet," in 1844: as Valère in Molière's great comedy; and as Armand Duval in "La Dame aux Camélias." In 1860 he went to London , where he presented "The Corsican Brothers," "Don César de Bazan," and "Hamlet." In 1870 he came to the United States and played to crowded houses, especially in "The Count of Monte Cristo." He died in Quakertown, Pa., Aug. 4, 1879. FEDERACY. See FEDERAL STATES.
FEDERAL COUNCIL OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN AMERI- CA, a body which grew out of attempts to unite the general activities of the several Protestant denominations. Previous work in avoiding duplication of effort had been accomplished by the Evangelical Alliance, the National Federation of Churches, and the Christian Workers. In 1905 a commission from 30 denominations met in New York City and drew up the Constitution for the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. This was an organization founded by the churches themselves and was not a voluntary or individual asso- EDERALIST ciation as its predecessors in this field had been. Its purpose is to unite the churches for service and it has no power nor intention to unite them in theology or to interfere in any way with the complete independence of each denomination. It meets every four years, the first meeting being held in Philadelphia in 1908. One of its most important commissions is that on "Church and Social Service" the attitude of the Christian Churches on which has reported with a statement of the labor problem. It advocated collective bargaining, reasonable hours of labor and aligned the Churches definitely with the forces of social progress. Among the other commissions of the Council are those on Foreign Missions, Home Missions, Religious Education, Peace and Arbitration, and the Church and Country Life. Investigations are held by these commissions and a large amount of statistical data is at hand which affords a scientific as well as a religious basis for the discussions.