DECEMBER, 1887.

VOL. XLI.
NO. 12.

The American Missionary

CONTENTS

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.

Rooms, 56 Reade Street.

Price, 50 Cents a Year, in Advance.

Entered at the Post-Office at New York, N.Y., as second-class matter.

American Missionary Association.

President, —— ——

Vice-Presidents.

Corresponding Secretaries.

Rev. M. E. Strieby, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Rev. James Powell, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Rev. A. F. Beard, D.D., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Treasurer.

H. W. Hubbard, Esq., 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

Auditors.

Executive Committee.

District Secretaries.

Rev. C. L. Woodworth, D.D., 21 Cong’l House, Boston.

Rev. J. E. Roy, D.D., 151 Washington Street, Chicago.

Bureau of Woman’s Work.

Secretary, Miss D. E. Emerson, 56 Reade Street, N.Y.

COMMUNICATIONS

Relating to the work of the Association may be addressed to the Corresponding Secretaries; those relating to the collecting fields, to Rev. James Powell, D.D., or to the District Secretaries; letters for “The American Missionary,” to the Editor, at the New York Office.

DONATIONS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

In drafts, checks, registered letters or post-office orders, may be sent to H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer, 56 Reade Street, New York, or, when more convenient, to either of the Branch Offices, 21 Congregational House, Boston, Mass., or 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. A payment of thirty dollars at one time constitutes a Life Member.

FORM OF A BEQUEST.

“I bequeath to my executor (or executors) the sum of —— dollars, in trust, to pay the same in —— days after my decease to the person who, when the same is payable, shall act as Treasurer of the ‘American Missionary Association,’ of New York City, to be applied, under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Association, to its charitable uses and purposes.” The Will should be attested by three witnesses.

THE

American Missionary.

Vol. XLI.

DECEMBER, 1887.

No. 12.

American Missionary Association.

This is the Annual Meeting number of The Missionary. It is twice the usual size, and more than twice the usual value. Addresses omitted for lack of space will appear in subsequent numbers. Dr. Behrends’s sermon will be printed in the Annual Report.

The Portland Meeting was one of the best in the history of the Association. The intellectual and spiritual power of all the sessions was marked and sustained throughout. The attendance was large. The churches provided right royally for those who attended. The ministers and those associated with them worked night and day. They anticipated every want. They made themselves the servants of all. We cannot thank them as we ought. We cannot reward them as they deserve. They have done the cause a noble service.

An enthusiastic, profitable, inspiring meeting was anticipated, and that expectation was more than fulfilled. There was no debt to mourn over, and no question of administration to dispute about. The one object in coming together was to get a bird’s-eye view of the field, and to crystalize the aroused enthusiasm in the form of increased contributions, exertions and prayers for the society’s work.

Never did the magnitude of its field and the complex character of its labors appear in such startling lines. Either one of the four principal departments of labor demands the money and the force which is distributed among all. But, in the providence of God, this society is called upon to prosecute this fourfold work. It cannot abandon a single field, and it must not be asked to. It can do in the next five years a work for Christianity and for Congregationalism in the South and West which will tell on the coming century. As Christians, and as Congregational Christians, we must see that it be not obliged to pinch its workers, and to turn away from promising openings in order to keep free from debt the coming year.

In two respects the deliberations are likely to issue in action which will affect the other societies as well. The strong sentiment in favor of a consolidation of the missionary publications will probably take form in some definite action ere long, and the frequent and prolonged laments over the scanty gifts of Christians for missionary operations indicate a determined effort on the part of pastors and leaders to induce a revival of giving.

The American Missionary Association has a united constituency at its back, and a boundless field before its face. In the solving of the problems which confront American Christianity, it is to have a glorious share.

The Congregationalist.

Rev. Dr. Roy, our Western District Secretary, has secured a number of stereopticon-views illustrative of our work in all its departments. By aid of the stereopticon he tells his story in a way that keeps both eyes and ears of his audience engaged. The venture is highly praised. The overflow meeting, Wednesday evening, in Portland, were treated to a part of the lecture and exhibition. People who say missionary meetings are dull, make themselves conspicuously scarce when Dr. Roy comes round.

Now is a good time to induce our friends, not subscribers, to subscribe for The American Missionary. With January a new volume of the magazine begins. The price is only 50 cents. The reading matter will be found interesting and profitable. There is a prejudice against missionary literature. It is unjust. Will our friends aid us by trying to destroy that prejudice? We cannot offer premiums to induce formation of clubs. It is a missionary magazine that we publish. We invite missionary effort to enlarge its paying circulation.

That word paying makes us think. We have a large number of life members, to all of whom we send The Missionary free. We also send it to pastors and Sunday-school superintendents of contributing churches free. By so doing we do not mean to debar them from the privilege of paying. Many of these, knowing that they will receive the magazine anyway, put their subscription into their annual donations. Better send the subscriptions separately. It would enable us, by entering the subscriptions upon our books where they belong, to lower the expense of publication. Of course, in the result it is as broad as it is long. We have so much receipts and so much expenses, but it is well to give credit where credit is due, and our magazine should have its credits acknowledged. Where subscriptions are put in with the general contribution, they go into the general treasury. They do not appear in the specific magazine account, and we have no means of knowing exactly what the magazine costs the general treasury. It is very certain it costs no where near what we are obliged to report. We respectfully ask the attention of our friends to this point.

A pastor writes us: “If pastors would take a little pains to have The American Missionary sent to carefully selected persons in their communities, it would bring large returns, I am sure.” This is a very important statement, if true. We believe it is true. What have pastors to say about it? They are most earnestly requested to express their opinions. The question is open.

This is the way the editor of a colored religious paper in the South puts it to the ministers:

“If the Lord called you to preach, he also calls you to subscribe for our paper, so that you may be cut and qualified to preach. It is just so, and you had better believe it. Send in your money.”

And then he goes for delinquents after this fashion:

“How can you call yourself honest while you are indebted for your paper? The Lord will not hold you guiltless unless you pay what you owe. Pay up! Pay up!! Pay up!!!”

We hasten to add, we were not thinking of subscriptions for The American Missionary when we made the above clippings.

The special attention of pastors is called to the resolution presented by the Committee on Secretary Powell’s paper and adopted by the Annual Meeting. Will they please see to it that this resolution is brought to the notice of the local conferences with which they are connected. Nothing goes in this world unless there are earnest souls behind it pushing. If that resolution is translated into action by all the local conferences, it will bring thousands of dollars into our treasury.

The Georgia Legislature has adjourned and gone home. The Chain-Gang Bill of the House was too barbarous for the Senate to follow. The more refined, though not less cruel Bill of the Senate, the House would not accept. A Committee of Conference failed to find ground for common standing. Thus it was at the time of adjournment. Pending, however, these considerations, another Bill was passed which has taken from Atlanta University the State appropriation of $8,000, and this is all the legislation enacted on the subject.

Governor Gordon, of Georgia, has been making political speeches in Ohio. Of course he had a good deal to say about the colored people, and as might be expected he told his Northern audiences that the charges about their being oppressed at the South were all false. In this opinion the colored people do not agree with the Governor. They assert the opposite with vehemence and persistence. The man who lays on the lash affirms that the strokes do not hurt. The poor victim cries out in pain; but we must not believe the victim. Oh, no! He is merely crying for political effect. Indeed, he is not being whipped at all. He only imagines it, or he has been worked up by Northern emissaries to make all this outcry about nothing! The testimony of the colored people is against the Governor. The Legislation of his own State, with its story of colored code laws, political disability laws, and Glenn Bills, is against him. The inexpressibly infamous Penitentiary system of his State, which, if the victims of its inhuman cruelties were white as they are colored people, would not be tolerated for a moment, is against him. Northern people read and think. Up this way, assertions do not stand against facts.

STUDENT AID.

To help a needy and worthy student is a delightful way of doing good. Men eminent for usefulness in all parts of the land acknowledge their indebtedness to aid given them when in want and discouraged. Without such aid they never would have gained the training which now is bearing blessed and abundant fruit. The experiences of the past are repeated in the South, and promising youths, weighted by the entailments of slavery, must have help or they will never reach their greatest possibilities and largest usefulness.

In this beneficence, however, there is need of abundant wisdom; for there is a risk, lest in helping, self-help may be repressed and thus harm be done rather than good. It is one thing to carry a child till he is grown and then lay down at the highway of life one large enough and old enough to be a man, but still a baby; and another, to so hold the hand in difficult places as to develop the ankle bones and finally send into the world a man who can not only stand alone, but also help others. The wolf’s milk seems still necessary to make a Roman, but the modern Romulus does not cry for it. Indeed, he often cries when it is given him. There are risks in helping, just as surely as it is wrong not to help at all. Tramps are numerous where warm breakfasts are given to any who come to the door; and aid too easily or too abundantly obtained lessens self-reliance, makes muscle flabby, bone cartilage, and heart pusillanimous. Where, however, aid received is earned by work, when it is given so sparingly as to allow no surplus for jewelry, or for clothing other than the plainest, the results of its bestowal are good, and only good. Such giving is always to be encouraged.

But it should be remembered that a semi-tropical climate has its liabilities, and that where the north wind seldom cuts, men dread the storm and love to be coddled. “Excelsior” is oftenest found on banners planted amid snow and ice. Besides, slavery pricked the ham-strings of endeavor, and naturally the young among the freed people are not inclined to say, “I will either find a way or make one.” Hence the need of tonics, and tonics are proverbially bitter. In general, it is better to give plain cloth to a girl and teach her to make her clothing, than to send her stitched and embroidered apparel; better to equip a workshop than to pay a student’s board bill; better, for instance, to give a plough to our Talladega farm and put a boy at the handle, than to set before him cooked rations. It is a wiser benevolence to furnish industrial appliances, or to support a self-denying teacher, hardened in adversity and skilled to harden others, than to profusely aid the student whom only work and self-denial can make heroic. The petted are apt to be spoiled, and those helped the most are usually foremost in fault-finding.

H. S. DE FOREST.

MORE ABOUT THE JOHN BROWN SONG.

When at my house, and talking over Mr. Jerome’s account of the origin of the John Brown song (printed since in your July number of the American Missionary), you intimated that it might be of interest to your readers to know of my own relation to it. Since that conversation I have received letters on the same subject, and have had an interview with a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, who called to make inquiries. After the latter had left, I instituted a search among my papers, and found some additional memoranda on the matter, made at the time, which enables me to give the account a little more minutely and with a slight correction on one point.

On the 23d of October, 1861, I started on a visit to our army, in behalf of the Chicago Sanitary Commission, of which I was a member. Taking the train at Chicago for Cairo, Ill., I meditated, during the long hours, on the bearing of the war upon the emancipation of the slaves, and was saddened by the indisposition of the Government, the army, and the leading politicians to connect that object with the preservation of the Federal Union. I had been preaching and writing on that point with great earnestness, and was inwardly inquiring what else I could do in behalf of the slave. Just then the John Brown song, which had recently become somewhat popular, and the tune of which—apparently taken from the revival melody, “Say, brothers, will you meet us?”—pleased me much as admirably effective for use among the people, occurred to my mind. It was sung to a ridiculous string of words about “We’ll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree,” etc., but had a good chorus: “Glory, hallelujah! His soul is marching on.” Why not have some better stanzas, with a proper rhythmical swing and a good anti-slavery moral, yet based on John Brown’s history? The more I meditated on it, the stronger grew the impulse to do something of the kind, till, to while away the tedium of the journey, I pulled out the back of a letter or something similar, and wrote a set of rhymes. When I saw the Chicago Tribune reporter, I thought that this occurred on my return journey, and so stated to him. But my original memorandum showed that it was on the day of starting, as given above. I went to Paducah, Ky., to inspect certain camps, and found there an Illinois regiment, under command of Col. McArthur. The chaplain was my old friend, Rev. Joel Grant, to whom I read my rhymes. He was so struck with their adaptedness to convey anti-slavery sentiment, that he insisted on my giving him a copy, that he might set the soldiers to singing them, which I did. On my return home to Chicago, I concluded to insert them in the Chicago Tribune, as Mr. Medill’s family attended my church, and I knew his sympathy with the anti-slavery cause. But as I did not claim to be a poet, and felt shy of seeming to appear as one, I used the signature of “Plebs” for that and for two other pieces of rhyme, called “The Old Fogy’s Lament,” and “The Warning,” both also on the slavery question. I gave the title as “The New John Brown Song,” retaining the first line and the chorus of the early version. There were six stanzas, which were as follows, adding a single omitted word:

I.

Old John Brown’s body lies a-moldering in the grave,
While weep the sons of bondage, whom he ventured all to save;
But though he lost his life in struggling for the slave,
His soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

II.

John Brown he was a hero, undaunted, true and brave,
And Kansas knew his valor, where he fought, her rights to save,
And now, though the grass grows green above his grave,
His soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

III.

He captured Harper’s Ferry with his nineteen men, so few,
And he frightened “Old Virginny,” till she trembled through and through;
They hung him for a traitor, themselves a traitor crew,
But his soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

IV.

John Brown was John the Baptist of the Christ we are to see—
Christ who of the bondman shall the Liberator be;
And soon throughout the sunny South the slaves shall all be free,
For his soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

V.

The conflict that he heralded, he looks from heaven to view—
On the army of the Union, with its flag, red, white and blue;
And Heaven shall ring with anthems o’er the deed they mean to do,
For his soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

VI.

Ye soldiers brave of freedom, then strike, while strike ye may,
The death-blow of oppression, in a better time and way,
For the dawn of Old John Brown has brightened into day,
And his soul is marching on! O Glory! Hallelujah!

These stanzas were published in the Chicago Tribune of Nov. 16th, 1861, and were at once issued also in sheet music by Root & Cady, the principal music firm of the West at that time. It thus went all over the West and into the army at the South. When the “Jubilee Singers” prepared a version of “John Brown” to sing, they adopted the second and third stanzas of my song, and perhaps others, and carried them still more widely. Wendell Phillips used to quote the third stanza with great effect at times.

WM. W. PATTON.

MISSISSIPPI CONVICT SYSTEM.

The horrid barbarity of the State convict-system in Georgia is paralleled by Mississippi. The moral sense of the people in these States is waking up and public attention is being called to the cruelty and inhumanity on the part of those who have prisoners in charge. It seems incredible that such things can be so. What a disgrace to our country and our civilization! Here is a report recently made by the Grand Jury of Hinds County, Mississippi:

To the Hon. T. J. Wharton, Judge:

After a most arduous session of eleven days we, the Grand Jury of the First District of Hinds County for this the June term of the court, having completed our labors, beg to submit our final report. We have examined 220 witnesses and have found and returned into court thirty-eight true bills, of which six have been for murder, eight for grand larceny, and the remainder for minor offenses.

We find, with the exception of murder, there is very little crime in this district; but we are compelled to deplore the fact that homicide seems to be on the increase. We feel we have discharged our duty toward the suppression of this crime as best we were able, leaving the court to carry on the work.

We have examined the public officers’ accounts and settlements and find everything in good shape. We have examined the jail, and find the roof and floors in bad condition and the bedding and covering of the prisoners insufficient and in a bad condition. We recommend that proper and clean bedding be furnished the prisoners and that the roof be repaired or replaced by a new one.

We felt it our duty to inspect the penitentiary, and we report the result of our inspection as follows: We find comparatively few prisoners in the walls of the penitentiary, most of them being out on the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad and elsewhere. We found nothing to complain of in the walls. The yard seemed to be clean, and the building, so far as we could judge, in a safe and cleanly condition, and those immediately in charge polite and accommodating in showing us around. But we feel constrained by a sense of public duty to call attention to the hospital there, the manner in which it is kept and the condition of its occupants. We found twenty-six inmates, all of whom have been lately brought there off the farms and railroads, many of them with consumption and other incurable diseases, and all bearing on their persons marks of the most inhuman and brutal treatment; most of them have their backs cut in great wales, scars and blisters, some with the skin peeling off in pieces as the result of severe beatings.

Their feet and hands in some instances show signs of frost-bite, and all of them with the stamp of manhood almost blotted out of their faces, which show that they have been treated more cruelly and brutally than a nation of savages ought to permit inflicted upon its convicts. They are lying there dying, some of them on bare boards, so poor and emaciated that their bones almost come through their skin, many complaining for the want of food.

We believe they are fed improperly. Sick people ought to have light diet and these poor creatures get their beef water and meal for soup, as we are informed, with coarse meat and cabbage—such diet as they cannot eat. One poor fellow burst out crying and said he was literally starving to death. We actually saw live vermin crawling over their faces, and the little bedding and clothing they have is in tatters and stiff with filth.

We call the attention of the Board of Control to these matters, but under the law we know they can do but little to remedy these evils. We believe they will do the best they can. We are not to be understood as condemning the lessees in person for these things, but we do inveigh against the principle and system of this great State taking a poor creature’s liberty and turning him over to one whose interest it is to coin his blood into money.

As a fair sample of this system, on January 6, 1887, two hundred and four convicts were leased to McDonald up to June 6, 1887, and during this six months twenty died, nineteen were discharged and escaped and twenty-three returned to the walls disabled and sick, many of whom have since died. God will never smile upon a State that treats its convicts as Mississippi does. After a full examination and conference with the kind-hearted prison physician, Dr. Johnston, we find the following persons in the hospital almost in a dying state, some of them with hopelessly incurable diseases and others badly afflicted, and all of them confined for minor offenses, comparatively speaking, and who have long since suffered the full penalty of the law in being beaten and so cruelly mis-treated, and whom we here earnestly beg the Governor to pardon immediately, so that they may at least die free.

Then follow the names of twelve persons, all colored, who, in consequence of the abuse to which they were subjected in prison, are now suffering from incurable diseases. Oh, for some John Howard to arise in the South and become in God’s hand the instrument of wiping this terrible evil out of existence.

FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING
of the
American Missionary Association.

The Forty-first Annual Meeting of the American Missionary Association convened in the Second Parish Church at Portland, Maine, on Tuesday, October 25th, at 3 o’clock P. M.

Owing to the recent death of its President, Hon. Wm. B. Washburn, of Massachusetts, the Association was called to order by one of the Vice-Presidents, Alexander McKenzie, D.D., of the same State, who, after the singing of “Coronation,” read the Scriptures—Mark vi, 30–56—and led in prayer.

Rev. Henry A. Hazen, of Massachusetts, was elected Secretary, and Rev. Edgar M. Cousins, of Maine, Assistant Secretary.

In the unavoidable absence of W. H. Fenn, D.D., Rev. Charles H. Daniels welcomed the Association in behalf of the churches and the city of Portland.

Response was made by Vice-President McKenzie.

The following committees were nominated and elected:

Committee on Nominations.—A. S. Walker, D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. Rufus K. Harlow, of Massachusetts; W. L. Gage, D.D., of Connecticut; Rev. Arthur Shirley, of Maine; Charles Peck, Esq., of Connecticut.

Committee of Arrangements.—Rev. Charles H. Daniels, Rev. Leavitt H. Hallock, Rev. Frank T. Bayley, William H. Fenn, D.D., Dea. E. F. Duren, all of Maine.

Business Committee.—Rev. Geo. M. Howe, of Maine; J. D. Kingsbury, D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. Geo. E. Hall, of New Hampshire; Rev. Geo. E. Street, of New Hampshire; Dr. Luther B. Morse, of Massachusetts; James G. Buttrick, Esq., of Massachusetts.

Secretary Beard read the portion of the Constitution relating to life membership and delegates, and the roll of the Association and Visitors was prepared, as follows;

ROLL.

State Associations.

James Bell, N.J.; Ruel P. Cowles, Ct.; Rev. T. M. Davies, Me.; Miss Anne E. Farrington, N.C.

Local Conferences.

Rev. G. W. Christie, Me.; Elnathan F. Duren, Me.; Rev. Wm. A. Houghton, Mass.; Rev. C. G. McCully, Me.; Rev. Wm. G. Mann, Me.; Charles Morse, Mass.; Rev. B. G. Northrup, Ct.; Miss L. L. Phelps, Me.; Rev. Lauriston Reynolds, Me.; E. N. Smith, Me.; Rev. N. J. Squires, Ct.; Edward A. Williams, Ct.; Rev. Alexander Wiswall, Me.

Delegates from the Churches.

Rev. Jonathan E. Adams, Me.; Rev. Myron W. Adams, N.H.; Mrs. Elizabeth B. Allen, Me.; Rev. T. M. Beadenkoff, Me.; Mary Q. Brown, Mass.; Susan M. Brown, Mass.; Mary S. Burge, N.H.; J. W. Burgess, Mass.; Mrs. Caroline A. S. Burgess, Mass.; G. W. Catlin, Ct.; S. H. Chandler, Me.; Rev. G. E. Chapin, Me.; Rev. C. D. Crane, Me.; Albert Currier, Mass.; Mrs. Minnie A. Dickinson, Mass.; E. W. Douglass, N.C.; Mrs. Ruth Eastman, Me.; Rev. F. F. Emerson, R.I.; Rev. John D. Emerson, Me.; Edward H. Emery, Me.; Franklin Fairbanks, Vt.; Miss M. B. Fairbanks, Me.; B. Freeman, Me.; Rev. W. L. Gage, Ct.; Rev. Joshua S. Gay, Mass.; A. Gaylord, N.Y.; C. W. Goodnow, Me.; Mrs. C. W. Goodnow, Me.; J. M. Gould, Me.; Jas. Graham, Me.; Abbie Greene, Me.; Mrs. S. J. Hall, Mass.; Wolcott Hamlin, Mass.; Horace F. Hanson, M.D., Me.; Rev. D. W. Hardy, Me.; Rev. Henry A. Hazen, Mass.; Minnie E. Holt, Me.; Alonzo H. Libby, Me.; Rev. H. S. Loring, Me.; Rev. D. D. Marsh, Mass.; Mrs. D. D. Marsh, Mass.; Mrs. Eliza W. Merrill, N.H.; Rev. W. A. Merrill, Me.; Mrs. Martha N. Merrill, Me.; Charles W. Morton, Me.; M. A. Perry, Mass.; Rev. J. S. Richards, Me.; Rev. C. F. Ropes, N.H.; Alice M. Russell, Me.; Rev. Charles L. Skinner, Me.; Rev. B. P. Snow, Me.; Joel Spaulding, Me.; Mrs. Caroline Spencer, Me.; John M. Stearns, N.Y.; Rev. Edward G. Stone, N.H.; Rev. P. B. Thayer, Me.; Rev. M. Van Horn, R.I.; Rev. Wm. G. Wade, Me.; Rev. Albert Watson, N.H.; Frank Wood, Mass.; Clinton A. Woodbury, Me.; Rev. D. E. Adams, Mass.; Rev. Joseph Anderson, Ct.; Rev. Samuel H. Barnum, N.H.; Rev. E. Bean, Me.; Mrs. Philo Bevin, Ct.; Rev. Samuel Bowker, Mass.; Mrs. A. H. Burbank, Me.; Rev. Wm. T. Briggs, Mass.; Rev. Geo. P. Byington, Vt.; Rev. Edward L. Chute, Mass.; J. H. Clark, Me.; Dea. M. Collister, Mass.; Lucius C. Curtis, Me.; Mrs. E. C. Drisko, Me.; Rev. Omar W. Folsom, Me.; Rev. H. A. Freeman, Me.; Rev. A. K. Gleason, Me.; Lydia L. Hawkes, Me.; Dea. J. E. Henry, Mass.; Sarah P. Hill, Me.; Rev. John W. Hird, Mass.; Mrs. N. H. Holbrook, Mass.; Mrs. L. M. Holt, Me.; Rev. G. M. Howe, Me.; Rev. Frank E. Jenkins, Ky.; Rev. R. W. Jenkins, Me.; Rev. E. S. Jordan, Me.; J. R. Libby, Me.; Jas. M. Linsley, Ct.; Dea. Geo. W. Littlefield, Me.; Rev. C. W. Longren, Me.; Rev. Henry S. Loring, Me.; Rev. George E. Lovejoy, Mass.; Chas. E. Miller, Me.; Dr. Luther B. Morse, Mass.; Dea. B. A. Nourse, Mass.; Rev. C. H. Oliphant, Mass.; Dea. H. W. Otis, Mass.; Rev. Henry J. Patrick, Mass.; Mrs. Sarah Payne, Me.; Dea. Charles Peck, Ct.; Rev. L. Phelps, Mass.; Dea. H. M. Plumer, N.H.; J. G. Proctor, N.H.; Mrs. Proctor, N.H.; Rev. A. H. Quint, Mass.; Rev. Cyrus Richardson, N.H.; H. H. Ricker, Me.; D. B. Robinson, Me.; Rev. Arthur Smith, Me.; Rev. H. A. Stevens, R.I.; Joseph Stover, Me.; Mrs. Joseph Stover, Me.; Rev. Geo. A. Tewkesbury, Mass.; Rev. A. H. Tyler, Me.; Rev. Jos. N. Walker, Vt.; Mrs. Eben Webster, Mass.; Gorham N. Weymouth, Mass.

Life Members.

Rev. A. F. Beard, N.Y.; James Bell, N.J.; Mrs. Matilda Burleigh, Me.; Timothy H. Chapman, Me.; E. L. Champlin, N.Y.; Rev. Samuel W. Clarke, Mass.; Rev. James W. Cooper, Ct.; Rev. C. H. Daniels, Me.; Rev. Oliver S. Dean, Mass.; Rev. G. S. Dickerman, Mass.; Rev. W. R. Eastman, Mass.; Miss D. E. Emerson, N.Y.; Mrs. Jacob Fullerton, Mass.; Rev. Geo. L. Gleason, Mass.; Mrs. Geo. L. Gleason, Mass.; D. C. Hawes, Me.; Samuel Harrison, Mass.; Esther P. Hayes, Me.; Rev. A. Hazen, Mass.; Alma J. Herbert, N.H.; Mrs. B. J. Holbrook, Mass.; H. W. Hubbard, N.Y.; Rev. Geo. Lewis, Me.; Mrs. K. B. Lewis, Me.; Rev. Nehemiah Lincoln, Me.; Charles L. Mead, N.Y.; Gyles Merrill, N.H.; Rev. C. P. Mills, Mass.; John W. Munger, Me.; Rev. C. L. Nichols, Me.; Mrs. Augusta F. Odlin, N.H.; Rev. James Powell, N.Y.; S. M. Rideout, Me.; Rev. J. E. Rankin, N.J.; Rev. Joseph E. Roy, Ill.; Mary Sawyer, Mass.; Rev. Charles W. Shelton, Ct.; Rev. Arthur Shirley, Me.; Rev. A. F. Skeele, Me.; Rev. W. F. Slocum, Md.; S. A. Spooner, Mass.; Rev. Calvin Terry, Mass.; Rev. E. P. Thwing, N.Y.; Rev. A. S. Walker, Mass.; Mrs. Mary E. Walker, Me.; Rev. I. P. Warren, Me.; Mrs. Juliet M. S. Warren, Me.; Mrs. C. L. Woodworth, Mass.; Rev. Henry C. Alford, Mass.; Rev. Edward E. Bacon, Me.; Rev. Smith Baker, Mass.; G. A. Bodge, Ct.; Charles E. Boothby, Me.; Clara R. Boynton, Mass.; Sadie H. Bragdon, Me.; Dea. T. H. Chapman, Me.; Joseph B. Drury, Mass.; Mrs. Joseph B. Drury, Mass.; Rev. John D. Emerson, Me.; Rev. L. H. Fellows, Ct.; Rev. Stacy Fowler, Mass.; Mrs. R. C. Gurney, Mass.; Rev. Henry L. Hammond, Ill.; Rev. Josiah T. Hawes, Me.; Rev. Rowland B. Howard, Mass.; Charles M. Lamson, Vt.; Rev. John H. McIlvaine, R.I.; T. A. McMaster, Mass.; Rev. Geo. N. Marden, Colo.; Barak Maxwell, Me.; Lucia G. Merrill, Mass.; Elisha Newcomb, Me.; Mrs. Annie F. Nichols, Me.; Robert L. Perkins, Mass.; Mrs. Maria S. Perry, Me.; Mrs. A. A. Phelps, Me.; Charles A. Richardson, Mass.; Miss C. M. Scales, Me.; Mrs. A. F. Skeele, Me.; Mary B. Spalding, Me.; Rev. Geo. F. Stanton, Mass.; Rev. Geo. E. Street, N.H.; Thomas H. L. Tallcott, Ct.; Mrs. M. E. Tenney, N.H.; Rev. L. J. Thomas, Me.; Eben Webster, Mass.

Visitors.

Rev. W. H. S. Aubrey, England; Geo. B. Barrows, Me.; Rev. E. Bean, Me.; Rev. John B. Carruthers, Me.; Rev. R. C. Drisko, Vt.; Rev. C. H. Gates, Me.; Rev. W. H. Haskell, Me.; Rev. H. C. McKnight, Me.; J. L. Perkins, Mass.; H. Porter Smith, Mass.; Rev. J. W. Strong, Minn.; Rev. T. J. Valentine, Mass.; George L. Bunster, N.H.; Rev. Edgar M. Cousins, Me.; Rev. John Dinsmore, Me.; Rev. Henry Farrar, N.H.; Rev. D. E. French, Me.; Oliver H. Hay, Kans.; Charles Heath, Mass.; R. N. Holman, Mass.; Rev. Charles G. Holyoke, Me.; Dea. A. Kingsbury, Ct.; Ira L. McClary, Vt.; A. R. Mitchell, Me.; A. T. Muzzy, Me.; Rev. E. S. Palmer, Me.; Rev. H. F. A. Patterson, Me.; Rev. Augustus Root, Mass.; A. H. Siegfried, N.J.; Dea. Richard Smith, Mass.; Rev. Prof. Richard C. Stanley, Me.; Rev. David D. Tappan, Mass.; Joseph Walker, Me.

The Treasurer, H. W. Hubbard, Esq., presented his annual report, which was accepted and referred to the Committee on Finance to be appointed.

The report of the Executive Committee was read by the Field Superintendent, Rev. Charles J. Ryder, and the various portions of the report relating to different departments of work were referred to the special committees to be appointed.

The Association, led by Secretary Strieby, united in a concert of prayer with workers in the field.

The programme prepared by the Committee of Arrangements was adopted as the programme of the meeting, unless otherwise directed.

Adjourned to 7.30 P. M.

TUESDAY EVENING.

The meeting was called to order at 7.30 P. M. The devotional services were conducted by Pres. James W. Strong, D.D., of Minnesota.

The annual sermon was preached by A. J. F. Behrends, D.D., of New York, from the third verse of Jude, according to the Revised Version.

The sermon was followed by the administration of the Lord’s Supper. The following named persons officiated at the service: Ministers—W. L. Gage, D.D., of Connecticut; Rev. George S. Dickerman, of Massachusetts. Deacons—E. F. Duren, R. H. Hinkley, S. W. Larrabee, Horatio Staples, John M. Gould, of Maine; Augustus Gaylord, H. W. Hubbard, of New York; Elbert B. Munroe, of Connecticut.

At the close of the communion, adjournment was taken to Wednesday at 9 o’clock A. M.

WEDNESDAY MORNING.

The prayer meeting from 8 to 9 o’clock was led by Joseph Anderson, D.D., of Connecticut.

At 9 o’clock the Association was called to order by the Vice-President presiding, who read the Scriptures. Prayer was offered by Rev. Henry S. Loring, of Maine.

The records of the previous day were read and approved.

The Committee on Nominations reported the following committees to act for the Association, and the report was adopted:

Committee on Educational Work: Rev. Wm. F. Slocum, Jr., Md.; Elbridge Mix, D.D., Mass.; Rev. Oliver S. Dean, Mass.; Rev. Forrest F. Emerson, R.I.; Rev. Omar W. Folsom, Me.; Rev. George H. Scott, Mass.; Charles Heath, Esq., Mass.; Mr. W. A. Crosthwait, Tenn.

On Mountain Work: Alonzo H. Quint, D.D., Mass.; Geo. W. Phillips, D.D., Vt.; Rev. Geo. W. Grover, N.H.; Rev. Charles C. McIntire, Vt.; Rev. Henry M. Grant, Mass.; Rev. Henry J. Patrick, Mass.; Rev. John A. MacColl, Vt.

On Indian Work: Frank Wood, Esq., Mass.; Elijah Horr, D.D., Mass.; Rev. George A. Tewksbury, Mass.; Rev. Frank A. Warfield, Mass.; Galen C. Moses, Esq., Me.; A. L. Williston, Esq., Mass.; Carlos Montezuma, Ill.

On Chinese Missions: Rev. S. Lewis B. Speare, Mass.; Rev. Henry L. Griffin, Me.; Rev. George S. Dickerman, Mass.; Rev. Charles H. Pope, Me.; Rev. Charles P. Mills, Mass.; Dea. Horace W. Otis, Mass.; Mr. Yan Phou Lee, Ct.

On Church Work: Rev. Cyrus Richardson, N.H.; Rev. Joseph F. Lovering, Mass.; Rev. Mahlon Van Horne, R.I.; Rev. George F. Stanton, Mass.; Rev. Arthur F. Skeele, Me.; Frederick E. Sturgis, D.D., Mass.

On Finance: Charles A. Hull, Esq., N.Y.; Rev. Smith Baker, Mass.; Edward S. Atwood, D.D., Mass.; J. Hall McIlvaine, D.D., R.I.; Col. Franklin Fairbanks, Vt.; Augustus Gaylord, Esq., N.Y.

A paper on “The Influence of a Life and the Life of an Influence,” was presented by Associate Corresponding Secretary Augustus F. Beard, D.D.

A paper on “The Brotherhood of Man; or, The Three Brothers who Settled America,” was read by Corresponding Secretary M. E. Strieby, D.D.

A paper on “Need of Intelligence in Giving,” was read by Associate Corresponding Secretary James Powell, D.D.

The Committee on Nominations reported the following special committees upon the papers read:

1. Upon Secretary Strieby’s paper: C. M. Lamson, D.D., Vt.; Rev. J. W. Hird, Mass.; E. L. Champlin, Esq., N.Y.

2. Upon Secretary Beard’s paper: Rev. W. A. McGinley, N.H.; Rev. T. E. Babb, Mass.; Joseph W. Burgess, Esq., Mass.

3. Upon Secretary Powell’s paper: Joseph Anderson, D.D., Ct.; Rev. W. R. Eastman, Mass.; Timothy H. Chapman, Esq., Me.

Rev. Dr. Behrends, of New York, spoke upon the subject of Missionary Literature as presented in Secretary Powell’s paper. Rev. G. S. Dickerman and Rev. O. S. Dean, both of Massachusetts, spoke upon the same paper.

The Association listened to addresses in memory of its late President, the Hon. William B. Washburn, of Massachusetts. These addresses were given by Rev. S. G. Buckingham, D.D., of Massachusetts, and Secretary Strieby, of the Association. The latter presented a minute which had been adopted by the Executive Committee at their first meeting after learning of the death of Governor Washburn, and which they recommended for adoption at this meeting, and to be forwarded to the family of the late President.

The minute, which follows, was unanimously adopted by a rising vote:

“We recognize the hand of God in the recent and sudden death of Hon. William B. Washburn, the President of this Association. We mourn the loss of one whose name and influence have been so helpful to it; whose many private virtues have endeared him to so wide a circle of friends; whose public services in the Church and State have been so honored and valued; and we tender to his family our profound sympathy in their irreparable bereavement.

“Yet we are grateful to our Heavenly Father that he called our brother to himself by so painless a death and while in the discharge of his duty as a member of the American Board. We rejoice that in him we can point to one whose loving heart made his home happy, whose integrity and honorable dealing were a noble example in business life, whose honors and offices in the service of the State were unsought and were discharged with fidelity and ability, and whose life and work in the church were an honor to his profession and to the cause of Christ.

“In the suddenness of his departure we are reminded that we, too, may be called in an hour that we think not, and yet that it is the privilege of the Christian to be always ready to die with the armor on and in the active service of the Captain of our Salvation.”

Adjourned.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

The Association was called to order at 2 o’clock. Rev. George E. Street, of New Hampshire, offered prayer.

The report of the Committee on Educational Work, with an address, was presented by Rev. Wm. F. Slocum, Jr., of Maryland. Further addresses were made by Rev. Forrest F. Emerson, of Rhode Island; Mr. W. A. Crosthwait, of Tennessee, and Rev. Mahlon Van Horne, of Rhode Island.

The report of the Committee on Mountain Work was presented by Rev. Henry J. Patrick, of Massachusetts. Addresses in connection with the report were given by A. H. Quint, D.D., of Massachusetts, chairman of the committee; Rev. Frank E. Jenkins, of Kentucky; G. W. Phillips, D.D., of Vermont, and Rev. A. A. Myers, General Missionary of the Association, of Tennessee.

J. E. Rankin, D.D., led in closing prayer.

Adjourned to 7.30 P. M.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The Association was called to order at 7.30. Devotional exercises were conducted by James W. Cooper, D.D., of Connecticut.

An address on “The Nerve of Missions” was delivered by Pres. Wm. De Witt Hyde, D.D., of Bowdoin College, Maine.

Hon. Nelson Dingley, of Maine, gave an address upon “Some of the changed conditions in this country that demand increased missionary effort.”

The Association then listened to an address upon “The conversion of the Chinese in this country,” by Mr. Yan Phou Lee, of Connecticut.

W. H. S. Aubrey, D.D., of England, addressed the meeting upon “Some Phases of American Civilization.”

A brief closing address was made by the Vice President presiding.

Closed with singing the doxology and with the benediction.

THURSDAY MORNING.

The prayer meeting from 8 to 9 o’clock was led by Rev. J. E. Adams, of Maine. The Association was called to order by Vice-President A. J. F. Behrends, D.D., of New York, and led in prayer by Rev. R. B. Howard, of Massachusetts.

The minutes of Wednesday were read and approved.

The report of the Committee on Indian Work was presented by Frank Wood, Esq., of Massachusetts, who also addressed the Association, and was followed by Rev. George A. Tewksbury, of Massachusetts, Carlos Montezuma, of Illinois, a representative of the Apache Indians of Arizona, and President Joseph Ward, D.D., of Dakota.

The report was accepted and the recommendation adopted that a committee be appointed to co-operate with the Financial Secretary for Indian Missions.

The report of the Committee on Chinese Missions was presented by Rev. S. Lewis B. Speare, of Massachusetts, who addressed the Association, and was followed by Rev. Charles P. Mills, of Massachusetts; Gen. Augustus Gaylord, of New York, and Mr. Yan Phou Lee, of Connecticut.

The report was accepted and adopted, together with the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Association, holding its annual meeting in the State of Maine, sends its greetings to Rev. W. C. Pond, a son of Maine, with sympathy in his labors and rejoicing in his success among the Chinamen on the Pacific coast.

The report of the Committee on Church Work was presented by Rev. Cyrus Richardson, of New Hampshire, who addressed the Association, and was followed by Rev. George F. Stanton, of Massachusetts, and Mr. W. A. Crosthwait, of Tennessee.

The report was accepted and adopted.

The Committee on Nominations reported the following persons as a committee to co-operate with the Financial Secretary on Indian Missions: Frank Wood, Esq., Massachusetts; Franklin Fairbanks, Esq., Vermont; Elbert B. Munroe, Esq., New York; Joseph Ward, D.D., Dakota; Rev. Charles B. Mills, Massachusetts. And they were appointed.

Adjourned to 2 P. M.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

The Association was called to order at 2 P. M. Prayer was offered by Rev. Edward Payson Thwing, M.D., of New York.

The report of the Committee on Finance was presented by Charles A. Hull, Esq., who also addressed the Association, and was followed by J. Hall McIlvaine, D.D., of Rhode Island; Smith Baker, D.D., of Massachusetts; Rev. Charles W. Shelton, of the Association, and Rev. Oliver S. Dean, of Massachusetts. The report was accepted.

At this hour—3.30 o’clock—the Association adjourned to the First Baptist Church for a business session, leaving the Second Parish Church to a meeting of the Woman’s Bureau of the American Missionary Association.

The business meeting was called to order by Col. Franklin Fairbanks, of Vermont, who presided. Prayer was offered by Allen Hazen, D.D., of Massachusetts.

The Committee on Nominations reported as follows: First, as regards the office of President—No nomination had been made, but a recommendation that the matter be left in the hands of the Executive Committee, who have power to fill such a vacancy at any time. Second, as regards the remaining offices, the following nominations were made:

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES.

TREASURER.

H. W. Hubbard, Esq., N.Y.

AUDITORS.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

(For Three Years.)

Lyman Abbott, D.D., N.Y.; J. R. Danforth, D.D., Penn.; A. S. Barnes, Esq., N.Y.; Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, N.Y.; A. P. Foster, D.D., Mass.

(For One Year.)

James W. Cooper, D.D., Ct.

The report was accepted, and a ballot being taken, the persons named were elected.

The meeting listened to reports of the committees appointed upon the papers read on Wednesday by the Secretaries.

Rev. W. A. McGinley, of New Hampshire, presented the report upon Secretary Beard’s paper. The report was accepted.

C. M. Lamson, D.D., of Vermont, presented the report upon Secretary Strieby’s paper, which was accepted.

Joseph Anderson, D.D., of Connecticut, presented the report upon Secretary Powell’s paper, together with two resolutions. The report was accepted. The first resolution was adopted, as follows:

Resolved, That we submit to the Congregational churches, in local conferences assembled, for careful consideration, the question whether it is not desirable that such conferences establish special committees, whose duty it shall be to secure for this Association, along with the other benevolent societies of the denomination, a hearing from time to time in our churches, especially in those churches which are without pastors, and which for this, or other reasons, are liable to fail in their duty toward our great missionary and benevolent organizations.

And it was voted that the Secretaries print this resolution and send a copy to the clerk of each local conference, requesting him to bring it to the attention of the body.

After discussion, the second resolution relating to a Union Missionary Magazine was laid upon the table.

Adjourned to 7.30 P. M.

THURSDAY EVENING.

The meeting was called to order at 7.30 by Elbert B. Munroe, Esq., of New York. Rev. Frank A. Warfield, of Massachusetts, conducted devotional services.

The minutes of the day were read and approved, and the Secretaries were authorized to complete the minutes to the end of the meeting, and the Executive Committee to print at their discretion.

Secretary Powell, in behalf of Rev. Dr. McIlvaine, of Rhode Island, who had been called away, extended the invitation of the churches of Providence, R.I., that the annual meeting of this Association for 1888 be held in that city. The invitation was accepted.

The Association listened to an address by Hon. William P. Frye, of Maine.

Secretary Beard, of the Association, presented an address of thanks.

A response was made by W. H. Fenn, D.D.

Voted to adopt Dr. Beard’s statement as a minute, to go upon the records. The minute is as follows:

A year ago when the American Missionary Association was reaching out in its thought for a place where the churches and Christians who are interested in its work could assemble to hear its reports and to consider the great causes which have been committed to it, a most cordial invitation was received from the churches of Portland to accept their Christian hospitality.

Those of us who have had occasion to know how much solid heartiness and sincere good will is extended in the outstretched right hand of this people had no question as to the pleasure which would be experienced by those who should be recipients of it. We answered that it was in our hearts to come, and we have done our best all this year to bring to these churches cheerful faces and glad hearts.

We came grateful to God in that we could look the world in the face with our debts cancelled, owing no man anything but love; with no gloomy shadows over us, happy in the glorious experience of knowing that we possessed money enough in our treasury to carry on our work two whole days. We have met with the characteristic greeting of a people “given to hospitality.” We have come to a land of steady habits, and when some of you have taken us by the hand in the closeness of your grip we have sometimes been led to think that this is the greatest vice (vise) you have. And now, with our gratitude to God for His smiles in these beautiful clear days and bright skies, as if in harmony with the delightful Christian atmosphere of these meetings—symbolizing the spirit of our gatherings—it is not in accordance with a custom of form merely that we desire to express to these churches and pastors, and to all our kind friends here, our high appreciation of their service to this cause of missions, and to us so far as we represent this cause. You have given us strength and courage for our work another year.

It is not a small thing to arrange for a series of services like this. It means forethought and much care, many steps and much fatigue. It is not a small thing for people to open their homes freely to strangers and to so receive them that they are no more strangers.

Permit us then to thank the pastor, the officers and members of this church and society within whose walls we have studied and reviewed our work together. This is an ancient church, historic over the land. You have done no injustice to its history in your interest for the kingdom of God. Let us also thank the churches and pastors who have kindly shared in this abundant hospitality.

We should do that to which our hearts are foreign should we fail to remember those who have led us in Christian praise and those who in their labor of love have in many ways of service assisted the objects of this Missionary Association.

We recognize the courtesy of those railway and steamboat lines which have facilitated our travel here. Nor do we forget the enterprise of your public press and the kindness which has been extended to us in their full and accurate reports.

If any of you in this free-hearted welcome have entertained angels awares or unawares, we are glad of it. Most of us have left our particular angels at our homes. Some of us have not failed to discover that there are angels here in yours.

Therefore, brethren, in the name of our great Mission, of the schools and institutes which we have brought before you, of the churches which have prayed for us while we have been assembled, and in the name of the people to whom we are sent in Christ’s stead and in your stead, accept our sincere thanks.

As we take up our farewell to go, we can appreciate your hearty services not only, but also your ability to successfully conceal any gratification which you may have that these three long days are over.

Voted that after singing, and a benediction by Rev. Dr. Walker, of Connecticut, this meeting stands adjourned sine die.

Henry A. Hazen, Secretary.

Edgar M. Cousins, Assistant Secretary.

SUMMARY OF TREASURER’S REPORT.

H. W. Hubbard, Treasurer,
56 Reade Street, New York.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.

REPORT ON EDUCATIONAL WORK, SOUTH.

BY REV. W. F. SLOCUM, CHAIRMAN.

Your committee, to which the report of the executive committee on educational work in the South was referred, would express at the outset their profound gratitude for the success that has followed the efforts that have been put forth in this large and important department of the work of the American Missionary Association.

While they deplore with all those who have the interests of this work at heart, the political attempts to limit the usefulness of the Association, that has grown out of unworthy partisan prejudices, yet they perceive with thankfulness that there is an element growing stronger every year at the South that appreciates the place, the importance and the value of these schools. Notably is this shown in Mississippi, where the State appropriation for the Tougaloo University was the only one not reduced. They would speak with appreciation of the Christian spirit that infuses all these schools, and the deeply religious character that is given to the work, and of the strong personal influences which are brought to bear upon the students.

Your committee feel that the time has come to push with greatest vigor a work that shall meet the demand for teachers in the public schools of the South, and to avail ourselves of the opportunity to reach the children and the homes of colored people through these; that every effort needs to be put forth to send out these teachers established in Christian ethics and feeling that the moralities of life are the basis of all true education.

Great pleasure is taken in the advance that is made each year in the matter of industrial and agricultural training; and every effort which tends to transform this people into an intelligent, upright Christian yeomanry, will be a profound blessing. Our constant aim should be to establish the true dignity of labor and the healthful desire to possess property and an intelligence that secures the best condition as property holders. Your committee are of the opinion that the opportunity for good through these schools was never larger than at present, and that the need of enlargement in many is imperative, and also that the time has come to push the work of special endowment for the larger institutions, that they may become independent of any financial pressure and may be put upon a permanent basis. And therefore of the three alternatives suggested by the claims of the work at present which they suggest in their report, can endorse one only, and do therefore most heartily recommend that instead of sacrificing the character of the work, instead of reducing the amount of work done, the Association shall have more money.

REPORT ON CHURCH WORK, SOUTH.

BY REV. CYRUS RICHARDSON, CHAIRMAN.

Your committee into whose hands has been placed the report of the church work in the South desire to state their impressions by calling attention to three or four important points.

First, to the marked increase in the membership of the Sunday-schools—an increase during the year of 2,000 pupils, or 15 per cent., bringing the present membership up to 15,109.

Comparing this with the entire enrollment in 1882, we find that during the five years there has been a growth of 100 per cent.

This is specially gratifying because it is understood that Sunday-schools or missions started at new stations look to the speedy establishment of churches at those stations; while well-organized schools in churches already established result in the careful study of God’s word, with a constant application of inspired doctrine to practical life, looking both to the permanence of the churches and the personal purity of their members.

Another important item noticed in the report appears in the statement touching the amount of money which these churches have given.

Beside the $16,000 contributed for their own religious work, $2,300 have been devoted to pure benevolence. If this should seem a small sum as a contribution of 127 churches, it must be remembered that it is the gift of poverty, and not of wealth. The free-will offerings of almost any one of these congregations, when compared with the contributions of not a few New England churches, suggest the words of the Master: “She hath cast in more than they all.”

Their spirit of sacrifice has often won for the colored people hearty commendation. To those of us who live amid multiplied temporal and spiritual privileges, and who easily lose sight of the goodly heritage for which we are to give an account, it is a spur, if not an inspiration, to read the story of the sacrifices which some of these brethren make in the giving of their scant substance for the more destitute members of the human family.

Their offerings for pure benevolence were above $600 more than the previous year, and are double what they were four years ago.

Your committee are glad to find that this feature of denominational work is strongly emphasized by the Executive Board, and that these churches, poor though they be, are taught that giving as well as receiving is a necessary factor in their growth, and that in true worship alms as well as prayers rise before God as a memorial.

Another noticeable item in the report is the building of meeting-houses. Indeed, the report characterizes the past year in its Southern work as one of “building activity.” Every church that is to become permanent must have its house dedicated to God. The sanctuary helps to hold the people together and attach them to forms of worship that demand a reverential attitude. Perhaps no people have greater need than our colored brethren of those religious forms and ceremonies which secure quiet and order in the public devotions of the assembled multitudes.

We therefore rejoice in every new meeting-house that this society helps the struggling churches of the South to build.

Another item in the report to which we call attention is the organization of seven new churches during the year, about the average number, if you take a series of a dozen or more years, but not the average if you take simply the last five years.

Since 1882 the average rate of increase has been eleven per year.

It would undoubtedly be a joy to us all if the rate of increase could be more rapid. We must not, however, forget that we are at work “among a people who have no congregational trend or training.” It is undoubtedly wise to proceed with care, planting churches at the right centres and only where they will give promise of permanence.

After all the caution that has been exercised it has been necessary recently to drop four or five from the list. The aim should be at stability and worth rather than numbers. A single church organized on the right basis, watched over with painstaking care, so that her members shall adorn the doctrines they profess, will do more for the prosperity of Congregationalism in this part of the country than would a score of churches hastily organized and unsuitably located. We think the officers of this society have been wise in their movements thus far; nearly all the churches organized having made a history that deserves the admiration of Christian people everywhere.

But when we think of the constantly increasing number of graduates from the Christian schools and colleges under the patronage of this society; and the greater familiarity of the Secretaries with the localities suited to become strategic points for Congregationalism in the South; and the marked success of those churches whose permanence is beyond question, are we not warranted in expressing the hope that in the near future we shall see a radical advance all along this important line of denominational work? We know that this is what our Secretaries long for as well as pray for, and what with our contributions cheerfully made, they will hope to accomplish.

They heartily agree with us in believing that the uplifting influences of schools and colleges would be readily dissipated or turned into channels for evil if they are not gathered up and multiplied in rightly constituted bodies which shall prove the germs around which the forces of the community shall organize for good. Working together, therefore, as contributors and directors, we may expect to be cheered from year to year with the rapid growth in the numbers of these organized Christian forces which have in themselves vitalizing and transforming power which works for righteousness both in character and conduct.

REPORT ON MOUNTAIN WORK.

BY REV. A. H. QUINT, D.D., CHAIRMAN.