CONSTITUTION

OF THE

SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF COLLEGIATE AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION AT THE WEST.

ARTICLE I. This Association shall be denominated, The Society for the promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West.

ART. II. The object of the Society shall be to afford assistance to Collegiate and Theological Institutions at the West, in such manner, and so long only, as, in the judgment of the Directors of the Society, the exigencies of the Institutions may demand.

ART. III. There shall be chosen annually by the Society, a President, VicePresidents, a Corresponding and a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Board of eighteen Directors, which Board shall have power to fill its own vacancies. The President, Vice-Presidents and Recording Secretary shall be ex-officio members of the Board of Directors.

ART. IV. Any person may become a member of this Society by contributing annually to its funds.

ART. V. There shall be an annual meeting of the Society at such time and place as the Board of Directors may appoint.

ART. VI. Five Directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except for the appointment of a Secretary and the appropriation of moneys, when nine shall be present.

ART. VII. It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to employ all agencies for collecting funds; to investigate and decide upon the claims of the several Institu tions; to make the appropriations in the most advantageous manner; (it being understood that contributions designated by the donors shall be appropriated according to the designations ;) and generally to do whatever may be deemed necessary to promote the object of the Society.

ART. VIII. This Constitution may be altered or amended by a majority of two-thirds of the members present at an annual meeting of the Society, provided the alteration proposed shall have been specified and recommended by the Board of Directors.

SECOND REPORT:

THE Directors, in presenting their Second Annual Report, deem a brief review of the past essential to an enlightened judgment as to prospects and measures for the future.

The providence of God seems at once to have created a necessity for the existence of the Society and prepared the way for its organization. In the words of one of its originators, "This movement has every appearance of proceeding from God, and being a part of his plans for saving the West and our land. The public mind was not prepared to take such enlarged views when our efforts for the West began. Hence God permitted five leading individual enterprises to be undertaken. But they were independent of each other, both at the East and at the West, and could act on no common system, nor could they concentrate their energies to form either the Eastern or the Western mind. God by a wonderful coincidence so cut down the resources of all, that they were compelled to apply simultaneously for Eastern aid. But the old system of individual appeals had so affected the Eastern mind that no plan was possible which did not combine their interests in one cause."

QUESTIONS SETTLED.

The primary question to be settled was, whether it was wise to add to the already multiplied benevolent organizations of the day. The answer to this question was brief but cogent. "The work in contemplation must be done, or the sacrifice of high and sacred interests is inevitable. It cannot be done without an organization; hence the demand for a Society is imperative. But here the question arose, "Shall its aid be confined to the West, or extend to needy and valuable Institutions throughout the United States ?" Dif ferent opinions were entertained by those who met in Convention for its organization, but after full discussion the decision was in favor of limitation to Western Institutions. Accordingly Western Reserve College with its Theological Department, Marietta, Wabash, and Illinois Colleges, and Lane Theological Seminary, were taken under its patronage at the first meeting of the Board of Direc

tors.

Subsequently another question arose, viz. Shall the aid of the Society be restricted to these five? There were those who maintained that no other Institution would be needed at the West for an indefinite period. Consequently, when these were provided for, the work of the Society would be done, and its existence should cease. Others believed that, in order to meet the full exigencies of the case, an organization was demanded that should run parallel with the American Home Missionary Society in its progress westward. The language of the Constitution, however, as originally framed, admits of such extension, and all the acts of the Board have been against the idea of restriction to a specified number of Institutions. The degree of extension we may safely leave to be settled by the future developments of Providence.

SIMPLICITY OF ORGANIZATION.

On every account it was deemed the part of wisdom to make the experiment of a Society in its simplest possible form. Hence the almost sole reliance for giving it impulse, was at first placed upon the direct contact of mind with mind in pulpits and public assemblies. To secure this access to the public mind, was one of the objects aimed at by an organization. The advocacy of the cause during the first year was committed to western men, and with a single exception officers in the Institutions aided. The West could bring into the field no stronger men, and they entered upon their work under the full conviction of its indispensableness to the salvation of that land. They were aided too by an intimate acquaintance with the country and bitter experience of sufferings and disabilities caused by the want of adequate means for the successful prosecution of their great undertaking at the West. Their labors were strongly influential in turning the tide of public feeling in favor of a neglected and sinking cause. The pecuniary results were also highly encouraging.

SECOND YEAR.

One agent, who was expected from the West to labor for the entire year, was prevented by an afflictive providence from entering the field. Another, of whom the same was expected, was able to devote only a few months to the service. From causes beyond the control of the Board, very much of the agency of the year has been performed in detached portions, and consequently under great disadvantages. This evil, however, admits of a remedy in future.

Since the last anniversary, a public meeting in behalf of the Society has been held in the City of Boston. Upon the vast assembly convened, an impression was made in the highest degree favorable to the cause. The proceedings of the meeting were published in pamphlet form, and have been widely circulated. This pamphlet, together with the First Annual Report, and occasional notices in the religious and secular papers, has constituted, so far as the press is concerned, the entire reliance of the Society for public enlightenment during the year.

THE TREASURY.

The amount paid into the Treasury during the year ending October 15th was $10,967 53. To this may be added available subscriptions not yet paid, $693 66-making the resources of the year $11,661 19. Disbursements have been made in accordance with a scale of appropriations fixed by the Board. This amount fails by at least one-half of meeting the necessities of the Society for the year; and yet, when we consider that a large portion of the labor performed was merely preparatory, it affords decided ground of encouragement for the future. Still higher encouragement is found in the fact that throughout the year the Society has been steadily gaining in public favor as an indispensable instrumentality for the accomplishment of the objects which it has in view. Very many cases of influential individuals might be cited in proof of this.

Ecclesiastical bodies too have extensively expressed their approbation, and commended the Society to the patronage of the churches under their care. This is true of the Synod of New-York and NewJersey, and the General Associations of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New-Hampshire. These four bodies, to say nothing of others yet to be reached, embrace about one thousand churches, which may all ultimately be brought, it is believed, to the aid of the cause.

MEANS TO BE USED.

The experience of two years shows the absolute necessity of a suitable number of able, judicious and faithful agents to traverse the field, impart information, and reduce the operations of the Society to a system. An established and recognized place in the great system of benevolence is also indispensable. Without this the Society must ever be a wandering star among regular orbs. If the period of its revolutions be not fixed and known, its return will not be anticipated, and diminished contributions as well as a ruinous loss of

time on the part of Agents will be inevitable. The relative amount of expenses will also be essentially increased.

The work of regular organization is now in successful progress. About one-third of the District Associations in Massachusetts have assigned specific months for the collections in aid of the cause. The same is true of some associations in Connecticut, as well as of individual churches and clusters of churches in the principal towns and cities from Boston to Philadelphia. We earnestly solicit the aid of pastors and churches in the prosecution of this work.

WESTERN OPINION.

The following resolution was adopted by the convention of Presbyterian and Congregational churches held in the city of Detroit in June last.

Resolved, "That this convention hail with peculiar satisfaction the association recently organized for the promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West. They believe such an Institution to be imperatively demanded by the present and prospective exigencies of the West, and that the one lately formed has been already a great blessing to the West, in consideration not only of the pecuniary aid which it has rendered, but also by the encouragement it has afforded and the hope it has inspired for the stability and permanence of those Institutions which are confessedly so essential to the religious prosperity of the West."

WESTERN ACTION.

The reaction of the Society upon the West constitutes one of its most important features. This was described in the last Report as already "happy and powerful." Resolutions of different Boards of Trustees were given, in the same Report, to show their determination to do their utmost to help themselves. In redemption of their pledges they have obtained during the year, on their several fields, subscriptions for the liquidation of debts to the amount of $25,000. This amount does not come into the Treasury of the Society, but may still be classed among the results of its operations in consequence of the courage and confidence which its existence inspires on the Western field. The receipts of the Society for the two years of its existence, added to the subscriptions obtained at the West, make a grand total of more than $50,000.

This is in a high degree encouraging; and yet it should be remembered that the subscriptions obtained at the West will only