The President of the Board, Rev. Dr. Mark Hopkins, took the chair at the appointed hour, and called upon Dr. L. P. Hickok, who led in prayer.

Rev. S. J. Humphrey, of Chicago, was chosen Assistant Recording Secretary, and the important parts of the Minutes of the last Annual Meeting were read.

The following persons were appointed a Committee to nominate various committees: – Dr. Holbrook, Hon. William Hyde, and Dr. Bush. A Committee of Arrangements was also appointed, consisting of Rev. M. M. G. Dana, Dr. G. W. Wood, Rev. R. P. Stanton, Rev. William Warren, Rev. D. Merriman, and Rev. Samuel Hopley.

The Report on the Home Department was read by Secretary Treat, and the reading was followed by a special service of thanksgiving in view of the generous contributions by which the Board had been kept from anticipated embarrassment, Dr. William Adams leading in prayer.

A General Survey of the missions of the Board, embracing an abstract of the Annual Report, was read by Secretaries Clark and Wood.

A Business Committee was appointed, consisting of S. H. Perkins, Esq., T. P. Handy, Esq., Dr. Blodgett, J. N. Stickney, Esq., and Dr. J. W. Wellman.

The Committee of Nomination recommended the following committees, and they were appointed:

On the Treasurer's Report:· A. D. Lockwood, Esq., Hon. C. G. Hammond, Hon. H. P. Haven, Gen. S. Lockwood Brown, Samuel M. Lane, Esq., Daniel W. Ingersoll, Esq., William H. Jessup, Esq.

On the Home Department: -J. F. Stearns, D. D., Ebenezer Alden, M. D., Rev. P. R. Hurd, Thaddeus Fairbanks, Esq., Hon. C. N. Olds, D. R. Holt, Esq., Rev. H. Eaton. On the African Missions: Rev. J. B. Miles, A. B. Robbins, D. D., Rev. E. W. Gilman, Rev. E. Whittlesey, Pres. J. J. Roberts, U. M. Place, Esq., S. D. Ward, Esq. On the Mahratta Mission:- Rev. James G. Vose, Alvan Tobey, D. D., Rev. H. J. Patrick, Rev. W. S. Hazen, J. Edwards Porter, Esq., James Mills, Esq., Lewis A. Hyde, Esq.

On the Tamil Missions: -J. P. Thompson, D. D., Rev. I. P. Langworthy, Aldace Walker, D. D., Joseph S. Ropes, Esq., Rev. L. H. Reid, Rev. Charles S. Dunning, Rev. Frederick R. Abbe.

On the China Missions: :- - Rev. J. H. Means, Hon. Peter Parker, Jeremiah Taylor, D. D., Rev. Robert Aikman, Louis Chapin, Esq., Rev. P. Lockwood, Thomas H. Russell, Esq.

On the Sandwich Islands and Micronesia Missions:- L. P. Hickok, D. D., S. W. Fisher, D. D., Prof. Charles A. Aiken, Rev. C. P. Osborne, Rev. Charles R. Palmer, Rev. E. W. Hitchcock, Charles Johnson, Esq.

On the Syria Mission : — W. Ives Buddington, D. D., S. T. Seelye, D. D., Rev. Edward E. Rankin, Rev. George M. Adams, Rev. C. C. Carr, Rev. George A. Oviatt, Horace Stillman, Esq.

On the Missions to Western Turkey and Greece: T. P. Field, D. D., W. A. Niles, D. D., Rev. Samuel W. Boardman, Rev. E. E. Strong, Rev. N. Mighill, Otis Lane, Esq., Joseph A. Denny, Esq.

On the Central Turkey Mission:-Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., H. M. Storrs, D. D., George S. Boardman, D. D., Rev. A. J. Sessions, Rev. Jno. C. Labaree, Dea. Andrew Cushing, David Howard, Esq.

On the Eastern Turkey Mission: :- Asa D. Smith, D. D., D. W. Poor, D. D., J. G. Davis, D. D., Hon. Charles Noble, Rev. Alfred E. Ives, Jason Sexton, Esq., Rev. Calvin Cutler.

On the Nestorian Mission: - Edward Strong, D. D., H. P. Arms, D. D., Rev. O. T. Lanphear, Hon. T. W. Williams, Morton Eddy, Esq., Rev. T. D. Packard, W. L. Bemis, Esq.

On the Missions to North American Indians: —J. O. Fisk, D. D., Rev. Jno. E. Todd, Rev. H. M. Parsons, Fred. Morgan, M. D., Rev. Jno. Haven, Rev. Samuel G. Willard, Rev. Eldridge Mix.

On Officers of the Board:

Hon. William A. Booth, J. M. Schermerhorn, Esq.,

J. G. Butler, D. D., Rev. L. H. Cone, J. Russell Bradford, Esq., Rev. J. W. Chickering, Jr., Hon. Edward Southworth.

On Place of Meeting and Preacher: - Walter S. Griffith, Esq., S. B. Canfield, D. D., W. W. Patton, D. D., Rev. G. S. F. Savage, Rev. A. E. P. Perkins, Rev. F. A. Noble.

TREASURER'S REPORT.

The Report of the Treasurer having been read, with the certificate of the Auditors, it was referred to the appropriate committee, who subsequently reported, and the report was accepted, as follows:

The Committee on the Treasurer's accounts have examined the papers placed in their hands, and find them properly audited, and in every respect accurate and satisfactory. During the year, the sum of $1,038.50 has been added to the General Permanent Fund, making the present amount $116,461.96. The other Permanent Funds remain as heretofore.

Your Committee have examined the list of investments of the Funds, and believe that they are safe, and wisely cared for by those having them in charge.

REPORT OF PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE.

The several portions of the Annual Report of the Prudential Committee were referred to committees already named, and these committees reported, mostly on Thursday morning, recommending that the several portions of the Report which had been referred to them respectively, be accepted and published. The reports of these committees will be given here only in part.

The Committee on the Home Department say:

The departure for the foreign field of thirty new laborers, and of about the same number who are resuming their noble work after a season of providential interruption, with the acceptance of several other young men, soon to embark for their destinations, assures us that the spirit of self-devotion to this cause still lives in the hearts of Christ's disciples. The success which crowned the efforts put forth during the latter part of the year, to make up the required funds, so as to avoid an apprehended pecuniary embar rassment, while it, calls upon us to give thanks and testify-"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us," should be regarded as a point gained only to stand upon for the moment, while we gird ourselves anew for our great work, and resolve to press forward with new vigor and greatly enlarged liberality.

The Committee on the missions in Africa remark:

The Committee find that the report on these missions is made up largely of recent communications from the missionaries, and is an excellent resume of what has been accomplished, especially during the last twenty years. These results bear impressive testimony to the singular fidelity, patience, perseverance, and devotion of the beloved brethren and sisters that have labored for Christ in that dark land, many of whom have already entered their Master's joy; and to the peculiar susceptibility of the African race to the influences and appeals of the gospel. Above all do they afford touching proof, that the blessed Saviour is ever mindful of his word to his disciples-"Lo, I am with you alway," and that He will make sure that those who "sow in tears shall reap in joy." But still, gladdening as these results are to all the friends of Christ, the perusal of the report has prompted your Committee to exclaim, “O that the Board's ability to scatter the 'precious seed' in Africa had been tenfold greater than it has been." Then would the harvest have been a thousandfold richer than the one actually gathered. Your Committee, therefore, most emphatically express their approval of the appeal which the report makes for a large reinforcement of laborers, to supply the places vacated by those who have gone up to their reward, and of those who have not strength longer to prosecute their work; and also to enable the Board to enlarge its operations in those important fields, to an extent in some measure commensurate with what God, in his Providence, manifestly demands.

As appears from the report, "the great difficulty felt by the missionaries in appointing native pastors, is in the want of men prepared by education for the work. The key to knowledge is, as yet, in the hands of but very few, who can consult English books of reference." In view of this fact, it has occurred to your Committee to suggest, that in addition to the educational facilities supplied by the Board, the College of Liberia may become very helpful in meeting the want so deeply felt by the missions, of educated native pastors. That institution is in need of funds, and it is hoped its worthy President Roberts, now in this country, will not be permitted to return without carrying back generous benefactions for the College. In what way can Christians, having the ability, more effectually give an impulse to that institution, and at the same time subserve the interests of our missions in Africa, than by endowing scholarships in the College, for native converts preparing for the ministry?

The Committee on the Mahratta mission simply recommended the acceptance and printing of the Report upon that mission.

Respecting the Tamil missions the Committee reported :

The returns for the year, both in the Madura and in the Ceylon mission, are full of encouragement in every department of the work of evangelization; calling for devout gratitude to God, and for yet higher faith and zeal on the part of this Board, in gathering the ripening harvests of those fields.

In particular, your Committee would make grateful mention of the increasing ratio of church members to the continually increasing congregations. The increase marks the influence of the converting grace of God in connection with the means of Christian instruction. As a fruit of this steady increase of the churches, we note the development of the spirit of self-support. One by one these little communities of native converts are making provision for the maintenance of native pastors, and the heartiness and thoroughness with which this has been done, for instance, at the Batticotta station, might put to the blush not a few churches in America.

These infant churches, also, under the guidance of the missionaries, are engaging systematically in the work of evangelizing the heathen population around them. In Madura there exists a Home Missionary Society, and both in that district and in Ceylon, the work of home evangelization is carried on with a completeness seldom attained in this country. The Committee would call special attention to the employment of women in this field, as the only agency by which, under the peculiar constitution of society, the gospel can be introduced into fami ies, especially those of the higher ranks.

In conclusion, the fact that the people of India are now in a transition state from the grossness of idolatry to various forms of speculative unbelief, is itself an evidence of the power of the gospel and of a Christian civilization, to unhinge old superstitions, and to awaken the spirit of religious inquiry. It is for this Board and its missionaries to see that this spirit is guided to Christ, as the only rest for the soul, and to his gospel as the

only hope of the nation. Our brethren in the field are awake to this new aspect of their work, and the Board and the churches of this land must take care that they are strengthened in numbers, and provided with an appropriate Christian literature, for the great conflict with infidelity which is opening before them. We believe that the Lord has opened the way of the gospel among the Tamil people, that they may be saved alike from idolatry, from atheism, and from corrupt or imperfect forms of Christianity.

The Committee on the missions in China state:

The Committee have read the papers put into their hands with the special interest belonging to the record of those laboring in a land where are gathered one half of the heathen inhabitants of the globe — a nation long inaccessible, but now, as the reports of all the missionaries show, open in every direction to the preachers of the Word. Wonderful is the contrast between the time when religious services were held in secret, with locked doors, and the present, when open chapels are rented in the thronged thoroughfares of populous cities, and men from a thousand miles in the interior seek out the missionary, asking for religious books to carry to their far distant homes.

But when, from a survey of the immense and crowded field, we turn to regard the laborers there, the disproportion is appalling. Four ordained missionaries, connected with the Foochow mission, and eight in Northern China- - what are these in such an empire? Other societies are indeed sending men, yet all combined supply, we are told, only one missionary for each 3,000,000 souls.

The missionaries are evidently laboring in a hopeful spirit; they write as those expecting soon to see great changes. To those who ask, 'What of the night?' their reply rings out, 'The morning cometh.' But burdened, weary, grieved by our delay to help them, they long for fresh laborers. A physician has reached them during the past year, and one missionary is on his way; and this appears to be the response, thus far, to the solemn declaration made a year ago, that "this Board accepts the work thrown upon it for the evangelization of China." It cannot be that a want of men to enter into a field so vast, so promising, to which Providence so clearly points the way, and which we have pledged ourselves to occupy, will much longer prevent the Board from fulfilling its sacred obligations.

Meanwhile China has been drawn towards us. The Pacific Railroad, in its wonderful daily progress, is hastening to make this largest of mission fields almost the nearest. Soon, the cities to reach which once required a perilous voyage of half a year will be within thirty days' travel from our Atlantic coast. And while we are delaying to help these benighted millions, they themselves approach us by their embassy, saying through the chief ambassador, "China invites your missionaries. She tells them to plant the shining cross on every hill and in every valley." Strange words are these for the envoy of a pagan monarch. Your Committee echo the words of the Prudential Committee: "The invitation so frankly and generously given should be as frankly and generously accepted."

Respecting the Sandwich Islands and Micronesia, after some reference to statistics, to the death of two missionaries, - Rev. Asa Thurston, and Rev. E. Johnson, and to the great earthquake, the Committee remark:

The persistent efforts and influence of the Papacy, and of Reformed Catholics, in hostility to the labors and counsels of the missionaries, are a perpetual hindrance to their work. The self denying and benevolent labor of years, and the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with their manifest good and wide-spread results, have been wholly ignored, disregarded, and as far as practicable circumvented and destroyed, by interfering emissaries from European Christian communities. Still, the addition of 827 new members to the native churches, and contributions from native members of near 30,000 dollars, together with the almost entire support of their own churches, and the sending of their own missionaries to the islands beyond them, show their deeply rooted evangelical piety, and the presence and blessing of God's spirit. This whole mission and its fruits, give the richest encouragement to the American Church, and to the Christianity of the world, to commit itself, promptly and unfalteringly to the great work of converting all the nations of the earth to the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ."

The Committee on the Syria mission say in their report:

The location of this mission alone would give it a sacred claim upon our hearts, lying, as it does, just north of Palestine, over the hills of Galilee, the beautiful slopes of Hermon, the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and amid the magnificent scenes of the Lebanon. The character and condition of the people, too, add to the claims of this field. If, indeed, utter prostration under grinding tyranny, if poverty, misery, and false religions can give a people a claim upon missionary regards, the Syrians have it. There is, however, no want of capability among the races inhabiting the soil. Druze, Maronite, and Mohammedan are, physically, a noble-looking race, and when the gospel shall bring them peace, education, and a Christian civilization, they will lack no element of a high nationality. Beirut is becoming a great commercial city, and our mission, with this for a centre, occupies a commanding position in the East.

The Press in Syria deserves and receives special attention from the mission. It is admirably located, and we believe has been established in God's good providence to exert a wide influence in the regeneration of the 150,000,000 speaking the Arabic, and stretching over 120 degrees of longitude, from Liberia to Pekin. This work has been begun none too soon. A frivolous and corrupting literature is already abroad, and it becomes a matter of necessity to the mission, as it multiplies readers, to multiply also copies of the Bible, now happily translated, and such other books as the best good of the people demands.

The educational work of the mission is growing in extent and power. The Committee are impressed with the necessity of maintaining and strengthening these educational institutions. The supply of a native ministry depends upon it, as well as the extension of a true, intelligent Christianity. We observe with sorrow that Mr. Mitchell has been obliged to return to this country by the failure of his health, and the station at Tripoli, with all that northern region, is to a great extent unsupplied. The need of reinforce | ments is pressing, and the amount of labor that has been imposed upon the brethren there has imperilled life and health. To it we owe the retirement of Dr. Post [who goes to the medical department in the Syria College]; and our devoted missionaries, confronted by the wants of their field, and over-stimulated by the manifold calls upon them, are in constant danger of over-work, and a premature expenditure of their strength. The Committee recommend that special efforts be made to recruit the numbers of this mission. The Committee on the missions to Western Turkey and Greece, remark :With respect to the missions to Western Turkey, we notice that notwithstanding the great changes among missionary laborers in this field; the measures adopted for the selfsupport of the churches have met with encouraging success; the number of the pupils in the seminaries is increasing; the prospect is hopeful of raising up a native ministry to supply the wants of the churches; the press is furnishing, rapidly, a Christian literature; the wives of missionaries, together with native helpers, are carrying their elevating influence among the women; and an almost unexampled spirit of benevolence is awakened in some of the churches.

If little has been done directly for the conversion of the Moslem population, the Committee feel that labors for the purifying and quickening of the Armenian and Greek churches must result in vast ultimate good to the Mohammedans; that in the living members of those churches will be found epistles known and read by the Turk, which will issue in his salvation.

It may seem at first unpromising, that in the great cities, Constantinople, Smyrna, and others, so little, comparatively, has been accomplished; but your Committee feel that the commerce of the civilized world greatly embarrasses Christian effort there—that the missionaries have to contend, in those places, not only with forms of error and sin peculiar to those cities, but also with errors and sins imported from more civilized and enlightened lands; and the fact that there are so many from Christian countries without anything of a Christian spirit, who visit those places, imperatively demands that their evil influence should be counteracted by the mightier influence of the gospel.

With respect to the mission to Greece, we would say, that while the veteran Dr. King works still persistently and hopefully in Athens, he has the happiness of seeing three of his pupils, who have been students in the United States, laboring successfully for Greece, and we feel that his long and faithful service is not in vain.