BAPTISTS. 



81 



red the history and work of the society 

 for tin- pro. -riling lifiv years. The receipts 

 during tin- poriud of its existence had been: 

 ia tin- department, $8,102,038.85; in 



tlio mi>Monary department, $799.224.86; mak- 

 ing a total of $8,961,263.71. Its annual ro- 

 h:ul grown from $872.80 in its first year 

 to $480,864.98 in the year just completed. For 

 tin' tirst sixteen years the society had limited 

 itself to the printing and circulation of tracts. 

 In 1S40 its constitution was so amended as to 

 iiuike its work embrace also volumes, partic- 

 ularly Sunday-school books. It had now on 

 its list 1,136 publications of all kinds. It 

 published also five periodicals. The number 

 <>f pages embraced in the publications of 

 fifty years was 8,824,104,466. The receipts of 

 the society for the last year were reported to 

 have hcen: in the business department, $360,- 

 696.10 ; in the benevolent department, $71,- 

 240.15 ; total, $431,986.25. Its disbursements 

 had been $414,246.39. At the request of the 

 board, a committee of seven persons was ap- 

 pointed to report at the next annual meeting 

 of the society whether any improved method 

 can be adopted in the management of its affairs. 



The anniversary of the American Baptist 

 Home MMon Satiety was held at Washing- 

 ton, May 23d. The total receipts of the soci- 

 r the year were reported to have been 

 $2"57,257.36, and its expenditures, $247,427.- 

 74. ( )f these amounts $50,374.86 had been re- 

 !. and $43,228.17 expended on account 

 of the Church-Edifice fund. Contributions 

 had been received from forty-six States and 

 Territories. It was shown in the report that, 

 in 1859-'60, only nineteen, and in 1868-'69 

 only thirty-two States and Territories had con- 

 tributed to the treasury of the society. Three 

 hundred and eighty-five missionaries had been 

 employed, under whose labors one hundred 

 ami thirteen new Baptist churches had been 

 organized, and 2,264 persons had been bap- 

 ti/.ed. The churches under their care had 

 contributed $18,500 to the cause of home mis- 

 sions. The reports from the freedmen's schools 

 were favorable. Applications had been re- 

 ceived in the church-building department, for 

 aid in building houses of worship, from one 

 hundred and twenty churches, and had been 

 granted in the cases of sixty of them. The 

 whole amount appropriated in these instances 

 was nearly $50,000. A resolution was passed 

 by the society favoring cooperation with the 

 Baptist Historical Society. A resolution was 

 also unanimously adopted, expressing the wish 

 that the remembrances of the recent civil con- 

 flict in the United States might be blotted 

 out, and that the exchange of correspondence 

 and of fraternal delegates with the Southern 

 B:iptist Convention might be continued. 



The thirteenth anniversary of the American 

 Jt'iffist Historirtil Society was held in Wash- 

 ington, May 27th. The report of the corre- 

 sponding secretary showed that 447 books, 

 739 pamphlets, and 62 manuscripts, had been 

 VOL. xiv. 6 A 



added to the library of the society during the 

 year. The library now contained 6,802 vol- 

 umes, and about 14,000 unbound pamphlets. 

 The society had received bequests amounting 

 to $14,000 , and an annuity of $500. The mone- 

 tary receipts for the year had been about $400. 

 The Rev. Howard Malcolm, D. D., was re- 

 elected president of the society. 



The annual meeting of the Board of Coun- 

 cilors of the American Baptist Educational 

 Commission was held at Washington, May 23d. 

 The Rev. Alvah Hovey, D. I)., presided. The 

 commission had made appeals to the public in 

 behalf of the Southern Baptist Theological 

 Seminary, and William Jewell College, Mis- 

 souri. During the year the Rochester Theo- 

 logical Seminary and Dennison University had 

 been endowed. An appeal was made to the 

 commission in behalf of Snake Forest College, 

 N. C., whose endowment of $100,000 had been 

 swept away by the war, and of the Columbian 

 University. Addresses were made on the pro- 

 posed movement to enlarge the endowments 

 of all the Baptist educational institutions in the 

 United States as a centennial celebration, to be 

 completed in 1876. 



The fiftieth anniversary of the American 

 Baptist Missionary Union was held at Wash- 

 ington, May 26th. The receipts of the Union 

 for the year ending March 31, 1874, were re- 

 ported to have been : from regular donations 

 of churches and individuals, $165,318.46; from 

 special "thank-offerings," $20,243.84; from 

 legacies, $28,754.77; from woman's societies, 

 $33,878.27; from miscellaneous sources, $13,- 

 840.57; making a total of $261,530.91. This 

 amount was larger than that of the preceding, 

 or of any previous year, by $45,480.21. The 

 year had begun with a balance against the 

 treasury of $42,069.64. The appropriations 

 for the expenses of the year were $247,240.- 

 07, making in all $289,309.71 to be provided 

 for. A special effort was made in June to 

 meet the deficit by what were called " thank- 

 offerings." By the close of the year the balance 

 against the treasury had been reduced to $27,- 

 778.80. Sixteen new missionaries had been 

 sent out during the year, four of whom were 

 under the auspices of the Woman's Baptist 

 Missionary societies, and eight missionaries had 

 returned to their fields after visits to the 

 United States. The report of the board 

 raised a question whether the progress of the 

 work in some parts of the field would not be 

 advanced by adopting a policy of appointing un- 

 married men as missionaries. The subject was 

 referred to a committee, who reported : 1. 

 That the question was one to be determined 

 by circumstances; 2. That, in general, the 

 chief personal interests to be relied upon in 

 the missionary work were the married man 

 and his household ; 3. That, when special cir- 

 cumstances seemed to call for such action, the 

 board should be free to employ unmarried men. 



Two women's missionary societies work in 

 cooperation with the American Baptist Mis- 



