.vf-' Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/fortiethyearOOamer J i ! J I I J I J OFFICERS, 1865. Rt. Rev. C. P. McILVAINE, D. D., President. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Rkt. Dr. DEjWlTT, Chairman. PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. Rev. David Magie, D. D., Elizabeth, N. J. Rev. William R. Williams, D. D. Rev. William Adams, D. D. Rev. Thomas DeWitt, D.D. Rev. John Cotton Smith, D. D. Rev. William I. Budington, D. D., Brooklyn, DISTRIBUTING COMMITTEE. Alfred S. Barnes. Samuel S. Constant. Dr. William N. Blakeman. Henry P. Marshall. Aaron B. Belknap, Esq. FINANCE COMMITTEE. Richard T. Haines. Moses Allen. Thomas C. Doremus. George N. Titus, Esq. Oliver E. Wood. Samuel Colgate. SECRETARIES. Rev. Wm. A. Hallock, i Rev. O. Eastman, >Cor. Sec’s. Rev. J. M. Stevenson, J O. R. Kingsbury, Assist. Sec. and Treas. Samuel E. Warner, Assist. Sec. for Colp. Rev. W. W. Rand, Assist. Sec. Pub. Com. S. W. Stebbins, Depositary. No. 150 Nassau-street, New York. -- REMITTANCES. Remittances for the Society can be sent to 0. R. Kingsbury, Assistant Treasurer, 150 Nassau-street, New York; or to the Superintendents or District Secretaries at either of the principal agencies. -- FORM OF A BEQUEST. I give and bequeath to “The American Tract Society," instituted in the city of New York, the sum of- dollars, to be applied to the charita¬ ble uses and purposes of said Society. Three witnesses should*state that the testator declared this to be his last will and tes¬ tament, and that they signed it at his request, and in his presence and the presence of each other. - »-« - LIFE DIRECTORS AND MEMBERS. The donation of $20 at one time constitutes a Life Member; the addition of $30, or $50 at one time, a Life Director. rOETY YEAES OF CHEISTIAN WOEK. “These forty ^^ears tlie Lord tliy God hath been with thee.” At the close of forty years’ labor for Christ, the Committee of the American Tract Society gratefully adopt “ these words which Aioses spake unto all Israel,” as the key of the wonderful providential history, through this long period, of this institution, whose object has always been “ to diffuse a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Bedeemer of sinners, and to promote the interests of vital godliness and sound morality.” Its forty Annual Beports abound in signal illustrations of the constant direction of that divine Being, who has provided fields for its cultiva¬ tion, has opened doors for it to enter, raised up men and means to carry on its labors, and crowned those labors with glorious results to the honor of His great and blessed name. The forty years of this Society are a memorial that, though Christians die, Christ's kingdom lives. Of 74 officers elected May, 1825, to conduct its affairs, its first President, all its 17 Vice-presidents, and 29 of its 36 elected Directors, have deceased. Of the Executive Committee -and officers. Bichard T. Haines, Chairman of the Finance Committee, Moses Allen, Treasurer, and William A. Hallock, Corre¬ sponding Secretary, still act in their respective stations; Bev. Dr. Sommers is now the Becording Secretary; Bev. Dr. Spring, who wrote the original address of the Execu¬ tive Committee to the Christian public, is a Vice-president; Bev. Dr. De Witt, who addressed the Society on its forma- s THE FORTIETH YEAR. tion, is now Cliairman of tlie Executive Committee, and Bishop Mcllvaine, who firmly supported the Kev. Dr. Mil- nor in the Society’s formation and addressed its first anni¬ versary, is now its President. THE SOCIETY’S GRAND AIM. This Society, like onr earlier Mission Boards and the Bible Society, was the offspring of the great work of divine grace early in this century, based on the soul-humbling. God-exalting truths of man’s utter ruin by sin, and salva¬ tion only through the righteousness of Christ applied by the power of the Holy Spirit in the soul’s conversion and sanctification—the truths that all men must receive Christ or perish, and that Christ’s redeemed ones must tender his gospel with love and prayer to the perishing of “ every na¬ tion and kindred and tongue and people.” This single aim stands out clearly in the original address of the Executive Committee to the Christian public, and in the President’s address at the Society’s formation. In this work, Christians of all evangelical denominations, still holding their own ecclesiastical vIqws and relations, united, shoulder to shoul¬ der, from love to Jesus and the souls of men; and with a harmony and richness of the divine blessing exceeding the expectations of the most sanguine. Hot only were awakening tracts issued, but the standard practical volumes of Baxter, Bunyan, Doddridge, and oth¬ ers, then scarce on booksellers’ shelves, were searched out and reproduced by hundreds of thousands. Hot only were these tracts and volumes printed, but they were circulated in systematic tract visitation and by volume agencies as far as dying men could be reached, north, south, east, and west; and not only was this work pushed onward for near twenty years in our ovm land, but in foreign and pagan lands, in a hundred languages, wherever the influence of American Christians could reach. Then came in the efficient, untir- BEllEAVEMENTS OF THE TEAK. 3 ing agenc}^, for seventeen years, of the Secretary Eev. R. S. Cook, now gone to his rest, who was greatly instrumental in introducing and expanding the Colporteur work throughout our whole country, and gave an inspiring impulse to every department of the Society’s operations. The influence and example of this Society have been widely felt in the forma¬ tion and vigorous action of the various denominational and other publishing boards which are extending their opera¬ tions over the land, and rivalling each other in the charac¬ ter, attractiveness, and beauty of their varied issues; and yet, amidst all the embarrassments of our terrific national struggle, the receipts and sales of this Society have been greater in its fortieth than in any preceding year^ the total resources for the year being $426,603 01. The Committee trust that the smiling' heavens, as the Society enters on its forty-first year with renewed strength, betoken the loving-kindness of a prayer-hearing and gra¬ cious God, who, in his holy providence, has a mighty work for this Society to do, in addition to that of the past, for the redemption of four millions of bondmen now marvellously disenthralled, and their elevation to all the blessings, civil and spiritual, wherewith he delights to make his own re¬ deemed people free. BEKEAVEMENTS OF THE YEAE. During the year the Society has been called to mourn the loss by death of its first President S. V. S. Wildeb, Esq., who presided at sixteen successive anniversaries; and of Eev. E. S. Cook, for eighteen years an active and efficient Corresponding Secretary, who gave a great impulse to the work of the Society, mainly devoting his untiring and con¬ centrated energies to the extension of the system of Col- portage. Besides these, who were so long and intimately identi¬ fied with its official history, eight other officers or friends of the Society, or authors of its publications, closed their use- 4 THE FORTIETH YEAR. ful lives within the year, among whom were William Foe- rest, Esq., for thirty-fonr years a faithful and judicious member of its Executive Committee; and Chief-justice Hornblower of New Jersey, and William B. Crosby, Esq., of New York, Vice-presidents of the Society. THE PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT During the year have added to the Society’s valuable list 144 new publications, 34 of which are volumes; these were in the English, German, Spanish, Italian, Welsh, Swedish, Dakotah, and Ojibwa languages. The whole number of dis¬ tinct pubhcations on the Society’s catalogue, which have been published in this country, is 3,517, in fourteen differ¬ ent languages; of these, 691 are volumes of larger or smaller size. The Comrnittee during the year also approved 35 pub¬ lications, including 14 volumes, to be issued at foreign sta¬ tions, making the whole number approved for pubhcation abroad 3,744, of which 502 are volumes, in one hundred and forty-one languages and dialects. Of these publications, there have been printed, since the formation of the Society, the enormous number of 251,448,120 copies of tracts, and 20,231,543 volumes, comprising a total of 6,582,846,702 pages. ITS PERIODICALS, Notwithstanding the increased subscription price, owing to the sudden and unprecedented rise in the price of paper, have reached a larger circulation than for several years: that of the American Messenger being about 200,000 month¬ ly ; of the Botschafter, or Messenger in German, 43,000; of The Child’s Paper, 290,000. The total number of copies of the three papers printed for the year was 6,467,000. About 95,000 copies of the Messenger have been sent monthly to the army, where it has always been a welcome guest, about ’ 400 regiments having been regularly supplied by mail with from twenty to a hundred copies each. THE SOCIETY’S BENEVOLENT WOKK. 5 A gentleman in New York city, for three years lias sub¬ scribed for ten tliousand copies of tlie Messenger, to be dis¬ tributed monthly in the army. The same benevolent donor sends over a thousand copies of the Messenger monthly to the prisons and jails in the state of New York. The Committee regard these monthly periodicals as among the most useful of the Society’s issues. Every num¬ ber of each paper is designed to be so attractive that it will be read, and yet to be, in the hands of the Holy Spirit, a hammer to break the flinty rock, and by the power of Chris¬ tian love to subdue and bring to Christ the rebellious soul. There is every motive to preserve their high evangehcal character and to increase their circulation. THE SOCIETY’S BENEVOLENT WOEK. The Publishing Committee of the Society, during the forty years of its history, have carefully sought to secure . and add to its catalogue the best uninspired productions of the Christian authors of the past and present, and are con¬ fident that nowhere can there be found a series that more clearly and faithfully presents the cardinal evangelical truths of the gospel of Christ, or that has been more hon¬ ored by the Holy Spirit in the instruction and edification of believers, or in the awakening and conversion of the impen¬ itent. These publications it has been the great desire and aim of the Society to circulate as widely and wisely as pos¬ sible. While there has been a constant and ever increasing demand for them in the way of trade, testifying to their use¬ fulness and popularity, there has been a no less constant and imperative call for them to be sent to the needy and the destitute, who would not or could not purchase them for themselves. To investigate and supply these calls as far as practicable has been the province and privilege of the Dis¬ tributing Committee, as the almoners of the benevolent funds furnished by the Christian community. A faint idea of the extent of the labors of this Committee can be inferred 6 THE FORTIETH YEAR. from tlie fact, that the value of the publications granted in response to individual calls upon them, has been $1,017,- 429 75, being equal in amount to 1,526,145,000 pages, suffi¬ cient for a library of over half a million volumes of three hundred pages each. During the past year the value of the publications thus granted has amounted to $67,349 06. These have been widely distributed all over the globe where there were souls to be reached by the saving truths issued from its active presses in so many different languages. On the application of earnest Christians, anxious thus to increase their useful¬ ness, these leaves from the tree of life have gone to various points in the British provinces and to the West Indies; to the different countries in South America; to nearly every na¬ tion in Europe; to Turkey and Syria and Persia and India and Burmah and China and Japan; to Africa and the isl¬ ands of the Pacific : they have been distributed among the shipping leaving our ports for distant voyages, and to the boatmen on our lakes, canals, and rivers; among the regi¬ ments, the military posts, and the prisons and hospitals of the army, and the ships, gunboats, and frigates of the navy; among the freedmen v/ho have come within our military lines; to the 2,000 men employed in laying the telegraph wires through the Bussian territory; to the Indian missions in the far West and on the Pacific coast; to Young Men’s Christian Associations, literary and humane institutions, and mission and Sabbath schools in all parts of the land, to home missionaries and auxiliaries, and to individual Chris¬ tians in thirty-three states and territories of the Union. While the above record shows that the gratuitous issues of the Society have been widely extended, it gives but a faint idea of the constant demands made for its benefac¬ tions. Though deserving applications are seldom wholly dechned, they are often but partially met. Were means abundant, double and treble the amount might be usefully bestqwxd. Appalling destitutions are found in the North THE SOCIETY’S WOEK IN THE AEMY. 7 and West; and now tlio South, devastated and exhausted by the Avar, is reopened, and its requisitions Avill be im¬ mense. THE SOCIETY’S WOKK IN THE ARMY Continued with great efficiency during all the past year, the Avhite-winged angel of peace not liaAung come on its glad mission to our land till after its year’s work was ended. Feeling that the mental and spiritual interests of our sol¬ diers AA’ere not cared for equally Avith the noble and unex¬ ampled proAusion made by government, and supplemented by the princely beneficence of our people through the San¬ itary and Christian Commissions, for their physical and ma¬ terial welfare, the Committee in their labors have had pri¬ mary reference to the salvation of the men. To compass this, they have circulated large amounts of saving truth through the armies and in many channels. By a contract AAuth the United States Christian Commission, they became the hand of the Society to a considerable extent in the cir¬ culation of its issues. The wide network of agencies sus¬ tained by that energetic institution throughout the armies enabled it to give a free circulation to whatever of religious truth was put into its hands. Through the chaplains also the Committee have labored to bring the truth into contact Avith the hearts of men. They were made the medium of the Society’s benefactions as far as possible, and through them, by the aid of the post-office department, a large and highly appreciated work has been accomplished. Packages of the American Messenger, ranging from 20 copies to 100, have been sent monthly to about 400 regiments. These, with amounts sent to the army in other channels, have av¬ eraged about 95,000 copies monthly. The Committee have relied largely upon army mission¬ aries as an efficient agency for the good of the men, meeting a want which seems not so well met in any other form. Many regiments have no chaplains, many are scattered so 8 THE FOETIETH YEAR. that the chaplain can see but part of them; the artillery batteries, and detached parties of men in forts and camps and hospitals, are destitute of any permanent religions over¬ sight. Here were most important fields for the army mis¬ sionary, and from which already they have gathered rich harvests of souls for the garner above. One of the army missionaries of the Society, whose op¬ portunities of. observation as to the religious work in the army were inferior to none, in an earnest appeal to the church with which he was connected, said, “ Let there be no lack of means furnished the societies that send forth la¬ borers. Especially may I ask that your interest in our noble Tract Society be not allowed to falter, but rather let it in¬ crease. All over our land our soldiers know of it through ; the Messengers and the religious tracts and books so freely scattered. I know by observation of the reading matter cir¬ culated, that by-far the larger portion comes from the Tract Society. In this department seven-eighths of the reading circulated bears their imprint.” ARMY MISSIONARIES. Several of these earnest laborers for Christ and the coun¬ try were engaged in the great armies of the nation, toiling on the battle-field and in the hospital, in the camp and on the march, in the furious assault and in the hasty retreat, in the midst of slaughter, pestilence, and death, as among the myriads of men in health. The first to enter upon this most useful work was Mr. SiUMUEL L. Harris, a Christian law’yer from Brookljm, N. Y., who labored during the entire year in the Department of the South with tireless persever¬ ance, faithfulness, and success, having his head-quarters at Beaufort, S. C. Some idea of his truly wonderful and inde¬ fatigable labors may be inferred from the fact that during the year he has held 261 public religious services, including 82 prayer-meetings and 84 funerals, almost one each day; has made 5,175 visits to hospitals, regiments, batteries, etc., ARMY MISSIONARIES —NORTH CAROLINA. 9 above fourteen per day for tlie year, and distributed 109,550 books, tracts, and papers, with his own hand. None but the All-seeing can give the results of such an agency. Mr. Harris accompanied several military expeditions sent out from this department, encoimaging and cheering the soldiers on the march, and during and after the battles rendering valuable aid in caring for the wounded. He thus accompanied the expedition into Florida, was with General Gilmore in his operations in December against the Charles¬ ton and Savannah railroad, labored very efficiently among General Sherman’s troops when they reached the Atlantic seaboard after their victorious march across the country, and accompanied their advance to Charleston, where he preached three times on the first Sabbath that the city was occupied by the national troops. Being impressed with the idea that it would be a great benefit to the colored soldiers and freedmen if they could have a savings bank, Mr. Harris made the suggestion to Gen. Saxton, who warmly approved of it, and issued an order for its establishment in the fall, appointing Mr. Har¬ ris as cashier. In three days after it was opened, nearly $7,000 was deposited. The deposits have now reached nearly $160,000, in over eight hundred separate accounts. Monthly reports of Mr. Harris, filled with stirring inci¬ dents of his labors, illustrate the value and efficiency of this agency conducted by an ardent soldier of Christ, zealous for the physical and spiritual welfare of those who were nobly sustaining the honor of their country’s flag. IN NORTH CAROLINA, Mr. J. F. Mallett has continued as an army missionary on the field where, before the war, he labored several years as a colporteur, meeting much success among the soldiers, freedmen, and citizens, in circulating the Society’s publica¬ tions and in personal efforts in prayer-meetings and schools. He also supplied the schools in several counties with suita- 10 THE FORTIETH YEAR. ble books for beginners. He often met citizens from differ¬ ent parts of bis old field, who were anxious to have him re¬ sume bis labors as a colporteur among tbem. During tbe prevalence of tbe yellow-fever in tbe last autumn, bis labors among tbe sick and bereaved were very acceptable. Erom tbe commencement of bis work, tbe soldiers bave shown an eager desire for tbe books, of wbicb they bave purchased largely. In one report be says. The soldiers are my constant companions, and qnickly gather around my basket wherever I stop, reading and purchasing all they can. I often stop on the street, or in the camps under shade-trees, when they wiU read as long as they can. Many read to themselves, but some al¬ ways read aloud. A young man yesterday read five chapters in Prov¬ erbs from the Family Bible with the notes. While he was reading, many came up, some with their hats off sitting on the ground. Al¬ though he evidently commenced with a view of sport, yet when he saw the reverence and the eagerness to hear, he soon became calm and en¬ deavored to gratify all around him. I silently prayed God to bless them aU. While in camp there are calls from every quarter, ‘ ‘ Come this way, if you please.” A gracious revival of religion prevailed in a part of bis field, of wbicb a large number of soldiers and freedmen were tbe bopeful subjects. Just before it commenced, a worthy pastor in tbe city, while commending bis work, told him that since be bad commenced visiting with bis books, bis congre¬ gation had continually increased, adding, “ I see you reach people that I never could.” He has also given much attention to tbe freedmen, in reading, teaching, and encouraging tbem to learn. He found them in some places industrious and patient, neat and cleanly, economical, charitable, and free from malice, honest, and de¬ lighting in providing for themselves where they have a chance, thirst¬ ing for knowledge, and ready to sacrifice all for rebgion and education. They have good meetings, and are making higher attainments in every thing praiseworthy. The schools are still in successful operation, and the numbers are increasing ; the night-schools are also well attended. Many are not only earning a good living, but are getting something ahead. A few weeks ago one man bought a farm for $7,500, paying $6,000 down. Many others are erecting good houses in town and put- THE AKMY OF THE POTOMAC. 11 ting up stores, showing to the world, beyond all shadow of doubt, that by proper culture they are capable of making good citizens. Mr. Malletfc lias now resumed liis labor as a colporteur in tbe eastern part of North Carolina. IN THE AEMY OF THE POTOMAC Several army missionaries have been engaged, prominent among whom has been Mr. John E. Vassae, whose labors have been incessant during most of the year. As a personal laborer in the ranks, “ Uncle John,” as he is affectionately called by thousands of that noble army, is perhaps the Chris¬ tian hero of this war, if such a title can justly be given to any one where so many were faithful. Acconypanying the army through the fearful battles of the Wilderness, laboring with them at Point of Pocks, at City Point, and in the camps and forts before Petersburg, sharing with them the perils and exposures and fatigues of marches and assaults, overbur¬ dened during the day with the care of ministering to their temporal wants, he was always ready at night to gather the dear soldiers into his meeting for prayer and personal con¬ versation in regard to the salvation of their souls. He never ceased to feel and to express in his reports that there was no such place for religious labor as the army, and through nearly his whole term of service a deep religious interest prevailed in the corps to which he was attached. A single extract from one of his letters, just before the capture of Petersburg, will furnish a characteristic illustration of many of his reports: I wish you could see our great army as it lies along the trenches, ready for a march at a moment’s warning. I have just returned from vi,siting the line, front and rear, for many miles. Thousands of the dear boys know me, and manifest much kindness. Neither officers nor men take offence at my kind reproof for profaneness, but admit the wickedness and ungentlemanliness of such conversation. At our meet¬ ing last night an officer deliberately rose and requested prayers, and several soldiers did likewise. I cannot doubt that hundreds are very serious, and could we have our chapels opened again, they would bo 12 THE FOKTIETH YEAR. thronged. But God is not confined to places. We feel his presence out in the camp-gi’ound. I wish you could have seen, as we did, on Sunday night fifty or more of our dear soldier brothers on their knees at once in the dust, God’s bright heaven shining on us, the stars sing¬ ing as they shone, of his mercy and grace to poor sinners. Many a heart throbbed quickly, as they thought of home and friends, and of that solemn eternity into which many must enter soon. In the closing struggle resulting in the surrender of Gen. Lee and the leading army of the rebels, Mr. Yassar was with the victors laboring, praying, exhorting, comforting, and great have been the blessings with which God has crowned his toil. We must refer to the American Messenger for.a consecutive record of his labors, as of other army missiona¬ ries, among who^ were Rev. C. D. Fuller, Rev. M. Briggs, Mr. A. O. Treat, who ministered to the wants of the wound¬ ed and sick in the hospital-boats returning to the North, Mr. B. T. Eastman, and Rev. W. A. Benedict and Mrs. Ben¬ edict. Mr. Yassar is now laboring as a colporteur in Richmond and vicinity with the same untiring zeal and ardent love for souls, melting by the wmrmth of his Christian affection hearts that had long been cold and estranged, and winning them back to friendship and fellowship. SOLDIERS IN TRANSITU. Communication with our armies on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts has been chiefly through the port of New York. Large numbers of soldiers have been passing through dim¬ ing the whole year, but since January 1st the number has been greater than ever before, several thousand having gone to their regiments every week. The Society’s agent has vis¬ ited them while waiting for transportation at the various posts in this harbor, or when embarking, and supplied them with useful reading. Much eageimess was manifested to obtain hymn-books and Messengers for the voyage, and to carry to their regiments. From the recipients since, in dis¬ tant parts of the country, have come letters expressing THE WESTERN ARMIES. 13 thanks for these attentions, the last they received on leav¬ ing the North. IN THE WESTERN ARMIES An excellent work was done by Mr. C. H. Benson, whose long experience as a colporteur, and his famiKarity with, the Society’s publications, gave him ready access to the soldiers, and enabled him to furnish them with religious truth best adapted to their wants. He labored among the sick and wounded soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi, in Cairo, Mound City, Columbus, Union City, Memphis, fort Picker¬ ing, camp Shiloh, Holly Springs, Natchez, Vicksburg; and in the Army of the Tennessee in Louisville, Gallatin, and Nashville. He says, I feel that God sent me to the army. I feel that my work in the army is the most profitable of any since I have been with the Society. The giving of a book led to a revival in one battery that resulted in the conversion of tv/enty-five at least, and the reclaiming of several others, among whom were three officers. The giving of “The Officer on Duty ” led an officer high in rank to Christ. The giving of the tract, “A Light in the Window,” led a dear boy to Christ just in time, for he was drowned a short time after. The tract, “Swear Not,” was blessed to the conversion of ten in one comi^any. Three men in the hospital at Columbus were hopefuUy converted, and many others were cheered and comforted. Up to this time I am getting letters from those whom I met for the first time in the army. I am sure I shall never forget the scenes witnessed in the army. I was a soldier once myself, and I knew how to sympathize with them. I am very sure of one thing: if the friends of the soldier knew how many of their sick husbands, brothers, or sons, had been cheered and encouraged to hope almost against hope by the labors of the army mis¬ sionary, they would not withhold their support. I have seen fine young men who were laid on their cots in the hospital surrounded by sick strangers, after seeing a dead man carried out, with no friend to ad¬ minister comfort, become so discouraged, low-spirited, and homesick, that they would refuse food and give up trying to get well. I have seen them too, as I sat down by their side and talked v/ith thepa about the loved ones at home, encouraging them to look u^r and trust to God, and asking them if I should not read to them or write to their friends, so refreshed and so thankful, that the tears would start unbidden to my eyes, and I would thank God for sending me. 14 THE FORTIETH YEAR. I have passed many precious hours at the post-hospital, where they have no chaplain. It has been a glorious field for usefulness. Dying men anxiously listened to words of comfort and cheer and Christian coimsel. During five weeks of hard labor, we trust that many precious souls have been saved, through God’s wonderful blessing, from death eternal to life everlasting. In no single instance, when I have been at first repulsed, have I failed to win them by kindness to them and the others surrounding them. To God be all the praise. For other labors in the West we refer to the monthly records of the Society. That the Committee might be fully informed of the wants of the armies, officers of the Society made various visits to different portions of the field during the year, organizing the work and pressing it forward. SCHOOL FOR THE FREEDMEN. The Committee have continued their model and experi¬ mental school at Freedmen’s Tillage on the Arlington estate, in Virginia. When this village was established by the government, the Committee transferred to it the schools under their care in Washington, where they had been the pioneers to start the schools for the instruction of the freed- men, when they began to enter our military lines early in 1862. Mr. H. E. Simmons has retained the charge of the school, ably assisted by a corps of well-qualified female teachers, whose sympathies are deeply enlisted in the work of instructing and elevating this long-neglected race. In reviewing the year’s labor, Mr. Simmons says. We can now begin to see the results. I can only confirm my opin¬ ion, expressed a year ago, that this people exhibit a surprising aptness in acquiring knowledge. Those who have attended school during the year have made as good progress as any children could do, and as yet have shown no signs of reaching that point which some predict may come, where they will not go any further. The numbers in our school remain about the same: day, 350 ; evening, 150 ; and Sabbath, 350 to 400; making above 500 different persons who regularly come imder in¬ struction. As great progress can be seen in the Sabbath-school, and in the observance of the commandments, as in any thing; and my heart is often gladdened by a scrupulous regard for truth or of the Sabbath, such as would not be expected from those so recently brought to know COLPORTAGE. 16 what God’s commands are. We go forward into the new year with a trusting heart, looking to God for wisdom and strength, and asking for the sympathy and support of the churches in this great undertaking. Tlie general appearance of the day-school is in advance of what it was one year ago in neatness, cleanliness, and general order. My hope that the adults of this people wiU reach a high state of mental or social liberty is less sanguine; but the children are emphatically the hope of this people, and it is gratifying to see how rapidly they are acquiring knowledge to fit them for their new position. Several new publications have been prepared during the year with express reference to the wants of the freedmen. These, with the others issued in previous years for them, have had a wide circulation, through those interested in the welfare of these people in different portions of the South. The Committee feel increasingly the need of a full assort¬ ment of educational books for the four millions of freedmen of the land—elementary books, in which the spirit and teachings of the holy Scriptures shall be the characteristic feature.' To the preparation of such a series of books they have given attention. COLPORTAGE* The system of Colportage prosecuted by the Society for twenty-four years with enlarged usefulness, has lost none of its power for good. The Committee have great confidence in its economy, efficiency, and special adaptation to the waste places of the land. In our Western states, where the population is constant¬ ly changing, some moving further west and others filling the vacant places, with one hand the colporteur gives the word of life to the outgoing emigrant, who will soon be beyond the influence of the church and its privileges, while with the other he welcomes the stranger to his new home with the same word of consolation. This constant change weakens and scatters many churches, and the emergency can only be met by some system of catholic colportage or evangelization which is above and beyond all denominational and sectarian 16 THE FOETIETH YEAE. restrictions, and which as far as possible should be omni¬ present. During the past year, 153 colporteurs, of whom 40 were students from 16 colleges and theological seminaries, labored in the Middle and Western states and in the British provin¬ ces; 22 labored among the foreign population, prineipally the German and Welsh. The Committee have felt com¬ pelled to increase the number of these self-denying laborers for Christ, and have been gratified by the results of the year, which show that the average of their circulation of books and of their personal religious efforts have never been exceeded. Eemembering the large number of these earnest Christian workers who were formerly engaged in this service, amounting to nearly eight hundred in 1857-58, whose pioneer labors, particularly in the new and destitute portions of the land, were so effective in preparing the way for the permanent institutions of education and religion, the Committee hope, now the war is over, that the benevolence of the Christian community will enable them again speedily and extensively to expand this system of evangelization, still greatly needed, over wide regions of our territory. The influence of colportage upon the Christian life of our land cannot be computed. Thoughtful minds, however, will find material for profitable reflection in the SUMMAEY VIEW OE COLPOETAGE FOE TWENTY- FOUE YEAES. Time employed, months - 47,517 Number of volumes sold - 7,937,786 “ “ granted ----------- 2,219,055 meetings addressed and prayer-meetings held - 216,818 “ families with no religious books except the Bible 784,643 “ families destitute of the Bible ------ 485,154 “ families of Eoman-catholics ------- 803,275 “ families neglecting evangehcal preaching - - - 1,234,236 “ families conversed with on personal religion, or prayed with - -- -- -- -- -- - 4,734,122 “ family visits - -- -- -.9,144,551 NEW ENGLAND BEANOH. n AGENCIES OF THE SOCIETY. The work of colportage, as well as the other interests of the Society in distant parts of the country, is greatly facili¬ tated by means of agencies in the important centres, under the charge of experienced agents and superintendents, to whom is committed the care of the colporteurs laboring on their respective fields, the diffusion of intelligence, the col¬ lection of funds, and the direction of all the business opera¬ tions of the Society, in connection with the Committee at New York. The five business agencies that have been in operation the past year are located at Boston, Bochester, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Chicago. It is hoped that, with the resumption of the Society’s work in the Southern states, the former efficient agencies in their business centres may again be opened. HOME AGENCY. Sixteen colporteurs, of whom six were students, labored in Southern New York and New Jersey, reporting to the Secretaries at New York. Eev. C. Foote and Eev. C. Evans continue their agencies on this field. Eev. H. J. Acker, recently a chaplain in the army, has been appointed Dis¬ trict Secretary for Connecticut and Ehode Island, and has commenced his labors. THE NEW ENGLAND BEANOH, With its Depository at No. 40 Cornhill, Boston, has closed its sixth year, having occasion for much thankfulness and congratulation. The receipts from New England were $61,086 19, being larger than in any previous year since the Branch was formed; the sales largely exceeded any previous year, being $39,430 61: 682,250 copies of the American Mes¬ senger and Child’s Paper were distributed from the deposi¬ tory. Twenty colporteurs were successfully employed in Northern New England and the British provinces. A grow¬ ing sympathy and interest in our work prevails in every part of New England. 2 18 THE FOKTIETH YEAR. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. WILLIAM B. REYNOLDS, JOHN C. STOCKBRIDGE, D. D. MOSES L. HALE, WILLIAM R. LAWRENCE, JOSEPH 0. TYLER. GEORGE PUNCHARD, Seceetaby. REV. L. B* ROCKWOOD, Distbiot Secsetaey. N. P. KEMP, Tkeasubee. THE ROCHESTER AGENCY, At 75 State-street, reports an increase of about sixty per cent, upon its work of the previous year, both in colportage and the book department, raising its total circulation from $19,000 to $31,000. It had 32 colporteurs in its service in New York and Canada West. The practical workings of colportage, as illustrated by the reports of these faithful men, have been fall of interest and encouragement. SUPERINTENDENT OF COLPORTAGE, O. D. GROSYENOR. DISTRICT SECRETARIES, REV. W. V. COUCH, Rochestee. REV. N. J. CONKLIN, Utica. THE PENNSYLVANIA BRANCH, Having for its field Pennsylvania and Delaware, and the adjacent parts of New Jersey, Virginia, and Ohio, has re¬ moved its Depository to No. 1210 Chestnut-street, Philadel¬ phia. The business of the Branch, including $11,905 75 in donations, has been $72,026 58; a gratifying advance over the previous year. It circulates monthly 20,000 copies of the American Messenger and 35,000 of The Child’s Paper. It employed 49 colporteurs, 17 of whom were students. SUPERINTENDENT OF COLPORTAGE AND TREASURER, H. N. THISSELL. DISTRICT SECRETARY, REV. G. L. SHEARER. GENERAL AGENT FOR EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, REV. DAVID STERRETT, Carlisle. GENERAL AGENT FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, JOHN POTTER, Allegheny City. CHICAGO AGENCY. 19 THE CINCINNATI AGENCY, With its Depository at No. 163 Walnut-street, Cincinnati, has for its field the states of ■ Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Its circulation of publications reached $31,- 030 73. Twelve colporteurs were employed, who met with much encouragement in their work. At the commencement of the war there were more than twenty colporteurs labor¬ ing in the state of Tennessee in connection with this agency, and we hope that soon the way will be open to resume oper¬ ations in the southern portion of this afield with the vigor demanded by its present desolations. SUPEEINTENDENT OF COLPOETAGE, SEELY WOOD. DISTEICT SEGEETAEY, EEV. JAMES MoELROY. THE CHICAGO AGENCY Occupies the great territory of the North-west, having its Depository at 170 South-Clark-street, Chicago. Gratifying advances have been made in every branch of our labors in this agency for the North-west. More men have been em¬ ployed than last year, more work has been done, and larger results have been experienced than ever before by the same number of men in this field. The liberality of the people also has cheered and sustained us with a larger aggregate of donations than ever before realized to our Society in the West. Colporteurs and agents all report gratifying and increasing cordiality in their reception among the people, and an increasing appreciation and hearty commendation of this Society and its plans of labor. Two general agents and two temporary assistants, with thirty-six colporteurs, and one female Bible reader and tract distributer, have been employed during the year, besides the District Secretary and his assistants in the office. The total circulation of publications amounts to $31,094 23; ex¬ ceeding that of the previous year by $9,089 45. 20 THE FOllTIETH YEAE. DISTRICT SECRETARY, EEV. GLEN WOOD. DEPOSITARIES, W. G. HOLMES, Chicago ; J. W. McINTYRE, St. Louis. GENERAL AGENTS, EEV. WM. C. MASON, Farmington, III. EEV. CHARLES S. ADAMS, Hillsdale, Mich. RESULTS OF COLPORTAGE. It would be vain to attempt to sum up the results of the more than seventy years of labor performed the past year by the 153 colporteurs employed by the Society. None but the Omniscient can trace and follow the impressions for good made in the 190,487 family visits by Christian men earnest to honor their Master, or by the reading of the 266,000 volumes placed by them in these families, more than one-eighth of which were given to destitute families, a large portion of whom had no religious books in their houses, and habitually neglected attending evangelical preaching, even when it was within their reach. The experience of the past year confirms the Committee in their convictions, strength¬ ened now by a thorough trial of nearly a quarter of a cen¬ tury, that there is no agency better adapted to the supply of the destitute families of the land with the gospel and religious, saving truth, than the system of catholic missionary colportage. Its laborers are of the various evangelical Chris¬ tian names, its books and tracts contain the faith of the saints in all ages, its aim is simply and only to bring men to Christ as the Saviour of sinners, and its work is prepara¬ tive and helpful to every evangelical effort to establish local churches. Some of the many facts develojied by their labors during the past year will throw light upon their mode of working, and will encourage the hearts of Christians to sustain and enlarge this agency, which is productive of so much imme¬ diate and far-reaching good. ERROR COUNTERACTED. 21 THE IMPORTANCE OE RELIGIOUS READING Is confirmed by many such testimonies as the following: I have gone over a space of one Imndred miles east and west, and about half that distance north and south, and find a growing attach¬ ment and affection among the people for my work, but especially for the books which I am instrumental in circulating among them. After more than seven years’ experience in the work, I have learned to place a very high estimate on the publications ; and the circulation of them to the utmost extent practicable is, I believe, a duty resting upon the church of Christ, a cheap and efficient instrumentality ordained of him for the enlightening and salvation of millions of our race. I trust I have learned to place less dependence on my own efforts, and to expect the blessing of God more especially to attend the careful perusal of the books. Revivals of religion have been witnessed on various parts of my field, and it is a remarkable fact that they have occurred in those places where I have sold the most books. We find that on no part of our field are we more welcome than where revivals are in progTess. Even circulated without prayer, which is seldom done by the col¬ porteur, every book and tract may be said to have been consecrated by prayer, especially such volumes as “ Baxter’s Call ” and “Saints’Rest,” which have been instrumental in benefiting thousands. A lady told me the reading of “Doddridge” led her to flee to Chiist, where she found i^eace. Her experience made others anxious to read the book, which resulted in bringing six of her neighbors to Christ. A brother told me that soon after they commenced to read a Sabbath-school libra- ly bought of me, God’s Spirit was poured upon them, and many of their scholars were hopefully converted. This work of grace he attrib¬ uted to their new library. ERROR COUNTERACTED. In a Roman-catholic community I came across some who could read French, and in such cases I could almost invariably sell French books and give tracts; for their fear of the priest is not as strong as their attachment to their native language in the scarcity of books, and their curiosity to know what the books contain about which the priest makes so much ado. Five years ago I sold them several copies of ‘ ‘ Saints’ Rest, ” “ Pilgrim’s Progress, ” and one or two others. A short time since I learned that the priest had been there and ordered them burned ; but many of the younger people hid them, and continued to read them in secret. In two families where I was threatened to be turned out of doors, the older children still kept and read the books and tracts which I left them five years ago. There were no Protestant books within their reach, and had not the colporteur been sent there, I see no hu- 22 THE FOETIETH YEAK. man probability of their having ever received any. In visiting this class of bigoted, benighted souls, I have often been led to inquire. How could soul-saving truth be brought in contact with their hearts, if not by this system of colportage ? The priest wiU not bring it; their Catholic friends will not; their Protestant neighbors, nearly hopeless as to doing them good, will not do it; and the people themselves are not sufficiently interested to seek for truth. How shall they be reach¬ ed but by unw^earied toil and patient hearts yearning with compassion for dying men, and urged and sustained by love to Christ, caiuying the truth to their doors, and pressing it into their hands ? In one district I found four hundred families, only four of whom were in the habit of attending rehgious worship on the Sabbath. In¬ stead of one, there ought to be at least twelve colporteurs here, and all would be kept very busy. No time ought to be lost. The devil is very busy. One of the greatest enemies I had to con¬ tend with was Renan’s Life of Jesus. This was really a giant in the land. Tw'O intelligent men, agents, by the help of some wealthy infi¬ dels, were circulating that book. I travelled day and night to get the start of them and stop their dangerous work, which by the grace of God I w'as enabled to do. CHRISTIAN ACTIVITY INCREASED. Quite a number of small churches have been formed within the limits of my field since I have been laboring as a colporteur, and on ground that had not been husbanded spiritually till visited by the col¬ porteur ; and I believe in several of those places the colxDorteur is regarded as having had an agency in preparing the ground and laying the foundation of Christian w’orship. One said, “We all like to see you come. You were with us at our first meetings, and organized our first Sabbath-school, and you are as one of us.” Another said, “There comes our col^Dorteur. I am glad to see you. You will be with us on the Sabbath, w’ont you ? I want you to be with us in our Sabbath- school.” I think that in many i^laces colportage on my field has been instru¬ mental in developing Christian effort ; and in two instances, revivals of religion, which resulted in much good, were induced by the labors of the colporteur. But the best and largest fruits of my labor I find in our different German congregations. About three years ago only one of four churches was flourishing, two others were attended very scarcely by the people, and at the same time one broke down entirely, and there was no meeting in the church for more than one year and six months ; but now there is meeting in that church every Sunday again, and the two SOULS SAVED. 23 others have gained since that time a good many members. The minis¬ ters of these dilfereiit denominations see and know this, and they are all very glad to have the colporteur among them. I find all the ministers of the different denominations regard our work as a source of Christian quickening. A good deacon said to me, “Now, brother, I hope you will stay with us till you have visited every family in our town.” In visiting that village, I found that more than half of the famihes do not receive a religious visit from one year to another. Some of the poorer classes seem interested and benefited. I find a more welcome reception, if possible, and have circulated more books than in former years. KEVIVALS PEOMOTED. I cannot doubt that revivals have been greatly promoted in aU the towns around us by this instrumentality. The majority of the Sunday- schools in my field have, either in the past or former years, received aid and encoimagement from the Tract Society. About fourteen have been organized or assisted during the past year. One church has been organized in my field the past year as the result of this agency, and as my labors have extended over twenty counties, there may be others of which I have not heard. I know also of several others now in success¬ ful operation that owe their existence to colportage of former years. There are three in one county before my mind. In one instance a church has been built, which I assisted in the midst of a revival; and in the last three weeks a revival has taken place there in which twenty-two united on profession of their faith, and two by letter. As the result of my labors, xareaching has been held at sev¬ eral school-houses on my field, which I commenced, and is continued, the parties who attend being too poor to build churches, and particu¬ larly at the present time. Christian activity appears to be more devel¬ oping itself in the last month than before, but the war is a great check to it. We have had revivals of religion in different places in my field. I sxDoke with one Christian minister about commencing a series of meet¬ ings. I labored in earnest there for a while, and then passed on. Soon came a letter from that minister, saying I must come and help him, for a revival had commenced. I helped him, as I have worked the same way in different revivals of religion during the whole year, and, thank God, the Lord is saving souls. SOULS SAVED. Numbers on my field, both old and young, have told me of the blessings that have accompanied the reading of these good books. Many have chosen the good part. 24 THE FOKTIETH YEAR. One man, seventy years old, said that the reading of “The Afflicted Man’s Companion ” was the means the Lord used to bring him to a saving faith in Christ. A young man informed me that “Persuasives to Early Piety” was the means, by the blessing of God, of bringing him to choose Jesus as his Saviour. Another was awakened to seek an interest in the Saviour of sinners by reading “Doddridge’s Rise and Progress.” Another, by reading “James’ Anxious Inquirer,” was led to Jesus, and found him precious. A stranger called at my house, and inquired if I was not “ the book¬ man” who was in such a neighborhood five or six years ago. “Yes.” “Well,” said he, “you persuaded me to buy ‘Cause and Cure of Infi¬ delity.” I bought it, but not because I cared for it; I was almost an infidel then ; but the book showed me the way of salvation in Christ; and now I trust I am one of his children. I have come these fourteen miles to get some books to show the people the way of life. I sold him about ^20 worth of books. I found an old gentleman pillowed up in his chair, evidently on the brink of eternity, reading “Burder’s Sermons,” which I had left in the family some months before. “Oh,” said he, “I am so glad to see you, to tell you the good news. God, for Christ’s sake, has pardoned my sins. This precious volume has been a great blessing to my soul.” Another told me that “ Persuasives to Early Piety ” had been the means of his conversion. Thus has my cup been made to run over with joy and thanksgiving to God. A colporteur of the order of Friends says. On first starting out in my work, I visited a rough family of eleven persons destitute of aU religious reading, not even having a Bible. I gave them a Bible and another book. By the blessing of God I have been permitted to see them all gathered into the church. I have found many Roman-catho¬ lics, and succeeded in getting books into their hands. I have estab¬ lished six Scripture schools wliere there never had been any before, and labored in them every first day of the week during all the summer. I furnished each destitute familv with a Bible and each reader with a Testament. Pray with me, dear friends, that God may bless these fee¬ ble efforts. FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION. The work of the Society has by no means been confined to our own land. Early in its history, the Committee, per¬ ceiving how greatly the influence of missionaries in heathen lands was increased by means of the evangelical press, be- FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION. 25 gan to fnrnisli them tlio means for printing and diffusing tracts and religious books. In tlie fourth year of the Soci- et}", when its receipts from donations were but $25,173, it appropriated $G50 in cash for this purpose to the EpiscojDal mission in Greece, to the Baptist mission in Burmah, and to the mission of the American Board in Ceylon. Since that time it has never failed to make an annual appropria¬ tion to this great work, till now the amount that it has appropriated in cash, including $5,000 remitted the past year, is $546,291, which has been distributed among sixteen Foreign Missionary Boards and Societies at all the princi¬ pal stations occupied by American missionaries in Asia, Africa, North America, and the Pacific islands, and also among the societies engaged in labors for the evangeliza¬ tion of the nominally Christian countries on the continent of Europe. The whole number of publications approved by the Publishing Committee for circulation abroad at the Society’s expense, is 3,744, including 502 volumes; and the Society, and the institutions it aids, have issued publications in one hundred and forty-one languages and dialects. In addition to its appropriations of cash to mission sta¬ tions, the Society has ahvays made liberal grants of its pub¬ lications to missionaries and others desirous of circulating them in foreign, pagan, and papal lands. The gratuitous dis¬ tribution in this direction amounted the past year to $3,500. Acting as a handmaid to the missionary movements of all evangelical denominations, and interfering with the pol¬ icy of none, the Society’s cooperation has been welcomed by all; while the good that has been accomplished in foreign lands by the publications diffused there by means of the half million of dollars contributed for this purpose, will doubtless realize the glowing language of Dr. Henry Mar- tyn Scudder when, referring to what had been done by the American and London Tract Societies, he said, “ They have begun to span the sky of heathenism with a galaxy in which the stars are converted souls.” 26 THE EOETIETH YEAE. FOEEIGN GEANTS. In many Boman-catliolic countries, in North and South America, the West Indies, Europe, and Western Africa, the Society has opportunities to circulate religious truth, which often finds its way far into the interior. In S23anish, Portu¬ guese, and Italian, the Society has one hundred and fifty distinct works, filled with Christ’s precious gospel, and ap- jmopriate to these distributions. It is a significant fact, that the Tract Primer in SjDanish is used as the j^rimary book in many schools. In Italy, Bishop Mcllvaine’s “Evidences of Christian¬ ity ” has been translated into Italian and 3,000 co 2 )ies print¬ ed by the liberality of an American gentleman. Bev. Dr. Oncken of the American Ba]3tist mission in Germany, asks for continued aid “ in the great struggle in which the mission is engaged in Central Europe, sunk to a fearful extent into scepticism and rank infidehty.” Two volumes and a number of valuable tracts in Swedish are now in 2 )Hblication by the Society. The Secretary of the Tract Committee in BussLi ascribes the efforts of the vari¬ ous native agencies in that country to disseminate truth and knowledge, to the infiuence of the example of those who have labored so many years in the tract cause. OUE MISSION FIELDS. The missionaries at Constantinople, requesting a liberal continued su]3port of the press in the wide regions of their operations, say, “There can scarcely be any more promising field for the distribution of books and tracts than our mis¬ sion now presents, both among the Bulgarians and the Armenians.” The Central Turkey mission also urge a continuance of the “generous aid” the Society has given them. Bev. Dr. Perkins, the venerable missionary to the Nes- TORiANS, re 2 )orts a case of deep interest respecting Mar Yo- MISSION FIELDS—INDIA. 27 sepli, a Nestoriaii bisliop from the wild Assyrian mountains near the Tigris, who was brought to Christ in that dead region b}^ reading “Doddridge’s Eiso and ProgTess,” and who, he sa 3 "s, with that almost matchless volume and the Bible as his guide, is one of the most interesting Christian men he ever knew. Bev. Mr. Lansing, missionary of the United Presbyte¬ rian church in Lgypt, says, “ The demand for a Christian hterature here has been immense for the last few j^ears, and it is constantly increasing. The persecutions, though seri¬ ous, have not interfered with the circulation of our books.” IN INDIA. Kev. William Tracy of Maduba sjDeaks of the missiona¬ ries reaching multitudes of villages the past year that had scarcely ever been visited by a missionary, where tracts and books were received with pleasure. In villages which could not be visited more than once a year, if so often, it was felt to be a most important part of mission labor to distribute tracts and books which could remain and speak silently from - day to day during the whole year. Bev. E. P. Hastings of Ceylon states that seven tracts, founded on Scripture narratives, are in preparation by members of that mission, which they wish to print; the esti¬ mated cost of 5,000 each is $225, which amount was granted. The printing establishment at Madeas, from which other missions in Southern India obtain large supplies of books and tracts in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindustani, in the twenty- five years ending in 1863, printed upwards of 425,000,000 pages, of which 225,000,000 were of the Scriptures. More than 100,000 pubhcations are sent out yearly from the mission press at Lodiana, from which the large Presby¬ terian missions in Northern India are supplied. The old mission press at Allahabad, which was partly destroyed in the great mutiny, is now in the hands of native Christians, who print religious books and tracts. 28 THE FOETIETH YEAR. Mr. Bennett, superintendent of the Baptist mission press at Bangoon, says Burmese tracts that were distributed thirty years ago have been bearing fruit for some years past. Bev. Dr. Mattoon of the Presbyterian mission in Siam says, “The circulation of Christian truth by means of the press is an important feature in our work, and its impor¬ tance grows upon us by every year’s experience. We are circulating our books widely by itineratures, and hope to do more colporteur work than in any previous year. Within the year past we have been encouraged by several hopeful conversions.” IN CHINA. Bev. D. Yrooman of the American Board at Canton, says. We hope the Society will do more for China. We need more men, and illustrated small hooTcs upon every subject that will set forth God as the author of all things and the immediate disposer and governor of men. If we cannot have these, millions of souls must perish in ignorance before the gospel will reach them. The lamented Bev. Mr. Doty of Amoy, in one of his last communications, in reporting the encouraging progress of the mission, says, “Every step in advance only increases the* need for the increased enterprise and enlargement of the work of the American Tract Society here.” Bev. S. T. Woodin of the Fuh-Chau mission urges larger appropriations, as they had printed and circulated many more tracts than were covered by the last grant. The Presbyterian mission press at Shanghai is a most efficient agency for the spread of evangelical truth among the Chinese. It employs 24 native printers, and last year issued 7,633,000 pages of tracts and 5,460,000 of the Scrip¬ tures. Bev. Mr. Blodgett of the North China mission of the American Board at Tientsin, the port of Peking, is anxious that a press should be established there, and earnestlj requests additional funds from the Society. THE WOllK REVIEWED. 29 The Cliiiicso Calendar, adapted for nse at all the mission stations in China, 'svhich the American Tract Society have for three years prepared and sent ont to the principal missions, Mr. Blodgett values highly. He says, “It took but a few hours to translate the calendar for 1864, and it will soon be in circulation, bound up with a Christian tract, the blocks for which have just been cut. So useful an arrangement I trust will be continued, and we can thus furnish the Chinese with a valuable almanac year by year.” “This people,” he adds, “are exceedingly fond of scientific know¬ ledge and of general information. What they are averse to is the knowledge of God and the gospel of Christ. They are intensely world¬ ly, and concern themselves wholly with the affairs of this Hfe. Scarce¬ ly a soul has any thought or care for what lies beyond it.” THE WORK REVIEWED. Tlie careful and candid reader of this condensed sketch of the operations of the American Tract Society for the past year, will be impressed with the facihties enjoyed by this institution, beyond any other benevolent agency in our land, for a widely extended and far-reaching diffusion of printed gospel truth, and will acknowledge that it has employed these facilities to the fullest extent possible with the means placed at its disposal. Its great aim has been to make known to all who can read, the knowledge of Christ and his salvation. This central truth pervades every tract and every volume that has issued from its presses. Knowing that there is salvation in no other, it has sought to place its publications, that tell of that only Name “whereby we must be saved,” in the hands of every lost child of Adam. By the benefactions of Christian friends it has thus, dur¬ ing the year, sent its leaves of life to every continent and every shore. It has carried spiritual comfort and consola¬ tion to our brave soldiers in the camp, the field, the hospi¬ tal, and the prison, nerving them for the battle, and prepar¬ ing thousands of them for a calm and happy death. It has encouraged the freedmen to improve their newly gained lib¬ erty in acquiring the rudiments of education. It has sent the self-denying colporteurs, freighted with the choicest 30 THE FORTIETH YEAR. religious publications, to tens of thousands of homes, multi¬ tudes of which were beyond the reach of the means of grace, and could not otherwise have been supplied with the pre¬ cious books that have been so widely blessed by the Spirit of God. Through this instrumentality it has extensively stimulated a desire for religious reading; has brought error- ists to the knowledge of the truth; has quickened the activ¬ ity of professing Christians, j)rompting them to efforts that have led to the establishment of Sabbath-schools and the formation of churches, of which it has always been the pio¬ neer; has labored zealously and effectively in revivals of rehgion, and has been the means of adding many to the number of believers in Jesus. It has crossed the ocean, and proclaimed to the formalists in nominally Christian lands the almost forgotten truth. Ye must be born again; while on heathen shores it has enabled the missionary of the cross to speak to the people of every nation under heav¬ en, in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God. The work that has thus occupied its energies for the past year has characterized it during the forty years of its history. Believing that an “ evangelical ministry, an active church, and a sanctified press are the hope of the world,” the Tract Society has labored to increase the usefulness of the former, by establishing and making as efficient as pos¬ sible the latter, subserving it to their interests, of which it is the indispensable handmaid. It has aided every work of social and moral reform. It has prepared the most service¬ able helps to the study of the Bible, and provided the choic¬ est literature for children and youth, for Sabbath-schools and Bible classes. It has furnished to multitudes of families their only store of religious reading, while many have been indebted to it for all the books they have had to read. It has supplied libraries to seamen and boatmen, and met the emi¬ grant landing on our shores with a message of salvation. It has always cooperated with, and been the efficient ally of the home and foreign missionary, and of all the sisterhood PllOGKESS IN FORTY YEARS. 31 of benevolent societies wlioso object lias been to bless and save mankind. Wberever any liavo been impelled to Chris¬ tian labor throngli love to Jesus and the souls of men, the Society has been prompt to render its assistance; while, in the conflict with sin and error, the adherents of truth have alwa^'s resorted to it, as to an arsenal, for the weapons which have been “ sharp in the hearts of the King’s ene¬ mies.” Such, to the extent of its ability, while enjoying constant evidence of the divine favor in opportunities for its appropriate labor that have been followed by manifest and glorious results, has been the aim, and is now the record of the American Tract Society through its history of forty years. PROGRESS IN FORTY YEARS. At the formation of this Society in 1825, the aggregate receipts of all the Tract Societies in the country were less than $20,000 per annum. The resources of this Society the past year have been $426,603 01. In forty years they have been $8,201,589 38. Of this sum, $5,172,104 55 have been received for publications sold, and $3,029,484 83 in dona¬ tions and legacies. It is a gratifying fact that, notwithstanding the low price at which its immense issues hapve been furnished to the public, its receipts for sales, $5,172,104 55, have been equal to all the expenses of manufacturing the publications sold, including the stock and machinery on hand, and all the salaries and general expenses of conducting the busi¬ ness at the Tract House, and also to nearly 40 per cent, of all that has been expended in connection with colportage. While this has been accomplished by the receipts from publications sold, the entire amount received in donations and legacies, $3,029,484 83, has been expended in the gratu¬ itous distribution of publications, in foreign cash appropri¬ ations, in agencies for raising funds, and in meeting the balance (60 per cent.) of the expenses for colportage. 32 THE FOETIETH YEAR. These facts, taken from the Treasurer’s Reports, show that, ivliile the entire amount of donations received has heen expended for henevolent purposes^ the business department of the Society has not only sustained itself, hut has contributed to the payment of the expenses of the Society to the amount of more than a quarter of a million of dollars, that might be justly and appropriatdy charged to the benevolent ivorh of the Society. These results could never have been realized, had it not been for the wise forethought of the founders of the Society in providing for it a house free of expense to the churches, and by the economy and saving to the Society in doing its own printing and binding. CURRENT CLAJMS. The new state of things, on the return of peace, opens to this Society a new and vastly important field of labor. In addition to foreign cash appropriations, which have hitherto been quite too limited, and large expenditures for grants of publications and colportage in tb© North and West, the South is now one of the most needy missionary fields which has ever been presented to the churches. With six million whites and four million blacks, now almost destitute of books and of the means of procuring them; with Sabbath and day schools in great numbers springing up in every direction; there seems to be an imperative call for $50,000 the present year to furnish these destitute millions with the issues of the Society, which are adapted to their wants and constantly called for. For every $500 given for this pur¬ pose, the Society hopes to sustain a colporteur in one of the Southern states. cloth back; 35c. each in boards. A most attractive book for the home cir¬ cle and the Sabbath-school, containing 244 Hymns and 160 Tunes of sterling and permanent value. More than half of them have the charm of freshness and novelty; the others are old and endeared favorites. The tunes have been chosen with great care, and are such as children will love to sing; and the hymns are for all occasions, and of unusual variety and excellence. SONGS OF ZION, new and enlarged edition, 18mo, 384 pp. 50c.; con¬ taining over 400 hymns set to the very best Tunes, in clear and handsome type. This is pronounced by competent judges “the very best book of the kind ever published.” It is coming to be used by the churches in their public services on the Sabbath, as well as at home and in meetings for social worship. THE BOOKS OF THE Are published and circulated with the sole object c increasing vital piety. The prices are the same in all parte of the Unites States. The style of printing and binding is unsurpassed fo beauty and strength. These works teach the great doctrines and duties c the Bible, without reference to denominational distinc tions. It is believed that no similar collection of evangeli cal writings can exceed them in purity of doctrine, siili| plicity of style, or in practical usefulness. ! The best evidence of the usefulness of this series i furnished in the fact that the Holy Spirit has honored some of them for more than two centuries as a mean of salvation to thousands of souls. The attention of Clergymen, Families, and Sabbath . school Teachers, is respectfully invited to the extensivi and constantly increasing list of works issued by th- Society. Orders for publications may be sent to S. W. STEBBINS, Depositaht, 150 Nassau-street, New York. Money remittances to O. K. KINGSBUEY, Tbeasuree. Other communications should be addressed to tht Secretaries. IHH' ‘Jc'=" 31* - > ' J ' : ..... ,. iil'-ywslin: *H ~ 11 a = n liSliasiiiiii?' =:; * = mS;"!' >* iSf;S 3 jP:s!;>? ■iii’ Hi sSipnlijlS isg^Ppiiiips yKgnjSliiiLl'S!!::: - r. ?r?3ilSS sisil^pipil ^I»t 4 ilili liiiiiipinlpiii; iiiiiiS! ililif ipli liiilii ; rewteSSiSsja.':; ^WPHltr BINDER Syracuse, N. Y, StocMon, Colff.