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are all necessary. And we hope to exhibit, in our future exertions, evidence of our zeal, in providing pecuniary aid to the extent of our power, and in our fervent prayers and earnest wishes for the success of our institution. With an object of such magnitude and importance before us, we think we cannot appeal in vain to the liberality of our brethren and friends for their hearty co-operation. When we review our ministry, from the commencement of our existence as a separate communion, and mark its successful progress, we are constrained to say, What hath God wrought! Contending with numerous impediments, they have persevered, with great success, in extending the triumphs of the cross among mankind. We ourselves are, we humbly trust, the trophies of this ministry. By the blessing of God upon their labors, it was this same ministry, crossing the watery world, in the character of missionaries, that gave the first impetus to that mighty exertion in the Christian cause, by which the present generation, in this western world, is distinguished. And shall we be wanting in our efforts to send this Gospel of the kingdom to our fellow-men, many of whom are yet dwelling in darkness and in the shadow of death? Arise, brethren, in the majesty of your strength, in the name of Immanuel, God with us, go forward, concentrate your force in this Society, and, by a united exertion, help to people the regions of perennial happiness, by contributing to send the word of life to the destitute inhabitants of our fallen world! What heart can remain unmoved, what hand unemployed, when called to action in a cause so important, so interesting, so sacred! Let but the friends of Zion give half as much for the support of missionaries, and for the distribution of the word of life, as the intemperate do to gratify and pamper their appetites, and there shall be no lack.

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Although the Constitution, which accompanies this address, requires the payment of two dollars, annually, to constitute a member, and the payment of twenty dollars, at one time, to constitute a member for life, yet this does not exclude donations to any amount, great or small. Remember, the mite of the poor widow was not only accepted, but her liberality was highly applauded by her Lord, because she put in all her living. 'It is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.' And if every one will become a cheerful giver, according to the ability which God giveth,' we shall soon witness the rising glory of the Church, the solitary places shall be glad for them'-the messengers of Zion—and the wilderness

shall blossom as the rose;' the Pagan nations, which inhabit the wilds of America, and the desolate inhabitants of our new states and territories, shall hail the effects of your bounty-nations unborn shall rise up and call you blessed. Let, then, all hearts be warm, and all hands active, until the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.""

"CIRCULAR.

"The Managers of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church beg leave to present to the several annual conferences, and, through them, to the members of the Church generally, a copy of their address and Constitution, with an earnest solicitation that efficient means may be adopted to establish societies auxiliary to this. Having long been convinced of the necessity of some institution, by which pecuniary aid could be afforded, to enable the conferences to carry on their missionary labors on a more extended plan, the object of their desire is, at length, so far accomplished in the formation of this Society, the real and professed object of which is, to extend the influence of divine truth by means of those missionaries, who may, from time to time, be employed by the bishops, and approved by the conferences, for that purpose. You are referred to the preceding address for more particular information of our views, and the reasons for some of the articles of the Constitution. Any amendments, which may be suggested by either of the annual conferences, can be forwarded to the Managers; and, if deemed expedient, the General conference, agreeably to the provisions of the last article of the Constitution, can adopt them.

"You are likewise presented with a draft of a Constitution deemed suitable for auxiliary societies, leaving it to you to make such alterations as local circumstances may seem to require. This is done with a view to produce as much uniformity in the operations of the various auxiliaries as circumstances will admit.

“The Managers beg leave to suggest the propriety of forming one society only, auxiliary to this, in each conference, to be located in the most populous town or city within the bounds of the conference, and that the other societies which may be formed within the limits of each conference become branches of that. This method, it is thought, will greatly facilitate the operations of the Society, and produce greater energy in the execution of its benevolent designs, than it would to make every subordinate society immediately auxiliary to the Parent Society. And if the several annual conferences unite their counsels, and recommend

the subject to the people of their charge, with practical zeal and energy, it is believed that auxiliary and branch societies may be established in every city and circuit throughout our extensive work. According to a recent report of the General Wesleyan Missionary Society,' now in successful operation in England, our brethren in Europe, during the last year, have raised upward of eighty thousand dollars for the support of domestic and foreign missionaries. Through this generous pecuniary aid, they now employ one hundred and three missionaries. How much, therefore, may we do, if efficient means are used to combine our strength! The object contemplated by this Society, the Managers think, is of sufficient importance and utility to recommend itself to every considerate and pious mind; and, therefore, they need say no more than to add their prayers and request yours, that we may all be guided by the wisdom that cometh from above, in all our attempts to promote peace on earth and good-will among men."

The above, together with the address, we have already stated, were written by Dr. Bangs, chairman of the Board of Managers, and they were ordered to be published both in pamphlet form and in the Methodist Magazine. They are somewhat lengthy, the address particularly; nevertheless, the circumstances of the case were such as to require a detailed argument, that all objections, if possible, might be taken out of the way.

The Society being fairly organized, started out with flattering prospects upon its successful mission. The Managers having addressed a letter to the President of the Society, informing him of his election, and submitting their plans of operation for his approval, they were encouraged in their labors by receiving from the Bishop the following highly satisfactory letter:

"Your plan meets my views of preaching the Gospel to every creature, better than any one I have yet seen. First, because that body of missionaries whom you intend to employ, have mutually agreed to renounce ease and worldly interest, and devote their time, and talents, and labors, to the work. They know no geographical boundaries, but, like the Gospel which they preach, embrace the poor as well as the rich of every condition and race

of men; and, in order to perpetuate the blessings of the Gospel to all classes of men, they voluntarily subject themselves to a system of rules calculated to promote so desirable an end, and labor for the reformation and happiness of mankind, which is the ultimate design of the Gospel. It promises that pecuniary aid, for want of which we have had the mortification of seeing many well-devised plans frustrated, and many hopeful prospects fade away."

The Constitution, as we have already seen, having made provision for the contemplated action of the ensuing General conference, at its first session immediately succeeding the organization it came before that body, and was referred to an able committee. The report, which was written by Dr. Emory-subsequently a bishop of the Church-was an interesting and powerful paper. The following is an extract:

"Your committee regard the Christian ministry as peculiarly a missionary ministry. 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,' is the very foundation of its authority, and develops its character simultaneously with its origin. The success which attended the itinerant and missionary labors of the first heralds of salvation, farther establishes the correctness of this view, and demonstrates the Divine sanction of this method of spreading the Gospel. In process of time, however, the missionary spirit declined, and the genuine spirit of Christianity with it. Then it pleased the Lord to raise up the Messrs. Wesley, Whitefield, and others, through whose itinerant and missionary labors a great revival of vital piety was commenced, the progress and extent of which, at present, your committee cannot but regard as cause of unbounded thankfulness and pleasure. The missions of Boardman and Pilmoor, of Wright and Asbury, and others, are events in our history not soon to be forgotten. A grateful people feel their happy influence and hold their memory dear, and generations yet unborn will rise up and call them blessed. Can we, then, be listless to the cause of missions? We cannot. Methodism is itself a missionary system. Yield the missionary spirit, and you yield the very life-blood of the cause.

"In missionary efforts our British brethren are before us. We congratulate them on their zeal and their success. But your committee beg leave to entreat this conference to emulate their example. The time, indeed, may not yet be come, in which we should send our missionaries beyond the seas. Our own continent

presents to us fields sufficiently vast, which are opening before us and whitening unto harvest. These, it is probable, will demand all the laborers and all the means which we can command at present."

The report proceeds to state the missionary grounds which demanded the earliest attention of the Church; but as we shall, under another and more appropriate head, notice this subject, we defer making any further extracts at` present.

But one year had elapsed since the organization of the Society, until it became obvious to the Board of Managers that the original design, as expressed in the title, and incorporated with the Constitution, to operate as a Bible and Missionary Society, was not practicable or necessary. For, although, in the first place, there is a remarkable identity in these two great enterprises, yet they require a separate organization and distinct plans of operation; and, in the second place, the establishment of a Bible Society was not at all necessary to the Church, the American Bible Society having been for years in successful operation, and ready to furnish all the demands of the Church with Bibles and Testaments, at a cheaper rate than they could be published elsewhere, and of the same kinds and quality. Had a different version than that printed by the American Bible Society been required for the Methodist Church, then there would have been some necessity for the formation of a separate society; but, as they published the same common standard version, and were receiving liberal donations and bequests, enabling them to reduce the Bible to the lowest price, and making it accessible to all the destitute by providing for their gratuitous supply, there could not exist the slightest necessity for the continuance of a separate organization.

At the request, therefore, of the Managers, the word Bible was stricken from the title, and the Constitution so