to building funds or permanent endowments, against loss by possible failure or disaster, and also exercises a very careful scrutiny over the affairs and management of all the institutions which receive its aid. The general policy pursued has been judicious, the funds have been discreetly expended and debt carefully avoided. We respectfully recommend the adoption of the following resolutions:

1. That this General Assembly hereby gives thanks to God for his blessing on this work in the past, and earnestly prays for his guidance, direction and continued blessing in the future. 2. That we cordially recognize and commend the wisdom, fidelity and ability exhibited by the Board and its officers in the management of its affairs during the past year.

3. That the Assembly advises and urgently calls upon all the churches to take up yearly collections for this Board, and to place the same at its disposal by paying them promptly same at its disposal by paying them promptly

into its treasury.

4. We earnestly commend to liberal givers the wisdom of making generous and prompt donations to the property or funds of special institutions which they shall find to be well placed and promising.

5. That the first century of fully-organized American Presbyterianism, which closes with the year, has so signalized the importance and power of the educational arm of the church's work as to exalt the agency of this Board as one of the very first elements of the church's hope and courage for the centuries which may follow.

6. That the following persons be elected members of the Board, viz.: Ministers-The Rev. John Hall, D.D., the Rev. S. J. Niccolls, D.D., the Rev. J. H. Worcester, Jr., D.D., the Rev. W. H. Roberts, D.D., and the Rev. John F. Kendall, D.D., the latter to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of the Rev. R. F. Sample, D.D. Laymen-John S. McDonald, W. O. Hughart, Henry W. Johnson, Dexter A. Knowlton.

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THIS BOARD.

The General Assembly's Standing Committee, in its report above printed, earnestly bespeaks for this fourth report of the Board an attentive reading. Of course we hope that it may get it. Every reader will see, by the minuteness and fullness of the information given, that the Board believes in the persuasiveness of its facts. If any man has

at heart the cause of Christ and of our country, and yet thinks little of this work, we are sure that he does not understand it. Will not the readers of THE CHURCH send for the report? Address the Board's office, 22 McCormick Block, Chicago, Ill.

We here make a few extracts. The ac

the footings of two pages that are filled with companying showing of "joint totals" gives tabulated statistics concerning all the colleges and academies which the Board has aided during the last year.

An accompanying map gives the location. of all the institutions, their names fairly dotting the newer part of our country. The tables and the map, viewed together, will seem to others, as they have seemed to the Standing Committee, to set forth results which, at so early a stage, are wonderful" and demand "thanks to God."

TOTALS OF TWO YEARS COMPARED.

It will be interesting to make direct comparison between the totals of this year's tables and of last year's. Last year's total of property was $902,280; this year's is $1,030,460. The property reported as having been added in a twelvemonth was, last year, $76,656; this year it is $80,542. Last year's total of students was 2281; this year's is 2950. Last year, 767 students were studying the classics; this year, 1014. Last year reported 846 church members The among the students; this year, 1259. next comparison is very noticeable: last year's

1887.]

reports gave the total in "systematic Bible study" as 1127; this year's returns more than double that number-2267. The conversions which are believed to have occurred this year are 209, against 143 of last year; and the returns of students having the ministry in view show some increase-139 in place of 130.

THE SUBSTANTIAL BEGINNING MADE.

Any wise and good man who thus studies the meaning and drift of the figures that have been given will see that by means of this Board our church has already made an impression on the history of the West, which, like the early results at Cambridge, New Haven and Princeton, may be expected to last as long as the soil. One can, by a stretch of fancy, conceive of the possibility of distributing again to the several donors the money that has been put into the colleges and academies at Deer Lodge, Emporia, Longmont, Geneseo, Corning, Wichita and the other new points upon which the Board has entered, and so of blotting out these vigorous contributions toward the Christian education of the West. Any patriot and believer would as soon think of cutting off his right hand as of putting it to such a task.

Of the total of thirty-five institutions receiving aid, twenty-five lie west of the meridian of St. Paul. Of these twenty-five, all but fivenamely, Park and Sedalia, in Missouri, Highland, in Kansas, Salt Lake, in Utah, and Albany, in Oregon-have been opened since the General Assembly established this Board, and all of them in dependence upon the Board's assistance. The map thus exhibits and locates the substantial beginnings of a great work.

VASTNESS OF THE PROBLEM.

But it reveals the need of a remaining work of proportions so large that at first view they seem to discourage endeavor. Montana, Utah, Oregon and New Mexico have one Presbyterian school apiece. In Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, California and Arizona we have not a single school, though from California some approaches have been made to the Board. Into all these regions population is pouring with great rapidity. That American Christians ought to arrange for raising up from within all these populations their own Christian leadership stands for an axiom in a church like ours. Unless, at fitting centres through all these immense spaces, there shall be, at no remote day, schools that shall mould young souls to the best pattern of Christian learning and purpose, the Christian part of the

43

nation will suffer terribly for that neglect. The census of 1880, as sifted by Dr. Dorchester, made a fearful showing of the minute percentage of the evangelical Christian element then present in these regions, ranging down from about five per cent. in California to less than the sixth part of one per cent. in Arizona and New Mexico.

THE PLAIN SOLUTION.

But there is a most hopeful side of this vast problem, and the experience of this Board has made it suddenly manifest. Migrating Presbyterians are found to carry with them both a zeal for Christian schools and the thrift by which zeal is effectual. Thus far every dollar of school help that the church has pushed forward into the new regions has evoked about ten dollars of local property in which to begin the school work. There is no reason for expecting that local zeal to fail. It has developed, as if by established law, over the widest distances. This interest in their children is one of the first flowers with which the advancing church makes the desert bloom. Upon that spreading zeal the church can safely count, if she will only allow the zeal to count upon the church. If the heart and the members will consent to do together the work of one body, it can be well done and with ease.

CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS.

The report presents three, which cannot be brought into this brief statement. Will not the reader please examine them as they stand in the report?

"TO SOME ONE WHOM THE LORD HAS ENTRUSTED WITH MONEY."

An article with the foregoing heading was printed in the second number of this magazine. It asked help for a worthy but struggling college. A gentleman saw it, and made request for fuller information. This was given. The result is his gift of the amount that will end the struggle, and introduce a band of devoted teachers into what they have never yet known-lighthearted work. They never doubted the promise of their field. Now they have a chance to till it. ville, Wisconsin. The gift is $4000. The giver wishes his name kept out of print. This Board so gets a share with this munif

The college is at Gales

icent donor in what Job counted an excellent thing" the blessing of him that was ready to perish."

ditional sum of five hundred dollars is already promised under similar conditions. Both offers are from the West.

May we not suggest the opportunity thus

INGTON TERRITORY.

It is with heartfelt gratitude to almighty God that we record in answer to appeals already made in behalf of the academies of Sumner and Ellensburgh in Washington Territory, the needs of which were presented in the May number of this magazine, and endorsed in June by Rev. H. D. Ganse, D.D., Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies, that a friend of the former has responded with an offer of two thousand dollars, "provided sufficient can be raised to put the academy on a successful basis.”

This means the raising of twenty thousand dollars, of which this is the one-tenth. That amount would place the institution on a firm foundation, enabling it to pay off its debt, finish the building, and fully equip it with all needed furniture and apparatus.

The offer comes from one who knows and understands fully the importance of this academy being preserved and sustained. Can there not be found nine individuals to respond with like amount, or a number with lesser sums of one thousand or five hundred dollars each, or even less? since there is nothing in the proposal to prevent the amount required from being made up by smaller contributions. An ad

we are now entering, in connection with one or other of these academies, for sacredly embalming the memory of some dear departed relative, child or friend, whose name shall thus be perpetuated in an ever-living, ever-enlarging monument, more enduring than brass?

This might be done by some persons of even limited means, by simply providing the amount necessary for the finishing and furnishing of a room or hall in one of the buildings, which should receive the name proposed by the donor, to be suitably designated and preserved as a memorial of the same.

Aid may also be extended by donations of suitable apparatus, of musical instruments, such as piano and organ, or a bell, all of which are needed, and can be accepted as part of the amount required.

The importance of speedy action, now, is not only presented in the articles referred to, but is in effect emphasized on page 233 of the March number, in the letter of Rev. George P. Hays, D.D., than whom no one is more thoroughly acquainted with the educational needs of the West, and the present emergencies.

Now is the time, now the day for the preservation of these academies. A little delay, and they will be irrevocably lost. G. F. W.

THE CONSTRAINING MOTIVE.

When a teacher was wanted by Dr. Mason, of Burmah, for the warlike Bghais, he asked his boatman, Shapon, if he would go, and reminded him that, instead of the fifteen rupees a month which he now received, he could have only four rupees a month as a teacher. After praying over the matter, he came back, and Dr. Mason said, "Well, Shapon, what is your decision? Can you go to the Bghais for four rupees a month?" Shapon answered, "No, teacher, I could not go for four rupees a month, but I can do it

for Christ." And for Christ's sake he did go.-Spirit of Missions.

In a recent proclamation, the queen of Madagascar has expressed the hope that "the righteousness that results from acceptance of the gospel may abound more and more in my kingdom."-Spirit of Missions.

Ex-governor Murray, of Utah, is said to have declared that "if it were not for the schools and churches which the missionaries to Utah have established, the law could never be enforced as it is now."-Spirit of Missions.

THE ACTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

The General Assembly of 1886 appointed a special committee to consider the whole work of the Board of Publication, with a view to the promotion of its efficiency. This committee gave most careful and conscientious attention to the duty assigned it, and its report was adopted, with but slight modifications, by the Assembly at Omaha. This action changes the name of the Board, reduces the number of its members by onehalf, consolidates the missionary and Sabbath-school work, and provides for the organization of all the interests of the Board in three departments, under superintendents, the whole work being under one secretary, who shall have general supervisory control. The following are the resolutions as adopted:

First. The Presbyterian Board of Publication shall hereafter be designated and known as the "Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work," and shall consist of twentyfour members, of whom twelve shall be ministers and twelve ruling elders.

Second. No one shall serve as a member of the said Board who is an executive officer or employe of said Board, or a member of any other benevolent board of the church, and no more than one ruling elder from the same congregation shall serve on said Board at the same time.

Third. This General Assembly shall elect as members of the "Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work" four ministers and four ruling elders who shall serve for one year, four ministers and four ruling elders who shall serve for two years, four ministers and four ruling elders who shall serve for three years from the third Tuesday of June, 1887, and each succeeding General Assembly shall elect four ministers and four ruling elders to serve for three years thereafter. In case this recommendation is adopted by the General Assembly, we recommend that the Standing Committee on Publication be directed to nominate members of the Board herein provided for. Members of the Board thus elected shall meet for organization

at the publishing-house at Philadelphia on the third Tuesday in June, 1887, and when such organization shall have been effected, the mem

bership of the Board as at present constituted shall terminate. For the purpose of effecting such organization, a majority of the members elect shall constitute a quorum.

Fourth. The annual collection taken up in the churches for the benefit of this Board shall hereafter be known as the collection for Sabbath-school work, and be so designated in the minutes of the Assembly.

Fifth. The Sabbath-school and colportage work shall be consolidated in one department, subject to the supervision and control of an officer who shall be designated the "Superintendent of Sabbath-school and Missionary Work." The editorial work of the Board shall be organized in another department under the supervisory control and care of an officer who shall be designated as the "Editorial Superintendent." The general business interest shall be organized into a business department, which shall be under the supervisory control of an officer who shall be designated the "Business Superintendent." All these officers shall be appointed by and their duties defined by the Board, as may be directed in the by-laws.

Sixth. Standing committees shall be appointed or elected by the Board, to be known as the "Sabbath-school and Missionary Committee," the "Editorial Committee," and the "Business Committee," which shall have charge of their respective departments under such rules and regulations as the Board may by bylaw establish; provided that the Board shall have power to appoint any other committees which shall be deemed necessary for the proper conduct of its business.

Seventh. The present executive officers shall be continued in the following positions, to wit: as Secretary; Rev. James A. Worden, D.D., Superintendent of Sabbathschool and Missionary Work; Rev. J. R. Miller, D.D., as Editorial Superintendent, and John A. Black, Esq., as Business Superintendent, until their successors are appointed by the Board, each in charge of his own department subject to such rules and regulations, with such powers, as the Board may from time to time prescribe by by-laws, in harmony with the general principles herein laid down.

Eighth. The Board shall elect a Secretary of the Board, who shall be its chief executive officer and shall have general supervisory control of all the officers herein named, subject to an appeal to the Board itself.

Ninth. All by-laws of the Board now in force, not in conflict with the principles herein laid down, are hereby continued in force until altered, amended or repealed by the Board. All such as conflict with the principles herein stated are repealed.

Tenth. The Board is directed to organize its work in accordance with the plans herein set forth, on the third Tuesday of June, 1887, or as soon thereafter as possible, and to report their action to the next General Assembly.

Eleventh. This General Assembly directs the consolidation of the presbyterial and synodical

committees of Publication and Sabbath-school work, to the end that this work, which has heretofore been under the supervision of two committees, shall be committed to the care of one, and earnestly enjoins that in the appointment of such committees care be taken to secure members who will actively enter into and push this great work.

Twelfth. That the standing orders of the General Assembly be so amended as to provide that the public meeting held on the second day of the Assembly's meeting shall be in the interests of the "Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-school Work."

The Board had already elected a secretary in the place left vacant by the death of Dr. Dulles. The blank, therefore, in the seventh resolution is filled by the name of the Rev. Elijah R. Craven, D.D., who it is earnestly hoped will accept the position.

Thus reorganized, the Board asks for the confidence and co-operation of the whole. church in the great work to which it now addresses itself anew. Its aim will be to give to each of its departments the greatest possible efficiency. Progress is the watchword. No past, however good, should be accepted as the ideal for the future. In all lines the work must be better done hereafter than ever it has been done before. The better support the church at large gives to the Board, the better service in all ways will the Board be able to render. The Assembly has asked for $100,000 for this work this centennial year; will the church give what is asked?

WORDS FROM THE FIELD.

It is earnestly hoped that the people of the churches will so contribute for the missionary and Sabbath-school work of the Board of Publication that it may be greatly enlarged and extended. Nearly every new Sabbath-school organized will become a church in a little time, and thus a permanent centre of religious influence. Besides, it must be remembered that our missionaries carry with them Bibles and other good books, which are sold or given away where they will do much good. No other agency will accomplish more, with the small outlay required, than this missionary and Sabbathschool department.

We give as usual several extracts of letters from the field. A missionary in Michigan writes:

As time rolls on the need of our work becomes greater. There are ten times as many families in the West needing this colportage as there were ten years ago. In 1884 the census gave a population of half a million in the twenty-five counties in which I have been laboring, and I see now that there are forty thousand settled north of the Saginaw valley.

I spent the last week and a Sabbath in the northwestern corner of Gladwin county, two hundred miles from here. Five years ago I walked eighteen miles through the woods without seeing a house, and organized a Sabbathschool here. There are thirty families, and among them noble, earnest Christians. They have kept up their Sabbath-school organization, and are now about to organize a church. While there I found a family that had suffered the loss of their property by fire. They had neither Bible, Testament nor anything else to read, so I had a good opportunity to place in their hands a copy of the holy Scriptures.

The next letter shows the need and the opportunity for work in far-away Oregon: Oregon, although as large as New York and Pennsylvania, contains only two hundred thousand inhabitants. Our towns of one thousand inhabitants can be counted on one's fingers. I have canvassed the towns and so much of the country as I can reach on foot. I have been living in hopes that during the summer months the Board could allow me to undertake a work which I ought to do. I refer to the work among the farming population and the stockmen. Whatever may be the reasons,