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SEVENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

THE Seventy-seventh Annual Meeting of the American Bible Society was held at the Bible House on Thursday afternoon, May 11th, 1893, at half-past three o'clock, pursuant to adjournment. Theophilus A. Brouwer, Esq., of New York, one of the Vice-Presidents, occupied the chair, assisted by James H. Taft, Esq., of Brooklyn, Vice-President.

There were present, as representatives from auxiliary Bible societies, the Rev. David F. Bonner, D.D., of the Orange County (N. Y.) Bible Society, Rev. Edwin J. Aiken, of the New Hampshire Bible Society, and James R. Carson, Esq., of the Camden County (N. J.) Bible Society.

The Rev. E. J. Aiken, of Concord, N. H., read the nineteenth Psalm and led in prayer.

In the absence of the Recording Secretary, Mr. Caleb T. Rowe, who was detained by illness, Rev. Edward W. Gilman was elected Recording Secretary pro tem., and he reported the names of nine Managers whose term of office expired at that time, one of whom, Robert W. De Forest, Esq., declined a re-election. A Committee, consisting of the Rev. A. McLean, Rev. Dr. Bonner, and Robert B. Parsons, Esq., was appointed to nominate suitable persons to fill their places.

Secretary Hunt read an Abstract of the Seventy-seventh Annual Report of the Managers, for the year ending March 31st, 1893.

On motion of James Punderford, Esq., of New York, it was Resolved, That the Report, an Abstract of which has just been read, be printed and circulated under the direction of the Board of Managers. The Treasurer, Mr. William Foulke, presented a Statement of the receipts and payments for the year just closed, with the certificate of the Auditing Committee.

On motion of George E. Sterry, Esq., of New York, it was

Resolved, That the Financial Statement be accepted, and printed in the Annual Report.

The Committee appointed to nominate Managers to fill the places of those whose term of office had just expired, reported, recommending the following persons, and the same were duly elected Managers for the four years ending May, 1897: S. Van Rensselaer Cruger, Elbert A. Brinckerhoff, James T. Leavitt, Charles H. Trask, William Hoyt, J. D. Kurtz Crook, T. G. Sellew, George Foster Peabody, and Ezra B. Tuttle. On motion of the Rev. Dr. Bonner, it was

Resolved, That the Board of Managers as now constituted be directed to meet in the Bible House on the third Thursday of the present month, for the purpose of organizing for the ensuing year and the transaction of such other business as may be presented.

On motion of Robert B. Parsons, Esq., of Flushing, N.Y., it was

Resolved, That when the Society adjourn, it do adjourn to meet in the Bible House, in New York, on the second Thursday in May, 1894, at 3.30 P.M.

After listening to remarks from various persons, the Minutes were read and approved and the Society adjourned.

SEVENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY.

THE Managers of the American Bible Society herewith present the Seventy-seventh Annual Report of its operations. They were never more deeply impressed than now with the supreme value of the Holy Scriptures, and with the absolute necessity for earnest and organized efforts to distribute them. Evidences of the peculiar power of the printed word in various languages have been multiplied in many lands, indicating indeed nothing essentially unlike what has been manifested during every preceding year, but confirming and illuminating the testimony which has been accumulating, as decades and centuries have glided away, that "the word of the Lord, which endureth forever," is for each succeeding generation an unfailing source of light, and strength, and comfort.

In laying the foundations for civil and religious liberty, in preparing the way on the frontiers of our own land for the coming of the living preacher, in co-operating with the foreign missionaries of various denominations, in bestowing the Scriptures upon the needy and the blind-the American Bible Society is still rendering the very service which its founders contemplated, though their most sanguine hopes failed to compass the extent and magnitude of its present operations.

The following pages afford detailed statements which must prove deeply interesting to all lovers of the Inspired Word. Rarely has it been the privilege of the Managers to present a more satisfactory account of Bible distribution

conducted under their oversight than that which appears on other pages of this Report concerning the labors of the Society's Agents in Central America. Other features of deep interest might easily be specified, but it is believed that the entire history of the year will be found worthy of careful consideration.

Two of the Vice-Presidents of the Society have died. during the year. The following paragraphs concerning them are taken from the official records of the Managers:

"Mr. William Henry Crosby died on Saturday, May 22d, 1892, in the city of New York, where he was born on the 28th of June, 1808. His long life was spent, for the most part, in scholastic and literary pursuits. For many years he was Professor of Latin and Greek in Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J., and afterward, for a brief period, he was Acting Professor of Latin in Columbia College. Mr. Crosby was elected a Manager of the American Bible Society in 1864, and a Vice-President in 1882. He was a member of the Committee on Finance for eighteen years, of the Committee on Nominations for five years, of the Committee on Anniversaries for fourteen years-of which Committee he was the Chairman for nine years, and therefore for that period identified with the Committee of General Reference. No one was more faithful than he in attendance upon the meetings of these Committees and of the Board of Managers, and no one surpassed him in Christian courtesy and in earnest desires for the welfare of this Institution, for which his father, long one of its honored Vice-Presidents, labored with marked devotion. Mr. Crosby was in feeble health for more than a year before his decease, but in his retirement he leaned upon the promises of God's word and found rest. His end was peace."

"The Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes, LL.D., ex-President of the United States, died suddenly at his residence in Fremont, Ohio, on Tuesday morning, the 17th day of January, 1893, in the seventy-first year of his age. He was elected a Vice-President of the American Bible Society on the nomination of Mr. Frederick H. Wolcott, in June

1880. A native of the State of Ohio, he was graduated at one of its colleges and commenced his life-work within its limits. At the opening of the Civil War he entered the army, and his skill and valor gained him rapid promotion until he attained the rank of major-general. While still in the field he was elected a member of the National House of Representatives, where he served for two terms. Three times he was chosen Governor of Ohio, and in March, 1877, he was inaugurated President of the United States. He was recognized in every position which he occupied as a man of clear intellect, of firm purpose, and of unwavering integrity. After his retirement from public service he led an unostentatious life in the midst of many warm friends, giving much of his time and of his best thought to philanthropic enterprises. He was deeply interested in the welfare of the Negro and the Indian. He presided at the first Mohonk Conference, and was a trustee of both the Peabody and John F. Slater Funds. He was an active member of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, and was the president of the National Prison Reform Association. He was a devout man, and constantly confessed his faith in Christ and in the principles of our holy religion.”

LIFE DIRECTORS AND LIFE MEMBERS.

During the year eight Life Directors have been constituted, by the usual payment of one hundred and fifty dollars; and three hundred and fourteen Life Members, by the payment of thirty dollars each.

NEW AUXILIARIES.

The past year only nine new Bible societies have been recognized and enrolled as auxiliaries, as follows:

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Sixty-four auxiliaries were removed from the roll.

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RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS.

The report of the Treasurer, as found on subsequent pages, shows that the gifts from the living amounted to $83,840 88, made up as follows:

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The amount received from legacies was $181,498 07, being $53,565 37 in excess of the amount received from the same source during the year immediately preceding.

The amount received from interest on investments was $21,558 67, which includes the following items:

Income from permanent investments

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The amount received from rents was
Received from miscellaneous sources

$16,973 06

4,585 61

$21,558 67

$44,499 20 4,045 16

The total receipts from these various sources were $335,441 98.

The Society also received for books and on purchase account $243,488 78, which includes the following items : From auxiliary societies

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$156,472 52

49,835 93

11,766 57

422 41

4,629 48

4,505 96

15,855 91

$243,488 78

This amount added to the preceding gives $578,930 76 for general purposes. The total cash disbursements during the year for general purposes were $536,537 01.

The appropriations for the foreign work of the coming year amount to $155,238 32.

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