A telegram was received from the General Association of California and referred to the Business Committee.

Secretary Alden read a paper from the Prudential Committee on " The Fellowship of the American Board with the Churches: An Historic Statement."

Remarks were made by Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., who moved that the paper be referred to a Committee of eleven, charged to consider the paper and any recommendations that may come to the Board upon the subject, and to report at the next Annual Meeting. Rev. A. H. Quint, D.D., moved its reference to the Business Committee. Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., Rev. G. F. Magoun, D.D., made remarks, and the motion of Dr. Quint was lost. Dr. Quint moved that the motion of Dr. Noble be amended, instructing the Committee to report at this meeting. After remarks by Dr. Noble, President Storrs, Dr. Magoun, and Mr. Z. S. Ely, the amendment was accepted by the mover, and the motion was adopted.

The Business Committee requested that all communications now in their hands upon the relation of the Board to the churches be referred to the Committee above constituted, and it was so ordered.

Devotional exercises were conducted by Rev. James Brand, D.D., for a half-hour. Secretary Clark read a paper upon "The Joy of Christ in the Work of Redemption." Addresses were made by Rev. A. W. Clark, of the Austrian Mission, Rev. E. S. Hume, of the Madura Mission, Rev. C. C. Tracy, of Turkey, and Rev. John Brown, D.D., of England.

The President appointed the following Committee, called for by Dr. Noble's resolution, and the appointment was confirmed by the Board: Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., Rev. A. H. Quint, D.D., Hon. F. Fairbanks, Ralph Emerson, Esq., Pres. W. G. Ballantine, Rev. L. Pratt, D.D., Geo. H. Rust, Esq., C. H. Case, Esq., G. C. Moses, Esq., Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., Roland Hazard, Esq.

The Committee on Nominations reported the following Committees, and they were approved by the Board.

Committee on the Home Department.

Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., Hon. Franklin Fairbanks, Hon. Henry D. Hyde, Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D., Rev. J. W. Cooper, D.D., Rev. F. S. Fitch, Hon. J. M. W. Hall.

Committee on the Treasurer's Report.

Edwin H. Baker, Esq., Ralph Emerson, Esq., Elijah Swift, Esq., Walter A. Mahony, Esq., Joseph E. Brown, Esq., Hon. A. C. Barstow, Robbins Battell, Esq.

Committee on Place and Preachers. - Rev. L. Pratt, D.D., Pres. F. W. Fisk, D.D., Rev. J. W. Wellman, D.D., Rev. George H. Ide, D.D., Rev. L. H. Cobb, D.D., George H. Whitcomb, Esq., Rev. E. N. Packard, D.D.

Committee to Nominate Officers.· Rev. James Brand, D.D., Rev. D. N. Beach, Rev. D. L. Furber, D.D., Rowland Hazard, Esq., Rev. J. G. Johnson, D.D., G. H. Rust, Esq., Rev. W. A. Robinson.

Committee on Missions in Papal Lands.

Prof. J. J. Blaisdell, D.D., Rev. M. McG. Dana, D.D., Rev. A. W. Clark, Rev. F. P. Woodbury, D.D., Rev. J. R. Danforth, D.D., Rev. Warren F. Day.

Committee on Missions in China. Pres. W. G. Ballantine, D.D., Prof. William Porter, Rev. Simeon Gilbert, D.D., E. A. Studley, Esq., Rev. H. P. Perkins, Rev. Henry Hopkins, D.D., Rev. J. W. Lane.

Committee on Missions in India and Ceylon. - Rev. A. W. Hazen, D.D., Rev. Geo. 7. Pentecost, D.D., Rev. Smith Baker, D.D., Rev. W. E. Park, D.D., Rev. Daniel March, D.D., Rev. W. E. DeRiemer, W. A. Talcott, Esq. Committee on Missions in the Pacific Islands. Prof. Egbert C. Smyth, D.D., Rev. Arthur Little, D.D., Rev. M. K. Whittlesey, D.D., Rev. Eli Corwin, D.D., Rev. ohn C. Labaree, Rev. S. J. Humphrey, D.D., Rev. Horace H. Robbins.

- Rev.

Committee on Missions in Japan. George R. Leavitt, D.D., Rev. A. E. Dunning, D.D., Rev. E. S. Williams, Rev. J. L. Atkinson, Rev. John R. Thurston, G. C. Moses, Esq., Hon. Royal C. Taft. Committee on Missions in Turkey.

Rev. S. H. Howe, D.D., Rev. George W. Phillips, D.D., John N. Stickney, Esq., Rev. H. S. Deforest, D.D., Rev. W. L. Bray, Rev. G. W. Wainwright.

Committee on Missions in Africa. Rev. Edward Hawes, D.D., Rev. D. O. Mears, D.D., Rev. William Walker, Rev. A. R. Thain, D.D., Rev. C. A. Wight, Rev. John Fairbanks, Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, D.D.

Adjournment was taken to 2.30 o'clock.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

66

The President took the chair at 2.30 o'clock. A hymn was sung, prayer was offered by Vice-President Blatchford. Secretary Smith read a paper on Missionary Qualifications." Addresses were made by Rev. Arthur Little, D.D., Rev. W. T. Currie, of West Central Africa, Rev. H. P. Perkins, of North China, and the Recording Secretary. Reports were presented from their different fields by Field Secretary Creegan and the two District Secretaries, Dr. Daniels, of New York, and Dr. Hitchcock, of Chicago. Adjourned to 7.30 P.M.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

Vice-President Blatchford took the chair at 7.30 o'clock.

The Scriptures were read and prayer offered by Rev. C. R. Palmer, D.D. Addresses were made by Thomas W. Harrison, Esq., delegate to the National Congregational Council from the Congregational Union of England and Wales, Rev. W. E. Park, D.D., and Rev. George F. Pentecost, D.D. Prayer was offered by Rev. D. O. Mears, D.D.

Adjourned to nine A.M., to-morrow.

THURSDAY MORNING.

The President took the chair at nine o'clock. Prayer was offered by Rev. Smith Baker, D.D. A hymn was sung. The Minutes of yesterday's sessions were read. The report of the Committee on the Treasurer's Report was read and accepted. The Committee on the Turkish Missions reported through Rev. S. H. Howe, D.D., and the report was accepted.

Addresses were made by Rev. W. E. Locke, of Bulgaria, and Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D.D. A telegram was received from the General Association of Connecticut and referred to the Committee on the paper read by Secretary Alden.

A communication was received from the Congregational Association of Minnesota and referred to the same Committee.

and

The Committee on African Missions reported through Rev. D. O. Mears, D.D., after remarks by Rev. W. H. Sanders, of West Central Africa, the report was accepted. Rev. M. McG. Dana, D.D., offered the following resolution with the request that it be referred to the Committee on Japan, which, with the consent of the Business Committee, was granted:

Whereas, Rev. W. H. Noyes was prevented, for reasons that at the time seemed good and sufficien to the Prudential Committee, from going abroad as a missionary of this Board; and, whereas, ba was ordained by a large representative Council of Churches held in Berkeley Temple, Boston, and sent forth as an independent missionary to Japan, supported by that church; and, whereas, he has been laboring with great earnestness and success in that land for some three years, maintaining the happiest and most helpful relations to this Board's representatives, and spoken of in the report made by the Kumi-ai churches of Japan in 1892 to this body, as having "so thoroughly merged his work in that of the American Board's Mission that no separation is possible," therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Prudential Committee be requested to take measures to have Mr. and Mrs. Noyes received under the care and direction of this Board, and enrolled with its regular missionary force in Japan.

On motion of Dr. Noble, of the Committee on Dr. Alden's paper, it was voted that the report of that Committee be the order for twelve o'clock to-day.

The Committee on Missions in India and Ceylon reported through Rev. A. W. Hazen, D.D., and the report was accepted.

Remarks were made by Rev. R. C. Hastings, of Ceylon, Rev. T. D. Christie, of East Central Turkey, and Rev. J. H. House, D.D., of Constantinople.

Prayer was offered by Rev. E. B. Webb, D.D.

Rev. Joseph Cook offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

Having petitioned Congress and the Directors and Commissioners of the Columbian World's Fair for the Sunday closing of the Exposition, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions now in session at Chicago, in its Eighty-third Annual Meeting, hereby expresses their devout gratitude to Providence that Congress, by great majorities in both Houses, has voted for Sunday closing. In view of current agitation for Sunday opening, the Board hereby renews its petition to Congress, the Commissioners and the Directors, to close the doors of the Exposition on Sundays, in accordance with the divine command, national precedent, the wants of working men and and the interests of the churches, missions, and Christian civilization at home and abroad. The President reported the performance of its work by the Committee appointed last year to bring before the President of the United States the situation and need of our mission in the Caroline Islands, in view of Spanish aggression and injury. The Committee was cordially received and was promised the immediate attention of the government to the subject.

women,

The Committee on Pacific Islands reported through Prof. Egbert C. Smyth, D.D., and the report was accepted.

The Committee on Papal Lands reported through Rev. M. McG. Dana, D.D., and after remarks by Rev. A. W. Clark, of Bohemia, the report was accepted.

The Committee on Place and Preacher reported through Rev. E. N. Packard, D.D., recommending Worcester, Mass., as the place of the next Annual Meeting, and Rev. A. J. Lyman, D.D., of Brooklyn, N. Y., as preacher, with Rev. T. E. Clapp, of Portland, Ore., as alternate; they also nominating the following: —

Committee of Arrangements. — Rev. D. O. Mears, D.D., Rev. D. Merriman, D.D., Rev. C. M. Southgate, Rev. W. V. W. Davis, D.D., Rev. A. McCullagh, D.D., Rev. A. Z. Conrad, Rev. Albert Bryant, G. H. Whitcomb, Esq., H. B. Lincoln, Esq., Prof. H. T. Fuller, H. H. Merriam, Esq., J. M. Russell, Esq., G. W. Mackintire, Esq.

The report was accepted, the recommendations adopted, and the appointments made. The President appointed the following Committee for the ensuing year to nominate Corporate Members, and the appointment was confirmed:

Hon. Franklin Fairbanks, Prof. Geo. P. Fisher, D.D., Hon. J. M. W. Hall, Rev. 3.H. Virgin, D.D., Joseph E. Brown, Esq., Rev. James Brand, D.D., D. C. Bell, Esq. The Committee on Missions in Japan reported through Rev. Geo. R. Leavitt, D.D., nd the report was accepted.

The Committee also reported back the resolution in reference to Rev. Mr. Noyes eferred to it, with the recommendation that, "In view of the complications of this ase, and of the fact that the Prudential Committee has more than once carefully eviewed it, and that the Mission has made no request concerning a change in the elations of Mr. and Mrs. Noyes to their work, we feel disposed to recommend that the Prudential Committee have further communication with the Mission and take such ction as seems best for the interest of the Mission." This report was also accepted. Remarks were made by Rev. J. L. Atkinson, of Japan, and Rev. Mark Williams, of Jorth China.

Dr. Joseph Cook offered a motion that the President be authorized to sign a petition presented to the Board in the interest of the suppression of the opium and liquor traffic, and the matter was referred to the Business Committee.

A telegram of greeting was received bearing the salutations of the Illinois Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Pres. W. G. Ballantine, D.D., presented the report of the Committee on Secretary Alden's paper from the Prudential Committee, offering a majority report. Dr. Noble offered a minority report, and on motion of Hon. C. Holcombe both reports were referred back to the Committee with instructions to agree.

Adjournment was taken until after the Communion Service.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

The Board united with the churches of the city in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, Rev. Graham Taylor, D.D., and Rev. A. W. Clark presiding.

The President took the chair at four o'clock, and Pres. W. G. Ballantine and Dr. Noble united in reporting for the Committee on Secretary Alden's paper the following resolutions:

Resolved, (1) That the Committee for the Nomination of New Members appointed at this meeting be directed to receive from the state, territorial, or independent organizations of Congregational churches, during the coming year, nominations of persons to fill vacancies which may occur in the Board, somewhat more in number being desirable than the average usually assigned to any State of Territory; and from such names, if furnished, to select and report, at the next Annual Meeting, enough to fill three fourths of the vacancies which may then exist; regard being had to a division between ministers and laymen and the apportionment of members according to the By-laws.

Resolved, (2) That inasmuch as the action recommended by this Committee is in the nature of the case provisional, and it cannot be foretold what will be the practical operation of the plan proposed, the Committee be continued, and instructed to report at the next Annual Meeting such permanent scheme as shall seem most practicable and promotive of the great interests we all have at heart.

Hon. H. D. Hyde offered the following amendment to the resolutions, which was adopted :

Resolved, That the Committee mail a printed copy of their report to each Corporate Member, on or before September 1, 1893.

The resolutions were then adopted.

Hon. H. D. Hyde offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

Resolved, That the Recording Secretary mail to each Corporate Member on or before September 1 1893, a printed copy of the Constitution and By-laws of this Corporation, with a list of the Corporate Members and their several residences.

Hon. F. Fairbanks, of the Committee on Nomination of Officers, reported the resig nations of Pres. T. Dwight, D.D., and Rev. Philo R. Hurd, D.D., as Corporate Mem bers, and these resignations were accepted. The Committee also recommended the following list for new Corporate Members, and they were elected :

Wm. M. Brown, Esq., Portland, Me., George H. Eaton, Esq., Calais, Me., Henry M. Moore, Esq., Somerville, Mass., Wm. F. Day, Esq., Boston, Mass., Rev. J. E. Tuttle, Jamaica Plain, Mass., Hon. Chas. E. Mitchell, New Britain, Conn., Waterman R. Burne ham, Norwich, Conn., Rev. J. E. Twitchell, D.D., New Haven, Conn., Rev. W. H. Davis, D.D., Detroit, Mich., George Parsons, Esq., Watervliet, Mich., Rev. A. N. Hitchcock, PH.D., Chicago, Ill., Augustus W. Benedict, Esq., St. Louis, Mo., E. P. Wilcox, Esq., Yankton, Dak., E. D. Smith, Esq., Menasha, Wis.

Rev. J. G. Johnson, D.D., of the Business Committee, moved, in regard to the communication referred to it through Rev. Joseph Cook, that, inasmuch as the petition of

the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to the governments of the world was commended by special vote of the Board at the last Annual Meeting, no further action is needed at this time; and the motion was adopted.

Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., presented the report of the Committee on the Home Department, and it was accepted.

Rev. J. W. Cooper, D.D., presented a supplementary report in behalf of Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D., Rev. F. S. Fitch, and himself, of the Committee, offering the following resolutions :

Resolved, (1) That young men and young women, of approved Christian character, possessing the needed physical and mental qualifications, who accept heartily the creeds of their respective churches and the fundamental doctrines of the gospel as set forth in the "Burial Hill Declaration of Faith," and in the creed of the Congregational Commission of 1883, should be accepted by the Prudential Committee as suitable candidates for missionary service.

Resolved, (2) That the missionaries of this Board, while holding these fundamental truths, shall have the same right of private judgment in the interpretation of God's Word and the same freedom of thought and speech as are enjoyed by their ministerial brethren in this country, whether in the pastorate or in the employ of other benevolent societies of the denomination.

Remarks were made by Hon. H. D. Hyde, Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D., Rev. Joseph Cook, LL.D., Rev. E. P. Goodwin, D.D., Rev. J. W. Cooper, D.D., Rev. F. A. Noble, D.D., Rev. D. O. Mears, D.D., Rev. D. N. Beach, Rev. J. R. Thurston, Rev. Geo. F. Pentecost, D.D., E. H. Baker, Esq.

Rev. Geo. F. Magoun, D.D., moved that the resolutions be indefinitely postponed, and it was carried.

Rev. James Brand, D.D., of the Committee on Nomination of Officers, reported letters from two members of the Prudential Committee refusing to allow their names to be used again, one of them, Rev. C. A. Dickinson, desiring his letter to be read to the Board, and it was so read. A letter from Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., was read.

The Committee, through Dr. Brand, offered the following list of candidates; and after remarks by Rev. A. C. Thompson, D.D., and by Rev. D. N. Beach stating that Mr. Rowland Hazard and himself did not concur in the nomination of Dr. McKenzie, the ballot was taken :

Remarks were made by Rev. E. B. Webb, D.D., Rev. Arthur Little, D.D., Rev. Joseph Cook, Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D., Rev. A. H. Quint, D.D.

Adjournment was taken to the Union Park Church at eight o'clock.