The Constitution, amended as suggested in the paper submitted, and as recommended by the present committee, will read as follows: The Union shall be composed of Life Members and Annual Members. All the members of the Baptist General Convention who may be present at the adoption of this Constitution, shall be members for life of the Union. Other persons may be constituted life members by the payment, during one financial year, of not less than one hundred dollars; and churches, contributing annually to the Union funds not designated for life membership, may appoint each one annual member. The committee, in concluding their report, beg leave to urge the importance of the strictest economy in the department of home expenditures, and they suggest an inquiry by the Executive Committee, as to the practicability of reducing the number of persons engaged in the service of the Union at the Missionary Rooms. They desire to be distinctly understood as making this suggestion, not because they have themselves settled any practicable retrenchments, but to meet the calls of contributors for frequent examinations at this point. All which is respectfully submitted. Resolved, unanimously, That the third article of the constitution, according to the recommendatian of the Board of Managers, be amended so as to read as follows: "The Union shall be composed of Life Members and Annual Members. All the members of the Baptist General Convention who may be present at the adoption of this constitution, shall be members for life of the Union. Other persons may be constituted life members by the payment, during one financial year, of not less than one hundred dollars; and churches, contributing annually to the Union funds not designated for life-membership, may appoint each one annual member." Messrs. J. Hanna, Pa., B. Mason, N. J., Henry E. Lincoln, Mass., Charles B. Keen, Pa., the Rev. T. S. Malcom, Pa., Joseph Pond, Mass., the Rev. J. Duncan, N. J., were appointed tellers for the election of President, two Vice Presidents, and a Recording Secretary, who subsequently reported that the result was the election of the Hon. GEORGE N. BRIGGS, President. Rev. BARTHOLOMEW T. WELCH, D. D., "} Vice Presidents. WILLIAM H. SHAILER, Recording Secretary. The report of the Rev. Dr. Wayland, as chairman of a committee appointed at the last meeting of the Union, was considered, and after some deliberation it was Voted, That the report be recommitted and that the Rev. Messrs. D. N. Sheldon, D. D., S. S. Cutting, G. W. Samson, S. D. Phelps, and J. Stevens, be added to the committee. The Rev. L. F. Beecher, D. D., N. Y., Messrs. G. W. Chipman, Mäss., S. F. Hansell, Pa., the Rev. Messrs. G. P. Nice, N. J., A. Levering, Pa., L. Parmalee, Pa., and Mr. N. Merrill, Mass., were appointed tellers for the election of twenty-five persons to serve on the Board of Managers for the ensuing three years, and of two persons to fill vacancies in the first and second classes, and subsequently reported the following result: SYDNEY DYER, Indianapolis, Indiana. LAYMAN. WILLIAM A. COOTS, Buffalo, N. Y. Adjourned. Prayer by the Rev. E. Galusha, of N. Y. THURSDAY EVENING, 7 3-4 o'clock. The Union convened at Concert Hall. Prayer was offered by the Rev. J. R. Scott, of Mass. The annual sermon was preached by the Rev. E. G. Robinson, D. D., Professor in the Rochester Theological Seminary, N. Y.,. from John 14: 12. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do, shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. Concluding prayer by the Rev. R. Babcock, D. D., of N. Y., and benediction by the Rev. G. W. Eaton, D. D., N. Y. Adjourned till 9 o'clock, A. M., to-morrow. FRIDAY, 9 A. M. The Union assembled according to adjournment. F. Merriam, of Me. The record of yesterday was read and approved. Prayer by the Rev. The committee to whom was referred the report prepared by Dr. Wayland, made their report through the Rev. G. W. Samson, which was accepted. REPORT. The committee appointed at the last annual meeting of the Union "to take into consideration the relative proportion of time given by our missionaries to teaching, translating and other occupations, aside from preaching the gospel, and report to the Board of Managers, at the next annual meeting," report as follows: The special object of Christian benevolence is to convert men to God. It proceeds upon the acknowldgement of the universal alienation of the human heart from God, and the belief that, from this alienation, every form of human misery by necessity results. If the moral relation of the creature to the Creator transcends and involves every other, enmity to God must lead to wicked works. Because men "did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." On the other hand, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against which there is no law." It is in this respect that the benevolence of the gospel differs from philanthropy, or the general love of our kind. It is charitable to relieve the oppressed, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to teach the ignorant, to improve the civil and domestic condition of our brethren, and in general to alleviate the misery, whether physical, intellectual or social, which ignorance and sin have entailed upon our race. In these good works every Christian should be foremost. In these he can and does unite with his fellow men who are strangers to renewing grace. He will abound in these charities more than other men, and he will perform them from motives which they know not of. But while all this is so, there is a peculiar form of benevolence which is obligatory on him as a Christian, which none but a Christian can perform, and in the performance of which he can unite with none but his fellow disciples. It is the saving of men's souls, the turning them from darkness to light, and making them new creatures in Christ Jesus. Christ has made the soul in which his love dwells the medium through which he imparts the saving knowledge of himself to others. Hence Christ calls his disciples the light of the world, the leaven by which the lump is to be leavened, and he has commanded them to disciple all nations. In the performance of this duty, special to Christianity, the authority under which the disciple acts is the command of Christ. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." He can neither escape nor evade this obligation. He must bear fruit, or is he not a branch of the living vine. The means which he uses is the preaching of Christ and him crucified. He is to tell men that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life." This is the appointed and only appointed means for producing this effect. It pleases God "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Our hope of success in thus proclaiming the gospel, rests upon the promised aid of the Spirit of God. We know that the moral transformation of a soul is a work infinitely transcending created power. We cannot change the heart of man. But God has promised that when, in humble consciousness of our weakness, and in confident reliance on his grace, we urge on men the message of salvation, he will accompany our preaching with the transforming influence of his Holy Spirit. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Proceeding upon these principles, we may go everywhere preaching the word. Wherever we find men we may, relying on Almighty power, at once make known to them the message of salvation. It matters not whether they be young or old, wise or unwise, civilized or barbarian, bond or free. All are enemies to God. God commands us to preach to them all. The Holy Spirit is the efficient cause by which we expect the change in the hearts of men to be effected, and it is just as easy for the Holy Spirit to convert one man as another. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. Paul was just as pliant in the hands of the Spirit as John, the hard-hearted jailer at Philippi, as the weeping Mary at the tomb of Lazarus,—the savage Africaner at the Cape of Good Hope, as the trembling convert in the midst of a revival. It would seem, then, that preaching, that is, the oral communication of divine truth by man to man, is the means appointed by God for accomplishing the great and peculiar work of Christian benevolence. It matters not how this is done, whether in the family or by the wayside, in private conversation or in the public assembly; if it be the earnest, loving communication of the message of salvation, with reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the means by which God has promised that he will save the souls of those that believe. Thus has it been always, and thus it is now everywhere. Men who are converted in Christian lands are converted in this way. How very small is the proportion of the disciples of Christ in every assembly, who do not refer their conversion to the conversation or the preaching of some disciple of Christ. What is true in a Christian, is equally true in a heathen land. We may therefore consider it as an established fact that the oral communication of divine truth, and this as distinguished from everything else, is the means appointed by God for the salvation of the world. But it may be asked, What is the relation of other means, which may be employed, to this the great means which God has given us for the accomplishment of his work? First, teaching. It is supposed by many excellent men that, before we can preach the gospel successfully, some preparatory work is necessary, and this preparatory work must be done by teaching, especially teaching the young. One of our able and highly esteemed missionaries has declared that "missionary work has a two-fold object: the destruction of heathenism and the establishment of Christianity. The one precedes the other."* This preparation work consists in infusing into the public mind the elements of human knowledge, which shall prove the religious systems of the heathen to be false, and, this being done, idolatry will fall of itself. The gospel of Christ is then to be built on its ruins. We are unable to adopt this view, much as we esteem the brother who proposes it. Our reasons are briefly these : 1st. This seems to us not to be the work which Christ appointed to his disciples when he commanded them to go forth to the conquest of the world. It is not the manner in which Paul and the other apostles understood or obeyed this command. The mythology of the Greeks and Romans was just as false, and it had just as much control over the public mind, as the mythology of the Hindoos or Burmans. Yet Christ did not reveal a system of astronomy to overturn it, nor did the Apostles by appeals to the reason attempt to subvert it. Their only weapon in this warfare was the preaching of "Christ and him crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness." If this were so then, why is it not the same *Report of the Assam Mission, 1851. now? If infinite wisdom devised and exemplified a plan, why is it not safe for us to follow it?· 2d. No converting grace is promised to the promulgation of any other truth than that revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. The aid of the Holy Spirit is our only reliance for the conversion of men. Without this we all confess that all our efforts must be fruitless. But God has not promised to accompany the promulgation of the truths of human science with these blessed influences. We cannot therefore hope for success when our only reliance for success is removed. 3d. The preparation spoken of cannot, we believe, be accomplished by these means. The hearts of men are estranged from God everywhere. If we instruct them, they remain estranged just as they were before. We have therefore approached no nearer to the end which we have in view than when we commenced. What do we find to be the case here at home? Do we not see, everywhere intelligent, well-educated congregations, sitting year after year under the preaching of the gospel, and going to eternity without any hope in Christ? What is the case in India? Is it found that the youth educated in schools are more accessible to the gospel than others? It is confessed that such is not the fact. It has been said that the pupils of the best schools in India, as a class, prove to be the most virulent opposers of the gospel. If, then, this work of preparation brings forth no better fruit, why should we rely upon it? 4th. But if the gospel, as a pioneer, be found inefficient, what shall we do? If "the weapons of our warfare" are not found "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," what is to be done? Shall we go into the battle armed with weapons which we have fashioned and tempered? This would be to attempt by human means what divine power has proved unable to accomplish. To be honest we should confess the failure of the gospel, and withdraw our missionaries, sending school teachers in their places; and when these have prepared the people, missionaries in the power of the Holy Ghost should follow in their footsteps. It is certainly wrong to ordain ministers and send them forth as preachers of the gospel under the Saviour's commission, when we only mean them to be school teachers. But it is sometimes said to be unreasonable to expect that old men, hardened in sin and wedded to idolatry, will submit themselves to the gospel. We must therefore commence with their children, and imbue them with scriptural truth, and thus lead them to a knowledge of the Saviour. To this there appear several objections. 1st. If our only hope of the conversion of men rests upon the work of the Holy Spirit, this course is unnecessary; for, to infinite power, all things are equally easy. 2d. There also seems to be a radical objection to this view arising from the circumstances under which the gospel is always introduced. Jesus Christ says that he came to set parents and children at variance with each other, and that "a man's foes shall be they of his own household." Such invariably is the fact. Converts from the heathen are exposed to bitter and |