was judged expedient to change that also of his associate, Mr. Meigs; and they are now both of them destined to go out with the other three brethren to the East. It is due to Mr. Warren and Mr. Meigs distinctly to state, that although they had long contemplated India as the future scene of their labors and turned all their missionary desires and thoughts towards that interesting field; and lthough when it was proposed to them to take a destination in all espects so different as that of a mission to the western Indians, they felt at first no small degree of painful disappointment; yet, af, ter attentively considering the subject. in the light in which it was presented to them by the Committee, they yielded to the proposal with a spirit of cheerful acquiescence, which afforded a highly gratifying evidence of their sincere devotedness to go whithersoever Divine Providence might direct

The brig on board which the five missionaries, four of them with their wives, are to embark, is now in a state of advanced preparation; and is expected to sail from Newburyport, in three or four weeks, directly for Ceylon. There it is intended that the brethren should be left, with instructions to exercise their sound discretion, in view of the circumstances which may be presented to them upon the spot; whether to establish themselves in some station or stations upon that Island, or to go, all or a part of them, to Bombay, Cochin, or elsewhere, as Divine Providence shall seem to direct. And to Divine Providence, infinitely wise and infinitely good, this Board will commit them with the most affectionate and devout benedictions.

Though, for the reasons before stated, your Committee have found it necessary to suspend, for the present, the design of a western mission; yet they would by no means have it understood that the design is ultimately relinquished. It is cherished indeed under a very sacred sense of duty and with increasing ardency of hope. From the best information which the Committee have been able to obtain, and they have taken care to obtain such as they think may be relied on as substantially correct, they estimate that within the United States and their Territories, there are about two hundred and forty thousand Indians, divided and subdivided into about seventy tribes and clans. Nearly one hundred thousand of these Indians are on this side the Missisippi; and of these the four Southern tribes, the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickesaws, and Cherokees, comprise about seventy thousand; more than one fourth part of the number of Aborigines within the jurisdiction of the United States, These four tribes seem to claim very particular attention on account not only of their comparative numerical importance; but also of their geographical situation, in a fine country and climate, and in the neighborhood of a rapidly increasing white population; and. moreover of the disposition and habits, especially of the Cherokees, Chickesaws, and Choctaws, tending towards a state of civilization, and favorable to the reception among them of missionaries and othe er instructors. In 1804 the Rev. Gideon Blackburn, whose praise should be in all the churches, instituted, under the auspices of the

General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, a mission among the Cherokees, which he conducted in person and with very inadequate assistance and support;* and within about five years, between four or five hundred young persons of both sexes were so instructed as to be able to read with a good degree of facility in the English Bible; were proportionably advanced in spelling, writing, and arithmetic; and at the same time were taught the principles of the Christian religion. Many Bibles and religious Tracts were distributed, and several individuals, some young and some of mature age, became hopeful and exemplary Christians. The Cherokee tribe is estimated at twelve thousand souls. If we suppose four thousand of them to be of an age, suitable for attending schools; and four or five hundred of these, nearly an eighth part, were brought forward to the state of improvement now described, in the short period of five years, by the exertions of one man: what might not be effected, with the blessing of God, by a combined, well supported, and well conducted effort? Were schools to be established upon Mr. Blackburn's plan, at different stations, so as to accommodate the whole tribe, and these schools supplied with good instructors and placed under the superintendence of a few able missionaries, who, besides the care of the schools, should be employed in other missionary labors; would it be chimerical to calculate, that in a course of years not very long, the tribe at large would become English in their language, Christian in their religion, and civilized in their general habits and manners? One rising generation being generally initiated in the rudiments of English learning, and the principles of Christianity; the next generation would come for ward under vastly increased advantages; and the third might be able to carry on the design with little extraneous aid. The Com. mittee would respectfully submit to this Board, and beg that it may be submitted to the Christian public, whether the probability of success in such a design, together with the vast importance of the end, be not sufficient to justify and to demand an earnest, vigorous, and persevering experiment. That not only the Cherokees, but their neighbors, the Chickesaws, and Choctaws, have dispositions and habits in no small degree favorable to such an attempt, we have very satisfactory evidence: and the plan once established among them, and the happy results of it made manifest, it might be extended, as Providence should open the way, to the less tractable Creeks, and other tribes, with increased facilities and augmented encouragement.

Whether we turn our eyes to the East, or to the West, or to the South, we cannot avoid being deeply impressed with the conviction, that the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. At the same time, there is evidence which claims the most grateful recognition, that the Lord of the harvest is not unmindful of the present spiritual wants of mankind. Besides our eight Missionaries, gone and now going to their scenes of labor, there are five who have of

*The Committee of Missions of the General Assembly appropriated annually only 500 dolls.

fered themselves, with very satisfactory testimonials, to be employed by this Board: Mr. Burr Baldwin whose health has been so much impaired, as to keep him back from active employment, but is at present in a hopeful state, two students at the Theological Seminary at Princeton, (N.J.) and two at Andover. Nor should it be overlooked, that the late remarkable effusions of the Holy Spirit on our Colleges, afford the animating hope, that not a few young men will be inclined soon to offer themselves for the service of God in the Gospel of his Son, both in our churches at home, and among the heathen abroad.

The concerns of this Board are becoming from year to year more and more weighty, and the care, the labor, and the expense are proportionably increasing. The care and the labor must be ours, with humble reliance on the allsufficiency of God; for means of defraying the expense, we must chiefly depend under Providence on the liberality of the Christian public. This dependence, we have reason to believe, will not be in vain. Hitherto the annual subscriptions and occasional benefactions have exceeded our expenditures. There are at present in the different parts of our country more than thirty Auxiliary Societies, whose annual contributions have amounted on an average for four years past, to about five thous and dollars. Besides these there are about fifty female associations, formed under different names for the same purpose of supplying funds for this Board. The benefactions otherwise contributed dur ing the last year amount to more than $5,000; and the proceeds of our funds at interest to about $560. The legacy of thirty thousand dollars, bequeathed by our benefactress of grateful memory, the late Mrs. Mary Norris, and held so long under perplexing and expensive litigation, has at length been adjudged to the Trustees: and is now, with the deduction of the expenses of the suits, held by them, subject to the direction of the Board. This, if wcfl invested, will constitute together with our other stocks a permanent fund, whose annual proceeds will be considerable. We have now, however, eight Missionaries, instead of three, dependent on us for sup port. Our expenditures, therefore, for the year to come must be more than they have been in preceding years; and must increase with every addition to the number of our missionaries, and to the extension of our operations. With this consideration, it is highly important, that the friends of Missions throughout the country should be impressed; and what method should be adopted to make the due impression, and turn it to the best account for the security of a permanent supply of funds, may deserve the attentive consid eration of the Board.

Your Committee and all the members of this board are aware that there are other objects, besides those which our institution directly contemplates, which demand and urgently demand, the charitable attention of the Christian. Domestic Missionary Socie ties, Bible Societies, and Societies for aiding the education of young men for the ministry, Tract Societies, and Moral Societies, have all of them objects of incalculable importance, objects, which

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we would by no means hinder, but by all means proniote. objects, indeed, together with ours, are all in their nature harmoni. ous and closely allied. The cause is one; and by all who are engaged in it, in whatever department, it should be sacredly regard. ed as one. There need be no jealousy, no interference; no other strife than to provoke one another unto love and good works. There need be no fear that any one of these objects will exhaust the liberality of individuals or of the community. We have a noble example before us. The several Societies in Great Britain, besides their home missions, employ not less than two hundred mis. sionaries abroad in different parts of the world. The British and Foreign Bible Society issues annually more than two hundred thousand Bibles and Testaments in various languages, and expends annually more than two hundred thousand dollars in promoting its great object in the four quarters of the globe. Besides the more magnificent institutions, there are in the same kingdom many others of similar spirit and of no inconsiderable consequence, among which is a Religious Tract Society, which circulates among dif ferent nations and different languages, more than a million tracts in a year. The contributions to those Societies, notwithstanding the incalculable expense of the wars in which that kingdom has been engaged, have from year to year been constantly increasing. In the last two years the annual receipts of the Church Missionary Society rose from about twelve thousand dollars to about fifty thous and; and this with the other principle Missionary Societies are continually receiving great accessions of strength and of resources, and continually extending their plans and their operations. A sim ilar spirit is rising in this country and by proper means may be advanced to a proportionable activity and productiveness. Nor is there any danger that by this spirit of liberality the com. munity will be impoverished. It is estimated that the total annual expenditures of all the Missionary and Bible Societies in England do not amount to the annual expense of supporting a single ship of the line. What we have most to fear is, that the principle func tionaries of the Board will not be able, with their other occupations, to bestow upon the continually accumulating business, that attention which its augmenting importance will demand. In regard to this subject, however, as well as in regard to every other concern, pertaining to this institution, the wisdom of the Board will be exercised, under the direction of Him in whom all fulness dwells.

This Report the Committee beg leave to submit, in the full confidence that the Board will perceive in it many reasons of devout thakfulness to God, and many inducements to pursue our great object with unremitting zeal. Hitherto the Lord hath helped us. The work is in his hand, it depends for its success entirely upot his blesssing.

SAMUEL WORCESTER, Clerk of the P.C.'

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