ington, deceased, in her last will and testament; and whereas the legacy is held at present in litigation;

Voted, That the President and Recording Secretary be authorized to employ legal counsel, and to take all other proper measures to recover said legacy,

Voted, That the Corresponding Secretary present the thanks of this Board to the Church Missionary Society in England for their donation of twenty sets of the Missionary Register, with sundry other communications on the subject of Missions.

Voted, That twenty five copies of the annual reports of this Board, and of the sermons delivered before this Board, or at the request of the Prudential Committee, which have been, or shall be, published, be sent to the Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, for the use of said Society.

Voted, That the person appointed as second to preach before the annual meeting of the Board, shall be considered as appointed the preacher for the next succeeding year, unless tre shall preach the sermon in the year for which he was appointed as second.

The Rev. Dr. Davis was appointed to preach at the next annual meeting of the Board, and the Rev. Dr. Appleton his second.

Publick worship was attended in the evening, when the annual sermon was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Chapin, from Psalm xcvi, 10:-Say among the heathen, THE LORD REIGNETH.

Voted, that the thanks of this Board be presented to the Rev. Mr. Chapin for his sermon delivered last evening, by appointment of the Board; that a copy be requested for publication; and that Dr. Lyman, Dr. Appleton, and Gen. Sewall, be a committee to carry this vote into effect.

The Corresponding Secretary was directed to express the thanks of this Board to the London Missionary Society, for the Chinese version of the New Testament, and the transactions of said Society, with other documents presented by them to this Board.

Voted, That it be distinctly provided, that every Missionary em ployed in the service of this Board, is to be considered as being, under Providence, dependent on this Board for support, according 10 such regulations as the Board, or Prudential Committee, may, from time to time, recommend or approve; and that all the earnings which any Missionary, or Missionary's wife, shall in any way procure, shall be considered as the property of this Board, for the objects of the mission, and, as such, to be regularly accounted for to the Prudential Committee.

Voted, that at every missionary station, to which more than one Missionary shall belong, the salaries and earnings of the Missionaries, and presents made to them, or any of them, shall constitute a common stock, from which they shall severally draw their support, in such proportions, and under such regulations, as may, from time to time, be found advisable, and be approved by this Board, or by the Prudential Committee.

The Prudential Committee were authorized to allow the Missionaries, at each Missionary station, to take such a house for their

common use, as may be suitable for their accommodation, and to charge the rent of said house to the account of the Board.

Voted, That a majority of the Missionaries on any station, shall, in their regular meetings, decide all questions, that may arise in regard to their proceedings and conduct, in which the mission is interested.

Upon the principles of the foregoing votes, the subject matter of polity, or social compact. for the regulation of our Missionaries, was referred to the Prudential Committee.

Voted, That the Prudential Committee be authorized to make to the Missionaries in India, such further allowance for extraordinary expenses, as, upon their representation, on an account stated, shall be deemed reasonable and proper.

The Trustees of the legacy, given by the late Mrs. Norris, were requested to transfer the same to the Board.

Voted, That nine sets of the Church Missionary Register, and other documents received with it, be disposed of in the manner following, viz. To Bowdoin College, Yale College, the Theological Seminary at Princeton, Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, Williams College, the Theological Seminary at Andover, William Bartlet, Esq. and Mr. Solomon Goodell,t one set each.

Voted, That the Prudential Committee be directed to employ some suitable person or persons to visit St. Louis, St. Genevieve, and any other places, as they shall deem expedient, to ascertain and report to this Board, what measures are most eligible for diffusing the light and benefits of Christianity among the Aborigines in the western and southern parts of our country,

Voted, That the Prudential Committee be directed to hold stated quarterly meetings, and to make a quarterly communication, in the form of a circular letter, to each association, which has been, or shall hereafter be, instituted in aid of this Board.

Voted, That the Prudential Committee be authorized to employ agents to assist in forming auxiliary societies; otherwise to excite the attention of the public to the objects of this Board; and to use their exertions in obtaining funds.

Voted, That the next annual meeting be holden at Hartford, (Cann.) on the third Wednesday of Septeinber, 1816, at 10 o'clock, A. M. and that the Recording Secretary be directed to make the necessary arrangements for that meeting.

The Recording Secretary was directed to transmit to every member of the Board, not now present, information of the time and place of the next annual meeting.

Voted, That the Corresponding Secretary present the thanks of the Board to Mrs. Elizabeth Bartlet, for the very convenient ac

*This has since been done in the manner, and for the purposes, described in the will of Mrs Norris.

This distinguished friend of missions had left the world before the meeting of the Board, though his death was not then known. The copy of the Missionary Register, which was intended to cheer his heart in the decline of life, will be sent to his widow sa token of gratitude for the alnost unexampled liberality of her late husband. 66

VOL. XI.

commodations which she has furnished for the present meeting; and, likewise, to those gentlemen who have hospitably entertained the members during the session.

REPORT OF THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE.

BRETHREN,

OUR two last annual reports contained much of interesting narrative: recitals of the pilgrimages and adventures, perils and deliverances, discouragements and consolations, of our missionaries in the East; seeking a door of entrance to the heathen, but obstructed, disappointed, and held in continued anxiety and suspense; troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. Those recitals were interesting, as they shewed in a very clear and gratifying light the faith and patience, the firmness and prudence, the fortitude and devotedness of the brethren; and especially as they afforded many affecting and animating proofs of the wisdom and goodness, the faithfulness and mercy, the almighty protection and overruling providence of God. The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Their place of defence is the munitions of rocks; their eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off. If our present Report contain less of striking narrative and affecting incident, it is because our missionaries have found at length an open door and a resting place; and though they have scarcely commenced their public labours, yet they are quietly and diligently preparing themselves for activity in their great and arduous work.

At our last anniversary we had the hope, that the brethren Hall and Nott, after their severe trials, would be permitted to remain at Bombay. This hope has not been disappointed. Since the latest date of the accounts then communicated, they have experienced, se far as appears, no molestation; nothing but protection and kindness from the government. That latest date was Dec. 23, 1813.

As early as the 13th of the next month, Jan. 1814, Mr. Newell received from them such intelligence, as gave him a degree of assurance, that the mission might be established at Bombay; and he immediately took measures of preparation for leaving Ceylon. On the 20th of the same month he writes in his journal, "I engaged passage in a Portuguese ship bound to Goa, as there was no oppor tunity of going direct to Bombay. Before my departure I address. ed the following letter to the Governor.

"To his Excellency General Brownrigg, Governor and Commander in Chief in the Island of Ceylon.

"Sir, "Having resided nearly a year under your Excellency's jurisdiction, and experienced during that time every indulgence from govern.

ment which I could wish, I beg leave to express the deep sense I have of your Excellency's kindness to me; and to ask permission to depart on the Angelica, Portuguese ship, bound to Goa, in pursuance of my original intention of joining the mission in Bombay. I should esteem it an additional favor, if your Excellency would be pleased to give me a testimonial, that would satisfy the Governor of Bombay, that I leave Ceylon with your Excellency's consent and approbation. I have the honor to remain, &c.

S. NEWELL."

"I felt obligated," he says, "to notify the Governor of my depar ure, as he had intimated on my first arrival at Columbo that I was not to remove without giving him previous notice; and I felt a real pleasure in expressing my gratitude for his kindness both to me and my brethren "The Governor informed me through Lord Molesworth, that he consented to my departure, and would write by mail to the Governor of Bombay in my favor."

After a residence in the island of Ceylon of about ten months, Mr. Newell left Columbo for Goa on the 28th of January; and on the 4th of February the Angelica came to anchor in the roads of Cochin, where she stopped three days, and afforded him an oppor tunity which, he says, he had long wished for, but never expected to be favored with; that of seeing the Cochin Jews and the Syrian Christians." Of this opportunity he appears to have availed himself with great diligence. He visited the Jewish synagogues at Cochin, and the Syrian church at Candenad, the residence of the late primate Mar Dionysius. The results of his enquiries and ot servations together with those of his brethren Hall and Nott, who visited the same places about three months before, may constitute an interesting part of an appendix to this report.

On the 7th of February Mr. Newell left Cochin and on the 24th arrived at Goa; where he "visited most of the Colleges, Churches and Monasteries, saw the Vicar General of the Dominicans, dined with the Superior of the Augustinians, and called on Father Jose. phus a Doloribus, the late Inquisitor, mentioned by Dr. Buchanan." "The Inquisition of Goa," he says, in his journal, “is no more. It was lately abolished by order of the Prince Regent of Portugal. It is said, however, that the Archbishop retains all the power that was lodged in the Court of the Inquisition.".

On the 2d of March Mr. Newell sailed from Goa, and on the 7th. he writes in his jourual. "Early this morning the harbor and town of Bombay appeared in full view, and at 11 o'clock I landed and went in search of my friends, whom I found in a short time. It was a joyful meeting to us all. We had been separated more than two years, had all of us passed through many trying scenes, and often given up the idea of ever meeting again on earth; but that unseen Hand that had guided us in ali our perplexities, and led us in a mysterious way, had at length brought us together in the very place, which, in our conversations on the other side of the water, we had often contemplated as the probable seat of our then

future mission. And what was peculiarly gratifying to us, we bad reason to hope, that we should now be established in this place, and be allowed to enter on our work, which had been so long delayed. Yet we rejoiced with a mixture of fear; for it was not absolutely certain that we should all be allowed to remain here."

Soon after his arrival at Bombay, Mr. Newell had an attack of fever which confined him several days. On the 23d of the same month, however, he writes. "We kept a day of fasting and prayer, preparatory to the Lord's supper, which we proposed to celebrate the next Sabbath. Saturday evening the 26th, we kept another season of special prayer with a view to the solemn ordinance which we expected to attend upon the ensuing day. Sabbath, 27th, we met at 11 o'clock, A. M. and engaged in prayer: brother Hall deliv ered an address, suited to the solemn occasion, and brother Nott administered the ordinance. There was a variety of circumstances attending this transaction, which were peculiarly calculated to af fect our minds. We were naturally led to look back on all the way in which the Lord had led us, since we devoted ourselves to the missionary cause, and particularly since we same to this land. Two of our brethren, who came with us to this country, had been sepa- ' rated from us, and had gone to different and distant countries, and we expected to see them no more in this world. One of our little number had finished her work and received an early release from the pain and toils of the missionary pilgrimage. Though on our own account, we could not but mourn her absence, yet we had reason also to rejoice in the hope, that she had entered into her rest; and though she could not return to us, yet if we were the children of God, we should go to her, and partake with her at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the afternoon I preached to our own family, and a few of our acquaintance who usually unite with us in our family exercises on the Sabbath."

Soon after these refreshing scenes of joyous meeting and of holy communion, on the 8th and 9th of April the brethren wrote to the Corresponding Secretary. "Our hopes," say Messrs Hall and Nott, "are strong, and we look on the prospect with great delight. We trust that God's wonderful and merciful dealings with us, are ere long to be crowned with the special blessings we have sought; that our merciful Father has a work for us to do here; and that his various dispensations have been allotted with fatherly tenderness and care, and intended to teach us lessons of humility, trust and patience. We would hope, that they may make us more prepared for our work. Pray for us. We are sensible that God alone can teach us to profit. Pray for us. The God to whom you pray dwells also in this land. Here he dwells in his own almighty strength; and, in answer to prayer, accepted from your altars, can pour a blessing; yea, an immediate blessing, upon our heads. He can, he may in the hour of darkness, light up our path, cheer our desponding hearts, dissipate our doubts, and fill us with faith and love, because you pray for us-We have great reason to acknowledge the kind attention paid to our circumstances and wish