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 APPEAL 
 
 ""i'W ■'->. 
 
 ^Mm^-._ 
 
 At a meeting of the Financial Committee o/ke 
 British American Book and Tract Society^ hid 
 August 16<A, 1867, the follomiin resolution^ aler 
 prayerful consideration , mas unanimously adopted- — 
 " Resolved J — That^ in order to carry on successfUly 
 th^ operations of this Society^ it is necessary t» rf!jte 
 the sum of five thousand dollars y triz., three thousKml 
 dollars for a (permanent) Publication Fund, ind 
 two thousand dollars for Colportage and grants lor 
 the first year J* 
 
 Contributions to the above will be thankfully reciv 
 ed. One dollar constitutes an Annual Member of 
 the Society; twenty dollars a Life Member. %uo 
 hundred and ffiy dollars will support a Colporteur 
 for one year. i 
 
 Congregations may constttttte their pastors l^fe 
 Members, and Sabbath Schools or Bible Claisea 
 their Superintendents or I'eachers. CmtgregationSy 
 Sabbath Schools, or an association of christians nay 
 support a colporteur, in whole or in part, and recdve 
 Annual Reports of his labors. 
 
 Will not all who read this Appeal help to forward 
 this work. Let each give according as he hath, even as 
 the Lord hath prospered him. Let the rich, the pcor, 
 the little children, thus give. Let every active ckrisUan 
 do what he can to interest those around him in this 
 gospel work. . 
 
 J}onations may be sent to \ 
 
 Geo. H. Starr, Esq., Treasurer, 
 
 137 Upper Water St. 
 
 or, Ret. A, McBean, Secretary, 
 
 112 Cunard Street. 
 HALIFAX, Sept., 1867. | 
 
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ADDRESS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 /i' 
 
 ORIGIN OP THE SOCIETY. 
 
 A society bearing the above name, has been 
 recently formed for the purpose of disseminating 
 religious truth throughout our land. The Ameri- 
 can Tract Society extended its operations into this 
 Province in July 1863, employing that year one 
 colporteur ; the next, eight ; the next, twelve ; this 
 year (1867) ten, beside the Superintendent. More 
 than twenty thousand dollars worth of its publica- 
 tions were circulated, a considerable part of which 
 were in grants to the destitute. In the prosecution 
 of its work many waste places were explored, and 
 numerous facts revealed, of families and neighbor- 
 hoods living without the gospel. A deeper interest 
 was thus awakened in Missionary Colportage, and 
 the circulation of Religious Books and Tracts as a 
 means of spreading the gospel among the unevan- 
 gelized masses. In 1866 the churches of Halifax 
 agreed to co-operate with the Society in its bene- 
 volent work, by contributing one thousand 4olla^3 
 
 -■ 
 
 JAiM 
 
 .-^ 
 
4 
 
 in support of six additional colporteurs. Early in 
 this year (1867) the Society intimated, that at the 
 termination of its engagement with the churches 
 and the colporteurs employed, its work in this 
 Province would be closed, the wide and destitute 
 field in the South and West requiring all their 
 means. The committee and olncers proposed that 
 the churches here should organize a society, to 
 continue the same work, wisely suggesting that an 
 institution of the kind, owned and conducted by 
 the Christian community of the Provinces, would 
 command more general sympathy and co-operation, 
 and thus be more extensively useful. This pro- 
 posal was acted upon. Several preliminary meet- 
 ings having been held, and a constitution prepared, 
 the Society was fully organized August 2, 1867. ) 
 
 OBJECTS OP THE SOCIETY. 
 
 Its object, as defined in the constitution, is to 
 '^ diffuse a kno.wledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as 
 the Redeemer of sinners and to promote the in- 
 terests of vital godliness and sound morality, by 
 tha circulation, — through colportage and other 
 means,— of Religious Books and Tracts, calculated 
 to receive the approbation of all evangelical 
 christians." 
 
 PLAN OP OPERATIONS. 
 
 The Society's publications will be circulated — 
 
 1. From their Depository, as a central source of 
 
 supply, for clergymen, Sabbath-schools, families, 
 
 local Tract Societies, voluntary tract distributers, 
 
 ^nd colporteurs, 
 
 
I 
 
 ■m 
 
 » 
 
 
 'I 
 
 
 2. By Colporteurs, — men of earnest active piety 
 and prudence, of love to Christ and souls, seeking 
 out the destitute, carrying the gospel to them in 
 the printed truth, and by personal prayerful effort. 
 
 3. By Local Tract Societies, — wherever Chris- 
 tians will unite in forming them, — and by the 
 voluntary efforts of Christians in behalf of the 
 perishing around them. 
 
 CHARACTER AND PRINCIPLES. 
 
 It is a Union Society; combining the efforts 
 and enlisting the co-operation of Christians of 
 every name, for the dissemination of those funda- 
 mental and soul-saving truths on which they are 
 agreed, such as, "man's native sinfulness, — the 
 purity and obligation of the law of God, — the true 
 and proper Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, — 
 the necessity and reality of His atonement and 
 sacrifice, — the efficiency of the Holy Spirit in the 
 work of renovation, — the free and full offers of the 
 gospel and the duty of men to accept it, — the ne- 
 cessity of personal holiness, — as well as an ever- 
 lasting state of rewards and punishment beyond 
 the grave." 
 
 Its work is missionary in its nature, striving to 
 do good to all men as it shall have opportunity, 
 but carrying the gospel to the perishing as its 
 special object, seeking them out in the highways 
 and hedges, not waiting for them to come for it. 
 It is benevolent in principle and aim^ seeking sim- 
 ply to do good to souls, supplying the needy gra- 
 tuitously with saving truth, calling out the volun- 
 tary efforts of Christians, — its colporteur work and 
 
 lYir 
 
 
 ''?Hiii|pl 
 
grants sustained by Christian beneficence, and its 
 publications sold as nearly as possible at cost. It 
 is a combination of the two great instrumentalities, 
 printed truth and prayerful personal effort for 
 souls. Either of these, singly, with the Divine 
 blessing, has great influence for good. But united, 
 the one helping the other, their power is vastly 
 increased. 
 
 NEED FOR SUCH AN INSTITUTION. 
 
 That such a work, as is thus undertaken, is neces- 
 sary^ must be obvious to every Christian who will 
 consider such facts as these; — There are many 
 neighborhoods in our land that are very destitute 
 with respect to the public ordinances of religion. 
 One such had no Sabbath service for a period of 
 eleven years. There are numbers of families in 
 almost every christian community, who do not 
 avail themselves of these means of grace, when 
 within their reach. Hundreds of families are found 
 living without the word of God. In one neigh- 
 borhood eleven out of twenty families had no part 
 of the Bible. There are thousands of families that 
 have almost no religious reading. There is a sad 
 state of ignorance in the minds of multitudes res- 
 pecting the only way of salvation. There are 
 great numbers of children and youth growing up 
 without any adequate religious instruction. There 
 are thousands of impenitent ones around us tread- 
 ing in the " broad road," who too often have reason 
 to say, " No man careth for my soul." Such facts 
 show the absolute necessity there is for united, 
 earnest, Christian effort, co-operating with the 
 
 M..,,.„ ' vwwum;g 
 
 
v^^- 
 
 ministry, in disseminating the truth, seeking to 
 save souls and promote the interests of religion, so 
 that our whole people may be evangelized. 
 
 Such a work is calculated to do much good. It 
 is catholic in spirit, exciting no denominational 
 prejudices, but uniting the minds and efforts of all 
 who love our Lord Jesus. Its object is single, 
 seeking only the glory of God in the salvation of 
 souls. The means used are simple and most ap- 
 propriate, — religious truth in the form of books 
 and tracts, the best uninspired works, carried to 
 the homes of the people, accompanied with the 
 prayers and eflfbrts of humble, self-denying Chris- 
 tians, making direct and personal appeals to fiami- 
 lies and individuals, warning and beseeching them 
 to be reconciled to God. 
 
 TESTIMONY OP DR. ALEXANDER AND OTHERS. 
 
 It is a work that has the hearty approval of many 
 of the best and most eminent of God's people. The 
 following testimony has been given respecting the 
 work of a kindred society : — 
 
 Rev. Archibald Alexander, D.D., of Princeton 
 Theological Seminary, said : — "After a full survey 
 of all the plans of doing good to the souls of men, 
 which are now in operation, it is my deliberate 
 opinion, that, with the exception of the preaching 
 of the gospel, and circulating the Holy Scriptures, 
 there is none which promises to be more efficient, 
 and more extensively useful, in promoting the 
 eternal and spiritual interests of men, than the 
 publication and wide circulation of sound evan- 
 gelical books and tracts." Again he says : — " The 
 
 — •rosi{T»';»a 
 
 !!*!«fei 
 
 ;:!5!j»i 
 
8 
 
 Society's two-fold agency by books and colporteurs, 
 is better calculated to reach the destitutions of our 
 country, than any thing which has ever been put 
 into operation.*' 
 
 Rev. Dr. Peck, of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, said : — " I love the Tract enterprise, be- 
 cause it is a cause in which evangelical Christians 
 can unite. I hail as an omen of good, the estab- 
 lishment of any institution, which will bring toge- 
 ther Christians of different denominations." 
 
 Rev. Baron Stow, D.D., of the Baptist church, 
 said : — " The usefulness of the Society appears in 
 giving efficiency to the activity of good men, by 
 employing self-denying, faithful, humble men, with 
 tact to catch the attention and awaken the mind. 
 It scatters seed, the fruit of which will be gathered 
 in succeeding generations. Revivals of religion 
 have been promoted, churches built up and many 
 souls converted to God. Where is there a record, 
 but the Acts of the Apostles, that contains more 
 abundant evidence of the spirit and power of God, 
 than the Annual Reports of the Society." 
 
 Bishop Mcllvaine, of the Protestant Episcopal 
 church, said : — " I question whether it is possible 
 to contrive a scheme, for the co-operation of the 
 several evangelical denominations of professed 
 Christians, more wisely adapted to its whole pur- 
 pose. It is truly a most distinguished and eminent 
 instrument, in God's hand, for the diffusion of 
 gospd light, and the defence of gospel truth. It 
 is altogether indispensable ; and nothing can chris- 
 tians unite in, of more direct and valuable bearing 
 upon the interests of Christ's blessed kingdom." 
 
 SCI 
 
 It is 
 
 amplef 
 
 taught 
 
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 that it 
 
 clamat 
 
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 instrui 
 
 world. 
 
 front 
 
 leader 
 
 walls. 
 
 authoi 
 
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 Philii 
 
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 Law 
 
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 iscopal 
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 chris- 
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 I SCRIPTURAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 It is in accordance with the teachings and ex- 
 amples given us in God's word. We are there 
 taught that Divine truth is the means appointed 
 for the renovation and salvation of a lost world ; 
 that it is by the diffusion of that truth, by the pro- 
 clamation of the gospel, that men are to be saved. 
 We are taught that God*s people are the chosen 
 instruments for bearing that truth to a perishing 
 world. The ministers of the gospel occupy the 
 front rank in this great work. They are the 
 leaders of God*s host, the watchmen on Zion*s 
 walls. They are divinely authorized to expound 
 authoritatively and publicly the word of God. 
 Yet the gospel may be preached to a single 
 individual by the roadside or in a private dwelling. 
 Philip as he rode with the Eunuch in a chariot, 
 " preached to him Jesus." It may be preached 
 thus by the humblest of Christ's followers. " Ye 
 are the light of the world," says our Saviour. 
 '* Let your light so shine, that others seeing your 
 good works may glorify your Father which is in 
 heaven." In accordance with this principle, we 
 learn that as soon as Andrew became a follower of 
 the Saviour, he sought his brother Simon, and 
 said, " We have found the Messias," and brought 
 him to Christ. Philip, likswise, found Nathaniel, 
 and telling him of " Him of whom Moses in the 
 Law and the Prophets did write," said, " Come 
 and see." When the early disciples were scattered 
 abroad by persecution, they " went every where 
 preaching the word.** These were not the apostles, 
 
 Bnbwi 
 
 M^ 
 
^ 
 
 10 
 
 for they remained in Jerusalem. We are further 
 told of these same parties — " Now they who were 
 scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose 
 about Stephen, travelled as far as Phoenicia and 
 Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none 
 but unto the Jews only. And some of them were 
 men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were 
 come to Antioch, spoke unto the Grecians, preach- 
 ing the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord 
 was with them, and a great number believed, and 
 turned unto the Lord." 
 
 RESULTS. 
 
 It is a work most manifestly/ owned and blessed 
 in saving souls. Numberless facts might be given 
 in proof of this. Legh Richmond, before his death, 
 had information that the " Dairyman*s Daughter," 
 written by him, was blessed to the salvation of 
 more than three hundred persons. An officer of 
 the London Tract Society lately stated, that it was 
 known to have been the means of the conversion 
 of more than two thousand souls. A gentleman 
 on a journey gave a copy of the " Rise and Pro- 
 gress," to a woman in a destitute section of country. 
 Passing that way years afterwards, she informed 
 him that it was the means of her conversion ; that 
 she lent it to her neighbours ; that it was read at 
 week-day gatherings and meetings on the Sabbath ; 
 that others were thus awakened, a minister sent 
 for, and a church established as the result. A lady 
 residing not many miles from this city, was de- 
 tained one Sabbath from the sanctuary. During 
 the day she read one of Legh Richmond's tracts, 
 
 '■••ww*S5jf?*«; 
 
j^^rt* 
 
 11 
 
 "The Young Cottager," and the Holy Spirit 
 blessed it to her immediate conversion. A col- 
 porteur gave " Come to Jesus," by Newman Hall, 
 to a woman. She lent it to a neighbour, who was 
 led to Christ by it. A physician, also of this 
 Province, relates that when he was first awakened, 
 a clergyman, on whom he called, gave him the 
 " Rise and Progress " to read, and that it was an 
 invaluable aid in showing him his utterly lost and 
 helpless condition, and in opening up clearly to 
 him the way of salvation. A pastor in Newfound- 
 land, who received several packages of tracts for 
 distribution, writes that the tract, " My Spirit will 
 not always Strive," which he gave to a young man 
 of his congregation, was the means of his first 
 awakening, and that " Come to Jesus," which he 
 also gave him, directed him to the Saviour. Soon 
 afterwards, two others in the same household, were 
 rejoicing in Christ. "What is it to believe in 
 Jesus," was made the means of peace to an 
 anxious servant in his own house. He adds that 
 several other cases of the usefulness of those 
 tracts came under his notice. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Duff, the devoted missionary to India, 
 relates that one of the missionaries in Bengal going 
 to an eastern division of that Province discovered 
 that a Tract had reached there by some means. 
 No christian man had ever been seen by the people, 
 yet that little Tract had opened up the minds of 
 numbers to the errors of idolatry, and seventeen 
 were found ready to receive baptism. Another 
 missionary went to the west of Bengal and found 
 that a little Tract, called the " Ten Command- 
 
12 
 
 meuts'' had fallen into the hands of a Hindoo de- 
 votee, seventeen years before, and as the result one 
 hundred persons were brought to a knowledge of 
 the Salvation of the gospel and baptised by him. 
 
 ADAPTATION TO THE VERY POOR AND DESTITUTE. 
 
 Any system which will accomplish what is 
 needed in our country to-day must have a penetra- 
 ting power to reach the poorest, most secluded, 
 most destitute. Churches will be organized by 
 one or another denomination wherever villages, or 
 even thickly-settled neighborhoods are found ; but 
 thousands of our people are far from the centres 
 of population, many live isolated, and not a few 
 of these are both ignorant and poor. To these the 
 gospel should be preached — must be, if we obey 
 the command of our risen Lord. But thousands 
 of these will pass into eternity unwarned, unless an 
 itinerant and all-pervasive agency shall seek them 
 out in their isolation, and supply their crying wants. 
 This, missionary colportage is exactly adapted to 
 accomplish. None too poor to be visited, and 
 prayed with, and exhorted to higher aspirations ; 
 none so destitute that they cannot be supplied. 
 
 FORESTALLING BAD BY GOOD BOOKS. 
 
 When this can be done a vantage-ground is 
 gained of untold value to the prevalence of truth. 
 Vice, like noxious weeds, having obtained the 
 ground, is hard to eradicate. First fill the measure 
 with wheat, and there is no room for chaff. Nor 
 should it be overlooked that books, good or bad, 
 have a tenfold influence in new countries, where 
 
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13 
 
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 V 
 
 the people are scattered, with little to occupy their 
 minds in intellectual, or even in social channels. 
 On Sahbath days, and days of storm and rain, and 
 during periods of sickness, many long hours are 
 unemployed, and the active mind seeks occupation. 
 Furnish a book, and it is not thrown aside at a 
 glance to be forgottei , but in many cases is read, 
 and reread, and thought over, and discussed, and 
 then reexamined, until it becomes a part of the 
 mental and moral being. Hence the power of 
 books in colporteur fields. If vile literature, in the 
 form of trashy novels, infidel books, or licentious 
 pamphlets, is diffused by the craft of the devil in 
 a forming community in advance of a saving litera- 
 ture, most disastrous are the fruits, and long years 
 of Christian effort are necessary to supplant these 
 and instal the writers whose words are life. And 
 here colportage may come with its swift foot, and 
 ready tongue, and beneficient hand, to preoccupy 
 the ground, and guard the scattered dwellers 
 against the coming fiood of desolating issues from 
 the obscene and infidel press. 
 
 IN TEAlNINa WORKERS FOR CHRIST. 
 
 Work for Christ has a fourfold reward : in the 
 approval of God, in the good done, in the happiness 
 of the worker, and in his increased power of use- 
 fuhtess for the future. The development of mus- 
 cular, and brain, and heart power, depends upon 
 exercise, and he who employs them all in active 
 exertion for Christ will grow to be a symmetrical 
 and stalwart Christian. Only by vigorous and 
 long-continued exercise, and in great variety of cir- 
 
 "^"^ 
 
 "ssrc 
 
14 
 
 •*-^ m'il 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 cnmstances, does any one attain to that ideal oi 
 Christian character presented by the apostle, in 
 which, to faith is added manly courage, scriptural 
 knowledge, personal control, untiring patience^ 
 great devoutness, brotherly kindness, and an en 
 larged catholicity* 2 Peter 1 : 5-7. How beauti- 
 fully colportage, by its union principles, Christian 
 aims, and infinite variety of opportunities for exer- 
 cise, works ta this end, could be illustrated to an 
 indefinite extent. 
 
 The constant trials to which the faithful laborer 
 is subjected, strengthen his graces and develop his 
 powers for greater contests and victories. A plain, 
 uneducated man grows even eloquent in describing 
 his experience : " Has any been sneered at as a 
 canting hypocrite ? so have I. Has any been jeered 
 as getting his living without work? so have I* 
 Has any been ordered home to attend to his own 
 business, and let others' alone ? so have I. Haa 
 any been driven violently out of the house? so 
 have I. Has any been threatened with mob 
 violence ? so have I. Has any been refused Chris- 
 tian hospitality ? sa have 1, many a time. But 
 none of these tlnngs move nve, and I can humbly 
 say, * I count not my life dear unto me, if I may 
 win souls to my S^aviour/ Has any received, day 
 by day, the witness of the Spirit ; has any found 
 kind friends day by day; found grace in every 
 time of need ; had a foretaste of the joy in reserve 
 for the righteous; and been strengthened with 
 might in the inner man for every good word and 
 TKork ? I more i for God is with me**' 
 
 r «* 
 
-^ — r 
 
 15 
 
 D 
 
 COLPORTEURS. 
 
 The term Oolporteur is of French origin, and 
 was at an early day applied to the bearer of relig- 
 ious books from house to house. It is used by 
 5}istorian8 of the great Reformation, as characteri- 
 zing the active Christians who carried the writings 
 of the reformers to the abodes of the peasantry, 
 combating error, and talking with fhe people of 
 the great doctrinra of salvation. More i^eoently it 
 lias been employed to indicate the increasingly 
 numerous class of laborers in Europe and America, 
 who are diffusing the Bible and other books, by 
 «ale or gift, among the masses of the people, and 
 reviving a pure gospel where formalism and popery 
 had reigned for ages. 
 
 The spirit of Colportage has heen uniformly 
 that of active, self-denying effort for the destitute, in 
 connection with the diffusion of printed truth. It 
 IS but another phase of the missionary spirit — the 
 spirit of Christ. It aims simply to make known 
 •** the unsearchable riches of Qirist" to dying sin- 
 ners. It has no heart for controversy, even with 
 errorists, who may be easier won by the truth in 
 love than by polemical strife, much less with fellow- 
 disciples of the same glorious Master. It aims to 
 exemplify the gospel as a scheme of unexampled 
 l3enevolence, in the sight of the multitudes who 
 need to be tauglit by precept and example the 
 difference between piety and infidelity, truth and 
 •error. Its great object is gained when the wan- 
 derer from God is brought to the cross, and has .a 
 good hope through the precious blood of atonement, 
 And the means <of jedification in ttie divine life. It 
 
^WW^W*"^^ 
 
 16 
 
 ili— »• 
 
 • • 
 
 does not, and cannot meddle with the question as 
 to the branch of the church of Christ with which 
 the convert from sin and error shall become asso- 
 ciated, which must be left to the decision of each 
 soul for itself. It is determined " to know nothing 
 among men, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." 
 
 In view then of the necessity of a work co-opera- 
 ting, with the ministry, in order to evangelise our 
 whole population, — in view of the great importance 
 of this work, as one every way appropriate, and 
 well adapted to spread a knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus and his salvation, enlisting and uniting the 
 sympathies, prayers and co-operation of Christians 
 of every name, as a work approved by good men 
 and Divinely owned and blessed ; will not Chris- 
 tians and Philanthropists every where rally to its 
 support. We live in a most important period of 
 our country's and the world's history, when great 
 things may be done for Christ and for souls, that 
 may influence for good the destiny of millions 
 in this and succeeding generations. The Divine 
 promise is being fulfilled in our day by a more 
 abundant outpouring of the Spirit, and larger in- 
 gatherings of souls. Let our land be saturated with 
 the truth. Let us prepare the way of the Lord, 
 by sowing plentifully the gospel seed, in every 
 community and household. Do we desire to see 
 the glory of God promoted, and the grace of Christ 
 magnified in the salvation of perishing souls. Let 
 us put forth earnest, united efforts in spreading 
 among then^ by this means, the glad tidings of 
 Salvation. The Committee earnestly ask the 
 prayers of Christians, that Divine guidance may be 
 
 rr 
 
 V 
 
 '\ 
 
T 
 
 •'|i[_---»- 
 
 17 
 
 granted to them, and that an abundant blessing may 
 resc on the Society. They ask their countenance 
 and co-operation in their responsible work. And 
 they ask their contributions to aid them in pros- 
 ecuting it. Asking in the name of our Common 
 Lord and Sayionr and in behalf of his cause, and 
 that of immortal souls, they believe that they will 
 not ask in vain. 
 
 Signed on behalf of the Executive Committee of 
 the British American Book and Tract Society. 
 
 F. Almon, ] 
 R.Murray, I Publication 
 J. McMuRRAY, I Committee. 
 
 J. E. GOUCHER, 
 
 Halifax, September 1867. 
 
 V 
 
 British American Book and Tract Society. 
 
 CONSTITUTION. 
 
 1. This Society shall be denominated the 
 British American Book and Tract Society, the ob- 
 ject of which shall be to diffuse a knowledge of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of Sinners, and 
 to promote the interests of vital godliness and 
 sound morality, by the circulation — through col- 
 portage and other means,— of Religious Books and 
 Tracts, calculated to receive the approbation of all 
 Evangelical Christians. 
 
 2. Any person paying one dollar, annually, 
 into the Treasury of this Society shall be a member ; 
 any person paying twenty dollars at one time shall 
 be a life member. 
 
18 
 
 S. The Society shall meet annually on the first 
 Tuesday of February, when the proceedings of the 
 foregoing year shall be reported, and a Board con- 
 sisting of a President, four Vice Presidents, a Trea- 
 surer, two Auditors, and twenty Directors shall be 
 chosen. 
 
 4. The Board of Directors shall appoint a De- 
 positary, Superintendent of Colportage and Secre- 
 tary of the Society : and shall also annually elect 
 by ballot, a Publication, a Distributing and a Fi- 
 nance Committee, each consisting of not less than 
 three or more than five members, the members of 
 which three Committees with the President, Vice- 
 Presidents and Treasurer shall constitute an Exe- 
 cutive Committee to conduct the business of the 
 Society. The Board shall have power to enact 
 Bye-Laws. Thirteen members of the Board of 
 Directors present at any meeting regularly conven- 
 ed, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
 business. All vacancies shall be filled as the Bye- 
 Laws direct 
 
 5. To promote in the highest degree the ob- 
 jects of the Society, the Officers and directors shall 
 be elected from differeat Denominations of Christ- 
 lans, and shall be members in good standing in 
 their respective Churches. The Publication Com- 
 mittee shall contain no two members of the same 
 ecclesiastical connection ; and no Book or Tract 
 shall be circulated, to which any member of that 
 Committee shall object. 
 
 6. Any Tract Society founded on the principles 
 of this Society and annually contributing a donation 
 
 o Us Treasury, shall be considered an auxiliary, and 
 
 
 »•» 
 
10 
 
 ft 
 
 the President and Secretary of such auxiliary, for 
 the time being, shall be members of this Society. 
 
 7. All meetings of the Society, the Board of 
 Directors, and the Executive Committee shall be 
 opened by prayer. 
 
 8. The President, or in his absence a Vice- 
 President, or other officer first on the list in the 
 city of Halifax, at the request of three Directors, 
 may call special meetings of the Executive Com- 
 mittee. The Executive Committee shall have 
 power to call special meetings of the Society. 
 
 9. This constitution shall not be altered, except 
 at the annual meeting of the Society, and by a vote 
 of a majority of the members present, notice of the 
 proposed alteration having been given at the pre- 
 vious annual meeting; or recommended by the 
 Executive Committee, and notice of the proposed 
 alteration posted up in the Depository one month 
 previous to the annual meeting, and inserted in the 
 call for such meeting. 
 
 BYE-LAWS. 
 !• The President, or in his absence one of the 
 Vice-Presidents, shall preside at all the meetings 
 of the Society, the Board of Directors and the Ex- 
 ecutive Committee. If all the said officers be ab- 
 sent, a chairman, pro tem^ shall be chosen. 
 
 2. Vacancies occurring in the Publication,, 
 Finance and Distributing Committees, shall be 
 filled from the Board of Directors, by appointment 
 of the President. 
 
 3. The Executive Committee shall meet on 
 the second Monday of each month* It shall be 
 
20 
 
 mtrntmH 
 
 their duty to review, and approve or disapprove of 
 the action of the Publication, Finance and Distri- 
 buting Committees, commission Colporteurs, and 
 in general do whatever may be necessary to give 
 efficiency to the work assigned them. Three 
 members shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
 action of business. 
 
 4. The Publication Committee shall select 
 from the issues of the various Tract Societies and 
 Private Publishing Houses, in Great Britain or 
 the United States, such publications (1) as they 
 shall deem most suitable for promoting the object 
 of the Society, and (2) as they can procure on the 
 most advantageous terms. With the sanction of the 
 Executive Committee they shall publish such books, 
 tracts or periodicals as they may decide on whenever 
 it shall be considered desirable or best to do so. 
 
 5. It shall be the duty of the Financial Com- 
 mittee to devise and carry out ways and means for 
 procuring the necessary funds for the Society's 
 operations, fix the salaries of the Society's agents 
 and regulate the amount of grants. 
 
 6. The Distributing Committee shall select 
 the most suitable men for colporteurs, locate them 
 and regulate the distribution of grants by colpor- 
 teurs and other agencies. 
 
 7. The Publication, Finance and Distributing 
 Committees shall report monthly to the Executive 
 Committee. 
 
 8. It shall be the duty of the Secretary, under 
 the direction of the Executive Committee to con- 
 duct the correspondence of the society and of the 
 committees, to attend to the publication of statistics 
 
 si >r 
 
 ■Knan^ii 
 
Ukt, 
 
 :^?^ 
 
 i- 
 d 
 
 s- 
 
 Jt 
 
 id 
 
 4 
 •0 
 
 21 
 
 and reports, present the objects of the society to 
 the churches, receive contributions, give notice of 
 meetings and keep the minutes. 
 
 As superintendent of colportage, he shall have 
 a general over-sight of the colporteur work and 
 carry out the instructions of the committtee in 
 selecting and appointing colporteurs. 
 
 As depositary he shall have charge of the socie- 
 ty's store and keep the necessary books of ac- 
 counts. 
 
 9. The Treasurer shall take charge of the 
 society's funds, and shall pay all bills on the order 
 of the Finance Committee. He shall report the 
 state of the treasury to the Executive Committee 
 at each monthly meeting. 
 
 10. At meetings of the Executive Committee 
 the following shall be the order of business : — 1. 
 Prayer. 2. Minutes. 3. Unfinished business. 
 4. Reports of Committees. 5. Reports of Col- 
 porteurs. 6. Report of Secretary and Superin- 
 tendent of Colportage. 7. Report of Treasurer. 
 8. New Business. 
 
 11. The President, or in his absence a Vice- 
 President or other officer first on the list in the 
 city of Halifax, at the request of three Directors, 
 may call special meetings of the Board of Direc- 
 tors. 
 
 12. These Bye-Laws may be amended at any 
 meeting of the Board of Directors on the recom- 
 mendation of the Executive Conunittee, by a vote 
 of a majority of the members present ; a months 
 previous notice of the proposed alteratioa being 
 given to each member of the Board. 
 
 ■«5rJJ!?ffiflii{iRf 
 
BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 
 
 
 Ret. p. G. McGregor, 
 Kev. G. M. Grant, 
 
 Hon. M. B. Almon. 
 Vrce:*^re«rtrent«. 
 
 Rev. J. E. Goucher, 
 Rev. G. S. Millioan, 
 
 Creasuter. 
 George H. Starr, Esq. 
 
 ,- XT « ^utiftors. 
 
 B. N. Beckwith, I Joseph Bell. 
 
 T. A. Brown, 
 Rev. J. McMuRRAT, 
 J. S. MacLean, 
 A. F. Porter, 
 J. Grierson, 
 Rev. F. Almon, 
 Rev. J. Forrest, 
 Rev. R. Murray, 
 Dr. McN. Parker, 
 T. F. Knight, 
 
 Wtxtttoxn. 
 
 G. Robins, 
 H. N. Paint, 
 A. K. DouLL, 
 D. Blackwood, 
 P. Thompson, 
 D. H. Starr, 
 Peter Lynch, 
 Wm. Roche, junr., 
 Wm. Montgomery, 
 W. B. McNutt. 
 
 I^ubUcatfon €:ommfttee. 
 
 ^IZ' ?• t''^^''' I ^^^- J- MCMURRAY, 
 
 Rev. R. Murray, | Rev. J E. Goucher, 
 
 JTfnance Commtttee. 
 
 D. Blackwood, 
 H. N. Paint, 
 W. B. McNutt, 
 
 ©fstrOjutfnfl 
 Kev. John Forrest, 
 Rev. a. F. Porter, 
 T. F. Knight, 
 
 Wm. Montgomery, 
 P. Lynch, 
 
 Commfttee. 
 Wm. Roche, junr., 
 B. H. Starr. 
 
 Sectetai^. 
 Rev. a. McBean. 
 
 « 4 
 
 1 
 
* 4 
 
 I 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following is from a little work entitled 
 " Gospel Workers." Will not a few earnest Christ- 
 ians in every town and village in our land, join in 
 forming an Association for Tract distribution, and 
 for the promotion of vital godliness. 
 
 ASSOCIATED EFFORTS. 
 
 Before we proceed in urging isolated individual 
 effort in gospel work, we devote a chapter to a«- 
 sociated effort. While there is much, very much, 
 that can be done by individual effort, still a greater 
 work perhaps may be done by combined effort. 
 There was many a stone in the temple at Jerusalem 
 that no one or two individuals could ever have put 
 in its proper place. Armies, railroad companies, 
 incorporated institutions for humane and charitable 
 purposes, all act on the principle of combination. 
 It gives a moral power just in proportion to the 
 number and influence of those associated together. 
 There is a certain class of people in the world that 
 are influenced by the name of Judge somebody, or 
 Mrs. Dr. somebody else, than they are by the ob- 
 ject to be attained. Thus the withholding of 
 earnest co-operation on the part of persons of in- 
 fluence is throwing obstacles in the way of doing 
 
 ??"«.«■•'» 
 
24 
 
 good. Influence is just so much capital invested in 
 any good association, and will be so rewarded at 
 last. 
 
 The great Head of the church seems to take 
 notice of little things — sparrows, mites, and cups of 
 cold water — which many lofty-minded people en- 
 tirely overlook. The point which we wish to press 
 with all earnestness is, the united effort of God's 
 people of every name in the direct work of saving 
 souls from death. 
 
 There are certain great fundamental truths in 
 which all real Christians agree, and without any 
 sacrifice of principle they can unite with their fellow- 
 Christians of other names in pressing them on their 
 fellow-men. The want of this co-operation in gos- 
 pel work is one of the great reasons why God*s 
 work progresses so slowly. Ignorant as the world 
 is of spiritual religion, it has formed a pretty cor- 
 rect idea of the way religion should affect those 
 that embrace it. The world think they should feel 
 alike, act alike, and work alike, and all together. 
 " By this shall the world know ye are my disciples, 
 if ye love one another ;" and people that love one 
 another can certainly work together. What we 
 would urge is, the formation of an association in 
 every town and village in our country, and in all 
 the rural districts, for the promotion of vital godli- 
 ness and gospel work. No matter by what name 
 you call the association— call them Busy Bees, 
 Christ's Helpers, Gospel Workers, Tract Visitors, 
 or what you please — so they do the work. Neither 
 does it matter where you get the tools you work 
 with, provided the work is done. 
 
 ] 
 
 In all 
 
 names ai 
 
 proved t 
 
 are willi 
 
 tract so 
 
 such trj 
 
 suited 
 
 month 
 
 you thii 
 
 two if 
 
 earnest 
 
 salvatic 
 
 suit an< 
 
 you wil 
 
 that th 
 
 what V 
 
 effect < 
 
 has oft 
 
 c? am 
 
 and fe 
 
 weptc 
 
 are hi 
 
 souls 
 
 ery tt 
 
 were 
 
 you I 
 
 gaine 
 
 been 
 
 skies 
 
 In 
 
 woul 
 
 fund 
 
 and 
 
 ; 
 
 •«ss; 
 
25 
 
 m 
 at 
 
 tke 
 of 
 un- 
 less 
 d's 
 
 J 
 
 I' 
 
 In all plans where Christians bear different 
 names and associate together, which experience has 
 proved the best way, they must select tools ti.at all 
 are willing to work with. In other words, form a 
 tract society, divide the place into districts, select 
 such tracts and little books as you all think best 
 suited to save souls, and go once or twice each 
 month to every family; give or loan the i what 
 you think is best suited to their case. Go two and 
 two if you can, as the first disciples did. Talk 
 earnestly and affectionately to all you meet about 
 salvation ; meet together once each month to con- 
 sult and pray over your work, and I have no doubt 
 you will be able to report, as the early disciples did, 
 that the very devils were subject unto you. And 
 what will surprise you most will be the astonishing 
 effect on yourself. It may settle a question that 
 has often troubled you sadly, Am I a child of God, 
 l: am I not ? If you find the work a pleasant one, 
 and feel that you are in sympathy with Christ, who 
 wept over sinners, then you have evidence that you 
 are his ; but if you cannot become interested for 
 souls by this work, then you have made a discov- 
 ery that may be worth more than a world, that you 
 were one of the self-deceived ones. In either case 
 you may, and I have no doubt will, be greatly the 
 gainer. Many a humble, trembling Christian has 
 been able to read his title clear to mansions in the 
 skies by means of a few hours work. 
 
 In rural districts and country congregations I 
 would suggest a plan somewhat different. Raise a 
 fund sufficient to purchase the books and tracts, 
 and appoint as many persons as are necessary to 
 
 »r 
 <e 
 i. 
 i 
 
 3 
 
'••IIP' 
 
 I 
 
 26 
 
 hand one to each family on each Sabbath when 
 there is preaching. If the stock is sufficient, in- 
 struct those that receive it to hand it to some one 
 else ; if not, let it be returned on the next Sabbath 
 and another gotten. In this way each family will 
 have a sermon in hand, and perhaps in the head 
 and the heart. In the course of a year each family 
 would have read some of the best religious litera- 
 ture of the age. The labors of the pastor would 
 be backed up and almost doubled. Fifty dollars 
 will supply the largest congregation in our country 
 with a tract every Sabbath. 
 
 I believe the arithmetic of earth could never 
 compute the results of one year's labor of this kind, 
 if it was adopted in all the churches in our land. 
 And if we can influence only one hundred villages 
 and churches to enter upon this work, we shall be 
 amply rewarded for writing this series. 
 
 If one in five of the five million professed Christ- 
 ians in this land could be induced to enter upon 
 this work, each would have a parish of thirty souls 
 to labor and pray for. Even if one in fifty would 
 enter on the work, it would more than double the 
 moral power of the church. How then shall we 
 get such a work begun ? Let pastors invite all the 
 female members of their churches who can to meet 
 at some point, and lay the matter before them, and 
 organize them into a society, and they will soon 
 raise the funds and have the work begun. Every 
 pastor should labor to unite his people in this work ; 
 and the pastor that is the most active in it will reap 
 the most benefit from it. In the army, the com- 
 mander that can arrange his men so that oQoh 
 
 r^ty 
 
 i ■ 
 
 -.V 
 
 ' 
 
" ^^ 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 27 
 
 is brought into effective service, other things being 
 equal, will be the most successful. So that pastor 
 that can set his people to work to the best possible 
 advantage doubles his own power and usefulness. 
 The grand defect of this age of the church is, that 
 in so many cases the pastor is left to do all the 
 work himself, except in the Sunday-school, and not 
 unfrequently most of it there too. 
 
 PERTINENT QUESTIONS. 
 
 " 1. • Ought not the love of Christ and his king' 
 dom to be the governing motive with every Chris- 
 tian? 
 
 " 2. Will not this motive, in proportion as it is 
 felt induce every one to make exertions to advance 
 his kingdom, and thus promote the glory of God 
 in the world ? 
 
 " 3. Is there any way by which this object can 
 so effectually be accomplished, as by extending the 
 knowledge of the truth throughout the whole earth ? 
 
 " 4. Is there not a crisis in things of this kind, 
 when much may be done by seasonable and ener- 
 getic exertions, which, if it be suffered to pass 
 without improvement, may not return for ages ; 
 just as if the seasons of seed-time and harvest be 
 neglected, we labor in vain during the remainder 
 of the year ? 
 
 " 5, Is there not good reason to think that the 
 age in which we live is such a time ; that Provi- 
 
28 
 
 dence has now furnished the church with such 
 facilities fpr operation, and opened such a door of 
 usefulness, especially among the heathen nations, 
 that we shall he greatly wanting in duty to our 
 Master, if we do not endeavour to avail ourselves 
 of these opportunities of doing good, which were 
 never so abundantly afforded to any other age ? 
 
 " 6. Is it not evident that the distribution of 
 evangelical Tracts is one of the most effectual 
 methods of disseminating the truth of God ; and 
 has not the blessing which has hitherto attended 
 this enterprise, both in Christian and heathen lands, 
 warranted the conclusion that it is one of God*s 
 chosen means for the accomplishment of his purpo- 
 ses and predictions relating to the conversion of 
 the world ? 
 
 " 7. The prosecution of this object obstructs no 
 other benevolent operation, but is a necessary aux- 
 iliary to all others ; while then other Societies, as 
 particularly Bible Societies and Missionary Socie- 
 ties, are engaged in making extraordinary exer- 
 tions, ought not the Tiact' Society also to move 
 forward with renewed zeal and enlarged plans of 
 operation ? 
 
 " 8. Can the genuine disciples of Christ who 
 possess the means of promoting this cause, hold 
 back when so loud a call is addressed to them from 
 almost every quarter of the globe for the bread of 
 life ? 
 
 " 9. Ought not mercantile enterprises now to 
 be entered on for the very purpose of making 
 
as 
 
 If 
 
 S) 
 
 29 
 
 gains to be applied to the promotion of the Re- 
 deemers's kingdom ? And should not those whose 
 efforts to increase their property God has signally 
 blessed, make a free-will offering of a portion of 
 their profits to his service ? 
 
 " 10. Would not the consecration of first-fruits, 
 redemption for the first-born, and tenths laid upon 
 the altar of God, probably bring down a blessing 
 on all their possessions ? 
 
 "11. When a contest is going on in our 
 minds between selfishness and benevolence, is 
 it not the part of .wisdom to lean to the side of 
 benevolence ? 
 
 " 12. When was it known that any man was 
 impoverished by giving to the Lord ? And if the 
 time should come when men shall become poor by 
 giving all their goods to promote the cause of 
 Christ, will they not become infinitely rich by such 
 a blessed poverty ? 
 
 " 13. Is not the time for doing any thing in 
 this cause short ? Ought we not therefore to work 
 while it is called to-dai/? Is it not certain that 
 we shall never have another life upon earth? 
 Ought we not, therefore, to do the best we can 
 with the talents committed to us, that when our 
 Lord shall come to reckon with us, he may say, 
 * Well done good and faithful servants?*'* 
 
 WORK FOR CHRIST. 
 
 What have I done for Jesus? Ministerial 
 brother, whatever position you occupy in the 
 
 mtmitmummm^aiL 
 
80 
 
 
 li 
 
 II 
 
 , I, 
 
 I 
 
 church, have you done all you can ? If called to 
 your account to-day, could you say, " Lord, I have 
 done as thou hast commanded ?" Have you made 
 tsuch an advance in holiness of life and purity of 
 soul that it '^ives power to your work, and inspires 
 others to seek after higher attainments in the 
 divine life ? Is there not something more still 
 that you can do for Christ ? Cast around you and 
 see if you cannot start another little wheel in the 
 machinery that will do gospel work. 
 
 Officers of the Church of Christ, have yon done 
 all you can ? Is there not some place in which 
 you can do more yet ? Are you an Aaron or a 
 Hur? Are you standing shoulder to shoulder 
 with the pastor in doing God*s work ? or is your 
 office merely an honorary title ? We see no pro- 
 mise of pay to such delinquents. 
 
 Professional men and men of business. We 
 appeal to you. What are you doing for Christ? 
 Are you doing nothing more than to give the least 
 pittance that shame and conscience will admit for 
 Christ's work ? Your grudging mites and frown- 
 ing gifts will soon meet you before a frowning 
 Judge, and the hidden talent receive a just reward. 
 We entreat you to begin to-day to work for Christ ; 
 both do and give, plough and sow, as you have 
 God for paymaster. Speak a word for Christ. 
 Give a little tract or book, and have something 
 each evening to ask God's blessing upon. That 
 is gospel work. 
 
 ^*Mi&^ 
 
 li*i.M&.i.^. 
 
|;iqfJ3^^^^?£J)g3;^^;J^^35^J^ja^^a^J^{;Q4 
 
 If called to 
 I'Ord, I have 
 tve you made 
 "•nd purity of 
 and inspires 
 lents in the 
 g more still 
 )und you and 
 wheel in the 
 
 ve yon done 
 ce in which 
 Aaron or a 
 to shoulder 
 or is your 
 see no pro- 
 
 siness, We 
 for Christ? 
 ve the least 
 H admit for 
 and frown- 
 i frowning 
 List reward, 
 for Christ ; 
 you have 
 or Christ, 
 something 
 on. That 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 OP AN 
 
 AUXILIARY TRACT SOCIEH. 
 
 Article I. This Society shall be called 
 " The [female of juvenile] Tract Socie- 
 ty OF , Auxiliary to the Brit- 
 ish American Book and Tract Society," 
 the object of which shall be to promote the cir- 
 culation of that Society's publications in this 
 vicinity, and to aid in extending its operations 
 to the destitute in our own and foreign lands. 
 
 Art. II. All persons annually eontribttting 
 to the Ainds of the Society, whether for publi- 
 cations or as a donation, or both, shall be 
 members. 
 
 Art. III. The Society shall bold its annual 
 meeting on the when a 
 
 Board, consisting of a President, Secretary, 
 Treasurer, and members, shall be chosen 
 
 to conduct the business of the Society until a 
 new election. 
 
 Art. IV. It shall be the duty of the Board, 
 
 at their discretion, to establish a Depository, 
 
 • procure volumes, and direct their circulation 
 
 TnrniJiTS''' 
 
i ! 
 
 > i *A 
 
 
 by sale, loap, or gift ; 
 ent, and tehi<^ Traots fq^ 
 distributioii^; 9^ tBiAgxk 
 
 Board aiWlMfliir" 
 in obta3n^^_ 
 
 special W^ltojafe^^ 
 owAVa<5aii6ies-''^15|jp^ 
 
 rum. *»-^*-- 
 
 Art V. II 
 
 to recprd