Rev. M. J. Rhees, Secretary of the Board of Managers, read the following communication from that body, which was accepted.

REPORT.

To the American Baptist Missionary Union the Board of Managers respectfully report:

That at the meeting of the Board, immediately after the last session of the Union, the following resolution was adopted, and is now, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, submitted to the Union.

Resolved, That the Board recommend to the Union, at its next session, the following alterations to the 3d Article of the Constitution:

To add in the first line after "Life Members," the words " and Annual Members." To add at the end of the Article the following, "or Annual Members by the payment at one time of not less than fifty dollars."

The Board assembled, under the directions of the Constitution, on Tuesday, May 18, 1852, at Pittsburgh, Pa. The reports of the Treasurer and Executive Committee were presented to the Board, and submitted to a careful investigation through special committees appointed by the Board. These Reports are submitted to the Union, and will be published with the proceedings of our meetings. An abstract will be presented to the Union.

The following items are presented as calling for the consideration and action of the Union.

That the annual sermon be preached by Rev. V. R. Hotchkiss, on Thursday evening, May 20th, at 7 1-2 o'clock, in the meeting-house of the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.

The report of the Committee on the Burman and Karen Missions, with a special paper on the "Reöpening of Burmah," being of great interest, they are referred to the Union for consideration and action.

The report of the Committee on the Siam and China Missions was in like manner directed to be read to the Union, and that an opportunity be presented to Rev. E. C. Lord, returned missionary from China, to address the Union in reference to that mission.

The report of the Committee on the Bassa Mission was directed to be read to the Union.

The Rev. Evan Jones with two native Cherokees being present, the Board take pleasure in introducing them to the Union; and that an opportunity may be given to them to address the body, the Board refer the report on that mission.

A paper on the "Expenditures of 1852-3," with the report of the Committee on that paper, is also submitted to the Union, with the request that this subject be made the special business for Friday morning.

The meetings of the Board have been characterized by a kind, fraternal spirit, and we trust a fresh impulse has been given to the missionary zeal of all who have been attending the session. It is the earnest prayer of the Board that the influence of the Holy Spirit may be experienced in large measure by the Union during all its meetings, and that liberal things may be devised and executed for the enlargement of our efforts to give the gospel of Christ to all the nations of the earth. ELISHA TUCKER, Chairman.

M. J. RHEES, Rec. Secretary.

Rev. Messrs. H. G. Weston, of Ill., E. Lathrop, of N. Y., H. Lincoln, of Pa., H. C. Fish,of N. J., H. Miller, of Ct., J. C. Foster, of Vt., E. Dodge, of N. H., L. B. Allen, of Me., D. B. Cheney, of O., M. Allen, of Mich., G. J. Johnson, of Iowa, and Messrs. J. W. Converse, of Mass., N. Mason, of R. I. J. R. Osgood, of Ia., and W. H. Byron, of Wis., were appointed a committee to nominate twenty-five persons to be elected as members of the Board of Managers.

Resolved, That the election take place at 4 o'clock this afternoon, and that the committee be instructed to report by printed ballots as early as practicable.

The times of meeting were fixed at 9 o'clock, A. M., and 21 and 71⁄2 o'clock, P. M., and of adjournment, at 12, M., and 5, P. M.

The Treasurer, R. E. Eddy, Esq., presented an abstract of his Annual Report to the Board of Managers, which was accepted.

The Corresponding Secretary for the Foreign Department read an Abstract of the Report of the Executive Committee to the Board of Man agers, which was accepted.

Rev. Messrs. S. Illsley, of N. Y., L. E. Caswell, of Mass., D. Robinson, of Ia., S. W. Adams, of O., S. Tucker, of Ill., W. B. Jacobs, of Pa., and S. D. Phelps, of Ct., were appointed a committee to desig nate the place for the next annual meeting; also to nominate some person to preach the annual sermon.

The recommendation of the Board, that the annual sermon be preached by Rev. V. R. Hotchkiss, of N. Y., this evening at 7 o'clock, was approved.

Resolved, That the pastors of churches contributing to the funds of the Missionary Union, although not members of the same, be invited to a seat with us, and to participate in our discussions and deliberations.

The Foreign Secretary read the special paper on the "Reöpening of Burmah," and the Report on Burman and Karen missions was presented, in accordance with the directions of the Board.

REOPENING OF BURMAH.

The Executive Committee, accustomed to report to the Board not only their own doings and plans but the general progress of the work committed to them, and whatever is supposed to concern materially its advancement, feel called upon especially to advert to events in divine providence which by their great moment and near relevancy seem in an unusual degree to affect the claims of the enterprise and the measure of our responsibility. Such an event has occurred, or is now in course of

development, with respect to the reöpening of Burmah Proper to missionary labor. War exists between Burmah and the British East India Company; and judging from past history, its sure issue will be the subjugation of Burmah to British influence if not to British rule. Already, if not formally yet substantially, Burmah is open. The missionary, advancing as strife ceases, may soon go every where, preaching the word; and every where the Karen and Burman will be alike free to worship the Eternal God with " none to make afraid." How adorable is the grace of Almighty God, and "his mercy on them that fear him, from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree." On behalf of the persecuted and oppressed but now disenthralled Karen, on behalf of our missionary brethren so long held back from this most inviting and first chosen of our missionary fields—" the beginning of our strength,”— on behalf of the benighted millions whom, we trust, the dayspring from on high is now about to visit, the Executive Committee invite the Board of Managers to unite with them in devout thanksgivings.

Burmah is open. It is an event long sought, long waited for, and now suddenly by the hand of God's providence, while we are yet speaking, brought to pass. Are we ready to meet it? What responsibilities does it lay upon us? What does it call upon us, God helping, to endeavor to do?

In contemplating what answer God would have us give to these inquiries, the Executive Committee are pressed and straitened. It is not simply the broad extent and attractiveness and promise of the opening field, so familiar to all of us; not its singleness of assignment to our culture; not the more than a generation of years that have elapsed since its first occupancy; not the preparations accumulated for effective labor-the bands of experienced missionaries, the auxiliary churches, the schools, the press; it is not, with these, the concurrent fresh awakening of missionary interest abroad and at home, the spontaneous, generous eagerness breaking forth on every side, to enter in and possess that "exceeding good land." The Committee are oppressed, rather, in view of the magnitude of the enterprise if worthily prosecuted, and of the demands which, so prosecuted, it will inevitably make, year after year, on the liberality, the self-denial, the constancy, of the American churches.

The Board have no occasion for a lengthened exposition of what in the judgment of the Executive Committee would be a worthy effort to evangelize Burmah. On this point, as is abundantly known, the Board and the Committee are of one mind, and the sentiments they hold in commonjare on the records of many of our annual meetings. "Our aim and effort should be not penuriousness, but exuberance of supply; our measure not what we may safely withhold, but what effectively bestow; our object not tolerance, but conquest."-Paper of Committee, 1850. And say the Board in 1851, "If we do not give our strength, yea, our chief strength, to Burmah, we are recreant to our high vocation." The only question that burdens and weighs down the minds of the Committee is, Has the Missionary Union, have the churches, have we of the Baptist communion in this country, the moral power not to undertake only, but to achieve this work, and to achieve it, on a just grade of operations, in its due time?

The Committee assume two things; 1st, that the Board and Union design to carry forward the existing missions, divine providence so guiding; 2d, that existing stations among Burmans and Karens are not to be abandoned and broken up for the mere object of founding new stations. They have been adopted and established after long deliberation, under the guidance of God's providence, with much cost of life and property and travail; they have accomplished, and have multiplied their means and facilities to accomplish, great and increasing good.

Admitting the justness of these premises, and that existing missions and stations

are to be continued and properly sustained, receiving from the Union a just measure of increase answering to their growth and growing claims, the question submitted to us by the reopening of Burmah, distinctly stated, is, Have we the moral power to occupy it, on a just scale of operations, in addition to our present missions and stations with their present and prospective expenditures? In other words, Can the Committee safely rely on receiving year by year such an increased supply of men and means as shall be indispensable, while adequately sustaining our present system of operations, to meet the additional demand for the evangelizing of Burmah? Our present annual income and annual increase, with a correspondent annual addition to the number of laborers, have been found by experiment to be the lowest adequate amount for the successful prosecution of the missions as they now are. It would be a moderate apportionment for Burmah reopened, to allot to it other five men with an additional annual increase of $5000 expenditure (the increase sometimes rising to $10,000.) Can this additional supply of missionaries, and of funds to sustain them, with this enlarged ratio of aggregate annual increase, be confidently anticipated? Is it a safe basis for the Executive Committee on which to lay out their operations for the reöccupancy and evangelization of Burmah?

The Committee refrain from enlarging, in this paper, on the deeply momentous considerations which this topic suggests. Their simple object has been to bring the great event of the year the reopening of Burmah-directly to the notice of the Board of Managers, and in view of the obligations which it imposes and of "the cost" either of fulfilling or neglecting them, to obtain the light of their counsel and receive their instructions.

REPORT.

The Committee on the Burman and Karen Missions beg leave to report. Whenever God's people are in the way of duty, he usually gives them some token of his approbation. This has been often verified in the history of modern missions. They were commenced with no other encouragement than that which is wont to come to the mind by the exercise of a vigorous faith. And, though he has sometimes severely tried, yet, sooner or later, he has abundantly honored this implicit confidence in his word. This is emphatically true of the missions of this Board in Burmah. Scenes of thrilling interest have, for many years past, been transpiring in that land of darkness. And prospects, rich beyond the anticipations of the most enthusiastic, have, from time to time, opened before the laborers in that great harvest field.

The schools connected with the mission are in a prosperous condition. Upon some of them, during the past year, the Holy Spirit has descended, and some who were dead have been made alive and the lost have been found. In the opinion of your committee, these institutions of learning should receive all the encouragement which it is possible to give them without diverting the attention of missionaries too much from their appropriate work. We learn with regret that there is any necessity for a suspension of the Karen Theological Seminary at Maulmain. At a time when the demand for well-trained native preachers is rapidly increasing, this institution should be kept in vigorous operation. Instead of returning the young men to their homes, or scattering them among the churches even, provision should be made whereby they may complete the prescribed course of study. Also a special effort should be made to gather in others, who give promise of future usefulness. No work, save the direct preaching of the gospel, is more important to the permanence and prosperity of these missions, than that which is done by the theological and normal schools.

From want of time and space, your committee are obliged to pass over, in silence, many points of interest in the present condition and prospects of the missions

referred to them. They would, however, call the special attention of the Board to the paper on the "Reöpening of Burmah."

The train of events affecting the prospects of the mission to Burmah Proper, are of the most instructive and extraordinary character. The king and the subordinate officers have for years set themselves up against the Lord and against his anointed. It has been with difficulty that the churches could maintain their existence. They have been utterly unable to use some of the most powerful instrumentalities for the extension of the kingdom of Christ. Shut up within their mountains, or keeping hold of a precarious existence in the towns and cities, they have cried unto God for deliverance. Having themselves no influence at court, and unable to exert any through others, prayer has been their last and only resort; and He that sitteth on the circle of the earth, holding the hearts of princes in his hands, has heard their prayer and come to their relief. "He will cast the horse and his rider into a deep sleep, and none of the men of might will be able to find their hands."

It is remarkable, that, amidst all the hindrances and opposition which they have been called to encounter, their confidence in God has not forsaken them. The intrepid missionary, standing on the borders of Burmah and hesitating whether he should advance or retreat, has witnessed their zeal and confidence in God and taken courage. "I feel ashamed," writes Mr. Kincaid, "when I look on this people so full of faith and steadfastness-so certain that the day of deliverance is at hand, and that the empire of darkness will be overturned. The seal of God is upon this people." In all our plans and efforts for their evangelization, we must not lose sight of this important fact. We must evince to them that we are partakers of the like precious faith, and we must, as they have done, show our faith by our works.

But we are not confined to the mere exercise of faith, either in ourselves or in others, for encouragement in prosecuting this work. This is only one of the ways in which God has favored it. Though enough of itself to justify us in laying out our plan of operations on the most liberal scale, yet we have other considerations of great weight.

He has wonderfully blessed all we have done, or attempted to do, throughout this empire. Standing where we do this day, and looking back over the way in which he has led us these forty years, who can lay his hand on a single adverse act of his providence, touching our labors in this great empire? Who can find a single event which he, now, would have other than it is? There has been war once and again, and, for the time being, there has been a suspension of missionary labor and a breaking up of churches and a dispersion of native Christians, and yet, when the conflict terminated and the smoke of battle lifted itself up, we found a great enlargement of the field, and new and increased facilities for its cultivation. The lives of the missionaries have often been in most imminent danger. The moment of their death has often been fixed by powers over which neither we nor they could have any control. Only an hour, apparently, lay between them and death, sometimes only an instant, and yet God has interposed and said "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." And if any have fallen, as we have thought, prematurely, we have afterwards learned that they slew more in their death than in their lives.

Again, during the years that Burmah Proper has been closed against our efforts, the work has been advancing in all the provinces lying upon its borders. The languages spoken within, have been studied and mastered. Tracts have been written and the bible translated and printed. Living, earnest men, men full of the Holy Ghost, stand ready and panting to go up and proclaim the gospel to all the people as soon as the walls shall fall and the Lord prepare the way.

But they are too few. What are they among so many? If Burmah is thrown open, as it undoubtedly will be, and perhaps is already, there will be laid upon the Baptist denomination in America a responsibility which they have never borne.