CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I. The name of this Society shall be, THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. ART. II. It shall be the object of the Society to aid in the wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures IN ALL LANDS. ART. III. Each contributor of three dollars annually shall be a member; each contributor of thirty dollars, a member for life; and each contributor of one hundred and fitty dollars, a director for life. Life-directors shall have the privilege of participating in the deliberations of the Board. ART. IV. All Bible Societies agreeing to place their surplus funds in the treasury of the Society shall be auxiliaries, and the officers of such Societies shall, while in office, have the privilege of life-directors. ART. V. A Board of twenty five Managers, residing in the city of New-York or its vicinity, shall be annually elected to conduct the business of the Society, with power to fill their own vacancies. ART. VI. The President, one Vice-President, the Secretaries, and Treasurer, shall be members of the Board. ART. VII. The Managers shall meet monthly, or oftener if necessary, at such time and place as they shall adjourn to, a majority of whom shall be a quorum. ART. VIII. The Managers shall have the power of appointing such persons as may have rendered essential services to the Society, either members for life, or directors for life. ART. IX. The Annual Meeting of the Society, shall be held at NewYork, on the day after the second Thursday in May in each year, or at any other time or place at the option of the Society; when the accounts of the Treasurer shall be presented, and a President, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurer, and such other officers as they may deem necessary, together with a Board of Managers, shall be chosen for the ensuing year, by the members entitled to vote on the Treasurer's books the beginning of the said mouth. ART. X. The President shall, at the written request of six members of the Board, call a special meeting of the Board of Managers, causing at least three days' notice of such meetings to be given. ART. XI. The whole of the minutes of every meeting shall be signed by the Chairman and Secretary. ART. XII. No alteration shall be made in this Constitution, except by the vote of two-thirds of the members of the Society present at an annual meeting. BY-LAWS AND ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS. 1. All meetings shall be opened with prayer. 2. All Committees shall be nominated by the presiding officer, and approved by the Board, unless otherwise specially ordered. 3. No moneys shall be paid out of the Treasury but by order of the Board. 4. All resolutions, if required, shall be presented in writing. The Board of Managers of the American and Foreign Bible Society hold their stated meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, at the Society's Rooms, 350 Broome-street, at four o'clock, P. M. PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. address you upon the present At several previous Anniver FRIENDS OF THE BIBLE CAUSE.-We occasion with feelings of peculiar pleasure. saries it was our painful duty to inform you that all our efforts to obtain a charter had been defeated. To-day it is our privilege to announce the gratifying fact that on the 12th of April, 1848, the Legislature of the State of New-York passed An Act for the Incorporation of Benevolent, Charitable, Scientific, and Missionary Societies," and having complied with the provisions of this Act, we became a body corporate on the 3d of May, 1848; and as heretofore known in fact, are henceforth krown in law, as THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY-a name which accurately defines the character of our benevolent association, whose single object is to aid in the wider circulation of the Sacred Scriptures in all lands." The Act is not in all respects such as we could have wished; we are nevertheless satisfied to stand upon the same platform with our fellow citizens. We abhor monopolies; we never asked special favors, and now render thanks to the God of the Bible that, in his own way and in his own tine, he has removed lets and hindrances from our path, and has brought us into the enjoyment of equal rights. Your Board of Managers, during the year, have devoted themselves with untiring zeal to the duties devolved upon them; in their outgoings and incomings the Lord has shielded them, and death has been perinitted to make no inroad upon their number. You will learn from the Treasurer's Report that the receipts of the past year compare favorably with the years that have gone before; and from the Report of the Board of Managers, the interesting details of which I will not anticipate, you will see not only that the “ fields are white unto the harvest," but are also so numerous and extensive that instead of sowing Bibles by hundreds, we must sow them by thousands and tens of thousand, until the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth. Deeply impressed by the perusal of Br. Judson's letter, dated Rangoon, June 13, 1847, we beg leave to direct your attention especially to the closing paragraph. "It is my growing conviction," says this venerable missionary, and accomplished Bible translator, "that the Baptist churches in America are behind the age in missionary spirit. They now and then make a spasmodic effort to throw off a nightmare debt of some years' accumulation, and then sink back into unconscious repose. Then come paralysing orders to retrench; new enterprises are checked in their very conception, and applicants for missionary employ are advised to wait, and soon become merged in the ministry at home. Several cases of that sort I encoun ered during my late visit to the United States. This state of things cannot last always. The Baptist missions will probably pass into the hands of other denominations, or be temporarily suspended; and those who have occupied the van will fall back into the rear." Must these mortifying anti- ipations be realized? After having taken possession of some of the strongholds of the enemy, must our brethren be driven from their posts? Forbid it, mighty God! It is known to you all, that to sustain the faithful versions of our missionaries in Asia was the occasion, in the allwise providence of God, of calling this society into existence. We have contributed, since our organization, more than one hundred thousand dollars to print and circulate these versions, and we must put forth yet mightier efforts to strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of our brethren, that by God's blessing they may still ccupy the van, and maintain their position unto the death. Ultimate victory is certain. We must multiply copies of the Bible-the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Thus armed, missionaries and olporteurs "shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and hills shall break forth before them into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands; the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." That this will be the glorious result we may not doubt, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. TREASURER'S REPORT. WILLIAM COLGATE, Treasurer, in account with the AMERICAN AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. We, the Subscribers, have this day examined the accounts of the Treasurer of the American and Foreign Bib e Society, and find the same correct, showing a balance due to the Treasu er, of eight hundred and eighty-seven dollars, twelve cents, the amount advanced by him to meet the claims against the Society. New-York, April 8th, 1848. SYLVESTER PIER, Auditing Committee. |