TEXAS.-Rev. Wm. B. Rankin, of Austin, Texas, has charge of the work in this State. He sends us the following encouraging report: The work in this district during the past year has been prosecuted by the following agencies: Auxiliary Societies.-Of the 133 auxiliaries, only forty held anniversary meetings, and each of these by the aid and presence of your Superintendent. Nine engaged in supplying their fields in part, viz., Austin, Brenham, Chappel Hill, Round Rock, Stephenville, and the county auxiliaries of Collin, Falls, Fayette, and Williamson. Three of these, Austin, Chappel Hill, and Fayette County, at their own expense; the remaining six, with the aid of the Parent Society, to the amount of $850 in books. Six county agents were employed for a greater or less period during the year. Stephenville auxiliary deserves honourable mention, being the only one in the State to do its work upon the volunteer plan. This is due to the valuable services of its president, Rev. W. H. Niles. The receipts from sales at depositories are less than last year, but a greater number of volumes have been put into circulation, because a cheaper kind of books have been purchased. The contributions through auxiliaries exceed those of last year. Colportage. The work that appeared most urgent in the numerous counties where there are no auxiliaries, or where those which exist failed to carry out the purpose of their organization, has been accomplished by colporteurs. Eighteen have been employed for different periods of time at the expense of the American Bible Society. This method has proved efficient and economical. During the year the canvass of twenty-three counties has been completed, and every family in them that could be found visited and offered the Scriptures. The amount received by colporteurs, as donations from churches and individuals in aid of this branch of the work, is threefold that of last year. The following summary exhibits the labour performed: Distribution by Pastors.-Supplemental to the auxiliary and colporteur work, consignments of 4,627 volumes of the Holy Scriptures have been made to twenty ministers labouring on missionary ground, to aid them in supplying the destitute on their respective fields. Partial reports from them show that 550 destitute families and over 200 destitute individuals in addition have been supplied on this plan. Pulpit Bibles have been donated to nine mission churches. Sabbath School Supply.--To encourage this department of Christian work, 736 volumes of the Scriptures, valued at $145, have been fur nished to aid needy Sabbath schools, in addition to those distributed through the agencies of the Tract Society and the American Sunday School Union. Through these various channels, the American Bible Society is seeking to give the word of life to the two millions of people in this State, speaking thirteen different languages, occupying a territory embracing ten degrees of latitude and more than thirteen degrees of longitude. The "tread of millions" is heard in the immigration to this vast domain. Texas is the gateway to Mexico. That people within our borders receive the word gladly, and are carrying it beyond the Rio Grande. The freedmen have shared alike with the whites in the work. In some instances special distribution has been made among them. They number about 300,000, all of whom are eager to obtain a copy of God's word. Twenty ecclesiastical bodies visited by your Superintendent during the year expressed their grateful appreciation of the work of the Society, and recommended that annual collections for the Bible cause be taken up in the several churches. Railroad officials, stage proprietors, and the secular press, are cheerfully aiding us in the work. We gladly recognize these favours in behalf of a free and open Bible. The following is a summary of the personal labours of the District Superintendent: Auxiliary and branch societies visited Ecclesiastical bodies visited Sermons and addresses delivered for the Bible cause Official letters sent 66 documents distributed Miles travelled on official duty 82 40 20 Receipts from Texas, $9,212 79. Books sent to Texas, 35,042. UTAH.-In this remote Territory, we have relied, during the past year, chiefly upon pastors and missionaries for distributing the Scriptures. There are only two auxiliaries in the field. Of the 1,265 copies of Scriptures sent into that Territory, 596 copies were grants. The receipts from Utah were $203 45. VIRGINIA.-The Virginia Bible Society was organized three years before the American Bible Society. It has had a useful and honourable history, and in former years contributed liberally to the funds of this Society. On account of the financial depression and the increasing demand for Scriptures to supply the poor and destitute, the Parent Society has continued to make liberal grants of books, which have been judiciously distributed through the agency of this auxiliary, as the following extracts from its last annual report will show : In the providence of God, we have reached the sixty-sixth anniversary of the Virginia Bible Society. In reporting its labours to its friends, we feel that, as a board of managers, our first duty is one of grateful praise to our God for his fostering care of the society thus far. His love inspired its organization and has perpetuated its existence. His love gave the book whose sixtysix parts answer to the years of the history of our society; and his matchless love has, through all these years, wrought in the hearts of multitudes to labour directly and indirectly in its behalf. In the counties bordering on Tennessee and Kentucky the greatest destitution was found. In some parts of these counties one-third of the entire white population was found without a Bible, and in some cases families that had been organized from twenty to thirty years had no copy of the word of God. In the eastern part of the State only one-seventh to one-ninth of the families were found destitute of the Scriptures. The missionary colporteurs have travelled, in the prosecution of their work, about 18,000 miles. They have visited 16,160 families, and found 2,301 of these without a copy of the Bible. They supplied with the Bible, either by sale or donation, 1,949 families, 1,136 individuals, and sixty-eight Sabbath schools, white and coloured. They held religious. meetings in many destitute neighbourhoods, and prayed with many families. They collected, on donation account, $135 21; sold 6,457 volumes, valued at $1,953 87; donated to poor families and Sabbath schools 1,839 volumes, valued at $295 72. If we multiply the families visited by six (the customary estimate), we shall have the grand total of 96,960 people who have been visited by our missionary colporteurs, carrying to them the blessed word of God. We have issued from the depository in Richmond since April, 1878, 18,822 Bibles and Testaments, (6,234 volumes more than last year), valued at $4,309 81, $3,500 of which were generously given us by the American Bible Society, without whose continued aid it would have been impossible for us to have continued the work. Receipts from Virginia, $504 90. Books sent thither, 26,865, of which 26,370 copies were donations. WASHINGTON TERRITORY.-(See Oregon.) WEST VIRGINIA.-Rev. Walter R. Long, of Wheeling, has sent the following encouraging report from his field: My Heavenly Father has vouchsafed to me another year of continued health, unabated strength, and constant activity in the American Bible Society's service in West Virginia. In some repects it has been one of the most toilsome and successful of my whole life. Personal Labours.-I have visited forty-eight auxiliaries; seventeen branch societies and Bible committees; attended twenty-seven anniversaries of auxiliaries; formed three, and reorganized three auxili ary societies and Bible committees; visited eight ecclesiastical bodies; delivered 207 sermons and addresses; written 1,078 letters; distributed 14,249 official documents; travelled 7,389 miles; devoted 270 days abroad in active service, and the residue in office-work at Wheeling. Total receipts for Bibles have been $2,457 67; gratuitious, $1,674 74— quite an advance on the previous year. Besides my regular work, I have visited 1,134 families, finding 240 Protestant and fourteen Catholic destitute; supplied 170 families and nine individuals; supplied the C. & O R. R. cars with fifty-six Bibles; the Wheeling and Cumberland Branch of the B. & O. R. R. with twenty. Auxiliary Work.-The Wheeling and Ohio County and Hampshire County auxiliaries employed each an agent, who were remarkably successful; visiting 6,122 families; finding 920 destitute, and supplying 422 families and twenty-nine individuals. Colportage Work.-Five colporteurs have been employed; two of them only a part of the year, aggregating 773 days of actual service. They sold 3,722 books, donated 891 books; they visited 8,273 families; found destitute 1,475; supplied 1,110, and also 276 individuals; travelled 9,188 miles. This work is assuming a magnitude and importance scarcely second to any other, and is really the only practical and efficient method of reaching the masses of the poor in the missionary sections of this State. Being truly thankful to God, the officers of auxiliaries, to the ministers, churches, and railroad companies of West Virginia, for all their kindness to me, I enter upon another year's labour for the Master with humble reliance upon divine aid for success. Receipts from West Virginia, $4,132 41. Books sent to this State, 11,733 copies. WISCONSIN. (See Michigan.) GENERAL VIEW OF OPERATIONS IN OTHER LANDS. The Constitution under which the Society is organized provides that, according to its ability, it shall extend its influence to other countries, whether Christian, Mohammedan, or Pagan. With such an outlook, large appropriations have been made from year to year, for the express purpose of promoting the circulation of the Holy Scriptures in portions of the earth less favoured than our own; and it must be gratifying to every Christian philanthropist to notice how large a portion of the Scriptures which are yearly circulated by the Society, is in other languages than English. Notwithstanding the vast extent of our own country and the general prevalence of our own familiar tongue, nearly two-fifths of the books circulated by the Society at home and abroad are in foreign languages. The preparation and distribution of Scriptures in other lands are every year becoming more systematic and satisfactory in connection with the Agents employed to devote their time and energies to the work. Dr. Isaac G. Bliss remains in charge of the extensive business of the Turkish agency, assisted by the Rev. Edwin M. Bliss, who during the year has made several long and wearisome journeys, visiting Egypt, Syria, Persia, and the Caucasus. In Greece, Egypt, and Syria, Dr. Bliss has also had special aid from the Rev. M. D. Kalopothakes, Rev. S. C. Ewing, and Rev. E. R. Lewis, M.D. George H. Prince, Esq., of St. Petersburg, has rendered valuable service in superintending the publication and distribution of the Reval-Esthonian Scriptures. Mr. Andrew M. Milne has had oversight of colportage in the Rio Plata agency, and the Rev. A. L. Blackford has been carrying on a similar work in the empire of Brazil, having spent several months of the year in journeys along the eastern coast as far north as Para. Dr. L. H. Gulick, while resident in Yokohama, has divided his time between Japan and China, having visited the latter country twice during 1878. The Board have established an agency in the City of Mexico, through which they hope for a largely increased distribution of Scriptures. Arthur Gore, M.D., was appointed to this agency and occupied the position from July till March. Since his retirement, arrangements have been made to fill the vacancy at an early date, the Rev. Hiram P. Hamilton having been appointed to that post. The cordial co-operation of missionaries in foreign lands in promoting the objects of the Bible Society is highly appreciated. One hundred and thirty-nine colporteurs have been engaged in distributing the Scriptures abroad. The following table contains the principal figures, which have been reported from year to year for a series of years, to show what has been done through the agency of this Society in other lands. The aggregate circulation |