Rufus Anderson,

Ethan Smith,
Sylvester Dana,

From the General Association of
Massachusetts Proper.

From the General Association of
New Hampshire.

The Rev. Andrew Yates was chosen Scribe; the Rev. Elijah Parsons, Moderator; and the Rev. Daniel Dow, assistant Scribe. The certificates of delegation were read, and the Association was opened with prayer by the Moderator.

The Rev. Messrs. Yates, Dow, E. Smith, Anderson, and Potts were appointed a Committee of Overtures.

The Associational sermon was preached by the Rev. William L. Strong, from Isaiah lv. 11.

The Trustees of the Missionary Society of Connecticut made a report of their proceedings during the last year, which was accepted, and is as follows:

Report of the Trustees of the Missionary Society of Connecticut, to said Society, to be convened at Sharon, on the third Tuesday of June, A. D. 1812 :

REVEREND FATHERS AND BRETHREN,

THE Board of missionary trust, in compliance with the Constitution of the Society, which requires an annual report of their doings and of the state of your missions, respectfully submit the following:

The members and friends of this Society are under increased obligations of thanksgiving and praise to God, for the continuance of his gracious smiles upon the interests of the institution. It must be a rich source of consolation and encouragement, to all who feel an interest in the prosperity of religion, to review the origin and growth of this Society, and to notice the numerous tokens of divine favor towards it. Guided by the spirit of wisdom, the venerable founders of the Missionary Society of Connecticut devised measures which were practical. They "despised not the day of small things;" but, animated by that charity which prompts to action, they rejoiced to do the little that was in their power, by personal exertions at home, as well as by missionary labors abroad. Their successors have sought, uniformly, to devise practical measures, such as experience suggested, and have seen them crowned with abundant success. The growth and usefulness of this Society have surpassed the most sanguine expectations of its friends. The character which it sustains, among the people in the new settlements, commands respect for its Missionaries every where; and to HIM who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, would we gratefully ascribe praise, for his guidance of those who have been sent under your patronage to preach the gospel. They have conducted with fidelity and discretion. In all places your Missionaries have been received with joy by the pious; they are generally respected; and from the places they have visited, they return in possession of the esteem and affection of the people.

A particular statement of what was done under your auspices, for the spread and establishment of the gospel in the wilderness, in the course of the year 1811, is contained in our address on missions, published in January 1812. A copy of that address is herewith forwarded to each member of the Society. From the extracts of journals, and of other

communications contained in the address, it appears that the year past has been distinguished with tokens of divine favor towards our missions. Our Missionaries have not only met with a kind reception from the people, but in many places their labors have been signally blessed. The people, like Cornelius the centurion with his friends, were before prepared of the Lord, to hear the gospel at their mouth. Revivals of religion, extensive and numerous beyond any before witnessed in that country, have succeeded their ministrations. Numbers have been induced to abandon their vices and delusions, and to consecrate themselves unto the Lord. The wilderness is made to rejoice, and the solitary places break forth in songs of praise. They bless God for the gospel of his grace, and remember, with peculiar gratitude, the kindness and liberality of the people of this State, in sending this gospel to them. How delightful the thought, that those enriched in the wilderness by this charity, and their benefactors here, shall meet in Heaven in the presence and in the likeness of Jehovah their Redeemer. We have seen much of the blessed fruits of our charity, and shall continue to reap if we faint not.

It is a pleasing testimony of order and purity in which the people are built up, by the Missionaries whom you have sent them, that the holy scriptures are precious to them and greatly desired; also that they furnish themselves with the stated ministry of the word according to their ability. Sensible of the value of the word of life, they are eager to possess it; and feeling the importance of the regular administrations of a pastor, to comfort and edify the church,-to train up the rising generation by suitable instruction in the way they should go,-to protect them against errors and vice, and to gather sinners unto the Saviour, they are anxious to enjoy these advantages, and use their efforts to obtain them. Such fruits afford the highest encouragement to continue and to enlarge our charity towards them. They excite pleasing anticipations of future scenes in those newly inhabited regions.

It will be noticed that although the funds of the Missionary Society are so reduced that only a small sum can be expended annually, to accomplish their object, yet a large number of Missionaries have been employed. This is one fruit of that happy arrangement which the people, in some places in the new countries, have made to support pastors for so much of the year as they are able, and to leave them for the employment of the Missionary Society for the remainder of the year. In this way, men well known and experienced, and who are near the fields of missions, may be employed to the best advantage. It must however be added, that with all these advantages, the missionary labors performed under the auspices of this Society, in the course of the year past, have been comparatively small. From the disbursements of the Treasurer it appears, that we have expended, in the last year, much less than the amount expended annually for several preceding years. Missionary labor, performed in the last year, has been proportionally less than heretofore. The earnest solicitations of the destitute for assistance, and the representations of our Missionaries, setting forth the necessity of an increase of labors, we have heard, but were obliged to pass them by without affording relief, because we are not in possession of the means to do it. To see the sufferings of the needy, and be unable to relieve them, is distressful. The seasonable relief afforded by the Legislature of this State, in permitting contributions to be made annually, in the several Ecclesiastical Societies, for the the term of three years, we would gratefully acknowledge. With high expectations do we anticipate the munificence of the charitable in these contributions, and the joy of gladdening the hearts of multitudes with the fruits of their liberality. The incalculable benefit which the new settlements have derived from this Institution, the gratitude which the inhabitants express for the charity exercised sowards them by the good people of this State, the anxiety experienced

in many places to be favored with aid, their solicitations, their danger from the advocates of error and vice, and above all, the rational prospect of promoting most effectually the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom, these are considerations which are deeply felt by numbers. They are considerations which cannot fail to open the hearts and hands of many in this cause. The solicitations, the entreaties, the wants of the needy shall not plead in vain. On former occasions we have witnessed the liberality of the people. And they have continued to indicate, by private donations, their readiness to give for the spiritual benefit of their fellow men, many of whom are their former neighbors and relations, and for the promotion of Christ's kingdom.

The Rev. Ebenezer Porter, having been called to accept of employment in the church of God, in connection with the Theological Institution in Andover in Massachusetts, has resigned his seat in the Board of Trustees.

We live in a day in which the Christian world is peculiarly engaged to spread the gospel. The important events which have closed the eighteenth, and introduced the nineteenth centuries, the astonishing revolutions which have been effected both in pagan and mahommedan Asia, and the events favorable to the spread of the gospel in other parts of the earth, have excited the attention of Christians every where. The coincidence of these events, with the predictions respecting the end of the 1260 prophetic days, has caused the church to rejoice in the hope that the day of her redemption draweth nigh. In various ways the gospel is sent into different parts of the world. And the attention of the church, both in Europe and America, to the spread of the gospel is daily increasing. Missionary Societies, Bible Societies, associations for the charitable distribution of religious tracts, and other institutions whose object is to disseminate the blessings of grace, are continually forming in Christendom. The Isles which have waited for the salvation of God rejoice in his light. In these auspicious events we all feel a high interest. Faith, hope, and zeal are alive, while we pray that "the heathen may now be given to the Son for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." How desirable to enlarge the field of operations of this Society, and to send faithful Missionaries over all the western world! Could we make every settlement resound with the glad tidings of salvation, could we reach a hand to the perishing savages of our continent, and lead them to the Saviour of sinners, what joy, what delight would it afford! May the time speedily arrive, when to these Gentiles we shall publish the salvation of God, and see them with us disciples of the same Lord and Master. We have reason to hope that he, who hath called up the attention of the church to the state of eastern indians, will not leave the western tribes without help. Their deliverance also is at hand.

The Trustees close this report implering God's presence and blessing upon the Society. May the present meeting be attended with the unc tion of the Spirit, and its counsels most effectually promote the glory of God.

In the name of the Trustees,

Hartford, May 13, 1812.

ABEL FLINT, Secretary.

The following persons were elected Trustees of the Missionary Society of Connecticut, for one year from the first Wednesday of August next, vis. The Hon. John Treadwell, the Hon. Asher Miller, the Hon. Aaron Austin, the Hon Jonathan Brace, Enoch Perkins, Esq. David Hale, Esq. the Rev. Messrs. Nathan Perkins, D. D. Samuel Nott, Calvin Chapin, Moses C. Welch, D. D Andrew Yates, and Samuel Goodrich.

Andrew Kingsbury, Esq. was chosen Treasurer, and the Rev. Abel Flint, Auditor of the Missionary Society of Connecticut, for one year from the first Wednesday of August next.

The Account of the Treasurer of the General Association, as audited, was read and approved.

The Rev. Abel Flint was chosen Treasurer, and the Rev. Andrew Yates, Auditor of the General Association, for the year eneuing.

The Delegates to the several ecclesiastical bodies in connection with the General Association, viz. to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, to the General Convention of Vermont, and to the General Associations of Massachusetts Proper and New Hampshire, made their reports which were accepted.

Voted, That the gentlemen chosen substitutes, in the place of the several Commissioners, delegated to the several ecclesiastical bodies, connected with this Association, be, hereafter, considered as Commissioners during the year following that in which they shall be chosen, without any new appointment, unless they shall have already taken their seats in said bodies, have resigned their office, been removed by death, or vacated it in some other manner.

The Rev. Messrs. Joseph W. Crossman, Roswell R. Swan, and Andrew Yates were chosen substitutes to the Rev. Messrs. Lyman Beecher, Abel M'Ewen, and William Robinson, Delegates to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, to convene in Philadelphia, the third Thursday of May, 1813.

The Rev. Messrs. Henry A. Rowland and Diodate Brockway were chosen substitutes to the Rev. Messrs. Abel Flint and Daniel Dow, Delegates to the General Association of New Hampshire, to convene at Hollis, the third Tuesday of September next.

The Rev. Messrs. Royal Tyler and David L. Perry were chosen substitutes to the Rev. Messrs. Diodate Brockway and Noah Porter, Delegates to the General Association of Massachusetts Proper, to convene in June, 1813.

The Rev. Daniel Crocker was chosen substitute to the Rev. Jonathan Miller, Delegate to the General Convention of Vermont, to convene at Westminster the second Tuesday of September next.

Voted, That the Scribe annex to the names of the Delegates the time and place of annual meeting agreed on by the several ecclesiastical bodies respectively, to which these delegates are sent.

WEDNESDAY, June 17.

The Committee appointed" to correspond and act in concert with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, and with any persons who may be appointed, or associated, for the purpose of devising measures, which may have influence in preventing some of the numerous and threatening mischiefs, which are experienced throughout our country, by the excessive and intemperate use of spirituous liquors," reported by their Chairman.

The Rev. Messrs. Beecher, Dutton, Clark, Armstrong, E. Smith, and Crocker, were appointed a Committee, to take the above na

med report into consideration, and from its contents, together with such other information as they may receive, devise some practical measures to restrain the excessive and intemperate use of ardent spirits, which measures may be recommended to the friends of religion and morals, and to make report to this body.

The several district Associations, in compliance with the request of the General Association, "to ascertain the number of persons, within their respective limits, who are deaf and dumb,→→ of what age thy are, of which sex,-whether they were born so, or became so by disease, and at what age they became so, and of what disease; and to make report at this session, designating in their reports the towns in which such persons live," exhibited their reports.

The Rev. Jehu Clark was appointed to examine those reports, and report to this body a summary of the same.

The Committee, appointed" to enquire into the proceedings of the Consociation of Tolland County on the 16th of April, 1811, &c." made a report which was accepted, as follows:

To the General Association of Connecticut, to be convened at Sharon, the third Tuesday of June, 1812:

THE Committee, appointed by the last General Association "to inquire into the proceedings of the Consociation of Tolland county, on the 16th day of April," 1811,"relative to the existing differences between the Rev. Abiel Abbot and the church in the first society in Coventry; and also into the proceedings of the council, which met on the same subject, on the 5th day of June," the same year," and to report a statement of said proceedings to the next General Association," respectfully submit the following:

1. For the purpose of laying before the General Association the most correct view of the whole subject, the committee apprehend, that a brief recurrence to facts of the last century will be necessary. By these the General Association will perceive, whether the Tolland Consociation was regularly formed, and whether the first church in Coventry is a member of that body.

The county of Tolland was formed in 1785. The churches in that county had been consociated with Hartford North, with Windham, and with Hartford South, according to their respective locations.

The first church in Coventry had been a member of the Consociation in Windham county. This is proved by the oral testimony of witnesses now living, and of the first respectability.

The proof is confirmed by written documents which seem indisputable. About the year 1760, difficulties existed between members of the first church in Coventry, and the Rev. Oliver Noble, their pastor. The following extract from the records of Windham Association affords evidence, satisfactory it is believed, that, for the settlement of those difficulties, the church proceeded, and was considered and treated, as a member of Consociation.

"At an Association of the ministers of the county of Windham, at Windham, first parish, May 21st, 1760:

"The Association being requested to advise, Whether it be expedient, that the Consociation of the county should be called together to consider and judge of some matters of grievance alleged by a member of the first church and society in Coventry against their pastor, the Rev.