ferring from the permanent to the current fund, all sums not given expressly to the former. The committee reported in favor of the transfer, and their report was adopted.* In consequence of this decision, eight thousand one hundred and twenty dollars have been transferred to the current fund, which was the amount found, upon careful investigation, to be at the disposal of the Board. There is now, not a dollar of permanent fund belonging to the Society, over which the Directors have any discretionary power.

Scholarship Permanent Fund.

It has received

The scholarship fund is differently situated. its permanent character from the founders. The intelligent and liberal contributors to this fund thought it important that a society on whose success interests of immense magnitude are depending, should be placed upon a permanent basis; they had observed with regret how precarious had been the support given to this particular object of benevolence; and they saw the necessity of more vigilant attention to the character of applicants than was likely to be rendered while the executive officers and agents were obliged to consume their time and efforts in providing the means of supporting those under their patronage; and, for these reasons, they determined to establish foundations, the income of which should enable the Directors to bring forward a succession of young men without the hazard of great pecuniary embarrassment. While the Directors have allowed to these considerations their due weight, they have not wished to render the Society independent of public opinion, nor of public support. They have been satisfied that the responsibility should rest with the giver, of judging to what class of funds a donation shall belong. For the same reason, they have consented to transfer donations from the scholarship to the current fund, when requested by the donors. The treasurer's report shows that above three thousand dollars have been transferred the past year.

Appropriations reduced.

It was stated in the last Annual Report, that it had been determined to appropriate the same sum to young men in every stage of their education, and that, in consequence, the grants in the first

stage would be raised from forty-eight to seventy-five dollars per annum. It was hoped that this measure would obviate difficulties existing in particular portions of the country, without producing any injurious consequences to the young men themselves. The Directors are convinced, after a suitable trial, that the former rule of appropriation is the best, and have therefore voted to return to it, after October next, so far as relates to young men in the first stage of education, under the immediate patronage of the Parent Society, and of such Branch Societies as shall concur in this measure. The amount paid the last year, beyond what would have been necessary, had the former rate of appropriations continued, is two thousand six hundred and seventy-two dollars; while the amount earned is less, in proportion to the whole number assisted, than in the preceding year. It is a truth verified by all experience, that human effort is called forth by nothing so effectually as by the pressure of necessity. While it is incumbent on the Directors of Education Societies to remove burdens too heavy to be borne, it is most manifestly their duty to leave unimpaired the motives to vigorous effort, and to unshrinking self-denial. The facilities for self-support which are now afforded in seminaries where manual labor is combined with study, render it perfectly practicable for any young man of industrious and economical habits to pursue his studies advantageously with such assistance as this Society proposes to lend him. If there were no reason for limiting appropriations but this, that it will encourage young men to go where regular exercise will promote health of body, and vigor of mind, at the same time that it will lessen the expense of an education, this would be sufficient. The best of all methods of aiding the indigent scholar, is to place him in circumstances where he may effectually help himself. If every dollar loaned or given, can be made in his hands, and by his exertions, to produce two dollars, the favor conferred upon him will be doubly valuable.

Agents.

The agents who were mentioned in the last Report as being in the employment of the Society, have, with one exception, continued their services through the year; and it is owing in no small degree to their unwearied and successful efforts that the Society has attained to its present prosperous state in regard to funds.

The Rev. William Cogswell, General Agent for New England, has given strength and activity to the operations of the Society, in this portion of the country, beyond what has ever before been witnessed. He has visited every State in New England, except Vermont, during the year; engaged extensively in the business of raising funds; and organized, with the aid of a few associates, sixteen auxiliary societies. The Board of Directors cannot forbear to express their high sense of the value of the services which Mr. Cogswell has rendered to the cause of the American Education Society, in every place which he has visited. For these reasons, it has been thought proper to commit the entire work of raising funds in New England, to his supervision, and they have instructed him to carry into execution the system of organization which he has commenced with a fair prospect of increasing the resources of the Society.

The agents associated with Mr. Cogswell during a part of the year, have been, the Rev. John K. Young, who, having rendered important aid to the Society in the States of New Hampshire and Connecticut, resigned his agency;-the Rev. Henry Little, who visited Worcester County, Mass. ;-and the Rev. George A. Calhoun, of Coventry, Connecticut, who spent a few weeks in Maine, and organized an auxiliary society.

In the month of October last, Mr. Little was directed to visit the Western country. He has labored in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. From information received, there is reason to believe that his exertions have prepared the way for extensive good.

The Rev. Ansel R. Clark, who was mentioned in the last Report as having been instrumental of forming a Branch Society in the Western Reserve, Ohio, has been appointed by the Board, with the concurrence of the Branch Society, Permanent Agent, with a view to his laboring in that part of the State, and in the adjoining territory of Michigan. Mr. Clark was enabled to form an auxiliary society in Michigan, in the early part of the year; after which, he attended the annual meetings of various ecclesiastical bodies, and took measures for prosecuting his agency in Ohio and Kentucky. Wherever he has labored, he has had the satisfaction of witnessing results highly favorable to the cause of the Society.

Necessity of Agents.

Notwithstanding all which has been said respecting the expense of employing special agents to raise funds, no method has yet been devised, as a substitute, upon which benevolent societies can rely with any confidence. Experience shows, that without such agents it is impracticable to organize the community efficiently for the purposes of benevolence; or when organized, to call forth its resources statedly and permanently, in aid of objects depending upon popular support. The expense which attends the employment of agents is no valid objection, so long as it appears that the highest interests of these Societies are promoted by it, more fully than in any other way. If the object itself is great enough, and good enough, to deserve and to demand the united exertions of the community, true economy, no less than wisdom and fidelity, require that those measures be taken which are likely to promote its interests in the most effectual manner. If in such cases it be alleged that societies are too poor to support agents, the answer is, They are too poor to do without them. Until a more excellent way' is ascertained by actual experiment, no speculations, however ingenious, can weigh against the evidence of facts.

Western Agency.

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The Western Agency established at Cincinnati in Ohio, has continued in active operation during the year. The Rev. Franklin Y. Vail, Secretary to the Agency, has felt it to be his duty to leave his office for a few months, to engage in another kindred object of benevolence, during which time he has received no compensation from this Society; but notwithstanding this interruption, he has raised a number of scholarships, obtained other donations, and in other ways promoted the interests of the Society, in the wide field which he occupies.

Operations of Branch Societies.

The following table exhibits the operations of Branch Societies, and of the Western Agency; including funds appropriated by the Branch Societies, or remitted by the Parent Society to supply their deficiencies during the year; together with the number of young men assisted by each Branch Society respectively.

8 Branches and 1 Agency. 361 19,888 00 12,350 73 7,537 27 2,500 00

Illinois Branch.

A Branch Society has been formed during the year in the State of Illinois. Such is the rapidity with which all institutions for diffusing knowledge and religion are rising in that fertile portion of the West, and so numerous is the population likely to become, in consequence of emigrations from the Eastern and other States, that no doubt can be entertained of the importance of this Branch Society. A number of young men are already under its patronage in the college at Jacksonville.

Auxiliaries recognized.

The Miami Presbytery, in Ohio, having voted to become auxiliary to the American Education Society, has been duly recognized and also the Franklin County Education Society in Massachusetts, which, until the past year, conducted its operations under an independent form.

Re-organization of the Presbyterian Branch.

An arrangement has recently been made with the Presbyterian Branch for a re-organization of that important Society, by which it will hereafter conduct its operations upon a more extended scale, and take the general oversight of the affairs of the American Education Society out of New England. The particulars of this arrangement will be found in the Appendix of this Report.* The principles and rules of the American Education Society, as they now exist, or as they may be altered, hereafter, with the concurrence of the Presbyterian Society, will constitute still, the basis