ising of speedy results as now; the Bohemian work is fast ripening, but with no less need of aid at present; the problem of the Welsh churches seems to go steadily on towards solution; with all, the wide fields beyond never called more loudly for harvesting. All these things call for larger plans, more work, increased offerings, a deepening sense of responsibility and privilege. Have we come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

ILLINOIS HOME MISSIONARY.

Rev. EDWARD P. GOODWIN, D.D., President; Rev. JAMES TOMPKINS, Secretary; AARON B. MEAD, Esq., Treasurer. Office in Chicago.

The Receipts of this Auxiliary for Home Missions, within the year ending March 31st, were......

$17,111 16

4,676 75

The National Society received from churches and individuals in Illinois, for the national work, within the year ending March 31st.....

Total amount raised in the State, in cash, for Home Missions..... $21,787 91 The Auxiliary expended on its own field for missionary labor and expenses, within the year ending March 31st...

The Auxiliary paid into the treasury of the National Society, in cash, for the national work, by request of donors, within the year ending March 31st.....

16,810 36

225 00

Says Secretary Tompkins in his report: "Fifty missionaries aside from State evangelists have been engaged in labor during the whole or some portion of the year. Forty-five of them were regularly commissioned, and five of them have been employed in special services without commission. These have ministered regularly to fifty-eight churches and twenty-nine destitute communities where we have no church organizations; making eighty-seven communities which have been served by our missionary pastors.

"Seven State evangelists or general missionaries have been under commission during the whole or a portion of the year. These served sixtyfour months including the period of their vacation. They visited ninetyeight different places in most of them holding a series of meetings varying in length from a few days to six weeks. Twenty of the places visited were destitute of a church organization at the time of the visit. Of the seventy-eight churches in which they labored thirty-two were pastorless. Nine churches have been organized in the destitute communities in which they have labored. Six other churches have been organized in the State during the year. Three of the new churches are among our immigrant population, namely, one German, one Scandinavian and one Bohemian.

"With the close of the present year we round out the first decade of this Society as an independent auxiliary. Thankfully we record the fact that it has been the best year in its history.

"The largest amount ever raised in the State for the cause of Home Mis

sions has been secured this year, and the largest amount which has been devoted to the national work outside the State has been sent to the treasury this year. But better than these is the fact that more earnest work has been performed and higher spiritual results achieved than in any previous year."

WISCONSIN HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

REV. CHARLES H. RICHARDS, D.D., President; Rev. THOMAS G. GRASSIE, Milwaukee, Secretary; R. A. MCCULLOUGH, Esq., Milwaukee, Treasurer.

The Receipts of this Auxiliary for Home Missions, within the year

959 12

The National Society received from churches and individuals in Wisconsin, for the national work, within the year ending March 31st... Total amount raised in the State, in cash, for Home Missions..... $11,917 48 The Auxiliary expended on its own field, for missionary labor and expenses, within the year ending February 29th.....

11,249 95 Secretary Grassie, in his report, says, "The number of churches aided during the year, including North Wisconsin, has been eighty. The number of missionaries employed, seventy-one. The latter have performed an aggregate of fifty-three years labor in these churches, and in fortythree out-stations. This is an increase from last year of nine churches aided and seventeen missionaries employed. Seven new churches have been formed, namely: Ashland; Baldwin; Dousman; Eagle River; Lynxville; Tomahawk, and West Superior. Four of these have already built and are occupying good houses of worship, and the others have the work of building in hand.

Throughout the State, from Lake Superior to the Illinois line, there are multitudes of communities where the religious destitution demands the planting of churches, and only the lack of funds and of ministers to sustain prevents our entering them.

"A very important part of the work in our State is the resuscitation of lapsed churches. When the State assumed self-support more than sixty, over a half, of its home missionary churches were pastorless, some of them far gone: had been without preaching for years; congregations had long been disbanded; Sunday-schools were gone; records lost; meeting-houses dilapidated. It is not necessary to look for the cause of this melancholy condition further than to mention lack of home missionary funds to sustain the work. We are taking hold of these churches one by one as our treasury will permit, and bringing the dead to life.

"The Society has continued the employment of evangelistic services among our churches. The Rev. George W. Nelson has been engaged therein the most of the year, and has rendered invaluable service in revi

vals. We are more and more satisfied that rightly used this is a most valuable agency in home missionary administration.

"Our work among the Scandinavians is growing. The policy of receiving Swedish free churches into organic union with our denomination as a condition of their receiving our aid has been carried out with the result of establishing a good understanding between those churches and our own. They respect our position and approve the reasonableness of it. In no case has a church declined our condition, but five of them have voted after full discussion to apply for admission to our Convention, and have been received. These churches are intelligent and earnestly evangelical, and seem exceedingly gratified at having come into the full fellowship of our denomination. During the year now reported we have had six Scandinavian missionaries and we are extending operations among this most admirable and interesting people. No class of foreigners is more welcome to Wisconsin.

NORTH WISCONSIN.

REV. GEORGE A. HOOD, Ashland, Superintendent.

The eight congregations and eight missionaries of last year have grown to twenty-five congregations, served by eighteen missionaries, including five students and two temporary men. Churches have been organized at West Superior, Eagle River, Ashland and Tomahawk. Two pastors have been ordained and recognized. Washburn, by mill failure for $500,000, was so depressed as to call for aid at the last of the year. Says Superintendent Hood: "In the development of the material resources, the anticipations of last year are being realized, and the immense wealth of nature is being turned into money as fast as practicable. Towns have grown, railways have been built; the blast furnaces, charcoal kilns, elevators and docks, have begun operations as expected, and new projects are opening. New mines are opened, and the shipments of '87 were nearly double those of '86, though the freights took most of the profit. The two famous seaboard railway lines have finished "racing for the Soo;" the Minneapolis road reaches out for the riches of the West, connects with the Canadian Pacific, and unloads its cars into the ocean steamers. The Duluth road will do the same with the stock and grain of the Northern Pacific country. Three east and west lines bind North Wisconsin and North Michigan together, and suggest one large, rich, mining and lumber State, with rich soil opening to a mighty population. Six north and south railways run from Lake Superior to Chicago; five others are now coming, making fourteen main lines in all.

In towns where we have churches, one of 7,000 population, January 1887, grew to 14,000 by January, 1888. Another of 1,000 to 3,500 within the same time. Both with brick blocks, hotels, and street cars. Another of 1,200 to 3,500; one of 800 to 1,800. One town, where the first train arrived in September, grew to 700 before winter, and several new smaller

K

towns have begun sawing the pine, so the prophecies of the last report have been fulfilled and the prophets are still prophesying.

In spiritual work we have not been able to find the men to secure the expected results, and where we have had a minister he has been hindered by lack of a home. It is harder to secure results in this lumber and mining region than in a farming population. Everybody is here for wealth and not for health, spiritual or physical. Church prosperity must be forced. The successful minister must have a heart full of enthusiasm, good sense and business energy, a head full of good orthodox sermons, a good delivery, a face full of smiles, pleasant words for every one on his lips, acts always cordial and brotherly to all, the whole operated by the power of the Holy Ghost. For lack of such, towns have been entirely destitute of Sabbath services, and other denominations have entered and divided our work. This is one great necessity--the other is churches and parsonages; for these we this year must earnestly work and pray.

IOWA HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Rev. TRUMAN O. DOUGLASS, Grinnell, Secretary; J. H. MERRILL, Esq., Des Moines, Treasurer.

The Receipts of this Auxiliary for Home Missions, within the year end

ing February 29th, were:

From churches and individuals....

From Legacies...

$11,584 66 300 00

$11,884 66

The National Society received from churches and individuals in Iowa, for the national work, within the year ending March 31st..

1,085 54

Total amount raised in the State, in cash, for Home Missions..... $12,970 20 The Auxiliary expended on its own field, for missionary labor and expenses, within the year ending February 29th......

12,265 99 This Society had in its employ, during the whole or a part of the year, seventy-six missionaries, the aggregate of whose time of service was fifty-one years and eleven months. Two of these missionaries were evangelists, three of them were pastors at large engaged to supply pastorless churches and do general and evangelistic work. The number of churches which had the services of these missionaries was 100. Seventy-six of them have missionary pastors, twelve of them were supplied regularly by the pastors at large, and twelve of them were self-supporting churches which were greatly blessed by the labors of our Home Missionary evangelists. Five of the churches were organized within the year, viz: Allison, Elma, Green Island, Sioux City, Mayflower, and Talmage; and a number of out-stations will soon be organized into churches. Secretary Douglass, in continuing his report, says: "It was a hard year financially. We had a dry season and poor crops; a heavy emigration of our moneyed men to California and elsewhere, and an unusual number of churches had local enterprises on hand. Nevertheless we raised and expended for the State work more than a thousand dollars above any former year. New

fountains of benevolence were discovered and opened. Our churches are slowly but surely learning to ‘abound in this grace also.'

"During the year it has seemed unusually difficult to secure ministers for our home missionary fields, but still our missionary forces have been enlarged. More fields have been occupied and more work done than in any previous year since the Society was organized. It has not, been a year of church planting although a few churches have been organized, and new missions started which will soon double up into churches. has been rather a year of growth for the churches, especially for the younger churches already established.

It

"Iowa is a good State. We accept the title given us, the Massachusetts of the West.' Prohibition does prohibit. We are not cursed with large cities, nevertheless we see confronting us all the perils that threaten the nation. The boom and rush of immigration are not here but in the region beyond. The State, however, is gradually filling up, and, for the most part, with a people who have come to stay, and who welcome the institutions of the Gospel. With money and missionaries enough we might soon double our work."

MARYLAND, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, VIRGINIA, TENNESSEE, AND GEORGIA.

Thirteen missionaries and one teacher have been under commission during the whole or a part of the year, viz.:

MARYLAND.--Rev. William C. Jones, at Frostburg, with Ocean Mines and Alleghany as out-stations, was in service nine months of the year. He reported 60 church members and 158 in the Sunday-school.

A new field was opened at Baltimore and designated as the "Pilgrim Mission." The services of the Rev. R. J. Thomas have been secured and the indications of success are most encouraging.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.-The Tabernacle Church at Washington assumed self-support October 1, 1887. The pastor, Rev. William C. Scofield, reported 53 church members and 200 scholars in the Sundayschool.

Rev. Charles H. Small, at Mt. Pleasant, continued his labors during the year and reports 39 church members, including 10 additions, and 115 in the Sunday-school.

VIRGINIA.-Rev. Frederick W. Tuckerman, at Falls Church, with Merrifield as an out-station, reports 67 church members, including 11 additions, and two Sunday-schools with a membership of 90.

Rev. Jason K. Mason, D.D., at Herndon, reports 81 church members, including 14 additions, and 120 scholars in the Sunday-school. Rev. J. C. Wilson was engaged for four months, one of the last year, in missionary service at Natural Bridge.

TENNESSEE.

Rev. Edmund L. Hood closed his labors early in the year with the Pilgrim Congregational Church at Knoxville, and was suc