Resolved unanimously :

1. That this meeting declares its unshaken confidence in the integrity and ability of the Directors and Public Officers of the London Missionary Society. That the wisdom and zeal, with which its measures are pursued, are deserving of the warmest admiration and approval; and that the carefully-formed judgment of its general economy, by a respectable Committee appointed to investigate and to report upon this very thing, entitles the Executive of this Society to public confidence and favour.

JAMES MONTGOMERY, Chairman.

Meeting of the AUXILIARY MISSIONARY SOCIETY, Zion Chapel, Stafford, March 29, 1847,

Resolved unanimously :

1. That this meeting having read and maturely considered Dr. Reed's various "Appeals to the Constituency of the London Missionary Society," containing charges against his co-Directors, and aspersions relative to the Secretaries; having carefully examined the calin and dignified "Replies" published by the Directors; and being possessed of sufficient evidence to form a clear and decisive judgment respecting the merits of this painful controversy; hereby express surprise and grief at Dr. Reed's charges, which are mere insinuations, unsupported by evidence, but so constructed as to produce popular effect, to mislead the unwary, and inflict a severe wound on a most useful Institution. This meeting, at the same time, expresses its unshaken confidence in the Directors, and entire satisfaction with the steps pursued by them respecting Tahiti, China, and the Jubilee Fund. It sincerely sympathises with the Secretaries, under the wanton, unjust, and ungenerous attacks they have been called to suffer, and it earnestly prays that they may be long spared to aid with their counsel and efforts the Direction of the London Missionary Society, and find their reward in the continued confidence of its Constituency, in the success of the measures which they initiate and conduct, and in an "approving conscience and an approving God."

JOHN CRITCHLEY, Chairman.
JOHN GILL, Secretary.

BRISTOL AUXILIARY.

At a Meeting of the Committee, held this day, at the Eye Institution, Bristol, April 9, 1847,

It was resolved,

1. That this Committee records its deep sympathy with the Directors and Secretaries of the London Missionary Society, in the painful circumstances in which they have been placed; and its unabated confidence in the integrity, discretion, and zeal with which they discharge their onerous duties.

RICHARD ASH, Chairman.

At the Annual Meeting of the MELTON MOWBRAY BRANCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY, held on the Evening of April 2, 1847,

Mr. Alderman NUNNELEY, of Leicester, in the Chair;
Resolved unanimously

:

1. That this meeting, sympathising with the Directors in the unprovoked and unjust attack made upon them by the Rev. Dr. Reed, would affectionately express to them its entire confidence in their measures, and would sincerely thank them for their laborious services in conducting the affairs of the Society, and for

the Christian-like manner in which they have met, and most satisfactorily refuted, the charges of their accuser.

THOMAS NUNNELEY, Chairman.

Similar testimonials of confidence in the Directors, and attachment to the Society, have been received from the Associations generally throughout the Metropolis and its vicinity, which, for want of space, are reluctantly omitted.

The friends of the Society will also be gratified by the perusal of the follow. ing perspicuous document, with its appended Resolutions, as amply sustaining the preceding testimonials; being the REPORT of a SELECT COMMITTEE, convened in pursuance of a Resolution of the Board of Directors, dated March 22, 1847, and invited by the following Circular :

"London Missionary Society,

"Mission-House, Blomfield-street, Finsbury, March 30th, 1847. "Dear Sir,-You are doubtless aware that certain grave charges have lately been published against the Directors of the London Missionary Society in relation to the administration of its finances. Conscious of their own integrity in the matter, and of the diligence with which they have endeavoured to fulfil the trust committed to them, they invited, last year, a Special Committee to examine the state and prospects of the Society, and to report the result of their investigations to their Constituents. This Report was made at the Annual Meeting last May; and the Directors have reason to think, that it was deemed, throughout the country, satisfactory and conclusive. But charges have been recently advanced as though no such Investigation had taken place, and no such Report presented.

"Under these circumstances, and with a view of affording renewed satisfaction to the friends and supporters of the Institution, the Directors again invite a Meeting of the Representatives of the principal Auxiliary Societies, for purposes similar to those for which the Committee sat last May. And, with a view of rendering their proceedings as impartial and unembarrassed as possible, they decline to invite any of the gentlemen who attended last year,—inasmuch as they have already expressed and published their opinion; and, therefore, restrict their present invitation to other Representatives of their principal Constituencies both in town and country.

"The Directors earnestly and respectfully invite you to attend on the occasion. Wednesday, the 14th of April, is the day fixed on for the Meeting of the Committee, and it is contemplated that the business will not detain you more than a day.

"The Directors trust you will kindly make an effort to be present, and they feel assured that you will cheerfully render this assistance, when the vital interests of our honoured Institution are placed in danger by representations which the Directors must think are as unfair as they are uncalled for.

"I am, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours,
(Signed)
Jos. JNO. FREEMAN."

In compliance with this invitation, the following gentlemen assembled at the Mission-house, on Wednesday, the 14th of April, at ten o'clock in the forenoon; and, after a prolonged sitting, by adjournment, on the following day, at the same hour :

W. D. Alexander, Esq., London; W. T. Blair, Esq., Bath; H. Buchan, Esq., Southampton; A. M. Bidgood, Esq, London; T. Beilby, Esq., Birmingham;

John Burd, Esq., Alderman, Manchester; F. W. Cobb, Esq., Margate; Christopher Godwin, Esq., Bristol; J. Hodgson, Esq., Bakewell; C. Hindley, Esq., M.P., London; W. Jones, Esq., Portsea; A. Levett, Esq., Hull; R. Morley, Esq., Nottingham; W. Ridley, Esq., Felstead; W. Seymour, Esq., Odiham; W. Stancliffe, Esq., Hopton, Yorkshire; Joseph Trueman, Esq., London; W. C. Wells, Esq., Chelmsford.

C. HINDLEY, Esq., M.P., in the Chair.

T. M. Coombs, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Directors; Frederick Smith, Esq., Member of the Finance Committee; and the Secretaries of the Society; attended to give all the information which the Committee might require. The Rev. John Kennedy, A. M., of Stepney, was invited by the Committee to act as Minute Secretary.

At the close of its sittings, the Committee resolved unanimously to report as follows:

I. FOREIGN EXPENDITURE.

The Committee directed its attention, in the first place, to the expenditure of the Society in its various fields of Missionary labour, including Polynesia, India, China, South Africa, and the West Indies.

After a lengthened and careful examination of the disbursements as stated in the Report for 1845-6, and receiving explanations in answer to the inquiries suggested by these disbursements, the Committee were unable to detect anything approaching to extravagance; while in several cases their impression was, that the limited resources of the Society had compelled the Directors to reduce the Expenditure to an extent which no other consideration would justify.

II.-EXPENSES OF RETURNED MISSIONARIES AND OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS. The Committee observe, that in 1845-6, the sum of 4,0877. 17s. Id. was expended on the passage of Missionaries and Families homeward, and their support while in this country. The Committee learned that the Missionaries so supported,* returned home only under circumstances of the most urgent necessity on the ground of health, which were certified by competent Medical Authority, and approved by the respective District Committees. While in this country they are fully and usefully occupied in visiting Congregations and Auxiliaries, to sustain and increase an interest in the great cause of Missions.

In regard to the sum of 1,4021. 8s. 7d. expended in the support of the Widows and Orphans of Missionaries, the only feeling of the Committee was one of deep regret, that the Funds of the Society do not admit of a more liberal expenditure in this department.

III. HOME EXPENSES.

After examining these expenses in detail, the Committee were of opinion that the following plain statement of facts would present, to the Constituents of the Society, the most satisfactory and conclusive evidence on the entire case.

1. PUBLICATIONS.-The sale of the Society's various Publications produces the large sum of 3,2671. 3s. 3d.,-a fact highly gratifying, as evincing the interest which the Christian Public, and especially the Juvenile Classes, feel in the Society's operations; leaving the very moderate balance of 8171. 2s. 11d., as the entire charges on the Funds of the Society, for the printing of the Annual Report,

* The foreign Salaries of the Missionaries cease on leaving their Station.

and other Publications, to which the numerous Members of the Society are entitled.

2. SALARIES.-The Committee, having fully investigated the duties of the Secretaries, were strongly convinced, that they are most onerous, and most efficiently performed, and very moderately remunerated. The Committee were equally satisfied that the duties of the Subordinate Officers in the Mission-house were faithfully and efficiently discharged, and that these Officers were by no means overpaid.

In the investigation of this department of Expenditure, the Committee ascertained, with much satisfaction, that while the Society's Foreign Operations, and the number of their Agents have been more than doubled, the expenses of conducting the Foreign Department are less at the present time than they were twenty years since; and that, in reference to the Home Department, although the Society's Income, Correspondence, and Agency, have more than doubled during the same period, the increase of Expenditure has been comparatively small. It is only proper to state in connection with this part of the Report, that the Committee learned that the Rev. William Ellis, the former Foreign Secretary of the Society, three years since, generously relinquished an annual allowance which had been voted to him by the Board during the period of his incapacity for public labour,—an incapacity which had been produced by his unwearied and abundant service in promoting the interests of that Institution.

3. TRAVELLING AGENCY.-This branch of the Society's operations, which involves an expenditure of 8557. 11s., was adopted, after extensive correspondence with the friends of the Society in the country, and the maturest consideration on the part of the Directors. It appears to the Committee to have been fully justified by the experience of other Missionary Institutions, and they anticipate from it the highest advantages.

4. TRAVELLING EXPENSES OF MINISTERS, MISSIONARIES, AND AGENTS IN THE SERVICE OF THE SOCIETY.-These Expenses, amounting to 1,3237. 17s., were incurred by Deputations invited by the Auxiliaries, or employed in their service, and for a great part paid by the Treasurers of the Auxiliaries, without passing through the hands of the Directors at all.

5. On an examination of the remaining details of expenditure, amounting to 1,1997. 12s. 9d., under the head of Sundries, the Committee could not discover any item in which a reduction was practicable.

This total includes an annuity of 1307. per annum to a former Officer of the Society, after forty years' service-(twenty of which were gratuitous.)

Besides rates, taxes, stationery, &c., amounting to about. 160 The Committee, after careful consideration of the whole subject, feel themselves warranted in expressing their solemn conviction that the whole cost of the management of the Society is as moderate as could be expected, and will bear a comparison with that of any other Institution of a kindred nature in this country.

IV.

The Committee then turned its attention to the anticipated diminution in the Society's Expenditure, as announced at the Annual Meeting of the Society last

year by a Special Committee, which the Directors had invited from various parts of the country, to examine its financial condition; and beg to offer the following explanation:

In May, 1845, the Directors appointed a Committee of their own number to examine the Finances of the Society, and the following is an extract from the Minutes of that Committee :

"Section VII.-The Committee having carefully examined the principal Branches of Expenditure, both Home and Foreign, have ascertained that, in the event of the recommendations now presented to the Board being approved and adopted, the following reductions will be ultimately effected in the Society's Annual Expenditure :—

These reductions were anticipated on the following grounds :

In South Africa it was hoped that the Churches would be able, after a limited time, to effect so much more towards their own support as to save the sum of 1,5007. per annum to the Society.

The amount of expenditure to be diminished under the respective heads of Demerara, Berbice, and Jamaica, referred to the outlay which had been required for the erection of Chapels, Schools, &c., and which, as being nearly completed, would, it was hoped, occasion for the future so much less demand on the Society's Funds.

The sum under the head of South Seas, was, for the greater part, on the Ship Account, and was peculiar to that year.

The unusually large expenses in 1844-5, charged under the head of the "Passage homeward and Landing of Missionaries," arose mainly from the return of the Missionaries from Tahiti.

The reduction in India was expected to arise in great part from ceasing to supplement the support of schools which are partially but not wholly provided for by Special Contributions.

The diminution of Expenditure anticipated on these grounds was calculated on the disbursements of the year ending March 31, 1845, and consisted, it will be observed, for a great part, of items which were not likely to recur. It was not a reduction proposed by the Select Committee, which was convened from various parts of the country in May last, and which made its Report to the Annual Meeting (1846,) but had been projected several months previously by a Committee of the London Directors appointed by the Board, as already stated, in May 1845. The use of the term "reduction," in the Minute quoted above, and in subsequent documents, seems to this Committee somewhat unfortunate or inapplicable. It was not a reduction properly so called, but simply a diminution of expenditure