Our Annual Meeting in the Broadway Church, Norwich, awakened, in the minds of many, encouraging comparison with the Anniversary of this Association held in the same place 19 years ago. It was in the fall of 1861. Our country was just settling into the heavy tug of war. And yet one of the headings of the Annual Report was: “Enlargement demanded.” See how God has fulfilled that aspiration in the enlargement of our finances, of our constituency, of our field, of our work. The $51,819 of that year, upon the recommendation of the Boston Council in 1865, came up to $250,000 and $3,000 more, and the average of these fifteen years has been that same sum, $253,000. All the work we then had at the South, the very first of the kind that was done, was that of the one missionary and one teacher among the 1,800 “contrabands,” who at that point had pressed through our lines. But the men of that meeting, believing that the day of freedom was at hand, and praying,—in the words of one of Governor Buckingham’s State papers—that “the country might be carried through the crisis in such a manner as should forever check the spirit of anarchy, bring peace to a distracted people, and preserve, strengthen and perpetuate our National Union,” did solemnly and grandly resolve “to follow the armies of the United States with faithful missionaries and teachers”. You know how this Association did follow those armies across the sunny South, and how it turned its own forces into an army of occupation, until its field became identical with the realm of our national flag. Now this marvelous enlargement, attained within less than two decades, has brought us to “the cross of our success.” Shall we take up that cross? Shall we consecrate ourselves to bear the burden of obligation which this extension of our work lays upon us? May we discern this call of God for enlargement, even as did the good men of that day? The chief officers of this Association, the President, Rev. David Thurston, the Treasurer, Lewis Tappan, with his brother Arthur, the Secretaries, George Whipple and S. S. Jocelyn, now on high, were all here on this platform, bearing up against the discouragements of the way, and by their great faith inciting the people to “go forward.” “The workers die, but God carries on the work.” * * * * * A SUGGESTION—FINANCIAL. We have passed another milestone in our work. The reports and extracts from addresses made at the recent annual meeting, and placed before our constituents in this double number of the MISSIONARY, tell how far we have progressed, and indicate something of the demands that the journey beyond is already making upon us. A perusal of these papers will show that the enthusiasm of earnest conviction characterized the Norwich meeting. The success of the past, no less than the present exigent needs of the field in every department, focused the thought of the meeting on one thing—enlargement of the work.