4. It is a matter of much gratification to us that while we have been paying our debt and extending our lines, we have been able to maintain, and even to enlarge, the work already in hand among the Freedmen. Three years ago our teaching force in the South numbered 150; now there are 200. Then our pupils were 5,404; now 8,052. One illustration of the usefulness of these schools is seen in the great army of scholars taught in them and by their pupils. We believe, from a safe estimate, that _half a million_ of names have been enrolled, in the aggregate, in our schools and the schools of our pupils, since this Council last met, and still the cry is for more teachers. This roll-call of the school-room gives no idea of the added work in the Sunday-school, the temperance cause, the prayer meeting and in the homes of the people. As to the kind of work done in our schools, and Theological departments, I point to the modest and gentlemanly Second Assistant Moderator of this National Council. Our church work has grown slowly, but steadily and safely. Three years ago our churches in the South numbered 59, now there are 73. When we began our labors among the Freedmen there was not one Congregational church in the old South. The famous Central Church in Charleston, S. C., was not really Congregational, and that in Liberty Co., Ga., had become Presbyterian. It is said that the soil in the South is not congenial to our churches. It must be admitted that they will not flourish in the same soil with slavery, nor where its roots still live; but as the introduction of clover kills ill weeds, root and branch, and not only yields a good harvest in mowing time, but also enriches the ground for all other crops, so the planting of Congregational churches in the South will help to destroy the roots of slavery, give a good crop for the Master, and enrich the field for all other churches. We are confident that our clover-sowing in the South is coming to be regarded by both whites and blacks not as supplanting others, but enriching all. 5. The flow of Chinamen to the Pacific coast is not increasing, but the work we are doing among those now there is as hopeful as any we are attempting. Many are turning from idol worship and giving evidence of genuine conversion. Such men as Jee Gam, so intelligent, so modest, so pious, are proof that the work is not superficial; and the eagerness of those converts as well as their teachers to extend the effort to the Chinese in the mines, and even to carry the Gospel to China, is proof of a missionary spirit as well as of genuine piety.