2. The work of the Association embraces all forms of effort in both the church and the school. It was organized and chartered as a _missionary_ society. This was its fundamental aim. It was not till 1869, twenty-three years after its organization, that the word "educational" was put into its charter. But this change did not alter the character of its work--_the school is missionary, the church an educator_--and this church and school work are inseparably blended. The people among whom it labors are children in knowledge, and will remain so for a long time, for there are millions of blacks, mountain whites, Indians, and Chinese in our country who cannot read and write. In Northern communities where the children grow up in Christian homes and are environed in cultured society, with the best of common schools, the church finds the material for its membership, so far forth, prepared to its hand, but among these millions of unlettered peoples the church, if it is to be pure and intelligent, must be the outgrowth of the Christian school; and the branches of the tree might as well be expected to grow up without the roots, as such churches without these schools. The work among them begins in the primary school, and follows them through all departments of industrial, normal, collegiate and theological instruction. In all this long process the teachers are with them at every step--in the shop, the school, the Sunday-school, the prayer meeting, and the church, and often the principal of the school is the pastor of the church. Thus the church, which grows up within or along side of the school, gets the priceless boon of the personal example and influence of these Christian teachers, in refining the manners and in making character; and as the pupils are converted they enter the church to become its stable members and intelligent officers. On the other hand, the families in the church, with their kindred and friends, furnish the pupils for the school and help to sustain it by their money and prayers, both the church and the school being stronger by their mutual support and more potent in their influence in the community than if they stood apart. And even after the scholars have left the school and have entered upon the business of life, the Association is especially fitted to gather them into churches. It has occurred in several instances, in starting new churches beyond the range of our schools, that we have found them to be made up first almost wholly of graduates and students from our different institutions, and that these have remained the most intelligent and reliable members.