When the tidings reached America that Mr. and Mrs. Judson and Mr. Rice, Congregational missionaries, sent out by the American Board, had been immersed at Calcutta, the Baptists throughout the whole land were thrilled with a glad surprise. God had suddenly placed at the disposal of the Baptist denomination three fully-equipped missionaries. They were already in the field, and action must be prompt. Several influential ministers in Massachusetts met at the house of Dr. Baldwin, in Boston, and organized the “Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel in India and other Foreign Parts.” They also, as well as the American Board, first turned instinctively toward England for counsel and help. They proposed to the Baptist Missionary Society in London that Mr. Judson should be associated with Messrs. Carey, Marshman, and Ward, at Serampore, and that the Baptists in England and America should co-operate in the work of foreign missions. This, however, did not seem wise to the English brethren, and so America was again thrown back upon her own resources. Mr. Rice, upon his return to this country, travelled everywhere, telling the thrilling story of the experiences of these pioneer missionaries. The greatest enthusiasm was aroused, and missionary societies similar to the one in Boston sprang up in the Middle and Southern States. In order to secure concert of action it seemed best that there should be a general convention, in which all these societies might be represented. Accordingly, on the 18th of May, 1814, delegates from Baptist churches and missionary societies throughout the land convened in the First Baptist church of Philadelphia. These delegates organized a body which was styled “The General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions.” The sum of four thousand dollars was put into the treasury, contributed by the local societies; and it was thought that possibly an annual income of five thousand two hundred and eighty dollars might be secured. It was the day of small things. In 1845 the Southern brethren withdrew to form a society of their own, called “The Southern Convention.” The Northern organization adopted a new constitution, and assumed the name of “The American Baptist Missionary Union.” Its receipts for 1880 were about a quarter of a million of dollars.