Excerpt from Proceedings of the First Ten Years of the American Tract Society, Instituted at Boston, 1814: To Which Is Added a Brief View of the Principal Religious Tract Societies Throughout the World Tasband of Providencehas been strikingly exhibited, in conducting many of the Benevolent Institutions which char acterize the present age, from very small beginnings, to, a state of powerful and successful operation. This remark is applicable to the American Tract Society, the origin of which may be traced to a little meeting of. Half a dozen indii viduals, assembled to enjoy the advantages of christian in tercourse, -and to consult upon the interests of the Redeem er's kingdom. A circumstance in itself unimportant, had suggested to one of them the thought, that a few choice Tracts, printed in large editions, might be aflorded to be nevolent individuals in the neighbourhood, at a much less expense, than the little books which they were frequent ly purchasing for gratuitious distribution. The idea was suggested to his brethren, and excited so much interest, as to be made the subject of conversation and Serious re flection, which soon led to a proposition for forming _a small tracfsociety to put the, design in execution. As the sub jcet wascontemplated, it grew in importance and though perhaps no one, at that time, anticipated that the Society they were about to form, would extend throughout the United States, yet it was seen that the subject demanded more mature consideration, and fe1 vent prayer to the F a ther of mercies for his guidance and blessing. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.