Necessity of By-Laws to render an Association efficient.

pear necessary will be introduced in Section IV. of this Chapter. The Specimen of an Annual Report of a Bible Association will be included in Chap. VII.

VII. In fulfilling the duty enjoined by the Eleventh Rule, it is recommended that the Treasurer and Secretaries be deputed to present a copy of the Rules and Regulations to the Committee of the Auxiliary (or Branch) Society. The bands by which they are united to the latter will thus be strengthened; and an opportunity be afforded for mutual suggestions and explanations, by which the future proceedings may be materially facilitated.

SECTION III.

BY-LAWS OF THE COMMITTEE.

1. The origin of these regulations, and their importance in directing the proceedings of the Committee, have been adverted to in the Preliminary Observations on this Chapter. The fundamental Rules of the Institution, as detailed in the preceding Section, clearly define the nature of the object in view: but it is the peculiar design of the By-Laws to point out the mode by which that object shall be attained; and it may be safely asserted, that in no case has a Bible Association succeeded, to any extent, without having adopted these or similar minor regulations for the government of its executive members.

The following Code is recommended with confidence, as having borne the test of experience; while the success of those Associations by which it has been adopted satisfactorily demonstrates its efficiency.

2. By-Laws recommended for adoption by the Committees of BIBLE

ASSOCIATIONS.

I. That the Committee meet at o'clock precisely.

II. As soon as a quorum is present, the Chair shall be taken by the President, or the Treasurer, or in their absence by one of the members of the Auxiliary Committee. If no one of these gentlemen be present, the Committee shall appoint a person to the Chair from among themselves.

III. It is earnestly requested that no member will leave the room, during the sitting of the Committee, without permission from the Chair.

IV. That the order of proceeding shall be,

1. To call over the names of the Committee, and mark off those who are present.

2. To read, and correct or confirm, the Minutes of the preceding meeting, and dispose of the business arising therefrom.

3. To call for a written report from the Collectors of the districts, in

order.

Code of By-Laws recommended for adoption.

4. To receive the Treasurer's and the Cash and Bible Secretaries' reports of the state of the funds, and of the receipts and deliveries of Bibles and Testaments; with any official communications the secretaries may have to make.-After which, fresh propositions shall be taken into consideration.

V. The sphere of this Association shall be divided into convenient - districts; to each of which two or more members of the Committee shall be attached as Collectors, who shall appoint one of their number as District Secretary, and apprise the Committee of such appointment in their first Monthly Report.

VI. When any district is not represented in the Committee, nor a report presented by its Collectors, the secretary shall be directed to remind them, by letter, of their omission, and to request their greater regularity in future.

VII. Nothing shall be procured for the use of this Association, nor any bills be discharged, without a regular vote of the Committee.

VIII. No member of the Committee shall, on any account, be paid for his services.

IX. The Secretaries shall be ex-officio members of all Sub-Committees.

X. The Secretaries shall call a Special Meeting of the Committee on receiving a requisition signed by any five of its members, or may do so on their own authority: such meeting not to take place until at least three days after the date of the summons, which shall specify the object of the meeting.

XI. The Bible Secretary is empowered to procure Bibles and Testaments when necessary; and shall report to the Committee every month the state of the depository. The Cash Secretary shall also report monthly the state of the funds of the Association.

XII. That the Bible Secretary inscribe or stamp the name of this Association on the title-page of every Bible and Testament issued by him; and insert the number of the receiver on the page containing the 91st Psalm, and the 15th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John.*

XIII. No Bible or Testament shall be gratuitously granted without a vote of the Committee, after a strict investigation of the circumstances of the case.

XIV. The Collectors of each district shall present, through their secretary, a written report to every monthly meeting of the Committee, containing every particular relative to the state of their district.

XV. It shall be the duty of the Collectors to endeavour to obtain the free + contributions of those who have been supplied with Bibles and Testaments, provided their circumstances justify the application.

XVI. No family, after having received one Bible and one Testament under the cost prices, shall be supplied with any more copies under such cost price without the approbation of the General Committee.

XVII. The Collectors shall re-visit the whole of their respective districts at least once in every twelve months.

XVIII. The Collectors are requested to call punctually for the weekly subscriptions every week-to solicit new subscriptions occasionally throughout

It will readily be perceived that these Chapters are incidentally suggested: every Association will insert the number in such parts of the Sacred Volume as they may think proper, but every member of the Committee should be acquainted with the precise place in which to look for it when necessary.

+ Free contributors are those who do not require Bibles and Testaments, but subscribe for the benefit of others.

By-Laws of the Committee.-Observations.

their several districts-and to insert in their monthly reports the names and address of such persons as they may consider proper to be invited to join the Committee.

XIX. That the Collectors shall make inquiry every three months of all the pawnbrokers within their respective districts, whether any Bibles or Testaments are pledged, and to what extent; and ascertain, if possible, the names and address of the parties who have pledged them; and shall include 'all such information in their next monthly report. The Collectors are also requested to endeavour to interest pawnbrokers in the great object of the Bible Society.

XX. At the Committee Meetings in February, May, August, and November, a Sub-Committee shall be appointed to prepare and bring to the next meeting of the Committee a draft of a report to the ensuing Conference. Such report to be taken into consideration, and, when adopted, to be handed to the secretaries, who shall fill up the blanks, sign, and present the same.'

XXI. That the Bibles and Testaments issued by this Association shall be sold at the cost prices, as specified in the annexed table:-but the Collectors are authorised, in cases of poverty, or under peculiar circumstances, to deliver copies when not less than one-half of the cost price has been paid.

XXII. No new By-Law shall be made, nor any existing By-Law repealed or altered, without one month's previous notice being given, and a copy of the proposed alteration sent to every member of the Committee.

3.-OBSERVATIONS.

The reader is referred to Chap. II. (Section III. Fifth Division) for many general remarks on the nature and tendency of those regulations. Such further observations as appear necessary will now be submitted.

I. It is very desirable that a place should be gratuitously obtained for the meetings of the Committee. It frequently

This By-Law is only applicable where Conferences are held;-these are at present confined to the metropolis, but may, with considerable advantage, be instituted in those places where several Associations are connected with the same Auxiliary (or Branch) Society.

The cost prices specified in this list are those of the present time (March 1821). Every alteration of price is communicated by the Parent Committee to the Secretaries of Auxiliary Societies, who should immediately apprise the Secretaries of their Associations; and the latter should promptly inform the Collectors, and make the requisite corrrection in this By-Law.

Importance of punctuality, and adherence to prescribed order of proceeding.

happens that a school-room is offered for this purpose, or one of the apartments belonging to a public establishment; and it is of importance that it be a place to which every. member can come with the most perfect freedom. The day

and hour should be selected which are the most convenient to the majority of the Committee.. The advantages of punctuality in the attendance of Committee Meetings cannot be too strongly enforced. In this, as in other respects, the example of the officers will have a powerful influence on the other members of the Committee.

II. A due attention to the provisions of the Second and two. following By-Laws will materially tend to facilitate the business. The Chair should always be taken at the hour specified; and if the officers can make it convenient to be at the committee-room half an hour previously, it will expedite the business, especially if the Collectors be informed of this arrangement, as they will then apply for any requisite assistance. The regular attendance of the members of the Auxiliary Committee should be always encouraged, and their advice or suggestions received with respectful attention. The gentleman who presides should have a copy of the ByLaws before him, and should strictly maintain the decorum and order of the meeting. Much valuable time will be saved by a strict adherence to the prescribed arrangement of the committee-business, which it is the peculiar province of the secretaries to enforce.

The nature of the Collectors' and Officers' Reports will be considered in Chap. VII., in order to avoid repetition, and to bring the whole subject under review in a connected series of observations.

III. The practical operation of the Fifth By-Law, as regards the arrangement of the districts, has been considered in the preceding section. In the appointment of Collectors, it will be found advantageous to leave the members at liberty to select those districts which they respectively prefer, and to make their own election of their colleagues. In some of the Associations connected with the Southwark Society, the secretaries have rendered very essential services to the institution by occasionally assisting the Collectors.

IV. The duty enjoined by the Sixth By-Law, though a painful one, should always be impartially fulfilled. It is much more easy to arrest the progress of decay, than to recover the ground which has been lost by inattention; and

Special Meetings of the Committee should be avoided.

no rule of the society should be considered a dead letter. This remark is equally applicable to the Ninth By-Law:the more frequently the secretaries can make it convenient to attend the meetings of Sub-Committees, the more likely is it that the object of their appointment will be attained.

v. Although cases may sometimes occur to justify the extraordinary meetings of the Committee, authorised by the Tenth By-Law, they should be held as seldom as possible. An hour or two, monthly, will be found quite sufficient for the usual duties of a Committee, and the valuable time of its members should never be trifled with.

VI. The observations on the duties of the secretaries of an Auxiliary Society (See Chap. II. Section III. Ninth Division) may afford some useful suggestions to those who occupy a similar situation in Bible Associations, so as to explain the tendency of the Eleventh By-Law; but the subject will be more explicitly treated in Chap. VIII. Section I.

VII. Great advantage has been found to result from the regulation contained in the Twelfth By-Law, as every Bible and Testament found at a pawnbroker's or book-stall can be immediately traced to the original receiver. The observation on the Nineteenth By-Law will furnish a satisfactory illustration of this remark. The propriety of the Thirteenth By-Law will be more fully appreciated on reference to Chap. VIII. Section II.; as the regulations of the "LOAN-FUND" provide for all cases of emergency.

VIII. The important duty enjoined by the Fourteenth ByLaw, and the facility with which it may be discharged, will be more fully understood on referring to the Specimen of a Monthly Report, Chap. VII. Section V.

Ix. In reference to the Fifteenth By-Law, it may be suffi cient, in this place, to observe, that while the two-fold object of Bible Associations should never be lost sight of by the Collectors, they are recommended to exercise the greatest delicacy and prudence in soliciting free contributions from the labouring classes of society; and in every instance where the real comforts of a family would be abridged thereby, such contributions should be kindly, but firmly declined. This part of the subject, which involves the most important considerations, will be treated of more at large in the sequel.

x. Although the funds of the Association are prudently protected by the Sixteenth By-Law, it will be observed that