ILLINOIS COLLEGE.

Rev. J. M. Sturtevant, D. D., President. Located at Jacksonville, within the limits of the Morgan Association.

The Board of Trustees fills its own vacancies, and is composed partly of Congregationalists and partly of Presbyterians. The same is true of the Faculty. A majority of the Trustees must, by its Constitution, be ministers of the Gospel.

The Faculty consists, at present, of a President who is Professor of Moral Philosophy, a Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, a Professor of the Latin and Greek Languages, a Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, and three Tutors. The Professorship of Rhetoric is vacant; it is however the design of the Trustees to fill it at an early day.

The course of study and instruction is liberal and thorough. Number of students in the three departments-Classical, Scientific and Preparatory--nearly 100.

During the last year, the College enjoyed a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, in which a goodly number of promising young men were hopefully converted to. Christ.

The Trustees are preparing to erect a substantial, commodious and not inelegant building in place of the one destroyed by fire in December, 1852.

MICHIGAN.

The General Association of Michigan convened in the Congregational Church in Ann Arbor, on Tuesday, May 31, 1853, at 7 P.M., and was opened with a sermon from Luke 12: 32, by Rev. Philo R. Hurd, Moderator of last meeting.

A prayer meeting was appointed to be held each morning at 5 o'clock. The first half hour of each morning session was also spent in devotional exercises.

A proposition from the Massachusetts Doctrinal Tract and Book Society to give a set of their volumes to each Congregational church in Michigan, was communicated to the Association, and the following resolutions were adopted:

Whereas, The Massachusetts Doctrinal Tract and Book Society have proposed to bestow upon each of our churches as a gift, an entire set of their publications, comprising the works of the early New England Divines, with the design that they shall constitute the nucleus of a Pastor's Library ;-therefore,

Resolved, 1. That this body express their lively appreciation of this noble and much needed benefaction, and in the name of our churches, return thanks to the above Society, and to those liberal individuals and churches in the East by whose generosity we are thus favored, for a gift so rich in its intrinsic worth, so fraught with precious influences in the future, and so pleasant as a pledge of kind remembrance and interest on the part of our Massachusetts brethren.

2. That we recommend to each of our churches, upon the reception of these volumes, the adoption of some plan for adding to them, from time to time, such works of Theological value as

would be most desirable for the use of their ministers, and thus founding a Pastor's Library, to be held as the property of the church, at the service of their Pastor.

3. That, while these valuable works are an unqualified gift to our churches, on the part of the Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, we feel that it would be but fit, that, as an expression of its gratitude, each church should take a thankful collection, according to its ability, for the aid of that Society, that it may be encouraged and aided to extend like gifts to others like us in need.

4. That we recommend to each of our churches to accompany their acknowledgment of the reception of these volumes, (to be addressed to the Chairman of this Committee in Detroit,) with such a sum as will defray their equal proportion of the cost of transporting the books for the State, from Boston to Detroit.

A Delegate was appointed to the General Congregational Conference about to be organized in the State of Ohio, and a cordial invitation given to that body to establish with this Association a fraternal and Christian correspondence.

A sermon was preached by Rev. Charles S. Porter, of Mass., from 2 Pet. 1: 1-4; and the Lord's Supper was administered.

The following resolution was discussed and unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That this Association regard the "Congregational Herald," published at Chicago, as a religious family Newspaper, eminently adapted to meet the wants of the churches in the West, and that we cordially commend it to the patronage of the ministers and churches connected with this body..

A committee was appointed to nominate the State Committee required by Article VI. of the Plan adopted by the Albany Convention for raising a Fund of $50,000 for the erection of houses of worship at the West; and also to recommend such regulations as they shall judge important for the guidance of that committee in the distribution of such part of that fund as may be apportioned to this State.

The committee made the following report, which was adopted:

Your committee would take this occasion to say, first of all, that they regard the Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund, collected chiefly from the stronger and more affluent churches of our order, to aid those that are feeble at the West, in erecting houses of worship, as a generous and Christian free-will offering -highly creditable to the benevolence and wisdom both of those who devised the plan, and of those who furnished the means for its accomplishment. In this good work, we distinctly and with thankful joy recognize the hand of God; and we feel assured that those whom God has honored as the happy almoners of this noble benefaction, the churches of Michigan will ever hold in grateful remembrance.

That difficulties may not arise in the distribution of that part of the fund which may be apportioned to this State, the committee now to be appointed, upon whom this important duty will be devolved, will need to act with much deliberation and prudence. In order to secure the benefits of this fund to the largest number of our feeble churches, and with a view to the best accomplishment of the whole work, your committee submit the following recommendations:

1. That the members present of each of the local Associations, nominate to this body a Committee of Three, to act as a local committee for their Association, and to whom the churches within their bounds desiring aid, shall first present their application; and whose duty it shall be to report to the State Committee full and accurate particulars relative to the need of each of the applying churches.

2. That the Committee of Five, provided for in the plan adopted by the Albany Convention, to be styled the State Committee, consist of Rev. L. Smith Hobart, of Ann Arbor; Rev. A. S. Kedzie, of Union City; Rev. H. L. Hammond, of Grand Rapids; Dea. S. S. Barnard, of Detroit, and Dea. Henry Post, of Victor.

3. That this committee have power to fill any vacancies which may occur in their number until the next meeting of the