TRACT SOCIETIES, organizations formed to increase the circulation chiefly of religious truth. Before the invention of printing great exertions were often made to multiply copies of religious writings. Wycliffe wrote more than 100 tracts which his disciples copied and circulated; some of them were sent as far as Bohemia, and brought John Huss to a knowledge of the truth. The invention of printing was exactly in time for the reformation. Luther employed the press with great energy, and his numerous tracts were powerful instruments in spreading the truth. In the 18th c. many associa tions were formed to advance the work, several of them by members of the church of England; in 1742 John Wesley sent forth many tracts and books; in 1750 different i denominations united in forming a tract society; in 1790 the " cheap repository tracts " were issued in great numbers to counteract the diffusion of French infidelity; in 1799 the religious tract society was organized in London, since grown to be the largest in the world. Of its publications, in more than 100 languages, 1600 million copies have been issued. Each religious denomination in England also has a society of its own; and the opponents of religion adopt the same means for spreading their views. In the United States religious tracts and volumes early appeared in considerable numbers, and societies to circulate them were formed among the Methodists in 1789, and at the beginning of this century in Boston, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The New York tract society, formed in 1812, became the American tract society, 1825. The New Eng land society, formed 1814, changed its name to the American tract society, 1823, and in continuing i the name, became a branch of the national society having the same name, at New York. This last, now known as the American tract society, is a union organization in which many different denominations join. For the first two years of the
national society's work, only tracts were published; in the third year the first volumes appeared; in the fourth the monthly distribution was started; in the eighth the attempt began to send volumes into every family; in 1841 colportage was commenced; the next stage of progress was the establishment of periodicals; first the American Messenger; the German Messenger, 1847; the Child's Paper, 1852; the Illustrated Christian Weekly, 1871. During the rebellion 172 new publications for soldiers were issued. From the organi zation of the society large grants of money have been annually made to aid in the dis tribution of books among foreign nations—amounting in 50 years to The society has provided more than 5,000 publications, of which 1100 are volumes. Of the home publications 1500 are in 11 foreign languages for immigrants, supplying them with almost their only Christian literature. Oflhe periodicals, 164 million copies have been sent forth; of the other home publications, 27 million vols. have been printed, and 2,000,000,000 pages of tracts. Of these, annual grants to the destitute are made to the amount of $50,000. The work of colportage in 35 years circulated about 14million vols. and made nearly 12 million family visits, chiefly in portions of the country where for the time book-stores, schools, and churches did not exist. The total amount of dona tions and legacies received and expended during 50 years was $4,300,000, and the sales were nearly $9,000,000. Besides this undenominational work, the leading denom inations have their own publication boards which are large and efficient agencies.