for their crafts' sake,' &c. It is true, I apprehend, that many Neologians are connected with the Bible Societies in Germany, some by virtue of the offices they hold, and others voluntarily. But from all the inquiries I was able to make, I could never learn that any individual in Germany, publicly holding Neological opinions, was an active agent of the Bible Society.

"In another part of the continent, I certainly found some persons, professedly heterodox in their opinions, who were nevertheless active friends of the Bible Society. But could I fail, in such cases, to thank God, who had kindly placed the antidote so near to the bane, and had employed an enemy of the truth as the destroyer of his own principles?

"Another point, to which I must refer, is that of the persecution of religious persons in Germany, and which persecutions have been represented as at least sanctioned by the friends of the Bible Society. This statement, as a general fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect."

"With respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same effect has been made. It is certain that an angry feeling was excited in the minds of several members of the committee of the Bible Society of that district, on the occasion which gave rise to the persecutions in that canton. At the same time, any participation in this persecution is, as to himself, distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those who were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in any way in the list of the officers of the Bible Society. Two circumstances, connected with the measures which were pursued in this canton in opposition to religious meetings, are sufficiently remarkable and interesting to deserve our notice. In the first place, the astonishing progress of religion during this period; and, in the second, the discovery, during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter inefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of inquiry after truth.

"Another point, which I must bring before your notice, is the actual state of true religion on the continent, and more especially in Germany. It is certainly true that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken possession of the universities, the public prints, and the higher orders of society. At the same time, I believe that the statements which have gone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as to two points, inaccurate. In the first place, they describe only one side of the case;

for, if there is much infidelity and neo-
logy on the continent, there is also a
considerable sprinkling of true religion,
And, secondly, the evil which has ex-
isted, and does exist, may be said to be
every day diminishing. As to the first of
these facts, I could point out individuals,
parishes, and districts where real religion
is in active operation; places and persons
altogether unconnected with those agents
from England, who have been said to be
the only instruments of doing important
good on the continent, and which are
therefore unrecognised by them, and pos
sibly unknown to them. I could name
one little knot of parishes, all within a
small circle, in which are twelve minis-
ters, earnest, orthodox, and devout ser
vants of the Redeemer. I could name ano-
ther place, where forty ministers were late-
ly assembled for purposes of religious and
spiritual communion. I might also allege
the fact, that at different universities
there are professors who openly, and from
the heart, confess the true faith. I may
indeed affirm, that, from the cottages of
the poor to the palaces of kings, there are
those who walk worthy their high voca-
tion as Christians and as men. The
admitted evils are every day diminishing.
The number of converts is increasing,
The opinions of Paulus and Schulthess
seem likely to die away with themselves.
What can be more remarkable than the
change which has taken place in the
kingdom of Prussia, where the leaders
of the state and the university may now
be said to hold the very opposite creed
to that which obtained with their imme-
diate predecessors?

"There are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany, I feel it right to say a few words-the one is Leander Van Ess; the other your late invaluable Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.

"Leander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I remained with him during a day, which I passed at Darmstadt. I was struck with his holy devotedness to his great object, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded charity. He is making a new version of the Bible, which, by the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to print; and, although he holds the opinions of the church to which he belongs on the subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion to be no hindrance to others; so that they will, in any way, read the word of God."

"The other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is your late dear and

1827.] Relig. Intell.—British and Foreign Bible Society.

instrument of accomplishing in India, it would have already received an ample reward.

Many interesting particulars respecting the societies at Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, and Colombo, are stated in the Report. Small supplies of the Scriptures have been sent to different parts of Persia, and for Abyssinia. The Rev. Mr. Clough has been empowered by the Colombo committee to prepare one Gospel in the Pali language, and to print it, and send it to the missionaries in the Burman empire.

China.-A letter has been received from Dr. Morrison, since his return to Canton; he writes:

The distribution of the Scriptures has been carried on at the Anglo-Chinese college in Malacca, where also the printing of them has been superintended during my absence. And in pursuance of the discretion you were pleased to vest in me, I have recommended à tour to Borneo, Siam, &c. for the purpose of circulating the Holy Scriptures."

New South Wales.-The Rev. William Cowper observes" Our little institution here has hitherto obtained help of God; and, though scarcely visible, it has disseminated 5240 copies of the Scriptures, and remitted to England 2250. It more over affords no small satisfaction to be able to state, that several applications for Bibles and Testainents have recently been made."

Islands in the Pacific Ocean.-Various details are given respecting the circulation of the Scriptures in these scattered isles.

Africa. The Auxiliary in Sierra Leone has distributed, since its last Report, 299 Bibles, and 285 Testaments; and it will be among the early duties of the Committee to vote a fresh grant to this interesting people. In Madagascar the trans lation of the New Testament is finished, and that of the Old Testament is in progress.

1.

South America.-At Buenos Ayres the Rev. Mr. Armstrong has commenced an extensive correspondence with different parts of South America, and has embraced every opening for disseminating the Sacred Scriptures; but the circumstances of the war in which that part of the country has been involved, have, necessarily, much impeded his operations. He has been enabled to send small supplies to Potosi and Cuzco, the one in Peru, and the other in Bolivia; in neither of which districts has the Bible, in the Spanish language, scarcely, if ever, been seen. A body of

503

ΤΑΣ

German emigrants having arrived at Buenos Ayres in a state of great distress; while others administered to their temporal necessities, Mr. Armstrong had the satisfaction of relieving their spiritual wants, by putting copies of the German Scriptures into their hands, which were received with the greatest apparent gratitude. Mr. Armstrong has received some introductions to ecclesiastical authorities in Arequipa and Gordova. In the neighbourhood of the latter, New Testaments are beginning to be admitted into the schools.

Since the last Anniversary, an engagement has been made with Mr. Luke' Matthews, as Agent for South America ; and a letter has been received from him at Cordova, where he had been enabled to effect the distribution of a few copies of the sacred Scriptures, on his way from Buenos Ayres to Chili and Columbia. But the unsettled state of the country proved a serious impediment in the way of more extended operations. Many thousand Spanish Bibles and Testaments have been sent to different places, where depôts are to be established -The great satisfaction which Mr. Thomson" gave by his former labours in connexion with the Bible Society, made the Committee gladly embrace the opportunity of entering into an engagement with him for a period of two years, to be spent in visiting the city of Mexico, as well as the principal parts of that interesting republic. Various individuals have, as in former years, been supplied with grants for distribution on their visiting South

America.

North America.-The American Bible Society continues to prosper, both in its resources and in its employments.

In reference to British America, the Report states particulars relative to Halifax, Pictou, New Brunswick, Quebec, Montreal, and Newfoundland. The Bibles sent to Miramichi have proved very aeceptable; they have been of great use in that river, as a very considerable refor mation has been effected; and, in several instances, "swearing and profane ballads are exchanged for prayer and praise.' The Revelation of St. John, in the Esquimaux language, has been most gratefully received by the Moravian Missionaries in Labrador. The Psalms are in a course of revision.

West Indies.—But little has been heard during the year from the West Indies; that little, however, has been, for the most part, of a cheering character. From Barbadoes, the Secretary of the Auxiliary

Ave

Society of the People of Colour, in remitting a small sum, and requesting a few Bibles, writes: "People of all classes, but particularly the lower orders, through the Divine blessing, are daily devoting a portion of their time to the reading of the word of life; and it is with grateful pleasure I can assure you, this Auxiliary has been the instrument of distributing it to numbers who might otherwise have sought for the book of salvation in vain."From Berbice and Jamaica communications have been received, stating the desire of the Negroes to read the Scriptures. The receipts of the Society have amounted to 80,2391. 11s. 2d. being 2,5287. Ils. 7d. less than those of the last year; à deficiency which, though lost to this society, is not lost to the cause of the circulation of the Scriptures. It arises chiefly from scarcely any remittances having been received from Scotland. The friends of the Bible in that quarter will doubtless continue their exertions, and the members of the society at large will unfeignedly rejoice in their success. At Glasgow, an Auxiliary Bible Society is continued; its friends being satisfied with the resolutions adopted by the London Society in May 1825. From various parts of England, the Committee have received the kindest assurance of confidence: and there have been formed, during the year, two new Auxiliary Societies, together with seventy Branch Societies and Associations.

The distributions of the Scriptures from the Society's Depository during the year have amounted to 294,000 copies, being a larger number than in any preceding year. The measure, announced in the last Report, of lowering the price of copies to Sunday Schools, has been hailed with very general satisfaction, and has been acted upon by the conductors of those institutions to a considerable extent.

The Merchant Seamen's Auxiliary Bible Society has been empowered to draw upon the Depository to the extent of 2,000 copies, in different languages. Numerous other domestic grants have been made.

The Report states some interesting particulars relative to the circulation of the Gaelic Scriptures.

No one can have looked on with indifference at what has been passing in Ireland, in connexion with the circulation of the Scriptures; and it has been a matter of unfeigned pleasure to the Committee to have been called upon to provide large supplies of the Sacred Volume for that part of the British dominions, both in the English and Irish languages. 1,500 copies of the

New Testament, and 1,000 of the Book of Genesis, in Irish, have been granted to the Irish Society; 5,000 Bibles, and 15,000 Testaments, to the Irish Sunday School Society; whose late secretary stated, "I do not think it extravagant to suppose, that there are nearly one million houses in Ireland which have not beneath their roofs a single copy of the word of God! The calculation is, of course, general, and cannot admit of great accuracy; and yet I think it substantially correct. To the Hibernian Female School Society, 500 Bibles, and 3,000 Testaments, have been granted; and to the London Hibernian Society 1,000 Bibles and 20,000 Testaments. The Hibernian Bible Society has issued, during the past year, 17,391 Bibles, and 17,933 Testaments, which make upwards of 13,000 volumes more than were issued during the year ending April 1824. In renewing an application for Bibles for the use of schools, the Secretary observes; "The demand is steadily increas. ing, and we have no doubt will become one of the most important departments of the Society's operations." 2000 Bibles have accordingly been granted; and the Committee has been informed, that they have only to apply, and any number of Bibles and Testaments will readily be forwarded.

"The movements taking place," concludes the Report, " among so many who have long borne the name of Christ, but have seldom, if ever, had the word of God-the desire to possess the Scriptures prevailing among many members of the Roman-Catholic church in Ireland, in France, in Germany, in South America; as well as of the Greek and the Armenian churches-the continued dissemination of the Sacred Volume among Protestants in general,-are all circumstances greatly calculated to give birth to the purest and most lively joy. That a sensation in various places should have been felt among the Jewish nation, and that Heathens should be willing to receive, at the hands of missionaries, the translations prepared by the labours of missionaries, and printed by the aid of your Society, should call forth the warmest gratitude. Let all, then, commend, in earnest prayer, the whole work of the Society to the continued blessing of the Spirit of the Most High, imploring wisdom and counsel from above; and let all, in peace and harmony, promote the object of the Society, which commends itself more and more to the understanding and heart of every sincere Christian."

SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGA-
TION OF THE GOSPEL.
AA corrected Report having been pub-
lished of the very interesting proceedings
at the public meeting, held last May in
Freemasons' Hall, on behalf of the Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts, we feel much pleasure in
copying the following passages, as illustra-
tive of the general spirit which actuated
the meeting.

means of watering the tree, that its branches might expand over the whole of your dominions in North America.

Dr. Phillpotts said, that he held in his hand an abstract of the society's charter, in which he read with astonishment the declaration that King William III. was graciously pleased to erect this corporation, “upón information that in many of our plantations, colonies, and factories beyond the seas, the provision for ministers was mean, and many of our said The Annual Report having been read, plantations, colonies, and factories were and the Archbishop of York having pro- wholly unprovided of a maintenance for posed that it be printed for general ministers, and the public worship of God; distribution, Sir Thomas D. Acland ex- and that, for lack of support and mainte pressed his most cordial approbation of nance of such, many of his loving subjects the society, and of its most important wanted the administration of God's word and useful labours, both in the East and and sacraments, and seemed to be abanthe West. He fully agreed that it was a doned to atheism and infidelity, and others most imperative duty upon the society, of them to popish superstition and idolaand upon all the members of the Church try." He was perfectly astonished to find of England, that the Gospel should be such words in a charter of King William III. kept up in its vigour among those Chris- and he felt himself bound to say, that he tians who emigrated from our own shores; did not think it would be possible for such and the condition, he added, of our vast a charter to be granted in the days of dominions on the other side of the Atlantic George IV. Instead of leaving the spiriwould materially depend, in future times, tual wants of their colonies to the beneon the attention that might be now paid volence of individuals, he was confident to them. In reference to that part of the that our gracious Sovereign and the ParliaReport which described the operations of ment of the country would feel it their the society in India, he rejoiced that they bounden duty to be forward to discharge had begun under such auspices as to war- that most sacred of all obligations-attenrant a rational presumption that the time tion to the spiritual wants of their fellowwas not far distant when the Church of creatures. Perhaps it would have become Fidia would be not only English, but the persons who then filled the highest Episcopal. He, indeed, viewed with high offices in the church, if, instead of asking approbation the inroads made upon Pagan- for a charter, incorporating themselves ism by Christians, of whatever denomina- into a society to receive the alms of their tion or communion; but he preferred the fellow-subjects, they had told the governChurch of England; and rejoiced, that, by ment what it was their first duty to attend the labours of Bishops Middleton and to. If persons looked to France, to Spain, Heber, and the missionaries of the English or to Portugal, they would see what had "Church, there was so good a prospect of been the conduct of those governments seeing Christanity extensively diffused in with respect to their churches in the the East, in unison with the English church. colonies. They had pursued a course of policy, which, he rejoiced to say, conveyed a most instructive lesson to the world, and which he could not help admiring, what ever he might think of the cause in which it was exerted. On the other hand, the policy of this country towards its colonies was the opprobrium of the British name; and it had been followed by such effects as it deserved to produce, our colonies, left to themselves, without any care of their spiritual welfare, without any of the endearing ties to attach them to their home, had severed themselves from our empire. Were we for ever to follow the same pernicious system? If mere earthly policy were considered, it would be found that to neglect the religious instruction of the colonies was an unwise course. "I do not deny," added Dr. Phillpotts, "that at the present time the most rigid economy is required; but I nevertheless hope that the period has not yet arrived when we are called upon to retrench our virtues, or 3 T

The Bishop of London remarked, in reference to North America, that this society, by preserving the unity of doctrine and of discipline, had made the church in those regions like a city set on a hill, that could not be hid. The waste and howling wilderness and barren places had been made glad; and the deserts, which had been traversed only by tribes of savages, had become the civilized and fertile abodes of Christian communities. Thus far all was matter of rejoicing; but still it was to be regretted, on the other hand, that these immense tracts of land should have so few ministers of the Gospel, from the inability of the society to advance the requisite funds. The tree had been planted by this society, and had taken deep root, and would stand; but its branches had not "yet sufficiently spread. He indulged the hope, however, when he saw so respectable an assembly before him, that the society would still be furnished with the CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 308.