The Committee have the satisfaction to state, that the measures adopted for promoting an edition of the Scriptures in the Polish language, have proved successful. The first sheet of the Old Testament issued from the press in April of the last year. The latest intelligence from the Bible Society at Berlin, respecting the progress of this work, is dated the 20th of March, 1810. From this it appears, that the proposed edition, comprising 8,000 copies of the whole Bible, and 4,000 extra copies of the New Testa ment, had then advanced to the beginning of Daniel, and there was reason to expect that the work would soon be finished.

This intelligence was accompanied by a representation, that in Lithuania Bibles bore a most exorbitant price, and that the people of that country, from their poverty, were incompetent to provide a new edition of the Scriptures from their own resources. On this, the Committee recommended the formation of a Society at Koningsberg, for the purpose of printing a Lithuanian Bible, and authorised its Committee to draw on the British and Foreign Bible Society for the sum of 300l. in aid of that work. The Lithuanian nation contains upwards of a million of people, many of whom are truly pious, but very poor: and one of the principal clergymen having caused it to be published from all the pulpits belonging to Prussian Lithuania, that a new edition of the Bible was about to be printed, and having invited the members of the different congregations to become subscribers to this work, several hundreds had already given in

their names.

Letters from the German Bible Society at Basle confirm the intimation in the Commmittee's last Report, of the probability of a second edition of the German Bible, by stating that it had been actually completed, and a third begun. In consequence of the information received, the Committee remitted to the Society at Bâsle the sum of 2004 for the purchase of French Bibles and Tes. taments, for sale or gratuitous distribution in France, with a view to the particular accommodation of large Protestant congregations in Languedoc and other parts.

Four thousand copies of the New Testament, in French, were purchased, and sent to different places in France, where it appears that many Roman Catholics requested copies of the New Testament, and bad perused them with eagerness and gratitude. The Romanese Testament, printed at Båsle, for the benefit of the Mountaineers in the Grisons, had been completed, and received CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 106.

with extraordinary joy by that poor peoplc.

A member of the Basle Society having also engaged to print 4,000 copies of the Old Testament in French, on condition that the Committee would agree to take 1,000 of them, and it appearing that there were two distinct dialects in use among the inhabitants of the Grisons, in both of which it was desirable that the New Testament, should be printed, the Committee resolved to assist the Society at Bâsle with a further grant of 300l. for the first object, and 2001. for the second. It is important to observe, that but for the German Bible Society no communication could have taken place between the British and Foreign Bible Society and any part of France.

The Committee, in their last Report, stated that the sum of 3001. had been remitted to the Evangelical Society at Stockholm. Encouraged by this remittance, the Society proceeded to print an edition of the Swedish New Testament on standing types, which was completed in March last; and a second edition of 4,000 copies would be immediately undertaken. Without the timely assistance of the British and Foreign Bible Society, this work must have been considerably delayed.

The Committee, anxious to gratify the poor inhabitants of Sweden with a new edition of the whole Bible in Swedish, which the Society in Stockholm were desirous of furnishing, voted a further grant of 300l.; and in consequence of this donation, the work was immediately begun, and Michaelmas 1811 is assigned as the period for its completion.

The Committee have also, through the same Society, determined to print, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, a New Testament in the dialect of Lapland. The necessity of this work was forcibly pointed out by Bishop Norden, at Tornea. The Bishop himself has undertaken to superintend the publication; and the sum of 250l. has been voted for an edition of 3,000 copies of the New Testament. The Committee have reason to believe, that the work is by this time considerably advanced.

The Bibles sent by the Committee to the German colonists on the Wolga, have been received and distributed, and caused the most lively emotions of gratitude. A second supply has probably reached them by this time.

The Committee having learnt that the Arabic Bible, printing under the patronage of the Bishop of Durham, was considerably advanced, resolved, that 250l. should be granted in aid of this work, and that the 4 M

Society should take 500 copies of the same at the selling price, when the impression shall have been completed.

The Corresponding Committee in Bengal have availed themselves of the aid furnished for promoting the translation and printing of the Scriptures in the dialects of Hindustan, and these translations are proceeding in the most extensive manner, by various hands. Copies of the New Testament in Sanscrit, and of the four Gospels in Hindustannee, printed by the missionaries at Serampore, have been presented to the Committee.*

Some very interesting information respecting Ceylon, has been received from Sir Alexander Johnstone, who is lately returned from that island. The number of natives there, subject to the British government, is computed at a million and a half; their languages are the Cingalese and Tamul. Nearly the first three books of the Old Testament, and the whole of the New, have been translated into the Cingalese, and printed at Columbo, at the charge of government, for the purpose of supplying the natives professing Christianity, who are said 10 be very numerous. It was further stated, that the means of printing at Columbo were very limited, and that it was desirable they should be extended. This information suggested to the Committee a desire to supply the inhabitants of Ceylon more extensively with the Holy Scriptures; and a correspondence has been opened for that purpose, both with Holland and Ceylon.

The last Report noticed the institution of a Bible Society at Philadelphia. Two societies have since been established at New York. To one of these a grant of 100%. has been made by the Committee, who have recommended the incorporation of the two societies into one institution.

Bible Societies have also been formed in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, and for the district of Maine. The Committee have presented the Massachusetts Society with a donation of 100l. and that of Connecticut with 501. in aid of its funds. The demand for Bibles in America, since the commencement of the distribution of them by the Society at Philadelphia, has exceeded all expectation.

The Committee notice, with the deepest regret, the death of one of their Vice-Presidents, the lamented and most respected late Bishop of London. They are per

*For farther accounts from India, see our number for August last.

suaded that every member of the institution will cordially sympathise with them on this expression of their feelings, as a tribute no less due to the public and private virtues of that venerable Prelate, than to the station which he held in this society.”

The edition of the New Testament in Ancient and Modern Greek, in parallel columns, commenced in the last year, is nearly completed and the Dutch and Danish Testaments, announced in the former Report as being in the press, are now in circula

tion.

The Committee have resolved to print a version of the New Testament in the Irish language. The version published by Bishop Bedell has been adopted by the Committee, for the edition now preparing, con sisting of 2,000 copies, of the New Testa

ment.

A Mission of the United Brethren has been for these forty years past established on the Coast of Labrador, for the purpose of instructing the Esquimaux in the Chris tian Religion. To facilitate their labours, the Committee have printed a version of the Gospel of St. John in the Esquimaux language, and have further agreed to print the Gospel of St. Luke. These works have been placed under the superintendance of the Rev. Mr. Kohlmeister, a missionary lately returned from Labrador, and, by means of a residence there of eighteen years, well acquainted with the Esquimaux language.

The Committee next advert to the Auxiliary Bible Societies which have been established since the last General Meeting. The following are the Societies which have been added in the course of the last year to the Associations and Societies in London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Greenock, Reading, and Nottingham, of which accounts have been given in former Reports.

1. "The Bible Society of Newcastle upon Tyne and its Vicinity," under the patronage of the Lord Bishop of Durham.

2. The Penryn and Falmouth Society." The Leeds Auxiliary Bible Society.” 4. "The Manchester and Salford Auxiliary Bible Society." President, the Rev. Dr. Blackburne, Warden of Manchester,

Vicinity." President, the Right Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam.

9. "The Bible Society at Hull." President, Sir Henry Ethrington, Bart.

10. "The Bristol Auxiliary Bible Society," instituted under the patronage of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Bristol.*

In Scotland, three new Bible Societies have been formed :

1. "The Edinburgh Bible Society;" President, the Right Hon. Lord Cathcart.

2. The East Lothian Bible Society;" and,

3. "The Scottish Bible Society," by the Ministers of the Presbytery of Edinburgh.

In Ireland, the Hibernian Bible Society, mentioned in former Reports, under the patronage of his Grace the Lord Primate, and other distinguished personages, has directed its attention to the institution in different parts of the country of Branch Societies, and several have been accordingly formed:-in Dungannon, under the patronage of Lord Viscount Northland; in Armagh, under his Grace the Lord Primate; in New Ross, and in other places.

To assist the Hibernian Bible Society in the distribution of the Holy Scriptures, the Committee have voted to it a grant of 500l. and a donation of 2001. has been made to the same institution by the Edinburgh Bible Society. The acknowledgment of the grant has been accompanied with the gratifying statement, that the issue of Bibles and Testaments during the last year, has nearly doubled that of the former years, amounting to 9034 Bibles and Testaments.

The Committee have also granted a second donation of 100l. to the Cork Bible Society, and, by the Report of that institution, have the satisfaction to learn, that its funds and operations are greatly extended.

The Committee, having been informed that the Bible Committee of the Synod of Ulster were making great exertions in disseminating the Scriptures, presented them with 100l.

It is matter of real gratification to observe, that the assistance granted to Ireland has stimulated the friends of Religion in that country to a degree of zeal and activity, from which, under the Divine blessing, the best consequences may be expected.

During the last year, copies of the Scriptures, either in whole or in part, and in various languages, have been sent,

Abroad to Southern Africa, for the benefit

See, for a particular account of this Society, our Number for February, p. 121.

of the converted Hottentots; to Paramaribo in Surinam; to the West Indies, for the use of the Christian Negroes; to the Islands of Sark, Jersey, Madeira, Sicily, Dominica, Bermuda, Jamaica, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Trinidad, Antigua, St. Thomas, and Prince Edward's; to St. Domingo; to the Cape of Good Hope; to Quebec; to Demerara; and to different stations in India.

At home-the Naval and Military Bible Society has been furnished with large supplies of English Bibles at the cost prices? the same advantage has been afforded to the Society for the Support and Encouragement of Sunday Schools, which has been supplied with a considerable quantity of the Welsh Scriptures: some copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew, presented to the British and Foreign Bible Society by a Clergyman, have been granted to the Missionary Society: the Philanthropic Society has been accommodated with the Scriptures at reduced prices: copies have been furnished gratis to the London Female Penitentiary, to the Refuge for the Destitute, and to the Female Penitentiary at Bath. Bibles and Testaments have been granted at half the cost prices, for the accommodation of schools in various parts of Ireland; and a very considerable supply has been committed to an Association at Cork, for sale or gratuitous distribution. This Association is most benevolently and extensively occupied in visiting the poor, particularly those of the Roman Catholic persuasion.

To specify particular instances, in which individuals have been supplied with the Scriptures for sale or gratuitous distribution, would occupy too large a portion of this Report. The trustees of some charitable funds for the distribution of the Scriptures to the poor, have been permitted to purchase them of the Society at the cost prices, and the poor in several work-houses have been supplied. Attention has also been paid to the accommodation of prisoners of war, to that of soldiers and seamen, and to all such wants of the poorer classes of all countries and descriptions within the United Kingdom, as were stated to require the assistance of the Society. With a view to the supply of soldiers and seamen, the Committee are making arrangements at all the Military and Naval Depôts, for the sale of Bibles and Testaments at reduced prices. Of the extent to which the Scriptures have been thus distributed, the Society will judge, from the following fact, viz. That, within the last two years, no less a number than five thousand three hundred and seven

ty-seven Bibles and Testaments have been distributed by one correspondent only, principally to the Army and Navy.

But it will be gratifying to the British and Foreign Bible Society to know, that its bene volence has been accepted with the same cordiality with which it has been granted, The 500 copies of the Italian New Testament, sent to a respectable correspondent at Malta, have been received and put into distribution. Roman Catholic priests, upon obtaining copies, expressed their joy that they now had the Scriptures in a language which they understood.

Of 500 Testaments sent to Martinique for sale or gratuitous distribution, among the negroes and other poor people, 450 were eagerly and rapidly purchased; and the remainder reserved for donations. The Finch and Spanish prisoners of war have testified their grateful acknowledgments for the benevolence of the Society; and the Committee have information on which they rely, that the Danish prisoners, to whom 791 New Testaments were presented, were daily employed in reading them, and that large companies in different parts of the ship were seen thus engaged. From the correspondence of the Committee, many other accounts might be extracted, equally gratifying.

The Committee lastly notice the addition made to the funds of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by donations, bequests, and congregational collections, during the last twelve months. These are very considerable, but too numerous to be here specified. Among the rest, we observe, from the Edinburgh Bible Society 8004.; from the Bristol Auxiliary Bible Society, 2,7004.; from the Manchester and Salford Auxiliary Bible Society, 1,200l. reserving a further sum of 6001 for the purchase of Bibles and Testaments; from the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, 2,2961.; and a donation of 50 guineas, unanimously voted on the day of the National Jubilee, by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Bristol, Master, and the Seniors of Trinity College, Cambridge. The late Bishop of London, about a week previous to his decease, expressed his intention of presenting the Society with a donation of 50. His Lordship's executors having been informed of this circumstance, very honourably gave effect to his dying intentions, by a donation to that amount. The Right Reve rend the Bishop of Durham has also given an additional donation of 50l. to this Society, and the like sum to the Newcastle Auxiliary Society.

But while the funds of the Bible Society have been thus enlarged, the necessary er penditure for promoting the object of its institution, is also great and accumulating. The loss incurred by accommodating subscribers with Bibles and Testaments at reduced prices, has been of course considerable. The claims on the benevolence of the Society, for which no returns are made, are also merous and increasing.

The Committee do not mention these circumstances from any despair that the funds of the Society will prove inadequate. On the contrary, they rely with confidence on the continuance and increase of the same liberality, not merely for supporting the institution, but for enlarging its means and capacity to do good.

The Committee have only further to add, that a considerable addition has been made to the collection of books belonging to the British and Foreign Bible Society by the generosity of individuals.

The Committee conclude with some reflections, of which we can only transcribe a part.

"The establishment of the British and Foreign Bible Society will undoubtedly form a distinguished era in the annals of the nineteenth century. It is to the honour of this country to have produced a religious institution, the utility of which has received the most ample and gratifying acknowledgments, both at home and abroad; an institution, founded on a principle so simple, so intelligible, and so unexceptionable, that persons of every description, who profess to regard the Holy Scriptures as the proper standard of faith, may cordially and conscientiously unite in it, and in the spirit of true Christian charity, harmoniously blend their commen endeavours to promote the glory of God; an institution, which has excited the emulation of thousands to disseminate the knowledge of divine truth, and has given birth to the most extensive and respectable associations, for the express purpose of aiding its exertions, and co-operating in the promotion of its glorious object; an institution, which secures an adherence to the integrity of its principle, by regulations so precise and defined as not to adunit of dubious interpretation.”

It is our intention, in the following number, to-lay before our readers some extracts from the Appendix. In the mean time, we will only refer to the list of contributors which we have already intimated has immensely increased since the publication et the former Report. The nuniber amounts to between seven and eight thousand. The au

nual subscriptions for the year ending the 31st of March 1810, were 30251.; the donations or life subscriptions, 18364; the congregational collections, 43461.; sums received from Auxiliary Societies, &c. upwards of 60001; besides sums arising from interest on legacies, Exchequer bills, and 3 per Cent. Consols, amounting to upwards of 700L. The money received for the sale of Bibles during the year, was near 6,500l. The property on hand belonging to the Society, exclusive of Bibles, at the end of the year, was between 11,000l. and 12,000l.

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

The following is the substance of the Report made by the Directors of this society to the general body, at their meeting, on the 10th of May, 1810.

I. SOUTH AFRICA.

1. Bethelsdorp.

Dr. Vander Kemp and his associates continue their labours at this place, and in several of the native kraals which are within a convenient distance, and the blessing of God accompanies their exertions. The external state of Bethelsdorp puts on gradually a more promising appearance. The people be come more industrious. The knitting-school flourishes. They sow wheat and barley for their provision. The number of inhabitants increases. The fields are covered with cattle, amounting to about 1200 head, not including the sheep and the goats. There is such abundance of milk and butter, that this last article has been employed in manufacturing soap. Other necessary articles are brought by the boors in waggons, as to a marketplace. This short sketch of the state of the settlement, furnishes a striking contrast to the rude and uncivilized condition in which the missionaries found it a few years ago. And the state of religion is said to be progressive among them.

Dr. Vander Kemp and his colleagues express a strong persuasion that the institution of an orphan-house at Bethelsdorp would be productive of the most beneficial effects; and he had made application to the government at the Cape for their sanction and assistance, but had not yet received any reply.

The Committee wait with anxiety to learn the result of the application to Lord Caledon, which appears to them to be fully entitled to encouragement and support, both from the Society and the public.

The design which Dr. Vander Kemp expressed of attempting a mission in the island of Madagascar, or among the nation of the

The accounts from this station are said to continue to be satisfactory. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Janz, exert themselves in preaching the Gospel; in the instruction of the adults, but especially of the children, in reading; and in promoting industry and agriculture. Mrs. Auderson also applies herself to the instruc tion of the females. By these measures, they are laying the foundation of much good, both of a spiritual and temporal kind. The congregation consists of about 800 persons, who reside at or near the missionary station, during the whole or greatest part of the year. Besides their stated congregation, they are surrounded by numerous hordes of Corannas and Boschemen, who occasionally receive instruction from them. They are exposed, however, to various alarms and dangers, chiefly from the quarrels of the Caffres, with the Bricquas and other tribes; and these dangers appeared at one time so serious that it was deemed expedient that Mr. Anderson and his family should visit the Cape Town, in order to seek advice and protection from the government.

Previously to this event, the missionaries had been visited by Dr. Cowan and Mr. Donovan, of the 83d regiment, who were sent by the government to explore the inte rior of Africa as far as Mosambique. These gentlemen received every accommodation and assistance from the missionaries, with whom they remained about a week, and by whom they were furnished with guides into the interior. On their return to the Cape, the report which they made to his Excellency the Governor respecting the conduct of the missionaries, and the result of their labours among the Heathen, produced a favourable impression on his mind; and accordingly his Excellency received Mr. Anderson with the most obliging attention, and assured him, not only of his approbation, but of his disposition to protect and assist the c. use in which he was engaged. He has accordingly ordered a supply of such articles as were thought most necessary and useful for the station. His Excellency has also authorized the missionaries there to teach the children to write, which before was prohibited; and it is hoped, that this privilege will be extended to the other sta tions. "Indeed it may be justly affirmed,"