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Bible Society possesses equal resources for printing Bibles, either on their own account, or on account of the board, with the Kentucky Bible Society; which, from present appearances, promises to become a great and useful institution. There are other places besides Lexington, at which plates might be conveniently located; but the value of the plates is so great, and the reputation and future success of the Society will so materially depend on the prudence with which these plates are distributed, and the wisdom with which the use of them may be regulated, that the Committee hesitate in recommending at present any new location. The Society is yet without experience, and possesses little local information or acquaintance with the character and resources of its Auxiliaries. But little inconvenience can result from postponing the location of all the plates, except the two sets sent to Lexington, until the Board shall be put in possession of such information as may be necessary to make a judicious location. At present we are ignorant of the terms on which paper can be procured and Bibles printed in different parts of the United States; and it is possible that we might send the plates to a Society which could procure Bibles from another state cheaper than it could print them."

"With regard to the conditions on which the Board ought to dispose of these plates, it would probably be most expedient that they should be of general application. The committee, therefore, recommended to the Board the adoption of the following resolutions: viz.

"Resolved, that, whenever the Board of Managers shall grant to any Auxiliary Society the use of any of their stereotype plates, the grant shall be made on the following conditions:

"1st. The plates shall remain the property of the American Bible Society, and subject to be removed at the pleasure of the Board whenever, in their opinion, they can be more advantageously placed elsewhere. The plates shall be transported from New-York at the expense of the Board.

“2d. The Auxiliary Society to which the plates are sent may print from them, at their own expense, as many Bibles as they may think proper for gratuitous distribution or sale within their own district; but they shall not send out of their district any Bibles thus printed. The Auxiliary Society shall render to the Board, as often as may be required, a particular account of the number and cost of the Bibles printed and distributed by them.

"3d. In consideration of the gratuitous use of the stereotype plates, the Auxiliary Society shall cause to be printed, bound, and distributed, at the expense of the Board, and agreeably to their orders, as many Bibles as they may from time to time direct.

"The Committee beg leave to offer the following remarks on the above conditions:

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By the first condition the Board reserves the important privilege of changing the location of the plates, should expediency require it; and to this no real friend to the Bible cause can consistently object. The Board also assumes the expense of transporting the plates, and will thus render the offer of them more acceptable than it would otherwise be.

"On the second and third conditions, the committee would remark, that in the disposition of the plates the Board of course will be anxious not to violate any of the fundamental principles of the constitution. One of these principles is, that no auxiliary shall, at its own expense, distribute Bibles beyond the limits of its own district, the general Society being entitled to all the funds of its auxiliaries which may not be appropriated to the distribution of Bibles within their respective districts. The Board cannot, therefore, either give or loan to any auxiliary a set of plates for the purpose of supplying any but its own district; otherwise the Society would lose its character of an auxiliary, would never have any surplus funds to transmit to the general Society, and would, in fact, become a branch of the American Bible Society: at the same time, it would be of comparatively little use to send plates to an auxiliary, if the Bibles to be printed from them were never to pass the confines of the district in which the Society is established. In order, therefore, to preserve inviolate the principles

of the constitution, and the prerogatives of the Society, and at the same time to render our plates instrumental in giving to the Bible as wide a circulation as possible, the auxiliary is restricted by these conditions from distributing Bibles out of its own district on its own account; and it is at the same time obligated to act as the agent of the Board when required. Every Society imposed this restriction on itself when it became an auxiliary; and the condition leaves to the auxiliary all the rights to which it is entitled. It may expend all its funds in supplying the wants of its own district. The auxiliary to which the plates are sent will probably begin immediately to print Bibles; and then, the Board will have all the advantages of an experiment, without participating in its risk. We shall soon ascertain on what terms Bibles can be printed at Lexington, for instance; and should we deem it advisable to establish there a great depot of Bibles for the supply of the Western States and Territories, the Kentucky Bible Society will, under the third condition, afford great facilities for the accomplishment of this important object. The Board may direct any number of Bibles to be printed for them, and may distribute them with no other trouble than giving an order on the Depository in Lexington.

"On the whole the committee believe, that the plan they now recommend is at least free from danger; that no injurious consequence will result from its adoption; and that until the Board shall possess more information it would be imprudent to locate the remaining plates, with the exception already mentioned; since in concerns of so much magnitude and importance it is easier to avoid mistakes than to correct them when made."

Conformably to the principles contained in the above report, an offer was made by the Board to the Kentucky Bible Society of a set of the octavo in connection with one of the duodecimo stereotype plates of the Bible. The Managers of that Institution have expressed their entire approbation and acquiescence in the conditions stipulated, and their grateful acceptance of the grant.

While using their endeavours "that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified" throughout the United States, and especially in those parts where there is an incredibly swarming population, the Board have not been unmindful of their brethren of the woods. The condition of these natives, divided from us by their language, their manners, their ignorance, their degradation, by every thing which distinguishes savage from civilized man-too often by the fraud and other injuries of profligate whites, addresses to us a mute but piercing expostulation for that help which they can obtain only in very small portions from any other quarter.

What their aggregate numbers are, it is impossible to calculate with precision, but small as their population is in proportion to the territory over which they are spread, yet surely it is not beneath the notice of Bible-philanthropy: nor, should they escape the extermination which threatens them, will they fail to make, by their conversion and increase,* a large accession to the Redeemer's glory, when he shall appear "having on his head many crowns."

The Managers have taken up this matter with a view to ascertain what is practicable in itself, and can be accomplished by the Society.

Two modes present the only alternative; either to teach them English, as the medium of their access to the Bible, or to translate it for their use into the

* It is satisfactorily proved, that where the Gospel has been introduced among the Indians, accompa pied, as it regularly is, with improve ment in civilization, the population increases; while that of the heathen tribes diminishes.

vernacular tongue. The former has its advantages. It would put into their hands the same translation from one end of the Continent to the other; and that derived immediately from the originals, instead of being translated from a translation, as must in a considerable degree be the case if the Bible bé rendered into Indian. It would tend to break down the great barrier to friendly intercourse between them and the whites of a better disposition than they are accustomed to see. It would facilitate the introduction of useful arts, and the exchange of their roving for a settled life. Having moreover no letters, it is not easy to embody their speech in sounds of the English alphabet, and no successful attempt has yet been made to simplify their language, when written, by the invention of original characters.

But these advantages are counterbalanced. In common with all other nations, the Indians are strongly attached to their mother tongue. They will not submit to the pain of learning another, without such a thirst for knowledge as no savages possess. You must either convince them of its necessity by instructing them in the things of God through an interpreter, or their children must acquire it imperceptibly from their familiarity with the white settlements around them. Experience shows the first to be an Herculean task; and the question will always recur, why the worship of God is not as acceptable in Indian as in English? The second cannot take place but upon a small scale; it is a very slow process; the Indian strength is weakened with its acceleration; the young people are in danger of learning vice as fast as they learn English; the tribe is ruined when it is able to understand you ; and your end is defeated. Besides, as the propagation of our language must keep pace with the extension of our frontier, we shall not readily gain admittance far beyond the ›line of the worst examples that can be set before them; and it will prove, not an encouragement, but a hindrance to their embracing christianity. Their repugnance also to the whites, which, in this situation, must every day grow more inveterate from feeling themselves continually pushed off their grounds, will keep alive their prejudices, will kindle their resentments, and render them not very friendly to the white man's talk. Indians speaking to their brother Indians, "in the tongue wherein every one was born, the wonderful works of God," bid fair to carry the Gospel from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico; while the English preacher is wasting his life in penetrating a few miles into their own country. And why should we imagine that God, with whom "there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free," may not in his mercy "open the hearts" of the red men of the woods, as well as of a "seller of purple," to receive the things of his word, and purify their lips to proclaim among their fellows," the unsearchable riches of Christ ?"

The principal difficulty in the way of the Indian translations of the Scriptures arises from the multiplicity of the Indian dialects. It is long since the researches of Philologists have explosed the greater part of what were supposed to be radically distinct languages. Those of the Indians are ascertained, in many instances, to be dialects so near akin, that unlettered as he is, a young Indian can make himself master of several.

The branches to which the Managers would more immediately bend their attention are the Mohawk and the Delaware. The former would serve for the Five Nations, the Tuscaroras, and the Wyandots or Hurons. The latter, or Delaware, is of higher importance, as it has extended itself further than that of any Northern tribe. It can convey the Scriptures to many kindred tribes that are strewed along the frontier of the United States from Canada to Georgia. These are the Monsees, the Shawanese, the Kickapoos, the Kaskaskias, the Tuightwee, or Miamis, and the Chippewas, Hurons or Algonquins. This last is said to be the most numerous tribe on the northern borders of the United States.

Among the Delawares the United Brethren have a mission already. The congregation amounts to about five hundred. They are taught to read in their own language; they cultivate the soil; begin to practise some of the mechanick arts; and are increasing both by natural population and by accessions from the neighbouring tribes.

In their efforts to bring in these outcasts, who are indeed afar off, the Managers must submit to their circumstances, and take such parts of the Bible as from time to time they can procure to be translated. A beginning has been made. The Rev. Christian Frederick Dencke, one of the Missionaries of the United Brethren to the Delawares, stationed at New-Fairfield in Upper Canada, has completed, and forwarded to this Board, a translation of the Epistles of John; and has also finished a translation of John's Gospel, and commenced that of Matthew; both which will probably be received in the course of the year.

The first, by request of the Managers, has undergone a revision by the Rev. Mr. Mortimer, of the United Brethren, in this city, and by him pronounced to be correct.

In consequence of this acquisition, the Board, on the 2d of April last, ordered an edition of one thousand copies, with the English on one page, and the Indian on the other. Of these, three hundred are to be sent to the Rev. Mr. Dencke at New Fairfield, and one hundred to Mr. Leuchenbach, missionary in the State of Ohio, to be by them distributed among the Aborigines. The residue is lodged in the Society's depository, to be transmitted, as opportunity offers, to missionaries in other quarters, except so many as may be requisite to send to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the Na tional Bible Societies on the continent of Europe.

The Board has also voted a donation of one hundred dollars to the Rev. Mr. Dencke, to encourage him in the prosecution of his work.

With regard to the Mohawk language, the Managers find that the Gospel of Mark has been translated by the celebrated Indian chief, Brandt; and the Gospel of John by Captain Norton, a resident of Upper Canada. Should further assistance be required, it may be obtained from the Rev. Mr. Jenkins, formerly a Missionary among the Oneidas; and perhaps from Cornplanter himself, who is represented as very favourable to such an undertaking.

In the mean time, the managers have ordered an edition of one thousand

copies of Brandt's translation of Mark, and Norton's of John, to be struck off and distributed among the tribes usually denominated the Six Nations.

The managers cherish the expectation of receiving the countenance of the Christian community in the arduous attempt of translating the Bible into the Indian languages; especially as one Society has appropriated its surplus funds to be applied, under their direction, to this specific object.

The Board have also ordered to be cast a set of stereotype plates for the

New Testament, in Spanish: which will be executed as soon as a suitable copy can be procured for the purpose.

Hitherto the affairs of the Society have been carried on, and the several species of their property have been kept in a small depository, and, for want of room, in several other places. The value of this property amounting, besides the funds in the hands of the Treasurer, to twenty-four thousand dollars; the continual jeopardy of a large proportion of it; the advanced premium of insurance consequent thereon; the time lost in travelling from spot to spot, and the labour incurred by this perplexing mode of superintending different parts of the same business; added to the daily increase of all these evils, induced the managers to concentrate their business into a single establishment, either under one roof, or in convenient buildings contiguous to each other. They would have preferred owning a suitable edifice, as insuring greater permanency, and a more perfect control; but the amount of their funds which such a purchase must absorb, would have so diminished their means and crippled their efforts, that they deemed it more advisable, in the infant state of their affairs, rather to wave some advantages, than to incur the hazard of dispro-portionate expenditure; and have resolved to hire for the present.

It is evident that the business of the Society, embracing a multiplicity of objects which are every day accumulating, involves a responsibility and a labour which are incompatible with a divided and casual inspection. It is not possible for men occupied with their own concerns to detach so much of theirtime as justice to the public demands; and the danger was, that even the most capable would successively 'relinquish their charge, or the business of the Society run into confusion.* All things considered, they judged it to be of substantial benefit, and to subserve the purposes of real economy, to appoint an agent for this special trust, with a reasonable compensation; and they have accordingly made such an appointment.

A serious article of expense arises from duties accruing to the United States, on the importation of Bibles in foreign languages, and of paper for the purpose of printing Bibles; also on the postage of letters.

Foreign paper, especially the French, is preferred, as being made of better materials, and of a more durable texture than what is manufactured in this country at the same prices; and could it be procured free of duty, would enable the Society to furnish the Scriptures at a reduced rate, and thus to circulate them in greater abundance, as well as bring them more easily within the reach of the poor.

* For a more detailed view, the managers refer to an extract from a representation of their committee, appended to this Report. See Appendix A.

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