assist at the formation of the six following Bible Societies:

1. One for the town and eirce of Cleve, containing a population of about 60,000 persons.

2. The Osnaburg Bible Society, in connexion with that for the Kingdom of Hanover.

3. Koenigsfeld Bible Society. 4. Nassau Homburg Bible Society.

5. Frankfort Bible Society. 6. A Bible Society for the Principalities of Neuwied and Wied Runkel, containing a population of about 35,000.

To the above is to be added a Branch Society at Wesel, formed previously to Dr. Steinkopff's arrival there, in connexion with the Prussian Bible Society.

To assist the proceedings of these several Institutions, the following sums were allotted:

in consideration of the great field opened for the exertions of the last of these, in Germany, Switzerland, Alsace, and Italy.

At a very numerous Meeting of the Eâsle Bible Society in October last, it is a remarkable fact, that several Jews attended; and became subscribers.

Dr. Steinkopff had also the pleasure to succeed in procuring the establishment of a distinct Bible Society at Bern; and your Committee have, on his recommendation, presented to it 2007.

The information respecting the state and progress of the three remaining Bible Societies in Switzerland--those of Chur, Lausanne, and Geneva, is equally favourable.

The Geneva Bible Society has opened a correspondence with Protestant Clergymen in France, and by their assistance has been enabled to supply many of the Protestants in that kingdom with copies of the Scriptures, at the charge of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

A Society has also been established for the Principality of Neufchatel, under the sanction of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Authorities, which promises to become a useful Ally to the Societies at Lausanne and Geneva; and, chiefly through the exertions and liberality of the former, a similar Society has been provisionally organized among the Waldenses inhabiting the vallies of Piedmont. To the Society at Neufchatel your Committee

have presented a donation of 100%. and to that of the Waldenses, (or Valais,) in consideration of their particular circumstances, the sum of 2001.

It is proper to add, in this plače, a Grant to the Protestant Consistory at Vienna in Bohemian, Polish and German Bibles and Testaments, to the amount of 300l. as well as a donation of 500l. made to the Hungarian Bible Institution at Presburg, in consequence of the great poverty of Protestants in that country.

Your Committee regret the necessity of omitting much interesting information obtained by Dr. Steinkopff, during the course of his journey, comprising a distance of nearly 5000 miles.

The political arrangements of the continent, without abating the zeal of the Saxon Bible Society, have materially diminish ed the sphere of its operations. Many Branch and Auxiliary Societies still, however, remain connected with it, and display great activity within their respective departments.

Your Committee have had real pleasure in assisting this Institution with a donation of 2001

The Thuringian Bible Society, at Erfurt, has obtained the formal sanction of the Government; it has planted an Auxiliary at Eisenach; and its proceedings in general meet with great encouragement, both from Consistories, and persons of rank and influence.

A similar Society has also been established at Eichsfeld, with a Branch at Nordhausen.

North of Europe.

Your Committee have now to report the substance of the most material information received by them relative to the proceedings in the North of Europe, beginning with Denmark.

Two years have elapsed since the establishment of the Danish Bible Society; but its organization was not fully completed before November last, when His Excellency Count Schimmelman was elected President, and the venerable Bishop Münter, and the President and First Deputy of the Chancery were nominated Vice-Presidents. The Committee then entered upon their operations, resolving to assemble every fortnight, and to begin the organization of Auxiliary Societies.

As one among other results of these measures, an Auxiliary Society has been established in Sleswick Holstein, with the sanction of his Danish Majesty. To this Auxiliary a donation of 3001. has been presented.

The information communicated in former Reports respecting Iceland, renders it unnecessary to enter into minute details, on the present occasion. It will be recollected that the Rev. E. Henderson proceeded to that country. with the sanction of the Committee, for the purpose of superintending the distribution of the Icelandick Scriptures, printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This commission, in the discharge of which he was exposed to many perils, has been executed, in a manner most satisfactory to his

employers, and beneficial to the poor but grateful inhabitants of

that island.

The want of the Scriptures in Iceland was extreme: it was deeply felt and lamented by the people; but their sorrow has been turned into joy: and there is perhaps no part of the world to which the British and Foreign Bible Society has extended its benevolence, where it has been more cordially welcomed, and more gratefully acknowledged, than in Iceland.

In a pamphlet published by a respectable author at Stockholm, in March, 1815, it is stated, that, previously to the establishment of the Bible Society in Sweden, not one out of eighty of the poorer classes had a copy of the Scriptures, and that, according to a well-founded calculation, not fewer than 400,000 families in that kingdom were destitute of that inestimable treasure.

Your Committee have now the satisfaction to report, that, in consequence of the active measures adopted in Sweden, these wants have already been in some measure relieved; and that every disposition prevails in that country to supply them effectually.

The Societies of Gothenburg, Westeras, and Gothland, which have now become Auxiliaries to the National Bible Society at Stockholm, are all active within their respective circles.

In consequence of an Address from Bishop Wingard, the President, and the Directors of the Gothenburg Bible Society, representing the distressed state of a large population which formerly

subsisted by the Herring Fishery, your Committee have been induced to aid the funds of that Institution by a donation of 100l. They have also granted to the Swedish Bible Society the sum of 500l. with a request that 200l. of it may he applied to the use of its Auxiliary at Westeras, in consequence of a very urgent representation of the great want of the Scriptures within its circle, and the inability of the Society to supply them,

Your Committee have the satisfaction to announce the establishment of an Auxiliary Bible Society at Lund, in Scania, under the Presidency of the Bishop, who is also Vice Chancellor of the University of Lund. This is an important station; and the zeal of the Bishop, and active co-operation of the Professors and leading men of the University, authorize an expectation, that this new Society will prove materially beneficial. A donation of 300l. has been presented to it.

The Archbishop of Upsala has also expressed his wish for the formation of a Bible Society in the University of that place; and your Committee have most readily encouraged it by the promise of a donation of 300l. to assist its operations, in the event of its establishment as an Auxiliary to the Swedish Bible Society.

Your Committee have only to add, on the subject of Sweden, that the Bible Society there has not only the Patronage of His Majesty the King, but that the Crown Prince has been a most liberal contributor to it, as well

as to the Evangelical Society at Stockholm, and has promised a considerable pecuniary donation towards the establishment of a Bible Society in Norway.

The proceedings in Russia, for extending the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, are entitled, from their magnitude and importance, to particular notice; and your Committee regret the necessity of confining their Report to a brief and general statement of them.

Of the thirteen editions of the Scriptures, in whole or in part printing in Russia at the period of the last General Meeting, eight have been completed, the remainder are in progress, and some nearly finished, making altogether, at least, 110,000 copies, now actually in the press.

Theodosia, or Kaffa, is a sea port town of the Crimea; and the new Society there proposes, in its operations, to embrace the whole of that Peninsula, and in general the countries lying on the shores of the Black Sea, including the Abazi, Mingrelia, and Anatolia, or Asia Minor, without any assigned limitation, and may, by the blessing of God, to use the language of Mr. Pinkerton, " prove the means of rekindling the Christian flame among the Churches of Asia Minor, where first the great Apostle of the Gentiles preached the doctrine of the cross.'

The great importance of this new Institution, which is proceeding with zeal and activity, has induced your Committee to encourage its exertions by a grant of 500l.

Your Committee have now to mention a circumstance which

will be heard with the deepest interest, that His Majesty the Emperour of Russia, who has evinced an undeviating attachment to the Russian Bible Society, has recommended to the Holy Synod, through Prince Galitzin, to procure a translation of the Bible into the modern Russian. The Holy Synod, anxious to promote among their countrymen the knowledge of Divine Truth, most cordially and unanimously adopted the recommendation of His Imperial Majesty; and it was accordingly resolved that the Scriptures should be translated into the Russian language, under the superintendence of the Spiritual Academy; that the translation should be revised by a Committee of the most learned of the Clergy, and afterwards published by the Russian Bible Society in two columns, Slavonian and Russian. The idea of this noble work is the exclusive property of His Imperial Majesty, the pure suggestion of his own benevolence; and the Russian Bible will remain an imperishable memorial, both of his piety, and of his paternal solicitude for the welfare of his subjects. Considering the progress made by the Russian Bible Society, during the three years of its existence, the interest which it has excited in the publick mind, the co-operation of persons of the highest rank, both civil and ecclesiastical, the energy of its operations, and the ardour which animates its Auxiliaries, it may be confidently hoped, that, by the blessing of God, it will prove the source of permanent and extensive benefit, not only to

the subjects of the Russian Empire, but to the inhabitants of various adjoining countries.

In this confidence, your Committee cannot but rejoice, that, in addition to the grants already mentioned, for particular purposes, they have been enabled to assist its general operations by a donation of 1000%.

To the above particulars your Committee have to add, that a Bible Society has been established at Strasburg, which has been assisted with a grant of 5007.; and that, at Paris, 3000 copies of Ostervald's New Testament have been printed, during the last year, from the stereotype plates, under the direction of the Protestant Consistories, an edition of 6000 is now in the press; making, when completed, a total of 13,000 copies.

America.

In the last Report it was observed, that the number of Bible Societies within the United States of America, amounted to sixty-nine, with the prospect of an augmentation. The Sixth Report of the New-York Bible Society, in December, specifies one hundred and two; of which three Societies are established in Colleges, and thirteen are Female Institutions. By later intelligence, it appears, that their number is increased to one hundred and fifteen, among which is an "African Bible Society," recently established in Philadelphia.

Your Committee cannot recite these interesting facts, without cordially congratulating their Trans-Atlantick Brethren on their zeal for promoting the cir

culation of the Holy Scriptures; and, in the language applied by the Secretary of the New-York Bible Society on a former occasion, to the Members of this Institution, "bid them God speed."

It is no less pleasing to remark, that the harmony which pervades the Societies in the Western Continent is as conspicuous as their zeal. "The Bible Societes," in the terms of one of their Reports, "make one grand whole, because they have one single object in view." Of their continued regard for the British and Foreign Bible Society, the proofs are as satisfactory as they are abundant.

Your Committee have the satisfaction to announce, on the authority of the Philadelphia Bible Society's Report, that, by the liberality of individuals, and the contributions of Sister Societies, it has been enabled to print an edition of 6000 French Testaments, for the accommodation principally of Louisiana and the adjacent territories; to which it may be added, that your Committee have assisted the wants of the inhabitants of Louisiana, by a large supply of the Scriptures in the Spanish and French languages. They have also granted to the New-York Bible Society 2007. in aid of a set of stereotype plates for an English Bible.

The Committee of the Bible Society of Massachusetts have respectfully declined the proposal made to them of accepting, for their own use, the Bibles and Testaments originally destined for the Cape of Good Hope, and which they had generously redeemed from capture. The rea