to him. All this is truly laughable, and should be expunged in a second edition. Yet with a proper allowance for these puerilities and a somewhat overweening conceit of his own im or some one of equal celebrity. The shade and colouring and general execution are doubtless very fine, but who that pays any regard to the truth of history would ever expect to find our Lord exhibited in the atti-portance, we have no hesitation to tude of delivering two large keys into pronounce his book a very amusing the hands of the Apostle? Yet such is companion. The style is lively, and the basis of this renowned painting, the anecdotes seldom destitute of which has probably been the admira- interest-and if, in attempting to tion of thousands !! talk apophthegms the author now and then puts us off with a mere truism, we still venture to affirm, that there is so much gentlemanly chitchat in the volume, such an apparent fund of good humour, of liberality of sentiment, and other companionable qualities, that the reader who once takes it up, whether in his Excursion to Hampton court and Windsor, or at his own fire side, will not hastily lay it down again. view. To return, however, from this digression, in which we have wandered beyond our intention; we must sum up our opinion of Mr. Evans's book. It is a highly amusing performance, full of interesting incident, and cannot fail of ministering instruction to readers of every class, but more especially the young, whose improvement in taste and judgment the author appears laudably to have kept in He has evinced the extent of his acquaintance with cotemporary writers, both in poetry and prose, by the very numerous quotations which he has introduced into his volume; and as they are in general highly apposite, they serve at once to enliven the narrative and inform the mind. No person, until he examines the volume, can have any adequate conception of the portion of entertainment that it furnishes; and particularly in that most pleasing department of literature, biography. The sketches, which Mr. Evans has contrived to intersperse throughout his volume, of the history of such men, for instance, as Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, Gibbon, Gilbert Wakefield, Horne Tooke, the ugly and excentric Heidegger, Dean Swift, Dr. Beattie, Thomson the poet, Pope, Atterbury, Warburton, Horace Walpole, Benjamin West, Thomas Day, Antonio Verrio, Mr. Gray, and many others whom we cannot find room to particularise, gives his book a very considerable degree of permanent interest. We could indeed have wished that he had been more sparing of his CAPITALS and Italics-for his pages are so crowded with them, that they really produce a whimsical effect in our estimation. It seems as if he could not trust the reader one moment to the exercise of his own judgment or sagacity, but must be continually at his elbow, jogging him with now reader! don't let that escape you"-while, such is his courtesy to great men, that not one of them comes in his way but he must doff off his hat The Hampshire Sunday School Union Teacher's Hymn Book, 2nd edition, with additions. Portsmouth, Mills, and Lea and Son: Whitewood and Horsey, Portsea, 1817. Price Is. bound. Advertisement to the Second edition. of this little Work, and the repeated ap "The rapid sale of the first impression plications for it, have induced the Cornpilers to print a Second Edition. "Anxious to render it still more wor thy of public patronage, they have made several alterations, and added a number of original Hymns. 66 Again they acknowledge, with grati tude, the kindness of those friends who have favoured them with their assistance; to aid the devotional exercises of Sunday and humbly hope, that their endeavours School Meetings, will have the approbation of Heaven, and be productive of much good in promoting the welfare of the rising generation." This little collection of divine songs, Eighty-nine in number, is very deserving of the attention of the Sabbath-day Schools throughout the kingdom. 'Tis very neatly printed, and both the sentiment and poetry entitle it to commendation. GREAT God, now condescend To bless the rising race, Soon may their willing spirits bend Their happiness to see! Religious and Literary Entelligence. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. In our number for JUNE (See p. 186.) we briefly mentioned the thirteenth Anniversary of this noble Institution, and promised our readers a more detailed account of its proceedings at a convenient season. We lament indeed that the press of other interesting matter has hitherto prevented us from fulfilling our engagement, especially as some of the speeches delivered on that occasion were superlatively excellent. But, though late, we shall now endeavour in part to redeem our pledge. The following Statement represents the Receipts and Expenditure, together with the number of Bibles and Testaments issued within the year. The Issue of Copies of the Scriptures, from March 31, 1816, to March 31, 1817, had been- 100,782 Testaments. 92,239 Bibles Making the total issued, from the commencement of the Institution, to the last mentioned period, 746,666 Bibles [929,328 Testaments. In all, 1,675,994 copies, exclusive of about 100,000 copies circulated at the charge of the Society from Depositaries abroad; making a grand total of ONE MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND, NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-FOUR copies, already circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society.. The Receipts of the year have been £. s. d. £. s. d. Annual Subscriptions.. 2764 19 6 Donations and Life Sub an outline of the whole of the Speeches that were delivered on this occasion, we select two of them, as in our opinion, the most brilliant among them. The first is that of Dr. Mason of New York-the other, that of our own countryman the Rev. Richard Watson. The Rev. DR. MASON, Secretary to the American Bible Society. 66 My Lord and Gentlemen, "I felicitate myself this day upon the accomplishment of one of the dearest wishes of my heart-a wish, to the attainment of which I have adjusted my little plans and motions for the last five months -the happiness of being present at the Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society, without the smallest idea of being invited to share in the honours of its public proceedings. In compliance, however with a request which I cannot decline, I have to submit a motion, which I shall claim your Lordship's indulgence to preface with a few remarks; not with the intention of informing this Societythat would be an attempt to enlighten the source of that light which has itself enlightened the world on all points, connected with the circulation of the Scriptures; not with a view of exciting the zeal of the Society-that would be rebuked by its appearance to-day; but, as an humble organ of the American Bible Society, I would beg leave to express opinions and feelings, which, though perfectly familiar to the minds of this company, are of some value on the principle of sympathy, as they are the views and feelings of millions of your fellow-men, and fellow-Christians, who have the blood of a common ancestry running in their veins, and whose hearts beat in unison with your own, in regard to the objects of this great Institution. "The wise and the good, my Lord, the men of light and of love, have long lamented the divisions and alienatious which severed those who held the same precious faith;' and expected to meet in the place where shall be no dissensions. But, whether there was any remedy for this unhappiness, whether agreement in substantial principle could be made to 62286 9 10 supersede differences in subordinate matters, was a problem too mighty for them to solve; and left them only the feeble consolation of sighing after a blessing which they despaired of enjoying. For Bibles and Testaments, the greater part of which were purchased by Bible Associations... 21954 7 6 Total The Expenditure of the Year 64240 17 4 89230 9 9 "But the problem which had thus excited the desires, appalled the resolution, and extinguished the hope, of age after age, is solved at last-it is solved in this Institution. Blessed are our eyes, for As we cannot undertake to give even they see, and our ears, for they hear, things Obligations of the Society, including Orders given for Bibles and Testaments, about.... VOL. III. 35000 0 0 2 s which many prophets and wise men have desired to see, and have not seen them; and to hear, and have not heard them. My Lord, we cannot dwell too much upon the delightful recollection, that here, in this Society, Christians may put off the garb of their exterior diversities, and meet together in the simple and beautiful livery of the Son of God; and, foregoing things which do not touch the hidden man of the heart,' may give scope to that celestial charity which aims at nothing less than extending the pure word of life to every region of darkness and death on the surface of our globe. a wise and well tempered rule, ramifies its genial virtue through all the branches of society. So that if any thing can make a glorious Sovereign, and happy subjects, it is the attachment and submission of both to the oracles of God. "For the very same reasons, the Bible, in proportion as it is known and believed, must produce a generally good effect on the condition of the world. In forming the character of the individual and the nation, it cannot fail to mould also, in a greater or less degree, the conduct of political governments toward each other. It is not in the Bible, nor in the spirit which it infuses, that the pride which sacrifices hecatombs and nations of men to its lawless aggrandisement, either finds, or seeks for, its aliment: and had Europe been under the sway of the Book of God, this age had not seen a more than fabled monster of ambition, endeavouring to plant one foot on the heights of Montmartre, and the other on the hills of Dover; and, while he scowled on the prostrate Continent, stretching out his right hand to rifle the treasures of the East, and his left to crush the young glories of the West, Such an ambition was never bred in the bosom, nor drew nourishment from a Bible Society. 。 My Lord, it would create a smile, if the subject were not infinitely too serious for smiles, that an apprehension of injury to the cause of sound Christianity from the labours of such a Society as this, should find its way into a Christian bosom. If, as your own Chillingworth has exclaimed, 'The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants,' it is passing strange, that any good man should be afraid of dispersing it abroad; that is, of spreading his own religion. How is it possible that the charities of men, united in the holy work of diffusing among their fellowimmortals the record of the charity of God, can operate with any other than a salutary influence? Besides removing un- "Your Lordship will permit me further natural and unnecessary restraints upon to remark, that if any judgment can be the reciprocation of our best affections, formed from the aspect of Providence, it and thus multiplying friendships which will be the honour of this Institution, both are pledges of mutual virtue, the Bible in its direct and indirect operations, to be Society acts with an auspicious energy on highly instrumental in preparing the all, even the lowest classes of civil society. world for that period of life and blessedMy Lord, the man who reads and reve- ness, when none shall hurt nor destroy, rences his Bible, is not the man of violence because the earth shall be filled with the and blood: he will not rise from the study knowledge of Jehovah.' It will be then of lessons which the Holy Ghost teaches, that the gallant and principled soldier to commit a burglary: he will not travel will rejoice to beat his sword into a with his Bible, under his arm, and, medita-ploughshare, and his spear into a pruningting upon its contents, as forming the rule hook, and to learn war no more.' Bible of his conduct, to celebrate the orgies of Societies seem destined to act an illustrious Bacchus, or the rites of Venus. Assuredly part in the measures preparatory to this it was not the Bible, which, in 1780, grand event. They are scattering over kindled the flames of Newgate; nor is it the face of the earth that precious seed,' from the stores of inspired eloquence, which, in due time, shall spring up, being that the apostles of mischief draw those watered from above, and shall ripen into doctrines, and speeches which delude the an abundant harvest of righteousness and understanding, and exasperate the pas peace. They are laying and uniting, by sions, of an ignorant and ill-judging mul- social communication, that long train of titude. If there are any two maxims truth, to which the angel of God shall one which go together, under the sanction of day apply his match from heaven, and scriptural authority, they are these; he cause the light of salvation to burst forth who fears God, will honour the King;' as in a moment, from every spot on the and he who does both, will not be the first globe. to' meddle with them that are given to change.' On the contrary, the influence of the Bible, and, therefore of Bible Societies, upon the habits of the community, is calculated to throw up around every paternal government, a rampart better than walls and guns, and bayonets,-a rampart of human hearts. While, at the same time, that influence over those who are in authority, descends, in its turn, upon the state at large; and, in the exercise of "But before this consummation, much, very much, remains to be done. The cord of the Hindoo cast is to be untwined; and the word of God is to perform the task. There are long ranges of Alps between you, and regions which must be annexed to the crown of Messiah the Prince. They are not merely to be pierced by the hand of imperial power, that a few troops or travellers may pass their limits; they are to be removed; they are to disppear; and the divine word is the fire and vinegar, under the action of which they are to moulder away, till their ashes shall be scattered to the four corners of heaven, and their bases be turned into a garden of God. "Permit me to add, that no heart is too magnanimous, no arm too powerful, no station too exalted, to lend its aid in promoting so magnificent a work, In that day, when all human things shall appear in their own littleness, and shall undergo a judgment according to truth, it will not be a source of shame or regret, that Princes have come down from their thrones, and that the members of kingly families, and the possessors of ecclesiastical pre-eminence, have mingled with private Christians in common efforts for the best interests of individual and social man. The reaction of such deeds of goodness will never sully the purity of the mitre, nor dim the star of royalty. "One observation more, my Lord, upon the general subject. The high and holy interests, and responsibilities which are lodged in the hands of this Institution, do not allow it to give back, or to hesitate. There is a notion which has passed into a sort of common-law creed, that all intellectual and religious light, following the course of the sun, must go from the east to the west. My Lord, the 'Sun of Righteousness rises where he pleases; and, on this occasion, he has chosen to rise in the west, to take the point of his departure from the island of Great Britain, and to fling the broad beams of his glory on the midnight of the east. He has done it, as by other agencies, so, in a singular manner, by the agency of this Society. Its cause and interest are not the cause and interests of a few visionaries, inebriated by romantic projects. It is the cause of more than giant undertakings in regular and progressive execution. The decisive battle has been fought; opposition comes now too late. He who would arrest the march of Bible Societies, is attempting to stop the moral machinery of the world, and can look for nothing but to be crushed in pieces. The march must proceed. Those disciplined and formidable columns, which, under the banner of divine truth, are bearing down upon the territories of death, have one word of command from on high, and that word is ONWARD!' The command does not fall useless on the ears of this Society. May it go onward,' continuing to be, and with increasing splendour, the astonishment of the world, as it is the most illustrious monument of British glory. “A word more, my Lord, and I shall have done. It relates to a topic on which I know not whether my emotions will allow me to express myself distinctly; it is the late unhappy difference between my own country and this-between the land of fathers and the land of their children. I cannot repress my congratulations to both, that the conflict was so short, and the reconciliation so prompt; and, I trust, not easily to be broken. Never again, my Lord, it is a vow in which I have the concurrence of all noble spirits and all feeling hearts, never again may that humiliating spectacle-two nations to whom God has vouchsafed the enjoyment of rational liberty; two nations who are extensively engaged, according to their means, in enlarging the kingdom, in spreading the religion, of the Lord Jesus-the kingdom of peace-the religion of love-those two nations occupied in the unholy work of shedding each other's blood!- Never again may such a spectacle be exhibited to the eyes of afflicted Christianity! May their present concord, written not merely with pen and ink, but on the living tablets of the hearts; enforced by the sentiment of a common origin, by common language, principles, habits, and hopes; and guaranteed by an all graicious Providence, be uninterrupted! May they, and their Bible Societies, striving together with one heart and one soul, to bring glory to God in the highest, and on earth to manifest good-will toward men, go on, increasing in their zeal, their efforts, and their success; and making stronger and stronger, by the sweet charities of the Gospel, the bands of their concord!" The Rev. RICHARD WATSON, (Minister in the Methodist Connexion,) after some prefatory remarks on the merits of the Committee, spoke as follows: "My Lord, "The Report and the addresses which we have heard this day, have turned our attention to the Russian empire; and delightful are the views which are there presented to us. We cannot listen to such statements, without anticipating, from the circulation of the Scriptures in the Greek Church, the revival of religion there in all its purity and whoever considers the geographical positions of the Russian Empire, its rising greatness, its political influence, and the character of its sovereign, must contemplate such a revival of pure religion, as the certain harbinger of the moral renovation of the world. To merely Pagan countries we send both Bibles and Missionaries; but where Christianity exists, though in decay, the Bible may be sufficient. The circulation of the Scriptures alone, may raise and restore the Greek Church; the frame of the temple still stands, and the Bible will rekindle the fire upon its altars-an order of Christian ministers exists, though many of them are comparatively dead; but, like the witnesses in the Apocalypse, when the spirit of truth shall enter into them, they shall stand upon their feet and prophesy.' "The circulation of the Scriptures in the Latin Church, produced our own glorious Reformation, and gave us Pro testantism, with all its blessings. success; it is the quickening freshness which goes before the morning; the rising breeze, which indicates the descending and universal shower. "I will add but another remark, and I make it, because it has been made before, and because it derives its interest from being made often. Our Christian union still continues; we are still one in this glorious work; the dew of Hermon has not, to us, lost its refreshing quality; the ointment poured on the head of Aaron, still retains all its fragrance. I follow, with pleasure, the respectable divine who has just addressed you. He is an American, with a truly British heart; and he has furnished me with an American allusion, with reference to the principles of this Society, which embraces Christianity of all names and all countries. We have buried the hatchet of strife, and may the moisture which nourishes the root of that tree under which we have laid it, daily eat more deeply into its edge, and more completely destroy its temper. I know of but one malediction in the breast of charity, and that is reserved for the man who shall dig the hatchet from the earth, and again give sharpness to its edge." MR. HALL'S SPEECH. The Leicester Auxiliary Bible Society, held its Seventh Anniversary in the Guildhall, Leicester, on Tuesday July 15th 1817, on which occasion, the following Speech was delivered by Mr. R. Hall. And we may look forward to the same results in the Greek Church, with this interesting difference, that the opposition made to the circulation of the Scriptures in the Latin Church, produced an angry schism; but, encouraged as Bible Societies are in the Greek Church, the free diffusion of divine truth will re-animate the body, and yet, probably, preserve its unity. This, my Lord, is a cheering consideration. Our Reformation dawned upon us with lurid glare; all our Protestant Churches had their birth amidst the convulsions of political elements, and their cradle was rocked by storms; but in Russia we have the prospect of change without convulsion, of the good without the evil;-its reformation approaches like a soft and beauteous sun-rise, shedding rays equally welcome on the cottages of Siberia, and the palaces of the northern Cæsar. What is doing in Russia, in comparison of the wants and population of that empire, is chiefly in preparation; yet such notes of preparation fall delightfully on our ears; they are, like the first faint notes of the birds, wakened, even by twilight, into songs, preludes to the full harmony of nature, and the perfect light of day. One circumstance, in the operation of the Bible Society, has appeared to me equally singular and encouraging-the eager desire of the people in all places to possess those Scriptures, which it is the object of the Society to furnish. Has, then, the carnal mind ceased to be at enmity with God?-Have vice and ignorance laid aside their hostility to truth? We believe a time will arrive, when those reproving words of the Evangelist will lose their application,- The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not;'a time when the darkness shall compre hend the light, and eagerly lay hold upon it. Have we, then, the encouragement arising from the consideration, that we are approaching that period? I think we have. When the light of the Gospel faded away from the minds of men in former ages, there was no such feeling as that to which I have referred; none sighed at the approach of night; none laid hold on truth, as Jacob on the angel, saying, I will not let thee go.'-The shadows of the evening were welcomed, and the angel was repulsed. I have no other way of accounting for this change, but by referring it to the special influence of God; and this is one of the noblest 1 consider this Society as a new moral proofs, that the work of the Bible Society power, which, combining the energies of is taken up into the plans of Providence: Christendom in one great effort, promises God is not only with us, but there is a to change the face of the universe; while, sense in which he goes before us. Where-in imitation of Him in whose cause it is ever this Society directs its operations, his enlisted, it travels in the greatness of its Spirit appeare, to precede it: a holy in- strength, "mighty to save." It possesses fluence is breathed upon the world, pre- every characteristic of a work of God, paring it to receive those blessings which in which the simplest means are made to the Sacred Word alone can communicate. produce the greatest effects; where there This is a pledge of ultimate and universal is the utmost economy in the contrivance, It has been usual, on these occasions, to eulogize the Bible Society; I will not say beyond its merits, for they are more than equal to the powers of the most exalted panegyric: but the frequency of these encomiums must be my apology for saying but little on that topic at present, The stores of rhetoric appear to me to be exhausted; while every department of nature and of art has been summoned and made to contribute its share to the illus tration of the divine simplicity of its principle, the sanctity of its object, and the extent and grandeur of its operations. Never was there an institution which at once went so far forward in the distribution of its benefits, and exerted such a reflex energy on its members and patrons; producing a generous enthusiasm, which kindles at every step, and is raised to a more intense degree byevery fresh achievement. |