al improvement of the lower orders of the public, which constitute in fact the mass of the community. Your Committee cannot close this eulogium on British Associations (the general establishment of which they recommend) without expressing their satisfaction in finding the name of the venerable Bishop of Durham at the head of one of these humble establishments, for that district of the Metropolis in which his Lordship resides.

The amount of the copies of the Scriptures issued from the commencement of 1813 to March 31 of the present year, is 167,320 Bibles, 185,249 Testaments; from the commencement of the institution to that period 390,323 Bibles, 595,000 Testaments; in all 985, 325 copies; exclusive of about 41,525 circulated at the charge of the Society from Depositories abroad: making a total of one million, twenty six thousand, eight hundred and fifty copies, already circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

It would afford your Committee pleasure, did not the limits of this statement forbid it, to expatiate on the feelings of joy and gratitude, which have been displayed by an interesting class of your Society's objects, Foreign Prisoners of War, on receiving this spiritual boon from the hands of their enemies. The circumstances which have so happily changed the condition of these captives, have afforded your Committee an opportunity, which they have not neglected to improve. Numerous prisoners of war have been supplied with copies of the Scriptures on returning to their native country; and they have manifested the most lively emotions of gratitude and joy. The pleasing effect of a similar kindness to the prisoners of war at Lisbon, will be found detailed in an interesting letter from the Chaplain to the forces, which will appear in the Appendix. Nor have the British prisoners of war in France been forgotten: a considerable supply of Bibles and Testaments was furnished for their use, as noticed in the last Report; and the seasonable gift has been since acknowledged, with due expressions of thankfulness.

It now only remains for your Committee to express the obligations of the Society, for various additions to their funds from the Presbytery of Glasgow, by a continuance of their lib. eral Annual Collection, and from different Congregations and Individuals. Among other works of importance which are now in the course of printing by the Society, your Committee take this opportunity of mentioning the Book of Psalms and the Gospels, of St. Matthew and St. John, in the Ethiopic, and the New Testament in the Syriac. The latter is proceeding under the judicious superintendance of the Rev. Dr. Buchanan.

Your Committee cannot close their account of the domestic occurrences, in connexion with the Society, without expressing their sense of the loss which the Institution has sustained in the course of the last year by the decease of the venerable Granville Sharp Esq. In that distinguished Philanthropist, your Committee have to regret the honored individual who presided at the meeting at which the Society was formed, the earliest and largest benefactor to its library, and one of the most regular, diligent, and useful attendants at the meetings for transacting business.

CONCLUSION.

Your Committee having now discharged their duty, by presenting this narrative of facts, have only, in conclusion, to enforce on themselves and the members of the Society, the obligation of unfeigned gratitude to God, and of augmented energy in prosecuting to the greatest possible extent, the sacred object of the Association.

In reflecting upon the progress which the Institution has made during the short period of ten years, in contemplating the estimation which it has attained in the public mind, the strength which it has acquired by Auxiliary Establishments, and the influence which it exercises through the number and rank of its Patrons and Supporters, both at home and abroad; your Committee, devoutly ace knowledging the protecting hand of Divine Providence, are compelled to ascribe, both the origin of the Society,

and its extension and success, to Him alone, "who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working."

The seed from which this fruitful plant has sprung, was sown in a season apparently little favorable to its growth and fertility: but, nourished by the secret influences of Heaven, it has arisen and flourished amidst storms and convulsions; extending its loaded boughs to the ends of the earth, and offering the blessings of shade and refreshment to the weary and afflicted of every nation under Heaven. It is still putting forth fresh shoots in almost every direction, and proclaiming to all who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, "Fear not" "For the tree beareth her fruit."

The storms have now ceased to rage, the convulsions are no longer felt; judgment has given way to mercy; and the long night of discord and calamity, in which Europe and the civilized world have been enveloped, appears to be passing into a glorious day of order, and peace, and social

concord.

While your Committee rejoice in the prosperity with which God has blessed the British and Foreign Bible Society under circumstances of national perplexity, and individual suffering, they entertain a sanguine hope, that the improvement of those circumstances will augment both the facilities and the resources of the Institution, and enable it to advance more rapidly in the execution of its sacred design, "to make the way of God known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations."

Independent of those calls upon the Society's exertion, which it has hitherto been accustomed to obey, various new and important demands will arise from objects, which will now be brought for the first time within the reach of its benevolent attention. Countries sealed up by war, will now be laid open to receive that boon, of which some, perhaps, of their inhabitants have scarcely heard, and of which the greater part have had but a very defective knowledge, and a very limited enjoyment. Other countries, still

more remote, will also present them-> selves to notice; and challenge the Society, through the means of newly acquired facilities, to make their want of the Holy Scriptures an object of its generous concern. In the mean time, under all the advantages which Peace may be expected to bring, want and suffering, poverty and sickness, will neither so suddenly nor so entirely disappear, as to render the offices of the Society unnecessary among our selves, and among nations favored on ly in the next degree to our own. The British and Foreign Bible Society, by the blessing of God, will therefore not be remiss in availing itself of every practicable opportunity for promoting, through the distribution of his Holy Word, the knowledge of his will, and the enlargement of his kingdom.

Of all the countries in Europe which have welcomed the entrance of the Society with cordial and encouraging acceptance, there is none more distinguished than Russia, none which displays a wider scope for advancing the object of the Institution. Comprehending within her limits so many Christian nations, and communicating with a heathen population of indefi nite extent, scarcely approachable by any other route, Russia presents at once a field of immense extent for the Society's immediate labors, and opens through her dominions, a highway for our God. The establishment of a Bible Society at St. Petersburg; the organization of cooperating bodies in Moscow, Yaroslaff, Dorpat, Mittau, Reval, and Riga; the activity of the several Committees; the zeal of the Clergy, the Nobles, and the People, and the patronage and liberality of His Majesty the Emperor, together with his paternal solicitude for the moral and religious improvement of his subjects, all concur to justify the importance ascribed to this department of the Society's foreign connexions, and to authorize a well grounded hope that the Institution is designed pre-eminently by Him, "who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth;" "to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: te

guide their feet into the way of peace."

Stimulated by these considerations, and encouraged by the success with which the good pleasure of God has crowned the exertions of the Society, let it pursue the course which he appears to have marked out, and continue the dispensation of the Word of Life "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." In the prosecution of a work so congenial with the spirit of his own Revelation, the British and Foreign Bible Society may confidently expect the blessing of God. In proportion as it advances to the completion of its object, it will approach that desired and predicted consummation, when a loud voice shall be heard from Heaven, saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain: FOR THE FORMER

THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY.

APPENDIX.

By the accounts contained in the Appendix to the foregoing Report it appears, that in the course of the tenth year of the Institution, the Society had made grants in various parts of the

world to the amount of 130301. 2s. 7d. That the whole amount of Grants since the Society was formed, was 795431. 15s. 5d. That the total of Bibles and Testaments issued by the Society at home and abroad amounted to ONE

MILLION TWENTY SIX THOUSAND EIGHT

HUNDRED AND FIFTY. To this number, may be added 122,000, which were then "printed, or printing by Societies on the Continent of Europe, aided by the British and Foreign Bible Society."

That our readers may see how British Christians love their enemies, we shall give the amount of grants to our country during the tenth year of the Institution, and second year of the present war.

To Virginia Bible Society £100
To the Bible Society in Louisia-

"Donations and annual subscriptions flow into the funds of the Society from all classes of the inhabitants; and every where a greater attention to the Bible, and to its doctrine, which bringeth salvation, is become more apparent. The many demands for copies of the Scriptures in all languages, are an evidence, that a disposition towards the things of religion extends itself more and more, and affords a proof of the beneficial influence of Bible Societies.

"In the second meeting of our Committee it was resolved, that the ob

Jan. 21, 1814.

ject of the St. Petersburg Bible Society should be, to provide every family, and if possible every individual, in the Russian Empire with a Bible, that invaluable gift of Heaven. This praiseworthy resolution could not however be immediately carried into execution; and although the Committee wished to supply those with the Scriptures, in preference to all others, who, through the invasion of the ene my, had lost their all, and who consequently stood most in need of the Divine Word to support their minds, yet they were only able to supply in

pleasure in the perusal of your letter of the eleventh instant, and can assure you that your important arguments had their full weight in my resolve, to accept of the Presidentship of the Evangelical Society. Your enlightened zeal for the gospel of Christ, and the most satisfactory exposition you have afforded me of the Constitution, activity and excellences of the British and Foreign Bible Society, convinced me that by the help of our common Lord I might also become in my measure helpful to our Zion. In point of fact I viewed the call made on me, as the finger of God, and felt apprehensive lest a refusal might carry with it a reproof to my conscience of some thing like shyness "in confessing Him before men.'

99

"I cannot describe to you my admiration of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Their enlightened zeal, their labors, their progress, and their success, are so far beyond common occurrences, that I should have thought the hand of God must have been visible to all that did not wilful ly shut their eyes upon them. We must follow their footsteps in our humble measure.

"My dear Doctor, your zeal for the glory of God, and the good of your native land, has made you a welcome visitor to us. Your reward will not linger, either from your Lord or your country, when you have finished your service to both, and wish, after your labors are over, to sit down in quiet in your native land.

"I remain, &c.

been long desired by many christians in this country, and we had no evidence that any copy had arrived, except the one in our possession. That we might give all the important facts in this Number, we have abridged the Report by the omission of a few short paragraphs, some sentences, and parts of sentences, which would have been uninteresting to readers in this country. Except such omissions, no designed alteration has been made in copying the Report. But for the convenience of the reader, we divided it into distinct portions, by inserting the names, “Russiun Empire,” “India,” &c.

In East-Sudbury, Jan. 25, Rev. John B. Wight. The Dedication of the meeting house was connected with the ordination. Dedicatory address by Rev. Mr. Packard of Marlborough; Dedicatory prayer by Rev. Dr. Stearns of Lincoln; Prayer introductory to the ordination by Rev. Mr. Foster of Brighton; Sermon by Professor M'Kean of Harvard University; Ordaining prayer by Rev. Mr. Kellog of Framingham; Charge by Rev. Mr. Wight of Bristol, R. I. Right Hand by Rev. Mr. Hilliard of Sudbury; Concluding prayer by Rev. Mr Wright of Medway.

Mr. Lemuel Capen, Cambridge.
Mr. John E Abbot, Boston.

Mr. David Reed, Cambridge.
Mr. Joseph Allen,

do.

Mr. Jonathan P. Dabney, Cambridge.

Mr. Nath'l L. Frothingham, do.
Mr. Samuel Gilman, Boston.

Mr. Thomas Prentiss, Cambridge.