Annual Receipts of the Chief Religious Societies. [From the Missionary Register for December, where the Table is thus prefaced:In the following List, we have been able to make some addition to the Societies enumerated in that of last year. The total amount exceeds the amount of that year by nearly 40,000. In a few cases, not having received the statements of the year 1823-4, we have re-printed those of the year preceding; as in the American Episcopal and Methodist Missionary Societies, and the Christian-Knowledge and NationalEducation Societies. It should be noticed, that, in two instances, the Contributions include Government Grants: the Gospel-Propagation Society thus received 92127. 10s.; and the Irish Education Society, 8997. 13s. 4d.] Year. Contributions. £. s. d. Sales. £. s. d. Total Income. £. s. d. 918 11 10 9,543 16 0 12,557 0 0 852 18 9 1,800 0 0 2,009 10 11 3,259 7 0 3,519 13 5 12,153 6 2 American Board of Missions.... 18223 1823-4 American Methodist Missionary 1822-3 Baptist Missionary .... .... .... 1,627 19 9 1823-4 55,332 4 8 42,386 12 10 97,718 17 6 Baptist (General) Missionary.. 1822-3 Christian-Knowledge. Church-Missionary. .... ...... 1823-4 1,920 10 4 1822-3 28,263 16 10 26,627 9 2 54,891 6 0 316 15 11 39,272 7 3 1823 234 3 0 402 11 2 ..... ... Church-of-England Tract Continental.. Gospel-Propagation Hibernian Irish Sunday-School .... Irish Tract and Book... Merchant-Seamen's Bible ...... ...... .... 1823-4 7,282 5 4 ...... .... 634 14 2 2,014 3 4 16,012 14 8 1822-3 9,333 8 4 116 14 347 10 2 3,278 4 10 0 7,398 19 4 1,883 17 2 12,611 13 2 1822-3 1,166 16 1 2,108 11 6 3,275 7 7 1822-3 401 6 0 ...... 195 3 9 1,996 15 0 2,277 7 9 1,140 12 10 439 19 8 1,703 4 11 11,068 5 3 34,650 5 3 £406,426 16 Report of the Committee of the Depu- THE Report of the Proceedings of the whole, not unsatisfactory; its brevity being chiefly owing to what is rather a subject of congratulatiou, viz., that the ordinary business of supporting Rights and recti fying Wrongs has been comprised within · a very narrow compass ;-the complaints of Infringement or of Injury having been few, none of a very aggravated nature, and chiefly quieted without much difficulty or any appeal to Public Justice. Of internal disputes there have been several cases, in some of which the Committe declined to interfere; and others, in which their advice and assistance has proved salutary; but none of sufficient importance to merit a particular narration, : In the business of the Dissenters' Mar. riages, your Committee would readily have engaged, if they had thought that they could have done it usefully but on mature consideration of the subject, it seemed probable that an attempt to procure any change in the Law in favour of the Dissenters at large, might injuriously affect the measure which our Unitarian brethren were then soliciting in the House of Lords, without producing any ade quate compensation of advantage to the general body; by whom neither had they been called on to take a part:-it was therefore thought most expedient to remain silent, though not uninterested, observers. The issue of that application is too well known to require any minuteness of detail;-it may be sufficient to say, that the friends of civil and religious liberty had ample reason for satisfaction, at least, if not for triumph, in the strain both of the arguments and the language to which the debate of May the 4th, on Lord Lansdowne's motion, "For going into a Committee on the Bill," gave oc casion: and the conclusion presented to the country the singular spectacle, of a measure, treated as one of great importance both to the State and the Church, supported by His Majesty's prime minis. ter, and other members of the cabinet; advocated in a manner which did him high honour, by the Archbishop of Can terbury, the head and prominent guar dian of the interests of the Church, and some of his reverend brethren; and yet defeated by a majority of 105 to 66,which majority, however, it may be observed, included the proxies of 50 Noble Lords who were not present at the debate. In a later period of the Session, your Committee, participating in the indignation so universally felt throughout the country, at the conduct of the Colonial Government of Demerara, thought it incumbent on them to join the general voice, by presenting a petition to Parlia ment, conveying a strong censure on those proceedings;-to which step they were also prompted by observing the violent and daring spirit which seemed to pervade some other of the West-Indian Colonies; where, not only in lan guage, but by very extraordinary overt acts, bordering closely even on rebellion, they seemed to declare a determination that the religious freedom which is enjoyed in Great Britain under all the secu rities of law and justice, and which freedom extends to those very Colonies, should be there held (particularly in Barbadoes), on no more secure tenure than the good pleasure of persons, who, by whatever name they might choose to designate themselves, were, in fact, no other than an ignorant, a prejudiced, and infuriated mob; heedless alike of the obligations of morality, and the restraints of law. On our great object, the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, your Committee have pursued the course pointed out to them; and in the early part of the Session solicited the concurrence and cooperation of the general body of the Ministers, the Protestant Society, and the Unitarian Association: of whom, the latter only signified their approval of an immediate application; the two former declining to join it on the ground only of the unfavourableness of the time. Considering, therefore, the acknowledged importance of unanimity in a matter of so much moment, and of common interest, the Committee thought it better to defer the intention of proceeding by motion, and to confine their operations for the session, to petitions, which were accordingly presented,-that to the Lords, (in the absence of the Bishop of Nor wich,) by Lord Holland; and that to the Commons, by the chairman. On the Committee resuming their meetings in the autumn, the subject was instantly revived, -the co-operation of the same bodies was again requested: Conferences have been held;-preparatory steps have been taken for exciting public attention to the subject ;—a gene. ral notice thereon has been sent to those Monthly Journals which take more especial cognizance of such matters,-and it is intended to recommend the continuance of these measures to the new Deputation and the new Committee, who will probably ere long take the opinion of some gentlemen of consequence iu the House of Commons, as to the time and mode of proceeding in the ulterior stages of this very important affair. All which your Committee submit to the consideration of the Meeting. MISCELLANEOUS. A List of Joint-Stock Companies, the Proposals for which are now, or have been lately, before the Public. A friend, on whose accuracy we can rely, has put into our hands the subjoined extraordinary list; which, though not belonging to the subjects usually embraced by our Magazine, we think it right to put on our pages, as a record of the state of the public mind, iu the latter end of the year 1824, and the beginning of the year 1825. There has been no instance of extravagance equal to this which we now exhibit, since the infamous South-Sea Bubble in the year 1720. The number of projects is nearly twice as many as grew out of the mania of the last century; we believe the amount of capital speculated upon is considerably less. Happily, the government have given no countenance to the commercial excitement, but have, on the contrary, intimated very plainly their disapprobation of the principle and plan of many of the schemes proposed. Some of them are, on the face of them, useful, and may in the end be profitable; but the majority are chimerical, and must, in the nature of things, entail loss on the persons duped by them, and disgrace on the projectors. It is now debated in the House of Commous, whether members possessing shares in companies applying for legislative sanction, shall not be deprived of the liberty of voting in these cases. Whatever may be the result, the agitation of the question will probably revive an honourable feeling in the breasts of the members to whom it relates. We call this an enlightened age, and so in many respects it is; but the table below shews how easily the sense of a nation is overruled by the rage for money. The event will, we apprehend, prove the madness of the expectation, which the public are sometimes seduced into, of acquiring riches suddenly and without labour. 15 Ditto 10 Ditto ditto ditto 11 Hull New Junction ditto 12 Portsmouth Commercial ditto 13 Cardiff ditto ditto Freshfield, ditto 100,000 14 London, Portsmouth, and Southampton Dock and Rail Road 2,000,000 ditto Rail Road 1,000,000 68 Peak Forest and Sheffield ditto 69 Canal and Rail Road Terras Pike to Redgate and Pier at East and West Looe, Cornwall 70 Continuatian of Elsmere and Chester Canal to Birmingham 71 Manchester Ship Canal Company 72 Hertford Union Canal, from the River Lee to the Regent's Canal 73 Ulster Canal 123 Australician ditto 126 East London 128 Alderney Milk 130 Edinburgh Dairy ditto ditto ditto. 122 London Patent Steam Washing ditto 124 City of London Central and Northern Improvement Company 125 Great Westminster Dairy Company 127 South London Milk ditto. 129 Metropolitan Alderney Milk ditto 1,000,000 800,000 150,000 125,000 100,000 100,000 60,000 30,000 |