ces of peculiar difficulty and discourage ment. The Amsterdam Society has amply supplied seminaries, prisons, houses of correction, and hospitals, as well as barracks, with copies of the Scriptures; and its Bible Associations have been found eminently useful. Your committee observe with particular pleasure, the attention which the United Netherlands' Society pays to the use of the Bible in schools. The practice of reading the Bible in these establishments of popular education has thus been promoted to a vast extent in some places it has been determined that the schoolmaster should fix a certain time at which either himself should read that holy book to the children, or he should appoint one of the best readers to do so; and mention is made of a schoolmaster at Vere, who actually resigned his situation, because he was not allowed to read the Bible in the school. A Marine Bible Society has been formed, of which retired captains of pious character have been chosen the directors. This Auxiliary has commenced its operations with great activity, and has already distributed copies of the Scriptures in the various European languages, among the shipping in the several harbours. Of the Catholics of the United Netherlands, the Report says The Catholic population of the United Netherlands have also continued to receive copies of the word of God in their respective versions. The Archbishop of Malines has granted permission to an individual to publish a new translation of the Testament into Flemish, without note or comment, for the use of the Flemish Catholics. An edition of the Testament in Dutch, for the use of the Catholics speaking that language, has also been printed from an authorized version; and is now in circulation. Of the Malay Bible in the Arabic character, the New Testament portion has been finished in a manner highly creditable to the Society: the Old Testament is already in an advanced state. The Central Committee at Amsterdam have presented to Professor Van Ess, in addition to their former donations, the sum of 2000 gilders, in aid of the distribution of his Catholic New Testaments. They also continue to publish extracts of correspondence periodically to the number of 10,000 copies. In relation to their foreign operations, the Report before us thus observes The Java Bible Society (originally connected with your Institution) has remitted to the Central Society a liberal contribution; and, with the change of its designation to that of The East India Bible Society, it has announced its intention of carrying its exertions, in proportion as its means may enable it throughout the whole of Austral-Asia. A version of the New Testament in the Javanese has been undertaken at Samarang, of which the Four Gospels are already translated, and the remainder is in progress. SWITZERLAND. The Societies enumerated in former Reports, (most of which were visited by Dr. Steinkopff in the course of his tour,) continue to evince their attachment to the cause in which they are embarked, and some addition has been made to their number. The Busle Society, encouraged and strengthened by an accession of local support and influence, proceeds in printing the Scriptures with unabated assiduity and disinterestedness. A stock of Catholic Scriptures is kept in the Basle depository, whence they are distributed throughout the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. The activity of the friends of the Bible in Schaffhausen, has been stimulated by the increase of applications for the word of God. Of the state of the Zurich Bible Society your Committee cannot give a more exact or gratifying account, than by quoting the address with which Antistes Hess, its President, greeted the appearance of the representative of your Society. "I rejoice and thank God," said this venerable ecclesiastic, "to behold, for the third time, a representative of the Parent Society entering our friendly circle, and animating our hearts by the cheering intelligence of the diffusion of the word of life. I bid you welcome in the name of our blessed Lord and Master; and am happy to have it in my power to inform you, that our Institution, though comparatively small and limited, has yet evidently experienced the blessing of God. So far from suffering any decline, it has rather to rejoice in an increase of members and contributors; and we have found the demand for the Scriptures increasing to such a degree, that we have determined to undertake a new edition of 7,500 copies of our authorized Bible." The visit of Dr. Steinkopff to Winterthur proved very encouraging to the Bible Society recently established in that town: a similar Institution has been formed for the district of Toggenburg. Another is said to be now organizing in the canton of Thurgau : when this establishment shall have been effected, there will then be a Bible Society in every one of the Protestant cantons. The Glarus Society has had to contend with various difficulties, of which not the least has been the extreme penury of the inhabitants. The following anecdote will show how greatly a Bible Society was wanted among the Protestant inhabitants of this canton : "Two poor families had received a legacy, of which a Bible formed a part. Neither would resign the right to this invaluable treasure: they therefore came to an agreement, to use it alternately for half a year each. This prac tice was observed for several years; at the expiration of every half year, the Bible passed from one family to the other; till, on the establishment of a Bible Society, another copy of the Bible was presented to one of the families, and both were thus happily accommodated." In the St. Gall Society, the business both of printing and distributing the Scriptures is carried on with steadiness and good effect. A new edition of the Protestant Testament is going through the press; and copies of the Catholic Scriptures are circulating from this Society's depository, through the hands of enlightened priests of that communion, whose number and activity appear to have been increased, rather than diminished, by the prohibitions issued from their ecclesiastical superiors, against the free circulation of the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue. The Grisons Society at CHUR has likewise received a new impulse, and much increase of exertion and usefulness may be anticipated from the zeal so happily kindled in that town and its vicinity. But in no part of Switzerland has the cause of the Bible Society made a more decided progress, than in the town and canton of Bern. Associations for distributing the Holy Scriptures multiply; contributions both to them and to the Central Society increase; and persons of both sexes, and of every condition, evince a degree of pious interest in this benevolent work. Lausanne, Neufchatel, and Geneva, continue to take their respective shares in the common work. The presses of Basle have furnished Bibles and Testa ments, for present distribution, not only in these cantons, but also among the distressed Waldenses, in Piedmont; by means of these supplies, the Bible Association at Lausanne have continued to dispense the word of God to students, catechumens, and others, who were likely to make a proper use of it. The Society at GENEVA is entitled to particular commendation, for its perse verance in translating your Monthly Extracts of Correspondence, and for the regularity with which it causes them to be printed and dispersed, wherever they are capable of being circulated with acceptance and advantage. From the Fourth Report of this Society, your Committee have great pleasure in extracting the following particulars : "Our public establishments are abundantly provided with Bibles: they have penetrated into the receptacles of crime: the subjects of guilt and wretchedness have experienced the influence of the consolations and the warnings of the Divine voice, even to the lowest cells. Already even a voluntary contribution has proceeded from the bosom of the prisons of this city; and the Committee, in receiving this offering, saw in it a source of encouragement still greater than in more enlarged contributions." GERMANY. Forty-nine Bible Societies in Germany were visited by the Rev. Dr. Steinkopff, during his late tour to the Continent; and nine of the number were formed under his immediate superintendence. Respecting some of the most important of the German Societies, we select from the Report, the following information : In the Kingdom of Wurtemberg the hearts of the sovereign and the people appear to be united, as the heart of one man, in the work of disseminating the Holy Scriptures. More than forty Auxiliaries and Associations (among which, that for the University of Tuebingen, occupies a prominent station,) co-operate with the central administration at Stuttgardt; in which capital not only the twenty-two corporations of tradesmen, have come forward with their respective offerings, but individuals of all classes, emulating the zeal of their Royal Patrons, have espoused the cause with the warmest affection, and aided it with the most liberal contributions. Thus patronised and supported, the Wurtemberg Society has, since the period of its formation, distributed 45,000 Bibles and Testaments; while more than 10,000 copies have flowed, within the same time, from its active presses into neighbouring Kingdoms and States. Its income last year exceeded 32,000 florins, and its expenditure 40,000 florins. The accounts which will appear in the Appendix, of the interviews with which your Secretary was honoured by the King, the Queen, the Queen Dowager, the Dutchess Louisa, mother of the reigning Queen, &c. will be read with much satisfaction and they will be found to lend the strongest confirmation to the testimony which your Committee have borne, to the interest taken by the highest as well as the lowest classes, in the prosperity of the Wurtemberg Institution. The Society of the Grand Dutchy of Baden, was found by your Secretary to be in a prosperous condition; it has lately been joined by the town and University of Heidelberg, which pro mises to constitute one of its most zealous and effective Auxiliaries. Constance, deprived, by death, of its venerable Pro-Vicar Reininger, is not destitute of an ecclesiastic of the same enlightened principles, and of equal attachment to the dissemination of the Holy Scriptures. The work of distribution, therefore, continues to go forward in this Catholic station. In the Society of Hesse Darmstadt, His Serene Highness Prince Christian, continues to evince a paternal anxiety for communicating the Holy Scriptures to the poor in the dominions of his illustrious relative. The Societies of Worms, Michaelstadt, and Giessen, within the same Dutchy, are also conducted by persons who are equally zealous in the cause which they have espoused, and qualified to promote its success. At Hanau, the Society, though strug gling with difficulties, laudably maintains its ground. The Society at Frankfort, though not yet enjoying the general support of that city, is manifestly on the increase. How vigorously it has exerted itself, appears from the fact of its having distributed, since its establishment, 22,970 Bibles and Testaments, of which latter more than 7000 were circulated among Catholics. At Hesse Homburg, your Secretary had an interview with his Serene Highness the Landgrave, and his Royal Consort, Princess Elizabeth of England, who severally expressed the satisfaction they felt in the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures through the operations of Bible Societies. Marburg, the residence of the indefatigable Leander Van Ess, has likewise become the seat of an active Bible Society. Your Secretary, who was present at the First Anniversary of this Institution, was particularly gratified by the interest which the Professors of the University took in this excellent cause, and by the cordiality with which Protestants and Catholics coalesced in its prosecution and support. A fresh impulse has recently been given to the exertions of the Hesse Cassel Society. In an interview with which the late Elector honoured your Secretary, his Serene Highness spoke of the Bible in such terms of attachment, as to encourage a hope, that, in the closing scene of life, he was supported by its promises and solaced by its consolations. In the sequestered city of Arolsen, the centre of the Waldeck and Pyrmont Bible Society, a very zealous committee continue to exert themselves to furnish the poor inhabitants of this barren territory with the means of obtaining a title to a better inheritance. It was the tender solicitude of Professor Leander Van Ess for these indigent but grateful subjects of your Society's bounty, that induced your Secretary to turn out of his way, in order to visit the committee of their institution. "The Road," said the Professor, "is bad, and the land poor; but the people are worthy, and the friends of the Bible Society active." The result of your Secretary's visit fully justified the advice under which he had been led to make it. The following statement of the Vice President of the Eisenach Society, formed for the Grand Dutchy of that name, is important "Our Society has always found, that when the want of the Scriptures has been supplied in one quarter of our country, it presents itself in another. Indeed we did not suppose so great a want of the Scriptures to exist in a country which is situated in the centre of Germany, where there is the best opportunity of procuring copies at moderate prices, and in a town where, at the time when our printing presses were in a flourishing condition, several impressions of the Scriptures were published. But this only serves to prove the advantages that result from the institution of Bible Societies, which lead to the discovery of the want of the greatest treasure, and open a way for its relief." Both the Grand Duke and the Grand Dutchess of Weimar, are taking a lively interest in the prosperity of the Society established for the benefit of their dominions. In the States of Bavaria, a misconception of the design and tendency of Bible Societies has precluded, in a great measure, the inhabitants of that kingdom from the blessings which have uniformly attended the operations of those peaceful and benificent institutions. The Nurenberg Bible Society, which was suppressed by an order of government, has not yet been permitted to resume its functions: but its friends in that city are numerous; and their prayers, which ascend for the establishment of the Society, will, we trust, not eventually have been offered in vain. In the meantime, the exertions of the Catholics have been employed amidst all the difficulties which were opposed to them, with extraordinary activity and success. Bavaria has been the centre from which have issued three Catholic versions of the New Testament, which have been widely diffused through most of the contiguous countries. From the press of Mr. Seidel, at Sulzbach, have proceeded more than 350,000 copies of the version of Leander Van Ess; nearly 80,000 of Gosner's have been printed at Munich; and more than 60,000 of Wittman's at Ratisbon. But, your Committee cannot dismiss the consideration of this country, without doing justice to an humble servant maid, late of the city of Nurenberg, who, having heard her master, the city librarian, speak of the labours and usefulness of your Society, was so affected by the narrative, that she bequeathed to it a legacy of 101. In the Kingdom of Saxony, the object of your Institution may now be said to have received the homage of the whole nation. On the suggestion of your Secretary, a collection has been made in behalf of the Saxon Bible Society in all the churches throughout the kingdom, and the result has added a very consi derable sum to its funds. The Leipzig Committee are likely to find great scope for their labours among the Jews, who, in great numbers, frequent the annual fairs in that city, and who have lately become eager for copies of the Hebrew New Testament. The Herrnhul Branch, also, is particularly active and successful, both among Protestants and Catholics. Of the good effect which the very existence of Bible Societies produces on the minds of the lower classes, the following anecdote related by Mr. Fabricius, affords a pleasing illustration : A peasant having asked Mr. Fabricius how he could afford to sell Bibles so cheap, the latter replied, by giving him an account of the rise and progress of Bible Societies. "What! have I lived to see this!" exclaimed the pea sant; "I thought the whole world was like our village, where no one cares for another, unless he can gain some thing by him: but, now I find there are many true Christians, who give their money, that we may read the word of God." In the northern States of Germany, the Societies noticed in former Reports, appear to be proceeding in the execu tion of their respective duties, and reaping, in various degrees, the fruits of their past exertions. The Hanoverian Bible Society (under the patronage of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge,) reports, that constant applications for Bibles and Testaments have been made to it, and are still making, from every province of the kingdom, by the parochial clergy and superintendents: besides which, no inconsiderable number of Bibles and Testaments have been placed in the prisons and houses of correction. The whole amount of its issues, to the end of its fifth year, has been 15,027 copies of the Scriptures. It has Auxiliaries in Aurich, Celle, Goellingen, Goslar, Harburg, Hildersheim, Lueneburg, Osnaburg, Stade, and Zellerfeld; and smaller Bible Associations in the districts of Uelzen, Luochow, Jeinsen, Hoenstein, Seelze, Hohnstedt, Boerry, Luene, Bardowiek, Nienburg, Fallersleben, Uslar, and several other places. The Hambro Allona Society is actively employed; and has extended its powers of usefulness, by the acquisition of a new and promising Auxiliary for Ritzebuettel, and Cuxhaven. From the numerous vessels that visit the port of Cuxhaven, and the travellers of different nations who are continually passing and repassing by means of the packets. This Auxiliary is likely to have very full and useful employment. The Bible Society at Bremen continues active, and extends its benevolent exertions to several villages of the neighbouring States. It has distributed since its establishment upwards of 3,000 Bibles and Testaments. The Rostock Society has had the satis. |