RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. THE last Number of the Bible Society's Monthly Extracts contains an interesting account of the Twenty-Second Anniversary of the Society. Lord Teignmouth, the president, opened the meeting." In the success," said his lordship, "which has so amply rewarded our efforts for the distribution of the holy Scriptures, we cannot but recognise, with heartfelt gratitude and devout thanksgiving, the guiding and protecting hand of the same good and gracious God who has so wonderfully preserved his written and inspired word to these times, for the instruction of mankind in righteous ness, and to point out to them the way to éternal life. If obstacles have occasionally occurred, they have been removed; difficulties have been surmounted; and, if a passing cloud has thrown a dark shade over the horizon of our hopes, it has soon been dispersed. I could with pleasure expatiate on the benefits conferred on mankind through the instrumentality of our institution, if my strength permitted. It is a topic peculiarly calculated to excite the best sympathies of our nature, and to animate our perseverance in our labour of love." An abstract of the Report was read by the Rev. Andrew Brandram, one of the Secretaries in the introduction to which the following Resolutions were contained, as the final determination of the Society on the subject of the Apocrypha : 1. That the fundamental law of the Society, which limits its operations to the circulation of the holy Scriptures, be fully and distinctly recognised as excluding the circulation of the Apocrypha. 2. That, in conformity to the preceding Resolution, no pecuniary aid can be granted to any Society circulating the Apocrypha; nor, except for the purpose of being applied in conformity to the said Resolution, to any individual what ever. 3. That in all cases in which grants, whether gratuitous or otherwise, of the Holy Scriptures, either in whole or in part, shall be made to any society, the books be issued bound; and on the express condition that they shall be distributed without alteration or addition. two years. The usual resolutions were then severally proposed and adopted.-The following are extracts from the speeches. The Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. "I have ever approached the cause of the Bible Society with interest, admiration, and gratitude; and, though clouds have arisen in our horizon, difficulties have started up in our way, and I fear a considerable defulcation has been experienced in the funds during the past year, yet I confess, looking to the past, the present, and the future, I see no cause to weaken my attachment to it, to cool my ardour in its support, or to damp my hopes-I might rather say, my assurance of its ultimate success. It is still that reservoir, from which must be supplied those Scriptures by which alone the profession and practice of true religion can be supported, and the superstitions and errors of false religion undermined, overthrown, and effaced from the earth. It must still be esteemed that fountain-head whence must flow those streams of living water which give spiritual knowledge, hopes of pardon, and light of guidance, to the perishing souls of men.' Lord Calthorpe." I will, in the few observations that I shall have the honour to address to the assembly, merely allude to two of those stations which in one respect, perhaps, afford a more striking illustration than almost any other, of the universality of the labours of the Society -two that are placed at the most distant extremities of the globe we inhabit. we look to the vast empire of China, a promise of such beneficial labours seems to If be open to us, that really, if we had acquired a habit of thinking less of great operations than we have done, we might have considered as visionary any attempt to shake the faith and the idolatry of such an empire but we have been accustomed now for some time to contemplate the inroad that is likely to be made into the darkest and most besotting ignorance of that empire, the Society having overcome that which was considered, but a few years ago, an insurmountable difficulty: I mean the acquisition of the Chinese language. This being accomplished, surely the Society has reason to look to the brightest and most encouraging prospects and anticipations.-I will only advert to that other great field of enterprise on which this institution has recently entered: I mean the South-American Continent. It seems, in the prodigious prospects of greatness which that country presentsprospects full of the warmest interest, and of peculiar sympathy to those who exult in liberty-one of the greatest glories that could be conferred on this country (which may justly be considered as the nurse and cradle of the civil and religious liberties of the world), to shed on the newly-acquired blessings and privileges which the natives of that country are obtaining for themselves, the highest lustre of Scriptural light, the most beneficent crown and cement of all their blessings, the Bible, to which we ourselves, under Providence, owe the permanent happiness and greatness we enjoy." The second resolution was moved by the Bishop of Salisbury, and briefly seconded by the Earl of Harrowby. The Hon. and Rev. G. T. Noel introduced to the meeting, as a representative from the Paris Bible Society, Monsieur the Baron Pelet de la Lozère, who made the following interesting statements :— "My lord, I regret not being able better to express the gratitude the Paris Bible Society feels to you, and to your illustrious institution, for the assistance you continue to afford us, with so great generosity, in our enterprise to spread the Holy Scriptures among our Protestant brethren. You will learn from our Report, that your assistance has not been as seed fallen among stones and remaining fruitless. We have made, this year, considerable progress in every thing-in the number of our auxiliary societies, in our income, and, above all, in the amount of the copies of the Holy Scriptures issued from our depository: the number has been about 12,000, nearly double that of last year; and what is more than this arithmetical result, is the improvement produced by the propagation of the Gospel among the Protestant population of France. Many persons had long neglected their religious duties; but now they not only frequent public worship, but even seek their edification in private and family prayer, which were so long the only consolation of our fore fathers. The Protestants, in general, seem aware of the duties imposed upon them by the happiness, the liberty, the peace, the enjoyment they now have, compared with the lamentable period of our religious wars and unjust oppression: and truly nothing is more proper to produce in our hearts piety and gratitude than this change. Our ancestors then came into this hospitable island to search an asylum against oppression; and, to-day, we come only to entertain a peaceful and pious intercourse. The Bible found in their hands was a sufficient reason to condemn them to the galleys; but now there are institutions publicly formed to circulate the Holy Scriptures. I saw lately, in the subterraneous part of your cathedral at Canterbury, the place where our ancestors were allowed to celebrate their worship among the tombs; but now their children are building, in every part of their own country, fine churches. Your Queen Elizabeth sent an assistance of soldiers and military stores to our Henry the Fourth; but now we ask only a supply of copies of the Bible-the weapon which alone destroys misery and sin. happy to say, that this improvement in our public feeling is not confined only to the question of religious toleration, but extends itself to every thing which can contribute to the happiness of mankind. I have assisted lately at the public meeting of a Society which has offered a prize for the best work on the causes of national hatred in general, and the means of extirpating it entirely. Assuredly, it will be found that the best way, and indeed the only way, is the propagation of the Gospel. I mean not merely the material, but the moral propagation of it. know that philosophers have attempted to destroy these animosities by serious argumentation or ridicule; but the powerful word of our Divine Redeemer will no doubt remove it entirely, because it preaches love and charity, and unites, in a bond of brotherhood, men of every colour and every clime." I am We The Right Hon. Charles Grant.-" Well do I remember the day when the first whisper was heard of the prospect of a Bible Society in France: well do I remember the delightful feelings then excited throughout the country: well do I remember its first announcement in this room; and happy am I that I have lived to see the period when every anticipation has been more than accomplished. We have heard from that illustrious Frenchman, sentiments which do honour, not to human nature alone, but to our Society as well. He has told us that the seed we have sown in France has not been fruitless and well has he proved the truth of this assertion in what he said. It naturally recalled to my mind those lines, 'Coasts frown on coasts, by adverse waves disjoin'd; Arms-gods opposed-but most the adverse mind.' 6 ance attached to me as chief magistrate of the city is, I conceive, the reason why I have been called upon to take a part in the proceedings of the day; and I am not displeased at the opportunity of expressing my increasing conviction that it is my duty, as all who hear me will acknowledge it to be the duty of every Christian, to attempt by all means to diffuse the word of God throughout this country, and throughout the world. I am persuaded that the cause of the Bible Society rests not less on feeling than it did; but, at the same time, in proportion as it is more known, it rests on the conviction of the understanding also. I believe the dissemination of the word of God to be the great means by which Christians are made spiritual themselves, and by which others who are mistaken will be converted and led into the right way. "I was exceedingly delighted with what fell from the French nobleman: it is just what I should have expected; because I know that wherever the principles of the Bible prevail, there every thing favourable to peace and good order will prevail also: and wherever there prevails any thing under the name of religion which is at variance with the interests of mankind, you will always find it shrink from the light of the Bible. I have with pleasure retreated from the stormy scenes in which I am engaged in the city, where all is uncertaintyand, I will not say all, but much is distress-to this scene, where all is certainty, and all is peace; where, without a dissentient voice, or even a feeling, all agree that we should separate with an increased desire to do what we can to promote the knowledge of the word of God, both at home and abroad." These lines shall now be banished from our recollection. We shall forget national enmity-a thing hateful to humanity, and execrable in the ears of Christianity. We now deny that coasts frown on coasts, by adverse waves disjoin'd.' We say, coasts smile on coasts. We say, that they were opposed, but are so, thank God! no longer. There are no longer the adverse minds, but friendly and fraternal minds; and, above all, God is no longer opposed. We are ranged round the same memorial of our common salvation; we acknow. ledge oue Redeemer; we bow to one God; and confess ourselves one flock under one Shepherd. And well has that illustrious person observed, that this eradication, as I hope it may be called, of national hostility, may be ascribed to a higher cause than mere human philosophy. Much may be done by philosophy: much may be done by learning and science: but let me say, and I only repeat what he has so well said, that this science is not taught in the sun-burnt arena of other science, but in that volume which we are met to circulate: taught in the recollection of those scenes, to which we look back with wonder and affectionate sympathy-the scenes of Gethsemane and Calvary; and taught, best of all, at the foot of that cross which was elevated as the banner of all nations; and which at this moment, though we see it not, is as truly elevated as if we did see it with our eyes; and is collecting in its ample shade all the ransomed nations of the world, who will henceforth follow one leader, the Captain of their salvation, made perfect, indeed, through suffering, but crowned at last with triumph and glory." The Lord Mayor." The local import will be a hearty operator in this great Rev. J. W. Cunningham.-"We like a practical conclusion to all our remarks; and I confess I have a great design upon every man's bosom and powers and faculties in this assembly. For the danger is, lest, delighted with what you have heard, you should take up your strain of congratulation, or go away saying it is all exceedingly true; and there the matter should end: whereas, I speak to my clerical brethren and other ministers of religion behind me, and to those before me; and the meaning of this plain honest English address is, that you should bend your powers, your faculties of body and mind, to the work; and it is from yourselves we expect the restitution of what we have lost. I look at many faces to-day; and I should say, we have so many staunch friends, every man work ;—but that is not the fact. I know that the very energy which we sometimes feel on occasions like the present, instead of exciting to action, becomes the apology for inaction; and we go home and do nothing. I trust a Divine blessing will be so granted to every man, that all will take this resolution- I will not be the dead picture, but the living man; and this Society shall feel the benefit of my prayers and my labours. I will endeavour to turn one subscription into two, and to deepen the interest in all hearts in my parish: and, instead of suffering myself to be rocked to sleep in that cradle which not the friends but the enemies of the Society have provided, I will go forth to the battle of the Lord, and strive to live to His glory, in promoting the salvation of all mankind.'"' The Rev. Dr. Philip, Secretary to the South-African Auxiliary Society.—" The labours of this Society are at this moment cheering the dreary abodes of the Polar regions; they are elevating the character of the inhabitants of the great Pacific Ocean; they are multiplying the means of salvation among the colonial inhabitants of South Africa; and they are gladdening the hearts of the Hottentots; and making the wretched Bushmen, the inhabitants of the rock, to sing for joy, and to shout from the tops of the mountains. When an attempt was made to establish a Bible Society at the Cape of Good Hope, the proposition was met in a similar manner to that in which a proposal of the same kind, as has been stated, was received when the first effort was made to establish a Bible Society in Sweden. We were told, that no such institution was needed.' In the face of this assertion, confidently made, we formed a Society; and the event has been as we anticipated: we soon discovered that Bibles were required, and we have not yet been able to supply the deficiency. "Among the colonists, I have met with no class of persons who have not thankfully received the Scriptures; and many instances of the beneficial effects resulting from their distribution, which I cannot now state, have from time to time come under my own observation. Among those in South Africa who prize the Bible, I cannot omit mentioning the descendants of the French Protestants, who were driven from their country by the revocation of the Edict of Nantz. There is perhaps no part in Great Britain itself where the cause of the Bible Society is more warmly espoused than amidst the beautiful and picturesque valleys in which this interesting people reside. The first European inhabitants of these valleys preferred the wilds of Africa and a good conscience to the advantages of civilized life, when they could no longer worship God according to their apprehensions of the nature of the worship He requires : and the God whom they served has blessed the descendants of those noble confessors, both with temporal and spiritual blessings, in a manner I never could contemplate but with the liveliest sensations of gratitude and delight. "On a late journey into the interior of Africa, in which I travelled 2500 miles, I took with me as many Bibles and Testaments as I could accommodate in my waggon; and if I had had three times the number I could have disposed of them all." Dr. Philip theu furnished the Meeting with an account of a Hottentot Auxiliary Bible Society, recently formed at the Missionary Institution of Theopolis, at which a Caffre Prince presided; and read some of the speeches made by the aborigines;—one of whom said : I know I speak the feelings of all, when I say we are all willing to assist the Bible Society to the utmost of our power. We all feel it to be a duty of those who enjoy the benefit of God's word, to aid that Society which furnishes us with Bibles. We have a society for the relief of our poor; we have formed a Missionary Society; we have much to do for the improvement of the station; and we have our families to support. Nothing would give us greater pleasure than to establish an Auxiliary Bible Society, if there be a prospect of supporting it: we however pledge ourselves to do all that we can, to aid the British and Foreign Bible Society, and to manifest our gratitude for the benefits which we and our children derive from it." Lieut. Colonel Phipps, after relating various circumstance respecting the progress of Christianity in India, concluded his remarks with the following incidents : I will now relate an instance, which has come under my own observation, of the effects of the translation of the Scriptures into the Bengalee language. I was travelling about four years ago in a remote district in Bengal, and I came to the house of a gentleman belonging to Portugal. I found him reading the Scriptures in the Bengalee to seventy or eighty people, men, women, and children, of that country, who were all very attentive. This gentleman told me that he had been led to employ some of his leisure moments in this way; And to-morrow,' said he, as you pass my farm, mention my name, and they will procure you a bed; and you will then see the effects of reading the Scripture.' The next day I called at his estate, where I saw one hundred men, women, and children, who had all become converts to Christianity within three or four years. I inquired how they found themselves: they appeared delighted, and thought it a happy thing for them that Europeans had translated the Scripture, that they might read in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. I had some intercourse, also, with an official person in that district, and I mention it because some persons tell you that nothing is doing by the missionaries. I asked the magistrate what was the conduct of these Christians; and he said, ‘There is something in them that does excite astonishment: the inhabitants of this district are particularly known as being so litigious and troublesome that they have scarcely any matter but what they bring into courts of justice; but during three or four years, not one of these people has brought a cause against any one, or any one against them.' mention this to shew that Christianity will produce, in all countries, peace and happiness to those who know the truth as it is in Jesus." I The Rev. W. Ellis, a missionary from the South-Sea Islands, whose Tour through Hawaii was reviewed in our last Number, said, that " the first missionaries who reached the shores of the South-Sea Islands, found the language of those islanders distinguished by its beauty, variety, and strength; but, like their mountains and their valleys, it was uncultivated. Its elements they reduced to a system; books were prepared; and the natives taught to read. Portions of the Scriptures have been translated; and not less than 26,000 copies of different parts of the sacred volume have been printed on paper liberally furnished by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and distributed among the people; of whom, in all the islands, there are probably 10,000 capable of reading in their own language the holy Scriptures, which are able to make them wise unto salvation.' England,” he continued, "may have many friends, but there are none who feel a more lively or affectionate concern for the advancement of her best interests than the natives of the South-Sea Islands: they look to Britain as the agent, under God, from whom they have received all those blessings which the Gospel has imparted. The tie that binds them to us 6 is the tie of gratitude; and often is that gratitude expressed, when, in their worshipping assemblies, they pray for Britain. Thence came the word of God to us,' they say. Long may that word grow there! and long may that country be employed by God in sending forth his word, till it shall grow in every land!' Time would fail to tell the change the Bible has produced in the islands of the Southern Sea: the verdant landscape, once lovely in romantic wildness, often now appears a cultivated garden; the lowly leaf-thatched hut is now a neat and cheerful cottage; and the wanton, roving, idle native, has become a decent, steady, and industrious member of society. Domestic happiness was unknown, and had not, in their language, a term by which it could be expressed: but it now pervades the families, and sheds around their social circles its unnumbered blessings. Their civil insti-tutions, since the introduction of the Gospel, have undergone a change no less surprising. Their government was formerly a most cruel and despotic system,but is now both mild and equitable. A charter, or code of laws, has been adopted by mutual agreement between the chiefs and people, by which the rights of person and of property are inviolably secured: courts of justice are established; judges are appointed, to administer justice according to the laws; and the Trial by Jury, with all its advantages, is now enjoyed by the natives of the South-Sea Islands. A high tone of independent feeling, and a bold attachment to their natural and acknowledged rights, pervade the several classes of the community; of which they have given many striking instances. I shall only mention one, which occurred in the island of Huahine, where I resided several years. In the autumn of 1822, the Queen of Tahiti, the widow of Pomare, visited Huahine. Her attendants, who followed in her train from Tahiti, requiring a piece of timber, she directed them to cut down a bread-fruit tree growing in the garden of a poor man on the opposite side of the bay, near which her own residence stood. Her orders were obeyed, and the tree was carried away. Teuhe, the owner of the spot on which it stood, returning in the evening, and being informed by his neighbours that the queen's men had cut it down, repaired to the magistrate of the district, and lodged a complaint against the queen. The magistrate directed him to come to the place of public justice the following morning at sunrise, and substantiate his |