"The number of Bibles and Testaments "Your Committee cannot condade te given to soldiers may appear considerable; Report without taking notice of a ciem but I was induced to comply with some ap- stance connected with this institution, a plications from soldiers who keep schools for they think particularly worthy of being the instruction of the poor children of their corded. In the month of April last, z respective regiments, as I knew they could poor Welsh sailors solicited from the lev not obtain them from any other quarter. Mr. Fleming, the use of his meeting-las The poor sick men from Portugal, and the in Cook-street, for the purpose of having t hospitals, have had a part; and I hope the vine worship in their own language. Er Committee will not disapprove of the num- ing that there was a Bible Society in ber given to soldiers embarking for foreign city, they agreed to contribute somewht: service; especially when they are informed, aid of its funds, as a testimony of gratitu that they were received with the most lively to the great Being who guides the mani gratitude, accompanied by prayers for those through the trackless deep,' and whe unknown benefactors who had bestowed on just conducted them in safety to the them such precious gifts. stined port. The fruit of their pious grainar! to Heaven, was a collection of one pros seventeen shillings, which was banded 3 the Secretary at the last annual meeting is taken into account. "The foreign soldiers quartered in this neighbourhood have also received the Bibles and Testaments most thankfully. I have every reason to think the sale of Bibles and Testaments to soldiers and sailors is productive of much good; and I feel assured, that the Committee would be highly gratified, could they witness the thankful expressions which are frequently excited by the opportunity thus affordert these poor men of possessing the Word of God. " My correspondence abroad has been more limited than it was last year; but I have had the satisfaction of hearing from several persons, that the Portuguese Testaments were inquired after with much eagerness, and joyfully received at Lisbon and Oporto. "I have sent the English Scriptures to di ferent places abroad, either for sale, or for gratuitous distribution, in consequence of carnest entreaties that mere might he sent out. "French Testaments have been gratefully received in New Brunswick, to which place I have forwarded a further supply; being informed that much anxiety prevailed among the French Catholics of that province to possess the Testament in their own language; several of the priests willingly agreeing to their being circulated amongst their congregations, and having even purchased some themselves." This lady, in the course of the year, dis tributed 3053 copies of the English Scrip tures, 458 of the Spauish, 810 of the Por tuguese, 393 of the German, 3118 of the French, 305 of the Italian, 188 of the Dutch, 92 of the Danish, 25 of the Welsh, and 59 of the Gaelic Scriptures, to convicts, prisoners of war, cartels, soldiers, and sailors, &c. &c.: in all, 8396 copies of the Scriptures. The Third Report of the Cork Bible Society, the Bishop of Cork president, contains the following affecting statement. "This truly interesting circumstance ser a striking proof of the blessed effects to ir expected from such a society. These p mariners, belonging to a class of people s seldom acquainted with any thing but had reaped in their own souls the benefits the bounty of the British and Foreign Fils Society, by means of which great numier of copies of the Scriptures in the Wels language had been distributed through their highly favoured country. "At a distance from their native land, un knowing and unknown, behold the pleas spectacle of these pious sailors, instead at squandering their hardly earned, but scarfy means, in the profligacy and dissipations usual amongst persons of their class, consul ing bow they might best promote the caus God, and giving with a liberality, which mat have called for self-denial in other respects, fr the purpose of imparting religious instructive to total strangers-effects seldom witnessa but where the heart as well as the under standing has felt the benign influence st Christianity! Who, on reading such an is stance of the genuine operation of religion can withhold his admication? Who, in de Tout acknowledgement of the hand of the Father of mercies, from whom every good gift proceedeth, can avoid exclaiming, • What hath God wrought!' To the conductors of the British and Foreign Bible Society it will doubtless prost a high gratification to learn, in this little anecdote, that their work has been so blessed of God, and that their bread, though cast upon the waters, has been thus found after many days. To the wealthy inhabitants of this city and county, it sets a bright exali ple, not however unaccompanied with a wild rebuke of the toe general coldness of their Ceal, and comparative indifference about the best interests of their fellow-men, when so mall a proportion of the affluent and great pre found to contribute out of their abun stance to this first of charities; and even of hose who do lend pecuniary aid, so very arew are induced to use the no less important means of personal influence and exertion, or the dissemination of the Holy Scriptures. May all who read of the above occur. sence, so interesting to the friends of the Bible, catch a spark of that sacred fire which warmed and expanded the hearts of those humble mariners! May we all obediently bear the voice of Him, who himself went about doing good, emphatically exhorting each individual amongst us, through their example, to a zealous imitation of this dis tinguished work of faith!" The Report of the Manchester and Salford Auxiliary Bible Society, of which Dr. Blackburne, the Warden of Manchester, is president, states, that they had distributed 7000 copies of the Scriptures in the preceding six months. We transcribe a part of the Report, "In that union of natural influence with religious zeal and wisdom, and in those vast and successful operations which distinguish the British and Foreign Bible Society, in a degree hitherto unexampled, your Committee recognise the growing usefulness which must attach to the continued exertions of the Manchester and Salford Auxiliary Society. Associated both in spirit and in fact with that powerful institution, and contributing annually to replenish its funds, it derives in return the most substantial advantages, and renders itself an active instrument in the dissemination of knowledge and happiness to the ignorant and the miserable, wheresoever abiding on the face of the whole earth. Is there at this time a ray of holy light, cheering the dark abode of the poor Esquimaux? Has the Day-star risen in his heart, relieving the darkness of the shadow of death? Your society has a part in the dispensation of the blessing, and a recompense already in the sweetness of the reflection! Is there a poor foreigner, whom the fate of war has brought into the prisons of this happier land, whose fainting soul is now tasting refreshment at the Fountain of life? He owes that refreshment to the Bible, which has been graciously put into his hand; and your society shares in the glory of the blessed ministration! Is Poland about to have a Bible in her native Longue, for the hapless millions of her af Aicted population Assuredly he is-her consolation is near at hand; and for this she is indebted, under a favouring Providence, to the rich munificence of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and every subscriber to the provincial institution (who does not envy him the pure delight?) hath the privi lege of being auxiliary to this divine and merciful work, by the association of his bounty with the funds and Christian benevolence of the parent society.” The net receipts of the year preceding the 31st of March 1811, amount to 24,688. 5s. 7d. The net payments during the same period amount to 28,302/. 13s.7d. NAVAL AND MILITARY BIBLE SOCIETY. The sole object of this institution is to distribute Bibles among the sailors and soldiers of the British navy and army. It took its rise in 1780. It is placed under the pa tronage of the Dukes of York and Glouces ter; the Archbishop of Canterbury is president; and the Bishop of Durham, Earls Spencer, Dartmouth, and Radnor, Lords Willoughby de Broke, and Gambier, Hon. P. Pusey, Sie W. Pepperell and T. Bernard, Barts. Gen. Manners, and W. Wilberforce, and R. Thornton, Esqrs. vice-presidents. Many naval and military officers of high rank have from time to time applied to the society, expressing their strong approbation of its designs, and have, from their own obser vation, testified that the Holy Scriptures, which teach men to be, faithful servants of God, teach them also to be faithful servants of their king and country. The claims of our sailors and soldiers upon us are urgent. To them, under God, are we indebted, for the maintenance of all that is dear to us either as a nation or as individuals. This very service, however, exposes their lives to peculiar hazards, and makes it doubly our duty to furnish them with the means of preparation for it. This it is which the Naval and Military Bible Society proposes exclusively to do; namely, to distribute among our soldiers and sailors Bibles and Testaments only, without note or comment;-an object well calculated to unite all good men in its support, especially as we perceive, from the Rules, that all contributors of a guinea a year, or of ten guineas in one sum, become, without any further qualification or inquiry, governors of this institution. The funds of this society are low. The receipts of the last year amounted only to 3021. Their distribution to the army and navy amounted, however, to 1848 Bibles, and 25 Testaments; and at the time of 1 making their Report for the last year, there were before the Committee applications for Bibles and Testaments from 21,420 British sailors and soldiers. With these applications, except to a very limited extent indeed, namely, about 3000 Bibles, it would be impossible for them to comply without an enlargement of their funds. The Committee, in their Report, very strongly urge every individual member of the society, to an increase of personal exertion in its favour-and surely they cannot exert themselves in a better cause-with a view both to make the benevolent design of the institution more generally known, and to obtain such farther pecuniary support as may enable the society to answer the demands made upon it for the Holy Scriptures by the gallant defenders of our lives and liberties. able to make them wise unto everlasti salvation." The Appendix to the Report conti letters from naval and military offices, in which we add a few extracts. Extract of a Letter from an Officer of b Royal Navy, upon a foreign Station, das the 9th of Oct. 1803. "I am commanded by —— to exs to you his acknowledgments for your in! of the second of March last, accompati a supply of 400 Bibles for the use of i Majesty's ships on this station. "The coinmander in chief requests a will be pleased to express to the Coast! of the Naval and Military Bible Sociay i best thanks for their early attention to r letter, conveying his request that the imp tant benefits circulated through their val able exertions, might be extended to s part of the royal navy stationed in this inote country. "The books have been distributed to th several ships, accompanied by a general se morandum to the squadron, of which I has the honour to enclose a copy for the satis faction of the Committee; and I trust advantages which will result from thus pa ations. The Committee advert to the injurious effect produced on the funds of this institution, by an erroneous idea that it was in some measure identified with the British and Foreign Bible Society, or at least derived such aid from its funds as rendered individual contributions less necessary. It has, however, derived no aid whatever of a pecuniary kind from that society.ing a knowledge of religion within the read Others have supposed the continuance of of those well-disposed persons on board, ma? the Naval and Military Bible Society to be be extended by mutual example, and is rendered unnecessary by the establishment proved by the attention of the commandin of the British and Foreign Bible Society, officers to these most important consis the partial objects of the former naturally merging in the unlimited purposes of the latter. The Committee, however, argue, and we think with perfect justice, that there is ample room for an institution which shall devote its whole attention to the gratuitous distribution of Bibles among the sailors and soldiers of our navy and army. "There is a wide field for usefulness," they observe, open to each, and ample scope for the exertions of both. "Let this society imitate the bright example of the British and Foreign Bible Society. If we had funds as abundant, friends as numerous, zealous, and persevering, upwards of 460,000 souls in the British army and navy, whom we profess to take under our care, would prove full employment for our resources." "Our cause is a good one, and calls loudly for individual and collective exertion. There is no time to be lost life is short and uncertain to all, but to the sailor and soldier peculiarly precarious. One campaign, one storm, one battle, will launch its hundreds, perhaps thousands, into eternity: and it is the high privilege of the Naval and Military Bible Society to be employed in placing within their reach the Holy Scriptures, which are "Until now, the ships have been so scab tily supplied with the Scriptures, that it wa scarcely possible to relieve the lower ranb on board from the extreme ignorance of the leading principles of Christianity, so fatally prevalent among them. Should the fundse the Society admit, it would be extremely desirable to supply the squadron with a further number, so as that nearly every mess might be provided with a Bible; perhaps this will be a heavier demand than can conveniently be complied with. sirous to contribute his assistance towards the laudable objects of your institution, has desired his agent in London to pay his subscription *; and I take the liberty to enclose a draft for ten guineas, which the Society will be pleased to accept as a donation from myself." being very de Extract of a Letter from a Military Officer, * Twenty guineas. 弊 evidence a spirit of piety. In looking over the list, I see this regiment is not of the number of corps that have already received Bibles from the Society, but I have been a supplicant so often, I am almost ashamed again to mention it; however, the cause is great and good, and therefore I must not be ashamed to plead in favour of the brave men in question. Their number is 580. Will you have the goodness to be their advocate with the Society, in the hope that the word of fe among them will be attended with good. The Lord give his blessing, and all will be wel!." Extract of a Letter from a foreign Garrison, dated August 16th, 1810. "I feel much indebted to you for your kind offer, and will avail myself of so favourable an opportunity to apply for some Bibles for the use of our garrison. We have about 1200 men, most of whom, I believe, are destitute of Bibles; indeed, as books, like most other things, are sold here at an advanced price of two hundred per cent. soldiers cannot afford to buy them; you will therefore much oblige me by putting me in a way of obtaining a supply. I am rejoiced to find a disposition among many to read the Scriptures, and trust that, by God's blessing upon the circulation of them, this barren wilder ness may become the garden of the Lord." Subscriptions are received by the treaarers, Mr. Ambrose Martin, Charlotte-street, Bloomsbury, and Mr. J. Stephenson, William-street, Chatham-place: by Mr.Hatchard, 190, Piccadilly; and by different banking houses in London. EDUCATION ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.. We briefly alluded in our last Number to the institution of a society for extending the benefits of education, on the principles of the Established Church, to the poor throughout the kingdom. We now lay before our readers an account of the proceedings which have led to the formation of this most interesting institution. "That the national religion," it is observed in the Prospectus, "should be made the foundation of national education, and should be the first and chief thing taught to the poor, according to the excellent liturgy and catechism provided by our church for that purpose, must be admitted by all friends to the Establishment; for if the great body of the nation be educated in other principles than those of the Established Church, the natural consequence must be to alienate the minds of the people from it, or render them indifferent to it; which may, in succeeding generations, prove fatal to the church, and to the state itself. It must, indeed, be admitted in this country of civil and religious liberty, that every man has a right to pursue the plan of education that is best adapted to the religion which he himself professes. Whatever religious tenets, therefore, men of other persuasions may think proper to combine with the mechanism of the new system, whether tenets peculiar to themselves, or tonets of a more general nature, they are free to use the new system so combined, without reproach or interruption from the other hand, the members of the Establishmembers of the Establishment. On the ment are not only warranted, but in duty bound to preserve that system as originally practised at Madras, in the form of a Church of England education. The friends, there fore, of the Establishment, throughout the kingdom, are earnestly requested to associate and co-operate, for the purpose of promoting the education of the poor in the doctrine and discipline of the Established Church. It is hoped that such co-operation will not be wanting, when the object in view is nothing less than the preservation of the national religion, by ensuring to the great body of the people an education adapted to its principles. With a view of promoting such co-operation, and with the intent of laying the foundation of a society, which shall extend its influence over the whole kingdom, a number of persons, friends to the Establishment, at a meeting holden ou the 16th day of October, 1811, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury in the chair. Resolved, that such a society be now constituted, and that measures be taken for carrying the same into effect; and that for this purpose the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the time being, be president." A Committee having been appointed, consider of rules and regulations for the constitution and government of the Society, made their Report to a general meeting on the 21st of October, which was unanimously adopted. The rules are as follows: "That the title of the society now constituted be The National Society for promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, througbout England and Wales.' That the sole object of this Society shall be, to instruct and educate the poor in suitable learning, works of industry, and the principles of the Christian religion, aecording to the Established Church. That his Grace the Archhishop of York, and the Right Reverend the Bishops of both provinces, for the time being, be vice-presidents, together with ten temporal peers or privy-councillors, to be nominated by the president and other vice-presidents for the present, and as vacancies may happen in foture. "That a Committee of Sixteen, besides the president and vice-presidents, who are members ex officio, be appointed to manage the affairs of the Society, for the present year, by the President and the Bishop of London, and such other bishops as shall be in town. A fourth part of the said sixteen to resign their office at the end of the year, but to be capable of immediate re-election. A double Hist shall be formed by the president and vice-presidents, out of which the anuual genoral meeting shall elect the persons who are to fill up the vacancies. "That a general meeting be holden annual ly in the month of May or June, or oftener,if the Committee shall think it expedient, when a Report of the Society's proceedings shall be made, a statement of the accounts for the year be laid before the meeting d the vacancies in the Committee filled up u above stated. "That all subscribers of not less than an guinea annually, or benefactors to de amount of ten, guineas, be qualified t tend such meeting.” His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury was requested to lay the proceedings of tit meeting before his Royal Highness t Prince Regent. The above proceedings have according! been laid before his Royal Highness Prince Regent, who has been pleased signity his entire approbation of the am and has graciously condescended to offer become the Patron of the Society. The Rev. Mr. Norris, of Grove St. Hackney, has undertaken to officiate a & cretary. Books of subscription are op ed at the banking-houses of Dramat Hammersley, Hoare, Sikes, Robarts, fiams, Bosanquet, and Bolders. VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. THE army of Lord Wellington continued, down to the beginning of this month, to occupy the banks of the Coa, his head-quarters being at Frenada; the main body of the opposing army being cantoned in the neighbourhood of Placentia. On the night of the 14th of October, Don Julian Sanchez, a Spanish partizan, posted a party of men in a convenient place for surprising and carry. ing off the cattle of the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo, when they should be sent out, as was usual, to graze under the guns of the fort. He not only succeeded in this object, but was so fortunate as to get possession at the same time of the governor of that fortress, General Regnauld, who, with a small escort, had gone across the Agueda. The general has since arrived in England. A much more important affair took place about a fortnight afterwards. Lord Wellingfon had ordered Lieutenant-General Hill to endeavour to force back a considerable body of French troops, under General Girard, which had advanced from Merida to Caceres on the Tagus, with the view of interrupting the regular supply of provisions to our army. On the approach of General Hill, the French General endeavoured to regain Merida; bu while pursuing this object, one of his columns was surprised, at a place called Arroyo de Molinos. General Girard himself, though badly wounded, escaped to the mountai with three hundred men, followed, however, by a body of Spaniards; two hundred French were killed; and one thousand were taken, including Generals Brun and the Prince D'Aremberg, two colonels, and forty officers, with all their artillery and baggage. The army of Ballasteros, being cless pressed by a French force under Gencial Godinot, was obliged to take shelter nader the walls of Gibraltar. The French advanced to St. Roque, and seemed to threaten the siege of Tarifa. After remaining there, however, about a week, finding that large reinforcements were likely to arrive from Cadiz at Algesiras, they retired towards Ronda, pursued by Ballasteros. The French, under Suches, having advanced into the province of Valencia, were obliged to lay siege to the fortress of Sagun tum, where they appear to have met with a formidable resistance. After a practicable breach had been effected, the army of Ge neral Blake approached to its relief; but be» |