great number of Books during the past year: by far the largest part have been condemned as unsuitable for Sunday Schools, and various valuable works have been added to the Society's Catalogue. While so many Books with specious titles are published, the Committee recommend their fellow-labourers to use additional caution; and to avail themselves of the selection which the Committee have made with a particular reference to the character and circumstances of Sunday Scholars.

Wide Field of Labour on the Continent.

The Society's operations are not circumscribed by place or country. An immense field is open to its view. The Committee would mention the Continent of Europe as requiring much greater, and indeed their very best exertions, in favour of Sunday Schools: not to name the difficulties which arise from the general diffusion of Infidelity, active and useful Agents are also wanting in almost every one of its kingdoms and provinces: the generous spirit, which actuates the labours of Sunday-School Teachers in the British Isles, is elsewhere, America excepted, but comparatively little known, and the benefits of Sunday-School Instruction are still less appreciated; yet, at Hamburgh, and in some of the southern parts of France, some voluntary and self-denying efforts have been made, and to these the Committee have readily granted assistance and encouragement.

Europe is, nevertheless, an almost uncultivated field; though there exist indications of a better spirit, and symptoms of an improving disposition to promote the best interests of society. The Sunday-School Union have been ready,

at all hazards, to embrace every oppor tunity of advancing that instruction which they believe best calculated to meliorate the condition of mankind, and to draw down the blessing of Heaven on the inhabitants of the earth. To Prussia, relying on that aid which has seldom failed to attend a good cause, and trusting that the Sunday-School System, once established in any principal kingdom on the Continent, would not fail to be imitated by its neighbours, the Committee proffered a benefit to the amount of Fifty Pounds. Greece,

once exalted in the scale of nations, but now depressed below the common level of the civilized world, claims especially the utmost exercise of Sunday-School Philanthropy: convinced of the necessity of extending the arm of benevolence to

this struggling and interesting but comparatively-unenlightened people, the Committee have voted various sums, and have pledged themselves to greater exertions.

When the pious and philanthropic spirit of the memorable RAIKES first promulgated his Sunday-School Scheme, it was encumbered with the payment of teachers, and also the discharge of rents: unhappily, the expense of rent, and other expenses also, now hang as a heavy burden, chiefly on the Sunday-School Teachers, notwithstanding their own spontaneous and benevolent services. But, were the fact considered, that from this origin, even at the present hour, not less than ONE MILLION OF CHILDREN are now instructed in Sunday Schools within the British Isles, and that the Christian Efforts of EIGHTY THOUSAND GRATUITOUS TEACHERS are now devoted to the service of their fellow-immortals, the most insensible mind would scarcely despair of a similar progress of religious instruction in Greece, or in any other part of the world, were the same means adopted, aided by the improved experience of the Christian World.

The "Sunday-School Teacher's Magazine, and Journal of Education," is a Monthly Work connected with the Society. It has reached its CXIVth Number.

partments, with a population of 18,000,000; sending to school 375,831 pupils, or one pupil to 48 inhabitants. The comparison which he draws between these two portions of France is very striking.

In the North of France, notwithstanding the rigor of the climate, which entirely prevents the cultivation of olives, capers, oranges, and lemons, and scarcely allows the growth of Indian-corn and the mulberry-tree in some of the Departments; which deprives Normandy, Picardy, Artois, French Flanders, and Ardennes of the culture of the vine; notwithstanding this absence of natural riches, the mass of the people in the North, having more instruction, activity, and industry, obtain from the soil a revenue sufficient to pay 127,634,765 francs land-tax on 18,692,191 hectares"; whilst the Fifty-four Departments of the South pay only 125,412,969 land-tax on a superficies of 34,841,235 hectares. Thus, for each million of hectares the Public Treasury receives fromEnlightened France, 6,820,000 fr. land-tax. Unenlightened France,3,599,700 ditto

The superiority of the public revenues furnished by the enlightened part of France is particularly observable in the Tax for Licences, which is calculated on the same scale throughout the kingdom. The Thirty-two Departments of the North pay into the Public Treasury for Licences 15,274,456 francs; and the Fifty-four Departments of the South pay only 9,623,133 francs: so that, owing to the superior industry produced by a wider spread of knowledge, a million of Frenchmen in the North bring into the Public Treasury for Licences 1,174,958 francs; while a million of Frenchmen in the South pay only 534,652 francs for Licences.

If we sum up these taxes, it will appear that a million of hectares pays as follows:

In the North. In the South. Land-tax 6,820,000 francs. 3,590,700 francs. Licences 817,000 276,216 3,875,916

7,637,000

That is to say, a million of hectares in the North pays exactly twice as much as a million of hectares in the South. Now, the North of France sends 740,846 child. ren to school, and the South 375,831, or about half as many as the North.

An hectare is a superficial measure, containing 100 ares. An are is rather less than four English perches.

We will now endeavour to point out certain indications of the relative progress of the Arts in these two great divisions of France. I have examined the List of Patents from July 1, 1791, to July 1, 1825; and from this it appears, that the Thirty-two Departments of Enlightened France have obtained 1689 Patents; and the Fifty-four Departments of Unenlightened France, 413 Patents.

The Colleges of Paris have afforded me another means of forming a comparison. The University annually bestows on all the Colleges of Paris and Versailles an immense number of prizes, second prizes, and accessits. In the University Almanack are printed the names of the Pupils rewarded, and the places of their birth. I commenced by taking away all the Pupils born in Paris, so as not to give any undue advantage to the Northern Departments. I then reckoned separately -i. All the Pupils from the Thirty-one Departments of the North, leaving out the Seine; 2. All the Pupils from the Fifty-four Departments of the South: and the following was the striking result

Pupils rewarded from the Thirty-one Northern Departments, 107.

Pupils rewarded from the Fifty-four Southern Departments, 36.

But another fact has appeared to me still more remarkable. The 143 rewards consisted of 37 prizes and 106 accessits: now of the 37 prizes granted by the University to the children from the Departments, 33 were obtained by the children from the North, and 4 by the children from the South.

The Polytechnic School, which is noted for the equity of its regulations, requires that the Pupils, who offer themselves from all parts of France as candidates for admission, should have already acquired a considerable stock of mathematical and literary information. I have examined the Lists of Pupils admitted during thirteen consecutive years; and have found, that, of 1933 Pupils admitted, 1233 were sent from the Thirty-two Departments of the North, and 700 from the Fifty-four Departments of the South.

The Academy of Sciences, which, it is universally acknowledged, chooses its Members with impartiality from the learned throughout the kingdom, offers a result still more favourable to the North. Of the 65 Members composing the Academy, 48 are from the Thirty-two Northern Departments, and 17 only from the Fifty-four Southern Departments.

The Exhibition of 1823 presented results not less striking.

Thus, in whatever point of view we regard the two portions of France, whether with respect to their Agriculture or their Commerce; at whatever period of life we observe the population of the North and that of the South-in tender Infancy, at College, at the Polytechnic School, at the Academy of Sciences, in the invention of improvements in the Arts, and in the National Rewards bestowed on industry-everywhere we find an analogous, and almost always a proportionate difference. To men capable of comparing effects with causes, this constant uniformity of results, this pervading superiority in favour of that part of the kingdom where Instruction has been the most spread, will demonstrate clearly the advantage of this Instruction in promoting trade, arts, and sciences, as well as private and public opulence.

PARIS BIBLE SOCIETY.

FROM a Report made to the Society by the Female Branch, we extract the following instances of its beneficial influence on the people in various parts of France. The account of the labours and death of the young Madame Falle will stir up many, we trust, to redouble their zeal in the Heavenly Cause: she was only twenty years of age when she departed to her rest.

Facts illustrative of the Beneficial Influence of the Society.

At Leme, and in the Churches dependent on it, the happy results of the study of the Scripture are visibly increasing every day. Madame Colany

writes

It is especially to this study, that we may attribute the reformation of manners here; which are at present as pure and modest, as they were formerly depraved and corrupted.

To this study, we may also trace the resignation of the poor peasants, who, by the stagnation of work, are plunged into the deepest distress: during two years, they have borne this trial without murmuring; for, in reading the Bible, they have learnt that all things proceed from the Eternal.

It is truly affecting to see those poor peasants, notwithstanding their misery, drawing consolation from the Sacred Book, where they find that Jesus Christ became poor for their sakes, that through His poverty they might be rich-to see them, also, bringing their humble but willing offerings to the Bible Society; expressing, at the same time, their lively regrets at not being able to give more. A poor lying-in-woman received a gift of twenty sous from one of her relations, to help her in her confinement; but she insisted on its being employed to pay her subscription in arrears to the Bible Society: "For," added she, "that will give me more pleasure; and the Saviour, who has deigned to bring me through the pangs of child-birth, will also support my weakness by His strength."

A Letter lately received from Bourdeaux contains the following particularsIn nine months we have obtained for the Bible Society a considerable sum, by adding to it more than a hundred annual subscribers or benefactors, and about 500 subscribers on the lists of the collectresses.

distributed; and are at present in the hands Above all, the Holy Scriptures have been of a great number of families, who had hitherto been unprovided with them.

You request some instances in proof of the moral influence of our Bible Society, but this is almost like desiring the fruits ere the tree is planted: the following, however, is one of

the facts which have come to our knowledge

A servant unable to read, but who, living with a pious family, has felt the power of God's Word in domestic worship, subscribed for a Bible for the purpose of having it read

to her, by her better-instructed friends, when they came to see her; and also, that the heirs of her honest savings might find something of intrinsic value in what she left to them.

We know, likewise, that, in numerous families who have had the Bible, it is regularly read every evening, when the cessation of labour re-unites the parents and the children.

The Auxiliary Bible Society at St. Jean du Gard received, in the space of eight months, 571 francs, and distributed

20 Bibles and 70 New Testaments.

A poor old woman, whose only employment was knitting stockings, determined to subscribe four francs per annum: she said

For every pair of stockings which I make, I shall put four sous into a particular box for the Society: if there be more than what I give this year, so much the better; should there be less, I will make up the remainder.

We have recently received from Montpelier the account given of the labours of the Female Committee formed there

If we have not been able to give much extension to our Society, we are at least assured that Providence has blessed our primary efforts. The total amount of receipts for the year terminating the 28th Feb. is 1000 francs, and we have distributed 92 Bibles and 42 New Testaments.

We have sometimes been led to think from this distribution, that several of those, who seemed hitherto to have but little occupied themselves with the Sacred Word, begin to feel that it is the true power of God for the salvation of their souls. We remark, also, that in most families whose children receive

instruction at our schools, these very children, returned beneath the paternal roof, nourish in their turn their parents with the True Bread of Life. There are but few of these families who do not employ a part of their evenings in holy meditation, and domestic worship begins to be re-established.

A little Girl, three years old, who attends our Sunday Schools, and teaches her Mother to read, gives her in the evening the explanation which she has herself received. It is a method, which, in some families, has served to infuse religious ideas into those who were far from possessing them.

It would be impossible to explain the feeling experienced by those who superintend the Schools, in beholding children seize with facility the explanation of Scriptural Truth suited to their age; and evincing, by their answers, at what an early period God has revealed Himself to their infant minds; the efficacy of such truth appears imprinted on their faces, which express contentment, when they bring a few pence gained by their good conduct, or a part of their New-year's Gifts; and when they receive some Tracts, which they hasten joyously to exhibit and read to their parents.

Successful Labours and Happy Death of Madame Falle.

Last year we had the satisfaction to announce the formation of a Female Bible Society at Calmont; and to insert in our Report, a Letter from Madame Falle, whose laudable zeal and attention had succeeded in establishing it.

This young and pious Lady furnished us at that time with several new details, respecting the happy results already obtained by the Society; an extract of which we take the liberty of mentioning here: she writes

Our Sunday School, thanks to the Almighty! is in a flourishing condition many of our children have already made the most astonishing progress: so much so, that they, in their turn, instruct their parents.

We have also formed two Associations in our Schools-that of Boys intended for Missions, and that of Girls for the service of the Bible Society. The good effects of these Schools are already evident; of which the children's fondness for the Bible, and orderly

walking in the fields, it is by no means uncommon to meet with groupes of children seated on the grass, attentively listening to a Chapter of the Bible or a Religious Tract, read by the oldest and most instructed of them. I see them, every day, pass beneath my windows, leading their flocks to feed, with Bibles under their arms, like young Students. Instead of profane songs, our fields now resound with Hymns and Holy Psalms. Lo! what God has been pleased to perform, by feeble instruments!

May the Saviour of Mankind bless you, Madam, and all those who aid you in the good work which you have undertaken! May He advance His reign in our dear country, which seems to be making rapid strides in the way of happiness and glory!-not of an ephemeral glory, like that of earthly monarchs; but of a glory ineffable, which will be eternally enjoyed by those who have purified their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

You will share, Gentlemen, the emotion excited in us by the above Letter, on recollecting that it was immediately followed by the premature death of Madame Falle; or, as Christians, we should rather say by her departure for the true country, the Haven and Heaven where her sanctified spirit becomes every day more refined and exalted. Her last moments afforded a new manifestation of that faith, which shone with so pure a lustre during her fair but fleeting course. Our Correspondent from Toulouse says

Madame Falle has done incalculable good at Calmont. She was a Dorcas, blessed by the poor and the orphan; yet, not satisfied with feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, she burnt with the desire to penetrate and fill their souls with the words of Eternal Life. Every day she assembled at her dwelling, women of all ages, to make them learn some portion of the Bible; which she afterward expounded to them with peculiar suavity and simplicity. With the Bible in her hand, she frequently proceeded to the Girls' School, to say, in the Name of our Saviour, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. It was with the Bible in her hand that she went to console the afflicted, and to exhort them to possess their souls in patience. It was with the Bible in her band that she loved to visit the couch of the dying, and to fix their hopes on the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

In the course of such pious labours was Madame Falle attacked with a painful illness; during which she exhibited an example of the most admirable patience and resignation. In the midst of her sufferings, a placid smile beamed constantly on her features. It might have been said, that her faith was already changed into sight, and her hope into reality. M. Falle, having asked her in

what disposition she found her soul, she replied

I wish to live, if it be God's pleasure; and I wish it only to perform His will: but if He require otherwise, I am content to die!

Her life was fast ebbing away-her affectionate and afflicted husband was speaking to her of Christ-when this truly pious Woman resigned her soul into the hands of Him who had redeemed it with His blood.

Switzerland.

GERMAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Students and Missionaries connected with the Basle Seminary.

Aт pp. 605, 606 of our last Volume, some account was given of the state of the Seminary; and much information has been added, on the same subject, at pp. 57-62 of the present Number. We subjoin a report relative to the last year's Students, and to the Missionaries who have been sent forth from the Seminary.

During the past year, there have been from Thirty to Thirty-five Students in the Seminary: divided into different classes, they have been preparing for the sacred office of Missionaries. As Five of our beloved Brethren have been, during the year, called to preach the Gospel in several parts of the Heathen World, our Committee have selected, from among the candidates for admission into the Seminary, Eight other Students, in order to fill up the preparatory classes: they will enter in the course of the year, and will complete the number of Thirtyeight Students. The persons engaged in Instruction and in the service of the House are ten: the inmates of the Institution are, therefore, Forty-eight in number.

Forty-one Missionaries have already left our Seminary. Of these, six in former years, and four according to intelligence received in the course of the last year, have quitted the field of conflict to enter into the rest of their Lord: the four last-mentioned are, J. Maisch, deceased at Calcutta-G. Albrecht, at Serampore-D. Boerlin, at Neusatz, in the Crimea-and F. Bormeister, in the Island of Bouro, in the Indian Archipe lago. To the remaining Thirty-one have been added Five of our Brethren, who were sent forth in the course of the past year; so that the number of absent Brethren connected with our Institution

Oct. 1827.

is Thirty-six; of these, Eighteen are married. They are placed as follows:2 in the Molucca Isles-2 in Bengal-3 on the Coast of Coromandel-5 in Egypt -4 in Armenia-1 in Georgia, at Grusie-3 in the vicinity of Caucasus6 in Bessarabia -1 in the Crimea-2 in Western Africa-6 on their way to different destinations-and 1, the beloved Brother Jetter, returned to his country for the re-establishment of his health. Of this number, nine are in the service of our Missionary Society.

The whole Family which the Lord has united to our Institution consists, according to this statement, of Forty-eight persons in the Seminary and Fifty-four elsewhere, forming One Hundred and Two Members, who commend themselves to the paternal remembrances and fervent prayers of the servants of the Lord.

Germany.

Professor Tholuck on the State and Prospects of the Jews. MR. Robinson, an American Gentleman, late Instructor in the Theological Seminary at Andover, in Massachusetts, transmitted to his friends in America the following view of the condition and prospects of the Jews, communicated to him, when at Berlin,by Professor Tholuck.

1. Since the time of Napoleon, who shewed himself very favourable to the Jewish Nation, they enjoy, in most parts of Germany, equal rights with Christians. They are only excluded from situations in life where the influence of a Jew would be visibly pernicious; particularly the office of Magistrates, and of Professors in Academies.

2. Their Employment in Germany is almost universally that of dealers in clothes, watches, jewels, &c. Some few are tradesmen; but very few indeed. A number of young people are teachers of the children-teachers of the Talmud. Some few of the educated class have entered the army as Jews: there are 200 in the Prussian Army. Some are physicians and dentists.

3. As to their Attachment to the Law, among the educated class in Germany there is almost none; or merely an outward attachment: the middle and lower classes are still attached to it, although much less so than those of Poland. 3 P