I have also to communicate on the part of a noble and highly esteemed friend, LORD GAMBIER, his deep concern that he cannot have the gratification of being present with us this day, having been called on to attend the performance of the last melancholy offices to the earthly remains of a near relation. An ABSTRACT of the REPORT was then read by the Rev. John Owen, assisted by his son, the Rev. Henry John Owen; from which it appeared, that the issues of Bibles and Testaments within the Year, from the Depository, have been 104,828 Bibles, 142,129 New Testaments, making, with those issued at the expence of the Society, from Foreign presses, since the commencement of the Institution, Three Millions, Two Hundred and One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Seventy-eight Bibles and Testa ments. The Society is under engagements, which will become payable within its current year, to the amount of about £40,000. The Earl of HARROWBY, on moving the adoption of the Report, said, My Lords and Gentlemen, In the present state of my voice, in which I feel it perfectly impossible to make myself audible, in attempting to address you, I should have been anxious to decline the honour of putting the Motion, in my hand, if I did not wish to take every opportunity of stating the satisfaction which so humble an individual as myself feels in the extensive utility and extensive benefit of this Society. I am persuaded, that you have heard with infinite satisfaction, and, perhaps, with surprise, that under the pressure of the present times, so far from having suffered, it has increased during the past year. It must be extremely gratifying to those who look at the religious feeling of the people as the best source, under Heaven, of their prosperity, to observe, that to whatever resources they have had recourse, they have not found it necessary to apply the principle of economy to their acts of benevolence; the domestic statements, therefore, of this Society, cannot but be highly gratifying to every heart. With respect to the statements of the progress of this Society in other parts of the world, they must certainly be heard with the highest gratification: it is indeed a most interesting and important page of universal history; but it differs in this respect from other histories, that instead of being as they are, chiefly, a history of the crimes and the miseries of men---of their jarring interests, and the wretchedness their crimes have brought upon the world,---this contains a history of the diffusion of that Word by which alone those crimes can be lessened, and those miseries alleviated; and which in due time---a time known only to that Being who rules over all---shall bring about a state, in which universal history shall become more and more barren of those events which, since the creation of the world, have at once adorned and disgraced it. I feel unable to say more; but I feel the less regret, be cause I shall be followed by gentlemen much better qualified to address you. Right Honourable The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER: My Lords and Gentlemen, The pleasing and honourable task has devolved upon me, in the absence of the Illustrious Personage who was expected to have undertaken it, to propose, That the thanks of this Meezing be given to the Right Honourable Lord TEIGNMOUTH, the President, for his Lordship's persevering attention to the interests of the Institution. This is a motion which, I am persuaded, requires no arguments to impress on your attention, as I am sure you will all allow that among the many subjects of congratulation we have this day heard, and the many causes of the deepest feelings of gratitude which we owe to that Being whose Word it is our object to diffuse, there is none more signally marked than the having placed this Institution under the direction of the Noble President, and in preserving his life to preside at this Seventeenth Anniversary. It must be to his Lordship the highest gratification to see around him such an assembly as he has often met in this place, and on no occasion more than the present; to see around him persons of the highest rank in the State at home,--persons charged with the direction of the government of our Colonies abroad,--and representatives of Foreign States, among whom I have the honour to see here the Minister of the Court of Wuertemberg, who, I am sure, in appearing among as, expresses the genuine feelings of a Sovereign connected by the ties of family alliance with the Royal Family of this Country, and whose domestic connexions must have led him to feel, independently of any other considerations, for this Bible Society, of which his illustrious relatives have been such distinguished patrons, and the late partner of whose throne was the sister of that Emperor to whom his extensive dominions owe so much, and who has been the means of diffusing so much light and happiness from the shores of the Baltic to the frontiers of China. Could our President, at the first formation of the Society, have hoped to have witnessed such a scene as he now beholds? The vision, if presented to him, would have appeared at once delightful and chimerical. Would any tongue of man have ventured to predict, that within seventeen years from its first commencement, the Bible Society could have taken such a hold, not only in this country, but in almost every country of the world, as no longer to be restricted by any limits, or to depend upon the exertions of any individual whatever? It has been observed, that great revolutions of opinion and manners, if not accompanied by external political changes, do not make that impression on the spectators and actors in those scenes, as in the retrospect of history they will impress on the mind;---even those changes in opinions and sentiments which have been succeeded by great political events, have appeared, when the various incidents, contemporary letters, and anecdotes are brought before us, and to have made an impression on the minds of those then engaged in them, very far short of what they now produce. We are, perhaps, carried on in these events as in the diurnal motion of the earth, in which the greatest revolution is effected while every thing around us seems at rest, and we are borne imperceptibly along. We may hope, that no inconsiderable part of that revolution has been completed, which shall bring the whole of this sublunary world under the light of life. We find from the Report, that there is scarcely a part of the world where its effects have not been diffused; and scarcely a known language in which the word of God has not been, or will soon be, translated. That we may see an increasing progress in this great work, and that our worthy and noble President may long live to see the progress of it, must, I am sure, be the sincere wish of every individual in this room. Lord TEIGNMOUTH: In returning you my sincere thanks, for the honour conferred on me by your Resolution, I cannot overlook the higher duty, of offering the tribute of gratitude and thanksgiving to Him, who first inspired the hearts of Christians, to undertake the distribution of his Holy Word, and has crowned their proceedings with such signal success. At the commencement of our career, we had before us a moral wilderness of an unknown and immeasurable extent. Nations, which had long professed the religion of the Gospel, not even excepting our own, exhibited a numerous population destitute of the divine records, and even of the hopes of obtaining them, while all beyond the pale of Christianity was barrenness and desolation. But if we could not estimate the cost of our work, when we entered upon it, we have now the satisfaction to know, that we had not miscalculated its gains. This unproductive wild, which in many parts seemed scarcely accessible, has been cultivated to an extent exceeding our most sanguine expectations, and our sight is now refreshed, with the rich verdure of a moral vegetation, adorning soils which had long been consigned to sterility, because no friendly hand was found to water them with the fertilizing streams from the fountain of life and immortality. The value of these exertions, will only be fully known in another world; but some idea of it may be formed from their visible effects, in the influence of the Divine Word on Societies and individuals, of which we have such ample and satisfactory testimony. To bring the observation closer to our feelings, let it be applied to an individual case; that for instance, of a poor man who had never possessed a Bible, but who had heard so much of its contents as to be anxious to obtain one: his wishes are gratified, and he finds himself master of a treasure, exceeding in value the highest estimate which he had ever formed of it; amidst the fatigues of his daily toils, and the anxiety of penury, he derives from it comfort, hope, and joy; it opens to him the prospect of that heavenly country, in which the weary cease from their Labours, into which sorrow can never enter, and from which, joy can never depart; while it clearly points out the way by which he may arrive at it, through Hin who is "the way, the truth, and the life:" he devoutly praises GOD for his inestimable gift, and implores his blessing on those, by whose means he had received it. Such we are authorized to affirm has been the case of thousands, to whom the privileges and conVOL. XLIV. August, 1821. solations of the Book of Life would have been unknown, if the British and Foreign Bible Society had not existed. It is one characteristic excellence of our Institution, that it is of no sect or party; it invites and accepts the co-operation of all who profess their belief of the Divine authority and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. It has no connexion or concern with the political affairs of this, or any other kingdom; its orbit is a circle far beyond that of the political horizon, and can never come into contact with it. Pure in its principles, charitable in its object, catholic in its administration---“ Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, and good will to men," is the inspiring and governing spirit of all its operations; and hence it has become the source and centre of that happy union among Christians of various countries, confessions and denominations, never before witnessed in these times, and of which the present assembly affords a gratifying demonstration. I rejoice to have lived in the days when such an Institution was formed: I rejoice still more in participating with it, in the glorious privilege of dispensing the bounty of heaven to the poor and the needy, and of supplying the erring and ignorant with an infallible guide, to conduct them through the perils and intricacies of their mortal pilgrimage. Our undertaking is as ennobling, as it is charitable and holy; it adds a lustre to dignity, far beyond that which it derives from the most exalted station; it enhances the attractions of piety, and it hallows wealth by the use of it; while it warms and expands the affections, connecting the rich and the poor, the high and the low, in the fellowship of beneficence, by the sense of a common interest in the hopes and the promises of the Gospel. But amidst the exultation which we have so much reason to indulge, we cannot overlook the awful and affecting consideration that thousands around us at home, and that millions even of the household of CHRIST abroad, are still destitute of the records of divine grace and truth, while numbers of them are daily passing into eternity. And may we not also consider, the solicitude so widely manifested, and so anxiously expressed to obtain the Holy Scriptures, together with the facilities afforded for circulating them, as a call of Providence on the endeavours of this and every Christian nation, to gratify it in the largest practicable extent? Such considerations can never be regarded with indifference, by those who have imbibed the spirit of brotherly love from the Holy Book which we circulate; they appeal to their faith, their piety, and humanity, with an importunity which they cannot, I had almost said, which they dare not resist; and every effort will be exerted by them, to relieve the deplorable wants of their destitute brethren. The British and Foreign Bible Society, supported by the public beneficence, will still continue to animate by its example the exertions of its fellow-labourers in every part of the world; and the accomplishment of that which may not be effected by the present generation, will be left as a precious legacy to be enjoyed by the succeeding. Our work is not without its remuneration: it is found and felt in humble but animated hope, that the Scriptures distributed by this, or any other Society, through the influence of the HOLY SPIRIT on the hearts of those who receive them, may be made the power of GOD to their salvation, to the praise and glory of his name. The Lord Bishop of GLOUCESTER, on moving Thanks to the Royal Dukes, &c. said, My Lords and Gentlemen, I rejoice in the satisfactory nature of the Report we have heard; because I have been, as may probably be the case with multitudes among us, a long established and warm friend of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Consistency of conduct, funds little if at all diminished, and a continued exertion of judicious and successful effects, cannot but afford to every Society the most ample grounds for congratulation, and the most pleasing presage for the future. I rejoice particularly in the Report; because I am by judgment and inclination, as well as by duty, decidedly attached to the community of Christians to which I belong; and because I cordially agree in sentiment with a Right Reverend Brother, who, though absent in person is with us in heart and spirit, that “the Bible, and the Bible only, is the Religion of the Church of England." But, my Lords and Gentlemen, I rejoice, if possible, still more because it appears from this Report, and from the still more circumstantial accounts which we receive from month to month, that this extended distribution of the word of God begins more and more to develope its practical effects throughout every sphere of our operations; and, because it is so exactly in season, so suitable to the exigencies and demands of our times. It is delightful to learn, that in one set of cases the Bibles distributed by our Society have been the means of restoring the idle, drunken, profligate head of a family to the regular performance RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. of all the duties of his station, and thus making the man a blessing instead of a curse We live, my Lord, in times of an extraordinary description, of rapid, wonderful, and most important changes; which we could not have foreseen, and the result of which we hardly dare to estimate. I would not hazard a political opinion upon the subject, but refer merely to the fact. Whatever alterations may take place in the form and constitutions of any of the governments on the Continent, it is inconceivably important that the only oracle and standard of right opinions, the only prompter of right motives, should be universally distributed; being the only means by which liberty can be prevented from degenerating into licentiousness. The ancient superstitions, by which the judgments of men upon religious subjects have been so long fettered and enchained, seem also to afford evident symptoms of decay and destruction. How important, then, that the Bible, which can alone supply equally the vacuities and fill the opening left for new impressions, should be placed in every hand, set before every eye, and be ready to enter into every heart---that the light from above should anticipate or supersede the sparks of human kindling; and that in such a fluctuating sea of opinions, each sect should find, in the word of God, an anchor sure and steadfast. To a most extraordinary extent, and with a rapidity almost supernatural, education is spreading in every direction. In France, above one thousand schools are said to have been established in five years, and to be in full and vigorous operation. How important, then, that the Bible should keep pace with the capacity of reading; should be, where admitted, the lesson of every child; and, at all events, be at hand to satisfy his awakened appetite for information, and to teach him whose mind will be newly athirst after knowledge---that knowledge which alone makes wise unto salvation. But above all, the seasonableness of our success is apparent from the extraordinary efforts which are now making in an opposite direction. The powers of darkness cannot permit to remain unnoticed and unopposed this extensive invasion of their long comparatively unmolested reign. In our land, most particularly, as the strong hold of the Bible, the Spirit of Evil at this time labours hard to undermine and overthrow every principle of good, by infidel, by immoral, and by seditious publications. The Press is his favourite engine, and he is working it to the utmost. How incalculably important, then, that he should be met, in every case, on his own ground; and that the Press, which introduces the poison, should be made universally, to furnish the antidote. Upon these various, but, in my opinion, concurring and consistent grounds, I cannot help congratulating myself, this assembly, this country, and the world, upon the persevering exertions and increasing prosperity of this Society. I cannot help saying, and have no doubt I shall have your unanimous concurrence, Esto Perpetua. Perpetual was the term which Prophecy warrants us to expect, when the Bible shall have been fully proposed to every nation under heaven; and when with every individual, whose heart shall have accepted it, the communications of the written Word shall be exchanged for intercourse with the Word incarnate. My belief is, and I am well assured that the Illustrious Personage here present, and the distinguished individuals who are associated with him, ever feel, and are ready to acknowledge, that the support of this Society adds a lustre to their dignified place in society; and is one of the best modes of fulfilling their important duties, and discharging that mighty burden of responsibility which it has pleased God to attach to their exalted stations. The Right Honourable Lord CALTHORPE, on seconding the Motion, said :---My Lord, Conscious as I am of my inability to do justice to the Resolution which has been just proposed by my Right Reverend Friend, I cannot help feeling peculiar satisfaction, that one of the members of that illustrious family to which this resolution refers, should be now present. His opportune arrival at this meeting has most seasonably come in aid of my weakness, by relieving me from the necessity of *4A2* dwelling more fully on the merits of that resolution, and from urging any additional arguments in favour of it beyond what is afforded by his presence on this occasion. But, my Lord, I do not apprehend that the effect of this resolution will be at all impaired, or its merits less strongly felt, if, before I second it, I briefly allude to one or two circumstances which the Report of this day has brought before us. The first is that which holds the leading place in the Report, I mean the assurances we have this day received of the growth and prosperity of a kindred Society recently established in France. Recollecting, as we all too deeply and painfully must recollect, those occasions of jealousy and of bitter and almost perpetual discord, which have existed between that nation and ourselves; it is peculiarly delightful to find ourselves now allied to her by a tie of the closest and most endearing nature: and from the experience we ourselves have had of the growing and diffusive nature of all such Institutions, we may not unreasonably hope, that the day is not far distant when this Society, existing in a country so rich in all the productions of nature, and in the active and enterprising genius of her people, will give to that genius a new and powerful direction, and lead her, as a compensation to herself for that submission she for some time showed to an inglorious tyranny, to acknowledge deeply and heartily the supremacy of that Almighty Potentate, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords, and afford this high and noblest illustration of that loyalty to her Monarchs for which formerly she was so distinguished; and by such a devotedness acquire a glory and a greatness far surpassing any which she has hitherto experienced and carrying forward our hopes to that period when after having thus consecrated that charter of liberty, which is continually, I trust, obtaining fresh strength and deeper foundations, if she should still form plans of foreign conquest, that they may be such as not only to excite no apprehension, but to command our most cordial and active co-operation ;---when her foreign achievements will resemble those which this Society is now carrying on ;--when her martial spirit will show itself by sending to the darkest regions of the earth that light and those blessings which we ourselves enjoy in such fulness---blessings which will, perhaps, by this new alliance, be most effectually distributed through every part of the earth. Before I conclude, I cannot forbear referring to another scene of this Society's exertions, which seems to me to afford the most satisfactory evidence of the success which has attended its foreign operations. The beneficial effects which have resulted from the dispersion of the Scriptures in Africa, have been already proved by the pleasing information that the funds of this Institution have been aided by contributions received even from that interesting portion of the globe; and I have just had put into my hands a paper, containing evidence of the same fact. It may, however, be right, before I read any part of it, to guard gentlemen from expecting any report to come to us from the Continent clothed in the ornaments or excellency of hunian language; but I am persuaded, that such accents of dawning faith and hope will not the less recommend themselves to our hearts, when they strike upon them, with something of the unspeakable and irresistible charm of guileless infancy. The extract I am about to read is from a report of a Speech made at the Bible Society in Sierra Leone :-- "Gentlemen.---Excuse me, for I can't talk plain. I thank the LORD that he has performed this great work---that he has sent the Bible. I was sold twice in my country; and it has pleased the LORD to bring me into this colony. When I was brought here first, I was ignorant; I was blind; I knew nothing of JESUS CHRIST. I saw some people go to pray to God, but I did not know what they were about. It has pleased the LORD to send his servant with the Bible; and when he preach and proclaim the Word, then the Word struck me; then my eyes opened, and I saw what I am. By this I see the LORD pitied poor men. About four years ago I was in the way of sin, but it has pleased the LORD to lift me up with his mighty hand. The LORD says, Search the Scriptures; there you shall find eternal life." I do search it, and I know the word of GOD is the truth. God is no respecter of persons." I have, perhaps, been the more disposed to introduce this extract, because I confess, to my own mind nothing can more strikingly show the sovereignty of Divine grace, and the real greatness of Christianity, than when its influence is thus shorn upon those who were lately the most despised of the human race. There is something in the attestation that is thus borne to the simple, original, and inextinguishable character of Christianity, which is in the highest degree consoling and elevating to the mind; and I am sure that the satisfactory evidence we have thus afforded es of the growing faith and hope and consistency of this poor African, will not lose an |