counsellors, without whom nothing of impor- || ago, and was considered by the Caffres as a tance can be adopted. There are three principal chiefs in Caffreland; Gaika, Islambi, and Hintsa: the last is considered as the greatest man of all. They do not interfere in each others affairs, unless it be something of general moment; but much mutual jealousy exists between them, which has sometimes led to war. It is not probable, however, from the present prospect of affairs, that war will be speedily known again in Caffreland. Never was there so much quiet and peace, so that, to use a Caffre mode of expression, "a man may travel in safety without his assagai." Nothing is more extraordinary and unaccountable than that authority which the superior chiefs, and the inferior also, maintain over their people. They have no external shadow of authority; the chief's hut is not to be distinguished from the people's; he wears nothing but a kaross, usually however a tiger's skin, instead of the skin of an ox; he has no sceptre, no staff, no military attached to his person. The whole of the Caffre tribes are warriors, and one body of militia. When he holds a council, his throne is the ground, and branches of trees his canopy. As to religion, the state of this people differs from that of all others that I have known. They may be said to be without any religion, true or false. Idolatry is wholly unknown amongst them. There is no idol, nor any worshipper of idols or of demons throughout the whole country: no sacred groves, nor venerated rivers, nor consecrated stones. But they are also without any knowledge of the Supreme Being, nor do they in any way worship Him. It is true, some of the people sing a native hymn to the praise of Utixo, or God; but this they have learned from an extraordinary man, named Links, who died a few years' prophet. He was himself either a Caffre, or Hottentot, and from living with the Dutch Boors in the Colony, gathered some notions concerning God and Jesus Christ, which he propagated throughout this whole land; in particular he contrived to compose a native hymn, which in the main contains sound divinity, and having himself set it to a plaintive and very affecting air, he sung and taught it to the people. Wherever we have travelled, we have found a knowledge of Links' hymn and tune has been preserved. Yet Links himself was a polygamist, and otherwise an immoral man. He seems to have been a man of mixed character, and to have been influenced by a sort of ambition, when he found that his superior knowledge gained him credit amongst his countrymen. Yet it is the opinion of our brethren that this man was the means of scattering some rays of light in this land of dark ness. The Caffres, who are subject to the three principal chiefs mentioned in the foregoing article, are estimated, by Mr. Brownlee, a missionary among them from the London Society, at not less than 130,000 souls. Missionary stations have been formed among this people by the Wesleyan, London, and Glasgow Societies. The Wesleyan Society has three stations, and each of the other Societies, one. At p. 231 of vol. xix, is an article shewing the acuteness and scepticism of the natives; and at pp. 218, 219 of vol. xxii is another, containing very interesting proof of the ascendency which the Christian religion is likely to attain among them. Domestic Entelligence. THIRD REPORT OF THE AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION. still published; and did the limits of this report admit of details, your Board could furnish most interesting proofs of the beneficent THIS Report was read at the annual meet-influence of this little publication. ing of the Society in Philadelphia, on the 22d of May. Publications-In the year which terminates with this anniversary, the American Sunday School Union have published 11,000 Tracts, 1,000 sheets of Hymns in sheets, 3,000 Teacher's Manual, 6,500 Select Scripture Lessons, 10,000 Alphabetical Cards, 2,500 Class Books, 2,000 Bible Questions, 484,000 Premium Books, 2,000 Teacher's Guide, 4,000 Testaments, 2,000 Teacher's Hymn Books, 23,000 Sunday School Magazines, 2,000 Reference Testaments, 2,500 Reports, 11,500 Decalogues, 606,000 Tickets, 17,000 Primers, 4,000 Catalogues, 10,000 Spelling Books, 2,250 Regulations, 48,000 Catechisms, 35,000 Hymn Books, and 289,250 other publications; making 1,616,796 publications, which, added to those issued by the Society in the two preceding years, make a grand total of 3,741,849. The circulation of the American Sunday School Magazine has much increased, and the edition now consists of 2,500 copies monthly. Of the smaller magazine, 10,000 copics are There are now established in different parts of the United States, in whole or in part on the capital of this Union, 67 depositories for the sale and distribution of the Society's publications. Auxiliaries.-On a review of the preceding we are able to state, that during the past year, 63 auxiliaries have been added to our list, making 463 auxiliaries recognised by the Board. Of these, 101 have either been discontinued, or united with larger auxiliaries. There are now connected with the American Sunday School Union, 362 auxiliaries, 2,600 schools, 24,307 teachers, and 174,191 scholars; showing an increase of 279 schools, 5,009 teachers, and 39,117 scholars. During the last year, 723 teachers, in these schools, and 758 pupils, giving a total of 1,481 persons, have made a profession of religion. This number exceeds the amount of converts in the preceding year, by 481. If we add 1,481 to the 4,000 before returned, as the first fruits unto God of our Sabbath schools in the United States, we shall have the glorious total of 5,481. Society's House.--Fourteen thousand dollars || have been contributed by the citizens of Philadelphia towards the procuring of suitable accommodations for the Society's publications, the sterotype founder, printing office, bindery, &c. The land purchased for the purpose is situated in Chesnut-street, between sixth and seventh streets. Agencies, &c.--The General Agent, in discharging his duties, has already travelled more than three thousand miles, and has collected $3,856 87, of which $1500 have been left with the managers of local Depositories.-And besides, his labors have been eminently successful in awakening a new and lively interest in the cause of Sunday-schools in all the places he has visited, and the improved methods of conducting these establishments have been rendered familiar to thousands by his pulpit addresses and personal inspection of the schools. The great benefits to the cause of Sunday schools, which have followed the employment of missionaries under the direction of the Board, have induced the Managers to continue their attention to this important part of their duty; with a firm purpose to omit no feasible measures, to extend the benefits of our system to every part of the land. The Sabbath-school Concert of Prayer continues to be attended with lively interest in places in which it was formerly observed, and has been commenced in a large number of towns and congregations during the past year. It is now common for Sabbath-schools to enjoy the benefits of an interesting and instructive library; and to contain Bible classes, composed of the best informed pupils, or the highest class of scholars, who prove and defend the great doctrines of the Scriptures, by the quotation of appropriate texts. To be admitted into one of these classes is an honorable distinction; and in this connexion, more than in any other way, we apprehend Bible classes are likely to be perpetuated, for the edification of the rising generation, in know ledge and true holiness. Miscellanies. EXTRACTS FROM SPEECHES. IN accordance with our annual custom, we make such extracts from the speeches lately delivered at anniversaries of benevolent societies in this country, as will comport with our limits. The number of speeches printed by the various societies during the present year, has been, it is believed, less than in some former years. Importance of Religious Instruction. In ancient times all knowledge was either experimental, traditional, or deposited in scarce and costly manuscripts. The power of public opinion was then confined within as narrow limits as the depositories and means of information. There was no system of general instruction to enlighten the body of the people, and there was no channel of information except the schools of philosophy and the seminaries of orators. The press had not then illuminated the world, and the great lights of the human race were either concealed or partially exhibited. But now that public opinion has an ascendancy co-extensive with civilization, and rules the rulers as well as the ruled, the throne as well as the cottage, and there is no man above or below the influence of this Archimedian lever, which moves and controls this world: it is important that the truths and principles of our holy religion should be infused into the movements and operations of a power so mighty and transcendent. Systems of general education, and a diffusive spread of Bible Societies, are therefore necessary for the tranquillity, good order and liberties of mankind. We are on the verge of events greater than the astonishing ones which have occurred within our times; discoveries vast and stupendous-institutions deeply connected with human amelioration, and events of unprecedented character may be expected. The fountains of intellectual, moral and religious lights, which are now concentrated within comparatively narrow boundaries, will overflow the world, and humanity throwing off its fetters and rising above its incumbrances, will be ennobled as well as disenthralled. [Governor Clinton, at Am. Bib. Soc. Ann. Scarcity of the Scriptures. Before the establishment of Bible Societies the Holy Scriptures had never been printed in Turkish-a language spoken not only in Turkey Proper, but in Greece, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Moldavia, Thessaly, Egypt, Barbary, Palestine, Syria, Persia, and all the Tartar tribes. Nor in the common language of Russia, an empire embracing one twentysixth part of the human race. Indeed all the Bibles printed in that country from the hour of the Reformation, and which were in the learned languages of the country, amounted to but six thousand. If, therefore, in that long period, not one copy had been lost or worn out, that six thousand divided among the ten generations which had passed away would give but one Bible to every sixty-two thousand people! No part of the Scriptures existed in the Modern Greek, so that it was not only inaccessible to the mass of that people, but to most of the priests themselves. Nor in Chinese, spoken by countless multitudes. Seventy millions of British subjects in India had not a whole Bible. All Burmah was desti tute. And if we were to speak of the minor kindreds of the earth, our very list would be fatiguing by its length. There was an awful scarcity even where it was known. In the Finnish there was not a perfect copy: one million three hundred thousand souls were thus destitute. In Iceland, Dr. Henderson saw a clergyman, who had for seventeen years sought in vain to procure a Bible! In France it could hardly be found in any bookstore. In all Europe it was a scarce book. Even in England the investigations of In auxiliartes disclosed awful deficiencies. these United States six or eight hundred families have been found destitute in a single county. Compared with the real exigency, the relief is but commenced. The whole number of Bibles and parts of Bibles issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society is about four million. By the American Bible Society less than six hundred thousand. The probable total by all other societies less than one million; -making less than six million. If four times as many have been issued by booksellers, (which is by no means probable,) then if these were all in being, and no two copies were in any store or family,-we should have the nine hundred millions of our species supplied with but one copy to thirty persons. If we consider the destruction of Bibles and the irregularity of their distribution, the scarcity seems alarming. Whole kingdoms and continents remain almost untouched. [Rev. H. Malcom, at Am. Bib. Soc. Ann. We need not extend our views so far as the islands of the Pacific, or those of the West Indies, or our immediate neighbors of the southern continent of America: we need not even travel into those western regions, where our own countrymen are felling the forest, and struggling with all the difficulties of new settlers, to find a most distressing destitution of the sacred Scriptures. In the very city in ibility. Thousands of them are atheists, not only in practice, but also in theory. The majority of them, however, profess to believe in the existence of a Supreme Being; yet that Being they never worship. Their trinity consists of Brahma, Vishnu, and Sheeb, and to each of these they ascribe different qualities; to the first, truth; to the second, passion; and to the third, darkness. It would be reasonable to conclude that the first would be the object of universal adoration; but we find the reverse to be the case, and that instead of Brahma, Sheeb, who centres in himself the qualities of darkness and destruction, being an object of terror is almost universally worshipped, -and in every place you may find temples erected, in which he is adored under the most obscene and disgusting form. A system which in its theory is so dismal, must necessarily be attended with equal errors in practice. The whole of the ceremonies connected with it is a tissue of errors; and the days set apart for their observance, above all others, devoted to wickedness. Men cannot be expected to be superior to their gods. How dreadful then must be the state of that people where the worship and imitation of them has an invariable tendency to make men more depraved; the murder of infants,-the burning or burying alive of widows,-the piercing of their sides and tongues with iron,-the swinging with hooks in their backs,-and the throwing in regarded the other cities, and towns, and villages of our country, every where, there is a mournful deficiency of the oracles of God. This is no longer a matter of conjecture. The com mendable zeal of many of our auxiliaries has given to this statement all the certainty of fact. Wherever inquiry has been made from house to house, almost without exception, the want of the Bible has been found far greater than was previously imagined to exist. Indeed in many places where the examination has been commenced with the sanguine expectation of its resulting in the pleasing discov. ery of the neighborhood being amply supplied with the Word of Life, a condition the reverse of this has been disclosed, to an extent that has astonished every mind. We might venture to predict, that were the inquiry prosecuted with exactness and care by every auxiliary which has hitherto neglected it, there would scarcely an instance occur where abundant cause would not be found for much Christian sympathy, and for an enlarged charity in imparting to the destitute this best gift of divine beneficence to our fallen world, 'The facts detailed in your Report warrant this persuasion, and it might have included a far greater number of cases. Only yesterday, in our meeting of delegates, by a reverend gentleman whose post of duty is not far from this city, and in a district supposed to be remarkably well furnished with the Scriptures, we were told that he found, in a ride of one day, and within a few miles, seventy-five families whose dwellings did not contain this inestimable treasure. [Rev. Dr. Milnor at Am. Bib. Soc. Ann. Errors prevalent where the Scriptures are unknown. The errors of the Heathen, both mental and practical, are such as almost to exceed cred as the legitimate consequences of such a system. To the burning of the widow, and most of these cruelties, I have been an eyewitness, and considering them all as arising from the grossest ignorance, I could not but exclaim, "O blessed book which saves us from these dreadful delusions!" Where Did the things which the heathen believe affect them only in their religious ceremonies, their situation would be sufficiently deplorable. But, alas! they extend their influence over the domestic circle, and over every department of public and private life. Îust unbridled can be sanctioned by the example of the gods and general practice,—and where women are degraded and treated rather as slaves than as wives and mothers,-it is not difficult to see what must be the result. The consequences are just what might be expected, in the common walks of life unfaithfulness and disorder prevail to a shocking extent, females of respectability are confined to their houses as to a dungeon, and never suffered to walk or ride abroad, and those blessings of social order and harmony enjoyed here, are there totally unknown. In the enjoyment of these civil and religious privileges which distinguish us from the heathen,-did we allow ourselves to trace them to their true source, the Bible would indeed appear to us an invaluable treasure. But it is one of the smallest advantages of this blessed book, that it raises the condition and increases the happiness of man in this world; it does infinitely more,-it opens to him the bright prospect of immortality. It has been emphatically said, that "life and immortality are brought to light through the Gospel;" without it neither of them could have been known. Some heathen philosophers have indulged a hope of the soul's immortality, but it has been mixed with much painful un certainty. I have heard one of them say, that he would give all he was worth, to be able on natural grounds, to prove the immateriality and immortality of the soul. The Hindoos have no expectation of eternal life. Those who seek salvation by abstraction of thought, expect absorption in the Deity, which is, in fact, annihilation, or loss of individual existence. Those who seek salvation by their works, expect, if their good ones preponderate, that they shall enter into a sensual heaven when they die, and there receive a reward equivalent to all the merit they have treasured up on earth, and when that stock of merit is exhausted, that they shall be sent back into the lower world, again to pass through all the miseries to which flesh is heir;-or if their evil deeds have preponderated, they have to look forward to an almost interminable succession of births, in the degrading forms of beasts and reptiles. "This," said the Saviour, "is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." The heathen are ignorant of both, and so far from expecting, they do not even know what is meant by eternal life, as revealed in the Scriptures. I hold in my hand three books, which have been regarded as Bibles in different parts of the world. The first is the Geeta, a shastra of the Hindeos, which is greatly admired by that numerous race of people. I have read and examined it with care, and can testify from such examination, that it is more calculated to promote the misery, than the happiness of men. Here Vishnu is represented as teaching his disciple Arjun to enter on murderous deeds of war, and as enforcing his exhortations by arguments which destroy all human responsibility, and beget in the soul a morbid indifference to the nearest and dearest connexions in life. Here the god represents himself as the author of those bloody deeds which have spread desolations over the face of the earth, and at the same time teaches that these lamentable scenes ought not to be regarded as a matter of lamentation by a wise and steady mind. Infidels in Europe used to fancy that something noble would be brought to light, when the ancient works of the Hindoos should be known; lo! this is one of the greatest of those works, and how transcendently glorious does the Bible appear, when contrasted with such a system! The second of these books is the Desatir, or writings of the ancient Persian prophets. It ascribes some perfections to God worthy of his character, but it teaches to worship the heavenly constellations, to consider them as intelligent beings, and to use them as intercessors with God. It was probably through the influence of this system that the Magi, or wise men of the East, were led to obscrve and follow the star which conducted them to Bethlehem. Much, however, as it has been admired by sages, it contains no information how a guilty sinner is to obtain pardon and eternal life. The third book is the Koran, the Bible of the Mussulmans. It is viewed as a divine revelation by as many persons as the Scriptures; and by the ornaments upon it, you may judge how greatly it is admired. Its doctrines have made innumerable proud pharisees, but have never made one humble publican. The VOL. XXIII. best parts of it have been taken from the Old Testament; some of those which have not, are in direct opposition to the spirit of the Gospel. Christ has said, love your enemies; but the false prophet says, kill them (i. e. the infidels) wherever you may find them. the objects most to be pitied are thus devoted to destruction. What comparison will such a system bear with the Gospel of Christ? After a careful examination, therefore, of all the books I have met with in the East, claiming to be revelations from God, I would in reference to them all, adopt the language of Dr. Watts Should all the forms that men devise, [Rev. Mr. Yates, Baptist Missionary from Readiness to purchase the Scriptures in Central America. There are a few facts which have come under my own observation, that I will take the liberty to relate, which, while they ought to excite our gratitude, should increase our exertions. In that section of central America, where I have had the honor and privilege of laboring, I have met with numerous applicants for copies of the Holy Scriptures, which, but for this, and similar institutions, it would appear difficult to conceive how they could have been supplied. Some few months since, a Roman Catholic called upon me. In the course of conversation I learned that though he had travelled many miles, mostly in the interior of the country, he had been destitute of a copy of the Scriptures. I accordingly presented him with one, for which he expressed his thanks, and offered his services gratis, to promote the distribution of the Scriptures in that region of the country where he usually resided, promising occasionally to correspond with me on that subject. About twelve months since I visited a Spanish port in the neighborhood of the settlement where I usu~ ally labored, and here also a number of ap plications were made for copies of the Scriptures; the priest in this place had sold several hundred copies of the Scriptures, but he being now removed, I arranged with a merchant of accredited integrity, who willingly engaged to act the part of an agent without any remuneration for his services. A particular friend of mine, in visiting the city of Guatamala, had taken with him a number of copies of the Scriptures, with some tracts, and other religious works in the Spanish language; these had to pass under the inspection of the highest dignitary of the church in that place, and when they returned, it was with a request that this ecclesiastic also might be favored with a copy of each of these works, expressing his readiness to purchase them, and his favorable disposition towards them. During the residence of my friend in this city, he received almost daily visits from the priests for books. [Rev. Mr. Bourne. Baptist missionary from 41 Increase of Religious Knowledge in India. The question is, whether that book which has produced so much good among us, will not produce equal good among others, if sent unto them? Unquestionably it will, and from its past, we may, with safety, argue its future success. It has now been translated into many of the eastern languages, and though these translations have not been circulated so widely as could be wished, yet a happy commencement has been made. Many are now reading the wonderful works of God in their own language; in the native schools where the Scriptures were at first refused and rejected, they are now read without the smallest objection. In Calcutta there are now upwards of thirty native female schools, in most, if not all of which, suitable parts of the Scriptures are taught. The light is spreading in every direction: hundreds have seen the folly of idolatry, though they have not rejected it; many have rejected it, though they have not become Christians; some have become decided Christians, and are now spreading this book among their countrymen. Last year, by a native of some respectability in the suburbs of Calcutta, one of the idols was cast to the moles and the bats, and the temple in which it was worshipped, demolished. The leaven has begun to work, and it will operate till it has leavened the whole lump. From what has taken place we feel morally certain that the idols will all be famished, and that the word of the Lord will have free course, and run and be glorified. We are not left to conjecture on this subject, we have a sure word of prophecy, unto which we shall do well to take heed; and from it we learn that what we so ardently desire God has promised to perform. He has said, "as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, and it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.' [Rev. Mr. Yates, at the Am. Bib. Soc. Ann. Importance of Missionary Schools. The names of Elliot, Mayhew, and Brainerd are justly placed among the benefactors of pagans on this continent. Their talents, piety, and zeal in the missionary work among the aborigines of our country are evinced by their unwearied labors, and by hundreds of converts to the Christian faith, which crowned their exertions. But on perusing the history of their success, the reflecting reader is led to inquire-Where are the churches, planted by these apostolic men? Alas, no traces of them can be found! We visit the banks of the Susquehannah and of the Delaware, where, but eighty years ago, Brainerd fed his pious flock, and we there find nothing to remind us that a Christian missionary ever labored among the native tenants of the soil. Where are the offspring of these churches? They are gone-they have not only left their fathers' sepulchres for wilds far to the west, but they have forgotten their pious example, and have mingled with their uninstructed brethren of the forest. Why is it that no relics of these churches exist, to bear up the names of their founders, and to co-operate with us in extending the boundaries of the Redeemer's kingdom? Among other causes that might be mentioned, this, I believe, holds a prominent place: -These worthy missionaries were not furnished with the means of supporting schools for the education of children. Something indeed was attempted by Elliot and the Mayhews, in translating parts of the Bible into some of the Indian dialects; and some few youths were taught to read. But nothing of a permanent character, in this department, was attempted. The consequence is as I have already stated. But in our missionary efforts at the present day, it is considered an object of special importance to institute schools among the heathen as soon as possible. This fact presents ground of special encouragement to the friends of the cause. It lays a foundation for perpetuating the religion which is taught.When, by the providence of God, the voice of the missionary is silent in death, the work is not altogether suspended. If schools are in operation, in which the Scriptures are read, divine truth, like the leaven hid in three measures of meal, will silently diffuse a permanent and salutary influence. When therefore we look to the West, among our missionary stations in the forest, and see school-houses multiplying around every chapel -when we look to the Sandwich Islands, and see almost the whole population, from the prince to the beggar, daily employed in learning the "palapala"-when we take a survey of our missionary stations in the eastern hemisphere, and see that no inconsiderable portion of missionary labor is devoted to preparing books and superintending schools, we cannot but believe that we shall be ultimately successful. The utility of schools among the heathen is not a matter of mere speculation: facts show that they are of immense importance. Look at the Society Islands.-Boys trained up in their missionary schools are now laboring as approved Christian teachers, in every section of Pomare's kingdom; and not only so, but they are sent abroad to the neighboring islands as Christian missionaries. Let me again point you to our mission on the island of Ceylon: there you may see four or five native preachers of the Gospel, who, less than ten years ago, were pagan pupils in the mission schools. This opens to us a cheering prospect-it presents to our view an important characteristic of the economy of that system of means, ordained by God for the conversion of the world. The churches in what is now called Christendom cannot furnish teachers for every city and village in the unevangelised world. No: the detail of this great work must be performed by native hands. The churches must indeed send forth their ambassadors into every destitute region of the world; and in every place where they go, by preaching the Gospel and exercising the various functions of their embassy, they must draw laborers from the ranks of heathenism to cultivate the wastes around them. There is no way in which this can be so successfully effected, as by estab lishing schools as nurseries of literature and religion. |