That is, by this learned Professor's own confession, it is extremely difficult to frame even a plausible objection to the measure. What can we desire more? In noble disregard, therefore, of such objectors, the institution has gone on rapidly extending itself; continually making accessions of both efficiency and splendour; enrolling among its members Christians of all denominations and of all ranks, from the most illustrious Princes and Prelates, to the humblest pious Cottager. So that now, with the exception of those worthies who are zealously supporting a somewhat similar scheme of beneficence, it bids fair soon to include the great mass of rank, worth, and talents, in the whole United Kingdown.

All this then is, truly, high matter for our congratulation. These, we shall perceive, are extraordinary efforts, promising of some extraordinary end; efforts in some degree worthy of the gigantic, the God-like object, the amelioration and salvation of the whole unchristian world. This union of all parties at home, for the sole purpose of doing good to all; to enemies as well as friends, both at home and abroad, must appear to us to bear strong marks of a high origin. We shall, therefore, be disposed earnestly to supplicate its divine Author to accompany his word with his especial blessing, that "his ways may be known throughout the earth; his saving health among all nations,"

But this general attention to the Bible, is promising also of very important collateral advantages; and of the happiest effects at home. It is a kind of renovation of our Christian engagements; a public recognition of the doctrines and precepts of this holy book, as the foundation of our hopes, and the standard of our own conduct. And whatever, in many instances, may be the defect in the motive, the mere compliance with the fashion of the day, such a circumstance must, assuredly, on the whole, be productive of much good. It will be so from the very nature of the thing. How can men, generally speaking, be conversant with so perfect a rule of life, enforced by such sanctions, and Mestrated by such examples, as that which is presented in the Bible, and Bot be the better for it? rational creatures be reminded of a How can resurrection of the dead, a future judgmeat, and a life everlasting, and not be the better for it? And when, as in the present instance, the attention of the

Great, whose example is so powerful, is pier. These pleasing effects will, beyond thus arrested, the prospect is still hapmodern mighty engine of mercy; the all calculation, be facilitated by another new national system for the education of the poor; which is rapidly imparting to the great mass of the rising generation, the ability to read and understand the Sacred Book.

May not then, the pious efforts which we now witness, well be considered as a prelude to those better days, of which May not this extraordinary avowal of we already hope that we see the dawn! attachment to revelation by our rulers and great men, be the especial qualification of this nation, for staying the dire calamities of Europe, occasioned by infidelity; and becoming, under Divine Providence, the grand Pacificator of the World.

the success of this our Auxiliary SoNor ought we to be silent respecting ciety in this city. The inhabitants of York and its Vicinity, have not disappointed those, who, arguing from past experience, expected much from their liberality. The place which has long stood unrivalled for its local charities, has now also become highly distinguished for its more extensive benefi

cence.

how nearly the subscriptions from this It is really flattering to observe, city stand in the very first class, in the Parent Society's Report: how nearly the annual sum raised here, among persons like ourselves, is equal to theirs, who boast of the most illustrious, and even Royal patronage. Probably, when the small number of Bibles, which has here been required, is considered, it will be found, that the Parent Society has received, for their own disposal, a larger annual sum from this place, than from any other in the kingdom. The view of such a fact cannot but inspire one with love and veneration for one's neighbours.

Let us, then, my fellow-citizens, go ou doing, are as encouraging, as the cause as we have begun: the motives for so is important. Let us also entreat our more opulent neighbours, who have not yet done it, to partake with us in the gratification of forwarding this great work. And let us, as a means of serving our cause superior to every other, never forget, what in every respect becomes the Bible. And, may all persons who us, as the avowedly peculiar friends of

are the honoured instruments of com.

municating the sacred treasure to others, find its blessed contents, in their own

*R*

case, their guide and consolation thro' life, their hope in death, and the power of God unto their everlasting salvation, Mr. TUKE, a Quaker, seconded by Dr. TAFT, a Methodist Preacher, having represented to the Meeting, in terms of warm praise, the active and able exertions of the Secretaries, before and since the formation of the Society, and a resolution of thanks having been unanimously passed, the Rev. J. GRAHAM rose, and spoke nearly to the following effect:

Mr. PRESIDENT,---Permit me to return my sincere thanks for the truly gratifying testimony of approbation conferred by this meeting on my colleague and myself, your Secretaries. Availing myself of the absence of my excellent friend, occasioned by his late severe domestic affliction,* I feel it an agreeable act of justice to declare to you, that if the various duties and labours necessarily attached to a faithful execution of our office, have been discharged to your satisfaction, it is to his wisdom, his prudence, his indefatigable attention, that you are principally indebted. With pleasure, I will report to him the honour you have done us. In the mean time, in his name aud for myself, I undertake to assure you, that our zealous exertions will not be remitted in promoting, to the utmost of our power, the future interests and utility of this noble institution. Who, indeed, Sir, that feels his own obligations for the blessings of Christianity, can refuse himself the gratification of bearing a part in the service of a cause, whose spirit and object ascertain its origin to be from above; whose astonishing success, I may say, nearly demonstrates the concurrence of an Almighty power? Who, that allows the Scriptures to be the source and the test of religious truth, "containing," as the venerable Church of England expresses it, "all things necessary to salvation?" Who that allows this, can pro pose one reasonable objection to a plan for spreading the knowledge of the Bible, so simple, so guarded, so unexceptionable as this? There has, indeed, appeared an objector, and, it is humiliating to add, that objector is a Minister of the Church of England, a distinguished University Professor of Divi

The death of an amiable daughter, after a short sickness; a young Lady to whose unwearied zeal and industry this Society was much indebted, and whose loss, her family, her friends, and the community at large, will long have reason to deplore. -But "blessed are they who die in the Lord."

nity, who has sounded through the
country, the inconsistency and the crime
of a Churchman's combining with a Dis-
senter to distribute the Bible alone. The
immense accession, however, to the
Bible Society, since his publication ap-
peared, of Churchmen highly eminent
for rank, learning, piety, and cordial
attachment to the Establishment, will
best convince him and the world, what
impressions his "abstract reasonings"
have made on the plain, good sense of
his readers in the Church. Possibly,
under the severe mortification he must
have experienced, in failing to recal bis
deluded fellow-churchmen from their
rash and dangerous alliance with Dis-
senters in this institution, he may be
consoling himself with the serious con-
gratulation offered him by a Romish
Clergyman in the Metropolis, who (it
may not yet be generally known here) in
a pamphlet lately published, embraces
him as a true Brother in the Catholic
Faith, that has struck a manly blow at
a vital principle of the Reformation.†

The more, Sir, I watch over the cha-
racter and history of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, the less cause of
alarm for the Establishment, to which
I glory to belong, can I discover in a
Churchman's associating with a Dis-
senter, to promote the sublime object
of that Institution. On the contrary, I see
it, in its harmonizing progress, silently
exerting a pleasing influence on the dispo
sitions of the various denominations of its
supporters, towards each other. While
they retain their unaltered opinions on,
perhaps, all former points of difference,
they are evidently fast converging to-
wards each other,in reciprocal sentiments
of amity and respect. Now, when we
begin really to esteem the characters of
the persons, from whom we differ, the
principal evil and danger of disunion
no longer exist. I am sure, that by
being brought in contact with them i
this holy rivalry, the members of th
church love better, because they kno
better those Dissenters who have en
barked with them in this Christian et
terprize; and I cannot but persuad
myself, that there is not a Dissenter
the Country, who has assisted in th
great work from pure love to his bib
and real concern for the souls of me

* See a “Congratulatory Letter” by " Rev. Peter Gandolphy, in which he says Dr. Marsh, (p. 6.) you contend for this pr ciple, true religion cannot be found in Bible alone. Allow me to congratulate you and religion, on the bold and manner in which you have given up this a principle of Protestantism.

whose respect for the Establishment of his country is not, hereby, considerably enlarged: not one such Dissenter, who will not cordially say, I will pray for the peace and prosperity of the Church of England; for my brethren and companions sake, that are in her, I will seek to do her good.

Viewing, therefore, as I do, the Bible Society, as eminently calculated, under God, to extend widely and effectually the Gospel and Kingdom of our great Redeemer, not only in enlightening the immense Regions that now sit in gross spiritual darkness, but also by improving the characters of professed Christians themselves; viewing it, as calculated to convey the greatest possible blessing to the human species, without, so far as I can discover, the least intermixture of evil; it will be my pleasure, under these convictions, according to my humble ability and station, to do any thing in my power, which may facilitate its progress towards the full attainment and execution of its heavenly designs.

The Rev. Mr. Wemyss, a dissenting Minister, in seconding the Resolution respecting the formation of the Branch Societies, &c. spoke as follows:

Mr. PRESIDENT,

"This Society, constituted for so short a period, has already attained to partial maturity.---After an infancy so vigorous, what may we look for in monhood?--If its future zeal and strength be proportioned to its present efforts, well may we predict joyful things ;---the young and uninstructed may expect from it the means of knowledge; the feeble-hearted, of strength; and the aged, the materials of consolation. It would be well, if the course of individuals, in their progress from early to maturer years, were like that of the Society, marked by substantial acts of Christian beneficence. But Societies can achieve, what individuals cannot venture to attempt, and thus we find the benefits of that union, which He inspires, "who makes men to be of one mind in one place." Happy shall we be, if our coming years shall be characterized equally by zeal so laudable. It is this moral chronology that would delight a religious Historian, if any should, as no doubt many will, be employed in arranging the annals of this noble Institution and its dependents.

Much has already been done---it is no mall triumph, that sums have been abstracted, not merely from the hoards

of the opulent, or from the competence
of the economical---but that they have
been withdrawn from the circulation of
mere business, and from the commerce
of frivolity and vanity, to be devoted
to a new and holy purpose---a traffic in
the Sacred Scriptures. And who will
regret this? He that lights a stranger's
lamp at his fire, communicates advan-
tage to another, withont lessening his
own.---On the other hand, who will
boast of it? Shall we magnify a favour,
which, when bestowed on another, so
little impoverishes ourselves?

But there is a new feature in the Re-
port, not the least lovely. The rising
generation has heard our voice. Nu-
merous scious spring up, strong and
healthy, around the parent stock. The
fathers have blown the trumpet in this
holy warfare, and the sons rejoice in
and reply to the blast.---You lead, and
they follow---your shekel and their mite
are cast together into the treasury of
God.--.They have caught your spirit,
and they cannot be silent.--He is our
God (say they) and we will praise him;
he is our fathers' God, and we exalt
him. Years hasten on, and in no re-
mote time these walls will resound with
other voices than ours---but let us be
content---they will be those of our off-
spring---of our offspring engaged in this
divine labour, of furthering the interests
of truth and holiness, till the mystery
of God shall be finished, and God shall
be All in All. If even in this world
there be a righteous and gracious retri-
bution of good and evil actions amongst
men, then you are already richly re-
warded, in seeing no mean prophecy of
Scripture thus verified towards you.
"The fathers to the children shall make
known thy name." We ought to be
affected by such considerations, and
with no common emotions:

Some feelings are to mortals given,
With less of earth in them than heaven,
And if there be a human tear,
From passion's dross refin'd and clear,
A tear so limpid and so meek,
It would not stain an angel's cheek,
"Tis that which grateful parents shed,
Upon their duteous children's head.

MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE.

LETTER II.
(Concluded from page 116.)
SIR,
November 8, 1912.
WOULD to God that you had sent
Missionaries to the French prisoners of
war five years sooner, it would have

"

POETRY.