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cause the healing waters of the sanctuary to flow to all people. One of these, the Reformed Dutch Church, constitutes a part. We have connected ourselves as a denomination with "The United Foreign Missionary Society."

All the denominations in our country are also engaged in extending their bounds in this favoured land, by the truly Christian work of bearing the unsearchable riches of Christ to the destitute. In this work our church has also borne a part: some of our ministers have laboured individually in this field, and the church has from time to time sent forth others. Much still remains to be done. Many districts of our country, more or less extensive, are yet in a destitute state, not only on our frontiers, but in the immediate vicinity of populous districts, and in the near neighbourhood, where churches have been long established, These things ought to be so no longer. It is high time to awake. Our duty to God and to our fellow-creatures requires that we should lay these things to heart, and feel and do more for the perishing. Our circumstances, as a church, require that we should thus labour to extend and strengthen ourselves, and spread pure and undefiled religion. The opportunity will not long be afforded us at home. The ground will soon be occupied by others, and we shall be left to unavailing self-upbraidings and regrets. Better things however are hoped. The Lord has richly watered us, and we, it is hoped, will soon water others. Much may be done by the faithful and liberal use of the means with which the Lord has blessed us. Let not the appeal be made in vain.

Your fathers and brethren, in General Synod assembled, have had the subject under serious and prayerful consideration. They have adopted a plan which will be sent to you; and for the execution of which your prayers and exertions are specially and earnestly solicited. Consider the subject attentively and prayerfully, and act accordingly. Remember what Jesus has done for you. Remember also the worth of immortal souls; and have compassion on them that are ready to die; and remember that they must die soon, unless they are rescued. Count it an honour to be fellow-workers with God, and be instant in season and out of season, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour will not be in vain in the Lord. And now, may the great head of the church multiply unto you grace, mercy, and peace. Amen.

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Speech delivered at the Fourth Anniversary.

The Rev. Thomas Lyell, Rector of Christ's Church, New-York, on seconding the motion made the following remarks:

I second the motion, sir, and beg leave to remark, that the society whose fourth annual course, labours, and successes, the

report just read so faithfully and eloquently records, needs not the praise that cometh from man. No, sir, the approbation of that Almighty Being whose favour is the life and glory, the strength and excellence of every system of benevolence to mankind, is so distinctly seen, and rests upon its work of faith and labour of love with a smile of approbation so cordial and exhilarating, that any eulogy of mine would be superfluous, even were my lips now touched for the purpose with a live coal from the altar.

There was indeed a time when the Bible cause, transcending as it does, every other in the benevolence of its design, the grandeur of its career, and the glory of its achievements, seemed to appear in an attitude of dependence, and to ask, with some solicitude, the aid of warm-hearted and enlightened eloquence. Nor did it ask in vain. The friends of the general and universal diffusion of the scriptures-of the scriptures alone-of the scriptures without note or comment, appeared before the public, and instantly the public esteem was conciliated; and so conciliated, as to enlist in the noble cause not only its eloquence and its talents, but its rank, its influence, and its wealth. Kings and princes became its fathers and patrons, and queens and princesses adopted it, as did the daughter of Pharoah the infant law-giver of Israel, for their own. Its fame spread and its praise was celebrated, not only throughout all Europe, but among distant nations, who heard in quick succession (for the designs of mercy move with celerity) the joyful tidings, "Arise, shine: thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Yes, sir, the pleasing employment of eulogizing the Bible cause, instead of being confined, as it was sixteen years ago, to a few individuals only, is now performed by grateful nations, who, in not less than one hundred and twenty different dialects, are daily rising up and calling its abetters and friends blessed. Contemplating the origin of the most benign and stupendous plan ever adopted since the day of the incarnation of the Son of God, for the benefit of mankind, we are constrained to ask, "Who hath despised the day of small things?" And turning our attention to its astonishing progress and glorious results, to exclaim with admiration and joy, "What hath God wrought?" We know that the work is the Lord's. If its progress proves this, as most unquestionably it does, so also does its origin. Yes, sir, its rapid progress; its vast extent; its powerful patronage and almost incalculable resources, do not more fully, than its humble origin, demonstrate that the work is the Lord's. It is highly interesting to look back to the rock whence, as a society, we were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence we were digged. We now find, and rejoice to find, in the train of the Bible cause-a cause which knows nothing-aims at nothing -desires nothing, but to make the light of the gospel of Christ shine into all nations on the face of the earth-we now find, warmly enlisted in this cause, the wisdom, the might, the nobility, the

royalty of almost the whole civilized world!-But with whom of the wise, the mighty, the noble, or the royal, did it originate? Whence did that exuberant stream of benefits which is now refreshing and fertilizing the moral world, and causing it to bring forth the fruits of good living to the praise and glory of Godwith whom did it take its rise? From whose lips dropped the first suggestion-a suggestion to which angels listened with ecstatic joy-of repairing, by the universal diffusion of the scriptures, the wastes of many generations-of making the wilderness and the solitary places of the earth glad, and of causing the deserts to rejoice and blossom as the rose? From whom the God-like design of furnishing an abundant supply of the balm of Gilead-of the leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations;-of sending to their relief that admirable remedy which is able to recover them from the moral maladies under which they were labouring ;-of delivering them from the smart, and soothing the anguish, inflicted by the ferocity of the passions, the cruelty of superstition, and the relentless and sanguinary enactions of idolatry?

With whom, suffer me to repeat, originated the plan-a plan which as far exceeds in glory every other devised by man, as the light of the sun does that of the moon-of effectually ameliorating the condition, and advancing, even to heaven itself, the interests, not of a few men, nor of a few nations only, but of all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and people? For every voluntary association, which has for its object an amelioration of the state of mankind, we must look, sir, to the gospel; and as far as my recollection serves, to the gospel alone;-the Pagan and Mahomedan world exhibiting no similar institutions.

Now since the promulgation of the gospel, every scheme of benevolence has been so contrived as to make the hand of God perfectly visible, as to leave an astonished world to look in vain for an adequate cause, for a spring or impetus of sufficient power to originate and give perpetuity to its operations, if they look below the will of Him who doeth whatsover it pleaseth Him in the armies of heaven and among the children of men.

Whatever it may have pleased the Almighty to do since its organization, in making the nations tributary to its prosperity-in causing kings to come to its light, and princes to the brightness of its rising, the origin of the Society for the universal diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, to enlighten and convert a benighted and guilty world from the error of its way, was humble. Who could have supposed that in England, of all places on the earth, a Baptist preacher-pardon me sir, I mean-those who know me know I mean no disparagement of that or of any other denomination of Christians; and even those who know me not, know that it is impossible for any one who rises in this place in behalf of the Bible cause, to have the temerity to attempt any disrespect to the man whom God hath delighted to honour, and whose praise is engra

ven on tablets more durable than brass, and less destructible by far than time itself; and yet, I repeat, who but God, who seeth not as man seeth, would have selected for such a purpose one who was comparatively unknown?

True, he was qualified, but in what did his qualification consist? Not in wordly greatness, power, or rank, but in that which has never failed to distinguish or characterize this society. I mean a benevolence the most warm, and diffusive, and impartial ---a benevolence which, overlooking sectarian limits, embraced in its arms the whole family of man. A benevolence as expansive in its range, and as free in its offers, as the love of heaven which inspired it; which, in its eager course, delighted to mingle with every kindred flame, until the brightness of its beams should illuminate and cheer, as they do at this moment, the inhabitants of the world. When the Bible, sir, was to be circulated among all nations, it pleased God, it would seem, to make the crooked ways straight, and the rough places plain; to exalt the valleys and level the mountains; to break down, at the very commencement of the work, the walls of sectarian partition and of national prejudice to unite men of all climes, and Christians of all creeds. In every thing belonging to this business the hand of God is seen, and the efforts which have been made and are making to evangelize mankind, tend to increase, among Christians themselves, that unity and Godly love, without which, whatever may be our pretensions, our religion is vain. Yes, sir, Christians of every name, sect, and party; and clergymen of all ranks and orders, "The lawn-robed prelate and plain presbyter, who erewhile stood aloof as loth to meet together, mingle here like kindred streams which some rude interposing rock had split." And the reason, sir, of all this is, that the friends of the Bible cause meet together, not as members of any temporal community, but as the subjects of that universal kingdom in which all temporal distinctions are lost: not to settle articles and creeds, and confessions, and catechisms, and ceremonies of religion. No; in the business in which we are engaged there is neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; neither Romanist nor Protestant; Churchman nor Dissenter; Arminian nor Calvanist; but Christ is all in all. Were not apprehensive, sir, that it might appear presumptuous, and be considered as exceeding the bounds of the privilege allowed on this occasion, I would say, before I sit down, let us never forget, in the midst of our prosperity, that God who permits us to share the honour of making his way known upon earth-his saving health unto all nations, is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to any man, nor to any society of men.

But pardon me, venerable sir, I did not rise for the purpose of instructing this enlightened assembly, but to express sentiments of congratulation. Of these my heart is full.

I congratulate you, sir, on being permitted to preside on this

occasion. I congratulate the society at large, on the things which have come to pass in these days. I congratulate kings and potentates, statesmen and warriors, philosophers and patriots, bishops and their flocks, ministers and their people, in being permitted to be co-workers with the God of love in breaking down the kingdom of Sin, Satan, and Death, and in establishing on its ruins the kingdom of the Redeemer.

Summary of the Fourth Report of the American Bible Society. (Concluded from p. 254.)

Although the privilege granted to the Kentucky Bible Society to dispose of their Bibles to any societies in the neighbouring states, until the 1st of January, 1821; and the request made by other auxiliaries, to purchase there instead of resorting to the general depository in New-York, was considered a reasonable accommodation, owing to the perplexing state of the circulating medium of the western states,

"The Managers are confirmed in the belief: that the facilities. which they now possess, in the purchase of paper of a quality best adapted to their purpose, in the superior skill of the workmen employed in the use of their stereotype plates, in their bindery, and other departments of the general establishment, and in the pecuniary savings that can be made in a business conducted on so extensive a scale; enable them to furnish Bibles and Testaments of a better quality, and proportionately at a cheaper rate, than is practicable on the part of any one of its auxiliaries."

It having been stated by a Bible Society in one of the southern states, that the booksellers in New-York would furnish Bibles on better terms than the National Institution, the Managers took measures, by furnishing specimens, to remove this mistaken impression. "The society alluded to were at once satisfied that the superiority of our Bibles, in the size of the type, in paper, printing and binding, was more than an equivalent for the nominal difference of price." If "similar misapprehensions have elsewhere obtained," it is hoped that what is here stated will be sufficient to remove them.

Among other reasons, that of giving the society a "local aspect," by its becoming the corporation of a particular state, has prevented the Managers from applying to the legislature of New-York for an act of incorporation.

"With a view to encourage the purchase and distribution of the sacred volume by religious and charitable societies, the Managers have recently determined, that any institution of either description, paying thirty dollars at one time into the Treasury of the American Bible Society, shall be invested with the privileges appertaining to membership for life."

The subject of providing more suitable apartments for the Depository, in which the business of the society can be more conveniently conducted, has received its due share of the attention of the Managers.

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