From the American Missionary Register. FIFTH REPORT OF THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 10, 1821.. Secretary for Foreign Correspondence, Rev. Dr. MILNOR;-Secretary for Domestic Correspondence, Rev. Mr. WOODHULL;;-Treasurer, W. W. WOOLSEY, Esq.;-Agent, J. NITCHIE, Esq. By the abstract which we shall now give of this interesting Report, it will be seen, that, notwithstanding "the pressure of the times," the funds of the Institution have been increased, and "the Managers have been enabled to occupy new ground," and "to extend the sphere of their usefulness." Bibles Printed. There have been printed at the Depository of the American Bible Society during the fifth year, Bibles, New-Testaments, And received from the British and Foreign Bible Society, for distribution in Louisiana, French Testaments, 29,000 30,000 800 59,800 171,752 Which added to the number mentioned in the last Report, An edition of two thousand French Bibles, from the Stereotype plates, has been published. The Managers have also procured, during the year, two sets of stereotype plates of the New-Testament, in the brevier type and the 18mo size, from which 15,000 copies have been printed. They are enabled to furnish these New-Testaments at the very low prices of twenty-two and twenty-five cents; and the edition is excellently calculated to supply the great and increasing demand for the Scriptures for the use of Sunday Schools. It has been highly gratifying to the Managers to receive from various quarters, during the year, many repeated testimonies to the superiority of the work done in the Depository; and this fact, together with the low prices at which the copies of the Scriptures published by the Society are afforded, show the vast importance and utility of that establishment. Bibles issued from the Depository. There have been issued from the Depository, from the 30th of April, 1820, to the 1st of May, 1821, Bibles, Testaments, Gospel of John, in Mohawk, Epistles of John, in Delaware, In the four preceding years, there were issued, 26,772 16,424 40 10 43,246 96,314 726 Bibles and Testaments, Epistles of John, in Delaware, Gospel of John, in Mohawk, 62 -97,102 Making a total of ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT Bibles and Testaments and parts of the New-Testament, issued by the American Bible Society since its establishment. Of the Bibles issued from the Depository during the fifth year, there were, German, 157; French, 532; Dutch, 22; Gælie, 10; Welsh, 1. Of the Testaments, 1308 were Spanish. The Kentucky Bible Society have nearly disposed of the edition of 2,000 Bibles, published by them from the stereotype plates located at Lexington. They have resolved to print another edition, also of 2,000 copies, which is already considerably advanced. Gratuitous Distribution. Agreeably to the intimation in the last Report, Testaments in the Spanish language have been sent to the Municipality of Buenos Ayres, for distribution among the pupils in the primary schools of that place. The Board have not learned whether they have been received, and whether it would be advisable to send a further supply. They have recently been informed that Spanish Testaments may probably be introduced into that region of South America through another channel, and they have resolved to embrace the opportunity which they now have of giving the Scriptures more extensive circulation in that quarter. Copies of the New-Testament in Spanish have been sent to other parts of the Spanish American possessions. In one place, the copies were disposed of in three days, and numerous applications were made afterward. The changes which have already taken place, and the still greater changes which may be expected, in the Spanish Colonies in America, will probably open the door to a free circulation of the Holy Scriptures among the inhabi tants; and there is every reason to believe, that they are deplorably destitute at present, and would joyfully receive the records of inspiration. The managers have recently learned that there is a prospect of interesting some of the Catholic Clergy in Louisiana, in the work of circulating French and Spanish New-Testaments in the Catholic versions, among such of our fellow citizens in that State as use the one or the other of those languages. By the liberality of the British and Foreign Bible Society the Managers have been furnished with French New-Testaments of the above description; and they will now be able to forward such supplies as may be required. During the past year a number of French and English Bibles have been sent to the Vermont Bible Society for distribution in Canada, where the Managers of that Society expected that they would be favourably received. It is not yet known with what success the measure has been attended. The distribution of the parts of the Holy Scriptures which the American Bible Society have printed in the Indian languges, is by no means so active and extensive as the Managers earnestly desire that it should be. They have gladly embraced an opportunity presented by the Connecticut Reserve Bible Society, and forwarded to that Society a supply of the Gospel of John in the Mobawk language, for a settlement of Mohawk Indians who were able to read, living in the vicinity of Lower Sandusky. A gentleman in Montreal has recently written to the Managers in relation to a few Mohawk Indians living in a village on the river St. Lawrence, about ten miles from that city. A suitable number of copies of the Gospel of John in the Mohawk language have been directed to be forwarded for the use of the Chief of these Indians, and several individuals among them who are represented as very desirous of receiving these Scriptures. Few of our Red brethren have learned to read; only a part of that number can understand the Mohawk or Delaware, and these circumstances, together with a want of access to proper channels of distribution, account for the delay of a general circulation of the Scriptures in these Indian dialects. The managers invite communications from their friends, and others, who are in the neighbourhood of Indian settlements, and will be glad to receive information of any opportunities for the circulation of their publications of parts of the Scriptures in Mohawk and Delaware, among such as may be able to use them. The Managers have much gratification in stating that a proposition was made by them to the Honourable the Secretary of the Navy, for the sup ply of the Navy of the United States with Bibles, and that the proposition was received by that gentleman in the most pleasing manner. Accordingly, 3,500 Bibles have been appropriated for this object, with the view, as suggested by the Honourable Secretary, that every petty officer and seaman may be furnished with a copy of the Scriptures for his perusal. Suitable directions have been issued from the Navy Department in relation to the distribution and preservation of the books; and the Managers have been highly gratified from learning that the officers are active to circulate among their crews, and that the men. are very thankful to receive, the precious volVOL. IV. 40 ume of Divine Truth. Already 1,650 Bibles have been issued for the Navy from the Depository, and the remaining 1,850 will be furnished as they may be wanted. The Managers trust that, by this measure, they will be honoured as instruments of conferring lasting and essential benefits on so large a portion of the seamen of the country as are employed in the ships of war. Besides this large gratuitous grant for the United States' Navy, the Mana gers have made many other donations to various Bible Societies throughout the United States and their territories. The Board have been induced to make these donations by several considerations. In many instances, the donations have been given to young Auxiliaries, which were feeble in their infancy, and required the fostering hand of the Parent Institution In other instances, the result of diligent inquiries had been the discovery of most affecting circumstances, showing that the Scriptures were needed to a degree which would scarcely have been credited without strong and positive testimony. In the bounds of one County Society in the state of New-York, the number of 878 families have been found destitute of the Scriptures, while there are only about 22,000 souls in the whole county. By another Society, a County Society in the state of New-Jersey, the Board have been informed that ⚫ several persons or families had been discovered who had never seen a Bible, and knew not what kind of book it was, nor the origin of the human race.' A Total of FIFTEEN THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO Bibles and Testaments, and parts of the latter, value $9447 84, was issued gratuitously during the Fifth Year of the Society, to sixty-nine Auxiliary Bible Societies in various parts of the United States, to one Vessel of War, to two Public Bodies, to eight Naval Stations of the United States, and to eight Individuals, for distribution. In every instance, so far as the Managers have learned, these gifts have been received with sincere thankfulness, and have proved seasonable and useful. A considerable proportion of the donations has been made to the Bible Societies in the western parts of our country. The reasons for this have beea decisive. The exchange between that section of the United States and the Atlantic States, has been very unfavourable during the year; and thus the sums collected by the Auxiliaries there, in their local currencies, have been greatly diminished in amount, when converted into current bills which could be received by the Treasurer. The very low prices of the produce of the western country have been attended by serious embarrassments in that region, and rendered the receipts of the western Auxiliaries far less than formerly. The influx of population into the new states has continued; and the propriety and even necessity of placing the Sacred Volume in the bands of the multitudes who take no Bible with them, and of the rising generation, are perfectly obvious, and very urgent. Therefore, the Managers have carefully regarded the applications and circumstances of the western Auxiliaries. They are satisfied that they have not done too much for this section of our union-a section in whose possession of religious knowledge, and in whose habits of morality, the peace, the prosperity, and the honour of the nation are so deeply involved. Funds There have been received into the Treasury, from the 1st of May, 1820, to the 30th of April, 1821, both inclusive, the following sums from the following specified sources; viz. Donations from Auxiliary Societies, $6,528 88 Donations from Bible Societies not Auxiliary, Remittances for Bibles from Auxiliary Societies, Remittances for Bibles from Societies not Auxiliary, Donations from benevolent Societies Legacies. Contributions to constitute Ministers Directors for Life, Contributions to constitute other individuals Directors for Life, Contributions to constitute Ministers Members for Life, Life subsciptions from other individuals, Annual contributions, Donatious from individuals, A Benevolent Society, for Bibles, 227 15 16,050 20 829 00 228 00 2,799 75 120 00 150 00 2,100 00 The Managers have much pleasure in referring to the amount above mentioned as received from legacies during the past year, so much beyond what was received from this source during any preceding year. They rejoice that the hearts of the benevolent have been inclined thus to remember the National Institution, when making their final distribution of their earthly property; and by such bequests, to aid their surviving fellow labourers in the holy work of circulating the pure truth, as contained in the Bible. The managers have resolved that every acting executor, who shall pay over a legacy of three hun. dred dollars, or upwards, shall be thereby constituted a Member for Life of the American Bible Society. Auxiliary Societies. In the course of the past year, thirty-two Bible Societies have been recog. nized as Auxiliary to the Parent Institution. The number of Auxiliaries, now officially recognized is two hundred and thirty-nine. On the subject of Auxiliary Societies, the Report remarks as follows:Information has been received of the formation of several other Societies, avowedly as Auxiliary to the National Society; but no official communication of the fact has been made to the 'Board, or those Societies have not conformed to the terms which have long been fixed as requisite in relation to every Auxiliary. The Managers repeat what was stated in the Third Report, that no Society can be received as an Auxiliary. unless its sole object shall be to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment, and unless it shall agree to place its surplus revenue, after supplying its own district with the Scriptures, at the disposal of the American Bible Society, as long as it shall remain connected with it. This regulation does not respect the Societies not Auxiliary, which are referred to in the Nineteenth Article of the Constitution. Among the Auxiliaries formed and recognized during the past year, no small number are Marine Bible Societies. These Institutions are intended, as their name denotes, especially for the benefit of that class of our fellow men who are comparatively little in the bosom of society, whose home is on the deep, and who of course are cut off from many religious advantages enjoyed by other classes of the community. To them, the Bible is calculated to be peculiarly beneficial in the solitude and hazards of a long voyage: and aocounts have been received of a general solicitude among seamen to possess the Scriptures, of great attention paid to the perusal of them, and of manifest and most important benefit as the result of their acquaintance with the contents of the sacred pages. The Managers mention with much pleasure, that the Secretary of the Marine Bible Society of New York, in a tour through the Eastern States during the last autumn, was the successful instrument of forming a number of Marine Bible Societies. Another gentleman has formed several Bible Societies in North Carolina; and another, whom peculiar domestic circumstances had prevented from making exertions until lately, has forined two in Maryland. These gentlemen are designing further efforts as Agents of the Board. Their past labours merit warm commendation; and the Managers, relying on the Divine blessing, expect much from their continued zeal and industry. Another circular letter has been recently issued by the Standing Com mittee of the Board of Managers, denominated the Auxiliary Society Committee. The purport of this letter was similar to that mentioned in the last report, to request the exertions of the Members of the Society, in the formation of Auxiliary Societies, or Associations, each in the place or neighbourhood of his residence. From this it will be perceived that the desire of the Managers is undiminished, to increase the number and the efficiency of the Auxiliaries. Under the influence of this desire, an Agent has been appoint. ed to visit several of the Southern States; and the Managers have resolved to send another Agent to other parts in the South, and through the Western Country, as soon as a suitable person can be obtained. The most important consequences are expected from these measures. The hope is to animate the Societies, already existing, to warmer zeal and to greater efforts; and to effect the formation of new Auxiliaries in places where such establishments do not yet exist. The Managers are convinced that the expense of such agen. cies will be far exceeded by their beneficial results; and they hope, that in the next report they shall be able to state that those results have been extensively realized. The Managers renew their recommendation, that the reports of the Aux iliaries be regularly and promptly transmitted. There is an increased attention to this particular; but it is to be regretted that there have been not a few instances of omission and delay as to this obvious duty. Selling the Bible at cost, or at reduced prices. The plan recommended by the Managers, of selling Bibles and Testaments at cost, or at reduced prices, where persons are able and willing to pay, has been highly approved by all the Auxiliaries from whom accounts have been received; and has been carried into effect, in many instances, with unexpect ed and very pleasing success. Those who needed Bibles have usually preferred to give something for them; and the process of distribution has not been impeded, if it has not been accelerated, by the measure referred to. The Auxiliaries have found their ability enlarged by it: and they have been enabled to supply more fully the necessity of those who were not possessors of the Sacred Volume, and yet could not, or would not, purchase it. For it should be distinctly understood, that the Managers were very far from designing, by the plan, to diminish the circulation of the Scriptures; they designed rather to add to it. They were satisfied that many persons would gladly become possessors of a Bible by paying the full, or a reduced price, whose feelings of independence revolted from receiving it as the gift of charity. On the plan which the Managers have recommended, the Scriptures are still given freely to the destitute who are without means, or without disposition to pay for them; while by receiving the whole, or a part of the cost from such as are willing to pay, the funds are rendered more availing, and a degree of security is obtained, that the volume which has been purchased has been prized, preserved, and used. In England, the benefits of this plan have become more evident, as appears from documents received during the past year. The females of other towns have imitated the example set by the Liverpool Ladies' Branch Bible Society, and succeeded in disposing of many copies of the Scriptures, and making large payments into the Treasury of the British and Foreign Bible Society. And a very large proportion of the actual distribution of the Sacred Volume among individuals in England, is now performed by active and benevolent ladies. It is particularly suited to the characteristic patience, and kindness, and tenderness of the Female sex, to carry the plan into effect. The Managers feel assured that their amiable countrywomen will not be found deficient in the pious zeal which is requisite for this labour. It is with much satisfaction that the Managers advert to the number and the efforts of the Female Auxiliary Societies and Associations; and they have rejoiced to hear that some of the ladies of two principal cities in the Union have recently engaged in the arduous, yet holy and blessed toil of endeavouring to ascertain all who are destitute of Bibles in the places of their residence, and of supplying them all by sales or by gifts. The Managers would bid them, God speed;' and they hope that many may become their coadjutors, that the ladies in every city, and town, and village, may unite in similar labours, and that the success may be as signal as the cause is noble, and the exertions are commendable, and calculated to heighten female loveliness. Preparations for erecting a Depository. It was mentioned in the last report, that the Managers contemplated the purchase or erection of a permanent establishment, for the operations of printing and binding, the safe keeping of the stock of the Society and the Biblical Library, and the accommodation of the Secretaries and Agent with suitable offices, and of the Board with a place for their meetings. Almost immediately after the anniversary, the Managers appointed a committee to obtain funds for this object, and it has been kept in view during the year. The requisite sum, however, has not yet been obtained; but the hopes of the Committee, and of the Board, have recently been much encouraged. The Managers contemplate making speedy and strenuous efforts; and they rely on the blessing of Providence to enable them to present to the Society the most satisfactory statement of their success in this particular, at the next an |
