American Bible Society. SEVENTH REPORT. Ar p. 192 is a general notice of the Annual Meeting of this Society on the 8th of May, and of the receipts and expenditures: and our numbers for June and July contain liberal extracts from the Addresses made on that very interesting occasion. We shall now make several extracts from the Report of the Society. Depository of the Society. A description of this edifice may be found at p. 95 of our number for March. The Report speaks of it in the following manner. The Managers have sincere delight in announcing, that the Depository of the Society has been completed. The corner stone was laid shortly after the last anniversary; and the building was finished in the early part of the winter The expen diture for this object, including the ground, has been about $22,500. Between 8,000 and 9,000 dollars were obtained from liberal and benevolent individuals, for the The issues of Scriptures in the Spanish Board have much pleasure in adding, that there are strong reasons to believe, that in a short time there will be a far greater demand for the Spanish Scriptures, and more numerous opportunities of diffusing them. Already individuals have been found in many places in South America, and in other quarters, where the Spanish language is spoken, individuals of undoubted discretion and fidelity, who have undertaken to act as Agents in receiving and circulating the Scriptures. Already some, of high stand express purpose of paying for the Deposit-language, have materially increased. The ory; and the remainder of the sum, has been temporarily supplied out of the general funds of the Society. The Board earnestly hope to obtain further contributions towards this object. They solicit such contributions from all whom God, in his Providence, has favored with the means, and who are friendly to the good work. They have adopted a plan of a sinking fund, by the operation of which the sum advanced from the general funds will be repaid, with interest, in a few years; and the temporary advance will not interfereing, holding civil or ecclesiastical offices, with the business of the Institution, nor rehave expressed their warm approbation of sult in the diversion of a single dollar from the design and plans of the Society, and the precise object for which it was paid into their readiness to co-operate in its foreign the treasury. This Depository has now transactions. Already some hundreds of been occupied for a number of months, and copies of the Scriptures have been confided a sufficient trial has already been made to to such gentlemen, and are in a course of realize the expectations of those who urged distribution. Accounts have been receiv its erection. All the business of the Socie-ed, by which the Managers have been as ty is now done under one roof. There is a most ready access to every record and every document, to which reference may become necessary on the part of the Man-danger; that the need is very great even agers, or of any of the committees. The among the ministers of religion; that the officers of the Society have much more desire of possessing the precious Volume, easy and frequent intercourse and opportu- is manifested to be ardent by multitudes, nities to confer together, and to communiwho are able to read it; that the copies cate interesting intelligence. The Mansent to several places, have been purchased agers and the committees have suitable or received, with much alacrity and glad rooms for their meetings; and the Secreness, by persons of rank in church and taries and the Agent have convenient offi-state, as well as many others; and that sured that, in many parts of the Spanish possessions, the introduction of the Holy Oracles is unattended with difficulty or numbers, particularly ladies, have been observed reading the Scriptures placed in their hands, with avidity and with fixed attention. With such accounts before them, with the prospect of such opportunities of usefulness, and of such assistance from men of respectability, of intelligence, of piety, || the Managers have determined to extend the scale of their labors, as to those countries where the Spanish language is spoken. They have printed several new editions of the Spanish Testament. They have thrown into circulation some hundreds of copies of the Spanish Bible, with which they have been most seasonably furnished. They have contracted for a set of stereotype plates of the Spanish Bible in the version of PADRE SCIo, and as soon as they can be procured, an edition will be printed and issued. The Board feel their hope expressed in the last Report, very strongly confirmed, that the time is near, when the light of divine truth will have dispelled the darkness in which Spanish America has been so long enveloped, and when the inestimable benefits of religious knowledge will be diffused over that interesting section of the world. After mentioning the Memorials from Serampore and Ceylon, and the grants made by the Society to aid these missions in the procuring of Bibles, (of which, there is a notice at pp. 162-165, of our present volume,) the Report observes: By these gifts, the American Bible Society has extended its beneficial influence to far distant lands. The amount of the grants is small indeed, when compared with the vastness of the work in which they are designed to aid; but they could not have been enlarged, perhaps, without some restrictions upon the gifts to the destitute in our own country: and, small as they are, they will not be unnoticed by Him, for whose glory they were bestowed. Through his blessing, we may hope that their benefits will be numerous and lasting; and on his blessing, and on the exertions and liberality of the pious and benevolent in our land, it must depend when, and to what extent, the Managers may again be able to aid in the work of circulating the Scriptures in the most remote regions, and among millions of heathen. The assistance which has been granted, was loudly demanded by the evident necessities of the case, and was urged by not a few of the Auxiliary Societies. The period was thought to have arrived, when the pledge given in the second article of the constitution of the society, and in the address published at the time of its formation, should be redeemed; and the hope is humbly but confidently entertained, that the fact that the American Bible Society is thus doing good to many who are very far off, as well as to thousands in our own country, will be a stimulus to the zeal and the efforts of its members and friends throughout our land. Demand for the Scriptures. Were every family in our land supplied follow, either that Bible Societies are useless, with a copy of the Word of God, it would not or that they are unimportant; for, in other lands we might find millions, and hundreds of millions, who know nothing of this Gift of Heaven. But our own country, favored as it is, is not supplied; and when we estimate the demands upon the resources of Bible Societies, we must add to the wants of millions abroad, the wants of thousands at home. In the last Report, statements were inserted, which showed the need of the Oracles of God to be truly vast in various parts of the country. To those statements it would be easy for the Managers now to add as many others of a similar purport. A few they beg leave to mention. In one county in the state of New-York, the Board have received an official assurance, that after several hundreds of Bibles and Testaments have been circulated, there still remain more than 800 families who are destitute. In a village in the same statean old settlement--forty families were found without the Scriptures, and then all the village had not been examined. In another county in the same state, after a large distribution in the course of a number of years, it is officially stated, that from 1,000 to 1,500 families are not supplied with the Sacred Volume. In a city situated to the south, and not very populous, 350 families were discovered, who did not possess the sacred treasure of a Bible. In the western part of a southern state, it was computed by one who travelled through the ries on the subject, that among about 40,000 country, and who carefully made his inquifamilies, 10,000 had not the Scriptures. A western county society, after having circulated many Bibles and Testaments, adopted measures to ascertain the precise number of the needy within its bounds; and before all the returns were received, it appeared that 404 families, and 3,446 individuals who were able to read, had not the Holy Oracles within their reach. From another source it has been represented to your Managers, that in a county in a western state,400 families were found to be without the Bible, although a considerable distribution had been made, An individual in another part of the state, wrote to your Secretary of Domestic Correspondence, "I find nearly one-third here to be destitute of the Scriptures." Another individual, as to another western state, wrote that 8,000 families in that state were yet to be supplied. The report of an Auxiliary in another state in the west, asserts, that "many thousands of Bibles and Testaments are needed at the present time to supply the necessities of the inhabitants." Directors and Members for Life. Introductory to the following extract, we may say;-that it applies to almost all existing charitable associations. By making the clergy Directors, or Life Members, or Honorary Members, of them, a token of affection and respect is given, in the most unexceptionable, gratifying, and useful manner. On this sub. ject the Managers speak as follows: The Board have derived much pleasure' from observing that the practice is still continued, of making ministers Directors for life, or Members for life, of the American Bible Society. In this work, liberal and pious females have been particularly active. The Board hope that this will be more and more a matter of attention. For not only the funds of the National Institution are immediately increased in consequence, but also in this way a gratifying token of respect and love is paid to the individual who is constituted a member or director, and as the Reports and monthly extracts are afterwards sent to him, important intelligence is circulated, and a more lively interest will probably be excited in favor of the Bible cause. General Remarks. The American Bible Society at the close of its seventh year, has very strong reasons to urge with the pious and with the benevolent, for continued support, and even for more numerous and liberal gifts. The Auxiliaries referred to in former reports, as needing the assistance of the Parent Institution, still require such aid, and to a great extent. Many new Auxiliaries have been formed during the past year, which have opened opportunities of imparting inestimable benefits to thousands of our fellow-citizens, who have not yet been furnished with the Scriptures.* The condition of much of the western section of our country, as to moral and religious knowledge, and the means of instruction, is such as ought to affect most deeply every compassionate heart, and call forth the * The whole number of Auxiliaries to this Society, is three hundred and sixty. Ed. most active exertions. There, hundreds and thousands are far from churches, from ministers, from the privileges of public worship. They are scarcely aware of the return of sabbaths. They grow up, they live, and it is to be feared that many die, ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, neither taught their truths, nor guided by their directions, nor cheered by their promises and consolations. To a very large part of this western section of our land, the American Bible Society would have it in its power speedily to furnish the Oracles of God, if sufficient funds were poured into its treasury. New fields of usefulness are now open or opening before the Society in the West Indies, and in the Spanish parts of North and South America. The Spanish Bible, in the version approved by the Roman Catholics, is preparing; and so soon as the stereotype plates are finished, considerable sums will become requisite to pay for them, and for the publication of editions of the Scriptures from them. It is confidently believed that many copies may be immediately circulated in many places, among the clergy and the laity, and among those of every rank and condition. Thus the American Bible Society may and does ask to be supported, and to be furnished with larger funds, on the ground of the benefits of which it is the instrument to the needy districts of our country. It asks this in the name, and for the present advantage, and for the everlasting good, of hundreds and thousands in the west, who are awfully destitute; and of thousands and of millions in Mexico, in the West Indies, and in South America, to whom the attention of the Society is directed, and among whom it has the prospect of most extensive usefulness. And to the American Bible Society are submitted the necessities of many millions of heathen; the calls for aid are addressed to it; and it depends on the contributions of the liberal and the pious to enable it to join with large and important gifts in the scheme and the efforts to furnish the Bible to all the inhabitants of the world. The Managers submit these claims of the Society to their fellow-citizens. They appeal to their benevolence, their compassion, their charity. And they rely confidently on the liberality and the piety of the community, and on the interposition and favor of Him, who disposes the hearts of men at his pleasure, and who never fails to prosper the honest efforts for his glory. It may reasonably be supposed, that an appeal, so eloquently urged, and urged for such an object, will receive attention; at least from those, who reflect how little probability there is, that any will become truly pious, who have not the use of a Bible. Donations TO THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, From July 13th to August 12th inclusive. Albany, N.Y. Mrs. Hastings, for schools at Bombay 2; Mr. Brown for do. 2; Mrs. Lansing and sister, 1; by Rev. A. Peters, Amherst, Ms. M. f. of Eleazer Cowles, by Rev. D. A. Clark, 5,65; central concert, 1, Andover, (North par.) Ms. A lady, Arkport, N. Y. "E. H." Ashburnham, Ms. Indian school so. for ed. In chil. in the U. S. by Mr. D. Cushing, Tr. Augusta, Me. Hon. Joseph North, 6; three females, 3; by Rev. B. Tappan, Augusta, N. Y. First cong. so. coll. 9,75; mon. con. 3,41; by dea. A. Thomas, Baskinridge, N.J. Coll. in Rev. Mr. Brownlee's cong.by Mrs. Finley, to build a school house in Ceylon for teaching fem. chil. by Rev. P. M. Whelpley, Bath, N. H. Coll. fr. various sources, by Rev. D. Sutherland, 25; a friend for Pal. miss. 5; the widow's mite, 5; by D. Smith, Esq. Bennington, Vt. Mon. con. by Rev. A. Peters, Bergen, N. Y. A friend, by Messrs. Seward and Williams, Berkshire, (North so.) N. Y. Rev. Mr. Burt, 10; Mrs. Burt, 5; coll. 4; mon. con. 3,17, by dea. A. Thomas, Berkley, Ms. Dea. Luther Crane, m. f. by Rev. T. Andros, Bloomfield, N. J. Fem. mite so. by Miss P. Dodd, Tr. for ed. hea. child. in America, Boscawen, N. H. Mon. con. in Rev. Dr. Wood's so. by S. W. Colburn, Boston, Ms. United mon. con. for Pal. miss. An indiv. for Sou. Am. miss. (prev. rem. 475,50.) fr. "H." 5; coll. by Miss M. Porter, Plainfield, N.H. 1,43; m. card, a friend, 45c. "H." 17.50; part profits of the "Retrospect," 10, A friend, Mrs. Rebecca Breed, 5 00 6 65 5 00 2.00 18 06 9.00 13 16 30 00 35 00 12 44 5.00 22 17 5 00 24 00 22 26 16 87 34 38 50 00 40 00 Mr. J. F. Bumstead, 5th pay. for Sereno E. Dwight, 2nd, in Ceylon, 12; a few ladies of the O. Sou. chh. for William Jenks, 4th semi-an. pay. by Mrs. "E. C." 15; char. box in J. Gulliver's shop, for "Brainerd school," 1,17; chil. in school st. Sab. sch. for Josiah Vinton,4, 17; a fem. friend to purchase tracts for Sou. Am. miss. 2; assistant miss. so. by Miss Jacobs, 3,56; Mr. T. Parvin, 14; a friend, by Miss Perry, 3. Bridgeport, Ct. Young ladies' sewing so. Jane Elizabeth Hawley, Tr. by capt. G. Hawley, 40 00 Bridgehampton, N. Y. Fem. cent so. by Eliza Rose, Tr. 3ridgewater, N. Y. Miss Eunice T. Brown, by dea. A. Thomas, 3rookline, Ms. A friend, av. of "Barley Wood," Brunswick, Me. Appleton so. (formerly juv. so.) for Jesse Appleton, by N. Stone, Butternuts, N. Y. A young man, m. f. by Rev. Mr. Parvin, ambridge, Vt. Mon. con. by H. Janes, Esq. ambria, N. Y. Mr. Hawks, by dea. A. Thomas, astleton, Vt. Mr. Enos Merrill, 2nd, hilmark, Ms. Benef. so. Thos. Nickerson, Tr. by Messrs. Lincoln & Edmands, linton, N. Y. A friend, by dea. A. Thomas, onstantia, N. Y. "Constantius," for Pal. miss. by dea. A. Thomas, ooperstown, N. Y. Mr. George Pomeroy, 10; mon. con. in Pres. chh. 15, by Mr. G. Pome Gains, N. Y. Mr. Booth, a balance, by dea. A. Thomas, Georgia, Vt. Rebecca Blatchley, for ed. hea. chil. 2; Polly Blatchley, for do. 1; a friend, Griswold, Ct. Young men's miss. so. for west. Hallowell, Me. Mon. con. 21,32; char. box of Mrs. J. O. Page, 3,80; chil. of Miss Parsons's sch. for Cher. chil. 1,58, by Rev. E. Gillet, Hamilton, Ms. Cent so. for Manasseh Cutler at Brainerd, by Mrs. M. L. Faulkner, Pres. Hamp. Chris. Dep. Northampton, friend, 75 c. (Warren dist.) m. f. 5; females, coll. by Miss A. Clark, for for. miss. sch. 15,5; Deerfield, (2nd par.) Ms. char. box of Miss Mary De Wolf for Pal. miss. 1,50; Worthington, Ms. widow Brewster, av. of cheese, 76 c. 23 06 Hanover, N. Y. A member of Rev. Mr. Robinson's chh. by Messrs. Seward & Williams, 12 00 Hanover, Ms. Mon. con. in Rev. Mr. Chapin's par. by dea. E. Barstow, 12,33; fem. mite so. Mrs. L. Stockbridge, Tr. 10, Hardwick, Ms. Young men's char. so. Mr. D. Page, Tr. for west. miss. by Mr. Cutler, Hartford, Ct. "S. S. S." 1; a so. of young ladies, for fem. hea. in India, by L. B. Ely, Tr. 18, Henniker, N. H. John Gordon, by Mr. E. Parker, Highgate, Vt. David Skeels, Jr. by H. Janes, Esq. Hingham, Ms. A friend, by Mr. Gray, Hounsville, (Jefferson co.) N. Y. For schools at Bombay, by Rev. A. Peters, Keene, N. H. Mon. con. 9,39; a lady, 50 c. char, box 71 c. by Rev. Z. S. Barstow; Mr. Sprague, by Mrs. Graves, 1, Kingston, Ms. Char. box of Mr. Cushman, 1,65; mon. con. 8,82; by Mr. Cushman, Kittery Point, Me. Fem. cent so. 8,59; a thank offering, 3; mon. con. 9,41; by Rev. S. Merrill, Lebanon, Ct. Ladies' benev, so, for a child in Ceylon to be named Zebulon Ely, 20; for gen. pur. 4; by A. Buckingham, Tr. Lenox, Ms. Miss R. Post, by Miss Burnham, reed. at Mayhew, Lisbon, Ct. Fem. char. so. for for. miss. by F. A. Perkins, Esq. 22 23 25 00 19 00 1.05 5 00 1.00 62 11 60 10 47 21 00 24.00 1 00 12.00 1275 Litchfield Co. Ct. For. miss. so. (of which 50, from a friend to constitute Rev. Joseph 37 Harvey of Goshen, Ct. an Honorary Member of the Board, and 30, from young ladies so. for ed. hea. youth, Miss Eliza Lyman, Tr. 2nd pay. for Joseph Harvey, at the Sand. Isl.) by Hon. B. Tallmadge, Treas. 150 00 Littleton, N.H. David Goodall, Esq. for ed. hea. chil. 4, Gen. D. Rankin for do. 1; by Rev. D. Sutherland, Machias, Me. Mon. con. by dea. Wm. Crocker, Madison, N. Y. Willard Wilton, Esq. m. f. 20; A. Gilmore, 2,62; by dea. A. Thomas, Marlborough, Vt. Fem. cent so. by Mr. E. H. Newton, 5 00 3 00 22 62 16 00 Middletown, (Upper Houses) Ct. Miss S. Savage, by Rev. Dr. Chapin. 50 Putney, Vt. Rev. E. D. Andrews, m. f. 2.50; Seth L. Andrews, do. 50 c. Mr. A. Smith,do. 3,18; by Rev. D. Leavitt, Randolph, Ms. (E. par.) mon. con. by Rev.D. Brigham, Rensselaerville, N. Y. Fem. cent so. by Rev. M. Smith, Rochester, (2nd par.) Ms. Fem. mite so, by Elizabeth Le Baron, Tr. Rockaway, N. J. Hea. sch. so. Mrs. E. Jackson, Tr. for ed. hea. chil. in India, by J. Jackson, Esq. Rockingham, N. H. Char. so. E. Wheelwright, Tr. for ed. Am. Indian youths, 25,91; to promote chris. knowledge among the Jews, 3,50; for for. miss. 81,73; fr. juv. so. Portsmouth, N. H. for Nathan Parker, and J. W. Putnam, in Ceylon, 24, Rupert, Vt. Á contrib. 8,34; coll. by Mary Morrison, 1,10; a little girl, 6 c. fem. cent so. 15; Robert Wilson, 3; m. f. by Mr. C. Graves, 6,12, 613 8. 00 12.00 30 00 24.00 135 14 33 62 Monson, Ms. The Thomas Lodge for Pal. mis. to distribute the Scriptures among Masonic brethren and others, who are destitute, by Mr. Rufus Flynt, Tr. Newburyport, Ms. Female Mayhew so. 3d an. pay. for Charles William Milton, by M. Knapp, Tr. 30; a fem. friend, 5; a do. by Rev. John Andrews, 5; Sab. sch. char. box for ed. hea. chil. by Mr. S. S. Hodge, Sec. 4,46, Newbury, Vt. Fem. asso. by Miss J. Johnson, Tr. 12; mon. con. by Rev. Mr. Jewett, 4, New Castle, Del. fem. so. 12; m. box in Sab. sch. 5,50; mon. con. 3; coll. by two young ladies, 10; to purchase clothing for John E. Latta, by Miss S. McCallmont, New Haven, N. Y. Mon. con. by dea. A. Thom as, New Ipswich, N. H. Capt. Joseph Brown, by dea. J. Clark, 5; mon. con. 100; "D. C." 1; J. Stearns, 1,50; F. Mitchell, 1; by Mr. I. Williams, Newington, Ct. Mon. con. Wm. Deming, agt. by Rev. Dr. Chapin, New York City, Ladies of Rev. Mr. Whelpley's cong. to support a school in the house, for which provision has been made by ladies of Baskingridge, N. J. Norfolk, Va. Ladies asso. an. pay. for John D. North Adams, Ms. "A. C." a balance, North Yarmouth, Me. Fem. cent so. of the 30 50 4 89 Sangersfield, N. Y. Mr. John Camp, m. f. by dea. A. Thomas, Savannah, Ga. A young lady, av. of jewelry, &c. by Mr. A. D. Eddy, Scarborough, Me. Fem. cent so. by Miss Mary F. Tilton, Tr. 9 6 13 00 20 00 Somers, Ct. Mr. S. Billing and sons, m. f. 5,50; 13 00 150 40 00 Trenton, N. Y. Mon. con. by dea. A. Thomas, Troy, N.Y. A gent. for sch. at Bombay, by Rev. A. Peters, 125 4.00 Utica, N. Y. Mrs. Martha Seward; balance of 200, for Laura Hurd at Sand. Isl. 75; A. Seward for Sally Abbot, 30; for Bethuel Dodd at Brainerd, 12; by Messrs. Seward & Williams; brethren of the Utica Lodge, No. 270, for Pal. miss. 23; a thank-offering fr. a pilgrim, 10; by dea. A. Thomas, Uxbridge, Ms. Dea. P. Chapin and F. Tafts, Esq. m. f 6,62; Rev. S. Judson, 3, Warsaw, N. Y. Agricultural miss. so. by Mr. Jas. Crocker, 150 (4 Rev. J. Ford, Parvlet, Va. Dr. Tilden, by Mrs. Graves, Pembroke, N. H. Ladies in Rev. A. Burnham's so. for Abraham Burnham, 20; mon. con. for ed. hea. chil. 6,5; by Rev. A. Burnham, Philadelphia, Fem. so. for ed. hea. youth, for two Chinese youths at the for. miss. school, by dea. A. Thomas, Pompey, (West Hilis,) N. Y. Ladies of the Columbian so. by do. 26 05 Watertown, N. Y. Miss. so. by Messrs. Seward & Williams, 20 00 10 00 1 50 Poultney, Vt. M. f. of Thomas and Truman Hooker, by Rev. E. Smith, 4.00 Preston, Ct. I. P. Cook, m. f. 10.20; fem. miss. so. L. Downing, Treas. 24; mon. con. char. box 89 c. by F. A. Perkins, Esq. Princeton, N. J. So. in theol. sem. 7th semi-an. pay. for Archibald Alexander and Samuel Miller, in Ceylon, by Mr. D. A. Penick, Tr. 15; fem. so. for ed. fem. hea. youth in India, by Rev. Dr. Green, 84; Susan Meeshon, for Ceylon miss. 2; a thank offering, by Mr. J. Sandford, 1, 35 09 102 00 Wellington, Ms. Mrs. A. Briggs, by Rev. T. Andros, Wells, Me. Miss. field, 23,76; do. cultivated by two town paupers, under the direction of Mr. Enoch Furbish, 1,68; by Rev. J. Greenleaf, Westborough, Ms. Fem. cent so. by Mrs. S. B. Rockwood, Tr. 19; fem. asso. for ed. hea. youth, semi-an. pay. for Elisha Rockwood and Susan B. Rockwood, by Mrs. B. L. Peters, Tr. 12, West Bridgewater, Ms. Ezekiel Reed, Jr. 5; a friend, by Rev. D. Huntington, 1, Weymouth, (North par.) Ms. Female religious so. for Mayhew, by Mrs. M. Bates, Tr. Whitesborough, N. Y. Female miss. so. by dea. 25 44 31.00 600 22 50 |