edition should be printed. Opinions on this subject were greatly divided, both abroad and at home. The war having prohibited all direct intercourse with France, the only means which the Society possessed of obtaining information from that country, were those which were furnished through the medium of their correspondents in Switzerland. For this purpose, many letters were addressed to their friends at Basle, and similar applications were made to such individuals resident in London as were thought competent to give an opinion on the subject. After a delay of nearly twelve months, during which these inquiries were incessantly pursuing, it was at length determined, on the recommendation of the late Rev. Mr. Mercier (Minister of the French church in London), and Mr. Des Carrieres (author of the French Dictionary, &c.), that the version of Ostervald should be adopted; and accordingly a copy of the Paris reprint of it in 1805, was, after a collation of it by the Rev. Dr. Adam Clark with the edition printed at Bienne in 1744, selected as that which should be used in executing the Society's impression.

To the unqualified assertion, "that the French Protestants consider the best French version of the Bible to be that of Martin," I must beg leave to oppose both the judgment and the practice of the French Protestants in Switzerland. Among them the versions of Martin have been very partially, if at all, received. Certain it is, that that of Ostervald is in general use; and when, in the year 1816, the Bible Society made an offer of a very liberal grant to the three Bible Societies of Lausanne, Geneva, and Neufchatel, on condition of their printing an edition of 10,000 Bibles, according to the version of either Ostervald or Martin, leaving it to them to adopt whichever of the two they might prefer, they accepted the grant with the greatest thankfulness, and unanimously decided in favour of Ostervald. It is true, that the Protestants in the South of France, of which Martin was a native, and those of Holland, in which he exercised his ministry during the latter years of his life, use by preference the version which bears his name; and on ascertaining the predominancy of this attachment, the Bible Society will be found to have shown no backwardness to consult it. By their aid and encouragement, four editions of this version have already been executed at Toulouse, Montauban, and Paris; three of which consist of 26,000 copies, and the fourth is on stereotype, and therefore capable of being carried to an indefinite amount. It should at the same time be stated, that the Paris Bible Society (whose competency to judge of the disposition of the Protestants in France will not

be disputed) are by no means inclined to sacrifice the version of Ostervald to that of Martin: they possess both, circulate both; and in the catalogue of Bibles and Testaments on sale at their depository, editions of both, in various forms, are equally to be found.

3. Though I am far from approving the terms in which the passage under consideration is translated, yet, from the known character of the eminent theologian from whom that translation, of which they form a part, proceeded, and on whose authority they were adopted by the Bible Society, I cannot but think that they have been construed in a lower and less orthodox sense than that in which he employed them, and intended them to be understood. The name of Ostervald has long been held in high and deserved estimation; and his writings on the Holy Scriptures have been for nearly a century past, and continue still to be, recommended and circulated by that venerable body, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, which would certainly be among the last to sanction the opinions of a writer, who would be capable of perverting any passage in the Bible, in order to favour the tenets of Socinianism.

AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY.-ELIAS

BOUDINOT, ESQ.

We have recently been favoured with a copy of the Fifth Report of the American Bible Society, as presented to their annual meeting, May 10, 1821; from which we learn with great satisfaction, the steady progress and uninterrupted success of the Bible cause in that vast continent. This Society now officially knows and recognises Two

HUNDRED AND THIRTY-NINE AUXILIARY

Societies; it has printed in the last year almost 60,000 Bibles and Testaments, which, added to the number previously reported, make a total of TWO HUNDRED

AND THIRTY-ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-TWO Bibles and Testaments already printed, besides many others in various languages, obtained from different sources. It has expended in the last year about 48,000 dollars, or 10,8007. sterling; and notwithstanding the pressure of the times, referred to in their former Report, has continued during the past year, and some other circumstances have become even less favourable than before, yet the managers gladly refer to the sum total of the receipts, as evidencing the effectual favour of a kind Providence, and the unabated attachment of their fellow-citizens to the grand object of the national Institution.

Since this Report was delivered, the Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL. D. President of

the Society, has been called to enter into rest in the 82d year of his age. This gentleman in early life followed the profession of the law with considerable distinction. In the revolutionary war he was employed as Commissary General of prisoners, and member of the national Congress, of which he was President at the time of the treaty of peace in 1782. He was afterwards employed in various important services. But the chief point of view in which we would contemplate his character, is that of the true Christian, and the enlightened friend and liberal supporter of religious institutions. The American Bible Society was in great measure indebted to him for its foundation, and received from his liberality the princely donation of 10,000 dollars, or 2500l. at its formation: he contributed also to the erection of its depository, and

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has presented the Society with a large and valuable tract of land, besides watching unceasingly over its interests, and labouring in the promotion of its cause.

The closing scene of his life, we are told, is calculated to console his friends under their heavy loss, and to edify and support the departing Christian. In the full possession of his mental faculties, and the clear view of approaching dissolution, his faith was firm, bis patience unwearied, his hopes exalted; with paternal solicitude he exhorted those around, to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their only hope; with the utmost solemnity be committed his daughter, his only child, to the care of his surviving friends, expressed with humble resignation his desire to depart, and closed his earthly converse with the petition of the dying Stephen, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

THE fourteenth Appendix to the last Report of the Church Missionary Society contains a long and interesting journal by the Rev. S. Marsden, of his residence in New Zealand, from August to November 1819. No one can read this narrative without feeling deeply affected with the characters and distresses of the New Zealanders. Few persons in this country are aware that the great cause of these distresses is the total want of iron and iron tools under which these islanders labour. Pomarree sits down and weeps when he hears there is no blacksmith come for him. His wooden spades are all broken, he has not an axe to make more; his canoes are all broken, he has not a nail or a gimlet to mend them with; his potatoe-grounds are uncultivated, he has not a hoe to break them up with nor a tool to employ his people, and he fears that for want of cultivation they will have nothing to eat. "We saw," says Mr. M. "the wife of Shunghee, one of the greatest chiefs, possessed of a very large and extensive territory of rich land, and one whose name as a soldier strikes terror far and wide; we saw her labouring hard, though completely blind, with a wooden spade, to gain a scanty subsistence of potatoes." Now,' what is the unavoidable consequence of such distress? Must it not tend to war and bloodshed? Is it not natural that Shunghee should say, "I am a great chief, and will go and kill some of my weaker neighbours

If

and seize their potatoes, and enslave others and make them work for me?" And if any stray seaman from a South Sea whaler should tell him how we have acted, and other nations are acting, with respect to Africa, may be not defend his conduct by our example? So that it is now become a matter of the utmost importance for the benevolent and humane to inquire, whether these poor islanders may not be assisted in some way or other with iron tools. 5 or 10,000 hoes or spades could be sent out, it might not be altogether an unprofitable speculation; but whatever might be the return, such a consignment would tend most essentially to promote peace on earth and good will amongst men, and eventually glory to God. And we see no reason why a separate fund might not be raised for this especial purpose, to which multitudes would cheerfully contribute.

We beg leave to request the attention of the Society of Friends and the Peace Societies to this interesting subject. Their principles may not allow of their joining in missionary exertions; and much perhaps cannot be done among these islanders in the way of Schools; but promoting the arts of peace will unquestionably tend to suppress the spirit of war, and to pave the way for that cordial reception of the Gospel of Christ among these poor benighted heathen which every lover of men must carnestly desire.

Several gentlemen, among whom

were Sir Edmund Hartopp, Bart. John S. Harford, Esq. and the Rev. Messrs. Gray, Biddulph, Day, Grinfield, Minchin, and Swete, addressed the meeting, on the beneficial tendency of the Society, and they forcibly urged the necessity of perseverance in promoting the admirable objects for which it is established.

The Report presented to the Meeting, expresses the Committee's thankfulness to Almighty God, for the increasing patronage and support which the Society had experienced in the preceding year. In addition to the Bishops of St. David's, Gloucester, and Elphin, who formerly patronized the Society, they are now favoured with the support of the Archbishop of Tuam and the Bishop of Bristol, who have expressed their approbation in the most gratifying manner. His Grace the Archbishop of Tuam has honoured the Committee with a correspondence on the means of circulating the Tracts in the sister Island, which has proved very beneficial in the promotion of that desirable object, and has condescended to express to the Committee his unqualified approbation of the Tracts, which they venture to communicate in his own words. He is pleased to say, that they deserve the patronage they hare obtained; and then adds, "I can give no weight to a work which the Lord is blessing; but I shall be grateful in being permitted to enrol my name with those of the pious and learned Rishops of Gloucester and St. David's, and the other members of the Church of England Tract Society. Pray let me know what steps I shall take to procure a constant supply of Tracts from the Society."

The Right Rev. the Bishop of Bristol has also favoured the Committee with his sentiments on some of their Tracts. In his first letter on the subject, his Lordship says, "I have not yet had time to examine your Tracts very minutely; but the few which I have perused, appear to me admirably calculated to diffuse a spirit of piety throughout the country, and to excite a feeling of warm attachment to the Church of England." And in a subsequent letter, of Oct. 12, his Lordship adds, "As I stated to you in conversation, I have never seen any tracts which appeared to me better calculated to excite the attention of the lower classes, and to promote pious and devout feelings in their hearts." His Lordship has kindly accepted the offices of President and joint Patron of the Society.

In announcing these propitious events,

the Committee state that they are anxious to avoid any thing that could, even by a perversion of its meaning, be construed into the language of flattery, or even of honest personal eulogy.

They express their satisfaction that this episcopal patronage has not been granted without due examination. Indeed, it could not for a moment be supposed, that persons occupying such high and responsible stations as those in which the Bishops and other dignitaries of our Church are placed, would commit themselves, and endanger the orthodoxy of the public mind, by a sanction given to what they had not read, or did not fully approve. But it must be a further satisfaction to know, from direct correspondence, that, these plain unvarnished Tracts have been read by the guardians of our Church, and approved, with respect both to sentiment and style; and that their own Diocesan, in particular, has expressed, in the fullest manner, his conviction of their adaptation to the objects proposed.

The Committee then state the hopes they entertain that this accession of episcopal and dignified patronage to their Society, will obviate any doubts which may have arisen as to the importance of the institution, and the excellency of its publications. They proceed to give interesting extracts from their correspondence with auxiliary and independent associations, such as the Religious Tract and Book Society of Ireland, the Tract Societies of Cork, Sheffield, York, Bath, Gloucester, Dudley; and also with their corresponding members at Nottingham, Pontypool, Oxford, Wolverhampton, the island of Guernsey, &c. The Society have issued from the depository in the last year above one hundred and twenty-three thousand Tracts, and entertain the most confident expectations of obtaining increasing support and circulation.

Subscriptions, it may not be improper to add, are received in London by Mr. Seeley, 169, Fleet Street; where a regular stock of Tracts is constantly kept for the accommodation of the Society's members and the public in general.

Here these young women remained till July 1821, when Mr. L. acquainted their governess, that on his return to Paris he should take them from school, Mdc. R.

complained that removing the three at once, would injure her interests, requesting that at least his niece might remain, adding, that "he would do her injustice, if he entertained any apprehension on the score of religion!"

On Mr. L.'s return to Paris in September, he questioned his daughters as, he says, "I was accustomed to do," on their religious principles: they replied, that they followed the religion in which they had been educated. With this answer he appears to have been satisfied, but on stating to them afterwards some views he had formed respecting them, his two daughters informed him, on the 23d of October, that they were Roman Catholics, and that their firmness and faith were not to be shaken.

The sequel of the story lies in little compass instead of removing his daughters and his niece instantly from France, and restoring them to their native country, Mr. L. delayed, reasoned, endeavoured to persuade, &c.: at length his eldest daughter eloped from him, and took refuge in a convent; where, after various attempts to recover her, Mr. L. was compelled to allow her to remain.

The laws of France affording no remedy, Mr. L. has taken the only means in his power to obtain redress, by petitioning the Chamber of Deputies.

We have extracted these particulars from his long petition, because we think they convey most important lessons. As far as relates to Mr. L.'s own conduct, we know not whether he is most to be blamed or pitied: but the facts speak loudly as to the dangers to which multitudes of our rising generation are at this moment exposed. Many young persons are now placed in schools and seminaries of education in France. The conductors of these establishments engage not to interfere with the religious creed of their pupils. Now, these tutors are either sincere, or they are not. Supposing them to be sincere in their promises, what follows? It is a necessary consequence, that these young persons grow up in a state of indifference to, and ignorance of all religion. Separated from pious friends, from public worship, from all religious instruction, every serious impression must gradually be obliterated; and if, as we are firmly convinced is the case, ignorance is the best preparation for superstition, it is naturally to be expected that

BENJAMIN Hawes, Esq. late of Worthing, has left the sum of twenty-four thousand pounds 3 per cents, to be equally divided between twenty-four charitable and religious institutions. The British and Foreign Bible Society, the Missionary Sosiety, the Hibernian Society, and the

many of them will follow the example of Mr. L.'s daughters.

Such a complete abstraction, however, from religious instruction is scarcely possible; and the more conscientious the teacher is, and therefore the more desirous faithfully to observe the engagement entered into with a Protestant parent, the more effectual will the example be on the mind of a young person. A conscientious Roman Catholic must, with a degree of scrupulous attention which a Protestant can scarcely imagine, observe certain fasts and festivals, and conform to frequently returning rites and ceremonies. Now, when a 'child is taken out of an ordinary English family, and placed in a Catholic school, where the teachers, and the native scholars, and the servants, are summoned to matins, and vespers, and fastings, and holy water, and gemuflexions, and all the various observances of the Romish Church; when he has never learnt that God is a spirit, and that they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, he will be ready to think, What excellent people these are! how exact in their devotions! how attentive to their religious duties! I recollect nothing like this in my father's house! He will, therefore, naturally inquire of his companions and teachers for farther information; and when told that his tutors are pledged not to converse with him on these points, his curiosity will be inflamed, and he will be predisposed in favour of what he does not yet understand. Meanwhile, what appeared to him gross and absurd in the first instance, will gradually lose its deformity, and in the course of four or five years he will be quite prepared, as Miss L. was, to renounce all further communion with heretics, and plunge at once into the bosom of the Romish Church.

The case of Mr. L. and his daughters is indeed to be pitied; but if it renders other parents more cautious, if it impresses upon any the importance of making the religious principles of the persons to whom they intrust their offspring the first inquiry and the most important point, as indeed it ought to be, the warning will not be in vain; and if it suggest to any the necessity of guarding against imprudently yielding the Catholic claims, it may be productive of most beneficial result to these kingdoms.

Since this was written we have seen Miss L.'s answer to her father's petition, which strongly confirms these views.

BEQUESTS.

Religious Tract Society, are among the number.

G. G. Bulstrode, Esq. late of Worcester, has also bequeathed the sum of one thousand pounds to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and one thousand to the Worcester Infirmary.