employers, and beneficial to the poor but grateful inhabitants of that island.

:

The want of the Scriptures in Iceland was extreme: it was deeply felt and lamented by the people; but their sorrow has been turned into joy and there is perhaps no part of the world to which the British and Foreign Bible Society has extended its benevolence, where it has been more cordially welcomed, and more gratefully acknowledged, than in Iceland.

In a pamphlet published by a respectable author at Stockholm, in March, 1815, it is stated, that, previously to the establishment of the Bible Society in Sweden, not one out of eighty of the poorer classes had a copy of the Scriptures, and that, according to a well-founded calculation, not fewer than 400,000 families in that kingdom were destitute of that inestimable treasure.

Your Committee have now the satisfaction to report, that, in consequence of the active measures adopted in Sweden, these wants have already been in some measure relieved; and that every disposition prevails in that country to supply them effectually.

The Societies of Gothenburg, Westeras, and Gothland, which have now become Auxiliaries to the National Bible Society at Stockholm, are all active within their respective circles.

In consequence of an Address from Bishop Wiagard, the President, and the Directors of the Gothenburg Bible Society, representing the distressed state of a large population which formerly

subsisted by the Herring Fishery, your Committee have been induced to aid the funds of that Institution by a donation of 100l. They have also granted to the Swedish Bible Society the sum of 500l. with a request that 2001. of it may be applied to the use of its Auxiliary at Westeras, in consequence of a very urgent representation of the great want of the Scriptures within its circle, and the inability of the Society to supply them,

Your Committee have the satisfaction to announce the establishment of an Auxiliary Bible Society at Lund, in Scania, under the Presidency of the Bishop, who is also Vice Chancellor of the University of Lund. This is an important station; and the zeal of the Bishop, and active co-operation of the Professors and leading men of the University, authorize an expectation, that this new Society will prove materially beneficial. A donation of 300l. has been presented to it.

The Archbishop of Upsala has also expressed his wish for the formation of a Bible Society in the University of that place; and your Committee have most readily encouraged it by the promise of a donation of 300l. to assist its operations, in the event of its establishment as an Auxiliary to the Swedish Bible Society.

Your Committee have only to add, on the subject of Sweden, that the Bible Society there has not only the Patronage of His Majesty the King, but that the Crown Prince has been a most liberal contributor to it, as well

as to the Evangelical Society at Stockholm, and has promised a considerable pecuniary donation towards the establishment of a Bible Society in Norway.

The proceedings in Russia, for extending the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, are entitled, from their magnitude and importance, to particular notice; and your Committee regret the necessity of confining their Report to a brief and general statement of them.

Of the thirteen editions of the Scriptures, in whole or in part printing in Russia at the period of the last General Meeting, eight have been completed, the remainder are in progress, and some nearly finished, making altogether, at least, 110,000 copies, now actually in the press.

Theodosia, or Kaffa, is a sea port town of the Crimea; and the new Society there proposes, in its operations, to embrace the whole of that Peninsula, and in general the countries lying on the shores of the Black Sea, including the Abazi, Mingrelia, and Anatolia, or Asia Minor, without any assigned limitation, and may, by the blessing of God, to use the language of Mr. Pinkerton, "prove the means of rekindling the Christian flame among the Churches of Asia Minor, where first the great Apostle of the Gentiles preached the doctrine of the cross."

The great importance of this new Institution, which is proceeding with zeal and activity, has induced your Committee to encourage its exertions by a grant of 500l.

Your Committee have now to mention a circumstance which

will be heard with the deepest interest, that His Majesty the Emperour of Russia, who has evinced an undeviating attachment to the Russian Bible Society, has recommended to the Holy Synod, through Prince Galitzin, to procure a translation of the Bible into the modern Russian. The Holy Synod, anxious to promote among their countrymen the knowledge of Divine Truth, most cordially and unanimously adopted the recommendation of His Imperial Majesty; and it was accordingly resolved that the Scriptures should be translated into the Russian language, under the superintendence of the Spiritual Academy; that the translation should be revised by a Committee of the most learned of the Clergy, and afterwards published by the Russian Bible Society in two columns, Slavonian and Russian. The idea of this noble work is the exclusive property of His Imperial Majesty, the pure suggestion of his own bebevolence; and the Russian Bible will remain an imperishable memorial, both of his piety, and of his paternal solicitude for the welfare of his subjects. Considering the progress made by the Russian Bible Society, during the three years of its existence, the interest which it has excited in the publick mind, the co-operation of persons of the highest rank, both civil and ecclesiastical, the energy of its operations, and the ardour which animates its Auxiliaries, it may be confidently hoped, that, by the blessing of God, it will prove the source of permanent and extensive benefit, not only to

the subjects of the Russian Empire, but to the inhabitants of various adjoining countries.

In this confidence, your Committee cannot but rejoice, that, in addition to the grants already mentioned. for particular purposes, they have been enabled to assist its general operations by a donation of 1000l.

To the above particulars your Committee have to add, that a Bible Society has been established at Strasburg, which has been assisted with a grant of 5007; and that, at Paris, 3000 copies of Ostervald's New Testament have been printed, during the last year, from the stereotype plates, under the direction of the Protestant Consistories, an edition of 6000 is now in the press; making, when completed, a total of 13,000 copies.

America.

In the last Report it was observed, that the number of Bible Societies within the United States of America, amounted to sixty-nine, with the prospect of an augmentation. The Sixth Report of the New-York Bible Society, in December, specifies one hundred and two; of which three Societies are established in Colleges, and thirteen are Female Institutions. By later intelligence, it appears, that their number is increased to one hundred and fifteen, among which is an " African Bible Society," recently established in Philadelphia.

Your Committee cannot recite these interesting facts, without cordially congratulating their Trans-Atlantick Brethren on their zeal for promoting the cir

culation of the Holy Scriptures; and, in the language applied by the Secretary of the New-York Bible Society on a former occasion, to the Members of this Institution, "bid them God speed."

It is no less pleasing to remark, that the harmony which pervades the Societies in the Western Continent is as conspicuous as their zeal. “The Bible Societes," in the terms of one of their Reports, “make one grand whole, because they have one single object in view." Of their continued regard for the British and Foreign Bible Society, the proofs are as satisfactory as they are abundant.

Your Committee have the satisfaction to announce, on the authority of the Philadelphia Bible Society's Report, that, by the liberality of individuals, and the contributions of Sister Societies, it has been enabled to print an edition of 6000 French Testaments, for the accommodation principally of Louisiana and the adjacent territories; to which it may be added, that your Committee have assisted the wants of the inhabitants of Louisiana, by a large supply of the Scriptures in the Spanish and French languages. They have also granted to the New-York Bible Society 2001. in aid of a set of stereotype plates for an English Bible.

The Committee of the Bible Society of Massachusetts have respectfully declined the proposal made to them of accepting, for their own use, the Bibles and Testaments originally destined for the Cape of Good Hope, and which they had generously redeemed from capture. The rea

sons assigned for their determination are marked by the same liberality and benevolence which have so strongly characterised the proceedings of the Massachusetts Bible Society, during the whole of this, and another similar transaction, and are entitled to the warmest acknowledgments of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Your Committee have also the pleasure to remark, that several Bible Associations have been formed at Philadelphia, NewYork, and in other parts of North America, which have been established with the most gratifying unanimity.

In the British part of America, the Nova Scotia Bible Society, at Hallfax, which has fourteen Branch Societies connected with it, appears to be proceeding with great vigour and success. Of this Society His Excellency Sir J. C. Sherbrooke, Governour in Chief, is the President. It has remitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society a second contribution of 2001. Your Committee have great pleasure in transcribing from its First Report the following passage :

"As in England, so in Nova Scotia, Christians of every Church, forgetting lesser differences and distinctions, have assembled round the standard of the Bible, and have formed a bond of union, in their efforts to make known far and wide its blessed truths, proclaiming glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men."

To what has been stated respecting America generally, it may be interesting to add, that

some Dutch Bibles and Testaments, sent to Surinam, in South America, found a ready sale. The Jews were the principal purchasers of the Bibles, as they understand the Dutch, but not the Hebrew, the language in which the Scriptures are read in their Synagogues.

The intelligence from Labrador is calculated to excite particular interest. In the Autumn of 1814, the three Gospels of St. Matthew, Mark, and Luke, were solemnly distributed in the schools, among those of the Esquimaux who could read well, of whom the number is considerable; and were accepted with delight and gratitude.

The Esquimaux are now in possession of the four Gospels. The translation of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle to the Romans, and the First Epistle to the Corinthians, has also been finished, and will be printed as soon as convenient.

It cannot but rejoice the Members of the British and Foreign Bible Society, to have been instrumental in furnishing this poor and benighted people with the Gospel of salvation; a present most highly appreciated by them.

Your Committee, in consequence of encouragement offered to them from St. Domingo, have sent to that island a large assortment of French Testaments for distribution.

Some French Testaments were very judiciously distributed at Port au Prince, in Hayti, among the schools, by Captain F. Reynalds, of the Merchant ship Hebe. One of them, pre

sented to Petion, President of Hayti, and another to his Secretary of State, Monsieur Inginac, were thankfully received, and respectfully acknowledged. The letter from the latter observes: "It is a work which is scarce in this country, and which, if circulated, would greatly contribute to the welfare of the Haytians."

Your Committee have taken advantage of this information, to send a supply of French Bibles and Testaments to that part of St. Domingo under the authority of President Petion.

The transmission of a set of the Society's Reports, and a copy of the French Bible, to Christophe, whose authority is established over the northern part of St. Domingo, has produced an equally favourable result. The thanks of this Chief have been communicated to the President, by his Secretary of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Limonade; and your Committee, in compliance with a wish expressed through that communication, have sent 500 Bibles, and 1000 Testaments, in French and English, to Cape Henry and are also proceeding, in consequence of a request from the same authority, to print the New-Testament, with the French and English in parallel columus, for the benefit of the Haytian population.

Africa.

The intelligence from Africa is not sufficiently important to

require a minute detail. Notwithstanding the institution of a Bible Commission at the Cape of Good Hope, as noticed in the last Report, contributions have been received from the former subscribers in that colony, to the amount of 1007. sterling, and with a promise of their continu

ance.

Your Committee have the pleasure to notice, that they have sent a supply of 200 Dutch Bibles, and an equal number of Testaments, for the use of Christian Hottentots at Bethelsdorp, in Southern Africa, and that they have also supplied the Rev. Mr. Latrobe with 200 Dutch Testaments for distribution in that country.

A letter from the Rev. G. R. Nylander, at Yongroo, in Western Africa, intimates a disposition among the Mahomedans in that part of the continent, to receive the Scriptures. It particularly states, that many Mahomedans had applied for Arabick Bibles, of which a number had been sent to Sierra Leone for distribution.

A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into the Bullom language, by Mr. Nylander, having been submitted to your Committee, they have under taken to print it at the Society's expense, with the English Text in parallel columns. The Bulloms are a very numerous people on the western coast of Africa.

A supply of English Bibles and Testaments have been sent to Goree, for the use of the Military in that Garrison.