Total-1,309,582

Uniform edition of Books and Tracts. The General Board having taken into consideration the advantage and convenience which would accrue to the Members of the Society by printing the Books and Tracts in an uniform size, have resolved to take on themselves any charge that may be incurred in printing an immediate Edition of the whole on this plan. By this arrangement the Members are now enabled to make their own selection of the different Tracts of the Society, which may be bound up into convenient Volumes, and will form acceptable Presents to those to whom they would wish to communicate Religious Information. It is hoped, that, by affording this in a more durable form, the Present will be more highly prize and the Books become valuable acquisitions to the Cottage Library. It is not, however, intended to supersede the smaller and cheaper.editions for the use of Schools; nor, in some cases, those of a larger type, for the use of the aged.

New Books admitted.

Among these we notice the two following, as being likely to assist in the introduction tion of the National Sys

tem into Schools.

Dr. Bell's System of Instruction broken into Short Questions and Answers. For the Use of Masters and Teachers in the National Schools. Compiled and arranged by the Rev. Frederick Iremonger, M. A. Prebendary of Winchester, 12mo.

Questions for the different Elementary Books used in the National

Schools. Compiled and arranged by the Rev. F. Iremonger, Μ. Α. Prebendary of Winchester

Prize Books.

The subject of adding to the Society's Catalogue a collection of Prize Books for Schools, and Books and Tracts of General Instruction, combined with Amusement, had, for some time, occupied the attention of the General Board; but had been suspended, from the failure of certain negociations, which had been undertaken to carry it into effect. During the course of the present year, the expediency of providing for the increasing demands of the Public, for books of the above description, has again pressed upon the consideration of the Society; and a Sub-Committee has been appointed. The proceedings of this Sub-Committee are not yet sufficiently advanced to be submitted to the General Board; but it is hoped that this valuable addition to the instruction provided by the Society will shortly be obtained.

Arabic Bible.

It was noticed, in the last Annual Report, that a prospect had been opened to the General Board, of dispersing the edition of the Arabie Bible, to which the Society had formerly become contributors. This has now been carried into effect, in some measure; and, on the recommendation of the East-India Mission Committee, to whom the consideration of the subject was referred, 50 Copies of the Arabic Bible, neatly bound, have been directed to be warded to Aleppo, to the care of Mr. Barker, Consul at that place; 50 Copies to Alexandria, to the care of Mr. Salt, Consul-General there; and 20 Copies to Constantinople, to the care of Terrick Hamilton, Esq. Oriental Secretary. Besides these, 50 Copies have also been directed to be forwarded to the Rev. the Archdeacon of Bombay, to be distributed at his discretion.

Family Bible.

On the subject of the Society's Family Bible, in two Volumes Quarto, the Board beg leave to refer to their Report of last year: to which they have only to add, that the first Edition of this Work, comprising three impressions, of 16,500 in the whole, has been completed by the publication of the Index; and that the second Edition, of 6,000 Copies, then announced to have been arranged with the University of Oxford, has proceeded with great regularity, by the publication of a Part monthly, and will shortly be brought to a conclusion.* East-India Mission.

It is with much regret, that the Society have had no communications from their Missionaries in India, during the course of the past year, to report to the public. In the next Report that will be published, there will be some interesting matter to be communicated; from which it will be seen, that the Society have continued their zealous attentions to their ancient and useful Mission, which has been productive of much good; the progress of which has been, of late years, greatly impeded by calamitous events on the Continent, whence have issued the exemplary and very effective Missionaries, who have done so much credit to themselves, to the Society, and to the Cause of Christ; and whose labours, there is now reason to believe, will be succeeded by those of other wise and good men, disposed to tread in their steps.

The Lord Bishop of Calcutta, in the course of his Visitation, investigated the state of the Society's several Missions, and of the Danish Mission at Tranquebar; toward which its Danish Superiors had latterly fail. ed in correspondence, and the remittance of customary supplies, to the very great inconvenience and detriment of the Mission. The Bishop, therefore, had most charitably found means to furnish them with temporary aid; and his opinion respecting the character and labours of the Society's worthy Missionaries, the Rev. Mr. Kolhoff, at Tanjore, and the Rev. Mr. Poble, at Trichinopoly, tends

greatly to confirm the high opinion entertained by the Society of those very respectable men.

Since the above was written, the Society, with great concern, have had information of the death of Mr. Poble, as well as Mr. Pæzold.*

Circumstances having occurred to delay, considerably, the publication of this Repert, it has been deemed proper to anticipate a communication, that cannot fail to be very acceptable to the Members of the Society and to the Public.

Ever since information reached the Society, that it had pleased God to remove from this world that estimable young man, Mr. Jacobi, who had furnished a most pleasing promise of pious industry and usefulness in the Society's Missions, anxious solicitude was entertained, that his place might speedily be supplied by the introduction of another well-qualified Assistant. The Divinity Professor at Halle in Saxony, Dr. Knapp, had been, for a long time past, at the Society's request, looking out for suitable Candidates for the Mission; and, early in the month of June, the Rev. John George Philip Sperschneider arrived in London, with Letters of strong Recommendation from the Rev. Dr. Knapp; in one of which, addressed to his Correspondent in London, dated the 19th of May, 1818, he writes thus: "At last I have the pleasure, which I have so long wished for, of introducing to you, in the bearer of these lines, our excellent new Missionary, Mr. Sperschneider. I cannot recommend this amiable young man, who certainly will tread in the footsteps of the late Mr. Jacobi, in more appropriate and concise terms than in the words of St. John, He hath good report of all men, and of the Truth itself; yea, and we also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. More than this will hardly be necessary to insure to this our Brother a kind and friendly reception."

Mr. Sperschneider's Papers having been examined by the East-India Mission Committee, he was himself introduced, at a subsequent Meeting, by the Rev. Dr. Schawbe, and suitably addressed by the Chairman, who congratulated him on his safe arrival in England, and on his religious disposition to be employed in the interesting work of Propagating Christian Knowledge in India.

On the recommendation of the East-India Mission Committee, Mr. Sperschneider was cordially adopted by the General Board, as one of the Society's Missionaries to India: suitable preparations were directed to be made, and equipments procured, for his early departure: and the vene rable Archdeacon of London was requested to deliver, in the name of the Society, a Charge to him, at a General Meeting of the Board, called for that special purpose.

Funds.

From April 24, 1817, to April 16, 1818, the Receipts and Expenditures have been as follows :

1.

Receipts. s. d. Benefactions & Legacies 6,682 13 1 Annual Subscriptions 10,262 19 Dividends of various

On account of Books. 32,902 16 6
Discount from Book-

seller, &c. for prompt
nayment

2,253 87

The disposable Funds of the Society are very nearly the same as last year; having been at the Audit of 1817, 24,2351. 14s. Od.

Of the amount received for Books, as above specified, the sum of 11,000l. was on account of sales of the Family Bible.

On the subject of Benefactions and Legacies, the Report states :

It is with feelings of peculiar satisfaction that the General Board have to record several important Benefactions made to the Society in the course of the present year. From Mrs. Paumier, of Bath, they have received a Donation of 600l. of which sum, 400l. by her direction, has been appropriated to the General Designs of the Society; and the remaining 200l. is to be expended in furnishing Bibles to Jews, in Mattachery and Jews' Town, in India. To effect a proper distribution of this sum, agreeably to the wish of its benevolent Donor, the Secretary has written to the Bishop of Calcutta on the subject: On his Lordship's reply, immediate steps will be taken to carry this measure into execution.

An Anonymous Benefaction of 3002. has been received. Legacies have been left to the Society-by John Taylor, Esq. late of Brentford, 500l. by the Rev. Thomas Frank, late Vicar of Borden, Kent, 300l. by the late Rev. John Bull, of Bristol, 100l. and by the late Robert Bridges, Esq. jun. 1001.

44

to Messrs. Rivington, Books distributed gratuitously, Printing Reports, the Scilly Mission, Salaries to Officers, the Family Bible, the repurchase of Stock, and Incidentals.

Michael's, St. John's, Colleton, St. Paul's, Colleton, and St. Helena, Beaufort, and the amount has been duly transmitted to the Treasurer. To these congregations the Society gratefully return their thanks. They, at the same time, indulge the pleasing hope, that their bright example will tempt others to taste of that blessedness which arises from doing good. Whatever accidental causes may hitherto have prevented them from joining in this pious and laudable labour of love, may they in time emulate their deeds, and show that they have neither less zeal for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom, nor less love for their fellow Christians, who do not enjoy the advantages and comforts of public worship; nor for their fellow men, to whom the glad tidings of salvation have not yet been preached. By way of exhortation let us remind them, that among the numerous blessings of Christianity, it was to provide instruction for the indigent. To the poor, through our endeavours, under the Divine blessing, let the Gospel therefore be preached.

To give perpetuity to the Society, and to enable it to execute its different objects, the Board of Trustees, at an early period of its existence, established a permanent fund. This fund, accordingly to the plan adopted, must annually accumulate. To it they have ever looked with anxious s is solicitude, and they have nourished it with unceasing care. It, therefore, affords them sincere pleasure to be able to announce to the Members of the Socie ty, that the "Permanent Fund," has increased to an amount which far exceeds the most sanguine expectations of its most zealous friends. By a reference to the documents of the Treasurer, which are now laid on the table for inspection, those who are desirous of a more full and particular statement, may obtain satisfactory information.

But, while the Board of Trustees have diligently and carefully attended to this grand and important object, as the real foundation upon which the existence and stability of the Society depend, they have, at the same time, not neglected, through the means furnished by the common fund, to carry its benevolent purposes into active operation. In the course of the past year, they have distributed the following Books and Tracts:-Bibles, 30; Prayer Books, 147; Gibson's serious Advice to Persons who have been Sick, 107; Gibson on the Lord's Supper, 87; Nelson's Christian Sacrifice, 5; Gibson on Family Devotion, 72; Stevens on the Church, 54; Synyes' Essay on the Knowledge of Religion, 58; Synyes' Answer to Excuses for not receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 81. Since the operations of the Society first commenced, two hundred Bibles have been distributed; seven hun dred and sixteen Prayer Books; three thousand one hundred and eighty-one Tracts, upon different subjects; and three hundred copies of Bishop Porteus's Popular Work on the Evidences of Christianity. The beneficial effects of these little works are not strikingly manifest; but they silently and imperceptibly do much good. They go generally among the poor and needy; they reform their manners, improve their hearts, and bring them, through the aid of Divine Grace, to offer up the incense of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to the Author of their being, through the merits of their glorious Redeemer. Under strong impressions of the good which has been done by these small Tracts, the "Book Committee," of which the Bishop of the Diocess is ex-offi. çio Chairman, has, by his recommendation, determined to publish several other small Tracts. In a former Report, the Board announced to the Society their intention of publishing Bishop Dehon's Sermons on Confirmation, with the address to persons confirmed. These excellent Discourses, it will be recollected, the pious author had designed to bestow on the Society, and that his intention, at the solicitation of the Board, was completed by his widow. The publication has consequently been completed, and numerous copies of the work have been disposed of. It is hoped that they will do essential service in the Diocess. While upon the subject of Books, it is proper also to state, that the Board, under a strong conviction of

the benefits which are likely to arise from the publication of other Sermons of this excellent man, appointed a commit to wait on Mrs. Dehon, to request her to permit a selection of his discourses to be made, with a view to that event. They are happy to state, that she has assented to the application. At no distant period, therefore, the Members of the Episcopal Church may contemplate deriving much pleasure, instruction, and improvement of heart from the perusal of those Sermons, to which they had been accustomed to listen with so much delight,

The Board of Trustees have always contemplated the employment of Missionaries, as the most important object of the Society. In the infancy of the Institution, they were unable to accomplish this useful design, from the want of sufficient means: at present they can carry it into partial execution only, from the want of a sufficient number of Ministers in the Diocess. In the last year's Report, the Board of Trustees announced, with satisfaction, the employment of the Rev. A. Muller, as a Missionary for a limited period. In the present, they are happy to be able to state, that he officiated in the different parishes to which he was directed to go. He administered the holy rite of Baptism to many little children, and instructed many persons in the Catechism. The laity, he reported, in most places, seemed disposed to afford a por, tion of that wealth with which a kind Providence had blessed them, for the support of the Ministry, and the restoration of that form of worship once so dear to their departed ancestors. But, from a want of Ministers to preach the word of God, and to administer the Holy Ordinances of his Religion, they were discouraged from erecting suitable temples, in which a continuance of the blessing and favours of the Lord might be invoked through Jesus Christ. How strongly do these facts illustrate the declaration of our blessed Lord? "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few." With what ardour of devotion then should we obey the precept, which follows-" Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into the harvest." This is a gloomy statement, but it is too full of truth. The Board have ex, perienced the same difficulty from the want of ministerial labourers in the spiritual vineyard. Deeply impressed with a sense of the usefulness of Missionary labours, encouraged by the great benefits which have resulted from the efforts of those few holy men, whom they have been able to send into the destitute parishes, they have made several attempts to engage others to undertake the same duties. They have also attempted to promote the same object, by offering to some of