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Great Britain, has deprived the world of a collection of articles of great literary, philosophical, and political value. Sir Thomas says, in the affecting letter which gave an account of the melancholy disaster, "The property which I have lost, on the most moderate estimate, cannot be less than 20,000l. I might almost say 30,000l. But the loss which I have to regret beyond all, is my papers and drawings; all my papers, of every description, including my notes and observations, with memoirs and collections, sufficient for a full and ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, and every other island in these seas; my intended account of the establishment of Sincapore; the history of my own administration; grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies; and last, not least, a grand map of Sumatra, on which I had been employed since my first arrival here, and on which, for the last six months, I had bestowed almost my whole undivided attention. This, however, was not all-all my collections in natural history, and my splendid collection of drawings, up

wards of a thousand in number, with all the valuable papers and notes of my friends Arnold and Jack. To conclude, Í will merely notice, that there was scarcely an unknown animal, bird, beast, or fish, or an interesting plant, which we had not on board: a living tapir, a new species of tiger, splendid pheasants, &c. &c. all domesticated for the voyage. We were, in short, in this respect, a perfect Noah's Ark. All, all has perished; but, thank God, our lives have been spared, and we do not repine."

NEW SOUTH WALES, &c.

Mr. MacAdam's system of paving has been introduced into Sydney. A presbyterian church is to be erected at Sydney. A Religious Tract Society was formed in Sydney in September last. A bank is about to be incorporated in Van Dieman's Land. An agricultural society has been already established there. A new almanac, calculated for the meridian of the island, is also expected to make its appearance, under the sanction of the Government.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

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A Voyage to Cochin China; by John White. 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Five Years' Residence in the Canadas; by E. A. Talbot. 2 vols. 8vo. 21s.

Tour in Germany and some of the Southern Provinces of the Austrian Empire, in 1820-1-2-3. 2 vols. 16s.

The Library Companion; or, the Young Man's Guide and Old Man's Comfort in the Choice of a Library; by the Rev. T. F. Dibdin. 8vo. 27s.

Watts's Bibliotheca Britannica, in 11 parts, 11. 1ls.

Marshall's Royal Naval Biography; vol. 2, part 1, 8vo. 15s.

Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the late Rev. Edward Williams, D.D., with an Appendix, including Remarks on important parts of Theological Science; by Joseph Gilbert. 1 vol. 8vo.

3s.

Harding's (W.) Short-Hand Improved.

Views in Greece; by W. H. Williams. 8vo. 12s.; 4to. 21s.

Original Letters illustrative of English History; by Henry Ellis. 3 vols. 36s.

Letters on the Character and Poetical Genius of Lord Byron; by Sir Egerton Brydges. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d.

Past and Actual State of Trade carried on by Great Britain with all Parts of the World, from 1697 to 1822; by Cæsar Moreau. On a sheet. 10s. 6d.

Elements of Hydrostatics, designed for the use of Students in the University; by Miles Bland, B.D. 8vo. 12s.

Ingenuous Scruples; by A. C. Mant. 12mo. 5s.

Remains of Robert Bloomfield. 2 vols. fs.-cap 8vo. 12s.

Conchologist's Companion; by the Author of the Wonders of the Vegetable Kingdom.

Outline of the System of Education at New Lanark; by K. D. Owen. 8vo. 2s.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

PRAYER-BOOK AND HOMILY

SOCIETY.

THE last Report of this institution states, that the twelfth year of the Society's proceedings has been one of the most successful which have marked its progress. At home, the patronage of the institution has been very considerably enlarged; and abroad, the Society's sphere of usefulness has continued to expand. The Right Honourable Lord Bexley has been elected President; and his Grace the Archbishop of Tuam, and the Bishops of St. David's, Norwich, and Lichfield and Coventry, Vice-Patrons; and the Earls of Gosford and Roden, with Lord Viscount Lorton and Lord Barham, Vice-Presidents.

The Report first adverts to the foreign operations and correspondence of the Society.

A Clergyman resident at Warsaw, after stating that he had distributed many Homilies in German, and that many more might be circulated with much advantage, proceeds to state, that numerous colonies of Germans are to be found in every part of Poland. 66 Many of these," he adds, "have no pastor. They assemble on Sunday, when a schoolmaster reads aloud a They sing hymns, but have no prayers. A reprint of the Morning and Evening Services of our Church, with the Epistles and Gospels, which reprint could be effected at a small expense, would be peculiarly useful to them."-He adds: “A great curiosity respecting the English Liturgy has been excited here by our English service; and very many foreigners have been inquiring after Prayer-books.'

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"In Poland," he then says, Reformed Church is Episcopal, being a branch of the Church of the Bohemian Brethren. Persecution, indeed, compelled them to lay aside the title of Bishop;' instead of which they use that of General Senior.' But the ordination has ever been preserved pure. Mr. Von Diehl, the present General Senior, was obliged to travel above 400 English miles to be consecrated by an old bishop, then on the point of death. To one of the Reformed clergy I presented a copy of the German Prayer-book; and so highly was he delighted with the prayers, that he said he should make use of parts of them. Indeed, all the ceremonies used in conducting our public worship have commanded the respect of those who have witnessed them." In consequence of this commuCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 273.

nication, a larger supply of books has been sent to Warsaw.

Considerable discussion having arisen among the Protestants in Prussia respecting the adoption of a Liturgy, the Committee have entered into correspondence with a pious Professor at Berlin, to whom they have sent a considerable supply of the Book of CommonPrayer, both in English and German. In a letter written by this gentleman, much pleasure is expressed on his finding that the Society was willing to extend its useful exertions to the Prussian dominions. "The theological students," he says, "who know your Liturgy book, are charmed with it; but few only do know it. I can positively assert that they would very gladly receive copies, and that these would be usefully put into their hands. Your Society, also, would give much pleasure to some of them, if they sent some English copies, as several of our students understand English. Respecting the Christian laity, I can only say, that those who know English, and have seen the Prayerbook, are very much pleased with it; but few of these know English, and fewer still have seen the book. I should think, accordingly, that among laymen also it would be gladly received."

By means of the Tract Societies in Hanover, and at Berlin, by friends at Bremen and Basle, and by others travelling on the continent, or who meet with Germans in this country, Homilies in that language are largely distributed." You will do well," writes a correspondent, "to urge all your friends in reference to your foreign operations. Tell them of the wide field that is opening in GerTell them of the many and Poland. awful prevalence of Socinianism in its very worst form; of the deplorable want of religious instruction; of the profligacy of manners which prevails; of the millions who bear the Christian name, but are in a far worse state than the heathen in almost any part of the world. Tell them, too, that there is hope of a new and better spirit appearing and spreading itself in the north of Germany; that many young men of real piety are now to be found among the students for the ministry. And whither should they look for sound, judicious, practical divinity, to direct them and keep them from mysticism and enthusiasm, but to that church which seems to have been so wonderfully raised 4 G

up, preserved, and blessed, to be a bulwark of the cause of true religion in Europe and in the world?"

During the last year, several copies of the Prayer-book in Italian have been sold or distributed with acceptance in Italy. A correspondence has been commenced with, and Prayer-books in French, Italian, and Latin sent to, some pastors of the church in the valleys of Piedmont. When a friend of this Society lately visited a Protestant pastor in a town situated at the foot of the Alps, he saw on his table a Latin copy of our Liturgy. At a miserable village, lying between two mountains, where he had occasion to pass a Sabbath, he met with a Carmelite Capuchin friar, who comes, every Sunday, three good hours' march up the mountain covered with snow, to preach to the few poor people who inhabit the hamlet. Into the hands of this laborious missionary, and of his companion, the Society's friend placed two Italian Prayer-books, and two sets of Italian Homilies.

Since the last anniversary, the Committee have proceeded in causing some of the Homilies to be translated into Dutch; in which language they have also printed prayers, collects, and thanksgivings, selected from the Liturgy. Many copies of these, as well as of the Homilies in Dutch, will be sent to the Cape of Good Hope, where, it is said, there are many readers, and few books.

The Committee having requested their correspondent, the Chaplain to the British Embassy at Constantinople, to procure for them, if practicable, a good translation into Modern Greek of the Second Homily, "On the Misery of Mankind by Sin," he employed a Mr. Alexander Argyramo, who is superintendant of the Patriarchal press, and well acquainted with the modern European languages, to translate that Homily; which he has done to the satisfaction of his employer; and the Committee have consented to its being printed, after having been inspected by the Archbishop of Mount Sinai, who has the character of being a very learned and excellent person. The Ninth Homily also," Against the Fear of Death," translated into Modern Greek by Mr. Theodore Racke, a Greek merchant at Marseilles, is to be submitted to the same revision. The Society's correspond ent asks, "Did you ever think of translating any of the Homilies into Armenian? The Armenians are here a large body of Christians, probably about 200,000 in Constantinople and the villages of the Bosphorus. They are, moreover, a very

religious people, fond of serious subjects, and are particularly anxious to purchase copies of the Bible in their own language. I am disposed to think that some of our Homilies, rendered into their vernacular tongue, would be very acceptable to them." To this suggestion the Committee willingly listened, and have requested further information as to the practicability of procuring the versions proposed.

The same correspondent mentions the following interesting incident. “A short time since a Jew was introduced to me at Constantinople, who wished to be instructed in the doctrines of Christianity. He informed me, that he was a native of Poland; and that, having associated much with Christians, and read the Scriptures, he wished to be further informed on the subject of religion. As he knew no languages but Hebrew and German, I should have found some difficulty in communicating with him as fully as I wished, had not your German Liturgy afforded me the means of supplying him with the most effectual information. He read it with avidity, expressed great satisfaction at its excellent spirit, and, after some interviews, requested to be baptized in the faith which it inculcated. The Sunday following being the Conversion of St. Paul, we fixed on that day for the ceremony. Three Germans attended him to the chapel of the British Embassy as his sponsors; and he was baptized and received into the church of Christ, in the presence of their Excellencies the British Ambassador and Prussian Minister, who witnessed the ceremony. He is a serious respectable young man, and was duly impressed with the solemnity of the occasion. He had studied with particular care the baptismal service, and was well acquainted with its nature and object. He had, moreover, read all the parallel parts of the New Testament, in a copy kindly supplied by the British and Foreign Bible Society. I presented him, in your name, with the Prayer, book, and he begged to become a member of the Society which had issued it."—This gentleman sent to the Society a donation of twenty-four piastres.

Our readers will perceive, from these statements and incidents, that the circulation of the formularies of our Church in foreign languages is an object of very great interest and magnitude, and deserving of far greater patronage and support than the Society has hitherto enjoyed. We most strongly recommend the object to all our fellow-churchmen. We shall take another opportunity of noticing the

Society's proceedings in distributing our established formularies in the vernacular tongue.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE

SOCIETY.

The following is an abstract of the Twentieth Report of this most useful and magnificent institution ;-an institution for which we can never be sufficiently grateful to the Author of all good, who put it into the hearts of its first founders to devise, and of its numerous friends, during twenty years, to follow up, its truly scriptural designs.

In giving an abstract of the proceedings of the British and Foreign Bible Society during the past year, two or three facts in its domestic affairs seem to demand particular attention.

One of these facts is, that, during that period, 124 new Biblical Institutions have been formed, comprising Auxiliary and Branch Societies and Associations. Thus, after twenty years of continued operation, since the first establishment of the Bible Society, numerous districts had remained up to the present period comparatively inactive in the cause; and we may feel assured that a very great and widely extended space still remains in the same circumstances. On the other hand, the number of such new institutions holds out the encouragement that in other parts also, yet unoccupied by the labourers of the Society, there needs but the zealous exertion of some able and judicious friends to produce results the most favourable to its interests.

Another fact to be mentioned is, that the expenditure of the Parent Society during the year has been about 89,500. while there has been an increase in the contributions, mainly derived from Auxiliary Societies, of above 1000. There is, therefore, a call upon the liberality of the Christian public for continued and efficient support to operations carried on upon so vast a scale, and, at the same time, matter of thankfulness to the Great Disposer of the hearts and affections of men, that that support has been so largely afforded.

Another statement, connected with that immediately preceding, is, that the issues of Bibles and Testaments from the depository of the Parent Society have exceeded those of the former year by above 30,000 copies. Needs another word be added, to shew how far the want of the Scriptures is from being supplied even in our own islands?

In reference to the part where this want was greatest, perhaps, and most grievous, our sister country, Ireland, the Parent Committee have been able recently to avail themselves of opportunity for very extensive operations. Five thousand Bibles and 20,000 Testaments, in the Irish character and language, are printed or printing; and 43,000 copies of the Scriptures, or parts of them, have been granted, during the year, to the London Hibernian Society, whose numerous schools, containing nearly 90,000 scholars, afford the means of prompt and effective distribution. The Sunday School Society for Ireland, the Ladies' Hibernian Female School Society, and the Baptist Irish Society, have all received, to a greater or less amount, similar supplies.

Passing to our colonies in foreign parts, the beneficial influence of the Society is found to be almost universally felt and acknowledged throughout them.

In New South Wales, a depository has been established. At the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Mauritius, the Auxiliary Societies are in active operation. At Sierra Leone, the plan of domestic visits has been adopted with the most gratifying success; 679 Bibles and 561 Testaments are already in circulation, and demands have been made for 531 Bibles and 610 Testaments. From the West-India Islands equally pleasing accounts have been received. An Auxiliary Society is in active, operation in Jamaica; that existing in Antigua has lately been revived, and promises to proceed with increased efficiency; and a great proportion of the Bibles and Testaments circulated by its means have been purchased by the Negroes on the island. In St. Kitt's also, and in other parts, the work of distributing the Scriptures is effectually making progress.

In British North America, while operations on an extended scale are carried on at Montreal and Quebec, copies of the Scriptures are continually being brought into circulation among families and individuals in the remotest settlements. A Clergyman in Nova Scotia writes, "I have some times found not one Testament in a house where the number of inhabitants has been from ten to thirteen. The nature of their employment leaves little leisure for atten tion to other pursuits; but a copy of the Scriptures, judiciously distributed, is of great value to the poor emigrant, who has many miles to travel to hear the word of God."

In proceeding to India, the Auxiliary

Societies at the three Presidencies, and in the island of Ceylon, are found all actively employed in the work of revision and translation. Three very important languages, more extensively spoken and understood than perhaps any other of the dialects of India, the Persian, Hindoostanee, and Bengalee, are at present occupying particular attention. To the translators at the well known establishment at Serampore, grants have been made to the amount of 5,500. during the past year, such has been the magnitude of their expenditure, and such is the extent of the operations in which they are now employed. Though the versions so produced are necessarily, in the first instance, imperfect and defective, yet some of them have already passed through several editions and revisals; and no language can be more appropriately applied to those engaged in the production of them than that of the translators of our own Authorized Version, who, speaking of those who had preceded them in accomplishing an English translation of the Bible, say; "Therefore blessed be they, and most honoured be their names, that break the ice, and give the onset in that which helpeth forward to the saving of souls. Now what can be more available thereto, than to deliver God's book unto God's people in a tongue which they understand?"

Some copies of the Chinese Bible, printed at Canton, have lately been received in this country. They were brought over by the translator in person, the learned and indefatigable Dr. Morrison, and have made a valuable addition to the Society's stock of Eastern Versions. It will not be forgotten, that, at the Anniversary Meeting of the Parent Society in 1823, Dr. Marshman's son presented a translation of the Scriptures into the same language, accomplished by the missionaries at Seram

pore.

In the proceedings of the Auxiliary Society at Calcutta, one feature presents itself which must not escape notice, from its analogy to the operations of Auxiliaries in their respective districts in our own country. The system of those minor societies, formed for including the co-operation of the lower classes, which we are accustomed to call Bible Associations, has been carried to India, and one of these interesting institutions has been established in the heart of Calcutta itself. Results similar to those obtained in this country have attended its operations; and to read the statement of its proceedings and effects is indeed cheering and delightful. "At the

close of the last year," it is stated, "nearly eight months after its establishment, the sums collected by this infant Association amounted to nearly 6000 rupees (above 700.) a result which never could have been effected without the most active attention of the Committee to their laborious duties. This has been substantiated farther by the long list of small donations annexed to the Report which was read at their last general meeting. It was evident, from that interesting document, that the peculiar features of a Bible Association had been kept in view, by a patient following up of district labour. It is by such labours alone that the wants of the population can be adequately supplied, or their zeal embodied. To every reflecting mind, however, this must appear to be no easy task; especially considering the state of society in India, where, from the prejudices to be overcome, and the diversity of classes and languages, it must be peculiarly arduous. That the Calcutta Association should not only have entered on this undertaking, but have so efficiently held on its course, is therefore honourable to the persons concerned, and must afford the liveliest satisfaction to all who favour the cause." Such are the observations of the Committee of the Calcutta Auxiliary Society; observations in which their friends in England will doubtless cordially concur.

Passing from India to Egypt, we find the members of the Coptic Church in that country receiving, from time to time, from the hands of missionaries travelling among them, supplies of the Sacred Scriptures, forwarded to them from the Parent Institution, or its Auxiliary at Malta. And for the interesting and long neglected Church of Abyssinia, provision has at length been made by the publication, for the first time, of the four Gospels in the vernacular language of the country, which left the press in the course of the past year.

In Turkey and Greece, nations arrayed against each other in bloody warfare are alike experiencing the kindly and peaceful operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the Turkish language, the New Testament has been published, and an edition of the whole Bible is advancing towards completion. In the mean time, thousands of Greek Testaments are distributing in that language in which the Holy books of the Gospel were first written, and to the inhabitants of those countries where the first Christian churches were established. A new translation into the modern language of Greece, and in a

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