All the religion they have, amounts unto thus much they believe that there are many Gods, who made and own the several nations of the world; of which a certain Great God in the south-west regions of heaven, bears the greatest figure. They believe, that every remarkable creature has a peculiar God within it, or about it: there is with them a Sun-God, a Moon-God, and the like; and they cannot conceive but that the fire must be a kind of a God, inasmuch as a spark of it will soon produce very strange effects. They believe that when any good or ill happens to them, there is the favour or the anger of a God expressed in it: and hence, as in a time of calamity, they keep a dance, or a day of extravagant ridiculous devotions to their God; so, in a time of prosperity, they likewise have a feast, wherein they also make presents one unto another. Finally, they believe, that their chief God, Kichtan, or Kautantowit, made a man and woman of a stone; which, upon dislike, he broke to pieces, and made another man and woman of a tree, which were the fountains of all mankind; and, that we all have in us immortal souls, which, if we were godly, shall go to a splendid entertainment with Kautantowit; but otherwise, must wander about in a restless horror for ever. But, if you say to them any thing of a resurrection, they will reply upon you, "I shall never believe it." When they have any weighty undertaking before them, it is an usual thing for them to have their assemblies, wherein they worship the Devil.

This was the miserable people which our Eliot propounded unto himself the saving of! And he had a double work incumbent on him: he was to make men of them, ere he could hope to see them saints: they must be civilized, ere they could be christianized. He could not as Gregory once of our nation, see any thing angelical to bespeak his labours for their eternal welfare: all among them was diabolical. To think on raising a number of these hideous creatures unto the elevations of our holy religion, must argue more than common or little senti ments in the undertaker: but the faith of an Eliot could encounter it!

(To be continued.)

Home Proceedings.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

THE Tenth Annual Report of this Institution is published. For the first time, the List of Contributors through the Auxiliary Societies is omitted. The list of such contributors, subjoined to the Ninth Report, occupied upward of 200 pages, of very small type, and contained about 30,000 names. The expense of printing 20,000 copies of such a list became so heavy, that it was judged prudent to print only the, Contributions to the Parent Society, and to leave it to the various Auxiliaries to print and circulate their own. As, however, great advantages arise from exhibiting at one view the whole mass of support which societies receive, it is to be hoped that the practice of giving the entire list will be occasionally resumed.

We have already stated, p. 173, the total net receipts of the tenth year to have been 62,441/. 8s. 10d. It cannot, indeed, be expected, that this noble in. stitution should continue to receive such a sum annually; since the benefactions given at the formation of Auxiliaries are not repeated. Were the Empire, in truth, what a Christian Empire ought to be, the whole mass of pious and benevolent contributions would far and permanently exceed any thing which has yet been seen: but, considering what the Empire actually is, it is cause of devout thankfulness to God that he Has drawn forth such funds for the advance. ment of his own truth in the world.

But, should the Society be in any degree hereafter circumscribed in its pecuniary means of conferring

benefits on mankind, it has exercised an influence which will not cease to be felt at home and abroad. It has infused vigour, by its example, into old Institutions; and it has established or fostered new societies in various parts of the world, which will daily gather strength and grow less dependent on its bounty.

The Report, which occupies 50 pages, is followed by most interesting Extracts of Correspondence, which occupy 150 more.

We have already given some parts of this Correspondence, and shall continue occasionally to extract others. We here subjoin the very eloquent close of the Report.

Your Committee, having now discharged their duty, by presenting this narrative of facts, have only, in conclusion, to enforce on themselves, and the Members of the Society, the obligation of unfeigned gratitude to God, and of augmented energy in prosecuting, to the greatest possible extent, the sacred object of their Assoeiation.

In reflecting upon the progress which the Institution has made during the short period of ten years; in contemplating the estimation which it has attained in the public mind, the strength which it has acquired by Auxiliary Establishments, and the influence which it exercises through the number and rank of its patrons and supporters, both at home and abroad, your Committee, devoutly acknowledging the protecting hand of Divine Providence, are compelled to ascribe, both the origin of the Society, and its extension and success, to Him alone, "who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working."

The seed from which this fruitful plant has sprung, was sown in a season apparently little favourable to its growth and fertility: but, nourished by the secret influences of Heaven, it has arisen and flourished amidst storms and convulsions; extending its loaded boughs to the ends of the earth, and offering the blessings of shade and refreshment to the weary and afflicted of every

nation under heaven. It is still putting forth fresh shoots in almost every direction, and proclaiming, to all who are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, "Fear not"For the tree beareth her fruit."

The storms have now ceased to rage; the convulsions are no longer felt; judgment has given way to mercy; and the long night of discord and calamity, in which Europe and the civilized world have been enveloped, appears to be passing into a glorious day of order, and peace, and social concord.

While your Committee rejoice in the prosperity with which God has blessed the British and Foreign Bible Society, under circumstances of national perplexity, and individual suffering, they entertain a sanguine hope, that the improvement of those circumstances will augment both the facilities and the resources of the Institution, and enable it to advance more rapidly in the execution of its sacred design," to make the way of God known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations."

Independent of those calls upon the Society's exertions, which it has hitherto been accustomed to obey, various new and importunate demands will arise from objects which will now be brought for the first time within the reach of its benevolent attention. Countries sealed up by war, will now be laid open to receive that boon, of which some, perhaps, of their inhabitants have scarcely heard, and of which the greater part have had but a very defective knowledge, and a very limited enjoyment. Other countries, still more remote, will also present themselves to notice; and challenge the Society, through the means of newly-acquired facilities, to make their want of the Holy Scriptures an object of its generous concern. In the mean time, under all the advan tages which peace may be expected to bring, want and suffering, poverty and sickness, will neither so suddenly nor so entirely disappear, as to render the offices of the Society unnecessary among ourselves, and among nations favoured only in the next degree to our own. British and Foreign Bible Society, by the blessing of God, will therefore not be remiss in availing itself of every practicable opportunity for promoting, through the distribution of his Holy Word, the knowledge of his will, and the enlargement of his kingdom.

The

Of all the countries in Europe which have welcomed

the entrance of the Society with cordial and encouraging acceptance, there is none more distinguished than Russia, none which displays a wider scope for advancing the object of the Institution. Comprehending within her limits so many Christian nations, and communicating with a heathen population of indefinite extent, scarcely approachable by any other route, Russia presents at once a field of immense extent for the Society's immediate labours, and opens, through her dominions, a highway for our God. The establishment of a Bible Society at St. Petersburg; the organization of co-operating bodies in Moscow, Yaroslaff, Dorpat, Mittau, Reval, and Riga; the activity of the several Committees; the zeal of the clergy, the nobles, and the people; and the patronage and liberality of his Majesty the Emperor, together with his paternal solicitude for the moral and religious improvement of his subjects, all concur to justify the importance ascribed to this department of the Society's foreign connections, and to authorize a well-grounded hope, that the Institution is designed pre-eminently by Him, "who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth;" "to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; to guide their feet into the way of peace."

Stimulated by these considerations, and encouraged by the success with which the good pleasure of God has crowned the exertions of the Society, let it pursue the course which he appears to have marked out, and continue the dispensation of the Word of Life" to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." In the prosecution of a work so congenial with the spirit of his qwn Revelation, the British and Foreign Bible Society may confidently expect the blessing of God. In proportion as it advances to the completion of its object, it will approach that desired and predicted consummation, when a loud voice shall be heard from Heaven, saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; FOR THE

FORMER THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY."