The receipts from all sources during the year were £81,735 16s. 4d.; the grants amounted to £36,296 17s. 10d.; and the issues from the Depository were 160,701 Bibles, and 182,444 Testaments, total, 343,145 copies of the Scriptures; besides 32,954 Bibles, and 207,789 Testaments on the Continent; a grand total of 583,888 copies of the Word of God. The Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Bible Society was held in Exeter Hall, May 2, 1832, when the Bishops of Chester, Calcutta, Lichfield and Coventry, and Sodor and Man, the Hon. and Rev. G. Noel, the Rev. J. Clayton, Jun., the Rev. J. Clayton, Sen., the Rev. Dr. Steinkopff, the Rev. J. W. Cuningham, the Rev. J. A. James, the Rev. E. Bickersteth, and Sir T. D. Achard, addressed the Assembly, in the spirit of the followers of Jesus Christ. THE TWENTY-NINTH YEAR OF THE SOCIETY, TRIALS and triumphs attend the Christian through life; and such must be the experience of every Christian Society. This was found by the Bible Society in the present year; yet the Committee saw occasion to commence their "Report" with the joyful language of the Psalmist, "Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen." Reflecting on the Bible cause in France, in hearing of the death of their Agent in that country, it was resolved : "That this Committee cannot receive the intelli gence of the decease of their late agent in Paris, Professor Kieffer, without recording the deep sense they entertain of the great loss that the Society has sustained in that event, and the consolation they experience from the extraordinary devotedness manifested by him, for several years, in spreading the Scriptures throughout almost every part of France. "That while they look back with gratitude upon the whole period of his agency, extending over a space of fifteen years, and while they especially call to remembrance his great work of editing the Turkish Bible, and his other numerous literary services rendered to the cause of the Society, they are filled with admiring gratitude at the fact, that, during the last two years, not less than 347,541 copies of the Sacred Scriptures passed through his hands, with a most voluminous correspondence with friends of the Bible, throughout the kingdom of France." Professor Kieffer, in the year 1796, was despatched to Constantinople, as interpreter and secretary to the French embassy. His stay in that capital lasted eight years; and when the war broke out with Egypt, he was confined in the prison known by the name of the Seven Towers, together with the French chargé-d'affaires, whose assistance in the study of several Oriental languages, and more especially the Turkish, was of essential benefit to him. In 1803, M. Kieffer returned to Paris, having been appointed to accompany a Turkish ambassador to the court of Napoleon; and, on his arrival, was nominated secretary and interpreter of the Oriental languages in the foreign office. Divine Providence, by this seven years imprisonment, gave him the means of perfecting himself in the Turkish language, elevating him to the first rank among Oriental scholars, and preparing him to answer the important end of publishing the entire Bible in the Turkish language! M. De Pressensé, having been strongly recommended by the friends of the Bible cause in Paris, was engaged to fill the office of the late Professor Kieffer. Dr. Pinkerton's services at Frankfort were highly important, showing "that during the year 1832, he had issued to correspondents in the different states of Germany, Prussia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Switzerland, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, &c., 52,421 copies of the Holy Scriptures. Of these, 26,167 copies were New Testaments for distribution among Roman Catholics; and in the German Bohemian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and other languages." "I may further mention," he states, "that during the year we have printed 46,525 copies of the Scriptures in the German, Polish, and Hungarian languages, at the expense of the Society." Dr. Pinkerton's correspondence shows that the cause of the Bible was progressing in Germany, Switzerland, Wurtemberg, and Poland. Dr. Paterson reported favourably concerning the Bible Societies in Sweden and Norway, many particulars of which illustrate the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The Protestant Bible Society in St. Petersburg proceeded, but on a very limited scale, as if restricted by an unfriendly power. Spain, Portugal, and Italy remained still almost closed by the priests against the Holy Scriptures. The depôt at Malta maintained all its importance more than in former years; while the Rev. Mr. Leeves continued his operations in Corfu, proceeding in the revision of the Modern Greek translation of the Bible. Mr. Barker also continued to superintend the depôts both at Smyrna and Constantinople; and various operations were carried on to circulate the Scriptures in Asiatic Turkey. The Calcutta Bible Society proceeded on its course; but its report of 1832, did not in due time reach England. The Madras Society reported "the issues of the year to have been 12,909 copies of the entire Bible, or portions of different versions; and the revision of the Tamil New Testament, for an edition of 12,000 copies. The Malayalim Scriptures of both Testaments, continue to be earnestly sought after; and the Committee regret that they can only meet the demands for the New. The printing of the Old Testament has been completed, and a Sub-committee has been formed to revise the New. The Committee have determined also upon proceeding with the printing of the Old Testament in the Teloogoo." The Colombo Auxiliary states, "Instead of printing an edition of 5,000 copies of the books of Genesis, and 5,000 of the New Testament in the IndoPortuguese language, as the Committee in Colombo had been authorized to do, they have printed only 2,500 of each, under the hope of obtaining the sanction of the Society in London for an edition of the entire Bible." This was proposed by the Rev. B. Clough, then in England, from Ceylon. Various efforts were made by Dr. Morrison, aided by the Rev. Mr. Gutzlaff to circulate the Scriptures among the Chinese. Mr. Gutzlaff went several voyages to the north of China, Corea, the Loo-Choo Islands, and Japan, carrying with him boxes of Chinese Bibles and other religious books; considerable improvement in the mode of printing was made by the Missonaries, especially the Rev. S. Dyer, reducing the expenses in the work. Dr. Morrison also welcomed several American Missionaries into the field of Biblical labours in China. An edition of the New Testament was now printed at Singapore; and progress was made in the Siamese version. Mr. Gutzlaff wrote to the Society :-"I regret that the Indo-Chinese translations are not printed; we shall soon want about 10,000 copies of the New Testament for distribution in CochinChina, Tonquin, Hainam, Maritina-China, Manchou, Tartary, Corea, Satsuma, and Loo-Choo." Portions of the Scriptures were now ready for printing in the New Zealand language, by Church Missionaries, in the language of Tonga, by the Wesleyan; and the Malagasse, by those of the London Society. The Committee engaged to bear the expense of a second edition of the New Testament, now printing at Madagascar. The work of translating, printing, and circulating |
