influence of revealed truth. There may be a momentary gratification from sensual indulgence-there may be a buoyancy of spirits in the youthful glow of health-there may be a delirious joy in the triumphs of unhallowed ambition. But there can be no substantial peace of mind, which does not arise from obedience to the truth; the foundation on which rests the felicity of heaven

Would you cheer the Christian who is lan. guishing in poverty? open to him the volume in which he can read his title to mansions in the heavens. Would you revive the spirit which affliction has overpowered? spread before it the pages which will cause it to glory in tribulation. Would you sustain the soul which is sinking in death? read the invitations which direct it to look to the eternal God as its refuge.

The same divine word, which pours light and joy into the heart of the humble believer, dispels the darkness which has rested for ages on the nations of the earth. It was this which burst the gloom in which even the Christian world was sunk before the Protestant reformation. It is this which, from that day to the present, has been shedding a brighter and brighter light upon the people who have welcomed its beams. It is this which will triumph over every remaining superstition and error; which will break up the systems of idolatrous worship; which will fill the earth with the knowledge and the glory of God.

This is the true, the infallible, the only standard of religious doctrine. Amidst the endless variety of opinions with which I am surrounded, how am I to fix upon a creed which I may know to be right? The discoveries of science will not reveal the secret. The researches and acquirements of literature will not settle the question. The decisions of councils, of synods, of learned expositors, may only serve to confirm me in error. can have no ground of safety but in appealing to the simple word of God. What I there find, I know to be everlasting truth. What is not to be found there, has no claim to be admitted as a doctrine of religion. It may have a place among the dreams of philosophy. It may serve to give a polish to the weapons of theological combatants. But it does not belong to the armor of Christian faith. If we know and obey what our final Judge has revealed, as the guide of our lives, we may safely be ignorant of the theories and speculations of men. President Day. "I am here," says the Asiatic. Yes, the Hindoo is a rational being. So is the African, so is the red man of the west, so is the Icelander in his hut of snow, and the inhabitant of every island, and every shore. "I am here," says the contemplative heathen; "but how came I here? I am fearfully and wonderfully made; but who made me? And who created these wonders within, above, and about me? Who spread the earth with verdure? Who bounded the waves of the ocean? What hand lighted up the sun? Who hung the firmament with the countless twinkling worlds that decorate the mantle of night?

"There is a God, all nature cries;" VOL. XX.

Yet He is invisible-far above, out of sight. What are his attributes? What is his will? Wherewith shall I come before him? With what kind of worship will he be pleased? And above all, can he, and will he save a sinner?

"What shall the dying sinner do,

That seeks relief from all his wo?"

Now, withhold from the benighted inquirer the light of revelation, and who shall answer these most interesting of all questions? Let him go to the priest of his pagan temple. His priest is a lying vanity. Let him address his idol; an idol nothing in the world. From all that is created, there is no voice, nor any that regard, nor any that answer him. Let him retire to the sanctuary of his own soul, and call into action the mightiest powers of the human mind, and endeavor by searching to find out God. Reason cannot climb the topless throne. Imagination cannot soar so high. The understanding surrounded by infirmities, returns baffled from the search. The heart, panting for repose, wastes itself by its own eager activity, only to languish in despair. With all the wisdom of the schools, therefore, and all the light that nature can give, the poor heathen must go down to the grave, doubting. Not a gleam of hope, not a ray of light breaks in from eternity. But give that heathen a Bible, and how changed is his condition! By this you teach him his origin, his destiny, his duty, and his happiness. You give him the most important of all information. You spread before him the most sublime hopes. You put within his reach sources of joy, that is unspeakable and full of glory!

O! Sir, did I hold in one hand a diamond with which I might purchase the world, and in the other a Bible, and could I catch a single glance at the things which are unseen and eternal, that glance would constrain me to cast away the one as dross, while I would carry the other to the sick man's chamber, or the couch of the dying, or to the dark dwelling of some heathen, (I care not where he dwells,) and there would I spread before him a treasure, which, with the blessing of God, is sufficient to save a soul from death, and cover a multitude of sins. Rev. Mr. Peters.

To the Bible we owe the preservation, the revival, the encouragement of learning. The Bible would have been universally respected had not this been forgotten.-Infidel philosophers ambitious of distinction, have rejected the Bible and set up themselves as the source of illumination; and unfortunately too many have paid them the homage of credence and confidence. The effect has been enjoyed, but the cause has not been sought. But, Sir, is it not a fact that infidels in common with Christians are indebted to the Bible for much of the learning and information whieh distinguish the age? If so, then the Bible demands from them a tribute of gratitude, and they are under equal obligation with us, to promote its circulation. To the Bible we owe the preservation of the Greek and Latin languages, and the books which were written in them. The Septuagint is the manifest cause of transmitting a knowledge of the Greek, and the

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Latin translations of the Bible prevented the loss of that elegant language. The writings of Josephus were carefully examined, being in part, a history of that very time in which Christianity took its rise, and being found to corroborate some of the Gospel narrations, were guarded with the utmost care and vigilance. The New Testament having been written in Greek, was a means of bringing that into daily use, for whoever would know the doctrines it contained, must also know the language in which they were stated.

As to the Hebrew, the single fact of the Bible's having been written in it is perhaps, the only cause of its existence at present, any where upon the face of the earth. Whoever reflects upon the history of the Jews, their numerous captivities-their frequent dispersions their banishments to every part of the world-their consequent mixtures with nations of other tongues, must perceive that the Bible is the most probable means of its preservation-must consider it a singular incident, that notwithstanding the ravages of time, and the numerous revolutions of states and kingdoms, that language remains pure to the present day.

To an age which has very properly been called an age of darkness," to an age of violence, when every thing valuable was menaced with destruction, we are to trace the origin of Abbeys, Monks and Monasteries. A few men fled to lonely cells to give themselves wholly to study and devotion. In these solitary places, their books were collect. ed; here only for a time, the lamp of science shone. And though monachism for many reasons deserves our censure, and by an unrighteous policy, defeated at last its first designs yet we are obliged to confess, that it has transmitted the knowledge of many important events which happened in later times, and handed down to our day the learning of antiquity. This, however, was but a secondary cause-the Bible was at the bottom of it; and had not the Bible existed, a monk had not been cloistered.

Then the progress of science was exceedingly slow-oral communication was almost the only method of instruction. Some would have made an effort to enlighten the world, but wanted courage to resist the opposition of the times in which they lived. Others, too much like Alexander, who was angry at Aristotle for making known the secrets of science, were satisfied with the prevailing ignorance, as it secured to them an unbounded influ

ence.

Manuscripts were scarce; and from the time and labor requisite to transcribe them were likely to be so the paucity of their number enhanced their value, and consequently hindered the advancement of science among the people in general.-Christ has indeed said that he was "the light of the world." but "gross darkness still covered the earth." But, Sir, it was since the incarnation, and where the Bible was known, that the art of printing was discovered. What influence the Bible exerted upon, or what connexion it bad with that invention, is unknown; but surely, the invention has such a manifest bearing upon the accomplishment of the Al

mighty's purposes, that one cannot but conjecture that some how or other it had an important influence.

How admirable is the progress of the divine administration! The time had arrived for the reduction of the papal power and the eyes of the world to be opened. But for some method more expeditious than that of writing, to scatter the sentiments of Luther,ages would have been requisite for their dissemination. But, typography, recently invented, gave them a ready, a rapid and extensive circulation-and the powerful hold which they took of the minds of men, produced the Reformation. Since that time learning has been transferred from private places to more public schools and colleges. Books without end have been multiplied, and science and literature have been making prodigious advancement; and when you look abroad and calculate the number of literary institutions-when you witness the knowledge and information which are disseminated through all orders of society, and are led to inquire what mighty cause has produced these grand events, your answer is, the Bible and should you, elated with the view of this state of things, inquire what means are requisite to its continuation-your answer is again, the Bible,-The Bible has put the intellectual world in motion-and the Bible will keep it in motion. And surely, Sir, if Theuth among the Egyptians, and Hermes among the Greeks, obtained divine honors for their invention of letters, can language express the gratitude we owe the Bible, which has transmitted to modern times the sentiments and learning of past generations, and communicated to man the ideas of God? And if the Bible afford the best security of obedience to human laws-to civil libertyand learning, then, surely, the cause of the Bible is the cause of humanity; for this is concerned in every effort to remove the misery and promote the happiness of mankind. Let us then send the Bible abroad-and in conformity with the principles of this institution, I will add "without note or comment.". Its cardinal truths are easy of apprehension. It is only to read to understand. "The wayfaring man though a fool need not err therein." Rev. Mr. Brown.

Men dwelling together, and coming in immediate contact in all the interesting concerns of life, are constantly affected by the temper, the disposition, the practices, the example, the vices, and the whole deportment of each other. Avarice, ingratitude, unkindness, jealousy, cruelty, fraud, malignity, revenge, and selfishness, in their varied and innumerable forms spread desolation far and wide, and fill the abode of men with wretchedness and misery. What book but the Bible furnishes the means of prevention of these evils? Where else is the balm for these woundsthe remedy for these plagues?

Its commands and lessons of instruction, its promises and threatenings, its examples and assurances, are addressed to men with an energy becoming their importance, and with endlessly diversified entreaty and persua

sion,

Its commands, unlike those of any human government, come to us with a "Thus saith

the Lord," with a "Verily, verily, I say unto you." They are the dictates of truth, justice, and boundless benevolence, under the guidance of infinite wisdom, and suited to men in every condition. They are designed to reach the heart, and thus to regulate the seat of the affections, and the motives of action. They deal with thoughts, intents and purposes. Duties are thus enjoined which no human tribunal ever attempted to enforce. Courteousness, kindness, gratitude, temperance in its most enlarged sense; order, discretion, industry, filial and parental affection, forgiveness of injuries, humility, and charity, are all far beyond the reach of legislative enactment; but in the Bible, they are recommended in the most happy manner, and commanded by infinite authority. How much do the opposite propensities and vices annoy and distresswhat pain and anguish do they create--what shipwreck of human happiness do they make -the peace of how many millions have they

slain!

Its instructions concern that almost infinite variety of conduct in men which is exhibited in all the relations they sustain: citizens and subjects, masters and servants, parents, guardians, and children, husbands and wives, nobles, judges, governors and kings, are alike addressed, counselled, and warned. Their duties and their influence on others, their means of doing good, and their responsibility, are pointed out with such clearness, that to hear, to regard, and to obey, seem perfectly easy, and disobedience wholly inexcusable. Hon. Mr. Daggett.

Commentaries on the Scriptures.

Should not the Scriptures, however, be accompanied with notes and comments? So far as commentators enable us to understand what we read, we may be grateful for their aid. But we are not to look for improvements on a revelation from heaven. The volume of immutable truth is not to be wrought into a more perfect form by metaphysical refinement. It will not be in a higher degree, the wisdom of God, and the power of God to salvation, when translated into the technical language of modern theological systems. There is no sectarian alchymy, which can convert it into a purer and more precious treasure. It does not yield to the rude hand which would tear the veil from its mysteries. The waters of life will not flow, with a more healing efficacy, by being mingled with the turbid streams which human ingenuity has put in motion.

In the sciences, and in the arts of life, we may look for discoveries. But the advances which are yet to be made, in the knowledge of God and his kingdom, must consist, in coming nearer and nearer to the revelation, which he has made of himself. This is brought to us indeed, in the language of men. Its brightness may be obscured by the medium through which it is communicated; but a more complete exhibition of religious truth is not to be expected on the earth. To those who are admitted to learn the language of heaven, a more perfect revelation will undoubtedly be made. Mysteries which have been hid for ages, will be unfolded to

the enraptured view of the redeemed. But, till the visions of futurity open upon us, we must rest satisfied with what is already revealed. President Day.

On the Distribution of the Scriptures.

Is it necessary to distribute the scriptures? May not every one be left to procure them for himself? The records of this Society will abundantly show, what has been the consequence of leaving this supply to be furnished without combined and vigorous efforts. The man, who is not already possessed of the Scriptures, has formed no just estimate of their value. In the absence of the sacred volume, he has lost all relish for its contents. If you would reclaim the profligate sensualist, you must not merely render it possible for him to purchase a Bible; you must carry and place it in his hands. If you would rouse to reflection the thoughtless mariner, you must see that he has it with him, as he rides upon the surges of the deep. If you would wish the rays of heavenly light to pierce the dark forests of the west; your labors of benevolence must remove the obstructions, which prevent its admission. If you would convert the idolatrous Hindoo, you must read to him in the shade in which he reposes, the commands of the Most High God. What else can overthrow the systems of superstition, which have been gathering strength for ages, till they are almost as immovably fixed as the foundations of the hills?

What we do, Sir, for the distribution of the Scriptures to the present generation, must be speedily done. They are rapidly passing beyond the reach of our efforts. If the infat uated votary of pleasure is not quickly reclaimed, by the influence of truth; he will go down to death, his steps will take hold on hell. If the bible is not soon in the hands of the wanderer on our western borders, he will never open his eyes on its life-giving pages. If the light of revelation does not soon shine upon the nations of paganism, the shadows of death will overspread them. They and we shall have gone to the generation of our fathers. Pres. Day.

Suppose we succeed in distributing the Bible to every individual of our race, so that all shall read it in their own tongue wherein they were born, what shall we have accomplished by this universal diffusion of the Scriptures? Why, Sír, we shall have put into the hand of every child of man, an epistle from his Creator, filled with the most important instruction, able to make him wise unto eternal life. We shall have poured a flood of light upon the human mind, and scattered the treasures of heaven over the face of the globe. We give to all men what angels love, and what makes angels happy; it is what, with the blessing of God, will make all men happy.

Rev. Mr. Peters.

Let us send the Bible abroad-"an excellent spirit is in it." It resolves our doubts, removes our fears, promotes our joys.

Let us send the Bible abroad-a divine power attends it. Bearing the characters of simplicity and majesty, all opposition falls

Co-operation of Different Denominations. Among the circumstances connected with the organization and progress of this Institution, the union and fraternal co-operation of Christians of different denominations, is one of no trifling import. Reference has been frequently and eloquently had to this fact, upon occasions like the present; and I deem it a most exalted privilege to be permitted again to mention it, in terms of the purest, the loftiest approbation. No sacrifice of religious feeling, no abandonment of honest sentiment, no merging of conscientious scruples in the fashionable vortex of expediency, is the price of our fellowship in this good work. We have combined our energies and resources, and have come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, upon Bible principles; and just in proportion to the reception of Bible truth into our hearts, in all its unsophisticated and uncommented purity, shall be the holy permanency of our union and the unyielding activity of our benevolence. The one business of the Board has been to disseminate the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make men wise unto salva. tion, through faith which is in Christ Jesus; and our united fervent prayer, is embodied in the language of the Psalmist-"Oh God! send out thy light and thy truth. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us: yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."

Rev. Mr. Cone.

Need of Systematic and Energetic Effort.

The following paragraph is recommended to the careful attention of clergymen and churches.

The system of charitable education must be pushed far beyond any point which seems yet to be set up in our imagination. A new era in respect to this object has indeed opened on the American Church within a few years, but we have only begun our course. Our plans must be greatly enlarged and our exertions many times doubled before we shall meet the wants of the world or even the necessities of our own country. I hope in God that we shall enter on a system of more extensive and earnest solicitation, connected with other organized measures to rouse and sustain the public feeling. Our brethren on the other side of the water manage matters in these respects far better than we do. They are in

the habit of sending out ministers of respectable standing to preach and take up collections through extensive circuits, and sometimes to labor in particular districts with a view of preparing them for the future formation of auxiliaries. One society, under the pressure of circumstances, has been known to employ fifteen or twenty ministers at once. Another has fifty or sixty sermons and collections near the time and place of its annual meeting. A third has anniversaries for its auxiliaries and associations, and appoints several respectable clergyman in connexion generally with one of the secretaries, to attend the anniversary of each auxiliary. These spend several days, including one Šabbath, in preaching and tak. ing up collections in a circuit of ten or fifteen miles around the place of meeting, and in attending the anniversaries of the associations; and when they have thus prepared the public mind for a great meeting in the centre, it takes place with prodigious effect. Through these various and continued exertions, made by the ministers of Christ without shrinking from the labor or the self-denial, the public spirit does not flag after the first excitement is over, but is kept up and enlightened and reduced to a system and a habit. By these means, in addition to their well assorted and able publications, and their system of collectors, (both, measures of astonishing efficiency,) the societies on the single island of Great Britain annually raise and expend a million and a half of dollars. Surely we have not yet begun. We have done nothing in comparison with this even in proportion to our means. We must own an inferiority as mortifying as it is guilty. O my country! will you never awake? Must we continue to see your ministers fastened to their home, your churches unwilling to spare them for a month, your merchants and farmers and mechanics, each engrossed in his own concerns? O for some wind from heaven to dissolve this love of ease and of pelf, and to make America feel that a Savior died for her. Rev. Dr. Griffin.

Salutary influence of Benevolent Institu

tions.

There is an effect produced by the operations of Auxiliary Societies, and Bible Associations, which cannot be contemplated without the most lively satisfaction. Every man who engages in them, however humble the sphere of his labors, is thereby excited to form purposes of a high and lofty character: he aspires to be a benefactor. No greater good can be done to a man in this world, than to awaken in him a desire, and lead him to cherish a purpose like this. But the good which is done, is of the highest kind-is known to be of the highest kind. The humble and obscure, who exert themselves, to distribute the Bible in their little neighborhoods, design to give what they believe to be the greatest of all gifts; to bestow the unsearchable riches of Christ. And while they are blest, and elevated, by forming and cherishing such purposes; they communicate that, which excites others to the same noble work. They give a book which does more to promote human improvement than all other books.

I do but repeat common remarks, when I say that the Bible contains more important history, higher eloquence, deeper pathos-nay, Sir, I need not go farther in particulars familiar to every mind; but shall include all in a general remark, that the Bible communicates a mightier impulse to the human understanding, and gives a wider range to human thoughts-than all other books in the world. But it not only promotes intellectual improvement: it also awakens the deepest moral feeling that can be awakened in the human heart. The cord that vibrates there, is touched by the finger of heaven; and the tone which is heard is in unison with the music of heaven: it breathes the spirit of heaven. At this touch man is wakened up from his sleep of death; raised above all that is sordid and selfish; and while he tends upwards, he reaches out his arms of love, and endeavors to draw others upward with him.

Hence it is, that while out of the pale of the Christian church, the progress of Society is unknown, and the phrase unintelligible, the idea is perfectly familiar with us, and the thing palpable. I do not here speak of the great improvements, and splendid discoveries, by which the most powerful agents in the material world are subdued into a subserviency to man's interest and pleasure-but of the growing strength of moral feeling, and its increasing power in the world. The time is coming when, instead of brute force, it will govern the world. This progress you chiefly owe to Christianity; to the distribution of the Bible. In the great machinery by which this improvement is made, this elevation given to society in general, our Auxiliaries may be likened to thousands of props and levers, by which the moral world is raised, and still raised towards heaven. They surely then deserve our thanks, and the thanks of all who love our race.

But once more, Sir, and I shall have done. Our Auxiliaries deserve gratitude for a reason which will appear important to every patriot as well as every Christian. The influence of local feelings and interests is great, is deeply felt, and much dreaded. Unprincipled politicians and the votaries of a run-mad worldly ambition, will not hesitate to make use of feelings such as these, for the accomplishment of their purposes. They will not be ashamed to debase their countrymen for their own exaltation. Now amidst these elements of division and disorder, what shall bind together all parts of this great nation, and keep us united? Much, Sir, very much may be expected from the Bible Society; and that by an influence, to which no man can object. When I contemplate this Institution, having its seat in this great commercial metropolis, it appears to me as though the genius of Christian charity had her place here, and was stretching out her arms of love to embrace and hold together all parts of our common country. And the Auxiliary associations form the cords, by which she binds us together and makes us fast. It is true that a feeble Auxiliary in Vermont is, in itself, a small thing; an Auxiliary in Virginia is in itself a small thing; and can possess very little force. But, Sir, as it is by thousands of

minute filaments, that the cable is formed by which the ship of war, even in a tempest, is held to her moorings; so it is by the hundreds of Auxiliaries which every state in our nation is producing, that that cord of love is to be formed, which, by the agency of this Society, being wound round this whole country from Maine to Missouri, will bind all its parts in firm concord. Rev. Dr, Rice.

Advantages of the present age for Action.

If there be a time for every purpose under the sun, surely the present age is the time for action; it is an age, the circumstances of which suggest and encourage enterprises of the noblest kind. Two or three hundred years ago, the things which we see, could not have been thought of. The geography of the world, and the history and condition of men, were so little known, the facilities of intercourse between the nations were so few, and the means of diffusing intelligence through the medium of the press were so poorly understood, that the man who had then even suggested the possibility, by any human means, of multiply. ing the copies of a single book to an extent sufficient to supply every individual of the human family, and in every language under heaven, would have been counted an enthusiast. But since that time, Sir, the world has been explored; the history of human society enlarged and authenticated; books have been multiplied to an amazing extent; an incalculable number of public journals and gazettes, by bringing the story of man to the door of every dwelling, have greatly enlightened the public mind. Never did the inquirer after truth stand at the confluence of so many streams of knowledge as at the present day. Never did the Christian enjoy so many advantages for knowing what the Lord would have him to do. In a former age we might have pleaded ignorance in apology for inactivity: but in such an age as this, to be idle is to resist the claims of the world, the voice of conscience, and the command of God. It is the very age in which God has plainly designed to call forth individual exertions, and to combine the efforts of nations; it is, above all others, the age which calls for the most extended associations to publish salvation.

Rev. Mr. Peters.

Importance of Societies for educating men for the Ministry.

The experience of mankind evinces that religion is essential to cement society and to promote good government: and in reference to a future state, it determines our destinies for ever. The influence of religion must be co-extensive with the number and character of its ministers. An able and pious clergy will produce a moral and religious people. And in proportion to a deficieney in the number and a failure in the qualifications of the ministers, in that ratio will the morals of the people be affected and the interests of the community impaired.

In this State, [New-York,] the functionsries of religion are constitutionally interdicted from office, and in most of the states they are