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lent object? The very persuasion of their proneness to associate, should be an argument for attempting, with all your might, to give a right direction to that tendency, and to correct and improve it: if, by thus employing them in a good cause, they can be preserved from base and injurious combinations, you will render, both to them and to society, a double service. In times like the present, these considerations come with peculiar force.

"Will it be urged, that we have no encouragement to procred in this work of charity? What! when millions are rousing themselves, in different quarters of the world, from the lethargy of ages, anxious to behold the desire of all nations,' can we possibly need any additional encouragement or motive for circulating those inestimable records which testify of Him?

"Will it be contended, that no great effect can be produced by small contributions? The contribution of an individual to the government is small; but it is by the aggregate of such sums that the state is supported. A ray of light and a drop of rain are small; but it is by the sun and the shower that our harvests wave in the field, and by the accumulation of waters that the riches of all lands are transferred to this.

"Freely ye have received, freely give: if you acknowledge for yourselves the blessed influence of Divine Revelation, invite others to partake of it. The light of Heaven is streaming in all its effulgence, above and around you: O let not the beams be interrupted! Open for it a free passage into the dwellings of the poor!'

"To men of humbler condition it may be observed, in addition to the arguments already adduced :

"Although, for reasons best known to infinite Wisdom, the Almighty has withheld from you rank and opulence, yet has he given to you the privilege of conferring benefits on others, and of conferring them in the highest degree. The facilities which you possess, for discovering the wants of those immediately around you, may be considered as an intimation of Providence, that according to your ability you should seek to relieve them. Silver and gold you may have none to give; but you can give that which is better than rubies. You cannot, indeed, raise your poor neighbour above the pressure of the times, or remove those afflictions which are especially incident to his condition: but you can furnish him with a remedy for all you can present him with those oracles of wisdom which will enlarge his views and brighten his prospects; which will teach him that this scene of trouble is but the pilgrimage

of a day; that he is but the tenant of an earthly tabernacle, which shall presently be dissolved; and that the disembodied spirit shall then seek its everlasting home, shall ascend to that building of God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'

"Since the beginning of time, no method has ever been devised, by which you might do good on so large a scale, and by such easy means. The effects arising from other acts of charity must often be confined to the immediate object; but the influence of your liberality will probably be permanent, and descend with increasing blessings from age to age. It is an enterprise of exalted benevolence, which would become a sovereign better than his crown, and add a greater lustre to his throne than the widest enlargement of dominion. This is a work which may bring all classes into action without prejudice to any here the rich and the poor may meet together in common exertion, for common good: poverty itself may be thus enriched, and the lowest rank ennobled: one generous feeling may animate all the orders of society, may impel them to the same labour of love, and crown them with the same reward.

"What pleasure can be derived even from wealth, like the pleasure of doing good? and this is a gratification which, without riches, you may enjoy in its highest measure. Look upon your poorer brethren, and then ask, whether any delight can surpass the enjoyment of charity like this?—of charity, that extends blessings the most pure and exalted, to the humblest of mankind-that produces an elevation of mind and of feeling, which no poverty but Christian poverty can exhibit’— that gives light to the blind, heals the broken in heart, brings life and immortality to light among those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and renders the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the promises. If the blessings of those who are ready to perish be worthy of acceptance, then may you be blessed; if there be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, then may the angels of God rejoice even in your labours, and the Father of mercies himself look down with approbation upon you. Above all other considerations, let this be supreme-if by engaging in these acts of benevolence you are induced to read your Bibles with more earnestness for yourselves, you may become Christians indeed; and, however low your situation in this life, the treasures of that better world will be your rich and eternal repayment.'

"And is it not a recommendation to men of all classes, that

this system will soon carry the tidings of salvation into the 'most distant lands? When the demands at home shall have been satisfied by the contributions of the poor, the subscriptions of the more opulent to the Parent Society and all the Auxiliaries may be wholly converted into foreign channels. Thus will the lower orders, by their exertions at home, greatly contribute to the increase of the supply abroad; and, in this view, may even they be considered as elevating on high the standard of Christianity, as becoming heralds of salvation to the ends of the earth.'

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"They will share in the services and in the triumphs of those who, by the blessing of the Almighty, shall be made the instuments of 'showing his glory' to the millions of their fellowcreatures that sit in utter darkness, or that hitherto have only caught glimpses of the light of Revelation, like interrupted flashes distantly shooting across a gloomy sky. They will march, if we may so speak, in the retinue of Him who shall come forth conquering and to conquer.' They will add wings, as it were, to that angel of mercy, who shall fly into all lands, bearing the everlasting Gospel. Their hearts will be gladdened by the gratitude of those whom, under God, they shall have assisted to save: and they will receive yet a far ampler reward in that place, where THEY THAT BE WISE SHALL SHINE AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT, AND THEY THAT TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, AS THE STARS FOR EVER AND EVER.

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Resolutions recommended for Adoption at Meetings assembled for the Formation of Bible Associations.

At a Meeting of several Friends to the British and Foreign Bible Society, in the Chair,

Resolved,

1. That we form ourselves into an association for the purpose of contributing toward the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, particularly among the poor of this neighbourhood, and that it be denominated the Bible Association of

2. That every member of this association subscribe not less than one penny a week.

3. That for every fifteen or twenty members, the committee shall appoint a gratuitous collector (or that office may be filled by the subscribers in rotation, each for a certain period,) to receive the contributions; who shall pay the same to the treasurer on the first day of every month.

4. That the business of the association be under the management of a treasurer, a secretary, and a committee consisting of

other members; and that the treasurer, secretary, and three-fourths of the other members who have most frequently attended the committee, shall be eligible for the ensuing year.

5. That the committee shall meet once every month, or oftener, on some day to be fixed by themselves, and that

a quorum.

shall form

6. That the committee divide this neighbourhood into districts, and appoint a subcommittee for each district, for the purpose of soliciting subscriptions from the inhabitants thereof.

7. That the committee shall make it their business to inquire, by the appointment of subcommittees, whether any families or individuals, residing within its sphere, are in want of Bibles or Testaments, and unable to procure them; in which case it shall be the duty of the committee to furnish them therewith at reduced prices, or gratis, according to their circum

stances.

8. That the whole of the funds of this association, whether arising from subscriptionss, donations, or the sale of Bibles or Testaments, at prime cost or reduced prices, shall from time to time be expended in the purchase of Bibles and Testaments, to be sold or given among the pour of this neighbourhood, as before directed, until they shall be adequately supplied with the Holy Scriptures; in which case, the amount of future subscriptions and donations shall be remitted to the Auxiliary Bible Society, , or the Branch Bible Society at

at

in aid of its benevolent designs.

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9. That application be made by the committee to the committee of the Auxiliary Bible Society at or to the Branch Bible Sofor permission to lay out the funds of this association, in purchasing at the Depository of the said Society, Bibles and Testaments at the cost prices.

10. That a general meeting of the subscribers be held at the

in each year, when the accounts (as audited by the committee) shall be presented, the proceedings of the past year reported, and a treasurer, secretary, and committee men appointed.

11. That

be treasurer,

secretary, and

members of the committee for the year ensuing.

12. That subscriptions and donations be now entered into, and that they be also received by the treasurer, secretary, and the members of the committee.

The subcommittees should inquire of the poor, first, whether they possess copies of the Scriptures, and in what condition; secondly, if not, and yet are desirous of possessing them, whether they have the means, in whole or in part, at once, or by degrees, of purchasing copies; thirdly, if any, and how many, of the family can read: and enter such information in separate columns.

The plan of selling the Scriptures to the poor has been tried, and has been found to possess several important advantages (where practicable) over gratuitous distribution. When purchased, even at a low rate, they are generally held in higher estimation, and more carefully preserved, than when given. The expediency of extending this mode of supply as widely as possible, is forcibly urged by the consideration, that, if sold at an average but of one half of the cost price, and the money so received invested in the purchase of more books, and this repeated till the whole fund and stock be exhausted, the number of copies thus circulated will be nearly double that which could have been gratuitously circulated by the expenditure of the original sum. This average of one-half may be obtained by

carrying the price, according to the circumstances of the partics, from onefourth to three-fourths of the cost price, or even from one-eighth to seveneighths. If the parties cannot pay immediately, they may be allowed to discharge the small debt by weekly instalments; which will enable a very large proportion of the poor to purchase the Scriptures, and render it unnecessary to give them excepting to a very few.

The effect which the adoption of this system will have in accelerating the supply at home, and in enabling the society to enlarge its exertions abroad, must be obvious to every considerate person.

Sixth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, read at the Annual General Meeting on the 25th of March 1812. To which are added, an Appendix, and a List of Subscribers. London, 1812. HATCHARD.

WE adopt the earliest opportunity of laying before our readers an account of this interesting publication.

In many respects have the friends of the Africans held up a most instructive example to those of their countrymen who may undertake the removal of evil; in none more conspicuously, than in the zeal and success with which they have worked upon the public mind, through that great instrument of human improvement and happiness, the press.

Their very first step was an appeal to the humanity of the British public, through a variety of publications, painting in the strongest colours the atrocious cruelties to which the slaves were condemned, in the tearing of them from their friends and country; during the passage at sea; and in the colonies after they arrived. We can recollect how these efforts were calumniated; what calamitous effects were predicted as sure to arise from them. They were treated (in the style usual against every exhortation to the removal of abuse) as inflammatory, as pregnant with the seeds of insurrection, revolt, massacre, and extermination in the colonies. Every West Indian merchant and planter, with hardly a single exception, denounced the murder of every white man, and the ruin of every white man's property, as a consequence that was altogether inevitable. It is in the recollection of the public what means were used to acquire supporters to the inhuman trade; what ministers, what royal dukes were applauded, and proclaimed, as opposing a popular and dangerous clamour, in the true spirit of philanthropy and patriotism. They were called friends to property, friends to experience, to a system the perfection of which the

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