338 Speech of the Rt. Hon. G. Rose before the

ampton, during the ensuing winter, of an institution for the instruction of adults, similar to that established in Berkshire, under the patronage of the Prince Regent, Lord Grenville, &c.; as well as in London, Bristol, &c.; since, to a feeling mind duly impressed with the value of obristian consolation, few spectacles can be more melancholy, than that of helpless, hopeless, aged poverty, disabled from the external relief of its ordinary pursuits, shut up in the darkness of mental ignorance, destitute of all that can make the present life tolerable, and cut off from that cheering solace of infirmity and pain, which arises from the daily and hourly consolations of scriptural hope. The Report then stated the tendency of the constant visits of the ladies' association to promote habits of economy, sobriety, decency, and good order, as well as to excite that discreet and well-applied beneficence, which alone entitles to the name of charity the aid that is bestowed on the necessitous. The Report concluded with a general view of the foreign operátions of the parent Society, abridged from the thirteenth report, just published, and with an eloquent extract from the Bishop of London's sermon lately preached before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in which his Lordship expresses his conviction that " we shall not escape an indelible stain of national guilt and disgrace, if, indifferent to the welfare of our fellow-creatures, or insensible to the advantages which we experience from the diffusion of light, we refuse to communicate the blessing; if, deaf to the gracious voice which invites us to exercise the noblest of privileges, we leave it to others to spread the truths of salvation to the ends of the world, and to hasten the rising of that glorious day, when the desert shall blossom as the rose, the leopard shall lie down with the kid,—and all the families of the earth, renouncing their unnatural animosities, shall merge the distinction of country and colour, in their common relation to the Saviour, who died for the redemption of mankind."-The sum raised by the Ladies' Association, during 11 months, is very nearly £400. The subscriptions to the Branch Bible Society are about £130: the total number of Bibles and Testaments issued by the Branch Society and Ladies' Association since December, 1814, is 2669 copies.

The RIGHT HON. G. Kose expressed the utmost satisfaction with regard to the general tenour of the Report, and as to the laudable exertions of the committee, and particularly of the Ladies' Association. He trusted that the appeal which had been made to villages in the neighbourhood, as yet unprovided, would meet with immediate attention, and that heads of families would receive the suggestion with regard to domestics, and would themselves ensure their being supplied with Bibles without delay. And if, after this, they would take the trouble, in country places, to inquire into the wants of their poorer neighbours, much good might be effected at no great expense. Mr. R. then adverted to that part of the Report in which the case of adult persons who are unable to read was stated; and he expressed his conviction, that

Southampton Branch Bible Society, England. 339

so important a suggestion well deserved to be followed up; since be could not but view with compassion the cruel situation of persons, with very good dispositions to acquire moral and religious knowledge, shut out by their ignorance of the art of reading from all the gratification and improvement which they might have derived from the perusal of the Holy Scriptures. He should not despair of a plan of instruction for adults being carried to a great length, with good effect. Mr. Long, a respectable merchant, had told him that a black man in his service had learned to read the Bible in nine weeks, by no other means than the instruction of a lad of nine years old. He was not so sanguine as to expect that instances exactly similar would often occur; but he thought it right to mention such a circumstance, from the strong encouragement which it affords. He was much gratified to find that this institu tion had been able to make so large a remittance this year to the parent institution; whose general domestic operations he considered as very important. Exclusive of the comfort and delight that every one must feel at seeing a number of beings happy in the possession of the Scriptures, and regulating their conduct by the precepts contained in them-if this high motive failed to produce the requisite exertions, he would beg leave to add, that we must shut our eyes to the plainest truths, if we did not see that there are motives of an interested nature that might influence our conduct. It was too obvious that there is in this country an increase of crimes. The heavy calendars at the Old Bailey, and his own experience as a magistrate, proved this. There was also, on the part of many culprits, a hardened indifference as to punishment, which was a very melancholy symptom. The end of punishment was to deter from offence. He was sorry to observe, that this end was very inadequately answered. It became necessary, therefore, to carry the religious and moral culture of society to such a point as to operate by prevention. To this matter he trusted that gentlemen would not shut their eyes, but would look daily at it, as at an evil which required their vigilant counteraction. The Right Hon. Gentleman then adverted to the Thirteenth Report of the parent Society, very lately published, and described it as a document deserving universal perusal; containing statements so able, so plain, so satisfactory, as must come home to the mind and heart of every reader. It was most gratify. ing to contemplate the impression made, by means of the parent Society's efforts, on idolatry, on bigotry, on superstition, by their large dispersion of the Scriptures, in almost every part of the world. It was highly honourable also to this country; it was a distinction, of which, as a member of the Society, he could not but be proud. It was scarcely too sanguine an expectation to hope, that the intercourse between the Bible Societies of rival nations might affect the intercourse between states, and might thus become the means of softening the asperity of national jealousies. He could not but reckon on the probability of results so desirable, when he read such amicable sentiments as those which

$40

Address of the King of Prussia

had been delivered at the last meeting of the parent Society, by the Rev. Dr. Mason, of New-York. Never again may that humiliating spectacle, two nations to whom God has vouchsafed the enjoyment of rational liberty; two nations who are extensively engaged, according to their means, in enlarging the kingdom, in spreading the religion of the Lord Jesus--the kingdom of peacethe religion of love-those two nations be occupied in the unholy work of shedding each other's blood! Never again may such a spectacle be exhibited to the eyes of afflicted christianity! May their present concord, written not with pen and ink, but on the living tablets of the heart; enforced by the sentiment of a common origin, by common language. principles, habits, and hopes, and guaranteed by an all-gracious Providence, be uninterrupted!" From the circulation of such sentiments in America. the Right Hon. Gentleman declared that he could not but anticipate the most beneficial consequences; and if there was one country more than another that we should wish to conciliate, and to which we were bound by a common interest, that country was America: by a citizen of which country these amicable expressions were thus uttered, from the common interest excited in so excellent a cause. Mr. R. then mentioned with satisfaction the instances detailed in the Report, of the readiness with which many Catholics in different parts of the world, assisted in the circulation of the Holy Scriptures; for while it had ever been his wish that every man should be permitted to worship God in his own way; yet he could not but equally wish that every man should have free access to the Holy Scripturés. He concluded by repeating his warm recom. mendation of a perusal of the parent society's Thirteenth Report, and expressing his cordial satisfaction in the spirit of peace, conciliation, and good-will, which all the proceedings of the society manifested.

BERLIN, Oct. 11.

His Majesty the King of Prussia, has been pleased to address the following invitation to the Consistories, Synods, and Superin. tendencies of the Monarchy :

"My illustrious ancestors reposing in God, the Elector John Sigismund, the Elector George William, the great Elector King Frederick I., and King Frederick William I., as is proved by the history of their reigns and lives, endeavoured with pious zeal to unite the two separate Protestant Churches, the Reformed and the Lutheran, in one Evangelic Christian Church in their dominions. Honouring their memory and their salutary views, I willingly join them, and wish to see a work agreeable to God, which met with insuperable obstacles in the unhappy, sectarian spirit of those times, to be brought about in my dominions, to the bonour of God and the weal of the Christian Church, under the influence of a better spirit, which disregards what is not essential, and holds fast what is the vital part of Christianity, in which both Churches are

To the Consistories, Synods, &c. of the Monarchy. 341

agreed; and I desire to see the beginning made upon the approaching secular festival of the Reformation. Such a truly religious union of the above-mentioned Protestant Churches, who are separated only by external differences, is conformable to the great objects of Christianity: it answers the first views of the Reformers; it lies in the spirit of Protestantism; it promotes religious spirit; it is salutary to domestic piety; it will be the source of many useful improvements in churches and schools, which have been often hindered hitherto, merely by the difference of religion. To this salutary union, so long desired, and now again so loudly called for, and so often sought in vain, in which the Reformed Church does not go over to the Lutheran, nor the latter to the former, but both unite in one new animated Evangelic Christian Church, in the spirit of their Holy Founder, there is no longer any obstacle in the nature of the thing itself, if both parties seriously and honestly desire it in a true Christian spirit; and if produced by this, it will worthily express the gratitude which we owe to Divine Providence for the invaluable blessings of the Reformation, and honour the memory of its great authors in the continuance of their work.

But much as I must wish that the Reformed and Lutheran Churches in my dominions may share with me this my well-tried conviction, I have far too much respect for their rights and their liberty to force it upon them, or to order or decide any thing in this affair.

'This union, besides, can have real value only, if neither persuasion nor indifferentism have a part in it; if it proceeded from the unbiassed liberty of self-conviction, and is not only a union in external form, but has its roots and vivifying service in unity of heart, according to the genuine principles of Scripture.

As I shall myself celebrate in this spirit the approaching secular festival of the Reformation, in the union of the late Reformed and Lutheran congregation at Potsdam, in one Evangelical Christian congregation, and take the holy Sacrament with them, I hope that this my own example will have a beneficial influence on all the Protestant congregations in my country, and that it may be generally followed in spirit and truth. To the wise direction of the Consistories, to the pious zeal of the Clergy and their Synods, I leave the exterior coinciding form of the union, convinced that the congregations will readily follow in a true christian spirit, and that every where when the attention is directed seriously and sincerely, without any interested secondary views, to what is essential to the great sacred cause itself, the form will be easily found, and the external will naturally result from the internal, simple, dignified, and true. May the promised period be no more remote, when under one common Shepherd, all united in one faith, one charity, and one hope, shall form only one flock. Potsdam, Sept. 27, 1817. • FREDERICK WILLIAM.'

To the Consistories, Synods, &c.'

A

* The undersigned Minister, charged with the publication of this

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Departure of Missionaries from Boston

expression of his Majesty's wishes, does not doubt of the desired and happy success; because, as it has been accepted since the first of this month by the clergy of this city, of both Evangelical Confessions, united in one Synod, with unanimous joy and grateful respect for his Majesty's sentiments and views therein expressed, it will certainly be received in the same manner by all the Evangelic Clergy and Congregations in the kingdom.

Minister of the Interior,

VON SCHUCKMANN.`

From the American Baptist Magazine.

DEPARTURE OF THE MISSIONARIES FOR BURMAH.

As it was expected that Messrs. James Colman and Edward Willard Wheelock, with their wives, would sail in a few days for India a special prayer meeting was held on Tuesday even-ing, Nov. 11, in the second Baptist Meeting House in Boston, for the purpose of commending them to the guidance, protection, and blessing of Heaven.

The weather was not pleasant, but a large assembly was convened. The services commenced at half past 6 o'clock, and continued till half past nine. Eight ministering brethren prayed; a few short addresses were intermingled, and hymns appropriate to the occasion were sung. It was a sweet and solemn season. spirit of grace and supplication prevailed to an uncommon degree. Those who were mouth for the people to God, appeared to feel as Jacob did when he said, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me.” If the friends of Christ who were present had uttered the language of their hearts, they would have exclaimed with one accord, "Lord, it is good for us to be here!" Though the meeting was protracted to an unusual length, it was evident that the congregation separated with feelings of regret.

On Lord's Day, Nov. 16, at 10 o'clock A. M. our dear Missionary brethren with their companions, embarked in the Ship Independence, Capt. Bangs, for Calcutta, at which place they will embrace the first opportunity to obtain a passage for Rangoon.

The parting scene was truly affecting. It is supposed that : more than 200 persons were assembled on the Dock, to bid them a final adieu, and to give them their benediction. It was such a scene as was witnessed at Miletus, The parents and brothers and sisters, and indeed all who were present wept; and many fell on their necks, and kissed them; sorrowing most of all, that they should see their faces no more. None discovered so much fortitude as the Missionaries themselves. While their friends were all weeping around them, they manifested great firmness. When sister Wheelock stepped on the plank which connected the vessel with the wharf, she observed to a female friend; " I would not exchange situations with any of you." One incident occurred which was sufficient to melt a heart of stone. When the vessel