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Bocking. Coggleshall.-Guildford-results.-Godalming.

the necessity of any further remark on this part of the subject, especially as the Committee of the Colchester Ladies' Association have recently adopted, with considerable effect, the improved system.

7. The example of Colchester was speedily followed by the neighbouring towns of BOCKING and COGGLESHALL. In the former, a Ladies' Association was established in August; and in the latter, a similar institution was formed in November 1818. The early success of both was commensurate to that of their elder sister; and if their subsequent declension appear to have been more rapid and considerable, it must be ascribed to the defects of the constitution adopted, rather than a deficiency of interest and zeal in those who conducted their concerns. Nor is it an unreasonable hope, that the exemplary piety, diligence, and judgment, which distinguish the Officers and Committee of the Colchester and East-Essex Auxiliary Society, will prompt them to devise speedy and effectual measures for the revival of those associations, and the more general extension of the system; thus perpetuating that bright and early example, which has conferred such honour on their district, and contributed, in no slight degree, to its good order, tranquillity, and happiness.

8. In July 1813, a Ladies' Association was instituted at GUILDFORD, in the county of Surrey; of which it was one of the rules, "That a part of the funds of this association be transmitted to the Treasurer of the Surrey Auxiliary Society, half-yearly, in aid of the foreign department of the British and Foreign Bible Society." Within seven years, ending in May 1820, this society distributed 2160 Bibles and Testaments, and remitted 2221. for the general object of the Parent Institution. The example of Guildford was followed, in April 1814, by the neighbouring town of GODALMING, where a numerous and efficient committee was formed-the offices of treasurer and secretary being filled by gentlemen. In the month of December following, the author was invited to attend one of the general meetings of the latter, and, on investigation, found the system defective in many important points; but convinced, by the zeal and animation manifested by one of the secretaries, and the ladies of the Committee, that if it were improved on the model of that which had been attended with such unprecedented success in Southwark, the best effects might be anticipated, he turned his attention more decidedly to the subject. In attempting to revise the various and discordant regulations which had fallen under his notice, it

First application of the Improved System at Godalming.

became evident, that a more clear and intelligible system was requisite, not only to preserve uniformity of design and operation, but to excite and maintain an interest in the cause. With these views, he prolonged his stay at Godalming; and having matured a code of Rules and By-laws, with forms of the Books and Papers necessary for the association, they were submitted to a special meeting of the Committee, and unanimously adopted. The results of those measures were speedily witnessed: in a district embracing a population of scarcely four thousand, the first year's aggregate collection amounted to 2047. 13s. 10d.; and within the same period, 502 Bibles and Testaments were sold to the poor at reduced prices; while a moral interest was excited throughout every class of the community, in favour of a cause, equally benevolent in its design and beneficial in its effects. Under a review of these gratifying circumstances, and desirous of extending a knowledge of the plan, the Committee of the Godalming Association felt themselves justified in recommending the following Resolution to the First Annual Meeting of the subscribers, by which it was unanimously adopted :

"That this meeting, convinced of the benefits arising from the adoption of the SOUTHWARK Bible Association system, adapted to the local circumstances of the country, do request that such extracts may be made by the Committee, from the documents in their possession, as may tend to explain the plan, and encourage its general adoption; and that the same be printed and published, as an Appendix to the Report."

9. The several societies and associations now enumerated, were the principal, if not the only Female institutions for promoting the circulation of the Scriptures, which existed in Great Britain and Ireland previous to the year 1814.

But before we trace the progress of the system from the period of its first application to Ladies' Societies at Godalming, it is necessary to take a slight review of the effects of a similar disposition on the part of the Female sex in AMERICA, to co-operate in this work of charity and peace. The first demonstration of this generous feeling is thus noticed in the Report of the New-York Bible Society for 1813:

66 During the past year, an association, composed of a number of pious and benevolent ladies, and called The Female Bible Society of Geneva,' was formed in the town of Geneva, on the Seneca Lake. In the month of April last, they forwarded to this city fifty dollars, being the amount of their funds, to procure Bibles on the most advantageous terms. Your Board, desirous of aiding and encouraging the laudable efforts of that infant institution, resolved to furnish them with the Scriptures at first cost, to the amount of their funds, and to present them with fifty Bibles in addition. One hundred

Establishment of Female Societies in America ;-in Saxony.

and thirty Bibles were accordingly delivered to their agent, to be forwarded to them."

The feeling thus manifested rapidly extended. In the spring of 1814, a Female Bible Society was established in the city of PHILADELPHIA; and was announced to the Parent Institution in London by the following communication from the Secretary:

"Inclosed you will receive a copy of the Constitution of the Female Bible Society of Philadelphia, together with an Address from Bishop White, delivered at the second meeting of the members. By a Resolution of the Managers, I am directed to make a communication to the British and Foreign Bible Society of London, advising of the establishment of this institution.

"You will perceive, sir, that this society has been recently organized; but the encouragement and success it has already experienced, are strong indications of its future respectability and usefulness. As soon as the plan was proposed, Ladies of all Christian Denominations in this city came forward to promote it; and during the first week there were nearly five hundred subscribers. Since then, the number has been considerably augmented, and is now daily increasing. The counsel and assistance of the Clergy and distinguished members of the Philadelphia Bible Society have been liberally conferred; and the direction of Female efforts to this object, has received unqualified approbation and support from the most eminently pious among us."

In their Annual Report for 1814, the Board of Managers of the New-York Bible Society observe:

"The Board notice with much pleasure the establishment, during the past year, of several Female Associations in this country, formed for the purpose of contributing, by their personal attention as well as by their pecuniary means, to disseminate the Word of God. In the last year's Report, mention was made of the formation of The Female Bible Society of Geneva, on the Seneca Lake. Since then, another of the same kind has been instituted in this state, at the village of Poughkeepsie; also, one at Philadelphia; one at Boston; one at Burlington, in the state of New Jersey; one at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania; one at Newville, twelve miles from Carlisle; and one at Manchester, in Virginia. It will doubtless be considered an important acquisition to the cause of Bible Societies, to have engaged in its active duties that sex, so distinguished for their benevolence and piety, and so peculiarly qualified for dispensing with advantage the offerings of this sublime charity among the children of sorrow and of want."

10. Even at this early period, a similar disposition was manifested on the Continent of Europe,'in the establishment of two Female Bible Associations. The first institution of this nature appears to have been formed in 1814, and is thus announced in the primary report of the Saxon Bible Society: -"Several ladies have sent in their contributions; and we have lately received a gift of thirty rix-dollars, from a Female Association at FREYBERG in Saxony." The precise period at

* See this Address, Preliminary Observations, No. 6.

and in Bremen.-Rapid progress of the system in England. which the second was established is not so easily ascertained; but it appears, from the interesting letters of Dr. Steinkopff in 1815, to have been attended with the most beneficial effects. Speaking of BREMEN, "a city distinguished by the religious spirit of many of its inhabitants, among the higher as well as the lower classes of society," he observes-" A most benevolent lady, the President of the Ladies' Association at Bremen, was an eye-witness of the good done by the Bibles and Testaments distributed among the Hamburg exiles." Brief as is this notice, what a volume of encouragement does it contain! Banished from his home and country, the Christian finds his consolation and support in the precepts and example, the sacrifice and atonement, of HIM who "had not where to lay his head!"

11. The publication of the Southwark system for conducting Bible Associations generally, in the summer of 1814, and the circulation of two large editions, had prepared the public mind to appreciate those institutions, and consequently facilitated the application of the same principles in reference to Female exertion. The Godalming Association, as already observed, was the first regularly-organized Ladies' Society: and the system adopted by the Committee being detailed in the Appendix to their First Annual Report, published in the autumn of 1815, this institution speedily became a model for many others, not only in the county of Surrey, but in more distant parts of the kingdom. The towns of FARNHAM, MAIDENHEAD, KINGSTON, and HENLEY-ON-THAMES, were among the first to follow this example, and to experience the beneficial effects, both direct and collateral, of Female practical benevolence.

12. In following the chain of circumstances which have gradually led to the improvement and general adoption of the system, it is necessary to advert more particularly to the state of Southwark in the spring of 1815. The twelve associations, conducted exclusively by gentlemen, had then been in full operation nearly two years and a half; and the results had surpassed the most sanguine expectations of their warmest friends. Nearly 14,000 Bibles and Testaments had been distributed; more than ten thousand subscribers were contributing to their funds; and upwards of 4600l. had been remitted to the Auxiliary Society;-no symptom of decay was exhibited, and the highest degree of regularity and order characterized the whole body. Such being the flourishing

Guardian Society-Female Servants.

state of that district with which the author was more immediately connected, he did not feel himself justified in recommending the adoption of measures, which, however applicable to other places, appeared to him to be a hazardous experiment in reference to Southwark. At this period, his official duties, as Secretary of the Guardian Society, led to an investigation of the circumstances attending nearly two hundred wretched females, who had become the objects of that admirable institution; when it appeared, that more than one hundred and fifty of these unhappy victims of vice and misery had been domestic servants. In pursuing the inquiry suggested by this discovery, the melancholy fact was ascertained, that it is from the bosoms of our own families the deluge of iniquity, which covers the streets of the metropolis, is principally supplied: but the pain of this disclosure was in some degree mitigated by the reflection, that it is more easy to cut off the streams which feed this flood of profligacy, than to devise measures for restraining the overwhelming tide. The immediate consequence of the information thus acquired, was, an application to the Committees of the several associations in Southwark, to ascertain the number of female servants who were members, either as free contributors, or subscribers for Bibles and Testaments; and the preparation of a specific Address* to this numerous and important class of the community, which, being approved and adopted, was very extensively circulated in the winter of 1814. In the following summer the author renewed his inquiries in the twelve associations, and found, to his extreme disappointment, that the apparent effects produced by the circulation of the "Address" were inconsiderable:-in a district embracing a population of 150,000, of which, on a moderate estimate, 9000 are domestic servants, only fifty-three individuals of this description were reported as subscribers. Scarcely had this unexpected information been obtained, when, on accepting an invitation to the first general meeting of the Kingstonupon-Thames Ladies' Association, the author found a solution of his difficulties. That society had been only a few months established; the estimated population of the district was about 4000; and the number of domestic servants computed to be 500, of whom more than one hundred and twenty were subscribers: the deduction from such premises was clear and indisputable: it was evident that Females constituted the proper and legitimate medium of application to the members of

• See Appendix, No. X.

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