The seventh Annual Report of the N. York Religious Tract Society. (Concluded from page 31) From the Baltimore Tract Society, we have received several letters in the course of the year. A letter of the 20th of August announces that the Society had commenced the printing of Tracts for itself. It had then finished 30,000, and expected to increase the number, by the first of next May to 100,000. The Tract Society of Albany, as appears by its last Report, dated in January, has printed, during the past year, about 42,000 Tracts, and distributed upwards of 32,000-leaving nearly 10,000 on hand. The Second Report of the Religious Tract Society of Philadel phia, and the First Report of the Philadelphia Female Tract Socie ty, have been received. The former, during its second yearpublished 156,000; delivered to subscribers and distributed gratuitously about 42,000; and sold upwards of 57,000, The latter, in the course of its first year, printed 60,000; sold nearly 26,000; and distributed gratuitously more than 19,000. The Second Report of the New-England Tract Society, has also been received. It appears by the Report, that this Society, aided by ample funds, has printed, from the commencement of its operations, 798,000 Tracts. A brief notice of a letter from an American gentleman, now residing in Paris, will close the view of our domestic and foreign correspondence. In our last Report, it was stated that this gentleman had presented to the Society, fifty dollars, to be appropri ated to the printing of French and Spanish Tracts; and that, on his departure from this city, he had left directions with his agent here to place in the hands of our Treasurer for the same purpose, an equal sum on the first day of May annually, for five successive years. We have now the pleasure to mention, that, in a letter dated in Oct. last, he directed his agent to present to this Society, on the first day of January, the additional sum of fifty dollars. In the letter covering the order for this very acceptable NewYear's present, the gentleman thus remarks:-"While I rejoice in the exertions made by the New-York Religious Tract Society and the success which has attended their efforts, I exceedingly lament that their circumscribed means prevents the greater extension of their labours of love. Let every family in the United States, who are accustomed to furnish sumptuous dinners to their opulent neighbours, give one dinner less in a year; let every individual, who is in the pernicious habit of drinking ardent spirits, relinquish this baneful practice; and let them subscribe the amount thus annually saved, to the American Bible Society, to the Missionary Society, and to the New-York Religious Tract Society, and they will not only promote their own health, and advance their temporal as well as spiritual concerns, but essentially contribute to the building up of our Saviour's cause on the earth. Let them also adhere to the principles and practice taught by his blessed religion, and they will secure to themselves, through his merits and mediation, an inheritance, which is incorruptible, and undefiled, and which fadeth not away." This example, Christian brethren, we thus place before your view; and, in our Master's language, we say unto each-Go thou and do likewise. The. incalculable importance of inculcating the precepts of evangelical truth through the medium of Religious Tracts, the Managers are persuaded, is not, generally speaking, sufficiently appreciated. A thousand instances may be found on record, in which a small religious Tract, accompanied by divine grace, has been the instrument of arresting a sinner in his daring and downward career, and of raising him to the devout and exalted character of a child of God, and an heir of glory. We have, perhaps, millions of sinners around us, ignorant of the way of salvation, and perishing for want of the information communicated by these little admonitory pamphlets. Suppose, then, the annual contributions to this Society were sufficient to enable the Board to convey these silent, but faithful messengers, into the cottages of the poor, and the mansions of the rich, through every section of our country: who can estimate the amount of spiritual benefit that might redound to immortal souls! who can compute the revenue of glory, that might accrue to the kingdom of Immanuel! Is there a heart in this community, softened by the religion of the gospel, that would not exult in so auspicious an event! Is there an individual, accustomed to Christian munificence, that will not contribute, with a liberal hand, to the accomplishment of results so transcendently interesting and glorious! Let then the experiment be made. Let the friends of the REDEEMER, in this favoured city, adopt the language, and exhibit the spirit, of the generous individual, whose example has already been presented to your view; and the requisite funds will be cheerfully and promptly contributed. Let the means be furnished, to a competent amount, and the Managers, relying on the assistance which cometh down from above, will pledge their time and their efforts to raise this Society, in point of moralenterprise, to a rank not surpassed by the noblest similar institution on the globe. From this day, brethren, let a renewed and vigorous impulse be given to our exertions. While we survey the multitudes of our race who are involved in darkness, and are groping their hopeless way in the shadow of death, let us not resist the kindest emotions of the human heart. In our work of "Christian benevolence." let us press forward with affection and ardour, obedient to the injunction of our holy religion, and supported and cheered by the assurance, that 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. Extracts from the annual Report for the year 1818, of the "Massachusetts Society for the suppression of Intemperance." The interest on the cost of the Boston Alms-house and contingencies, including land, is about $7,200 yearly. The annual expense of supporting the poor in this town is about $30,000. According to the last year's Report of this Society, two thirds are brought to the Alms-house in consequence of intemperance: and it is the opinion of the present attending physician of that institution, that this proportion falls short of the truth. Two thirds, then, of the expense of the poor list in this town, viz. about $25,000 annually, may be fairly charged to the account of the pernicious use of ardent spirits. This great burden is imposed on sober and industrious citizens, by the intemperate and abandoned,—yet without exciting much apparent sensibility, or indignation in the community. To form some adequate idea of the awful desolations of that vice, whose inroads we are attempting to oppose, as it exists in this capital, much time and pains have been spent. On the result of an investigation, as far as it was carried, we place reliance. A year of recent date was taken ;—and it was found, that of the adults, including those of the Alms-house, whose deaths were ǝnrolled that year, one fifth were well known as persons of intemperance, whose lives were undoubtedly terminated by its immediate effects, or by diseases occasioned or accelerated by it. One third of the deaths in the Alms-house, within the same period, were of individuals of this description. The characters of many of the foregoing adults were not ascertained; otherwise the proportion would, probably, have been increased. These fatal instances were not confined to the poor and laborious. They were found in the higher, as well as lower conditions of society, if not in an equal degree. Competence did not secure against this baneful habit. Riches and refinement had their share in the crime and misery. The calamity did not end here. About one fourth of the unhappy victims were of that sex, to which we look for the greatest delicacy of sentiment and the strictest propriety of conduct! We will not assert, that a portion of these evils is attributable to the multiplied facilities, afforded to intemperate indulgence in this capital. Let the philanthropist decide. We may be allowed, however, to weep over the melancholy picture, here presented to our view, of human nature in ruins, of some of the fairest earthly hopes buried in dust. The following extracts are taken into the Report of the Massachusetts Society, from the Report of the Auxiliaries and private communications. "A number of the inhabitants of this town," Yarmouth, "who have been accustomed to use ardent spirits freely, have wholly laid it aside, and whether journeying or labouring, by sea or land, have experienced no inconvenience from the want of it. "Several vessels have the year past performed their voyages without any spirit, and one of said vessels, a fishing vessel, made the most successful voyage of any in this vicinity. "We have no hesitation in giving it as our opinion, that not so much as one fourth part of the ardent spirit has been used in this town, the year past, as in former years." "Of this we are fully convinced, that in the class of labouring men there has been less intemperance, for the last year, than in any other period within our knowledge. Your committee consider the success of their first endeavours, as affording ample encouragement to perseverance, with renewed zeal, for the correction of the degrading and expensive practice of drinking ardent spirits to excess, to which a large portion of the existing misery and wretchedness may be justly attributed, originating, as it is fully believed to do, in many cases, in the misjudging civilities of inviting friends and visiters to the fascinating and delusive pleasures of the social glass." "Several grossly intemperate persons among us have been reclaimed from their destructive course. Our stores and shops, where ardent spirits are vended, are less frequented by tipplers and idlers than formerly; and the state of morals among us is, we think, considerably improved." "The people were much in the habit of meeting at the stores and tippling houses, spending the evenings, and drinking to excess. One place of resort was generally visited by numbers on the Sabbath a striking change has taken place.-But some are too sottish to be reclaimed." "It is an infallible axiom in the physical organization of man, that every excitement of his vital powers, beyond the point to which his Creator has adapted them-diminishes his capacity for repeating like motions from like means. Hence it may be safely inferred, that every dram of spirituous liquors of any description is a check upon the capital stock of strength and life, and hastens the approach of the hour of dissolution, in proportion to the indulgence. Each dram increases the appetite for another; and the necessity of an increased quantity to produce an equal effect multiplies in a progressive ratio. Thus it follows, unavoidably, that the habitual temperate use of ardent spirits is a pernicious and vicious practice." ORDINATIONS, &c. Jan. 6th, 1819. The Rev. HENRY BLATCHFORD was installed pastor of the branch church in Salem, Mass. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Dana, of Newburyport. The North-Meeting House in Woodbury, was dedicated to the service of God. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Beecher, of Litchfield. Jan. 13th. The Rev. SAUL CLARK, late of East-Haven, was installed pastor of the church in Barkhampstead. Sermon by Rev. Mr. Gillet, of Branford. The Rev. JONATHAN M'GEE, was ordained pastor of the East congregational church and society in Brattleborough, Vt. Sermon by Rev. Samuel Taggart, of Colrain, Mass. The Rev. EDWIN W. DWIGHT, was ordained pastor of the congregational church and society in Richmond, Mass. Sermon by Rev. Dr. Beecher of Litchfield. The Rev. ABRAHAM WHEELER, was installed pastor of the church in Candia, N. H. Sermon by the Rev. John H. Church, of Pelham, N. H. The South Meeting-House in Woodbury, was dedicated to the service of God. Sermon by Rev. Mr. Taylor, of New-Haven. For the Christian Herald. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.-Mark, xvi. 16. What word is this, O sinful man, That now in mercy greets thine ears? Is it a fable—a mere plan To fill thy breast with slavish fears? What are those beauteous, twinkling flames And what is that great globe of heat As forth he hies to early toil? Is that a fable? tell me, then, What pow'r supports these rolling spheres ? Is it beyond thy mortal ken To count the number of His years? And, reader, who and what art thou, To make reply against thy God? Before his awful presence bow, And bless his name, and kiss his rod. For SIN hath ruin'd all thy race- To serve, henceforth, the God of love. |