“I am now far advanced in my sixty-fourth year, yet feel at present, but few of the infirmities of old age. It is time, however, for me to consider that I grow old apace. O for grace to fill up the uncertain remnant of life, as becometh a saint, and then to die as becometh a sinner,-looking to Jesus, and to him alone, for acceptance and salvation. May I find mercy of the Lord in that day, when flesh and heart shall fail!

"Though my acknowledgment of your favour has been so long delayed, I hope you will believe that it gave me great pleasure to hear that you are in health, that you are so near, and that you encourage me to expect I may yet I see you before your return to Germany. When your letter came, my dear Mrs. Newton was so low that I believe I could not mention you to her. She had a complication of maladies, and was a great sufferer; though it pleased the Lord, for the most part, to exempt her from much very violent pain. She was released from this state of sin and sorrow, on the evening of the 15th instant. The Lord favoured her with admirable patience; and her natural good spirits held out to the last;-only that three days before she went home, she gave no signs of life but by breathing. Now, I trust, she is where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.

او

1

1

"As you well knew her, and knew my very strong endeared attachment to her, you will ascribe it to the goodness and power of the Lord, that I was so wonderfully supported during her illness, and have been still supported under Fiber departure. O magnify Him - with me, and let us exalt his name together! He is, indeed, All-sufficient, and can manifest his et strength in the weakness of his bebbpoor creatures, to whom he has

"

given a warrant for calling on him

in the day of trouble. While she was living, though my feelings were often painful, I preached as usual; and since her dismission, I have still gone on: and on Sunday evening last, I was enabled to preach her funeral sermon from Habakkuk iii. 17, 18.

most my only remaining earthly tie to this world. I see nothing of a temporal nature worth living for; yet I hope to be willing and thankful to live, while the Lord has any service for me to do; or rather, till his wisdom and goodness shall see fit to remove me. If he should see fit to lay me aside from public service, I should still promote his glory, and exhibit a proof of his faithfulness, if he will enable me to suffer, with patience, whatever he may appoint me. I wish to put myself absolutely, and without reserve, into his hands; and to believe that he will choose for me better than I could choose for myself. Only may He grant, that while I do live, I may live to him, and for him; and that when I die, I may die in him: then all shall be well. As to particulars, I am to say, Not my will, but thine. ^ {

"Many changes, as you observe, have indeed taken place, in the course of eleven years, since you last visited at the vicarage of Olney. My lot, during this space, has been, in the main, a highly favoured one. I have not been without trials; but comforts have more abounded. My feelings have been most painfully exercised by the removal of dear friends, several of our own family; and of others none more dear, or more sensibly missed, than Mr. and Mrs. B They were friends indeed: with them I had a union of heart. Nor have I lost them. They are gone but a little before. I hope to meet them again to unspeakable advantage. I have no reason to think it will be very long first, as I am advancing apace in my sixty-sixth year. The Lord's time is the best.

May I wait patiently and watch fully all my days, till my appointed change shall come, and then be found with my loins girded up and my lamp burning,

"You likewise, my dear madam, have had your trials; but you are alive to say, under them all, The Lord upheld me, and out of them all He delivered me. It is good scriptural logic to infer what he will do, from what he has actually done. So the Apostle did before

us. He has delivered, he doth deliver, and therefore we trust in Him that he will yet deliver us. No great matter where, or what, we are in this transient state, so that we are in the path of duty, and in the exercise of holy submission to his will. The same sun shines at London, Bedford, and Hernhuth. And the way to heaven is equally open and near from every place."

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE

SOCIETY.

THE Thirteenth Report of this Society, lately published, with the ...extracts of correspondence, are fully equal in interest to the preceding ones; and we therefore regret that from their length we can give only a general abstract of the former, referring our readers for the latter to the volume itself. We shall, of course, omit, as far as possible, such parts as have already appeared in our own pages.

Of the Continental Societies in existence at the period of the last anniversary, it may be generally observed, that their attention to promote the object of their establishment demonstrates their in7.creasing sense of its utility and im>portance; that the beneficial effects resulting from the circulation of the Scriptures have proved powerful inducements to continue and enlarge this benevolent work; and that, if its operation has in any degree been circumscribed by the general distress which has been more or less felt on the continent, the zeal for carrying it ou has not, fo on that account, abated.

The Netherlands Society greatly miflourishes: branches and associations are multiplying in the northern es provinces of the kingdom, and the

number of societies is already stated to be sixty. To increase the interest which has been excited in the Netherlands, in favour of the principles of the institution, the Reverend Doctor MacIntosh, at Amsterdam, has recently published a Dutch translation of the Twelfth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

The Hanoverian Bible Society, under the patronage of his royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, has completed the printing of an edition of 10,000 copies of Luther's German Bible, most of which have already been put into circulation; and another auxiliary has been added to that institution, by the establishment of an East-Frisia Bible Society, for the encouragement of which, 100l. have been voted to the Hanoverian Society." A letter from a correspondent at Osnaburgh contains the pleasing intelligence, that "their Catholic fellow-citizens labour with them hand in hand, and many of that communion shew a readiness to obtain and peruse the Scriptures."

The exertions of the Prussian Bible Society continue to be diligently and most usefully pursued. To the eight auxiliaries united to the central society in the course of its first year, twelve more were added

before the expiration of the second; and so vigorously have these sub ordinate societies flourished, that one of them, that at Coeslin, is said to number not fewer than seven branches in connexion with it.

Among the operations now carrying on by this Society, the following may be mentioned as deserving attention:-The Central Society is engaged in printing two large editions of the German Bible, as well as an edition of the Scriptures in the dialect of the Wends in Nether Lusatia, which the secretary of the society pronounces "one of the most useful works ever undertaken;" and its auxiliary at Breslau is printing an edition of Luther's Bible, with an extra number of New Testaments.

The Society for the Grand Duchy of Berg, the Thuringian Society, the Neuwied Society, and others are mentioned as going on with zeal, and unanimity, and success.

The information from Koenigsberg, respecting the distribution of the Lithuanian Scriptures, published at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, is very satisfactory. The Saxon Bible Society, which has been favoured by his Majesty the King with freedom of postage, is proceeding with great alacrity in printing 10,000 copies of Luther's German Bible.

As the dialect of the Wends in Upper Lusatia is a distinct branch of the Slavonian from that before mentioned, another edition of the Wendish Scriptures has been undertaken by this excellent institution. A very satisfactory account of the distribution of Bibles and Testaments from Hernnhut, between June, 1814, and April, 1816, has been received from the Rev. L. Fabricius.-The Frankfort Bible Society has applied its limited means, with very happy effects, to the relief of the poor and prisoners. Many of the latter class, who had devoted their time to gaming, now read the Bible in their cells.

The following quotations from

the correspondence of the Rev. Leander Van Ess, of Marburg, afford very gratifying intelligence: "You will rejoice, that, chiefly through your assistance, I have been enabled to disperse, (up to June, 1816) 51,146 copies of my New Testament, 2,500 of Luther's Bible, and 2,300 of his New Testament, on the highway of the Lord, among my Catholic as well as Protestant brethren. I can, from my own experience, and that of my correspondents, joyfully testify, that the main object, in thus disseminating the holy Scriptures, has been accomplished; that a spirit of vital religion has been diffused ;* and that many, illuminated by the light of Divine truth, and strength. ened with power from on high, now lead a holy and useful life. My New Testament appeared in some districts, where thousands of Catholics knew the Bible only by name. I could easily dispose of 30,000 copies of my New Testa: ment among Catholics, and several thousand of Luther's Bible among Protestants."

Another Catholic clergyman, in correspondence with the Society, has, within a short space of time, distributed nearly 20,000 New Testaments, and is preparing the means of a further and more extensive d distribution. This correspondent has also had the happiness to witness the most beneficial effects of his labours, of which many instances ↑ might be adduced. In one of his letters the following passage o curs: “Old men, who had never learned to read, are now desirous ↑ to learn, that they, in their advanced age, may find consolation from the holy Scriptures." demands for the Ratisbon New Testament also continue to increase' in a degree which renders it difficult to meet them.

The

upwards of 10,000 Bibles, and 2,000 extra Testaments, among the people around us."

In the midst of the great distresses which have prevailed in almost every part of the kingdom, the Würtemberg Bible Society has received many most pleasing proofs of the liberality of its friends. When its directors presented copies of their Bible to the late king, to the respective branches of the royal family, to the ministers of state, as well as to other noblemen and gentlemen, they received, in return, several handsome benefactions; and many of the poor peasants in the villages seem to vie with each other in offering their small contributions. A second edition of the Scriptures, on standing types, is preparing by this active institution.

The Bible Society at Strasburg has had great difficulties to contend with: but, in the words of its president, "neither its hope nor its faith has been disappointed."

The Presburg Bible Institution has ordered 1200 copies of the Bohemian Bible, from Berlin; 500 of which have already been received. It has also completed the printing of 2,000 Wendish New Testaments. The Swiss Bible Societies at Bâsle, Schaffhausen, Zurich, Saint Gall, Aarau, Bern, Chur, Geneva, Lausanne, and Neufchatel, mutually stimulate and assist each other in their career of sacred benevolence. To prove the progressive state of the operations of the Bâsle Society, the following simple but interesting facts will suffice; that, in 1813, it distributed 1299 Bibles-in 1814, 2583 Bibles-in 1815, 5055 Bibles and 3796 Testaments-and in 1816, 7920 Bibles and 9383 Testaments. The same Society is now engaged in printing several editions of the German and French Scriptures; in the carrying on of which works the Committee have assisted it with 5001.90

The Zurich Society has completed a folio and an octavo edition

of the German Bible. The Bible Society at Saint Gall has had great success in distributing copies of the Scriptures both among Protestants and Catholics, and the de mand for them is daily increasing. The Chur Bible Society is printing. the Old Testament in the second Romanese dialect,

The Committee of the Bible So ciety at Lausanne, for the Canton de Vaud, have displayed a most laudable activity, both in dissemi nating the holy Scriptures and in exciting an interest in favour of their institution. The Bible Society formed by the Vaudois in Piedmont is in activity; and one hundred copies of the New Testa ment had been forwarded to it by the committee at Lausanne, from whose labours the most beneficial effects may be expected. The Bern Bible Society has been patronized by the ruling authorities of the canton, who have presented to it a donation of one hundred louisd'ors.

A letter from a Capuchin monk, to whom a donation of 501. was pre- i sented, to enable him to distribute, the Scriptures, contains the following pleasing information: "That the Bible is now read by thousands of Catholics with devout at tention and cordial joy, and that the writer himself had induced many parish ministers and schoolmasters to introduce the New Tes tament into their congregations and schools."

In the North of Germany, the Hambro' Altona Bible Society is prosecuting the object of its institution with great zeal. This So-, : ciety has engaged to print a Ger man Bible of 10,000 copies, after the Canstein edition., The Socie➜ 1 ties of Bremen and Lubeck continue their useful exertions; and the Duchy of Brunswick Bible. Society has also commenced its A benevolent labours.

Among the new societies formedin Germany, during the past year; the following have also been as

sisted from the funds of the British and Foreign Bible Society: MeckJenburgh Schwerin, Pomerania and Rügen, Eutin, Lippe Detmold, Kreutznach, as indeed a large part of the foregoing, and many of those that follow; though we did not think it necessary to specify, in this abstract, the amount of each individual grant.

The Hesse Darmstadt Bible Society, for the Grand Duchy of Hesse, under the sanction of the Sovereign, comprehends members of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic Churches; and, if a judgment may be formed, from the demands for Bibles made on it, promises extensive usefulness. The Societies of Worms and Odenwald, already mentioned, will attach themselves as branches to this Society. The establishment of Bible Societies in the principality of Anhalt, and other parts of Germany, is also in contemplation, and others have been already formed.

Of the augmented circulation of the Scriptures in Germany, it is a sufficient proof, that the demand for Bibles, by the numerous Societies established in that country, is now so great that the Canstein Institution at Halle, on which they had been accustomed chiefly to depend for supplies, is no longer able, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions, to furnish the number required; and the Bible Societies are under the necessity of printing them for their own distribution.

The Committee next report the transactions connected with the British and Foreign Bible Society in the three northern kingdoms of Europe.

Beginning with Denmark, they announce that the Danish Bible Society is in a progressive state; and its Committee look forward, with hope, to the beneficial effects of the interest which it is gaining in the public mind. It has nearly finished the revision of the Danish

New Testament for the press, and has resolved to print an edition of the Creolese New Testament, for the use of the Christian Negroes..

A very flourishing auxiliary has been formed at Odensee, the capital of the island of Fuehnen, under the auspices and presidency of the Crown Prince, Christian Frederick, who takes great interest in this cause.

At the formation of the Odensee Auxiliary Society, it was recommended to such of the Directors as reside in the country, to form Branch Societies and Bible Associations. In consequence of which, more than fifty Auxiliary Societies, or Bible Associations, have been formed in that part of the Danish dominions, between the Little Belt and the town of Altona. The same Society has also undertaken the establishment of a depôt for Bibles and a Biblical Library.

These extraordinary exertions, which are still carrying on, have increased the demand for the Scriptures beyond the power of the Sleswig-Holstein Society, to satisfy it. As a temporary assistance, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society have ordered an immediate supply of Danish Bibles and Testaments; and, with a view to a more permanent provision, have proposed to the Danish Bible Society at Copenhagen, to print an edition of 10,000 copies of the Danish Bible, with an offer of 500l. in aid of the expense thereof; which offer has been accepted.

In the Faroe Islands, the institution of the Danish Bible Society has been hailed by the inhabitants as a most propitious event, and a liberal contribution has been raised by them in aid of its funds; and the Icelandic Bible Society, of which the foundation was laid by the Rev. Mr. Henderson, during his residence in that island, has been established.

The intelligence from Sweden, respecting the Bible Institutions in