duced them, in opposition to every The following paragraph is an answer to those who have alleged that the Society makes an attack upon the property of the planters : "Hitherto, unfortunately, the whole question of emancipation has been viewed as a question involving possible benefits indeed to the Slave, but injury if not ruin to the Master. Those, therefore, who have advocated the cause of emancipation, have been regarded as actuated by a hostile spirit towards the Planters, or at least as totally regardless of their interests, and insensible to their dangers. Such, most unquestionably, are not the views and feelings of your Committee. Although their urgent and irresistible motives to exertion in favour of the African race be the inherent and incurable injustice and inhumanity of Slavery, universally acknowledged when Whites are the subjects of it, but equally true when the Negro is its victim; and although they believe that emancipation, while it is called for by every moral and religious as well as political obligation, will prove an unspeakable blessing to the Slaves; yet they are persuaded that the masters will be proportionably benefited by the change. Supposing only that freedom is willingly conceded by the master, and not extorted by force, your Committee are satisfied that, in a pecuniary point of view, the result would be still more advantageous to the higher than to the lower classes of Society. If there be any one axiom in political science, your Committee repeat it, which is more impregnably founded than another in the nature of things, and which is more satisfactorily confirmed by the experience of ages, it is this,-that the labour of the Freeman is more profitable, not only to the State but to the Capitalist who employs him, than the labour of the Slave. Has the English Lord or the Livonian or Esthonian Noble less reason than the Villein or the Serf himself to rejoice in the emancipation of the labouring classes, which has taken place in those countries respectively, though at very distant periods of time? On this whole subject so much light has recently been thrown, among others, by MR. ADAM HODGSON in his Letter to M. SAY, and by MR. CROPPER in his various pamphlets, as to leave nothing to be said upon it beyond what is to be found in their writings. The conviction produced by those writings in the minds of your Committee, has been strengthened by a consideration, not only of the argument from analogy, but of the peculiar circumstances of Colonial proprietors. And your Committee conceive that, under these circumstances, the conversion of their Slaves into a free peasantry would more effectually relieve them from their almost universal state of pecuniary embarrassment, than all the bounties and protecting duties which they at present enjoy. suaded of the superiority of free over "But while your Committee feel perslave labour, and of the advantage which would result to the master himself, both as a land-owner and a capitalist, from the substitution of the former for the latter; let it not be supposed that they are desirous of shrinking from their share of the burden of any loss which this great measure of policy may cause to individuals. They admit that the existence of Slavery is a national crime; and that the nation, in getting rid of it, should take care that no individual shall sustain an undue portion of the loss which may thereby be incurred. But, on the other hand, the Planters, to entitle themselves to a fair indemnity, ought willingly and cordially to co-operate with the Nation at large, in bringing this great moral and political evil to the earliest possible termination. however, judging from the past, the Of such co-operation, Committee are forced to confess that they dare not indulge any very sanguine hope. At the same time they readily admit, that there is a wide distinction West Indians residing in England, and to be taken between many enlightened the great body of planters, agents, managers, and overseers, who form the White population of the Colonies; who there engross all power, civil and political, to the exclusion of every other class; and whose dominion over the Slaves has no effectual limit, bat is, to controlled. It is natural that men in all practical purposes, absolute and unthe possession of such unmeasured despotism (and what mind is strong enough to resist its malign influence ?) should eagerly endeavour to maintain their pre-eminence, and should resent and resist, to the utmost of their power, every attempt, however just and expeprevent its abuse; and still more the dient, to abridge their authority, or to purpose of reducing them to a state of subjection to the same laws, the equal protection of which it is proposed to extend to the Slaves." The call of the Committee upon the benevolent public, for its aid in carrying its great objects into effect, will, we trust, be as successful as the pressure of the case requires. "Your Committee cannot conclude without reminding the Meeting, that the cause they have undertaken cannot be efficiently conducted without considerable expense; and that therefore liberal contributions are essential to its success. Whatever funds may be placed at their disposal will be husbanded with care, and employed to the best of their judgment in promoting their great object: an object which, the Committee believe, under the blessing of GOD, is to be attained by firmness, activity, and perseverance on the part of the friends of humanity and justice. Confiding as they do in the upright intentions and concurrent views of His Majesty's Ministers, however they may differ with respect to some of the means of carrying their common purposes into effect, the Committee have at present no specific measures to propose to the adoption of their friends, beyond that general vigilance which the large interests involved in the question call for, and those occasional efforts which may be required to obviate any attempts made to mislead the public mind through the medium of the press. With this exception, their part seems to be to wait the course of events, and to be guided in their future proceedings by the circumstances which may arise. It would argue insensibility, however, to the goodness of Providence, if they were to close their Report without expressing their gratitude for the progress already made, and for the brighter prospects which they trust are opening upon them; and without declaring their firm and settled conviction, that a cause resting on such principles is absolutely certain of eventual success." HOSTILITY TO THE CIRCULATION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN IRELAND.The Protestants in Ireland have, of late, been very active in disseminating Bibles and Testaments, to the great annoyance of the Romish Clergy, of whose flocks many individuals have obtained copies of the Holy Scriptures, and begun diligently to read them. This has created much uneasiness among their spiritual guides, who have commenced open hostilities against the Bible, School, and Protestant Missionary Societies. At the public Annual Meetings of those Societies at Cork, Kilkenny, Loughrea, Carrick-on-Shannon, and other places, several Roman Catholic Priests, and under their influence, private persons attended, and, being aided by the lower orders, interrupted the usual business of the Meetings, and protested against the indiscriminate circulation of the Scriptures, as being subversive of their religious system. In some instances, acts of personal violence and gross outrage have been committed. The Protestant Archbishop of Tuam was forced to quit the Chair, which he had taken to preside over the Meeting of the Bible Society at Loughrea, and the Members of the Society were obliged to adjourn the Meeting. In consequence of these interruptions, Meetings have been held by appointment, at which Roman Catholic Priests tered into free debate concerning the and Protestant Clergymen have enright of the Laity to read the Scriptures; and the result has been highly favourable to the Protestant cause. We expect in our next Number to lay before our readers some very interesting details concerning these proceedings; and especially concerning the public debate which was held at Carrick-on-Shannon, on the 9th instant, between three Romish Priests and three Protestant Clergymen on the question just mentioned. The Speeches delivered on that important occasion, copied from the Irish Newspapers, have just been published in London, in a neat pamphlet; but we believe that an Official Report of them, furnished by the Speakers themselves, may be expected at no very remote period. There can be no doubt, but that the marked hostility displayed by the Romish Clergy on these occasions, has been excited by the iniquitous documents which have recently issued from the papal Chair, and which our readers will find in the subsequent pages of this Number. Nov. 20th, 1824. ANNIVERSARIES IN LONDON. (Concluded from page 480.) [N. B. By various causes, we have been hitherto prevented from completing our usual account of Religious and Philanthropic Anniversaries, celebrated in the British Metropolis during the spring or summer of the present year. We cannot, however, allow this volume to be closed, without appending to the sketches which appeared in our numbers for June and July, the following addi tional notices. We shall thus be putting upon record in our pages such materials, as will enable our readers to acquire a correct, though compendious view of the objects, the state, and the progress of the principal institutions, whose operations are intimately connected with the improvement and happiness of a large portion of the human race.-Editor.] 11. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Preachers, Speakers, and Collections. THE Annual Sermons were preached, May 12th, 13th, and 14th, at Surrey Chapel, at the Tabernacle, at TottenhamCourt-Road Chapel, and at Christ Church, Newgate-Street,-by the REV. HENRY TOWNLEY, from Bengal, on Prov. xxiv. 11, 12,-by the REV. THOS. SMITH, of Sheffield, on Matt. xiii. 33,-by the REV. EDW. IRVING, on Matt. x. 7,and by the Rev. W. PRYCE, of Londwater, on Psa. xxii. 27, 28.-The Annual Meeting was held in the Wesleyan Chapel, at Great Queen-Street, on May 13th, ROBERT H. MARTEN, ESQ., in the Chair. The Resolutions were moved or seconded by the REV. DR. BOGUE, the REV. JOHN CLAYTON, JUN., the REV. JOSEPH JULIAN, Vicar of Trunley, JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, Esq., M. P., the HONOURABLE BAPTISTE NOEL, the REV. DR. WARDLAW, the REV. THOMAS ADKINS, the REV. MARK WILKS, the REV. DR. STYLES, THOS. RING, ESQ., the REV. DR. WAUGH, the REV. JOIN DYER, the REV. JABEZ BUNTING, and the REV. F. PERROT. The Meeting was also addressed by the REV. DR. MORRISON, from China, who presented to the Society a copy of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, translated by himself and the late REV. DR. MILNE into the Chinese language, and also a copy of the Chinese and English Dictionary; both of which were received with merited expressions of the warmest satisfaction and gratitude. The Collections (including £340, the Produce of an Annual Missionary Sale of Articles prepared for that purpose by various Ladies) amounted to £1626. State of the Funds. The Receipts of the Year, ending March 31st, 1824, are stated to have been £34,002. 13s. 11d.; exceeding those of the preceding year, in the sum of £2736. Is. 114d. These Receipts include Dividends on Stock, £1114; Legacies, £938; and Cocoa-Nut Oil from the South Seas, £498. 8s. 4d." The Disbursements of the Year amount to £33,005. 6s. 8d., being less than the Disbursements of the preceding year by £182. 13s. Od. Labourers. Three Missionaries from the Seminary proceeded to their destinations during the year; viz., one to the Boschuanas, one to Madras, and one to Bangalore. Three others have recently been appointed to Chinsurah, Malacca, and the South Sea Islands. The number in the Seminary is only seven, instead of twenty, as formerly;-a circumstance which was forcibly urged in the Report, as showing the urgent want of more Missionary Candidates, to meet the calls made on the Society from various quarters. The Directors have lately resolved to accept, in some cases, offers for LINITED TERMS OF SERVICE. Success, The Report contained very cheering and satisfactory statements on this point. "From the East, from the North, and from the South, tidings of success, more or less extensive, are constantly arriv ing;-rich compensations for past exertions; powerful incitements to future and more vigorous effort." 12. RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. THE plan of diffusing the knowledge of important truths by the distribution of Religious Tracts, now so deservedly popular, did not, we are aware, originate with this Society, but is of much more ancient date. It was extensively acted upon, for instance, by MR. WESLEY, from a very early perjod of Methodism to the time of his death. Nor is this the only Institution by which this great work is now efficiently prosecuted; for there are other establishments in Great Britain and Ireland, both among the Members of the National Church, and in the Wesleyan and other Connexions, whose operations are characterized at once by their magnitude and by their signal utility. But "The Religious Tract Society," formed in London about twentyfive years ago, is entitled to particular respect; because it was, if not the first, one of the first of those Institutions, by which Tract-Distribution was conducted on a regularly organized and comprehensive system;-because its proceedings have been generally marked by distinguished zeal, perseverance, and liberality;-because it has been the instrument of giving birth to several other Societies of the utmost importance to the cause of CHRIST; and, finally, because its beneficial activity in eirculating Tracts written in the languages of various Foreign Countries far exceeds, we believe, that of any kindred Institution. On these accounts, we view it with cordial good-will; and are happy to report that its twenty-fifth anniversary was held on Friday morning, May 14th; JOSEPH REYNER, ESQ., being in the Chair.-The Report stated that the number of Tracts issued during the year ending March 31, 1824, amounted to Ten Millions, Twelve Thmisand and Sixty; being 4,301,760 more Those than in the year preceding. printed in foreign countries, at the expense of the Society, are not included in this enumeration. The Expenditure of the year has been £11,170. 8s. 2d.; and its Income amounted to the same sum, within £12.-Among the Distributions of the year, the following items are particularly pleasing and important; viz. In the Chinese Language, during three years, 102,150 Tracts: In the Malay, during the same period, 3,500 Tracts: In Ireland, by the Religious Tract and Book Society, during the past year, 416,277 Tracts and Books: By the River and Marine Distributors in and near London, during the year, 13,400 Tracts: In the Prisons and Hospitals, 11,600: At the Fairs in and near London, 68,300: Among the Pensioners who come from all parts of the kingdom to Greenwich, to receive their allowances, 10,000. And 87,000 small Tracts and Hand-Bills have been distributed in the outskirts of the Metropolis on the LORD's Day.-May the blessing of GoD abundantly fructify the seed thus largely Sown! 13. CONTINENTAL SOCIETY. THOSE British Christians who are at all aware of the recent revival, among our continental neighbours, of Popish superstition and intolerance, on the one hand, and of the dreadful degree in which Infidelity, on the other hand, in various forms and under different names, has infected the Protestant Churches of France, Switzerland, and Germany, will look with an interest more than commonly intense and affectionate on the object proposed by the Continental Society-which is," to assist Local Native Ministers in preaching the Gospel, and in distributing Bibles, Testaments, and Religious Publications over the Continent of Europe." Annual Sermons and Meeting. The Sermons were preached by the REV. H. M'NEILE, and the REV. DR. WARDLAW; and the Sixth Anniversary was held, on May 19th; SIR THOMAS BARING, BART., M. P., (the President,) in the Chair. The Speakers were, (besides the Chairman,) JOHN SCOTT, ESQ., HENRY DRUMMOND, ESQ., the REV. H. M'NEILE, SPENCER PERCEVAL, ESQ., the REV. DR. THORPE, the REV. DR. BOGUE, WM. CUNNINGHAME, Esq., the REV. W. A. EVANSON, SIR C. S. HUNTER, the REV. J. SAUNDERS, DR. PARKER, and the REV. J. TOWNSEND. The Report contains much important information, with which all who wish to understand the religious state of the Continent will do well to make themselves acquainted. Success. The villages round Tournay in the Netherlands,-Lemé, near St. Quentin in the north of France, Hargicourt, near Valenciennes, Peronne, Montauban, and Grenoble,-Bayonne, and the neighbouring Pyrennees,-Mulhausen, Col. mar, Strasburg, Carlsruhe, and other towns in the West and North of Germany, as well as the Cantons of Geneva, Vaud, and Berne, in Switzerland, -are specified as places in which the operations of the Society's Agents have been very considerably succeeded by the blessing of God. there are some 'few names which have not defiled their garments. By an agent from this Society, that benighted region might be stirred up to 'strengthen the things which remain, and are ready to die.' State of the Funds. RECEIPTS OF THE YEAR. is cheering. One of your Agents made several excursions during the last year into that country, under the protection of officers in the French army. He distributed nearly 500 Spanish Testaments, some of them under the very walls of Madrid. There is reason to believe that the same love of the truth, by whomsoever propagated, which characterizes the VAN ESSES, the GOSSNERS, and the Booses, among the Catholics of Germany, and which is found also in some parts of France, is likewise to be met with among the more liberal ecclesiastics of Spain.-Many circumstances seem to be uniting to rescue that fine country out of the abyss of darkness, in which it has been so long sunk.-In Austria, even in Vienna itself, where the Scriptures are still withheld from the people Balance due to the Treasurer. £194 7 with as much pertinacity as in Rome, Contributions in England, £906. 5s. Disbursements of the Year 14. BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. THE Anniversary of this very estimable Society was held June 23d and 24th. Preachers and Speakers. The Sermons were preached, in Great Queen-Street Chapel, and in Surrey Chapel, by the REV. C. ANDERSON, of Edinburgh, and the REV. T. MORGAN, of Birmingham, on Matt. vi. 33, and on Isai. xl. 9. The Public Meeting was held in Great Queen-Street Chapel, when the Chair was occupied by BENJAMIN SHAW, ESQ., the Treasurer of the Society. The Movers and Seconders of the Resolutions were the REV. C. AN DERSON, and ALEX. HALDANE, ESQ., J. BUTTERWORTH, Esq., M. P., and the REV. DR. WINTER, the REV. J. KINGHORN, and the REV. S. SUTTON, from Calcutta, the REV. PROFESSOR CHASE, from America, and J. E. GORDON, Esq., the REV. F. A. Cox, and W. B. GURNEY, ESQ., the REV. JOHN BIRT, and the REV. R. HOGG, Jos. GUTTERIDGE, Esq., and the REV. DR. NEWMAN. 1767 14 4 246 90 £2014 3 1935 0 4 246 9 £2181 19 £200; and the Mennonite Congrega- The Payments of the year amount to £11,839. 58. 8d. Missionaries lately sent out, &c. Five Missionaries, and their wives, have, during the preceding year, sailed for their destinations; viz., one for Monghyr, three for Jamaica, and one for the Mosquito Shore. One Candidate only remains at present in the Academy; but others, it is expected, will soon be received. Translations. From the abridged Memoir on this subject, which is printed in the Appendix to the Report, we learn that in this highly important department of the Society's labours, its agents at Serampore continue to be most assiduously, and on the whole very successfully, employed; but the great work does not proceed so rapidly as it might, for want of more ample funds. Exclusively of the Chinese Translation, the New Testament, however, has already been printed, and sent into circulation, in twenty of the languages of India.-The Memoir contains various testimonies from learned natives, intimately conversant with the different languages, to the substantially correct and intelligible manner in which this arduous enterprise has been executed. It is indeed surprising that in so early a stage of it, so much accuracy should have been obtained. |