were Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans, German Reformed, Dutch Reformed-in a word, they were of all the great branches, and most of the smaller, of the one true Church of Christ in this land. The fields of the labors of these men have been Boston, Providence, the Blackstone Valley, New Haven, Northern and Middle Vermont, the City of New York, Albany, Northern New York, Oswego, Rochester, Buffalo, Newark, N. J., Philadelphia, the Portuguese Colonies in Illinois, Wisconsin, New Orleans, and the Valley of the Rio Grande in Texas. Almost without exception, the missionaries have had most encouraging success in their work. Comparatively few of the laborers of the Society are Americans, or labor among our American population. They are principally from other nations, and labor in behalf of their own countrymen, who are now, however, or will soon become American citizens. The number of churches collected by the missionaries is fifteen, the number now connected with the Board is ten; while the number of preaching stations which are regularly sustained every Sabbath, beside the churches referred to, is upward of twenty. Excepting in cases where it is unavoidable, the Board do not intend or desire to form churches, preferring that those who are detached from Rome may be induced to go to such of the Evangelical Churches as are near them, or such as they may prefer. Sabbath schools are connected with most of the churches, and also with many of the preaching stations. Several hundreds of children, whose parents are Roman Catholics, now regularly attend those Sabbath schools. The Report states that demands are made for laborers, German, or Irish, or French, in New Orleans, Mobile, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Charleston, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Hartford, Springfield, and the Valley of the Connecticut throughout, Lowell, Lawrence, Portland, and a great number of other places. FOREIGN FIELD.-The Report reviews the operations of the Board in France and Belgium, in Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Chili, Hayti, and refers to the work in Canada, in Russia, and speaks of other fields as being more or less open, such as Brazil and Mexico-the latter being particularly accessible from the Valley of the Rio Grande. The Society sustains thirty missionaries abroad, three of whom are in Italy. AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. The amount received from all sources during the year, ending 31st July 1851, was $274,902 21. The expenditures for the same period were $284,830 56. The Society's debt on that day, was $43,999 20, which exceeded that of the preceding year by about $10,000. This increased indebtedness arose from increased expenditure, partly on account of the extended operations of the society, and partly owing to greater expense than usual in making remittances to the missions. These are made by means of drafts drawn on London; and as the balance of trade was against England during the last year, the drafts did not sell so well as formerly, so that the loss to the Society was $10,744. The actual receipts excceeded those of 1850 by $23,039 93. The numerous missions are all in a flourishing condition; and new fields are opening in various parts, so that the wants of adequate funds alone prevent the society from greatly increasing the number of missionaries and stations. The following summary the last report exhibits the present statistics of the Society operations. Missions Stations Out-stations 1. The Missions. of Other Boarding Schools 22 Free Schools, (437 supported by Hawaiian Government) 734 331 66 Boarding-Schools 708 Free Schools (13,261 do.) 66 in all the Schools 23,373 BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. Foreign operations.-M. de Pressense issued during the last year 109,210 copies; the French and Foreign Bible Society, after deducting 15,000 copies sold to the British Society, 52,849; the Protestant Bible Society of Paris, 6,535; and a grant has been made to it of 500 Bibles for the use of schools. In Belgium, Holland, and the Northern parts of Germany, Mr. Tiddy issued 85,534, irrespective of 12,936 forwarded to different societies or agencies, and there have been sent from Great Britain, for the depots at Brussels and Cologne, 2,033 Bibles, and 2,520 Testaments, in English, French, German, &c. A gratifying report has been received from the Society's agent in Germany, Dr. Pinkerton, whose issues amounted to nearly 71,000. The issues from the eleven depots in Switzerland, by Lieutenant Graydon, have been nearly 1,000 copies more than last year, amounting to 6,006, in return for which he received and remitted 7,064 francs. The Geneva committee have disposed of 3,594 copies, from November, 1848, to the end of December, 1850. In Italy the work of the society has been chiefly confined to the Northern parts, more especially to Piedmont and Lombardy. At Milan the authorities, more especially the military authorities, have allowed the introduction of the Scriptures, and 8,914 copies have been disposed of, principally through the booksellers. Eleven thousand two hundred and fifty-one copies of the Scriptures have been disposed of in Lombardy and the Sardinian territories, 68,000 of the Italian version have been put in press, and 20,047 sent to Italy. Three thousand six hundred and forty-two copies of the Italian New Testament, printed in behalf of the society at Rome, have been passed into the hands of the Papal Government, who have paid back the full amount of their cost. Mr. Elsner, of Berlin, whose distributions among the troops of Prussia has now amounted to above 335,000 copies, received supplies last year of 2,600 copies. The agency at Stockholm have issued 50,667, and at Christiana, 6,876 copies. The Schleswig Holstein Bible Society reports an issue of 6,570 Bibles and Testaments in two years, in the two duchies. The St. Petersburg agency issue last year was 27,633, and Mr. Melville, of Odessa, issued 5,652 copies. From the depot at Malta 12,655 copies have been issued, and from the depot at Athens 1,338. The Scriptures are now printed in one volume in modern Greek, and the New Testament is given freely to the schools. The issues from Smyrna and Constantinople have been 10,325 copies. A firman has just been issued by the Sultan, granting enlarged protection to Protestants in Turkey. The circulation of the auxiliary at Calcutta was 29,982. The revised translation of the New Tes tament into Chinese was brought to a close on the 24th of July last; and the committee regret to say that the controversy as to the terms "God" and "Spirit" still continues. To the London Missionary Society a grant has been made of £250 toward printing an edition of the new version at Hong Kong-the blanks left by the translators for "God" and "Spirit" being filled up by the native terms "Shang" and "Shin." To the Church Missionary Society a tender of £250 was made for the same purpose, on the application of some of the missionaries, who proposed to employ the terms "Shin" and "Ling," but it has not yet been accepted. Domestic operations.-The entire receipts of the year ending March 31st, 1851, amounted to £103,330 2s. 8d., being an increase of £11,695 10s. 1d. on those of last year. The receipts applicable to the general purposes of the Society amounted to £53,795 7s. 10d., including £33,896 Os. 10d, free contributions from auxiliary societies. The amount received for Bibles and Testaments was £49,534 14s. 10d. The issues of the Society for the year are as follows:-From the depot at home, 788,073; from the depots abroad, 339,544; total, 1,137,617. The total issues of the society now amount to 247,667 copies. The expenditure during the past year has amounted to £103,543 10s. 10d., being £6,297 8s. 10d. over the previous year. The society is under engagements to the extent of £61,458 2s. The adoption of the system of colporterage had met with great success in Manchester and Liverpool, particularly in Liverpool, where a single colporter disposed of 7,029 copies in the course of last year. The fund of £5,000, which had been set apart for the supply of recently formed Sunday and day schools, having become exhausted, a further sum of £1,000 has been applied to the same purpose. During the year 12,265 Bibles and Testaments have been granted to schools from that fund. The following grants have also been made :-To the Merchant Seamen's Bible Society, 10,947 copies of Bibles and Testaments; to emigrants and convicts;-to the London City Mission, 7,525 copies, the greater part of which are intended to be placed in the hands of the missionaries for loan stock; to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, for distribution on the Continent, 75 English Bibles and Testaments, 900 Hebrew and German and Pentateuchs, 400 German Bibles and Testaments, and 100 Dutch Bibles; to the Manchester Town Mission, 100 English Testaments and Psalms, as loan stock; 400 Bibles to the Sunday School Union; to the Glasgow Auxiliary, 226 Bibles and Testaments in various languages; to correspondents in Scotland, 200 Gaelic Bibles and Testaments, and 84 English. The issues of the Hibernian Bible Society during the past year amounted to 103,138 copies. To the Sunday School Society have been granted 34,000 copies, of which 15,000 were Bibles, and 19,000 Testaments; to the ladies' Hibernian School Society, 500 Bibles; to the Edinburgh Irish Mission, 100 Irish Testaments; and to the Irish Trinitarian Bible Society, chiefly for distribution among emigrants, 500 Bibles and 300 Testaments. In the Great Exhibition the committee have sought and obtained a niche for the Bible-170 specimens of versions, in 130 languages, selected from a yet larger number in the publication of which the society has more or less assisted, being exhibited; and that measures have also been adopted, by which the vast multitudes, whether of foreigners or of Englishmen who are expected shortly to be drawn together, may have a ready opportunity of supplying themselves with copies of the Scriptures in various languages. Printing the Scriptures.-From a Parliamentary return obtained by Mr. Hume, it appears that the Queen's printers printed, from the 1st of January, 1848, to the 31st of December 1850, 1,157,500 Bibles and 752,000 Testaments. The drawback of paper duty received was in the same period £7,723 8s. 103d. At Oxford University Press, in 1848, 261,500 Bibles and 262,000 Testaments were printed. In 1849, 368,500 Bibles and 253,500 Testaments; whilst, in 1850, there were 305,750 Bibles and 235,000 Testaments. At Cambridge, in the three years, the number was 138,500 Bibles and 204,000 Testaments. PARIS EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY. From the Treasurer's report it appears that the balance on hand at the commencement of the year was 145,085 fr.; and the receipts for the year have been 108,393 fr., the donations and subscriptions having amounted to 99,321 fr. The disbursements of the year were 141,028 fr., of which 105,704 fr. have been disbursed for the mission in South Africa, besides 10,790 fr. appropriated for the education of missionaries' children. The society is contemplating an enlargement of its operations. To this end it is proposed to commence a new mission in the French Antilles. |