first attempts, has been found imperfect; and not sufficiently idiomatic to be understood by the mass of the Chinese. The hope of the Society now rests on a careful revision of former versions, or rather a new translation, which is now in progress, by the combined labours of all the Protestant Missionaries in China, to which the Society has promised large pecuniary assistance. The hope is entertained that this version will not disappoint our expectations, and that its results will be such as to bring about the desires of the Christian Church for the 360 millions of the vast empire of China. In the two other great languages of the Chinese empire-the Mantchou and the Mongolian-versions of the Scriptures have also been prepared, at the cost of the Society.

In the languages of Madagascar, New Zealand, Tahiti, Rarotonga, and some other islands in the SOUTH SEAS, translations have been made by the Missionaries at these stations, and some large editions have been printed by the Society.

In several of the dialects of AFRICA a satisfactory commencement has been made;-for the Namacquas, the Sechuanas, and the Caffres of the South-for the Bulloms and Mandingos of the Western Coast-and for the Berbers of the Atlantic Range. The ancient Church of Abyssinia has been supplied with an edition of the Ethiopic Psalter and Gospels; and the providential acquisition of the Version of the entire Scriptures in the Amharic or Vulgar Dialect of a part of Abyssinia has enabled the Society to print, under the editorial care of T. P. Platt, Esq., successive editions of the New Testament, Psalter, and Pentateuch, and recently of the whole Old Testament, which are likely to prove the source of invaluable blessings to this interesting Christian community. For the people of Egypt, too, the Psalter and Gospels have been printed in Coptic and Arabic. But in Cape Town, and its Colonies, such has been the success of Christian Missionaries from various bodies, and

such the desire awakened to possess the Scriptures, that the Society has lately sent an agent, Mr. T. J. Bourne, to visit them, with 20,000 copies of the Dutch and English Scriptures, and with a view to organize their Auxiliaries. Further supplies, to the extent of 18,435 copies, have more recently been sent to the Cape.

Throughout the BRITISH COLONIES of Australia, the West Indies, and the Canadas, every demand has been met; and the Scriptures have been circulated to a considerable extent, by means of the numerous Auxiliary Societies established in these dependencies.

But there is one great system of the Society which remains to be noticed. Apart from the operation of Auxiliary and Branch Societies, which has proved so effective, it has been found necessary to establish several distinct FOREIGH AGENCIES, which have succeeded, beyond all expectation, in promoting the great work of Bible distribution; and it may be doubted whether the operations of the Society can ever be carried into full effect without the multiplication of such Agencies.

At PARIS, such an Agency was absolutely required, from the limited character of the Protestant Bible Society, which left the Roman Catholic population of France wholly unprovided for. Professor Kieffer had put into circulation, prior to March, 1833, no fewer than 730,650 copies of the Scriptures; and, under the superintendence of M. De Pressensé, there have been issued, in fourteen years only, from the Paris Dépôt, 1,657,917 copies of the Bible or New Testament; giving a result which could not have been obtained by any other means. "These

distributions," M. De Pressensé writes, "have been abundantly blessed of the Lord; and have given rise to circumstances altogether novel in our country, which cannot fail to be attended with results of the highest consequence as regards a religious awakening among its inhabitants.”

Within the last few years, also, M. De Pressensé has been authorised to employ a number of Colporteurs, with a view to spread the Sacred Volume more generally throughout the 86 Departments of the Empire. This resolution is, perhaps, one of the most important ever adopted in favour of France. These pious, unassuming, and devoted men have sold no fewer than 1,136,390 copies. And the results have become strikingly apparent in the spread of Evangelical Religion throughout many departments of that once infidel country.

At FRANKFORT, a similar Agency was rendered necessary, partly from the reluctance of several Continental Societies to circulate the Bible without the Apocrypha, partly to secure the Society's editions from every thing in the shape of note, preface, or comment, and, further, to conduct the printing of the Scriptures with the greatest economy and fidelity. Within the last few years a new and interesting field has been opened in HUNGARY, where very considerable issues have taken place. Under the care of Dr. Pinkerton, the issues from the year 1830 to the present time have been 821,095 copies: and several large editions of the German and other Scriptures are now in the press; and under the present circumstances of Germany, probably there is no department of the Society more important than its Frankfort Agency.

In BELGIUM, where little had been done for its Roman Catholic population, there have been sold 152,088 Bibles and Testaments, through the direct exertions of Mr. Tiddy and the Colporteurs employed by him. A great desire has been awakened in Belgium, and more recently in HOLLAND, to possess and read the Scriptures. In the latter country 179,135 copies have been sold by means of Colporteurs, in little more than two years; and the good effect of these distributions becomes daily more apparent.

At STOCKHOLM, the Society has availed itself of the services

of several friends to form an important Agency for Sweden and Finland; which has already been the means of furnishing several large dioceses, hitherto destitute, with a supply of the Scriptures. The total issues, since the year 1832, have been 291,436 Bibles and Testaments.

In SPAIN and PORTUGAL, an entrance was obtained a few years back for the Word of God, and the Society availed itself of the services of two friends in Spain for the sale of the Scriptures: so that, within a few years, nearly 14,000 copies were distributed, principally by sale.-Although, from the course of events in that unhappy land, the good work has been interrupted, yet there is good reason to rejoice that the Sacred Volume has gone forth, and fallen into the hands of many who did not know that there was such a book.

For the long-neglected countries of GREECE and TURKEY, where so many Christian Churches once flourished, agents have also been employed, from the want of every other facility for the circulation of the Sacred Volume. From the various dépôts more than 200,000 entire copies or portions of the Scriptures have been scattered over those countries, chiefly in Modern Greek. Under the superintendence of its late agent, the Rev. H. D. Leeves, assisted by Professor Bambas, a native of Greece, the Society has obtained the translation of the Old Testament in this language, the first ever given to the public; and it cannot fail of being attended with the most important consequences to the Eastern Church. An improved translation of the New Testament has also been prepared, more conformable to the idiom of the Modern Greek than the one so long in use, of which an edition of 10,000 copies has recently left the press at Athens. And the Old Testament is now undergoing a careful revision by Professor Bambas and the Rev. Isaac Lowndes, in order to its more perfect correspondence with the style and idiom of this New-Testament translation.

In the WEST INDIES, the Society's agents have most effectively followed up that noble act of British benevolence, which provided 102,904 New Testaments and Psalms for the Negro population of our Colonies. Numerous Bible Associations have been formed in most of the islands; and large demands have, in consequence, been made for Bibles and Testaments at cost price. Mr. James M'Murray, who went out in 1842 as the Society's agent in the West Indies, has established a dépôt in Jamaica, from whence 32,720 copies were issued in the short space of twenty-one months.

It is to be regretted that little has yet been effected for the vast continent of South America, for the Mexican States, and some other neighbouring countries. Yet some attempts have been made, which have partially succeeded. Since the return of the Rev. Dr. James Thomson, the Society has been able to avail itself of some private channels for the sale of the Scriptures, to the extent of some thousands of copies.

It only remains to bear honourable testimony to the UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, which have nobly followed the example of the Father Land. At New York, the American Bible Society, with nearly 1000 Auxiliaries, and a still greater number of Associations, is in active operation: and at Philadelphia, a similar Institution, with various Branches, successfully prosecutes the same object; and their united issues amount to 4,730,304 copies of the Bible or New Testament. They have also afforded considerable pecuniary assistance to Foreign Societies and Foreign Missionaries; and they are endeavouring, according to their means, to furnish every family within the States with a copy of the Sacred Volume.

Such is a brief, but, necessarily, a very imperfect sketch of the Plan and Operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Who that thinks of the wide-spread influence which it has obtained, or of the THIRTY-TWO MILLIONS of copies of