Star.
London, England, 1820-11-02 00:00:00

BIBLE SOCIETY.

Yesterday a most numeroos and respectable Meet-
ing of the London Auxiliary Bible Society was held
in the Egyptian Hall, at the Mansion House, to ce-
lebrate the eighth Anniversary of the Institution.
The doors Were opened at elevtn o'clock, and at
twelve Sir C. S. flowrao took the Chair, in the ab-
sence of the LORD MAYOR.

Sir CLAUDIUS briefly addressed the Meeting,'
stating, that at the institution of the Society, eight
years ago, he had the honour of presiding. He con-
gratulated the Meeting on the numerous and respect-
able assembly thea present, and trusted that no year'
would be suffered to pass by without commemo-
rating the era of the Institution. At the first Meet-
ing that had been held, the Hall had not been half
so crowded as it was at present, but it now seemed
to be the unanimous wish to put the Bible into the
hands of all classes in society ; and hence each suc-
ceeding year the Meeting had been more numerous
than the former.
The Rev. D. Wtisow then read the Eighth Re-
port of the Society. The Report, among other
in-
teresting facts, stated, that, since the institution of,
the Society, 24,391 Bibles had been distributed by
it, and concluded with recommending the appoint.

ment of a Ladies Branch of the Society, in order to
facilitate the attainment of its object.
The CHANCELLOR Of .the EXCHEQUER dig pre-
seated himself to the notice of the Meeting. e had',
had the honour, he said, of having formerly ads
dressed, upon a similar occasion, the worthy Baronet
then in the Chair. As he had been present at the
first Meeting of the Society, and had had the honour
of being then nominated one of the Vice-Presidents,
he should never omit, whenever it was in his power,
to attend the Meetings of the Society, and should la-
ment that a year should pass away without having.
it in his power to pay his tribute of homage to the
principles by which it was actuated—(Applastse)—
and should exert all his talents and all his means to
carry them into effect. At the commencement of
the Society, he had been placed in his present offi-
cial situation, and amidst many instances of the DI-
VINE goodness, he had to be grateful. for being res-
cued from the imminent danger with which he had
been threatened at the beginning of the present year.
In the present state of the country, it was a crime to
be neutral in the cause of religion—(Much applause)
—when the powers of light and darkness seemed to
be set in array, the one against the other. In the
course of the year 1819, no less a sum than £350,000
had been raised by Societies of the same nature as
the present ; but that' sum, though large, was not
sufficient, and still further exertions were needful to
accomplish the objects of the SOciety. It had been
stated by those who were unfriendly to such So-
cieties, that for the last twenty years vice and crime
bad increased in proportion to the efforts of these
Societies to put them down ; but, he believed, it
might be stated truly, that none of those criminals
had been supporters of Bible Societies, but, in fact,
belonged to that class who, in a Christian country,
led the life of Heathens. But the Bible Society had
reached to the farthest extremities of the globe, and
bad produced the happiest effects. At one period,
the communication of the civilized with the rude
part of mankind had been attended with the most
injurious effects to the latter. That had been the
case with the poor nations of America, and perhaps
in a still greater degree with the inhabitants of
'Africa. Much was due from Europe to that ill-
fated country; and happy he was to be able then to
say, that a part at least of the debt was about to be
paid, by imparting to them the benefits of know-
ledge, and the blessings of the Christian religion.
In -India, there was an immense field, although the
reapers were but few, while the harvest was great.
IR that country, there was a population of sixty mil-
lions ; but the designs of the DIVINE PROVIDENCE
were not to be limited by the weakness of human
agents ; and he trusted the time was not far distant,
when in India, America, and in Africa, the name of
'an Englishman would be hailed with blessings. The
Bible had been translated into 179 different lan-
guages, and there would soon be no speech nor na-
tion where its voice would not be heard. The Right
Hon. Gentleman concluded with moving, that the
Report be received.
Mr. Sheriff WILLIAMS rose, amidst loud applause,
to second the motion. Amidst the multiplicity oi
his official duties, it was difficult for him to exert
himself as much as he could wish in promoting the
benevolent objects of the Society; but he was aware
that the commission to preach the Gospel had not
been entrusted to the Priesthood alone, but that all
Christians had been commanded to do the same; and
all men ought to be reminded that the blessing of
our Holy Faith extended not only to the life that
now is, but to that which is to come. Infidelity at
the present time was not confined to corners, but
stalked abroad in the light of noon; and, while that
was the case, it was the duty of all who believed the
Gospel to promulgate its tenets, as the most effectual
antidote—( Applause).—He trusted that the great
bulk of the population of the country were believers
in the doctrines of Christianity; and though some
moral men might unhappily be unbelievers, yet he
trusted that the lives of Christians would not shun a
comparison with those who doubted the truths of our
Holy Faith. From the Gospel, and from it alone,
could comfort be drawn in the day of trouble, and
in the hour of danger. The Bible Society had been
the means of doing away with the quarrels among
the different sects of Christians, by uniting them a
in one common pursuit, and furnished the best anti-
dote to the corrupt spirit of the times. It had been
lately his painful duty to attend a criminal to execu-
tion; the unhappy man had latterly been induced to
look into the Bible. He blessed GOD that the Sacred
Book had at last been put into his hands, and deeply
regretted that he bad not seen it before. The worthy
Sheriff concluded by apologizing for the absence of
his colleague, Mr. Waithman, who was detained from
the Meeting by the pressure of official business.
Lord GAMBIER had, with much pleasure, obeyed
the call made upon him to attend the Meeting. He
had been one of the Vice-Presiieats from the begin-
ning of the Society, and was anxious to do it all the
good in his power. He had beard, with concern,
chat the funds of the Society had declined, and trusted
that fresh ardour would be inspired into the Mem-
bers to supply the deficiency. He agreed with the
two last speakers, that at no time had it been so ne-
cessary to make every effort to put down infidelity,

sedition, and blasphemy. His Lmliship, after ob-.
serving that he was not .in_ the habit of speaking in
public, moved the Thanks of die Society to the Pre-
sident, Vice-Presidents, and the Committee, for their
exertions during the last year.
The Rev. G. CLAYTON seconded the motion. He
trusted that no diminution of zeal for the objects of
the Society would be felt in the centre of the City
of London, and in the atmosphere of the Egyptian
Hall--(Applause).—Such an applehension could be
scarcely entertained by any one who looked at the
numbers and respectability of the present Meeting.
—lf moral principle was not co-extended with the
means of education, all attempts to enlighten the
lower orders must prove ineffectual. In the attempts
made to inflame the public mind, the Bible was like
oil that calmed the waters in a storm. The Society
had been reproached *with the little good that had
accrued from their labours. But frequently more
good was done than at first.appeared, as those whose
morals had been reformed were not wont to thrust
themselves ambitiously forward into public view.--
With respect to the poor of Southwark, he could
take upon himself to say, that much good had been
effected by means of this Society. • The same had
been the case with many bred to the sea. The
speaker here read a letter from a. sailor on a board
a ship, that had been exposed to imminent danger
off Margate. After describing the danger, the
writer said, 4 The Captain read a portion of .he Bible,
and the crew sang a hymn; when, on a sudden, the
storm abated, and the boats came and took us all off."
[Here the Lord Mayor entered, and took the Chair.]
What he had just read was a proof of the effects the
Scriptures had on the minds of our brave seamen—
(Loud applause).—He hoped this seed, thus sown,
would fructify and produce one hundred-fold.
The motion for Thanks to the Lord Mayor, &c. was
then carried unanimously.
The LORD MAYOR, in returning thanks, took oc-
casion to observe, that no man could wish better to
the objects of the Society than himself. At the same
time, be should be happy if the Prayer Book always
accompanied the Bible. It was much better for the
lower classes to be reading their Bible by their own
fire-sides, than to be listening to, or talking sedition
and blasphemy in an alehouse.
Mr. Alderman SCHOLEY, one of the Vice-Presi-
dents, also returned thanks. a

Sir D. MACKWORTH came forward, at the sugges-
tion of some friends; he should cot trespass on the
time of the Meeting, and should only propose certain
Gentlemen to be Officers for the ensuing year.

The Rev. G. Own: was of opinion, that, in the
present state of the public mind, all were bound to
advocate the great cause that was before the Meet-
ing. It was his duty to establish the premises, and
:heirs to assent to the conclusion. He was happy
that a Layman, bearing high civic office (Sherif
Williams), had so ably defended the cause of Truth
and of Christianity. An objection had been made,
that the Book of Common Prayer did not accompany
the Bible; that objection had been stated before to-
day, and, as often as stated, had been refuted. In '
the present Society there was nothing new, except in
the magnitude of the scale otexertion, proportioned
to the augmented exigencies of the case. The Society
had neither added anything to the Bible, nor subtracted
aught from it. Within the space of seventeen years,
the objects held in view by the Society had been pa-
tronized by Porteus, by Burgess, by Barrington, and
by Fisher, four of the most enlightened Prelates that
the Church of England had ever produced : and the
last of whom had presided over the education of the
last hope of England, the Princess Charlotte. Could
Sur great Reformers, Cranmer, Parker, and Ridley,
once more revive, would they not support an Insti-
tution, to accomplish whose object they had directed
their most ardent efforts, and some had shed their
blood. Should the Society adopt a narrower prin-
ciple, their sphere of utility would be circumscribed,
and both Russia and America would be shut against
them ; the latter of which would certainly refuse to
barter her religious liberty for whatever boon we
could offer in exchange. But by the plan adopted
by the Society, all Christendom had been organized,
and the truths of the Gospel had been made known
to those who bad formerly not even heard of its
name—(Appleese).—For him, an officiating Minister
of twenty-hve years standing, to say that he did net
love the Book of Common Prayer, would not be
tacit but a loud censure on his own conduct; but yet
he would not place the Common Prayer on an am.
lity with the Bible; GOD had revealed the one, bat
he had not revealed the other—(Appkese).--Should
all the Established Churches be swept away, still the
Bible would remain. If the Bible were taken away,
the foundation of the Civic Chair, and all the appa-
ratus of Magistracy, the sword, the chain, and the
robe, would- at the same time become an empty
pageant. He had no doubt that the Officers for the
next year would exert all their efforts to supply the
deficiency in the funds. The presence of a man
whom he would not name, but whose name was well
known (Mr. Allen), and two New Zealand Chiefs,
drawn thither by their zeal to become acquainted
with the doctrines of Christianity, would give an
additional impulse to the exertions of all the friends
of the Society.
Upon the motion of the Rev. D. Wagon, the Of.
Seers for the ensuing year were then appointed.
The Rev. P. TRESUOFI then addressed the Meet-
ing, and moved a Resolution expressive of the inte-
rest taken by the Society in the connexion between
the parent Society and the. subordinate branches, and
calling for additional exertions, in order to supply the
deficiency of the funds.
[Mr. Sheriff WILLIAMS here left the Meeting,
leaving a donation of £s.]
Mr. W. ALLEN seconded the motion. At the pre-
sent time, the friends of morality and religion ought
to take a decided part, and to recollect only that
they were Christian; and Englishmen, setting aside
all minor differences. He bad lately made a jour-
ney to Russia, where 20,000,000 of fellow-creatures
had never seen the Bible in a tongue that they under-
stood. But now the Emperor Alexander had esta-
blished schools in the most remote parts of his En-.
pire. Prince Alexander Galinski had proposed to
make a selection from the Bible, to be read in the
schools ; and when he saw it, the countenance of the
Emperor beamed with joy, and a great number of.
copies were immediately ordered to be printed. He,
and his friend who accompanied him, proceeded to
Moscow; but though they travelled with consider-

able speed,' the were oatatttisped tit* *Wee* ef
Alesanderi. and. had found copies of the. selection
,everywhere upon the road. In the Grecian Islands,
the utmost snooty was felt for the possession of. the
Scriptures; and at the Island of.Terredea, after he
and his friend had distributed all the copies they
could spare, some of the natives swam to the ship in
order to procure more copies. He concluded with a
motion, calling upon all connected with the Society
for additional efforts to carry into effect the objects
of the Society.
The Re►. H. WATEINS, Rector of St. Swithin's,
moved the thanks of the Society to those Ladies who
bad co-operated to effect its objects, and proposed
the establishment of a Ladies Branch Society, still
further to effectuate the same.
Mr. J. W. FRISEIFIZLD seconded the motion.

Mr. WILSON here stated to the Meeting, that the
two New Zealand Chiefs who were present wished to
retire. They had come over to this country to learn
its religion, its laws, and customs, and to transplant
them to their own. They had been at Cambridge
with Mr. Lee, the Professor of Arabic, and had been
employed, in conjunction with him, in'endeavouring
to reduce their language to a grammatical form ; as
soon as that should be effected, the Bible would be

translated into the New Zealand tongue, and thus this
country would impart to that distant part orthe
world those benefits that the ancestors of the present
Meeting stood in equal need of 1400 years ago—
(Great applause).
The two Chiefs then came forward, tattooed after

the fashion of their country, and, bowing respect-
fully, withdrew.
Mr. FRES/11,1RLO then stated, that while the Sub-
scriptions in London for the last year amounted only
to ZOO ; the sum of £1,500 had been collected in
Bristol, and £2,200 in Liverpool.—The motion was
then put, and curie& unanimously.
The LORD MAYOR now left the Chair ; which was
again taken by Sir C. S. HUNTER.
The Rev. Mr. DILLow moved a Resolution, ex.
pressive of attachment to the Bible Society. He
then adverted to the public and private virtues of
the late ring, on whom he pronounced a high and
merited eulogium. He had not, like some other
Princes, redeemed the vices of youth by the virtues
of his mature years, but, from the commencement to
the close of his long and eventful reign, had been a
pattern to his subjects, both of public and private
virtue. Though equalled by other Princes in indi-
vidual excellencies, in the combination of them, he
would, perhaps, be found without a rival.
Upon the motion of Mr. J. POYNDER, the Thanks
of the Meeting were voted to the LORD MAYOR and
Sir C. S. HUNTER; the latter of whom returned
thanks in the name of both.

The Rev. D. WILSON begged leave to state to the
Meeting, that the Bible had been translated into the
Amharric tongue, which was spoken throughout the
greatest part of Abyssinia ; and that Mr. Joel, whose
absence on the present occasion was caused by indis-
position, was then employed in translating the Scrip-
tures into the popular dialect of Malta.
After a few words from Sir C. S. HUNTER, ht
praise of the late Duke of Kent, for the assistance he
had afforded to the objects of the Society, the Meet-
ing broke up about four o'clock.
Persons were stationed at the different doors with
plates, to receive the donations of the benevolent ;
and a considerable sum was collected.

At the Coronation of King Gronez the Second,
his MAJESTY. as a part of the ceremony, hissed the
Archbishop and Bishops as they knelt before him one
after another. The late KING omitted this part of
the ceremony, which bad been practised for centuries
before en similar occasions.

The revenues of the Waterloo Bridge Company
were defrauded, the other day, by the following queer
stratagem :—Two young chimney-sweepers wanted
to pass over the bridge, but having only cnie pensay
between them, the thing appeared to be impossible.
They were not long, however, in contriving bow to
manage it. They tossed up which should get into
the soot bag; and the one upon whom the chance
fell, instantly enshrouding himself in that sable enve-
lope, was taken up on the shoulders of the other and
carried, without discovery, through the bar. He
then as instantly emerged from the bag, and they
both ran off together with a loud horse laugh at the
toll-keepers' want of vigilance. _ _

DRUiT-LANZ TBSAT-Itt-.-A Mr. Coors:, from the
Liverpool Theatre, made his debut on these boards
last night, in the character of Romeo. He had pre-
viously acquired a high character from his provin.
cial exertions, but he may rest securely on the efort
of last night, without any reference to former suc-
cesses to make out a reputation. His figure is good,
and ,-nuntenauce eTressivel in addition to .which

he has a powerful, voice, and a very distinct articu-
lation. His chiefrecommendation, however, is feel-
ing, and as that has been at all times the most cer-
tain road to the human heart, did' best security that
a performer can have for making others feel, we
need not hesitate, even at this early moment, to as-
sign him an important plate in his profession. Hu
was cheered throughout by the ?pules:se of the
audience. The Mercado, of ELLiavos, was in his.
' usual style of excellence. The young Lady. Miss
CHerran), who was announced for the part of Jurist,
was obliged' to relinquish the task, from indi • •
and the character was very ably sustained y MR.
W. WEST. The Tragedy was announced for repel.
&ion this evening, amidst the applause: °fah:him •
able and crowded House.
SINGULAR INTERPOSITION.--A Lady had a tame
bird which she was in the habit of letting out of its
cage every day. gm morning as it was picking
crumbs of bread °lithe carpet, ter cat, who always
before spewed great kindness for the bird, seised it
on a sudden, and jumped up with it in ter
mouth
upon a table. The Lady was mnch alarmed for the
fate of her favourite, but on turning aboutinstantly
discerned the cause. The door had been kft open,
and a strange cat had just come into the room ! After
turning it out, her own cat came down from her
place of safety, and dropped the bird without doing
it the smallest injury.
A challenge of competition to shew 100 ewes from
the Sussex flock of Lord asps against the same
number from the sheep-walks of Mr. litcstaans. of
Firk, took place on Friday, when the Judges decided
in favour of his Lordship's ewes.

it