of these Schools manifest, to encourage and insure the beneficial tendency of their respective establishments. They indulge, at the same time, the warm hope that the ardour, which is thus kindled through a few parishes, will extend to all, inflaming more and more, as it proceeds, the benevolent co-operation of every heart in the furtherance of such an object.

"In the National School in the parish of St. Helier, the present number of children, male and female, daily instructed, amounts to 264; and for their use the distribution of Bibles, Testaments, Common Prayer Books and Tracts continues to be made by the committee; who cannot omit the acknowledgment of their particular gratification at the liberal grant of our worthy vice-president, the dean, for the supply of Bibles and Testaments as rewards to those children who are the most regular in their attendance at church. The number of those who assemble at the School on Sundays for that purpose is, male and female,

165.

"From this, as well as from the different seminaries in the other parishes,

the very favourable reports received as to the propriety of conduct and proficiency of the children in general, cannot be more encouraging to the picus expectations of every Christian mind, nor be more pleasing to every heart.

"It is therefore, with the most grateful feelings the District Committee look up to the Supreme Cause as thus the rewarder of their humble endeavours in his service; and they continue their trust in his gracious power and mercy to bless with an abundant increase the seed sown amongst all who, under his providence, reap the fruits of their labours. They also look up to Him to augment the number of the truly benevolent in the encouragement of those labours, by their active and extensive charity to all who sit in darkness and are ignorant of the inestimable value of his most holy word; a charity which is likewise so eminently useful and so well directed to the best interests of the Established Church, and of society in general, by the promotion of Christian knowledge through the influence of human, as well as of divine wisdom."

THE committee cannot conclude this brief report of their proceedings during the present year, without looking back to the past, for the purpose of calling the attention of those who have assisted them in their benevolent designs to the successful prosecution of the important work in which they have been engaged. For upwards of twelve years this committee have been zealously, but unobtrusively, occupied in endeavouring to promote the knowledge and practice of Christianity. Inconsiderable at its commencement, from the small number of its members, but powerful from the nature and importance of the holy cause they had espoused, they entered upon their course with a firm but unpretending confidence, trusting to the excellence of their designs, for the divine blessing upon their labours. The experi

VOL. VIII. NO. VI.

ence of the past has proved that the expectations they entertained were not unreasonable; and that their hopes, though high, were just. As the knowledge of the institution, and of its views, gained ground, the number of its friends increased, till it has acquired a degree of support and efficiency that has enabled this committee not only to provide for the wants of the district by the distribution of 2944 Bibles, 2660 Testaments, 9469 Common Prayer Books, 8754 bound books, and 32,887 unbound books and tracts, but also, by the aggregate amount of its annual donations, to contribute more than 900l. to the Parent Society, in furtherance of its general designs.

The committee feel assured that the foregoing details will afford the highest gratification to all who are really anxious for the moral and religious

3 B

improvement of the poorer classes of the community. And while they hail the distinguished support with which they have hitherto been favoured, as a presage of future success, they confidently anticipate that those, who consider the diffusion of Christian principles as the most appropriate remedy for corrupt conduct, and under that impression have already come forward in aid of this institution, will

not only continue to benefit it by their own praiseworthy exertions, but will also strenuously recommend it to others. And as there is the strongest reason to expect that the demands upon the depository will increase far beyond the present means of supplying them, they trust that an appeal to the real friends of the civil and religious constitution of their country will not be made in vain.

Ir is with more satisfaction than on any former occasion, that the Quebec Diocesan Committee of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge beg to offer to their members, and to the public, the Seventh Annual Report of their proceedings. Their exertions during the past year have been crowned with all the success which could reasonably have been expected, and they look forward to the future with the cheering hope, that, by the divine blessing upon their labours, they may every year become more and more instrumental in extending the knowledge, and confirming the influence of the religion of Christ.

The increased demand for books, and the increased exertions on the part of the committee to meet this demand, will best appear from the following statement of the issues made from the Repository, during the past year :

Bibles, different sizes.
Testaments, do

Prayer Books, do

.......

half-bound, and stitched

Small Tracts, sewed.....

143

126

... 295

1497

3560

5621

To these may be added several sets of the National Society's Cards and Arithmetical Tables, and a large quantity of the Tracts on single sheets, which are circulated gratuitously by the Parent Society.

In reviewing this branch of their labours, the committee cannot but feel the most lively satisfaction ;—a

satisfaction which derives additional strength from the reflection, that a far wider field of exertion is about to open upon them, and much more extensive means will soon be placed at their disposal, in consequence of a communication received last summer, (1824) from the Incorporated Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, conveying a request on the part of that Society, that the Diocesan Committee would supply their missionaries with such books as they might be authorized by the board to apply for, the Society undertaking to pay the full price for the same. It is needless to add, that this request was acceded to by the committee with the utmost alacrity; and the missionaries at Dunham, Perth, and Adolphustown, having received the requisite authority from the board, have sent orders to the repository for books, which will be immediately executed. The good effects of this arrangement have already been manifested in the diocese of Nova Scotia, and the same beneficial results may be expected to flow from it here. The increased facility which will thus be afforded for the circulation of religious books throughout the diocese, is a matter of sincere congratulation to the committee, and affords the happiest omen of the success of their future exertions.

The committee now proceed to enumerate their labours in the cause of Education on the National System.

The School-rooms were fitted up last summer, (1824) at an expense of about 40., with every requisite ac

commodation for the children and teachers, under the direction of Lieutenants Philpotts and West, of the Royal Engineers; to whom, also, the committee beg to return their best thanks, as well for their kindness in undertaking and executing this particular task, as for the general interest which they have manifested, on all occasions, in the welfare of the institution.

But the attention of the committee has been by no means limited to the School-house. The improvement of the Schools themselves has occupied much of their time and thoughts, and a meeting of the parishioners was held in the month of July last, (1824,) pursuant to public notice, for the purpose of framing regulations, preparatory to the introduction of an improved system of inspection and government.

At this meeting a Committee of Management, consisting of persons of both sexes, was appointed to meet in the respective School-rooms every Saturday forenoon, for the purpose of enforcing the existing regulations, and suggesting such alterations as might be thought necessary or expedient; a separate subscription was set on foot for the support of the Schools; and visitors were nominated for the Boys' School, which had not hitherto enjoyed the benefit of a regular superintendance of this nature.

This personal superintendence on the part of visitors has been well denominated" the life and soul of the system;" and it has been attended, in the present instance, with the most salutary effects. Without wishing at all to detract from the merits of Mr. Marsden and Miss Norris, the teachers of the two Schools, who appear fully impressed with the importance of their charge, and to whose sedulous attention and well-directed labours much is undoubtedly due, it is still impossible to deny that the close inspection, which has been exercised, has been scarcely less serviceable to them, than it has been beneficial to the children.

Both Schools may soon be considered as completely organized, both are full and flourishing in point of numbers, and both are conducted with

the utmost good order, regularity, and decorum. A marked improvement is also observable in the morals and deportment of the children, which cannot fail to be highly gratifying to the committee; and which appears, in some instances, to have operated a beneficial change in the manners and dispositions of the parents. To the gentlemen, visitors of the Boys' School, whose conscientious discharge of the duties of their appointment has contributed in no small degree to these important results, and to the ladies, whose kind and benevolent attention has been devoted, from the first, to the improvement of the Girls' School, the committee beg to offer, together with their congratulations, their sincere and heartfelt acknowledgments.

The committee cannot dismiss this part of their Report, without saying a few words on the subject of the Sunday School. Here also the improvement is manifest and striking, and the success of the Institution has more than answered the expectations of the committee. The number of children on the list is, boys 112, girls 80; and their attendance is, in general, regular and punctual. That this is mainly attributable to the active exertions of those young persons, who have undertaken the task of teachers in the School, no doubt can be entertained, and the circumstance is no less creditable to themselves, than it is gratifying to the committee.

The committee have the additional satisfaction of stating, that Sunday Schools, in connexion with the Establishment, are rapidly increasing throughout the diocese. A Sunday School, upon the same plan as that at Quebec, has recently been ingrafted upon the National School at Montreal, and the Institution has already been productive of the best effects.

The committee, in short, entertain a confident expectation, that these humble, but highly useful Institutions may become efficient pioneers, (if the expression be allowable) not only for the more extensive diffusion of Christian knowledge, but for promoting an increased attachment to the doctrines and ordinances of the Church of England; and that the inhabitants, more