as it has apparently affected the amount of the circulation of books in a considerable degree. It was stated, at the close of last year's Report, that it was the intention of the Committee to hold an annual meeting at Horsham and Worthing alternately on the first Tuesday after Midsummer; and by permission of the respective ministers, to attend public worship, and have a Sermon preached on the occasion.→→ The first of these annual meetings was held this year on the appointed day at Horsham, when an excellent Sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Holland, to whom the Committee is deeply indebted for his services. "The cause, which is undertaken in humble but ardent zeal for the service of God, and in the fervent wish of extending the blessings of the religion of Jesus Christ, will never fail. He who has commanded us to 'sow beside all waters,' will not let the seed wither and perish, but will cherish it by his gracious help and influence; and will give to the labours of them who are workmen together with him,' that without which all human labours and efforts must be vain, His support and His blessing."-Extract from Storrington Report. "The Committee have great satisfaction in announcing to the members of the Society, that the distribution of Bibles and Testaments, during the past year, has exceeded that of any former year by 165; of Tracts by 1535; and that two new Parochial Lending Libraries have been added, and three Parochial Collections received, for the benefit of the respective parishes in which such collections were made. "The County Anniversary continues to afford increasing satisfaction to the friends of pure and undefiled religion. "On the ensuing Anniversary, his Grace the Duke of Rutland, as Patron of the County Institution, has consented to preside; the Rev. R. Gutch, Rector of Seagrave, is appointed Clerical Steward; and the Rev. Jemson Davies, Vicar of Evington, the Preacher. "The Committee having received a letter from the Parent Society, during the past year, containing new regula tions affecting District Committees, think it necessary to apprize its members, and the public in general, of its leading provisions;-which are, First, that all thirds on Parochial Collections and District Subscriptions are waved; -Secondly, that in case of District Subscribers only, and Parochial Collections, the difference between the cost prices and the reduced prices of the Society, for any books had on either of these accounts, is to be made up by the several committees. "The Committee cannot conclude this their Eighth Annual Report, without congratulating the well-wishers to their object, on the increased success of their endeavours in disseminating the word of God, together with the formularies of the Established Church and tracts agreeable to its doctrines and articles, among their poorer brethren at home; neither can they refrain from making known to the members of this Society, the avidity with which their publications, particulartly Bibles, are received. "Finally, the Committee solicit the continued aid of the laity to this Society, being fully assured that its cause will thereby be better promoted, the knowledge of its objects more largely extended, and its fruits more effectually exhibited in the religious and moral improvement of the people. Thus, with the assistance of Almighty God may our cause prosper, and ourselves be enabled to bring many Sons unto Glory!"-Extract from Deanery of Ackley Report. SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL. REPORT FOR 1825. We have learned that our observations on this Report, in our last two Numbers, have given great offence to many individuals, whom we unfeign edly respect. We trust that animadversions upon our labours, proceeding from what quarter they may, will ever lead us to reconsider circumspectly and most anxiously the grounds upon which we have acted; and we are sure that the expostulations which we have in this instance received, have not been received in an indifferent or contemptuous mood. But, although the advice of those in whose principles we confide, will ever be most respectfully and gratefully accepted: yet, when conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, and convinced of the accuracy of our remarks, we will bow to no authority, but the authority of our own deliberate convictions. Knowing, however, the right feeling and sound judgment of many of those who have addressed us, we do not deny that their opinion is probably entertained by many of our readers. We therefore shall not hesitate to state the objections which have been made to our observations upon this Report, and add a few remarks, which, we we trust, will be our vindication in the opinion of those whom we love and honour. We must premise that no one has asserted that our animadversions are groundless; or, in the guarded language of an opponent, "that there are no blemishes in the Report, such as hurt a critical eye, and offend a nice judgment; that the great expense of printing is unworthy consideration;— that no amendment might be made in stating the expenditure, or that there are no errors which call for correction.' But the objections to our article are twofold. 1. That there is a flippancy in our style," which has the appearance of ill-nature;" and that we have indulged a spirit of ridicule, "a weapon (we are reminded) which none but enemies wield." 2. That our animadversions were impolitic; "that they are likely to create a prejudice against the Society in the minds of strangers; and whilst the Society is endeavouring to reveal her existence to those numerous members of the clergy as well as of the laity, to whom she is now entirely unknown, the fact of the Christian Remembrancer having proclaimed her demerits, will be considered by her opponents a proof of inefficiency, and by lukewarm friends, an excuse for declining exertion in her behalf." We have now stated the objections which have come to our knowledge fully and fairly. Assuming the truth of the first complaint, be it observed, that not the venerable Society, but the labours of the persons who compiled the Report, are the objects of our ill-nature and ridicule. Now it must be granted, that they who offend, after warning given, are worthy of very different treatment from those who commit their first error. In our notice of the Report last year (vol. vii. p. 659), we hinted, most respectfully and kindly, that we were sorry to observe that the facts in the Report were not set forth in the most interesting manner. And yet this gave considerable offence; we heard it designated as the remark " of some ill-natured person." When, then, we perceived, in the Report just published, "the same careless, slovenly, and incorrect hand, the same unnecessary repetitions, the same important omissions," (p. 620 ante), we were determined to expose the errors which were thus shamelessly repeated, and to show that our ill-nature was not without excuse. And if it be said there is an appearance of ridicule, we reply, it is caused by those very facts and paragraphs we have selected from the labours of the Secretaries; they are the authors of the ridicule. know they say, that many things to which we object they allow to be wrong, but that they are bound by the practice of their predecessors. Via trita est tutissima, is a maxim to which we are well disposed to assent, but still we are inclined occasionally to survey the "old paths," to see whether they may not be improved; and surely the excuse of the worthy Secretaries is the best defence that could be urged for our interference. We are bound by no precedent to conceal errors, which we are convineed need only to be pointed out that they may be corrected. We do not, however, allow that these gentlemen deserve much credit for their excuse. should we think of a steward, who went on, year after year, mismanaging and misapplying his master's property, merely because his predecessors had done the same; without once shewing his master the errors of the system? We What But, secondly, as to the impolicy of our animadversions. We should, indeed, deeply lament if any thing has escaped us which may injure the venerable Society. We will not now express our warm attachment to its interests, but will content ourselves with referring to the very articles in our numbers for October and November last, which have been so severely animadverted upon. From them we are willing that our sentiments on this point should be gathered. Lukewarm, indeed, must he be who is deterred by our remarks from giving the Society his support. We have not proclaimed the demerits of the Society, for we know of none to proclaim. Nay, we have stated, over and over again, that with the general proceedings of the Society we have no cause to quarrel. But we have proclaimed, and we will proclaim it again, that there are abuses connected with the compilation of the Report; and we suspect that the continuance of such abuses is more detrimental to the good cause than any evils which may result from the exposition of them. "We," as we observed in January last (p. 44), are fully persuaded that the more the proceedings of the Society are discussed, the more popular it will become; its merits are of that superior order, its labours have been productive of so much substantial good, its objects are so intimately connected with the propagation of Christianity under the purest form, that the more it is known the more it will be beloved." And surely whilst the Society is endeavouring to reveal herself to those to whom she is at present unknown, her 'Report' should be as good and perfect, in every respect, as the care and wisdom of her friends can provide. 66 Pursuant to our intimation in our last number, we now gladly proceed to lay before our readers some observations on the details contained in the Report. NEWFOUNDLAND MISSION.-NEWFOUNDLAND SCHOOL SOCIETY.-We commence our observations, by reminding our readers that the island of Newfoundland is as large as England, and in shape not very dissimilar; that it was first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, in 1497; and that in 1609 the first English colony was planted in Conception Bay. The interior is reported to be rocky, barren, and uninhabited; but so entirely do its inhabitants, now said to amount to 90,000, appear to be engrossed in attending to the business connected with the fisheries on the coast, that no information respecting the interior of the country can be obtained, and the official map presents a mere outline of the coast, its harbours and soundings, of which, however, a considerable portion on the N. E. from Cape Bonavista to White Cape, has not yet been surveyed. The island forms a part of the diocese of Nova Scotia, and has lately been constituted an archdeaconry, an office now held by Mr. Coster, a clergyman, in whom piety, and zeal, and prudence, appear to be combined in no ordinary proportions; and to whom the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is justified in confiding the guardianship of her missions in the island, in the full assurance that that confidence stimulates the possessor of it even to still greater exertions. The Report of the Society does not record the period at which the mission to Newfoundland was first commenced; but, in a Geograpical Dictionary, by Brice, published in 1759, this interesting statement concludes the article Newfoundland: "They had no clergyman among them till lately, which I have heard more than one poor wretch lament upon the gallows; but now the Society for Propagating the Gospel send a missionary, who usually resides at Bonavista, but is a kind of itinerant preacher, visiting Trinity, &c." At what periods since 1750 the Society has increased the number of missionaries, it were needless to enquire, but the present Report states the number to be seven, including the Archdeacon. The salaries paid to these clergymen amount to 1750l. per annum, and besides these regularly ordained ministers of the gospel, the Society enrols amongst the number of those whom she employs to preserve the light of truth amongst the people, no less than twenty-four catechists and schoolmasters, at an annual charge of 325.; so that on this island alone, the annual bounty of the Society, exclusive of grants for building churches, &c., exceeds two thousand pounds, The part of Newfoundland chiefly inhabited, and now occupied by the Society's missionaries, extends from the little island of Twillingate on the N. E. to Great St. Lawrence on the S.; a distance in circuit, exclusive of very deep creeks and bays, of not less than 300 leagues. The missionaries are situated, in some instances, at great distances from each other, and, therefore, deprived of mutual support. This is remarkably the case with the missionary at Twillingate, whose distance from the Archdeacon Coster, at Bonavista, is not less than 100 leagues; and even where, on inspection of the map, it might appear otherwise, yet it should be remembered, that communication is almost impossible where intercourse is to be effected either by long journeys of 50 or 100 miles on foot, over a rugged country, or by encountering, in open boats, the perils of a stormy sea and rocky coast. The letters of Archdeacon Coster (in the Report) give a most interesting description of his labours at Bonavista. His church, which holds near five hundred persons, is always filled in the afternoon, and he has near fifty communicants. Mr. Coster tells the story of his labours in a modest and unobtrusive manner. Of his visits to Bird Island Cove, performed by walking between five and six miles over a very rugged road, he simply says, that they have been many; and his whole desire in his report appears to be that of avoiding exaggerating his success, whilst in the improved manners of his people, in their patience under the greatest privations, and in their mutual charity towards each other, he discerns, as himself expresses it, "ground to hope, that as a considerable external change has been wrought, the hearts of many of his congregation have been touched." His report is thus concluded: "Exactly twelve months have elapsed since I commenced my residence, and nothing has occurred materially to discourage [me.] I have lived peaceably and on friendly terms with all sorts of persons, even those who are not members of my congregation. Had the mission been established at a period a little earlier, the Protestant population might have been all of one mind in religion. Even now the effect of its establishment on its present respectable footing has been the banishment, I trust for ever, of all that deplorable contention and strife of parties which lately prevailed, and the happy substitution of harmony and peace, unattended by any relaxation of principle or compromise of truth." How admirably does he here manifest that charity which beareth all things, with warm devotion to the principles and discipline of our venerable Church! But the labours of the Archdeacon, in the year 1825, were not confined to his own charge-Bonavista. The Report contains also a copy of his account of a visit to three of the missions of the Society, at Trinity Bay, Harbour Grace, and St. John's, addressed to the Bishop of Nova Scotia. This Report is as conspicuous for its interesting account of the state of those missions, as it is for its candour; and upon which we may observe generally, that we esteem it one of the highest, and, in these days, most rare merits of the Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, that it is entirely free from all appearance of being made up for a particular purpose, or with the view of exciting some particular feeling. It indeed well becomes a Society, whose object is unquestionable, to present its details to the public in that simplicity which is the genuine garb of truth; but it is a question deserving of consideration, whether the compilers of its Report, without departing from this simplicity, might not occasionally intersperse the narrative with observations, directing the reader's attention to the more interesting parts; and whether, moreover, without stooping to arts beneath its character, they might not conciliate the spirit of the age, by adopting a tone of expression more in harmony with the zealous and animating exertions which they have to communicate. It appears clear that the public feeling is depressed by the official dryness of the phraseology employed; and while we should be the first to reprobate an evident manage ment of every statement for the production of effect, which is extremely disgusting, we deem it but common justice to the great cause which our venerable chartered Society so efficiently prosecutes, that a little more of affection for it, and devotedness to it, should warm its representations; that its tale should be advocated as well as told, and should convey, together with the evidence of its strong claim upon public benevolence, an appeal to that predominating principle in British bosoms, and an urgent call upon it to take a more correct estimate of the Society's pretensions, and to afford more adequate supplies. But to return from this digression. The Archdeacon reports well of the conduct of the clergymen employed at the three missions above-mentioned; and we think we discern a still stronger proof of the merits of those missionaries, in the fact related by the Archdeacon in his report, "that in the extensive districts of Conception Bay, Trinity Bay, and Bonavista Bay (a coast of some hundred miles in length), new churches and school-houses are continually springing up." The three out-harbours near St. John's, Petty Harbour, Torbay, and Portugal Cove, have now for some time been placed under the care of a clergyman, whose charge it is to visit those places as often as opportunity will permit. At Petty Harbour and Torbay, churches have been erected; but at Portugal Cove, the only building fit for divine worship, is one which the Church shares in common with the Dissenters. At the former place, the Church is so crowded, that it is considered necessary to enlarge the building a second time. To the arduous nature of the labours of Mr. Langharne in this mission, the Archdeacon does not advert in the present Report; but in referring to one of a former year, and to p. 59 of that now before us, we find that Mr. L. is compelled to walk ten miles to Petty Harbour; that to the Bay of Bulls, his walk is twenty-seven miles; and though Portugal Cove is only ten miles from St. John's, it is an arduous journey even on horseback. We have thought it worth while to mention these circumstances, in the hope that the labours of the missionaries of the venerable Society may be duly appreciated, and that we may at last open the eyes of those who advocate the cause of missions, to discern that perils by sea and perils by land are not the portion only of missionaries to the Heathen, but they are encountered almost daily by those who are sent to preach the gospel to our own brethren in Colonies, comparatively speaking, near to our own shores. We shall defer Mr. Coster's account of the state of the schools in the Island, till we have noticed the report of Mr. Blackman, the Society's Missionary at Ferryland, a place twenty-two or more leagues south of St. John's. In compliance with orders from the Board, Mr. Blackman visited, during the months of July and August, 1825, the coast and islands of Placentia Bay. Of the nature of this voyage, it is impossible for any one to form an idea with out having before him the map of the Coast. In Placentia Bay, he calculates the number of Protestants at 2000; but so scattered are they, that it is difficult to collect a large congregation in any one place: 300 was the greatest number that he collected during his journey; a journey performed in boats, creeping from harbour to harbour, along a rocky and indented coast, and often in tempestuous weather. It is difficult to measure distances of journeys thus performed, even on a map but we should estimate Mr. Blackman's voyage at not less than 5 or 600 miles. Mr. B. speaks in several places of the satisfaction with which he contem- · plated his labours. The kindness and hospitality of every person under whose roof he sojourned, their readiness in forwarding his views, and their exertions in every way they thought most conducive to the more easy completion of his mission, were no ungrateful contrasts to the misery of a small boat, and other inconveniences ever attendant on casual conveyances by water, We can do no more, in noticing the account of Mr. Chapman's mission at Twillingate, except rejoice at the opportunity which the absence of Dissenting teachers from the spot affords him of uniting his people in warm attachment to our communion, and to hope that his Sunday school may meet |