evidence of a large amount of religious zeal and earnest desire to promote the extended diffusion of what is regarded by their promoters as religious truth. And, although we, as members of the New Church, must demur to much that is presented in the form of doctrine, we may yet learn a useful lesson from the examples of their zeal and earnestness of purpose.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL held its annual meeting on the 24th of April, at St. James's Hall, under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The report described the objects of the society to be the "receiving, managing, and disposing of funds contributed for the religious instruction of the Queen's subjects beyond the seas, for the maintenance of clergymen in the plantations, colonies, and factories of Great Britain, and for the propagation of the Gospel in those parts." "The society now supports wholly or in part 483 ordained missionaries. They are thus distributed-248 in America and the West Indies, 73 in Africa, 107 in Asia, 54 in Australia and the Pacific, and 1 in Europe." The society commenced the year under "the disheartening prospect of an insufficient income, which threatened at the beginning of 1867 to check its operations. At the end of that year, even in a time of general financial depression, the total receipts were £114,546. The collections for the general fund (which afford the best test of the willingness and ability of Churchmen to support the society's missions) were in excess of any previous year.'

CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.-The following very brief report of the annual meeting of this society is given by the "Guardian" of May 6th:-"The sixtyninth anniversary of the Church Missionary Society was held yesterday morning in Exeter Hall. The Earl of Chichester presided, and there were present the Bishops of Carlisle, Huron, and Sierra Leone, &c. The report stated that the ordinary income of the year stood as follows:-Associations, £121,128.; benefactions, £16,894.; legacies, £9,760.; sundries, £6,303.; total, £153,997. The ordinary expenditure of the year had been £149,662. There were some special contributions, making the receipts from all sources £157,288. The society had 151 stations, 282 clergy

men, of whom 90 were native born. It had also in its employment 19 European laymen, schoolmasters, &c., 4 European female teachers, 1,876 natives and country-born catechists and teachers."

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BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. The annual meeting of this society was held at Exeter Hall on the 6th of May, under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury. The chairman described the present as 'days of disruption and distress, when all institutions seemed to be breaking into one common wreck." The Bishop of London remarked on the excellence of the society as a rallying point for all classes of Christians who desired to see the Scriptures in the hands of the people of the world. He referred to the iron rule which was over the hearts and intellects of the people of this country 300 years ago, which was now unchained, and with the distribution of the Scriptures, could not be again imposed; for the people could never go back to the mediaval darkness from which our fathers rescued us. From the report we learn that the society established in London in 1804 soon became the parent of others, and at present the societies in connection with it were 4,133 in Great Britain, 1,275 in the colonies and other dependencies, while with Irish and foreign societies the total is swelled to 9,916. There were now 181 languages or dialects in which the society had promoted the distribution, printing, or translation of the Scriptures, directly in 137, and indirectly in 44. In last year, at home and abroad, copies of the Scriptures were circulated to the number of 2,400,776, including 703,450 portions, making a total of 55,069,865 copies distributed by the society since the commencement of its labours.

The exhibition in Paris last year had been made the means of sending the copies of the Scriptures broadcast over the Continent, with the consent of the authorities, and in that exhibition Bibles were to be seen in 170 different languages, and they were sold in 30 tongues. The Bible by the society's means had been distributed over France, Germany, Austria, Italy (Rome excepted), Africa (North, South, and West), the Islands of the Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, Madagascar, British North America, Mexico, South America, the West Indies, and even the army which penetrated into Abyssinia were agents

of the society, with Bibles in the known written language of the people."

Such is a summary of this report. The extent of Bible circulation by this society and its affiliated branches is very large, and if to its circulation be added that of other societies which act independently of it, this circulation becomes still more surprising. We cannot contemplate these facts without recognising the wonderful Providence which is over the written Word. At a time of religious strife and bitterness, when the several sections of the universal church were divided from each other by uncharitable feelings and bitter controversies, an unseen hand opened before them a plane of unity in the combined endeavour to circulate the Word of God through all the nations of the earth. The first proposal was for our own country only. An inspiration suggested "Why not for the world?" And the work, sustained by different parties, necessitated the exclusion of the individual interpretations of all. Thus the Word, free from comment, is being slowly but surely, provided for the nations, and He who in His providence has thus raised up the means of its diffusion, will not fail in the end to supply also its correct interpretation. The interest of the New Church in this great work is known to be extensive and sincere, and on more than one occasion it has been commended to the attention and support of the members by resolutions of the General Conference. It is one of the few institutions the success of which we may regard with unmingled satisfaction, and which we can actively aid with perfect confidence.

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.-The anniversary of this society was held at Exeter Hall, April 28th, under the presidency of Duncan Mc.Laren, M.P. The report commenced with a reference to a portion of our popular literature to which the "Daily News" and other organs of the public press have also called attention-the lowest class of cheap sheets at present extensively sold and widely circulated in the metropolis and the large towns of the kingdom. In some of these are "column after column containing the same dreary records of vice and wickedness."

The titles of several indicate their quality, and while a few assume a moral tone, in large numbers both the matter and the illustrations are exceedingly vile. "There could be no question," says the report, "that the influence

of this class of literature, which insinuated its way into many warehouses, was even more injurious than the gladiatorial shows of ancient Rome, or the bull-baiting and dog-fighting of former days in England. Papers of an equally sad character were also being spread among the more educated classes." This spread of infidel and immoral literature is one of the dark features of the age. Side by side with increased light comes a deepening gloom and horror of darkness. Increased mental activity and intellectual culture is not exclusively devoted to wisdom and holiness, but the corrupt will degrades to its service and bends to its purpose the acquisitions of the intellect. And how is the tendency of these publications to be neutralized? The report says, "The only way to meet these periodicals is by issuing others to counteract their effects." The committee of this society have issued two periodicals, the "Leisure Hour," and the "Sunday at Home," with this object, and there are also large numbers of attractive and interesting periodicals, the moral tone of which is wholly unexceptionable. The circulation of periodicals of a higher class will not, however, of itself accomplish this object. There needs a taste creating for this literature. The plow-share of a wiser popular education and higher moral culture than has yet been attempted in this country is needed, before we can hope to supersede these vile publications by a healthful literature. number of publications issued by the society, some certainly of a very diminutive kind, is truly astonishing-having reached during the past year to nearly forty-seven millions; being an increase of upwards of two millions over the previous year. The circulation from the formation of the society was over a thousand millions. With regard to their operations upon the Continent, the committee considered the work done at the Paris Exhibition as one of the wonders of the age. The circulation of the society's publications in France, including those distributed from the kiosks at the exhibition, had been between four and five millions." The publications of the society are widely disseminated through all the countries of Europe, native agents being largely employed in the work. Large numbers of books, tracts, and periodicals are published and circulated in different parts of India and China, and even in

The

Japan. The total receipts of the society for the past year had been £113,092.; the total expenditure £112,323. Over £11,000. of the income of the society had arisen from subscriptions, donations, and collections. The rest was the proceeds of the sales of their various publications. The society, in addition to its benevolent character, is a large publishing society, and the profit derived from the sale of its publications enables the committee to make grants beyond the amount of the subscriptions. Several of their publications are books of considerable bulk. All, however, are imbued with the same religious spirit, and belong to what is called the evangelical school of theology. This is put forward as a special ground of support by one of the speakers, who deplores "that we can scarcely take up any religious work or treatise in the present day without finding something or other, even on most vital points, which is at variance with sound doctrine." In this source of alarm members of the New Church will not join. Many of the features of our popular religious literature are among the most hopeful signs of the times. They are among the means whereby all things are becoming new, and must and will in the end bend to their purpose the powerful agency of this influential society.

SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.-The anniversary services connected with this institution extended over several days. The question of our Sunday-schools is one which has lately occupied a large amount of attention, and led to some diversity of sentiment. Like most popular institutions at the present day, it is subjected to a keen scrutiny, and faults, or supposed faults, are unsparingly exposed. Our Sunday-schools are confessedly in a transition state. The condition of our popular education has been of late years wholly changed, while our Sunday-schools, in many parts of the kingdom, have made comparatively little progress. They need a greater adaptation to the altered circumstances of the country, and this will doubtless be promoted by the discussions to which they are being subjected. The changes taking place in our popular day-school system look more and more in the direction of a merely secular education. To keep pace with the wants of the age, our Sunday-schools need to give increased attention to moral training and religious

instruction. "The children of to-day," it has been said, "are the to-morrows of society." But what will the to-morrow of society be, if those who are to form its character receive no religious instruction in youth? "A man may have high intellectual attainments, and yet be as intemperate as poor Porson ;be skilful in finance, and yet be as untrustworthy as Redpath." The work before our Sunday-schools is important and urgent. The day-school supplies to a greater extent than formerly the elementary and secular education of the rising generation, but it leaves almost untouched the religious instruction which it is the special province of the Sundayschool to provide. It cannot, therefore, be otherwise than satisfactory to the friends of Sunday-schools to witness the continued interest felt in their success. At the public meeting of this anniversary every portion of Exeter Hall-platform, galleries, and body of the hallare said to have been crowded. The report referred to the extension of the Sunday-school system on the Continent, allusions being made to Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy, The sales of the union had amounted to £23,567., being an increase of £1,196. Independently of its other publications, the union is publishing three periodicals for scholars, and three for teachers, the united monthly circulation of which amounts to about 250,000, or an annual circulation of 3,000,000 copies. The statistical returns received from the ten metropolitan auxiliaries show that there are now 701 schools connected with the union in London, containing 15,642 teachers and 174,213 scholars, being an increase upon last year of 31 schools, 722 teachers, and 8,177 scholars. Upwards of 7,000 scholars from the country schools have joined the churches during the year, making a total of more than 9,000 instances in the schools connected with the union during the year 1867.

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. One of the most promising means of preserving the young men of our large towns from the various snares so thickly spread around them, is the establishment throughout the country of these associations. They provide convenient rooms for reading and other salutary purposes, have libraries, &c. connected with them, occasional lectures and soirées in the winter; and seek to instruct and interest