Chairman and the Assembly, that Spain would sincerely co-operate, to the utmost of her power, in every measure for the extinction of Slavery, and for promoting the interests of liberty and humanity all over the world. BRITISH & FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY, Increase and Efficiency of Ladies' Associations. MR. C. S. DUDLEY has recently transmitted to the Committee fresh evidence of the benefit of Ladies' Associations. He writes from Gloucester, Feb. 28th. The establishment and success of Auxiliary and Branch Societies afford a sufficient indication of the interest excited among the reflecting part of the Higher and Middle Classes in our country; but it was reserved for Bible Associations to elicit a similar feeling on the part of the Labouring Population of Great Britain. As poor, yet making many rich, they have, indeed, evinced a generous ardour in this Christian Cause; which is, at once, the best testimony to the singleness and grandeur of the design, and the finest illustration of British Benevolence. The voices of the destitute Natives of India and of Greenland, of Congou and of Siberia, have been heard in the sequestered villages of our land; and the appeal is recognised and answered. The details, which I have now the pleasure to communicate, will form the best illustration of the preceding remarks. Proceeding to Stroud on the 17th instant, I attended, the following day, the First Meeting of the Committee of The Collection at the Meeting was 651. 2s. 1d. Nearly Sixty Ladies are on the Committee of this Association, which is divided into Twenty-five Districts. The proportion of Subscribers is as one to every nine inhabitants - -a fact sufficiently demonstrative of the interest excited. This effect was further confirmed by the admirable reports of the Collectors; which bore ample testimony to the gratitude of the Poor, and the cheerful alacrity with which the contributions were tendered. On the 19th, I met the Committee of the Wotten-under-edge Branch Society; and on the following evening, at one of the most crowded meetings that I have ever attended, a Ladies' Bible Association for that populous town was unanimously established, and nearly FortyLadies engaged as Collectors. On the morning of the 21st, the Ladies' Association was happily esta Nailsworth Ladies' Association was established, at a General Meeting, which ⚫blished, and Twenty-five Ladies engaged as Collectors. Proceeding thence to Chalford, I attended, in the evening, a large and interesting meeting, at which the Vicar presided, when the Chalford Ladies' Association was formed, and nearly Thirty Ladies engaged as Collectors. This was followed, on the evening of the 22d, by the establishment of the Sheepscomb Ladies' Association, at which also the Incumbent presided. Seldom, indeed, have I attended a more delightful meeting; or witnessed a more eager desire, on the part of the Labouring Classes, to manifest their readiness to assist in supplying their fellow-creatures with the Holy Scriptures. The interest excited by the establishment of this Institution will be increased by the fact, that the first Village Sunday-School was founded at Sheepscomb forty-one years ago. On the morning of the 24th, the Minchin Hampton Ladies' Association was formed, and nearly Twenty Ladies appointed to their respective districts as Collectors. From Cainscross, on the 8th of March, Mr. Dudley adds I proceeded, on the 3d instant, to Tetbury. In this town, a Branch Bible Society was established in the year 1815, which has, within seven years, distributed 840 Bibles and Testaments, and contributed 3887. in aid of the general object: but, in consequence of not having held any Public Meeting for several years, and from other causes, the interest had greatly subsided; and the Society, during the last year, had collected only 351. It having been resolved to establish a Ladies' Association for Tetbury and its vicinity, a General Meeting was convened on the evening of the 3d, which was very numerously and respectably attended; and the As sociation was unanimously established under the patronage of her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort and the Honour able Mrs. Estcourt. The Committee was organized on the following day, and the Nine Districts, into which the As sociation is divided, were regularly supplied with Collectors. On the 7th instant, the birth-day of the Parent Society, the Cainscross cannot be remembered without senti. ments of humble gratitude to Almighty God! The weather was extremely inclement; but the heavy snow did not abate the interest of the Labouring Classes, of whom it was estimated more than a thousand attended. I have just returned to my quarters, after organizing the Committee of this Association, which is divided into Sixteen Districts, and includes Four Parishes, the indus trious inhabitants of which manifest a lively interest in the cause. has been received from other quarInformation of a similar nature ters. The Secretary of the Auxiliary Society at Barnsley, in Yorkshire, writes Our Ladies' Association exceeds all the expectations which we had formed. Although the lower classes of Barnsley have been suffering from an epidemic distemper and from partial want of employment, the Association, during the short period of its existence, has collected, toward the purchase of Bibles and Testaments, nearly 501. The zeal gratitude of the Poor, and the cheerof the Ladies is equalled only by the fulness with which they offer their weekly contributions. The concern evinced by parents for the best interests of their families, is an interesting feature of this work of benevolence. To be able to put into the hands of their children, at their outset in life, a faithful and infallible guide, is the end for Thus is the Association providing for which the exertions of many are made. the rising as well as the present gene ration. Two or three places in the neighbourhood of Barnsley have shewn a laudable spirit of emulation, by forming, on a smaller scale, similar institutions. So encouraging are our prospects in general, that what we formerly could but earnestly desire, is becoming the object of our hopes. We are now allowing ourselves to anticipate a period, when not one of the Forty Townships within the range of our Auxiliary, shall be found destitute of an Association. ville Bible Association, furnishes The Ninth Report of the Pentonthe following striking passage:— During the past year, the Ladies have obtained upward of 300 Free Subscribers, and about 350 for Bibles; and have collected from their Free Subscribers the sum of 1194 19s. 44d. and from those who are subscribing for Bibles, 881. 7s. 94d. They have also circulated in the same period 235 copies of the Holy Scriptures; making a total of 1453 Bibles and Testaments issued by this Association since its formation in 1814. And let no one imagine that these subscriptions tend to increase the poverty of the Lower Classes; for it might be satisfactorily proved, that they rather excite the habits of industry and economy. But, respecting the necessitous poor of this district, your Committee can fearlessly assert, that, in numerous instances, THEY have been greatly benefitted. Often have the Female Visitors found the children of the poor loitering at home in a state of deplorable ignorance, and in some cases so destitute of decent attire as to be unable to leave it: these have been di⚫ rected to the gratuitous Schools around, and furnished with those articles of clothing which were necessary for their comfort. Often have they found their poor Bible Subscribers sick, and alike destitute of medical assistance and ne. cessary comforts: these they have introduced to the Dispensaries, for the mitigation of their bodily sufferings; while the Visitors of Benevolent So cieties have been informed of their circumstances, and have not only contributed to relieve their wants, but have directed them to the Great Physician, the Lord from Heaven. Often have they found the wives of humble mechanics anticipating nature's most sorrowful and anxious hour with more than ordinary solicitude, because they have not possessed one little garment in which to wrap the expected babe; and from this state of maternal anxiety have they been rescued by the recommendation of their cases to the patronage and aid of the "Infants' Friend Society." Thus, those visits, which have been so much condemned, become, by a benevolent prudence, the means of extensive good. The temporal as well as the spiritual wants of the Poor are regarded; and the happiest results must necessarily follow. Infidelity is not likely to make very fearful ravages in those fa milies who thus witness the merciful precepts of the Bible illustrated by their benefactors, and the vitality of its principles exhibited in the fair and holy fruits which are thus so abundantly produced. HIBERNIAN TRANSLATION SOCIETY, THE Object and Grounds of this Formation of a Ladies' Auxiliary. This took place at a Meeting of Ladies, held at the Society's Rooms in Sackville Street, Dublin, on the 20th of February. The Rev. John Short and the Rev. B. W. Mathias addressed the Ladies assembled. The object of this Auxiliary is to collect small subscriptions in aid of the Hibernian Translation Society; and for this purpose a Collecting Card on a new and improved plan, and Collecting Boxes, have been provided. Every Lady subscribing Five Shillings annually is a Member. Members are entitled to one Ticket of Admission to the Annual Meeting of the Parent Society; but Members of the Committee, of which there are 21, are entitled to three Tickets each: Ladies who hold Collecting Boxes are entitled to a Ticket. CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY. MR. CAMPBELL having declined SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION Or Proceedings with reference to the East THREE Missionaries, it is expected, A Library for the College will, at the same time, be sent out, to the value of about 10002. The Rev. Principal Mill has for warded to the Society a detailed ment for the West Indies. Being deeply impressed with a sense of the many signal advantages which have resulted from the past exertions of this Society to several of the Plantations, Colonies, and Factories belonging to the British Empire, and being more particularly sensible of its recent services when the question of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for India came before the Legislature, we are the more desirous of recording our sentiments as to that which appears to us the duty of this Society, at the present moment, with respect to our West-India Colonies. As it is generally understood that questions of great importance relative to these Colonies are shortly to engage the attention of Parliament, we are decidedly of opinion, that this is the proper time for calling the attention of His Majesty's Government toward the expediency of forming a regular Ecclesiastical Establishment for these Colonies, similar to that which has lately been given to our Eastern Empire. When we consider the peculiar circumstances of these islands, we are persuaded that motives of sound policy, not less than those of Christian Duty and Benevolence, concur to recommend this proposal, both as it regards the English Colonists and the Negroes; a proposal, to which we rejoice to think that no suspicion of endangering the property or security of the Colonies can attach. By thus imparting the blessings of Christianity and Civilization, the feelings of gratitude and good-will may be mutually engendered; and we may finally hope to see the Heathen Slave exalted into the Christian Servant. We are persuaded that this object, if it can be obtained, will open a new har vest for our Society's labours; and that, many and splendid as are the achievements which distinguish the present reign, there will be none for real glory to compare with that of its having communicated the benefits of the English Church both to the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This subject was introduced to the Meeting by the following remarks of the District Committee, in concluding their Report: At the conclusion of this Report, your Committee beg leave to submit a very important proposition, which, if it meet with the approbation of the Members who are here present, will go up in the form of an Address to our Parent Board. There is but one sentiment, we believe, as to the wisdom and propriety of those legislative measures which have led to the formation of an Ecclesiastical Establishment in the East; and we have good reason to know, that the influence which was then exerted by our Society was in no small degree conducive to that success which attended those measures. As Members of this Ancient Society, we are now desirous that the same powerful and benign influence should be exerted, in behalf of a similar Church Establishment for our West-Indian Colonies. It is, indeed, with the greatest propriety that we make use of this Society as the channel by which such a public benefit may be hereafter secured to these Settlements. It is now more than a century ago, that two Plantations were given by Gen. Codrington, the founder of Codrington College in Barbadoes, to this Society, for the purpose of edu cating Clergymen for the use of these Colonies; and, at the present moment, there is a Missionary provided for the use of the Negroes on these estates, whose whole exertions are to be directed to their improvement in moral and religious knowledge. We have also some Teachers and Catechists in the other islands, and more especially at Bermudas; where those appointments have been lately increased, which are designed for the benefit of the Black Population. What then can be more befitting or expedient, than that our Society should now enlarge its views of doing good, by endeavouring to prevail on the Legislature to make a similiar Ecclesiastical Establishment for these Colonies to that which it has lately made for our Indian Empire? In this proposition, we seek to advance the best interests of the Colonists, no less than that of the Negroes: we are desirous of exalting the general character of our country, both at home and abroad. We, therefore, earnestly implore this Ancient and Chartered Institution (which was expressly chartered for the propagation of Christianity in the Plantations, Colonies, and Factories of Great Britain) to call upon the Legislature to take into its consideration the best means and measures for accomplishing this great and signal benefit for the West-India Settlements. Should this important proposal be carried into effect, we may indeed hereafter rationally look forward to the civilization of AFRICA-for by what means could that great object be so effectually attained, as by the conversion and civilization of our West-India Negroes? and then would the past wrongs and injuries of Africa be redressed by that very channel through which they had been received the ends of Providence would be seen in the permission of the Slave Trade in times past-the foulest blot on our national character would be wiped away-and the Church of England, as she surveyed her numerous offspring in every quarter of the globe, might, in some measure, apply to herself the triumphant language of prophecy Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. These remarks made a strong impression on the Meeting. The Rev. Thomas Gisborne rose to move the adoption of the Address; and spoke, in substance, as follows: Although the Resolution which he had undertaken to move was not one of ordinary "routine, and would therefore require him to trespass a little on the attention of the Meeting, the necessity of lengthened observations on the subject was materially diminished by the concluding part of the Report which had been read. It was publicly known that legislative measures of high importance, with a view to the ultimate benefit of all the inhabitants of our West-Indian Colonies, were soon to be submitted to the consideration of Parliament. On those intended measures he did not mean, in any degree, to touch. The present Meeting was that of a Religious Society, assembled for a religious purpose; and, in conformity with that pur pose, it was to a religious object alone that he should limit his remarks. The object, recommended in the Resolution which he should propose, was one which would thoroughly coalesce and incorporate itself with every political plan, which might be framed for the advancement of the welfare of all classes and descriptions of inhabitants of the West-Indies; one which, even were no political measure for the general interests of all to be devised and adopted, would of itself be to all the harbinger cf blessings, such as no institutions merely political could bestow. The ob. ject was to fix Christianity in those islands on a basis, which should be most conducive to the general, and steady, and universal influence of true religion to transplant into those tropical regions a scion from the stock of our Established Church-to gather all the subjects of that portion of our empire, of every denomination and of every colour, under the shelter of that tree, beneath whose canopy we ourselves are rejoicing to confer on our Western Dominions the blessing which has recently been extended to our territories in the East, the presence of a local and resident Episcopacy. Christianity, having for its gracious design the bringing of Salvation within the reach and attainment of every man, adapts itself equally to every clime, to every form of civil polity, to every circumstance of life. Man is its object; and wherever man is to be found, it follows him with its mercies. And, fully by the Scriptures as to the arrangement as we recognise the discretion permitted of some circumstantials in the government of the Christian Church, according to the state and the wishes of Christian Communities-a discretion proclaimed by the impartial laws of our country, in their establishment of two widely dif ferent Forms of Ecclesiastical Government in the Northern and the Southern Divisions of Great Britain-yet it is not too much to affirm, that there is no mode of civil polity with which Epis copacy, as to its peculiar characteristics, will not harmoniously unite itself. We may be allowed to desire the distinct |