the faith, the confidence and hope manifested by those, who by the scriptures which they gratefully received, were instructed in the truths pertaining to eternal life, were convicted of their errors, reclaimed from their faults, and rendered meet for the inheritance of saints in the kingdom of, light. Although the means of bible societies have been great, they have prov. ed unequal to the demands of the destitute. There are more hands opened for the grateful reception of the Bible than there is charity in exercise to fill them. There is therefore the highest encouragement for contin. ued, for increased endeavours, that to the good already done, from these exertions great augmentation of good may follow While with devout admiration and joy we review these gen. eral effects, the Bible Association in the county of Worcester will be grateful to the Author of all good influence for the small co-operation they have been able to yield to the benevolent interest in the promotion of which they are united. The Directors universally acknowledge the liberal attention which the religious societies in the county paid to their invitation for a contribution on the first Sabbath in January last. They request the several committees in all the societies to continue their endeavours to increase the number of subscribers; to collect their annual subscriptions; and to acquaint the Directors with those poor who are destitute of a Bible, that they may be supplied. Since the last annual meeting, the Directors have made no purchase of Bibles. They have within this period distributed to subscribers and to poor persons two hundred and twenty copies of the Bible. There remain for further distribution, In the hands of Mr. Trumbull, 87 duodecimo. $789 31 The Directors commend the Institution to all in the county who feel an interest in the scheme of human happiness, to promote which, the Son of God suffered and died. They invite the Society to join with them in devout supplications to heaven for a blessing upon human means; that the vine, which the hand of God hath planted, may extend its boughs unto the river and its branches unto the sea, that the mountain of the Lord's house may be established upon the top of the mountains, and all flesh come to it, and be saved. JOSEPH ALLEN, President. Attest, NATH'L. THAYER, Sec'ry. SOCIETY FOR INVESTIGATING THE London for "Investigating the Causes ticulars are selected To accomplish the designs of the society "it was determined that the prisons of the Metropolis should be regularly visited by sub-committees appointed for that purpose-the youths in confinement separately examined and privately admonished-the evil consequences of their conduct repre sented to them, and every persuasive used for their recovery which kind. ness could suggest. It was thought particularly desirable that these boys should be made to feel, as much as possible, not only the danger of their own condition, but also that of their former associates in guilt; in order that, from a regard for the welfare of $71 00 their late companions, the boys who In the hands of Isaiah Thomas, Esq. 12 octavo. In the hands of Dr. Bancroft, 1 octavo, 6 duodecimo.-Total 106. The following is the state of the pecuniary concerns of the society :Balance in the hands of the Executor of the late Treasurer Judge Heywood 1 were in confinement might be induced to give information respecting them. "Questions calculated to obtain the necessary information were framed. The metropolis was divided into districts, and sub-committees appointed respectively. In conformity with these arrangements, the society was rapidly put in motion. A list of 190 boys, the friends and associates of youth confined in New-Gate, was soon obtained: these names were divided among the visitors; reports were speedily produced, and recorded in a ledger provided for that purpose. Further lists of associates have from time to time been received from that prison only, containing upwards of seven hundred names." The Committee observe, "The information which has been obtained may be generalized in the following order : "1. That there is reason to believe from their inquiries that there are some thousands of boys under seventeen years of age in the metropolis, who are daily engaged in the commission of crime. "2. That these boys associate with professed thieves of mature age, and with girls who subsist by prostitution "3. That such characters frequent houses of the most infamous descrip. tion, where they divide their plunder, and give loose to every vicious propensity. "4. That the following appear to he the principal causes of these dreadful practices The improper conduct of parents. The want of suitable employment. The violation of the Sabbath, and habits of gambling in the public streets "5. That, in addition to these primary causes, there are auxiliaries which powerfully contribute to increase and perpetuate these evilsThese may be traced to and included under the three following heads: The severity of the criminal code. The defective state of the police. The existing system of prison disci. pline." "It appears that a considerable number of the boys have received no instruction whatever.--Although several of them have represented that they had attended schools, yet few have been able to read or write with tolerable accuracy. "Depredations are often occasioned by the want of an industrious occupation. The Committee therefore cannot too warmly recommend the formation of public establishments in the most populous districts of the metrop. olis, for the suitable employment of distressed youth. "The severity of the criminal code which inflicts the punishment of death on upwards of two hundred offences, acts very unfavourably on the mind of the juvenile delinquent; for, while the humanity of the present age for bids the execution of the greater part of these laws, the uncertainty of their operation encourages the offender to calculate, even if convicted, on a mitigated punishment. "The sum to which the officer is entitled on the conviction of a prisoner for the most aggravated of the capital offences is forty pounds. The prac tice of holding out rewards for the ap prehension of criminals, in proportion to the enormity of their guilt, stimulates the officer to overlook the minor depredations of the incipient thief; and often might the youth be early arrested in his course, but for the principle on which it becomes the interest of the officer, that the young offender should continue in iniquity until be attains maturity in crime.” Speaking of the police of the prisons, the Committee remark :-" In these establishments, the youth committed for his first offence has been placed indiscriminately with hardened criminals. In these abodes emulation is excited only to excel in crime, and all are soon raised to an equality therein. The ferocious inspire others with their ferocity, the cunning with their cunning, and the debauched with their libertinism. Every thing that can corrupt the heart becomes the amusement of their idleness, and the resource of their despair." "Dreadful therefore is the situation of the young offender: he becomes the victim of circumstances over which he has no control.. The laws of his country operate not to restrain, but to punish him. The tendency of the police is to accelerate his career in crime. "Of the many boys whose cases means have been investigated by the Committee, they have met with very few of whose amendment they should despair by the application of the proper Small indeed is the number of those in whom the sense of virtue is wholly extinct-who do not retain some portion of valuable feeling some latent seed, which, if judiciously cherished, would expand and flourish The society have, in fact been instrumental in assisting and restoring to credit and usefulness many who had widely wandered from the paths of honesty; and from the success which has hitherto attended the exertions of the Committee, they feel a decided and growing conviction that, if in the treatment of juvenile delinquents, the degree of punishment were proportioned to the nature of the offence-if the operation of that punishment were uniform and certain -if, during confinement, they were not exposed to the temptations of idle hours and corrupt society-if the infliction of bodily punishment were to give way to mildness of persuasion and gentleness of reproof-if appeals were oftener made to the moral sensibility of these youths, and exertions used to raise rather than degrade them in their own estimation; the number of juvenile depredators would materially diminish, and the conducters of public prisons would frequently enjoy the unspeakable felicity of turning the culprit from the 'error of h's ways. 932 Subjoined to the Report of the Committee they have given the outline of 12 cases which have come under the notice of the society. As a specimen we shall copy the three first. His par "A. B. aged 13 years ents are living. He was but for a short time at school. His father was frequently intoxicated; and on these Occasions he generally left home, and associated with bad characters, who introduced him to houses of ill-fame, where they gambled till they had spent all their money This boy has been five years in the commission of crime-been imprisoned for three separate offences. Sentence of death has twice been passed on him. "C. D. aged 10 years. He was committed to prison in the month of April, 1815, having been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for picking pockets. His mother only is liv. ing, but he knows not where she re. sides. He has a very good capacity, but cannot read When first visited, he discovered muoh anxiety about his situation; but every favourable impression was effaced shortly after his confinement in prison. "E. F aged 8 years. His mother only is living, and she is a very immoral character This boy has been in the habit of stealing upwards of two years. In Covent Garden market there is a party of between 20 and 30 boys, who sleep every night under the sheds and baskets These pitiable objects, when they arise in the morning, have no other means of procuring subsistence, but by the commission of crime. This child was one of the number; and it appears that he has been brought up to the several public offices upon eighteen separate charges. He has been twice confined in the House of Correction, and three times in Bridewell. He is very ignorant, but of good capacity." The facts disclosed in this Report evince that the state of society is deplorable in London. Not only so, they show, in a striking manner, the inutility of sanguinary laws for the prevention of crimes. By the Committee of 50 gentlemen it was supposed that there were "some thousands of boys under 17 years of age in the metropo lis, who were daily engaged in the commission of crimes." Yet these juvenile regiments commit their crimes in defiance of a sanguinary ccde which ordains the punishment of death for more than "two hundred offences" and which consigns a man or a boy to the gallows for stealing the value of five shillings! Is it not astonishing that after nearly 6000 years experience, mankind have yet to learn this simple lesson That cruelty on the part of those who govern, whether in a family or a nation, always tends to harden the hearts of the governed, and to produce crimes rather than prevent them? What would be the feelings of the people of this state, at the present time, should they see an ignorant boy of 13 years of age, the unfortunate son of a drunkard, sentenced to the gal lows for stealing? Such laws are a disgrace to the people of Great Bri tain, which they probably would not have borne so long, had not their eyesight been weakened by the glare of military glory and their hearts hardened by their familiarity with war. EXTRACTS FROM THE NINTH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE LONDON SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE JEWS, MAY 9, 1817. YOUR Committee have the satisfaction to begin this Report by stating, that since the last anniversary, the Right Rev. the Lords Bishops of St. David's and Gloucester, have kindly consented to accept the office of Joint Patrons of this society. Hebrew Translation of the New Tes tament. During the past year very consider. able progress has been made towards the completing this important work. The last Anniversary was signaliz. ed by the publication of the Gospels of St. Luke and John. The Acts of the Apostles was published soon af terwards; and your Committee have this day the satisfaction of presenting to you, the Epistles to the Romans, the two Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, two Thessalonians, two to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Measures also have been adopted with a view to the circulation of the Translations so far as formerly published, among the Jews both at home and abroad. Finances. Notwithstanding the unexampled pressure of the times, your Committee ave the consolation to report that the revenue of the Society during the past year has been equal to its disbursements. It becomes a pleasing part of their duty to state that the sum of £500 has been presented to the Society by a Lady, who desires that her name should not be mentioned, and who had previously given several donations amounting to £200. This Lady has now therefore become a benefactor to this cause to the extent altogether of £700. Your Committee would here par ticularly advert to the formation of a Ladies' Auxiliary Society, at Boston, in New-England, chiefly through the exertions of Miss Hannah Adams, the author of a History of the Jews. From this. Society a remittance of £100 sterling has been received, being the first fruits of the liberality of our christian friends in America to the cause of Jewish evangelization A Female Association has also been formed among the Ladies of the Congregation of the Episcopal Jews' Chapel, in aid of the fund which already exists for building schools for the Jewish children. This fund, though it only amounts to £300 at present, we trust will ere long, through the liberality of the pub. lic, be rendered adequate to its im portant object. Through the exertions of some warm friends of the cause of Israel at Calcutta, at the head of whom we must mention the Rev. T. Robertson, who kindly preached a sermon for the Society at the Old Church there, on the morning of Whitsunday last; a Ladies Auxiliary Society has been formed, and the sum of £288 28. 1d. has been remitted to your Committee. The Rev. T. Robertson remarks in his letter, which contained this remittance, "The Jews' Society has friends even in this remote country, who take a lively interest in all that concerns the prosperity of Israel " Respecting the Jews in Bengal he further says, "They are in expectation of the speedy appearing of their Messiah, and think this sign a strong indication of their approaching deliverance, that God has in a great measure turned away their reproach, by disposing the Gentiles to have mercy on them.' Schools. In the Schools of the Society ten boys and five girls have been admitted since the last Report. Three boys have been withdrawn, and one placed out in service. There remain in the schools forty boys and thirty-two girls, and there are six boys and three girls, who are too young for the schools, under the charge of a careful person, a few miles from town. Female Department. Your Committee have great pleasure in again expressing their grateful sense of the zeal of the female friends of the Society throughout the kingdom, which is manifested in the list of contributions from the different Ladies' Societies. The contributions of the Ladies' Auxiliary Societies last year amounted to 1283 14s. 8d. while those of the General Auxiliaries are only £1301 14s. 10d. And as it is presumed, that much, even of this latter sum, proceeds from female contributions, it is evident that the largest of our funds, arises from the generosity of the female sex. Under the head of publications the Committee say, that they have undertaken to print an edition of Miss Hannah Adams' History of the Jews, which was lately published by that Lady at Boston, in New-England, where she resides. It is hoped that this work may be instrumental in exciting new interest in this country in behalf of the children of Israel. The progress of a spirit of inquiry a mong the Fews. With respect to the Jews in this country, it appears from the Fourth Annual Report of the City of London Auxiliary Bible Society, that many of that people continue to subscribe for Bibles and to support the Institution. To one of these Associations, there are nearly fifty Jews, regular contrib. utors. In the borough of Southwark also, many Jews continue to support the Bible Society. Very encouraging circumstances have been communicated from the Continent. The Secretary of the Bible Society at Frankfort on the Maine, has informed Dr. Steinkopff, that the attention of the Jews had been drawn to the advertisement published at that city announcing the establishment of a Bible Society, and some expressed their regret, that no invitation had been given to any of their body to take a share in the work. The Rev. Mr. Pinkerton, in his correspondence with the Bible Society, in a letter, dated the 16th of June, 1816, states, that among the subscribers to the Theodosian Bible Society, in the Crimea, there are five Caraite Jews. He also mentions that in passing through the town of Karasoubazar, he had himself a most interesting conversation with several Jews, who eagerly sought after a copy of the Gospels. "The late wars and commotions in the earth, (adds Mr. Pink erton) with the present wonderful exertions to spread abroad the holy scriptures among all nations, seem to have made a deep impression on the minds of many among the Jews. From what I have seen of this people in various nations, I am convinced that many among them are prepared to peruse with avidity the scriptures of the New-Testament in their own language." "According to the calculation of his excellency M Novozilzoff, the number of Jews under the Russian sceptre is upwards of two millions, of whom about 400,000 are found in the present kingdom of Poland. Such of the twenty copies of the two first Gospels which I brought with me from Berlin, as I presented to Jews, were always received with joy; and I am fully of opinion, that the very circum. stance of their being in the Hebrew language, will gain them an attentive perusal, among the learned Jews in every country, where no writings on the subject of Christianity in any other Before I form would be attended to. left Moghiley, the Jews in that city had sent in 500 rubles, to promote the object of the White Russian Bible Society." After mentioning favourable occurrences in other places the Committee observe-While the facts above stated are contemplated only in an insulated form, it may seem impossible to draw from them any general conclusion; but if we concentrate these scattered rays of light in a common focus, and view at the same moment, the Jews of London, of Frankfort, of Poland, of the Crimea, and of the Northern Coast of Africa: beginning to manifest a desire to possess and even to assist in circulating the Christian Scriptures, when to these facts we add the circumstance, that Christian Missionaries, raised up from among the Jews them. selves, and one of them converted by means of this Society appear to be actively labouring in different parts of Asia and Africa, for the salvation of their brethren; surely this combination of favourable events, ought to animate us, to persevere with renew. ed zeal, and redoubled energy, in our efforts in behalf of the house of Israel. |