only permanent motive to exertion in this duty. Any other motive may, when touched strongly, give rise to some great assistance in the labours of Missionary Enterprise: but the movement is temporary, and will soon subside. Nothing but regard to the Saviour-the felt obligations laid on us by His redeeming mercy, and devoted reverence for His will-can form the solid basis on which to carry up the work of the Lordthe edification of the Church by the gathering to it of the outcast Heathen. There is great wisdom in the general tenor of these remarks: but a reference to the Reports and the History of the different Missionary Societies will shew that some injustice is here done to the earlier statements of their Conductors and Labourers: they erred, indeed, as might be expected, on the side of eager anticipation; but little, we believe, can fairly be laid to their charge in reference to the concealment or shading away of difficulties and disappointments. The very publication of evil, as apprehended or in progress, may be itself the occasion of bringing on or aggravating that evil: though, therefore, the most open communication of fears or of trials should be made by Missionaries to their respective Societies, both Discretion and Integrity must direct the time and the manner in which statements of this nature shall be made public. NATIONAL EDUCATION SOCIETY. TWENTIETH REPORT. Total Scholars in Schools in Union. On the opening of the present year, Circulars were addressed, under favour of a free cover granted by His Majesty's Government, to every Parish and Chapelry in the Kingdom contained in the Clerical Directory; and accounts have already been obtained of the state of Education in 8588 places. Of these places, 6730 contain 6020 Sunday and Daily Schools, with 206,713 Boys and 173,535 Girls; and 3995 Sunday Schools in addition, with 143,784 Boys and 147,351 Girls: making a total of 671,383 Children instructed in 10,015 Schools, in almost every case under the direct State of the Central Schools. The average number of the Boys in the School has been 343, and of the Girls 211; the average attendance of the Boys 306, and of the Girls 171: but it is to be regarded as a subject of regret, that, in common with other London Schools, the succession of the Scholars has been so rapid, that, in the course of the year, while the total number of children has remained nearly the same, 171 Boys and 155 Girls have left the School. Twelve Masters and Ten Mistresses have been admitted from Schools in the Country, 28 Schools provided with permanent Masters or Mistresses, and 17 with temporary Assistants or Monitors for a limited period; making a total of 67 Schools directly assisted. Removal of the Central Schools. It has long been a subject of regret, that the Society's Model School should not be brought more immediately under the public eye by being rendered more easy of access, and consequently an object of greater attention to visitors to the Metropolis. An offer has been made to the Society of the excellent Rooms near Westminster Abbey, in which the Westminster National Free Schools have hitherto been held..... While the poor at Westminster will retain all the advantages of their former School, there is every prospect that the School in Baldwin's Gardens will be carried on with equal benefit to the children of the poor who have so long been received within its walls. Pecuniary Grants. On the formation of the Society in 1811, it was considered by many, that, as the field of its operations was limited to England and Wales, 20 years of succesful exertion would accomplish all that could be desired in the way of establishing New Schools, and only leave the Committee the work of superintending and 1831.] UNITED KINGDOM. enlarging those already formed. That Pressing Wants of Manufacturing In Colliery, and Mining, and Manu- residents possessed of property having usually moved away, deterred by the inconveniences attending the management of an extensive trade. In such places, and under such eircumstances, the means of Religious Worship cannot be provided for adults; and the children, consequently, are suffered to grow up in utter ignorance of all their duties and privileges as Christians.... The erection of New Churches has led very generally to the establishment of Schools; and most of the Committee's largest Grants, during the last few years, have been appropriated in aid of such Schools, which are now filled with children whose parents gratefully acknowledge the blessings in which their families partake. This kind of remedy is, indeed, very gradual in its operation; but wherever applied, we may trust its success will be complete. It remains, however, that a much more general and energetic effort should be made to surmount the great and accumulated evils which, it is unquestionable, do exist. We may hope, that as ordinary towns and villages are supplied with good School-rooms, the Committee will be able, by extended grants and promises of larger assistance, to stimulate and encourage individuals possessed of property and interest in such populous districts. Much also may be done, where the time and strength of the Clergy are insufficient for the work, by the concurrence and cooperation of the Members of the Congregations under their charge. An actual expenditure of money to a large amount is, however, required: without this, little can be done; and the Committee must look to public liberality for the means of fulfilling the expectations which they have ventured to encourage. They entertain a sanguine hope, that the great Proprietors in Manufacturing and Mining Districts, although non-resident, will cheerfully and liberally promote the undertaking; and that a valuable portion of that careful superintendence will be exercised over the rising generation in these districts, hitherto inaccessible to religious instruction, which we are wont to regard as the greatest blessing of our Country Parishes, where the rich and poor meet together, and are equally the subjects of the Pastor's care. their setting out for their respective destinations. 434 BRITISH & FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. State of the Central or Model Schools. OF Examinations of these Schools, which took place in April, it is reported Boys' School-The extent and diversity of the Children's attainments-the beauty of their Penmanship-the rapidity and correctness with which they solved the Arithmetical Questions proposed to them -the neatness with which their Maps and Geometrical Figures were executed their knowledge of the meaning and derivation of words-the extent of their Gecgraphical Information—and, above all, their familiar acquaintance with the Sacred Scriptures, at once surprised and delighted all who were present. The Class of Arabs, who have now been in the School about eighteen months, again excited considerable interest, and the progress which they had made since the last Examination was evidently great. The general state of the School is highly gratifying to your Committee. The decided success which has attended the extension of the Interrogative System warrants your Committee in strongly recommending its adoption in Local Schools. Girls' School-The attendance of Visitors was unusually great. The Children, after displaying various specimens of Needlework, were questioned on the duties of Servants and on Household-work generally; after which they presented specimens of their Writing, and were examined as to their attainments in Arithmetic. The higher Classes then read portions of Scripture, on which they were questioned; and their answers sufficiently proved that they possessed a considerable acquaintance with Holy Writ. Training Department. During the past year, 58 Candidates, either for Boys' or Girls' Schools, have been received; 37 of whom have been boarded and instructed, wholly or in part, at the expense of the Institution: 39 have been placed over Schools, 3 have sailed for Foreign Stations, and 16 remain on the List. Five Missionaries have also attended, to learn the System, previous to The Female Candidates, 23 in number, have enjoyed the advantage of the superintendence of the Ladies' Committee. New Schools. Twenty-six New Schools have been opened-17 for Boys, and 9 for Girls; viz. at St. Alban's, High Wycombe, Trowbridge, Macclesfield, Rickmersworth, Bere Regis, and Rotherham; at Bermondsey, St. George's in the East, Road, and fourteen other places. TwenBrick Lane, Bethnal Green, Hackney ty-one of these Schools have been supplied with well-qualified Teachers, and nineteen have received liberal grants of school materials. State and Influence of the Schools. During the past year, no less than 35 Old Established Schools have been supplied, either permanently or for a time, with well-trained Teachers; and 15 have received donations, either in money or school materials; thus evidencing the importance of your Society in maintaining old establishments in constant and active operation without this assistance, the Schools must, in many cases, have been temporarily closed; and in others, the Children have been allowed altogether to return to the paths of ignorance and vice. Reports have been received from upward of Seventy Schools, which appear to be in a prosperous condition. Many of these documents contain interesting notices relating to the local benefits which have been experienced from your System of Education; and no small number convey grateful acknowledgments of important assistance rendered by your Society. The general introduction of the Interrogative System will, it is hoped, give a more intellectual character to the instructions which are imparted in these Schools; and, at the same time, ensure to the Children a clearer acquaintance with the truths of Sacred Scripture. In reference more particularly to the deplorable ignorance which prevails in many of the Agricultural Districts, painful evidence of which was given at pp. 166, 167 of our Number for April, the Committee make an Urgent Appeal for Increased Exertion. The Committee cannot forget, that the choly proofs of the extent to which ignopast year has furnished new and melan rance prevails in our highly-favoured land -that the scaffold and the convict-ship have borne witness to our negligence, as a nation, with respect to the education of the poor- and that each successive month has witnessed thousands of our Youth pass for ever that period of their existence, during which they might have received the benefits of instruction; and has beheld them enter on the active duties of life, with minds untrained to follow the paths of piety, and passions which have never been disciplined by the wholesome restraints of a well-regulated school. While, therefore, they would gratefully acknowledge the Divine Goodness, in blessing the exertions which they have been enabled to make, they cannot congratulate either you or themselves on the sufficiency of their labours; but must rather regret, that they have been so little commensurate with the admitted wants of the country. PRAYER-BOOK & HOMILY SOCIETY. THE Issue of Bound Books made by the Society during the last year has been larger, and that of Homily Tracts has been somewhat less, than in the year preceding Such variations depend upon many incidental circumstances, and are by no means, of necessity, just criterions of prosperity or decline. The number of Bound Books issued in the last twelve months is 11,851; and the number of Homily Tracts, 127,683. Beneficial Effect of Exertions among Increased exertion has, to all appearance, been crowned with increased suc cess. Since the last Anniversary, 1518 vessels-500 more in number than those inspected in the former year-have been visited, or revisited. The visit of an Agent from this Society to a ship-presenting a Paper drawn up as an Address to the Captains or Commanders; making kind inquiries in reference to the possession or want of Prayer-Books by the crew; recommending, in a respectful manner, if opportunity be given him, the salutary practice of holding Public Worship on shipboard when circumstances permit; offering gratuitously a Volume of selected Homilies for the use of the Seamen, and Prayer-Books at a small price to all who need them-is, under the Divine Blessing, in many in stances, a great source of apparent good : a rallying point is thus given to the welldisposed, of which they often thankfully avail themselves, in order to express wishes and sentiments, which they might not otherwise have found the opportunity of expressing. A crew, which were supposed to be unfavourable to holding pub lic prayer, have declared not only their willingness to attend, but their sincere DESIRE that opportunity of doing so should be habitually given them; and some, whose consciences were uneasy, but who were cowed or led away by the prevailing impiety around them, have lamented with tears their neglect of Religion, have hailed with thankfulness the Book of Homilies as treating subjects most suitable to their case, and have seemed thankful in the prospect of a more decent observance of the Sabbath: and it ought in fairness to be stated, that Commanders, who have ascertained this feeling among their crew, have usually aided them in the purchase of Prayer-Books, and expressed their intention of reading Prayers on the Sabbath. Such has been the substance of Re ports made by those Agents of the Society who have visited ships in the PORT OF LONDON. And the Committee are thank ful in being permitted to add, that ac counts received from friends at the outPORTS have been of the same encouraging character. One of the Committees associated with this Society says The visits of the Agents have been generally received with marked civility; and, in several instances, there has been a distinct acknowledgment of the importance of Prayer. The Masters all speak very highly of the Book of Homilies; and acknowledge a great improvement in the character of Seamen generally, during the last ten years. One Master stated that he had not heard an oath on board his vessel for twelve months. Advantage of Lending Homilies among the Poor. From some of the towns in which Associations have been formed for the purpose of lending the Homilies among the Poor, or in many instances of reading Homilies to them at their own homes, accounts of an encouraging character have been received. In one large town, Thirty-eight persons have been engaged in this service, and Two Hundred and Forty-six Families have been visited: previous to the distribution of any particular Homily by the Visitors of a district, the Clergyman who superintends this Association, having assembled those who are about to carry it to the dwellings of their poorer neighbours, gives such an explanation of that Homily as appears best calculated to convey benefit to their own minds, and to prepare them for conversing profitably with others concerning that to which they invite their attention. In another populous place, when the last Report of the Auxiliary Society formed there was given, Freemasons' Hall; the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Chair. Movers and Seconders. The Lord Mayor; and the Bishop of Resolutions. nearly 1200 Homilies were in circulation, Lord Bexley; and the Earl of Clarendon. as loans to the Poor. In a third town, of considerable magnitude, districts have been formed for the same purpose. A similar report might be given with respect to other towns and parishes. Increased Exertions for Ireland. The numerous applications, which this Society has for several years received from our Sister Island, having been rendered still more numerous and pressing, by restrictions, which the Association for Discountenancing Vice has been compelled to adopt in its issue of PrayerBooks, the Committee have, since the last Anniversary, formed an Association in connexion with the Prayer-Book and Homily Society at Cork, and established, as they hope, an efficient Agency in Dublin. Their attention has been turned also to the North of Ireland; and they are not without hope that a Branch of this Society may, before long, be established there. Foreign Proceedings. In French, Selections from the Liturgy have been published, as Family or Private Prayers-in German, the entire Prayer-Book-in Swedish and Danish, the First and Third Homilies, the Second having previously appeared-and, in Modern Greek, the Ninth Homily, Against the Fear of Death." The German Prayer-Book, for the translation of which the Society is indebted to Dr. Steinkopff, meets with warm acceptance, and is producing the best effects, in various parts of the Continent. Some Notices relative to the East will appear in the next Survey. -That while this Meeting lament a very serious diminution of the Society's Funds. in consequence of the extraordinary extent of their operations since their last appeal to the Public, they cannot but rejoice in the wonderful increase and success of their labours in North America and the East Indies. - That this Meeting have great pleasure in improving the opportunity afforded them by the presence of two Colonial Prelates, to express the high sense which they entertain of the services rendered to the great and interesting work in which the Society are engaged, by the Bishops of Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Calcutta. - That this Meeting hail with great satisfaction the arrival of the period when the Society, in execution of the trust committed to them by General Codrington, have been enabled to establish a College for the Education of Youth in conformity to the terms of his will; and highly approve of the wise and humane regulations, which have lately been adopted, for increasing the comforts and improving the condition and character of the Slaves on the Estates, with a view to their gradual and complete emancipation -an object to which this Meeting are convinced that the Society will continue to direct its most earnest and anxious attention. -That the continuance and extension of the labours of the Society are so highly important to the dearest interests of our Fellow-subjects in the Colonies and in India, that this Meeting cannot separate without earnestly recommending those labours to the most zealous support of all the Friends of the Christian Religion, and more especially of the Members of the Established Church. The Colonial Prelates alluded to in the Second of the above Resolutions were the Bishops of Nova Scotia and Quebec, who were present, and addressed the Meeting at |