Making the whole number of Auxiliaries, now officially known and recognized, to be two hundred and seven.

In addition to the foregoing Societies, several others have communicated information of their having become auxiliary, but not with such a conformity to the prescribed terms of official notification as to admit of their present recognition.

The Society will doubtless recollect its having been mentioned in the last Report, that a Standing Committee of five members of the Board of

* Mentioned by mistake, in Third Report.

Managers had been then recently appointed, under the denomination of the Auxiliary Society Committee, for the purpose of devising and suggesting means to promote the establishment and animate the exertions of Auxiliary Societies; with authority to depute persons to attend meetings for these objects, and to open a correspondence with intelligent and influential persons in different places, with a view of gaining such information as might enable them successfully to prosecute the above-mentioned designs.

In execution of the duties of their appointment, the Committee addressed a circular letter to various individuals on the subject of the formation of Auxiliary Societies at, or in the vicinity of, their respective residences. This measure has not, to any extent with which the Managers have yet been made acquainted, been followed by its desired effects.

The Managers are not willing to believe that this has arisen from indifference, on the part of those who were addressed, to the great cause in which we are engaged. The general pressure of the times, and the consequent diminished means of individuals, the rapid increase of local charitable associations, and the mode of address by letter, instead of the more efficient method of personal communication, may account for the unsatisfactory result of this preparatory proceeding. It was resorted to as an experiment, which, if successful, would have saved, for the present, the expense of employing traveling agents for the purpose, and obviated the difficulty that has arisen in finding persons of suitable character, qualifications, and leisure, for so important and responsible a trust. On this interesting subject, however, the solicitude of the Board is undiminished. To accomplish, in their wished-for and practicable extent, the great objects toward which the National Society should not cease to direct its aim, the multiplication of Auxiliaries is indispensable. It is thruogh their agency, principally, that the Parent Society must expect those supplies of a continually exhausting treasury, that will enable it to enlarge the extent of its operations to the progressively increasing demand for the Bible. It is almost entirely through the discoveries made by such Societies in their various districts, and their subsequent activity in the work of distribution, that the beneficent object of this Institution can be thoroughly effectuated, and the precious boon dispensed where it is most pressingly required. Under these impressions, the Managers sincerely hope that the instrumentality of individuals, as agents in promoting the views of the Society in various parts of the United States, may not be lost sight of; and to facilitate the prosecution of so

promising an expedient, the Committee charged with the subject have been engaged in diligent inquiries after suitable persons to enter upon that service during the ensuing summer. It is greatly encouraging to the attempt, that the annals of the British and Foreign Bible Society continue to furnish such ample proofs of its efficacy, both in the encouragement of existing Auxiliaries and the establishment of new. After witnessing the most astonishing results of persevering activity and zeal on the part of the distinguished Secretaries of that Institution, and other gentlemen, their associates at home, the Appendix to its Fifteenth Annual Report exhibits a splendid view of the still more enlarged success of Owen, Pinkerton, Patterson, and Henderson, in their extensive and laborious tours on the continent of Europe.

The services rendered by these eminent men to the cause of Christian benevolence and the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, can scarcely be fully realized, or appreciated at their just value. The same glorious rewards that have crowned (their pious efforts, there is every reason to believe, will be reaped by similar functionaries in our country; and the expense which their employment may induce, will be more than remunerated in accessions to the number of the Society's Auxiliaries, in the renovated zeal of its present supporters, in the increase of its current revenues, and in the delight of seeing this work of the Lord more abundantly prosper in its hands.

With a view to the very important ends for which this Committee was formed, the Managers would respectfully, but loudly, call upon the friends of the Bible cause, in every part of our country where Auxiliaries do not now exist, to engage with activity and promptitude in their establishment. Has a district been so favored by Divine Providence as to possess an adequate supply of the Holy Scriptures, or a competence of wealth exceeding any required expenditure for their procurement? Then let its inhabitants remember their less highly favored brethren in other parts, and generously contribute to the common fund of Christian beneficence, that the consolations with which they are blessed may be sent into every destitute region, and into Heathen lands. Is a district poor, and able but to a very limited amount to aid the general cause? Yet its people should not be discouraged from embarking, however small their means, in this work and labor of love. What these may not enable them to purchase, the liberality of more wealthy contributors will enable the Parent Institution to give and thus, though Auxiliaries of this description may not have it in their power to increase, materially, the pecuniary resources of the Institution, they may greatly contribute to ex

cite, within their bounds, a desire after the Bible; they may encourage the poor to contribute small sums, at stated periods, for obtaining it i they may add, by their communications, to the general stock of information, and become very useful agents in the grateful employment of distribution. It is fervently hoped that the friends of the Redeemer will not rest satisfied until a Bible Society be established in every county in the Union; nor until, in imitation of our European precursors in this glorious cause, Bible Associations be formed in every town, village, congregation, and extensive manufactory; which, by the collection of small contributions, and the enrollment of subscribers for Bibles, will rejoice to pour their free-will-offerings into the Treasury of GoD. While, however, the Managers are urgent for new and more effective operations in this good work throughout our growing community, it would imply, on their part, an ungrateful deficiency of recollection, did they not avail themselves of the present opportunity to bear testimony to the commendable zeal of some existing Auxiliaries, whose location does not admit of very large remittances; and also, to the liberality of others, whose want of the Bible in their own districts being less, but, their affluence greater, have shown themselves " ready to give, and glad to distribute" to the necessities of their destitute fellow-christians. To such of the present Auxiliary Societies as have been remiss in the collection or transmission of their revenues, it will not be deemed an offensive intimation, that the enlargement of the general plan of operation, and the regular and secure conduct of the business of the Parent Institution will, in a great measure, depend on the promptitude, perseverance, and energy of its local assistants; and that it is the sums,,however small, transmitted with punctuality by them, that will ultimately invest the general body with capacities equal to its wide extended sphere of action.

The more general practice of publishing their annual reports is also respectfully recommended to Auxiliary Societies: and it would give them increased interest and value, if. beside detailing its own transactions, each of these institutions were to embody in its report such information relating to the Bible cause, and such interesting occurrences connected therewith, as might be calculated to awaken attention, and incite to individual co-operation. The regular transmission of these re ports, immediately after their publication, is a duty of so obvious a nature that it would not now be mentioned, if the Managers had not to regret many past instances of omission.

The Managers being persuaded of the expediency of a more general adoption of the practice of selling the Holy Scriptures at cost, or reduced VOL. L.

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prices, where there exist the ability and the inclination to purchase, have deemed it their duty to address a Circular to all the Auxiliary Societies on that interesting subject. No discouragement was intended to be thrown by this proceeding on the pleasing exercise of christian charity in their gratuitous presentation, where the means of purchasing in either of the above modes are actually wanting. In such cases, not only should the Sacred Volume be freely given, but assiduous endeavors used to seek out suitable objects for the reception of the invaluable gift. But, where there are conjoined the disposition and the ability to pay for it, either in whole or in part, the practice recommended presents a convenient method of obtaining the contribution of the individual to the great cause in which we are engaged; while he receives a full equivalent, no wound is inflicted on feelings which are found not unfrequently to revolt at the idea of receiving the Bible as a gift; and the value of his acquisition is enhanced in his esteem by the manner in which it has been obtained.

The Managers feel confident that the Auxiliary Societies will find their efficiency increased by conforming to this recommendation; and it will contribute in no inconsiderable degree to enlarge their general means of usefulness. Of the benefits of this plan there are multiplied proofs in the transactions of the British and Foreign Bible Society; by whose Auxiliaries and their Associations it has long been pursued; and the product of such sales now forms a most important item in the revenues of that grand Institution. The Managers also availed themselves of the occasion then presented, to intimate to the highly esteemed bodies to whom their Circular just mentioned was addressed, the immense advantages which had been experienced in England, and other places, from affording to the poor the opportunity of becoming subscribers for Bibles, by the payment of small weekly sums, until their contributions amount to the price of a Bible. A remarkable instance of success in the prosecution of this salutary mode of distribution occurred in the operations of the Liverpool Ladies' Branch Bible Society, established on the 1st of January, 1818; which, besides a very liberal gratuitous circulation, numbered, in the course of fifteen months from its commencement, no less than eight thousand four hundred and seventeen subscribers for Bibles and Testaments; of whom a considerable number had paid for and received their Bibles at the cost prices. On this brilliant and successful example of female enterprise and exertion, the Managers ventured a respectful appeal to the condescension, patience, and perseverance of their amiable countrywomen, who have this additional encouragement to its imitation, that the same distinguished Institution, in the period already mentioned,