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SUNDAY-SCHOOL BOOKS

Published by Lane and Tippett, for the Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Some months have passed since we have been able to even glance at what is doing in our Sunday-school department of publication.

Attention to the subject has now convinced us that, unless something is lacking besides good books in sufficient quantities, tastefully gotten up and cheaply furnished, the Sunday-school cause must triumph. Indeed, we find before us not only new books, but whole libraries, that have been published since we formally noticed the issues of this department. The editor is prosecuting his plans with commendable zeal and with marked success, and every friend of the sabbath-school cause cannot but be cheered with a constant accumulation of books of the right stamp which constitute the result of his talents and industry. There is no longer any necessity for a deficiency of suitable books in this department:-only let the want appear, and the supply will be forthcoming. We would call special attention

to the

CHILDREN'S LIBRARY,-SERIES A AND SERIES B.

Of the first series of this library there are already seventy-five volumes, which, for cheapness, elegance of appearance, and adaptation to the wants and taste of young children, are probably unexcelled by any Sunday-school library extant.

It is really enough to make one wish he were young again to see the shining red covers, the speaking pictures, the large, clear type, and the short and sparkling sentences which this library presents to the eye. But its highest excellence consists in the pious and evangelical sentiment that is contained in every book.

Series B now numbers fifty volumes of a larger size and of a slightly more elevated character, although quite within the range of small children.

We learn that it is the intention of the editor to enlarge the above library until each series shall number one hundred volumes, and that several choice works are now in press for this object.

To the regular

YOUTH'S LIBRARY

not less than thirty new volumes have been added since our former notice, of which we subjoin abbreviated titles in their numerical order :

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We regret that our space does not admit of our noticing the above works severally, according to their merits. We may say of them without exception, that a critical examination will prove them to be far more valuable than many volumes of far greater pretensions. We hope to give a full notice of some of the above works in our next.

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THE

METHODIST QUARTERLY REVIEW.

APRIL, 1848.

EDITED BY GEORGE PECK, D. D.

ART. I.-Reports of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, for the years 1818 to 1846, inclusive: in ten volumes. 8vo. London: Published by the Society.

It is now more than sixty years since the first Wesleyan missionaries, under the superintendence of Dr. Coke, were sent forth to labor in the colonies of Great Britain. It was not, however, until the year 1817 that the Wesleyan Missionary Society was formed; although, in the interval, the great work had been prosecuted with diligence, and attended with such success that, at the formation of the Society, they had in foreign lands nearly one hundred missionaries, and a membership of two thousand. Having before us the Annual Reports of this Society, from the year 1818 (the first) to 1846, inclusive, we purpose to devote a few pages to its history; hoping thereby, not only to make the reader better acquainted with their labors, their disasters, and their success, but to stimulate our own branch of the Wesleyan family to greater zeal and more systematic efforts for evangelizing the world.

The object of the Society, as stated in their "Laws and Regulations," is confined exclusively to the support and enlargement of foreign missions. The annual payment of one guinea, or a donation, at one time, of ten pounds or upward, entitles to membership and to a copy of the Society's Annual Reports. The business of the Society is in the hands of the British Conference; which body appoints a General Committee of fifty, including always the president and secretary of the conference for the time being, to whom is intrusted the entire management of its affairs, subject to the revision of the conference, at their annual sessions. This committee is composed of laymen as well as ministers, of whom eight traveling preachers, and eight other members of the Methodist Society, are selected from the country circuits; the rest from resiVOL. VIII.-11

dents in or near London, where meetings, for the transaction of business, are held monthly. Two general treasurers, one minister, and one layman, are annually appointed by the conference; and four of the preachers stationed in or near London are selected to conduct the official correspondence of the missions, and to perform the other duties of secretaries. They are expected to devote themselves, on the week days, exclusively to the interests of the Society; and, in common with other preachers, are subject to periodical changes in their fields of labor, according to the rules of the connection.* Very great care appears to be taken with reference to the appointment of missionaries. Candidates must first be recom mended by the preacher in charge of the circuit, approved by the quarterly conference, and examined and approved by the annual district meeting, before their names are placed on "the list;" from which those who are deemed most eligible are selected and examined by a special committee in reference to their missionary views

The expenses of conducting the Society's correspondence, for the three past years, are as follows:

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Previous to the building of the Wesleyan Centenary Hall the business of the Society was transacted in a rented house, in which one of the secretaries resided. In the Report for 1841, it is said, "that the new and very convenient Mission House, which they have now the pleasure and benefit of occupying, for the transaction of the Society's multifarious business, has been liberally and gratuitously presented to the Society by the committee and contributors of the Wesleyan Centenary Fund. In thankful commemoration of that fact, it has received, in union with the noble building intended for more general connectional purposes, which is placed under the same common roof, the designation of The Wesleyan Centenary Hall. The Mission House is a gift to the Society-a gift most munificent, seasonable, and acceptable." There is charged to the Society in the Treasurer's Report for the year ending December 31, 1845, for "taxes, rates, insurance, &c., for The Centenary Hall, £579 2s. 2d. ;" being considerably more than the rent, taxes, and insurance, of the houses occupied by the four secretaries, including their annual allowance for coals, candles, &c.

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