e gate, and seemed well calculated to promote es. We found that there were no Bibles among it was agreed to supply them. The prison for high up on the rock, in the ancient Moorish mostly constructed on the principle of solitary und no person under sentence of death, and but rrangement was made to supply them also with criptures, which the keeper promised to dispose

sted at seeing a number of Moorish peasants ts of Gibraltar, bare-legged, and many of them nding their fruit, fowls, &c. and dressed in nts, thrown loosely about them, which much r of their skin. Attempts have been made reey, to put the Scriptures into their hands; but n read, and those who can, viz. their chiefs and pose the introduction of books on Christianity; bic Genesis have been sent to Tangier, some of tributed. The committee intend to endeavour to ies of the new edition of the Arabic Bible, on supply of which they wish to have sent to them

Gibraltar to Malta was tedious, having taken up arrived in the harbour of La Valetta on the 8th h a kind reception from the friends of our cause

f Hastings was not yet arrived, I waited on the the government, Sir Frederick Hankey, who civility, and assured me that he would willingly tance which was in his power. Mr. Jowett had weeks ago from his eight months' tour in PalesHe showed me the manuscript Ethiopic Tesurchased at Jerusalem for forty dollars. It convolumes, of unequal size. The Gospels are in one her books of the New Testament in another, but which they usually are, the Acts being in the midThis manuscript cannot fail to be of use at the the Ethiopic Gospels are going to the press.

g

of Committee was held on the 14th of June. to the state of the Malta Society.

plying the Maltese with the Holy Scriptures little The population of the two islands of Malta and eed 112,000 souls. It is believed that they will in purchasing a copy in the depôt, than in acceptand of any of the members of Committee. But numerous strangers who visit Malta, that an open res is desirable; and, indeed, the greatest benefit eneral, to be derived from the Malta Society, is

through means of the depository and the correspondence which the committee carries on with pious and benevolent persons in the surrounding countries, whom they furnish with supplies of the word of God. Much has already been accomplished in this respect, and it is to be hoped, that the regulations adopted by the Committee during my visit, will introduce still more efficiency into this department. I have shown them the necessity of following up their grants with frequent investigations regarding their actual distribution, and requesting regular returns from their correspondents on this point.

The American missionaries in Syria and Palestine continue to be their most active agents. One thousand copies of the Arabic Bible, and supplies in other languages, were sent off from Malta, during my stay there, to Beyrout, where two of the American missionaries reside; and where it is intended to have a permanent depôt.

The exertions of the Malta Committee, in regard to the north of Africa, have still been very circumscribed. A visit to the three Barbary states, by a qualified person who speaks Arabic, has long been a desideratum. But the proper person to undertake this hazardous excursion has not yet been found. The difficulties of introducing the Christian Scriptures, in a private and cautious way, into those regencies are of a peculiar kind. Opportunities, however, of sending Bibles and Testaments to those parts occasionally present themselves in Malta, and these have been embraced with considerable success. An African Jew lately purchased 33 Hebrew Bibles, and carried them with him to Tunis for the use of his brethren there. A short time before I reached Malta, twenty-four Moors happened to perform quarantine there, who willingly accepted of copies of the Arabic Scriptures, and carried them with them into Morocco; and I myself found 240 Algerine pilgrims confined in one of the fortresses of Malta, taken some months ago on the coast of Sicily, on their way from Mecca, to whom copies of the Arabic Scriptures have been given, which were well received. On the 19th of May I paid a visit to these Arabs, who were dressed in white flowing camblet cloaks with hoods, having their limbs bare. These cloaks, by covering the whole body and head in a loose manner, and being white, are admirably calculated to resist the heat. Many of them were good looking men, some of them very old. Their reis, or chief, an aged man of respectable character, to whom a Bible had been given some time ago, is since dead. We inquired after the copies of the Scriptures which had been put into their hands, and was told that they were frequently read. I only found two of them who understood a little Turkish, one of whom told me, that they were very well used in their confinement, and had a sufficiency of bread and other necessaries, for which he thanked Allah. It is satisfactory to know, that our last edition of the Arabic Bible is well understood by these people, and will be understood in all the states of Barbary. I impressed on the Malta Committee the vast importance of embracing opportunities of this kind, and also of vessels belonging to those states which visit Malta, to send the word of truth and salvation to those countries, where, in the time of the bishop of Hippo, it flourished and bore much fruit. For until those countries are again sown with the incorruptible seed of divine truth, we can never ex

pect to see their present low state changed; and humanity, justice, and pure Christianity, take the place of tyranny, oppression, and Mohammedan delusion.

On the 19th of May, in company with Dr. Naudi, I visited the Lancasterian school. It is held in an excellent school-room, fitted up for 500 boys; but I found only 93 present, all of whom, except the monitors, were very young. There were a few Greek boys among them. In the evening of the same day I crossed the harbour of Cospicna, and walked slowly through many of the lanes, with the view of observing how the common people live; for Cospicna is principally inhabited by them. Great penury and indigence met my eye at every step. Many of them were employed at their doors in spinning, shoemaking, weaving, &c. Very few of them can read or even speak the Italian; and books in their own language are not yet in use.

One of the priests, named Don Luigi, whose acquaintance I had the satisfaction of making, has established a free school at Zeituni, where he educates about eighty boys and thirty-five girls, and in which parts of Scripture are read. This school is supported by the subscriptions of both Catholics and Protestants, and has already been a blessing to the populous village in which it is established.

The state of morals in Malta is deplorable. In the morning you hear chains rattling in every street; for about 200 criminals are daily employed in sweeping them. The ideas of many of the common people are so debased, that they are not ashamed to be seen in the street with a chain at their leg. A gentleman informed me, that instances had occurred of men who have purposely committed crime about the beginning of winter, with the view of being imprisoned and fed during the following six months. The causes of this

demoralization are various.

On the 17th of May I visited the city hospital, accompanied by Capt. Pearson it is an extensive and most commodious building. Among the sick I found a poor Irishman and a Scotsman, the former in a deep decline, lying on his bed reading the New Testament. It was in the midst of these and similar efforts to be useful, during my stay at Malta, that I was suddenly taken ill with a fever, which, in a few days, reduced me to the brink of the grave. It was a merciful dispensation of my heavenly Father that I fell among Christian friends, who did every thing in their power to assist and comfort me. In a special manner, I desire to express to the Committee the great obligations under which I lie to Dr. Hennen, inspector of hospitals, whose attendance, by night and by day, was unremitting, from the time of my being taken ill till I left Malta, which was thirty-four days, and who generously declined accepting any remuneration for his professional services. To the Rev. William Jowett also, and his amiable partner, I am deeply indebted for the unwearied kindness and attention they paid me during the twenty-six days I passed in the bosom of their family, in great weakness and helplessness. May the Almighty richly reward these and other affectionate friends at Malta, for their numerous services to me in the time of need!

The physicians recommended my return to England by sea, as the only means to save my life; for Dr. H. repeatedly told me, "You will never recover in Malta."

My being obliged to abandon my tour into Greece and Turkey, and return home, proved a sharp trial to me at the first; but, by degrees, I found my mind reconciled to that which I had not strength of body to perform, and was enabled to acquiesce in it, as the will of God, clearly indicated in his providential dealings towards me.

Though I was not permitted to visit Corfu, yet I exchanged several letters with Mr. Lowndes on the affairs of the Ionian Bible Society, the printing of the Albanian and Greek Scriptures, &c. &c. which have already procured from Mr. Lowndes special replies to my suggestions and queries; and these I hope will enable your Committee to determine, with greater facility, what steps are proper to be taken for the completion of these important works.

On the 23d of June I parted with my Malta friends, and embarked in the packet for England, in a state of great debility; but the sea air and northern winds, with which we were favoured nearly the whole way home, tended much to brace and strengthen me.

We spent four days at Gibraltar, where I met again the Corresponding Committee, and was happy to find that a supply of Spanish Bibles had arrived, and were eagerly sought after. A Jew had lately purchased 132 Hebrew Bibles, to carry with him to Leghorn for the schools of his brethren in that place.

Our passage from Malta to Falmouth lasted about six weeks; and I reached London on the 6th of August, after an absence of four months:

It is my hope that it will please God to restore me again to health, and permit me to spend the remainder of my days and strength in carrying forward the blessed cause of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and my earnest prayer that all my bodily sufferings and trials in this work may be blessed and sanctified to my own soul; "for I know, O Lord! that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.'

Paris, January 28, 1825.

My inquiries upon my present journey have hitherto been chiefly directed towards the Turkish Scriptures; and I purpose in this letter to give you the result of many conferences with professor Kieffer and others on this important subject.

The printing of the Turkish Bible is now advanced to about the middle of Job, and the revision to the beginning of the Psalms. The work will be comprised in about 160 sheets, of which 74 have left the press. The professor has not been able to get the printer to deliver more than four sheets per month, at which rate nearly two years will still be required to complete the work. But as Mr. Fraser will be useful in copying the manuscript, and correcting the first proof sheets, we purpose, if possible, to prevail upon the king's printer to deliver from one to two sheets more per month, by which means the work will be completed about six months sooner. The edition consists of 5000 copies of the whole Bible, but no provision has been made in the agreement with the printer for an extra number of New

Testaments, which both the professor and myself deem, on many accounts, a desirable object. The additional expense will be merely that of paper and press-work. I would therefore suggest to the Committee the expediency of authorizing the professor to have two thousand extra copies of the New Testament struck off, because this edition, after having undergone so much criticism and revision, will doubtless be superior to the first in many respects.

The professor is very desirous of rendering the work as perfect as possible, and spares no labour to attain this desirable object. At the same time, he feels its infinite importance and his own deep responsibility as editor. These two considerations make him diffident; and on this account he has expressed a wish to me, that the Committee would request the Rev. Mr. Renouard carefully to peruse the Epistles, with the view not to amend the style, but to render them as accurate and conformable to the original as possible. Should he be able to read the four Gospels and the Acts also, it would be desirable.

Paris, January 31, 1825.

I HAVE had a full and interesting conversation with Baron Silvestre de Sacy on our different oriental works. He informed me, that the four Gospels, in Syriac and Carshûn, were finished, which compose the first volume, and that he had sent the first sheets of the Acts to the press. He highly approved of the plan which we are now pursuing with the view of obtaining a complete version of the Old Testament in Persian. He also thinks that Martyn's Testament is still susceptible of considerable improvement. In regard to the Coptic he said, that it would be of little use alone; but if accompanied with the Arabic, it might be useful for reading in their churches and schools, as the Coptic is still the ecclesiastical language of the modern Egyptians. He showed me the sheets of the Syriac and Carshûn versions, and said, that he had bestowed special pains on them, and had corrected the errata of the originals as he went along.

Paris, February 3, 1825.

In the afternoon of the 1st instant I attended the Monthly Meeting of the Committee of the Paris Bible Society, The president was in the chair two of the members of the chamber of deputies were present, and several of the vice presidents, who, with the greater proportion of the other members of committee, nearly filled the place of assembly. The marquis de Jaucourt introduced me to the Committee through lord Teignmouth's letter, not as a stranger, but as an old friend and fellow-labourer in the common cause. I delayed replying till the business of the day was transacted, and then I rose and expressed to them the satisfaction it had afforded me, to observe the number of communications which had come before them from different parts of the kingdom; for these I considered as proofs of the activity of the Auxiliaries. I assured them of the continued cordial interest of the Committee in London. Among the interesting letters read, those from Bordeaux showed that the biblical work prospered there in no ordinary degree.