trast with Popery, is "The Noble Lesson," one of the few manuscripts of the Waldenses which have escaped destruction, and which is preserved in the same library. Last of all, let us rejoice, that though Geneva, like England and other Protestant countries, did for a time almost forget its Reformers and its Reformation, now again there are many minds within its precincts enriched with the same faith, many hearts glowing with the same hope, and many immortals on their way to the same glory. Weep, willow! weep, O'er Calvin's grave; Wave o'er him, wave! Tombs of marble may glitter, death-pompous, around, To boast their mouldering guest; But that willow, it weeps in silence profound How calm the loved spot! Thus calm closed his days: All tumult forgot; Above, all praise! Savoy's rage, Rome's assault, and the infidels' madness, With the days of his joy there were dark days of sadness, Still enthron'd is St. Pierre On Geneva's fond home; Mont Blanc's snowy dome: But echoes no more Heaven's loud proclamation, Messiah a mortal! Messiah divine! Withdrawn is Heaven's light from its noon elevation: A stranger, I pray For Geneva-I feel; Heaven restore the bright day Of this fair city's zeal! May a Calvin anew with his wisdom be teaching The way to a mansion above; May a Farel again with his thunder be preaching And when Calvin shall rise From this grave of his rest, Shall pronounce him blest, May I start from my humble repose to new breath, Is that grave far away, or near him in death? ANGLICANUS. *But though Calvin's grave cannot be found, his memory lives; and in his admirable writings-admirable, whatever may be the varying opinions of Christians respecting some things in them-being dead, he yet speaks. We begin to hope that the prejudices which have long prevented many persons from studying them, are dying away; and that before long, no man, who wishes to be a sound divine and an intelligent reader of God's holy word, will be scared away from the treasures amassed in those invaluable writings, because he does not in all respects cohere with the illustrious writer's doctrinal system. We are happy to announce that his Commentary upon the Romans, with his Life prefixed by Beza, has recently been translated into English by the Rev. Francis Sibson, of Trinity College, Dublin. We need not inform the theological scholar, that the original work abounds in highly valuable matter, critical and practical; but we congratulate the English reader that it is now accessible to him in a very excellent vernacular translation. We have read with great interest the speeches made at the last meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society. They are all excellent and animating. The two following will, we think, interest, and we hope, edify our readers, as much as any thing that could fill the space in our pages which they occupy. The Rev. Mr. Abeel, an American Missionary, from China.-My Lord, I much dislike to hear, and much more to offer, apologies for not speaking, or for not speaking well; but I feel that I should do injustice to the cause which I desire to promote, if I did not mention that, owing to a long and severe indisposition, I fear I have neither strength, nor nerve, nor mental ability, to advocate its claims. It has been my lot, as many in this assembly know, to visit China and the adjacent country of India. And it affords me great happiness to have the opportunity at this time to state, before so vast an assembly, those facts respecting China, which we have all been so slow to believe, but which stand connected with such eternal results. It has been thought by the Christian world at large, that China was quite inaccessible to Missionary operations. It has been concluded(though not concluded, for conclusions demand premises;) it has been opined (though it is not an opinion, for opinion is the result of judg ment, at least of experiment;) but it has been fancied, that China could not be entered-that its walls could not be scaled-and that three hundred and sixty millions of souls must perish, and perish for ever. And these sentiments have been entertained amidst a host of counteracting facts, sufficient to have overturned the soundest conclusions, unless they had been grounded upon eternal truth. I am happy however to state, that these sentiments have been general only amongst one class of persons: and yet that class is the only class capable of benefiting China-I refer to Protestant Christians. Judaism has entered China, and has retained a foot-hold there, from time immemorial. Buddhism -a system of absurdities and monstrosities, such as have seldom visited the fancy, and never the intellect or judgment of men-Buddhism has entered China, has transfused itself through all ranks, and hung its dark tenets in terrorem over the minds of millions there. Mahometanism has entered China-not by the might of a victorious sword; but it has entered peacefully, and has blinded some of the noblest minds in that vast empire. Catholicism has entered China, and, under circumstances the most unfavourable, it has subdued thousands and millions to its sway. Catholicism was expelled from China-and what was the result? Oh that I had a voice that might echo from pole to pole, while I mention it! The Catholic Missionaries, influenced by motives which you know as well as myself, re-entered China, and have continued, from that day to this, operating silently, though powerfully, in that vast empire. Oh let it be known, let it be understood by the world of Protestants, that the laws of China were all set in array, the officers of China were all aroused, against the introduction of Catholicism; and yet it penetrated, and every year its Missionaries are entering the empire. I have in my possession statistics which show, that there are at present hundreds of thousands-nay, ff my memory be not inaccurate, millions of Catholics in China. I mention these facts, to let the world know, that there is but one class of persons who have conceived that they could do nothing with China, and that class is Protestant Christians! And here there is one fact, which must encourage a society con vened, as this is, to diffuse the word of God; namely, that Buddhism, that sink of Atheism to which I have referred, owes more to the very means you have it in your power to adopt, than to any other. Buddhism owes more to the press, than to the priest; more to the written, than to the living epistle.-It has been thought, and I fully concur in the sentiment, that the world is to be converted through Missionary efforts. Allow me to mention, to whisper, if I could so whisper as to be heard throughout this auditory-allow me to whisper in your ears, that I never knew but one Missionary in my life, in whom I had complete confidence. You may think this an uncharitable remark; but I never found any of my fellow Missionaries who did not coincide in it. This Missionary I found in China-conversant with its language, and diligently engaged in instructing the heathen. This Missionary had made repeated voyages along the coast of China, from island to island and from country to country; and the ships which bore him thither have often left him alone-and what could he do? he went forth unaided-he went forth alone-he entered every town, every hamlet, almost every village. He penetrated up to the capital; nay, it is said that he even entered the palace of him who styles himself the "Sun of heaven," and there attempted to teach the "Sun of heaven" himself the true way to heaven. This Missionary afterwards did me the honour to accompany me; and such another companion I never expect to find! Where I could not go, he went; and what I could not do, he did. He penetrated where it would have been hazardous for me to attempt to go. When I entered China, and laboured among the millions there who had no teacher, he went with me; he entered there amongst all classes of men; he entered the very palace of one of the principal priests of the empire, the chaplain of the emperor; he taught him for weeks together, living with him, and was unwearied in his exertions. What was more remarkable than all-with all his powers and all his elevation of soul, with all his capabilities, so that each of us admits that he is nothing to him, and can do nothing without him-yet he became my servant! I sent him on board some junks that were returning to China, and there he sat, day by day, teaching the mariners; and, reaching with them the end of their voyage, he again entered China, and went forth as he had done before. Now I have no doubt, my lord, that you, and all present, are desirous to know who this Missionary is. I will first tell you who he is not. He is not a Churchman; he is not a Dissenter; he is not a Calvinist, nor an Arminian; he is not an Englishman, neither is be an American; he is not a Scotsman, nor a Hollander. He appears to hate all sects; many of the most prominent of which I never heard him deign to mention. But the question returns, What has this Missionary's conduct, and this man's speech to do with the operations of the Bible Society? The Bible! why that is the very name of the Missionary, of whom I speak. The Bible Society! why that is the very society that sends him forth. Yes-this is the only Missionary, upon whom myself or my fellow-labourers depend, for the conversion of the world; and you have now the exceedingly great privilege of sending forth this Missionary, who understands almost all languages, and who has almost the powers of ubiquity-you have the privilege of sending him forth into China, and into all the vast kingdoms and islands of the east. It was my honour, at some of the out-posts, to visit the junks carrying on the China trade, and to supply fifty of those junks with this Missionary; and it may be the honour of many here to send him forth through the length and breadth of that almost Ch. Adv.-VOL. XII. 2 Y boundless empire; and it is my earnest desire, and no doubt the desire of all here present, that he may be sent even to earth's remotest bounds. With these remarks, I beg to second the motion. The Rev. Mr. Knill, from St. Petersburgh.-My countrymen, I rejoice to meet you at this time! You are met together to send the Bible that Missionary of whom our excellent friend has been speakingto send that Missionary to all the world; and you are met on a glorious design. I appear amongst you this morning as, comparatively, a stranger; for a large portion of my life has been spent in distant lands. It has been my happiness to be employed, in some humble degree, in sending that Missionary to distant nations-it is just twenty years since I first commenced distributing the Bible. I was then at Gosport, preparing to go to labour amongst the heathen; and it was observed, that there appeared to be thousands in Gosport who never went to public worship, who seemed to have no regard for their precious souls. And the question was asked, Is it consistent with our character, as professing ourselves Missionaries of Christianity, to let these people perish, without speaking to them one word? It was agreed that, on the approaching Sabbath, one of the Missionaries should go upon the beach, and try to assemble the soldiers, sailors, porters, and many others there, who never went to any place of worship. One of us accordingly went; and, taking with him a large bundle of tracts, began to circulate them. The people were surprised: they said "Who are you? who gave you any interest in our welfare?" He replied, “I am one of your fellow sinners, to whom the Bible has been sent from heaven: you are dying creatures; you will perish if you do not attend to the means of salvation." They heard what he had to say, took his tracts, and thanked him. He then said, "Next Sunday, if you like, some person will come and preach to you." "Let him come!" said they. That honourable office devolved on me. I went, and stood upon some steps in the market-place, and gave out the hymn which begins, "Life is the time to serve the Lord;" which was sung to the Old 100th. The people threw up the sashes in the High Street, and looked out of their windows; numbers came to the doors, and the street was almost filled with people, listening to the word of God. There was many a hearty tar, who had faced the cannon of the enemy undaunted, now come to hear the Gospel; and the blue jacket was raised, this way and that way, to wipe the tears from their cheeks. I took for my text"I have a message from God unto thee!" At the close of the service, I saw a fine young fellow, belonging to a frigate in the harbour, come bustling in among the crowd towards me. I thought within myself, What does he want? does he know me? or is he coming to strike me? But when he reached me, he said, "I am sure you must be thirsty: here is a three-shilling bit-take it, and have something to drink." thanked him, and told him I did not want it. Yes, yes, take it; I am sure you must be thirsty." I then said, "I came hither for your welfare." "Yes, I feel it," said he; and he burst into tears. "Have you a Bible?" "No." 66 Well, come with me, and I will give you a Bible, for your three-shilling bit." "Come along, James!" said he to his companion. I took him home, and gave him a Bible for his threeshilling bit: he seized it, thrust it into his jacket, and said, "There, sir! I part with my head, the same day that I part with this book." And it was one of your Bibles, my lord! Who can tell, but that Bible may have been the means of guiding him into the haven of eternal rest! -I then went to India, and distributed Bibles there. But it pleased God to afflict me-to send me home a mere shadow; and I thought I was laid by for ever; but, through God's mercy, I recovered, and was afterwards sent to Russia. That is a country of which little is known here; but there is much good going on in Russia-I mean, through the medium of the Bible. The Bible Society's operations in Russia commenced in 1812, just at the time that Buonaparte with his invading army surrounded Moscow. He surrounded it on three sides; but on the other side was found John Paterson-your agent-who presented his petition to the emperor for the establishment of a Bible Society, for the benefit of the Protestants. (They were afraid of interfering with the Greek church.) The nobleman, who presented the petition to the emperor Alexander, saw him read it with approbation; and, after reading, he signed it in the usual way-"So let it be; Alexander." Giving it back to the nobleman, he said, "That is for the Protestants, is it not?" "Yes, your majesty." "And what," said he, "are not the poor Russians to have the Bible?" "If your majesty pleases," was the reply. "Well then, let us have a Russian Bible Society, that will embrace all the empire.' -The sacred volume was thus introduced; and when a poor peasant returned to his home, the report would circulate through the village in which he lived, "Such a man has got a Bible, and a Testament!" "What is that?" said the people. "Why, a book that tells of Jesus Christ; of his birth, his life, his sufferings, his death, and salvation through him." This drew his neighbours to the house; and they assembled till the house was full, and there they continued till midnight, two or three of them (who were able) reading chapter after chapter sometimes till break of day-while the others listened to the word of life. And do you suppose that, when people hear and read the Bible with so much interest, no effect is produced? Yes, effects are produced! Saints are edified, and sinners are saved. At length, these proceedings raised an alarm; and some persons said, "These people are leaving the worship of their forefathers!" The alarm increased, till at last orders came that the distribution of the Scriptures should cease. The Bible Society's house was shut up; the remaining stock on hand was transferred to a room which had been Dr. Paterson's kitchen; and a poor feeble old man was appointed to take care of the books. After a while, some of them began to be devoured by the worm, and others to rot with the damp: for the panic which had seized the people was so great, that although an order had been issued that Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, should be sold at certain affixed prices, still no one would buy them. On July 29, 1828, it pleased God to open the doors of the warehouse, where these precious books had been so long concealed: and it was brought about in this way. There is in the Baltic Sea án island, called Hog Land, well known to seafaring people, containing about five hundred inhabitants. A pious young Lutheran heard of them: he visited and preached the gospel to them. Their attention was excited: they said, "This man talks like an angel! Who sent you with these good tidings? will you stay with us?" He replied, "I cannot live upon the air." 66 No," said they, "but we will give you fish, and oil, and candles." "I cannot live upon that," said he; "but I will go to Petersburgh, and see what the servants of Jesus Christ there will do for me; and if they will support me, I will return to you." He came to Petersburgh, and related the circumstance to a lady, the widow of an admiral, adding, "Will you support me?" "I cannot," was her |