islands, the idols have been" cast to the moles and the bats ;" and, in the East, they are perishing out of the land. By the progress of the Bible, through the operations of the Missionaries, the whole fabric of idolatry has been smitten for total destruction; and thousands, once idolaters, have received the truth in the love of it, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.”

Some of the noblest triumphs of the Bible have been witnessed among the Caffres and Hottentots ; and they can declare the moral results. "When the

Word of God came among us," said the Caffre Chief, Jan Tzatzoe, when in England, " we were like wild beasts; we knew nothing! We were so wild, that there was nothing but war and bloodshed. Every one was against his neighbour; there was no confidence between man and man, and each man tried to destroy his brother. The Word of God has turned us; the Word of God has brought peace, has reconciled one man to another; and in us is fulfilled that text of Scripture, The wolf shall dwell with the lamb.'"

Andries Stoffles, the Christian Hottentot said, "I will tell you what the Bible has done for Africa. What would have become of the Hottentot nation, and every black man in South Africa, had you kept the Word of God yourselves? When the Bible came among us, we were naked; we lived in caves and on the tops of mountains; we had no clothes, we painted our bodies with red paint. The Bible charmed us out of our canoes, and from the tops of the mountains. The Bible made us throw

away all our old customs and practices, and we lived among civilized men. We are tame men now. Now we know there is a God; now we know we are accountable creatures before God. But what was our state before the Bible came? We knew none of those things. We knew nothing about heaven. We knew not who made heaven and earth. I thank God, in the name of every Hottentot-of all the Hottentots in South Africa, that I have seen the face of Englishmen. I have accompanied the Bible to the Caffre nation; and when the Bible spoke, the Caffre threw away his shield and all his vain customs. I went to Lattakoo, and they threw away all their evil works, they threw away their assagais, and became the children of God."

CHAPTER IV.

STATISTICS OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY.

VARIOUS statistical information is contained in the preceding portions of this work; and it seems only necessary to add the following.

The British and Foreign Bible Society, formed in 1804, soon became the parent of many others. They progressively increased, so that, at the present time, 1853, there are

PART V.

Prospects of the Bible Society.

CHAPTER I.

PROSPECTS FROM THE LANGUAGE OF DIVINE

PROPHECY.

ANTICIPATING the future progress of the Bible Society, we must be guided especially by the inspired prophets. "The signs of the times" are indeed auspicious; and we may be encouraged by past successes; but we must rest our hopes on the word of the Lord, and proceed in the light of his sacred truth.

Divine prophecy, in its most sublime revelations, comprehends the whole course of time, commencing with the first prediction concerning the Saviour of the world, given to guilty Adam in the garden of Eden; and extending to the consummation of the mysteries of providence in the kingdom of heaven.

Contemplating Divine Prophecy in its original revelation—in its progressive fulfilment, in numerous tribes of people-in the advent of Messiah—