Address to Collectors.

VIII. This Section cannot be more appropriately closed than by the following address; for which, with the exception of a few verbal alterations, the author is indebted to a valued friend.

ADDRESS TO COLLECTORS.

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It has been observed, that the " Collectors are the life-blood of every So ciety; and that the health of the system may be judged of by their regularity, as its pulse." If this be correct, great is the honour, and great also the responsibility, of your station. It is not a compliment earned by appearing once a year, with a look of interest, at a public meeting, or even once a month at a Committee-meeting: it is the reward of retired, monotonous, persevering exertion; of many a weary step, and patient word; receiving little excitement from the eye of man, and able to endure with meekness his ridicule and his censure. When the first novelty of the thing is over, your weekly rounds are little noticed. There is One only who continually seeth in secret, with the gracious design of rewarding openly and to you-you who, in simplicity and sincerity, pursue your labours, with an eye to His approbation, with a desire to promote His cause in the world, and thereby to communicate to His creatures a happiness which you have yourselves experienced, to you will He assuredly say, "Well done, good and faithful servants; inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these little ones, ye did it unto me." But notwithstanding the favourable regard thus paid to the diligent and conscientious, let it be observed,—and allow the thought to stir up your minds by way of remembrance," that it is to them only it can be given. It is readily acknowledged, that the temptations to remissness are great and many. Duties so constant, so laborious, and perhaps occasionally so ill received;-duties which require the sacrifice of so much valuable time, and, in many cases, such a rigid arrangement of business at home; the wearisome repetition of the same steps, the same persuasives, the same forbearancewhich some may ridicule as superfluous, and a few resent as impertinent ;— which must be done at seasons not of your own choosing, and in the face of various difficulties, sometimes from weather abroad, and sometimes from engagements at home,—duties such as these-such as yours-there is no small tendency in human-nature gradually to shrink from. The first generous impulse subsides into an almost sickening feeling of difficulty and disappointment. Some discouraging word, dropt by a half-hearted friend, or a secret enemy to the cause, sinks like lead into your bosoms, and checks the resolution which had already, perhaps, begun to fail. You feel ashamed, or weary, or indifferent, or hopeless; and, in the absence of any immediate stimulus, or apparent success, you almost wish to resign an office, the duties of which, in an hour of excited feeling, you undertook to discharge with SYSTEM, PUNCTUALITY, and PERSEVERANCE.

But is it true that such a thought has occurred to you?—that your heart has already been chilled !-that your hands have already slackened !-and have you been able to persuade yourself that this second thought is best? Revert for a moment to the scene, in which it is probable the generous determination was first inspired; and ask, Whether the conviction of duty then impressed on your mind, was, in reality, greater or less than the occasion ? Did not your heart burn within you, when, in some large and attentive assembly, the wants of a dying world were set before you? when you heard of thousands passing, even from Christian countries, into the region of the

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CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

Address to Collectors.

[CHAP. VIII.

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shadow of death, without any adequate knowledge of the Saviour, or even a possibility of possessing His Word as their guide? when, dian, not the Negro," not men of other climes, but your own poor neighbours-the families of your servants and labourers-the burdened mothers not the Inwhom you see in every cottage, oppressed with exertion, want, or sickness-the old people, whose infirmities you have seen and pitied ever since you were children; and by some of whom, perhaps, you were nursed,when these were pointed out to you as perishing for lack of knowledge-and when the thought was deeply impressed on your spirit, that, in some degree, their blood would be required at your hands-was it a heated imagination merely, or not rather an enlightened and sensible conscience, which induced you to say, notwithstanding every discouragement, Here am I; send me ?— Was it to man, or to God, that you uttered the vow of perseverance, and made the willing sacrifice of a portion of your time, your convenience, and your feelings?-It was not to man. heart, and will never, it may be, hear of the ardour with which it prompted The eloquent speaker did not see your your first efforts in this work of Christian benevolence; nor will he know, it is probable, the decline it has since experienced: but there was One to whom the glow of your spirit was known; and, while the figures of a graceful oratory, the smiles of superficial interest, or the thunders of a momentary excitation, were utterly disregarded, the resolve passing in your bosom reached Him in the highest heaven, and was met by His gracious approbation.-Suffer not your conduct to retract the rational, the pious determination, then formed.

But was it from no such conviction of its duty and usefulness that you engaged in the business? Perhaps you were solicited by some friend, whom you could not well deny; or you thought it would be less arduous, and more agreeable, than, on trial, you find it :-or you joined the many, at a time when collecting was in fashion; and now you feel the weight, without a supporting sense of the utility of the task. But though you might begin without consideration, is it inevitable that you go on so, or that for want of it you turn back? Pause for a moment, you who have thus unthinkingly put your hand to the plough!" The field is the world ;" and see how large a part is yet uncultivated!-Shall it still lie waste, barren, and desolate,even around your own dwellings ?-and that not for want of seed, but only of sowers ?-Though you are but one, your services are needed, and will assuredly be useful.

If, one after another, the Collectors should decline, or if few should be induced to come forward to fill up such vacancies as must naturally occur, what would become of the Society? Meetings declaim, and Committees deliberate; but if the Collectors failMinisters might preach, and public if you, the strength, the vital principle of the Society, lose your vigourif this pulse does not beat warmly, strongly, regularly-all shall be in vain. Your exertions present a visible answer to all the prayers of all Christians for the progress of the Gospel. Your weekly walks, slender as they may seem among the resources of Infinite Power, and inefficacious as they may appear to the eye of human wisdom, may be made the means of directing the children of sorrow to the only source of consolation,-the desponding, to the only hope, and ruined sinners, to the only name given under heaven, whereby they may be saved.

To those who go forth in their own sufficiency, and whose object is human praise, it is probable that human praise may be allowed, as the empty reward of external services: but to the sincere and single-hearted-to those who desire nothing more than thus to do good in secret-shall be given the delight of present success, and the honour of an open, as well as an eternal reward.

Origin and Advantages of the Loan Fund.

Go on, then, forgetting privation, surmounting difficulty, resisting every inducement to decline, secure of the approbation of a dying pillow, and the gracious approval of the God you serve. Submit your motives to the Searcher of hearts; and rely continually on Him, for strength to keep you from indecision and remissness; above all, to preserve you from the condemnation of those to whom He shall say, I know not whence ye are ;" though they may plead, "Thou hast taught in our streets :-Lord, Lord, open to us!"

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SECTION II.

LOAN FUND.

1. A decided conviction of the general inexpediency of gratuitous grants of the holy scriptures by Bible Associations, and frequent experience of the improper disposal, by the receivers, of copies thus voted, induced the suggestion of a plan by which this mode of distribution is rendered altogether unnecessary, with reference to the resident inhabitants of places where Associations are established.

The LOAN FUND is composed of a small subscription, contributed by the members of the Committee and their friends for this express purpose. The amount is appropriated to the purchase of Bibles and Testaments (principally the latter) from the Auxiliary Society, at the reduced or subscribers' prices of the Parent Society; which are placed under the care of the Bible Secretary of the Association, and kept distinct from her general stock. They are marked and numbered conspicuously on the title-page and on the edges of the leaves, which precludes their being sold or pawned, and distinguishes them from the copies issued by the Society to subscribers. Every Collector is at liberty to recommend, at the foot of her Monthly Report, any of the inhabitants of her district for loans; but is responsible for the safe return of the copies to the Bible Secretary.

The advantages of this simple and efficacious plan, in cases of extreme poverty, sickness, or confinement, are evident: every individual, however impoverished or afflicted, may be immediately supplied with a Bible or Testament, in a manner the best calculated to secure its perusal and preservation; while the certain loss to the society, and the other disadvantages of the former system, are altogether avoided.

It is a gratifying evidence of the beneficial effects of the Loan Fund, that although the plan has been adopted by more than one hundred Ladies' Associations, the author has never heard that a single copy has been either lost or injured by the grateful recipients, many of whom have expressed the

Rules recommended on the establishment of a Loan Fund. greatest pleasure at being thus enabled to peruse the Oracles of Truth, before they completed, and in some instances before they even commenced, their subscriptions.

However unimportant, in a comparative point of view, this subject may appear, the author has had ample cause to testify that it involves considerations of no slight moment. Those who have been engaged in the practical duties of Bible Associations, must have frequently felt, or witnessed, the difficulties that attend the necessary discussion of claims of gratuitous grants; and the delicacy required, in order to avoid the appearance of partiality on the one hand, and of a something approaching to invidiousness on the other. By the establishment of a Loan Fund, these and many other difficulties are altogether averted, while every desirable object is attained:-the temporary possession of a Bible or Testament, and the intimation that it must be returned within a certain time, not only ensure its perusal, but in many instances have induced the borrowers to become willing subscribers, in order to make this new and sacred companion the permanent inmate of their homes.

2. The following Regulations are recommended for adoption:

RULES FOR THE LOAN FUND.

1. That a stock of not less than six Bibles and twelve Testaments be provided, for lending to the sick poor, or to those whose circumstances may prevent their subscribing the whole, or a part, of the sum necessary for the purchase of a Bible or Testament."

II. That the requisite fund be raised by a private subscription, distinct from the regular funds of the Association; and that the amount be paid over to the Bible Secretary, who shall expend the same in the purchase of Bibles and Testaments, at the reduced prices, from the Auxiliary (or Branch) Society.

III. That the Bible Secretary mark every Bible and Testament, on the margin of the leaves, with the word " LENT," and its appropriate No., in legible characters; and inscribe or stamp on the titlepage the name of this Association: and that no copy be lent without being thus marked.

IV. That the Bible Secretary keep a regular account of the fund, and its appropriation, and of all Bibles and Testaments lent and returned, in a book to be kept for this purpose exclusively and that she include in her Monthly Report to the Committee, a statement of the total number of persons supplied, and the particulars of all outstanding loans.

v. That every Collector shall be at liberty to recommend any persons residing in her district, whom she may consider suitable objects to be supplied with loans. Such recommendation, with

Observations on the Rules.

the names and address of the parties, to be inserted, under the proper head, in the Monthly Report to the Committee.

VI. When a loan Bible or Testament is voted by the Committee, a ticket shall be immediately filled, and handed to the Collectors of the district, by whom it shall be signed, and delivered to the person recommended.

VII. In the intervals between the Committee-meetings, the Collectors are authorised to apply, by note, to the Bible Secretary for loans for the supply of sick persons: the names and address, of such persons to be specified in the note. But the particulars of every case supplied in this manner shall be included in the next Monthly Report of the Collectors, as prescribed by the fourth Rule.

VIII. The Bibles and Testaments shall be lent for one month: but the Collectors are authorised to extend this period at their discretion, reporting to the Committee every instance of such extension.

1x. The Collectors shall keep a regular account, at the end of the Collecting Book, of all Bibles and Testaments lent in their district; and shall include in their Monthly Reports to the Com mittee, a specification of all outstanding loans, and any information of an interesting nature connected with the subject.

x. Whenever a Bible or Testament is returned to the Bible Secretary, she shall write the word "DISCHARGED" across the loan ticket, and return it to the Collectors by whom it was originally signed, to be preserved by them as an official acknowledgment.

XI. That no individual residing within the limits of the Association shall be recommended to the Committee of the Auxiliary (or Branch) Society, as a suitable object of gratuitous supply, until the result of a loan be first ascertained.

XII. In all cases, the Collectors, respectively, shall be responsible for the safe return of Bibles and Testaments lent on their recommendation.

3. OBSERVATIONS ON THE RULES.

1. The stock specified in the first Rule will generally be found sufficient for an Association of moderate size; but if the subscription be adequate, it may be beneficially extended. In many Associations, the stock consists exclusively of Testaments: but the following extract from the Second Annual Report of the Plymouth Ladies' Society affords a gratifying evidence of the advantages attending the mode now recommended::

"Your Committee have to acknowledge, on the part of the Associations of Northern Dock, Southern Dock, and Stoke, the receipt f twelve pounds, from the Gentlemen's Associations, being the balance remaining in hand at the close of their labours in those places. By two of these Associations their share of this sum has been appropriated to the purchase of a stock of