Snow street, Snow fields.
Snow’s rents, white Lion yard.†
Soapmaker’s. See Sopemakers.
Society, for propagating Christian Knowledge, in Bartlet’s buildings, Holbourn. This society which was founded in the year 1699, consists of several bishops, dignified clergymen, and persons of piety, rank, and fortune, who unite their endeavours, in order to diffuse a spirit of religion among the people; by dispersing little printed books among the poor, among which are small books for the use of seamen and soldiers; books of preparation for receiving the holy sacrament; and others against profaneness and debauchery.
They have bought a great number of useful books for furnishing our plantations with parochial libraries; and used means for providing catechetical libraries in the smaller parishes of this kingdom, to enable the inferior clergy the better to perform their duty of catechizing; and the greater parishes with learned libraries for the use of the poorer clergy. They have particularly applied themselves to the setting up of schools for the education of children, and work-houses for the employment of the poor.
This society in 1710, assisted the Danish missionaries at Tranquebar, and afterwards at Madras in the East Indies, for the conversion of the pagan inhabitants.
In the year 1720, they extended their regard to the Greek church in Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, and having printed an edition in Arabic on a new set of types, caused ten thousand copies of the new testament, six thousand psalters, and five thousand catechetical instructions, with an abridgement of the history of the bible annexed, to be dispersed through those countries, and in Persia.
In the year 1732, the society raised collections for the persecuted protestants of Saltzburgh, made large remittances to Germany; and some time after sent above two hundred protestant emigrants to Georgia, who built and settled at Ebenezar.
In 1743, they undertook a new edition of the bible in Welch, with the common prayer and psalms in metre, and in 1748 finished an impression of fifteen thousand copies; which they speedily dispersed; but that large impression falling far short of the demand for it: the society printed another edition of the bible, consisting of the same number of copies; and also five thousand of the new testament, and as many common prayer books in the same language: by which means the Welch had the blessing of the holy scriptures in their own tongue, wherein alone they could possibly read them, and that at an easier expence than the people of England enjoy it.
This society meets weekly to deliberate upon what appears most expedient for carrying on their pious intentions. Stow’s Survey, last edit.