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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Bexley, by
+Francis Cunningham
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Bexley
+       containing a statement to the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society
+
+
+Author: Francis Cunningham
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 14, 2012  [eBook #39139]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD
+BEXLEY***
+
+
+Transcribed from the 1827 J. Hatchard and Son edition, by David Price,
+email ccx074@pglaf.org
+
+
+
+
+
+                                    A
+                                  LETTER
+                                    TO
+                       THE RIGHT HON. LORD BEXLEY,
+
+
+                               CONTAINING A
+                     STATEMENT MADE TO THE COMMITTEE
+                                  OF THE
+                    British and Foreign Bible Society,
+                                AS TO THE
+                      RELATIONS OF THAT INSTITUTION,
+                                   WITH
+                          FRANCE, THE VALLEYS OF
+                    PIEDMONT, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                       BY FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, M. A.
+                      RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+                   J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILY.
+
+                                  1827.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+           IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The circumstances which have given rise to the publication of the
+following letter are briefly these:—At the departure of the Author for
+the continent, in the month of April, 1826, he tendered his services
+generally to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and
+received from that body the power of disposing of a certain number of
+copies of Bibles and Testaments, at any opportunities which might present
+themselves to him on his journey.  Of this power he availed himself; and,
+on his return to London, in the month of December, he went to the
+Committee to give an account of the trust which had been committed to
+him.  Whilst he was doing this, it was natural that he should add to his
+statement a few observations, connected with the objects of the
+Institution itself; and more especially, as various errors, into which it
+was charged with having fallen, had become the subjects of public
+discussion, both in Scotland and in England.  These observations Lord
+Bexley, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Bible Society, then occupying
+the Chair of the Committee, requested, in the name of those over whom he
+presided, might be communicated in writing; and, in compliance with this
+request, the following statement was sent.
+
+After some delay, the author, at the suggestion of several friends, has
+been led to make it public, hoping that it may supply to the supporters
+of the Bible Society new motives for earnestly and generously persevering
+in their efforts to promote the circulation of the Scriptures; and, to
+the assailants of that Institution, an answer to some of the charges
+which they, in his apprehension, have hastily and unwarrantably brought
+forward.
+
+The Author can only hope this document may be a means of forwarding the
+interests of the Bible Society—an Institution, which, in his mind,
+whatever may be the evil resulting from the circulation of the apocryphal
+books, has sown the seed of more important benefits to mankind than even
+the Reformation itself.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+_Pakefield_, _April_ 5, 1827.
+
+
+
+
+A
+LETTER,
+_&c._
+
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+      MY LORD,
+
+In compliance with a wish so kindly expressed by your Lordship, I shall
+now endeavour to communicate in writing the substance of what I took the
+liberty of stating in the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society.  The observations there made chiefly respected the state of
+religion on the continent of Europe—especially as connected with that
+institution whose Committee I had the honour of addressing; and they were
+exclusively such as had been suggested to me during a journey of eight
+months through the various countries, to which it was my endeavour to
+draw the attention of your Lordship and the Committee.
+
+I must beg leave, however, to preface this brief and inadequate statement
+by two or three observations.
+
+In the first place, I must intreat that if this written document should
+not be found precisely to correspond in expression or detail with the
+address to the Committee, the difference may be ascribed, not to
+intention, but to a defect of memory.  That address was altogether
+extempore; and my recollection of particular expressions I may have
+employed, is very imperfect.
+
+In the next place, I wish to have it understood, that although I should
+not have committed this statement to the press, except at the wish of
+some members of the Committee of the Bible Society, I, myself am alone
+responsible for the facts and opinions it contains.  It was highly
+satisfactory to me to discover that many of the views taken by myself of
+the subjects upon which I spoke, corresponded with those of a large
+proportion of the Committee.  In other points, I might not be so
+fortunate as to agree with that majority.  But, whatever might be the
+amount of that agreement or disagreement, I desire alone to be made
+responsible for the contents of this paper.
+
+I must also be permitted to say that, in this communication, a few names
+and particulars have been suppressed, which I did not hesitate to produce
+to the Committee.  It is obvious that circumstances which might safely be
+named within walls, from which they were not likely to escape; might
+produce inconvenience, if published and circulated upon the continent of
+Europe.
+
+I shall now proceed to give the substance of what I ventured to offer to
+the Committee.
+
+My first visit was to France, where I remained almost continually
+journeying for several months.  It was a satisfaction to me to arrive at
+Paris in time to attend the annual public meeting of the Bible Society.
+I can truly say that the meeting was in the highest degree interesting.
+The character of the reports, especially those of the Ladies’ and
+Mechanics’ Society—the attendance of so many ministers of religion—the
+introduction of extempore speaking—the feeling of warmth and zeal which
+seemed almost universally to prevail—left me no doubt but that a deep
+interest pervaded the minds of large numbers on the subject of the
+circulation of the Scriptures.  I afterwards visited many of the
+auxiliaries, great and small, of the Society in different provinces, and
+the hopes formed at the meeting at Paris were not disappointed.  It
+happened to me to pass through one small village in a very solitary
+situation in the centre of France, where three associations had been
+formed—one of children, another of young women, and a third of the
+population at large.  In this village, under a very pious and able
+minister, Mr. Duvivier, it was interesting to observe to what an extent
+education had gone hand in hand with the circulation of the word of God.
+Some of the children in the school repeated, as a Sunday task, not less
+than two hundred verses of the New Testament.
+
+With many of the larger auxiliaries of the Society, I was particularly
+gratified.  In some districts the circulation of the Scriptures was very
+considerable.  In others, much still remained to be done.  The Protestant
+ministers were the general agents and protectors of the institution; and,
+there were many of them full of activity.  Two collateral benefits of the
+Bible Society were particularly obvious in France,—in the first place,
+the truly valuable object which it supplied to many pious, active, and
+benevolent minds, which powers might have been otherwise unemployed: and
+in the next place, the rallying point which it afforded for the really
+pious of all classes.  It is difficult to say to what an extent the
+society has enlarged the efficiency, and strengthened the union of the
+religious body amongst the Protestants.
+
+Such was the influence of these and other circumstances on my own mind,
+that I often found occasion to observe to my fellow travellers, that, if
+ever I had doubted the benefits of the society, those doubts must now
+have vanished.
+
+Amongst both Catholics and Protestants much good has been accomplished by
+the British and Foreign Bible Society.  By means of one of the most
+active agents of this institution, the late Mr. Owen, the society was
+regularly established amongst the Protestants.  And, amongst the
+Catholics, even where the Bible Society has not been able to obtain any
+regular establishment by means of our agents, a large number of Bibles
+and Testaments has been distributed in the schools, hospitals, and
+prisons, and amongst the population at large.  I have seen the Testaments
+of this society in various important schools; in the hands of the sick,
+and in the wards of the hospital.  I have known them carried to the
+infirm and the dying by those who are so emphatically and justly called
+the Sœurs de la Charité.  I had myself also the happiness of distributing
+five hundred copies of those so kindly committed to me by the society in
+a prison containing upwards of four thousand individuals.  We cannot
+believe that these various gifts have been made in vain.  Much of the
+fruit will be discovered only on the great day, when the secrets of all
+hearts shall be disclosed.  But in the mean time no man can follow the
+course of the Bible without perceiving the benefits resulting from its
+circulation.  In one instance, I cannot but doubt that the conversion of
+a large body from Popery to Protestantism, in a city in the south of
+France, has been materially assisted by the operations of this society.
+
+There are yet two points in connexion with France, on which I feel it
+necessary to trouble the Committee.  In the first place, I have a debt of
+justice and gratitude to render to Professor Kieffer, your society’s
+agent at Paris.  I will here say nothing on the subject of his opinions
+with regard to the distribution of the Apocryphal books, except that,
+whether he is right or wrong, he has found many both good and wise men on
+the continent and elsewhere, who agree in the views which he has adopted.
+With respect to his religious orthodoxy, which I understand has been most
+unjustly called in question in this country, I feel it right to say, that
+no one who knows him can entertain a doubt.
+
+As to talents, diligence, vigilance, and zeal, as an agent of this
+society, he has few equals, and can scarcely have a superior.  As a man
+of business, of regularity, vigour, and dispatch, he is very
+conspicuous—and those who know the immense deficiency of business-like
+habits on the continent, will know how to value such important qualities
+in the agent they employ.
+
+The other subject respects the decision of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society, as to the distribution of the Apocryphal books.  It would be
+unjust to deny that, when the question concerning the rejection of these
+books was first proposed to the Bible Societies in France, they almost
+unanimously declared their strong preference for Bibles with the
+Apocrypha.  In the _Lutheran_, which is the smaller part of the
+Protestant church of France, this preference still, to a considerable
+degree, prevails.  But among the members and ministers of the _Reformed_
+church, and especially those who felt the real value of the word of God,
+I was rejoiced to find, how few dissented from your late resolution.  And
+I feel assured that, when the question comes to be presented to
+continental churches in all its bearings, and the danger is shown of thus
+commingling error with truth, their grounds of opposition will be
+removed; and they will feel it their duty to pursue the same course as
+that in which your society has so wisely taken the lead.
+
+It remains only with regard to France, that I should take the liberty of
+urging upon the Committee the duties of the most strenuous and
+affectionate co-operation.  It is impossible not to consider the general
+state of the Protestant churches as much advanced during the interval of
+five years when I before visited them.  The political feeling of the
+Protestants appeared to me a good deal improved; and the government in
+general of France has done much to deserve their confidence and
+gratitude.  The Protestants themselves seem to me much more sensible of
+the state of decay in their church; and are in proportion desirous of its
+restoration to life.  It is true that heterodoxy of a very deplorable
+kind has, to a considerable degree, crept into the universities of that
+country.  But I was often struck by observing, that when some of the
+clergy taught in those universities, entered upon the discharge of their
+pastoral office; and it became their direct object to withdraw the
+profligate from sin, and lead the miserable to comfort—to confirm the
+wavering, to meet the wants and wishes of our fallen nature, to assuage
+the sufferings of an awakened conscience, and supply a strong refuge in
+the hour of death, they have been compelled to desert their own ground,
+and seek, within the enclosure of orthodox and evangelical religion, the
+weapons of their warfare, and the means of consolation and of joy.  I was
+delighted indeed to find some of those who had been instructed in the
+Neological school, among the most zealous promoters of the truth as it is
+in Christ.
+
+I shall next beg of the Committee to pass on with me from France to
+_Italy_.  To the northern parts of this country, however, my visit was
+alone extended; and there I found the same obstacles to exist against the
+free circulation of the word of God, of which other travellers have
+complained.  One exception however may be stated, and that with regard to
+a people whose cause has excited a warm and most honourable interest in
+this country—the Protestant inhabitants of Piedmont.  They, in common
+with the other Protestant subjects of the King of Sardinia, are now
+permitted to receive books of every kind, on payment of duty, and, on the
+condition that they are neither sold, lent, nor given to Catholics.  This
+concession came at a time of peculiar importance; as it facilitated the
+introduction of the large grant of Bibles lately made by this society to
+the Protestant inhabitants of the vallies.  And I learned from the
+principal agent of the Bible Society in those quarters, that they had
+received nearly 5000 {6} Bibles and Testaments from different
+institutions.  These grants are of greater value at this moment, when the
+Vaudois Committee in London is so wisely and assiduously labouring to
+establish schools of various kinds in these vallies.  I am requested to
+present the cordial thanks of the ministers of the Vaudois church to this
+society.
+
+The next point to which I would call the attention of this Committee, is
+Geneva.  The character and services of the Bible Society in that city
+have, it appears to me, been grievously misrepresented in some of the
+recent publications in this country, on the subject of the Apocryphal
+controversy.  From the fact of the society in Geneva not discovering much
+zeal for the distribution of the Geneva version of 1805, of which the
+orthodoxy was called in question, the consequence has arisen, that the
+friends of that version have gradually seceded from the ranks of the
+institution.  And, let it be recorded to the praise of the society at
+Geneva, that, when the great mass of the continental Bible Societies were
+anxious, by establishing counter resolutions of their own, to manifest a
+spirit of resistance to the Anti-Apocryphal resolution of the London
+Committee, the Geneva Society opposed this measure, and publicly
+manifested its fidelity towards the British and Foreign Bible Society,
+and its lively gratitude for the favours bestowed upon it through a
+series of years.  Assisted by powerful auxiliaries, and especially by
+that of Satigny, under the administration of a most enlightened and
+devout member of the church, M. le Pasteur Gaussen, they are doing much
+for that part of Switzerland, and supplying an example on the continent,
+of sending money for the distribution of books in remote parts of the
+world.  Of two individuals, occupying distinguished posts in that
+society, I must say a few words.  Its president, M. Vernet, is a person
+who has experimentally felt the value of the Bible, and manifested, in
+circumstances of deep trial, his confidence in its instructions and
+consolations; and the secretary, M. Gautier, is an individual in whose
+friendship as a Christian, and zeal as a member of this society, I have
+found much cause to rejoice.  That the Committee is not framed upon a
+more comprehensive and generous principle, is to be regretted; but it
+labours assiduously and successfully as to the great object for which it
+is brought together.
+
+The Bible Society of the Canton de Vaud has acted upon the principle of
+securing to itself a permanent income, for the perpetual distribution of
+the Holy Scriptures, independent of new contributions—by funding its
+capital.  This measure has displeased many individuals in the Canton; and
+has probably assisted to give birth to other societies in Lausanne and
+its neighbourhood, acting upon a different principle.  I speak from
+pretty accurate knowledge of that Canton, when I say, that the state of
+religion is very remarkably improved in it.  It is impossible that any
+one who reads the religious publications of the day should be ignorant of
+the severe measures adopted by the government of the Canton de Vaud,
+within a few years, to prevent religious meetings, and otherwise obstruct
+the course of true religion.  But the advancement in piety, and
+especially amongst the members of the Established Church, is not a little
+conspicuous.  I can truly say, that I visited no place where the spirit
+of religious enquiry was more alive, and where the taste was more
+extended for simple biblical reading.  The severity of the government has
+in a great measure relaxed.  The piety of the people has increased.  Is
+it unfair to consider as one of the instruments of this improvement,
+that, in addition to the number of Bibles before in circulation there has
+been circulated, by the Bible Society of that place, 15,000 copies of the
+word of God, amongst a population of 160,000 persons?
+
+As to the newly revised edition of Osterwald’s Bible, published at
+Lausanne, it is impossible not to condemn in it both the deviations from
+the original, and the employment, in what are called the improvements, of
+a great deal of paraphrastic language.  In speaking of that edition of
+the Bible, I think it right, however, to bear my humble testimony to the
+general character of the authors of this revision; and to state my
+conviction of the facility with which your Committee may have been
+betrayed into something of undue confidence in them.  The gentlemen
+engaged in that revision, were some of them amongst the persons in the
+highest general estimation for talents and piety: of Professor Levade,
+the president of the Lausanne Bible Society, I may say that a more
+faithful friend to the general distribution of the Scriptures cannot be
+found.  I have myself taken the liberty of strongly expressing my dissent
+from him upon various subjects connected with the society in general, and
+the Lausanne edition in particular.  But I must be allowed to say to his
+honour, that, independent of the labour and cost he has sacrificed on
+this edition of the Bible, he has for a series of years sustained the
+burden of the Cantonal Bible Society on his almost unassisted shoulders,
+and continues to exhaust the strength of his declining age in giving
+efficiency to the operations of this Institution.
+
+The next Bible Society of importance which I visited was that of Basle.
+I was there soon brought into communication with the Committee on the
+subject of their temporary estrangement from your Society on the ground
+of the late resolution as to the Apocryphal Books.  I endeavoured to
+explain to the Committee the probable result of the resolutions to which
+they had come of refusing to be even the agents of those Societies which
+had resolved in no way to assist in the circulation of the Apocrypha.
+When they found that the decision of the London Committee was the result,
+not of prejudice, but of conscience, they at once gave up their own
+resolutions, and acquiesced in the proposal which was made to them.  They
+passed a resolution expressive of their kind sympathy towards the British
+and Foreign Bible Society; and they undertook still to serve it as
+agents; although, at the same time, they could not, according to their
+judgment of the question, consent personally, and for themselves, to
+circulate Bibles without the Apocryphal Books.  I cannot easily convey to
+you the high opinion which I formed of the Committee of the Bible Society
+of Basle, and of its venerable President, the Antistes.  The interest
+which they feel, and the labour which they devote to the distribution of
+the Scriptures is what I have never seen exceeded in any other place, and
+I can have no doubt, that whatever commission you are pleased to entrust
+to them, will be judiciously and faithfully executed.
+
+It is my wish in the last place to say something on the state of Germany.
+And here the few observations I have to offer will be of a somewhat more
+general nature, or, at least, less confined to particular societies.
+
+
+
+I.  As to the question of the Apocrypha.
+
+
+The German Societies labour under great difficulty respecting the
+Apocryphal Books; and the greater part of them are not at present
+disposed to give them up.  They ground their determination in general
+upon the following reasons.  1st.  In all cases in Germany the Societies
+are sanctioned by the government of the respective countries, on the
+implied condition of distributing the Scriptures as approved by the
+ecclesiastical authority, i.e. with the Apocryphal Books.  In some cases
+that condition is even expressed.  The Societies could not therefore
+alter the mode of distributing the Scriptures, without the permission of
+the government, which permission they apprehend would not be granted if
+it were asked.  2d.  There are in Germany a vast variety of moral school
+books, the lessons of which are taken partly from the Apocrypha, and
+which they imagine would be useless if the Apocrypha were taken from
+common use.  3dly.  The original principle on which the Foreign Societies
+formed their alliance with the British and Foreign Bible Society was
+_conciliatory_.  The Anti-apocryphal resolution they hold to be
+_reforming_; and they think that no Bible Society has a right to
+establish a reforming principle as a law to other Bible Societies.  4th.
+The question being, as they conceive, whether each Bible Society shall be
+permitted to bind the Apocrypha together with the canonical books, at
+their own expence; they think they may claim for the Apocrypha bound up
+with the Bible, the same liberty which is exercised in England in the
+case of prayer books bound up with the word of God.  A person, they
+apprehend, in this country may bind up with the Bible he receives from
+the Bible Society whatever tract he pleases, without forfeiting his right
+as a member of that Society.—Some persons desire to retain the Apocryphal
+books as valuable historical documents; others fear the ill consequences
+which might result from appearing to the ill-informed to take away a part
+of Scripture.—Of all these reasons it may be said that they are founded,
+rather on views of expediency, than conscience; and are not therefore to
+be put in comparison with the great principle involved in this question,
+and which has directed the decision of the London Committee, viz. whether
+that which is _not_ the word of God ought to be put on a level with that
+which _is_.  I cannot but think that if our Christian brethren in Germany
+were led to this view of the question; that if the writers on the
+subject, in this country, were to direct a little of the zeal for their
+instruction upon this point; the more pious part of our neighbours would
+be induced, at no distant period, to adopt the resolution which we have
+established.  In the meantime, there are very many persons and districts,
+as the correspondence of the Society may testify, who, even now, are
+willing to receive and distribute the Bible without the apocryphal
+writings.  The example of these societies will, I doubt not, work
+powerfully upon others.
+
+From all that I was able to learn in Germany, it appeared to me that, to
+every class of protestants, the resolution of your Committee respecting
+the Apocrypha will be attended with immense advantage.  Great benefit may
+result, from this resolution, to the general theological teaching of that
+country.  A large proportion of the errors of the German divines, appear
+to me to have originated in breaking down the boundaries of inspiration.
+The first work published by Semler, who may be considered as the
+originator of the new school of Theology, in Germany, is entitled
+“Apparatus ad liberalem Novi Testamenti Interpretationem.”  The object of
+this work is to give extent to the powers of human reason; and, in
+defiance of the common notions of the authority of inspiration, to
+accommodate Scripture to the philosophic views of the author.—Subsequent
+writers have contended for the partial inspiration of the Scripture;
+others for the unreasonableness of inspiration altogether, &c. till the
+dignity and authority of the divine sanction, is wholly withdrawn from
+the word of God, and critics have felt themselves at liberty to discuss
+both the books of the Bible, and their contents with no other restraint
+than they would feel in the examination of the most ordinary publication.
+Now the anti-apocryphal resolution of the Committee will I conceive go
+far to suggest for each man’s consideration, this important
+question—“What is, and what is not the Bible?” and, thus, a primary and
+most important question will be discussed, one which must stand at the
+basis of all sound theology; and this, if rightly determined, will assist
+to bring back the German divines from the wild notions they have so
+generally adopted; and the benefit resulting from this resolution will
+probably be a larger distribution of the Bible itself.  In those cases
+amongst the protestants where the societies may refuse to act as agents
+for the distribution of our canonical books, which cases will, I
+apprehend, eventually be very few; those societies may be prompted to
+greater exertion to secure their independent existence; and in the case
+of most Bible Societies, it will be found that they are capable of doing
+much more for themselves, and others, than they have done, whilst they
+continued to receive assistance from this country.
+
+With respect to the Catholic population any considerable distribution of
+the _Old_ Testament will undoubtedly be prevented by the Anti-apocryphal
+resolution.  But this need not hinder the circulation of the _New_
+Testament.  This indeed may be distributed in larger abundance than
+before.  Leander Van Ess told me that he had then before him applications
+for 30,000 copies of the Catholic New Testament, whilst he had only two
+or 300 in his depository; and that he waited only for the direction of
+your Society to encrease his circulation to a very great amount.—I have
+no hesitation then in offering my cordial approbation to those who have
+supported the Anti-apocryphal Resolution of the Bible Society.
+Independently of every other consideration, this resolution will I think,
+speedily, as well as remotely, be attended with important benefit as
+respects the advancement of real Christian knowledge.
+
+II.  It may be desirable to say a few words as to the _Committees and
+officers of the German_ Bible Societies.  It has been a subject of grief
+to me, on my return to this country, to find these individuals
+reproached, in very general terms, as ‘infidels,’ ‘Neologians,’
+‘designing men,’ ‘who have taken the offices they hold for their crafts’
+sake,’ &c.
+
+It is true I apprehend that many Neologians are connected with the Bible
+Societies in Germany,—some by virtue of the offices they hold, and others
+voluntarily.  In Heidelburg for instance the fundamental rules of the
+Society placed all the professors of divinity attached to the university,
+ex-officio, upon the Committee of the Bible Society.  One of these
+individuals is the professor Paulus.  But from all the inquiries I was
+able to make, I could never learn that any individual in Germany,
+publicly holding neological opinions, was an _active agent_ of the Bible
+Society.  And how could any thing like an active agency be expected of
+such individuals.  After the Bible Society had been formed in Germany, it
+soon spread very rapidly.  Many Neologians, from various motives no
+doubt, enlisted themselves in its ranks.  But what was the real history
+of this movement?  The religious body were the originators of these
+societies, but they were soon compelled to seek the protection of others
+in authority, because the existence of societies in many countries must
+depend upon their sanction; and they were glad, even in other cases, to
+make those who heeded not the word of God themselves, the distributors of
+it to the rest of the world.  But if, at this time, there are inactive
+agents of the German Bible Societies; if there are even secretaries who
+feel very little of the value of the Bible,—are there no counterparts to
+these in our own country?  We take the best we can get,—lament their
+deficiencies,—and devoutly wish them better; but still we prefer the
+deposit for Bibles being placed in such hands, rather than having no
+deposit at all.
+
+I am able, however, by a convincing document, to shew what is the real
+estimate taken of the Bible Society by the Neological party in Germany.
+There is published at Darmstadt what is called the Church Newspaper,
+which is devoted to the consideration of subjects connected with
+religion.  The editor of this paper, as you will judge by the following
+extract, is a Neologian, and let us hear the language in which he speaks
+of the Bible Societies.
+
+Extract from the Church Newspaper of Germany, Kirchen Allgemeine Zeitung,
+published at Darmstadt, Sept. 28th 1826.
+
+                           _Heading of the Number_.
+
+    “Verily were Christ now to appear again he would say, ‘Woe unto you,
+    Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites,’ for ye anxiously cling to the
+    letter of the Scriptures, which ye misunderstand; and the spirit, of
+    which ye cannot comprehend; ye insist on the doctrine of a dead
+    faith, but neglect the weightier matters of the law, judgment and
+    mercy; and ye appear outwardly pious whilst within ye are full of
+    hypocrisy and wickedness.  Depart from me, he would exclaim, ye
+    workers of iniquity, projectors of heresy, slanderers, and breakers
+    of the peace, I never knew you.”
+
+                            “ON BIBLE SOCIETIES.”
+
+After stating some general advantages which might result from the
+distribution of the Scriptures amongst the Heathen, such as “calling into
+action the slumbering energies of man,” “ameliorating his nature,” and
+laying the “foundation of his moral improvement;” the editor goes on to
+mention the ordinary arguments which are made use of against Bible
+Institutions in Germany, and which arise chiefly from the part which
+foreigners have taken in their establishment.
+
+He then states some particular reasons which should lead his readers more
+carefully to consider the mode of conducting Bible Societies, and to
+greater caution in lending them their support and patronage, particularly
+at the present period.
+
+I now give the translation of an extract.
+
+    “In the first place we feel ourselves constrained to assert, that the
+    dissemination of the Scriptures does not appear to us to be conducted
+    in a proper spirit, and with proper views.  If we investigate the
+    character of many of those who distinguish themselves by more than
+    ordinary activity in the cause, it cannot be denied that they very
+    frequently seem to possess only a narrow view of theology, and
+    exceeding littleness of mind.  That laudable veneration, which they
+    feel for the word of God, easily acts in them, in the absence of more
+    solid theological attainments, as a check to the liberty of thought
+    and judgment, to which Christianity leads; they confound an
+    ecclesiastical system of doctrine with the Gospel, they adhere with
+    enthusiastic devotedness to exterior forms, and sacrifice to these
+    the heavenly spirit of Christianity; they seek the essentials of our
+    religion in the blood and wound theology {15} (blut und wunden
+    theologie) of former centuries, and it is sufficiently clear that, by
+    the exertions of such men, a blind adherence to the mere letter of
+    the word of God is again sought to be brought into use, to the great
+    injury of genuine Christianity and moral improvement.  The peculiar
+    interest which Mystics and Pietists of the present day take in the
+    advancement of Bible Societies, and the connection in which they
+    frequently stand with those who create disorders, by dissent and
+    separation from the church, is a sign of the times which ought not to
+    be passed over unnoticed.”
+
+The editor next objects to the resolution taken in England on the subject
+of the Apocrypha.  This the editor thinks should be opposed, on the
+ground, amongst other reasons, that two _thirds of the canonical books of
+the Old Testament_ might _with far less injury be withheld than one
+single book of the Apocrypha_, for instance, the book of Sirach, &c. &c.
+
+I think from this extract it will be obvious, that the Bible Society
+abroad is regarded by the enemies of the truth as a great instrument for
+promoting evangelical religion; and, in spite of what has been said
+against its agents and its apocryphal books, I cannot but concur with the
+German editor, in his general argument.  It is my deliberate conviction,
+that the Bible Society has been in Germany the instrument of the greatest
+good; and, if some of the heads of this institution have not profited by
+it as they ought, the poor at least, in many considerable districts, have
+been gainers to an extent of which those are little aware who have not
+carefully investigated the subject.
+
+In another part of the continent, I certainly found some persons,
+professedly heterodox in their opinions, who were nevertheless, active
+friends of the Bible Society.  In one case, I heard that the public
+meeting of a very large city; and in another, that the welfare of a
+society, in an immense Protestant district, depended upon the exertions
+of persons of the class above described.  But could I fail, in such
+cases, to thank God, who had kindly placed the antidote so near to the
+bane, and had employed an enemy of the truth as the destroyer of his own
+principles?
+
+III.  A point, to which I must refer, is that of the _persecution of
+religious characters_ in Germany, and which persecutions have been
+represented as at least sanctioned by the friends of the Bible Society.
+This statement as a general fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect.  I
+took great pains to investigate it on the spot.  I wish, for obvious
+reasons, not to enter far into particulars.  But of one individual, whose
+history has been before the public, and whose sufferings have been
+introduced to their notice with a sort of tragical effect, I can venture,
+after a minute inquiry, to affirm, that his troubles arose, not so much
+from his simple proclamation of the truths of the Gospel, as from his
+indiscretions, from his resistance to civil as well as ecclesiastical
+regulations, and his general intemperance of conduct.  I must also add,
+that some of the persons who _protected_ that individual, were at the
+very time active agents of the Bible Society in their own country.  One
+simple fact will be sufficient to establish these statements.  The truths
+of the Gospel have been and are proclaimed, and are tolerated, and even
+approved in several of the places from whence this individual was driven.
+
+With respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same effect has
+been made.  It is certain that an angry feeling was excited in the minds
+of several members of the Committee of the Bible Society of that
+district, on the occasion which gave rise to the persecutions in that
+Canton.  At the same time, any participation in this persecution is, as
+to himself, distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those
+who were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in any
+way in the list of the officers of the Bible Society.  Two circumstances
+connected with the measures which were pursued in this Canton, in
+opposition to religious meetings, are sufficiently remarkable and
+interesting to deserve our notice.  In the first place, the astonishing
+progress of religion during this period; and, in the second, the
+discovery, during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter
+inefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of inquiry
+after truth.
+
+IV.  A point, which I must bring before your notice, is the actual _state
+of true religion_ on the _continent_, and more especially in _Germany_.
+It is certainly true that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken
+possession of the universities, the public prints, and the higher orders
+of society.  At the same time I believe, that the statements which have
+gone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as to two points,
+inaccurate.  In the first place, they describe only one side of the case;
+for, if there is much infidelity and neology on the continent, there is
+also a considerable sprinkling of true religion.  And, secondly, The evil
+which has existed, and does exist, may be said to be every day
+diminishing.  As to the first of these facts, I could point out
+individuals, parishes, and districts, where real religion is in active
+operation; places and persons altogether unconnected with those agents
+from England, who have been said to be the only instruments of doing
+important good on the continent, and which are therefore unrecognised by
+them, and possibly unknown to them.  I could name one little knot of
+parishes, all within a small circle, in which are twelve ministers,
+earnest, orthodox, and devout servants of the Redeemer.  I could name
+another place, where forty ministers were lately assembled for purposes
+of religious and spiritual communion.  I might also allege the fact, that
+at different universities there are professors who openly, and from the
+heart, confess the true faith.  I may indeed affirm that, from the
+cottages of the poor to the palaces of kings, there are those who walk
+worthy their high vocation as Christians and as men.  The admitted evils
+are every day diminishing.  The number of converts is increasing.  The
+opinions of Paulus and Schulthess seem likely to die away with
+themselves.  What can be more remarkable than the change which has taken
+place in the kingdom of Prussia, where the leaders of the state and the
+university may now be said to hold the very opposite creed to that which
+obtained with their immediate predecessors?
+
+There are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany, I feel it
+right to say a few words—the one is Leander Van Ess, the other your late
+invaluable Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.
+
+Leander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I remained with him
+during a day, which I passed at Darmstadt.  It was impossible not to be
+prepared, by his writings, to form a very high estimate of his character
+and his labours; and these expectations were, in my case, in no wise
+disappointed.  I was struck with his holy devotedness to his great
+object, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded charity.  He is
+a man who rises at four o’clock in the morning to his daily task; pursues
+it often without cessation through the day; and, as I was informed by
+those best acquainted with his habits, he is often found at midnight
+occupied with his work.  He is making a new version of the Bible, which,
+by the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to print;
+and, although he holds the opinions of the church to which he belongs on
+the subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion to be no hinderance
+to others; so that they will, in any way, read the word of God.  He is,
+therefore, preparing his version for publication, in three forms.  First,
+with the Vulgate printed in a small type at the bottom of each page, and
+with the Apocrypha intermixed; this is the form in which the Catholics
+wish to receive it.  Secondly, without the Vulgate, and with the
+Apocrypha appended, for the Protestants of that country.  Thirdly,
+without the apocryphal books, for the distribution of our own Bible
+Society, if we are disposed to adopt it.  Here is a specimen of that
+largeness of charity by which every part of his conduct is influenced.
+So that, by Protestants and Catholics, who are partakers of the same
+spirit, he is alike esteemed.  The king of Wirtemberg has presented him
+with a medal, in token of his useful labours in his kingdom.  The
+grand-duke of Baden has given him money to purchase Testaments.  And the
+government under which he lives sanction his proceedings, and one member
+in particular of the royal family of the grand-duke affords him constant
+protection and assistance.  So that kings, I may say, are “the nursing
+fathers” of his plans and labours.  I consider this society as
+privileged, in no ordinary degree, in having such an agent and friend on
+the continent.  The assistance which he has already rendered to the
+Society has been very considerable.  He has a great work on his hands.
+Communications are always to be kept open, letters to be written; and, in
+a country where there is a fastidiousness in receiving any religious
+offering from abroad, no one, who has not tried the experiment, can judge
+how much judgment, care, and delicacy it requires to bestow the gift
+without injuring the cause it is intended to promote.
+
+The other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is your late dear
+and honoured Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.  The present was not the first
+opportunity I had enjoyed of tracing the extent of his labour, and of
+ascertaining the estimation in which he is held on the continent.  It is
+right to be known, that Dr. Steinkopff, before he came to England, filled
+an office of large correspondence on the subject of religion, and which
+gave him perhaps a better acquaintance with the religious state of
+Germany, than, I may venture to say, any other individual.  He has
+constantly held communications with his successors in the important and
+influential office which he himself held; and this has given, to himself,
+a power of judging of the exact state of the continent; and, to his
+labours, a degree of efficiency, which could scarcely have been possessed
+without it.  But when I speak of the value of Dr. Steinkopff to the Bible
+Society, it is not to any mere outward circumstance I would mainly
+advert.  I may venture to say, that his character has been one grand
+instrument of your success on the continent.  “If,” said a person, of
+considerable influence in Germany, to me, “you do not want Dr. Steinkopff
+any longer in England, send him over here, and he will find friends
+enough.”  Wherever he has appeared, either as the officer of your Society
+or as a private individual, he has left a name behind him which, next to
+the favour of the Master he has so affectionately and devotedly served,
+and the good which he has been the instrument of effecting for his
+fellow-creatures, may be his comfort in his hours of sickness and of
+solitude.  I saw none who knew him who were not ready to bear testimony
+to his humility, his conscientiousness, his vigour, his undeviating
+devotedness to the Society whose officer he was.  May God long preserve
+him to assist us by his counsels, and to advocate the cause of the
+Society, with a voice which, whether at home or abroad, has been rarely
+heard in vain.
+
+I will now venture, in conclusion, to urge upon the Committee, as the
+plain inference from the foregoing statements, what appears to me to be a
+most imperious duty.  It is that of cultivating and to manifesting a
+_spirit of kindness_, _of generosity_, _and enlarged benevolence towards
+our continental brethren_.  If it be considered as an offence that we
+express our “unfeigned Christian regards” towards many of our fellow
+labourers abroad, I trust that we shall continue thus to offend.  I had
+constantly occasion on the continent, whilst speaking on the subject of
+the Apocrypha to those who most materially differed from us, to urge,
+that, whereas by the new resolution of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society, the ground upon which we could unite was somewhat narrowed, our
+temper of mind, our sympathy, and love might remain the same; and that,
+if we could hope less than ever to “reconcile all opinions,” we might
+still endeavour “to unite all hearts.”
+
+This was the leading principle of our Society in the infancy of its
+institution; and, now that we are more matured in age, let us labour not
+to depart from it.  Far then from advising the officers of this Society
+to suffer themselves, in their communications with the continent, to be
+lectured into a cold, dry, measured style of writing, I would exhort them
+to give vent to their warm and generous feelings.  They may, in so doing,
+err in the sight of those disposed to make men “offenders for a word;”
+but they will better please the compassionate Master they serve; they
+will, under the divine blessing, cherish the fainting spirit of
+continental Christianity, and fan that spark of piety and zeal which is
+lighted up, I trust, never to be extinguished.
+
+I hope too the Committee will be encouraged as to the general objects and
+operations of the Society.  I am, by actual observation, more than ever
+convinced, that, on a very large scale, this institution is on the
+continent, a favoured instrument in the hands of Divine Providence.  The
+good which it has accomplished is immense.  The evils which have been
+charged upon it, exist, rather in imagination, than in reality.  Let the
+Committee go on to do what they can, and to do all in the spirit of love
+and generosity.  Let them commit every endeavour to the blessing of Him
+to whom the souls of the multitudes scattered over the continent are
+unspeakably dear; let them be confident that the word of the Lord will
+have free course and be glorified; and that millions will arise, at the
+last day, to acknowledge with gratitude and joy the labours of this
+Society.  Let the temper of the Society remain unimpaired at home; and it
+need not be disquieted at objections or assaults which will not at least
+commend themselves to the world at large, by the general spirit in which
+they have been defended.  And may we never fail to repose an honourable
+confidence in the officers and friends of the Society; nor forget, in
+judging of others, to take into account the infirmities of our common
+nature.  May we feel that, having embarked in the glorious enterprise of
+making all men acquainted with the pure and unadulterated word of God, it
+is not for us to be checked by slight obstacles; but to go forward,
+conquering and to conquer, in the name of him who has loved us, and given
+himself for us, and who has consigned this volume, as his precious
+legacy, to a perishing and suffering world.
+
+                           Believe me, my Lord,
+
+                  Your Lordship’s very obedient servant,
+
+                                                            F. CUNNINGHAM.
+
+_Pakefield_, _Lowestoft_,
+      _Jan._ 5, 1827.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+           IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+{6}  2397 Bibles, 2436 Testaments.
+
+{15}  The doctrine of the atonement of Christ, and justification by
+faith.
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD
+BEXLEY***
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+
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Bexley, by
+Francis Cunningham
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Bexley
+       containing a statement to the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society
+
+
+Author: Francis Cunningham
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 14, 2012  [eBook #39139]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD
+BEXLEY***
+</pre>
+<p>Transcribed from the 1827 J. Hatchard and Son edition, by
+David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p>
+<h1><span class="GutSmall">A</span><br />
+LETTER<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">TO</span><br />
+THE RIGHT HON. LORD BEXLEY,</h1>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">CONTAINING
+A</span><br />
+STATEMENT MADE TO THE COMMITTEE<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">OF THE</span><br />
+<b>British and Foreign Bible Society,</b><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">AS TO THE</span><br />
+RELATIONS OF THAT INSTITUTION,<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">WITH</span><br />
+FRANCE, THE VALLEYS OF<br />
+PIEDMONT, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY.</p>
+<div class="gapshortline">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">BY FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, M. A.<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.</span></p>
+<div class="gapshortline">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187,
+PICCADILY.</span></p>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span
+class="GutSmall">1827.</span></p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pageii"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. ii</span><span
+class="GutSmall">LONDON:</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY
+STREET, STRAND.</span></p>
+<h2><a name="pageiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+iii</span>PREFACE</h2>
+<p>The circumstances which have given rise to the publication of
+the following letter are briefly these:&mdash;At the departure of
+the Author for the continent, in the month of April, 1826, he
+tendered his services generally to the Committee of the British
+and Foreign Bible Society; and received from that body the power
+of disposing of a certain number of copies of Bibles and
+Testaments, at any opportunities which might present themselves
+to him on his journey.&nbsp; Of this power he availed himself;
+and, on his return to London, in the month of December, he went
+to the Committee to give an account of the trust which had been
+committed to him.&nbsp; Whilst he was doing this, it was natural
+that he should add to his statement a few observations, connected
+with the objects of the Institution itself; and more especially,
+as various errors, into which it was charged with having fallen,
+had become the subjects of public discussion, both in Scotland
+and in England.&nbsp; These observations Lord Bexley, one of the
+Vice-Presidents of the Bible Society, then occupying the Chair of
+the Committee, <a name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+iv</span>requested, in the name of those over whom he presided,
+might be communicated in writing; and, in compliance with this
+request, the following statement was sent.</p>
+<p>After some delay, the author, at the suggestion of several
+friends, has been led to make it public, hoping that it may
+supply to the supporters of the Bible Society new motives for
+earnestly and generously persevering in their efforts to promote
+the circulation of the Scriptures; and, to the assailants of that
+Institution, an answer to some of the charges which they, in his
+apprehension, have hastily and unwarrantably brought forward.</p>
+<p>The Author can only hope this document may be a means of
+forwarding the interests of the Bible Society&mdash;an
+Institution, which, in his mind, whatever may be the evil
+resulting from the circulation of the apocryphal books, has sown
+the seed of more important benefits to mankind than even the
+Reformation itself.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p><i>Pakefield</i>, <i>April</i> 5, 1827.</p>
+<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span><span
+class="GutSmall">A</span><br />
+LETTER,<br />
+<i>&amp;c.</i></h2>
+<div class="gapshortline">&nbsp;</div>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">My
+Lord</span>,</p>
+<p>In compliance with a wish so kindly expressed by your
+Lordship, I shall now endeavour to communicate in writing the
+substance of what I took the liberty of stating in the Committee
+of the British and Foreign Bible Society.&nbsp; The observations
+there made chiefly respected the state of religion on the
+continent of Europe&mdash;especially as connected with that
+institution whose Committee I had the honour of addressing; and
+they were exclusively such as had been suggested to me during a
+journey of eight months through the various countries, to which
+it was my endeavour to draw the attention of your Lordship and
+the Committee.</p>
+<p>I must beg leave, however, to preface this brief and
+inadequate statement by two or three observations.</p>
+<p>In the first place, I must intreat that if this written
+document should not be found precisely to correspond in
+expression or detail with the address to the Committee, the
+difference may be ascribed, not to intention, but to a defect of
+memory.&nbsp; That address was altogether extempore; and my
+recollection of particular expressions I may have employed, is
+very imperfect.</p>
+<p>In the next place, I wish to have it understood, that although
+I should not have committed this statement to the press, except
+at the wish of some members of the Committee of the Bible
+Society, I, myself am alone responsible <a name="page2"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 2</span>for the facts and opinions it
+contains.&nbsp; It was highly satisfactory to me to discover that
+many of the views taken by myself of the subjects upon which I
+spoke, corresponded with those of a large proportion of the
+Committee.&nbsp; In other points, I might not be so fortunate as
+to agree with that majority.&nbsp; But, whatever might be the
+amount of that agreement or disagreement, I desire alone to be
+made responsible for the contents of this paper.</p>
+<p>I must also be permitted to say that, in this communication, a
+few names and particulars have been suppressed, which I did not
+hesitate to produce to the Committee.&nbsp; It is obvious that
+circumstances which might safely be named within walls, from
+which they were not likely to escape; might produce
+inconvenience, if published and circulated upon the continent of
+Europe.</p>
+<p>I shall now proceed to give the substance of what I ventured
+to offer to the Committee.</p>
+<p>My first visit was to France, where I remained almost
+continually journeying for several months.&nbsp; It was a
+satisfaction to me to arrive at Paris in time to attend the
+annual public meeting of the Bible Society.&nbsp; I can truly say
+that the meeting was in the highest degree interesting.&nbsp; The
+character of the reports, especially those of the Ladies&rsquo;
+and Mechanics&rsquo; Society&mdash;the attendance of so many
+ministers of religion&mdash;the introduction of extempore
+speaking&mdash;the feeling of warmth and zeal which seemed almost
+universally to prevail&mdash;left me no doubt but that a deep
+interest pervaded the minds of large numbers on the subject of
+the circulation of the Scriptures.&nbsp; I afterwards visited
+many of the auxiliaries, great and small, of the Society in
+different provinces, and the hopes formed at the meeting at Paris
+were not disappointed.&nbsp; It happened to me to pass through
+one small village in a very solitary situation in the centre of
+France, where three associations had been formed&mdash;one of
+children, another of young women, and a third of the population
+at large.&nbsp; In this village, under a very pious and able
+minister, Mr. Duvivier, it was interesting to observe to what an
+extent education <a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+3</span>had gone hand in hand with the circulation of the word of
+God.&nbsp; Some of the children in the school repeated, as a
+Sunday task, not less than two hundred verses of the New
+Testament.</p>
+<p>With many of the larger auxiliaries of the Society, I was
+particularly gratified.&nbsp; In some districts the circulation
+of the Scriptures was very considerable.&nbsp; In others, much
+still remained to be done.&nbsp; The Protestant ministers were
+the general agents and protectors of the institution; and, there
+were many of them full of activity.&nbsp; Two collateral benefits
+of the Bible Society were particularly obvious in
+France,&mdash;in the first place, the truly valuable object which
+it supplied to many pious, active, and benevolent minds, which
+powers might have been otherwise unemployed: and in the next
+place, the rallying point which it afforded for the really pious
+of all classes.&nbsp; It is difficult to say to what an extent
+the society has enlarged the efficiency, and strengthened the
+union of the religious body amongst the Protestants.</p>
+<p>Such was the influence of these and other circumstances on my
+own mind, that I often found occasion to observe to my fellow
+travellers, that, if ever I had doubted the benefits of the
+society, those doubts must now have vanished.</p>
+<p>Amongst both Catholics and Protestants much good has been
+accomplished by the British and Foreign Bible Society.&nbsp; By
+means of one of the most active agents of this institution, the
+late Mr. Owen, the society was regularly established amongst the
+Protestants.&nbsp; And, amongst the Catholics, even where the
+Bible Society has not been able to obtain any regular
+establishment by means of our agents, a large number of Bibles
+and Testaments has been distributed in the schools, hospitals,
+and prisons, and amongst the population at large.&nbsp; I have
+seen the Testaments of this society in various important schools;
+in the hands of the sick, and in the wards of the hospital.&nbsp;
+I have known them carried to the infirm and the dying by those
+who are so emphatically and justly called the S&oelig;urs de la
+Charit&eacute;.&nbsp; <a name="page4"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 4</span>I had myself also the happiness of
+distributing five hundred copies of those so kindly committed to
+me by the society in a prison containing upwards of four thousand
+individuals.&nbsp; We cannot believe that these various gifts
+have been made in vain.&nbsp; Much of the fruit will be
+discovered only on the great day, when the secrets of all hearts
+shall be disclosed.&nbsp; But in the mean time no man can follow
+the course of the Bible without perceiving the benefits resulting
+from its circulation.&nbsp; In one instance, I cannot but doubt
+that the conversion of a large body from Popery to Protestantism,
+in a city in the south of France, has been materially assisted by
+the operations of this society.</p>
+<p>There are yet two points in connexion with France, on which I
+feel it necessary to trouble the Committee.&nbsp; In the first
+place, I have a debt of justice and gratitude to render to
+Professor Kieffer, your society&rsquo;s agent at Paris.&nbsp; I
+will here say nothing on the subject of his opinions with regard
+to the distribution of the Apocryphal books, except that, whether
+he is right or wrong, he has found many both good and wise men on
+the continent and elsewhere, who agree in the views which he has
+adopted.&nbsp; With respect to his religious orthodoxy, which I
+understand has been most unjustly called in question in this
+country, I feel it right to say, that no one who knows him can
+entertain a doubt.</p>
+<p>As to talents, diligence, vigilance, and zeal, as an agent of
+this society, he has few equals, and can scarcely have a
+superior.&nbsp; As a man of business, of regularity, vigour, and
+dispatch, he is very conspicuous&mdash;and those who know the
+immense deficiency of business-like habits on the continent, will
+know how to value such important qualities in the agent they
+employ.</p>
+<p>The other subject respects the decision of the British and
+Foreign Bible Society, as to the distribution of the Apocryphal
+books.&nbsp; It would be unjust to deny that, when the question
+concerning the rejection of these books was first proposed to the
+Bible Societies in France, they almost <a name="page5"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 5</span>unanimously declared their strong
+preference for Bibles with the Apocrypha.&nbsp; In the
+<i>Lutheran</i>, which is the smaller part of the Protestant
+church of France, this preference still, to a considerable
+degree, prevails.&nbsp; But among the members and ministers of
+the <i>Reformed</i> church, and especially those who felt the
+real value of the word of God, I was rejoiced to find, how few
+dissented from your late resolution.&nbsp; And I feel assured
+that, when the question comes to be presented to continental
+churches in all its bearings, and the danger is shown of thus
+commingling error with truth, their grounds of opposition will be
+removed; and they will feel it their duty to pursue the same
+course as that in which your society has so wisely taken the
+lead.</p>
+<p>It remains only with regard to France, that I should take the
+liberty of urging upon the Committee the duties of the most
+strenuous and affectionate co-operation.&nbsp; It is impossible
+not to consider the general state of the Protestant churches as
+much advanced during the interval of five years when I before
+visited them.&nbsp; The political feeling of the Protestants
+appeared to me a good deal improved; and the government in
+general of France has done much to deserve their confidence and
+gratitude.&nbsp; The Protestants themselves seem to me much more
+sensible of the state of decay in their church; and are in
+proportion desirous of its restoration to life.&nbsp; It is true
+that heterodoxy of a very deplorable kind has, to a considerable
+degree, crept into the universities of that country.&nbsp; But I
+was often struck by observing, that when some of the clergy
+taught in those universities, entered upon the discharge of their
+pastoral office; and it became their direct object to withdraw
+the profligate from sin, and lead the miserable to
+comfort&mdash;to confirm the wavering, to meet the wants and
+wishes of our fallen nature, to assuage the sufferings of an
+awakened conscience, and supply a strong refuge in the hour of
+death, they have been compelled to desert their own ground, and
+seek, within the enclosure of orthodox and evangelical religion,
+the weapons of their <a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+6</span>warfare, and the means of consolation and of joy.&nbsp; I
+was delighted indeed to find some of those who had been
+instructed in the Neological school, among the most zealous
+promoters of the truth as it is in Christ.</p>
+<p>I shall next beg of the Committee to pass on with me from
+France to <i>Italy</i>.&nbsp; To the northern parts of this
+country, however, my visit was alone extended; and there I found
+the same obstacles to exist against the free circulation of the
+word of God, of which other travellers have complained.&nbsp; One
+exception however may be stated, and that with regard to a people
+whose cause has excited a warm and most honourable interest in
+this country&mdash;the Protestant inhabitants of Piedmont.&nbsp;
+They, in common with the other Protestant subjects of the King of
+Sardinia, are now permitted to receive books of every kind, on
+payment of duty, and, on the condition that they are neither
+sold, lent, nor given to Catholics.&nbsp; This concession came at
+a time of peculiar importance; as it facilitated the introduction
+of the large grant of Bibles lately made by this society to the
+Protestant inhabitants of the vallies.&nbsp; And I learned from
+the principal agent of the Bible Society in those quarters, that
+they had received nearly 5000 <a name="citation6"></a><a
+href="#footnote6" class="citation">[6]</a> Bibles and Testaments
+from different institutions.&nbsp; These grants are of greater
+value at this moment, when the Vaudois Committee in London is so
+wisely and assiduously labouring to establish schools of various
+kinds in these vallies.&nbsp; I am requested to present the
+cordial thanks of the ministers of the Vaudois church to this
+society.</p>
+<p>The next point to which I would call the attention of this
+Committee, is Geneva.&nbsp; The character and services of the
+Bible Society in that city have, it appears to me, been
+grievously misrepresented in some of the recent publications in
+this country, on the subject of the Apocryphal controversy.&nbsp;
+From the fact of the society in Geneva not discovering much zeal
+for the distribution of the Geneva version of 1805, of which the
+orthodoxy was called <a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+7</span>in question, the consequence has arisen, that the friends
+of that version have gradually seceded from the ranks of the
+institution.&nbsp; And, let it be recorded to the praise of the
+society at Geneva, that, when the great mass of the continental
+Bible Societies were anxious, by establishing counter resolutions
+of their own, to manifest a spirit of resistance to the
+Anti-Apocryphal resolution of the London Committee, the Geneva
+Society opposed this measure, and publicly manifested its
+fidelity towards the British and Foreign Bible Society, and its
+lively gratitude for the favours bestowed upon it through a
+series of years.&nbsp; Assisted by powerful auxiliaries, and
+especially by that of Satigny, under the administration of a most
+enlightened and devout member of the church, M. le Pasteur
+Gaussen, they are doing much for that part of Switzerland, and
+supplying an example on the continent, of sending money for the
+distribution of books in remote parts of the world.&nbsp; Of two
+individuals, occupying distinguished posts in that society, I
+must say a few words.&nbsp; Its president, M. Vernet, is a person
+who has experimentally felt the value of the Bible, and
+manifested, in circumstances of deep trial, his confidence in its
+instructions and consolations; and the secretary, M. Gautier, is
+an individual in whose friendship as a Christian, and zeal as a
+member of this society, I have found much cause to rejoice.&nbsp;
+That the Committee is not framed upon a more comprehensive and
+generous principle, is to be regretted; but it labours
+assiduously and successfully as to the great object for which it
+is brought together.</p>
+<p>The Bible Society of the Canton de Vaud has acted upon the
+principle of securing to itself a permanent income, for the
+perpetual distribution of the Holy Scriptures, independent of new
+contributions&mdash;by funding its capital.&nbsp; This measure
+has displeased many individuals in the Canton; and has probably
+assisted to give birth to other societies in Lausanne and its
+neighbourhood, acting upon a different principle.&nbsp; I speak
+from pretty accurate knowledge of that Canton, when I say, that
+the state of <a name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+8</span>religion is very remarkably improved in it.&nbsp; It is
+impossible that any one who reads the religious publications of
+the day should be ignorant of the severe measures adopted by the
+government of the Canton de Vaud, within a few years, to prevent
+religious meetings, and otherwise obstruct the course of true
+religion.&nbsp; But the advancement in piety, and especially
+amongst the members of the Established Church, is not a little
+conspicuous.&nbsp; I can truly say, that I visited no place where
+the spirit of religious enquiry was more alive, and where the
+taste was more extended for simple biblical reading.&nbsp; The
+severity of the government has in a great measure relaxed.&nbsp;
+The piety of the people has increased.&nbsp; Is it unfair to
+consider as one of the instruments of this improvement, that, in
+addition to the number of Bibles before in circulation there has
+been circulated, by the Bible Society of that place, 15,000
+copies of the word of God, amongst a population of 160,000
+persons?</p>
+<p>As to the newly revised edition of Osterwald&rsquo;s Bible,
+published at Lausanne, it is impossible not to condemn in it both
+the deviations from the original, and the employment, in what are
+called the improvements, of a great deal of paraphrastic
+language.&nbsp; In speaking of that edition of the Bible, I think
+it right, however, to bear my humble testimony to the general
+character of the authors of this revision; and to state my
+conviction of the facility with which your Committee may have
+been betrayed into something of undue confidence in them.&nbsp;
+The gentlemen engaged in that revision, were some of them amongst
+the persons in the highest general estimation for talents and
+piety: of Professor Levade, the president of the Lausanne Bible
+Society, I may say that a more faithful friend to the general
+distribution of the Scriptures cannot be found.&nbsp; I have
+myself taken the liberty of strongly expressing my dissent from
+him upon various subjects connected with the society in general,
+and the Lausanne edition in particular.&nbsp; But I must be
+allowed to say to his honour, that, independent of the labour and
+cost he has sacrificed on this edition of the Bible, he has for a
+series of years sustained <a name="page9"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 9</span>the burden of the Cantonal Bible
+Society on his almost unassisted shoulders, and continues to
+exhaust the strength of his declining age in giving efficiency to
+the operations of this Institution.</p>
+<p>The next Bible Society of importance which I visited was that
+of Basle.&nbsp; I was there soon brought into communication with
+the Committee on the subject of their temporary estrangement from
+your Society on the ground of the late resolution as to the
+Apocryphal Books.&nbsp; I endeavoured to explain to the Committee
+the probable result of the resolutions to which they had come of
+refusing to be even the agents of those Societies which had
+resolved in no way to assist in the circulation of the
+Apocrypha.&nbsp; When they found that the decision of the London
+Committee was the result, not of prejudice, but of conscience,
+they at once gave up their own resolutions, and acquiesced in the
+proposal which was made to them.&nbsp; They passed a resolution
+expressive of their kind sympathy towards the British and Foreign
+Bible Society; and they undertook still to serve it as agents;
+although, at the same time, they could not, according to their
+judgment of the question, consent personally, and for themselves,
+to circulate Bibles without the Apocryphal Books.&nbsp; I cannot
+easily convey to you the high opinion which I formed of the
+Committee of the Bible Society of Basle, and of its venerable
+President, the Antistes.&nbsp; The interest which they feel, and
+the labour which they devote to the distribution of the
+Scriptures is what I have never seen exceeded in any other place,
+and I can have no doubt, that whatever commission you are pleased
+to entrust to them, will be judiciously and faithfully
+executed.</p>
+<p>It is my wish in the last place to say something on the state
+of Germany.&nbsp; And here the few observations I have to offer
+will be of a somewhat more general nature, or, at least, less
+confined to particular societies.</p>
+<h3>I.&nbsp; As to the question of the Apocrypha.</h3>
+<p>The German Societies labour under great difficulty respecting
+<a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>the
+Apocryphal Books; and the greater part of them are not at present
+disposed to give them up.&nbsp; They ground their determination
+in general upon the following reasons.&nbsp; 1st.&nbsp; In all
+cases in Germany the Societies are sanctioned by the government
+of the respective countries, on the implied condition of
+distributing the Scriptures as approved by the ecclesiastical
+authority, i.e. with the Apocryphal Books.&nbsp; In some cases
+that condition is even expressed.&nbsp; The Societies could not
+therefore alter the mode of distributing the Scriptures, without
+the permission of the government, which permission they apprehend
+would not be granted if it were asked.&nbsp; 2d.&nbsp; There are
+in Germany a vast variety of moral school books, the lessons of
+which are taken partly from the Apocrypha, and which they imagine
+would be useless if the Apocrypha were taken from common
+use.&nbsp; 3dly.&nbsp; The original principle on which the
+Foreign Societies formed their alliance with the British and
+Foreign Bible Society was <i>conciliatory</i>.&nbsp; The
+Anti-apocryphal resolution they hold to be <i>reforming</i>; and
+they think that no Bible Society has a right to establish a
+reforming principle as a law to other Bible Societies.&nbsp;
+4th.&nbsp; The question being, as they conceive, whether each
+Bible Society shall be permitted to bind the Apocrypha together
+with the canonical books, at their own expence; they think they
+may claim for the Apocrypha bound up with the Bible, the same
+liberty which is exercised in England in the case of prayer books
+bound up with the word of God.&nbsp; A person, they apprehend, in
+this country may bind up with the Bible he receives from the
+Bible Society whatever tract he pleases, without forfeiting his
+right as a member of that Society.&mdash;Some persons desire to
+retain the Apocryphal books as valuable historical documents;
+others fear the ill consequences which might result from
+appearing to the ill-informed to take away a part of
+Scripture.&mdash;Of all these reasons it may be said that they
+are founded, rather on views of expediency, than conscience; and
+are not therefore to be put in comparison with the great
+principle involved in this question, and <a
+name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>which has
+directed the decision of the London Committee, viz. whether that
+which is <i>not</i> the word of God ought to be put on a level
+with that which <i>is</i>.&nbsp; I cannot but think that if our
+Christian brethren in Germany were led to this view of the
+question; that if the writers on the subject, in this country,
+were to direct a little of the zeal for their instruction upon
+this point; the more pious part of our neighbours would be
+induced, at no distant period, to adopt the resolution which we
+have established.&nbsp; In the meantime, there are very many
+persons and districts, as the correspondence of the Society may
+testify, who, even now, are willing to receive and distribute the
+Bible without the apocryphal writings.&nbsp; The example of these
+societies will, I doubt not, work powerfully upon others.</p>
+<p>From all that I was able to learn in Germany, it appeared to
+me that, to every class of protestants, the resolution of your
+Committee respecting the Apocrypha will be attended with immense
+advantage.&nbsp; Great benefit may result, from this resolution,
+to the general theological teaching of that country.&nbsp; A
+large proportion of the errors of the German divines, appear to
+me to have originated in breaking down the boundaries of
+inspiration.&nbsp; The first work published by Semler, who may be
+considered as the originator of the new school of Theology, in
+Germany, is entitled &ldquo;Apparatus ad liberalem Novi
+Testamenti Interpretationem.&rdquo;&nbsp; The object of this work
+is to give extent to the powers of human reason; and, in defiance
+of the common notions of the authority of inspiration, to
+accommodate Scripture to the philosophic views of the
+author.&mdash;Subsequent writers have contended for the partial
+inspiration of the Scripture; others for the unreasonableness of
+inspiration altogether, &amp;c. till the dignity and authority of
+the divine sanction, is wholly withdrawn from the word of God,
+and critics have felt themselves at liberty to discuss both the
+books of the Bible, and their contents with no other restraint
+than they would feel in the examination of the most ordinary
+publication.&nbsp; Now the anti-apocryphal <a
+name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>resolution of
+the Committee will I conceive go far to suggest for each
+man&rsquo;s consideration, this important
+question&mdash;&ldquo;What is, and what is not the Bible?&rdquo;
+and, thus, a primary and most important question will be
+discussed, one which must stand at the basis of all sound
+theology; and this, if rightly determined, will assist to bring
+back the German divines from the wild notions they have so
+generally adopted; and the benefit resulting from this resolution
+will probably be a larger distribution of the Bible itself.&nbsp;
+In those cases amongst the protestants where the societies may
+refuse to act as agents for the distribution of our canonical
+books, which cases will, I apprehend, eventually be very few;
+those societies may be prompted to greater exertion to secure
+their independent existence; and in the case of most Bible
+Societies, it will be found that they are capable of doing much
+more for themselves, and others, than they have done, whilst they
+continued to receive assistance from this country.</p>
+<p>With respect to the Catholic population any considerable
+distribution of the <i>Old</i> Testament will undoubtedly be
+prevented by the Anti-apocryphal resolution.&nbsp; But this need
+not hinder the circulation of the <i>New</i> Testament.&nbsp;
+This indeed may be distributed in larger abundance than
+before.&nbsp; Leander Van Ess told me that he had then before him
+applications for 30,000 copies of the Catholic New Testament,
+whilst he had only two or 300 in his depository; and that he
+waited only for the direction of your Society to encrease his
+circulation to a very great amount.&mdash;I have no hesitation
+then in offering my cordial approbation to those who have
+supported the Anti-apocryphal Resolution of the Bible
+Society.&nbsp; Independently of every other consideration, this
+resolution will I think, speedily, as well as remotely, be
+attended with important benefit as respects the advancement of
+real Christian knowledge.</p>
+<p>II.&nbsp; It may be desirable to say a few words as to the
+<i>Committees and officers of the German</i> Bible
+Societies.&nbsp; It has been a subject of grief to me, on my
+return to this country, to find these individuals reproached, in
+very general <a name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+13</span>terms, as &lsquo;infidels,&rsquo;
+&lsquo;Neologians,&rsquo; &lsquo;designing men,&rsquo; &lsquo;who
+have taken the offices they hold for their crafts&rsquo;
+sake,&rsquo; &amp;c.</p>
+<p>It is true I apprehend that many Neologians are connected with
+the Bible Societies in Germany,&mdash;some by virtue of the
+offices they hold, and others voluntarily.&nbsp; In Heidelburg
+for instance the fundamental rules of the Society placed all the
+professors of divinity attached to the university, ex-officio,
+upon the Committee of the Bible Society.&nbsp; One of these
+individuals is the professor Paulus.&nbsp; But from all the
+inquiries I was able to make, I could never learn that any
+individual in Germany, publicly holding neological opinions, was
+an <i>active agent</i> of the Bible Society.&nbsp; And how could
+any thing like an active agency be expected of such
+individuals.&nbsp; After the Bible Society had been formed in
+Germany, it soon spread very rapidly.&nbsp; Many Neologians, from
+various motives no doubt, enlisted themselves in its ranks.&nbsp;
+But what was the real history of this movement?&nbsp; The
+religious body were the originators of these societies, but they
+were soon compelled to seek the protection of others in
+authority, because the existence of societies in many countries
+must depend upon their sanction; and they were glad, even in
+other cases, to make those who heeded not the word of God
+themselves, the distributors of it to the rest of the
+world.&nbsp; But if, at this time, there are inactive agents of
+the German Bible Societies; if there are even secretaries who
+feel very little of the value of the Bible,&mdash;are there no
+counterparts to these in our own country?&nbsp; We take the best
+we can get,&mdash;lament their deficiencies,&mdash;and devoutly
+wish them better; but still we prefer the deposit for Bibles
+being placed in such hands, rather than having no deposit at
+all.</p>
+<p>I am able, however, by a convincing document, to shew what is
+the real estimate taken of the Bible Society by the Neological
+party in Germany.&nbsp; There is published at Darmstadt what is
+called the Church Newspaper, which is devoted to the
+consideration of subjects connected with religion.&nbsp; The
+editor of this paper, as you will judge by <a
+name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 14</span>the following
+extract, is a Neologian, and let us hear the language in which he
+speaks of the Bible Societies.</p>
+<p>Extract from the Church Newspaper of Germany, Kirchen
+Allgemeine Zeitung, published at Darmstadt, Sept. 28th 1826.</p>
+<blockquote><p style="text-align: center"><i>Heading of the
+Number</i>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Verily were Christ now to appear again he would say,
+&lsquo;Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites,&rsquo;
+for ye anxiously cling to the letter of the Scriptures, which ye
+misunderstand; and the spirit, of which ye cannot comprehend; ye
+insist on the doctrine of a dead faith, but neglect the weightier
+matters of the law, judgment and mercy; and ye appear outwardly
+pious whilst within ye are full of hypocrisy and
+wickedness.&nbsp; Depart from me, he would exclaim, ye workers of
+iniquity, projectors of heresy, slanderers, and breakers of the
+peace, I never knew you.&rdquo;</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">&ldquo;ON BIBLE
+SOCIETIES.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>After stating some general advantages which might result from
+the distribution of the Scriptures amongst the Heathen, such as
+&ldquo;calling into action the slumbering energies of man,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;ameliorating his nature,&rdquo; and laying the
+&ldquo;foundation of his moral improvement;&rdquo; the editor
+goes on to mention the ordinary arguments which are made use of
+against Bible Institutions in Germany, and which arise chiefly
+from the part which foreigners have taken in their
+establishment.</p>
+<p>He then states some particular reasons which should lead his
+readers more carefully to consider the mode of conducting Bible
+Societies, and to greater caution in lending them their support
+and patronage, particularly at the present period.</p>
+<p>I now give the translation of an extract.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;In the first place we feel ourselves
+constrained to assert, that the dissemination of the Scriptures
+does not appear to us to be conducted in a proper spirit, and
+with proper views.&nbsp; If we investigate the character of <a
+name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 15</span>many of those
+who distinguish themselves by more than ordinary activity in the
+cause, it cannot be denied that they very frequently seem to
+possess only a narrow view of theology, and exceeding littleness
+of mind.&nbsp; That laudable veneration, which they feel for the
+word of God, easily acts in them, in the absence of more solid
+theological attainments, as a check to the liberty of thought and
+judgment, to which Christianity leads; they confound an
+ecclesiastical system of doctrine with the Gospel, they adhere
+with enthusiastic devotedness to exterior forms, and sacrifice to
+these the heavenly spirit of Christianity; they seek the
+essentials of our religion in the blood and wound theology <a
+name="citation15"></a><a href="#footnote15"
+class="citation">[15]</a> (blut und wunden theologie) of former
+centuries, and it is sufficiently clear that, by the exertions of
+such men, a blind adherence to the mere letter of the word of God
+is again sought to be brought into use, to the great injury of
+genuine Christianity and moral improvement.&nbsp; The peculiar
+interest which Mystics and Pietists of the present day take in
+the advancement of Bible Societies, and the connection in which
+they frequently stand with those who create disorders, by dissent
+and separation from the church, is a sign of the times which
+ought not to be passed over unnoticed.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The editor next objects to the resolution taken in England on
+the subject of the Apocrypha.&nbsp; This the editor thinks should
+be opposed, on the ground, amongst other reasons, that two
+<i>thirds of the canonical books of the Old Testament</i> might
+<i>with far less injury be withheld than one single book of the
+Apocrypha</i>, for instance, the book of Sirach, &amp;c.
+&amp;c.</p>
+<p>I think from this extract it will be obvious, that the Bible
+Society abroad is regarded by the enemies of the truth as a great
+instrument for promoting evangelical religion; and, in spite of
+what has been said against its agents and its apocryphal books, I
+cannot but concur with the <a name="page16"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 16</span>German editor, in his general
+argument.&nbsp; It is my deliberate conviction, that the Bible
+Society has been in Germany the instrument of the greatest good;
+and, if some of the heads of this institution have not profited
+by it as they ought, the poor at least, in many considerable
+districts, have been gainers to an extent of which those are
+little aware who have not carefully investigated the subject.</p>
+<p>In another part of the continent, I certainly found some
+persons, professedly heterodox in their opinions, who were
+nevertheless, active friends of the Bible Society.&nbsp; In one
+case, I heard that the public meeting of a very large city; and
+in another, that the welfare of a society, in an immense
+Protestant district, depended upon the exertions of persons of
+the class above described.&nbsp; But could I fail, in such cases,
+to thank God, who had kindly placed the antidote so near to the
+bane, and had employed an enemy of the truth as the destroyer of
+his own principles?</p>
+<p>III.&nbsp; A point, to which I must refer, is that of the
+<i>persecution of religious characters</i> in Germany, and which
+persecutions have been represented as at least sanctioned by the
+friends of the Bible Society.&nbsp; This statement as a general
+fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect.&nbsp; I took great pains
+to investigate it on the spot.&nbsp; I wish, for obvious reasons,
+not to enter far into particulars.&nbsp; But of one individual,
+whose history has been before the public, and whose sufferings
+have been introduced to their notice with a sort of tragical
+effect, I can venture, after a minute inquiry, to affirm, that
+his troubles arose, not so much from his simple proclamation of
+the truths of the Gospel, as from his indiscretions, from his
+resistance to civil as well as ecclesiastical regulations, and
+his general intemperance of conduct.&nbsp; I must also add, that
+some of the persons who <i>protected</i> that individual, were at
+the very time active agents of the Bible Society in their own
+country.&nbsp; One simple fact will be sufficient to establish
+these statements.&nbsp; The truths of the Gospel have been and
+are proclaimed, and are tolerated, and even approved <a
+name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>in several of
+the places from whence this individual was driven.</p>
+<p>With respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same
+effect has been made.&nbsp; It is certain that an angry feeling
+was excited in the minds of several members of the Committee of
+the Bible Society of that district, on the occasion which gave
+rise to the persecutions in that Canton.&nbsp; At the same time,
+any participation in this persecution is, as to himself,
+distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those who
+were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in
+any way in the list of the officers of the Bible Society.&nbsp;
+Two circumstances connected with the measures which were pursued
+in this Canton, in opposition to religious meetings, are
+sufficiently remarkable and interesting to deserve our
+notice.&nbsp; In the first place, the astonishing progress of
+religion during this period; and, in the second, the discovery,
+during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter
+inefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of
+inquiry after truth.</p>
+<p>IV.&nbsp; A point, which I must bring before your notice, is
+the actual <i>state of true religion</i> on the <i>continent</i>,
+and more especially in <i>Germany</i>.&nbsp; It is certainly true
+that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken possession of the
+universities, the public prints, and the higher orders of
+society.&nbsp; At the same time I believe, that the statements
+which have gone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as
+to two points, inaccurate.&nbsp; In the first place, they
+describe only one side of the case; for, if there is much
+infidelity and neology on the continent, there is also a
+considerable sprinkling of true religion.&nbsp; And, secondly,
+The evil which has existed, and does exist, may be said to be
+every day diminishing.&nbsp; As to the first of these facts, I
+could point out individuals, parishes, and districts, where real
+religion is in active operation; places and persons altogether
+unconnected with those agents from England, who have been said to
+be the only instruments of doing important good on the continent,
+and which are therefore unrecognised <a name="page18"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 18</span>by them, and possibly unknown to
+them.&nbsp; I could name one little knot of parishes, all within
+a small circle, in which are twelve ministers, earnest, orthodox,
+and devout servants of the Redeemer.&nbsp; I could name another
+place, where forty ministers were lately assembled for purposes
+of religious and spiritual communion.&nbsp; I might also allege
+the fact, that at different universities there are professors who
+openly, and from the heart, confess the true faith.&nbsp; I may
+indeed affirm that, from the cottages of the poor to the palaces
+of kings, there are those who walk worthy their high vocation as
+Christians and as men.&nbsp; The admitted evils are every day
+diminishing.&nbsp; The number of converts is increasing.&nbsp;
+The opinions of Paulus and Schulthess seem likely to die away
+with themselves.&nbsp; What can be more remarkable than the
+change which has taken place in the kingdom of Prussia, where the
+leaders of the state and the university may now be said to hold
+the very opposite creed to that which obtained with their
+immediate predecessors?</p>
+<p>There are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany,
+I feel it right to say a few words&mdash;the one is Leander Van
+Ess, the other your late invaluable Secretary, Dr.
+Steinkopff.</p>
+<p>Leander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I
+remained with him during a day, which I passed at
+Darmstadt.&nbsp; It was impossible not to be prepared, by his
+writings, to form a very high estimate of his character and his
+labours; and these expectations were, in my case, in no wise
+disappointed.&nbsp; I was struck with his holy devotedness to his
+great object, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded
+charity.&nbsp; He is a man who rises at four o&rsquo;clock in the
+morning to his daily task; pursues it often without cessation
+through the day; and, as I was informed by those best acquainted
+with his habits, he is often found at midnight occupied with his
+work.&nbsp; He is making a new version of the Bible, which, by
+the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to
+print; and, although he holds the opinions of the church to which
+he belongs <a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+19</span>on the subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion
+to be no hinderance to others; so that they will, in any way,
+read the word of God.&nbsp; He is, therefore, preparing his
+version for publication, in three forms.&nbsp; First, with the
+Vulgate printed in a small type at the bottom of each page, and
+with the Apocrypha intermixed; this is the form in which the
+Catholics wish to receive it.&nbsp; Secondly, without the
+Vulgate, and with the Apocrypha appended, for the Protestants of
+that country.&nbsp; Thirdly, without the apocryphal books, for
+the distribution of our own Bible Society, if we are disposed to
+adopt it.&nbsp; Here is a specimen of that largeness of charity
+by which every part of his conduct is influenced.&nbsp; So that,
+by Protestants and Catholics, who are partakers of the same
+spirit, he is alike esteemed.&nbsp; The king of Wirtemberg has
+presented him with a medal, in token of his useful labours in his
+kingdom.&nbsp; The grand-duke of Baden has given him money to
+purchase Testaments.&nbsp; And the government under which he
+lives sanction his proceedings, and one member in particular of
+the royal family of the grand-duke affords him constant
+protection and assistance.&nbsp; So that kings, I may say, are
+&ldquo;the nursing fathers&rdquo; of his plans and labours.&nbsp;
+I consider this society as privileged, in no ordinary degree, in
+having such an agent and friend on the continent.&nbsp; The
+assistance which he has already rendered to the Society has been
+very considerable.&nbsp; He has a great work on his hands.&nbsp;
+Communications are always to be kept open, letters to be written;
+and, in a country where there is a fastidiousness in receiving
+any religious offering from abroad, no one, who has not tried the
+experiment, can judge how much judgment, care, and delicacy it
+requires to bestow the gift without injuring the cause it is
+intended to promote.</p>
+<p>The other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is
+your late dear and honoured Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.&nbsp; The
+present was not the first opportunity I had enjoyed of tracing
+the extent of his labour, and of ascertaining the estimation in
+which he is held on the continent.&nbsp; It is <a
+name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>right to be
+known, that Dr. Steinkopff, before he came to England, filled an
+office of large correspondence on the subject of religion, and
+which gave him perhaps a better acquaintance with the religious
+state of Germany, than, I may venture to say, any other
+individual.&nbsp; He has constantly held communications with his
+successors in the important and influential office which he
+himself held; and this has given, to himself, a power of judging
+of the exact state of the continent; and, to his labours, a
+degree of efficiency, which could scarcely have been possessed
+without it.&nbsp; But when I speak of the value of Dr. Steinkopff
+to the Bible Society, it is not to any mere outward circumstance
+I would mainly advert.&nbsp; I may venture to say, that his
+character has been one grand instrument of your success on the
+continent.&nbsp; &ldquo;If,&rdquo; said a person, of considerable
+influence in Germany, to me, &ldquo;you do not want Dr.
+Steinkopff any longer in England, send him over here, and he will
+find friends enough.&rdquo;&nbsp; Wherever he has appeared,
+either as the officer of your Society or as a private individual,
+he has left a name behind him which, next to the favour of the
+Master he has so affectionately and devotedly served, and the
+good which he has been the instrument of effecting for his
+fellow-creatures, may be his comfort in his hours of sickness and
+of solitude.&nbsp; I saw none who knew him who were not ready to
+bear testimony to his humility, his conscientiousness, his
+vigour, his undeviating devotedness to the Society whose officer
+he was.&nbsp; May God long preserve him to assist us by his
+counsels, and to advocate the cause of the Society, with a voice
+which, whether at home or abroad, has been rarely heard in
+vain.</p>
+<p>I will now venture, in conclusion, to urge upon the Committee,
+as the plain inference from the foregoing statements, what
+appears to me to be a most imperious duty.&nbsp; It is that of
+cultivating and to manifesting a <i>spirit of kindness</i>, <i>of
+generosity</i>, <i>and enlarged benevolence towards our
+continental brethren</i>.&nbsp; If it be considered as an offence
+that we express our &ldquo;unfeigned Christian regards&rdquo;
+towards many of our <a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+21</span>fellow labourers abroad, I trust that we shall continue
+thus to offend.&nbsp; I had constantly occasion on the continent,
+whilst speaking on the subject of the Apocrypha to those who most
+materially differed from us, to urge, that, whereas by the new
+resolution of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the ground
+upon which we could unite was somewhat narrowed, our temper of
+mind, our sympathy, and love might remain the same; and that, if
+we could hope less than ever to &ldquo;reconcile all
+opinions,&rdquo; we might still endeavour &ldquo;to unite all
+hearts.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>This was the leading principle of our Society in the infancy
+of its institution; and, now that we are more matured in age, let
+us labour not to depart from it.&nbsp; Far then from advising the
+officers of this Society to suffer themselves, in their
+communications with the continent, to be lectured into a cold,
+dry, measured style of writing, I would exhort them to give vent
+to their warm and generous feelings.&nbsp; They may, in so doing,
+err in the sight of those disposed to make men &ldquo;offenders
+for a word;&rdquo; but they will better please the compassionate
+Master they serve; they will, under the divine blessing, cherish
+the fainting spirit of continental Christianity, and fan that
+spark of piety and zeal which is lighted up, I trust, never to be
+extinguished.</p>
+<p>I hope too the Committee will be encouraged as to the general
+objects and operations of the Society.&nbsp; I am, by actual
+observation, more than ever convinced, that, on a very large
+scale, this institution is on the continent, a favoured
+instrument in the hands of Divine Providence.&nbsp; The good
+which it has accomplished is immense.&nbsp; The evils which have
+been charged upon it, exist, rather in imagination, than in
+reality.&nbsp; Let the Committee go on to do what they can, and
+to do all in the spirit of love and generosity.&nbsp; Let them
+commit every endeavour to the blessing of Him to whom the souls
+of the multitudes scattered over the continent are unspeakably
+dear; let them be confident that the word of the Lord will have
+free course and be glorified; and that millions will arise, at
+the last day, to <a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+22</span>acknowledge with gratitude and joy the labours of this
+Society.&nbsp; Let the temper of the Society remain unimpaired at
+home; and it need not be disquieted at objections or assaults
+which will not at least commend themselves to the world at large,
+by the general spirit in which they have been defended.&nbsp; And
+may we never fail to repose an honourable confidence in the
+officers and friends of the Society; nor forget, in judging of
+others, to take into account the infirmities of our common
+nature.&nbsp; May we feel that, having embarked in the glorious
+enterprise of making all men acquainted with the pure and
+unadulterated word of God, it is not for us to be checked by
+slight obstacles; but to go forward, conquering and to conquer,
+in the name of him who has loved us, and given himself for us,
+and who has consigned this volume, as his precious legacy, to a
+perishing and suffering world.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">Believe me, my Lord,</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">Your Lordship&rsquo;s very obedient
+servant,</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">F. CUNNINGHAM.</p>
+<p><i>Pakefield</i>, <i>Lowestoft</i>,<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Jan.</i> 5, 1827.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span
+class="GutSmall">LONDON:</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY
+STREET, STRAND.</span></p>
+<h2>Footnotes</h2>
+<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6"
+class="footnote">[6]</a>&nbsp; 2397 Bibles, 2436 Testaments.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote15"></a><a href="#citation15"
+class="footnote">[15]</a>&nbsp; The doctrine of the atonement of
+Christ, and justification by faith.</p>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD
+BEXLEY***</p>
+<pre>
+
+
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