in that part of their plan and constitution which related to the circulation of the Scriptures only. From the Dublin Association a respectful and friendly acknowledgment was transmitted in return by order of the Board. Dr. Gaskin, and the Society of which he was an accredited organ, made no acknowledgment. Another measure, directed to the enlargement of the Society's connexions, and its more complete introduction to notoriety and usefulness, was that of addressing the parochial clergy, dissenting ministers, and other respectable persons, individually, as far as might be practicable throughout the united kingdom. For this purpose a circular, containing a plan of the institution, extracts of correspondence, and a list of subscribers, was prepared; and very extensively distributed, free of expense to the receiver, through the medium of the post. The correspondence abroad produced the most gratifying assurances of approbation, and of a cordial disposition to co-operate in promoting the design of the institution as it regarded foreign countries. To the imperial city of Nuremberg a donation of £100 was granted in the event of a Bible Society being formed in that place; the result of this proposition was the establishment of the first FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. The foundation of it was laid on the 10th of May 1804. From Stuttgard, Professor Druck, librarian to the elector (now king) of Wirtemberg, in reply to the letter in which he had been addressed, transmitted important intelligence relative to the versions of the Scriptures in the Wirtemberg library, amounting in all to more than 4000 different editions of the whole Bible, or of distinct parts of the same, and accompanied his account with expressions of the highest gratification and surprise at the motive and object of those enquiries to which his answer was requested. Communications were opened with Sweden, with Holland, and with Berlin; at the latter place it was the wish of several distinguished persons to form a Society for the purpose of printing an edition of the Bohemian Bible, and £100 was voted from the British and Foreign Society on this condition, in aid of this most desirable and necessary object. The most remarkable circumstance elicited by this general correspondence by the Society's agents through different parts of the continent of Europe, was an address from a Roman Catholic clergyman in Suabia, indicative of an improved temper in the members of that church, and the harbinger of a better understanding than had hitherto subsisted between them and their brethren of other denominations. The concluding paragraph in the letter of this excellent Roman Catholic divine to the Committee of the Protestant Bible Society, is so unique that it deserves an introduction into our pages.

'Now, I beg you, my dear brother in Christ, to receive these few lines in love. I wrote them, trusting it might be acceptable to your venerable Society. I cannot express in terms sufficiently strong, the fervency of my joy and of my love towards all who, throughout England, heartily believe in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour, and zealously endeavour to extend the Redeemer's kingdom. I eml race them all as the beloved and elect of God, as friends and brethren in Christ,

let them be of whatever name, or belong to whatever church or denomination. The more distant the countries, and the more different the outward forms and establishments are, the more I rejoice, if I am privileged to hear that an ever faithful Lord and Saviour is gathering from among them a flock of believing people. Truly God has a numerous army of reserve in England, who do not bow before the Baal of the age, nor sacrifice to the god of the times. Let all who know his name, glorify him for his mercy! May the peace of God, and the all-sufficient grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you all.' This letter the Committee regarded as an invitation to occupy a field from which they had considered themselves as altogether excluded, and they resolved to place 1000 copies of the Protestant New Testament, then printing at Nuremberg, at the disposal of this zealous correspondent, for distribution by sale or gift among the Roman Catholics of Suabia and Bavaria; and directed him to be assured of their sincere disposition to afford the members of his communion every degree of aid consistent with the principles and means of the institution. These transactions comprehend every thing which it is material to record, in the history of the Society's attempt to establish a system of foreign relations, from its commencement to the month of December 1804.

In the meantime, the measures adopted for supplying the inhabitants of the united kingdom with the Scriptures in the English and Welsh languages, continued to be prosecuted with unabated vigor; and advanced as rapidly as, from the more tardy process of casting the stereotype plates, and other impediments inseparable from the execution of great and important concerns, could be reasonably expected

Things had attained this state, when an incident occured which afforded the Society an opportunity of making the first application of its funds to the printing of a portion of the Scriptures in a foreign language, under its own immediate direction. Captain John Norton, chief of the Mohawk Indians, who inhabit Upper Canada, was then in England, and, having become a decided convert to Christianity, he undertook the translation of the Evangelist John into their tongue. After due investigation of the claims of his translation, it was accepted by the Committee, and forthwith printed. By this act a very important portion of the sacred book was put into the hands of more than 8000 souls, who were allies of the British government.

About this period also the foundation was laid for that biblical library, which, by gradual accumulation, is now become considerable and important. It was determined that of every edition or translation of the Holy Scriptures, or of parts thereof, printed under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, six or more copies should be transmitted to be lodged in its depository; and that an appeal should be made to the community at large, through the medium of certain daily newspapers, and periodical publications of character, soliciting donations of Bibles, Testaments, or portions of the Scriptures, in the ancient and modern languages. The first fruits of this determination were a munificent

present from Granville Sharp, Esq., of thirty-nine copies of the Holy Scriptures, or certain portions of them, in various languages, together with the Irish and Italian versions of the English liturgy. The commencement of the year 1805 was rendered memorable in the anals of the Society by a serious and protracted discussion, relative to the text at that time preparing for the purposed edition of the Welsh Bible. This discussion was begun by imputations thrown upon the integrity of the agents on whom the Society devolved the task of carrying this aluable undertaking through the press. The accuser was a Rev. J. Roberts, described by the Rev. Dr. Gaskin, as 'a very respectable clergyman and eminent Welsh scholar, who had been employed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in correcting the press of the last Oxford edition of the Welsh Bible.' The charge of this Rev. censor, which, through the medium of Dr. Gaskin, as Secretary of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, was transmitted to all the Bishops whose names appeared as Vice-Presidents of the British and Foreign Bible Society, amounted to this, 'That improper alterations had been made in the present orthography of the Welsh version of the Bible.' Trifling and vexatious as the imputation on the face of it must have appeared, especially considering the quarter in which it originated, it was nevertheless very patiently and impartially examined. The result is before the public in the Rev. Mr. Dealtry's 'Vindication of the British and Foreign Bible Society.' It is highly honorable in all respects to the Rev. Mr. Charles of Bala, who had kindly proffered his services to the Society, to prepare a copy of the Welsh Scriptures for the press. And now that the fact is ascertained, that the new Society are engaged in vigorous operations to meet this emergency, the tardy Bartlett's Buildings Society, jealous of its upstart rival, announces a resolution of the Board,' passed on March 12th 1805, to print 20,000 Welsh Bibles from its former edition of 1746, which they subsequently altered to that of 1752. Accusing at the same time the British and Foreign Bible Society of rivalry and opposition to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, because they had directed their first efforts to relieve that specific moral necessity which had been the principal reason for the formation of their Society. The Bible Society, however, in this as well as in all its subsequent conflicts, was triumphant. Mr. Charles was exonerated from the suspicion of attempting or intending any change in the translation, and the Committee expressed their real satisfaction in having been able to show that the confidence reposed in him had been amply justified. The charge of rivalry fell pointless to the ground, when it was clearly shown, that the first order for printing an edition of the Welsh Scriptures on account of the Bible Society was dated on the 3d of September, 1804; and that the first information which the Committee of that Society received, that the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge had come to a resolution at their last meeting to print an edition of 20,000 Welsh Bibles, was made, in the words of the quotation, by a member of both

'The

Societies, on the 18th of March, 1805. spirit of rivalry in this case' says Lord Teignmouth, must have been prophetic.' But, to end all dispute, and to prove to the venerable Society, that the more recent institution, which she regarded with such unreasonable jealousy, had no sinister interest to serve, no envy to indulge, no vanity to gratify, the Bible Society resolved to supersede their own revised copy, and to adopt the text of their opponent as the foundation of their projected edition.

About this time intelligence was received from Bâle, in answer to the communication addressed to that place, inviting its inhabitants to co-operate with the British and Foreign Bible Society in the advancement of its foreign objects. The parties who had been addressed, announced their willingness to adopt the proposal of forming a Bible Society for their town and vicinity; but added, that from local difficulties, they were not yet in a condition to proceed to such an establishment; they had therefore determined, under present circumstances, to unite their exertions with those of their brethren at Nuremberg. An interesting letter was also transmitted from the Rev. Mr. Oberlin, minister of a parish in Alsace, containing five villages, and embracing a mixed religious population of Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, and Baptists. Mr. Oberlin had been supplied with funds from England for the purchase of French and German Bibles, intended for distribution, and this was the occasion of his writing to the Society, through the medium of its foreign secretary.

Coincident with the receipt of these communications from Germany was that of the first regular information relative to the design entertained by the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, to engage in an extensive system of Oriental translations: it was a letter from Mr., now Dr. Carey at Calcutta, to the secretary of the mission, the late Rev. Andrew Fuller; and it represented the missionaries as already employed on four languages, and as possessing considerable advantages, should they be adequately supported, for translating the Bible into all the languages of the East.

Such was the state to which things had arrived, in both the domestic and foreign department, when a publication appeared, which opened upon the Society the first of those many attacks by which it was destined to be assaulted. The title of this publication, was, An Address to Lord Teignmouth, President of the British and Foreign Bible Society, occasioned by his Address to the Clergy of the Church of England; by a Country Clergyman. At this distance of time, and when so much of the effervescence of irritated feeling has passed off, we cannot but wonder at the mighty stir which this most puerile and insignificant pamphlet was the means of exciting. It was hailed by the ultra-orthodox among the clergy as a composition of great pith and moment.' It was circulated with matchless industry, and the following postulates of this modern ecclesiastical Locke, were repeated with a solemnity, and a confidence, which rendered dissent something worse than heresy.

'Christian charity no where recommends asso

ciations of discordant principles, combinations of men professedly at variance, and in hostility, with each other; but Christian charity enjoins that which renders all these elaborate societies useless; it teaches and OBLIGES Christians to be like-minded, to have one faith, one baptism, one speech, and one hope of their calling.'-Address, p. 11.

It is to be expected that each member of your heterogeneous society will raise his portion of books for the promotion of his particular opinions; for it is easily seen, that a Bible given away by a Papist, will be productive of popery, the Socinian will make his Bible speak and spread Socinianism, while the Calvinist, the Baptist, and the Quaker will teach the opinions peculiar to their sects. Supply these men with Bibles (I SPEAK AS A TRUE CHURCHMAN), and you snpply them with arms against yourself.— Ibid P. 13.

A meeting was convened at London House, which was composed of lord Teignmouth, the bishops of London, Durham, and Exeter, and the Rev. John Owen, the clerical secretary of the institution. The formidable bill of indictment was produced, and poor Lord Teignmouth and Mr. Owen put upon their defence. The latter allayed the apprehensions of the venerable conservators of the church's safety, and, with a meekness and earnestness which did them honor, they requested Mr. Owen to undertake the defence of the Bible Society, against its weak, yet evidently malignant opponent. Thus urged, Mr. Owen yielded a ready compliance, and in the course of three weeks brought before the public a pamphlet entitled A Letter to a Country Clergyman, occasioned by his address to lord Teignmouth, &c. by a Suburban Clergyman.' In this production Mr. Owen appears to the greatest advantage as a controvetsialist, a gentleman, and above all as a christian.

The first anniversary of the Society was celebrated on Wednesday the 1st of May, 1805, at the New London Tavern, Cheapside. The scene presented on this interesting occasion,' says Mr. Owen, was distinguished by features which gave it an irresistible influence over the kindest and most elevated affections of the heart.'

The society now became more extensively known, the subject of more general enquiry and discussion; and its patrons and friends multiplied in full proportion. In Wales the spirit diffused itself with great rapidity. In Scotland the co-operation became more extended and organised; and during the year 1806 The Society incorporated by royal charter, for Propagating Christian Knowledge, being invited to patronise and co-operate with the British and Foreign Bible Society, cordially assented to the proposal. Ireland was not neglected; though she required more to interest and excite her into action, on account of her ignorance and spiritual degradation; yet intelligence was conveyed across the channel, correspondence with many influential persons was carried on, and thus a foundation was laid for that superstructure which shortly after indicated so rapid a progress.

Every month added something to the increase

of its strength on the continent; a Roman Catholic Bible Society, roused by the example of the Protestants at Nuremberg, was established at Ratisbon under the superintendance of the Rev. Mr. Wittman, director of the ecclesiastical seminary in that place. The address of this truly pious divine to Christians of the Roman Catholic persuasion throughout Germany, is peculiarly simple, liberal, and devout. We must refer however to Mr. Owen's History, for a perusal of this invaluable document, vol. i. page 174.

And

At Halle in Saxony, the Society's application aoout this time began also to take effect. the Rev. John Janicke, stimulated by the example of Nuremberg, and encouraged by the generous proposal of the British and Foreign Bible Society, exerted himself with so much judgment and perseverance, that the foundation of a Bible Society was laid in Berlin in the commencement of 1806, under the direction of some noblemen and other persons of great distinction and exemplary character.

In the meantime, the wants of Great Britain were neither forgotten, nor lightly considered. Much exertion was made to accelerate the production of some fruits from the stereotype press, in order that the desirable business of distribution might commence among the necessitous part of the British population. This object was obtained in September, 1805, when an impression of an octavo English Testament was announced as ready for delivery, and the work of distribution commenced without delay.

The Dublin Association was also assisted, as were subsequently the Naval and Military Bible Society in London, and certain other religious institutions; by being permitted to share with the British and Foreign Bible Society in its advantageous arrangements with the University of Cambridge: and every opportunity was eagerly embraced of supplying, both directly and indirectly, the scriptural wants of the country, and of exciting attention to the importance of reading and dispersing the lively oracles of God. One of the earliest and most beneficial results from the distribution in Ireland, combined with other exertions of a similar description in that country, was the establishment of a Bible Society at Dublin.

The attention of the Society was about this time excited to the consideration of the Gaelic Scriptures. Representations were transmitted from persons of credibility, stating that in the Highlands of Scotland very few persons were in possession of a complete Bible; that among those who possessed a single volume of the four in which the Scriptures had been published, the proportion did not exceed one in forty; that the price of a complete copy was beyond the ability of the poor to purchase it; and that, in fact, it was not easily procurable at any price. It was added, that, in the island of Sky, containing about 15,000 persons, scarcely one Gaelic Bible was to be found.

It further appeared, on the authority of a Address, delivered in May, 1803, by the Secre tary to the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, that out of 335,000 persons in the Highlands, 300,000 were considered

not to understand any other language than the Gaelic, so far at least as to comprehend a book written, or a continued discourse.

After due enquiry, and deliberate discussion, the Society resolved upon the measure of furnishing the Highlanders with an impression of the Gaelic Bible from an universally accredited

text.

Shortly after the Dusiness of the Gaelic Bible had been taken up, the case of the numerous prisoners of war was brought under the Society's consideration, and excited a very lively sympatby in their favor, and a strong disposition to administer to their relief; and now was a beginning made in that department of beneficence, which afterwards occupied so greatly the labors of the Society, and by means of which its spiritual bounty was conveyed to so many receptacles of ignorance, misery, and vice.

This, perhaps, is the most appropriate place in which to explain the nature and operation of the Auxiliary Societies and Associations, which, commencing in London in 1805, have done more to secure the prosperity of the British and Foreign Bible Society, than all the other means put together, which wise and enlightened benevolence has yet been able to devise.

AUXILIARY SOCIETIES were the first in order; these, it was proposed, should unite the energies of a county, or a large district. Each Auxiliary to possess its own patrons, president, treasurer, and secretaries, and to tuansact its own business upon the fundamental principles of the Parent Institution; securing to all its members the same privileges. These auxiliaries were to receive subscriptions, and to distribute copies of the Scriptures at cost, or reduced, prices, or gratuitously, as they might deem necessary; and after deducting from the aggregate contributions of the year the sums they expended, to transmit the remainder, through the treasurer, to the general fund in London. When it was found that the extent of a county was too great, or its towns and villages too numerous to be easily managed by the Auxiliary, Branch Societies originated, connecting themselves with their respective auxiliaries, just as these were connected with the Parent Society. But the grand instrument was yet wanting, that which should combine the greatest moral good with the most astonishing augmentation of pecuniary support. This was the principal of Local Associations, which was no sooner applied, than the happiest results immediately followed. The association was designed to embrace the pence of the poor, in the form either of weekly deposits, for the purchase of Bibles, which they received from the Committee, as soon as these deposits amounted to the stipulated price; or of free subscriptions, which, it was believed, the pious poor would take the greatest delight in contributing, and thus advancing the cause, according to their ability, in the success of which they were equally interested with their more opulent brethren; but from the promotion of which, they had hitherto been excluded by their poverty. Where there existed Branch Societies, the associations were to transmit their funds to that in their immediate vicinity; if not, to their county or district auxiliary, VOL. IV.

deriving from them their required supplies of the Scriptures. By this admirable system, the moral benefits and the pecuniary resources of the British and Foreign Bible Society, were happily united. The benevolence of all classes of the community was laid under requisition; while the worst abuses likely to arise from indiscriminate and gratuitous distribution of the Scriptures were effectually guarded against. It was not, however, matured at once; during the first six years of its history, the society received comparatively but little support from its auxiliaries, and it was not till a much later period that local associations for the poor were organised.

Early in the year 1806 an attempt was made, as it afterwards appeared, by the same individual, who, under the title of a country clergyman, had before violently assailed the society, to detach from it the countenance and support of its episcopal patrons. The attack was in the form of a letter to the bishop of London. The writer, no doubt, presumed upon the natural timidity of his lordship's character, and it is really distressing to perceive how such a mind as that of Porteus could be affected by the insolent abuse of an anonymous calumniator; affected to such a degree as to vacillate between supporting and abandoning an object, which he had deliberately espoused upon principle, merely because it was united with the additional merit of having provoked the blind and bigotted hostility of a Papist in disguise. Mr. Owen too was all apprehension and terror; and we are not to wonder at his trepidation, when we consider how well he was acquainted with the difficulties which had been surmounted, in attaching to the society its episcopal patronage, and the conviction which he felt that the loss of that patronage would have involved 'the institution in certain and irremediable destruction.' But thousands now felt the delightful assurance, that the success of the Bible Society depended neither upon the smiles of episcopacy or presbyterianism. It was the badge and the glory of the catholic church, and was identified with the churches of England, Scotland, Rome, or any other churches upon the face of the earth, only so far as they cherished a catholic spirit.

We must pass on rather hastily over the subsequent years of the Society's labors and successes, referring our readers, for more detailed and minute statements, to the very full, though somewhat tedious, volumes of Mr. Owen, and to the annual reports of the institution itself. From 1806 to 1809 the Society gradually advanced in public favor, and in more extended usefulness. Under these auspices, and patronised by the king of Prussia, an edition of the Bohemian Bible, amounting to 3000 copies, was put to press. To Königsberg, the capital of Prussia, and to the province of Jethuania, containing a population exceeding a million of souls, the Society devoted much of its attention, and prepared the way for active operation. The case and circumstances of the inhabitants of Iceland passed also under their review, and measures were adopted to furnish this interesting and destitute people with the sacred Scriptures; the Society offering to defray half the expense of an edition

I

of 5000 Icelandic Testaments. It was at this time, and arising out of circumstances connected with this last measure, that the Society became acquainted with two of their most zealous and indefatigable agents, who for several years effectually promoted their interests in the northern parts of Europe. The Rev. Messrs. Paterson and Henderson, during the year 1806 penetrated into Russia, in connexion with Karass, a missionary settlement to the north of the Caspian Sea. The missionaries occupying that station were the Rev. Henry Brunton and the Rev. Robert Pinkerton: these gentlemen, with their associates, having been induced to undertake the translation of the New Testament into the Turkish and Tartar dialects, applied to the British and Foreign Bible Society, in order to obtain encouragement and aid towards the performance of so desirable an undertaking. The Committee, regarding the proposed work as pregnant with great and extensive advantages, determined to supply the translators with a new fount of Arabic types, and a sufficient quantity of paper and ink, to enable them to execute an impression of 5000 copies. About this time the Committee opened a correspondence with archbishop Plato, the metropolitan of the Greek church in Russia, with a view to interest that eminent and learned prelate in measures for promoting the circulation of the Scriptures in Russia. The application was successful, and the most promising field that was ever opened to the labors of any benevolent institution, presented itself, on this occasion, to the Bible Society. It was occupied for several years, and with the most encouraging tokens of success. The Society's exertions were likewise directed to the French at St. Domingo, the Spaniards at Buenos Ayres; to the British settlers, soldiers, and colonists, in North America; to the Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land; to the felons and other prisoners in Newgate; to the case of Mahommedans and heathens whose spiritual instruction, too long overlooked by the bulk of European Christians, had begun to awaken in the breasts of a few the emotions of sympathy and anxious consideration.

Dr. Carey having introduced to the Society the scheme of Oriental Translations, so nobly projected by the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, and Dr. Buchanan's Memoir on The Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British India, having furnished the additional, and very important information, that, 'under the auspices of the College of Fort William, the Scriptures were in a course of translation into almost all the languages of Oriental India,' it was determined to appropriate £1000 to an object, in all respects so deserving of encouragement and aid; and a grant to that amount was accordingly made. A regular intercourse now commenced between the conductors of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the leading friends of Christianity in the heart of British India; and it appeared to the former in a high degree desirable to take all practicable steps in order to cherish and improve the connexion. With this view, a second grant of £1000 was made on the 4th of May, 1807; and on the 15th

of June, it was further determined to cend 500 English Bibles and 1000 Testaments, from the London Depository, and 250 German Bibles and 500 Testaments, from the institution at Halle, for the use of the army and navy, and other Europeans in India.

It was about this time that the British and Foreign Bible Society conceived the design, of promoting a correct and acceptable impression of the Arabic Scriptures. The subject underwent very serious and repeated examination; and extended correspondence was carried on with the bishops of London and Durham, the professors of Arabic in both our Universities, and other persons of competent information, with a view to the ascertainment of a standard text, and such other points as required to be accurately known previously to a formal and conclusive determination. So many difficulties, however, combined to retard the execution of the purpose, that the Committee, finding their own plans altogether immature, and unwilling to sacrifice any further delay, determined to subscribe for 300 copies, as a temporary expedient.

In 1807 Mr. Twining published his attack upon the British and Foreign Bible Society, so far as their views were directed to India. This gentleman accused the Society of meditating an interference in the religious opinions of the native inhabitants of India; and denounced that interference as fraught with the most disastrous consequences to our possessions in the East. This brought forth an able refutation from the pen of Mr. Owen, who in his address to the chairman of the East India Company, occasioned by Mr. Twining's letter to that gentleman, undertook to prove, that neither in the object, the patronage, nor the proceedings, of the Society, was there any thing to justify the charge of culpable interference with the religious systems of India, or to authorise the apprehension of these alarming consequences to our sovereignty in the East, which had been so confidently predicted. Mr. Twining and his coadjutors were not satisfied either with this, or the various other replies which were written in defence of the missionaries, as well as of the Bible Society. They continued to fulminate an alarm, and were encouraged in their pagan and idolatrous zeal, by those gentlemanly Christians, the redoubted critics of the North. But though reason could not silence, time has rendered them false prophets; and they now stand corrected before the world, either as fanatics or impostors. A man should never pretend to prophecy unless he can work miracles. Mr. Twining was no conjurer, and hence the Edinburgh Review for once ceased to be oracular. The noble president of the Bible Society followed on the same side of the question, by publishing his Considerations on the Practicability, Policy, and Obligation of Communicating to the Natives of India the Knowledge of Christianity; with Observations on the Prefatory Remarks to a Pamphlet, published by Major Scott Waring, by a late resident in Bengal. Of this production, Mr. Owen justly says,' It would be difficult to speak in terms proportioned to its merits, without incurring the suspicion of a design to write its panegyric.' Controversy neither suspended the exertions of