{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39139/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39139","id":"gutenberg_39139","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39139","summary":null,"tags":["British and Foreign Bible Society","Category: History - European","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1827 J. Hatchard and Son edition, by David Price,\nemail ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                                    A\n                                  LETTER\n                                    TO\n                       THE RIGHT HON. LORD BEXLEY,\n\n\n                               CONTAINING A\n                     STATEMENT MADE TO THE COMMITTEE\n                                  OF THE\n                    British and Foreign Bible Society,\n                                AS TO THE\n                      RELATIONS OF THAT INSTITUTION,\n                                   WITH\n                          FRANCE, THE VALLEYS OF\n                    PIEDMONT, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                       BY FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, M. A.\n                      RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                   J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILY.\n\n                                  1827.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n           IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe circumstances which have given rise to the publication of the\nfollowing letter are briefly these:\u2014At the departure of the Author for\nthe continent, in the month of April, 1826, he tendered his services\ngenerally to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and\nreceived from that body the power of disposing of a certain number of\ncopies of Bibles and Testaments, at any opportunities which might present\nthemselves to him on his journey.  Of this power he availed himself; and,\non his return to London, in the month of December, he went to the\nCommittee to give an account of the trust which had been committed to\nhim.  Whilst he was doing this, it was natural that he should add to his\nstatement a few observations, connected with the objects of the\nInstitution itself; and more especially, as various errors, into which it\nwas charged with having fallen, had become the subjects of public\ndiscussion, both in Scotland and in England.  These observations Lord\nBexley, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Bible Society, then occupying\nthe Chair of the Committee, requested, in the name of those over whom he\npresided, might be communicated in writing; and, in compliance with this\nrequest, the following statement was sent.\n\nAfter some delay, the author, at the suggestion of several friends, has\nbeen led to make it public, hoping that it may supply to the supporters\nof the Bible Society new motives for earnestly and generously persevering\nin their efforts to promote the circulation of the Scriptures; and, to\nthe assailants of that Institution, an answer to some of the charges\nwhich they, in his apprehension, have hastily and unwarrantably brought\nforward.\n\nThe Author can only hope this document may be a means of forwarding the\ninterests of the Bible Society\u2014an Institution, which, in his mind,\nwhatever may be the evil resulting from the circulation of the apocryphal\nbooks, has sown the seed of more important benefits to mankind than even\nthe Reformation itself.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n_Pakefield_, _April_ 5, 1827.\n\n\n\n\nA\nLETTER,\n_&c._\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n      MY LORD,\n\nIn compliance with a wish so kindly expressed by your Lordship, I shall\nnow endeavour to communicate in writing the substance of what I took the\nliberty of stating in the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible\nSociety.  The observations there made chiefly respected the state of\nreligion on the continent of Europe\u2014especially as connected with that\ninstitution whose Committee I had the honour of addressing; and they were\nexclusively such as had been suggested to me during a journey of eight\nmonths through the various countries, to which it was my endeavour to\ndraw the attention of your Lordship and the Committee.\n\nI must beg leave, however, to preface this brief and inadequate statement\nby two or three observations.\n\nIn the first place, I must intreat that if this written document should\nnot be found precisely to correspond in expression or detail with the\naddress to the Committee, the difference may be ascribed, not to\nintention, but to a defect of memory.  That address was altogether\nextempore; and my recollection of particular expressions I may have\nemployed, is very imperfect.\n\nIn the next place, I wish to have it understood, that although I should\nnot have committed this statement to the press, except at the wish of\nsome members of the Committee of the Bible Society, I, myself am alone\nresponsible for the facts and opinions it contains.  It was highly\nsatisfactory to me to discover that many of the views taken by myself of\nthe subjects upon which I spoke, corresponded with those of a large\nproportion of the Committee.  In other points, I might not be so\nfortunate as to agree with that majority.  But, whatever might be the\namount of that agreement or disagreement, I desire alone to be made\nresponsible for the contents of this paper.\n\nI must also be permitted to say that, in this communication, a few names\nand particulars have been suppressed, which I did not hesitate to produce\nto the Committee.  It is obvious that circumstances which might safely be\nnamed within walls, from which they were not likely to escape; might\nproduce inconvenience, if published and circulated upon the continent of\nEurope.\n\nI shall now proceed to give the substance of what I ventured to offer to\nthe Committee.\n\nMy first visit was to France, where I remained almost continually\njourneying for several months.  It was a satisfaction to me to arrive at\nParis in time to attend the annual public meeting of the Bible Society.\nI can truly say that the meeting was in the highest degree interesting.\nThe character of the reports, especially those of the Ladies\u2019 and\nMechanics\u2019 Society\u2014the attendance of so many ministers of religion\u2014the\nintroduction of extempore speaking\u2014the feeling of warmth and zeal which\nseemed almost universally to prevail\u2014left me no doubt but that a deep\ninterest pervaded the minds of large numbers on the subject of the\ncirculation of the Scriptures.  I afterwards visited many of the\nauxiliaries, great and small, of the Society in different provinces, and\nthe hopes formed at the meeting at Paris were not disappointed.  It\nhappened to me to pass through one small village in a very solitary\nsituation in the centre of France, where three associations had been\nformed\u2014one of children, another of young women, and a third of the\npopulation at large.  In this village, under a very pious and able\nminister, Mr. Duvivier, it was interesting to observe to what an extent\neducation had gone hand in hand with the circulation of the word of God.\nSome of the children in the school repeated, as a Sunday task, not less\nthan two hundred verses of the New Testament.\n\nWith many of the larger auxiliaries of the Society, I was particularly\ngratified.  In some districts the circulation of the Scriptures was very\nconsiderable.  In others, much still remained to be done.  The Protestant\nministers were the general agents and protectors of the institution; and,\nthere were many of them full of activity.  Two collateral benefits of the\nBible Society were particularly obvious in France,\u2014in the first place,\nthe truly valuable object which it supplied to many pious, active, and\nbenevolent minds, which powers might have been otherwise unemployed: and\nin the next place, the rallying point which it afforded for the really\npious of all classes.  It is difficult to say to what an extent the\nsociety has enlarged the efficiency, and strengthened the union of the\nreligious body amongst the Protestants.\n\nSuch was the influence of these and other circumstances on my own mind,\nthat I often found occasion to observe to my fellow travellers, that, if\never I had doubted the benefits of the society, those doubts must now\nhave vanished.\n\nAmongst both Catholics and Protestants much good has been accomplished by\nthe British and Foreign Bible Society.  By means of one of the most\nactive agents of this institution, the late Mr. Owen, the society was\nregularly established amongst the Protestants.  And, amongst the\nCatholics, even where the Bible Society has not been able to obtain any\nregular establishment by means of our agents, a large number of Bibles\nand Testaments has been distributed in the schools, hospitals, and\nprisons, and amongst the population at large.  I have seen the Testaments\nof this society in various important schools; in the hands of the sick,\nand in the wards of the hospital.  I have known them carried to the\ninfirm and the dying by those who are so emphatically and justly called\nthe S\u0153urs de la Charit\u00e9.  I had myself also the happiness of distributing\nfive hundred copies of those so kindly committed to me by the society in\na prison containing upwards of four thousand individuals.  We cannot\nbelieve that these various gifts have been made in vain.  Much of the\nfruit will be discovered only on the great day, when the secrets of all\nhearts shall be disclosed.  But in the mean time no man can follow the\ncourse of the Bible without perceiving the benefits resulting from its\ncirculation.  In one instance, I cannot but doubt that the conversion of\na large body from Popery to Protestantism, in a city in the south of\nFrance, has been materially assisted by the operations of this society.\n\nThere are yet two points in connexion with France, on which I feel it\nnecessary to trouble the Committee.  In the first place, I have a debt of\njustice and gratitude to render to Professor Kieffer, your society\u2019s\nagent at Paris.  I will here say nothing on the subject of his opinions\nwith regard to the distribution of the Apocryphal books, except that,\nwhether he is right or wrong, he has found many both good and wise men on\nthe continent and elsewhere, who agree in the views which he has adopted.\nWith respect to his religious orthodoxy, which I understand has been most\nunjustly called in question in this country, I feel it right to say, that\nno one who knows him can entertain a doubt.\n\nAs to talents, diligence, vigilance, and zeal, as an agent of this\nsociety, he has few equals, and can scarcely have a superior.  As a man\nof business, of regularity, vigour, and dispatch, he is very\nconspicuous\u2014and those who know the immense deficiency of business-like\nhabits on the continent, will know how to value such important qualities\nin the agent they employ.\n\nThe other subject respects the decision of the British and Foreign Bible\nSociety, as to the distribution of the Apocryphal books.  It would be\nunjust to deny that, when the question concerning the rejection of these\nbooks was first proposed to the Bible Societies in France, they almost\nunanimously declared their strong preference for Bibles with the\nApocrypha.  In the _Lutheran_, which is the smaller part of the\nProtestant church of France, this preference still, to a considerable\ndegree, prevails.  But among the members and ministers of the _Reformed_\nchurch, and especially those who felt the real value of the word of God,\nI was rejoiced to find, how few dissented from your late resolution.  And\nI feel assured that, when the question comes to be presented to\ncontinental churches in all its bearings, and the danger is shown of thus\ncommingling error with truth, their grounds of opposition will be\nremoved; and they will feel it their duty to pursue the same course as\nthat in which your society has so wisely taken the lead.\n\nIt remains only with regard to France, that I should take the liberty of\nurging upon the Committee the duties of the most strenuous and\naffectionate co-operation.  It is impossible not to consider the general\nstate of the Protestant churches as much advanced during the interval of\nfive years when I before visited them.  The political feeling of the\nProtestants appeared to me a good deal improved; and the government in\ngeneral of France has done much to deserve their confidence and\ngratitude.  The Protestants themselves seem to me much more sensible of\nthe state of decay in their church; and are in proportion desirous of its\nrestoration to life.  It is true that heterodoxy of a very deplorable\nkind has, to a considerable degree, crept into the universities of that\ncountry.  But I was often struck by observing, that when some of the\nclergy taught in those universities, entered upon the discharge of their\npastoral office; and it became their direct object to withdraw the\nprofligate from sin, and lead the miserable to comfort\u2014to confirm the\nwavering, to meet the wants and wishes of our fallen nature, to assuage\nthe sufferings of an awakened conscience, and supply a strong refuge in\nthe hour of death, they have been compelled to desert their own ground,\nand seek, within the enclosure of orthodox and evangelical religion, the\nweapons of their warfare, and the means of consolation and of joy.  I was\ndelighted indeed to find some of those who had been instructed in the\nNeological school, among the most zealous promoters of the truth as it is\nin Christ.\n\nI shall next beg of the Committee to pass on with me from France to\n_Italy_.  To the northern parts of this country, however, my visit was\nalone extended; and there I found the same obstacles to exist against the\nfree circulation of the word of God, of which other travellers have\ncomplained.  One exception however may be stated, and that with regard to\na people whose cause has excited a warm and most honourable interest in\nthis country\u2014the Protestant inhabitants of Piedmont.  They, in common\nwith the other Protestant subjects of the King of Sardinia, are now\npermitted to receive books of every kind, on payment of duty, and, on the\ncondition that they are neither sold, lent, nor given to Catholics.  This\nconcession came at a time of peculiar importance; as it facilitated the\nintroduction of the large grant of Bibles lately made by this society to\nthe Protestant inhabitants of the vallies.  And I learned from the\nprincipal agent of the Bible Society in those quarters, that they had\nreceived nearly 5000 {6} Bibles and Testaments from different\ninstitutions.  These grants are of greater value at this moment, when the\nVaudois Committee in London is so wisely and assiduously labouring to\nestablish schools of various kinds in these vallies.  I am requested to\npresent the cordial thanks of the ministers of the Vaudois church to this\nsociety.\n\nThe next point to which I would call the attention of this Committee, is\nGeneva.  The character and services of the Bible Society in that city\nhave, it appears to me, been grievously misrepresented in some of the\nrecent publications in this country, on the subject of the Apocryphal\ncontroversy.  From the fact of the society in Geneva not discovering much\nzeal for the distribution of the Geneva version of 1805, of which the\northodoxy was called in question, the consequence has arisen, that the\nfriends of that version have gradually seceded from the ranks of the\ninstitution.  And, let it be recorded to the praise of the society at\nGeneva, that, when the great mass of the continental Bible Societies were\nanxious, by establishing counter resolutions of their own, to manifest a\nspirit of resistance to the Anti-Apocryphal resolution of the London\nCommittee, the Geneva Society opposed this measure, and publicly\nmanifested its fidelity towards the British and Foreign Bible Society,\nand its lively gratitude for the favours bestowed upon it through a\nseries of years.  Assisted by powerful auxiliaries, and especially by\nthat of Satigny, under the administration of a most enlightened and\ndevout member of the church, M. le Pasteur Gaussen, they are doing much\nfor that part of Switzerland, and supplying an example on the continent,\nof sending money for the distribution of books in remote parts of the\nworld.  Of two individuals, occupying distinguished posts in that\nsociety, I must say a few words.  Its president, M. Vernet, is a person\nwho has experimentally felt the value of the Bible, and manifested, in\ncircumstances of deep trial, his confidence in its instructions and\nconsolations; and the secretary, M. Gautier, is an individual in whose\nfriendship as a Christian, and zeal as a member of this society, I have\nfound much cause to rejoice.  That the Committee is not framed upon a\nmore comprehensive and generous principle, is to be regretted; but it\nlabours assiduously and successfully as to the great object for which it\nis brought together.\n\nThe Bible Society of the Canton de Vaud has acted upon the principle of\nsecuring to itself a permanent income, for the perpetual distribution of\nthe Holy Scriptures, independent of new contributions\u2014by funding its\ncapital.  This measure has displeased many individuals in the Canton; and\nhas probably assisted to give birth to other societies in Lausanne and\nits neighbourhood, acting upon a different principle.  I speak from\npretty accurate knowledge of that Canton, when I say, that the state of\nreligion is very remarkably improved in it.  It is impossible that any\none who reads the religious publications of the day should be ignorant of\nthe severe measures adopted by the government of the Canton de Vaud,\nwithin a few years, to prevent religious meetings, and otherwise obstruct\nthe course of true religion.  But the advancement in piety, and\nespecially amongst the members of the Established Church, is not a little\nconspicuous.  I can truly say, that I visited no place where the spirit\nof religious enquiry was more alive, and where the taste was more\nextended for simple biblical reading.  The severity of the government has\nin a great measure relaxed.  The piety of the people has increased.  Is\nit unfair to consider as one of the instruments of this improvement,\nthat, in addition to the number of Bibles before in circulation there has\nbeen circulated, by the Bible Society of that place, 15,000 copies of the\nword of God, amongst a population of 160,000 persons?\n\nAs to the newly revised edition of Osterwald\u2019s Bible, published at\nLausanne, it is impossible not to condemn in it both the deviations from\nthe original, and the employment, in what are called the improvements, of\na great deal of paraphrastic language.  In speaking of that edition of\nthe Bible, I think it right, however, to bear my humble testimony to the\ngeneral character of the authors of this revision; and to state my\nconviction of the facility with which your Committee may have been\nbetrayed into something of undue confidence in them.  The gentlemen\nengaged in that revision, were some of them amongst the persons in the\nhighest general estimation for talents and piety: of Professor Levade,\nthe president of the Lausanne Bible Society, I may say that a more\nfaithful friend to the general distribution of the Scriptures cannot be\nfound.  I have myself taken the liberty of strongly expressing my dissent\nfrom him upon various subjects connected with the society in general, and\nthe Lausanne edition in particular.  But I must be allowed to say to his\nhonour, that, independent of the labour and cost he has sacrificed on\nthis edition of the Bible, he has for a series of years sustained the\nburden of the Cantonal Bible Society on his almost unassisted shoulders,\nand continues to exhaust the strength of his declining age in giving\nefficiency to the operations of this Institution.\n\nThe next Bible Society of importance which I visited was that of Basle.\nI was there soon brought into communication with the Committee on the\nsubject of their temporary estrangement from your Society on the ground\nof the late resolution as to the Apocryphal Books.  I endeavoured to\nexplain to the Committee the probable result of the resolutions to which\nthey had come of refusing to be even the agents of those Societies which\nhad resolved in no way to assist in the circulation of the Apocrypha.\nWhen they found that the decision of the London Committee was the result,\nnot of prejudice, but of conscience, they at once gave up their own\nresolutions, and acquiesced in the proposal which was made to them.  They\npassed a resolution expressive of their kind sympathy towards the British\nand Foreign Bible Society; and they undertook still to serve it as\nagents; although, at the same time, they could not, according to their\njudgment of the question, consent personally, and for themselves, to\ncirculate Bibles without the Apocryphal Books.  I cannot easily convey to\nyou the high opinion which I formed of the Committee of the Bible Society\nof Basle, and of its venerable President, the Antistes.  The interest\nwhich they feel, and the labour which they devote to the distribution of\nthe Scriptures is what I have never seen exceeded in any other place, and\nI can have no doubt, that whatever commission you are pleased to entrust\nto them, will be judiciously and faithfully executed.\n\nIt is my wish in the last place to say something on the state of Germany.\nAnd here the few observations I have to offer will be of a somewhat more\ngeneral nature, or, at least, less confined to particular societies.\n\n\n\nI.  As to the question of the Apocrypha.\n\n\nThe German Societies labour under great difficulty respecting the\nApocryphal Books; and the greater part of them are not at present\ndisposed to give them up.  They ground their determination in general\nupon the following reasons.  1st.  In all cases in Germany the Societies\nare sanctioned by the government of the respective countries, on the\nimplied condition of distributing the Scriptures as approved by the\necclesiastical authority, i.e. with the Apocryphal Books.  In some cases\nthat condition is even expressed.  The Societies could not therefore\nalter the mode of distributing the Scriptures, without the permission of\nthe government, which permission they apprehend would not be granted if\nit were asked.  2d.  There are in Germany a vast variety of moral school\nbooks, the lessons of which are taken partly from the Apocrypha, and\nwhich they imagine would be useless if the Apocrypha were taken from\ncommon use.  3dly.  The original principle on which the Foreign Societies\nformed their alliance with the British and Foreign Bible Society was\n_conciliatory_.  The Anti-apocryphal resolution they hold to be\n_reforming_; and they think that no Bible Society has a right to\nestablish a reforming principle as a law to other Bible Societies.  4th.\nThe question being, as they conceive, whether each Bible Society shall be\npermitted to bind the Apocrypha together with the canonical books, at\ntheir own expence; they think they may claim for the Apocrypha bound up\nwith the Bible, the same liberty which is exercised in England in the\ncase of prayer books bound up with the word of God.  A person, they\napprehend, in this country may bind up with the Bible he receives from\nthe Bible Society whatever tract he pleases, without forfeiting his right\nas a member of that Society.\u2014Some persons desire to retain the Apocryphal\nbooks as valuable historical documents; others fear the ill consequences\nwhich might result from appearing to the ill-informed to take away a part\nof Scripture.\u2014Of all these reasons it may be said that they are founded,\nrather on views of expediency, than conscience; and are not therefore to\nbe put in comparison with the great principle involved in this question,\nand which has directed the decision of the London Committee, viz. whether\nthat which is _not_ the word of God ought to be put on a level with that\nwhich _is_.  I cannot but think that if our Christian brethren in Germany\nwere led to this view of the question; that if the writers on the\nsubject, in this country, were to direct a little of the zeal for their\ninstruction upon this point; the more pious part of our neighbours would\nbe induced, at no distant period, to adopt the resolution which we have\nestablished.  In the meantime, there are very many persons and districts,\nas the correspondence of the Society may testify, who, even now, are\nwilling to receive and distribute the Bible without the apocryphal\nwritings.  The example of these societies will, I doubt not, work\npowerfully upon others.\n\nFrom all that I was able to learn in Germany, it appeared to me that, to\nevery class of protestants, the resolution of your Committee respecting\nthe Apocrypha will be attended with immense advantage.  Great benefit may\nresult, from this resolution, to the general theological teaching of that\ncountry.  A large proportion of the errors of the German divines, appear\nto me to have originated in breaking down the boundaries of inspiration.\nThe first work published by Semler, who may be considered as the\noriginator of the new school of Theology, in Germany, is entitled\n\u201cApparatus ad liberalem Novi Testamenti Interpretationem.\u201d  The object of\nthis work is to give extent to the powers of human reason; and, in\ndefiance of the common notions of the authority of inspiration, to\naccommodate Scripture to the philosophic views of the author.\u2014Subsequent\nwriters have contended for the partial inspiration of the Scripture;\nothers for the unreasonableness of inspiration altogether, &c. till the\ndignity and authority of the divine sanction, is wholly withdrawn from\nthe word of God, and critics have felt themselves at liberty to discuss\nboth the books of the Bible, and their contents with no other restraint\nthan they would feel in the examination of the most ordinary publication.\nNow the anti-apocryphal resolution of the Committee will I conceive go\nfar to suggest for each man\u2019s consideration, this important\nquestion\u2014\u201cWhat is, and what is not the Bible?\u201d and, thus, a primary and\nmost important question will be discussed, one which must stand at the\nbasis of all sound theology; and this, if rightly determined, will assist\nto bring back the German divines from the wild notions they have so\ngenerally adopted; and the benefit resulting from this resolution will\nprobably be a larger distribution of the Bible itself.  In those cases\namongst the protestants where the societies may refuse to act as agents\nfor the distribution of our canonical books, which cases will, I\napprehend, eventually be very few; those societies may be prompted to\ngreater exertion to secure their independent existence; and in the case\nof most Bible Societies, it will be found that they are capable of doing\nmuch more for themselves, and others, than they have done, whilst they\ncontinued to receive assistance from this country.\n\nWith respect to the Catholic population any considerable distribution of\nthe _Old_ Testament will undoubtedly be prevented by the Anti-apocryphal\nresolution.  But this need not hinder the circulation of the _New_\nTestament.  This indeed may be distributed in larger abundance than\nbefore.  Leander Van Ess told me that he had then before him applications\nfor 30,000 copies of the Catholic New Testament, whilst he had only two\nor 300 in his depository; and that he waited only for the direction of\nyour Society to encrease his circulation to a very great amount.\u2014I have\nno hesitation then in offering my cordial approbation to those who have\nsupported the Anti-apocryphal Resolution of the Bible Society.\nIndependently of every other consideration, this resolution will I think,\nspeedily, as well as remotely, be attended with important benefit as\nrespects the advancement of real Christian knowledge.\n\nII.  It may be desirable to say a few words as to the _Committees and\nofficers of the German_ Bible Societies.  It has been a subject of grief\nto me, on my return to this country, to find these individuals\nreproached, in very general terms, as \u2018infidels,\u2019 \u2018Neologians,\u2019\n\u2018designing men,\u2019 \u2018who have taken the offices they hold for their crafts\u2019\nsake,\u2019 &c.\n\nIt is true I apprehend that many Neologians are connected with the Bible\nSocieties in Germany,\u2014some by virtue of the offices they hold, and others\nvoluntarily.  In Heidelburg for instance the fundamental rules of the\nSociety placed all the professors of divinity attached to the university,\nex-officio, upon the Committee of the Bible Society.  One of these\nindividuals is the professor Paulus.  But from all the inquiries I was\nable to make, I could never learn that any individual in Germany,\npublicly holding neological opinions, was an _active agent_ of the Bible\nSociety.  And how could any thing like an active agency be expected of\nsuch individuals.  After the Bible Society had been formed in Germany, it\nsoon spread very rapidly.  Many Neologians, from various motives no\ndoubt, enlisted themselves in its ranks.  But what was the real history\nof this movement?  The religious body were the originators of these\nsocieties, but they were soon compelled to seek the protection of others\nin authority, because the existence of societies in many countries must\ndepend upon their sanction; and they were glad, even in other cases, to\nmake those who heeded not the word of God themselves, the distributors of\nit to the rest of the world.  But if, at this time, there are inactive\nagents of the German Bible Societies; if there are even secretaries who\nfeel very little of the value of the Bible,\u2014are there no counterparts to\nthese in our own country?  We take the best we can get,\u2014lament their\ndeficiencies,\u2014and devoutly wish them better; but still we prefer the\ndeposit for Bibles being placed in such hands, rather than having no\ndeposit at all.\n\nI am able, however, by a convincing document, to shew what is the real\nestimate taken of the Bible Society by the Neological party in Germany.\nThere is published at Darmstadt what is called the Church Newspaper,\nwhich is devoted to the consideration of subjects connected with\nreligion.  The editor of this paper, as you will judge by the following\nextract, is a Neologian, and let us hear the language in which he speaks\nof the Bible Societies.\n\nExtract from the Church Newspaper of Germany, Kirchen Allgemeine Zeitung,\npublished at Darmstadt, Sept. 28th 1826.\n\n                           _Heading of the Number_.\n\n    \u201cVerily were Christ now to appear again he would say, \u2018Woe unto you,\n    Scribes and Pharisees, Hypocrites,\u2019 for ye anxiously cling to the\n    letter of the Scriptures, which ye misunderstand; and the spirit, of\n    which ye cannot comprehend; ye insist on the doctrine of a dead\n    faith, but neglect the weightier matters of the law, judgment and\n    mercy; and ye appear outwardly pious whilst within ye are full of\n    hypocrisy and wickedness.  Depart from me, he would exclaim, ye\n    workers of iniquity, projectors of heresy, slanderers, and breakers\n    of the peace, I never knew you.\u201d\n\n                            \u201cON BIBLE SOCIETIES.\u201d\n\nAfter stating some general advantages which might result from the\ndistribution of the Scriptures amongst the Heathen, such as \u201ccalling into\naction the slumbering energies of man,\u201d \u201cameliorating his nature,\u201d and\nlaying the \u201cfoundation of his moral improvement;\u201d the editor goes on to\nmention the ordinary arguments which are made use of against Bible\nInstitutions in Germany, and which arise chiefly from the part which\nforeigners have taken in their establishment.\n\nHe then states some particular reasons which should lead his readers more\ncarefully to consider the mode of conducting Bible Societies, and to\ngreater caution in lending them their support and patronage, particularly\nat the present period.\n\nI now give the translation of an extract.\n\n    \u201cIn the first place we feel ourselves constrained to assert, that the\n    dissemination of the Scriptures does not appear to us to be conducted\n    in a proper spirit, and with proper views.  If we investigate the\n    character of many of those who distinguish themselves by more than\n    ordinary activity in the cause, it cannot be denied that they very\n    frequently seem to possess only a narrow view of theology, and\n    exceeding littleness of mind.  That laudable veneration, which they\n    feel for the word of God, easily acts in them, in the absence of more\n    solid theological attainments, as a check to the liberty of thought\n    and judgment, to which Christianity leads; they confound an\n    ecclesiastical system of doctrine with the Gospel, they adhere with\n    enthusiastic devotedness to exterior forms, and sacrifice to these\n    the heavenly spirit of Christianity; they seek the essentials of our\n    religion in the blood and wound theology {15} (blut und wunden\n    theologie) of former centuries, and it is sufficiently clear that, by\n    the exertions of such men, a blind adherence to the mere letter of\n    the word of God is again sought to be brought into use, to the great\n    injury of genuine Christianity and moral improvement.  The peculiar\n    interest which Mystics and Pietists of the present day take in the\n    advancement of Bible Societies, and the connection in which they\n    frequently stand with those who create disorders, by dissent and\n    separation from the church, is a sign of the times which ought not to\n    be passed over unnoticed.\u201d\n\nThe editor next objects to the resolution taken in England on the subject\nof the Apocrypha.  This the editor thinks should be opposed, on the\nground, amongst other reasons, that two _thirds of the canonical books of\nthe Old Testament_ might _with far less injury be withheld than one\nsingle book of the Apocrypha_, for instance, the book of Sirach, &c. &c.\n\nI think from this extract it will be obvious, that the Bible Society\nabroad is regarded by the enemies of the truth as a great instrument for\npromoting evangelical religion; and, in spite of what has been said\nagainst its agents and its apocryphal books, I cannot but concur with the\nGerman editor, in his general argument.  It is my deliberate conviction,\nthat the Bible Society has been in Germany the instrument of the greatest\ngood; and, if some of the heads of this institution have not profited by\nit as they ought, the poor at least, in many considerable districts, have\nbeen gainers to an extent of which those are little aware who have not\ncarefully investigated the subject.\n\nIn another part of the continent, I certainly found some persons,\nprofessedly heterodox in their opinions, who were nevertheless, active\nfriends of the Bible Society.  In one case, I heard that the public\nmeeting of a very large city; and in another, that the welfare of a\nsociety, in an immense Protestant district, depended upon the exertions\nof persons of the class above described.  But could I fail, in such\ncases, to thank God, who had kindly placed the antidote so near to the\nbane, and had employed an enemy of the truth as the destroyer of his own\nprinciples?\n\nIII.  A point, to which I must refer, is that of the _persecution of\nreligious characters_ in Germany, and which persecutions have been\nrepresented as at least sanctioned by the friends of the Bible Society.\nThis statement as a general fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect.  I\ntook great pains to investigate it on the spot.  I wish, for obvious\nreasons, not to enter far into particulars.  But of one individual, whose\nhistory has been before the public, and whose sufferings have been\nintroduced to their notice with a sort of tragical effect, I can venture,\nafter a minute inquiry, to affirm, that his troubles arose, not so much\nfrom his simple proclamation of the truths of the Gospel, as from his\nindiscretions, from his resistance to civil as well as ecclesiastical\nregulations, and his general intemperance of conduct.  I must also add,\nthat some of the persons who _protected_ that individual, were at the\nvery time active agents of the Bible Society in their own country.  One\nsimple fact will be sufficient to establish these statements.  The truths\nof the Gospel have been and are proclaimed, and are tolerated, and even\napproved in several of the places from whence this individual was driven.\n\nWith respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same effect has\nbeen made.  It is certain that an angry feeling was excited in the minds\nof several members of the Committee of the Bible Society of that\ndistrict, on the occasion which gave rise to the persecutions in that\nCanton.  At the same time, any participation in this persecution is, as\nto himself, distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those\nwho were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in any\nway in the list of the officers of the Bible Society.  Two circumstances\nconnected with the measures which were pursued in this Canton, in\nopposition to religious meetings, are sufficiently remarkable and\ninteresting to deserve our notice.  In the first place, the astonishing\nprogress of religion during this period; and, in the second, the\ndiscovery, during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter\ninefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of inquiry\nafter truth.\n\nIV.  A point, which I must bring before your notice, is the actual _state\nof true religion_ on the _continent_, and more especially in _Germany_.\nIt is certainly true that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken\npossession of the universities, the public prints, and the higher orders\nof society.  At the same time I believe, that the statements which have\ngone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as to two points,\ninaccurate.  In the first place, they describe only one side of the case;\nfor, if there is much infidelity and neology on the continent, there is\nalso a considerable sprinkling of true religion.  And, secondly, The evil\nwhich has existed, and does exist, may be said to be every day\ndiminishing.  As to the first of these facts, I could point out\nindividuals, parishes, and districts, where real religion is in active\noperation; places and persons altogether unconnected with those agents\nfrom England, who have been said to be the only instruments of doing\nimportant good on the continent, and which are therefore unrecognised by\nthem, and possibly unknown to them.  I could name one little knot of\nparishes, all within a small circle, in which are twelve ministers,\nearnest, orthodox, and devout servants of the Redeemer.  I could name\nanother place, where forty ministers were lately assembled for purposes\nof religious and spiritual communion.  I might also allege the fact, that\nat different universities there are professors who openly, and from the\nheart, confess the true faith.  I may indeed affirm that, from the\ncottages of the poor to the palaces of kings, there are those who walk\nworthy their high vocation as Christians and as men.  The admitted evils\nare every day diminishing.  The number of converts is increasing.  The\nopinions of Paulus and Schulthess seem likely to die away with\nthemselves.  What can be more remarkable than the change which has taken\nplace in the kingdom of Prussia, where the leaders of the state and the\nuniversity may now be said to hold the very opposite creed to that which\nobtained with their immediate predecessors?\n\nThere are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany, I feel it\nright to say a few words\u2014the one is Leander Van Ess, the other your late\ninvaluable Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.\n\nLeander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I remained with him\nduring a day, which I passed at Darmstadt.  It was impossible not to be\nprepared, by his writings, to form a very high estimate of his character\nand his labours; and these expectations were, in my case, in no wise\ndisappointed.  I was struck with his holy devotedness to his great\nobject, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded charity.  He is\na man who rises at four o\u2019clock in the morning to his daily task; pursues\nit often without cessation through the day; and, as I was informed by\nthose best acquainted with his habits, he is often found at midnight\noccupied with his work.  He is making a new version of the Bible, which,\nby the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to print;\nand, although he holds the opinions of the church to which he belongs on\nthe subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion to be no hinderance\nto others; so that they will, in any way, read the word of God.  He is,\ntherefore, preparing his version for publication, in three forms.  First,\nwith the Vulgate printed in a small type at the bottom of each page, and\nwith the Apocrypha intermixed; this is the form in which the Catholics\nwish to receive it.  Secondly, without the Vulgate, and with the\nApocrypha appended, for the Protestants of that country.  Thirdly,\nwithout the apocryphal books, for the distribution of our own Bible\nSociety, if we are disposed to adopt it.  Here is a specimen of that\nlargeness of charity by which every part of his conduct is influenced.\nSo that, by Protestants and Catholics, who are partakers of the same\nspirit, he is alike esteemed.  The king of Wirtemberg has presented him\nwith a medal, in token of his useful labours in his kingdom.  The\ngrand-duke of Baden has given him money to purchase Testaments.  And the\ngovernment under which he lives sanction his proceedings, and one member\nin particular of the royal family of the grand-duke affords him constant\nprotection and assistance.  So that kings, I may say, are \u201cthe nursing\nfathers\u201d of his plans and labours.  I consider this society as\nprivileged, in no ordinary degree, in having such an agent and friend on\nthe continent.  The assistance which he has already rendered to the\nSociety has been very considerable.  He has a great work on his hands.\nCommunications are always to be kept open, letters to be written; and, in\na country where there is a fastidiousness in receiving any religious\noffering from abroad, no one, who has not tried the experiment, can judge\nhow much judgment, care, and delicacy it requires to bestow the gift\nwithout injuring the cause it is intended to promote.\n\nThe other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is your late dear\nand honoured Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.  The present was not the first\nopportunity I had enjoyed of tracing the extent of his labour, and of\nascertaining the estimation in which he is held on the continent.  It is\nright to be known, that Dr. Steinkopff, before he came to England, filled\nan office of large correspondence on the subject of religion, and which\ngave him perhaps a better acquaintance with the religious state of\nGermany, than, I may venture to say, any other individual.  He has\nconstantly held communications with his successors in the important and\ninfluential office which he himself held; and this has given, to himself,\na power of judging of the exact state of the continent; and, to his\nlabours, a degree of efficiency, which could scarcely have been possessed\nwithout it.  But when I speak of the value of Dr. Steinkopff to the Bible\nSociety, it is not to any mere outward circumstance I would mainly\nadvert.  I may venture to say, that his character has been one grand\ninstrument of your success on the continent.  \u201cIf,\u201d said a person, of\nconsiderable influence in Germany, to me, \u201cyou do not want Dr. Steinkopff\nany longer in England, send him over here, and he will find friends\nenough.\u201d  Wherever he has appeared, either as the officer of your Society\nor as a private individual, he has left a name behind him which, next to\nthe favour of the Master he has so affectionately and devotedly served,\nand the good which he has been the instrument of effecting for his\nfellow-creatures, may be his comfort in his hours of sickness and of\nsolitude.  I saw none who knew him who were not ready to bear testimony\nto his humility, his conscientiousness, his vigour, his undeviating\ndevotedness to the Society whose officer he was.  May God long preserve\nhim to assist us by his counsels, and to advocate the cause of the\nSociety, with a voice which, whether at home or abroad, has been rarely\nheard in vain.\n\nI will now venture, in conclusion, to urge upon the Committee, as the\nplain inference from the foregoing statements, what appears to me to be a\nmost imperious duty.  It is that of cultivating and to manifesting a\n_spirit of kindness_, _of generosity_, _and enlarged benevolence towards\nour continental brethren_.  If it be considered as an offence that we\nexpress our \u201cunfeigned Christian regards\u201d towards many of our fellow\nlabourers abroad, I trust that we shall continue thus to offend.  I had\nconstantly occasion on the continent, whilst speaking on the subject of\nthe Apocrypha to those who most materially differed from us, to urge,\nthat, whereas by the new resolution of the British and Foreign Bible\nSociety, the ground upon which we could unite was somewhat narrowed, our\ntemper of mind, our sympathy, and love might remain the same; and that,\nif we could hope less than ever to \u201creconcile all opinions,\u201d we might\nstill endeavour \u201cto unite all hearts.\u201d\n\nThis was the leading principle of our Society in the infancy of its\ninstitution; and, now that we are more matured in age, let us labour not\nto depart from it.  Far then from advising the officers of this Society\nto suffer themselves, in their communications with the continent, to be\nlectured into a cold, dry, measured style of writing, I would exhort them\nto give vent to their warm and generous feelings.  They may, in so doing,\nerr in the sight of those disposed to make men \u201coffenders for a word;\u201d\nbut they will better please the compassionate Master they serve; they\nwill, under the divine blessing, cherish the fainting spirit of\ncontinental Christianity, and fan that spark of piety and zeal which is\nlighted up, I trust, never to be extinguished.\n\nI hope too the Committee will be encouraged as to the general objects and\noperations of the Society.  I am, by actual observation, more than ever\nconvinced, that, on a very large scale, this institution is on the\ncontinent, a favoured instrument in the hands of Divine Providence.  The\ngood which it has accomplished is immense.  The evils which have been\ncharged upon it, exist, rather in imagination, than in reality.  Let the\nCommittee go on to do what they can, and to do all in the spirit of love\nand generosity.  Let them commit every endeavour to the blessing of Him\nto whom the souls of the multitudes scattered over the continent are\nunspeakably dear; let them be confident that the word of the Lord will\nhave free course and be glorified; and that millions will arise, at the\nlast day, to acknowledge with gratitude and joy the labours of this\nSociety.  Let the temper of the Society remain unimpaired at home; and it\nneed not be disquieted at objections or assaults which will not at least\ncommend themselves to the world at large, by the general spirit in which\nthey have been defended.  And may we never fail to repose an honourable\nconfidence in the officers and friends of the Society; nor forget, in\njudging of others, to take into account the infirmities of our common\nnature.  May we feel that, having embarked in the glorious enterprise of\nmaking all men acquainted with the pure and unadulterated word of God, it\nis not for us to be checked by slight obstacles; but to go forward,\nconquering and to conquer, in the name of him who has loved us, and given\nhimself for us, and who has consigned this volume, as his precious\nlegacy, to a perishing and suffering world.\n\n                           Believe me, my Lord,\n\n                  Your Lordship\u2019s very obedient servant,\n\n                                                            F. CUNNINGHAM.\n\n_Pakefield_, _Lowestoft_,\n      _Jan._ 5, 1827.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n           IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes\n\n\n{6}  2397 Bibles, 2436 Testaments.\n\n{15}  The doctrine of the atonement of Christ, and justification by\nfaith.","title":"A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Bexley: containing a statement 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","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":7902}