{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58112/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58112","id":"gutenberg_58112","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58112","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - British","Category: History - Religious","Cromer Ladies' Bible Association"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1839 Josiah Fletcher edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n [Picture: Public domain book cover]\n\n\n\n\n\n REPORT\n OF THE\n CROMER\n LADIES\u2019 BIBLE ASSOCIATION,\n\n\n MDCCCXXXVIII.\n\n * * * * *\n\n NORWICH:\n PRINTED BY JOSIAH FLETCHER, UPPER HAYMARKET.\n 1839.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nSTATEMENT\nUPON\nTHE ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY\nOF THE\nCromer Ladies\u2019 Bible Association,\n1838.\n\n\n * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nPRESIDENTS.\n\n\n THE HONORABLE MRS. UPCHER, AND MRS. BUXTON.\n\n\n\n\nVICE-PRESIDENT.\n\n\n MISS BUXTON.\n\n\n\n\nTREASURER.\n\n\n MISS JOHNSON.\n\n\n\n\nSECRETARIES.\n\n\n MISS EARLE, MRS. B. RUST, MRS. J. W. RUST.\n\n\n\n\nCOMMITTEE.\n\nMRS. UPCHER MISS PEELE\nMISS BUXTON MISS PANK\nMISS JOHNSON MISS SANDFORD\nMISS FIELD MISS RICHARDSON\nMISS FULLER MRS. SIDLE\n\nCash Secretary\u2019s Statement.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._ _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\nAmount received 42 15 9\nthis year, FREE\nDitto BIBLES 15 5 0\u00bd\n 58 0 9\u00bd\nAmount received 507 2 8\nsince the\nestablishment,\nFREE\nDitto BIBLES 407 13 2\u00bd\n 914 15 10\u00bd\nAmount paid since 896 10 3\u00bd\nthe establishment\nfor Bibles,\nTestaments, &\nGrants\nIncidental 18 5 7\nexpenses\n 914 15 10\u00bd\nGrant to Norwich 37 8 4\u00bd\nAuxiliary Bible\nSociety, 1838\n\nBible Secretary\u2019s Statement.\n\n BIBLES TESTAMENTS TOTAL\nReceived this year 62 24 86\nDistributed this year 73 29 102\nReceived since the 1465 1072 2537\nestablishment,\nDistributed ditto 1418 1032 2450\nRemaining on hand 47 40 87\n\nReceived free since the establishment.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\n1828 45 9 3\n1829 45 10 9\n1830 47 5 8\n1831 45 13 3\n1832 43 12 0\n1833 49 7 1\n1834 51 10 8\n1835 51 19 2\n1836 36 6 8\n1837 46 0 4\n1838 42 15 9\n 505 10 7\nInterest 1 12 1\n 507 2 8\n 914 15 19\u00bd\n\nReceived for Bibles and Tests. since the establishment.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\n1828 52 17 9\n1829 43 16 9\n1830 39 5 4\u00bd\n1831 44 13 7\u00bd\n1832 39 2 11\n1833 52 11 0\n1834 40 0 3\n1835 35 6 6\n1836 23 2 1\n1837 21 11 11\n1838 15 5 0\u00bd\n 407 13 2\u00bd\n 507 2 8\n 914 15 10\u00bd\n\nPaid for Bibles & Testaments.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\n1828 75 8 8\n1829 56 1 6\n1830 59 4 6\n1831 59 7 4\n1832 51 10 3\n1833 69 19 5\n1834 48 14 3\n1835 47 1 9\n1836 32 18 5\n1837 31 17 10\n1838 19 11 5\n 551 15 4\nGrants 344 14 11\u00bd\nInc. Exp. 18 5 7\n 914 15 10\u00bd\n\nGrants.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\n1828\u20139 40 0 0\n1830 35 0 0\n1831 29 13 2\n1832 29 18 0\n1833 30 10 7\n1834 41 13 2\n1835 38 14 10\n1836 25 10 8\n1837 36 6 2\n1838 37 8 4\u00bd\n 344 14 11\u00bd\n\nAnnual Subscribers.\n\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\nLADY SOPHIA WINDHAM 1 1 0\nMRS. GURNEY, 1 10 0\n_Grove_\nMRS. BARING 1 1 0\nMRS. MORRIS 1 1 0\nMRS. PAUL 1 1 0\nMRS. FOX 1 1 0\n\nDISTRICTS.\n\n1. _Aylmerton & Felbrigg_.\n _\u00a3_ _s._ _d._\nMrs. Fuller 4 0\nMrs. Knights 4 0\nMr. Daniel 4 0\nSmaller subscriptions 6 0\n2. _Alby & Aldboro\u2019_.\nMr. Springall 12 0\nRev. Mr. Shuckburgh 6 0\nMrs. Clarke 6 0\nMrs. Hacon 6 0\nMr. Press 6 0\nMiss Press 6 0\n3. _Beeston_.\nSmaller subscriptions 2 0\n4. _Baconsthorpe & Bodham_.\nMiss Mayes 6 0\nMiss S. Mayes 6 0\nMrs. Bumfry 3 0\nMrs. Beales 6 0\n5. _Beckham_.\nCook Flower, Esq. 12 0\nMr. Fuller 6 0\nMr. Sayers 6 0\n6. _Cromer_.\nMiss Earle 6 0\nMr. Betts 6 0\n7. _Cromer_.\nMrs. Sharpe 6 0\nMrs. Goodwin 12 0\nMrs. Bunnett 12 0\nMiss Press 6 0\nMiss Pank, _Lodge_ 6 0\n8. _Cromer_.\nMrs. J. Rust 6 0\nMrs. B. Rust 6 0\nMrs. Hogg 6 0\nMrs. Sidle 6 0\n9. _Cromer_.\nMiss Peele 6 0\nMiss Field 6 0\n10. _Cromer_.\nMr. F. Pank 6 0\nMr. E. Heath 12 0\n11. _Gimingham & Trimingham_.\n12. _Hanworth_.\nMiss Mayow 6 0\nMiss U. Mayow 6 0\nMr. Press 6 0\nMrs. Press 6 0\nMr. Amis 6 0\n13. _North Repps_.\nMiss Gurney 12 0\nMiss Buxton 12 0\nMiss Richardson 6 0\n14. _North Repps Hall_.\nT. P. Buxton Esq. \u00a31 10 0\nMrs. Buxton \u00a31 10 0\nA. Johnston, Esq. 12 0\nMrs. Johnston 12 0\nMr. T. F. Buxton 12 0\nMr. C. Buxton 12 0\nMiss Buxton 12 0\nMrs. Cook 6 0\nMrs. Hyde 4 0\nM. Kealey 4 0\nE. Rix 4 0\nM. Holmes 4 0\nS. Bourne 4 0\n15. _Overstrand and Sydestrand Village\nAssociation_.\nMiss Gurney \u00a32 2 0\nMiss Buxton \u00a32 10 0\nMrs. Cubitt 6 0\nMiss Carr 6 0\nMrs. Cross 6 0\nM. J. Cross 6 0\nMiss Emery 6 0\nMrs. Moore 4 0\nMrs. Field 4 0\nMiss Field 4 0\nMiss M. Field 4 0\nMr. R. Curtis 6 0\nMr. J. Curtis 4 0\nH. Roper 4 0\nL. Rushmore 4 0\nE. Goodwin 4 0\nE. Greenaker 4 0\nS. A. Nichols 4 0\nJohn Spinks 4 0\nStephen Rogers 4 0\nJohn Howes 6 0\nSmaller subsns. \u00a32 10 0\n16. _Roughton_.\n17. _Runton_.\nH. J. Johnson, Esq. 12 0\nMiss Johnson 6 0\nMiss E. Johnson 6 0\nMr. I. Pank 6 0\nMrs. Yearham 3 0\nMrs. Bumfry 3 0\nMr. Wright 3 0\nMiss Wright 3 0\nMrs. Baker 3 0\nMrs. Covell 3 0\nMiss Carr 3 0\nMiss Ellis 3 0\nSmaller subscriptions 7 0\n18. _South Repps_.\nMrs. Weeds 6 0\n19. _Saxthorpe & Corpusty_.\nMr. Kelly 4 0\nMr. Goldsmith 4 0\n20. _Sheringham_.\nThe Hon. Mrs. Upcher 12 0\nH. Upcher, Esq. 12 0\nMrs. Upcher 12 0\nMrs. E. C. Buxton 12 0\nArthur Upcher, Esq. 12 0\nMr. Overton 12 0\nMr. Long 6 0\nRowland 4 0\n21. _Stody_.\nAlice Pigott 6 0\nMrs. Ladle 6 0\nMr. Paul 4 0\nSmaller subscriptions 11 0\n22. _Weybourne_.\nT. F. Buxton, Esq. 12 0\nS. Hoare, Esq. 12 0\nThe Hon. Mrs. Upcher 6 0\nMrs. Copling 6 0\nMr. Arms 6 0\nStephen Eades 6 0\nMr. Pigott 6 0\n\n\n\n\nREPORT.\n\n\nWE, the committee of the Ladies\u2019 Bible Association for Cromer and its\nneighbourhood, consider it our duty to lay before our subscribers, the\nprefixed statement of the condition of our charge; and in doing so, we\nthink it may be expedient to accompany the same with some extracts from\nthe slight records which we have kept of our proceedings, since Nov.\n1827, when our friend, Mr. J. J. Gurney, now on a christian mission in\nAmerica, first called us together.\n\nWe may premise that in our note of the first year, (1828,) we find the\nneed of the society indicated by the fact, that in one outlying district,\na poor woman had lately given three shillings for the tattered remains of\na bible. The announcement of the formation of our association, and of\nthe facility which it afforded for obtaining bibles, was received with\npleasure throughout the neighbourhood. Many parents were desirous to\navail themselves of the opportunity of providing bibles for their\nchildren, and even some solitary old couples who could not read\nthemselves subscribed, that they might have a bible in the house for\ntheir neighbours to read to them.\n\nThe young people were generally found eager to subscribe. All the girls\n(but one) of one school gave their names as soon as the plan was proposed\nto them, and several having supplied themselves with bibles, continue as\nfree subscribers, and take much interest in reading the monthly extracts.\nIt was pleasant too, to see the desire of children in various places, to\ndevise a way to earn their own subscriptions. One little girl, who had a\nhen, set aside the first chickens for the payment of hers, and an errand\nboy volunteered to run some additional miles, to obtain a few pence for\nhis.\n\nSome interesting particulars of the effect of passages of the word of God\nupon individuals, have occasionally been related in conversation with the\ncollectors. On one of these applying to a young man, the latter said,\nthat though he had a bible, he would willingly subscribe five shillings\nfor another, (as a gift we suppose, to some friend,) and he proceeded to\nsay, that when very young he was very thoughtless, and, for a length of\ntime, had feared neither God nor man. Being alone one day in his\nfather\u2019s house, he saw a bible lying on a window seat; he opened it in a\ncareless manner, and his eye was caught by a verse of awful denunciation\nagainst sinners. He could not bear it, and flung the bible into a corner\nof the room, and went out. The words still haunted him, and, on his\nreturn after some time, seeing the bible still on the floor, he picked it\nup, and opening it again, observed a passage containing, as he said, \u201ca\npromise, a blessed invitation.\u201d His attention was happily attracted, he\nread on, and from that time, formed a habit of reading the scriptures,\nwhich has proved, as he thankfully acknowledged, a blessing to his soul.\n\nWe may now mention an instance of the utility of reading the bible freely\nand undauntedly to others. A gentleman, who had been in the practice of\nreading in the cottages, went into one for this purpose on the evening of\na fair held in the neighbourhood. He found the old woman on whom he had\ncalled gone to bed, but five or six rough-looking men were sitting round\nthe fire, and hesitatingly he asked, if they would let him read a chapter\nto them. They, with at least equal hesitation, assented, and our friend\nasked for a bible. They brought him first a Latin testament, but at last\na large bible was brought from another cottage, and he read to them the\n26th chapter of St. Matthew\u2019s gospel, and spoke to them on the\ninjunctions there given. They all became attentive. One of the men who\nhad been a smuggler, and much addicted to drinking, and who would\nprobably have finished his evening by intoxication at the fair, appeared\nparticularly struck by what he then heard. On his going home, his wife\nwas astonished at his altered demeanor, but dared not speak to him; his\ndaughter, however, asked him, \u201cwhat he had been doing?\u201d On which, he\nanswered her in his uncouth way, that he had \u201cbeen praying and would pray\nagain, for so the gentleman had told him from the book.\u201d The man\nentirely changed his habits from this time. The following harvest he was\nseen by the same gentleman, coming out of a farm house with a party of\nfellow-labourers, and his kind friend spoke to him, fearing he had as\nformerly indulged himself. The poor man replied, \u201cI have been doing,\nsir, what I never in my life did before, I have refused a pint of beer,\nfor I did not want it;\u201d and his companions confirmed his words. His\nresolution was put to a severer test the next summer, for being lame he\nwas set to keep the birds from a field directly opposite one of the new\npublic-houses. \u201cWas it not a temptation to you?\u201d said the same\ngentleman. \u201cA sad temptation, sir, and very hard it is; but I have\nresisted and kept out.\u201d The poor man\u2019s conduct to his family was equally\nimproved; and we have perhaps the more pleasure in giving this little\nhistory, as it happened that the bible, which was rendered the instrument\nof convincing this poor man of the error of his ways, was furnished by\nour association.\n\nWe must here acknowledge that it in the spirit with which subscriptions\nare offered, and the prayers with which they are accompanied, which give\nvalue to the little collections, and we trust that the prevailing motive\nin most of the givers, is the honest desire to spread the knowledge of\nthat gospel which they have themselves learnt to prize. It is however\npleasant, when such a desire is expressed. Thus on one of our districts\nbeing lately revisited with a view more especially to the promotion of\nfree subscriptions, a fisherman came forward with his twopence a month,\nsaying. \u201cMay a blessing go with it; and perhaps even that, may be the\nmeans of saving one soul.\u201d A poor woman too, on giving her offering,\nsaid to the collectors, \u201cIf I have to work ever so hard, I will have the\npenny ready when you come again; for I will pay it for the sake of the\ncause.\u201d\n\nOne more instance of the same kind, we cannot refrain from giving as\nrelated by a beloved and lamented young member of our committee, who\nlaboured diligently during her brief career, to lead others to the\nknowledge of those promises of the Redeemer, of which we may thankfully\nbelieve she has experienced the blessed fulfilment.\n\n \u201cDecember 13th, 1833. We called on a poor woman to-day, who wished\n to subscribe for a bible for her son. After she had told us the\n size, she said, \u2018I am afraid of being troublesome, but might I give a\n trifle to the Bible Society?\u2019 God, she said, had done so much for\n her, and she felt such a great desire to do something for his glory;\n then she thought what a poor, miserable, sinful creature she was,\n could she be permitted to do anything in his service? What to do she\n could not guess! Then she thought she would set to work, and what\n she could spare of her earnings, she would give with all her heart to\n the Bible Society, if I would be so kind as to receive it. She made\n many more acknowledgments of God\u2019s mercy, particularly that of\n opening her mind, to understand the word of God, which though she had\n read, it was without profit to herself, till lately, and when people\n used to speak to her of the benefit of reading it, she hardly\n believed them, but now she found it was her greatest comfort; when\n she opened her bible, she seemed directed to the particular passage\n that suited her case; and when she went to a place of worship,\n whatever the minister said, seemed meant for her. She could not\n express all she felt for these mercies, but still to be silent, she\n knew would be wrong. It was settled that she should pay one penny a\n week, and when she gave me her first penny, she said, \u2018May God\u2019s\n blessing go with my mite, that it may be useful.\u2019\u201d\u2014A. U.\n\nOne of our committee gives the following account of a poor old deaf\nwidow, well known for twenty years past, as a consistent earnest\nchristian:\u2014\n\n \u201cShe is thankful to have been enabled to read and understand her\n bible.\u2014It was for some time a sealed book to her; she read it as a\n duty, but did not feel its power; she was convinced something was\n wrong in herself, and one evening, after having suffered much\n unhappiness at not being able to enjoy her bible as some did, she\n locked her cottage door, closed her shutter, spread her bible on her\n little table, and with tears, in earnest prayer, begged that God\n would show her her error, and the way of true happiness. She chanced\n to have opened her bible at the 16th of St. John, and her eye caught\n the verse, \u2018Hitherto hast thou asked nothing in my name, ask and thou\n shalt receive, that thy joy may be full.\u2019 This verse powerfully\n impressed her mind with the mistake she had been guilty of. She\n pleaded ever after the intercession of her Mediator, and has\n constantly enjoyed that peace and comfort his blessed word so fully\n promises.\u201d\n\nThe same lady writes:\u2014\n\n \u201cThe simplicity of a little child may not be uninteresting to those\n who wish to trace the use of the bible, in its effects upon the\n poor.\u2014A boy of eight years old, seeing his old grand-mother\n overwhelmed with grief at a severe loss of property, which she was\n quite unequal to retrieve, went up and kissing her, said, \u2018Pray don\u2019t\n grieve, God will be sure to take care of you.\u2014The bible tells us, he\n is a friend to the widow, and that must be true.\u2019 The poor woman was\n so struck by the earnestness of the child, that she made up her mind\n not to grieve, but to trust in God, and she is now happy and cheerful\n again.\u201d\n\nShe adds of another person who had lingered many years in acute\nsuffering, and whose departure was at length drawing near:\u2014\n\n \u201cPoor Mrs. W. continues to evince most strikingly the power of the\n bible to give comfort and support in the greatest need. She said to\n me,\u2014\u2018What would have become of me, had I been born in a heathen land,\n without a bible to rest upon?\u2019\u201d\n\nA gentleman, who was looking after some crews that had been wrecked in\nthe storm of Sept. 1st, 1833, went into a room at the public house where\nthey were staying, and found one young man alone, with a book before him.\nHe observed it was a bible, issued by our British and Foreign Society,\nand asked him if he was reading it. The young man said, \u201cYes, he did not\nknow that he could read a better book, for it was worth the saving.\u201d He\nthen said, he had bought it \u201cbecause it was so cheap, only three\nshillings, and a very fine book!\u201d Our friend remarked to him, that he\n\u201cmust know such bibles could not be built for that price, but that it was\nafforded by means of a subscription.\u201d This he said he knew, and then\nobserved, that sailors were now reading their bibles at his port,\nShields, more than they used to do. The gentleman said, he hoped that\nthey were not hypocrites. \u201cNo,\u201d the sailor said, \u201che thought not; he\nbelieved the prayer meetings and bible readings at the time of the\ncholera, had had a real effect upon numbers of them.\u201d\n\nWe would earnestly recommend our associates not to lose the\nopportunities, which their proximity to a dangerous coast too frequently\naffords, of applying the word of God to the comfort of the ship-wrecked\nmariner, and of fixing religious impressions which may have arisen in\nhours of peril. We possess a small dep\u00f4t of Dutch and French testaments,\nfor the use of foreigners under such circumstances, and have occasionally\nfound them acceptable. Our local position also calls for our unremitting\nefforts to enlighten our fishermen, whose lives are so often in jeopardy.\nThe precariousness of their situation is an argument to which persons of\nthis class will be found peculiarly accessible, when pressed to acquaint\nthemselves betimes with the way of salvation. Fishermen, too, have many\nspare hours, while waiting for the tide, or detained by bad weather, on\nshore or in harbour: we remember the pleasure with which a fisherman, who\nhad lately learnt to read, spoke to us of the delight he enjoyed in\nspelling out a chapter of the testament, in the cuddy of his herring\nboat, during many dreary winter evenings that he was moored in Boston\nBay.\n\nFor the sake of suggesting profitable topics of discourse, and of\nobtaining from time to time correct information respecting the progress\nof our work, and the moral condition of our districts, a set of queries\nfor our collectors was drawn up soon after the beginning of our\nassociation, and it is from the answers to these, that most of our facts\nare gathered. Some advantage is gained by keeping notes of our visits,\nthe state of a family is the better remembered, and appropriate remarks\nmay be made. Thus in one house, which was without a bible, the woman on\nbeing asked if she would subscribe, answered, she would consider about\nit. The visitor turned to her book and said, \u201cMrs. L. you gave me that\nvery answer when I called before, and that is four years ago to-morrow;\ntime flies.\u201d She was so struck that she immediately paid a penny towards\na half-crown testament, evidently frightened at her own procrastination.\n\nMany of our stories bear on the desirableness of a diligent and frequent\nrevision of our work. We give an extract from the notes of one of our\ncommittee, in 1833:\u2014\n\n \u201cHaving been somewhat struck with the example of the ladies of\n Wisbeach, recorded in the extracts for last October, of recanvassing\n their districts once in three years, I thought it might be well to\n visit a neighbouring village for this purpose. I did this, with the\n cordial concurrence of the collector, who though diligent and\n persevering is incapacitated by circumstances and health from extra\n exertions. We visited every house in the place, with scarcely an\n exception, and found 23 persons willing to pay for bibles and\n testaments. The place has had a constant, though small supply, but\n there would be a much larger demand, were it not for the lamentable\n want of education. Perhaps the discovery of such a state of things\n may prove in some instances one of the indirect benefits of bible\n visiting. The effects of the bibles and testaments already\n distributed, were in some instances happily observable. Many were\n shown me which had been purchased from the society, and some appeared\n to have been used and valued as we should wish. One elderly and very\n poor woman showed me her bible, and said, \u2018eighteen years ago I\n learnt to read in it.\u2019 I asked how she had learnt at so advanced an\n age, being now nearly sixty: she replied, \u2018I went down on my knees\n and asked God Almighty to teach me, and he did.\u2019 I said I did not\n doubt that this was the best way, but I asked her what means had been\n used? She told me that she had heard a sermon preached on a text in\n St. John, which so strongly impressed her mind, that she felt an\n earnest desire to read it again. Having found the place, she spent\n nearly the whole night trying to spell the words, and returned to the\n employment the next day, till her son came in, and on his expressing\n surprise at her attempting to read, she said, \u2018Then why should not\n _you_ teach me? so he taught me whenever he came in from work, and\n now I can read a chapter any where in the bible.\u2019 In this case, if\n the Bible Society did not excite the desire, it was ready to furnish\n the means of gratifying it, to the great and lasting blessing\n apparently of the individual in question.\n\n \u201cAnother very old woman spoke in such terms of her testament, as to\n make me feel most thankful she had ever had it. She reads it\n constantly, to her old infirm husband, and says, \u2018I know it is all I\n have to attend to, for I am getting very forward in age.\u2019 I\n expressed a hope that she knew to whom to look for safety in the hour\n of death; she burst into tears at the name of the Saviour, and\n earnestly expressed her sole dependence upon him, saying, she found\n herself full of sins and infirmities, but that his redemption was\n sufficient. She showed me a friend\u2019s tract sent her several years\n ago by a lady, and said it had done her as much good as any thing\n (saving her bible) that she had in the house; also a little\n hand-bill, dropped in the road by some ladies, it was entitled, \u2018Do\n you ever pray?\u2019 and she said she had read it over and over, and it\n always reminded her of her duty. I cannot precisely repeat her\n conversation, but it made me strongly feel the truth of that text:\n \u2018Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many\n days.\u2019 In the road I met a very infirm and afflicted old woman, the\n survivor of a husband and, I think, of six children, living on two\n shillings per week. I asked her whether she had a bible. \u2018Ah, I\n paid in for one several years ago, and it is the greatest comfort I\n have had.\u2019 I afterwards saw her in her own abode, a wretched hovel,\n with a chimney in the middle, where she lives with her old and most\n wretched mother-in-law. She showed me, with pride, her precious\n bible, for which she had paid 7_s._ 10_d._, and said, \u2018I spared the\n money when I wanted it for bread many a time, but I have never\n grudged it, it is all the comfort I have, and much more comfort than\n victuals to me.\u2019 I believe, also, the effects of it may be seen in\n her forbearance and attention to her afflicted companion. Having\n completed my round, I took my list to the collector, who gladly\n received it, and will enter with fresh spirit on her increased task.\u201d\n\nThe benefit of carefully revisiting our districts, has been lately again\nexemplified; when on our collectors going to nearly all the families of a\nsmall circuit, about one hundred, most of which had already provided\nthemselves with bibles from our institution, they obtained sixty-four new\nfree subscribers, (many indeed of but one half-penny per month,) and\ntwenty-three for bibles and testaments. This was after the interest of\nthe people had been excited by an address from the zealous agent of the\nNorwich Auxiliary Society, delivered at Overstrand, in the church of the\nlong tried friend and unwavering advocate of our cause, the Rev. John\nCubitt. One poor woman said, that after hearing the gentleman, she went\nhome, and poured out her soul to God for the heathen, and on offering her\nhalf-penny, she said, \u201cshe gave it to the Lord, and wished she could make\nit more.\u201d Her husband, and a daughter, have also subscribed a penny per\nmonth, free.\n\nWhen a district becomes fairly stocked with bibles, we cannot expect to\nfind so many anecdotes, furnished by the contrast between the condition\nof destitute villages, and that of those supplied with the holy\nscriptures, but we think we may say that within the last ten years,\nowing, as we believe, to this society, combined with the extension of\neducation, and other causes, there is, amongst the people of this\nneighbourhood, a perceptible advance in their acquaintance with the word\nof God. This is, we think, apparent, if only in the increased readiness\nwith which the people turn to the chapters and verses referred to by\nministers in their sermons, or on other occasions, when the scriptures\nare read and explained to them. We hope, and we cannot but believe, that\nacquaintance with the letter of scripture must produce its corresponding\nfruits. Of these, however, it is not our province to speak rashly, but\nwe may observe that the contrast is very striking between the moral\nstate, and intellectual powers of the labouring classes of those\ncountries where the scriptures are in general use, and those where they\nhave no access to the written rule of life. The operations of the Bible\nSociety, and the need that exists for its redoubled exertions are fully\nset forth in the annual reports, and in the monthly extracts. You may\nnot, however, be displeased to have a few facts bearing on these points,\nwhich came under the notice of two of your own associates, during\nexcursions on the continent, in the summers of 1836 and 1838. In the\nlittle intercourse that they managed to get with the people, they had\nreason to feel the contrast above alluded to; they felt the want of an\nacknowledged rule of common reference in conversing with individuals of\nthose countries from which the bible is very much excluded. If, for\ninstance, they gave a tract on the keeping of the sabbath, they found the\npeople had no sense of the sabbath, as a day of religious observance,\nbecause they had no understanding of its being enforced as such in the\nscriptures. There was no bringing them \u201cto the law and to the\ntestimony,\u201d which they possessed not. Very different is the effect of\nconversing with the well-taught peasantry of Scotland. You are aware\nthat the scriptures are circulated with difficulty in the Austrian\ndominions. In Prague, once the seat of biblical study, and whence issued\none of the very earliest printed translations of the bible, a bookseller\ntold your associates that the Bohemian bible was a prohibited book; he\nmight obtain a copy for a known customer, but it would be a smuggling\ntransaction. Your associates were much struck by the wretched appearance\nof the Jews in that city. They have a separate quarter there, as well as\nat Frankfort, and in both it was melancholy to drive through the narrow,\ncrowded streets, and to observe the squalid degraded countenances, and\nthe repugnance with which they seemed to regard the christian strangers.\nIt made them long to extend to them the boon which they could receive\nwith equal pleasure and profit\u2014their own scriptures, in their own revered\nlanguage. Your associates did not scruple to offer a few tracts in their\npassage through Austria and Bohemia, and they noticed that those which\nconsisted solely of scriptural extracts were received with the most\npleasure: they often left groups reading them aloud, around the post\nhouses. The same may be said of the French text books, selected by Mrs.\nFry, which were always received as a most acceptable present, and so were\nthe few copies of the New Testament, which they were able to carry.\n\nA friend of theirs, Mrs. R. Fox, of Falmouth, had been in the South of\nFrance, last Spring, and had mentioned to your associates, that she had\nbeen much pleased with a young pair, Roman Catholics, who kept the small\nhotel attached to the post-house at Orange. She found they were just\nmarried, and she left them a bible as a wedding present. Your associates\nasked the pleasing young landlady, if she had made any use of the bible.\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said, \u201cher husband and herself read a chapter of it _every_\nevening;\u201d and the warmth with which they received the friends of the\ndonor, proved their true value for the gift.\n\nIn France, though there may be some opposition to the dispersion of the\nscriptures, especially in the south, no danger can be incurred by the\nattempt. In the Sardinian dominions, the case is far different, and it\nought to teach us to value our own privileges, when we reflect on the\nsufferings still endured by others, in their adherence to the testimony\nof Jesus. When your associates were at Nice last July, they heard of a\nvery respectable man, a small farmer, who had just been released from the\ndungeons of the neighbouring Villa Franca, where he had been spending six\nmonths in a vault sunk in the rocky cliff below the level of the sea, for\nthe crime of reading the bible to his wife, under his own tree on a\nSunday. The gentleman who told them this fact, assured them also, that\nthough P\u2013\u2019s affairs had suffered from his imprisonment, he was not a man\nto be daunted, nor was he likely to waver in his faith, or in his\npractice of studying the scriptures. Two other householders had also\nbeen imprisoned that spring for the same cause.\n\nYour associates could venture to give but few tracts and one or two\ntestaments in their passage through Piedmont and Savoy. These however\nwere received with much interest. The contrast was striking when they\nreached Geneva, and found a bible in every set of rooms of their well\nappointed hotel. They believe this is usual in the Protestant cantons,\nat least they found the same at other hotels, and Mr. Scholl the pasteur\nof Lausanne told them, they had been placed there by the committee of the\nBible Society. A great work of religion is carried on by means of this\nsociety, and also of the Protestant Evangelical Societies of France and\nSwisserland, which combine the objects of bible, missionary, and tract\nsocieties. For the former, they chiefly employ the colporteurs or\ntravelling salesmen, described by M. de Pressens\u00e9 in his excellent\naccount of the operations of the Bible Society in France, (printed in the\nappendix to the last report 1838,) and all that is there said of the\nusefulness of this devoted class of men, was amply confirmed by the\ninformation your associates gained respecting their labours. These too\nthey perform for so small a remuneration, that it is clear they are only\nprompted by conscientious motives. 100,000 copies of the scriptures are\nnow yearly distributed in France, and the directors of the societies\nfind, that it answers much better to sell them at a low price, than to\ngive them away. The people are less willing to surrender their bibles to\nbe burnt by the priests, if they have paid a sum of money, however small,\nfor their purchase. In some few instances, the Roman Catholic priests\nthemselves have been willing to promote the sale of the scriptures.\nAmongst the countries which your associates most desired to see provided\nwith the scriptures, should any opportunity offer of aiding the supply,\nwere the valleys of the Alps, the people of which are confined by the\nsnows for months together, and express great desire for a store of\nwinter\u2019s reading. They met with a gentleman who had lately visited Felix\nNeff\u2019s parishes of the Hautes Alpes. They asked if his work stood; he\nassured them it did, and said that Neff\u2019s people showed the effect of his\nlabours by the morality of their conduct, and especially by their\nkindness towards each other, and freedom from petty quarrels, and\ndisputes about their strips of fertile land, which, from the general\nbarrenness of the soil, form a frequent source of litigation amongst\nlittle proprietors in such situations. They are however, excessively\npoor; the best Sunday dinner they had to offer our friend was soup made\nwith suet, like tallow, and dried beans, with black bread two years old\nchopped with a hatchet; the fare which killed poor Neff: he much wished\nthat a supply of bibles could be sent them, for they greatly needed them.\nThey had kept up the schools established by Neff, and in the long\nwinter\u2019s evenings used to meet in the cow-houses (for warmth) to read by\nlamp light, but they were very destitute of books of all kinds. In no\nway, perhaps, could a grant of bibles be better bestowed, than amongst\nthese well-disposed mountaineers, who may be in danger of losing the\nchristian standing they have acquired under the influence of a most\ndevoted minister, if they are not assisted to keep up their knowledge of\nthe word of God which he so successfully laboured to infuse.\n\nWe cannot omit to notice, that our association had pleasure in taking its\nlittle share in the grant issued by the Parent Society, in thankful\ncommemoration of the event of the first of August, 1834, the abolition of\nslavery throughout the British dominions. Some of our subscribers\nespecially, took this occasion of proving that a liberal spirit is not to\nbe circumscribed by restricted means. The behaviour of the negroes on\nthe day of their first emancipation, and on that of its completion by the\ntermination of the apprenticeship, Aug. 1st, 1838, has been such as to\nafford an assurance that they could appreciate the gift. A private\nletter from Trinidad says, that the first of August last, \u201cwas spent in\npraise, reading the scripture and prayer; all was order and peace. Not a\ndrum or dance was heard, and the best of feeling pervaded every heart;\u201d\nand another from Jamaica, that \u201cthe day was there held as a sabbath.\u201d\n\nIn retracing our course, many pleasing recollections present themselves;\nwe could name an aged friend of the cause, who had always given us her\ncordial support, the last act of whose existence as to worldly affairs\nwas to put into her daughter\u2019s hand her subscription for the bible and\nother societies, in advance for the ensuing year, (1832,) with a warm\nexpression of the love for that gospel which must, she was convinced,\nfinally spread and prevail. We could speak of another, a member of our\ncommittee, who has carried the good wishes of us all to a distant island,\n(Ceylon,) where she is placed, and we doubt not to useful purpose,\namongst scenes of heathen darkness, which she could effectively feel for,\nwhen she little expected to behold them. Others of our fellow-labourers\nhave been called to other spheres of active duty; but in one sense we may\ntruly say, that our band has never been disunited. It will be seen from\nthe prefixed statement of our secretaries that we have distributed 2450\nbibles and testaments, since our commencement, but we fear that the\nobvious remark (on the inspection of our accounts) will be this, that our\nefforts have not advanced in the ratio that might have been expected; we\nare, however, convinced, that there needs but a vigorous push to carry\nthe present year\u2019s gathering ahead of any former sum, and this\ngratification we would call upon our friends, to secure for themselves\nand for us. We trust indeed that the work of renovation has been already\nput in train by the labours of Mr. Wiseman, (the society\u2019s agent, to whom\nwe have already alluded,) in forming new village associations, and in\nexciting a fresh spirit of zeal amount us. Our hearty desire is, that\nevery family in all our districts may be brought into direct connexion\nwith a society, which has already circulated nearly eleven million copies\nof the holy scriptures.\n\n\n\n\nQUERIES\nFOR\nThe Use of the Ladies\u2019 Bible Association\nAT CROMER.\n\n\n \u201cAs we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men.\u201d\n\n\n\nANSWERS REQUESTED ANNUALLY.\n\n\nI. Have we attended to the suggestions to collectors?\n\nAnd to the directions of our printed papers?\n\nHow many \u201cfree contributors\u201d have we now subscribing?\n\nHow many \u201csubscribers for bibles and testaments\u201d have we now on our list,\n\u201cnot yet supplied?\u201d\n\nCan we mention the number of our _free_ contributors in each district,\n\u201csince the establishment of our association?\u201d\n\nAnd the number of our subscribers for bibles or testaments since the\nestablishment of our association, in November, 1827?\n\n * * * * *\n\nII. How many families are there in our districts?\n\nHow many of these have we visited this year?\n\nWhat number of persons can read in these families visited, and how many\nare supplied with bibles?\n\nCould we ascertain the number of persons above six years old, who cannot\nread at all, in each of our districts?\n\n * * * * *\n\nIII. Are we alive to the feelings and interests of those with whom we\nconverse?\n\nHave we taken pains to inform ourselves of the habits of our cottagers\nwith regard to reading the scriptures, and do we endeavour, in seasons of\nsickness and calamity, to lead our neighbours to seek for comfort in the\nscriptures?\n\nCan we discover that any passages have impressed them, and can we mark\nthe application of such passages to their own circumstances? In very\nmany cases it may be desirable, not only to recommend the constant\nperusal of the scriptures, but to direct the attention of our subscribers\nto the plainest parts, and to point out particular chapters, and even\nbooks, of the sacred volume, for their study.\n\nDo we enforce the necessity of private prayer, and of a regular\nattendance on public worship?\n\n * * * * *\n\nIV. Can we bring forward any instances of piety and love to our Lord and\nSaviour, appearing in the character of the contributors?\n\nAny proofs of habits of prayer for the grace of the Holy Spirit?\n\nAny instances of truth, uprightness, and honesty? Any acts of\nself-government, self-denial, and general moral restraint?\n\nAny victory obtained over prevailing temptations, such as\nSabbath-breaking, drinking, smuggling, &c., over evil tempers, and\npropensities, in obedience to the commands of God?\n\n * * * * *\n\nV. What indirect benefits can we ascribe to the operation of our\nAssociation?\n\nAre we as collectors and visitors, instrumental in promoting peace and\nharmony, and in diffusing some religious feeling?\n\nAnd do we encourage good order, neatness, and economy, amongst our poorer\nneighbours?\n\n * * * * *\n\nVI. Do we try to interest all our subscribers in the dispersion of the\nscriptures in foreign parts?\n\nAnd are we careful not to discourage even the poorest from enjoying\naccording to their very limited means, the privilege and blessing of\ncontributing to so good a cause?\n\n * * * * *\n\nVII. Are we vigilant to uphold, and zealous to assist and to encourage\neach other in the work before us?\n\nAny information on the subjects of the above queries will be very\nthankfully received, for the use of the committee, by\n\n S. M. B.\n NORTH REPPS COTTAGE.\n\n * * * * *\n\n _N.B. This Report is printed independently of the funds of the Bible\n Society_.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Norwich:\n JOSIAH FLETCHER, UPPER HAYMARKET.","title":"Report of the Cromer Ladies' Bible Association, 1838","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":6905}