{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64472/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64472","id":"gutenberg_64472","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64472","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. John, XXI, 25 -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian literature -- Sermons","Congregational churches -- Sermons","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcribed from the [1870] edition by David Price.\n\n\n\n\n\n                          CHRISTIAN LITERATURE.\n\n\n                                 A Sermon\n\n            DELIVERED MAY 8TH, 1870, IN KENSINGTON CHAPEL, AT\n                   THE SEVENTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE\n                         RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. J. STOUGHTON, D.D.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                          PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n             56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL\u2019S CHURCHYARD;\n                           AND 164, PICCADILLY.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                        PARDON AND SON, PRINTERS,\n                             PATERNOSTER ROW.\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTIAN LITERATURE.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if\n    they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world\n    itself could not contain the books that should be written.\u201d\u2014JOHN xxi.\n    25.\n\nTHE chapter before us is plainly a supplement to the main history.  St.\nJohn concluded that history under a deep conviction that it was far from\na full account of his Master\u2019s wonderful ministry.  \u201cMany other signs,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201ctruly did Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, which are\nnot written in this book.\u201d  But in this supplementary chapter, added to\nthe Gospel, perhaps, after a lapse of several years, the inspired\nEvangelist returns to his subject, and relates with singular minuteness\nof detail the miracle of the draught of fishes.  He then appends to the\nwhole narrative an asseveration of its truth; and still feeling, as he\nhad done before, that there remained an inexhaustible fulness of facts\nand lessons in the life of his adorable Lord which defied every attempt\nat recording them, he at last finishes his Gospel\u2014inclusive of the\nappendix\u2014in the same spirit in which he had concluded what he wrote\nbefore.  Persuaded of the impossibility of doing perfect justice to such\na life as that of the Word made flesh, he employed a strong Oriental\nhyperbole to express the impossibility, whilst his heart overflowed with\nadoring love and wonder\u2014\u201cAnd there are also many other things which Jesus\ndid, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even\nthe world itself could not contain the books that should be written.\u201d\n\nIt is not unusual for an author to return to the perusal and examination\nof a work composed by him in bygone years with a deepened belief of the\ntruth of its contents, accompanied by an overwhelming conviction of its\nwant of completeness.  Another chapter may be added to what was written\nbefore, and then, when all is done, the pen may be laid down, with the\nfeeling that not one-half of all the beautiful truth to which the book\nrelates has yet been told.  A circumstance so common in connection with\nefforts of genius finds something of a parallel here, in connection with\nthe higher and nobler exercises of inspiration.  It is to the last degree\naffecting to behold the aged Evangelist reading over his own Gospel,\ndwelling with delight upon sacred memories of the Divine Friend who so\ngraciously loved him, and whom he so gratefully loved in return, thinking\nof one act of his after another, one word of his after another, never\nwritten, and realizing the impossibility of producing a perfect portrait\nof the Divine original, yet folding up his own MS. with the devout\nassurance that in giving it to the Church he was an instrument, in the\nhands of the Spirit, of bestowing upon mankind one of the richest\ntreasures of wisdom and knowledge.\n\n\n\nI.\n\n\nThe Evangelist here speaks of books\u2014of the possibility of writing an\nimmense number of them on one subject; and thus he calls to our mind the\nsaying of the wise man, that \u201cof making many books there is no end.\u201d\nThey were very numerous in the ancient world.  The library of the\nPtolemies at Alexandria was of such prodigious magnitude that it numbered\nhalf a million volumes.  Large public and private collections were not\nuncommon in St. John\u2019s time; and in Rome, at that period, the\nbookseller\u2019s trade signally flourished.  In the shop doors lists of new\npublications were exhibited; nor were the prices of some by any means\nimmoderate, a considerable proportion of the MSS. being so small as to\ncome under the modern denomination of pamphlets or tracts.  Thus early\nexisted multitudes of those productions which Milton eloquently describes\nas \u201cnot dead things,\u201d but such as \u201ccontain a potency of life,\u201d as \u201cactive\nas the soul whose progeny they are,\u201d preserving, \u201cas a vial, the purest\nefficacy and extraction of that living intellect which bred them,\u201d as\n\u201cvigorously productive\u201d as the \u201cfabulous dragon\u2019s teeth,\u201d and which,\nbeing \u201csown up and down,\u201d may, like them, perchance, spring up into armed\nmen.  Throughout the civilized world, in the first account of\nChristianity, were there books containing \u201cthe life-blood of master\nspirits,\u201d that \u201cethereal and fifth essence, the breath of reason.\u201d  And\nbesides these, there existed, among the elect people of God, a literature\nincomparably superior to anything else\u2014a literature furnished by\nhistorians, poets, and moralists, who far surpassed merely classic ones.\nFor now, in the fulness of time, the Greek, as well as the Hebrew\nlanguage, had become enriched by inspired contributions, and four\npeerless histories or biographies appeared\u2014four lives of the\ndivinely-incarnate and ever-living One\u2014followed by another history,\nrecording the acts of his Apostles, accompanied by epistles or letters\nwhich explained the meaning of the life of Jesus, and the acts of the\nfirst preachers of his incomparable and blessed Gospel.  These books came\ninto the world, stamped with unmistakable signs of a Divine origin\nperfectly unique.  They were sons of God amongst the children of\nmen\u2014Divine wisdom visiting the earth in human form, thought after\nthought, like angel after angel, coming down from heaven, with a\ncountenance like lightning, with raiment white as snow, yet speaking in\ntones of meek assurance to affrighted souls, telling them not to fear,\nbecause the crucified Redeemer of mankind had risen from the dead.  Such\nbooks have, indeed, a life within them; a life truly, and without any\nhyperbole, immortal, to attempt to kill which would be as idle as it\nwould be impious, for it would be to strike a blow at that which, above\neverything else on the face of the earth, is an image of God.\n\nAnd numbers of books since then, without pretending to rival them, have\ncaught more or less of their divine spirit.  Human minds replenished with\ninstructions derived from these unparalleled sources have communicated\ntheir thoughts to mankind\u2014thoughts of such a character, so morally and\nreligiously superior to anything known in lands unblessed by these gifts\nof inspiration, as to declare their lineage and descent to be of that\ndivine race of which the ancestors were the first-born children of\ncelestial light.  A precious inheritance of Christian literature has thus\ndescended to modern times, surrounding us with intellectual and spiritual\nadvantages, which many are slow to acknowledge, because unable to\nestimate.  Yet it is the heirloom of our churches and our families, laid\nup on the shelves of our libraries, and what is still better, I hope,\nthat its effect upon us mingles with our daily life.\n\nThe discovery of printing, in the providence of God, although it cannot\nadd to the immortality of Christian thought in itself, has contributed a\nnew method, first of perpetuating in their original forms all expressions\nof truth, whether human or Divine, and next, of multiplying such\nexpressions, in the same original form, so as to fill the world with\nthem, and to give to immortal wisdom a sort of visible and palpable\nubiquity.  And extremely interesting it is to notice, that the Bible, or\nthe Psalter, was certainly the first book of any considerable size which\ncame forth from the press, whence \u201cwe may see in imagination this\nvenerable and splendid volume leading up the crowded myriads of its\nfollowers, and imploring, as it were, a blessing on the new art, by\ndedicating its first fruits to the service of heaven.\u201d  A mighty\nrevolution has, no doubt, been wrought by the invention of printing.  It\nhas not diminished the force of spoken words, it never can supersede the\nnecessity of the living voice as the chief means of proclaiming the\nGospel of Christ, it never can destroy the enchantment of human\neloquence; but it narrows the sphere of instruction from the pulpit, it\nsupersedes the continuance of the ancient practice when preachers at\nPaul\u2019s Cross took up the questions of the day, and discussed them in\ntheir homilies; it hands over to the press, as a more convenient field\nfor discussion, a number of instructive and important topics, whilst it\nprovides for the diffusion of religious knowledge in all sorts of ways,\nand in all sorts of places, far beyond the reach of any preacher\u2019s, or\nany missionary\u2019s voice.  At the same time it gathers up in the best form,\nand perpetuates to the latest age, and circulates to the end of the\nworld, the richest utterances of the Christian ministry.  The voice from\nthe pulpit has lost somewhat of its range of themes; it cannot now\nannounce ecclesiastical and political news, as it did once; but it has a\nspecial work still to do, through the human countenance, the human eye,\nthe human lips, as it exhibits well-known truth and inculcates familiar\nlessons, appealing to the heart and calling forth our sensibilities and\nsympathies as nothing else can ever do.  And after all the lamentations\npoured forth by some, and all the taunts flung out by others, the pulpit\nstill remains an unrivalled power\u2014unrivalled in the demand for its\nexercise, and unrivalled in the supply of its proper spiritual effects,\neven the conversion and edification of souls.  But the press, although we\ndo not count it a rival, but rather as a helper, in the one great field\nof Christian instruction, is doing, and will do a work, which all the\npreachers and speakers in Christendom can never overtake and accomplish.\nIts power in the dissemination of the Gospel is surprising beyond what we\ncan imagine, until we come to deeply ponder the subject in our minds; and\nthe obligation resting upon us to employ such power for this sacred\npurpose is most obvious, most solemn, most pressing.\n\n\n\nII.\n\n\nThe books to which St. John particularly refers are books about Christ.\n\nHe is thinking chiefly of his own Gospel, and of the other three Gospels\nto which he intended this to be a supplement; these four evangelical\nrecords being, in modern phrase, four historical tracts\u2014tracts such as\nhad never been written before, such as have never been written since.  It\nis an inexpressible blessing to have the four together, to have them\nbound within the same covers.  They constitute a perfect unity, a\nharmonious whole; but the unity must not render us unmindful of the\ndistinct and characteristic impress borne by each.  On dwelling upon the\nwhole, we must be careful to assign its proper individual character to\nevery part.  Four distinct witnesses supply their respective\ncontributions of knowledge respecting our Divine Lord and Master.  Each\nrelates what he knows from his own point of view; each gives his own\nimpression of the manifold life and mission of the world\u2019s Saviour; each\nleaves in his own monograph the signature of his own habits of thought\nand of expression; each paints the Divine portrait in his own style.  And\nmost precious is it to the intelligent and devout Christian to have a\nclear and distinct idea of the main peculiarities of the four, looking at\nthem carefully one by one.  Harmonies of the Gospels have their use; but\nthey are not used as they ought, they are much abused, if they are\nsuffered to soften down the lines of distinction between Matthew and\nMark, between Mark and Luke, between Luke and John.  Any attempt made to\nput together four portraits of one person, painted from different points\nof view, placed on the canvas in different positions, brought out in\ndifferent relations of light and shade, so as to destroy what is peculiar\nto each artist, would be a mischievous process, and would diminish the\nextent of our knowledge, instead of promoting the correctness of our\nconceptions.  We value four pictures of a great hero painted by four\ndifferent masters; we do not wish to blend the memories of them in our\nminds, so as to merge their varied ideals of one reality; we would not,\non any account, sacrifice in any of them a single line of drawing, a\nsingle tint of colour.  We should deprecate the endeavour to destroy a\ntouch here, and a stroke there, under pretence of making the pictures\nexactly alike.  We would infinitely rather have them left unaltered, in\nall the freshness of their original colouring, than have a single\nengraving, however carefully and exquisitely executed, which aimed at a\nharmonious rendering of the four.  We prefer these divine productions as\nthey separately stand, each taken by itself, each a beautiful tractate\ncomplete in itself, given from God, through the hands of the human\nwriter, to a single volume, made up of the four, cut into fragments, and\npatched together under a very fallible, although a very skilful\neditorship.  The Acts, the Epistles, the Apocalypse, form a second\ndivision of divine tracts explanatory of the Gospels\u2014or illustrative of\nthe impressions and effects produced by them upon the hearts and minds of\nChrist\u2019s earliest followers\u2014or inculcatory of the glorious doctrines of\nthe evangelical revelation in their practical bearings on human\ncharacters and consciences\u2014or poetically prophetic of things to come in\nthe kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ\u2014a Divine hand in them\nopening a window upon the scenes of futurity, some of which strike the\nheart with terror, others of which make it leap for joy.\n\nThis collection of tracts forming the New Testament, or New Covenant of\nman\u2019s redemption, it is the duty of every one of us diligently and\ndevoutly to examine; not simply taking it up by fragments, by little\nbits, by pieces torn out of their proper places, and without any respect\nto the connection in which they stand; nor studying it chiefly through\nthe medium of other books, whether paraphrases or commentaries, or\nthrough the medium of sermons, lectures, or other modes of oral\ninstruction.  Let the Divine tracts be studied themselves.  Let them not\nonly be read from time to time, chapter by chapter alone, but sometimes\nlet them be read throughout continuously, Gospel by Gospel, Epistle by\nEpistle, so that an impression, complete and distinct, of each\nEvangelist\u2019s history and each Apostolic letter, may be left upon the\nmemory.  Above all, let them not be read cursorily, in haste, as one\nmight read a novel, but slowly, patiently, thoughtfully, weighing word by\nword, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph; and with all this\nreading and pondering, let there be combined earnest prayer to the great\nAuthor of revelation, that he would open the reader\u2019s eyes to see the\nriches of his own comprehensive word.\n\nBut beyond these books or tracts are others, thank God, in abundant\nnumbers, which also relate to Christ.  In our devout gratitude for the\nsupreme gift of Scripture, let us not be unmindful of the subordinate\ngifts of human literature, imbued more or less with the spirit of\nScripture.  We would insist upon the marked difference between the Bible\nand all other books, between Divine writ and humanly written divinity;\nyet would we constantly remember that genius and talent employed in the\nservice of the truth are endowments conferred by the Father of lights,\nand that to think we can exalt the Bible by running down other books, and\nto imagine that we honour the God of inspiration by depreciating the\nlearning and the thoughtfulness which he has given to his children, is\none of those wretchedly ignorant and fanatical mistakes by which\nwell-meaning and pious people do almost as much mischief as the most\nirreligious enemies of Christianity.  And beyond the limits of Divinity,\nproperly so called, whether doctrinal or practical, there are immense\nregions of literature capable of being touched and beautified as with new\nsunshine through the influence of Gospel truth.  Science may thus be\nimproved and hallowed, so as to bear witness\u2014as most assuredly nature\never silently does, whether we notice or not, to a Divine order\nunderlying the constitution of all things, and to a Divine Sovereign, a\nliving, glorious, infinite Person, who is the foundation and the\nadministrator of all that order\u2014so as to bear witness to a reign of law,\nor rather to the reign of Him who is the Author of nature, and who,\nthrough those laws which we are enabled to decipher, is reigning over all\ntime and all worlds.  History, also, may be improved and hallowed, so as\nto record events in the light of a Divine providence, and to exhibit\ncharacter in the light of revealed truth, and so as to show, in human\njudgments of men and things, the justice, the impartiality, and the\ngenial good-will which Christian morality alone can inspire.  Poetry,\nalso, may be improved and hallowed, so as not only to contribute to the\nservice of song in the house of the Lord, but so as to perpetuate the\nmemory of the good, to create ideals of truth, wisdom, and holiness; to\nbring out those hidden streams of harmony which flow through invisible\nchannels in nature; and to repeat and explain those whisperings of the\nsoul which are confirmatory of the highest truths.  In short,\nChristianity may set its stamp on all literature, not by printing the\nDivine name here and there, not by patching upon the pages of a book\ntexts of Scripture irrelevant to the subject in hand; but by the presence\nof a conscientious, honest, true, devout, and sweet spirit, which cannot\nfail to make itself felt wherever it exists.\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n\nAnd now, looking at the multitude of books existing or coming into\nexistence\u2014such an immense, such an ever-increasing multitude, that we may\nadopt the hyperbole of the text, and say it seems as if the world could\nnot contain them\u2014what is the use which we ought to make of them?\n\nA taste for literature is a natural instinct in some, and an\naccomplishment acquired by others; and the duty of creating it if we have\nit not, and of nurturing it if we have, is plainly recognised in the New\nTestament.  \u201cGive attendance to reading.\u201d  If the exhortation primarily\napplies to those who are teachers of their fellow-men, it cannot fail to\nbelong also to others in their measure and degree.  Numerous methods of\nobtaining knowledge no doubt there are; but many of the forms of\nknowledge, many of the benefits of knowledge, many of the pleasures of\nknowledge, can be secured only by means of books.  The person deficient\nin a taste for reading misses a large amount of benefit and enjoyment\nfamiliar to those who are blessed with this endowment\u2014an endowment which,\nthough, as intimated already, in some cases a natural instinct, may in\nother cases be acquired and won as a studious accomplishment.  Tastes may\nbe formed by study, by attention, by desire, by effort, by\npractice\u2014tastes of all kinds, and this amongst the rest; and looking at\nthe rich heritage of blessedness which it brings, it must appear, to\nevery one who sufficiently thinks of it, worth the sacrifices of other\nand inferior things, when such sacrifices are found essential to its\nattainment and culture.  Upon the young especially I would enforce the\nduty of which I speak, begging and beseeching them to contrast it with\nthose vain, frivolous, worthless employments, not to mention the very\nworst, to which fashion and example in the present day invite so many\nthoughtless crowds.\n\nWhen I speak of a taste for reading, let me explain myself.  It is\nsometimes supposed to exist where it does not.  There may be a fondness\nfor certain books, which in no way implies the possession of what we are\ncommending now.  There are fictions in the present day, properly termed\nsensational, and other kinds of books of a similar description, to the\nperusal of which many are addicted without any idea of self-improvement,\nwithout any love of knowledge whatever, without a single care respecting\ntruth, without an atom of taste, or a scintillation of what can be called\nintellectual pleasure.  I cannot call that a taste for reading; it is\nsimply a craving after excitement, and may be as sensuous and sensual as\nare certain desires confessedly vicious; and when it does not reach such\na depth as that, it may be a feeling almost as vain, frivolous, and\nworthless as some other tendencies which never clothe themselves in\nliterary costume.  Where a pure taste and a genuine predilection for\nreading exist, it will be discriminating, such as all pure tastes, all\ngenuine predilections ever are.  A taste for painting is a taste for good\npictures; a taste for music is a taste for good singing and for good\ninstrumental performance; so, likewise, a taste for reading is a taste\nfor what is worth reading.  I have no narrow views as to the class of\nbooks which may be perused.  Some persons are qualified and required to\ntake a wider range than others in this respect\u2014to make excursions into\nfields of thought where it may not be wise for others to follow.  As to\nthis matter, no universal rules can be laid down.  Individual capacities,\nhabits, and callings, must determine the question as to the extent to\nwhich inquisitiveness and curiosity should go.  But one law as to the\njudgment of what we read there is, fixed and unalterable.  Whatever\nrelates to morality and religion must be tested by Divine authority upon\nsuch subjects.  The Bible is not intended to teach us science,\nphilosophy, and profane history; but it is intended to teach us what is\nmoral and religious, and, therefore, to it should questions involving\nthese peerless considerations be always brought.  As Christians, taking\nthe Bible for your ride, how can you subscribe to the doctrines of any\nteacher of divinity or of ethics who contradicts the teaching of the Word\nof God?  \u201cTo the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to\nthis Word, it is because there is no light in them.\u201d  With care and\ndiscrimination should we sift out whatever is false or erroneous in the\nwritings of men.  I do not say that we are not to read what is false or\nerroneous; for how, until we have read it, can we tell whether any book\nbe discoloured or disfigured with these dark stains? but having candidly\nand honestly examined the contents of a work, let us judicially, with a\npure heart, a clear head, and a firm hand, separate the precious from the\nvile.  \u201cWhat is the chaff to the wheat?\u201d saith the Lord.\n\nAnd further, it is manifest that in our reading we should have respect to\nthe nurture of our spiritual life.  Secular instruction and mental\nimprovement are proper ends to be sought by us all; but that which\nconstitutes pre-eminently the welfare of our souls ought to receive our\nmost serious and conscientious attention.  To strengthen within us\nChristian faith, hope, and love\u2014to bring ourselves into closer union with\nour blessed Saviour\u2014to devote ourselves more thoroughly to his service\nand glory, ought to be the first and chief design of every one.  \u201cSeek ye\nfirst the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things\nshall be added unto you.\u201d  But as to the course of reading to be adopted\nfor these high and incomparable ends, it is difficult and even impossible\nto lay down rules; because, as men\u2019s minds are so differently\nconstituted, as dispositions are so differently formed, the class of\nbooks adapted to promote the welfare of some may not be suited to the\nneeds of another.  Biography, perhaps, most stimulates one person; psalms\nand hymns and spiritual songs, perhaps, most inspire another; plain,\npractical addresses to the heart and conscience may, perhaps, better stir\nand animate a third.  Let each consult his own peculiarities, and choose\naccordingly what he shall read for his spiritual edification.  We are\nquite sure that to mark out the same course of religious reading for all\nkinds of people is labour lost; it betrays great ignorance of human\nnature, of the wonderful varieties of spiritual life, and of the\ndiversified exigencies and wants of different minds.  What any one finds\nmost helpful to himself, he is very apt to think will be found equally\nhelpful to another; but this may prove a serious mistake, and may lead to\ninjury where benefit was designed.  Then, beyond stimulus and\ninspiration, there is needful for the healthful development of\nChristianity in human experience, character, and conduct, a plain,\nsimple, solid acquaintance with the things of God\u2014an acquaintance to be\nsought in a proper direction, in quarters, perhaps, where there is little\nto regale the fancy or gratify the taste, but much to feed the soul with\nknowledge and understanding.  Surely no Christian man, no Christian\nwoman, can neglect to consult in these ways the wants of spiritual life.\nIndividuals who never ask in reference to what they read, \u201cWill this be\nbeneficial or injurious to my highest interests?\u201d are culpably negligent\nand careless, and are running immense risks.  They are in danger far\ngreater than that of persons who, with delicate constitutions, set at\ndefiance medical caution and advice, and are determined to eat and drink\nwhatever they please.  And before quitting this point, let me add that it\nis of the last importance we should apply to ourselves conscientiously,\nand in the sight of God, what we learn from the stores of Christian\npractical literature.  For, whilst recreation and amusement may be wisely\nsought at times from other departments of reading, recreation and\namusement are not the objects to be sought in the reading of strictly\nreligious books: far higher objects come before us there\u2014even the\npurification of our thoughts, the lifting our affections upwards to the\nsupreme Author of all Good, and the fastening of our hearts on Christ,\nthe only name given under heaven whereby we can be saved; and to secure\nthese objects a different frame of mind must be maintained from that in\nwhich we indulge when we take up a volume simply to relieve a jaded mind\nor to while away an idle hour.\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n\nIf one use of the many books in the world be our own edification, another\nuse to be made of them is the spiritual welfare of others.\n\nAlthough it follows as a necessary consequence that if Christian\nliterature be available for the first of these purposes it is available\nalso for the second, we find it very difficult to impress some minds with\na due conviction of the value and importance of such instrumentality in\npromoting the highest interests of our fellow-men.  There are many whom\nit is hard enough to inspire with zeal for the direct conversion of their\nfriends and neighbours by means of circulating religious tracts; but\nthere are more whom it is still harder to convince that spiritual benefit\nmay be indirectly communicated to large classes of society by purifying\nthe streams of general literature, and by promoting the issue and\ncirculation of good books of various descriptions.  Yet the former kind\nof zeal\u2014zeal in circulating tracts for strictly religious ends\u2014is\nsupported no less by facts than by sound reasoning.  A good man, Richard\nKnill, used to say in his own simple, emphatic, earnest style, \u201cOne tract\nmay save a soul.\u201d  That simple saying he was wont to establish and\nillustrate by incidents which had occurred under his own notice; and\nincidents full of this evidential force, and fraught with heart-stirring\ninfluence, are accumulating every year.  And as to zeal in the second\ndirection, a conviction of the good which may be effected by the\ncirculation and diffusion of works upon instructive and interesting\nsubjects, imbued with a Christian tone and spirit, is deepened by a\nconsideration of the present state of the world, with all its mental\nactivity and inquisitiveness; the habit of reading now on the increase in\nall circles; and the instances frequently occurring, through the means\njust indicated, of the removal of prejudice, and the commenced\npreparation for something better in certain minds athirst for knowledge.\nI am perfectly sure, and my confidence is the result of long reflection\nand experience, that Christians have not yet paid one tithe of the\nattention which it deserves to this pressing claim of the present day.  A\ngreat deal of money now injudiciously but benevolently frittered away\nwith the hope of some immediate brilliant spiritual results, would, I am\nsatisfied, be invested far more wisely, and, in the end, with a deeper\nand wider return of advantage, if devoted to the less imposing object of\nleavening our current literature more and more with the sentiments and\nprinciples of genuine Christianity.\n\nAnd now we are brought face to face with the Religious Tract Society and\nits very powerful claims upon our sympathy and support.  It has been in\nexistence upwards of seventy years, and is one of those vigorous\ninstitutions which struck their earliest roots into the Christian mind of\nEngland when our fathers were terrified by the storms of the French\nRevolution.  Those institutions were not the seedlings of a fanatical\npanic; rather did they arise as healthy offshoots from God\u2019s Tree of\nLife, to be planted by the hands of disinterested charity and cheerful\nhope.  It was a movement of Christian philanthropy, taking a specific\nform, but instinct with large-hearted and manifold zeal; for out of the\nearly conferences of its friends sprung the idea of the British and\nForeign Bible Society; and it was in the committee-room of the Tract\nSociety that the memorable words were uttered, \u201cBibles for Wales\u201d\u2014\u201cWhy\nnot for the world?\u201d  The Tract Society may be regarded, if not as the\nmother, yet as the nurse of the Bible Society.  The elder breathes the\nunsectarian temper, the Catholic spirit so pre-eminently manifested by\nthe younger; and, like it, it aims only at bringing souls into the\nall-comprehensive flock of the one all-sufficient Redeemer.  It eschews\ncontroversy on controversial questions, and throws its energies into a\ngreat crusade against infidelity, falsehood, sin.  \u201cControversy at\ntimes,\u201d it was remarked in the report for 1869, \u201cmay arise, or local\ncircumstances may exist which tend to divide sections of Christians one\nfrom another; but should not this tendency be resisted in presence of the\nweightier controversies which the whole Church in all parts is called to\nwage against ignorance and error\u2014against superstition and\nunbelief\u2014against the practical godlessness of the pleasure-seekers and\nmammon-lovers amongst all classes?\u201d  This last is the only controversy in\nwhich the Tract Society engages; and it may be expected, therefore, to\nrally to itself all those who deem the spread of the truth of higher\nimportance than similarity of opinion on the politico-ecclesiastical\nquestions which are disturbing European society.  And this the Committee\nhave no doubt that it will do.  The Society\u2019s motto is\u2014\u201cChrist Jesus, and\nHim crucified,\u201d\u2014the only Saviour of the lost, the only and the\nall-sufficient Prophet, Priest, and King of his Church.  To bring every\nthought of both young and old, rich and poor, scholar and teacher, into\nsubjection to Him, is its one object.  And it therefore claims the\nprayers and the support of all who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and\nin truth.\n\nThe object of the Society is twofold\u2014embracing both the purposes which I\nhave just been enforcing:\u2014The conversion of souls, sought by direct and\nappropriate means; and the general benefit of all classes of society, by\na supply of works in general literature purified by the presiding power\nof Christian truth, righteousness, love, and wisdom.\n\nThe first object was originally the only one, and has ever been the\nchief; and the good done by the religious tracts which the Society has\ncirculated, nobody can calculate.  Who can tell the blessings conveyed in\n\u201cThe Dairyman\u2019s Daughter\u201d and \u201cThe Young Cottager,\u201d tracts which, though\nold, can never be out of date\u2014tracts which have been very rarely\nequalled, and, I believe, never surpassed?  Others less striking have\nbeen the instruments of vast usefulness.  The annual circulation from the\nLondon depot, I see, is 41,044,772; the total of issues, including those\nwhich are from foreign societies, connected with this, 49,000,000.  The\ntotal circulation of tracts for seventy-one years reaches the enormous\namount of nearly 1,335,000,000.  It would seem, looking at these almost\nincredible numbers, as if the world could not contain so many books\nwritten of Him; and yet how many, many millions of the men and women in\nthe world know nothing of Him, and have never yet been reached by any of\nthese publications!  What shoals have been and still are coming forth on\nthe other side, full of infidelity and superstition and vice!  So that,\nafter all, the work of this Society is not half done.\n\nThe second object\u2014the hallowing of literature with a Christian spirit\u2014has\nincreasingly occupied the attention of the Society of late years, but\nnever, in the slightest degree, to the neglect of the first.  The\ncatalogue of its published books includes, besides solid divinity, lively\nhistories, pleasant biographies, sparkling fictions, religious, moral,\nand descriptive poetry.  Old works are brought out in modern dress under\nthe care of competent editors; works entirely new are issued under the\nsanction of the Committee, which renders itself responsible for their\ncontents.  The pencil of the artist, the burin of the engraver, are\nemployed in the illustration and adornment of many of the publications;\nand in an artistic as well as literary respect, \u201cThe Leisure Hour\u201d and\nthe \u201cSunday at Home\u201d stand deservedly high amongst our popular\nperiodicals.  They are making way amongst the intelligent and the\ntasteful, conciliating prejudice, producing favourable impressions of\nChristian truth, and guiding the young into right paths.\n\nThe prophet Ezekiel stood in the court of the Temple at Jerusalem, and\nwatched the flow of waters issuing \u201cfrom under the threshold of the house\neastward,\u201d and descending the slope of Zion into the Valley of\nJehoshaphat; he watched and followed the man with the measuring line in\nhis hand through the waters, which were first ancle and then knee deep,\nand which, as they proceeded along the limestone gorge, rose up to the\nloins, and then became waters to swim in\u2014a river which could not be\npassed over.  When it reached the Dead Sea it healed the waters of it,\nand where it came everything lived.  Then the prophet saw, in vision,\ngroves, orchards, gardens, rising on each side of this river.  Such is\nthe Old Testament type of the Gospel of Christianity.  It may be applied\nto all forms of its influence and action.  We venture to employ it as a\nfigure of what this Society is doing.  It issues fertilizing,\nlife-giving, and healing streams, because it is filling the world with\nbooks written about the many things which Jesus did, and is doing, and\nwill do for the sons of men.  \u201cAnd by the river, upon the bank thereof,\non this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf\nshall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall\nbring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they\nissued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and\nthe leaf thereof for medicine.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nABSTRACT OF THE SEVENTY-FIRST REPORT\nOF THE\nRELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY,\nFOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 1870.\n\n\nTHE object of the RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, like that of the public\nministry of the Word, is to impress the contents of the sacred volume\u2014its\ndoctrines, its precepts, its promises, its prospects\u2014separately, or in\nvaried combinations, upon the consciences and affections of men according\nto their spiritual needs.  In pursuing this object, it strives to imitate\nthe Divine book itself, and to teach, not by doctrine only, but by\nhistory, biography, poetry, parable; and to tinge its information or\ninstruction, as to the events of every-day life, with the spirit of pure\nand undefiled religion before God and the Father\u2014disinterested\nbenevolence and personal holiness.\n\nThere have been issued, during the year, THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THREE\nnew publications, of which ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE were Tracts.  The\nBooks include a revised Quarto Paragraph New Testament, and two Parts of\nthe Old; a historic Survey of the Papacy; a Grammar and Vocabulary of the\nGreek Testament, and many of a general character adapted for both adults\nand youth; and amongst the Periodicals, a new one entitled \u201c_The True\nCatholic_.\u201d\n\n\n\nFOREIGN OPERATIONS.\n\n\nEUROPE\n\nFRANCE.\n\n\nTo the PARIS TRACT SOCIETY, the Committee have voted \u00a3100 to reduce the\nprice of the _Almanach des Bons Conseils_, \u00a3120 towards the free\ncirculation of 100,000 tracts, including a monthly grant to the agents of\nthe Home Missionary Society, and \u00a3300 for the publication of various\ntracts monthly in editions of 10,000 each.\n\nTo Toulouse, \u00a3300 has been given; and to M. Puaux, \u00a3100.\n\nGrants have also been made to the Strasbourg Society of \u00a310; to M.\nJenkins, of Morlaix, for Breton publications, \u00a319 10s. 5d.; and to Pastor\nMaillard, of La Mothe, \u00a320, for the publication of a Hymn Book.\n\n\nBELGIUM AND HOLLAND.\n\n\nThe Committee have furnished the Belgian Evangelical Society with the\nmeans for publishing an edition of 3,000 of a new translation of the Rev.\nNewman Hall\u2019s \u201cCome to Jesus,\u201d and 5,000 each of eleven Flemish tracts.\nThey have also continued their subsidies to the Flemish Christian monthly\nperiodical, and, for a period of the year, to the French _Chr\u00e9tien\nBelge_.\n\nROTTERDAM.\u2014M. HERKLOTTS has issued from the auxiliary\u2014Tracts, 57,181;\nBooks, 1,747; Handbills, 13,050; total, 71,978.  The \u201cSinner\u2019s Friend\u201d\nhas been reprinted, and 7,050 copies issued.\n\nAMSTERDAM.\u2014During the past year, a Workmen\u2019s Exhibition was held in this\ncity, and the Committee sent to Pastor Adama v. Scheltema \u00a310 in English\ntracts, \u00a310 in foreign, and \u00a310 in Dutch tracts.  A handsome kiosk was\nerected for their reception.  They were wisely distributed and well\nreceived.\n\n\nSWITZERLAND.\n\n\nGrants voted to Switzerland, \u00a3146 14s.\n\n\nRUSSIA.\n\n\nST. PETERSBURG.\u2014Twenty-three new tracts have been printed\u2014121,000\ncopies\u2014at a cost of \u00a380 to the Society.  They are chiefly translations\nfrom English tracts, and all contain the Gospel of our Lord.\n\nThe sales, including nearly 8,000 German tracts and books, have reached\nduring the past year 115,823 copies.  The gratuitous circulation has\nbeen, in addition, 2,600 tracts.\n\nAt RIGA, M. LOESWITZ still pursues his tract publication in the German,\nLettish, Esthonian, and Polish languages.  His scheme involved the\nprinting of 90,000 tracts and books in these tongues at a cost of over\n\u00a3300, towards which the Committee contributed \u00a3100.\n\n\nSWEDEN AND NORWAY.\n\n\nThe Stockholm Missionary Union, of which the Rev. Mr. Wiberg is\nSecretary, has issued sixteen new tracts, in editions of 10,000 each, at\na cost of \u00a344, towards which the Committee have voted \u00a320.\n\nThe gratuitous circulation during the year amounts to 80,000, by the\nhands of sixteen agents employed in various parts of the kingdom.\n\nThrough the Rev. J. STORJOHANN, the Norwegian Chaplain to the Port of\nLondon, the Committee have printed six tracts in Norse, amounting to\n15,500 copies.\n\n\nGERMANY.\n\n\nHAMBURG.\u2014The Lower Saxony Tract Society has received the usual grant of\n\u00a3350.  It has printed during the year 870,000 publications, and\ncirculated by sale and gift 1,060,000.\n\nMr. Oncken\u2019s circulation for the year ending March 31, 1870, was\n1,030,306.  The grants made to him have been \u00a3300 for tract printing,\n\u00a3100 for the purchase of tracts from other German Societies, and \u00a313 for\nSpanish and Russian tracts.\n\nThe Bremen Society, conducted by Dr. Jacobi, has received \u00a385,\nprincipally for German versions of the Society\u2019s English tracts.\n\nThe miscellaneous grants are two of \u00a320 each to Mr. Lehmann, of Berlin,\none of whose distributors has been imprisoned for giving away a tract\nunder prohibited circumstances; \u00a330 to Dr. Adelberg, of Erlangen; \u00a310 to\nPastor Tretzel, N\u00fcremberg; \u00a320 to Nassau; \u00a330 to Baden; and \u00a320 English\nbooks for the daughter of the late Dr. Fliedner, at Hilden.\n\n\nHUNGARY.\n\n\nThe sums expended in this field amount to \u00a3460:\u201435,000 copies of tracts\nin Hungarian have been printed, and 13,000 in Slavonian.\n\n\nITALY.\n\n\nThe books printed at the Typographia Claudiana, at the cost of the\nSociety, during the past year amounted to 40,500 copies.\n\nGrants voted to Italy, \u00a3819 4s.\n\n\nSPAIN.\n\n\nFrom November, 1868, to February, 1870, 1,500,000 tracts have been\nprinted at Madrid, at a cost of \u00a31,490.\n\n\u201cTracts are a mighty power _rightly_ used, but tracts can be wasted and\nthe tract brought into contempt.  The rule we desire to see carried out\nin Spain is, tracts given to all who purchase Gospels; an assortment to\npurchasers of Bibles and Testaments, given to those who can _read_, or\nwho have sons or children who can read for them.\u201d\n\n\nTURKEY.\n\n\nThe works printed during the past year at the cost of the Committee by\nthe American Missionaries in Constantinople, who have received the usual\ngrant of \u00a3300, have amounted to 13,000 copies in Arabo-Turkish; 8,000 in\nArmenian; 3,000 in Armeno-Turkish; and 6,000 in Bulgarian.\n\n\nASIATIC OPERATIONS.\n\nINDIA.\n\n\nThe report from India speaks of movement and progress both in printing\nand circulation.\n\nMadras writes:\u2014\u201cThe past year records the largest number of distinct\npublications that have ever been published in any one year.  The average\nnumber of new publications has only been _seven_: this year\n_seventy-seven_ distinct publications have been issued, sixty-four of\nwhich are new tracts and books.  The printing is about the average.\u201d\n\nFrom BOMBAY, Mr. Bowen says:\u2014\u201cOur circulation is much in advance of what\nit ever was.  Our financial condition is good.\u201d\n\nFrom COLOMBO Mr. Murdoch says:\u2014\u201cThe subscriptions are somewhat in advance\nof the preceding year; but the most encouraging feature is the great\nincrease, amounting to 45 per cent. beyond former sales.\u201d\n\nThe amount of paper granted to the various printing presses during the\npast year has been considerably increased, being 3,062 reams; while\n754,110 books and tracts have been printed during the year by the various\nIndian Auxiliaries.\n\n\nCHINA.\n\n\nThe total grants during the year have amounted to \u00a3247.  Returns of\npublications printed not received in time for the Report.\n\n\nBRITISH NORTH AMERICA.\n\n\nThe grants of tracts and Sunday-school libraries made to this part of the\nfield amount to \u00a3546.\n\n\nWEST INDIES, ETC.\n\n\nIncluding Jamaica, Antigua, Turk\u2019s Island, Demerara, Cuba, Brazil,\nHonduras, Mexico, have received grants to the amount of \u00a3169.\n\n\nAUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, TASMANIA.\n\n\nThe grants during the year to our brethren in these distant parts of the\nglobe were as follows:\u2014\n\nAdelaide, \u00a335 14s.; Goulburn, \u00a35; Hobart Town, \u00a313; Melbourne, \u00a310;\nVictoria\u2014Miscellaneous, \u00a322; Sydney, \u00a3104 10s.; Launceston, \u00a36;\nQueensland, \u00a37 15s.; Miscellaneous, \u00a310; Total, \u00a3204.\n\n\nAFRICA.\n\n\nThe grants made to this continent amount to \u00a373.\n\n\n\nFUNDS.\n\n\nThe benevolent receipts, including legacies, amount to \u00a315,479; but as\n\u00a3500 of this sum is by the will of the testator, Mr. William Hollins,\ndirected to be kept distinct, the dividends upon it have alone been\navailable, thus reducing the amount to \u00a314,979.\n\nThe grants for the year, including money, paper, and publications, have\namounted to \u00a317,223, making the excess of grants over the receipts\n\u00a32,244.\n\n\n\nCIRCULATION.\n\n\nThe total circulation for the year is about forty-one millions of\npublications from the Home Depository; and about eight millions more from\nForeign Dep\u00f4ts.\n\n\n\nPRIVILEGES OF SUBSCRIBERS.\n\n\nAll Subscribers to the Parent Society are allowed a discount of 25 per\ncent. on all their purchases; while the Subscription itself is\nappropriated to the Society\u2019s Grants at Home and Abroad.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n      DEPOSITORIES: 56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL\u2019S CHURCHYARD;\n             164, PICCADILLY; AND 31 WESTERN ROAD, BRIGHTON.\n\n\n\n\nSOCIETY\u2019S PERIODICALS.\n\n\n                            THE TRUE CATHOLIC.\n\n   PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF SCRIPTURAL TRUTH.  One Penny, Monthly.\n\n                        THE COTTAGER AND ARTIZAN.\n\nA MONTHLY PERIODICAL FOR THE LABOURING CLASSES.  In large type, with fine\n                     Illustrations.  Price One Penny.\n\n     The Volume for 1869, with cover printed in oil colours, 1s. 6d.\n\n                              NEW SERIES OF\n                           THE TRACT MAGAZINE.\n\n   Monthly, price One Penny.  FOR LOAN CIRCULATION AND FAMILY READING.\n   Volume for 1869, 1s. 6d., with coloured Frontispiece and Engravings.\n\n              THE CHILD\u2019S COMPANION AND JUVENILE INSTRUCTOR.\n\n  Published Monthly, price One Penny.  Printed in small quarto size, and\n  embellished with large tinted and other Engravings by the best English\n                           and Foreign Artists.\n\nThe Volume for 1869, 1s. 6d., fancy cover; 2s. extra cloth, gilt.\n\n                            THE LEISURE HOUR.\n\n    A FAMILY JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION AND RECREATION.  Coloured and Wood\n         Engravings.  Weekly, One Penny; Monthly Parts, Sixpence.\n\n                           THE SUNDAY AT HOME.\n\n  A FAMILY MAGAZINE FOR SABBATH READING.  Coloured and Wood Engravings.\n               Weekly, One Penny; Monthly Parts, Sixpence.\n\nPARAGRAPH BIBLE, with Emendations.\u2014THE HOLY BIBLE, according to the\nAuthorized Versions, in Paragraphs and Sections, with Emendations of the\nText; also Maps, Chronological Tables, and Marginal References.  Royal\n4to, large type.  Part I., Genesis to Deuteronomy, 6s.  Part II., Joshua\nto Esther, 8s.; together in boards, 16s.  Part V., The Gospels, 4s.  Part\nVI., The Epistles, 4s. 6d.  The New Testament, complete in one vol., 10s.\n6d., boards.\n\n_This important work_, _upon which several eminent scholars have been\nengaged_, _has been in course of preparation for many years_.  _The aim\nhas been to give to English readers the benefit of all such emendations\nof the text as are valuable_, _and have the sanction of the best\nauthorities_, _while avoiding such as are either doubtful or trivial_.\n\nTHE ANNOTATED PARAGRAPH BIBLE.\u2014The OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS, according to\nthe Authorized Versions, arranged in Paragraphs and Parallelisms, with\nExplanatory Notes, Prefaces, and New Selection of References.  Maps and\nEngravings.  Super-royal 8vo.  Old Testament, 14s. boards; New Testament,\n7s.  Complete in one vol., 20s., boards.  (_For other styles and prices_,\n_see Catalogue_.)\n\n\n\n\nTRACTS PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. {i}\n\n\nFIRST SERIES\u2014consisting of doctrinal statements, appeals to the heart and\nconscience, refutations of Romanism and infidelity, addresses to various\nclasses and ages, etc.  About 800 sorts, at the rate of 400 pages for One\nShilling.\n\nSECOND SERIES, principally intended for sale by hawkers and other\nitinerant vendors.  Also suited for general distribution.  140 sorts,\neach consisting of 8 pages, sold at 2s. 4d. per 100.\n\nBIOGRAPHICAL SERIES are of a larger size, each containing 24 pages, and\nconsist of memoirs of eminent Christians.\n\nNARRATIVE SERIES\u2014containing true narratives and sketches of character,\nspecially suited for loan circulation.  About 240 sorts, sold at the rate\nof 400 pages for One Shilling.\n\nEVERY WEEK.\u2014A new Tract is published every Wednesday in the Year,\nentitled \u201cEVERY WEEK,\u201d designed for systematic or occasional distribution\namong all classes.  Each consists of four pages, with illustrations or\nornamental headings, and is sold at 1s. per 100.  178 are issued.  Also\nin Sixpenny Packets.\n\nTRACTS in Large Type, a considerable variety, suited to the aged and\nthose who can read but little.  Sold at the rate of 400 pages for One\nShilling.\n\nWAYSIDE BOOKS, in packets, suited for general distribution, and for\ninclosure in letters.  Price 6d. per Packet.\n\nTHE SEPARATE SERIES, for circulation among the fallen, etc., 28 in\nnumber.\n\nBOOK TRACTS, in neat covers, and ENVELOPE SERIES, for circulation amongst\nthe higher classes, through letters, etc.\n\nCHILDREN\u2019S TRACTS, 192 in number, printed in 32mo, with engravings, and\nsold at 6d. per 100.\n\nHANDBILLS, illustrated, at 10d. per 100, and without illustrations at 6d.\nper 100.\n\n\n\nCatalogues of the Society\u2019s Publications.\n\n\n1.  General Catalogue of Books\u2014\n\n  Containing numerous valuable Works\u2014BIBLICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND PRACTICAL\n  THEOLOGY\u2014DEVOTIONAL AND\n  EXPERIMENTAL\u2014ANTI-ROMANIST\u2014ANTI-INFIDEL\u2014BIOGRAPHICAL\u2014DOMESTIC LIFE\u2014FOR\n  SOLDIERS AND SAILORS\u2014FOR THE AFFLICTED AND BEREAVED\u2014FOR THE\n  AGED\u2014SERMONS, ETC.  Also a large variety of BOOKS FOR THE YOUNG, suited\n  to all ranks of society, bound in various styles, and at prices ranging\n  from One Farthing to Ten Shillings; PICTURE CARDS, etc.\n\n2.  A Classified Catalogue of Books\u2014\n\n  Arranged according as the Works are designed for Adults or the Young.\n\n3.  Catalogue of Tracts, Handbills, Sermons, etc.\n\n4.  Catalogue of Foreign Books and Tracts\u2014\n\n  FRENCH, GERMAN, DUTCH, SPANISH, ITALIAN, PORTUGUESE, DANISH, SWEDISH,\n  MODERN GREEK, etc.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n       _A Copy of any of the above may be had on application at the\n                              Depositories_.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{i}  In the printed pamphlet this section comes before the title\npage.\u2014DP.","title":"Christian Literature: a sermon delivered May 8th, 1870, in Kensington Chapel, at the seventy-first anniversary of the Religious Tract Society","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":8044}