BIBLE SOCIETIES. 



BIBLE SOOIE! 



1X0 



.-(undent in Wales, stating that " there wan a prospect of obtaining, 

 through the assistance of another society, and with the lielpof Mr. T.'i 

 piine.no lew a number than 1000 Welsh Bible*; but the society, 

 namely, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, refuses to 

 lrt with more than SOO. and that at a price which altogether make* 

 .. 6d. each. This him entirely defeated the design, so far as I am 

 concerned in it." 



Toward* the clow of 1791, a clergyman \vho luil lieen visiting 

 Wales alluded, on hin return to London, to the acarcity of Bible* : " I 

 heard great complaining amongst the pom for want of Bibles, and that 

 there were none to be had for money." A fresh ncri.-- . >i' effort* wan 

 made in order to induce the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 

 ledge to publish another edition of the Weigh Bible ; ami a corre- 

 spondence was entered into with the society, which mny be Been in 

 Poultry's ' Vindication of the British and Foreign Bible Society.' The 

 object of this correspondence was to induce the society to undertake an 

 edition of 10,000 Bibles for circulation amongst the Welsh, and the 

 applicant* expressed their willingness " to take and pay for 5000 OB 

 soon as they were printed." At length, in July, 1/112, terms were 

 agreed upon with the society, and the wishes for a supply of Bibles 

 seemed on the point of fulfilment. On the 29th of October, however, 

 the individual who had conducted the negotiation* with the society 

 complained of its " dilatory, indecisive, and reluctant " conduct. The 

 society could not be made to believe that " a large number of Bibles 

 could be got off;" it seemed averse to incur the expense of a supply, 

 although not likely to be more than from 1500/. to 2000/. In fine, the 

 society surrounded the subject with so man}' difficulties that for the 

 present it was reluctantly abandoned. 



At length, in 1796, after an interval of about four years, during 

 which, it may be presumed, the society continued to be urged on the 

 point, an edition of the Welsh Bible, Common Prayer, and Singing 

 Psalms, to the amount of 10,000, with 2000 extra Testament*, was 

 ordered to be printed. In 1799 copies were ready for delivery, and 

 the society liberally offered them on moderate terms. The whole of 

 the edition was soon disposed of, as thirty years had elapsed since the 

 last edition hod appeared. The wants of the principality having how- 

 ever only been partially satisfied, the demand for Bibles on the part of 

 those who had not participated in the recent supply became louder 

 than before. Application was made in the year 1800 in order to ascer- 

 tain if the society were disposed to undertake another edition. In 

 1802 the hope of engaging the society to enlarge the supply was aban- 

 doned. The plan of contracting for a supply of Welsh Bibles without. 

 the co-operation of the society was then agitated for the first time. It 

 was suggested by the Rev. Thomas Charles, an ordained minister of 

 the Established Church, but who was at the time officiating in the 

 congregations of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. On the 7th of 

 December 1802, the subject of the scarcity of Bibles in Wales having 

 been introduced by Mr. Joseph Tarn in a circle of friends, Mr. Charles, 

 who happened to be visiting London, and was present, proposed raising 

 by voluntary contributions a sum sufficient for printing an edition. He 

 insisted upon the urgency of applying to " new and extraordinary 

 means " for effecting thin purpose. In the course of the evening, the 

 Rev. Joseph Hughes, a. Baptist minister, suggested the outline of a plan 

 for the ijtnmtl circulation of the Scriptures ; and a call was mode upon 

 him to prepare an address in which the subject might be presented to 

 public consideration. The matter was soon after laid before the late 

 Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Charles Grant, afterwards Lord Glenelg, and 

 other men of like views. The Rev. C. F. A. Steinkopff, Lutheran 

 minister at the Savoy Church in London, offered to make inquiries in 

 the course of a Continental journey he was about to undertake, as to 

 the circulation of the Scriptures in that quarter. A similar course was 

 contemplated with respect to Great Britain and Ireland. 



The occurrences detailed above took place prior to the end of May 

 1803. By this time the appeal which Mr. Hughes had been coiled 

 upon to prepare was finished. Its title was, ' The Excellence of the 

 Ilnly Scriptures, an Argument for their more general Diffusion. 1 The 

 rudiment* of the Bible Society were developed in this address, and 

 having been extensively circulated, it was deemed, in the month of 

 January 1804, that a sufficient period had elapsed for the 

 it* merits, and that the time hod arrived for putting the plan into 

 .' 'nity. Samuel Mills, Esq., who hod prepared an outline in the pre- 

 ceding year, now completed the details of the plan. The projected 

 society had alt first received the name of the " Society for Promoting a 

 in. .n- extensive Circulation of the Scriptures both at Home and 

 Abroad ; " but it was now changed to that of " The British and Foreign 

 Bible Society." 



On Wednesday, March 7th, 1804, a public meeting, convened by a 

 circular address, was held at the L'I<I<.M Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, 

 to discus* the means of forming the society. The attendance consisted 

 of about 300 individual* of various religious denominations. The first 

 nnd second resolutions moved were as follow : 1. "That a society 

 Khali be formed, with this designation, the ' British and Foreign Bible 

 Society,' of which the sole object shall be to encourage a wider diffusion 

 of the Holy Scriptures." 2. " That this society shall add its endeavour* 

 to those employed by other societies for circulating the Scriptures 

 through the British dominions ; and shall also, according to its ability, 

 extend iU influence to otln-r countries, wliclln-r clu .irnctan, 



or Pagan." Seven other resolutions relating to the organisation ..]' tin- 



society were passed unanimously. A committee was : '. were 



at once subscribed, and i -inn was considered to W fairly in 



\:-;. i .. 



On the 12th of March 1804, the committee met to complete the 

 organisation of the institution. The thirty-six individu.r. 

 the committee comprised men of various 

 be confessed that thry were surrounded with considerable difli 



ep. in fact, wo* on delicate ground ; and this was more espe- 

 cially manifest when on individual proposed the appointment 

 li.-v. .li.M-ph HughoH to the office of secretary. This i 

 opposed by the Rev. J. Owen, afterwords one of the secretaries and tin- 

 historian of the Bible Society, who insisted hi strong terms mi ' tin- 

 impropriety and impolicy of constituting a dissent -r the 

 secretary of an institution which was designed to unite the whole body 

 of Christians, ami fur which its directors had evinced so lauds 

 anxiety to obtain the patronage and CO-OJH ration of tin 

 Church." The individual who had moved Mr. Hughes's appoint 

 as well as the committee generally, saw tin- ] Mr. Owen's 

 objection!; but it was fortunate that the opportunity had arisen which 

 called them forth, as they led to an arrangement, the principle of which 

 was at once so judicious and liberal, that when acted .- 

 been in all the movements of the society, it has constituted mic of tin- 

 chief corner-stones of its stability and success. It was accordingly 

 moved, that the Rev. Josiah Pratt, B.D., the secretary to the ( 

 Missionary Society, who had Wen pointed out by Mr. Owen 

 individual, should be appointed secretary, in conjunction with th 

 Mr. Hughes. The creation of another office was then suggest 

 order that the foreign churches might be represented in the s- 

 and the Rev. Mr. Steiukopff was appointed foreign secretary, 

 as Mr. Owen remarks, " the progress of an hour carrie<l tin 

 on from the hasty suggestions of a short-sighted attachment to the 

 wise determination of a liberal jmlicy." To prevent the ujx-r:;' 

 temporary feeling in the appointment of the governing body, the future 

 proportion of Churchmen, Dissenters, and foreigners on the committee 

 was distinctly defined. This body was to consist of thirty-six indi- 

 viduals, namely, six foreigners, resident in or near tin 

 fifteen Churchmen, and fifteen Dissenters, the whole of the tli 

 being laymen. The clergymen and ministers generally had a s. 

 vote on the committee on the same terms by which they Wcani- 

 bers of the society. Mr. Pratt having voluntarily resigned hi 

 Mr. Owen was appointed secretary in his p. 



On Wednesday, May 2nd, 1804, a general meeting of the subs, 

 and friends of the institution took place, at which Lord Tci^mnouth 

 was appointed president of the institution. On the 5th of May, the 

 bishops of London. I hirham, Exeter, and St. I'.IM.!'- n-e..^ni-1-d tin- 

 society by sending in their names as subscribers, and in Jinn 

 accepted the office of vice-pie- 



Such was the formation of the I'.iiti-h ami l-'oreign Bible Si - 

 and its subsequent history involves that of all similar in.-titut ions which 

 it has called into existence in every port of the world. In i 

 early as 1712 the Baron von Cansteiu instituted on establish'.! 

 Halle for the purpose of furnishing the Bible at as cheap a i 

 possible : and this it did with remarkable success, it* issues of complete 

 Bibles exceeding three millions, and of the New Testament more than 

 two millions. The first foreign Bible society was formed at NiirnWr.; 

 in 1804 : but the seat of its operations was oft red to 



Basel. This was termed the German Bible Society. In 1 805 a 

 was established at Berlin, which afterwards, in 1814, became merged in 

 the national institution of the Prussian liil.le s..ei.t\. which has now 

 distributed more than two million copies of the (with- 



standing the war, which for a time would appear to have prc-> 

 formidable obstruction to the progress of such associati. i 

 ncnt of Europe may be described as having become in 

 literally covered with Bible societies. In St. Petersburg the Russian 

 HiM. Society was established, not merely with the sanction, but 

 formal authority of the Emperor Alexander, during the year 1813. 

 After the accession of the Kinperor Nicolas, the operations of this 

 society, and of all it* auxiliaries, amounting in number to 2s'.' 

 -. led by an imperial ukase. The motives which led to t 

 not distinctly appear; though probably arising from the disst . 

 amongst the hierarchy of the Greek Church, number- of whom 

 with jealousy the efforts which were making to disseminate the 

 tares ; but permission was afterwards given to establish a /') 

 Hible Sori-ty, for the purpose of supplying the Protestants in i 

 with the Scriptures. The li'. ' ty had however done good 



work, for they had caused the Bible to be translated into tin 

 languages and dialect* of people living under the Itus-iun 



A society was funned in 1'aris in 1M> ; tl lie title 



of the Krciich Protestant, liible Society. In the re|iort made l.\ 

 May 4, 1859, it is stated that there had been issued in the 

 13,448 volumes; that the income of had been 45,000 francs, 



a considerable increase <- dim- year ; and that small pocket 



stereotype editions of the New Testament were Wing prepared for the 

 use of soldiers and sailors. 



There are at p: .ties or agents at Toulouse, Frankfort, 



Colour, Muhlluusen, various places in Swit/i ri uid, Wurteinburg, 



., at Warsaw, Cologne, Klli.-ifelilt, Ncuw, li..i|tit, in 



way, and Denmark, in Belgium, ami Holland. In Spain, 



