Your prayers, which can now ascend in silence to the Throne of Grace, are earnestly entreated, that a wisdom better than man's wisdom may guide the decisions of this important day; that the wisdom which is from above may this day appear, first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated ; and that under the guidance of that wisdom, the mind's eye, the eye of faith, may pierce within the veil-may realize the solemn hour, when the question shall not be, Who are worthy for admission into a Society such as yours? but, Who shall be counted worthy to stand before the Son of Man? May considerations such as these allay all undue heat of feeling, and lead our thoughts to Him who hath made peace by the blood of His Cross; looking unto which alone can any hope to be presented faultless before His glory, with exceeding joy.

After the Report had been read, it was moved, by the Rev. Dr. Dealtry, Chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester, and seconded by the Rev. Dr. Bennett, late Theological Tutor of Rotherham Academy—

That the Report, an Abstract of which has been now read, be adopted, and printed under the direction of the Committee.

Upon which an Amendment was moved by J. E. Gordon, Esq. as follows;

"That instead of the recommendation contained in the Report, that the constitution and practice of the Society continue as they are, the following Resolutions be adopted

"That the British and Foreign Bible Society is pre-eminently a Religious and Christian Institution.

"That no person rejecting the doctrine of a Triune Jehovah can be considered a member of a Christian Institution.

That, in conformity with this principle, the expression, “Denominations of Christians," in the 9th General Law of the Society, be distinctly understood to include such Denominations of Christians only as profess their belief in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.'

A second Amendment was moved by the Rev. Lundy Foot, as follows:

"That the words of the Ninth Law, and of the others which prescribe the terms of admission to the Agency of the Society, be not taken to extend to those who deny the Divinity and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Both these Amendments being negatived, the original motion, viz. "That the Report, an Abstract of which JUNE 1831.

has been now read, be adopted, and printed under the direction of the Committee,' was carried."

The usual Resolutions were then proposed and adopted, and the meeting closed.

From this abridgment of the official account of the Bible Society's anniversary, we proceed to insert extracts of some of the speeches.

The Rev. Dr. DEALTRY expressed a hope that they would all concur in what had been stated in the letter of their noble and venerable President, which had been read from the chair. They all had often the satisfaction of seeing him in that chair, and the benefit of his able advocacy of their great cause; and now, when prevented from attending in person, they had the advantage of his counsel and his prayers: he also trusted that the business of the day would be such as to give him unmixed satisfaction. He would beg to congratulate the meeting on what they had heard, that their friends, their funds, and their operations, had been increased since the last anniversary; and this, under the favour of Divine Providence, was, he agreed with the Committee in thinking, caused by the simplicity of the Society's object and regulations. He then adverted to the course taken by the Committee in alluding to the differences which had occurred in the Society, and said, that in making the subject a part of their Report, they had acted with great propriety, for it would be disrespectful to those individuals who made the proposition, if it were not brought before the meeting. This was a manly, simple, and straight-forward course. It was well known that he himself, exercising his own opinion, had on many occasions differed from the Committee, but when that opinion was once pronounced as that of the Committee, he invariably deferred to it. He was fully acquainted with the zeal and activity with which they had presided over the affairs of the Society during so many years, and to which, under the blessing of heaven, he believed that the success of their operations was mainly owing. To those who had been in the habit of attending to the Reports of the Committee, it must have been a subject of remark, that the operations of the society had increased from year to year. The British and Foreign Bible Society was now an object of

great interest in most parts of the world, and he was perfectly justified in saying, that the proceedings of that day would be looked to with much anxiety. He trusted that the result would be such as to give increase to the energies and new vigour to the zeal of the advocates of the Bible in every country, to which the knowledge of their proceedings would extend. He was struck with that part of the Report which stated, that a large number of Bibles had been required for the use of the Prussian army. Not less than one hundred and forty regiments had been supplied with a certain number of Bibles each. Such a distribution of the Word of God must be productive of the happiest effect. The reports of the condition of the Society might be looked upon as a sort of index to the state of Christian feeling in the country, for by the state of this society, by the extent of its operations, and the condition of its funds, might be known, in a great degree, how other Christian institutions were proceeding; for in proportion as it proceeded, did it act, and was re-acted upon by others, each having in its own sphere a common object, as far as the distribution of the Word of God was concerned. In belonging to the Bible Society, then, he did not consider that he belonged to that society alone, but to every other whose object promoted, or was promoted by, that of this great institution. That the Society had operated in this way during the past year; that it had aided, and was aided by, other religious societies, was proved by the fact of the increased circulation of thirty-six thousand Bibles, as compared with that of the preceding year. He would not dwell upon that circumstance farther than to say that it afforded the gratifying proof of a large increase of Christian worshippers who sought for a knowledge of the Word of God.

The Rev. Dr. BENNETT said, that in seconding the Report he felt he was not only recommending the Report itself, but that he was also, in some measure, recommending the Committee, the Society, and the Bible itself. It was true, that none of these were necessarily connected one with the other, so that the approval of one must be that of all; yet, nevertheless, there was a golden link of connexion between them. The Report was not the Committee, but it was the voice of the Committee. The Committee was not the Society, but the Society, however, saw with the eyes,

heard with the ears, and worked with the hands of the Committee for many years past; and though the Society was not the Bible, which had existed for ages before the Society was founded, and which would exist after it had crumbled into decay, yet still by the operations of the Society, the knowledge of the Bible had extended, so as to bless the world; and if ever there were times and circumstances which more than another called for the exertions of the Bible Society, they were those in which we lived. These were the times for the book, and the Bible was the book for the times; for when the voice of the waters was heard rising above the world, who was it that would not wish to hear the voice of peace cry "Be still;" that voice was the Bible, the voice of God, and nothing but his voice could sway the spirit of man. Where, he would again ask, was that voice but in the Bible? Let all, then, who believed that book to be the revelation of the Divine will, unite to support that book against all who denied it. Was not the present the time to make that book the rallying point for all who believed its divine truths. Times were, when the same necessity did not exist for so great an exertion as was now required. Times were, when the advocates of the Bible had to deal only with Deists, who admitted the moral government of the world. They thought, that in admitting the existence of a God they went far enough, that they were harmless, they assumed an appearance round and smooth as an egg. They were so, but just as insipid, though far less nourishing. They said, 'our belief can do no harm;' but we answered, it can do no good, for through the dim and dark glass which you hold up, we can see no redemption, no sacrifice for sin, no revival in a future state, and if you take nothing from us in this life, you give us nothing for the life to come.' Yet smooth and harmless as Deism appeared, it was only the egg of the cockatrice, from which the fiery serpent Atheism was to spring. It came forth shaking its brassy scales, sharpening its envenomed fang, vibrating its forked tongue, and frightening the world with its hiss. And what has been the effect of this hideous monster amongst men? Why, the total denial of the Bible and of the God which it proclaimed; for rather than have the God of the Bible, it would have no God. But let them look at what the God of the Bible did, and they would

find that he was the God of love and goodness. The Atheist said, 'what you tell us of God appears very smooth and easy, but you talk also of a state of rewards and punishment,' and this they threw from their bosom as if it were a coal of fire. The haggard witch Atheism had no future state, nothing beyond the present period of life. Good and evil, were with it enjoyment and suffering here. To do good was to enjoy good, to do evil was to suffer it; but would it not be just as reasonable to suppose, that the power, or according to them the chance, which brought us here might remake us in another state, to suffer in that state for what we did here? The effect of denying the Bible was this, that those who did so, must go higher or lower. They must soar to something higher in Revelation, or they must sink into the gulf of Atheism and deny God altogether. The Bible was the bond which drew men together, for as the law of attraction united world to world and system to system, so did the Bible unite the hearts of men, and draw them together until like two drops of water they become one. The inconsis

tency of the man who could contemplate his own make and form and yet who denied the existence of a God was marvellous and monstrous. He raised up a pair of hands to heaven to deny his duty to God, and yet trod the earth with a pair of feet. Who, he would ask, had ever heard of a pair of accidents? Who that saw a pair of scissors could believe that the two parts of it had come together by chance? or who that looked through a pair of spectacles, the two glasses of which united in the same focus, could believe that they had dropped together by accident? The Atheist urged as an argument against the existence of a God, that he had never come out: Why,' he asked, 'does not your God come and manifest himself?' To this we answered,' How do you know that he has not? We contend that he has spoken, and declared his will; and we point to the Bible, and say, Here is the book in which his will is expounded-this is his voice.' And I must say, continued the Rev. Gentleman, that for those who believe in the divine truths of the Bible, the present is the moment when they should unite and rally round it. For what was the argument of the infidel, when he saw Christians disunited? He said, 'Before you attempt to convert us, settle the matter amongst yourselves, and

arrange your differences as to this book," But it should be our answer,' We are a Society differing, it is true, amongst ourselves as to many points in that book, but believing in this-that it is the only source from which man can come at the truth, and we agree in circulating it amongst men, because we think that nothing else can tend so effectually to bring them together in union.' Let me take a simile from a very common occurrence. If I should see the postman deliver a letter to a family, and that, when the letter is opened, I find the several members of that family separate, and go in different directions about their respective affairs, I should at once conclude that the letter was from a stranger, in whom they had no interest; but if, when the letter was opened, I should find the family coming all together, clustering round to learn its contents,-if I should see the elder daughter peeping over the shoulder of her mother who read it, that she might see as well as hear the pleasing account,-if I should see the younger branches looking up to catch a glimpse of the superscription on the back, and if I should hear inquired,'Did he remember me?-does he send his love to Sarah ?'-and other eager inquiries of the sort,-I should guess at once that the letter was from the father of the family,-in the same way should we judge of the Bible. It is the epistle of love which has been sent to us by our common Father, and we should let it be the means of drawing us, his children, more closely to learn the glad tidings it conveys, and not one by which we might be all scattered and disunited.

J. E. GORDON, Esq. then rose, and after some unavailing attempts had been made to prevent his speaking, proceeded to state, that no one had heard the report with livelier interest than himself; nor could there be any one who rejoiced more heartily in the success of the society, and the pleasing views of its progress; yet upon the resolution for adopting that report, I feel bound in christian duty to move an amendment, for I find in that report a strong reconmendation to the continuance of that practice, in the conduct of the business of this society, which I conceive to be inconsistent with its character as a christian association. I shall now proceed to lay before the meeting what I would substitute in lieu of that passage in the report to which I have referred.

I shall not waste your time or my own in making attacks upon others, or in entering into a defence of my own conduct. In pursuing the course which I have prescribed to myself, I am neither governed by the suggestion of others, nor influenced by their example. I stand before you upon my own responsibility as a man, and in maintenance of my own consistency as a christian. I am not the organ of any party. I do not stand here to give expression to the sentiments of any drilled or organized convention. I stand here upon my own individual and personal responsibility, to perform a sacred and imperative duty, the obligation to the performance of that duty was not suggested to me by warmer hearts or clearer heads than my own. In order to simplify the matter to be presented to the meeting, and to leave them no more than one question to decide upon, I shall confine my notice to one precise and definite object, too that expression in our laws, which declares that all denominations of christians are admissible as members of the society, but I will maintain that none under that law are admissible, unless they be persons professing a belief in the Holy Trinity. It is not my intention at the present moment to raise the question of its being expedient, or obligatory upon us, to commence our meetings with prayer, because the first question is not only prior in order, but actually involves the second; for if the proposition which I have enunciated, deserves to be negatived, then nothing can be more clear than that to discuss the question of prayer or no prayer, would be an utter waste of time; since it is evident that those who deny the divinity of Christ, will never unite in prayer to the triune Jehovah. You cannot open your Bible, and address yourselves to the divine mediator, for in this society there are knees which will not bow before his name. There are tongues in this society which will not confess that our Jesus is the Lord of Hosts. You may dedicate a temple such as this to his glory, but you cannot consecrate to his worship the services therein performed, because you have allowed the Moabite and the Ammonite to tread within its hallowed courts. It is a remarkable fact, that after Tobiah the Ammonite had opposed publicly, though impotently, the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, a trimming high-priest, regardless of the duty which he owed to his colleagues

ex

and his brethren, and, what was of more importance to his God, assigned to that said Tobiah an apartment in the temple. That apartment was the chamber in which the frankincense was kept; accordingly the frankincense was pelled, for the purpose of affording accommodation to Tobiah the Ammonite. Now what we want in this case is some honest Nehemiah, who will turn Tobiah and all his stuff out of the place where the frankincense should be kept, for wherever Tobiah gets in, thence the other is driven out. It is an essential preliminary that you should, in the first place, determine whether this is a religious or a secular institution, or both. Now, my christian brethren, what is the Bible? The object of the Bible must necessarily be a religious object; and when it has been proved that the Bible is not a religious book, then I shall be prepared to admit, but not till then, that this society is not a religious society: so long as the religious character of the Bible remains undisputed and indisputable, I will assume that there exists upon all Christians a religious obligation to promote the circulation of the Bible. Within the two covers of this volume (holding up a copy of the Bible in his hand) we have the published gift of the Creator to his creatures-that only source of comfort and sanctification; that only infallible rule of moral conduct; that only guide and defence which shall enable us to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil; that only means to guard us against every variety of error or of crime. Within these covers are contained the ground upon which rests the obligation to circulate the Bible. Will it be asserted, then, that this society is not religious? If it be not so, I am as ready as any man to admit that we may reject the doctrine of the triune Jehovah, and that we may admit amongst the denominations of Christians, men who deny the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and that we may meet in assemblies such as this, and transact business, and proceed with as much irregularity and as much levity as if we were engaged in a design for extending the circulation of the Waverley novels. I will not deny that we are engaged in a plan of printing and bookbinding, but what is it we have engaged to print and to bind? Is our business merely mechanical when we are occupied in circulating the revelations of an incarnate God, who has undertaken to answer for our benefit this question, "What

shall I do to be saved?"

I hesitate not to affirm, that those who would merge religion in the secular views of an institution such as this, would drivel it down to the low rank of a bookselling company. The question is not whether we shall enter into speculations concerning paper and type, but whether this is or is not to be a christian association. The question is not whether we shall carry on a trade in printing and in bookselling, but whether we shall take into partnership the men who have mutilated the letter of the Scripture on the one hand, and blasphemed and repudiated its author on the other. As the Bible is a religious book, so its circulation must be a religious object. I shall now come to the original formation of this body, and I am persuaded that no impartial man can turn his attention to its primitive institution, and not admit that in its origin and basis it was essentially a religious institution, and whatever aberrations from those principles its history may be brought to furnish, those aberrations proceeded upon individual responsibility, and were not sanctioned by the constituency at large. By one of its fundamental laws, each subscriber of a guinea per annum became a member so long as he continued his subscription; a donation of ten guineas constituted the donor a member for life; and an annual subscription of five guineas, or a donation of fifty guineas, constituted a governor of the society. From the ninth law, I learn that the committee is to consist of thirty-six laymen, of whom six are to be foreign ers resident in London, and one half of the whole number members of the Church of England, the other half being members of any other denominations of Christians. Any one may subscribe to the society; hence we find Socinians subscribe; but we can have none upon the committee who do not belong to some one or other of the denominations of Christians. One half belong confessedly to the Established Church, the other half to other denomination of Christians. Now either the society has established, or it has not, that Socinians are a denomination of Christians; that, in a word, Socinianism is a species of Christianity. In order to establish the soundness of the law to which I have referred, it will be necessary for any one opposing me, to show that the sense in which the words, denominations of Christians, are used, is in accordance with the orthodox sense; and now let

us see the view which is taken of the subject in the first report of the society. In developing the plan upon which it was proposed to establish this associa tion, the society applied itself to seek for the support of Christians at large, and to invite the concurrence of all who professed to receive the Scriptures as the standard of faith. My Christian brethren, do the Socinians receive the Scriptures as a standard of faith in that sense which we do who acknowledge the divinity of the Lord Jesus? In conclusion, the Report states, that no object can be more important, no duty more solemn, upon the members of this Christian nation, than by united efforts to promote the circulation of the Scriptures. Does a Socinian feel that to promote such an object is with him a sacred duty. In another part of the society's report, I find that the present association was a medium of intercourse with Christians all over the world, amongst those who could be induced to concur in promoting the honour and glory of God; yes, amongst Christians; but will you, my Christian brethren, call any man a Christian, who denies the divinity of the Son of God? I shall now call your attention to page 400 of the second report. Pray listen to this statement, it is the last quotation I shall trouble you with; Amidst the various sources of gratification, which a society like this never ceases to afford, there are none more gratifying, than that it forms a point of union for all parts of the world.' God grant that this union may go on taking deeper and deeper root, and spreading itself wider and wider, even unto the ends of the earth. I have been told that at an early period, Socinians and Arians took a part in the proceedings of the society, but I must be allowed to say, that those were steps taken upon individual responsibility, and not sanctioned by the constituency of the society; they had not the assent of the whole body. I shall now proceed to examine this question by the light of Scripture. It must be full in your recollection, my Christian brethren, that the ceremonial of the mosaic dispensasation was in its moral department instituted for the purpose of establishing those outworks which should guard man from the influence of temptation, and, if possible, place him beyond its reach, that the object of them was not only to secure the performance of moral duties, but to repel temptation, and to confine the children of Israel to the worship of