A
LETTER
TO
THE RIGHT HON. LORD BEXLEY,

CONTAINING A
STATEMENT MADE TO THE COMMITTEE
OF THE
British and Foreign Bible Society,
AS TO THE
RELATIONS OF THAT INSTITUTION,
WITH
FRANCE, THE VALLEYS OF
PIEDMONT, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY.

BY FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, M. A.
RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.

LONDON:
J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILY.

1827.

LONDON:
IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

PREFACE

The circumstances which have given rise to the publication of the following letter are briefly these:—At the departure of the Author for the continent, in the month of April, 1826, he tendered his services generally to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and received from that body the power of disposing of a certain number of copies of Bibles and Testaments, at any opportunities which might present themselves to him on his journey.  Of this power he availed himself; and, on his return to London, in the month of December, he went to the Committee to give an account of the trust which had been committed to him.  Whilst he was doing this, it was natural that he should add to his statement a few observations, connected with the objects of the Institution itself; and more especially, as various errors, into which it was charged with having fallen, had become the subjects of public discussion, both in Scotland and in England.  These observations Lord Bexley, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Bible Society, then occupying the Chair of the Committee, requested, in the name of those over whom he presided, might be communicated in writing; and, in compliance with this request, the following statement was sent.

After some delay, the author, at the suggestion of several friends, has been led to make it public, hoping that it may supply to the supporters of the Bible Society new motives for earnestly and generously persevering in their efforts to promote the circulation of the Scriptures; and, to the assailants of that Institution, an answer to some of the charges which they, in his apprehension, have hastily and unwarrantably brought forward.

The Author can only hope this document may be a means of forwarding the interests of the Bible Society—an Institution, which, in his mind, whatever may be the evil resulting from the circulation of the apocryphal books, has sown the seed of more important benefits to mankind than even the Reformation itself.

Pakefield, April 5, 1827.

A
LETTER,
&c.

      My Lord,

In compliance with a wish so kindly expressed by your Lordship, I shall now endeavour to communicate in writing the substance of what I took the liberty of stating in the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society.  The observations there made chiefly respected the state of religion on the continent of Europe—especially as connected with that institution whose Committee I had the honour of addressing; and they were exclusively such as had been suggested to me during a journey of eight months through the various countries, to which it was my endeavour to draw the attention of your Lordship and the Committee.

I must beg leave, however, to preface this brief and inadequate statement by two or three observations.

In the first place, I must intreat that if this written document should not be found precisely to correspond in expression or detail with the address to the Committee, the difference may be ascribed, not to intention, but to a defect of memory.  That address was altogether extempore; and my recollection of particular expressions I may have employed, is very imperfect.

In the next place, I wish to have it understood, that although I should not have committed this statement to the press, except at the wish of some members of the Committee of the Bible Society, I, myself am alone responsible for the facts and opinions it contains.  It was highly satisfactory to me to discover that many of the views taken by myself of the subjects upon which I spoke, corresponded with those of a large proportion of the Committee.  In other points, I might not be so fortunate as to agree with that majority.  But, whatever might be the amount of that agreement or disagreement, I desire alone to be made responsible for the contents of this paper.

I must also be permitted to say that, in this communication, a few names and particulars have been suppressed, which I did not hesitate to produce to the Committee.  It is obvious that circumstances which might safely be named within walls, from which they were not likely to escape; might produce inconvenience, if published and circulated upon the continent of Europe.

I shall now proceed to give the substance of what I ventured to offer to the Committee.

My first visit was to France, where I remained almost continually journeying for several months.  It was a satisfaction to me to arrive at Paris in time to attend the annual public meeting of the Bible Society.  I can truly say that the meeting was in the highest degree interesting.  The character of the reports, especially those of the Ladies’ and Mechanics’ Society—the attendance of so many ministers of religion—the introduction of extempore speaking—the feeling of warmth and zeal which seemed almost universally to prevail—left me no doubt but that a deep interest pervaded the minds of large numbers on the subject of the circulation of the Scriptures.  I afterwards visited many of the auxiliaries, great and small, of the Society in different provinces, and the hopes formed at the meeting at Paris were not disappointed.  It happened to me to pass through one small village in a very solitary situation in the centre of France, where three associations had been formed—one of children, another of young women, and a third of the population at large.  In this village, under a very pious and able minister, Mr. Duvivier, it was interesting to observe to what an extent education had gone hand in hand with the circulation of the word of God.  Some of the children in the school repeated, as a Sunday task, not less than two hundred verses of the New Testament.

With many of the larger auxiliaries of the Society, I was particularly gratified.  In some districts the circulation of the Scriptures was very considerable.  In others, much still remained to be done.  The Protestant ministers were the general agents and protectors of the institution; and, there were many of them full of activity.  Two collateral benefits of the Bible Society were particularly obvious in France,—in the first place, the truly valuable object which it supplied to many pious, active, and benevolent minds, which powers might have been otherwise unemployed: and in the next place, the rallying point which it afforded for the really pious of all classes.