Transcribed from the 1827 J. Hatchard and Son edition, by David Price,
email ccx074@pglaf.org
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._
* * * * *