“In the first place we feel ourselves constrained to assert, that the
dissemination of the Scriptures does not appear to us to be conducted
in a proper spirit, and with proper views. If we investigate the
character of many of those who distinguish themselves by more than
ordinary activity in the cause, it cannot be denied that they very
frequently seem to possess only a narrow view of theology, and
exceeding littleness of mind. That laudable veneration, which they
feel for the word of God, easily acts in them, in the absence of more
solid theological attainments, as a check to the liberty of thought
and judgment, to which Christianity leads; they confound an
ecclesiastical system of doctrine with the Gospel, they adhere with
enthusiastic devotedness to exterior forms, and sacrifice to these
the heavenly spirit of Christianity; they seek the essentials of our
religion in the blood and wound theology {15} (blut und wunden
theologie) of former centuries, and it is sufficiently clear that, by
the exertions of such men, a blind adherence to the mere letter of
the word of God is again sought to be brought into use, to the great
injury of genuine Christianity and moral improvement. The peculiar
interest which Mystics and Pietists of the present day take in the
advancement of Bible Societies, and the connection in which they
frequently stand with those who create disorders, by dissent and
separation from the church, is a sign of the times which ought not to
be passed over unnoticed.”
The editor next objects to the resolution taken in England on the subject
of the Apocrypha. This the editor thinks should be opposed, on the
ground, amongst other reasons, that two _thirds of the canonical books of
the Old Testament_ might _with far less injury be withheld than one
single book of the Apocrypha_, for instance, the book of Sirach, &c. &c.
I think from this extract it will be obvious, that the Bible Society
abroad is regarded by the enemies of the truth as a great instrument for
promoting evangelical religion; and, in spite of what has been said
against its agents and its apocryphal books, I cannot but concur with the
German editor, in his general argument. It is my deliberate conviction,
that the Bible Society has been in Germany the instrument of the greatest
good; and, if some of the heads of this institution have not profited by
it as they ought, the poor at least, in many considerable districts, have
been gainers to an extent of which those are little aware who have not
carefully investigated the subject.
In another part of the continent, I certainly found some persons,
professedly heterodox in their opinions, who were nevertheless, active
friends of the Bible Society. In one case, I heard that the public
meeting of a very large city; and in another, that the welfare of a
society, in an immense Protestant district, depended upon the exertions
of persons of the class above described. But could I fail, in such
cases, to thank God, who had kindly placed the antidote so near to the
bane, and had employed an enemy of the truth as the destroyer of his own
principles?
III. A point, to which I must refer, is that of the _persecution of
religious characters_ in Germany, and which persecutions have been
represented as at least sanctioned by the friends of the Bible Society.
This statement as a general fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect. I
took great pains to investigate it on the spot. I wish, for obvious
reasons, not to enter far into particulars. But of one individual, whose
history has been before the public, and whose sufferings have been
introduced to their notice with a sort of tragical effect, I can venture,
after a minute inquiry, to affirm, that his troubles arose, not so much
from his simple proclamation of the truths of the Gospel, as from his
indiscretions, from his resistance to civil as well as ecclesiastical
regulations, and his general intemperance of conduct. I must also add,
that some of the persons who _protected_ that individual, were at the
very time active agents of the Bible Society in their own country. One
simple fact will be sufficient to establish these statements. The truths
of the Gospel have been and are proclaimed, and are tolerated, and even
approved in several of the places from whence this individual was driven.
With respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same effect has
been made. It is certain that an angry feeling was excited in the minds
of several members of the Committee of the Bible Society of that
district, on the occasion which gave rise to the persecutions in that
Canton. At the same time, any participation in this persecution is, as
to himself, distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those
who were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in any
way in the list of the officers of the Bible Society. Two circumstances
connected with the measures which were pursued in this Canton, in
opposition to religious meetings, are sufficiently remarkable and
interesting to deserve our notice. In the first place, the astonishing
progress of religion during this period; and, in the second, the
discovery, during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter
inefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of inquiry
after truth.
IV. A point, which I must bring before your notice, is the actual _state
of true religion_ on the _continent_, and more especially in _Germany_.
It is certainly true that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken
possession of the universities, the public prints, and the higher orders
of society. At the same time I believe, that the statements which have
gone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as to two points,
inaccurate. In the first place, they describe only one side of the case;
for, if there is much infidelity and neology on the continent, there is
also a considerable sprinkling of true religion. And, secondly, The evil
which has existed, and does exist, may be said to be every day
diminishing. As to the first of these facts, I could point out
individuals, parishes, and districts, where real religion is in active
operation; places and persons altogether unconnected with those agents
from England, who have been said to be the only instruments of doing
important good on the continent, and which are therefore unrecognised by
them, and possibly unknown to them. I could name one little knot of
parishes, all within a small circle, in which are twelve ministers,
earnest, orthodox, and devout servants of the Redeemer. I could name
another place, where forty ministers were lately assembled for purposes
of religious and spiritual communion. I might also allege the fact, that
at different universities there are professors who openly, and from the
heart, confess the true faith. I may indeed affirm that, from the
cottages of the poor to the palaces of kings, there are those who walk
worthy their high vocation as Christians and as men. The admitted evils
are every day diminishing. The number of converts is increasing. The
opinions of Paulus and Schulthess seem likely to die away with
themselves. What can be more remarkable than the change which has taken
place in the kingdom of Prussia, where the leaders of the state and the
university may now be said to hold the very opposite creed to that which
obtained with their immediate predecessors?
There are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany, I feel it
right to say a few words—the one is Leander Van Ess, the other your late
invaluable Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.
Leander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I remained with him
during a day, which I passed at Darmstadt. It was impossible not to be
prepared, by his writings, to form a very high estimate of his character
and his labours; and these expectations were, in my case, in no wise
disappointed. I was struck with his holy devotedness to his great
object, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded charity. He is
a man who rises at four o’clock in the morning to his daily task; pursues
it often without cessation through the day; and, as I was informed by
those best acquainted with his habits, he is often found at midnight
occupied with his work. He is making a new version of the Bible, which,
by the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to print;
and, although he holds the opinions of the church to which he belongs on
the subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion to be no hinderance
to others; so that they will, in any way, read the word of God. He is,
therefore, preparing his version for publication, in three forms. First,
with the Vulgate printed in a small type at the bottom of each page, and
with the Apocrypha intermixed; this is the form in which the Catholics
wish to receive it. Secondly, without the Vulgate, and with the
Apocrypha appended, for the Protestants of that country. Thirdly,
without the apocryphal books, for the distribution of our own Bible
Society, if we are disposed to adopt it. Here is a specimen of that
largeness of charity by which every part of his conduct is influenced.
So that, by Protestants and Catholics, who are partakers of the same
spirit, he is alike esteemed. The king of Wirtemberg has presented him
with a medal, in token of his useful labours in his kingdom. The
grand-duke of Baden has given him money to purchase Testaments. And the
government under which he lives sanction his proceedings, and one member
in particular of the royal family of the grand-duke affords him constant
protection and assistance. So that kings, I may say, are “the nursing
fathers” of his plans and labours. I consider this society as
privileged, in no ordinary degree, in having such an agent and friend on
the continent. The assistance which he has already rendered to the
Society has been very considerable. He has a great work on his hands.
Communications are always to be kept open, letters to be written; and, in
a country where there is a fastidiousness in receiving any religious
offering from abroad, no one, who has not tried the experiment, can judge
how much judgment, care, and delicacy it requires to bestow the gift
without injuring the cause it is intended to promote.
The other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is your late dear
and honoured Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff. The present was not the first
opportunity I had enjoyed of tracing the extent of his labour, and of
ascertaining the estimation in which he is held on the continent. It is
right to be known, that Dr. Steinkopff, before he came to England, filled
an office of large correspondence on the subject of religion, and which
gave him perhaps a better acquaintance with the religious state of
Germany, than, I may venture to say, any other individual. He has
constantly held communications with his successors in the important and
influential office which he himself held; and this has given, to himself,
a power of judging of the exact state of the continent; and, to his
labours, a degree of efficiency, which could scarcely have been possessed
without it. But when I speak of the value of Dr. Steinkopff to the Bible
Society, it is not to any mere outward circumstance I would mainly
advert. I may venture to say, that his character has been one grand
instrument of your success on the continent. “If,” said a person, of
considerable influence in Germany, to me, “you do not want Dr. Steinkopff
any longer in England, send him over here, and he will find friends
enough.” Wherever he has appeared, either as the officer of your Society
or as a private individual, he has left a name behind him which, next to
the favour of the Master he has so affectionately and devotedly served,
and the good which he has been the instrument of effecting for his
fellow-creatures, may be his comfort in his hours of sickness and of
solitude. I saw none who knew him who were not ready to bear testimony
to his humility, his conscientiousness, his vigour, his undeviating
devotedness to the Society whose officer he was. May God long preserve
him to assist us by his counsels, and to advocate the cause of the
Society, with a voice which, whether at home or abroad, has been rarely
heard in vain.
I will now venture, in conclusion, to urge upon the Committee, as the
plain inference from the foregoing statements, what appears to me to be a
most imperious duty. It is that of cultivating and to manifesting a
_spirit of kindness_, _of generosity_, _and enlarged benevolence towards
our continental brethren_. If it be considered as an offence that we
express our “unfeigned Christian regards” towards many of our fellow
labourers abroad, I trust that we shall continue thus to offend. I had
constantly occasion on the continent, whilst speaking on the subject of
the Apocrypha to those who most materially differed from us, to urge,
that, whereas by the new resolution of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, the ground upon which we could unite was somewhat narrowed, our
temper of mind, our sympathy, and love might remain the same; and that,
if we could hope less than ever to “reconcile all opinions,” we might
still endeavour “to unite all hearts.”
This was the leading principle of our Society in the infancy of its
institution; and, now that we are more matured in age, let us labour not
to depart from it. Far then from advising the officers of this Society
to suffer themselves, in their communications with the continent, to be
lectured into a cold, dry, measured style of writing, I would exhort them
to give vent to their warm and generous feelings. They may, in so doing,
err in the sight of those disposed to make men “offenders for a word;”
but they will better please the compassionate Master they serve; they
will, under the divine blessing, cherish the fainting spirit of
continental Christianity, and fan that spark of piety and zeal which is
lighted up, I trust, never to be extinguished.
I hope too the Committee will be encouraged as to the general objects and
operations of the Society. I am, by actual observation, more than ever
convinced, that, on a very large scale, this institution is on the
continent, a favoured instrument in the hands of Divine Providence. The
good which it has accomplished is immense. The evils which have been
charged upon it, exist, rather in imagination, than in reality. Let the
Committee go on to do what they can, and to do all in the spirit of love
and generosity. Let them commit every endeavour to the blessing of Him
to whom the souls of the multitudes scattered over the continent are
unspeakably dear; let them be confident that the word of the Lord will
have free course and be glorified; and that millions will arise, at the
last day, to acknowledge with gratitude and joy the labours of this
Society. Let the temper of the Society remain unimpaired at home; and it
need not be disquieted at objections or assaults which will not at least
commend themselves to the world at large, by the general spirit in which
they have been defended. And may we never fail to repose an honourable
confidence in the officers and friends of the Society; nor forget, in
judging of others, to take into account the infirmities of our common
nature. May we feel that, having embarked in the glorious enterprise of
making all men acquainted with the pure and unadulterated word of God, it
is not for us to be checked by slight obstacles; but to go forward,
conquering and to conquer, in the name of him who has loved us, and given
himself for us, and who has consigned this volume, as his precious
legacy, to a perishing and suffering world.
Believe me, my Lord,
Your Lordship’s very obedient servant,