me, that I am inimical and hostile to the Bible Society. I speak the
truth when I say—first, that I esteem the Bible as the choicest gift of
God, save that of his own Son, the restorer, the light and saviour of the
world—Secondly, that I esteem and cordially approve the universal spread
of the Bible among all nations, and in every language; believing, as I
firmly do, in the sufficiency of the Scriptures to make all men (who use
them properly) wise unto salvation, since all scripture (which is) given
by the inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works. Convinced as I am, that
the Scriptures contain a full, clear, and plain revelation of every thing
that is essential for mankind to know, believe, and practice; of all that
God requires from them, or gives them ground to expect from him, in order
to promote their virtue and peace on earth, and final happiness in
heaven. I approve of the principle on which protestantism is founded,
that the Bible alone contains the religion of protestants; I consequently
fall in most heartily with the circulation of the Scriptures without note
or comment; leaving every man at full liberty of conscience, and the use
of his own reason and judgment in interpreting and understanding the word
of God. I have attended Bible Societies from their first formation; I
have contributed to them in several parts of the kingdom, and at
Halesworth too, without sounding a trumpet; I have recommended them
constantly on the principles stated above; and, if I have not been a
public advocate on the platform, the reason has invariably been, because
the advocates have universally treated me, even when on the platform
among them, with silent contempt and cold disdain. It is not the Bible
Society I object to; but, the way in which its professed advocates expose
the cause and themselves, by bringing forward in their speeches subjects
calculated only (in some instances) to insult a rational understanding,
and impose on and deceive the vulgar; and the effect produced has been to
lead numbers to imagine, that if they give a trifle, or obtain a Bible,
it will go well nigh to secure their salvation. Hence it happens, that
in every village I can find a Bible or two in almost every house; in many
of which they are never read, because not one in the family can read
them. Can it be otherwise in other countries? And yet what romantic
tales we often hear of the wonderful conversions effected by the Bible!
just as if the Bible could produce any good effect, but where it is read,
understood, and its precepts reduced to practice. Let the professed
advocates lay aside those arts and tricks which alone become mountebanks
and quacks, and let them plead the cause of the Bible as becomes the
dignity and grandeur of the subject, and I will wish them God speed in
spreading the Bible to the remotest habitation of human beings; and, let
those who cannot treat the subject as becomes truth and holiness, keep
silent. Religion and the Bible require not the aid of enthusiasm,
ribaldry, and buffoonery; nor of tales and anecdotes on a par with Mother
Goose’s Fables.
In addition to those tales which I have advanced on former occasions, and
numbers that I could still advance, I will only select the following. I
once heard a preacher at a meeting in Wellingborough church recommend the
Bible, as a quack recommends his pills and balsams—a cure for every
malady, “Do you know (said he), a drunkard, a swearer, a liar, give him a
Bible; do you know an adulterer, sabbath-breaker, or covetous miser, give
him a Bible; do you know a bad husband, a bad father, a bad wife, or a
bad mother, give them each a Bible; do you know a bad master, of
mistress, or a bad servant or apprentice, give them a Bible; do you know
a bad neighbour, a slanderer, backbiter, or busybody, give them a Bible.”
Thus he ran on through the whole catalogue of vices, and recommended, as
a cure for them all, the gift of a Bible. I need not remind my readers
of what has been stated in the Ipswich Chronicle twice over, on the
application of the funds of the Bible Society; but I remember a speaker
said at the conclusion of a meeting at Halesworth, three years back,
“that in answer to the question, what becomes of the money given at these
meetings, he would assure them, on the word of a dying man, speaking as
to dying men, in the presence of God, before whom all must appear in
judgment, that not a single penny of their money was applied to any other
purpose than that for which they gave it, (namely), for printing and
circulation of the scriptures.” It belongs not to me to reconcile this
with the statements in the Ipswich and London papers. Since those
persons who have enjoyed the advantage of travel are allowed to enliven
your meetings by anecdote, I will give a specimen or two of their manner
and matter. At a meeting held at Leeds, some months past, Dr. Patterson
stated, that in his travels he had found a set of men making an attempt
to supplant the Bible by substituting in its place a Socinian Bible, full
of errors, and void of every essential doctrine; that he had procured the
suppression of it and of another as bad, and hoped the whole was rotten
or rotting in a fort to which they were consigned; that a professor in a
university, the author of the above, had been turned out of his
professorship. All this and much more was stated and printed in the
Leeds paper, but no name of the book, place, or professor was mentioned.
The whole was a fabrication to suit a purpose, and has been well exposed
by Dr. Hutton, Unitarian minister, at Leeds. At a meeting in the
City-Road Chapel, London, last May, Lord Mountcassel proved, that the age
of miracles was returned in Ireland; he could vouch, he said, as a
missionary was preaching in a village, a Catholic priest interrupted him:
the day following the priest pointing out the place to a friend, said,
there is the spot where that cursed pharisee preached to the people;—he
was struck with paralysis, his arm fell powerless, his mouth was
distorted, he fell back, and was taken home senseless. Another priest, a
great opponent of Bibles, was struck in a meeting with a paralytic shock
and never spoke afterwards. These were the visitations of God, and are
recorded as such in the Evangelical Magazine. While such men as doctors
of divinity and titled noblemen can thus, with devotion’s visage and
pious actions, sugar over the devil himself, we may expect that other
pigmies, in a petty way, will ape and mimic their example; but if the
Bible which they circulate teaches others no better morals than theirs,
the gift will be of little use to those who obtain it. I wish such
advocates as the above to recollect, that we are forbidden by the Bible
“to do evil that good may come,” or to propagate “cunningly devised
fables.”
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FOOTNOTES.
{3} Assumed name.
{4a} The spirit of the party.
{4b} Against good manners.
{4c} Disguised.
{4d} In person.
{4e} A man of various learning.
{4f} Masterpiece.
{4g} Churchmen.
{4h} Pupil.
{5a} A learned man.
{5b} Between ourselves.
{5c} Slip of the tongue.
{5d} Pretended.
{5e} As it should be.
{5f} A nice morsel
{6} Willing or not.
{7a} I have read of a bishop who, on coming to his bishopric, ordered a
Greek inscription to be written over his palace gate. It was meant to
say, “Gate be thou ever open to, and never shut against a good man.” But
when finished, it said, “Gate be thou always shut against, and never open
to a good man.” And as the bishop was so well versed in Greek, that he
could not find out the blunder, he was for his learning deposed. I give
this as a hint to Hugh Latimer.
{7b} I must remain in my present sentiments.
{8a} Tiresomeness.
{8b} The republic of letters.
{9a} A fit man.
{9b} Three united in one.
{9c} Winding up.
{10a} Common phrases
{10b} By what authority.
{10c} With what intention.
{10d} To ensnare the vulgar.
{10e} What harm will it do.
{10f} The law of retaliation.
{11} See a speech by a minister. (Lectures, page 177)
{12a} Like master like man.
{12b} Thou that teachest others, teachest thou not thyself.
{12c} Wonderful to tell.
{12d} Indispensable pre-requisite.
{14a} The truth without fear.
{14b} Without over bashfulness.
{16a} I do not wish to be made a bishop.
{16b} Sudden enterprise.
{16c} Burden of proving.
{16d} Bradbury.
{18} Jesus Christ has informed us, John iii. 16, 18, “that God has
displayed his love to the world in sending his Son, not to condemn the
world, but to save it.” Hugh Latimer tells us, page 6, “that the
perpetuity of punishment in vindictive justice, (which by the way is a
contradiction in terms), is the emanation of love to the universe.”
There is no method of reconciling these plain contradictions, but by
allowing him to be acquainted with those sublime mysteries with which
Christ was wholly unacquainted.
{19} A foolish argument.
{21a} Deputy.
{21b} Said for nothing.
{26} With the whole heart.
{27} Truth conquers.
{28a} The guardian of morality.
{28b} As in a looking glass.
{28c} Improper fondness of writing.
{28d} Substitute.
{29a} For decency sake.
{29b} Over much bashfulness.
{30a} For the public good.
{30b} Face to face.
{30c} By word of mouth.
{32a} Theological tracts, preface, page 19.
{32b} Molineux’s Familiar Letters, page 163.
{33} Bishop Horne.