OTAGO BIBLE SOCIETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16507, 6 October 1915, Page 2

OTAGO BIBLE SOCIETY

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS. On September 20, 1864, the Otago Bible Society came into being, and therefore it has jast completed 50 years of usefulness. To mark tho occasion of tbo jubileo of the society a meeting was held in tho 'First Church Hall yesterday afternoon, and in thp evening a meeting was held in the Moray Place Church. At the afternoon celebration the president of the society (Mr W. Brown) occupied tho chair. The proceedings were opened with the singing of Hymn 477, and after tho Rev. F. T. lie ail had offered up prayer, the president read tho 23rd PSalm. The President then moved the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet. He said te looked on it as a great privilege to submit the 50th report and the financial statement of tfie Otago Bible Society plause.) They were very much indebted to the Rev. Mr Barton for the great patience and ingenuity he had displayed in fos&.jking up the old records, which personally, he did not think were available, and they had thus been able to secure some early records of the work of. the society. Tho speaker then read extracts from the report, in which the names" of several of the old members were mentioned, and said they recalled many of his old friendships of the late seventies. It was his privilege to meet most of these gentlemen in friendly intercourse, and he had to see them pass away, one by one. There were also present that afternoon, he believed, others who recalled those old Otago days.—(" Hear, hear.") The first balance sheet of the society was published in 1870, and the donations in those'days were £20 to tho British and Foreign Bible Society, and £5 to the National Bible Society. The object of the society had been the purchase of Bibles and Testaments and their sale throughout the various districts, but the time came when it appeared to tihe ..mind of the board that it would be well to leave over this work and confine its attention to the obtaining of. subscriptions and aiding the great British Bible Societies. The work of these societies had been pushed on to a Temarkable extent. Their friends at Home hod made every effort to increaso the issue of the Scriptures, and to make provision for the various armies, not only at the front, but also for thoso soldiers •who were in hospital,

and for the enemy prisoners. In this connection during _ the first. eight months of the war the society had supplied more than a' million and a half volumes, in over 20

languages, and in a dozen different countries. Last year alone the British' and Foreign Bible Society had ! reported a total of over 10,000,000 issues. Altogether the issues of the three big societies had been ' increased in the year by 2,500,000. Such was the work they were 'engaged in. Dealing with the finances of tho local society,, the speaker said that since its inception £6761 had been sent as free contributions to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and £5155 to the National Bible Society of Scotland and, with legacies coming to themthis year, the total sent Home in all totalled £16,0|00. At the suggestion of their active secretary, Mr Barton, it was thought that this being , their jubilee year they might,_ by a little energy, increase their contributions. They knew the effect of the war upon tho work of their collectors, but they had got in £768. But that was not tne end of the effort, for it was so ordered that they received a legacy of £50 from the Herbert estate, earmarked for the British and Foreign Bible Society, and later on the legacy from s Miss Hawley's estate of £4189, which was also earmarked for the British and Foreign Bible Society.' They had since received word from, this latter society that this large ■ legacy bad come 'to hand just when its necessities seemed to be greatest, as_ it was just_ about to fall back upon its reserve siecurities in order to keep things moving. ' Their society had started.off with the hope •of forwarding £1000 to mark its jubilee, and under the Lord's providence they had finished up by sending £5008. — ■{Loud applause.) ; . . ' Tho Mayor. (Mr Clark) said that in the unavoidable absenoe of tne Primate he had been asked to second the motion , for the adoption of the report. To his mind_ the most striking thing %as the great tribute that had been, paid to the'founders of this land and the wonderful foresight that they had .shown," and the in which they realised that they had a. wider duty than merely the duty of pioneers.—that they had a duty to the country from which they had come. —"(Applause.) The very fact that for over the' 50 years the'society had existed, it had done good work was sufficient to justify the foresigHt of its founders. The nardy ' pioneers, tho great Imperialistic leaders, had better than'they knew', and it was to their hands that_ they. were largely. I. indebted. for : the privileges „ they were how living under. There was no doubt that' an institution like theirs was more than a . mere' religious institution—it was one that had meant the advancement of civilisation; for, apart from anything else,' they all admitted that the Scripture was iho strongest, influence in civilising menj in building up a nation,, and in building up, their Empire;—(Applause.) ;The speaker, concluded fbV ; congratulating . ; the president oh the groat work he had done for the society, and voiced _ the opinion that the.ro were still avenues in, the doiriinipn for . the usefulness of the society on the: lines it had followed in its _early years. The motion was then' carried unanimously. The Rev. A. M. Finlayson (Moderat6r ; of .the Pregbytery) moved the following resolution—"That _ this meeting expresses gratitude to- Almighty God for his goodness to the Otago Bible Society throughout 1jhe,.50 years of its history; rejoices in the service it has been permitted to_ render in aiding the . British and Foreign Bible Society and the National Bible, Society of. Scotland in thew/noble work of translating, , printing, and the Holy Scrips tures in the many-languages of and v prays that ' the' Divino blessing may still more abundantly rest upon the society's efforts in the. years that are ito come."Mr ,3'inla.yson, in speaking to the, motion, said, he . had been asked by the Presbytery to represent it at the jubilee. Thei Rev._ W. Gray Dixon, seconded the motion, which, was carried with applause! Mr Duncan Wright moved—"That the meeting most heartily congratulates the great parent sooieties—the British. and Foreign Bible Society and the National Bible; Society of Scotland^—on the magnificent results, of the last year's work, and especially on the great service they are render-' ing. in supplying the Word of God to the combatants in tho present world struggle, and'wishes them God's richest blessing in their noble and Christlike task." ", The mover said that if the Word had been: Eeved in and its doctrines applied to the ends of tho earth, they would not have been plunged into the greatest war the world had ever seen. The Word of God would have adjusted all wrongs, so that their society was doing magnificent, work, arid he hoped God's blessing would rest upon Applause.) The motion was seconded by tho Rev. Mr Barton, and carried unanimously. The Rev. Mr Drake moved a vote', of thanks to tho office-bearers of the society, paying a. special tribute to the self-eacrific-ingr labours of the collectors for the society. This was seconded by the Rev. Mr Don, and carried with applause. The Rev., W. A. Hay and Messrs E. Rosevear and D. Barron were re-elected members of the board., \ ■ i. .

The meeting was' closed with prayer by: Professor Hewitson. • f

THE EVENING CELEBRATION. ' There was 1 not a large attendance at the evening celebration, which was held in the Jubilee Hall of the Moray Place Congregational Church. Professor Hewitson occupied) the chair, and after the Rev. G. Heiglrway had offered up prayer a hymn was stuig.

The '.Rev. James Chisholm was the opening, speaker, and he spoke, on the history of the Otago Bible Society. He said' it was" always an interesting thing to look back at the beginnings of things; especially when they had grown through the years into a: great movement with wide and far extended issues. There was, too, always a kind of romance about the beginnings of things.. But if there was not the same kind of romance about the formation of the Otago Society as was the case with the formation of other parent bodies,- there was something striking against it, as it furnished an illustration of how the Biblo drew people of varied classes and attainment together., The first meeting of the society had been presided over by the Superintndent of the province (Mr John Hyde Harris), while the first, motion was moved by the Rev. A. Todd and seconded by Mr A. C. Strode (resident magistrate). The speaker then gave an anecdotal address touching the impressions formed in ,his mind by the characteristics and personality of the men who had been associated with the society in its earliest days.< , The Rev. W. A. Hay congratulated the Otago Bible Society, on behalf of the Methodisit Church, on having attained its jubilee. All the churches recognised tho central purpose in the work of the Bible societies, and sought with them to make the Book a living book. Ho supposed that the work of the society was 'less spectacular than much of the work which appeared important to the public mind, The remarkable thing was not that the society was able, to record a substantial work —it would have been mare remarkable bad thosociety not

"been able to do a great work, seeing that it was moved) by tho spirit of God. Con- «j tinuing, tho speaker said tho Bible must be in tho heart of tho life of the people; it must move every motive. Then the nation would be strengthened, then public life would bo purified, and! God's name would bo glorified.—(Applause.) Mr H. Davis, a missionary from Canton, said he must bear witness to the good work the various societies were doing in distributing the Bible. The Bibles andl Testaments and Scripture portions that _wero supplied by the- British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Society, and the National Society they coald 1 sell at ver> cheap rates, because the cost of production had been subscribed for by the people. The Bible, in the vernacular language, was a great asset to the missionary in his work. On account of the Chinese having a great respect for the written Word, it. had its effect not only with the Christian, but also the heathen in case of difficulties. The speaker went on to relate instances of how Chinese had been brought to believe in tho Word through Bibles being sent out by the society The Bible throughout the "world built up the churches. Where the Bible went' into a home the idol oame out. If thev could only get the people to read the Bible they 1 had no fear for the future •of the Church. Ono of the most encouraging things they had in their work had been the way a few old women had set out to learn to read Chinese, in order that they might be abla to read the Scriptures. They must remember that there were over 400,000,000 Chinese, and only about 200,000 of them had entered the Protestant Church, so they would need to distribute a tremendous lot of Scripture before even the Chinese had seen the Bible, let alone the heathen m all the other lands. The speaker went on to say that} Hthe greatest ambition of the agents far the British and American tobacco companies was to place a cigarette in the mouth of every Chinaman. One could not but Admire their industry and the thorough way in which they were seeking to realise that ambition, and he hoped they would be as keen to see that copies of tne Scriptures were circulated not alone through China, but throughout the whole world.— (Applause.) The Rev. W. Saundera spoke on the Bible in the Life of the Nation. He said the story of the Bible was inwoven indissolubly in! the history of the nation. The story of our nation was .largely' the product of the Bible. The Bible had been a powerful formative force. They never could Have been what they were save for the Bible. They had to remember that the Bible_ was an inspired message which had the impulsive force of the Living God. It . had been influencing their race for many a century: They were, brought up as a people upon the Bible; the Bible had been to their race as a was to a little child. The Bible was behind their throne, behind their legislatures, and in their courts of justice. Tne speaker said one point he had to make was the influence of the Bible to-day ; 'in strengthening and heartening ..tfieir soldiers at the froht. 1 It was well known that their soldiere in the trenches, especially _in the west, ' were delighting in Bible reading _and finding inspiration in, the church services. But it was ■ not only in the " west, but wherever their soldiers, were gathered in the name of' duty,' that [they were finding consolation -and' fortitude and high- hope ■from the Word.,of 'God: ■ It was the Bible that was largely, .going to give them the victory which- had;"begun,, and. which' would assuredly be fulfilled.;—( Applause.) Professor Hewitson said _ the Bible' was, the most astonishing boqk in the I ..world today. Of that there was no question, when they thought of the millions of copies that had beeft; circulated. in the course of long years by one society,' and. realised that it was the' religious literature of a foreign people—more foreign to them than the Germans or the Greeks : or the Ro'mans. From Nazareth to Jerusalem was'only 65 miles, and out of that narrow little country had come that glorious universal Book. It spoke to every man and woman in the tongue in w;hich he or'she was born. Thesneaker concluded by stressing 'the point that the Bible in the heart was more important than the Bible in the Church. -On the motion of • the Rev. Mr • Barton a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the sneakers," and the meeting concluded with the singing of a hymn and with prayer.