BRITISH AND FOEEIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 9343, 23 February 1881, Page 2

BRITISH AND FOEEIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

The Annual Meeting of this Society was held on Monday evening, in the schoolroom adjoining the Trinity Wesleyan Church. There ;was;a-g<ftd,W--tendance, and the chair was occupied by Mr E. "W. Woon, the. Eevs A Le» ; »U(i Treadwelly and Messrs Carson, "Manley; and .Tucker were also on. the. platfprnx.. The proceedings w#«^;commenced by. singing Hymn 183, " Before Jehovah's Awful rThxone." Prayer waa^ihen offefeiTup by the Rev. J. Treadwell. , The Chairman made a few opening remarks, in which be said the Bible' Society «!tfas the rallying point of many' 'CEmHans, and gave a brief account of the history of the Society at home. At a meeting lately heir? in London, a large .number of agents for the dissemination of the Scriptures attended, and the account they gave of the number of copies of the Bible j priuted, in a vast number of different languages, was very encouraging. It went to show that the Bible wasr-becoming more extensively read^ .and "Converts were daily being: added to the Protestant faith. The Bible could now be found anywhere on the Continent, and although the colporteurs frequently met with opposition and discouragements, still churches were springing' up everywhere. In thej east — in China, a great work was also being done, pnly, on Ashore 5 , £ut amongst the shipping, the' Bible", printed' in English and Chinese, had been freely distributed. Financially, the Society was in a better position than in the previous year. The balance to the good was £11,000 better than in the year before, and the equilibrium between expenditure and income had been restored. The Secretary, Rev. Mr Lee, then ' read the following report : — " In presenting their Annual Report the Committee feel pleasure in recording that the most gratifying success has continued to attend the efforts of the parent Society in its noble work of circulating the sacred Scriptures. Three reasons are mentioned in its 76th report for special thankfulness, each of which has had its share in making the past year one long to be remembered. 'It has been in some countries a year of reaction, but no old field has been closed ; it has been in some countries a year of exhaustion, nevertheless, new fields have been opened ; it has been in all countries a year of depression, in spite of which your Committee have to acknowledge funds sufficient to hold their own and even. to go forward.' Unlike the previous three years, during which the receipts were £30,000 under the expenditure the past year, shows that th,e equilibrium between income and expenditure is again restored. The total income of the Society has amounted to £213,374 14s Bd, £99,734 16s 4d of which has been for the sale of Scriptures. The expenditure has been £193,539 12s 7d. The issues of the Society for the year have been from the Bible House at Home, 3,375,673; from depots abroad, 1,404,689 copies, or in all 2,780,362. The total issues of the Society from its commencement have been 88,165,419. Not merely, however, do we rejoice in the extensive circulation of the Word of God by the gigantic efforts of the parent Society, but in the numerous testimonies that its report furnishes of the success that has attended the labours of its agents in various^ parts of the world. God has abundantly blessed their work, and the seed which they have sown has produced a glorious harvest. The Committee of this Auxiliary has nothing very special to report. During the year we have had a visit from the Rev. J. T. Evans, M.A., the Australasian lecturer of the parent Society, and a meeting was arranged, but we regret to say that sufficient interest was not evinced in his visit to secure an attendance, and in conseqtienco the meeting lapsed. The sale of books has been — Bibles, 305; Testaments, 79: to the amount of £34. 14s 3d. The stock in hand in the town depot is 424 Bibles, 254 Testaments, valued at £86 18s 3d. The balancesheet to be presented to you by ,-the Treasurer will show a credit of £18 Is 3d, and as £25 has been sent to the parent Society as a fee contribution, and £65 on purchase account, the Committee have no reason to be discouraged with their work. The contributions during the year have been £39 11s as compared with £29 2s 1 0 last year, and leaving an increase of £10 8s 2d. The districts have been re-arranged for collection, and some new districts formed, but the Committee have not been so successful as they have desired in securing collectors. To those ladies who have favoured them with their services the thanks of the Committee are due. The Society is also indebted to Mr E. N. Liffiton for the gratutious use of his office as a Committee room. In conclusion, the Committee commend the claims of the Society to the consideration of the i Christian public, and confidently appeal for continued support." The balance-sheet Avas then read by Mr B. N. Manley, Hon. Treasurer. Mr Tucker, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, spoke of the favourable condition in which the Society was now placed and the amount of good that had been and was now ' being done by it. He regretted that while such an amount of valuable work was being done abroad there still remained much to be done in our midst before the Word of God would become the rule of everyone's lifei He felt that the only thing which could arrest the infidel spirit of the times was the Word 1 of God itself. He was of opinion that the majority of infidels understood but little of the infidelity they professed to the book they despised. He believed that the Word of God would do more for them than all the argument that could be used. The Society should therefore go on with its work with all energy, as the moment infidels understood the Bible their infidelity faded away before the bright light of the gospel. They need not stand still here in the colony wondering whether the Bible would do the same good here as it did at Home. There was no doubt of that. Too high an estimate could not be placed upon the good that it could do, for if the good which the Bible had done in the world were taken out of it there would be very little left. The motion was seconded by Mr Earle, who also spoke of the power of the Bible for life or death, and concluded with an earnest appeal to everyone to assist by every means in their power, in the dissemination of the Scriptures. Mr Treadwell, in moving the second resolution, said the last meeting he had attended was held in the High School. He was then very pleased at the demonstration made there in favour of the Bible in schools, as it showed that the Word of God had a hold of the hearts of many in Wanganui. The resolution he had to propose was of a two-fold nature, and ,the first portion, which acknowledged the grace and favour of God in caring for the Society, he had no doubt would meet with the heartfelt approbation of all present. The rev. gentleman went on to say that, as might be expected, the Society was not free from faults. They had circulated numbers of translations of the Bible, which savoured of immorality and Popery. He had seen a version in which one of the proverbs was translated, "It is not a great faulty to steal." This was, of course, entirely subversive of Christian doctrine. But for all this the Society had done a great work, and were

deserving of their financial support and prayers. The former speaker had alluded to the spread of infidelity. He saw a paragraph in a paper lately which stated that 500 copies of Payne's " Age of Reason " had been imported to Dunedin and rapidly disposed of. Most persons had some knowledge of the character of this book, which was said to, h&ve been written" by Pajne while nra French prison, and which advocated Pji'sm, to the exclusion of Atheism and Iblfristianity. Many notable Christians —Bishop . Watson,., for instance— had rejected the arguments of Payne/and he trusted that these works — these anti.dotes to the "Age of Reason "would also be published in Dunedin. Civilization and prosperity had gone hand in hand, and they were owing to the establishment of the Church and ., the spread of the Scriptures. like Mr Tucker he believed that the Bible itself was the best answer to the arguments of infidels.. He would move, .That this meeting desires to acknowledge, with devout gratitude, thegoodnessof God for the success vouchsafed to the Parent Society in its efforfs to extend the knowledge of God's Word throughout the world, and earnestly appeals to all who ldve the sacred Scriptures for their continued prayer and financial support. Mr Carson, in seconding the resolution, ; said he would not say anything in favour, of the Bible itself ; to him it was beyond commendation, and he was speaking to those who firmly belived in it, and who rested their hopes upon it. They had come there to hear something of the work which had been done, and the report presented was indeed a very gratifying one. The previous year the Parent Society had been behind hand, and had to solicit .h»lp, but they were now free from debt. He had great faith in the value of prayer, and the prayers of all Christians in behalf of this Society could not fail to assist the great work of propagating the Scriptures. The resolution was then put and carrieA unanimously. Hymn 49 — "Brightly beams our Father's Mercy." The third resolution was moved by Mr Fearnly, as follows: — That the thanks of the meeting be presented to the ladies who have kindly collected funds in their respective districts, and to the members of Committee for their services during the past year ; and that the following be a Committee for the present year, viz.: — Mr R. W. Woon, President ; Mr B. N. Manley, Treasurer ; Rev. J. Treadwell, Secretary; and Messrs P. Bell, Carson, Beaven, Campbell, J. Hurley, H. Hurley, G. Howe, E. N. Liffiton, John Stevenson, and C. Davy. To the ladies he thought great thanks were due for their efforts in the collecting subscriptions. He trusted that those who intended to subscribe to the funds of the Society would not, as was usually the case, make any delay in giving their donations. The motion was briefly seconded by the Rev. Mr Lee, and carried unanimously. A collection, amounting to £2 11s Gd, was then made. Mr Lee moved a vote of thanks to the President for his care and energy during the year, and for the very efficient manner in which he had presided over the meeting that night. Seconded by Mr Hurley, and carried unanimously. A vote of thanks was also passed to the Secretary, Rev. Mr Lee, on the motion of Rev. Treadwell, seconded by Mr B. N. Mauley. The meeting closed with the Evening Hymn, and Benediction pronounced by the Rev. Mr Lee.