The National Register. — London, England, 1819-11-07 00:00:00

562 THE SEVENTH ANNIVELOARY OF TILE POREIGS AN I) 111111TNII A U.:Cal. - WY BIBLE .sUCIEIT. Thi, meeting, which was held or Thins lay et the MJtision-hawse, was most uutnerously and ttsln•ctably sitt-nded. - - Ois taking the Chair, the Lotto MAT** said, he was highly gratified in settneseitig a meeting so respectable and onistermis as the present.—lie trusted they would is,dulge him while he iiriefly detailed die cause of call ing the inectitig together. His Loulahip then went on to state the objects of the Instituitun lie concluded by observing. that the Secretary %%mild teed the lt:port to the Meeiog. . , - Mr. Poe WDER, the Secretary, then came forward, and 'Cad the Repent of the Counnitt e; its great length as ill not allow us to insert it all, but see seleci the lead ing passages, It began by adverting to the nature and iitnantalice of the Society, and alter observing that there was. scarcely an arg 1111 l ent which recommended the leading the Bible.which did lint also go tosupport the. S ociety which distribute it, and that scarcely any reasoning .raisted in opposition to the litstittition, which, if can didly rxinti ued, would not he )hurt to oppose /tie vitt. civic of distributing the at all,. or at legat to the extent of its importance, it went on thus— " Lf this observation be fonntled upon;fact, and con firmed by experience, the dilly of contributing to the support of the BibL Society becomes es ident. But if In ordinary times the value or such a Society is acknow ledged, of what peculiar importance does it appear to rally round its standard, at a moment when the ene mies of divine truth appear to he engaged in the most vigorous exertions ; when Infidelity has openly avowed the worst designs upon our best mid hi,.:llest mien sts ; and wher. Use Sacred Scriptures themselves have been held up to contempt by the perverse dtsputings of men of ' corrupt minds.' I'he friends of the Bible Society are as unwilling to advert to any controverted opinions, at it is istmecesstery to their cause that they should do so,. but when publications of the most flagitious ten dency bate been thrown into the widest circulation, when a:l' hope in death has been sought to be taken away from our expiring nature ; when the most solemn and sacred truths of our holy religion have bent im pugned atilt derided ; there appears a peculiar call upon the fiends of divine truth to show themselves in earnest in the cause of their insulted Lord, awl to redouble their activity in sapient of this sacred and useful Institution. " 'llie last Report of this Col ttttt Mee cot ttttt enced by noticing the formation of the ,Merchant Seamen's Aux iliary Bible Society (which arose out of the Thames Marine Committee), the object of which enlarged plan was to supply abuse 100,000 British seamen with the Sacred Scriptures. That Co 11111 l ince had then supplied above 1,91./0 vessels with Bibles and Testaments, by which means 160,000 sea.uen had received and carried out, as the best chart and compass of their perilous wiyagcs, the word of everlasting life. It is with much pleasure that the extension of that Soviets , is here re corded. Their labours have continued to. be abundant, allil their success has fern proportioni , e. the last teat months 645 vessels have been.visited and sup plied, containing 9,717 seamen, of whom 8,438 are able to read, and who have been furnished gratuitously with 452 Bihles, and 1.372 Testaments,. white' .20 Bibles and 417 Testaments have bests sold at half oust price to seamen in the foreign trade, and in little inure than three months 330 Bibles and 172 Testaments have been sold at reduced prices to leilaSC:l la the ;toasting ses.els. " The Fleet Bison continues to share the attention 1 of the Association within whose district it is situated (the B!ackfriars and Parringdon), and is reported by that Association to have received IA copies of the Holy Scriptures within the space of three years. "The sift of a single [ri•hTestament in a coon in (7,4ldett.lane, and the sale of one in ►he neiglii:otahnod of Saffron-hill, appear from the Report of the North City Association to have been attended with the most beneficial consequences—a fact which may,. perhaps, u nd to excite a more general attention to that large class • of natives of Ireland, who are either entirely or partially nsident among us. "The Conon nag statement will strew the nature of the hocict)'•progresi in the past year, and its actual con di:kit B deuce in baud lest year Amount of Donatione to the Auxiliary 76 I 2 0 Amine, Subscriptions .... Total Cash paid by As,oci moils C.. 11 hceirttl for Sale of Bibles to Subs 8 5 4 1. 1,3:43 7 3 " Your Committee would finallt express an ardent wish, that all the members of the Bible Society may be careful to evince, more than ever, its influence upon their personal characters. While, therefore, we desire to ascribe the eietiie praise to the Autnor and Giver of all Good, let us anticiTate still brightt r class. 11 the c tuse of the Bible Society be indeed (as we doubt not) the cause of God, who appears to be rendering it enti uently instrumental in ennieying to the nations the knowledge of his will, is it not probable that this may be one of the principal means employed in hastening that happy period which forms the sullect of prophecy, when the principles contained in that blessed book will he univeronly lilt and iccrignbted, and when the in flounce of soot hallowed principles will be at length seen in their full anti sensible optraiion upon the prac tice and conduct of Mankind at huge: whet, happiness, the inseparable attendant of holiness, will be univer sally diffused, and when 'the ruin and desolation of man's fern!' shall he. repaired even on earth by the benign anti healing loam:ice of the Gospel of Peace." VIZ NATIONAL. MOISTER. " Oh, scenes surpauing fable—and yet true, Scenes of accomplished bliss! which who cau see, Tttotiv,ll but in distant prospcm,and not feel Ho soul refresn'd with fiat:este ol the joy ! One songettiplopi all nations; and all cry, Worthy the Lvinh, fur he W. 15 slain fit Us r The dwelleis in the ►ales and on the rocks Shout to each other, and the mountain tops From distant umuntaito catch toe flying joy , 'Till nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls the rapturous Ut/14/111ah tumid." Cow Pea. Mr.. Alder an RorHavaLL robe and mobcd, 111.1 i the Report now read he wetted and printed at the tAtintwe or the Committee. . Sir T. BELL VCOlideti the Resolution. The Rev. Nlr.t..hvest said, lie was appointed to pre sent for the consideration of the Alerting, a Reso lution which lie then held in his hand. It was as fol lows : . Resolved, That the wicked Anil blasphemoue 'midi. 1 cations now mtblushingly diffused through the natimi, form, is the op mini of this Meetitif„ an additional reason for supporting the British and kureign Bible So ciety,.for its simple and exclusive abject the widest iris slide eilculation of the Holy Scripture 4, is precisely adapted to repel, in the most efficient and adequate manner, such impious attempts, by :g ivin g a distinct honour and prominence to the inspired volume, by en circling it with the affection and marked reverence of Christians of every name, and by thus contributing to ; pledge the nit: ion to that Holy Bonk, which Infidelity is daring to revile, but on which all the principles of moral and religious order and subordination, and therefore the very foundations of public tranquillity and private virtue and happiness, ultimately rest. The Resolution was theisiont and carried. The following Resolution was then mewed— Resolved—That the sincere acknowledgments of this Nleeting are due to the Right lion. the Lord Mayor (kir the patronage which. t has aflOrded to the Insiiiii holt as President, and for the handsome manlier in which lie granted the use of the Egyptian Hall fur the Anniversary Meeting. The Rev. JAL CUNNINGHAM then came forward and pronounced a high compliment on the couduch of his Lordship, as connected with the Institution.. Mr. CheieftLes PlitLties, of toe Irish bar, rose and spoke neatly as follows : " Although I base not hail the honour either of pro posing or seconding any of your. Resolutions, still as a native of that country SO ppletedity alluded to iu your Report, I hope Inlay be indulged in a few obaervations. The crisis in which we are play ed is, I hope, a sufficient apology in itself for any intrusion ;but I find such apology is rendered 1111/le than iiiiii ecessaty by the courtesy of this reception. Indeed, my Lord,. vs lieu see see the omens every day at icing—when we see blasphemy openly avowed —when we see the See iptearee audaciously ridiculed -hen in this eh a Monarchy the den of die republican and the deist yawns for the unwary in your must public thronglifares—when marts are ustenistiously opened,where the mural poison may be puteliased, whose subtly venom eaters the very soul—w lieu billet' lily has become an article of,costinierce, and man's perdition may beicheatiened at the stall of every pedlar—no ft lend of society should tominne silent—it is no longer a questiou of political privilege—uf sectarian controversy— ut theological discussion ; —it is become a question, whether Chtistianity itself shall stand, or whether we shall let go the firm anchor' Mum faith, and drift without chart, or helm, or compass, into the standees ocean of impiety and blood ! I despise as touch as any man, the whiue of bigot ry —I will go as far as any Mall fur rational liberty, hut I will not depose my Gott to drily Ilia infidel, or tear to pieces the charter of the State, and pope tor a constitution amongst the murky pigeon-holes of every creedless, lawless, infatuated regicide. V. hest 1 I saw the other day, my Lind, the chief bacchanal of their orgies—the man with whom the Apostles were cheats, and the Prophets liars, and Jesus an impostor, on his me morable trial, withering hour utter hour with the most horrid blasphemies—surrounded by the votaries of every sect and the heads of every faith—theChiistiarrArelabiallup the Jewish Rabin—the men most eminent fur their piety and their learning,. wlsuw lie. had purposely collected to hear his infidel ridienle of all they reverenced—when I saw hint raise the Holy Bible in outs hand and the Age of iteasou fu the other, as it were confronting the Almighty with u rebel worm,, till the pious Judge grew pale, aim the patietirJury interposed, end the self-convicted ws etc Is himself, after having saved away all his original impiety, • was mimed into a mere machete , for the te-production of the id:aid blasphemy of others—l could nut help exclannieg, " infatuated mast—if all your impractical madness could be tealized, what would you give US in exchange for our establishments e What would you sub stitute for that augast tributml—for whom %s as: you dis place that independent Judge and that eillpal tial Jury e— or could you really but is the Gaye' and eiase the atatutrs, f. r the di ratchet equivalent of the crucifix and guithathe!" Indeed if I was asked fur a practical panegyric um our constilutiou, I would adduce the very trial of that criminal —and if the legal sonata of any country upon. earth Int , nishiscran hammier, nut inertly of such justice, but of such !PAW nce, such terbearatice, such almost culpable tutlut gehce, I would concede to him die triumph. I hope, too, in what I say, I shall nut be considered as forsaking that illustrious example-1 hope lam above an Metall on any Wall in Ids sttuation—perhaps, had I, the power, I would follow the example tits titer thee I unglit—perhaps I would corn humble Mill 11110 an evideuce of the very spirit he spurned—and as our creed was reviled in Isis person, mud vnaticatcd hi his conviction, so I would give it its noblest triumph in his mature, and merely consign hint to the puuistiment olds mercy. But iudeetlony Lord, the fateor mis hall radio; martyr matters vet y little to the thousands he has cuilupteil. He has literalty ectuinal est a mural plague, against which the nation's qua rantine can seance avail us. It lugs poisoned the (resit blood of infancy—it has disheartened the last hope ut age—if his owl) eccuunt of its circulation be correct, hundreds of 111011Sollida must be at t h is Instant taunted with the inkctious venom, whose sting dies FM with the dranuctiou of the budy. Imagine nut because the pestilence smiles clot at once tit I. Gs fatality is the less certain—imaaine not because the lower orders are the earliest victitui, that the wore elevated will not • • NOV. 7. suffer in their turn ; the most utoetal citiltues beenis at the extremities, alio you may depend 11p4111 it nothing but mite and spa y are %amine inchange this healthful laud into a thane i-nouse, while murder,. snatchy, anti prostitution, and the whole hell blood of infidelity, will. quaff the heart's blood of the consecrated and the tioble. Aly Lord, I am the more indignatit at thew designs he cause they are sought to be concealed itsst.iiiiiekdvi..sgbtoitusenotyf liberty. It is the duty of every r ea l f r i en d to li berty to ear lie r mask front this hem' who has usurped i t . N o, no, this io not our island goddess, bearing the m ounta i n Ireshuess on her cheek,and scattering from, her It a nt, a k eo tuvrii virtues thet ibthat ltigltitasotehnadt herald her fair presence, the i l x her path, soil the long blaze of glory that lingers in her train—it is a demon, speaking fair indeed--tempting our faith with airy hopes and visionary realms, but even within the foldings of its mantle huling the bloody symbol of it:: purpose. Dear tot ith sophistry; guard' your child it;ajtanul draw round your homes the consecrated witch it dare not enter. You will (hid all amulet in lie rt ut your country—it is the great mound raised by the Almighty for the protection of huniautty—it sands .betweett you and the Fara of human paw:anis; and, oh! believe me, ifiyou wait tamely by while it is basely undermined, the fiery &lil a c wall Halloo, before whiten all that you hold dear, or venerable, or sacred, will wither into ashes. Bebe% eno one who tells you that the frietiths of freedom are now, or ever were, the enemies of religion—they know too wed that rebellion against God cannot prove the basis of government for man, and that the loftiest structure impiety can raise is but the Babel monument of its impotence, and its pride,. mocking the budder, with a moment's strength, and then covering them with inevitable confection. Do you want au example? only look to France. The micros copic vision of your rabble blasphemers has not sight enough to contemplate the mighty miwla which com menced that revolution. The wit—the sage—the orator —the hero--the whole family of genius 'tarnished forth their treasures, and gave them nobly to the nation's exi gence; they had great provocation—they had a glorious cause—they had all that tunnels potency could give them. Bla they relied too much upon this human po tency—they abjured their God, and, as a natural cota.e. queuee, they murdered their King—they cullec4 their polluted demist from the brothel, awl the hill of the idol extinguirhed the flamed the altar. 'they crowned the seatiold with all their country held dear of genius or of v 'a we, and when the peerage stud the prelacy were exhaust ed, the itiob-execistiotiet or to-clayb. came the ritolbwictutt of to- morrow. No sex was spared—tin age respected— no sullering pitied—and all this they did in the sacred name of liberty, though to the deluge of human lewd, they left not a mountain top for the ark of liberty ttirest on. But Providence was neither • dead our sleeping. It 'nattered not that fur a 1110111C111 their impiety fitelt.:A to prosper—that victory panted alter their ensanguintd banners—that as their insatiate eagle soared against the sun he seemed but to replunie his wing and to renew his vision—it was only for a moment, and you see at last that in the very banquet of their iriemph the Almighty's vengeance ' blazed upon the wall,' and their diadem fell from the brow of the idolater. My Lord, l will nut abjure the altar, the throne, acid the constitution, fur the bloody tinsel of this revolutionary pun tuninie. 1 prefer my God, even to the impious democracy of their Pantheon-1 will not desert my King, even for the la/- lineal equality of their Pandemonium. I must rte sonic better authority than the Fleet-entetTemple before 1 forego the principles which 1 imbibed in toy youth, and to which I look forward as the cousolatiou of my age; those all-protecting prisicieles which atotice guard, consecrate, and sweeten the social intercourse-ease - inch give life, happiness; and death, hope; which CO111111:01C 1111111's purity, his best protection, placing the iefaut's cradle and the female's couch beneath the sacred shelter of the national marality. Neither JJr. Paint., nor all the venom-breathing brood, shall swindle we from the book where I have learned thieve precepts—in despite of all their scoff, sod scorn, and menacing, I say, of the sacred volume they would obliterate, ibis a book of facts as well authenticated 44 ally heathen history—a book of miracles, iticomeatiLly at ouched—a hook of prophecy, confirmed by past as well es present fulfilmeitt —a book of poetry, pine and natural, and elevated even to inspiration--a book of morals, such as human wis dom 'lever framed for the perfection of human haulms. My Lord, I will abide by the precepts, admire the beauty, revere the mysteries, and as far as its me lies practise toe mandates of thus sacred volume ; and sheti'd the ridicule of earth and Ilse blasphemy of hell assail me, I shall console myself by the contemplation of those blessed spirits who, in the tame holy cause, have toilet', and shone, and :suffered. In the " goodly fel lowship of the saints"—in the •'noble army ut the Martyrs"--iii the society of the great stud good, and wise of every nation; if toy sialtilileas lie 1101 cleansed, and my daricoras illmninated, at least my preterit ioniesa submission may be excused :—if I err set it the lumina ries I have chosen for lily quirks, I confess myself cap tivated by tile henchmen of their aberrations. If they err it is in an heavenly region—if they wander. it is in fields of light—if they aspire, it is at all eve uts a Elorious daring ; and rather 111111) sill with infidelity into the •dust, I out content to cheat myself with their salon of eternity. It may indeed be nothing Lut delusion, bet thee Lin' with the disciples of philosophy and of virtue —with men who have drank deep at the fountain of human knowledge, but who dissolved mot the pearl to their salvation in the draught, 1 err with Bacon, the: great confident of nature, fraught with all the learning of the past, am' almost prescient of the 111101 C ; yet too wise lilt to k maw his weakness, and too e ladosnpitic not I to feel his ignorance. I err with n rising oan auger w , hi t s, to Heaven, like the bird of morn, soaring net of habit amid the music of his grateful piety. I er r wilts Locke, whose pure philosophy only taught him to adore its 5011/CC ; whose warm lot c tit genuine liberty %:d 4 i never chilled 1010 rebellion whit its author. I. err with i adman the Newton, whose oar-like shootaig V