The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-10-04 00:00:00

ae laity reiding the Bible. She

[gate version, because it was the language of the peo-
She gave it to them because they could read it;

she would iiot give it now because they could read it
(Applause.) But the' Bible Society had determined, in the
strength of God, that every nation should have its own
Vulgate. The State of. Tuscany might make a law tathe
effect that any person circulating works hostile to the
_ _

than ten, and a Scottish young lady
applause)—who save alvEtv Diodati

blessings on herl
VPrsinn of the Ni

ie hostile version, had
been surrounded by gens-d'-armes and sent off to prison.
But England must speak to Tuscany on that—(loud
applause)—and not let the- Great Duke suppose that
by those means he would keep the Bible out of his domi-
nions. He might as well attempt to fathom the blue
depths of the ocean, or shut out the light of the sun
which gilded Italy with its glbry. Why, we were told
that' there are already 20,000 Protestants in his dominions.
(Applause.) And what was the fact with regard to the
wholeof the Italian Peninsula, ineludino. the States of the
Church; which, notwithstanding the• strictest espionage,
and the' sight of the most horrid dungeons ? The book
entered• by every point. (Hear, hear, and loud ap-
plause.) The same was the case in.: Fiance. There had
been two million copies of the Scriptures distributed
there, and last year the issue was 90,000 copies. (Ap-
plause,) Yes, and what was the state or things in that,
alas ! one of the most Romish countries of the world, poor
Ireland ? The Irish version of the Scriptures was now
extensively distributed there, and the priests were about,
in opposition, to print their version in the- Irish tongue.
Mr. Birrell, in highly figurative language, then refer-
red to the marvellous results of the distribution of
the Scriptures in the Chinese language, and said
that events in the Eastern world seemed at pre-
sent as the prelude. to a like state of things as existed
at the Reformation. In the 250 years that had followed
that event, there had been put in circulation 5,000,000
copies of the Scriptures in 22 languages ; but mark, in
the last 60 years there had been put in. circulation
20,000,000 of copies, and that not in 22 but 164 languages,
of which 130 had never been printed before: (Loud ap-
plause.) In conclusion, Mr. Birrell urged them not to
rest till all the nations of the world were in possession of
the Word of Life, and resumed his seat amid loud cheering.
The Rev. Dr. M`Nrner, who was received as msnal with
enthusiastic applause, then spoke for upwards of an hour,
and was listened to with the deepest interest and atten-
tion. He contended that as the Bible was our most
valuable law, so it could only be understood by what it said
of the Jews. He then at some length adverted to various
passages having reference.to that sacred people, "because
unto them were committed the oracles of God.!' The law
which the Jews had contrasted with the laws of other
nations was Divine wisdom contrasted with human; it was
that which was perfect from the first and could-not be im-
proved to the last, compared with that was imperfect to
the last. 'Where were all the laws men had made for the
regulation of themselves? Where were the laws of the
wise men of the East, Solon, Lycurgus ?—where the
Institute of Numa, where the code of Justinia-n--where
were the provisions of our own Alfred, and of our statute
book from his day to now ? Some of them in being, some
of them neglected, all of them imperfect. And where was
the Jewish law? Why there it was (holding up a Bible),per-
feet in the letter,unchangeableas the God that gave it. The
rev. gentleman then referred to some of the advantages
resulting from this law, as shown by the year of jubilee,
the providing of cities of refuge, &c., and said, there was
another advantage resulting from it,—the commandment
not to cultivate art so as to introduce into the worship of
God graven images. (Applause.) God saw the tendency
in fallen man to multiply visible objects of worship, and
so gave his ,positive precept " thou shalt not ; " making
it equally binding with the other commandments. He
said from heaven, and wrote it with his own. finger on a
table of stone :—" Thou shall not make to thyself any gra-
ven image ; or the likeness of any thing," &c. The
Jews were hindered by this law from cultivating the arts
in connection with their worship; but the thing prohibited
reached its climax amongst the cultivated heathen. Juno,
Jupiter, Diana, Apollo,— what beautiful: statues they
were !—all the ideal. of what was perfect or ought to be
found perfect in the human form was, condensed and
stereotyped iu those beautiful images. Art was culti-
vated, images were multiplied, man as an artist among
his fellow men was. multiplied—man as a worshipper of
God was debased and degraded. (Applause.) It was
true the Jews had their cherubims, but they were
placed behind the veil, that they might be hidden from the
people. If a Grecian artist had gone to Jerusalem, he
would have been disgusted at the plainness of their worship,
and he was sure if a Jewish or Christian worshipper went
to Athens, and saw the temples there,. he would have no
heart for their worship, and would., exclaim " the people
are wholly given up to idolatry." (Applause.) There
were both spiritual and temporal advantages connected
with the possession of the oracles off God, but as all Israel
were not influenced by them, and as a people they became
apostate, so England might become apostate, but the
church would, remain, and' " the. gates of hell would not
prevail against it." (Applause) After commenting on the
responsibility involved in the possession of such a treasure,
Dr. M'lsTeila then referred to the-hindrances in the way of
its circulation. There were the hindrances arising from the
apathy and covetousness of man; but there were super-
added antagonists. Now, whom- did they mean ? (Laugh-
ter and applause.) He need not name—he would rather
describe. Who was it that in the Bth century quenched_
the light that the venerable Bede rejoiced in kindling, .
when he gave to his fellow-countrymen not indeed the.
Holy Scriptures, but the Gospel of St. John ? Who was
it that, in the 14th century- sealed up the fountain of life-
that Wickliffe had opened; and raised a cry against him
and his followers, and prevented that translation into the
Vulgate which he would have given to his country-
men ? Who was. it' that persecuted the devoted
Tyndal, burned his Testament at St. Paul's Cross, in-
veigled him by treachery into a prison, and then.sacri-
ficed him as a martyr ? Who was it drove Coverdale from
England, and then from Hamburgh to Denmark ? Who
was it, in every age, in every nation, where power was
supplied, objected to people reading the Bible and hindered
• them from possessing it in their vernacular tongue ?
Who ? They all knew who. (Laughter , and loud
applause.) It was an old story, and she was at her
work still, The rev. gentleman then gave other and
more piquant instances of the same spirit of persecu-
tion and hatred of the light, and said that in. spite of
all this, the Bible had taken wing, and millions of copies
had found their way abroad. Referring- to the case of
Miss Cunninghame, he asked who present would not
gladly take the place of that dear young lady, for she had
more enjoyment in her narrow, dark and. damp cell, when
offering up tier heart to the Lord Jesus,.than the Grand
Duke of Tuscany in his purple and fine linen, who was
not his own master, but a slave, as every man must be
who opened his heart to a vile, curious, prurient priest:
(Loud applause.) People were now gradually finding.out
in this country what the Papal system was, and said some
of his Dissenting friends who had, lately gone over
to Ireland on a mission must have• changed their opinions
on the matter. They used to tell him he, was uncharitable
and said unkind things, and that all would be right, if no
reference was made to Popery, and if the people of Ireland
were spoken to in a mild, Christian spirit. 'Well, there
was nothing like experience. They had stood up to preach,
and were hooted, pelted, and in some places merely escaped
with their lives. After dwelling with happy effect upon
this subject for some time, he contended that it was not the
people, but the priests who had done this, and gave several
pleasing instances of theprogress of enlightenment amongst
even children in Ireland now. He concluded by a very
earnest appeal to all classes to give energetic support to
• the efforts of the society; and after a brilliant address,
which we regret that the lateness of the hour prevents us
from giving more at length, sat down amid loud and long.
continued cheering.
IA hymn was here sung, and collection mead,s_.]

to peasants, t

The -Rev, MARK CoorEn, vicar 01. Bransiawe,
Hants, deputation from the parent society, moved the
second resolution, pledging the meeting to an approval of
the proceedings of the society, and to use every exertion
for forwarding its objects. Prior to explaining the pur-
pose of his visit, he begged to offer his thanks for the kind

the notice of the r

enormous number of three Bibles every minute of the
year, including even the minutes of the sacred Sabbath.
That issue, extensive, as it no doubt is, was not all : let us
look at the number which are individually circulated

thr(
reckoned as incti

these tc

Luat at tne same rate of
shelving as that employed in the library of the British
Museum, it would take 1400 miles of shelving to contain
them. (Loud cheers.) Mere multiplication of Bibles
however, had not been the only object of the Soci
labours ; they had also been devoted to translating
Scriptures into 99 languages directly, and int
guages indirectly. Looking at the gig-at
society, he felt it would fully justify ti
the poet's expression, wh

y, for the other Bible socie
ectly connected with it, an

familiar idea (

h was,

Like some tall cliff that rears its awful form
Swells from the vale and midway le
Though round its breast the rolling
Eternal sunshine settles on its head

Loud cheers.) A remarkable

It seemed indeed

%hours of th

hive not been impoverished by t
to be the real cruse of oil which never fails
demands on it may be. It migi
those Bibles goi
alone
had

atever the

He should ausw

that, in England

ween sixteen and seventeei millions of copies
circulated. This, he might be allowed to say,

safety. It explained and confirmed the expression of a
foreigner who, on being made acquainted with the extent
of the Society's operations, said he could see the strength
of England did not lie in her
her power was not in her sci

my, it was not in her navy

ence, nor tc

arts but she was great and powerful because she was a
land of Bibles. (Cheers.) He (Mr. Cooper) would enlarge the
expression, and would say, instead of "an open Bible, Eng
land's safety," "an open Bible, the world's safety." He did
not pretend to be a politician, and would be thelast togive to
the society or its proceedings a political bias ; but he, could
not help thinking that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
might find it an economical scheme to encourage the so-
ciety, as by its means he might be able materially to diminish
the expenses of the army and navy, as the Bible would be.
found the best peace-maker. Much had been said in that
meeting and elsewhere in reprobation of the aggression of
he Pope. He would not waste•his breath on that subject,:
that 450,000,00 P