Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1814-06-30
Of the managers of the Bible Society
of Berkeieu to The public.

Berkeley feel it to be a duty to express to the
public their views in regard to that institu,
ton x to solicit that concurrence and those
aids which will enable them to carry into
effect its very benevolent objects.
They deem it to be unnecessary to un.
dertake TO establish the claims of the BIZ
be to the high character which it holds in
the estimation of its friends. While they
apprenend that it would be in vain to at
tempt, on this occasion, to produce an al
iteration in those opinions which are unfa-
vorable to these claims they rejoice in
the impression that a large proportion of
the persons into whose hands this address
is likely to fall are prepared to unite with
them in an unreserved acknowledgement of
the truth and value of divine revelation.
The Holy Scriptures recommend them.
selves to our regard, in that ample ~instruc-
ton which they afford respecting our pre-
sent condition and cur future prospects,
The principles which they unfold, the du-
ties which they enjoin and the motives
which they reveal, are most accurately
adapted to the state and circumstances of
man, and in their native tendency, calcu-
lated to promote, not merely the welfare
O. individuals, but of Society at large, of
mankind in general. This however is not
the only, nor the chief ground of attach
lei to the Holy Book. Its benefits are
not limited to the present state ofcxistence.
1t brings life and Immortality to light. 1t
informs us in what manner we may obtain
an interest in the favor of God. 1t reveals
a Heaven of unutterable joy and marks in
characters of peculiar brightness the way
that leads thither, In short, under the
blessing of God, it is able to make US wise
unto salvation.
In view of these precious benefits, the trc-
" benevolent man cannot exclude from his
heart the ardent desire that they should
be uni v~ersally enjoyed and that the source
whence they are derived should be ~accessi
bic to all. He feels that he shall do no.
thing more than his duty in attempting to
effect an object SO worthy of his zeal. And
while he regrets that the fountain of the
waters of life is so much neglected, by ma
ny, 10 the way of whose approach to it
there is no barrier he turns the strongest
sympathies Of his soul to the condition of
those who are either partially or entirely
excluded from that fountain.
He looks around him and beholds many
doomed to the nameless ills " OF poverty
and struggling often against the most dis
heartening circumstances, to procure a
comfortable maintenance for themselves
and their families: and at once he feels
that amidst their difficulties, the book of
God, if rightly regarded, would be an in
valuable treasure. He knows that the
consultations which it reveals and the hopes
which it inspires are suited to reconcile
the heart to temporal wants and transient
sufferings, and to raise it to the pursuit of
"a better country even an Heavenly.
Under this conviction he asks in behalf
of that portion of the community which
| includes not only those who have enough
of " the good things " of life for necessary
purposes and something to spare for the
purposes of charity but also the wealthy
and opulent !; shall we compel the poor to
increase their tolls in order to procure
what we can afford them with little or no
| inconvenience I? Or shall expect them in
| their depressed condition to have acquired
that knowledge of the value of the Scrip
lures which would dispose them to submit
to difficulties with a view of obtaining
them? And may we not at once remove
the obstacles to the possession OF them, that
arise from ignorance and indigenceP
The person who is disposed thus to think
and thus to feel, does not coDfine his atten-
ton to those instances Of destitution of the
sacred volume which Immediately present
| themselves to his view. Guided by the
lights of faithful history he traverses those
regions where no ray of divine truth
glimmers, but where their light is as
darkness, " where absurd superstition and
impure fables assume the place of the doc
trines oe religion, and where horrid and i'm
pious rites usurp the Office of its most sa.
cred duties. And while his heart is panied
with the contemplation of such a state Of
things, he asks. can nothing be done by
the favored inhabitants of Christendom, to
remove the ignorance, torelieve the wretch
edness and to promote the salvation OF the
miserable HeathenY
To views and impressions of this nature
.,.' H. ,acrfhad tha nyi0ip nf Hihla So.