Hillsdale Whig standard. (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1846-1851, 1851-02-25
Movement of the Bible i'm the last Half
Century.

ders OF the last half century. There was
NAPOLEON, most wonderful in the last act OF
his drama, when he passed from the glory OF
Austerlitz To the gloom Of St. Helena,
Leaving name at which the world grew pale,
TO point moral and adorn tale"
There is fiery Locomotive, bearing the
chariot of commerce round the world
There is the harnessed Electricity, carrying
voice, unheaid, unseen, unlelt, instantane-
ously around the broad circumference Of a
continent. There are other wonders, tho
marvellous and beyond comparison with any
upheavius Of nations insf oifh hfqosuy yh'iren nsrths
the imprisoned mind, bursting some OF its
shackles, aud like Sampson, about to pull
the Temple Of the Phlistiues about their
ears--bul not like Sampson, 10 perish in the
ruins. The years of Eternity belong to it,
and it gathers strength as human Institutions
decay.
La the midst OF these wonders, the difu .
sion of the Bible is, perhaps, as wonderful as
any, if not the most so. In the days of the
Apostles the cost Of Bible was equal TO the
cost of good farm now Few and far be-
tween were the happy possesso,s OF the Scrip
lures! Ii was well that there were Rabbis,
aud Scribes, aud Doctors Of Ecclesiastical
Law to translate, preserve, and circulate any
portion of the Scriptures.
Pass on during the next fourteen hundred
years of what is called the Era OF Christian
lty; and what do you find about books! A
Bible still costs small fortune. No PRINT
iog--no societies to circulate--uo contrlbu-
tions OF money 10 aid in its circulation; all
books ia manuscript. What was knowl-
edge,-what was literature,-whstw was the
reading oi the Bible 10 those days? We
need not answer. Ages Of oppresson--ages
of darkness rolled away, before the light Ia
monasteres aud universities began 10 be dif-
fused among the people. But, even then,
three centuries came and passed away, be-
fore the Bible was considered iii book tor
the common people, and indeed before il be-
came cheap enough for the people TO pos
sess. But now the power of the Press In
multiplying copies, and in reducing the ex-
pense witEin the means of most people, has
caused the diffusion Of the Bible to an ex-
tent which, as au historical fact, becomes
wonderful Let us look at the present diffu-
son of the Scriptures. Almost unnoticed,
il has been making lis way into all languages
aud among all nations, aud who shall say
how much of the Social Movement, in the
present age, (the American Ag.,) is due to
the principles Of that book!
The Modern Movement OF the Bible dates
back bat comparatively litIle while. lhe
translation of the Bible from Latin, Greek
aud Hebrew tegan TO multiply sooo alter the
ant of printing began. The one necessarily
followed the other. But the number of CO.
pies in the vulgar tongue we're few till the
Bible Societies began their career.
The translation of the Bible by King James
fastened its introduction among the peoples;
but in the year I777, when the subject OF
printing the Bible was before Congress--it
was estimated that there was only four mill
ions of printed Bibles in the world! AT that
time, there was not less than four hundred
millions of adult persons ih the world. aud
OF these, one hundred millions wefe profess
ing Christians! There was, therefore, IN ex-
is,ence one Bible only to each hundred adult
personsl Now let us take look at the BIZ
BILE movement since.
The old Continental Congress ordered
10000 Bibles TO be imported from Holland,
Scotland aud elsewhere. In 1881, Congress
approved the edition OF the Bible published,
By Mr.. Aiken, Of Philadelphia. Ii is since
the Declatalion of independence, therefore,
that the great progress in the diffusion oi
the Bible has been made. aud the most OF 1t
since the year 1900. Let us now look at
the statistics of that diffusion:
No. OF copies.
British and Foreign Bible Soci-
ETY., instituted in 1904, 20,00O,O0O
American Bible Society, insti;u-
ted in 1916. 100000
British Depot in Paris instituted
in 1890 a,OOo,2lI
Swedish Society instituted in 1908, 564,376
Netherland Society, 274,733
Frankfort agency, Instituted in
1916, 7OI,O27
Wenenberge Society, instituted
in 1912. 464. .567
Prussan Society at Berlin, l,27l,l94
Russian Bible Societies insttu-
ted in 1896, 9o3.569
Calcutta Society instituted in 1911, 491 .567
Madras Society instituted IN 1920, 462,5O5 |
Ii is supposed that other societies not emu
merated, will make the whole number OF BIZ |
bles issued by the Bible Society at least 4O,-
100000 Of Bibles.
This has all taken place since 1915; but II |
must also be taken ipto view, that in the same |
time vast numbers OF copies nave been vs.
sued. by BookseIIing establishments. There
must. therefore. be at least twenty times as
many copies Of the Scriptures in the world /
in proportion to the reading population as
there was 10 1900. But this is not all, the /
Bible has been translated into nearly $50 dit- |
ferent languages and dialects, OF which ten /
are languages Of Africa, and three OF these
On the Western coast. The remarkable fea-
lure of this transaction is that to all the bar
barous nations Of the world the Bible is now
The Messenger (thc only Messenger) of lit
srsture and knowIedge Ii is the book of
civilization where not ono ray oi any light,
had previously penetrated tho obscuriiy Of
Jarbarism. This is feature the world has
never before presented in its progress
What effect will il have on the future Of ua
ionsi Who can know! We pretend not to
,ay; but we do recognize itas one OF the most
remark able features OF the last half century.
We make no estimate Of the moral ard
spiritual results OF this difference Of sacred
Igbt; but we think that It's influence is felt
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