207

CHAP. III.

BIBLE ASSOCIATIONS

(CONDUCTED BY GENTLEMEN).

AS POOR, YET MAKING MANY RICH."-2 COR. VI. 10.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

THE system of Bible Associations has now been in operation for more than eight years the results are before the public; and the general opinion of their importance is manifested by the establishment of more than one thousand of these interesting institutions, and the progressive increase of their number. We are justified, therefore, in considering their effects with that attention which a national object demands: and as these effects are naturally connected with the developement of the system, a few general remarks, on the tendency of Bible Associations, will not be considered out of place in a work of this nature. It is a prevalent, but most erroneous opinion, that the end of these associations is attained when the local wants of the poor are supplied; and that the efforts of benevolence and the visits of mercy may then cease, without injury to the cause, or an abatement of that interest which had been excited throughout the mass of the community. Such a sentiment, in the author's view of the subject, strikes at the vitality of the Bible Society, to which the permanency of Bible Associations appears to him to be as essential as that of any other portion of the Auxiliary System.

But the consequences of this impression appear yet more unfavourable in another point of view. In direct proportion to the knowledge of the labouring classes acquired by those in the superior ranks of society, and to the benevolent interest and prudent attention manifested towards them, will the frame of civil society be strengthened and maintained. The rich will feel for the poor, and the poor will be grateful and respectful to the rich. There are a thousand kind offices that each may render to the other, but of which both have been deprived by mutual ignorance and distrust. Is it not evident, that the cessation of those kind visits and inquiries which originated with the Bible Association, will induce a

Effects of Bible Associations on the Poor.

belief that a merely temporary motive influenced them? And will not the interest felt by the affluent in the welfare and happiness of the poor gradually decay, if that which has nourished it be withheld? To render real assistance to the poor, by instructing them how to assist themselves, you must not only acquire but retain their confidence; and this can be done by steady perseverance alone. The various ranks of society may be compared to the inequalities of the earththe streams gush forth from the hills, that they may fertilize the valleys: yet it is not the wintry mountain-torrent, rushing impetuously from its transient source, that gives verdure to the fields; but the brooks, whose fountains are perennial, and whose waters overflow at their appointed seasons. It has been asked by an able and eloquent writer, in reference to this subject: "What. after all, is the best method of providing for the secular necessities of the poor? Is it by labouring to meet the necessity after it has occurred, or by labouring to establish a principle and a habit which would go far to prevent its existence?" To this important question the answer is obvious-" If you wish to extinguish poverty, combat with it in its first elements. If you confine your beneficence to the relief of actual poverty, you do nothing. Dry up, if possible, the spring of poverty; for every attempt to intercept the running stream has totally failed." That it is the tendency of Bible Associations, in connexion with other admirable institutions, to effect this great object, we have the most ample and unequivocal evidence. Education has laid the ground-work; but education is an evil rather than a good, if correct principles of action be not instilled and enforced. From the BIBLE alone can these be derived; and hence we have an increased motive to exertion. The poor, taught by the visits of the collectors how they may acquire a Bible at a sacrifice that is scarcely felt even by the most indigent, gladly embrace the opportunity. Gratified by the regular weekly calls of their superiors, they endeavour to render their humble abodes more cleanly and attractive:-the effort is noticed with approbation, and comparative comfort and order are enjoyed. The husband and the father no longer spends his evenings from his family;-he begins to taste the pleasures of home; and to consider whether his weekly earnings may not be more profitably expended than in sensual and degrading pursuits. The expected Bible is at length obtained,—the

Dr. Chalmers, in his admirable pamphlet entitled “The influence of Bible. Societies on the temporal necessities of the poor."

Origin of Bible Associations-projected by Mr. Richard Phillips. perusal of it confirms the habits recently acquired, and they gradually attain the force of principles. He finds he is able to lay by a portion of his weekly gains; and cheerfully devotes the first-fruits of his increase to that cause which he has found to be a blessing. The visits of the collectors are consequently continued regularly, their advice is solicited, and the SAVINGS' BANK is recommended as a secure depository for the newly-formed basis of future independence. Here is the natural progress of the system, not drawn by the pencil of imagination, but indited by truth. In numerous cases the poor have acknowledged, that, although they conceived at first it would be difficult to spare the requisite subscription, they were soon convinced of their error;-that in endeavouring to save one penny a week, they acquired habits of system and economy; and that, by perseverance in those habits, they speedily found themselves placed in comparatively easy circumstances. To increase the comforts, harmonize the affections, and give a moral feeling to the character and pursuits of the poor, must afford pure and unmingled pleasure; but to accomplish this without inflicting the sense of obligation, and by their own agency alone, enhances the satisfaction, while it increases the effect.

SECTION I.

ORIGIN OF BIBLE ASSOCIATIONS.

1. He who would trace the History of the British and Foreign Bible Society should keep steadily in view the first principles of this remarkable institution. Uniting the affections and securing the co-operation of the members of all denominations of professing Christians, the energies and the abilities of all have been called into exercise; and many individuals, whose retired habits had long concealed them from the public eye, having been attracted by the importance and purity of the design, have here found a centre whence their benevolence might expand, while their various talents were directed to the attainment of the highest object of human pursuit-the glory of their CREATOR, and the happiness of man.

Among those individuals was RICHARD PHILLIPS, Esq., to whom allusion has already been made in the preceding chapter, and to whom the British and Foreign Bible Society is indebted for the regulations which have given order and efficiency to its Auxiliaries. But it is in reference to the particular subject on which we are now entering, that he possesses a peculiar claim to the gratitude of his country and of

P

Origin of Bible Associations-projected by Mr. Richard Phillips.

mankind. Auxiliary Societies had succeeded in awakening an interest in the more affluent orders of the community, and in disseminating information relative to the object and design of the institution; but little had hitherto been effected towards the extension of this interest throughout the great mass of our population. Partial and unconnected efforts had, indeed, been made in some few places, by benevolent individuals; but nothing seems to have been contemplated, far less attempted, on a scale commensurate with the acknowledged importance of the object, or on a plan calculated to insure stability and permanence.

2. In the summer of 1811, Mr. Phillips had an opportunity of witnessing the mode generally adopted by the Auxiliary Societies then established, for circulating the Bibles and Testaments received from the Parent Institution, and was speedily convinced of its inexpediency. In pursuing the train of reflections attendant on this conviction, and in contemplating the destitute state of our own population, he perceived the insufficiency of the means thus provided for ascertaining the extent of the deficiency, and providing an adequate supply. To a mind constituted like his, the discovery of an evil is a sufficient motive to seek a remedy. He conceived it possible to interest the poor themselves; to create a desire for that sacred treasure which so many thousands of them had never possessed; and to liberate the funds of the Auxiliary Societies for the general object, while the home supply should be more effectually secured, in a manner calculated to enhance the value of the sacred volume.

To realise the prospect which had thus opened to his view, this FOUNDER of Bible Associations immediately prepared a Code of Rules for their government, and introduced a provision for their establishment in the regulations he had embodied for Auxiliary and Branch Societies. Those admirable measures constitute the ground-work of every subsequent proceeding, and the basis of that system which has already produced such astonishing effects in our own country, and promises, in its ultimate results, to be a blessing to the world, This Code of Rules was originally prepared in the autumn of 1811, and was unanimously approved, and recommended for general adoption, by the Committee of the Parent Institution in the spring of 1812. The very few alterations which the experience of nine years has suggested in these regulations, afford the best evidence of their adaptation to the end designed.

First Bible Associations formed at High Wycombe and Darlington.

3. The Bible Associations of HIGH WYCOMBE in Buckinghamshire, and of DARLINGTON in the county of Durham, appear to have been the first that were established on methodical principles.* But the introduction of the system in SOUTHWARK, and the invention and adoption of those minor details that gave facility to its application, led to results so far surpassing all previous calculations as to demand especial notice. The practical illustration of the system, as exhibited in this populous district, may be considered the primary cause of that extensive success which has attended its adoption throughout the empire. The force of example was here superadded to the lessons of benevolence and wisdom, and both combined became resistless.

4. About the close of the year 1811, the idea of forming an Auxiliary Bible Society in Southwark was first suggested. Hitherto, no establishment of this description had been contemplated in the metropolis; and it is a gratifying reflection, that the idea was originally communicated in the course of a casual conversation with Mr. Phillips. The only apparent difficulty arose from the proximity of the seat of the Parent Institution, and the consequent belief that the necessity for the proposed establishment, so far as regarded the home supply, had been superseded. To meet this objection, by ascertaining how far it was well-founded, it appeared desirable to investigate the fact by extensive personal inquiry. During the succeeding winter, the author visited more than two thousand families in this crowded portion of the capital; and, with respect to the immediate object of inquiry, the result was painfully corroborative of previous opinions-considerably more than one-half being found destitute of the holy scriptures. But it is in reference to another subject that this allusion is made. In the course of these visits, a high degree of satisfaction was experienced, in witnessing many instances of grateful sensibility and disinterested benevolence, even where it might have been supposed that provision for the daily wants of life must absorb every other consideration. We are too apt to complain of the selfishness of the labouring

It should be stated, that this observation is made in reference to the rules devised by Mr. Phillips. The remarkable instances of the SHEFFIELD Juvenile Bible Society, established in the year 1804, without any knowledge of the existence of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and of the ABERDEEN Female Servants' Society; will be more distinctly considered in Chap. VII.