LISRARY OF PRlNCETOf ! 
 
 JUL - 3 2008 
 
 f. 
 
JUN B^ mi 
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 ON THE TENDENCY OF 
 
 BIBJLE SOCIETIJES 
 
 AS AFFECTING THE 
 
 i5s;taftlts;iit& eijurcfi, 
 
 CHRISTIANITY ITSELF, 
 
 " REASONABLE SERVICE." 
 
 By the Rev. A. O'CALLAGHAN, A.M. 
 
 MASTER OF THE COLLEGE OF KILKENNY. 
 
 Kon semper id pro optiino habendum, quod plurimat hahrt Laudatores. 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. WALKER, PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 By J. F, Dove, St. Jolm^i Sqiiare. 
 
 181B. 
 
^1 
 
THOUGHTS, 
 
 J\1ankind must always have something to stare at — 
 some bewitching object, which dazzles by its splendour, 
 or engages by its novelty : while it lasts, the bubble of 
 feshion will be admired ; and, when it bursts, men will 
 wonder why they admired it at all. Sometimes an erro- 
 neous opinion, or a crude project, recommended by the 
 designing, and patronized by the weak, is hailed by the 
 credulity of mankind, as an emanation from the spirit of 
 wisdom, and acted upon with a zeal proportioned to its 
 absurdity or folly. If it be not directly mischievous, it 
 Gught, perhaps, to be tolerated in mercy to the weakness 
 of our nature. Men, as well as children, are amused 
 with play-things ; which, by fixing their attention, often 
 keep them from doing or suffering injury : but when we 
 become persuaded that a principle, however specious and 
 popular, is not only false, but dangerous ; then the more 
 plausible it is, and the more general its reception, the 
 more imperative is the duty of attempting to disaim it of 
 its sting, by exposing its falsehood, and detecting its ma- 
 lignity. 
 
 The British and Foreign Bible Society, with which 
 A 2 
 
the Hibernian is now identified, in some points of view, 
 is, perhaps^ the noblest association that ever appeared in 
 the world. Including its numerous branches, it compre- 
 hends a great proportion of whatever is respectable, or 
 venerable, for property, rank, literature, or piety, within 
 the British empire. It is the patron or parent of many 
 similar associations in various parts of Christendom ; its 
 emissaries and agents are actively employed in both hemis- 
 pheres ; and its correspondence extends to the extremities 
 of the earth. But, wliat eminently distinguishes this asso- 
 ciation, above all others (except the missionary societies), 
 is the sublimity of its object — to promote the interests of 
 Christianity at honT€,and impart to the deluded Mahome- 
 tan, and benighted Heathen, the light of Divine revelation. 
 The means employed are the Scriptures " circulated 
 without note or comment." Of these means, indeed, 
 the efficacy is, on mature reflection, disallowed by 
 many, among whom is the writer of these sheets. 
 Were he capable of surrendering his- own clear con- 
 viction to any human authority, it would be to that of 
 the Bible Society : but he knows that zeal is not always 
 enlightened, and that the purest motives are sometimes 
 an insufficient security against mistaken views and inju- 
 dicious conduct. Nor are the number of its subscribers, 
 and rapid growth of its branches, a proof tohim of the 
 soundness of its views ; they rather afford a presump- 
 tion of the contrary. Error is, in general, easily propa- 
 gated in every direction, through an unresisting medium ; 
 but truth must force its way, slowly and painfully, 
 against the tide of human corruption. What truths have 
 
ever been so suddenly and extensively embraced, as the 
 commercial illusions of Mr. Law, or the reveries of Peter 
 the Hermit? 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The diffusion of Christian knowledge is one thing ; 
 the circulation of Bibles and Testaments another. Were 
 it certain, or even probable, that the former would keep 
 pace with the latter, Bible Societies ought to be hailed 
 as the best benefactors of mankind. Theie is, however, 
 reason to apprehend, that the labours of the Society will 
 produce at home less fruit than is expected, or fruit in 
 abundance, but of ?l poisonous quality, and be almost 
 unproductive abroad. The Hibernian Bible Society 
 tell us, in the first appendix to their eighth report, that the 
 great object they have proposed to themselves, is that of 
 " making the Bible an inmate of every house and cot- 
 tage in Ireland." But this object, if attained, can be 
 valuable, only by leading to a more remote one— that of 
 converting the Catholics, and enlightening the lower class 
 of Protestants. 
 
 The circulation of the Bible may, perhaps, form an 
 important ingredient in a plan for promoting Christ- 
 ian knowledge ; — as part of a system, it might be in- 
 dispensable ; but it may be fairly doubted, whether it 
 will, of itself, promote in any sensible degree the cause 
 of religion and virtue. Indeed, if a sober and enlight- 
 ened Christian were to follow the Scriptures into every 
 cottage ; — to read them for its inhabitants, where 
 
6 
 
 tjjey could not read for themselves — to expound them, 
 fully and clearly — win the attention of his hearers to the 
 truths he delivered, from an undue anxiety about their 
 temporal concerns ; — were he to repeat his visits regu- 
 larly, at short intervals, and persevere in them for years ; 
 — then indeed the cause of religious truth would be ef- 
 fectually promoted among the Protestants, and perhaps 
 among the Catholics also, provided he had first converted 
 the priest of the parish. But no provision is made for ex- 
 pounding the Scriptures to the people by comment, or 
 oral instruction. This is the radical defect of the plan. 
 The common assertion, that the Bible is suited to all 
 ages, capacities, and stations of life, is not true, or true 
 only in a very restricted sense. Of all books, it is per- 
 haps the most difficult. This is natural and unavoidable. 
 It is the work of different men, writing in different ages, 
 and all very remote. Some of its books are the most 
 ancient compositions extant ; and none of a later date 
 than the first centmy of the Christian era. They were 
 written in a country far remote from western Europe, 
 whose climate, soil, animal and vegetable productions 
 are strikingly contrasted with our own : while the laws, 
 manners, customs, civil and military institutions, opinions, 
 and form of government of its inhabitants, discover scarce- 
 ly any resemblance to those with which we are acquaint- 
 ed. All these circumstances powerfully inHuenced their 
 language, and produced modes of speaking, allusions, 
 and images, obscure or unintelligible to the peasantry of 
 modem Europe. Besides, the glowing imagination of 
 the eastern nations was delighted with a style highly fi- 
 
gtirative, and indulged without restraint in the boldest 
 metaphors, allegories, liypei boles, and amplifications. 
 But necessity, as well as choice, would lead the writers 
 of the Old Testament to adopt a style highly figurative, 
 as that alone could enable them to pour out their exube- 
 rant conceptions, in a language deficient in copiousness. 
 The want of appropriate words would be supplied by me- 
 taphor, and ideas sometimes communicated by external 
 action. Most of these sources of obscurity are eommoa 
 to the Old and New Testament, Mhile the latter has 
 some peculiar to itself. Its extreme conciseness, its el- 
 liptical phraseology, fequently darken the meaning, which 
 is still further obscured by Hebrew idioms, with which 
 the Greek of the New Testament every where abounds. 
 Now all these difficulties, whichthe learned reader must 
 encounter in the original languages of the Old and New 
 Testament, are faithfully transfused into our authorized 
 version, while many others sjjring up from the natural im- 
 perfection of translation. Accordingly, it is only by long 
 and severe study, that men of the best understandings, 
 enlarged by multifarious reading, can acquire an adequate 
 knowledge of the sacred writings. How rarely does it 
 happen,, that men of feeble minds, and scanty literary at- 
 tainments, in any rank of life, derive, by theii- own unassist 
 ed efforts, much information from them ? And will it be 
 seriously maintained, that the contracted mind of an igno- 
 rant peasant can, in the sliort intervals of a life of labour, 
 read and comprehend, in any tolerable degree, " the 
 high import" of these sublime and sacred books, which 
 have given full employment, for successive years, to ca- 
 
8 
 
 pacities of the highest order, enjoying unbroken leisure, 
 improved by various knowledge, and animated by fervent 
 piety ? The supposition seems to be not only unfounded, 
 but mischievous. It tends to withhold, from the lower 
 class, that religious instruction, which might otherwise be 
 imparted to them in a more efficient form, by the hu- 
 manity of the higher orders. If themembers of the Bible 
 Society, for instance, were persuaded, that the cause of 
 religious truth could not be much more promoted among 
 the peasantry, by the mere circulation of Bibles and Tes- 
 taments, " without note or comment," they would, doubt- 
 less, devise more efficacious modes of instruction, which 
 their ample funds would enable them to carry into execu- 
 tion. The Bible makes those who read and understand 
 it ^' wise unto salvation ;" but of the peasantry, all can- 
 not read, and scarcely any can understand. The mine 
 is rich, but the j)easant wants skill to work it, and bring 
 to light its inestimable treasures. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 That the Scriptures, " without note or comment," are 
 too obscure for the generality of mankind^ has been in- 
 ferred above, from the nature of the thing antecedent to 
 experience : but, that the experience and observation of 
 mankind lead to the same conclusion, the History of the 
 Church, in all ages, but particularly since the Reforma- 
 tion, abundantly testifies. Not to mention the various 
 sects among the Jews, and their discordant opinions, 
 whicli they professed to derive principally from Scripture, 
 
.9 
 
 though partly from tradition, surely their gross miscon- 
 ception of the character of the expected IMessiah is a 
 strong fact, demonstrating, that a whole nation may fail 
 in discovering the sense of the sacred writings, even on'a 
 subject of paramount interest. 
 
 The authority of the Apostles themselves could not pre- 
 vent some of the first Christians from " wresting the Scrip- 
 tjjres to their own destruction." The first centuries of the 
 Christian era present to our view the endless contentions 
 of rival sects, professing to derive their respective opini- 
 ons from the sources of holy writ. These controversies 
 were maintained, both parties appealing to the Scrip- 
 tures with equal confidence, till papal Rome, in the ple- 
 nitude of her power, produced an apparent conformity 
 of sentiment, by suppressing- all discussion: but, after 
 the trumpet of Reformation sounded in the ear of Eu- 
 rope, and men reflected with shame and surprise on the 
 degrading servitude which had chained down their un- 
 derstandings for so many ages, the mind, recovering its 
 energies, and rallying its powers, dared once more to 
 think and to reason. The spirit of papal usurpation fled 
 before the dawn of returning light — the Bible re-appear- 
 ed, and resumed its authority over the consciences of 
 Christians. In opposition to the church of Rome, the 
 first reformers loudly and justly asserted the right of pri- 
 vate judgment, in expounding the Scriptures. Duly un- 
 derstood, there is no right more certain than this ; but 
 anxious to emancipate the people from the authority 
 of the Roman pontiff, they proclaimed it without esplu- 
 nation or restriction, and the consequences were dreadful. 
 li 
 
10 
 
 The private judgment of Munzer discovered in Scrip- 
 ture, that titles of nobility and large estates were " impi- 
 ous encroachments on the natural equality of the faith* 
 ful," and invited his followers " to examine the Scrip- 
 tures, whether these things were so." They examined 
 — praised God — and proceeded with fire and sword to 
 the extirpation of the ungodly, and the seizure of their 
 property. Private judgment, also, thought it discover- 
 ed in the Bible, that established laws were " standing 
 restraints on Christian liberty ; that the " elect of God 
 were incapable of sinning," and may innocently obey all 
 the propensities of their nature. 
 
 John of Leyden, laying down his thimble, and taking up 
 his Bible, surprised the city of Munster, at the head of a 
 rabble of frantic enthusiasts, proclaimed himself " King 
 of Zion," and ran naked through the streets, vociferating, 
 that " whatever washighest on earth should be brought low, 
 and whatever was lowest should be exalted." To keep 
 his word he made the common executioner his minister of 
 state, and the minister of state his common executioner. 
 Improving on the example of the patriarchs, he '* took 
 unto him" fourteen wives at once, affirming, that " poly- 
 gamy was Christian liberty, and the privilege of the saints." 
 But if the flagitious madness of foreign peasants, inter- 
 preting the Bible for themselves, be afflicting to the friends 
 of humanity and rational piety, the history of England, du- 
 ring a considerable part of the seventeentli century, offers 
 little to console them. In that place and period countless 
 enthusiasts sprung up successively and contemporane- 
 ously, endued with extravagant doctrines and noxious 
 
11 
 
 propensities, in various degrees, from the wild ravings of 
 Fox to the methodical madness of Barclay, from the for- 
 midable fanaticism of Cromwell to the drivelling impi- 
 ety of Praise-God-Barebones. Piety, reason, and com- 
 mon sense, seemed to be driven from the world to make 
 room for canting jargon, religious frenzy, and fiery zeal. 
 All quoted scripture, all made pretensions to illumina- 
 tions, visions, revelations, and illapses of the Spirit, and 
 the pretensions of all were equally well-founded. 
 
 The expediency of abolishing the clerical and regal func- 
 tions were strenuously maintained ; *' priests being the ser- 
 vants of Satan, kings the delegates of the whore of Ba- 
 bylon, and the offices of both inconsistent with the king- 
 dom of the Redeemer." Convinced that intellectual 
 improvement is the greatest enemy to fanaticism and re- 
 ligious imposture, the ruling zealots denounced learning 
 as " an heathenish invention," and the " universities as 
 seminaries of antichristian impiety." The sanctity of 
 his office was no protection to the prelate; the sacredness 
 of majesty no defence to the king : both were scoffed at, de- 
 nounced, and finally murdered by merciless fanatics, whose 
 only book was the Bible, " without note or comment." 
 
 At this time prayer, and preaching, and reading the 
 Scriptures, were at their height: every man prayed: 
 every man preached : every man read, and no man 
 listened. In the religious drama, all were performers — 
 there was no audience. Scripture authority was pleaded 
 for every atrocity. The ordinary business of life was 
 transacted in Scripture language. Words of high and 
 sacred import were polluted by the vulgar lips of ignorant 
 
12 
 
 enthusiasts. In Scripture phrase were discussed the iiii? 
 ternal state of the nation, and its external relations. In 
 the language oi scripture, conspiracies were formed, pro- 
 scrip tiousplanned, treasons hatched, and by Scripture 
 autllorilies they were not only justified, but consecrated. 
 " To your tents, O Israel !" was the rebel war-whoop. 
 The rebel officer assured his men, that, as " dominion 
 ■was fouiided in grace, the Lord would deliver the Phi- 
 listines into their hands." This harangue was answer- 
 ed by the general shout — " Let us follow our Joshua, and 
 smite the ungodly with the edge of the sword." To 
 make way for " the kingdom of Christy' the constitution 
 was subverted, the church destroyed, the throne over- 
 turned, and the whole frame and texture of society rent 
 and dissolved. 
 
 SECTION IV, 
 
 These historical facts have often astonished the good 
 and startled the pious. Engrossed by such feelings, the 
 reader too often -overlooks their awful moral — that " the 
 Bible, without note or comment," is unfit for the 
 perusal of the rude and illiterate. Misunderstanding 
 its meaning, and misapplying its precepts, they will 
 employ it to contenance every ruling passion, and sanctify 
 every favourite vice. A\ hat has happened before may- 
 happen again : and, therefore, the Bible Society are 
 called upon to pause, and calmly reconsider their plan 
 of religious instruction ; lest, instead of pure Christianity, 
 they circulate hypocrisy, fanaticism, and impious delur 
 sion, aoioDg the lower classes of society. 
 
13 
 
 The Bible ought to be approacheil^ even by the wise and 
 learned, with an humble sense of their own limited capaci- 
 ties. It is the charter of our salvation : the great deposito- 
 ry of the Divine communications ; the awful code, which 
 the Governorof the universe has issued to direct the con- 
 ductor his rational creatures, whom it addresses, in 'every 
 page, as free agents, and responsible subjects, and whose 
 belief of the great truths it reveals is made the test of 
 their allegiance, and the foundationof their hope. Its doc- 
 trines, never contiary to reason, are sometimes above 
 it; its truths, generally deep, are sometimes mysterious, 
 but always important. So that the character and matter 
 of the sacred volume afford an additional proof of the im- 
 propriety of placing it, indiscriminately, in the hands of 
 men, whose minds are necessarily rude and uncultivated 
 If they receive it, will they read it ? If they read it, will 
 they understand it ? If they read and misunderstand it, 
 wJiat will be the result ? These questions honestly put, 
 and steadily examined, by the light of reason, history, 
 and observation, may check the Bible Societies in their 
 incautious career. .,- 
 
 Yet how often do we hear it asserted, that the Bible 
 is suited to all ages, capacities, and situations ; — that ** he 
 may run that reads it ;"— that no revelatijon can be ob- 
 scure ; and that the affirmative of the proposition implies 
 a contradiction. This opinion, generated by the clash 
 of contending interests, has been transmitted from father 
 to son without examination. In the struggle between the 
 see of Rome and the fust reformers, the champions of the 
 former strenuously maintained, that the Holy Scriptures 
 
14 
 
 were not intended for the use of the laity, but that their pe- 
 rusal was reserved, exclusively for the clergy, or teachers 
 of religion, and that the church, or its organ, the Ro- 
 man pontiff, was invested with the sole right of inter- 
 preting the sacred writings. 
 
 As everyprospect of reformation would be blasted by 
 the admission of this doctrine, the reformers, in opposi- 
 tion to it, strongly and justly maintained the righ of 
 private judgment in expounding the Scriptures : but impa- 
 tient to undermine the foundation of papal jurisdiction, 
 they maintained it, without any limitation, asserting that 
 every individual whatever had an undoubted right to 
 explain the Scriptures for himself. The principle, now, 
 extended too far, was no longer tenable ; so that it be- 
 came necessary to fortify it with another, namely, that the 
 Bible is an easy book, level to all capacities, and that 
 the greatest perspicuity is the necessary character of a Di- 
 vine revelation : but, neither single nor combhied, are 
 these principles capable of resisting any serious attack. 
 
 The right of private judgment, indeed, properly 
 explained and restricted, is incontrovertible ; it is the 
 great basis of the Reformation, — the rock, on which 
 it stands, which can never be shaken but by being 
 misunderstood. But, in the principle itself, two 
 things are implied ; Jirst, that some judgment really 
 exists in the individual ; secondly, that it is, in some 
 reasonable degree, commensurate to the difficulty of the 
 subject on which it is employed. If the judgment does 
 not exist at all, as in the case of idiots and madmen, the 
 right does not exist. If it exists, in an inadequate de- 
 gree, Scripture — the subject on which it is exerted — will 
 
15 
 
 either be not understood or misunderstood. In the 
 former case, time will be thrown away ; in the latter, it 
 will be dangerously employed. Now, what sort of right 
 that is, which, when exerted, leads to the irretrievable 
 loss of time, or to danger, whose extent and duration no 
 human eye can foresee, 1 submit to the determination of 
 the gentlemen, who write reports and addresses for the 
 Bible Societies. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Let us now consider the assumption, that perspicuity 
 would necessarily be the character of a Divine revelation. 
 Indeed had a revelation never been given, had it been 
 only promised by the Creator, and expected by the crea- 
 ture, man's curiosity would, in tlie interval between the 
 promise and its accomplishment, prompt him to hazard 
 various conjectures respecting its nature and qualities. 
 Among other surmises, it would probably be advanced, 
 that all communicationSj from God to man, would be so 
 clear, that their import could never be mistaken ; that 
 God could find no pleasure in puzzling his creatures ; 
 and that an obscure revelation would be unworthy of 
 him, and indeed no revelation at all. This reasoning, 
 while the world was yet expecting the promised revela- 
 tion, might pass for specious argument : but now that 
 the revelation has been given and recorded, it is hr.'h 
 presumptuous and absurd. 
 
 What ! shall man dare to infer, from his pre-conceiv- 
 ed notions of the Deity, the character of a revelation, 
 spread out before him in legible characters? From 
 
16 
 
 what he tJiinks h^GUght to he, he must not infer what 
 it is ; but, having read it, and thus put its obscurity 
 or clearness to the test of experiment, he ought lo 
 conclude that, such as he Jiiids it, such it ought to 
 be. The writer of these sheets can affirm that, on 
 putting the Bible to this test, by a careful perusal he 
 found it, collectively taken, one of the most difEcult books 
 he ever read : and that this character was applicable, 
 though in different degrees, to every part of it not purely 
 historical. With him this experiment is decisive ; it 
 convinces him, that God, for the wisest purposes, intend- 
 ed that the Book of our salvation should be difficult in 
 proportion to its value. The obscurity of the Scripture 
 prophecies is universally acknowledged, but they are qs 
 universally allowed to be Divinely revealed ; no Christian, 
 therefore, can deny that a revelation, as sucb, ihot/ be 
 obscure. 
 
 St. Peter expressly tells us, that there are some 
 things in St. Paul's epistles " hard to be understood," 
 and that many persons "wrested them to their own 
 destruction." Here we have the express aiithority of 
 an Apostle for maintaining, not merely that r evelation 
 ma^ be obscure, but that, in some places, it actually is 
 so: — an authority subversive at once of the argument of 
 those who infer, that a revelation is intelligible to the 
 meanest capacity, because it comes from God. We 
 learn, also, and it is an awful lesson, that these passages 
 of Paul were wrested to the destruction of the " unlearn- 
 ed and unstable." The latter being men of no steady 
 principles of religion or morality, and yielding, of course, 
 lo every vicious impulse, were seduced, by the sophistry 
 
17 
 
 of the passions, into a misapprehension of the Ji>eaning 
 of the Apostle, which patient investigation, with a sincere 
 desire of religious improvement, might have enabled 
 them to comprehend. The unlearned, unable to 
 penetrate through the difficulties of the text, to the Apo- 
 stle's meaning, and yet determined to make the at- 
 tempt, tortured his words into wild nonsense, or sense 
 more impious. Forgetting that no suitable education, 
 no previous hnbits of intellectual exercise, had prepared 
 their minds for serious study, they presumed to rely ori 
 their own private judgment, and thus wrested, not only 
 these passagesof Paul, but "also the other scrip- 
 tures to their own destruction." Yet these men, who 
 thus perverted the sense of St. Paul, and that of the 
 other inspired writers, were the contemporaries of the 
 Apostles, and spoke the language of the New Testament 
 and Septuagint version. Asiatics themselves, they were 
 familiar with oriental idioms, oriental images, with the 
 figurative style, and bold amplifications of the eastern 
 nations. And shall it be said, that illiterate peasants, 
 distant two thousand miles from the country, and nearly 
 two thousand years from the age of the Apostles, will 
 not grossly pervert the meaning of the Sacred Oracles, 
 though reading them w ithout oral or written explanation 
 through the medium of an English version, of two hun- 
 dred years standing, scrupulously literal, and therefore 
 retaining all the difficulties of the original, and superad- 
 ding others ? 
 
18 
 
 SECTION VL 
 
 Enthusiasm is a hardy plant, the growth of every age 
 and climate. Every form of religion, Pagan, Maho- 
 metan, and Christian, has its enthusiasts, who have been 
 uniformly held in veneration by the ignorant and weak, 
 and pitied or despised by the wise, the learned, and the 
 truly pious. Perhaps it is not wonderful that they 
 should find their way into the bosom of the Established 
 Church, and even into many of its pulpits. Of all the 
 members of the Establishment they are the loudest for 
 the circulation of the Scriptures among the multitude 
 " without note or comment." This is very natural. 
 Persuaded that human reason and learning can never suc- 
 ceed, in unfolding the meaning of the Sacred Oracles, 
 they rely on supernatural agency alone for understand- 
 ing Scriptural truths. In their judgment, reason is a 
 blind guide, and learning, instead of smoothing the way, 
 perplexes and obstructs the progress of the " serious 
 Christian." In the apprehension of these gentlemen, 
 therefore, all that is w anting, for understanding the Scrip- 
 tures, is a competent portion of self-abasement and 
 ignorance, on the part of a man, with a Bible to read ; 
 God will do the rest. 
 
 Those who agree with these modern puritans in 
 this opinion, are right in expecting the happiest effects 
 from the circulation of the Scriptures among the 
 lower orders. The majority, however, of the mem- 
 bers of the establishment, will, it is hoped, still con- 
 tinue to think, with the greatest luminaries of our 
 
19 
 
 church and nation, that reason , improved reason — is 
 the only interpreter of the Sacred Writings. Man has 
 been sentenced by his Creator to a life of toil and 
 drudgery, and the sentence extends to his mind as well 
 as to his body. He must cultivate the ground for his 
 corporeal — the mind for his intellectual food. His pro- 
 ficiency in every science is proportioned to the skill of 
 his instructor, the time, toil, and talents expended in the 
 study of it. In literature and the arts it is the same. In 
 every trade, occupation, and profession, manual dexterity, 
 or intellectual excellence, can be acquired only by pre- 
 vious discipline and long habits of bodily or mental 
 action. But are deep study, patient investigation, and 
 the vigorous exercise of reason necessary to the attain- 
 ment of all human knowledge ; and will the knowledge 
 of ourselves, as fallen creatures, as moral and responsible 
 agents, — will the knowledge of God, of his attributes, 
 of his will, of the doctrines he inculcates, of the duties 
 he prescribes, of his precepts, promises, exhortations, 
 denunciations, and of his rtliole scheme of redemption^ 
 — will all this knowledge — deep, various, and sublime 
 as it is — be extracted from the Bible by ignorant rustics 
 and mechanics, unassisted by oral or written elucidation? 
 It would be highly desirable, that the peasantry of 
 Ireland understood and respected the laws of their 
 country more than they do at present ; yet no society 
 has yet started up, with the avowed object of dispersing 
 among them cheap editions of Blackstone, or Coke 
 Littleton, '^ without note or comment." A compe- 
 tent knowledge of natural philosophy, astronomy, me- 
 taphysics, and political economy, could not fail to hu- 
 
20 
 
 manize their minds, lessen their taste for nocturnal de-j 
 predations, and quench their thirst for blood ; yet no sa- 
 gacious reformer has yet come forward with a proposal 
 for circulating among them, Newton, Laplace, Locke, 
 Smith, or Stewart, " without note or comment." Why ? 
 because these books would not be read, or read to some 
 useless, or pernicious purpose. 
 
 This applies, with infinitely greater force to the Bible ; 
 for, as it is the best of all books, its perversion is pro- 
 portionably dangerous. Beware, then, how you entrust 
 the Bible indiscriminately to the multitude, and then 
 abandon them to the licentious glosses of their own 
 wild imaginations. The Bible, being the great recep- 
 tacle of Divine knowledge, is difficult in proportion to 
 its importance. This is wisely ordained, and strictly 
 analogous to the general dispensations of Providence. 
 Labour is the lot of man ; it is the price we pay for every 
 temporal good — for those objects necessary for the com- 
 fort and well-being of our bodies, and for our most 
 valuable intellectual acquisitions. And why should it be 
 presum.ed, tliat the knowledge of things Divine must be 
 of easy attainment ? \ 
 
 The obscurity of the Bible answers many good pur- 
 poses; it aflfords the noblest exercise for our improved 
 reason : as the study of it is obligatory on all, who have 
 sufficient leisure, capacity, and literature, the -dilir 
 gence or remissness of those who are qualified to peruse 
 it are put to the test. Occasion is given for the exer- 
 cise of many of our best virtues : our patience, our 
 perseverance, our unremitting attention, our reliance 
 on the Divine ^«d are exerted m overcoining the dif^i-. 
 
21 
 
 culties of Scripture, as well as in surmounting the 
 various other obstacles which obstruct our march to 
 Christian perfection, in this our state of probation 
 and moral discipline. Human learnilig derives its 
 greatest value from its powerful subserviency to the 
 elucidation of the Sacred Writings; but wheire there 
 is little obscurity, there is little room for elucidation. 
 Besides, it is the nature of man to disregard what is of 
 easy attainment ; he considers it comparatively worth- 
 less ; but highly prizes that which is the fruit of patient 
 toil, or persevering research. 
 
 Thus one great cause of the difficulties of Scripture is 
 found in our very constitution. They also bring intoaction 
 an important class of our relative duties — the zeal and pru- 
 dence of the learned and wealthy in communicating reli- 
 gious knowledge, and the docijity of the poor and ignorant 
 in receiving it. As the latter want time and capacity for 
 a profitable perusal of the Scriptures; while, by their 
 labour, the former are enabled to live in opulence and 
 leisure, favourable to mental cultivation, it becomes 
 the bounden duty of the one class to convey Scriptural 
 instruction to the other, in a form suited to their capa- 
 cities, and of the latter to receive it with humble grati- 
 tude, and treasure it up in their hearts. 
 
 To instruct the ignorant is the precept of Christ, and is 
 certainly more difficult than to put Bibles or Testaments 
 into their hands. It is, however, the duty of the higher 
 classes, and they ought not to flinch from it. The peasantry 
 are capable of religious improvement to an high degree, if 
 proper means be employed. OraJ instruction should be 
 
O-} 
 
 Hsed to a considerable extent, in teaching them Chris- 
 tianity. They should be taught to read and understand 
 plain English with tolerable ease : then oral instruction 
 should be aided by summary views of the doctrines of our 
 religion, plainly written, clearly arranged and extracted 
 fioni the Scriptures by men of sound heads and honest 
 hearts. Interesting narratives, grounded on scripture his- 
 tory, written with clearness and elegance, and leading to 
 some useful moral, or illustrating some important doc- 
 trine, should be put into their hands. Well-written fables, 
 might be made the vehicles of pure morality and fervent 
 piety. Select extracts from the Scriptures themselves, 
 with short explanatoiy notes, and an occasional para- 
 phrase, may be judiciously introduced into the poor man's 
 library. To these should be added new editions of the 
 Book of Common Prayer, with a commentary annexed 
 to each gospel, epistle and psalm. These works, for ob- 
 vious reasons, should not want the inferior advantages of 
 good paper, a good type, and well-executed prints ; and 
 the leaven of Calvinism ought to be excluded with scru- 
 pulous care. With such treatises the lower class of 
 Protestants should be regularly supplied. As to the 
 Cathohcs, any such attempt is perhaps premature. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 But still it will be said, that this is to set up authority 
 in opposition to private judgment — the great principle 
 of the Reformation. But, by the plan proposed, you do 
 not endeavour to extinguish or overawe the private judg- 
 
23 
 
 ment of the peasant, but to awaken his torpid mind into 
 action, by furnishing him with materials, on which his 
 feeble faculties can work. You lay before him, it is true, 
 your own views of Christian truth, honestly and consci- 
 entiously extracted from the Scriptures for his use ; you 
 invite him, as he values his highest interests, " to read, 
 learn," and act upon them ; but you leave him at full 
 liberty to receive or reject them, in the whole or in part. 
 You do not extort his assent to your doctrines by whip- 
 ping, line, imprisonment, or pillory. You do not press 
 them on his belief by star-chambers or inquisitions. You 
 do not erect yourself into an infallible judge, in matters 
 of faith ; and hence infer, that authoritative dictation is 
 your right, and implicit belief his duty. You leave him 
 to the exercise of his judgment, such as it is, and look 
 forward with a hope of seeing that judgment gradually 
 improved, till at last it may perhaps be profitably em- 
 ployed on the Bible itself. 
 
 Surely, then, it is a gross abuse of words to say, 
 that there is hi this any undue influence, any attempt 
 to subdue or stifle private judgment, and set up autho- 
 rity. You leave him at fuJl liberty to reject or adopt 
 the doctrines of your religious tracts : therefore his 
 adoption or rejection of them is an act of his own 
 judgment. You do not threaten, you do not terrify, 
 you do not constrain ; in fact, you do not exert, or 
 even claim any authority at all. The Church of Rome, 
 resting on its infallibihty, claimed a right to inter- 
 pret the Scriptures, not only for the whole body of the 
 laity, but for the Clergy themselves individually. This 
 was and ought to be resisted, l^o admit it, woidd he to 
 
24 
 
 sacrifice the sacred and unalienable rights of reason and 
 conscience. 
 
 Of every man dull/ qualified for the study of the 
 Scxiptures, it is at once the right and the duty to derive 
 the doctrines of Christianity immediately from that 
 source : nor, perhaps, ought the perusal of them to be 
 interdicted to any person Avhatever, however ignorant. 
 A tribunal appointed for enforcing the interdiction 
 would be liable to constant error, in deciding on points 
 so nice as the capacity or incapacity of individuals, and 
 its tyranny %vould soon become a greater evil than that 
 v.'hich it was intended to remedy : besides, it is harsh in 
 the extreme to say to a poor man, you shall not read the 
 Bible, however desirous you may be to do so. But there 
 is a striking difference between not allowing him to read 
 the Bible, and not giving him the Bible to read ; between 
 taking it from him, and putting it into his hands. The 
 plain practical rule is, — neither give him the Bible, nor 
 take it from him ; but give him such works as are above 
 described : if he has the Bible, they may guard him 
 against the wild licentiousness of interpretation : if he 
 has not, they may make him a meek and peaceable 
 Christian, instead of a turbulent and dangerous enthusiast. 
 Trust not to his own reason, to his private judgment ; he 
 has none ; or, which is sufficient for my argument, he 
 has not enough : and therefore the Bible should not be 
 industriously put into his hands, because it is too obscure 
 for his rude understanding. 
 
 This is the conclusion, to which we are equally 
 hurried, whether we consider the antiquity of the 
 Sacred Writings; their figurative language; their ori- 
 
25 
 
 ental idioms ; their highly-diversified style ; their sub- 
 ject matter ; the important ends answered by their ob- 
 scurity ; the analogy of the Divine dispensations ; the 
 numerous sects into which Christians have been rent ; 
 the torrents of fanaticism which have swept away civil 
 and religious establishments — while all these sects, and 
 all these fanatics, appeal to Scripture for a vindication of 
 their opinions, and a justification of their atrocities. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 But this argument, it will be said, proves too much ; 
 for it goes to shew, that the Bible is unfit for the perusal 
 of the learned as well as the illiterate ; because the former 
 as well as the latter have misunderstood and perverted 
 it. That men of cultivated minds have sometimes mis- 
 taken the sense of particular passages of Scripture is 
 admitted ; but, this only furnishes an additional fact 
 against those who maintain, that it is easily understood. 
 It is also admitted, that the wise and the learned have, 
 in some instances, wilfully perverted the sense of the 
 Sacred Writings. This again exemplifies only the per- 
 verseness of men blinded by their passions, and deter- 
 mined to support a commodious, or favourite hypothesis. 
 But from neither admission does it follow, that the well- 
 informed ought to be discouraged from studying the Scrip- 
 tures ; for this would be to maintain that men, qualified 
 for its profitable perusal, ought to be discouraged from 
 using the Bible, lest they might abuseit. The blessing of 
 a good education, by creating in them a capacity of pro- 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 fitably reading the Scriptures, has imposed an obligation 
 to read them : but to the peasant, as the blessing has 
 been denied, the obligation does not extend. He cannot 
 use — he must abuse the Scriptures, His duty then is 
 not to read the Bible, for uhich he is unqualitied ; but 
 to derive his religious informalion from more accessible 
 sources. This seems to be the natural order of things, 
 and no rash attempt should be made to reverse it. 
 
 The bulk of mankind must be content to glean up their 
 iuformation from others ; they cannot approach the great 
 sources of knowledge ; they must receive the most im- 
 portant truths at second hand — on the authority of those, 
 who derive them more immediately from the fountain 
 head. The practical truths of medicine, law, morality, 
 physics, and mathematics, though of constant application 
 and indispensable necessity, are confidently acted upon, 
 every day, by a vast majority of our fellow-creatures, of 
 whose own researches into the depths of these sciences 
 they are by no means the result ; but adopted on the au- 
 thority of men, who have devoted their time and talents 
 to the cultivation of these various departments of know- 
 ledge. With respect to Christian knowledge, the same 
 process has in general been observed ; and where it has 
 been departed from, in any considerable degree, society 
 has been shaken to its centre. 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 But the principle, which is always at work in count- 
 eracting the progressive improvement of the human 
 species, is — the frailty of man in forgetting the lessons of 
 
27 
 
 past experience. After one or two generations pass 
 away, a curtain is dropped, which hides from our view 
 the follies and sufferings of our ancestors. The causes 
 or occasions of these sufferings are no longer remember- 
 ed, or they are supposed to be divested by time of their 
 malignant nature. The fanatical extravagance, indeed, 
 Avhich deluged England with blood in the 17th century, 
 was too well remembered for some years after the restor- 
 ation, when men, emulous to express their abhorrence of 
 the dreadful perversions of Christianity, rushed with des- 
 perate blindness into the opposite extreme of rank infideli- 
 ty, and bare-faced profligacy. But now, after the lapse of 
 more than a century, that religious extravagance, with all 
 its horrors, and the subsequent infidelity, which sprang 
 from its root, are almost forgotten ; and men even labour 
 to persuade themselves, in opposition to the fullest and 
 clearest evidence of history, that these enormities were 
 unconnected with the abuse and perversion of the Sacred 
 Writings. 
 
 Hence the hopeful project, pompously avowed, of 
 placing " the Bible, widiout note or comment," in 
 the hands of every wretched cottager. The pure 
 text itself, unincumbered with human, and conse- 
 quently fallible glosses, is to be spread out befoie him ; 
 he is to be resigned to his own unclouded sagacity and 
 unperverted judgment; every thing earthly, which could 
 mislead that sagacity, or bias that judgment, is to be 
 scrupulously excluded ; till his mind, fraught with genu- 
 ine Biblical knowledge and pure theology, condescends 
 to return to the ordinary occupations of an Irish pea- 
 sant. What a delightful prospect does this hold out 
 
28 
 
 to the " gospel preachers," who have imported into the 
 pulpits of the Established Church the charitable doc- 
 trines of the School of Geneva ? Ireland now, alas ! the 
 land of sinners and transgressors, resuming her long lost 
 pre-eminence, will again be hailed as the island of gaints I 
 Her fields will be cultivated by ragged, but profound 
 divines : while the refined workings of the Spirit, and 
 clumsy operations of agriculture, relieve each other iri 
 edifying succession. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 But, leaving the " gospel preachers" to the enjoyment 
 of these bright visions, may I be permitted to ask the 
 other Clergymen of the Established Church, who are 
 members of the Bible Society, and in habits of reason^ 
 ing, whether they have considered a certain consequence^ 
 to which their favourite opinion directly leads ? If the 
 reading of the Bible be able to produce those happy 
 effects on the peasantry, so confidently anticipated or 
 presumed in every page of the Society's reports ; — if the 
 Bible alone, " without note or comment," is to convert 
 the unbelieving, to reclaim the profligate, to enlighten 
 the ignorant ; if its perusal is so eminently calculated to 
 chase away superstition, and error, and vice, from the 
 minds cf the lower orders, and to propagate the unadul- 
 terated doctrine and pure morality of the gospel ; will 
 not men begin to conclude, that, after ^' the Bible is made 
 the inmate of every house and cottage," the necessity of 
 retaining a Religious Establishment, or even a Clerical or- 
 der, will cease to exist ? If every man has a Bible, if he 
 
29 
 
 tan read and understand it ; and which cannot be ques- 
 tioned, if the Bible, so read and understood, can " make 
 him wise unto salvation," it inevitably follows, that the 
 (Jlergy are not an essential part of a religious community. 
 Some may contend, for a while, that though not necessa- 
 ry, yet they are to a certain degree useful or ornamental; 
 but, in the progress of investigation, it would soon be 
 discovered, that Prayers may be read, and Sacraments 
 administered without them, and that the Bible is an ex- 
 cellent substitute for the sermons of modern doctors. 
 Nor would it fail to occur to the new reformers, that 
 the property of the church, if secularized, and placed at 
 the disposal of his majesty's ministers, would form an 
 important item in the ways and means for the current 
 year, and enable the chancellor of the exchequer to move 
 for a repeal of some of the most oppressive taxes. The 
 Clergy, it would be said, are public functionaries ; but 
 when their functions become useless, those, who no 
 longer profit by their instruction, should not be burthened 
 with their support. 
 
 All this, and more, would be said, and a better 
 reasoner than an " evangelical minister" would be 
 sorely puzzled, if called upon for a full and fair refuta- 
 tion of these irreverent doctrines, on the principles of 
 the Bible Society. In trudi, it is principally because 
 the Scriptures are very voluminous, and very difficult, 
 that a necessity arose of instituting a distinct order of 
 men, prepared by long discipline and severe study for 
 the important duty of collecting, exhibiting, expounding 
 and illustrating the doctrines and precepts of the Sacred 
 Writing?. But let the public be once convinced, that 
 
30 
 
 tinkers and dray-men are qualified to search the Scrip- 
 tures, to overcome their difficuhies and comprehend their 
 doctrines, and all respect for the Clerical order is that 
 moment at an end. They will be considered all excre- 
 scence of society, which ought to be loppfed off. In 
 point of fact, accordingly we find that the more enthu- 
 siastic sects either have no spiritual teachers at all, or 
 none regularly educated for the ministry. The Scrip- 
 tures, they conceive, have no diflaculties for them ; they 
 do not stand in need of human interpreters; they derive 
 their knowledge from an higher and purer source thaa 
 any earthly teacher. Nay, some enthusiasts, soaring 
 above their fellows, or rather, arguing more correctly, 
 have rejected the Bible itself as unnecessary to men fa- 
 voured with immediate revelation. 
 
 Let it be particularly observed, that those enthusiastic 
 sects, now so rapidly multiplying in various parts of the ^ 
 United Kingdom, and still more in America, are in ge- 
 neral illiterate peasants and mechanics, who can barely 
 read and write ; — that tiiey have the Bible, and particu- 
 larly its obscurest parts, almost entirely by rote — and 
 have as great an antipathy to " notes and comments" 
 on the SacredText as any Bible Society. Surely then 
 it may be prudent to consider, whether the operations 
 of these societies are more calculated to swell the 
 number of those rapturous and enlightened worshippers, 
 or to fill the churches of the Establishment with sober 
 and pious Christians. To me it appears, that their 
 p . immediate tendency is to empty the churches and fill 
 the conventicles ; and their remote tendency, to put 
 down the former altogether. 
 
3X 
 
 SECTION XL 
 
 But the wildest visionaries are by no means the most 
 dangerous. There is httle ground of alarm in the pro- 
 gress and practice of the peaceable quaker, the self-de- 
 nying shaker, or the harmless dunker. The fanaticism 
 of these sects is tempered vvilh some ingredients, which 
 render it almost innoxious. But beware of the active, 
 serious, plodding, proselyting enthusiasts, whose num- 
 ber,^already formidable, is annually augmented by thou- 
 sands of converts from the Established Church, with 
 which, however, they still maintain some loose con- 
 nexion, or hollow alliance, which disguises their hostility, 
 or covers their approaches. Of thescji however, the 
 Calvinistic branch is infinitely the more dangerous : both 
 are strenuous advocates for making " the Bible an in- 
 mate of every cottage" in the United Kingdom. With 
 what view? Not, certainly, with a view of making con- 
 verts from Methodism to the established rehgion ; but 
 with that of making the peasantry of the Establishment 
 good Christians, i. e. staunch methodists. 
 
 As to the Roman Catholic peasantry, they know them 
 too well to expect any converts from that quarter. To 
 them they have a thousand times read the Bible, on foot 
 and on horseback, and preached and prayed, and groaned 
 without effect. What, therefore, their own spiritual la- 
 bours, aided by the Bible, failed to effect, they despair of 
 being produced by the Bible alone : or, through a spe- 
 cial interference of Providence, should a Catholic 
 peasant be converted, by a Protestant Bible, they 
 
32 
 
 know that the new convert, unless stopped by a fresh mi- 
 racle, would join the communion of the enemy, not of the 
 friend of tithest — of the methodist preacher — not of the 
 parson of the parish. Full well, also, they know the pea- 
 santry of the Established Church. They have accurately 
 studied human nature as exhibited in low life. They 
 know, accordingly, much better than the lords spiritual 
 and temporal of the Bible Society, what use the poor Pro- 
 testant will make of his Bible — that he will dzvell hut lit- 
 tle on the easier parts, and much on the more obscure, — 
 that his taste will lead him to the prophetical books, the 
 Revelation of St. John, the Epistles of St. Paut, and all 
 the most abstruse passages, — that his understanding will 
 be overpowered, and his fancy kindled, — that imagina- 
 tion, uncontrolled by reason, will exert all her creative 
 powers, — that for him inspiration will draw the curtain, 
 which hides from this world all the secrets of the next, — 
 and, while in this blissful state, that he will hurry off to 
 the next congregation of inspired Christians, and ani- 
 mate their jaded devotion with his new-born raptures. 
 
 SECTION Xli 
 
 That every man is too prone to overrate his own ca- 
 pacity is an acknowledged truth. For this infirmity no. 
 human remedy can perhaps be found, but in a philoso- 
 phy, at once profound and humble ; of which the nar- 
 row limits of the human mind, and its constant liability 
 to error, pven within these limits, is perhaps the last as 
 well as the most humiliating lesson. Accordingly, this 
 
33 
 
 principle of our nature is most vigorous in uncultivated 
 minds, which, una ed to discussion, encounter few dif- 
 iicullies, aod therefore suppose there are few difficulties 
 to encounter. 
 
 We trace its incessant operation in the whole con- 
 duct of the lower classes. We find it in their astonish- 
 ing credulity ; in their no less astonishing incredulity : 
 in their slow reception of the most useful iii.orove- 
 ments submitted for years to their observation ; and 
 in every action of their lives, however absurd. They be- 
 lieve the grossest falsehood, because they think them- 
 selves competent judges of the strength of the evidence : 
 they disbelieve the clearest truth, because they are 
 judges equally competent of its weakness; and they reject 
 the improvement, because they sometimes rely on their 
 sagacity and judgment, even more than on their senses. 
 The overweening confidence in their own judgment is a 
 fruitful source of error, and a serious obstacle to the im- 
 provement of their condition : yet this dangerous delu- 
 sion is evidently encouraged and cherished by the mis- 
 taken policy of the Bible Society. 
 
 How agreeably must the self-love of the poor man be 
 flattered by the opinion of that respectable body pro- 
 nouncing him qualified for the study of the Sacred 
 Oracles, ** without note or comment?" The ho- 
 mage, thus paid to his understanding, is enough to 
 turn his head, even without the aid of his Biblical 
 lucubrations, — ^before his gross blunders and -wild in- 
 terpretations of the Sacred Text produce their natural 
 effect on his bewildered mind. Certain it is, that this 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 principle of self-confidence, uncontrolled by educa- 
 tion, exposes the peasant, v.ho scarcely suspects its ex- 
 istence, to the tyranny of every favourite passion and 
 prejudice ; predisposes him to receive, as indisputable 
 truths, all the illusions of his ov\'n imagination, merely 
 because they are his own ; and, combined with his igno- 
 rance, produces in him that frame of mind, which is, of 
 all others, the most unfit for the perusal of the Scrip- 
 tures. To put the Bible into the hands of such a man, 
 is to " cast pearls before swine ;" — to put a sword of 
 high price into the hands of a lunatic ; — to convert the 
 gracious means of salvation into an engine of destruc- 
 tion! The gross familiarity of blind ignorance with 
 revealed wisdom, is to be seriously deprecated. 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 The truth is, the Bible is already ,too much read by 
 Protestant peasants, and too much neglected by Pro- 
 testant gentlemen. Among the latter accordingly we 
 find, that honour is too frequently substituted for mo- 
 rality, etiquette for religion, gaming for reflection, and 
 gallantry for devotion ! The sportsman's calendar is 
 . read ; the novel devoured ; the play admired ; the Bible 
 merely tolerated ! Thus religious ignorance, which should 
 only be found among the beasts that perish, rises in spite 
 of the grossness of its nature into the highest regions of 
 rank and fashion, from M-hich it sheds its blighting in- 
 fluence on ali the subordinate classes. 
 
 )Vhat a perverse and inconsistent being is man} 
 
35 
 
 Those who can understand tlie Bible seldom read 
 it, and content themselves with recommending it to 
 those who cannot ; while those, to whom it is recom- 
 mended, often read it with avidity, seldom under- 
 stand it, and generally pervert it to their own destruc- 
 tion ! How have the spiritual and temporal interests 
 of men, how has the cause of Heaven and earth 
 been injured, by the religious apathy of the opulent and 
 learned ! This apathy is the first stage in the road to in- 
 fidelity. The human mind seldom rests in a postvne of 
 indifference : it soon presses forward to a state more ani- 
 mated ; and that, which at first was mere disregard of the 
 word of God, soon becomes determined hostility. Cor- 
 ruption of principle, and profligacy of manners, rapidly 
 succeed, and are imperfectly concealed from vulgar eyes 
 by the artificial veil of refinement. The contagion de- 
 scends from the peer to the commoner, and is propagated, 
 through all the middle classes, till it reach the meanest 
 peasant, who, unable to purchase the refinements of vice, 
 contentedly wallows in all its grossness. 
 
 Hence the various forms of wretchedness, whicli 
 scourge a profligate peasantry, and deform the face 
 of society : for much of this moral and physical evil 
 the higher orders are responsible. Their relaxed mo- 
 rality is the chief source of the disease. The vicious 
 example of the great and mighty of the land acts, 
 with irresistible force, on the mean and ignorant : 
 but let the higher ranks employ their cultivated minds 
 and ample leisure in studying the Scriptures — let ra- 
 tional religion become the appendage of exalted rank — 
 let genuine piety cast its mild lustre over worldly grandeur 
 
36 
 
 — let the opulent and learned strive with each other in the 
 purity of their morals, and the extent of their benefit 
 cence, morethan in splendour of equipage, force of elo- 
 quence, or extent of erudition; and more will be done 
 in ten years for the moral, religious, and temporal im- 
 provement of the lower classes, than can be eflfV cted in 
 a century by ihe lubours of the Bible Society. The les- 
 sons of example are intelligible to the meanest capacity. 
 To the uneducated mind precept is not always clear ; 
 and, when it is, its influence is too frequently feeble; 
 because, perhaps, it savours somewhat of dictation. Pre- 
 cept, however, and example united, when both are good, 
 seldom fail to produce die hiippiest effects, provided the 
 former be clear, and the latter illustrious. 
 
 The sum and substance of religion judiciously ex- 
 tracted from the sacred Scriptures, with due atten- 
 tion to clearness and arrangement, and circulated, 
 among the common people, at the expense of a really 
 pious and virtuous nobility and gentry, would en- 
 lighten their minds with true knowledge, and effect 
 that change, in their moral conduct, which all good 
 men so earnestly desire. The doctrines and precepts 
 of Christianity, exemplified in the lives of the higher 
 orders, and acJopfed to the comprehension of the lower, 
 would rekindle the religious principle, where they might 
 'find it extinguished : cherish it, where still alive ; and 
 prevent it from sinking into superstition, or blazing into 
 enthusiasm. But were the Bible as easy as it is difficult, 
 still it would be a work of charity to condense its doc- 
 trines into a short and well-arranged system, and spare 
 the bewildered peasant the labour of pushing hi» re- 
 
37 
 
 searches through so vast a volume, and such multifarious 
 matter, for the purpose of collecting and arranging for 
 himself. It is cruel to set him adrift, in his own little 
 bark, on the immense ocean of Revelation, without star 
 or compass to guide him. Yet this is, in other words, 
 the avowed object of the Bible Societies. An educated 
 uian, unacquainted with revelation, may obtain a clearer 
 view of the whole Christian scheme, from a small duo- 
 decimo volume, read in a few hours, than he can from 
 the Bible in as many months. This holds incomparably 
 stronger, with respect to the uneducated peasant : from 
 such a work he would derive more religious knowledge 
 in a few days, than he could from the Bible during his 
 whole life. 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 That the Bible is adapted to the meanest understand- 
 ing — ^an opinion taken up at first, without due examina- 
 tion — is still retained, because men are disinclined to sub- 
 mit, to a severe scrutiny, the truth of an opinion long 
 and fondly cherished. We think it harsh to be called 
 upon to renounce opinions, for which our ancestors had 
 once strenuously contended. If their opinions be right, 
 we maintain them because they are so ; if wrong, we vin- 
 dicate them still, on a principle of honour. Perhaps the 
 spirit of opposition to papal Rome still operates in some 
 degree. But surely, if the popes and cardinals of the 
 16th century contended that no layman, however wise or 
 learned, should be allowed to read the Scriptures, that is 
 no reason why the Protestants of the 19th century should 
 
38 
 
 insist that every layman, however stupid or ignorantf 
 should be invited to read " the Bible, without note or 
 comment." Looking for truth befween these extremes, 
 both equally senseless, the nioderq Protestant ought to 
 declare, that all who are capable of understanding it, 
 and no other, are in duty bound to read it ; but at the 
 same time, that its perusal should, in no case, be in- 
 terdicted. 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 Every established church must, in the nature of things, 
 be an object of jedousy or dislike to those who dissent 
 from it. Men hate to be periodically called upon for a 
 portion of their property, for the support of a system of 
 doctrine and discipline,' of which they disapprove, and 
 from which they are unconscious of deriving any benefit. 
 From an establishment, therefore, as from an incum- 
 brance, they wish to be relieved j and would set up their 
 own system in its place, or have no establishment at all. 
 This is quite natural ; and, to censure a dissenter for it, 
 is just as reasonable as to blame him for being a man. 
 It is, however, sufficient to justify some suspicion and 
 vigilance on the part of the Establishment. When, 
 therefore, we behold a great association, comprehending, 
 not only members of the church, but dissenters of every 
 denomination, acting together, in close union, for years, 
 in promoting a certain specific object, and that of a re- 
 ligious nature, such an extraordinary moral phenomenon 
 not only excites our curiosity, but suggests the policy of 
 investigating the probable consequences, to the Churck 
 Establishment,* of such an unnatural union. 
 
C9 
 
 Let us attend to the facts of the case. The dissenters, 
 if the British and Foreign Bible Society did not originate 
 %vith them, were foremost, or among the foremost, to 
 press forwaid wilh their subscriptions and contributions. 
 Including ihe Calvinists within the pale of the Establish- 
 ment, who are, substantially, though not nominally dis- 
 senters, ihey are the most active members of the insti- 
 tution, and forward its views with an alacrity and zeal; 
 which cast into the shade the more slow and measured 
 proceedings of their brethren. The '' evangelical mi- 
 nisters" particularly, are indefatigable. 
 
 With an obliging frankness they tender their services as 
 secretaries to the different Bible Societies ; and never for- 
 get to inform the public, that these services are gratui- 
 tous. With an ardour, which neither sickness can ob- 
 .struct, nor business damp, they make longjournies, they 
 organize affiliated branches, and Bible associations ; before 
 the former of which they make long speeches in Scrip- 
 ture phrase, and before some of the latter, often consist- 
 ing of females, they read aw ful narratives of providen- 
 tial interferences, of sudden conversions wrought on 
 low profligates by short passages of scripture, together 
 with zcell-icritten letters of thanks from convicts under 
 sailing orders to Botany Bay, acknowledging the receipt 
 of Bibles and Testaments, and imploring blessings on 
 Bible Societies. For the parent society, and her nume- 
 rous progeny, they draw up edifying reports, in which a 
 piercing eye can occasionally discoverthe half-obliterated 
 track of Calvinism. In gaining new members for the 
 parent association, or its auxiliary branches, their efforts 
 
40 
 
 are unremitting. Though repeatedly repulsed, they 
 still return to the charge ; and it is scarcely safe for any 
 man, in the middle rank of life, to refuse his name and 
 subscription. He is plied with verbal and written ap- 
 plications, exhortations, invitations to attend Bible so- 
 ciety meetings; and if these fail, with Bible society re- 
 ports, politely and gratuitously sent for his perusal. If 
 he still holds out, his character is gradually and deli- 
 cately whispered away ; and he soon finds himself re- 
 garded, by many of his neighbours, as " one of ) our mere 
 moral men, — an enemy to the Bible and vital religion." 
 Indeed, it is not unconmion to hear it asserted, from 
 the pulpit, by a ** gospel preacher," that no friend to 
 Christianity would withhold his mite from an institution, 
 whose object is the general " diffusion of the word of 
 God ;" and this unwarrantable and ungenerous sophism 
 is echoed in the reports of the Bible Society. 
 
 To elicit, from the poor, part of their hard-earned pit- 
 tance, penny-a-week societies have been instituted ; and so 
 well has the project succeeded, that the parent association 
 boasts, in its reports, that these miserable confederacies 
 are frequently more productive than the auxiliary branch- 
 es in the same districts. These penny-a-week contribu- 
 tions are likely to be considered, in a short time, as infalli- 
 ble passports to Heaven, among the lower class of Protes- 
 tants, as indulgences were, formerly, among the Roman 
 Catholics, Be this as it may, these numerous associa- 
 tions give the Calvinistic ministers opportunities, eagerly 
 seized, of mingling every where with the mass of the 
 Protestant population, which they impress with a convic- 
 
41 
 
 tion of their own extraordinary piety, by manifestations 
 of superior zeal in circulating the Scripttires. These 
 public meetings lead to closer intimacy hi private, and 
 the influence, thus acquired over men's minds, is daily 
 confirmed and extended by the most dexterous manage- 
 ment. 
 
 To the "blessed labours of the gospel ministers," 
 accordingly, the lower class of Protestants almost uni- 
 versally ascribe " the great regeneration" which, they 
 are taught to believe, is about to take place in the world. 
 Without them the Bible Society, it is affirmed, would 
 either not exist, or its operations be languid and ill- 
 directed; they are the main spring which gives motion and 
 effect to the whole machine. — The Bishops, the .Deans, 
 and the Lords, it is whispered, would long continue 
 to slumber on their couches, regardless of the spiritual 
 wants of the poor, had not the " gospel ministers of 
 God" roused them into activity, and shamed them into 
 co-operation : nor is this language confined to the lower 
 class. The sentiments it expresses find numerous ad- 
 vocates among the more respectable Protestants, and 
 are rapidly extending to the whole body. 
 
 Accordingly, their habitual respect for the dignitaries of 
 the Church, the universities, and those illustrious divines, 
 whose names, some years ago, had never been mentioned 
 but with feelings of national pride and veneration, is noto^ 
 riously declining. The works of Bishop Tillotson, and 
 Doctor Samuel Clarke, are now treated as waste paper, 
 in families where they have been read, and admired, for 
 successive generations; and the rambling effusions of 
 "evangelical ministers" have superseded these impe- 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 rishable monuments of departed worth, rational piety, and 
 exalted genius. Indeed, " gospel preaching," "gospel 
 preachers," Bible Societies, and the wonders which 
 Bibles, " without note or comment," are producing, or 
 about to produce, at home and abroad, are becoming the 
 favourite topics of conversation. Every post is expected 
 to bring accounts of the conversion of the " King of 
 Persia," the " Mufti of the Tartars," and (but 1 must 
 give this gentleman all his titles) of" his lowliness Cyril, 
 Bishop of Constantinople, of new Rome, and oecume- 
 nical Patriarch." His lowliness and the mufti, we are 
 exultingly told, are already members of the Petersburgh 
 Bible Society. The Emperor of Russia, it is devoutly 
 hoped, is already a " saint ;" as the transition to Cal- 
 vinism, from the characteristic piety of his grandmother, 
 which he inherits in so eminent a degree, is short and 
 smooth. Daily also is looked for the " conversion" of 
 some of " the self-righteous bishops, and dignitaries of 
 the Church," and wonder is expressed why they have 
 not already discovered more unequivocal symptoms of 
 legeneration. 
 
 The opinions and conduct of the anti-Calvinistic 
 clergy, from the Primate to the Curate, are freely 
 canvassed, and held out, in disadvantageous contrast 
 with " the pure precepts and humble walk" of the "gos- 
 pel ministers." The object of the former is ''filthy 
 lucre;" that of the latter "the conversion of souls." 
 The former have " intruded into the vineyard to consume 
 its fruits ;" the latter have been " sent to do the work 
 of its Lord." The labours of the one are " labours of 
 love" — "to reclaim the perishing sinner^ — to pluck the 
 
43 
 
 fire-brand from the fire ;'^ those of the others are labours 
 " of selfishness, of worldly-mindedness, of that charity 
 which begins at home, and also ends there !" 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 
 This is not a fancied representation : it is drawn from 
 real life, the result of personal observation and of the best 
 information. It is a faithful sketch of what is passing 
 around us, — a true copy of that mighty change, which 
 the sentiments of men are imdergoing, and which must 
 till with alarm the friends of our religious and social 
 system. The danger, indeed, is not yet fully developed ; 
 but it is not, therefore, the less real. It has not yet 
 started up in full maturity and gigantic stature, brand- 
 ishing its hundred arms, denouncing the hierarchy as 
 anti-christian, and the monarchy as anti-social ; but its 
 growth is rapid ; it is daily receiving vast augmentations 
 of strength ; it is laying its plans, collecting its energies, 
 estimating its means, and forming its calculations. 
 
 The Church is already in a state of blockade ; the Ar- 
 minian and Calvinistic methodists have thrown their lines 
 of circumvallation about her ; numerous desertions are 
 daily taking place, and treachery is busy in the heart of 
 the garrison. There the intern Calvinists, with the 
 " gospel ministers" at their head, huve taken their sta- 
 tion. It is against these men, -their cunning, their dex- 
 terity, their professions of attachment, their plausible 
 exterior, their unceasing activity, and masterly organ- 
 ization, that the vigilance of the Established Church 
 should be principally directed. They have already got 
 
44 
 
 possession of many of our pulpits ; and wherever they 
 obtain a footing, teach the people to despise the re- 
 ceived explanations of the church catechism, the best 
 commentators on Scripture, the sermons of our ablest 
 divines ; and exhort them to read no book whatever, 
 except their own religious tracts, and *' the Bible, with- 
 out note or comment." Against human learning they 
 are perpetually exclaiming as the worst species of igno- 
 rance, and the greatest obstacle to religious knowledge. 
 Rejecting the Articles of the Church, as explained by 
 her own divines, understood by her constituted author- 
 ities, and by her general congregation, they affix to them 
 their own interpretation, and call themselves, exclusively, 
 the Established Church. 
 
 Accordingly, they consider the great body of the 
 clergy, nobility, and gentry of the United Kingdom, 
 as downright heathens ; talk of them, quite familiarly, 
 as " outcasts and aliens from the commonwealth of 
 Israel ;" and, in the " private assemblies of the faith- 
 ful," pray for their conversion with the bitterest de- 
 votion. Arrogating to themselves every venerable epi^ 
 thet, which can give authority to intrusion, or the ap» 
 pearance of sanctity to religious extravagance, they style 
 themselves " evangelical ministers, gospel preachers, 
 servants of Jehovah, sons of God." By frequent con- 
 ferences, or, when these are impracticable, by a regular 
 epistolary correspondence, they preserve an unity of sen- 
 timent and conduct. Hence, though scattered over 
 jEvery part of the empire, and indeed of the world, their 
 movements are always simultaneouSj systematical, and 
 uniform. 
 
45 
 
 To one great leader they seem to be under strict 
 subordination. Regularly organized, each membei" per- 
 forms the part assigned him, he advances or retreats, 
 he masks his movements, or ostentatiously displays 
 them. As an important part of their discipline, they 
 learn to disguise their sentiments, to soften down an ob- 
 noxious doctrine, to deny it in part, to adjure it in the 
 whole, and afterwards to re-assert it, as time and place 
 require. The opinion of the Bishop they adopt, in his 
 presence, with seeming cheerfulness, and reject, in his 
 absence, with unfeigned abhorrence. Doctrines which 
 may startle the meek and gentle convert, they carefully 
 suppress ; and, to the chosen few, alone, are revealed 
 the higher mysteries of Calvinism, 
 
 In the pulpit they are incessantly descanting on 
 the persecution, which, from the beginning of the 
 world, the " children of God" have suffered in various 
 shapes from the " children of the devil," and " con- 
 tinue to endure at the present day, and in the very 
 country we live in." In the pulpit, also, nothing is 
 so much the object of a sneer as " your moral man," 
 whom they pronounce " to be as odious in the sight 
 of God as the murderer or the adulterer," With them 
 every man who is not a Calvinist, is "an enemy to 
 the Saviour," his religion is " outward shew," and his 
 morality " self-righteousness.'' Abandoned to this *' self- 
 righteousness, to lip service, and pharisaical pride," he is 
 an abomination in the sight of Him, who came to save the 
 chief of sinners, — " the open and undisguised profligate." 
 
 To Prelacy and Prelates they harbour a rooted 
 aversion, which they seldom fail to impart to their con- 
 
40 
 
 verts; and, by holy invective against their Diocesan in 
 private, they atone for the homage, which, with apparent 
 cheerfuhiess, and real horror, they pay him in public. 
 In this picture the writer is not conscious of overcharging 
 a single feature : he does not flatter ; but neither does 
 he distort : and for its justness he appeals to every can- 
 did man, who has attentively examined the original. 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 Is it then wonderful, that these aspiring priests — with 
 their glowing enthusiasm, their unwearied zeal, their 
 saint-like pretensions, and their experienced subtlety^ — 
 suffered for years to practice without control on pub- 
 lic Credulity and religious feeling, — should have suc- 
 ceeded in infusing into so many breasts the stern spirit 
 of Calvinism ? Is it surprising that their principles, so 
 calculated to overawe the understanding, to flatter the 
 spiritual pride of man, to gratify his impatience of subor- 
 dination to lawful authority, and to indulge his worst 
 passions in hating his " unconverted" neighbours — should 
 spread with a rapidity, which baffles calculation, through 
 the Protestant community, and, if their progress be 
 not speedily arrested, continue to spread till the whole 
 mass of mind be infected ? 
 
 The lime then is come, when all who are per- 
 suaded that tlie Bible is not a system of Methodism, 
 or Calvinism, should join with heart and hand to 
 resist the spreading mischief. The progress of the 
 evil is directly and indirectly assisted by the opera- 
 tions of the Bible Society. The natural effect on the 
 
47 
 
 Hncultivated mind, of reading "the Bible without note 
 or comment," oral or written, is enthusiasm more or less 
 sublimated, according to the temperament of the indivi- 
 dual. Religious ideas and doctrines presented to the un- 
 derstanding, without explanation, through the gross me- 
 dium of ignorance, are obscure and indistinct : but by 
 those very qualities, added to their highly interesting and 
 awful import, they astonish and confound the mind, sti- 
 mulate the imagination to its wildest flights, and over- 
 power the reasoning faculty, which becomes altogether 
 passive, or lends itself to give consistency to delusion, 
 and some appearance of regularity to the chaotic mass of 
 loose feelings, unreal images, and wild conceptions. 
 
 Within is felt an unusual heaving, a swell of soul, a vast 
 expansion of spirit ; till the whole man is engrossed, mas- 
 tered, impelled by sublime absurdity and towering fren- 
 zy. He has now lost all relish for that sound form of 
 doctrine which he had learned from the received exposi- 
 tion of the church catechism, and imbibed from his 
 old religious instructors. His vitiated taste rejects all 
 spiritual nourishment, except fanatical dogmatism high- 
 ly seasoned. His next neighbour, lately converted to 
 Calvinism, iinds him in this mood, convinces him in a 
 few minutes of " the corruptions of the church," and in- 
 troduces him to the next " gospel minister," by whom 
 his conversion is radically effected by a short convej sa- 
 tion and a long sermon. These events, though of daily 
 occurrence in common life, are perhaps not discernible 
 at that giddy elevation, from which Peers and Prelates 
 survey the movements of inferior mortals. 
 
48 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 Nor is it only by giving the Bible to the ignorant, by 
 encouraging them to read it " without note or comment/* 
 and rely on their own wretched understandings, that the 
 mischief is done, and the interest of the Church betrayed. 
 The whole spirit of the Bible Society's operations, and 
 the language, which they allow themselves and their ad- 
 vocates to use, are calculated to throw discredit and con- 
 tempt on the labours of our most learned divines, in elu- 
 cidating the Inspired Writings, If the Sacred Oracles, 
 without note or comment, be intelligible to illiterate pea- 
 sants — the commentaries, keys, expositions, paraphrases, 
 and sermons, of our eminent expounders of scripture, 
 can be of little use to them, and of still less to the edu- 
 cated readers of the Bible. 
 
 The works of Locke, Taylor, Whitby, Patrick, 
 Louthj and of hundreds besides, who employed all 
 the energies of their powerful minds in elucidating 
 the Scriptures of truth, must be laid aside, as little 
 better than obstacles in the way of the " serious" bib- 
 lical student. This sentence of proscription must ex- 
 tend to the whole body of English divinity, compre- 
 hending the literary remains of those highly-gifted indi- 
 viduals, whose works we vainly hoped would perish only 
 with the earth itself. The Bible Society, in their speech- 
 es and reports, are perpetually taking credit to them- 
 selves for circulating the Scriptures, in their " naked 
 simplicity'' — for diffusing '' the pure and unadulterated 
 xcord of God"— for placing in the hands of every indi- 
 
49 
 
 vidual " the sacred text, unmixed with the doctrines of 
 men," and for endeavouring to render the institution 
 " more acceptable to those, who are unwilHng to e.r- 
 change the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, for mo- 
 dern theologues, and zcho will not submit to take their 
 faith upon trust, and to believe by proxy. 
 
 The impartial reader is appealed to, whether this lan- 
 guage, in its obvious spirit and import, does not tend to 
 bring into disrepute our best commentators on the Bible. 
 Does it not insinuate, that the Sacred Text is, then only, 
 in a desirable state of purity, and simplicity, when it is 
 exhibited " without note or comment ;" but when a com- 
 mentary is annexed, that it is vitiated, or mixed with the 
 doctrines of men ? But who are these men ? Who are 
 these modern theologues ? Are these men, so lightly and 
 sneeringly designated, the illustrious divines, whom we 
 were once taught to venerate as the glory of our church 
 and nation, whose doctrines were pure, wlio:.e lives were 
 spotless, whose employment was piety, whose relaxation 
 was philosophy, whose works were recommended to the 
 youth of our universities, aspiring to the ministrv, as 
 their best guides in the difficult study of the Sacred 
 Writings, and with whose posthumous fame are closely 
 interwoven the safety, stability, and reputation of that 
 church, of which, when alive, they were the proudest or- 
 naments ? 
 
 The words above quoted, and which embellish, 
 or tarnish, almost every page of the Bible Society's 
 reports, must astonish and afflict every thinking man 
 sincerely attached to the genuine doctrine and external 
 prosperity of our national chiu-ch. What ! are the ashes 
 G 
 
50 
 
 of the illustrious dead to be raked from their tombs, and 
 scattered to the winds for the gratification of the open or 
 disguised enemies of our ecclesiastical establishment ? 
 Are their literary labours, their ardent zeal in the service 
 of religious truth, their patient and successful investiga- 
 tion of the sense of the Sacred Records — to be insulted 
 M'ith a sneer, or assailed with a metaphor ? — Where 
 were the lords spiritual and temporal who are meiasvbers 
 of the Bible Socict);, — the beneficed clergy^— the opu-r 
 lent commoners ? — where were the heads of ancient and 
 illustrious families, whose ancestors braved danger, pro-? 
 scription, and death, in defence^ of our civil and ecclesi- 
 astical institutions ? — were they all absent from the ge- 
 neral meetings of the association^ when these irreverent 
 words were written, spoken, read, and ordered to be 
 printed ? 
 
 Now, it seems, if a Biblical student consults the comr 
 mentary of Locke, or Taylor, on the Epistles, to as- 
 sist him in discovering the meaning of the Apostle, he is 
 to be stigmatized as a servile wretch, who " takes his 
 faith upon trust, and believes by proxy !" If this impu- 
 tation be fair, where are we to look for intellectual inde- 
 pendence ? Not in this world, — not, at least, in civi- 
 lized society. The use of commentators is perfectly con- 
 sistent with the fullest and freest exercise of our under- 
 standing. If the understanding be not convinced, the 
 gloss is rejected ; if it be, a new truth is acquired, which 
 may not otherwise be discovered, and, in either case, an 
 act of judgment is invariably exerted. Nor is any exer- 
 cise more improving to the mind, than that of comparing 
 different commentators with each other. If they dis- 
 agree in opinion, the judgment of the reader is the ar- 
 
51 
 
 biter of the dispute, hears the allegatiou? of the parties, 
 and, after mature deliberation, pronounces its free and 
 final decision. 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 It cannot be denied, that the fathers of the church 
 were strangely deficient in Scriptural knowledge, and 
 that the Bible is better understood, at the present day, 
 than it had been, at any period, since the first century 
 of the Christian era. Tlie labours of every preceding 
 age, in interpreting the Scriptures, facilitated those of 
 the subsequent ; and every successive generation was 
 anxious to increase that stock of Biblical knowledge, 
 which had been transmitted to them by their forefathers. 
 In the last century, the progress was more than usually 
 rapid — not only because its divines were more enriched 
 by the accumulated acquisitions bequeathed to them by 
 their predecessors, but because their superior literary 
 and scientific qualifications enabled them to conduct, 
 with greater effect, their Scriptural researches. 
 
 Here we perceive the inestimable value of written com- 
 ments on the Sacred Books, as it is by such only, that the 
 discoveries of one age can be transmitted to the next. 
 Hence it also appears, that the works of our " modern 
 theologues," as they are tauntingly styled, are the sum 
 and substance, revised, enlarged, and retrenched, of 
 whatever had been written in elucidation of the Bible, 
 by the ablest divines of the universal church, in allonges, 
 and are therefore entitled to respect, as monuments of 
 sacred knowledge, which have done honour, not only to 
 our National Establishment, but to Christianity itself. 
 
52 
 
 The same historical fact also suggests an additional ar- 
 gument against the opinion, so universally received 
 among the enthusiasts, so cordially embraced by the 
 Bible Society, and which is, indeed, the great principle 
 of their association— that the " Bible, without note or 
 comment," is intelligible to the meanest capacity. If the 
 most pious and learned divines of the Christian world 
 have been zealously employed, for seventeen centuries, 
 iu expounding the Scriptures, — if so much remained to 
 be accomplished, in the way of interpretation, by the 
 divines of the eighteenth, — and if the subject be not yet 
 exhausted, — something more than a violent presumptioa 
 seems to be established against the doctrine of Scriptural 
 perspicuity. Here we have " experience and the evi- 
 dence of facts" on the broadest scale ; — here we have, ia 
 effect, the universal church of God, arraigning the pre- 
 sumption of the present age, and opposing the experience 
 of eighteen centuries to the crude dictum of modern 
 dreamers. Let us indulge the fanatic tribe in dreams, 
 and visions, provided they confine to themselves the airy 
 gratification ; but if, in complaisance to them, the esta- 
 blished Clergy, also, will dream, let us endeavour to dis- 
 sipate their delirium, and rouse them from the deadly 
 and degrading slumber. 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 But the constitution of the Bible Society — as well as 
 its operations and language — is objectionable on grounds 
 both of piety and prudence. To the view of the honest 
 
53 
 
 and indignant churchman, it presents a motley and por* 
 tentous confederacy, of bishops, socinians, deans, deists, 
 archdeacons, quakers, ministers of state, jumpers, whigs, 
 tradesmen, tories, methodists, lords, " gospel ministers," 
 ranters, magistrates, and antipedobaptists. If the eccle- 
 siastical functionaries of other times — if the bishops and 
 inferior Clergy, who adorned the English and Irish 
 churches in the reigns of William, Anne, and the two 
 first Georges, were now permitted to visit the scenes of 
 their pastoral labours, would they not gaze at this moral 
 phenomenon with mute astonishment and intense ap- 
 prehension ? when informed that the object of this om- 
 nigenous combination of characters so contrasted, of 
 opinions so discordant, of feelings so repulsive, is to cir- 
 culate the Bible universally among the peasantry, with- 
 holding from them, at the same time, the means of un- 
 derstanding it, which alone could give value to the gift, 
 — would they not suppose that the laity, and, still more, 
 the Clergy, of the Established Church, are labouring 
 under some epidemic frenzy — some preternatural obli- 
 quity of intellect ? What ! associate with the enemies of 
 the church, to put the whole Bible, from Genesis to Re- 
 velation, deep, intricate, and voluminous as it is, into the 
 hands of labouring peasants, who, at best, owe nothing to 
 education but the mere technical operation of reading ! 
 
 " Tell me your company, and I'll tell yoii who 
 you are," an homely but judicious adage — is less inap- 
 plicable, on the present occasion, than may seem at first 
 sight. The general meetings of the society — so favour- 
 able to the most familiar intercourse, — are held, it is 
 true, but once a year. But the members of the com- 
 
Imittees, who represent, not only the persons, but the 
 principles of their constituents, hold frequent meetings, 
 and maintain a familiar and unbroken intercourse with 
 each other. So that the clergy and laity of the Bible 
 Societies, with the prelates and peers at their head, as- 
 sociate freely and familiarly, " by proxy" at least, with' 
 the rest of the party-coloured community. Also, in the 
 list of subscribers and benefactors, ostentatiously an- 
 nexed to the annual reports, the names of sour sectaries 
 and polished dignitaries are ranged together, without any 
 other precedence than what alphabetical order confers. 
 " This solemn league and covenant," — this liberty and 
 equality of the moral and religious M'orld, fill the mind 
 of the unbiassed observer of passing events with gloomy 
 apprehensions of danger, which time only can reveal, in 
 full maturity and distinct proportions. 
 
 But, without attempting to draw aside the forbidden 
 veil of futurity, let us steadily view the effects which have 
 a/reac(j/ resulted, and are still resulting, from the constitu- 
 tion of the Bible Society. A general persuasion among the 
 lower and middle classes of protestants, that the opinions 
 of the methodists are not so objectionable as had been 
 hitherto supposed, is the natural consequence of this indis- 
 creet and inauspicious union. When the soberest digni- 
 taries of the church unite with hot-headed enthusiasts, in 
 promoting a favourite religious project originated by the 
 latter, enthusiasm and dissent, it is presumed, cannot be 
 bad things. The clergy, also, have thus sanctioned by 
 their authority, the opinion so universal among enthu- 
 siasts, and so flattering to their spiritual pride, — that the 
 Bible is intelligible, without any human aid, to evoy 
 
65 
 
 blocUaieaci, however illiterate ; or, why associate with 
 fanatics for its general circulation, without making some 
 provision for its explanation? 
 
 This deference to sectarian notions has exalted the 
 enthusiastic sects, in the eye of the protestant public, 
 and proportionably depressed the clergy of the Es- 
 tablishment. The methodists, of all denominations, 
 do not fail to insinuate, that the concurrence of the 
 clergy in their own favourite measure, was a concesa- 
 sion extorted from the monopolizing spirit of the church, 
 no longer able, in this " age of grace," to vindicate 
 their lofty pretensions to the exclusive right of pub- 
 lic instruction. They are now reluctantly compelled, 
 as is triumphantly asserted, to proclaim by their actions, 
 though their " pharisaical pride" is not yet sufficiently 
 humbled to acknowledge in express words, that the 
 Prophets, Apostles, and Evangelists, are better teachers 
 of vital Christianity, than *' lazy dignitaries, worldly rec- 
 tors, and time-serving curates." And who, it is asked, 
 can fail to see that " this is the finger of God ?" who 
 does not perceive, that *' the wisdom of the great and 
 the mighty of the earth is confounded by babes and 
 sucklings ?" 
 
 SECTION XXL 
 
 Such is the language of men '^ mighty in the Scrip- 
 tures," for they can repeat them by rote ; and who quote 
 them without mercy, because they are not at all solici- 
 tous about the fairness of the application. Acting on the 
 principle of a forced conscription, they have pressed 
 every text of the Bible into their service, and turned the 
 
56 
 
 natural battery of the church against the church itself. 
 Meanwhile the clergy are bland, and obliging, and timid, 
 and temporizing: they would molify their adversaries 
 with kind words, and a liberal demeanour : they would 
 disarm the Calvinists by leaving the " gospel preachers** 
 in possession of the churches, into which they have sur- 
 reptitiously crept : but this temporizing spirit will not 
 avail. These spiritual warriors will not relax their 
 efforts, till the standard of Calvin flies on every spire in 
 the United Kingdom. The current of public opinion has 
 already set in against the Established Church ; and the 
 Bible Society, whether the prelates will see it or not, is 
 unquestionably converted into an engine for its 
 
 DESTRUCTION. 
 
 This might have been foreseen. The consequence 
 of an alliance between religious knowledge and spi- 
 ritual delirium, — between tranquil opulence and as- 
 piring indigence, — could not be doubtful. In a con- 
 nexion between men who had every thing to lose, and 
 nothing to gain, and men who had every thing to gain, 
 and nothing to lose, there could be no reciprocation of 
 interest. The latter might draw prizes, the former could 
 only draw blanks in the unequal lottery. Now, how- 
 ever, retrospection is vain, — for the convention is rati- 
 fied. But it may not be yet too late to cancel the 
 unequal and degrading compact ; and, by a series of 
 measures, equally wise and prompt, rescue the church 
 from the folly of her mistaken friends, and the machina- 
 tions of her open and secret enemies. 
 
67 
 
 SECTION xxn. 
 
 On the foreign operations of the association, it is yet 
 premature to hazard an opinion with any degree of con- 
 fidence. Respecting this part of the subject, our infor- 
 mation is hmited ; our facts are few ; and personal ob- 
 servation is altogether excluded. If, however, the sense 
 of the Sacred Records be inaccessible, without explana- 
 tion to our own peasantry, we can scarcely expect it will 
 be successfully explored by the spmi-barbarous popula- 
 tion of the heathen and Mahometan nations. The 
 thickest clouds of prejudice must be dissipated before 
 any considerable number, even of the hterati of those 
 countries, can be prevailed on to examine the Scriptures 
 with patient impartiality, and give the cause of Christi- 
 anity a fair hearing. And should they, in opposition to 
 this prejudice, enter seriously, and honestly, upon the 
 study of the Bible, they will soon feel the want, not only 
 of " notes and comments," but also of the means of as- 
 certaining the authenticity of the Sacred Records. 
 
 But neither of these are they likely to obtain from the 
 Bible Society, who have already exploded notes and com- 
 ments on the Bible, and by whom the proofs of its au- 
 thenticity also, will probably be pronounced unnecessary, 
 in compliment to the enthusiasts, in whose judgment, in- 
 spiration is the only comment on th^Scriptures that can 
 be relied on, and the on/i/ evidence of theii\authenticity . 
 But it may not unreasonably be apprehended, that the 
 " King of Persia," the " Mufti of Cvimea," the " hea- 
 then princes of Siberiaj" and other exalted friends and 
 
 H 
 
patrons of the Bible Society in the eastern world, will 
 soon shrink from the toil of investigating, without note, 
 comment, or inspiration, the sense of the Sacred Records. 
 They will, I doubt not, open the magnificent volume — 
 the gift of the Bible Society, — admire the beauty of its 
 typography, its external splendour, and, while novelty 
 charms, order some of the favoured personages who are 
 admitted into their august presence, to read to them oc- 
 casionally a few of its pages for the gratification of their 
 " sublime and royal curiosity." But few, it is feared, 
 will follow the example of Sabat: few wilt be found to 
 enter seriously upon the study of the " Bible without 
 note or comment," and fewer still to ascertain its doc- 
 trines, imbibe its spirit, and comprehend the grand 
 scheme of the Christian dispensation. 
 
 The great triumphs of Christianity over heathenism, 
 idolatry, and infidelity, have been achieved,in all ages, by 
 preaching the Scripture, by expounding the Scripture, 
 by pressing its momentous truths, with the clearness and 
 energy of oral illustration, on the attention of a reluctant 
 and unbelieving world. By force of arms, also, the pale 
 of Christianity has been somewhat enlarged in opposition 
 to its spirit, and its interests have been occasionally pro- 
 moted by other means less illegitimate. But no history 
 records any considerable conquest over Heathenism or 
 Mahometanism, by the mere instrumentality of the Bi- 
 ble ; — a fact strongly corroborative of the position which 
 1 have been, all along, endeavouring to establish — that 
 the Scriptures are "hard to be understood." 
 
 The commission which the Apostles received from their 
 Divine Master was " go— jjreacA the gospel to every cr«a- 
 
59 
 
 turc:" not a word of* circulating the Bible without note 
 or comment." And though the Scriptures were translated 
 into various languages, and copies of them multiplied, in 
 the early ages of the Christian church, we have reason to 
 think they were designed for the use of believers, not of 
 unbelievers — for persons already converted to Christi- 
 anity, not for those who yet remained to be converted. If 
 the circulation of the Bible were the right mode of con- 
 verting the heathen, may we not be permitted to suppose, 
 that, in the arrangement of Providence, the invention of 
 printing would have preceded the promulgation of Christ- 
 ianity, as this circulation might, thus, be cheaply, 
 easily, and rapidly effected : especially, as God could 
 have as easily annexed miraculous powers to the Sacred 
 Volume, as to the persons of the Apostles ? 
 
 *' But the fullness of time" for the appearance of Him 
 who was to be " a light to lighten the gentiles" was long 
 antecedent to the era of printing; because, as may be 
 humbly presumed, a Bible, however fairly printed, would 
 be a " sealed book" to the heathen. Hence, it can 
 scarcely be doubted, that preaching is the appointed way 
 for the conversion of infidels. The efforts of modem mis- 
 sionaries, however, have not been successful in proportion 
 to their zeal : from whence we may conclude, that they 
 have been defective in qualification, if not injudicious in 
 conduct, or that the nations of the earth are not yet ripe for 
 the general reception of Christianity. The zeal, however, 
 of all these missionaries has been unquestionable, and the 
 religious attainments of many, highly respectable. When, 
 therefore, such men have failed, who can expect success 
 
60 
 
 from the circulation of the Bible iin its " naked sim- 
 plicity?" 
 
 SECTION XXIII. ;r, 
 
 As to the circulation of the Scriptures, in foreign na- 
 tions, within the pale of Christianity, it is sufficient to ob- 
 serve — that \vherever the supply of Bibles is inadequate 
 to the real wants of the country, the evil, especially when 
 it springs from the poverty of the people, ought to be 
 remedied. This the Bible Society, with a laudable li- 
 berality, have done in many instances. But they push 
 their liberality to a vicious excess. Not content with 
 providing a Bible for every church, every Clergyman, 
 and every individual capable of understanding it, they 
 attempt to supply the fancied wants of every peasant in 
 the community. Nay, one of their body affirms, in his 
 correspondence, that he can never be happy till every 
 man and woman in Sweden has a Bible. 
 . In the 1 1th Report of the British and Foreign Bible So- 
 ciety, is stated a most important fact, namely — " that there 
 are more marks of a religious disposition, directed to the 
 proper object of worship, among the Icelanders, taken as 
 a body, than among any other people in Europe : and that 
 they are well acquainted with the general contents of the 
 Sacred Volume.^' Doubtless the reader will imagine that 
 the Bible must have been " an inmate of every house 
 and cottage" in Iceland. But how great will his as- 
 tonishment be, when informed by the Bible Society it- 
 self — " that there were only two or three Bibles in two 
 parishes ; in one populous parish none at all ; and that 
 
61 
 
 one clergyman had been seeking, in vain, to obtain a 
 Bible for the long period of seventeen years !" What a 
 pregnant fact is this ! The most pious, amiable, and or- 
 derly nation in Europe with scarcely more Bibles than 
 parishes ! How strikingly does this fact exemplify the 
 opinion, for which I have been all along contending ? 
 Here we have a practical proof, that the common people 
 niaybe excellent Christians, though the Bible is not an 
 .^ inmate" of any " cottage." And if for several years it 
 had been "an inmate of every cottage," who will take 
 upon himself to say, that the Icelanders would not now be 
 a rabble of frantic enthusiasts, uncharitable bigots, or spi- 
 ritual dreamers, instead of the most devout, amiable, and 
 enlightened peasantry in Christendom ; but any observa- 
 tions on this valuable fact only weaken its effect. 
 .. More forcible than eloquence, it thus admonishes the 
 Bible Society: — You great reformers of mankind, give 
 the 'above mentioned Clergyman the best Bible in your 
 cottection. He deserves it; and knows how to transfuse 
 its spirit into the hearts of his hearers. But spare the pea- 
 sants of Iceland,— spare the happy flock whose pastor he 
 is, and whose wants he so well supplies. For them ^e 
 prepares their spiritual food ? for them he draws water 
 from the fountain of life. Suffer him to do so still ; for, 
 alas ! they want strength to draw the one, they want skill 
 to prepare the other. Countermand then the orders you 
 have issued. Withhold your intended gift. On the 
 luxuriant pasture they may droop, they may decline, they 
 may die : or, in wanton mood, rove without control, and 
 disregard the voice of the shepherd. 
 
62 
 
 SECTION XXIV. 
 
 But I must not withhold from the Bible Society, my 
 humble, yet sincere tribute of unqualified approbation, 
 for their noble efforts in promoting translations of the 
 Scriptures into all the languages of the heathen and 
 Mahometan world. This is an act of unparalleled sub- 
 limity in the conception, and generosity in the executioir. 
 That I can, on this occasion, echo the plaudits of the 
 most determined admirers of the Bible Society, without 
 suspicion or flattery, is to me matter of high gratifica- 
 tion. To every independent prince on earth, whether 
 Pagan or Mahometan, a superb Bible, in his own lan- 
 guage, should be sent as a present, from the sovereign 
 of the United Kingdom ; and every man of letters, in 
 those benighted regions, ought to have it in his power 
 to procure a copy of the Holy Scriptures, should curio- 
 sity ever excite him to an examination of their contents. 
 
 This grand measure may lead to important results. In 
 order to its accomplishment, various languages, hitherto 
 but little known, must be learned, — grammars and vo- 
 cabularies will be composed, — and the acquisition of 
 these tongues by Europeans rendered practicable, or 
 facilitated. Between Christians and unbelievers, will 
 thus be opened a freer intercourse, which may gradually 
 introduce among the latter the rudiments of our arts, of 
 our literature, of our civil polity, and of our religion : 
 and these seeds, however sparingly scattered, may im- 
 perceptibly ripen into the kindred blessings of civiliza- 
 
63 
 
 tion and Christianity. But any attempt to circulate the 
 Scriptures, among the great body of the people, seems 
 liable, on many accounts, to serious objections. 
 
 We should be, instantly, suspected of a design of sub- 
 verting the established superstitions. This would be con- 
 sidered a prelude to the political subjection of the natives. 
 Their national pride would be wounded ; their hatred 
 of every thing Christian exalted to a pitch of despera- 
 tion ; and the Bible, now, perhaps, an object only of 
 indiflFerence, regarded with feelings of the bitterest ab- 
 horrence. Thus, it is extremely possible, that the Bible 
 Society, by a system of injudicious and precipitate mea- 
 sures, may retard for ages the general reception of Christ- 
 ianity, if, in the counsels of Providence, that glo- 
 rious event be left dependant on human agency, or 
 second causes. 
 
 SECTION XXV. 
 
 But where is this circulation of Bibles to end ? The 
 principle it proceeds on is indefinite ; are the operations 
 of the society to be indefinite also ; or are both to be li- 
 mited only by the ends of the earth? Without a violation 
 of consistency, or an avowal of bankruptcy, the effortu 
 of the association cannot be discontinued, till the Bible 
 is an " inmate of every cottage" or wigwam on the globe. 
 But what a prospect does this open to the view ; — inter- 
 minable expense, endless labour, new financial expedi- 
 ents ! The revenue of the society, even now, is drawn, 
 perhaps, from no legitimate source. It is drawn, I fear, 
 from the fund appropriated to the relief of the indigent. 
 
64 
 
 Every member, when paying his subscription or donation^ 
 considers himself as contributing to a charitable purpose. 
 But the aggregate amount of the sums annually contri- 
 buted for charitable purposes, by no means increases 
 with the increased number of objects among whom it is 
 to be distributed. 
 
 Men are rather misers than spendthrifts, in the 
 exercise of this amiable virtue. If a new object of 
 charity, or what is so co?isidered, start up, and is libe- 
 rally attended to, the former objects fare more scan- 
 Uly. Different charities interfere with each other. If 
 men subscribe to the Bible Society, they will be less 
 liberal to other charities. Thus considerable sums are 
 diverted into a new channel, which would otherwise flow 
 into the treasury of the poor. Surely this cannot be 
 right. " Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, instruct 
 the ignorant," said the great founder of our religion: 
 circulate " Bibles without note or comment," says the 
 Bible Society. Yet it is not ceriain, that Bibles, with- 
 out suitable explanations, will make the labouring poor 
 better Christians ; but it is quite certain, that food and 
 raiment will till the souls of the suffering poor with glad- 
 ness, and prolong the existence of a famishing fellow- 
 creature. It is also certain, that works of love have a 
 natural tendency to excite in the hearts of their objects 
 the purest affections; such as gratitude to their earthly 
 benefactors and to the ultimate Giver of all good ; — affec- 
 tions, perhaps, long extinguished by the pressure of mis- 
 fortune and human unkmdness. 
 
 Thus hope may revisit the breast; religion revive ; and 
 all the feelmgs of the man and the Christian rush into ador- 
 atiou. Can the Bible Society calculate how much good, 
 
65 
 
 •^howmuch pure religion — their institution has obstructed 
 in this way ; can they calculate how much it will obstruct, 
 before every " cottage" on earth is furnished with a Bible? 
 Their revenue now amounts to cf 100,000 a year, — an im- 
 mense sum in the eye of any sovereign in Europe, except 
 one. What a sum to divert from the relief of the poor, 
 in a season of unprecedented distress, when even the 
 proprietor of widely-extended domains can scarcely 
 command a sum sufficient to discharge the bill of a starv- 
 ing tradesman ; when the importunate cry of hunger as- 
 sails the ear on every side, in the midst of plenty, — plenty 
 which mocks the eye, and eludes the grasp of pennyless 
 indigence ! 
 
 On men tottering into pauperism, under the pressure 
 of the times, a considerable part of this vast sura is 
 levied, by means of Bible associations, penny-a-week 
 societies, parochial contributions, " gospel' preaching," 
 aitfuL flattery, and ceaseless importunity! The hard- 
 earned half-crown — the fruit of patient servitude — is 
 elicited from the packthread purse of the daughter of 
 labour, whose eulogy is pronounced, and generosity 
 recorded in the reports of the Bible Society ! I do not 
 like this : it is at variance with our best feelings. But 
 what, if the whole system of the Society be an illusion, — 
 what, if the very principle of their incorporation be erro- 
 neous,— what, if the Bible, after all, is a book "hard to 
 be understood," and unfit, in its <' naked simplicity," 
 for the perusal of the common people? — if so, what shall 
 we say of the Society's perseverance in measures tend- 
 ing only to foment religious delusion in the multitude ;^-. 
 what shall we say of their supporting these measures by 
 
 I 
 
m 
 
 vast suiris, levied, ex parte, on those who have but little, 
 and withheld, in toto, from those who have nothing ? 
 Let us say they are men, and therefore fallible ; but let 
 us add, in the sincerity of our hearts, — " Father for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 That the members of the church, for it is with them 
 only 1 would expostulate, and particularly the clergy 
 who have joined the Bible Society, are under the influ- 
 ence of illusion, is incontrovertible ; if the writer of these 
 sheets, which, alas ! is very possible, be not himself the 
 slave of illusion. But he can honestly affirm, that he 
 has attentively watched the progress of the Bible Society 
 in all its ramifications, and that of the enthusiasts, espe- 
 cially the " evangelical ministers ;" — that he has inva- 
 riably grounded his opinions on facts presented, for the 
 most part, to his own observation, partly derived from 
 general history, the report of the Bible Society, the 
 publications of its friends, and frequent conversation 
 with its admirers ; — but that he has always listened whh 
 strong suspicion to the statements and insinuations of its 
 enemies. 
 
 SECTION XXVI. 
 
 . The cry of the " church is in danger," has been raised, 
 though feebly, in England — a cry sometimes heard with- 
 out any sufficient cause, and too often employed as the 
 watch-word of faction : but never, since the days of 
 Laud, has it been uttered with more truth than at pre- 
 sent ; and the slight impression, which the alarm seems 
 to have made, can be accounted T t, only, from the n«ig- 
 
07 
 
 nitude of the danger. A great part of the Protestant po- 
 pulation is already lost to the church ; a great part is 
 neutralized, or meditating a defection. The former do 
 not echo the cry, because they are pleased at the fact it 
 announces ; the latter are silent from a principle of in- 
 difference. The clergy overawed, perhaps, by '* the 
 signs of the times," vigorously pressed by their enemies, 
 and feebly supported by their friends, preserve, in ge- 
 neral, a guarded silence, as if afraid of the sound of their 
 own voices ; and affect to despise a danger, which they 
 want courage to encounter. The danger, however, is felt, 
 if not acknowledged ; and the only rational question is, 
 how its approach is to be retarded, or its attack repelled ? 
 
 Measures of prevention have been frequently suggest- 
 ed to the church, by the regrets of her friends, and 
 ^proaches of her enemies. A more vigilant inspection 
 on the part of the bishops — more zeal, in the discharge 
 of their clerical functions, on the part of the inferior 
 clergy, are strongly recommended. Official supineneus 
 is affirmed, with too much truth, to pervade every part 
 of the system -^ and the want of a more appropriate edu- 
 cation, for youth aspiring to the ministry, feelingly 
 lamented. In England, and particularly in the district 
 of the metropolis, the parochial church, in some parish- 
 es, is incapable, we are told, of containing one-twentieth 
 part of the parishioners ; in others, it is too remote from 
 the great mass of population. Hence, the necessity of 
 building new churches, enlarging others, subdividing par- 
 ishes, and increasing the number of officiating ministers. 
 
 These measures can be effected by episcopal energy, 
 seconded by legislative enactments, which may remove 
 
68 
 
 t!ie obstacles aiisiDg from the selfishness of iiicumbent9> 
 the rights of patronage, and the operation of poor laws. 
 But this subject has been discussed, at large, in various 
 publications, some of which feelingly detail the present 
 state of the church, ascribe its danger to the want of 
 churches and church room, to the worldly habits and 
 spiritual somnolency of many of its functionaries, and to 
 a general laxity of ecclesiastical discipline. 
 
 These evils — and they are serious ones — doubtless 
 exist, though not surely in the degree assigned ; and 
 are justly numbered among the causes of that growing 
 defection, from the banners of the church to the stand- 
 ard of dissent, which threatens the former with such 
 imminent danger. There is, however, another and a 
 powerful cause of danger, not only to tlie Established 
 Church, but to Christianity itself, as a reasonable ser- 
 vice — THE AGENCY OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY. This 
 agency, and its ruinous tendency, it has been the 
 main object of the writer of these pages to develop. 
 How far he has succeeded the public must determine. 
 That, however, he has endeavoured to call the general 
 attention to a subject, in his eyes, of awful importance, 
 is to him matter of pleasing reflection. By these short 
 and imperfect hints others may be roused to a discus- 
 sion of ihe question, whose genius and leisure may ex- 
 pand the subject to its just dimensions by force of argu- 
 ment, and felicity of illustration. The services of the 
 dwarf, who, by sounding the alarm, saved the citadel 
 from a surprise, were not deemed contemptible. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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