DiMity Ubury H - itXLE UNIVt aaaum n-'iiiiiiiiiiiiiniiw MaAmfflmmam THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OF THE Massachusetts Bible \ % i Society ITS FOUNDERS AND ITS FRIENDS THE WORKERS AND THE WORK l809'I909 WITH GLIMPSES OF THE WIDER FIELD TO THE READER Who faulteth not, liueth not ; who mendeth fault is commended : The Printer hath faulted a little : it may be the author ouersighted more. Thy paine (Reader) is the least ; then erre not thou most by misconstruing or sharpe censuring ; least thou be more vncharitable, then either of them hath been heedlesse : God amend and guide vs all. Robartes on Tythes, Camb. 1613. NOTE The official records and published reports of the Society have been the main reliance in compiling this sketch. Several of the annual reports were not printed and others are missing from the files, but essential facts have been supplied from authentic sources, so far as possible. So impressive was the founding of the Society, so distinguished have been its supporters, and so large its activities, that a fitting commemoration is impossible in this brief memorial. A complete account would lead far afield into the religious conditions and developments of the period. But if even a part of the inspiration received in this study of the hundred years can be communicated to others, the labor of the compiler will be well repaid. Since no one else can be so sensible as himself of the short comings of this sketch, he borrows from a report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the mother of us all, the conciliatory plea on the preceding page. Charles McLellan Southgate. [3] In view of one hundred years of unbroken usefulness the Massachusetts Bible Society makes grateful acknowl edgment of God's blessing upon the work by raising up men of high character to administer its affairs, in provi dentially inclining the hearts of men to give to its support, and in crowning its labors with success. We moreover invoke God's merciful favor upon the plans and activities of years to come. Minute passed at the one hundredth annual meeting of the Massachusetts Bible Society, March 22, igog. [4] It is difficult to conceive an object which promises greater benefit or has a stronger claim on the support of Christians. The Book to be distributed is universally acknowledged to be the only pure source of religious truth, the only perfect rule of Faith and Practice. In distrib uting it, we furnish men with the most interesting knowl edge, the knowledge of their Creator and Redeemer, of their duties and destination. We furnish them with an unerring and authoritative guide of life, with the most powerful motives to virtue and holiness, and with the only unfailing support and solace in affliction. Address to the Christian Publick. "Panoplist," June, i8og. [5] Garly Bible Societies British and Foreign PennsylvaniaConnecticut MassachusettsMaine New York New Jersey Merrimack (Essex County) New Hampshire Vermont Rhode Island American Bible Society March 7 1804 December 11 1808 May 11 1809 July 6 1809 August 30 1809 December 4 1809 December 1809 January 17 18 10 June 3 1 812 September 1 8 1 2 August 10 1 8 13 May 8 1816 [6] 'Cbe JMassacbusetts Bible Society 1809-1909 In the year 1 800 a young Welsh girl walked barefoot fifty miles in two days, and more than a century later a monument commemorating the event was erected at Llanfyhangel-y-Pennant, within Che Ba,,cfoot the roofless walls of the cottage which had been her home. When she was ten years old, Mary Jones had begun to save her farthings to buy a Bible of her own. It took her six years to gather the price. "The word of the Lord was precious in those days." The nearest copy of the Scriptures was two miles from her home, and there were none for sale nearer than Bala, twenty-five miles away, where the Rev. Thomas Charles was understood to keep a supply of Welsh Bibles. So to Bala she went, carrying her shoes in her hand until she reached the town, to save the wear. But it proved that his scanty stock was already oversold, and it was only because it was impossible to refuse such devotion that she got her desire. The incident so stirred Mr. Charles that he went to London to arouse others to the needs of the country, and in 1804 The British and Foreign Bible Society was organ ized. Mary Jones's Bible is sacredly preserved among its treasures. [7] This may be called the first organization in the world for the general distribution of the Scriptures. There had been formed, however, in 1779 or 1780, anticipations & ^^ ^ MiUtary B;ble SocietV) «to meet the moral exposures of British soldiers and seamen." Christian patriots on this side the Atlantic were already alive to such needs. In 1777 Congress had voted from its depleted treasury $20,000 for the Hmerica purchase of Bibles for distribution, espe- cially in the army. But type and paper could not be found here, the war forbade getting them from England, and their importation from friendly Holland was ordered. In 1782 the Massachusetts Convention of Clergymen (Congregational) received addresses from various asso ciations of ministers in the state, representing the great want of Bibles and praying the Convention to petition the General Court to grant assistance for printing the Bible in this country. A committee was appointed to "use such Jneans as may appear to them most promising, to put it into the power of those who are destitute of the Bible, to purchase them in the most cheap and expeditious manner." As early as 1793 the General Association of Connecticut (Congregational) had laborers in northern New England, New York, and Upper Canada, who re ported great spiritual destitution and distributed Bibles and religious literature. The need in these regions was so [8] great that in 1799 the Massachusetts Missionary Society (Congregational) was formed to share the effort, and in 1802 the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society. In 1804, David Irish, from Carey's mission, secured large amounts of money in Boston and Salem for the translation and circulation of the Scriptures in India. December 11, 1808, the Philadelphia (now Pennsyl vania) Bible Society was formed, the first in America. Next came the Connecticut Bible Society, May 11, 1809. One may see in the archives of the Commonwealth the original documents connected with the origin of our Soci ety. First of these is a petition presented to the General Court, June 17, 1809, Beaina by William Ellery Channing, William Phillips, and Thomas Dawes, praying liberty to make use of the Representatives' Chamber on the sixth day of July next for the purpose of holding a meeting of the Massa chusetts Bible Society. The distinguished character of this committee and the general interest in the object secured the granting of the unusual privilege. In The Panoplist of June and the public press appeared an "Address to the Christian Publick," understood to be issued from the Massachusetts Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians and Others in North America, setting forth the need of an association for the distribution of the Bible, and inviting those interested in [9] this object to meet at the State House on Thursday, the sixth day of July. The old Commonwealth could not have furnished a more distinguished company than the thirty-five clergy men and seventy-two laymen whose ¦Che founders , ,. £ t A names appear on the list ot founders. The pastors of Boston and vicinity were present almost without exception, and others from a distance. A power ful revival in 1803 had quickened the religious life and fellowship among Christians. From its earliest concep tion the Society has included all denominations. On the list of signers the name of Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D., first pastor of Park Street Church, soon to become a professor at Andover Seminary and later president of Williams College, is followed by that of James Freeman, pastor of King's Chapel from 1782 to 1835, "the first avowed preacher of Unitarianism in the United States." Abiel Holmes, Hopkinsian, of Cambridge, editor of the Massachusetts Missionary Magazine; Jedediah Morse, leader of the "Moderates," Charlestown, "the Father of American geography," editor of The Panoplist, in whose house met the founders of Andover Theological Semi nary; William Ellery Channing and John Lothrop, chap lains of the Senate and the House, respectively; Eliphalet Pearson, of Andover Seminary ; Henry Ware, later Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard; John Codman, of Dorchester; Charles Lowell, of the West Church, father [10] of James Russell Lowell; Asa Foster, rector of Christ Church; Joseph S. Buckminster, "the Chrysostom of America," first Corresponding Secretary; Francis Park- man, twenty-one years on the Executive Committee, Corresponding Secretary for thirty-one years, Vice-Presi dent at his death, in 1852 — hardly a name in the whole list without its titles and its honors. The selection of names among the laymen is as diffi cult. To read them over brings up the noble traditions of the city and the nation. John Quincy Adams, then United States senator, later President, became a life member at the start by his subscription of fifty dollars, followed by annual gifts. Oliver Holden, whose "Coro nation" organ is now in the Old State House; Ensign Lincoln, the Baptist leader, of the publishing house of Gould, Kendall and Lincoln; Samuel T. Armstrong, pub lisher; Josiah and Thomas Bumstead; Peter Thacher; John Tappan; Eben Rockwood; Alden Bradford, secre tary of the Commonwealth; are taken almost at random. The great Phillips family is represented by four mem bers. William Phillips, then representative from Boston, lieutenant governor from 1812 to 1823, one of the three who endowed Andover Seminary, was chosen first Presi dent of the Society, and held the office until his death, in 1827. His annual subscription of $500 marks his liber ality not more than his devotion to the cause. John Phillips, at that time president of the state senate, after wards first mayor of Boston, father of Wendell Phillips; Deacon Edward Phillips, deacon of the Old South Church; Jonathan Phillips, illustrious citizen and munifi cent benefactor of the city; Samuel H. Walley, Treasurer of the Society; Samuel Dana, five years president of the state senate; John Davis, afterwards governor; George Cabot; Alden Bradford; Dudley A. Tyng, are names to remember for their own sake and for those who fol lowed them. "Our great Chief Justice of the olden time, Theophilus Parsons," was chairman of the committee on the constitution adopted. The John L. Sullivan of that day was a distinguished engineer and inventor. One look ing over the long roll might wonder why other names are omitted here. Others of equal distinction joined at once, such as Drs. Daniel Sharp and Thomas Baldwin, of the First and Second Baptist Churches. Later supporters kept up the fame. And these men held to the Society. The long official terms suggest that "few die and none resign" ; but it was devotion to a noble cause and the respect of their associates, not greed of fame, that held them to their positions of honor and service. By the census of 1810 the town of Boston, not yet incorporated, had 33,787 inhabitants, with 472,000 in the whole state. Today Boston numbers Chen and Now 595'38o> and its P°Pulati°n of foreign parentage, 410,965 in 1905, presumably equals the entire population of the state one hundred years ago. Of the 3,003,68a persons in the state in 1905, [12] but 939,227 had both parents of native birth. The first year distribution of Scriptures by the Society did not begin until the autumn, and the total circulation at the first report was 812; for the year ending February 28, 1909, the circulation was 81,851. The annual meetings of the Society became great public occasions, filling the largest meeting houses of Boston. Few of the religious and benev olent organizations which now claim „ *,0Puja1' Recognition attention were then in existence, and the Bible Society held easy preeminence. The reports of the Executive Committee, presented by such masters of assemblies as Dr. Channing, Dr. Francis Parkman, Dr. Blagden, and their peers, sketched the year's work and also the activities of similar organizations at home and abroad. A sermon was delivered by one of the eloquent clergy in the Society or some notable from out side; the first, in 181 1, by Dr. Channing, from the text, 2 Thessalonians 3:1: "Brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified." In later years distinguished laymen were heard, such as Robert C. Winthrop, whose addresses as President were worthy of his great fame ; Edward Everett ; Nathaniel P. Banks; Francis Bowen; Cyrus D. Foss. When the May anniversaries of the religious societies became a famous Boston institution, it was the custom for the Bible Society to open the series of meetings on Monday, since its work [i3] was considered fundamental to that of all. The printed reports of this Society might furnish a remarkable volume of American eloquence and religious achievement. Some brief extracts appear in this pamphlet. A single meeting would bring together a group of eminent speakers like that of 1867, with Dr. James G. Vose, of Providence, Dr. Henry C. Bellows, of New York, and Dr. Andrew P. Peabody, of Cambridge. Unfortunately a number of the annual reports are missing from the files of the Society, and at best only hints of the activities can be given. Dis- th ui u tribution at first was mainly through ministers of the Commonwealth in their own localities, but grants were early made to laborers in distant states. The War of 1812 served to emphasize rather than interrupt the fraternal relations between this Society and the British and Foreign. In 18 13 "an Hmenities of A . „ . . . Privateering American privateer captured a British vessel containing Bibles and Testaments intended for charitable distribution (in the British prov inces), and, in an unfeeling and un-Christian manner, refusing to surrender them for the purpose aforesaid," our Society immediately opened a subscription to refund their cost to the London Society. Money flowed in until instead of the $640.39 needed, $907 had been received, [14] and it was necessary to decline the offer of a hundred Bibles from the Merrimack Bible Society and cash contri butions from Salem. The original cost of the consign ment and insurance was sent in full to London. The next year the British ship Falcon, having on board twelve hundred Bibles and Testaments in English and Dutch for distribution at the Cape of Good Hope, was captured by the privateer America and sent into Bath. This time our Society took immediate steps to secure the consignment, and through public sympathy was able to bid them in at the auction, without competition, at twenty cents on the pound sterling, barely enough to make the sale legal, though other parts of the cargo sold as high as twenty dollars on the pound. In the same spirit the owners of the privateer, George Crowninshield and Son, of Salem, relinquished all claims on the amount bid, "in effect a donation of $200 to the cause of the diffusion of the Bible." The British Society, on receiving notice that the Bibles were to be returned to it, most generously requested "the pious and benevolent Massachusetts Bible Society" to retain them for distribution in this country; but the offer was declined with all courtesy, and the entire consignment returned to go to its original destination. A duty of $537-25 was imposed by our government, but as the books had been reshipped to England, this sum was finally returned to the Society two years later, through the efforts in Congress of Honorable Christopher Gore and Honorable Artemas Ward. [15] The correspondence between the officials of the Socie ties relating to these incidents extends from June 21, 1 8 13, to May 31, 1 8 15. The two nations were Bands Hcross a(. war In America the natural bitter- tbe Sea ness of conflict was aggravated by a sense of injustice and insolent outrage on the part of Great Britain. But these Christian men on both sides deplore the war, and express with the greater emphasis their mutual regard and fellowship in holy service. A few sentences from the letters may be given here. London, Sep. 13th, 18 13. . . . Allow me to request that your Committee will accept of grateful acknowledgments for their intention of refunding the loss; a resolution, which, while it reflects honour upon your Commit tee, affords an additional proof, that Bible Socie ties, upon a liberal basis, promote that spirit of christian benevolence, which "in the midst of war knows no war." That the influence of the Holy Scriptures may be such on both sides of the Atlantick, as to put a speedy termination to the unhappy contest be tween those, who should vie with each other in brotherly love, is the earnest prayer of Dear Sir, your faithful and obedient servant, Joseph Tarn, Assistant Secretary. Boston, November 9th, 18 13. . . . We indulge the hope, that we shall not again have to number it among the calamities of a war, in which we cannot cease to regret, that two nations, allied in feelings, habits, interests, lan guage and origin, should be engaged, that it [16] counteracts, in any degree, the exertions of any of the charitable institutions of Great Britain, or tends to loosen or break that golden chain of mutual benevolence, which ought to bind together the disciples of Christ of every nation and clime, without regard to political animosities. I am, dear Sir, Yours, very faithfully, Samuel C. Thacher, Corr. Sec'ry of Mass. Bible Society. London, January 29, 18 14. (From Lord Teignmouth, President of the British and Foreign B. S.) . . . We cheerfully accept a restitution dictated by the spirit of the gospel, and that fraternal love which it inculcates; uniting in the address of the Massachusetts Bible Society, "that this volume of peace extended to them in the spirit of christian kindness, may serve to allay the irritations of war, and remind both nations, that we are fellow chris tians, followers of one master, who has solemnly commanded us to love one another." I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, Teignmouth. These early records are of peculiar interest. The large spirit in which the Society conceived and executed its high mission, the dignity and courtesy of its intercourse with other bodies and with " _. .„ individuals, and the munificence and chivalry of its supporters form a noble picture of religious life in the opening years of an eventful century. Later records manifest the same temper as prevailing in the [i7] expanding life, but the limits of this memorial permit only briefer notice than has been given to the formative period. The report for the year 1 8 13-14 speaks of supplying jails and almshouses. Bibles and Testaments were given liberally to seamen individually, and it ®f ™ng Bc9ide was especially voted that one or more all Waters . Bibles be furnished to every vessel, to be kept in the cabin. Not only were grants of Scriptures made to mission aries of various societies working in regions to the north and Canada, but many were sent to remote settlements in the new parts of the country. Three hundred Bibles were given to the East Tennessee Missionary Society in response to its appeal for aid ; one hundred to the Connecticut Bible Society for distribution in the "back settlements of Vir ginia and other destitute places"; $500 to the New York Bible Society for printing the Scriptures in French for Louisiana; six hundred Bibles, costing $365, to Mr. Samuel J. Mills to be distributed in his home missionary journeys through the West and South. March 9, 1815, a request was presented "from the schoolmasters of Boston for Bibles and Testaments to be distributed among poor children in their Che Bible in . , , , , the Schools respective schools, and to be given as rewards of merit to indigent scholars on leaving school. Voted, That we comply with the request." [18] The next year brings us to an event of large signifi cance. The organized efforts to supply the Scriptures disclosed such startling need in all parts of the land that by 1816 one hundred ^'7*™™!" 1 . Bible Society and thirty-two independent local societies were in existence. Samuel J. Mills, "the hero of the hay stack," whose zeal for foreign missions led to the forma tion of the American Board, the first of such societies in this country, was also a pioneer in home missions. In two journeys as far west as Ohio and south to New Orleans he established Bible societies as the readiest means of introducing religion in those neglected regions. It has already been noted that in 18 14 our Society made him a grant of six hundred Bibles for this purpose. Largely inspired through his reports and pleas, the New Jersey Bible Society proposed the institution of a national body, and on May 8, 18 16, the American Bible Society was formally organized in New York City. Thirty-five local societies united in its formation, and eighty-four became auxiliary to it within its first year. A powerful impulse was at once given to the general work, and from that day the Society has gone forward with increasing strength, supplying sections of this country not covered by local efforts and joining with similar bodies in Europe to reach the whole world of every race and tongue. Missionary societies of every denomination, at home and in foreign lands, have been deeply indebted to the American Bible Society for their supply of Scriptures. [19] The efforts of the national organization were cordially seconded by our Society and its activities described in our annual reports. The records of our gifts to it are not complete, but show that to the present time $243,306 have been appropriated from the treasury of the Massachusetts Bible Society, in addition to more than $270,000, includ ing legacies, sent from this state directly to the American Bible Society up to the year 1880. While our Society regards this Commonwealth as the field for which it is first responsible, it has never departed from the broad policy of the founders, as stated in the original constitu tion, to distribute the Scriptures "among all persons in habiting within the state or elsewhere." A letter was received from Mr. Thomas Vose, making application for Bibles for the Custom House. The extension of the Bible Society in Russia under the patronage of the munificent Alexander, when joined with other expressions of the Christian dispositions of that sovereign, is one of the most encouraging events in this age of hope and promise. We have heard with pecul iar pleasure of the formation of a Bible Society in France, which we hail as the bursting forth of a living fountain in a parched land, from which many are to drink and be revived. (Dr. Channing, Report of the Executive Committee. ) [20] Trustees' Meeting, December 9. Voted, That Dr. Freeman and Dr. Holmes be a Com.tee to report on a place of deposit for the copies of the translation of the Scriptures presented by the British and Foreign Bible Society, subject to the future order of the Society. Accordingly said Com. ee reported the Library of Harvard University at Cambridge as a suitable place for said purpose. Voted, that this report be accepted. "I have news to communicate, which will fill your hearts with joy. Athens is become the seat of a Bible Society." (Dr. Pinkerton, missionary of the British and Foreign Bible Society.) The Treasurer was instructed to send for one hun dred Bibles to be delivered to the Marine Bible Society of Boston and Vicinity. (This seems to have been a regular annual grant. ) Every county has its own Bible Society, and the capital is the seat of two besides our own (the Female Auxiliary and the Marine). Voted, That a number of Bibles and Testaments, not exceeding 50 of each, be committed to the Rev. Wm. Taylor of the Roman Catholick Church in this city for distribution among the poor of his people. Numerous Bible institutions have lately sprung 1 825 into existence in Illinois and Missouri, and I trust, that, before the expiration of another year, there will be no county, in either of those new and interesting states, or [21] in Indiana, which will not have, within its bounds, an organized society, patronized and cherished by it. The American Bible Society transmitted ioo Spanish Bibles and Testaments to the Treasurer, to be sold or distributed to Captains or Supercargoes bound to South America. The American Bible Society received $149,267 and borrowed $20,000 more in prosecuting the work undertaken to supply all the families in the United States with Bibles within two years from May, 1829. (Reports from 1826 to 1829 and 1831 to 1839, in clusive, also 1 841, 1842, 1844, 1845, 1847, are missing from the files of the Society. It is understood that some of these were not printed. ) A large and beautiful edition of the Bible, in raised letters for the blind, has been completed within the present year, under the superintendence of that intelli gent and devoted friend of the blind, Dr. Samuel G. Howe. An appropriation of $500 was made for this pur pose, from the treasury of the Society, in addition to liberal contributions from some of its members. Tributes to John Quincy Adams and William Ellery Channing. (Depository at 15 Cornhill, under charge of S. T. Farwell. ) The fortieth anniversary of the Society included an elaborate report by Rev. Francis Parkman, D.D., chairman of the Executive Committee, addresses by the newly elected President, Hon. Simon Greenleaf, Hon. [22] Robert C. Winthrop, Speaker of the House of Represent atives, Rev. Wm. I. Buddington, D.D., and Rev. H. W. Bellows, D.D., of New York. "We are having Europe here, from the snowy hills of Sweden to the sunny vine yards of Italy" (Dr. Buddington). 6333 volumes dis tributed; 172 in foreign languages for immigrants, 2505 for seamen and our national ships, 850 to persons bound to California (the '49ers). February 7, Rev. Daniel Butler was engaged as "travelling agent," the American Bible Society 1 5° relinquishing the field to this Society. Mr. Butler was made Recording Secretary in 1852, trustee in 1890, and served devotedly and effectively until his death, Febru ary 4, 1893. Address at this meeting by Hon. Edward Everett. Wednesday evening, February 20. With a view of enkindling a new interest in the operations of the Society, and of giving to it a new impulse as a state institution, a meeting was held in the hall of the House of Representa tives, during the session of the General Court, to which the members of the Legislature were especially invited. The Rev. Dr. Parkman stated the origin and objects of the Society. Addresses were made by Charles Theodore Russell, Esq., of the Board of Trustees, Hon. Rockwood Hoar and His Excellency Govr. Briggs. In Berkshire County, the cause, as usual, flour- ishes. There is no equal extent of territory in our Union that has labored so efficiently and given so much [23] money, for the Bible, as this beautiful hill-country of our Judea. (Report of Rev. Daniel Butler.) Hon. N. P. Banks addressed the audience in a very eloquent manner upon the adaptation of the Bible to the wants of the mind. Agents of the Society in different counties report: "Copies were found, old, torn, or out of binding, whole books gone, and, in some instances, the leaves shuffled together and tied with a string, like a bundle. Their owners were, some in middle life, some younger, but many sixty and seventy and eighty years old and up ward. Those that were able and willing paid for their Bibles, in whole or in part; to others they were given." (A picture still accurate.) Second effort of the American Bible Society to supply the whole country. 43,634 volumes from the depository during the year, 12,348 gratuitously. Of these, to seamen, 3,837; public institutions and public houses, 859; emi grants to Liberia, 140; Germans in Boston, 147; 1,154 out of the state. Rev. Edmund F. Slafter collecting funds among the Episcopal churches, as agent for the American Bible Society; collections sent through our treasury. Hon. Samuel H. Walley elected President; son of the first Treasurer; grandson of Hon. Wm. Phillips, the first President; held the office until his death in 1877. [24] Rev. Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D., protested against the attempt to forbid the reading of the Bible in the public schools. "During the year there has been forwarded to the 1 860 American Bible Society, from the Massachusetts Bible Society, and from other sources in the State, the sum of $34,916.63." "Among the many pleasing indications of the hand of Providence interposing in behalf of our cause, none has been more cheering than the increased demand for the Bible in Italy." Annual report, May 27, by Dr. John O. Means, Chairman of the Executive Committee : When our armies began to muster at the call of the government, a general desire was felt that all the soldiers should possess the Holy Scriptures. The camps were visited, and the men who were found destitute were furnished with some portion of the Bible, usually the New Testament and Psalms. For the convenience of the soldiers, the Gospel of John was printed in a separate volume, and also the Book of Proverbs and of Psalms. 9,226 copies went to the soldiers, and to the sailors in the navy 2,200 copies, 1,550 were given to recruits on board the receiving ship Ohio through the labors of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association, besides 2,922 to seamen in the merchant service. L. P. Rowland, Jr., reports from the Association to this Society: "It has been one constant re vival on board the Ohio, and we know of hundreds of [25] conversions during the past year. We have held a daily evening prayer meeting there for the past three years." 14,537 copies of the Scriptures given to soldiers within the year, 4,266 to seamen. "Many soldiers were furnished, of course, by parents and friends; not a few of our towns were induced to supply the companies raised within their limits. And when this was done, the camps were visited, and the soldiers who remained desti tute were furnished; so it is believed that very few of the thousands who went to the war, during the year, were without the Word of God." "16,644 volumes were given to soldiers and sailors. Rev. Mr. Brewster, the chaplain at Read- ville, has distributed nearly 4,000 copies in the past five months to those leaving that post for the war. Not a few have read the Scriptures for the first time in camp, and through the divine Spirit have been led to accept the salva tion they offer." Men from foreign countries come here to enlist, and are supplied. The American Bible Society has sent 218,000 Bibles and Testaments as a donation to the rebel states, and has sold 40,000 there, the books having been forwarded by flag of truce, with the full permission of our government. When the cargo of the prize steamer Minna was sold in Boston, the Society sought to purchase the Bibles and Testaments of the cargo, which had been printed for the use of the Confederate States in England. Application to the War Department at Washington for permission to [26] forward the same to the rebels was referred to General Butler, 9] such children as have it not, on two conditions: ist, They shall promise me that they will, unless unavoidably pre vented, read daily ten verses in course to their mothers; 2d, That they will commit to memory one verse of Scrip ture, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount, and recite it to their mother. I have learned that one of the young misses to whom I gave a Testament on the above con ditions has hopefully experienced its renewing power in her heart and life." The American Bible Society proposes a fourth general re-supply of the whole country with the Scriptures. Depositories of the Society had been maintained, in 1857 at 15 Cornhill, 1877 at 8 Beacon Street. In 1889 the rooms at 12 Bosworth Street were occupied, the entire building bought in 1893, remodeled, and the main entrance at 41 Bromfield Street made available for the use of the Society, entrance now being from both streets. The Female Auxiliary Bible Society, organized in 1890 1 8 14, after many years of usefulness, decided that under the changed conditions it was desirable to place its funds and work in the care of the Massachusetts Bible Society. This was accomplished by act of Legislature on March 11, 1889, and the sum of $3,741.91 paid into the treasury of the state Society. In this connection it is interesting to note that a local society composed of women of all the churches of Concord [30] has been in existence since 1848, making annual collec tions, which are forwarded to our treasury. Its venerable president, Miss Mary Munroe, now in her ninety-first year, has held that office since 1861. The report notes the death during the previous year of Rev. Daniel Butler, who began Bible work 93 with the American Bible Society in 1845, and since 1852 had been connected with our organization. Also of Dr. Andrew P. Peabody and Bishop Phillips Brooks, trustees for about twenty years. Among gratuitous distributions of the year were 2,291 to seamen, 355 for Sunday distribution in the harbor, 254 for India. Voted, That this Society respectfully requests the American Bible Society to consider the propriety of omitting the chronology in all future editions of the Bible. Rev. A. E. Colton was employed to solicit funds in behalf of the American Bible Society. After the first year he was solely the representative of that Society, continuing his service in Massachusetts until 1905. Rev. Elijah Cutler, Agent of the Society since 1873, died. Also Judge Edmund H. Bennet, trustee for fourteen years. Annual meeting. "Resolved, That the Massachu- 1904 setts Bible Society respectfully recommend to the American Bible Society that the Constitution of said Society be so amended as to authorize the publishing of [3M the Revised Version as well as the King James Version of the Bible." A committee was appointed to consult with the American Bible Society and the Western Massa chusetts Bible Society, for the purpose of simplifying and unifying Bible work in Massachusetts. The report of the committee noted above was adopted: "The authority of the National Society to receive donations and to solicit them in every part of the United States is fully recognized, but, in consideration of the earnest and continued support given to the Amer ican Bible Society by the Massachusetts Bible Society, it is understood that the general work of soliciting and col lecting funds through appointed agents in the territory covered by the Massachusetts Bible Society is left with that Society for two years, or until due notice is given by either party of any change." Rev. Charles M. Southgate was appointed Superin tendent, to have charge of the field work of the Society and the presentation of its claims to the churches. [32] "Hpples of Gold in pictures of Silver" Scant extracts are given here of words fitly spoken at the annual meetings of the Society. Until 1848 the addresses were not included in the printed reports, so that many impressive utterances are lost. In some in stances later manuscripts were not available for use, as in the case of Richard S. Storrs and Phillips Brooks. But the wealth of material is still so great as to make selection difficult. The desire for variety rather than brilliancy has modified the choice. He gave unequivocal evidence of his reverence for the Word we would diffuse by his unwearied study of its truth. Even to his death, and amidst infirmities forbidding other labors, the . , ^^ pages of the gospel were his meditation and his delight; and his last days were solaced and made glad in listening to the words of the great Teacher, whose character never ceased to be his most delightful study, and whose spirit he sought to infuse into his life. 1843. Report of Executive Committee, Dr. Francis Parkman. [33] At the meeting in 1848, Rev. Rollin H. Neale, D.D., of the First Baptist Church, "paid a noble tribute to the memory of Channing, in which it was gratifying to see how fully the speaker could appreciate without jealousy, and declare with unstinted praise, all that was good in one who nevertheless differed from him in faith." "Though not in any official relation to our State Society, yet as singularly devoted to the study of that Book which it is our only object to cir- Joon Quincy culate, we may not omit to mention one Hdams whom a whole nation has mourned, and whom science, religion, and patriotism alike honor among their cherished sons. There is indeed a peculiar pro priety in mentioning here John Quincy Adams, who was characterized not more by his signal endowments as a scholar and a statesman, than by his earnest faith, his childlike reverence, and his habitual study of the Scrip tures. He made them, in an eminent sense, 'the light of his feet, and the lamp of his path.' He could say with the monarch of Israel, 'Thy testimonies have been my song in the house of my pilgrimage.' And in the strength and power which he thence derived, amidst the labors and perplexities of arduous public duties, there was fulfilled in him the promise, that 'they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.' " Dr. Francis Parkman. Report of Executive Com mittee. 1848. [34] "For myself, Sir, I am more and more inclined to believe, that the truth is presented to us in the Bible in the form best adapted to the infinite vari ety of the character and talent, intellec- Sdward i i i , • , . . everett tual and moral, to which it is addressed. It is not such a Bible as the wit of man would have con ceived ; but it is such a one as the wants of man called for. The acceptance it has found, alike in ancient and modern times, with the learned and the ignorant, the old and the young, the high and the low, the prosperous and the wretched, shows that it is really adapted in itself, not to one country, age, or class, but to man; that it speaks to the unchanging wants and sorrows and frailties and aspirations of the human heart." Address, 1850. "It is asked what would become of the United States without the Bible. It is not necessary to exhaust our imagination to obtain an idea of this. It is sufficient to study the history and the Kev. Leon . Pilatte actual condition of the countries where the Bible has never been circulated freely, or of those who have totally rejected it. Take France for a signal exam ple. With all her natural resources, her civilization, the accumulated treasures of her genius and her arts, and her noble aspirations — what, after all, has become of France? Humbled and disgraced, doomed to agitations and revo lutions as frequent as they are fruitless, she seeks in vain to secure order, liberty, or prosperity; and every successive [35] effort serves but to show more clearly to the astonished world the mournful spectacle of her weakness. The cause of this deplorable weakness lies in the want of the Bible, and thence of the great principles it inculcates and inspires." ' Mr. Pilatte was delegate from the Bible Society of France, 1851. Our young men and maidens must be again reminded that this is a book profoundly exciting, a record of hero ism; that here, too, deep calleth unto Si' nn deep; that they are grossly untaught unless they have learned the lessons of Sinai and Calvary; that their pretensions to culture are idle unless they have studied and again studied Isaiah and Job; that they still lack the key to the mystery of living and sinning and loving and repenting and dying, unless they have learned of that disciple who leaned upon the Master's breast, and has revealed to us the depths of that heart where the tides of human and divine love were mysteriously blended. 1854. Without the moral police of that volume, there would not be police enough of any other kind Gov. Smory . . , , r ftlashburn insure order and government in a free Commonwealth. Destitute of the Bible, Massachusetts could not exist as a free State a single day. 1854. [36] The sight of the book brings the thought of God — the mightiest, most controlling thought beneath which the creature can keep his footing. The book is God's symbol and representative *** **"• 4-u tt j • , , ^ , Stone, D.D. there. Unread it yet speaks for God. The shadow of a crown is on it. Dim rays of the divine glory stream from it. The sweet perfumes of the divine goodness hang about it. The old artists painted a halo about the head of the virgin mother of Jesus. Such a coronal of light invests the silent, unopened Bible. 1855- A new civilization grows up; based not so much on the physical or intellectual, as on the religious nature of man. Ideas of a supreme Creator, of the nobleness of love, goodness and self- mw . ^.'Jz' .. , . , . , Manning, D.D. sacrifice, begin to stand out impressively. Minds are quickened; philosophy is enriched; the face of society becomes fresh and heavenly. Where the Bible has been withdrawn, as it was under papal supremacy, man has lost ground; and where it has been brought into contact with the masses, as in Britain by Wickliffe, and on the continent by Luther, there we find activity, happi ness and healthful progression. Look at Ireland by the side of Scotland, at Austria by the side of Germany, at Spain by the side of England; they are a sufficient proof that the Bible is our richest gift to the human family. i857- [37] We would by no means think of filling an empty stomach with a copy of the Bible, or of clothing the naked with its unfolded sheets. But when the Rev. u,. K. pressing want of the present has been "Cbayer relieved by other means, we would invoke the agency of the Scripture to place in that relieved family the bread of life, and would urge it upon the attention of its members. Thus would there be furnished a supply for far more important than physical wants; there would be opened up a fountain of far higher than physical happi ness; and there would be sown in that household those seeds of thrift, temperance and economy which would effectually bar the door, for all the future, against the approach of want. We insist that in no other way can the wants of the poor be so effectually, so really relieved, as by a wide and free circulation of the sacred Scriptures, and a kind but diligent inculcation of the principles they teach. 1858. There it stands, the recorded declaration of the divine will, the recorded evidence of the divine inter s' K4 position, the source of truth, of right, of Lotbrop, duty, of hope to the world. The skeptic may attack it, the scoffer may sneer at it, the blasphemer may ridicule it; but these could as easily pull down the sun, or overturn the great dome of the heavens, as overturn the authority of the Bible, or make it a despised, rejected, obsolete book. 1858. [38] Wherever this Society has hitherto sent the Bible, there the Bible will continue to go. Though it should cease from the schoolboy's benches, it Nathaniel L. will have free course still. It will go frotbingbam, aboard our ships, and be in cabin and DX>. forecastle, speaking as no other pages ever did, or ever can, of the sea and Him that made it. It will lie in poor cottages, and be better than their lowly estate. It will lie in the broad wards of the hospital, and upon the damp stones of the jail, showing Christ healing the sick, Christ charging to visit the prisoners, saying over and over again his parable of the penitent son. It will lie in the narrow chamber already darkening with the shadows of death, and prepare the spirit that must depart for the awards of God. i8sg- The equality of all men before God — derived from no other authority than the Bible — that is our origin, our peace, our war, our all. A gentle- ... . r. , , t . Gov. Hlexander man, looking at the Greek department ^ Bulloch of the library of the late Mr. Choate, said to him: "Seven editions of the New Testament, and not a copy of the Constitution." "Ah, my friend," was the reply, "you forget that the Constitution of my country is in every one of them all." The Bible Societies of America are engaged in circulating the Constitution and the Laws ; they are promulgating popular rights and pop ular enfranchisement; they are marking out and opening [39] for each generation the pathway of national life, and they secure and adorn it with the certainties of general pros perity and happiness. 1864. Sir, it is the Bible which has given us that precious word which was heard in our Secretary's report, "Peace." Had the Bible been read and obeyed, ECC??e Ll°Jl we never should have had war. Had Olalher, D.D. not some men believed in the Bible, and acted on the principles of the Bible, we never should have had peace. There was an auspicious significance, it seemed to me, in the fact that at the raising of the flag in Charleston bay, which went down four years ago amid oaths and cursing, and the sound of cannon, and great threatenings of brothers' hate, it went up again to the skies amid the voice of prayer and the reading of the Word of God. God grant that this may be but typical of the reinstate ment of those liberties and that government which are founded upon the principles of the Bible, and to which the Bible alone can give perpetuity and success. 1865. I take the noble heroism of our people, their still more noble charity, shown during the past four years, Pres. O)omas anc* t'le'r ahnost divine forbearance and Bill, of Harvard forgiveness toward the insurgents, to be University fruits of the Christian spIritj whkh they have drawn directly from the Word of God, the volume [40] which Bible Societies have furnished to every family that can read its pages. 1865. It is one of the marks of the Divine inspiration which fills this book, that its study demands, and crowns, and exceeds a lifetime. If I had my life to live over again, I would be willing to Hndrew P. . ,., , , Peabody, D.D. devote the solid portion of my days to the study of St. Paul's Epistles. I should feel that in these alone there was work enough and joy enough for a life long scholarship. As for the Old Testament, I more and more feel the divinity of that marvelous compilation of books ; and with every fresh assault of skepticism, the sense of its divinity grows upon me. i86j. The Bible herein manifests its peerless moral worth, in that it alone can lead us to the only being who has power on earth to forgive sin. His tenderness and com passion for the frail and erring, his intercession for the transgressors, above all, his death, the just for the unjust, the pardon and cleansing that flow in his blood on Calvary, the power and mercy of God incarnate for the redemption of man, incarnate, too, in him whom we can at once adore as our Lord and love as our brother — in fine, the living, dying, ever-living Christ — he it is that is the sinner's only hope — he it is who alone can lift the burden from the soul that knows its own wrong and evil, can impart the highest joy of earth, and the surest presage of heaven — [4i] the blessedness of him whose iniquity is pardoned, whose sin is forgiven. 1870. This age of ours, this nineteenth century, has been distinguished by the establishment of various institutions for the diffusion of Divine truth through Bishop ji£ earth. ]3Ut without disparaging other eastburn . ' c„ , • societies, and leaving them to fill their own place, we must all surely say, that the Bible Society, wherever it is, is the crowning society of all. It is a society for diffusing that precious Word, about which there can be no mistake; which has God for its author, and truth for its contents. We are sure, therefore, that whatever we do for the circulation of God's Holy Word, we are walking safely; we are pointing every individual into whose hands these sacred Scriptures shall fall to that blessed book, which contains the way of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1868. There are single verses which are worth more than all the other books which have been written. Our own Bible House, with all its toiling presses, McK nzi nn anc* 'ts exPenditure of time and money, would have paid for itself long ago had it done nothing else than repeat in the ears of sinful men the words of penitence which sent a publican down to his house justified. It is worth all the expense many times over to have the world taught by a single verse, that God so loved the world that He gave His Son. 1868. [42] We love and honor the Bible for what it is to us, and for all that it has been to our fathers. We love it for the light and the zeal it gives us ; we love it for its exceeding great and precious „ . m*\Z . v Baylor, D.D. promises, and for the inspiring motives it offers us. All that we have and hope for is in this book. It is not to us a mere record of the past. It is not a fetish or a charm which we ignominiously, ignorantly worship. We do not adore the book in any form of bibliolatry or by any transubstantiation of the divinity into the forms of type and paper. The Bible is not to us a curious specimen of any one age of the church alone. It is the transmitted life and will of God into the lives and wills of his children in all time. 1873. Oh! this wonderful fourth Gospel, written by him who had "leaned on Jesus' bosom" until he caught the richest music of His throbbing divine- ^ Cvrus human heart, and had faithfully walked f). foss, of with Him long after all the other Olesleyan apostles had received their martyr- crowns! Clement calls it "the Gospel of the spirit"; Pressense, "the Gospel of the idea"; Ernesti, "the heart of Christ"; Augustine says, "While the three other evan gelists remain below with the man Christ Jesus, and speak but little of his Godhead, John, as if impatient of setting his foot on the earth, rises from the very first words of his Gospel, not only above the earth, and the span of air [43] and sky, but above all angels and invisible powers, till he reaches Him by whom all things were made." 1877. Christendom has always believed that the only sure and complete revelation of God is Jesus Christ, who is * . .. therefore called "The Word of God"; frcdericR Courtney, that all messages from God, therefore, SX.D. are portions of that one Messenger — Jesus Christ; all lawgivers, prophets, priests, judges, kings, poets, psalmists, types of the one only true Psalm ist, Poet, King, Judge, Priest, Prophet, Lawgiver — Jesus Christ; and that the record of their message and history, and of His message and history, and that of the estab lishment of the Christian Church, is, because it is the only record we possess of Him and them, the Word of God. 1883. (The publication of sermons and addresses in the report ceases with this year.) {Minute adopted March 18, i8g§) As it has pleased Almighty God to call from this world our beloved President, the Honorable Robert Robert C Charles Winthrop, LL.D., tftinthrop, We desire to record our gratitude, that he has been spared to preside over us so many years; that he was graced by our Heavenly Father with such admirable gifts as reflected honor upon every cause which he espoused, and upon all who were [44] associated with him; that he was inspired with a tender love for the Bible, and with a profound conviction of its inestimable value as a Revelation of God ; and that he was ever moved to give himself in service and sacrifice for the diffusion of its knowledge and the extension of its bless ings in the world. We desire also to record our appreciation of his long career, as manifesting a singular combination of Christian statesmanship, of immaculate honor, of faithful friend ship, of lofty and gracious courtesy, and of humble piety, which will make his memory an imperishable treasure to this Society over which he so long presided, and to the Commonwealth in whose history, as a loyal son, he has added lustre to a name splendid from its foundation. Samuel E. Herrick Alvah Hovey Joshua Merrill Edmund H. Bennett Committee. (Minute adopted March 18, igo7) The members of the Massachusetts Bible Society desire to place on record an expression of their sincere regard for their beloved and honored associate, the Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, giaftci% jyj)] D.D., who has been called from the earthly service. Nearly half a century ago he acted as a collecting [45] agent for the American Bible Society in Massachusetts, and he became Corresponding Secretary of the Massachu setts Bible Society in 1884 and a member of its Executive Committee in 1889, continuing in both of these offices until his recent death. Profoundly interested in all that concerned the work of the Society, and ever helping by his wise counsels and generous expenditure of time and energy in advancing its interests, this Society has had no warmer or wiser friend in all its history. Quite beyond the period of fourscore years of age, he was ready for any service which he could render in behalf of the cause he loved. We rejoice in the recollection of his devoted service, of his cordial fellowship, and in the glad assurance that he has entered upon a great reward. Dr. Slafter died September 22, 1906, in his ninety- first year. [4/>] Gloquent figures As has been indicated, a number of reports are miss ing, so that a complete statement of the work of this Society is impossible. So far as can be ascertained, we have the following results for the hundred years : Copies put in circulation, Bibles and portions, 2, 1 89,808 Gratuitous distribution, included above, 567,737 Expended in work in the State, $635,679 (This amount does not include $243,306 sent to the American Bible Society for national and foreign work, as noted on page 20. ) The number of volumes put out by this Society in creases steadily. The circulation of 81,851 in the year ending February 28, 1909, was fifty per cent, above that of the previous year, and one hundred and sixteen per cent. above that of three years ago. One thousand different styles of the Bible and portions are kept in stock. [47] Cdorld Cotals The total annual circulation of the Scriptures can be stated only approximately. The latest reports at hand are for 1907, and do not include several important organ izations. In that year, thirty-four Bible Societies in America and Europe circulated by sale and gift 10,531,- 365 volumes. To this must be added the output of private publishing houses, which cannot be stated definitely, but has been estimated to equal or exceed the output of the Societies. The total issues of the American Bible Society during ninety-three years, 18 16-1909, number 84,458,- 604; of the British and Foreign Bible Society during one hundred and two years, 1804-1906, 198,515,199. These two Societies together send out eight million volumes annually. Translations of the various Societies for mis sionary uses number about five hundred. The above figures include both Bibles and portions. [48] Cbe JMassacbusetts Bible Society Coday This is another Massachusetts than that in which the fathers began the work. Only thirteen per cent, of the population live in places of less than four thousand inhabitants. We have more towns and cities of ten thou sand people and over, and a larger percentage of foreign ers, than any other state in the Union. New methods and new forces in office and field are required to carry on the mission of the old Book. A score of workers are busy, and still the work calls. While the rural problem and the city problem are increasingly difficult, the most compelling demand is to reach the stranger within our gates. Our foreign colporteurs command twenty different languages, every man of them consecrated and enthusi astic. On the shelves are the Scriptures in fifty tongues. These newcomers can be reached, many are eagerly re sponsive, and no part of our effort is more rewarding. Ours is a labor mainly of sowing the seed; others enter into our labors. But not a day passes without its harvest seen, oftentimes the hundredfold. We rejoice continually more and more in the work which is given us to do. With the confidence born of a century of blessing, with the added earnestness of our greater needs, we take for ourselves the plea of the great missionary, the text of the first sermon preached before this Society: Brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified. [49] Original founders of tbe JVIassacbusetts Bible Society ^uly 6, 1809 Rev. Samuel Webber, D.D. Rev. Thomas Allen Rev. John Lathrop, D.D. Rev. Eliph. Porter, D.D. Rev. Eliph. Pearson, D.D. Rev. Edw. D. Griffin, D.D. Rev. James Freeman Rev. Joseph Eckley, D.D. Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D. Rev. Samuel Kendall, D.D. Rev. I. T. Kirkland, D.D. Rev. Jos. L. Buckminster Rev. Jos. Chickering Rev. William Emerson Rev. Thomas Gray Rev. Jed. Morse, D.D. Rev. Samuel Cary Rev. Henry Ware Rev. Horace Holley Rev. Joshua Bates Rev.' Samuel Gile Rev. John Codman Rev. Jacob Norton Rev. Joshua Huntington Rev. Joseph Tuckerman Rev. Joseph McKean Rev. Asa Eaton [ Rev. John Foster Rev. John Eliot, D.D. Rev. Charles Lowell Rev. John Pierce Rev. Timo. Alden, Jr. William Phillips, Esq. Samuel Salisbury, Esq. Dr. Isaac Rand Hon. George Cabot Hon. John Phillips Mr. Samuel H. Walley William Thurston, Esq. Francis Wright, Esq. Daniel D. Rogers, Esq. Mr. Eben Larkin Hon. Samuel Haven William Davis, Esq. Hon. John Q. Adams Hon. Isaac Parker Hon. Thomas Dawes Hon. John Davis Hon. Samuel Dana Mr. Iona. Phillips Mr. Francis Parkman Dudley A. Tyng, Esq. Mr. Lemuel Hedge Alden Bradford, Esq. 5o] Francis D. Channing, Esq. John L. Sullivan, Esq. Hon. Edw. H- Robins Mr. William Hilliard Mr. Joseph W. Jenkins Mr. Nathan Parker Mr. Francis Hyde Mr. Oliver Holden Mr. Ensign Lincoln Deacon M. Grant Mr. Wm. Andrews Mr. John Tappan Caleb Gannett, Esq. Mr. Edward Phillips Mr. Edw. Tuckerman, Tr. Mr. John Grew Mr. Henry Chapman Mr. Henry Homes Mr. Josiah Bumstead Mr. Joseph Callender Mr. Samuel T. Armstrong Mr. Daniel P. Parker Mr. Andrew Calhoun Mr. William Brown, Jr. Mr. Elam Bliss Mr. David Hyslop Mr. Daniel Mallory Deacon Isaac Warren Mr. Isaac Warren, Jr. Deacon David Goodwin Mr. John Bartiett Mr. Josiah Salisbury Mr. Gustavus Tuckerman Mr. Eben. Rockwood, Esq. Mr. John Farrar Mr. Sidney Willard Mr. Luther Wright Mr. Moses Grant, Jr. Mr. Thomas Furber Mr. Edward Dow Mr. Thomas Bumstead Mr. William Perkins Mr. Eben. Withington Samuel Bartiett, Esq. Deacon John Walton Deacon John Simpkins Mr. Timothy Rogers Mr. Abel Fox Mr. Henderson Inches Mr. Chester Stebbins Mr. Peter Thacher, Esq. John Mellen, Esq. Deacon Josiah Moore [5i] Officers 1809 President William Phillips, Esq. Treasurer Samuel H. Walley, Esq. Corresponding Secretary Rev. Joseph L. Buckminster Recording Secretary Rev. John Pierce Trustees Rev. John Lathrop, D.D. Hon. Isaac Parker Rev. Joseph Eckley, D.D. Hon. Peter C. Brooks Rev. James Freeman John Tucker, Esq. Rev. Eliphalet Porter, D.D. Joseph Hurd, Esq. Rev. Abiel Holmes, D.D. Joseph Sewall, Esq. Rev. Thomas Baldwin, D.D. Redford Webster, Esq. Samuel Salisbury, Esq. Samuel Parkman, Esq. Hon. William Brown Joseph May, Esq. Francis Wright, Esq. Henry Hill, Esq. Attest : Dudley A. Tyng, Secretary 1859 President Hon. Samuel H. Walley Vice- President Rev. Nathaniel L. Frothingham, D.D. Corresponding Secretary Rev. George W. Blagden, D.D. [52] Recording Secretary Rev. Daniel Butler Treasurer George R. Sampson, Esq. Auditor Samuel May, Esq. Trustees Rev. William Jenks, D.D. Heman Lincoln Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D. Samuel May Rt. Rev. Manton Eastburn, D.D. Jacob Sleeper Rev. George Richards Charles T. Russell Rev. John S. Stone, D.D. Francis O. Watts Rev. Baron Stow, D.D. Theophilus R. Marvin Rev. L. R. Thayer Stephen Fairbanks John Tappan William Appleton Albert Fearing Nathaniel H. Emmons, Esq. Executive Committee Rev. George Richards George R. Sampson, Esq. Albert Fearing, Esq. 1909 President Hon. Charles Russell Codman, Chestnut Hill, Brookline Vice- Presidents Melville M. Bigelow, Esq., Suffolk County W. A. Gallup, Berkshire County Frank E. Morris, Hampden County Hon. Lewis N. Gilbert, Hampshire County Hon. Levi J. Gunn, Franklin County Arthur F. Whitin, Esq., Worcester County Hon. John L. Bates, LL.D., Suffolk County Hon. M. H. Cushing, Plymouth County Matthew Robson, Esq., Essex County [53] Samuel B. Capen, LL.D., Suffolk County Hon. James M. W. Hall, Middlesex County Rev. E. E. Strong, D.D., Middlesex County Hon. Curtis Guild, Jr., Suffolk County Corresponding and Recording Secretary Rev. Frederick B. Allen, 132 Marlboro Street, Boston, Mass. Superintendent Rev. Charles M. Southgate Massachusetts Bible Society, 1 2 Bosworth Street, Boston Treasurer B. Preston Clark, 55 Kilby Street, Boston, Mass. Trustees Rev. Frederick B. Allen Rev. George W. Andrews, Ph.D. Rev. Thomas S. Barbour, D.D. Rev. James L. Barton, D.D. Rev. George S. Chadbourne, D.D. Rev. DeWitt S. Clark, D.D. Rev. Paul R. Frothingham Rev. John Galbraith, D.D. Rev. George A. Gordon, D.D. Rev. B. D. Hahn, D.D. Rev. Edward A. Horton Rt. Rev. William Lawrence, D.D. Rt. Rev. W. F. Mallalieu, D.D. Rev. Philip S. Moxom, D.D. Rt. Rev. Alexander H. Vinton, D.D. P. Coggeshall Chase, Esq. B. Preston Clark, Esq. Hon. Charles R. Codman George H. Davenport, Esq. Alpheus H. Hardy, Esq. Arthur S. Johnson, Esq. Henry Wheeler, Esq. Francis O. Winslow, Esq. [54] Officers of tbe Society from 1809 to 1909 President. The Hon. William Phillips The Rev. John Pierce, D.D. The Hon. S. Greenleaf, LL.D. The Hon. R. Fletcher, LL.D . The Hon. Samuel H. Walley . The Hon. R. C. Winthrop, LL.D. Samuel Eliot, LL.D. The Hon. Charles R. Codman . Vice-Presidents The Rev. John Lathrop, D.D. . The Rev. J. T. Kirkland, D.D. The Rev. Henry Ware, D.D. . The Rev. John Codman, D.D. . The Hon. S. Greenleaf, LL.D. The Rev. F. Parkman, D.D. . The Rev. N. L. Frothingham, D.D. The Rev. W. R. Nicholson, D.D. William C. Plunkett, Esq. Edward Southworth, Esq. . John P. Williston, Esq. The Hon. W. B. Washburn, LL.D. The Hon. Stephen Salisbury Charles P. Whitin, Esq. Lee Claflin, Esq. Caleb Holbrook, Esq. James S. Amory, Esq. The Hon. J. H. Clifford, LL.D. Elisha Tucker, Esq. . James B. Crocker, Esq. Edward S. Moseley, Esq. Charles A. Jessup, Esq. The Hon. William Claflin, LL D. The Rev. Alex. H. Vinton, D.D. The Hon. William Hyde . The Hon. Timothy W. Carter . The Hon. Milton M. Fisher 1 809-1 827 1827-1849 1849-18541854-18591859-18781878-1894 1895-18981899- 1809— 1 8 16 1816-1828 1828-1844 1 844-1 848 1 848-1 849 1849-1853 1853-1861 1861-1872 1862-1883 1862— 1870 1862— 1872 1862-1888 1862-1885 1862-18881862— 1870 1862-1875 1862-1884 1862-1876 1862-1882 1862-1883 1862— 1900 1870— 1872 1871-1905 1872-18781872-18881873-1889 1875-1903 [55] The Hon. John A. Hawes The Hon. Jacob Sleeper . The Hon. H. M. Cushing The Hon. John E. Sanford George L. Lawrence, Esq. Henry W. Taft, Esq. The Hon. Levi J. Gunn . The Hon. Charles E. Whitin The Hon. Alden Speare . The Hon. Edward B. Gillett The Hon. Lewis N. Gilbert William H. Montague, Esq. Samuel B. Capen, LL.D. . The Hon. James M. W. Hall The Hon. William H. Haile The Hon. Stephen Salisbury The Hon. Daniel E. Safford Frank E. Morris, Esq. Edward H. Dunn, Esq. W. A. Gallup, Esq. The Hon. John L. Bates, LL.D Melville M. Bigelow, Esq. The Rev. E. E. Strong, D.D. The Hon. Curtis Guild, Jr. Corresponding Secretaries The Rev. J. S. Buckminster The Rev. Samuel Thacher The Rev. Charles Lowell, D. D. The Rev. F. Parkman, D.D. The Rev. N. L. Frothingham, D.D. The Rev. G. W. Blagden, D.D The Rev. E. F. Slafter, D.D. The Rev. Frederick B. Allen Recording Secretaries The Rev. John Pierce, D.D. The Rev. Daniel Sharp, D.D. . The Rev. Cyrus P. Grosvenor . The Rev. James D. Knowles The Rev. William Jenks, D.D. The Rev. G. W. Blagden, D.D. The Rev. William M. Rogers . The Rev. G. W. Blagden, D.D. The Rev. George Richards [56] 1876-1882 1878-1889 1882- 1883-19071 8 84-1 90 1 1884-1904 1888- 1 888-1 889 1889-19021890-18991890- 1 890-1 899 1894- 1894-1 899-1 900 1899-1905 1901-19051901—1903-1906 1905-1905-1907- 1909-1909- 1809-18 1 3 1813-1817 1817-18181818-1839 1 8 39-1 8 53 1853-1884 1 8 84-1 906 1906— 1 809-1 828 1828-18301830-18311831-1832 1832-1839 1839-1844 1 844-1 845 1 845-1 849 1849-1852 The Rev. Daniel Butler . 1852- 1893 The Rev. Frederick B. Allen .... 1893- Treasurers Samuel H. Walley, Esq 1809- 1811 The Hon. Peter O. Thacher 1811- 1812 John Tappan, Esq. . 1812- 1835 Henry Edwards, Esq. 1835- 1849 George R. Sampson, Esq. 1849- 1862 Charles Henry Parker, Esq. 1862- 1904 B. Preston Clark, Esq. 1904- Executive Committee The Rev. W. E. Channing, D.D. . . 1809- 1818 The Hon. Jonathan Phillips 1809- 1816 Stephen Higginson, Esq. . 1809- 1815 The Rev. F. Parkman, D.D. 1815- 1818 Edward Tuckerman, Esq. . 1816- 1830 The Rev. H. Ware, Jr., D.D. 1818- 1830 The Rev. Benjamin B. Wisner, D.D. 1821- i»35 Charles Tappan, Esq. 1830- 1840 The Rev. F. Parkman, D.D. 1832- 1835 The Rev. G. W. Blagden, D.D 1835- 1839 Henry Edwards, Esq. 1840- 1848 The Rev. George Richards 1849- i860 George R. Sampson, Esq. . 1849- 1862 The Hon. Albert Fearing . 1853- 1876 The Rev. John O. Means, D.D 1860- 1883 Charles Henry Parker, Esq. 1862- -1904 The Hon. Jacob Sleeper . 1876- -1889 The Rev. E. E. Strong, D.D. 1884- •1906 The Hon. Charles T. Russell 1888- -1889 The Rev. E. F. Slafter, D.D. 1889- ¦1906 The Rev. Frederick B. Allen 1904- P. Coggeshall Chase, Esq. 1906- The Rev. G. S. Chadbourae, D D. 1906- The Rev. DeWitt S. Clark, D.D. 1906- -1908 The Rev. Paul R. Frothingham 1906- -1908 [57] It is encouraging to know that the zeal which has broken forth on this subject is not shrinking, but rather gains strength; that sovereigns, from policy and we will hope from principle, are lending the splendour of their names and examples to the cause; that revenues, once lavished on conquest and bloodshed, are now in part con secrated to the spreading of the gospel of peace ; that great men count it an honour to be enrolled among the patrons of Bible Societies ; and that the different denominations of Christians, as if happy to find a common object, seem will ing to postpone the advancement of their peculiarities to the circulation of that authoritative book to which they all profess to bow. Whilst worldly motives may have a share in this great enterprise, we hail it as a pledge and promise of a more prosperous and peaceful state of the church, as the dawning of a brighter day, in which the knowledge of God shall fill the earth, and Christians, drinking deeply into their Master's spirit, shall "love one another with a pure heart fervently." William E. Channing, Chairman of the Executive Committee. Report 1818. [58] FORM OF BEQUEST TO THE SOCIETY I give, devise, and bequeath to the Massachusetts Bible Society, incorporated in the year eighteen hundred and ten, the sum of to be applied to the charitable uses and purposes of the Society. Applications for grants of Bibles, and questions relating to the work of the Society in the State, should be addressed to the Superintendent, Rev. C. M. Southgate, 41 Bromlield Street. Mail address, 12 Bos worth Street, Boston, Mass. Orders and remittances for books, and all donations from churches and individuals for Bible work in this State or elsewhere, should be addressed to Mr. Albert Roscoe, Manager, 41 Bromfield Street. Mail address, 12 Bosworth Street, Boston, Mass. m All contributions paid into the Treasury of the Massachusetts Bible Society will be appropriated to such specific Bible work as the donors or Trustees may direct. THOMAS TODD PRINTERBOSTON ¦WHIMHIvERSITY I 3 9002 05459 6748