Vi

SEED CORN
FORTHE WORLD

' ' APOPULAR ' •
' ILLUSTR\TED •
• RE PORT- OF' •
- THE- BRITISH -
•'6FOREIGN'- BI BLE -SOCIETY
FOR-THEYEAR
- • 1904-1905 - -

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of the Publishers

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.

Photo by Chas. Reid, Wisha

s

EED CORN FOR
THE WORLD

A POPULAR ILLUSTRATED REPORT OF THE
BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY FOR
THE YEAR 1904-5

ASSUREDLY, IN DAYS TO COME, FATED TO
GROW ON MANY A NAKED ROCK IN HITHERTO
LIFELESS LANDS, OVER WHICH THE GLANCING
SHEAVES OF IT WILL SHAKE SWEET TREASURE
OF INNOCENT GOLD Ruskin — Proserpina

THE BIBLE HOUSE
146 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET LONDON

HXvl^ 6 "7 7 7^
] O) OUZOS'

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
Except where otherwise stated ihe incidents and statistics
in ilie folloiving pages belong io last year's record. It should
be noted thai this period is reckoned io end, as regards ihe
Society's foreign work, on December ji si, 1904; and as
regards its home work, on March Z'^st, 1905.
T. H. DARLOW,
The Bible House, Literary Superintendent.
August, 1905.

CONTENTS

Proem .....
The Grain in the Granaries
The Seed-Bearers ....
Thorns, Tares, and Good Ground
Beside .\ll Waters
Thou Knowest Not How
In the Furrows of the Battlefield
The Aftermath of the Centenary
Appendix ...

19
37SI62 77
8593

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THE WORLD.

PROEM.
Speak but one word to me over ihe corn.
Over the tender, bow'd locks of the corn.
William Morris.
Few sights are more commonplace and familiar than a
field of ripe wheat : yet few are lovelier or more suggestive.
A million waving lance-heads of tawny gold, deep-dyed
with the colour of sunshine, set on a million rustling stems
which bend and rise again in every breeze — who shall tell
us how they grow ? " Fluted shaft or clustered pier, how
poor of art, beside these grass-shafts — built, first to sustain
the food of men, then to be strewn under their feet."
Husbandry must have been the earliest of the arts.
When Hesiod sang of " Works and Days," he meant by
work the primitive task of agriculture, the labour of the
ploughshare and the sickle. We vaunt ourselves vain-
gloriously over modern progress, but the mightiest inven
tions and discoveries occurred long before history was born.
The genius who first kindled a fire and the craftsman who
first fashioned a wheel have left no record of themselves on
earth — except the wheel and the fire, by which almost every

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subsequent invention became po.ssible. Who were the
primaeval fathers of agriculture ? Their name and their
race have vanished : yet no step in civilization was more
momentous than the venture which they made when they
sowed the first acre of corn. Perhaps their planting began
partly by accident, as when Robinson Crusoe scattered
some chance grains unawares. But from that far-off^ long-
forgotten day, human labour flowed into a fresh channel,
and wandering tribes settled down to till the ground, and
men have gone on year by year ploughing and sowing and
reaping that they may win their bread out of the dust. The
rippling yellow plains in Russia and Manitoba and the
Argentine still bear witness to the urgency of human
hunger^ — as did that Syrian corn-field through which Christ
walked with His disciples when they plucked the ripe ears
on a Sabbath day. How seldom we realize that mankind
has never a full year's supply of food in the storehouse.
We should starve within twelve months, were it not for
God's recurring bounty in harvest.
The Kingdom of Coi-n.
" A wheat-sack stands open in the market — you can
thrust your hand in it a foot deep, or take up a handful and
let it run back like a liquid stream, or hold it in your palm
and balance it, feeling the weight." They are not very
heavy, these little grains : but as Richard Jefferies writes,
" Wherever they are, there is empire. Could imperial
Rome have only grown sufficient wheat in Italy to have
fed her legions, Cssar would still be master ' of civilization.
Rome, with her power and glory, is a legend now : but still
the lords of the earth are they who, like Joseph in Egypt,
hold the keys of its granaries. If not so openly evident as

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in ancient times, the struggle between nations is still for
the ownership or for the control of corn. The harvest-fields
remain the battle-fields of the -world.
* * *
Scripture is full of the mingled poetry and mystery which
are involved in the miracles of seed-time and harvest.
Except a corn of wheat fall into ihe ground and die, it abideth
alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. . . . That
which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some oilier
grain ; hit God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him. . . .
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in
corruption ; it is raised in incorruption ; . . . it is sown in
weakness ; it is raised in power. . . . As we have borne ihe
image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of ihe
Juavenly. Again and again the Bible brings out the
manifold analogies between the material world and the
world of spirit — analogies which become not merely illus
trations, but actual arguments and witnesses for the un
seen ; because they depend on that deep, vital harmony
which subsists between the natural and the spiritual orders,
and reveals them both as different aspects of one endless
Life.
The Seed is the Wofd of God.
Our Lord Himself was equally at home in the Scrip
tures and in the book of Nature. He handled both
volumes as though He were One with their Author ; and
He points us repeatedly in His parables to the spiritual
lessons of sowing and reaping. We may say that He
Himself was at once the Sower and the Seed. The Word
Incarnate uttered with His own lips that word which

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is able to save men's souls. According to the normal
metaphor of the New Testament, however, the seed
stands for the Word of God. And the common dialect
of Christendom has identified that Word with Holy
Scripture. When Christian people call their Bible "the
Word of God," they are prompted by experience rather
than by mere tradition : for they are naturally thinking
about those parts of the Bible in which they have heard
God Himself speaking to their own consciences and hearts,
bringing them life, and pardon, and joy. To quote the
definition of a great modern critic, " The Word of God is
nothing less than the personal expression to us of God and
His will for our salvation. And the end and object of
Scripture are to convey to us this message of redeeming
Love, which the witness of the Spirit attests to be God's
infallible Word."
The Need for Written Records.
Archbishop Trench has forcibly argued that to possess a
permanent written record is one necessary condition of
any historic life and progress whatever in the world. If the
generations which succeed are to inherit aught from those
that went before, if each age is not to begin anew from
childish rudiments, if manhood and maturity are to be
come possible for the race, it seems plain that only thus,
only through such an instrument, could this be brought
about. When we consider how any great epoch — and
pre-eminently an epoch in which deep spiritual truths are
revealed and reasserted — is to transmit itself unimpaired
to after ages, we realize that the thing is inconceivable
apart from a written record, that is a Scripture. So also
it is only by recurrence to such witnesses as are thus
4

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secured for the form in which the truth was at first de
livered, that any serious restoration or reformation can
proceed ; only so can that which has grown old cast off
the slough of age and recover the glow and vigour of its
youth.Essential to the Church's Life.
" When the Church of the Apostolic age, with that
directly following, is pointed to us as a Church existing
without a Scripture — even as no doubt for some while the
Church did exist with a canon not full formed, but form
ing, and for a little while without any Scriptures peculiarly
its own — it is left out of sight that the question is not
whether a Church could so exist, but whether it could
subsist, not whether it could be, but whether it could
continue to be. That for a while, under rare combinations
of favourable circumstances, with living witnesses and fresh
memories of the Lord's life and death in the midst of it,
a Christian Church without any actual writings of its new
Covenant could have existed, is one thing ; and another,
whether it could so have survived through long ages;
whether without them it could have kept ever before its
eyes any clear and distinct image of Him that was its
Founder, or stamped any lively impress of Him on the
hearts of its children. No ; that it possesses a Scripture
is surely no happy accident of the Church ; but if the
wonders of the Church's first beginning were not to re
peat themselves continually, if it was at all to know a
natural evolution in the world ; then, so far as we can see,
this was a necessary condition of its very subsistence." '
Nevertheless, when we affirm this, we are very far from
' Archbishop Trench, Huliean Lectwes, 1845, PP- 16, 17.
5

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implying that Scripture is the sole and all-sufficient gift
which Christ has bequeathed to men. He has perpetuated
Himself on earth by His Spirit and through His Church.
We misconceive of the Bible unless we think of it in the
hands of the fellowship of the faithful, who, as they read
its pages, are enlightened and instructed by the indwelling
grace of God. In a most vital and profound sense the
Church is a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ. The final
commentary which interprets the Scriptures is the collective
experience of the saints who have gone to this Book for
their daily bread.
In truth God's Book lies very close to the hearts of
faithful Christians. There, as nowhere else, we have found
ourselves face to face with Him who is the Restorer of
the lost, the Absolver of the guilty, the Resurrection and
the Life of the dead. There we have heard His voice as
the sound of many waters, and we know that none other
than God Himself is able to speak suph words to our souls.
And so we need no arguments to convince us that Chris
tianity and the Bible are meant to live in the closest union,
and that to divorce them is a disaster and a calamity. We
are persuaded that no enterprise can be more thoroughly
and entirely Christian than the attempt to supply each
man who can read with the New Testament in his own
tongue For after all has been said which needs to be said
by way of qualification and abatement, we dare not forget
the ultimate truth — that the seed is the Word of God,
and not the comments and interpretations of men. The
spiritual germ, which can quicken and nourish and trans
form humanity, resides in that Gospel of redeeming Love
which is itself the essential message and content of Holy
Scripture. 6

l-,-„m the LlJiingby

Hutct :mi Hcrkomcr. R..4,

Vv'ORDS OF COMFORT.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
The Steward of modern Christendom,
One characteristic outcome of complex life is what
naturalists describe as " the specialization of functions."
During these last hundred years of Christian progress at
home and abroad there has grown up in the economy of
Providence a great institution whose privilege it is to
act as the steward of modern Christendom in trans
lating and distributing the Scriptures. It exists for one
sole and supreme object. It leaves all questions of inter
pretation and criticism and comment to be dealt with by
recognised and appointed teachers, while it labours with a
single eye to place this Book which all men need in the
hands of each man who is willing to receive it. The
British and Foreign Bible Society co-operates with its
sister and daughter organizations in other lands — in Scot
land and Ireland, for instance, and on the Continent and
in the United States ; but it realizes with a sense of deep
responsibility that each year it sends out more copies
of the Scriptures than all other kindred institutions com
bined. The echoes have hardly ceased of that world
wide Centenary thanksgiving, at which the rulers and
ecclesiastics of the greatest nations on earth combined to
pay homage to the Society's achievements, and to recog
nize the unique position which it holds to-day as a servant
of the Church of God. The chapters which follow will
present a series of pictures drawn from the record of the
Bible Society's multifarious service at home and abroad
during the past year.

THE GRAIN IN THE GRANARIES.
Use godly means, and give God His leisure.
Dr. Donne.
No power which God has bestowed upon men is more
wonderful and mysterious than the power of speech. As
the late Master of Balliol pointed out, it is one of the
simplest natural operations, and also one of the most com
plex. " Nothing would seem to be easier or more trivial
than a few words uttered by a child. Yet into the forma
tion of those words have entered causes which the human
mind is not capable of calculating. They are a drop or
two in the great stream or ocean of speech which has
been flowing in all ages. They have been transmitted
from one language to another : like the child himself, they
go back to the beginnings of the human race." '
It may be said again that speech is not so much a
separate faculty as the combined expression of all our
faculties, aided by looks and signs and gestures. And
language po.ssesses this dual quality — that it is really the
joint operation and product of speaker and hearer. It
involves in him who speaks a power not only of expressing
his own thoughts, but ot understanding the thoughts of
those who listen. The words he utters must be such as
meet with a response in his hearers. And thus a common

' Jowett's Dialogues of Plato. Cratylus, Introduction.
8

SEED CORN IFOR THE WOULD.
speech becomes the great symbol and expression of human
fellowship. Perhaps one reason why we generally call the'
beasts dumb is that " in animals there is a lack of that
sympathy with one another which appears to be the soul of
language." '
The Vehicle of the Gospel.
This consideration suggests to us what is really the
root-difficulty in every translation from one language into
another. For a difference in speech corresponds to an
unlikeness in ideas and sympathies ; it implies a gulf of
inward division which it is the translator's task to bridge
over. And his task becomes supremely difficult when he
has to render the Gospel so that it can speak clearly in
their own tongue to men who never heard it before. By
the ordering of God's Providence, when the Bible first
began to pass out into the world beyond Palestine, a
wonderful language was waiting ready at hand which it
could appropriate and utilize. Even in the decadence of
classical Greek there was no other speech on earth at once
so widely spoken and so perfect and flexible an instrument
for expressing human thought, as this speech in which the
loftiest philosophers had reasoned and the noblest poets
had sung. Every language in its essence consists of ideas
and feelings permanently fixing and embodying them
selves ; and thus it marks, by its very resources, how far.
the conquests of spirit have advanced. So we may praise
God because Greek was the predestined vehicle in which
the Gospel originally went forth upon its mission to all
peoples and tongues. It was indeed " an infinite mercy —
yea, a very primal necessity, that the Truth, where it first;
took body and sha;pe, should find, as regarded Language,
.9. B

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
vessels prepared for its new wine and only waiting for a
higher consecration."
Blanks in a Vocabulary.
Grievous and well-nigh insurmountable have been the
hindrances opposed to God's message by languages im
poverished of each noble and deeper element, so that the
Gospel must weave for itself the very garments in which it
could array itself and imperil the treasures it sought to
impart. Consider, for example, the language of the
Mosquito Indians, on the Atlantic seaboard of Nicaragua,
in which the Bible Society has just aided the Moravian
missionaries to publish for the first time a complete New
Testament. Turning over its pages, we observe at once
a number of English words, introduced because no equiva
lents for them exist in Mosquito. God, king, priest,
prophet, angel, devil, heaven, holy, married — these are
surely suggestive terms as necessary additions to a
language which did not possess them. What an immense
moral and spiritual blank is implied by such strange gaps
in a vocabulary ! We examine again, and we find that
other Christian ideas have been expressed in Mosquito by
phrases or circumlocutions coined expressly for that pur
pose. For instance, these Indians had originally no proper
word for sin : the word now used by the missionaries is
saura, which means " bad in any respect " — e.g., " bad to
eat " ; while another term sometimes employed for sin is
wattaui, which means literally "out-of-the-way" — the
original and derivative sense- of our word transgression.
Though the Indians are not blessed with a naturally
forgiving spirit, they have learned a phrase for " to forgive,"
¦which signifies "to take a man's fault all out of your
IO

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heart " 1 God's mercy is spoken of in this fashion : " The
law of God's white heart." Christianity must be credited
with the birth of such combinations, which by their very
form and phrasing illuminate the trials of pioneer teachers
and translators among savage tribes.
The Training of a Translator.
At Livingstonia, on Lake Nyassa, the Rev. D. Craw
ford, of the United Free Church of Scotland Mission, re
cently completed his translation of the New Testament in
Luba, and the book is being printed by the National Bible
Society of Scotland. To reduce this language to writing,
Mr. Crawford says, " I spent fifteen years of happy work,
trudging all over the land in my kilt, with eager ears
and ubiquitous note-book, if perchance Christ might sub
jugate to Himself one more language of the world's Babel."
During those years he has spared no pains to qualify
himself for making an eminently idiomatic version, en
during hardships patiently in native huts, scorning delights
and living laborious days, if by any means he might pick
up some new word, phrase, or turn of expression. On
one occasion, as he quaintly puts it, he parted with his
last two yards of calico in exchange for a verb !
It is curious to find that in this language the noun
" word " means literally " conqueror." The Luba people
say that a king has no need to wield a weapon of war ;
he speaks the word only, and his will is done. And so
the phrase " Word of God " in Luba means " Conqueror
of God," and the etymology of these barbarous folk utters
an omen of the victory of the Gospel.

II

SEED CORN FOR THfc WORLD.
The "Term" Question in China.
But it is not merely among savage tribes that trans
lation bristles with problems. Revision and re-revision
are demanded everywhere, if the Gospel is to utter its good
news as clearly and sweetly as possible in human ears.
Consider one example, from the oldest civilization and
the greatest missionfield in the world. Nearly a century
has passed since Morrison took his life in his hand and
ventured into China as the pioneer of Protestant rnissions.
Since that day the work of rendering the Scriptures into
Chinese has been carried on with ceaseless patience and
perseverance. Yet it is still undecided what are the cor
rect Chinese equivalents for such Christian key-words as
" God " and " Spirit." But the difficulty had arisen long
before Morrison. In The Ring and tlie Book, our most
learned modern English poet has put into the mouth of
Pope Innocent XII., more than two centuries ago, a sar
donic reference to the quarrel even then raging between
Jesuits and Dominicans in China over the proper word
which their native converts should use as the name for God.
News comes, indeed, that there is at last some prospect
of reaching a general agreement on this vexed and thorny
question. The Bible Society has been no partizan in the
long controversy. It has been guided by the great majority
of its missionary friends in China. The compromise that
is now suggested may necessitate the remaking of stereos
for all the Society's Chinese editions ; but we shall wel
come the proposed change if thereby the questioji is'
finally settled. In each language the. Bible Society does
its utmost to promote and supply one common version of-
the Scriptures, which, as far as possible, all Christians can
accept.

*.. /

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Versions in 390 Languag'es.
Yet in spite of all obstacles and difficulties, this great
work goes forward continually. Two years ago the number
of different languages and dialects in which the translation,
printing, and distribution of the Scriptures had been pro
moted by the Bible Society stood at 370 ; a year ago it
had risen to 378 ; it now stands at 390. This total includes
at least one book of Scripture in 196 languages, at least
the New Testament in 94 more, and the complete Bible
in 100 more.
Outside these 390 languages enumerated in the Society's
historical table, some part of the Scriptures has also been
issued from other sources in at least 60 tongues besides —
making a grand total of at least 450 distinct forms of
human speech in which some part of the Bible has now
been printed and published.
Twelve New Languages.
During this last year a dozen new names have been added
to the Society's list. Six of these belong to Africa, three
to Oceania, two to Asia, and one to Central America.
P'or North Africa a version of St. Luke, St. John,
and the Acts is being printed in the Colloquial Arabic
spoken in Algeria ; while St. John's Gospel will soon be
issued in Susieh, the. speech of a Berber tribe in South
Morocco. For dwellers on the Upper Nile, St. Luke's Gospel is
being printed in the language of the Dinkas, a powerful
pagan tribe living on both banks of the White Nile in
the Southern Sudan. This untaught and unclothed race
inhabits the district which borders on Fashoda. We have
hope that the Dinka St. Luke will prove of service to
T3

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the missions, both British and American, to which Lord
Cromer recently allotted spheres of action in these regions.
Still further south along the Nile, St. Mark's Gospel is
now printed in Gang, or Acholi, translated by the C.M.S.
missionaries who have opened a station in the Acholi
country from their base in Uganda.
In the Equatorial East African territories of Great
Britain and of Germany are found many thousands of the
Masai, a once-dreaded raiding tribe, who are gradually
settling down into agriculture. Their language has been
reduced to writing, brought under the yoke of grammar,
and made to express the Gospel according to St. Mark.
In South Africa, the Rev. G. C. H. Reed, of the L.M.S.,
has translated St. Matthew's Gospel into Kalana, the
language of a Bantu race among whom he has laboured
with signal success. Their principal home lies south of
Bulawayo, within sight of the purple range of the Matop-
pos which guard the lonely grave of Cecil Rhodes.
St. Luke's Gospel has been published in the Mukawa
language, spoken by a large tribe living at Cape Vogel,
British New Guinea, which has been evangelized by the
New Guinea Anglican Mission. For the New Hebrides,
St. Matthew and three of the Prophets have been pub
lished in Santo Bay, a language spoken on the island of
Espiritu Santo ; while two Old Testament books have been
printed in Tafasao, translated by the venerable Dr. John G.
Paton. In the lofty borderlands of North- West India, St. Mat
thew's Gospel has been issued in Balti, which is akin to
Tibetan, for a race of Moslem mountaineers, whose head
quarters are in Pakistan, a rugged tract lying immediately
to the north of the Happy Valley of Kashmir and con-
•4

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taining some of the highest snow-peaks in the world.
In Brahui, a tentative version of the early chapters of
St. John has been lithographed for a tribe in Balochistan.
Finally, for Central America, the complete New Testa
ment has been published in the speech of the Mosquito
Indians, on the eastern coast of Nicaragua, at the joint
expense of the Moravian Mission and the Bible Society.
Other Additions.
Of fresh books added during 1904-5 to translations
begun in previous years, only a few examples can be
quoted here. The cofliptete New Testament has been
issued in Swatom, a " Colloquial " spoken by over five
millions in Southern China ; and also in Nyoro for the
people of King Daudi Kasagama, in the heart of Central
Africa, under the shadow of the great snow mountains
which feed the sources of the Nile. The Psalter has been
given to the Slovaks of North- West Hungary ; the Psalms
and the Book of Daniel have been printed in Kienning for
Eastern China ; Genesis and Exodus have been printed in
Tibetan ; and a second Gospel has gone forth in faunsari
for hillmen to the south-east of Simla. For dwellers east
of the River Paraguay, in South America, St. Luke is being
provided as a diglot in Gudrani and Spanish.
Transliterations. In other cases an existing translation has been printed
in a second set of characters, so as to make it serviceable
for new readers. Thus the publication in Arabic letters of
St. Mark in Mandingo and St. Luke in Kabyli makes
these Gospels available for those who can read only this
character ; while St. John in Hausa, which was already
IS

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
published in Arabic, now appears also in Roman letters.
JFor thousands of emigrants from Central Europe to the
United States and to Canada, the Lithuanian Psalms have
been transliterated from Gothic into Roman characters,
and St. Matthew in Ruthen has been published as a diglot
with English.
Revisions. Space would fail to enumerate the many great revisions
on hand. Let it suffice to mention two only of the chief
The final revision of the New Testament has been com
pleted in Urdu, or Hindostani, which is the lingua franca
of Northern India. The first revision is now finished of
the Union Version of the New Testament in Mandarin — •
the form of Chinese which appeals to more than 200,ooo,oco
human beings, and may be called the real Vulgate, or com
mon version, of China.
A New Home Price List.
From the end of March, 1905, the Society's catalogue
of English and Welsh Scriptures has been superseded by
an entirely new list. This contains a description of 390
different English, and 78 Welsh, editions and bindings —
published at .all prices from ^d. to £2. The Society's
business has at the same time been thrown open to the
book trade generally — a modification which will bring the
Society into line with the conditions of modern commerce,
and, we believe, will lead to an increased home and colonial
circulation. Whilst revising the prices of the better-bound
books, the cheap editions which the Society circulates as
part of its Home Mission work will still be published under
cost price. 16

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
.Publication Abroad.
It is generally found both economical and expedient
that most of our books which circulate in foreign countries
should be printed abroad. Thus, for example, our Central
European Agency is a great publishing centre. Nearly
300 different editions are produced in Berlin, Leipzig,
Munich, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Bucharest.
During last year a total of 1,014,198 copies in eighteen
different languages left the presses employed by the
Society in these cities.
Our new Catalogue of Scriptures in Chinese, which has
been issued this year from the Bible House at Shanghai,
is a remarkable document. Its price list enumerates 385
distinct forms of Bibles, Testaments, and separate Scrip
ture Portions, all varying in type, paper, binding, etc., and
all in the language and dialects of China. They range in
price from ^d. to £1.
It is impossible for most of us to form any adequate
conception of what such facts and figures imply : an ardent
Christian writer^ has drawn out their meaning and their
moral. " A dark awe comes over one, to think of a tongue spoken by
civilized and populous nations, continually uttering men's cares,
agitations, and joys ; as continually instilling doctrines, principles,
facts ; but dumb, wholly and for ages dumb, as to any sanctifying
truth, any saving message. Blessed be God, it is so no longer !
It is eloquent now with every truth of that religion which is rich
enough in holiness to make even a Hindu pure ; rich enough in
love to melt the chains of centuries, and fuse all castes into
brotherhood ; rich enough in consolation to heal the coundess
sorrows that follow strange gods. I cannot utter, nor yet repress.

Rev. William Arthur, A Mission io the Mysore, pp. 129, 130.
17

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the veneration with which such a boon to mankind inspires me.
He that benefits his species is greater than he that pleases or
astounds them. But to be the benefactor of millions, and that
to the end of time, is a dignity conferred on few. Let others pay
their honours where they will : the profoundest reverence, the
liveliest thanks I may offer to a creature, shall be reserved from
genius, grandeur, heroism, but cheerfully rendered to him by
whose godly toil a wide-spoken tongue is first made to utter the
words whereby my Redeemer may be known, my fellow-sinners
may be saved. The deed is too vast for the chronicles of earth,
too pure for the praise of men. Every letter of its record will be
a regenerated soul ; every stone of its testimonial a redeemed
family ; every note of its paean an angel's joy. He who can
pursue the sunbeams, and trace, without one omission, every
lineament of beauty they pencil on tree and flower and living
thing, may tell the blessings that accrue when the light of life is
flung on the pathway of millions, whom the darkness bewildered
and destroyed."

THE SEED-BEARERS.
Love soweth here with toil and care, But the harvest-time of love
is there. — Southey : The Cuuse of Kehama.
Beyond the translation, revision, and publication of the
Scriptures, there remains the costly and complicated task
of distributing them throughout the world, so that every
man who can read shall be able to obtain a copy of the
Gospel in the language in which he can most easily read it,
and at a price which even the poorest can afford to pay.
Towards the attainment of this ideal the Society maintains
its own depots, which supply the Scriptures to all comers,
in more than a hundred of the chief cities in foreign lands.
For the Foreign Mission Field.
In non- Christian countries, the missionaries of every
Reformed communion are provided with the vernacular
Scriptures which they need for their work, obtaining the
books on terms which practically involve no expense to
the boards of their own missions.
One or two recent examples will illustrate this vital department
of the Society's service. Before the close of last year the revised
Telugu Bible was published in a volume of 1,354 pages, royal Svo.
To print and bind each copy costs the Society JRs. 5 ( = 6s. 8d.).
These Bibles are being sold at Rs. 2 ( = 2s. 8d ) among the twenty
millions of our fellow-subjects in South India who speak Telugu.
Since the beginning of this present year 10,000 J/a/a^aK Bibles,
5,000 New Testaments, and 10,000 copies of St. Luke's Gospel
19

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
have been granted to Missions in Madagascar. A Malagasi Bible
of fair size and clear print can be purchased in the island for is.,
but its total cost to the Society is more than as. The Malagasi
New Testament is sold at 4d., though it cannot cost the Society
less than 8d. During his visit to England in 1904, Dr, King,
the Anglican Bishop of Madagascar, attended a meeting of the
Committee at the Bible House, in order that he might " thank
the representatives of the Bible Society for the splendid vernacular
Bible which the people of Madagascar have the privilege of using.
My own Mission (the S.P.G.) tries to persuade the people to pur
chase the Scriptures, in accordance with the principle of the Bible
Society, so that they may draw from the waters of knowledge
which flow from the inspired Word. The Society's Malagasi ver
sion is of the utmost importance in aiding the missionaries in
their work of evangelizing the people of Madagascar.''
In the heart of Central Africa, where the C.M.S. Uganda Mission
has achieved such wonderful success, the Bible Society supplies
all the Scriptures asked for in JVyoro and Masaba, as well as in
Ganda, having published and sent out in the last-named language
over 200,000 copies. Writing from Uganda in January, 1905, the
Rev. W. B. Gill, of the C.M.S., says : " Here the Bible is a mighty
force ; it is the foundation of all the teaching in this country.
The Baganda show it in their conversation and in their letters ;
they are being literally steeped in God's Word. The great ambi
tion of each and every Baganda who can read is to be thiS happy
possessor of this, the 'one' Book. God's Word is having free
course and is being glorified."
Mr. Walter C. Taylor, of the China Inland Mission, describes
how nearly 9,000 copies of the Scriptures were circulated last year
from our sub-depot at Wanhsien, which he most kindly supervises.
He adds : " Every facility is offered by the B.F.B.S. to missionaries
in East Szechuan. . . . The Scriptures are sent, coolie hire and
packing paid, by the Society, and for colportage help they also
make special grants. It seems that all they can do they have
done. It only remains for. the missionary to say what he is
wanting.", i ¦

SEED CORn tOR THE WORLD.
The relation between Christian missionaries and the
Bible Society has always been a partnership of the happiest
and most intimate kind. They furnish its chief translators
and revisers, and they help to distribute the books which it
most gladly and freely supplies.
The Colporteur.
To supplement and co-operate with' agencies like these,
and to carry God's Book into the countless villages and
rural townships where the great masses of mankind have
their homes, the Bible Society selects, maintains, and
supervises a small army of Christian colporteurs. As a
rule, these wayfaring Biblesellers are natives of the country
where they travel. They have learnt to love the Gospel
which they sell from ¦ door to door, and in simple, racy,
homely speech they know how to commend it to their
fellow-countrymen. They are recruited from many dif
ferent communions. In Russia, for instance, most of our
colporteurs are members of the Orthodox Church, and one
of them was 'ordained last year by the Archbishop of Penza
and appointed to a country parish. But in all cases they
have definite instructions to avoid religious disputes, and
in Christian lands it is very far from being their business to
make proselytes. The " Bible-messenger," as the Germans
call him, is not a preacher or a controversialist, but first'
and foremost a bearer of the precious seed. Our reports
supply proof after proof of the tact and shrewdness, the
patience and devotion, with which these humble men piirsue
their calling along the highways and'byways of the world.
There are few regions, indeed, where the, Society's' col
porteurs fail to penetrate. If our eyes could trade ' them-
as they wander, vve should see them- busy arhcfng -the rice-'

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
fields of India, and along the waterways of China, as well
as in the crowded harbours and the lonely hamlets of
Europe. We should follow their steps across the Canadian
prairies and through the Australian bush, and beside the
great African lakes. We should watch them sheltering in
native huts on the snowy defiles of the Andes, and thread
ing their path under trails of purple" orchids through the
forests of Brazil. The motto of colportage is : Everywhere
and Everybody. And for multitudes of people their sole
opportunity of coming into contact with the Gospel is
through the Bible-seller and his books. After a colporteur
in France had spoken to a cluster of humble folk, they all
assured him : " This is the first time we have heard about
the love of God."
During 1904 the Bible Society employed 950 of these
colporteurs, at a cost of abotlt ;£'45,ooo. More than half of
them were at work in India and China. They sold last
year over 2,270,000 copies of the Scriptures — a total far
above all previous^ records. In fact, of every five books
issued by the Society, two are distributed by their agency.
Huge figures like these, however, convey little meaning to
the imagination. Let us try to realize what the life and
service of our colporteurs actually involve, by the aid of a
few pictures drawn from the log-books and diaries of their
experiences.The Hardships of Bibleselling.
To carry the New Testament everywhere with earnest
insistence involves no small amount of physical hardship,
and even danger. Quite apart from religious and ecclesi
astical hostility, which we speak of elsewhere, our colpor
teurs must often penetrate where few follow them, and
22

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endure privations which few of us who sit at home can
so much as understand. As soon as winter begins the
Russian colporteur travels by sledge, so that he may visit
places not easily reached in summer, and may be sure of
getting hold of the people. But, as our agent at St.
Petersburg remarks, this work in winter involves exposure
in a temperature as low as o" Fahrenheit, and the man
who continues it year after year runs serious risk of being
crippled by rheumatism. On the other hand, in the burn
ing Sudan, south of Khartum, our colporteur suffered from
fever, and was many times in peril from wild beasts. In
the Republic of Paraguay the Bibleman found himself
entangled unawares in an insurrection, so that he was
forced to leave his books and take flight in a canoe ; after
being captured by revolutionists, he finally escaped by
shipping in a very humble capacity on a steamer. From
South Malaysia one man writes : " I am now enjoying a
semi-nomadic-aquatic existence, spending half my time in
a bullock-cart and half in a boat. I have not seen an
Englishman for the last three months, and probably shall
not see one for the next six." Another writes : " All the
time I was selling Scriptures in the market-place at
Padang Pandjang, showers of fine cinders fell around me
from a volcanic eruption."
Cholera and Leprosy.
Mr. W. H. Williams, one of our sub-agents describes
an experience in Sumatra :
"After caUing at neady every house in Medan, I went up
country to a place called Tebing Tinggi, where I was offered a
bed, on which I found on making enquiries that a man had just
died of cholera. Finally I obtained permission to sleep for three
23

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nights on the verandah of a Malay hut, and when I left my
board and lodgings cost as much as if I had stayed in a hotel
However, in three days I sold 700 books. At this town I saw
lepers sleeping in the market-place on the tables where next
morning meat would be sold, and the tables apparently were
never washed, so I most carefully abstained from meat."
Chinese Roads and Coffins.
Returning from a trip up the Yellow River, on which he
and his helper sold 7,700 books, Mr. Alfred Copp writes :
" We took to carts again, and the roads we passed over for the
next eight days grew worse and worse. On the last day my
cart upset, landing me in ankle-deep mud. I was thankful to
escape without being crushed. To travel in a cart, over the
roads in Honan and South Chihli a man needs bones made of
steel, or a body encased in thick indiarubber. The inns we
stayed in were little better than the roads, for the flat roofs leaked
at a great rate; and we saw scores of houses that had fallen
down as a result of the heavy rains. One night we took refuge
in a temple among the idols; two of us slept on coffins, and I
myself on a coffin-lid."
By Mountain and Forest.
From the Andes, Mr. Derry's journal gives vivid glimpses
of his ride from Guayaquil to Quito :
" February is considered the worst month of the year for cholera
in Guayaquil. The slate of the streets, and the noxious odours
when the water in the pools and ditches begin to thicken and dry
up under the unscreened rays of the sun, create such malaria
and ' Yellow Jack ' as would give pause to the most fearless
Bible-seller. " We set out to ride up the mountain paths, which are cut into
ridges and furrows for foothold. These ditches across the path
have now become holes brimming with liquid mud, into, which
the, legs of the mules splash. Now and again we come to bottoms
through which our animals flounder up to the girths in mire. A
24

A DESCENDANT OF THE INCAS.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLDi
drizzling rain is falling. At the wayside choza (hut) we snatch a
hasty breakfast of Indian fare, and sell a Testament and some
Gospels. Away from cities in remote corners like this the curas
cease from troubling, and the people are keen to hear us and to
buy our books. Still climbing a chilly wind-blown rain searches
out every crevice of our insufficient armour. We thread endless
avenues of dank and moss grown forest, ferny and gloomy and
fantastic enough for Dor6. The road narrows to a deep and
winding ditch. My horse all but backs into a startling gulf, but
I catch one glimpse down this sheer wall, and spur him forward
with a leap. At night we put up at an Indian hut, and stretch
our camp bedsteads in an open maize-loft overhead. The acrid
reek of the firewood from below fills our dormitory with a choking
fog. We dine and sup at the same time on boiled maize and
gritty milk, served out of unwashed pottery by a grimy Indian
dame. " Arriving at Azogues we find a kindly landlord, but I retire to
bed with malaria, so that my last four nights may be summed up
in the words — fog, frost, fleas, and fever."
Camping Out.
In Argentina in the month of May, when the nights
begin to be cold. Colporteur Ysseldyk was obliged to lie
down in the open air, having only z. poncho to cover himself
with. The next day God grants him much success in the
work ; after which he spends that night on a heap of hay.
Again, in the depth of winter, and on a rainy night, he
finds no better bed than some railway sleepers. Never
theless, during the year, he sold 4,479 volumes.
Enduring Hardness.
Rev. J. Robinson, of the Methodist New Connexion
Mission in China, who superintends a number of our
Chinese colporteurs in Tientsin and the surrounding dis
tricts, writes ; 25 c

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
" It is a privilege and pleasure to testify to their untiring zeal
and energy. I regard them as co-workers of no mean order in
the evangelization of China, and esteem them both for their work's
sake and the fidelity and conscientiousness which they put into it.
I have watched these men in all weathers; in the frost and snows
of winter, in the keen searching winds of spring, in the scorching
heat of summer, and in the pelting rains of autumn, but no com
plaint ot hardship has ever reached me from any of them. I have
seen some of them return to their station and their lodgings
drenched to the skin, their clothes bespattered with mud, and
their shoes looking a mere pulp, and when I have expressed sym
pathy for their distressed condition have invariably met with the
reply, Puh nai till shih i shang kuai kan liao — ' This is nothing ;
my clothes will soon diy.' Special mention must again be made
of our indefatigable friend and brother Mr. Chen, of Tientsin.
Scarcely a Sunday passes but he introduces some new inquirer
after the truth. Mr. Chen's usefulness has been a benediction
to our own Church in Tientsin.''
As we turn the pages of the colporteur's journals, we
come upon many a flash of native sagacity and sanctified
common-sense. Leaven in the Meal.
At a French farmhouse colporteur Roland found three women
kneading dough. " You come at the wrong time," they said.
"We have more than twenty loaves to put in the oven." "Well,
isn't it curious," replied he, " that bread should be made to-day
exactly as it was made two thousand years ago ? " " How do you
know ? " " Don't you remember what Christ told us ? ' The
kingdom of God is like unto leaven, which a woman took. . . .'
I suppose you still use leaven ? " Their attention was gained, and
very soon a Gospel was sold.
Who made your Bicycle?
Colporteur Negri in Buenos Ayres met a sceptic who declared
the Bible to be a tissue of lies ; the creation of the world, for
instance, was nonsense; everything that now exists is the product
26

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
of nature. As the man had a bicycle, Negri asked him if his
bicycle too was made by nature. " What a question ! A bicycle
is a work of science." " Do you then beHeve, my friend, that it is
more difficult to make a bicycle than to make a world like ours
with all its wonders ? Would it not be wiser to say that the
world must have been made by a much greater science ? "
** Render to God what is God's."
" In these times of pohtical and religious agitation," writes our
Bible-seller at Marseilles, " I am much cross-questioned. What
are you ? Who sends you 1 "My opinions,'' I answer, " you will
find all in this Book. Listen to what Jesus Christ says : Give io
CcBsar what is CcBsar's, and to God what is God's. Have you
given God what is His — and what ? Your heart, your time, your
life ? " Then the conversation becomes personal, and invidious
controversies are avoided.
God's Journal.
Colporteur Yousef, who is by birth a Nazarene, describes
his experiences at Alexandria among all sorts and con
ditions of men.
" ' What is this ? ' said a man to whom I offered a Testament.
' This is the Injil,' said I. ' Oh, it is full of untruths,' he replied,
with a shrug of his shoulders. ' Who told thee so ? ' I inquired.
' My conscience,' said he. ' Sir, thou sayest what thou knowest
to be against thy conscience, for it beareth witness to the truth of
the Book.' 'I believe thee not,' said he. 'Tell me, dost thou
believe all things that are written in the journals about the war? '
'There is no doubt about that news,' he replied. 'Even so,' said
I, ' with this Book, which is God's journal, announcing to us His
love and His power to save us from the enemy of our souls.'
Then said he, ' Though I believe not all thou has spoken, yet for
thy sake I will buy this Injil.' "
On Strike.
"In February, 1904, when the stevedores' strike at Buenos
Ayres was at its height, colporteur Rohrsetzer went into their.
27

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
club, where some thirty of them were gathered — mostly free
thinkers — and offered them his books. ' Away with the Bible ! '
they shouted. But, instead of leaving them alone, the col
porteur began to talk, and little by little they came to like it,
and listened with great attention for more than half an hour,
after which their leader said, ' Your ideas are mine too ; come
and speak to us again, and in the meantime we will buy some of
your Bibles.'"
A Gipsy Encampment in Prussia.
Colporteur Groth was tramping through a forest from
one village to another, when he suddenly lighted on a
gipsy encampment deep in its recesses. With his bag of
books — a sort of West Prussian George Borrow — he ap
proached them, and began to tell these half-wild denizens
of the wood the wondrous tale of Jesus as the Saviour of
sinners. The gipsies grouped themselves picturesquely
about him, and listened eagerly to his words. Their
swarthy, black -eyed children playing around were silenced
by the elders, and all was still. When Groth had finished
speaking they bought his stock of Testaments, and the
colporteur went on his way rejoicing that even these wan
derers were hungering after the Bread of Life.
He Gave Up his Newspaper.
" The Bible ! What's the.- good of the Bible?" asked a
cavalry man, jestingly, as he was arranging the trappings
of his; horse at the barrack entrance at Tudela, in Navarre.
The colporteur answered that for one thing it could show a
guilty conscience how to find peace, and went on to
enumerate the qualities of the Scriptures. The soldier
suddenly changed his tone, handled one of the volumes,
and then said, " I haven't any money ; but I'll tell you
28

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
what — I'm going to stop my newspaper for so many days
till I save enough to pay for this Book."
In Camp at Capua.
During the Italian artillery manoeuvres last autumn at
Capua — how that name recalls the story of Hannibal and
the Punic war — two of our colporteurs had marked success.
Though it is absolutely forbidden to sell books to troops
in the barracks and on the drilling grounds, the officers
made an exception in favour of our men, so that they were
free to go in and out amongst the soldiers. Some officers
even encouraged the soldiers to buy the Bible, saying that
they themselves were reading it.
At Gaeta, the naval fortress, where a large Italian fleet
assembled last September for naval manoeuvres, an officer
also helped our colporteurs considerably, testifying from
his own experience to the value of the Book they sold.
Taranto — the ancient Tarentum, where Pyrrhus landed
to win his futile victories over the Romans — is now the
second naval arsenal and dockyard in Italy. Colporteur
Salerno, who is stationed here, writes : " When I go out
of town to visit the province, friends in the Royal Arsenal
continue my work for me there and sell the Scriptures
amongst their comrades."
Far and Near.
The reports abound with picturesque glimpses of the
colporteur's figure framed in many a variegated setting, yet
always offering the one Book. He carries it to peasants on
the fir-clad hills of the Black Forest; to sergeants and
guards at the Royal Palaces of Spain ; to those Waldensian
valleys where the Bible is still the Book of the people ; to
29

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
woodmen, floating down Russian rivers on rafts of the
timber which they have felled ; to the gold and platinum
miners of the Ural Mountains ; to German garrisons
quartered along the Alsatian frontier ; to navvies at
Chamonix excavating for the new tunnel under Mont
Blanc. Last year i,ooo New Testaments were sold in
and around Venice, and 5, ooo copies of the Scriptures
in the streets of Constantinople.
Further afield we find the colporteur sowing the good
seed among the benighted peoples in the wide river-plains
of the Tigris and Euphrates where human civilization was
cradled, visiting the Moslem shrines of both Sunnis and
Shia'hs, carrying his books to the Bdbis in Persia, and to
the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers, on the edge of the desert.
In Transcaspia.
Beyond the Caspian the Russian railway runs for i,6oo
miles into the steppes and table-lands of Central Asia, and
beyond the limit of this railway the Bible Society has a
colporteur, who makes his headquarters at Vernoy and
travels almost constantly with a horse and cart. He says
that in his weary wanderings he is sometimes encouraged
by the good-will and help of Russian priests and Govern
ment officials, but that he has to struggle against a dull
indifference in the people of these remote regions.
In Chinese Central Asia.
We have extended our efforts even beyond the field of
this distant colporteur. From Andizhan, the railway ter
minus, the traveller proceeds by caravan to Kashgar, in
Chinese Central Asia, where the Swedish missionaries have
a station and are supplied by the Society with Gospels
30

GOLD MINERS IN THE URALS.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
in Kashgar-Turki for the Muhammadan Tatars. But the
population of Kashgar is Chinese as well; and accordingly
we have dispatched there by the same long railway and
caravan route a small stock of Chinese Scriptures ; while a
Chinese colporteur is being supervised for the Society by
the Swedish Mission in Kashgar.
Going eastwards from Kashgar we find in Mongolia the
Society's sub-agent, Mr. F. A. Larson, who on one of his
journeys last year travelled in five months i,8oo miles
across these immense plains, where nearly 4,000,000 nomad
Mongols wander with their tents and herds, and where at
present four Scandinavian missionaries are the only other
Christian workers.
Strange Currency.
As may be imagined, the Scriptures are often paid for
in strange currency. In Mongolia Gospels are exchanged
for silk scarves and cheese. In Uganda the colporteur
takes payment in cowry-shells. In Central America Mr.
Castells has found most of the Indians willing to pay for
the books — in coin when they have it, and where there
is no coin they offer payment in kind ; he has accepted
eggs, starch, cocoa-beans, fowls, logwood, firewood, and
sundry other oddments in exchange for the Gospels, which
are offered at a very low price — a Gospel which costs the
Society 2^d. to produce being sold for a trifle over a far
thing. During two journeys in Northern Morocco our sub-
agent accepted, besides coin, the following articles in return
for Scriptures : barley, eggs, chickens, butter, straw, melons,
milk, and bread.
" I am poor, I have no money," cried a Filipino who had
heard of the New Testament; then, with a quickness of
31

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
thought and speech ha.stened by intensity of purpose,
" Can't I be your cargador (carrier) to the next town, and
so earn the price of a book ? " The impassioned request
was readily granted.
Weighed down by Copper.
A sub-agent in China writes : "We returned to Szechuan after
two months' quick travelling, having visited more than 150 towns
and villages of Yunnan, covering a distance of about 1,600
miles. Everywhere the people were friendly. In some places the
Mandarins sent men to help in keeping the crowds orderly as
they surged round us out of curiosity. At Skyiianwei we were
busy for a long time handing out books, receiving cash and
preaching. We exhausted our stock and returned to the inn,
weighed down by copper, followed by people who still wanted
books. Such experiences are rare, and can only be expected in
new districts where the price and appearance of the books attract
attention."A Cycle of Cathay.
Mr. Larson travels in Mongolia with a caravan of camels
and ponies. In Perak last summer Mr. Purdy made a col
portage tour on elephants, which distinguished themselves
by running away. The bicycle, which is a favourite com
panion of colporteurs in Lombardy and central France,
has also proved of great service in the Philippines, while in
China its appearance acts as a telling advertisement.
Colporteur Cheng has a bicycle on which he rides about from
place to place, loaded up with books. These he spreads out in
some street of the villages or towns he goes to, and soon gets a
crowd round him to have a look at his bicycle, and hear what he
has to say; so that the bicycle may be considered a splendid
advertisement as well as a valuable steed which enables him to
get over more ground and do far more work than he could ever
hope to do without it. On several occasions he has sold between
32

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
IOO and 200 books in one day, and on one occasion over 200,
and these mostly, if not entirely, to soldiers.
Among Chinese Soldiers.
" There are a considerable number of military camps in the large
park lying some few miles to the south of Peking, and known
as the Nanhaitzu, in which there are many thousands of soldiers.
Situated near the centre ol these, lives quite a community of
small tradesmen who cater for the needs of the men. Here the
soldiers congregate in very large numbers on the days when they
receive their pay. Colporteur Cheng has found among them
many purchasers for his books and most willing hearers of his
explanations. On many of his visits tea was provided for him,
and on one very hot day some of the soldiers fixed up a large
umbrella to screen him from the sun, a table on which to place
his books, and two forms for himself and his companions to sit
on. We were told later that there was scarcely a room in the
camps in which one or more copies of the Gospels might not be
found, and that many of the officers had copies."
In India.
We have said nothing yet of colportage in India, where
the Society supported about 170 men at work throughout
last year, who sold over 200,000 books. It is believed that
no expenditure of an equal amount of money in any part
of the Christian Mission field is more spiritually remuner
ative than this. In how many villages and hamlets has
the voice of the colporteur been the only one to break
the silence of the ages with the good news of eternal life
in Christ ? In how many households — not only those he
has visited in person, but those to which thousands of
purchasers at melas, pilgrimages, dharmsalas, markets, fairs,
and railway waiting-rooms, have carried our books to
distant unknown places — has the Word of God been
placed ? 33

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
In the Market at Hanoi.
In Annam, our Sub-agent writes : " I arrived at Tonking in the
very worst part of the rainy season. All the country was sub
merged beneath one immense sheet of water, in which you could
only see certain islands formed by the villages. I was, therefore,
compelled to sell my books in the market of Hanoi, and arrived
there before 9 a.m. Picture to yourself an immense hall, similar
to the Paris markets, in which there were three or four thousand
chaffering Annamites, and you will have an idea of the chief
market of Hanoi. Scarcely had I set up my book-stall when it
was surrounder', and I needed a score of arms to take the money
and to give out the books. The people thronged and hustled
each other, everybody wanting to be served first. I had even, at
one time, to requisition one of the native police to maintain
order, and to prevent a serious uproar. About a quarter of an
hour later the European overseer of the market came and in
formed me that I was obstructing the traffic, and that the vendors
were not able to sell their goods. I was helpless, but I told him
that I had hardly anything left to sell, and that I was leaving
immediately. As a result, by 1 1 a.m. I had sold all my books —
1,000 Gospels, 200 copies of Genesis, and 60 New Testaments.

Colportage by Korean Christians.
Nowhere are colporteurs more popular and successful
than among the blue-gowned Koreans, where the three
united Bible Societies maintain nearly fifty native Bible-
sellers. The missionaries record with what readiness the
Korean Christians themselves take to this work.
Mr. Gerdine's testimony is noteworthy : " Our Wonsan Church,
with a membership of about sixty, decided last February to
undertake the support of a colporteur. They have kept this up,
without assistance from the missionaries, and even increased his
pay when the expense of travel made the former amount in
sufficient. Some of them give more than a tenth of their income
to this one endeavour." 34

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Enough has been said to illustrate the verdict of an
experienced missionary in China : " The Bible Society is
the best missionary to all the Missions. Without its thou
sand seed-scattering agencies the work of evangelism would
be hard indeed. We are ever meeting with inquirers who
have long treasured up copies of some portion of Scripture
left by a Chinese colporteur who has never known of the
germination of its precious life."
The Biblewoman.
In many of the most populous countries of the East,
immemorial customs and prejudices ordain that women
shall pass their lives shut away from the public gaze.
Hence the message of the Gospel will only reach them
if it is carried by women, who can visit and teach their
secluded sisters. The success of the various Zenana
missionary societies has encouraged the Bible Society to
supplement their efforts by employing native Christian
Biblewomen, who carry and read the Scriptures behind
the closed curtains where men may not pass. Last year
the Society maintained about 700 of these native Bible-
women, who were selected and supervised in connection
with about foity different missionary organizations in
Eastern lands ; it also helped to support more or less
directly nearly 100 European Biblewomen, the majority
of whom labour in the poorest districts of London. The
cost of this department of the Society's enterprise was
nearly £6,000.
We have only space to cite two or three instances of
how effectually women can sow the good seed among
women. 35

SEED Corn for the world.
"Christ has stilled all my storms."
While Miss Gleazar, of the B.M.S., was teaching in Cuttack,
reading of Christ quieting the storm, a Bengali woman came in
and began to take part, saying, " Christ has stilled all my storms."
Asked where she had heard of Hmi, she exclaimed : " Don't you
remember a long time ago you gave me this ? " and she pulled
out a ragged copy of the New Testament that had been given her
eight years before, when she was a so-called " holy woman," on
pilgrimage from shrine to shrine.
The Blind Teaching the Blind.
Miss S. S. Hewlett, of St. Catherine's Hospital, Amritsar, writes
about the Biblewoman, Asho, who is blind : " In the case of two
women who confessed Christ in baptism this year, and in the
case of two catechumens now under instruction, Asho's work has
evidently been much blessed. They were all in-patients. Our
blind Biblewomen teach Braille reading to any blind patients who
come, and we are now training two blind Biblewomen who have
been sent from our Blind Institute at Rajpur for the purpose.
In this work of training, our three old blind Biblewomen take a
very active part, having daily school in the afternoons in addition
to their regular Dispensary work. They also spend their spare
time in writing out Scriptures for others, often going on into the
night, regardless of fatigue, with this extra and voluntary service."
Consecrated womanhood is still one of the great reserve
forces of Christ's Church, partially and imperfectly utilized.
Let us be thankful that in the vast Eastern Mission field
a beginning has been made, and that compassionate
Christian women thus carry the healing and consolation
of the Gospel among their sisters who sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death.

BLIND INDIAN WIDOWS AT PANDITA RAMABAI'S HOME, NEAR BOMBAY.

THORNS, TARES, AND GOOD GROUND.
Crown' d with rank f umit er and furrow-weeds.
With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers.
Darnel and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn. King Lear. IY, 4.
The best of books in his own language conveys no mean
ing whatever to a person who has never learned to read ;
and so one of the thorniest hindrances to the Bible
Society's work is sheer blank ignorance. It is startling
to find in how many countries the A B C of popular educa
tion still remains as imperfect as it vi^as among English
ploughmen and shepherds a century ago. In Spain and
Portugal and Italy, for instance, two-thirds of the popu
lation can neither read nor write. According to the
recently-published results of the first Russian census,
which was taken in 1897, the Russians proper, including
Great, Little, and White Russians, constitute two-thirds
of the total population of the empire ; and of these only
thirty per cent, of the males and nine per cent, of the
females are described as able to read and write — that is,
to sign their own names. In Egypt ninety-seven persons
out of every hundred of the inhabitants, when addressed by
our colporteurs, have to confess " I know not how to
read " ; while only one woman in every hundred can read
and write. In Brazil, where fourteen and a half millions
37

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
of people live dispersed over an area nearly equal in size
to Europe, eighty-four per cent, of the population are
returned as illiterate. In the Argentine it is pathetic to
hear that Colporteur Selle sold many Italian Bibles to
families of immigrants among whom no one knew how to
read : " When I told them what the New Testament spoke
of and read them some passages, they generally bought a
book in the hope that some day or other they might have
a servant able to read to them. It is like corn cast into
dry ground, which waits until the rainfall."
The Schoolmaster Abroad.
Nevertheless, we may be thankful that this gross dark
ness of popular ignorance lessens and grows lighter year
by year. In all civilized countries the schoolmaster is
abroad, as he never was before. Even among the teeming
population of China education ^ in a certain sense is uni
versal as regards the males, although, owing to the radical
defects in the system of education, a Chinese lad, after
several years at school where he will have learnt to pro
nounce the characters of an ordinary book with precision,
may still be unable to read " understandingly," so as to
comprehend the meaning of the Confucian classics in
which he has been taught. Western literature, however,
is exercising a marked and growing influence in China.
More than 150 Chinese newspapers and journals are now
published, and are read freely in every city. On board the
large passenger coasting steamers half the Chinese pas
sengers will be found with books or papers. The native
book-trade has attained enormous dimensions. It is more
' See Dr. W. A. P. Mardn's The Lore of Cathay.
38

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
difficult to judge how many of the common day-labourers
are readers ; but the fact that our Society alone sold more
than a million copies of the Chinese Scriptures last year
proves that reading is no uncommon art in that astonish
ing land, where books were already being printed when
Saxon kings ruled over England. In Japan illiteracy is
rare, even among the lowest classes. Tokyo, with its
universities, colleges, and high schools, has probably more
students for its size than any other city in the world. It is
a significant fact, worth pondering, that there are seven and
a half million children in the elementary schools of Japan
and only four and a quarter million children in the elemen
tary schools of Russia, although the population of Russia
is three times the population of Japan.
Unbelief and Superstition.
Besides popular ignorance, the Bible has to contend with
the two opposite antagonisms of superstition and unbelief
Rome was the scene last autumn of two congresses which
met in the same month and stood in the sharpest possible
antagonism. One was a Congress of Freethinkers, which
in its discussions and resolutions made violent attacks upon
Christianity. In Italy there can be little doubt that
atheism is on the increase, in a form which we hardly
know of in England. For e.xample, a lawyer at Lugano
recently published a book entitled Christo non e tnai
esisiito ("Christ has never existed"), which has obtained
great vogue and is now being issued in halfpenny weekly
parts which the poorest buy greedily. Often our col
porteurs, when offering a Gospel or a Testament, are sent
away as impostors with the words, " Christ has never
existed." 39

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
On the other hand, the jubilee of the Dogma of the
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin was celebrated by
the Roman Church last autumn with much pomp, and at
Rome this festival was preceded by a Congress called
// Congresso Mariano, at which many ecclesiastics, both
Italian and foreign, were present. These two assemblies,
the atheist and the ultramontanes, represent the two oppo
site poles of human thought. Each of them exaggerates
the other ; and it must be confessed that both are remote
from the faith of the New Testament, and both represient
formidable opposition to the work of the Bible Society,
Bishop Gore has spoken emphatic words condemning "the
deplorable, the disastrous reluctance of the Roman Church
to give their people the Scriptures in their own languages."
It is this rooted and traditional prejudice against the open
Bible which inspires so much of the public and private oppo
sition which our agents encounter in countries dominated
by the Church of Rome, where laws and usages are still
in force which accord rather with the intolerance of the
middle ages than with the freedom and progress of the
modern world.
Intolerance in Spain.
The condition of religious liberty in Spain received
striking illustration from the Guardian for May 17th, 1905,
which published a full and careful account of the opening
of the new English church at Barcelona. Although this
building has been erected by English residents in that city
simply for their own use, it aroused an extraordinary
amount of public opposition. Cardinal Casefias y Pag6s,
the Bishop of Barcelona, even issued a Pastoral Instruction
denouncing the building as "a manifest offence to the
40

LA GIRALDA, THE TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL AT SEVILLE.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
whole Catholic body of Barcelona " ; and the civil govern
ment gave permission for the church to be opened only
after two ornamental crosses which surmounted the west
ern and eastern gables had first been removed, when the
church was eventually consecrated by the Bishop of
Gibraltar on May 7th. No wonder the Guardian declares
that "in Spain toleration is still in its infancy, and hatred
of Protestantism one of the foremost articles of religion."
The whole incident, which occurred in the commercial
capital of Spain, helps us to realize the reception accorded
to a humble colporteur as he carries the New Testament
into the villages and country towns of the Peninsula.
In Austria.
It is an almost incredible fact that in the very centre
of civilised Europe licences are steadily refused to the
Society's colporteurs. This occurs in several provinces of
the Austrian Empire, including Upper and Lower Austria,
Carniola and the Tyrol. In the great city of Vienna,
where obscene newspapers and demoralizing novels abound
on every bookstall, it is a criminal act to offer the New
Testament for sale in the streets. Even when a colporteur
obtains a licence in Austria, he is not permitted to carry
the Scriptures with him, selling as he goes. He is only a
commercial traveller offering samples ; and if his goods
please the customer he must send an order to our Vienna
depot, which in due course forwards the Book to the
address given, where on its arrival the customer may per
haps after all refuse to receive it. The expense and waste
of time and heart-burnings inseparable from this ingenious
system may be imagined. In colportage regulations
Russia is half a century in advance of Austria.
41 D

SEED CORN FOR. THE WORLD.
The Perils of the Colporteur.
The difficulties of colportage do not end with legal
restrictions. Ecclesiastical bigotry and popular fanaticism
will go to strange lengths in burning Bibles and perse
cuting Bible-sellers. In France, for instance, a colporteur
is treated as an anarchist or a spy. In Poland another is
denounced as a Jew and attacked with sticks and stones.
In beautiful Carinthia another is hunted out of a village as
" Antichrist." In Portugal another is arrested and im
prisoned on a baseless charge, and his stock of books con
fiscated. In Westphalia another is set upon and beaten so
badly that he has to spend a week in hospital. Yet here
again extremes meet : it is in the densely-peopled German
black country, with its coal and iron fields and myriad
factories, that socialism abounds of a militant and ma
terialist type, and our colporteurs commonly encounter
contempt rather than violence.
Colportage by Friars and Nuns.
In Sicily the Bible-seller complains that almost every
where he meets with competition from another kind of col
portage, conducted by friars and nuns with a perseverance
and tenacity worthy of a better cause. We should rejoice
if they were carrying about the Gospels of the St. Jerome
Society, but their stock-in-trade is made up of sacred
images, rosaries, scapularies, medals oi saints, leaflets con
taining short prayers or devout ejaculations, all said to
have been blessed by the Pope or consecrated by im
mediate contact with some sacred image, and warranted to
ensure the most wonderful temporal and spiritual benefits.
This retail trade in small superstitions seems to be a
speciality of Sicily. The regular clergy oppose it, because
42

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
it competes with their own churches ; yet it flourishes and
increases every year, for the Sicilians are superstitious
beyond any other Italians, and friars and nuns who come
from a distance are listened to more readily than their
own local priests.
Mediaevalism in South America.
No countries in the world calling themselves Christian
are so intolerant as certain South American Republics, in
which the temper and ideas of the dark ages seem to have
taken refuge. We need only cite a single instance. At
Arequipa, high up in the Peruvian Andes, a clerical journal
stirred up such violent fanaticism that our colporteur was
assaulted and had to be withdrawn for a time from the
city, where his life was said to be in danger.
Political Prohibitions.
In Greece the New Testament in Modern Greek remains
under the prohibition placed upon it three years ago.
Since that time ecclesiastical and political influences have
been striving to bring the Old Testament under a similar
ban : but apparently their attempt has for the present
failed. For Albania editions of the Gospels and the
Psalter in the Tosk dialect, and printed in the national
Albanian character, have been in type for the last four
years ; but on political grounds the Turkish authorities
still persistently forbid their publication. Here again,
extremes meet : Turkish Albania and. Christian Greece are
the two countries in Europe where the Gospel in the ver
nacular tongue is a strictly forbidden book.
Cholera and Plague.
The Government of Persia still maintains the embargo
43

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
which it has laid upon the importation of Persian Scrip
tures into the dominion of the Shah. A visitation of Asiatic
cholera made fearful ravages in Persia last year, carrying
off multitudes of victims. On a low computation 200,000
deaths were due to this epidemic, and it is said that over
60,000 persons died in Teheran alone. Our Persian agents
experienced great difficulties on their journeys, as many
villages were strictly guarded to keep them free of
infection. When the colporteurs attempted to enter,
they were threatened with clubs, and in some places
forbidden to procure water lest they should pollute the
streams and springs. Yet the effects of cholera are not to
be compared with the fearful havoc wrought in India by
plague. In some regions of North India the terror of this
pestilence lies heavy upon the people. We hear from
Allahabad that a colporteur this year has been severely
beaten and badly injured in a village where the people
dreaded that he was poisoning the wells to spread the
plague ; and in many rural districts native Christians have
suffered grievously, as they are reported to be agents em
ployed by the Government to introduce this dire disease.
An Apostolic Missionary in Morocco.
In Moslem lands we cannot indeed be surprised at the
bitter hostility often shown towards Christian workers.
Yet there is something strangely moving in the following
account of what one of our native colporteurs had to
endure in Morocco.
" Si Mohammed made six journeys during last year, travelling
hundreds of miles on foot. For each of his trips among the
Berbers he has to secure a zaiiatt {i.e., a guide and protector),
otherwise he would constantly be robbed, and very likely mur
dered. The Lord has delivered him several times from the
44

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
hands of violent men, raising up friends even from among his
enemies. On One of his journeys his jallab, or outer coat, and
his shoes were taken from him, and when he returned to Fez
his feet were cracked and bleeding. On such a journey his faie
is very poor, and often for many days he subsists on nothing but
dried bread and figs : once his sole food for two days was a few
green figs.
"At times when I think of how he is cursed and beaten,
treated as the offscouring of the earth, I praise God for his
fidelity, but my heart wells up with tears at the thought of his
sufferings. On one of his journeys he went through such ex
posure and hardship that for over a month he never felt really
warm, nor was his hunger properly appeased. He was afraid
to take sufficient clothing with him, for that would expose him to
the rapacity of the Berbers. Wearing only the scantiest of
garments, he travelled simply with his staff, his wallet, and his
Scriptures." Official Sympathy and Help.
Turning from these gloomy shadows which darken the
pages of the Society's record, it is cheering to note in how
many countries our work has been materially furthered by
official assistance as well as public sympathy. Thus,
for example, the Scriptures are carried by rail at reduced
rates in the Transvaal. In New Zealand the Union and
Northern Steamship Companies, and the coach-proprietors
at Gisborne have generously carried parcels of Bibles free.
The North- Western Railway of India has granted a free
pass for a colporteur in the Panjab. The Demerara Rail
way Company, and the Spronston's Steamship Company
give free passages to our colporteurs in Demerara. On the
steamers of the Pacific Navigation Company our agents
travel at reduced fares along the Pacific coast of South
America. Generous concessions are given by two rail
ways in the Argentine, and encouragements and facilities
45

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD,
are also afforded by the various Republican Governments
of Central America, where the Scriptures are carried by
post free of cost. In Guatemala and San Salvador the
Governments grant letters to our colporteurs commend
ing them to the local authorities.
Russian Assistance.
We have often recorded most gratefully our obligations
to the public authorities in the Russian Empire for very
valuable assistance. The State Railways in Russia and
Siberia, and many of the private railways, not only grant
free passes to a certain number of colporteurs, but give
free carriage to our books. The amount of railway mile
age put at the Society's disposal without charge for
travelling or freight comes to certainly not less than a
quarter of a million miles each year. The Society also
owes no small debt to the steamship companies on the
great Siberian waterways. For instance, the Amur Ship
ping Company granted a free pass to our colporteur, with
the right to take with him 30 cwt. of books for a distance
of 1,400 miles, and so for the return journey ; and it ought
to be recorded that through all the stress of the war, when
freights ran up to fabulous figures, this privilege has never
been withdrawn.
The Help of the Orthodox Church.
Side by side with this friendliness of Russian officials
we find a corresponding attitude in the Orthodox Church,
which happily has never ceased to encourage its children
to read the Bible for themselves. Again and again our
colporteurs thankfully record the help and hospitality
which they receive from village priests in Russia and
46

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Siberia. Here, for example, is a quotation from colpor
teur Maslennikoff, who made a long and successful voyage
last summer in an open boat up the river Yug, a tributary
of the Northern Dvina, and visited every cluster of habita
tions scattered along its banks :
"In each village of the Orthodox Church I call first on the
priest, and explain to him the manner and the object of my
visit — I have come in a boat and I have brought the Scriptures.
Some of them are at first a little suspicious of the stranger, and 1
have to show them my various authorizations for colportage ; they
generally end by buying from me. I have often to thank the
priests for hospitality and for recommendation of my work to
their parishioners."
In the Government of Perm colporteur Noskoff found
the local clergy willing to help him, and in one village the
priests and scholars of a missionary school came out to
bid him farewell in quite ceremonious fashion ; here he
was able to distribute 145 copies of the Gospel of St.
Matthew in Perm, and later on we sent to the priest
of this missionary school 150 copies of the same Gospel
for gratuitous distribution among the Permyaks.
Commended in a Siberian Church.
In the village of Spassk, colporteur Korataeff called on
the village priest : this is one of the first visits that all
these colporteurs make :
"I found him at home, and after giving me his blessing, I
asked him to help me in selling God's Word. ' Certainly ; only
let me first announce it from the church, and I will speak a few
words in your favour when next my congregation gather together.
See, to-morrow is a holiday; you come to the evening service
to-night, and I'll not forget.' So, after his short service the priest
gave an address on the necessity for having the Scriptures in
every house, and for each Christian to read them. Korataeff was
47

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD,
also able to sell books to the village school, the priest going with
him to the patron and persuading the latter to purchase copies
for free distribution among the poorer scholars."
On the Siberian railway, east of Lake Baikal, colporteur
Gladescheff met a priest of the Orthodox Church, who
enquired for what society he was selling the Scriptures.
" The British and Foreign," was the answer. Whereupon
the priest replied : " Your Society is helping us io carry a
heavy burden!' That testimony expresses the precise aim
and endeavour of the Bible Society in every Christian
country which it enters.
Eastern Ecclesiastics.
In spite of the difficulties already referred to with regard
to the admission of our modern Greek version into Greece
— difficulties which appear to arise quite as much from
nationalist prejudice as from ecclesiastical suspicion — we
hear of Greek priests and bishops who encourage the
circulation of the vernacular Scriptures. The Bishop ot
Lemnos, for instance, shows marked kindness to our col
porteurs, and commends them to the schoolmasters in his
diocese. In Bulgaria and Servia many of the ecclesiastics
are also friendly and aid the distribution of the Bible.
Beyond the Caucausus a colporteur who has done good
work among Tatar villages in the neighbourhood of Ech
miadzin reports that he was greatly helped last year by a
Gregorian Arminian priest, who had been preaching to the
Tatars in their own language. Among the community
of Chaldean Christians at Kerkook, in Mesopotamia, our
colporteur gives lessons in their school three days a week
at the request of the Chaldean Bishop, who is in com
munion with Rome ; and one of our Turkish Bibles stands
48

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
on the lectern of their church for use in reading the lessons.
As a result, many of the leading Chaldean Christians
appreciate the Society's work so highly that they have
addressed two separate letters of gratitude to the Bible
House in London.
In the Roman Church.
Welcome signs are not wanting in the Church of Rome
that its authorities are beginning to modify their policy
with regard to a free use of Holy Scripture. Members of
Reformed Churches often fail to realize that the Roman
communion is tolerant in practice of extraordinary varia
tions according to its environment. Those who only know
it as it appears at Westminster might be startled if they
came to study it as it exists in Peru. And the attitude of
Roman ecclesiastics towards a free and open Bible is
happily inconsistent. In some countries, it is true, they
could hardly be more hostile. We are the more thankful
that in various quarters signs are beginning to appear of
a different spirit.
The Society of St. Jerome.
Our reports have already signalized the new departure of
the Roman Church in Italy, whereby the Pious Society of
St. ferome for the dissemination of iJie Holy Gospels has
been allowed to issue from the Vatican press a cheap
Italian version of the Four Gospels and Acts, and to circu
late it far and wide at the low price of 2d. a copy. St.
Matthew's Gospel has also been published separately ;
but the remainder of the New Testament has not yet
appeared. A statistical table of issues shows that down
to October, 1904, the St. Jerome Society had distributed
49

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
265,433 copies of the Four Gospels and Acts, besides
25,950 copies of St. Matthew, in all 291,383 copies, which
were apparently actual sales, mainly in Italy.
In his address delivered at Rome in the Church of Santa
Maria in Aquiro on April 27th, 1905, on the third anni
versary of the foundation of the St. Jerome Society, Padre
Genocchi stated that during the three years of its exis
tence it had circulated more than 300,000 copies of the
Gospels in Italian, and quoted with manifest satisfaction
the commendations on this enterprise published by Pro
testant authorities, including the Bible Society.
Although some of its renderings and notes betray a
Roman bias, yet on the whole the St. Jerome version of the
Gospels places our Lord's life and work and teaching faith
fully before the eyes of its readers, and we rejoice most
unfeignedly in this truly pious enterprise, and implore
God's blessing on its continuance. Among the omens for
the future of the Roman Church, we know of none which
is more significant or more hopeful.

BESIDE ALL WATERS.
// is the property of f esus Christ io be universal. — Pascal.
One momentous development of these last few decades
has attracted far less notice than it deserves. In all
quarters of the world population is becoming more and
more fluid and mobile. The wealthier classes everywhere
have practically reverted to the nomad state. And in
many countries the stress of poverty or the pressure ot
militarism at home, and the facilities for cheap, safe, easy
transit to new lands across the sea, are producing migra
tions of working people on a scale which has had no
parallel in history since the flux and welter of races at the
break-up of the Roman Empire. Never in modern times
have men of many races and languages been mingled in
such strange confusion. Never before have such oppor
tunities been open for our polyglot Society to put into the
hands of these cosmopolitan crowds the charter of salvation
in each man's mother tongue.
At European Seaports.
The chief seaports of continental Europe form gateways
through which these emigrant armies take passage to the
West. And so at great harbours like Hamburg and
Antwerp and Naples, our colporteurs are busy in the
51

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
docks and on the quays offering their Testaments and
Gospels to the travellers who declare plainly that they seek
a country. At Hamburg the Society is assisted by a number
of Christian ladies who are warm and generous friends of
its work ; one of the most prominent members of this
Auxiliary is Countess Waldersee, the widow of the great
soldier who was Von Moltke's successor as Chief of the
Staff of the German Army. From Silesia we hear that
colporteur Pliska had noteworthy success among the
Russian, Galician, and Polish emigrants who streamed
through Breslau railway station last autumn en route to
the United States. In five weeks he sold to these pilgrims
over 2,000 books. " To watch a train filled with emigrants
leaving Breslau, hundreds of them engaged in reading the
Scriptures, is a sufficiently moving sight." At Naples
colporteur Russo regularly visits both the busy railway
station and the harbour, especially when he knows of the
arrival and departure of emigrants. On the Adriatic coast
most interesting and valuable work has been done in the
port of Flume by colporteur Stefan Fuxa among emigrants
for America. Some idea of the difficulty of his task may
be obtained when we state that he had to deal with people
speaking a dozen different languages from all parts of
Austria, Hungary, Servia, Rumania, and other Balkan
lands, including Christians of every communion, Jews,
Gipsies, and Muhammadans.
Crowds of these European emigrants seek new homes
in North America. For settlers in the United States the
American Bible Society undertakes responsibility and is
supplied, at its request, with any editions issued by the
B.F.B.S. which it may desire. In Canada, the population
becomes increasingly polyglot. French and Italian Bible-
52

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women labour in Montreal, and our dep6t at Winnipeg
supplies the Scriptures in at least thirty different lan
guages. This last year a Gospel has been issued in Ruthen
and English for the growing Galician influx into Canada,
while the New Testament and Psalms in Samogit, a
Lithuanian dialect, have just been printed in Roman letters
for Lithuanian immigrants into North America.
The British in Greater Britain.
Nor are our own flesh and blood forgotten, when they
cross the seas and colonize the outposts of empire. The
Society has 125 Auxiliaries with over 2,000 Branches in
the British Colonies. The English Bible is carried by its
agents far and wide — into lumber-camps in the valley of
the St. Lawrence, and to solitary log-huts among the
snows of the North- West, and to sheep-farms
By the long itiash of Australasian seas.
Thus, for example, the Bishop of North Queensland has
been distributing a free grant of Bibles among scattered
dwellers in the bush, far removed from all ordinary means
of grace ; he writes, " My heart ached over and over again
for these lonely settlers. I shall continue to take your
Bibles with me into the outlying parts of my diocese."
Our South Australian Auxiliary has been presenting a
Bible to every operator, line repairer, or other employe on
the Northern Overland Telegraph Service. Not a few of
these are stationed hundreds of miles from any place of
worship, and in some cases are far from neighbours of
any kind except the aborigines. Of the latter a good
many are connected with the Telegraph Department, and
will receive Bibles in one or other of the translations
prepared for native tribes of Australia.
53

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In South America.
The spacious republics of South America attract in
creasing multitudes of emigrants from Central and
Southern Europe. There are prophets who anticipate
that another century will witness the main development
of the Latin race transferred to these vast fertile regions.
Already flourishing foreign colonies are dominating rich
provinces in Brazil. The State of Rio Grande do Sul is
rapidly filling with Germans. In parts of San Paulo
Italian is heard more frequently than Portuguese. In
Santa Catharina, where the new comers will soon out
number the natives, one colporteur reports that he had
marked success among the Letts, the Germans, and the
Poles. A still more favourite goal for emigrants is found
in Argentina, where foreigners form a fifth of the popu
lation. Every third person you meet in Buenos Ayres
is either an Italian, a Spaniard, or a Frenchman. This
splendid city, with nearly a million inhabitants, now stands
tenth among the great cities of the world, and second only
to Paris as a Latin centre. In these immense territories,
where the seed is being sown broadcast of an incalculable
future, the Bible Society has a manifest vocation. For it
can offer to each new comer from the old world the
Gospel of everlasting Love, printed in the familiar speech
of the native land which he has left.
At the Gateway of the East.
To realize how the Bible can speak to men of all races
and all tongues, we must take our stand where the East
and the West meet and mingle, at the entrance to the Suez
Canal. Perhaps no place in the world presents a more
vivid panorama of the Bible Society's work than the busy
54

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
harbour of Port Said. A great liner enters, laden with
its freight of human souls, and before the vessel has
dropped anchor a tug is alongside with her coal barges
in tow. Immediately there is another arrival at the ship's
side — it is a floating water-tank. Presently smaller boats
draw to the gangway, laden with provisions of every kind
for the ship's larder.
But it is written Man shall not live by bread alone.
Another boat puts off from the landing-stage manned
by a single boatman ; the colporteur is its sole occupant.
We watch him thread his way among passengers and crew
aft and for'ard, in the saloon and foc'sle, to every man
offering the food of his soul's life, to all making appeal
against absorption in things material, reminding all of the
reality of things spiritual ; and it is borne in upon us how
important, nay, how urgent is this ministry of the Bible
Society. At Port, Said, last year, our workers paid 4,232 visits to
vessels of all classes and under all flags. The passengers
and crews on board purchased nearly 16,000 copies of the
Scriptures in thirty-two languages and dialects.
For Seafarers.
Here is a testimony from the Canary Islands, where our
helper visits the steamers which call at Las Palmas.
"A Portuguese sailor, whose language I could not speak, was
induced to buy a New Testament. Through reading it, he be
came a true follower of Jesus Christ. I found later on that he
had entered into the Light without any human help beyond what
he received from the Book itself In our work among sailors
the Scriptures play a very important part. Many of the men
cannot be seen for more than a minute or two, so busy are they,
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
and all that we can do is to make them possessors of a Gospel
or a Testament."
At Jerusalem.
The Holy City remains a focus of Christian pilgrimage
from all parts of the earth. Last year 2,216 volumes of
the Society's Scriptures, in twenty-three different lan
guages — principally Arabic, English, German, Russian,
and Armenian — were sold at the Jerusalem depot.
Bible Sunday on the Niger.
Bishop Tugwell, of Western Equatorial Africa, spent
Bible Sunday, March 6, 1904, on board one of the Niger
Company's steamers, and held a special Centenary service
on deck, at which five missionaries were present, besides
the captain of the steamer, a Nupe ; the engineer, a
Yoruba ; and the ship's clerk, a Sierra Leonian ; with
several members of the crew who were Ijos and Ibos.
For the lessons, portions of Scripture were read from the
Gospels, the first in Ijo (or Idzo), and the second in Ibo
(or Igbo), published by the Bible Society, which has also
issued Gospels in the languages of the other three races
mentioned.
In the Bazaars at Rangoon.
The tides of migration are not confined to Europe ;
they ebb and flow along the shores of the Far East.
Take, for example, a city like Rangoon, with nearly a
quarter of a million dusky inhabitants thronging its
thoroughfares. More than half of these folk are
foreigners, born outside Burma, and they are touched by
hardly any agency apart from the Bible Society. Although
our colporteur may himself be able to speak only one —
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at most three or four — of the Babel of dialects, he
carries in his knapsack a whole assortment of books,
one for each man " in his own tongue wherein he was
born." Take a crowd in any of the bazaars in Rangoon.
This man has come from Bombay, that from Calcutta,
and another from Faizabad, others from Madras or
Bangalore, and yet again others from Shanghai or Amoy.
" What books have you ? " asks one man, probably in
Hindostani, the lingua franca of the East. "Have you
Hindi?" "Yes!" "And BengaH ? " "Yes!" "And
Telugu ? " " Yes ! " The questions will come more and
more quickly from the various members of the crowd,
until sometimes a colporteur has difficulty in keeping up
with the demands of his customers. It is a never-
failing interest to watch the increasing astonishment de
picted on the faces of the people, as book after book in
a dozen different languages is handed out ; and when
at last the poor Oriya or Coringhee coolie comes for
ward and humbly asks if there is a book for him in a
tone that suggests the utter hopelessness of such a re
quest, and he, also, receives an answer in the affirmative,
the astonishment becomes too deep for words.
For Emigrant Coolies.
Our Indian auxiliaries sent out last year consignments
of the Scriptures in Hindi and Urdu for the use of Indian
coolies in Jamaica, in Trinidad, in both British and Dutch
Guiana, and to the Australian Methodist Mission working
among the 23,000 Indian coolies in Fiji. Out of seven
colporteurs employed in Mauritius four speak Hindi, one
Tamil, one Telugu, and one English and French.
Along the shores of the Persian Gulf American mission-
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
aries distribute our books mainly in Arabic, Persian,
Hebrew, and Turkish ; they also need the Scriptures in
Gujarati for Banian traders, in Portuguese for Goanese ser
vants, and in the languages of the Levant for Armenians.
The Overspill of China.
The overspill of China, which threatens to become
one of the gravest problems of the twentieth century, is
manifest in every port throughout Malaysia. We may
cite a single instance of its effect on missionary enter
prise. Archdeacon Sharp, of the S.P.G. Mission at
Sarawak, has recently begun work in the town of
Kuching, where about 30,000 Chinese have settled.
At his suggestion the Bible Society has agreed to pay
the rent of a dep6t for the Scriptures ; while the S.P.G.
will undertake charge of it, and provide three catechists
to carry round and sell the books. The Chinese in
Kuching wish for a room where they may be taught, and
may also read such books as the Mission supplies. In and
around Kuching there is a steady demand for the Scrip
tures, not only in Malay, but in at least four different
Chinese colloquial dialects.
At Johannesburg.
In this polyglot and cosmopolitan city the Society's
newly-established dep6t has supplied the Scriptures last
year in twenty-seven different languages, selling altogether
31,700 copies, principally in the South African vernaculars,
in Dutch, and in English.
For Chinese Miners in the Transvaal.
In view of the thousands of Chinese miners imported to
-labour in the Transvaal, our agent at Shanghai promptly
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sent to Johannesburg nearly 12,000 Chinese Scripture
Portions, whose circulation has already begun. A free
distribution of Gospels was also arranged for at the ports
of embarkation in China to all coolies who could read, and
we rejoice to learn that the reading of the Scriptures
helped to pass away the weary hours of the voyagers.
These immigrants include a good number of Chinese
Christians, and these have attached themselves to the local
churches in the Transvaal. In coming to a new country
they have not left their Christianity behind. Active
Christian work among them has been commenced in
several centres, and for such efforts our Chinese Scriptures
have already proved a boon.
In the Compounds.
Our colporteur at Johannesburg describes his visit this
summer to the mines and compounds on the Rand, where
he came across the fruits of missionary labour in far-off
places. "At one compound we were surrounded by bright, interesting
' boys,' lately arrived from Livingstonia, who almost bought us out
of English Bibles. Many of these Blantyre boys are Christians,
and are waiting for Chi-Nyanja Bibles and Testaments in their
own tongue — as are also the Hereros from Namaqualand. We
expect to receive these books soon.
" As a rule, we had free access to all the compounds. In some
we found the Chinese indifferent, but there were exceptions. In
one of the largest we were welcomed with evident pleasure, and
we sold in almost every room at least one Chinese Testament
In one part a little crowd, evidently most of them Christians,
surrounded me, some of them singing in Chinese, O depth of
mercy, can it he that f esus bled and died for me 1 The gladness on
their faces indicated that they knew something of the true mean
ing of such words in their hearts. They begged us to come back
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again when they had received their wages. In another com
pound, where the Chinamen had just arrived, they appeared
delighted to see the Scriptures in their own tongue. When I
entered one room, they were all gathered round a man who was
reading a Testament he had just obtained from us. They
fastened the door and made me sit down, while they tried to
make me understand how glad they were to get the book, one
Chinaman clasping it to his breast and pointing upwards.
" We meet a few in every compound who profess to be Chris
tians, some having brought their Testaments with them from
China. They, as well as the native Africans in the mines,
have a good deal of time to read, and many of them who are
not Christians buy Testaments, having no other book within
their reach."
Labourers from Korea.
It is strange to hear of folk from what was so recently
the "Hermit Kingdom" wandering into foreign lands. Yet
Korean labourers are now regularly and systematically
drafted to the sugar plantations of Hawaii ; while others
have found their way to San Francisco and to Mexico.
And so Korean Scriptures have been put into trustworthy
hands at Honolulu and in Mexico ; while Korean New
Testaments have been sent to San Francisco at the ex
pense of native Christians there who were concerned to do
good to their fellow-exiles.
The Book was really for me.
At the beginning of this chapter we spoke of the " wan
dering of the peoples." Enough has been cited by way of
illustration to show how the Bible Society is supremely
qualified to deal with the needs of these scattered exiles,
by offering them God's Book in their familiar mother
tongue. The value of such an offer comes out in the
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
following note from the diary of a colporteur in the heart
of Siberia :
" While I was going through a third-class railway carriage the
other day one of the passengers said, ' Those books are not for
me.' I thought a little ; the passenger looked as if he could
read ; then I guessed it — he was not a Russian. ' Here,' said I,
' in my knapsack is a book printed for you ; only tell me in what
language ? ' ' Lett.' ' Here you are,' said I, handing him a copy
of the Lett Bible. ' Now, by all that's wonderful ! ' he exclaimed ;
then, turning to the other passengers, he said, ' Here is a book I
have been wanting to buy for ever so long. What's the price ? '
He handed me a rouble for the Bible, and then added, ' Old man,
thou wert right ; the book was really for me.' "
^ ^ ^
Surely such testimonies confirm the Centenary sermon
on behalf of the Society in Southwark Cathedral, in which
Bishop Talbot declared that "the Bible Society, whether
or not we can approve of all its methods, has contributed
incalculably to the work of world-evangelization."

THOU KNOWEST NOT HOW.
When tlie .•ship-load of sacred earth frovi ihe soil of ferusalem
was mingled with the cotnmon clay in the Campo Santo at Pisa, a
new flower grew up from it, unlike ajiy flower men had seen before. —
Pater : Studies in the Renaissance.
One of the most fascinating chapters in the Origin o^
Species discusses the means by which seeds of plants
have been dispersed from one country to another. Under
the head of "Occasional Means of Distribution," Darwin
showed from the result of experiments that most seeds
will germinate even after a month's immersion in salt
water ; while out of a number of various dried plant and
iruit seeds one out of ten kept afloat for a month, during
which time they might easily drift a thousand miles along
the currents of the sea. The great naturalist also showed
how often seeds can be transported in the crops or
attached to the muddy feet of migrant birds. Many seeds,
again, are furnished with serrated hooks and grapnels, as
though for the express purpose of adhering to the coats of
wandering animals. More recently. Dr. Alfred Wallace
has argued that numerous kinds of seed which are light in
weight, thin and buoyant in texture, or even winged in
shape, may often be conveyed over immense distances by
storms and currents of air.
Flotsam und Jetsam.
These things are an allegory of the mariifold methods
by which the seed of God's Word can be distributed far
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
and wide, and scattered by unexpected means while men
sleep, and carried often by what looks like chance agency
or mere natural causes into the remotest corners of the
earth. The story is well known and well substantiated which
tells how the first New Testament reached Japan. In
1854 a British fleet lay at anchor in Nagasaki Bay, where
a force of Japanese troops had gathered to guard against
any possible foreign landing. General Wakasa, who com
manded these soldiers, was sailing round the harbour
when he picked up an English New Testament, which
had probably been dropped from one of the warships and
lay floating on the water. The General's interpreter, who
chanced to be a Dutchman, explained to him that this was
the Christians' Scripture. Wakasa's curiosity was aroused,
and he learned on enquiry that the book had been trans
lated into Chinese. He sent to Shanghai and procured a
New Testament in the classical Chinese of the Delegates'
version, which can be read by all educated men in Japan.
This Testament Wakasa studied carefully, in company
with his brother and two family friends, but without any
Christian teacher. Eight years later they applied to Dr.
Verbeck, the pioneer missionary in Japan, in order that
they might obtain more light on the meaning of the
wonderful book ; and eventually Wakasa, with his brother
and other members of the family, became baptized Chris
tians. The Witness of Vitality.
Surely it is one most impressive proof of the spiritual
vitality of the Scriptures that they are continually evincing
this quickening power, sowing the Divine seed which
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
springs up and bears fruit, " thou knowest not how." The
ultimate evidence of all life lies in its inherent vital force ;
and so beyond the external authority with which the
Scriptures come to us lies this inner seal with which they
are sealed. Like Him of whom they testify, they receive
not witness of men ; but by all that which they are, by all
that which they have wrought, they bear witness of them
selves that they are of God — even the witness of power.
We need not attempt any formal demonstration of this
great fact, which is attested by the history of the Church
and the biographies of the saints and the common ex
perience of faithful Christians. But it will be of interest to
select a few out of the many new instances which have
reached the Bible House during the past twelve months,
to illustrate the spiritual vitality of the Word of God as it
is dispersed in all lands and takes root and fructifies
among all races of men.
"I became a New Man."
In Flanders, colporteur Rampen met a Belgian who
confessed that he had read, seen, and travelled much, and
enjoyed all that the world can give, without possessing
true peace. But five years ago, just before embarking
for Argentina, he bought a Testament from a colporteur,
because he thought he might read the Book as a pastime
during the voyage. " The story of the man born blind
went to my heart," said he, " and I prayed to Christ that
He wouid help me also. And He did help me. I became
a new man."
" Christ Died for Criminals."
" I have that Book," said a man in the north of France
to colporteur Rendu, " and I can tell you that through the
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
simple reading of it I have found peace, though I have
been one of the greatest sinners. I hardly dare confess it
— I have been a murderer. In a drunken frenzy I killed a
man. I was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude.
While in prison I got hold of a Bible. I was the most
miserable of beings, but I understood that Christ died for
criminals like me. I know He has forgiven me." This
man is now doing all he can to make the Gospel known
among his neighbours.
Burning the Book that judged him.
Colporteur Hehn tells of a Rumanian who was the
servant attached to a certain Embassy in Bucharest. On
two separate occasions this man had bought a Bible, and
had burnt both copies in succession because his life was
condemned by what he read. But the message laid fast
hold of his conscience, and in the end he bought a third
Bible.
A Tatar reading our Lord's Passion.
In Siberia, colporteur Platon Petrenko has been work
ing at Omsk, where he is very active and successful. In
December, 1904, he writes :
" Last Monday the train from the west was eleven hours late.
I went into the sheds where the fourth-class passengers were
waiting. On the floor squatted about thirty Kirghiz Tatars,
their feet tucked under them in Turkish fashion. Approaching
the group, I asked if any one was able to read well aloud, as I
wished them to know the contents of the Book I was selling. A
young Kirghiz got up, and after testing his ability to read the
Arabic character, I opened the New Testament at St. Matthew
xxvii. and told him to read it aloud. As the narrative passed on
to the sufferings of our Lord and His dying on the Cross, the
Kirghiz all sat spell-bound. When the chapter ended there was
a warm discussion on the merits of the book ; the greater part
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were highly pleased, and it was not long ere they collected enough
money among them to purchase two Kirghiz New Testaments,
besides a copy of the Four Gospels in Russ characters."
And so the Gospel message is carried into the tents of
these roaming children of the steppe.
The Seed Bearing Fruit.
From the Malay Peninsula comes word of a Chinaman
converted through reading a Gospel.
" Three weeks ago a missionary from Penang paid a visit to
one of his village stations, twenty miles distant. There a China
man came and asked to be admitted into Church fellowship.
'But,' said the missionary, 'you are an utter stranger to me:
we cannot admit you until we have tested you. Besides, what
do you know of the Christian faith?' 'Well,' replied the man,
' I know a little. Some months ago two Europeans (one of
whom was the Bible Society's sub-agent) came here selling little
books, and I purchased two of them — a Gospel and the Book of
Genesis. Since then, I have been reading them both, and I have
come to the conclusion that this is the true religion. Now try me
for twelve months, and if I am unfaithful turn me out of the
Church.'"Welcoming the New Testament on the Kongo,
The Rev. John Bell, of the Baptist Missionary Society,
sends a moving account of the way in which the Kongo
New Testament was welcomed at Wathen where he has
been stationed : —
" I wish that all those who are interested in foreign missions
could have been at Wathen when we received the new edition of
the Kongo New Testament, translated by Dr. Holman Bentley,
and published by the Bible Society. Could they have seen what
we were privileged to see, they would have thanked God with
glad hearts for the hold with which His Word has on the affec
tion of our Kongo Christians. On the day when our share of
the boxes containing New Testaments came up, there was great
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
excitement, for we had not had a copy for months. During
those months many native Christians had been saving money
in order to buy copies, and many of our boys and girls had been
collecting bundles of firewood, carrying water, and doing other
work to earn a copy ; for we do not believe in giving them away
for nothing. On that day the news soon spread that the Testa
ments had arrived, and those who lived near by came. What
excitement and rejoicing, as one after another obtained their
copies and rushed off to show their treasures to others I During
the next few days the people came from far and near. Some,
foitunately for them, had deposited their money weeks before,
and so their copies were put on one side. But alr.s ! many had
to go away without being able to obtain a copy, and our only
hope was that at other stations they had not disposed of their
supply so quickly, otherwise we should have to wait at least six
months before we could get any more. It was extremely pathetic
to see some of our young people go away empty-handed, sobbing
as they went, sobbing as though their hearts would break. They
had put their hearts and their hopes into getting a copy of God's
Word at that time, and now they might have to wait six long
weary months before they could get a copy — it seemed too much
to bear. The tears rushed to our eyes in sympathy, but ours
were also tears of joy and gladness that there was such a thirst for
God's Word amongst the people. One could not help thinking
how many there are in the homeland who have Bibles enough
and to spare — which some of them, alas ! may not open for six
months or longer at a time. Surely if they could have seen these
Christians weeping because they possibly would not get a copy
for six months, they would prize their own Bibles more, and
thank God for the possession of His Word."
The Silent Missionary.
Nowhere does the seed of God's kingdom show greater
vitality than in India, where last year the Bible Society
circulated the record total of 660,000 copies of the Scrip
tures. The Rev. W. V. K. Treanor, Secretary of our Branch
at Agra, gives the following fresh instance of the silent
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
missionary power of the Word of God in places where
often the human interpreter does not find his way : —
" In a certain village, after preaching for a time about the need
of worshipping the one true God and no other, I was explaining
how Christ is the Saviour of men, when one of the villagers
spoke : ' Sir,' he said, ' you need not go on with this explanation ;
none of us worship idols, we only believe in the one true God,
and in Jesus Christ.' I asked if he spoke for himself only, or
for all the village. The men who were sitting by exclaimed with
one voice, ' We all believe on Jesus Christ.' On inquiring how
this had come about, I found that one man who could read Urdu
had been given a New Testament in that language some years
before, and that he had taught all the village to believe on Christ.
He said that he had never received any teaching, but that from
reading the Gospels alone he had come to believe. He also
said he was quite ready to do anything we wished that he might
become an open Christian, and he asked for a Hindi New Testa
ment that he might instruct some in the village who read Hindi
only how to read it for themselves. We had with us at the time
only single Gospels in Hindi, but he promised when he came
into Agra to call and see me. He did so, and I brought him
to the depot and gave him a Hindi New Testament, which he
was delighted to receive."
He read the Gospel for Twelve Years.
At a service commemorating our Centenary, held in the
Mission Church at Mahoba, North India, a native Chris
tian related his own experiences. He was formerly the
Parofiit of his village, and when a mere lad he heard the
Gospel proclaimed the first time by an itinerant mis
sionary, from whom he received a copy of St. Matthew's
Gospel. For twelve years he read that little book day by
day, until its message was borne in upon his soul that
Jesus Christ is indeed the Saviour of all men. At the
end of those years the same missionary again came to his
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
village, and asked him what he thought about Jesus Christ.
He replied, " He is the world's Redeemer," and at once
yielded himself to Christ's claim. Such was the spiritual
result of a single Gospel, which cost the Bible Society id.
to print, and is sold by the missionaries to the people for
one pice (i.e., ^d.).
A Thug and his stolen Book.
The following account is taken from the Kaukab i Hind
newspaper of March 17, 1904 :
" Six months ago, in one of the stations of the American
Methodist Episcopal Mission, a Christian died, named Jiwan
Das. This man had been a highway robber, a Thug by profes
sion. On one occasion a native preacher was on the way to
preach in a certain village, when he was attacked by Jiwan Das,
and his clothes were taken, as well as some Bible Portions which
he had with him. The robber took the spoil home, where his
son, who was attending school, begged for the books. One day
the father, remembering the books, asked the boy to read to
him. The lad began to read in the Book of Numbers, and
chanced to open the chapter where it is written. Be sure your sin
will find you out. On hearing this the father began to tremble, and
seemed so affected that the boy asked him what was the matter,
but he gave no reply. Some days after the father took the book
to read himself The same verse came to him again. He was
convicted of the solemn truth, and from that time began to read,
first the Old Testament, then the New, in which he learned that
the Saviour from sin is Jesus Christ. Hoping to realize in his
own heart this great salvation, he went to the mission station at
Badaon, where he was baptized by the late Rev. Dr. Hoskins,
and has lived and died an exemplary Christian.''
A Rajput Evangelist.
The Rev. Dr. Dease, of the Theological School in
Bareilly, North India, has communicated the following ex
perience : 69

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
" Some years ago I was itinerating in the Terai, and was sur
prised to find many of the villagers famihar with parts of the
Scriptures. No missionary had been in those parts before, and I
was at a loss to account for such familiarity. Later I learned that
a Rajput trader whose business took him to those villages, was in
the habit in the evenings of reading from a book he carried with
him, to whoever cared to listen, and in this way the people came
to know many of the Bible stories. I sent one of my helpers to
find the man, as I was anxious to meet him. After some days
the helper returned and informed me that he met the Rajput and
had seen the Bible out of which he read to the villagers. It
appeared that in another part of the district he had bought the
book from a colporteur, and on reading it had concluded that its
teachings were true, and had accepted them for himself, and had
ever since then sought to teach them to others. The helper told
the Rajput he ought to accept baptism. He said he would do so
later on, and asked me to meet him. A couple of months after I
went to his village, which was in the hills, but was informed that
he had died of cholera. Asking for his Bible, I was told that the
villagers had destroyed it for fear that . someone else should
become a Christian by reading it. This trader bore a very good
character in all the villages I visited. He was said to be honest
and truthful. He told my helper he had never met a missionary
or preacher, and whatever he knew about Christianity he had
obtained from the Bible, which was his constant companion."
A New Hindu Sect.
A crucial example of the leavening influence of the
Bible in India is supplied by Dr. G. A. Grierson. He
sends the following remarkable extract from page 117
of the Government Report on the census taken in the
Panjab in 1901, regarding a new Hindu sect^ which has
recently arisen there :

' An account of this remarkable movement, written from fuit infor
mation by ihe Rev. D. H. D. Griswold, of the American Presbyterian
Mission, and entitled "A Christian Fakir," appeared in the fuly
number of " The East and ihe I rest." 70

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
"Chet RamIs. — This sect was founded by one Chet Ram
some thirty-five years ago.
" His Life. — Chet Ram was born in or about the year 1835 at
Sharakpur in the Lahore District. His father was a shopkeeper
and moneylender of the Arora caste. Chet Ram was a man of
little education, and could read only the vernacular character
used by people of his caste. When twenty-five years of age he
began his present mission, and very soon gathered round him a
number of disciples. He died about 1895, and after his demise
his daughter was installed as his successor. He was burnt near
the village of Bhuchok, where fairs are held annually to com
memorate his memory.
" His Teachings. — Implicit confidence in Christ as the only
God was the chief basis of his teaching. A copy of the Bible
was to be worn by each of his disciples round his neck. His
disciples were also to carry a long rod with a cross at its head.
The front portion of the horizontal part of the rod bears the
following inscription :
" ' Help, O Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, God ! Read the Bible
and the Gospels for salvation. — Chet Ramaint.'
" His Followers. — The followers of Chet Ram belong mainly
to the poorer classes. They are to be met with chiefly in the
Ferozpur, Lahore, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Montgomery Dis
tricts. Forty persons are always to subsist on alms and preach
the teaching of Chet Ram. These are to remain celibate all their
lives. The number of his followers is increasing day by day, but
Hindu converts do not mix with Muhammadan converts, and
caste prejudices remain untouched."
Dr. Grierson continues : " To us, believers in the Master.
that this sect has sprung up and is increasing day by day
is a circumstance of the greatest importance. However
unorthodox its doctrines may be, we cannot but recognize
in them the working of the Holy Spirit, and acknowledge
that this working is proceeding spontaneously from within
the Hindu community, and is not directly due to external
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SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
missionary influence. No doubt missionaries sowed the
seed. It has fallen in good ground. May it bring forth
fruit a thousandfold."
The Good Seed in China.
Space forbids us to multiply instances ; but we must
not fail to register the wonderful signs of advance which
are reported from China. Last year nearly two million
copies of the Scriptures were put into circulation in this
vast Empire, more than a million books being sold by our
own Society. There are striking tokens, moreover, that
the Bible is penetrating and permeating Chinese thought.
We take one or two recent examples of the power of the
good seed in China.
In the autumn of 1904 His Excellency Chou Fu, then
Governor of Shantung, and ruler of 36,000,000 people,
after a conference with Dr. Timothy Richard, the eminent
Baptist missionary, requested the Bible Society to provide
him with a number of New Testaments, in order that he
might forward a copy to every mandarin in his province,
from the status of a county court magistrate upwards.
" For," said the Governor, " by studying the Book which
missionaries hold sacred, a better understanding will
prevail, and peace and harmony result." Dr. Richard
described this request as a special call of God, and the
Bible Society most gladly granted 200 Wenli New Testa
ments, suitably bound, to this noble Governor, " who is a
model ruler in every respect." This enabled him to give a
copy to all his higher officials and to every county mayor
in his province. A suitable letter has accompanied each
volume, stating what it is and why the Society presents it.
And coming through the Governor's hands, these Testa-
72

SEED CORiSf FOR THE WORLI).
ments will receive far more attention than if they were
obtained through any other channel.
From a Chinese Christian.
The Chinaman whose testimony is given below has had
a somewhat remarkable career. Mr. Fong Tek-heng, of
Hinghoa, started life as a poor boy, but has risen to a
prosperous position and gained wide influence among his
fellow-citizens. His kindness to the poor and to strangers
is known of all men, and his filial piety is so exceptional
that it was proposed to erect s. pailozv, or memorial arch, at
a cost of $10,000, in his honour. He is a zealous preacher
of the Gospel, and gives largely of his means to support
preachers, students, and orphans.
" I have heard that the agent of the Bible Society has asked
for news to prove that there is good in Bible distribution. There
fore I write to say that this work cf Bible distribution is sur
prisingly precious and honourable. It is a means of bringing
men into the heavenly way. I remember the great grace 1
received from God through the Bible distributors. By their
books and preaching they bring men into the way of salvation.
In the year j886 three of them came to our village to sell Scrip
tures and spread abroad the Gospel. I was moved through
them, and purchased fifty-two parts of Scriptures to give to the
villagers. From that small beginning great results have come.
Over a thousand persons have been helped God-wards. Seven
teen churches have been established. Eleven persons have
become evangelists. Christian students have been gathered by
the hundred. We consider that the value of one soul is more
than a world. What, then, is the value of all these souls gathered
by Bible distribution ? Let the agent consider all this and not
restrict his operation. I send this to show I was saved from
death (through Bible distribution) and to salute the agent. I am
his younger brother. Fong Tek-heng of Hinghoa."
73 F

SEED CORN FOR 'IHE WORLD.
In Closed Countries.
It is a mistake to suppose that all countries in the
world lie open to Christian missions. For political or
ecclesiastical reasons, missionaries still find themselves
practically excluded from not a few wide and populous
territories. For instance, they are not allowed to settle
and teach within the Russian Empire — where, as we have
seen already, the Bible Society is not only welcomed but
enjoys special 'public facilities and favours, and last year
circulated 644,000 copies of the Scriptures in sixty
different forms of speech. In Abyssinia again, where
Christianity survives in a strange and perverted Ethi-
opic form, missionaries are not at present tolerated as
residents. Flere, however, the Bible Society provides
the Scriptures in all the principal native dialects — in
Galla, in Tigrai, in Tigrinya, as well as the complete
Bible in Amharic, and the New Testament and Psalms in
Ethiopic for liturgical use. Availing itself of every oppor
tunity, the Society has been able for many years to pour a
steady stream of Scriptures into this closed kingdom. Its
publications filter in from Aden and Eritrea ; while in
Egypt and Palestine Abyssinian pilgrims and traders and
exiles find the book they revere in a language they under
stand. Whatever opposition may have been shown against
missionaries, Abyssinia has nothing but welcome for the
Bible. The Emperor Menelik has not only accepted with
gratitude gifts of Scriptures sent him by the Society, but he
has requested that a large number of copies be sent to Adis
Abeba, undertaking to distribute them among his people.
In the Forbidden City.
We may quote one more instance of how the seed of
74

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
the printed Gospel is able to penetrate through doors
which are closed remorselessly against every Christian
teacher and preacher. The British expedition to Tibet has
dispelled much of the mystery which for so many years
had veiled that unknown land. Sir Francis Younghusband,
in his paper before the Royal Geographical Society, stated
that, taking it as a whole, Tibet was probably quite as rich
as Kashmir and Nepal. The Yandock Tso he described
as " the most lovely lake he had ever seen. In shape it
was like a rough ring, and in colour it varied to every
shade of violet and turquoise blue and green. What
caused the marvellous colouring none of them could say,
but one cause must be the intensity of clearness in the
liquid Tibetan sky, so deep and so translucent that even
the sky of Greece and Italy would look pale and thick be
side it." . . . " In a lovely valley, covered with trees, rich with
cultivation, and watered by a river as broad as the Thames
at Westminster, hidden away by range after range of snowy
mountains, lay the mysterious Forbidden City."
So far, however, from discovering a pure and lofty form
of Buddhist faith, with enlightened Mahatmas for its ex
ponents, all the reports prove that the Tibetan religion
has been justly described by Rudyard Kipling as "an
almost obliterated Buddhism, overlaid with a nature-wor
ship as fantastic as the terracing of their tiny fields." One
monastery at Lhasa contains not less than 10,000 monks,
and another has 7,000, all described as " degraded, nasty,
sensual-looking." Mr. Candler ' gives a striking picture
of a British subaltern who watched the service in the
cathedral at Lhasa, and audibly ejaculated, " Thank God,
' In The Unveiling of Lhasa.
75

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
I'm not a Lama." In justice, however, this extremely
corrupt Buddhism must be compared, not with the great
Christian communions, but with such exceptional perver
sions of Christianity as we find in Abyssinia or Utah,
The Gospel at Lhasa.
One of the official interpreters attached to the British
expedition, Mr. J, R, Macdonald, sends the information
that many of the Society's Tibetan Gospels have been
distributed both to monks and laymen at Lhasa. He
sent three of these Gospels to the present Ruler of Tibet,
with whom he also obtained an interview, and found that
he was very anxious to know about " the white man's
religion." Thereupon Mr. Macdonald had the privilege
of speaking to him about the one God and His Son Christ
Jesus. Although the time is not yet come when mission
aries can enter Tibet, the Scriptures which the Society
issues are undoubtedly making their silent but forceful
way among Tibetans in the border villages, and as far as
Lhasa itself * * *
Such instances and examples lend strange new force to
the words of an ancient exhortation ^ : " Beloved, let not
either the fear of thorns, or the stony rocks, or the hardness
of the road, terrify us, so long as in our sowing of the
Word of God we arrive at last at the good land. Let the
Word of God be received by every field, by every man,
whether barren or fertile."

' Sermon in App. to St. Augustinus Works. VI. 597. Bened. edition.

IN THE FURROWS OF THE BATTLE-FIELD.
The Bible, like the Church, gains fresh force and strength in times
of trial.— Bishop Westcott.
The year covered by this Report has witnessed events
as tragic and as portentous as any within living memory.
The struggle in the Far East is pregnant with changes
which no man can measure or forecast. The centre of
gravity among 'nations has shifted, and the Mongolian
races are emerging as a new world-power, with incalculable
results for the future of civilization and religion. This is
the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.
The outbreak of war creates at once a claim and an op
portunity, to which the Bible Society has never been slack
in responding. It makes special efforts to put the Scrip
tures into the hands of the troops engaged on both sides.
If circumstances permit of colportage, the prices of the
books are reduced to suit the purse of the soldier on
active service ; and when a gratis circulation is advisable,
copies are freely given away to the full extent of the need.
In Russia.
In European Russia the main stream of life has flowed
on, little affected by the war or by local disturbances, and
the Society sold over 500,000 copies of the Scriptures last
year under something like normal conditions. At St.
Petersburg, where the Empress established at the Winter
77

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Palace a depot for receiving and forwarding clothing and
other comforts to the military hospitals at the front, the
Bible Society was privileged to place at her Majesty's
disposal some 27,000 copies of the Scriptures to be for
warded to the soldiers through this agency. Her Majesty's
Secretary writes that the Empress was deeply touched by
the gift, and was graciously pleased to command that the
Society be thanked in her name.
Free Distribution in Siberia.
Troops proceeding to the front from whatever province
of Russia converge upon the railway line which carries
them across the Urals to Cheljabinsk, on the Siberian
frontier. At this important junction, and at other points
on the railway further East, our agents organized an
effective free distribution of the Scriptures. Official per
mission for this had been obtained from St. Petersburg,
and Russian generals and officers encouraged and some
times assisted in the distribution to their own regiments.
Altogether about 50,000 copies of the Four Gospels or the
Psalter in Russ have been accepted by these soldiers,
with touching and often dramatic expressions of gratitude.
Sometimes their thanks took the picturesque form of
" rocking " the colporteur shoulder-high ; or of kissing the
book and offering up a fervent prayer for those who had
sent such a precious gift. We have received many
striking proofs that these books have been carefully
prized and have reached the seat of war with their owners
after the many changes on that long journey. We pray
and believe that the Gospel message has won its way into
the readers' hearts, and given them courage and consola
tion in their hour of need. 78

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Several of our Russian and Siberian colporteurs have
been called away to join the colours as reservists. The
Christian public in Russia has taken a deep interest in the
supply of Scriptures to the troops on active service, and
specially to the sick and wounded and to prisoners of war.
To an extent not expected by us, purchases have been
made at our dep6ts for the express purpose of sending
books to the soldiers. And our own gratis circulation has
been helped by a number of donations to the Society's
funds, i^85 having been paid in at St. Petersburg alone.
How the Books were Welcomed.
On receiving a Book a soldier will generally take off his cap
and cross himself, saying aloud ; " O Lord, give to the kind
people good health." Sometimes an officer is surprised to see
the inscription " British and Foreign," and asks : " Where do the
English get the money for such a great work?" "Why do the
English trouble to give Russian soldiers the Scriptures ? "
.Kt Tinmen a father and son had been called out to serve in
the reserves. The father, on receiving a Gospel from the
colporteur, said to his son : "Kiss this Book." Then, calhng his
wife, who was waiting near, he handed her the copy, saying :
" See, this Book will take our place ; it will remain while we are
absent ; it will bring comfort. Do thou draw consolation and
hope from it. Remember also to be grateful to the English
Society which is so good as to give it to thee."
At Cheljabinsk a General in command of a regiment purchased
a Bible for himself, and went through the train with our col
porteur, addressing his men as follows : " See, brothers, we have
received many gifts at many stations, but the chief of them all
was missing undl we received this. The British and Foreign
Bible Society gives you this Book free. Read it, and especially
study the Psalms. The ninety-first Psalm is one that deserves
our particular attention. It will cheer us on our long journey,
and also help us on the field of battle." Turning to the col
porteur he said : " We hereby tender our sincere thanks to the
79

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Society whose imprint is on the title-page. We are grateful to
them for remembering us, and thank every member of the
Society." For the Russian Wounded.
The sick and wounded have not been forgotten, and
the Committees of the Russian Red Cross Society have
co-operated in distributing thousands of copies. Patients
in Manchurian field-hospitals lay poring over the little
books which they had carried with them across Siberia
to the battle-field, or received in the hospital wards.
One wounded soldier said: "Thank the Lord, thank the Lord !
May blessings follow those who give such good books to us poor
soldiers.'' Another read aloud St. Matt. xxiv. as far as ver. 14,
This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations, when a listener interrupted : " I
see this free distribution of the Evangel is also happening under
God's guidance."
In the hospital at Omsk the head doctor accompanied the col
porteur through each ward and addressed the groups of wounded
soldiers as they received the copies : " Brothers, remember that
this is not a Russian Society ; the chief offices of the Society are
in England, where there are, as you now see, kind-hearted people
whose sole aim in life is to distribute the Word of God to all. I
wish you, my brethren, each and all of you who have received
such a £;ift, the Gospels, from this Society, to treasure it as sacred.
Within its pages lies man's chief end in this and the future life.
If you will only read with true sympathy and feeling, beHeve me
when I say it, those who read in this spirit will feel their loads of
infirmity grow lighter, their health better, yea, you will be able to
return to your homes in good health, with the never-to-be-forgotten
souvenir to remind you what the British and Foreign Bible Society
did for you when it gave you the priceless Word of God ! "
Bibles for the Russian Fleet.
While the first portion of the Baltic Fleet was passing
80

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
through the Suez Canal, our colporteur was allowed to board
the warships at Port Said, through the courtesy of the
Russian Consul, and sold over 800 copies of the Scriptures
among the men in a day and a night. And later, when the
second detachment of the Fleet passed through the canal,
the colporteurs were permitted to sell over 1,300 copies of
the Scriptures. Each of the admirals accepted a Russian
Bible. The following extract from a colporteur's journal speaks for
itself: "fanuary \i,ih — Early on a Russian torpedo boat; sold
one Russ Bible, six Testaments with Psalms, five Psalters, and
three Gospels. On another torpedo boat ; sold one Polish and
two Russ Bibles, one Slavonic and four Russ Testaments.
Visited Japanese man-of-war ; sold one English and one French
Bible, one English and two Italian Testaments. Afternoon :
visited Russian battleship ; sold one Russ and one Polish Bible,
one Slavonic and six Russ Testaments, and five Russ Psalters.
On another Russian cruiser; sold nine Russ Testaments with
Psalms and sixteen Gospels.
Many of these ships are now at the bottom of the sea ;
but not a few of the officers and men returning home on
parole have been found, as they passed through Port Said,
still in possession of their much-prized books.
Our colporteur at Sebastopol obtains a permit, renewed
each year by the Admiral, to sell the Scriptures on board
the vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, and pays periodical
visits to the different warships, some of which have
recently gained brief but unhappy notoriety. A number
of Russian Testaments have been thankfully accepted by
the crews of the Russian ships of war which were disarmed
at more than one Chinese port. And 5,000 Russian
Gospels have been recently sent out to Colombo, where
many steamers are now calling with hundreds of Russian
8(

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
wounded on board : " The poor fellows are most delighted
to get the books."
For Japanese Troops.
As soon as war was declared energetic preparations
were made by our representatives in Japan, and no fewer
than 230,000 specially-printed Testaments and Gospels
were given away last } ear ' among the regiments of
the Mikado's soldiers as they marched to the front. The
military authorities co-operated with great kindness, and
gave special facilities for the distribution, while the little
books were almost always eagerly accepted as coming
from British allies. " The book of teaching,' wrote a
Japanese soldier from the front, " is to us, who are on the
road of life and death, the greatest gift above all things."
In the Hospitals.
In Manchuria, after the sanguinary engagements, our
books, both in Russian and Japanese, were distributed in
the field hospitals through the Presbyterian missionaries,
who remained bravely at their perilous posts, while most of
our colporteurs were able to continue on duty. According
to a Times correspondent, " The work of the Bible Society
has been much appreciated in both armies. It is curious
to note that the common soldiers of the two armies, when
lying wounded in the army hospitals, find that by turning
up chapter and verse in their respective books they can

' These gifts — and over 100,000 copies of ihe Scriptures also sold
— represent what was done conjointly last year by the B.F.B.S. and
the National Bible Society of Scotland, who are partners in Bible
work in Southern fapan. Northern fapan being assigned by agree-
?nent to the American Bible Society.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
soon exchange ideas and carry on in this way quite a con
versation. There is but little personal feeling between the
combatants, and they easily make friends."
During the first three months of this year our agent
at Kobe distributed 18,000 Gospels and 500 New Testa
ments among the sick and wounded and crippled soldiers
who crowd the military hospitals in Japan. One Japanese
soldier, recovering from typhoid, a Christian in heart,
though not yet" baptized, spoke enthusiastically of what the
New Testament had been to him when he read it by the
bright autumn moonlight on the plains of Manchuria. " It
has been my comfort through my illness here in hospital,"
he said, " but it was best of all there ! "
Rev. J. Williams, a veteran C.M.S. worker, writes : " The
Gospels came last night. A thousand thanks for them. I
find the wounded as a rule greatly prefer them to tracts.
I gave out the last of my fiist 500 yesterday, and was
almost mobbed by the convalescents in their eagerness to
get copies. The present is a unique opportunity."
For Prisoners of War.
Large consignments of Russian, German, and other
Scriptures have also been forwarded for the many thou
sands of prisoners of war, who have arrived and are still
arriving in Japan ; these include Jews, Poles, Cossacks,
Tatars, Georgians, Finns, and Germans. A first instalment
of 40 German Bibles were sent to a lady missionary of the
C.M.S., who has a Bible-class of 300 German-speaking
prisoners : she writes that the soldiers cast lots for the use
of the books.
A Russian sergeant-major writes on behalf of his fellow-
prisoners in Japan : " Wc prisoners of war thank you from
83

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
the depths of our hearts, and we all of us will remember
you as long as we live, for the i,ioo books which have
created such surprise and happiness among the prisoners.
Every minute is spent in reading them."

To certain critics it may appear a futile and ineffectual
effort thus to scatter the Gospel of Peace broadcast in
the blood-stained furrows of the battle-field. Nevertheless,
each faithful Christian knows that Love, and Love alone,
is omnipotent, and must win the final victory.
Gospels and Gunpowder.
One of our colporteurs in Morocco describes how he
found himself at Azimoor, where the people were in an
excited and warlike state, as their neighbours of the Du-
kalla tribe had begun to ra'id them in order to settle old
scores. So the common talk at Azimoor was all about
fighting. " Some said to me, ' Bring us kortass (cartridges),
and we will buy them ; what do we want with kutoob
(books) ? ' I replied, ' No, buy my kutoob and believe their
message ; then you will say, " Bring us more kutoob : What
do we want with kortass!' ' "
Yes ; the Book will conquer the cartridge at last. We
shall overcome evil with good, if vve have faith to oppose
it with sheer and simple goodness, and with nothing else
at all.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE CENTENARY.
Alt things ripen, and righteousness also.
Tertullian.
Over and above the world-wide celebration of the
Society's Centenary Festival, of which some picture was
given in our last Report, this opening year of the second
century of its service has been crowded with labour
and eventful in achievement. Best of all, we can praise
God because He has whispered in so many hearts the
promise of renewal and revival. From many corners of
His thirsty vineyard we hear a sound as of abundance of
rain. How vitally the Scriptures blend with the deepest
movements of spiritual life is illustrated by the fact that,
as a result of the remarkable religious awakening in Wales,
the orders for Bibles and Testaments which reached the
Bible House from the Principality during the closing
months of 1904 and the opening months of 1905 have
been three or four times as large as usual.
Towards Unity.
Among the happiest consequences of the Centenary we
are conscious of an instinctive drawing together of our far-
spread Auxiliaries into closer and more practical co-opera
tion. It will suffice to mention one signal example. Last
autumn the Rev. J.- H. Ritson, Secretary of the Society,
spent two months in Canada on a special mission to assist
85

seed CORN FOR THE WORLD.
in reorganizing the Society's work. He visited most of the
principal cities from Nova Scotia to Vancouver, and took
part in an important Conference, attended by nearly
seventy delegates from our Canadian Auxiliaries, held in
September at Toronto. It was then resolved, with prac
tical unanimity, that our friends throughout British North
America should be federated into one Canadian Bible
Society, Auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society.
From this important development we anticipate not only
a more thorough distribution of the Scriptures through
out Canada, but also increased contributions in aid of the
Society's work in other lands.
The Centenary Fund.
To commemorate its Centenary the Bible Society ap
pealed for a Thanksgiving Fund of a quarter of million
guineas, that it might be able more effectively to publish
the Gospel of the grace of God. The appeal met with
prompt and generous response at home and abroad.
Special gifts came from the King, the Prince of Wales,
and the German Emperor. By the end of March, 1904,
the Fund had reached ;£^i 35,392. Contributions have been
flowing in ever since from all quarters of the world in a
stream which even yet has not run dry. Here we can only
mention some few striking instances of generous giving
among our friends and fellow-workers outside England
down to March 31st, 1905.
Gifts from outside Great Britain.
The Society's Auxiliaries in Canada and Newfoundland have
raised altogether the munificent total of ^10,551. From South
Africa ;^4,839 was received, including oyer ,,:^5oo from the
Transvaal ; a considerable pprdc^n of this represents gifts from
86

ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY: THE GAP, LOOKING WEST.

seed corn for THE WORLD.
our friends of the Dutch Reformed Church. From Central
Europe, including Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland,
.;^3)837 was paid in. The Australian Commonwealth contributed
£'i,2']6, and New Zealand has remitted the liberal sum of;!£'3,25o.
India and Ceylon together sent ;^2,966. From Italy came ^804;
from Egypt, ;^7i9 ; and from Russia and Siberia, ^717. The
West Indies contributed f^S^A-, while South Malaysia forwarded
£SS'^ from Singapore.
Gifts from the Mission Field.
Some of the most remarkable and encouraging gifts have been
received from native Christian communities in the mission field,
in eloquent gratitude for the benefits conferred on them by the
Bible Society. Thus, for instance, out of ;^i,ioo sent from
China, more than half came from Chinese Christians ; over 500
churches or mission stations, connected with over forty different
missionary organizations, held special Centenary services and col
lections, in seventeen out of the eighteen provinces of China.
;£'44i came to hand from the coast of West Africa; ;^2oo
came from native converts of the Paris Missionary Society in
Basutoland ; ^60 arrived from the New Hebrides ; and no less
than ;^253 from Madagascar. Donors in the East included
priests and laymen of the Armenian and Chaldean Churches in
Mesopotamia and the Syrian Church in Malabar.
Most cheering of all was the eager and generous spirit which
inspired multitudes of the smaller offerings which poured into the
Society's treasury. Indian lepers denied themselves part of their
pittance of food that they might have something to send. Boys
in Chinese mission schools saved their scanty pocket-money, or
gave up " their weekly pork and fish " for the cause. In Hy
derabad the congregation of the W.M.S. brought sheep and
chickens and heaps of grain. Amid the terrors of battle in Man
churia women fashioned native embroidery to be sold for the
Fund. In the Solomon Group the native Chrisdans of Ysabel
Island made a collection which included strings of beads, porpoise
teeth, armlets, tortoise-shells, and native cloth — with the result
that thirty guineas was forwarded to the Bible House through
the Melanesian Mission. 87

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
To Complete the Fund.
Early in the spring of 1905 a special effort was made,
mainly through members of the Committee, to complete
the Centenary Fund by gifts from private sources. Six
generous contributions of 1,000 guineas each, and an
anonymous donation of ;^3,ooo, besides many other gifts,
often from friends who had already been liberal donors,
have given an impetus to this movement. Up to the end
of March, 1905, the total sum actually received in London
amounted to ,^225,784.
Other donations have come in during the summer, in
cluding further remittances from English and Colonial
Auxiliaries, notably from Upper Canada, and on July 1st
the total stood at ;^243,ooo. At the end of July Mr. Robert
Davies, of Bangor, sent a cheque for ;£'io,ooo towards the
completion of the Fund. This splendid munificence en
courages us to believe that the remaining balance — now
only about ;^6,ooo — will be speedily raised. Indeed, if we
include sums still in reserve, it is safe to say that, by the
early autumn the quarter of a million guineas, in payments
or promises, will be practically complete.
Te Deum Laudamus.
We thank God with full hearts for this fulfilment of so
many hopes and prayers, this crown of so many willing
sacrifices. We praise and bless His Holy Name that from
all parts of the world His children have been moved to
make this thankoffering as a memorial of the Society's
hundred years of service.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Annual Income and Expenditure.
" Deficits are silver trumpets which are sounding the
advance. Deficits are the answers to your prayers." So
Sir Andrew Wingate told the London Missionary Society
at its annual meeting last May. We accept the message
for the Bible Society also, and we thank the speaker for
teaching us that courageous word.
A summary of the Society's receipts and expenditure for
the past twelve months will be found in the Appendix to
this volume. It shows that last year's working involved
the very grave deficit of ;^35,233. Moreover, the deficits
announced at the six previous Anniversaries have been
;^ 1 7,269, .^21,066, A.8S1. ;^S.530, ^23,499, and ^.891- In
fact, during these past seven " years of dearth " the Society's
expenditure has exceeded its revenue by over ;^i 12,000.
A heavy debt has been avoided only by successive drafts
upon the working capital — with the result that this capital,
which is vitally necessary to the Society's business opera
tions, has reached so low a figure that the Committee dare
not consent to its further depletion.
Falling at the very threshold of the opening century,
such a condition of things seems specially untimely. And
now that the evangelization of the world is making new
and imperious claims on the Society's resources, it will be
calamitous indeed if those resources should slacken and
fall away.
We recall the Bishop of Southampton's confident words
in his Anniversary Sermon for the Society in St. Paul's
Cathedral last May : — " No one can believe that the Bible
Society can really go back." Yet a great institution may
suffer, because its armies of friends are all relying on each
other to make its position secure. " What its friends have
89 G

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
to do," continued the Bishop, "is to realize its mission more
fully, to think out into clearness the giounds of its claim,
to press its appeals in such a way as may reach the con
sciences of Christian men, and kindle the sense of obligation
to respond to them through the Christian world."
The Allocation of the Centenary Fund.
It must be remembered also that the Centenary Fund
is already allocated to specific objects, which were defined
and adopted by the Centenary Grand Committee. The
money, as a whole, is devoted to reorganization and to
much-needed aggressive work — such as, for instance, our
new Agency in the Transvaal and fresh enterprise in the
East — beyond what had hitherto been undertaken by the
Society. Again, in cities in British territory or at Treaty
ports, where the rental of depots is becoming prohibitive
and their tenure is precarious, the Committee propose to
secure sites and build depots of their own ; and the rents
thus released will be applied to colportage. The disposal of
the Centenary Fund on such lines as these will, to some
extent, relieve the ordinary income, but not sufficiently to
bridge the widening gap between the Society's present
annual income and expenditure.
In view of the Society's financial position the Committee
have already begun to reduce their home grants and their
expenditure in important provinces of the foreign field —
at least until the yearly funds at their disposal show a
substantial growth. The Centenary Fund, as has been
said, cannot be applied to the Society's ordinary existing
work. Nothing is so urgently needed as an increase of
normal income. The critical feature in the Society's in
come is this— that out of its receipts each year, the Free
90

zo

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Contributions from its Auxiliaries form not much more
than a quarter of the total. Tlie Socieifs financial position
demands that tliese annual Free Contributions from the
Auxiliaries should be increased by Iialf as much again.
* * *
A hundred years ago Englishmen were challenged by an
appeal with this title : Tlie Excellency of tlie Scriptures :
an Argument for their more general Diffusion ; and the
outcome of the appeal was to found the greatest agency
for spreading abroad the Bible which the Christian Church
has ever known.
The Bible Society exists in order to prepare and publish
translations in all possible languages. The rapid growth
of missionary enterprise and the extraordinary develop
ment of exploration have multiplied the possibilities of such
translations, while the need for revising and perfecting
earlier versions was never more urgent.
The Society exists to distribute God's Book in all acces
sible places. The world has been opened up so that almost
every quarter of it can be visited, and while the cost of
travel and carriage lessens, the vast number of new regions
brought within the sphere of the Society augments ma
terially its total labours.
The Society exists to bring God's Book within the reach
of all sorts and classes of men. That is to say, it must sell
its editions at prices which Eastern peasants and plough
men can afford to pay ; and fidelity to this principle in
volves rapidly increasing expenditure.
Yet ought we not to glory in such opportunities, even
though by their very greatness they have become a burden ?
A century ago our fathers beat in vain against barriers
which shut out the Bible from more than half the world.
91

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
For us, God's hand has broken the gates of brass and cut
the bars of iron in sunder, and well-nigh abolished the
hindrances of race and speech and distance. Now that He
has so marvellously answered our prayers and enlarged
our coasts, dare we be faithless or reluctant to carry the
Gospel where He has thus opened the way ?
What is your own Bible worth to you ? How much
difference has it made to you ? How much do you owe
as a debt of gratitude for the Book of God ?

APPENDIX,

NOTICE RESPECTING REMITTANCES.
Subscriptions and donations are received at the Bible House, 146, Queen
Victoria Street, London, E.C. ; also at the Society's Banliers, Williams
Deacon's Bank, Limited, 20, Birchin Lane, E.C. ;— advice being sent
to the Secretaries at the Bible House. Cheques, Bankers' Drafts, and
Post Office Orders {on the General Post Office), should be made payable
to Tlie British ani Foreign- Bible Society, and sent to the Secretaries.

FORM OF A BEQUEST TO THE SOCIETY.
/ bequeath the sum of Pounds sterling,
free of Legacy Duty, to " The British and Foreign Bible
Society," instituted in London in the year 1804, io be paid for
the purposes of ihe said Society to ihe Treasurer for ihe time
being thereof, whose Receipt shall be a good discharge for the
same.

Telegraplxic Address : TESTAMENTS, LONDON.
94

IJRITISH AND FOREIGN BinLK SOCIETV.

President: The Marquis of Northampton*
Vice-Presidents :

18^3. Bishop Ellicott, D.D.
1873. Bishop Mitchiiison, 1>.C.L.,D.D.
1876. Bishop Moorhouse, D.D.
1877. The Earl of Aberdeen.
Earl Fortescue.
The Rt. Hon. Sir J. H. Kennaway,
Bart., C.B., M.P.
1878. The Archbishop of York.
1881. Sir William Muir, K.C.S.I.
7883. The Bishop of St, Andrews.
1884. Bishop Barry, U.D.
J. Bevan Braithwaite, Esq.
The Bishop of Ripon.
1885. Rev. Alexander McLaren, D.D.
Bishop Bickersteth, D.D.
1886. Rev. W. H. Dallinger, LL.D., F.R.S.
R.ev. J. Oswald Dykes, D.D.
Sir Thomas Fowell BuxLon, Bart.,
G.C.M.G.
1887. The Archbishop of Canterbury.
Rev. fames, H. Rigg, D.D.
1888. W. Schoolcroft Burton, Esq.
Bi<:hop Royston, D.D.
John Cory, Esq.
Rev. Thoma.s Davies, D.D.
i88g. TlieEarlofHalsbiiry, Lord Chancellor.
Lord Brassey, K.C.B.
The Bishop of St. Asaph.
189T. Lord Kinnaird.
The Dean of Windsor.
R. N. Gust, Esq., LL.D.
Rev. A. M. Fairbairn, D.D.
1892. The Bishop of Lichfield.
The Archbishop of Montreal.
Aid Sir Joseph Savory, Bart.
The bishop of Sodor and Mrtn.
The Archbishop of Sydney.
Viscount Midleton.
Sir George Williams, Kt.
A. McArthur, Esq.
1893. R.ev. Chancellor Edmonds, B.D.
Edward Rawlings, Esq.
J. Storrs Fry, Esq.
Bishop Johnson, D D.
Rev. J. G. Rogers, D.D.
1894. Robert Heaih, 7i.-.q.
The Archbishop of the West Indies.
Archdeacon Sinclair, D.D.
The Bishop of Marlborough.
Admiral Sir F. Leopold McClintock,
K.C.B.
Rev. H. J. Pope, D.D.
J. R. Hill, E=;q.
1895. Viscount Peel.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Victor C. W. Cavendish, Esq., M.P.
Alexander Peckover, Esq., LL.D.
The Bishop of Chester.
Bishop Goe, D.D.
The Dean of Durham.
The Bishop of St. Albans.
Rev. J. Monro Gibson, D.D.
Rev. E. E. Jenkins, LL.D.
iSg6. Viscount Hampden.
The Earl of Stamford.
J. Trueman Mills, Esq.
Albert Spicer, Esq.
Rev. J. G. Greenhough.
Rev. Richard Glover^ D.D.
The Bishop of Hereford.
Bishop Stuart, D D.
The Dean o: Norwich.
1897. The Bishop of Peterborough.
Hon. J. J. Rogerson.
A. S. Leslie-Melville, Esq.
Lord Radstock.
The Bishop of Durham.

1897. Rev. J. Morlais Jones.
i3g8. Rev. Canon Christopher.
The Bishop of Newcastle, N.S.W.
Rev. Canon Fleming.
Rev. D. MacEwan, D.D.
The Bishop of Wakefield.
T, A. Denny, Esq
The Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Hartley
Fowler, M.P., G.C.S.L
R-^v. Canon A. R. Fausset.
1899, The Hishop of St. David's.
The Bishop of Shrewsbury.
Bishop Welldon, D.D.
Viscount Clifden.
Rev. Canon R. B. Girdlestonc.
Rev. W. L. Watkinson, D.D.
Robert Barclay, Esq.
Caleb R. Kemp, Esq.
Henry .Morris, Esq.
1900. Bishop Ingham, D. D.
The Bishop of Liverpool.
The Master of Trinity.
Rev. F. W. Macdonald.
F. A. Bevan, Esq.
Robert Dalies, Esq.
igoi. The Bishop of Ely.
The Bishop of Winche.ster.
The Bishop of London.
The Bishop 'if Lucknow.
Sir George Hayter Chubb, Bart.
The Rt. Hon. Sir Samuel J. Way, Bart.
Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G.,
Lord Chief Justice.
Hon. G. E. Knox.
Rev. Griffith John, D.D.
Re^. JohnG. Paton. D.D.
T. Fowell Buxton, Esq.
1902. The Bishop of Calcutta.
The Bishop of Uganda.
The liishop of Hokkaido, Japan.
Rev. W. G. Lawes, D.D.
Rev. J. Thoburn McGaw, D.D.
Rev. W. T. Davison, D.D.
Sir Charles Alfred Elliott, K.C.S.L
Sir Ernest Tritton, Bart., M P.
Thomas Hodgkin, Esq., D.C.L.
Charles Finch Fo.ster, Esq.
1903. Tlie Dean ol Westminster.
Rev. C, H. Kelly.
Rev. John Wat.son, D.D.
Sir Algernon Coote, Hart.
G. W. TV'Iacalpine, Esq.
George Spicer, Esq.
Martin John Sutton, Esq.
1904. The iiishop of Bumingham.
The Bishop of Manchester.
The Bishop of Honduras.
Bishop Stirling, D.D.
Rev. Andrew Murray, D.D.
Rev. Marsh.ill Hartley.
Rev. F. li. Meyer.
Rtv. S. G. Green, D.D.
Rev. D. Mackichan, D.D.
Sir A. Hargreaves Brown, Bart., ]\LP.
N. W. Hoyles, Esq., K.C., LL.D.
Thos. Pumpbrey, Esq.
George Cadbury, Esq.
P. F. Wood, Esq.
G. F. Sutton, E^q.
Th. Duka, Esq., M.D.
1905. The Bishop of Bristol.
Sir Geo. Livesey.
The Hon. Justice Forbes.
Rev. R. F. Horton, D.D.
General Booth.
E. Percy Hollams, Esq.
Williamson Lamplough, Esq.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Treasurer :
Robert Barclay, Esq.

Chairman of CotnmWeei
Caleb R. Kemp, Esq.

Committee :
Elected May 3, igoj.
Ttie dates indicate wJien members Jirst joined tlie Committee.

F. F. Belsey, Esq.
A. Brauen, Esq.
A. J. Crosfield, Esq.
G. T. Crosfield, Esq.
*A. T. Dence, Esq.
*Col. D. F. Douglas-Jones.
C. A. Flint, Esq.
A. R. Fordham, Esq.
S. H. Gladstone, Esq.
Sir William Godsell.
T. Morgan Harvey, Esq.
*Harold Knott, Esq.
H. Koenigs, Esq.
*Geo. Maddox, Esq.
H. W. Maynard, Esq.
G. J. McCaul, Esq.
T. P. Newman, Esq.
*F. D. Outram, Esq. * Not on

*W. C. Parkinson, Esq.
Joseph Pollard, Esq.
A. Rolland Rainy, Esq., MB.
Leslie S. Robertson, Esq.
Maj. -Gen. C. G. Robinson.
Fr. Schaeffer, Esq.
W. H. Seagram, Esq.
E. J. Sewell, Esq.
Colonel D. V. Shoitland.
Colonel E. S. Skinner.
*J. E. Vanner, Esq.
Emil Walser, Esq.
F. P. Weaver, Esq., M.D.
G. H. Wedekind, Esq.
D. Wellby, Esq.
I. P. Werner, Esq.
Sir And. Wingate, k.c.i.f..
A. W. Young, Esq.

1900, 189718861 901
190519051904,181902,1903.1900,1905
1897,1905
iSgr190:1904
1905 tlje Covijiiittee last year.

1905,
i8go.
1902, 1901 1898
1887igo2,
190 1900.
1903, 1905,
1887
1895 1893.
18 1884 1903
1891

The Committee meet, as a rule, at the Bible House, 146, Queen Victoria Street,
E.G., on the first and third Monday in every Month, at Half-past Eleven o'clock ;
and oftener, as business may require.

Secretaries :
The Rev. Arthur Taylor, m.a. The Rev. John H. Ritson, m.a.
Translating ( The Rev. John Sharp, m.a , Ediioriai Superintendent
(Sr* Ediioriai \ and Consulting Secretary.
Department. ( Mr. Cravden Edmunds, m.a.. Assistant.
Literary C The Rev.T. H. Darlow, m.a.. Literary Superintendent.
Departmeut. \ MiSS F. tCLlCKMANN, Assistant.
Home C The Rev. H. A. Raynes, m.a.. Home Superintendent.
Department. (. The Rev. Harry Scott, Assistant Home Secretary.
Accountant: Assistant Foreign Secretary:
Mr. W. p. Wakelin. Mr. T. Ernest Price.
Warehouse Manager : Collector :
Mr. W. Bulloch. Mr. Geo. B. Poole.

Honorary Solicitors :
Messrs. Hollams, Sons,
Coward and Hawksley,
30, Mincing Lane, E.C.

Bankers :
Williams Deacon's Bank,
Ltd.,
20, Birchin Lone, E.C.

96

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Foreign Agents
Paris — Pastor D. Lortsch.
Beriin—Mr. M. A. Morrison.
Florence — Sig. Augusto Meille.
Madrid — Mr. W. Summers^
St. Petersburg — Rev. W. Kean,
D.D.
Ekaterinburg — Mr.W. Davidson.
Constantinopie — Rev. T. R.
Hodgson.
Atexandria — Rev. A. A. Cooper,
M.A. [m.a.''
Cape Town — Rev. R. O. Walker,
fohannesburs; — Rev. G. Lowe.
Ispahan- Mr. C. E. G. TisdaU.

and Secretaries.
Rangoon — Rev. W. Sherratt.
Singapore — Mr. J. Hafifenden.
Maniia — Rev. Percy Graham.
Shanghai — Rev. G. H. Bondfield.
Seoul — Mr. H. Miller^ (pro tern.).
Kobe—Mx. F. Parrott.
Wanganui, N.Z. — Rev. F. H.
Spencer.
Buenos Ayres — Sig. B. A. Pons.
Petropolis, Brazil — Rev. F. Utt-
ley.
Callao—Mr. A. R. Stark.
famaica — Rev. G. O. Heath.
Toronto — Rev. R. E. Welsh, M.A.*

Calcutta— Ke.\. A. W. Young.
Bombay — Mr. C. Douglas Green.
Madras— ^^v. S. W. Organe.

Allahabad — Rev. T. S. Wynkoop,
M.A.
Lahore— Ur. W. H. L. Church.

Home District Secretaries and Assistants.

Rev. James Thomas,
Bible House, London.
Rev. Edward S. Prout, M.A.,'
55, Alexandra Road, Heading.
Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones, D.D.,
Whitchurch, Cardiff.
Rev. W. H. Norman, M.A.,
17, Gunterslone Road, West
Kensington, W.
Rev. W. Fisher, M.A.,
Bible House, London.
Rev. D. C. Edwards, m.a., Llan-
bedr, R.S.O., Merionethshire.
Rev. W. R. Bowman, B A.,
Rowtey Avenue, Stafford.
Rev. W. G. Jones, B.A., 26, Mal
vern Street, Newcastle-on- Tyne.
Rev. J. Alston, B.A.,
10, Castle Park, Lancaster.
Rev. T. Smetham, 53, St. Augus
tine's Avenue, Croydon.
Rev. J. W. Plant, 14A, Belvidere
Road, Princes Park, Liverpool.
Rev. H. Starmer,
12, Cedar Road, Norwich.

Rev. J. Percy Treasure,'
6, Btidgford Road, West Bridg-
ford, Nottingham.
Rev. Elias George,
83, Princess Road, Leicester.
Rev. F. Stenton Eardley,
Wesibury Park, Bristol.
Rev. Walter Wall, 12, Chestnut
Road, Moseley, Birmingham.
Rev. S. Jones, B.A.,
Weslray, Harvey Road, Cam-
bridi;e.
Rev. t. A. Wolfendale, M.A.,
41, Barrfieid Road, Pendleton,
Manchester.
Rev. W. F. Hodge, m.a.,"
Ridge End Viiias, Headingley,
Leeds.
Rev. A. H. Gaskell, M.A , B.D ,"
19, Staverton Road, Oxford.
Rev. J. Addison Ingle, m.a.,'
Walden, Mount Cold Road,
Plymouth.

Mr. Robert F. Crosland,
Oldfieldnook, Cleckheaton.

1 Mr. W. Summers took charge of the Spain and Portugal Agency in addition
to the N. Africa Agency, July, 1905.
2 Rev. R. O. Walker was transferred from Madrid to Cape Town, August, 1905.
3 Mr. Kenmure broke down in health and returned to England, June, 1905.
* Appointed from September, 1905. ^ Retiring September 30, 1905.
* Appointed September i, 1905.

97

SUMMARY.
Sentiment, apart from organisation, is not to be relied on.
Joseph Chamberlain.
The British and Foreign Bible Society exists for one single
object — to supply every man with the Holy Scriptures in his
own mother-tongue. It concerns itself solely with circulating
that Book which is the Charter of Christ's Church throughout
all the world. And in this aim it unites Christians of almost
every comm.union.
The Year I904-I905.
Last year the Society issued over 5,857,000 copies of the
Scriptures— complete or in parts. This total is 160,000 more
than in 1903-4, but 68,000 less than in 1902-3. These are
the three highest annual totals ever attained by the Society.
The Work at Home.
Of last year's issues, 1,403,662 books, or nearly 24 per cent.,
were in English or Welsh, and circulated mainly in the British
Empire. This number is about 107,000 fewer than the figures for
1903-4. Of our English penny Testaments, 205,877 were issued,
making a total of 8,372,881 during the last twenty years. The
English Scriptures issued last year included 119,000 of the
Society's 6d. Bible ; 84,350 copies of the lod. Bible ; and 9,000
copies of the is. Reference Bible. The issues included 27,679
Bibles and 10,548 Testaments in the Revised Version.
In England and Wales the Society spent about ;^i 1,000 last
year, mainly in direct grants of Scriptures — free or at greatly re
duced rates — to the schools and Home Missions of nearly every
Christian Communion, and to all the varied agencies of religious
and philanthropic activity.
Nearly all the English and Welsh Institutions for befriending
98

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
the blind receive the Scriptures they use at half price, in either
Braille or Moon type.
Students at Theological and Missionary Colleges, who need
such assistance, receive as gifts about four hundred Testaments
in Hebrew or Greek each year. The Society also presents out
going missionaries with Bibles or Testaments in the vernaculars
of the fields in which they labour.
A large annual subsidy is given to the London Bible and
Domestic Female Mission, which employs over 170 Biblewomen
and Nurses, who read and sell the Scriptures in the poorest dis
tricts of the Metropolis.
Translation and Revision.
The Society's list of versions now includes names of 390 dis
tinct forms of speech. This means the complete Bible in 100
different languages ; the New Testament in 94 more languages ;
and at least one Book of Scripture in 196 other languages.
To print these languages over fifty different sets of characters
are required. Twelve new names have been added to the list
during the past year.
In type for the blind the Society has helped to provide Scrip
tures in many languages.
This branch of the Society's work cost ^5,000 last year.
The Partner of Missions.
Its alliance with Foreign Missions was never more intimate. It
has served as the great store-house and arsenal from which all
British Foreign Missions must draw their indispensable supplies.
No Missionary Society's request to print and publish a properly
authenticated version of the Scriptures in a new tongue has ever
been refused.
From the Bible Society the Church of England, with com
paratively insignificant exceptions, obtains almost all the Scrip
tures required for its foreign missions.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts has procured Scriptures from the Bible Society in sixty
foreign languages ; and the great majority of these are not
obtainable elsewhere. The Church Missionary Society uses more
99'

SrED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
than a hundred different translations, of which over ninety come
from the Bible House. Similar assistance is rendered to the
Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the South American Mis
sionary Society, and the Melanesian Mission.
Nonconformist Foreign Missions, with some slender excep
tions, obtain the bulk of all the Scriptures they use, directly or
indirectly, from the Bible Society.
It furnishes the London Missionary Society with the Scrip
tures in fifty different languages — and the Wesleyan Missionary
Societies of Great Britain and her Colonies with over forty
versions. Presbyterian Missions throughout the world use about
sixty of its versions. It has published the Kongo version for the
Baptist Missionary Society, and also supplies many of their
stations in China and Jamaica. The China Inland Mission and
other undenominational societies practically obtain all the Scrip
tures they ask for.
Plainly, each fresh advance in the mission-field becomes an
imperious demand on the Bible Society. As a rule. Scriptures
for the foreign field are granted on such terms that they prac
tically cost nothing to the missionary boards which receive them.
At best, only a fraction of what the Bible Society expends on
these missionary versions can ever come back to it as the result
of sales.

In Foreign Lands.
The Society maintains depots in more than loo of the chief
cities of the world.
It employed 950 native Christian colporteurs, who were at
work throughout 1964 — more than half of them in India and
China — supervised by the Society's foreign Agents, or its mis
sionary friends.
These colporteurs sold last year the record number of over
2,270,000 copies The Society's grants for colportage during
1904 amounted to about ;^45,ooo.
It supports 700 native Christian Biblewomen in the East, in
connection with forty different missionary organizations. The
total annual grants for Biblewomen amount to about ;^6,ooo.
IOO

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.
Auxiliaries. The Society has about 5,800 Auxiliaries, Branches and Asso
ciations in England and Wales, where 4,178 meetings were
held and 1,757 sermons preached on its behalf during 1904.
These are exclusive of 2,056 Centenary meetings and 18,151
Centenary sermons of which record has reached us.
Outside these islands the Society has more than 2,200 Aux
iliaries and Branches, mainly in the British Colonies, many of
which undertake vigorous local work besides remitting Free Con
tributions to London.
Finance. The Society's income in 1904-1905 from all sources, apart
from the Centenary Fund, was ^218,589 ; while it spent
;^253,822. This leaves, on the year's working, a deficit of
.;£^3S! 233- The last seven years' deficits amount to over
^t 1 2,000.
In view of the Society's financial position the Committee have
already begun to reduce their grants at home and their expen
diture in important provinces of the foreign field — at least until
the yearly funds at their disposal show a substantial growth.
Nothing is therefore sp urgently needed as an increase of nOrmal
income.
Open Doors.
Hundreds of peoples and tribes still remain without a single
Gospel in their own tongue. In hundreds of languages imperfect
translations need to be revised, and unfinished Bibles need to be
made complete.
The enterprises and triumphs of Christian Missions are creating
so many new and urgent claims upon the Bible Society. The
spread of education, especially in foreign countries, is raising up
millions of new readers every year.
In all quarters of the world closed doors are opening and eager
hands are stretching out to welcome the Book of God.
Since it was founded in 1804 the Bible Society has
circulated over 192 MILLION COPIES OF THE SCRIPTURES.

SEED CORN FOR THE WORLD.

CONDENSED STATEMENT of RECEIPTS
For the Year ending

Receipts.
from sales of scriptures.
Trade Depots, Auxiliary and other
Societies  £i9,92,9 8 8
Sales in Society's Foreign Agencies ... 56,218 i6 2

96,158 4 10
free income.
Free Contributions, Annual Subscrip
tions, Donations, Collections and
Special Funds  "... 83,493 5 2
Legacies (paid in London) ... ... 32,508 12 7
Dividends on Stock, Interest, Exchange,
&c  6,429 8 o

218,589 10 7
F>om Reserve Fund ... ... ... ... 35,232 17 11

^253,822 8 6

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETV.

and PAYMENTS of the BIBLE SOCIETY.
March 3isr, 1905.

Payments.
For translating and revising the Scriptures
and for paper, printing and binding ... _;^i 19,454 14 o
For rent, taxes, establishment, etc., of over
IOO Depots and Warehouses in the chief
cities of the world, grants to other Depots,
salaries of foreign Agents, Depositaries, &c. 56,378 2 2
Towards maintenance of (1,660) Colporteurs
and Biblewomen ... ... ... ... 48,862 5 2
For home establishment, officers, district -sec
retaries, travelling, reports, literature, staff
needed for the despatch of Scriptures from
London and grants to assist kindred so
cieties in Bible distribution . . ... 29,127 7 2

;^253,822 8 6

THE BIBLE SOCIETY'S MAGAZINES, &c.

The Bible in the World
A Monthly Record of the Work of the British and Foreign
Bible Society. Profusely illustrated. Price Id.
The Bible Societ-y Gleanings
For Young People. Profusely illustrated. Price |d. a month.
The Gospel in Many Tongues
A pamphlet containing St. John iii. i6, in 403 of the languages
and dialects in which the Society has printed or circulated
the Scriptures. New and Enlarged Centenary Edition,
stitched. Id. ; cloth, 3d,
The Stor-y of Mary Jones and Her Bible
Paper, Id. ; cloth, plain edges, 6d. ; cloth, gilt sides and
edges, 9d. Also for the Blind (Moon's type), 4s.
Illustrated Insets
Describing the Society's work, are published quarterly, 4 pp.,
and will be supplied free in quantities for insertion in
parochial and congregational magazines.

Pamphlets and Papers

Describing the operations of the Bible Society's world-wide
work — suitable for enclosure in letters, distribution at
Drawing-Room Meetings, Garden Parties, and Public
Meetings — are supplied gratis at the Bible House,
146, Queen Victoria Street.
Note. — All orders, addressed to 146, Queen Victoria Street, E.C,
must be accompanied by payment, including cost of postage when
required by post ; or booking fee of 2d, if to be enclosed in book
seller's parcel.
V^ILSON'S 6Te, TVBNMIUL STREET, E.G.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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