Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Athens-BOI

BIBLE SOCIETIES
650
Such was the state of things abroad when the society was estab¬
lished. Correspondence was at once opened with well-known
men like Oberlin, Knapp, and Herzog ; the society’s foreign secre¬
tary and agents personally visited the districts, and various sub¬
sidiary societies were formed. The highest patronage was often
obtained for these, the emperor of Russia, the kings of Prussia,
Bavaria, Sweden, andWurtemberg, and many others, entering heartily
into the work. Some of the societies thus formed were, however,
suppressed through the influence of Rome. More than 15,000,000
copies have been printed by them up to the present time.
Of all the foreign Bible societies, by far the most remarkable was
that established in Russia, in the year 1812, under the presidency
of Prince Galitzin, and with the direct approval and support of the
Emperor Alexander I. An imperial ukase was issued, giving formal
sanction to the project; all communities joined to speed it on its
way ; 289 auxiliaries were rapidly formed ; the Scriptures were
printed in nearly 30 languages, including Modern Russ; 861,000
copies were circulated ; and at the time of its suspension in 1826 it
had been aided by the British and Foreign Bible Society to the
extent of £16,833.
Besides thus encouraging.Bible circulation through friendly'counsel
and pecuniary aid, the British and Foreign Bible Society has done
and is doing a direct work on the Continent, some illustration of
which may be gathered from the following particulars :—
The first French Bible printed by the society was prepared for the
prisoners of war in 1805. After the peace was concluded, measures
were taken to form centres of Bible circulation through the country.
As a result of these movements, various Bible societies sprang up.
DepOts have also been opened in Paris and many other large towns;
and special provision has been made for the provincials of the west,
by the preparation of Basque and Breton versions. There have been
printed by the society, in the French tongue, upwards of seven and
a half million copies of the Scriptures.
In 1835, when Mr W. P. Tiddy went out as agent for the society
in Belgium, hardly a Bible was to be found in the country, and
evangelistic efforts were rare, through the vehement opposition
which they encountered. A staff of colporteurs was appointed, and
through their efforts a large supply of Scriptures was distributed.
This led to the formation of several Protestant communities.
The society’s agent in Germany superintends the movements of
between 60 and 70 colporteurs, and reports a yearly circulation of
about 300,000 copies. The services rendered during the Franco-
Prussian war were so signal as to call forth not only the grateful
appreciation of the Germans, but a written acknowledgment from
the emperor, who is himself an annual subscriber to the society.
Efforts were made by Dr Pinkerton in 1816 to establish a National
Bible Society for Austria ; but through the influence of the Pope
the emperor was induced to reject the proposal. A new beginning
was made in 1850, when in less than two years 41,659 copies of the
Scriptures, in German, Bohemian, and Hungarian, were put into
circulation. Fresh opposition was, however, soon awakened, and
the authorities ordered the whole stock on hand to be withdrawn
from the country. In compliance with this order, Mr E. Millard,
the society’s agent, retired to Prussia, where he laboured for several
years with marked success. After a while he was permitted to
return to Vienna, and to open depots at such centres as Pesth,
Trieste, Klausenburg, and Prague. By these means, and through
a large staff of colporteurs, he has issued during the past ten years
1,250,000 copies.
Very little direct work was done in Italy until the Revolution of
1848. Then the society gladly hailed the opportunity of entering
the country; but soon the door was again closed. The Pope issued
an encyclical in 1849, in which the condemnation of Bible societies
was emphatically repeated. As a consequence, 3000 New Testa¬
ments, just printed at Florence, were seized, presses were confiscated,
paper and type carried off, and the society’s agent compelled to
retire. All this is now altered. The headquarters of the society’s
Italian agency are at Rome, and the Scriptures are distributed
from depOts and by colporteurs in all parts of the peninsula.
Little could be done in Spain prior to the Revolution of 1868,
which threw open the country and established religious liberty.
All available means were then adopted for printing and circulating
the Spanish Bible. The issues from the Madrid depot have ex¬
ceeded half a million copies, but during the recent civil troubles
the movements of the colporteurs have been much restricted.
Between 300,000 and 400,000 copies of the Scriptures have been
printed in the Portuguese tongue.
Mr Paterson paid a visit to Sweden in 1809 on behalf of the
society, and found the poor almost entirely without the Scriptures.
Thus in one diocese 10,000 families were discovered without a Bible
in their possession. An agency was established in 1831. Special
grants have been made to the army and navy, and for the students
in the universities. The total issues since 1832 have been over
2,000,000, and that in a population of less than 4,000,000.
To give even an outline of the work done by the British and
Foreign Bible Society in the more remote parts of the world would
be to write a volume. All the great missionary societies are its
debtors. Its undenominational character has secured what could
hardly otherwise have been attained—the use of the same version
by missionaries of different churches ; and it has often proved a
healer and a peace-maker abroad, while it has been a bond of union
at home. To the linguist and to the comparative philologist its
operations are of intense interest ; and the boon conferred on the
thought and language of many nations through its versions of the
Scriptures is well-nigh inestimable.
The Edinburgh Bible Society originated in the con¬
troversy respecting the circulation of the Apocrypha, and
was composed of Protestants professing their belief in the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and disposed to co-operate in
promoting the dissemination of the Scriptures.
The Scottish Bible Society was instituted upwards of
forty years ago. At the time of its establishment, the
other Bible societies in Scotland employed their funds
chiefly in circulating the Scriptures in foreign countries.
This association was intended exclusively for the distribu¬
tion of the Bible at home, and its funds were at first
derived from collections made in the parish churches
within the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale.
The Scotch Bible societies were amalgamated in 1861,
and took the name of the National Bible Society of
Scotland. During the year 1874 the society issued
340,908 Bibles, Testaments, and “ Portions,” its receipts,
including the proceeds of sales, amounting to <£26,840.
The first Bible society in America is believed to have
been established by a few Baptists in New York in 1804 ;
its object was to purchase and lend Bibles for a month at
a time. The Philadelphia Bible Society, which was
instituted December 12, 1808, was for some years the only
association in the country for the gratuitous distribution
of the sacred Scriptures. The American Bible Society
was formed at New York, May 8, 1817. It has numerous
auxiliaries throughout the several states of the Union. In
1875 its income amounted to $577,569. Its issues during
that year were 926,900 Bibles and Testaments, and since
its formation 31,893,332.
Among other societies may be mentioned the Bible
Translation Society, whose versions embody the views of
the Baptists, and the Porteusian Bible Society (named
from Bishop Porteus), for the circulation of Bibles marked
so as to show the practical bearing of each chapter.
It is believed that there are altogether about 70 Bible
societies in the world. The issues of the 7 leading
societies may be summarized as follows :—
The British and Foreign Bible Society 73,750,538
The Amei’ican Bible Society 31,893,332
The National Bible Society of Scotland 4,563,669
The Prussian Bible Society at Berlin 4,083,413
The Hibernian Bible Society 3,962,581
The Wiirtemberg Bible Society 1,279,966
The Netherlands Bible Society 1,258,643
Total 120,792,142
The monopoly of the right to print the Bible in England
is still possessed by the Universities of Oxford and Cam¬
bridge, and her Majesty’s printer for England. But after
a controversy, which was carried on for some time with
great warmth (T 840-41), the prices of the common Bibles
and Testaments were greatly reduced, and they have
gradually attained their present remarkable cheapness.
In Scotland, on the expiry of the monopoly in 1839,
Parliament refused to renew the patent, and appointed a
Bible Board for Scotland, with power to grant licences
to print the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. This
step produced a great reduction in the price of the sacred
volume, and its circulation was considerably increased.
See Owen’s History of the First Ten Years of the British
and Foreign Bible Society; Bible Triumphs, a Jubilee
Memorial for the British and Foreign Bible Society;
Brown’s History of the Bible Society, 1859. (r. b. G.)