mate sphere of action; but, at the same time, every one must perceive, that this can never involve more than a fraction, or not so much as approaching to a tithe of our future and imperative obligations.

In point of responsibility as a nation, we have been exalted into circumstances of which many before had little or no conception; nor had they been at all aware, that we have been placed in a condition, involving duty and obligations, from which there is no escape. The very rich supply of Sacred Scripture peculiar to our country even before this century began, will be held in remembrance; more than twenty-two millions of volumes have since been added to the number, and still the printing press is as urgently plied as before; so that an amount of above four millions sterling has been spent upon our own version! After an entire generation has been thus so peculiarly distinguished, that there is nothing approaching to it, on the face of the earth; to rouse us from slumber, as but too visible, in our unequal dealing with the world at large; all at once, and in the quarter where it was least of all, or last of all, to be expected, there comes, in one day, a great, an immense reduction of price with regard to the Sacred Volume in English, and let it be particularly observed, in English ALONE. What though no real voice, no sound, was heard? No man accustomed to think at all, will presume to say that in an event so unexpected, and altogether so unprecedented, there was nothing intended for the ear, or rather the heart of those who are daily deriving light and counsel from the sacred page. Taking the entire previous history into account, and the broad field of action now full in view; is it not, to say the least, as if Providence had sounded a pause?-an authoritative pause, calling upon us to do the same; and, at last, review his footsteps? Calling upon us to observe, more deliberately, His procedure, and then putting the all-important question-" How, or in what manner, will it become the Christians in Britain to act NOW?

We are perfectly aware, that some of our men of " profit and loss" may be disposed to detain us, by fretting over this prodigious fall of price. Something, indeed, may be mooted in reply, as to a gradual fall in the price of paper, if not other materials, but this will, by no means, satisfy others, who have looked more deeply into the circumstances. Why, at these

present prices," says one, "we might have dispersed more than double the number of Bibles and Testaments, and is there any man who can now deny it?" "But what is more to be deplored," says another, "at these prices, we might have been, all these years, expending upon destitute foreign nations, eight or nine hundred thousand pounds, more than we have done!" While, independently altogether of these former high prices, a third party meets us with his complaint, as to the expenses incurred at home, throughout England and Wales, and more especially within the last twenty years. But weighty as these murmurings may appear to some minds, they are actually of no consequence, when compared with the solemnity of our present obligations, or that momentous position in which Providence has now placed us. In truth, they only press our one question with greater urgency. Besides, standing, as we do, in the midst of a nation, which has but recently paid twenty millions of money, for the liberation of not nearly one million of men in bondage; it would be idle to suppose that, as a people, we have been thus strikingly summoned to pause, merely for the purpose of murmuring over the past. Certainly they are not to be envied, who exacted such prices from the benevolent public; but as for those who have paid them, every moment now is lost, if spent merely in lamenting over the outlay. The supremely important, the urgent, and the only question at present is-How, or in what manner, and to what extent, will it become the Christians of Britain to act NOW?

At the close of the present history, therefore, it so happens that there are several points left for deliberate and general consideration, every one of which will be found to bear with accumulating force on this one question.

629

CONCLUSIONS,

DRAWN FROM THE PRECEDING HISTORY.

THERE is a frequent propensity in the mind of man to run every thing into one thing. But even after all that has been said, it will not be supposed that the renovation of man is anticipated by the present author, from the mere multiplication and dispersion of the Sacred Volume throughout any country whatever. If but one native of Britain has ever so dreamed, the present state of his own land may now awaken him to the painful reverse. No nation has ever enjoyed such opportunities of discovering its devotion or hostility to the Book of God, and in none is there to be found the two extremes in greater strength. Yet, if the past history has referred to only one subject, it has been because of its supreme importance as the basis or ground-work of all moral improvement. To prevent confusion, we have proceeded on the principle that it is necessary to consider only one thing at a time; and that in applying the same incumbent remedy to the world around us, it is of importance to understand what has been the history of Divine Revelation in our own tongue, and what is the existing condition of our native land.

In surveying the cause to which these volumes have been devoted, from an origin of the most unpretending character, it has grown to a magnitude as already explained, which meets us in the very threshold to all reflection. One leading feature of the history itself will then invite some notice. After this, the visible and uninterrupted progress, or effect produced, must not escape observation. Thus, as a community, however dispersed, yet the most important, because most influential upon earth,—“ the present readers of the English Bible" naturally come before us; for here, and in these times most happily, they must be regarded in the light of but ONE body. Though, after this, the responsible position of this wide circle, but especially at its centre, on British ground, cannot fail to lend a tone of deeper solemnity to the unwearied footsteps of that gracious Providence, which so visited at first, and has so

watched over this land ever since. In conclusion, only one question will remain,-How, or in what manner, shall becoming gratitude to God be expressed and proved, by far more vigorous action?

The Magnitude of this Cause.

Considered in the light of a conspicuous public undertaking, if there be any thing in the magnitude of an object fitted to attract or interest and fix the mind, it is found here. The cause of Divine Revelation admits of no superior authority in any land; but in ours, it has assumed an appearance visible to any, if not to every eye. As such, this cause has reached a height more than sufficient to silence any opponent. Of infinite importance in itself, and, at the same time, by far the largest movement in our day, possessing all the attributes of a fixed or invincible Divine purpose, the difficulty lies in duly apprehending or grasping it. In casting our eye upon only one of these millions of volumes, every page of which is the voice of God to man, and every man is interested in its meaning, it would here be out of place to dwell upon the Scriptures themselves-upon the majesty of their style-the solemnity of their matter their comprehensiveness-their correspondency to the spirit of man, whether as corrupt and depraved or regenerated and renewed-on their peculiar efficacy, or obvious design. By all who duly prize them they are confessed and regarded to be the only standard of unerring wisdom-the only means of rousing effectually the human mind-containing the only ground of hope before his Maker for the burdened or wounded spirit—the unfailing source of solid comfort, peace, and joy-the only effectual medium of strength for sustaining the trials or performing the duties of life. Nor let it ever be forgotten, that this Sacred Record, in our vernacular tongue, wherever it be found, near or afar off, whether in Britain itself, or, as it actually is, at the ends of the earth, enjoys this unspeakably glorious privilege-there its divine Author is present, specially present, with it!

But when, instead of one book, we turn to those millions of volumes, as all given to one people, and look upon the whole, in their only true character, that of a DEPOSIT-a deposit, given in custody, and in every instance to be accounted for another day; and when, from these volumes themselves we turn to their actual dispersion, till we are lost among the numbers that are now reading the same book in the same language, every hour of the day and every hour of our night, in the four quarters of the globe; then, in point of magnitude, as well as importance, there is no other object, as an object, to which the native of Britain can direct his eye, that will allow of any comparison. When one contemplates his Country, as thus "exalted to heaven" in the midst of the nations, as by

far the most conspicuous custos, or keeper of Divine Truth, and in a language upon which the sun, as already explained, is ever shining, it seems next to incredible that the great body of British Christians should not have been more alive to this, as, by way of eminence, THE sign of the times. If they had been found gazing upon it, and watching every step in advance; suffering no inferior, no local, no limited party interests, to divert them away; this would have been nothing more than its supreme character has long demanded; and the more so, as there can be no question, that as a sign, it is an undoubted "token for good," approaching good, in more senses than one, and of good extending far beyond the narrow limits of our island of the sea.

Nor should the singular manner in which this cause has risen to its present majestic height now pass unnoticed. This, however, is matter of history, and however briefly reviewed, it will be found to deserve corresponding attention from all who revere the sacred page, whatsoever may happen to be their own particular views of social religion exemplified.

One leading feature in the preceding History.

Whatever imperfections may be detected in the preceding pages, there is a peculiarity of character belonging to the history as a whole, of which it is not likely ever to be bereaved. This feature of distinction is now visible in a long and uninterrupted series of provable events. Whether any importance will be attached to the disclosure and proof remains to be seen; but as there was a commencement made, in spite of all human sanction at first, and an unceasing progress, in superiority to all human control ever since, it seems as if there were still some special homage to be paid to the sacred Volume; and more, much more, than there has ever yet been. The very imperfect and scattered notices hitherto given of the English Bible, have been too often bloated with unwarrantable assertions of a species of interference, direction, and control, which the authentic history disowns.

For some years past, a very strong, or insatiable, curiosity has been felt and displayed, in searching into the origin and character of all British interests, whether sacred or civil; and hence the reprinting verbatim, of what have been styled, by way of courtesy, writers of authority, has proceeded to an extent altogether unknown in any preceding age. Whether this revival of all these old writers, for once, in an improved form, be any thing more than a prelude to their descending again, in a more decent dress, into oblivion, time will show ; but it is no disparagement of all human authors, without exception, to affirm, that a revived, a superior, or rather a supreme, attention to Divine authority, as first issued from the press in our native tongue, and so wondrously continued