Transcribed from the 1827 J. Hatchard and Son edition, byDavid Price,
A
LETTER
TO
THE RIGHT HON. LORD BEXLEY,
CONTAININGA
STATEMENT MADE TO THE COMMITTEE
OF THE
British and Foreign Bible Society,
AS TO THE
RELATIONS OF THAT INSTITUTION,
WITH
FRANCE, THE VALLEYS OF
PIEDMONT, SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY.
BY FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, M. A.
RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD, SUFFOLK.
LONDON:
J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187,PICCADILY.
1827.
p. iiLONDON:
IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOYSTREET, STRAND.
p.iiiPREFACE
The circumstances which have given rise to the publication ofthe following letter are briefly these:—At the departure ofthe Author for the continent, in the month of April, 1826, hetendered his services generally to the Committee of the Britishand Foreign Bible Society; and received from that body the powerof disposing of a certain number of copies of Bibles andTestaments, at any opportunities which might present themselvesto him on his journey. Of this power he availed himself;and, on his return to London, in the month of December, he wentto the Committee to give an account of the trust which had beencommitted to him. Whilst he was doing this, it was naturalthat he should add to his statement a few observations, connectedwith the objects of the Institution itself; and more especially,as various errors, into which it was charged with having fallen,had become the subjects of public discussion, both in Scotlandand in England. These observations Lord Bexley, one of theVice-Presidents of the Bible Society, then occupying the Chair ofthe Committee, p.ivrequested, in the name of those over whom he presided,might be communicated in writing; and, in compliance with thisrequest, the following statement was sent.
After some delay, the author, at the suggestion of severalfriends, has been led to make it public, hoping that it maysupply to the supporters of the Bible Society new motives forearnestly and generously persevering in their efforts to promotethe circulation of the Scriptures; and, to the assailants of thatInstitution, an answer to some of the charges which they, in hisapprehension, have hastily and unwarrantably brought forward.
The Author can only hope this document may be a means offorwarding the interests of the Bible Society—anInstitution, which, in his mind, whatever may be the evilresulting from the circulation of the apocryphal books, has sownthe seed of more important benefits to mankind than even theReformation itself.
Pakefield, April 5, 1827.
p. 1A
LETTER,
&c.
MyLord,
In compliance with a wish so kindly expressed by yourLordship, I shall now endeavour to communicate in writing thesubstance of what I took the liberty of stating in the Committeeof the British and Foreign Bible Society. The observationsthere made chiefly respected the state of rel