RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2187, 27 June 1914, Page 11

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

BIBW SOCIBUT A YEAR'S RfiMARKA&Ue REQQRD. NEAKLY 8,000,000 COH-BS IN 466 LANGUAGES. At tho UOt'h aii-iMi-al niaeting of tlio British awl Eoreigii Bible .Society h«W at tlio Qteo-n'a Hall, Loiid'oti, the secrotary (tho ltev. J. H. aitson, M.A.) had a retosrbalilo stary to tell of- , progress.- Tiro -society's labwrs on beivaif of lailgua.g-o stvitly alono : are. Bofceworthy.. At the present ti-ae it pub* ! lishes m djgjet editions, generally ot j ■o. Gftspal of ' GftspolS) giving ill -each case a different pair of languages fdaby ekl-O. la 3-5 of theso- diglofc editiou.fi ] one .of the 1-aiigM.ges is- Ntiin-; bers\of tribes arc su:p-,j plied' with tiratislntiOHs 'Of parts ex tlio j whole of the Sei'ijritfres, 'ftio Bugotu j 'JL'estameirt, for instance, has been pub- i lished for the v«e of the- 51e.laa<?sis!-ji Mission, and is sold in iMfch-ati.ge- for porpoiso tectli. For the? blind, the so- - ■jitv I'rtsWi.s iii Mii-hosS/ed iypis t-aoeerip-= tares iii 95 different languages, fcvo ef whioiij Caiitttnese -and Sinhalese, have bfiea actdc-d dtuing tjie year. Last tear 3719 volumes for the Wind went out from the Bibie floii-se either free or «t a fraction of tfcr &~M. fhe total iV sues of the Scriptures by tho eoeistj' siuiiii-g the year, in J56 differe-nt lait- ■ gua-i*»-s> reached tli-ei total of 8,088,238 j copies, ttis execscts tlie to-t-ai o£ last ■ jear by oi-ei' a njiii-ion fcootss, and ia ijtist double those , , ai-aw-ttaced fifteen ; j'«hj ago. Mr. Ititsqii also had a grotfr. j tying report eoneorniiig 'finaj»ces. Tho j sookiy's; es-penditure last year r-ose to I £275,298, and tho receipts to £275,447. j Both these totals are witftqvst precedent ■i-B the HsteTy of the society. 'Aα legar cies ance niflte have shown a, r«m-arte* abb iaetoase-j risiuß to ■£i?5 ) 90.9. I'h'e IJisTlop of NorwiA, wiiifsfc congrataktlng tlie society oi-i fte v-e-niarK-' able pfogros'Sj psinwjd out ttet in.nj.jiny eases it was- said, that Bible reading was not- so as was fence the case. Unfortunately n was not .hi every homsi that the Bibfe was read s$ it was in tifo-o highest home in the toil. Considering the reasons to these fectej tliD'.-β-isljop said that there \yas r.»w mueh more 0f... other Hteattir© avail* a-Ws for the -rc-afling of rich a-n-tl poor ten was "the case 200 .years ago. 'Ho-tla-y . the Biijla h-id niftiiy . etsnipctitors which it did not Wo ifi- tits old day»v and he was Am afraid ttot the <$ncHtioiis of tlie sga ikd ren&red thb, standard of th© liibte iinppulaf:, People did not- care to read tho. teok which «eiv clemned the Ufa they we.ro living. . Dis" cassino[ other aspects o.f tlie question, the Bishop ss.ifl that dotrbt of the rn-eafting, ,po*cr, ttut-hj and appeal of the ißibie had spread a-hi-oad dtiHug the last- two generat-fem-s, hut tfeis, hb be* li-ovccl, had ariseii largely Irani a. rjitsap* prehftftsioii. 5Jr, Williamson lamp.|oi]gh r the i clijiirni-in, wha eulogised tise services rf the late ■Jlarn.ta.js of Nflrthajivpton as President of the SebietVj awl Sir , George Macajpiuo, who alluded to ttas of-iiifl Scriptures »i th.e East, -f-yjdesqs of wiicli !» lias -witttessed ih.hfe recettt Jearaey to ladia, also •a'ddresseil. the jjieataivg. • ' '. ....■■.