BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. Auckland, April 17.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 257, 21 April 1888, Page 6

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. Auckland, April 17.

Tin: annual meeting in connection with the Auckland branch of the above 'Society was. held last evening in St. James's Church. There was a very poor attendance, tho Homo Rule meeting in the adjacent hall evidently bcino' a # renter atti'aclion. Mr Thoniuh Peacock, i\i.l!.l.\, picsided, and a number ot ministeis repiosenUnir Aanous denomination.-, occupied the seats at the iiont All or n hymn had been suno, the Rev. \\ . Tcbhs n {id si chapter Jiom the Bible, and the Uov. Mr Thomas engaged in pl.\\Ol. The Chairman, m opening, lHrnod to the woi Id-wide operations el the Society wil,h which the meeting was connect od. lie. said that it- ob|(e<> wue <jI a nature which warranted the eoidial Mippoii ot all Cluislians. The Bible made known the (Jientoi a 1 - a peison.'d (Jed, intete-ted in all which umeoi ne d iiis eieatuic s. Tho Bible cont'iincd a balm tor the wcaiyand hc;n y-ladcn, and btttd t,h< bun ni y soul ot man hum taifh fo liea\en. Sue!) was the Bible, and they should eem-t-id< i \\ hiil would bctluii position without it 11 its ieliniu<i liilhictu (■, had not been manifested dining past, .mm,-, what would ha\c ueen Oku --(ait (hat d.iv '■ ft w,i^be<auM' this Sk h h bclio«ed in the \,tlii<;ot (he iiiblt t hat I he\ miiiolu to m lid it toilh to all theu oi 'd. .\ttci ule.\ -noie iem.uk-, Ke\. Mi i.awiy ic.id i h' 1 (\'iim\ annual icpoi t , fioin \\ IikI) we make the follow in^ cstiacts .-- The List ropoit ol t lit* piieiil Nicielx Mates Iliat 1 1 -. ii 1 — >ii«.-~. tor tlic > c.'! .mioii ntt'ii lo u/Jo^,67t! < opies oi tin 1 liolj Sii npturi's m whole oi in ii.ii I. 'I'lic total issues iroin the nunmene emeni ha\ c» i cached the niwinoih mini be r ot 112 21)2 1 ) !,'j'47 copies Its lota! HLi'ipts v, i!i i; L1'21,/ L')s lid ami its e\pendiluie tii'il Tib 3s Id. The American Uilik butiet\ shows tli.it its woil is extending in .ill its hranelu.s. The I ('(Old ol Ihe v\oik ot the .National JJ'h'c NmmU ot t-eotland dm m^ U)'o6 is <m en < ouia^nif one\ Jioth the income and t h< • m- < u atioii weie in .idvatn i ol tin pice uilin h - \e,u. 'lli« *M)«nij is esp(ei.il!\ hououiid in liii c \- tciisnc; and sin cental woik n is enabled to (am on in China <uui Japan The Ihbei iii.m iSihh Sex icli t( 11s oi well sustained woik Iml lin.iiu ci. Turning now to the <i tl.t^ i -. <>t out ow ii .iumli.ii \, \iiin Co iiiinllcc llianklulh icpoit ili.ii t nt' hiia"<es h.i\ «• sullcred t<tr li'M Iroin the e\is,inu deprcs-.ion than there was tnui !i nason lo expect. 'I hr issues liotn the depot, .it (lie |im< lion ot \\ l 11( -street with a Ihei I si tei t. show ,t u r ooit mi a.nc o\er those ol la-t je.ir 'I'hey j amouni, Uiii \t_ai to 2,o£\ copu s as .itf.nmt 2 271 la^l \ ear . an in< u asi ol 2>o \ oluim ~. OL ilieabo\e lo'al. 75wne issued at tree giants, a i id 12-4 si.ld at hall-)n ii i , the leinamdui , 2.321. were issued h\ sale. Ii imn he mtei estinj; to note that 1,878 ol then wtie in the KiiLfhsh !ant<iia'<(\ 412 )i> IVJ.to) i, and f-J m other hmKii. !•-,'< -, ancient and model n J)uiuik certain liionlhb ol the\eai, join lolpoitcm has been aiti\el\ en^aK* l ' m endea\ ounnu to hrinu: the llol\ s-criptuies within eas\ leach ol the pi oph l>> lioiiM'-to house \ isit.it ion inoulljiny; .•ml ni uli i led (listriets. ,unl has DieL \\ llh u>nsidei able sin ei",s inhis sail- With res])ei lto tie i « \ ist (1 edition ol the .Maori Hihle. \our i oininitlee ha\ c lo repot t that, shoith alter the last ai'iux eisatj . "ptools' wei c lei o\ cd irom the < ditoii.il superintendent ol the J-inlisli ;uid Kon ltcn .Bible society, cMeiiuini? tiom Deut. \\. to .loihu.i \ in. .Vn cJlort is beip.tr made to enable the 1 parent cum mi! tec to punt oil the new edition ol tin Maori Now Testament, the ie \ )-.ion ol whit h is ah ead\ i omplt I eel and in 1\ pe. Adesne lo obtain the S< ripturcs inthe3laoii l.ni'iti.mo h.n ln^c arisen amoirj, natn es belonicliitc to the old Jviul; part.v , and been coin eyed to join Comniittee h\ theke\. \V. dittos, a box ol ,\laon Jiibles lieuu the. depot at To Awaimitu h.ii been placed at his disposal lor emulation aineniK 'hi in b\ sale or otheiwi^e. Duriug 1 the recent visit oi ihe )lc\. iI.T. ]iob)nhns to I'ambt id t^e a mo\ oment was ou^iniUed lor the distribution oi copies ot the English Jubilte New Testamonl anionii the school c hiletren ol that nei^hbotirhood, and a sum of 4 . ~> w.m icnntteei tin im t to the paruiu Soeiet\ tor the pin chase bL the books, with an additional sum ol £12 10b on iree Krant .iLCOiint Air llobiohns was also able to \ lbiL Te Awamiitu anil Hamilton, wher- a branch society was formed, with Coioucl .Forbes as socret.irj. JUirniK the je.ir now closing an .i]>i)lication was tccened irom the Wonnns Chnstian Tenuieranec Union ioi ,;i\inls o! Scnptutes in aid ol then etlort lo pioiuole Bible-readm^ classes anionti the sc hol.us who attend jiubhe schools. lint the state ol the luiul 1 - at the ehspob.il ol the commitleo at the 'line precluded then douitf nioie; than otieiim? to )>rovulc the desired supplies at the price they cost us The hea-mer. Mi l\ L Prime, read the statement ol accounts, which he explained were not \et ejuiLc coni])lt te, l*p to ciate. flic receipt-- ucie C 356 8s 9d, and (hec\pendiUtie was l"3s2"_'s9d, lca\mu a balance ot C 4 Os. besides w hieli they had m the Sa\m^s Hank 163 18s 8d on deposit. The chan man nuned, "That, the ie|)oit be adopted and [Hinted, and thtt the ofliccis s|]uoes(ed be le-elct ted. The Key. W. T^bbs, m socondinu the- motion. eonuiatulared the committee upiin the woik done 1 tint my, the pa-.l ye;'i. He was ]ilea«ed to see that notwithstanding the dcpiession tlu 1 iunds of the Sncictv natl not sullcied. He su^uestcel tliat on s U ine one Sunday in the \car all denominations should unite in eelehintino; the annnei^aiy cd' siicli a Society The dillusion of th.c Bible was the one point upon wine 1 * they could smel\ all unite. The Ihble supplied eyes to those w lio weie spuitnally blind. Therein the woik ot the Society was \ iluablc. If tho Society occupied a ])iomincnt ])lace in a man"-- house it showed that lie \alucd it. He i cloned to the fact that the Bible was not I oloi at od in the public schools, and asked how could the\\ expect their youth to become acquainted with it. and to revere it. The Ihble possessed an inherent vitality, and it was then dut\ in every way to assist a socMct^ which hael lor its object the propagation and dillusion ol' the Bible. The motion \\a* adopted. j The Ke\. 11. T. Uobjohns 8.A., a delegate fiom the jia'cnt Society, then adI dicssed (he mcctinp;. Ho .said he had to mo\ c the follow mu icsolution • ' % That this nicctin". lendcis humble thanks to Almi<ihty (!od for the continued circulation ot the Holy Scriptuies by the aid ol this and other kindred societies, and ]ivay lor still further aid in the work of CAtcndinu the relit* ion of .Jesuh Christ." The .speaker congratulated the auxiliary branch upon the pi og toss of the past- year. He refened to the (Queen's Jubilee, and mentioned the book i ecently published by Mr Mnlhall "Fifty Years ot National Progress.'' He retcned to the fact that the Bible Society had kept its stand with tho national progress of the British Empire. In France in 1837, 120,000 \olumcs ot the Bible were circulated, while in 1887 130,000 volumes were distributed. In Italy the circulation ol the Bible was simply none, while in 18S7 it had increased to 129,000. He might mention that his friend, ({eorgo Muller, was one of the first to occupy Italy for the Bible Society. Between fJ30,000 and C 40,000 had been placed in hit> hands by peoplo who had iaith in him, for the distribution of ihe Bible alone, lie had distributed over a million and a half Bibles himself. He was pleased to bo able to bear this testimony to (.ieorgc Mullur, who would so shortly be amongst them. He would only trouble them with one moie set ol figures. That was "Russia. In 1837 the number of Biblefe ciiculated in that country 7,474, but in 18S7 tho number had incvoa&od. to 452,115, and that was inainlv flue to tho labours of one man— the Rev. W. Nicholson. ITc had been labouring for 15 to 16 years in Russia, and only recently he had superintended the translation ol tho Biblo into no less than eleven lancuages, and the Jubilee had been colcbrated by the issue of a penny edition of the Now Testament, which had re

suited in a loss of £12,500 to the I Society. The movement was inaugurated by their late President, Lord Shaftesbury. In Victoria 200,000 copies of the New Testament had been obtained in order that one might be presented to every child. Each tebtament had a copy of the Queen's autograph. Tnat meant a cost of 1)1,000 to the Victorians, and that the Bible Society .should pay C 1,400. The Victorians had, however, since resolved to defray the whole cost. In New South Wales 40,000 copies had been taken, and the J 'resident, John Howard Angii'-:, had paid the whole com. Queensland had also taken 48,000 copie.i, foi which they also were going to pay. The .Jubilee Now Testament movement was spreading in New Zealand, and the question was would Auckland join V The worldwide depie—ion had caused the income of Iho parent Society to fall .short by about a qua) tcr. The Society was now translating the liiblointo the smaller languages of the woild. In 1887, the translation into Japanese I vas concluded, making no les? than 333 dilleienl, Jan^ungos into which the Bible had been tianslatcd. The Society had Awfhdia.vn iiom Sweden and would shortly wiihdi.iu' fjom (Jujnrmy, Switzerland, IJoll.md and J)enm;irl.. At pic-en*, Captain Yon Wit/ «,•»■% en lying on the work of the late Major Westphul in the German Aim\, who in 30yeai-5 en ciliated 800,000 fomu-, oftheScLipturc-. 4,758,262 volumes of the Bible had al-o been sent into the list) lan Kmpii(\ Tlh> \Ui\. Mi Thomas seconded the motion, which was adopted. Voles <>f thanks woe Ihen accorded to the ('l).iiiman. Mr Mobjohn-, the trustees of St. Jame*.s chuicii, oiiice-beaiers and collect ois ot the Society, attei which the meeting concluded.