III. A point, to which I must refer, is that of the persecution of religious characters in Germany, and which persecutions have been represented as at least sanctioned by the friends of the Bible Society. This statement as a general fact, I believe to be utterly incorrect. I took great pains to investigate it on the spot. I wish, for obvious reasons, not to enter far into particulars. But of one individual, whose history has been before the public, and whose sufferings have been introduced to their notice with a sort of tragical effect, I can venture, after a minute inquiry, to affirm, that his troubles arose, not so much from his simple proclamation of the truths of the Gospel, as from his indiscretions, from his resistance to civil as well as ecclesiastical regulations, and his general intemperance of conduct. I must also add, that some of the persons who protected that individual, were at the very time active agents of the Bible Society in their own country. One simple fact will be sufficient to establish these statements. The truths of the Gospel have been and are proclaimed, and are tolerated, and even approved in several of the places from whence this individual was driven.
With respect to the Canton de Vaud, a statement to the same effect has been made. It is certain that an angry feeling was excited in the minds of several members of the Committee of the Bible Society of that district, on the occasion which gave rise to the persecutions in that Canton. At the same time, any participation in this persecution is, as to himself, distinctly disavowed by Professor Levade; and certainly those who were the writers or actors in this persecution do not appear in any way in the list of the officers of the Bible Society. Two circumstances connected with the measures which were pursued in this Canton, in opposition to religious meetings, are sufficiently remarkable and interesting to deserve our notice. In the first place, the astonishing progress of religion during this period; and, in the second, the discovery, during the brief continuance of this opposition, of the utter inefficiency of intolerant measures in checking the progress of inquiry after truth.
IV. A point, which I must bring before your notice, is the actual state of true religion on the continent, and more especially in Germany. It is certainly true that Neology has to a lamentable extent taken possession of the universities, the public prints, and the higher orders of society. At the same time I believe, that the statements which have gone abroad, of the extent of its prevalence, are, as to two points, inaccurate. In the first place, they describe only one side of the case; for, if there is much infidelity and neology on the continent, there is also a considerable sprinkling of true religion. And, secondly, The evil which has existed, and does exist, may be said to be every day diminishing. As to the first of these facts, I could point out individuals, parishes, and districts, where real religion is in active operation; places and persons altogether unconnected with those agents from England, who have been said to be the only instruments of doing important good on the continent, and which are therefore unrecognised by them, and possibly unknown to them. I could name one little knot of parishes, all within a small circle, in which are twelve ministers, earnest, orthodox, and devout servants of the Redeemer. I could name another place, where forty ministers were lately assembled for purposes of religious and spiritual communion. I might also allege the fact, that at different universities there are professors who openly, and from the heart, confess the true faith. I may indeed affirm that, from the cottages of the poor to the palaces of kings, there are those who walk worthy their high vocation as Christians and as men. The admitted evils are every day diminishing. The number of converts is increasing. The opinions of Paulus and Schulthess seem likely to die away with themselves. What can be more remarkable than the change which has taken place in the kingdom of Prussia, where the leaders of the state and the university may now be said to hold the very opposite creed to that which obtained with their immediate predecessors?
There are two individuals, of whom, as connected with Germany, I feel it right to say a few words—the one is Leander Van Ess, the other your late invaluable Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff.
Leander Van Ess I had the happiness of visiting; and I remained with him during a day, which I passed at Darmstadt. It was impossible not to be prepared, by his writings, to form a very high estimate of his character and his labours; and these expectations were, in my case, in no wise disappointed. I was struck with his holy devotedness to his great object, with his unwearied diligence, with his unbounded charity. He is a man who rises at four o’clock in the morning to his daily task; pursues it often without cessation through the day; and, as I was informed by those best acquainted with his habits, he is often found at midnight occupied with his work. He is making a new version of the Bible, which, by the help of the continental Bible Societies, he is about to print; and, although he holds the opinions of the church to which he belongs on the subject of the Apocrypha, he wishes this opinion to be no hinderance to others; so that they will, in any way, read the word of God. He is, therefore, preparing his version for publication, in three forms. First, with the Vulgate printed in a small type at the bottom of each page, and with the Apocrypha intermixed; this is the form in which the Catholics wish to receive it. Secondly, without the Vulgate, and with the Apocrypha appended, for the Protestants of that country. Thirdly, without the apocryphal books, for the distribution of our own Bible Society, if we are disposed to adopt it. Here is a specimen of that largeness of charity by which every part of his conduct is influenced. So that, by Protestants and Catholics, who are partakers of the same spirit, he is alike esteemed. The king of Wirtemberg has presented him with a medal, in token of his useful labours in his kingdom. The grand-duke of Baden has given him money to purchase Testaments. And the government under which he lives sanction his proceedings, and one member in particular of the royal family of the grand-duke affords him constant protection and assistance. So that kings, I may say, are “the nursing fathers” of his plans and labours. I consider this society as privileged, in no ordinary degree, in having such an agent and friend on the continent. The assistance which he has already rendered to the Society has been very considerable. He has a great work on his hands. Communications are always to be kept open, letters to be written; and, in a country where there is a fastidiousness in receiving any religious offering from abroad, no one, who has not tried the experiment, can judge how much judgment, care, and delicacy it requires to bestow the gift without injuring the cause it is intended to promote.
The other individual, to whom I have ventured to refer, is your late dear and honoured Secretary, Dr. Steinkopff. The present was not the first opportunity I had enjoyed of tracing the extent of his labour, and of ascertaining the estimation in which he is held on the continent. It is right to be known, that Dr. Steinkopff, before he came to England, filled an office of large correspondence on the subject of religion, and which gave him perhaps a better acquaintance with the religious state of Germany, than, I may venture to say, any other individual. He has constantly held communications with his successors in the important and influential office which he himself held; and this has given, to himself, a power of judging of the exact state of the continent; and, to his labours, a degree of efficiency, which could scarcely have been possessed without it. But when I speak of the value of Dr. Steinkopff to the Bible Society, it is not to any mere outward circumstance I would mainly advert. I may venture to say, that his character has been one grand instrument of your success on the continent. “If,” said a person, of considerable influence in Germany, to me, “you do not want Dr. Steinkopff any longer in England, send him over here, and he will find friends enough.” Wherever he has appeared, either as the officer of your Society or as a private individual, he has left a name behind him which, next to the favour of the Master he has so affectionately and devotedly served, and the good which he has been the instrument of effecting for his fellow-creatures, may be his comfort in his hours of sickness and of solitude. I saw none who knew him who were not ready to bear testimony to his humility, his conscientiousness, his vigour, his undeviating devotedness to the Society whose officer he was. May God long preserve him to assist us by his counsels, and to advocate the cause of the Society, with a voice which, whether at home or abroad, has been rarely heard in vain.
I will now venture, in conclusion, to urge upon the Committee, as the plain inference from the foregoing statements, what appears to me to be a most imperious duty. It is that of cultivating and to manifesting a spirit of kindness, of generosity, and enlarged benevolence towards our continental brethren. If it be considered as an offence that we express our “unfeigned Christian regards” towards many of our fellow labourers abroad, I trust that we shall continue thus to offend. I had constantly occasion on the continent, whilst speaking on the subject of the Apocrypha to those who most materially differed from us, to urge, that, whereas by the new resolution of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the ground upon which we could unite was somewhat narrowed, our temper of mind, our sympathy, and love might remain the same; and that, if we could hope less than ever to “reconcile all opinions,” we might still endeavour “to unite all hearts.”
This was the leading principle of our Society in the infancy of its institution; and, now that we are more matured in age, let us labour not to depart from it. Far then from advising the officers of this Society to suffer themselves, in their communications with the continent, to be lectured into a cold, dry, measured style of writing, I would exhort them to give vent to their warm and generous feelings. They may, in so doing, err in the sight of those disposed to make men “offenders for a word;” but they will better please the compassionate Master they serve; they will, under the divine blessing, cherish the fainting spirit of continental Christianity, and fan that spark of piety and zeal which is lighted up, I trust, never to be extinguished.
I hope too the Committee will be encouraged as to the general objects and operations of the Society. I am, by actual observation, more than ever convinced, that, on a very large scale, this institution is on the continent, a favoured instrument in the hands of Divine Providence. The good which it has accomplished is immense. The evils which have been charged upon it, exist, rather in imagination, than in reality. Let the Committee go on to do what they can, and to do all in the spirit of love and generosity. Let them commit every endeavour to the blessing of Him to whom the souls of the multitudes scattered over the continent are unspeakably dear; let them be confident that the word of the Lord will have free course and be glorified; and that millions will arise, at the last day, to acknowledge with gratitude and joy the labours of this Society. Let the temper of the Society remain unimpaired at home; and it need not be disquieted at objections or assaults which will not at least commend themselves to the world at large, by the general spirit in which they have been defended. And may we never fail to repose an honourable confidence in the officers and friends of the Society; nor forget, in judging of others, to take into account the infirmities of our common nature. May we feel that, having embarked in the glorious enterprise of making all men acquainted with the pure and unadulterated word of God, it is not for us to be checked by slight obstacles; but to go forward, conquering and to conquer, in the name of him who has loved us, and given himself for us, and who has consigned this volume, as his precious legacy, to a perishing and suffering world.
Believe me, my Lord,