The Book of God's Kingdom A Popular Illustrated Report he British and Foreign ible Society 1901-1902 YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of the Publishers Thk Hu;hi.;r Hni.\L.\v.\s, from D akilklix,,. rlii' IJihU' Soculv lias issiu;l tlu Scnpfiiius in ,.rvr nfly /„,;,.,:,,,,, .,- ,.^ , .. llllihr tllr Liiillrol orprotictioii of th, C THE BOOK OF GOD'S KINGDOM A POPULAR ILLUSTRATED REPORT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE 1 I 1 SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1901-2 '»^'''^.'. -;t&S-s^?-:;;-!| :'^^-^ ^f% ^m Bible Selling on the Pahang River, Malay Peninsula. GOD'S KINGDOM 83 ing surely year by year. In 1901 we had 621 native Christian women at work in Asia, an increase of 5 on the year before. The outbreak in China somewhat affected the numerical results of their activity, but our Society need not be ashamed to report that it has been the means of having God's Word read each week to 36,790 women, and that 2,537 have been taught to read ; while the circulation of Scriptures in this connec tion has reached 23,346 copies— an increase of 478 on the year before. The cost of this branch of our work for the year was £4,040. It is impossible to find space for much detafl as to the way in which these women fulfil their task, but it may be of interest to note that there have been 406 in India, 85 in Ceylon, 7 in Burma, 36 in China, 15 in Corea, 9 in Japan, 6 in Malaysia (besides 8 who are English), 3 in Mauritius and the Seychelles, 53 in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, one each in Tmiis, Morocco, Lisbon, Argentina, 3 in Montreal, 2 in St. John's, Newfoundland, and 170 in London. Thus there are some 730 alfxjgether. Moreover, as they are almost all attached to some mission, British, German, Danish, or American, the benefit is distributed. The missionaries take heart from the teaching activities of these " women that " publish the tidings " in " a great host," while the women profit by the oversight and encouragement of the missionaries. KiTA Punya Misi. Perhaps the value of their labours can be estimated after reading Mr. Haffenden's report of the South Malaysian Agency, though other Agencies 84 THE BOOK OF would serve the purpose equally well. He gives a statesmanlike review of his methods of distribution, " with the statistics of twenty years before me and " the experience of Bible work that I trust I have " gained in that time " ; and his conclusion may be put in his own words — that " the yalue of the work " done is almost always in exact ratio to its cost." We need not here deal Avith any other method of distribution except that of Biblewomen's work. Mr. Haffenden puts it at the end of his list as being the most costly " if the number of Scriptures sold " by them is compared with the sum expended " for their total salary and expenses ;" but he does not hesitate to say that " no other agency employed " at present by this or any other Society is doing so " much good among the Malays as this one is." In Kwala Lumpor and Malacca he found the natives talking affectionately about the European Bible- woman as " Kita punya Misi " (our Missy), and refusing to buy almanacs from him and the men, so that they might wait and buy from " Misi." But what also strikes Mr. Haffenden is the im possibility of the Biblewomen's work being con fined to women. " There are very frequently men " in the houses they go to, who, when they hear the " reading and talking, also desire to make enquiries ; " and I should not be at aU surprised if the first- " fruits that will be seen from the present " European Biblewomen's work will be from "amongst the men." So, too, in North Malaysia, where two European women have been makino- house to house visits in a suburb of Manila, it is remarked that the anti-Protestant feeling of the place does not concentrate its bitterness u]3on them. Here is a Spanish lady Avho refuses the GOD'S KINGDOM 85 Biblewoman admission. The latter, nothing daunted, goes and sings to the servants below- stairs. The singing stops, but there is a message from the lady of the house begging that it may be resumed, and soon she is sitting with her servants, both "hearing" and "asking questions." Mr. Haffen den's experience is also Mr. Miller's, Avhose Bible- women are equally affecting the men. One man in Manila who had bought a Bible came to the Biblewoman with difficulties to solve. " It Avas "just lovely to see scraps of paper and bits of " silk in every few pages, placed there to mark " the passages which had interested or puzzled " him." This surely is education. This is a mak ing of disciples "to the Kingdorn." The Society and the Schools. From the mothers we pass for a moment to the children, "for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Year by year the Committee make large grants, — sometimes without payment, always at some re duction of the cost price — so that needy English and Welsh Sunday schools may not lack of " the most "valuable thing that this world affords." The growth of God's Kingdom must still depend in large measure upon the maintenance of Sunday schools and of the Bible as their one indispensable class-book. A large proportion of the £10,000 spent by us last year in home grants has gone in this direction. But there are parts of the foreign field where such AVork is equally prominent. Mr. Tisdall, of Persia, speaks of a supply of Scriptures to the new Jewish school at Julfa, started by a French Joav, and of another to the mission school of the London Jews' Society, 86 THE BOOK OF while one of his colporteurs reports that in the midst of his work among the wild and barbarous Yezidecs on the high mountain of Sinjan he sold thirteen copies to a Muhammadan school teacher for the use of his pupils as reading books. The "French Jew" and the "Muhammadan school "teacher" in this connexion are what Bengel would call laetum et ingens paradoxon, — a great and joyful surprise. We pass to the Greek Archipelago and learn from Bustratius, our Col porteur, that "a feature of his work has been " the cordial and sympathetic assistance he has " received from the school teachers in Mitylene the headmaster of the principal school being specially active in promoting the circulation of the books among teachers and pupils. In the Isle that is called Patmos. Gatsiades on the " holy island " of Patmos sold a few books "with the assistance of the schoolmaster." Michafloff, one of our Siberia depositaries, relates that in the village of Kitchinski "the vfllage " schoolmaster, although engaged, was quite pleased " to let the scholars go off home in order that they " could ask their parents for the money to buy my "books," and in that village by the help of that teacher he disposed of 106 copies. On the other hand there are still barriers in Argentina against the progress of the Word among the children. True, the Argentine Evangelical schools, directed by our good friend the Rev. W. C. Morris, have been voted by the Congreso a monthly sub sidy of $500, but the recent proposal of the Minister Magnasco that the Bible should be photograph hy A fiuoiin ,1,- T,„,-.,. ,., T "'"^'s Johnson & Hoffman. Calcutta. /A LiKOUP Ol- 1 IRliTAN LaMAS. Although Tibet remains barred af;ainst all Christian missionaries. Traders carry the Bible Soeietv- s v.i-„„ .,,1 , r- t. , ^ ¦ inaeeessiblc highlands, from tlie soiilh slope of the Himalayas, and\Jsa "¦crll.epasstsfZ^^^^^^ """ "'"' GOD'S KINGDOM 87 introduced into the public schools has come to nothing. It has been an easier task, and one full of delight to all concerned, to distribute Scriptures at special rates among the "famine orphans" in the care of Indian Missions. "It has been most " interesting," says the North India report, " to note " the progress they have made and to see the good "work done in their school classes. The children " are all anxious to possess the Bible, and in many " orphanages it is thought best that they should do " something to learn it for themselves, either by " passing examinations or by some form of work. " Where industries are taught this is not difficult. " In other cases we have seen little children, as " Avell as older ones, watering flowers in the garden, "sowing or helping to gather in the crops, that " they might earn a few pice towards the pur- " chase of the book." But whatever the difficulties and wherever the district in which they are felt, the Bible Society stands to its ideal, which will be reached when " all thy children shall be taught of " the Lord ; " for then " great shall be the peace of " thy children." The Indian Students. One word as to children of a larger growth who, as those who know them best testify, are in a sense children still, the students at our Indian universi ties. The Indian Government has sanctioned a system of secular education under which the old outworn traditional faiths of India are crumbling to decay. Whatever may be the correct official attitude in such matters, we Christians are bound to erect a spiritual building in the place of that 88 THE BOOK OF Avhich we have destroyed or are destroying. It has therefore been the Society's policy to associate success in the Entrance, First Arts, and B.A. Examinations Avith the gift of a Bible or some part of it to students who care to accept it. Last year, we are told in our Calcutta report, thirty- nine colleges in Bengal undertook this distribution, and from two others the students made personal or written application at the Bible House. It is even recorded that irate guardians and unduly zealous professors are found to be checking the students in the ardour they display as Bible readers, and their answer to their accusers is " Give us something better than the Bible, and " we'll put this Book aside." An open mind of that sort encourages us to address the Master's words to each : " Thou art not far from the " Kingdom of God." Si non procul es, intra. GOD'S KINGDOM 89 CHAPTER X OUR ADMIRALTY AND WAR OFFICE The British Empire, the thought of which has followed us aU through this story of the Book of God's Kingdom, has had its attention fixed eagerly for months on its fighting forces. No society could be less pugnacious in spirit than ours. It has been helped all through its history by men and women to whom the very notion of war is abhorrent and who have sometimes endured scorn or calumny as they stuck to their firm convictions in that matter. But all of us are agreed that, if unhappily war does break out, it is ours to see to it that the men who fight by sea or by land realise the fact that there is for them a spiritual warfare as well, and that the hope of victory in that warfare rests with those who have shod their feet "with the " preparation of the Gospel of peace " and have taken " the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word "of God." Therefore Ave do not wait for times of actual confhct to circulate the Scriptures among sailors and soldiers of all nations. What a notion it must give to the British blue-jacket of the univer sality of the Gospel that, being anchored off the island of Lemnos, he should be able to purchase from a Greek Colporteur an English copy of the Word of God! 90 THE BOOK OF The Mercantile Marine. Nor are the men of the King's Navy the only sailors who so benefit. Mr. Summers in his Morocco report deals with the work among sailors of all nations caUing at Las Palmas. " One day," says Mr. Carr, the Seamen's missionary at Puerto de la Luz, "I " sold a Bible to a sailor which became a blessing " to others. After that voyage he left the steamer " and presented his Bible to his shipmate. About " four months after this steamer came back, and "a third man brought out this Bible and showed "it to me, saying that he had read it and been "blessed by it." The Rev. A. A. Cooper's recent journey has suggested to him that Zanzibar offers similar opportunities of selling on board the mail- boats (British, French, and German), and on the occasional " tramps " ; for Mr. Cooper knows the blessedness of work of that sort at Port Said. Not that 1901 was a very fruitful year in this port. Mr. Taylor, our earnest worker there, reminds us that for half the year half the ships arriving were flying the "yeUow flag." In June the whole of the shipping was placed under severe quarantine regulations owing to plague, and only the colliers could be boarded. But here, too, ex tremities were merely opportunities. Sailors on homeward-bound steamers, where the men had their "pockets full of money," were found to be waiting for the Colporteur. Baskets were lowered by a rope, and books and money changed hands. Chefoo. Again, it will be news to many that in the city of Chefoo, in the Chinese province of Shantung, The Tanks at .\den. The Egyptian Agency of the Bible Society e.iteiids from Malta to Mozambique. Aeiuss this picturesque and polyglot field, the eireiiiatioii last year reached the record total of 52,000 copies in over fifty different tongues. GOD'S KINGDOM 91 the main part of Mr. Copp's — the Sub-agent's — work has been among the passengers and crews of the large fleet of junks which nearly always crowds the northern shore of the harbour. He himself sold over 14,000 books. These junks, he says, " come from all round the Gulf of Pechili, "from Korea, from Shanghai, Ningpo, and as far " south as Foochow. Perhaps, on an average, they "have ten men each. Pretty generally the book- " seller is well received, and sometimes ten or " fifteen Gospel portions can be sold on one junk. "They seem inclined to take home the Gospels "they buy rather than keep them on board ship." The junks, by the way, move about, or refuse to move at all, in great terror of pirates, but Chefoo is another indication that there is indeed no limit to what can be effected in this branch of our work when things are " on a peace footing." British and Boer. But it is stiU more happy to recall what openings have come to us even through the dire distress of war. The story of the South African Auxiliary really deals with little else, and it is a story with "Never despair" written all over it. Before the war the Auxiliary had 250 different Agencies and branches in Cape Colony and the two " late " Republics. Then, first of all, the work in these latter came to a sudden end. Contributions and trade-accounts alike ceased. "Then was war in the gates." The invasion of Cape Colony soon had a like effect there. Up to that time the circulation of the Auxiliary was rising, till it had reached 40,000 copies. But in 92 THE BOOK OF 1901 they distributed close on 50,000 copies ; 37,000 Bibles and Testaments were sold, and the rest of the total were given to Dutch prisoners and to sick and wounded troops. Officers and men on active service have called at or sent to the Depot for portable editions of the Scriptures to use them selves or to give to comrades, while the Secretary has enjoyed every possible facility for visiting the camps and elsewhere in the seat of war. This is, of course, in addition to a distribution systemati cally carried out for the benefit of British troops before they have left our own shores. Boer Prisoners of War. Nor is South Africa the only part of the world in which the war has led to fresh opportunities. Many of our prisoners have been deported to India and elsewhere. Special grants have therefore been made through four Indian Auxfliaries to Boers detained in camps at Trichinopoly, Bellary, Ahmed- nagar, Shahjahanpur, Ambala, and Sialkot, as well as through the Colombo Auxiliary to prisoners in Ceylon and direct to St. Helena and Bermuda. Of these let the following details be a sufficient instance. The friends in North India had their attention draAvn to captive Boers in Shah jahanpur. They obtained a preliminary supply of Dutch Scriptures from the Bombay depot and a consignment was sent out from home, and these Avere gladly purchased by the prisoners. Simflarly the Church of Scotland chaplain at Ambala camp received a supply, which he distributed with the help of the elders {i.e., the seven-and-twenty prisoners who, as he found, had been elders in GOD'S KINGDOM 93 their Church at home). They adopted the prin ciple that there should be at least one Bible in each tent, and the way they worked it- out is worth recording in the Chaplain's words. " There " are eight men in each tent, and two in the tents " in the officers' section. In some of the tents there "were two or three Bibles ; in others none at all. "We first sold two Bibles to each tent that had "none for as much as they were able to give us. " Then our difficulty began, how to divide less than "fifty Bibles among about three hundred men. "By way of complication, many Avho had been "attending our Bible readings wished to change "their Bibles for those with marginal references. "This we took up first, charging a small sum for " the exchange ; thus we were left with about "twenty second-hand Bibles to dispose of. A "number were content with English Bibles. For " the rest, we gave the preference to the old men, " many of whom like to rise early in the morning "and read their Bibles in the quiet." It will not be so very hard, surely, for men like these to settle down, when they return to South Africa, in amity with their fellow-subjects, knowing that One is their Master, even Christ. But even more interesting is it to notice that Portusal also has had her Boer visitors in the shape of 1,500 refugees from Lourencjo Marques ; and that here arises a remarkable episode in the history of versions. For Joao Ferreira d' Almeida, of Lisbon, the translator of the Portuguese Scrip tures, originally went to the East at the instigation of the Dutch Government to do his work of trans lation for the benefit of Portuguese in Java, Ceylon (where we now have a Boer prisoners' 94 THE BOOK OF camp), and elsewhere. His New Testament, after having been revised, was printed in Amsterdam in 1681. Thus the Portuguese feel that they owe their vernacular version in a way to the Dutch, and so this present Boer encampment at Rainha Thomas and Peniche gave them a chance of repaying their obligations. Major Ferreira da Silva, secretary of the Red Cross League, obtained a grant of Dutch Scriptures from our Society, and these were distributed in hospital and in camp, which were also visited by Colporteur Romao Peres. It should not be forgotten that our Society originally adopted d'Almeida's version in order to supply the needs of Portuguese prisoners of war in England in the early years of the last century. Here is indeed a series of instances of the "mys terious way" of Him who "rides upon the storm." We cannot tell why nation is still permitted to make war upon nation, but the hisfxjry of our Society in the last year or two contains ample proof that amid the direst of human conflicts the hearts of the combatants turn in longing to the Prince of Peace and to the story of His love, knowing that a time must one day come "when "He shall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even "the Father." Sorting Coffee Berries in Costa Riga. The Bible Society's recently established .Ageiiev for Central .Aiiierica, which has its headquarters at Belize, sold over 11,000 copies of Scripture last year. GOD'S KINGDOM 95 CHAPTER XI OUR HOME OFFICE We turn lastly to the old country itself ; for after all it was here that the first impulse was given to the more systematic and generous circulation of " the most valuable thing that this world affords," and it is here that year by year the claims of the work are brought before city, and toAvnship, and hamlet, and household. That is the task of our District Secretaries, but it is not theirs only. It is not too much to say, for instance, that the Bible House itself is one of the best " deputations " that any Society can want. There it stands proclaim ing to a metropolis — which is in need of the reminder — that " the Word of the Lord endureth for " ever " ; that London may be the mother city of a great empire, but that God's Kingdom ruleth over all; and that the Book of His Kingdom tells of a life which the richest Londoner might well sell all he has to obtain. In a commercial centre where most business concerns of any importance are lapsing into limited liability companies, this great emporium acknowledges that its liabilities are limited only by the utmost that men will receive from it in copies of the Holy Scriptures, and its share capital by the utmost that Christian people will entrust to it in money for the carrying on of the work. 96 THE BOOK OF If this is, true of the house itself, it is not less so of the Home Staff in general. The friends from far and near who take the opportunity to pay " a " visit to the Bible House " carry away with them the impression of a business which, because it is "the King's," requires "haste," and of workers who as the servants of One Master are determined to work together in unity. There is no happier sight in the Bible House than that first Monday morning of a New Year, Avhen the Committee and the staff both of the Oifice and the Warehouse meet to com mend themselves and their work in prayer to God. It would be well if that meeting could be remembered next January wherever this story of the year's activities is read in all the world. People with a predilection for figures may like to bear in mind that £770 worth of packing-cases were used in 1901 in the Warehouse at Queen Victoria Street ; they will thus realise to what extent the men, who filled the packing-cases with books and nailed them down so as to be ready for their long voyage, are our " fellow- workers unto the Kingdom of God." Home Organisation. Those whom the friends of the Society know best and see most frequently are the District Secretaries, in whose personnel there was happily little change in 1901. But many Bible Society people in the West country and the Midlands will henceforth miss in this connexion the "kindly " human face " of the Rev. Richard Perkins, who, after eight-and-twenty years of unremitting labour as a District Secretary, has accepted a country benefice. It is to such men that it falls to keep GOD'S KINGDOM 97 before the minds and in the hearts of English and Welsh Christians the duty and the blessedness of circulating far and wide this " Book of God's " Kingdom." It is a task which brings them hosts of kind and hospitable friends, and the writer of these lines would gladly use them to convey to those among whom just ten years ago he began to go in and out as Secretary for the North Metropolitan district a hearty greeting full of memories of their kindness and sympathy. But may he use the opportunity also to impress upon the Society's home friends — Avhat perhaps they might not always guess from the annual visit of the " deputa- " tion " to their Auxiliary or Branch — that the life of a District Secretary is both exacting and exhausting? This little band of officers arranged in 1901 no less than 4,353 meetings in England and Wales, Avhile 2,198 sermons were preached by them and others in the Society's behalf. Let our friends also remember that amidst the multitude of Christian organisations that to-day force their righteous claims before the Christian public, the old institutions such as ours have to strive far more zealously and systematically than of old to maintain their hold upon the interest and active effort of their friends. We have now in England and Wales no less than 5,870 Auxiliaries, Branches, and Associations in communication with our " Home Office," and it is a question whether the 108 new organisations which were added to this total in 1901 in any way meet the growth of the population or enable our Society to keep pace with its ever-increasing task. 98 THE BOOK OF Home Grants. Secondly, under this head of the Some Office we may reasonably include not only Avhat Ave receive in the way of funds but also what aa^o are privileged to dispense in grants of Scriptures either at reduced rates or free of cost, as the circumstances of each case seem to determine. Nothing but a detailed list of the recipients last year will do any justice to this Home Mission Work of the Bible Society, and such a list is therefore appended in all its circumstantial eloquence and with a reminder that it does not include similar work done by several home Auxiliaries : — The Church Army; the Salvation Army; the London Congregational Union ; the Wesleyan Conference Office ; the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School Union ; the Sunday School Union; the Church of England Sunday School Institute. The London City Mission ; King's Cross Mission ; the Open-Air Mission ; the Eacecourse Mission ; the Christian Mission to Hop-pickers ; the Navvy Mission ; the Tramps' Mission ; the Essex Village Gospel Mission ; York Eailway Mission, the Lodging-House Mission, Oakenrod Mission, Eochdale; StanweU Moor Mission; Silver Link Mission, Eochester ; Newcastle City Mission. The Mildmay Mission to the Jews ; Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel (a Bible Mission to East-end Jews) ; the London Jews' Society. The Metropolitan Tabernacle Colportage Association ; the Christian Colportage Association ; the Bible Christian Book- Eoom; the Methodist Pree-Ohurch Book-Eoom ; the Metho dist New Connexion Book-Eoom ; Limehouse Public Library ; Mile End Free Library ; Bow Public Library. GOD'S KINGDOM 99 The Young Men's Christian Association ; Young Women's Christian Association ; the German Y.M.C. A. ; the German Y.M.C. A. Waiters' Union; the Commercial Travellers' Christian Association. The British and Foreign Sailors' Society; the Thames Church Mission ; the Missions to Seamen ; the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen; the Wesleyan Seamen's Mission; the Portsmouth Eoyal Sailors' Eest; the training ship CornwaU; the Shaftesbury Gospel Lifeboat Mission; the Mariners' Friend Society; Greenwich Seamen's Hospital; the Tyne training ship Wellesley; Boatmen's Mission School, Hednesford. The Soldiers' Homes at Winchester, Woking, Warley, Colchester, and Newcastle-on-Tyne ; Netley Hospital. The Bridge of Hope Mission ; London Lock Hospital and Eefuge Home ; the Ehzabeth Fry Eefuge ; the Society for the Eescue of Young Women and Children. Dr. Barnardo's Homes; the Boys' Brigade; the Chil dren's Special Service Mission ; the Eagged School Union ; Field Lane Eefuge and Eagged Schools ; Fox Court Eagged School, Grays' Inn Eoad, W.C. ; Deptford Eagged School ; Newcastle Eagged School ; Hastings Eagged School ; the Church Lads' Brigade ; the Shoeblack Brigade ; the Jersey Home for Working Lads ; the National Eefuges for Home less and Destitute Children ; The Eoyal Albert Orphan Asylum, Camberley ; the Orphan Working School, London, N.W. ; the Boys' Home, Southwark; Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Homes, Liverpool ; the Girls' Home, Ealing ; Essex Indus trial School ; Crewe Girls' Club ; Hoddesdon Girls' Institute ; the Girls' Training Home, Bradford ; the Dorset Home and Industrial School for Girls ; the Girls' Training Home, Massingham; the Servants' Training Home, Worthing; the Uxbridge Girls' Home of Industry; the Metropolitan and City Police Orphanage ; the Northern Police Orphanage, Harro gate ; the Houseboys' Brigade, Kensington ; the Home for Working Girls in London ; the Homes for Working Boys 100 THE BOOK OF in London ; the Church of England Home for Waifs and Strays; the "Nippers" League of the Navvy Mission; Llandudno Cottage Hospital ; Kendal Memorial Hospital ; Tottenham Training Hospital. The cost to the Society of this work, in England and Wales alone, averages nearly £10,000 a year. The Centenary. Lastly, the history of the " Home Office " during the next three years will be largely concerned A\ith the keeping of the Society's Centenary of 1904, and with the special efforts which are already being made to turn so great an occasion to the glory of God and the welfare of His people. No event in 1901 was more notable than the meeting at Sion College, on October 31st, of the Centenary Grand Committee, to Avhich over 250 Auxiliaries had appointed delegates. One thought animated this memorable gathering — a desire to make the Centenary a time of looking forward and pressing onward. " There is so little done," as the late Mr. Rhodes is reported to have said on his death-bed in regard to the extension of earthly power — -"there is so little done, and so "much to do." Still more may we take such Avords upon our lips as we greet our hundredth birth day shortly, for we are labouring to extend a Kingdom that is not from hence. We are the servants of a King in whose sight a thousand years are but as yesterday. The general outline of these Centennial hopes and projects is part of the history of 1901, and should be briefly indicated here. Some little looking-backAA-ard there must needs be. We should be thankless GOD'S KINGDOM 101 indeed if no " Ebenezer " were raised at such a time. Therefore there will be a serious effort to produce a worthy history of the hundred years, and this is already in the capable hands of Mr. William Canton. There are also proposals for issuing the same story in a shorter and also in a quite simple and popular form. Again, some of the greatest and most thankworthy achievements of our Society are written in the books of the chronicles of the various versions ; these also are being reduced to a readable shape. From the past we shall turn to the present and shall keep, if God Avill, high festival everywhere on the actual date. Sunday, March 6, 1904, the day before the great day of the feast, will be observed, with the co-operation of the clergy and ministers of all denominations, as a universal Bible Sunday. On Monday, March 7th, there will be the actual birthday meeting in London, probably in the Albert Hall, and there will be similar celebrations in London all that week. March 13th to 19tli will see the commemoration extended to the provincial cities and boroughs, and March 20th to 31st, in the scattered hamlets of English country life. But our eyes are towards the future all the time. We want to increase the normal income by £15,000, which the annual deflcits clearly call for, and already a beginning has been made towards the raising of a special Centenary Fund of 250,000 guineas. Our little armies of Biblemen and Biblewomen must be increased to a very large extent, and foi- their benefit and for that of the many workers on the Home and Foreign staff the Benevolent Fund requires further development. There are many 102 THE BOOK OF versions now in existence on which considerable expenditure is necessary, as well as many, not yet in existence, to which further effort must give birth. Lastly, in addition to further efforts in our Sunday Schools, the Centenary is to be associated with special activity in the pro- Adsion of more editions and more suitable type for the blind. The Rev. J. Knowles, who has given great attention to this matter in con nection Avith the languages of India and the East, has undertaken at the Committee's request to superintend this important department of the work. It is one with which all our friends Avill sympathise, when they remember Who gave it as one of the signs of His being " He that should " come " that " the blind receive their sight." These hundred years have been but a " little " day " in the sight of the Lord of the Ages ; yet it is easier now than it was a century ago to say, "Thy kingdom come," for we live amid many signs of its coming. But it is not for us to know " the times and the seasons," and we must enter, if God spares our lives, on the next century of Bible work determined to do our part AAdth un diminished zeal in spreading the Book of His Kingdom, to Whom belong " glory, majesty, " dominion, and poAver before all time, and now " and for evermore. Amen." GOD'S KINGDOM 103 CHAPTER XII OUR CENSUS OFFICE AND OUR TREASURY THE year's issues. If we count in each return a year's figures onward from those incorporated in the totals a year ago, the issues of the Society now to be reported are as follow : — 1901-1902. 190O-1901. 1899-1900. Bibles 939,706 845,597 843,990 New Testaments 1,364,116 1,308,176 1,265,990 Portions 2,763,599 2,760,586 2,937,812 Totals 5,067,421 4,914,359 6,047,792 Comparing these figures, we note with extreme satisfaction that, while the issues of Testaments have largely increased, the issues of complete Bibles have increased more largely still. The greatest number of complete Bibles previously issued in one year was 869,000, in 1888—70,000 volumes less than the figures now announced. Our total issues last year were 20,000 in excess of the maximum total reported tAvo years ago, and thus constitute a new record in the Society's 104 THE BOOK OF circulation. This result is tho more remarkable and encouraging Avhen Ave remember that the outbreak in China has reduced our annual sales in that Empire by over 400,000 copies. Out of every 100 books sent out, 19 Avere Bibles, 27 were New Testaments, and 54 were Portions, chiefly Gospels or Psalters. The issues from the Bible House in London for the year ending March 31, 1902, were 1,975,934 — an increase of 103,136 on the previous year. The total issues of the Society -since its founda tion in 1804 amount to 175,038,965 copies. Colporteurs. -The sales by colportage show a certain falling off in every European Agency, except Russia. There is a cheering growth in India and Ceylon, Siberia, Burma, and Japan, but in all other Agencies in Asia, Africa, and South America, the same general decrease prevails. In China, for notorious reasons, our colportage sales, which were 745,000 in 1899, sank to 543,000 in 1900, and to 382,000 last year. And the Society's total sales by colportage have correspondingly fallen from 1,741,000 in 1899, to 1,379,000 last year. The Society's budget for colportage ex penses in the year ending June 30, 1902, amounts to £42,626— a slight increase on tho year before. The Year's Finance. In attaining such results as these it has not been possible to avoid a certain increase in the Society's total expenditure. GOD'S KINGDOM 105 General Fund Payments. The payments for the year have been : — 1901-02 compared 1900-01, 1899-1900. with For Translating, Ee- vising, Printing, and & £ £ Binding Scriptures 111,730 108,169 113,076 For Grants, Home and Foreign Agencies, Colportage, Depots, and all other charges 128,998 128,372 122,134 Totals £240,729 £236,541 £235,210 These figures show that in preparing and publishing Scriptures there has been an increase of over £3,000, and, under the second head, an increase of £600. When to these General Fund Payments we add £414 spent from Special Funds, the total payments amount to £241,143 — the largest expenditure in any year of the Society's history. General Fund Receipts. 1901-02 compared with 1900-01, 1899-1900. New Income £143,597 £133,424 £126,853 Eeceipts from Sales... 91,700 88,111 84,615 Totals £235,297 £221,535 £211,468 Among the items which make up " New " Income," the annual subscriptions and donations (received at the Bible House) show an increase of £16,000 ; but this is entirely due to a special gift of £20,000 under the trust of the late Mr. George Sturge. Legacies, always a fluctuating quantity, 106 THE BOOK OF GOD'S KINGDOM have decreased £1,000. The Free Contributions from Auxiliaries are £7,000 less than in 1900, in which year, however, the figures were swollen by two large legacies paid through Auxiliaries. A careful scrutiny discloses that these Free Con tributions, Avhich furnish perhaps the best barometer of public interest in the Society, remain practically unaltered, but exhibit no elasticity. It is cheering to notice that the receipts from sales, which form some index to the Society's work of distribution, have again increased, mostly through our Foreign Agencies, by £3,500. Besides the above, the Society has also received payment of the Cocker Fund — a sum of £19,500, which is to be expended during the next ten years upon entirely new work. Of this fund only £370 was spent last year. The sum of £994 accruing from other special funds, raises the total receipts last year to £236,292. Comparing this with the total expenditure we have a deficit on the year's working of £4,851. The previous deficit was £15,000. It must be remembered that certain unusual expenses last year will not recur, while in some Agencies con siderable economies and reforms are being effected. But such saving is more than swallowed up by the cost of urgent new work. APPENDIX 108 THE BOOK OF GOD'S KINGDOM NOTICE EESPEOTING EEMITTANCES. Subscriptions and Donations are received at the Bible House, 146, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C. ; also at the Society's Bankers, 20, Birchin Lane ; and at Messrs. Hoare's, Fleet Street ;— advice being sent to the Secretaries at the Bible House. Cheques, Bankers' Drafts, and Post Office Orders on the General Post Office, slwuld be made payable to The British and Foreign Bible Society, and sent to the Secretaries. FOEM OF A BEQUEST TO THE SOCIETY. I bequeath the sum of Pounds sterling, free of Legacy Duty, to " The British and Foreign Bible Society," instituted in London in the year 1804, to be paid for the purposes of the said Society to the Treasurer for the time being thereof, whose Beceipt shall be a good discharge for the same. THE SOCIETY'S MAGAZINES, &c. The Reporter and the Gleanings, issued monthly, price one half penny, contain news from the Society's Agents -who superintend Bible work in its world-wide field — articles describing the Society's opera tions abroad — notes of work and news from workers at home — sketches of Veteran Friends, with portraits — and specially contributed papers on Biblical subjects. Both Magazines are fully illustrated. The Gleanings, though stiU claimed by our younger friends, is also read by many of their elders. Various illustrated and statistical papers setting forth the aim, methods, and extent of the Society's work, are supplied free, on application at the Bible House, 146, Queen Victoria Street, E.O. Telegraphic Address: TESTAMENTS, LONDON. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY 109 President : The Marquis of Northampton. Vice-Presidents : 1863. The Bishop of Gloucester 1872. The Bishop of Auckland 1873. Bishop Mitcliinson, D.O.L., D.D. lB7i. Eev. Joseph Angus, D.D. 1876. The Bishop of Manchester 1877. The Earl of Aberdeen Earl FortescuG The Rt. Hon. Sir J. H. Eennaway, Bart., M.P. The Archbishop of Canterbury 1878. The ArchhishoiJ of York 1881. Sir Winiam Muir.K.C.S.I. 1882. Bishop I'erowne, D.D. 1883. The Bishop of St. Andrew's 1884. Bishop Barry, D.D. J. Bevan Braithwaite, Esq. The Bishop of Eipon 1885. Bev. Alexander McLaren, D.D. Bishop Bickersteth, D.D. The Bishop of Southwell 1886. TheEt.Hon.SirEdward Fry.F.B.S. The Bishop of Gibraltar Bev."W. H. Dallinger,LL.D.,F.li.S. Eev. J. Oswald Dykes, D.D. Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart., G.C.M.G. 1887. The Bishop of Winchester Bev. James H. Bigg, D.D. Eev. J. Thain Davidson, D.D. 1888. The Bishop of Carlisle W. Sohoolcroft Burton, Esq. Bishop Eoyston, D.D. John Cory, Esq. Eev. Thomas Davies, D.D. 1889. The Earl of Halsbury, Lord Chancellor Lord Brassey, K.C.B. The Bishop of St. Asaph 1890. S. W. Silver, Esq. 1891. Lord Klnnaird Sir G. G. Stokes, Bart., F.E.S. The Dean of Westminster The Dean of Wind or E. N. Oust, Esq., LL.D. Eev. A. M. Fairbairn, D.D. 1892. The Bishop of Lichfield The Archbishop of Montreal Aid. Sir Joseph Savory, Bart. Hon. J. H. Angas Eev. A. Mackennal, D.D. The Bishop of Sodor and Man The Archbishop of Sydney ¦Viscount Midleton Sir George WilUams, Kt. A. McArthur, Esq. 1893. Eev. Chancellor Edmonds, B.D. Edward Eawlings, Esq. J. Storrs Fry, Esq. Bishop Johnson, D.D. Eev. J. Guiness Eogers, D.D. 1891. Eobert Heath, Esq. The Archbishop of the West Indies Ven. Archdeacon Sinclair, D.D. The Bishop of Marlborough Admiral Sir F. Leopold McClin tock, K.C.B. Eev. H. J. Pope, D.D. J. E. HIU, Esq. 1895. Viscount Peel The Bishop of Bath and Wells Victor C.W. Cavendish, Esq., M.P. Alexander Peckover, Esq., LL.D. The Bishop of Chester 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901, 1902. The Bishop of Melbourne The Dean of Durham Ven. Archdeacon J. Richardson. D.D. The Bishop of Newcastle Eev. J. Monro Gibson, D.D. Eev. E. Li. Jenkins, LL.D. Viscount Hampden The Earl of Stamford Sir Joseph W. Pease, Bart., M.P. J. Trueman Mills, Esq. Albert Spicer, Esq. Eev. J. G. Greenhough Eev. Eichard Glover, D.D. The Bishop of Hereford Bishop Stuart, D.D. The Dean of Norwich The Bishop of Peterborough Hon. J, J. Eogerson A. S. Leslie-Melville, Esq. Lord Eadstock The Bishop of Durham Eev. J. Morlais Jones Rev. Joseph Parker, D.D. Rev. Canon Christopher The Bishop of Newcastle, N.S.W. Rev. Canon Fleming Eev. D. MaoEwan, D.D. The Bishop ot Wakefield T. A. Denny, Esq. The Rt. Hon. Sir Henry Hartley Fowler, M.P., G.C.S.I. Rev. Canon A. B. Fausset, D.D. The Bishop of St. David's The Bishop of Shrewsbury Bishop WeUdon, D.D. Viscount Olifden Eev. Canon E. B. Girdlestone Eev. W. L. Watkinson, D.D. Eobert Barclay, Esq. Caleb E. Kemp, Esq. Henry Morris, Esq. Bishop Ingham, D.D. The Bishop of Liverpool The Dean of St. David's The Master of Trinity Eev. P. W. Macdonald P. A. Bevan, Esq. Eobert Davies, Esq. The Earl of Northbrook, G.C.S.I. The Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of London The Bishop of Lucknow Sir George Hayter Chubb, Bart. The Et. Hon. Su- Samuel J. Way, Bart. Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G., Lord Chief Justice of England Hon. G. E. Knox Eev. Griffith John, D.D. Eev. J. G. Paton, D.D. Eev. J. Hudson Taylor T. PoweU Buxton, Esq. The Bishop ot Calcutta The Bishop of Uganda The Bishop of Hokkaido, Japan Eev. W. G. Lawes, D.D. Eev. J. Thoburn McGaw, D.D. Rev. W. T. Davison, D.D. Sir Charles Alfred BUiott, K.G.S.I. C. E. Tritton, Esq., M.P. Thomas Hodgkin, Esq., D.CL. Charles Finah Foster, Esq. Treasurer : ROBEBT BAJJOLAY. ESQ. Chairman ot Committee: CAiiBB R liEME Esq. 110 THE BOOK OF GOD'S KINGDOM Tlie Society's Committee: Elected F. P. Belsey, Esq. A. Brauen, Esq. A. J. Crosfield, Esq. G. T. Crosfield, Esq. Th. Duka, Esq., m.d. A. R. Fordham, Esq. S. H. Gladstone, Esq. G. A. Grierson, Esq., Ph.D., c.i.E W. H. Harris, Esq., b.a., b.sc. T. Morgan Harvey, Esq. H. Koenigs, Esq. Williamson Lamplough, Esq. C. G. Master, Esq., c.s.i. H. W. Maynard, Esq. G. J. McCaul, Esq. James McLaren, Esq. R. Morton Middleton, Esq. P. W. Pooock, Esq. May 7, 1902. tToseph Pollard, Esq. A. R. Rainy, Esq., m.b. Leslie S. Robertson, Esq. Maj. -Gen. C. G. Robinson. Fr. Schaeffer, Esq. W. H. Seagram, Esq. E. J. Sewell, Esq. Colonel D. V. Shortland. George Spicer, Esq. G. P. Sutton, Esq. Capt. Hy. Toynbee. Emil Walser, Esq. F. P. Weaver, Esq., m.d. G. H. Wedekind, Esq. D. Wellby, Esq. L P. Werner, Esq. P. F. Wood, Esq. A. W. Young, Esq. The Committee meet, as a rule, at the Bible House, 146, Queen Victoria Street, E.C, on the first and third Mondays in every Month, at Half-past Eleven o'clock ; and oftener, as business may require. Secretaries : The Rev. Akthue Taylok, m.a. The Rev. John H. Ritson, m.a. Sujperiniendent of the Translating and Editorial Department, and Consulting Secretary : The Rev. John Shabp, m.a. Superintendent of the Literary Department ; The Rev. T. H. Dablow, m.a. Superintendent of the Home Department : The Rev. H. A. Raynes, m.a. Superintendent of tlie Publishing and Issue Department : Mb. j. j. Beown. Assistant Home Secretary : The Rev. Harey Scott. Accountant : Me. W. p. Wakelin. Assistant Foreign Secretary : Mr. T. Eenesi Price. Collector : Me. Geo. B. Poole. Honorary Solicitors : Messes. Hollams,Sons,Coward and Hawksley, 30, Mincing Lane, E.C. Bankers : Williams Deacon's Bank, Ltd., 20, Birchin Lane, E.C. BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY 111 Foreign Agents. Paris — Pastor D. Lortsch Berlin — Mr. M. A. Morrison Florence — Sig. Augusto Meille Madric?— Rev. R. O. Walker, M.A. St. Petersburg — Rev. W. Kean, D.D. Ekaterinburg — Mr. W. David son Constantinople — Rev. T. R. Hodgson Algiers — Mr. J. May Alexandria — Rev. Alfred A. Cooper, m.a. Tangier — Mr. W. Summers Sierra Leone — Mr. Broome P. Smith Bushire— Mr. C. E. G. Tisdall Rangoon — Rev. W. Sherratt Singapore — Mr. J. Haffenden Manilor—SsQV. H. P. Miller * Shanghai — Rev.G.H. Bondfield Seoul — Mr. A. Kenmure Yokohama — Mr. F. Parrott Buenos Ayres — Sig. B. A. Pons Rio de Janeiro — Rev. P. Uttley Callao— Mr. A. R. Stark Jamaica — Rev. G. 0. Heath British Honduras — Rev. F. de P. Castells, BeU»e * Mr. Miller resigned in June, 1902. Secretaries in India and Soutli Africa. Madras — Rev. S. W. Organe Allahabad— 'Rev. T. S. Wyn koop, M.A. Lahore — Mr. W. H. L. Church Bombay — Mr. C. Douglas Green Calcutta — Rev. A. W. Young Cape Town — Rev. L. NuttaU District Secretaries ia England and Wales. Rev. F. D. Thompson, m.a., 22, Blenheim Terrace, Leeds. Rev. James Thomas, Bible House, London. Rev. JehngerB. Symons, F.E.G.S., CUeveden, Guildford. Rev. Edward S. Prout, m.a., Summerlea, Craven Road, Reading. Rev. J. Cynddylan Jones, d.d., Whitchurch, Cardiff. Rev. E. George, f Chelston, Torquay Rev. W. H. Norman, m.a., 14, Station Road, Cambridge. Rev. W. Fisher, m.a.. Rev. W. Monk Jones, m.a., Kotagiri, Huyton, Liverpool. Rev. D. C. Edwards, m.a., Llanbedr, R.S.O. , Merioneth shire. Rev. W. R. Bowman, b.a., Mellenclean, Burns Street Nottingham Rev. W. G. Jones, b.a., 26, Malvern Street, New castle-on-Tyne. Rev. H. C. Moor, m.a., 18, Carlyle Road, Edgbaston. Rev. J. Alston, b.a., Woodmancote, Coptliorne Road, Shrewsbury. Bible House, London. t Besigned July, 1902 ; succeeded by the Bev. Tom Smetham. Assistant District Secretary : Rev. J. Percy Treasure, Eastholme, Alderley Edge, Manchester- 112 THE BOOK OF CONDENSED STATEMENT OP THE RECEIPTS FOR THE Year ending Receipts. Annual Subscriptions, Donations, and Collections (paid in London) Samuel Cocker Fund Legacies (paid in London) .... Dividends on stock, interest, exchange, etc. . Free Contributions from Auxiliary Societies Free Income at the disposal of the Committee s. d. 32,462 16 370 4 36,143 10 7,316 9 67,304 13 ^143,597 13 8 Receipts feom S.^les. Auxiliary Societies . . , 3,276 10 4 Trade Depots .... 21,419 15 1 Society's Depot in London . . 4,458 2 11 Other Societies .... 8,116 8 3 Sales LQ the Society's Foreign Agencies 54,429 3 8 Receipts, Geneeal Fund ¦ 91,700 0 3 , ^235,297 13 11 Special Funds — ¦ Roxburgh Fund, for Colportage in Bengal. For preparmg, printing, and bi Scriptures For Fund for Biblewomen . For Miss Taylor's Trust . For Deficit Fund Library Catalogue (lountess of Effingham's Trust Marme Insm-ance Fund Total Net Receipts tiding tho 104 1 3 166 5 0 245 6 6 21 9 8 89 7 0 223 2 0 36 8 8 108 10 0 ^236,292 4 0 Extracted from the Audited Cash Account GOD'S KINGDOM 113 AND PAYMENTS OF the BIBLE SOCIETY March 31, 1902. Payments. s. d. For paper, printing, and binding the Scriptures in various languages, including charges for translation and editorial expenses . . . 111,731 1 2 For Depot expenses in various parts of the world, including salaries and travelling ex penses of foreign Agents, rent, carriage, in surance, etc. . 51,321 7 8 For salaries of Colporteurs, including travelling expenses, etc. ..... . 42,125 5 11 For grants in money to various Auxiliary Societies, votes to sundry Seamen's Societies, and including allowances for Biblewomen at home and abroad 13,828 10 9 For editing and printing the Annual Reports, Monthly Reporter, and Gleanings ; for stationery, and books and papers for Auxiliary Societies, etc. . . ... 5,832 17 7 For office expenses, taxes, salaries of Secretaries, District Secretaries, and other officers, together with travelling expenses of the District Secre taries and Deputations sanctioned by the Committee ... ... 15,890 1 4 Payments, General Fund . Roxburgh Fund, for Colportage in Bengal . For preparing Special Editions of the Scriptures Miss Taylor's Trust for Scriptures for Patients in Hospitals in Manchester and Salford . Library Catalogue Marine Insurance Fund Total Net Payments . published in the Society's Annual Report. ^6240,729 4 5 100 0 0 91 5 0 21 9 8 5 16 0 195 7 10 £241,143 2 11 08837 5978 If t 5. i -¦.' .V '., '51 .'u^¦.i!«A-. ..^..-^i*-Ml»- i^V.-i.S.Jl^