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Untitled Article
aware , % before I engaged in the Society , that it had been represented as dangerous to the Church , it appeared to me that this charge had been so completely refuted ^ that it is with no less surprise than regret that I now learn that you still think it well founded .
The sole and exclusive object of the Bible Society , so far as it respects the United Kingdom , is
authorized translation of the Scriptures , without note or comment * I should as a member of the Church , be very sorry to think that the devout study of the Scriptures could
lead to the disregard of * our li . tur / GY ; on the contrary ^ I should hope that it would produce a more general acknowledgment of its excejlerice , as , it originally , at the period of the Reformation ^ led , through the blessing of JJWvine Providence , to its establish meat .
The Bible , says Chillingworth , and the Bible on ly , is the RELIGION OF THE PftOTEStant ; it is the sole basis of the Church of England , and the only one on which you , X a ^ m sure ,
would wish to place it . But you observe , that you can have no guarantee * that as the power of the Bible Society increases , other obj&cts , inimical to the Church , will riot in time be associated with
the main object . Ttf thti I answer , that so long as the members of the Church take part in the Bible Society , its very constitution will afford such a guarantee as you
desijre . The President , and tUl tile- ' ViCE-PjaEsiPEN ^ TS without exckpupiii , we Churchmen , and ' are constant members of the ma . niging cpmrnittee , in Which they always preside ; and of the other
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members of this committee ,- the Churchmen are equal in number to all t&e Dissenters of different sects ; so that in every question the Qhurch must have a constant majority ; and in the general meetings , in which alone' all points affecting
the constitution of the Society must be decided , the members of the Church must have a weight in proportion to their numbeTS and consequence . In proportion , there *
fore , as Churchmen of talents , rank , and influence join the society , this preponderance must increase . Among the Vxce-Presibents qxe already numbered orfe of the Archbishops of
Irela vd and five English and two Irish Bishops . I doubt whether the Society for pro . mating Christian Knowlebge , which now , as you observe * enjoys the countenance of the whole
episcopal benph , was , at so short a period frprn its formation , honoured with the support of so large a body of the prelates ; and I should tope the time might not be far distant when the two
societies may equally flourish under the geaerkl patronage of them alt . Tbis would appear to me the most effectual remedy for any supposed danger from the dissenting influence in the Bible Society * But what is the renE * 6 dy you propose ? —That all Churchmen should
withdraw themselves froir > the Society , and leave it vrilullf in the hands of ttW Dissfimtensv If anything an make the Soirtety dangerous , this mU ^ t do it ; because there would' tWen be no
check to any seciapian spirit which might introduce itself * fend which must be unavoidably irritated * by so harsh , and I think so unjust an indication of jealousy . But even
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1 $ & Intelligence—Mr . Vansittart * Letter to Dr * Marsh
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1812, page 196, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1746/page/60/
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