PAMPHLET***


Transcribed from the [1817] J. Keymer edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org





                               OBSERVATIONS
                                  ON AN
                           ANONYMOUS PAMPHLET,


                                  WHICH
                          _HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED_
                                    IN
                    Lowestoft, and its Neighbourhood,
                                 ENTITLED
                                 REASONS
                                   WHY
               A CHURCHMAN MAY WITH GREAT JUSTICE REFUSE TO
                   SUBSCRIBE TO THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN
                              BIBLE SOCIETY.

                                * * * * *

                                    BY
                         FRANCIS CUNNINGHAM, A.B
                           RECTOR OF PAKEFIELD;
          _And Secretary of the Lowestoft Branch Bible Society_.

                                * * * * *

                                YARMOUTH:
               Printed and Sold by J. Keymer, King-Street;

            SOLD ALSO BY GOWING, LOWESTOFT; PARSONS, NORWICH;
                      HATCHARD, AND SEELEY, LONDON.

                                * * * * *




_OBSERVATIONS_
ON AN
ANONYMOUS PAMPHLET.


THERE are many circumstances which might have induced a friend of the
Bible Society to refrain from noticing a work, under the circumstances of
the present pamphlet.  And, had it strictly adhered to its title, and
simply stated the reasons why a churchman might properly refuse to
subscribe to this institution, it would probably have remained unnoticed
by me.  It might, in that case, have been hoped, that statements which
are unacknowledged would not have been believed, and the reasonings of
the work might have been left, without much alarm, to do their worst.
But, as it has been observed to me, that the very circumstance of putting
even the most improbable statements in print, invests them with a species
of authority; and as there are many persons still unacquainted with the
nature and operations of the Bible Society, and who, therefore, may
mistake the boldness of assertion in this little work for the confidence
of truth, I have yielded to the advice of some of my friends, in
attempting to reply to it.  Before I proceed, however, to this reply, I
will beg leave to make a single observation on the _temper_ in which this
attempt will, I trust, be made.

The author of this pamphlet has, in the first page of his work,
reprobated the “arrogant and dogmatical style” of his opponents; and, in
the conclusion of it, he has called their measures “wicked, cruel, and
unchristian.”  It is my hope, that I shall not fall into the same error.
I desire “nothing to extenuate, nor set down aught in malice;” to state
facts, not from the mere authority of the parties concerned in this
controversy, but upon that of the most authentic documents; and, should I
fail to convince my readers, it is my confident intention not at once to
conclude their opinions “unchristian” and “cruel,” because they differ
from my own; hard words, I may venture to say, ought not to be the
weapons of our warfare, and I trust they never will be of mine.  I desire
to remember the declaration of our Lord, “they that take the sword, shall
perish by the sword.”

I may be permitted also to add, that in entering upon the consideration
of this question, I consider myself as approaching a subject of the
highest importance.  When I am canvassing the merits of an instrument for
circulating the Word of God over every part of the world, I tremble lest
the ark should suffer in my hands; and I desire to go out to the warfare,
not so much with a “sword and a shield” of human fabrication, as, “in the
name of the Lord,” for the circulation of whose Word I wish to contend.

This pamphlet is entitled “Reasons why a Churchman may with great justice
refuse to subscribe to the Bible Society;” and the reasons which are
assigned may be said to be of three kinds: First, _That a better
Society_, _of a like kind_, _exists in the church_; Secondly, _That the
Bible Society does not answer to the professions and praises of its
advocates_; Thirdly, _That it is injurious to the established church_.
Upon each of these points I shall now venture to make a few observations.

_First_, It is said, _That a better Society_, _of a like kind_, _exists
in the church_.  The Society to which the author alludes, is that
established more than 100 years since, which is called the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge.  Its object is threefold: To distribute
Bibles; also, Prayer Books and Tracts; and to send Missionaries.  Every
member of this Society is obliged to give good security that he is a
churchman, and there is no way in which, by its means, any other
denomination of christians can be benefited, but by the hands of
churchmen.

The advantages of this institution over the Bible Society which the
author endeavours to establish are four.  _First_, It is a _Society which
consists entirely of churchmen_; _Secondly