BIBLE SOCIETY, an association having exclusively for its object the diffusion of the sacred Scriptures. Such associations must be regarded as a natural form of expression of Christian benevolence, acting according to the principles of Protestantism, and seek ing to take advantage of the facilities afforded by the art of printing: but a long period elapsed after the reformation before a13. S. was formed; during which, however. an extensive diffusion of the Scriptures took place, and partly by the agency of associations which included it among other means for the advancement of Christianity. It neces sarily became, along with the translation of the Scriptures, one of the objects to which missionary societies directed their energy. But perhaps the first association-ever formed for the sole and specific purpose of providing copies of the Scriptures for those who were destitute of them, was that founded by baron Hildebrand vop Canstein, an inti mate friend of Speller, in conjunction with Francke at IIalle, and which, down to 1834, when other Bible societies had begun to be established in Germany, had distributed 2,1'54,350 copies of the Bible, and about 2,000.000 copies of the New Testament.—The impulse, however, to the formation of the Bible societies now existing in all parts of Protestant Christendom proceeded from England, where, in 178.0, an association was formed for the distribution of Bibles among soldiers and sailors. It was at first simply called The B. S.; it exists to the present day, is now known as the Naval and Military B. S., and confining itself to its original specific object. has accomplished much good. It is not an uninteresting circumstance, that the first ship in which Bibles were distrib uted by this society was the ill-fated Royal George.—In the beginning of 1792, a similar association was formed in London, under the name of the French 11. S.. with a similar limited and specific object of distributing Bibles in the French tongue. It was probably the attitude assumed by infidelity in France which gave occasion to the formation of this society, but the greater part of its funds having been remitted to Paris for the print ing of the Bible there. were lost, and everything belonging to the society destroyed in the tumult of the revolution.—It was not till 1802 that the first steps were taken towards the formation of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN 13. S., the parent of a multitude of similar institutions, and the establishment of which must be regarded as the great epoch in the history of this branch of Christian beneficence; nor was the society fully organ ized and established till Mar. 7, 1804. Its formation took place in consequence of the deep impression made upon the mind of the Rev. Thomas Charles of Bala, in Wales, hy the destitution of the sacred Scriptures which he found to exist in the sphere of his labors, and particularly by a circumstance strikingly illustrative of that destitution. Meeting a little girl in one of the streets of the town, he inquired if she could repeat the text from which he had preached on the preceding Sunday. Instead of giving a prompt reply, as she had been accustomed to do, she remained silent. and then weeping told him that the weather had been so bad she could not get to read the Bible. She had been accustomed to travel every week seven miles over the hills to it place where she could obtain access to a Welsh Bible. Mr. Charles, on his next visit to London. brought the subject of the want of Bibles in Wales under the notice of the committee of the Religious Tract Society (q.v.), when it was suggested by Mr. Hughes, a member of the
committee, that a society might be formed for the purpose of supplying Bibles not only in Wales, but wherever destitution existed throughout the world. The society was con stituted on the widest possible basis. churchmen and dissenters being alike included in it; and soon attained a greatness corresponding with that of the other two religious societies, the London Missionary Society (see MisstoNs), and the Religious Tract Society (q.v.), which had been formed on similar principles a few years before. It was indeed able to expend only about ,C610 in the first year of its existence. Its annual income gradually increased to an average of A:70,000. But in 1875-76 it amounted to £116,802. derived from donations, legacies, collections, etc., and applicable to the general purposes of the society, besides 1'108 for a special object (the "Roxburgh fund ''), and £105,410 derived from sales of Bibles and Testaments. abstracts, monthly reporters, etc.: showing the total net receipts for that year to be £222,320. Auxiliary and branch societies and dependent associa tions rapidly sprung up in all parts of Britain and in the colonies, the number of which at present amounts to between 5000 and 6000. Much more than one half of tile expen diture of the British and foreign B. S. has 'peen devoted to the diffusion of the author ized English version of the Bible, the only English version with which its fundamental rules permit it to have anything to do; it has also spent large sums in printing and circulating the Scriptures in the different Celtic languages spoken in Great Britain and Ireland, and a very important branch of its operations has been the printing of translations of the Bible prepared hy missionaries. The number of translations of the Scripture—in many cases complete, in others extending only to the New Testament, in some only to particular books—which have been printed at the expense of the society, amounts to not less than 190, the greater part being translations never before printed, and many in languages possessing no previous literature.—The British and foreign B. S. now issues annually nearly three million copies of the Bible, the New Testament, or such portions of sacred Scripture as have been printed in languages not possessing complete translations. The whole number issued from the formation of the society to 31st Mar., 1876, was 76,432,723. This society also employs agents of high education and Chris tian character, to visit different countries for the promotion of its great object. The names of Dr. Henderson and Dr. Pinkerton, former agents. must be familiar to many readers. and perhaps no instance could be mentioned more happily illustrative of the character of this branch of the society's operations than the visit of Dr. Henderson to Iceland, an account of which is given in his well-known volume of travels in that coun try.—A controversy concerning the circulation of the books of the Apocrypha along with the canonical Scriptures by the British and foreign B. S. (see APOCRYPHA), led to a resolution in 1826. that its funds should be devoted, according to its original design, to the diffusion of the canonical books alone.—The EnrNnunon 13. S. existed from that time forward as an entirely separate society, till 1861, when all the Scotch societies arnalgumated to form the NATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.