Rev A Brandram No 80
Montreal, 22nd February 1839
My Dear Friend,
I have lately received a letter from Toronto. It is above a gratifying nature, from the friendliness it exhibits, and from the intimation it contains of a hopeful prospect of an extensive circulation of the word of God in the district embraced by the Bible Society of that place. They have given me an order for books, and I forth with convey the same to you. It just for no less than 1040 Bibles and 1555 Testaments. The particular kinds and quantities are as follows [see below].
After preparing this order, it seems they received an Invoice from you of about £200 worth of books shipped to the care of Mr. Hyde, New York. You can deduct these £200 worth, they say, from the above numbers, attending of course to the kinds. "You may intimate," they add, "that we purpose they shortly to remit to the Society a Bill of Exchange. You will also oblige by urging on our friends at home the great importance of an early shipment, as it saves us considerable expense. Twice before they have been too late: once the books had to remain all winter at Montreal; and another time, they had to be got here by sleighs from Kingston." – Respecting the books sent for them to New York, they say, – "It will give us some trouble to get them without having to pay duty, both on the import into New York, and on the import into this province. If the former can be effected, we doubt not our Governor will consent to the latter, as he takes a lively interest in the prosperity of our Society. Should we not succeed in getting the United States duty remitted, they must be reshipped from New York to Montreal." The Toronto letter further states, that "A small pocket Bible with references is much sought after. A polyglot would be preferred. Also a small Testament: 50 of these would be desirable if printed for the Society".
What our friends here referred to seems to be a Bible like the American reprint of Bagster's English part of his polyglot. Most probably you have this reprint. If you have it not, I would say it appears in size about 18mo, and has the references in the middle of the page like Bagster's. Bagster's, I know, you could not circulate as it is; but you might print, of a similar size, say 18mo, the same references you print in your other Bibles. Please take this into consideration, and if you can meet our wishes, be so good as to do it; for no doubt, there is, and would be, a considerable demand for this book here, the people being already seasoned with it in the American volume above-mentioned: and I should think too, that it would meet with an extensive circulation in England also, and wherever you send English Bibles. The paper ought to be thin like Bagster's, that the volume may be thin and very portable. This arrangement will have the advantage besides the making the book cheaper, a circumstance always worth attending to when a major advantage is not sacrificed to it.
Before I leave this subject, of a very small reference Bible, I would beg leave to say how desirable it is to encourage the public demand for Bibles with the references. You are fully authorized by your own Rules, and by the Public Voice to print, publish, and circulate these as they are found in the English Standard Bible. You sit not, by the Public Balances, in the Annotator's or Commentator's chair in doing this, and you are therefore free to extend your labours what you can in this way. The object beyond all doubt, for which you circulate the word of God, is, that it may be understood. Now these references do greatly tend to make it be understood; and you should therefore, as above hinted, not only encourage, but also lead the public in this matter, that you may lead men sooner and surer to God. – I would illustrate this position with two things, one English, and the other West Indian. The English one, is the well-known (and too little-known) noble, terse, scriptural, and pious dictum or declaration of Bishop Horsley. He says, with respect to the use of Scriptures with References, – "It is incredible to anyone who has not made the experiment what a proficiency may be made in that knowledge which make us wise unto salvation, by studying the Scriptures in this manner, without any other commentary or exposition, then what the different parts of the sacred volume mutually furnished for each other. Let the most illiterate Christian study then in this manner, and let him never cease to pray for that Spirit it by which these books were dictated: and the whole compass of abstruse philosophy, and the recondite philosophy, shall furnish no argument with which the perverse will of man shall be able to shake this learned Christian's faith." – My other illustration, as I said, is West Indian. When in Barbados, I believe the first time, I was informed by an eyewitness of an elderly, or rather old Negro woman, a slave on a sugar estate, who having obtained I think from her master, a Bible with Marginal References, had perused much, and had acquired, partly by the text, partly by the references, a wonderful knowledge of Holy Scriptures. This excellent woman, black but comely, was in the habit of gathering a number of her fellow slaves around her; and when she had them assembled, she would first read a verse, two or more of the text, and then she would turn over to the passages noted in the references, and would then elucidate the Scriptures, and instruct and edify had little audience to the surprise of all who heard her – learned and unlearned. – I believe I never mentioned this circumstance in any of my letters from the West Indies. I forgot it at the proper time, though so worthy of being remembered.
This forget reminds me of another, and yet longer standing, and bearing upon my present subject of editions and forms of the Scriptures. – When I was in Oxford, I think in January 1827, I was introduced by our worthy friend Dr. MacBride to Mr.Collingwood and would the King's Printer. Among other specimens of his printing, Mr. Collingwood showed me a sheet or half sheet of the beginning of Genesis printed in paragraphs. Mr. Collingwood, I well recollect, spoke much in favour of this way of printing the Scriptures, and said he was willing to do it for the Society, if you wished. He gave me this sheet, or half sheet, and I still have it by me; and in giving it me I think he said something about my laying it before the Committee, and recommending the plan for adoption. My memory says that I did not do this. I take blame myself for neglecting it. The causes of my not noticing and recommending to you this plan, which so much agrees with my own judgment, I do not exactly recollect; but think that it was a feeling that my recommendation would not have had much weight, and that Mr. Collingwood without doubt would take an opportunity of bringing this subject before the Committee by Dr. MacBride or by other persons whose authority and influence would incline to a full examination of the plan, and it might be to its adoption. Probably enough Mr. Collingwood did this, though I have never heard of its being the case. One thing is certain, that you have not adopted it. But now, at the present day, year and hour, the subject is brought afresh before us, by the recent publication of a Portable Paragraph Bible in America, and by a similar work in England, from that Society, second only to our own – the Tract Society. Allow me then now, by way of making up for the former delinquency, to draw your attention to this matter, and to give my decided vote in its favour. As the King's (now the Queen's) printer will print in this form for you, there can be no serious difficulty in your way as to the adoption of this plan: and by adopting it you would very greatly elucidate the Scriptures. Begin, say, with one edition, which might be the non-pareil, brevier, or long primer.
Another item on this general topic. – In my letter from this on the 20th December, I brought before you, in conjunction with the Committee of our Bible Society here, the desirableness of having all our Bibles from England and you. And in order to the obtaining of this object, as well as for other reasons mentioned, I beg you to consider well whether you could let us have a Bible, with inferior paper and bindings, that it might not cost more to us and to you than two shillings. Such a Bible would come to us as cheap as any American one. The present times here and commotions furnish an additional argument in favour of what is here noticed. The other day the Secretary of one of our branch societies, who had had sent him from the depot some American Bibles, was highly offended at the same. He says in substance, – "Who knows how the American Bibles are printed: is not this a British colony: and can we not have Bibles printed in England?" This feeling is now gaining ground, and I hope you will feel with us. I have all confidence in the Bibles from the American Bible Society; but all do not think of this as I do: but besides this point of fidelity I would say, that loyalty himself, and propriety every way, lead us to seek all our Bibles from England; and from thence, I trust, for the future, we shall receive them. This you will see, militates against your obtaining cheap Bibles for us from New York as formerly hinted. – Please then, in connexion with this view of things, to let us have the cheap Bible, or rather Bibles petitioned for. I have said Bibles in the plural: for though our main petition is for a Bible at two shillings, we wish also a cheap edition of the small pica, with references; and not least a very cheap French Bible or two. I have always understood that printing and paper were low in France compared to England, and wondered that five shillings should be the price of your 18mo non-pareil French Bibles. You will I doubt not be able to let us have a very cheap Bible from thence; and I may say, it would be well to ship them direct from France thither, as it is highly probable we could get excuse of the duty here, which it may be you could not accomplish in England. I refer you for more particulars on this head, to my former letter dated as above-mentioned.
Our general depot in Montreal, concerning which I have written you in the same letter alluded to, will facilitate a constant supply of Bibles from England, and will be otherwise advantageous. The number of Bibles and Testaments I have requested from you for this depot, is small, and will probably do little more than supply this Lower Province. But in giving this inferior order, I was aware, that the Upper Province societies would of their own accord order supplies for the coming summer. Thus it has happened with Perth and Toronto: and as I said of Perth – fulfil their order notwithstanding my depot, so also I would say respecting the Toronto order now forwarded, and of others that may come to you direct. I wish to feel my way gradually about this people, and shall not be able to concentrate supplies to it till I have visited the different societies formed in the two provinces. – If you print the cheap Bibles, and can have them early, you can send out say 1000 of the cheapest English Bibles, and 1000 Testaments, and 500 of each of the other cheap Bibles and Testaments mentioned, in addition to the order for this depot already in your hands. – By the way, some of your invoices say "pocket Bibles", and as there are none so designated in your list printed in the Report, it would be well always to avoid this term and to conform to the wording in your list. This would tend to prevent mistakes. Be so good as send out for the general depot, say a dozen copies of the Bible map, done up in canvas and rollers.
It would be serviceable to me, and I shall feel obliged, if you would send me a duplicate of all invoices of Books sent to these Four Provinces and Newfoundland from and after the 1st January 1839, including the £200 worth for Toronto at New York. Of course my own depot is excepted, as I shall in this case have the original.
Probably it is worthwhile to send me one copy of the Monthly Extracts by post regularly as they issue from the press. These would furnish me with new and valuable matters for monthly use. During the West Indian mission of seven years I received very few of these Extracts, I should suppose under a dozen in all, and these with no regularity. If you think I should have these, be so good as a range for better regular and early transmission one by one per Post and New York. The steamers would be the quickest, but they are dear. The regular packets will bring them in good time. In thinking further on what I have said about American Bibles and cheap Bibles, I would add a word more. When in New York Dr. Macauley told me, that he had frequent applications at the American Bible Society House for Bibles from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, besides those from the Canadas before noticed to you. These requests, he said, they had often complied with, but not to the extent desired, from a feeling of delicacy that they might be interfering with you. That are two reasons for these applications, as I formerly intimated. One is, the fear of asking too much of you without remittances; but the other, and stronger perhaps, is a cheapness of the American Bibles, I mean the lowest priced ones. Now nothing can well stop this recurrence to America, but our having a cheap Bible ourselves. – I may here add too, that recently there are some Ministers and teachers from America in Jamaica: and I personally know the desire and the efforts of these to get out to that Island Bibles from America, and that because of their cheapness.
I have tired you out, I dare say, by all these observations about editions, and so forth. Forgive me: I seek the success of our great undertaking: and these mites I throw in, if peradventure they may tend to some good. May the Spirit who dictated all the precious volume you circulate guide you in every particular item of your work, that so the kingdom of God may be effectually hastened by your instrumentality. If anything I have said shall contribute to this, I shall rejoice in the same, giving all glory to God: – and unto God be all glory, in us all, in everything, and for ever and ever.
Believe me, Truly and Affectionately Yours,
James Thomson.
P.S. It will be as well, that you should not print anything I have said about American Bibles.