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M \ki THE Wycliffe SemfMillennial BIBLE CELEBRATION. Tre n+o n N.J". CONVENTION OF BIBLE SOCIETIES OF NEW JERSEY TRENTON, SEPTEMBER 21st and 22d, 1880. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. 1 •,RLC.MAH1882 CONTENTS Introduction—The Conference, ••.... 5 The Convention, •-..... 9 Presiding Officers, •••.... lo Order of Proceedings, 1 Resolutions, . i6 List of Delegates Appointed, . , j- Origin and Object of the Convention, by Rev. Jas. P. Wilson, D. D., . 21 Address OF Welcome, by Barker Gummere, Esq., . 31; Response to the Address of Welcome, by Chas. E. Vail, Esq., . 27 The Life, Times, and Labors of Wycliffe, by James Strong, S. T. D., . 29 William Tvndale and His Bible, by Rev. William S. Langford, . 37 The Bible in New Jersey, by Rev. George Sheldon, D.D., . 46 The English Bible : Its Relations to the English Language and Literature, ' by Rev. Richard G. Greene, . , 52 Divine and Human. Elements in the Bible, by Samuel M. Woodbridge, D.D., 59 The Bible the Book for All Ages, by Rev. J. Fewsmith, D.D., . 66 The Bible and Intelligence, by McCosh, Jas. D.D., LL.D., ... 74 The Bible in Education, by Rev. William H. Campbell, D.D., LL.D., . 79 Relations of the English Bible to Civil and Religious Liberty, by Hon. Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, . .82 The Authorized Version and the Present Revision, by William Henry Green, D.D., ....... 88 The Bible and the Reformation in England, by Ashbel Welch, Esq . , 95 The Era and Work of Bible Societies, by William R. Taylor, J. D.D., . 98 Closing Address, by the Chairman, (Hon. John T. Ni.\on), . .104 : INTRODUCTION. The preliminary movements toward the celebration of the Five Hundredth Anniver- sary of the translation of the Bible into the English language by John Wycliffe, which was completed in the year of our Lord, 1380, are carefully narrated in the statement by the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Origin and Object of the Convention, whose proceedings are contained in this memorial volume. A few facts remain to be stated concerning the Conference, which was held in Trenton, in the rooms of the Board of Trade, February 25, 1880. Sixteen out of the twenty-one county auxiliary Bible Societies in the State of New Jersey were represented as follows Atlantic County Bible Society, Rev. Thomas Sovreign. Essex County Bible Society, Rev. W. J. R. Taylor, D.D. Hudson County Bible Society, Rev. Paul D. Van Cleef, D.D. ; Rev. Lewis R. Dunn, D.D. Hunterdon County Bible Society, Rev. George S. Mott, D.D, Mercer County Bible Society, Rev. Samuel M. Hamill, D.D. ; Rev. William Harris, Rev. Walter A. Brooks, Rev. James B. Kennedy, Rev. S. Van Benschoten, D.D. Rev. Jesse Stiles, James C. De Cou, Esq. Ocean County Bible Society, S. F. Blackman, Esq. Passaic County Bible Society, Rev. Marshall B. Smith. Somerset County Bible Society, Rev. Philip M. Doolittle. Sussex County Bible Society, William P. Nicholas, Esq. Warren County Bible Society, Rev. William A. Holliday. Rev. George Sheldon, D.D., State Superintendent of the American Bible Society for New Jersey and Delaware, was present ex-officio. THE CONVENTION. By the courtesy of the authorities, the Assembly Chamber, with its adjacent rooms, in the State House at Trenton, was opened for the Convention—a graceful acknowledg- ment of the public sentiment of the good people of New Jersey, who value the Bible as the foundation of their liberties and rights. During all of the sessions the floor of the Assembly Chamber was occupied by the delegates, and a large number of ladies and gentlemen filled the spacious galleries. The pulpit, the bar, the medical profession, the judiciary of the State and of the United States, presidents and professors of colleges and theological seminaries, prominent officers of churches of all the leading Protestant communions, the American and Pennsylvania Bible Societies, and the New Jersey auxiliaries of the parent institution, the religious and sec- ular press, the worthy yeomanry, statesmen, and all the influential classes in the State were represented in this notable assembly of the friends of the Bible. The programme was carried out with remarkable exactness, no speaker or reader exceeding the half hour to which the Executive Committee was compelled to limit them. Much credit is due to the Local Committee of Arrangements, whose minute carefulness and forethought greatly pro- moted the comfort and convenience of the Convention, as well as the promptness of the proceedings. The expenses have been met by special contributions from friends in the Auxiliary Societies, and without diverting a dollar from their ordinary receipts for Bible purposes. The music was admirably led by a double quartette from Princeton College, repre- senting the Nassau Hall Bible Society. Public interest increased until the last moments of the Convention, and the impres- sion made by its proceedings was most happy upon all who were present. —— — — PRESIDING OFFICERS. CHARLES E. VAIL, Esq., OF THE Warren County Bible Society. Rev. JOHN MACLEAN, D.D., LL.D., of the Princeton Bible Society. Hon. JOHN HILL, of the Morris County Bible Society. WILLIAM ELMER, M.D., of the Cumberland County Bible Society. Hon. JOHN T. NIXON, OF the Mercer County Bible Society. HONORARY COUNTY VICE-PRESIDENTS. Atlantic—Hon. Enoch Cordery. Mercer—Hon. E. W. Scudder. Bergen—Hon. William S. Banta. Middlesex Ezra M. Hunt, M.D. Burlington Charles E. Hendrickson. Monmouth—Major James S. Yard. Camden — Hon. George S. Woodhull. Morris—Hon. John Hill. Cape May—Hon. Downs Edmunds. Ocean—Gen. John S. Schultze. Cumberland William Elmer, M. D. Passaic—Col. BenjaIiin Aycrigg, Essex—Hon. George J. Ferry. Salem Quinton Gibbon, M.D. Gloucester—Hon. Benjamin F. Carter. Somerset—J. Dumont Frelinghuysen. Hudson—Hon. A. A. Hardenbergh. Sussex—Hon. Samuel T. Smith. Hunterdon—Hon. John T. Bird. Union—Hon. B. Williamson. Warren—Hon. Charles E. Vail. SECRETARY, Rev. WILLIAM J. R. TAYLOR, D.D. ASSISTANT SECRETARIES. Rev. GEORGE S. MOTT, D.D., Rev. PAUL D. VAN CLEEF, D.D. TREASURER. CHARLES S. HAINES, Esq. ; ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS. The Convention was called to order by the Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D., Chairman of the Executive Committee. In the absence of Cortlandt Parker, Esq., of Newark, whose attendance as the presiding officer of the first session was prevented by unexpected and imperative profes- sional engagements, Hon Charles E. Vail, of Blairstown, Warren county, who origi- nated the proposal for the celebration, was appointed to the chair. The exercises were then conducted according to the programme. 10:30 A. M. 1. Invocation—By Rev. Abraham Gosman, D.D., of Lawrenceville, N. J. 2. Reading from John WycUffe's version of the Scriptures, I. Corinthians, xiii., by Rev. Dr. J. P. Wilson. 3. Hymn. • Our God, our help in ages past, Short as the watch that ends the night Our hope for years to come Before the rising dawn. Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away ; Before the hills in order stood, They fly forgotten, as a dream Or earth received her frame ; Dies at the opening day. From everlasting Thou art God, To endless years the same. Our God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come ; A thousand ages in Thy sight Be Thou our guard while troubles last, Are like an evening gone ; And our eternal home. 4. Organization, Enrollment of Delegates, Officers. — 12 The Wycliffe Sefni-Millennial Bible Celebration. 1 1 A. M. 5. Statement of the Origin and Object of the Convention—Rev. James P. Wilson, D.D., Chairman of the Executive Committee. 6. Address of Welcome Barker Gummere, Esq. 7. Response of the Presiding Officer. 8. Hymn. Upon the Gospel's sacred page More glorious still, as centuries roll, unfurled; The gathered beams of ages shine ; New regions blessed, new powers And as it hastens, every age Expanding with the expanding soul, But makes its brightness more divine. Its waters shall o'erflow the world : On mightier wing, in loftier flight, Flow to restore, but not destroy ! From year to year does knowledge soar As when the cloudless lamp of day And as it soars, the Gospel light Pours out its floods of light and joy, Adds to its influence more and more. And sweeps its lingering mist away. 11.30 A.M. 9. John Wychffe : His Times and his Bible—Professor Jas. Strong, S. T. D., Madi- son, N. J. 12 M. 10. WiUiam Tyndale and his Bible—Rev. William S. Langford, EHzabeth, N. J. The Rev. Samuel M. Studdiford, of Trenton, at the close of the morning session, exhibited to the members of the Convention a rare curiosity in the shape of a manu- script work of Wycliffe, in excellent state of preservation ; being a treatise on the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. Mr. Studdiford stated that the book had been presented to his father, the late Rev. Peter O. Studdiford, D.D., of Lambertville, in 1826, by the widow of an English clergyman. As the first pages of the book are missing, Dr. Studdiford could not, at first, ascertain who was its author. Dr. Addison Alexander was greatly interested in it, and endeavored for some time to obtain some clue that might lead to the name of the author; but he met with no success in his efforts. At length Dr. Studdiford somewhere found one the earliest biographies of WycHff"e, which contained quotations from some of his works, and among these there were quota- tions from a work that Wychffe had written on the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Command- ments, and the Lord's Prayer.