Note 8 — JEREMIAH xxxvi. 22, 23.
Reading edition
“Hopes had been raised of a new order of things, as a new Head, of a widely different character from any of his predecessors, ascended the Papal Throne. Yes—rail-roads and gas-lights shall be admitted for the first time in the dominions of Him of Rome: but, not the Bible Society; that shall be denounced with as loud a voice of thunder, as ever proceeded from the City of the Seven Hills. That voice of thunder has been re-echoed by Cardinals and others, in France, Holland, and elsewhere; and so re-echoed, that many a faint heart has quailed; and some, who before stood half-prepared to encourage the dissemination of the Scriptures, have drawn back and closed the door before half-opened. And yet, even among Roman Catholics, the distribution of the Scriptures has proved as large as ever.—In no previous year has the Society been counted worthy of suffering a fiercer vituperation from this quarter than during the past. Take as an example, the following paragraph from a famous Encyclical Letter, and see with what company the Society is associated:—