candlelight, in a small room in a dingy counting-house, and
resolved upon the establishment of the Bible Society.

"Contrast with this obscure beginning the scene of this day,
which, not only in England and in our colonies, but in the
United States of America, and in every nation in Europe, will
awaken the keenest interest.

"Such a reward of perseverance is always a gratifying spectacle;
much more so when the work which it commemorates is one in which
all Christians can take part, and when the object is that of
enabling every man in his own tongue to read the wonderful works
of God.

"I have an hereditary claim to be here upon this occasion. My
grandfather, the Duke of Kent, as you have reminded me, warmly
advocated the claims of this Society; and it is gratifying to me
to reflect that the two modern versions of the Scriptures most
widely circulated--the German and English--were both, in their
origin, connected with my family. The translation of Martin
Luther was executed under the protection of the Elector of
Saxony, the collateral ancestor of my lamented father; whilst
that of William Tyndale, the foundation of the present
authorized English version, was introduced with the sanction of
the Royal predecessor of my mother the Queen, who first desired
that the Bible 'should have free course through all Christendom,
but especially in his own realm.'

"It is my hope and trust, that, under the Divine guidance, the
wider diffusion and the deeper study of the Scriptures will, in
this as in every age, be at once the surest guarantee of the
progress and liberty of mankind, and the means of multiplying in
the purest form the consolations of our holy religion."

The Archbishop of York then invoked the Divine Blessing on the work. The
Bishop of Winchester, as one of the oldest living members of the
Society, expressed the grateful acknowledgments of the Committee to the
Prince, for his presence among them, and for the act performed at their
request. Two verses of the National Anthem having been sung, and the
benediction pronounced, the meeting dispersed.

The Lord Mayor, with true civic hospitality, invited the Prince of
Wales, the officers of the Society, and all who had taken any part in
the ceremony to luncheon at the Mansion House. On the health of the
Prince and the Princess of Wales being proposed, the Pri