British and Foreign Bible Society
Buntingford Auxiliary
The Annual Buntingford Meeting, which was one of 14 meetings being held in the district between November 8th and November 26th, was held on Wednesday in the Congregational School, and was considered by many who have attended them year after year to be one of the best ever held here.
The deputation was Mr Gracie, Sec. in Ceylon. The meeting was as usual preceded by a social hour, with tea arranged and given by the ladies of the Buntingford Committee and other friends.
After tea, Mr and Mrs H. May sang two sacred duets. Mrs Saggers kindly recited twice, and at the commencement of the meeting the anthem "O taste and see" was sung by a special choir, all the items being much appreciated.
In the unavoidable absence of Sir Charles Heaton-Ellis, through indisposition, the chair was taken by Rev. A. Howard. Mr H. May read a portion of scripture, and Rev. John Cole offered prayer.
Mr Gracie, who has worked in Ceylon for 33 years, gave a deeply interesting and instructive address on "the island of spicy breezes," and the wonderful progress which has been made there, and which would have been impossible without the work of the Bible Society.
He related the remarkable way in which the Bible Society had first taken up work there, before any missionary had arrived, through the labours of a young Indian civilian of wonderful linguistic powers and Christian zeal, who was the first translator of the Singhalese New Testament.
Now the Bible is being read and studied by tens of thousands of students, many of whom, though not bapized Christians, are framing their lives by the teaching of Christ. Here at home people are decrying and neglecting their Bibles, but in India and Ceylon it is becoming more and more the one Book worth studying.
The meeting closed with a hymn and prayer. The collection amounted to £2 12s. and the proceeds of the tea to nearly £2.
Appended is last year's report:
[Transcriber note - There is a list of accounts at the end of this report, the layout of which didn't entirely make sense. Please see the original image if you want to see the accounts].
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