A peculiarity of written language is that its dissemi- nation challenges co-operation from many not called to the office of preaching. Copyists, printers, purchas-
TRACTS AND TRACT SOCIETIES 512 TRACTS AND TRACT SOCIETIES
trs, ami distributors may in their several spheres co- operate to bring tlie triitb dt'diod by means of it into con- tact with bnniaii bearts. Tbe tract enterprise, in fact, einjiloys and combines for a common jmrpose many and varied agencies. In order tbat a religions tract may he produced and started on a. career of usefulness, there must tirst be a writer imbued with the s|)irit of truth and love, and willing to labor with his pen, in order to express his thoughts in language at once attractive and impressive. Then there must be a pecuniary invest- ment for I he pubrn-ition of I he docimient written. The task of publication, although possible to individuals, is best perf<irmed by public institutions, like the existing tract societies, which, having a corporate existence, live on though their founders die. Such societies can develop and carry out great systems of effort, which their projectors may only live to initiate. Superadded to the publication of tracts, in order to their extended usefulness, there must be co-operative and systematic agencies for thtir pro])er and continuous dissemination among readers. When this complicated machinery of moral and spiritual intiuence is appropriately organized, the huudilcst Christian may come into working rela- tions with it and be a hel|)er to its highest success. Thenceforward there is- a grand copartnership of re- sults, in which those who write, who print, who circu- late, and who rea<l may rejoice together.
As an illustration of the endless stream of influences which may tlow on want from a single instance of bring- ing religious truth in a printed form to the attention of the tmconverted, the following facts are condensed from authentic documents. In the latter part of tbe Kith century, a good man, known as Dr. Sibbs. wrote a little book entitled The Jiniigfd Reed. A copy of that book, sold by a poor pc<ldler at the door of a lowly cottage in I'^ngland, was the agenc}' of the Christian awakening of Kichard Haxter, who was born in 1615. '-The addi- tional reading of a little piece of i\Ir. Perkins's work On llepenfance, borrowed from a servant," says Baxter, in a sketch of bis own life, " did further inform me and con- lirm me; and thus, without any means but books, was (iod pleased to resolve me for himself.'' Tims brought to the knowledge and experience of the truth, Baxter became one of the most earnest preachers and prolific writers of any age. He died in ]()91, having published matter enough to till twenty-three large volumes. Two of his smaller works — The Call to the Uncmrerfed and The Siiiii/s' Krerldsthir/ Rext — have passed through countless editions both in England and America, and, floubtless, will continue to be widely read in English- speaking countries while time endures. (Jf the fidl ex- lent of their intiuence it is impossible to form an ade- (piate estimate, but here and there links in the chain of secpiences can be discovered. Philip Doddriilge, when yomig, borrowed the works of Baxter, and in due time became the author of the Rise and Prnr/resn of Re- /if/ion in /he Soiif, a work which led William Wilber- force to seek for [lardon through the Keileemer. Wil- berforce's Prdcftral View of Chrixtianity was the instru- ment employed by the Holy Spirit to lead to repentance and a true faith in Christ Legh Richmond, the writer of The i'oinif/ Cottaejer, The Dairyman's ])aii;ihter, and various other tracts. Mr. Richmond was a laborious clergyman, and for many years a secretarv of the Re- ligious Tract Society of London. His tracts above named have been translated into many languages, anil liave been instrumental, under the blessing of God, in the conversion of many precious souls. Only two days before his summons to a better world, he received a let- ter mentioning the conversion of two persons, one of them a. clergyman, by the perusal of his tract The I)(iin/ma>i's htnii/hler. Nearly half a century has since passed away, but the tract has lived on. and, by the help of ]irinters, donors, and distributors, has continued to do its work; while many of those converted through its influence have themselves become successful actors in starting agencies of influence, destined to work on with
ever-increasing and multiplying power. Volumes might be tilled with inciilents illustrating the utility and pow- er of tracts as an agency of evangelization and religious intiuence both in Christian and pagan lands. In fact, judging from the reports and annals of the various tract organizations, no branch of ('bristian activity has been more uniformly productive of the best results than tract- distribution.
While the tract enterprise may thus be spoken of in its separate character, it should be borne in mind that it seldom acts or stands alone. Its most ;ip|iroved modes of action are in connection with (Church work at home and missionary elfort abroad ; consequently its best fruits will doubtless be found in the great day to have been the joint product of many forms of Christian activity. It may be coutidently urged tliat Christian work in con- nection with the use of religious tracts is practicable to a greater number of people of every age and circum- stance in life than any other generally recognised agencv of usefulness. Comparatively few are called to be min- isters or missionaries. Many cannot be Sunday-school teachers. But who cannot be the bearer or sender of a tract? — who, indeed, cann<pt, with comparatively little sacritice, circulate many tracts through channels of busi- ness, in pulilic thoroughfares, through the mails, and, what is better than any other way, by personal presen- tation ?