The author of this pamphlet has, in the first page of his work, reprobated the “arrogant and dogmatical style” of his opponents; and, in the conclusion of it, he has called their measures “wicked, cruel, and unchristian.” It is my hope, that I shall not fall into the same error. I desire “nothing to extenuate, nor set down aught in malice;” to state facts, not from the mere authority of the parties concerned in this controversy, but upon that of the most authentic documents; and, should I fail to convince my readers, it is my confident intention not at once to conclude their opinions “unchristian” and “cruel,” because they differ from my own; hard words, I may venture to say, ought not to be the weapons of our warfare, and I trust they never will be of mine. I desire to remember the declaration of our Lord, “they that take the sword, shall perish by the sword.” I may be permitted also to add, that in entering upon the consideration of this question, I consider myself as approaching a subject of the highest importance. When I am canvassing the merits of an instrument for circulating the Word of God over every part of the world, I tremble lest the ark should suffer in my hands; and I desire to go out to the warfare, not so much with a “sword and a shield” of human fabrication, as, “in the name of the Lord,” for the circulation of whose Word I wish to contend. This pamphlet is entitled “Reasons why a Churchman may with great justice refuse to subscribe to the Bible Society;” and the reasons which are assigned may be said to be of three kinds: First, _That a better Society_, _of a like kind_, _exists in the church_; Secondly, _That the Bible Society does not answer to the professions and praises of its advocates_; Thirdly, _That it is injurious to the established church_. Upon each of these points I shall now venture to make a few observations. _First_, It is said, _That a better Society_, _of a like kind_, _exists in the church_. The Society to which the author alludes, is that established more than 100 years since, which is called the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Its object is threefold: To distribute Bibles; also, Prayer Books and Tracts; and to send Missionaries. Every member of this Society is obliged to give good security that he is a churchman, and there is no way in which, by its means, any other denomination of christians can be benefited, but by the hands of churchmen. The advantages of this institution over the Bible Society which the author endeavours to establish are four. _First_, It is a _Society which consists entirely of churchmen_; _Secondly_, Bibles can be procured in it at a _cheaper rate_; _Thirdly_, The Bibles which it issues are more _useful_; _Fourthly_, It furnishes _Prayer Books and Tracts_.