The Word of God “Still Bound”
LIBERTY to circulate the Scriptures is by no means universal. Besides the ceaseless opposition of the Roman Church, the work of the Bible Society in many countries is hampered by serious restrictions arising out of the laws or their administration. In some parts of the Austrian empire licenses for colporteurs are still withheld. In the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg the selling of books and papers in the streets is prohibited. In Greece the government yielded last year to ecclesiastical and political prejudices so far as to place a ban on the modern Greek Bible issued by the society. Leave is still lacking for a colporteur to work in Montenegro. The French authorities permit no public selling of the Scriptures in Tunis, and they have not yet allowed the society to resume work in Cochin China. In Albania the Turkish government resolutely forbids us to publish the four Gospels in Albanian in native character, while colportage in the region around Bagdad was impossible for most of last year. The government of Persia has recently stopped all importation of Scriptures in the Persian language. The public exercise of any other religion than the Roman Catholic is prohibited by the constitution of the republic of Peru.—Bible Society Reporter.