BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOC IETY ECUMENICAL LIST OF TRANSLATIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES » THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES z Bible House Papers, No, IV, ECUMENICAL LIST OF TRANSLATIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES CLASSIFIED SCIENTIFICALLY ACCORDING TO GEOGRAPHICAL, AND LINGUISTIC, CONSIDERATIONS UP TO THE YEAR 1900. COMPILED BY ROBERT NEEDHAM CUST, LL,D, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIE1Y (In his Eightieth year). LONDON THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY 146 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET 1900 PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS HERTFORD BS C$1 THIS ESSAY IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY YOUNG AND DEAR FELLOW-LABOURER, JAMES GORDON WATT, TO WHOM I HAD HOPED TO ENTRUST, WITH FULL CONFIDENCE, THE TASK OF COMPILING AN ACCURATE SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN EVERY PART OF THE WORLD. GOD HAS WILLED IT OTHERWISE, AND IN MY EIGHTIETH YEAR I TRY TO COMPLETE IMPERFECTLY THE TASK, WHICH HAS FALLEN FROM HIS DYING HAND IN THE THIRTY -SECOND YEAR OF HIS SHORT AND USEFUL LIFE. "^c Ijas tionc foljat |)c coulD." Mark, London, July 23, igoo ( The day of his death). U*4 -CJtM^c C\,A ^ rf*« i» *»•*-** TABLE OF CONTENTS. I. Title Page. II. Dedication. III. Table of Contents. IV. Introduction V. The Holy Scriptures VI. Translation of the Holy Scriptures A. Geographical Distribution B. Linguistic Classification VII. Part I. Effective (i) European Languages (2) Asiatic Languages ... (3) African Languages... (4) American Languages (5) Oceanic Languages Part II. Ineffective (1) Dead (2) Obsolete VIII. Varieties of Written Character in use IX. Chief Associations for Printing and Distributing the Holy Scriptures in their Original Lan- guages, and in Translations X. Blank Pages for " Delenda, Addenda, Corri- genda," 1901, as time goes on XL Postscript: The Philosophy of Bible -Trans- lation and Distribution 7 17 18 18 18 19 21 23 26 29 30 32 32 32 33 34 35 41 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of Heaven, having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. "—Revelation, xiv, 6. INTRODUCTION, This is confessedly a new departure : after the work of a Century, it is not sufficient to pick up pebbles on the sea-shore, throw them into a bag, and make an alphabetical list of the contents. Language is a Science, and has certain Laws. The Translations are no longer exhibited in the Alpha- betical order of the names of each particular Language, nor with sole reference to the Geographical position of the country, in which each Language is spoken, but classified according to the Linguistic Family or Group, to which each Language belongs. The materials available were : I. My own Volume on " Bible-Translations," 1890. II. The first " Quinquennial " Report of additional Bible-Translations, 1895, by myself and the Rev. J. Gordon Watt. III. " Four Hundred Tongues," by Rev. J. Gordon Watt, 1899. IV. " In our Tongues," by G. A. King, Esq., 1899. V. Historical Table in Annual Report of 1900. VI. Price-List of Bibles on Sale, in Annual Report of 1900. This List is (Ecumenical, of a Worldwide Development, to which History gives no parallel. The fact is stated, that such a Language is honoured with being the vehicle of God's Inspired Scriptures. The inquirer must look elsewhere to inform himself about Editions, and details of Human incidents of Publication and Distribution. 8 INTRODUCTION. It is not pretended, that in this difficult and complicated subject we have obtained actual accuracy, but, if the present list be adopted as the approximately accurate list in 1900, and a corrected list be printed every five years, and copies circulated among Missionaries and Translators all over the World, mistakes will be pointed out ; and as each new Manuscript-Translation is submitted, its exact Geographical position should be reported by the Translator, and its precise Linguistic position settled by some competent Linguistic authority, and in future the recurrence of uncertainties, double entries, misnomers, and omissions, will be guarded against. The Holy Scriptures in their original Languages are omitted from the CEcumenical list of Translations, but appear on the Price-List of books published by the Society for the convenience of purchasers. The reader will not find in this Essay any indication of the portions of the Scriptures, which have been translated, or any opinion expressed as to the excellence, or the contrary, of the Translation, or the name of the Translator. It is well known, that some Translations are distributed in annual thousands ; of others not a dozen copies are circulated annually. Some are beautiful works of Linguistic skill ; others are not so. Such matters lie outside the present enquiry. The wish is to record facts. Nothing less than a Translation of one Book of the Scriptures gains admission into this List, after it has been printed, and put into circulation, with the object of Converting a Soul. No Serial numbers or Totals are attached to the entries in this List. The desire to increase the Total of the Trans- lations, said to be in existence, has led to the introduction in past years of many entries, which ought never to have been admitted. There is no other Association, which can compete with the British and Foreign Bible Society in the greatness of its work of Distribution. Numbers give a false idea of the INTRODUCTION. 9 grandeur of the enterprise. Assuming that there are about 2,000 different living Forms of Speech in the World, spoken by the 1,500 Millions, at which the population of the World is estimated, what a small proportion is 400 Translations compared to 2,000 Forms of Speech ! But some of these Forms, in which we are circulating Translations, are spoken t>y hundreds of thousands, and some by a few thousand individuals only. All the great Vernaculars of the World have been supplied with Translations. Then, again, as the sole object of the circulation of the Scriptures is the Salvation of the Souls of the races, who use that Form of Speech, it is a matter of indifference by what Association of good men the Translations have been made. I record in Chapter IX the names of the Associations of our brethren and fellow-labourers in this holy work, but we are at liberty to use their Translations, and they are most welcome to use ours. Then it cannot be right to enter in our Lists of Trans- lations, presumed to be ready for distribution, Versions written in Languages, which have long ceased to be uttered by the lips of living men, though extremely valuable to the Bible-student, and made use of by some Churches for Liturgical purposes. Still more deplorable is the appearance on our Lists of Translations, made by good men in past years, which have long since fallen out of use, and which in some cases have never been in use at all. Their names removed from the Effective List, are now relegated to Part II, " Translations of which the Language is dead," " Translations in living Languages, but out of circulation " : in fact, both Categories are Ineffective for the sole purpose, for which the Bible-Society was established, the Salvation of Souls. A third Category includes those Translations, which have intruded themselves on our Lists, but have never been printed, or are only in course of preparation, or the pious intention IO INTRODUCTION. has been since abandoned. A subsidiary list might very properly be prepared of "Work in progress," in which such Translations would appear, but until a whole Book of the Scriptures has actually issued from the Press, it cannot with any respect for truth be entered on an (Ecumenical List of printed Translations. I have protested many a year against this practice. There is no objection to notice of such work being made in the annual Editorial Report. But other causes of innocent error have to be recorded. I. Bilingual Translations, or Versions in two Languages in parallel pages, may properly appear in the Price-List, but not in Lists intended to record the Work done. In the same way the Price-List exhibits variety of Editions in different type and sizes, and Editions for the Blind. II. Great care should be taken to prevent the same Translation being inserted twice under different names. Norwegian and Danish supply an instance of this. In our published Volume of Specimens the same Version of this Language appears twice. III. The same Translation appears sometimes in a different form of Written Character, but has no right to a double entry. The Translation in the alien Written Character should be inserted in the Price- List under the entry in the National Written Character. IV. If there be such a Dialectal variety of a Language, as to justify a separate Translation, as the only means of being understood by the people, such a Translation is entitled to a separate entry, but in the separate column reserved for Dialects. V. Some great Languages are spoken and read, and are INTRODUCTION. II represented by Editions in the -five portions of the World, but they can only be recorded once in their National and Geographical position. VI. Sometimes a Translation into the same Language has been made in different countries, where it happens to be spoken, by Missionaries of different Nationalities, unknown to each other, and perhaps called by a different name ; care should be taken that only one entry is made. VII. Sometimes Translations have been made from a different Text of the original Scripture, or from some Translation in an European Language. This will lead to some confusion, as Native Converts will not understand the reason of the difference : but it cannot be helped ; only let not such Translations be supposed to represent a separate Language. VIII. Another class of Translations has to be rejected, such as are made or collected by private individuals for their own pleasure, and not for the Salvation of Souls. Such are the late Prince Buonaparte's specimens, and a Translation of a Gospel in Broad Scotch published this year. Translations in spoken Patois are coming into existence. It will be a question of sound judgment in each case. Are Souls brought to God by such Translations ? Will existing Translations of the same Mother- Tongue, and its Dialect, not meet the legitimate requirements of the seekers after God ? Great confusion has arisen from giving inaccurate names to Languages, which have emerged from the deep Unknown in the form of a Translation, the work of a single-handed and single-Language Missionary far away from scientific help in 12 INTRODUCTION. the great work of transferring the immortal creations of Divine Thought from one vehicle of Human speech to another. He is sure to Anglicize, if an Englishman, the newly discovered name, or to transfer it to English with the unnecessary Prefixes or Suffixes of the Native Language, into which he is translating. Such error has been avoided in British India, for the Secular Government fixes the orthography, which has been accepted by the Bible-Societies in most cases. Thus we have Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, etc., and Tamil, Telugfi, Gond, Khond, etc., in their purity : the only two exceptions are Kanarese instead of Kannada, and Cing- halese instead of Sinhali. In Malaysia, the Extreme Orient, and Oceania, we generally find some form of Anglican suffix, eg., Javci-nese, Chin-ese, ]apa.n-ese, Samoa-??, Fiji-an, etc. Some have kept their purity, as Mauri, Mota, Florida. In Africa the early Missionaries persisted in retaining in their Reports the Prefixes, e.g., Ki-Swahlli, Ki-Yao, Lu-Ganda, but gradually these excrescences are disappearing. I have waged unceasing war against this in all my writings. In Russia every language is honoured by the suffix ' skoi ' after it, and in German Lists there is a liberal supply of ' vich.' Orthography is the next difficulty, and apparently a hopeless one. The Roman Alphabet has been so trans- formed by different Translators, that names can barely be recognized. In the nomenclature and orthography adopted by me during the last twenty years of publishing Volumes or Languages on India, Africa, Oceania, and Caucasia, I may be wrong, but I am at least consistent, and, when I look down Lists compiled as far back as 1878, I find rarely reason for change. In the matter of spelling proper names, and expressing the stress-accent, which is so important for the pronunciation, I have consulted with Mr. Henry Morris. We have both been members of the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, where INTRODUCTION. 1 3 this subject was threshed out, and Scientific Rules laid down. I do hope, that the Bible-Society will accept this, or some other system, of writing names, and enforce it on all subordinates. We shall get into terrible trouble next Century, if we have not one consistent system. It is essential, that every five years a Quinquennial list of new Translations should be compiled. I have done this with the help of Mr. Watt for 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, and I am compiling my second Quinquennial for 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900 with the help of Mr. King, and it will appear in 1901. The (Ecumenical List, if published in a corrected form in 1905, and 19 10, and so on, will supply all that is wanted. The contribution made by Mr. Watt last year of his Bible-House Paper, "Four Hundred Tongues," is very important, and Mr. King's second issue of his Pamphlet, " In our Tongues," comprising the work of the last quarter of a Century, 1 875-1 899, is most useful : it covers the exact period, during which I have laboured for the Society, and I have been saved many weary hours by referring to its pages. Of course Lists of this kind, prepared by each one of us, require to be renewed after every lustrum, but we are leaving a solid foundation for future erections. The whole subject of the Written Characters in different parts of the World, to which the Scriptures have been entrusted, requires looking into, as it is clearly in an unsatisfactory state. I have briefly noticed the chief forms, which appear in our Specimen-Book, but the list is incom- plete. In the Specimen-Book the name of the Language is given, but the name of the Written Character should also be stated. If my life be spared, I will return to this subject at a future period. I refer to page 34 of my lately published Essay, on the " Requirements of the Bible Society," for the purpose of 14 INTRODUCTION. enforcing another point. If only we could collect in one Revolving Bookcase in the Bible-House-Library specimens of every Translation, which we print and circulate, arranged in the order of this List, the whole subject would then become clear to those, who are interested in the work, and mistakes and omissions would be detected. As it is, we all seem to work in the dark. Another point is, that we really must omit from all Lists the words " Vernacular " and " Colloquial," attached to all Chinese Translations, except the Wen Li and Mandarin. Surely India has a great number of Translations, but they are not called " Vernaculars " any more than every individual is called " a man;" Their very existence proves this, and there is nothing exceptional in Chinese Bible Work that justifies the present practice. I have discontinued it in my Lists. Our " Effective " Translations are all in the Vernaculars of the particular region, where they are spoken. It is desirable that the Report of our work done, and the phraseology used, should be such as is adopted by Scientific Associations, as our Society promotes the greatest of Human Sciences : " the Knowledge of the Lord, which shall cover the Earth as the waters cover the Sea." The preparation of the Language -Map, and the new Editions of the Specimen-Verses, will be a laborious under- taking, but, when they appear, they will greatly elucidate this List, and make the subject intelligible to all, who are interested. No one will sit in severer judgment on this work than the compiler, because he knows the weak points, and his sole object is to advance the cause of Religion and Language, which have been the two subjects of his Life- Study, and both are united in the work of the Bible-Society. I have provided three blank pages to enter corrections. As the ground trodden is entirely new, and nothing like the INTRODUCTION. 1> Bible - Translation - Work of the Nineteenth Century ever existed, there is room for difference of opinion in detail, and plenty of room for errors. As time goes on, all errors will be rectified. If a Translator in Oceania proves beyond reasonable doubt, that the name of his Language has been incorrectly spelt, the Editorial Committee will no doubt correct the error. If we lay down a sound basis, there will be no difficulty in recording rationally the two or three hundred Languages, which are waiting for Translation in the coming Century. An Alphabetical Index by itself is of no use, when we are dealing with hundreds of items, though useful as an Index at the end of a Scientific Cata- logue. The new Specimen-Verse-Book of each Translation, and the Translation-Map of the World, will harmonize with the CEcumenical List of Translations now proposed. A copy of the first proof of this Essay was sent to no less than seventeen different addresses, begging for suggestions and corrections. Some valuable replies have been received, but the subject is not one, which can be taken up on the spur of the moment, by men occupied in other business. Looking into the Future, and in our great work we are building for Eternity, we must recollect, that Languages come into existence, live, and die like the leaves of the Forest, and the families of Mankind. The great Giants of the Cen- turies preceding the Christian Era are dead. Some now in use are moribund, and bear the signs of death upon them. And, again, there is a new crop of young Languages coming into existence ; a Patois growing into a literary Dialect ; a Dialect becoming an independent Language, but still re- taining traces of the great cultivated European Language, and the uncultured Native Language, from the union of which it is formed. Similarly, Written Characters are modi- fying with the progress of the age, and the modes of spelling. The Bible-Society has to be ready to distribute the Scriptures l6 introduction. in such a form, as each Epoch of the History of a. Nation or tribe requires, and if the result of the past Century of Translation be faithfully recorded, accompanied by a Revised Edition of " The Bible in Every Land," brought up to the close of the Nineteenth Century, it will be ready for any contingency, but not otlienuise. I find it necessary to go to Press without being satisfied, that I have not omitted some Translations, made by other Associations, or Missionary Societies, in Europe or America, no copies of which have reached the British and Foreign Bible Society. I have done my best to keep this (Ecumenical List clear of false and deceptive entries. I quite understand, that on our Price-Lists only the books are entered which were actually on sale. But in our so-called " Historical " List there was no certainty, as to the introduction of a Translation made by another Association without the assistance of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Now the List which I circulate is " CEcumenical," because it relates to the whole habitable World. Our Lord is reported to have said (Matthew, xxiv, 14), " Kal tcripvxd/jaeTai tovto to evayyeXiov t?} printed, or circulated for the Salvation of Souls, and, if possible, a copy to the British and Foreign Bible House. This list can be published as an addendum. Qhe 1bol£ Scriptures IN THEIR ORIGINAL LANGUAGES. "' 'Epevvare Ta? Tpa 5i' 5 2 ' 53 54' 55 56 Mpongwe or Pongwe (R. Gabun). Mwamba (L. Nyasa). Ndonga or Ovampo (South). Nganga (R. Shire). Ngoni (L. Nyasa). Nkondi or Kondi (L. Nyasa). Nsembe (R. Kongo). Nyamwesi (East). Nyanja (R. Shire). Nyasa (L. Nyasa). Nyika (East). Pedi (Transvaal). Pokomo (R.Tana, East). Poto (R. Kongo). Sagalla (East). Sena (R. Zambezi). Shambala (East). Shltswa (Zulu). Shona (Ma-Shona-land). Soga (East). Sukuma (East). Suto (Ba-Suto-land). Swahili. Dialect {a) Zanzibar. [b) Mombasa. Tabele (Ma-Tabele-land). Taveta. Teke (R. Kongo). Tonga (L. Nyasa). Toro (Central). Xosa or Kafir. Yao. Zulu. 28 AFRICAN. F. HOTTENTOT GROUP. Nama or Khoikhoi. G. MALAYAN FAMILY. Malagasi (Mauritius I.). H. ARYAN FAMILY. i. Dutch. Dialect, Cape. 2. French. Dialect, Mauritius- Creole. AMERICAN. A. NORTH REGION. I. Arctic Coast : i. Aliout (Alaska). 2. Eskimo. Dialect (a) Greenland. (b) Labrador. 3. Tukudh (Canada). II. Pacific Coast: 1. Haida (Columbia). 2. Kwagutl (Vancouver I.). 3. Zimshi (Columbia). III. Central Provinces: 1. Beaver (Canada). 2. Blackfoot (Canada). 3. Cheroki (United States). 4. Chipewan (Canada). 5. Choktau (United States). 6. Dakota or Sioux (United States). 7. Delaware (United States). 8. Dutch (W. Indies). Dialect, Creole. 9. English (Surinam). Dialect, Negro. 10. French (W. Indies). Dialect, Dominica. 11. Iroquois (Canada). 12. Kri. Dialect (a) Hudson's Bay. (b) Musoni. 13. Malisit (New Brunswick). 14. Mikmak (Nova Scotia). Dialect (a) Standard. (b) Abenaqui. 15. Mohawk (Canada). 16. Muskoki (Creek, United States). 17. Nez Perces (United States). 18. Ojibwa or Saulteaux (Canada). 19. Seneka (United States). 20. Tinne or Slave (Canada). B. SOUTH REGION. 1. Acawoio (British Guinea). 2. Aimara. 3. Akkaway. 4. Arawak. 5. Guarani. 6. Karib (Honduras). 7. Maya. 8. Mexican or Aztek or Nahuatl. 9. Moskito. 10. Quchki or Catchiquel. 11. Quichua. 12. Yahgan (Tierra del Fuego). OCEANIC. A. POLYNESIA. i. Hawaii (Sandwich Is.). 2. Mauri (New Zealand). 3. Marquesas. 4. Niue (Friendly Is.). 5. Rarotonga (Harvey Is.). 6. Samoa. 7. Tahiti. 8. Tonga (Friendly Is.). B. MELANESIA. 1. Aneityum (New Hebrides). 2. Aniwa (New Hebrides). 3. Api or Epi or Baki (New Hebrides). 4. Bierian (New Hebrides). 5. Dobu (New Guinea). 6. Eromanga (New Hebrides). 7. Fanting (New Hebrides). 8. Fate (New Hebrides). Dialect (a) Erakar. (b) Havannah. Fiji Is. Florida (Solomon Is.). Futuna (New Hebrides). 9- 10. 11. 12. Isabel or Bogotu (Solomon Is.). 13. Keapara (New Guinea). 14. Lifu (Loyalty Is.). i5- Mallikolo (New Hebrides). Dialect (a) Uripir. (b) Aulua. (c) Pangkuma. 16. Malo (New Hebrides). 'T- Mare or Nengone (Loyalty Is.). IS. Morray I. or Mer (Torres St.). 19. Mota (New Hebrides). 20. Motu (New Guinea). 21. New Britain I. (New Guinea). 22. Nguna (New Hebrides). 23- Panaieti (New Guinea). 24. Ranon (New Hebrides) 25- Rotuma. 26. Saibai or Mabuiag (Torres St.). 27. Suau (New Guinea). 28. Tanna (New Hebrides). Dialect (a) Kwamera. (b) Weasisi. (c) Lanakel. 29. Tasiko (New Hebrides) 30- Tawara (New Guinea). 3'- Torres (Melanesia). 3 2 - Ulawa (Solomon Is.). 33- Uvea (Loyalty Is.). 34- Wedau (New Guinea). OCEANIC. 31 35. Duke of York's Is. (New Guinea). C. MIKRONESIA. 1. Ebon (Marshall Is.). 2. Gilbert I. 3. Kusaie (Caroline Is.). 4. Mortlock (Caroline Is.). 5. Ponape (Caroline Is.). 6. Ruk (Caroline Is.)- D. AUSTRALIA. Dieri. PART II. INEFFECTIVE. Translations in Dead Languages. A. EUROPE. i. Greek (Septuagint). 2. Latin. 3. Slavonic. B. ASIA. 1. Armenian (Ancient). 2. Pali. 3. Sanskrit. 4. Syriac (Peshito). C. AFRICA. i. Ethiopic or Giz. 2. Koptic. D. AMERICA. None. E. OCEANIA. None. Translations obsolete: printed but not in circulation. A. EUROPE. B. ASIA. 1 1. Oujaini (India). 12. Oudipuri (India). 13. Palpa (India). I. Bhatniri (India). C. AFRICA. 2. Bikaniri (India). None. 3- 4- Braj (India). Bundelkundi (India). D. AMERICA. 5- Harouti (India). 1. Danish (Creole-Negro) 6. Jayapuri (India). 2. Indian (United States), 7- Kanauji (India). Eliot. 8. 9- Katchi (India). Kausali (India). E. OCEANIA. 10. Kumayoni (India). Narrinyeri (Australia). Varieties of Written Character in use. A. IDEOGRAPHIC. Asia: (i) Chinese, (2) Japanese, (3) Korea. B. ALPHABETIC. I. EUROPE. I. Greek. 5. Russian. 2. Roman. 6. Gaelic. 3- German. 7. Erse or Irish. 4- Bulgarian. 8. Lett. II. ASIA. 1. Arabic. 12. Old Hebrew. 2. Armenian. 13. Modi (Marathi) 3- Nagari (Kaiti). 14. Georgian. 4- Bengali. 15. Gujarati. 5- Telugu (Kanarese). 16. Gurmukhi. 6. Tamil. 17. Java. 7- Syriac (Nestorian). 1 8. Pali. 8. Syriac (Carshuni). 19. Siam. 9- Thakri (Chamba). 20. Bugi. 10. Malay. 21. Batta. 1 1. Hebrew (Square). 22. Tibetan. III. AFRICA. 1. Amharic | 2. Koptic. IV AMERICA. Yahgan (Tierra del Fuego). c. SYLLABIC. Kri (N. 1 America). Chief Associations FOR PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTING THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IN THEIR ORIGINAL LANGUAGES, AND IN TRANSLATIONS. i. British and Foreign Bible- Society. 2. American Bible-Society. 3. National Bible-Society of Scotland. 4. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 5. Netherlands Bible-Society. 6. Russian Bible-Society. 7. English Baptist Missionary Society. 8. American Baptist Missionary Union. 9. Religious Tract Society. N.B. — The following Societies used to print and dis- tribute the Scriptures ) but their labours in that direction are now limited, or have ceased altogether. 1. Church Missionary Society. 2. Moravian Missionary Society. 3. Canada Presbyterian Society. 4. Mission of Free Church of Scotland. 5. American Board of Foreign Missions. 6. Universities Mission to East Equatorial Africa. 7. Swedish Missionary Society. 8. Mission of Canton deVaud. 9. Melanesia Mission. 10. Danish Bible-Society. 11. Montreal Society. 12. London Missionary Society. 1901. DELENDA. 1901. ADDENDA. 1901. CORRIGENDA. [POSTSCRIPT.] Zhc pbilosopb^ of BibloGranslation anfc distribution. THIS Essay is published with the consent of the British and Foreign Bible Society : these last remarks are added on my sole responsibility. I have loved the Society and its object so well, and for so long, that I must be permitted to record my final opinion, in my eightieth year, on certain scientific points. Much as we venerate the Holy Scriptures, we must admit, that the external form, in which they have appeared to Mankind, has been subject, like other Books, to the vicissitudes of Human Life. The Roman Catholic Priests are able to burn thousands of the Holy Volumes, as if the printed matter were the merest trash. Let us trace the Human history of the Scriptures from the place and time, when the first words were uttered, and written. Fifteen hundred years before the Christian Era, in the Desert of Sinai, in Arabia, Moses wrote the Ten Command- ments on two Tables of stone : it may be presumed, that the remainder of his writings were on Papyrus, or Parchment, or Skins. The question arises : in what form of Written Character were they both written ? The Tables of stone were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, and found their way, after the lapse of Centuries, into the Temple of Solomon. At the time of the Babylonian 42 PHILOSOPHY OF BIBLE-TRANSLATION Captivity they disappeared : no mention is made of them amidst the spoil taken to Babylon, or amidst the salvage brought back. Had they survived to the Christian Era, the question of the form of Written Character used in these Tables would have been solved. Inscriptions on stones, and other metal, of a much older date than that of the Exodus have been found, and interpreted. Moreover, in II Maccabees, ii, 5, we read, that Jeremiah the Prophet took the Ark to Mount Sinai and placed it in a cave there, but the precise spot was unknown. The discovery of this deposit is one of the hopes of the Future, and quite within the sphere of Possibilities. The next consideration is, what could have been the Written Character ? Now it is a fact beyond dispute, that the Ideographic Written Character of Egypt, and the Cunei- form Written Character of Mesopotamia, had been in exist- ence at dates Centuries anterior to the Exodus, and were made use of in the Regions lying between those two great countries, notably Arabia and Syria. It may be assumed, then, that Moses, who " was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians " (Acts, vii, 22), could make use of, and did make use of, the form of script, with which he was familiar in Egypt. We have reason to be sure, that no Alphabetic Form of Writing came into existence until many Centuries later : we have no proof positive of its existence until the time of King Ahab, as evidenced by the Moabite Stone. At any rate, the early Books of the Old Testament must at some unknown date have been transferred to the Alpha- betic Written Character, which was freely used from the time of the earliest of the Prophets, 800 B.C. But in the second Century before the Christian Era another change took place in the Written Character of the Holy Scriptures, for the well-known square Alphabetic Character was then introduced to the supercession of the AND DISTRIBUTION. 43 old Alphabetic Character, of which a specimen still survives in the so-called Samaritan Pentateuch. When we see in our places of Worship a statue of Moses holding up Two Tables with the Ten Commandments in the square Hebrew Character, it is to be regretted as contrary to fact. In the year of our Lord's Crucifixion the Old Testament existed in the Hebrew Language and the square Hebrew Character, and there was a Copy of the Pentateuch in Samaria in the old Hebrew Character, and a Translation of the Old Testament in the Greek Language and Character. On the Cross our Lord quoted Psalm xxii, I, from a Targum in the Aramaic Language. The reading of the Holy Scriptures in the Synagogue was accompanied by a Targum, or Translation, in the Aramaic Vernacular, as the Hebrew Language had died out of the lips of men during the Exile at Babylon. Another solemn consideration suggests itself. It was not the will of God, that in the pre-Christian Centuries a copy of the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint should find its way into the Schools of Greek Philosophy at Athens, or fall under the eyes of the great Scholars and Statesmen at Rome. But what about the circulation among the Jews of Palestine, and the Diaspora, and the Proselytes ? Allusion is made to " Moses being read every Sabbath" (Acts, xv, 21). It is a notable fact that the Eunuch of Ethiopia, as he sat in his chariot, read the Scriptures, which Philip the Deacon explained to him. This was most probably a copy of the Septuagint that he had brought from Egypt, from which book also are borrowed many of the quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament, the earliest book of which did not come into existence until some years later. The science of Language was practically unknown in Syria. The great Latin Language, even in the days of the Emperor Tiberius, is 44 PHILOSOPHY OF BIBLE-TRANSLATION not alluded to. Reading and writing are alluded to as mere functions of Nature, like eating, and drinking, and speaking. But what about the Geographical knowledge of that period, the other feature of this Essay? Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, was not a narrow-minded Hebrew, who had never left Jerusalem ; he was a Gentile, a man of a certain amount of Science as a Physician. He had travelled with Paul over Greece, and was with him at Rome (II Timothy, iv, n), and yet he writes Acts, ii, 5 : " And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation undej' heaven." (airo ttclvtos 'idvov*; Toiv.vtto top Oupavov.) And in verses 9-1 1 he enumerates them: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, Judaea, Cappa- docia, Pontus, Asia (Minor), Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Cyrene (Libya), Rome, Crete, and Arabia. In the Language Map of the World published in our Report for the current year, the whole Region indicated by Luke as " Nations under Heaven," can be pretty well covered by a crown-piece, and a great space remains beyond these totally unknown. This has been the heritage of Mankind in subsequent Centuries. The Translations of the Holy Scrip- tures, enlarged by the New Testament, have risen from the solitary Septuagint to a number not falling far short of four hundred, and the World in its utmost physical expanse has become their Field. We have much for which to be thankful : we are only God's instruments for the Salvation of Souls. If we have done well hitherto, we must take courage, and the end of the Twentieth Century will record a further advancement. There is much more to be done. (1) Attention has to be paid to the form of Written Character used. It is not wise nor kind to force the Roman AND DISTRIBUTION. 45 Alphabet on a great Nation, as we have done in China : we should not have liked to have had the Arabic, or Nagari Character forced upon us. It is mere folly to invent a new Alphabet, as in South America, or to introduce Syllabaries, as in North America. (2) A concordat should be established with all Associations, which print any portions of the Holy Scriptures to supply each other with a copy of new Translations, and our Society, being a Universal Society, without distinction of Religious denomination, having obtained a copy of the book published, should enter the name on its CEcumenical List : if copies are supplied for sale, the name and price would be entered on the Price-List. During the last year I have received from a Missionary on the Kongo a copy of a printed Gospel pre- pared in the Language of the Bangala, or Boloki, a member of the Bantu Linguistic Family, and spoken of highly by the Baptist Society. Within the last week I received, as a present, at a Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society in my own neighbourhood, a printed copy (Buda Pest, 1899) of a Gospel of John in the Paulitian Language, spoken in a portion of Hungary. Of course such publications cannot be at once placed on our Lists without inquiry. These two Gospels quoted are not merely Linguistic specimens, but on inquiry are found to be prepared for the Salvation of Souls. We are bound as the great Representative Society for this portion of Missionary Work to present to the Public a complete statement of what has been done each year to fulfil our Lord's Commands. And something more. I love to stand in the Portico of the Temple, peeping through the half-opened door, to see what the men of the Twentieth Century will do to discharge their never-ceasing Duty, and their Everlasting Work ; and we must do our best to help them, and prepare material for them. It is one of my cherished desires to prepare gradually 46 BIBLE-TRANSLATION AND DISTRIBUTION. a list of the Languages, spoken in each of the five Division of the World not yet provided with the Holy Scriptures i their own Vernacular and worthy of this honour. M Linguistic studies of half a Century, and my Volumes printe on the Languages of several Regions, have encouraged m to start the measure at once. It will be an easy task t tackle Europe, but Asia must be divided into Sub-Region: such as India, China, Persia, Russia, etc.; and Africa, America and Oceania, will require the services of Special Scholars they are available, if we know how and where to look fo them, and are willing to remunerate them. I propose at once to set the work going as regard Oceania. I know a man, who is better informed on th subject than any living man : his name is Sydney Ray, an* the Rev. Prebendary Codrington, of Chichester, will, I fee sure, kindly consent to supervise the operation. We cannc go any longer picking up chance pebbles on the shore, an ; putting them into a bag with an alphabetical list, or trustin to a chance Missionary or a linguistic enthusiast, such a ma as has given us this year a Gospel in Broad Scotch. If w have done well in the Nineteenth Century, in the Twentiet Century we must do better, until in very deed the sound c the Teaching of Jesus has gone out to all Nations, and Hi Words to the end of the World. " JJoWat, /lev OvrjTois )-*