Gaelic Version.

Leabraichean an T-seann Tiomnaidh, air an tarruing o'n cheud chanain chum Gaelic alban naich; agus air an cur a mache le h-ugdarras ardsheanaidh eaglais na h-alba. Duneidin [The Holy Bible in the Gaelic Language. Edinburgh], 1826, 4to. The Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge has the honour of giving to the inhabitants of the Highlands the Holy Scriptures in their vernacular dialect. The New Testament was translated by the late Rev. James Stuart, minister of Killin, and printed at their expense in 1765: it bears a high character for fidelity and accuracy. The several books of the Old Testament were translated and published in detached portions or volumes, at different times, as the Society's funds would permit, viz. The prophetical books, by the Rev. Dr. Smith, in 1783, and the remaining books by the Rev. Dr. John Stuart, minister of Luss (son of the translator of the New Testament), in three parts, which appeared successively in the years 1783, 1787, and 1801. In 1796 the first edition of the New Testament being exhausted, the Society published another, consisting of twenty thousand copies. And as some of the first printed volumes of the Old Testament were so much reduced in number, in 1802, as to be insufficient to supply the urgent demands of the Highlands in general, and of the Society's own schools in particular, a new edition of twenty thousand copies was printed. Three parts out of four, into which this portion of the Bible had been divided, were rendered from the Hebrew with great simplicity, and with as literal an adherence to the original text as the idiom of the respective languages would admit. As the style of the fourth part (containing the prophetical books) had receded from this simplicity, it was revised and corrected with the utmost care. From this corrected text (a copy of which was furnished by the Society in Scotland as soon as it was finished), the British and Foreign Bible Society executed their stereotype editions in 1807, which (as the Scottish Society was unable to supply the urgent and very numerous demands for the sacred writings) were purchased at reduced prices by the poor Highlanders, with the liveliest expressions of gratitude. In 1816, this Gaelic version of the Bible received the approbation of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The quarto edition, printed at Edinburgh, may be considered as the standard edition of the Gaelic Bible: it was revised by a committee of clergymen well skilled in the Gaelic language, who were appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to superintend the work. This edition, with a revised Gaelic Metrical Version of the Psalms and Paraphrases on certain portions of Scripture subjoined to it, was completed in the year 1826. It was then submitted to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who were pleased to approve of it, and to authorize its exclusive use in the churches and chapels within their bounds in which public worship is conducted in the Gaelic language.!

vised was first published in 1530, and again in 1534, 1541, and 1545.3 Luther made his version directly from the original Hebrew and Greek, and not one of his numerous enemies ever durst charge him with ignorance of those languages. His translation is represented as being uncommonly clear and accurate, and its style in a high degree pure and elegant. Having originally been published in detached portions, as these were gradually and successively circumost incredible effects, and contributed, more than any other cause, lated among the people, Luther's version produced sudden and alto extirpate the erroneous principles and superstitious practices of the church of Rome from the minds of a prodigious number of persons. Since that time it has been printed times without number; and as the reformation spread, it served as the basis of several other translations, viz.

(1.) The Lower Saxon Translation was printed at Lubeck, in 1533-4. Its authors are not known.5 This version was undertaken at the suggestion of Luther himself, and under the direction of John Bugenhagen (or Bugenhagius), who wrote a preface, and supplied short notes, and also arguments to the different books. (2.) The Pomeranian Version was printed in 1588, in quarto, by the command of Bogislaus XIII. duke of Pomerania; it was made from the Wirtemberg edition of Luther's Bible, printed in 1545. (3.) The Danish Version was undertaken by command of Christian III., king of Denmark, and at the suggestion of Bugenhagen: it was printed at Copenhagen in 1550, and is of extreme rarity. Previously to the publication of this version, the New Testament had been translated from the Vulgate, as well as the Psalms, and the five books of Moses. The Danish version was subsequently revised and corrected in the reigns of Frederic II. and Christian IV. kings of Denmark; the revision, made by command of the lastmentioned monarch, is, we believe, the standard of the succeeding editions of the Danish Scriptures, which, however, are said to vary considerably from Luther's German version.-In 1823, the Gospel of Matthew was printed at Copenhagen, in the dialect of the Danish language spoken by the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands: the Danish and Faroese texts are printed in parallel columns. (4.) The Icelandic Translation of the entire Bible was printed at Holum, in Iceland, in 1584, under the patronage of Frederic II. The New Testament had been translated by Oddur Gottshalkson (whose father filled the episcopal see of Holum), and printed in Denmark, in 1539, at the expense of Christian III. This was followed by an Icelandic version of the Epistles and Gospels for all the Sundays in the year, published in 1562, by Olaf Hialteson, the first Lutheran bishop of Holum; which may be considered as a second edition of certain portions of Oddur's New Testament, the compiler having availed himself chiefly of that version, in writing out the lessons of which the work consists. In 1580, the Proverbs of Solomon were translated by Gissur Eincerson, the first Lutheran bishop of Skalholt, who also translated the book of Sirach, printed in the same year at Holum. At length, in 1584, as above noticed, the whole of the Old and New Testaments was printed in Ice

NENT OF EUROPE.

1. German Versions.
LUTHER'S VERSION,

And the Versions derived from it.

As Germany has the honour of being the country where the art of printing was first discovered, so it was distinguished in the annals of sacred literature, by being the first in which the Holy Scriptures were issued from the press in the vernacular language of its inhabitants. So early, indeed, as the year 1466, a German translation from the Latin Vulgate was printed, the author of which is unknown.2 Scarcely, however, had the Reformation commenced, when Luther meditated a new version of the Scriptures for the general use of his countrymen. His first publication comprised the seven penitential Psalms, from the Latin of John Reuchlin. These appeared in 1517; and were followed by the New Testament, in 1522; by the Pentateuch, in 1523; by the book of Joshua, and the remaining historical books, in 1524; in which year also appeared the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. In 1526, were published the prophecies of Jonah and Habakkuk; in 1528, those of Zachariah and Isaiah; in 1529, the apocryphal book of Wisdom; in 1530, the book of Daniel, together with the remaining apocryphal books; in 1531, the entire book of Psalms; and 1531 and 1532, the rest of the prophetical books. All these portions of Luther's translations are of extreme rarity: in the revision of it he received very important assistance from the learned and candid Philip Melancthon, who also corresponded with eminent men on various topics of biblical criticism, in order to render the translation as correct as possible. Further to ensure its accuracy, a select party of learned men assembled daily with Luther at Wittemberg, to revise every sentence which he had made directly from the Hebrew and Greek. Melancthon collated the Greek original, Cruciger the Chaldee, and other professors the Rabbinical writings. Justus Jonas, John Bugenhagen, and Matthew Aurogallus, also contributed their aid. The whole Bible thus re1 Address of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge, 1803. Owen's History of the Bible Society, vol. i. pp. 205, 206. 314-316. In 1820, a Gaelic translation of the Book of Common Prayer was completed and printed at the expense of the London Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.

A copy of this very rare work is in the splendid collection of Earl Spencer. See a description of it in Mr. Dibdin's Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. pp. 42-47.

VOL. II.

3 Y

brand Thorlakson, bishop of Holum, who not only contributed largely to the undertaking himself, but also obtained a munificent donation from Frederic II., with authority to raise a rix-dollar in aid of the work from every church in Iceland. It is not known what share this eminent prelate had in the translation, which is considered as the production of different hands. Gottshalkson's version of the New Testament, as well as some parts of the Old This edition has always been very highly esteemed, on account. Testament, was adopted, after having been revised by Gudbrand. of the purity of its diction; and, even at this day, it is preferred before more modern translations. A second edition of the Icelandic Bible appeared at Holum in 1644, under the editorial care of Thor lak Skuleson, bishop of that see; by whom it was carefully revised and corrected. This is the standard text from which the two most recent impressions of the Icelandic Version have been printed.7

3 For further particulars relative to Luther's German Version of the Scrip. tures, the reader is referred to the life of Philip Melancthon, by Francis Cox, M.A., pp. 206-213. (2d edit.), and also to Dr. Townley's Illustrations of Bib lical Literature, vol. ii. pp. 271-300. Of the editions of Luther's versions above noticed, the venerable Reformer bestowed the greatest care in revising and correcting that of 1541. It was beautifully printed in two folio volumes, and ornamented with wood-cuts. A Unique Copy of this edition, which had been Luther's own copy, and constantly used by him until his decease, was in the possession of the late Mr. Edwards (formerly an eminent bookseller), of Manor House, near Harrow-on-the-Hill. On the sale of his choice library by auction, in 1813, these precious volumes were purchased by Geo. Hibbert, Esq. for the sum of 894. 5s. 6d. (See a description of them copied from the sale catalogue (No. 812.) in Mr. Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron, vol. iii. pp. 123, 124., or in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxv. part i. p. 254.) At the sale of Mr. Hibbert's library, in 1829, this copy of Luther's Bible was purchased for the British Museum, for the sum of 2551. Fac-similes of the handwritings of the venerable reformers, Luther, Bugenhagen, Melancthon, and Major (into whose possession this copy succes sively passed), are given in the sale catalogue of Mr. Hibbert's library, p. 481. • Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 60.

in

Another Lower Saxon Version from the Vulgate was printed at Lubeck 1494, in two folio volumes. The reader will find a bibliographical notice of it in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. pp. 55-58. An interesting account of this version is given by Dr. Henderson in his "Dissertation on Hans Mikkelsen's (or the first Danish) translation of the New Testament," Copenhagen, 1813, 4to.

The above particulars are abridged from the Rev. Dr. Henderson's "Historical View of the Translation and different Editions of the Icelandic Scriptures," in the second volume (pp. 249-306.) of his very interesting Journal of a Residence in Iceland, during the years 1814 and 1815. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1818.

(5.) The Swedish Version was made from the first edition of Luther's German Translation; it was begun by Laurence Andreas, and finished by Laurence Petri, and was printed at Upsal, in 1541, by the command of Gustavus I., king of Sweden. (6.) The Dutch Translation appeared in 1560, and after being repeatedly printed, was superseded by a new Protestant translation, of which an account is given in page 45. infra. (7-10.) The Finnish Version was printed at Stockholm in 1642,1 and again in 1642;2 the Lettish (or Livonian) was made by Ernest Gluck, dean of the Lutheran church in Livonia, who completed it between the years 1680 and 1688: the entire Bible was printed at Riga, in 16893 the Sorabic or Wendish (a dialect spoken in Upper Lusatia), at Bautzen (Budissæ), in 1728, and again in 1742; and the Lithuanian, at Konigsberg (Regiomonti), in 1735.

Valuable as Luther's German translation of the Scriptures confessedly is, it was severely attacked, on its publication, by the enemies of the Reformation, whose productions are enumerated by Walchius.4 Luther's translation, reformed by the Zuinglians and Calvinists, was printed, in various editions, at Neustadt, between the years 1679 and 1695; at Herborn in 1696, 1698, 1701-5-8, and 21; at Heidelberg in 1617 and 1618, and many times since; at Cassel in 1602; and at Basle in 1651, 1659, and in the last century very frequently. Between the years 1525 and 1529, Leo Juda published at Zurich a German-Swiss translation of the Scriptures. As far as he could, he availed himself of such parts of Luther's version as were then printed. In 1667, a new and revised edition of Leo Juda's translation was published at Zurich: the alterations and corrections in it are so numerous, that it is considered as a new translation, and is commonly called the New Zurich Bible, in order to distinguish it from the Old Zurich version of Leo Juda. "It was undertaken by Hottinger, Müller, Zeller, Hoffmeister, and others, and conducted with great care and precision. As their plan seems to have had some resemblance to that pursued by our own admirable translators, and may, perhaps, have been copied from it, this version is more particularly deserving of notice. When these learned men met together, Hottinger and Müller had each of them the Hebrew text put into their hands: Zeller had the Old Zurich version; Wasser took the Italian of Giovanni Diodati and Pareus' edition of Luther's Bible; Hoffmeister had the Septuagint and the Junio-Tremellian version before him, and Freitz the Belgian Bible. When any difference arose, the point was argued by them all; each was called upon to give his opinion of the translation which was in his hands: and that reading was adopted, which, after mature consideration, seemed most agreeable to the Hebrew."5 As the Zurich edition differs very materially from that of Luther, John Piscator undertook another, from the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius, which he has followed very closely. It appeared in detached portions between the years 1602 and 1604, and was repeatedly printed during the seventeenth century. Piscator's version, having become very scarce, has lately been revised by the Biblical and Divinity Professors, and three pastors of the Helvetic church, who have corrected its orthography, and such words as have become obsolete, previously to an edition of 8000 copies of the entire Bible, and 4000 copies of the New Testament, which has been executed by the Berne Bible Society, aided by a pecuniary grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society of London. Besides the preceding German versions made by Protestants, there are also translations made by Romish divines: some of them appeared almost as early as that of Luther, to which, however, they are greatly inferior in point of perspicuity. Three of these are particularly mentioned by Walchius, viz.

(1.) That of John Detemberger, whose translation clearly evinces that he was utterly unfit for the task he undertook, and who hesitated not to acknowledge that he was totally ignorant of Hebrew. He took much from Luther, against whom, however, he vehemently inveighs. His translation was first published at Mayence in 1534, and has been several times printed since that time.

(2.) The version which bears the name of John Eckius. He translated only the Old Testament, the New being executed by Jerome Emser. It was first published in 1537, and has also been repeatedly printed.

(3.) The version of Caspar Ulenberg, which was undertaken under the patronage of Ferdinand, archbishop and elector of Cologne, is preferred by those of his own communion to all the other German versions. He follows the Sixtine edition of the Latin Vulgate. This translation first appeared in 1630, and has undergone very numerous impressions.

The three translations just noticed include the Old and New Testaments. In addition to them, three new versions of the New This edition was accompanied with a translation in the Esthonian language, spoken in the province of Esthland or Esthonia. It is a totally distinct language, being closely allied to the Finnish. Bp. Marsh's History of Translations, p. 4. note. There is also a dialect of the Esthonian, called the Dorpatian Esthonian, into which the New Testament was translated and published in the year 1727.

A translation of the Scriptures into the Karelian language (spoken in Karelia, a province of East Finland), was printed in 1822 under the direction of the St. Petersburg Bible Society; but it is not known whether this version is made from the Finnish, or not.

Henderson's Biblical Researches, p. 111. An edition of the New Testament, both in Livonian and Esthonian, had been already printed at Riga, in 1685 and 1686. The Lettish or Livonian is a Sclavonian dialect. Walchii Bibliotheca Theologica Selecta, vol. iv. pp. 79-81. Whittaker's Inquiry into the Interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures in Europe, p. 33. Cambridge, 1819, 8vo.

Testament have, within a few years, been circulated very largely among the Romanists of Germany, who have evinced an ardent desire for the Scriptures, notwithstanding the fulminations of the Papal See against them. Of two of these versions, the Ratisbon edition, and that executed by M. Gossner, a learned Romish priest, formerly of Munich, the author has not been able to obtain any authentic particulars; the third was executed about the year 1812, by the Rev. Leander Von Ess, professor of divinity in the Univer sity of Marburg, in conjunction with his brother. It is made directly from the Greek, and has been recommended by the first Protestant clergymen at Dresden and Zurich, as well as by several authorities among the literati of the Romish communion, as exhibiting a pure and correct version of the sacred original.7 There are also two translations of the Old Testament, in the dialect spoken by the Jews in Germany, called the Jewish-German. One was made by Joseph Josel Ben Alexander, and was printed by Joseph Athias, at Amsterdam, in 1679: previously to publication it was revised by Rabbi Meir Stern, chief rabbi at the synagogue at Amsterdam. The other Jewish-German translation was executed by Rabbi Jekuthiel Ben Isaac Blitz, and was printed by Uri Veibsch Ben Aaron, also at Amsterdam, in 1679. Kortholt terms this translator a blasphemous impostor, and charges him with having disguised certain prophecies relative to the Messiah, in consequence of his Jewish predilections. Of these two semi-barbarous, unfaithful, and now almost universally neglected translations, which can be of no use whatever in Scripture criticism, Carpzov has given an account, with specimens.8 And as the German Jews are at this time said to be animated by a spirit of candid inquiry, a Jewish-German translation of the New Testament has lately been printed for their benefit, at the expense of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews.

2. French Versions.

The earliest attempt towards translating the Scriptures into French was made by Jean de Vignay or de Vignes, who translated the epistles and gospels contained in the Romish missal, at the request of Jane of Burgundy, queen of Philip king of France, in the early part of the fourteenth century. Later in the same century, Raoul de Presles, or Praelles, at the command of Charles V. king of France, translated the Bible into French as far as the Psalms or Proverbs.10 A very fine manuscript of his version is preserved among the Lansdowne MSS., No. 1175., in the British Museum."1 In 1512, James le Fèvre, of Estaples (better known by the name of Jacobus Faber, Stapulensis), published a translation of St. Paul's epistles, with critical notes and a commentary, in which he freely censures the Vulgate; and in 1523 he published at Paris, in a similar manner, the whole of the New Testament. This was followed by detached books of the Old Testament, and by an edition of the entire French Bible, translated by himself. It was printed at Antwerp, by Martin l'Empereur, in 1530 (again in 1534 and 1541), and was revised by the divines of Louvain, whose edition appeared in 1550, and has since been repeatedly printed. The translation of Le Fèvre is said to be the basis of all the subsequent French Bibles, whether executed by Roman Catholics or Protestants. The first Protestant French Bible was published by Robert Peter Olivetan, with the assistance of his relative, the illustrious reformer, fered from the Hebrew. It was printed at Neufchatel, in 1535, in John Calvin, who corrected the Antwerp edition wherever it diffolio; and at Geneva in 1540, in large quarto, with additional corrections by Calvin. Both these editions are of extreme rarity. Another edition appeared at the same place in 1588, revised by the college of pastors and professors of the Reformed Church at Geneva (Beza, Genlart, Jaquemot, Bertram, and others), who so greatly improved Olivetan's Bible, both in correctness and diction, that it henceforth obtained the name of the Geneva Bible, by which it is now generally known. It has gone through very numerous editions, the latest of which is that of Geneva, 1805, in folio, and also in three volumes, 8vo. revised by the college of pastors at Geneva. This is confessedly the most elegant French version extant; but many Protestants have wished that it were a little more literal, and they continue to prefer David Martin's revision of the Genevan version of the French Bible (of which the New Testament was printed in 1696, at Utrecht, in 4to., and the entire Bible at Amsterdam, in 1707, in two folio volumes), or the revision of Jean-Frédéric Ostervald; the best edition of which is said to be that printed at Neufchatel, in 1772, in folio, with his arguments and reflections on the different books and chapters of the Bible. Ostervald's revised text (frequently but erroneously termed a version) has been several times printed. Another French Protestant version (made from the Italian translation of Diodati) was published in 1562, which for a short time was held

the

The late Rev. Dr. Reinhart, first chaplain to the court of Saxony, an i
venerable superior of the Zurich clergy, Antistes Hess.
Owen's History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, vol. ii. p. 229.
Carpzovii Critica Veteris Testamenti, pp. 757-786.

Guiars de Moulins, canon of St. Pierre d'Aire, in the diocese of Touraine, is commonly but erroneously considered as the first French translator of the Bible. Between the years 1291 and 1294 he translated the Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor; a popular abstract of sacred history, which has been confounded with the Scriptures. (Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, vol. i. pp. 391, 392.) Several copies of this translation are in the Royal Library at Paris; and an edition of it was printed by order of Charles VIII., to whom it was dedicated, at Paris, in 1487. 10 Townley's Illustrations, vol. ii. pp. 8-11.

11 See a description of this MS. in the Bibliotheca Lansdowniana, pp. 284,

285.

years since: a second edition of the New Testament is nearly completed at Serampore. A specimen of this version is given in page 53. v. The Brij-Bhassa language, which is spoken in the upper provinces of Hindoostan, contains a greater mixture of the Sanscrit than most of the other dialects of the Hindee. The four Gospels have been translated; and the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed in 1816. See a specimen of it in page 53. The Brij-Bhassa version is likely to be more acceptable to the inhabitants of the province of Dooab than the Hindoostanhee. vi. The Kurnata, Canarese, or Karnatica language is spoken in the country extending northward from Tellicherry to Goa, and eastward from the coast of Malabar to the country where the Tamul is spoken, including the whole of the Mysore. In this language the New Testament was printed in 1820, from the translation of the Rev. Mr. Hands. A specimen of it is given in page 54. The Old Testament was completed in 1832, and the New Testament has been carefully revised preparatory to a new edition.

vii. The Tamul language is spoken in the south-eastern part of India, from Madras to Cape Comorin. Two different translations have been made in this language. The first was executed by the learned German missionaries, who were educated at Halle, and were employed in the last century by the Danish government. The New Testament was commenced by Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, in 1708, and finished in 1711. A printing press and paper having been provided at Tranquebar by the assistance of the venerable Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, this translation, after having been revised by Gründler, another missionary, who arrived after Ziegenbalg, was put to press in 1714, and finished in the following year. This Tamul New Testament was reprinted at Tranquebar in 1722, and again in 1758, and also at Colombo in 1743. In the year 1717, Ziegenbalg commenced a Tamul version of the Old Testament; but he died in 1719, having finished only the Pentateuch with the books of Joshua and Judges. The translation was continued and completed by the distinguished missionary Benjamin Schultz, who arrived at Tranquebar in 1719: it was printed at Tranquebar, in four volumes, in the years 1723-26-27, and 28. The second translation of the New Testament into Tamul was made by Fabricius, another German missionary, at Madras, where it was printed in 1777.2 In 1814 an edition of the Tamul New Testament was completed at the Serampore press, at the expense of the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society; and as the lapse of years rendered further correction of it necessary, the Rev. T. C. E. Rhenius and the Rev. Dr. Rottler3 at Madras were employed to revise Fabricius's version. Their labours having been highly approved by competent judges, the Madras Bible Society in 1823 printed a revised edition of the Old Testament.4 The revised version of the Gospel of St. Matthew has been printed and extensively circulated; and the remainder of the New Testament is to follow. See a specimen of the Tamul version in page 55.

viii. The Telinga language, sometimes called the Teloogoo, is spoken in the Northern Čircars. In this language, which appears to be a dialect of the Tamul, the missionary Schultz, above noticed, translated the Bible: but it was never printed. A Telinga version of the New Testament was executed by the missionaries at Serampore, in 1818; and the Pentateuch was subsequently printed. On the completion of the Pentateuch, the honour of finishing this version was resigned to the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society: a revised edition of the New Testament has been printed. A specimen of the Telinga version is given in page 53.

ix. While the Dutch had settlements in the island of Ceylon, they were not inattentive to imparting the Scriptures to such of the natives as embraced the Christian faith. The four Gospels were translated into Cingalese, or the language of that island, and were printed at Colombo in 1739, and again in 1780; the Acts of the Apostles, in 1771; the Psalms in 1755, and again in 1768; and the entire New Testament, together with the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, were printed at the same place in 1783. After Ceylon had become part of the British empire, a new Cingalese version of the New Testament was undertaken by Mr. W. Tolfrey, aided by native assistants, under the patronage and at the expense of the Colombo Auxiliary Society. That nothing might be omitted which could ensure the excellence of this translation, two hundred copies of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were printed off, and circulated among the Modeliars (native magistrates), proponents, and catechists at Colombo, who were the best skilled in Cingalese; several were also sent to the settlements of Point de Galle and Matura, where that language is spoken in the greatest purity. Pains were taken to obtain a fair and candid opinion of the new work; and it is satisfactory to know, from the decision of numerous and competent judges, that the language and style of this extensive specimen of the new version were not only pure, and suitable to the dignity of the subject, but also plain and intelligible. Mr. Tolfrey had gone through repeated revisions of the whole New Testament, and had finally corrected to the end of the second Twenty-fifth Report of the Bible Society, pp. lviii. lix. Twenty-ninth Report, p. lxi.

Bishop Marsh's History of the Translations of the Scriptures, p. 37. The Rev. Dr. Rottler also translated the book of Common Prayer into the Tamul language: it was printed at Madras in 1819, in quarto. Sixteenth Report of the Bible Society, p. 183. Nineteenth Report, p. lix. Twenty-third Report, p. xxxvii.

In 1820, the Prayer Book and Homily Society of London made a grant of books to be sold at Madras, the proceeds of which were applied in aid of the printing the book of Common Prayer in the Tamul and Malayalim languages.

chapter of the second epistle to Timothy, when his labours were interrupted by a sudden death, in 1817. The Cingalese New Testament was finished and printed by the united exertions of the Rev. Messrs. Chater and Clough (the former a Baptist, and the latter a Wesleyan-Methodist missionary), and of Mr. Armour, an intelligent schoolmaster of the latter connection; and measures were taken for adding to it the Old Testament, of which only the first three books of Moses had been hitherto translated. A second edition of the Cingalese translation of the New Testament was completed in 1820; and the Old Testament was printed in 1823, in three volumes, 4to. See a specimen of the Cingalese Testament, in p. 55.7 In 1826 an Indo-Portuguese version of the New Testament, executed by the Rev. Mr. Newstead, was printed in England.8 x. A translation of the New Testament into the Maldivian language (which is spoken in the small but very numerous Maldivian islands, that lie to the south-west of Ceylon) has been commenced by the missionaries at Serampore. The Gospel of Matthew has been completed.

xi. In 1612 (a few years after the establishment of the Dutch East India Company), Albert Cornelius Ruyl began a translation of the New Testament into the Malay language, which is spoken not only in Malacca, but in Java and many other islands of the Indian archipelago. He lived only to finish the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, which were sent to Holland, where they were printed at Enkhuysen in 1629, and again, at Amsterdam, in 1638. In 1646 the Gospels of Luke and John, translated by M. van Hassel, one of the East India directors, was printed at Amsterdam, where the four Gospels were again printed in 1651, accompanied with the Acts of the Apostles; and in 1668, the whole New Testament in the Malay language was printed at Amsterdam. From this edition the Gospels and Acts were printed at Oxford in 1677, and again in 1704. Of the Old Testament in the Malay language, some portions were printed in the seventeenth century; but the first edition of the entire Malay Bible was printed in 1731 and 1733, in Roman characters. Another edition of the whole Malay Bible was printed in the Arabic character at Batavia, in 1758.9 This version having become extremely scarce, an edition of the Malay Bible in Roman characters was printed at Calcutta, in 1815-17, under the direction of the Auxiliary Bible Society there, aided by a munificent grant of 10,000 sicca rupees from the Governor-general in council, on the part of the honourable East India Company. Another edition of the Malay Bible, in Roman characters, has been completed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and another edition, in Arabic characters, revised by the Rev. R. S. Hutchings, was completed at Calcutta in 1822, under the direction of the Auxiliary Bible Society there. Specimens of the Malay version, both in Roman and in Arabic characters, are given in page 55. As a dialect of the Malay is spoken at Batavia, the Java Bible Society, in 1814, engaged the Rev. Mr. Robinson (a Baptist missionary), and Mr. Kool, a native translator to the government of that island, to undertake a version of the New Testament in that dialect, which has since been completed. See a specimen of this version, comprising the Lord's Prayer in Javanese, translated by the Rev. Mr. Trowt, another missionary from the Baptist Society, in page 55. A new version of the New Testament in the Javanese language, by the Rev. Mr. Brückner, was printed at Serampore in 1831.10 xii. The Malayalim, or Malabar language, is spoken on the coast of Malabar, in the country of Travancore. In this language the Scriptures have been translated by, or under the direction of, the Rev. Benjamin Bailey, one of the missionaries sent to India by the Church Missionary Society; and the New Testament has been printed." The Malayalim spoken by the Syrian Christians of Travancore differs greatly, both in words and idioms, from that spoken in the northern parts of Malabar.12 In order to render the Malayalim version of the Bible as correct as possible, the Calcutta Bible Society in 1820 sent a printing-press, types, and paper, to Cotym where new college has been founded for the Syrian Christians by the Rajah of Travancore and Colonel Munro, the British resi dent at his court.

3. Versions in the CHINESE and the languages derived from or bearing affinity to it.

Chinese Versions.

The Chinese language, in the characters peculiar to it, is read not only throughout China, but also in Cochinchina and Japan, by a population of more than three hundred millions of persons. Two versions of the entire Bible are extant in this language, the translators of which have been aided in their arduous and expensive undertakings by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The earliest of these was commenced by the Rev. Dr. Marshman, at Serampore, by whom the New Testament was printed in 1814. The translation of the Old Testament, which was executed many years since, has been printed in detached portions, and at different times. The Historical Books, which finish the Bible, were completed in 1821

"Owen's History of the Bible Society, vol. iii. pp. 120. 323. 469. Sixteenth Report of that Society, p. 189. In 1820, the Book of Common Prayer was translated into Cingalese, under the direction of the Hon. and Rev. T. J. Twisleton, D.D. Archdeacon of Colombo.

8 Twenty-first Report, p. xlvii. Twenty-second Report, p. xlvi.
Bishop Marsh's History of Translations, p. 35.
10 Twenty-seventh Report, p. xlix. l.

11 Ibid. p. li.

19 Missionary Register, for 1820, p. 48. The Gospel of St. Luke was the first portion printed. Twenty-third Report, p. xxxviii. Twenty-fifth Report, p. lix.