BookJiiS / A HISTORY OF I THE SACRED SCRIPTURES IN EYERY LANGUAGE AND DIALECT INTO WHICH TRANSLATIONS HAYE BEEN MADE ILLT/STBATED BY SPECIMEN PORTIONS IN NATIYE CHARACTERS; COLOURED ETHNOGRAPHICAL MAPS, TABLES, INDEXES, ETC. NEW EDITION, ENLARGED AND ENRICHED. 3t» nOAAAI MEN QNHTOI2 r A O T T A I, MIA A' A A N A T O 1 2 I N. LONDON : SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS: AT THE "WAREHOUSE FOR BIBLES, NEW TESTAMENTS, CHURCH SERVICES, PRAYER BOOKS, LEXICONS, GRAMMARS, CONCORDANCES, AND PSALTERS, IN ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGES ; 15, PATERNOSTER ROW. .1 x 9* V 6° ^ / \ * Wit tf Ctrai Soft MULT£ TERRICOLIS LINCU/E, CCELESTIBUS UNA. ['■{ 'jjm I A LIST OF THE LANGUAGES INTO WHICH THE SCRIPTURES, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED. NOTE. THE NAMES OF LANGUAGES IN WHICH VERSIONS OF SCEIPTURE HATE BEEN CONTEMPLATED OB PROJECTED, BUT NEYEK COMPLETED OE CIECULATED, ABE FEINTED IN ITALICS. MONOSYLLABIC. CLASS I. Chinese, 1. Burmese, 7. Arakanese or Rukheng, 10. Peguese, Talain, or Mon, 1 1 . Siamese, 12. Laos or Law, 14. Cambojan, 15. Anamite, 15. Karen, 15. Munipoora, 16. Khassee, 17. Tibetan, 20. Lepcha, 21. SHEMITIC. CLASS II. Hebrew, Old Test., 22. Hebrew, New Test., 29. Samaritan, 35. Chaldee, 39. Syriac, 41. Syro-Chaldaic, 45. Modern Syriac, 45. Arabic, 48. Judeo- Arabic, 52. Maltese, 53. Mogrebinor W.Arabic, 55. Carshun, 56. Ethiopic, 57. Tigre, 60. Amharic, 61. INDO-EUROPEAN. CLASS III. Medo-Persian Family. Persian, 64. Judeo-Persian, 71. Pushtoo or Anghan, 72. Beloochee or Bulochee, 74. Ancient Armenian, 75. Modern Armenian, 75. Ararat- Armenian, 75. Kurdish, 82. Armeno, 82. Hakari, 84. Ossitinian, 84. Sanscrit Family. Sanscrit, 86. Pali, 91. Hindustani or Urdu, 94. Hinduwee, 100. Bruj or Brij-bhasa, 103. Canoj or Canyacubja, 104. Kousulu or Koshala, 104. Bhojepoora, 104. Hurriana, 105. Bundelcundee, 105. Bughelcundee, 105. Harrotee, 106. Oojein or Oujjuyunee, 107. Oodeypoora, 107. Marwar, 107. Juyapoora, 108. Shehawutty, 108. Bikaneera, 108. Buttaneer, 108. Bengalee, 109. Magadha, 114. Tirhitiya or Mithili, 114. Assamese, 115. Uriya or Orissa, 116. Cutchee or Catchee, 117. Sindhee, 117. Moultan, Wuch, or Ooch, 118. Punjabee or Sikh, 118. Dogura or Jumboo, 120. Cashmerian, 120. Nepalese or Khaspoora, 121. Palpa, 122. Kumaon, 123. Gurwhal or Schreen- agur, 123. Gujerattee, 123. Mahratta, 126. Kunlcuna, 129. Rommany or Gipsy, 130. Tamul or Tamil, 133. Telinga or Teloogoo, 138. Karnata or Canarese, 141. Tulu, 144. Malayalim, 145. Cingalese, 147. Maldivian, 150. Celtic Family. Welsh, 151. Gaelic, 158. Irish, 160. Manks, 166. Cornish, 169. Breton or Armorican, 170. Teutonic Family. Gothic, 174. Alemannic or Old High German, 178. ,, Dialects, 179. German, 181. ,, Dialects, 185. Jewish-German, 186. Judeo-Polish, 188. Old Saxon, 189. Anglo-Saxon, 191. English, 196. Flemish, 205. Dutch, 208. SurinamNegroEnglish,212. Creolese, 211. Norse or Icelandic, 214. Danish, 217. Swedish, 222. Faroese, 226. Greco-Latin Family. Ancient Greek, 227. Modern Greek, 241. Latin, 245. A LIST OF THE LANGUAGES, etc. French, 254. Spanish, 261. Portuguese, 271. Indo-Portuguese, 275. Italian, 277. Daco-Romana or Wal- lachian, 279. Provencal or Romaunt, 281 . Vaudois, 284. Piedmontese, 286. Romanese or Romonsch, or Upper and Lower Enghadine, 287. Catalan, 265. Judeo-Spanish, 267. Curacoa, 270. Dialect of Toulouse, 283. Thraco-Illyrian Family. Albanian, 289. Sclavonic Family. Sclavonic, 291. Russ, 295. Polish, 298. Bohemian, 300. Servian, 302. Croatian or Dalmatian- Servian, 304. Carniolan, 305. Bosnian, 306. Slovakian, 306. Bulgarian, 307. Wendish, Upper, 308. Wendish, Lower, 308. Wendish, Hungarian, 310. Lettish or Livonian, 310. Lithuanian, 312. Samogitian, 313. UCRO TARTARIAN. CLASS IV. Euskarian Family. French Basque, 314. Spanish Basque or Escuara, 318. Finnish Family. Finnish Proper, 319. Lapponese, 322. Quanian or Norwegian Laplandish, 324. Hungarian, 325. Karelian, 328. Olonetzian, 328. Dorpat Esthonian, 329. Reval Esthonian, 330. Tscheremissian, 331. Mordvinian or Mor- duin, 331. Zirian or Sirenian, 332. Wogulian, 332. Ostiacan or Ostjakian, 332. Wotagian or Wotjakian,333. Tungusian Family. Mantchou, 334. Tungusian Proper, 336. Mongolian Family. Mongolian Proper, 337. Calmuc, 338. Buriat, 339. Turkish Family. Turkish, 341. Karass or Turkish Tartar, 347. Orenburg- Tartar, 349. Karaite-Tartar, 350. Tschuwaschian, 351. Trans-Caucasian Tar- tar, 352. Caucasian Family. Georgian, 353. Samoiede Family. Samoiede, 355. Dialects of the Is- lands of Eastern Asia, and of Corea. Japanese, 356. Loochooan, 357. Aleutian, 358. Corean, 359. POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN. CLASS V. Malayan, 360. Low Malay, 367. Formosan, 368. Javanese, 369. Dajak, 371. Bima, 372. Batta, 373. Bugis, 374. Macassar, 374. Hawaiian, 375. Tahitian, 376. Rarotongan, 378. Marquesan, 380. Tongan, 381. New Zealand or Maori, 383. Malagasse, 386. Samoan, 388. Feejeean, 390. Aneiteum, 392. Lifu, and Nengone, 394. Australian, 395. AFRICAN. CLASS VI. Coptic, 397. Sahidic, 401. Bashmuric, 402. Berber, 403. Ghadamsi, 405. Mandingo, 406. Jalloqf, 407. Susoo, 408. Bullom, 409. Sherbro-Bullom, 410. Yarriba or Yoruba, 411. Haussa, 412. Timmanee, 413. Bassa, 414. Grebo, 414. Accra, 415. Fantee, 416. Ashantee or Odjii, 417. Dualla, 418. Isubu, 419. Fernandian, 420. Mpongwe, 421. Sechuana, 423. Sisuta, 425. Caffre, 426. Zulu, 429. Namaqua, 430. Galla, 432. Kisuaheli, 434. Kikamba, 435. Kinika, 435. AMERICAN. CLASS VII. Esquimaux, 438. Greenlandish, 441. Virginian, 444. Massachusett Indian, 444. Mohegan, 444. Delaware, 447. Cree, 448. Chippeway, 450. Ojibway, 453. Ottawa, 453. Pottawattomie, 454. Micmac, 454. Abenaqui, 455. Shawanoe, 455. Mohawk, 456. Seneca, 458. Cherokee, 459. Chocktaw, 461. Dacota or Sioux, 463. Iowa, 464. Pawnee, 464. Mexican, 465. Otomi, 467. Terasco, 467. Misteco, 467. Zapoteca, 467. Mayan, 468. Mosquito, 469. Peruvian or Quichua, 470. Aimara, 471. Guarani, 472. Brazilian, 472. KariforCarib, 473. Arawack, 474. PBEFATOKY REMAEKS TO THE SECOND EDITION. It is remarkable that, among all the branches of history, religious, political, social, literary, and scientific, which have from time to time obtained such numerous and such able exponents, the history of the Oracles of God, until the publication of the first edition of this Work, remained unwritten, at least in the form of an unbroken and complete narrative. The materials for such a work had, it is true, been accumulating from century to century ; and fragmentary portions of this history enter into the composition of many profound and learned treatises ; while facts and incidents connected with the subject or illustrative of it have been supplied even to profusion by writers of almost every age, creed, and nation. But that mass of information remained as yet unavailable to the generality of readers. The " Bible of Evert Land," then, for the first time brought together from all sources, ancient and modern, the many details bearing on that history which above all others involves the temporal and eternal interests of mankind, and thus produced a clear and condensed account of the means by which the Scriptures were transmitted from generation to generation. It investigated the circumstances under which they have been translated into the principal languages of every land ; — and the agencies by which copies of the inspired writings in these languages have been multiplied and dispersed among the nations, tribes, and kindreds of the earth. In the preparation of this new and enlarged edition these investigations have been pursued, and the greatest care has been taken to furnish the latest accessible information on every point. The Arrangement of the whole work is in strict conformity with the latest dis- coveries in ethnology. For, although the Editors have not departed from the one great object of displaying in these pages, the history of the Holy Scriptures, they have carefully reviewed the origin and condition of the nations to which special versions have been given, as well as the distinguishing characteristics of the languages into which the Divine Oracles have been transferred. The elements of these languages, the stock or stocks from which they sprang, and their affiliation with other languages, have been examined more or less in detail ; and the singular precision with which all languages range themselves, according to the PREFATORY REMARKS. order of their mutual affinities, into classes, families, and subdivisions, is exhibited by means of Tables of Classification, perhaps the first of the kind compiled in our language. The "Bible of Every Land" has thus in some degree assumed the character of an ethnological manual, and as such it may possibly prove a stepping-stone to those who desire to pass from the study of two or three isolated languages to the enlarged consideration of Language in general, and of the laws upon which all languages are constructed. Such investigations, if laboriously, patiently, and honestly conducted, can lead to but one result. For the affinities by which families and even classes of lan- guages are linked together are so close and intimate, that the more deeply they are examined, the more profound becomes our conviction of the truth of the theory respect- ing the original unity of language. This volume is illustrated by Specimen Portions of all the extant and attainable versions of the Scriptures, printed in their own proper characters. The Maps to the several sections of the work exhibit the geographical location and extent of each language, and likewise show how far the divine light of the Holy Scrip- tures in the vernacular languages of the natives, shines over the world. A very interesting feature of the present Work will be found in the conclusions which have been draAvn from the mass of missionary and epistolary evidence respecting the effects which may have followed the perusal of existing versions of the Scriptures. All reasonings on this subject, however, even with the most ample opportunities of forming a correct judgment, can at best be but approximations towards the truth. Known only to God is the number of His spiritual worshippers. The Word of God is still quick and powerful, in every tongue and among every nation, and it cannot return unto Him void: therefore let us "in the morning sow our seed, and in the evening withhold not our hand." The question ' which shall prosper, this or that,'' — or ' whether they shall both be alike good,' is one of the secret things which belong unto the Lord most High. The Publishers would fain express their deep obligation to the numerous friends who have taken part in the preparation of this laborious work, were such an enumera- tion suitable ; but they cannot refrain from recording the particular value of the aid afforded by His Highness Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Bible Society, and the Missionary Societies of this country and of America; also by the Rev. S. C. Malan, M. A., and by William Hughes, Esq., F.R.G.S. London, 15, Paternoster Row, 1860. CONTENTS. PREFATORY REMARKS. A Classified List of the Languages into which the Scriptures have been Translated. An Alphabetical List of Typographical Specimens. The Ethnographical Maps, illustrating the Monosyllabic Languages — The Shemitic Languages — The Medo-Persian Family — The Sanscrit Family — The Indo-European Languages of Europe — The Finno-Tartarian — The Polynesian — African — North and South American Languages — with Letter-Press Description. The Series of Native Alphabets with their Powers. Alphabetical Index to the Memoirs of the Versions. page CLASS I.— THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES 1 Engraved Specimen of Burmese and Khassee, p. 7; Tibetan, 20; Karen and Lepcha, 115; Siamese, 337. CLASS n.— THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES 22 Engraved Specimen of Syro-Chaldaic, p. 20. Map exhibiting the Ancient Diffusion of the Hebrew Language, p. 31. CLASS HI.— INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES.— Medo-Persian Family .... 64 Engraved Specimen of Hakari-Kurdish, p. 91. Sanscrit Family ............ 86 Engraved -Specimen of Pali, Uriya or Orissa, and Telinga, p. 91 ; Assamese, 115; Cutchee, Cashmerian, Gujerattee, Tamul, 133 ; Bengalee, Canarese, Cingalese, 141 ; Mooltan and Malayalim, 337. Celtic Family Teutonic Family . Greco-Latin Family Thkaco-Illyrian Family Sclavonic Family Engraved Specimen of Wallachian, p Engraved Specimen of Sclavonic and Russ, Servian 141. Bulgarian, p. 291. 151 174 227 289 291 CONTENTS. PAGE CLASS IV.— DETACHED FAMILIES.— Ugro-Tartarian Languages. Euskarian Family ........... 314 Finnish Family . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Engraved Specimen of Karelian and Zirian, p. 338 ; Tscheremissian and Mordvinian, 356- Tungusian Family ........... 334 Engraved Specimen of Mantchou, p. 334. Mongolian Family ............ 337 Engraved Specimen of Mongolian, p. 337; Calmuc and Buriat, 338. Turkish Family ............ 341 Engraved Specimen of Tschuwaschian, p. 334. Caucasian Family ............ 353 Engraved Specimen of Georgian, Civil and Ecclesiastical, p. 334. Samoiede Family ........... 355 Eastern Asian and Corean Families ......... 356 Engraved Specimen of Japanese and Loochooan, p. 356. CLASS V.— POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES 360 Engraved Specimen of Javanese, p. 115. CLASS VI.— AFRICAN LANGUAGES . 397 CLASS VII. -AMERICAN LANGUAGES 438 A CLASSIFIED TABLE OF THE LANGUAGES OF THE ENTIRE EARTH, illustrating THE NECESSITY FOR CONTINUED EXERTION IN THE SPREAD OF THE SCRIPTURES . . . 477 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SPECIMENS IN NATIVE CHARACTERS. PAGE PAGE PAGE Accra . 415 Chippeway 450 _T AROESE 226 Adiyah 346 Chocktaw . 461 Feejeean . . 390 Affghan . 72 Cingalese (plate \ •.) 147 Fernandian . 420 Aimara 471 Coptic 397 Finnish . . 319 Albanian 289 Cornish 169 Flemish 205 Alemannic . 178 Cree 448 French . 254 Amharic 61 Syllabic . 449 Le Fevre's Version 256 Ancient Greek 227 Creolese . 211 Olivetan's , , 256 Anglo-Saxon . 191 Croatian, or Dalmatian Geneva ,' 256 Northumbrian . 195 Servian 304 De Sacy's , , ' 257 Aneiteum 392 Curacoa . 270 Ostervald's , 257 Arabic 48 Cutchee or Catchee Swiss . , 257 Arawack 474 (plate iv .) 117 Normandian , , 259 Armenian: Ancient 75 JJaco-Romana or Burgundian , , 260 Ararat 75 Wallachian (pi. v .)279 French Basque 314 Modern 75 Dacota or Sioux 463 Assamese (plate x ) 115 Dajak . 371 (jTAELIC . JBashmuric 402 Danish 217» . 158 Basque, French 314 Delaware 447 Galla . 432 ,, Spanish 318 Dorpat Esthonian 329 Georgian : (pi. viii.) 353 Bengalee (plate v ) 109 Dualla 418 Civil character . 353 Berber . 403 Dutch . 208 Ecclesiastical , , 353 Bohemian 300 German : Breton . 170 English : Luther, 1825 . 181 . „ Dialects 173 Wiclif, 1380 196 Van Ess, 1842 181 Bulgarian (plate vi .)307 Tyndale, 1534 . 196 Gosner, 1836 . 182 Bullom • • 409 Coverdale, 1535 196 Kistemaker, 1848 182 Buriat (plate vn .)339 Matthew, 1537 . 196 Ghadamsi . 405 Burmese (plate i.) 7 Cranmer, 1539 197 Gipsy . 130 Taverner, 1549 197 Gothic . 174 Oaffre 426 Geneva, 1557 197 Grebo . 414 Calmuc (plate vn ) 338 Bishops', 1568 . 197 Greek, Ancient : Canarese (plate v .) 141 Rheims, 1582 198 Textus Recept .is . 227 Carib, see Karif. Douay, 1847 . 198 Mill's, with various Carniolan 305 Authorised, 1611 198 readings 233 Carshun . 56 Blayney, 1769 . 198 Septuagint . . 236 Cashmerian (pi. iv .) 120 Enghadine . 287 Greek, Modern : Catalan or Cataloniar 265 Esquimaux . 438 Maximus Calli opoli- Chaldee . 39 Esthonian, Dorpat . 329 tan's Version, 1638 241 Chinese 1 „ Reval . 330 Hilarion's „ . 241 „ Grass writing . 4 Ethiopic . . 57 Greenlandish, 17 )9 441 PAGE Greenlandish, 1822 443 Gujerattee (plate iv.) 123 xIakari (plate in.) 84 Harrotee . . 106 Hawaiian . . 375 Hebrew . . 22 New Test., Green- field's Version 29 Society's „ . 29 Hindustani . . 94 In the Devanagari character . 95 In Roman . . 96 Hinduwee . . 100 Hungarian . . 325 „ Wendish 310 Icelandic . . 214 Indo-Portuguese . 275 Irish : In Irish character 160 In Roman .160 Munster . . 161 Isubu . . .419 Italian : Malermi's Version 277 Diodati's „ 277 Martini's „ 277 Japanese (plate ix.) 356 Javanese (plate x.) 369 Jewish-German . 186 Judeo-Persian . 71 Judeo-Polish . .188 Judeo- Spanish . 267 Karaite-Tartar 350 Karass, or Turkish Tartar : — I Ms \ ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TYPOGRAPHICAL SPECIMENS. PAGE Seaman's Version, 1666 . . 347 Brun ton's Version, 1813 . . 347 Karelian {plate vn.) 328 Karen, Sgau {plate x.) 16 „ Sho or Pwo (plate x.) 16 Karif or Carib . 473 Karnata, or Canarese (plate v.) 141 Katchi (plate iv.) 117 Khaspoora . .121 Khassee (plate i.) 17 „ In Roman 17 Kunkuna . . 129 Kurdish (plate in.) 82 IjApponese . . 322 Latin Versions of the Old Testament : Ante-Hieronymian 245 Vulgate . . 245 Pagninus's . 245 Munster's . . 246 Leo Juda's 246 Castalio's . . 246 Junius and Tremel- lius's . . 247 Schmidt's . . 247 Dathe's . .' 247 Latin Versions of the New Testament : Ante-Hieronymian 252 Erasmus's 252 Beza's . . .252 Castalio's . . 253 Schmidt's . 253 I Sebastian's . . 253 V Schott's . . 253 ) Goeschen's . 253 Lepcha (plate x.) 21 Lettish or Livonian . 310 Lifu and Nengone 394 Lithuanian . . 312 Loochooan (plate ix.) 357 Mahratta . 126 Malagasse . . 386 Malayalim (plate xi.) 145 Malayan : Arabic, Calcutta, 1817 . . 360 Roman,Oxford,1677 361 „ Brower, 1668 362 „ Serampore, 1814 . . 364 Arabic, Singapore, 1831 . . 365 Arabic, Robinson's 1823 . . 366 Maldivian . . 150 Maltese, 1829 . 53 „ 1847 . . 54 Mandingo . . 406 Manks . . .166 Mantchou (plate via.) 334 Marathi . . 126 Massachusett . . 445 Mayan . . 468 Mexican . . . 465 Micmac . . 454 Modern Greek 241 Mohawk . . 456 Mongolian (plate xi.) 337 Mogrebin, or African or Moorish Arabic 55 Mordvinian (plate ix.) 331 Mosquito . . 469 Moultan or Wuch (p. xi.) 118 Mpongwe . . 421 Munipoora . . 16 ^Namaqua . . 430 Nepalese or Khaspoora 121 New Zealand . 383 Norse . . . 214 Ojibway . . 453 Old Saxon . .189 Orenburg- Tartar . 349 Orissa (plate in.) 116 Otomi . . .467 Pali (plate in.) 91 Peguese . 11 Persian 64 Judeo- . 71 PAGE Piedmontese . 286 Polish . . .298 Portuguese : Almeida's Version 271 Pereira's „ 271 Boys' „ 271 Provencal or Romaunt Lyons MS. . . 281 Paris MS. [8086] 281 Paris MS. [6833] 281 Dublin MS. . 282 Grenoble MS. . 282 Zurich MS. . 282 Pushtoo ... 72 Qi . 324 XVAKOTONGAN . 378 Reval Esthonian . 329 Romanese, Romonsch, or Upper and Lower Enghadine 287 Rommany . .130 Russian (plate vi.) 295 QAHIDIC 401 Samaritan . 35 Samoan 388 Samogitian . 313 Sanscrit 86 Dr. Carey's Version 90 Saxon, Old . . 189 Sclavonian (plate vi.) 291 Sechuana . . 423 Servian (plate vi.) 302 Siamese (plate xi.) 12 Sindhee . . 117 Sioux . . .463 Sirenian (plate vn.) 332 Sisuta or Sesuto . 425 Slovakian . . 306 Sorabic, see Wendish. Spanish : Reyna's Version 261 Scio's „ 261 Amat's „ 261 Spanish Basque . 318 Surinam Negro- English . . 212 PAGE Susoo . . . 408 Swedish . . . 222 Syriac, Peshito . 41 „ Philoxenian . 41 Syro-Chaldaic (pi. ii.) 45 Tahitian . . 376 Tamul (plate iv.) 133 Telinga (plate in.) 138 Tibetan (plate n.) 20 Tigre ... 60 Tongan . . 381 Toulouse . . . 283 Trans-Caucasian Tartar . . 352 Tscheremissian (plate ix.) 331 Tschuwaschian (plate vin.) 351 Turkish . . .341 Turkish-Armenian 346 Turkish-Tartar, see Karass. Turco-Greek . 345 U kdoo or Urdu . 94 Uriya (plate in.) 116 Vaudois . . 284 Virginian . . 444 A\^aixachian (p. vi.) 279 Welsh : Salisbury's Version, 1567 . . 151 Dr. W. Morgan's Version, 1588 . 151 Bishop Parry's Ver- sion, 1620 . 151 Bible Society's . 151 Wendish or Sorabic, Upper and Lower 308 Wendish, Hungarian 310 Wuch, see Moultan. Yarriba . . 411 .Z iman (plate vn.) 332 BEMABKS ON THE MAP ILLUSTKATTNG THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. re spoken exclusively in the south-eastern angle of the continent of Asia : their area is t to the whole of Europe. The various nations by whom these languages are employed au. belong nily, and are distinguished, in a more or less modified degree, by the Mongolia type of physical conformation. The religion which has obtained the widest acceptance among this race is Buddhism, but other forms of belief are also received. The religion of Confucius, and the Taouism of Lao-tsze, for instance, prevail to a considerable extent in China ; and a rude species of idolatry, said in some instances to resemble that practised by the Esquimaux, is predominant among the wild untutored tribes of the mountains, who still preserve their independence in the very midst of the civilised nations of this race. The Monosyllabic languages are referable, geographically and philologically, to three grand divisions, namely, the languages of China, the languages of the Indo-Chinese or Transgangetic peninsula, and the languages of Tibet and the Himalayas. I. LANGUAGES OF CHINA. CHINESE is the language of China, an extensive country, of which the entire surface forms a kind of natural declivity from the high steppe-land of Central Asia to the shores of the North Pacific. The moun- tain chains which traverse this region are not generally remarkable for extent or altitude, the chief physical characteristic being the broad water-sheds, with their corresponding fertile, alluvial valleys, whereby this large portion of the earth's surface is rendered a rlv fit abode for an industrial, agricultural "'elects (according to Leyden, about prevail in the different provinces f are merely local varieties of Languages are spoken among the mountain an it districts by uncivilised tribes, who are supposed oy some to have been the original possessors of the country. II. LANGUAGES OF THE TRANS- GANGETIC PENINSULA. AN AMITE is predominant in a line of country border- ing on the Chinese Sea, and extends inland as far as the westernmost of those longitudinal ranges of mountains of which, with their corresponding valleys, this peninsula is composed. The Anamite language is spoken, with little variety of dialect, by the Tonquinese and Cochin Chinese, two nations who evidently at no very remote period formed one people. In moral and physical characteristics they closely resemble the Chinese, and they are said by some of the neighbouring tribes to have been originally a Chinese colony. CIAMPA, or TSHAMPA, is still spoken in the very south of Cochin China by a people who, before their annexation to the empire of Anam, formed a separate and independent nation. CAMBOJAN is the language of Cambodia, a country in the south of the peninsula, lying between two parallel ridges of mountains, and divided into two nearly equal parts by the river May-kuang or Mekon. The Cambojans, who 'are akin to, if not identical with, the Kho men, are supposed to derive their origin from a warlike mountain race named Kho, the Gueos of early Portuguese historians. SIAMESE is more widely diffused than any other Indo-Chinese language ; its various dialects prevail over more than half the peninsula, and are spoken, with little interruption, in a northerly direction, from Cambodia on the south to the borders of Tibet on the north. This wide diffusion may in part be accounted for by the early conquest of As- sam by Siamese tribes. The dialect of the ancient Siamese or T'hay tongue, which is now convention- ally designated the Siamese, is spoken in Siam, an extensive kingdom south-west of Burmah. LAOS, or LAW, is a Siamese dialect pervading the very interior of the peninsula ; it is conterminous with the Cambojan, Anamite, Siamese, Burmese, Chinese and Shyan languages. The Laos people boast of an ancient civilisation ; and their country, noted for the vestiges it contains of the founders of Buddhism, is the famed resort of Buddhistic devotees. SHYAN is another Siamese dialect, and is spoken to the north of Burmah, between China and Munipoor. MAP OF THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. AHOM, an ancient Siamese dialect, is not marked on the Map, because extinct, or only preserved in the books of the Assamese priesthood. It is remarkable that not a single trace of Hindoo influence, either Buddhistic or Brahministic, can be found in Ahom literature. KHAMTI, though the most northern of Siamese dialects, varies but little from the dialect of Bankok, the capital of Siam. It is spoken by a small moun- tainous tribe in the north-east corner of Assam, on the border of Tibet. SINGPHO is the language of the most powerful of the mountain tribes, and prevails in the north of the Burmese empire, almost on the confines of China. It is conterminous with the Khamti and Shyan on the north and south, and with the Chinese and Munipoora languages on the east and west. PEGUESE prevails in the Delta of the Irawady, within the province of Pegu, formerly a part of the Burmese dominion, but transferred to British rule in 1852. BURMESE is the language of the dominant people of the empire of Burmah. Including its cognate dialect, the Arakanese, it extends from the Laos country to the Bay of Bengal, and from Munipoor to Pegu: it is also predominant throughout the maritime province of Tenasserim, in the south-west of the peninsula, which is now British territory. ARAKANESE, as we have before observed, is an elder dialect of Burmese : it prevails through a narrow strip of country along the Bay of Bengal, from Chittagong to Cape Negrais. SALONG, or SILONG, is the name of an assemblage of small islands in the Mergui archipelago, between the Andaman Isles and the south-west coast of the peninsula. These islands are about one thousand in number : the predominant language is a peculiar one, and little is at present known concerning it ; yet it is generally referred to the Monosyllabic class. KAREN is spoken in three diversities of dialect, by uncivilised tribes irregularly distributed over the regions lying between the eleventh and twenty-third degrees of north latitude, but chiefly to be found among the jungles and mountains on the frontiers of Burmah, Siam, and Pegu. Some of these tribes are designated red Karens, from the light colour of their complexion, a circumstance supposed to result from the great elevation of their mountainous abodes. KHYEN, or KIAYN, perhaps more generally called Kolun, is spoken by some wild tribes dwelling in North Arakan, and on various mountain heights west of the Irawady. These tribes are of more importance in an ethnographical than in a political or historical point of view. According to their own tradition, they are the aborigines of Ava and Pegu. It was the opinion of Bitter, that the Khyen and Karen tribes are descended from the mountainous races of the chains of Yun-nan, dispersed, probably since the Mongolic conquest of China, in a southerly direction. KOONKIE is a wild unwritten dialect, said to resemble the Arakanese. It is spoken by the Kukis, a people who have been identified with the Nagas and Khoo- meas. They dwell to the north of Arakan, on the frontiers of Munipoor and Cachar. MUNIPOORA is predominant in Munipoor, a small kingdom forming part of the northern boundary of Burmah. CACHARESE is spoken by a numerous tribe in a district of considerable extent, lying east of the Bengal district of Sylhet. This language is con- terminous with the Munipoora on the east, and the Khassee on the west. KHASSEE is spoken on a range of hills forming part of the southern border of Lower Assam. The people to whom it is vernacular are called Cossyahs or Khasias. V* The interposition of Assamese (which is a Sanscrit language nearly allied to Bengalee) in the area otherwise exclusively occupied by Monosyllabic languages, has given rise to much conjecture ; but it is now generally believed that the natives of Lower Assam originally employed a Monosyllabic dialect, but were led by their contiguity to Hindustan, and by political and other circumstances, to adopt a language of that country. Upper Assam is still peopled by various tribes speaking Mono- syllabic languages. III. LANGUAGES OF TIBET AND THE HIMALAYAS. LEPCHA is spoken by a tribe apparently of Tibetan origin, dwelling on the south side of the Himalayas, on and near the eastern frontier of Bootan. ABOR and MISHIMI are the languages of uncivilised tribes inhabiting an extensive range of hilly country on the borders of Bootan and Tibet, between the ninety-fourth and the ninety-seventh degrees of east longitude. TIBETAN is spoken by the widely-diffused race of Bhot in Tibet, Bootan, Ladakh, and Bultistan or Little Tibet. This extensive range of country lies among the Himalayas, in the south-eastern angle of the plateau of Central Asia. The geographical position of the Bhotiya, and likewise some of their moral and physical characteristics, would appear to connect them with the nomadic nations of that vast plateau, if their peculiar language, which approxi- mates in some respects to that of China, did not indicate their relationship to the Chinese : and this affinity, on the one side with the Chinese, and on the other with the Turkish, Mongolian, and Tungusian tribes of Central Asia, has caused this remarkable race to be regarded as the connecting link between these two great divisions of the human family. THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. The Shemitic languages are remarkably few in number, although (as is shown in the accompanying Map) they are spread over a vast portion of the world, extending from Persia and the Persian Gulf on the east to the Atlantic on the west, and from the Mediterranean on the north to an undefined distance into the interior of Africa on the south. There are, in fact, but three or, at most, four distinct Shemitic languages at present spoken ; and although the history of this wonderful class of languages leads us far back into remote antiquity, yet a much greater diversity of dialect does not appear at any time to have existed. It is shown in one of the appended memoirs that the Phoenician, once pre-eminently the language of civilisation, was substantially the same as the ancient Hebrew ; and this conformity of language between two races of different origin (the Phoenicians being a Hamite, and the Hebrews a Shemitic people) is a phenomenon which yet remains to be explained. The Shemitic languages now disused as mediums of oral communication, and which are therefore not represented on the Map, are the following :— Samaritan, originally identical with Hebrew. Ancient Syriac and Chaldee, which, however, have their representative in Modern Syriac. Pehlvi, the ancient tongue of Media, a compound probably of Chaldee and Syriac with Zend. Various Arabic dialects ; Himyaritic, the parent of Ekhkili. Gheez, or Ethiopic, now superseded by its modern dialects, Tigre and Amharic. The Shemitic race is considered by eminent physiologists to equal, if not to surpass, all other branches of the human family, in perfection of physical formation. Yet its characteristics are by no means invariable. The Syrians, who still pre- serve their lineage pure and unmingled among the mountains of Kurdistan, have a fair complexion, with gray eyes, red beard, and a robust frame. The Bedouins, or Arabs of the Desert, are thin and muscular in form, with deep brown skin and large black eyes ; the Arabs in the low countries of the Nile bordering on Nubia are black, while other tribes of this people dwelling in colder or more elevated situations are said to be fair. The Arabs in the valley of Jordan are reported to have a dark skin, coarse hair, and flattened features, thereby approximating to the Negro type. The Jews differ from the nations among whom they are located by a peculiar cast of physiognomy : in Cochin they are black, in the south of Europe they are dark, while in. the north of Europe, and occasionally in England, they are xanthous, with red or light hair. The Shemitic nations have been most peculiarly honoured in being chosen as the race of whom, according to the flesh, the Messiah was born. To them also was given the knowledge of the one true God ; and to the Hebrews in particular was committed the sacred trust of the Divine oracles. Monotheism, although defaced by human inventions, is the religion of this race : the recognition of a false prophet prevails among the Arabs ; yet, in common with the Jews, they acknowledge the existence of one God. Two people of this race, the Syrians and Abyssinians, have embraced Christi- anity as their national religion. ARABIC, originally the language of a few wandering tribes in the desert of Arabia, is now one of the most widely-diffused of existing languages. It prevails in Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Khuzistan, Egypt, Nu- bia, and Barbary. It is extensively employed as the language of religion and commerce on the eastern and western coasts of Africa, and it is supposed to penetrate far into the interior of that great continent. As might be expected from its vast extension, this language branches out into dialects as many in number as the countries in which it is spoken. EKHKILI is a modern dialect of Himyaritic, the southern branch of the Arabic language. It is spo- ken by an uncivilised mountainous tribe of Hadra- maut, in the south-east of the Arabian peninsula. Ekhkili is of especial value in an ethnographical point of view, as it furnishes the link between the MAP OF THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. Shemitic languages of Asia and those of Abyssinia. The ancient Himyarites are believed to have been Cushites, of the race of Ham. TIGRE, a dialect immediately derived from the ancient Ethiopic, is predominant in a small portion of the kingdom of Abyssinia. The resemblance still to be traced between Tigre and Ekhkili has corroborated the hypothesis that Ethiopia was originally peopled by a colony of Himyarite Arabs, who may have received their alphabet from India. The singular system of syllabification to be remarked in the an- cient Himyaritic alphabet (from which the Ethiopic was borrowed), bears a strong affinity to ancient Deva-nagari alphabets, as preserved in inscriptions of the time of Asochus. AMHARIC is a more corrupt dialect of Ethiopic than Tigre, having suffered greater changes from foreign admixture. Amharic is predominant throughout nearly all Abyssinia, but various other languages are likewise spoken in that kingdom. These lan- guages, partaking as they do of a Shemitic element and of the African character, form so many con- necting links between the Shemitic and the African languages. MODERN SYRIAC, the only living representative of the ancient Chaldee and Syriac tongues, is preserved among mountain fastnesses between Mesopotamia, Ar- menia and Persia. What relation this language may bear to the idiom of ancient Babylon and Nineveh is not yet precisely known; but light is rising upon the ruins of these ancient cities, and the arrow-headed characters are in process of being deciphered. With the capture of Babylon, in the commencement of the sixth century before our era, the early political supremacy of the Shemitic race departed ; and the government of the world passed into the hands of the Japhetic nations, by whom it is still maintained. And thus the fertile plains of Western Asia, the proper home of the Shemitic race, are governed and chiefly inhabited by people of the Japhetic stock, in literal fulfilment of the prophecy, that " Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem." Other prophecies are in progress of fulfilment, by which more than their original glory will be restored to the sons of Shem. *.£* A Supplemental Map, illustrating the Early Diffusion of the Hebrew language, will be found at page 31> following the article " Hebrew." m H-1 & tt S3 —1 M» s O UJ a 1 o <" < F=l Z3 "^5 ?s» Si I 1 < ■* —I m H- ^ E S ! E^ I § s 1 1 s -i ? i 1 1 1- 1 1 i * s ?r?f5«^i11til?iil ? I - 1 s I I \ i 1 fill 1 N*i I 111 i lirfi-1 1 n* i-nin uw 4 | J | e a 6 f J I « 11 Hi* 1 >4 -3 ^ >l >* j 1 1 -i i i i h . *I £ fe *=1 a; *J 3 a* 4 '' & a ^ ■§ 3 - ^ (j ^ THE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. Notwithstanding the persevering researches, the zeal, and the learning, which have of late years been brought to bear upon the languages and antiquities of America, the great question respecting the origin of the first inhabitants of that vast continent still remains as far from solution as ever. Physiology afibrds no aid in determining this question ; for in the reddish colour of their complexion, in the deeply -marked outline of their features, and in other physical peculiarities, the American Indians differ more or less from all other classes of men. That the natives both of North and South America are, however, descended from one and the same branch of the human family, has been inferred from the obvious coincidences in the grammatical structure of their languages. But with this similarity in structure, great variety exists between the respective roots or vocables of these tongues ; and these glossarial differences have led to the division of the American languages into numerous groups or families, of which the following are the principal : — ESQUIMAUX is spoken along the entire northern coast of North America by a people who, in physical conformation, appear to be intermediate between the natives of North Asia and the hunting tribes of America. For a description of this nation, and of the Greenlanders who are of cognate origin, and who employ a dialect of the same language, see pp. 438- 441. ATHAPASCAN, or CHIPPEWYAN, is a language spoken in several different dialects by numerous tribes who occupy a broad belt of country, stretching from east to west, south of the Esquimaux area. ALGONQUIN is the collective name of numerous distinct American nations, who at the first period of European colonisation, occupied (together with the Iroquois) the greater part of Canada, and all the northern and middle portion of the territory of the United States. The northern branch of this race borders on the Athapascan area, and reaches from Hudson Bay to the Bocky Mountains : it includes the Knistineaux or Crees, the Algonquins Proper, the Chippewas or Ojibways, the Ottawas, the Potta- wattomies, the Missinsig or Mississagis, and the Montagnais. The north-eastern branch comprehends the Abenaquis, the Micmacs, and some smaller tribes. The Algonquin idioms spoken along the Atlantic, and generally designated the New England or Virginian tongues, were the Massachusett, Narra- gansett, Mohegan, Susquehannok, and Delaware. The tribes to whom these languages were vernacular have long been driven by European settlers from their original territories, and some of them are extinct. Delaware is, however, spoken by a still powerful nation. It may here be observed, that in this Map the original as well as the present distribution of the several languages is indicated. The Western Algonquin branch includes the Illinois, Shawanoe, Black-feet Indian, Shyenne, and some other tribes. The Bethunks, who were the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland, and who are probably now ex- tinct, have lately been proved to have been an Algonquin nation, and to have employed a dialect of that language. IROQUOIS is the name of a race dwelling among and encompassed by Algonquin tribes. The Iroquois country, it will be seen on the Map, lies in the midst of the Algonquin area, and is divided into two parts. The northern Iroquois division lies in the region near Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie, and comprises the Five Nations, namely, the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Senecas, and Cayugas. The Hurons or Wyandots also belong to this division. The South- ern Iroquois division occupies the country now called North Carolina, and comprised the Tuscaroras and several inferior tribes, as the Tuteloes, Nottoways, and Meherrins. The Iroquois, though occupying MAP OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. a territory inferior in extent to that of the Algonquins, have enacted a more important and conspicuous part in history ; and at the time of the discovery of America they were found greatly to surpass the Algonquins in courage, civilisation, and intelligence. No remarkable difference, however, in physical conformation appears to exist between these two races. SIOUX, or DACOTA, is the third great division of the American Indians, and comprises the tribes inha- biting the prairie country of the interior, from the Mississippi to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The principal nations belonging to this division are the Dacotas, the Winebagoes, the Assmiboins, the Osages, the Iowas, and the Upsaroka or Crow Indians. The Sioux tribes are more barbarous, and preserve the primitive habits of their race more than the eastern tribes. FLORIDIAN, or APPALACHIAN, is a name which has been applied by some philologists to the lan- guages originally belonging to the Southern United States. Some of these languages are now extinct, and their relation to each other is in some instances difficult to be discovered. The languages included in this group are Natchez (now all but extinct), Muskogee or Creek, Lower Creek or Seminole, Chocktaw, Cherokee, and Catawba. The Cherokee nation is now increasing rather than decreasing in numbers, and is apparently progressing towards a higher stage of civilisation than has yet been attained by any other native tribe of America. PANIS-ARRAPAHOES is a designation which has been employed by recent writers to comprehend a vast number of hitherto unclassified languages, pre- dominating within the portion of the United States territory lying to the westward of the Rocky Moun- tains, in Oregon, and in California. The term itself is compounded of Pawnee and Arrapahoe, the two principal languages of this division. These lan- guages have as yet been little studied, and, with the exception of the Pawnees, the barbarous tribes to whom they are vernacular are comparatively little known. CENTEAL AMERICA. MEXICAN was the language of the semi-civilised tribes of Mexico, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the country. This language was, and is still, spoken by the Aztec race in the dioceses of Mexico, Mechoacan, New Galicia, New Biscay, Oaxaca, and Guatemala. The other principal languages now spoken in the ancient empire of Mexico, and in Central America, are the following: — Otomi, spoken to the north of the Mexican area. Terasco, in the diocese of Mechoacan. Mayan, in Yucatan, Tabasco, and Merida. Misteco, in Oaxaca. Totonac, in Puebla de los Angeles. Huasteca, in Huastecapan, a part of Mexico. Zapoteca, Mixe, and six other languages in Oaxaca. Mame, Quiche, and six other languages in Gua- temala. Pira, and seven others (scarcely known to Euro- peans), in New Mexico. The numerous other languages of Central America are little known, and still unclassified. SOUTH AMERICA. Less is known respecting the ethnology of South America than perhaps of any other region in the world. The Catholic missionaries have furnished us with grammars, dictionaries, vocabularies, catechisms, and works of devotion in many of these languages ; but it yet remains to examine in detail the structure of this multitude of dialects, and to classify them according to their several affinities. As a provisional method of classification, some recent writers have proposed to include the almost innumerable tongues and dialects of South America under three grand divisions : — I. — The Andian, or Ando-Peruvian languages, spoken by all the nations dwelling on or near the great mountain chain in the west of South America. In- cluded in this division are, therefore, the following languages : Peruvian or Quichua, and Aimara, spo- ken in the ancient empire of the Incas in the north ; and in the south, the Araucanian or Moluche lan- guages of the Southern or Chilian Andes : closely allied to this branch are the languages (as Tehuel) spoken by the Patagonians. II. — The languages of Eastern South America, of which the principal branches are the Guarani and Tupi, of Paraguay and the Brazils, and the languages of the Caribbean group, so called because spoken on or near the shores of the Caribbean Sea : this group includes the Karif and Arawack, of which an account is given in pp. 473, 474. III. — The languages of Central South America, spoken by tribes who inhabit the interior forests and llanos or plains between the regions of the Cordillera and of the Parana. Little has been yet effected in ex- amining the structure of these languages, or the peculiarities of the nations with whom they are ver- nacular. The only languages of South America in which versions of the Scriptures have been given or attempted, are the Peruvian or Quichua, Aimara, Guarani, Brazilian or Tupi, Karif, and Arawack ; and of these a description will be found in pp. 470-474. THE ALPHABETS. After Specimen portions of the different Versions of the Scriptures had been procured and prepared for this Work, it appeared desirable, in order to furnish every available aid in the examination and comparison of these Specimens, to provide if possible a series of Native Alphabets. But here a serious difficulty presented itself. Many of the characters in which the Specimens are given are little known even to the learned in Europe, and some of them had never before perhaps appeared in print in this country; there is therefore no work to which the student can refer, if he wishes to ascertain the relative value of the widely-differing Alphabets in which these Specimens are printed. Every effort, therefore, was made to procure a complete series ; but as it was found that very many Alphabets could not be obtained, the design of supplying the com- parative Tables was about to be relinquished. As it is, however, well known to philologists that in the Imperial Printing-office at Vienna there exists an unrivalled collection of foreign types, formed by the skill and untiring diligence of the Imperial Commissioner, M. Alois Auer, the Publishers represented to the Imperial Government the difficulty experienced in enriching the Bible oe Every Land with the necessary Alphabets, and solicited permission to purchase from the Imperial Printing-office those not procurable in England. This appeal was immediately responded to ; and with great liberality, His Majesty the Emperor at once directed a complete series of the Alphabets in all the characters d-e used throughout the book, together with the powers of each letter to be forwarded free of cost for the use of the present work. The Alphabets, therefore, which the Publishers have the satisfaction to include in their work, are printed from types cast and prepared in the Imperial Printing-office at Vienna, and presented by the Emperor of Austria as a contribution to the Bible of Every Land. THE ALPHABETICAL LIST. PAGE Ahom 11 Albanian 21 Amharic 6 Anglo Saxon . . . .19 Arabic 5 Hindustani Signs . . 5 Persian „ . . 5 Pushtoo „ . . 5 Malayan „ . . 5 Moorish „ 5 Armenian 8 Assamese 11 Bengalee 11 Burmese 2 Cashmerian .... 12 Chinese 1 Cingalese 18 Coptic 31 Uncial .... 31 English 19 Old ... . 20 Estrangelo-Syriac .... 4 Ethiopic 6 Georgian 24 Ecclesiastical . . 24 German 20 Old 20 PAGE Greek 20 Gujerattee 13 Hebrew . Rabbinical Hindustani- Arabic Irish Japanese : Chinese Signs ■ Firokana . Eatakana . Javanese . Arabic Signs . Karnata Mahratta Malayan . Arabic Letters Malayalim Maldivian . Persian Signs Arabic „ Mantchou Moeso-Gothic Mongolian MoorishArabic Letters Moultan . 4 4 5 19 29,30 26—33 . 25 32 . 32 16 14 31 5 17 18 18 18 23 19 23 5 12 PAGE Old English .... 20 Orissa 11 Pali 10 Peguese 3 Persian 7 PersianArabic ... 5 Maldivian ... 18 Pushtoo-Arabic ... 5 Rabbinical Hebrew ... 4 Russian 21 Samaritan 4 Sanscrit 9 Sclavonic 22 Servian 21 Siamese 2 Sindhee 12 Syriac 4 — Estrangelo ... 4 Tamul 14 Telinga 15 Tibetan 3 Uriya 11 Wallachian 21 Wuch 12 A KEY PRONUNCIATION OF THE ALPHABETS, As almost every language has sounds or articulations peculiar to itself, which can never be described in writing, and must be heard to be rightly appreciated, it would be vain to attempt to define such sounds or articulations by numbers or otherwise. All that general readers, for whom this Work is intended, require, is to have an approximate idea of the value of every letter in Foreign Alphabets. This object will be attained by the following list of elementary sounds, the value of which is known to every English reader. VOWELS. a pronounced like a in fat. a 91 ii a in father. e J» ii ay in day. e 19 ii e in the French tete, fete. e 11 ii e mute, in the French je, me, te, etc. i 11 „ i in pit. i 11 ii ea in peat. o 91 ii o in dot. 6 11 ,, 6 in dote u 11 ii u in pull. u „ ii oo in pool. u 11 ii the French dur, pur; or like oo in good, as pronounced in Devonshire. ai 11 ii ey in eye. au 11 ii ow in how. eu 11 ii the French eu in peu, jeu, etc. In all other diphthongs or triphthongs each vowel is to have its full value independent of the others ; e.g. iao, i-a •o, etc. aoi, a-o-i. CONSONANTS. b, d, f k, I, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, th, sh, to he pronounced as in English. g always hard, as in guard, game, etc. h prefixed is aspirate ; joined to a consonant it is guttural, like ch in loch. j as in the French, jeu, je, etc. ch as in Church. n a strong nasal. ' between a consonant and an h, shows that they are to be sounded distinct, thus g'h, g-h. ' before a consonant or a vowel is a strong guttural, as 'din, the letter JJ, c or c, in Shemitic languages. Most Indian Alphabets have a class of letters said to be cerebral or palatal, the pronunciation of which differs widely from most European sounds. Those letters are distinguished by a dot placed under ; thus, d, d'h, t, t'h, n, etc. In all other combinations, every consonant is to have its full value. PRONUNCIATION OF THE ALPHABETS. THE PHONETIC ALPHABET. The Phonetic Alphabet consists of 34 letters, namely, the 24 useful letters of the common alphabet (q and x being rejected,) and 10 new ones. C is used for the sound of sh, or as c is pronounced in " vicious, social ; " and,/ is used for the French, j (zh), or s in " vision." Hence tc represents ch, tch, in chess, catch ; and dj represents J, dg, in John, edge. Y and w are consonants ; wh being replace :1 by hw. The vowels a, e, i, o, have invariably their short sounds as in pat, pet, pit, pot ; u is pronounced as in pull. All the other old letters have their usual signification. The italic letters in the words in the third line denote the sounds of the letters. CONSONANTS. Hb, 3.A, TJ i). thin, tlien, sing. bin, den, sin. VOWELS. Thonotype. R b, 8 s. S i ; O o, CF er. UJ m ; IS s : Example. alms, age,air, eat; all, ope, food; son, but: Phonetic form, bklz, edj,sr, it: ol, e*p, fuid; s'snjb^t : U, as in unit, unite, duty, value, is a double letter, and is written thus : " yuinit, yuneit, diuiti, valiu." In the Book of Genesis, the Psalms, and the Gospel of Luke, printed in the Mikmak language by Mr Pitman, of Bath, in the Phonetic Alphabet, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, the vowel in son, love, but, is represented by " d." Since these portions of the Word of God were carried through the press, the more appropriate and ele- gant type " ^ " has been adopted for this sound. The order of the Phonetic Alphabet and the names of the letters are, Consonants. — k, g ; h ; y : t, d ; c, j ; s, z ; ft, d : p, b ; f , v ; w : n, n, m ; 1, r. Names. — Tee, ge ; etc ; ye : ti, di ; ic, ji ; es, zi ; id, di : pi, hi ; ef, vi ; we : in, en, am; el, ar. Vowels. — a, £ ; e, 8 ; i, i ; o, o ; s, er ; u, ui : Names. — at, a; et, e ; it, i ; of, o; st, o; ut, w : Glass I."| ALPHABETS. [Monosyllabic. CHINESE RADICALS. I t / Lj i A A. )i A A n j-* v n u 711 '!J ij c + a] r A 38 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 P □ ± Hi. 35 A 32 33 34 36 37 38 39 m 40 Tf 41 *> 42 % 43 r 44 * 45 Hi 46 JH- ra « !> 47 { J 48 49 rfj so T « & 52 r 3L ft a. 29 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 > 61 62 AS f + + . 1} II H 5E B £ ' 6 jt #. it » fl- it m 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 77 78 80 81 82 83 84 >k mi 7!tJ A + 1 *) 5E J as x 85 87 90 91 92 ■ 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 ffl 11 & y 104 >/t 105 a & in. on - 106 107 108 109 rt JtJ *1 w Don no in 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 y 120 121 ffn 122 31 i*il 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 & ft ffl •V-J in ffiUa flE J 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 1 ft 147 148 .5. lw P J ^ 150 S. 151 3^ 152 P. 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 1=1 e P £ Si P N ^1 a ^ 161 ► 162 • 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 \ 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 / J3* 186 % 187 i@» 188 . . ^ 189 IS J J|5 190 191 ""g' 192 m i9s 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 -S- 201 2%Z 202 Eft 203 204 205 206 207 K, 208 -S- 209 7m 210 ijfc 211 £|5 212 213 214 A Class I.] ALPHABETS. [Monosyllabic. BURMESE. 33 a *330*1 a S\° i O | - 8«- u 33 ■ G(5jO o ■5" aB h ka k'ha 8 CO O s a ?25 g'ha C na cha 90 ch ' ha <^g) dja QJ dj'ha p na Q ta S tha O 9 da y d'ha OD na 00 ta 00 t'ha 3 da Q d'ha Q na O pa v9 p'ha O ba 00 l) ' na Q ma co y a Q G[ ra CO la O va O sa sha CO sa OO h 8 la Oo OO OO IL CO @ Mm ku kae kyo kra kri krva °3 °8I O 31 O L O C 6 o o IL 4 $ k'ham k'hya thrva gu nam ch cham chum chcha chva ch'o dj djja Etgatttreg. £?) djj'ha n ncha dam di d'ham n una tta th'u thth'i th'va di du dd'ha dd'yo d'hrim d'hri n nti ndi O 9 oo~ C22 no oo oo oc. CO o 3 I 3 6 IL 9 «? % % k a °? L °91 5 f 1 pra hya m mu mya ■ mha mhu mhu re rva rha lu lya -va vai ee SIAMESE. 11 -J hnoit ya J half 1 pause J whole ] pause 07 0* 9 o l) 3) */] ?) 40 <$0 ?0 407 n> f) n W V\ Q U V 5 a 3Lfpttt«8. 73 ka KT^ ka r^ku €Y) ke 6Y3 ke GY7} k0 Tj5 k - -Q kai "YjO kau •Y5 ko tf koi [Monosyllabic. TIBETAN. <5I ■V . 131 ■fii "3, a'a ^ u 3 'u 1] ka p tha *| ga C, na 7 ca S ch'a E, ja ^ na f) ta S t'ha *\ da ^ na 1 pa ^ p'ha *J ba 31 ma -3 za s, z'ha E, za (Jj va ^ ja 3 za P, h U| ya 3^ ra aj la ?| sha ^ ssa ?j ha 151 a jFigures. ^ A 2 «/ V* 12 3 4 5 <£ $ < {2 o 6 7 8 9 Section. Pause. 2LijjatttW0. 3 ku 'JJ kva 3 kya § kyu ^ kra U kra 2] kla |3 k'hu R k'hva 1 ka (S khya F k'hra J| k'hra ^ gva S gya .§ gyu *J gra ^ g™ ^ grva SI gla 5] gssa 5 nu S nss ^ chu ^ ch'u f ch'va ■1 ju •S nu ^ nva >§ tu 5 tra 1] thra ■§ du < dva s dra ~9 dra ■5 nu 3 pu § pya ^ pra 3 P'hu g P'hya § P'hyu 2 p'hyva .§ P'hru 3 bu B hya § hyu ^ bra ^ bss |j bra 3 bla | blu ■§ mu U mya § myu ^ mss 5 ju *5 jva zla zlu I -ya « yu 3> ra |j rkya D rgya ^ rgyu £, rna ■5 rcha g, r Ja 5 nia S rta 5 rda 5 rna 5 rba fj rma f} rmya ^ rchva ^ rva S ria §j Iga *gJ Ina §J lea % «a 3 lta ? Ida Sj lpa ^ lba H lbu ^ Iva ^ lha ^ shu fl shva ■^ ssu 7?) ssku m sskra ^ ssga a ssgyu *j ssgra fj ssgra ^ ssna S ssna 3 ssnu K ssta 5 ssda A ssdu x ssna § ssnu 5 ssnra jj sspa zi sspu ■gi sspra g ssbra ^1 ssma §1 ssmya S ssmra Sf ssza ^ ssra §j ssla ^ hva ^ hra 5 hra Class II. J AI ,PHA BETS. [Shemitio. HEBREW. RABBINICAL. SAMARITAN. SYRIAC. ESTRANCELO SYRIAC. {< f spirit 1 lenis f« A- /spirit *• t lenis i 1 / spirit (.lenis *a ^2 £> b, v rr / IT* / spirit lL - lL \lenis 3 b, b'h 3 3 1), b'h j?nnni. ^ "^ ^ t> g J g. g'h J Y g. 8"b r ? d -i d 1 d, d'h 7 f d, d'h 01 a. h qi he n h l> o a w, u ci a w, u 1 w, u 1 3f h 1 > ds '-"■ ■"• *• kh, hh ju. kh ? ds t £ w, u V * -J ^ ■*■ -J t 11 kh i> ^ ds Jk. -k. _h j ML v* a : .» j a t V C ^. ^ c, k \£ kh t + a a k, kh j,i t Xj ^ t \ V ^ ^ 1 2 *7 k, kh 3 1 fn ni m >o in io m b i 5 fil J, I \ _ i J n ,-j. i Q D m P *4 k, kh vlff ua £a ' » s ^ s j r » D s J 1 I 1 \ V 1» i u A p. ph V 1? ^ m wS >~a a s p, f J£ >S \S ts, z o. n :0 k P| p, ph p 9 5 - i-0 u2 n £> !: *i X f ts i r ^ S » r r I L I L sch P P M. * x. i^. sch A V V tth 1 >" 2? sch "5 D V a P, Ph 2. £. k th fLijjatates. Higatores, etc. n *. th P •fll ts % i. i. X n LiS, > U / aleph N [lamed S q % y ^ "^ gg {1 p la li n Fotoel anH otfjr c .Signs. -.1 V ^ r ^ zu i uu. sch UflfM Stgng. •V f i: : - o q o * A ■» i. A *. tb Q > . . " , •» •» V ♦ b ,, ; < j 1 Glass II.] ALPHABETS. [Shemitic. ARABIC. Final. Medial. Initial. \ [ V. "\ Va.e.i.o.u ^ j. < ; ? j s, th f^tr 6 A *> < » m ■i i » j n J J : JJ w ' u 4 i, h, t ^■^c> t i \ i ^ y i bch br bm bh _? bj *£ Wj s£ tkh J- tr . fir tm ^ thh ' sr c*c sm ^ sh ^* hh <2«. hdj SH hhdj iLfgatures. S" hhh «s" schdj nmkh s£ h'h ^ hdj ^s£ yh *r ydj ^ yr C *jf ym trtr yh *_?• yy ^ ^j, lam-elif PERSIAN ARBITRARIES. J j French ?f tsch g PERSIAN LIGATURES. Ffitoel , r $} kh *■* dh «; bh & th s£ ptsch pr u? Pj n MOORISH LETTERS. & &■ -^ J* if* A X X ■) d ds ss dh th dh f Class II.] ALPHABETS. [S HEMITIC. ETHIOPIC AND AMHARIC. U ha UJ sa su $ qu ■J. khu Tfr ku If zu E^ ft pu ¥ pu y. hi IH. si <{> qi "% khi U ki H. * £ dyi /l Pi X Pi V ha W sa $> qa 5 kha "a ka H za £ dyi A pa J pa VI he Ul se «£ qe ■^ khe ^a ke H, ze j£ dye ft pe '£ pe \) h 1 1$ kh ■n k •H - JF dy fc P T P U 3 ho A la A* lu *P 4. so ra ru 4> qo" ft ha ft- hu •f° kho ^ ua "ft ko cha chu H zo n ]a •H= ju £ dyo" 7 ga 7. Sa ft po tza tzu T po IBtpttijonp. *|*o kua A, ii & ri ft. bi S - 11 chi K Ji 1 gi ft tzi ^ kui A la L ra ft ba i na -n cha "H" ja ? ga a tza £ kua A, io I re a ° e £ ne "U che K 36 1 ge ft tze $ kue A i C r -P b \ - -vi ch K j <7 g ft tz he ft, se ■fc te T gne mu H- schu ^ tyu ^ u O u £ du Yft^tschu ^ fu (£} mi H. 6chi 4j w A. » Pi i £ « nx tscM >i fi > gua 1 &\ ma n scha 3" tya A a" Ol a ■*i da ^T tscha 4 fa *K gui CRl me R, sche ^3 tye ft, e ^ e i*d de YH, tsche A fe ^ gua {F> m Ti sch ?f ty ft e 6 e £" d tip tsch <£ f ^ gue CTi mo P scho ^ tyo * 0-

d j ds V r lT sch t V B £< ' a > % '°» ' U 6 gh J u J r ~> *<■ (J n i w, u ~'** y.i fl r- ft A f J f ba bd bk bm br Pd pr pk p'h sr s'hr s'h' s'h s'y tb t'h' t'h tr tm t'h ty h'b h'p h'r h'm h'h h'j khm sa sdj ILfptures. » * > i i J r r j stsb s'h sr shr s tsr tr sr sh 'ab 'as h'r ghr chr ndsch fr fm fy kr km fey ka kk kl mk km ky lb Id IP J J M U 6 j 4 > lr iy la lma lm Ih iy ma ms nd nh Tim ny htd hi ha hnd hsd -hn -hp yd yh blh plh yr,lr smr sdh tmr ghh khdj khr > * r J, } s'hm bkk jkk p'hir t'hr 'ap 'apr sm gbj ghr gbjr s'hma pkk llh ndh nhr nmr htd yr ylh by ny •m khdj h'dj stsh k. ghj p : hr ClASS III.] ALPHABETS. [ IyPO-EpROPEAM. ARMENIAN. A^* 2)> dz SK'L'i * [\ pe P *h 1 * k | t> A- ye, e j f\ , |u [u fa kh IJV/^m C^-l. sh (I ii 1. 1. tsh iV \n "f „{^£i> stsh U- * "» d rv* 3 3 B ts ]* *- u, v ^ •P P (hard) *-J^ ^ .£> k (hard) ()o o Jfc rne £/£ mn »/J mg SLfgatttwg. ii% mi tfh wn «w mkh i/£ me A. yew C- a {^t y e . e ljfr e (<)» £ ft t'h ]n J» J» kh & «^ mg faints. Italic. ^y* & dz llH « A* * ^^ dz 'l^_tf gh 7\'^ dj ($L mkh ,^£_ stsh fl* *- rh D- - 8r d fV r (> 5 ? ts (|> X 4 P ( har d) vf \ + k (hard) J^ me L yew Class III.] ALPHABETS. [Indo-European. 5T a mi a M *Ti- ^ aft an *T ^T sT k"ha ga g'ha na cha ch'ha dja dj'ha na ta b'ha ya • sa, sha sha 3£ la figures antj Pm'ntg. 2 3 3 4 S M 5 O 10 ^ k §fj kka ffi kta i$*T Wya PT ktra 75H ktwa WI taa ^T knya cH kma ^T kya ^J kra ^T kiya =fr kla 6^7 kwa 7^ ksh 3" ksha lo k'h T3 k'hna 1^ lfhra T|J k'hwa 7 g T gn 5J gna I! I £ f ST gr gra g'h g'lma g'hra nka nksha nk'ha nga ng'ha nna nma nya ch SANSCRIT. ^[ choha 5j chna Tf chra ^§[ chwa ^J ch'hma ^J ch'hya © ch'hra §> ch'hwa 5JT djna, nya U ajra ^[ ncha ^ ndja %T nna 6 ttsa }f *P a ^J tma §T tya 7£ tsha $? tsa <£[ thma SJ * h y a ^ dda •& ddlia to \S dbha 21 dya fo d'hna ^J d'hma ^T d'hya tj n TJf nna r t rf tta ^ ttra <5| ttv/a iLigatawg. eT 5 5 5 tn tna tra twa t'h du du dr dgra dg'hra dda ddra ddwa dd'ha dd'hna Col dd'hya dna dba & dbra lv db'ha ^J db'hya ^ db'hra ^T dma ^T dya 5^ dra ?3" drya & dwa 5J dwya & dvra £ d'h ^J d'hna y d'hra ^J d'hwa f nt ?T nta «^ ntr •5*1 ntrya ^pf ntwa ~$ nna ^ nra c P F pt R pta 3 pna ST pra £" Pla C[ pwa IZf pvya EJ>| p'hma ^f?J P'bya O b ^f bra 3.' b'h I r I T • % ™ ^[ lna ST Ua b'hra m mna mra mla mwa y r- s, sha sha ^ sra ^ scla SF swa 5 sh ^ shta 'ST sht y a ^ shtha ^ shthya ^T shna a[ shwa stra ? 3 sla h §» hu ^ hu ^ hr «(f hr i ^T bna Sf' hna ^Qi hma ^1 hya J^T hra ^T hrya ^ Ua *@ hwa ^J hvya Class III.] ALPHABETS P NDO-EUBOPEAN. PALI. glpfjafcrt. ILtgatuua. H * HI ka •ft da fill kya on " ■ta "1 {•ma ta J a 9 e a Q gj d'ha ill ■" oSlJ Ml l Q££ g'ha 1 na nP* o7 fl M mu 5 ' g na i| pa XAffl §' ha °lt tu , |1 mba ?y ' JJ cha |>«n| ch'ha tSt P'ha a' «■ B1 tva M mbu S - (5 B dja O ba OB ■cm flR tva an ya © - 8B b'ha oa - * dd'ha ttj| yya 8 ■ gj dj'ha M ma H chcha a • 31 na ua ^ A chcha Jo dva A ru gf ta | nu ff sl i. al fl\ ra SI chya SI »» t'lia i*wfc n * a *1 IN' gj djj'ha ■si & o P da *• rt'h a «M - •la 21 ncha JL. nd'ha in - Qm au nn M (J| O va 8 * nna H| ssa 4>a division m 0| II sa fc ttha O bba i m t'ha 111 ha ^29 mla fll bha B*~ umi 10 Glass III.] ALPHABETS. [I NDO-EtTEOPEAK. BENGALEE. AHOM OR ASSAMESE. URIYA OR ORISSA. vST a Q na Y^ k, g IX) Ph,bh 21 a £ ta ■^srf til t ta if i i t'ha YD kh, gh \? m 211 I a t'ha Stf i 5 da <§ O i & da d'ha na V n UO y *>7 i s d'ha © K * \3 ta $3" u S- u <51 na # 17 * # rr t'ha da yo ch, j -Cg r s ta S3 1 3CE e 4t ai ©ft o 5f d'ha na pa p'ha n t, d TV} 1 3 ai ^ t'ha da d'ha (£> eft au ^ ba 13 I o 5T na ■^J ka Jlf k'ha b'ha ma XX) th, dh vy s (3G (Si! au 81 pa *t ga ^ ya -a m ff p'ha ^ g'ha t!> na ^7 ra la *? n Y\ h 1 « % ba f> cha ^ chcha IT sa sha \J Pb Y*? a $ ka ^ b'ha v5i dja ^T dj'ha t 5 sha ha ^ k'ha ^ ga ma ya Etgatores. (9 g'ha 5 ra SLtgattt CfS. ^S 3 kta 3 pra Y*\ ka /rofi b £*» na ^ la 2J 5 kra O b'hra ^ cha ^ va ?3> kya, ksha Sf gna T -ya -ra n ka rib b g chcha si sa ^3 djna, nya *% ncha <& n'dja r- ru -la j ki § dja $ djha 3 a sa sha 5} tra at 11a sra ■A ki y^ kai ^ na £ ha T^ - dda ^ swa ^j\ dm If d'hva ■33 shta shna n ku yvy kau SLigataws, Tj" -na w sta §? kra *r tra T ntu ^ st'ha n ku TmT kau ^ ksha q -ya ^j nt'ha *3T sma Pj 9 stha >l na 2) ta *\ tha ^ da (J dha ■^ na 1 pa * pha Tit) ba •*l bha *l ma ^ ya 2- ra s la o va v\ sa 3 ha ^ tra WIOULTAN OR WUCH. rr 6 i © u 3 ka \ omitted Class III.] ALPHABETS. "Ikdo-Eukopean. CUJERATTEE. | *M a -51 djha SLfgatureg. J an J 2 ta *2 fci jfl dj'hi a t'hu 3] ■b'hu 2rtlJ & tha & ku ^ dj'hu i. t'hu 3 . 6 da K ku -^ dj'hu 4 di 1" _ ■b'hu 5 » dha ua k'hi 27 ? i du %J @ * Ui ua s k"hu J !° 1 du 41 * j $ " it ta % k-hu ^ * «a d'hi % TO 2. r 24 t'ha ott gi il *' M S d'hu ^ ™ an ^ da a gu J t-hu 1 d'hu - ■au ba b'ha bhu chi chu chu fi d'hu (5 d'hu 5 id pu pu p'hi *fl si ^ su % ka *H ma «fl chchi lifl f £ p'hu 34 su Vi tha ?" k p'hu *fl Bhi 01 ga <. ai 7£ na Z3 Ba 8b au ka, ga # chi L? Pi ^ s El na f|? chi M pu GVf ii & *2 au ^T P' na ^ ba 8 1 ( cha, ja, i_ sha na Br chu tg5 <=hu PU mi O^P li qv^ iu H ka ; tjq fo'ha ta, da # - U5* mi c^5 iu $J k-ha TZ ma (5tfST na # * © mu QA^ rna TT § a q ya S ta, da <^) nu yu ffg) na J3 chcha , ^ 8a IT ra @ tu, du rf ri <5fff « 00 la <5g5) na rP ri "5J dja ! TSJ sha 1 mf ■* lSJ va SffCf * [5 ru ■0 dj'ha 1 H sa pp sha ^wrf nl C5 ru ha Q3S* djhi |> ni 00 1 (JO a tf t'ha r la OS>P djhu 1 |) nT 5w nu © li note ru &5 rha 2f na ew lu 'UiT' ru £ da I pause S2> nu "^ ne er™ lo JT lu SS d'ha I ■5f° ka £to n " •^ una CO 11a olr* lu P9 na ss ku *& * e 6fr© po t'ha &J"° ku S£ du % ppu ■^ ha dy va «3 e GO du "35 ve §"* ko 2$ da ss> bu £3 ai (£X ksha © ti §> wa 2o $ d'ha "ft ge & ti <$y> bnu ^ wu 1) ? na So tu Sjfr ma •C na ?^ ge % shi 3-6 an d> r "§ te S» nri m *& P'na * gau e5> ttu 5335 mu o5? sha ~r 1- shta h «& ha OST i g'ha (gf; tra S> me $ ka <£p b' ha Ott> ghu c3^ da ^ mo ^ sa sp k'ha sjS ma 1 i 15 Class III.] ALPHABETS. [Indo-Eitropeats. KARNATA. © a & £> ka k'ha 0» g ' ha £ na «s cha 1 chcha 8 dja i dj'ba oq» na & ta 6 tha CS da 1 d'ha k0 ^- ksha 16" <& d0 g ti Sa tu ■g te C§ ttu g 1 tte gi tra Go"* da & di 6 de <& dri 1 T$ pra qo ra t3 re er° ia ?5*3 lo S ya 53"° va oS? sna ^ shta n a <-€ aU -TT) <5> [ sign of duplication f T l > u ALPHABETS. [Indo-European . MALAYALIM. Etgatures. as kr (WO) tta © b'hu _i -va COO ?a O(0o!) i C\aP d'ha kku 0TC5) ttu @ bhr QJ vu £ u &D na <£§ kku «ra tma (S bhra %l vr |H) u fO ta, da <& kra <© tra CB mu *& wa © ri LO t'ha A kla (©, tru % mu cj> su §§ ri 6 da d&a^ ksha <&o tsa mr cyeu scha «YD 1 CO d'ha & ksa 8 du 00) mma (C/?> sru «YO) 11 CD na co gu S dr mla £g ssa oQ) e O-J pa, ba g) gr <=lo ddha c^ -ya *£ shta o& e o_Q p'ha 03 gda 3) dya ytu oxm st'ha €®3 nna (Q5) ntra «L0 ] <£j ka, ga ai la ^yma «V sma ^ chn 03 nda <% J QJ k'ha OJ va (CYp sra ^ chcha cruo ndha 9a "1 CO ga OS sa (•yyu SB ssu o-gj g'ha r£k sha H chchu mo nna ^ s-ha «%S, djja oa nma fC3 ru C3 na /cha, dja, £U \ sha CTO sa .l£) ha ©fOU ncha OOJ nva © ru «&9 hu hu iP chcha t£ la nnu tu Si pu pu ^3 05)!o rgga rtha 1 lu Ikku 6o 1 11a rlu Jrigutes. 1 2 3 4 E 6vna nma (5b) pra & lpa a 2 rltu "0 9 OJ frfe A 6 7 8 9 © tu b'hu o O ' T* ' C^J- n ' Ca JC u «j ta k ^ k i£) @ 1 e 3 t'ha a ? 6$) mt)a y a <33 w X) a Q w d@|2 e e ? da 3 ti -zs ya ^> m ^ m @0 (s© i ai O d'ha «5 t (5) r . & ' > f © @ | 3 o na &) tva (ft ra v3 * *? d £D t © ® |£ o pa £, da 8" " C2J 1 -? ' q?t> & ae 6 p'ha £ di 5 n 3 g t/ n q:W ae e) ba S du OJ r §a & ■ r^ b oc m 25) ka ?5> b'ha ma <^ dae C dra dt lu ^ d ^ * PERSIAN SIGNS. Q fha C3 ya 8 **" C9l iu ^|* ^ C» ga (T ra /tfQJ J5> -t dd'ha © V X ' V-Oo. ® g'ha e la © ua 9 va <2D n 3 vi ARABIC SIGNS. *6 ni d> s •_ Q cha C» sa ?? Z e < , sva 4 * ^? y _ Uotoel joints. C25^ na e la 8 pi S hi , ,, , -t /» W 1- - » 18 ClASS III. ] ALPHABETS. [Ikdo- European. IRISH. NKESO-GOTHIC. ANGLO-SAXON. ENCLISH. $0 I. ji a Aa a 3ftcman. Italic. \\ th bh h Ii i Hh Hh Vf f Ii Ii Ssf s 11 i fe k k Jj Jj 5 s § Cc t R k LI l Kk Kk 5/7 b U u u A l CDra m LI LI 1» Jj i r v V H m N n n o o Mm N n Mm N n H n &Q . 2. G, y PP P Oo Oo a a a N n i l n u Rp r Pp Pp 5 b b O o i ) Sr b Qq Qq C c c P P ] n p Tr t Rr Rr t> t> d Rp ] • 1* r Qui, Ss S s e e e s r 3 S s V P V Tt Tt P P f C * t T t X X x Uu Uu 5 5 § U u a Vv Vv n h h 4 agus Y v.y Yy- y Ww Ww 1 l i n nn Y t Z % z Xx Xx CI 1 ro rr w ©s" .dh, th Yy Yy Ttl m m 2 o »*. Zz Zz 19 Class III.] ALPHABETS. [Indo- EUROPEAN. GERMAN. J OLD ENGLISH. GREEK. 1 (Sutenberg. Common. |0 Jj b 5 ar 3 an, am I)i ba ty be Ip quod 10 que 21 a 33 b (5 c & a -d a a Cr c ao l|J bo o (ft quoque S b J 5 d Bin d fet ba ^ b, etc X quam 6 e 8 f if ^Je e i£ t e jff « Sr be to bo J in, im } j 2 r f f re © 8 $ b 3 If H 7} e J$ bet { il a ! f I 0^ ft j5g g f ( can > i \cum, rX re 8 1 Jfcltn jjl mm 2R m m n © r If!} h ity ch $ nd B rum Sfl n iT* k Ifiii i d ct r-nn ttJ f P 2t X > i&k k 2 con £> q m r _M> m III i flJJ cha 5 an 11" SI r © fg £ ("6 € t N V n fKnti n UjJ cbe djj cbo on 5 pre ft J £ se % t U u It a o 00 o 01 co P pri t ter 28 » 3f r) n it v $? p ta da t ta X X £ 3 P p r tl? de JH Pa ty th 3 i * fi Uo-y s ID q i F * e © f T t iRr r r if ~] den $> the u it fi . \ $ PP ft r« « ^[afs Jy J dem ¥ ppe U uer d ft ff <2> Pb It t tS do £ pro U urn f n x x k ' h 3^UU i f est, en g per ft uer ft ff ^^ ps 011 v £• re, er £ U ua ft ub If ft /]o) o <3S uj w ^P prop #M fi Accents. F 1 x r y a a n que 7 3 us fl d) » » / \ - § gi ff qua IH va 1 t (mute) Aa d 'It Hi Hi j '-- b h (soft) JK h j 2> 6 (uoft) A & g 6 3 ch *-* J 8 S 1 t 3s z Ge e 3s z Ge e L U dii V 01 Xx Cll IA ia ia X x en M ia ia 131 Class 111. J ALPHABET S. [Indo-Eukopean. Class IV.; ALPHABETS [Ugro-Tartarian. MANTCHOU. MONGOLIAN ■ *. * H -i a j> o o - * 1 ^ a 1 J t H- J c *> O -> Jj 8 4 M «-J e i * xl 6 i O" -^>« ->> - kh A ^ ^> i i i 4 ■ eL * ^ r I d <*> «> * u I d <£> u 2>» 4 <1 A - w J * 4 J >l » X - ts I d ir 4 ^ an i*- » > - ths i d <*> u aL - • H 4^ n y V sh (soft) ' H ^^ *. * 1 ^ k 5* ^ - - ss S> ^> 1 n b £t. V - "g U» l*» -- - tshh -? 1 kh -£. * > - kh 1 i> - - dsh'h * 2 :1 gh » 3> $ j> b (soft) o o ^ k 3 9 $ - "P SLtgatareg. H ■t * > j- E «> «>*>*» bi o o - g -t © 5> $ fl> "o -h +1 ^5 m *.* ^ X. sch 8)' ©' $. &> to -P -P -P 1 4* A i. t J> J> jj> © bo, -pi J* ^ r 1* A - d 5" 9 $ ^ pi ♦ -tfl 1^ t iL * A - t & S> 1> 2 ki ♦ ^1 i^ ^ d 4. f. - d ^ "3> <> -£> ku <. '" -P a i j^ ^ $ j^me *1 •1 hi s, ds i i" -h ^2 ra ^ £ iS 4. - 1 H dsh ^ gk £ mu * - *i =*5 sch P ?e I. (French) ^TU h (mute) p'h 24 Class IV. J ALPHABETS. [Ugro -Tartarian. JAPANESE.- -KATAKANA CHARACTER. SLijjatureg. JDuublmg JSigna. >f i '1 9 J 4" na >j- ke * " t) ro - ri ?• 1* T ge - "3 in, i-i \ >\ fa X ba y. nu !■ ru 7 - ra 7 * I. i ■ mi r domo { 7" bu I 2> tama J\° Pa i>" — ni ■=? wo A ■ mn -7 ° 7 p u 3 ko i % tsudza <* *] ^9 wa * f * -fo ■h ka 2, 3* gO X tsumi * J 4/ ga ^" J2_ e or ye \ itf b0 3 y° 9. > u T" te *l- I umi jFfgutes- jfr° PO ^ ta r /* de i?J i knri ! J A ■ JT da =H ► wi 1; 3i ye a l 2 -fe > re / no j\ > a 1 kumi "S? "1 _i_ -* -e s u 2. 3 y so * ■ $r sa \£ Pi 1 yami Cflitjuitctwjts ^ J > .v* "> [- mo < J anti /] y ? 3foat»mjj -\o Pe ■ zo J? ku ■ za r mama Signs. f do f gu f ki J- se "fej I fumi 1 * v> ■ tsu _!_<» w T V] fc _* ^ ya af g hi "E ze X su £ sazi _b O dzu T a- yu * - tsi •^ >~1 „ ilgeto fn tfje 4 . F < ■ ma y " > zu } mina Hatujttage. f ■ ne "2 * ■ me :> :£•* dzi * - ^? . * . \ mia 7° tn 25 Class IV.] ALPHABETS. [Ugko -Tartarian. JAPANESE. -FIROKANA CHARACTER. (T> -| ^ i " &' ?- t' & (A ^ $ fe 6* - ga I fa i t ■ to jfc. nu K ■ so ne (4 4 # ► yo %" o * b ro ni I J ra *> £ * £- zo h^ A £• do **1 «i : <> ~ %l 3, £• ? fe * ft 3r t I . f> ■ fo > tsi to * or * > ta 9 % % ■ na t ■ fa fy & WO ^ ft - tsu % h A Y - 7 da 1 y £ *?■ Jr fc- h J «, & ft . -*> " t (J J- wa e J ft' 4>. to Yf ' . fe J fe *> u - ra K /l 9 -ri $ - k • re * > \ . ba *| 6 4 * • ka & &, ^ - dzu /$■ » be iP A /^ }> 5 J i - 1 t J <$> J & h* \ . 26 Class IV.] ALPHABETS. [Ugro-Taktarian. JAPANESE.- FIROKAN A CHARACTER. {1} }■ mu 4D £ ~ «? ~ S>' &r *- > ya - me ft * *> t a > sa t> - fi $ ^1 5 u - or wu t t t • ko 2 5 3 - £" 4 ij ■ mi T ■ su b - to 1 v6 £ tf" £• tK > bi t * > ma 2 > go ^ ^ ^.* > za 2A W _ ft -4> ■ wi 1 & £* J I > si 9 6 <7> >■ no 0*1 or . ke > te . ki • zi h A t - mo f 0-j 4* 4^ 1, ¥1 % - t. r ■ zu S i Gf ■ ghe ^ £ *i ■£ I-- < • ku If J 4r > de ^ r. ■ giii 4 t ■ se ft* •fu t- $> " A • ye f j < - *>- X 1^ 1 A- " *- ■ i& i© t Li * .4T ■ gn - bu ■ a -0 - yu t ^ € - ze A. /C j .„ £_ .*- *\ 4)- k. €^j O point Class IV.] ALPHABETS. [Ugro-Tabtaeian. 6 rosi ML fasi |^ basi ]X nisi r • fosi fc. £ H bosi do si rubesi JAPANESE. -F.IROKANA CHARACTER. /£• kan Jb kajesi kavasi to kasito T ft 1 gasi £ tf yosi tasi dasi • resi "2. tsudzu 15 SLtgatutes. Ill • dausi * < ft 11 L IT 1 f li kusi kuzi kuru gusi » J & |i^ bUEi fuzi doubling Signs. < 4 <* kosi r - koto I I ) r i\ a? a |4? asi ^\ sa 1;5 sasi 13 sazi ||* zasi ||r kisi ? IS 1 4 II S1WO simo yezi bisi -j\ mo ra, mos ]y zusi ^ nsi VC- nzi * $ 28 Class IV.] ALPHABETS. [Ugro-Tabtakian. itsi lye As ima 1 ^ inu roku v\ fana ■fe- -#> /)w fast - fawa fatsiziu tan A A JAPANESE.- FiROKANA CHARACTER. |] mtsi fei • be to • tori - tosi * £[L, tokoro % do jfij tsi tsitsi tsiu % j # ft J ■dp Chinese Signs. lif kage wotoko % waka ka kadzi kado n in )'] kawa f kadzu- \ mura * itt ft % kane yo yon yosai yotsu taro tara taina n £ i ft i *> j $1 tamon tamai tai dai dan tatsi tsuki G«3 nan ^" muro $1 utsi JL uye * ugenda no-yama no-tsikai ku kuni kuru A- k y» 29 Class IV.] ALPHABETS. [Ugro-Tartabian. % % J yama mata mato - matsi matsu fu futa JAPANESE. -FIROKANA CHARACTER. bu ko % )h y ^ kome kokoro kono ■ koto ffi&uusfe Signs. A ^ goto gorosai i i. te tei ^F ten % aki % J Mfy saka 4> ph H i,e Ng Tg e ^Z z •A/ OC ch, so e th T t O I P f <-> Hh '> e \|/ \j/ ps K 1 k Tz to w PP 3 0e th 00 oo o * 1 DJ % TJ tj £ & Kh kh J li Kk i k q q f £x g u m n Kk J/ AA 1 o HI Hi t Z & h Gg j/ Mm m n p,b Ch ch c bh i.h P r L 1 j M N n c 3 D d 3 (5" 6" sh, sch Zz X T t, d M m , Dz dz j r Oo G) 0) sh T i,y P h R r J N n c> nn Pi b tt ti X ch, sc Z z . U W + ps y* u; j Slccents. S sf a* d W j a NN en f g sj fj J^ H h a 6p I e i 6 o a- sh, gh sh Tftstf u° Ijij eS \ i P 0) er 2 h D] dl J* NJ nj C> H M em db o Mi ti 31 ALPHABETS. [Polynesian ok Malayan. JAVANESE. Sj> a (CTi ta Higatureg. (Wl sa jn ha £l dya OJUl" . 0OJ1 la dl> nu a) tu dL (CI na {jb- cha ^ • mn \. OflTI ga oJ (UUl ha (Oil ba 1 r- ~n pa ann ga ^ (Kl na Q£l ta (KL, ka CO da OJJ g« 1 00) cha O na KM ku CJ - du CO Da ^ tti ra ^ da (J ., Q)"| Ml ka O re ^) du - (1X1 da 3 " V£ ** <§, ju 6) ta m (Capita 1 [ letters, ARABIC LETTERS. cinnn na (KV ka 03* pa OK na Ml > i_J K j ann £_ ' Jigureg. djl ta am. "1 ion ga am *3- a 6 S) c arm «3v OJUl a* -" "3K ha 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 32 ALPHABETICAL LIST OE MEMOIRS. PAGE PAGE PAGE PAGE Abenaqtti 455 Bima . 372 JDaco-Kojian a or Wal- German .... 181 Accra 415 Bohemian . . 300 lachian 279 Ghadamsi . . - . 405 Adiyah or Fernandian 420 Bosnian . 306 Dacota or Sioux 463 Gheez or Ethiopic . 57 Affghan or Pushtoo . . 72 Brazilian and Guarani . 472 371 Gipsy or Eommany . 130 African or Moorish Arabic Breton or Armorican . 170 Dalmatian-Servian or Gothic .... 174 or Mogrebin . 55 Bruj or Brij-bhasa . . 104 Croatian 304 414 Aimara .... 471 Bughelcundee 105 Danish .... 217 Greek, Ancient 227 Albanian .... 289 Bugis and Macassar . . 374 Delaware 447 Modern . 241 Alemannic or Old High Bulgarian 307 Dialect, Negro, of Curacao 270 Greenlandish . 441 German 178 Bullom . 409 Negro, of Surinam 212 Guarani and Brazilian 472 .Aleutian or Aliout-Liseyeff 358 Bulochee or Beloochee . 74 Dialects, Bengalee 114 Gujerattee . . . 123 Amharic .... 61 Bundelcundee . . 105 Cognate, Siamese 14 Gurwhal or Schreenagur . 123 Anamite .... 15 Buriat . 339 Hinduwee . 103 Ancient Armenian 75 Burmese . 7 India, Central 106 JtlABEOTEE . 106 Greek . 227 Buttaneer or Virat 108 Dogura or Jumboo . 120 Haussa . 412 Aneiteum 392 Dorpat Esthonian . 329 Hawaiian 375 Anglo Saxon 191 L'ATFKE or Kaffir . 426 Dualla or Dewalla 418 Hebrew — Old Testament . 22 Arabic .... 48 Calmuc .... 338 Dutch .... 208 New Testament 29 Moorish or Africar l, Cambojan . . 15 JcjifaHADiNE, Upper and Memoir descrip- or Mogrebin . 55 Canarese or Karnata 141 tive of 31 Arakanese or Eukheng . 10 Canoj or Canyacubja . 104 Lower, or Eomanese . 287 Hindustani or "Urdu 94 Ararat, Armenian 79 Carib or Karif 473 English .... 196 Hinduwee . 100 Arawack .... 474 Carniolan . . 305 Escuara or Spanish Basque 318 Dialects 103 Armenian, Ancient . 75 Carshun .... 56 Esquimaux 438 Hungarian or Magyar 325 Ararat . 79 Cashmerian . 120 Esthonian, Dorpat . 329 Wendish 310 Modern . 80 Catalan or Catalonian . 265 Beval . 330 Hurriana , , 105 Armorican or Breton . 170 Catchee or Cutchee . . 117 Ethiopic or Gheez . 57 Ashantee or Odjii 417 Central India Dialects . 106 .Icelandic or Norse . 214 Assamese 115 Cbaldee . 39 Ju AfTTEE .... 416 India, Central, Dialects of 106 Australian, New S. Wales 395 Cherokee 459 Earoese 226 Indian, New England . 444 Aztec or Mexican . 465 Chinese 1 Feejeean .... 390 Indo-Portuguese 275 -Dashmfhic Chippeway or Ojibway . 450 Fernandian or Adiyah 420 Iowa .... 464 402 Chocktaw . . 461 Finnish . 319 160 Basque, French 314 Cingalese 147 Flemish .... 205 Isubu .... 419 Spanish or Escuara 318 French .... 254 Italian .... 277 Bassa 414 Corean .... 359 Basque 314 373 Cornish . 169 Formosan 368 Jallooe . . • . 407 Beloochee or Bulochee . 74 448 Japanese .... 356 Bengalee .... 109 Creolese . 211 (jTAELIC .... 158 Javanese .... 369 Dialects . 114 Croatian or Dalmatian- Galla .... 432 Jewish-German . 186 Berber .... 403 Servian . . 304 Georgian .... 353 Judseo-Arabic 52 Bhojepoora 104 Curacao Negro Dialect . 270 German, Old High, or Judeeo-Persian . 71 Bikaneera . 108 Cutchee or Catchee 117 Alemannic 178 Judeo-Polish . 188 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMOIRS. PAGE Judeo-Spanish . . . 267 Jumboo or Dogura . 120 Juyapoora .... 108 .Kaffir or Caffre . 426 Karaite-Tartar . . . 350 Karass or Turkish-Tartar 347 Karelian . . . .328 Karen, Karayn, or Karieng 15 Karif or Carib . . .473 Karnata or Canarese . 141 Kliaspoora or Nepalese . 121 Khassee .... 17 Kikamba .... 435 Kinika .... 435 Kisuaheli . . . .434 Kousulu or Koshala . 104 Kumaon . . , , 123 Kunkuna ... 129 Kurdish . . 82 JLaos or Law . . 14 Lapponese .... 322 Latin .... 245 Lepcba .... 21 Lettish or Livonian . 310 Lifu and Nengone . . 394 Lithuanian . . . 312 Looehooan .... 357 Low Malay ... 366 JMacassab and Bugis . 374 Magadha or Magudha . 114 Magyar or Hungarian . 325 Mahratta or Marathi . 126 Malagasse . . . .386 Malay, Low ... 366 Malayalim .... 145 Malayan .... 360 Maldivian . . . .150 Maltese .... 53 Mandingo . . . .406 Manks .... 166 Mantchou .... 334 Maori or New Zealand . 383 Marathi or Mahratta . 126 Marquesan ... 380 Marwar .... 107 Massachusett . . . 445 Mayan . . . .468 Mexican or Aztec . Micmac Misteco . Mithili or Tirhitiya Modern Armenian . * Greek . Syriao Mohawk Mohegan Mon, Talain, or Peguese Mongolian Proper . Mogrebin, or African or Moorish Arabic . Mordvinian or Morduin Mosquito . Moultan, Wuch, or Ooch Mpongwe . Munipoora XI AMAQUA . . . Nengone or Lifu . Nepalese or Khaspoora Negro Dialect of Curacoa Dialect of Surinam New England Indian . New S. Wales Australian New Zealand or Maori . Norse or Icelandic . Norwegian Laplandish or Quanian Odjii or Ashantee . Ojibway or Chippeway . Old Saxon .... Olonetzian Oodeypoora Oojein or Oujjuyunee . Orenburg-Tartar , Orissa or TJriya Ossitinian .... Ostiacan or Ostjakian . Otomi Ottawa .... Oujjuyunee or Oojein Pali .... Palpa .... Pawnee .... Peguese, Talain, or Mon Persian .... PAGE 465 454 467 114. 80 241 45 456 444 11 337 55 331 469 118 421 16 430 394 121 270 212 444 395 383 214 324 417 453 189 328 107 107 349 116 84 332 467 453 107 91 122 464 11 64 PAGE Peruvian or Quichua . 470 Piedmontese . . . 286 Polish 298 Portuguese ... 271 Pottawattomie . . . 454 Provencal or Roraaunt . 281 Punjabee or Sikh . . 118 Pushtoo or Affghan . 72 vJuanian or Norwegian Laplandish . . . 324 Quichua or Peruvian . 470 XVAEOTONGAN . . .378 Keval Esthonian . . 330 Romaunt or Provencal . 281 Romanese or Upper and Lower Enghadine . 287 Rommany or Gipsy . . 130 Rukheng or Arakanese . 10 Russian .... 295 OAHIDIC .... 401 Samaritan .... 35 Samoan . . . . 388 Samogitian . . . . 313 Samoiede . . . 355 Sanscrit . . . .86 Saxon, Anglo ... 191 Old . . . . 189 Schreenagur or Gurwhal 123 Sclavonic . . . .291 Sechuana . . . 423 Seneca 458 Servian .... 302 Sesuto or Sisuta , . . 425 Shawanoe . . . 454 Shekawutty . . .108 Sherbro-Bullom . . 410 Siamese .... 12 Cognate Dialects 14 Sikh or Punjabee . .118 Sioux or Dacota . . 463 Sindee . . . .117 Sirenian or Zirian . . 332 Sisuta or Sesuto . . 425 Slovakian 306 Spanish . . . -261 Basque or Escuara 318 Surinam, Negro Dialect of 212 PAGE Susoo .... 408 Swedish .... 222 Syriac .... 41 in Hebrew characters 45 Modern . . 45 Syro-Chaldaic ... 43 Iahitian ... 376 Talain, Mon, or Peguese . 11 Tamul or Tamil . . 133 Telinga or Teloogoo . . 138 Terasco .... 467 Tibetan .... 20 Tigre .... 61 Timmanee . . . .413 Tirhitiya or Mithili . 114 Tongan . . . .381 Toulouse ... 283 Trans-Caucasian Tartar . 352 Tscheremissian . . 331 Tschuwaschian . . . 351 TuluorTuluvu . . 144 Tungusian Proper . . 336 Turco-Greek and Turkish- Armenian . . 345 Turkish . . . .341 Tartar or Karass 317 U ppee and Lower Engha- dine or Romanese . 287 Upper and Lower Wendish 308 Urdu or Hindustani . . 94 Uriya or Orissa . . 116 V AUDOIS . . . .284 Virat or Buttaneer . 108 Yirginian .... 444 y\ ailachian or Daco- Romana . . . 279 Welsh 151 Wendish, Hungarian . 310 Upper and Lower 308 Wogulian . . . 332 Wotagian or Wotjakian . 333 Wuch, Ooch, or Moidtan 118 Y arriba or Yoruba . 411 ^APOTECA Zirian or Sirenian 467 . 332 ®|)c &\bk of QEocrg Can*. CLASS L— MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES CLASS II.— SHEMITIC LANGUAGES .... CLASS III.— INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES . CLASS IV— UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES . CLASS V.— POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES CLASS VI.— AFRICAN LANGUAGES .... CLASS VII.— AMERICAN LANGUAGES . ■ ■ . 1-21 22-63 64-313 314-359 360-396 397-437 438-475 THE BIBLE OF EYERY LAND. CLASS I -MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES, CHINESE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13* $1 # s& m, z % ifc M Z ft jus. m a &t m n % z a * ?\ s* ^ in •ffi. ft H ft rfif J£± ft Hi * m * M ^: A ^ Z fi ffi 7fe v £ BE A ft ^ + 7b :5V PJIB % z BE ^ k m m « » z * A Z % A # M # Z £ ra #> ** ft A * f $ m & # s r % T K ft HI 3t ^ w £ a Hf A Z * 75 BS 3k M — *^f» •=? » -w. & /p TO Z Hj I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT, AND STATISTICS. The Chinese empire, called "the land of Sinim" (Isaiah xlix. 10), — the land of the Chinas (Manu x. 84), — and Chin or Machin, in Persian writers, includes within its area about a third of the Asiatic continent, and occupies little less than one- tenth part of the whole habitable globe. China proper, in which alone the Chinese language is vernacular, comprises eighteen provinces, each of which is equal in extent and population to some European kingdoms ; it forms about a fourth part of the entire region generally regarded as tributary to the Chinese emperor, and contains an area of not less than 1,297,000 * From Dr. Morrison's Translation, issued in 1823, by the Anglo-Chinese College, in twenty-one Volumes. 2 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. square miles. According to the official documents furnished by the census taken in 1813, the popu- lation of China proper amounted at that time to upwards of 360,000,000, — or more than a third part of the estimated number of the entire human race ! And astounding as such a computation may appear, there seems no sufficient reason to doubt its correctness, or to question the proba- bility of a considerable increase having taken place during the period since elapsed. Indeed, persons whose local experience has given them the best means of observation, uniformly concur in regard- ing the above number as underrated rather than the reverse. 1 Thousands annually migrate from China to the shores of the Indian Archipelago ; and Mr. Crawfurd, the late resident at Singapore, estimated the number of Chinese dispersed throughout the Philippines, Borneo, Java, Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Siam, Tonquin, and adjacent districts, at 734,700. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The language used by this vast population exhibits certain affinities with some of the idioms of Central Asia ; while it is distinguished by some remarkable characteristics of its own. The first great peculiarity is the remarkable fact, that in the written language of China the words or characters are not, as with ourselves, representatives of spoken sounds, but symbols of abstract ideas. It contains no alphabetical letters in our sense of the term ; and every written character is an entire word, with a uniform meaning in all parts of the empire, independent of its conventional sound in the various local dialects. This constitutes a great difficulty in the acquisition of the language ; not, however, to the extent that has been generally supposed. It is true that in the standard national Lexicon, published by command of the emperor Kang-he in the seventeenth century of the Christian era, there are found as many as 44,449 distinct characters. According to the Tseu'-wei of Me'i-tan, their number is only 33,000; and in the Pin-tsee-tsien, 20,000. Most of these, however, are either obsolete, or of very rare occurrence ; so that in the penal code of China, translated by Sir George Staunton, and in the Chinese A 7 ersion of the New Testament, the result of a careful collation has proved that there are only about 3000 characters in very general use. For practical purposes, that number even may be reduced to about 2,200. The Chinese characters have been sometimes compared to the hieroglyphics of Egypt. The resemblance, however, is not complete ; as Chinese writing was never confined to a priestly caste, and is, moreover, a more artificial and ingenious system of ideographic combinations. There are 214 original characters or roots, into some of which every one of these 44,449 characters may be resolved by the process of dissection or analysis, and which form the foundation of the meaning as well as the basis of the lexicographic arrangement of each compound character. The written symbols of the Chinese may be divided into six classes. The Jirst class, called seang-hing, or " images," comprehends those which appear to have been originally mere rude pic- torial representations of visible objects, although in process of time the original resemblance has been almost lost ; as e. g. the symbols for a field fjj , a man A , a horse S| f a s ] ie ep ipl , etc. The second class contains the characters called hwei-ee, or of " complex meaning," which represent a combination of simple ideas; e.g. 0'^)' "the sun;" and g (j/ue), "the .moon," written together thus, Hfj, read " ming" and mean, " light, brilliancy." The third class contains the characters called che-sze, or "indicating the thing;" e.g. _1_, for "above;" ~" T~, for "below;" now written, h (shang), and ~T\ (liea). 1 It ha3 often been said that the population of China is relatively as dense as (or denser than) that of England. According to the census of 1851, the population of England and Wales amounted to 17,920,569, equal to an average of 310 inhabitants to the square mile, while the population of England (without Wales) averaged 335 inhabitants to die square mile. The former ratio, applied to China, would be equivalent to a total of more than four hundred millions, and the latter to upwards of four hundred and thirty-four millions, of inhabitants. This consideration may serve to diminish the surprise, almost the doubt, with which the statements regarding the enormous population of China have sometimes been received. Class I.] CHINESE. 3 The fourth class is but small. It contains the characters called chwan-chu, or " inverted;" as A (jin), " a man" (standing); p? (die), "a man" (lying down) " a corpse." The fifth class contains the characters called kea-tsiei, or " borrowed ;" i. e. conveying an abstract idea borrowed from the object they represent; e.g. j^> (sin), "the heart," is sometimes put for "mind," " to understand," etc. The sixth class contains the characters called hing-shing, or " representing the sound," which are very numerous. These characters are partly representative, and partly syllabic, or phonetic. One element in the character, viz., the image, determines the meaning and fixes the genus ; the other element, for the most part a group of strokes Avithout any actual meaning, indicates the sound, and marks the species. Thus, e. g. Jh , which represents " a place," answers to the Chinese word le ; joined to the character ^ (yu), "fish," it forms the symbol 1g]P, the name of the fish, le, "a carp." In addition to the characters of those six classes, there are others, found especially in local dialects, which appear to be formed arbitrarily, without respect to any system of classification. Among the 44,449 characters which form the Chinese language, there are about 1500 primitive characters in very common use, which we may imagine to have been the whole stock of symbols at a very early period of history, and which had not only a definite idea, but also a definite sound attached to each. As every character in Chinese is pronounced in speaking as a monosyllable, it would come to pass that their ideas, and the written characters by which they expressed those ideas, would increase far beyond what they would be able to pronounce by separate sounds amid the monosyllabic poverty of their spoken language. Many ideas would all be expressed in speaking by one and the same mono- syllabic sound. Instead of selecting an entirely new character, they would take some well-known character in general use, having the same sound; and by merely adding one of the 214 roots or simple elements to influence the meaning, they would form a new combination, the whole being in effect a new written symbol, of which one part influences the sound, and the other the sense. Let us take the example of ^|J le, profit. We may suppose this to have become one of the 1500 primitive characters, having its definite sense and established pronunciation. There is another le in the spoken language, meaning a "pear-tree". Thus, by taking the character ^|J "profit," which has the sound of le, and adding the radical character yjr muh, "wood," they formed a new combination, 2^J le, a " pear-tree", of which the upper part gives the sound, and the lower the sense. So again on the same principle, by combining the same primitive ^|J le, with the radical having the sense of "disease," a new character !]^jj is virtually formed pronounced le, but having the sense of "dysentery." So again for writing the word le having the sense of "hatred," they combine the same primitive ^|J with the radical bearing the meaning of "heart," the whole forming a new symbol y$J le, "hatred," of which the upper part gives the sound, and the lower influences the sense. And on the same principle, there are ten phonetic derivatives from the same primitive ^j] le, all having the same sound of le, but having different meanings according to the radical character with which le is combined. There are four or more different kinds of hand-writing, in which every character in the language may be written. The Chinese are great admirers of caligraphy, and place much value on a skilful handling of the pencil. Each symbol means a word, — implies a single idea, — and is not susceptible of declension, of con- jugation, of gender, or of number, according to the Latin form. This gives the Chinese language a sort of (to us) childish character, capable however of great beauties of a peculiar kind. This language has two principal styles. The ancient and classic style, called koo-wen, which is terse and energetic; for in it one word means many things, since it may be taken for a noun, an adjective, a verb, or even a particle. And the modern style, called hioan-hwa, or " mandarin tongue," which is written and spoken with some provincial difference, by educated men, from one end of the Chinese empire to the other. This, unlike the koo-wen, is diffuse and rather lax. For instance : icei tlieen tsung ming in MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. SPECIMEN OE CHINESE GEASS WEITING, THE LOED'S PEATEE, EEOM ADELTTNG's MITHEIDATES ; EEVISED. yao « kuai 3, pu db jin ng6 pel v^* hoe ^ thsing :7cy ng& £C? ye V^i *fl sche A^ Jin kiQn sa yon ^ yeii T& thsing Q& kifln ^Z/l sche fe> mein &7 tschi ?i¥i kuo YJJ7 thsing 33 kifln 13- ji $5 tseng -^ schi ^ "go kiQn ^ tang £"" 7 thien tSP tM A tang X tschi ■2P schin 3* kiQn jj^ tsching ^ ling tana [Class I. K Ngo ^ tschi £fi kifln <£" •j±; tsai ^g> tsing "7 thien •"Ip tsche .3? kifln hoo-iven, means that a clear intelligence belongs to heaven only. Those four words are explained in kwan-hwa, by sixteen, thirty-eight, or even a greater number of words. We will notice some of the peculiarities of the spoken language. The absence of an alphabet'has deprived the Chinese of an important means of preserving a uniformity of spoken language through every part of the empire. A native of China would be altogether unintelligible, speaking his local patois at a distance of 200 miles from his home ; and yet, like the Arabic figures of arithmetic in western countries, the written character is everywhere the same throughout the whole of China, though in reading and speaking the local pronunciation becomes in fact a separate language. Thus the symbols for twenty-two, though written the same, are spoken by a native of Peking urh-shih-urh, by a native of Ningpo gne-a-gne, by a native of Canton e-shap-e; in the same way as "twenty-two" would convey the same idea but have a different sound in each language of Europe. The dialect of the capital, com- monly called the mandarin or court dialect, is used as the medium of intercourse between the govern- ment officers and the literati in all parts of the country, to obviate the inconvenience of the local dialects. The greatest difficulty in acquiring the spoken language consists in the fact already men- tioned, the monosyllabic nature of Chinese words ; which causes a complicated system of tones, and redundancy in the colloquial style. There are 450 monosyllabic sounds of which the Chinese organs of speech are susceptible ; among those monosyllables, some are liable to the four principal accents ; others to three, two, or one accent only, whereby the number of syllables is brought to 1203. According to P. Premare, p. 36, the original monosyllables are 487, and the modified syllables, 1445 ; and these have to be divided among 44,449 written characters. But with all these contrivances of varied tone, a large number of ideas will be expressed by the same sound and the same tone. No difficulty is produced thereby in the written language, as each word is a different character, having a different visible form ; but great perplexity is frequently caused in speaking, and hence a redundant style is employed in conversation, which is altogether unnecessary, and is considered very inelegant in a written composition. A well-known Protestant Missionary, now labouring in China, has been heard to make a challenge that he could write a moral treatise in Chinese, of which each character would have only the sound of e, or Hi, or yih. The impossibility of understanding the meaning of such a Class I.] CHINESE. composition when read aloud to a person who has not the writing itself before him, will be apparent to every one, unless, in reading it aloud, an additional number of sounds are employed for each cha- racter to prevent confusion. Hence has arisen the practice of employing two or more monosyllabic sounds in speaking, where one would have been sufficient in writing. Thus the spoken language becomes in one sense no longer monosyllabic. This addition is made either by reduplication of the sound, by using two synonymous words, or by forming some other conventional compound. Thus, for instance, the character for father and that for axe are both pro- nounced foo. In speaking they employ foo-tsin (a father-relative), and foo-tow (an axe-head). When it is borne in mind that the Chinese aim at great brevity and conciseness in their written compositions, and that a breach of the rules of literary taste is a great offence in the estimate of Chinese scholars, it will easily be seen that it is impossible for a foreign student to place the Holy Scriptures before the minds of this civilised but benighted people in a style at once adapted to the taste of the educated, and suited to the understanding of all classes of the native population, without the assistance of learned natives. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SACKED SCRIPTURES, IN CHINESE. It has been related, though upon disputed authority, that in the Chinese province of Shen-se, in 1625, a curious monument was discovered, bearing inscriptions relative to a translation of the Sacred Scriptures into Chinese, supposed to have been executed at a very remote period. It would appear that in A. D. 637, Olopen, a Christian missionary, arrived in China, and succeeded in obtaining an interview with the Emperor : the result, it is said, was highly favourable, for the Emperor commanded Fam-hiuen-lim, the prime minister, one of the most learned of Chinese scholars, to translate the sacred books brought by Olopen. But if this edict was ever issued or executed, it is certain that not one of the copies of the version thus produced is now in existence. A few portions of the Sacred Scriptures appear to have been translated at various times by the Romish missionaries in China, but no successful efforts were made by them towards the produc- tion of an entire version. In 1806 a translation was commenced in Bengal under the superintendence of the Eev. David Brown, Provost of the College of Fort William ; he employed for this purpose Joannes Lassar, who was an Armenian Christian, but a native of China; and in 1807 a copy of S. Matthew in Chinese, translated and beautifully written by Lassar, was sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Lambeth Library. In 1808 the Rev. D. Brown transmitted to the Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society the first sheet of this translation that had passed through the Chinese press. It had been printed from wooden blocks, cut by chintz pattern makers; but early in 1811 metal types were used in printing the Scriptures at Serampore, and this mode of printing Chinese is now generally adopted by our missionaries, in preference to the native method of printing from wooden blocks. The preparation of the version, from about the year 1808, was taken up by the Serampore missionaries : Dr. Marshman and his son, in conjunction with Lassar, completed and printed it at Serampore in 1822, under the liberal patronage of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Each sheet of this version was subjected, by the indefatigable translators, to an almost incredible number of revisions, and the whole was diligently conferred with Griesbach's text. Another version was made by Dr. Morrison, who about the year 1807 was sent to China by the London Missionary Society. Before his departure from England he had obtained some knowledge of the language, and in aid of his important undertaking he took with him the copy of a Chinese MS. belonging to the British Museum, and admirably executed by some unknown hand; it was apparently a translation from the Vulgate, and from the beauty of the style was judged to be the production of a native. 1 It was written by order of Mr. Hodgson, in 1737-8; he presented it, in 1739, to Sir Hans Sloane, through whom it came into the possession of the British Museum. It contained a condensed harmony of the Gospels, and likewise 1 Mr. Callery (Systema Phon., p. 80) says that this version was written by the Jesuits, and incautiously made over to the English by J. Marchini, superintendent of the College of the Propaganda, at Rome. 6 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. the Acts, and all the' Epistles of St. Paul, with the exception of that to the Hebrews, of which the first chapter only had been translated; when death, or some other cause, arrested the hand of the translator. Dr. Morrison says, concerning this MS., that in translating the New Testament, he, at the commence- ment, derived great assistance from the Epistles, but that afterwards they caused him much labour in verifying, and in effecting such alterations as his judgment suggested. In the translation of the Old Testament, Dr. Morrison made considerable use of Bishop Newcome's version of the twelve minor prophets, and of Lowth's Isaiah; he also referred continually to the original Scriptures, the Septuagint, Vulgate and French Versions : he never appears, however, to make any remarkable departure from the sense of the Authorised English version. Dr. Morrison after labouring alone for some years in China was provided with a valuable coadjutor in Dr. Milne, who was sent to aid in the work of translation, by the London Missionary Society. The historical books of the Old Testament, and the book of Job, were translated by Dr. Milne, and he died while employed in their revisal. The entire version was completed in 1823. At the anniversary of the Bible Society in 1824, Dr. Morrison presented the sacred volume at the meeting, and Mr. Butterworth related the following incident : — " It is now many years ago, that in visiting the library of the British Museum, I frequently saw a young man who appeared to be deeply occupied in his studies ; the book he was reading was in a language and character totally unknown to me. I asked the young man what it was; he replied modestly, The Chinese, and said, I am trying to understand it, but it is attended with singular difficulty ; if the language be capable of being surmounted by human zeal and perseverance, I mean to make the experiment. Little did I think," continued Mr. Butter- worth, " that I then beheld the germ, as it were, of that great undertaking, the translation of the Sacred Scriptures into the Chinese language." The production of this most important version, and of the numerous successive editions through which it has passed, is mainly if not entirely due, under Pro- vidence, to the generous aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who, from first to last, advanced more than ten thousand pounds in furtherance of the translation and circulation of the Chinese Scriptures. About the year 1836, a revised edition of the New Testament was produced by the joint labours of Messrs. Medhurst, Gutzlaff, Bridgman, and J. R. Morrison. But this work, although in idiomatic correctness a great improvement on preceding versions, was considered by competent authorities as loose and paraphrastic, and the work of translation was felt to be still incomplete. In 1843, the Protestant missionaries in China assembled in Hong-kong, and recorded their wish for a new version of the Scriptures in the Chinese language, better adapted for general circulation than any hitherto published. They recommended that the task of preparing such a version should be confided to a body of Delegates, and this proposal met with the fullest sanction and support at the hands of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The labours undertaken by the Delegates were commenced in 1847 ; the version of the New Testament was completed in 1850, and that of the Old Testament five years later. The "Delegates' Version" (as this edition of the Scriptures in China is generally called) is that now adopted by the Protestant missions, and an edition of 50,000 has been printed at Shang-hae and Hong-kong, under the sanction of the British and Foreign Bible Society. IV. — INCREASED OPENINGS FOR THE DIFFUSION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. By the terms of the treaty of Nanking, concluded on the termination of the war between Great Britain and China in 1842, increased facility was gained for the work of Christian missionaries. Missionary labourers were allowed to reside in five important and populous cities, spread over 1000 miles of coast, to which natives from the remote provinces of the empire continually resort. At each of those cities, except the city of Canton, to which foreign intercourse had been formerly limited, and where a strong an ti- European feeling had been excited by the insolent intolerance of the old system, the missionaries made visits of twenty or thirty miles into the surrounding country, and < u x z: O ho ¥ oO tv ¥• KJ oo ft: ft ¥ H ft \ F*7 TT O ft ¥ ¥ iv. /V K-» 00 "£: /k/ IVy Kj ¥ ^ KJ -s — tr If ?F -12 ¥ ¥ -£ /k 7 k/ 39 /1W Iv k-» t7- d0 ¥ \to KJ, KJ •^ ft re of /kV c}0 r9 KJ ¥ ¥ 00 % re 7 ¥ "F *7 fcA ■*- ¥ ¥ ¥ tr 30 I 75" KJ K7 42 r9 M oO c& ft V ^ IV IT 00 DO r9 0O 1^ gi ¥ lET t* 19 ft k tr ,1^ To t/. ¥ ^ 00 « It ¥ ¥• ¥ 00 ¥ r9 00 ¥ sol ft Iv 2r? h: 7 ¥ o0 ¥ ft ft trf "f9 ¥ 00 ty. 4£ ¥ B ft ¥ g oo ft h ¥ 00 ¥ 7T iv E ft £ ¥ * ^¥ 00 a KJ ¥ rxr S B ¥ k/ do do K> 00 t7- R /|W DO ^w ¥ Tr Iv- o W ¥ ¥ ~T3 ^O O s 3 r COO ^^CR £ ^3^) s Jo, 8 o ° ^ § 3 8 R IIS § 1;8 §1 8 gkJ °S) § sf a ^^^^ Cera- S? - 8 8 ^ C S 3 ^f»/ '-**t CJ>r- o CUCQ O C o q, 8 °^ n Cp ^ B 8 tora- o = (1 '* 8 ^^ ° * w n g 1 8 & ^ o a, P 8 F^ 8 00 ^O e^ 0j c^) q p 8 8 a 2,5' eg 8 8^cs) "8 °B & 8 eo co 8 C^3 o O ^ C6 p 8^8^ eo 41) ^ cs g_^ 3 C3^ OO^ °^ 8 Cs CO °8 3 3 8 cS ^ O o 3 3 CB3 2 O Co § 8 o 8 8 qV ^9 8 ^ ? 8 § f O CO ^^ o o 3 8 I Cp O ^°83l c^ 8 I OG^ = o 8 p & Cp ,^* 8 8 cv O^ (P Go Class I.] CHINESE. 7 experienced a friendly reception from all classes of the native population. These openings for the introduction of Christian truth have been greatly extended by the course of subsequent events, in con- nection with the war which terminated in 1858. The treaty of Tien-tsin, concluded in that year be- tween China and the allied powers of Great Britain and France, provided for the opening of several additional ports, as well as for free intercourse with the interior on the part of English and French settlers, — missionary or otherwise. Notwithstanding the partial impediments which have arisen from the more recent renewal of hostilities, the openings thus made have not been neglected, and there is reason to expect the happiest results from the concessions which have been extorted from the govern- ment of China. Further insight into the customs and character of the people has proved that there is very little religious bigotry among the Chinese; that there is nothing like the system of Hindoo caste known in their civil institutions; and that their idolatrous priests do not (like the Hindoo Brahmins) exercise any influence on society, or possess any respect in the minds of the people. The state religion of Confucius is more a system of political ethics than of religious morals. The religion of the people is generally the more modern religion of Buddhism. In other words, a speculative atheism appears to be the belief of the sage, the statesman, and the scholar : idolatry, stripped indeed of Hindoo obscenity and blood, is the system received by the uneducated classes. Irreligious apathy, with godless indifference to every thing concerning a future life, appears to be the main characteristic of this people, and the principal obstacle to the success of Christian missions. Education is, however, greatly encouraged and patronised by the government, as the usual road to the honours and emoluments of the state. Books are everywhere in great requisition. The Holy Scrip- tures are in all parts received with avidity; and a desire of knowledge, and a spirit of curiosity and inquiry, are extensively prevalent among the people. Except the worship of the spirits of ancestors, there is no form of superstition universally and strongly enthroned in the affections of learned and unlearned. In spite of renewed hostilities with the Chinese government, and of the general apathy of the population at large, there are yet many indications which lead to the belief that with the in- crease of labourers, the increased diffusion of the Holy Scriptures, and more earnest prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit on the work, we shall in due time see Christian churches raised in China, and the gospel producing its blessed results among this benighted though highly civilised race of man- kind. The names of Leang Afa, and of other Chinese converts, are first-fruits (it is to be hoped) of an impending harvest of more extensive missionary success in the empire of China. Instances of decided converts, and promising inquirers, are mentioned in the latest Report (1860) of the British and Foreign Bible Society. BURMESE, INCLUDING ITS COGNATE DIALECT ARAKANESE. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE BURMESE VERSION, by De. JUDSON, see Plate 1, page 7. I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Burman (called by the natives, mranma, myanma, or byamma) Empire lies south of Assam, from which it is separated by the little kingdom of Munipoor, and extends over more than one-fourth of the Eastern Peninsula of India. Although the boundaries are not very clearly defined, and have been materially contracted to the southward by the late war between Great Britain and Burmah, terminated in 1853, which resulted in the cession to Britain of the extensive maritime province of Pegu, it is supposed even now to comprise an extent of territory which is greater than the area of the British Isles. According to recent information, the total amount of population in Burmah and Ava 8 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. amounts to about 3,000,000, but this number appears to comprise no fewer than eighteen different tribes and nations. The Burmans constitute the bulk of the population in the British provinces of Martaban, Ye, Tavoy, and Mergui or Tenasserim, which include an area of 32,500 square miles, and a population of 118,000 persons. Throughout these provinces Burmese is the language of the court, of official proceedings, and of general conversation. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The tyrannical nature of the government, and the degraded servile character of the people, are legible in the structure of the Burmese language. Although this language, like the Chinese, is totally destitute of inflection, yet, by means of suffixes and affixes, not only are the relations of case, of mood, tense, etc., determined, but even the rank both of the speaker and of the hearer is indicated. A distinct set of words is used in reference to the common acts of life, when performed by the great or by priests. Thus the term expressive of eating, when the action is performed by ordinary individuals, is tsah ; but if a priest is said to be eating, the term is pong-bay. Again, the word in common language for boiled rice is ta-men ; but a priest's boiled rice must be distinguished as soone. These distinctions add precision to the language, but greatly augment the difficulties of its acquirement. It has been conjectured that the Burmese was originally a dialect of the Chinese family of languages, and that it was moulded into its present form by admixture with the Pali, which, with the worship of Boodh, was introduced into the Indo-Chinese countries from Hindoostan, by the circuitous route of Ceylon. The Chinese origin of many of the Burmese words is still apparent; and of the four peculiar tones pertain- ing to the Chinese, two are in use among the Burmans. Nearly all the abstract and metaphysical terms of the Burmese language are, however, derived immediately from the Pali, and in Dr. Judson's Dictionary, it is said, the number of Pali words amounts nearly to four thousand. All pure Burmese words are monosyllabic, and even the polysyllabic terms engrafted on the language from the Pali, are, in general, subjected to certain orthographical changes, and pronounced as if each syllable were a dis- tinct word ; this circumstance, together with the frequent recurrence of guttural, sibilant, and nasal sounds, renders the language monotonous and unmusical to the ear of a stranger. Words closely allied in signification (as an adjective and the noun it qualifies) are, however, united in writing so as to form one word, and sometimes six or eight words are thus strung together, forming words of such formid- able length as to remind us of the polysynthetic dialects of America. As many words have two, three, or even ten significations with the same orthography, this manner of connecting words is of important service in removing ambiguity. Numerals are generally combined with a word descriptive of the form, or some other quality of the noun to which they belong, and in that state they are joined to the noun, and constitute one word. In this peculiarity the Burmese language resembles the Siamese and Chinese languages. The Burmans, like the Germans, delight in long and highly involved periods : in a simple phrase the agent is generally put first, then the object, and lastly the verb ; and as compared with the English idiom, the words of a Burmese composition may be said to stand directly in an inverted order. "The character of the language," says Dr. Leyden, "has a very considerable effect on the style of the compositions which it contains. Repetitions of the same turn and expression are rather affected than shunned, and a kind of native strength and simplicity of phrase, with short sentences full of meaning, are the greatest beauties of which the language admits." Although the Burmese language can boast of numerous literary productions, it was comparatively little known to Europeans until the establishment of the Baptist Mission at Rangoon. It numbers many dialects : some say, as many as eighteen. The Burmese Alphabet is derived from the Sanscrit, through the Pali, the sacred language of the empire. It consists of twelve vowels and thirty-two consonants. In point of form, it surpasses all the alphabets of Western Asia in simplicity ; almost all the letters being either a circle or a portion of it, or a combination of two or more circles, called for that reason, tza-lonh, or "round writing." Although Ciass I.] BURMESE. 9 the sounds in some cases are different, the same system of classification prevails as in the alphabets of Hindoostan. The first twenty-five consonants are distributed into five classes, viz., the gutturals, the palatals, the cerebrals, the dentals, and the labials. The first letter of each class is a simple articulation, smooth and soft, the second is the aspirate of the first ; the third letter has a corresponding rough and hard sound, and the fourth, according to the Sanscrit system, is the aspirate of the third, but the Burmese do not distinguish it in sound from the third : the fifth letter is the corresponding nasal. Of the consonants, not included in the above classes, five are called liquids, one is termed an aspirate, and another though pronounced th, is properly a sibilant. Vowels, when they enter into' combination with consonants, are represented, as in the Indian languages, by certain abbreviated forms, called symbols, placed before or after, above or below, the consonant. Four of the consonants also combine under symbolic forms with other consonants, and thus the compound consonants are formed. The accents offer a great impediment to the acquisition of the language, as words which are the same in ortho- graphy, vary greatly in signification according to the accent they receive. The light accent is denoted by the sign ( ° ) placed under the letter ; the heavy accent by ( ° ) placed after the letter. On the other hand, a great number of words are pronounced very differently from the way they are spelled; and the pronunciation of the language, even by educated natives, is generally indistinct. Two small parallel lines ( || ) are used to separate sentences, and sometimes the clauses of sentences. III. — VERSIONS OF THE HOLT SCRIPTURES. Three MS. translations of small portions of Scripture were made by Roman Catholic missionaries before the establishment of a Protestant mission in this empire ; but the first attempt to procure a complete version in this language was made by the Baptist missionaries of Serampore. About the year 1807 Felix Carey, the son of Dr. Carey, settled in Burmah as a missionary ; he applied very diligently to the study of the language, and in conjunction with Mr. Chater, who resided for a short time in the country, he produced a translation of two or three Gospels. In this work great aid was derived from a book of Scripture extracts, afterwards printed at Serampore, containing accounts of the Creation, the Fall, the history of Our Lord, and the main doctrines of Christianity ; the MS. was written in Burmese by an Italian missionary then residing at Ava ; he had studied Burmese and held daily intercourse with the natives for twenty-five years, and yet he declared that he still continued to find something new and complicated in the language. In 1815, 2000 copies of the Gospel of S. Mat- thew, by Messrs. Chater and Carey, were printed at Serampore ; but this is a very imperfect translation, and is said to be quite unintelligible to the Burmans. Mr. Carey had studied medicine in Calcutta, and he introduced vaccination in Burmah; this led to an interruption of his labours as a translator, for in 1813 he received a summons to the court of Ava, to vaccinate the royal family. Not having suf- ficient virus in his possession, he was sent with almost regal honours to Bengal to procure a further supply. On his return in 1814, when proceeding from Eangoon with his family to Ava, the royal residence, he was shipwrecked, and his wife and children all perished. Yet shortly after, leaving his missionary work, he accepted the office of ambassador from the Court of Ava to the Bengal govern- ment. The translation upon which he was engaged was transferred to the Rev. Dr. Adoniram Judson, who had a short time previously arrived in Burmah under the auspices of the American Baptist Board. Dr. Judson recommenced the version, and in 1816 was joined by Mr. Hough, with whose aid, and the present of a press and types from Serampore, the Gospel of S. Matthew was printed at Rangoon in 1817, as introductory to the entire New Testament. In 1821, Dr. Judson gives the following account of his progress in the translation, which he appears to have made immediately from the Sacred original. " I have engaged Moung Sheva Gnong (a convert) to assist me in revising the Acts, but he is so par- ticular and thorough that we get on very slowly, not more that ten verses a day, though he is with me from nine in the morning till sunset." During the first Burmese war, in 1825, Mr. Hough repaired to Serampore with various books of Scripture revised and prepared for the press; and under his super- intendence 21,500 copies of different portions of the New Testament were there printed. Never, in 10 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. modern times, have Christian missionaries been subjected to such bitter sufferings and privations as those which have been endured for the sake of the Gospel of Christ in Ava. The bonds, and imprison- ments, and sufferings of Mr. Hough and Mr. Wade at Eangoon, and of Dr. Judson and Dr. Price at Ava, at the close of the war above referred to, are fresh in the recollection of Christians. These events greatly retarded the work of translation. More than once the mission was entirely suspended ; but eventually all turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel, inasmuch as many territories by this war were placed under British protection. The second and later struggle between Great Britain and the Burmese power has resulted in political arrangements still more important in reference to the progress of missionary labour in this large portion of the Asiatic continent ; the province of Pegu having, in 1853, been annexed to the territories of British India. The first complete version of the Burmese New Testament was issued from the press in December, 1832. The edition consisted of 3000 copies, and was printed under the patronage of the American and Foreign Bible Society. In 1834, Dr. Judson completed the translation of the Old Testament, which has since been published by him in handsome quarto. (Second edition of 5000 in 1840.) On this subject he has the following touching entry in his journal : " Jan. 31, 1834. — Thanks be to God! I can now say ' I have attained.' I have knelt down before him, with the last leaf in my hand ; and imploring His forgiveness for all my sins that have polluted my labours in this department, and His aid in future efforts to remove the errors and imperfections, which necessarily cleave to the work, I have commended it to His mercy and grace : I have dedicated it to His glory. May He make His own inspired word, now complete in the Burman tongue, the grand instrument of filling all Burmah with songs of praises to our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ." In 1837, a second and much improved edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament was printed by the American Baptist mis- sionaries, established at Maulmein. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS VERSION. The fruits of the Rangoon translation were not first manifested in Burmah itself, nor even among the Burmans; the Gospel, it has been well remarked, is like a spring of water; if it cannot find a pas- sage in one direction, it forces its way in another. At the very time that no perceptible effect seemed to result from the reading of the Burmese Scriptures in the special country for which the translation was made, this version was especially blessed in a tract of country bordering upon Chittagong, in- habited by the Mughs, a people of Aracan, who at the close of the last century had for political causes migrated from their own country, and placed themselves under British protection. Their language, which is sometimes called the Rukheng, varies only from Burmese in pronunciation, and a few pro- vincial forms; and is in fact merely the oldest dialect of the Burmese language. In 1815, De Bruyn, a devoted missionary, commenced the distribution of portions of the sacred volume among them; and shortly after his death it was found that there were no less than ninety baptized Mughs united in church fellowship. For three years they had no minister or missionary resident among them ; yet during all this period, the perusal of the Scriptures being duly persevered in, they were enabled to maintain the worship of God, and to edify one another; and those brethren from distant stations who occasionally visited them, bore testimony of their faith and good works. The American Baptists have since written portions of the New Testament in the Arakanese, or proper dialect of this interesting people ; but the Burmese Scriptures are likewise fully intelligible, and much prized among them. We have an account of the first convert in Burmah from the pen of Mrs. Judson. She says, — " A few days ago I was reading with him (the first Burman convert) Christ's sermon on the Mount. Pie was deeply impressed. ' These words,' said he, ' take hold on my very heart, they make me tremble. Here God commands us to do every thing that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. How unlike our religion is this ! When Burmans make offerings at the pagodas they make a great noise with drums and musical instruments, that others may see how good they are ; but this religion makes the mind fear God ; it makes it of its own accord fear sin.' " Although Burmah at one time Class I.] BURMESE. 11 presented to Dr. Judson and the first missionaries a continued scene of discouragement, yet it after- wards became an example of the ease with which God can arrest the attention of a whole people to the Scriptures. Writing in 1831, Dr. Judson said, that one of the most remarkable features of the mission was the surprising spirit of inquiry then spreading everywhere, through the whole length and breadth of the land : he stated that during a great national festival held that year, no less than six thousand applicants came to the mission-house. " Sir," said they, " we hear that there is an eternal hell. We are afraid of it. Give us a writing that will tell us how to escape it." Others came from the frontier of Cassay, a hundred miles north of Ava. — " Sir ! we have seen a writing which tells about an eternal God. Are you the man who gives away such writings? If so, pray give us one, for we want to know the truth before we die." Others came from the interior of the country, where the name of Jesus is a little known. — " Are you Jesus Christ's man? Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ." Dr. Judson's subsequent account of the character of the Burmans is equally hopeful. They are, he says, a careful, deliberative people, who turn a thing many times over before they take it. They are not disposed to give much credit to the words of a missionary,* but when a tract is put intolheir hands, they wrap it up carefully, deposit it in a fold of the waistcloth or turban, carry it home to their village, and, when a leisure evening occurs, the family lamp is produced, the man, his wife and rela- tions gather round, and the contents of the new writing receive a full discussion. Instances have not been wanting of the blessing of God having followed this careful study of His word. Mr. Kincaid relates that during a journey through Burmah, a youth who had previously applied for books came to him, and besought him, before he quitted the city, to visit an old man who was anxious to see the teacher. Mr. Kincaid followed the lacHrome, and was surprised to find in the object of his visit an old man full of faith and hope in Christ, though he had had no other teacher than St. John's Gospel and a tract, called The View, accompanied by the Holy Spirit. He said that he had loved Christ for about two years; and his language, Mr. Kincaid relates, was that of a man acquainted with his own heart. Narrating a voyage up the Irawaddy, from Kangoon to Ava, this missionary describes the people as most eager to hear and to get books. One man said that he had got a book in Rangoon that told him about the Eternal God who made all things, and about Christ who died to open a way for the forgive- ness of sins. He said the more he thought of this, the more sure he felt that it was true. Many such instances convincingly show that a wide field is opened in Burmah for the diffusion of truth, and in a printed form. To account for such large issues of the Scriptures as have taken place in Burmah, it should be stated that the Burmans are generally able to read, and a smattering of education is more common among them, perhaps, than any other people of the East. A Burmese and English Dic- tionary, in 8vo., by A. Judson, was issued at Maulmein, in 1826; and a second edition in 1852. PEGUESE, PEGTTAN, MON, TALAIN, OR TALING. SEE SPECIMEN OF BURMESE, Plate 1, page 7. The Peguese language is still spoken in Pegu, a country which formerly included all the sea-coast and the mouths of the rivers of the Burman empire, but the Burmese portion of which, comprising by far the greater part of its extent, has now (as mentioned in a preceding page) become a province of the British-Indian empire ; it comprises an area of 22,640 square miles, with a population of 70,000. Great numbers of the agriculturists in Siam are Peguans. Pegu was formerly a great and powerful state, and governed by its own monarchs, but in a contest with Burmah and Siam it fell, and the Peguans were for a time the slaves of both empires. The Peguese language is supposed to be more 12 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class 1. ancient than the Burmese: it abounds in gutturals, and is simple in construction. The alphabet is the same as the Burmese, except two additional consonants. During their possession of the country, the Burmans did their utmost to extirpate the language, and to render their own predominant, but without success. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and of St. John's Epistles has been made into Peguese from the Burmese by Ko-man-poke, a learned native, but no copy of this version appears to have reached Europe. A translation of the whole New Testament, by Mr. Haswell, was printed at Maulmein in 1847. The edition consisted of 3000 copies. SIAMESE. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE SIAMESE VEESION, see Plate 11, page 337. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The kingdom of Siam embraces a large portion of the peninsula of India beyond the Ganges. It lies between the empire of Anam to the eastward, and the British provinces of Pegu and Tenasserim, which form its western border. On the south, it includes the shores of the Gulf of Siam ; to the north- ward, it is limited by the territory of the semi-independent Laos or Shan tribes, situated in the heart of the peninsula. The area of Siam proper is estimated by Crawfurd at 190,000 square miles. The estimates of the population have varied between three and seven mdlions. Sir John Bowring is disposed to consider the real population of Siam proper as amounting to from four and a half to five millions. The Siamese themselves are probably fewer than 2,000,000 of the number. A large pro- portion—probably not less than a third of the whole — are Chinese. Siam may, with its dependencies, be considered as occupied by a dominant race, or T'hai ; a vast but for the most part migratory Chinese population, the Laos people, the Cambodians in such parts of Cambodia as recognise the Siamese authority, the Peguans in a part of the Mon or Pegu territory, numerous Malayan tribes, with a variety of mountain races in a state of greater or less subjection to the government of Bang-kok. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The language of the Siamese was formerly called Sa-yama phasa, the " Sa-yam language." But since the reign of Ruang, who set his country free from the yoke of Cambodja, the Siamese call them- selves T'hai, "free"; and their language pliasa-Thay , or Tai, " the tongue of free-men." The native Siamese language possesses considerable affinity with some of the provincial dialects of China, more espe- cially the Mandarin or Court dialect, from which many of its radical words and numerals are obviously borrowed. But the language, as it is spoken by educated people, contains many words of Pali origin ; and is divided into three principal styles of writing and speaking. Several fundamental terms, belong- ing to the Malay, are also found in Siamese, which has for this reason been regarded as the connecting link between the Chinese and Malay languages. The delicate intonations of the Chinese exist in Siamese, and it is more strongly accented than any other Indo-Chinese language. The political institutions of Siam, in point of despotism and tyranny, are akin to those of Burmah, and have had great effect in moulding the language and the literature. The rank of the speaker may in Siamese, as in Burmese, be inferred from the pronouns he uses; and, phrases expressive of adulation and flattery are very numerous and varied. The words which hold the office of pronouns are hence particularly numerous, and attention to the rules for their distinctive use is so rigidly exacted from all classes, that the misapplication of a single pronominal is considered indecorous and disrespectful. The alphabet, though formed on the model of the Pali and Devanagari characters, possesses several original elements, whence it has been conjectured that an ancient style of writing was known in Siam prior to the introduction of Buddhism and the Pali language in the fourth century. There are thirty-five consonants and the vocalic a ; this latter is often placed in a word as a sort of Class I.J SIAMESE. 13 pivot on which the vowel points are arranged, forming, as it were, the body of each of the simple vowels. There are sixteen simple vowels or finals, besides twenty-nine distinct and complex final vowel combinations. The nasals are quite as diversified as the Chinese ; the letters b, d, r, which are rejected by the Chinese, are adopted in this language, but on the other hand, the letters ts, sh, tch, fh, hh, which belong to Chinese, do not exist in Siamese. Words are not generally divided in writing, and a small' blank supplies the place of our colon and semicolon. Siamese differs from most of the Eastern languages, in admitting but little inversion of the natural order in the construction of sentences; the words follow each other much in the same way as in English; for instance, the nomina- tive almost invariably precedes the verb, and verbs and prepositions precede the cases which they govern. No orthographical changes whatever mark the variations of number, case, or person, but prefixes and affixes are in constant use. The language has been represented as copious ; "yet," says Crawfurd, " it rather possesses that species of redundancy which belongs to the dialects of many semi- barbarous nations, and which shows a long but not a useful cultivation." III. — SIAMESE VERSIONS OP SCRIPTURE. In 1810, the design of providing Siam with a version of the four Gospels was entertained by the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society, and Dr. Leyden undertook to superintend the translation ; but he died before this important project had been carried into execution. Perhaps the first attempt at trans- lating the Scriptures into Siamese was made by Mrs. Judson, of the American Baptist Mission, who with the aid of her Burman pundit produced a version of the Gospel of St. Matthew. Owing, however, to the death of that lamented lady, a stop was put to further translation till 1828, when Messrs. Gutzlaff and Tomlin visited Siam in the capacity of missionaries and physicians, and applied sedulously to the study of the language with a view to the translation of the Scriptures; after a residence of nine months, Mr. Tomlin was compelled by ill health to relinquish the undertaking, and Mr. Gutzlaff prosecuted his important labours alone. Part of the MS. translation of the New Testament was forwarded to Malacca as early as 1829; but the missionaries connected with the Malacca press proceeded with the utmost caution, and made a practice of printing no portion of the version until they had ascertained, by actual experiment, that it could be read and clearly understood by natives of every capacity, from those of the first literary rank to the commonest readers. Mr. Gutzlaff, being remarkably favoured with the best native assistance, subjected the translation to several revisions; and after labouring night and day for a long period, he in 1833 sent a revised copy of the New Testament to Singapore. The work of revision was continued by Mr. Jones, one of the Baptist missionaries in Burmah, who from his having previously studied the cognate language of the Shans, was well qualified for the task ; he was sent to Bankok (the capital of Siam) at the instance of Messrs. Gutzlaff and Tomlin in 1834. Mr. Robinson, another missionary at Bankok, also engaged in the work, and in 1841 produced a translation of Genesis and Daniel, and a new or amended version of several books of the New Testament. The publication was aided by a grant in 1843 from the American Baptist Bible Society. In 1846, Mr. Jones completed the translation and publication of the entire New Testament in Siamese. 2nd edition 1000 copies, Bankok, 1850. IT. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. Siam affords comparatively few instances of conversion following the perusal of the Word, yet in no country perhaps has the intervention of Providence been more manifested in opening a wide door for the general distribution of the Scriptures. The American Board of Missions and the American Baptists have missionaries in Siam, by whom the Scriptures are circulated among the people without let or hinderance from king, nobility, or priesthood. The priests have even frequently sent to the missionaries requesting to be supplied with copies of the holy volume, and have on some occasions expressed a degree of dissatisfaction with their own religion, and an apparently sincere desire to examine the tenets of Christianity. In fact, one of the missionaries stated, in 1842, that no class of people are 14 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. more importunate in begging for books than the priests, and this too in public, and on all occasions. This dissemination of Scripture has had the effect in Siam of considerably narrowing the original ground of controversy. The Siamese now declare, that were they but fully satisfied as to the existence of a future state, they would gladly embrace Christianity as the only system which provides for the forgiveness of sins; for they have been brought to acknowledge the sinfulness of their own nature and practices, and tbey clearly perceive that Buddhism, which is in fact practical atheism, offers no means or hope of pardon. The first appearance of the missionaries in Siam spread a general panic among the people, for it was well known by the predictions of the Pali books, that a certain religion of the West should vanquish Buddhism; but upon the breaking out of the war between Burmah and Siam, the English remaining neutral, the people were reassured, and many instances occurred in which deep interest was expressed in the perusal of the Scriptures. There are, however, peculiar impediments to missionary labours in Siam, arising partly from the character of the people, which is so fickle that an opinion they may embrace to-day they will be ready to reject to-morrow, and partly from the regularly organized system by which idolatry is supported: the pagodas are the schools of learning in which the youth of the empire are trained; every educated Siamese, from the emperor down to the lowest of his subjects, is compelled at some period or other of his life to enter the priesthood, and " he who refuses to become a priest, must remain ignorant." It has been ascertained that the great majority of Siamese, male and female, are able to read; and even in Siam instances have unexpectedly been brought to light of the Divine blessing having accompanied tbe private study of Scripture. On one occasion, for instance, a missionary was called to the bedside of a sick man, whom he had never before seen. After applying the remedies for the disease suggested by his medical skill, the missionary began to discourse on the glad tidings of the Gospel. The sick man immediately interrupted him, and said with much earnestness and seriousness, that he himself knew Ayso (Jesus), and worshipped him every day. Surprised and delighted, the missionary asked for an explanation, and was informed that a brother of the sick man had read in his hearing portions of Scripture and tracts distributed by the missionaries, and that the precious seed thus sown by the way-side had been blessed by God. COGNATE DIALECTS. It is worthy of observation, that Siamese is properly speaking only one dialect of the ancient and widely extended language called T'hai ; the other dialects are the Laos, Khamti (almost identical with the ancient Ahom), and Shyan. Little has been done in these three dialects towards the translation of Scrip- ture. The Laos people are described by Dr. Bradley as being in a peculiar sense ripe for the Gospel harvest. Several applied to him for books written with their own characters; they said they could read Siamese books stammeringly, but their own with ease. A Laos man pleaded with Dr. Bradley not to forget him and his people, but to furnish them speedily with a version of the holy books in their own dialect. Although the Laos has been described by most travellers as a totally distinct dialect from the Siamese, yet such is the similarity between the two dialects that Captain Low states from his own experience, that it is easy for a person who understands the Siamese tongue, to travel safely (in so far as language is concerned) throughout North Laos. The Laos dialect has, however, an alphabet exclusively appropriated to it, which is more allied to the Peguese or Mon than to the Siamese alphabet. Class I.] KAREN. 15 CAMBOJAN. The Cambojan language is spoken in Cambodia, once an independent and powerful state, but now divided between Siam and tbe empire of Anam. The language differs materially from the Siamese, being more harsh, but at the same time more copious. Gutzlaff commenced a version of the New Testament in Cambojan, but it would appear that he afterwards discontinued it. Throughout the other provinces of the empire of Anam, a monosyllabic language denominated the Anamite or Anamitic is spoken, in which, however, no translation of the Scriptures exists, but only a Grammar and Dictionary, by the Bishop Taberd, printed at Serampore in 1838. KAREN, KARAYN OR KARIENG. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE KAREN VERSIONS, see Plate 10, page 115. I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Kareens, Karenes, or Careians, are a wild and simple people, scattered over all parts of the Bur- man territories, and of the British provinces of Tenasserim : they are also found in the Western portions of Siam, and northward among the Shyans. Their residences are in the jungles and among the moun- tains, and are most numerous on the mountains which separate Burmah from Siam. The number of these people, owing to their nomadic habits and wide dispersion, is difficult to be ascertained, but it has been estimated at about 33,000. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. The Karen language possesses several original elements, and in many respects varies in genius and structure from the Burmese, Siamese, and Peguese languages, though it freely borrows words from each. Its alphabet consists of twenty-four consonants, and eleven vowels. It has five tones, some of which appear different from those of any other monosyllabic tongue. The Karen language is remark- ably harmonious, and well adapted for poetry: a final consonant never occurs, but every word terminates with a vowel sound. Till a comparatively recent period, however, Karen was totally unknown to Europeans. About 1835, two missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Society, Messrs. Wade and Mason, acquired the language, and for the first time reduced it to writing. For this purpose they employed the Burmese alphabet, with a few additional characters to express the peculiar sounds of the language. The system of teaching reading, adopted by Mr. Wade, is so admirably conceived, that a person ignorant of a single letter can be taught to read a Karen book with ease in a few weeks. Mr. Mason affirms that the alphabetical powers of the Karen alphabet are of Arabic or Hebrew origin. This fact, together with the personal appearance and physical peculiarities of this singular people, and a series of very remarkable traditions current from time immemorial among them, has led him to form the idea of their being descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The missionaries were induced to undertake a version of the New Testament in Karen by the earnest and repeated entreaties of the people themselves for books. As early as 1828, Mr. Boardman, of the American Baptist Society, was visited frequently at Tavoy, one of the missionary stations, by great numbers of the Karens, and had ample opportunities of preaching the Gospel to them. Among 16 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. the most interesting of his visitors was a native chief, who appeared particularly anxious for instruction in the way of righteousness. " Give us books," he said, " give us books in our own native language ! then all the Karens will learn to read. We want to know the true God. We have been lying in total darkness — the Karen's mind is like his native jungle." The translation of the entire New Testa- ment into Karen was accordingly accomplished by Messrs. Wade and Mason ; yet during several years, for want of adequate pecuniary means, no attempt was made at printing, but each book as soon as completed was copied and circulated in MS. In 1842, the American and Foreign Bible Society granted £625 towards the printing of the New Testament, and an edition soon after issued from the press at Tavoy, under the superintendance of Mr. Bennett. Mr. Mason has since translated the Psalms into Karen, including both the Sgau and Sho dialects of that language. Of the New Testament in Sgau Karen the American Mission Press at Maulmein issued 4000 (2nd edition 8vo.) in 1850. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. This version of Scripture appears to have been attended in a remarkable degree with the Divine blessing from the very first period of its execution. The Karens were in a manner prepared to welcome Christianity, not only by their religious tenets, which formed a noble contrast to Buddhism, but by a singular prediction of their ancient seers, which caused them to look for relief from Burman oppression to " the white foreigners." In 1839, when the Karens had no books, few living teachers, and only a MS. copy of St. Matthew, they were gathered together in considerable numbers from all parts by the sound of the Gospel; and settling down in a district about two days' journey from Tavoy, they formed a Christian village, the heads of every family being members of the church. Civilization followed Christianity. Cleanliness (by no means a native Karen virtue) was substituted for their former depraved habits, and various industrial arts were learnt and steadily pursued. The power of the Scriptures upon these simple and unlettered people is shown by various anecdotes related by the missionaries. " Once Mrs. Wade had occasion to read the chapter in St. Matthew about visiting Christ (as represented in his disciples) when sick or in prison. They immediately perceived how regardless they had been of persons in sickness and sorrow, and began thenceforward to perform services for the sick, which they had never thought of before. A poor widow suffering under a leprous disease, who had a young child similarly afflicted, was visited by many the next day. They performed various repulsive offices for her and the child, brought water, cleaned the house, gave them rice and other articles; and so enriched and comforted the poor creature that she was bewildered with delight. These attentions they continued constantly. Another person, bedridden with loathsome sores, was attended to in the same way. Since that time no one has been suffered to want any thing which the rest enjoy; and their acts of kindness are done with studied concealment." MUNIPOORA. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. MuNIPOORA is the language of Munipoor, a small independent kingdom, which lies south of Assam. Great confusion has arisen from the various names given to this country; the Burmans call it Kathe, and the Shyans Cassay, and geographers have distinguished it sometimes by one and sometimes by another name. It is 125 miles in length by 90 in breadth, lying between the parallels of 23° and 26°, and between the meridians of 93° and 95° East. The central part of the country consists of a rich and fertile valley, including an area of 650 square miles; the remainder of the territory is occupied by an encircling Class I.] MUNIPO OR A.— KH AS SEE. 17 zone of mountains and hills, inhabited by various tribes subject to Munipoor. The amount of population is probably about 70,000 : Pemberton, however, estimates it at only 20,000. Brahminism was imposed on the people little more than half a century ago, by command of the rajah; but it is by no means firmly rooted. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. It appears from their language and physical peculiarities, that the Muniporeans are the descendants of some Mongol or Chinese colony. Like most monosyllabic languages, Munipoora is inartificial in structure, and uninflected. It has a close affinity with Khassee. III. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. Aversion of the New Testament was undertaken by Dr. Carey in 1814: he procured some learned natives from Munipoor, and superintended their labours. This translation was completed, and an edition of 1000 copies printed in the Bengalee character in 1824, at Serampore: it was aided indirectly by the British and Foreign Bible Society. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Little is known concerning the effect produced on the Muniporeans by the perusal of the Scrip- tures, for they have as yet no missionary among them. KHASSEE. FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION IN THE BENGALEE CHARACTER, see Plate 1, page 7. SPECIMEN IN ROMAN LETTERS, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. 1 Haba u ioh in ia ki paitbah, u la kiu sha u Mm ; haba u la shong rub., ki la wan ha u ki synran jong u : 2 u la ang rub ia la ka shintur, u la hikai ruh ia ki, u da ong, 3 Suk ki ba duk ha ka mynsiim ; na ba jong ki long ka hima ka byneng. 4 Suk ki ba sngousi ; na ba yn pyntyngen ia ki. 5 Suk ki ba jemnut ; na ba kin' ioh ia ka kyndeu. 6 Suk ki ba tyngan bad ba sliang ia ka hok ; naba yn pyndap ia ki. 7 Suk ki ba isnei ; na ba yn isnei ia ki. 8 Suk ki bakuid ha ca cloniit ; na ba kin ioh ih ia U Blei. 9 Suk ki ba pyniasuk ; na ba yn khot ia ki, ki kiln U Blei. 10 Suk ki ba ioh pynshitom na ka bynta ka hok ; na ba jong ki long ki hima ka byneng. 11 Suk maphi, ha ba ki leh bein ia phi, ki pynshitom ruh, ki ong ki ktin bymman baroh ruh ia phi na ka bynta jong nga, ha ba ki shu lamlher : 12 Phin kymen, phin sngoubha eh ruh ; naba kumta ki la pynshitom ia ki Prophet ki ba la mynshiwa jong phi. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. Khassee is the language of the Cossyahs, Cassias, or Khasias, a race of Tartar or Chinese origin, ruled by a number of petty rajahs, who form a sort of confederacy. To some degree they still preserve their 18 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class I. independence, but are under the supervision of a British agent for Cossyah affairs. The tract of country known as the Cossyah Hills adjoins the eastern extremity of the Bengal Presidency, lying between Assam and Sylhet on the north and south, and Jynteah and the Garrow country on the east and west, extending from latitude 25° to 26° 7', and from longitude 90° 52' to 92° 11'. Its area, according to Thornton, is estimated at 729 square miles, and the amount of its population is about 11,000. The people, though uncivilized, are manly, upright, and sincere; and regard with detestation the falsehood and deceitfulness of the neighbouring Hindoos. They are, however, remarkably indolent and filthy, avaricious, ignorant, and extremely superstitious. Their religion has been represented to be a species of Brahminism ; but they seem to have only a vague notion of some Spirit or Spirits to which they offer sacrifice, and their altars may well bear the inscription, " To the unknown God." They have neither idols nor temples ; but many peculiarly-shaped stones and rocks, as well as streams and groves, are accounted holy, and sacrifices are made to them. The country is the extreme limit of the predominance of the Brahminical sect to the eastward, for beyond these hills Buddhism is almost universal. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. This language is uninflected and simple in grammatical construction ; and although strictly mono- syllabic, it possesses none of those varied tones which appertain to other languages of this class. Some words of Sanscrit origin are to be found in Khassee, but it is difficult to recognise them on account of the monosyllables prefixed or added. There is no alphabet; the kw among the Cossyahs who can read or write use the Bengalee character. But their use of this alphabet is merely owing to their frequent intercourse with Sylhet; for 'their language bears internal marks of having been at some distant period allied with the Chinese. This is shown by the personal pronoun, and by the frequent recurrence of the sounds ming, eng, ung, etc. as in Chinese. III. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. A lady was honoured by God to be the main instrument in preparing the first version of Holy Scripture in this language. She was the widow of one of the rajahs or chieftains of the country; and Dr. Carey, pleased with her intelligence, availed himself of her aid in translating the New Testament. Dr. Carey had also recourse to the advice of his Assamese pundit, who, from the vicinity of the Cossyah hills to his own country, had had opportunities of acquiring a tolerable acquaintance with the language. The preparation of this version occupied ten years; it was printed in Bengalee characters, and an edition of 500 copies left the Serampore press in 1824. For about seven years it remained a sealed book, for no opportunity occurred of distributing it among the people for whom it had been prepared. In 1832 some of the missionaries at Scrarnpore, being in ill health, visited Cherrapoonjee, a place in the Khassee country rioted for its salubrity. Here their attention was drawn afresh to the spiritual destitution of the wild inhabitants of the hills, and great exertions were made for the establishment of a mission among them. Mr. Lish, the first missionary who entered upon the work, turned his attention to the revision of the Khassee version, and in 1834 he produced a new or amended translation of St. Matthew, which was printed at Serampore in Roman characters. In 1840 a Missionary Association was formed by the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists; and finding this station unoccupied by any other society, they sent the Rev. Thomas Jones as their missionary to these hills. He reached Cherrapoonjee in 1841, and after applying with diligence to the study of the language, he executed a new translation of St. Matthew's Gospel in Roman characters, which in 1845 he offered to the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Committee ordered a small edition to be printed as an experiment, and its value and fidelity have been fully attested by competent persons, through the medium of the Auxiliary Society at Calcutta. Since then the translation of the entire New Testament has been completed by the missionaries engaged on the above station. The system of substituting Roman letters for the native characters of Indian alphabets in printed Class I.] KHASSEE. 19 editions of the Scriptures and of other books, has of late years been extensively adopted in India ; and the advantages of this system, especially with reference to the Khassee (which in the former edition of the New Testament had been printed in Bengalee characters, see Specimen, Plate I), cannot be better stated than in the words of an eminent Missionary, Dr. DufF, of Calcutta. In a letter addressed to Mr. Jones, the Missionary of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Society at Cherra, when the first books used in connection with the mission were about to be published, the doctor thus writes — " Thoroughly and absolutely do I approve of your determination to print your translated works in the Roman characters. It is a strange delusion of Satan that men should strive to uphold varieties of alphabetic characters anywhere, provided they could without violence be superseded by one, at once uniform and effective, seeing that such variety is a prodigious bar and impediment to the diffusion of sound knowledge, and especially Divine truth. But, in a case like yours, where the natives had really no written characters of their own at all, to dream of introducing a clumsy, awkward, expensive, and imperfect character like that of the Bengali, in preference to the clear, precise, and cheaper Bomanised alphabet, would seem to me to be voluntarily raising up new ramparts to guard against the invasion of Truth. No, our object ought ever to be to facilitate, and not to obstruct, the dissemination of true knowledge of every kind ; and one of the ways of doing so is everywhere to encourage the introduction and the use of the Roman alphabet in place of the native alphabets, which are linked, and associated, and saturated with all that is idolatrous." The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles have been already carried through the press by the Calcutta Bible Society, and other portions are in progress. IV. — EESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Some very interesting accounts have been received of the recent progress of Divine truth among these people. Mr. Lish, their first missionary, was welcomed joyfully; they laughed heartily when they heard him speak in their own language ; but when he began to open to them the truths of Scripture, they were so forcibly impressed as to exclaim that " he was a God, and they but cows and goats." When the mission was re-established by Mr. Jones, a chief from a village which he had not yet visited thus addressed him: — " If you have any thing from God to say to us, come quickly; otherwise we maybe dead, and what you have to say will be of no use to us. What will then become of us?" Mr. Jones and his coadjutors have prepared elementary and religious books in the language. Several schools have been established, and conducted by the missionaries, their wives, and a few native teachers. Many hundreds have already learnt to read, and are truly anxious for books. A desire to read and understand English is universal among; them. Some of the natives have been led to abandon their superstitions, and to embrace Christianity. Since their baptism they have endured much per- secution from their relatives, and in the most trying circumstances they have shown strength of principle worthy of an apostolic age. One of the missionaries writes thus: — " I have received the Gospel of St. Matthew from Calcutta, and the Cassias in the Schools are diligently employed in committing it to memory. This task they will accomplish by the time this letter reaches you. I perceive already the great utility of supplying them with the Holy Scriptures; for it is evident they understand and remember much better when they read themselves than when they listen to another: I see this very clearly in the case of my young converts." The missionaries testify that the baptized natives "increase in knowledge, in tenderness of conscience, and in godly simplicity." One of these converts said to the missionary, " The Word of God is truly wonderful, for I have some new thoughts whenever I look into it. I do not find it so with any thing else ; but the Word of God is like a fountain which sends forth fresh waters every day : they are not the same; but although they differ, they are all very good. Even the same verse says something new whenever I look into it." 20 MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES. [Class T. TIBETAN. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE TIBETAN CHARACTER, see Plate 2., page 20. I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The vast and mountainous tract of country in which the Tibetan language is spoken lies directly north of Hindoostan, from which it is separated by the Himalaya Mountains. Its eastern frontiers border on China; to the west, it extends as far as Cashmere, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, while on the north it is bounded by the countries of the Turks and the Mongols. It is for the most part comprised within the Chinese empire; the western parts, however, appear to be independent of China. On account of the extreme jealousy of the Chinese government, Tibet has hitherto been almost inaccessible to foreigners; our knowledge of the country is in consequence extremely limited, and no correct esti- mate appears to have been ever formed of its area or population. 1 II. — CHARACTERISTICS of the language. Tibetan is the language of " Tibet," (in Chinese Tih-Bot, " The land of Bod" the native name for " Tibet.") It is sometimes called Bhotanta or Bootan, because spoken in the country of Bootan as well as in the adjacent regions of Tibet; it is supposed by some to be a link between the Mono- syllabic, Indo-germanic and Shemitic classes. In the Mithridates, Adelung unhesitatingly ranks it among the monosyllabic languages, but Remusat does not altogether assent to this classification, for while he admits that there are many monosyllabic sounds in Tibetan, he contends that there are like- wise compound and polysyllabic words. Some of the very fundamental words of the language, as well as almost all the derivative terms, are of undoubted Chinese origin, and in many cases, the original Chinese vocables seem to have undergone but slight alteration. In the construction, too, of sentences, the Tibetans appear to follow the Chinese idiom. If compared with English, the words of a Tibetan phrase will be found to stand exactly in a reverse order. The sentence, " in a book seen by me" would be rendered in Tibetan (if translated word for word) in the following manner: " me by seen book a in." The articles both definite and indefinite always follow the noun, the nouns in general precede their attributes, and the verb, for the most part, stands at the end of a sentence. The several cases of a declension are formed by suffixes, and the place of prepositions in English is supplied by postpositions. The language, which is as it were twofold, as spoken to superiors or to inferiors, is rendered difficult not only by prefixes to verbs, which change in the different tenses, in a manner analogous to the change in initials in the Celtic languages, but also by the numerous impersonal verbal expressions; for the general mode of conjugating verbs is by prefixing or affixing certain letters to a kind of past participle of the verb, which are, however, most frequently silent : but the grammatical forms are in general few, vague, and seldom used. The alphabetical character is evidently borrowed from the Devanagari, and like it, is written from left to right. There are thirty consonants divided into eight classes, and four vowel signs. There are likewise compound consonants, representing sounds not strictly occurring in their alphabet. Although a single letter often constitutes an entire word, yet the orthographical system is, for the most part, clumsy and burdensome; for initial, quiescent, subscript, and final letters are introduced upon every possible occasion ; and though completely disregarded in the colloquial articu- 1 An elaborate account of the geography of Western Tibet, by Captain Stracbey, of the Bengal army, is found in the twenty-third volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (London, 1853). The Eastern portion of Tibet was visited, in 1846-7, by Hue and Gabet, two enterprising French missionaries, the narrative of whose journey has been published. There exists also a description of Tibet in Russian, translated from the Chinese, and published at St. Petersburgh in 1828 : 8vo. — without name of Author. Plale II. Page 20. n *f * T 6^» ^ 7 - ^£ it ^ "-C" *- ST? r- a •"6- /W- 3 ^ J gem ' t T T % n £r ST IT n M— M - I? /- T M^ K ^ £_ ^r- K lr IT ^M" ^J a *r * 6? ^ ^ ter /K " ^ ^ I* Class I.] TIBET AN.— LEP CH A. 21 lation of words, they add materially to the labour of reading and writing the language, which is harsh and heavy when spoken. III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. An attempt was made by the Church Missionary Society, in 1816, to furnish the inhabitants of this vast region with a version of the Scriptures in their own language, but unhappily this important undertaking ultimately proved abortive. Mr. Schrceter, a missionary of that Society, after having devoted himself with much stedfastness and success to the acquisition of the language, was cut off by death at the very moment that he was about to begin the translation of the Scriptures. Mr. Le Roche, another missionary of the same Society, was appointed to succeed him , but the climate of India proved fatal likewise to his constitution, and he died on his return homewards. Major Latter, who had been chiefly instrumental in originating the mission, died in 1822, and since that event no further attempts towards the preparation of a Tibetan version appear to have been made. A Dictionary, however, Tibetan and Italian, executed by some Roman missionary, and collected and arranged by 'Schrceter, has been printed at Serampore, with a fount of types cast for the purpose. It consists of nearly 500 quarto pages, and was completed in 1826. Since that time Tibetan has been more cultivated in Europe, through the excellent Grammar and Dictionary of Csoma de Koro, together with his other works, and those of Dr. Schmidt, Fouceaux, Wullner, etc. Dr. Haeberlin, an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, after journeying through Tibet in 1843, again enforced the necessity of a Tibetan version upon tbe attention of Christian societies; and his suggestions appear to have been met by the American missionaries, who, it is said, have now this work in contemplation. Dr. Haeberlin states as the result of his observations and inquiries in Tibet, that, " as far as the Tibetan language is spoken, and the Lamas have any sWay, so far literature exercises an important influence on the people. If there were a version of the Scriptures," continues he, " in the Tibetan language, thousands of volumes might annually be sent into the interior of Asia from five different points, along the immense frontier of British India; and the millions of people speaking that language, and inquisitive as the Chinese are, might thus have a profitable opportunity of being made acquainted with the things that belong to their salvation." LEPCHA. EOE SPECIMEN" OF THE LEPCHA VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. The Lepcha language is spoken by the Lepchas, the undoubted aborigines of the mountain forests near Darjeeling. The district they occupy is perhaps about 120 miles in length, from N.W. to S.E., extending along the south face of the Himalaya Mountains, until its limits become undefined in the mountains of Bootan. Little is known in Europe concerning the Lepcha dialect, but recent researches have shown it to be allied to, if not derived from, the Tibetan language. The Rev. W. Start, of Dar- jeeling, has commenced a translation of the New Testament in this language, and has recently caused 1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew to be printed at his own expense. CLASS IL-SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. HEBREW. SPECIMEN", EEOM EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 17. Vnarein iBte Trfot nirr ? a:ix 2 d nb^ nWn tfwrr^a n« Q*nf?N *13T1 I 3- "i J iv -: ) Av v: iT : v it i •• v V t /■ r : - t ■)*• • v: J" - : - i ^ds *b n^yn-^S 4 , ^&hs unm wrbx $b r\^-^> 3 : wiiy n^aa D*ixa pks -vb 5 : pa 1 ? nnwa i tfiaa iBtei nnita pas ^Btai Sjfe i ib wa iBto rfto-^ai I | VIT T -J^- • *A\r- 1J-: -;|- - AT • \ 'AT T W -si- <. - • »J- T - J*V "S T ; T : nwrbx? Mi« pV T^ Nip b& t^n nirv »5jn *a onayn nSi 6nS mrwn i>- t * > T I '-. |" t|- J- | v ■.■: *t : -it J- A": "tit J : >■•.■ t «•-: r : • n^ 7 d j*rto ^wbi ^ank 1 ? D*iiW? ion nbw 6 twsA D^ar^ D^W-Sy j it : • ;*• : i ; «.- -: i : A* t -: i- v v; v ^: ait : i : v ■■ ^- : j. » • C :it - ■• : v « • v -: ;>•■ t : |v- : •>. ■>■ :AT - I vv v: ;t : i- v st • Din 10 t hfcibiybi n*fcjn nayn b*a» rw 9 n&np 1 ? naV'n dv-hk ^liar 8 £ : | iv : - : t t av *t : *-: i- -i* t v ■*<•• i : | - : *r - - ' v i> t -Sa-rM b*n-nN nkrrnKi Dwrnx riin* n^y bwrw *a u jrtfltfa im wi t v : t - v I vt t v : "J- t - v t : t "t * t v i" J* i Kt : • JA* -: v| ;i« . TaN-n« naa 12 d nn&npM na^*n orm nin* "sna p-W »jraB>n cva m»i oa-i^N | v t v '■ " i" :|- :i- vt - - J :■ St : | i-" I- - "k • : - J - -vt- t v -: «S 17 d j^ tj ^na niyn-^ 16 d :aH^n n^ 15 d ttjg^i «S U d j^.1. 1 ? TN Sa 1 } i'lbrj) ni^ Vibjjj naj;i sjjp n#N n£nri-^ t p d sjp n\a nbnn Tnis Specimen portion exhibits the twofold use of the Hebrew accents. The one series is employed when the Decalogue is read by itself, and the other series is used when these verses arc read as a continuation of the preceding section of the Pentateuch. The accents are also used iu this twofold manner in Deuteronomy, where the Decalogue is repeated. The Hebrew language is one of the three principal branches of the Shemitic languages, which have been divided thus: — 1. To the northward, the AramcEan, which comprehends the ?fW- Aramaean, or " Syriac," and the East- Aramaean, or " Chaldee." 2. To the westward, the Canaanitish, or Hebrew, in Palestine and Phoenicia; of which the Punic is an offshoot. 3. To the southward, the Arabic ; to which also partly belongs the Ethiopic. The Samaritan is a mixed dialect, it consists of Aramaean, Hebrew, and many foreign terms. As regards the name " Hebrew" some, like St. Augustine, etc., derive it from Abraham, but wrongly. Others, again, derive it from "DJJ " beyond," i.e., the Euphrates; Abraham being a native of Class II.] HEBREW. 2-3 " Ur of the Chasdim," in northern Mesopotamia. But Hebrew comes probably from "DJ? Heber or 'Eber, mentioned in Gen. 10. 21; to whom Abulfeda (Hist. Anteisl. iii. iv.) says God granted to speak Hebrew, as a reward for his having reproved the builders of the Tower of Babel, for their impious attempt to scale Heaven. He is said, in the " Seder 'Olam," to have been a great prophet; and some Arabic writers maintain that he was the same as Hud, an abbreviation for Yehud. This induces some learned men to think that "133/ and my are identical, and to consider the descendants of both as the same people. The Hebrew language, however, flourished during a comparatively short period ; while the Arabic has continued to the present day, the richest, and most cultivated of all the Shemitic dialects. I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. But the Hebrew language, honoured by God as the first medium of written revelation, had in ancient times predominance over a far greater extent of territory than is commonly supposed. It may be inferred from various passages of Sacred History, that the Canaanites, or aboriginal inhabitants of Canaan, conversed freely in Hebrew, or in their own closely allied dialect the Phoenician, with Abraham, and, many years subsequently, with the tribes of Israel under Joshua. Thus, for instance, the spies sent by Joshua to survey the country, had not recourse to the aid of an interpreter in their intercourse with Bahab and others. Moreover, the Canaanitish names of places and persons, both in the time of Abraham and in that of Joshua, are pure Hebrew terms; Melchisedec, Abimelech, Salem, Jericho, and, in fact, all names of persons, cities, and towns in Canaan recorded in Scripture, might be cited as examples. (See Joshua, chapters 15 to 22.) It has been clearly proved by the ethnographical researches of Gesenius, and other German scholars, that the Canaanites formed part and portion of the people known in profane history by the name of Phoenicians; and in the Septuagint, the words Phoenicians and Canaanites, Phoenicia and Canaan, are indiscriminately used: (compare Exod. 6. 15 with Gen. 46. 10, and Exod. 16. 35 with Jos. 5. 12.) Hence the obvious inference that Hebrew, being very nearly allied to the vernacular of the Phoenicians, was spoken, with provincialisms and with characteristic accent, at Tyre and Sidon, at Carthage, and in all the numerous colonies established by that enterprising people. We may thus trace the use of Hebrew as a vernacular tongue, or as a medium of communi- cation, all round the coast of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Italy and (in part) of Greece. When the Old Testament was written, probably no language was so widely diffused as the Hebrew: it occupied just such a place as Greek did in the days of the Apostles. With the sole exception of the Jews, however, the nations by whom Hebrew was spoken have either passed away from the face of the earth, or have become amalgamated with other races. The number of Jews now dispersed throughout the world is generally estimated at about 4,000,000; of these there are only 175,000 in Palestine and Syria. In England there are 30,000 Jews, of whom 20,000 reside in London; but they are still more numerous in some parts of continental Europe: at Warsaw, for instance, they form one-fourth part of the population. In the following graphical description of the present state of the Jews, by Professor Gaussen, it will be perceived that the statistical calculations are founded upon different data from those above adduced. " The restless feet of God's ancient people are pressing at this very hour the snows of Siberia, and the burning sands of the desert. Our friend Gobat found numbers of them in the elevated plains of Abyssinia, eighteen hundred miles to the south of Cairo; and when Denham and Clapperton, the first travellers that ventured across the great Sahara, arrived on the banks of the lake Tchad, they also found that the wandering Jew had preceded them there by many a long year. When the Portuguese settled in the Indian Peninsula, they found three distinct classes of Jews; and when the English lately took pos- session of Aden in the south of Arabia, the Jews were more in number there than the Gentiles. By a census taken within the last few months in Russia, they amount to 2,200,000; so that their popu- lation in that immense empire exceeds that of our twenty-two cantons. Morocco contains 300,000, and Tunis 150,000. In the one small town of Sana, the capital of Arabia Felix, they assemble together 24 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Cxass II. in eighteen synagogues. Yemen counts 200,000; the Turkish empire 200,000, of which Constan- tinople alone contains 80,000. At Brody, where the Christians, who are 10,000 in number, have only three churches, the Jews, 20,000 in number, have 150 synagogues. Hungary has 300,000. Cracow, 22,000. In a word, it is imagined that, were all the Jews assembled together, they would form a population of 7,000,000; so that, could you transport them into the land of their fathers this very year, they would form a nation more powerful and more numerous than our Switzerland." II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Whether Hebrew was or was not the primeval tongue of the human race has been the subject of much discussion, and is a question which, with our present means of knowledge, it is impossible to resolve satisfactorily. Certain it is, however, that the Hebrew language bears many internal marks of antiquity. The majority of Hebrew words, for instance, are descriptive; that is, they specify the prominent or distinguishing quality of the person, animal, place, or thing, which they designate: and the vocabulary, though comparatively poor in abstract and metaphysical terms, is rich in words having immediate reference to those objects of sense with which a nomadic people might be supposed to be most conversant. Thus, there are no less than 250 distinct botanical terms in the Old Testament; and synonymous forms of expression for the common actions and occurrences of life are numerous and varied. Among these synomymes haA^e been counted no less than fourteen different words of which each signifies "to break;" there are ten words answering to the verb "to seek;" nine express "the act of dying," fourteen convey " the idea of trust in God," nine signify "remission of sins," and eight denote " darkness ; " and to express " the observance of the laws of God" there are no less than twenty-five phrases. The language appears to have attained its utmost possible development at a very early period, and to have remained subsequently for ages in the same stage, without progression or retrogression. This is seen by comparing the books of the Pentateuch with those of the latter prophets: the latter differ from the former only bv the disuse of a few words, which in the course of centuries had become obsolete, and by the introduction of sundry terms which had been engrafted on the language by inter- course with the Assyrians and Babylonians: there are, however, 268 verses of pure Chaldee in the Old Testament. A certain stiffness of construction, joined to great energy and simplicity, appears to be the most prominent feature of Hebrew, and of the cognate Shemitic dialects in general. The fundamental structure of those dialects bears the impress, if we may so speak, of premeditation and design. Unlike all other idioms, the roots or elementary words are in general dissyllabic and triliteral, while many of them appear in a more ancient monosyllabic form. They are for the most part the third person singular, preterite tense, active voice of the verb, and seem to have been originally framed for the express purpose of representing ideas in the simplest possible form ; while the application of these ideas to denote the varied circumstances of life (such as time past, present, or future, personal agency, passion, or feeling), is effected generally by mere changes of the vowels placed above, within, or below, the letters of the root. For instance, 1y? expresses a simple fact — " he learned," but 18? denotes an additional circumstance, viz. : that he learned diligently : so "D"n he spake, by the simple change of a vowel sign "Oft comes to denote the thing spoken, that is, a word. Besides the vowels, a certain set of consonants, set aside for the office of sometimes modifying the meaning of the roots, are called Serviles ; and, in common with the Arabic only, of all the Shemitic dialects, the Hebrew has the definite article for the better determining of nouns. With respect to the alphabetical system of the Hebrews, it has generally been the custom to attribute the introduction of the square character to Ezra; and the vowel-points, which were added gradually, as the Hebrew language ceased to be generally spoken and well known, were finally determined towards the sixth century after Christ, by the school of Tiberias. This was a timely interposition of God's providence, to rescue the Hebrew text from much misinterpretation, — if it had been handed down without points, — when its language was dead and little known. It has lately, however, been shown that the square characters were not brought to perfection till probably two or three centuries after the Christian era. Kopp (in his Bilder Class II.] HEBREW. 25 find Schriften der Vorzeit) traces the gradual formation of these characters from the inscriptions on the bricks at Babylon, down through the Phoenician or Samaritan letters on the Maccabean coins, and thence to the Palmyrene inscriptions found among the ruins of Palmyra; and Gesenius, in the last edition of his Grammar, admits that the square, or modern Hebrew character, is descended from the Palmyrene. This opinion seems corroborated by the late discoveries of Mr. Layard in Babylonia; from whence he brought bowls of terra-cotta, probably dating from the captivity, and covered with Syriac and Chaldee inscriptions. Some of these characters are identical with the square ones now in use. The rabbinical style of writing now in use among the Jews is merely a cursive modification of the square character, adopted for ease and expedition. HI. — HISTORY OF THE HEBREW TEXT OF SCRIPTURE. From the first promulgation of the written Word, special provision seems to have been made for its careful preservation. (See Exod. 25. 21; 40. 20). A distinct command had reference to the place in which the book of the law was to be deposited ; namely, in the side of the Ark of the Covenant. (Deut. 31. 26.) The multiplication of copies also was provided for by a Divine decree, (see Deut. 17. 18); and a copy of the law of Moses was made by Joshua. (See Jos. 8. 32.) On the erection of the Temple, Solomon caused the Ark to be brought " into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the Cherubim ;" and from that period the books of Holy Writ were guarded within the walls of the sacred edifice, as is evident from such passages as 2 Kings 22. 8; 2 Chron. 34. 14, &c. That these divine records did not fall into the hands of the enemy when the Jews were led away captive to Babylon, may be inferred from the fact that ia the list of the spoils carried away from the temple, detailed as that list is (see 2 Ki. 25, 2 Chron. 36, and Jer. 52), there is no mention whatever of the Sacred books. The captives, at the very moment that they were compelled to abandon the gold and silver of their temple, must have concealed and carried with them these most valued treasures; for Daniel, who wrote during the captivity, made distinct reference to two different parts of Scripture as documents well known to his countrymen (see Dan. 9); Ezra, when he went up from Babylon to Jerusalem, was " a ready scribe in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given" (Ezra 7. 6); and immediately on the return from captivity, the people called for the book of the law of Moses, which was opened and read to them. (Neh. 8. 1.) The completion of the Canon of the Old Testament is referred to about the time of the finishing of the Second Temple; and there can be no doubt but that the inspired men who lived at that period, namely Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, collected all the books that had been given by inspiration of God, and deposited them in the Temple. When the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans, the characteristic faithfulness of the Jews to the sacred charge originally committed to them, remained the same. Some of the learned Jews opened schools in various parts of the East for the cultivation of Sacred literature ; one of these schools, established at Tiberias, at Sepphoris, and in other towns of Galilee, is mentioned by Jerome as existing in the early part of the fifth century ; another school of almost equal note was established at Babylon, and at both frequent transcriptions of the Scriptures were made. And the hand of Providence is to be traced in this multiplication of copies at different places and by distinct institutions, for the comparison of copies afterwards formed a ready mode for the correction of such errors as had crept in through the negligence of copyists. The most stringent laws, however, were in force among the Jews to ensure accuracy in their copies of the Scriptures ; the preparation of the parchment, of the ink, and even of the state of mind of the copyist, were all prescribed by rule ; and such has ever been their reverence for antiquity, that when in an ancient copy they have met with the accidental inversion or misplacing of a letter, or when one letter has been made larger than the rest or suspended above the line, they have scrupu- lously refrained from rectifying even what was so manifestly erroneous, under the superstitious notion that in the original formation and location of every letter some mystery is involved. Still further to ensure the perfect integrity of the text, the Jews at some period between the fourth and sixth century 26 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. carefully collected into one book all the grammatical and critical remarks on the letter of Scripture that had been current at different times and places since the time of Ezra. To the volume thus formed, which in process of time became larger than the Bible itself, they gave the name of Masora, that is, tradition, because the criticisms it contained had been handed down by tradition from father to son. But besides being a collection of grammatical annotations, the Masora really was, as the Jews empha- tically styled it, " the hedge of the law," for it contains a multitude of the most minute calculations concerning the number of verses, lines, words, and letters, in the Sacred volume; so that the number of letters in every verse, and even the middle letter of every verse having been ascertained with some exactness, it was anticipated that no interpolation or omission in the text could for the future pass undetected. The further influence of the Septuagint and other ancient versions in securing the early copies of the Hebrew Scriptures from the possibility of corruption will be subsequently noticed. Eight particular copies seem to have been especially honoured among the Jews on account of their strict fidelity and accuracy, and to have been regularly used as standard texts from which all other copies were made. These eight copies were — 1. The Codex of Hillel, an ancient MS. no longer in existence, but which was seen at Toledo in the twelfth century by the Babbi Kimchi. Babbi Zacuti, who lived about the end of the fifteenth century, declared that part of the MS. had been sold and sent to Africa. This copy contained the vowel points invented by the Masorites. 2. The Babylonian Codex, supposed to contain the text as revised under the care of Babbi Ben Naphtali, President of the Academy at Babylon. 3. The Codex of Israel, supposed to exhibit the text as corrected by Babbi Ben Asher, President of the above mentioned Academy at Tiberias; this MS. is imagined to have been the same as that of Jerusalem. Lastly, the remaining five Codices were, the Egyptian Codex, the MS. of Sinai containing only the Pentateuch, the Pentateuch of Jericho, the Codex of Sanbuki, and the book of Taygim. All the MSS. now in existence can be traced to one or other of these exemplars. The MSS. executed by the Jews in Spain follow the Codex of Hillel, and are more valued than those made in any other country, on account of their accuracy and the elegance with which they are written, the letters being perfectly square, and having the appearance of print. German MSS., on the contrary, are not elegantly written, and the characters are rudely formed, but they are valued on account of their containing readings coinciding with the Samaritan Pentateuch and the ancient versions. The Italian MSS. are neither so beautiful as the Spanish, nor so rude in appearance as the German, and they do not follow the Masora so closely as the former, nor deviate from it so frequently as the latter. Of the Hebrew MSS. now known to be in existence, the most ancient of which the date has been duly attested, is not much above seven hundred years old. It formerly belonged to Beuchlin, and is now preserved in the Library at Carlsruhe, whence it is familiarly known as the Codex Carlsruhensk : it is in square folio, its date is A.d. 1106, and its country is Spain. It contains the Prophets, with the Targum. There are two or three MSS. to which an earlier origin is assigned, but the date of their execution is very doubtful. There are only five or six MSS. extant which were made so early as the twelfth century; we have about fifty MSS. written in the thirteenth century, eighty in the fourteenth, and 110 in the fifteenth. The Jews who have been located for several centuries in the interior of China do not possess any MSS. of earlier date than the fifteenth century. The black Jews on the coast of Malabar, who are supposed to have emigrated to India about the time of the Jewish captivity, possessed a Hebrew MS. which was brought to England by Buchanan in 1806, and is now carefully preserved at Cambridge. It is a roll of goats' skins dyed red, and measures forty-eight feet long by twenty-two inches wide. It only contains part of the Pentateuch; Leviticus and a portion of Deute- ronomy are wanting. The text, with a few slight variations, accords with the Masoretic. As is the case with all the more ancient MSS., there is no division of words; an old rabbinical tradition says that the law was formerly one verse and one word. The division into verses is generally attributed to Class II.] HEBREW. 27 the compilers of the Masora. The division into chapters is more recent, and was first adopted in the Latin Testament. A more ancient division of the Pentateuch was into parashioth, or greater and less sections for the regular reading in the synagogue; a division still retained by the Jews in the rolls of the Pentateuch. IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. The first portion of the Hebrew Scriptures committed to the press was the Psalter, with the Commentary of Kabbi Kimchi; it appeared in 1477, but it is not certain at what place it was printed. In 1482 the Pentateuch was published at Bologna, and other parts of Scripture were subsequently printed at various places. But the first complete Bible that issued from the press was that printed in 1488 at Soncino, a small town of Lombardy, between Cremona and Brescia. Copies of this edition are now so scarce that only nine are known to exist, one of which is in the Library of Exeter College, Oxford. It has points and accents, but from what MSS. it was printed is unknown. It formed the text of another edition, printed, with a few corrections, at Brescia in 1494. The printers of both these editions were of a family of German Jews who had settled at Soncino; they are noted for having been, in point of time, the first Hebrew printers. The Brescia edition is famous for having been that from which Luther made his translation of the Old Testament, and the identical volume used by him is still preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin. This edition forms one of the three standard texts from which all subsequent editions have been executed; the other two being the Hebrew text of the Complutensian Polyglot (published 1514-17, and for which seven MSS. were consulted), and the second edition of Bomberg's Bible. Bomberg printed in all five editions, of which the first appeared at Venice in 1518; but the second edition, published at Venice 1525—26, is the most valued on account of its superior correctness, and its text still forms the basis of modern printed Bibles. It is pointed according to the Masoretic system, and was printed from the text of the Brescia edition, corrected by reference to some Spanish MSS., under the care of Rabbi Ben Chajim, a Jew of profound acquaintance with the Masora and rabbinical erudition. All the editions above mentioned were executed by Jews or Jewish converts. The first Hebrew Bible published by a Gentile, was that printed in 1534-35 at Basle, with a Latin translation in a parallel column, by Munster, a learned German; in a second edition, published 1536, he introduced critical annotations and portions of the Masora : he used the Brescia edition of 1494 as his text, but seems to have consulted Bomberg's Bible and several MSS. In 1569-72 the Hebrew text of the Antwerp Polyglot was published ; it is compounded of the Complutensian text, and that of the second edition of Bomberg's Bible. The next most celebrated editions, in point of time, of the Hebrew Bible were those of Buxtorf : he published an 8vo. edition at Basle in 1619, and his great Rabbinical Bible (so called because accompanied by the Masora and the Commentaries of five Jewish rabbis) appeared in 1618-20. About this period the Samaritan Pentateuch was first introduced into Europe, and a new era commenced in the history of Hebrew criticism. Hitherto both Jews and Christians had rested secure in the supposed uniformity of Hebrew MSS. Origen, who, as will hereafter be shown, had certainly attempted to collate the Hebrew text with the Septuagint version, seems to have taken little or no pains in the comparison of Hebrew MSS.; and though in some of the editions of the Bible, as above mentioned, several MSS. had been consulted, a general and systematic collation of all the MSS. of the Old Testament had never been deemed requisite. Now, however, the attention of the learned was drawn to the variations between the Hebrew text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Septuagint version; the controversies thence arising happily led to the examination of the MSS. themselves, and the various readings there discovered were discussed by the same laws of criticism that had long been in force with respect to profane writings. Two most important critical editions of the Bible, published in 1661 and 1667 at Amsterdam, by Athias, a learned rabbi, were among the first fruits of these researches: the text was founded on MSS. as well as on a collation of previous printed editions, 28 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. and one MS. was said to be 900 years old. So highly were the labours of Athias appreciated, that in testimony of public admiration, the States General of Holland presented him with a gold chain and medal appendant. Athias was the first editor who numbered the verses of the Hebrew Bible : every fifth verse had, in previous editions, been marked with a Hebrew numeral. His text, with some few alterations, was beautifully reprinted by Van der Hooght, in 1705, at Amsterdam; this edition is celebrated for its typographical elegance, and the clearness of the characters, especially of the vowel points. It has some few Masoretic notes in the margin, and a collation of various readings from printed editions at the end. It was reprinted in London 1811-12, under the editorship of Mr. Frey. Among other reprints of Van der Hooght's text, with corrections by various editors, the splendid edition of Houbigant appeared at Paris in 1753. In this edition the text is divested of vowel points, all Masoretic appendages are omitted, and several readings from the Samaritan are inserted in the margin of the Pentateuch. In the same year that Houbigant printed his edition, Kennicott published his first dissertation on the state of the Hebrew text, in which he clearly demonstrated the necessity of collating all the MSS. of Scripture that were known to be yet extant. To defray the expense of so important an under- taking, a large subscription, headed by George III., was raised in England, and the work of collation, commenced by Kennicott and his coadjutors in 1760, continued till 1769. Kennicott collated 250 MSS. with his own hand, (most of which, however, were only examined in select places), and the total number collated by him and under his direction was about 600. In 1776-80 he published a splendid edition of Van der Hooght's text at Oxford, with various readings collected from Hebrew and Samaritan MSS., from printed editions, and from the quotations of the Bible occurring in the works of ancient rabbinical writings, and especially in the Talmud, the text of which belongs to the third century. An important supplement to this great work was published by M. de Rossi at Parma, 1784-87, consisting of additional readings from Hebrew MSS. and other sources. De Rossi added a volume of Scholia Critica in 1798. Up to the present moment about 1300 Hebrew MSS. have been collated in whole or in part; but each MS. very rarely contains the whole Bible, some being confined to the Pentateuch, others to the Prophets, while others comprise but a single book. It is a remarkable fact, and a proof of the con- tinued interposition of, Divine Providence, that after all the laborious researches that have been made among MSS. belonging to different centuries and to various countries, not a single reading has yet been detected which affects the power of any one doctrine, precept, or consolation, contained in that Holy Volume, which has been received during so many ages by Jews and Christians as the Word of God. Discrepancies to the amount of several thousands exist in different MSS. as to the insertion or omission of a letter, the use or rejection of a synonymous term, and similar minor details; nor are these without their use, for it is obvious that such errata, though they affect only the orthography or mere diction of the text, subserve the double purpose of aiding in the grammatical elucidation of certain difficult passages, and of proving the general integrity of the Sacred Canon. Van der Hooght's text, with which all Hebrew MSS. hitherto collated have been compared by Kennicott and others, is esteemed the most correct of the printed editions: the typographical and other errors which encum- bered the first editions have been removed by Hahn and later editors, and it now forms our Textus Reeeptus. It is not, however, appreciated by some of the Jews, merely on account of Roman figures and sundry marks in the margin which have appeared in the editions of this text. To meet their prejudices, the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews caused an edition to be printed imme- diately from the text of Athias as exhibited in his second edition of 1667, and which is the edition most prized by the Jews. The Society's Bible was edited by Judah D'Allemand, and published in London in 1828; and special evidences of the blessing of God upon the Old Testament Scriptures, in preparing the minds of his ancient people for the fuller revelation of the New Testament, are to be found in the Reports of the Society. Class II.] HEBREW, AS A TRANSLATION. 29 HEBREW, AS A TRANSLATION. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14* Greenfield's version. -nx nn wni • wn n^n nnfcna TT TT~: TT- TT * ": T T T T - T T • " • VS T 3 • nTO Vrsi *?3n t D^nSxrrnx n^&nn nate n^n *6 nnx Da pis nsAaw v -: T T TV ■ I * T T : - * 4 nia vn D w nm • vn c w n is : nna 5 ^nrn ♦ -wn ^ns itetrn : mstn 6 nxft rrfetf tfw w t nap kn ink 7 tj£> xa tfin t janr toBh • on% t Vra bb wax* M&S ♦ nixn-Sy tsht 1 ? t: •-:-!--: t - • t : 8 t»* roi&S dk *a ♦ nixn m kn wn * T I - - : • " T T T 9 vmn nmn nix n*n sin : nixn-ntf • — - V VI T T T T 10 rrn oniya : taniya xan B*arW? TT TT TT TT • T : : h*3n xn Q^iyni ♦ rra rrnj cniyni ■ ■ tt: t: t i ■ tt: 11 xn ink ib-iaw ♦ in n^x nx xa x^n l2 |ib^ }na nrh vhsp neto : nap 13 n^/x : iwa D^ax&S D^nnx *» nvrr? xni * nb>an mxn& xni • owo xn : tt- --.-. . • t * 14 wrn : rta trrinxa cx-^ b»x *-nx&fc ♦iniaa-nx nxnai ♦ «3ina pBh n*n nba 1 ? : naxi ion xn& • axn Yn*n niaa3 SOCIETY s version. n^x Yn nanni nann yh n^xna .... T T T T - : t t - t t • » : Yn tfin :D*rinxn Yn nanni dtiWi* t t v: t t t t t - : vj It Yna narna tia^rinxn bm rY#xna 3 t : • t t t v: t v •* * •■ : ♦ n»m n^x nan Ynj xn rnynaibi ia t : • v -: t t t : • t^t : - * :iznxn nix vn o*hm D»n yn ia 4 ttt t •--: • - t s nnW» xS n^nY naa n^na nixY 5 : pnv tow t^nnx nxa rnW B»x w \y%b nixn-ny Yyn 1 ? ^ K ? *° n7 n^n xS nr : i-rSy cab «*2»?» 8 T T V T r - T \ • -. - .. T T : .... . . - : T t t t iY-ny onitrn n^n sniya tc^iyn 10 T 1 T ^ T: tt t*^t t^t xa N;^n : ijrj* xS a^iyni n^n: u :ink rfeip xS in^Di in^D~Sx ni^n 1 ? rush jw ink 6|p n^x nW'pi 12 xS "I^X JtofS B*J*fiNS^ Q'n^ ^3 13 n^n nnnni : ri?\a Q^h^rcai ^3 "oa M t t t t - : t •■.•:•* v v ini33-nx ntf% «3ina pm n^ jnaxi non xb% wh th» niaaa I. HEBREW VERSIONS OP THE NEW TESTAMENT. We have no certain information concerning the translation of any portion of the New Testament into the language of the Old Testament Scriptures prior to the year 1537, when the Gospel of St. Matthew was published in Hebrew by Sebastian Munster, at Basle. Great attention was excited by this book at the time of its appearance, on account of an ancient tradition which prevailed in the Church that St. Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. It was very evident, however, that Munster's publication had no pretensions to be regarded as the text of the sacred original, nor even as an ancient * By Mr. William Greenfield, and of the Version executed for the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. 30 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. version, for the language in which it was written was not the Syro-Chaldaic current in Palestine at the time of our Lord, but the rabbinical Hebrew in use among the Jews of the twelfth century; it was, moreover, full of solecisms and barbarisms, and bore indubitable marks of having been translated either directly from the Vulgate, or from an Italian version of the Vulgate. The translation was probably made by an unconverted Jew, at some period subsequent to the twelfth century. In an Apology for this work, dedicated to Henry VIII. of England, Munster states that the MS. from which he printed was defective in several passages, and that he was compelled to supply the omissions as he best could from his own resources. This circumstance may serve partly to account for the errors which abound in the work. It passed through several editions, and a Hebrew, version of the Epistle to the Hebrews was appended to it. Another edition of the same translation of St. Matthew, but printed from a more complete and correct MS. brought for the purpose from Italy, was published by Tillet, Bishop of St. Brieux, at Paris, in 1555, with a Latin version by Mercerus. A translation of the four Gospels into biblical Hebrew was made by Joannes Baptista Jonas, a converted Jew, and Professor of Hebrew at the University of Rome : he dedicated it to Pope Clement IX., and it was published at Rome in 1668, at the expense of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide. The first translation of the entire New Testament into Hebrew was made by Elias Hutter, a Protestant divine, born at Ulm in 1553. He was Professor of Hebrew at Leipsic, and first dis- tinguished himself by his ingenious plan of printing a Hebrew Bible, in which he had the radical letters struck off with solid and black, and the servile with hollow and white types, while the quiescents were executed in smaller characters, and placed above the line ; thus exhibiting at a glance the root or elementary principle of each word. Hutter 's success in this undertaking led him to project a Polyglot Bible: he commenced with the New Testament, but found himself utterly at a loss for want of a Hebrew version. He therefore determined upon supplying the deficiency himself, and in the course of one twelvemonth he produced a translation of the New Testament. He then proceeded with his original design, and completed his Polyglot Testament in twelve languages, at Nuremberg, in 1600. This Hebrew version was afterwards detached from the Polyglot, and repeatedly printed. In 1661, it was revised and published in London, in 8vo., under the superintendence of William Robertson; but the greater part of this edition was consumed in the fire of London, 1666, so that copies are now rarely to be met with. Another edition, but in 12mo., was published in London in 1798, by the Rev. Richard Caddick, B.A., for the benefit of the Jews. It became, however, apparent that this version, although entitled to some measure of commendation in consideration of the short time in which it was executed, is unsuitable for general circulation. The Jews were prejudiced against it on account of its not being in pure biblical Hebrew: they objected to the frequent introduction of rabbinical words, and it was proved to be full of grammatical inaccuracies and solecisms. It had no sooner, therefore, been brought into use, than a new translation became a desideratum. In the meantime Dr. Buchanan brought from India a translation of the New Testament, executed in Travancore, among the Jews of that country, to whom allusion has been made above : the translator was a learned rabbi. The MS. was written in the small rabbinical or Jerusalem character; the style is elegant and flowing, and tolerably faithful to the text. Dr. Buchanan deposited the MS. in the University Library at Cambridge; but it was previously transcribed by Mr. Yeates, of Cambridge, in the square Hebrew character. A copy was presented to the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews, and it was at one time thought that it would greatly promote the object of the Society to print and circulate the production of a Jew so evidently master of his own ancient language. After much deliberation, however, a more strictly literal translation was still deemed desirable; and accordingly, in 1816, Mr. Frey and other learned Hebraists executed, under the patronage of the Jews' Society, a new version of the New Testament. In 1818, nearly 3500 copies left the Society's press, and this edition was speedily followed by another issue. The British and Foreign Bible Society assisted materially in this work, by purchasing at various times to a large amount. After this version had been in circulation some time, complaints from Hebrew readers in various parts of the world were i i I i J I I r—r I. J I I f -^ T Class II.] EARLY DIFFUSION OF HEBREW. 31 laid before the Jews' Society Committee, concerning the rendering of certain passages. To ensure minute accuracy, the Committee determined on a thorough revision. They consulted some of the most eminent men in Europe, and Professor Gesenius was recommended to them as the first Hebrew scholar of the age. To him, therefore, they confided their version, requesting from him a critique upon it, and suggestions as to alterations. Gesenius went carefully through the work as far as the Acts, and likewise through the book of Eevelation, when his numerous engagements compelled him to resign the task. The work, with all Gesenius's notes, was then transferred by the Jews' Committee to Dr. Neumann, a converted Jew, lecturer on Hebrew at the University of Breslau. Dr. Neumann commenced the work anew, and his revision, when completed, was acknowledged to bear the stamp of " diligence, accuracy, zeal, and profound scholarship." The limited funds of the Society, however, prevented them from giving this valuable revision to the public, and it therefore remained some time in MS. At this very period the publisher of the Modern Polyglot Bible (Mr. Bagster) requiring a Hebrew version of the New Testament for the Polyglot, applied to the Society for the Conversion of the Jews for the critical emendations they had been amassing: the important notes of Gesenius and Neumann were in consequence handed to him, and were incorporated in the new version executed for the Polyglot by Mr. Greenfield, and published in 1831. In 1839 the Society issued an edition of 5000 copies of another version, executed by the Eev. Dr. M'Caid, Eev. M. S. Alexander, Kev. J. C. Eeichardt, and Mr. S. Hoga. This work, a specimen of which accompanies this memoir, was after- wards stereotyped, and is the version now circulated by the Society. II. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. In the Eeports of the Society for the Conversion of the Jews, are many affecting and well- authenticated instances of the Divine blessing having attended the perusal of the Hebrew New Testa- ment. One fact in connection with this subject requires notice here, as showing the power of the New Testament over the heart of a Jew. The learned rabbi, mentioned above as the translator of the Travancore Testament, engaged in the work solely with the design of confuting Christianity. That his triumph might be more complete, he endeavoured in his translation to keep as near to the original as possible, for he never doubted but that with his scholarship and logical abilities he would find it easy to refute the statements of the text. By the time, however, that he had gone through the life of Jesus, his confidence was shaken, and as if afraid, says Dr. Buchanan, of the converting power of his own translation, he inserted a paragraph at the close of the Gospels, in which he took heaven and earth to witness that he had undertaken the work with the express design of opposing the Epicureans, as he termed the Christians. A cloud hangs over his subsequent history; but there are abundant reasons for believing that he fell a martyr to the bigotry of his people, and that, after embracing the religion of Jesus, he sealed his testimony with his blood. THE EARLY DIFFUSION OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE, THROUGH THE PHOENICIAN COLONIES, etc. An opinion has very commonly prevailed, that the Hebrew Language, in which God was pleased to make known the revelation of His will in the Old Testament Scriptures, was at all times confined within very narrow limits; so that just as God did in ancient times choose one people as the depositary of His Scriptures, the language which they used, and in which those Scriptures were written, was confined almost entirely to them. 32 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. Indeed so fully has this opinion prevailed, that a contrast has been frequently drawn between the New Testament written in Greek, then the most diffused language of the civilised earth, as intended for the instruction of men without restriction as to nation, and the Old Testament written in Hebrew for one ■people. The object of the accompanying Map is to show how considerably this opinion ought to be modified: the facts which must be considered are these — • I. That the Phoenician Language was essentially identical with the Hebrew. II. That the Phoenician Colonies had in early times diffused the knowledge of this language over a considerable portion of the earth. III. That even in countries in which the Ph • mv&li ■ nrs^z • iarrnZAZ ■ °j^ • a?m • Am • «w * * — : : ^l^aZ • sea*** ■ art ■ Za-Am^ ■ Am : 3?3m • maA^m • aZ * AZ3 • ^ixs2 • sAvma*" • =*:a?m? * * aA^mav • za • <^avA? • "ms^a • snfis?nr • aa*"* • s^^pZ ■ *A9"* • • • • aAaA? • a°?av • aA<\a? • a<\a? * 3 aa • s^mav • za • =ca • °?avA ■ az • asZA • 3?3mZ • ?ca*" : 3v<=\a • Am? • ^ma?"* • aot • rntm • ^av • ;ama?m • A 1 " 1 " • aZ^ * • airmpa ? • mvsnrr* - Afir • s?sm • a^a • ^a • Zv • svma*" * sterna ' 'e&A? ■ Iran • za - Am? ■ s;am • Am? • amia?m * ^?a<\Am • znrsaz • a^JA ■ Am? • a?aA • Am • <\p?a * * — : : =**"^p? • 3Aa^ * ;a?m • a^lA • aZ * : <\?ia * aZ * * Z^pa • aZ * : az • sam ' a=sZA : 5f?3m°? • 3v<\a • zv • aaa * ^js^a • AZ? • a<\a^ * Ama • t^^a • aZ * ■ sp 1 " ? • ?°sv^ • av\a • ^m^ a • aZ * — : : a^a^Z^ • Za? 1 seva^? • 3<\?a ■ 3a»a? ■ 3^av • 3Zpv : yvaxs I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. The Hebrew Language (in which the Samaritan Pentateuch is written) was predominant, as we have shown, in many countries of antiquity. It has long ceased to be the vernacular of Samaria, the inhabitants of which region now speak Arabic; but the Sacred books and liturgy belonging to the few remaining descendants of the ancient Samaritans are written in a dialect called the Samaritan, which has never spread beyond the limits of Samaria itself. The Samaritans have lost all political importance; they have dwindled down to a few families, and merely constitute a small religious sect. They dwell on the site of Shechem, their ancient capital and chief residence, now called Nablous or Nabulus, a corruption of the Greek word Neapolis, the new city. Two centuries ago, there were small Samaritan communities in Cairo, Gaza, and Damascus, as well as at JSablous. But in 1808, there had been no Samaritans in Egypt for more than a century, and they appear now to be confined solely to Nablous itself. Nablous, though of small size, is one of the most considerable places in the Holy Land at the present day, and contains a population of about eight thousand ; but not more than one hundred and fifty of the number are Samaritans; and in 1838, Dr. Robinson found there were only thirty adult males who paid taxes. They still go up three times a year to Mount Gerizim to worship. On Friday evenings they pray in their houses; and on Saturday (their Sabbath, which they keep with great strictness) have public prayers in their synagogue. They meet also in the synagogue on the great festivals, and on the new moons. ii. — languages or samaria. Up to the period when the ten tribes of Israel were carried away captive into Assyria, Hebrew was the language of Samaria. The characters employed by the ten tribes in writing Hebrew were, however, totally different from those now in use among the Jews. The Samaritan letters, as they are called, are closely allied to the Phoenician, and appear originally to have been employed by the whole Jewish nation; for the characters on the Maccabean coins are very similar to the Samaritan, and these 36 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. coins, of which the series probably commences about 150 years before Christ, were struck by Simon, Jonathan, and other members of the Maccabean dynasty. But, unlike the other Shemitic dialects, the Samaritans adopt no vowel-points in writing; some of the letters answer the purpose of vowels. The mixed nature of the dialect which became predominant in Samaria on the removal of the ten tribes, may be inferred from 2 Kings 17. 24, where we are told that " the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel;" moreover, a Hebrew priest was appointed as the public teacher of religion to this mixed multitude, and hence, as might have been expected, a dialect partly Aramsean and partly Hebrew became, in process of time, the general medium of communication. Arabic being at present the language spoken in Samaria, this dialect has now no existence but in books; it is greatly venerated by the Samaritans, and they affirm that it is the true and original Hebrew in which the law was given, and that the language formerly spoken by the Jews was not Hebrew but Jewish. Implacable hatred has existed between the Jews and the Samaritans ever since the days of Darius Codomanus, when the Samaritans separated themselves from their Jewish brethren in faith and in ritual worship, under Manasseh, brother of the High Priest at Jerusalem. " Say we not well," said the Jews to Christ, " that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" This feeling shows itself on every opportunity; and never more so than on the subject of observances, the correct usage of which each party vindicates to themselves alone. III. — HISTORY OF THE HEBRiEO-SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. The date, copyist, and origin of this transcript of the Hebrew Pentateuch are involved in inex- tricable mystery, yet after all the discussions that have taken place on the subject, the most probable" conjecture seems to be, that when the ten tribes under Jeroboam seceded from their alliance with Judah, they possessed this copy of the Pentateuch, which they ever afterwards carefully preserved, and transmitted to posterity. It is written throughout in pure Hebrew, and corresponds nearly word for word with our Hebrew Text, so that the mere acquaintance with the Samaritan characters is all that is requisite to enable a Hebrew scholar to read this ancient document. It is rather remarkable that in about two thousand places where the Samaritan differs from the Hebrew Text, it agrees with the Sep- tuagint, and among the various hypotheses that have been started to account for this circumstance, it seems most reasonable to suppose with Gesenius, that the Samaritan copy and the Septuagint version were both made from some ancient Hebrew codex which differed in a few minor particulars from the more modern Masoretic text. The variations of this Pentateuch do not, however, affect the force of any doctrine, the two chief discrepancies between the Samaritan and Hebrew texts being, the prolongation of the period between the deluge and the birth of Abraham in the Samaritan, and the substitution of the word Gerizim for Ebal in Deut. 27. In these cases it is impossible to say whether the Jews or the Samaritans were guilty of corrupting the original text. The Septuagint represents the contested period as even longer by some centuries than the Samaritan, and it is followed by the Roman Catholic Martyrology; but in the Latin Vulgate, the computation of the Hebrew text has been adopted. For instance, the date of the Deluge is according to the Samaritan Pentateuch, B.C. . . . 3044 the Hebrew text . „ . . . 2348 the Septuagint ,, . . . 3716 The Samaritan epoch agrees best with two other important eras of the heathen world, viz: — ■ the Indian Deluge, and era of Kali-yuga B.C. . 3101 and the Chinese Empire ,, . 3082 These two dates added to the Samaritan date, 3044, and divided by 3, give B.C. 3070 as the probable date of the universal deluge. The chronology of the Samaritan has been vindicated by Dr. Hales, but generally, where various readings exist, the authority of the Hebrew is considered paramount. These occasional readings do not however diminish the value of the Samaritan Pentateuch as a witness Ciass II.] SAMARITAN. 37 to the integrity of the Hebrew text. That the same facts and the same doctrines should be transmitted in almost precisely the same words from generation to generation by nations, between whom the most rooted antipathy and rivalry existed (as was notably the case between the Samaritans and the Jews), is a strong argument in proof of the authenticity of the books ascribed to Moses ; the purity of the text handed down to us through these two separate and independent channels may likewise be argued from the fact, that no collusion to alter passages in favour of their own prejudices is ever likely to have taken place between two such hostile nations. The Samaritan Pentateuch was studied by Eusebius, Jerome, and other fathers of the Church, and in their works several citations of the various readings existing between it and the Hebrew occur. Yet singular enough, this valuable text for about a thousand years was quite lost sight of by the learned, and it was unknown, and its very existence almost forgotten in Europe, when Scaliger, in the year 1559, suddenly instituted inquiries respecting it, and at his suggestion a negociation was opened by the learned men of Europe with the remnant of the Samaritans, for the purchase of copies of this Pentateuch. In 1616 Pietro della Valle effected the purchase of a complete copy, which was bought by De Sancy (afterwards Bishop of St. Malo), and sent by him in 1623 to the Library of the Oratory at Paris. In the meantime efforts were being made in England for the possession of copies, and between the years 1620 and 1630, Archbishop Usher obtained six MSS. from the East, of which some were complete and others not. Five of these MSS. are still preserved in England, but one copy which the Archbishop presented to L. de Dieu seems to have been lost. At various times other copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch have been since received in Europe, and there are in all about seventeen which have been critically examined; of these, six are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one in the Cottonian Library in the British Museum. They are all written either on parchment or on silk paper; there are no vowel points' or accents, and the whole Pentateuch, like the Hebrew text, is divided into sections for the service of the synagogue: but while the Samaritan has 966 of these divisions, the Hebrew has only about 52. Some of the MSS. have a date beneath the name of the copyist, deter- mining their age. The MS. belonging to the Oratory at Paris is supposed to have been written in the eleventh century; our other MSS. are more recent, except one attributed to the eighth century, but its date is very uncertain. The Samaritans themselves, however, ascribe extraordinary antiquity to their own copies; and Fisk says that the Kohen or Priest showed him a MS. which they pretended had been written by Abishua, great grandson of Aaron, thirteen years after the death of Moses : it was a roll, in some respects like the synagogue rolls of the Jews, and kept in a brass case. A copy in another brass case was affirmed to be 800 years old. Fisk observed a number of MSS. of the Pentateuch on a shelf in the Samaritan synagogue, and he says that besides the Pentateuch they have copies of the books of Joshua and Judges, but in separate volumes. They preserve under that name, not the same books of the Hebrew canon, but a compilation of their own, usually known as the " Chronicon Samaritanum," which contains documents collected from various sources, and brought down to the time of Hadrian. They hold no books for canonical, but the five books of Moses. The first printed edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch was made from the Codex Oratorii (i.e. the MS. belonging to the Oratory at Paris); it was printed by Father Morinus in the Paris Polyglot. This text was reprinted in the London Polyglot, with corrections from three of the MSS. which for- merly belonged to Usher; and so correct is this edition that a Samaritan priest whom Maundrell visited at Nablous, esteemed this Samaritan text equally with a MS. of his own, which he could not be prevailed on to part with at any price. Fisk when in Samaria saw a relict of the very copy of the Polyglot mentioned by Maundrell. Various readings collated from the Samaritan MSS. were given by Dr. Kennicott in his edition of the Hebrew Scriptures, as mentioned in page 28: and in 1790, Dr. Blayney published at Oxford the Samaritan Pentateuch from the text of the London Polyglot, in square Hebrew characters. The variations of the Samaritan text have likewise been published by Mr. Bagster. A Grammar of the Samaritan language, with Extracts and a Vocabulary, by Mr. G. F. Nicholls, was published by Messrs. Bagster, in 1858. 38 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. IV. — HISTORY OF THE SAMARITAN VERSION. Three versions have been made of the Samaritan Pentateuch, two of which only are now extant. The first version was made from the Hebraso- Samaritan text into the Samaritan dialect, but the date and author are unknown : by some writers it is ascribed to the period when a Hebrew priest was sent by Esarhaddon to instruct the mixed multitude of Samaria in the service of God ; while others affirm that it was executed in the first or second century of the Christian era. This version is in the highest degree exact and literal; it is, in fact, a complete counterpart of the parent text. In some instances, however, its resemblance to the Chaldee Paraphrase of Onkelos is very striking, and there are no means of accounting for this singular agreement, unless we adopt the supposition that it fell into the hands of Onkelos, and that it was interpolated by him. It has been printed in the Paris and London Poly- glots; and in 1682, Cellarius published extracts from it with Latin annotations and a translation. Copious extracts are also given in Uhlemann's Institutiones Lingua? Samaritanee. When the Samaritan dialect fell into disuse, and the language of the Arabian conquerors became the vernacular of the country, the Samaritans had at first recourse to the Arabic version of Saadias Gaon, at that period in general use among the Jews. A translation into the Arabic language as spoken in Samaria, and written in Samaritan characters, was afterwards prepared by Abu Said. It is not known with certainty in what year this translation was made; Saadias Gaon died A.D. 942, and it must have been made subsequently to that period, as Abu Said made great use of that Jewish rabbi's labours. This version is remarkably close and literal, and follows the Samaritan even in those readings in which it differs from the Hebrew text. Several MSS. of this version still exist in libraries, but the whole has never been printed. A third version of the Samaritan Pentateuch was made into Greek, but this work, though quoted by the fathers, is no longer extant. The Samaritan and Arabic versions, from their noted fidelity, are of much value in correcting the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, and in fact form almost the only sources for its emendation. C-LASS II.] CHALDEE. 39 CHALDEE. SPECIMEN OE THE TAEGUM OE ONKELOS, EEOM WALTON'S POLYGLOT. EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 17. »"irp-t& s • Kn-naj? rvao omen nj?tnd ■nnpsx «j -trbx » njn 2 : -i»»d^ |&.sn N'Diina-^a n* »' 792S /■•:« t it : - j- • m \r: * : jt -.- •• ■ j>t': « - j* 'a"™ it: vt -; it •• ; W ■ t jt-t : • t $~ t: j" - yita x s oa ni y-ita syisa hi N^yta N'ce'a «i rvibrboi b^x *A Taym6* j»ao"ia nniK nh^x ■n^ y - : * vt- : j* : a t : ■ \t;- ; r 1 r ••: • t-; • v : t: - ■• ■«■ ■■ T - t r ■ - \t—, jttvi 'j>t -Tr'py jm»-wa"^ inaK »ain -iyD» Mb ^k tjnta « kSn ,| tn i-nrrpan t6i rir6 *ii:iDm6 5 : Kjn&6 t * I 3- t: I ■ : - 'it : - •* •=■ : - t '- j" »tt v: kt: t -; j— ; •/,*::• jt : ' v: y : • t 7t ;-; no&i *' r : ' 1 : t : - - t y v; v ; /r- : ■ • : - * - v- : t ; \r • : t - ; j- • : Knatjn Mn'r-n' 1 Ta*mn 8 :&opK^> nwa *d«i rv '» »a.*- t6 n« N33»b ■nnta »vk»b>3 *»»n ^7 jnipa vt ; - : yr - ;>• : •*-; it': • : v" : • J" " : 3" t: •■-; ^t a--; att - : Iwt ■■» jt - t : • 3- •• jt it ' • NFiTajr^ Taj?rr&6 "nrbx «-mp Knae> iW3K> xow 10 : ^"pay^a T>aym r\%n p»i* nw 9 J rPn-iK'ip^ t : • '„•; t •• ; - t 'att v: jt; t't: vt ; - t t • : t : 'it : • ••; t y" - : t : ■ ' • *t • ••■ t 1 -; m\-ni KjnK"Tn kw""JV ;» nay p»i» hpik> hk " : ^npa h •qnvji ^rVya-i ^inasi "^as? ^rna-i ijna-i ' fin $H3 "nr3N-n"i 'n-iaK-iv ip» k jn^npi xnac'i «D^1-n , » 'nna r'a-^y nNya^ Nova mi jifia H-^a-n ,| i •T 'at* -: • •* _ : " V**~ I" : 1- : vt : - ; jt - f>T; M"t l« ■ « A T T " : JT ; vt : I : j- t -; ■niana n^nDn-N^ " : a'uan n^ 15 : wan-N^ 14 : a'aa Vitopn-Nb " : ^ an* ■anta »h Nyis-b 'nDi* j-iaiiH 'vt: - : j" : ** t 1 : • rr ' 1 : it it: / ': ■ t 'it i-t 'wtv: jt - f :- - ' t 'j;; : ■nnan^ h Vai nnom pinim htidni nnayi •n J ian nnx n^onn n"? •nnan n»a T»nn n 1 ? » : snpK>T xn-nno 'it: - : y» k. : "i -:- j" : ■• : - : *•• : -: It;- j- • •• : - jt 'at: - j" v : - jt it':' ; jt -;- The Aramasan or Syrian language appears from the earliest times to have been divided into two grand branches, namely, the West Aramsean or Syriac, which was the dialect spoken towards the West, in Syria and Mesopotamia; and the East Aramaean, generally denominated the Chaldee, which was spoken towards the East, in Babylonia, Assyria, and Chaldsea. But this division of the Aramaean language into two branches is rather geographical than philological, for with the exception perhaps of a few words and forms peculiar to each dialect and some variations in the vowels, no very great difference exists either in grammatical structure or lexicography, between Syriac and Chaldee. In general, how- ever, the vowels are pronounced broader in Syriac than in Chaldee; in Syriac the sound taking the place of that of A in Chaldee. Michaelis, indeed, has remarked, that the Chaldee of Daniel becomes Syriac if read by a German or Polish Jew. The chief point of distinction between the two dialects is, that Syriac is written in characters peculiar to itself, whereas the square characters, which are also appropriated to Hebrew, are employed in writing Chaldee. Down to the time of Abraham, Chaldee is supposed to have been almost, if not quite identical with Hebrew, and to have acquired subsequently the peculiarities of a distinct dialect. The dialect spoken in Chaldea was the original language of the Abrahamidse, for Abraham was called from " Ur of the Chaldees." And since " Ur" is to the north of Mesopotamia, and the " Chaldees or Chasdim" came originally from that part of the country, we may infer that the vernacular language of Abraham, whatever that may have been, was the lan- guage originally spoken between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Gen. 11. 31). Isaac and his family spoke Hebrew, which was the language of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned, and Hebrew con- tinued to be the language of their descendants till the time of the Babylonish captivity. During the seventy years passed at Babylon the dialect of the captives seems to have merged into, or to have become greatly adulterated with, that of their conquerors, and the great similarity in genius and structure between the two dialects naturally accelerated the effects of political causes in producing this admixture. On the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, it was the custom of the priests to read the law of Moses publicly to the people, and afterwards to give an exposition (see Neh. 8. 8, etc.). It is the opinion of many eminent scholars that the law was read as it stood in the original Hebrew, but explained in Chaldee, the only dialect then generally intelligible among the Jewish people. However 40 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. this may have been, it is certain that at least as early as the Christian era, written expositions of Scripture in the Chaldee dialect were in circulation among the Jews; and the name of Targums, from a quadriliteral root signifying an explanation or version, was given to these Chaldee compositions. The most ancient Targum. now extant is that written by Onkelos, a disciple of Hillel, who died 60 B.C. This Hillel is by some supposed to have been the grandfather of Gamaliel, Paul's instructor. In purity of style Onkelos equals the Chaldaic sections of Ezra and Daniel, and his fidelity to the Hebrew text, which he generally follows almost word for word, is so great, that he deserves to be looked upon as a translator, rather than as a paraphrast. No writings of his are extant except his Targum of the books of Moses, which has been printed with a Latin translation in the first volume of the London Polyglot; it is esteemed of much service in biblical criticism from the fact of its being supported, in passages where it differs from the Masoretic text, by other ancient versions. Besides the Targum of Onkelos, seven other expositions of Scripture in the same dialect, though greatly inferior in merit, are now known to be in existence. The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel upon the greater and lesser Prophets is believed by some authors to have been written about 30 B.C. : though others assign it a later date; it abounds in allegories, and the style is diffuse and less pure than that of Onkelos. It conforms generally to the Masoretic text, but differs from it in some important passages. A Targum written by another Jonathan (hence called the Pseudo Jonathan) made its appear- ance at some period subsequent to the seventh century : the style is barbarous, and intermixed with Persian, Greek, and Latin words; it is confined to the Pentateuch, and generally follows the rabbinical interpretations, hence it is of no use in criticism. The Jerusalem Targum is also upon the Pentateuch ; but it is in a very mutilated state, whole verses being wanting and others transposed : it repeats the fables contained in the Pseudo Jonathan, and is written in the same impure style; by many, indeed, it is considered merely as the fragments of an ancient recension of the Pseudo Jonathan. The Targum of Joseph the Blind on the Hagiographa is also written in very corrupt Chaldee, and adulterated with words from other languages. The remaining Targums (on Esther and Canticles) are too puerile and too paraphrastic to be entitled to notice here. The first seven Targums are all printed in the London Polyglot; the eighth (on the Chronicles) was not known at the time of the publication of that work ; it was discovered in the Library at Cambridge, and published at Amsterdam in 1715. Beck had pre- viously published large fragments from an Erfurt MS., in 1680-81, at Augsburg. The great utility of the earlier Targums (for the later Targums are of little or no use), consists in their vindicating the genuineness of the Hebrew text, by proving that it was the same at the period the Targums were made, as it exists among us at the present day. The earlier Targums are also of importance in showing that the prophecies relating to the Messiah were understood by Jews in ancient times to bear the same interpretation that is now put upon them by Christians. And it must be added, that, in developing the customs and habits of the Jews, in exhibiting the aspect in which they viewed contested passages of Scripture, and in denoting the mode in which they made use of idioms, phrases, and peculiar forms of speech, considerable light is derived from the Targums in the study both of the Old and of the New Testament. Class II.] SYRIAC. 41 SYRIAC. SPECIMEN, FEOM St, PESHTJIO VERSION. JK^2> OCTIO . J£^2> jbcn oCTloAyJ Ajv^u^S oCTIOJM JCTX^Jo ■. JCTL^, lA\, JoCTl 0CTI0A0J L*m->;.'> Jbcn wctioK-J JLJch . JJ^>^ ben Jbcn wcno£_^^=>o . Jbcn cnsjjLa "^o . Jcn.2§s Lq^ . Jbcn \s-L CTUs . Jbcn? p^ 'i.6cn Ji^, )J_2j bcno . J^JLi-JLi-rsj Jkncu ^bcrLiAyJ JJLI-o ♦ cn_3$»J (J Job_«&^o •. ?cru_2o JuDQ-iB.^lca Jioioj *>• 9 ° . ^ i r.r> , cTViajft ; Jcn_ss ^20 »>^-«J? M-i;.^ Jocn . Jknoj ^^S >cn_mjj» lloxn pa N. JLJ JLJch Jocn ben (J . cnji>)La . ^b 5j <«>cnoAyJ . Jjcnbj '^^ ?6t.cqj» JJ) . Jkncu ■ ~ i\^\ >cn_i_io» ,• J^^jaj J|cno_j ;_. i^C JOCTl J >^\ vr> . Jbcn Jln>N,s~i . JLsA.VS JLJj ctv^.£^ . cruSj; JJ J4>Nno . Jbcn cnjjJLs -j» v->^) • ^oia^aJS Jj cnX.K> . JIJ Juoiij jLL^b-a ^bcn^ «jscrij •. ocno^xoj . cti^la.2 ^jo^Qjcriioj ^~^)i • ^bocnJ JcnJSsj . ); m-^i Jj-^? ^5s JIo . JL:c» ^2> o^j ^x^J . o.J^LJ Jcrv^ r & J|J jZ^r, JLi^~ ^ JJo •• JLaJ ,j£>» JJ^j^aa_«» i+j) JJ^b_« . cnJlsb_» ♦ JAosbjao JIo-sia^ JJjcj JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. PHIIOXENIAN VERSION. ^.oioA-.] jA-Llco . |A \nq jooi woioA,) j --;'"' . j/Llio jooi wcnoA_] joi^o . ]cti^ Zol |ooi ^g i \ "> . (oij^ Zol. Ja^^ jooi ^oioA*j \ioi .• jj-w jiaj Z.oai •. ooio, s \ *^>o . w ooi <-"! -| a ( ■ »«o . jooi ^joioA_.| ) a »» olo . Zoai» ^jdi |5aiQ_JO •. l_« — i — o — j o> jiaio_i jooi ^.aioA_j •> w5>| JJ ou-\ (_3a_a_A(0 •. ;ou_io | "><-> «..<-> 7 ^^iO JOUCJJ jlO.| )/r>;Qim\ j^,j ^j jj] . 1 .. n. u . *^0 "'^-"" r>rn\'->. •^U ^s^lo jaimjj |n.j Pj . jjoio-j ooi jooi woioZu] oai . |^-»^Q ooi jioioj |ooi ^»aioA_.| •:• jjaioj ) Vi \So \ jooi a\fJr^ I Vi\So •. jooi ^oioA.j oiX*> ^cuoio . JZ.J aiX*j , tNoi\ •:■ ^^. JJ olL tSau -. ■ ,oiQ 3 m i; — »j ^QJOi -. ^,ctic ^ r i> i jj ooou |ou^> |,.i O; |_i_£.^.a^ ^ooiX ^QJOLil k: .• }iO>. - >D aXj ,CU01 . m\ .i )V)flO —nlVl.Ol^O; •. l^is^ U*^^ ^o Po .• i^ao, U*o^ ^io }Jo ]ooi |;n'0 JAXlo ooio •:• o^^l 1°^ ^° Pi |aa^O* \ niV .; |*aOOcA. , 1 i^O . <_0 ^-xvjo JZ. Q o ■ ^ ^io )Lio> .• J_^l ^; U-j-^*-: ,-j I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. The Syriac, also called the Aramasan language, from Aram, the Hebrew name of Syria, was once predominant over a very extensive territory, and a Hebraic dialect of Syriac is supposed to have been the language chiefly spoken in Palestine during the time of our Lord; but Arabic has completely sup- planted it as the vernacular of Syria and Mesopotamia, and it is now only spoken by a few obscure tribes in two or three confined districts. As an ecclesiastical language, however, it still retains its importance, and is used in the Jacobite and Nestorian Chui-ches of Syria. It has likewise been for ages the liturgical language of a remarkable people in India, who, during a period of about fourteen hundred years, have preserved the name of Christians in the midst of idolatrous nations. They dwell partly within the British territories, and partly in Cochin and Travancore, two states situated on the 42 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. Malabar coast, towards the southern extremity of Hindoostan, and in political dependance upon Britain. In number they amount to 100,000; and although they have suffered severe persecutions from the Eoman Catholics, especially from the Inquisition of Goa, they still possess a regular hierarchy, and retain fifty- five of their ancient churches. They were converted to Christianity about the middle of the fifth cen- tury by the Syrian Mar Thomas, who has been confounded by the Portuguese with the Apostle St. Thomas. But prior even to the time of Mar Thomas the Christian religion had been established in India, for a Bishop from that country was present at the Council of Nice in A.D. 325. Yet, although the Syriac language was introduced with Christianity among the Malabar churches, Malayalim has con- tinued the vernacular of the country. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Although inferior to most of the other branches of the Shemitic class in point of copiousness and variety, the Syriac is of particular importance and utility to biblical students, on account of its close affinity with the Hebrew. Many words are common to both languages, and hence terms which occur but once, or of which the meaning may appear doubtful in the Hebrew Scriptures, often receive eluci- dation by reference to the mode in which they are used in the Syriac language. The roots of words in Syriac, as in the other Shemitic languages, are generally to be traced to the third person singular preterite of the first conjugation of verbs. But Syriac roots, while they resemble those of cognate dialects in consisting almost always of three, seldom of four letters, are perhaps oftener monosyllabic than in the cognate dialect; in triliteral roots the vowel being placed under the second letter, so as to form but one syllable. In grammatical structure Syriac is closely akin to Hebrew. The adjectives, as in Hebrew, are remarkably few in number, but their deficiency is supplied by other parts of speech, which take their place, and perform their office. The superlative degree is often formed by the dupli- cation of the positive. Pronouns are generally expressed by certain particles called affixes, placed at the end of nouns, verbs, or other particles, and with which they are so incorporated as to form but one word, as in other Shemitic languages. But there is in Syriac a double use of the pronoun; somewhat like the same peculiarity in the Coptic, Ethiopic, and Georgian languages. The system of conjugation is conducted upon the same plan as the Hebrew. Verbs expressing modification of a primary idea are connected in conjugation, and are considered to form collectively one entire and perfect verb. In Syriac there are eight forms of conjugations of verbs, of which four have an active, and four a passive, and sometimes a reciprocal signification. The alphabetical characters in Syriac are the same in number as the Hebrew, but differ considerably in form. The Estrangelo Syriac characters are evidently of the same origin as those on the inscriptions found at Tadmor or Palmyra. There are several MSS. extant written in this character, some of which are as ancient as the sixth century. The rectilinear character, that is, a character written with a continuous straight connecting line, is now commonly used in our printed Syriac books, and is a modification of the Estrangelo, bearing the same relation to it as the modern Greek and Latin characters do to the uncial. Another mode of writing Syriac, peculiar to a sect in Syria called Christians of St. John the Baptist, is the Zabian, Saba?an, or Mendsean; the conso- nants are formed in the usual way, but the vowels instead of being represented by points above and below the line, are denoted by strokes fastened to the letters, as in Ethiopic. III. — SYRIAC VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. Several very ancient Syriac versions are still extant, and are of considerable service in the eluci- dation of difficult passages of Scripture, because in time, place, and modes of thinking, the translators were closely approximated to the inspired writers. Of these versions the most ancient and the most important is called the Pcshito (signifying clear, literal, exact), on account of its strict fidelity to the text. The period at which this version was made has been much disputed : by some the translation of the Old Testament of this version has been referred to the age of Solomon, while various other traditions have ascribed the translation to Asa, priest of the Samaritans, and to the Apostle Thaddeus. Class II.] SYRIAC. 43 Ephrem, the Syrian, who wrote in the middle of the fourth century of the Christian era, speaks of it as a work in general use, and there are reasons for believing that the whole version was completed by the close of the first or commencement of the second century; at any rate we have proof that it was in common use in the year 350 A.D. The disparity of style apparent in different parts of the version has led to the belief that several persons were engaged in its execution. The translation of the Old Testa- ment seems to have been made immediately from the Hebrew, but with occasional reference to the Septuagint and to the Chaldee Paraphrases. This version is more particularly valuable on account of its being more ancient than any Hebrew MS. now in existence. It contains all the canonical books of the Old Testament, but not the Apocrypha. The Peshito version of the New Testament was made from the original text, as appears from the frequent occurrence of Greek words ; the Greek codex used for the translation belonged to no known family of MSS., but many of the readings agree with the quota- tions from the Testament in the writings of the earlier fathers of the Church. It is rather singular that in all ancient MSS. of this version, four epistles, namely, the second epistle of Peter, the second and third of John, and that of Jude, and likewise the book of Revelation, are wanting; they also want the story of the woman taken in adultery, John 8, and 1 John 5. 7. Pococke found the four missing epistles in a MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library, and the younger Scaliger obtained possession of a MS. of the Revelation; the Epistles were published by Pococke in 1630, and the Apocalypse by De Dieu in 1627: these have been ever since appended to the Peshito in printed editions, but evidently do not belong to that ancient version, being vastly inferior to it in point of purity, style, and fidelity. The Peshito version was not known in Europe till A.D. 1552, when Moses of Mardin was sent in the name of the Syrian Church to Rome, to acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope, and to request that an edition might be printed of their ancient Scriptures. The late Mr. Rich travelled in central Asia in search of ancient MSS.: he discovered in Assyria in all fifty-nine Syriac MSS., now deposited in the British Museum; they afford abundant evidence of the general integrity of our received text of the Peshito. Next in antiquity to the Peshito, but considerably inferior to it in elegance and accuracy of diction, if superior to it in servile literality, is the Philoxenian version, so called from having been executed under the auspices of Philoxenus, Bishop of Hierapolis in Syria, by Polycarp, A.D. 488 — 518. The Philoxenian version was revised and collated with Alexandrine MSS. by Thomas of Harclea, A.D. 616; and this revision was published by Professor White, at Oxford, in 1778. There are also three other ancient Syriac versions; namely, 1. The Karkuphensian, which is little more than a recension of the Peshito made towards the end of the tenth century by David, a Jacobite monk of Mesopotamia, for the especial use of the Monophysite, or Jacobite Christians. It derives its name either from a Syriac word signifying the head, and also the summit of a mountain (Karkupho), or from a town in Mesopotamia. 2. The Palestine- Syriac, or Syrian translation of Jerusalem, of unknown date, of which the portions still extant, consisting of a greater part of the Gospels, are preserved in MS. in the Vatican Library. It was discovered, and a portion of the text edited, as a specimen, by Professor Adler, about the latter part of the eighteenth century. In language and written characters it differs from common Syriac, and approaches the dialect formerly spoken at Jerusalem. It is supposed to belong to the fifth century, and to have been made from the Greek text; its readings generally coincide with those of the Western recension. It is valued on account of its correctness, and Professor Scholz in his last edition of the New Testament has given readings from it. The story of the woman taken in adultery, which is wanting in the Peshito and the Philoxenian or Harclean, is found among the fragments of this version. 3. The Syro-Estrangelo, or Syriac- Hexaplar version, which is a translation of Origen's Hexaplar edition of the Septuagint; it was executed by an unknown author in the beginning of the seventh century, and closely adheres to the Septuagint throughout. The first portion of the Syriac Scriptures committed to the press was the Peshito New Testament, printed in quarto, at Vienna, 1555 : copies of this edition are now of considerable rarity. The entire Syriac Scriptures were inserted in Le Jay's Polyglot Bible in 1645, and in Walton's Polyglot, 1657- In 1667, iEgidius Gutbirius 4± SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. published at Hamburgh an edition of the Syriac Testament, with a Lexicon, in one volume, 12mo. When Dr. Buchanan, in 1806, visited the Syrian Christians in India, he found several important MSS. of great antiquity, which he brought with him to England. The last years of his useful and laborious life were devoted to the preparation of a printed edition from these MSS., and he died, so to speak, with the sheets of the Syriac Testament in his hands. A short time prior to his decease, he was walking with a friend in the churchyard at Clapham, and he entered into a minute account of the plan he had pursued in preparing the Syriac text. Suddenly he stopped and burst into tears: as soon as he had recovered his self-possession, he said to his friend — " Do not be alarmed, I am not ill, but I was completely overcome with the recollection of the delight with which I had engaged in the exercise. At first I was disposed to shrink from the task as irksome, and apprehended that I should find even the Scriptures pall by the frequency of this critical examination. But so far from it, every fresh perusal seemed to throw fresh light on the Word of God, and to convey additional joy and consolation to my mind." The four Gospels and Acts were printed, in 1815, at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, under the eye of Dr. Buchanan. At his death, the British and Foreign Bible Society, for whom the work had been originally undertaken, appointed Dr. Lee, of Queen's College, Cambridge, to complete the New Testament. This was the first introduction of this great orientalist to the Committee. Dr. Lee objected to Dr. Buchanan's omission of the vowel points, and to his use of the European, instead of the Syriac system of grammatical pronunciation; and upon these and other representations, the Bible Committee agreed that the whole work should be commenced anew under Dr. Lee's super- intendence, and that the Gospels and Acts edited by Dr. Buchanan should be cancelled. Dr. Lee adopted the very accurate text published by Leusden and Schaaf in 1717, as the standard text, and introduced emendations from various MSS. The New Testament left the press in 1816. In 1823, Dr. Lee edited the Syriac Old Testament, under the patronage of the Church Missionary, and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In preparing this work, he took the version of the Polyglots as his text, and collated the MS. brought by Dr. Buchanan from India, a MS. belonging to Dr. A. Clarke, and a MS. of the Pentateuch in the Library of New College, Oxford. In 1826 the Bible Society published an entire edition of the Syriac Scriptures, the Old Testament being from the text of 1823. In 1829, a Peshito New Testament, in 12mo., was edited by the late Mr. William Greenfield for the Publishers of this work, from the text of Widmansted, 1555, with the book of Revelation and the Epistles, described above as being wanting in the Peshito version, supplied, as in previous editions, from the publications of Pococke and De Dieu. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Two great results have followed from the early, though limited, circulation of this version in India. First, the integrity of our Western copies of Scripture has been firmly established by the fact of their having been ascertained, on critical examination, to correspond in all important points with the ancient and independent MSS. that had for ages been buried, so to speak, in the East. Secondly, the assumptions of the Church of Rome as to the antiquity of her usages are clearly disproved, by the rejection of Romish dogmas and observances by a Church that was among the first to receive, and among the most zealous to preserve, the oracles of God. Here, indeed, as Bishop Wilson justly remarked, " is an ancient Church, knowing nothing of the pretended supremacy of Rome, nor of her peculiar dogmas, but standing a witness, in addition to the primitive Churches in Haut-Dauphine and the valleys of Piedmont, to the pure Gospel of Christ; and thus demonstrating the comparative novelty of the superstitious doctrines and usages, and, indeed, of all the assumptions of the Church and Court of Rome — a testimony in a day like the present of no little value." The boon conferred upon the Syrian Churches in the multiplication of copies of Scripture by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the editions of 1815, 1816, and of subsequent years, has been duly appreciated by them; and the Missionaries relate, that in several instances, the never failing result of the conscientious study of the Class II.] S YRIAC— S YRO-CH ALD AI C. 45 Scriptures lias been manifested, by the substitution of vital godliness for a merely outward orthodox profession. SYRIAC IN HEBREW CHARACTERS. The Syriac New Testament in Hebrew characters was printed for the benefit of the Chasidim and Cabalistic Jews of Poland, Constantinople, and the East. It was published in 1837, by the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews. The Syriac Peshito had previously appeared in Hebrew characters in the fifth part of the Antwerp Polyglot. Before, however, the printing of the Antwerp Polyglot, Immanuel Tremellius had used Hebrew characters in his edition of the Syriac New Testament. He did this in consequence of there not being, at that time, any place where Syriac types were obtain- able excepting Vienna. De la Boderie and others have used Hebrew letters in their editions. $ YHO-CH ALD AIC AND MODERN SYRIAC. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE SYRO-CHALDAIC VERSION IN THE ESTRANGELO CHARACTER, see Plate 2, page 20. I. — PEOPLE FOR WHOM THIS EDITION IS DESIGNED. The Syriac language is written in Nestorian characters, by a professedly Christian people, of whom some are entrenched among the mountains of Assyria, and others settled in the adjacent plain of Ooroomiah, in West Persia, between 36° and 39° north latitude, and 43° and 46° east longitude: they are supposed to amount, in point of number, to about 200,000 souls. They are sometimes called Chaldseans, or East Syrians, from the country they inhabit; but they are more commonly known by the name of Nestorians, which latter appellation, they contend, is not derived from the celebrated Nestorius, who was condemned at the third Council of Ephesus, but from Nazareth, the city of Mary. It is said that they originally fled from the Roman empire, during persecution in the reign of Justinian, and that they placed themselves under the protection of the king of Persia, who assigned them an abode in his dominions. They then consisted of 50,000 families, headed by fifty bishops, and the family of the bishop who then held precedence over the rest, still retains the principal civil and ecclesiastical power. During the severe persecutions which they subsequently suffered from the Mohammedans, they were driven to their present impregnable abodes. Their religious tenets are less corrupted than those of most oriental churches.* They seem never to have practised image worship nor auricular confession; and so great is their antipathy to popery, that they have a singular and most * A modern visitor of these interesting people observes, " the happy moral influence of Christianity could not be more plainly manifested than in the change of manners immediately observable in the country we had now entered, and which presented itself with the more force from its contrast with the sullen ferocity of the Mohammedans. The kind, cordial manners of the people, and the great respect paid to their clergy, were among the first-fruits of that influence which showed themselves." Again : " the Chaldean church neither inculcates seclusion nor celibacy among its clergy; its only purification is fasting, so strongly enjoined to all Christians," etc. — Ainsworth, 'Visit to the Chal- dseans, in the summer of 1841,' Journal of Royal Geographical Society, vol. xi. Several American missionaries are stationed in the town of Ooroomiah, or Urumiyah, near the western shore of the lake of that name. 46 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. anti-christian custom of cursing the Pope regularly every day, his grandfather, grandmother, and grandchildren. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. The language generally denominated the Syro-Chaldaic, or Nestorian, differs in no respect from the Syriac, unless it be, indeed, in the occasional variation of one or two grammatical forms, and a difference in the pronunciation of the vowels. Thus a Syro-Chaldaic book, if transcribed in Syriac characters, would be pure Syriac. The Chaldean priest at Khosrova had a copy of the Pentateuch which he had caused to be transcribed, word for word, from the Syriac of Walton's Polyglot, only substituting the Nestorian for the Syriac characters; and it was ascertained beyond doubt by the missionaries, that the language of this Pentateuch was perfectly identical with that of the Church books in common use among the Nestorians. The Nestorian characters may be said to be almost the same as the ancient Estrangelo, only slightly modified in form ; they are very clear and agreeable to the eye, and missionaries stationed in the country, who have been afflicted with ophthalmia, and thereby deprived of the power of reading English type without pain, have found themselves able to read with ease and pleasure books written or printed in the Nestorian character. The dialect at present commonly spoken among the Nestorians is a very corrupted form of their ancient Syriac: it abounds in con- tractions, abbreviations, and inversions, and is adulterated by Persian, Turkish, and Kurdish words. In sound it is even harsher than the Armenian. It still, however, retains its character as a Shemitic dialect; many Arabic and Hebrew words are discoverable in it; and it is rather remarkable, that the Nestorians and the Jews settled in adjacent villages are able to converse together, although the dialect spoken by the Jews is a barbarised form of Hebrew, altogether distinct from the vernacular of the Nestorians. III. — EDITIONS OF SCRIPTURE IN THIS LANGUAGE. Several ancient MSS. of Scripture have been found in the possession of the Nestorians, which from time to time have been brought to Europe. Dr. Wolff, during his travels in 1826, purchased of the Nestorians several MSS. of various portions of their Bible; these he brought safely to England, although on two several occasions he very narrowly escaped shipwreck. The MSS. became the property of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, and the Committee lent them to the British and Foreign Bible Society for publication. An edition of 2000 copies of the Syro-Chaldaic Gospels was accordingly printed by the latter Society, under the editorship of T. P. Piatt, Esq., and those passages in which the MSS. were deficient were supplied from the Syriac version; for Mr. Piatt had ascertained, on critical examination, that the Syro-Chaldaic text was identical, or nearly so, with the Society's Syriac version, the character only being different. The types were cast for the purpose by Mr. Watts, and the edition left the press in 1829. This, however, was not the first time that Syriac had been printed in Nestorian characters, for a Syriac liturgical work, called Missale Chaldaicum, con- taining the selections from the Gospels and Epistles read on Sundays and Festivals, was published in these characters in 1767 at Eome, accompanied by an interpretation in Carshun. The missionaries now among the Nestorians are said to be engaged in the elaborate preparation of a Syro-Chaldaic Old Testament, in which they take the ancient and valuable Syriac version, the Peshito, as their text. An edition of the Scriptures has been projected by the Christian Knowledge Society, from valuable MSS. collected at the cost of the Society in Mesopotamia : but little, if any, progress seems as yet to have been made in the publication of this important work. Mr. Perkins, of the American Board of Missions, commenced, in 1836, a translation from the ancient or ecclesiastical language, into the modernised corrupt dialect now vernacular among these people. The Gospels, and several tracts and books, together with a monthly paper, have issued from the press at Ooroomiah ; and more recently an edition of 1500 copies of the entire Bible, translated from the Hebrew, in modern Nestorian, with the Syriac in parallel columns, has been completed. Class II.] S YRO-CH ALD AIC. 47 IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Dr. "Wolff, of the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews, travelled, in 1826, among the Nestorian churches, and had frequent interviews with the priests and people. He found them, as they themselves admitted, in a wild and uncivilised state ; but when questioned on the cause of their want of civilisation, they acknowledged it to be the result of their lamentable destitution of copies of the Scriptures. They had no printed copies whatever, and the MSS. were extremely scarce, and never found in the hands of the common people. " But," said they, " we have heard that the English are able to write a thousand copies in one day : would they not write for us several thousand copies, and send them to us? we become wild like Kurds, for we have so few copies of the Bible. The English have written those of the Jacobites (in Syriac characters) which we cannot read generally, why should they not write these of ours ?" The expectations and desires of these simple people were realized ; and soon after they had been put in possession of the Gospels by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the divine seed sprang up and bore fruit to the glory of God. The missionaries of the American Board of Missions who have for some years been labouring among them, give the following account of them: " The light of heavenly truth is rapidly pervading the mass of the people, many of whom appear like a person awakened from a deep sleep, unconscious of the darkness in which he has been enveloped, and are inquiring how it is that they have been kept so long in ignorance and self-delusion. To this their priests reply, ' We ourselves, till now, have been dead in trespasses and sins ; and our criminality is even greater than yours for having hidden the light so long." The following and later testimony is to the same purport. " The other day (writes Mr. Barker, in 1853), an American missionary, who had been residing sixteen years at Ooroomiah, communicated to me most interesting accounts of the state of things in that part of the world. In the whole of that district the American missionaries have full liberty to preach in all the Nestorian churches; the Patriarch, who lives in the mountains, no longer opposing the reformation which is taking place among his people, and his brother is a member of the American Mission. All the churches have been divested of all their pictures, crosses, etc., leaving their walls completely bare, as in Protestant places of worship. The pious Nestorians have marked out all the objectionable portions of their Liturgy, such as prayers of intercession to the Virgin, Saints, etc., and omit them in their devotions. In the Ooroomiah district, there are 80 schools entirely under the control of the missionaries, amongst which are some for male and female adults." 48 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. ARABIC. SPECIMEN, FBOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14.* U U1 Ji3 ^ ^\ j^N jyl\ W K * jy & J^ Jj jyl\ ^^. ^ **^ J^ cT^ # " ' .... - J^-j l^w?- jL> tot&]\j * y -j £**j ldl# t_j3\ u^j t^JJ! 'V- 5 *^ J-^ ^' x ?^ *<^« u-iyj «^»' I. — PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. It is almost impossible to calculate with any degree of accuracy the amount of population by whom this language is spoken. The population of Arabia itself has been variously estimated from 10,000,000 to 14,000,000 inhabitants; but Arabic is also vernacular in Syria, in Mesopotamia, in part of Persia, in some parts of the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India, in Egypt, in Nubia, and in Barbary. Arabic is also extensively used as the language of religion and commerce in Western, Eastern, and Central Africa, and before the missionaries had reduced some of the African dialects to writing, Arabic was the only written language known to the natives of that vast continent. As the language of the Koran, Arabic is venerated and studied from " the western confines of Spain and Africa to the Philippine Islands, over 130 degrees of longitude; and from the tropic of Capricorn to Tartary, over 70 degrees of latitude." Its importance as a medium of communication between distant nations may be inferred from the reason assigned by the Rev. Henry Martyn for .undertaking a new version of the Arabic Testament. " We will begin to preach," said that devoted missionary, " to Arabia, Syria, Persia, Tartary, part of India and of China, half of Africa, all the sea-coast of the Mediterranean, and Turkey, and one tongue shall suffice for them all" II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. The Arabic language, in its earliest and rudest state, was the vernacular of a few nomadic tribes who derived their descent from Kahtan, the son of Heber, a great grandson of Shem, and from Ishmael (the son of Abraham, by Hagar), who, by his marriage with a daughter of Morad, of the race of Kahtan, engrafted his posterity on the Arabic stock. It was spoken among these tribes in a variety of dialects, concerning which we now know little more than that the Koreisli and the Hamiar were the distinctive appellations of the two predominant dialects. Mohammed spoke the Koreish dialect, and under his influence and that of his successors the other dialects insensibly merged into it. Hence the extraordinary copiousness of the Arabic language; the result, not of foreign admixture (for Arabia was never conquered), but of the gradual amalgamation of numerous dialects into one. The language is rich both in lexicography and in grammatical forms. It has a complete, though simple, system of * From the Arabic Version published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1825. Quarto. Class II.] - ARABIC. 49 declension; a stock of augmentatives and diminutives; thirteen conjugations of verbs, both in the active and passive voice; two genders, masculine and feminine; three numbers, singular, dual, and plural; and also a peculiar collective form of the plural which seems to belong almost exclusively to the Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic languages, and is called the plural of paucity. There is, as in Hebrew, one article (al or el) answering in many respects to our English the ; it appears in many words which we have borrowed from the Arabic, as in Alcoran (literally the Koran), alcohol, algebra, etc. The particles are, as in most languages, indeclinable ; and are divided into two classes, the separable and the inseparable: the former are always used as prefixes, and the latter, though forming separate words, always precede the word they govern. The process of simplification which has ever been at work in the modification of all vernacular languages, has not spared the antique forms of Arabic grammar. There are as many distinct Arabic dialects as there are countries in which Arabic is spoken ; and in these dialects the inflexions of case, the passive form of the verb, and the dual, have more or less dis- appeared. Words and phrases from other languages have also in many cases been introduced. The Moorish and Syrian Arabs, like the Maltese, have adopted a negative form peculiar to French and its dialects ; the phrase il ne vient pas is, in their Arabic, ma yegychi (ma answering to ne, and chi to pas). Yet, amidst all these local changes, the modern Arabic still preserves a close resemblance to the Arabic of the Koran, which is everywhere religiously upheld as the model of classic beauty and elegance. It is uncertain what alphabetical system was originally in use among the tribes of Arabia. About the time of Mohammed, a style of writing was adopted by the tribe of Koreish, called the Cufic, from the town of Cufa in Irak, in which it originated. It is evidently derived from the Estrangelo Syriac alphabet. In this character, which is clumsy and inelegant, consisting mostly of straight strokes, Mohammed wrote the Koran ; it was superseded in the tenth century by a character called the Nishki, which has ever since continued in use, not only among the nations who write the Arabic language, but also among the Turks and Persians. De Sacy has proved that this character is at least as ancient as the time of Mohammed. It appears that, about the period of the adoption of the Nishki character, three vowel signs were introduced, placed, as in Hebrew, above or below the line, according to the nature of the vowels. There are twenty-eight consonants, and to many of them a different form is appropriated, according to their position in words, as initial, medial, or final. III. — VERSIONS AND PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. It was in Arabia (as the district east of Damascus was then called) that the great Apostle of the Gentiles commenced his ministrations (Gal. i. 17); but Christianity did not, as in Syria and Egypt, become the established religion of the country; and there are few, if any, very ancient versions of Scripture in Arabic. A version, of which no part is now extant, is said to have been made by Warka, the son of Naufel, during the lifetime of Mohammed ; and this fact serves to account for the deep know- ledge of Scripture displayed by the false prophet. The most ancient of the MSS. that are known in Europe seem to have been executed soon after the conquests of the Saracens, in the seventh century. Towards the middle of the eighth century, John, Bishop of Seville, finding that the Latin language was falling more and more into disuse, executed a translation from Jerome's Vulgate into Arabic. The churches under the Patriarchates of Antioch and of Alexandria also produced translations in Arabic, at different periods, from their ancient Church versions. Printed editions of some of these MSS. have been published at intervals since the year 1546. The four Gospels were published at Kome in 1591, the translation being directly from the Greek. In 1616, an entire New Testament was printed by Erpenius, at Leyden, from an exemplar said to have been executed in Upper Egypt by a Coptic Bishop in the fourteenth century. The Gospels of this edition are substantially the same as the Eoman text of 1591, but the Epistles bear internal evidence of having been derived from the Peshito, while the book of Eevelation is a translation from the Coptic. The first Arabic version printed in England was that in "Walton's Polyglot, published 1657. This version is merely a reprint of an Arabic translation of noted inaccuracy, published in 1645, in 5 50 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. the Paris Polyglot, but with, the omissions supplied from one of the Selden MSS. The Pentateuch inserted in these Polyglots is said to have been first published in 1546, at Constantinople, by Saadias Gaon, a Jewish teacher of Babylon, and is an unfaithful and inelegant production. It is extremely paraphrastic, and though in general it conforms to the Masoretic text, it sometimes follows the Chaldee Targum of Onkelos, and sometimes the Septuagint. The other books of the Polyglot editions are, for the most part, by unknown writers; in some books the Syriac version is followed so closely, that, in the London Polyglot, the same Latin translation, with a few marginal alterations, answers both to the Syriac and to the Arabic texts. The Gospels of the Polyglots are nearly the same as the Eoman and Erpenian texts, but the other books of the New Testament are apparently a translation from the Greek: they were printed from an Egyptian MS., and are supposed by some to have originally agreed generally with the Erpenian version, but to have been altered by the editors. Erpenius also published the Pentateuch in Arabic at Leyden, in 1662, in Hebrew characters, from a MS. in the possession of Scaliger, and supposed to have been made by an African Jew of the thirteenth century. It is a direct translation from the Hebrew, to which it adheres so closely as to be almost unintelligible to persons unacquainted with that language. The version of Abu Said, from the Samaritan Pentateuch, has been noticed in page 38. An edition of the entire Bible, in three volumes folio, was published by the Propaganda at Eome in 1671. Forty-six years were consumed in transcribing and revising the text. It was undertaken by order of Pope Urban VIII., at the earnest request of several oriental prelates. Sergius Risius, the Maronite Bishop of Damascus, was appointed, in conjunction with other learned men, to collate the various printed copies with the original oriental versions of the Vulgate. The work was completed in 1650, but was subjected to a fresh revisal prior to publication, on account of its not being sufficiently con- formable to the Vulgate. An important edition of the Psalms in Arabic was published in London, 1725, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The text of this edition is attributed to Athanasius, the Melchite Patriarch of Antioch, and is valued on account of its fidelity. In 1727, an Arabic New Testament was published by the same Society from the text of the Polyglot, corrected by the editor, Solomon Negri. Although 10,000 copies of this work were printed, the edition is now extremely rare, for none of the copies were sold in Europe, and but few given to the learned. Two copies are preserved at Cambridge. A great part of the edition was sent to Russia, for distribution in the surrounding Mohammedan countries. An Arabic Bible is reported to have been printed at Bucharest in 1700, and the Gospels at Aleppo in 1706, but little is known of these editions in Europe. About the year 1811, an edition of the Scriptures in Arabic, from the text of the Polyglot, was printed at Newcastle. This work, projected by Professor Carlyle, was under the patronage of the Bishop of Durham, and the Bible Society lent assistance to its publication and circulation. It was afterwards discovered that the churches of the East, for whom this edition was chiefly intended, are scrupulously averse to the reception of any version except that which they have been accustomed to recognise. To meet their case, the Society, in 1820, issued 5000 copies of the New Testament from the only text which these churches regard as genuine, namely, that published in 1671 by the Propa- ganda: this was followed, in 1822, by an edition of the Old Testament from the same text, published under the care of Professors Lee and Macbride. In 1819 the Society had printed an edition of 3000 copies in 12mo. of the Psalter, from the text employed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which text was likewise adopted at the celebrated press of the Convent of St. John the Baptist, on Mount Libanus. An attempt to produce a version of the New Testament in modern Arabic was likewise made by the Rev. William Jowett during his travels in Syria: he employed a learned priest of Jerusalem to commence a translation from the original Greek, on the basis of that of the Propaganda: the MS. was completed as far as the end of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and sent to Malta, but never printed. The need of an improved translation of the Scriptures in Arabic, so long and so deeply felt by the Class II.] ARABIC. 51 Eastern. Churches, has at length been met by the Christian Knowledge Society. Their agent, the Rev. C. Schlienz, relates, as the result of his personal observations in the East, " that the only two printed versions of the Arabic Bible (the edition of the Polyglot and that of the Propaganda) known in Egypt and Syria, were both regarded with rooted antipathy by the Mohammedans ; the Polyglot chiefly for its presumptuous impiety in adopting the phraseology of the Koran, and for its inequality of style, and that of the Propaganda for its vulgarity and inelegancy of language." In 1839 the prepara- tion of a new Arabic version was commenced, by the direction of the Society, under the superintendence of the Rev. C. Schlienz. The first draft of the whole translation was originally made by Mr. Fares (admitted to be one of the best native Arabic scholars of the day), from the authorised English Bible, under the directions of the late Professor Lee, by whom it was afterwards, to a very considerable extent, cor- rected by the original Hebrew. The printing was commenced in London under the superintendence of Professor Lee, assisted by Mr. Fares, the proof-sheets passing also in succession through the hands of a sub-committee of revision, consisting of able Biblical and Oriental scholars. Upon the death of Dr. Lee, in 1852, his place as principal editor was filled by Professor Jarrett, who, with the continued aid, throughout, of Mr. Fares, carried the work through the press to its completion in 1856. Thus an uniform version of the Holy Scriptures, in pure Arabic, according to the Hebrew and Greek originals, has at length been completed by God's blessing. Dr. Eli Smith, the well-known American missionary, stationed at Beyrout, had during several years prior to his lamented decease (in 1856) been laboriously engaged in preparing a new translation of the entire Bible into Arabic. A version of the New Testament in modern Arabic was printed at Calcutta in 1816, designed principally for the learned and fastidious Mohammedans in all parts of the world, who, it was thought, might have been repelled from the study of Scripture by the antiquated style of former versions. This translation was made by a learned Arabian scholar, the unhappy Sabat, under the supervision of the Rev. S. M. Thomason. The lamented Henry Martyn was deeply interested in Sabat, and the production of his version; but he did not live to see it finished. A second edition was printed in London in 1825, under the care of Professor Lee; and a third in Calcutta, by the Rev. S. M. Thomason, in the following year : but the version has not been found generally acceptable in countries where the language is vernacular, and it has not since been reprinted. IT. — RESULTS OF THE PROPAGATION OF THE ARABIC VERSION. Wherever the Arabic language prevails, there Mohammedanism is predominant; but among the followers of the false prophet, the Arabic version is gradually and silently effecting the purposes of God. Perhaps no one version of the Scriptures has been received in so many countries, and blessed to so many different nations, as the Arabic. In Western Africa, the natives, on first receiving the copies sent to them by the British and Foreign Bible Society, " were astonished that a white man should have written this book in their favourite language." The Rev. T. Dove, missionary at Macarthy's Island, writing in 1835, expresses his belief that many of the Arabic Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, had been conveyed hundreds of miles into the interior of Africa. " I have seen (said the Rev. Mr. Richardson in 1838) Moors reading our Bible in their shops in broad day, in the midst of business; . . . I have fallen upon these Moors by pure accident, and I have distributed many an Arabic Testament with my own hands among these devotees of Mohammed." " Even the sons of Kedar (says the Rev. Mr. Ewald) have heard the Gospel sound beneath their tents, and have often and willingly bought the word of the living God." In Egypt also the Arabic Scriptures sent by the British and Foreign Bible Society were received with equal readiness, as is attested by the Rev. W. Jowett, in his account of his mission thither, dated 1819. In illustration of the results of the dissemination of the Scriptures in that country, the Rev. Mr. Kruse, of the Church Missionary Society, writes from Cairo: — " Some few Mohammedans are coming to me, and in one or two I begin to hope the Scriptures are unfolding the true light. You will easily conceive how thankful I feel when I hear a Mohammedan relating the 52 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. history and doctrine of our Saviour. One, in particular, evidences that he has a clear knowledge of the Scriptures, and I really believe that he has received the truth as it is in Jesus." Abdallah, an Arabian of noble birth, was converted from Islamism by the simple perusal of the Bible. When his conversion became known, Abdallah, to escape the vengeance of his countrymen, fled from Cabul in disguise, but was met and recognised at Bokhara by Sabat: Abdallah, perceiving his danger, threw himself at the feet of his friend, and besought him, by all the ties of their former intimacy, to save his life. " But," said Sabat, " Iliad no pity ; I delivered him up to Morad Shah, king of Bokhara." Abdallah was offered his life if he would abjure Christ, but he refused. Then one of his hands was cut off, and a physician, by command of the king, offered to heal the wound if he would recant. " He made no answer," said Sabat, " but looked up stedfastly towards heaven, like Stephen, the first martyr, his eyes streaming with tears. He did not look with anger towards me ; he looked at me, but it was benignly, and with the countenance of forgiveness. His other hand was then cut off. But," continued Sabat, " he never clianged, he never changed. And when he bowed his head to receive the blow of death, all Bokhara seemed to say, What new thing is this?" JUDJO-AHABIC; OR, ARABIC IN HEBREW CHARACTERS. The Arabic Pentateuch, published by Erpenius at Leyden in 1622 was, as we have seen, printed in Hebrew characters. The necessity of printing an edition of the Arabic New Testament in Hebrew characters was suggested to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society as early as 1820, by a clergyman then travelling in the East. Nothing, however, appears to have been effected for the many thousand Jews in Egypt, Tunis, and the whole north of Africa, Yemen, Syria, and Mesopotamia (to whom the Arabic is vernacular, but who seldom read or write except in their own characters), until 1846, when the Bombay Auxiliary Bible Society commenced for their use an edition of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, with the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Wilson of Bombay. As it was found impossible to carry on this work in India, the parent Society undertook an edition of 2000 copies, which they completed and published in 1847. Class II.] MALTESE. 53 MALTESE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. [London, 1829.] Fyl bydu kynet yl kelma, u yl kelma kynet nand Alia, u Alia kyn yl kelma. 2 Hydina kynet fyl bydu nand Alia. 3 Kollocq biha sar: u myn n 7 ajrha ujejn ma sar, mylli sar, 4 Fiha yl najja kynet, u yl najja kynet yd-daul tal bnydinin : 5 U yd-daul jylma fyd-dlainijyt, u yd-dlamijyt ma fehmuhtq. 6 Kyn hemmse bnydem mybniit mn' Alia, li kyn ysmu Guan. 7 Dana gy b' uqyhed bycq jyiqhed myddaul, byq yl koll jemmnubih. 8 Hua ma kynuj yd-daul, yzdee mybaut byiq jyuqlied myd-daul. 9 Kyn daul ta fiaqq ddha, li qyned juri lyl koll bnydem li gej f dm yd-dynja. 10 Hua kyn fyd-dynja, u yd-dynja nalih saret, u yd-dynja ma narfytuuq. n Gy fy huejjgu, u nysu ma laqnuhiu[. 12 Yzdse lyl dauk kollha li laqnuh, tahom yl jedd ylli jsiru ulyd Alia, lyl dauka, li jemmnu b' ysmu : 13 Li ma tuylduuj myd-demm, u la myr-ryda tal gysem, u la myr-ryda tar- ragel, yzdae mn' Alia. 14 U yl kelma saret bnydem, mymlia byl finynse, u byl naqq, u nammar fostna : u rajna kburitu, kburia bfial tal mnysseluandu myl myss) r r. Malta, tlie ancient Melita, is an island of the Mediterranean, situated at a distance of sixty-two miles from Cape Passaro in Sicily, and one hundred and ninety-seven miles north of Tripoli in Africa. It comprises an area of only ninety-eight square miles, its greatest length being seventeen miles, and its extreme breadth nine miles: its population amounted, at the latest census, to 142,500. But, although so small an island, Malta has been the theatre of some of the most remarkable events recorded in history. Originally in the hands of the Phosnicians and Carthaginians, it passed, during the first Punic war, under the dominion of Rome. While subject to that empire, it was visited by the Apostle Paul, on his passage from Csesarea to Rome ; and the creek on which he was stranded is called to this day " St. Paul's Bay." On the decline of the Roman empire, Malta was transferred to the Goths, then to the Saracens, and afterwards to the crown of Sicily. In the sixteenth century it again became renowned as the scene of the valiant exploits of the Knights of St. John. The island was presented to this order by the Emperor Charles V., and continued under their sway till 1798, when it capitulated to the French, but was taken by the English in the following year. By the treaty of 1814, Malta was ceded to England. The religion of the Maltese is Roman Catholicism; and it is supposed that there are scarcely 4600 Protestants in the island, including the British residents, who number about 4000. There are (or were but recently) 16,000 priests and friars, and it is believed that not a single member of the ancient order of knights so long the masters of the island is now to be found there. The Maltese lan- guage is spoken not only in Malta, but also in Gozzo, a small island lying at a distance of about four miles off its coast, containing a population of 16,500 individuals. I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Maltese would be a pure Shemitic dialect, were it not alloyed with Italian and Latin words. It was thought by some, as for instance by the learned Agius, that the Maltese language was identical 54 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. with the ancient Punic or Phoenician. But Gesenius has demonstrated that it is a dialect of the modern Arabic, in which there may be a few words derived from the ancient language of Tyre or of Carthage. It approximates closely to the Mogrebin, or Moorish- Arabic, particularly in the conjugation of verbs; and most of its words are either Arabic or of Arabic origin. It resembles modern Arabic, in having no variations of termination to denote the distinctions of case, particles being prefixed to the noun instead of the ancient case-endings. In the Maltese alphabet the twenty-eight sounds of the Arabic alphabet are recognised; but with these are conjoined three other letters which never occur in Arabic, and which are principally met with in words derived from the Italian. The Koman letters are used in writing, Arabic characters being unknown to the Maltese. [Malta, 1847.] Fil bidu kienet il Kelma, u il Kelma kienet aand Alia, u Alia kien il Kelma. 2 Dina kienet fil bidu aand Alia. 3 Kollosh biha sar ; u minn aayrha sheyn ma sar, milli sar. 4 Film il haya kienet, u il haya kienet id dawl tal bniedmin. 5 U id dawl yilma fid dlami- yiet, u id dlamiyiet ma fehmuhsh. 6 Kien hemma bniedem mibaut mn Alia, li ismu Jwan. 7 Dana jie b' shiehed biesh yislied mid Dawl, biesh il koll yemmnu bih. 8 Hua ma kiensh id Dawl, izda Men biesh yishhed mid Dawl. 9 Kien dawl tas sewa, li yuri lil koll bniedem li yiji fid dinya. 10 Hu kien fid dinya, u id dinya bih saret, u id dinya ma aarfetush. n Jie fi hweyju, u niesu ma laqauhsh. 12 Izda lil dawk kollha li laqauh, tahom il yedd illi isiru ulied Alia, lil dawka li yemmnu b'Ismu : 13 Li le twieldu mid demm, u la mir rieda tal jisem, lanqas mir rieda tar rajel, izda mn' Alia. 14 U il Kelma saret jisem, u aammret fostna (u rayna sebhu, bhala sebh li mnissel-wahdu mil Missier,) mimlia bil grazya u bis sewa. II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The first attempt to translate the Scriptures into Maltese was made in the early part of the present century, by the Kev. W. Jowett, of the Church Missionary Society. He was assisted by Giuseppe Cann6lo, a native of Malta; and in 1822 a small edition of the Gospel of St. John, with the Maltese and Italian in parallel columns, was published in London as a specimen of the work. The translation was so much approved by competent judges, that a version of the Four Gospels and Acts was printed in 1829, at the expense of the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge: the Latin Vulgate, from which the translation had been made, was appended in parallel columns. The Liturgy of the Church of England has since been translated under the auspices of the same Society, and they likewise printed, in 1847, the entire New Testament in Maltese. Class II.] MOGREBIN. 5n MOGREBIN, AFRICAN-MOORISH, OR WESTERN ARABIC. SPECIMEN OF THE MOGREBIN VERSION AND OF THE ORDINARY ARABIC SCRIPTURES. GENESIS, Chap. i. v. 1 to 8. MOORISH ARABIC. ARABIC. GU? '-j*& ^3 J^ ^ ^^J J^J ^M- jij j^\ jty &\ Jli, * U11 J^ jyj aJJI j^t U1 ^ jl^l ^ ^1 Ul! ^b jjj A^ aJJI L5 ^J * \^> J^j Jwssll Jjjj -dN * ur^ fJi c^ t& i^* t& ^ a^s-j ^^Ic j^- tjojl] <£]\ Jljij * *L*J1 ^Jji cjji t -!j UijJ ~U*3 ^1^ *L»* (jl^j : \A u ^j : ajy ^aJ! abd! ^jjuj jJwsjl! c^vsvl' ^1 * bjl5 Ujj ~U*s u^j An attempt lias very recently been made to produce a translation of tlie Scriptures in the Arabic dialect spoken in all the states of Barbary. We have no exact statistical account of the amount of population to whom this idiom is vernacular. According to the latest authorities, the empire of Morocco (the largest and most populous of the Barbary States) contains about eight millions of inhabitants. Algeria, which is now a French colony, has a native population of two millions. Adding to these the estimated population of Tunis and Tripoli, and also vast regions to the south of Morocco, the whole amount of population to be reached by this dialect may perhaps be estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions. These millions of inhabitants are principally Moors, and followers of the Mohammedan religion ; but recent experience has shown that they are not inaccessible to the teachers of the Christian faith. After some difficulty, arising from the religious scruples of the people, Dr. Thomson (the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society) has succeeded in obtaining a translation of a portion of the Koran into the vernacular dialect of Barbary; the work was executed with much reluctance and hesita- tion by a Moor, and under the express condition that the fact of his having rendered this assistance should be kept secret from his countrymen. The object of this translation was, to enable the learned to form an accurate judgment concerning the' idiomatic difference between this modern Arabic dialect, and the Arabic of the Koran. Dr. Thomson subsequently met with a Jew who, like all the other members of his race born in Barbary, spoke the vernacular of the country, and who also possessed the ability, seldom attained by the Jews, of writing in the Arabic character. Dr. Thomson employed him in translating the first three chapters of Genesis, and afterwards engaged him to produce a version of the entire Book from 56 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. the Hebrew, into African Arabic. 1 In a letter dated Tetuan, December 1847, Dr. Thomson applied to the Bible Society for assistance in this undertaking, but it does not appear that his appeal has been successful. A portion of St. Luke was printed by the Bible Society in Berber. CARSHUN SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 ^Va . en n>\o^s ocn cn_S$so . enJSSs «_uiK ^Lo en viNn^sO . en viN.o'^s ,Lo «^>»->^s u°a AjLo enrs . ^Lo jbox) uj» ^x> /x\ o-u^so *Lo en.a ^a . cn_S5s «-i n |.^a/«-£> J»cn . ot_3JjL jaii. axio^^so en s^N^s us U J jqj-^so . >toLlSs Soj i_»cn enJL^w^so . cnJ^A^s ^iocu^. . jojj^ »cn_e»^ cn>Jcn„»L\ JL^v J?cn . !_j-^q_. cn^aaij . cn^Ss ^o s ^co5J ^ccuj ^Lo uim^ »o — i ocn *_/*^s jcuL^ >cn_ft-Oi», v n\ . »o.jl,^\ ocn ^A» pAo . ctl»*_< «A^ ^o,Ss ja^Jj^o v oii crvs ^pAJL^so v Lo ^Jbu^s ua . ;a^Jb>^ u^s 1] v )LcdjJ 'Sfc^. o^-> ^^ pcnL^J cno ^n ^.-^ J-£>Js . cn^cual. ^ cnLAao JL^otLAo u^s . ens^^ ;:£>. ^-^o JJo L_S5» ^_s> pen tccu^o . cn.^o m|b ^ax^sa, ^y-^s . cn_iSs. u i a Jo^-»^ v j J-IiL^as "^o j;i_ra^>J- c nx^No^ o . ctl^X ^ Jo_^o ^."iN ^S cnJL*^> ^s> )Jo ;a_A*Ji». i_»ocn . LlcLwO otvim u2sZooid^ <^]i\ ^o «_»jJ§s «-a^,o^s <_>> ^ioo Jr5^° • ° 1 ?- ^J-»'>° M-*^ The Carshun, or Arabic in Syriac characters, is used (chiefly by members of the Syrian churches) in Mesopotamia as far as Bagdad, in Mount Lebanon, at Aleppo, and in many other parts of Syria. It has been calculated that the number of individuals who speak Arabic, but use the Syriac character, is about one million. A diglot edition of the New Testament, in which the Syriac Peshito and the Carshun from the Arabic text of Erpenius, were ranged in parallel columns, was published in 1703 at Borne, at the press of the College de Propaganda Fide, for the use of the Maronite Christians. Dr. Pinkerton forwarded a copy of this edition from Malta to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1819. About eight years later, the Society undertook a new edition, and there being no suitable type in England, it was printed at Paris. M. de Quatremere and the Baron de Sacy were the editors. An edition of the Carshun alone, and another edition of the Syriac and Carshun, in parallel columns, left the press in 1828. 1 A portion of this fragment is given above as a specimen, with the corresponding passage from the Arabic Scriptures, published by the Bible Society. Class II.] ETHIOPIC. ' 57 ETHIOPIC. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 «t>£OTJ.U* . £> A . a^^i? : (DdK/vF : $>& : -*fl s'/ViH.'VnrftC : ©""At 8 : kls : 3>A : : arHlf : 'Xgn^.EjBO. : in : ?i a lH.fr , n(h>C : (D^l 5 ■ : Yl* A- : P -P :P* : (DH^TnAU-ft : hAP : HV1 : ©M™"!*!. •"ft^HP* " P"F : Ai^©^ : ©- ■^f : ©thf©^ : -nQHTt- ■ AXiA : >*,ipin : "^"IH^-P^C • HflTO- : P-fhlfi :: ©©^1* : «*»»A : Afl^O : rt»"jOT : £ Y>T : n>kTT : TICH1 : Yl"» : YTA : £"^011-5 : Pf : : ffiAA.U*fl : A.P* : -flC^i : ^ bc: rtaqGT :£lTKl : tlVlT : -tlCn " H»Al"l : -T©VlG.© : (DUPOD 1 : M>A"1* : ©'Ag = MH.MlA.C : £1^ ■ A"ftA : AT" i, : nfl*ro* :-. hA : A.pV : "2\9°* : HK9 13 : (D?».>k9 n «5.9 , K = ftf©* : HA"^ : ©A,"K9° juutpo^T : fl^iX : AA : "Kg^lH.ft'flih.C - 1*(DAR. :: OKDOvF : $>£l : A"3 : Pi : (D fg^ : AOAi : ©CM : fMUhtU- : Yia° : f|*fl " I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. Ethiopic is called by the Abyssinians Lisana Gheez or language of the free-born, because it was anciently the only vernacular dialect of all Abyssinia. About A.D. 1300, a family from the province of Amhara obtained possession of the government, and since that period Amharic has been the lan- guage of the capital and the court, while Ethiopic has become exclusively the ecclesiastical and written language of the country. As no measurements or surveys have been taken of Abyssinia, it is difficult to estimate its precise extent. It formed part of the ancient Ethiopia, and the Arabian geographers first distinguished it by the name of Abyssinia (from Habesch, mixture or confusion), to indicate the supposed Arabic origin of the inhabitants, and their subsequent mixture with African tribes. Abyssinia probably includes about 200,000 English square miles; it stretches from 9° to 15° 40' north latitude, and from 36° east longitude to the Red Sea. Its probable amount of population has been estimated, though with little certainty, at 4,500,000. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The dialect of the Himyarite Arabs, the 'OfMjpirai of Ptolemy, still spoken under the name of" Elihlrili on the southern coast of Arabia, is the parent dialect of the Ethiopic. Inscriptions in this ancient dialect, of which the characters bear a striking resemblance to the Ethiopic, have been dis- covered in South Arabia, by Lieutenant Wellsted and others, and seem to show, by the coincidence of some letters in them with the system of writing in Sanscrit inscriptions of the time of Asochus, that the Ethiopic system of writing and of syllabification came originally from India. The Ethiopic possesses many of the characteristics of a genuine Shemitic tongue. It has ten conjugations of verbs, formed upon the same system as those of Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic. In each conjugation there are two tenses, the preterite and the future; there are two genders, masculine and feminine, but no dual number. As might be expected from its origin, Ethiopic bears a close affinity to Arabic. According to Gesenius, about one third of its roots and primitive words exist in Arabic, and a large proportion 58 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. of the remainder in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac. The Eunuch of Candace reading the prophet Isaiah seems to establish this affinity of the Ethiopic with the Hebrew. Ludolf, who first made the Ethiopic language accurately known in Europe, says, that " it approaches nearest the Arabic, of which it seems a kind of production, as being comprehended almost within the same grammatical rules, the same forms of conjugations, the same forms of plurals, both entire and anomalous;" and he adds, that " whoever understands Arabic, may with little labour acquire the Ethiopic." Unlike all other Shemitic languages, Ethiopic and its cognate dialects are written after the European manner, from left to right. There are twenty-six consonants and seven vowel sounds; but the vowels, instead of being marked, as in Hebrew and Arabic, by points above and below the lines, are indicated by changes in the form of consonants; so that a single letter in Ethiopic is equivalent to an entire syllable. III. ETHIOPIC VERSIONS OF SCRIFTURE. A very ancient Ethiopic version of the entire Scriptures, mentioned by Chrysostom in his second homily on St. John, is still extant, but when or by whom executed is unknown. It certainly was not produced later than the fourth century. By some it is attributed to Frumentius, who, about the year 330, preached Christianity in Abyssinia, and was ordained Bishop of the country by Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, whence perhaps the dependence, still subsisting, of the Church of Abyssinia on that of Egypt. In this version the books of the Old Testament appear to have been mainly translated from the Septuagint; in the Gospels, the translator seems to have availed himself of various MSS., and some peculiar readings occur: considered as a whole, however, this version may be said to correspond pretty closely with the Alexandrine family of MSS., as might, indeed, have been expected from the proximity of the countries and the connection between the two churches; for the Coptic Patriarch of Egypt is the head of the Abyssinian Church, and the Abuna or resident Bishop of Abyssinia is always appointed by him. The Epistles and Book of Eevelation belonging to this version are unhap- pily very paraphrastic; in other respects the Ethiopic New Testament is of considerable use in biblical criticism, as it shows the state of the text at a very early period. The entire Ethiopic Bible has never yet been printed. The Psalter, through some mistake erroneously entitled a Chaldee Psalter, was published by John Potken at Rome in 1513; and again, in 1657, it appeared in the London Polyglot with various readings and notes by Dr. Edmund Castell. In 1701 another edition of the Psalter was edited by Ludolf, the celebrated Ethiopic scholar. In 1548 the New Testament in Ethiopic was printed for the first time at Borne, by some Abyssinian priests. This edition, afterwards reprinted in the London Polyglot, is very inaccurate; the MSS. used on the occasion Were old and mutilated, and the editors filled up the chasms that occurred in the text by translating from the Vulgate. The subject of printing this ancient version was first brought before the Bible Society by a communication transmitted through the Edinburgh Bible Society, from the Rev. George Paxton of Edinburgh, con- cerning the spiritual state of the Abyssinians, and the scarcity of copies of Scripture among them. The British and Foreign Bible Society accordingly, in 1815, gave an edition of the Psalter, accurately printed from Ludolf 's edition, to Abyssinia; and as no correct printed edition had been ever issued of the New Testament, strenuous efforts were made to obtain authentic MSS. The only Ethiopic MS. of importance at that period, easily accessible in England, was a MS. of the Gospel of St. John, brought from India by Dr. Buchanan, and deposited at Cambridge. This was found on collation to differ from the printed copy in almost every verse, and its readings were evidently more accurate than those of the printed edition. With the view of inspecting other MSS., Mr. Thomas Pell Piatt visited Paris in 1822, and collated the valuable MSS. belonging to the Royal Library; and in 1826, the Four Gospels were completed, under his editorial care. They were printed from a fount of types cast at the expense of the Bible Society, from the matrices which had been presented by Ludolf, in 1700, to the Frankfort Library. The entire New Testament was published in 1830. In this edition, no one MS. was exclusively followed. The plan adopted by the editor, Mr. Piatt, was, as he himself informs us, first to prepare a correct copy from a MS. of undoubted value, leaving considerable space Class II.] ETHIOPIC. 59 between the lines; other MSS. were then carefully collated with the copy, and every variety of reading that occurred was inserted, in the space left for the purpose, beneath the corresponding words of the copy. Afterwards, these readings were subjected to a rigid examination; the reading which afforded the strongest marks of being genuine was retained, and the others were expunged. We are indebted to the Abyssinian Church, not only for the ancient and valuable version of Scripture just described, but also for curious apocryphal writings, such as the Book of Enoch, the Book of Adam, the Ascension of Isaiah, etc., which have been found in no other Church; their date and origin are unknown. The Book of Enoch is by some supposed to be the book quoted in Jude 14; and although it has no claim whatever to be placed among the books of Scripture, it has excited much interest on account of its great antiquity, for it is supposed by Dr. Laurence, who has published both the original and a translation of it, to have been written about the close of the first century. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. From the peculiar character of the Abyssinians, and the strange mixture of Christianity, popery, and heathenism that prevails among them, few visible effects have as yet resulted from the publication of the Ethiopio Scriptures. The Scriptures have indeed been received with joy, yet little can be said as to any permanent change resulting from their perusal. " One day," said the devoted missionary, Mr. Gobat (now Bishop of Jerusalem), "I am all joy with the hope that in a short time the Abyssinian mission will be crowned with glorious success ; the following day I am cast down to the very dust by the idea that all attempts will be useless : for the Abyssinians very generally yield to the truth, but it is only for a while; they cannot make up their minds to quit so much as one of their customs." Thus faith is tried for a time; yet the promise is sure, that God's word shall not return to Him void, and the day perhaps is near when " Ethiopia will stretch out her hands unto God." The Mission maintained for several years in Abyssinia was relinquished in 1842, but it is gratifying to learn that subsequent open- ings have occurred for the introduction of the Christian Scriptures into that benighted land. In 1856, a supply of Ethiopic Scriptures (together with Amharic) was forwarded for distribution in Abyssinia, at the instance of Bishop Gobat. 60 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. TIGRE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. MAKE, Chap. ix. v. 9 to 15.* 9 Wer enter worred horn ker el ambar, hu mucker horn inder hi negger er sevvi zer reiyer hom negger, shar el Wod der sewi tennessar ker el mote. 10 Wer liaz hom zer negger ov wost hom enter tiock hadda mis hadda munte marlet el tennessar ker el mote. n Wer tiock hu hom, Ber negger munte zer bel el sarfe tar Elias mussea fellermer. 12 Wer hu mellash wer negger hom, Elias be ack zer mussea fellermer wer hu melless coulu negger Hccar, wor comha zer ter sarf ov el Wod der sevvi ender hu carl buze er negger wer sedded hu be yelhem tyeavila. 13 Mai ane zer bel kar, Elias be Ack artou + artehu, wer gevver hom zer delleyea ov hum com zu ter sarf ov hum. u Wer shar enter mussea ov ariot hum, hu reiyer avviea mergavier cubhe hom, wer el sarfetart enter tiock mis hom. 15 \y er gj^j. ghaj. cou lu souart, shar enter reiyer hom ler hum ter gurrem hom, wer weiyer ov hum ignersar + idnersar hum. t A term synonymous, or differing in orthography. ON THE TIGRE VERSION. In connection with the Etliiopic version of Scripture, that in Tigre requires consideration, for Tigre* is little else than vulgar Ethiopic. The province of Tigre is the most important of the three divisions (Tigre, Amhara, and Shoa) of Abyssinia. It lies directly north of Amhara, from which it is separated by the Tacazze, the largest tributary of the Nile. It has the form of an irregular trapezium, and com- prises about four degrees of latitude, and as many of longitude. During Mr. Jowett's residence in Egypt, in 1819, he superintended a translation of part of the New Testament into the vernacular of this extensive province. The person whom he employed to effect this translation was an Englishman, named Nathanael Pearce, a man of very eccentric character, but of extraordinary attainments in the dialects of the country. He had acquired varied and extensive information by constant wanderings through various countries; he had roamed through Russia and China; he had lived as a Mussulman in Arabia, and afterwards, for fourteen years, had resided as a Christian and a warrior in Abyssinia. He translated St. Mark and St. John ; but as, owing to his restless habits, he had never acquired skill in writing the Ethiopic character, he was obliged to write his translation in Roman characters. He regulated the orthography by his ear, spelling every word according to the sound. His MS. is in the possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society; it has never been published, and its comparative value is still unascertained. In 1831, part of St. Luke was translated by Mr. Kugler, a missionary of the Church Missionary Society, and on his death the work was continued by Mr. Isenberg of the same Society. Competent native assistance was obtained, but it does not appear that any part of this version has been committed to the press. The natives employed in this work translated from the Ethiopic Scriptures, and their translation was afterwards revised and corrected by the missionaries from the Greek original. * From the Tigre Version by Mr. Pearce, copied from the Appendix to a Catalogue of Ethiopic Biblical MSS., by Thomas Pell Piatt, Esq. Class II.] . AMHARIC. 61 AMH AEIC. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. ftf|«l>£-qo : g>^v : \m. :: 3>A9° : Yl AlKA-flri^C : Hl^" ; \f\d. :: 'SVIH.Aflih.CT : 3>A : \l\d. ■•■ £*Yl : hn^^-q" : Yl^imvndi.C = H^ : \i\d. " U-A : flQV ■ W\ :: ? ACI>9° : hAlTl*!? : yu7W : YimCD* : M*A :: (t\£(D*l* : OClV = 5n^¥ :: ^(D't* 9° : PrtCD- : -flC^^ : M4?f " 'nC' l J'i9 n = flCaA««J :.Pn£.A " EEIA ?"^ : A^ITCD* 9° :: l"ia> : Ifl^ : YlMH.Aflfh.C : PTAYl : fl»n>*9o : P-fhTfl :: J&Tl : A^ffiVlC : °° *n = ATBC^I- A fJ °I^VlC"U*A: ncrf:^9 D T:Hl^-::>iCl> : 'nC' i n:?»^A9 n :: nC : *n : TAYl : A-flC^T : A^AftC -"^ffl-'iT?: -flC^I : \M, : Aft(D* : U-A : P "^IPIM. : (D£ :^A"?° : A a 9.oro"l(D' :: fl^A 1 ? : \l}£:: ^AOO 1 ?" : flO> : U"l - 1 A 9° 9° : AAO)'!'^*? :: (D£ : (Dir*F : """1 :: (D'lr^T : AAT^nA^*?™ :: ATI* HA-I" : lhA : "l"i : flA«l*i : 1*1"^ 0>- : P'^^RA-nd^C : A^H 1 : £U"Y- : H'S.g- " «fl oo» : pon^ijm^iiInK^ : (DTI : .?.££ A : InM^ : d.^.R'f/ :Tni"l(D. a 7» = owCD'E.K':: IX ■ T* • Yl^TRA-lldtC = TCDAK, • : S'AT : J^J : ITl : 11^9° : ?»£«» :: *HI<,"1 9° : API : A.1.R- :"Kl£ = «n»lfl- : *VI1C : In Ml :: R3 : "SUD-lTS" : PouAnl* :: I. — GEOGRAPHICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE LANGUAGE. Amharic is properly only the vernacular dialect of Amhara, a division or kingdom of Abyssinia lying west and south of the Tacazze, and measuring about 112 miles from east to west, by forty in breadth. From the circumstance, however, of its being the language of Gondar, the capital, and the native dialect of the reigning family, Amharic predominates far beyond the limits of Amhara, and by its aid a traveller can make himself understood throughout Abyssinia. Amharic is also extensively used as a medium of intercourse with Negro and other tribes from the interior of Africa, who frequent the north of that continent. II.-tCHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Amharic is a degenerated Shemitic language, having to all appearance lost many of its original characteristics by admixture with African dialects. In grammatical structure it varies considerably from the Ethiopic, but above half the words are still the same in both languages. The Ethiopic alpha- bet is used in writing Amharic, but seven additional consonants have been adopted to represent the compound Amharic sounds. III. — AMHARIC VERSION OF SCRIPTURE. The earliest attempts to translate portions of Scripture into Amharic were made by the Romish missionaries, but the date and comparative value of their productions are unknown, for the MSS. have never been seen in Europe, neither is it now known what has become of them. The Gospel of St. Mark was translated by Mr. Pearce, under the superintendence of the Eev. Mr. Jowett, and this MS., written in Roman characters, is now in the possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society. An Amharic version of the entire Scriptures, which has superseded all others, was commenced about 1810 by M. Asselin de Cherville, French consul at Cairo. After many fruitless inquiries for a person competent 62 SHEMITIC LANGUAGES. [Class II. to aid him in the acquisition of the language, he was providentially directed to an old man named Ahu Eumi, whom he eventually engaged to translate the Scriptures. " Imagine," said M. Asselin, " my surprise in finding in this poor old man a person master of the literature of his country ; a traveller who had penetrated the most remote regions of Asia ; the instructor of Bruce and of Sir William Jones." Abu Rumi was well qualified for the work of translation by his acquaintance with Arabic, Greek, Persian, and several other languages besides his own. He executed his version under the immediate direction of M. Asselin; twice a week, during a period often years, they secluded themselves from all other occupations, and read together the Arabic version from which the translation was to be made. M. Asselin explained such terms as were abstruse, difficult, or foreign to the Arabic, by reference to the original text, the Syriac version, the Septuagint, and various glossaries, but Abu Rumi also often found the key to them in the Ethiopic itself. In the early portions of the work, M. Asselin declared that he had often occasion to admire the patience of his aged companion; but when they came to the Epistles of St. Paul, Abu Rumi's zeal began to cool, the difficulty of the task frightened him, he wanted to set off for Jerusalem, and it was only by dint of time, care and sacrifices, that M. Asselin convinced him of the necessity of not leaving the work imperfect. It may not be uninteresting to mention that this poor old man, immediately on the completion of his work, executed his favourite project of visiting Jerusalem, and was cut off by the plague soon after his arrival. The version was sold by M. Asselin to the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Rev. Mr. Jowett was employed by the Society in carrying on the negotiation, and in 1820 he undertook a journey from Malta to Cairo to effect the purchase. The purchase money was £1250. The MS. was brought to England in 1821, and was read with much approbation by those acquainted with the language. Dr. Lee, in a letter addressed to the Bible Committee, dated 1822, says, " the work appears to have been executed with uncommon ability and accuracy. There is no attempt whatever to display the learning of the translator by any of that verbiage so common to all the languages of the East, but all is precise, easy, and natural." In 1824 the Gospels were carried through the press by Dr. Lee, Mr. Jowett, and Mr. Piatt, and in 1829 the entire Amharic Testament was completed. In 1840 the Old Testament was published, and in 1842 an edition of the whole Scriptures. In superintending the printing of these editions, Mr. Piatt carefully compared Abu Rumi's edition with the original Greek and Hebrew, and inserted such correc- tions as seemed indispensably requisite, leaving a more complete revision for a future opportunity. A second edition of the Pentateuch was afterwards printed, in which, with the assistance of the Rev. C. Isenberg, formerly a missionary in Abyssinia, such a revision was to a great extent accomplished. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. There are more impediments to the saving influence of the Scriptures in this nominally Christian land, than in many idolatrous countries. The moral and mental condition of the people is deplorable. Polygamy prevails to a considerable extent, and they are the victims of many degrading superstitions. All afflictions they attribute to the immediate influence of devils and of witchcraft. The life of Mr. (now Bishop) Gobat was once nearly sacrificed by the prevalence of these superstitious notions; he was ill, and those among whom he laboured, and who were sincerely attached to him, instead of giving him assistance, crowded round him, some holding his hands, others his feet, while one amongst them was engaged in thrusting into his ears, mouth, and nostrils, nauseous substances which they called medicines. Yet the Abyssinians have not been found unwilling to confess the absurdity of their opinions when confronted with the light of Scriptural truth. They invariably bow to the authority of Scripture. On one occa- sion, a monk went to the missionaries with a very self-righteous air, but apparently very ill. The account he gave of himself was as follows: — " Being the son of a Governor," he said, "and somewhat at ease, I lived many years in sin. At length, my conscience was awakened, and I began to fear the wrath of God. My agony and terror increased continually; and I did not know what to do;" (for he dared not to call upon the name of the Lord, having never heard of the way of salvation by the merits of Christ,) " at last I determined to leave secretly my wife and my children, and all that I had, and to Class II.] AMHARIC. 63 retire into a wilderness which was inhabited only by wild beasts. There I lived many months upon roots, talcing only just as much as was necessary to keep me alive. As I could find no peace for my heart, I determined to stand in a river of cold water from sunset to sunrise ; which I did for a long time. I next bound my ankles so fast with a chain that I have ever since been unable to walk without very great pain. Finally, I inflicted a number of stripes every day on my body, the source of my sins, till it was covered all over with putrifying wounds. This," he added, "has ruined my health, but I console myself with the idea that I have done all this for God's sake." When Mr. Gobat told him that all those self-inflicted sufferings were the result of ignorance and pride, and therefore sinful, and that it was altogether impossible to find true relief by means of any expedient of that kind, he trembled for fear; but when some passages from the Epistles of St. Paul and other parts of Scripture were repeated to him, which testify that by grace we are saved through faith, not of ourselves, for it is the gift of God, the poor man was quite astonished, and cried out, " Is it possible? and can I yet be saved?" " I had des- paired," he afterwards said, " of finding peace with God: I determined therefore, if possible, to secure a good name among my fellow-men; and for that purpose I have been going about for some time, exhorting people to live better. But now I will read the gospel, and seek for the way of salvation in the Word of God." There are many other instances of the readiness with which the Abyssinians receive the testimony of Scripture. The learned Bishop of Jerusalem, by whom the foregoing narrative is recorded, says that when he first began to distribute copies of the vernacular Scriptures among the people, they evinced little desire to receive them, being afraid of being deceived. By placing some copies for distribution in the hands of the priests, these suspicions were removed, and people immediately came, earnestly requesting to be furnished with the Word of God. " If," continues he, " I had had some thousands of New Testaments, I could have distributed them to eager readers. I know some instances where persons have given all their property in order to purchase a copy of the New Testament : one man who had two oxen gave them for a copy of the Four Gospels; and another man gave four oxen in exchange for the Four Gospels." In a letter addressed to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1849, the Bishop of Jerusalem instances a highly interesting result in connection with the Amharic version of the Scriptures. Writing from Jerusalem, his lordship says, " You will remember that, about two years ago, I asked for some Amharic Bibles, which your committee had the kindness to grant. But when the Bibles arrived, the Abyssinian individuals for whom I chiefly cared had left Jerusalem, and as, for a long time, I did not observe an earnest desire for the word of God among the Abyssinians here, I gave only now and then a New Testament, but no Bible; until, a few months ago, the very same individuals for whom I had desired Amharic Bibles, but who had since left for their own country, returned, with letters to me from the King of Abyssinia and a good number of the most influential men in that country, begging me to take the Abyssinian convent here and its inmates under my special superintendence. This, to a certain degree, as far as my power goes, I have accepted; and now I have the pleasure of informing you that, for several weeks past, all the Abyssinians here, to the number of above seventy, meet three times every day together, to have the Bible read to them by three of their priests in their own vernacular language. I cannot yet speak of fruits, but I have reason to hope for some." Later testimony from the same source encourages the hope that further openings will be speedily afforded for a fuller introduction of the Scriptures into that country. It appears that there is a dis- position on the part of the people to accept and peruse the Sacred Volume; and it is stated that the present King of Abyssinia adopts the admirable practice of daily reading the Scriptures in the ver- nacular Amharic. We learn from the Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society for the present year (1860) that an edition of 2000 copies of the Amharic version of the Psalms has just been com- menced, under the editorial care of Dr. Krapf, at the instance of the Bishop of Jerusalem. CLASS IIL-INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. A. M EDO-PERSIAN FAMILY. PEES I AN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14* I. — EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The kingdom of Iran or Persia Proper (in Persian, Fars and Iran), lies between 26° and 39° north latitude, and 44° and 62° east longitude. Its inhabitants are divided into two distinct classes, the Taujiks or aboriginal inhabitants of the country (whose number has been estimated by Fraser at about 7,000,000), and the Ilyats or Eilauts, a collective name given to the nomadic tribes by whom a considerable part of Persia is occupied. The latter comprise perhaps a fourth part of the entire population of the king- dom, and have been estimated at about two and a half millions. Of these tribes, some are of Persian, and others of Turkish, Mongolian, AfFghan, and Arabic origin; the languages spoken in Persia are * From the Persian Version, by Henry Martyn, 8vo., published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1846. Class III.] PERSIAN. 65 therefore as numerous as the races by whom it is peopled. Turkish is predominant in the northern and western provinces, although the natives are likewise acquainted with Persian. The Rev. H. Southgate, an American missionary, remarked that in his travels through these provinces he never once found it necessary to resort to Persian in his conversations with the people. The Taujiks, whose vernacular is invariably Persian, form the main population of Fars, and of almost all the towns of Persia. But the Persian language is predominant far beyond the regions of Persia Proper. In India it is spoken at all the Mohammedan courts; and it is, or was till very recently, the language adopted by the British Government in all judicial proceedings throughout Hindoostan. It is the vernacular language of the ancient Transoxiana, and indeed of the whole of Turkestan, now subject to the Usbec Tartars; in this country the Taujiks possess four independent governments in which pure Persian is spoken. Generally speaking, however, the Taujiks do not dwell together in corporate societies like other nations, but dis- perse themselves over the regions adjacent to their native land, and adopt the dress and customs of the dominant race in the countries in which they sojourn. They are said to be scattered as far as Tibet, and to have been met with in Chinese Turkestan. In Affghanistan they have been calculated by Elphinstone to number 1,500,000, and the Kohistan of Cabul is occupied almost solely by them. The religion of the Taujiks is Mohammedanism; but Soofeeism, or free- thinking, a species of infidelity akin to the rationalism of Germany, is extremely prevalent among them. The entire Moham- medan population of Persia, however, belongs to the Sheeite sect of the Mohammedan faith, which regards Ali as the legitimate successor of the Arabian prophet, and refuses to recognise the three caliphs who immediately followed Mohammed. There are also about 2,300 families of Guebres or fire- worshippers in Persia, and on the western coast of India there are about 200,000 individuals belonging to this ancient sect. These Guebres or Parsees of India now form one of the most valuable classes of the subjects of Britain; their ancestors are believed to have fled thither when Persia fell under the Mohammedan yoke, and the books and sacred fire which they brought with them are still religiously preserved. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The origin of the Persian language dates from the invasion of the Arabs in the seventh century. Prior to that period, various idioms prevailed throughout the Persian empire, of which the principal were the Pehlvi, the Farsi or Parsi, and the Deri. The Pehlvi, rude and masculine in structure, was closely allied to Chaldee, and was the dialect of Media properly so called, while the Farsi or Parsi was the language of Persia Proper, and its sub-dialect the Deri was the polished idiom of the court. Modern Persian was gradually formed during the long dominion of the Saracens in Persia, by admixture of the Parsi and Deri elements with the language of the conquerors. But the primitive type of the whole Persian family is undoubtedly the Zend, a language belonging to the same stem as the Sanscrit. Con- cerning the period during which this ancient tongue was vernacular, history is silent ; but it appears to have been the language of Zoroaster and of the Magi, and to have been once predominant in the west of India among the worshippers of the sun. Modern Persian, although greatly adulterated with other languages, still retains abundant evidences of its descent from the Zend. The numerous and important points of affinity which united the Zend with the Sanscrit, are not all obliterated in Persian. All the Indian words which occur in Persian are, however, characterised by their abbreviated form, and it is rare in this language to meet with an unmutilated Sanscrit term, for the final letters are generally cut off, and words of two syllables reduced to one. The Persian, like its parent the Zend, is more allied than any of the other Asiatic languages to the Germanic family; in fact, the entire fabric of the etymology of German and its cognate dialects is based upon the Persian. Of the 12,000 radical words composing the Persian language, 4,000 are found with more or less change in the Germanic dialects, and a striking conformity prevails even in the inflections of these languages. The termination of the infinitive of verbs in the Persian is ten and den, the en of the German, and the eiv of the Greek. The termination of the plural in Persian for men and animated beings is the syllable an, corresponding with the plural 6 66 INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. termination n of the German. Comparatives are formed in Persian, as in German, by the addition of the syllable ter or er ; for instance, the Persian adjective signifying good, in the comparative forms behter, in German bessei', and in English better. The pronouns and numerals in German and in Persian are also etymologically connected. With respect to the personal terminations of the verbs, the Persian sometimes follows the German, sometimes the Sanscrit, and sometimes the Greek or Latin forms. The future tense is formed as in English by the aid of an auxiliary, and the passive is formed according to the same analogy, by placing the past participle of the active verb before the different tenses and modes of an auxiliary. The affinity of the Persian with the other members of the great Indo-European class of languages is to be traced even in the particles of composition. The Persian a represents the Greek privative a; and Von Hammer has not hesitated to say that this same particle also occasionally cor- responds in meaning with the Greek arrro and irrl, and the German an, ab and auf. The Persian ba, he says is the German bey, and English by. The particle pes in Persian he considers equivalent to post in Latin, and the Persian negative particles ne and me, equivalent to the Latin ne and the Greek /jlt). Persian also resembles Greek, German, and English, in its power of compounding words; and in the variety and elegance of its compoimd adjectives it is said even to surpass these languages. The Persian adjectives are compounded in three ways; by placing a substantive before a contracted particle, by prefixing an adjective to a substantive, and, lastly, by adding one substantive to another. The com- binations produced according to these three forms are exceedingly numerous, and sometimes highly poetical : they are often used, especially in the plural number, as substantives without any noun being employed, and so melodious are they accounted by the Persian poets, that an entire distich is frequently filled with them. The great beauty of the Persian language consists in its softness and extreme simplicity; its style of phraseology is natural and easy, and capable of being reduced to few rules. In this simplicity of construction, in harmony of sound, in facility of versification, and in consequent adaptation for poetry, the Persian resembles the Italian; indeed it has been justly styled the " Italian of the East." It has been said that the crown of Persian literature is its poetry: the same perhaps is true of the Italian; and in connection with the several points of resemblance between these two languages, both with regard to their present development and to their origin and early history, it is rather a striking fact, and a subject for inquiry to a psychologist, that a remarkable similarity of sentiment and imagery pervades the works of Persian and Italian poets. This similarity has been repeatedly pointed out, and the sonnets of Petrarch have been compared to those of Sadi. Another prominent feature of the Persian language is its intimate admixture with Arabic words and idioms. Turkish words also occur in Persian, but scarcely a line or sentence is to be met with free from some words either purely Arabic, or of Arabic origin. This, however, varies in different authors; and pure Persian is not overloaded with Arabic; in like manner as pure English is more " Saxon" than either " Latin" or " Greek"-English. The peculiar forms of the plural called broken, imperfect, or irregular plurals, which characterise the Arabic and Ethiopic languages, are borrowed by the Persian; and Arabic syntax is sedulously studied by all who desire to write the Persian language with correctness. III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. The primitive alphabetical system of the Persian empire seems to have consisted of a peculiar set of characters called from their form arrow-headed, and cuneiform or wedge-shaped. Specimens of these characters have been found in ancient inscriptions on monuments of stone, and sometimes on bricks at Pcrscpolis, and in the west of Persia. The efforts that have been made of late years in the study of the Zend, have tended to facilitate the decyphering of these inscriptions, the language in which they are written being an ancient and long extinct idiom closely connected with the Zend. The Persians since the time of the Saracen conquest have used the Arabic letters, which they write, like the Arabs, from right to left. Their alphabet consists of thirty-two characters, of which four are peculiar to their language: on the other hand, eight of the Arabic characters have no corresponding sound in Persian; Class III.] PERSIAN. 67 for instance the tli of the Arabs is pronounced like s in Persia, just as the Polish Jews pronounce n : these eight letters ai - e nevertheless retained in Persian writings, and are useful in showing the derivation of words, for they are seldom or never found in any word not purely Arabic. IV. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. An ancient version of the Scriptures existed in the language formerly spoken in the Persian empire; but of this version, and even of the particular dialect in which it was written, we have little or no information beyond the casual allusions of Chrysostom and Theodoret. Christianity was early established in Persia, for Constantine the Great wrote to Sapor, king of that country, in behalf of the Christian churches in his dominions. The Elamites present on the day of Pentecost doubtless carried back the Christian doctrine with them, and we are assured of a Bishop of Persia being at the Council of Nice. The oldest version existing in the modern Persian language is probably that of the Pentateuch contained in the London Polyglot. This Pentateuch is believed to have been translated by Rabbi Jacob, a Jew, who, on account of his having come from a city called Tus, was surnamed Tusius or Tawosus. The period of its execution is unknown, but it certainly was translated subsequently to the eighth century, for Babel in Gen. 10. 10, is rendered Bagdad. The translation is supposed to have been made from the Syriac, but it follows the Hebrew pretty closely. It was first printed at Constan- tinople in 1546, accompanied with the Hebrew text, the Chaldee Targum of Onkelos, and the Arabic version of Saadias Gaon. The only other portion of Persian Scriptures contained in the London Polyglot consists of the four Gospels, supposed to have been written at Kaffa, a town of the Crimea, about A.D. 1341, by a Eoman Catholic. This translation is evidently from the Peshito, as is proved by many internal evidences, but it is interpolated with readings from the Vulgate, and even from Romish rituals and legends. If it had been free from these glosses and additions, it would have furnished valuable aid in the criticism of the Peshito. Another edition of the Persian Gospels was commenced under the care of Wheeloc, Professor of Arabic at Cambridge, and at his death superintended by Pierson. This edition left the press in 1657. The editors used the very MS. from which the Gospels in the London Polyglot were printed; and although they possessed two other MSS., of which one is supposed to have contained a version from the Greek, yet they confounded them all together, and appealed to the Syro- Persian text in the formation of their own. Le Long speaks of another version of the Persian Gospels, which he says was transcribed in 1388, from an original of much older date, and sent by Jerome Xavier, a Jesuit, from Agra to the Collegium Romanum. Yet it is recorded of this same Xavier, that at the request of Akbar, emperor of the Moguls, to be furnished with the Scriptures in Persian, he merely feigned compliance, and with the aid of a Persian compiled a life of Christ, partly from the Gospels, and partly from Romish legends, which, when presented to the emperor, only served to excite derision. This production was printed by De Dieu, at Leyden, in 1639. The next attempt to procure a version of the Scriptures in Persian was made by Nadir Shah. This emperor was desirous of procuring a translation of the Gospels, the Psalms, and the prophecies of Jeremiah, on account of the references made in the Koran to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and with this view he summoned several Armenian bishops and priests, Romish missionaries, and Persian moollahs, to Ispahan. The Armenians, from their imperfect acquaintance with the Persian language, were unable to take any efficient part in the translation, the whole of which, in consequence, devolved upon the Romish and Mohammedan priests : between them they effected their work by the aid of an ancient Arabic and other versions, but it was dressed up with all the glosses which the Koran could warrant, and the Romish priests made such use as they could of the Vulgate. When the work was presented to Nadir Shah, he turned it into ridicule, and declared that he could himself make a better religion than any that had yet been pro- duced. If this story be true, the version sometimes found in the hands of the Armenian priests in India, may be safely conjectured to be the same as that of Nadir: a copy of this version was shown to the Rev. Henry Martyn, who remarked that he did not wonder at the emperor's contempt of it. 68 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. As the style in which the Gospels of the Polyglot are written has long been antiquated at Ispahan, several efforts have been made during the present century to produce a version in the polished dialect now spoken by the Persians. A translation of the four Gospels was made under the superintendence of Colonel Colebrooke, and printed at Calcutta in 1804. Our accounts of this work are very meagre, and it never seems to have obtained much circulation. In 1812 the Kev. L. Sebastiani had advanced nearly to the end of the Epistles, in a translation of the New Testament from the Greek, and during the same year 1000 copies of the Gospels of this version were printed at Serampore by order of the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society. Sebastiani had been many years resident at the court of Persia, and his version was chiefly designed for the use of the Christians dispersed in Persia. In the meantime another translation of the whole of the New Testament had been progressing at Dinapore, under the superintendence of Henry Martyn. The translators were Sabat and Mirza Fitrut : the former had previously been employed in this translation at Serampore, and the latter by Colonel Colebrooke. This version was completed in 1808, but it was found to be so replete with Arabic and abstruse terms intelligible only to the learned, that the Rev. Henry Martyn determined upon visiting Persia in person, that he might there obtain the means of producing a clear and idiomatic version. In 1811 he reached Shiraz, the seat of Persian literature, and remained there nearly a year. He was received with much friendship by some of the principal men of the city, who expressed the warmest sympathy for the man of God, as they habitually designated our missionary. When the weather became too intense for his enfeebled frame to bear the extreme heat of the city, Jaffier AH Khan, a Persian noble, pitched a tent for him in a delightful garden beyond the wall, and here he executed from the original Greek a translation of the New Testament, remarkable not only for its strict fidelity to the text, but for its astonishing conformity to the niceties of the Persian idiom. By the Persians themselves this work has been designated "a masterpiece of perfection;" and while other Oriental versions have been superseded by more accurate translations, the Persian and Hindustani Testaments of this accom- plished scholar are at this day in higher repute than ever. On the accomplishment of his object, he found that his constitution had been completely shattered by the effects of the climate and extreme exertion, and he attempted to return to England, but expired during his journey homewards, at Tokat, a commercial city of Asia Minor, in 1812. Copies of the work which had caused the sacrifice of his valuable life were deposited with Sir Gore Ouseley, the English ambassador in Persia. One copy was presented to the King of Persia, who in a letter written on the occasion, expressed his approbation of the work. On returning to England by way of St. Petersburg, Sir Gore Ouseley met with P ince Galitzin, and it was suggested that the Prince, who was at the head of the Russian Bible Society, should cause an edition of Marty n's Testament to be printed at St. Petersburg, for circulation in the provinces of Western Persia. The impression was completed in less than six months, and consisted of 5000 copies. In 1813 a communication was received by the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta from Meer Seid Ali, the learned native employed by the Rev. Henry Martyn at Shiraz, in which, with many expressions of regret for the loss of his excellent master, he informed the Committee that the MS. of the Persian New Testament and of the Psalms (which had likewise been translated at Shiraz) was in his possession, and that he waited their orders as to its disposal. He was directed by the Committee first to take four correct copies of the MS., that no risk might be incurred in the transmission of so great a treasure, and then to forward the MS. to Calcutta, whither he was invited himself for the purpose of superintending the publication. The Psalter and New Testament passed through the press at Calcutta in 1816. The Psalter was reprinted in London, under the editorship of Dr. Lee, in 1824; and the New Testament, edited by the same distinguished scholar, was published in London in 1827. This Testament was reprinted in London in 1837; and an edition of 3000 copies was printed at Edinburgh in 1847, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in order to accompany an edition of the Old Testament, which, as we shall presently have occasion to mention, was then passing through the press in that city. Class III.] PERSIAN. 69 Of all these editions of Martyn's Testament, the most incorrect seems to have been that printed at St. Petersburg in 1815. This impression was so defaced with errors that the missionaries deemed it useless, and at their request the issue was stopped by the Russian Bible Society. The Rev. William Glen, of the Scottish Mission at Astrakhan, was in consequence led to undertake a version of the Psalms in Persian, for the benefit of the numerous individuals speaking that language who resort for purposes of trade to Astrakhan and the south of Russia. In preparing his version, Mr. Glen first made a literal translation of the Hebrew text, which he submitted, with due explanations, to his teacher; it was then the office of the latter to give as exact a representation of the sense as possible in classical Persian: his production was then revised and compared with the original by Mr. Glen. In 1826, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society made arrangements with the Scottish Missionary Society for the services of Mr. Glen at Astrakhan, in making a translation of the poetical and prophetical books of the Old Testament. In the meanwhile, Mirza Jaffier had been engaged by the same Society to produce a version of the historical books of the Old Testament at St. Petersburg, under the eye of Dr. Pinkerton, and according to specific directions sent out for the purpose by Dr. Lee. The only portion of Mirza Jaffier's version which appears to have been published is the book of Genesis, printed in London in 1827, under the care of Dr. Lee. Mr. Glen's version of the Psalms and Proverbs was revised by Mr. Greenfield, assisted by Mr. Seddon, and published in London in 1830-31; the edition consisted of 1000 copies, and another edition appeared in 1836. The entire Old Testament, translated by Mr. Glen, was eventually printed at Edinburgh, under the auspices of the Committee of Foreign Missions connected with the United Associate Synod of Scotland, and the British and Foreign Bible Society contributed £500 towards its publication; the edition left the press in 1847. In consequence of a grant by the British and Foreign Bible Society in aid of the translation department of Bishop's College, Calcutta, the Rev. T. Robinson (then chaplain at Poonah, but after- wards archdeacon) applied for the sanction of the Bishop of Calcutta to a projected version of the Old Testament in Persian ; and on its being ascertained that the design fell within the terms of the grant, the translation was commenced in 1824. The Pentateuch was completed and printed at Calcutta in 1830, and in 1838 the entire Old Testament was finished; the translation is from the original text, and is accounted faithful and accurate. A Persian version of the prophecy of Isaiah was purchased by the British and Foreign Bible Society, for the sum of £100, in 1833. This version had been executed by the Mirza Ibraham, of the East India College at Haileybury, and revised by Mr. Johnson, one of the professors of that College. The translator took the English Authorised Version for a basis, and adhered to it as far as it expresses faithfully the sense of the original. Being well acquainted with both Hebrew and Arabic, he made it a rule to use in his translation an Arabic word of the same root with the original, where such a word had been adopted into Persian ; and in rendering the sense of difficult passages, he first consulted our English version, then turned to the original Hebrew and compared it with the Arabic, and finally discussed the question with some of the members of the College, besides referring to several commentators. In 1834 an edition of this book was published by the Society, under the care of Mr. Johnson. In 1841 -the attention of the Calcutta Committee was occupied in lithographing an edition of the Scriptures in the Persian character, a method deemed preferable to the former system of Arabic type printing. In 1842, 5000 lithographed New Testaments of Martyn's version left the Calcutta press; and in 1844, 5000 copies of Genesis and part of Exodus, of Archdeacon Robinson's translation, were also lithographed. V. — KESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The work of distributing the Scriptures has been very extensively prosecuted in Persia: the portion which has there gone into widest circulation is Martyn's Testament; and a recent traveller declares that this inestimable work has made its way by single copies into many houses in Persia, and that he found persons acquainted with it in every city through which he passed. The Scriptures 70 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. have not yet effected any general change in Persia, but individual instances are not wanting of their blessed influence. A writer in the Asiatic Journal states, that once, at a convivial meeting in Persia where religious questions were being discussed, he chanced to express his opinions with a considerable degree of levity. He was immediately afterwards startled by perceiving the eyes of one of the guests fixed upon him with a peculiar and piercing expression of surprise, regret, and reproof. On inquiry, he found this person to be by name Mohammed Kameh, a man of great learning and high moral endow- ments; he had, it was said, been educated as a moollah, but had never officiated, and led a life of retirement. The writer obtained an interview with him, in which Mohammed avowed himself a Chris- tian, and related the history of his conversion in nearly the following terms: — " In the year 1223 of the Hejira, there came to this city an Englishman who taught the religion of Christ with a boldness hitherto unparalleled in Persia, in the midst of much scorn and ill-treatment from our moollahs as well as the rabble. He was a beardless youth, and evidently enfeebled with disease. I was then a decided enemy to infidels, and I visited the teacher of the despised sect with the declared object of treating him with scorn, and exposing his doctrines to contempt. These evil feelings gradually subsided beneath the influence of his gentleness, and just before he quitted Shiraz I paid him a parting visit. Our con- versation — the memory of it will never fade from the tablets of my memory — sealed my conversion. He gave me a book : it has ever been my constant companion ; the study of it has formed my most delightful occupation." Upon this Mohammed brought out a copy of the New Testament in Persian ; on one of the blank leaves was written — " There is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth. — Henry Martyn." The Persian Scriptures have been likewise distributed in the countries adjacent to Persia, where, as has been above stated, vast numbers of people speaking the Persian language are dispersed. The following instance of the blessing of God on this version occurred in Hindoostan in 1844. " I am thankful to tell you," (writes the Eev. A. Sternberg), "of a Hindoo, who two months ago was baptized by me, having been brought to a thorough conviction of the truth of our religion only by reading, by himself, a Persian New Testament which he had got at Cuttach some months previous. He was a Kaith, and was well acquainted with the common creed of Mohammedans and its errors before he became acquainted with Christianity. In the commencement of the year 1844, he undertook a pilgrimage to Jagganath; on his return he received a Persian New Testament from a missionary preaching in a Bazaar Chapel at Cuttack; but he did not touch it for fear. On his arrival at Arrah, he was obliged to stop on account of his wife's and child's illness. Now the time was come: he had leisure, and began to read his Persian Testament, and instantly he was struck with the truth of the word. Only one passage made him stop a little, the term ' Son of God : ' when his Mohammedan prejudices on this subject had been removed, he applied for baptism; since that period," continues Mr. Sternberg, " he has shown such deep knowledge of all the principal doctrines of faith, as well as a thorough change of sentiment, that he was and is to me, who was very far from expecting to see a Hindoo truly converted, a most seasonable evidence of the mighty power of the written word of God. He has had no teacher; the reading of the Word alone has converted him. It is encouraging to find again the saying true, ' one soweth and another reapeth.' " Glass III.] JUD^EO-PERSIAN. 71 JUDJO-PEESIAN. SPECIMEN", EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. in jNam * j no tro nab jstt mi Nni in nab }ni nab NnniN nn TO wi pa tn na avi in m van n^ maia in n&NDii pa nm 3 : mi Nni ma NnniN : in JNDaN "NM8T! H^n JN1 mi nx'n IN VI 4 j nsN^a TIJ1 JlDN m^ maia m j B^nfiN* ^aa nn »mni wrn *a ^nxn nn wen jxi s "ira ini 7 : mi n*v K>aDN m nns? nnNnDis Nni aw tn m mi ♦xip 6 para in n&NDii nan ni jn nh nnn ma jn in nnNna> ni ;n Nn naN niNne? : nnm hnxn^ stoen tn ni ni mi max nib nna **uB>n mi ini 8 : mniN : naNnv *a maa vn *a nn jNnai ro nidi nn ni noN jn »ppn wem 9 jnxni "idii n : roN3» *aa ^aNnai n^a mns in n&NDii jNnai mi }Nna in t/ni 10 ni nNn mnp Nn jnb»n Bnanarna ni naai 12 : ^nanirnsa }N£"ni naN £»ii tn |N£tn nmni 13 : nanniN tn^n ^aDNi ni nanii ;n&tni nawi Nni jNnans nil Nni tn nva nib nna 'aNDia ptiwdi ^Naoa £>nNii tni ttfeja jni en nd nvn ^ani nina nxnp Na jN^a in mc DDaa nab }ni u : mi TiDN-n ^Nnnna tn nsi nil nns tuns* nnow ni nil ^an Nearly all the Jews who are settled in Persia and in Bokhara speak the Persian language, which they are able to read and write only in the Hebrew character. The Rev. Mr. Pfander, when in con- nection with the Basle Missionary Society, made application for means to print the Persian Scriptures in Hebrew characters for the benefit of these Jews ; but he was soon afterwards removed from Shushi, in Southern Russia, where he was stationed at the period of his making that request, and, for a time at least, the project was in consequence dropped. In 1841, Dr. Hasberlin applied to some Christian friends for aid in imparting the Scriptures to the Persian Jews; and in reply he received from Herat a copy of Martyn's Persian New Testament, written in Hebrew characters, under the care of Dr. Login, who stated that the Jews had frequently asked him for the Scriptures in this form. Dr. Hseberlin laid the version before the Calcutta Committee, and they agreed to refer the means of printing it to the consideration of the Parent Society. Their application was promptly met by a request, on the part of the latter Society, to print an edition of 2000 Xew Testaments in this form ; and it was arranged that the edition should be carried through the press at Calcutta, under the eye of the Rev. Dr. Yates. The death, however, of that lamented missionary rendered this plan abortive; and in 1845 the Bombay Auxiliary Society transmitted to London MS. copies of the Judaeo- Persian Gospels, of which an edition of 1000 copies was completed in London in 1847, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, of Bombay. 72 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. PUSHTOO. SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. j^ *j ^jAJjj* uf^ 3 ***$ * JJ ^ ^^ ^ L5? tr^ U^ ***$ ^ ''Vi *f" < ** j y>jJ*> J^ tJj*^ ^, L5*^ c^ s^^hi* l^^ c^ *J ^ *** s^^ryj *** * ^^5 jUa*1 &kvi~~ a\. *J ^A&li jLcs-j j^jaj axis * AJhw*3 j ci-j Ujfc> j^ xji, ^jjo &ku>-*jJ U3c> jl *j j^ii ^ J< V *** * hfj J**i> J j&, ** *J y& j£= JjJw ; *>- y& J^J * Jj JjW njid j&S- jb^- 3 \ ^j\j jy,y Jj^aJ I* -**,] jj£jjjj\j ^Uj! Jjei- £ j! jo^ ^jtfLj ^jp-j^ ^a>- *j& j] * ^ ^jjo -aj ^^Oj ^ aj Ijjj a.sn.A ^j^W j -i jb Asa». ^j^dtl ^U. \iXjj *jjj ^jlo jJwij j! <>J tjiyj ^j-l I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Affghans, a warlike and semibarbarous nation, inhabit Affghanistan, a mountainous territory lying south and south-west of Hindoo Koosb. They are probably the Ucuctoi mentioned by Herodotus. They call themselves Pushtaneh, the plur. of Pashtan, whence, by a corruption of the word, they are styled by the Indians Patans. Their language is termed Pushtoo or Pukhtoo. They received the designation of Affghans from the Persians, by which name alone they are known in Europe. According to Elphin- stone, the number of Affghans residing in Affghanistan, and within the limits of the ancient kingdom of Cabul, amounts to 4,300,000. In Affghanistan itself, be remarks, there is scarcely any part in which the whole population is Affghan, the mixture being composed of Taujiks in the west, and of Hindkees in the east. Sir William Jones, and others, have assumed that the Affghans are of Hebrew origin ; but though this idea may at first sight appear to be countenanced by some of the Affghan traditions, which represent them as lineally descended from ancient Israel, yet abundant proofs might be adduced from historical and philological sources in confirmation of the now generally received opinion, that this people are the aborigines of the region in or near which they now dwell. Their religion is the Mohammedan, but they belong to the sect of Soonnee, who recognise the first three caliphs as the lawful successors of Mohammed. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The structure of the Pushtoo or Affghan language refutes the hypothesis of the Hebrew origin of the Affghan people. It exhibits none of the peculiarities of the Shemitic dialects, but, on the con- trary, forms an important link in the great Indo-European chain of languages. Many of the words are Persian, and some of the roots can be traced distinctly from the Zend and Pehlvi dialects, while Class III] PUSHTOO. 73 others again are from some unknown source. Mr. Elpliinstone compared an Anglian vocabulary, consisting of 218 words, with the correlative terms in Persian, Zend, Pehlvi, Sanscrit, Hindustani, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, and Chaldaic; and he ascertained that in this collection of Affghan words, there were no less than 110 which could not be referred to any of the above languages, but appear to be distinct and original. Of the remaining words, by far the greater number were modern Persian, but some of these could be traced to the Zend, and many more to the Pehlvi; other words were proved to belong exclusively to these latter languages, not being employed in modern Persian. The instances in which a similarity was traced between the Affghan and the Sanscrit and Hindustani words, are to be accounted for by the connection which, as we have elsewhere noticed, originally subsisted between the Zend and Sanscrit languages. Most of the terms relative to science, government, and religion, have been engrafted on the Pushtoo language from the Arabic, through the Persian. In its grammatical forms, Pushtoo is more closely allied to Zend than to Persian, and in its inflections it retains some of the features of that ancient language which are lost in Persian. In its conjugation it leans to the Persian; but in the declension of nouns, the influence of Hindustani is at once perceptible. Although Pushtoo is said not to be unpleasing to those who are accustomed to the rough sounds of some Oriental tongues, it is decidedly harsh and unpolished, and contrasts strongly in this respect with the soft and musical language of Persia. The Affghans use the Persian alphabet, but they have altered the sound of several of the letters, which changes they indicate by means of diacritical marks appended to the letters which in Persian approach the nearest in sound to their own peculiar enunciation: these distinctive sounds are the hard d, t, r, and csh. III. — VERSIONS OF THE HOLT SCRIPTURES. The first attempt to produce a Pushtoo version of Scripture seems to have been made by Dr. Leyden, who in 1811 furnished the Corresponding Committee of Calcutta with a translation of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. At his death the translation was continued by the Serampore Missionaries, with the aid of some learned natives previously in the employ of Dr. Leyden. An edition of the New Testament, consisting of 1000 copies, was printed at Serampore in 1819. The missionaries then proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament into Pushtoo; and in 1832 an edition, con- sisting of 1000 copies of the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament, was committed to the press. Although no general distribution of any portion of Scripture among the Affghans has yet been accomplished, the fierce and warlike character of the people having hitherto formed a bar to mis- sionary labours among them, yet the editions of the Pushtoo Scriptures here referred to have since been nearly, if not quite, exhausted. This circumstance, however (writes the Secretary to the North India Bible Society, from Agra), is perhaps the less to be regretted from the fact that by far the greater part of the reading population of Affghanistan read Persian, and prefer that to their native dialect. The versions in the latter tongue are likely to be much more extensively in demand should the warlike and disturbed population of this country hereafter become more open to missionary exer- tions. From the most recent sources of information, there appears, however, to be urgent need for a new translation of the Scriptures into Pushtoo, with a view to meet demands that have been made for copies on the part of those to whom that language is vernacular. Efforts to supply this want are now in progress. Previous to the Indian mutiny of 1857, the Gospel of St. Luke, translated by Captain James, and the Gospel of St. John, by the Rev. Mr. Clark, had been placed in the hands of the North India Auxiliary Bible Society. But both were destroyed, with the press, at Agra, in that disastrous year. Copies are now, however, again ready for the printer, and only await the necessary types. The Gospel of St. Matthew has also been rendered into Pushtoo by M. Lowenthal, who is now engaged upon the remaining Gospel — that of St. Mark. 74 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. BELOOCHEE. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Beloochistan, the country of the Beloochees, lies between Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean, and extends along the shores of that ocean from the Indus to Persia. But it is only the western portion of this country that is inhabited exclusively by the Beloochees, the eastern provinces being chiefly peopled by the Brahooees, a people who speak a dialect of Sanscrit origin, resembling that of the Punjab. In religion the Beloochees are Mohammedans, of the sect of Omar, or Soonnites. In number they are conjectured to amount to about a million, but Mr. Elphinstone considers this too low an estimate; and it is supposed that the entire population of Beloochistan, including the Juts, Taujiks, Dehwars, and other tribes who dwell among the Beloochees, would together amount to nearly two millions. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The structure and idioms of the Beloochee language, and above half of its words, are Persian; and notwithstanding the corrupt and unaccountable pronunciation of the Beloochees, Lieutenant Pottinger was at length enabled, by his knowledge of Persian, to understand every sentence in Beloochee. The language possesses no literature, and, if we except a translation of part of the Scriptures, it may be said to be unwritten. III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. The history of the Beloochee is in some respects similar to that of the Pushtoo version. Both versions were commenced by Dr. Leyden, and at his death transferred to the care of the Serampore missionaries, who availed themselves of the aid of the learned natives previously employed by Dr. Leyden. As it is stated that these natives were thoroughly acquainted with the Persian and Hindu- stani languages, we may infer that they made the translation direct from the Persian Gospels and Hindustani Testament (which had been printed at Serampore in 1811), and that their work was afterwards compared with, and corrected by, the Greek original. It is not certain whether the trans- lation has ever been advanced beyond the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but the first three Gospels were printed as early as 1815: the number of copies of which this edition consisted is not specified. The character is Persian, with no variation. It does not appear that the Beloochee version has ever obtained circulation among the people for whom it was intended. Class III.] ARMENIAN. 75 ARMENIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. A.NCIENT ARMENIAN. MODERN ARMENIAN. 1 MJliAJMrbk #, puiuu ♦ u. puiuu t/p uiil. iua- ♦ L- iU h- t^p piuhu x \jui £-p fiul^qpuiut/ uin- iS a- t y^dlruiuju pus unituiL. Ltijil. * LL. um_iuuq unpiu irnls- lc ntfius np put brijhJu t \jnduiL. fyhiuhp Ifp t Lu fylruiltpu £-p /ntu diupn-buiu* f? 1 - injuu p fuusL-iupp uiun. inL.uLUL.np L/p f ™- fuuiL.uip udui ns trrjlL. \uiunL. x \^nLu uijp up utn—iuphiui JuTf f LulinL.li lidiu K J ns t ■*. \uiuut/u x xjw klfti p dJ{iujnL-P-fiL-u qji d^Luj^ brunt/ duiuu fnuun/u ♦ aft tuUtrliirppu •< ui l. lu w ui u q Lhrli unduiL. x IS/ k"P uui gajuli , tuji_ qj, d^uijtrujk if unfit fnL.ua fit x 1 au^bUP-M, ku p. Ulll p * UL. pus up iuj Dnzfh t/p * nt- \iuu) p. lull p iuh- krp x l^u^pp pufyfiupt/u iuj jinifh t/p x {j^dTlTru Ppp uilind Lrniu uin—uiun usual t p.iuu *ffc_ sJrnuiL. hus np bnuiL, ui/- x X\huAtpp lull nil £-p t nL. IfkuApp Jiupnunq /nuuu l^p x |Ji_ fnuup lull futuutuppu i/ig-pp inL.utuL.np tp* pJLUL-lUpp LUUhlll $p ^uiulipni WW lfuipn.lfp LrrilUL. LUUUML-h-^ l%- pippLpduihr t uilinp uiunijup in^uiuuL-u x {J^upfyui JJiiujbinL. Lr^ Iiuil. f np inL-uniJu 'Cuidusp ilhiujl^ ♦ np luJUt^Mpp tu^ und P u g_ "P k'Uf 1 - * \jnpiuund LLtluTipu t/p t It. i^hiuupit uiupn-L^iuuq injuu t*P * C**- [™J UU fuuML.iu^. M inji £-p inuitfs piutL.iupu tfiJiuquiL. unpuiu X \J ph l/luptL. C/MIUL. li« w uinuiuiriuupq nuntupLiIiuir np unpiu iuunu.uu lo^tuultt/u \t/p)x Xjw JjiujjnuP-k-iuu ■ytuJTup LrL^iuL. f np enuunj ytui/iLsp JLuji&/ * np iuu£-u^ JZ% unpuiund "y ui l. lu in u/L X 1 'b U£ i!*P UP"* 4 * P-'HJS "P tnuunili "yuii/uip d Luiiq? x I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Armenia, so called either from "Aram," son of Harma or Haie, or from 'Ar-meni, as Bryant thinks, " the mountain of the Moon" or " Ark," was, according to Herodotus, peopled hy a colony from Phrygia. (Moses Chor. ed. Whiston, p. 35.) It is now the region in which the three great powers of the East, — the Russian, the Turkish, and the Persian, are brought into direct approximation, and it is politically divided between them. Having been the theatre of many contests, its boundaries have varied at different epochs; but it may be said generally to extend from the river Kour on the north to the mountains of Kurdistan on the south, and from the banks of the upper Euphrates on the west to the Caspian Sea on the east. An extensive tract situated to the westward of the Euphrates bore, in ancient geography, the name of Armenia Minor, or the Lesser Armenia. The total number of the Armenian nation is variously estimated at from 2,000,000, to 3,000,000: in their own country however, the Armenians form but one seventh part of the population, while in scattered colonies they are to be met with from Venice and Constantinople to Canton, and from St. Petersburg to 76 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. almost every part of Africa. In Constantinople and its adjacent villages there are computed to be 200,000 Armenians, and an equal number in the Russian and Persian provinces. They are emphati- cally the merchants of the East, and a large proportion of the trade, foreign and internal, of Turkey, Southern Russia, Persia, India, and of other countries, is carried on by them. The Armenians constitute a section of the ancient Monophysite Church, and believe that " the two natures (Divine and Human) of Christ are united in one nature;" they have four Patriarchs, the principal of whom bears the title of Catholicos of all the Armenians, and resides in Armenia; their ecclesiastical establishment in Hindoostan vies with that of the English. About one hundred thousand Armenians have joined the Romish Church, and are ruled by their own archbishops. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The ancient Armenian language, though no longer vernacular, is very generally studied by Armenian Christians as their national language of religion and literature. The roots of the Armenian are closely connected with those of the Persian dialects, and many Median words preserved by Herodotus can be explained by means of the Armenian. Its elemental words, such as numerals, pronouns, particles, nouns indicative of objects of sense, and verbs indicative of the common actions of life, have their analogues in the Greek, Latin, and German languages, and even in the Finnish dialects of Siberia, and in other idioms of Northern Asia. Several striking coincidences in structure have likewise been traced between the Armenian and the other branches of the Indo-European class; the future tense of Arme- nian verbs is, for instance, formed by means of the syllables tzitz, — stzyes, — size, where the character- istic sound of the Greek and Sanscrit future is distinctly recognised. On the other hand, some Arme- nian participles in al resemble the participles of the Sclavonic languages; and Schlegel has pointed out other analogies in inflection between this family and the Armenian. In point of sound, the Armenian is extremely harsh, and overloaded with consonants. Its grammatical forms are complicated ; it has ten declensions of nouns singular and plural, and a corresponding copiousness of inflection in the conjugation of verbs, although in certain tenses the aid of an auxiliary is required. In its system of grammatical inflections, this language presents several phenomena almost peculiar to itself, and which are thought by Professor Neumann to be attributable in some instances to the remarkable nature of its alphabet; the k, for instance, the Professor remarks, which is habitually used in Armenian as a termination of the plural in substantives and numerals, is probably a transition of the s of cognate languages into k, an occurrence exactly the reverse of the change often observable in the Sclavonic languages of k into s. A further peculiarity in the Armenian idiom which distinguishes it from all other Indo-European languages is, that it takes no cognizance whatever of gender; that is to say, the gender of the noun has no influence whatever upon the form of the adjective by which it is qualified, and the grammatical distinction of gender even in the pronouns is unknown in Armenian. But it is a simple, grave, energetic, and in the reading the New Testament especially, a beautiful language. In the opinion of Armenians, it is the language spoken by Noah in the Ark. III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. Prior to the fifth century, the Armenians seem to have had no alphabet of their own, but to have used the Persian, Greek, or Syriac characters in writing their language. About the beginning of that century, Miesrub, a learned Armenian, invented a set of characters adapted to the language of his nation. Tradition relates that the forms of these characters were revealed to him from heaven in a vision. This style of writing was adopted in Armenia by a royal edict in A.D. 406, and has ever since continued in use among the Armenians. Its elements consist of many signs belonging to the alphabets previously used in writing Armenian, combined with other signs of more recent invention. This alphabet had originally only thirty-six characters, but f and o being subsequently added, increased the number to thirty-eight, of which thirty are consonants, and eight are vowels. Armenian, like the languages of Europe, is written from left to right. Class III.] ARMENIAN. 77 IV. — VERSIONS OF SCRIPTURE. The ancient Armenian language possesses the treasure of an old and faithful version of Scripture, which, on account of its exactness and its eloquent simplicity, has been called by La Croze the " Queen of Versions." Our information concerning the early history of this invaluable translation is derived from two sources, an Armenian Biography of the Saints, including the life of Miesrob, preserved in the Royal Library of Paris, and the history of Armenia by Moses Choronensis, printed with a Latin translation at Cambridge in 1736. From the combined testimony of these two sources, it would appear that the origin of the Armenian version is nearly contemporaneous with the invention of the Armenian alphabet. Miesrob (who was, as above stated, the inventor of this alphabet), after communicating his discovery to the king Uram Scavu, and to Isaac the patriarch of Armenia, travelled throughout the country in order to establish schools for disseminating instruction in reading and writing, and on his return he found the patriarch engaged in the application of the newly invented characters to a transla- tion of the Scriptures from the Syriac into Armenian. By the joint efforts of Miesrob and Isaac, a version of the entire Scriptures was effected, but it was executed exclusively from the Syriac, because no Greek MSS. were then attainable in Armenia; Meruzan, a Persian general, had caused all Greek books to be burnt, and the Persians had prohibited the use of any language for religious purposes among the Armenians except the Syriac. At the meeting of the Council of Ephesus in 431, Miesrob and Isaac sent two of their pupils to that assembly, to recount the progress that had been made in the translation of the Scriptures. The members of the Council sent back the youths with a complete copy of the Septuagint Bible and the Greek New Testament, for the use of the translators. On receiving this welcome gift, Isaac and Miesrob, who had already produced two different translations from the Syriac, now addressed themselves for the third time to the formation of an Armenian version. They found themselves, however, impeded by their imperfect acquaintance with the Greek language, and accordingly sent some of their disciples to Alexandria, which was then the school of Greek learning and literature, to study the language. On the return of these young men, one of whom was Moses Choronensis the historian, the work of translation was recommenced from the Greek; and when the version was com- pleted, if we may take the word of Bar Hebrseus, Miesrob and Isaac modified it according to the Syriac : on this subject, however, there are differences of opinion. That it often agrees remarkably with the Syriac is certain ; it appears as if the previous labours of the translators had some effect on the existing version. A recension of this version is said by some authors to have been made by Haitho, who reigned in Lesser Armenia from A.D. 1224 to 1270; he belonged to the Eoman Catholic Church, and is charged with having introduced corrupt readings from the Latin Vulgate. But this statement is now very generally regarded as incorrect. V. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE ANCIENT ARMENIAN SCRIPTURES. In the seventeenth century MS. copies of the Armenian Scriptures had become so scarce and so expensive, that a council of Armenian bishops assembled in 1662 to consult on the best means of calling in the aid of printing, of which art they had heard in Europe; and indeed it would appear, that as early as 1565 an Armenian Psalter had been printed at Rome. The Armenian bishops, it is supposed, applied in the first place to France for assistance in their design of procuring a printed edition of their Scriptures, but meeting with a refusal from that quarter, Uscan, bishop of Erivan, proceeded to Amsterdam, where in 1666 he published an edition of the entire Armenian Scriptures, followed in 1668 by a separate edition of the New Testament, which was reprinted in 1698. In these editions the bishop is accused, and apparently with justice, of having permitted alterations to be made from the Vulgate: the editions published at Constantinople in 1705, and at Venice in 1733, are in consequence more highly esteemed than those of Uscan. In 1775 a new and corrected edition of the Armenian Scriptures, to be accompanied with a Latin translation, was commenced at Paris by a body of learned men, one of whom was the Abbe Villefroy, who had resided many years among the Armenians; but of this edition the book of the prophet Habakkuk alone appears to have been published. In 1789 78 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. the New Testament was printed at Venice, under the editorship of Zohrab, a learned Armenian divine, from MS. authorities ; and this edition, which was much esteemed for its correctness, was reprinted in 1816. A critical edition of the Old and New Testament was published under the care of the same editor at Venice in 1805, at the expense of the monks of the Armenian convent of the Island of St. Lazarus, in the lagunes of Venice. This edition was printed from a MS. written in Cilicia in the four- teenth century, and with the aid of eight MSS. of the Old Testament, and twenty -five of the New. The various readings elucidated by Armenian scholia were placed in the margin, and the contested passage in 1 John 5. 7, was expunged, because unsupported by the authority of ancient Armenian MSS. In 1814 a representation was made to the Calcutta Bible Committee, by Johannes Sarkies, on the necessity of supplying the numerous families of Armenians in Calcutta and other parts of Hindoo- stan with copies of the Scriptures, and in 1817 an edition was printed for the Society at Serampore, consisting of the entire Scriptures. During the same year 5000 copies of the New Testament, and a separate edition of the Bible, were printed by the St. Petersburg Bible Society for the use of the Armenians, who, to the number of 50,000, were settled in the south of Russia; every sheet of this edition was examined by Johannes, the Armenian archbishop at Astrakhan. A previous edition of the Scriptures had been published by the same Society in 1814. In 1818 the British and Foreign Bible Society purchased 1500 copies of the New Testament of the monks of St. Lazarus for distribution chiefly in Armenia, and in the following year they purchased 1000 Bibles. Further purchases were made by the Society at Venice until 1823, when they ordered an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, and 3000 copies of the Gospels alone, to be printed at Constantinople. This edition was carried through the press by the Rev. Henry Leeves, with the concurrence of the Armenian patriarch. The copies were sent to Tokat in Asia Minor, to Julfa near Ispahan, and into Armenia, for distribution. About the year 1838 another edition of the ancient Armenian New Testament was printed at Smyrna, at the expense of the American Bible Society. More recently, it has been determined by the Com- mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, to print a further edition of the New Testament in ancient Armenian, in addition to one also in the modern language. Both works are in process of execution in London. Editions of the ancient Armenian, printed in parallel columns with the modern Armenian versions, will be mentioned hereafter. The Old Testament in ancient Armenian, having been executed not from the Hebrew text, but from the Greek version of the LXX., has never been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. VI. — -RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Although the ancient Armenian Scriptures are now only intelligible to those who have had the benefits of education and 'opportunities for the study of this ancient tongue, yet as this class of persons is rapidly increasing, there is a prospect that this version will soon become' more generally understood, and more highly appreciated, than heretofore. Dr. Dwight bears a fitting testimony to its value in a letter addressed in 1836 to the Board of the American Bible Society. " It is astonishing," he says, " to see the power of Scripture truth on the conscience when it comes to men from the pure fountain itself, without note or comment, and without the aid of a living teacher. I could point to two young men of the Armenian nation, of whom we have the hope that they have become true disciples of Christ, whose minds were first opened by the simple reading of Scripture, before they even knew there was a missionary in the whole woi'ld." And equally gratifying is the statement of the American mission- aries in 1847, when, after giving an account of the recent remarkable awakening among the Armenian people, they ascribe the change, in part at least, to the influence of the ancient version. " Some facts," they write, " have come to our knowledge, showing that the ancient Armenian Scriptures, printed many years since at Venice, and perhaps at other places by your Society during the first years of its operations, have had no small share, by the blessing of God, in awakening the Armenian mind every- where, and in preparing the people to receive and maintain the doctrine of the sufficiency of the Scriptures as the rule of faith and practice. This is the testimony of Armenians themselves." Class III.] ARMENIAN. 79 ARMENIAN. ARARAT DIALECT.* I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Ararat- Armenian is the idiom now spoken in the whole of Armenia except the pashalik of Erze- room, and derives its name from the venerable mountain which occupies the centre of the country, forming, as it were, the nucleus of the adjacent tableland. In the Hebrew Scriptures the whole kingdom of Armenia is called Ararat: the word is however rendered Armenia in our version, in 2 Kings 19. 37, and Isaiah 37. 38, while the original name (Ararat) is retained in Jeremiah 51. 27. The dialect of Ararat is spoken not only in Armenia, but in the Georgian provinces, and by the thou- sands of Armenians who are dispersed between the Black Sea and the sources of the Euphrates, and thence through Persia and part of Mesopotamia, down as far as the Persian Gulf. This dialect approaches much nearer the purity of the ancient Armenian tongue than the dialect of Constantinople, but it is adulterated with Persian words. II. — VERSIONS OP SCRIPTURE IN THIS DIALECT. No books appear to have been printed in this dialect prior to the efforts made by the German missionaries at Shushi to supply the Armenians with the Scriptures in an intelligible form. In 1829 the Rev. Mr. Dittrich was authorised by the British and Foreign Bible Society to prepare a version of the Gospel of St. Matthew in this dialect. He was aided by some learned Armenian priests, and succeeded so well with the undertaking, that, in accordance with the advice of Dr. Pinkerton, their agent in Russia, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society requested him to proceed with the translation of the whole Testament. An edition of 1000 copies of this version was ordered to be printed 'at Shushi, but owing to some difficulties which arose in carrying the work through the press, the printing was transferred to Moscow. In 1835 the proposed edition was completed, and the copies forwarded to Shushi for distribution. A second edition, to consist of 3000 copies, was soon found necessary, and was ordered by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the meantime the mission- aries had been proceeding (with the encouragement of the Basle Missionary Society) in the translation of the Psalter from the Hebrew; but this work was not published till the year 1844, when it was printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian. This edition was so much sought after and valued by the Armenians, that the Rev. Messrs. Dwight and Homes, American missionaries, applied to the British and Foreign Bible Committee for authority to print an edition of the New Testament with the Ararat and ancient Armenian in parallel columns, it being intended to execute the work at Constantinople. More recently, Mr. Barker, the British and Foreign Bible Society's agent, has been authorised to take measures for printing, at Constantinople, 1500 Ararat-Armenian New Testa- ments, and 1500 ditto with the ancient Armenian in parallel columns. This work is now in progress. III. — RESULTS OP THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. For an account of the remarkable manner in which the Scriptures in both dialects of modern Armenian have been used as the means of producing the late revival of religion among the Armenians, the reader is referred to pages 78, 81. * For Specimen of the Ararat Dialect, see page 75. 80 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. ARMENIAN. MODERN DIALECT, OR DIALECT OF CONSTANTINOPLE.* I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The present vernacular of the Armenians is distinguished from their ancient language by numerous local peculiarities and corruptions, varying more or less in every country in which the members of this scattered race are congregated. These local varieties are, however, all resolvable into one or other of the two predominant dialects of the modern Armenian language, called, from the regions in which they are respectively spoken, the dialect of Constantinople and the dialect of Ararat. The former has Constantinople for its centre, and is spoken in the neighbouring territories, through Asia Minor and in the pashalik of Erzeroom. Its distinctive features consist in the frequent adoption of Turkish words, in certain prefixes to verbs, and in general conformity to the rules of Turkish syntax. The words of the ancient language are retained in both dialects of modern Armenian in almost an unaltered form, so far at least as respects orthography; but the signification now given to these words is so different from their original meaning, that an uneducated Armenian of the present day is unable to comprehend even the general purport of a work written in the ancient Armenian language. Many changes also have been introduced in grammar and in the most common forms of expression, and the dialect of Constantinople is especially remarkable for its rejection of the concise, energetic style of the ancient Armenian, and its constant use of long, monotonous periods, all constructed upon one and the same model, according to the Turkish mode of writing. It is much softer than the Ararat dialect. II. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. The first attempt on record to produce a version of Scripture in modern Armenian was made by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The subject was brought before the Committee by Professor Kieffer, who mentioned that Dr. Zohrab, an Armenian from Constantinople, the learned editor of the ancient Armenian Scriptures, was at Paris, and well qualified to undertake the translation. During the same year (1821), Dr. Pinkerton passed through Paris on his way to St. Petersburg, and obtained from Dr. Zohrab, as a specimen, a translation of the Sermon on the Mount. This specimen was printed at St. Petersburg, and sent for inspection to various parts of Turkey. Several Armenians who examined it approved of it highly, but the priests, who were probably prejudiced against a modern version of the Scriptures, found fault with the style, which they said was low, vulgar, and degrading to the subject, as compared with the ancient Armenian. Dr. Zohrab, however, continued to prosecute his labours at Paris; he translated from the ancient Armenian version, and in 1824 completed a version of the New Testament in the modern Armenian dialect of Constantinople. It was revised by M. St. Martin, an Armenian scholar, and an edition of 1000 copies, printed in parallel columns with the ancient Armenian, was published at Paris in 1825, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. It was after- wards objected to this version that, having been made directly from the ancient Armenian, it was not perfectly conformable to the Greek, and that, owing probably to Dr. Zohrab's prolonged absence from his native city, the style was not exactly in accordance with the idiomatic peculiarities of the modern tongue. In 1837 a fount of Armenian type was forwarded to the American missionaries at Smyrna, and a revised edition of this version of the New Testament was commenced at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition, revised by Mr. Adger, was carried carefully and slowly through the press, and it was not till 1842 that an impression of 5000 copies of the New Testa- ment was issued. These copies were in great demand, and were put into circulation as soon as they left the binder's hands. Mr. Adger then proposed to publish an edition of this New Testament in parallel columns with the ancient version, in order that the suspicions of the Armenians might be * For Specimen of the Modern Armenian Version, see page 75. Class III.] ARMENIAN. 81 removed as to the possibility of the Scriptures having been adulterated in the modern translation : the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society have resolved to carry this proposal into execution, and an edition of 1500 Testaments, arranged on this plan, is stated, in the Society's report for 1 856, to be in progress. In the meantime, by the aid of the American Bible Society, the missionaries in Smyrna proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament into modern Armenian. In 1844 they were deprived by death of one of their assistants in this work, a pious Armenian, who had laboured with them during five years, and who was employed in the translation of the Turkish Old Testament of Mr. Goodell into modern Armenian. The work has, however, been subsequently completed. In 1857, an edition of 3000 Bibles in modern Armenian, with 2000 New Testaments in the same, issued from the press of the American Mission at Constantinople, on account of the British and Foreign Bible Society. A further edition of 2000 Testaments in modern Armenian was in 1858 completed at the same press; in addition to which, the Society are also printing an edition of 5000 New Testaments in London. The American Bible Society (as appears from their latest report) have recently, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Biggs, completed an edition of the Modern Armenian Bible, and the plates of another and larger edition, with references, are already in progress. III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The versions of Scripture in both the dialects of modern Armenian have received the manifest blessing of God, in a degree almost unprecedented in the history of other versions. The following are some of the accounts given by missionaries on the spot, concerning the remarkable effects wrought among the Armenians by the circulation of the modern version. " We might mention," they say, (writing in 1845,) " twenty towns in Turkey where Armenians are found who daily search the Scrip- tures for the purpose of guiding their lives according to its supreme teachings." In some of these places, this holy volume, owing to the fact of its being in modern language, is received as a fresh message from heaven; and in these towns especial assemblies are held on the Sabbath for studying the Scriptures; and this occurs also in towns where no foreign missionary has ever been. The reading of the Scriptures in an intelligible language has-been the means, by God's blessing, of curing many of their scepticism. They have become convinced that whatever occasion they had had to doubt about the truth of Christianity, from what they were seeing around them, yet that here, in this book, they could see that there is a pure living Christianity. One individual, a banker among the Armenians, said, " Our nation owes, to those who have been the means of making us acquainted with the word of God in an intelligible lan- guage, a great debt of gratitude. They have saved not only me, but many others, from infidelity; for we have found that Christianity has deeper foundations than what we had supposed; and that there is in the word of God something upon which to anchor our faith." The numerous cases of conversion to God which followed the diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures in the modern tongue, did not escape the notice of the worldly and unbelieving clergy at the head of the Armenian Church, and a cruel series of persecutions was commenced against the " Bible," " Evangelical," or " Protestant" Armenians, as all were styled who read and obeyed the word of God. Many of these Protestants (by this name they are now commonly designated) were solemnly excommunicated by the Armenian patriarch, but to no purpose, as many more were daily added to their numbers. In a village near the town of Nicomedia, a congregation of Protestant Armenians had sprung up, having the Scriptures for their rule of faith; no missionary had ever been among them excepting the missionary of missionaries, the Bible: like their brethren elsewhere, they were called to endure persecution, and were at last driven to the necessity of meeting for worship in the fields. On one of these occasions they were attacked with stones, but instead of resorting to violent means of defence against their enemies, they calmly took up the stones and deposited them at the governor's feet, demanding his protection, which was accorded. After enduring many similar outrages in the same Christian spirit, the Protestant Armenians resolved to free themselves from the tyranny of their church, by forming themselves into a separate church, founded on Scriptural principles. To effect this separation they were compelled to 7 82 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. appeal to the Turkish Government. Their application met with success, and their freedom from the oppressive jurisdiction of their patriarch is now fully recognised. " An officer of the government, a Turk (it is stated by Mr. Barker in 1847), is appointed to look after all their civil relations, and they are to choose their own representative to confer with him. Their ecclesiastical affairs are entirely free, and all patriarchs and other ecclesiastics are forbidden to interfere in any way with them ; and all officers of government are called upon to see that their rights are respected. Truly the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and He turneth it whithersoever He will." Subsequent accounts received from the same field of labour continue to confirm, in the most grati- fying manner, the intelligence above instanced in reference to the results of Protestant missionary labour amongst the Armenian population of the Turkish empire. The converts are now uniformly recognised by the term Protestants, and in 1850 a firman was issued by his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, confirming and enlarging the protection given to all his Protestant subjects throughout the empire, and securing to them the full and free exercise of their religion. " There are at present in Asia (writes the Rev. J. Lowndes, in 1851), Armenian Protestant churches established at twenty-one different places. These are superintended by sixteen American missionaries, six ordained native pastors, and one licensed preacher. . . . There are also many other places where native Christians are scattered. At Aintab, the greatest work appears to have been effected, for there the congregation is estimated at about 600." The account given by Mr. Barker, on the occasion of his visit to England in 1852, of the origin of this movement, is deeply interesting. "In 1821, the Society's Armenian New Testament was placed by me in the hands of Armenian door-keepers, cooks, scullions, and grooms, who, strange to say, knew how to read. They were natives of the villages of the district called Arabkir, who, returning home at intervals, carried with them to their country the Gospel of truth, in which they took great delight. I sent the Armenian Scriptures to Aintab, where now the largest congregation of Protestant Armenians exists ; and at Smyrna, where I subsequently went, I sold entire boxes of Armenian and Turco- Armenian New Testaments and Psalms, which were carried to those very places where the Gospel truth has, and is fast taking such a strong hold on the hearts of men. This good seed was lost sight of for many years, but with the blessing of God it took root, and is now bearing seed an hundred fold." KURDISH. SPECIMEN OF ARMENO-KURDISH, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. vi. v. 10 to 15. Q»«# M|«#i_4- Jlf ^ft sp usafti_Jus1suiusj t Isustllj- rpus usafta ufpufp * ip us in ft p pusdurts ^pft £"«/* J-p U£Uipi^ uipopjs Jz' r *-li' psussusu tup j?p f tpjtugp t^rpusj 4" tpustsifi^usypP'p nu cpni-dlffd- rtL. rftnr w«r. Hr, 3000 copies of the Proverbs had been printed, and an edition of 2500 copies of the New Testament was in the press. In this version of the New Testament a metrical rendering is given of the quotations from the poetical parts of the Old Testament, by which means they are more readily distinguished from the other parts of the text. Dr. Yates was successfully prosecuting the translation of the Old Testament, when his career of usefulness was suddenly interrupted by death. A short time previous to his decease, foreseeing his approaching end, he had expressed himself in the following terms in a letter addressed to his assistant, the Rev. Mr. Wenger: — " I think I may, in reference to your life and mine, use the language of John, — ' You must increase, but I must decrease.' May I only live to see you as far advanced in the Sanscrit as you now are in the Bengalee, and I shall die in peace, rejoicing in the goodness of God in raising up one after another to carry on his work." Immediately after the removal of this devoted translator (1845), on examining the state of the version, it was found that the books of Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah, had all passed through the press, and that the rest of the Pentateuch and the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Daniel had been prepared in MS. The missionaries then agreed that " the pundit who had long been engaged in writing the rough draft of the version should proceed in his work, and that Mr. Wenger should, by studying the language prepare himself for revising and publishing the work." This plan has since been pursued at Calcutta. The second volume of the Plate III. Page 91. Q- ^ Co o _ Cf rev Ce cr °\ ^ car ■=- Gs O _ C cr s? =- ^ C? 07 C* P 5 Or D? ^s Of) C& o G£ d£ Cf & Cf ^ ° tf GT c* ^ cr ^° n*o & C5 O V Co Cs CR . ?£ Cff Col cr G| 0? Co Cs Co <3 CO" CP cr cr & ^0 ?%. rZ Go ? cl s cy Co GJ *S CR 0? C^ 0= - C# & O^ G9 "^ 0? CS (5: ^ |T Co ^£ ^ CS s - a- CO ^ s (3* Co G^ _ S^ V ^ OF c* w ^ Co cj* DA O Co c> cs co cr ^ CJ cr Co TJ\ ct or "j p Os ^ Cl/ ^ W ^ CO ^ c^ Co^ & ?z OJ 0? CJ eff SI D7 Cs Co] Gr CO Gs Co or Gw Co -&° CJT" 3 Cs Cs _ Of CO ?/& Cs -> -u s »g 3 8 S 8 8 8 8 b O O oQ Q « G ^O033 P > i — 6 _ J | > < s — Q- I S- s 5 8 8 Rg-|3^8| s§ 8 n S-p°S 8 8 sop " §SJ §1^ a-N S Q H__oP a c ooo s g-§ OG 8§8 y eg J^oo 'g "fi ^ 2" = 8 H :-3o§c§ o C9 0% w >?~ cs O W k ts Q § p 8 8 g o 3^§ °R8^§ a-°8 ra R 3 S 3 rt Class III.] PALI. 91 Old Testament, containing the historical books from Judges to Esther inclusive, had been completed in 1852, and a third volume, bringing the translation up to the Song of Solomon, was finished in 1858. The completion of this important work is still engaging attention, and will probably not be long delayed. A revised edition of Genesis, with the first twenty chapters of Exodus, has also been pub- lished. The books of Psalms and Proverbs have been reprinted from the Sanscrit in Bengalee charac- ters; the book of Genesis and the Gospel of St. Luke have also been issued in the same form. IV. RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. It is written that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and that " not many wise men after the flesh" are called. The Sanscrit Scriptures are designed for a learned class who are entrenched behind the subtleties of a specious metaphysical system, and few indeed are those who have been willing to lay aside their boasted wisdom, falsely so called, that as little children they might learn of God. Yet undeniable evidences of interest in the Sanscrit version have from time to time been afforded. On the publication of the Psalms, for instance, in 1840, it is related that the pundits of Agra received copies of the work with intense avidity, and that each man walked away with his book as joyfully as if he had obtained a diamond. When it is considered that the influence of the Brahminical priesthood in India is at least equal to that of the Romish in Europe, and moreover that the Brahmins in general are too proud to read the Scriptures in any of the vernacular dialects of the country, it becomes evident that the dissemination of the Sanscrit version is the channel at present indicated by the providence of God for conveying the light of truth to the minds of the priests, and through them to their deluded followers. The beneficial results of the publication of the Sanscrit version are likewise to be traced in its influence on other versions. Most of, if not all, the current dialects of India are founded upon the Sanscrit, and are dependent upon that language for words to express metaphysical ideas. The Sanscrit is, therefore, a standard version, whence the translators of the Scriptures into the petty dialects of the country can draw their abstract and doctrinal terms, and by means of which uniformity in the numerous vernacular versions is secured. PALI. EOE SPECIMEN OE THE PALI VEESION, see Plate 3, page 91. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. Pali, though no longer a vernacular language in any country, has for ages been established as the religious and learned language of the Buddhists in the island of Ceylon, in the Burman Empire, in Siam, Laos, Pegu, Ava, and throughout almost the whole of the Eastern Peninsula of India. It cannot, however, be said that the influence of the Pali language is co-extensive with the predominance of Buddhism, for the sacred books of the Buddhists of Japan, Tibet, and the Chinese Empire are written in a language which is called Fan by the Chinese, rgyagarshat by the Tibetans, enedhek and endkek by the Mongols. By the examination of some of these writings which have fallen into the hands of Europeans, it has been ascertained that the language passing under these several denominations is no other than pure Sanscrit: and the fact of the sacred books of the same religion being written partly in Sanscrit and partly in Pali, is to be accounted for by supposing that, at the very remote period of history when the language and religion of Buddhism were conveyed into the countries north 92 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. of India, Pali which is a derivative and comparatively a modern dialect, had not been formed. The first Buddhists were seceders from Brahminism, of which ancient creed Sanscrit seems ever to have been the depositary; and having thus been habituated to the use of a language admirably adapted for the embodiment of the highest metaphysical abstractions, they naturally employed it as the fittest exponent of the philosophical system which they originated. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Pali or Bali is a language immediately derived from Sanscrit, and its whole history is intimatelv connected with that of Buddhism. It was probably the native language of Magadha, the birth-place of Buddha. On the rise of Buddhism in India, the rigid enactments of the Brahminical law concerning the distinction of castes or classes of society ceased to be respected among the votaries of the new religion. Men of the lowest and most despised caste were admitted by them into the priesthood; and it is conjectured that the arcana of religion, hitherto confined to the sacerdotal class, being thus thrown open to the people, the abstruse technicalities of the language became popularised, so to speak, in the mouth of the multitude. Among other changes thus adduced, difficult grammatical inflections dis- appeared, or were greatly simplified, and such combinations of letters in words as were not easy of articulation, were softened down in pronunciation. These peculiarities form, to this day, the distinctive characteristics of the Pali language. In its declensions it has preserved all the cases of the Sanscrit ; but the original inflections, both of nouns and verbs, have undergone more or less alteration according to the special rules of Pali enunciation. The middle voice of verbs is not found in Pali, and the passive form is comparatively of rare occurrence. Among the three numbers of Sanscrit verbs and nouns (singular, dual, and plural), the dual has disappeared in Pali, in the same way that it has disappeared in the modern Germanic languages and in modern Greek, although it existed in Gothic and in ancient Greek. And in the laws regulating the assimilation of consonants in Pali may be clearly traced the operation of the same principles which have been instrumental in the transmutation of Latin into Italian, and of ancient into modern Greek. The euphonic law, for instance, which requires the change of the Latin word lectus into letto, of scriptus into scritto, has equal weight in the formation of Pali words from Sanscrit, as of Italian from Latin. The Pali is less exact, but on the other hand it is easier to articulate, and softer than Sanscrit. It is probable that Pali, like other derivative languages, would ultimately have deviated widely from the type of the mother tongue, had not its further elaboration been repressed, by its becoming suddenly fixed as a dead language. The Buddhists appear from the first to have been always persecuted by the Brahmins; but about the beginning of the fifth century the persecution burst forth with renewed violence, and the Buddhists were forcibly ejected from the continent of India. They sought refuge in Ceylon, where Buddhism had been promulgated as early as the fourth century before the Christian era. From Ceylon many of the Buddhists passed over into the eastern peninsula, and adopting as their vernacular the languages of the various nations among whom they settled, Pali, the native dialect in which the books of their religion were written, was set apart as a sacred and classic tongue. In this state it has subsisted from generation to generation, unmodified in any degree by the various languages and dialects of the people by whom it is venerated. In comparing Pali with the other languages of the Sanscrit family, it will be found that it approaches nearer than any other dialect to the purity of the parent stock. Leyden imagined that Pali is identical with the modern Magadha, chiefly because the latter dialect is vernacular in a part of Bahar, supposed to have been the birthplace of Buddhism. It has since been proved by an analytical comparison of Pali and Magadha that, though similar in origin, they are essentially different in structure. A close resemblance has been, however, traced between the Pali and the Pracrit dialect spoken by the Jains, a peculiar religious sect of Hindustan; and the evident connection between the two dialects has led to the supposition, that the Jains are the descendants of a few Buddhists who contrived to secrete themselves in their own country during the persecutions which caused the banishment of their brethren. Class III.] PALI. 93 III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. There are several different Pali alphabets; but it is believed that they are all derived from an ancient Buddhistic alphabet formed on the model of the Devanagari. The classification of the letters is the same as that of the Sanscrit, yet they vary greatly in form, and the shape of the characters is considerably modified in each country where Pali is adopted as the language of books. Thus the Pali character used by the Burmans is square, that employed by the Siamese is a more rounded or circular form, in other places the Pali affects a more angular character, and the Pali character used in Ceylon is identical with the Burmese alphabet. IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. A version of the Scriptures into Pali was commenced in 1813, under the auspices of the Colombo Bible Society, by Mr. Tolfrey, assisted by two learned Buddhist priests, and by Don Abraham de Thomas, mohandirara of the governor's gate. The plan upon which this translation was conducted was the following: — Mr. Tolfrey, in the first place, read a certain number of verses from Dr. Carey's Sanscrit New Testament to Don Abraham de Thomas, and the latter rendered the passage into Pali as closely as the idiom of the language would admit. This translation was then compared verse by verse with the Sanscrit, and such alterations were introduced as were deemed requisite. Where any difficulty occurred in rendering the Sanscrit expressions into Pali, the Bengalee version was consulted. The time devoted to this translation was three hours of the day, regularly six times in the course of the month. The progress of the work was interrupted in 1817 by the death of Mr. Tolfrey, who was suddenly cut off in the prime of life. The version, which he had carried as far as the end of the Epistle to Philemon, seems to have been laid aside till 1825, when the Rev. Benjamin Clough submitted it to the examination of the most learned Pali scholars in Ceylon ; and the opinion which they passed upon it was, that it had been executed " with a high degree of beauty and perfection." Efforts were, there- fore, made for its publication; and in 1826, a fount of Burman types cast for the purpose was sent to Ceylon at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the course of the following year, the Gospel of Matthew was struck off, and copies were sent to the Burman empire for examination by competent judges. It was not, however, till 1835 that the whole Testament was printed in Pali. One of the Buddhist priests who assisted Mr. Tolfrey in the translation of this Testament, became a sincere convert to Christianity, and subsequently devoted his whole attention to the completion and revision of this important work. 94 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. TClass III. HINDUSTANI. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. <£_ ld»~ {i ^* \sl>\ L5i( j * Igj 1a=l L ^ 1a=u > " , ' " '■ ' ? . ' > . " ^ > p <=***> J3^ lT '■^j^*-' ^J^ , • (** «^ L5^-°b J^ jY* J^ =^^ Ji^ b* (»^ u:: r "^ Ji^ * &£* I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. To those who visit India in an official capacity, or for mercantile purposes, Hindustani is more practically useful than all the other languages of the country, for it is understood and spoken by persons of different nations in the larger towns and villages, from Madras to Bombay, and from the Ganges to Cape Como- rin. It is, in fact, the prevailing medium of colloquial intercourse among a hundred millions of British subjects. Yet this language, although so extensively diffused throughout India, can claim predomi- nance in no particular locality. It is the vernacular of a class of persons who, on account of their professing the Mohammedan religion, are called Mussulmans: they are natives of India, but chiefly derive their descent from the Mohammedan conquerors of the country. In number, they were said some years ago to amount to 6,000,000 individuals, but more recent accounts represent them as con- stituting one ninth part of the entire population of India. They reside chiefly in the upper provinces of Hindustan ; but so far from confining themselves to any particular province, they are to be met with in almost every part of the country, and particularly in the cities of Delhi, Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna, and Moorshedabad. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Hindustani, the language of " Hindu-stan" or " country of Hind," is a mixed language, and owes its formation to the intercourse of the Mohammedan invaders with the conquered natives of India. At the time of the first Mohammedan invasions, which date from the tenth century, Hinduwee, or Hindi, was the prevailing dialect in Northern India. On their permanent settlement in India, the Moham- Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 95 medans adopted this dialect as the medium of communication with the natives, but they greatly altered it by the introduction of words and idioms from the Persian and Arabic, their own vernacular and liturgic languages. The new dialect thence arising was called Urdu {camp), or Urdu Zaban (camp language), because the language of the Mohammedan camp and court: it was also called Hindustani, from the geographical region through which it ultimately became diffused. Though so intimately connected with Hinduwee, which is essentially a Sanscrit language, Hindustani deviates greatly in grammatical structure from the original Sanscrit type. Its nouns have but two genders and two numbers, and although they admit of declension, yet the six cases are chiefly distinguished by the aid of post- positive particles. Nouns denoting neuter and inanimate objects are classed under the masculine or feminine genders, according to their terminations ; but the rules regulating this classification are extremely arbitrary, and admit of many exceptions. The just application of these rules forms one of the principal difficulties of the language; but in other respects, Hindustani is comparatively easy of attainment, on account of the extreme simplicity of its structure. The verb, which in most languages occasions more or less perplexity to the learner, is in Hindustani distinguished by extreme regularity. There is only one conjugation, and not more than five or six words slightly irregular. Most of the tenses are formed by means of participles and auxiliaries, the rest by inseparable affixes. Neuter verbs have no passive form, but transitive verbs are said to possess a passive, although it is seldom used: natives, especially those in the presidency of Bombay, purposely refrain from resorting to this form, and prefer the use of a periphrasis. Hindustani is spoken in different provinces with various local peculiarities of idiom. The dialect of Hindustani current in the Madras presidency is called Dukhani. Another variety of Hindustani is a species of jargon called Moors, spoken by the servants of Europeans iu Calcutta and Bombay, and characterised by the absence of all grammatical inflection, and the frequent introduction of English and Portuguese words. III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. The alphabetical characters properly belonging to the Hindustani language are the Arabic, or rather the Persic modification of the Arabic letters called Ta&llk; that is to say, hanging or sloping. This latter mode of writing differs from the Nashki, or regular Arabic, about as much as our ordinary style of manuscript writing differs from that in print. To the Persian characters (which exceed the SPECIMEN IN THE DEVANAGAEI CHAEACTEE. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 ^ ^ ^fri' ^chri T | %* TTTCToFt 3 ^ ^Tt^ ^ Q.10 W^T 3% WR\ ^TT * ^C ^ TW^ ^ ^ ^ ^ '^K^ ^ ^ ^T*" W WT7TT % d^R '^njTT | * .^ "ft stir h *rr #rc *t^r ^ft $ *t^ ?^rr #rc *tit?t ^ ^% ^t»trt * j|? ^mf *mr wnrr %rc ^nr^t i^ "Jr "3^ '<*^<$ t f^fn * ^f<*?t fonHrt *r tj? <*<^ fwm T$^ ■g^t ^Icm <*y$fi f% t^t ^r i*(.y>4 96 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Arabic by four) the Mussulmans in writing their language add three other letters, to represent the harsh cerebral sounds t, d, and r of the Hinduwee. The Scriptures and several works in Hindustani have been printed in the Devanagari, or regular Sanscrit characters, for the use of the natives of the upper provinces, especially of Delhi. It was, however, afterward ascertained that the natives who employ these characters are, in general, more habituated to the use of the Hinduwee than of the Hindustani dialect. Eoman letters have, likewise, been used of late years in printing Hindustani, of which a specimen is subjoined. THE HINDUSTANI VERSION IN ROMAN LETTERS. St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 1 SHURU men kalam tha, aur wuh kalam Khuda ke pas tha, aur wuh kalam Khuda tha. 2 Wuhi shurii men Khuda ke pas tha. 3 Sab kuchh us se paida hiia, aur baghair us ke ek chiz paida na hui, jo paida hiii. 4 Us men zindagi thi, aur wuh zindagi admion ki roshni thi. 6 Aur wuh roshni tariki men chamakti hai, par tariki ne use daryaft na kiya. 6 Yuhanna nam ek admi Khuda ki taraf se bheja gay a. 7 Wuh gawahi ke waste aya, ki roshni par gawahi de, taki us ke wasile se sab iman lawen. 8 Wuh ap wuh roshni na tha, balki us roshni par gawahi dene ko aya. 9 Wuh sachi roshni, jo har admi ko roshan karti hai, dunya men anewali thi. l0 Wuh dunya men thi, aur dunya us se paida hiii, par dunya ne use nahin pahchana. " Wuh apnon ke pas aya, par apnon ne use qabul na kiya ; 12 lekin jitne use qabiil karke us ke nam par iman lae, us ne unhen Khuda ke farzand hone ka martaba diya ; 13 we lahii se nahin na insan ki khwahish, na mard ki khwahish se, balki Khuda se paida hue hairi. u Aur wuh kalam mujassam hiia, aur fazl aur sachai se bharpiir hoke hamare darmiyan sakunat kar raha ; aur ham ne us ka jalal aisa, jaisa bap ke iklaute ka jalal dekha. IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The first translation of any portion of Scripture into Hindustani seems to have been made by Schultze, a Danish missionary. Although fully occupied in the cultivation of Tamil and Telinga, dialects of Southern India, the scene of his labours, this indefatigable man undertook the translation of the New Testament into Hindustani in 1739, and completed it in 1741. He likewise entered upon the translation of the Old Testament, but only lived to finish the first four chapters of Genesis, the book of Psalms, the prophecies of Daniel, and some parts of the Apocryphal writings. These various translations were published at the Oriental Institution of the University at Halle, in separate portions: the chapters of Genesis, the book of Daniel, and portions of the Apocrypha, in 1745; the Psalter in 1747, and the New Testament in 1748 to 1758. Copies were at various times transmitted to India, but the hopes and expectations of the zealous translator were never realised, for the translation proved to be by no means a happy one; and the Psalms, in particular, were found so defective in idiom and orthography as to be nearly unintelligible. No other version of the Scriptures, however, was prepared for the benefit of the Mussulmans of India till the year 1804, when the Gospels, which had been trans- lated by natives, and revised and collated with the Greek by William Hunter, Esq., were published at the College of Fort William in Calcutta. But the most important translation that has been ever made into this language is the version of the New Testament by the Eev. Henry Martyn, for which, as his biographer remarks, " myriads in the ages to come will gratefully remember and revere his name." Mr. Martyn entered upon the work of translation shortly after his arrival in India, and commenced with the Acts. In 1807 he was joined by Mirza Fitrut, a learned Hindustani scholar, whose services were found invaluable on account of his Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 97 surprising acquaintance with the English language. Sabat was also consulted respecting the use of Persian and Arabic words, but his evil temper greatly detracted from his usefulness. By means of the most indefatigable exertions, the translation of the entire Testament was completed in 1808. Mr. Martyn remarked, that it often cost him and his coadjutors whole days to make one chapter intelligible in Hindustani. Of the feelings and personal experience of the translator during the progress of this work, we have happily the means of judging. In a letter addressed to the Associated Clergy, and dated January 1808, Mr. Martyn expresses himself in the following terms: — " If the work should fail, which however I am far from expecting, my labour will have been richly repaid by the profit and pleasure derived from considering the word of God in the original with more attention than I had ever done. Often have I been filled with admiration, after some hours' detention about one or two verses, at the beauty and wisdom of God's words and works; and often rejoiced at meeting a difficult passage, in order to have the pleasure of seeing some new truth emerge. It has been frequently a matter of delight to me that we shall never be separated from the contemplation of these divine oracles, or the wondrous things about which they are written. Knowledge shall vanish away, but it shall be only because the perfection of it shall come." The philological difficulties, which Mr. Martyn had to encounter in the prosecution of his work, were by no means few or inconsiderable. No prose com- positions of acknowledged purity at that period existed in Hindustani, so that he had no model upon which to form his style, and no recognised standard of appeal. The higher Mohammedans and men of learning were then, as they still are, disdainful of all works in which the Persian had not lent its aid to adorn the style; while to the illiterate classes a large proportion of Hindustani has always been more acceptable. To meet the conflicting views of these two parties has ever been found a task of no ordinary difficulty; and hence, notwithstanding the labour expended on his version of the New Testament, Mr. Martyn addressed himself, immediately on its completion, to a diligent and careful revision. The publication of the work was farther delayed by the fire which occurred at Serampore at the time that it was passing through the press. The printing had advanced to the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, of which the first thirteen chapters were preserved; and as there was then a general demand for the Hindustani Scriptures, the Calcutta Committee ordered the completion of St. Matthew at one of the presses in Calcutta. The fount of Persian types which had been used in printing was completely destroyed; but new and handsomer types were prepared in the course of a few months, and the work was a second time put to press at Serampore. At length, in the year 1814, this invaluable version appeared, in an edition of 2000 copies of the Testament on English paper; beside 3000 copies of the Gospels and Acts on Patna paper, which were printed off for immediate use. The whole was printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by their Corresponding Committee in Calcutta. The high reputation which this version speedily obtained, and the success with which it was used in native schools at Agra and other places, led to a demand for an edition in the Devanagari character, for the benefit of the Hindoos in the upper provinces, who universally read and write in this char- acter. The Calcutta Committee yielded to the wishes of these people by furnishing them, in 1817, with an edition of 2000 copies of Martyn's Testament, printed in the Devanagari character. No sub- sequent editions of the Hindustani Scriptures were, however, issued in this dress, for it was found by experience that the Scriptures in the Hinduwee dialect are far more acceptable than in the Hindustani to the numerous class of natives who employ the Devanagari characters. For their use, as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention, Martyn's New Testament was eventually divested of its Persian and Arabic terms, and transferred into the Hinduwee idiom by Mr. Bowley. An edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew in Hindustani and English was published by the Calcutta Committee in 1820, and was found to be very acceptable to natives who were desirous of acquiring the knowledge of the English language. While these editions were being issued by the Calcutta Auxiliary, the publication of an edition in London had been contemplated by the Parent Society since the year 1815: the design was not 8 98 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. carried into execution till 1819, when an impression of 5000 copies was struck off with some Persian types, lent for the purpose by the Church Missionary Society. This edition was published under the able superintendence of the Rev. Professor Lee. Four thousand of the copies were forwarded to Calcutta, where they arrived most opportunely, and just at the period when the Calcutta Committee were projecting the publication of another edition, on account of the almost entire exhaustion of the copies of previous editions. The urgent necessity for fresh supplies of the New Testament having been thus met, the Calcutta Committee turned their attention to the publication of a Hindustani version of the Old Testament, which had been for some time contemplated. The preparation of this version had been almost completed prior to the decease of Mr. Martyn, by Mirza Fitrut, who had, on his first engagement as an assistant to Mr. Martyn, promised to learn the Hebrew language in order to qualify himself for translating the Old Testament from the original text. A copy of the book of Genesis belonging to this version had passed into the hands of the Church Missionary Society; they lent it in 1817 for publication to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and it was printed in London under the care of Dr. Lee. The Calcutta Society had, since the year 1816, been in possession of a rough draft of the entire version, and in 1819 their committee resolved to have it revised and com- pleted; the Eev. Messrs. Thomason and Corrie, with the aid of suitable native assistants, charged themselves with the execution. The first portion of the work published was an edition of 2000 copies of the Pentateuch, which appeared in 1823, and was in great request among the Mohammedans. The peculiar difficulties which impeded the progress of the learned men engaged in the preparation and revision of this version are thus described by the committee: — " It will be readily perceived by those who understand the language, that it is far from being easy to invest the Scriptures with an Urdu dress. Such an attempt is, perhaps, more difficult in this than in any other language, because of its being so generally and familiarly spoken. The habit of using certain words and phrases in the inter- course of common life, with the lowest domestics, on the most trivial occasions, attaches to them a sort of grovelling character, which in many instances does not really belong to them. It is not easy in such circumstances to separate the base from the pure metal, to distinguish what is precious in the currency from what is vile. It should also be considered, that where there is a great paucity of standard works on subjects peculiarly sacred, or rather no such work at all, many terms must be borrowed from sister dialects, many new words introduced, and phrases invented in describing things unknown, which must of necessity give an air of uncouthness to the style, with whatever care the labour be conducted." On the completion of the Pentateuch, the editors found it desirable to delay the publication of the succeeding books, in order that the MS. might first be subjected to a more thorough revision and collation with the original Hebrew. In the meantime, however, that the press might not remain unemployed, they passed on to the printing of another edition of the New Testa- ment. The proofs of the Gospels were revised by the Eev. Principal Mill; but in 1824, when the work had advanced as far as the Acts of the Apostles, its superintendence appears to have devolved on other gentlemen, probably from the pressing nature of his college duties and avocations. The revision was carried on to the 2nd Corinthians by the lamented Mr. Thomason, and afterwards by Mr. Da Costa to the close, under the superintendence of the venerable Archdeacon Corrie. The edition, consisting of 2000 copies, left the press in 1830. The following year another edition of the New Testament, consisting of 2000 copies, was commenced at Serampore, under the superintendence of Archdeacon Corrie: it was completed in 1834. During the publication of these two editions of the New Testament, the revision of the Old Testament version was gradually proceeding. It continued to advance in regular order from the Pentateuch to the end of the 2nd book of Kings, when it was brought to a stand, on account of the ill health of Mr. Thomason, and his consequent removal to Europe. His anxiety to complete a version which he considered of the first importance, and which he was most peculiarly qualified to execute, induced him to return to India, but his valuable life was shortly afterwards terminated. After the decease of Mr. Thomason, this version was carried forward by the missionaries at Benares; and the Class III.] HINDUSTANI. 99 Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society made a grant of £1000 to the London Missionary Society, for time and services rendered by their missionaries in prosecuting the work. In 1844 the committee announced that the Old Testament was at length completed; and that editions, both in Arabic and Bornan characters, were in course of distribution. It was brought to its conclusion and revised by Messrs. Shurman and Kennedy of Benares, assisted by the Bev. J. Wilson of Allahabad, and J. A. F. Hawkins, Esq. In 1839 the Calcutta Committee published 2000 copies of the New Testament in Boman characters, and 1000 copies of Anglo-Hindustani, in the same characters; the English and Hindustani texts arranged in opposite columns on the same page. Several missionaries had expressed a desire for such a version, as one adapted to the wants of native Christians, drummers, etc. acquainted with the English letters. In addition to their labours in the revision of the Old Testament, the missionaries at Benares were, in 1838, preparing for the Calcutta Committee a new or revised version of the Gospels and Acts, to be printed in Fersian characters. In 1842 the Calcutta Committee announced the completion of a thorough revision of the entire New Testament, for which they acknowledged their obligation to the joint labours of the missionaries of the London and Church Missionary Societies, who had for five years devoted all their spare time to this important work. During the same year, the Com- mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, on the application of the Directors of the London Missionary Society, paid the expenses of printing, in London, 5000 copies of the Hindustani New Testament, prepared by Mr. Buyers and other missionaries at Benares. This edition was printed in Boman characters. When the edition of the Old Testament in Boman characters was passing through the press, this version was selected by the Calcutta Committee to accompany it, as it was deemed desirable to have the Old and New Testaments in a uniform translation. An edition of 1500 copies of the New Testament was therefore determined upon; but the work was previously revised by the Kev. Mr. Shurman in communication with Mr. Hawkins; and in the course of the revision, Mr. Shur- man saw reason to revert, in a great measure, to the translation of Henry Martyn, especially in the latter half of the version. The edition had left the press in 1844. Mr. Shurman was subsequently engaged, at Benares, in the revision of the Old Testament translation, when (in 1852) death interrupted his valuable labours. It appears, therefore, that besides the version by the Bev. Henry Martyn, there are now three different versions of the Hindustani New Testament in existence ; namely, the version of a committee at Benares, the version of Mr. Buyers above noticed, and a version prepared by the Baptist missionaries of Calcutta in 1841. Some little progress has recently been made in printing the latter in Boman characters ; and it appears to have advanced as far as the Gospel of St. Luke. Among these new trans- lations, the idiomatic and faithful version of Henry Martyn still maintains its ground, although from the lofty elegance of its style it is better understood by educated than by illiterate Mohammedans. The Hindustani version of the Scriptures has undergone subsequent revision at the hands of a committee appointed for the purpose, and later editions, both of the Old and New Testament, have appeared. Some of these have been printed in the Arabic, and others in the Boman character. An edition of the New Testament in Urdu (Arabic character), after several years of anxious labour on the part of the reviser, Mr. Hoernle, was approaching towards completion, when the mutiny of 1857 inter- rupted the operations of the Bible Society, and involved in destruction the whole of their premises, with the stock of books, paper, presses, etc., at Secundra, near Agra, where the work was in progress. It was determined, in the place of that which had been thus destroyed, to print immediately a lrage edition in London, and this has happily been accomplished. From the British and Foreign Bible Society's Beport for the present year (1860), we learn that 20,000 New Testaments, and 30,000 single Gospels and Acts, in Urdu, Arabic character, have just left the press. The greater portion have already been forwarded to Allahabad. Ten thousand copies of the Urdu New Testament, in Boman characters, and the same number with English in parallel columns, have also been carried through the press. 100 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. IV- RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. One of the earliest evidences that occurred in testimony that the blessing of God rested upon this version, is afforded in the case of Abdool Messee. This devoted native missionary was originally a bigoted Mohammedan. When Mr. Martyn's version of the New Testament was completed, some copies were given to Abdool to bind. He was led to look into the books, and found there, to his astonishment, a description of his own heart, and of his state as a sinner. Conviction was followed by conversion, he devoted himself to the service of God, and was made eminently useful as a preacher of the Gospel among his countrymen. The general effect produced on the Mussulmans of India by the distribution of their vernacular Scriptures is more favourable than could have been expected from the known bigotry of the sect. In 1844 the Rev. W, Robinson of Dacca thus describes their condition: — " It is a pleasing feature," says he, " in the present state of things, that the followers of Mohammed, so long remarkable for their determined opposition to the Gospel, do now, in great numbers, read the Word of God. Their prejudices are much diminished; they hear us almost in silence; and some are, we hope, searching the Scriptures in order to discover the truth. There is a very marked change in the Hindoos and the Mohammedans; the result, we believe, of a very liberal dispersion of the sacred Scriptures. We cannot speak of conversion ; but we do hope that the public mind is preparing for a great revolution in favour of the Gospel." HINDU WEE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. q ^ ^ra"*? ■ett^t *n , srrer f^rc^r im ^t , ^rrr ^rro ^ro t^src i ^ ^rrer "* |^i& *n *n ■ ^Kii tf mtr 3 8 *ffe ^re ?f . thus *fe wt ^w ?i ^"tfir fTTT TTofr W *fi swa ^if -3i| i ^*4 Trhnr\ #t % 9 ^GTC ^R7 %C$ ^TfR vnJT^P Jjgr SR H*IT TOT I ^K *W ^int ^TT ff^m ^ITCR W f$~k ^ ^ifff ^ t f^inj crt wu ^ oifr *n^ft ^? ft ^tmT \ ^ ^ntr?T ifr ^rfir | st ^?T ; ^tj ^rt i^ifn wt (> =io *nsji ^ ^nzrr i 9i »r *ttit * m to towt «pt ^rfs iren^i ^h f, ^ *rrc ^ifa fi i^jt ^ r % wtset ^w FtRR wt i ^ -g^fra •? ^ % ^rrf*R ^ ^rrafa wnnra ^r^ft *tx?n ^tptti B* 9)S °J fcj.3 3^ ♦ jJ3 4_S \ G§-0 «=_= 3-° s i i ^- »_§ 5 Is /i i>l 3D ft <>g- m^ * j?0 ^f ^' ®\ dt ^ £> £> ? 4> ^* £3 ^ * § !! It p - 9^' a rrs? 3, :r co rn Q < I 3> =• O Plate X . Pa^e 115. SPECIMEN OF THE ASSAMESE VERSION. Consisting of PSALM LXVII. v. I to 3 5R Tt^5 C>»li|l4 fTOt? SRI ^T 1 *> <3" f^, C»ll4»pHk4» C«|4JI* <2f*T\*n ^Rt^; 5R?^ OTtT^ Cvsl-Jl^ SfrVfl fT?t^ I 2 °G w 09 g c c © G 1-" c_o O C o° os ; QJ! t — C Oo o >-o c 0_JP Oo oc_ c o -G §' Oo o_£> °© -e _>» c C3 ±^ OC_ 03 o O OS € — ( OOJ3 ^^ «. OOo£ 3 C_o r- 5 Q_ C3 -e c r o € C3 OO OO O *" , Sf o € . P_73 O "I e _o - i c ^o C o -> o(_ ' ' o(_ ot — 03 © 3 cr c C Q QJ3 QJD «-H> „X oo © ^ « -e ^o2 o^ 3 C G o o Or> ° r^ C Q_ -e o o (_o Ol_ ^3 r- ^ — OCJ oo _>" o as OC_ 03 S) Oo o "° OS °- O Q o c C§P — O °^ c os *-» — 3 Q. a <-, OO 03 S. S 03© c - r If -^3 goo Q C3 c^ Co q J 030 Q -Jo -o 8 0D0 3 ey 3 £o & vjC -jo 3 & -(LP O S Co o ^c OO -JO rC ->o TJO ao» o o Bo^ eg r" )-©« o§ °°^ & c XT'' bo ^Oy? ^ oo 3 >-C S° CO ^ eX) p p q -e^ "CO CO O ->0 -&o ey C r-C' ^ ^TOO ^ 3 C o.^3 § 203 C©lC q « "CO - 2 c § IS] 5 -S^ 8 Qr> _J o ex3 o g "* -10 -e/> cb o 8 -e" .3 8 ^ -en' CD' —1 -^0 -vO 3 »3, -10 oO S & Class III.] ASSAMESE. 115 ASSAMESE. FOR SPECIMEN OE THE ASSAMESE VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. I. GEOGRAPHICAL, EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Assam was one of the provinces ceded to the British in 1826 by the Burmese, and now forms part of the eastern frontier of our Indian possessions. It is included in the valley of the Brahmaputra, and extends from the north-east corner of the province of Bengal, about longitude 91 degrees east, in an easterly direction, to an extent not yet very clearly defined; but it is probable that from about the 96th degree of east longitude, the territory is inhabited by several independent tribes, who occupy the intervening space from thence to the province of Yun-nan in China, and who speak dialects belonging to the monosyllabic stock. According to the parliamentary returns of 1851, the population of Assam numbers 710,000. They are chiefly Hindoos, and Brahminism has been the general religion of the people since the seventeenth century, yet many among them profess Mohammedanism. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The original language of the Assamese nation was the Ahom, a branch of the Siamese family of languages. The Ahom appears to have been formerly vernacular on the borders of China, whence these people are said to have emigrated prior to their settlement in Assam. On their adoption of the religion of Bengal, in the middle of the seventeenth century, they also gradually habituated them- selves to the use of its language, till at length the ancient Ahom tongue became extinct. The language now spoken in Assam has, during the lapse of years, contracted several peculiarities of its own, distinguishing it from the Bengalee. The Serampore missionaries diligently compared it with the Bengalee, and found that though the two dialects still correspond with each other exactly, so far as words are concerned, yet that the inflections of nouns and verbs differ so greatly, that the natives of the two countries are unintelligible to each other. The letters of the Assamese dialect have in general the same name and power as the Bengalee, but several of the characters vary a little in form ; and though these variations are but trifling, yet in printing the Scriptures it was found impracticable to use the Bengalee types, and the missionaries were obliged to cast a new fount of types for the purpose. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. A translation of the Scriptures into Assamese was commenced at Serampore in 1811, and com- pleted in 1815, when the first two Gospels were printed. The whole New Testament was finished at press in 1819, the edition consisting of a thousand copies: the British and Foreign Bible Society aided the publication by the grant of £500. In 1822, one thousand copies of the Pentateuch left the press; arid the printing of the entire Old Testament was subsequently completed. The American Baptist Missionary Society has three stations in this province, and Mr. Nathan Brown, one of their agents, has been for some years occupied in the task of preparing another translation of the New Testament into Assamese. We are not in possession of any recent information respecting the progress of this version. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Comparatively few details have been received in Europe concerning the progress of the Gospel in this province, or the results that may have followed the Christian efforts of the American Baptist Missionaries, the only labourers employed on this field. These missionaries, however, have stated " that the truth appears to be slowly and surely working its way in Assam; that the people are eager to receive books ; and that a number of interesting young men do not hesitate to denounce Hindooism as false, and to acknowledge the Scriptures as true." 116 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. URIYA, OH ORISSA. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE URIYA, OR ORISSA VERSION, see Plate 3, page 91. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Uriya is the vernacular dialect of Orissa. a narrow strip of country stretching along the shores of the Bay of Bengal, from the provinces of Bengal and Bahar on the north to the Carnatic on the south; it has an average hreadth of about seventy miles inland, where it borders upon Gundwana, and comprises (according to the parliamentary returns) an area of 52,995 square miles. The population (which comprehends, besides Uriyas, people of three other races, the supposed aborigines of the province) is estimated at 4,534,800. It is stated that from three to four millions of people are conversant with the Uriya dialect. Orissa has been under foreign sway since the year 1558, when it was conquered by the Aflghans. In 1578 it was annexed to the Mogul empire; in 1756 it was transferred to the Mahrattas; and since 1803-4 it has formed a part of the Bengal presidency. The national religion of Orissa is Brahminism, and the celebrated temple and town of Juggernaut are situated in this province. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DIALECT. Uriya is a tolerably pure dialect of the Sanscrit, but possesses some Persian and Arabic terms, bor- rowed through the medium of the Hindustani, with others of doubtful origin. It is closely connected with Bengalee, nine tenths of the same words being in use in both dialects: the pronunciation, however, differs greatly ; for an effeminate style of articulation is prevalent in Bengal, while the inhabitants of Orissa have a broad and almost a rustic accent. The Uriya has a written character peculiar to itself, but evidently derived from the Devanagari ; and the Brahmins of this province use the Uriya character in writing Sanscrit. The deviations of this character from the Devanagari have been ascribed to the practice of writing on palm leaves with an iron style, or on paper with a pen cut from a porcupine's quill. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. The first version of the Scriptures in this dialect was commenced by the Serampore missionaries in 1803. The native pundit employed in preparing the rough draft of the translation was almost as well acquainted with the Bengalee as with his own dialect, and therefore translated from the Bengalee version; his work, according to the method pursued in other versions, was afterwards compared verse by verse with the original text, and corrected by the missionaries. An edition consisting of 1000 copies of the New Testament was printed in 1811. The first edition of the Old Testament, which also consisted of 1000 copies, was finished at press in 1819. So great was the demand for this version that, in 1820, the first edition of the New Testament was exhausted, and an edition consisting of 4000 copies, was put to press, and completed in 1822. The publication of this large edition was simultaneous with the establishment of a mission by the General Baptist Society at Cuttack, the capital of Orissa. In 1832 a second edition of the Old Testament was passing through the press; and likewise a large separate edition of the Psalms. In 1838, in consequence of inquiries that had been instituted relative to the particular versions of Scripture chiefly required in India, the Rev. Messrs. Sutton and Noyes were requested by the sub-committee of translations at Calcutta to prepare a new version of the Scriptures in Uriya. Dr. Sutton commenced with the Book of Genesis, and when the translation was completed, he carried on both the printing and binding at Cuttack, where he was stationed. An edition of the Old Testament was accomplished by him for the Bible Society in 1844; the edition consisted of 2000 copies of the New Testament, and 3000 separate copies of the books of Genesis, Psalms, and Proverbs. An edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, from Dr. Sutton's version, has subsequently (in 1854) issued from the Cuttack press, at the instance of the Bible Society. Class III.] SINDHEE. 117 CUTCHEE, OR CATCHEE. EOH SPECIMEN OE THE CUTCHEE, OR CATCHEE, see Plate 4, page 133. Cutch, a small state of North-western Hindoostan, lies between latitude 22° 45' and 23° 45' north. The Runn, a salt morass of immense extent, divides it from Sinde, Rajpootana, and Gujerat. The greatest extent of Cutch from east to west is 165 miles, and its average breadth is 45 miles. The land is in general poor and indifferently cultivated, and the number of inhabitants scarcely exceeds half a million. Brahminism and Mohammedanism prevail in about equal proportions. Cutch is subsidiary to the British; the government is in the hands of the Jarejahs, a race of Sindian origin. Very little is known respecting the Cutchee dialect, but it is supposed to be intimately connected with the Sindhee. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Cutchee was executed by the late Rev. James Gray, one of the chaplains at Bombay; and in 1835 a small edition, consisting of 500 copies, was printed. This edition was, however, found to be of little or no service, from the circumstance of its being issued in the Balboreh character, with which the people of Cutch are unacquainted. In 1843, the attention of the Bombay Auxiliary Bible Society was directed to the duty of disseminating the Scriptures in the counti'ies on each side of the Indus, which had, through recent political events, become accessible to missionary efforts. It was determined by the Society to print an edition of Mr. Gray's version of St. Matthew in Gujerattee characters, which are commonly employed in Cutch. It was anticipated that this edition would be useful in Sinde, particularly in the parts of Sinde bordering upon Cutch, as well as in Cutch itself. Arrangements have subsequently been made for executing a version of the entire New Testament: this work is in progress, and some portions of it have been already printed. SINDHEE. SlNDE is an extensive country of Western India, and apparently derives its name from the river Sindu, or Indus, by which it is traversed. It lies between 23 and 29 degrees of north latitude, and 67 and 71 degrees of east longitude. It was governed by military chieftains called Ameers : but since the year 1839, has been classed among the states subject to Britain, and is now attached to the Bombay presidency. The inhabitants are a mixed race, chiefly Hindoos, Juts, and Beloochees, and numbered 1,087,700 at the date of the last census. Mohammedanism is perhaps the predominant religion, though many of the people are followers of Brahminism. # The Sindhee dialect has a written character peculiar to itself; otherwise it merely differs in spell- ing and inflection from the pure Hinduwee of Upper India; and indeed it is by some regarded as the elder dialect of the two, because it is more elaborate and regular in the inflection of nouns and verbs. The Serampore missionaries had commenced a translation of the Scriptures into this dialect as early as 1815; but various circumstances impeded the progress of the work, and it was not till 1825 that the first part of the version, consisting of the Gospel of St. Matthew, was committed to the pre.'s. We are not informed of how many copies this edition consisted, and it does not appear that any other portion of this version was afterwards published. A translation of the same Gospel into Sindhee has been recently made by Captain G. Stack, and an edition of 500 copies printed by the Bombay Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. An edition of 580 copies of St. John's Gospel, issued from the same source in 1859, having been executed under the care of the Rev. A. Burn, of Kurrachee: 280 copies of this edition were printed in the Arabic character, and 300 copies in the Gurmukhi. 118 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. MOULTAN, OR WUCH. FOR SPECIMEN OF THE MOULTAN OR WUCH VERSION, see Plate 11, page 337. The district of Moultan, in which this dialect is vernacular, is enclosed by the rivers Indus, Chenab, and Gharra; it has the Punjab on the north, Sinde on the west and south, and the Sandy Desert on the east. Although Moultan was formerly an extensive territory, yet owing to political changes it does not now exceed 110 miles in length, by 70 in breadth. The amount of population is uncertain, but does not probably exceed three or four hundred thousand. Brahminism and Mohammedanism are the two predominant religions. The dialect is called Wuch, or Ooch, from a town of that name in the southern extremity of Moultan. It differs little from the Sindhee, and the character in which it is written is nearly the same as that used in writing Sindhee. A translation of the Scriptures into this dialect was commenced at Serampore in 1812, and 1000 copies of the New Testament were printed in 1819. But as no mis- sionary station had been established at Moultan before the year 1856, it is not probable that this edition has obtained much circulation. The Serampore missionaries afterwards saw their error in providing translations of the Scriptures for countries where there were no missionaries to undertake the distribution, and they accordingly gave up their former intention of procuring a version of the Old Testament for Moultan, and dismissed the pundit whom they had employed in the translation of the New Testament. PUNJABEE, OR SIKH. The Punjab is an extensive country of North-west Hindoostan, situated chiefly between the 29th and 34th degrees of north latitude, and the 70th and 77th degrees of east longitude. Before 1849, it constituted an independent state, but was in that year brought under British rule. The Punjab derives its name from two Persian words signifying five waters, in allusion to the five great streams, arms of the Indus, by which it is intersected. It was the scene of the last campaign of Alexander the Great. According to Thornton, the total area of the Punjab is 78,447 square English miles, and its population scarcely falls short of 7,000,000. Jats, Rajpoots, Hindoos of low caste, various hill tribes, and Mussulmans, constitute part of this population ; but the Sikhs, or disciples (as the name signifies in Sanscrit), are the dominant race. Burnes conjectured the Sikhs to number but 500,000 individuals: this, however, is a subject involved in much uncertainty. The Sikhs were originally Hindoos, and their incorporation as a sect, with the assumption of a distinctive appellation, dates from the close of the fifteenth, or beginning of the sixteenth, century. Their founder, Nanac, a native of the Punjab, was born in 1469: he professed a desire to reform, not to destroy, the Hindoo religion, and sought to reconcile the jarring faiths of Brahma and Mohammed, so as to unite the followers of each system into one body. The creed which he inculcated was one of pure deism, founded on the most sublime general truths, and breathing a spirit of peace and toleration ; yet his followers speedily lost sight of the purity of his doctrines, retaining only the remembrance of the Hindoo and Mohammedan fables which had found a place in his system. Guru Govind, the tenth guru or teacher in succession from Nanac, impressed a new character on the religion of his followers, by recognising the equality of all men, Class III.] PUNJABEE. 119 thus finally abolishing the distinction of caste, and enforcing the bearing of arms as a religious duty incumbent on all. He was the founder of the temporal power of the Sikhs: he was killed A.D. 1708. I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIALECT. The Sareswati, one of the dialects altered from the Sanscrit for colloquial purposes, and hence called Pracrit, or derived, appears to have been anciently the vernacular of the Punjab; but it under- went many alterations, owing to the invasions of the Mohammedans, and numerous foreign words were by degrees engrafted on it. The Punjabee or modern dialect of the Sikhs possesses many Persian and Arabic terms, yet it still retains clear traces of its Sanscrit origin, and exhibits a close resemblance to the Hinduwee. In the specimen of the Lord's Prayer in Punjabee, given by the Serampore missionaries, no less than thirty words were found nearly identical with the corresponding terms in the Hinduwee and Bengalee specimens. The Punjabee characters, though peculiar to that dialect, present comparatively few points of difference from the Devanagari, being the same in number, order, and power, though slightly varying in form. II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. A version of the New Testament in Punjabee was commenced at Serampore in 1807, but the fount of types which had been prepared for printing it was one of those which were so unfortunately destroyed by fire. The loss, however, was speedily replaced, and in 1813 the Gospels and Acts were announced as finished. The entire New Testament, in an edition of 1000 copies, was completed in 1815. In 1832 a second edition was undertaken. The translation of the Old Testament into Pun- jabee has only been partially accomplished. In 1820 an edition of the Pentateuch and Historical Books was issued, followed during the ensuing year by an edition of the Hagiographa ; and a small portion of the Prophetical Books was afterwards printed. But the pundit who assisted Dr. Carey in the preparation of this version was seized with a complaint which terminated in death ; and as no pundit could be met with capable of supplying his place, the work was entirely suspended. The translation had been conducted as far as the close of Ezekiel's Prophecy, at which point it still remains. Efforts are now being made to furnish the Sikhs with a new version of the Scriptures. The missionaries in the neighbourhood of the Punjab are at present employed in translating the New Testament, and it is the intention of the Agra Bible Society to appoint a regular sub-committee to superintend this important undertaking. Arrangements have lately been made by that society with the missionaries at Loodiana for the printing of 5000 copies of the Gospel of St. John in Punjabee. An edition of 5000 copies of Genesis, and 20 chapters of Exodus, has also been completed, and is ready for circulation; and an edition of the Psalms in this language was (according to recent intelligence) about to be immediately put to press. But the progress of the Punjabee versions has been slow, owing to the difficulty of obtaining men qualified to conduct the work, and at the same time able to devote sufficient time to its accomplishment. An edition of 5000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke has sub- sequently been completed (1857); and it is stated that the Gospel of St. Matthew was then about to be commenced. We are unaware to what extent the farther progress of this work may have suffered from the disasters which attended the mutiny of 1857. III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. In the year 1820, five years after the completion of the Punjabee New Testament, the following account was given of the Sikhs and of the readiness they had manifested to receive the Scriptures: — " So strong has been the desire of this nation for the New Testament, that the whole edition is nearly distributed, and a second edition will probably be called for before the Old Testament is wholly pub- lished. Besides the Mughs, on the borders of Arracan, no one of the nations of India has discovered a stronger desire for the Scriptures than this hardy race; and the distribution of almost every copy has been accompanied with the pleasing hope of its being read and valued." About two years sub- 120 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. sequently, the following statement was made by one of the missionaries to the translators: — "Of the faithfulness and utility of the Punjabee Scriptures, you have had abundant proof in the warm reception given to them, and in the spirit of inquiry raised in the minds of multitudes of the free and inde- pendent people using the Punjabee language. At Umritsar, at Lahore, at the fountain-head of the Sikh religion, the book of Jesus is spoken of, is -read, and has caused a considerable stir in the minds of the people." DOGURA, OR JUMBO 0. (MOUNTAIN PUNJABEE.) The Dogura, or Jumboo, dialect is spoken in the hilly country on the north of the Punjab, and east of the river Chenab and of Cashmere. Much confusion prevails in the accounts of the Seram- pore missionaries respecting the extent of territory in which this dialect is predominant; and the number of inhabitants to whom it is vernacular has never yet been ascertained. The Dogura dialect deviates in many respects from the Punjabee, and approximates pretty closely to the Cashmerian dialect. It has several permutations of letters and inflections peculiar to itself, but preserves indubitable indications of its Sanscrit origin. In the specimen of the Lord's Prayer in Dogura, given by the Serampore missionaries, twenty-five words were similar to those in the Hindu- wee and Bengalee specimens, while the remaining words were found to be more immediately connected with the Sanscrit. A version of the New Testament in Dogura was undertaken at Serampore in 1814; in 1820 the first three Gospels left the press, and in 1826 an edition of the entire New Testament, consisting of 1000 copies, was completed. Opportunities for the circulation of the version seem to have been wholly wanting. In 1832 it was stated that a few copies had been given to some natives who had visited Calcutta, but no farther accounts have since been furnished relative to the distribution of this edition. CASHMERIAN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE CASHMERIAN VERSION, see Plate 4, page 133. CASHMERE Proper is an elevated and fertile tract, consisting of an extensive valley enclosed between very lofty mountains, situated in the extreme north-west of India. It is about 120 miles long by 70 broad. In superficial extent it comprises 4500 square miles, being little less than four-fifths of the size of Yorkshire. The total amount of population does not now (1859) exceed 200,000, to which number it has, within a period of thirty years, been reduced from four times that amount, by the combined effects of earthquake, pestilence, and famine: the majority of the inhabitants are Mohammedans. After having been successively subject to the Mogul empire and to the Afighans, Cashmere fell in 1819 under the dominion of the Sikhs, by whom it continued to be governed until the year 1846, when the successful campaigns of the British in the neighbouring province of the Punjab brought Class III.] NEPALESE. 121 it under British control. It was erected, with some adjacent territory, into a separate state, nominally independent, but subject to the supervision of the Anglo-Indian government. The whole area of the state thus formed is estimated at 25,000 square miles, and the population at 750,000. The Cashmerian dialect is derived from the Sanscrit, and the written character resembles the Devanagari. The business of the government is transacted in Persian, and a number of Persian words have hence become engrafted on the Cashmerian dialect. The pronunciation of the Cashmerians is said to be remarkably broad, coarse, and uncouth. An edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament was printed at Serampore in 1820, after having been ten years in course of preparation. An edition of the Pentateuch was commenced in 1822; but as the types used in printing it were afterwards exchanged for smaller ones, the completion of the edition was retarded, and in 1832 the Old Testament had only been printed as far as the Second Book of Kings. It does not appear that any farther efforts have since been made to continue the work. Probably the version was eventually discovered to be comparatively useless, on account of there being no missionaries in Cashmere to undertake the distribution. NEPALESE, OR KHASPOORA. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. S ^ TTW ^TT TzrftlT "3" ^TT ^Rf^TTT <«ffaT ^ jf*T §^PC *fftTT tft ^Ttft §m<*r TO *ft *HT ^^JsT %%t 38 vm i 'snrc ^r I^t *rcrr ^*w«t ^T^nrt -g^fa^ 1 ^t *ffcrr ^ i ^nu sffa 'tftfrT 'anrr: st srfa m *rrfa f ifar -?!tt% -^ft i 'snnc twt^t^ ^rvRnrr wr^: *rftr ^ wn^r "3^rr^ tt^t *tc t i i s f^^far trarmiT ?n»? w?r ^t fsp srst^T ^m ^h i in *nf^ jjh<*k ^n^n far a-sngran f^m b *rrfer. ^nr far *rsr ^^far fayjw ir^ i in tstt^t in ■vfrn ?t itk 4>!*w \ $w j*6H\ *nf% ifonrfT^rpn i «. =10 ^r *if% -g^T^T ■sftvr far %t ^ftprnn ^rr^Err^r w% mfar$i^. ^ » ng i t t^ i in ^ftniwi ^t =tt ^nrc i^ tt^ it ^ i tk wo^s "3* fat*-3irc , ^^iraT^T ^^T ^Tffc^T foff ^TOT ^ ^T I TIT *Tf"W ^^WSS W^T ftp ? *H l d| as tor " > tn*l? -t^ if t t^ rr IP- 15 hr V ir ^ ♦ ♦ rr rr •IF , - y it ^> vo 5" ^ 3 tr rr cs 3* f r (3 rr y r ^r rr °^ ^ ? T r 7 ?! v ° ?- ^ s ■g 2 I 3 2 d 3 - 3 J 3 g l J °3 9 s S J, a "8 3 C3 <8 ?9 3 c t> fe ■ « ^S" © 3 ->= ^ ^ 3 «SL. % fe S 1 a- g o 3 5 is ~ cl'5 i I < I ; 5 3 3 !«!«* ^ o -"" : r 3 I % G 3 .- '-3 ~-- 3 CS 1 * 3 9^ es * e i§ - • 1 I st© . 3 @ ■fc.3 H ? '3 g is 3 ^ 8 1 g t 3 ° 3- i *: Class III.] TAMUL. 133 T A M II L, OR TAMIL. FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION IN THE NATIVE CHARACTER, see Plate 4, page 133. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. 1 Athiyile varttei yirundathu. Avvarttei Parabaranidattil irundathu. Allamalum avvartteiye Parabaran. 2 Athu athiyile Parabaranidattil irundathu. 3 Sagalamum athinale yundayittu. Athu villamal oru siruttiura undagavillei. Athile sivan undayirundathu. 4 Anda chivan manithanudeiya oliyayirundathu. 5 Anda oli yirulile pirugasamayittu. Irulanathu athei pattikkoUavillei. 6 Yovan ennum oru manithan Parabaranal anuppappattu. 7 Tannale yellarum visuvasikkuui padikku anda oliyeik-kurittu chatchi kodukka vandan. 8 Avan anda oli yalla anda oliyeik-kurittu chatchik-kodukkave vandan. 9 Meyyana oliyanavar ulagattile varugira manithar yavareiyum piragasippikkirar. 10 Avar ulagattil irundar Allamalum ulagam avarale yundayittu. ulagam avarei ariavillei. 11 Avar tamathu sondattit cherndar. Avarukku chondamanavargal avarei yettukkojlavillei. 12 Avarudeiya namattin mel visuvasamay avarei yettukkondavergal ettanei pergalo attanei pergalukku Parabaranudeiya pilleigal ayirukkum padi athigaran koduttirukkirar. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Tamul, the language of the ancient kingdom of Dravira, is spoken in the extensive country now called the Carnatic, and is the vernacular language from the town of Pulicat in the north to Cape Comorin in the south, and from the shores of the Indian OceaD on the east to the Ghauts on the west. This important territory, which since 1801 has heen entirely under British government, includes Madras, Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Madura, Tinnevelly, and Coimbatore. The inhabitants have been estimated at upwards of six millions and a half; they are chiefly Hindoos of the Brahminical sect, and there are comparatively few Mohammedans among them. The Tamul language also obtains along the whole northern coast of Ceylon, including the populous district of Jaflha, where it is spoken by a race of people sometimes called the Malabars. Tamul is likewise the vernacular language of the Moormen of Ceylon; they are dispersed in great numbers through every part of the island, especially at Colombo, and are supposed to be the descendants of Arabs, who, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, conquered several of the seaport towns of India and Ceylon. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OP THE LANGUAGE. It is a question of the highest historical interest whether Tamul and the other languages of the DecCan are to be considered as the daughters of the Sanscrit, or whether their origin is to be traced to some other source. Drs. Carey and Wilkins considered them to be undoubtedly derived from the Sanscrit, and Colebrooke was inclined to adopt the same opinion. Mr. Ellis, in the Preface to Campbell's Teloogoo Grammar, was the first to doubt their supposed relationship to Sanscrit; and Babington, in his Introductory Bemarks to the Gooroo Paramartan, has maintained the same view of the case. The various researches which have been made into the subject have at length led to the conclusion that these southern languages are the remnants of some ancient tongue, which at a very remote period of antiquity probably pervaded the whole of India, as some slight traces of it are yet to be met with even in the Sanscrit dialects of the north. But whether this hypothesis be correct or not, it has been satisfactorily proved that Tamul and its cognate languages derive their source from no language at present in existence ; and if in most systems of classification they have obtained a place 134 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. among the Sanscrit family of languages, they owe their position not to their origin, but to the modifi- cation of their elementary structure induced by the superposition of Sanscrit forms ; a process which has been carried on for centuries, dating from the period when the natives of the south received the religion of the north, and bowed to the domination of the Brahminical sect. Tamul, however, possesses fewer Sanscrit terms than the other languages of the Deccan. They exist in Tamul, in the same manner and proportion as Greek and Latin terms are mixed up with the Anglo-Saxon element in English. It has two distinct dialects, the Kodun, or common dialect, which contains the greatest admixture of Sanscrit words; and the Shen, or- polished dialect, which, from its long disuse as a collo- quial medium, has been preserved in a state of greater purity. A knowledge of the former alone is quite sufficient for all ordinary intercourse with the natives, but acquaintance with the high, or Shen, dialect is necessary for those who wish to study Tamul literature and science. The chief peculiarities of the Tamul language as briefly summed up by Anderson, consist in the absence of a relative pronoun, in the small proportion of adjectives and particles properly so called, in the power of employing adjectives in an adverbial capacity, in the exact correspondence in termination between the demonstrative pronouns and the third person of verbs, in the existence of a negative verb, and, above all, in the conjugation of derivative nouns. Some of those characteristics are to be met with in the Telinga, Canarese, and Malayalim languages; but in the possession of a conjugate derivative, Tamul appears to stand quite alone. This singular grammatical form seems to have arisen from a remarkable interchange of the properties peculiar to different parts of speech, for as in other languages, as well as in Tamul, verbal nouns are liable to be inflected as substantives, so the derivatives of nouns are liable in Tamul to be conjugated as verbs. Tamul nouns have eight cases, three of which are ablative, and are distinguished as local, causal, and social ablatives. Words performing the office of prepositions in this language always stand after the nouns or pronouns which they govern. The verbs possess properly but three moods, the indicative, imperative, and infinitive; and the third person of each tense denotes the changes of gender by corresponding changes of termination. The negative verb, which in Tamul and its cognate languages conveys a negative signification without the aid of particles, is formed by the mere removal (except in the third person neuter and its derivatives) of the usual characteristic aug- ments of the affirmative. A Tamul alphabet, which, like the Greek, consisted of sixteen letters, is said to have been in use among the natives of the country before the introduction of the Sanscrit language. The characters now employed in writing Tamul are thirty in number, and are evidently, so far at least as form is con- cerned, for the most part derived from the Devanagari. The order in which they are arranged is similar to that of the Sanscrit alphabet, and even letters representing sounds which do not occur in Sanscrit, are formed by the combination of Devanagari characters. All aspirates are rejected from the Tamul alphabet, and the language is, for that reason, soft and well sounding; though not so much so as the Teloogoo. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The honour of executing the first Tamul version of the Scriptures belongs to the Danish mis- sionaries. Ziegenbalg, the first missionary sent by the Danish Government to their settlement at Tranquebar, commenced the translation of the New Testament in 1708, and completed it in 1711. The printing of this version was delayed in order that it might receive the benefit of a thorough revisal, and this important task was committed to the missionary John Ernest Grundler, who had arrived in India soon after the commencement of the translation. Under his care the work was printed at Tranquebar in 1714, at the press and on paper provided by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. His Majesty George I. of England took an especial interest in the progress of this version, and addressed a letter to Ziegenbalg. The translation of the Old Testament was commenced by this devoted missionary in 1717, and in 1719, he had carried it as far as the Book of Ruth, when he sank beneath the weight of his manifold, labours, at the age of thirty-six. It is not certain whether his Class III.] TAMUL. 135 translations were executed immediately from the sacred originals, or from the German version of Luther. After his decease, and that of his fellow-labourer Grundler, which occurred during the following year, the revision of his manuscripts and the prosecution of the version of the Old Testament devolved on Benjamin Schultze, a missionary who had arrived from Halle a short time previously, under the patronage of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Schultze published the portion of the Old Testament translated by Ziegenbalg in 1723, and completed the version in 1727. He was well acquainted with Hebrew, and is said to have consulted most of the European versions in the course of his translation. Such was his indefatigable zeal, that in the midst of important missionary duties, and in the relaxing climate of Southern India, he regularly devoted six hours daily to the prosecution of his work. He likewise addressed himself to a diligent revision of the New Testament, a second edition of which he put to press in 1722, and completed in 1724, at Tranquebar. In 1758 a third edition of the New Testament was printed at the same place; it had previously been subjected to another revision, in which several missionaries took a part. The second Tranquebar edition was reprinted at Colombo in 1741-3, after having undergone some alterations adapting it to the Tamul spoken in Ceylon : this edition was designed for the native Tamulian Christians in that island, and was published under the auspices of Von Imhoff, the governor. In 1777 an important version of the New Testament was published by the Rev. J. P. Fabricius, one of Schultze's successors in the Danish mission at Madras. This version is far more elegant and classical in diction than that of the Tranquebar translators. Fabricius likewise undertook the revision of Schultze's version of the Old Testament, preparatory to a second edition ; but the work as revised by him has every claim to be considered a new and independent version. He sent the translation, sheet by sheet, for examination and correction to the missionaries at Cuddalore; from them it passed to the Danish missionaries, and from them to the native translator to the Danish Government. The notes and corrections thus obtained were carefully collated by Fabricius, and the whole translation was again subjected by him to a searching revision. It was printed at the mission press at Tranquebar between the years 1777 and 1782, under the especial care of two missionaries, one of whom was Dr. Bottler. Fabricius was esteemed an " unparalleled Tamul scholar," and his translation long held the rank of the standard Tamul version of the Scriptures. The editions of the two versions of the New Testament above mentioned, printed by the Danish missionaries prior to the commencement of the present century, amount in all to fourteen, besides two versions of the Old Testament. They were assisted by grants of paper and other supplies from the Eoyal College of Copenhagen, the Orphan House at Halle, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Still the number of copies issued was very far from being adequate to the wants of the native Christians; and the deplorable scarcity of the Scriptures in the Tamul country was first pressed upon the notice of the British and Foreign Bible Society in a letter from the Bev. Dr. Buchanan, dated Madura, 1806. Dr. Buchanan stated that of the ten or twelve thousand Protestant Christians then belonging to the Tanjore and Tinnevelly districts, not one perhaps in a hundred had a New Testament; and he described the people in general as " clamorous for Bibles, supplicating for teachers, and saying, ' we do not want bread or money from you, but we want the word of God.' " In con- sequence of these and other similar representations, the Corresponding Committee at Calcutta raised a subscription for the purchase of all the copies of the Tamul Scriptures which could be then obtained, and which bore a price placing them beyond the reach of the poorer Christians. These copies reached Tanjore in 1810, where they were received with the most lively gratitude; and the supply was acknowledged " not only as a seasonable and acceptable present, but as the cause of abundant thanks- giving to God through Jesus Christ our Saviour, from many who were desirous to know the saving truths which the Bible contains, and to use it for the benefit of their souls." Arrangements were then made by the British and Foreign Bible Society for the publication of another edition, and after due inquiries had been instituted, it was deemed advisable to print it at the Serampore press, from the admired text of Fabricius. Notwithstanding the disastrous fire in which the Tamul fount of types 136 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. and a large supply of paper were destroyed, the edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was completed by the Serampore missionaries in 1813. , As a great demand for the Scriptures still continued throughout the Tamul country even after the circulation of this large edition, it seemed necessary to take immediate measures for issuing farther supplies. The want of copies of the Scriptures appeared to be particularly felt at Ceylon, where the number of native Christians speaking the Tamul language was estimated at 45,000. Besides the edition of the New Testament published at Colombo in 1743, as above mentioned, a version of the Pentateuch, translated by Mr. de Milho, had also been printed in Ceylon, under the patronage of the Dutch Government, in 1790. These editions, however, had been long exhausted, and the people in general were almost destitute of the Scriptures. It was, therefore, deemed advisable not only to issue another edition, but also to obtain such a revision of the existing version as might render it intelligible to the Tamul population of Ceylon and of the adjacent continent. This important revision was committed to the Eev. C. T. E. Rhenius of the Church Mission, subject to the superinten- dence of the Rev. Dr. Rottler (who had formerly assisted in carrying the version of Fabricius through the press), and the inspection of the missionaries at Trichinopoly, Tanjore, and Tranquebar. To secure the greater accuracy of the work, a committee of translation was appointed at Madras in 1821, and great hopes were entertained of the success of a version carried forward under such efficient' management, and in the midst of the Tamul country. In order, however, to meet the actual demand for the Scriptures, it was found requisite, while the revision was in progress, to issue another edition from the text of Fabricius. This edition appears to have consisted of 1000 copies of the Old Testament, 2500 of the New Testament, and 2500 extra copies of the Gospels and Acts: the Old Testament was printed at the Vepery press of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the New Testa- ment at the Church Missionary Society's press at Madras; the edition was completed about the year 1824. In 1825 the revision of the Gospel of St. Matthew was finished, and an edition of 10,000 copies was published by the Madras Committee. The following year another edition of the Old Testament from the text of the Tranquebar translators was commenced: it consisted of 5000 copies of the Penta- teuch, and 2500 of the other books of the Old Testament, and appears to have been completed about the year 1832. In the meantime the revision of the old version under the care of Mr. Rhenius was rapidly proceeding, and in 1827 an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament was put to press. In 1828 the Four Gospels were completed, and so rapid was the circulation, that another edition of 5000 copies was immediately ordered, and the part of the New Testament containing the Epistles was extended to 7500 copies. Yet, notwithstanding these large issues, the desire of the native population to receive the Tamul Scriptures more than kept pace with the ability of the committee to supply them ; and it was found that before the last books of an edition could be got from the press, nearly all the first books had been distributed, so that it appeared almost impossible to issue one complete and uniform copy of the Tamul Old and New Testaments. The Madras Committee, therefore, determined in 1831 to print 12,000 copies of the Tamul New Testament in small type. This 'edition was afterwards extended to 15,000, and the revised version was selected as the text on account of the numerous testimonies that had been laid before the committee in proof of its superiority over the version of Fabricius. To expedite the revision and publication of the entire Tamul Scriptures, two additional sub-committees of revision were formed about this period, (the one at Tanjore, and the other at Nagracoil and Palam- cottah,) consisting of Churchmen, "Wesleyans, Lutherans, and Dissenters of various denominations, who all agreed to set aside party distinctions, in order to promote the publication of the word of truth. In 1844 an edition of 6000 copies of the entire Tamul Bible was completed. The Old Testament was the version of Fabricius, corrected as to grammar and orthography; and the New, that of Rhenius: it contained the headings of chapters and the chronology from the English. In printing this edition the Madras Society was assisted by funds from the American Bible Society, and by supplies of paper from the British and Foreign Bible Society. During the same year (1844) 10000 copies of each of Class III.] TAMUL. 137 the Four Gospels in 18mo., Fabricius's version, were ordered to be printed at the press of the Christian Knowledge Society, Vepery ; and the same number and size of the revised version at the American Mission press, for the use of schools. Other portions of Scripture were printed at about the same period at the Neypoor press, for the use of schools in Tinnevelly and Travancore, and for the purposes of public worship. A second edition of the uniform Tamul Bible, with headings and chronology from the English, and references from the German version, was completed in 1848. The edition consisted of 6000 copies, and the demand for it was at once considerable. Among other portions of Scripture recently printed under the auspices of the British and Foreign Bible Society, it may be noticed that an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament in 12 mo. has been published, according to rules proposed by a Tamul sub-committee of revision, for separating the words in printing, and in many cases omitting the usual changes, reduplication, and elision of letters required by the law of Sandhi in the high dialect. Another edition of the New Testament, printed from the version of Rhenius at Neypoor, has since been issued, for the use of the large and increasing native church in that section of the Tamul country ; together with several large editions of portions of the New Testament, from the same version. It remains to notice another version of the Tamul Scriptures which has more recently been completed in Ceylon, and which is known as the " Union Version." The chief agent in its pro- duction was the Rev. P. Percival, who was engaged for a period of fourteen years in that arduous task, devoting six hours daily to it: valuable help was furnished by the Reverends Messrs. Spalding, Winslow, and Brotherton. Great, however, as had been the care bestowed upon its execution, it was determined that the first edition of the "Union Version" should be regarded only as a trial, with a view to obtain the opinions of Tamul scholars as to its merits, and the number of copies was accordingly limited to 3500. High praise has been bestowed upon this version with regard to its idiom, correctness, neatness of style, and its general fidelity to the original; it has, nevertheless, been generally regarded as deficient (in common with prior versions) in some of the qualities necessary to a standard version of the Tamul Scriptures. The complete revision of the Tamul Bible, with a view to the preparation (from the two translations of the Old Testament, and the three versions of the New, that are already in existence) of an edition which may be finally regarded as a standard authority, has occupied during several years the anxious care of the Madras Auxiliary Society; and a recent engage- ment has been made between the Parent Committee of the Bible Society, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, by which this desirable object seems likely to be accom- plished. The Rev. H. Bower has undertaken to conduct the task of revision; the work being in the first instance limited to the New Testament only, with a view to obtain a general opinion of the merits of the revised version thus formed, before incurring the large outlay which the like revision of the Old Testament will involve. The work, on this plan, is now (1860) in progress. IV. — RESULTS OP THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. As the Tamul was the first language of India in which the Gospel was proclaimed by Protestant missionaries to the natives, and the first into which the Scriptures were translated for their benefit, so it has been observed that, "for spiritual privileges, for missionary zeal and enterprise, for the light and liberty which prevail, the Tamul country may well be called the Goshen of India." The rapid circulation of so many large editions of the Scriptures, as above described, is in itself a proof of the alacrity with which the natives have received the word of God ; and individual instances, in proof that the precious seed thus gladly welcomed was owned and blessed of God, are to be found in great numbers in missionary records, and in the reports of the Bible Society. Let one example here suffice. Shun- kuru-Lingum was born at Quilon, about 1787, of heathen parents, of the Vellaula or Cultivator caste. After several changes in his temporal circumstances and position, he entered the service of a gentle- man holding a civil appointment under the Ceylon government. An apparently trivial circumstance was the turning-point of his life. Under a tree of the forest he found a copy of the Gospels in Tamul, 138 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. probably left there by a follower of the British camp, for it was the time of the Kandyan war, and strangers from Tranquebar bad come over to Ceylon with tbe army. He read the book with eager delight; it opened up to him a new region of thought and inquiry, and ultimately was blessed to his conversion. Deeply affected by a sense of the spiritual degradation of his countrymen, and impelled by love to his Saviour, he sought to make known the truth to others, and became a minister of the Gospel; and he afterwards underwent much persecution as a setter-forth of strange gods, because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. The general aspect of the present state of affairs in the Tamul country, brought about by the ex- tensive distribution of the Scriptures, may be gathered from the following passage in a recent letter of the Kev. J. H. Gray, one of the secretaries of the Madras Bible Society: — " I think I can say, ' that the word of the Lord is running,' and our Lord Jesus Christ is being glorified in Southern India. If it be a proof of this, that we find ' the strong man armed' no longer enjoying a peaceful possession of his goods, or that we see bitterness and persecution rife among the heathen towards Christians, we are beginning to have these things abound at our doors; and the so called gentle and passive Hindoo is now seen in the streets of Madras, armed with a hatchet to cut down the gate of a missionary's house, and rescue his relative, who had fled thither as to a city of refuge from heathen superstition and uncleanncss; or he is seen casting his son's or his brother's Bible into the fire, lest it should convert him ; and thousands upon thousands can meet together, to cry for their gods, as lustily as ever they did at Ephesus in behalf of Diana." TELINGA, OR TELOOGOO. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE TELINGA, OE TELOOGOO VERSION, see Plate 3, page 91. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Telinga language is spoken within 23 miles of Madras, and prevails for about 500 miles along the coast, from the vicinity of Pulicat to the borders of Orissa. In the interior it extends as far west as Beedr, through nearly the whole of Hydrabad, a part of Berar, and the eastern provinces of Mysore. The portion of the Telinga country subject to the Madras presidency includes the five Cirears — Vizagapatam, Kajahmundry, Masulipatam, Guntoor, and the Cuddapah and Nellore districts of the Carnatic. The superficial extent of the entire region in which this language is predominant has been estimated at 118,610 square miles. The natives are Hindoos, and number about 10,000,000. The Telinga language is also diffused to a greater or less extent through various countries of Southern India, in which the Tamul and Canarese are the proper vernacular languages. This diffusion in part arises from the early conquests, dating from the fourteenth century, achieved by the people of Telinga in the south. Like the Komans, they endeavoured to secure their conquests, and to keep the natives in subjection by the establishment of military colonies; and the Telinga language is still spoken by the descendants of, the Telinga families, who were deputed by the kings of Vidianagara to found these colonies. The roaming tendencies of the Telinga people also serve to account in part for the diffusion of the language. On this subject the missionaries have remarked that " in intelligence, migratory habits, secular prosperity, and unfrequency of return to their native land, this people are, in relation to other parts of India, what the Scotch are in relation to England and the world." II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Telinga is the softest and the most polished of the languages of Southern India, and contains the Class III.] TEL IN G A. 139 greatest proportion of Sanscrit words. In point of fulness, it may be styled the " Spanish" of the Indian peninsula. Yet the Sanscrit terms with which it unquestionably abounds form no part whatever of the basis of the language, but appear to have been engrafted on the elements of the original Telinga at some period far too remote for inquiry. The grammatical construction of Telinga is alone sufficient to prove that it has no claims to be regarded as a mere Sanscrit dialect. In the declension of its nouns effected by means of subjoined particles, in the mode of conjugating the affirmative, and in the posses- sion of a negative verb, in the use of a plural pronoun applicable to the first and second persons con- jointly, and in the peculiarities of its syntax, it offers obvious points of deviation from the forms of Sanscrit grammar, while at the same time it exhibits decided affinity in these respects with its cognate languages of the Deccan. The Telinga language possesses no word exactly corresponding with our article ; the' indefinite article is sometimes expressed by means of the numeral one, but in general the article is considered as inherent in the noun. Like the Tamul and Canarese, the Telinga possesses that singular part of speech called the relative participle, which displays the combined force of the definite article, the relative pronoun, and the verb. It also resembles these languages in the possession of two dialects, the common or popular medium, used for all purposes of business and conversation, and the high or refined dialect, in which the literature of the nation, consisting chiefly of poetry, is written. The dissimilarity between these dialects is so great, that commentaries are requisite in the perusal of native works, even in the case of individuals who have acquired the most complete familiarity with the colloquial dialect. The Telinga possesses great facility in the naturalization of foreign terms; yet, with the exception of a few words obtained from the neighbouring provinces of Orissa, Mahratta, and Gujerat, it does not appear to borrow many words from foreign sources. Several technical revenue and official terms derived from the Hindustani were at one time in common use, but they now begin to be superseded by the corresponding English words. The Telinga, like other Indian alphabets, is distinguished by the perplexing multiplicity of its symbols, of which there are no less than eighty-one : some of these, however, are merely abbreviated forms of the regular initial letters ; others are only used as marks for certain consonants when doubled; and some are peculiar to words of Sanscrit origin. " Hence," says Mr. Campbell, " all native grammarians concur in reducing the characters to thirty-seven, by excluding forty-four, which they acknowledge belong to the language, but which they will not admit into the alphabet." In point of form these letters are round and flowing, and form a striking contrast to the square characters of the Devanagari, although arranged upon the same principle of classification. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Schultze, the laborious Danish missionary, was the first who engaged in a Telinga version of the Scriptures. He commenced his translation in 1726, immediately after his completion of the Tamul version above mentioned. He translated immediately from the Greek and Hebrew texts, and finished the Telinga version of the New Testament in 1727. and of the Old Testament in 1732. From some cause or other hitherto unexplained, this work was never printed, although Schultze seems to have taken some steps towards obtaining the assistance of a learned Brahmin, and a fount of types for the purpose. He died in 1760 at Halle, and it has been thought that his Telinga MSS. may still be pre- served in that city. The Serampore missionaries commenced another version of the Scriptures in this language in 1805, and in 1809 they had translated the whole of the New and part of the Old Testa- ment. Soon afterwards they succeeded in casting a fount of Telinga types, but owing to various causes of delay, the New Testament was not printed till 1818, when an edition of 1000 copies was issued, aided by a grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society; and in 1820, the same number of copies of the Pentateuch were published. But while this Serampore version was in progress, another Telinga version of the New Testa- ment was commenced and carried on to the close of the First Epistle to the Corinthians by the Bev. Augustus Desgranges, of the London Missionary Society. He had been stationed at Vizagapatam since 140 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 1805, and therefore enjoyed great local facilities for the prosecution of his undertaking: he found, indeed, but few difficulties in the Telinga language to impede his efforts, and he remarked that " this language richly furnishes the translator with words, phrases, and sentences for his purpose;" and that in addition to its acknowledged softness, elegance and refinement, it is " regular in construction, replete with sentences clear and strong, and abounding with the most beautiful figures of speech." Mr. Desgranges was assisted by the Eev. George Cran, who was also stationed at Vizagapatam, and by Anunderayer, a Telinga Brahmin of high caste, who had sincerely embraced the Christian religion. What our Lord Jesus requires from his followers, Anunderayer had really done, for he had left his wife, mother, brother, sister, his estate and property, and had suffered reproach and persecution patiently for the sake of the Gospel. Having acquired an intimate knowledge of the Tamul language, he translated the Scriptures direct from the Tamul version into his own language, and his work was submitted, verse by verse, to Mr. Desgranges, who made such alterations as his critical knowledge of the original text suggested. Mr. Cran died in 1808, and Mr. Desgranges two years subsequently; and it was found on examination that the first three Gospels were the only portions of the translation that were in a state of readiness for the press. Of these three Gospels, 1000 copies were printed at Serampore in 1812, under the care of Anunderayer. No alterations whatever were admitted, for it was considered that to give the Gospels as the able translator had left them would be a tribute pf respect to his memory. In the meantime another version of the Telinga New Testament had been commenced. The Eev. Messrs. Pritchett and Lee, agents of the London Missionary Society, arrived at Vizagapatam a short time prior to the decease of the lamented Mr. Desgranges. Mr. Lee undertook soon afterwards a translation of the Book of Genesis, but the preparation of the version afterwards devolved almost exclusively on Mr. Pritchett, who addressed himself in the first place to the translation of the New Testament. In the first three Gospels he is said to have availed himself of the labours of Mr. Desgranges, introducing such alterations as his own judgment suggested. When the version of the New Testament was completed, he sent it to Madras for examination, and it was so highly approved by the distinguished Telinga scholars to whom it was submitted, that the Madras Bible Society readily closed with Mr. Pritchett's proposal to print it for the benefit of the Telinga nation. An edition of 2000 copies was therefore issued in 1819, the expenses of which were defrayed by the Calcutta Bible Society. Mr. Pritchett was proceeding with the translation of the Old Testament, when, in 1820, he was stopped in the midst of his work by death. In 1823 another version of the Scriptures was offered to the Calcutta Bible Society by the Bev. J. Gordon, also of the London Missionary Society, who had during many years been stationed at Vizagapatam. Great difficulty was experienced in deciding upon the relative merits of Mr. Pritchett's and Mr. Gordon's translations, and all printing operations were suspended until it could be ascertained which was best calculated for general usefulness. At length their respective translations of Genesis and of the history of Joseph were circulated for comparison, and when the opinions of competent judges had been col- lected, it was found that the result of the investigation was in favour of Mr. Gordon's production, which was unanimously declared to be " clear, intelligible, and the more literal translation of the two." At the same time Mr. Pritchett's was pronounced a good translation, and more grammatical than Mr. Gordon's, but deficient in idiom. The Committee of the Madras Society, therefore, resolved upon adopting Mr. Gordon's version, but they requested him before he sent it to the press, to compare it carefully with Mr. Pritchett's translation, and "to select therefrom whatever he might think a desirable acquisition to his own." Mr. Gordon's important labours were closed by death in 1827. After his decease it was found that Mr. Pritchett's version was, after all, more correct than had been expected ; certain corrections were accordingly introduced, and an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament was printed in 1828, accompanied by 2000 copies of Mr. Gordon's version of St. Luke. Vigorous efforts were subsequently made to revise the versions prepared by Messrs. Pritchett and Gordon, and further portions were printed, which, notwithstanding their admitted defects, obtained such extensive Plate V. Page 141. I& <£ 19 (g - 19 £ eg 09 K« K- to .1 ' iv ^ tv. W ie lr < lv ^ b y g K ^ G x >2 c-r\ \a ^ uJ CO J? 8 ^11 CDOD © V if? So ^ 8 So * o|^® 8® CD s 21 ®«o a*£ 89® ix «=£ So v g ^C3 S03C8 Ml? O » (3 & % s© r S o c „ CD ^^ 1 S9 I 8^c CD ? 8 &« $3 $ (D ^ V) £ *> s » I T3 S c ® (3 S3 5-S-CB v (9 *-D ^13-8 7 (9 r^ rm r « o o . ^ <® a ro <0 T! 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II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The German language branches off into two grand divisions, the High German, or Hoch Deutsch, distinguished by its rough, guttural sounds, and the Low German, or Nieder Deutsch, characterised by a softer enunciation. The former prevails in Southern, and the latter in Northern, Germany, and both are subdivided into several minor dialects. One language, however, pervades all Germany as the medium of intercourse between the educated classes, and as the language of religion, legislation, and literature : this language, called by way of pre-eminence the German, was originally merely a dialect of Hoch Deutsch, and was spoken in the circle of Misnia in Saxony. It was the native dialect of Luther, and to the influence of that great man is to be ascribed its present predominance. The primitive elements of Modern German are to be found in the Gothic, the Francic, and more especially the Alemannic dialects. Somewhere about the twelfth century the language termed the Old High German gradually displaced the more ancient dialects, and in this language the lays of the Minnesingers, the troubadours of Germany, were composed. The writings of Luther gave stability to his own provincial dialect of this language, and in point of copiousness, vigour and flexibility, though in itself a harsh language, it now ranks among the most cultivated tongues of Europe. The character in which it is in general written is an ancient form of the Latin, or Roman alphabet; it is called the Gothic, and is very similar to Old English. Class III.] GERMAN. 183 III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Montfaucon, in his Diarium Italicum, says that there are several ancient Bibles in German pre- served in the Vatican Library. But the earliest German version of which anything is known with certainty appears to have been executed about A.D. 1405, at the expense of Wenceslaus, emperor of Germany; it is in the Vienna Library, and consists of three folio volumes: it contains only the Old Testament as far as the end of Ezekiel. Struvius, however, in the introduction to his Historia Literaria (sect. 9), speaks of a German Bible of earlier date in the Library of Gotha in Upper Saxony : and a triglot version of the Gospels, in German, Bohemian, and Latin, is said to have been in the possession of "the good Queen Anne," wife of Bichard II. of England. Several early German versions of the Psalms are mentioned by Le Long, and also a translation of the Old Testament as far as Amos, executed a.d. 1458. The other principal MSS. enumerated by him are, a version of the Bible in two volumes folio, written on vellum in the year 1464, and preserved in the Vienna Library; a Bible in the Zurich Library, translated by Nicholas Bruchmal, and bearing date 1472; and a version of the Bible from the Vulgate, translated by Melchior Brunus, of Cologne, in 1590. Other translations of the Bible, but of a very inferior kind, appeared at Nuremberg in 1477, 1483, 1490, and at Augsburg in 1518. The first German edition ever issued from the press was that of 1466, translated by an unknown writer from the Vulgate : a copy of this scarce work is in the collection of Earl Spencer. But the most important version that has ever appeared in Germany, is unquestionably that of Luther, the great reformer. Although the New Testament was published as early as the year 1522, yet this version still continues to be the standard, not only of the German Scriptures, but of the German language. Luther's first biblical publication consisted of the seven penitential Psalms, from the Latin of John Beuchlin, which appeared in 1517. His version of the entire Scriptures, which was executed immediately from the original text, was issued in successive portions. The Pentateuch was published in 1523; the Book of Joshua and the other historical books, the Book of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles, followed in 1524; the prophecies of Jonah and Habakkuk were published in 1526, and it was not till 1530 that the remaining portions had all issued from the press. Melanchthon, and some of the most eminent scholars of Germany, aided in the revision of this version. " A select party of learned men at Wittemberg assembled every day with Luther to revise every sentence ; and they have been known to return fourteen successive days to the reconsideration of a single line, and even of a word." Each individual in this little assembly had a separate task assigned him, according to his peculiar qualifications. Luther collated the ancient Latin versions, and the Hebrew text; Melanchthon examined the Greek original, Cruciger the Chaldee, and other professors referred to the rabbinical writings. Besides Melanchthon and Cruciger, the principal coadjutors in this most important undertaking were Justus Jonas, John Bugenhagius or Pomeranus, and Matthew Aurogallus. George Rorarius was the corrector of the press. The revised edition of the entire Bible was published in 1530, and again in 1534, 1541, and 1545. Luther is said to have devoted the greatest care to the revision of the edition of 1541 ; he had it printed in two folio volumes, ornamented with woodcuts; and a copy of this edition, which was constantly used by him, and which was in fact his own copy, after having passed through several hands, is now deposited in the British Museum. Immediately on the publication of Luther's version, other translations were undertaken on its basis by friends of the Eeformation. A version in the Low German, or Saxon dialect, executed at the suggestion of Luther, was published almost simultaneously with his own: Bugenhagius superin- tended the work, and the first edition was printed in 1533^4, at Lubeck. Aversion in the Pomeranian dialect was made from Luther's Bible, by command of Bogislaus XIII., duke of Pomerania, and printed in 1545. In 1525-1529, a translation was published at Zurich, for which Luther's version, so far as it was then printed, was also used. A revision of this German version was published at Zurich in 1667, by Hottinger, M idler, Zeller, and others; and so many were the alterations and corrections introduced, that it was regarded as a new translation; and it is still generally called the New Zurich Bible, to distinguish it from the first edition. The original texts, Luther's German, and Diodati's Italian, 184 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. versions, the Scptuagint, the Latin, and the Belgian Bible, were consulted during the progress of this revision. Another version in the German dialect was published in 1602-1604, by John Piscator, from the Latin version of Junius and Tremellius. The publication of Luther's version was, likewise, the proximate cause of the production of other German translations, even by the enemies of the Eeformation. Emser, one of the counsellors of George, duke of Saxony, was the first who undertook a new translation with the view of disparaging that of Luther. He did not, however, succeed in his design, his version when completed proving, says Milner, to be little. more than a transcript of Luther's, some alterations in favour of the peculiar tenets of the Church of Rome alone excepted. Yet several editions of Emser's New Testament were speedily printed ; and, in 1530, the monks of Rostock published a version of it in the dialect of Lower Saxony. In these later editions, various alterations were made, causing them to differ exceedingly from those of an earlier date. A German version of the whole Bible was next undertaken, at the request of Albert II., by John Dietenburg, a Dominican monk, with the same design of counteracting the labours of Luther. It was printed in folio at Mentz, in 1534. In this version Dietenburg had no recourse to the Hebrew and Greek originals, with which he confessed himself unacquainted, and, like Emser, he only succeeded in producing a bad transcript of Luther; so that the truth triumphed in consequence of the very efforts made to subvert it, and the version of Luther was read and studied in the pages of his enemies. Dietenburg's version has gone through many editions. Eighteen editions were published at Cologne from 1550 to 1702, and others at Mentz and at Nuremberg. Another of Luther's opponents, John Eckius, of Ingoldstadt, in Bavaria, published a German translation of the Old Testament in 1537, to which he subjoined a corrected edition of Emser's version of the New Testament. It is without the name of the place or printer, and is dedicated to the Arch- bishop of Saltzburg. Several editions were afterwards published, and in 1602 the version was corrected according to the Sixtine edition of the Vulgate. A version of the Old and New Testaments was made immediately from this edition of the Vulgate in 1630 by Casper Ulenberg, under the patronage of Ferdinand, archbishop and elector of Cologne: this version has gone through numerous editions. Another version of the Vulgate was published by Kistemaker at Munster, in 1825. In 1806, in consequence of the impulse given to the circulation of the Scriptures by the rise of the British and Foreign Bible Society, a Roman Catholic Bible Society was formed at Ratisbon, and, under the direction of Regens Wittman and other Catholic clergymen, an edition of the New Testament from the Vulgate was published in 1808. In 1813, this version had reached the eighth edition, and the copies had found a ready sale among the Catholics of Bavaria, Suabia, Franconia, and Switzerland. About the year 1812, another translation of the New Testament was executed by two Catholic clergy- men, Charles and Leander Van Ess, from the Greek text. The British and Foreign Bible Society assisted liberally in the publication and circulation of the numerous editions through which this version has passed. Another Roman Catholic clergyman, named Gosner, printed a German version at Munich in 1815. An edition, in 32mo., of Kistemaker's New Testament was recently printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, for the benefit of Roman Catholics, and a translation of the Psalms into German, by the late Dr. Van Ess, for the use of Roman Catholics, has also been adopted by the Society. Up to the beginning of 1860, the total number of copies of the German Scriptures printed directly for the British and Foreign Bible Society embraced 1,036,097 Bibles, and 1,357,453 Testaments; besides 1,131,779 copies of the Testament and Psalms, together with 148,998 portions of the Old Testament; and 1600 New Testaments, with 5000 Old Testaments, in Hebrew characters. Class III.] GERMAN. !85 LOW-GERMAN BIBLE OE HALBERSTADT. 1522.— SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, c. i. v. 1 to 8. 3'Jl beme ambegtmne rcag bat Wlcxt, unb bat SBort rcag bl) ®obe, un @cbt rca§ bat SBort. 2 SDatt) rcag Sm beme ambegsmne bty ®obe, 3 oorm^bbelfl 6m fimt aOe bincf gemafet, un gunber one S)6 nid)t gemafet. 4 2)at bar S)g gemafet i)it bme, bat rcag bat leuent, unb bat leuenb wag ein fycfyt bet nt*)nfd)e, 5 un bat ls)dit lucfjtet i ben bufterniffen, unb be bufierniffe begrebe beg nict/t. 6 @i)n m^nfcfje rcag gt)cfenb oan ®obe, beg name rcag 3ot)aneg. 7 £>uffe fam iju eine getudmtffe ub batt) fye gt)ene tudjentffe oan behjdjte, bat ge atte gelouebe bord) one. 8 >§e rcag nict)t bat fydtt, men bat l)e geoe tudmijfe oan bem Igdjte. LOW-GERMAN BIBLE IN A DIALECT APPROACHING THE DUTCH, cibca 1480. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 7. 3Dt beme anbeg»)ime (bat ig in bem gottifen rcefen beg afmedjtigen baberg in ber ercict)eit) rcag bat SQort (bat ig g*n esmgebaren goen), enbe bat QBort rcag bi) ®abe : en ®ob rcag bat ffiort (rcant in bem Oaber ig bat rcefen beS gong in naturen in guneerr)eit ber perfonen), 2 bat (QBort) was in bem ambegsmne (in ercid)ei)t), bi) ®at'ix (bem baeber). 3 2)ord) en simt allebinf gemacft : enbe Sunberen en ig nict gemaft. 4 Sat baer ig gemaft rcag in em esm leuen (rcant in be rcefen b?g SEortg entfange atte creaturen er leuen), ence bat leuen (bat is be soen @abeg), rcag ebn lidjt ber nti)nfd)en : 5 enbe bat Hdjte tudjtet in ber butyfierniffe (beg m»nfd)Iifen geglecb/tes), enbe btye butyfterniffe en begrebe beg nict (rcant bat gottife Iid)t beg Oaberg in be goen boed) naturtif oerfrennig nict gefyen en mad? rcerben). 6 Qyn mtyfdje (leuenbe na bem leuen eimg minfdie), rcag gefant can ®abe; beg naem rcag 3ot)anneg, 7 befer quant in ei)ii geturfnug : op bat fy geue getudmig oan bem lidjte (bat ig oan bem gone ®abes fomenbe in btye rcerlte), bat g$) alte geloueben bord? en t)i) (bat ig 3ot)anneg). MODERN SAXON, OR COLOGNE DIALECT-SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. 3SR beme ambegine rcag bat SBort un bat 5Bort rcag 6i ®abe. 2 Un ®ob rcag bat raort bat rcag i beme doegljinne bi ®abe. 3 2>ord) ene gint alle b?cf gemafet, unb an en ig nidjt gfjemafet. 4 S)at bar ig gfjemafet in erne bat rcag bat leuen, bnbe bat leuen rcag een lidit ber mimfcften. 5 3Snbe bat lidjt lud;tet in b' bujtermiffen bn be buftermiffen begrebe be3 nidjt. 6 (Sen msjnfc^e rca§ gBefant 'oa ®abe, be§ namen rca§ 3ol)anneS. 7 3}effe quami i ene gl;e tudjniiffe, Ob bat ly geue getuc^mtffe, ba beme ltd? re bat §e alTe gelouebe bord? en. 8 >§e en rca§ nid)t bat lid)t, me bat t)e geue gt)etuct)mijfe oa beme tict)te. 9 Sat rcag bat rcae lidjt bat bar rcrlud)tj ene iercelife mifct)e famebe i beffe rcerlt. 10 ^e rca3 i b' rcerlt, on be rcerlt ig gemal borcl) en ; bnbe be rcerlt en f anbe en nicfyt. 1 1 «§e quam in fan esjgenbom, bnbe be fine entjrenge en nict)t. 12 2)?en be en entfengt)en ben gt)aff fy be gt)erca(t tl)o rcerben be finbere ®abeg ben be bar gt)elouen in ftnen namen, 13 be bar nicfyt ftn oan beme blobe, nod? ban beme rcitten beg blefd)e§, nod) oan beme rcille be£ mang, [unb' ban ®abe gt)ebaren. NIEDERDEUTSCHE PSALMEN AUS DER EAROLININGER ZEIT.-[Beeslau, 1816.] PSALM LIV. v. 7 to 9. SBdrJKSOtd: uuel fiunbo minon, an unarbeibe tt)iuro te gpreice gia. 8 33uillico Sal ic offran tt)i, in begian gal ic namin tt)inin berro, uuanba guot iji. 9 33uanba fan allin arbiibin generebog tu mi : in onir funba mina gcouuuota oga min. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THE GERMAN VERSION. The mighty results of the publication of Luther's version are to be traced throughout the whole history of the Reformation in Germany. The effect of recent endeavours to circulate the Scriptures in that country has been the conversion of many individuals from the vain theoretical systems of German 186 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. metaphysicians, to the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. The results of the labours of the Bible Society were "described as follows in 1838, by Dr. Pinkerton, the agent of the Society: — "That we have laboured successfully in Germany during the last twenty-four years, against infidelity in every form, will not be questioned by. impartial judges; and though the success we have had has not been everywhere in proportion to our expectations, yet, be it remembered, it is the return of evangelical light to many districts of this country which is daily exposing, more and more, the fearful extent of the spiritual darkness in which human systems have involved the present generation. We lament over the chaos encompassing us, but we are not in despair; we know and believe that the wisdom and power of Divine truth shall finally triumph." The narrative of a visit paid to Brussels, Cologne, and other parts of Germany, in the summer of 1852, by the Rev. T. Phillips (given in the 49th Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society), supplies many deeply interesting illustrations of the value of the labours carried on by the Society's agents in this portion of the continent. JEWISH-GEEMAN. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. o'f> nfti W3ii>ttf>7 2 • .mfm tfa ifti wfa 7Jif> pvfo f"'3 "tfn trtfn \fn 7Jif> pito \fn ifa afjpib o'b u5fow rfm p5fmi pi)5u uttf laoiwifa w?f> 7Jif> pSfpvi oysboufn pu 7rt van vbbb 3 • .uufu fr"i x>b3rt 7177 )*fi 13M»D W'i ff>7 7Jlf> 5 *.pMJW ")P7 U5*5 \fa ~>U) ]V3vi ffa 7Jlf> ,|Wu5 $1 "ifiVl OP'f" ]'f> 4 * .13f'f> • .ppv wo ivi pirtwi uufa ]p3 Diup ]"f> ">6n pu 6 • .pppnara u3o pv vfo p'j-jpdpj'p f>7 7Jif> ,p'jti>iwp pyb rfa v5'3 ito iv 8 " • .pos'iSa pf> pn vbbfi pf>7 ^'tf ,rw:i"3 u3'5 or>7 jf>p tp pfa ,p'J:"i oii of>p W3ii>ny7 ' ]*f> bn ,oui:5"fnr> jdmup i>iif> pm5pii pl'b rOTpfo-pfm 167 ifai tfa 9 ♦.u5 , i ou7 ]f>p rwri iv pfa profr w pw;f>p uirm f"7 7Jif> ; u3f;pw vxzbvwfa -pn ut'f> uinii fW 7Jif> pbvv ivi yb "7611 pu ,0 • .pwf>p uii?n f>*7 / pr>nfop , if> 7i>3f> pfi y-ip'p f»»n I2 • ?pfi u5'J p'fi pppfo |w»i fi'7 7Jif> powwfi p yb of>p 7u " *.u5o PP7 )u5i*fl' DU7 |fip u5*j r»5inn 13 *.]wi5j pr>^ jw»t |f) f>7 ]MU7 ;p77rm 1: 7ir»'p pwufa ,u5fo 71; 36a ]wir7 7)lf> ,0"ip 77^1 V~lfa) lf>7 73lf» M ♦.73'[ pTfoM UUfcl ]f>P pir»f>l ,PW:fo PM"f> pii'l 0177 ]f>P T,f>i ,PUD"ip ,7i>uf>p of>p pwpfit ]wofi3Pi:*'6 pU7 pif> I3"p5'inyp wf> ,D"p5'577W wi prtft 7')i 7:if> ,t:if> ivvrt uuw?f>)i *.0"5TWftl 7Jlf> 177fal ^iifip Although the language of the .German Jews differs from pure German only in the circumstance of its being written in Hebrew characters, yet, as these Jews form an important and distinctive section of the dispersed people of Israel, the several versions executed or printed by them, and for their special benefit, may be entitled to a separate consideration. The number of these Jews settled in the Austrian states has been computed at 700,000: until within the last two centuries their condition was degraded and pitiable in the extreme, and their character became enfeebled under the manifold sufferings they were called to undergo: in the words of their historian, " they became divested of natural feeling, absorbed in pecuniary interest and self-preservation, and even accustomed to their servile and abject position." They are now happily released from the persecutions by which their existence was formerly rendered so wretched, as to be justly termed, by a contemporary historian, " a mass of suffering;" but Class III.] JEWISH-GERMAN. 187 it is remarkable, that they ai*e now said to be characterised by a tendency to " merge Mosaic as well as Talmudic Judaism in a philosophical and social Pantheism." The first portion of the Scriptures translated and published expressly for the German Jews con- sisted of the Pentateuch and Megilloth (i. e. Euth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Canticles), an edition of which was printed in Hebrew characters at Cremona, in Italy, in 1542 : the author of this translation is unknown, but it is attributed to Elias Levita, a celebrated Jewish grammarian. Two years afterwards a version of the Pentateuch, the Megilloth, and the Haphtoroth (lessons from the Prophets appointed to be read in the synagogues), was made by Michael Adam, a converted Jew, and an edition was printed at Constance. The first four chapters of Genesis were printed at the same place, in 1543, from the German- Jewish translation; and the books of Exodus, Joshua, Ezckiel, and Canticles, appeared at Prague in 1553. Some separate books of the Old Testament were likewise published by R. R. Nathan, F. E. Michol, Mardochaeus, F. Jacob, and others. The first edition of the German New Testament in rabbinical characters was printed at Cracow, in 1540: the work was executed by Johan Hersuge, a converted Jew, on the basis of Luther's version; but the book of Revelation is omitted. Five books of the New Testament (namely, St. Luke, St. John, Acts, Romans, Hebrews, and part of the first and second chapters of St. Matthew) were translated into German by Elias Schadaeus, a German pastor of the church of Strasburg, chiefly from Luther's version ; and an edition was printed at Strasburg, in 1592: a tract on the conversion of the Jews was appended to the work. In 1820 the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the, Jews' undertook to furnish the German Jews with copies of the German Scriptures in rabbinical characters. The Society's first edition of the New Testament appeared in 1820: the German text from which it was taken was the edition of Luther's version published by Senator Von Meyer, at Frankfort, in 1819, and the transcription into rabbinical characters was made by Mr. Judah D'Allemand, of London. With respect to the effects produced by the dissemination of this version, it has been stated that " those who have gone over to the Protestant Church' from the synagogue have been more numerous during the last few years in Germany than they ever were elsewhere or before." The number of Jews baptized in Germany during the last twenty years is estimated at 5000; and the sincerity of some among them has been attested by the irreproachable tenor of jjheir conduct, and by the devotedness with which they have preached the new covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. 188 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. JUDE O-P OLI SH. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. ]f> yfi nfm 'joJdi Df>7 2 : ofa -tfn unfm z>fin ';if> ,pfu p«p "tfm mft) of>7 ':if» ,mpi) ofa ->f»n jsfip ]f> j»f» nfti o'fi |'f> 4 : p5p>:i vfi ofni ,p5p>;i pd'j ->f»a "rfm o*f> ;p 'jif 1 ; v5fim d'P - pi7 -)f>n D'5f> 3 : ufa d»p ^f>? D-rwprp f"7 ';ifi ,D»r)Dprp n7 yfi w»d u5'5 of>7 'jifi 5 : yvawv fin ]ip u5-i of>7 nfai ppi pfa 'sifi pvb zfii if> ,bwJ yfi i3 jwp'j rf> ")i»7 7 : ppv |D"P»j upp Dfm ,up'Dy pfo jip ]fo yfi nfi)) fin 6 : )p-ot p>j dp pfo p"i'3 )i np'D'j nfm -}i> p7^it ,u5'i zfii vS'3 ifiw i\n 8 : o'fi Jin p-ij ybfi\ >bfi \fi ,u5»5 dot jvipii p»i'3 ifr -)P •tfn tp 10 : pf> pJph 77 )»p ppip dph dpjw p'bvfi vy>b dph ,p5»i ncfti DP7 if>n sfa 9 : u5.'J dot |'a»n ':ifi ,jyj»t oii j'Pip'J i'P tu " : u:pp«:i p>: en ppp dJph f>7 ':if> ^Snpy o'f» 7717 t»f> pipn p»7 'jip ,pJpi) 77 j'P I'lPt fa |'3pyj d5pp tp ppp fa li ,)w:i if» o'P i'3f>p dp S'p 6'u -73P 12 : yvm ]fi py o'f> pfo »j»j»r fi«7 pp |5'n op7 jip d»j ':tf ,pii3 ]ip ]nu'j py pfm dph 13 : pfo ]"( |p p"5j dph fa 1: # ofo jip wp fa ppn /jjifVa wfi p*p pfo ':tf ,d»5p pftn »'fr o-7nii cf"7 '516 " : pfo pp jt»h ,dpjpp ]>p jVn dot |ip p»j 'iif> p-'ip : U"P"3f>)) 'jifi 7p:o p'p 5ip ,tppp dot ]ip )v )J'53"P dp? )ip fir, B"p5»hpp ]"f> ,D"p5'i-)PP ]"i )»pw»j j»3PP tp 'jif» The Polish Jews are regarded by their brethren as the most highly gifted of their nation in intellectual endowments, and their reputation for superior sagacity is apparently not unfounded; for in no other section of the Jewish people, it has been observed, do we find a life of so much social activity combined with so decided a bent towards religious and contemplative philosophy. Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, they have in a great measure, supplied the synagogues of Germany with teachers and rabbins; and, according to the testimony of Chevalier Bunsen, "there is scarcely any branch of literature or science taught in the universities (at least of Prussia) where the professors are not either converted Jews or the sons of those who were Jews." The Polish Jews have long been settled in Poland, and the whole trade of the country is in their hands. They form a large proportion of the population; and in Cracow there is one Israelite to every eleven inhabitants. Russia, says Da Costa, since the accession of its Polish provinces, numbers not less than 1,120,000 Jews among its 63,000,000. These Jews, having' been exposed to much suffering by the oppressive measures of the Russian government, have in many cases adopted the same expedient that was resorted to, under similar persecutions, by some of their brethren in the Spanish peninsula; and, by concealing their religion, have shielded themselves from persecution. The immense power acquired by the Jews of the Russian empire is not generally known, because not outwardly manifested; yet we are told, by one of their own nation, that " from the smallest retail dealer in Poland, to the general officer at Petersburg, there is said to exist a line of Jews in communication with each other, through whose hands pass the chief affairs of the home department, as well as the most important foreign negotiations." The language spoken by the Polish Jews is principally Old German, with a mixture of Hebraisms, or at least phrases peculiar to the Jews: there is very little Polish in it. A translation of the New Testament into this language was undertaken, in 1820, by the London Society for Promoting Christi- anity among the Jews: the preparation of the work was intrusted by the Society to a converted Jew, Benjamin Nehemiah Solomon, who prosecuted this translation under the roof of the Rev. Thomas Scott. An edition was published by the Society in 1821, and 300 of the copies were purchased by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 200 of which were placed at the disposal of the Prussian Bible Society, for sale or gratuitous distribution among the Jews. In 1827, the Rev. A. M'Caul proposed to undertake a translation of the Old Testament into Judeo -Polish ; but it does not appear that this important work has been yet completed. Class III.] OLD SAXON. 189 OLD SAXON. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 4. 1 In anaginne uuas uuort, inti thas uuort uuas mit Gote, inti Got selbo uuas thas uuort. 2 Thas uuas in anaginne mit Gote. Alliu thuruh thas uuurdun gitan, inti uzzan siu ni uuas uuiht gitanes, thas thar gitan uuas. 3 Thas lib uuas in imo, inti thas lib uuas lioht manno. 4 Inti thas lioht in finstarnessen leuhta, inti finstarnessen, thas ni bigriffun. 1 In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus ipse erat verbum. 2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. 3 Vita erat in ipso, et vita erat lux hominum. 4 Lux in tenebris lucebat, et tenebrse earn non comprehenderunt. The Heliand and the Niederdeutsche Psalmen present the best specimens of the pure Old Saxon. Although no version, strictly so called, of the Scriptures exists in this ancient dialect, yet it possesses a Harmony of the Gospels, translated in the ninth century, which has a special claim on the attention of philologists, and which can, therefore, be scarcely passed over without notice. This harmony is the earliest document extant which exhibits the stock whence Anglo-Saxon sprang. The language in which it is written has been spoken almost from time immemorial in the greater part of Low, Piatt, or Northern Germany. The Saxons who emigrated from this part of Germany to Britain, and founded the various kingdoms of the Heptarchy, spoke this language ; but from various causes, hereafter to be men- tioned, it underwent several modifications in consequence of their residence in this country. Their brethren, on the contrary, who remained in their fatherland, preserved the purity of their language; and the original vernacular idioms of our Saxon progenitors are still to be heard, with comparatively little variation, among the peasantry of Hanover, Holstein, Sleswick, Mecklenburg, Magdeburg, Brandenburg, Pomerania, and the kingdom of Prussia; in part of Westphalia and of Jutland, and as far north as Livonia and Esthonia. I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Old Saxon, more appropriately designated by Grimm the Alt-nieder-deutsch (i. e. Old Low German), was probably cognate with the Gothic, for it is impossible to say which has the stronger claims to antiquity: judging from the close similarity of structure which prevails between these two dialects, the Friesic, and the Alemannic, or Old High German, we may infer that at some very remote period they all branched off from the language originally common to the whole Teutonic family. Old Saxon, like all the Low German dialects, is far more soft and flowing than High German. It sub- stitutes smooth consonants for the harsh aspirated sounds of High German, and regularly changes sch into s, and sz, or z into t. The most flourishing period, it has been remarked, of Low German was that immediately pre- ceding the Keformation; and many have regretted that the influence of Luther should have caused 190 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. the harsh High German dialect, spoken by him, to prevail as the language of the educated classes throughout Germany, to the exclusion of the Low German dialects, now confined to the poorer classes in the regions above mentioned. Dr. Bosworth observes that the Low German equals the High in strength and compositive power, while it exceeds it in richness and facility of enunciation; and that " the true Old German freedom, sincerity, and honesty, can have no better medium to express its full mental and political independence, its genuine and confidential feelings of the heart, than its old, unsophisticated, open, Low German dialect." II. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS IN THIS LANGUAGE. This ancient harmony, written by some unknown author in the ninth century, bears the title of Heliand, or the Healer. The reason of this appellation can be best explained in the words of our own King Alfred, who says that the history of our Lord is thus designated, because He " sot/dice hys folc Hal gedeth fram liyra synnum : " that is, He truly maketh His people to be healed from their sins. The Heliand is written in alliterative lines, and adheres pretty closely to the original. It is of some importance to the biblical student, from its showing the interpretation affixed by the early Saxons to the various passages of Scripture in which the words and actions of the Saviour when on earth are recorded. Two MS. copies of this poem have been preserved, although in a very mutilated condition. One of these copies belongs to the Cottonian Library in the British Museum, and is marked Caligula, A. vii. An old tradition has been circulated, to the effect that this very copy formed part of Canute's collection, and hence it is still generally known as " Canute's Bible;" but we possess no direct evidence in proof that it was ever in the hands of that monarch. The other codex was found in 1794 by Gerard Gley, a Frenchman, in the library of the cathedral church at Bamberg: it has since been removed to Munich. Some extracts from the Heliand were published (erroneously under the name of Franco- Theotisc), in the second volume of Hicks's Thesaurus, and also by Nyerup at Copenhagen in 1787. A complete and splendid edition was published at Munich in 1830, by Schmeller. The Munich MS. was taken as the base of this edition, and the various readings occurring in the London MS. are given in the notes. It may here be mentioned that, in the year 890, a Harmony of the Gospels, erroneously attributed to Tatian, was translated by an unknown writer into a sort of Old Saxon. The dialect of this translation is softer than the Alemannic and Bavarian; it contains words peculiar to Old Saxon, and may be considered as a kind of transition between Low and High German. MSS. are preserved at Oxford and St. Gallen. In an edition published by Palthenius, in 1706, the dialect is styled "the ancient Theotisc." This work was republished by Schilter in the second volume of his Thesaurus. Class 111.] ANGLO-SAXON. 191 ANGLO-SAXON. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 [London, 1842.] On fruman wses Word, and bset Word wees mid Gode, and God waes J?set Word. 2 £set wses on fruman mid Gode. 3 Ealle bing wseron geworhte burh hyne ; and nan bing nses geworht butan him. 4 Dset wses lif be on him geworht wses, and bset lif wses manna leoht. 5 And bset leoht lyht on bystrum ; and bystro bset ne genamon. 6 Man wses fram Gode asend, bses nama wses Iohannes. 7 pes com to gewitnesse bset he gewitnesse cySde be bam Leohte, bset ealle men burh hyne gelyfdon. 8 Nses he Leoht, ac bset he gewitnesse forS-bsere be bam Leohte. 9 SoS Leoht wses, bset onlyht selcne cumendne man on bysne middan-eard. 10 He wses on middan-earde, and middan-eard wses geworht burh hine, and middan-eard hine ne gecneow. n To hys agenum he com, and hig hyne ne underfengon. 12 SoSlice swa hwylce swa hyne underfengon, he sealde hym anweald bset hig wseron Godes beam, bam be gelyfaS on his naman: 13 ba ne synd acennede of blodum ne of flsesces willan, ne of weres willan ; ac hig synd of Gode acennede. 14 And bset Word wses flsesc geworden, and eardode on us, (and we gesawon hys wuldor, swylce an- cennedes wuldor of Fseder,) bset wses ful mid gyfe and so'Sfsestnysse. I. GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND ORIGIN. Anglo-Saxon was the language introduced into England with the Saxon domination by three distinct tribes of the Saxon Confederacy; namely, the Old Saxons properly so called (of whom mention is made in the foregoing memoir), the Angles from Anglen in the south-east of Sleswick in Denmark, and the Jutes from Jutland. The whole of England was divided between these three tribes : the Old Saxons established themselves in the west and south, forming the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, and Wessex; the Angles obtained large dominions in the north and east of England, and the south of Scotland; and the Jutes possessed a small territory in Kent and the Isle of Wight. Of these tribes the Angles appear to have been most numerous; in fact, they flocked to our island in such numbers as to leave their native country almost destitute of inhabitants. But from the time of Egbert, a.d. 827, the power of the West Saxons became predominant, and although the Angles gave their name to their adopted country (Angle or Engle-land), yet their descendants are to the present day termed, not Angles, but Saxons, by the Irish and the other Celtic nations. One and the same form of paganism prevailed among Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, from the period of their first arrival in England, A.D. 449, till the end of the sixth century, when Christianity was introduced among them by Augustine and the forty monks sent by Pope Gregory from Eome. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The three Saxon tribes who thus established their eight separate kingdoms in Britain, all spoke dialects of one language. The dialect of the Angles was broader and more harsh than that of the West Saxons, and was distinguished by the name of the Dano-Saxon, whereas the dialect of the West Saxons was called pure Anglo-Saxon. These two dialects remained distinct as long as Anglo-Saxon was the language of England, yet the difference between them probably was not greater than that which 192 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. now exists between the dialects of English spoken in different counties. Alfred the Great, a West Saxon king, gave predominance not only to the power but to the dialect of his countrymen; he patronised learning and learned men, devoted himself to literature, and produced several translations from Latin into his vernacular tongue. Under his auspices, therefore, the language of the West Saxons became the cultivated dialect of Anglo-Saxon, though afterwards modified more or less by the influence of the other dialects. The supremacy of the Danes during twenty-six years in England, under Canute and his two sons, had some slight effect in altering the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The Norman- French, introduced in 1066, had a still farther influence on Anglo-Saxon, which afterwards, by gradual and successive alterations, insensibly merged into the English. The Anglo-Saxon ceased to be spoken during the reign of Henry III., about A.D. 1258; it then took its place among the dead languages. In a great degree, however, it still lives in the English language, of which it forms the very ground- work; and it is not possible without some acquaintance with this ancient language, to understand thoroughly the structure of our own. Several of the provincial dialects, especially that of Dorset, preserve features of nearer resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon than the present polished English does. Anglo-Saxon itself however is, as we have just shown, but a scion of the Old Saxon language described in a preceding notice: among other evidences that it is not an original language may be cited the singular fact, that no less than five different fragments of verbs, of which the principal terminations appear in other languages, are huddled together in the conjugation of the substantive verb. As compared with its cognate languages, Anglo-Saxon bears the nearest resemblance to the ancient Friesic, and it is more than probable that many of the Friesians accompanied their Saxon neighbours in the invasion and colonisation of England. In its grammatical forms, Anglo-Saxon presents comparatively few deviations from the early branches of the Germanic family. It has two numbers, singular and plural, and three genders. The gender of nouns is chiefly determined by their terminations, and the adjectives have variable terminations to correspond with their nouns in gender, number, and case. There are four cases, and three declensions. Adjectives have a definite and an indefinite form of declension ; the latter (of which the inflections are the same as those of nouns of the second declension) is used when the adjective has a definite article, a demonstrative, or a possessive pronoun before it. In nouns the final syllable ing is sometimes patronymic, like iSrjs in Greek: in the Anglo-Saxon version of the Bible, the servant of Elisha is called Elising: from this source arise our words duckling, gosling, nestling, etc. But perhaps, one of the most remarkable characteristics of Anglo-Saxon is the multiplicity of its synonymous words. It has ten synonymes for the word 'man,' and as many for 'woman:' it has eighteen different words to denote 'persons in authority,' besides ten compounds, and several official titles. It has also eighteen words expressive of 'the mind,' and fourteen to denote 'the sea;' and to express the name of the Supreme Being, it has more terms and periphrases than many other languages. The Anglo-Saxons possessed a strong partiality for metaphor and periphrasis: thus to describe the Ark, the poet Csedmon used no less than thirty compound phrases, such as, " the sea house," " the ocean palace," " the wooden fortress," " the building of the waves," etc. This poetical combination of words was so continually resorted to, especially in poems, that many of the words thus combined became current in the language as compound terms. The Anglo-Saxon language displayed extreme aptitude in the formation of compounds, but, like most ancient languages, it drew its materials from its own resources, and formed its compound words by the combination of its own roots, without drawing, like modern English, from foreign vocabularies. " Great, verily," observes Camden, " was the glory of our tongue before the Norman conquest in this, that the Old Eno-lish (or Anglo-Saxon) could express most aptly all the conceits of the mind without borrowing from any." III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. " The Teutonic and the Celtic nations possessed an alphabetical system, of which the origin and the history are lost in remote antiquity. This system was styled the Runic, from the Teutonic word Run, Class III.] ANGLO-SAXON. 193 denoting a mystery, because the Runic characters were used in pagan rites. " The heathen Teutons," says Sir Francis Palgrave, " believed that the Runs possessed magical influence, could stop the vessel in her course, divert the arrow in its flight, cause love or hatred, raise the corpse from the grave, or cast the living into death-like slumbers." The Runes, however, of the Teutons and of the Celtic varied in form; and even the Runes of the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians differed from each other as much as the languages themselves. On account of the idolatrous veneration with which paganism invested these Runes, the early preachers and missionaries of Christianity endeavoured to set them aside, and to introduce the use of the Latin characters in their stead. It was doubtless from this cause, that Ulphilas refrained from writing his version in the Runic letters employed by the Germanic tribes, and adopted a modification of the Greek and Latin alphabets. The Anglo-Saxons, who had brought their Runes with them from Germany, as is evident from several ancient inscriptions, continued to use them till the time of Augustine, when they were induced to substitute the Latin characters. The Anglo- Saxon alphabet, however, has preserved a relict of the more recent Runes in its two peculiar characters J), b, stungen thuss, and D, $, stungen duss, the former of which had the hard sound of th as in thing, and the latter the soft sound of the same letters as in £/une. The other Anglo-Saxon letters, though very dissimilar from the Roman letters of the present day, are precisely the same as those used at Rome during the age in which Augustine flourished. Five letters of our English alphabet, j, k, q, v, and z, are not found in genuine Anglo-Saxon, but c and cw are invariably placed where k and q would be used by us. IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. It is very doubtful whether the entire Scriptures have ever been translated into Anglo-Saxon. We have no traditionary account of a complete version, and all the biblical MSS. in Anglo-Saxon now in existence contain but select portions of the sacred volume. The poems on sacred subjects usually attributed to Casdmon, afford the first feeble indications of an attempt being made by our Saxon fore- fathers to convey the truths of Scripture in their vernacular tongue. Caadmon lived in the seventh century; he was a monk in the monastery of Streoneshalch in Northumbria. It is said that he could neither read nor write, but that some of the other monks used to teach him portions of sacred history, and that he afterwards sang his lesson to his instructors in poetical strains. His poems have been strung together so as to form a sort of metrical paraphrase on some of the historical books of Scripture. He commences with the fall of the angels, the creation and fall of man, and proceeds to the history of the deluge, carrying on his narrative to the history of the children of Israel, and their wanderings in the desert. He also touches on the history of Nebuchadnezzar and of Daniel. The authenticity of this work has been doubted, some writers being of opinion that it was written by different writers at different periods ; the striking similarity between some of the poems and certain passages in Milton's Paradise Lost has been repeatedly noticed. Two editions have been printed; the first by Francis Junius at Amsterdam in 1655, and the second, with an English translation an4 notes, by Mr. Thorpe, in London, in 1832. The literal versions of such portions of the Scripture as have been translated into Anglo-Saxon have chiefly been transmitted to us in the form of interlineations of Latin MSS. A Latin Psalter, said to have been sent by Pope Gregory to Augustine, is still preserved among the Cottonian MSS., and contains an Anglo-Saxon interlinear version, of which the date is unknown. Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, and Guthlac, the first Anglo-Saxon anchorite, translated the Psalms soon after the com- mencement of the eighth century, but their MSS. are lost, and nothing is known with certainty respecting them. The same may be said concerning the portions of Scripture reported to have been translated by the Venerable Bede. At the time of his death, this renowned historian was engaged in a translation of the Gospel of St. John, and almost with his latest breath he dictated to his amanuensis the closing verse of the Gospel. Alfred the Great also took part in the translation of the Scriptures. He translated the commandments, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and part of the three following chapters, which he affixed to his code of laws. He likewise kept a " hand-boc," in which he daily 14 194 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. entered extracts from various authors, but more especially verses of Scripture translated by himself from Latin into Anglo-Saxon. There are three different versions of the Four Gospels at present known to be in existence. The most ancient of these is the famous Northumbrian Gloss, or Durham Book, preserved among the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. This MS. is one of the finest specimens extant of Saxon writing. The Vulgate Latin text of the Four Gospels was written by Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne, about A.D. 680 : his successor in the see adorned the book with curious illuminations, and with bosses of gold and precious stones; and a priest named Aldred added an interlinear gloss or version, probably about the year 900. The second Anglo-Saxon version of the Gospels belongs to the tenth century, and was written by Farmen and Owen at Hare wood, or Harwood, over Jerome's Latin of the Four Gospels. The Latin text was written about the same period as that of the Durham Book, having been made during the seventh century. This valuable MS. is in the Bodleian Library, and is called the Rushworth Gloss, from the name of one of its former proprietors. The other translation of the Gospels was made by an unknown hand, apparently not long before the Norman conquest, and is thought to have been translated from the Latin version which was in use before Jerome's time. These important MSS., with the version of iElfric hereafter to be mentioned, were for two or three centuries thrown aside as useless lumber. With the disuse of the Anglo-Saxon language they ceased to be understood, and were consigned to the shelves of monasteries. At the time of the Refor- mation, some Anglo-Saxon MSS. on doctrinal subjects were drawn from their places of concealment, and placed before the world in testimony that the early Saxon Church withstood the growing heresies of the Church of Borne. The Reformers, aware that the translation of part of the Scriptures into Anglo-Saxon was a precedent in favour of their own translation into the vernacular tongue, collected' the fragments of the Anglo-Saxon version, and in 1571 issued an edition of the Four Gospels with an English parallel version. The text of this edition was a late MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library at Oxford: it was edited by Archbishop Parker, and a preface was written by John Fox, the martyrologist. This edition was carefully collated with four MSS. by Francis Junius, jun., and published by Dr. Marshall at Dort, in 1665, in parallel columns with the Moeso-Gothic version. Some copies of this edition were provided with new title-pages, bearing the date, Amsterdam, 1684. The most complete edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels is that of Mr. Thorpe, printed in London, 1.842, in Roman type. Two Cambridge MSS. form the basis of this text, which in all doubtful passages is carefully collated with other MSS. Two editions of the Anglo-Saxon Psalter have been published. The first appeared in 1640: it was printed in London under the care of Spelman, from an ancient MS. by an unknown translator, and collated with other MSS. of equal antiquity. This version was undoubtedly made from the Latin Vulgate, which interlines with the Anglo-Saxon. A splendid edition of the Psalms was published in 1835 at Oxford: the MS. which forms the text formerly belonged to the Due de Berri, the brother of Charles V., king of France, and was preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. Mr. Thorpe, the editor, attributed this MS. to the eleventh century; and by some it is supposed to be a transcript of the version executed by Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, in the early part of the eighth century. It is, however, rather a paraphrase than a version, and is written, partly in prose, and partly in metre. A partial interlinear translation of a Latin version of Proverbs, made in the tenth century, is pre- served among the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. To the same century belong the celebrated translations of iElfric, archbishop of Canterbury: they consist of the Heptateuch, or first seven books of the Bible, and the book of Job. An edition of this version was published by Mr. Thwaits, at Oxford, in 1699, from an unique MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library: the book of Job was printed from a transcript of a MS. in the Cottonian Library. iElfric in some portions of his version adheres literally to the text; but in some parts he appears to aim at producing a condensation, or abridgment, rather than a translation of the events related by the inspired historian. Like the other Anglo-Saxon fragments, his translation was made from the Latin version. Class III.] ANGLO-SAXON. 195 A few MSS. of the Psalms, written shortly before, or about the time of, the Norman Conquest, are extant, and show the gradual decline of the Anglo-Saxon language. The history of the language may still farther be traced in three MSS. yet in existence, which were made after the arrival of the Normans. They are MSS. of the same translation, and two of them are attributed to the reign of Henry the Second: but the language in which they are written is no longer pure Anglo-Saxon; it has merged into what is designated the Anglo-Norman. V. FACTS KELATIVB TO THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VEESION. The Anglo-Saxon version was never disseminated among the people, for the art of reading was, during the Anglo-Saxon period, exclusively confined to priests and kings. Learning was then cul- tivated chiefly in monasteries, and the Latin version of the Scriptures was there generally studied. Some members of the clerical body were, however, but imperfectly acquainted with the Latin tongue, and it was for their benefit that the interlinear glosses were added to the Latin MSS., in order that they might themselves understand the portions which it was their duty to read to the people. NORTHUMBRIAN DIALECT, ho title oe date. SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 8. Ges.eh wutotlice ftreatas gestag in mor & mi's Sy gesastt geneolecedon to him 'Seignas his. 2 & untynde muS his gelserde hea cuoed. 3 eadge biSon Sa Saerfendo of 1 from gaste forSon hiora is ric heofna. 4 eadge bi'Son $a milde for'Son 'Sa agnegaS eor'So. 6 eadge bi'Son 8a Se gemaenas nu forfton 'Sa gefroefred biSon. 6 eadge br$on $a $e hynegra'S & ■Syrstas soSfasstnisse forSon Sa .ilio gefylled bi'Son 1 geriorded. 7 eadge brSon miltheorte for'Son hiora i $a miltheortnise him gefylges. 8 eadge bi'Son claene of i from hearte forSon 'Sa god geseas. The above is extracted from " The Anglo-Saxon Gospels," undertaken about 1833 by Messrs J. M. Kemble and B. Thorpe at the expense of the University of Cambridge, and printed at the Pitt Press. The progress of the work was suspended by the sudden departure of one of the editors to Germany, and it was not resumed on his return. 196 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. ENGLISH. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. Wicuf, 1380. I IN the bigynnynge was the word and the word was at god, and god was the word, 2 this was in the bigynnynge at god, 3 alle thingis weren made bi hym : and withouten hym was made no thing, that thing that was made 4 in him was liif, and the liif was the lijt of men, 5 and the li3t schyneth in derknessis i and derknessis comprehendiden not it. 6 A man was sente fro god to whom the name was Ion, ' this man cam in to witnes- synge, that he schulde bere witnessynge of the li3t, that alle men schulden bileue bi hym, 8 he was not the li3t, but that he schulde bere witnessynge of the li3t, 9 ther was a verri li3t : whiche li3t- neth eche man that cometh in to this world, 10 he was in the world, and the world was made bi him i and the world knewe hym not. II he cam in to his owne thingis : (I hise resceyueden hym not: 12 but hou many euer resceiueden hym : he 3af to hem power to be made the sones of god, to hem that bileueden in his name. Tyndale, 1534. j Covehdale, 1535. I IN the beginnynge was the worde, and the worde was with God : and the worde was God. 2 The same was in the beginnynge with God. 3 All thinges were made by it, and with out it, was made nothinge, that was made. 4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, s and the lyght shyneth in the darcknes, but the darcknes comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was Iohn. ' The same cam as a witnes to beare witnes of the lyght, that all men through him myght beleve. 8 He was not that lyght : but to beare witnes of the lyght. 9 That was a true lyght, which lyghteth all men that come into the worlde. 10 He was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by him : and yet the worlde knewe him not. II He cam amonge his (awne) and his awne re- ceaved him not. ,2 But as meny as receaved him, to them he gave power to be the sonnes of God in that they beleved on his name. IN the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was with God, and God was y° worde. The same was in the begynnynge with God. All thinges were made by the same, and without the same was made nothinge that was made. In him was the life, and the life was the light of men ; and the light shyneth in the darknesse, and the darkness compre- hended it not. There was sent from God a man, whose name was Ihon. The same came for a wit- nesse, to beare wytnesse of y e light, that thorow him they all might beleue. He was not that light, but that he might beare witnesse of y° light. That was the true light, which lighteth all men, that come in to this worlde. He was in the worlde, I the worlde was made by him, and y° worlde knewe him not. He came in to his awne, and his awne receaued him not. But as many as re- ceaued him, to them gaue he power to be the children of God : euen soch as beleue in his name. Matthew, 1537. IN the beginninge was the worde, and the worde was with God : and the worde was God. The same was in the beginnynge wyth God. All thinges were made by it, and wythout it, was made no- thynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in y" darck- nes but the darcknes com- prehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same cam as a witnes to beare wytnes of the lyght, that all men through him myght beleue. He was not that lyght : but to beare witnes of the lyght. That was a true lyght whych lyghteth all me that come into the worlde. Ho was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by hym : and yet the worlde knewe hym not. He cam amonge hys awne, and hys awne receaued hym not. But as many as re- ceaued hym, to them he gaue power to be the sonnes of God in that they beleued on hys name : -GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The population of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, according to the census of 1851, is 27,500,000 souls, and that of England alone, 16,920,000. But the extension of the English lan- guage must by no means be estimated by that of England, or even of the united kingdom. It may be said to be co-extensive with the habitable world, for of all people, except the Jews, the English are the most widely scattered, and their language may thus be heard in every country, and amongst every nation, under heaven. The United States of America are inhabited almost exclusively by an English-speaking population. English is also the predominant language in the Canadas and the West Indies. In the East its ascendancy is being gradually increased and established: amongst the millions of India, for instance, it is becoming more and more cultivated; but in spite of the progress of edu- cation it will never altogether predominate over all the various native dialects spoken in the numerous colonies and settlements established by the enterprise, and maintained by the energy, of the Anglo- Saxon race. The recent rapid increase in the population of the Australian colonies adds largely to the means previously operating in the distribution of the English tongue, which promises to become ere long widely diffused over the coasts and islands of the Southern Pacific. Class III.] ENGLISH. 197 II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The English language is the daughter of the Saxon, and preserves to a great extent the features of its parent. So far, however, as respects its vocabulary, English is essentially a compound language, and borrows freely from all sides and from all sources. In the first period of its history it was greatly influenced by the Norman-French, introduced by William the Conqueror. During the first century after the Conquest, the two languages subsisted side by side; but a fusion gradually took place, in •which the language of the people triumphed over that of their invaders, for although Norman words were freely admitted into the vocabulary, the genius and structural character of the new language evolved by this intermixture were Saxon. The exact period of the transmutation of Saxon into English has been disputed, but it seems most reasonable to believe that the process was gradual. A fragment of the Saxon Chronicle, published by Lye, and concluding with the year 1079, exhibits the language in the first stage of its transition state, no great deviation having then been made from Anglo-Saxon. But in the con- tinuation of the same chronicle, from 1135 to 1140 A.D., the commencement of those changes may be distinctly traced, which subsequently formed the distinctive peculiarities of the English language. The principal change introduced about this period was the gradual substitution of particles and auxiliary words for the terminal inflections of the Anglo-Saxon. The English has happily retained the facility of its parent language in compounding words, the only difference in this respect being, that, in the formation of its compound terms, the Anglo-Saxon drew only from its own resources, whereas unfortunately the English has had recourse to the Latin, the Greek, the French, the Italian, and even the Arabic languages. It has been remarked by a distinguished foreigner, that "everywhere Ckanmeb, 1539. I IN the begynnynge was the worde, and the worde was wyth God : and God was the worde. 2 The same was in the begynnyng with God. 3 All thynges were made by it, and without it, was made nothynge that was made. 4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, 5 and the lyght shyn- eth in darcknes, and the darcknes comprehended it not. 6 There was sent from God a man, whose name was Iohn. 7 The same cam as a wytnes to beare wytnes of the lyght, that all men through hym myght beleue. 8 He was not that lyght : but was sent to beare wytnes of the lyght. 9 That lyght was the true lyght, whych lyghteth euery man that cometh into the worlde. 10 He was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by hym : and the worlde knewe hym not. II He cam amonge hys awne, and hys awne re- ceaued him not. 12 But as many as receaued hym to them gaue he power to be the sonnes of God : euen them that beleued on hys name. Taverneb, 1549. IN the begynnynge was the worde, and the word was with God, and the worde was God. The same was in the begynnynge wyth God. All thynges were made by it and without it was made nothynge that was made. In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men, and the lyght shyneth in the darknes, but the darknes comprehended it not. Ther was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a wytnes to beare wytnes of the light, that all men through him myght beleue. He was not that lyght but to beare witnes of the lyght. That was a true lyght, which lyghteth all men that come into the worlde. He was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by him, and yet the world knewe him not. g^* He came amonge his (owne) and his owne receiued him not. But as manye as receyued him to them he gave power to be the sonnes of God in that they beleued on his name. Geneva, 1557. 1 IN the beginnyng was the word, and the worde was with God, and that worde was God. 2 The same was in the begynnyng with God. 3 Althinges were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. 4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkenes, and the darknes comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was Iohn. 7 The same came for a wytnes, to beare wytnes of the light, that all men through hym might beleue. 8 He was not that light, but was sent to beare wytnes of the light. 9 That was that true lyght, which lyghteth all men that come into the worlde. 10 He was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by hym : and the worlde knewe him not. n He came among his owne, and his owne receaued him not. 12 But as many as receaued hym, to them he gaue power to be the sonnes of God, euen to them that beleue in his Bishops, 1568. I IN the begynnyng was the worde, and the worde was with God : and that worde was God. 2 The same was in the begynnyng with God. 3 All thynges were made by it : and without it, was made nothyng that was made. 4 In it was lyfe, and the lyfe was the lyght of men. 5 And the lyght shyneth in darkenesse : and the darkenesse compre- hended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John : 1 The same came for a witnesse, to beare witnesse of the lyght, that all men through hym myght beleue. 8 He was not that lyght : but was sent to beare wit- nesse of the lyght. 9 That [lyght] was the true lyght, which lyghteth every man that commeth into the worlde. 10 He was in the worlde, and the worlde was made by hym, and the worlde knewe hym not. II He came among his owne, and his owne receaued hym not. 12 But as many as receaued hym, to them gave he power to be the sonnes of God, euen them that be- leued on his name. 198 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. the principle of utility and application dominates in England, and constitutes at once the physiognomy and the force of its civilisation." This principle is certainly legible in its language, which although possessed of remarkable facility in the adaptation of foreign terms and even idioms to its own use, is at the same time free from the trammels with which the other languages of its class are encumbered. In the gender of nouns, for instance, we meet with no perplexity or anomaly, every noun being masculine, feminine, or neuter, according to the nature of the object or idea it represents; and as the adjectives are all indeclinable, their concordance with the noun is at once effected without the apparently useless trouble of altering the final letters. This perfect freedom from useless encumbrance adds greatly to the ease and vigour of expression; undoubtedly, however, the best English is that which is most free from foreign admixture. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. During the period of the gradual disappearance of the Anglo-Saxon and evolution of the English language, as above described, England was under papal domination, and the Scriptures were no longer sought after. The Anglo-Saxon versions became useless from the alteration in the language, and until the fourteenth century the efforts made to produce a new translation were • few and feeble. An ecclesiastic named Orm, or Ormin, supposed from his dialect to have been a native of the north of England, composed a metrical paraphrase of the Gospels and Acts, in lines of fifteen syllables, during the latter part of the twelfth century. This work is entitled the Ormulum, from the name of its author, and is preserved in the Bodleian Library. A more extensive metrical paraphrase, com- prising the whole of the Old and New Testaments, is to be found amongst other poetry of a religious nature in a work entitled Sowle-hele (Soul's health), belonging to the Bodleian Library: it is usually Rheims, 1582. I IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. 2 This was in the beginning with God. 3 Al things were made by him : and without him was made nothing. That which was made, * in him was life, and the life was the light of men : 5 and the light shineth in darkenesse, and the darkenesse did not com- prehend it. c There was a man sent from God, whose name was lohn. 1 This man came for testimonie : to giue testimonie of the light, that al might beleeue through him. 8 He was not the light, but to giue testimonie of the light. 9 It was the true light, which lighteneth euery man that commeth into this world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. II He came into his owne, and his owne received him not. 12 But as many as re- ceiued him, he gaue them power to be made the sonnes of God, to those that beleeue in his name. Douat, 1847. I IN the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him : and without him was made nothing that was made : 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men : 5 And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not compre- hend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 1 This man came for a witness ; to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. 9 That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. II He came into his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as re- ceived him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name. Authorised, 1611. 1 IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. s And the light shin- eth in darknes, and the dark- nes comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was lohn. 7 The same came for a witnesse, to beare witnesse of the light, that all men through him might beleeue. 8 Hee was not that light, but was sent to beare witnesse of that light. 9 That was the true light, which lighteth euery man that commeth into the world. I0 Hee was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. "Hee came vnto his owne, and his owne receiued him not. 12 But as many as receiued him, to them gaue hee power to be- come the sonnes of God, euen to them that beleeue on his Name. Blatney, 1769. I IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him ; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life ; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 1 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. II He came unto his own, and his own received him not. I2 But as many as re- ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that be- lieve on his name. Class III.] ENGLISH. 199 ascribed to the end of the twelfth century. Another metrical version, probably of the same date, is preserved in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: it comprises only the first two books of the Old Testament, and is written in the dialect then spoken in the north of England. In the same College, a metrical version of the Psalms, apparently written about the year 1300, has been deposited: this version adheres to the Latin Psalter, corrected by Jerome, as closely as the nature of the composition will admit. Several other MSS. of the old English Psalter, preserved in the British Museum and the Bodleian Library, are supposed to be exemplars of the same version, with the orthography altered in conformity with the state of the language at the periods in which they were written. A translation of the Psalms from the same text (the corrected Latin of Jerome), was executed by Eichard Rolle, of Hampole, near Doncaster, during the early part of the fourteenth century. This version is remark- able as being the first portion of the Scriptures ever translated into English prose. Rolle, or Hampole as he is more generally called, also wrote a paraphrase in verse of a part of Job. Two other versions of the Psalms, belonging to the same period, are likewise extant. In Bene't College, Cambridge, there is a version of Mark, Luke, and the Pauline Epistles, but the translator and the date are unknown; and in the British Museum there is a translation of the Gospels appointed to be read on Sundays, written in the northern dialect. Such were the principal translations of scriptural portions executed before the time of Wickliffe. A version has been commonly ascribed to John de Trevisa, vicar of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, who flourished toward the close of the fourteenth century; but he only translated a few detached passages, which he introduced in certain parts of his writings. Some texts translated by him were painted on the walls of the chapel belonging to Berkeley Castle. To Wickliffe, therefore, " the Morning Star of the Reformation," belongs the honour of having produced the first version of the entire Scriptures in the English language. His translation was made immediately from the Latin Vulgate, and was completed about the year 1380. So great was the opposition it excited, that in 1390 a bill was brought into the House of Lords for its total suppression. The motion, however, was thrown aside through the influence of the Duke of Lancaster, who is reported to have said, " We will not be the dregs of all, seeing other nations have the law of God, which is the law of our faith, written in their own language." It was perhaps, about this period, that the followers of Wickliffe revised and corrected his version : several copies of this revision are extant. In 1408 the farther translation, and even the perusal, of the Scriptures was formally prohibited in a Convocation held at Oxford, by Archbishop Arundel. Great persecution followed this edict, and many suffered unto death for having read the English Bible. Although Wickliffe's version of the English Bible was the earliest in point of execution, yet, as the art of printing was unknown during the age in which it was produced, it was among the latest of the English versions in being committed to the press. The first printed edition was published in 1731, by Mr. Lewis. This edition, which was preceded by a history of the English biblical transla- tions, by the editor, included only the New Testament. The same version of the New Testament was re-edited in 1810 by the Rev. H. H. Baber, with very valuable prolegomena. It was again published with extreme accuracy in 1841, as a portion of the English Hexapla, the best MSS. having been most carefully collated for this purpose by George Offor, Esq.; a MS. then in the possession of the Duke of Sussex was used as the basis of this edition. Another edition was published by Pickering in 1848 : it is printed from a contemporary MS. written about A.D. 1380, formerly in the monastery of Sion, and now preserved in the collection of Lea Wilson, F. S. A. The Old Testament of Wickliffe's version remained in MS. till within the last few years; but a complete edition of both Testaments was published at Oxford, in 1850, under the editorship of the Rev. J. Forshall and Sir F. Madden. We now come to the history of our authorised version of the Scriptures, which may be said to date from the year 1524, when the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, the first portions of Tyndale's translation, were printed at Hamburgh. Tyndale's version, which has served as the basis of all succeeding versions of the English Scriptures, was executed directly from the sacred originals. It was 200 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. produced in the midst of persecution, and furnishes a wonderful example of the result of steadfast faith and firm determination of purpose. Though opposed by the combined power of the King of England, his whole council, and the emperor Charles V., William Tyndale contrived to elude their vigilance until the great work, upon which his heart was set, was accomplished. " Having from the first con- sulted only with God and his own conscience, he possessed an indescribable severity of conviction that he had but one thing to do, and though perpetually exposed to seizure and death, not a day was to be lost by him, nor was lost." And although he finally sealed his testimony with his blood, (for he was martyred at Vilvorde, near Brussels, in 1536,) yet he died in the midst of victory; for before he expired no less than fourteen editions of his version of the New Testament had been published, the last of which, being the first edition of the English Scriptures ever printed in his native country, was passing through the press in London " before or at the very time that he was receiving at Vilvorde the crown of martyrdom." It seemed as if all who had been concerned in this first translation of the English Scriptures from the original tongues were to be admitted to the glory of martyrdom, for John Fryth, who had yielded some assistance in the work, was afterwards burnt to death in Smithfield ; and William Roye, who had at one time been Tyndale's amanuensis, was put to death in Portugal on a charge of heresy. Although the enemies of the truth thus succeeded in removing the translators from the earth, their efforts to suppress the translation, by destroying all the printed copies, were utterly unavailing. On one occa- sion Sir Thomas More, who was then chancellor, inquired of an individual who was suffering imprison- ment for conscience sake, how Tyndale subsisted abroad, and who were the persons in London that abetted and supported him : the prisoner replied, that it was the Bishop of London who maintained him by sending a sum of money to buy up the impression of his New Testament. The chancellor admitted the truth of the statement, and suffered the man to escape. Coverdale's Version of the entire Scriptures was published in 1535 : it was printed on the continent, but at what place is uncertain. In producing this version, Coverdale, by his individual energy, accomplished what the combined efforts of the king, of the two Houses of Convocation, and of Archbishop Cranmer, had been unable to effect; for in 1533 an edition of the complete English Bible had been resolved upon, and actually commenced by Cranmer, but the attempt proved utterly abortive. In his preface, Coverdale states that he had used five different Latin and " Douche" (or German) versions in the formation of his own. It is also certain from internal evidences that he availed himself largely of the labours of Tyndale. " His style," observes Scrivener, " is vigorous ; the renderings of particular texts are very perspicuous, though they are often questionable and diffuse; while an air of freshness and novelty pervades the volume, since no one of our translators has ventured on such bold interpretation as Coverdale, and but little of his peculiar diction was adopted by those who followed him." This translation, happily, was regarded with favour by Henry VIII., and was the first English Bible allowed by royal authority. This capricious monarch further directed, in 1536, that a copy of the whole Bible in Latin and in English should be laid in the choir of every church throughout the realm, " for every man that would, to look and read therein." Matthew's Bible was edited by John Eogers, the ardent friend of Tyndale, and the proto- martyr of Mary's reign. The whole of the New, and the first part of the Old Testament, as far as the end of the Second of Chronicles, was merely a reprint of Tyndale's version with a few orthographical alterations. Tyndale had also translated a number of chapters from the Prophetical Books, which had been printed along with the New Testament. These Rogers inserted, and the portions which Tyndale had left untranslated he supplied from Coverdale's version. The printers, Grafton and Whitchurch, bore unaided the entire expense of the publication of this work; and from prudential motives Rogers affixed to it the fictitious name of Thomas Matthew. It was printed in folio in 1537, probably at Marlborow in Hesse. It is remarkable that up to the day of its arrival in London, the very existence Class III.] ENGLISH. 201 of this Bible was unknown to Henry and his ministers. During the previous ten years this version had been denounced and proscribed ; the copies surreptitiously imported into England had been searched for and burnt; even the persons by whom they had been read had been committed to the flames, and, only the year previously, the translator himself had been put to death ; and yet, no sooner was the entire version, " the desire of Tyndale's heart," printed for the first time in one volume and sent to England, than the hearts of those who had heretofore been persecutors were over- ruled to receive and sanction it. The volume received the royal license, and enactments were forth- with issued commanding the clergy to place copies in all the churches that the parishioners might obtain constant access to them. Cranmer's Great Bible (so called from its containing a prologue by Archbishop Cranmer, as well as from its size) is a revision of Matthew's Bible. The edition was commenced at Paris, where the paper was better and cheaper, and the workmen more skilful, than in England. But before the work could be completed at press, the Inquisition interfered, and the edition, consisting of 2500 copies, was seized and condemned to the flames. Some copies, however, were rescued and brought to England; the French printers were prevailed upon to bring their types and presses to London, and the edition was completed under the correction and revision of Coverdale in 1539. Taverner's Bible is likewise a revision of Matthew's Bible, edited, as the name imports, by Richard Taverner. It appeared in folio in 1549, and was dedicated to the king. The Geneva Version of the Bible is a revision of Tyndale's version, executed after the immortal work of Tyndale had been again diligently compared with the Hebrew and Greek texts. It was usual to ascribe this translation to the principal reformers who had taken refuge in Geneva during the persecutions of Mary. Anderson, however, has shown that so far from this version being the collective work of several individuals, the New Testament can in all probability be correctly attributed only to one individual, the Eev. William Whittingham, afterwards dean of Durham; while in the translation of the Old Testament, the names of Gilby and Sampson only are to be associated with that of Whittingham. The Old Testament appeared in 1540. The New Testament was published at Geneva in 1557, and is the first in our language which contains the distinction of verses by numerical figures. Archbishop Parker's or the Bishops' Bible was completed in 1568, after having been in course of preparation during three years. Several individuals were engaged in the work, for the Bible was divided into at least fourteen different portions, each of which was allotted to persons of learning and ability : eight of the individuals who thus took part in the revision were bishops ; hence the edition is generally known as the " Bishops' Bible." Archbishop Parker, the promoter of this revision, employed other critics to compare the version with the sacred texts, and he directed and reviewed the whole work himself. His object in setting forth this edition was, not to produce a new version, but to test and correct Cranmer's Bible, the translation then commonly in use, by a critical examination of the inspired originals. This Bible was in 1571 appointed to be used in churches, and for forty years it continued to be the Church version, although the Geneva Bible was more generally used in private houses. A reprint of the Bishops' Bible, published in 1572 in large folio, with cor- rections and prolegomena, is commonly called " Matthew Parker's Bible." King James's Bible, as our present authorised version is sometimes called, was commenced with the sanction of that monarch in the year 1604. It was undertaken on account of several objections having been made to the Bishops' Bible at the Conference held at Hampton Court during the preceding year. Fifty-four men, selected on account of their eminent classical attainments, were 202 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. appointed to execute the work; but from death, or some other cause, only forty-seven eventually engaged in it. They were divided into six companies, to each of whom a separate portion was assigned. They met periodically, for the purpose of conferring on the result of their individual labours; and at these meetings, says Selden, " one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on." The basis of the excellent version thus produced still continued to be Tyndale's; for, according to the directions given them at the outset, the translators followed the Bishops' Bible (which, as we have shewn, was based on that of Tyndale) as closely as the original would permit; but they compared it with the early editions of Tyndale's version, and with Coverdale's, Matthew's, Cranmer's, Taverner's, and the Genevan Bibles, and adopted from each the renderings which were the most faithful to the sacred text. Our present authorised version, therefore, so far from being a new translation, was a compilation from previous translations; but its inestimable value arises from the fact, that it is a compilation founded on a collation with the original Scriptures, conducted by men duly qualified for so momentous an undertaking. And it may be said to be, on the whole, the best substitute there is for the Hebrew and Greek originals. It was commenced in the spring of the year 1607, and was completed at press in 1611. Selden, Lowth, Horsley, Middleton, and other learned men who have critically examined this Bible, bear testimony to its great excellence. Dr. Adam Clarke justly remarks, that " the translators have seized the very spirit and soul of the original;" and that, of all European translations, King James's version is " the most accurate and faithful." Although this precious volume bears the name of King James, we are not indebted to him even for pecuniary aid in its production. Its publication was a mere business transaction; the entire expenses of the work were undertaken by Robert Barker, patentee of the office of king's printer, and it was printed and published by him as a speculation in trade. This Bible of 1611 is, with some trifling emendations and ortho- graphical alterations, the Bible of all who use the English language at the present day. It must be observed, however, that the Roman Catholics have a version of their own, which is in general use among them in preference to ours. Their version of the New Testament was printed at Rheims in 1582, and that of the Old Testament at Douay in 1609-10. The real character and object of this version can only be learned from the preface and notes: the text does not contain many real departures from the Vulgate, although a studied obscurity involves the entire diction. A great number of Greek words, such as azymes, pasche, etc., are left untranslated, for the purpose, no doubt, of mis- leading and perplexing common readers. And the notes breathe such a spirit of treason, and such a recklessness of assertion, that now they are commonly omitted in reprints. The text has been frequently revised and printed for distribution among Roman Catholics, and from time to time it has been rendered more and more conformable to our own authorised text. The Socinians have also a version of the New Testament: it was published in London in 1808, by anonymous editors, professedly on the basis of Archbishop Newcome's translation; but his authority is disregarded in all passages where their peculiar sentiments can be obtruded. Several translations of portions of the Scriptures have been executed in English since the year 1611; but our venerable authorised version has not hitherto, in whole or in part, been superseded by any. Passing over the translations of Bellamy and Geddes, which are too extravagant to deserve mention, several translations of particular books of Scripture by Lowth, Newcome, Horsley, Lee, Henderson and others, might be enumerated; yet these can scarcely be called versions in the popular sense of the term, being adapted rather for the learned than for the people. At the present time, there are associations established in America for the revision of King James's Bible, to meet the pretended wants of the Christian public there. But judging from the specimens put forth by those associations, the Authorised Version has nothing to fear. It rises high above the cavil of all its assailants in dignity and in force of language: in beauty of expression, and in an easy and free flow of words, to which no other version can aspire. We notice also a similar movement in this country, raised by persons who are little aware of what they desire, in wishing for a new version of the Bible. All our version requires Class III.] ENGLISH. 203 is to be carefully revised, in order to fit it for public reading, leaving tbe frame and body of the whole work untouched. IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OP THE ENGLISH SCRIPTURES. The editions of the Bible and Testament in our language have been so numerous, that even the bare enumeration of them would be a matter of absolute impossibility. During the eighty-seven years which elapsed from the appearance of the first portion of Tyndale's version (a.d. 1524) to the publi- cation of the authorised version in 1611, at least 278 editions of the Bible and Testament are known to have been printed ; of these the principal are the following : — 1524. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, translated by Tyndale, printed at Hamburgh. 1525. The New Testament of Tyndale's version, in 4to., published at Cologne and Worms: only one fragment of this work is known to be in existence: it was discovered in 1834 by Mr. Kodd, a bookseller, who happening to examine a quarto tract by CEcolampadius, which he had received from a friend, perceived that there was attached to it, by binding, a portion in the English language, black letter. This proved to be a relic of the three thousand copies of Tyndale's first edition of the New Testament. It afterwards adorned the library of the Hon. Thomas Grenville, and by his munificent gift it is now in the British Museum. 1526. The New Testament of the same version in 18mo., published at Worms. Until recently this has been generally believed to have been the first edition of Tyndale's version. A copy, wanting the titlepage, is in the Baptist museum at Bristol, from which the London reprint, published by Mr. Bagster in 1836, was executed. 1526. The New Testament of the same version, published at Antwerp. This was the first surreptitious edition, and was followed by two other editions, printed at the same place, during the two subsequent years. A corrected edition, compared with the Greek by Tyndale, was published in 1534 : it forms one of the versions in the English Hexapla. 1535. The entire Bible, with the Apocrypha, translated by Coverdale, some time lord bishop of Exeter, published in London, in folio. An exact reprint of this Bible, in Roman cha- racters, was published by Mr. Bagster, in 4to. in 1838, from a copy in the possession of the late Duke of Sussex. A second edition has since been issued. 1537. Matthew's Bible, in folio, probably printed at Marlborow, in Hesse. Matthew was the cognomen adopted by Rogers, the translator. This Bible was a revised edition of Tyndale's version, with the chapters which he had left untranslated supplied from Coverdale's version, the whole being carefully corrected by Rogers. 1539. Hollybushe's New Testament, 8vo., London. This is a reprint of Coverdale's translation, with the Latin version. The printer, Nicolson, inserted the name of Hollybushe, a man employed by him, in the titlepage. This New Testament was reprinted in 8vo., in London, a.d. 1839. 1539. Cranmer's Great Bible, folio. This edition was commenced at Paris, and finished in London. It is a revision of Matthew's Bible, produced by a re-examination of the sacred texts; and with the prologues and notes by Tyndale, and the other notes appended to Matthew's Bible, wholly omitted. It contains a prologue, or preface, by Archbishop Cranmer. 1539. Taverner's Bible, folio, London. This was a correction of Matthew's Bible, with a large proportion of his marginal notes retained, and others added by Taverner. 1550. The Gospel of Matthew, and part of the first chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, was translated by Sir John Cheke, from the Greek, about the year 1550; but this version, with the original notes that accompanied it, remained in MS. till 1843, when it was committed to the press under the editorship of the Rev. James Goodwin. Sir John Cheke made 204 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. much use of the older English versions, and especially endeavoured to avoid the intro- duction of any word derived from a Latin root. 1557. The Geneva New Testament in 8vo., printed at Geneva, by Conrad Badius. The second edition was published at the same place in 1560. An exact reprint of the edition of 1557, with the italic supplements and marginal annotations of the original, was published by Mr. Bagster in 1842: it also appears as one of the versions of the English Hexapla. 1560. The Geneva Bible (containing the Old and New Testaments, with annotations), printed in 4to. at Geneva. The second edition was published in folio, in London, the following year: numerous other editions were subsequently printed at Geneva and London. Some editions of the Geneva Bible (as those of 1599 and of 1611) contain Beza's translation of the New Testament, Englished by L. Thompson. At least 129 editions of the Geneva Bible and Testament are known to have been printed between the years 1560 and 1611. 1568. Archbishop Parker's, or the Bishops' Bible, folio, London: another edition, in quarto, was issued the following year for the use of families. This Bible has numerous marginal references, notes, and tables. The words which are printed in italics by James's trans- lators are here printed in a smaller type, and placed between brackets. The chapters are divided into verses, and the 7th verse of 1 John v., which was before printed in a different letter, is here inserted in the same type as the rest of the volume. 1611. The present authorised version, commonly called King James's Bible, folio, London. In 1649, in consequence of the high estimation in which the Genevan version continued to be held, this version was printed with the Genevan notes; but about this period, says Anderson, it prevailed, and took the place it has occupied ever since. 1769. A revised edition of the authorised version, prepared by Dr. Blayney, under the direction of the vice-chancellor and delegates of the Clarendon press at Oxford. This is con- sidered a standard edition, on account of its great accuracy ; yet one hundred and sixteen typographical errors, which evaded the scrutiny of Dr. Blayney, were rectified by Eyre and Strahan in their editions of 1806 and 1813. There is no land which has been so highly favoured as Britain in the multiplicity of editions of the Scriptures printed since the year 1611. The number of copies of the Scriptures printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society alone, from its establishment in 1804 to the beginning of 1860, is as follows: — Bibles 10,609,106 Testaments 10,859,816 Psalms . . . . . 568,587 Gospels and Acts . . . . 5,198 If to these be added the number of copies printed by the Universities, together with those pub- lished by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and other kindred Societies, with the numerous editions published by Messrs. Bagster, as well as those issued in Scotland, the aggregate amount seems almost incredible. The number of English Bibles and New Testaments separately which have passed through the press within the perfect recollection of many now living, has exceeded the number of souls in Britain! It has been more than double the population in 1801 ! And yet there is in many places an awful destitution. A large proportion has been sent to the colonies; and if Mr. Dudley's calculation be correct, of wear and tear (in schools particularly) at the rate of 15 per cent. ■per annum, we shall cease to wonder at the continued demand. A revised edition of the authorised English version was a few years since published at New York, under the sanction of the "American Bible Union" institution of that city. In this edition the Class III.] FLEMISH. 205 phraseology of the authorised version is to a great extent retained, but some corrections and emenda- tions, proposed by eminent biblical scholars, have been introduced; and the ecclesiastical and Latinised terms employed in certain passages by King James's translators are rendered into plain English words, adapted to the comprehension of unlearned readers. FLEMISH. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 [Brussels, 1838.] In het beginne was het Woordt, en het Woordt was by Godt, en het Woordt was Godt. 2 Dit was in het beginne by Godt. 3 Alle dingen zyn door het zelve gemaekt, en zonder dat en is 'er niet gemaekt van al dat 'er gemaekt is. 4 In 't zelve was het leven, en 't leven was het licht der menschen. 5 En het licht schynt in de duysternisse, en de duysternis en heeft 'et niet begrepen. 6 Daer was eenen mensch van Godt afgezonden, met name Joannes. 7 Dezen quam als getuyge, om getuygenisse van het licht te geven, op dat zy alle door hem gelooven zouden. 8 Hy en was het licht niet, maer om getuyge- nisse te geven van het licht. 9 Dit was het waeragtig licht, het welk alle menschen verlicht, komende. in deze wereldt. 10 Hy was in de wereldt, en de wereldt is door hem gemaekt, en de wereldt en heeft hem niet gekent. n Hy quam in syn eyge, en de syne en namen hem niet aen. 12 Maer aen alle, die hem aengenomen hebben, heeft hy de magt vergunt van kinderen Godts te worden, aen hen, die in synen naem gelooven. 13 Welke niet uyt den bloede, noch uyt den wille des vleesch, noch uyt den wille des mans, maer uyt Godt geboren zyn. u En het Woordt is vleesch geworden, en heeft onder ons gewoont : en wy hebben syne glorie gezien, een glorie als van den eenig-geboren des Vaders, vol van gratie en waerheyt. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Flemish, though merely a dialectic variety of the Dutch, is entitled to prior consideration on account of its being the older dialect of the two. It is spoken in East and "West Flanders, in Antwerp, and in part of Limburg, the collective population of which, according to the latest census (1856), exceeds 2,000,000. It is also spoken in the arrondissements of Brussels and Louvain, in Brabant, and even in parts of the neighbouring departments of France. In the other provinces of the kingdom of Belgium, (namely, Liege, Namur, Hainault, part of Luxemburg, and the arrondissement of Nivelles in Brabant,) Walloon, which is derived from the French of the thirteenth century, is spoken. German is exten- sively spoken in portions of Luxemburg and Limburg; but Modern French is the language of the court, of the legislature, and of general literature, throughout Belgium. It is extensively cultivated by the educated classes, and, even in the proper Flemish provinces, all government notices are drawn up in French as well as in Flemish. The dominant religion in Belgium is Roman Catholicism: during the frightful persecutions of the Duke of Alva, under Philip II. of Spain, the Protestants of Belgium, having no alternative between recantation and martyrdom, fled the country; and it was not until the period of the French revolution that Protestantism was even tolerated. 206 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. One language, sometimes called the Belgic, a branch of the Platt-Deutsch, or Low German, was originally common to the people of Holland and Belgium. It was introduced into this country by various Germanic tribes, among whom may be mentioned as the most remarkable the Batavi, celebrated as the brave allies of the Romans, and the Saxons and Salian Franks, who, on the fall of the Roman empire, dispossessed the Batavi, and established themselves in their territories. The Belgse, from whom the whole country received its ancient denomination, are by some regarded as a Celtic, and by others as a Germanic, race; while others contend that they were a mixed race of borderers. It is, however, generally admitted that the present language of the Netherlands results from the coalescence of the petty dialects of numerous tribes of Germanic extraction, among whom the country was subdivided. In the thirteenth century, the language then predominant in Holland as well as in Flanders received the appellation of Flemish on account of the flourishing state of the Flemings, and the superior diction and grammatical accuracy of their writers; and by this name it continued to be frequently designated, until the language we now call the Dutch, from being a mere provincial dialect of the Flemish, acquired the dignity of a written and polished tongue. " Even at the present day," says a recent writer, " Flemish appears nothing more than the Dutch of the preceding century." Flemish differs 'from Dutch chiefly in orthography and pronunciation; and owing, perhaps, to the great ascendancy of the French language in Belgium, it has adopted many French words. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Brandt, in his History of the Reformation, speaks of certain Protestants in the Netherlands turning the Scriptures into Low Dutch rhymes, in the early part of the thirteenth century, "according to the custom of these ages, and in imitation of the Old Germans, who used to record their most memorable transactions in verse." A prose version of the Scriptures is also said to have been executed about the year 1300, and Le Long gives the following short list of ancient MSS. : — 1. Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, four Books of Kings, Tobit, Daniel, Judith, Esdras, Esther, and Maccabees, in Belgic; folio. In the Colbert Library. 2. Four Gospels, written 1472. In the Bodleian Library. 3. Epistles of Paul, the Acts, and the Apocalypse; also in the Bodleian Library. 4. Apocalypse in the Brabant (or Flemish) language. In the Basle Library. The first printed edition of the Belgic, or Flemish, Bible appears to have been that published in two volumes folio, at Delft, in 1477, and again at Gouda, in folio, in 1479. It is unknown when the translation was executed; Le Long says, that the text is the same as that of 1300. It is evidently translated from the Latin Vulgate, and the Gouda edition of 1479 contains several fabulous narratives intermixed with the text. Other editions were printed at Antwerp in 1518 and 1525. In 1526 another translation of the Scriptures into Belgic was made by several learned men, whose names, unfortunately, have not been transmitted to us, and was published at Antwerp. It seems to have been collated with such parts of Luther's version as had then been published ; and in later editions was rendered still more conformable to that celebrated version. The printer, Jacob a Lies- veldt, published several successive editions of this Belgic translation at Antwerp, but he was at last condemned and beheaded, because, in the annotations of one of his Bibles, he had said that " the salvation of mankind proceeds from Christ alone." The next edition was that of the Old Testament by William Vosterman, who represented it aa having been printed from a very carefully corrected translation of the Latin text; but Le Long says, that " it sometimes departs from Luther's version, and in other cases follows it." The Old Testament was published at Antwerp, in folio, in 1528, and the New Testament in 1531, and again in 1533. Class III.] FLEMISH. 207 This edition was followed by others, almost too numerous to be here specified. Many of these editions were afterwards prohibited by the Inquisition, and their continued publication was suspended by the edict of Charles V. in 1546, which ordered that "none should presume to print any books unless they first obtained from the emperor a license for exercising the trade of a printer, &c, on pain of death." It was, however, found impossible to withhold the Scriptures from the people, and certain divines of the University of Louvain took upon themselves the task of revising and correcting the Belgic version according to the last revision of the Latin Vulgate. Nicholas von Wingh, a regular canon of Louvain, was the principal conductor of this work; an edition of the whole Bible was published by him and his assistants, in folio, at Louvain and Cologne, in 1548. This version was examined and approved by learned doctors of the faculty of theology of Louvain, deputed by Charles; and it was published under the sanction of that emperor. After numerous editions of this version had been issued at Antwerp, it was revised and corrected by the doctors of Louvain, according to the text of the Vulgate, as revised by order of Pope Clement VIII. This revised translation was printed at the celebrated Plan tin press, at Antwerp, in 1599; again at Cologne in 1604, and at Antwerp in 1626: and it may, perhaps, be regarded as the standard Flemish version. Several other revised editions of this version followed. In 1717 another version of the Belgic Scriptures was published, with short notes on difficult passages, by ^Egidius Wit, a Ghent divine. ■ This version chiefly follows the Vulgate, but in certain parts the original texts have been consulted : the idiom in which it is written is that of the provinces of Flanders and Brabant. About the same time another translation of the Belgic Bible was commenced by Andrew Scurrius of Gorcum, licentiate of the University of Louvain. Two volumes were printed at Utrecht in 1715-1717: but the death of the translator in 1719 put an end to the work, when he had carried it only as far as the Second Book of Kings. It is said to be in the purest dialect of the Flemish. Several other translations of the whole, or parts, of the Scriptures into Flemish migbt be enumerated, but little is known concerning them beyond the mere name of the translator, and date of execution. In 1689-90 a Flemish version was published at Emmerick, which had been made by Andrew Vander Schuren, from the French edition of Mons, the first edition of De Sacy's French version. This version went through several editions at Emmerick and at Antwerp. Another Flemish translation according to the Vulgate was printed at Antwerp in 1717, and again at Utrecht in 1718. This is the last Flemish version mentioned by Le Long. In 1820, in accordance with the wishes of the people, permission was given by the Archbishop of Malines to an individual to print an edition of the Flemish New Testament, translated by Maurentorf, without note or comment, for the use of the Roman Catholics; and it was at the same time stated that no such edition had been printed since the year 1717. The edition sanctioned by the archbishop appeared at Brussels about the year 1821; and an edition of the whole Bible was printed at the same time from the Louvain edition of 1599. This latter edition found a wide circulation, the Bible having, from the scarcity of copies, become almost an unknown book in the Flemish provinces. It does not appear that the British and Foreign Bible Society granted any assistance in the publication of this edition; but owing to its favourable reception, an edition consisting of 2656 copies was printed, by order, it is generally supposed, of that Society at Brussels in 1825. It was printed from the Antwerp edition of the Flemish Testament published in 1717, and in the same 12mo. form. Owing however to the overthrow of the Orange family, and the consequent increased influence of the priests, this edition remained very much as a dead stock upon the hands of the Society, until the arrival of Mr. W. P. Tiddy in the country about the year 1833. Affected with the state of Belgium, and its awful destitution of the Scriptures, he made several applications for small supplies in French and Flemish, which were cheerfully granted. At length, in 1835, he was invited to settle at Brussels as the agent of the Society, when he very soon disposed of the remaining copies of the Flemish Testament. A second edition of the Flemish Testament, of 8000 copies, was printed under his superintendence 208 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. at Brussels in 1837, followed by a third edition of the Testament, and an edition of the entire Bible. Another edition (of 5000 copies) of the Flemish Testament issued from the Brussels press in 1854. The total number of copies issued by the Society up to the beginning of 1860 have been 5000 Bibles, and 78,750 Testaments. The active agency of Mr. Tiddy on the Bible Society's behalf — extended over a period of above v eighteen years (1835 to 1854) — has been productive of highly important results in connexion with the distribution of the Word of God. Besides the central depository at Brussels, depositories for the sale of the Scriptures have been opened at Amsterdam and Cologne, and the total issue of copies of the Scriptures from these three depots, for the supply of Belgium, Holland, and Northern Germany, in the respective languages vernacular to each, amounted up to the commencing portion of the year 1854 to the extraordinary number of 899,568 volumes. Since Mr. Tiddy 's retirement from this post, in 1854, the separate agencies have been maintained, and with a like measure of success. DUTCH. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. In den beginne was het Woord, en het Woord was bij God, en het Woord was God. 2 Dit was in den beginne bij God. 3 Alle dingen zijn door hetzelve gemaakt, en zonder hetzelve is geen ding gemaakt, dat gemaakt is. 4 In hetzelve was het leven, en het leven was het licht der menschen. 5 En het licht schijnt in de duisternis, en de duisternis heeft hetzelve niet begrepen. 6 Er was een mensch van God gezonden, wiens naam was Johannes. 7 Deze kwam tot eene getuigenis, om van het licht te getuigen, opdat zij alien door hem gelooven zouden. 8 Hij was het licht niet, maar was gezonden, opdat hij van het licht getuigen zou. 9 Dit was het waarachtige licht, hetwelk verlicht een' iegelijk mensch, komende in de wereld. l0 Hij was in de wereld, en de wereld is door hem gemaakt ; en de wereld heeft hem niet gekend. u Hij is gekomen tot het zijne, en de zijnen hebben hem niet aangenomen. 12 Maar zoo velen hem aangenomen hebben, dien heeft hij magt gegeven kinderen Gods te worden, namelijk die in zijnen naam gelooven ; 13 Welke niet uit den bloede, noch uit den wil den vleesches, noch uit den wil des mans, maar uit God geboren zijn. 14 En het Woord is vleesch geworden, en heeft onder ons gewoond (en wij hebben zijne heerlijkheid aanschouwd, eene heerlijkheid als des eeniggeborenen van den Vader), vol van genade en waarheid. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Dutch is a language spoken by all classes of society in Holland. This kingdom comprises the terri- tories which formerly belonged to the Seven United Provinces; and its total area, including Dutch Limburg and Dutch Luxemburg, is 13,598 square miles. The population, according to the latest census (1857), is 3,523,800. The number of Roman Catholics in Holland has been estimated at from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000: the majority of the Protestants belong to the Calvinistic or Dutch Reformed Church, which is similar in many respects to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. There are, like- Class III.] DUTCH. 209 wise, considerable numbers of Lutherans, Remonstrants, and Mennonites, in Holland; all sects are freely- tolerated, and the Church and State having been separated since 1816, the teachers of every denomi- nation can receive pay from the State. The Dutch language is also spoken to a great extent in Southern Africa, which was formerly under the dominion of Holland : it is likewise spoken, more or less, in Java, the Moluccas, and the other Dutch colonies, and among the Dutch colonists of the United States. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Except in orthography and pronunciation, Dutch, in almost every respect, resembles the Flemish language. Like Flemish, it is very rich in compound words, which it forms freely from its own indigenous roots: it possesses more terms of Latin origin than the German, though fewer than the English; and being derived, like the English, from the low German stem, many of its words present a remarkable analogy to the corresponding English terms. In pronunciation it is more guttural than the Flemish, and even than the German ; but although neither soft nor musical, it is sonorous and emphatic: "it has not," says Dr. Bowring, "the beauties of the vowelled idioms of the South, but it has beauties they can never possess ; and especially in the variety and grace of its diminutives (a quality in which our language is singularly deficient), it may be compared with the richest among them." III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. It has been remarked, that the experience of the Dutch churches in the production of a standard version has been rather similar to our own; for, like us, they had long to wait before the great work could be completed. The first Dutch version concerning which any thing is accurately known was a bad translation of Luther's German version, made about the middle of the sixteenth century, by an elder of the Reformed Church, at Embden. The necessity of procuring an improved version was publicly discussed as early as 1571, and seems to have occupied the attention of all the synods of the Dutch churches from that period till 1618. Political troubles, however, drew the public funds into another channel; and it was not till the famous Synod of Dort, in 1618-19, that actual preparations were made for the immediate commencement of a new translation. Six translators and eight revisers for the Old, and as many for the New Testament, were chosen by the votes of the Dutch members of the synod; and the States General were requested to undertake the expense of the work. In the directions delivered to the translators, the foremost were, — " That they should adhere religiously to the original text, and solicitously retain the very phrases of the original tongues, so far as perspicuity, and the idiom of the Dutch language, permitted; and that in supplying ellipses, when the sense actually required it, they should use as few words as possible, and express those in the text by a different character, and included in brackets, that they might be distinguished from the text itself." The translators of the Old Testament entered upon their work at Leyden, in 1626, and held daily meetings, which they invariably commenced with prayer. The translation of the New Testament was conducted in the same spirit of prayer; it was commenced in 16.28, and finished in 1634: the trans- lation of the Old Testament was completed in 1632. Each book was printed as soon as finished, and a copy was sent to each of the revisers. The revision of the Old Testament was begun in 1633, and completed in 1634. Six hours daily were devoted to the work, and the revisers commenced each meeting with prayer, and ended with thanksgiving; those who were not punctual in attendance were fined a small sum, which was given to the poor. The revisers of the New Testament commenced their undertaking in 1634, and during the latter part of the year which they devoted to it the plague was raging at Leyden, yet, although their meetings were held in a room overlooking a churchyard in which interments were continually taking place, not one of their number was attacked by the disease. It is also remarkable, that none of the translators long survived the completion of the work. It may have been that the arduous nature of the undertaking tended to abridge their lives, for, although they 15 210 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. were all men of great literary attainments, many of them declared that they had never before laboured as they did at the translation of the Bible. The first edition was printed at Leyden, in 1637. The Remonstrants, who were followers of Arminius, and vehemently opposed to the translators in their religious opinions, deputed four of tbeir most learned men to examine the translation. After strict investigation, they were so struck with the faithfulness and accuracy of the version, that they adopted it as their own, and the Old Testament has been in use among the Remonstrants ever since. After the lapse of more than forty years, a version of the New Testament was executed expressly for their use by Christian Hartsoeker, an Arminian minister, at Rotterdam. It was printed at Amsterdam in 1680; but although professedly a new translation from the Greek, it chiefly follows the version of the synod. The orthography of the established version was altered in one edition, according to the system introduced in 1806 by Professor Siegenbeek, and which received the sanction of the government. The Rev. Henry Cats, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Leyden, was employed to effect the necessary alterations ; but he died before he had finished the work, and it was completed by Professor Van Hengel. The revised edition appeared in 4to., in 1834. Siegenbeek's system has since fallen into disrepute, and has not been adopted in subsequent editions. This beautiful and emphatic version still retains its place as the authorised text of the Dutch Church; but a new translation has since been made, in the modern style and orthography, by the learned Professor Van der Palm, of Leyden: it was published in 1825, and, though not adopted in churches, it is greatly esteemed and extensively used. Another translation, which, however, included only the Gospel of St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Romans, was made from the Greek, by Adam Boreel, of Zealand: it was published at Amsterdam in 1693, with the Greek text. Within a recent period the Netherlands Bible Society appointed a commission to modernise the orthography of the Bible, and the alterations which were introduced, both in spelling and in some points of grammar, were considerable. All the editions of that Society are now printed with these alterations. Several editions of the authorised Dutch version have been issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Their first edition, consisting of 5000 copies of the New Testament, appeared in 1809; it was designed primarily for the Dutch prisoners of war in this country, and eventually for the Dutch settlements and colonies. Considerable numbers of these copies were forwarded to the Cape of Good Hope, and were most thankfully received; for it was ascertained that not a single Dutch Bible could be had for money throughout that extensive colony. On receipt of this intelligence, the Society immediately commenced a large edition of the entire Dutch Bible. Several large editions have since been printed, at the Society's expense, at Breda, in Holland; amongst them was one consisting of 105,000 Testaments, in diamond, 32mo., in 1850. A 4to. edition of the Bible, with chapter headings and marginal references, specially intended for family use, and consisting of 5000 copies, issued from the press at Arnheim on account of the Society in 1859. The total number of copies issued by the Society up to the beginning of 1860 amounted to 171,395 Bibles, 601,154 Testaments, and 15,500 Psalters. The Netherlands Bible Society has distributed, since its formation in 1815, altogether above 700,000 copies. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. During the last nine years no less than 326,689 copies of the Scriptures have been sold in Holland by colporteurs, and many instances have been reported of the blessing of God accompanying their perusal. A colporteur, labouring in Drenthe and Groningen, met with an instance in which one New Testament had been blessed to several persons. A Roman Catholic family, in whose house there were continual quarrels before the introduction of the Scriptures, now live in peace and harmony. The parents, through the power of the word, have become converted characters. " We have evidence," it is further stated in a recent Report, " that the work in Holland has been blessed by the Lord. Class III.] CREOLESE. 211 Many who, when first offered the Scriptures, mocked or insulted the colporteurs, have more lately purchased them with avidity. Others, who were remarkable for their awful oaths, have become humble worshippers of the living God. At Eotterdam, and in the environs, there has been a great revival, through the distribution of the Bible." Eecent issues of the Dutch Scriptures by the British and Foreign Bible Society to the settlers at the Cape have been very large, and have been attended with a great blessing to the colony, particularly in schools. CEEOLESE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. In die Begin die Woord ha wees, en die Woord ha wees bie Godt, en Godt ha wees die Woord. 2 Die selve ha wees bie Godt in die Begin. s Almael gut ka maek door die selve ; en sonder die niet een gut ka maek, van almael, wat ka maek. 4 Die Leven ha wees in hem, en die Leven ha wees die Ligt van die Mensen. 5 En die Ligt ha skien in die Dysternis, en die Dysternis no ha begriep die. 6 Die ha hab ee Mens, Godt ha stier hem, en sie Naem ha wees Johannes. 7 Hem ha kom tot een Getiegnis, dat hem ha sal getieg van die Ligt, dat almael ha sal gloov door hem. 8 Hem no ha wees die Ligt, maer dat hem ha sal getieg van die Ligt. 9 Die ha wees die waeragtig Ligt, die verligt almael Mensen, die kom na die Weereld. 10 Hem ha wees in die Weereld, en die Weereld ka maek door hem, en die Weereld no ka ken hem. n Hem ha kom na sie Eigendom, en sie eigen no ha neem hem an. 12 Maer sooveel ka neem hem an, na sender hem ka giev Magt for kom Kinders van Godt, die gloov in sie Naem ; 13 Die no bin gebooren van Blud, ook niet van die Wil van Vleis, ook niet van die Wil van Man, maer van Godt. 14 En die Woord ka kom Vleis, en ka woon onder ons, en ons ka kik sie Heerligheid, een Heerligheid, als van die eenig gebooren Soon van die Vaeder, vol van Gnaede en Waerheid. Creolese, a kind of broken Dutch, with a rather Danish orthography, is the language of the black population in the Danish West Indies. The possessions of the Danes in the West Indies consist of three islands, namely, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, all of which form part of the Virgin group. Of these islands, St. Croix, or, as it is frequently called, Santa Cruz, is the most important: it contains an area of about 110 square miles, and a population of 32,000, chiefly negroes. St. Thomas comprises an area of 37 square miles, and its population is estimated at 7000, of whom about 500 are whites. In St. John there are 150 whites and 250 negroes: the population to whom this language is (or rather was) vernacular, is, therefore, upwards of 39,000. The Creolese idiom is very peculiar, possessing no distinction of gender or of number (so far at least as terminations are concerned), no declension of nouns, and no simple conjugation of verbs. The New Testament was translated into this language, and an edition printed at Copenhagen, by order of the Danish government, in 1781. A school-book, containing the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, in Creolese, was published about the same period, by order of the same authority. Another edition of the New Testament, consisting of 1500 copies, was printed at Copenhagen, in 1818, by 212 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. the Danish Bible Society. It is said, however, that Creolese has long been gradually fallino- into disuse, and that it has now ceased to be spoken. The slaves, or, as the Danes wish to have them called, " the unfreed," were in 1848 nominally emancipated in the Danish islands ; and on this occasion a copy of the New Testament and Psalms in the English language, furnished by the British and Foreign Bible Society, was presented to each negro who could read, and who was not in possession of the Scriptures. SURINAM NEGRO-ENGLISH. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Na begin da Woord ben de, da Woord ben de nanga Gado, en da Woord ben de Gado srefi. 2 Da ben de nanga Gado na begin. 3 Nanga hem allasanni ben kom, en sondro hem no wansanni ben kom, dissi de. 4 Da Liebi ben de na inni va hem, en da Liebi ben de da kandera va somma. 5 En da kandera de krieni na dongroe, ma dongroe no ben teki da kandera. 6 Gado ben senni wan somma, hem neem Johannes ; 7 Da srefiwan ben kom vo wan getuigenis, va a getuige vo da kandera, va dem allamal kom briebi nanga hem. 8 Hem srefi no ben de da kandera, ma a ben kom va takki vo da kandera. 9 Datti da reti troe kandera, dissi kieni gi alia somma dissi kom na kondre. 10 A ben de na kondre, en em srefi ben meki kondre ; en kondre no ben sabi hem. ll A ben kom na hem Eigendom, en dem somma va hem no ben teki hem. 12 Ma sa menni va dem dissi ben teki hem, na dem a ben gi tranga, va kom pikien va Gado : dem, dissi briebi na hem neem. 13 Dissi no komoppo na broedoe, efn na wanni vo skien [nanga broedoe], efia na wanni vo wan man, ma dissi ben kom gebore na Gado. u En da Woord ben kom somma, a ben liebi na wi mindri, en wi ben si hem Glori, wan Grangglori, dissi fitti da wan Pikien va Tatta Gado, foeloe va Gnade en Troefasi. Negro-English, or, as it might be designated with equal propriety, Negro-Dutch, is the lan- guage of the Dutch colony of Surinam, in Guiana, and is current among a population of at least 100,000, of whom 80,000 are slaves, 10,000 free negroes, and 10,000 are Dutch and other Europeans. A mission of the United Brethren has existed in Surinam since 1738: there are now more than 13,000 negroes in connexion with the Moravian Church, and 10,000 unconverted negroes are under Christian instruction; for the prejudices of the colonists against the education of the negroes are wearing away, ,and the missionaries are permitted access to more than 150 plantations. The language of these negroes is a compound of English and Dutch, with a sprinkling of Spanish, Portuguese, French, and African or Indian words. It is doubtful whether the English or the Dutch element predominates : the former was introduced when the English were possessors of the colony ; but the Dutch, with few interruptions, have held possession since the year 1669, and many of their words and phrases have, in consequence, become incorporated with the language. The country was discovered by the Spanish, and, at some remote period, was subjugated by the Portuguese, and subsequently by the French; and this accounts for the presence of Spanish, Portuguese, and French words in the language. The structure of Negro-English is simple and inartificial in the extreme, and it is nearly Class III.] SURINAM NEGRO-ENGLISH. 213 devoid of grammatical forms. Almost every word terminates with a vowel; and, according to Captain Stedman's account, it is " sweet, sonorous, and soft" in enunciation, and, moreover, " wonderfully expressive and sentimental." The vocabulary is by no means copious, but this deficiency is supplied by the ease with which the words are compounded. This language will probably, in process of time, sink into disuse ; yet the prospect is but small that either the present or the ensuing generation will be able to dispense with it. A translation of the Harmony of the Gospels, as used in the Moravian Church, was early made in this language, and a version of the Acts, Epistles and part of the book of Revelation, was executed by Mr. Schuman prior to the year 1813. In 1828 a version of the entire New Testament had been completed by the Moravian missionaries, and had been repeatedly and carefully corrected. The MS. was sent to Germany, and was revised by Hans Wied, who for upwards of twenty years had resided in Surinam, and was intimately acquainted with the language: the opinion he passed on the translation was, " that it is as perfect as possible." The Brethren's Society for Propagating the Gospel, therefore, applied for aid to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and an edition of 1000 copies was accordingly printed in London, under the supervision of Mr. Latrobe, assisted by C. A. Austen, Esq., of Queen's College, Cambridge, a natiA^e of Surinam. The copies were all forwarded to Surinam, and were received with much gratitude; but the edition was soon exhausted, and after the last copy had been disposed of, more than 12,000 converts were added to the Church. Another edition of the New Testament and Psalms was therefore prepared by Mr. Treu, a Moravian missionary; and at length, in 1845, its publication was resolved on by the Missionary Society of the United Brethren in Holland. Aid was granted by the Netherlands Bible Society, but the chief expenses of printing were defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The edition, which consisted of 2000 copies, left the press in 1846. The intelligence received within recent years from Dutch Guiana furnishes most gratifying and hopeful accounts of the progress of missionary labour in that region. The Surinam Mission supports at the present time above fifty missionaries, stationed in different parts of the colony, and upwards of 20,000 negroes and coloured people are converts to the Gospel. School-houses, as well as churches, have been numerously erected, and, notwithstanding impediments, due to various causes (and most especially to the existence of slavery), the cause of Christian truth is making steady advance amongst its long benighted population. " On every estate (writes one of the labourers in this vineyard) there are some, perhaps only a few, yet some who are decided Christians — children indeed as regards know- ledge and practice, yet evidently believers in Jesus." The benefits of the mission are not confined to the negro portion of the population: — " During my visit to the Para plantation, we met with a married couple belonging to the Arawack tribe. After some conversation with them, I read to them St. Paul's sermon at Athens, from Acts, chap, xvii, as I fortunately happened to have a copy of that portion of Scripture in the Arawack language. The impression which this produced was very striking. The woman, who was advanced in years, burst into tears, and her husband appeared to be much affected also. They both came afterwards to the meeting, as they understood the Negro-English dialect." 214 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. NORSE, OR ICELANDIC. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. [VlDEYAE KlATJSTEI, 1841.] 3 u^aft oar Drbib og Drbib Oar ftd ®ubi, og orbib Oar @ub. 2 pab Oar i utoOr)afi r)i« ©ubi. 3 2IMr fjlutir eru fJ)rir fab gjorbir og an }>e(g er ef fert til orbib, fern tit er. 4 3 }>0i Oar lif og liftb Oar IjoS mannanna ; 5 Og tjojtb ffein t mtyrfrinu og nttyrfrib ntebto! ]>ab dfx. 6 3Wabur noffurr Oar fenbur af ©ubt, t)ann t)it 3or)anne§. 7 peffl font til Oitnigourbar, ao fjann Oituabi unt Ijoftb, §00 aflir tri)bu sfyrir t)ang oitniSourb. 8 (Sffi Oar l)ann Ijoftb tjelbur dtti r)ann ab Oitna unt tjoffb. 9 pab Oar §tb [anna IjoS, fern ufcfcttyftr r)0otn ntann, er font i fjeintinn. 10 .pab Oar i tjeintinunt og r)eintttrinn Oar ftyrir fab gjorbur og pettti fjann J>6 effi. u >§ann font til ftnna og r)an§ egin meotofu tjann tffi. 12 @n [00 ntorgum, fern fjann tnebtofu og a t)ann tntbtt, gjorbi l;ann fofi d ab Oerba ©ubS 60m. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Iceland lies on the confines of the polar circle, and comprises an area which exceeds 40,000 square miles. Its population amounted, in 1855, to 64,600. The island was first peopled ahout the year 874, by refugees from Norway, who fled thither to escape the tyranny of Harald Harfager, or the Fair- haired, king of Norway. In the course of the next half century, all the habitable parts of Iceland became occupied by Scandinavian settlers ; and, about 928, the inhabitants established a republic, which form of government subsisted till 1275, when Iceland became subject to Norway. On the annexation of that kingdom to Denmark, Iceland was transferred with it ; and the island is now governed by a stiftamtman, or governor, appointed by the king of Denmark. The established church in Iceland is the Lutheran, under one bishop and 300 clergy. A dialect of Norse was formerly spoken in the isles of Orkney and Shetland, but all vestiges of it have now disappeared. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The ancient language of the Scandinavians was planted in Iceland by the Norwegian refugees, in the ninth century. The insular and remote position of Iceland, and its consequent isolation from foreign intercourse, have caused the language to be preserved in the utmost purity; and so few are the changes which the lapse of time has effected in its structure, that the humblest Icelandic peasant can read and understand the most ancient written documents extant in the island. By means of the Icelandic, the connexion of the Scandinavian with the Teutonic languages is distinctly to be traced. The Old Danish, or Scandinavian, now the living language of Iceland, was intimately connected with the Gothic, Alemannic, Francic, and other cognate dialects, so that the members of these nations were intelligible to one another without the aid of interpreters; and in the "Young Edda," a compilation of the eleventh century, it is said of the Anglo-Saxons and the Icelanders, wer erum einnar tungu, " we are of one tongue." The aspiration of the consonants I and w is an infallible characteristic of the Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and Icelandic languages: these peculiar sounds cannot be enunciated by Germans or Danes; and, except in the province of Dalecarlia, in Sweden, they are now no longer to be heard in the Scandinavian peninsula. But one of the most remarkable characteristics of the Scandinavian languages is the placing of the article after the noun; as an appendage to it, e.g. as above: myrkrid, " the darkness." III. — VERSIONS OE THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. No version of the Scriptures was made in Icelandic before the Reformation, although an ancient compendium of scriptural history, entitled the Stiorn, has sometimes been mistaken for a biblical trans- lation. Oddur Gotshalkson, son of a bishop of Holum, in Iceland, was the instrument chosen by God Class III.] ICELANDIC. 215 to impart to his countrymen the first version of the Bible in their own language. Oddur was educated in Norway; and, happily for himself and for Iceland, he remained abroad till the doctrines of the Reformation began to excite a general sensation throughout the North of Europe. His own attention was forcibly arrested by the truths which were then unfolded ; and we are told that, for three successive nights, he prostrated himself half-naked before the Father of lights, beseeching him to open the eyes of his understanding, and to show him whether the principles of Eome or those of Luther were from heaven. The result of his prayers and meditations was a deep-rooted conviction that the cause of the reformer was the cause of God; and with the view of obtaining further information he repaired to Germany, and attended the lectures of Luther and Melanchthon. On his return to Iceland he entered upon a translation of the Scriptures; and, to avoid persecution, he commenced his important labours in a small cell in a cow-house. He completed a version of the New Testament in 1539; but finding it impossible, from the state of public opinion, to print it in Iceland, he sailed for Denmark, and published it at Copenhagen, under the patronage of Christian III. The translation was made from the Vulgate, except in a few passages where Oddur mistrusted that version, and where he consequently followed Luther. Besides the New Testament, Oddur is believed to have translated part of the Old Testament; but the only portion of this latter translation which he committed to the press was the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, printed with some short expository notes, at Copenhagen, in 1558. All his translations were published at his own private expense. In 1562, Olaf Hialteson, the first Lutheran bishop of Holum, published the Gospels and Epistles in the order appointed to be read in churches : this was chiefly a reprint from Oddur's version. In 1580, the Proverbs of Solomon and the Book of Sirach were published at Holum, translated, it is supposed, by Gissur Eincerson, the first Lutheran bishop of Skalholt. This version of the Proverbs was made from Luther's translation, except in a few passages where it follows the Vulgate. At length, in 1584, the entire Bible was printed in Icelandic at Holum. The work was con- ducted by Gudbrand Thorlakson, bishop of Holum. It is not known what share this prelate had in the translation ; the Old Testament was evidently executed by several hands, but the whole was revised and corrected by Gudbrand; and the New Testament, and such portions of the Old as had been translated by Oddur Gotshalkson, were adopted. The edition consisted of 1000 copies, small folio; the expense of which was defrayed partly by a munificent donation from Frederic II. of Denmark, and partly by the collection of a rix-dollar from every church in the island. This version has been called " a faithful mirror of Luther's German version," and, on account of the purity of its diction, it is still held in high estimation. Another edition of the New Testament was published at Holum, by Bishop Gudbrand, in 1609, "revised and corrected according to the best translations that could be obtained." A revised edition of this version was published at Holum, in 1644, by Thorlak Skuleson, the grandson of Gudbrand, and his successor in the episcopate. The expense was partly defrayed by Christian IV. of Denmark, and he directed the bishop to remodel the version according to the Danish translations of Besenius. But as the peculiar renderings of Resenius are only adopted in a few isolated passages of this revision, Dr Henderson has conjectured that the old version was rendered conformable chiefly to the Danish Bible published at Copenhagen in 1633, which follows Luther's version. The text of this Icelandic edition may be considered as exhibiting the version now in standard use. Another Icelandic Bible was published in 1728, under the inspection of Stein Jonson, bishop of Holum. He obtained from Frederick IV. of Denmark a renewal of the grants made to his predeces- sors, of raising a rix-dollar from every church in aid of its publication : but instead of printing the text of the former edition, he was enjoined to make a new translation from the Danish Bible, printed at the Orphan-house, Copenhagen. In complying with this injunction, the bishop followed the Danish version with so much servility, that his work, when complete, was found to be full of Danicisms, and scarcely intelligible to the Icelanders. It never obtained much circulation, and is still considered the worst edition of the Icelandic Bible. 216 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. In 1747, the fourth edition of the Icelandic Bible was published at Copenhagen, and the edition of 1644 was adopted as the text. This was followed, in 1750, by an edition of 2000 New Testaments in 8vo. This supply of Bibles was not, however, sufficient to meet the wants of the population of Iceland ; and, in 1806, information was transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society, to the effect, that although the island scarcely contained one person in a hundred, above the age of twelve or fourteen, who could not read, yet the Scriptures were no longer to be obtained for money; and that, as the only press of which the Icelanders were possessed had not been used for many years, they had to resort to the tardy expedient of transcribing books; and, moreover, that not above forty or fifty copies of the Bible were to be found throughout Iceland. An edition of the Bible, consisting of 5000 copies, printed from the approved text of 1644, was accordingly undertaken, chiefly at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society: it was carried through the press under the direction of Justiciary Thorkelin, privy-keeper of the royal archives of Copenhagen, and himself a native of Iceland. The impression was completed at Copenhagen in 1807, and 1500 copies were immediately sent to Iceland. The remaining copies narrowly escaped destruction at the bombardment of Copenhagen, where they were preserved in the midst of a conflagration which laid almost every thing on the spot in ashes. In 1812, in the midst of the war between Great Britain and Denmark, permission was given to the Bev. Dr. Henderson to reside at Copenhagen, with every requisite .privilege, for the purpose of publishing another edition of the Icelandic Bible: this concession was obtained from the King of Denmark, through the medium of a Danish member of the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In the course of the year 1813, an edition of 5000 Bibles, and 5000 additional New Testaments, was printed at Copenhagen, under the direct superintendence of Dr. Henderson, from the text of 1644, or rather from the reprint of 1747. The Edinburgh Bible Society, the Fuhnen Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and some friends in Holstein, combined to defray the expenses of the edition. Before Dr. Henderson quitted Copenhagen in 1814, he had the satisfaction of seeing the formation of a society for the purpose of furnishing Iceland with adequate supplies of the Scrip- tures. The first efforts of the Society were directed to a thorough revision of the existing Icelandic text, but some time appears to have elapsed before they issued a fresh edition. In 1841, the version from which our specimen is taken was printed in the island, the type used being of large size, adapted to the use of the Icelanders, who, owing to the high latitude of their island, are for the most part obliged to read by lamplight. Class III.] DANISH. 217 DANISH. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. [Cheistiania, 1848.] 3 SBegtynbelfen oar Drbet, og Drbet oar t)o3 @ub, og Drbet oar (Sub. 2 5)et oar i SSeg^nbetfen tjog @ub. 3 Qltte Sing ere oeb bet Mesne til ; eg uben bet er if fe enb een enefte (Sing) Weoen til (af bet), font er Meoen til. 4 3 bet oar £io, og Sioet oar 5D?enneffet§ £$)§. 5 Dg fityfet ffinner i 2tf0rfet, og 2J20rfet fattebe bet iffe. 6 2>er Heo et SKenneffe ubfenbt af ©ub ; fjan l;ebte 3of)anne§. 7 2>emte font til et 93ibne§%b, at fjan ffulbe oibne ont Styfet, paa bet at 2ltte ffulbe troe oeb fjant. 8 >§an oar iffe Styfet, men (font for) at r)an ffulbe oibne ont Styfet. 9 25et oar bet fanbe %y$, font o^ttjfer f)oert SKenneffe, ber fomnter til SSerben. 10 4?an oar i 3Serben, og 33erben er Heoen til oeb r)am, og SSerben fienbte fjam iffe. " -§an font til ftt (Sget, og (fjan§) (Sgne annantmebe fjant iffe. 12 2ften faa 3ftange font fjam annant= mebe, bent fjaoer f)an gioet SKagt at BItOe ®ub§ SBorn, bem, font troe $aa t)an3 SRaon ; 13 ^oilfe iffe ere ftfbte af Slob, ei filter af Jtjpbg 23iflie, ei fjefler af 2)tanb§ Siflie, men af @ub. u Og Orbet Weo Jljpb, og toebe iolanbt o§,— og oi faae rjang «§erligf;eb, en <§erlig1)eb, font ben @enoaarne3 af Saberen, — fulb af Sftaabe og ©anbtjeb. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The superficial area of the Danish territories, exclusive of Iceland and the Faroe Isles, has been stated at 21,856 square miles. The entire population, according to recent returns, was 2,468,713, divided as follows: — Denmark Proper (in 1858) . . , 1,499,850 Duchy of Slesvig (in 1855) . 395,860 Duchy of Holstein (in 1858) . . , 523,528 Lauenborg (in 1858) 49,475 Danish is the language of Denmark Proper; in Slesvig the Danish, German, and Frisic are all found; and in Holstein, German prevails. Danish is, likewise the vernacular tongue of the Norwegians, who, in 1855, numbered 1,433,488 individuals. Lutheranism is the established religion of the Danish states, but all others are tolerated. It has been computed that there are 8000 Jews in Denmark, 2330 Roman Catholics, 1600 Calvinists, 678 Hernhutters or Moravians, and 30 members of the Anglican Church. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. We have already shown that the Norse, or Old Danish tongue, entombed among the snow and ice of Iceland, has been preserved almost in its pristine purity from the ninth to the present century; but this ancient language has in its parent country undergone so many alterations, that an Icelander and a Dane, speaking in their respective dialects, are utterly unintelligible to each other. So great, indeed, is the divergence of the modern idioms of Denmark and Sweden from the parent stem, that the language of the Edda has not been understood for at least four hundred years, by Swedes or Danes, without previous study. These modern dialects are, however, still distinguished from other branches of the Teutonic family by having a passive voice, and two articles, one of which is prefixed, and the other affixed, to nouns. In point of pronunciation the Danish is considered the softest language in Europe, the consonants being pronounced so softly as to be almost imperceptible. It is softer than Swedish; but the intonation of the Swedish language is more marked; and its features are more characteristic than those of its sister-dialect, the Danish. III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The earliest translation of any portion of the Scriptures into Danish is contained in a MS. pre- 218 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. served in the Royal Library of Copenhagen, supposed to have been written in the thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth, century. It is a servile imitation of the Vulgate, and defective in several parts; it proceeds no farther than the Second Book of Kings. In 1515, Pedersen, who is said to have been the first Lutheran clergyman in Zealand, published at Paris a Danish version of the Gospels and Epistles appointed to be read in churches: this work was reprinted at Leipsic in 1518. The first Danish version of the whole New Testament was made by Hans Mikkelsen, sometimes called John Michaelis. It was published at Leipsic in 1524, and reprinted at Antwerp in 1529. This version was executed by the command, and under the immediate patronage of Christian II.; "a monarch," says Dr. Henderson, " whose character earlier writers have depicted in the blackest colours, but whom posterity, though not blind to his faults, seems on the whole inclined to favour." Like our Henry VIII. , he seems to have been actuated less by zeal for the progress of truth than by the desire of freeing his kingdom from the domination and tyranny of Rome. During a rebellion in Denmark, he fled for safety to Holland, and it was during his state of expatriation that he promoted the translation and publication of the New Testament. Hans Mikkelsen, the translator, was originally mayor of Malmoe, in Scania, or Southern Sweden, and afterwards secretary to Christian II.; he volun- tarily forsook his country, his connections and interests, and accompanied his sovereign into exile. When compelled at length, by the resentment of the Catholics of the Netherlands, to quit his royal patron, he retired to Harderwick, in Guelderland, where he died about eight years after his New Testament had left the press. This version professes to be " properly translated according to the Latin;" but Dr. Henderson has shown that this designation in all probability applied only to the first part 'of the work, which con- tained the Four Gospels, and in which the Latin version of Erasmus was followed. In the Acts, and remainder of the New Testament, Mikkelsen has followed the German version of Luther so closely, that his translation is little else than a verbal transmutation of Luther's. Some writers have attempted to account for this circumstance by suggesting that Mikkelsen had probably commenced his translation before Luther's version had appeared; but that when he came to the Epistles, the first edition of Luther's version having then been published, he preferred the version of the faithful and intrepid reformer to that of the timid and indecisive Erasmus. The language in which Mikkelsen wrote is partly Danish and partly Swedish, resembling the dialect still spoken in his native district of Scania, in the south of Sweden. He has arranged the books of his New Testament in the same order as in that of Luther, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and those of St. James and St. Jude, are placed after the rest, on account of the doubt then entertained by the reformers as to their authenticity. In 1528, two versions of the Danish Psalms were published: the one at Rostock (by Francis Wormord, originally a Carmelite friar, but who afterwards espoused the principles of the Reformation, and became bishop of Lund), and the other at Antwerp, by Pedersen, who has been already mentioned as the translator of the Gospels and Epistles of the church service. In his version of the Psalms, Pedersen appears to have translated both from the Hebrew text and from Jerome's translation: his diction is considered too paraphrastic, and too much accommodated to Christian sentiments; yet the style is remarkably pure for the age in which it was written, and an admirable preface on the beauty of the Psalms enhances the value of the work. It was reprinted in 1531, and again in 1584 and 1586 at Copenhagen. In 1529, Pedersen translated and published the New Testament at Antwerp. This version was executed on the basis of Mikkelsen's, but it is written in a superior style; foreign words and idioms are excluded, and a better system of orthography is adopted. The Epistle to the Hebrews here finds its proper place, but the Epistle of St. James is found last in order, as in Luther's version. Pedersen, however, had obtained clearer views as to the real value and importance of the Epistle of St. James than his predecessors, for he expresses his disapprobation of the irreverent manner in which Luther and Mikkelsen had spoken of it. This version obtained so wide a circulation that Pedersen republished it at Antwerp, with the Psalms, in 1531. Class III.] DANISH. 219 In 1535, some progress was made toward the production of a Danish version of the Old Testa- ment, by the publication of the Pentateuch at Magdeburg, translated by Hans Tausen, afterwards bishop of Kipen. This version was made from the Hebrew text, with constant reference to the Vulgate and to Luther's version: it was so well received that a second edition was printed at the same place in the following year. The book of Judges, translated by Peter Tideman, a clergyman of Zealand, was published at Copenhagen in 1539: it sometimes follows the Vulgate, and sometimes Luther's version. It was not till 1550 that the whole Bible was published in Danish. Denmark was indebted for this treasure to her monarch Christian III. The translation was undertaken at the suggestion of Bugenhagius, the celebrated reformer, who had been invited to the court of Copenhagen to assist in the correction of ecclesiastical abuses. The execution of the work was committed to the theological faculty at Copenhagen, then consisting of Peter Palladius, Olave Chrysostom, John Synning, and John Macchaboeus, or Macalpine. Tideman, the translator of the book of Judges, was also engaged in it; and Pedersen, the translator of the Psalms and of the New Testament above mentioned, was employed in writing out a fair copy from the several translations which were made by those appointed to the work. The version was made from that of Luther, and follows it closely, except in a few instances, in which the translators have mistaken the meaning of the German. The first edition con- sisted of 3000 copies of the entire Bible, and, to meet the expense, a tax of two rix-dollars was levied on every church in Denmark. A separate edition of the New Testament of this version in 4to. was published at Wittenburg, with some slight orthographical corrections. Le Long speaks of another translation of the New Testament having been made by Jonas Turreson, at Copenhagen, in 1584, but Dr. Henderson expressly states that no such translation is known in Denmark. A revision of the entire version was undertaken in 1586, by the command of Frederic II. That monarch wrote to the rector, professors, and others of the University of Copenhagen, ordering them, " with the assistance of three of the Copenhagen preachers, to read through the version of the Bible, which had been made in the reign of his royal father ; to collate it with the Hebrew text ; and where any defect was found, or any passage in which the true sense had not been expressed, to amend and correct it." The heads of the university appointed the most learned divines of the day to execute this important undertaking. The New Testament was revised by Nicholas Hemmingius, D.D., whose name is famous in the ecclesiastical history of Denmark for his attachment to the doctrines of Calvin. The revision of the entire Scriptures was not brought to a close till 1589, when an edition was issued in folio at Copenhagen, with Luther's notes. Two editions of the Psalms, from the version of Palladius, were published at Copenhagen in 1591 and 1598; and, in 1599, an edition of the Psalms, in German and Danish, was published in 8vo. at Lubeck. Early in the following century some more extensive measures were taken for the spread of the divine word. An edition of the New Testament was issued at Copenhagen in 1604, printed from the former text, as a temporary supply; and a royal letter was, at the same time, addressed to the rector of the university on the subject of obtaining a more correct impression. The king, Christian IV., eventually appointed Dr. Kesen, bishop of Zealand, to superintend a fresh revision of the Scriptures. The old version was again collated with the original texts, and several European translations were con- sulted ; but Dr. Eesen considering the version of Luther too free and paraphrastic, fell into the opposite error, and followed the originals too literally, without sufficiently considering the genius and properties of his own language. The New Testament was published in two volumes, 18mo., in 1605: an edition of the Pentateuch, also in 18mo., was published the same year; and, in 1607, the entire Bible was completed at press in 8vo. These editions were printed at Copenhagen, at the expense of the king. Several editions of the Psalms succeeded the publication of Eesen's Bible; among which was one at Copenhagen, in 8vo., 1614, and another in 1632, at the expense of the benevolent Lady Marsvin. An edition of the entire Bible, printed from the revised text of 1589, was published in 1633 at Copenhagen; and Le Long speaks of it as "the mater of other smaller editions in 8vo., which the 220 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. printers from that time exposed for sale." The expense of its publication was borne by means of a sum levied from every church in Zealand and Norway. In 1639, the royal permission was obtained for reprinting Eesen's Bible, the former impression being completely exhausted. This edition is designated " Swaning's Bible," because it was corrected principally by Hans S waning, archbishop of Zealand. The New Testament appeared in 1644, and the entire Bible, in 1647, at Copenhagen. Another edition of this Bible was also published during the same year, in six volumes 8vo. ; followed by several editions of the Psalms, and, in 1670, by another edition of the Bible in small 8vo. for common use. A College of Missions was established at Copenhagen in 1714, and Denmark was indebted to this institution for several successive editions of the Scriptures. The New Testament, from the edition revised by Swaning, was issued from the mission press in 1716; followed in 1717 and 1720 by editions of the entire Bible, also from Swaning's text. In the preface to a Bible printed by the college in 1722, it is stated that, in the space of six years, 22,580 copies of the New Testament and 13,784 Bibles had been published at the mission press. In the fire which occurred at Copenhagen in 1728, the mission press was destroyed, and the Orphan-house then obtained the exclusive privilege of printing the Danish Bible ; and several editions of the New Testament and of the entire Bible were published by that institution between the years 1732 and 1745. In the meantime efforts were made to obtain a more correct and faithful edition of the Scriptures than any that had yet appeared, and a specimen of a revised edition was published in 1742, by the Committee of Kevision appointed by royal authority. In 1748, the Committee published a revised New Testament, but it is not believed that they corrected any portion of the Old Testament. About this period a specimen of a new and singular translation of the Scriptures was printed by Schwartz, councillor of justice to his majesty, but he does not appear to have published further portions of his translation. A translation of Habakkuk was given in 1752 by Monrad, a clergyman in Aagerup; and in 1780 a new version of the Testament was printed at Copenhagen, translated by Dr. Bastholm from the Greek, but marked by too servile an adherence to the idiom of the original. Numerous other editions of the established text were printed at Copenhagen before the formation of the Danish Bible Society. The first edition of the Danish Scriptures, undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society, was designed for the benefit of the Danish prisoners of war, of whom there were, in 1808, no less than 2782 in this country; and also for distribution in the Danish colonies in the East and West Indies. This edition, which consisted of 5000 copies of the New Testament, was printed in 1810 in 12mo., from the Copenhagen edition of 1799; and the press was superintended by the Rev. W. F. Rosing, minister of the Danish church in London. A second edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, in the same form, was published by the Society in 1814. In the course of the following year, another revision of the Bible was commenced at Copenhagen by royal authority. Bishop Munter and five learned professors were formed into a commission of revisal by his Danish majesty, and an edition of 10,000 New Testaments, corrected and revised by them, left the press in 1819. A second and stereo- type edition, also of 10,000 copies, was printed under the authority of the king at the Orphan-house, about 1820. The same royal commissioners continued their labours in a similar revision of the Old Testament; and in the year 1824 appeared, under the same royal sanction, from the Orphan-house press, a 4to. edition of the whole Bible. The revised New Testament on its first appearance was received with general approbation, and was reported by Dr. Pinkerton and others to be " a faithful and excellent version." The British and Foreign Bible Society, with its accustomed liberality, granted several sums in aid of the publication; but this assistance was afterwards withheld, on its being discovered that several exceptionable renderings and marginal notes had been admitted by the revisors. The committee of the Danish Bible Society, conjointly with the committee of the Norwegian Bible Society in Christiania, have been engaged for several years past in the task of revising the Danish Class III.] DANISH. 221 Old Testament. This work is advancing slowly under the care of Professor Hermansen. Up to the year 1859, the total number of copies of the Scriptures issued by the Danish Bible Society, since its formation in 1814, amounted to 259,983. Greatly increased facilities for the circulation of the Protestant Bible in the kingdom of Denmark have been opened within recent years, by an arrangement happily come to between the British and Foreign Bible Society of London and the Orphan Institution at Copenhagen, which latter body possesses by law the exclusive right to print the Scriptures within the Danish realm. Prior to 1855, all editions of the Scriptures produced at the Copenhagen press were accompanied by the Apocrypha and explanatory notes, and hence the Bible Society was by its rules precluded from taking any part in their circulation. In that year, however, at the instance of the London Society, the directors of the Orphan Institution agreed to produce the New Testament free from all notes and apocryphal references. The concession thus happily obtained was at once acted on: an edition of 10,000 Danish New Testaments was produced for the London Society under the auspices of the Copenhagen Orphan Institution, and passed into rapid circulation. A subsequent edition of 5000 has been found neces- sary to meet the demands made upon the Society's Agency, and is now (1859) completed. IV. — EDITIONS OF THE DANISH SCRIPTURES TOR NORWAY. Upon the incorporation of Norway with Sweden, a Norwegian Bible Society was formed at Christiania in 1816, under the patronage of the king of Sweden; and, aided by a grant of £500 from the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 6000 New Testaments was printed in 1819, not from the revised and exceptionable edition, but from the former authorised version of the Danish Scriptures, which had been executed on the basis of Luther's. In 1820 farther assistance from London was granted to the Norwegian Society; and another edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament, from the same text as the preceding, left the press at Christiania in 1823. Kepresentations having been laid before the British and Foreign Bible Society concerning the scarcity of Bibles in Norway, an edition of 5000 copies was printed in London in 1823, from the Christiania edition, under the editorship of the Rev. Mr. Treschow, a native of Norway. Another issue, consisting also of 5,000 copies, was printed in 1827, Mr. Troilius correcting the press, and the Kev. C. Rahm also reading the proof sheets. An edition of the entire Bible was published by the Society in London in 1829: it consisted of 5000 Bibles, and about 10,000 additional New Testaments, and was superintended by Mr. Rahm. The text selected was the authorised version of 1644, or rather the reprint of 1744, generally considered the most correct edition that had appeared. The British and Foreign Bible Society established an agency of its own at Christiania about the year 1827, for the purpose of printing and circulating the Danish Bible alone, without the addition of the Apocryphal Books, which the continental Societies were in the habit of binding up with the inspired volume. Several stereotype editions have been issued under the superintendence of this agency on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The total number of copies published at the expense of that Society, up to the end of 1859, is 50,848 Bibles, and 300,934 New Testaments, with 10,000 Psalms. Similar agencies have also been established at Drontheim and at Stavanger (on the S.W. coast of Norway), and at each of these places the work of distribution has for some years past been actively carried on. The total number of issues, by the Society's agents in Norway, during the year ending February 1860, amounted to 25,061, a considerable increase upon previous issues. V. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. To the light diffused in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, by the early publication of Danish versions of the New Testament, may be attributed the rapid progress which was made by the Reformation, on its first promulgation in those countries. Concerning the result of modern efforts in 222 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. disseminating the Danish Scriptures, much encouragement may be obtained from the reports of the several Societies engaged in that important work. In their annual statement (for 1847) the agency of Christiania write, that " almost everywhere in Norway the desire for the word of God is to a certainty increasing, though, perhaps, only by slow degrees." And in the same report there is the following account respecting Denmark: — "If I cannot," says the writer, "point out many striking instances here of the triumphs of the divine word over the world, sin, and infidelity, as the result of its abundant circulation among us, still the moral and spiritual benefits which accompany it are great and undeni- able; and the more the saving truths of the sacred volume are made known, the more they are appreciated, and its possession sought after." From a later report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, we learn that their Norwegian agents have succeeded in enlisting in their cause the good offices of the village schoolmasters, through whose assistance the circulation of the sacred volume throughout Norway promises to be yet farther increased. At Drontheim, similar gratifying testimony is offered: — "It affords us much pleasure (writes the Society's agent, in 1852) to be able to give you, on the whole, encouraging accounts respecting the progress of our work. The desire to possess the Scriptures has in many parishes been much increased, owing to the efforts of the clergy, and it is to be hoped that the copies thus circulated will produce a greater amount of blessing, as several of the pastors have, in consequence of the desire thus manifested, felt themselves encouraged to hold frequent meetings for reading and expounding the Scriptures to their parishioners, with a view of making them better understood; and, according to the information we had received, these meetings are well attended." SWEDISH. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. t. v. 1 to 14. [Stockholm, 1848.] 3 fjegfynnelfen roar Drbet, ocfy Drbet roar ncir ©ubi, ocfy (Sub rear Drbet. 2 Set famma war i fiegfymtelfett nar ©ubi. 3 ©enom bet art) aU ting gjorb, ocfy bet forutan ax intet gjorbt, bet gjorbt dr. 4 3 bet roar lifroet j ocfy lifroet roar menniffcrnaS IjuS : 5 Defy Tjufet Ityfer i motfret, ocfy morfret fyafroer bet icfe fjegripit. 6 Gm man roar fdnb af ©ubi, font fyet SofyamteS : 7 «£>an font til roittneSfcorb, pa bet fyan ffufle roittna out ijufet, at afte ffuQe tro genom fyonom. 8 3cfe roar fyan fijufet ; men (fyan roar fdnb) til at roittna ont Sjufet. 9 £>et roar bet fauna Sjufet, fyroilfet upttyfer atta ntenniffor, font f'omma i roerlben. 10 3 roerlbene roar bet, ocfy tgenom bet ar roerlben gjorb ; ocfy roerlben fdnbe bet icfe. u >§an font til fitt eget, ocfy fyang egne anammabe fyonom icfe. I2 SOten attorn bent, font fyonom anammabe, gaf fyar. ntagt at Mifroa ©ubg Barn, bent fom tro £a fyang 9canm; 13 <£roiffe icfe af Hob, icfe fyefler af fottslig roilja, icfe fetter af nagorS man§ roilja, utan af ©ubi fobbe dro. 14 Defy Drbet roarbt fott, ocfy fiobce iManb of ; ocfy roi fdgom fyang fydrtigfyet, fdfom enba ©onfenS fydrligfyet af ^abrenom, fuft meb nab ocfy fanning. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Sweden forms the eastern, and most important part of the Scandinavian peninsula, and includes an area of about 170,700 square miles, with a population (in 1855) of 3,641,600. The religion of the state, and of almost all the inhabitants, is Lutheran. The hierarchy consists of 1 archbishop, 11 bishops, 70 archdeacons, and 102 provosts or deans. Although toleration is extended to all sects, there Class III.] SWEDISH. 223 are not many dissenters from the national form of religion in Sweden. The Swedenborgians, the only distinct religious community that the country has produced, are comparatively few in number; and there are not more than about 2000 Eoman Catholics and 1000 Jews. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Swedes are a branch of the same family as the Danes and Norwegians, and originally spoke the same language; at least, the most ancient documents extant of Old Swedish are so similar in idiom to the coeval productions in Old Danish, that little difference can be discerned between them. Long- continued political separation has, however, occasioned the modern dialects of the Old Norse to differ considerably from each other, and now books require to be translated from one language into the other ; and the intonation and emphasis of the two languages is now very different. Yet it is said that the peasants of Norway and Sweden are able to converse together, and that their respective dialects do not differ much more than broad Scotch from vulgar English. The roots of words, and the rules of grammatical construction, are still the same in Swedish as in Danish; and both languages have been subjected to several alterations by the influence of the German language and literature. French words and forms have also been adopted in Swedish, and the only region in which the old language is spoken with comparative purity is in Dalecarlia, in the east of Sweden, where the Dalcarls, or Dalesmen, who wear a distinctive dress, still preserve traces of the manners and customs of their Gothic forefathers. III. — VERSIONS OE THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. A version of the Scriptures into Swedish is said to have been made in the fourteenth century by order of St. Brigit, or Bridget, who about the year 1344 founded the religious order called from her the Brigittins; but it is problematical whether such a version was really executed, for no vestiges whatever of it remain, and it is not even mentioned by early writers. A translation of the New Testament, according to Luther's German version, (the first Swedish version of which we have any definite account,) was undertaken by command of Gustavus Vasa in 1523, by Laurentius Andreas, then a priest of the church of Stengnas, but afterwards archdeacon of Upsal, and at length chancellor. This New Testament was printed in 1526, in folio, at Stockholm, and was after- wards republished in various forms. At the same time that Gustavus Vasa gave directions for the translation of this New Testament from Luther's version, he enjoined John Gothus, archbishop of Upsal, to prepare another version accommodated to the tenets of the Church of Eome, in order that by a careful comparison of both translations with the original, an easier access might be opened to the truth. The archbishop, not daring to resist the royal mandate, employed some of his clergy to pre- pare this translation; but, to evade its publication, he secretly left the kingdom, and died in 1544 at Rome; so that although the New Testament is said to have been actually translated on this occasion, chiefly by a Catholic doctor named Benedict, yet no portion of the work was printed. The first Swedish version of the entire Bible was published at Upsal in 1541, with the Apo- crypha. The Old Testament was translated by Laurentius and Olaus Petri from Luther's German version of 1534, and the New Testament was that of Laurentius Andreas, printed, as we have seen, in 1526. Another version of the New Testament, prepared by Amund Laurent, was published at Stock- holm in 1550, and again in 1605 and 1621; and in the course of subsequent years several editions of the Psalms were printed. But unless the Bible of 1541 was reprinted at Upsal in 1576, which seems very doubtful, Sweden remained for about seventy years without a second edition of the entire Scriptures. At length however, in the commencement of the seventeenth century, Charles IX. ordered Jonas Petri, bishop of Strengnes, and other learned men, to collate Luther's editions of 1534 and 1545, noting such discrepancies as appeared to them of any importance, with the view of pro- ducing an improved edition of the Swedish translation. These notes, when completed, were called the "observations of Strengnes;" and it was decreed in the synod of Stockholm in 1602, that they should be incorporated with the old version in a new edition of the Bible. The edition, however, 224 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. from various causes, did not make its appearance till 1617, when it was printed in folio at Stockholm. This edition was carried through the press by John Reidbeck and John Lenceus, who were ordered to retain the text of the former edition, (which followed Luther's of 1535,) but to correct its numerous typographical errors, and to add summaries to the chapters, parallel references, brief annotations, and necessary indexes. In 1622 not a copy of this edition remained on sale, and a reprint was, therefore, issued in quarto at Lubeck, followed by several successive editions in 8vo. (but without the summaries and notes) at Leyden; and by two editions in 1636 and 1646 at Stockholm. In 1650, the Strengnes Bible was printed in 4to. under the care of Bishop Matthia; but, through the carelessness of the printers, whole verses were omitted in this impression. Several editions of the entire Bible, in folio, quarto, and octavo, were published in 1655 and subsequent years at Stockholm, professedly from the edition of 1618, but with many deviations from that text. In 1671 the Four Gospels in the Sueo-Gothic, or vulgar Swedish dialect, translated by George Stiernhielm, appeared in a polyglot containing the Gospels of Ulphilas, the Norse or Icelandic Gospels, and the Vulgate. A revised edition of the entire Bible was undertaken under the reign of Charles XII., and the execution of the work was committed to Eric Benzel, bishop of Strengnes, and afterwards archbishop of Upsal, assisted by Nicholas Berg and other learned men. Former editions were collated, and the marginal notes were revised for this edition; but variations from the text of 1618 were very sparingly admitted, except when they appeared more conformable to the originals and to Luther's German version. It was printed in 1703, in folio, at Stockholm, and is considered a superior edition. Another revised edition of the Bible appeared in 1709, in 4to., at the same place. The prepara- tion for this edition was begun by John Gezel, bishop of Abo, who collated it with the Greek and Hebrew texts; but he died in 1690, and the work was completed and published by his son. It is accompanied with the prefaces and notes of Luther, a portrait of Charles XII., and a chronological index. So many editions of the Swedish Scriptures appeared in the course of the eighteenth century, that the country was generally considered to be well supplied with Bibles; and it was not till the year 1808, when Dr. Paterson visited Sweden, that the real facts of the case were ascertained; and it was then found that the poorer inhabitants were almost destitute of the word of God, and that the high price of Bibles placed them beyond the reach of the humbler classes. This discovery led to the formation of the Evangelical Society, by which several editions for the poor were issued, aided by grants from the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Swedish Bible Society was formed in 1815, and, with its numerous auxiliary Societies, still continues the important work of printing and dis- seminating the Scriptures. It received much assistance from the British and Foreign Bible Society until the year 1826, when the decision of the Apocryphal question in London severed the connexion between the two Societies. In order to maintain the circulation of Bibles in Sweden without the Apocrypha, several editions of the Old and New Testaments have been issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Their first edition, which was stereotyped, was published in 1828, under the superintendence of the Rev. J. P. Wahlin, chaplain to the Swedish Embassy in London. The text adopted was that of the last edition of the Swedish Bible Society. Several editions from the same text have since been printed by the same Society in London, and likewise at Stockholm, through the medium of their Agency maintained there. The total number of copies of the Swedish Scriptures issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Swedish Bible Society, up to the beginning of 1860, amounted to above 1,660,000; of which 212,238 Bibles, and 684,236 Testaments, were from the Agency of the British Society. Separate editions of the Testament and Psalms, to the number of 128,202 copies, besides 480 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, printed in embossed characters for the blind, have likewise been issued by the same Society. Class III.] SWEDISH. 225 IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Several signal instances of the blessing of God accompanying the perusal of this version have been manifested in individual cases. A colporteur, writing in 1846, speaks of a family whom he visited during one of his journeys, and found in great affliction: he passed a night at their house, and exhorted them to read the Scriptures; he continues his statement as follows: — " I did not see these people again before the month of March this year, when I happened to travel that way, and called upon them. How gloriously had all been changed with them ! From their formerly gloomy counte- nances, the peace of the Lord was now shining forth, which reigned within their hearts by faith in the Saviour, whom they had found revealed in the Scriptures ; and they were unable sufficiently to express their gratitude to the Lord, who had sent the stranger to them, in order to show them the precious treasure which they possessed in the Bible without knowing it. They could not comprehend their former blindness, which had not allowed them to understand that which was now as clear as the sun to them. The sick woman had received health for her soul, and this had such an influence upon her body, that she was able to be out of bed the greater part of the day, and could work at her distaff. But the good which proceeded from the great change went still farther. Their manservant, who had formerly been a thoughtless youth, came to an earnest consideration of the welfare of his soul. Their nearest neighbour, a pedlar, had been a rude mocker at all that is holy; but he was persuaded to read the Scriptures, and he soon became convinced of his lost condition, and discontinued his profane life. Xow the neighbours called upon each other by turns, in order to read the Bible with humble prayer to the Lord, and 'to edify one another by psalms and hymns and spiritual songs;' for even our pedlar had found the pearl of great price, which he valued more than all his other riches. This man now commenced to read from the Bible for his family every morning and evening; and his wife and both his servants, with repenting hearts, became convinced of the saving grace that is in Jesus. This person exercised likewise a blessed influence upon the souls of others, and became much esteemed by all on account of his mild and christianlike deportment. He died recently ; and his last words were, ' Glory to the Lord ! I have gained the victory for the sake of the blood of the Lamb.' " Many instances of a similar kind to the above are to be found in the recent reports of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Few parts of Europe, if any, present such indubitable evidences of real spiritual improvement. The desire for the Scriptures is evidently on the increase. The Bible readings, gatherings of small companies for the express object of reading the Word of God, and conversing on its contents, are multiplying in all parts of the country, and each attendant feels it necessary to be furnished with his own copy of the Sacred Volume. 10 226 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. FAEOESE. SPECIMEN, FKOM St. MATTHEW, Chai". v. v. 1 to 13. SBen taci=ui t)an faae Sfolfje, gjaef t)an up aa ait 93j0rg; o taa=ui l)an Par febfhtr, gingu ©ifciplar tyanfara tit fycmS. 2 D han (edb up SMutm fuin, larbl tair, o feje : 3 @aait eru tei faatafu ui Qlanfcini, tfjui •&immerigj,i§ Otuigje er taira. 4 ©aatt eru tei, fum ftrgia, trjui tei fhiflu fyugfbeataft. 5 @aali eru tei ©agtntoniu, tfjui tei ffuCu arPa Stfritta. 6 (Saali eru tei, ui l;urtgra o tifta ettur 3ftattelit)aib, tf)ui tei ffullu maettaft. 7 ©aali eru tei SBarmtyartiu, tfyui tei ffuttu njoiiba SSarmf)iartit)aib. 8 @aa(i eru tei reiuu edo >§jartanun, tfjui tei fhtflu fubja ©ub. 9 ©aali eru tei oMaliu, tf)ut tei f fuflu fablaft ©ub§ SB^bn. 10 @aalt eru tei, [urn luja 8xrft(gji(fe ftri 9tattelu)aib§ immertgji§ 3fhtigj;e. u ©aalijir eru Sib, urn tei fpotta o forftlgja Sifurt, o teata ui 0blun Subun ibta urn Sifun ftri mutna ©fjilb, o ligya ted. 12 ©laejj o friji Sif'un, tfjui &0n Sitara (fedl paera ruigjit ui •£imutrtun ; tfyui fo tytoa. tei forfifgt *Jk6pf)etarnar, fum pouru ftri Sifun. ,3 Sib eru Sprina /ot? avrov iyevero ovSe ev b yeyovev. 4 'Ev avra> ^corj r)v, kcli r) far) r)v to <£&>9 tcov dvQpunrwv. 5 Kal to (£«9 iv rfj a/coTta (palvei, Kal r) gkotio, avrb ov KareXafiev. 6 'Eyevero av8pco7ro<; direaraXfjuevo^ rvapd Qeov' ovofia avrS 'Icodvvr/^. 7 05to? r)X9ev eh puaprvptav, i'va [xaprvprjcrri irepl tov (jjcorbs, iva irdvre^ rno-revaojo-i oY avrov. 8 Ouk r)v eicelvos to <£o>9, dXX' 'iva fj,aprvprjarj rrepl tov (fiooros. 9 'Hv to ^>w? to dXrjdivbv, b (pcori^ei ixdvra avBpwuov ipyopuevov eh tov koo-jaov. 10 'Ev ra KOcrpKp r\v, Kal 6 koo-/jlo aapt; iyevero' Kal ecrKrjVcoaev ev r)pZv, (Kal i6eao~dp,e6a rrjv So^av avrov, Zb^av 0)9 piovoyevovs rrapd iraTpbs,) TrXrjprjs ydpiro^ Kal dXr]6eia<;. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT. At the time of the first preaching of Christianity, the more civilised nations of the Koman empire (however dissimilar their respective vernacular tongues) were united by the bond of a common language, which to them was almost the only known medium of poetry, learning, and philosophy. That language was the Greek. In certain countries, as in Greece itself, in Egypt, and, as some say, in Syria, it was used in the common affairs of life ; but everywhere it was the language of literature, and as such held the same position that was occupied by Latin during the middle ages. The conquests of Alexander the Great had been the primary cause, under Providence, of the wide diffusion of this language; and although the Grecian empire was afterwards supplanted by the Eoman, yet the civilisation, the arts, and the language of Greece long remained predominant. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The ancient Greek language was divided into four principal dialects — the Attic, which was the purest, the Ionic, the Doric, and the ^Eolic, spoken originally in those colonies on the coast of Asia Minor — distinguished from each other by varieties of orthography and pronunciation. When, under Philip of Macedon, the Grecian republics lost their freedom, and became more or less united under one government, the various dialects were gradually amalgamated into one. The language which thus sprang from this intermixture of dialects differed materially from that of books, as preserved in the / 228 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. writings of the early poets and philosophers. It became current however wherever the Greek language was spoken ; it was even used by the later writers ; and, on account of its wide diffusion, received the name of kolvtj StaA,e«:To?, the common dialect. The Septuagint version was written in this dialect, and it was also selected by Divine Providence as the appropriate medium of communicating to man the new covenant in Christ Jesus. It is characterised by the promiscuous employment of forms originally peculiar to one dialect; Attic, Ionic, and Doric words are indiscriminately used, and often placed in juxtaposition with words of foreign origin. Planck has observed, that in the New Testament there are, in the flexion of nouns, no traces of any of the ancient dialects except the Attic, but that in the flexion of verbs there is more variety, the Attic furnishing most examples, and the Doric affording others, while many of the forms are exclusively to be met with in the latter idiom. The influence of Hebrew characteristics is likewise to be traced in the New Testament, in several passages the phrase- ology being Hebrew, while the words are Greek. This is more especially observable in the frequent use of a double substantive (arising from the paucity of adjectives in Hebrew), and in the use of the words of God as indicative of the superlative degree. The Greek alphabet is a modification of the Phoenician, and it is to the adoption of this alphabet, which is but ill-adapted to express any sounds except those of Shemitic origin, that many of the anomalies of the Greek language are to be attributed. III. — CODICES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. There seems every reason to believe that the whole of the New Testament was originally com- municated by the Holy Spirit to the inspired penmen in the Greek language. Some indeed have asserted, that the Gospel according to St. Matthew and the Epistle to the Hebrews were originally written in Hebrew, and at a subsequent period transferred into Greek; but the data on which this opinion is founded are by no means conclusive. 1 It is generally thought that the autographs of the evangelists and apostles were not preserved beyond the commencement of the third century, even if they remained in existence so long; but, prior to that period, many copies of the sacred writings had been made and dispersed among the infant churches. The most ancient copies appear generally to have been made on Egyptian papyrus, a very perishable material, so that none of these have been trans- mitted to us. As early as the fourth century we find vellum in common use for writing; and, in the eleventh century, paper made of cotton, wool, or linen, was adopted. The oldest MSS. have no divisions of words, and no accents, and are all written in capital, or, as they were formerly called, uncial letters. The earliest MS. written in letters of the present cursive form bears the date 890, but even after this period the old uncial characters were sometimes used on account of their beautiful regularity. Although the Scriptures were given in the first instance by the immediate inspiration of God, yet no supernatural power was communicated to those who transcribed them. The multiplication of copies was conducted on the same principle as that of other books which have been transmitted from ancient times. The MSS. of the New Testament are not, therefore, free from the errors of copyists; but as it is not likely, or even possible, that copies executed by different persons, and from different exemplars, should all contain precisely the same errors, it seems reasonable to believe that, by the careful comparison of copies, one copy can be used to correct another, and the purity of the original text be thus in a great measure restored. An error in an ancient exemplar would be perpetuated in all copies and versions made from it; and it is probably owing to this cause that a sort of family resemblance is to be traced in copies, certain MSS. indicating, by peculiar or faulty readings, the age and country of the exemplar to which they owe their origin. This circumstance has led to the classification of MSS. 1 Upon this point, however, the student may be usefully referred to a paper " On the Original Language of St. Matthew's Gospel," by Dr. S. P. Tregelles (London, Bagster and Sons, 1850), reprinted from the Journal of Sacred Literature, No. 9, and in which the subject is discussed with much learning and ability. The opinion of the Hebrew original of St. Matthew's Gospel was, as the author shows, universally entertained by the Christian Church for the long term of fourteen hundred years subsequent to the close of the first century. Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 229 Griesbach has divided all MSS. of the New Testament into the following classes, generally termed families, editions, or recensions: — I. The Alexandrian recension, so called because it emanated from Alexandria: it is quoted by Clement of Alexandria, by Origen, Eusebius, and other Greek fathers. The Coptic version agrees wholly with it, and the Ethiopic and Armenian versions coincide with it in part. II. The Western recension, used in countries where the Latin language was spoken, and with which the Latin versions coincide. The Sahidic and Jerusalem Syriac versions also agree with it: Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, Augustine, and other Latin fathers, quote it. III. The Constantinopolitan recension, to which the mass of modern MSS. and the Moscow codices of St. Paul's epistles are referable. Quotations from this recension appear in the works of the fathers who lived from the end of the fourth till the sixth century, in Greece, Asia Minor, and the neighbouring provinces. The Gothic and Sclavonic versions coincide with it. The classification of MSS. is, however, a very intricate subject, the classes being so blended that it is difficult to separate them; and, besides, the discrepancies are so trifling, being chiefly of an orthographical nature, that in many cases it is not easy to determine to which class a given MS. may belong. Hence various systems of classification have been proposed by different writers : some affirm that there are four distinct classes, and others that there are only two. According to the system of Scholz, MSS. are divisible into the Alexandrian or African (including the first two classes of Griesbach), and the Constantinopolitan or Asiatic. Individual MSS. are conventionally distinguished from each other by one of the letters of the alphabet being affixed to each. These marks do not point out the relative antiquity or value of the MSS., but seem to have been applied in the first instance in a very arbitrary manner, and to have been afterwards retained for the sake of convenience. The most ancient and valuable MSS. which have been handed down to us are the following: — Codex A, sometimes called the Alexandrine MS., having in all probability been written at Alexandria, whence it was certainly brought. It is commonly referred to the fifth century. It contains the Old Testament in three volumes, and the New Testament in one volume : appended to the latter is the First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, and a fragment of the Second. This MS. was presented by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Alexandria and afterwards of Constantinople, to Charles I. of England, in 1628, and it is now in the British Museum. A facsimile edition of the New Testament was published at the expense of the University of Oxford in 1726, under the editorship of Dr. Woide: the Old Testament was afterwards edited by the Rev. H. H. Baber. Codex B, generally termed the Vatican MS., because it belongs to that library, marked 1209. It is one of the most ancient MSS. extant, being ascribed to the middle of the fourth century. It contains both the Old and New Testaments, but the book of Revelation has been added to it by a modern hand. It wants the end of the Epistle to the Hebrew?, and those to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The Old Testament was printed from this MS. in 1587 by order of Sixtus V., and a translation of the New Testament has been given by Granville Penn. Another MS., also marked B, and therefore sometimes confounded with the preceding, is in the Vatican Library. It is supposed to belong to the seventh century, and contains the Apocalypse, with the Homilies of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa: a facsimile of it is given in Bianchini's Evangeliarium Quadruplex. The text has been published by Tischendorf. Codex C, also called Codex Ephraemi, and sometimes Codex Regius, because preserved in the 230 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. Royal Library of Paris. This valuable MS., which originally contained the whole of the New Testament, and the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, was written in Egypt, about the sixth century, but was erased in the thirteenth century to make room for the works of Epbraem the Syrian, which were written over it. By means of chemical applications, however, the original text has been in a great measure restored. Wetstein succeeded in deciphering and collating it; and, in 1843, a splendid facsimile edition, with prolegomena, was published by Tischendorf. CODEX D, also known as Codex Cantabrigiensis or Bezce, because presented in 158 1 to the University of Cambridge by Beza. It had for years previously lain neglected in the monastery of St. Irenseus at Lyons, whence Beza had procured it. It contains the Gospels and Acts with a Latin version. It belongs probably to the seventh century, but to what country is uncertain. A beautiful facsimile edition was published by Dr. Kipling at Cambridge, in 1793. Codex D, or Codex Claromontanus, probably marked D, because erroneously believed by Dr. Mill and other critics to form the second part of the preceding. It is a Greek and Latin copy of St. Paul's Epistles, and is called Codex Claromontanus because procured from Clermont in France by Beza. It belongs either to the seventh or eighth century. It is preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, certain sheets were cut out of it by a thief, and sold in England, but they were restored to the library by Lord Oxford in 1729. Codex Zacynthius (H), a palimpsest MS. discovered in Zante in 1820 by the late General Macaulay, contains a considerable portion of the Gospel by St. Luke. It is in the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Committee granted the use of it for collation and transcription to Dr. Tregelles, who says, " 1 do not know of any MS. of equal antiquity accompanied by a Catena; in many respects this most valuable palimpsest is worthy of special attention: it is remarkable that it had remained in this country for nearly forty years unread and unused." It is printed with the Alexandrian types lent by the Trustees of the British Museum, and published by Messrs. Bagster. Facsimiles of several other MSS have been published, but the bare enumeration of all the MSS. of the New Testament would be impossible within our limits. The number of MSS. known to have been collated in whole or in part amounts, according to Scholz, to 674. By far the greater number of these MSS. contain only the four Gospels, this portion of Scripture having been most constantly in demand, because most frequently used in the public service of the church. Ancient copies of the entire New Testament are extremely rare. MSS. Lectionaria, which contain the detached portions of the Testament appointed to be read in churches, are by no means uncommon. Copies of the book of Revelation are remarkably scarce: there are in fact but three ancient MSS. in which this book is to be found, namely Codex A, one of the Codices marked B, and Codex C. Of these, Codex C is the most valuable, but it is unfortunately very defective, about nine chapters being missing; so that Codex B, the text of which has been lately published by Tischendorf, and Codex A (the Alexandrine MS.) are the only ancient exemplars to which we are indebted for our acquaintance with the whole of the New Testament in the original. IV. — PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE GREEK TESTAMENT. Six chapters of the Gospel of St. John were printed at Venice as early as 1504, by Aldus Manutius, and the whole of that Gospel was printed at Tubingen in Suabia, the modern kingdom of Wurtemberg, in 1512. But these editions are interesting only as literary curiosities, for though they constituted the first portion of the Greek Testament ever committed to the press, yet they exercised no influence whatever on succeeding editions. The earliest printed edition of the entire New Testament is contained in the Complutcnsian Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK, 231 Polyglot, a work we have already mentioned in our account of the Hebrew Scriptures. The MSS. used for this impression were most probably, as it is stated in the prologue, furnished for the purpose by Pope Leo X. from the Vatican Library. There is abundant internal evidence to prove that these MSS. were of no great antiquity, for the text agrees with MSS. written in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries in all passages wherein they differ from ancient exemplars. The earliest published edition of the Greek Testament was that of Erasmus, which appeared at Basle in 1516; whereas the Complutensian text, although printed in 1514, was not published till 1520. Erasmus prepared the text from four MSS., the most ancient of which belonged to the tenth century, and contained all the New Testament except the Apocalypse. His other three MSS. consisted of a copy of the Gospels, written, according to Wetstein, in the fifteenth century; a copy of the Acts and Epistles of rather earlier date, and a document containing the book of Revelation, which he asserted was almost apostolic in age: but as the text in this MS. was accompanied with the Commentary of Arethas, who lived at least 900 years after the time of the apostles, its antiquity seems very doubtful. It belonged originally to Reuchlin, but after its publication by Erasmus it seems to have disappeared, and no one knows what has become of it. Th;> other three MSS. used by Erasmus are still preserved at Basle. In addition to these MSS., he seems to have possessed no other critical apparatus except the Latin Vulgate, and a commentary of Theophylact containing part of the Greek text: but this Theophylact was the last of the Greek fathers: he lived at the end of the eleventh century, and his testimony is therefore of little weight as compared with that of the early fathers. Erasmus professed, indeed, to have consulted Origen, Chrysostom, and Cyril; but he could only have seen the Latin versions of their writings, as no edition of their original texts had then been issued from the press. He employed but nine months and a half in the preparation and printing of his first edition, although it comprised copious annotations and a Latin version printed in parallel columns with the Greek. Indications of this undue haste are clearly perceptible in many places, and it is nearly certain that in several passages where his MSS. were illegible, he supplied the defects by words of his own translation from the Vulgate. This is especially the case with the concluding six verses of the Book of Revelation, which are well known to have been wanting in Reuchlin's MS. The second edition of the Greek Testament was published by Erasmus three years after the first, and, according to Mill, it contains no less than 400 corrections. His third edition appeared in 1522, and he then inserted the text 1 John v. 7, which he had rejected in his first two editions because it was wanting in the MSS. he had originally employed. This alteration was made on the authority of a MS. now in Dublin. The first English version from the Greek was made by Tyndale from this third edition. A copy of the Complutensian text was not seen by Erasmus till after the year 1522, but his fourth and fifth editions, which appeared in 1527 and 1535, contain many alterations made in con- formity to it. Dr. Mill states that in these editions there are ninety corrections from the Complutensian text in the book of Revelation, and twenty-six only in all the other books. These editions are of especial importance, as they form the basis of all subsequent editions, and contain, substantially, the Greek text in general use at the present day. During the nineteen years which elapsed between the publication of the first and last editions of Erasmus, nine or ten other New Testaments were printed; but they were all taken from one or other of the editions of Erasmus, except that by Colinseus, which was printed at Paris in 1534. Colinaaus drew his text partly from those of Erasmus, partly from the Complutensian, and partly from MSS. which he collated for the purpose. Three of these MSS. are preserved at Paris. This edition is particularly correct and valuable, but it met with undeserved neglect, and being shortly after its appearance eclipsed by the more popular editions of Stephens, it had no share whatever in the for- mation of the received text. The four editions of Robert Stephens (the step-son of Colinceus) appeared in 1546, 1549, 1550, and 1551: his son published a fifth edition in 1569. These editions are more celebrated for their typographical neatness than for their critical excellence: the text is drawn partly from Erasmus, and 232 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. partly from the Complutensian; and even the third, or folio, edition, which was alleged by Stephens to have been formed on the authority of ancient MSS., was found, on subsequent examination, to be little more than a mere reprint of Erasmus's fifth edition, with marginal readings from about sixteen MSS/ The verses into which the New Testament is divided were invented by Stephens, and first appeared in his edition of 1551. The third edition of Stephens was reprinted by Beza, in 1565, with about fifty emendations. It is rather surprising that Beza did not introduce farther improvements in the text, as he had the advantage of possessing two valuable MSS., the Codex Beza? and the Codex Claromontanus above described, besides the Syriac version, then lately published with a very close Latin translation by Tremellius : but Beza employed these critical materials almost exclusively in drawing up the polemical disquisitions which he inserted in the notes of his editions. Like Stephens, he was a native of France, and a Protestant; and being persecuted on account of his religion, he fled to Geneva, where, between the years 1565 and 1598, he published five editions of his Testament. All these editions are accom- panied by the Latin Vulgate, and a Latin version executed by himself. The best reprint of Beza's Greek text is generally considered to be the edition which appeared at Cambridge in 1642, with the notes of Joachim Camerarius. In 1624, the first of the celebrated Elzevir editions was published by the Elzevirs, printers at Leyden. The editor is unknown; but it is evident he had little recourse to MS. authorities, the text, like that of Beza, being founded on the third edition of Stephens. This text, however, obtained so much celebrity, that it became commonly known as the textus receptus ; and for upwards of a century it was (with few exceptions) reprinted in every successive edition of the New Testament. Among the most noted of the editions formed from this text, may be mentioned those published by Curcelkeus, at Amsterdam, in 1658, 1675, 1685, and 1699: these editions contain a collection of parallel passages, and the greatest number of vai-ious readings to be found in any edition of the New Testament prior to that in the sixth volume of Walton's Polyglot. Some of these readings are said to be unfairly quoted, without authorities, in order to favour the Socinian heresy. The Greek text in Walton's Polyglot is printed from the folio edition of Stephens. Dr. Fell published another edition, chiefly from the same text, at Oxford, in 1675; he copied the numerous readings of the Polyglot, to which he added collations from other sources. A new era in biblical criticism commences with the year 1707, when the Rev. Dr. John Mill published, at Oxford, his important edition of the New Testament, with 30,000 various readings and useful prolegomena. He selected for his text the third edition of Stephens, as reprinted in Walton's Polyglot, and added all the collections of readings that had then been published: he also formed new collations himself of original editions, and of the quotations from the New Testament which occur in the writings of the fathers; and he obtained extracts of MSS. that had not previously been collated. During thirty years he devoted himself, with increasing assiduity, to the production of this work, and he survived its publication but fourteen days. A re-impression of his edition was executed by Krister, at Rotterdam, in 1710, with the readings of twelve additional MSS. The editions of the Greek Testament published at present are generally, at least in this country, printed from Mill's text. An attempt towards a critical amendment of the text was made by Dr. Wells, in his edition of the New Testament, published at Oxford, in detached portions, between the years 1709 and 1719. But far more considerable corrections of the received text were introduced in the edition published by Bengel, at Tubingen, in 1734: it is however remarkable, that except in the book of Revelation, Bengel does not adopt one reading which is not to be met with in some of the printed editions. His edition is distinguished by its accuracy; he does not alter the text itself, except in the book of Revelation, but the relative value of the various readings is signified by the characters of the Greek alphabet affixed to each citation. The materials for the revision of the text were greatly increased in 1751-2 by the publication of Wetstein's edition, with its valuable prolegomena and its vast collection of readings. Wetstein Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 233 collated several MSS. himself; (in thirty-eight years he collated about eighteen MSS. of the Gospels;) others he examined, and the collations of others were diligently collected by him. This edition is con- sidered by Michaelis to be more important, in a critical point of view, than any other. The notes are particularly useful; for they contain copious extracts from rabbinical writers, which greatly serve to explain the idiom and turn of expression of the New Testament. The text is simply a reprint of the editio recepta of the Elzevirs. The emendations proposed by Wetstein, and indicated by him in the margin, were adopted by Bowyer, a learned printer in London, who inserted them in the text of his edition, published 1763: a second edition appeared in 1772. Between the years 1775 and 1777, Dr. Griesbach published his revised text of the Greek Testa- ment; but the second edition of this work, which was completed in 1806, is by far the most important, because it contains the results of collations made subsequently to the publication of the first edition. The first volume of this second edition was reprinted in 1796, at the expense of the then Duke of Grafton. All the critical materials which had been amassed by Mill, Bengel, Wetstein, Matthsei, Birch, and Alter, together with the results of his own extensive researches, were collected by Dr. Griesbacb, and applied by him to the general revision of the text. Besides the readings which he admitted into the text, he formed a large collection of marginal readings, to which he affixed marks to denote the various degrees of probability as to the genuineness of such readings. In 1805, he pub- lished a manual edition, exhibiting, in a compendious form, the results to which he had been led by his minute critical investigations. An edition of the various readings has been printed, together with Mill's text, in an 8vo. volume, by Messrs. Bagster. The advantage of these will appear from the subjoined tabular form : — AOYKA, xi. 1-13. KAI iyivero iv t<3 eivai avrov iv T07rco nvl 7rpoo~ev)(6p.evov, d)S iira.vcra.TO, cure tis tw p.a6r)ru>v airov rrpbs avrov Kvpie, Si'Sa£ov rjp.a<; rrpoo-ev-)(ea6ai, Kat9cos Kal IcocWtis e§i'Sa£e toiis [jLa$r]Ta,<; avrov. 2 Enre Se a^rois - Orav rrpoaev^qcrOe, Xeyere- Hdrep " r]p.wv" b b iv tois ovpavots," a.yiao-6rjru> to ovop.d aov iXBire<; rjplv ras d/xaprias rjjJiwv' Kal yap amol • delXovri Tjplv koX p.r] eicreveyKTis ti/aSs eis rreipao-p.ov, g aXXa pvo~ai 77/i.as airo toS rrovrjpov." 5 Kai eiTre 7rpos avrov?- Ti's e£ v/jlwv e£ei iAe, xpycrov (jlol j Tpeis aprov;, 6 'E^iSt) cpiAos ' p-ov rrapeyivero i£ bSov irpos fie, Kal ovk e^co o TrapaOrjo-u) airco- 7 KaKeivos eo~G)6ev airoKptdels Ct7TT7 - M77 fXOl K07TOUS Trapeze' 77877 Tj Ovpa. K€KXeiCTTal, Kal TO. TTatSta p.ov p.er ip.ov eh ttjv koittjv eicriv ov Swa/xai dvacTTas Sowai o~ol. 8 Aeyco vplv, el Kai ov ococrei avrco dvacrrds, Sid to elvai avrov iAov, Sid ye rr]V avatSeiav airov iyepOeh Scocrei atirco ocrcov ^prj^et. 9 Kdyco vp.lv Aeyar Alrelre, Kal Sodrjcrerai. vplv t^reire, Kal evptferere- Kpovere, Kal dvoiy^crerai" vplv. 10 lids yap 6 alroiv Xap.jia.vei, Kal 6 £777-101/ evpicrKeL, Kal tco Kpovovri avoLyrjaeTai." " TtVa Se m vp.wv' tov irarepa alrrjcreL o uios aprov, p.rj XiOov eViScocrei avrw ; "ei Kal l\6vv, p.7] dvrl lx8vos o<.j)iv " eTTiSuo-ei air<2 ;" 12 *H Kai iav alrrjo-rj diov, p,rj €7n,8a) p.aXXov 6 Uarrjp, " 6 el; ovpavov, Scocret Tivevp.a ayiov tois alrovo-w avrov ; Griesbach. 1805. aov i) ^3ao"tAeta '■ om, yei'Tjfl^TW . . . & om* P 60/xaTa dya0a. SCHOLZ. 1830. f a^to^i.ei'. P So/AaTa ayaOa. Lachmann. 1842. [w5 ev ovpav(S Kal €7Tt y^S.J a.voix^o'CTa.Lt 1 e| v)X. '' Tw Xeyeiv. ( c acroi iacv.) ] ©€0S JUOU. ' KarefrovTicrev . 1 add feat. k add koX. 1 add -q. Hexaplorum Reliq_ui;e. EHOAOS, xv. 1-13. TOTE rjcre Mtovcnjs km. ol viol 'laparjX ttjv wSrjV Tavrrjv tu> " ©e<3, " km. etirav, b Xiyovre?,' c "Ao-(i)/x€v' tcj Kvpito, ev86£o)s yap SeSocfaarai- hnrov km. dva^drrjv eppupev els 6dXacrcrav. 2 BorjOos km. d crKeTrao-Trjs'' iyivero fioi els craiTrjpiav ovtos ' fjiov ®eos," km. So^acfo) avrov ®eos tov Ttarpos p-ov, kcu {n]/d)cno avrov. 3 Kvpios o-vvTpij3u>v voXep.ovs, Kvptos 6vop.a avTiS. 4 "Apfxara Qapaib, kcu ttjv 8vvap.iv avrov eppiipev els OdXacrcrav, eTTiXeKrovs dva(3aTas TplcrTaVas - KaTSTroOrjcrav" ev epvOpa. OaXdcrcry. 5 ilovro) eKaXvipev olvtovs' KoreSvcrav els fivObv wcrel XiOos. 6 H Secfia crov Ktipie SeSo'^acrrai ev lcr)(yi- r) 8«£ia crov yelp Kvpie eOpavcrev e^Opovs. 7 Kat T(U 7rAij0ei rrjs 86£rjs crov crvveTpuj/as rovs e inrevavTiovs' " djrecrTeiXas ttjv opyrjv crov h " Kareayev avrovs oj? Ka.Xdp.-qv. 8 Kcu Sia irvevp.aTos tov 6vp.ov crov ' Stc'crn/' to iJScop- eirdyr] ttjs OaXdcrarjs. '■> Ei7rev 6 e^Opos, Abulias KaraX-qxpop-ai, p.epux> ctkvXm ep.7rXr]croi \pvyrjv p.ov, dveXcJ tt) aavaipa p.ov, Kvpievcrei rj \eip p.ov. 10 'Aireo-TetXas to irvevp.d crov " eKaXvif/ev aurovs OdXaercra- eSvcrav wcrel p.oA(,/3os ev vSarc crc/>o8pa>, ' ' Tts op.oios croi ev Oeois YLvpie; TlS op.oios croi; t)eh)o£acrp.evos ev uyiots," 6avp.afjLoio>9iji'a.i, Sym- maehus. " ev to» eheet crou, Aquila (al. ev Tfj ekerqtxotrvvri u"ou). Ste/SacTTacra?, Symmii- cbua. Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 237 having been translated by seventy or seventy-two translators, each of whom, it is said, executed a separate translation from the Hebrew text; and, on coming together afterwards to compare the results of their labour, discovered a miraculous verbal agreement between their respective productions. The accounts given by early writers concerning this version, when divested of fabulous and improbable details, afford us little or no information as to its real history beyond the mere date of its execution, which concurrent testimonies lead us to place somewhere about the year 285 B. C, or during the joint reign of Ptolemy Lagus and Philadelphus his son. This version is far more ancient than any Hebrew MS. now extant; and it is therefore peculiarly valuable not only as exhibiting the state of the original text at that early period, but also as showing the interpretation conventionally attached to the words of sacred writ by the Jews of that epoch. The Septuagint, on its first appearance, seems to have been received with comparatively little favour by the Jews of Palestine, but afterwards it became regarded among them as an accredited version of their Scriptures. The large and then rapidly increasing class of their countrymen called Hellenistic or Grecian Jews, from their living in cities where Greek was spoken, adopted this version as their own; and it was habitually used in public and private among them, from the time of its completion till about the close of the first century of the Christian era. The early Christians, who were generally ignorant of Hebrew, had recourse to this version in proving from the prophets that Jesus was the promised Messiah; and the Jews, being unable to meet the arguments drawn from this source, endeavoured to throw discredit on the version itself, by alleging that it did not agree with the Hebrew text. In order still further to evade the proofs that Jesus was the Christ, which in the pages of the Septuagint were laid open to the gaze of all nations, the Jews, in default of better arguments, instituted a solemn annual fast, in execration of the day in which the version was completed. Thus rejected by the Jews, the Septuagint became the accredited version of the professing Christian Church; it was uniformly cited by the Greek and Latin fathers; and from it the old Italic, the Armenian, the Arabic, and most of the ancient versions of the Old Testament were made. The Septuagint has been, moreover, honoured above all other versions, in being quoted by the inspired writers of the New Testament. There are in all 244 quotations from the Old Testament in the New ; and of these, according to Bishop Wetenhall, 147 are from the Septuagint, while 97 vary more or less from it. Taking ten citations from each of the four evangelists as they rise, the bishop has shown that, of these forty citations, twenty-two differ from the Septuagint, having been apparently translated anew from the Hebrew, while fourteen agree both with the Septuagint and the Hebrew; whence he draws the conclusion, that " the Holy Ghost did not intend, in the style of the New Testament, to canonise any translation by a constant and perpetual use of it." The dialect in which this version is written resembles that of the New Testament, but it contains more Hebraisms, and is even further removed from the idiom of the classical Greek writers. It is evident that the translators were not Palestine but Alexandrian Jews, and that they were familiar with the phraseology of Egypt. This is proved by the many Coptic words and terms, appertaining to Egyptian customs and philosophy, which appear in the translation. Thus, the Thummim of the high priest is in the Pentateuch rendered by the term a\.7)6ela (truth), which same word was inscribed on the sapphire collar worn about the neck of the chief priest in Egypt. It is equally evident from the style of the Septuagint, that different portions were executed by different hands, the various books of which it is composed being very unequal in point of execution. . The Prophetical and most of the Historical Books, and the Psahns, were translated by very incompetent individuals. The Pentateuch, the Proverbs, and the book of Job, are generally considered the portions best translated. In several passages of the Pentateuch, the Septuagint follows the Samaritan more closely than the Hebrew text. The translator of the book of Job appears to have been familiar with the language of the Greek poets, and though he often seems studious of elegance rather than of accuracy, yet his very faults, it has been remarked by Jahn, are indicative of genius. The discrepancy in point of chronology which exists between the Septuagint and the Hebrew text is very remarkable, and not easily to be accounted for: 238 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. according to the Hebrew, a period of 2448 years elapsed between the creation and the giving of the law by Moses; whereas, in the Septuagint, this interval is represented as extending over 3953 years. In consequence of the numerous transcriptions of the Septuagint made by Jews and Christians, errors arising from the inadvertence of copyists crept into the text, and a revision was therefore under- taken, during the early part of the third century, by Origen, a learned father of the Church. His object in engaging in this recension or revision was not only to detect and remove the errors of copies, but by a thorough comparison of the Septuagint version with the Hebrew original, and with all other existing Greek versions, to form a standard of appeal for the Christians in their arguments with the Jews. He devoted twenty-eight years to the preparation of the work, and travelled all over the East in quest of materials. During the course of these travels he met with six Greek translations, namely, the version of Aquila, the version of Symmachus, and that of Theodotion, hereafter to be mentioned, and three anonymous translations. He instituted a minute comparison between these six translations, the Septuagint, and the Hebrew. The versions of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Septuagint, were written by Origen in parallel columns, forming what early writers termed the Tetrapla ; and when he added two columns of the Hebrew text, the one in Hebrew the other in Greek characters, the entire work was denominated the Hexapla, by which title it is still known. Origen made no alterations whatever in the text of the Septuagint which he inserted in the Hexapla: whenever he found that text deficient in a word which occurred in the Hebrew, or in any of the other Greek versions, he indicated the omission, using for that purpose an asterisk (* :) and two large dots, placed after the word itself; when, on the other hand, he met with a word or words redundant in the Septuagint, he made no erasures in the text, but placed an obelus (-5- :) and two smaller dots, to show that the reading was wanting in the original. This great work extended to fifty volumes, and from its admitting in certain books fragments of other translations besides the four above enumerated, it has been variously denominated the " Octapla," or the " Enneapla." Fifty years after the death of Origen it was found at Tyre, where that great man had died, by Pamphilus and Eusebius ; and by them it was deposited in the famous library of Pamphilus the martyr, at Cassarea, the civil metropolis of Palestine. It was unfortunately consumed with that library in A. D. 653, when Cassarea was taken by the Saracens. But although destroyed, this laborious compilation is not altogether lost to us, for the column containing the Septuagint had been transcribed by Pamphilus and Eusebius, with the marks and annotations of Origen. Of this transcription, however, we possess no perfect copy, for the asterisks, obeli, and other marks, were confused and interchanged by copyists, and readings and glosses from later versions were added to those cited by Origen. Two other revisions of the Septuagint remain to be noted, both of which were executed about the same period as the transcription of the Hexapla text by Pamphilus and Eusebius. The principal of these revisions was executed by Lucian, a presbyter of Antioch, a.d. 312, who confined himself to the comparison of the Septuagint with the Hebrew text, without having recourse to other Greek versions. This recension was adopted by all the churches of the East, from Antioch to Constantinople. The other revision was effected by Hesychius, an Egyptian bishop, and according to Jerome, was used in all the churches of Egypt. The principal MSS. in which the Septuagint has been transmitted to us are the Vatican and Alexandrine codices, already described in our notice of the New Testament. The Vatican MS. is supposed to contain the earlier text, while the Alexandrine MS. apparently exhibits many of the amendments and interpolations of Origen's Hexapla; but these texts have been so often blended, that it is difficult to distinguish between them. The printed editions of the Septuagint, although very numerous, may all be considered as belong- ing to one or other of the four following primary or original editions: — I. The Complutensian edition, so called because it appeared in the Complutensian Polyglot. Much diversity of opinion exists as to the MSS. used for this edition. It approaches so closely Class III.] ANCIENT GREEK. 239 to the Hebrew, that it is questioned whether the editors corrected the readings of their MSS. by comparison with the original, or whether they employed a MS. in which portions of Aquila's version were blended with the Septuagint text. This might be ascertained by examining the MSS. used, which are now at Madrid. II. The Aldine edition, published at Venice, at the Aldine press, in 1518. Several ancient MSS. were used in the formation of this text, and it is usually accounted considerably purer than the Complutensian; yet, according to Archbishop Usher, it follows in many instances the peculiar renderings of Aquila's version; by some it is thought to contain readings from Theodotion's version. III. The Roman or Vatican edition, printed in 1586, chiefly from the Vatican MS. at Eome. This edition was undertaken by order of Sixtus V., whence it is often called the Sixtine edition. It was printed under the care of Cardinal Caraffa, who with his coadjutors devoted nine years to its preparation and publication. In this edition the Vatican MS. is rarely departed from, except when, through some inadvertence of the printer, readings from the Aldine edition are inserted; but such instances are comparatively few. This text has been more frequently reprinted than any other, and may be called the textus receptus of the Greek Old Testament Scriptures. IV. The Alexandrine edition, printed at Oxford from the Alexandrine MS., between 1707 and 1720. This edition was prepared for the press, and partly printed, under the care of Dr. Grabe, and after his death it was completed under the editorship of Lee and Wigan. The defective and incorrect passages of the Codex Alexandrinus are supplied in this edition, partly from the Vatican MS., and partly from the Complutensian edition; and these amended portions are distinguished from the rest of the text by being printed in smaller characters. The critical marks used by Origen are inserted, and copious pro- legomena were added by Dr. Grabe. A facsimile edition of the Alexandrine MS. was published at the public expense, under the care of the Rev. H. H. Baber, one of the librarians of the British Museum, between 1816 and 1827. Several valuable editions of the Septuagint have been published with various readings. The first in point of time is that published by Breitinger, at Zurich, 1730-1732: it contains Grabe's text, with the various readings of the Vatican edition printed at the foot of the page. In 1821, Mr. Bagster issued an exact reprint of the Vatican text, with the various readings of the whole Alexandrian text as edited by Grabe. A splendid folio edition was published at Oxford, 1818-1827, under the editorship of Dr. Holmes, dean of Winchester, and, after his death, of Rev. J. Parsons. The text is that of the Vatican edition, to which readings from all known MSS. are added, with quotations from the patristic writings and from ancient versions. The various readings are so numerous, that they confirm the general opinion, that " the text of the Septuagint is in a worse state than any other except the Latin Vulgate." This edition is furnished with prolegomena and other critical apparatus. Another edition of the Vatican text, with readings from the Alexandrine and other MSS., from the Complutensian and Aldine editions, and from the fragments of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, was published at Paris in 1839, edited by the Abbe Jager. An important edition, also from the Vatican MS., has been issued by Messrs. Bagster: it includes the real Septuagint version of Daniel; and in the Apocrypha, the fourth book of Maccabees has been added to the three found in previous reprints. The Septuagint has been twice translated into English. The first translation was made by Charles Thomson, late secretary to the Congress of the United States, and was published at Phila- delphia in 1808, in 4 vols. 8vo. In 1844, a close translation from the Vatican text, with the principal readings of the Alexandrine copy, was completed by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, and published in London, in 2 vols. 8vo. 240 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. II. — GREEK VERSIONS COLLECTED BY ORIGEN. We have already seen that, during his travels through the East, Origen met with six Greek translations of the Old Testament. All the information we possess concerning these translations may be briefly summed up in a few words. The versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, appear to have been executed during the second century of the Christian era. The versions of Aquila and Theodotion are at least known to have been completed before the year A.D. 160, for Justin Martyr, who wrote about that period, refers to them. Aquila was a Jew born at Sinope, in Pontus. He is supposed to have embraced Christianity, and to have afterwards relapsed into Judaism. His object in writing this version was to assist the Jews in their arguments with the Christians, and he is said to have wilfully perverted many of the prophecies relating to the Messiah. When the Jews rejected the Septuagint, they adopted this version in its stead; and, in token of their approbation, distinguished it by the name of "the Hebrew Verity." It is a close and literal translation of the Hebrew, and is of some use in criticism, as exhibiting the antiquity of certain contested readings of the Masoretic text. The version of Symmachus (an Ebionite, or semi-christian) is less literal than that of Aquila, but clearer and more elegant. The version of Theodotion, who was also an Ebionite, holds a middle place between the literal exactness of Aquila and the freedom of Symmachus. Theodotion's version conforms in so many instances to the text of the Alexandrine MS., that it has sometimes been questioned whether his design was to produce a new translation, or simply to rectify the readings of the Septuagint text. Three other versions, less ancient than the preceding, were discovered by Origen, but their date and the names of their translators are unknown. They are usually distinguished by the numerals 5, 6, and 7, applied to them in accordance with the number of the column they occupied in the great biblical work of Origen above described. The fifth translation contained the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Canticles, the twelve minor prophets, and the books of Kings. The sixth comprised the same portions of the sacred volume with the exception of the books of Kings. The seventh contained only the Psalms and the minor prophets. All that now remains to us of these six translations, besides what we possess through Syriac channels, consists of a few fragments, preserved by means of the transcription of the Hexapla text of the Septuagint, made, as above stated, by Pamphilus and Eusebius, about A.D. 300. These fragments, with the remains of Origen's Hexapla text, -were published by Montfaucon at Paris, 1714, in 2 vols, folio, with preliminary disquisitions on the Hebrew text, the ancient Greek versions, and the labours of Origen. On account of the costliness and rarity of this work, a smaller and abridged edition was published at Leipsic, 1769-70, by Bahrdt. III.— THE GliMCA VENETA. This appellation is usually given to a Greek version found in a unique MS. of St. Mark's Library at Venice. This version is of little use in criticism: its age and author are unknown, but it is supposed to have been executed at Byzantium for private use, after the close of the ninth century. It is evidently a direct translation from the Hebrew, to which it adheres with rigid, and even slavish, exactitude. The style is very peculiar, at times furnishing examples of Attic elegance, yet occasionally admitting the grossest barbarisms. It contains the Pentateuch, the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Canticles, Lamentations, and Daniel. The Pentateuch was published by Amnion at Erlangen, 1790-9 1 , in 3 vols. 8vo. ; the other portions had previously appeared at Strasburg in 1784, under the editorship of Villoison. Extracts from this version are given in Holmes's edition of the Septuagint. iv.— TO XAMAPEITIKON. Certain Greek fragments, in all probability the remains of a Greek translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch, are generally known by this appellation. These fragments are met with in several ancient ClASS III.] MODERN GREEK. 241 MSS., and are referred to by the fathers of the third, fourth, and following centuries. They agree in a great measure with the Septuagint, but are accounted of little or no value in criticism. MODERN GREEK. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN Maximtjs Caleiopolitan's Version, 1638. EIS ttjv apxs t£>v avOpwrrwv. 5 Kat to <£a>s eis rr/v o~KOT€iav <£eyyet, xai r) CTKOTeia. Sev to KaTa.\af3e. 6 Eytvev eyas avOpunros d7reo-TaAp;evos cltto tov ©eov, to ovop.a tov uoawr/s. 7 Etovtos r/Xdev eis fiap-rvpiav, va. fiap-rvplcrTj Sta to <£a>s Tnorevcrovv oAot Sta Liicrov avrov. 8 Aev ^tov eKetvos to <^cos, dAAa va Liaprvpicrrj Sta to <£cos. 9 Htov to (£ais to dWrjdivbv, to birolov (pbyrt^et. KiiOe avOpamov birov cp^eTai eis tov koct/xov. 10 Ets tov koctllov tjtov k.o1 6 Kocr/j.os ota. llIctov avrov eytvev, dp/}) 6 Kocrp.os Sev tov eyvtoptcrev. 1! Ets to. eSiKaYov ryA^ev, /cat 01 eStKoirov Sev tov eSr^/iKav. 12 Kat ocrot tov Ihi^OrjKav, tovs eSuKev e£bvo"t'av, va yevovv 7raiSia ©eov, [-^yowl eKetvovs o 7rov 7rio~Tevovv ets to ovo/xa tov. 13 Ot 671-0101 ov Se cltto at/iaTa, ov Se airb to 8e\.r)fia tov crapKos ovSe a7ro to OeXr/fxa tov dvSpos, dAAa aTro tov ©eov iyewrjOrjcrav. 14 Kat 6 Aoyos eytve crap£, Kat eKaTouc^crev ets ep.as, Kat "Sap.ev tt)v oofav tod - Sofav too-av (vtov) piovoyevovs otto tov TTO.Te.pcL, yep.dros X c 'P tv Ka ' dA^etav. 'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Hiearion's Version'. AH dpx^s t;tov 6 Aoyos, Kat 6 Aoyos tjtov ojxov p.e tov ©eov, Kat 6 Aoyos t)tov ©eos. 2 Avros tjtov car dp^/Js b/JLOV Lie tov ©eov. 3 "OAa (toi KTioyxaTa) iSruxiovpyrj- drjcrav 81' avrov (tov Aoyou), Kat Kavev a7ro oca ioT/fii- ovpyr)Sycrav, Sev HrjiiiovpyTjSrj ^copts avrov. 4 Ets avrbv TjTOV £o)t), Kat T] t,(l)TJ TjTOV TO (^)aJs TU)V dv^ptOTTWV. 5 Kat to (£a>s XdcLTrei fxecra ets to ctkotos, Kat to aKOTOs Sev to Karekafiev. 6 'EyeveTO Tts dv$pa)7ros dvoyu.a^O|0ievos Ito- dwrj?, 6 07rotos lo-TaXTf d-Trb tov ©eov. 7 Autos ^A ^e Stat va ykvrrrai LtdpTVi, na\ vd ixapTvpTjcrg 8ta to ^>uis, 8ta va ■7rto"Teucra)crtv 0A01 Sta /j-icrov avrov. 8 Aev ^tov eKetvos (6 'Iwdw^s) to <^cus, (ecrTaAij) o/xws Sta va. LLapTvp-qcrri Sta to ^>Ss. 9 T6 dAr^^tvov <£WTt^et Ka5eva avSpaiTTOV, 6 O7rotos ep^eTat ets tov koo-llov. 10 Ets tov koV/xov ^tov, Kat 6 Koo-jttos iSrjLnovpy^6rj St' avroC* 7rA^v 6 Koo-p,os Sev tov eyvajptcrev. u> HA$ev ets to. tStct tov, Kat ot tStot tov Sev tov eSe^^o-av. 12 Oo-ot o/itos tov eSex^crav, ets avrovs eSojKe StKata)/x.a tov va yevcovTai vtot ©eov, Si^AaS^ ets eKetvovs. ot 671-0101 «riir- Tevcrav ets to ovofid tov 13 Avtoi Sev iyewrjSr/crav awo ai/jLa, jxT/Ti. aTrb BiXrjcnv crapKOs, |U.ijTe a7r6 6e\.Tjcn.v dvSpos, dAA' eyew^^crav d7r6 t6v ©eo'v. 14 Kat 6 Aoyos eyeveTO crdpi;- kcu KaTCOKrjcrev ets t)jjm.%, ye/iaTOS a7ro p^dptv Kat dAij^etav, Kat ^aets et'So/ttev t^v 8o£av avrov (tov Aoyov), a)s So£av (vtov) 6 07rotos etvat p.ovoyevr)s a7r6 t6v ITaTepa. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Modern Greek, or Eomaic, is the vernacular language of about 2,000,000 descendants of the ancient Greeks, dispersed throughout the Turkish empire. The modern kingdom of Greece, the original seat of the language, is bounded, as of old, on three sides by the Mediterranean; but on the north it extends no further than the frontiers of Albania and Thessaly: its area has been estimated at 15,000 square miles, and its population amounted, in 1856, to 1,067,216. The established religion of Greece is that of the Greek Church; but the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople is not recognised, the King of Greece being regarded by his subjects as the head of the Church. Toleration is extended to all sects: Protestants are few in number, but there are about 4000 Jews, and (according to recent statements) as many as 70,000 Eoman Catholics, in Greece. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Although the yoke of foreign dominion has been imposed upon Greece from the time of the 17 242 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Roman conquests till within the last half century, yet the classical language of the ancient Greeks has never given place to that of the conquerors, but has maintained its vitality in the midst of political ruin. It has been said that Modern Greek differs from Ancient Greek but little more than the Doric from the Attic dialect. This statement must be received with some reservation; yet it is certain that Italian, French, and Spanish, have diverged far more widely from Latin than Modern Greek from its parent source. The changes incident to time are not so visible in the vocabulary as in the grammatical structure of Modern Greek. The dual number, the dative case, the middle voice, and the optative mood, have all disappeared ; but, unlike the languages of Latin origin, this modern tongue retains the three genders and the declension of nouns. The place of the lost dative is commonly supplied by means of the accusative, either with or without the preposition efc: in all other respects, Greek nouns are still declined according to the analogy of the ancient language. On the other hand, in the conjugation of verbs, the Modern Greek departs further from the Ancient than Italian from Latin. The very system of conjugation is changed in Modern Greek; three auxiliary verbs are brought into requisition, and almost all the simple tenses have ceased to exist. Even the future is no longer expressed by a simple tense, but is construed in three ways: thus, OiXco . The term Romaic, or Romeika, is often applied to Modern Greek; it arises from the name Romaioi or Romans, obtained or assumed by the Greeks during the period of their subjection to the Roman empire of Constantinople. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Three versions of the New Testament exist in Modern Greek. Of these, the earliest was printed at Geneva, in 1638, in parallel columns with the inspired text: it was executed by Maximus Calliergi (or Callipoli, as he is sometimes called), at the solicitation of Haga, the ambassador of the then United Provinces at Constantinople. The translation is remarkable for its close and literal adherence to the Greek original text. The expense of this work was borne by the United Provinces. It is preceded by two prefaces, the one by the translator, and the other by Cyrillus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, who, having spent his youth at Geneva, had imbibed the principles of Calvinism: both prefaces treat on the necessity of presenting the Scriptures in a language intelligible to the people. This version was reprinted, with corrections, in 1703, in London, by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts; and another edition was issued by the same Society in 1705. A reprint of this version, in 12mo., was published at Halle, in 1710, at the expense of Sophia Louisa, queen of Prussia. From this edition, the British and Foreign Bible Society published an impression, under the superintendence of the Rev. J. F. Usko, in 1808, with the Ancient and Modern Greek in parallel columns. This edition was so favourably received, that, in 1812, it was found necessary to undertake another edition, for the supply of the urgent demands in the Levant, the isles of the Archipelago, and Class III.] MODERN GREEK. 243 certain other Greek stations. A strict and thorough revision of the text being deemed requisite, the Rev. C. Williamson, and, afterwards, Dr. Pilkington, were directed by the British and Foreign Bible Committee to enquire among the learned Greeks at Constantinople for an individual properly qualified for so important an undertaking. The Archimandrite Hilarion (subsequently archbishop of Ternovo), with two assistants, both ecclesiastics, was accordingly appointed, in 1819, to execute a revision, or rather a new version, of the Testament ; and as a great desire had been expressed for a version of the entire Scriptures in Modern Greek, arrangements were at the same time made for the translation of the Old Testament. Father Simon, in his " Critical History," speaks of a version of the Bible in this language having been printed at Constantinople in the sixteenth century; but this statement has been doubted, and it is generally believed that the translation of the Old Testament undertaken by Hilarion, for the British and Foreign Bible Society, is the first that has ever been executed in Modern Greek. In 1827, Hilarion's version of the New Testament was completed; and, after having been submitted to the inspection of Constantius, archbishop of Mount Sinai, it was printed at the national printing-office in the patriarchate, under the eye of the Greek Church. This version was made from the inspired text; but though faithful and accurate as a translation, the diction is considered rather stiff, and the forms of the ancient language are too frequently imitated. About the same time, Hilarion executed a translation of the Old Testament from the Septuagint; and, in 1829, the whole of his MS. was submitted to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in London. After mature and anxious deliberation, however, the Committee came to the conclusion that it would be more desirable to circulate a version prepared from the Hebrew text itself, than a mere translation of the Septuagint. The Eev. H. D. Leeves was therefore appointed to reside in Corfu, where, with the assistance of natives, he commenced a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Modern Greek. In conjunction with the Eev. I. Lowndes (an agent of the London Missionary Society), he engaged the services of Professors Bambas and Tipaldo, to which, for a short period, were added those of Professor Joannides; and the plan pursued was the following: " A certain portion of the books of the Old Testament was allotted to each of the Greek translators, who with the English authorised version, the French of Martin, and the Italian of Diodati, before them, consulting also the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and other versions and aids where necessary, made as good a translation as they were able into the Modern Greek. It was then the office of Mr. Leeves and Mr. Lowndes to compare this translation with the Hebrew, calling in the aid of other versions and critical commentaries, and to make their observations and proposed corrections in the margin of the manuscript. The manuscript, thus prepared, was brought before the united body of translators, at their regular sittings, where the whole was read over; and every word and phrase being regularly weighed and discussed, the final corrections were made with general consent. A fair copy was then taken, the comparison of which with its original gave occasion to a last consideration of doubtful points; and afterwards it was sent to England for the press. This process was twice repeated in some parts of the work." In 1836, the translation of the Old Testament was completed; but in consequence of the great demand, portions had previously been committed to the press. As early as 1831, 5000 copies of the Psalms had been printed in London, under the care of Mr. Greenfield, after having been revised by the original, and corrected by Mr. T. P. Piatt; and this edition was so greatly approved, that another edition, also of 5000 copies, had followed in 1832, of which the Eev. W. Jowett was the editor. Mr. Leeves died in 1845, and the revision of the Old Testament, translated under his superintendence, then devolved upon Mr. Lowndes. He availed himself of the continued services of Professors Bambas and Nicoiaides in this revision ; and each sheet, when completed, was examined by the Eev. J. W. Mellor, vicar of Woodbridge. An edition of 3000 copies was printed at Oxford, in 1847, under the superinten- dence of the Eev. J. Jowett, assisted by Mr. Mellor. While engaged in the translation of the Old Testament, Professor Bambas devoted part of his time to the production of another version, or rather revision, of the New Testament in Modern Greek. 244 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. This work was revised by Mr. Leeves and Mr. Lowndes; and 2000 copies of the Gospels and Acts were printed at Athens before the year 1839. An edition of 10,000 copies of the entire New Testament was printed at Athens, in 1848, by the British and Foreign Bible Society; and this revision is con- sidered so correct and idiomatic, that it has now completely superseded that of Archbishop Hilarion. A further revision of the Old Testament was undertaken by Mr. Lowndes, with the aid of Messrs. Bambas and Nicolaides, in 1846, and was completed early in 1849, after an arduous labour of three years' duration. The remaining portion of the year 1849 was devoted to a similar revision of the New Testament. Editions of these revised versions, embracing the entire Scriptures, have since been printed in England by the British and Foreign Bible Society; and an edition of 5000 New Testa- ments in Modern Greek was printed at Athens in 1854, concomitantly with one of 10,000 copies in London. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. It is a well known fact, and attested by native writers, that, before the efforts made by the British and Foreign Bible Society in Greece, nearly the whole Greek nation, though making an out- ward profession of Christianity, " knew only by hearsay of the existence of the Holy Scriptures." Hence it may well be considered as a manifestation of the merciful intentions of Divine Providence towards the Greeks, that, at the very commencement of their political career as a free people, this Society was induced to place before them the long-forgotten word of God in their own vernacular language. No less than 45,294 copies of the New Testament, in Ancient and Modern Greek, had, up to the end of 1858, been issued by the Society, besides 232,738 copies of smaller portions of the Scriptures in Modern Greek. The Greeks, as a nation, have received and valued the heavenly gift. The government encourages the reading of the Scriptures in the schools, and has charged the teachers of primary schools to communicate scriptural instruction to their pupils every Sunday after church. The good thus done is not confined to the children alone, for many of the parents have declared that " they have learnt much of the truths of the Gospel by hearing their children repeating their lessons." The school appears, indeed, to be the chief medium through which a knowledge of the word of God is becoming disseminated in Modern Greece. " I was pleased to find (writes Mr. Lowndes in a recent communi- cation addressed to the British and Foreign Bible Society, and dated from Athens) on my arrival here, a confirmation of what Mr. Nicolaides had stated by letter, viz. : that the Director of Government schools now distributes the New Testament to these establishments. Four thousand copies of the edition of 1844 were presented to the Government by Mr. Leeves, for this purpose, and they remained undisturbed in their magazine till lately; but now a large portion of them have been issued, and the remainder are to be thus disposed of." The Scriptures are now exposed for sale, without hindrance, in one of the most public streets of Athens. All who choose to avail themselves of it, have free access to the word of God. Concerning the spiritual results of this extensive circulation and perusal of the Scriptures, we are not without satisfactory evidence. One missionary writes: " It hath pleased Him who hath said, ' My word shall not return unto me void,' to grant us, in addition, many interesting proofs that ' God is not slack concerning his promises.' We know many who are even now walking in the light of God's word. They are as suns in the centre of their respective circles, and their influence attracts others to come and seek at its source the light which they are distributing." Class III.] LATIN. 245 LATIN. SPECIMEN, FKOM EXODUS, Chap. xv. v. 1 to 13. Ante-IIieronymian Version. 1 Tunc cantavit Moyses & filii Israel canticum hoc Domino, & dixerunt di- eere : Cantemus Domino : gloriose enim magnificatus est, equum & ascensorem dejecit in mare. 2 Adjutor, & protector factus est mihi in salutem : iste Deus meus, & glorificabo eum : Deus patris mei, & exaltabo eum. 3 Dominus con- terens bella, Dominus nomen est ei. 4 Currus Faraonis & exercitum ejus projecit in mare : electos ascensores ternos stantes demersit in rubro mari. 5 Pelago cooperuit eos, devenerunt in profundum tanquam lapis. 6 Dextera tua, Domine, glorificata est in virtute : dextera manus tua, Domine, eonfregit inimicos. 1 Et per multitudinem glo- riae tuae contribulasti adversarios ; mi- sisti iram tuam, & comedit illos tan- quam stipulam. 8 Et per spiritum iras tuas divisa est aqua : gelaverunt tan- quam murus aquse, gelaverunt fluctus in medio mari. 9 Dixit inimicus : Per- sequens comprehendam, partibor spolia, replebo animam meam : interficiam gladio meo, dominabitur manus mea. '0 Misisti spiritum tuum, & cooperuit eos mare : descenderunt tanquam plum- bum in aquam validissimam. u Quis similis tibi in diis Domine ? quis similis tibi, gloriosus in Sanctis, mirabilis in majestatibus, faciens prodigia? 12 Ex- tendisti dexteram tuam, & devoravit eos terra. > 3 Gubernasti in justitia tua populum tuum hunc quem redemisti : exnortatus es in virtute tua, in requie sancta tua. Vulgate Version. 1 Tunc cecinit Moyses et filii Israel carmen hoc Domino, et dixerunt : Can- temus Domino : gloriose enim magnifi- catus est ; equum et ascensorem dejecit in mare. 2 Fortitudo mea, et laus mea Dominus, et factus est mihi in salutem : iste Deus meus, et glorificabo eum : Deus patris mei, et exaltabo eum. 3 Dominus quasi vir pugnator ; Omni- potens nomen ejus. 4 Cujrus Phara- onis et exercitum ejus projecit in mare : electi principes ejus submersi sunt in Mari rubro. 5 Abyssi operuerunt eos, descenderunt in profundum quasi lapis. 6 Dextera tua, Domine, magnificata est in fortitudine : dextera tua, Domine, percussit inimicum. 1 Et in multitu- dine glorias tuae deposuisti adversarios tuos : misisti iram tuam, quae devoravit eos sicut stipulam. 8 Et in spiritu fu- roris tui congregatae sunt aquas : stetit unda fluens, congregates sunt abyssi in medio mari. 9 Dixit inimicus : Perse- quar et comprehendam, dividam spolia, irnplebitur anima mea : evaginabo glad- ium meum, interficiet eos manus mea. '"Flavit spiritus tuus, et operuit eos mare : submersi sunt quasi plumbum in aquis vehementibus. ' l Quis similis tui in fortibus Domine ? quis similis tui, magnificus in sanctitate, terribilis atque laudabilis, faciens mirabilia ? i2Extendisti manum tuam, et devo- ravit eos terra. I3 Dux fuisti in mise- ricordia tua populo quem redemisti : et portasti eum in fortitudine tua, ad ha- bitaculum sanctum tuum. Pagninus's Version. 1 Tunc cecinit MoiDseh et filii Lds- ra«el canticum istud Iehouas, et dixe- runt in hunc modum, Cantabo Iehouas, quia magnificando magnificatus est, equ- um et sessorem eius proiecit in Mare. 2 Fortitudo mea, et laus est Iah : fuit enim mihi in salutem : iste Deus meus, propterea tabernaculum faciam ei : iste Deus patris mei, propterea exaltabo eum. 3 Iehouah vir belli, Iehouahnomen eius. 4 Currus Parroh et exercitum eius proiecit in Mare, et electi principes eius submersi sunt in Mari Dsuph. 5 Vora- gines operuerunt eos, descenderunt in profunda tanquam lapis. 6 Dextera tua Iehouah, magnificata est fortitudine : dextera tua, 6 Iehouah, eonfregit ini- micum. 7 Et in multitudine magnifi- centias tuae destruxisti inimicos tuos : immisisti iram tuam, deuorauit eos sicut stipulam. 8 Et spiritu naris tuas coaceruatas sunt aquas, steterunt sicuti aceruus fluenta, coagulatas sunt vora- gines in corde Maris. 9 Dixit inimicus, Persequar, comprehendam, diuidam spo- lia, explebitur eis anima mea, euaginabo gladium meum, perdet eos manus mea. io Flauisti vento tuo, et cperuit eos Mare, absorpti sunt tanquam plumbum in aquis vehementibus. ' 1 Quis sicut tu in diis, 6 Iehouah ? quis sicut tu, magnificus in sanctitate, terribilis laudibus, faciens mirabilia ? 12 Extendisti dexteram tuam, deglutiuit eos terra. 13 Duces per misericordiam tuam populum hunc quem redemisti, duces in fortitudine tua ad habitaculum sanctitatis tuas. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Latin, the language of the ancient Eomans, derived its name from the small state of Latium, of which it was the vernacular language. With the Koman conquests it was carried beyond its originally narrow limits to the utmost boundaries of the then known world, and ultimately it became co-extensive with the Koman empire, in many cases mingling with and remoulding the dialects of the conquered nations. When, with the decline of the Koman power, it ceased to be the medium of colloquial intercourse, it continued to maintain its supremacy throughout Europe, during the whole of the middle ages, as the general language of literature, of philosophy, of legislation, of religion, and of inter-communication between the learned of all countries. From the establishment of the papacy to the present day it has constituted the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church; and it is still extensively cultivated by every civilised nation of the earth, on account of the treasures contained in the vast repository of its literature. 246 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Munster's Version. i Tvnc cantauit Moses & filij Israel canticum istud domino, & dicentes dix- erunt : cantabo domino, quoniam tri- umphando magnifice egit : equum & ascensorem eius deiecit in mare. 2 For- titudo mea & laus dominus, faetusque est mihi in salutem : iste deus meus, & decorabo eura : deus patri mei, & ex- altabo eum. 3 Dominus uir bellicosus, dominus nomen eius. 4 Quadrigas Pha- raonis & exercitum eius proiecit in mare : & eleeti duces eius, demersi sunt in mari rubro. 5 Abyssi operuerunt eos, descenderunt in profunditates quasi lapis. 6 Dextra tua domine magnificata est in uirtute : dextera tua domine fre- gitinimicum. 7 Et in multitudine mag - nificentiae tuae, subuertisti insurgentes contra te : misisti furorem tuum, qui absumpsit eos quasi stipulam. » Per flatum narium tuarum, coaceruatae sunt aquae : steterunt quasi cumulus fluidae aquae : coagnlatae sunt abyssi in corde maris. 9 Dixit hostis : persequar, ap- prehendam, diuidam spolia: implebitur ab eis anima mea : euaginabo gladium meum, perdet eos manus mea. 10 Flau- isti per uentum tuum, operuit eos mare : demersi sunt quasi plumbum, in aquis uehementibus. u Quis ut tu in dijs domine ? quis sicut tu magnificus in sanctitate, terribilis laudibus, faciens mirabilia? 12 Extendistidexteram tuam, deuorauit eos terra. >3 Duxisti in tua misericordia populum istum, quem re- demisti : duxisti in tua fortitudine ad habitaculum sanctitatis tuae. Leo Juda's Version. 1 Tunc cecinit Moses et filij Israel can- ticum istud Domino, et cecinerunt in hunc modum, Cantabo Domino, quia magnifice magnificentiam suam exeruit, equum et currus eius sublatos in altum deiecit in mare. 2 Dominus est robur et carmen meum, qui fuit seruator meus : iste [inquam dominus] est deus meus, hunc decorabo : deus patris mei, hunc extollam. 3 Dominus uir bella- tor, Dominus nomen eius. 4 Quadrigas Pharaonis et copias eius deiecit in mare, et eleeti triarij eius demersi sunt in mari carectoso. 5 Abyssi eos operuerunt, des- cenderunt in profunditates ueluti lapis. 6 Dextera tua 6 Domine, excellenti uirtute eminuit, dextera tua 6 Domine hostem confregit. ? Et in multitudine magnificentiae tuae subuertisti insur- gentes contra te, misisti furorem tuum, qui deuorauit eos tanquam stipulam. 8 In flatu narium tuarum coaceruatae sunt aquae, flumina constiterunt ut cumulus, abyssi coagulatae sunt in medio mari. 9 Hostis dixit, Persequar, apprehendam, dividam spolia, imple- bitur eis anima mea : exeram gladium meum, perdet eos manus mea. "> Uento tuo flauisti, mare eos operuit, demersi sunt ueluti plumbum in aquis uehemen- tibus. ii Quis tui similis in dijs 6 Do- mine ? Quis sicut tu magnificus sanc- titate ? formidabilis laudibus, faciens admiranda ? ' 2 Extendente te dexteram tuam deglutiuit eos terra. 1 3 Duxisti tua bonitate populum istum, quem asse- ruisti, duxisti tua fortitudine ad habi- taculum sanctuarij tui. Castalio's Version. 1 Tum Moses una cum Israelitis car- men hoc Iouae cecinit. Iouam canto, qui pro sua praestantia et equos, et equites in mare deiecerit. Vires meae, carmenque Ioua est, qui mihi saluti fuit. 2 Hie meus est Deus, quem cele- bro: Deus patrius, quem extollo. 3 Ioua vir bellicosus, Ioua inquam qui nomi- natur. 4 Pharaonis et currus et copias in mare deturbauit, ita ut illius duces lectissimi in mare rubrum demersi, 5 et undis obruti, in funduin tanquam saxa subsederint. 6 Tu ista dextera, 6 Ioua, decus tibi fortissime peperisti : ista dex- tera Ioua hostem oppressisti, 1 et tua singulari praestantia infestos tuos euer- tisti, laxataque ira tua quasi sti- pulam confecisti. 8 Ergo ad tuorum narium flatum coaceruatae sunt aquae : stetere fluctus in cumulum, inque mari medio undae concreuerunt. 9 Dixerat hostis : Persequar, assequar, diuidam praedam, animum meum ex illis ex- plebo, gladium stringam, illos mea manu peruertam. 10 At te spiritu isto flante obruti sunt mari, et plumbi ritu in aquas nobiles demersi. ' ' Quis tibi deorum par est, 6 Ioua ? quis cum sacro isto decore conferendus ? 6 ter- ribilis, laudabilis, mirifice, 1 2 qui ex- tensa dextera tua, illis humo absorp- tis, 13 populum hunc a te redemp- tum pro tua dementia abducis, et tua ui in tuum sacrum perducis domi- cilium. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Latin language originated from that of the Pelasgians, an ancient race by whom Greece and Italy were overspread at a very early period of history. This identity of origin accounts for the many instances of similarity which exists between the Greek and Latin languages. In Italy the Pelasgian type was considerably altered by the influence of the numerous petty dialects, chiefly of Celtic origin, anciently spoken in that peninsula ; and hence Latin possesses a class of words, and certain peculiarities of grammatical structure, which are not to be found in Greek. On the other hand, Greek has deviated in many respects from the parent stock, where Latin has remained faithful to the original : there are, for instance, a number of Sanscrit words, which in Greek have been altered by the addition of the prefix 0, while in Latin they remain to a great degree unchanged; such as oSoix;, in Sanscrit danta, and in Latin dens; ovopa, in Sanscrit nama, and in Latin nomen; and many others. Latin is inferior to Greek in the power of compounding words, so that in translating Greek poetry into Latin, difficulty has been often felt in finding terms to express the picturesque epithets of the Greeks. No language, however, can surpass the Latin in the power of expressing in one word accessory notions combined witli the principal idea: this power, the result of numerous inflections, adds greatly to the characteristic energy and conciseness of Latin phraseology. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. We possess no direct evidence as to the time when the Scriptures were first translated into Latin. There is no reason to suppose that a Latin translation would be peculiarly wanted by the large body of Class III.] LATIN. 247 Junius and Tremellius's Version. 1 Tunc canens Mosche et filii Jisraelis canticum istud Jehovae, loquuti sunt dicendo ; Cantabo Jehovae, eo quod ad- modum excelluit, equum et sessorem ejus dejecit in mare. 2 Robur meum et carmen Jah, qui fuit mihi saluti : hie est Deus fortis meus, cui habitaculum decorum ponam, Deus patris mei quern exaltabo. 3 Jehova est bellicosissimus, nomen ejus est Jehova. 4 Currus Par- lionis et copias ejus praecipitavit in mare ; delectusque praefectorum ejus demersi sunt in mare algosum. 5 Abyssi operuerunt eos, descenderunt in pro- funda velut lapis. 6 Dextera tua, 6 Je- hova, magnificat se mihi virtute ilia: dextera tua, Jehova, confringis hostem : 1 Et magnitudine excellentiae tuas sub- vertis insurgentes contra te : furorem tuum immittis, consumit eos tamquam ignis stipulam. 8 Quum flatu narium tuarum coacervatae sunt aquae, consti- terunt velut cumulus fluida : concre- verunt abyssi in intima parte maris : 9 Dixerat hostis, persequar, assequar, dividam praedam : explebitur eis anima mea, exseram gladium meum, asseret eos in haereditatem manus mea. '"Fla- visti vento tuo, operuit eos mare : pro- funda petierunt tamquam plumbum, in aquis validis. n Quis est sicut tu inter fortissimos, Jehova ? quis est sicut tu, magnificus sanctitate ? reverendus lau- dibus ? mirificus ? > 2 Extendisti dex- teram tuam, deglutivit eos terra. 13 De- ducis benignitate tua populum quern redemisti : commode ducis robore tuo ad decorum habitaculum sanctitatis tuae. Schmidt's Version. 1 Tunc cecinit Moses, & filii Jisrael, canticum hoc Jehova, & dixerunt di- cendo ; Cantabo Jehova, quia exalt- ando exaltavit Se : equum & equitem ejus projecit in mare. 2 Fortitudo mea & canticum Jah, & factus est mihi in salutem : Hie Deus meus, ideo cele- brabo Eum ; Deus patris mei, ideo exaltabo Eum. 3 Jehovah (est) vir belli : Jehovah (est merito) nomen Ejus. 4 Currus Pharaonis & exercitum ejus projecit in mare ; & electi ternari- orum ejus submersi sunt in mari Suph. 5 Abyssi contexerunt eos : descende- runt in profunditates, sicut lapis. 6 Dex- tra Tua, Jehovah, ma^nifica est ro- bore : dextra Tua, Jehovah, confringit hostem. ? Et magnitudine excellentiae Tuae destruis consurgentes contra Te : emittis excandescentiam Tuam, (quae) comedit eos, sicut stipulam. 8 Et flatu narium Tuarum coacervatae sunt aquae ; steterunt sicut cumulus fluenta ; con- gelatae sunt abyssi in corde maris. 9 Dixitinimicus; persequar, assequar, dividam spolium : implebitur eis anima mea : denudabo gladium Meum : ex- pellet eos manus Mea. 10 (Sed) spirasti vento Tuo, (turn) contexit eos mare : submersi sunt, sicut plumbum in aquis validis. J1 Quis sicut Tu, in Diis, Je- hovah ? quis, sicut Tu, magnificus sanctitate: venerandus laudibus, faciens miraculum ? I 2 Extendisti dextram Tuam ; absorpsit eos terra. ! 3 D uxisti in misericordia Tua populum eum, (quern) redemisti : deduxisti in fortitudine Tua ad habitaculum sanctitatis Tuae. Dathe's Version. 1 Tunc Moses et Israelitae hoc carmen in honorem Jovae dixere : Jovam cano, nam magna praestitit. Equum et equi- tem in mare dejecit. 2 Deum canam ob defensionem mihi praestitam. Saluti mihi fuit. Ille Deus meus, hunc cele- brabo. Deus patrius, hunc laudibus extollam. 3 Jova fuit bellator, is qui Jova nominatur. 4 Currus Pharaonis et exercitum ejus in mare projecit, du- ces ejus lectissimi mari Arabiae sunt immersi. 5 Fluctibus obruti in fundum tanquam lapis subsiderunt. 6 Dextra tua, o Jova, insignem virtutem ostendit, dextra tua, o Jova, hostem prostravit. 1 Immensa tua potentia evertisti adver- saries tuos, ab ardente ira tua consumti sunt ut stipula. 8 Halitutuo coacerva- tae sunt aquae, steterunt in cumulum erecti fluctus, in medio mari undae con- creverunt. 9 Dixit hostis : persequar, assequar, praedam dividam, jam vota mea ex- plebuntur : stringam gladium, manu mea perdentur. 10 Vento tuo flabas, turn mare eos texit, fundum petie- runt ut plumbum in aquis profundis. "Quis tui similis est, o Jova, inter Deos ? quis ut tu tanta sanctitate est conspicuus ? Laudibus illustris, qui mira praestat! 12 Manum tuam exten- debas, turn terra eos absorpsit. '3 Ducis pro benignitate populum, quern tibi vindicasti, ducis eum pro potentia tua ad sedem tuam sanctam. Christians residing at Rome in the earliest ages, for Greek was well understood by both the educated and uneducated. This language spread among even the lower classes, from the great influx of strangers into the capital of the civilised earth, with whom Greek was the general language of com- munication, as well as from the vast number of slaves in Rome brought from countries where Greek had obtained some footing: besides this, the near proximity of Rome to the cities of Magna Graxia, to which the franchises of the jus Latinum had been extended, must have had no small influence. And indeed the fact of St. Paul having written in Greek to the church at Rome, may be taken as at least an indication that Latin was not absolutely required by the Christians in that city. A Latin version had, however, been made some time before the end of the second century. Such a version was used by Tertullian, who criticised it, and condemned some of its renderings. Many have supposed that there existed originally numerous independent Latin translations; and in proof of this they have turned to passages in Jerome and Augustine, which speak of the multiplicity of translations, and they have also pointed out how differently the same texts are read by different Latin Fathers. The statements, however, of Jerome and Augustine may be better understood as relating to what versions had become through repeated alterations ; and the variety in citations appears to have arisen partly from the use of such altered versions, and partly from writers having translated passages for themselves. Lachmann especially has given good reasons for supposing that at first there existed but one version in Latin, and that it was made in the north of Africa, in that Roman province of which Carthage was the metropolis. Like most of the other ancient versions, we know not from whose hand 248 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. it sprung; and it does not seem as if much authority was attached to it, otherwise private individuals would hardly have felt themselves at liberty to alter it almost at pleasure. As this version was made from the Greek, it was in the Old Testament based on the LXX., and not on the original Hebrew. Hence it has resulted, that when a version of the Old Testament into Latin had been made from the Hebrew, the older version fell after a time into such oblivion, that only fragments of it have come down to us. In the latter part of the fourth century, the process of continually altering and correcting the Latin copies occasioned great confusion : this was remarked by Jerome, Augustine, and others. The latter of these Fathers speaks of the multiplicity of the versions then current, and, amongst them all, commends one which he calls the Itala. This term has occasioned much discussion, and much mis- apprehension. Some have thought the word Itala to be an error; while others have strangely applied the name of Itala or Italic to all the Latin versions extant prior to the time of Jerome. It is evident, however, that Augustine meant some one version, and that it was one which had been revised, and that the name indicates its connection with the province of Upper Italy (Italic in contrast to Roman), of which Milan (Mediolanum) was the capital. It is well known how closely Augustine was connected with Milan; it might, we believe, be shown, that in his day pains were taken to revise the Latin copies in that very district. One thing at least is certain, that however common it may be to call the ancient Latin versions indiscriminately " the Old Italic," the name ought to be rejected, as having originated in misconception, and as perpetuating a confusing error. Before we speak of the labours of Jerome for the revision and retranslation of the Latin text, we have to mention what editions have been published of the older translations. In 1588, Flaminio Nobili published at Rome a work which professed to be the ancient Latin version of the Old Testament, made from the Greek : it was, however, always considered doubtful from what sources Nobili had taken the passages, so as to give the Old Testament complete ; and now it is certain that he really in general did nothing but translate into Latin the Sixtine text of the LXX. Sabatier, one of the distinguished French Benedictines, published at Rheims, in 1743-^9, a very large collection of fragments of the ancient versions: he drew them from MSS. and citations: the modern Vulgate is placed by the side of the more ancient text, and the various citations of Latin Fathers are given very elaborately in the notes. Besides the collection of Old Testament fragments given by Sabatier, some passages of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Hosea, were found by Dr. Feder, in a Wiirzburg Codex Rescriptus; and they were published by Dr. Miinter in 1821. Cardinal Mai has also given, in his Spicilegium Romanum, vol. ix. 1843, some fragments of such a version. The term Ante-Hieronymian is often used as a general expression for denoting all the versions or revisions made before the labours of Jerome. Of these we possess not a few of the Gospels, and som ; of other parts of the New Testament. Martianay published, in 1695, an old text of St. Matthew's Gospel and of the Epistle of St. James. In 1749 (as has been mentioned), Sabatier published all he could collect of the New Testament. In the same year, Bianchini published at Rome his Evangeliarum Quadruplex, containing the Latin texts of the Gospels, as found in the Codices Vercellensis, Veronensis, Brixianus, and Corbeiensis. Subjoined there were some Latin texts of parts of Jerome's version. The principal of these was the Codex Forojuliensis. In 1828, Cardinal Mai gave, in his " Collectio Vaticana," vol. iii., an Ante-Hieronymian version of St. Matthew's Gospel, from a MS. which in the other Gospels followed Jerome's version. We have, in the last place, to mention the " Evangelium Palatinum," a purple MS. at Vienna, of which Tischendorf published a magnificent edition in 1847. Besides these Latin texts, there are also others of which we cannot speak with entire certainty, as they accompany a Greek text in the same MS. : they may probably, therefore, be versions which never had a separate circulation. Hearne published in 1715, at Oxford, the Greco-Latin Codex Laudianus of the book of Acts; in 1793, Kipling edited the Codex Bezas of the Gospels and Acts; and, in 1791, Matthsei published the Codex Boernerianus of St. Paul's Epistles, which has an interlineary Latin version: a similar copy of the Four Gospels, Codex Sangallensis, was published in 1836, by Rettig. Class III.] LATIN. 249 We have now to speak of the version of Jerome. The labours of this most learned of the Fathers will be described most clearly by mentioning, in chronological order, the respective versions and revisions which he undertook. His first labour was the correction of the Latin text of the New Testament, beginning with the Four Gospels, which he undertook at the request of Pope Damasus : this was executed about the year 382, after Jerome's return to Borne from the East. He used the old Latin version, then in common use, as a basis ; but as it was incorrect in many ways, and passages in one gospel had been inserted in another, etc., he amended it in accordance with ancient Greek MSS. He feared innovating too much, and thus he did not correct every thing which he thought inaccurate. In his other works, he often mentions renderings and readings which he preferred to those which he allowed to remain in his version. Soon after this revision of the Latin New Testament, he corrected the Psalter then in common use at Eome, by amending some of the places in which it was wide of the LXX. text, from which it had been originally translated. This revision obtained the sanction of the church at Eome, and it was widely used at one time in the Latin Church : in this country it was used at Canterbury alone until the Eeformation. The Council of Trent, however, rejected this version in favour of the Galilean Psalter, of which we have next to speak; its use was henceforth confined simply to the city of Eome. After the return of Jerome to the East in 384, he employed himself, in his retreat at Bethlehem, in carefully making a recension of the Old Testament, in accordance with the Hexaplar text of the LXX. The Psalter, with which he seems to have begun, obtained a wide use in the Latin Church, under the name of the Galilean Psalter : the Council of Trent adopted it as of authority, as it had then a place in the Latin Bibles. Jerome proceeded in his revision of the Old Testament, in accordance with the Hexaplar text of the LXX. : the whole of this version, however (except the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, and Chronicles), was, as he says in a letter to Augustine, lost by fraud. Job is the only book of this version which we possess, besides the Psalms, as already stated. But even while Jerome was occupied with the recension according to the LXX., he had com- menced and made considerable progress in a far more important work. With great pains he had acquired a very fair knowledge of Hebrew, and several of his friends were anxious to profit by his superior attainments: at their solicitations he translated book after book of the Old Testament, between the years 385 and 405. This important work was looked on by many as an innovation; loud were the outcries against any departure from the LXX., which was then commonly believed to be possessed of divine authority. It proves that Jerome's strength of purpose must indeed have been great; or else a person so sensitive as to his own reputation for orthodoxy would never have stemmed the opposition that was raised. His energy in acquiring the Hebrew language was very remarkable; he obtained all the information he could from Jewish teachers, and he made diligent use of all the Greek versions then extant. His Latinity, though not classical, is vigorous; indeed his version is refined and elegant, when compared with the translation into that language which was current in the days of Tertullian. Jerome's labours were gradually appreciated; after a lapse of about two centuries, his version from the Hebrew of all the Old Testament, except the Psalms, and his revision of the New, were adopted pretty generally: the Psalms were taken from his version from the LXX. The adoption, however, of Jerome's version occasioned its corruption, by the admixture of the older renderings, and by other mistakes of copyists. The first reviser of whom we read was the celebrated Englishman, Alcuin, who about the year 802, at the command of Charlemagne, endeavoured to correct the Vulgate, as Jerome's version, as transmitted, was called. It was formerly thought by some, that he revised with the Hebrew and Greek texts; but it has been shown that this was not his object: he only endeavoured to restore the text as it stood in ancient Latin copies. A noble MS. of Alcuin's recension in now in the British Museum. Other revisions were undertaken by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (ob. 1089), and others, for the text was continually injured by copyists. After the invention of printing, the first book to which this almost divine art was applied was the 250 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. Latin Vulgate. The first edition has no indication of place or date : the earliest which is dated is that of Mayence, 1462. The first printers just followed the copy which they could most conveniently procure. Cardinal Ximenes took some pains to give the text more carefully in the Complutensian Polyglot, 1514-17; and yet farther care was taken in the editions of Eobert Stephens, 1528-46; of Hentenius, 1547; and of the Louvain divines in 1573. Meanwhile, in 1546, the Council of Trent had decreed the Latin Vulgate to be " authentic;" and it was considered to be the prerogative of the Popes to issue an authoritative edition. In 1590 this was done by Sixtus the Fifth, a little before his death. Although he threatened with excommunication any one who should vary from his text, his third successor, Clement the Eighth, in 1592, published a very different text: he professed in this merely to correct the errata of the Sixtine text; but this does not explain the variations. In 1593, another edition was published with some alterations, which, with a few corrections made soon after, is the standard Vulgate of the whole Romish Church. It is not regarded, even by Romanists, as altogether the genuine version of Jerome; and some renderings are palpably corrupt, so as to suit false dogmas. The Benedictine editors of Jerome in 1693, Martianay and Poujet, used MS. authority for printing his biblical versions, as also did the Verona editors, Vallarsi and Mattei, in 1734-42. There are also other MSS. of Jerome's translation extant, of great antiquity and excellence; particularly the Codex Amiatinus at Florence, of which an imperfect collation has been published. It has since been twice collated in the New Testament part; and from this and similar sources the version of Jerome might be restored to nearly the condition in which it left his hand. As Jerome's own translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew is not contained in the Vulgate, it has been given, as well as that of the Vulgate, in the Biblia Polyglotta Ecclesm and the Hexaplar Psalter, under the name which it usually bears, Psalterium Hebraicum. Although no version but the Vulgate has ever been received as " authentic" by the Romish Church, yet, on account of the many errors and corruptions by which that text is disfigured, several attempts have been made, by Catholics as well as by Protestants, to produce more correct Latin versions. The following is a brief description of these modern translations : — I. The version of Pagninus, containing the Old and New Testaments, was published at Lyons in 1528. This is a very close and servile representation of the original texts, and the diction is often obscure and barbarous. Pagninus was a Dominican monk of great learning, and he executed this version under the patronage of the Popes, Leo X., Adrian VI., and Clement VII. His version of the Old Testament was reprinted by Stephens in 1557. II. The revision of the version of Pagninus by Arias Montanus was published in the Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglots. In this revision the most literal signification of the Hebrew words is given without any reference to the context, and even the number of Latin words is accommodated to that of the Hebrew. The chief use of this revision is therefore that of a grammatical commentary for Hebrew students. In the New Testa- ment, Montanus chiefly made use of the Vulgate, contenting himself with correcting it in a few places according to the Greek. III. The version of Mahenda, a Spanish Dominican, printed at Lyons in 1650, was never regarded with any estimation, on account of its obscure and ungrammatical diction, and it has now completely fallen into oblivion. IV. The version of Cardinal Cajetan comprises only the Old Testament, and was published at Lyons in 1639. Cajetan had no knowledge of Hebrew, but he employed two trans- lators well acquainted with that' language, the one a Jew and the other a Christian, to execute the version under his superintendence. This, like the preceding translations, adheres rigidly to the very letter of the text. Class III.] LATIN. 251 V. The version of Houbigant, celebrated for the elegance and freedom of its style, was published at Paris in 1753, in a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. This version, which com- prises only the Old Testament, is executed from Father Houbigant's emended Hebrew text. These five modern versions were all produced by Eoman Catholics. The following are the principal Latin versions executed by Protestants : — I. The version of Munster was published at Basle in 1534, and again in 1546: it is confined to the Old Testament, and is held in some reputation on account of the clearness of the style, and its strict fidelity to the Hebrew text. This version is preferred by Father Simon and other critics to that of Pagninus and Montanus. II. The version of the Old and New Testaments commenced by Leo Juda and completed by Bibliander, professor of divinity at Zurich, was printed in 1543, and again by Stephens at Paris in 1545. In general accuracy and fidelity this version equals that of Munster; and the style, though less literal, is more elegant. III. The version of Castalio or Chatillon was printed at Basle in 1551, with a dedication to Edward VI., king of England. It was reprinted at Basle in 1573, and at Leipsic in 1738. The design of Castalio was to produce a Latin translation of both Testaments in the pure classical language of the ancient Latin writers. IV. The version of Junius and Tremellius was published at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1575-1579. It was afterwards corrected by Junius, and on account of its close adherence to the Hebrew, the Old Testament of this version has been frequently reprinted. The New Testament, translated from the Syriac version by Tremellius, with Beza's translation from the Greek, appeared in a second edition at Geneva in 1590. V. Schmidt's version of the Old and New Testaments was executed with great exactness from the original texts, and printed at Strasburg in 1696. Several more recent editions have been issued. VI. The version of Dathe, professor of Oriental literature at Leipsic, appeared in 1773-1789, and is considered a faithful and elegant translation of the Hebrew text. VII. The version of the Pentateuch by Schott and Winzer was translated from the Hebrew, and published at Leipsic in 1816. LATIN VEESIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.— St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat verbum. 2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. 4 In ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum : 5 Et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebra? earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. 7 Hie venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per ilium. 8 Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. 9 Erat lux vera, qua? illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. 10 In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit. u In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. 12 Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine ejus : 13 Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. u Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a patre, plenum gratia? et veritatis. 252 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Ante-Hieronymian Version. ' In principio erat verbum, & verbum erat apud Deum, & Deus erat verbum. 2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : & sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est. 4 In ipso vita est, & vita erat lux ho- minum : 5 & ] ux m tenebris lucet, & tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Johannes. 1 Hie venit in testimo- nium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per ilium : 8 non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. 9 Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem veni- entem in hunc mundum. •" In mundo erat, & mundus per ipsum factus est, & mundus eum non cognovit. " In pro- pria venit, & sui eum non receperunt. 12 Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his, qui credunt in nomine ejus : I3 qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. l*Et verbum caro factum est, & habitavit in nobis : & vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a patre, plenum gratia, & ve- | ritate. Erasmus's Version. 1 In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat apud deum, et deus erat ille sermo. 2 Hie erat in principio apud deum. 3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : et sine eo factum est nihil, quod factum est. In ipso uita erat, 4 et uita erat lux hominum, 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae earn non apprehenderunt. 6 Erat homo missus a deo, cui nomen Ioannes. 7 Hie uenit ad testificandum, ut testaretur de luce, ut omnes cre- derent per ipsum. 8 Non erat ille lux ilia, sed missus erat ut testaretur de luce. 9 Erat lux ilia, lux uera : quae il- luminat omnem hominem uenientem in mundum. 10 In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognouit. "In sua uenit, et sui eum non receperunt. ' 2 Quotquot au- tem receperunt eum, dedit eis ut liceret filios dei fieri, uidelicet his qui credidis- sent in nomen ipsius. 13 Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex uoluntate carnis, neque ex uoluntate uiri, sed ex deo nati sunt. 14 Et sermo ille caro factus est, et habitauit in nobis : et conspexi- mus gloriam eius, gloriam uelut uni- geniti a patre : plenus gratia et ueri- tate. Beza's Version. 1 In principio erat Sermo ille, et Sermo ille erat apud Deum, eratque ille Sermo Deus. 2 Hie Sermo erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per hunc Ser- monem facta sunt, et absque eo factum est nihil quod factum sit. 4 In ipso vita erat, et vita erat Lux ilia hominum. 5 Et Lux ista in tenebris lucet, sed tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Exstitit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen Joannes. 1 Is venit ad dandum testimonium, id est, ut testaretur de ilia Luce, ut omnes per eum crederent. 8 Non erat ille Lux ilia, sed missus fuit ut testaretur de ilia Luce. 9 Hie erat Lux ilia vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in mundum. I0 In mundo erat, et mundus per eum factus est ; sed mundus eum non agnovit. 11 Ad sua venit, et sui eum non excepe- runt. I2 Quotquot autem eum excepe- runt, dedit eis hoc jus, ut filii Dei sint facti, nempe iis qui credunt in nomen ejus : 13 Qui non ex sanguine, neque ex libidine carnis, neque ex libidine viri, sed ex Deo geniti sunt. 14 Et Sermo ille factus est caro, et commoratus est inter nos, (et spectavimus gloriam ejus, gloriam, inquam, ut unigeniti, egressi a Patre,) plenus gratiae ac veritatis. Several important Latin versions, comprising only the New Testament, have been executed from the Greek text. The first of these, in point of time, is that of Erasmus, which was published at Basle, in 1516, with the Greek text. It contained a dedicatory epistle to Pope Leo X., and was highly commended by that pontiff; yet it was regarded with great hostility by the members of the Koman Catholic Church, and, on its first appearance, excited much opposition. Erasmus drew his version not only from printed copies of the Greek Testament, but also from four Greek MSS., and in the rendering of several passages, he consulted the ecclesiastical writers. He does not, however, make any notable departures from the Vulgate, and wherever he felt compelled to deviate in any degree from that version, he assigned his reasons for so doing in the notes which accompany his work. The version of Beza is bolder and more faithful than that of Erasmus, and does not betray the same timid adherence to the Vulgate. It has been greatly condemned in consequence by Koman Catholics, but it is generally preferred by Protestants to all other Latin versions. Its style is clear and simple, but its chief excellence consists in its accurate and exact interpretation of the sacred original. Thalemann published another Latin version of the Gospels and Acts in 1781, and Jaspis completed the work by translating and publishing the Epistles in 1793-1797 at Leipsic. In 1790, a version of the entire New Testament was published at Leipsic by Reichard. A translation, professedly executed from the Alexandrine text, was published by Sebastiani, London, 1817; but it is well known that this editor merely followed the common Greek text. The versions of Schott, Naebe, and Goeschen, were printed as accompaniments to critical editions of the New Testament: they all appeared at Leipsic; that of Schott in 1805, that of Naebe in 1831, and that of Goeschen in 1832. IV — RESULTS OF THE PEItUSAL OF THE LATIN VULGATE. Although this version is confessedly at fault in some of its renderings, yet it has been used by the Holy Spirit as the means of leading many to the knowledge of salvation. It was from this version that Luther, in the first instance, drew his supplies of strength and consolation, and the same may be said of most of the servants of God during the middle ages, when comparatively few versions in other Ian- Class III.] LATIN. 253 Castalio's Version. 1 In principio erat sermo, et sermo erat apud Deum, et Deus erat is sermo : 2 is erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per eum facta sunt, et absque eo factum est nihil, quod factum sit. 4 In eo vita erat, et vita erat lux ho- minum, 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, nee earn comprehenderunt tenebrae. 6 Fuit homo missus h, Deo, nomine Johannes. 7 Is venit ob testimonium, ut de luce testaretur, ut omnes per eum cre- derent. 8 Non erat ille ipsa lux, sed qui de luce testaretur. 9 Erat ipsa vera lux, quae collustrat omnem hominem veniens inmundum. 10 Inmundoerat,etmundus per eum factus fuit, et mundus eum non cognovit. ' ' In sua venit, et sui eum non acceperunt. I2 Quicunque autem eum acceperunt, iis earn potestatem dedit, ut Dei filii fierent, fidem haben- tibus ejus nomini : 13 qui non ex san- guine, nee ex voluntate carnis, nee ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo geniti sunt. 14 Et sermo caro factus est, et apud nos gratiae veritatisque plenus habi- tavit : ej usque splendorem, ut unigenae a patre splendorem aspeximus. Schmidt's Version. ' In principio erat Verbum : et Verbum illud erat apud Deum ; et Deus erat illud Verbum. 2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per illud facta- sunt : et sine illo factum-est ne unum quidem, quod factum-est. 4 In ipso vita erat : et vita erat lux ilia hominum. 5 Et Lux ilia in tenebris lucet: sed tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a Deo: nomen ei erat Johannes. 7 Hie venit ad testifi- cationem, nempe ut testaretur de ilia Luce, ut omnes crederent per eum. 8 Non erat ille Lux ea ; sed missus erat, ut testaretur de ea Luce. 9 Hoc Verbum erat Lux ilia vera, quae illuminat om- nem hominem venientem in mundum. 10 In mundo erat: et mundus per ipsum factus-est : et mundus ilium non cog- novit. " In sua venit: sed sui eum non receperunt. I2 Quotquot autem suscepe- runt eum, dedit eis hoc-jus, ut-fierent Filii Dei, nempe Mis, qui-credunt in nomen ejus. I3 Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo geniti-sunt. 1 4 Et Verbum illud caro factum-est : et tanquam-in-tabernaculo-habitavit inter nos, (et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre,) plenum gratiae et veritatis. Sebastian's Version. 1 In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Verbum erat Deus. 2 Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. 3 Omnia per ipsum facta sunt ; et sine ipso nihil quicquam factum est ejus, quod factum est. 4 In ipso erat vita, et vita erat lux hominum ; 5 Et lux lucet in tenebris, et tenebrae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Johannes. 1 Hie venit in testimo- nium, ut testaretur de luce, et ut omnes crederent per eum. 8 Non erat ille lux, sed missus fuer at, ut testimonium-perhi- beret de luce. 9 Erat vera lux, quae illu- minat omnem hominem venientem in mundum. I0 Ipse erat in mundo, et mun- dus per ipsum factus est ; sed mundus eum non cognovit. J ' In domum-suam venit, et familiares non receperunt eum ; 12 Sed quicunque eum receperunt, de- dit eis potestatem efficiendi se filios Dei, eis videlicet, qui credunt in per- sonam ejus: 13 Qui non ex humanis- parentibus, neque ex carnali libidine, neque ex voluntate hominis; sed ex Deo nati sunt. 14 Et verbum factum est homo, habi- tavitque inter nos plenum gratiae et veritatis ; et vidimus gloriam ejus, ut gloriam filii-unigeniti a patre. guages were in existence. Our earlier translations, so eminently blessed in bringing in the Reformation were derived immediately from the Vulgate. It was the prohibition of the Scriptures to the laity, and not merely the exclusive use of this version, which was the crying evil of the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Bedell, in one of his letters, tells us that he once heard a monk preaching from the text, "What is truth?" After a good deal of elaborate discussion, the preacher drew somewhat cautiously from his pocket a copy of the New Testa- ment, and said, "This only shall I say: I have found truth at last within the leaves of this book; but," added he, replacing it coolly, " it is prohibited." Schott's Version. 1 Initio (omnium) fuit Logos ; Logos apud Deum fuit ; Deusque fuit Logos. 2 Hie initio fuit apud Deum. 3 Omnia per eum facta sunt, et absque eo factum est ne ullum quidem, quod factum est. 4 In eo vita fuit (et vitae fons), quae vita lux fuit (fons lucis) hominum. 5 Lucetque lux inter tenebras, nee earn tenebrae comprehenderunt. 6 Exstitit homo a Deo missus, nomine Joannes. 7 Is venit testimonium daturus, ut testaretur de luce, ut omnes per eum fidem haberent (lucis auctori). 8 Non erat ille ipsa lux ; sed (missus), ut testaretur de luce. 9 Erat (ilia) lux verissima (perfectissima), collustrans quemvis hominem, qui in mundum venit (nascitur). 10 In mundo fuit (Logos), mundusque per eum factus est, nee vero mundus eum agnovit. ' l Ad sua (veluti domum suam) venit, nee sui eum exceperunt. I2 At, quotquot eum exceperunt, iis hano dedit potestatem, ut liberi fierent Dei, fidem eius nomini habentibus, 13 qui, non ex sanguine neque ex voluntate (libidine) carnis neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo sunt geniti. 14 Atque Logos factus est came praeditus, et tentorium fixit (commoratus est) apud nos [spectavimusque eius gloriam, qualis est gloria filii unigeniti a patre oriundi] plenus gratiae et veritatis. Goeschen's Version. 1 In principio erat logos, et logos erat apud deum, et deus erat logos. 2 Hie erat in principio apud deum. 3 Omnia per eum facta sunt; ac sine eo nihil unum factum est, quod factum est. 4 In eo vita erat, ac vita erat lux hominum ; 5 et lux in tenebris lucet, ac tene- brae earn non comprehenderunt. 6 Fuit homo missus a deo, cui Ioannis nomen ; 1 hie venit ad testimonium, ut de luce testaretur, ut omnes eius causa (auctoritate) crederent 8 Non erat ille lux, sed ut de luce testaretur. 9 Erat lux ilia vera, qua illustratur omnis homo, in mundum veniens. 10 In mundo erat, et mundus per eum factus est, et mundus eum non novit. n In sua venit, et sui non exceperunt eum. 12 Quotcunque autem exceperunt eum, eis, credentibus in eius nomen, facul- tatem dedit ut filii dei fierent ; ' 3 qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex viri voluntate, sed ex deo nati sunt. li Et logos caro factus est, et com- moratus est inter nos (et vidimus maiestatem eius, maiestatem ut unigeniti a patre), plenus gratia ac veritate. 254 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. FEENCH. SPECIMEN, EKOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14, Au commencement etait la Parole, et la Parole etait avec Dieu, et la Parole etait Dieu. 2 Elle etait au commencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont ete faites par elle, et sans elle rien de ce qui a ete fait, n'a ete fait. 4 En elle etait la vie, et la vie etait la lumiere des hommes. 5 Et la lumiere luit dans les tenebres, mais les tenebres ne l'ont point comprise. 6 Il y eut un homme appele Jean, qui fut envoye de Dieu. 7 II vint pour rendre temoignage, pour rendrc, dis-je, temoignage a la Lumiere, afm que tous crussent par lui. 8 II n'etait pas la Lumiere, mais il etait envoye pour rendre temoignage a la Lumiere. 9 Cette Lumiere etait la veritable, qui eclaire tout homme venant au monde. 10 Elle etait au monde, et le monde a ete fait par elle ; mais le monde ne l'a point connue. 11 II est venu chez soi ; et les siens ne Font point recu. 12 Mais a tous ceux qui l'ont recu, il leur a donne le droit d'etre faits enfans de Dieu, savoir a ceux qui croient en son nom ; 13 Lesquels ne sont point nes de sang, ni de la volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte de l'homme ; mais ils sont nes de Dieu. 14 Et la Parole a ete faite chair; elle a habite parmi nous, et nous avons contemple sa gloire, qui a ete une gloire, comme la gloire du Fils unique du Pere, pleine de grace et de verite. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The French language is predominant throughout France, except (as is elsewhere stated) in part of Brittany and in the Basque districts: German dialects prevail, more or less, in Upper and Lower Rhine, and in some of the other departments along the eastern frontier. . The total population of France, in 1856, amounted to 36,039,364. The great majority of the French people belong to the Eoman Catholic Church; but certain sects among them, while they adhere to Roman Catholic doctrines, repudiate the authority of the Pope. Toleration is so freely extended to all parties, that pastors and teachers of every denomination, Jewish as well as Christian, are considered entitled to support from the state. According to the census of 1851, the population of France (then numbering 35,781,627) was divided into 34,931,032 Roman Catholics; 748,332 members of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches; 73,995 Jews; 26,328 members of other churches; the rest being returned' under the head of "religion unknown." The French language is spoken in parts of Switzerland and in the Channel Islands; and is in frequent use, as a medium of communication, between people of different nations, in almost every country of Europe. In the colonies, however, it is incomparably less diffused than the English. It is extensively spoken in Louisiana and the French Antilles, and particularly in Lower Canada, where a vast majority of the people are of French origin. The primitive habits of the original settlers are still retained ; and it is said that the French language itself is there preserved precisely in the same state as it existed in the days of Louis XIV. II. — CHARACTERISTICS AND HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE. Three principal languages, the Aquitainian, the Celtic, and the Belgic, were spoken in Gaul at the time of the Roman invasion of that country. These languages, particularly the Celtic, which was the most widely diffused, commingled with the language of the Roman legions, and formed a new language, which, from the predominance of Roman words and elements, was called the Romance. The stock of words entering into the Ron.ance language was augmented by the addition of numerous Greek words, chiefly sea-terms, borrowed from Marseilles, then a Greek colony. Class III.] FRENCH. 255 In the fifth century, Gaul passed into the hands of Teutonic nations : the Visigoths occupied the south, while the Franks and Burgundians established themselves in the north and east. Ultimately the Franks extended their dominion throughout the whole country; but, being few in number, their language exercised little perceptible influence. The Komance, therefore, still continued to be the language of Gaul; and, about the tenth century, it seems to have diverged into two principal dialects, the langue doc, spoken in the south, and the langue aVoil or doui, spoken in the north. During the thirteenth century, the langue d'oil became the language of the court and capital of France, and gradually superseded the langue d'oc. Originally, the differences between the two dialects were few and inconsiderable; but by degrees the langue doil dropped many of its ancient terminations, acquired new and distinctive peculiarities, and finally merged into the language which, from the Franks, the Teutonic conquerors of Gaul, is now denominated the French. Thus the history of the French language proves that it may be regarded as a direct emanation from the Latin; and yet, of all the Neo-Latin languages, it differs the most widely from the parent stock. It has a singular habit of contracting the Latin words which enter into its composition : this it often effects by omitting one of the internal consonants: thus, ligare, in French, is converted into Her, laudare into louer, sudare into suer. On the other hand, it generally lengthens the a of the Latin into ai; as in ala, aile — amo, airne — panis, pain — pax, paix, &c. The w of Teutonic nations becomes gu in French; as in wasp, guepe — JFilliam, Crwillaume, &c. In point of construction, French is remarkable for its clearness and uniformity; and its idiomatical phrases are particularly concise and expressive: it is hence admirably adapted for conversational and epistolary purposes, and also for commercial and diplomatic negociation. Yet, with all these advantages of structure, it is most difficult to convert the French language into a vehicle of theological ideas; and we are told, that "all trans- lators and editors of the Scriptures in this language have found themselves embarrassed between the choice of a literal version, which makes the language barbarous, and an idiomatical one, which degenerates into paraphrase." III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Owing, perhaps, to the extreme difficulty of producing a faithful and satisfactory French version, the attempts that have been made to translate the Scriptures into this language are particularly numerous. The first translation of which we have any definite account is ascribed to the twelfth century; and portions of it, with other ancient writings, were published at Paris, in 1842, by Leroux de Lincy, under the title of " The Four Books of Kings." A translation is extant of all the epistles and gospels of the Latin Missal, executed by De Vignay, at the request of Jane of Burgundy, queen of Philip of Valois, king of France: the MS. is in the library of the Convent of St. Dominic, at Paris. The Historia Scholastica of Peter Comestor, which is a popular compendium of scriptural history was translated by Guiars des Moulins, between the years 1291 and 1294, and several MS. copies are preserved in the Eoyal Library at Paris: this work, which is generally known as " La Bible Historiale," was printed by command of Charles VIII. of France, in 1487. Among the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum, is a fine copy of a translation of the Bible as far as the Psalms, executed by Eaoul de Presles, by command of Charles V. of France. All these translations were superseded by a version of the entire Scriptures published at Antwerp, in consecutive portions, between the years 1512 and 1530, by Jaques le Fevre of Estaples, commonly called Jacobus Faber, Stapulensis. Faber translated from the Latin Vulgate, which he has followed so closely that many of his passages appear obscure. This version is the basis of all other French versions, Protestant as well as Catholic, which have since been published: it was reprinted in 1534 and 1541 ; and was revised and published by the divines of Louvain in 1550. The following is a list of the principal translations of the Scriptures into French which have appeared since the publication of Faber's version : — 1535. Olivetan's version of the entire Scriptures, translated from the original texts, and printed 256 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. 1555. 1641. at Neufchatel, and again, in 1540, at Geneva, with corrections by his relative, the celebrated reformer, Calvin. The so-called versions of Benat Benoist (1566), of Besse (1608), and of Frizon (1620), are merely editions of this version, with slight altera- tions. Several other revisions have been published; but, of these, by far the most important is the one familiarly known as the " Geneva Bible." It appeared at Geneva in 1588, after having been corrected by the College of Pastors and Professors of the Eeformed Church at Geneva (Beza, Goulart, Jaquemot, Bertram, La Faye, and Botan). The individuals engaged in tins revision are said to have consulted the rabbinical writers, and the Latin versions of Munster and Tremellius, besides the sacred originals: they succeeded in imparting a greater degree of elegance and precision to the language, and corrected some of the errors of Olivetan. Castalio published a French translation of his own Latin version; but this work scarcely deserves a place in the list of French versions, as it is disfigured by serious errors, and never rose into repute. Castalio is even charged with having invented French words, for the purpose, as he thought, of expressing the full force of the Greek. In 1562, a translation was published, in French, of Diodati's Italian version. A translation of the entire Bible from the Vulgate, executed by Corbin, advocate of the Le Fevre's Version. 1 Av commencement estoit la pa- rolle, et la parolle estoit auec dieu: et la parolle estoit dieu. 2 Icelle estoit au commencement auec dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont este faictes par icelle : et sans icelle riens na este faict qui ait este faict. 4 En icelle estoit la vie : et la vie estoit la lu- miere des hommes : 5 et la lumiere luyt es tenebres : et les tenebres ne lont point comprinse. 6 Ung homme fut enuoye de dieu : qui estoit nomme Jehan. 7 Lestuy vint en tesmoignage, pour rendre tesmoignage de la lumiere : affin que tous creussent par icelle. 8 Les- tuy nestoit point la lumiere : mais affin quil rendisse tesmoignage de la lumiere. 9 La vraye lumiere estoit celle qui enlumine tout homme ve- nant en ce monde. 10 Elle estoit au monde, et le monde est faict par elle: et le monde ne la point cong- neue. u Elle est venue es choses que estoient siennes : et les siens ne lont point receue. 12 Mais tous ceulx qui lont receue, elle leur a donne puissance destre fais les filz de dieu, iceulx creans en son nom. I3 les- quels ne de sangz, ne par voulente de chair, ne par voulente dhomme : mais sont nez de dieu. 14 Et la parolle est faicte chair : et a habite en nous, et auons veu sa gloire, gloire comme de celluy qui est seul ne du pere, plaine de grace et de verite. Olivetan's Version. 1 Ait commencement estoit la pa- rolle, et la parolle estoit auec Dieu : et Dieu estoit la parolle. 2 Icelle estoit au commencement auec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont este faictes par icelle : et sans icelle rien na este faict, de ce qui est faict. 4 En icelle estoit la vie : et la vie estoit la lu- miere des hommes, 5 et la lumiere luyt es tenebres, et les tenebres ne lont pas comprinse. 6 Ung homme fut enuoye de Dieu, qui auoit nom Jehan. 7 Lestuy est venu en tesmoingnage, a ce quil rendist tesmoingnage de la lumiere : affin que tous creussent par icelle. 8 Lestuy nestoit pas la lumiere, mais affin quil tesmoingnast de la lumiere. 9 Celle estoit la vraye lu- miere qui enlumine tout homme venant au monde. 10 Elle estoit au monde : et le monde est faict par elle : et le monde ne la point cong- neue. u Elle est venue es choses qui estoient siennes : et les siens ne lont pas receue. 12 Mais tous ceulx qui lont receue : elle leur a donne puissance destre faictz enfans de Dieu, ascauoir a ceulx qui croyent en son nom: ,3 Lesquelz ne de sang, ne de volunte de chair, ne de vo- lunte dhomme : mais de Dieu sont naiz. 14 Et la parolle est faicte chair, et a habite en nous (et auons con- temple sa gloire, gloire comme de celuy, qui est seul nay du pere) pleine de grace et de verite. Geneva Version. 1 Av commencement estoit la Pa- role, & la Parole estoit auec Dieu : & icelle Parole estoit Dieu. 2 Elle estoit au commencement auec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont este faites par elle : & sans elle rien n'a este fait de ce qui est fait. 4 En elle estoit la vie, & la vie estoit la lumiere des hom- mes. 5 Et la lumiere luites tenebres, & les tenebres ne l'ont point com- prise. 6 II y eut vn homme enuoye de Dieu, qui auoit nom lean. 7 Ces- tuy-ci vint pour porter tesmoignage, a ce qu'il rendit tesmoignage de la Lumiere, a fin que tous creussent par luy. 8 II n'estoit pas la Lumiere, mais estoit pour tesmoigner de la Lumiere. 9 La vraye Lumiere estoit celle qui illumine tout homme venant au monde. 10 II estoit au monde, & le monde a este fait par luy, & le monde ne l'a point cognu. "11 est venu chez soy: & les siens ne l'ont point receu. 12 Mais a tous ceux qui l'ont receu, il leur a donne ce droict d'estre faits enfans de Dieu, a scauoir, a ceux qui croyent en son Nom. 13 Lesquels ne sont point nais de sang ne de volonte de la chair, ne de volonte de l'homme : mais sont nais de Dieu. 14 Et ceste Parole a este faite chair, & a habite entre nous (& auons contemple sa gloire : gloire, di-ie, comme de l'vnique issu du Pere) plein de grace & de verite. Class III.] FRENCH. 257 1649. 1666. Parliament of Paris, and published with tlie approbation of the Faculty of Theology of Poitiers. The modes of expression adopted in this translation are rude and barbarous, and it has long sunk into disrepute. De Marolles published a New Testament, professedly translated from the original; but, as he did not understand the Greek language, it is believed that he merely made a translation of Erasmus's Latin Testament, which was drawn immediately from the Greek text. In some places he seems to have conformed to the Vulgate. Father Amelotte published a translation of the New Testament, which is well known to have been executed from the Vulgate, although he pretended that he had consulted Greek MSS. of the highest antiquity. This version is far from being faithful or accurate: he often uses great circumlocution, and in many instances inserts words which are not in the original, without writing them in Italics. De Sacy's Version. 1 Au commencement etoit le Verbe, 6 le Verbe etoit avec Dieu, & le Verbe etoit Dieu. 2 II etoit au com- mencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont ete faites par lui : & rien de ce qui a ete fait n'a ete fait sans lui. 4 Dans lui etoit la vie, & la vie etoit la lumiere des hommes: 5 & la lumiere luit dans les tene- bres, & les tenebres ne l'ont point comprise. 6 11 y eut un homme en- voye de Dieu, qui s'appelloit Jean. 7 II vint pour servir de temoin, pour rendre temoignage a. la lumiere, afln que tous crussent par lui. 8 II n'etoit pas la lumiere : mais il vint pour rendre temoignage, a. celui qui etoit la lumiere. 9 Celui-la. etoit la vraie lumiere, qui illumine tout bomme venant en ce monde. 10 II etoit dans le monde, & le monde a ete fait par lui, & le monde ne l'a point connu. n II est venu chez soi, 6 les siens ne font point recu. 12 Mais il a donne a tous ceux qui l'ont recu, le pouvoir d'etre faits enfans de Dieu, a. ceux qui croyent en son nom : 13 qui ne sont point nes du sang, ni de la volonte de la cbair, ni de la volonte de l'homme, mais de Dieu meme. H Et le Verbe a ete fait chair, & il a habite parmi nous : & nous avons vu sa gloire, sa gloire, dis-je, comme du Fils unique du Pere, etant plein de grace & de verite. Qstervaxd's Version. 1 La Parole etoit au commencement, la Parole etoit avec Dieu, et cette Parole etoit Dieu. 2 Elle etoit au commencement avec Dieu. 3 Toutes choses ont ete faites par elle, et rien de ce qui a ete fait, n'a ete fait sans elle. 4 C'est en elle qu'etoit la vie, et la vie etoit la lumiere des hommes. 5 Et la lumiere luit dans les tenebres, et les tenebres ne l'ont point recue. 6 11 y eut un homme, appele Jean, qui fut envoye de Dieu. 7 II vint pour etre temoin et pour rendre temoignage de la lumiere, afin que tous crussent par lui. 8 II n'etoit pas lui-meme la^ lumiere, mais il etoit envoye pour rendre te- moignage a la lumiere. 9 C'etoit la veritable lumiere qui eclaire tous les hommes, en venant au monde. 10 Elle etoit dans le monde, et le monde a ete fait par elle ; mais le monde ne l'a pas connue. n II est venu chez soi : et les siens ne font point recu. n Mais a. tous ceux qui l'ont recu, il leur a donne le droit d'etre faits enfans de Dieu, savoir, a ceux qui croient en son nom; 13 qui ne sont point nes du sang, ni de la volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte de l'hbmme, mais qui sont nes de Dieu. u Et la Parole a ete faite chair, et a habite parmi nous, et nous avons vu sa gloire, une gloire telle qu'est celle du Fils unique du Pere, pleine de grace et de verite. Swiss Version'. 1 Air commencement etait la Pa- role ; et la Parole etait aupres de Dieu ; et la Parole etait Dieu. 2 Elle etait au commencement aupres de Dieu. 3 Toutes, choses ont ete faites par son moyen, et rien de ce qui a ete fait n'a ete fait sans elle. 4 En elle etait la vie, et la vie etait la lu- miere des hommes. 5 Et la lumiere luit dans les tenebres, et les tenebres ne l'ont point recue. 6 II y eut un homme envoye de Dieu ; son nom etait Jean; 7 II vint en temoignage, pour rendre temoignage de la lumi- ere, afin que tous crussent par son moyen. 8 Lui n'etait pas la lumiere, mais il etait pour rendre temoignage de la lumiere. 9 La veritable lumi- ere qui eclaire tout homme etait ve- nue dans le monde. 10 Elle etait dans le monde, et le monde a ete fait par son moyen, et le monde ne l'a pas connue. n Elle est venue chez soi, et les siens ne l'ont point recue, 12 Mais, a tous ceux qui l'ont recue, elle leur a donne le droit de devenir enfants de Dieu, a ceux qui croient en son nom, lesquels ont ete en- gendres non du sang, ni de la volonte de la chair, ni de la volonte de l'homme, mais de Dieu. 14 Et la Parole a ete faite chair, et elle a dresse sa tente parmi nous, pleine de gr&ce et de verite, et nous avons contemple sa gloire, gloire comme du fils unique de la part du Pere. 1667. The celebrated version of the New Testament from the Vulgate, by De Sacy and other Port-Royalists, was printed by the Elzevirs, at Amsterdam, for Migeot, a bookseller of Mons; whence it is often called the Mons Testament. It appeared under the approbation of Cardinal Noailles, and it is still held in high repute, and has passed through many editions. De Sacy was confessor to the Society of Port Royal; he was involved in the persecution raised against that Society by the Jesuits, and was thrown into the Bastille 18 258 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. in 1666. It was here, during his confinement for two years and a half, that he under- took his translation of the Bible. He finished the entire version of both Testaments on the Eve of All Saints, 1668, the day of his liberation from imprisonment. His version has often been condemned by the Jesuits as too favourable to Protestantism, but in France it is generally regarded as " the most perfect version in French, or in any other tongue." De Sacy's character as a translator has been thus drawn: — "In a critical knowledge of the sacred text, he may have had many superiors; but none in that exquisite sensibility to the grandeur, the pathos, the superhuman wisdom, and the awful purity of the divine original, without which none can truly apprehend, or accurately render into another idiom, the sense of the inspired writers." 1668. Godeau, bishop of Vence, published at Paris another version of the New Testament from the Vulgate: it is neither a literal translation nor a paraphrase, but partakes of the nature of both. 1671-1680. Quesnel executed a translation of the New Testament from the Vulgate, taking as a basis that of De Sacy, and appending Moral Reflections, which have been translated and published in English. 1686. A New Testament, wilfully falsified to agree with Eoman Catholic dogmas, was published at Bordeaux, by the Jesuits, and was intended for those Protestants who, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, had been compelled, by torture and other means, to embrace the Roman Catholic religion. Nearly the whole of this edition is supposed to have been destroyed, yet no fewer than nine copies are known to be still in existence in England and Ireland. 1696-1707. Martin revised the Geneva Bible, and rendered it more conformable in point of style to the modern idiom. Martin was a native of Languedoc, and exercised the duties of pastor in that part of France, till he was exiled by the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He then settled in Utrecht, as the pastor of the Walloon church in that city; he died in 1721. A revision of Martin's Bible was executed by Pierre Roques, pastor of the French church at Basle: it was published in 1772: other editions have been given elsewhere, and in 1820 this version was again carefully revised at Paris, and afterwards stereotyped at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 1697-1703. The Jesuits Bouhours, Tellier, and Bernier, published another version of the New Testament from the Vulgate; but this version, together with that of Hure (also from the Vulgate, and printed in 1702), has long sunk into oblivion. 1702. Father Simon, the celebrated author of some critical histories of the text and versions of Scripture, made a translation of the New Testament from the Vulgate : it was translated into English by Mr. Webster, in 1730. 1709. The Bible, translated chiefly from the Vulgate, but with corrections from the original Hebrew, and from some of the more ancient versions, was published by Le Gros, at Cologne. It was reprinted at Brussels in 1759, and at Paris in 1819. 1718. A Protestant version of the New Testament, remarkable for its closeness and accuracy, was executed from the original text by Beausobre and L'Enfant, and published at Amsterdam. An English translation of the preliminary dissertation and of the gospel of Matthew, belonging to this version, was printed at Cambridge in 1779. 1724. Ostervald, a pastor of the Lutheran church at Neufchatel, published an edition of the Geneva Bible, with notes: in 1744 he published another edition, with many corrections and emendations. His corrections, it has been observed, "have so far modernised the style, as to render this version far more elegant and idiomatic than that of Martin ; but it is rather paraphrastical, and not so rigidly conformed to the originals." 1741. A translation of the entire Bible, by Le Cene, was published by his son, a bookseller of Class III.] FRENCH. 259 Amsterdam ; but, on account of its Socinian tendency, it never rose into much repute. The same may be said of Le Clerc's version of the New Testament, which was also published at Amsterdam. 1820-1824. Genoude published a translation of the Bible, executed mainly from the Vulgate, and written in pure and elegant language. This is a Roman Catholic version, and is in every respect conformed to the dogmas of that church. 1822. The Bible Society for the Canton-de-Vaud, after an uninterrupted labour of four years, published a revised edition of 10,000 copies of the entire French Scriptures. The revision was conducted by four clergymen, who availed themselves of the researches of oriental scholars, and of various critical aids that did not exist when Martin (and, after him, Ostervald) revised the old version of Olivetan. Many errors, however, crept into this version, which were pointed out by Mr. Haldane, and in consequence of these inaccuracies, and of notes appended to it, it was repudiated by the parent Society. 1839. The Lausanne revision of the Scriptures was published by an association of Swiss ministers of the gospel at Lausanne. The object of this revision was partly to accom- modate the obsolete style of older editions to the modern idiom; but many of the emendations partake of the character of a paraphrase. A revision of former versions, so carefully corrected as to be essentially a new version, was published, (the New Testament in 1842 and the Old Testament in 1850), at Paris, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Society was induced to undertake this revision chiefly in con- sequence of a statement laid before them in 1835, by which it was shown that no less than four different versions of the Holy Scriptures were used indiscriminately in the Channel Islands; and that at least ten distinct versions were in use among French Protestants, occasioning much confusion, not to say evil, in their churches, schools, and families. Martin's revision was selected by the Society as the basis of the new edition, because it approaches the nearest-to the English version. Many other corrected editions and re-publications of the French Bible, several of which were executed, more or less, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, might be here enumerated, did our limits permit. The above list, however, may suffice to indicate the revisions in which the emendations are of sufficient importance to claim for them in any degree the character of new versions. The only texts circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society are those of Martin, Ostervald, and De Sacy; the latter for the use of Roman Catholics. Ostervald's version is in general use among the French Protestants of Switzerland, while the Protestants in the south of France, and those of Holland and Belgium, prefer Martin's revision. The following specimens, illustrating some of the various provincial dialects of France, will be found interesting : — IfOEMAIDIAN DIALEC T— 1 SAMUEL, Chap, i, v. 1 to 6, FBOM A BOOK ENTITLED, " LES QUATEE LIVEES DES EOIS." Uns bers fu ja, en l'antif pople Deu, e out num Helcana ; fiz fud Jeroboam, le fiz He'liud, le fiz Thair, le fiz Suf ; e fud de Effrata. 2 Muillers out dous, la plus noble fud clamee Anna, e l'altre Phenenna. Phenenna out enfanz plusurs, mais Anna n'en out nul. 3 En eel cuntemple, fud une cite Sylo, de part Effraim, que Deu out a sun oes saisie e sacree. Icest lieu seintefied fud li bers Helchana acustumiers a visiter, pur Deu depreier, oblatiuns faire, e sacrifier as jurs asis e par la lei establiz. A cest lieu servir furent dui pruveire atitele, Ofni Phinees. Fiz furent Hely, ki dune ert evesche et maistre principals. 4 E a un jur avint que Helchana fist sacrefise, e, sulune lu lei, a sei retint partie, partie dunad a sa cumpaignie. 5 E a Anne sa muiller, que il tendrement amad, une partie dunad, ki forment ert deshaitee, kar Deu ne li volt encore duner le fruit desired de sun ventre. 260 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. BURGUNDIAN DIALEC T -RUTH, Chap. i. v. 1 to 5. Dan le tam vou c'etoo de Juge qui gouvanein le peuple jui et ansin qu'ein de lo etoo an plaice, ai vin dan lai Judee £ne si tarbe fameigne que c'etoo pei qu'antan, et qu'ein liaibitan de Betleam s'an-ali d'airo sai fanne et se deu fi male, che le Moaibite por y passai ein peclio de tam. 2 Stu-lai s'aipeloo Elimelai, et sai fanne Noemi. Se fi aivein nom Maalon et Chelion ; Nel etein de Betleam qu'at an Juda. Etan don venun dans le pai de Moaibite el y restire. 3 Elimelai, mairi de Noemi, vin depeii ai meuri. Noemi resti d'aivo se deu gar9on. 4 Ai priure po lo fanne de fille du pai, don Tene aivoo nom Ruth, et l'autre Orpha. Aipre aivoi vicu diz an aivo lei, ° Maalon et Chelion meurire to deu ; et Noemi se trovi tote seul, porce qu'elle aivoo antarri son homme et se deuz anfan. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THE FRENCH VERSION. Copies of the French Scriptures, almost too numerous to be within the limits of calculation, have been issued, within the last half-century, by the French and Foreign Bible Society, by the Swiss Societies, and by other Continental Bible Societies, which have originated from the example, and have been assisted by the grants, of the British and Foreign Bible Society. From the Paris dep6t of the British and Foreign Bible Society, there had been issued, up to the year 1860, a total of 3,695,062 copies of the Scriptures; and nineteen-twentieths of the number had been distributed among the Roman Catholic portion of the population. The result of these extensive distributions, as collected from the details of colporteurs, is a vast accumulation of facts, which could scarcely be comprised within the compass of a single volume; and for which, therefore, we must refer our readers to the pages of the Reports of the British and Foreign, and other Bible Societies. A late report of M. de PreBsense, the agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society in France, is couched in the following terms:— "The Lord only knows what amount of good has been produced by so large a circulation of his holy Word. What we ourselves have witnessed appears to me to be sufficient to convince us that it must be immense. Have not our colporteurs frequently discovered, in localities the very names of which were scarcely known, and even in solitary houses, scattered on heaths and moors, or buried in the midst of forests, individuals who proved themselves to be awakened and converted — ■ true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ — rendered such by the power of the Holy Ghost, infusing life and vigour into his written word? Have we not before us a sufficient array of facts to assure us that much of the divine seed has not fallen by the wayside, or among thorns and briars? And may we not, without exaggeration, declare, to the praise and glory of God, that the work of distributing the Scriptures in France has been carried on with the most visible and the most encouraging success?" More recently, among other gratifying testimony to the progress of the good work from the same quarter, we meet with the following: — " One of our colporteurs writes to me respecting difficulties he has to encounter in a certain canton, difficulties of rather an uncommon character. The fact is, the people will scarcely allow of his going from house to house from the fear of being altogether deprived of his visits; indeed they seem almost inclined to keep him as a kind of prisoner. There are in the parishes comprising the district in question, at least a thousand persons, who, in consequence of the visits of the colporteurs, will have nothing further to do with popery. The greater number of these persons belong to the class of agriculturists, who are in easy circumstances, and they have made up their minds to incur sacrifices for the purpose of erecting a Protestant chapel. They already occupy a hired room, situated in the most central position. A pastor residing in the neighbourhood occasionally visits them, and the meetings which he holds are attended by from 200 to 300 persons, who appear to be increasingly growing in their attachment to the Bible." Class III.] SPANISH. 261 SPANISH. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Reyna's Version, 1 En el principio era la Palabra : y la Palabra era acerca de Dios : y aquella Palabra era Dios. 2 Esta era en el principio acerca de Dios. 3 Todas las cosas por esta fueron hechas : y sin ella nada, de lo que es hecbo, fue hecho. 4 En ella es- tava la vida, y la vida era la luz de los hombres. 5 Y la luz en las tinie- blas resplandece : mas las tinieblas no la comprehendieron. 6 Fue un hombre embiado de Dios : el qual se llamava Juan. 7 Este vino para dar testimonio, para testificar de la luz : paraque todos creyessen por el. 8 El no era la luz, sino fue em- biado paraque diesse testimonio de la luz. 9 Era la verdadera luz, que alumbra a todo hombre, que viene al mundo. 10 En el mundo estava, y el mundo fue hecho por el, y el mundo no lo conocio. u A lo que era suyo, vino. Y los suyos no lo recibieron. 12 Mas a todos los que lo recibieron, dioles potestad de ser hechos hijos de Dios, a, los que creen en su nom- bre. 13 Los quales no son engen- drados de sangres, ni de voluntad de carne, ni de voluntad de varon, mas de Dios. u Y aquella palabra fue hecha carne, y habito entre no- sotros : y vimos su gloria, gloria como de unigenito del padre, lleno de gracia y de verdad. Scro's Version. 1 En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo era con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios. 2 Este era en el principio con Dios. 3 Todas las cosas fueron he- chas por el : y nada de lo que fue hecho, se hizo sin el. 4 En el es- taba la vida, y la vida era la luz de los hombres. 5 Y la luz en las ti- nieblas resplandece ; mas las tinie- blas no la comprehendieron. 6 Fue un hombre enviado de Dios, que tenia por nombre Juan. 7 Este vino en testimonio, para dar testimonio de la luz, para que creyesen todos por el. 8 No era el la luz, sino para que diese testimonio de la luz. 9 Era la luz verdadera, que alumbra a. todo hombre, qui viene a este mundo. I0 En el mundo estaba, y el mundo por el fue hecho, y no le conocio el mundo. u A lo suyo vino, y los suyos no le recibie- ron. 12 Mas a quantos le recibie- ron, les dio poder de ser hechos hijos de Dios, a aquellos que creen en su nombre : 13 Los quales son nacidos no de sangres, ni de voluntad de carne, ni de volun- tad de varon, mas de Dios. u Y el Verbo fue hecho carne, y habito entre nosotros : y vimos la glo- ria de el, gloria como de Unige- nito del Padre, lleno de gracia y de verdad. Amat's Version. 1 En el principio era el Verbo, y el Verbo estaba con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios. 2 El estaba en el princi- pio con Dios. 3 Por el fueron he- chas todas las cosas : y sin el no se ha hecho cosa alguna de cuantas ban sido hechas. 4 En el estaba la vida, y la vida era la luz de los hom- bres : 5 Y esta luz resplandece en las tinieblas, y las tinieblas no la han recibido. 6 Hubo un hombre enviado de Dios, que se llamaba Juan. 7 Este vino como testigo, para dar testimonio de la luz, a fin de que por medio de el todos crey- esen : 8 No era el la luz, sino en- viado para dar testimonio de la luz. 9 Era la luz verdadera, que alumbra a todo hombre que viene a este mundo. 10 En el mundo estaba, y el mundo fue por el hecho, y el mundo no le conocio. n Vino a su propia casa, y los suyos ho le recibieron. 12 Pero a todos los que le recibieron, que son los que creen en su nombre, dioles poder de llegar a ser hijos de Dios : 13 Los cuales no nacen de la sangre, ni de la voluntad de la carne, ni de la voluntad de hombre, sino que nacen de Dios. 14 Y el Verbo se hizo carne, y habito en medio de noso- tros : y nosotros hemos visto su glo- ria, gloria como del unigenito del Padre, lleno de gracia y de verdad. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Except in the Basque Provinces, the Spanish language is spoken with remarkably few dialectical variations throughout Spain. In the provinces of Catalonia and Valencia, however, as we shall after- wards have occasion to mention, a peculiar dialect of this language is in common use. According to the census taken in 1857, the population of Spain amounted in that year to 15,850,000. The Spanish language is also spoken in the Philippine Islands, and in other Eastern possessions of the Spanish crown; but it is most widely diffused in America, where it is still spoken by the descendants of those colonists in Mexico and other states which have shaken off the yoke of Spain. The portion of America through which this language is diffused comprises a total area of not much less than 4,000,000 square miles, with a population that is perhaps little short of 20,000,000. But of this vast territory, the only portions now belonging to Spain are the islands of Cuba and Porto Bico, which together comprise an area of 45,97.0 square miles, and about 1,500,000 inhabitants, half of whom are negroes. The national religion of all countries in which the Spanish language is predominant, is Boman Catholicism. 262 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Spanish language has, in a great measure, been formed by the commingling of Shemitic and Indo-European elements. The Cantabrian, apparently the most ancient language of the Peninsula, was nearly swept away when the Eoman legions took possession of the country; and, during several centuries, Latin was almost exclusively spoken. The power of the Komans in Spain was eventually superseded by that of the Goths, but the Latin language maintained its ground, until it became so changed and corrupted by the influence of the Gothic tongue, that it insensibly merged into a new dialect. During the long supremacy of the Moors in Spain, and the consequent predominance of the Arabic language, this new compound was subjected to further modification by the introduction of Arabic terms. Yet, notwithstanding this slight amalgamation with the Arabic, Spanish has preserved a closer resemblance to the Latin than any of the other Neo-Latin languages. A learned philologist, we are told, had once the curiosity to compute the relative number of Spanish and Latin roots, and, according to his calculation, there are scarcely four hundred roots in Latin which may not be clearly traced in Spanish, while the number of Latin roots which have not passed into French amounts at least to seven hundred. Latin words are, however, subjected by the Spanish idiom to the following orthographical changes. The vowel o is generally changed into ue, as in dona (Ital. dotina), Sp. duena ; cor, Sp. cuer; porta, Sp. puerta : when double consonants occur in Latin words, one is frequently dropped in Spanish ; and i is generally placed before e in the interior of words, as in mandimento, Sp. mandimiento, etc. Spanish is perhaps the only modern Latin dialect in which the sonorousness, the dignity, and the pompous formality of that ancient tongue are fully retained, and it is one of the most beautiful of European languages. Charles V. used to say of the five languages he could speak, that Spanish was intended for intercourse with God; French with men; Italian with ladies; English with birds; and German with horses. Unlike the Latin, however, it is characterised by remarkably strong aspirates, the result, doubtless, of the predominance of the Teutonic and Arabic languages during the process of its formation. IH. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Spain was furnished at a very early period with versions of the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue; but little is known concerning these translations except that some of them are attributed to the Albigenses, who had found their way into Spain. Several Spanish MSS. are extant, but in many instances no date is affixed to them, and they seem to possess comparatively little interest. As early as 1478, a version of the Scriptures was published in the Valencian or Catalonian dialect, of which we shall hereafter have occasion to speak. Another class of Spanish translations, executed by and for Jews, and written in the peculiar Spanish dialect used by that people, must be reserved for a separate notice. The first version printed in the pure Castilian idiom was a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, published at Antwerp in 1543. Enzina, the translator of this work, was by birth a Spaniard, but he had spent part of his life in Germany, in company with Melanchthon, and had embraced the principles of the Reformation. He dedicated his version to Charles V.; and, on its completion, presented it to that monarch. He was, in consequence, thrown into prison at Brussels, whence, however, he effected his escape in 1545, and what afterwards befell him is totally unknown. His translation adheres with tolerable fidelity to the Greek text, and it is evident that in many instances lie consulted and followed Erasmus. An edition of the New Testament with notes, published by Perez at Venice, in 1556, is said by Le Long to be merely a revision of Enzina's version. Perez also published in 1557, at Venice, a Spanish version of the Psalms from the Hebrew, which he dedicated to Mary of Austria, queen of Hungary and Bohemia. The first Spanish version of the entire Bible was executed by Cassiodore de Reyna, a Spaniard, who, after devoting twelve years to the preparation of the work, published an edition at Basle in 1569, with the assistance of several ministers of that city. De Reyna is believed to have been a Protestant, Class III.] SPANISH. 263 although several expressions in his preface, introduced doubtless with a view to conciliate the Catholics, might lead us to a contrary supposition. He translated chiefly from the Latin version of Pagninus, which he avowedly preferred to all other versions. He also referred continually to the original texts, and derived some aid from the Judeo- Spanish version printed at Ferrara. A separate edition of the New Testament, with a few slight alterations, was published in 1596, by Cyprian de Valera; and, in 1602, a thorough revision of De Reyna's entire version was printed at Amsterdam. This revision was effected by means of a diligent comparison of the Spanish version with the original texts, and with other translations, particularly with the French version of Geneva. De Valera was fifty years of age when he commenced this revision, and he completed it in his seventieth year: he was zealously attached to the principles of the Eeformation, and his corrections of De Reyna's text, though not very considerable, add greatly to the accuracy and value of the translation. He resided many years in England, and graduated at both the universities. His New Testament was reprinted in the Nuremberg Polyglot in 1599, and another edition appeared at Amsterdam, in 1625. In the meantime the original edition of De Reyna's version without the corrections of De Valera was re-issued at Frankfort, with a new titlepage, bearing the date 1622. Another new and revised edition of De Reyna's New Testament was given by Don Sebastian de la Enzina, at Amsterdam, in 1708. No edition either of the Old or New Testament seems to have been printed from 1708 till 1793, •when Philipe Scio de San Miguel (generally known as Padre Scio) undertook a version of the entire Scriptures from the Vulgate. The first edition appeared at Valencia, and was adorned with 300 engravings, copied from those executed for the Paris edition of De Sacy, which had been published about four years previously. Scio published a second edition of his version, in nineteen volumes, at Madrid, in 1795-1797; and a third edition, in sixteen volumes, in 1806-1808. These editions were accompanied with the Latin text and a commentary; but an edition of 1500 copies was printed in 1795 at Madrid, without the Vulgate. The total number of copies comprised in these four editions amounted only to 6500, and they were printed in a form so large and expensive as to be inaccessible to any but the wealthy, and few even of the priests were able to purchase them. Another version of the Scriptures from the Vulgate, prepared by Don Felix Torres Amat, bishop of Barcelona, was published with notes at Madrid, 1823-1824, in 2 vols. 4to. This version is more paraphrastic and less faithful than that of Scio, and is not held in much estimation. A corrected edition, prepared with the assistance, and printed under the care, of Sefior Calderon, was published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in 1853. A new version of the entire Scriptures, prepared by about eight of the priests of Mexico, was printed in that country by Ribera, an enterprising publisher, in 1831-1833. This was the first Bible ever printed in Spanish America. The expenses of publication were defrayed by subscription: the work extends to twenty-five volumes in Spanish 4to., and a folio volume of maps and plates: in addition to the Spanish, it comprises the Latin text, with prefaces to all the books, analyses, expo- sitions, and dissertations. The translation was made from the French version of Vence, and from the Vulgate; but the sacred originals were also consulted, and the passages in which they differ from the Vulgate are carefully noted. The present diffusion of the Bible in Spain and Spanish America is entirely owing to the efforts of the British and Foreign and other Bible Societies. The first editions of the British and Foreign Bible Society were printed from Enzina's edition of 1708, and were primarily designed for the benefit of the Spanish prisoners of war; but the copies found so rapid a circulation in Spain and in Spanish South America, that other and larger editions of 5000 copies each were issued from time to time, according to the opportunities for distributing them. From the reluctance of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in the early period of its history, to print any Catholic version of the Scriptures, it was long before any other version was issued except that of Enzina. In fact, the Society has always printed the modern translations from the Vulgate rather from necessity than choice, and solely for the sake of the Roman 264 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Catholic nations of Europe and America, who in some instances have refused to receive other versions. At length, in 1820, in consequence of the representations and example of the American Bible Society, an edition of 5000 copies of Father Scio's New Testament was printed in London, followed, in 1821, by an edition of the entire Bible of this version. An edition of the New Testament from Valera's version was completed by the Society in 1858, and the Old Testament from the same version is now in progress. The total number of copies published by the Society in Spain and elsewhere, up to the begin- ning of 1860, is as follows: — Bibles 74,417 Testaments 254,736 Spanish and Latin Psalms ....... 1,000 Portions of Old and New Testaments .... 59,840 Little can be said as to the result of the distribution of the Spanish version. Spain herself, as well as her colonies, is so hermetically sealed, that we are unable to follow up any inquiries as to the effects of the circulation of the Scriptures. We must hope that so much seed, though long buried, will one day fructify; and that many in the midst of surrounding darkness have been guided, under the Spirit's teaching, to Him who is the light of life. The printing of Amat's version in Spain, and that in Mexico, seem to prove that the distributions of Bible Societies have awakened a desire to possess the Scriptures, so that they cannot be altogether withheld from the people. Further evidence of this is afforded by the fact, referred to in the Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society for 1851, that a stereotype edition of the Scriptures, accompanied by numerous notes and comments, as well as by the Apocrypha, had been brought out in Barcelona a few years previously, in ten volumes. A prospectus, it is also stated, was issued for printing another edition at Madrid, in two thick volumes, under the superintendence of the Archbishop of Toledo. The subjoined extract from a recent Report (1856) of the Foreign Translation Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is highly interesting. After noticing the unwonted fre- quency of recent demands for grants of Spanish Bibles, for distribution in various quarters, they proceed to observe: " The fact is, that a somewhat larger amount of religious liberty having been of late, by law, conceded to the people, Spain seems now to be awakening, so to speak, from the sleep of ages, and is seeking the light which, it is conscious, can be obtained in all its purity only from the inspired word of God. Hence has arisen an increasing demand for copies of the Holy Scriptures in the Spanish language, with a preference for translations representing, like the Society's version, the sense of the Hebrew and Greek originals, and not according with the Latin Vulgate, like those of Scio, and Torres Amat." Attention has been drawn to the works of their ancient Reformers, and, in particular, a desire has been excited among the reading population of Spain to possess the justly celebrated translation of the Bible of Cyprian de Valera, referred to above. With such rigour and perseverance was this edition of the Bible searched for and destroyed by the Inquisition, that copies of it are now rarely met with. "An attempt (continues the Report) was made to reprint it last year in Madrid, but it failed; and certain portions of it have recently been published, with modernised orthography, both in London and in Scotland." But so important did it appear to the Committee to supply the demand which has arisen for this venerable version of the Spanish Scriptures, that they determined at once to undertake the task of revision and re-issue from the press. This work has during some years been steadily advanc- ing. The revised version is now in course of printing at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, under the care- ful superintendence of the Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Lucena, Professor of Spanish in the Taylor Institution, who has throughout modernised the spelling, and, where absolutely necessary, substituted other phrase- ology for those terms and modes of expression which would be unintelligible to ordinary Spanish readers of the present day. In the early part of the present year (1860) it had advanced as far as Isaiah. It is the more gratifying to notice the above, from contrast with the almost hopeless bigotry which Class III.] CATALAN. 265 yet prevails so largely within Spain itself. In 1857, an edition of the entire Bible, and one of the New Testament, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in the course of the pre- ceding year, at Madrid, were completed and ready for circulation, when the authorities absolutely inter- dicted their dissemination amongst the people, and even the confiscation of the whole was threatened. Such are the arguments of the Church of Bome ! The Beport of the American Bible Society for 1856 makes mention, among their issues of the preceding year, of a Spanish New Testament, recently translated in London, by a learned Spaniard, from the original Greek. The language of this version is described as pure and elegant. CATALAN, OE CATALONIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v, 1 to 14. En lo principi era lo Verb, y lo Verb era ab Deu, y lo Verb era Deu. 2 E11 era en lo principi ab Deu. 3 Per ell foren fetas totas las cosas, y sens ell ninguna cosa fou feta de 10 que ha estat fet. 4 En ell era la vida, y la vida era la Hum dels homes. 5 Y la Hum resplandeix en las tenebras, y las tenebras no la comprengueren. 6 Hi hague un home enviat de Deu ques anomenava Joan. 7 Est vingue a servir de testimoni pera testificar de la Hum, a fi de que tots creguessen per medi d'ell. 8 No era ell la Hum, sino enviat pera donar testimoni de la Hum. 9 Aquell era la verdadera Hum, que illumina a tot home que ve a. est mon. 10 Ell era en lo mon, yl mon ha estat fet per ell, yl mon nol conegue. 11 Vingue a sa propia casa, yls seus nol reberen. 12 Mes a tots los quel reberen, que son los que creuhen en son nom, los dona poder de ferse fills de Deu. 13 Los quals no han nat de la sanch, ni de la voluntat de la earn, ni de la voluntat del home, sino de Deu. u Yl Verb fou fet earn, y habita entre nosaltres, y nosaltres vegerem sa gloria, gloria com del unigenit del Pare, pie de gracia y de veritat. The Catalan is a cognate dialect of the Spanish language, spoken in the province of Catalonia, by a population estimated at upwards of a million and a half. A softer and more harmonious modification of the same dialect prevails in Valencia, among a population of about 1,400,000. In the islands of Majorca, Minorca, and Iviga, a corrupt dialect of Catalan is vernacular. The early history of the Catalan dialect is precisely similar to that of the Castilian or modern Spanish; both dialects originated from the mixture of the Latin and Gothic languages, but the Catalan has received fewer Arabic words than the Castilian. The Catalan soon became a fixed language, and, as early probably as the twelfth century, a celebrated code of international maritime laws was drawn up in Catalan by the citizens of Barcelona: an abstract of this code is still familiarly known as " the laws of Oleron." Of all living languages, the Catalan is said to bear the nearest resemblance to the idiom of the Troubadours of Southern France. As in the langue d'oc, the consonant d is often suppressed in Catalan, when occurring in the middle of words: thus the Latin mandamen is converted into manamen, the Latin recomandar into recomanar; and other peculiarities coexist in the two dialects, proving that the closest connection must, at one period, have subsisted between them. Ancient Catalan 266 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. was, in fact, but a provincial variety of the Langue d'oc, which was diffused through the three powerful states of Toulouse, Guienne, and Barcelona. Two or three Catalan versions of the Bible (one of which bears the date 1407) are preserved at •Paris. One of these MSS. is deposited in the Boyal Library, and contains a translation from the Latin of the entire Scriptures, with the prefaces of Jerome; it is beautifully written on fine parchment, and bound in three volumes. In 1478, a version of the Scriptures in the Valencian dialect was printed at Valencia, but no portion of this edition is extant except the last four pages of one of the copies. From the subscription appended to these pages, we learn that the translation was made from the Latin by Boniface Ferrer, assisted by other learned men in the monastery of Porta Cceli ; and that, after having been revised by Borrell, a Dominican and inquisitor, it was printed at the expense of Yizlant, a merchant. The date of the translation is unknown, but it was probably executed at the very com- mencement of the fifteenth century, as Ferrer died in 1419. The four pages which have reached our times are preserved in the monastery of Porta Cceli; they were transcribed and printed by Father Civera, in his work entitled " Varones illustres del Monasterio de Porta Cceli." No further attempts seem to have been made to furnish the Catalans with a version of the Scriptures in their own dialect till the institution of the British and Foreign Bible Society. About the year 1809, two Catalan translations of St. Matthew's Gospel were laid before the committee of that Society, and some inquiries were made as to their respective merits. Ultimately, however, a version of the entire New Testament was prepared at the expense of the Society by Mr. Prat, a native of Catalonia, under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. Cheap of Knaresborough. An edition of 1000 copies was printed in London in 1832, under the care of the late Mr. Greenfield, editorial superin- tendent of the Society. A second edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament was published in London in 1835, and a third edition of 3000 copies was brought out at Barcelona in 1837, under the care of Lieut. Graydon, R.N., the Society's agent in that city. The total number of copies of the New Testament in the Catalan language, printed by the Society, amounted, at the close of 1859, to 9030. These editions were gladly received by the Catalans, and obtained a speedy circulation. The translation, which was made from the Vulgate conferred with the original text, is accounted accurate and faithful ; and the style in which it is written is idiomatic, clear, and elegant. The Psalms and the Pentateuch have since been translated by Mr. Prat, but. have not yet been committed to the press. Class III.] JUDEO-SPANISH. 267 J U D E O-S P A N I S H. SPECIMEIST, FROM EXODUS, Chap. xx. v. 1 to 7. •yn IIP pf>!5P'f> '7 1UP"f> 1 P7'15 pf»J pfnSfifo pfii pfaio pf> V7 i'fi iidf> >b '7 'pf>P '15 'p V'7 ID 'p v 2 : »ofi pfi'p ]« 3 : put-p n prfip lil7'f> '13 f> pfaf" ]U 4 : 'P *7 HO;f>i'7 Pni5lf> p'tV'7 'f> cSnfi >7 pii"p pii |'f» 'p ppjf'rp'p pjtwj 'j »7 pf>15.f> pfii ]'fi »p 'f» lSfof" '7 PT15 Pi j'f> 'p »f> Pl"i*f> Pf> P'37pj'f> '15 ]W 5 : PT15 pif 1 lErfof> ]f>151p'P MlJ'P V'7 V'7 115 'P V 'p pfOTP Pli |15 '"»1P 'f> PV7PT15 H31P Plf'6 »")31P P*77fip '7 115*i7 ob 7'Ptp ]"ifi 'f> 6 : p'wp'-jofi p'P 6 pwrnfiip : pf>P5f>75Wprfi P'P P'Wrrrftt pf> »f> PU'pf" p'flfiP'i'P |0 'p 7f>7'5f'3 pif 1 1"7 115 'P '7 03P15 rf P"?lf |W 7 : 7fi7'5f>3 Pif» H3P15 IP pf> P*)1p 'p i'f> pf> 'p P")3'J i ■• v*™ t ;• t : - t j>- • »: J- -:- d^vP pga TP^H TS?$ TP^ hit *5^S 2 J *3firS» D*TIK DViSk M? rWTS&» J D*ttS 1V3B •ir t - i it : • J- : i : v- . i : A- t - : i- j- t : | v- : t i- ;at - I iv v: jt : ••■ This language is spoken by the Jews of Turkey, who are the descendants of the Jews formerly settled in the Spanish Peninsula. Their forefathers emigrated to Spain and Portugal at a very early period of history : traditions, both Jewish and Christian, represent them as having arrived there soon after the destruction of the first Temple; and it is very probable that they were settled in the Peninsula before the time of the Eoman Emperors. This section of the Jewish people claims to be the house of David, and though the claim is not to be proved genealogically (for no genealogies have been kept by the Jews since their dispersion), yet it cannot be refuted by any existing data; and that the house of David will be found distinct from the other families at the time of the restitution of Israel appears to be the inference drawn, by many members of that nation, from Zech. xii. 10 — 14. But, be this as it may, it is certain that the Sephardim (Spaniards), as they are still called, consider themselves and are regarded by their brethren as the "aristocracy of the dispersed people of Israel." They are distinguished from other Jews, not by any difference of faith or of religious observances, but by a peculiar language, and by diversity of historical associations. They look back with a degree of pride on their glorious sojourn of many centuries in the Peninsula. They were not, even there, exempt from persecution; but their position, social and intellectual, was very different from that of their brethren in other lands. Under the Visigoths, the early masters of the Peninsula, they were permitted to rise to opulence; and the Saracens, who afterwards established themselves in that country, overlooked the difference of their religious creeds in the similarity induced by their common Oriental origin, and admitted the Jews to an equality with themselves. Thus protected and favoured, the Jews of Spain co-operated with the Arabs in maintaining the light of literature and science during the darkness of the middle ages ; and their names became famous in the schools of Cordova, Toledo, Barcelona, and Granada. At length, by a merciless mandate of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Jews were forcibly ejected from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497. There is great discrepancy in the estimates that have been transmitted, concerning the number of those thus violently expelled from the land of their adoption. Some authors represent the number of exiled Jews at 800,000, others at 300,000 ; while a contemporary Spanish statistical account states that the 268 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. number was 27,000. The confusion in these various estimates was, perhaps, occasioned by the return of many of the Jews after their expulsion. Some among them, by feigned conversion to Christianity, were permitted to remain; and it has been asserted, on credible authority, that even yet, in Spain, " posts of dignity in the Church, the priesthood, and the cloister, are held by men who in heart are Jews, and who meet in secret, at stated seasons, to mourn over and abjure their outward profession of the Roman faith, and to curse, with fearful imprecations, the memory of Ferdinand and Isabella." While many of the Jews thus remained in the Peninsula, the great majority, preferring their religion to the adopted land of their forefathers, emigrated to Turkey; and, according to recent estimates, it appears that about 800,000 of this people are at the present time dispersed through the cities and towns of that empire. The Spanish and Judeo-Spanish languages are fundamentally the same; but more than three centuries having elapsed since all communication was cut off between the Spaniards and the exiled Jews, some changes, neither few nor inconsiderable, have been introduced into the languages spoken by the two nations; so that they now differ greatly from each other in their respective vocabularies, in their systems of orthography, and in their phraseology. Judeo-Spanish is, in fact, the Spanish of the fifteenth century, moulded in accordance with the Hebrew idiom. It is in daily use among the Jews of Turkey, and is, in fact, so exclusively employed and understood by them, that in most of their books of devotion, the Hebrew and the corresponding version in Judeo-Spanish are printed in parallel columns. I. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The exiled Jews of Spain and Portugal established a press of great celebrity at Ferrara, whence several important works were issued. But the most famous production of this press is a Spanish version of the Old Testament, said to have been translated from the Hebrew expressly for the Jews, by Edward Pinel. A much earlier translation than this, however, was executed by some learned Jews; i/^ and Rabbi David Kimchi is said, though perhaps incorrectly, to have been the principal translator. The Bible of Ferrara was published under the superintendence of Abraham Usque and Yom Tov Athias. It was issued in 1553, in two different forms, which have been wrongly looked upon as different editions. The dedication in the earlier copies is to Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish lady of distinction, mother-in-law to Don Joseph Miquez : in the later ones to Hercules de Este, Duke of Ferrara. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. I'fi co'f> wp'f> 2 : vn vrf* wrs b>b >b . vn Jtf pp pto #7'3 i'f» -f> • )3T3 b'f> pto vp-pjto 5'f> yf> : b'fi yp ii'f> -p «'f» 'ftp -p ii n tffo >f» • bi pf>7W 3 : vn M> "p vpwop i'fr • pt3wW> Wrtpptf Pi i'f» "i ?i * 6 : p " ,3,,l( ' pli n ni ?i 01,f) ? ™ pi * * "' 3 ?i p3 fo> p * pri * 1* * to Bwu to tf'3 wf> 7 : prv raw n vn bn nwti ;w nfoptf 'ftp 6 : vvvnfi pi w itinyvb pi tf -tin p)fo w5 w *p : ni pi b>f> pto v 8 : vfv » to vtlm ]fnp 'p tnft? ni pi n iwwfOTP»o ifa 5>f» i»6 l0 : mw wf> pf> o»5 'p n3Pif> Urn pf> ptmM -p p-nfTrS ni pi ptp i'ft 9 : ni Pi *7 JWBfawD pviw Pii -n • ft'iw Ptfp I'f" W3 " : tow i^ V'poip ii u >b • U'f> 'ftp i'f» to tow itf -p : P3PWP tow ip ]»f" I'pnp *p wi p^ v-7 W pipp pu'p tp -7 T7ip V7 P'i : |n"3-pn ii *p Pii p^ pp 12 : \rr%vn ii u : V7 bn >3ifp 'p : ]vrf>3 »7 7ft»ii)5 '7 ': : >^f>p >7 7PWiii3 *7 o : nato *7 Pirpfo ]ip w 'p 13 : 13JW n7f>p i-7 wrifrn v>p n p-wp wip p-wp ip pfr pw5 »f> : pytoiio owp nw 'f> 'J'rtp u»f> -ftp ot'3 i'6 »f» " : 76773 'f> t"vfni n wi Abraham Usque is said to have printed in the same year (1553), at Ferrara, a separate edition of the Psalms, and, two years afterwards, an edition of the Pentateuch, Megilloth (Canticles, Ruth, Class III.] J UDEO-SP ANISH. 269 Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther), and Haphtoroth, or sections of the Prophets, read by appoint- ment in the synagogues. The Ferrara edition of the Old Testament was reprinted in Amsterdam in 1611, and again at Venice in 1617. In the course of the following year, this version was revised and corrected by Manasseh ben Israel, and printed in Koman letters, at the same place, in 1630. It was again revised by Rabbi Samuel de Cazeres, and, with a new preface, was printed.at Amsterdam in 1661. Besides the above, other editions of the Old Testament were published as above, among which, in 1639, was an edition with short explanatory notes, by Jacob Lambrosus; and the following editions of portions of this version are mentioned by Le Long: — Pentateuch and Haphtoroth, Amsterdam, 1645; Pentateuch, 1695; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Psalms (with the Hebrew), Sabionetta, 1671. Another edition of the Old Testament, for the benefit of the Spanish Jews, was printed at Vienna, between the years 1813 and 1816, in four volumes 4to.; it contained, in parallel columns, the Hebrew text and the Judeo-Spanish version in rabbinical characters. An edition in Koman characters was likewise published about the same time, at Amsterdam, corresponding in almost every particular with the Vienna edition, of which it is considered a mere transcription. The American Bible Society has within recent years issued two editions of the Old Testament in Judeo-Spanish, on behalf of the mission established among the Spanish Jews in Turkey. The first of these editions was printed with the Hebrew text in parallel columns, in 1843, at Vienna, under the care of the Eev. Mr. Schauffler : it consisted of 3000 copies. The second edition left the press in 1850; it was printed, like the former, under the super- vision of Mr. Schauffler. This version is remarkable for the extreme servility with which it follows the Hebrew idiom; and, as it has long been regarded by the Spanish Jews as the standard of their language, the peculiarity of its style has induced corresponding peculiarities in their customary mode of phraseology, and has perhaps been the main cause of the divergence of their language from that of Spain. A translation of the New Testament into Judeo-Spanish was undertaken by the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton; and, in 1823, the Kev. Mr. Leeves, their agent in Turkey, was intrusted with the preparation of the work. Mr. Leeves, with the assistance of some learned Jews to whom Judeo-Spanish was vernacular, drew the translation from the Greek text, consulting at the same time several different versions of the New Testament. After his translation had been subjected to three successive revisions, it was printed, in an edition of 3000 copies, at Corfu, in 1829, under the care of Mr. Lowndes. This version does not appear to have yet passed through a second edition, nor have we any recent information concerning its success. 270 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. c u n a g o a. SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. t. v. 1 to 12. An to ora koe Hezoes a mira tocr e heende nan, eel a soebi oen seroe ; deespuees eel a sienta i soe desipel nan a bini seka dje. 2 1 eel a koemisa di papia i di sienja nan di ees manera. 3 Bieenabeentoera ta e pober nan na spiritoe, pasoba reina di Dioos ta di nan. 4 Bieenabeentoera ta ees nan, koe ta jora, pasoba lo nan bira konsolaa. 5 Bieena- beentoera pasifiko nan, pasoba lo nan erf tera. 6 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe tien hamber i sedoe di hoestisji, pasoba lo nan no tien hamber i sedoe mas. 7 Bieenabeen- toera ees nan, koa tien mizerikoordia, pasoba lo heende tien mizerikoordia koe nan. 8 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta liempi di koerasoon, pasoba lo nan mira Dioos. 9 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta perkoera paas, pasoba lo nan ta jama joe di Dioos. 10 Bieenabeentoera ees nan, koe ta persigido pa motiboe di hoestisji, pasoba reina di Dioos ta di nan. n Bosonan lo ta bieenabeentoerado, koe ta koos nan zoendra i persigi bosonan, i koe ta koos pa mi kausa nan ganja toer soorto di maloe ariba bosonan. 12 Lcgra bosonan i salta di legria, pasoba bosonan rekompeensa ta grandi deen di Cie'loe ; pasoba nan a persigi di ees manera e profeet nan, koe tabata promee koe bosonan. Curacoa (or Cura9ao) is an island of tlie Caribbean Sea, belonging to the Dutch. It lies off the north coast of Venezuela, between lat. 12° 3' and 12° 24', and long. 68° 47' and 69° 16'. Its area is about 260 square miles, and its population upwards of 15,000, about half of whom are slaves, and the greater proportion of the remainder free negroes. The soil is unfertile, but the island was formerly of some importance, on account of its contraband trade with the Spanish colonies. The language of the coloured population is a kind of broken Spanish with a Dutch orthography. A translation of part of the New Testament into this language has been effected by the Eev. Mr. Conradi; and a small edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed, in 1846, at the expense of the Netherlands Bible Society. Class III.] PORTUGUESE. 271 PORTUGUESE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Almeida's Version. 1 No principio era a Palavra, e a Palavra estava junto de Deus, e a Palavra era Deus. 2 Esta estava no principio junto de Deus. 3 Por esta forao feitas todas as cousas ; e sem ella se nao fez cousa nenhua do que esta feito. 4 Nella estava a vida, e a vida era a luz dos homes. 5 E a luz nas trevas resplandece : Porem as trevas nao a comprehen- derao. 6 Houve hum homem en- viado de Deus, que tinha por nome Joao. 7 Este veio por testemunho, pera que desse testemunho da luz, pera que todas por elle cressem. 8 Nao era elle a luz mas [era en- viado^ paraque desse testemunho da luz. s Este era a luz verdadeira, que a todo homem, que neste mundo vem, alumia. 10 No mundo estava, e por elle foi feito o mundo, e o mundo o nao conheceo. "Ao seu proprio veio, e os seus o nao rece- berao. I2 Mas a todos quantos o receberao, lhes deu potestade da serem feitos filhos de Deus \_convem a sabe?-^\ a os que em seu nome crem. 13 Os quaes nao sao gerados de san- gue, nem da vontade da carne, nem da vontade de varao, senao de Deus. 14 E aquella Palavra encarnou, e habitou entre nosoutros : E vimos sua gloria, gloria como do unigenito do Pae, cheio de graga e de verdade. Pereira's Version. 1 No principio era o Verbo, e o Verbo estava em Deos, e o Verbo era Deos. 2 Elle estava no princi- pio em Deos. 3 Todas as cousas forao feitas por elle ; e nada do que foi feito, foi feito sem elle. 4 Nelle estava a vida, e a vida era a luz dos homens : 5 E a luz resplandece nas trevas, e as trevas nao a compre- henderao. 6 Houve hum homem enviado por Deos, que se chamava Joao. 7 Este veio por testemunha, para dar testemunho da luz, a fim de que todos cressem por meio delle. 8 Elle nao era a luz, mas era o que havia de dar testemunho da luz. 9 Este he que era a verdadeira luz, que allumia a todo o homem, que vem a este Mundo. I0 Estava no Mundo, e o Mundo foi feito por elle, e o Mundo nao o conheceo. " Veio para o que era seu, e os seus nao o receberao. 12 Mas a todos os que o receberao, deo elle poder de se fazerem filhos de Deos, aos que crem no seu Nome : I3 Que nao nascerao do sangue, nem da vontade de carne, nem da vontade do homem, mas que nascerao de Deos. 14 E o Verbo se fez carne, e habitou entre nos ; e nos vimos a sua gloria, gloria como de Filho Unigenito do Pai, cheio de graga e de verdade. Bots's Version. I No principio era o Verbo, e o Verbo estava com Deos, e o Verbo era Deos. 2 Este estava no prin- cipio com Deos. 3 Todas as cousas forao feitas por elle : e nem huma so cousa, que foi feita, foi feita sem elle. 4 Nelle estava a vida, e a vida era a luz dos homens ; 5 E a luz resplandece nas trevas, e as trevas nao a comprehenderao. 6 Houve hum homem enviado de Deos, cujo nome era Joao. 7 Este veio por tes- temunho, para que desse teste- munho da luz, para que todas cres- sem por meio della : 8 Elle nao era a luz : mas para que desse teste- munho da luz. 9 Era a luz verda- deira, a que allumia a todo o ho- mem, vendo a este mundo. 10 Es- tava no mundo, e o mundo por elle foi feito, e o mundo nao o conheceo; II Ao sen proprio veio, e os seus pro- prios nao o receberao ; 12 Quantos porem o receberao, a elles lhes deo poder de se fazerem filhos de Deos, visto que elles criao no seu Nome : 13 Os quaes nao nascerao de sangue, nem de vontade de carne, nem de vontade de homem, mas sim de Deos. 14 E o Verbo se fez carne e habitou entre nos (e vimos a sua gloria, gloria como do Unige- nito do Pai) cheio de graga e de verdade. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The population of Portugal, according to the last official returns (1857), amounts to 3,568,895, but trie Portuguese language is diffused far beyond the limits of this small kingdom. In the empire of Brazil, which, occupies a great part of South America, and which, as a single country, ranks next in point of extent to the vast empires of Eussia and China, Portuguese is the language of government, and is more or less employed by all classes. According to the computation of Balbi, the number of Portuguese, or Filhos de Reino, as they are called in Brazil, is upwards of 900,000, while the total amount of popu- lation in that empire, in 1856, amounted to 7,677,800. Roman Catholicism, in its most bigoted form, is the religion of the Portuguese, both in Europe and America. A peculiar dialect of the lan- guage, called Indo-Portuguese, prevails, as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention, in certain parts of India and of the East Indian islands. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Of all the languages derived from the Latin, the Galician, or old Portuguese, is the oldest which 272 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. exhibits a formed character. It originated under the same circumstances as the Spanish, and in fact both languages were at first but provincial varieties of the same tongue. Modern Portuguese is the immediate offspring of the Galician, and though it still preserves unequivocal indications of its original connection with the Spanish, it exhibits some distinctive characteristics of its own. It is less guttural, but more nasal, and harsher and more unpleasing in sound than the Spanish ; and it possesses a class of words which cannot be traced in the Spanish vocabulary, but which are supposed to have been drawn from the dialects spoken on the coast of Barbary. The Latin words, which have been incorporated in this language, have undergone the following transformations: — The letter x, when final, is generally changed into z, as paz, voz, luz, perdiz, from pax, vox, etc. ; pi, when initial, is changed into ch, as plaga, cliaga ; the letter r is often substituted for I in the middle of words, as craro for claro, obrigar for obligar; and sometimes the central consonant of Latin words is altogether omitted, as fiar for filar, aa for ala; cor, dor, for color, dolor. The Portuguese is further characterised by having an infinitive conjugated like other moods of verbs, as well as by possessing a distinct set of words to denote a thrust or cut with a sword or other weapon; an idea which, in most languages, cannot be expressed without circum- locution: thus, cutildda, a cut with a sword; estoedda, a stab with a sword or dagger; panedda, a blow with a stick or club; pedrdda, a blow with a stone. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. It was not till after the close of the seventeenth century, that any attempt was made to produce a Portuguese version of the Scriptures. About that period a translation was made, under the auspices of the Dutch government, for the benefit of the Portuguese and their descendants in Java, Ceylon, and other eastern colonies. The translator was John Ferreira d' Almeida, a native of Lisbon, who is supposed to have gone out to the East in the first instance as a Roman Catholic missionary, and to have been afterwards converted to Protestantism. He is thought to have commenced his version at Ceylon, but the place and time of his death are quite uncertain. He translated the whole of the New Testament, and carried the translation of the Old Testament as far as the end of the Prophecies of Ezekiel. The New Testament, after having been revised by Heynen and De Voeght, was printed at Amsterdam, in 1681, by order of the Dutch East India Company. A second, or revised, edition was printed at Batavia, in 1693, by order of the same body, and at their press. The Gospel of St. Matthew was again printed at Amsterdam, in 1711, and the entire New Testament in the course of the following year. The portion of the Old Testament translated by Almeida was revised after his death by Ziegenbalg, Grundler, Schultze, and other missionaries, at Tranquebar. The following list (given by Adler) shows the order in which the work was completed. 1719. The Pentateuch, as translated by Almeida, printed at Tranquebar. 1732. The Twelve Minor Prophets, translated by the Tranquebar missionaries, printed at the same place. 1738. The books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Esdras, Nehemiah, and Esther, printed at Tranquebar, as translated by Almeida, but revised and compared with the original text by the missionaries. 1744, The books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles, published from Almeida's text, revised and compared with the sacred original, by the missionaries at Tranquebar. 1751. The Four Major Prophets published; the first three of which were translated by Almeida, and the fourth (Daniel) by C. T. Walther, missionary at Tranquebar: the whole revised by the missionaries. These editions were all in quarto. A second edition of the entire Old Testament, in 2 vols. 16mo., seems to have been brought out at Batavia, in 1748. In this edition a version was given of the books left untranslated by Almeida, by Jacob op den Akker, one of the Dutch ministers at Batavia. Class III.] PORTUGUESE. 273 Between the years 1721 and 1757, two revised editions of the Pentateuch and of the Psalms, two revised editions of the New Testament, and one of the Four Gospels, were printed at Tranquebar and Batavia. Another edition of the Old Testament was printed at Batavia, 1783-1804; and no further editions appear to have been given of this version until it was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. A Catholic Portuguese version of the entire Scriptures, from the Vulgate, was published in 23 vols. 12mo., with annotations, at Lisbon, 1781-1783, by Don Antonio Pereira de Figueiredo, a Portuguese ecclesiastic. This translator possessed great learning, and his writings were so numerous as to fill a catalogue of seventy-six pages. He was brought up among the Jesuits, but afterwards became one of their strongest opponents. He engaged with much ardour in state affairs, and for a time laid aside his religious habit; but he resumed it a few hours before his death. Though adhering to the Church of Borne, he was a bold opposer of the claims of papal authority; and his translation, so far from being a servile imitation of the Vulgate, differs from it in several passages, and follows the Greek. An edition, containing his latest corrections, was commenced at Lisbon in 1794, but was not completed at press till 1819. In this edition the corrections are so numerous, that it may almost be regarded as a new version. A third translation of the Scriptures into Portuguese has been accomplished by the Bev. Thomas Boys, D.D. This version has been brought out at the expense of the Trinitarian Bible Society. Dr. Boys commenced his important labours by making a critical revision of Almeida's version. On account of the difficulty of meeting with adequate literary aid in England, he spent some time at Lisbon, where he obtained the assistance of two learned Portuguese scholars; and he appears to have completed the revision of the New Testament, and to have published small editions of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, and of the Psalms. In 1837, however, the Society came to the deter- mination of publishing a new Portuguese translation from the Greek and Hebrew texts, and Dr. Boys was appointed to carry this purpose into execution. He was directed to use Almeida's version as a basis, subject to a careful comparison with the Hebrew text; and to make such alterations in style, orthography, and language, as to render the work intelligible to the Portuguese of the present day. The New Testament, faithfully translated in accordance with these directions, was completed at press in 1843, and the Old Testament in 1847; the printing was carried on in London, as the same neatness and accuracy could not be insured at Lisbon. When the British and Foreign Bible Society undertook the publication of the Portuguese Scrip- tures-, for the benefit of the prisoners of war then in England, and for the Portuguese islands and colonies, the version selected, after long and anxious deliberation, was that of Almeida. The reason assigned for this preference was, that it was then the only Protestant version. The Society's editions did not, however, meet with the grateful reception that had been anticipated. Almeida's version has never been much esteemed in Portugal, partly, perhaps, because made by a converted Protestant, and completed by other Protestants at a distance from the parent state ; but chiefly because it is an anti- quated version, many of the words being obsolete, and the style not idiomatic. The complaints against this version, which were in consequence laid before the Society, led to the publication, in 1818, of an edition of 5000 New Testaments, printed from Pereira's version. An edition of 5000 entire Bibles, and 5000 additional New Testaments, followed in 1821, Mr. Cavalho correcting the press. Another edition of the New Testament, and some separate books, from Pereira's version, was printed in 1823. But when it was determined that the Apocryphal Books should no longer be printed, the version of Pereira was again subjected to examination. It was divested of all apocryphal matter; and many exceptionable renderings, and such notes as had escaped detection in the former editions, were corrected ; and another revised edition of the whole Bible was given, in 1828, under the care of Messrs. da Costa and Green. The following is the number of copies of the Scriptures, in whole and in part, printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society up to December, 1859 : — Bibles, 26,160; Testaments. 70,180; Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, 5,000; St. Luke and Acts, 1,000. 19 274 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. A Portuguese New Testament, in 18mo.; and also a Portuguese and English Testament, in parallel columns, 12mo., were printed by the American Bible Society in 1857; the version used being a translation made in London, from the Greek (it is not stated by whom), and conducted through the press under the supervision of the Eev. A. de Mattos, of Jacksonville, Illinois. These issues are intended to supply the wants of the numerous Portuguese immigrants in the United States, and also the increasing demands made from Brazil. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THIS VERSION. The tidings of progress from Portugal are by no means generally encouraging. Bigotry has been for centuries the chief characteristic of the people, and "apathy is too often the prevailing temper: other hindrances are removed; but, in the almost total absence of visible results, it is needful that man should learn lessons of dependence, and wait on Him who opens, and no man shuts." There are, however, some symptoms of recent improvement, manifest in an awakening spirit of religious thoughtfulness and inquiry observable in Portuguese society, and of which the following passage, from a Lisbon journal, is one of the most encouraging. " The only true morality is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ: let our children be instructed only by this book, and not by catechisms which have been clearly got up to serve the sinister ends of the priesthood. One of the greatest services which this association" (referring to an association lately formed in Lisbon for the purpose of resisting the progress of Jesuitism) " could render to the nation, is to propagate the Gospel in very cheap editions, so as to come within the reach of everybody's means." It is pleasing to contemplate the picture afforded by the remarkable manifestation of the divine blessing, which has accompanied the perusal of the Portuguese version in Madeira. In 1847, no less than two hundred of the Portuguese inhabitants of that island were awakened to the knowledge of the Lord. Persecution quickly followed; the Bibles and Testaments belonging to the British and Foreign Bible Society, deposited for distribution in the house of Dr. Kalley, were seized by the mob, and publicly destroyed in an auto-da-fe. The converts were compelled to flee in haste from their homes, to seek refuge in Trinidad. Their conduct during their voyage thither is thus graphically described by an eye witness: — " Many of them came on board with nothing but the clothes they had on, and these in tatters, from their wanderings in the Serras. Yet, during the days we sojourned among them in that ark of refuge, not a word of repining reached our ears, except from one or two unconverted members of large families, who had not yet learned to love the cause for which the rest rejoiced to suffer. The language of all the others was that of joy and thankfulness to Him who had called them ' out of darkness into His marvellous light ;' and who had now in His mercy delivered them from their enemies on every side, and gathered them together in one family, and into one refuge. The more that was seen of this persecuted flock, in circumstances the most trying, the higher did their Christian principle rise in the estimation of all. Those only who know the general character of the Portuguese can form a just estimate of the total change that must have passed on these converts. They had become ' new creatures,' indeed. In the distribution of clothes to the necessitous, it was most gratifying to witness the good feeling shown by all on the occasion, — to see not merely their willingness to share with one another the bounty of their Christian friends, but their eagerness to tell of the wants of others more destitute than themselves. And in no one instance was there an attempt to deceive, by any concealment of what they possessed. The mate and steward both repeatedly remarked, ' that they had never seen folk love one another as these folk did. 1 Among the two hundred and eleven passengers of the William, there was one Eomanist family, who had long persecuted the converts, and was now seeking a passage to Trinidad as emigrants. Their extreme poverty excited the lively com- passion of those around them. After the converts had each received from the hand of charity their small supply of clothing, some of them came aft to their benefactors on the poop, and begged to know if they might now consider it as their own property, and act accordingly. They were asked the reason of the question, when they said it was their wish to obey their Lord's command — ' Love your enemies, Ciass III.] INDO-PORTUGUESE. 275 bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.' They were cheerfully assured that they might, and it was pleasing to see them share their scanty store with their former enemies; thus affording a most beautiful specimen of the spirit by which they were animated. " Their conduct throughout was such that the Eomanists openly expressed their wonder and astonishment. They saw those who had little properties (and there were both land and householders in the William's band of Christians) parting with their houses and land, and all they possessed, for the smallest trifle, counting ' all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.' One Portuguese gentleman, talking on the subject, wound up by saying, that ' if he were called upon to choose a religion suddenly, and without further thought, he believed he should fix upon that of these people, because he saw them suffer without complaining.' "As was their conduct under persecution on shore, so was their conduct afloat. They had chosen Christ, and the only subject of their glorying was the Lord Jesus. They looked not back upon the world, with all its pleasures. From it, and from self, they had been weaned by the Spirit of that God, who had been their friend through evil report, and through good report ; who had been more than a brother to them, in sorrow and in joy, by day and by night, at all seasons, and in all circumstances. They knew that He, who had thus watched over them, would not desert them in the land to which they were now being driven, before the persecuting hand of man." IiVD O-P ORTUGUE8E. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Ne o corner tinha a Palavra, e a Palavra tinha junto de Deos, e a Palavra tinha Deos. 2 O mesmo tinha ne o comeco junto de Deos. 3 Todas cousas tinha feitas de elle ; e sem elle nao tinha feita ne hua, cousa que tinha feita. 4 Em elle tinha vida ; e a vida tinha o Lume de homens. 5 E o Lume te luze em escuridade ; e a escuridade nunca ja conhece aquel. 6 Tinha hum homem mandado de Deos, quern seu nome tinha Joa5. 7 O mesmo ja vi por hum testimunho, pera da testimunho de o Lume, que todos de elle pode ere. 8 Elle nao tinha o Lume, mas tinha mandado pera da testimunho de o Lume. 9 Aquel tinha o Lume verdadeiro, que te alumia per cada hum homem quern te vi ne o mundo. 10 Elle tinha ne o mundo, e de elle o mundo tinha formado, e o mundo per elle nunca ja conhece. n Elle ja vi per seu mesmo povo, e seus mesmos nunca ja recebe per elle. 12 Mas per todos quantos quern ja recebe per elle, per ellotros elle ja da poder pera fica os filhos de Deos, ate, per ellotros quern ja ere em seu nome : 13 Quern tinha nacido, nem de sangue, nem de a vontade de a came, nem de a vontade de homem, mas de Deos. 14 E a Palavra tinha feita came, e ja mora entre nos, (e nos ja olha sua gloria, a gloria como de o unigenito de o Pai,) enchido de graca e verdade. Indo-Porttjguese is more or less understood by all classes in the island of Ceylon, and along the whole coast of India; its extreme simplicity of construction and facility of acquirement having 276 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. caused it to be extensively used as a medium of traffic. But the people to whom it is vernacular, and who, in Ceylon alone, number more than 50,000, are the descendants of the Dutch and Portuguese, the former rulers of India. The principal characteristic of this language is the omission of the articles, the cases of nouns, inflections of verbs, and most of the expletives which abound in European-Portu- guese. The various relations of words in a sentence are expressed by the aid of auxiliary particles; and these particles are so numerous, that they subserve all the offices of inflections. The words of the language are drawn from Dutch, Portuguese, and Indian sources, and much of the phraseology is moulded in accordance with Sanscrit idioms. On the decline of the Dutch and Portuguese governments in India, the members of these nations were left without any means of religious instruction, except such as was afforded by the Roman Catholic missionaries; and, in consequence, Roman Catholicism became their prevailing form of religion. In 1817, Mr. Newstead, a Wesleyan missionary stationed at Negombo, in Ceylon, commenced a translation of the New Testament for the spiritual benefit of this people. Portions of this transla- tion were read by Mr. Newstead from the pulpit, and were likewise freely lent among sick persons, one of whom is said to have died with the Gospel of St. John beneath his pillow. The people evinced so much interest in the work, that a printed edition was early resolved on; and, in 1819, the version of the Gospel of St. Matthew was published in Ceylon, at the expense of the Colombo Auxiliary Bible Society: and the Psalms followed, in 1821, at the expense of the same Society. Soon afterwards Mr. Newstead completed his translation of the New Testament, and the work was subjected to a searching revision by a committee appointed for the purpose, consisting of three of the missionaries and six of the most intelligent of the Indo-Portuguese. The revision was brought to a close in 1824; and Mr. Newstead undertook a journey to England, to solicit the aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the publication of the work. The translation was strongly recommended to the adoption of the committee by the Hon. and Rev. T. J. Twisleton, archdeacon of Ceylon; and, as its value was attested by other competent judges, two editions were printed in London, at the expense of the Society, in 1826, under the personal superintendence of Mr. Newstead. The second edition of the New Testament, consisting of 5000 copies, appeared at Colombo in 1831; and, in the following year, a version of the books of Genesis, Exodus, and part of Leviticus, was published at the same place, at the expense of the same Society. The Pentateuch and Psalter were printed at Colombo, in 1833, in an edition of 5000 copies; the translation of the entire Old Testament is announced as in progress. Another edition of the Indo-Portuguese New Testament has been more recently contemplated, and was originally designed to be printed in London, under the supervision of Mr. Newstead, the translator, and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. But Mr. Newstead, after so many years' absence from Ceylon, did not feel sufficient confidence in his knowledge of the language to carry the New Testament through the press ; and it was accordingly determined to print only the Gospel of St. Matthew in London, for temporary purpose, while the issue of the entire work should be referred to the missionaries resident in Ceylon, with a view to its being printed at the Mission-press in that island. The Gospel of St. Matthew was finished in 1852, under Mr. Newstead's superintendence. Instructions were at the same time given for an edition of 2000 copies of the entire Testament to be printed at Colombo, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition was com- pleted in 1853, under the care of a committee of revision appointed for the purpose. Class III.] ITALIAN. 277 ITALIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14." Maleemi's Veesion. I Empee era el verbo : et el verbo era appresso dio : et dio era el verbo. 2 Questo era nel principio appresso dio: 3 tutte cose per esso fatte son: et senza esso fatta e niuna cosa laquale fatta e. 4 In lui era la vita: et la vita era luce de lhomini: 5 et la luce ne le tenebre luce: et le tenebre quella non compresero. 6 Fu vno bomo mandato da dio : el cui nome era ioanne. 7 Questo venne per testimonio percbe egli rendesse testimonianza del lume : acio cbe tutti per lui credessero : 8 egli non era la luce : ma acio rendesse tes- timonianza del lume. 9 Era vera luce ; laqual illumina ogni bomo veniente in questo mondo. 10 Egli era nel mondo, et per lui fatto e el mondo : et el mondo nol cognobe. II venne egli ne la propria citta de iudea : et gli suoi cittadini nol re- ceuettero. 12 Ma tutti quanti collor cbel receuettero allor dette potesta de essere facti figlioli da dio a color cbe credeno nel nome suo: 13 liquel non per mixtione de sangui : ne per diletto de femina ne per piacere de lbuomo : ma da dio nasciuti sono. 14 Et a tal modo el verbo pieno di gratia : et de vita fatto e carne : et habitoi i noi. Ei babiamo veduto la gloria sua : condecente gloria del vnigenito col patre. Diodati's Veesion. 1 Nel principio la Parola era, e la Parola era appo Iddio, e la Parola era Dio. 2 Essa era nel principio appo Iddio. 3 Ogni cosa e stata fatta per essa : e senza essa niuna cosa fatta e stata fatta. 4 In lei era la vita, e la vita era la luce degli uomini. 5 E la luce riluce nelle tenebre, e le tenebre non 1' hanno compresa. 6 Vi fu un' uomo man- dato da Dio, il cui nome era Gio- vanni. 7 Costui venne per testimo- nianza, affin di testimoniar della Luce, accioche tutti credessero per lui. 8 Egli non era la Luce, anzi era mandato per testimoniar della Luce. 9 Colui, che e la Luce vera, la quale illumina ogni uomo cbe viene nel mondo, era. 10 Era nel mondo, e 1 mondo e stato fatto per esso : ma il mondo non 1' ba conos- ciuto. n Egli e venuto in casa sua, ed i suoi non 1' banno ricevuto. 12 Ma, a tutti coloro che 1' banno ricevuto, i quali credono nel suo Nome, egli ba data questa ragione, d' esser fatti flgliuoli di Dio: I3 I quali, non di sangue, ne di volonta di carne, ne di volonta d' uomo, ma son nati da Dio . ' 4 E la Par ola e stata fatta carne, ed e abitata fra noi, (e noi ab- biam contemplata la sua gloria : glo- ria, come dell' unigenito proceduto dal Padre) piena di grazia, e di verita. Maetini's Veesion. I Nel principio era il Verbo, e il Verbo era appresso Dio, e il Verbo era Dio. 2 Questo era nel principio appresso Dio. 3 Per mezzo di lui furon fatte le cose tutte : e senza di lui nulla fu fatto dicio, cbe e stato fatto. 4 In lui era la vita, e la vita era la luce degli uomini : 5 E la luce splende tra le tenebre, e le te- nebre non la banno ammessa. 6 Vi fu un uomo mandato da Dio, che nomavasi Giovanni. 7 Questi venne qual testimone, affin di render tes- timonianza alia luce, onde per mezzo di lui tutti credessero : 8 Ei non era la luce ; ma era per rendere tes- timonianza alia luce. 9 Quegli era la luce vera, che illumini ogni uomo, che viene in questo mondo. 10 Egli era nel mondo, e il mondo per lui fu fatto, e il mondo nol conobbe. II Venne nella sua propria casa, e i suoi nol ricevettero. 12 Ma a tutti que', che lo ricevettero, die potere di diventar flgliuoli di Dio, a quelli, che credono nel suo nome. 13 1 quali non per via di sangue, ne per volonta della carne, ne per volonta d' uomo, ma da Dio sono nati. 14 E il Verbo si e fatto carne, e abito tra noi : e abbiamo veduto la sua gl - ria, gloria come dell' Unigenito del Padre, pieno di grazia, e di verita. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Italian language is spoken in Italy, the central peninsula of Southern Europe, by a population which, according to the latest census, amounts to 25,800,000. This fine country has for ages been a prey to the tyranny and superstition of the Popish hierarchy, and the frequent political convulsions which it has undergone have been unattended, except in the states of the Sardinian monarchy, by any permanent alleviation of the heavy pressure of its spiritual and intellectual bondage. In Malta, Sicily, and the isles of the Mediterranean, in Barbary, in Egypt, and in different parts of Turkey, the inhabi- tants are better acquainted with Italian than with any other European language. Italian is also spoken on the south side of the Alps by the Italian Swiss Protestants of the canton Ticino, who number about 120,000 individuals. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. On the decline and fall of the Roman empire, the Latin language, though altered and corrupted, was not destroyed; it perpetuated its existence under new forms, produced by the amalgamation of its ancient elements with the words and idioms of northern nations; " the active movement of the Germanic 278 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. mind," it has been observed, " operating upon the subject Roman population, dissolved, and as it were burst the compact structure, of the Latin tongue." Of the various languages formed by this process (which in different countries was modified by different influences), the Italian is the softest and the most harmonious. In the reception of Latin words it is guided by the truest principles of euphony. Two different consecutive consonants occurring in a Latin word are not, on account of the harshness of their combined sound, allowed to stand in Italian, but, with a very few exceptions, the repetition of the one consonant is substituted for the other; as, for instance, in the Latin words obviare, acto, facto, which in Italian become onviare, atto, fatto. All consonants, which interfere with the established principles of euphony, are totally rejected; hence we find in Italian Jiore for flore, fiocco for flocco, and many other similar omissions, which tend greatly to conceal from cursory observation the affinity between Latin and Italian words: and go far to prove that the Italian, as well as other dialects now spoken in Italy, may be remnants of dialects coeval with the Latin as spoken at Rome, and not derived from that language as it is generally supposed. There are several distinct Italian dialects spoken in Lombardy, Naples, and other parts of Italy: the dialect which, by way of preeminence, we call the Italian, is in point of fact the Tuscan: it is not confined to any particular district, but represents pretty well the speech of middle Italy. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The earliest Italian version now known to be in existence is that of Malermi or Malherbi, printed at Venice, 1471. A translation is said to have been made at a still earlier period by Voragine, arch- bishop of Genoa; but although no MS. of this work is now extant, there is every reason to believe that it was merely a version of Comestor's Historia Scholastica, an abridgment or synopsis of sacred history. Malermi was a Benedictine monk, and afterwards abbot of a monastery of the order of St. Benoit. Twenty-two editions of his version are mentioned by Le Long, nine before a.d. 1500, and the last in 1567. It is a tolerably accurate translation of the Vulgate. Another version, professedly executed from the original texts by Antonio Bruccioli, was published at Venice, 1532: it is well known, how- ever, that this version is little else than a mere translation of the Latin version of Pagninus, which it follows with much servility. In 1579, this version had passed through eleven editions. A revised edition, in which it was rendered conformable to the Vulgate, appeared at Venice in 1538. Another revised and corrected edition was published at Geneva in 1562, for the use of Protestants, but Walchius and others regard this as an entirely new version. "We now come to the Italian version executed by Diodati, one of the most important translations of modern times. Diodati was descended from a noble family of Lucca, and in his early youth enjoyed the advantages of the most careful instruction: his progress in learning was such, that, when only nineteen years of age, he was appointed Professor of Hebrew at Geneva. At the Synod of Dort, in 1619, he gained so much reputation, that he was chosen, with five other divines, to prepare the Belgic " Confession of Faith." He published his Italian version of the Scriptures at his own expense, and it is said to have occasioned him great pecuniary embarrassment. It is written in the plain Lucchese dialect, and is very intelligible and clear, so that it is peculiarly suitable for circulation among the poorer classes of Italy. The translation was made from the original texts, to which it adheres with great fidelity. An important revised edition appeared in 1641. An Italian version for the use of Roman Catholics was prepared from the Vulgate by Antonio Martini, archbishop of Florence, towards the close of the eighteenth century. The New Testament was printed at Turin in 1769, and the Old Testament in 1779 ; the latter appeared during the pontificate of Pius VI., and received his sanction. Both Testaments in the original edition were encumbered with explanatory notes, chiefly taken from the fathers. The version has been repeatedly reprinted with and without the notes, and although it supports the dogmas of the Roman Church, and servilely follows the Latin text, yet it has been much admired on account of the elegance of the diction. It is written in the pure Tuscan dialect. Class III.] DACO-ROMANA. 279 The necessity of furnishing supplies of the Italian Scriptures was first pressed on the attention of the British and Foreign Bible Society by the Rev. Mr. Terrot, chaplain at Malta, in 1808; and Diodati's version was selected by the Society for publication. The first edition appeared in 1809, and the success which attended it was considered as justifying the adoption of stereotype; accordingly plates were cast in 1810, from which several large impressions were executed. With a view to an unrestricted circulation, the Society afterwards consented to publish Martini's Roman Catholic version, and an edition of 5000 copies appeared in 1817 at Naples. The total number of copies, in whole or in part, of the Italian Scriptures printed by this Society (up to the close of 1859) amounted to 126,272 Bibles, 264,987 Testaments, 7500 copies of detached portions, and 2000 Italian and Latin Psalters. An edition of 4000 copies of the Italian Testament (Diodati) was printed by the Society, in Rome itself, in 1849; besides other editions at Florence, Pisa, and Lucca. An important service to the cause of revealed truth has been rendered by the Foreign Translation Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, in a revised edition of Diodati's Italian Bible (in 16mo.) carried through the press under their care in 1854. This edition was throughout carefully corrected by comparison with the original Greek and Hebrew texts, the orthography modernised, and obsolete words and phrases exchanged for those in present use. The addition of marginal references, with chronological and other tables, increased the value of this edition, the New Testament portion of which was speedily exhausted, and has since been reprinted (both in 8vo. and 16 mo.) at the University press at Cambridge. Of the results produced by the introduction of the Protestant Scriptures into Italy, little can at present be said. But the political changes of which that country has been the recent seat, and which are yet in course of transaction — consequent upon events which have fixed upon it the attention of the civilised world, and have awakened the warmest sympathies of other nations in behalf of the Italian people — are full of hope and promise for the future. It is only within the Sardinian territories that anything like a free circulation of the Word of God has hitherto been permitted by the authorities : elsewhere, the bigotry of the Romish Church, encouraged by the arm of the secular power, has forbid any attempt at the dissemination of the truth. If the opposition to the introduction into that land of the Protestant Bible has been decided, the success achieved has been not less decided. The liberal distribution of Bibles and Testaments among the Sardinian troops engaged in the Crimea, during the war of 1854-5, was productive of the happiest results. Thousands of these men returned to their native land, bearing with them dearly-prized copies of the Sacred Volume, and their persuasions have induced great numbers of their comrades and friends to obtain the same precious treasure. DACO-ROMANA, OH WALLACHIAN. FOE SPECIMEN" OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 5, page 141. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, in which this language is spoken, formed part of Ancient Dacia; and though now nominally included in European Turkey, they form semi-independent states, under the government of native rulers, chosen by the inhabitants, subject to the approval of the Sultan. The inhabitants are descendants of the Dacians, and of the Roman colonists who settled in the country after its subjugation by Trajan. In consequence of their Roman origin, the Wallachians style themselves Rumanje, and are commonly known to other nations as the Rouman race. They are to be 280 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. found dispersed in several of the adjoining provinces, more especially in that of Transylvania and Bessarabia. They are all of the Greek Church, and in number may amount to 3,000,000. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Although Dacia was one of the last of the provinces annexed to the Koman empire, and although it has since been repeatedly overrun by foreign invaders, yet the language still retains a large number of pure Latin words; and it is even said that a stranger speaking in Latin can render himself tolerably intelligible to the inhabitants. About half of the Wallachian words have, however, been borrowed from the Greek, the Turkish, and the Sclavonian. The pronunciation is soft, and nearly resembles that of the Italian. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The first translation of the Scriptures into Wallachian was made by the Metropolitan Theodotius, by order of Scherban Woivoda, a prince of Wallachia, and the New Testament was printed at Belgrade, in 1648. Prior to that period, the Greek and Sclavonic Scriptures had been in use among the Wallachians. A copy of this New Testament is preserved in the Bodleian Library. The Wallachian Bible was first printed in 1668 at Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia; another edition was published at the same place in 1714, and a third edition appeared at Blaje in Transylvania, in 1795. In 1816, the Bussian Bible Society undertook an edition consisting of 5000 copies of the Wallachian New Testament. This supply was greatly needed, for when Dr. Pinkerton visited Moldavia in 1817, he was assured by the exarch that not fifty Bibles were to be found in all the 800 churches belonging to his district. On account of this deplorable scarcity, an edition of 5000 Bibles in this language was commenced at the printing office of the exarch in 1817, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. These editions were joyfully received, and so rapidly circulated, that fresh supplies were soon found to be requisite. In 1834, Poyenar, director of the schools in Wallachia, published at Bucharest 3000 copies of the Gospels for the use of schools, and 3000 additional copies for the priests. In 1838, an edition of 5000 copies of the Wallachian New Testament, printed from a revised and corrected text, furnished by the heads of the Wallachian Church, was published at Bucharest, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This edition was brought out by the permission and at the desire of the bishops of Wallachia, and under the sanction of the prince and governor of the Wallachian principality. Several other editions of the New Testament have, from time to time, been given by this Society to Wallachia : the number of copies of the revised edition thus supplied amounts to 15,000. The increasing demand for the Sacred Word manifested by the Rouman population within recent years, has led to a determination on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society to undertake the translation of the Old Testament into the Wallachian tongue. This task has been commenced by Professor Aristias, at Bucharest, and is making satisfactory progress. It had advanced in 1859 as far as Isaiah. As different portions of the work have been successively finished, editions of 2000 have issued from the Bucharest press. An edition of 5000 Wallachian New Testaments, printed in Roman characters, has also been recently completed, it having been affirmed that " hundreds of thousands who speak the Wallachian language, but do not read the Sclavonic character," would gladly receive the Gospel in the Latin type. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. In 1841, accounts were transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society of the great and essential good which had been effected by the distribution of their editions of the New Testament: " Those individuals belonging to the clergy," it is stated in this report, " as well as other persons who were opposed to its dissemination, and who were desirous to put it down, are now anxious to see the Class III.] PROVENCAL. 281 country inundated, as it were, with these New Testaments in the vernacular tongue." Later experiences have fully confirmed the impression thus created, and Bucharest has become a highly important centre of missionary operations. The large population of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria (it is remarked in recent Reports) are quite open to the labours of the Society, and there is on the part of the people a prevailing desire for the Scriptures. The hostility so generally found to prevail when the Greek Church is in the ascendant, does not operate to any material extent amongst the inhabitants of the Danubian provinces. PEOYENCAL, OR ROMAUNT, SPECIMENS, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 6 to 14 Lyons MS. 6 Us homfo trames de Deu, alqual era nomsJohan. 7 Aquest venc en testi- moni que testimoni dones de lum, que tuit crezesso per lui. 8 No era el lutz, mais testimoni donet de lum. 9 Era lutz vera, que enlumena tot home venent en aquest mon. 10 E1 mon era, el mons es fait per lui, el mons nol conos. n En sas propias cosas vee, e li sei nol recevenbero. 12 Mais cantz que cantz lo receven- bero dec ad els pozestats a esser fait filh de Deu ; ad aquals que crezo el nom de lui : i3 Heal no so de sane, ni de volontat de cam, ni de delet de baro, mais de Deu so nat. u E la paraula es faita cams, e estec en nos. E vim la gloria de lui, en ai coma gloria du engenrat del paire, pies de gracia e de veritat. Paris MS. (No. 8086). 6 Oms fon trames de Dieu local avia nom Johan. 7 Aquest venc en tes- timoni que dones testimoni de lum, que tug crezessan per el. 8 E non era lus, mas que dones testimoni de lus. 9 Vera lus era, lacal enlumena tot home venent en aquest mont. 10 El mont era, el mont fon fach per el, el mont non lo conoc. n En las proprias cauzas venc, e li sieu non lo receupron. 12 Mas quant receu- pron lui, donet ad els poder esser fach filh de Dieu, ad aquestz, que crezon el nom de lui. 13 Lical non son de sane, ni de voluntat de earn, ni de voluntat de baro, mas de Dieu son nat. u El filh es faitz cams, et abitet en nos : e nos vim la gloria de lui, coma dun engenrat del paire, pie de gracia e de veritat. Paris MS. (No. 6833). 6 Deus trames un home, qui havia nom Johan. 7 E vench en testimoni e pertal que fes testimoni della lum. 8 Aquell no era lum, mas feya testi- moni della lum. 9 Aquella era vera lum, laquall illumina tot horn vivent en aquest mon. 10 En lo mon era, e all mon per aquell es fet, e al mon no conech aquell. u En les sues propres coses vench, e los sues non raeberan aquell. I2 Mas a tots aquells quill raeberan, dona poder que fosen fets fills de Deu, aquells, qui cre- gueran lo nom del ; 13 qui no son nats de sanch, ne per debts de car son nats, ne per volentat d ome. 14 E paraula es feta cam, e abita en nos, vahem la gloria daquall, quals gloria qui es un sol amgenrat del para, qui es pie de gracia, e de veritat. Towaeds the close of the twelfth century, a version of the Scriptures in the language then spoken in Southern France is well known to have been made by Waldo and his disciples. This version was probably intelligible far beyond the limits of France; for, up to the twelfth century, the most intimate connection, amounting nearly to identity of structure, appears to have pervaded the dialects which in the various disjointed portions of the Boman empire, had been formed, almost simultaneously, from the corrupt and decaying elements of the old Latin tongue. A copy of Waldo's version was presented to the pope at the Lateran Council of 1179; but the work was condemned and prohibited by the Council of Toulouse in 1229, on account of its being written in the vernacular language. Many copies were in ponsequence destroyed, but one copy was safely conveyed to this country: 282 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. it was presented to Morland, Cromwell's ambassador to the Duke of Savoy, and it was deposited by Cromwell in the library of the University of Cambridge. It now appears to be lost ; traces, however, of Waldo's text have been discovered by Dr. Gilly, who by an elaborate chain of reasoning demon- strates the probability of this ancient text being exhibited in the six Eomaunt versions which have reached our day. One circumstance which among others may be cited in proof of the antiquity of the text contained in these MSS. is, that scriptural quotations occurring in such works as the "Noble Lesson " and the "Book of Virtues" (known to have been circulated among the Waldenses prior to a.d. 1200) are in literal accordance with the corresponding passages of the Romaunt version. A careful collation of these Romaunt MSS. has established the fact that, although some of the copies appear to have been more accurately revised than the others, they are all transcripts of one version, which seems to have been in use among all the nations to whom the Romance dialects were vernacular. This version was evidently a translation from the Latin, but it is not a servile imitation of the Vulgate, the readings of the old Italic versions having been consulted and occasionally adopted. This version possesses peculiar interest from the fact of its being the first translation of the Scriptures into the vernacular language produced in Europe after the disuse of Latin as the language of common life. The six MSS. in which this ancient and important version is supposed to be exhibited are the following : — I. The Dublin MS. A. 4., No. 13, contains the New Testament, with the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus. This MS. formerly belonged to Usher, and was presented by Charles II. to the University of Dublin. It is written in a dialect which is less purely Provencal than that of the Paris and Lyons copies, and which partakes more of the Italian than of the Gallic Romaunt. As it is known to Dublin MS. 1 Lo filh era al comenczament, e lo filh era enapres Dio, e Dio era lo filh. 2 Aiczo era al comenczament enapres Dio. 3 Totas cosas son fai- tas par luy ; e alcuna cosa non es faita sencza luy. 4 Co que fo fait en luy era vita, e la vita era lucz de li home. 5 E la lucz lucit en las tenebras, e las tenebras non cum- preseron ley. 6 Home fo trames de Dio,alqualeranomJohan. 7 Aquest venc en testimoni, qu'el dones tes- timoni de lume, que tuit cresesan par luy. 8 El non era lucz, mas qu'el dones testimoni de lume. 9 Lucz era vraya, „laqual enlumena tot home venent en aquest mont. 10 El era al mont, e lo mont fo fait par luy, e lo mont non conoc luy. "El venc en las proprias, e li seo non receopron luy. 12 Mas qual- que qual receopron luy, done a lor poesta esser fait filh de Dio, aquilh liqual creseron al nom de luy: 13 Li- qual non son de sang, ni de volunta de cam, ni de deleit de baron, mas son na de Dio. 14 E la parolla fo fayta earn e abite en nos, e nos ve- guen la gloria de luy, gloria enayma d'un engenra del paire, plen de gra- cia e de verita. Grenoble MS. 1 Lo filh era al comenczament. E lo' filh era enapres dio e dio era lo filh. 2 Aiczo era al comenczament enapres dio. 3 totas cosas son faitas par luy e alcuna cosa non es fayta sencza luy. 4 Czo que fo fayt en luy era vita, e la vita era lucz de li home. 6 e la lucz luczic en las te- nebras : e las tenebras non cum- preseron ley. 6 Home fo trames de dio alqual era nom Johan . 7 Aquest venc en testimoni, quel dones testi- moni de lume que tuit cresessan par luy. 8 El non era lucz, mas quel dones testimoni de lume. 9 Lucz era veraya laqual enlumena tot home venent en aquest mont. 10 El era al mont, e lo mont fo fayt par luy, e la mont non conoc luy. " El venc en las proprias: e li seo non receo- pron luy. 12 Mas calsque quals re- ceopron luy, done a lor poesta esser fayt filh de dio, aquilh liqual creo (sic) al nom de luy. I3 Liqual non son de sane, ni de volonta de earn, ni de deleit dome (sic) mas son na de dio. 14 E la parolla fo fayta earn e abite en nos, e nos veguen la glo- ria de luy, gloria enayma dun en- genra del payre, plen de gracia e de verita. Ztjkich MS. I Lo filh era al comenczament. E lo filh era enapres Dio. E Dio era lo filh. 2 Aiczo era al comencza- ment enapres Dio. 3 Totas cosas son faitas par luy. E alcuna cosa non es faita sencza luy. 4 'Czo che fo fait en luy era vita, e la vita era lucz de li home. 5 E la lucz luczit en las tenebras, e las tenebras non cumpreseron ley. 6 Home fo trames de Dio, alqual era nom Johan. 7 Aquest venc en testimoni, chel dones testimoni de lume, que tuit cresesan par luy. 8 El non era lucz, mas quel dones testimoni de lume. 9 Lucz era vraya laqual enlumena tot home venent en aquest mont. 10 El era al mont, e lo mont fo fait par luy, e lo mont non conoc luy. II El venc en las proprias, e li seo non receopron luy. Ia Mas quanti quanti receopron luy done a lor po- testa esser fait filh de Dio : aquilh liqual creon al nom de luy. 13 Li- qual non son de sane, ni de volunta de earn, ni de deleit de baron, mas son na de Dio. 14 E la parolla fo faita cam, e habite en nos, e nos veguen la gloria de luy, gloria enay- ma d un engenra del paire plen de gracia e de verita. Class III.] TOULOUSE. 283 have been used among the Waldenses, it is generally called a Waldensian version. Le Long and others have erroneously described it as an Italian version. II. The Grenoble MS., preserved in the library at Grenoble, contains precisely the same books as the preceding, and is written in the same dialect. It is supposed to belong to the thirteenth century, and has erroneously been called a Spanish version. III. The Zurich MS., C -y-§-§-, contains the New Testament, and is in the same dialect as the Dublin and Grenoble MSS.: it is believed to have been written between the years 1350 and 1400. IV. The Lyons MS., No. 60, is preserved in the public library at Lyons. It contains the New Testament, a spurious Epistle to the Laodiceans, and about ten pages of scriptural reflections and quotations. The dialect is the same as that of the preceding MSS., but apparently the production of a later period, and the style is replete with Latinisms. V. The Paris MS., No. 8086, contains the New Testament written in a dialect very similar to that which we find in the older poems of the Troubadours. It is preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. VI. The Paris MS., No. 6833, contains the New Testament, and is described by Le Long as u J3iblia Catalana, seu veteri Lingua Provinciali." This MS. is also in the Eoyal Library at Paris. Dr. Gilly, in his edition of the Gospel of St. John from these MSS., published 1848, gives it as his opinion that the Paris MS. No. 8086 is perhaps a transcript of the earliest copy produced by Waldo, and possibly contains passages of earlier partial versions which were afloat before the time of Waldo. The Dublin, Zurich, and Grenoble MSS. display marks of a revised edition of the preceding, being more literal, and adhering more closely to the Latin text than the other codices. TOULOUSE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. La paraoulo ero al coumenscoment , la paraoulo ero ambe Dious , e aquello paraoulo ero Dious. 2 Ero al coumenscoment ambe Dious. 3 Toutos caousos an estados faitos per ello , e res de 90 qua estat fait n'a estat fait sans ello. 4 Accos es en ello qu'ero la bido , e la bido ero la lumiero des homes. 6 E la lumiero a luzit dins las tenebros , e las tenebros nou Pan pas recepiudo. 6 Y ajec un home , appelat Jan, que fousquet enbouyat de Dious. 7 Benguet per estre temoue'n , e per randre temoignatge de la lumiero, afi que toutis crejescon per el. 8 N'ero pas el memo la lumiero , mes ero enbouyat per randre temoignatge a la lumiero. 9 Ero la beritablo lumiero qu'esclairo toutis les homes quand benen al mounde. 10 Ero dins le mounde , e le mounde a estat fait per ello; mes le mounde nou l'a pas counescudo. n Es bengut enta el , e les sious nou J'an pas recepiut. n Mes a toutis les que Tan recepiut , lour a dounat le dret d'estre fa'its les enfants de Dious , sale a toutis aquelis que crezen en soun noum ; 1S Glue nou soun pas nascuts del sang , ni de la boulountat de la car , ni de la boulountat de Thome , mes que soun nascuts de Dious. 14 E la paraoulo a estado incarnado , e a habitat parmi nous aoutres , pleno de grascio e de beritat ; e aben bist sa glorio , uno glorio talo qu'es la del Fil unique bengut del Paire'. The Provencal or langue d"oc, the Romance dialect of Southern France, has already been noticed. During the middle ages it occupied as conspicuous a place among the languages of Europe as is held by 284 INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. its rival the langue doil at the present day, and the few vestiges which yet remain of it are therefore invested with some degree of interest. These vestiges are to be traced in the mountainous parts of Languedoc, where, under the name of the dialect of Toulouse, a corrupt form of the langue d"oc is still spoken by the peasantry. As late as the seventeenth century, and perhaps still more recently, some poems have been occasionally published by native writers in this dialect. Through the influence of education and the press, it is now rapidly yielding its place to the language of modern France ; yet it has attracted the attention of the learned, and an attempt has been made to preserve a specimen of this curious relic of past ages before it passes into oblivion. About the year 1820, a translation was made of the Gospel of St. John into this dialect, under the care of a party of French literati ; and the version was published at Toulouse, under the title of " Le Sent Ebangely de - Nostre - Seignour Jesus Christ seloun Sent Jan; traduit eh Lengo Toulouzenzo." -~$- YAUDOIS. SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Ar coumen9ament era la Parola ; et la Parola era ensem a Diou ; et sta Parola era Diou : 2 1 11 era ar coumencament ensem a Diou. 3 Tute le cose soun ista faite da ili, et sansa ili ren de 90 qu'e ista fait e. ista fait. 4 En ili era la vita, et la vita era lou kiar di hom. 5 E lou kiar luss ent la neuit-scura, ma la neuit-scura Tha pa arcevii. 6 L'a-y-e ista un hom qu'avia nom Jean, qu'e ista manda da Diou, 7 A 1 e vengii per rende testimouniali, per rende, veui di, testimouniali ar Kiar, per que tui creyessen perque d'el. 8 A 1 era pa lou Kiar, ma a 1 era manda per rende testimouniali ar Kiar. 9 Quel Kiar era lou veritable, que fai kiar a tut hom que ven ar mount. 10 A 1 era ar mount, et lou mount e ista fait da el ; ma lou mount l'ha pa counouissii. u A 1 e vengu a so ca ; et li seui Than pa arcevii ; 12 Ma a tui quili que Than arcevii, a i ll'ha douna lou drit d'esse fait meina de Diou ; assave, a quili que cren en so nom ; 13 Quili eiqui soun pa neissu de sang, ni de la voulenta de la earn, ni de la voulenta de Thorn ; ma i soun neissu de Diou. 14 E la Parola e ista faita earn, i 11 ha habita entra noii, et nous han ben buck sou a gloria, que ista, una gloria com la gloria dar Fill unic dar Pare, piena de grassia et de verita. The Vaudois dialect, a modification of the old Provencal language, is spoken on the east or Italian side of the Cottian Alps, in the three high valleys of Lucerna, Perosa, and San Martino. These valleys average about twenty-two miles as the greatest length, and eighteen as the greatest breadth, and include a population of about 20,000: since the year 1814, they have been re-annexed to the dominions of the King of Sardinia. The Vaudois, or Waldenses, as they are sometimes called, maintain to this day the pure form of primitive Christianity, to which they stedfastly adhered during the long ages of papal superstition. As a religious body, bearing witness against the corruptions of the Church of Rome, the Waldenses seem to have originated at a very early period in Southern France: in A.D. 1184 they were excom- municated by the pope at the Council of Verona, and soon afterwards they spread themselves in the South of France, the North of Italy, and Germany. The identity of the Vaudois with the Waldenses, has, however, been contested by recent writers, Class III.] VAUDOIS. 28c and a more rigid investigation of historical particulars has led to the supposition, that, " whatever these professors of a purer faith might have had in common, there were certain points on which they differed, and certain local references and relations by which they were distinguished from each other." Yet it is certain that the ancient version of the Scriptures, described in a previous memoir, was in use among tliem. Waldo, or Waldensis, who was probably the main agent in producing this translation, was a rich merchant of Lyons. His attention, it is said, was first turned to religious subjects by hearing a troubadour recite, in the streets of Lyons, a poem in favour of voluntary poverty, called, " The Life of Alexis." Waldo invited the troubadour to his house, and was so affected by his conversation (for many of the troubadours were men of deep piety), that he went the next day to the school of Theology, to seek instruction in the way of salvation. The celebrated master to whom he addressed himself, referred him to these words of our Lord — "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor." Waldo acted in accordance with the spirit of this exhortation, and a portion of his funds was appropriated to the payment of two priests for translating the Scriptures into the vernacular tongue. This translation was greatly blessed by God to the edification of these early Christians, and supported them in the endurance of many cruel persecutions; in one of which, that of 1686, 11,000 of their number perished, and the survivors, who amounted only to about 3000, were driven from their homes. It was said of these Waldenses by one of their enemies, " They instruct even little girls in the Gospels and Epistles, that they may be brought to embrace their doctrines even from childhood." .... "All, without exception, men and women, small and great, cease not day and night to receive and to give instruction. The labourer who toils during the day, either learns or teaches at night." The descendants of these faithful people, as the Vaudois are generally considered, have not been forgotten in the efforts made within recent years for the general distribution of the Scriptures. In 1830, a specimen of a translation of the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John into the dialect now spoken by the Vaudois of Pielmont, was forwarded by Lieut.-Col. Beckwith to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The translator was the Rev. Mr. Berte, pastor of La Tour. The Society undertook to publish 1000 copies, in parallel columns with Martin's French version, and the edition was carried through the press by Colonel Beckwith and the Bev. T. Sims. In 1832, 600 copies had been distributed among the Vaudois, and another edition was called for. The Society therefore published 2000 copies, the press being corrected by the Rev. T. Sims. The last notice we have received of this version occurs in a letter from Colonel Beckwith, dated 1840, in which he states that the Gospels sent into North Italy are freely circulating among the Protestants. With the progress of education, however, the use of the modern French language is rapidly gaining ground among these valleys. French is the medium of instruction in all the schools, and all the books in general circulation (with the exception of the early literary works) are in that language. French seems to have been first employed as a vehicle of public instruction by those pastors whom the Vaudois obtained from France and Switzerland, when their own ministers were almost all cut off by the plague of 1630: Martin's French version is now more generally read by them than the Vaudois Gospels. The Sardinian govern- ment has of late years accorded perfect tolerance to the Vaudois in the exercise of their pure and simple worship. 286 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [CiAss III. PIED MONTE SE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Su '1 prinsipi a 1 era la Parola, e la Parola a 1 era coun Iddiou ; e sta Parola a 1 era Diou. 2 A 1 era su '1 prinsipi coun Diou. 3 Ogni cosa ale staita faita da chila, e sensa chila niente de Ion ch'a 1 e stait fait ale stait fait. 4 Ent chila a 1 era la vita, e la vita a 1 era la luce d'i omini. 5 E la luce a lus ent le tenebre, ma le tenebre a Than nen arcounoussu-la. 6 A i e sta-ie un om ch'a se ciamava Giouan, ch'a 1 e stait manda da Iddiou. 7 A 1 e venu per rendi testimouniansa, per rendi, i tournou di, testimouniansa a la Luce, per che tutti a credeissou su soua parola. 8 A 1 era nen chiel la Luce, ma a I era manda per rendi testimouniansa a la Luce. 9 Sta Luce a 1 era la vera, coula ch'a illumina ogni om ch'a ven al mound. 10 Chila a 1 era al mound, e '1 mound ale stait fait da chila; ma '1 mound a l'ha nen counoussu-la. 11 A 1 e venu a soua ca ; e i so a Than nen ricevii- lou. 12 Ma a tutti coui ch'a Than ricevii-lou, a 1 ha da-ie '1 drit d' essi fait fieui d' Iddiou; doe, a coui ch'a credou a so nom ; 13 1 quai a soun nen nassu de sang, ne de la voulounta de la earn, ne de la voulounta de l'om ; ma a soun nassu da Iddiou. 14 E la Parola a 1 e staita faita earn, a 1 ha fait soua abitassioun en mes de noui, e i avouma ben amira soua gloria, laqual ale staita una gloria coum la gloria del Fieul unic del Pare, piena de grassia e de verita. Piedmont, which constitutes the most valuable part of the Sardinian dominions, is an extensive plain, stretching, as its name imports {Pie di monte), from the foot of the Alps to that of the Apennines. The total number of inhabitants amounted, in 1857, to upwards of 3,000,000. A Romance dialect called Piedmontese is still spoken in Piedmont: it is closely allied to the old Provencal language of Southern France, but has of late admitted many Italian words. Le Long speaks of a MS. of the New Testament written about the year 1500, and preserved (as above mentioned) at Zurich; but it is probable that this was only a copy made for the use of the Piedmontese from the celebrated Provencal version of the Waldenses already described. This Piedmontese New Testament was among the list of books prohibited at Eome in 1740, by a decree of the Congregation of the Index of Prohibited Books. In 1831, a translation of the New Testament, faithfully rendered from Martin's French version into modern Piedmontese, was forwarded to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by Lieut.-Colonel Beckwith. The translation had been made by the Rev. Mr. Berte, pastor of La Tour, and Mr. Geymet of Lausanne. An edition of 1000 copies, printed in the same form and type as the Vaudois Gospels, was completed by the Society in 1834, and the press was corrected by Lieut.- Colonel Beckwith. In 1837, 2000 copies of the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John were issued by the Society, in parallel columns with the French text. This edition was followed, in 1841, by the publi- cation of a Piedmontese version of the Psalms, executed from Diodati's Italian version. The edition of the Psalms consisted of 1000 copies, printed in parallel columns with the Italian text. Owing to the interested opposition of the Romish priesthood, these editions did not obtain so rapid a circulation as might have been anticipated; and in 1840 the Society's version of the New Testament was put on the Index of forbidden books at Rome. But within recent years, the policy pursued by the Sardinian government in this regard has been one of tolerance, if not of encouragement. At the present moment the sale of Bibles is great at Turin ; there are shops opened for the purpose simply as a matter of profit : the higher classes especially have become readers of the Bible. Sardinia, indeed, presents the only bright spot in the whole of Italy, in so far as the circulation of the Word of God is concerned. Class III.] ROMANESE. 287 ROMANESE, ROMONSCH, OR UPPER AND LOWER ENGHADINE. vi^spECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap, i. v. 1 to 14. k o ^HDIl' ENGHADINE. ENGHADINE. 1 In il principi eira il Pled, e '1 Pled eira pro Deis, e '1 Pled eira Dieu. 2 Quel eira in il principi pro Deis. 3 Ogni chiaussa ais fatta tras quel ; e sainza quel ingiina chiaussa fatta nun ais stat fatta. 4 In el eira la vita, e la vita eira la liim dalla glieud. 5 E la liim liischa in las sciirezas, e las sciirezas nun l'haun compraisa. 6 E suo iin horn tramiss da Dieu, il nom dal qual eira Joannes. 7 Quaist venn per testimonianza, a. fin da dar perdiitta dalla Liim, acib chia tuots crajessen tras el. 8 E1 nun eira la Liim, anzi eira tramiss per dar perdiitta dalla Liim. 9 Quel chi ais la vaira Liim, la quala iliumna ogni crastian chi vain in il muond, 10 Eira in il muond, e '1 muond ais fat tras quel ; mo'l muond nun l'ha cognoschii. n El ais gnii in sia ehasa, e 'Is seis nun l'haun ardsfii. 12 Mo a tuots quels chi l'haun ardsfii, ils quals crajen in seis Nom, ils ha el dat quaista radschun, d'esser fats iffaunts da Dieu. 13 Ils quals brichia da saung, ne da volunta da charn, ne da volunta d'hom, mo sun nads da Dieu. 14 E '1 Pled ais stat fat charn, ed ha habita taunter nus, [e nus havain contempla. sia gloria, sco dal unigenit procedu dal Bap] plaina d'gratia, e d'varda. 1 Enten l'Antschetta fov' ilg Plaid, ad ilg Plaid fova tier Deus ; ad ilg Plaid era Deus. 2 Quel fova enten l'Antschetta tiers Deus. 3 Tuttas caussas ean fachias tras el ; a fenz' el eis ei faig nagutta, da quei ch'ei faig. 4 Enten el fova la Vitta, a la Vitta era la Lgisch d'ils Carstiauns. 5 A quella Lgisch dat Clarezia enten la Sciira- dengia, mo las Sciiradengias ilg han bucca cumpilgiau. 6 Ei fov' iin Hum tarmess da Deus ca veva Num Johannes. 7 Quel van- git par esser Pardichia, par dar Pardichia da la Lgisch, par ca tuts cartessen tras el. 8 El era bucca la Lgisch, mo tarmess par dar Pardichia da la Lgisch. 9 Quel ca ei la vera Lgisch, ca dat Clarezia a minchia Carstiaun ca ven ent ilg Mund ; 10 Fova ent ilg Mund, ad ilg Mund ei faigs tras el ; ad ilg Mund ilg ha buc ancunaschieu. 11 E1 ei vangeus ent ilg sieu, ad ils se^s ilg han bucca prieu si. 12 Mo tonts sc'ilg han prieu si, sch'ils ha'l dau pussonza da daventar uffonts da Deus ; numnadameng a quels ca crein enten sieu num. 13 Ils quals ean naschi, bucca da saung ne da la velgia da la earn, ne da la velgia d'ilg Hum; mo da Deus. 14 A quei plaid ei daventaus earn, ad ha avdau tenter nus, a nus vein vieu sia Gliergia: iinna Gliergia sco d'ilg parful- nascheu d'ilg Bab, pleins d'grazia, a vardad. The Grisons, anciently part of Rhoetia, constitute the south-eastern angle of Switzerland, and occupy an area of from 2500 to 3000 square miles. The inhabitants amounted in number (in 1849) to 89,840: of this population, about two-fifths are of Germanic and about one-tenth of Italian origin: the Protestants are supposed to number about 62,000 individuals, the remainder being chiefly Roman Catholics. The mountainous parts of this canton are inhabited by the little Romanese nation. The Enghadine, or valley of the Inn, on the borders of the Tyrol, is inhabited by a section of this people, to whom a Romanese dialect called Churwelsch^ is vernacular. The other Romanese dialect is called Ladiniche, and is spoken in the valley of the Rhine, on the confines of Italy. Both these dialects are derived form the Latin tongue, and preserve to this day the most striking characteristics of the Romance 288 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. languages; and they contain among other elements, some Etruscan words, which seem to point to a time anterior to the present division of languages for the origin of these dialects. The New Testament was printed in the former of these dialects in 1560, and the whole Bible in 1679. In the latter, the Bible was published in 1719. These editions were all printed in the Grisons, buTthey were soon exhausted, and as no further impressions were issued, a copy was scarcely attainable at the beginning of the present century. A company of Christians at Basle, therefore, projected an edition for the use of these mountaineers, and under the auspices of the Basle Bible Society, and with the aid of the parent institution, the New Testament in Churwelsche left the press in 1810. But when the poor Ladins heard what a treasure their neighbours on the Tyrolese frontier had got, they expressed a very strong desire to have the same in their dialect. The Bible Societies of London and Basle promptly consented to grant them this boon, and in 1813 an edition of 2000 copies of the New Testament in Ladiniche had left the press. Several subsequent editions of the New and Old Testaments have been issued by the Basle Bible Society in both dialects. The last edition of which we have any particular account was that of 1834, published at the expense of the British and Foreign, the Coire, and the Geneva Bible Societies : it consisted of 2000 copies of the New Testament, and was chiefly designed for a considerable number of shepherds who pass away the summer in the mountains, without the aid of any religious instruction. The Rev. Colany N£e, of Leme, remarked on this occasion, " The Spirit of God has scarcely begun to be heard in a whisper in these mountains; but I have found, generally speaking, that the word of God is esteemed, and frequently read, and that it is in the possession of most of the Protestant families in the canton." We add a specimen of the Enghadine dialect of earlier date (1640): — SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12. In T principi eira 1' Plsed : & 1' Plsed eira tiers Dieu ; & Dieu eira 1' plsed. 2 Quel eira in principi tiers Dieu. 8 Tuottas chioffes fun fattas trees el : & fajnza el eis fat unguotta da que chi eis fat. 4 In el eira la vita, & la vita eira la lgiifch de la glieut. 5 Et la Lgusch lguscha in la fchiirezza, & las fchiirezzas nun 1' haun compraifa. 6 Un horn tramis da Dieu eira, cum nom Joannes. 7 Quel venn per effer perdiita, accio ch' el defs perdiita de la Lgusch : per chi a tuots craieffen trses el. 8 El nun eira la Lgusch ma per ch' el rendefs teftimonianza de la Lgusch : 9 Quel eira la vaira Lgusch, chi inlgitmna fee-dim horn chi vain in 1' muond. 10 El eira in 1' muond, & 1' muond eis fat trses el : & 1' muond nun 1' ho cuntfehieu. n El eis gnieu fiin 1' fieu, & Fs feis nun l'haun prains fii. 12 Mu quaunts chi 1' haun prains fii, ho el do ad els puffaunza da dvanter filgs da Dieu, a quels chi craien in fieu Nom. CLASS IIL-INDO-EUKOPEAN LANGUAGES. F. THRACO-ILLYRIAN FAMILY. ALBANIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Ks nspnapa iff (pyiaXXia, s (fiyiaXXia iff ps HspvTivs ndaicE, e &yiaXXia iff UepvTL. ILsyio iff ke nspnapa names [is llspvTivs. Ispiua npsiy aaaiy ov nsvs, s na ars vovk ov tte vtovle yica T ' 1 T7- f" " $ N ars. xLe vis vispi csprovaps y/ca lispvTia, Efisp iriy Iwavv. Koviy spot nsp fiaprvpi, re fiaprvptays nsp Sptrs, ke te nsGoysvs n9s /.is avs te Tiy. 8 AX vovks KE SptTa, 7TO 7TSp TE SsVS fiapTVpl nsp SpiTE. 9 I(TTE SpiTa E fispTETE, KE VTpiT tZ,So vispi ics fiyisv vts kete ysTS. 10 Nts. ttote ke, e noTa npsiy ai ke Tripps, s noTa VOVK £ PlOyOV aTE. JStE TE TiyTE Spdl, E TE TiyTE aTE VOVK E CSt,VE. E Ga KE € dsc,vE aTE, ov ca aTovps sloven te nsviavs niyT £ llspvTias, pin ara ke 7TEGOVUVE flTT SflEp TE Tiy. ™ ATa CLQ TTpsLy rittKOVT, CLQ npsiy QsklflET (TE KOVp/llT, clq npsiy OeXijxet as novppiT, no npsiy IJspvTias Xivs. li E (j)yiaXia ov ns vispi, S VTEVl \in\ vkfisT VTS KOVpfl TS VLSpiOVT, (fi na.f.1 Xs^lf.LV ETLJ, nOGl XsfiSlfl TE nippiT ff£ fisTEfis yKa nana'i) nXioT pes dovpsTi, s pis te fispTETE. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. This language is vernacular in Albania, a country which, in point of situation and extent, coincides with the ancient Epirus and Illyricum. It lies partly opposite to the Ionian Islands, and extends for more than 250 miles along the Mediterranean and Adriatic coasts. The Arnauts or Skipetars (as the Albanians are usually called) differ in language and in physical conformation from all the other tribes of Europe, and are supposed to be the descendants of the ancient Illyrians. The total population of Albania amounts, according to a recent writer, to about 1,600,000, amongst whom are 200,000 Greeks. But the Arnaut race is also extensively dispersed throughout the modern kingdom of Greece (within which the Albanians number 173,000 individuals), and in some of the neighbouring provinces of Turkey, and is found scattered over the countries of south-eastern Europe in general. Albanians constituted, at one time, the entire population of Hydra, Spezzia, Paros, and other Greek islands, and they are to be met with in Servia, and on the coasts of Calabria, in Southern Italy. 20 290 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. The entire number of persons belonging to tbe Albanian race is about two millions. They belong, for the most part, to the Greek Church, but many are Mohammedans. The inhabitants of Albania proper are nominally subject to Turkey, but are ruled by chieftains who are in a great measure independent: they are wild and predatory in their habits, and are equally dreaded by their Greek and Turkish neighbours. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The learned Leibnitz was the first to think that the Albanian language was allied to the Celtic family; a surmise which subsequent discoveries have proved correct. The Albanians (i.e. inhabitants of Alps, like the Gaelic Albanach, and the Irish, Alban for Scotland, Albion for England) call them- selves Skipetars, which in their language means rocky-land, or country. The language they speak consists more than one half of words derived, most from the Latin, Greek, German; less from the Turkish, and least from the Sclavonic: the other half forms the Albanian tongue properly so called, a remnant of the aboriginal idiom, which bears affinity to the Basque, and to other Celtic and primeval dialects. It also contains words from the Coptic; and others which, through their Germanic affinity, bear strong resemblance to English terms. It is a peculiar, and, from its antiquity, an interesting language, which was unwritten till about the beginning of the seventeenth century, when E. D. F. Blanchus or Bianchi, a Roman Catholic missionary, wrote the Dictionarium Latino-Epiroticum, printed in Rome, 1635, in 8vo. P. Budi da Pietra Bianca translated Bellarmin's Catechism, which was printed in Rome, 1665, in 12 mo. P. Bogolanus composed in Albanian and Italian the Cuneus Prophetarum, Patavii, 1685, 2 vols, in folio; and Francesco Maria da Lecce, a member of the Propaganda, made an attempt to reduce it to rule, and eventually embodied it in a grammar, which he called, " a new sign in the grammatical heavens." An alphabet peculiar to that language was introduced when it was first cultivated; but the Greek characters, with various signs to denote the peculiar sounds of the language, are now generally used in printing Albanian books : the books printed in Italy, however, are all in Latin letters. III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The Albanians possessed no version of the Scriptures till the year 1819, when Dr. Pinkerton, agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, employed a native Albanian (by name Evangelos Mexicos) to prepare a translation of the New Testament into Albanian. This native had been recommended to Dr. Pinkerton by some of the first dignitaries of the Greek communion, as a person eminently qualified for the work. The revision of Mr. Mexicos' labours was entrusted to Gregory, archbishop of Negropont. The translation and entire revision of the New Testament was accomplished in 1825, and in the same year an edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew, printed in parallel columns with the Greek version by Hilarion, was struck off for immediate distribution. The Testament was completed at press in 1827, at Corfu, under the superintendence of the Rev. I. Lowndes. The whole expense of the work was borne by the Ionian Bible Society. Opportunities for its circulation have hitherto been few, and it never reached a second edition. It has, however, been recently determined by the British and Foreign Bible Society to print an edition of the New Testament in parallel Greek and Albanian, and this work is in course of preparation at Athens. In the course of a visit to Albania in 1856, Mr. Lowndes (the Society's agent) observed many encouraging indications of a growing demand for the Word of God. Plata VI, PiLge ZDI. E- z CN CO '« z s « z t- 5 '< E- z a z cfl ? Cfl -1 o < a: ^u . Z e2 o-, 2 Z S« P. c 3 c , < c 3 £ UJ fc- fc- < < Sffl tfl tfl T» ■*> oo ■"V cfl o« x £- *-P [fl O [fl tfl E c O cfl *- <%• ro 5 H o i- |NP b yp o jjj O ^ «P t- tfl ^ UJ t> S JO 2£>6- £ ?-- ». 3 6- •" .uj vai x - s 'jC 23 tfl .| QC < — tt X z a o o „ -, > I !•■ O 2 2 s e ~ o 2 w B O S _ (- ;<§ ^ *? 5 G *o to 33 O tfl ! PQ rt op I- - Z ° 6 >>VO M O ■E 9 "3 03 ei a B o VO O a; S u O « B o u 53 CD O < o si pa .... x w : t- W -> v 2 03 j3 U3 o •j: K 5 -t*J ^O ■w r- E- efl tti M o < -0 o » O «s D* E a; B5 ,5 5 ^ g "3 E*§ o « a -= ■to E O O S y G >-< nr o; f- o * P w 5 S 3 m B R H . CO *» " E m vo ca a o o a a p- a a , a M cu a Hj ■*■ S3 f- •> ? S ■fa 3 t- bd ^ § i S *" ^ E- o ■fa m C<3 M ^, S E w IS 3 o «= E "=3 a »a a a o a o I- ^3 V VO a n fi a co O cC O «r B O >% a < -X3 cu z :c- 6 es j^ 2 E- a a G S a a £ 3 a *a si 2 e2 p-« p-i o ^ pa ca E- ° ■W 3 ° SJ >s E- P -38 ffi E- v-fa 5 ta t - ? SjS ^ 3 « c c^ £ < • S 03 B a o G S3 »x^< & h a i-r ^ a *« Ph "" 1 w M . o o CU 3- B VO CO a a >-» "3 O ^ s s fS Pi 5 K a a 3 . p-i a 2 "^ 3 5 ° a a b s a I ^ E "2 Ph cj R ■B rt O B ^ a ^ O ~ B O tH w a „ «3 o a W E- o M C CU .1^ Ui E- Sfi ^X^< pa ib E- -ea pa ' to E- O vo iS5 ri s '2 £ M S3 ? •< . E- <7_ is Q- nfl o tfl < >x 'cu X :«€ o tfl V '2 8 w 3 >3 v< _H- 'a i s c < 5 X . — ,vt> ^ s ^2 Q. ,-ffl tfl X E- pa CLASS IIL-INDO-EUEOPEAN LANGUAGES. C. SCLAVONIC FAMILY. SCLAVONIC. FOR SPECIMEN OE THE SCLAVONIC VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. The Sclavonic nations, generally supposed to be descended from the ancient Sarmate or Sauromatas, are frequently mentioned by the Byzantine historians under the various appeUations of Slavi, Antae, Vandales, Veneti, and Vendes. They now occupy more than one-third of Europe, and number upwards of 60.000,000 individuals. Various dialects prevail among this great family of tribes, but the lituroic or old church dialect, in which the ancient Sclavonic version of the Scriptures and the Liturgy of the Eussian Church are written, is now extinct: it is elevated to the rank of a sacred language, and in Bussia is employed exclusively for ecclesiastical purposes, and in public worship. It is impossible, at this distance of time, to ascertain with any degree of precision by what tribe or tribes this ancient dialect was spoken, or in what region it was vernacular; but as Cyril and Methodius, the great apostles of the Sclavonians, laboured among the Servians, Moravians, and Carniolans, there can be little doubt that the version prepared by them for the edification of these tribes was written in the idiom then most generally understood among them. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. The old Sclavonic dialect, as exhibited in the specimen given, was at one time imagined to be the original idiom of this family, and the parent of all modern Sclavonic dialects. More accurate investigation, however, has proved that it was only one of the dialects spoken by these tribes during the ninth century: notwithstanding its high antiquity and rare perfection of form, it is, therefore, only entitled to rank as an elder dialect of the Sclavonic language. Almost all the elements of the Sclavonic languages, however, enter into its composition, but divested of the foreign admixture which time and political changes have induced in them; hence it is through the medium of this ancient dialect that the original intimate connection of the Sclavonic with the Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin languages can be most clearly traced. But even in this old Sclavonic we see the influence of a heterogeneous idiom, Finnish, Turkish, or Tartar, which acted on it during the long centuries of darkness, when the nomadic tribes to whom it was vernacular were in the steppes of Scythia, among the defiles of Caucasus, or on the shores of the Black Sea. Still, the old Sanscrit type is more faithfully preserved in Sclavonic than in Latin, or even in Greek. " Of three sisters," says Dankovsky, " one kept faithful to her mother tongue — the Sclavonic; the second gave to that common heritage the highest cultivation — the Greek ; and the third mixed the mother tongue with a foreign idiom — the Latin." Like Sanscrit, the old Sclavonic dialect possesses 292 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. three numbers, three genders, and seven cases, a perfect system of prefixes and affixes, and an unlimited power of forming compound words. At the time of the immigration of the Sclaves or Sclavonic tribes from Asia into Europe, the Sclavonic language was probably one. Subsequently, however, it branched off into Eastern and Western dialects; the Eastern spoken by the Russians, Servians or Illyrians, Bulgarians and Croats, Styrians and Carinthians: and the Western by the Slovaks in Hungary, the Czeks in Bohemia, the Wends in Lusatia, the Sorabrians, and the Poles. Those several dialects are again subdivided into an infinity of minor and local idioms; which attest both the richness and the extraordinary flexibility of the Sclavonic language, which is soft, melodious, elegant, and capable of great refinement of expression, and of precision of terms. On account of its affinity with Greek, one of the greatest scholars of our time contends that a knowledge of Sclavonic is of the utmost use in the study of the Greek language, by clearing up difficult passages, and showing the signification of doubtful words. The distinguishing peculiarity of the Sclavonic lies in its method of conjugation. Its verbs are rather deficient in variety of termination, but by means of certain additions in the body of the radical, they can express in their most delicate gradations, not only the moods and tenses, but the different conditions of an action, such as its extent, its actuality, its frequency of occurrence, its accomplishment. III. — ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. It is commonly thought that the Sclavonic tribes possessed no alphabet of their own till the ninth century, when an alphabet, called from the name of the inventor, the Cyrillian, was introduced for the purpose of writing a translation of the Scriptures. This alphabet, however, is merely an adaptation of Greek characters, with additional forms borrowed from the Armenian and other oriental alphabets, to express such Sclavonic articulations as have no existence in Greek. It possesses no less than seven sibilants, all of which are perfectly distinct from each other, and can scarcely be expressed by Roman characters. The consonants I and r are considered as vowels. A farther modification of the Cyrillian alphabet was introduced during the thirteenth century by a monk of Dalmatia; it is called the Glagolitic, and sometimes the Hieronymian, because falsely attributed to Jerome. Several copies of the Sclavonic Scriptures have been written in this character, of which the oldest monument is a Psalter of the thir- teenth century. IV. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The Sclavonic version is a faithful and literal representation of the original Greek text. It was chiefly executed during the ninth century by Cyril and Methodius, the first missionaries to the Sclavonians. The name of the former was properly Constantine, but he assumed the name of Cyril (by which he is more generally known) about forty days before his death. He and his brother Methodius were the sons of Leo, a Greek nobleman of Thessalonica. Cyril, though the younger of the two, was the most noted for his profound knowledge of Scripture and of the writings of the Greek fathers: in his youth he enjoyed the best education as companion to the young Prince Michael, but, undazzled by the prospect of worldly distinction, he withdrew from court, and in a monastery near the shores of the Black Sea prepared himself for the active duties of his laborious career. Methodius originally held an appointment in the army, and afterwards, for the space of ten years, was governor on the Sclavonian frontiers, where he had ample opportunity for the study of the Sclavonian dialects. Pie also retired from public life, and secluded himself for a time in a monastery on Mount Olympus. He then joined his brother in a mission to the Khazars, a Hunnic-Tartaric tribe; and at a subsequent period he accompanied him to Moravia, where they spent four years and a half in translating the Scriptures and instructing the inhabitant in the truths of Christianity. Their next journey was to Rome, where Cyril died. Methodius returned to Moravia, to prosecute the great work which they had jointly commenced; he died in 880. The Sclavonic version is commonly said to have been the joint production of these missionaries, Class III.] SCLAVONIC. 293 but it is uncertain whether all the books of Scripture were translated by them. Nestor, in his Annals, states that " they translated the Apostles (i. e. the Epistles) and the Gospels; and then they also trans- lated the Psalter, the Octateuch, and the other books." It seems most probable that they completed a version of the New Testament and of the Psalms, and that the remaining portions of the sacred volume were added by other hands. It would be difficult, by any other hypothesis, to account for the extreme scarcity and the recent date of MS. copies of the entire Sclavonic Bible; only three such copies are now known to be in existence, and of these, the most ancient bears the date of 1499 : whereas codices of the New Testament, belonging to the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, are frequently to be met with in Russia and other countries. The book of Proverbs is believed to have been translated before, or in, the twelfth century, as the quotations made from it by Nestor agree, on the whole, with the common text. The Prophetical Books and Job were translated, probably in Servia, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century; and the Pentateuch and other books seem to have been trans- lated in the fifteenth century, either in Russia or in Poland. At this latter period the several parts of the Sclavonic Scriptures were for the first time collected into one volume, and arranged in order like those of the Bohemian version which appeared in 1488. The first portion of the Sclavonic version committed to the press was the Psalter, an edition of which appeared in 1491 at Cracow in Poland: a reprint of this book was published in Montenegro, 1495. The first edition of any part of the New Testament consisted of the Four Gospels, printed at Ugrovallachia, 1512. Another edition of the Gospels appeared at Belgrade, 1552, and a third edition in Montenegro, 1562. In 1553, the Czar Ivan Vasilievitch caused a revision of the Sclavonic text to be undertaken, with a view of rectifying the errors which had crept into it through the ignorance or carelessness of tran- scribers. A printing office was established at Moscow by the czar for the purpose ; the direction of the work was confided to Hans Bogbinder, a native of Denmark, and the printing was committed to Ivan FedorofT, deacon of the Hostun Cathedral, and Peter TimofeefF; but owing to a variety of obstacles the printing did not actually commence till ten years afterwards, and in 1564 appeared the first fruits of the typographical art in Russia, consisting of the Acts, the Catholic and the Pauline Epistles, taken, no doubt, from the best MSS. that could be then obtained in Moscow. Although executed under the immediate patronage of the czar, much hostility was excited by the appearance of this work ; the printers were accused of heresy and magic, and were compelled to flee the country. FedorofT took refuge in Leopolstadt, where he republished the Acts and Epistles in 1573, and TimofeefF settled in Wilna, where he printed an edition of the Sclavonic Gospels in 1575. In 1577, an edition of the Psalms issued from the Moscow press; and about the same period Constantine, Duke of Ostrog, formed the noble design of publishing an edition of the entire Scriptures at his own expense, as the most effectual means of silencing the controversies then in agitation between the Greek and Roman Churches. In order to secure the accuracy of the text, the duke made an extensive collection of Sclavonic MSS. He also caused the Sclavonic text to be collated with that of versions in other languages; but so many discrepancies were brought to light by this collation, that those who were hostile to the undertaking endeavoured to persuade the benevolent projector to abandon his design. So far, however, from yielding to despondency, he was only stimulated by these difficulties to greater perseverance, " in the certain hope that, by the divine blessing on his efforts, he should be enabled eventually to surmount them all." He therefore wrote to Italy, Greece, Servia, Bulgaria, and Constantinople, requesting that individuals skilled in the Greek and Sclavonic tongues might be sent to him, bringing with them the best-accredited copies of the sacred text. In compliance with this request, many learned men resorted to Ostrog; and after the necessary collations and corrections had been effected, the first edition of the Sclavonic New Testament was printed in 1580, accompanied with the Psalms. It was printed by FedorofT, the deacon originally employed by the czar at Moscow. In 1581, the first edition of the Sclavonic Bible left the Ostrog press. The editors did not 294 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III merely adopt the text of trie Moscow edition, but consulted the Greek MSS. which had been brought for the purpose from Greece ; and it is probable that the text of this edition was also compared with other versions. The peculiar characteristics of the Sclavonic version may be concisely enumerated as follows, in the words of Dobrovsky: — 1. The Sclavonic version is very literally translated from the Greek, the Greek construction being frequently retained where it is contrary to the genius of the Sclavonian ; and it resembles in general the most ancient MSS. 2. In the Gospels it agrees with the Codex Stephani rj (L. at Paris), more frequently than with any other Greek MS. 3. In the Catholic Epistles it agrees in general with the Codex Alexandrinus, and frequently in the Revelation. 4. In the Acts, and in the Epistles of St. Paul, it agrees in general with the most ancient MSS. ; but sometimes with one, some- times with another, yet most frequently with Wetstein's Codex E. (Codex Laudianus at Oxford). 5. Of the readings adopted by Griesbach in the text of his Greek Testament, the Sclavonian version has at least three-fourths. 6. Where the united evidence of ancient MSS. is against the common printed reading, the Sclavonic version agrees with the ancient MSS. 7. It has not been altered from the Vulgate, as some have supposed, though the fact is in itself almost incredible. 8. It varies from the text of Theophylact in as many instances as they agree; and their coincidence is to be ascribed, not to an alteration from Theophylact, but to the circumstance that both Theophylact and the author of the Sclavonic version used the same edition of the original Greek. 9. The Sclavonic version has but few readings peculiar to itself, or what the critics call " lectiones singulares." The controverted passage, 1 John v. 7, is not found in any MS. of the Sclavonic version, and was therefore omitted in the Ostrog edition. In the second edition of the Bible, published 1633, it obtained a place in the margin, where it was probably inserted on the authority of the Textus Receptus. In all modern editions, however, it is admitted into the text. Between the years 1581 and 1633 (the dates of the first and second editions of the Sclavonic Bible), seven editions of the entire New Testament, besides several reprints of the Gospels and Epistles, were published at Evie, near Wilna, at Wilna itself, at Kief, and other places. All these editions are of extreme rarity. The edition of the Bible of 1633 appeared at Moscow; it was projected by the Patriarch Nicon: but that learned man took no part in its emendation. It was professedly corrected with care, but only a few of the typographical faults of the former edition were removed; and such alterations as were introduced were trifling, and of little moment. In consequence of the numerous errors by which these two editions of the Sclavonic Bible were disfigured, a new translation was undertaken at the command of the czar, by Epiphanius Slavinetzky, a learned monk : he was appointed to prepare the work, in concert with other monks, under the eye of the metropolitan, and a solitary but agreeable retreat near Moscow was assigned to the company of translators. A rough copy of a version of the New Testament was just completed, when the death of the metropolitan arrested the progress of the work, and the design was completely relinquished. No farther steps were taken in the revision or printing of the Sclavonic Bible till the reign of Peter the Great. In the year 1712, that monarch issued an ukase, ordering the printed Sclavonic text to be carefully compared with the Greek of the Septuagint, and rendered in every respect conformable to it. Certain learned monks were appointed to execute this work, and were directed, on all doubtful points, to abide by the decision of Jaborsky, a dignitary of great eloquence and erudition, who after- wards rose to be president of the Holy Synod. While this work was in progress, Peter the Great caused an edition of the Sclavonic New Testament to be printed in parallel columns with the Dutch version, with the view, no doubt, of familiarising his subjects with the language of Holland, and of thus creating a closer connection between the two countries. This edition is now very scarce; a great discrepancy is observable in the space taken up by the two columns, the Dutch language not admitting of that conciseness with which the Sclavonic has imitated the original. A corresponding edition of the Old Testament, in parallel columns with the Dutch, was also projected by Peter; but it was never Class III. J EUSSIAN. 295 printed, on account of the numerous discrepancies between the two versions, the one having been executed from the Hebrew, and the other from the Greek. An additional obstacle to this edition arose from the difference in the order of the books, and from the rejection of the Apocrypha by the Dutch. The revision of the Sclavonic version occupied nearly twelve years, and was not completed till the year 1723. In the beginning of the following year, Peter the Great ordered the revised copy to be put to the press; but his death during the course of that year greatly retarded the progress ol publication. Other obstacles, and the opposition of some of the members of the synod, occasioned still further delay, and it was not till 1751 that this revised edition was published. It was printed at St. Petersburg in a ponderous folio form, containing, besides the text, long and elaborate prefaces, with tables of contents, and other useful additions. This edition has served as the basis of all subsequent ones. Between the year of its publication and the year 1816, when the first stereotype edition printed by the Russian Bible Society left the press, not fewer than twenty-one impressions of the whole Sclavonic Bible, besides numerous editions of the New Testament, were put into circulation. The total number of Sclavonic Bibles and New Testaments issued by the Russian Bible Society, during the ten years of its active existence, amounts to 205,546. RUSSIAN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE EUSSIAJST VEESION, see Plate 6, page 291. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Russian empire, in point of extent, exceeds the most famous empires of antiquity, and numerous languages and dialects are spoken within its confines. The Russian language is vernacular in by far the greater part of European Russia, a vast territory, which includes an area of 2,000,000 English square miles, with a population which exceeds 60,000,000. The superficial extent of the entire empire has been estimated by Hassel at 372,935, and by Ivceppen at 364,388 German geographical square miles (equal to between 7 and 8,000,000 of English square miles). The Sclavonic portion of the population has been computed at nearly 46,000,000, or about three-fourths of the whole. The national religion of Russia is the Russo-Greek Church : since the time of Peter the Great the reigning emperor has been the acknowledged head of this Church, and all ecclesiastical affairs are under the direction of a synod appointed by him. The ritual is contained in twenty folio volumes, composed in the Old Sclavonic language. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Russian is the principal of the numerous languages and dialects which derive their origin from the Old Sclavonic. It was originally the dialect of the Antes, a Sclavonic people who, about the seventh or eighth century of our era, settled in the country now called Russia, and drove out the Schudi, or Finns, the previous occupiers of that vast territory. In 864, the Russian monarchy was founded by Ruric, a Scandinavian prince : he assumed the reins of government at the solicitation of the Antes, but his Scandinavian followers were too few in number to exert any perceptible influence on the language of his new subjects. Other idioms have, however, commingled more freely with it; and Finnish, Greek, Mongolian, Tartar, Polish, Dutch, German, and French words enter plentifully into its composition. These heterogeneous elements, while they add to the richness of the vocabulary, in no wise 296 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass III. detract from the native symmetry of the Russian tongue. It is one of the most flexible of languages, and possesses in a remarkable degree the property of assimilating foreign words, employing them as roots; whence, by its own resources, it raises stems and branches. Even now, in proportion to the increasing civilisation of the people, the stores of the language are being increased by continual accessions from foreign sources. The most prominent grammatical features of the Old Sclavonic language are reproduced in the Russian, a circumstance which no doubt arises partly from the original connection between the two languages, and partly from the influence of the older idiom on the Russian ; for simultaneously with the introduction of Christianity in the tenth century, the Old Sclavonic was adopted in Russia as its liturgical and ecclesiastical language. The resemblance of Russian composition to that of the Latin is also very striking, and the hypothesis has even been started that Latin was originally a dialect of the Sclavonic, but this is simply because both have considerable affinity with the Sanscrit. Russian nouns possess three genders, two numbers, and seven cases, all of which (except the nominative and the vocative) are distinguished by different terminations: by means of these cases the transposition of words is often carried to a great extent in the construction of sentences, without occasioning ambiguity. The Russian language exceeds even the Italian in its immense stock of diminutives and augmentatives ; every noun has at least two augmentatives and three diminutives, and some have even more. On the other hand the number of conjunctions is extremely limited, but this deficiency rather tends to impart clearness of expression, by preventing the formation of long, involved sentences. Considering the vast extent of territory through which the Russian language is diffused, its provincial or dialectical variations are remarkably few in number. In fact, it has been observed, that an inhabitant of Archangel and one of Astracan, meeting at Moscow, would understand each other; and this conformity of language between provinces so remote is attributed to the use of the Old Sclavonic throughout Russia in the services of the Church. The Russian language admits but of two principal divisions, namely, Great Russian, the literary and official language of the nation, spoken in Moscow and the northern parts of the empire, and Little or Malo-Russian, which contains many obsolete forms of expression, and is predominant in the south of European Russia, especially towards the east. To these may be added the idiom of the Russniaks, spoken in the east of Galicia and the north-east of Hungary, which, though differing slightly in pronunciation, is essentially the same as the Malo-Russian; and the White Russian, or Polish Russian, spoken by the common people in parts of Lithuania and in White Russia. The characters used in writing Russian are a modification of the Old Sclavonian or Cyrillic. They were slightly altered in form by Peter the Great, and their number was reduced by him to thirty-four; since his time they have been subjected to few changes. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The earliest Russian version of the Scriptures was written in White Russian, a semi-Polish dialect, which arose in the beginning of the sixteenth century, in consequence of the connection then subsisting between Poland and Russia. Part of the Old Testament belonging to this version was printed at Prague in 1517-19; the Acts and Epistles appeared at Wilna, 1525. We have no information as to the circumstances under which this translation was executed. All that we now know about the trans- lator is, that his name was Skorina, that he was a doctor of medicine, and that he was born at Polotsk, and completed his version at Wilna. Certain portions only of his translation have as yet been dis- covered, but it is evident, from his prefaces to some of the books, that he translated, or intended to translate, the entire Scriptures. He drew his version from the Vulgate, but in particular passages he followed the readings of the Sclavonic, or of the Septuagint, whence it is derived. At the close of the seventeenth century, another attempt was made to produce a version of the Scriptures in the language then commonly spoken in Russia. The promoter of this version was Ernest Gliick, a native of Saxony, dean of the Lutheran Church in Livonia. The success which attended his translation of the Scriptures into the Lettish language, induced him to attempt a Class III.] RUSSIAN. 297 Eussian version from the Old Sclavonic text, and he employed an aged Eussian priest to assist in the preparation of the work. Unhappily the translation was destroyed, with the whole of Gliick's MSS. and library, at the siege of Marienburg, in 1702, and he appears to have made no effort to recom- mence the work. The version most widely circulated in Eussia was prepared under the immediate auspices of the Eussian Bible Society. On the first formation of the Society, in 1813, great doubts were entertained as to the possibility of obtaining a version in the language of the people, on account of the prejudices of the clergy, and the veneration with which the Old Sclavonic version was regarded by all ranks of the community. In the beginning of the year 1816, copies of the versions printed by the Society in the languages spoken in distant parts of the empire were laid before the emperor, and he was much struck at perceiving that, while so many barbarous tribes had been thus put in possession of the oracles of God, " his own Russians still remained destitute of the boon mercifully designed to be freely com- municated to all." At his instigation, an order was immediately forwarded through the president of the Society to the Holy Synod, enjoining the translation of the New Testament into Modern Euss. The Synod acquiesced in the imperial mandate, and some of the most competent individuals connected with the spiritual academy of St. Petersburg were appointed to prepare a version : their work, when completed, was submitted for revision to the clerical members of the Bible Society, and, after three years had been devoted to the undertaking, an edition of the Four Gospels was struck off, in parallel columns with the Sclavonic text. Such was the demand for this work, that two editions, consisting of 15,000 copies, were issued during the course of the same year, and during the following year 50,000 copies of the Gospels and Acts were printed and circulated. The first edition of the entire New Testament did not appear till 1823; it was printed without the accompaniment of the Sclavonic text. Eight months afterwards it was carefully stereotyped, and 20,000 copies struck off for immediate distribution, and other editions followed in quick succession from the Society's printing office at St. Petersburg. This version, although not exempt from verbal errors and omissions, ranks among the best of modern translations; it was executed from Greek MSS., and contains many indications of the critical spirit of research which characterises the nineteenth century. With respect to the Eussian version of the Old Testament, the first portion translated by command of the emperor was the Psalms, the chief preparation of which devolved on the Eev. Dr. Pavsky, of the cathedral of St. Petersburg, the first Hebrew scholar in the empire. The first edition appeared in 1822, and consisted of 15,000 copies; yet so great was the demand, that within the space of two years no less than 100,000 copies left the press. This version was peculiarly acceptable in Eussia, on account of its being drawn immediately from the Hebrew text, whereas the Old Sclavonic, which it in a great measure superseded, was derived, as above stated, from the Septuagint. The translation of the other books of the Old Testament from the Hebrew proceeded under the direction of the spiritual academies of St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kief; and an edition to consist of 10,000 copies of the Pentateuch, and the books of Joshua, Judges, and Euth, was subsequently undertaken. In 1826, however, the Eussian Bible Society was suspended by the ukase of the emperor Nicholas, and little intelligence has been obtained since that period concerning the circulation of the Bible in Eussia. So far as regards the distribution of this version, the laborious efforts of Henderson, Pinkerton, and Paterson, in promoting the organisation of the Society and preparation of the version, are now utterly fruitless; for the Society is virtually dissolved, and all its printing operations arrested. The admission of the Scriptures in the Modern Eussian tongue is still strictly forbidden by the authorities, acting under the influence of the Greek Church. The educated classes in Eussia are generally acquainted with French and German, and sometimes even English, and in these languages they can obtain copies of the Bible. But all the Eussian Testaments printed by the Society have been dis- tributed, and as another edition cannot for the present be obtained, the Eussian peasantry are debarred from the privilege of studying the Word of God. The only substitute they possess consists of two small volumes of scriptural extracts, set forth by the government, in the modern language. These 298 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. extracts consist of selections from Scripture, printed without note or comment; and as they point out the way of salvation through faith in the work of the Redeemer, they may be used as the means of awakening some to the knowledge of the truth. POLISH. SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. I Na poczatku bylo Slowo, a ono Slowo byio u Boga, a Bogiem byio ono Stowo. 2 To bylo na poczatku u Boga. 3 Wszystkie rzeczy przez nie sie c staly, a bez niego nic siq nie stalo, co sie stalo. 4 W niem byr zywot, a zywot byl ona^ swiatloscia ludska_. 5 A ta swiatlosc w ciemnosciach swieci, a ciemnosci iey nie ogarneiy. 6 Byf czlowiek poslany od Boga, ktoremu imie c bylo Ian. 7 Ten przyszedl na swiadectwo, aby swiadczyl o tey swiatlosci, aby przezen wszyscy uwierzyli. 8 Nie byici on ta c swiatlosci^, ale przyszedl, aby swiadczyl o tey swiatlosci. 9 Tenci byi ta c prawd- ziwa^ swiatloscia,,, ktora oswieca kazdego czlowieka, przychodza^ego na swiat. 10 Na swiecie byl, a swiat przezen uczyniony iest; ale go swiat nie poznal. II Do swey wiasnosci przyszedl, ale go wlasni iego nieprzyieli. 12 Lecz ktorzy go kolwiek przyieli, dal im tq moc, aby sie t stali synami Bozymi, to iest, tym, ktorzy wierza w imie^ iego ; 13 Ktorzy nie z krwi, ani z woli ciaia, ani z woli meia, ale z Boga narodzeni sa,. u A to Slowo cialem sie t stalo, i mieszkalo mie t dzy nami, (i widzielismy chwale^ iego, chwaiq iako iednorodzonego od oyca,) peine raski i prawdy. I Na pocza c tku bylo Slowo, a Srowo bylo u Boga, a Bogiem bylo Slowo. 2 To bylo na poczqtku u Boga. 3 Wszystko sie^ przez nie stalo : a bez niego nic sie^ nie stalo, co siq stalo. 4 W nim byl zywot, a zywot byl swiatlosci^ ludzi : 5 A swiatlosc w ciemnosciach swieci, a ciemnosci iey nie ogarneiy. 6 Byl cztowiek poslany od Boga, ktoremu imie_ bylo Jan. 7 Ten przyszedl na swiadectwo : aby swiadczyl o swiatlosci, aby przezen wszyscy wierzyli. 8 Nie bylci on swiatto- sciaj ale izby swiadczyl o swiatlosci. 9 Bylac swiat- losc prawdziwa, ktora oswieca wszelkiego czlowieka na ten swiat przychodzacego. 10 Na swiecie byl, i swiat iest uczynion przezen, a swiat go nie poznal. II Przyszedi do swey wiasnosci, a swoi go nie przyieli. 12 Lecz ktorzy kolwiekprzyieji go, tym dal moc aby sie^ stali synami Bozemi, tym ktorzy wierza^ w imie, iego. 13 Ktorzy nie ze krwie, ani z woli ciala, -ani z woli meza, ale z Boga siq narodzili. u A Slowo cialem siq, stalo, i mieszkalo miqdzy nami i widzie- lismy chwale„ iego, chwaie, iako iednorodzonego od Oyca, pelnego laski i prawdy. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Since the partition of Poland, the Polish language has been diffused, by means of the Polish refugees, through several countries of Europe. About two-thirds of this once powerful kingdom belong to Russia, the remainder is divided between Austria and Prussia. The total amount of the Polish population is generally computed at about ten millions, of whom by far the greater number are Roman Catholics. II. — CHARACTERISTICS of the language. The Lekhes, by whom the Polish language was originally spoken, were a Sclavonic race akin to the Tchekhes of Bohemia: great affinity consequently prevails between the Polish and Bohemian languages. Many Germanisms occur in Polish, but the construction of the language resembles that of the classical tongues, and Polish prose is formed on the model of the Latin. To a foreigner, Polish appears more repulsive and difficult than any other Sclavonic language. This arises partly from the artificial nature of its grammatical system, but principally from the variety of shades in the pronun- ciation of the vowels, and from the numerous and peculiar combinations of the consonants; as well as Class III.] POLISH. 299 from the peculiar nasal sounds, not found in other Sclavonic dialects, which are prevalent in Polish. Gothic characters are sometimes used in writing Polish, but the Latin are more frequently employed ; and it is to the disuse of the proper Sclavonic characters, and the adoption of an alphabet inadequate to express the sounds of the language, that many of the peculiarities of Polish orthography are to be attributed. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. A translation of the Scriptures into Polish is said, by competent authorities, to have been made prior to a.d. 1390, by order of Queen Hedwig, the first wife of Jagello. A translation of the Psalms, spoken of by Czacki, is thought to have formed part of this version; and the entire Bible, which belonged to Sophia, fourth queen of Jagello, may possibly have been a copy of it. The few biblical fragments now extant are of little use in determining this question, and are not considered of much value. Since the middle of the sixteenth century no fewer than six different Polish versions have been executed. The first in order of time was a translation of the New Testament, made by Seklucyan, a Lutheran, and competent Greek scholar: it was printed at Konigsberg in 1551, and was thrice reprinted before 1555. Several translations were afterwards made of the Psalms, but the first version of the entire Old Testament appeared at Cracow in 1561. It was translated from the Vulgate by Leonard, and was reprinted in 1575, and again in 1577. Although designed for Koman Catholics, it never received the sanction of the pope, because many passages had been taken from the Bohemian Bible. It is familiarly known as the " Old Cracow Bible," and copies are now very rare. The New Testament of this version first appeared at Cracow in 1556. The Radzivil Bible appeared at Brzesc in 1563. It was executed from the original texts by an anonymous translator for the Calvinists: it only passed through one edition, for prince Radzivil, at whose expense it had been made and printed, died soon after its publication, and his son, who was a Catholic, carefully bought up the copies, and burnt them. The Socinian Bible, translated by Budny, a Unitarian clergyman, from the original text3, was published at Nieswicz, in Lithuania, in 1570, and was reprinted at the same place in 1572. Only three copies of this version are extant. The Authorised Polish Bible was first printed at Cracow in 1599. It was designed for the Roman Catholics, and was sanctioned by Clement VIII. It is accounted one of the best European translations from the Vulgate, the language being pure and classical, though in some places slightly antiquated. The translator was Jacob Wuyck. Two other editions followed in 1740 and 1771, but the three editions did not comprise above 3000 copies. The Dantzic Bible, translated by Paliurus, Wengierscius, and Micolaievius, from the original texts, was set forth by the Reformed Church at Dantzic in 1632. This Bible had passed through six editions before the British and Foreign Bible Society commenced its operations; but these six editions did not probably comprise above 7000 copies, of which at least 3000 copies were bought up and destroyed by the Jesuits. In 1808, an edition of the Polish Scriptures was projected by the Berlin Bible Society, with the encouragement and aid of the Parent Society. The text selected was that of the Dantzic edition, which, after careful examination, was pronounced the best Polish translation that could be procured. The edition was completed in 1810, and consisted of 8000 Bibles and 4000 additional New Testaments. An edition of 5000 New Testaments, from the text of Jacob Wuyck, was commenced by the St. Petersburg Bible Society in 1813, and the principal inspection of the press was undertaken by the metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia. Other editions from both of the above texts have been issued by the Continental Bible Societies, with the aid of the Parent Society. Dr. Pinkerton, in his " Russia," states that the number of copies printed for the St. Petersburg Bible Society was 7000 Polish Bibles and 16,000 Testaments. The total number of copies printed by the British and 300 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Foreign Bible Society up to the end of 1859, is 34,902 Bibles, and 84,509 Testaments, together with 42,020 copies of the New Testament and Psalms. The great hindrance to the diffusion of the Scriptures at the present time in Poland is the policy of Russia; for as two-thirds of Poland belong to that extensive empire, it is almost wholly subjected to the political influences by which the free circulation of the sacred volume is impeded in all the other portions of the Russian territories. BOHEMIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 9la pocatfu fcijl'o o froel)o njl'aflnitjo jmffel', ale wl'ajbii getyo ne^rigali t)o. 12 Jtterjj paf folt prtgali geg, bal' gtm moc fsml) Sojjmi 6i)ti, (totij) tent, Sterjj njerj we gmeno getyo ; 13 Jlterjj ne je Erroe, ani j wule tel'a, ani j wule muje, ale g 23of)a ^I'ogeni fau. u % ©I'oioo to tH'o octneno geft a pteoijroai'o nte^ ndtui, (a nribelt fme fl'awu geljo, fl'awu gato$to gebnorogene'^o ob ©tee,) #ne mU'ofij a prawbg. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Bohemia, a country exceeding 20,000 English square miles in area, and situated nearly in the heart of Europe, forms an important section of the Austrian empire. The number of inhabitants amounts to 4,800,000, of whom 3,000,000 are Tchekhes, and speak the Bohemian language: the remaining part of the population is composed principally of Germans. An attempt was made during the last century to abolish the Bohemian language, and German teachers were introduced into all the schools of Bohemia; but a language which, during the long ages of papal superstition, had been used as almost the only organ of truth, was not permitted to be thus suppressed. A reaction took place in its favour, and of late years Bohemian literature has been sedulously cultivated, although in all society German is the language of intercourse, even among those who profess to uphold the Bohemian language. A dialect of this language is spoken in Moravia ; and about two millions of Slovaks in the north-west of Hungary employ Bohemian as their literary medium, although they speak a distinct dialect. Bohemia has justly been called the cradle of the Reformation: yet it is now one of the strongholds of Roman Catholicism, and the descendants of those who shed their blood in defence of their religious liberty are generally distinguished by the superstitious zeal with which they adhere to the form of religion forced on them by the swords of the Austrians. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. Bohemian is chiefly distinguished from other Slavic languages by the peculiarity of its pronun- ciation, which however, is not so harsh and disagreeable as that of the Polish. In common with them it possesses a number of sibilants, and in many instances it has imparted a hissing sound to the German, Greek, and Latin words which have entered in great abundance into its vocabulary. About three- Class III.] BOHEMIAN. 301 fourths of the words composing the Polish and Bohemian language are derived from the same roots, but in point of grammatical construction Bohemian approximates most closely to the Russian, and is a pretty and comparatively easy dialect of the Sclavonic. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES -IN THIS LANGUAGE. The greater part of a Bohemian version of the Scriptures appears to have been extant at the close of the fourteenth century: several translations of the Psalms, and a version of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, and of the Sunday Lessons from the Gospels, ascribed to that century, are still preserved in MS. in the libraries of Vienna, Prague, and Oels in Silesia. Ann, queen of Richard II. of England, is well known to have possessed Bibles, Latin, German, and Bohemian. The various books of Scripture were read and circulated in Bohemia, in separate portions, until the time of Huss and Jerome of Prague, the martyrs of the fifteenth century. About the time that Huss began to preach against the evils of the Roman Church, the several portions of Scripture that had been translated into Bohemian were for the first time collected together. It is uncertain whether Huss assisted in forming this collection, or whether he caused any portion of the sacred volume to be translated anew. After his martyrdom in 1415, copies of this Bible were greatly multiplied by his followers. Many copies were written by women, and the scriptural knowledge of the Taborite women is noticed by iEneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II. : he remarked that " it was a shame to the Italian priests that many of them had never read the whole of the New Testament, whilst scarcely a woman could be found among the Bohemians (or Taborites) who could not answer any questions respecting either the Old or New Testament." From A.D. 1410 to 1488 (when this Bible was first printed), no less than four different recensions of the entire Scriptures can be distinctly traced, and many more of the New Testament. About thirty-three copies of the whole Bible, and twenty-two of the New Testament, written during this period, are still extant; and of these some are copied from each other, and some appear to have been translated anew, but all have evidently been executed from the Vulgate. The edition of this Bohemian Bible published by the United Brethren in 1488 furnishes the first instance on record of the application of the newly-invented art of printing to the multiplication of the Scriptures in a living tongue. From the date of this publication to the year 1804, fourteen editions of this version left the press. Between the years 1579 and 1593, a version of the Scriptures, executed by the United or Moravian Brethren from the original texts, was published in six quarto volumes at Kralitz, in Moravia. Fourteen translators are said to have been engaged on this splendid work, and the whole was published at the expense of the Baron John Zerotimus. Schaffarik has remarked con- cerning this translation, and the notes that accompanied it, " that they contain a great deal of that which, two hundred years later, the learned coryphaei of exegesis exhibited to the world as their own profound discoveries." In addition to the two versions above mentioned, a translation of the entire Scriptures from the Vulgate into Bohemian was published in 1804, by Prochazka and Durich: the New Testament of this version had appeared in 1786. A translation of the Old Testament, executed by Wartowsky from the Hebrew, still exists in MS., but has never been printed. The design of issuing an edition of the Bohemian Bible was entertained by the Berlin Bible Society as early as 1805. The current of political events, however, impeded the progress of the edition, which was not completed till 1807. It consisted of 3000 copies, all of which were put into circulation in little more than twelve months. In 1808, an edition of the Bible, carefully printed from the text of 1593, was edited by Professor Palkovitch, of Hungary, with a list of words that had become obsolete since the translation was made. Owing to the poverty of the country, about 100 copies only got into circulation till 1812, when the stock in hand was purchased for distribution by the Bible Society. Up to the end of 1859, 35,000 copies of the Bible, and 26,000 Testaments, had been published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in this language, exclusive of the many large editions published at Berlin by its aid; but the results of this extensive distribution have not yet been fully manifested. 302 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Bishop Fabricius alone was stated to have brought into circulation 7,200 Bibles and 40,000 Testaments, and they appear to have been anxiously sought for, and well received. l SERYIAN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE SERVIAN VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Servia Proper is a principality nominally dependent upon the Turkish empire, situated on the Danube, south of the Hungarian provinces of Sclavonia and the Banat. In proportion to the region through which the Servian language, in its various dialects, is diffused, Servia itself is but a small territory: it comprises an area of about 25,000 square miles, and a population of about 1,000,000, whereas the total number of individuals by whom (as we shall hereafter have occasion to mention) the Servian language is spoken, amounts at least to 5,000,000. It is vernacular, with some diversity of idiom and pronunciation, in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Dalmatia, Sclavonia, and part of Croatia. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Servian is more akin to the Russian and Wendish than to the Bohemian and Polish languages. It approximates, however, more closely to the Old Sclavonic than, to any modern idiom, and thus appears to corroborate the generally received opinion, that the elder dialect was the vernacular language of the original Sclavonic settlers in Servia, and that Modern Servian is merely a corruption of it. The Servian chiefly differs from the Old Sclavonic language in the disuse of certain terminations, and in the adoption of many Turkish words. In point of construction, the language has of late years been altered and modified, so as to resemble the Russian. It is rich in vowels, and free from the accumulations of consonants, which render the other Sclavonic tongues so harsh to the ear of a foreigner. Its chief characteristic is the softness of its sound. In comparing the various Sclavonic languages, Schaffarik has said, fancifully but truly, " Servian song resembles the tone of the violin; Old Sclavonic, that of the organ; Polish, that of the guitar. The Old Sclavonic, in its Psalms, sounds like the loud rush of the mountain stream; the Polish like the bubbling and sparkling of a fountain; and the Servian, like the quiet murmuring of a streamlet in the valley." It is the most regular, and perhaps also the most agreeable, of all the Sclavonic dialects. 1 A recent endeavour on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society to disseminate the Scriptures in the Provinces of the Austrian Empire has resulted in failure, owing to the decisive and bigoted opposition on the part of the ruling powers — prompted here, as elsewhere, by the denunciations of the Romish priesthood. In 1850 and 1851, the Society's agent at Vienna commenced the printing of several editions, in the Bohemian as well as the German and Hungarian languages. His efforts were crowned with such success, that during the first six months of his resi- dence, he dispersed 6965 volumes. After a time, however, the depots at Guns, Pesth, and Vienna, were summarily closed by the police; and an order made by the government to have all the copies of the Scriptures on hand sent out of the country, was rigorously enforced. Two hundred and four bales, and one hundred and twenty-five cases, con- taining, either bound or in sheets, 58,087 copies of Bibles and Testaments, were accordingly, under the charge of a detachment of gens d'armes, conveyed beyond the frontiers of the Austrian territory, amidst the unavailing tears and sighs of tens of thousands of the people, waiting for and anxious to possess the precious volumes, of which they were so mercilessly bereft ! Class III] SERVIAN. 803 III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The language of Cyril and Methodius being more intelligible to the Servians than to any other members of the Sclavonic family, the ancient Sclavonic version was, till a comparatively recent period, the only translation of the Scriptures read and circulated among them. A translation of the Octateuch into Servian is said to have been printed in 1493, at Zenta, in Herzegovina, but it is probable that the language of this version approached nearer to the Old Sclavonic than to the modern idiom. The attention of the British and Foreign Bible Society was first drawn to the necessity of furnishing Servia with a version intelligible to the mass of the people by a communication from Mr. Kopitar, of Vienna, addressed in 1815 to the Committee, through the Baron de Sacy, of Paris. A Servian, by name Vuc Stephanovitch, the author of the first Servian grammar and dictionary, having agreed with Mr. Kopitar to prepare the translation, the proposal was referred to Dr. Pinkerton, then at St. Peters- burg; and as it was ascertained, after due inquiry, that Stephanovitch was fully qualified for the work, the Committee resolved to undertake an edition of the New Testament in Servian. The trans- lation was executed from the Old Sclavonic version, compared with the original Greek, and, when completed, was sent to St. Petersburg, whence it was forwarded for revision to the Bessarabian Committee. Many alterations were effected in it during the process of revision, and it was not till 1 824 that the edition was completed at press. As this translation was written in the common dialect of the people, many objections were raised against it by those who preferred a more elevated style, bearing a stricter conformity to the Old Sclavonic idioms. Soon after the appearance of this version, Professor Stoikovitch, the author of several Russian and Servian works, was appointed by a committee at St. Petersburg to prepare a new translation, designed, in point of diction, to hold a middle course between the forms of speech in common familiar use, and the more ancient and classical phraseology of the language. The Professor took the former version as the basis of his work, which, when completed, was printed at St. Petersburg. When a second edition of the New Testament became necessary for Servia, the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society took some pains to ascertain which translation was the more acceptable to the people. On reference to native authorities, it was found that Professor Stoikovitch's version was generally preferred to the other. It was therefore adopted as the text of an edition of 2000 copies, published for the British and Foreign Bible Society at Leipsic, in 1830. Subsequent editions have been issued by the Society, amounting in the total, up to the end of 1858, to 9000 copies. The Old Testament has not yet been translated into Servian. 304 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. CROATIAN, OE DALMATIAN-SERVIAN. SPECIMEN, EKOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. [U. Budimu, 1831.] U poesetku bishe ries, i ries bishe kod Boga, i Bog bishe ries. 2 Ovabislie upoesetku kod Boga. 3 Svase po njoj ucsinishe, i brez nje ucsinihshe nishta, shtose ucsinih, 4 U njoj bishe xivot, a xivot bishe svitlost ljuclih: 5 A svitlost u tminam' sviti, a tmineju ne obajashe. 6 Bih csovik poslan od Boga, komu ime bishe Ivan. 7 Ovi dojde za svidvesbu, dabi svi virovali ponjemu. 8 Ne bishe on svitlost, nego dabi svidocsbu ucsinio od svitlosti. 9 Bishe svitlost istinita, koja prosvitljuje svakog' csovika dolazecheg' na ovi svit. 10 Na svitu bishe, i svitse po njemu ucsinih, a svitga nepoynade. 11 U vlastita dojde, i svoiga ne primishe. 12 A kolikogodga primishe, dadeim oblast da budu sinovi Boxji, onim', koi viruju u ime njegovo. 13 Koi ne od kervih, niti od volje muxa, negosu od Boga rodjeni. The Servian language, as we have already mentioned, is spoken, with a few provincial deviations, in Dalmatia, and in Military or Austrian Croatia, comprising the districts of Carlstadt and Varasdin, which collectively may contain a population of about 1,300,000. The Sclavonic dialects spoken in that part of Europe blend into one another, in many neighbourhoods, and are often not easily distinguishable in their relative purity. The only real line of demarcation between the language of Servia Proper and Dalmatian- Servian, lies in their respective alphabetical systems. The Servians belong, almost without exception, to the Greek Church, and therefore use the Russian modification of the venerable characters in which the Old Sclavonic version is written. The Dalmatians and Croatians, on the other hand, having received instruction in the Christian religion originally from Latin priests, belong, in general, to the Roman Catholic Church, and use the Latin alphabet. The Glagolitic letters (probably so called from the Sclavonic Glagol, a word or verb,) were formerly employed in Dalmatia in writing Old Sclavonic, as well as the modern idiom: they are a clumsy imitation of the Cyrillic alphabet, and, except occasionally for ecclesiastical purposes, have now fallen into disuse. A translation of the Gospels into Dalmatian- Servian, by Bandulovitch, appeared at Venice in 1613, but never obtained much circulation. In 1640, a Jesuit, by name Bartholomew Cassio, had translated the entire Scriptures; but this version was never committed to the press, owing to the opoosition of the bishops. After the lapse of another century, strenuous efforts were made by Stephen Rosa, a Roman Catholic priest, to furnish the Dalmatians with the Bible in their vernacular language. He executed a new translation of the entire Scriptures, and immediately on its completion forwarded it to the pope, with a request that it might be used in all the churches of Dalmatia, instead of the Old Sclavonic version : he urged his suit by arguing, that as the Cyrillic language was an ingredient of the Greek Church, the use of it in sacred things was a species of Greek heresy. The pope referred the subject to the consideration of a committee, appointed by him for the purpose, and in 1754 the translation was formally rejected. At length, in 1832, by the renewed efforts of the Romish Church, and the zealous aid of the deceased primate of Hungary, Cardinal Rudnay, another version of the Scriptures was completed, and was permitted to pass through the press. It was printed in Roman letters, and was at once adopted by the Roman Catholics of Dalmatia and Croatia. This version is a translation from the Vulgate, executed by the Franciscan monk and professor, Katancsich, and rendered conformable in all points to the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. Class III.] CARNIOLAN. 305 CARNIOLAN. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 V'Tim sazhetki je bila Besseda, inu Besseda je bila per Bugu, inu Bug je bil ta Besseda. Taista je bila v'sazhetki per Bugu. Vsse rezhi so skusi toisto sturjene : inu pres teiste ni nizh sturgenu, kar je sturgenu. V'nji je blu to shivlenie, inu to shivlenie je blu ena luzh teh ludy. Inu luzh v'temmi sveiti, inu temme je nisso sapopadle. En zhlovik je bil od Buga poslan, katermu je blu jme Joannes. Taisti je persbal k'prizhuvaniu, de bi prizhuval od te luzhi, de bi vssi skusi niega veruvali. On ny bil ta luzh, temuzh, de bi on od luzhi prizhuval. Je bila ta prava luzh, katera usakiga zhloveka resveti, kir pride na leta sveit. Je bil na sveiti, inu ta sveit je skusi niega sturjen, inu ta sveit ga ny sposnal. On je pershal v'svoje lastnine, inu ti niegovi ga nisso gori vseli, kulikur yh pak je niega gori vselu, tern je on dal oblast, de bi Boshji otrozi postali, tem, kateri v'niegovu ime verujejo. Kateri nisso od te kervy, ne od vole tega messa, ne od vole mosha, temuzh so od Buga rojeni. INV TA BESSEDA JE MESSV POSTAL A. (Tukei se doli poklekne.) Inu je prebivala med nami : Inu my smo nie zhast vidili, eno zhast koker tiga edinurojeniga od Ozheta, polniga gnade, inuresnize. Vsazhetki je bila besseda, inu Besseda je bila per Bugi, inu ta Besseda je bila Bug. Taista je bila vsazhetki per Bugi. Vse rizhy so skusi toisto stur- jene, inu pres teiste nej nishter sturjenu, kar je sturjenu. V'njej je bil ta leben, inu ta leben je bil Luzh teh Ludy, inu taista Luzh vtemmi svejti, inu temme je neso priele. En Zhlovik je bil od Buga poslan, timu je bilu ime Ioannes, taisti je prishal k'prizhovanju, de bi od te Luzhi prizhoval, de bi vsi skusi njega verovali. On nej bil taista Luzh, temuzh de bi on od te Luzhi prizhoval. Taista je bila ta prava Luzh, katera vse Zhloveke resvejti, kir prideo na leta Svejt. Ona je bila na Svejti, inu ta Svejt je skusi njo sturjen, inu Svejt je nej snal. On je prishal vsvojo lastino, inu ty njegovi ga neso gori vseli : Ampek kulikur je nyh njega gori vselu, tem je on dal oblast, de mogo biti Boshji otroci, kateri na njegovu Ime verujo, kateri neso od krij, ni od vole tiga messa, ni od vole eniga Mosha., temuzh od Buga rojeni. Inu taista Besseda je Messu postala, inu je prebivala mej nami, inu my smo nje zhast vidili, eno zhast, kakdr tiga edinurojeniga Synu od Ozheta, polniga Gnade inu Risnice. This dialect is spoken in the Austrian provinces of Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria. In 1857 the population of Carinthia amounted to 332,593; that of Carniola to 457,328; and that of Styria to 1,070,747. Part of this population, however, is composed of Germans; and Eoman Catholicism is the predominant religion. The Carniolan dialect, which bears a strong resemblance to Servian and to Old Sclavonic, has been vernacular in these regions since the fifth century; but it was not embodied in a written form till towards the epoch of the Reformation. Truber, a canon and curate of several places in Carniola and Carinthia, and justly styled the apostle of that nation, was the first to write in their dialect. In the prosecution of his zealous and faithful labours among them, he met with much discouragement and strong opposition, so that at length he was compelled to take refuge with Christopher, duke of Wurtemburg, who had opened an asylum in his dominions for the persecuted. Here Truber completed the translation of the New Testament into Carniolan, which he had commenced some time previously. He translated from the Latin, German and Italian versions, for he was unacquainted with the original Greek. The first portion of his version, consisting of the Gospel of St. Matthew, appeared at Tubingen in 1555, printed in Roman letters; and the entire New Testament was completed at press in 1557. In the preparation of this version, Truber was assisted by Dalmatin, Sonnegg, and other preachers of the Gospel. A system of orthography, totally different to that adopted by Truber, was introduced by Dalmatin in 1561. The Old Testament was also translated by Dalmatin, and an edition of the entire Scriptures in Carniolan was printed under his direction, with the aid of Melanchthon, in 1584, in parallel columns with the German text. This edition was designed for the Protestants of Carinthia and Carniola, who were then very numerous; but they have been exterminated by the Jesuits, and almost all the copies of this edition appear to have been destroyed. A perfect copy of this version is scarcely known to be in existence, but fragments are still extant. A Carniolan version of the Scriptures, for the use of the Roman Catholics, was executed from the Vulgate, by George Japel, and printed at 21 306 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. Laybacli in 1784. The New Testament of this version has been since reprinted. Another Eomanist version is said to have been prepared by Ravnikar, Eoman Catholic professor of theology at Laybacli, about the year 1817. SLO YAK I AN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 12— [W. Osteihome, 1832.] 0151 $oidttu Mo ©torco, a ©towo Mo it 93ot>t, a SBof) M ©towo. 2 Soto Mo na CPoidtfu it 9Ba6a. 3 Stfecfo ffrje net)o fa jtato : a Beg net)o ntce^o fa nejiato, co fa ftato. 4 3t nem 3i*M M, a Swot M ©roetto Sitbi : 5 11 ©teetlo tt> Sent noftdcfc, stcttt, a Smi l)o neofjrnuli. 6 SBot Slowe? poftam ob 95ol)a, .fttere'ntu 2Tce'tto Bolo ©an. 7 Sen SPtifM na ©roebectwo, a6i ©rcebectroo wibat o ©tcette, afti wfeui meritt ffrje neM 8 SfteM on ©roetlo, ale afti ©roebectwo tvibal o ©inetle. 9 Soto ©tcetlo oprawb'iwe, Jltere ofraecuge fajbe'tjo ctowefa ipttcr/abaagictfjo na tento ©tcet. 10 £Ra ©rcete M, a ©roet ft'rge nefjo ucinen gefi, a ©nxtfjo nepojnal. n 2)0 fwe'ljo tcIaftne't)o £rifoI, a frcogi Ijo neprigali. 12 ^tertfolroef ale f)o Jmgalt, bat gim ntoc ©ini SBojimt Bit, tint Sttyxi tcerd tt>e STJeno get)o. The Slovaks, or Slovenes, dwell in the north-west of Hungary, more especially in the counties Trencsin, Thurocz, Arva, Liptau and Sohl. Including their numerous settlements, dispersed all over Hungary, their number may be estimated in round numbers at about 1,800,000. Of these, 1,300,000 are Eoman Catholics ; the rest are Protestants. They are descendants of the original Sclavonic settlers in Europe, but their language is the only remnant they have preserved of their national existence. In 894 they were conquered by the Magyars; since then they have dwelt in the same land, and under the same government, as their conquerors, and they still form a component and very important part of the Hungarian nation. Their dialect approximates closely to the Servian, but has been greatly influenced by the Bohemian, which they have adopted as their literary language. It is to the Romanists that the Slovaks are indebted for a version of the Scriptures in their own dialect. A translation of the Bible was made by the Canon G. Palkowic, which was printed in 1831. The Bohemian version had been up to that period the only translation of the Scriptures in general use among these people. BOSNIAN. BOSNIA, the most westerly pashalic, or eyalet, of Turkey in Europe, comprises an area which has been variously estimated at from 16,000 to 22,000 square miles, and a population numbering upwards of 1,000,000. This population is composed of Turks, Servians, Croats, Gipsies, Jews, and Armenians; the Bosniaks themselves number but 350,000 individuals. The dialect has been described as a mixture of Sclavonic and "Wallachian. In a letter, dated Corfu, 1827, Mr. Lowndes stated that the Austrian consul then at Corfu had given him information of the existence of the Bible in the Bosnian dialect. From the account given by the consul, it would appear that he had seen copies of this version during his residence among the Bosniaks. No copy of this work, however, seems at any period to have reached England. t Class III.] BULGARIAN. 307, BULGARIAN. FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 6, page 291. Bulgaria, anciently called Lower Moesia, formed one of the earliest settlements of the Sclavonians, and derived its present name from the Bulgarians, a warlike Asiatic horde who, in 679, conquered the country, but gradually merged their language and manners in those of the Sclavonian inhabitants. Bulgaria was annexed to the Greek empire by Basilius the Second, in 1018. It recovered its independence in 1186, but was finally conquered by the Turks in 1389, under whose dominion it has ever since continued. Its present population is estimated at not less than 3,000,000, and the Bulgarians are also to be found dispersed through most of the neighbouring provinces. The Bulgarian dialect is the most corrupt, but, at the same time, the easiest to acquire of all the languages of the Sclavonic stem. Of the seven cases which properly belong to these languages, it has retained but two, the nominative and the vocative ; and it has moreover adopted the Albanian and Scandinavian custom of placing articles, or rather pronouns, after nouns. Yet, although in consequence of these changes the Old Sclavonic version became less intelligible to the Bulgarians than to any other Sclavonic nation, it was not till after the commencement of the operations of Bible Societies that any successful effort was made to produce a Bulgarian version of the Scriptures. A translation was commenced in 1820, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton. An archimandrite, named Theodoseos, who had been recommended by the Greek patriarch of Constantinople as the person best qualified for such an undertaking, was appointed to prepare this version, and he completed the translation of the New Testament in 1822. The work was forwarded to St. Petersburg for publication, and the Gospel of St. Matthew left the press in that city during the following year; it was printed in a thin 8vo. volume, in parallel columns with the Sclavonic text. But in the meantime it was discovered that, owing probably to the incompetency of the archimandrite, the translation had been very inaccurately executed. The Petersburg Committee therefore resolved to limit the edition to 2000 copies; but the suspension of the Russian Bible Society occurred shortly afterwards, and even this small edition seems never to have been printed. In 1827, another translation of the New Testament was completed by Sapounoff, with the design of publishing an edition on his own account at the press of the metropolitan of Bucharest. He was able to effect part of his design, in printing the Four Gospels ; but by the time they left the press his means were completely exhausted, and, from his inability to print the remainder of his version, the Gospels were circulated separately. They were received with much favour by the people, and the translation (which had been executed from the Greek, compared with the Sclavonic and Wallachian versions), was very generally attested to be faithful and intelligible. Arrangements were therefore made by the British and Foreign Bible Society, through their agent, Mr. Barker, to print an edition of the entire version; but, owing to some difficulty that occurred in the purchase of the work, the project was abandoned, and an entirely new translation was set on foot in 1836, by Mr. Barker. The New Testament was translated and forwarded to Smyrna in 1838, and was completed at press in that city in 1840. The edition consisted of 5000 copies. Other editions have since been issued from the London press, and the total number of copies printed for the Society, up to the close of 1859, amounted to 30,100 Testaments, together with 18,978 copies of the Psalms. , Considerable success has already attended the efforts made for the dissemination of Scripture truth among the simple and industrious population of Bulgaria. The recent Reports of the British and Foreign Bible Society furnish illustrations of this gratifying fact. In one instance, mention is made of 400 copies of the Psalms having been sent to the fair of Usingiova, and being eagerly purchased .aa 308 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. soon as they were exposed for sale. When first Mr. Barker (the Society's agent) visited the Bulgarian peasantry, some years ago, he found them totally ignorant of the truths of Christianity. The history of Our Saviour was quite new to them, and they took delight in hearing it. They lamented that they could not pray as he did, for they knew not how. They were unacquainted with the Lord's Prayer ! The earnest demand for the Inspired Word evinced by the Bulgarian population encouraged the Society to take steps for obtaining a translation of the entire Old Testament into the Bulgarian lan- guage, and this work was completed in 1858. As the work advanced, some of the separate books were issued from the American Mission press at Smyrna; and it is proposed to undertake a complete edition of the whole, so soon as the work shall have a preliminary revision, which is now (1860) in progress. WENDISH, UPPER AND LOWER SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. UPPEB 1TJSATIAN. LOWER LT/SATIAN. 1 5Be fpoqatfu bje to ftmco, a to fjfowo Bfe fcola SBolja, a SBofy tje to ftowo. 2 Sofame bjefd;e to fpocjatfu £ola 5Bof)a. 3 fctjc§ njefyo wjcrUi. 8 Sonfami) nebje to fwjetfo, ale fo 6ty won fircjetfti wot te^o frcjerfa. 9 So bje to ptaroe fhujetfo, Fotrej fcfyttftd) tubgi rojjwjecji, fij bo fjwjeta £fdnnbu. 10 IBon 6je na {jwjecji, a fjwjet je pfd;e§ njeljo fcjinenty, a fwjet jetjo nefcofna. 11 5Bon fcfdjinbje bo tei)o fjwojef)o, a cji fwoji jel)o t)ot)vi nefadm. 12 jtajj wele pat jeljo Ijoljitje fadju, t&m ba won moj, fo 6s)d)u SJoje bjjjecjt bi)U, rotfl bo je^o mena wjetja. 13 M^ nejfju ftrwje, ant froote tetjo cjjela, ani fiuole jenefyo muja, ate icot SBofya f u narobjeni. 14 01 to fforco fcjitti £0 cjjelo, a bi)blefcf)e be8 nami, (a mi) wibjidmiS) jefyo frafjnof, jafo ftafnojj tel)o jenicjre|o narobjene^o fiqna wot SBot^a,) point nab$ a brawbS). 1 9Bo fad)o})enu befdjo to fj'fowo, a to fjlowo 6efd)o pobla SBotjga, a 33of)g befdjo to f iorco. 2 So fame befdw wo fad;o:periu pobla 98o^)ga. 3 @d)S)tne wqi fju pfd)e§ to fame fyujirione, a fyeS togo fjamego hejo nig Imjinone, 303 jinone jo. 4 2Bb horn befcfyo jitwene, a to jiraerie befdjo to fjwetlo ticty jtowefow. 5 5t to fwetto £wefd)i wo tei fd?amnofcji, a ta fcfyam* nofcj nejo jo Ijjopfcfyimela. 6 31 owef befdw wot 33ol)ga :poftani fmenom Soljanneg. 7 Sen £fd)ijo F fnantftwu, abii won wot logo fjweila fnanil, abii fct>^fne ^fctjeg nogo werilt. 8 Sen flanti nebefdjo to fwetto, ale abii won fnanil wot togo fj wetla. 9 So f wetlo befcfto to werne, rotate^ ^)uf reetlio f ajbego jlowefa ^fd)ibujego bo togo fjweta. 10 2Bono fcefdio wo torn fwefdje, a ten fwet jo ^)fd)e3 no fmjinoni, ale ten fwet jo ftetmfna. 11 SBon ^fdjijo bo togo fjwojogo, a te fwoje jogo gorei newb'fecfcu. 12 ^afg trele pat jogo goret w'bfed?u, tim ba mon woj, SBo^e jefdn' ^orbowafd) totarej bo jogo mena wire. 13 .fotarej neifu f'ffrfnre bani^' f'wo^te" togo fdjela, banig f'wol;le jabnogo mutjsa, ale f'23ot)ga narojone. _ 14 511e to f lowo ^orboroa fdjelo, a biibtafdjo wo nag (a mii wt$ed)tnii, jogo tfd)afnofcj, ffd]afnofcj afo togo jabno ^erojonego f^nna wot SBofdjcja) 4)olne gnabi a wernofcjt. The Latin term, Venedi, with its corresponding German form, Wenden, originally applied indiscrimi- nately to all the members of the Sclavonic family, has become the specific appellation of a Sclavonic tribe located in Upper and Lower Lusatia. These people, who have preserved their separate nationality in the midst of a Teutonic population, number about 144,000 individuals, of whom 60,000 live under the Saxon, and the remainder under the Prussian dominion; about 10,000 belong to the Roman Catholic, and the rest to the Lutheran Church. Two dialects are predominant among them, of which that of Upper Lusatia bears the strongest resemblance to Bohemian, and that of Class III.] WENDISH. 309 Lower Lusatia to Polish. In both dialects, the use of the article and various peculiarities of con- struction have been borrowed from the German ; yet the characteristics of the original Sclavonic are still so fully retained, that when Dr. Pinkerton was travelling through the country he was enabled, merely by his knowledge of Russian, to comprehend much that was said by the peasantry. The German language is very generally spoken by the wealthier classes, and, in all probability, will eventually supersede the Wendish. Attempts seem to have been made at an early period to translate portions of the Scriptures into Wendish, for, in 1574, a translation of the seven penitential Psalms was published by a pastor of one of the churches. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were translated into the same language, and printed in 1670, at Budissen, or Bautzen, in Upper Lusatia; and the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians were translated and printed in 1694, by Michael Frencelius, or Frenzeln, a native of Cosela, in Lusatia, and Lutheran minister of Postwic. Another translation of the Gospels and Epistles was executed by Paul Praetor, Matthaei, and three other translators, and published at Bautzen in 1695, by the express order of the States of Upper Lusatia. In 1703 the Psalms, and in 1706 the entire New Testament, translated by Michael Frenzeln, were printed, the former at Budissen, the latter at Zittau, at the expense of Lady Gersdorf, grandmother of Count Zinzendorf, for gratuitous distribution among the poor. A version of the entire Scriptures, in Upper Wendish, appeared in 1728, at Budissen, translated by four pastors of the Lutheran Church. Eleven years were devoted by these pastors to this translation, which is said strictly to follow the German version of Luther. An amended edition appeared at Budissen in 1742, and a third edition at the same place in 1797. Another version in Upper Wendish was prepared by Swotlic, for the use of Roman Catholics. It still exists in MS., and has never been printed. Only one version of the Scriptures exists in the Lower Wendish dialect. The New Testament, translated by Gottlieb Fabricio, or Fabricius, was printed at Kahren, where Fabricius was minister, in 1709. It was a translation from the German, and appeared with the German text. It was reprinted in 1728 and 1775. The first edition of the Old Testament was published separately in 1796, by Fritze. In 1814, in consequence of a letter from Dr. Pinkerton, the British and Foreign Bible Committee agreed to assist the Dresden Society in printing an edition of 3000 copies of the version of 1728, for Upper Lusatia. The edition was completed in 1817, under the care of a printing committee of clergymen. In 1816, at the request of Dr. Pinkerton, a similar edition of 3000 copies was undertaken for Lower Lusatia ; but, owing to the want of paper and other causes, the printing was not commenced till 1818. An edition, printed by the Society for the Upper Lusatians, left the press at Guns in 1849, and consisted of 5000 copies of the New Testament, with the Psalms. A subsequent edition of 5000 copies (New Testament and Psalms) was printed at Berlin in 1857. A further edition of 5000 copies is now (1860) passing through the Berlin press, the translation having previously undergone careful revision at the hands of the Rev. Mr. Teschner. A great impediment, however, to the free and full distribution of the Scriptures among these people arises from their dislike to the Bible without the Apocrypha, and their indifference to the New Testament when printed alone. 310 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. HUNGARIAN WENDISH. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Vu zacsetki je bila Recs, i ta Recs je bila pri Bogi, i Bog je bila ta Recs. 2 Eta je bila vu zacsetki pri Bogi. 3 Vsza szo po nye vcsinyena i brezi nye je nikaj nej vcsinyeno, stero je vcsinyeno. 4 Vu nye je bio 'zitek, i te 'zitek je bio szvetloszt liidi. 5 1 ta szvet- loszt vu kmiczi szveti, i kmicza jo je nej zapopadnola. 6 Bio je eden cslovek od Boga poszlani, steroga ime je Ivan. 7 Ete je prisao na szvedosztvo, ka bi szvedocso od te szvet- loszti, da bi vszi vervali po nyem. s On je nej bio ta szvetloszt, nego da bi szvedocso od te szvetloszti. 9 Eta je ta isztinszka szvetloszt, stera preszveti vszakoga csloveka pridoc- sega na ete szvet. 10 Na torn szveti je bila, i te szvet je po nye" vcsinyeni, i te szvet je iiyo nej poznao. u Vu lasztivna szvoja je prisao, i ti lasztivni szo ga nej gori prijali. 12 Ki szo ga pa gori prijali, dao je onim oblaszt, naj szinovje Bo'zi bodo, tim vervajocsim vu imeni nyegovom. 13 Ki szo nej z krvi, niti z vole tela, niti z vole mo'za, nego z Boga porodjeni. 14 I ta Recs je telo vcsinyena, i prebivala je med nami, (i vidili, szmo nye diko, liki diko jedinorodjene od Ocse) puna miloscse ino isztine. A peculiar dialect of the Wendish (resembling in some degree the dialect of the Slovaks, and there- fore serving as the connecting link between the languages of the eastern and western Sclavonic stems) is spoken by about 15,000 Protestant Sclavonians in the Szala and other districts of Hungary. The New Testament has been translated for this race by Stephen Kuznico, or Kugmits, an edition of which has been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, together with a version of the Psalms, by the Bev. Mr. Trplan. LETTISH, OH LIYONIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. (Sefafjfuma 6tja tag 2M;jrbg, un tag ffialjrbg Bija pee Seewa, im £>eewg Bija tag ffiafjtbg. 2 £ag patg eefatjfuma 6tja pee £>eetoa. 3 28iffag leetag irr batritag jaur to paftfju : un Beg ta pafdja ne fag ne irr barring, fag itr barring. 4 @effc6, roissa ta bfifjwtBa Btja, un ta bfifytoiBa Bija to jitrcefu gatfct)untg. 5 £as patg gaifcf/umg -ftrifjbeja tumfiBa, un ta tumfi6a to ne faKeljme. 6 SBeeng jilroefg tappe fiu)titjtg no 2)eewa, Safmtg wafjrba. 7 Sag patg natjje pefyj lecjiBag, fa tag leejtbu bof)tu no ta gatfcf/uma, fa nriffi ti^etu $aux to. 8 SBiflfcB, patg ne Biia tag gaifdnung, Bet fa tag leejiBu bo^tu no ta gatfdnuna. 9 Sag Bija tag i^eng gai-fdjuntg, fag pafaule nafyfbamg irtffug gttroefug apffaibro. 10 SSmfcB, Bija pafaute, un ta pafaule irr barrita jaut townu : Bet ta pafaule to ne pafmne. u SBififcB, nafyje -faica ^arctt&a, un tee • faiceji votimu ne ugjwfyme. 12 Set gee? nutrau ug«et;me, teem win-fcft, berce waftag Seewa Befjnteeiu tapt, teem, fag tijj ug wi-ssa waljtbu. 13 .Sag ne no affintm, nei no mec-ju griBBefcf/anag net pe^ fafjba nrifyra pra^ta, Bet fag no ©eerea bflmmufct/i. 14 Un tag 3Baf)rbg tappe meefa, un bfu>oja mvfyju jtarpa, pllng fc^taftlBag un pateefl6ag, un metjg wimw gotybi&u rebfejam, tafjbu gotjbtBu, fa ta toeeniga ;peebftmmufc£;a 2>el;la no Setjwa. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The maritime portion of Livonia, bordering on the Baltic, and also part of Courland, are occupied by a small nation to whom this dialect is vernacular. At the beginning of the present century, these people Class III.] HUNGARIAN WENDISH. 311 were considered by the Moravian missionaries to be further advanced in civilisation than the Esthonians ; and no less than 5000 persons in Livonia were said at that period to be believers, or at least inquirers, in the way of salvation. The number of Letts, or Livonians, is estimated at 740,000. They belong, in general, to the Lutheran Church. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIALECT. The Lettish and Lithuanian are both cognate dialects of the Old Prussian language, now extinct; but Lettish has admitted many Finnish and German elements, and has lost the simplicity of its ancient grammatical structure. Its orthography is regulated according to the German model; and a system so ill calculated to express the peculiarities of its articulations causes this dialect to appear intricate and abstruse to foreigners. III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. A version of the Gospels in Lettish is ascribed to Elger, a Livonian, who entered the order of the Jesuits in 1607, and published a work entitled " Christian Institutes" in his native dialect; but it does not appear that this version was ever committed to the press. The Livonians are indebted for their version of the Bible to Ernest Gliick, dean of the Lutheran Church in Livonia. He was a native of Saxony, and on his settlement in Livonia he was grieved to find that the people were still destitute of the Scriptures in their vernacular tongue. He therefore applied himself assiduously to the task of producing a translation of the entire Scriptures from the sacred originals; and with this object in view he repaired to Hamburg, there to qualify himself for the undertaking, by studying Hebrew under Edzardi, the celebrated Hebraist. On his return to Livonia in the year 1680, Gliick commenced his version, to which he devoted the chief part of his time during a period of eight years. The New Testament was published in 1685, and the entire Bible in 1689, at Kiga. The work was edited, and probably revised, by John Fischer, a German professor of divinity, and general superintendent of Livonia; it was dedicated to Charles XL, who had commanded its publication, and by whom every expense attending it was paid. It is stated, in a preface by the translator or editor, that all efforts to establish schools among the Livonians had proved impracticable, owing to the opposition of the people, until endeavours were made to give them the Scriptures in their native tongue; then, the writer tells us, the grace of God was so manifested among them, that they not only became willing to be taught, but made astonishing progress in the knowledge of the truth. Only 1500 copies of this edition were printed; the paper was obtained from France, and a singular incident occurred during the voyage. The Vessel in which this paper was deposited was taken by a pirate ; but on being informed that the paper was intended for an impression of the Bible, the pi rate instantly released the vessel with its cargo, and suffered it to proceed on its voyage. This edition was so soon exhausted, that early in the following century it was found necessary to undertake another. The care of this edition devolved on James Benjamin Fischer, son and successor of John Fischer, the editor of the first edition. The text was diligently revised by five divines, and, on the completion of their labours, an edition of 9000 copies of the entire Bible was printed at Konigsberg, in 1739. The New Testament had previously appeared separately at Riga, in 1730. In 1814, another impression of the New Testament, according to the received edition of Fischer, without alterations or additions, was commenced at Mittau, in Courland, where the Courland section of the St. Petersburg Bible Society was established. This edition, which consisted of 15,000 copies, left the press in 1815. In 1824, it appeared from the Report of the Russian Bible Society, that there had been printed by the Society 30,000 New Testaments, and nearly 4000 Bibles, in this dialect. Numerous copies of the Lettish Testament have also, within a recent period, been distributed in the province by the agency of the American Bible Society. An edition of 20,500 New Testaments in Lettish has subsequently (1854) been printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 312 INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. [Class III. LITHUANIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 #rabjoje Bureo '3obtg, (Stereo ©unug) tr '3obi§ Bureo *>tie ©iereo, it ©iercag Bureo '3ob;§. 2 Sag ^atg ^rabjoi' Bureo prie 2)iewo. 3 SBifft baiftat to fcatieg bari)ti ^ra, ir Be to niefo niera baryta, fag baryta ijra. 4 Seme Bureo gijreajrig, ir gtyreaflig Bureo f reiefyBe £monii. 5 3r toft f reiefyBe tamfpBeje f retecjia, fat tamfyBe tat ne fcermane. 6 SBureo £mogug Stereo fuftag, Son's rearbu, 7 Sag ^ats atejo lubbimui, a^pie to, f reiefyB e L fubbtt , fab jie retfft per ji ttffetu. 8 3ig ne Bureo f reiefyBe, Bet fab lubbitu aipie to. fireiefv^. 9 @jiji Bureo tifra freiefoBe, apf reiecjanti reiffug §ntoneS, ateinancjug4 ft freteta . 10 ©jt Bureo froiete, ir freiet'g tier ta^bar^tag tjra ; ir freiet'g jog ne pa$mo. n 3ig i fareaje c atejo, ir fareieji jo ne Drleme. 12 SBet fief ji-fctteme, tiemg baree mact,2)iereo reaifaig paftoti, f urrie tif -t jo rearba c . 13 Jturrie ne if fraujo, neS) if funo noro, nei) if wireo noro, Bet if 2)iereo gimme,.. u 3r tag gotoig paftojo funu ir gtyree'no taxp mufu, ir me'g matem jo garBe^garBeJaip reiengintmufio ©unaug if 3Jreo, pitnq, maloneg ir tiefog.] Lithuania, formerly part of the ancient kingdom of Poland, is now chiefly subject to Russia. Its population, according to the census of 1851, amounts to upwards of 4,000,000. The Lithuanian dialect is now spoken only by the peasantry, Polish being the language of the middle and upper classes. Thus excluded from the influences of refinement and civilization, Lithuanian, which is closely allied to the Old Prussian, has preserved its peculiar structure more faithfully than most of the other languages of its class. It has retained seven cases, three numbers, and three genders; and of all the idioms spoken in Europe, it is acknowledged to approximate the nearest to the Sanscrit. The first translation of the Bible into this dialect was made at the close of the sixteenth century, by John Bretkius, of Bammeln, near Friedland, and pastor of Labiau. He afterwards became pastor of the Lithuanian Church at Konigsberg. He commenced the version in 1579, and completed it in 1590. He did not live to see the work committed to the press, but deposited the MS. in the Royal Library of Konigsberg: the New Testament, with the Psalms, occupying three volumes in 4to., and the rest of the Old Testament five volumes in folio. The Psalms were corrected and revised by Rhesa, the successor of Bretkius, in concert with other divines; and an edition was published, with Luther's German version, in 1625. The New Testament was printed at Strasburg in 1700, by order of Frederic I., king of Prussia. Another translation of the Bible in this dialect, supposed to have been taken from a Polish version, was executed by Chylinski, a native of Lithuania, and a Lutheran. It was printed in 1660 in London, where the translator died in 1668. All the copies of this edition appear to have been destroyed, with the exception of a fragment without title, proceeding no further than the Psalms. Another edition of Bretkius's version of the New Testament, with the addition of the Psalms, was printed at Konigsberg in 1727, and the Psalms separately, at the same place, in 1728. As it was found, however, that this version was written in the dialect of Upper Lithuania, rather than in that spoken in Prussia, the Prussian king, Frederic William, ordered the Rev. John Jacob Quandt, his first chaplain at Konigsberg, to undertake a new translation of the whole Bible. Mr. Quandt, with the assistance of twelve other clergymen, completed a version of the New Testament and Psalms in 1727, and the entire Bible was completed and printed at Konigsberg in 1735. The translation was made chiefly from Luther's German version, and aid was drawn from Bretkius's version. A second edition of the Bible, with the German text, was published at Konigsberg in 1755. The Psalms had been separately printed in 1728, and the New Testament in 1749. In 1806, information was transmitted to the British and Foreign Bible Society, that although the province of Lithuania possessed 74 churches and 460 schools, the people were almost destitute of the Class III.] SAMOGITIAN. 313 Scriptures. An edition 'of 3000 copies of the Bible was accordingly undertaken by the Society at Konigsberg; but, owing to various delays, it did not leave the press till 1816. In 18 24, a new edition of the same appeared, encouraged by the Society; and in 1836, an edition of the New Testament and Psalms, consisting of nearly 5000 copies, was published by the Society at Tilsit. Subsequent editions have appeared at the expense of the Society, which raise the total number (up to the close of 1859) to 8000 Old Testaments, and 17,113 New Testaments and Psalms. SAMOGITIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Isz pradzios buwo zodis, o zodis buwo pas Diewa, o Diewu buwo zodis. 2 Tay buwo isz pradzios pas Diewa. 3 Wisi dayktay par ji stojos, o be ano niekas ne stojos, kas tikt stojos. 4 Jame buwo giwenimas, o giwenimas buwo szwiesibe zmoniu : 5 O szwiesibe tamsibese szwieczia o tarasibes jos ne apeme. G Buwo zmogus siunstas nuog Diewo, kurio wardas buwo Jonas. 7 Tasay atejo ant ludiimo, idant duotu ludiima : ape szwiesibe idant wisi tiketu par ana. 8 Is nebuwo szwiesibe, bet idant duotu ludiima ape szwiesibe. 9 Buwo szwiesibe tikra, kuri apszwieczia kiekwiena zmogu ateynanti ant to swieto. 10 Buwo ant swieto, ir swietas par ji stojos, o swietas jo nepazino. n Sawump atejo, o sawieji jo ne prijeme. 12 O kurie tikt prieme ji, dawe jems galibe, idant stotus sanumis Diewo, tiems, kurie tik wardan jo. 13 Kurie ne isz kraujo, ney isz noro kuno, ney isz noro wiro, bet isz Diewo uzgime. 14 zodis stojosi kunu, ir giweno tarp musu (ir regejome garbe jo, garbe kaypo wienaycjo nuog Tiewo) prima malones ir tiesos. The Samogitian, which is a dialect of the Lithuanian, is spoken in three districts of Lithuania, namely, Telcha, Schaul, and Rosina. The Samogitians number about 112,000 individuals, and are, with few exceptions, of the Roman Catholic persuasion. In 1814, the New Testament had been for the first time translated into this dialect, by Prince Gedroitz, bishop of Samogitia, who designed to print 1000 copies at Wilna at his own expense. The Russian Bible Society agreed to provide 4000 additional copies, and the London Committee paid for the binding. The edition, when completed, was so thankfully received, that, two years afterwards, the Parent Society made a grant of £250 in aid of a second edition. It left the press in 1816, and consisted of 5000 copies. A third edition, also consisting of 5000 copies, was printed about the year 1831, by the monks in the monastery of St. Cazemir, at Wilna. The Old Testament has not yet been translated into this dialect. CLASS IT-DETACHED FAMILIES. A. EUSKARIAN FAMILY. FRENCH BASQUE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. v. v. 1 to 14 Hastean Hitca cen, eta Hitca Jaincoarequin cen, eta Hitz hau Jaincoa cen. 2 Hastean Jaincoarequin cen. 3 Gauga guciac eguinic ican dire hartaz, eta hura gabe deus ezta eguin ican, eguin direnetaric. 4 Hartan cen bicia, eta bicia guiconen arguia cen. 5 Eta arguiac arguitcen du ilhumbetan, bainan ilhumbec ez dute errecebitu. 6 Bacen guicon bat icena cuena Joannes; cein baitcen egorria Jaincoaz. 7 Ethorri cen lekhucotassunean, bihurceco lekhucotassuna arguiari, amoreagatic guciec sinhex cecaten hartaz. 8 Hura ezcen arguia, bainan egorria cen lekhucotassunaren bihurceco arguiari. 9 Argui hau eguiazcoa cen, arguitcen duena mundurat ethorcen diren guicon guciac. 10 Munduan cen, eta mundua eguin ican da hartaz ; bainan munduac ez du ecagutu. n Bererat ethorri cen, eta bereenec ez dute errecebitu. 12 Bainan errecebitu duten guciei, eman dei cucena Jaincoaren haur eguinei icaiteco, erran nalii da haren Icenean sinhexten duenei. 13 Ceinac ez baitire sorthuac odolez, ez haraguiaren borondateaz, ez guiconaren borondateaz; bainan sorthu dire Jaincoaz. 14 Eta Hitca eguin i9an da haragui; egotu da gurequin graciaz eta eguiaz bethea; eta behondaztu dugu haren loria, Aitaren Seme bakharrari darocan loria becala. The French dialect of the Basque language is spoken in the south-western extremity of France, on the frontiers of Spain, by a population of about 120,000 individuals. This district is about sixty miles in length by forty in breadth ; it formerly included the three subdivisions of Labour, Lower Navarre, and Soule, and it is now comprehended in the department of the Lower Pyrenees. In parts of the neighbouring departments of Gers and Upper Pyrenees, Basque is still the language of the peasantry, while French is spoken in the towns. I. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Basque is one of the most singular idioms of Europe, and presents, like the Albanian, the Ossete, and the Welsh, etc., the remarkable phenomenon of aboriginal languages preserved in the remote or mountainous districts of more civilized countries, where the tongue of the subsequent conquerors of those lands is generally spoken. The origin of the Basque people, or Euskarians, is, as one of their writers says, " known of God only." It seems that the Iberi of the East, who dwelt between the Black and the Caspian Seas, and the Iberi of the West, who peopled Spain at a very remote period, were once one people, driven east and west by political vicissitudes. There is a degree of similarity between some of the East- Iberian Class IV.] FRENCH BASQUE. 315 names of cities, rivers, etc., and the same in use among the West-Iberians in Spain. But whether they travelled east or west is a disputed point. The Iberi were said to be the aborigines of the Spanish peninsula; and to have given to it the ancient name Iberia, from the river Iber, Ebro, by them called perhaps Ibaibero, ' burning or destroying river,' from its property. For this was the name of the small river Tento, between the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir, which Pliny calls Urium from the nature of its waters: be that as it may, a comparative study of the Georgian, and of other Caucasian idioms, with the Euskarian, might very probably throw additional light on the joint origin of the Eastern and Western Iberi. In some of its characteristics the Basque exhibits remarkable traits of analogy with Mantchou, with Finnish, and with several distinct families of languages spoken in the north of Europe and of Asia. Like them, it has no difference of terminations in nouns and pronouns to mark the variation of gender; and, like them also, it subjoins prepositions and other particles, and even personal and relative pronouns, to nouns and verbs. On the other hand, it differs from them in the abundance of its inflections, and in its use of auxiliary verbs. In its elaborate system of verbal conjugation, Basque approximates closely to the American or polysynthetic class of languages; and it is rather a singular circumstance, that the sound of F is wanting in most American languages and in Basque, and that in both a strong antipathy is manifested to the immediate junction of mute and liquid consonants. Many Sanscrit words exist in Basque; but in the collocation of these words, says Mr. Borrow, the Tartar form is most decidedly observable. These Sanscrit derivatives are usually divested of their initial consonant, and made to commence with a vowel ; for Basque is emphatically a vowel language, employing comparatively but few consonants, and out of every ten words perhaps eight may be said to begin and to end with a vowel. The natural result of this preponderance of vowels is a high degree of softness and melody, in which the Basque is said to exceed even the Italian. In point of antiquity, Basque far surpasses most of the languages now spoken in Europe ; it was originally, as already mentioned, the vernacular tongue of the Iberi, a people generally regarded as the earliest settlers in Spain; and from them, as Humboldt has clearly proved, the present Euskaldunes, or natives of the Basque provinces, are descended. Basque does not appear to have ever possessed an alphabet proper to itself, and in all books which have been printed in this language Roman letters are used. II. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The entire New Testament, in Basque, was printed at Rochelle in 1571. It was translated by John de Licarrague, and was dedicated to Jeanne dAlbret, queen of Navarre, and brought out at her expense. The dialect in which it is written is that of Lower Navarre. The translator is said to have been a minister of the Reformed Church, and a native of Beam. More than two centuries elapsed before any other edition of the Testament was printed for the Basque people, and soon after the commencement of the present century it was found impossible, notwithstanding the most diligent search, to meet with a single copy among them. A copy of the New Testament of 1571 had, however, been providentially deposited, probably by a French refugee, in the library of the University of Oxford. From this copy the British and Foreign Bible Society printed, in 1825, at Bayonne, 1000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, under the superintendence of Mr. Pyt, a minister of the Reformed Church in Beam. The Roman Catholic Bishop interposed to prevent the circulation of this edition, and he possessed himself of no less than 800 copies, which he destroyed. Far from being discouraged at this opposition, the British and Foreign Bible Society proceeded with their important work, and, after some delay, a new and well- qualified editor was met with, named Montleza. Under the care of this editor, and the superintendence of friends at Bourdeaux and Bayonne, the text of 1571 was altered in accordance with the modern forms of the language, and so many changes were introduced as virtually to constitute a new version. An edition consisting of 1000 copies of the Four Gospels and Acts, with 1000 separate copies of St. Matthew, and 1000 copies of the entire New Testament, was completed at press in 1829. The distribution of this edition was 316 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. carried on with much activity, and the opposition it encountered had only the effect of drawing the attention of many to the contents of the sacred book. A further edition of 1000 Testaments has subsequently been issued by the Society. As to the results produced in these provinces by the circulation of the Basque and French Scriptures, the testimony of the late Mr. Pyt (above mentioned) is remarkable. " In 1821," he said, " I found the people of Beam utter strangers to the doctrine of the Gospel, and consequently to the life of God. I have left it (in 1830) in a very different condition. It is to the Bible that the change must be attributed. The preaching of the Gospel had little success before the establishment of Bible Societies in Beam; but when they had spread the word of the Lord, — when this word had found its way to each church, and in each church to a goodly number of families, — when they began seriously to think about that which the servants of God were preaching; — there was much inquiry about the truth, and from that time the blessed work proceeded ; and it continues to do so still, with the same happy results." The following are specimens of portions of Scripture translated into various dialects of the Basque tongue: — NOV. TEST. ARMORICUM DIAL. TRECOVIENSL— HERVE SANT LUCAZ, Chap. xiv. v. 1 to 11. Jesus a antras un de a sabbat en ti unan ens ar chefo ar Pharisianed, evit quemer he repaz, hac ar reman hounan en observe. 2 Er memes amzer a voa laquet dirazan un den peini a voa hydropiq. 3 Neuse Jesus a respontas hac a laras d'an doctored ar Yezen ha d'ar Pharisianed, o o'houfen digante'i: ha permetet e iac'haat tud de ar sabbat? 4 Mes hi a davas. Neuse en, o quemer he zorn, a iac'haas an den-ze hac he gagas d'ar guer. 5 Neuse a respontas hac a laras dei : Pion ac'hanoc'h, mar deufe, he azen pe he ijen da goneanq en eur punz, n'en em lacfe quet querquent en stad d'he deunan er mez de ar sabbat ? 6 Mes na hallent respond netra dean var quement-se. 7 Neuse, o consideri penos ar re a voe bet pedet d'eur banqued, a choaze ar placo quentan, a broposas dei ar barabolen-man, en em laret : 8 Pa veet pedet d'an eured, n'en en laquet quet er plac quentan ons tol, gaut aon n'eu em gafe en touez ar re bedet gaut an den iaouanq unan enoraploc'h evidoc'h. 9 Ha na deufe an hini en eus ho pedet o taou da laret dac'h : Reit ho plac da heman ha na vec'h neuse oblijet da guemer gant mezar plac divean. 10 Mes pa veet pedet da eur lein benac et hac en em laquet er plac divean, evit pa arruo an hini en eusho pedet, da laret dac'h : Ma mignon, savet huellac'h ; ha neuse e vo eur sujet a c'hloar evidoc'h dirac ar re so ous tol guenac'h : n Rac piou-benac en eni sav, a vo humi- liet, ha piou-benac en em humilio, a vo savet. FRENCH BASQUE DIALECT OF LOWER NAVARRE. 1571— St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 10. Hatsean cen Hitza, eta Hitza cen Iaincoa baithan, eta Iainco cen Hitza. 2 Hitz haur cen hatfean Iaincoa baithan. 3 Gauca guciac Hitz har caz eguin ican dizade : eta hura gabe deus ezta eguin, eguin denic. 4 Hartan cen vicitzea, eta vicitzea cen guiconen Arguia. 5 Eta arguia hunec ilhumbean arguitzen du : eta ilhumbeac hura eztu compre- henditu. 6 lean da guicon-bat Iaincoaz igorria, Ioannes deitzen cenic. 7 Haur ethor cedin teftimoniage ekartera Arguiaz tefstifica lecancat, guoiec harcaz finhets lecatencat. 8 Etzen hura Arguia, baina igorri cen Arguiaz teftifica lecancat. 9 Haur cen Argui eguiazcoa,, mundura ethor ten den guicon gucia arguitzen dicena. 10 Munduan cen, eta mundua harcaz; eguin ican da, eta munduac eztu hura ecagutu. Class IV.] FRENCH BASQUE. 317 ST. MATTHEW IN THE DIALECT BASQUE BAS-NAVAEEAIS. St. MATTHEW, Chap. t. v. 1 to 6. Yesusek ikhussirik populu han oro, igaran zen mendi baten gainera ; han yarr zenian, haren dizipuliak hurrandu zitzaizkon ; 2 Eta erakaxten zeyen, erraiten zielarik : 3 Dohaxu dira ezpirituz probe direnak, zeren heyena da zeruko erresuma. 4 Dohaxu dira ezti direnak, zeren gozatuko dute lurra. 5 Dohaxu dira nigar egiten dutenak, zeren konsolatiak izanen dira. 6 Dohaxu dira yustiziaren gossia eta egarria dutenak, zeren assiak izanen baidira. ST. MATTHEW IN THE DIALECT BASQUE SOULETIN. ST. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 6. Saldo handi hourac ikhousi zutianian, Jesus igafi zen mendi batetara, eta jarri zenian, hullantu zeitzon bere dizipuliac. 2 Eta elhia harturic, hasi zeyen eracasten, zioualaric : 3 Dohaxu dira gogaz praube direnac : hagena bei-ta zelietaco erresouma. 4 Dohaxu ezti direnac: lurraren jabe izanen bei-tira. 5 Dohaxu nigarrez daudenac ; hourac izanen bei-tira counsolaturic. 6 Dohaxu ounxaren gose eta egarri direnac; hourac aseric izanen bei-tira. EEOM " SAN MATEO, TEADUCIDO AL VASCUENCE, DIELECTO NAVAEEO." St. MATTHEW, Chap. y. v. 1 to 10. Eta icusiric Jesusec yende ec guciac, igan cen mendi baten gaiiera, eta yarri ondoan, urbildu citzaizcon bere discipuloac. 2 Eta asiric mintzatcen, eracusten cituen, ciolaric : 3 Zori onecoac biotzez pobre direnac, cergatic equena da ceruco erreinua. 4 Zori onecoac biotz manso dunac, cergatic izain dire lurrain yabeac. 5 Zori onecoac nigar eguiten dutenac, cergatic izain dire consolatuac. 6 Zori onecoac yusticiain, edo gauza sainduen gosea eta egarria dutenac, cergatic equen deseyuac izain dire guciz beteac. 7 Zori onecoac misericordiosoac, cergatic yardetsico dute misericordia. 8 Zori onecoac biotz garbi dunac, cergatic icusico dute Yaungoicoa. 9 Zori onecoac baquezcoac, cergatic izain dire deituac Yaungoicoain umeac. 10 Zori onecoac yusticia edo gauza ona gatic perseguituac direnac, cergatic equena da ceruco erreinua. 318 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. SPANISH BASQUE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. LUKE, Chap, xy.'v. 11 to 24. 11 Gueyago esan zuan ; Guison batec izan cituan semebi. 12 Eta ayetaco chiquienac esan cion bere aitari; Aita, ecarzu tocatcen zaidan haciendaren partea. Eta berac partitu cien hacienda. 13 Eta ez egun asco gueroz juntatu zuan seme chiquienac berea san gustia, eta juan zan, pais urruti batera, eta an ondatu zuan bere arceco gustia, vicio etan viciaz. 14 Eta gustia gastatu zuan ean, etorri zan goce aundi bat paraje artan, eta bera asi zan premia e duquitcen. 15 Eta juan zan, eta alderatu zan paraje artaco batengana ; cefiec bialdu zuan bere baserrira, cerriac gordetcera. 16 Eta deseatcen zuan, bere zabela, cerriac jaten zutenaren asalaquin betetcea: eta etzion ifiorc ematen. 17 Baho, bereganatu zanean esan zuan : j Cembait jornalaric daucate nere aitaren echean oguia sobratua, eta ni emen goceac ilcen nago ! 18 Alchatuco naiz, eta juango naiz nere aitagana, eta esango diot: Aita, pecatu eguin nuen ceruaren contra, eta zure aurrean : 19 Ezdet mereci zure semea deitua, izatea : eguinazazu zure jornalariac becela. 20 Eta alchatu eta juan zan bere aitagana. Eta nola oraindic cegoan urruti, icusi zuan bere aitac, eta muvituzan misericordiara, eta beragana corrica juanaz, botacion besoac lepora, eta lastana emancion. 21 Eta semeac esan cion : Aita pecatu eguindet ceruaren contra eta zure aurrean : ez det mereci zure semea deitua izatea. 22 Bafio aitac esan cien bere morroyai : Ecarri itzazute onera aguro arroparic ederrena, eta janciozute, eta jarriozute eraztuna beatcean, eta onetacoac onetan : 23 Eta ecarriezazute idisco guicen bat, ilzazute, eta jan zagun, eta celebradaigun banquete bat : 24 Cergatic nere seme au illazan, eta berriz vicitu da : galduzan, eta arquitua izanduda. Eta asiciran banquetea celebratcen. The three Basque provinces of Spain (Biscay, Guipuscoa, and Alavaj are bounded north by the Bay of Biscay, west and south by Old Castile, and east by France and Navarre. They contained, in 1857, a population of 426,217. Basque is the language of the peasantry, but Spanish is spoken in the towns, and is understood throughout these provinces. The religion, as in the rest of Spain and in the French Basque districts, is Roman Catholicism. Spanish Basque also appears to be spoken in the north and west of Navarre. It does not differ very materially from French Basque, either in its structure or vocabulary. The Biscayan dialect in particular is distinguished by the natives by the name of Escuara, which simply means vernacular. Many Spanish words have been engrafted on Spanish Basque, and in consequence of these additions, and of other alterations induced by the process of time, the version of 1571 (mentioned in our account of French Basque) is now scarcely intelligible. And although the British and Foreign Bible Society have given to the Basque districts of France an edition of the entire New Testament, yet no portion whatever of the Scriptures appears to have been printed in Spanish Basque until 1838, when Mr. George Borrow, with the aid of the Society, edited and published an edition of the Gospel according to St. Luke. The translation had been executed by a Basque physician, named Oteiza, and Mr. Borrow had retained the MS. two years in his possession before committing it to the press; during which interval he had sought the advice and opinion of Basque scholars. The translation did not meet with unqualified approbation, yet it seemed impossible at that time to obtain a better. In 1848 this version of St. Luke was revised and amended by the translator, and printed in a second edition, at the expense of the Society, through their agent, the Rev. Dr. Thomson. The Acts of the Apostles were also translated under the same circumstances, but are not yet printed. CLASS IV.-DETAOHED FAMILIES. B. FINNISH FAMILY. FINNISH. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Qttufa oli ©ana, ja fe ©ana oft Sttmatan ttyfimd, ja Sumala oli fe ©ana. 2 $dmd oti atufa Sumafan tfyfond. 3 Jtaiffi ovoat fen fautta tef)bt)t; ja ilman fttd ei ole mitdn tefjtty, jofa te^)tt) on. 4 <§dnefd oti (Stdmd, ja ©lama oli U)miflen 28alfeu§. 5 3a fe 2Balfeu3 fcimetybefd ^aiflaa, jota ei £imei)3 fdftttdnsjt. 6 g)ri mieg oti IdtjetettS) Sumatatba, jonga ninti oti SotjanneS. 7 ©e tuti ftitd SBatfeubefla tobiftamaan, ettd faiSfi uffoiftt tjdnan fauttanfa. 8 (Si Jjdn otlnt fe ffialfeug, mutta tydn oti Idfyetettty SBalfeubejk tobiftamaan. 9 ©e oli totinen SBalfeug, jofa icattjiaa Miti itjmifet, jotfa mailmaan tutewat. 10 ©e oti maitmafa, ja maitnta on tjdnen fauttanfa tefjtty ; ja ei maitma fjdnbd tunbenut. 11 -§dn tuti omittenfa, ja ei Ijdnen ontanfa fjdttbd ottanet roafian. I2 STOutta niitte jotfa fjdnen otit waflan, anboi fjdn woiman Sumatan ta^ftxi tutta ; jotfa uffowat fydnen nimenfd pddtte. 13 3otfa ei werejtd, eifd lifjan tafjbojla, ei mtyijg mieljen tatjbofta, mutta Sumatajia fonbpet ottiat. I4 3a ©ana tuti Sifjari, ja afui meibdn feafamme, da me ndimme f;dnen funnianfa niinfuin ainoan $Pojan funnian Sfdjid,) td^nnd atmoa ja totuutta. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. In the earliest periods of history of which we have any record, the northern regions of Europe and of Asia were inhabited by a race of men whom the Sclavonians called Tschudi. This name, which applies also to the Esthonians and Karelians, has of late been given more particularly in Russian works to the several tribes which people the north-east of Asia. But the general name by which the numerous hordes of the Finnish people should be called, is, Uralians; on account of their having started of old from the Ural mountains, as from a centre of dispersion, east and west over Asia and Europe, where they became known as Scythians. All the tribes of this race were subjugated by the German, Tartar, or Sclavonian nations; and, after having partly assimilated with them, in habits and in language, they went under different names, according to whether they were influenced by Germanic or by Tartar tribes. So that we find languages, originally one, now differing widely from one another; as for instance, the Tcheremissian and the Hungarian, or more properly, Ungarian. Thus we may divide the Finns into five principal tribes, or heads of nations: — I. The Germanized Finns, or Finlanders, who inhabit the shores of the Baltic. — IT. The Finns of the Volga: such as the Mordvinians, Tchere- missians, etc. — III. The Permian Finns; themselves subdivided into the three heads of Wotiaks, Syrones, Zirians, or Sirenians, and the Perms or Permian Finns properly so called. — IV. The Ugarian Finns, i.e., Wogules, Ungarians, and Ostiaks of the river Obi. Of these, the Ugarian hordes, called Onogurs, Saragurs, and Arogs, invaded Europe about AD. 462. The most powerful of these appear to have been the Onogurs, who in later times were called successively, Ugurs, Uigurs, and Ungars. They are the ancestors of the present Hungarians, and are called in Eussian, Anals Ugry. In many 320 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. instances thy were displaced by their conquerors, and driven to the most barren and mountainous districts of the north. In the extreme north-western portion of the Russian empire, we meet with one of the principal of these tribes, called the Finns, from whom the country which they inhabit derives its name. Finland formerly constituted one of the five divisions of Sweden, but since 1809 it has been subject to Russia; the rites of the Swedish Church are, however, still observed, and the inhabitants, who in 1851 amounted in number to 1,660,700, are, generally speaking, of the Lutheran faith. The Finns were converted to Christianity about the middle of the twelfth century, by means of an English missionary, who was the first bishop and martyr in Finland. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF TIIE LANGUAGE. The Finnish presents as a matter of course, several striking points of resemblance to the languages and dialects spoken by the Turks, Tartars, Mongols, Mandshurians, and Tungusians. Like them, its nouns are incapable of inflection, and an additional word is requisite to denote the variations of case, number, and sex; its prepositions and pronouns are suffixed to the words they modify, and, moreover, the vocabularies of all these languages are pervaded by a peculiar system of vocalic harmony, which is both rich and sonorous. Finnish verbs have only two tenses, the past and the present, and the future is expressed by adding to the form of the present some word indicative of a future action or state of being. Many Russian and Swedish words enter into the colloquial Finnish, in consequence of the political relations between these nations. III. — VERSIONS OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Soon after the introduction of the Reformation into Finland, the New Testament was translated into Finnish by Michael Agricola, rector, and afterwards bishop, of Abo. He was a native of Finland, and after having studied divinity at Wittenberg, was recommended by Luther to Gustavus I., king of Sweden. His version was printed at Stockholm, in quarto, in 1548. It contains a preface by Agricola, in which he states that the translation was made from the Greek, with the aid of the Latin, German, and Swedish versions. A translation of the Psalms was undertaken about the same period by Paul Justbn, rector of the High School in Abo, in which work he engaged his scholars by way of exercise. The translation was revised by Agricola, and printed at Stockholm in 1551, with a curious poetical address to the reader, descriptive of the idolatry of the Finns. During the same year, several detached portions of the Old Testament were translated and published by Agricola. In his preface to these translations, he expressed his sorrow at the impossibility of proceeding with the work, unless adequate funds could be procured, and pledged himself to the completion of the translation of the Old Testament, provided that he met with encouragement in the sale of his previous editions. Certain political obstacles, however, impeded from time to time the publication of the entire Scriptures in Finnish; and at length, in 1636, the clergy of Finland appealed to Christina, queen of Sweden, to furnish them with a version in their vernacular tongue. In consequence of this petition, orders were given for the preparation of an accurate translation at Abo, the capital of the duchy of Finland, on account of the University established there, and the greater purity of the language spoken in that city. The execution of the work was intrusted to iEschilus Petrseus, doctor and professor of divinity, and afterwards bishop of Abo; to Martin Stodius, professor of oriental languages in the university of Abo; to Gregory Matthsei, pastor of Puken; and to Henry Hoffman, professor of divinity, and pastor of Maschoen. The translation was made from the original texts, and Luther's marginal glosses were subjoined to the chapters. It was printed at Stockholm, in folio, with a dedication to Queen Christina. Another edition, in the same form, was published in 1644. Another version, likewise executed from the inspired originals, by Henry Florin, pastor of Paemaren, was published at Abo in 1685; but this version is comparatively little known, the Bible sanctioned by Queen Christina having, from its first appearance, been received into general circulation as the authorised version of Finland. Class IV.] FINNISH. 32t Editions of the New Testament, from the text of Queen Christina's version, appeared in 1732, 1740, 1774, and 1776. But, except two quarto editions in 1758 and 1776 (the latter of which was published by subscription), no further attempt was made to publish the entire Bible in Finnish, until the introduction, in 1811, of the operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Finland. In consequence of the pecuniary aid afforded by that Society, and the zealous efforts of their agent, Dr. Paterson, a Bible Society was formed at Abo; a report was sent to the Emperor Alexander, and he contributed a large donation from his private purse, besides granting to the Society, for five years, that part of the corn tithes which was originally appropriated to printing the Scriptures, but which in latter times had been devoted to state purposes. Standing types were immediately prepared at St. Petersburg, and 8000 copies of the New Testament, in 8vo., were completed at Abo in 1815. In the following year, 5000 copies of the entire Bible, also in 8vo., left the press at Abo. A quarto edition of the whole Bible, aided by a further grant from the British and Foreign Bible Society, was commenced in 1821, and completed in 1827. A specimen copy may be seen in the Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society, but, with few other exceptions, this edition (consisting of 7500 copies) was destroyed in the extensive fire with which Abo was visited in 1827. Another edition of 5000 copies of tbe New Testament was, in consequence, immediately undertaken by the Society: this edition was completed at Stockholm in 1829. In 1832, the Bible Society of Abo was again in active operation, and had printed a new edition of the quarto Bible, and commenced an 8vo. edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament. Apart from the Finnish edition printed at Abo, the St. Petersburg Society undertook some editions for tbe purpose of supplying the Finns in their own neighbourhood; but eventually large supplies were forwarded to Abo. The New Testament was printed by this Society in 1814, and again in 1822. The entire Bible was completed in 1817. Many large editions of the Scriptures have subsequently been issued by the joint agency of tbe Finnish Bible Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. A distribution of the Scriptures, unprecedented in extent, and justly regarded as one of the ablest and best executed projects in the records of Bible Societies, has of late years been carried on in Finland. This work commenced in 1841, under the auspices of the late metropolitan of Finland, Archbishop Melartin, and through the instrumentality of the British and Foreign Bible Society. From statistical documents collected at that period for the guidance of the Society's operations, it was ascertained that there were,^- lst, 47,254 Finnish families who possessed at least a New Testament. 2nd, 39,675 Finnish families who were unprovided, but were able to purchase the Scriptures at cost price. 3rd, 31,334 Finnish families who were unprovided, and so poor as to be able to give only a little for a New Testament. 4th, 50,442 Finnish families totally destitute of the word of God, and so extremely poor as to require an entirely gratuitous distribution. On these statements being forwarded to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the work of supplying, first of all, the 50,442 families, for whom an entirely gratuitous distribution had to be made, was immediately commenced. This provision was ere long effected, and subsequent efforts have gone far towards supplying the additional wants above referred to. From a letter addressed by the present Archbishop of Finland (Dr. Bergenheim) to the British and Foreign Society's Agency at St. Petersburg, we derive the following interesting information in reference to the work thus happily in progress of accomplishment. During the thirteen years (1834-47) tha + - the affairs of the Finnish Bible Society were under the superintendence of tbe late Archbishop Melartin, there were prepared and distributed in Finland three editions of the entire Bible, making in all 13,000 copies, — one in the Swedish language of 3000 copies, and the two others in Finnish; besides an edition of 10,000 Finnish New Testaments, with the Psalter. Further editions of 10,000 copies of 22 322 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. the entire Bible, and 20,000 New Testaments, have since been completed. The editions of the Finnish New Testament printed on account of the British and Foreign Bible Society, during the five years immediately prior to 1853, embraced: — 1st. An edition of 20,000 copies printed at Borga, in 1847; 2nd. An edition of 25,000 copies, also printed at Borga; 3rd. An edition of 20,000 copies, printed at Helsingfors, and to half the number of which the Psalms are to be appended. By means of the above noble efforts on the part of the British and Foreign Bible Society, there have been distributed gratuitously in Finland, since 1841, altogether 50,086 copies of the New Testament in the Finnish language, while a further number of 43,914 copies have been sold at an extremely moderate price. The total number of copies of the Finnish Scriptures printed directly for the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the close of 1859, amounted to 134,000 (consisting of 10,000 Bibles and 124,000 Testaments), besides 15,000 copies of the Testament and Psalms. It is difficult, in a thinly-populated country like Finland, to observe the immediate results of Scripture distribution among the great body of the inhabitants. But particular instances of the good that has already been effected are not wanting, and there is no doubt that a great and increasing desire for the possession of the sacred volume has been excited among the whole of the Finnish population. The Finnish clergy, too, especially the younger portion of them, are said to be much more abundant in their labours than formerly, and great numbers of the population are being converted to a reformed life. The exertions that have been made, it may be fairly hoped, will eventually be found, under the blessing of God, the means of preserving the Lutherans of Finland from the insidious advances of the Eussian Greek Church. LAPPONESE. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. [Heenosandije, 1811.] Qllgofne let ipafo, ja pafo lei Su&meten lubne, ja pafo lei SuBmel. Sattef lei algofne Sufimeten lubne : ja tan fcafto lat) fat! amet) taffatum nau atte tan rcana i aftef le taffatum faif tafle, mi taffatum te. San ftfne lei l)dgga, ja tjdgga lei atmatji tjuoufeg. Sat tjuoufeg tjuoufa fjeubnjebegne, ja fjeubnjeb i le. tab tdbbam. Se lei tal fameg alma rajatum 3ufmtelegt, futen namma lei 3ot)anneg. Sat #ati wittenen, rcai falfai wittenagtet tan tjuofagen pit, voai faifat) falfin So patto fcuoftctorcet jatfoi. 31am fobn tjuofeg, voatla fobn pati reittcnagtet tan tjuoufagen pir, juffo le tat fabneg tjuoufeg, mi le rcdralbi £dtam, ja ^aijagtjuoufa faifeit almatjiet. @obn Id rodralbefgne, ja tcdralb le fo pafto taffatum, roalla rodralb ibtji titan go tatba. @obn pati etjeg lanbei ja albe digot) lifan igtjin ftta fo tuojtotet : »atla taiti futet) go tuogtotin, tat le jaffin go naman nal, roabbi fobn refteb, 3ubmelen manan [jabber, maggaren ahnatg tdgatorca ifdirca rdgatemen pafto, dbtjelatg ufton jdlla juonfen dfman fltuben melt, ainat 3ufmteleft. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Lapland, the most northerly country of Europe, comprehends under its three general divisions of Russian, Swedish, and Norwegian Lapland, an area of about 150,000 square miles, two-thirds of which belong to Russia, and the rest to Sweden. The population has been loosely estimated at 60,000, of whom 9000 only are Laplanders, the rest being Swedes, Norwegians, and Russians. The Laplanders under the sway of Russia belong to the Greek Church, and those subject to Sweden are professedly Lutherans; but they did not, as a nation, assume the Christian name before the seventeenth century, and in many parts of the country they are said still to retain many of their heathen customs. Class IV.] LAPPONESE. 323 IT. — CHARACTEKISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Laplanders and Finns are said to have originally constituted one nation, and the Lapponese, from its great similarity in structure to the Finnish language, affords proof of this fact. Lapponese has been considerably changed by the number of foreign words that have been engrafted on it; for the ignorant Laplanders had no terms of their own expressive of any objects not strictly connected with their uncivilised mode of life. In the Lapponese version of 1 Tim. iii. 16, not fewer than six of the words are of foreign origin, and of these six not fewer than five are Swedish. Several different dialects of Lapponese prevail in Lapland; and it has been found necessary, as will be hereafter mentioned, to prepare a separate version of the Scriptures for the inhabitants of Norwegian Lapland. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE; In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Laplanders were wholly ignorant of letters, and did not possess a single book written in their language. Before the year 1619, Gustavus Adolphus began to establish schools for their instruction, and a primer was published containing, among other things, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer in Lapponese. A manual, containing the Psalms, the Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiasticus, the dominical Gospels and Epistles, with several religious tracts, was published at Stockholm in 1648. The translator and editor was John Jonae Tornaeus, a native of Sweden, and pastor in Tornea. This work was not generally understood, on account of the peculiarity of the dialect in which it was written, and accordingly another manual was compiled by Olaus Stephen Graan, a schoolmaster and pastor in the Umea-Lappmark. This second manual, written in a more generally intelligible dialect, contained extracts from the dominical and festival Gospels and Epistles, and was printed at Stockholm in 1669. It is unknown at what time, or under what circumstances, the New Testament was translated into Lapponese. The first printed edition of which we have any account was published at Stockholm in 1755. A copy of this edition is in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. No further edition appears to have been issued till 1810, when the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society availed themselves of the assistance of the Evangelical Society at Stockholm to print an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament from the edition of 1755, which was then completely exhausted. The bishop of Tornea undertook to superintend the publication, and it was printed at Hernosand, in 8vo., in 1811. A version of the Bible in Lapponese was published in quarto at the same place, and during the same year; and a copy of this work (which does not appear to have been committed a second time to the press) may be seen in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society. With the exception of a quarto edition of the Testament, likewise published in 1811, and some copies of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, printed at Christiania in 1838, no further editions have appeared. Features of striking interest in reference to the moral and religious condition of the Lapland population have recently manifested themselves. A great religious revival appears to be in progress in that country. "The continual and increasing awakenings in Lapland (wrote Dr. Polvsander to the St. Petersburg Agency of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1851), particularly in the frontier territories, through which the rivers Tornea and Muonio flow, occupy at present my greatest attention. The Scriptures are still much sought after." In reference to the facilities for introducing into the country a new edition of the New Testament and Psalms in the Lapponian tongue, it has been stated that the local hierarchy would readily further the work. 324 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. QUANIAN, OR NORWEGIAN LAPLANDISH. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Algost feei sadne, ja sadne laei Ibmel lut, ja sadne laei Ibmel. 2 Dat algost lsei Ibmel lut. 3 Buokrakkan dam boft lae dakkujuvvum ; ja alma dam taga i mikkege lsek dakku- juvvum dast, mi jo lse dakkujuvvum. 4 Dam sist lsei aellem ; ja aellem lsei olbmu cuovgas. 6 Ja cuovgas ssevdnjadassi baitta, ja saevdnjad i dam arvedam. 6 Ibmelest vuolgatuvui olmus, gaen namma Johannes laei. 7 Dat duodastussan bodi, cuovgas birra duodastet, vai buokak su boft oskusL 8 1 son tern cuovgas, mutto (vuolgatuvvum laei) cuovgas birra duodastet. 9 Dat laei dat duot cuovgas, mi juokke olbmu cuvggijaegje lae, gutte mailbmai boatta. 10 Son mailmest laei, ja mailbme su boft dakkujuvvum lae, ja mailbme i dovddam su. " Son bodi su je^as lusa, ja (su) jecak aei vuosstaivalddam su. 12 Mutto nuft aedna- gak, gudek vuosstaivaldde su, sigjidi famo son addi Ibmel manan saddat, sigjidi, gudek su nama ala osskuk ; 13 gudek varai mield aei laek rie_gadam, aeige oaze dato mield, aeige olbma dato mield, mutto Ibmelest. u Ja sadne oazzen skdai, ja asai min gaskast, — ja mi oinimek su haervvasvuoda, nuftgo a<5e aidno barne haervvasvuoda, — dievva armost ja duotvuodast. Finmark, or, as it is sometimes called, Norwegian Lapland, forms the most northerly portion of Lapland, having for its northern boundary the Arctic, or Frozen Ocean. The poor wandering Quiines who inhabit this dreary region, and who in number may amount to about 6000, were left till within the last half century without any version of the Scriptures in their vernacular dialect. Copies of the Finnish Testament were sent to them by the Bible Society of Finland, but the Quiines were found totally incapable of understanding that version; and although they speak a dialect of the Lapponese, even the Lapponese Testament is unintelligible to them. In 1822 the British and Foreign Bible Society voted £200 to promote a version in Quanian, and the Norwegian Bible Society, in consequence, applied to some learned friends in Copenhagen to transmit to them any MSS. that might be found in the late Laplandish seminary. No MSS., however, appear to have existed in this uncultivated dialect; and in 1828 the Norwegian Society made arrangements for the immediate translation of the New Testament. The Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society agreed to bear the entire expense of the work; and, at the suggestion of Dr. Pinkerton, it was resolved to print the new version in parallel columns with the Danish. The execution of the translation was committed to Mr. Stockfleth, a missionary of eminent devotedness, whose efforts to preach the Gospel to this people had been greatly blessed. He had formerly been an officer in the army, but in 1828 was labouring as a pastor among the uncivilised tribes of Laplanders under the 71st degree of north latitude, where, during two months of the year, the sun never rises. In 1840 the translation of the New Testament was completed, and an edition was published at Christiania, under the superintendence of the Norwegian Bible Society. 1 1 In evidence of the social and moral advantages that have resulted from missionary labour among the previously benighted tribes of Northern Europe, it may not be uninteresting to quote the independent testimony offered by a recent visitor to a Lappish tribe on the Norwegian coast. They were found to be in possession " of some excellently printed and well-cared-for books, particularly a Bible We found some of them also engaged in writing. This Mas a matter of surprise, where we had been led to expect something approaching barbarism ; and we soon had a proof that their pretension to religious impressions was not merely theoretical, for they positively refused to taste the spirits which were freely offered to them, and of which our party partook ; though it is well known that excessive and besotting drunkenness used to be the great sin of the Lappish tribes, and still is of those who have not been converted to habits of order and religion, by the zealous efforts of the Swedish missionaries, who have indefatigably laboured amongst them." — Norway and its Glaciers, etc. Br James T>. Foebes. Edinburgh, 1854. Class IV.] HUNGARIAN. 325 HUNGARIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Kezdetben vala amaz Ige es az az Ige vala az Istennel, es az az Ige Isten vala. 2 Ez as Ige kezdetben az Istennel vala. 3 Mindenek ez altal teremtettek, es 6 nala nelkiil semmi nem teremtetett, valami teremtetett. 4 O benne vala az elet, es az elet vala az embereknek ama' Vilagossagok. 5 Es ez a' Vilagossag a' setetsegben fenylik, de a' setetseg azt meg nem esmerte. 6 Vala egy ember Istentol botsattatott, kinek neve Janos vala. 7 Ez jott tanubizonysagot tenni, azaz, hogy ama' Vilagossagrol bizonysagot tenne, hogy 6 altala mindenek hinnenek. 8 Nem vala ez ama' Vilagossag ; hanem kuldetett volt, hogy bizonysagot tenne arrol a' Vilagossagrol. 9 Ez vala amaz igaz Vilagossag, melly megvila- gosit minden e' vilagra sziiietett embert. 10 E' vilagon vala, es e' vilag 6 altala teremtetett; de e' vilag otet meg nem esmere. n Az ovei kozze" jove, es az ovei otet be nem vevek. 12 Valakik pedig otet bevevek, ada azoknak illy meltosagot, hogy Istennek fijaiva lennenek, tudniillik azoknak, kik az 6 neveben hisznek. 13 Kik nem a' vertol, sem a' testnek aka- ratjatol, sem a' ferjfiunak indulatjatol, hanem Istentol szlilettettek. u Es amaz Ige teste lett, es lakozott mi kozottiink, (es lattuk az 6 ditsoseget, ugymint az Atyanak egyetlenegy sziilottenek ditsoseget,) ki teljes vala kegyelemmel es igazsaggal. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. This language is spoken by the dominant race in Hungary, a people of Finnish extraction, mentioned in the Russian annals under the name of Ugri, and now distinguished by the name of Magyar, which in former ages was the designation of their most powerful tribe. Although of the same stock as the feeble and degraded Ostiaks of the Obi, their condition has been so highly improved since their conquest of Hungary, that in all physical, moral, and intellectual qualities they rank among the foremost nations of Europe. In number they amount only to 4,866,000, whereas the entire population of Hungary amounted, in 1854, to 8,744,000: the remainder of the population consists of Slovaks, Croatians, Germans, Wallachians, Rusniaks, and Jews. The government is monarchical, limited by the power of the aristocracy: but the separate constitution previously enjoyed by the Hungarian nation has been abrogated since the abortive insurrection of 1848-9, and Hungary is now a mere province of Austria. The religion of the state is Romanism : more than two millions of the Magyars, however, are Protestants. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Magyar language still preserves clear indications of its original connection with the cognate dialects spoken by the Ostiaks and Voguls, on the banks of the Obi. It has become enriched and perfected by the long-continued influence of European civilisation, yet the characteristic traits of the Finnish family may be detected as readily now as when the Magyars first entered Europe. The laws of vocalic harmony which pervade all Finnish languages are scrupulously observed in Magyar. This language resolves the vowels into two classes, a, o, u masculine, and e, i, o, and u feminine — that is, hard and soft, strong and weak; a feature common to the Tartar languages, such as the Mongolian, Turkish, and Tartar, properly so called. A masculine and a feminine, that is, a hard and soft vowel are not allowed to meet in one word, not even in a compound term; for if the last syllable of a word have a masculine vowel, the affix must be made to agree with it accordingly. Hence the Magyar language is surpassingly beautiful in uniformity of character and melody of sound. 326 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN" THIS LANGUAGE. The earliest Magyar version of any portion of the Scriptures was made in 1541 , by John Sylvester, a native Magyar; it consisted only of the Four Gospels and Acts, and was dedicated to King Ferdinand and his son Maximilian; no printed copy is now known to be in existence, yet in " Bright's Hungary" it is stated that an edition was printed at Szigetvar in 1541, at the expense of Thomas Nadaschdy. Le Long also mentions an edition of St. Paul's Epistles, printed at Cracow in 1553, and another version of the Four Gospels, executed by G. P. Pestinus, and printed at Vienna in 1536; he also speaks of an edition of the entire New Testament, published at Vienna in 1574. Another version of the New Testament was printed at Vienna in 1574, without the translator's name. The first edition of the whole Bible in Magyar appeared at Visoly, near Gonz (or Guns), in 1589. This is the present authorised version of Hungary. The translation was made from the Hebrew and Greek, conferred with the Vulgate and several other Latin versions, by Gaspard Caroli, or Karoli, a Magyar by birth, pastor of the church of Gonz, and dean of the Brethren of the Valley of Kaschau. He had imbibed the principles of the Reformation at Wittenberg, where he had studied in his youth ; and the desire of disseminating among his countrymen the knowledge of the truths which he had found precious to his own soul was, in all probability, the cause of his embarking in this arduous undertaking. In the printing of his work he was assisted by Count Stephen Bathory, who obtained a printer from Germany, and established a printing-office for the purpose at Visoly. The sheets, as they passed through the press, were corrected by Albert Molnar, afterwards regent of the college of Oppenheim : he afterwards subjected the whole to a careful revision, and published an improved edition at Hanau in 1608, accom- panied with a Magyar translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, the Liturgy of the Hungarian Churches, and a metrical version of the Psalms. Molnar subsequently published two other editions of the Bible, namely, in 1612 at Oppenheim, and in 1645 at Amsterdam: he also published two separate editions of the New Testament and of the Psalms, in 12mo., at Amsterdam, in 1646. When these editions were exhausted, another revision of the Hungarian Bible was undertaken by Count Stephen Bethlen D'Iktar, brother to Prince Gabriel Bethlen: he assembled a number of learned men to prepare the work, and established a printing-press at Waradin. In 1657 the revision was completed, and the printing commenced; but in 1660, when the edition, intended to consist of 10,000 copies, was but half completed, the city of Waradin was taken by the Turks, and 4000 copies were lost or destroyed. The remaining copies were saved and taken to Claudiopolis, or Koloswar, in Transylvania, where the edition was completed in 1661. Another edition (the sixth) of the Bible was published, in 8vo., at Amsterdam in 1684-5, by N. K. M. Totfalusi, by whom a separate edition of the New Testament and Psalms was printed, in 12mo., during the same year. The seventh edition of the Bible was published at Cassel in 1704, edited by John Ingebrand. Editions also appeared at Utrecht in 1730, 1737, and 1794, in 8vo.; at Basle in 1751, in 8vo.; and at Leipsic in 1776, in 8vo. An edition of the New Testament was printed at Wittenberg in 1736, in 8vo., and a metrical version of the Psalms at Debreczin in 1723, in 12mo. Another revision of the Hungarian Bible, which perhaps ought rather to be regarded as a new translation, was executed by Dr. Comarin, pastor of Debreczin, but he died before it could be committed to the press, and the MS. was sent for publication to the celebrated Vitringa. It was possibly from this MS. that the edition of 1716-17 was printed in Holland, the circulation of which was prevented by the Jesuits, who seized and destroyed 3000 copies. Two Romanist versions of the Scriptures, the first of which was never printed, have been executed in the Hungarian language. The earlier of these versions was made about the close of the sixteenth century, by Stephen Arator, a Jesuit, whose real name was Szanthus. The other version, which was a translation from the Vulgate, was printed at Vienna in 1626, in folio. It was translated by George Kaldi, a Jesuit, who rendered it in all respects conformable to the dogmas of his party. He afterwards published at Vienna an edition of the dominical Gospels and Epistles, as read in the mass. A Bible Society was formed at Presburg in 1812, encouraged by a donation of £500 from the Class IV.] HUNGARIAN. 327 Parent Society; but, with the exception of an edition of the Bible mentioned by Van Ess in 1823, no editions of the Hungarian Scriptures appear to have been published by that Society. In 1814, Dr. Pinkerton found at Utrecht upwards of 2000 copies of the authorised Hungarian Bible, belonging to the abovementioned edition of 1794: these copies had never been circulated, owing to a reverse of circumstances sustained by the individual with whom the edition had originated. The copies were purchased by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and transmitted to Presburg for distribution. In 1830-31, Mr. William Greenfield, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, reported upon and prepared a copy of the authorised Hungarian New Testament; but it does not appear that an edition was carried through the press. It was not, indeed, till 1837 that Hungary really became accessible to the operations of the Society; but during that year the publication of the Scriptures was commenced in Hungary itself; 8000 copies of the Bible, 13,000 New Testaments, and 2500 copies of the New Testament and Psalms were successively issued from the press at Guns (Gonz), and in 1841 the whole of the Scriptures was stereotyped. The total number of Hungarian Bibles and Testaments printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society up to the close of the year 1859, has been as follows: — Bibles .... 79,300 Testaments .... 27,000 Testaments and Psalms . 21,000 IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The most interesting accounts have, from year to year, been transmitted concerning the joy with which the Bible Society's editions have been received in Hungary. The poor Magyars, it is said, not- withstanding their deep poverty, which in some districts verges on destitution, have been found willing to devote their last kreutzer to the purchase of a copy of the Bible; and even the wealthier classes, to whom, from the previous scarcity of copies, the truths of the Gospel had become strange, are now beginning to speak with reverence of the Scriptures. In 1848 intelligence was received from Hungary, that " the dissemination of the Scriptures was carried on with increased blessing," and that " the Bible was spread over the whole land." " Not merely the common people," it was said, " but the so-called higher and more enlightened classes are beginning to read the Scriptures; and the Bible and its sacred contents are frequently spoken of with deep interest in mixed companies." The calamitous circumstances of 1848-49, which converted Hungary into a vast theatre of war, spread a blight over all these fair prospects, and completely stayed, for the time, the work of Bible distribution in this portion of the European continent. Upon the termination of the war, however, great eagerness to obtain the Scriptures was again shown, and the issue of further editions was shortly commenced by the British and Foreign Bible Society, which opened agencies for the purpose at Giins and Pesth. But the subsequent policy of the Austrian government, referred to in a preceding page, has put an effectual stop to these operations, and Hungary — like the other parts of the Austrian empire — is for the present a closed land to the agents of Bible distribution. 328 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV KAEELIAN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE KARELIAN VEESION, see Plate 7, page 338. The Karelians, to the number of at least 100,000, dwell in the government of Tver, in European Russia. They speak a distinct dialect of the Finnish language, varying in many respects from that spoken in the government of Olonetz, the proper Kyrialand, or Karelia, of the Scandinavian historians. It seems impossible to ascertain how, or at what time, they left their original country to settle in Tver; but it is generally supposed that they were located in their present district by order of Peter the Great. The numerous Swedish words which occur in their vocabulary appear to corroborate this hypothesis, for these could not have been introduced had not the Karelians held intercourse with the Finns after the political connection had been established between Finland and Sweden. The Karelian dialect has been greatly modified by the influence of the Sclavonic and Eussian languages: all the males of this tribe, in fact, habitually speak Eussian, being accustomed to use this language in their frequent visits to the towns for purposes of traffic. The females, however, can in general converse only in Karelian. An edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was published for the benefit of this tribe, by the Eussian Bible Society, at Kazan, in 1820. It was printed in the modern Eussian characters, with the addition of some few accents to denote certain diphthongal sounds peculiar to the Karelian. The members of this tribe belong to the Eussian Church, and are therefore in the habit of using the Sclavonic version in the public services of religion, which circumstance may account for the occasional use of Sclavonic terms in their version of St. Matthew. They are said to possess a translation of parts of the national liturgy in MS. ; but this Gospel was the first book ever printed for their use. In consequence, probably, of the suspension of the Eussian Bible Society, no other portion of the Scriptures has as yet been translated into Karelian. OLONETZIAN. A small portion of the Scriptures has been translated into the Olonetzian, which is, in reality, a sub-dialect of Karelian. A specimen of this translation was sent in 1820 to Tver, to be compared with the dialect spoken in that government; but the suspension of the Eussian Bible Society arrested the progress of this undertaking, and we have of late years heard nothing further concerning the Olonetzian version. Class IV.] DOKPAT ESTHONIAN. 329 DORPAT ESTHONIAN. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHJST, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Qtfgmigfen otli fe fimna, ninf [e fonna olli Summato man ninf Sumntal oflf fe fonna. 2 ©efantma oKi afgmigfen Summala man. 3 Jtif out I&fctn temma tettu : Stinf mibbafe et otle temmota tettu, me§ tettu om. 4 £enuna jtSfen olli eflo, ninf fe etlo oEi innimiste walgu§ : 5 0HnI tratgug paift pimmeban, ninf pimmebus ei oue tebba roaStairotnu. 6 Utg innintinne Idtjljdteti Summalaji, fel oGi ninuui Saan. 7 ©efamma tutti tunni3tu§fe perrafl, et temma icalgitsfeft tunntetaS, et fif temma Idoot uSfusfe. 8 £emma eg cite mitte iralguS, enge et temma tunnt§ta§ walguSfeji. '■> Soijtne watguS, fumfe f if tnntmisft roatguStap, tufli ilma fisfe. 10 6e oJIt ilmart, ninf tint om temma laWi fanu : 0ttnf tint eg tttnr.e tebba mitte. u Xetnnta tuflt omnia ftsfe, ninf ommatfe e§ motta tebba rca3ta. 12 @ni mitto tebba roa§ta roottura, neile anb temma rcoimuft Sumntala latftS faba, tea temma nimme ftsfe ufftea : 13 J?ea ei ofle fiinbinu trerreft, ei fa tifjlfja taf)tmt§fejl, enge Summalafi. u Stinf fe fonna faije ItyfyaS, ninf efti metje fean, (ninf meije ndime temma aunmstuft, fui aino fiinbinu (p o i a) aumugtufi eSfajl,) tdus atmo ninf totter. Esthonia is a maritime government in the north-west of European Russia, and forms one of the Baltic provinces. It was sold by the Danes to the Teutonic Knights in 1347, was conquered by Sweden in 1561, and annexed to Russia by Peter the Great in 1710. Its area is about 6,870 square miles, and its population amounted in 1851 to 289,800. The lower classes only of this population are, strictly speaking, Esthonians, the wealthier inhabitants being mostly of Danish or German descent. The lan- guage, which exhibits the same characteristics as other Finnish tongues, is spoken in two dialects, the Dorpat and the Reval Esthonian. The former is spoken in South Esthonia, and the latter prevails in the North. Almost all the Esthonians are of the Lutheran persuasion. They were first put into possession of the oracles of God in the year 1686, when John Fischer, a German professor of divinity and general superintendent of Livonia, published an Esthonian version of the entire New Testament. This translation had been executed by Fischer, at the command of Charles XL A version of the Old Testament, made by the same translator, aided by Gosekenius, appeared in 4to. in 1689. This was followed in the year 1700 by an edition of the Gospels and Epistles for the festival days of the church. It is uncertain in which dialect these early versions were written, but it is probable that they were understood throughout Esthonia. A version of the New Testament in Dorpat Esthonian was printed at Riga in 1727, in 8vo. This edition was speedily exhausted; and the Dorpat Esthonians being left without further supplies, made use of the Reval Esthonian version of 1739. In 1810, the prosecution of certain inquiries, instituted by the British and Foreign Bible Society, concerning the state of the Scriptures in Russia, led to the discovery that the Esthonians were almost destitute of the Scriptures. Grants in aid of a new edition were voted by the Society; and in 1815, through the exertions of Dr. Paterson, 5000 copies of the Dorpat Esthonian New Testament were completed at press. In 1824 the Russian Bible Society reported that they had printed 8000 copies of the same version. Another edition of the New Testament was undertaken by the Dorpat Bible Society in 1836; and during the same year a version of the Psalms, translated from the Hebrew by the Rev. Ferdinand Meyer, of Carolen, was printed by the aid of the Parent Society: this latter edition consisted of 4500 copies. In a letter received from an Esthonian pastor, dated January, 1850, it is stated that " an edition of the Bible has just been issued at Reval and Dorpat." The work of Scripture distribution is now extensively prosecuted from both of these towns on behalf of the American Bible Society, which has supplied considerable funds for the purpose. An edition of 10,000 Dorpat Esthonian New Testaments was authorised by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1856, the version being first carefully revised by Dr. Kiel: the execution of this work appears, however, to have been hitherto delayed. 330 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. HEYAL ESTHONIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. 9llgmigfeg otti fe ©anna, ja fe ©anna otti Summala jureg, ja fe ©anna otti 3'ummaf. 2 ©efamma oWi algmigfeg Summala jureg. 3 Jteif agjab on temnta IdbT te^tub, ja ilma temmata e£ otte iu)tegi tefytub, mtg tef)tttb on. 4 £emnta fee§ otti etto, ja fe etto otti innimegte rcalgug, 5 3a fe walgug patgtig ptmmebugfeg, ja pimmebug ei tctitnub febba wagto. 6 (Ut'g innimenne, 3oannee nimmi, fai 3ummataft IdKitub; 7 ©eflnnane tuCCt tunntgtugfer'g, et temma fefl walgugfefi :pibbi tunnigtama, et hit temma Idfeti £tbbib uff'ma. 8 £emma e£ olnub mitte fe walgug, raaib, et temma ptbbi tunnigs tama feft rcatgugfefi) 9 @e otti fe togfine rcatgug, leg walgugtat ?eif innimegfeb, fut ta matltna flgfe tutti. 10 Semma otti mailmag, ja maitm on temma laWn te^ttib, ja matlnt ei tunnub tebba mitte. " Semma tuttt omma flgfe, ja neeb ommaffeb ei n>otnub tebba mitte rcagto ; 12 2(gga ni mitto, Jut tebba rcagtorcotftb, neite anbig temma melenjatba Summala la^ftfg faba, ?eg temma nimme ftgfe uffrcab, 13 Jteg e£ otte roetreft, ei Iif)f)a tafytnttgfejt, egga mefjfje tatytmigfejt, toaib Summalaft fiinbinub. u 3a fe ©anna fai ufjfjafg, ja wottig fut ii^eg maiag meie feag (Uaia (ia meie nagginte temnta au fui Sgfafi ainofiinbtnub $oia au) tatg atmo ja tot. The Reval dialect of the Esthonian language is spoken in the north of Livonia, including the three adjacent islands of Oesel, Dagden (or Dagb'e), and Mohn. In 1811 the Moravian missionaries, who were labouring among this people, calculated that 2500 individuals in Eeval Esthonia, and 5000 in the above islands, had been awakened to a sense of the importance of religion. The first edition of the Scriptures in Reval Esthonian was printed at Reval in 1739, in 4to. ; it was partly published at the expense of the celebrated Count Zinzendorf. A second edition is said to have followed in 1773, and a third in 1790. These two latter editions (if actually published, which seems doubtftil) could have comprised no large amount of copies; for in 1810 it was reported that to many of the peasantry in Esthonia the Bible was unknown. In 1815, through the zeal of Dr. Paterson, and the aid afforded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament was printed in Reval Esthonian. The Russian Bible Society appears to have published 5100 copies of the Old Testament in this version, prior to the year 1824, and some recent editions have been issued at Dorpat. The most extensive aid has, however, been furnished by the American Bible Society, which in 1850 supplied the funds for printing (in Finland), an edition of 20,000 New Testaments in Reval Esthonian, 10,000 of them having the Psalms appended. This welcome supply was transmitted to the Reval Bible Society for distribution. The Esthonian Scriptures in both dialects have been particularly blessed to the soldiers of that nation. The sons of the peasantry are frequently drafted into Russian regiments, and stationed at a great distance from their native land. Here they are obliged to serve twenty-five years, without ever hearing a Protestant clergyman address them in their native language; and being thus precluded from hearing the Gospel preached, their need of the written Word of God is the more especially urgent. It is said that the joy of these soldiers is unbounded when copies of the Scriptures are distributed among them. They have been known to crowd around the distributor, and to fall at his knees in token of unfeigned gratitude; and they have even kissed the sacred volume, and invoked blessings on their benefactors. Class IV.] MORDVINIAN. 331 TSCHEREMISSIAN. FOE SPECIMEN" OF THE TSCHEEEMISSIAN VERSION, see Plate 9, page 356. The people by whom this dialect is spoken dwell along the banks of the Volga and Kama, in the Eussian governments of Kasan and Simbirsk. Tooke says that members of this tribe are also to be found on both sides of the Volga, particularly on the left side, in the government of Nij mi-Novgorod . The total number of Tscheremissians has been estimated at 50,000; most of them belong to the Russian Church. In 1819 a translation of part of the Scriptures into Tscheremissian was undertaken by the Russian Bible Society, and twelve translators were employed in the preparation of the work. The Gospel of St. Matthew, the first portion completed, left the press in 1820. To ascertain whether the dialect in which it is written could be readily understood by the Tscheremissians, the Archbishop of Kasan collected a number of them together, and caused part of this Gospel to be read aloud to them. When these poor people heard the words of Jesus in their own tongue, "they wept for joy, and were ready to fall down and worship." An edition of the Four Gospels in the same dialect was therefore printed in the following year; and at length 3000 copies of the entire New Testament were carried through the press, under the care of the Kasan Bible Society. Shortly after the completion of this version, a statement was drawn up by various parish ministers respecting the number of heathen who had been led to embrace Christianity from among the Tschere- missians. One minister mentioned eleven, another thirty-eight, a third mentioned one hundred, and a fourth fifty-two instances of conversion, as having taken place in their respective parishes. And this, it was stated, was accomplished in some instances exclusively, and in others principally, by means of the perusal of the Tscheremissiin Gospels. MORDVINIAN, OR MORDUIN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VEESION, see Plate 9, page 356. This dialect of the Finnish is spoken on the banks of the Oka and the Volga, in the governments of Nijnii-Novgorod and Kasan. According to Tooke, members of this tribe are also to be met with in Orenburg. The number of individuals composing this horde is very uncertain : they profess Chris- tianity, but retain many heathenish practices. They were brought before the notice of the Russian Bible Society in 1817, and a translation of the New Testament was undertaken for their benefit. The Four Gospels left the press in 1821, and ultimately an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament was printed under the superintendence of the Kasan Bible Society. 332 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. TClass IV. ZIEI11, OR 8 I R E N I A N, FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 7, page 338. There is some difference of opinion concerning the precise geographical limits of the Zirian dialect. It has been said to prevail in the governments of Perm, Tobolsk, and Archangel; but it is undoubtedly the predominant dialect of the district of Oustioug-veliki, in Vologda. The Zirinians were converted to Christianity in the fourteenth century, by the preaching of St. Etienne; and there are some reasons for supposing that the Scriptures and the church books were translated into the Zirian dialect about that period ; but not a single vestige of this translation at present remains. The only portion of the Scriptures now possessed by the Zirians, in their own dialect, consists of the Gospel of St. Matthew ; 1400 copies of which were printed for them by the Russian Bible Society in 1823. The translator's name was Scherzen. WOGULIAN. The Wogulians dwell in the governments of Perm and Tobolsk, in a district between the Tobol, the Beresov, the Obi, and the Uralian Mountains. The Protohiery (Primate) Teletzyn, in concert with the clergy of his diocese, undertook a translation of the Scriptures into Wogulian; and in 1820 the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were translated and ready for the press. The MS., was submitted to the Tobolsk Bible Committee, by whom it was forwarded to the Russian Bible Society, but it does not appear to have ever been printed ; so that the Wogulians are still unsupplied with any portion of the Scriptures in their own dialect. OSTIACAN, OR, OSTJAKIAN. This dialect prevails on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and on the banks of the Obi, Irtish, and Yenesei, from the city of Tomsk (lat. 58° north, long. 83° 20' east) to Obdorsk. It greatly resembles the Mordvinian, and is at the same time so similar to the Wogulian, that it is thought the members of the two tribes must be capable of holding intercourse together. The Ostiaks are accounted one of the most numerous tribes in Siberia. A translation of the Scriptures into their dialect was going forward in 1820, under the care and inspection of Werguno, the active and zealous protohiery or primate at Beresov, and the Gospel of St. Matthew, translated by a learned priest, was forwarded for publication to the Committee of the Russian Bible Society : but it does not appear to have been printed, and we do not hear of the translation of any other portion of the Testament. Class IV.] WOTAGIAN. 333 WOTAGIAN, ORWOTJAKIAN. The Wotagians, or, as they are more commonly ealled, the Votiaks, or Wotjaks, are a numerous people in the governments of Viatka and Orenburg, and perhaps in that of Vologda; but they chiefly reside in districts on the banks of the Viatka, and between that river and the Upper Kama. Dr. Pinkerton estimates their number at 100,000 individuals: they all profess adherence to the Eussian Church, but many among them are still heathens. Lewandowski, a learned Votiak, well acquainted with his native dialect, was the first to undertake a translation of the Scriptures for his countrymen. In 1820 he sent a translation of the first ten chapters of St. Matthew to the Eussian Bible Society as a specimen, with an offer to prosecute the translation, if deemed desirable: the committee encouraged him to proceed, and directed him to submit his work to such clergymen as were acquainted with the dialect. The translation appears to have been continued under the care and inspection of the Committee of the Viatka Branch Bible Society; and the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were completed during the year 1823. After this translation had been examined by various competent individuals, and subjected to minute and careful revision, the Bishop of Viatka and other clergy affixed their signatures to it, in testimony of its being perfectly intelligible to the tribe for whom it was designed. The other two Gospels were translated shortly afterwards, and an edition, intended to consist of 2000 copies, was ordered by the Eussian Bible Society. The first pages of the Gospel of St. Matthew were printed during Advent; and as the first two chapters are publicly read in the Eussian Church on Christmas day, the committee forwarded the printed sheets to the clergy of twenty-seven Viatka parishes, with a request that they would read the translation to the people, and thus test its intelligibility. From the accounts subsequently given by the clergy, it appeared that their respective hearers were equally astonished and overjoyed on hearing the Gospel in their own dialect. In one parish many of the Votiaks declared that the version was perfectly intelligible to them, and that they only wished to hear more of it. The people of another parish requested, at the conclusion of the service, that the Gospel in their own language might be read over again to them, which was actually done more than once. On separating they were observed to be engaged in close conversation together on the subject of what they had heard, and many exclaimed, " Inmar badsim ! Inmar allam!" The Lord is a great God. This is one of the versions which was left in an unfinished state at the time of the suspension of the Eussian Bible Society. The printing, though commenced, does not appear to have been continued even to the completion of a single book. Thus, although a faithful and accredited version of the Four Gospels exists in their language, these people have remained to the present moment destitute of a single printed copy of any portion of the Scriptures in a dialect intelligible to them, CLASS IV.-DETACHED FAMILIES. C. TUNCUSIAN FAMILY. MANTCHOU. FOE SPECIMEN OF THE MANTCHOU YEESIOIST, see Plate 8, page 331. I — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Mantchou, Mantcliew, or Mandjur language properly belongs to Mantchooria, an extensive region lying north of Corea and north-east of China Proper, and enclosing an area of 700,000 square miles, with an unknown amount of population. From the year 1644 to the present time (1860), China has been governed by a dynasty of Mantchou princes, and the Mantchou language has consequently been extended to China, while Mantchooria itself has become an integral part of the Chinese empire. All that portion of Mantchooria lying to the north of the river Amoor has within recent years (since 1847) been transferred to the sovereignty of Russia. But although the line of the Amoor now marks the frontier between the empires of China and Russia, tribes of Mantchops are still found to the northward of the river. The total number of Mantchoos in China barely amounts to a million and a half: yet, notwith- standing their numerical inferiority, and their unpopularity with the Chinese, the entire empire has for upwards of two centuries been subject to their sway; and it is said to be solely owing to their suspicious and unsocial habits that China has been during that lengthened period a sealed country to Europeans. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The elemental principles of the Mantchou, Mongolian, Tartar, and Finnish languages, may almost be said to be identical; but their genius and construction differ. In the simplicity of their structure, and in the total absence of all inflection, properly so called, they approach nearer to the monosyllabic type than any other class of languages. The relations of words in a sentence, in other languages denoted by inflection or by prefixes, are in these languages indicated by the juxtaposition of particles invariably placed after the noun or word to which they refer. A peculiar and very inharmonious stiffness of construction is the natural result of this arrangement. In Mantchou, especially, the collo- cation of words in sentences is restricted within very narrow and rigid rules; and as these rules are extremely arbitrary, a long Mantchou sentence is frequently utterly unintelligible until the last word is reached; so that in point of clearness of construction, even Chinese itself is sometimes superior to Mantchou. But that is owing chiefly to the peculiar mode of conjugation in Mantchou, which is to be considered more as a combination of uninflected participles, affected by certain particles, than as inflections of tenses and moods of verbs as we are accustomed to call them. So that the terms present, future, past, subjunctive, infinitive, etc., are used in Mantchou grammar more in a conventional than in an accurate manner. In consequence of these defects, the Mantchous have little poetry: their most Plato VIII. Page .334. SPECIMEN OF THE MANTCHOU VERSIO Consisting of ST JOHN, Chap. I. v.l to 7. SPECIMEN OF THE TSCHUWASCHIAN VERSION. from th* Edition printed at c ,*P«tersburgh, 1620. P. 351. Consisting of ST J H N. Chap. I. v. I to 6. i Maji^aHT> 6ovi3a cjMaxT> cyMarb, ma Topa 6a/i,bHii 6oji3 V a, cyinarb ma 6oa- 2 3a Topa. Cnrra 6oji3a iyMK>pb/i,eHb 5 Topa 6^,bHH. TTopb ,4a oM6a 60.13a, OH3bipi> #a HHMHHb SoJlMaHT*, MHHb 4 6oji 3a. Ohtj JKHHHt 6oa3& 6opHa3b, 6opHa3b ma 6oji3a cio^b CHHT>3aMa. 5 Ciowb nuomtoMi) pa cio/i,iiiapamb, 6 miomiOM-b ,4a OHa xon^aMaH-b. Bo./i3a chht, ToppaHTj HHbl IoaHHTb nmAbi. SPECIMEN OF THE GEORGIAN VERSION. (IN THE CIVIL CHARACTER) P. 353. from the EdWon printed at S* Petersburg!,, 1819. Consisting of ST J H N . Chap. I. v. I to 3. 1 3<)rt , )2<]Wft0^lib OMCV unraMunJ^ »A uCy&jWJ ftlo OMM- ™d&on«UJ 2 cvln* f)U<) ^W**- BO&Sfljmoo-TOAD qt>oA©«4 * Mp> rni nfldoA /v>i M-roooo a o«jo- SPECIMEN OF THE GEORGIAN VERSION. (IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL CHARACTER) p. 353 from the Edition printed at Moscow, 1616. Consisting of ST J H N.Chac. I. v. I to 5. \u\iu\x ^W *fl{«J fl^kf? mi? ) S^ fli ij/mj hn^m^ \n^ & mitj tqui itvth- y tfni'ttinm'hfi flihiy tntifit} ® Hntfpq 3i*ih Sv/jifi yip»fi3fiij ' 8?*e mvfivxfa Thnhtt TjtJiJj*? "qiHinn j/i«jy $ ni\idft*t; ihn; uiSnfri th*i; *ttju}fiti % cFnli mtffit; Engraved for"THE BIBLE OF EVERY LAND"-. Samuel Bagster &-. Sons, Patomoster Row. London. Class IV.] MANTCHOU. 335 eloquent and lofty compositions can never rise beyond a series of dry propositions, in which each word and particle has its own proper and unvarying place assigned by rule. At present, however, they have no national literature, all their books being translations from the Chinese. With respect to its vocabulary, the Mantchou language has been said to comprehend three classes of words. The first consists of those words which are common to the Mantchou and the Tungusians, and which are chieflv expressive of simple ideas and objects primarily necessary to existence: these constitute the basis of the language. Among these original words are found a great number of terms which bear remarkable affinity to Latin and Greek words. As, e.g., M. sengge, Lat. sanguis; M. a'isin, gold, Lat. ass, eisen; M. akha, Lat. aqua; M. aniya, Lat. annus; M. toma, Lat. tumulus; M. ilen- ggou, Lat. lingua, etc.; M. outtou-touttou, Gr. ovtw,tovtco, etc. The second class includes the words which may be traced in the Mongolian, and these are very numerous. The third class comprises terms which have been borrowed from the Chinese, but deprived of their monosyllabic form, and disguised by one or more unmeaning syllables arbitrarily appended to them. Besides the above, Mantchou possesses many words relative to the Buddhistic system, borrowed from the Tibetans and Hindoos. The alphabet is syllabic, and, like the Chinese, is written in vertical columns from the top to the bottom of the page. Unlike the Chinese, however, these columns proceed from left to right. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. An imperfect and very unfaithful translation of part of the Scriptures into Mantchou is said to have been executed by some Jesuit missionaries; and in 1818 an abortive attempt towards the pro- duction of a version was made under the sanction of the Governor of Irkutsk. The prosecution of this important work ultimately devolved upon Lipoffzoff, a learned member of the Russian Bible Society, who had resided fourteen years at Pekin, by appointment of the Russian government, with the particular view of studying the Chinese and Mantchou languages. The translation was carried on under the superintendence of Dr. Pinkerton; and in 1822 an edition of 550 copies of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed at St. Petersburg, from types furnished at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. A few copies of this Gospel were despatched to various places, whence it was hoped they could be put into circulation; and Dr. Gutzlaff met with one of these copies during his first or second visit to China. The greater part of the remainder were destroyed in the awful flood which occurred in St. Petersburg in 1824. The translation of the entire Xew Testament was soon afterwards completed, and was pronounced to be clear, idiomatic, and faithful; but no further editions were issued till 1834, when public attention was suddenly drawn to the subject by a discovery of a MS. version of almost the whole of the Old Testament. Mr. Swan, of the London Missionary Society, found this MS. at St. Petersburg, whither it had been conveyed but a short time previously from Pekin. Mr. Swan was engaged to copy the whole MS., and his transcript, after undergoing a thorough revision, was forwarded to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The version is considered very satisfactory, and it still awaits publication, for it was deemed desirable in the first place to complete the printing of the New Testament. At this period (1834), when the committee were deliberating as to the best methods of continuing the revision and publication of the Xew Testament, Mr. George Borrow of Norwich, who possessed some knowledge of Mantchou, offered to undertake the supervision of the work. As he was found to be peculiarly qualified for the task, he was sent to St. Petersburg, where great facilities exist for the acquisition of the Mantchou language. In concert with the translator, he devoted himself to the revision of the entire version. Permission was obtained to print the work at St. Petersburg; and in 1835 an edition of 1000 copies of the New Testament left the press. This edition is beautifully printed, and in general free from typographical errors; but the rendering of the original is sometimes very arbitrary. The whole impression was forwarded to London, to remain under the custody of the British and Foreign Bible Society until an opening be made by Providence for the distribution and circulation of the copies. A few of these copies were distributed in 1843, by Mr. Lay, among the 336 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. Tartars, and copies have subsequently been placed at the disposal of the missionaries engaged in China. It seems probable, indeed, that more extensive efforts in reference to the Mantchou version will ere long be made. It was determined by the Society to print, by way of experiment, a small edition of portions of the New Testament in Mantchou and Chinese, in parallel columns, and a fount of Mantchou type was forwarded to Shang-hae for the purpose. This, however, with others of the Society's stores, was destroyed by the disastrous fire which occurred in 1856. As there is reason to believe that the Scrip- tures printed in such a form would be highly useful, the work is now in progress; and St. Matthew and St. Mark in Mantchou and Chinese have already been published. " There are many Chinese and Tartars (writes Dr. Medhurst) partially acquainted with both languages, who would be very glad to obtain books printed in this manner, when otherwise they might not give attention to them." TUNGUSIAN PROPER. The Tungusians, or Tongooses, are a nomadic people, supposed to have originally inhabited the country called Daouria, on the borders of Mongolia and Mantchooria, towards the northern limits of Chinese dominion. But while their brethren, the Mantchoos, extended their conquests southward into China Proper, the Tongooses, with their flocks and herds, wandered towards the north ; and they are now to be found amidst the vast mountainous regions which extend from Lake Baikal to the Sea of Okhotsk, and likewise further to the northward, in the various countries situated on the Lena, Kolyma, and Tungooska rivers. In number they are supposed, according to the latest Russian autho- rities, to amount to about 52,500. They are filthy and degraded in their habits, and greatly inferior ill physical conformation, and in every other respect, to the Mantchoos. Some few among the Tungooses have been baptized, but they are in general grossly ignorant: their religion is a branch of Shamanism, and consists chiefly in the worship of fire, and in a superstitious reverence for amulets. Their language differs both in words and in pronunciation from the Mantchou; it is extremely rude and barbarous, and contains a considerable admixture of Mongolian words. Several efforts have been made, from time to time, for the spiritual enlightenment of this widely- dispersed people; but, owing to the numerous petty dialects into which their language is divided, the task of translating the Scriptures into a dialect generally intelligible to the whole nation is attended with peculiar difficulty. A version of the sacred volume has been commenced in the dialect of the Tschapogires, a Tungusian tribe dwelling along the course of the Toungo-unski, a branch of the Yenesei. In the Beport of the Russian Committee, laid before the annual meeting of the Bible Society at St. Petersburg, 1819, this version w r as mentioned as one of the ''new translations" then in progress. No further intelligence on this subject has been since received; and it appears but too probable that, from some cause or other, the Tschapogirian translation has been altogether relinquished. Plate XI. Page 337 C* t fr, uJ .v. * vn M " vn *■ r< K «« C ml X^ >*l X) c( )*■ re )o> o) 6) (J £ r (t> I* v rt t* vn *?* «y >> S^ vn ^ J? uJ c* rt *£* c > rt re X >3 it) y> s- ^?C C v n & f 1 * ..n « »n S jS ^ m C iT" 1 ) 0)^ iHtt "> . c ^ n i vl»> S tf> •*» (T) '') V X vn (^ > i° - a * « C b« r ") tf r« vois;?- ( vn vn r ^> f * ^ nt. a)© 71 ^ 1 v>3 (r'^o C& ^s * ^s ^° On ^ ^ C ^ a » ^ ^^ ^5 ® C53 °o S£? ^ ^ J ^ £3 v?S ^^ C~ . \ o«v> ^3 v5S^ 55 5^ ^3 G e g ■si a S "5 r> G^ c 8 Ji c i i 3)1 U>|— 1 o 10-8 § « a § 1 £ § a g 3] 1 G I "S a 4* 1 1 G o 5T <§ a - c g e 4 E Si 6 £> G ej a c 4 i 4 6 § in g -§ 0) at o . Ti 5T 3 <. ta :o <= < :o ed c_ :o S3 3: •J x si x c- o 1 1 X ffi < - ^ S3 :o — S3 -a :o < •o S3 5 o SI o Li S3 S3 £3 OS S3 < :o td si x :o ^* «5 O < S3 -c :o M S3 X :o < X S3 il SI <3 <. X :o _d X S3 S S >X .3 S3 3=? ^ 2 .- SJ o < E- « l« S3 <^ X X 1 < ■.O x xq S3 <-> o «^ < X < t— rf < Li r- S3 X <3 S3 :o S3 :o :o _: < 53 o < CO S3 on < S3 UJ > m 9 Z S - < " vri _l I J- UJ 1 o "3 : S o 8 If ■ St 5 3 § A Brail re aS O SB 5 s cO ST 1 SB >0 Rl >~i X o h s Pi fi & BB E ^ "3 re E SB » O oS.5 § B *?& .. SB ^ B Si P^S BB 2s i E sr- E 6J o BB E 5 E re 1$ re re 8? P « B 5 f^ 5 -a- re 2 ^ Plate VII. Page 336. ;re a ^ fiPJ W O 2g. c ^ *2 f- E °s w re SB * 2 ^.re ? . ^ SB 0J t^ 5 -BB f- u £ "3 E N fcO vt vc CO m E ^ ^ re ^ 3 g s s 9 « cP re 2 P & ot S D P -5 «P w O ^ P ^» Q^ O^ : Class IV.] BURIAT. 339 by the fact that the Lamaic priests found it necessary to interdict it, apprehending that their craft would be in danger, in case the doctrines gained ground among their followers. Notwithstanding this prohibition, copies were eagerly sought by the Calmucs; and it was found necessary to issue a third edition in a smaller form, that the volumes might be more easily concealed among the stuff of their tents. Some pecuniary aid was received by Dr. Schmidt, the translator, from the emperor of Kussia; and in 1820 the Gospel of St. John was completed and laid before the Russian Committee. The eagerness of the people to know what this Gospel contained was so great, that before it could be carried through the press, it was sent in MS. for their perusal. An edition of 500 copies was printed of this Gospel alone, besides 2000 copies containing the Gospels both of St. Matthew and St. John. In 1822, an edition of the Gospels and the Acts was put to press at St. Petersburg. In a letter bearing the same date, it was stated by Dr. Pinkerton that twenty-two individuals had forsaken their idols, and had joined the Sarepta congregation on the Volga; and at that period there appeared every reason to hope that a still richer harvest would speedily ensue from the seed of the Divine Word diffused among the Calmucs. Concerning the effects which may have been more recently produced by their perusal of the New Testament in their own dialect, we have no means of obtaining intelligence, for the labours of missionaries among this people are now wholly suppressed. BURIAT. F OB SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, see Plate 7, page 338. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Buriat Mongolians now dwell near Lake Baikal, in Siberia, where they probably settled at the period of the revolution under Genghis Khan. They form the principal part of the population in the government of Irkutsk, north of the Baikal, and of the provinces of Selinginsk, Oudinsk, and Nerchinsk, eastward of that lake: they are thought to number about 150.000 individuals. The dialect of the Buriats is the same as that of the Khalka tribes of Eastern Mongolia. It differs from the Calmuc chiefly in the interchange of consonants, and is distinguished by its abundance of guttural and nasal sounds. The Buriats also differ from other Mongolians in employing the alphabet of their Mantchou neighbours, instead of the true Mongolian letters. II. — VERSION or THE scriptures in this dialect. When a translation of the New Testament into Calmuc was projected, it was anticipated that it would be found as intelligible to the Buriats of Siberia and to the other Mongolian tribes, as to the Calmucs themselves; and, under this impression, the Buriats contributed towards defraying the expenses of the version. When, however, the Gospel of St. Matthew in Calmuc was completed, it was found that the Buriats were unable to read it; and though they afterwards endeavoured to obtain the key to the Calmuc writing by acquainting themselves with the Mongolian letters, yet it soon became obvious that the differences between the two dialects rendered the preparation of a distinct version for each people absolutely essential. To remove every difficulty, Prince Galitzin, president of the Russian Bible Society, wrote to the Governor of Irkutsk, requesting him to send two learned Buriats to St. Peters- burg, for the purpose of accommodating the Calmuc Gospel to their native dialect, and, in conjunction with Dr. Schmidt, to translate the other parts of the New Testament. Two saisangs, or Buriat nobles, 340 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. accordingly repaired to St. Petersburg, and with the consent of their prince and lama, they engaged in the work of translation : the Divine Word was blessed to their conversion ; and, in a letter which they addressed to their chief, they avowed their faith in Jesus. In 1818, an edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in Buriat, was printed under their care, followed, in 1819, by 2000 copies of the two Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John. An edition of 2000 copies of the other two Gospels, with 2539 copies of the Acts, was published in 1822. During the same year owever, a severe loss was sustained in the death of Badma, one of the Buriat translators, who was called to rest from his labours just as he had translated as far as the middle of the Epistle to the Romans. The remaining portion of the New Testament appears to have been completed under the superintendence ot Dr. Schmidt, and was published about the year 1824, at St. Petersburg. The surviving Buriat noble was afterwards associated with Messrs. Swan, Stallybrass, and Yuille, missionaries at Selinginsk, in the translation of the Old and the revision of the New Testament. The Old Testament was translated immediately from the Hebrew, with constant reference to such critical apparatus as could be obtained, and every portion was successively submitted to the inspection of learned natives, chiefly lamas or priests, in order that the idiomatic peculiarities of the language might be observed. The style of writing adopted in this version holds a middle place between the vulgar colloquial language of the people, which varies in different districts, and the abstruse modes of expression employed in some of their books. It is above the common business dialect, but not so much higher as to place the subject beyond the reach of any one of common understanding. In 1834, the expenses incurred in this translation were defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and an edition of 1000 copies was undertaken by the same Society. This edition was subsequently extended to 2000 copies, in consequence of a grant from the American Bible Society. The printing was carried on at Khodon in Siberia, and portions were put into circulation almost as soon as they left t e press. This edition of the Old Testament was completed in 1840; and during the same year Messrs. Swan and Stallybrass accomplished a fresh translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, based on the version previously made. An edition of 3000 copies of this New Testament was completed at press in 1846, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. III. — RESULTS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS VERSION. It has already been mentioned that the "beautiful sayings of Jesus," as they called them, pro- duced an almost immediate effect on the two idolaters employed in translating the New Testament. The portions they translated were blessed in a similar manner to some of their countrymen. One of the natives, after reading with devout attention the Gospel of St. John, emphatically exclaimed, "This is the soap which must cleanse us from the defilement of the old system of religion :" and this version has been made useful even in China, for many of the Chinese are acquainted with the language, and the missionaries were repeatedly informed of copies having been eagerly sought by natives of that benighted empire. Among the Buriats themselves there appeared, till recently, every reason to look for the happiest results from the distribution of their vernacular Scriptures; a spirit of enquiry was awakened, and, in a seminary established at Khodon, several of the young people had given evidence of being truly converted to God. Since the year 1841, the mission has been relinquished, and oppor- tunities no longer exist for the circulation of this version. CLASS IY.-DETACHED FAMILIES. E. TURKISH FAMILY. TURKISH. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 11. • * «*» - i*X^\ ojljuu! jJ 2 lJ&)\ flK <*1H j t^fSj}, eJOJ'li C)^! flK j i>Jo! jjj f\K «j1juu! u yf\ C^jt^i _jj 7 ^Joj Us-jj ^JT Ciil <£ grjol j\j ,*JT ^j (^UjJo/ tl)4 X v JJ\ 6 lJ^j) I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The Turkish language in its numerous dialectic varieties is more or less diffused through the vast regions which extend from the Mediterranean to the frontiers of China, and from the shores of the Frozen Ocean to Hindoostan. The nations to whom this language is vernacular have acted an important part in history; and though their power has now declined, and the Crescent has fallen like a star from heaven, yet a member of this race still occupies the throne of Constantine. The peculiar dialect of this language, to which the name of Turkish is generally, by way of pre-eminence, applied, is spoken in European Turkey by the Ottoman or Osmanlee Turks, the number of whom is variously estimated, by recent authorities, at between 800,000 and 1,100,000 individuals. There exists, however, great discrepancy in the estimates formed of the population of the Turkish empire, and the population of European Turkey alone has been variously calculated at upwards of 15,000,000, or reduced to a total of only 8,500,000. The latter number is probably below the truth. More than three-fourths of the whole are members of the Greek Church. Wallachian, Albanian, 342 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Ciass IV. Sclavonic dialects, and other tongues, prevail among the different sections of this population, yet Turkish is the only language which can be employed as a general medium of communication with all the various kindreds of people inhabiting European and Asiatic Turkey. But the use of this language extends beyond the present confines of the Turkish empire, and in point of practical utility it ranks among the foremost of languages; in fact, if we are to receive the statement of Sir William Jones, " there is scarce a country in Asia cr in Africa, from the source of the Nile to the wall of China, in which a man who understands Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, may not travel with satisfaction, and transact the most important affairs with advantage and security; nay, we may say with equal truth, that the Turkish language, in one or other of its dialects, is understood and spoken from the south of Europe, to the frozen shores of Kamschatka." II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The Turkish language, like the race by whom it is spoken, affords a curious instance of the inter- mixture of the Asiatic and European type. The condition of this language in the primitive stages of its history is still exhibited by the Turkish dialects of the East, which have remained to the present day comparatively uncorrupted or unembellished by words of foreign origin ; and it is in these dialects that the links connecting this tongue with those of the Mantchoos and the Mongols are to be sought. The analogy which pervades this class of languages has been elsewhere remarked : it is most observable in the pronunciation of the guttural and nasal consonants, in the orthographical regulations collectively designated the " quadruple harmony of vowels," and in the euphonic law requiring certain consonants to be only associated with certain vowels. The Turkish of Constantinople deviates in many important points from its cognate dialects. Its structure has in some degree been altered by joint influences from the East and West. Its nouns, like the Latin, have six cases; it possesses complex derivative conjunctions; and with respect to its vocabulary, it has amassed Persian, Arabic, and even Chinese words from the East, and Albanian, Greek, and Italian elements from the West. Yet, although so many heterogeneous principles enter into its composition, the Turkish language is replete with grace and beauty. " Kich, dignified, and melodious, in delicacy and nicety of expression it is not, perhaps, surpassed by any language; and in grandeur, beauty, and elegance, it is almost unequalled." The perfection of its mechanism, with respect to verbs, has been often noticed; the addition of a single letter or syllable renders a verb passive, negative, impossible, causal, or reciprocal, according to the will of the speaker, thus frequently convey- ing the sense of an entire phrase in a single word. Notwithstanding its multiplicity of grammatical forms, however, this language has not yet shaken off the yoke originally impressed on it in common with most of the tongues of High Asia; it is still remarkable for its stiffness of construction, and for what we call artificial disposition of words in composition. The extensive employment of gerunds and participles, to the almost total exclusion of conjunctions, and the grammatical law requiring words governed to precede the governing, combine with other causes in producing long, involved periods, in which the sense is not ascertained till towards the close, and in which the words are ranged in an order directly contrary to what appears to us the natural sequence of ideas. The most ancient Turkish alphabet is the Ouigour, from which the Mongolian is derived; but the modern Turks use the Arabic and Persian characters. Their present alphabet consists of thirty-three letters, twenty-eight of which are Arabic, four are Persian, and one is peculiar to the Turkish. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. Two versions of the Scriptures in kindred dialects of the Turkish language appear to have been completed about the same period. One of these versions, executed by Seaman, and printed in England, 1666, will hereafter be noticed. The other, comprising both the Old and New Testaments, was the work of Ali Bey, whose history is rather remarkable. His original name was Albertus Bobowsky, or Bobovius; he was born in Poland, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and while a youth was Class IV.] TURKISH. 343 stolen by the Tartars, and sold as a slave in Constantinople. After twenty years spent in the seraglio, he publicly embraced the Mohammedan religion, at the same time assuming the name of Ali Bey; and he then became first dragoman or translator to Mahomet IV. He was noted for great erudition, and was said to be thoroughly conversant with seventeen languages; and to his instructions the lexicographer Meninsky owed much of his celebrity. At the suggestion and under the direction of the famous Levin Warner, who was then at Con- no 7 stantinople as Dutch ambassador, Ali Bey was induced to translate the Catechism of the Church of England into Turkish ; and this undertaking probably paved the way to the execution of his great work, the translation of the entire Scriptures into Turkish. It is not known with certainty whether he drew his text immediately from the inspired originals, yet the translation is considered on the whole to be faithful and accurate. The study of the sacred volume was not without effect on the translator; for it is recorded that Ali Bey entertained thoughts of returning to the Christian Church, and was only prevented by death from accomplishing his design. When his version was corrected and ready for the press, it was sent by Warner to Leyden to be printed. It was deposited in the archives of the university of that city, among a valuable collection of Oriental MSS., and there it was suffered to remain for a century and a half; no effort whatever was made during all that period to print it, with the sole exception of a small edition of the first four chapters of Genesis, published by Schroeder of Marburg at Leipsic in 1739, with a Latin translation and notes. Baron Von Diez, formerly Russian ambassador at Constantinople, who was intimately conversant with the Turkish language, was among the first to draw the attention of Europe to this long-neglected translation. He offered his services in editing the MS. to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and meeting with great encouragement to prosecute his design, the venerable senator immediately addressed himself to the revision of the Old Testament. He died, however, when he had completed but four books of the Pentateuch, and the work of revision was transferred by the Society to Kieffer, professor of the Turkish language at the University of Paris, and interpreting secretary to the king of France. The new editor disapproved of the plan pursued by his predecessor, particularly of his insertion of vowel points, and he therefore commenced the work anew. He applied himself, however, in the first instance to the New Testament; but, unfortunately, misunderstanding the directions of the Committee, he followed the text of the MS. implicitly, without collating it with the original Greek. Several errors in the text were thus inserted in the printed copies ; but it was not long before they were detected, and the discovery gave rise to a printed controversy. It was a happy circumstance that scarcely a hundred copies had been issued when notice of these inaccuracies was received. The circu- lation was immediately suspended ; the errors, forty -nine in number, were examined and corrected by a sub-committee appointed expressly for the purpose, and Professor Kieffer commenced a laborious and elaborate revision of the text. He collated every portion, not only with the original, but with the English, German, and French versions, with the Tartar version of Seaman, and of the Scotch mis- sionaries of Karass, with the versions of Erpenius and of Martyn, and with those in the London Polyglot. This revision was carried on from 1820 (at which period the errors were first detected) to 1828, when the entire Turkish Bible, with the embodied corrections, was completed at press, and obtained the attestation of the most eminent Orientalists in Europe as to its rigid accuracy and fidelity. The edition consisted of 5000 copies in 4to. ; and the proofs, as they issued from the press, were read by Dr. Henderson, who was the first to detect the former errors. The work was printed at Paris, and the original MS. was afterwards returned to Leyden. An edition of the Turkish New Testament, carefully revised by Mr. Turabi, under Dr. Henderson's superintendence, was completed by the Society in 1853. A subsequent edition, printed in 1857, has undergone the careful revision of J. W. Redhouse, Esq., the corrected renderings having been submitted to the examination of the Rev. Drs. Schauffier and Goodell. In addition to the 5000 copies of the entire Bible above mentioned, 14,050 Testaments, and 14,130 copies of portions of the Old and New Testaments, had been printed (up to the close of 1859) by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 344 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. IV. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. Fanaticism, bigotry, and intolerance have been in all ages the characteristics of the followers of the false prophet, and the dissemination of the Scriptures among them has ever been attended with peculiar difficulty. It has been justly remarked, that "one of the chief obstacles to the reception of Christianity by the Turks, has always been the unhappy representation of true religion set before them by the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches. Seeing the idolatry and evil lives of those who are called Christians, the Turks do not care to inquire into the religion which, as they suppose, produces such fruits." Great changes have, however, occurred within recent years, as concerns the position of Christianity in the empire of Turkey, and a brighter picture than that above drawn is now happily exhibited. The principle of complete religious toleration has been recognised by the reigning Sultan, and, not- withstanding much opposition, the Turkish government has, in the main, acted upon this principle. Among the most gratifying circumstances of recent years may be reckoned the formation at Constan- tinople, in 1853, of an Auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society, upon occasion of the Society's Jubilee in that year. Constantinople has since become an important and active centre of missionary operations. The existence of the Society's Agency in that city is fully recognised and allowed by the Turkish government, and in 1856 a copy of the Bible, in the Turkish language, was (through the medium of the British ambassador) presented to, and graciously received by the Sultan — the head of the Mohammedan faith ! A fact truly indicative of the altered relations which now subsist in the centre of Islam, between Christian and Mohammedan, as compared with those of former days ! It is not, indeed, too much to say that an important religious movement has commenced in Turkey, amongst the Turks themselves, and a vastly-increased demand for the Turkish version of the Scriptures has been the natural result. " When (says the Eeport of the British and Foreign Bible Society for 1856) it is recollected that until within the last eighteen months, it has been all but impossible to prevail upon the Turks to accept the Scriptures as a free gift, it will be deemed a fact of weighty and joyous significance, that during the year 1855, 1278 copies of the Turkish Scriptures were disseminated, principally by sale." It was amongst the Turks at Constantinople, Smyrna, and elsewhere in Asia Minor, that this circulation took place. Subsequent years exhibit a continuance of the demand. Recent reports of the Society supply numerous instances of the blessed results which have ensued, in individual cases, from the increased facility now afforded for the acquisition by the Turks of the revealed Word of God in their own tongue. Such examples are justly regarded as of no ordinary importance. " They afford (again to quote the Society's Report) conclusive evidence that the Turkish mind is opening to the light and influence of Christian truth, — that the spell of fanatical bigotry is dissolving, and that the day is not far distant when the revealed Scriptures shall have free course in Turkey." The evidence of a Christian is now, for the first time, placed on the same level as that of a Mussulman, and every inhabitant of the Sultan's dominions is free to renounce homage to the Koran for belief in the Bible, without incurring any penalty or forfeiture of legal rights. Class IV.] TURCO-GREEK. 345 TURCO-GREEK AND TURKISH-ARMENIAN. SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. I7mda.dE KsXafi flap idl, j3s KsXdfi 'AXXaylv Karivdd idl' j3e KsXd/i 'AWax idi. * OX ifi-Tidads ^AXXa^lv Karivdd idi. 3 Xep iiiyi avivXe yiapadiXdi' j3s %irC, inp fiaxXovK avail, %aXic oXovvpadi. 4 'Ofiovp dvlv ir^ivdl idl, x^ 'o/xovp dSsfx- Xspiv vovpi idi. s Novp day\ KapavXiicde £iyia syiXsp, KapavXlic ivs avl idpaic iTfiedi. AXXa^dlv ipcrdX oXovv/xovg Trip ads/i flap idi ki, dvlv ddl ^Iwdvvr]Q Id'i. Hov (Tanadar ^ep/xsys yiceXdi, to. ki vovpddv 'orovpov Ha^ader fiep£, ki ^imai dviv getvetcI iXe ifxdv yKETipsXep. ] "0 KEvdoval vovp dsylX idl, tfifia rd ki vovpdlv orovpov aaxadET fdspL ' ' O vovp x j3s x aKr i KaT ^ v doXov t'/ceV dpa\iiC,dd fiEKidv rovrdov, (/3e nit, aviv T^sXaXivl yKiopdovK Tra-kaddv doyfiovg itipif^iK byovXovv T^sXaXl yKlTTl.) These are, properly speaking, Turkish versions, but printed in Greek and Armenian letters, and accommodated to the dialectic peculiarities which prevail among the Christians of Asia Minor. In 1782, the Psalms, translated into Turkish by Seraphim, metropolitan of Karamania, were printed in Greek letters; and in 1810 a Turkish version of the Acts and Epistles was printed in the same character at Venice. In consequence of inquiries instituted in 1818, by Dr. Pinkerton, respecting the state of the Christian inhabitants of the ancient Lydia, Caria, Lycia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Cilicia, and Lycaonia, it was ascertained that these poor ignorant and oppressed people are all Greeks or Armenians, acquainted with no language but that of their Turkish masters. As they are unable to read or write except in their native characters, the Turkish Bible, from being printed in Turkish letters, is unintelligible to them; and thus the very country in which the glad tidings of great joy were first proclaimed by the Apostles, was virtually destitute of the Scriptures, until editions adapted to the requirements of the inhabitants were issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Society's first edition of the Turkish Testament, in Greek letters, consisting of 3000 copies, was printed in 1826; and further supplies, consisting of 1000 copies of the Acts and Epistles, 3000 copies of the Psalter, and 1000 copies of the books of Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes, were shortly afterwards granted. Mr. Leeves, agent of the Society, subsequently undertook the preparation of a new and revised version, with the view of rendering the style still more conformable to the provincial mode of speaking Turkish which prevails among the Greek Christians of Asia Minor. In this work he was assisted by a native, a young man from Philadelphia, by name Christo Nicolaides, who joined Mr. Leeves, at Corfu, in 1832, and from 346 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. that period to 1839 was uninterruptedly employed in the undertaking. The printing was commenced at Syra, and afterwards transferred to Athens. Subsequent editions have been undertaken by the Society, and the total issues up to the end of 1858 comprehend 5000 Bibles, and 6000 New Testa- ments, besides 7000 copies of particular portions of the Old and New Testaments. SPECIMEN OF THE TURKISH-ARMENIAN VERSION. FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. bWhSUSl? f"»f> ^hr^'T, i± ^hufT H/Jj»<>p]> q-cFfiwu, b<»b , ±k ^Y+fc-iUtiT U,/Zi"> b ut b * ^\nu [teiffcf-liuiiuinl? WfLSfyplt R-P (3-ptiutug b ul b * ^£~P yji'J olitiL.lt bl]» Of*" tit- * if £■ ^bs "ibp o/i/^»j> p I? I oltunup_ oiJuiwp * yjltmut ^uttutfc}- tlutp b tn b * *l fc" ^utjutP- ut en £- Jt '£- p b^t p t p n p b*"b * 4^,4" P $ P t- ruutputlt^ I pa-iniu ahjut d l^pbp b"*b * 't k" tj-iuputlts ptf- oltnu utltfi j utuifc-fp- t^int? ♦ fp-ut j>b oltnu.lt dutubfp'utub bf kr y'» t £'b u b b^" uuut i LU p * \Jt f <* f.t - ^k^ tn b u b tn \jbs b in b t /"tpb^' p_2jl_q-""**» h-op-bi-pbt- £k"<£uiinZrP- kp-Jkg b^b L -' u {cL***^ * H^Pi^-P lL$JLt ° f""F ob inbuilt* 1 "! 1 " bk~lk^* y£~P UfintfJh pfprt-.b tuutltmutlt utfc-jbf t[k- (3-1^1* bp u " n tz'P~b' uin k'^' '"b'jbi ^4"*^* utm^-tP bpw in k'P~b' uu 'krl* u, h:jb L \_ bi/jf XJ^jlju^ intuit moninnuiutp t ^»4" K ^*£r/utu r 'fcf-£rli oitnnu t til? tnu(3-3t ^l^iP tf^pf^, >»flhp. bib" tnotnu o/uipiuq- tubqvil? uiugb" Qltnnu. f J l? oltnult Xy/u// fi"b *\*k' ut k'~ pinfc-1* uioijt/huy "fbpb&kf! \J r i" L -t %g"/"*/ b fybt/b l \'l» P ut b L -4l * The Armenians are even more numerous in Asia Minor than the Greeks. A Turkish version in their peculiar dialect, and written in their characters, was commenced in 1815 by an Armenian archimandrite, named Seraphim, in concert with another Armenian. An edition of 5000 copies of the Testament was printed at St. Petersburg in 1819: and Mr. Leeves devoted much time and trouble to the preparation of a revised edition. The work was afterwards taken up by the missionaries of the American Board of Missions. In 1841, Mr. Goodell stated that his strength and time had been for several years employed in preparing a translation directly from the original texts. In 1843, the entire Scriptures were completed at press at the expense of the American Society. Subsequent editions of the Armeno-Turkish Scriptures have been printed at the American Mission-press, on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Editions consisting of 2000 New Testaments in 16mo., and the same number in 32mo., were completed in 1858, and an edition of 3000 Bibles is now in progress. The entire number of copies printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, up to the end of 1859, amounts to 5012 Bibles and 16,287 Testaments. Class IV.J KARASS. 347 KARASS, OH TUKKISH-TARTAR. SPECIMENS, PROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. t. v, 1 to 14. Seaman's Version, 1666. iW\ j ^Jul *j^i c ^-» j c r^ U) u^ * ^.^ jliXcl Jjdlc #jJl)1 j^l* L 5^ 1 ^' U^= ^.^^j^ (^ =s - * - i^-v«i£=)j LS ^J s^^Js^. k^A£=j ^i^jjjb l^-v*L^ sJl^jIa.' ^lli^ 9 *^4^= uj*"^ ( -^!^ i=A>lfA &jy Jj-1 ^^^rJ ^j! J^SibjjJ Jj£ 8 *JMjjAXS3 u Uj1 ilu-il <£ dLC^UjT ( Jk*> - *& (j'^^ **> *£=> " *jlttVy*U£s This version is written in the dialect of the Kirghisian-Tartars, and was especially designed for the use of members of that nation residing in the Russian government of Orenburg. The dialect is spoken not only in Orenburg, but also in the vast tracts of country extending from the Caspian and Lake of Aral to the frontiei's of China. It is the vernacular tongue of two distinct people, namely, of the true or Kara-Kirghis, who inhabit the banks of certain rivers in Southern Siberia, and of the Kazak-Kirghis, the present occupants of the Kirghis Steppe. The latter are divided into three hordes, called the Great horde, Little horde, and Middle horde. The Great horde is reckoned among the tributaries of China, but the dependence is merely nominal. The other hordes, though in some degree subject to Russia, also preserve a sort of independence of their own. According to Russian authorities, the probable number of individuals composing the three hordes is from 2,000.000 to 2,400,000. This version is not an original translation, but merely an accommodation of Mr. Brunton's Karass version to the peculiar idioms and orthography of the Kirghisian Tartars. Mr. Charles Frazer, one of the Scottish missionaries at Astrakhan, was employed in the preparation of the work. An edition of 2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed in 1818, and two years afterwards 5000 copies of the entire Testament were completed at the mission press of Astrakhan, at the expense of the Russian Bible Society. The Kirghisians are all Mohammedans, and, though once a civilised and literary people, are now in a state of semi-barbarism. Since the suspension of the Russian Bible Society there have been few opportunities of ascertaining what results have been wrought among this nation by means of the perusal of their vernacular Scriptures. UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. KARAIT E-T ARTAR. SPECIMEN, EROM GENESIS, Chap. i. v. 1 to 8. * is^J jy^ 4 ^*^ Li**^ '— A^ Ll/^"*" 1 ' *J^-y^ L5j^jii. L — A^J^' 3 ts'V.^ Jt C^J-^^lP* # J^-**^ L^P *^= L5^^= lA>V. lP L5J^ J * * ^Ji JjA J l^ Or** JjyV. L5^=^' J * il&jjjije L j3uL>1 ^J^J j 6 * ^jJ uj^ L5 s>J7? A^liUJjJ aj^l j j*£=^\ J ls'H? 5 ^ '-A^t^jj L5^' i/fc& <-^ ^^ = ^ J ' ^ 7 *^r^" u^V i/jVj wr^ fc&j* *o a a n r S y ^i=i -« E ffl m re 1/ >— i 5 o rfl rP 3 *< b * * a ~ >m i-3 ^ re a * a *£ £ ^ a re * BE re 2H v rs 5- -2 a -£ r» re w ;_ a - A ^ E, r* re r? E 5 j g a sr 0> a a a 2 Ph rP S 0J " a 1-1 _I -< s.^ P5 J5 ^ « »■< , -- H rP B re 're j a r 3 3 2 -^re 2 a v .£ "-i ffl e * a i— • m e i- 1 - a e 3 k c a £ H ^ * 3 O fi fi 5 a "j w o s _ p»n -re p5 - . I-H , ^ q » ^ re ir? — Jh o a -a ,Oh *c^c c - : a^ c , rt m -3= a fi re a a Ph a a -c .a 2 "J - •p j C B j -J 1—1 0/ :P re ~g pH »5* !- fi 5 a" 5 ^ "^ g a a e ' »a«ca>- ^re jq o £ 3 A -i 3 e m E re E ^ a -re a g o M CJ ^" ° 4 - s o g •-u *-re a "- 1 •6- ^ C n fl cf ^ • s o a p; ft S in a , a E K 3 ? v oj . re to a a a S ^ a; ^ ^^ M E -a; ^ a S re re -re re * re oj X) re a -re J5 O O a . - pc J5 -o ^ *C - a o re -re a * y p a * a w re "3 -re m O SB | re ^S E^ E a -a; o a -o o a s - re re PQ ? w k 4j re ■jt n S -re ud a gM >t, a 2 >a « a> E --<2 , ir 1 -re -re ^ ^a; -b v C £ m m to SJ^ » ffl ! r; pq y ^ P. 357. SPECIMEN Or THE LOQCH00AN VERSION. =«n=;rfn 5 of THE LORD'S PRAYER. translated by DC P. l.BettelheJm. 1 V 9 ^7 7 % 1 '! f 7 5 - 7 9 7 *7 y y * * i i) / ^ I i i i r ? "t 'I -> ^ i r7 P. 356. SPECIMEN OF THE Plate IX. Page 356. J A P A N E S E V E Ft 5TJ0HN Chap.lv. I_5 by D'Crtalaff. SION. 11 ^3 >>^ j> i^ V T3 ~- /f — 4 / -* /* y > t3 > ? ^ =» v 1 ^ <3" ^ -^ c S If ^ 1 y o • c I ^•'* J c Y ^ P trt I V 1 D ^ i 3 IS »l 1* -2" A §■ o V %+ w r* 1 y ^f < K. ^ ^ 1 EI" > ll_ c ^ % EJ y > h m 7 • ^ P * u. C<~ | _ h ^C -a 5 *> UJ ^ v.. 9 ^ 1$ ^ 5 y ^ >l 7 A *- ^ -tz. ^ ^r ^ e # >f h ^-^ y ? 7 •5^ 7 "^ ^ ^ V -7 t X 1 / o — it Class IV.] LOOCHOOAN. 357 use are the Katat/ana, used for scientific works; and the Hiragana, or running hand, used in light literature, and in common intercourse. II. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The rigid exclusion of foreigners from Japan during the last three centuries, and the suspicious and vigilant spirit of the government, have rendered the translation of the Scriptures into Japanese a matter of almost insuperable difficulty. Dr. Medhurst, agent of the London Missionary Society in China, applied to the study of the Japanese language, and made copies of the dictionaries and other works that were accessible to him, in the hope of qualifying himself for this arduous undertaking; but the honour of translating the first portion of Scripture into the language of this extensive empire was reserved for the late Dr. Gutzlaff. About the year 1835, three shipwrecked Japanese mariners arrived at Macao on their voyage homewards, and during the few months that they remained in that city, Dr. Gutzlaff availed himself of their aid in translating the Gospel of St. John into their language. This translation was printed at Singapore about the year 1839, but it does not appear that oppor- tunities have as yet been afforded for its circulation. Upon the occasion of Dr. Gutzlaff's visit to England, however, in 1849, proposals for printing the Scriptures in the Japanese tongue (as well as in other languages of Eastern Asia) were submitted by him to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and a small grant was made towards printing a certain portion of the New Testament in Japanese, as a pioneer translation. Since that time the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. John have been printed, according to Dr. Gutzlaff's translation. The whole MS. of the New Testament, as translated by him and his associates into Japanese, is at present in this country. The style of Dr. Gutzlaff's version, however, being found inferior and little likely to prove accep- table to the better educated in Japan, a new translation was undertaken by Dr. Bettelheim, missionary to Loo-Choo; and the MS. of the Four Gospels was sent by him to England. It is in Chinese and Japanese, the Japanese being written in the Katagana character. An edition of the Gospel of St. Luke, from Dr. Bettelheim's version, has been printed at Hong-Kong, under the care of the Bishop of Victoria, and at the expense of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This edition is regarded as tentative only, and is issued with the view of subjecting it to inquiries as to its accuracy, and its adaptation in style and idiom to the Japanese mind, before proceeding further in the important labour of which it forms a commencement. The recent negociation of a treaty of commerce between Great Britain and Japan (1858), in virtue of which the ships of the former power have permission to visit certain ports of this hitherto secluded empire, may be confidently looked forward to as a means of aid to missionary enterprise. -*~- LOOCHOOAN. FOE SPECIMEN OF THIS VEESIOJST, see Plate 9, page 356. The Loochoo, or Lewchew Islands, are thirty-six in number, and lie about 400 miles eastward of China, nearly midway between Japan and Formosa. The principal island, called Great Loochoo, from which the entire group derives its name, is fifty miles long, and from twelve to fifteen broad, but most of the other islands are of very inferior dimensions. The inhabitants are of the same race as the Japanese, and speak a dialect of that language. They are now subject to China: their religion is that of Fo or Buddha, and their government is a despotic monarchy. A mission, called the " Loochoo Naval Mission," having for its object the conversion of the Loochooans to Christianity, was commenced about the year 1843. Dr. Bettelheim, a medical mis- 358 UGRO-TARTARIAN LANGUAGES. [Class IV. sionary, was sent, in 1846, by this Society to Loochoo, whence he has since returned to America. He has translated the Four Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, into Loochooan; and from the similarity of this dialect to Japanese, it is hoped that his translations may be found useful in Japan itself. In addition to contributions from other sources, a grant of fifty pounds was made by the British and Foreign Bible Society towards defraying the expenses of printing Dr. Bettelheim's version of the Gospel of St. Luke and of the Acts. As the Japanese characters are used in writing Loochooan, and as the casting of type for these characters in England is far more expensive than cutting the blocks in China, it was resolved to have the work printed at Hong Kong. This work, the expenses of which have been mainly defrayed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, has since been accomplished, under the superintendence of the Bishop of Victoria (Hong Kong). The Loochooan version of St. Luke, St. John, Acts, and Komans, was thus completed in 1855. We possess as yet, however, no information concerning its reception among the interesting population for whose use it is designed. ALEUTIAN, OR ALIOTJT-LXSEYEFE. The Aleutian Islands form a long circular chain, above 1300 miles in length, traversing the North Pacific from Cape Alaska, in America, to the peninsula of Kamtschatka, in Asia, so as almost to unite the two continents. These islands are extremely numerous. They were partially discovered by Behring in 1741; the largest, which still bears his name, is upwards of sixty miles in length, but many of the others are mere rocks. They are much frequented by the Russian Fur Company, and are included in the government of Irkutsk. Most of the inhabitants are idolaters, though many of them have been baptized and instructed in the rites of the Greek church. They subsist chiefly on the produce of fishing and the chase; and, to judge from their habits and physical conformation, appear an inter- mediate race between the Mongolians and the North American Indians. Their language is very similar to that of the Esquimaux, especially of the Namolles, an Esquimaux tribe residing on the shore of the north-eastern promontory of Asia. In point of number the Aleutians have been variously estimated at from a few hundreds to six thousand. The Gospel of St. Matthew has been translated for the benefit of these islanders by Priest Joan Veniaminoff, otherwise written John Benjaminoff, by whom the language was first reduced to writing, and a Grammar of it published at St. Petersburg in 1846. He had resided for fifteen years as mis- sionary among this people : the dialect in which the translation is made is that spoken in the island of Oonalashka; but there is no great difference between the idioms of the various islands of this group, any local peculiarity being readily explained by means of marginal notes. The first chapter of St. Luke, and the first two chapters of the Acts, have been translated by the same Russian priest into the dialect spoken in the island of Atkho, or Atcha. The only Aleutian translation which has hitherto been com- mitted to the press is that of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was printed at Moscow, in 1840, in parallel columns with the Russian version. Class IV.] CO RE AN. 359 COHEAN. Corea is a peninsula of Eastern Asia, separated from Mantchou Tartary by a lofty chain of mountains. Its area, inclusive of the islands near its shores, has been estimated at 80,000 square miles: its amount of population is uncertain, but does not probably exceed 2,000,000. The government is a despotic monarchy, and the country is tributary to China, and perhaps to Japan : the religious systems of Buddha and of Confucius have each their respective adherents. The language, being destitute of inflexions indicative of gender and number, and forming its cases by means of suffixes, is analogous in its main features to the Tartarian class. It is also strikingly similar to Japanese. Many Chinese words enter into its composition, for Corea has received its civilisa- tion and its literature from China, and the Chinese language is sedulously cultivated by all ranks as the principal learned and literary medium, and the only avenue to political distinction. Composite words are of very frequent occurrence in Corean, the first syllable consisting of the native word, and the second of the Chinese synonym pronounced in the Corean manner. This arrangement renders the language extremely verbose, but its sounds are by no means disagreeable to the ear of a foreigner, the pronunciation being clear, full, and sonorous. In writing, the Coreans use syllabic characters similar in theory to the Japanese Katagana system, but suited to the peculiar articulations of their own language. These characters are placed in vertical columns, as in Chinese and Japanese, and when written, they are so grouped together as to form in appearance figures similar in many respects to Chinese characters. In 1832, the shores of Corea were visited by Dr. Gutzlaff, who distributed portions of the Chinese Scriptures among the inhabitants, and caused a copy of the entire Chinese version to be conveyed to the monarch. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Corean has been effected by a Baptist missionary, and the Psalms have been translated by Dr. Schmidt; but these translations are still in MS., and their critical merits have not been ascertained. There is at present no possibility of introducing the light of Divine truth into Corea: foreigners are zealously excluded from the country, and Europeans are seldom permitted even to land on its shores. It may be expected, however, that the altered political relations between the Chinese government and the various nations of the civilised world, consequent upon recent events, will ere long afford an opening for the entrance of the Word of Truth into this as well as other portions of the vast and hitherto benighted empire of China. CLASS Y.-POLYNESIAN, OB MALAYAN, MALAYAN. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. [Calcutta Edition, 1817.] ■ jj .db] ^\ J 2 * c^tlSa - 4_j u«j cj!j«j c ib <__£« t__ t^j! ^£ruj^-j xx*a »^«s * * tl-^ljl .^La-hI* ^j ^j^jb* 9jj^ alb! * Li-ol ..j *jJ libo - *ju! ti-ol j»K dC» Jc£=s J bo lsW^ l ~*vJ P^r 1 ' ^bL L2~u! e^j ^ -wJLij jaJuj ,^-w^aS' jb^-u aJjub ^>! ^ * Usr <_>Lj all! alj! ^-y' * Ujj J!j^ l— ■%*i'b ij«~> ,^jb* ' ^JijX* £_> uiio! ,-u i_j c j i^-y,l alb! * 4-^ — jl *A~> ^J ' * ^ J^t« jUj ijwj b«Jj lIC u-^Ij! u; £=ua?-j *jw bJj ^b Ujj Jbo ^! alb! £y! J^C-o Jj l -^V.i ^1 ajl f ijpi <^bsj^» u^£ iSj^* ^^ J '^-VJ '— -~l/* ^ l1C« ,5^ L^-X*-*» ^Jud e/>^ ^ J t^ J J^^= ^ J {j£=>y. u^ */ J ^ cr^ ^J 3 *^ H 13 *V^* J ufl uk~J & ^j iyj ^b j_£b iib>- iiX-o Li-ol c^v*K c_X< 4 * <_ Jys- aJJ! iXj^ii t__>la> ,j«*ib» jiU^fbjii It is difficult, if not impossible, to calculate the exact number of individuals composing the restless and enterprising race to which this language is vernacular, but they certainly include several millions. The kingdom of Menanghabou, in the central region of Sumatra, where this language, with some little dialectic variation, is still spoken, appears to have been the original country of the Malays; but, impelled by the love of adventure and of trade, they possessed themselves at a very early period of the Malayan peninsula from the fifth degree of north latitude, and then established successive colonies in the districts most favourably situated for commerce throughout the islands of the Malayan archipelago. In the Malayan peninsula, the Malays, properly so called, are held and consider themselves as quite distinct from the Orimg bcnau, or aborigines: the latter, indeed, are very different from them both in appearance and in Class V.] .' MALAYAN. 361 speech. On all tne sea-coasts of those islands, and on the banks of the navigable rivers, there is but one language of traffic in which merchants and traders of all nations transact their business, and that lan- guage is the Malayan, which on that account has been called the lingua franca of the Eastern archi- pelago. This predominance is due not only to the energetic commercial habits of the Malays, but likewise to the peculiar qualities of the language itself. It is soft and harmonious in pronunciation, simple and easy in its grammatical system, plain and natural in the construction of sentences. The cases of nouns are denoted by prepositions; distinct words are used to express the singular and the plural number; and gender is ascribed to no inanimate object. There are few if any Malayan sounds which cannot be readily articulated by Europeans; and even in the numerous words which are borrowed from other languages, the Malays smooth and polish down the harsher sounds to the standard of their own organs. Malayan is a branch of the ancient and widely-extended language of which the fragments are to be found in nearly all the islands of the Pacific. The so-called Polynesian language, which ranges from the South Sea Islands to the East, as far as Madagascar in the West, bears in the Malay tongue the same proportion as Anglo-Saxon does in English; and words borrowed from Sanscrit and from Arabic occupy in it the same relative position as words derived from Greek and Latin do in our own language. It is therefore in many respects almost identical with the dialects of the South Sea islanders, and especially with those of the Malayan archipelago; but it likewise possesses some distinctive character- istics of its own, and a considerable portion of its vocabulary is undoubtedly borrowed from the Sanscrit, through intercourse with India. Arabic has had even more influence than the Sanscrit in the modification of this language; and nearly all the abstract terms, as well as the religious and political theories of the Malays, are derived from the Koran. The Arabic characters have been principally employed in writing Malayan since the conversion of the Malays of Sumatra to Islamism, in A.D. 1204. The Malay language thus written is called basa jahwi, or mixed tongue. Six sounds which do not exist in Arabic are denoted by means of diacritical points. Pom an letters are also extensively used by the Malays, especially in some of the Dutch colonies. [Oxfoed Edition, 1677.] Pada mouleynja itou adda jang Pattahu, daan Pattahu itou adda pada ALLAH- TALLA, daan Pattahu itou ja ALLAH-TALL A juga. 2 Ini derri pada mouleynja adda pada ALL AH-TALL A. 3 Barrang appa sammoa souda jaddi derri itou juga, daan jangan itou tjadda jaddi appa appa derri itou, jang souda jaddi juga. 4 Pada jang ini juga adda hidopan, daan hidopan itou trangnja orang manusscia. 5 Daan trang itou ja adda bertja ja dallani glap itou, daan glap itou tjadda menmoungut trang itou juga. 6 De sitou jaddi menjuro derri ALL AH-TALLA orang manusscia sa orang, jang nammanja adda Joannes. 7 Jang ini datan capada sahitan agar dia bersahit derri trang itou, sebab dia sammoa jaddi pitsja ja derri pada djala. 8 Dia bouckan trang itou, tetapi dia souda souro acan, agar dia jaddi bersahit derri trang itou. 9 Jang trang benar itou dia, jang dia bri trang acan sagnap orang manusscia, wachtou datan de dunja. 10 Dia adda de dunja, daan dunja itou ja souda boat derri pada dia : daan dunja ja tjadda. kenelnja juga. n Dia souda datan pada jang ca dia, daan ca dia itou ja tjadda sambotnja. 12 Tetapi itou sammoa jang dia sambotnja, itou dia souda bri coassa, menjaddi annac ALLAH- TALL A, [catauwi] itou, jang dia souda pitsja ja dallam nammanja. 13 Jang ca manna ja bouckan jaddi derri dara, lagi derri condati dagging, lagi derri condati lelacki pon tjadda, tetapi jang souda men- jaddi derri ALL AH-TALL A juga. u Daan Pattahu itou ja souda jaddi dagging, daan souda doudoc de tenga kita, (daan kita souda caleatan mouljanja, suatu mahamoul ja saperti sabatang cara derri Bappa la) pouno clengan fermang daan benarnja. 362 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. I.— VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. No fewer than seven distinct versions of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, exist in this language. The honour of originating and commencing this series of translations belongs to the Dutch, who applied themselves to this important work very shortly after the formation of their East India Company in 1602. The first translation was made by John Van Hasel, a director of that Company, about the beginning of the seventeenth century. When he had completed a version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, he handed over the MS. to Peter de Carpentier, the general of the Company; and soon after, in 1612, another version of St. Matthew was delivered to the same individual by Albert Cornelisson Ruyl, in order that the two translations might be compared. It was objected to the former that it was too literal, and therefore unidiomatic; and to Ruyl's, that it was too courtly: ultimately, however, the preference was assigned to the latter. Encouraged by this decision, Euyl devoted himself to the completion of the New Testament; but he only lived to translate as far as the close of the Gospel according to St. Mark. His MSS. were sent to Holland, and were printed with the Dutch version, at Enkhuyzen, in 1629; and again at Amsterdam, in 1638. Van Hasel, far from being discouraged at the preference with which Ruyl's version was regarded, persevered with his own translation, and completed a version of the Four Gospels, of which, however, St. Luke and St. John only have been published. They were printed at Amsterdam in 1646, with the Dutch version. Van Hasel also translated the Psalms, in concert with Justus Heurn, who for fifteen years presided over the Dutch Church in India. The first portion of this version was printed at Amsterdam in 1648, and the entire Psalter appeared at the same place in 1689. Heurn likewise trans- lated the Acts of the Apostles into Malayan, and revised the Gospels of Van Hasel and Ruyl according to the Greek, or rather, perhaps, conformed them to the Low or Belgic Dutch version of 1637; whereas, they had been originally accommodated to the Dutch version executed from Luther's German Bible. This revision was carried on under the sanction of the Dutch Company; and an edition consisting of the Gospels and Acts, with the Dutch version in the margin, was printed at their expense at Amsterdam [Beowee's Teanslation, 1668.] Pada moulanja adcla jang Cattahan itou, daen jang Cattahan itou adda decat Alia Thalia, daen jang Cattahan itou adda Alia Thalia. 2 Itoula pada moulanja adda decat Alia Thalia. 3 Barang appa samoa souda menjaddi derri itou djouga, daen sin itou tida menjaddi app' appa [derri samoanja] nang souda menjaddi. 4 Dallam jang ini adda idoppan, daen idoppan itou adda orang manusia pounja trang. 5 Daen trang itou bertsjaya dallam galap, daen galap tida polo trang itou. 6 De sanna adda manusia satou jang jaddi souro derri Alia Thalia, nammanja Joannes. 7 Ini-la souda datang pada bri sahittan, agar dia bersaxi derri trang itou, agar orang samoa petsjaya derri pada dia. 8 Dia ti' adda jang trang itou, hanja dia jaddi menjouro, agar dia bersaxi derri trang itou. 9 Ini-la trang jang benar, jang bertrangacan segalla manusia jang datang de dallam dunja. 10 Dia adda de dallam dunja, daen durija souda menjaddi derri pada Dia: daen dunja tida kenal pada Dia. n Dia souda datang pada dia pounja orang, daen dia pounja orang tida tarima pada Dia. 12 Hanja brappa orang soada tarima pada Dia, pada orang itou Dia souda bri coassa pada menjaddi Alia Thalia pounja annac, catauwi pada orang itou jang petsjaya capada Dia pounja namma. 13 Jang tida menjaddi derri dara, nen derri daging pounja candati, nen derri lacki lacki pounja candati, hanja derri Alia Thalia djouga. u Daen jang Cattahan itou souda jaddi daging, daen itou souda doudoc de antara cami, (daen cami souda menantang dia pounja berbesaran, jang adda berbesaran seperti Bappa pounja Annac sa orang sadja) pounou dengan fermang daen benarran. Class V.] MALAYAN. 363 in 1651. This edition appears to have been used as the text of another edition of the Gospels and Acts, printed at Oxford in 1677, at the expense of the Hon. Kobert Boyle, and under the superintendence of Dr. Hyde, keeper of the Bodleian Library. A second impression of the same work, in every respect similar to the first, was printed at Oxford in 1704, and the copies were sent to the East, to be distributed among the natives to whom the language is vernacular. These, and all the editions above mentioned, were printed in Roman characters. At length, in 1668, the entire New Testament was printed in Roman letters at Amsterdam, translated by Daniel Brower, "with all care and fidelity, out of the Greek, Latin, and Belgic languages, into the Malay." The translator was a Dutch minister, who lived and died in the East: he also prepared a version of the book of Genesis, which was printed in 1662, and again in 1687, at Amsterdam. We now come to the standard Malay version of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, a trans- lation prepared by the progressive labours of many learned men, and universally acknowledged to be a correct and faithful representation of the original text. This important work was commenced by Dr. Leidekker, a Dutch minister of Batavia, in 1685; and was carried on from first to last under the patronage and at the expense of the Dutch East India Company. Dr. Leidekker, who appears, by his Malay and Dutch dictionaries, and by his notes on the Hebrew and Latin dictionaries of Cocceius, to have been eminently qualified for the undertaking, advanced very slowly with the translation, scrupulously refraining from committing any word to writing that had not been subjected to the most minute and careful examination. He translated most of the books of the Old Testament twice; and in the New Testament had advanced as far as the 6th verse of the 6th chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, when he was called by the Lord of life and death to enjoy the reward of a faithful servant. After the decease of this diligent translator, Petrus Van der Vorm, as the principal linguist among the Dutch ministers in the East, was appointed, in 1701, by the consistory, with the consent of government, to complete the work; which task he accomplished before the close of the year. He had previously given full proof of his ability and proficiency in the Malayan language by composing a Malayan grammar and other philological works, and particularly by translating the whole of the New Testament and part of the Old from the Arabic into Malayan. The Dutch government, however, justly considered that a work of such vital importance to the Malay race should not be left to the skill of one man, and accordingly, in 1722, four ministers were appointed to examine and correct it. Van der Vorm was one of the individuals chosen for this purpose; the other three were Arnaldus Brandts, Cornelius Ninaber, and George Hendrick Werndly. In the progress of this revision, these ministers uniformly consulted in the first place the Greek and Hebrew texts, with the Latin translations of Arias Montanus and others, and then the Dutch version: when any difficulty occurred, they referred to the Chaldee, Syriac, and particularly the Arabic versions, and sometimes to the Septuagint and the Persian: they also compared the German versions of Luther and Piscator, the French, the English, and occasionally the Spanish versions, with the Malayan translation before them. Their meetings com- menced always with prayer for the enlightening of the Holy Spirit to a right understanding of the Word of God, and concluded with thanksgiving. Whenever they differed much concerning the rendering of a word or passage, they delayed their decision until they had first individually considered the subject in private, and consulted the natives and competent Malayan scholars on the subject; so that sometimes months elapsed before they formed a final decision. The work, thus carefully and deliberately conducted, occupied about five years, having been commenced in 1723, and completed in 1728. Two copies appear to have been made, the one in Roman and the other in Arabic characters. The former was printed at Amsterdam, 1731-1733, under the care of the Rev. G. H. Werndly, above mentioned, and Dr. Serruns, aided by two Malay chaplains. The latter was published at Batavia in 1758, in 5 vols. 8vo., under the direction of the Dutch governor, Jacob Mossel. It does not appear what further measures were taken to supply the Malays with copies of the 364 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. Scriptures until the year 1813, when George Livett, Esq., the resident at Amboyna, addressed the Calcutta Bible Society in behalf of the Amboynese Christians, whom he represented as numbering 20,000 individuals, but as being almost destitute of Bibles. His accounts of the churches and schools in Amboyna were corroborated by other correspondents of the Society, and it was resolved to print 3000 copies of the Malayan New Testament, in 8vo., at Serampore, for the special use of the Amboy- nese converts. The design was liberally aided by the Bengal government; and in 1814 the edition left the press: it was printed in Koman letters from the text of 1731. Almost all the copies, with 1000 copies of the book of Genesis, were sent to Amboyna, and were there distributed by the resident, Mr. Martin, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Kam and Carey. In his letter of acknowledgment to the Society, Mr. Martin stated, that " the church was crowded by a multitude of people of both sexes and of all ages, imploring, with an earnestness of supplication that could not be resisted, the unreserved communication to them all of an advantage which all appreciated, and which all had been prepared and were qualified to enjoy." It was necessary, however, not only to provide for Amboyna and its dependencies, where the Malays employ Koman letters, but for other Malayan districts, where the Arabic characters are still used. The Society therefore determined upon printing two distinct editions of the Scriptures, the one in Koman, the other in Arabic letters. The former edition was completed in 1817, when 1000 [Seeampoee Edition, 1814] Pada mulanja 'adalah Kalimat, dan Kalimat 'adalah sama 'Allah, dan 'Allah 'adalah Kalimat. 2 'Ija 'ini 'adalah pada mulanja sama 'Allah. 3 Samowa sudah dedjadikan 'awlehnja: maka bararg sawatu pawn jarg djadi sudah tijada dedjadikan, melajinkan 'awlehnja. 4 Dalamnja 'itu 'adalah kahidopan, dan kahidopan 'itu 'adalah tararg segala manusija : 5 Maka tararg 'itu bertjhaja didalam kalam, maka kalam 'itu sudah tijada tarima dija 'itu. 6 'Adalah sa* awrarg manusija jarg tersuroh 'awleh 'Allah, namanja JaHrja. 7 'Ija 'ini datarglah membawa kasjaksi*an, hendakh bersjaksi 'akan tararg 'itu, sopaja sakalijen 'awrarg pertjaja 'awlehnja. 8 'Ija 'ini bukan 'adalah tararg 'itu, mela- jinkan sopaja 'ija bersjaksi 'akan tararg 'itu. 9 'Adalah 'ija tararg jarg benar 'itu, jarg menarargkan sasa'*awrarg manusija, sedarg datargnja kadalam dunja. 10 'Adalah 'ija didalam dunja, dan dunja. sudah dedjadikan 'awlehnja : maka dunja, sudah tijada merg^enal dija. u 'Ija sudah datarg kapada tampatnja jarg chats, maka 'awrargnja jarg chats sudah tijada menjambot dija. 12 Tetapi barapa \> 'awrarg sudah menjambot dija, maka pada marika 'itu 'ija sudah memberij kawasa mendjadi 'anakh \i 'Allah, 'ija 'itu pada segala 'awrarg, jarg pertjaja 'akan namanja. 13 Jarg sudah tapefanakh bukan deri pada bararg darah, dan bukan deri pada kahendakh dagirg, dan bukan deri kahendakh laki p, hanja deri pada 'Allah djuga. H Maka Kalimat 'itu sudah djadi dagirg, dan sudah merg*- adijamij di'antara kamij, (maka kamij sudah meinandarg kamulija"annja, sawatu kamu- lija'an seperti jarg punja 'Anakh jarg torggal deri pada Bapa) punbh dergan ni?.met dan Ihakhikhet. Class V.] MALAYAN. 365 copies of tlie entire Bible from the text of 1731-1733 left the press. The Arabic edition was not com- pleted till 1822, when 3000 copies of the New and 2000 copies of the Old Testament were published at Serampore, and forwarded to Penang, Malacca, Java, and Bencoolen, for distribution. The text of this latter edition was the version of 1758, carefully revised and corrected by the Bev. Mr. Hutchings and Major MTnnes. The editors found little to alter in that admirable version beyond a few obsolete words and typographical errors. While these editions were passing through the press at Calcutta, further supplies of the Malayan Scriptures were being prepared in London, at the earnest request of the Auxiliary Bible Society at Amboyna. In 1819, 10,000 copies of the New Testament in the Roman character, from the text of 1733, were printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, under the care of Professor Lee; and in 1822, 5000 copies of the entire Bible from the same text were issued. The Netherlands Bible Society likewise contributed towards supplying the Malays with the oracles of God; and in 1820, 15,000 copies of the New Testament were printed at Haarlem, followed in 1824 by an edition of 7000 copies of the whole Bible. These editions were printed in Arabic characters, from the edition of 1758, and were carried through the press under the able superintendence of Professor Wilmet. In 1822, the same Society determined upon an edition of 5000 Bibles and 5000 New Testa- ments in the Roman character, from the texts of 1733. The British and Foreign Bible Society sub- scribed for a large proportion of all these editions. Whether the Netherlands Bible Society have printed any later editions does not appear; but it is satisfactory to find that the Calcutta Society have since resumed their labours in this department. In 1830, they printed at Singapore an edition of 2500 copies of St. Matthew's Gospel, in Arabic cha- racters, as the first step towards giving a fresh edition of the entire New Testament- This measure was adopted in consequence of the desire manifested among the Western Malays themselves to read the Scriptures, — a circumstance never known before, for the holy volume had previously been urged upon [Singapore Edition, 1831.] u^jIj^j pjb cX« ^ -£ &> 'i\y»~> J&~* * $\ ivr^ ^r* t$y* ^ U-»jI ?y i£r^y. *^*i*y <> -^* * i£rt4^ LS^tP cii^^* J£~a ^IL *-^-vJ £j-» lif^ [^uii-jJ jjxjjU-j Ljj ^^jj cjjl ^slw (A^X* j^ f-j*b ^ <-^ *i*V3 ^ Cp^ L5 J ^^* C"J^ ■^J>j£~> ^^y*£=> *\j-» ui^j*1>1 ^js-LOja^ tj: — i^-O *j»-j ti^o^s cX« -^li" LXil *ji) Ij^-j j-j^b ^^1^- 366 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. them rather than freely accepted, and their Mohammedan prejudices had been deemed impregnable. In consequence of their increased demand for the " Englishman's Koran," the Calcutta Society published, in 1833, a revised edition of 1000 copies of the Gospels and Acts, and 1500 copies of the entire New Testament, from the edition corrected by Mr. Hutchings. The printing was carried on at Singapore, under the care of the Eev. Messrs. Thomsen and Burn of the London Missionary Society, by whom such alterations were introduced in the text as a longer and more intimate acquaintance with the lan- guage had rendered desirable. Another version of the New Testament, less literal and more idiomatic than former translations, has been executed by the agents of the London Missionary Society and of the American Bible Society, at Singapore. The expenses have been partly defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society; editions consisting of 1000 copies in Boman and 1000 in Arabic characters were printed in 1856, under the care of the Bev. B. P. Keasberry, and are now in process of distribution. It now only remains under the head of Malayan Scriptures to notice a version made in a dialect of this language termed " Low Malay." This dialect, sometimes called "Common, or Colloquial Malay," because it is in many districts the general medium of conversation, is spoken more especially in the [Robinson's Veesion, 1823.] .» y C3^ m s y y lsjl> u*JH jjj <-i-v»l £*!£ <&j\ j^ jc>-j trjljyuyu.! JILj l_C« 3 # \yji Jljj t_C« ti-ol y y ~y m 9 " >> s s- ' s- - ' ' ~y - - - i jAjl^J ^ I ,^-y j-j ^jj^ J^-» ls a*» fj* '-W^r' 2flV * ! fc5 Ijj^ ^ «— »*rf '-^^ J ' * L5° ^^V cjj^ J\2-s u_^« * ^ J^-» CL^u) aJi^J iA**j jjL> i_S |j tiU>- H Xu> Li-uJ 'UiS' Jj^J ' # I £_j5f ^\ &lj£ (Aj^6 > *" y * S > r * ^"~ y ^ S S S j^__ 9 ' my * uj^'u t> ifi-'^ ij^^ '-^■^ '—^'^ l£>\ ^-^ *— ^* '— '^ Class V.] MALAYAN. 367 lower parts of Java, as for instance in Batavia and the whole neighbourhood; whereas, the Malayan Proper, or " High Malay," is spoken in the upper parts of the same island. Dr. Leyden long ago remarked upon the impossibility of forming such a version as would be approved in every Malay country; at the same time observing, that a version in the idiom of Malacca and Batavia would not be very intelligible to the Malays of Sumatra and other islands. The Rev. Claudius Buchanan also mentioned that the Dutch version of 1758 was not clearly understood by the Malays of Sumatra, and that Thomas Jarrett, Esq., of the Company's civil service, had prepared a translation in the Sumatran idiom at the College of Fort William: the Four Gospels of this version were ready for press as early as 1804, but whether any portion was actually printed does not appear. In the year 1814, the Java Auxiliary Bible Society was formed, and one of the first measures contemplated was the translation of the New Testament into Low Malay. Mr. Robinson, a Baptist missionary, was engaged to prepare the work; and, after much delay arising from sickness and local difficulties, he completed and printed the Gospels according to St. Matthew and St. John. The printing was afterwards transferred to the College at Singapore, and the version appears to have been completed by Dr. Medhurst. An edition of the New Testament left the press in 1833, and some considerable distributions were made by Dr. Medhurst, during a visit to Sourabaya, on the north-east coast of Java, and Samarang. A translation of the Psalms into Low Malay has more recently been made by some Christians at Sourabaya; and an edition of 1000 copies has been printed at Amsterdam, under the care of Professor Vetti, by the Netherlands Bible Society. The edition left the press in 1847, and the copies were forwarded to Sourabaya. II. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The readiness with which the Malays receive the Scriptures is proved by the numerous editions which have been distributed among them. A few instances of the perusal of the Malayan version having been blessed to the conversion of individuals, are recorded by the missionaries. Ali, a native teacher of the Malayan language, was led to compare the Bible with the Koran, and the comparison resulted in his rejection of Mohammedanism. In 1839, he professed his faith in Christianity by receiving the rite of baptism. " The religion of Jesus (he often said) is the only true one given to man, because it changes the heart, which the Koran, and the study I have given to it . for twenty years, could not produce." It is in the highest degree gratifying to learn that the prospect of missionary efforts among the Malays is becoming even more encouraging now than some years ago, especially in the Dutch possessions. The recent edition of the Malay Scriptures, above referred to, is likely to be speedily exhausted, and the demand for the Word of God is daily increasing. " You are warranted in rejoicing (writes the Rev. J. H. Barnstein, one of the missionaries of the Rhenish Missionary Society at Banjermassin, in Borneo, 1852), over the desire manifested here among the Mohammedan Malays to possess the Scrip- tures; and we can in truth assure you that the precious Word of God has already produced much good here. Even though we may as yet be able to reckon only a few isolated individuals who have openly embraced Christianity, we have the gratification of observing that on the whole many prejudices against the Gospel have been removed, and as the people read and hear the Word of God with feelings very different to those which formerly existed, we have the confident hope that by the blessing and grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, it will in time to come increasingly take root and bring forth fruit." .368 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. FORMOSA N. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. Formosa is an island lying off the east coast of China, under the tropic of Cancer, and directly north of the Philippines. It is not above 100 miles from the Chinese coast, from which it is separated by the Strait of Formosa, or channel of Fokien, as it is sometimes (from the adjoining province of that name) called. Its length, which is greatest from north to south, includes more than three degrees of latitude, and is not less than 250 English miles; but it is much narrowed towards each extremity, and its breadth at the widest part does not exceed eighty miles. According to the most recent information, the population is about 2,500,000. The Dutch appear to have been the first foreign power who obtained dominion over this island; but they were expelled, and many of them cruelly massacred, in 1661, by a Chinese pirate; and since 1683, Formosa has been subject to China. The natives are of the same race as the Haraforas, or Alforas, of the Moluccas and other islands. Some among them have been partially civilised, and have settled in villages near the Chinese colonies, on the coast opposite to China. Those who have preserved their independence live in a state of perpetual revolt against the Chinese possessors of the island. They dwell eastward of the chain of mountains which divides the island in its whole course from north to south. This district has never been explored, and our knowledge of the people is very imperfect. They have no books, no written language, and apparently no ancient or fixed system of religion. They have no king or supreme ruler, but are governed bv a number of petty chieftains. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OE THE LANGUAGE. Formosa is the most northern point in which a dialect is spoken of that ancient and widely diffused language which pervades the islands of the South Sea. The southernmost boundary of this language is the south of New Zealand, the easternmost is Easter Island, and the western is Madagascar. There are only fifteen elemental sounds in this language, including all the dialects. Through some peculiarity in their organs of articulation, the people to whom this language is vernacular have rejected all strongly pronounced consonants, especially the sibilant: and have merged the majority of their words into pure vowel sounds. This habit, joined to the rule requiring every syllable to terminate with a vowel, and precluding the coalescence of two consonants, occasions the softness of sound for which all the dialects are remarkable. The grammatical system, like that of the Malayan, is particularly simple. Particles, as in that language, supply the place of inflection. The only real inflection of which a Polynesian verb is capable, is the reduplication of the whole or part of a verb to express repeated action. The "particles of form" give to the verb various shades of meaning, like the Hebrew conjugations; and by means of these suffixes, the same verb becomes, at the will of the speaker, causative, desiderative, reciprocal, or potential. In the conjugation of Polynesian verbs time is comparatively disregarded, but place is very accurately denoted: in this respect the Polynesian class of languages is strikingly analogous to the American, — the "directive particles," as in the Oregon and Cherokee languages, indicating the direction of the action, whether to or from the speaker, and " the locatives" designating the place where the action is performed. Another link of connection between these two classes of languages consists in their possessing a dual as well as a plural number, and two different forms of the first personal pronoun in each number; the one form including and the other excluding the person addressed. Two or three vocabularies have been collected of the Formosan dialect, which has an alphabet of its own, and the words have been proved to be of undoubted Polynesian origin. Some of the words nearly correspond with the Malayan dialect of the general tongue. Class V.] JAVANESE. 369 III. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. The only translation that has been made in this dialect was executed during the early part of the seventeenth century by the Dutch, who about that period introduced Christianity into the island. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John were translated by Daniel Gravius, a Dutch minister, and printed at Amsterdam with the Dutch version in 1661, it is believed at the expense of the Dutch East India Company. But before the printed copies could reach Formosa, the Dutch were driven from the island, and no subsequent opportunities have been afforded to place the translation in the hands of the natives. JAVANESE. FOE SPECIMEN OP THIS VERSION, see Plate 10, page 115. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The island of Java is the most valuable of the Dutch possessions in the East. It lies south of Borneo, from which it is separated by the Sea of Java, and is divided from Sumatra by the Strait of Sunda. It measures about 660 miles from east to west; and from north to south it varies in breadth from 40 to 130 miles, embracing an area of little less than 50,000 square miles English. The population of Java, according to the latest estimates, numbers upward of 11,000,000 indi- viduals; among whom are nearly 100,000 Chinese, besides Malays and Europeans. The natives to whom the Javanese dialect is vernacular number about 2,000,000. This dialect is the only general medium of communication in the civilised and populous part of the island, but Malay is spoken in every commercial and maritime place, and Madurese is the dialect of the eastern coast. The Sunda dialect is spoken in the west, near the Straits of Sunda, and prevails over the third part of the island ; but this district is thinly peopled, and the inhabitants do not form above a tenth of the entire popu- lation. The Madurese and Sunda people are but collateral branches of the great Polynesian stock, and their dialects do not differ in any important particular from the general tongue. The Javanese is generally employed among them as their only written language. II. — CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS DIALECT. Next to Malayan, Javanese, which is distinct from it, is the most polished and the most cultivated of Polynesian dialects, This superiority is principally due to the influence of Sanscrit or rather Pali literature; for Java was, at an early period, the asylum of expatriated Hindoos, who impressed their own refinement and civilisation on the people and the language of the island. The Javanese alpha- betical characters are derived from the Pali alphabet, but are not arranged on the same artificial system. Not less than fourteen of the Sanscrit or Pali consonants are wanting in the Javanese alphabet, and a stranger is most struck with the absence of/, v, and sh. Since A.D. 1400, when the Javanese embraced Mohammedanism, many Arabic words have been adopted, by which the native deficiency of the dialect in abstract terms has been in some measure supplied. This dialect is, however, copious to redundance in words expressive of the simple objects and actions of common life; it furnishes, for instance, so many different words precisely descriptive of the various postures of the body, that, as Mr. Crawfurd has remarked, an anatomist, a painter, or a sculptor might derive assistance from it: there are with this people ten different modes of standing, and twenty of sitting, and a distinct and specific appellation is 25 370 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. appropriated to each. This copiousness in point of words is increased by there being two principal styles of language, called boso kromo and boso ngoho. The boso kromo is the higher style, used in addressing persons of superior rank, etc.; and the boso ngoho is the lower style, used in addressing persons of lower rank; it is also found sometimes in older writings, and in narratives, etc. These two different styles are, however, considerably intermixed. The Kawi is the ancient and learned language of Java, in which all the sacred and old civil annals are written. III. — VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN" THIS DIALECT. The preparation of a Javanese version was first suggested by Dr. Wm. Hunter, of Calcutta, in 1812. Previous to that period no attempt had been made by the Dutch to effect such a translation, although they had long carried on a correspondence in Javanese with all the native courts except that of Bantam. On the formation of the Java Bible Society, in 1814, the subject of a Javanese translation was one of the first which came under the consideration of the committee ; but the language was found so difficult of acquirement to Europeans, particularly on account of the diversity of idiom between the familiar and the deferential style, that some time elapsed before an individual could be found qualified to undertake the work. At length the task was intrusted to the Rev. Gotlob Bruckner, a native of Germany, stationed as minister of the Dutch Church at Samarang. In 1820 he translated the Gospels, and three years afterwards he completed the first Javanese version of the New Testament. It was printed in 1831, in an edition of 2000 copies, at Serampore, for the Netherlands Bible Society, but partly at the expense of the translator, and with the aid of the parent Society. The translation of the Old Testament was undertaken by the Rev. Mr. Gericke, a missionary of the Netherlands Society, who is said to have entered into the spirit of the Javanese people more than any other European, and to have acquired a deep and thorough knowledge of their language, character, customs, and religious principles. In 1831 he completed a version of the Psalms, which he sent to Holland, to the Netherlands Society, for publication. This version was submitted by the Society to a learned Javanese then residing at the Hague, and he afforded the most gratifying testimony to the learning of Mr. Gericke, and the purity of the idiom in which the translation was made. A fresh translation of the New Testament has since been executed by Mr, Gericke, on the basis of the preceding version. The Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed at Delft about 1847; and in 1848 the translator returned to Holland, that the entire version of the New Testament might be printed under his personal inspection. The printing was conducted at the Hague, and was completed during the same year, Professor Roorda assisting in the correction of the proof sheets. Mr. Gericke afterwards returned to Java, and at once employed himself upon the version of the Old Testament. This work, under the auspices of the Netherlands Bible Society, has since happily been completed, and passed through the press. The entire Bible is now accessible in the Javanese tongue, and recent intelligence encourages the hope that in no long time happy effects may ensue from the dissemination of the Scriptures — both in the Javanese and the Malay languages — among the inhabitants of this very populous island, " I find the Javanese (writes a Malay teacher, engaged in one of the mission schools on the island, to Mr. Keasberry, in 1857,) are very anxious to hear the Gospel; they show no opposition, nor express any doubts as to the truth of the Word of God; on the contrary, they seem more and more desirous to know as much as they can of the contents of the Gospel, and compare it with their own books." Class V.] DAJAK. 371 DAJAK. SPECIMEN, FKOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Intit solake aton Augh ta, maka Augh ta hindja, Hatalla, dan Augh ta aton Hatalla. 2 la hindja Hatalla intu solake. 3 Talo handiai djari inampa awie, maka lapas bara ia, djaton djari inampa talo Idja, awang djari. 4 Huang ia aton pambelom, maka pambelom ta, aton blawa olon. 5 Dan blawa ta mandang intu kakaput, tapi kakaput djaton men- jambut ta. 6 Aton olo, idja injoho Hatalla, Johannes arae. 7 la ta duma mendjadi saksi, uka menjaksi akan blawa ta, nakara olo handiai pertjaja awi ia. 8 la djaton blawa ta, baja uka ia, menjaksi akan blawa ta. 9 Djeta blawa awang toto, idja memplawa gene- genep olo, idja, tama kalunen to. 10 la aton huang kalunen, dan kalunen djari inampa awie, tapi kalunen dia kasene ia. n la menale talo ajue, tapi oloajue djaton menduan ia. 12 Tapi pira-pira, idja menduan ia, akan ia inenga kwasa awie mendjadi anak Hatalla, akan olo ta, idja pertjaja huang aran ajue. 13 Idja djari inakan, djaton awi daha, dia kea awi kahendak isi, dia kea awi kahendak olo hatua, tapi awi Hatalla. 14 Maka Augh ta men* djadi isi, dan melei dengan ikei, (maka ikei djari menampaja kahain ajue, kahaie, kilau awang ain Anak Bapa idja tonggal,) kontep asi tuntang katotohe. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. The island of Borneo lies under the equator, and extends over eleven degrees of latitude, and the same number of degrees of longitude. With the exception of its sea border, it is still unexplored; for although several Europeans have endeavoured to penetrate into the inland parts, they have perished in the attempt. Hence little is known with certainty respecting the aboriginal inhabitants, who, for the most part, have been driven into the interior by the Malays, the Chinese, the Cambodians, the Bugis, and other nations, by whom the greater part of the sea coast is now occupied. The numerous tribes into which the natives are divided appear to have each a peculiar dialect ; yet in other respects they so closely resemble each other, that they are believed to have originally belonged to one and the same nation. They are called Idaan on the north-east coast; Biaju is their designation in the south-east; while in the northern and western parts of the island they are known to the Malays under the name of Dajak, or Dyak. Specimens of the principal dialects spoken among them have been collected by Sir James Brooke and Captain Keppel, and it has been ascertained beyond a doubt that these dialects collectively form a link in the great chain of Malayo- Polynesian languages. These tribes are supposed to belong to the Haraforan variety of mankind. A black or negrito race, distinct from them in person and language, and resem- bling the African negro, is said to exist in the most inaccessible parts of the interior. The Dajak language is closely allied to the Malay. It contains a great quantity of words which are identical with it; and in many other instances Malay words only change either their vowels or one of their consonants when spoken by the Dajaks. In other cases the similarity of Dajak words may be traced to other Malayo- Polynesian languages; such as the Madagasse, etc. In this language nouns have neither gender, number, nor case; and verbs have neither mood nor tense. The cases are, as in most other languages of this kind, supplied by prepositions; and the tenses are expressed by words prefixed; such as hard, akan, etc., for the future, djari, for the pluperfect or past in general, etc. As regards the pronouns, they are both separate and affixed. They are added (as e. g. hu, m, e,) to persons in verbs, and to substantives, and even to prepositions. Thus awi-e, through him or her; taicaug-hu, I know; njanaug-ku, my mouth, etc. This language is, moreover, 372 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. rich in prefixes, though simple in construction; and judging from some of its idiomatic expressions, it appears to possess much of the native elegance that is peculiar to nations accustomed to lead a natural and not an artificial life. For instance, watanandau (eye of day) the sun; tarimakasi (acknowledgment of a favour) gratitude ; djohonmata (sap of the eyes) tears, etc. In Dajak active verbs have men or mens, and passive ones in, prefixed to them. The country of the land Dajaks (so called to distinguish them from the water Dajaks who inhabit the shores) has been described as comprised between the river Pontiana, and a line drawn in the third degree of north latitude, till it intersects the course of that river. The Malays, who possess the coasts of this region, are a fierce and cruel people, and from time immemorial the Dajaks have been their bondsmen. In 1795, the land Dajaks numbered about 14,360 individuals; whereas in 1846 they were deduced in number by famine, sickness, and oppression, to 6,792. Their language, however, was said in 1847 to be spoken by 100,000 people. Those among them who have made any advances towards civilisation have embraced Mohammedanism ; the rest are thought to be idolaters, but their particular system of superstition has not been clearly explained. That their creed, whatever it may be, is of the most revolting nature, appears from their barbarous custom of possessing themselves of human heads; and a vast number of human beings have been sacrificed for the sake of these horrible trophies. III. — VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. A translation of the New Testament, for the spiritual enlightenment of the Dajaks, was commenced by the missionaries of the Rhenish Mission, in 1843. It was completed in 1846, and Mr. Hardiland, one of the missionaries, was deputed by his brethren to revise it, and to print an edition of 1500 copies, at the Cape of Good Hope. The expenses were defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. This version is written in a dialect of the Dajak called Poelopetak, which prevails almost over the whole south side of Borneo. It is spoken by nearly 50,000 individuals; for although the district of Poelopetak itself contains but 10,000 inhabitants, the tribes of Patei, Dusson, Sampit, etc., who have their own dialects, are able to speak and understand the Poelopetak. This has arisen from the com- mercial intercourse existing between the people of Poelopetak and the other tribes. It has been found that this version is readily understood by all the natives who employ the Dajak dialect, and so eagerly were the copies sought after that the whole edition was exhausted within six years after its issue in the island. A new edition is urgently called for, and a revision of the text has been completed for the purpose. " We have abundant cause (wrote Mr. Hardiland in 1853) to bless the Lord, and to be of good courage, persuaded that He, who began the good work, will carry it on to a final and full triumph. Many hundreds have learned to read fluently, and are provided with New Testaments ; and we now reckon at our two stations in Poelopetak alone — we have, besides these, three stations in other parts of the country— at least 1000 scholars. Added to this, our services continue to be well attended, and the desire for baptism is on the increase." These gratifying symptoms have con- tinued to be manifested during the period that has since elapsed. The Prayer Book has been recently translated into Malay-Dajak, for use in Sarawak, by the Bishop of Labuan, and a lithographed edition, in the Arabic character, was executed at Singapore in 1857. B I M A. The Bima dialect is spoken in the east of Sumbawa, and the west of Endes, or Flores, two islands forming part of the Timorian chain, which extends nearly in a straight direction from the easternmost extremity of Java towards the western coast of New Guinea. Sumbawa Proper, which is generally Ciass V.] BATTA. 373 considered a dialect of Biraa, is spoken in the portion of Sumbawa which is not subject to the Sultan of Bima, except in a small district called Tembora, in the north, where a negrito language prevails. The Bima differs from other Polynesian dialects chiefly in pronunciation. A vocabulary of Bima words was collated by Dr. Leyden with the corresponding terms in Bugis and Macassar, and it was found that many words are common to all these dialects. Dr. Leyden is also said to have commenced a Bima version of the Gospels, but he did not live to prepare the translation for the press. BATTA. Thk large island of Sumatra lies in a direction almost parallel with the peninsula of Malacca, from which it is separated by the strait of Malacca, but its southern extremity stretches out far beyond the peninsula, to the south-east. It measures about 1050 miles in length, and is divided by the equator into nearly equal portions. It contains many native states, of which the principal are the Malay country of Menankabo, Acheen, and Siak. The country of the Battas is included between the equator and two and a half degrees of north latitude ; it extends across the island from coast to coast, but is intersected in certain districts by Malay and Acheenese settlements. In 1820, the Battas were thought to number about 500,000 individuals. They are idolaters, and addicted to the most debased and revolting practices. In their name and in their customs they are so similar to the Padsei mentioned by Herodotus (book iii. 99), that it seems but reasonable to conjecture that they are the descendants of that people. We are assured by Dr. Leyden, on the authority of the Malays and of the Battas themselves, that one of their religious ceremonies consists in devouring the sick and aged. " When a man becomes infirm, and weary of the world, he is said to invite his own children to eat him, in the season when salt and limes are cheapest. He then ascends a tree, round which his friends and offspring assemble, and, as they shake the tree, join in a funeral dirge, the import of which is, 'The season is come; the fruit is ripe, and it must descend.' The victim descends, and those that are nearest and dearest to him deprive him of life, and devour his remains in a solemn banquet." In 1820, three Baptist missionaries were sent to labour among this deluded people. The Batta dialect is not difficult to acquire, being simple in construction like the Malayan, and resembling the Bugis more than any other tongue. It is written in a peculiar character, evidently derived from the Sanscrit. The first steps towards producing a Batta version of the New Testament were taken by Mr. Burton, who translated the Gospel of St. John. Sickness and local difficulties afterwards caused his departure from the island, and the total withdrawal of the mission. Mr. Ward, however, remained at his post, supporting himself by agriculture; and he not only compiled a dictionary containing, perhaps, 50,000 Batta words, but accomplished the important work of translating the entire New Testament. He met with no encouragement from the Dutch local authorities, for they are in general inimical to missions, and to all means of enlightening the people of the East that are subject to their sway : Mr. Ward's version, therefore, still remains unpublished. More recently there has, indeed, been reason to hope that the Battas will shortly be supplied with the Word of God; for, in 1849, Mr. H. Neubronner van der Tunk was sent by the Netherlands Bible Society to Sumatra, to learn the dialect of the Battas, and to proceed with the translation of the New Testament. The Gospel by St. John has been completed, and published by Muller of Amsterdam, 1859. 374 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. BUGIS AND MACASSAR. Several native states are comprised in the large island of Celebes, all of which, though possessing separate governments, are in some respects subject to the Dutch. Among the various dialects which prevail in these states, the Bugis and the Macassar are by far the most widely predominant, being spoken not only in the greater part of Celebes, but in the trading districts of several neighbouring islands, indeed, the Bugis may be said to be the chief language of the people of Celebes. In fact, next to the Malayan itself, these two dialects, especially the Bugis, are more extensively diffused than any other of the East insular languages, — a superiority which Mr. Marsden has justly observed is due partly to the geographical position of the island, and partly to the energetic character and commercial habits of the Bugis. The Macassar dialect is spoken in that part of Celebes which is comprised between Balu Kiimba and Segere; whereas, the Bugis extends over an extensive section of the island, from B6ni to Luwu. Both dialects resemble the Malayan and the Tagala language of the Philippines in construction; and they also exhibit some affinity with the ancient Tarnata of the Moluccas. The Bugis is considered by the Baron W. A. Humboldt to constitute the transition between the languages of the Malayan archi- pelago and those of the more eastern islands. It is the most eastern insular language possessing an alphabet peculiar to itself. The characters of this alphabet are remarkably neat in appearance, and belong to the same class as the Batta and Tagala alphabets. The Bugis people possess a certain degree of intellectual culture, for their songs and romances are celebrated in all the isles of the East; but in the interior and more uncivilised parts of the island cannibalism is prevalent among them, and they are said to make a practice of devouring their prisoners of war. The dialect of Macassar is even softer and more vocalic than the Bugis, but it is less cultivated and less copious, and its literature is more scanty. It has many words in common with the Bugis, but likewise many radical terms peculiar to itself. A translation of the Scriptures into both these dialects was commenced by Dr. Leyden, with the help of some learned natives, about the year 1810; but he only lived to complete a version of the Gospel of St. Mark in each dialect. His MSS. were presented to the Bible Committee at Calcutta, but have never been printed. In 1849, Dr. B. F. Matthes, sub- director of the Mission-house in Rotterdam, was sent by the Netherlands Society to Celebes, to study these dialects, with the view of preparing versions of the Bible for these long neglected people. We have no information respecting the progress of this undertaking. Class V.l HAWAIIAN. 375 HAWAIIAN. SPECIMEN, EROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 1 kinohi ka Logou, rae ke Akua ka Logou, a o ke Akua no ka Logou. 2 Me ke Akua no hoi ia i kinohi. 3 Hanaia iho la na mea a pau e ia ; aole kekahi mea i hanaia i hana ole ia e ia. 4 Iloko ona ke ola, aoua ola la ka malamalama no na kanaka. 5 Puka mai la ka malamalama iloko o ka pouli, aole nae i hookipa ka pouli ia ia. 6 Hoounaia mai la e ke Akua kekahi kenaka, o Ioanne kona inoa. 7 Hele mai la oia i mea hoike, i hoike ai ia no ua malamalama la i manaoio ai na kanaka a pau ma ona la. 8 Aole no oia ka malamalama, aka ua hele mai ia e hoike i ka malamalama. 9 ka malamalama io, ka mea nana e hoomalamalama na kanaka a pau e hele mai ana i ke ao nei. 10 1 ke ao nei oia, a i hanaia keia ao e ia, aole nae ko ke ao nei i ike ia ia. n Hele mai la ia i kona iho, aole kona poe i malama ia ia. 12 Aka o ka poe i malama ia ia me ka manaoio i kona inoa, haawi mai la ia i ka pono no lakou e lilo ai i poe keiki na ke Akua. 13 ka poe i hanauia e ke Akua, aole na ke koko, aole na ka makemake o ke kino, aole hoi na ka makemake o ke kanaka. 14 Lilo mai la ka Logou i kanaka, a noho iho la me kakou a ike kakou, i kona nani, i ka nani o ka Hiwahiwa a ke Akua, ua piha i ka lokomaikai a me ka oiaio. The Sandwich Islands are an isolated group, lying just within the tropic of Cancer, far to the north of the Society and Marquesas Islands, and directly west of the coast of Mexico. They are about thirteen in number; but eight only are inhabited, and some of the others are mere islets. O'whyhee, or Hawaii, the largest island, is about 100 miles in length from north to south, and between 70 and 80 miles from east to west, embracing an area of 4,500 English square miles. The total population of the Sandwich Islands, according to a census taken in 1849, amounted to 80,640 individuals, nearly one-third of whom were resident in O'whyhee. Their language very closely resembles those of Tahiti and New Zealand. It was first reduced to a written form by the American missionaries, who adopted the Roman letters, as the English missionaries had before done in reducing to writing the dialects of the more southern islands. The Hawaiian contains five vowels and but seven consonantal sounds, together constituting an alphabet of twelve letters. The Hawaiian dialect of the Polynesian language is closely allied to the Tahitian; to which, as to the model of the Polynesian tongue, it bears a closer affinity than any other idiom spoken in the islands of the Pacific. It is very rich in vowels; some words indeed contain no consonants, and whole sentences may be formed of vowels and diphthongs alone. Like its kindred idioms, it has no gender, case, or number, properly so called; but all words, whether nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc., are alike without inflections, according to our Western notions of the term, and their relative bearing and construction is formed by particles, in which the Polynesian tongue is extremely rich. There is, however, an indefinite article, ke, ka, and na, which together with mau, denotes the singular and plural, in like manner as e, mai, o, i, ke, etc., serve to distinguish the tenses of verbs. But those are distinct words or particles, which leave the root or noun itself in its original state, though connected with it. The personal pronouns have, like those of the four principal Polynesian dialects, and the Mantchoo language, a twofold dual and plural; that is, one which expresses at once whether the speaker includes himself or not among the persons to whom he alludes. The passive form of verbs is formed by the suffix particle ia, but the only traces of any kind of conjugation properly so called is found in the combination of verbs; as for instance : 376 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. ike, to see, ikeia, or ikea, to be seen, to appear, hoike, to cause to see, to show, hoikeia, to be made manifest, etc. In general the Hawaiian language is soft, simple, easy, and remarkably sonorous. The Hawaiian version of the Scriptures has been executed by American missionaries, and solely at the expense of the American Bible Society. The Gospel of St. Matthew, of which two translations were made by Mr. Bingham and Mr. Richards, was prepared for press in 1826; and, two years after- wards, a small edition of the Four Gospels was printed in 12mo. at Rochester, New York. The entire New Testament was first printed in 1833 in the Sandwich Islands, under the care of the missionaries, then twenty in number. A revised edition was published in 1837. During the same year, the translation of the Old Testament was completed, and portions, consisting in some cases of very small editions of separate books, were successively issued from the press. The first complete edition of the Bible appeared in 1839. Several large editions of both the Old and New Testaments have subsequently been printed. Before the Word of God was thus put into circulation, the inhabitants of this large and beautiful island-group were given up to barbarism and idolatry, and were utter strangers to the blessed influence of Christianity. Now churches, schools, and other evidences of civilisation, are to be seen at the numerous towns and villages, and an Auxiliary of the American Bible Society is in active operation among them. In 1856, the American Society published an edition of the New Testament in Hawaiian and English, printed in parallel columns. TAHITIAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 I vai na te Logo i te mataraua ra, i te Atua ra hoi te Logo, e o te Atua hoi te Logo. 2 1 te Atua ra hoi oia i te matamua ra. 3 Na'na i hamani i te mau mea toa nei, aore roa e, e ere oia i te hoe mea i hamani hia. 4 Tei roto ia 'na te ora, e taua ora ra to te taata ia maramarama. 5 1 anaana mai na te maramarama i te pouri, aita ra te pouri i farii atu. 6 1 tono hia mai te hoe taata mai o mai i te Atua ra, o Ioane te ioa. 7 I haere mai taua taata ra ei ite, e faa ite i taua maramarama ra, ia faaroo te taata toa ia 'na. 8 E ere ra oia iho i taua maramarama ra, i haere mai ra e faa ite i taua maramarama ra. 9 Oia te maramarama man, o te haa maramarama mai i te taata toa i tona haerea mai i te ao nei. 10 1 te ao nei oia, e nana i hamani i teie nei ao; e aita to te ao i ite atu iana. n I haere mai nei oia i ona ihora, e aore tona ihora taata i ite atu ia 'na. 12 Te feia toa ra i ite atu ia 'na, i te faaroo raa i tona ra ioa, homaira oia i te maitai ra ia ratou ei tamarii na te Atua. 13 Te feia e ere to te toto i fanau ai ra, e ere hoi to te hinaaro o te tino, e ere hoi to te hinaaro o te taata, no te Atua ra. 14 1 riro mai nei te Logo ei taata e ua puhapa mai i o tatou nei (e ua ite matou i tona hanahana, mai hanahana e au i te Tamaiti fanau tahi a te Metua ra), ua i i te maitai e te parau mau. The extensive assemblage of islands in which the Tahitian dialect is spoken includes the Society or Leeward, and the Georgian or Windward, Isles, with the Low Islands, and the " Paumotu" or Dangerous Archipelago. These groups lie between lat. 14° and 25° S., and long. 135° and 152° W., and their collective population may amount to about 20,000. The largest of the islands is Otaheite, or, more properly, Tahiti, which is 108 miles in circumference, and contains 7000 inhabitants. Class V.] TAHITIAN. 377 The other principal islands are Eimeo, Huahine, Raiatea, and Borabora. Tahitian is also spoken in the Austral Islands, a group lying south of those above mentioned, and containing about 1000 inhabitants. Tahitian is distinguished, even above its cognate dialects, by its tendency to soften and vowelise the various sounds which enter into the composition of words; this it effects partly by the omission of mute and the substitution of liquid consonants, and partly by the total disuse of those nasal articulations which are of such frequent occurrence in Malayan, Tagala, and other dialects of the western division of Polynesia. The Tahitians confound b and p, d and t, and can seldom, if ever, distinguish between these consonants. The alphabet adopted by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who first reduced the language to writing, is the Eoman. The Tahitian language is generally considered the most perfect type of all the Polynesian dialects. It is allied nearest to the dialect of the Marquesan Islands and of Hawaii; but it is still softer than they. It would appear as if Tahiti had been peopled before any other island of Polynesia properly so called: that from thence as from a centre, emigrants went to settle on the islands of the surrounding archipelago, as far as New Zealand; and that while the Polynesian language became more or less modified by the mode of life called for by the nature of the soil or of the climate, it remained in its primitive simplicity at Tahiti. Out of 434 words in Madagasse, compared with as many in Tahitian, 17 were found identical, 126 nearly so, and the rest bearing some resemblance; showing evidently the connection that exists between the language of Madagascar, and the type of the Polynesian tongue properly so called, as it is spoken at Tahiti. The Scriptures have been translated into the Tahitian at the expense of the London Missionary Society, and by their missionaries. The principal translator was the Rev. Henry Nott, but Mr. Williams, and other missionaries stationed in the islands, aided in the work. Much assistance was also derived from native converts, particularly from King Pomare, who copied out several portions with his own hand; and, by his intimate acquaintance with the language, usages, and ancient institutions of the people, was able to suggest many important corrections. This monarch made a confession of faith in Jesus, in the year 1812, and ever afterwards manifested unwavering attachment to the profession of Christianity in the midst of persecution. Circumstances into which he was led towards the close of his life by association with designing persons, threw a stain upon his character, and cast a gloom over his mind, from which he never recovered; yet, though thus suffered to depart under a cloud, he enjoyed the consolations of the Gospel in his dying moments, and " Jesus Christ alone" were the last words he was heard to utter. The Tahitian version was made from the English Bible, with constant reference to the sacred originals. The Gospel of St. Luke was the first portion committed to the press; it appeared in 1818, and various other portions were successively printed till 1838, when the entire Bible was published in London, under the superintendence of the Rev. Henry Nott. Other editions followed, of which the most important, consisting of a revised edition of the entire Scriptures, was completed in London in 1848. The revision was conducted by the Rev. Messrs. Howe and Joseph, and afterwards by the Rev. Mr. Moore, who r by long residence among the Tahitians, had become familiarised with their language and idioms; and it is satisfactory to know, that although these missionaries had enjoyed greater facilities in obtaining a critical knowledge of the Tahitian dialect than their predecessors, yet they found little that was necessary to alter in the pure idiomatic style of Mr. Nott's version. This revised edition, consisting of 5000 copies, was published solely at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, by whom other editions have been subsequently issued. The entire number of copies of the Scriptures printed by the Society, up to the close of 1859, included the following: — Bibles ....... 8,046 Testaments ..... 13,114 Pentateuch 3,030 Gospels and Acts .... ... . 3,020 378 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. These copies have been received with great gladness, and many affecting instances are on record of the blessing of God having followed their perusal. One great benefit arising from their circulation has been, that the minds of the people have been thereby fortified against the errors of popery, of late years so zealously preached in these islands by Romish emissaries, particularly since the unhappy seizure of the islands by the French; and, notwithstanding the interdiction of fresh missionaries from England, and the prohibition of public preaching by the Protestant missionaries, and the efforts of the French priests to obtain converts, it is stated, in the last accounts that have reached us, that not one native Tahitian, as yet, has attempted to make a public confession of belief in the Roman Catholic system. Even at those stations which have been deprived of their missionaries, the work of instruction has been carried on by means of native agency. The interest of the people in the Scriptures (writes Mr. Howe, in 1857) is as vigorous as ever. Mr. Howe has been for some time past diligently engaged in the task of revising the Tahitian Scriptures, with a view to a new edition (the previous one being totally exhausted), and completed this important work in 1858, after two years of close application. Arrange- ments for printing the work have since been made by the London Missionary Society. RAROTOKGAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. I vai ana te Logo i muatangana, i te Atua ra oki te Logo, e ko te Atua oki te Logo. 2 I te Atua ra oki aia i muatangana. 3 Nana i anga te au mea katoatoa, kare ua aia i ngere i tetai mea i angaia ra. 4 Tei roto iaia te ora, e taua ora ra, to te tangata ia marama. 6 1 kaka mai ana te marama ki te poiri, kare r& to te poiri i ariki adu. 6 1 tonokia mai tetai tangata mei ko mai i te Atua ra, ko Ioane te ingoa, 7 1 aere mai taua tangata ra ei kite, ei akakite i taua marama ra, kia akarongo te tangata katoatoa iaia. 8 Kare ra aia i taua marama ra, i aere mai ra ei akakite i taua marama ra. 9 Koia te marama mou, ko te akamarama mai i te tangata katoa i tona aere anga mai ki te ao nei. 10 I te ao nei aia, e nana i anga teianei ao; kare ra to te ao i kite adu iaia. u I aere mainei aia i ona tikai, kare ra tona iti tangata tikai i kite adu iaia. 12 Te aronga katoa ra i kite adu iaia, i te akarongo anga i tona ingoa, o maira aia i te meitaki ia ratou ei tamariki na te Atua. 13 Te aronga kare to te toto i anau ei ra, kare oki to te anoano o te kopapa, kare oki to te anoano o te tangata, no te Atua ra. 14 I riro mainei te Logo ei tangata, e kua buakapa mai kio matou nei, (kua kite matou i tona tabu, mai te tabu e tau i te Tamaidi anau tai a te Medua ra) kua ki i te meitaki e te tuatua muo. Raeotonga, the largest and most important of the Hervey Islands, lies between five and six hundred miles west of Tahiti, in lat. 21° 20' S., and long. 160° W. It was discovered by the Rev. John Williams of the London Missionary Society, in 1823. It is about thirty miles in circumference, and its inhabi- tants twenty years ago numbered between 6000 and 7000. Its present population does not exceed 3500. The language of Rarotonga prevails throughout the other six islands of the Hervey group, the collective population of which may amount to 12,000 or 13,000: it also extends to the Maniki group, and as far as the Gambier Islands. It resembles the dialect of New Zealand more closely than any other, its chief distinguishing peculiarity being the rejection of the letter h; but in many instances it Class V.] RAROTONGAN. 379 softens some of the harder articulations of the New Zealand dialect; and thus appears in closer affinity to the more simple Tahitian and Marquesan idioms. It is also so similar to the Tahitian that, when the missionaries first visited the Hervey Islands, they endeavoured for three years to convey Christian instruction to the natives through the medium of the Tahitian language ; but a distinct version of the Scriptures was afterwards ascertained to be necessary for each group. The preparation of the Earotonga version mainly devolved on the Rev. John Williams, aided by Messrs. Pitman and Buzacott of the London Missionary Society. The work occupied five years, and underwent five several revisions by each translator; Mr. Williams, who had laboured eighteen years among the Polynesian islanders, being the final umpire. Much assistance was received from the native chiefs and priests who had been converted to Christianity, particularly from a chief named Pa, who evinced great judgment and discrimination in the proper selection of terms. Where no native word could be obtained exactly corresponding in signification with the original, a Polynesian inflection was given to the Greek or English word; but, in general, the character of the Rarotonga dialect admitted of a very close and literal adherence to the text. The translation was made from the Tahitian version ; but the original texts and the principal commentators were diligently consulted. The Gospel of St. John and the Epistle to the Galatians were printed in 1830; and in 1836 an edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament was published in London under the superintendence of the Rev. John Williams, and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This was followed in 1842 by a second edition of 5000 copies of the New Testament, printed at the expense of the same Society. In 1840, funds were granted by this Society towards printing portions of the Old Testament : the book of Genesis and the Psalms wei'e printed in 1845, and the remaining books were at the same period in a state of preparation for the press. But in a devastating storm which occurred the following year, the chapels, school-houses, and dwelling-houses of these islands were laid in ruins, the MSS. of the version were defaced, and the progress of the edition greatly retarded. Shortly after the catastrophe, Mr. Buzacott returned to England for the purpose of printing the edition of the Old Testament in London. For seven years he had been engaged, in concert with the other missionaries, in a careful revision of the Rarotonga version; and on his arrival in London he devoted his time to the prosecution of the same work, under the valuable superintendence of the Rev. Thomas Meller. An edition of 5000 copies of the entire Scriptures, from this revised version, was completed in 1851, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1852, Mr. Buzacott was enabled to return to Rarotonga (after an absence of more than five years) carrying with him this invaluable supply of the revealed Word. The ardent delight manifested by the. islanders of Rarotonga and other members of the Hervey group, at the arrival of the missionary ship " John Williams," which bore the precious freight, is described in affecting and interesting terms by those who witnessed it. A subsequent edition of 5000 copies was rendered necessary in 1854, so eagerly had the Rarotongan islanders availed themselves of the means afforded them for becoming acquainted with the Word of Life. This second edition is now in course of circulation. The good effects of reading this version have already appeared. The change thereby produced in the state and character of the natives of Rarotonga has been thus described by the martyred Williams : — " In 1823 I found them all heathens; in 1834 they were all professing Christians. At the former period I found them with idols and maraes; these, in 1834, were destroyed. I found them without a written language, and left them reading in their own tongue the wonderful works of God." 380 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V> MARQUESAS. The Marquesas or Washington group forms a cluster of islands situated about nine degrees south of the equator, at a distance of 900 miles north-east of Tahiti. The largest of these islands is not above half the size of Tahiti, and it is questionable whether the population of the entire cluster exceeds 20,000. In manners and customs, and in national traditions and superstitions, these islanders, as might be expected from the proximity of situation, resemble the Tahitians, but they ate a far more barbarous people than their southern neighbours, and before the introduction of Christianity were addicted to cannibalism, and to many flagitious and inhuman practices. Their language is nearly identical with that of Tahiti, but the pronunciation is still more liquid. The Marquesan dialect is more closely allied to the Tahitian than to any other: indeed one grammar may do for both. Like the Tahitian the Marquesan has not the nasal ng; nor yet I or r, letters which, it may be noticed, are often interchanged not only in the Polynesian idioms, but also in many languages of Asia; such as the Tamil, which combines the two liquids in one letter; and the Japanese, which pronounce one or the other only, in districts bordering on one another. In Marquesan, as in other purely Polynesian dialects, such as the Tahitian, Hawaiian, Rarotonga, and New Zealand, there are no sibilants, which are, however, found in Tonga and Feejeean, idioms that in some respects deviate from the Polynesian type properly so called. The place of the Marquesan and Tahitian dialects among other Polynesian idioms is between that of Hawaii and that of New Zealand; the former the poorest, the latter the richest of those dialects. Various efforts have been made at different intervals since the year 1797 to proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel in these islands. For many years these attempts were rendered abortive by the ferocity and savage obduracy of the natives. At length, in 1834, the Rev. Messrs. Rodgerson, Stallworthy, and Darling, agents of the London Missionary Society, met with some encouragement in their endeavours to instruct the people, and reclaim them from idolatry. Mr. Darling devoted himself to the translation of the Scriptures, or rather to the adaptation of the Tahitian version to the Marquesan dialect. The Gospels of St. John and St. Luke have been completed, and other portions of the New Testament are either ready for the press or in a state of preparation. But we have no recent information respecting the progress of evangelisation in these islands, which were taken possession of by France a few years since, and are for the present closed to the labours of the Protestant missionary. Class V.] TONGAN. 381 TONGAN. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Nae i he tubuaga ae folofola, bea nae ihe Otua ae folofola bea koe Otua ae folofola. 2 Ko ia ia nae i he tubuaga moe Otua. 3 Nae gaohi eia ae mea kotoabe bea nae ikai gaohi ha mea e taha aia kuo gaohi kae iate ia be. 4 Nae iate ia ae nioui bea koe moui koe mama ia oe tagata. 5 Bea oku ulo ae mama ihe bouli ka nae ikai ilo ia ehe bouli. 6 Nae ai ha tagata kuo fekau mei he Otua ko Ioane hono higoa. 7 Nae hau ia koe fakamooni ke fakamooni ki he mama koeuhi ke tui iate ia ae kakai kotoabe. 8 Nae ikai koe mama ko ia ia ka nae fekau ia ke fakamooni ki he mama koia. 9 Koe mama mooni ia aia oku ne fakamama ae tagata kotoabe oku hau ki mamani. 10 Nae i mamani ia bea nae gaohi eia a mamani ka nae ikai ilo ia e mamani. n Nae hau ia ki hono kakai ka nae ikai mau ia e hono kakai. 12 Ka ko kinautolu nae mau ia naa ne tuku kiate kinautolu ae malohi ke nau hoko koe fanau ae Otua ko kinautolu nae tui ki hono huafa. 13 Aia nae fanaui ka nae ikai ihe toto be i he kakano be i he loto oe tagata ka ihe Otua, 14 Bea nae hoko ae folofola koe tagata bea nofo iate kitautolu bea nas mau mamata ki hono naunau koe naunau oe toko taha be nae fakatubu ehe tamai oku fonu ihe ofa moe mooni. The Tongan archipelago is composed of upwards of a hundred and fifty little islands, many of which are uninhabited, lying between lat. 18" and 23° S., and long. 173° and 176° W. The islands are disposed in three separate groups or clusters, called the Tonga, the Hapai or Haabai, and the Vavau groups. Since 1845, they have all been under the dominion of one king, chosen by the chiefs of the different islands: their collective population is estimated at from 20,000 to 30,000, The name of " Friendly Isles" was given to this assemblage of islands by Captain Cook, on account of the courteous deportment and supposed friendliness of the natives; but further acquaintance with this treacherous and vindictive people led to the discovery of their real character. " Theft, revenge, rape, and murder (it is stated in Mr. Mariner's narrative) are not under many circumstances considered crimes among them ; and in the examination of their language we discover no native words essentially expressive of moral qualities, as virtue, justice, and humanity." Of late years they have been induced to reject the debasing system of superstition by which they have been enslaved; many among them have made at least an outward profession of Christianity, and a great change has been thus induced in their moral and mental condition. One dialect pervades the whole assemblage of islands; it resembles in several respects the western idioms of this stock, and possesses some peculiarities in common with the Malayan, which have no existence in Hawaiian or the dialects of the neighbouring islands. It is more especially distinguished from the Tahitian by the use of the consonant k, and of the nasal ng. It possesses close affinity with the Samoan dialect, and in many instances there is an identity of orthography, pronunciation, and meaning between Tongan and Samoan words. There is on the other hand a great dissimilarity between the Tongan and Feejeean dialects: for while a Tonga man can acquire with ease, and speak Avith fluency, the Samoan dialect, it is with extreme difficulty that he can obtain a competent know- ledge of the Feejeean tongue; and there are some Feejeean sounds which can scarcely be pronounced by natives of Tonga. Considered as the language of a people formerly altogether ignorant of letters, the Tongan dialect may be said to be copious. Words descriptive of minute objects abound almost to redundancy; and not only can terms be found to designate every sensible object, but also to express 382 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. the powers and operations of the mind: so that the missionaries have readily selected suitable terms for the various points of Christian theology. The Tonga dialect differs in some other respects from some other Polynesian idioms. It has the nasal articulation ng; and seems in some few instances to borrow the sibilant s from the Feejeean, and knows not some of the consonants in common use in other islands. It changes the r and the d of the New Zealand into 7; and it articulates strongly the f. In other respects its grammar is mainly the same as that of the other Polynesian dialects; it has a twofold dual and plural for personal pronouns; and is equally destitute of case, gender, and number, properly so called. It is a rougher idiom than either the Tahitian or the Marquesan. The largest of the Friendly Islands is Tonga, or Tongataboo, which is sixty miles in circumference, and which in 1850 was estimated to contain 9000 inhabitants. Considerably more than half of these had been converted to Christianity, the Protestants among them numbering 5000, and the Roman Catholics 600 members. Nine missionaries were sent to the Island of Tonga by the London Missionary Society in 1797, but they found it impossible to remain, and many subsequent efforts for the introduction of Christianity were rendered equally abortive by the ferocious disposition of the natives. The agents of the Wesleyan Missionary Society were at length enabled in 1826 to settle peaceably in Tonga, and they now extend the blessings of Christian instruction to all the islands of this archipelago. In 1832 they had translated detached portions of Scripture into Tongan, and had multiplied copies in writing; aid was then aflbrded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and several consecutive chapters from the Gospel of St. John and book of Genesis, with some of the Psalms, were committed to the press. Further assis- tance was afterwards granted by the same Society; and in 1845 the missionaries were proceeding with the printing of other portions of this version. At length, about the year 1847, the version of the New Testament was completed, and an edition of 4000 copies left the mission-press at Vavau. A revision of this work, and the translation of the Old Testament, have since been in progress, and appear from recent accounts to be rapidly approaching completion, the various portions, as they are finished, being issued from the Vavau press. The translation of the New Testament was chiefly drawn from the English version, but many passages were translated immediately from the Greek; for the missionaries found, in several instances, that the meaning of the inspired original could be rendered more literally, and with less circumlocution, in Tongan than in English. In 1852, at the request of the Committee of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society undertook to furnish an edition of 10,000 copies of the Tongan New Testament. The sheets passed through the press under the joint supervision qf thp Rev. G. Kevern, of Pontypool (formerly a missionary in the Tonga Islands), and the Rev. T. W. Meller. The rapid circulation of this edition (completed in 1853) has rendered it desirable that another, of like extent, should be undertaken, and this is now in progress (1860). Concerning the direct results of the dissemination of the Tongan version of the Scriptures, we have the following testimony from the Rev. Walter Lawry, who, in speaking of the converted natives, said, " There is among them a conformity of heart and life to the Christianity of the New Testament, surpassing all that I have elsewhere seen, and such as it is truly gratifying to witness. In passing up and down among them, I often ask myself, 'What but the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ could have produced such a change in this once deeply-polluted people?'" Mapy interesting circumstances con- nected with the improved social and moral condition of the inhabitants will be found in the narrative of a visit to Tonga by Captain Keppel, in H. M. ship Mseapder, in 1850. The recent Reports of the Wesleyan Society supply numerous highly interesting details. " Christianity (it is remarked in the Report for 1856) having been for years firmly established in the Friendly Islands, we have no longer to speak of the triumphs of the Gospel over heathenism in this group; but it is satisfactory to know that the cause of truth still prospers among this people." Class V.] NEW ZEALAND. 383 NEW ZEALAND. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. I te timatanga te Kupu, a i te Atua te Kupu, ko te Atua ano hoki taua Kupu. 2 1 te Atua ano tenei Kupu i te timatanga. 3 Nana nga mea katoa i hanga; a kahore tetahi mea i kore te hanga e ia o nga mea i hanga. 4 I a ia te ora; a ko te ora te maramatanga mo nga tangata. 5 1 roto i te pouri te Maramatanga e whiti ana ; heoi kihai i mau i te pouri, 6 1 tonoa mai he tangata e te Atua, ko Hoani tona ingoa. 7 1 haere mai ia hei kai whakaatu, hei whakaatu mo te Maramatanga, kia meinga ai e ia nga tangata katoa kia whakapono. 8 Ehara ia i taua Maramatanga, engari hei kai whakaatu mo taua Maramatanga. 9 Ko te Maramatanga pono tera, e marama ai nga tangata katoa e haere mai ana ki te ao. 10 1 te ao ia, i hanga ano e ia te ao, a kihai te ao i mohio ki a ia. u I haere mai ia ki ona, a kihai ona i manako ki a ia. 12 Tena ko te hunga i manako ki a ia, i tukua mai e ia ki a ratou nga tikanga e meinga ai ratou hei tamariki ma te Atua, ki te hunga hoki e whakapono ana ki tona ingoa : 13 Ki te hunga ehara nei i te toto, ehara i te hiahia o te kikokiko, ehara i te hiahia o te tangata, engari na te Atua ratou i whanau ai. u A i whakakikokikotia te Kupu, a noho ana i a matou, (a i kite ano matou i tona kororia, he kororia e rite ana ki to te tamaiti ko tahi a te Matua,) ki tonu i te aroha noa me te pono. I. — GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS. New Zealand, the nearest considerable land to the antipodes of Britain, consists of a group of islands lying in the South Pacific, to the eastward of Australia and Van Diemen's Land- From the nearest point of the Australian continent it is separated by a distance of 1150 miles, and from Van Diemen's Land by upwards of 900 miles. The group embraces two large islands — called respectively North Island and Middle Island — with a third of smaller dimensions, lying to the southward of the others, and named South or Stewart Island, besides many adjacent islets. The two larger islands are separated by the channel of Cook's Strain The superficial extent of the entire archipelago is about 99,500 English square miles. Since the year 1840, New Zealand has been a recognised possession of the British crown. Settle- ments have been made at several places on the shores of both the larger islands — the six principal of them being Auckland (the seat of government for the entire colony), New Plymouth, and "Wellington — on the North Island; with Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago, on the Middle Island. The settlement of Canterbury was established so lately as 1850, and was organised strictly as a Church colony. The Otago settlement (founded in 1*847) consists chiefly of natives of Scotland. In 1858, the colonial population of New Zealand numbered about 61,000, and at the present time (1860) probably exceeds 80,000. The native population is estimated at little more than 70,000, show- ing a very considerable decrease within recent years — the number having formerly been calculated at more than double that amount. The native population of New Zealand — like the Polynesian races in general — is diminishing, and at a rate which, unless circumstances should arise to check it, promises at no distant period its extinction as a distinct race. The Maori dialect differs only from the Tahitian in the interchange of certain consonants; and a native of Tahiti, immediately on landing for the first time in New Zealand, is capable of conversing 384 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [.Class V. with the inhabitants. Even a native of Hawaii can render himself intelligible in New Zealand, although the two islands are between sixty and seventy geographical degrees apart, and the respective inhabitants bad no communication with eacb other before the period of European discoveries. The New Zealand or Maori language is the most cultivated of all the Polynesian dialects. It is richer in sounds, and more copious in expression, than any of the others; although the main features of its grammatical construction agree with the general outline of Polynesian idiom. In tbe Northern Island of New Zealand alone, there are seven principal dialects; i.e. the Rarawa, Ngapuhi, Wackato, Bay of Plenty, East Cape and Rotama, Port Nicholson and Wanganui, and Mokau: but the Wackato dialect is reckoned the purest. The New Zealand language has five vowels, eight consonants, and the nasal sound ng; and like the Tonga dialects, etc., it also possesses the twofold dual and plural forms of personal pronouns. In general, it is a sonorous and energetic tongue; which forms the extreme division of the Polynesian dialects to the southward. II. — VERSION OP THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS DIALECT. The attention of the Church Missionary Society was early directed to New Zealand by the repre- sentations of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, senior chaplain of the colony of New South Wales; three missionaries from this Society effected a landing in New Zealand in 1814, and, after reducing tbe language to writing, they commenced a translation of the Scriptures. In 1831, the Rev. Mr. Yate spent upwards of six months in New South Wales, occupied in carrying through the press the first publication in the Maori dialect; it consisted of 117 closely printed pages, containing selections from the Scriptures, the Liturgy and Catechism of the Church of England, and Hymns. This attempt proved so successful, that in 1832 Mr. Yate printed 180Q copies of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, the Acts, the Epistle to the Romans, and the first Epistle to the Corinthians: paper was provided for this purpose by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The translation of the entire New Testament occupied seven years in preparation, and during this period it underwent several revisions, in which all the agents of the Church Mission assisted; but the principal translator was Mr. Yate. This version was drawn immediately from the Greek original, and is accounted a very literal and idiomatic translation. Although it was completed in 1835, the first edition did not appear till 1840, when 5000 copies were printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. A second edition, consisting of 20,000 copies, was printed by the same Society in 1842, and a third, of the like extent, in 1844. More recently, an impression of 15,000 copies of the Maori New Testament has been completed, under the revision of Archdeacon (now Bishop) Williams and the Rev. T. W. Meller. This swells the total amount (including portions of the Old Testament, as referred to below) to 118,930 copies of portions of the Word of God, which had, up to the close of 1858, been placed by means of the British and Foreign Bible Society in the hands of the natives of New Zealand. The first portion of the Old Testament committed to the press in the Maori tongue was the Psalter, of which 20,000 copies were published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1848. This edition was printed by permission of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge from the Psalter forming a part of the New Zealand Common Prayer Book, then in course of publication by that Society; the translation being conformed to the Bible version of the Psalms. In the same year, the Bible Society undertook an edition of 10,000 copies of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, in Maori. A suc- ceeding portion of the Old Testament Scriptures, from Judges to Psalms inclusive, from a translation made by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell, a resident missionary in New Zealand, was printed by the Society in 1855; the edition consisting of 5000 copies. Mr. Maunsell has since sedulously devoted himself to the task of completing the translation of the remaining portions of the Old Testament into Maori, a work which, by divine grace, lie has been permitted to accomplish. " The whole Word of God is now (he wrote in 1856) in Maori I have, through God's great goodness, been spared to assist in the revision of the New Testament and Prayer Book, and to finish an original translation of the Old Testament." Class V.] NEW ZEALAND. 385 This great work has now, by the blessing of God, received its fitting consummation, an edition of 5000 copies of the concluding portion (from Proverbs to Malachi) having been completed in London (under the careful superintendence of the present Bishop of Wellington) in 1858, at the cost of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Another triumph will thus be gained to the cause of truth. " If (said his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, in 1857, at a meeting of the Auckland Auxiliary) any of the three hundred gentlemen who met at the London Tavern early in this century, to form a Society for distributing the Bible, had ventured to predict that in fifty years a branch of it would spread over the antipodes, his hearers would have smiled incredulously; but if he had added that two-thirds of that fierce race of cannibals, known \,o Englishmen only by Captain Cook's report, would by that time be converted to Christianity — that they would receive the Bible translated into their own language — and that in those unknown islands alone 1500 copies of the Bible would be distributed in one year by this branch of the Society — he would have been regarded as a speculative enthusiast. That such wonders have come to pass we are living witnesses, and that we are so, must be a subject of congratu- lation and a cause of thankfulness to us all." III. — RESULTS OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The Maori Testament has proved a powerful weapon against popery, and has been known in several instances to have been the means of enabling the converted natives to withstand the insinuations of Romish emissaries. So deeply, indeed, is this felt by the agents of the Koman Catholic Church, that they were said some time since to be preparing a translation of their own in this dialect. The district of Hokianga, at which Romish priests had been stationed for the previous twelve years, was at length abandoned by them in despair; they having been unable, during the entire period, to succeed in making the smallest permanent impression on the native population ! The greater number of the New Zealanders, formerly cannibals and gross idolaters, are now walking in the light of truth, and, although some disappointment, as is natural to all human efforts, may have been experienced, yet the recent reports received from this highly interesting region contain much that is encouraging. " Several of the chiefs (writes the Rev. J. Warren, to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, in 1851) have within the last few months renounced heathenism, and are diligently endeavouring to learn to read the sacred Scriptures. I believe the Spirit of the Lord is powerfully at work on many of their hearts." The testimony of the Rev. Mr. Puckey, of Kaitaia, to the blessed results of the diffusion of the Scriptures among the native population in this distant part of the world is strikingly interesting. " Europeans say that they think the New Zealanders a very tame and inoffensive people. So they are; but they should have come to live among them thirty years ago, before the influence of the Gospel manifested itself. I remember to have been in bodily fear for a month at a time, and was not sure of my life for half an hour; but the case is vastly different now. The Saviour is loved by many hundreds, and God is worshipped in spirit and in truth." — "You will rejoice to hear (says the Rev. R. Burrows, in 1859) that the Word of God is still read and prized by many of our native converts." as 386 POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. MALAGASSE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. JOHN, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Tamy ny taloha ny Teny, ary ny Teny tamy n'Andriamanitra, ary Andriamanitra ny Teny. - Izy tamy n'Andriamanitra tamy ny taloha. 3 Izy nanava'ny ny zavatra rehetra ; ary raha tsy izy, tsy nisy nanaova'ny izay efa natao ny. 4 Tao amy ny ny fiainana ; ary ny fiainana no nahazava ny olona. 5 Ary ny mazava mahazava ao amy ny maizina ; fa ny maizina tsy nahasarona azy. 6 Nisy lehilahy nirahin' Andriamanitra, i Jaony no anara'ny. 7 Izy avy 'mba ho fanambarana hanambara ny Mazava, 'mba ham- pinoa'ny ny olona rehetra. 8 Tsy izy izany Mazava izany, fa nirahi'ny 'mba hanambara ny Mazava. 9 Izy ny Mazava marina, izay mahazava ny olona rehetra avy amy ny izao tontolo izao. 10 Izy tamy ny izao tontolo izao, ary izy no nanava'ny izao tontolo izao, ary izao tontolo izao tsy nahalala azy. u Izy tonga tany amy ny, fa ny any amy ny, tsy nampandroso azy. 12 Fa izay nampandroso azy, dia nome'ny ny hery ho tonga zanak' Andriamanitra, dia izay mino ny anara'ny : 13 Izay tsy natera-dra, na ny fankasi- trahany ny nofo, na ny fankasitraky ny olona, fa ny an' Andriamanitra. u Ary ny Teny natao ny ho nofo, ary izy nonina tamy 'ntsikia, (ary izahay nahita ny voninahi'ny, izay no voninahitra takaky ny lahy tokana ny Ray) feno fahasoavana sy fahamarinana. Madagascar lies at a distance of 240 miles off the east coast of Africa, from which it is separated by the channel of Mozambique. This island is considerably larger than the whole of France: it comprises an area of 234,400 square miles, and measures 930 miles in length, by about 300 in breadth. The inhabitants number between 4,700,000 and 5,000,000 individuals: though at present comprehended under one rule (that of the Hovahs), and forming in this respect one nation, it is evident from their physical conformation that they are descended from different stocks, some among them resembling in person and appearance the Malayan race of Polynesia, while others possess the black skin and woolly hair of the negrito race. The religion is a rude species of polytheistic idolatry, and the monarch is the high-priest as well as the despotic ruler of his subjects. It is a singular fact that the Malagasse dialect exhibits a closer affinity to the dialects of the small islands off the coast of Sumatra, especially Nias, than to those of the islands in its more immediate vicinity. To the languages of the opposite coast of Africa it bears no resemblance whatever. It is very similar in construction to Tagala, the most perfect of Polynesian dialects, and many grammatical forms which exist only in part even in Tagala, are found entire in Malagasse. At a very remote period a migration seems to have taken place from the peninsula of Malacca and the island of Sumatra, both westward and eastward. Those men carried with them their language and traditions, to Madagascar in the extreme west, and among the islands of the Pacific in the east. Hence the great similarity of the various languages of the Malay o- Polynesian nations; similarity so great as to justify us in terming those languages, in the aggregate, one family. Among these the Malagasse is said by many philologists to be the parent of the whole tribe of dialects; but more probably, as others think, the original language properly so called is now lost, and the Malagasse is only one branch of it, as the Polynesian is another, both diverging from their common centre in the Malayan islands and peninsula. Class V.] MALAGASSE. 387 The grammar of the Malagasse is like that of the Polynesian dialects in its main outline. It has five vowels, and all the consonants of the English alphabet except c, q, w, x ; j being pronounced like dz, and u like io : it is deficient in case, gender and number, properly so called. It is like its allied dialects, sonorous and soft; and not wanting in power and energy of expression. The language is, with few exceptions, spoken alike throughout the island of Madagascar. A comparison of the Malagasse with the Malay and the other Polynesian dialects, gives the following results of identity : — In 728 Malagasse words compared with as many Malayan, 21 were found identical. In 709 compared with as many Maori ones the identical were 16. In 725 compared with the Tonga, the identical words were 17. In 434 compared with the Tahitian, the identical words were 17. In 182 compared with the Hawaiian, the identical words were 21. On the other hand — In 716 Malay words compared with the Maori, 14 were found identical. In 649 compared with the Tonga, there were 16. In 443 compared with the Tahitian, there were 14. In 242 compared with the Hawaiian, there were 16. This proportion, although perhaps not perfectly accurate, may serve as a guide to the relative connexion of these languages. Several attempts have been made by the French, but without success, during the last two centu- ries, to colonise this island. Their efforts have never been directed towards the translation of the Scriptures into this dialect; but Flacourt in his History of Madagascar gives a version of the Lord's Prayer, and of what he calls the Ten Commandments, from which the second commandment is excluded. The Gospel was not proclaimed to the people of Madagascar till 1818, when the Rev. Messrs. Jones and Bevan were sent to labour among them by the London Missionary Society. The translation of the Old and New Testaments occupied the greater part of the time of the missionaries during eleven years. The three principal translators were Messrs. Jones, Griffiths, and Johns. The New Testament was completed in 1825, and after passing thrice through the process of revision, 1500 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke were printed in 1828, and 3000 copies of the Testament in 1830, on paper furnished by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1832, 800 copies of the Old Testament, as far as the first book of Samuel, and 3000 copies of the Psalms, were printed in Madagascar ; and on Mr. Baker's visit to this country the following year, the British and Foreign Bible Society printed under his superintendence a second edition of the Psalms, consisting of 5050 copies. This was followed in 1835 by an edition of 10,000 New Testaments, and of 5000 copies of the books of Genesis, Proverbs, Isaiah, and the Psalms, published by the Society in London. During the same time the whole of the Old Testament was being printed in successive portions in Madagascar; and it seems a special indication of the blessing of God upon this version, that at the very period of the cruel persecution of Christians in this island, circumstances were so ordered that the missionaries were enabled for a time to remain unmolested, and continue their labours until the completion of this important translation. The history of this persecution, which lasted for a period of seventeen years (1834-51), and is one of the most remarkable of modern times, is unstained by the record of a single instance of apostasy. Many of the native Christians were called to suffer imprisonment and confiscation of property, while others were permitted to seal their testimony with their blood. God so upheld the faith and patience of his servants in the hour of trial, and so sustained them by the consolations of the sacred volume, that they looked at terrors without dismay, and emulated the examples of the confessors and martyrs of primitive ages. During the whole period that the edicts against Christianity remained in force, and while death was the legal penalty of an open confession of faith in Jesus, the number of believers in the divine word still increased; and, even while no missionaries were allowed to remain on the island, 388 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. the converted natives read the word of God in secret, and continued to meet privately for worship, often assembling for this purpose on the mountains or in caves. A Malagasse church was at the same time planted in Mauritius, consisting of those who had been compelled, on account of their belief in the Christian religion, to flee from their native island. The Eevs. Messrs. Freeman and Jones (formerly missionaries in Madagascar) had, in anticipation of the day when they might be enabled to resume their labours, employed themselves since their return to England in the complete revision of the Malagasse Scriptures. This revision has been accomplished, and, in the immediate prospect (through political changes) of the island becoming again open to the efforts of the Christian missionary, it was recently determined by the British and Foreign Bible Society to print an edition of 5000 copies of the Malagasse Bible from the revised MS. This work was accord- ingly commenced, under the editorial care of the Eev. Mr. Griffiths (formerly a missionary in the island) with the aid of the Kev. T. W. Meller; but, after advancing as far as the completion of the New Testament, with the Old Testament as far as the 10th chap, of Judges, it has been deemed advisable to suspend further progress — there appearing, on later inquiry, to be little probability of any immediate opportunity for its distribution in the island. The revision of the text had advanced as far as the end of Job. 8AMOAN. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Sa i le amataga le Lokou, sa i le Atua le Lokou, o le Atua foi le Lokou. 2 O ia foi sa i le Atua i le amataga. 3 Na ia faia mea uma lava ; e leai foi se mea e tasi sa fai e lei faia e ia. 4 O ia te ia le ola ; a le ola foi lea, o le malamalama o tagata. 5 Ua pupula mai foi le malamalama i le pouliuli, a e lei tali atu i ai e le pouliuli. 6 Ua auina mai, mai le Atua, le tasi tagata, o Ioane lona igoa. 7 Na sau ia o le molimau, na te faailoa mai le malamalama, ina ia faalogo i ai o tagata uma lava ia te ia. 8 E le o le malamalama ia, a ua sau ia e faailoa mai i lea lava malamalama. 9 le malamalama moni ia, na te faamalamalama mai i tagata uma lava, i lona maliu mai i le lalolagi. 10 Sa i le lalolagi o ia, na ia faia foi le lalolagi ; a e lei iloa lava ia e le lalolagi. n Ua maliu mai o ia i ana lava, a e lei tali atu e ona tagata. 12 A o e na tali atu ia te ia, ma faatuatua i lona suafa, na ia avatu i ai o lea lelei, ia avea i latou ma fanau a le Atua. 13 i latou, e le o le toto na fanau ai, e le o le loto foi o le tino, e le o le loto o le tagata, a o le Atua lava. u Ua liu tino-tagata le Lokou, ua api mai ia i tatou, (na matou vaa- vaai i lona mamalu : o le mamalu lea pei o le mamalu o le Alo e toatasi o le Tama,) ua tumu i le alofa tunoa ma le mea moni. The Samoan or Navigators' Islands extend more than 200 miles from east to west, above and below the 14th degree of south latitude, and between 169 and 173 degrees west longitude. The largest of these islands, called Savaii, or Pola, is smaller than Tahiti, but much larger than Tongataboo. In 1840 the population of the entire group was said to be 150,000, but subsequent estimates reduce the number to little more than a third of this amount. The Samoan differs from other Polynesian dialects in habitually substituting I for r and p for b. The Feejee and Samoan are the only idioms of this stock in which the sibilant consonant is admitted. Class V.] SAMOAN. 389 The religious system of the Samoans previous to the introduction of Christianity, though equally gross, was less demoralising and cruel than that which obtained in the other islands of Polynesia. They worshipped beasts, birds, fish, and creeping things rather than idols of wood and stone, and were free from the domination of a powerful and crafty priesthood. The translation of the Scriptures into their language appears to have been undertaken in the first place by the Rev. John Williams, who afterwards met his death in the island of Erromango, while attempting to plant the Gospel among the fierce and sanguinary tribes of New Guinea. Other missionaries of the London Missionary Society assisted in this translation; and after the lamented decease of Mr. Williams, the version was continued and completed by them. The translation was drawn from the original texts, but with constant reference to the English, and frequent use of the Septuagint, Vulgate, Syriac, and other versions. Much assistance was also derived from the Tahitian and other Polynesian versions. The plan pursued in the prosecution of this work was to allot a separate book to each translator. On the completion of his particular portion, each translator availed himself of the criticism of the natives, and then submitted his production to the private examination of the other missionaries. After time had been afforded to propose the requisite emendations, all the missionaries met together, and conjointly effected such corrections in the translation as were deemed necessary. The work thus cautiously conducted was slowly brought to completion. An edition of 5000 copies of the Gospel of St. John appeared in 1842. This was followed in 1845 by an edition of 10,000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, translated by Mr. Macdonald; and during the same year by an edition of 10,000 copies of the Epistle to the Romans, translated by Mr. Heath. The Acts were translated by Mr. Hardie; and in 1846 the entire New Testament, including a revised translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, was completed at press. A revised copy of the New Testament was sent by the missionaries, in 1848, to England; and at their urgent request 15,000 copies were printed in London, by the British and Foreign Bible Society, under the supervision of the Rev. J. B. Stair, formerly missionary in these islands. This edition, immediately on its completion, was sent to its distant destination. The translation of the Old Testament has since been accomplished by the persevering labours of the missionaries, and the printing of the entire Scriptures in the Samoan language was completed in 1855. We derive from a recent Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society the following interesting particulars concerning this great work. Previous to the completion of the New Testament some progress had been made in the translation of the Old; and in 1848, an edition of 10,000 copies of the Book of Psalms was put through the press, bound, and circulated. In 1849, editions of 10,000 each, of the books of Genesis and Exodus, were printed ; and in 1850, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, were also printed in editions of 7,000 copies each. The Pentateuch was then bound in one volume. In 1853, editions of 5,000 each of the Books from Joshua to 2nd Samuel inclusive were printed; in 1854, the remaining Historical Books; and the whole were bound up in one volume, forming the second volume of the Historical Books. In the same year, editions of 3,500 each of the Books of Solomon, the Lamentations, and the Minor Prophets, were put through the press. In the course of 1855, the remaining portions of the work were finished, and the whole of both the Old and New Testaments had been printed. The plan adopted in translation has been to assign to individuals separate Books or portions for most careful translation. These portions have been further submitted to the criticisms of the other members of the Samoan Mission, and finally revised for the press by a committee of not less than five, including the translators; and then printed in every respect according to the decision of the committee. "In the Old Testament our translations have been made from the Hebrew Text sent out to us by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and executed agreeably to the rules of the Society. Our English authorized version has been constantly before us, and adhered to as nearly as possible. Constant reference has been made to the Septuagint and Vulgate, and the best use made of the various Polynesian translations. With reoard to the lexicography, criticism and renderings of the sacred text, we have availed ourselves 390 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. of the labours of Eosenmiiller, Gesenius, Lee, Ainsworth, Blayney, Henderson, Lowth, Dathe, Patrick, Good, etc. etc. " These translations and revisions (concludes the language of the Report) have cost the members of our Mission many years of patient thought and labour; and it is a cause of great and most devout thankfulness to God, that some of us, who commenced the work on the Samoan group, and have from the beginning taken a part in the translating of the sacred word into its language, have lived to be engaged in it to its completion. To the Great Head of the Church, who has enabled us to put this invaluable boon into the hands of the Samoan people, be all the praise." FEEJEEAN. SPECIMEN, EEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. O koya na Vosa sa bula e nai vakatekivu, a rau sa tiko kei na Kalou ko koya na Vosa, a Kalou ko koya na Vosa. 2 Sai koya oqo e rau sa tiko vata kei na Kalou mai nai vakatekivu. 3 Sa cakava na ka kecega ko koya : a sa sega e dua na ka sa cakavj, me sega ni cakava ko koya. 4 Sa tu vua na bula ; ia na rarama ni tamata na bula. 5 Sa cila mai na rarama e na butobuto ; a sa sega ni kunea na butobuto. 6 E dua na tamata sa tala mai vua na Kalou, yacana ko Joni. 7 koya oqo sa lako mai me dautukutuku, me tukuni koya ua Rarama, me ra vakabauta na tamata kecega e na vukuna. 8 Ia ka sa sega na Rarama dina ko koya, a sa talai mai me tukuna na Rarama ko ya. 9 Sai koya ga oqo na Rarama dina, sa lako mai ki vuravura ka vakararamataki ira na tamata kecega. 10 Sa tiko e vuravura ko koya, a sa cakavi vuravura, ia ka sega ni kilai koya na kai vuravura. u Sa lako mai ko koya vei ira na kai nona, ka sega ni vakabauti koya na kai nona. 12 Ia ko ira sa va kabauti koya, sa solia kecega vei ira me ra yaco rawa me ra luve ni Kalou, vei ira sa vakabauta na yacana. 13 E ra sa sega ni luvena e na vuku ni nodra qase, se na sucu vakayago, se na veitalia ni tamata, sa vakasucumi ira ga na Kalou. 14 A sa yaco me tamata na Vosa, ka tiko vata kei keda, (keitou a raica na nonai ukuuku, me vaka nai ukuuku ni gone e dua bau ga nei Tamana) sa sinai e na loloma ka dina sara. The Feejee or Figi group of islands lies between New Hebrides and the Friendly or Tonga Islands, being situated between 16 and 21 degrees south latitude, and between 177 east and 178 west longitude. It comprises 154 islands, of which 100 are inhabited, and the others occasionally frequented; the two largest islands are supposed to be each about 300 miles in circumference. The inhabitants number about 300,000: the relation which they bear to the rest of the Polynesian race is a problem of some difficulty to determine. In person they possess all the characteristics of the negrito race, but their language, instead of being, as was at one time supposed, a negrito dialect, is closely allied to the Polynesian stock. Although possessing certain peculiarities of its own, it is subject to the grammatical laws by which other Polynesian tongues are governed; and Humboldt has observed that Feejee agrees with the western dialects of Polynesia in many instances where the eastern and western idioms differ. It has a sibilant s, which other Polynesian dialects do not know; and like them it possesses a two-fold dual and plural for personal pronouns; with no inflections properly so called for either case, gender, or Class V.] FEEJEEAN. 391 number. In general activity of temperament the Feejeeans also resemble their Polynesian brethren; whereas, the true oceanic negroes are everywhere a sluggish and inert people. The moral state of the Feejeeans is awfully depraved. They are grossly addicted to cannibalism, and natural death is an accident in Feejee, the sick being usually strangled. They even, says Mr. Lawry, rub human flesh over the lips of their little children, and put a portion into the infant's mouth, that it may be nourished by its juice, and trained in the practice of cannibalism ! The Feejeean chiefs rule in the most arbitrary and despotic manner, inflicting instant death on all who offend or disoblige them. The religion of the Feejeeans, we are told, differs materially from that of the lighter-coloured Polynesian people. They believe in a plurality of deities, and offer human sacrifices as a preliminary to almost all their undertakings. They recognise a future state of existence; but this belief, guided by no just notions of moral obligation, is the source of many abhorrent practices, leading them to the immolation of their aged relatives, and to the murder of wives at the funeral of their husbands. The Feejee Islands are divided politically into numerous small states, and a distinct sub-dialect of the general language is spoken in each. The principal dialect is that of Bau, and a translation of the New Testament was made into this idiom by the late Rev. J. Hunt, in concert with other Wesleyan missionaries. The work was completed in an edition of 1000 copies in 1849. The expenses attending it were borne by the Wesleyan Society, who alone have missionaries in these islands ; and the value of the translation having been fully attested, some aid has been received from the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1854, the latter Society printed an edition of 5000 Feejee New Testaments, placing them at the disposal of the Wesleyan Society for distribution: subsequently, in 1858, an edition of 5000 Gospels was issued by the Bible Society and forwarded to Feejee for distribution, at the earnest request of the missionaries, whose supply of Scriptures had already become exhausted. Meanwhile, the missionaries employed in the Feejee Islands were diligently engaged in the translation of the Old Testament, which they completed in 1854. Upon the representation of the Wesleyan body, the British and Foreign Bible Society at once agreed to undertake the cost of printing the entire body of Feejeean Scriptures, and arrangements are now in progress for the execution of this great work, so soon as the manuscript shall have undergone the necessary revision. The Rev. Mr. Calvert, a Wesleyan missionary long resident in the Feejee Islands, has undertaken the task of superintendence, and it is intended, immediately on his return to England, to print an edition of 5000 Bibles and 10,000 Testaments. According to the late reports of the missionaries, we find that, in the face of much opposition, they meet with great encouragement, and that the impression begins to be very general among the natives that Christianity is true. " The very devoted and spotless life of Varani, one of the native converts (says Mr. Lawry), has done much to soften prejudice, and to cast lustre on the Christian character. His friend and companion in arms, Thakombau, king of Feejee, was very bitter and earnest against the Gospel, until he saw the true power of piety in this ' living epistle.' He now says that Christianity is true, and that his people shall embrace it; but that there are some wars to be completed first!" In 1858 there were 17,649 native converts, and 36,561 day-scholars of both sexes, under the instruction of the missionaries. It is said of those who have embraced the Gospel, that they adorn it, and that a goodly number of them go everywhere preaching the Word. In the island of Lakemba in particular, two-thirds of the adult population are stated to have been members of the Christian Society, while about 800 children were under Christian instruction: the change (it is remarked) is so general that a heathen is a curiosity and a gazing-stock in the land. This, however, it should be remembered, is an exception to the general condition of the still barbarous and benighted inhabitants of the Feejee 392 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. ANEITEUM. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 Eris ika natimi is ahinag eri asuptecnaig upene nitai iji eigki inta idim imiisjis ninivaijec vaig akaija, 2 Is idivaig eris asaig ehelema a ; 'jju atimi iji yehki, eris ecetai ara um asuptecnaig intas upene, itu acen urn imihum pam an naopan ineig ; 3 Ekis lep ika ainyak, ak natimi alupas, Diofilus, ki lep asuptecnaig upene ehelum an nitasvitai, ekis idim ato upene nitai iji eigki asega ainyak itu acen um imihum pam an naopan ineig, 4 Mika an ato aiek ninivaijec vaig o u itai iji eigki, eris esege imi yeuc. 5 ^[ An naopan yehki is wat atimarid anpece Jutaia a Herot, is eteuc natimi ahlap is ethi, nidan Sakaraia, is mapoi Abaija aien : is mapoi Eron a ehgan, nidan Ilisabed. 6 Is atoh nedo urau arau an nuhup o Atua, erus apos upene intas alep asega o Ihova arau, im nedo o un. 7 Is ti inhal urau, is eti asvalav a Ilisabed, is ahinag mesese ira rau. 8 Is wat ago nedo o ilpu atimi ahlap aien an nuhup o Atua, is idivaig nedo ura, 9 Nauritai o un ineigki, is atnamud nita awa nipin upene aien anliin neom ahlap o Ihova, is idivaig nedo o ilpu atimi ahlap. 10 Eris amen ijo natimi is ahinag um alaigaheni is wat atnamud nita awa nipin upene aien. n Is ehcohos ehelen a nagelo o Ihova um aiji an nahaiji nefata uri nita awa nipin upene an matan. 12 Is wat ecet yin a Sakaraia is eucjucjucaij inliinmopon aien vai nimtitai yin o un. 13 Is tas a nagelo um ika ehelen, Jim imtitaig, ak Sakaraia : ehmun atahaijeg nalaigaheni unyum; etpu apos inhalav atamaig a ehgam Ilisabed, napu anvi nidan aiek par ika Joanes. 14 Etpu imiacitak inliinmopom aiek um cediaig: uhuit apos yin erupu imiacitak natimi inyi ahinag. Aneiteum is one of the languages belonging to the further Polynesian group, and is a branch of the Papuan tongue. The island of Aneiteum, in which it is vernacular, is the most southward of the New Hebrides, a chain of volcanic islands which stretch in the direction of north and south, through four hundred miles of ocean, between the parallels of 14° and 21° south latitude. All the islands of the New Hebrides chain are mountainous, and several of them contain active volcanoes. Their soil is in general exuberantly fertile. They abound in sandal-wood, in which an extensive traffic is carried on by the merchants of Sydney, for the supply of the Chinese market. The island of Aneiteum is the most frequently visited of the number. The other islands of the chain are Tana, Erromango, Vate (or Sandwich Island), Api, Malicolo, and Espiritu Santo, the last mentioned being superior to any of the others in magnitude. Aneiteum is thirty miles in circuit, and contains, according to a census taken by the missionaries, 3,800 inhabitants. The natives of the New Hebrides come under the designation of " Negrillos," used by ethnologists to distinguish them from the Feejeeans and other members of the Polynesian-Negro family. But though all the islanders of the New Hebrides group possess many features in common — amongst them the black skin, crisp hair, and the practice of cannibalism — yet there are striking points of difference, which closer investigation than they have hitherto received will probably develope more fully, between the inhabitants of different members of the archipelago. The men of Vate (or Sandwich Island) are little inferior in stature, strength, and intelligence to the Feejeans, while those of Erromango, Tana, and Aneiteum, although differing considerably from each other, appear to belong to a less robust and less advanced people. Class V.] ANEITEUM. 393 The efforts made to diffuse a knowledge of the revealed. Word, among the benighted, population of Aneiteum are of recent date, and are due to the Christian enterprise of the Eev. J. Inglis, and the Rev. J. Geddie, two missionaries of the Reformed. Presbyterian Church of Scotland, who have been stationed on the island since 1853. The first entire book of Scripture printed in Aneiteum was the Gospel of St. Mark, an edition of which (3,000 copies) was printed at Sydney in 1854, the expense being defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. A small primer, containing a few pages of Scripture extracts, was printed at the mission-press on the island during the following year. An edition of 4,000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, in the language of Aneiteum, has since (1857) been printed in London by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and forwarded to the island for distribution. The efforts of Mr. Inglis and his coadjutors have been attended with the happiest results. Of the total population of 3,800 (writes Mr. Inglis, in 1856), " 2,400 have renounced idolatry and placed themselves under Christian instruction. From 800 to 900 are reading the Gospel of St. Mark, having previously mastered a small primer and catechism. A few of the natives have committed to memory the whole of St. Mark's Gospel, and a greater number large portions of it. The number of natives admitted to church membership is about ninety. The effects of Scripture truth upon the minds of the natives are becoming daily more and more visible in the happy change of character and conduct which is taking place over the whole island. Native teachers from this island have also been located on the adjoining islands of Futuna and Tana. "The superstitions, abominations, and cruelties of heathenism — as idolatry, war, cannibalism, stran- gulation of widows, infanticide, feasting and lascivious dances — are either past or rapidly passing away; and the peace, purity, and happiness of Christianity are fast occupying their place. For a considerable time peace has been established, and a free intercourse opened up over the whole island — a state of things unknown within the memory of man. " The tone of moral feeling is fast rising among the Christian natives. Lying, stealing, quarrelling, conjugal infidelity, and other immoralities, are no longer looked upon as mere venial offences. The Ten Commandments are now recognised as the standard of right and wrong, and moral character is tested by that holy and unerring rule of action." Subsequently, we learn that both the translation and printing of other portions of Scripture into Aneiteum are in progress. The two remaining Gospels, the Acts, and some other detached portions (including the book of Jonah and part of Revelation) have been completed, and some progress made with the Book of Genesis. The mission-press on the island is at work upon these as rapidly as its limited capabilities will allow, and the mission, under God's blessing, is steadily advancing. A church has been formed at each of the two principal stations on the island. 394 POLYNESIAN OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. LI FIT AND NENGONE. SPECIMEN, FROM St. LUKE, Chap. i. v. 1 to 13. Wen' o re nodei no;ome xaranumu ha hna uane co aehngeni netitone o re nata no re nodei ace hna kedi podone hnei eije, 2 Se inome buije hna lae nata ni ehnije, ono buije ko re thu ule kacene ne ile ko re sihnamenenge no re enengoco Wene koda ri hna whane ; 3 Hnego hna uane, roi ke inu co xiwamomo netitone te du Bua, Retoke, Theofila, wen' o re hnego hna ule kacene o re nodei ace ileodene wene koda ri hna whane ; 4 Ha thu ule kacene roione ke Bua o re nodei enengoco hna ieno Bua. 5 Ri nodei rane ni Herode, doku ni si Juda, omelei ko se ngome thu hule, ielene Zakaria, ono re kote ne Abia; ono re hmenue ni nubone tei Arona, ono re ieleni nubone Elisabethe. 6 Ha netiti ke bushengone ri tadani Makaze; bushengone hna hue netitone ri nodei wathebo ne ile ko re lata ni Iehova. 7 Ka deko tei bushengone, wen' o re ha hneroi kei Elisabethe, ha rue eteshete ke bushengone. 8 Be ci ruacone ke nubone o re hna ethau pa jeu' o re ngome thu hule, ono re etha ne nubone ri tadani Makaze, 9 Se inome o re lata no re hna ethau pa jeu' o re ngome thu hule, ono re pani nubone co reule o re sereie me bone buruia be ci okonelo ke nubone ri hneruala ni Iehova. 10 Ono re nodei ngome xaranumu ileodone ci hne ko obote ri gula rane co reule o re sereie me bone buruia. n Ile me ahngabote du nubone ko se angela ni Iehova, nubone ci sere ri gula nata no re atarau bane reule o re sereie me bone buruia. 12 Ka Zakaria ci ule, ile nubone me tijabote, ile me pina ko re pareu du nubone. 13 Kei il' o re angela ci ie du nubone, Zakaria, hage pareu ; ha hna taedengi ko re ci hne nubo, ka ono Elisabethe, hmenue ni nubo co hnapone o re tei nubo, ka nubo co atoe o re ieleni nubone Ioane. Lifu and Nengone" are the languages spoken in two of the islands of the Loyalty group — situate to the westward of the New Hebrides, and about forty-five miles east of the large island of New Caledonia, now a French colony. The Loyalty Islands, three in number, consist of Uea, Lifu, and Mare (or Nengone^, together with some small adjacent islets. They were comparatively little known until the visit of Captain Erskine, in Her Majesty's ship " Havannah," in 1849. The inhabitants are of the black, or Polynesian- Negro race, but with a strong infusion of the true Polynesian blood and language. The population is not numerous, the island being in a great measure barren, and only scantily supplied with fresh water. Numerous trading- vessels from Australia, however, visit them annually, for the sake of the sandal-wood which is so abundant throughout this portion of the vast Polynesian region. A mission was commenced on the island of Mare in 1854, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society. This island is stated to contain not less than 8,000 inhabitants, a third part of whom have since embraced the truths of the Gospel. The missionaries, the Revs. S. M. Creagh and J. Jones, devoted themselves assiduously to the task of translating portions of the Scriptures into the native languages of Lifu and Mare (Nengone), and have printed these, together with the Ten Com- mandments, a hymn-book, and a school-book containing an outline of early Scripture History, at the mission-press established in Mare. The Gospel of St. Mark, in the Nengone tongue, with the first five chapters of St. John's Gospel, were among the first fruits of their labours, and were gladly wel- comed by the Mare population, who eagerly engaged in the perusal of the Word of Life. The Gospel Class V.] AUSTRALIAN. 395 of St. Luke has since passed through the press, the good work having heen aided by a supply of paper granted by the British and Foreign Bible Society. " The language of Nengone (remarks Mr. Creagh) is by no means easy, as appears to be the case more or less with most of the dialects of Western Polynesia. A knowledge of the Eastern dialects appears to be no help whatever to the attaining of these, except at first by communicating with the native teachers from the Eastern groups. The pro- nunciation is very much more harsh, consonants are more abundant, and double consonants, nasals and gutturals — unknown in the Eastern dialects — are more or less abundant than in those of the Western ; consequently we find the native teachers a long time before they can master the language, and indeed they can never pronounce it, but by long practice they become accustomed to its peculiarities, and the natives to their brogue, and hence they are generally intelligible." AUSTRALIAN. Australia, a vast region which nearly equals Europe in extent, and which is now rapidly becoming peopled by British colonists, is the native home of a thinly-scattered race of Oceanic negroes, who in some of their peculiarities approach the true African type, and in others as widely recede from it. The Australian negroes possess lank instead of woolly hair, and are weak and puny as compared with the African negro : physically considered, they appear to rank among the lowest of the human species. This singular race, besides possessing the interior of several of the islands above described, inhabit the insular region of which Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides form the eastern, and Papua or New Guinea the northern, margin. The principal groups of islands in which this people is predominant are New Britain, New Ireland, Louisiade, the Pelew, and the Marianne or Ladrone Islands. Whether the languages spoken by the negro population of these islands have any connection with those spoken by the negroes of Australia remains yet to be proved, but no resemblance has hitherto been traced. It has been clearly ascertained, however, that although the several tribes of Australia have each a distinct language, yet these languages, differing as they do in vocables, are all subject to the same laws of construction, and may therefore be regarded as members of one family. Further analysis has led to the discovery of some curious analogies subsisting between the Tamul and other languages of the Deccan and the languages of Australia. Similar grammatical principles appear to be inherent in both these groups, and some of their personal pronouns seem to have been derived from one and the same source. The Australian languages have evidently no affinity with the Polynesian, being remarkable for the variety and complexity of their grammatical forms; whereas, simplicity is the prominent characteristic of all the Polynesian dialects. The Australian dialect of the neighbourhood of Adelaide has not only a dual and plural, but regular inflexions to mark the cases in declension. It has no double dual and plural of pronouns like the Polynesian languages; and is by no means simple in the forms of conjuga- tion. It is a remarkable fact that, although living geographically speaking so near the Pacific islanders, they have in common with them neither language, race, nor customs. Their origin is altogether distinct. The Australian also differs from the Polynesian in the form and composition of words, the former employing many consonants, and the latter abounding in vocalic sounds. Concerning the number of aborigines in Australia, nothing like an accurate calculation has been formed, nor is it possible, in our present ignorance of immense tracts of the interior, a large portion of which is yet wholly unexplored, to form any trustworthy estimate on the subject. Major Mitchell, who 396 POLYNESIAN, OR MALAYAN LANGUAGES. [Class V. had explored a seventh part of the Australian continent, observed that the regions through which he passed were very thinly peopled; and he considered that the total number of inhabitants could not exceed, and probably might be considerably under, 6,000. The tribes comprise but few individuals — often not more than forty or fifty in number, and rarely exceeding a hundred; and they are widely dispersed over large tracts of country. The gradual decrease of the native population has long been noticed. As long since as 1832, Mr. Handt, of the Church Missionary Society, wrote, " The aborigines are very fast wearing away wherever the whites get a footing. This arises from the consequences of those vices into which the Europeans initiate them. Satan has sent his messengers first, and they have been very active: I doubt whether the ministers of Christ will be as indefatigable." The process of decay has since, it is to be feared, advanced with accelerated speed. Several attempts have been made to translate the Scriptures into the languages of Australia, but hitherto only detached portions have been completed. On one occasion, when a chapter translated by the Church missionaries into the language of the tribe among whom they laboured was read publicly, the natives of their own accord approached the reader, and when he had finished, one of them almost in an ecstacy jumped up and exclaimed, "Book for blackfellows ! Book for black fello ws !" Similar instances from time to time have occurred, showing that labour is not in vain in the Lord; yet the deep moral degradation of the natives is a formidable impediment to missionary efforts. The debased state of their intellectual and moral faculties has been ascribed to a politico-religious system, which, though purely oral, pervades the whole of Australia. The origin of this artfully-contrived system is wholly unknown. It consists, says Sir George Grey, of " complex laws which not only deprive the Austral of all free agency of thought, but, at the same time, by allowing no scope whatever for the development of any great moral qualification, necessarily bind him down to a hopeless state of barbarism, from which it is impossible for him to emerge; while those laws are so ingeniously devised as to have a direct tendency to annihilate any effort to overthrow them." The Rev. Mr. Threlkeld has translated the Gospel of St. Luke into the Lake Macquarie dialect; but although his grammar of that dialect evinces some acquaintance with the idiom, no opportunities have yet occurred to test the critical merit of his version. CLASS VL-AFBICAN LANGUAGES, COPTIC SPECIMEN, EEOM" ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14 l^eij 'hApxH we ncAxs ne oroe nicAxi nAqxH h>ATen t oroe ne otkiot+ ne mcAXi. 2 4>ai euAqxH icxen ?h JjAxen cj>+. 3 etuBniBen A-nytorn eBOAeiTorq oroe ATcrworq une?Ai ^yconi ijen cJ)HeTAqyujni. 4 ne nconl^ me e'renj^HTq oro? nu)Mj) ne orcoini nnipjoui ne. 5 oro? nioritnni Aqeporujini fjen rixaki oto? unenixAKi iyTAeoq. 6 Aq^jcuni nse orpmui eATOTopnq eBOAeiTen a morioini eiwA n*re oronniBen kia^ esoAerroTq. 8 ne naoq am ne nioTtnini aaaa ?inA nTeqepueope k>a niorcoini. 9 nAqjyon hxe niorioini mtac^uhi c|)H6TepoTioini eptom niBen bgmhot eniKocuoc. in v V nAqxH l^en niKocuoc ne oro? niKocuoG Aq^yuuni eBOAerrcrrq oroe uneniKOcuoc cortonq. " Aq} ?a neTenorq oroe ne-renorq unoriyonq epojoT. 12 nn Ae erwrjyonq epujor Aq+ ep^n^yi ntoor eep jynpi rinor+ nneonAet eneqpAn. 13 nn e*re eBOAi,en cnoq An ne otag eBOAfjen otio^j ncAp£ An ne otag eBOAi^en cj)ortoiy npu>ui An ne AAAA 6TATUAGOT 6BOAJh,6n t. W OTO? niCASI Aqep OTCAp|r OT()2 Aq^COni klJ^pHI nhjHTen oto? AnnAT eneqooov uc^pHt unuoor nor^Hpi uu• o15^ g tf-- o o>- * c . ^b! ^sojj* * Jbji\ yb] jkti\ ^JekbLil ^mxj^=>\ ^Ull t_jjL^>- JL>\ ^bl j-AJjl ^^c* OO^O^- G ,-■ G *-.? 3 b &«/ O^O^ GG^G.^G-'G.-,*'^ C^C^-i.^Cio^-O^^^'OxO^-O/' -& ^ G ^-O ^- G.*- G G^- .'3^ L.s'Os' G .*W "«> -^ CPt,*'? G ^O^ G s-L,^*.." ^ £ •O^ G G^-^ G • G ^ G ^- s ? O "S ^- 3» ^•z' G -'G-' G ^-O ^ ^G^- G ^G -- •& -' ^ Cw G ,£ s s- s' « ^ cCj^- G ^ G ^ G --v .. "5 ^ o>- O'S^' jjjbj J^X* ^1 t-^*-&1 yl ^jJ^L-^S^ j^j +Xs^i\ Ji^ * *^> ^u! la^JckUUj! |^^ ^«* - G x-O^- 'Gss-s' O w o g ,- g ^^ g » g^ o^ ^bJ Jjc* j^yl ^y^ _J^ ^AsXuJjl ^S\ Jstid *s:Xkvu\ Jj^ ' * c;: >< S yl_UU \ ^M ^jf^l jJu! O s~ S L.S- G *> ^ G ^O^ G x-O ^- ^O^ G- L> *>■ s- ^>* G,->* G "tfi ^- O^ C^O ^ g3 ,- '6>>'><' >- G •■ G ^G.*- w'S-^ o^ ^j jjj\ ^bl u ^l <_ i^ji'J yl 3aJ_j *«J^ < — s*i^ ^Lo Jiyul Jju Jj3^» " * u" 6 ^-) tl^^== ,, J^'^ l;ir Li J l u bJ ^sill |«j^^ ,jU t_jJl (j-^ J^l i Jus ^Lu ^U y\ ^jj^uib' ^ uM^JLt^ ' O^ • «, ,<• •- -*C ^-^ ^-^- "& S S mm -' • .•Ox »• • • "3* .*» «.>• ijs s-s jL^\ U_Ai£U: 0U^« f^/^ £— ^ ^ : •■£ J*tf» ,*■ XG » sS S xL.." X x -- XXX ^» X « X X^ X ?^ -S^ ^^uaj jJLi aj^l .\ (•j^IjI J jb^ ***^*\! \sfTd ^ j^^ ffa-S;^ S-i; £^ u^ \j!^* fUJo O X ^ -& ss^s s-s s- # s <& s' XX C^ ^ C/XX X 3 -*• ^ O G ^ ^ (j^j j-M : ^^-aIIj^jI i—a^l jj^JJl (j-jj-j j^. ' ♦'• Uj* ^ J^?s~^ *Xjjls^ r ; IjJj &}! .*. ^JOl LuyJ! >S\ ytiji] ^Ji l-jj jjxJ\ %j»*i A-yj i*^i\ .*. i^-J^j ^ Uji (^ U£j ^.ill Jj! Ulj ^y^ {J JA\ .'• e-^J ^_u>5^ J^LaII UjL £jt* ^JU>]1 : Ijjo! u_ 5^1 : (,/-V.^^ f >*V. c:: - rt i;Wc ' 5 ■"• *V.«^^J' ^^-^1 Ghadamsi is a sub-dialect of Tuarick, the language of one of the great nations into which the Berber race is divided. Tuarick is the predominant language of the western part of the Sahara, and Ghadamsi is spoken in Ghadamis, an oasis situated at about ten days' journey south-west from Tripoli, in lat. 30° 10' N., and long. 9° 19' E. The number of inhabitants in Ghadamis has been computed at from six to seven thousand. The importance of this oasis, in a geographical and commercial point of view, arises from the four grand roads which diverge from it into the interior of Africa. One of these roads leads direct through the Great Desert to Timbuctoo, where some of the people of Ghadamis are settled. A translation of the third chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was a few years since made at Ghadamis, under the direction of the late James Richardson, Esq., by a native named Taleb Ben Mousa Ben El-Kasem. A short vocabulary of the language was added by the Taleb, but, unhappily, he got tired of his work before its completion. In fact, Mr. Richardson remarks, "the extraordinary impatience with which these people do anything of this kind for Christians almost exceeds belief." The MS. was sent from the desert to the British and Foreign Bible Society; it was transcribed by Professor Newman, of University College, who also appended a Latin translation; and a small edition, intended chiefly as a specimen of the language, has been published by order of the Foreign Office. 406 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. MANDINGO. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. A kaffo balu dye, atata konko santo ; asita tumamenna, ala talibolu nata akang. 2 A y ada yelle, a wolu nindi, ako ; 3 Menolu-nio be dobaring, ybarakata ; katuko itolu ta mu Aryena-mansaroti. 4 Frigimolu barakata, katuko ysi fonio sotto. 6 Sabbatemolu barakata, katuko ysi dunya keo. 6 Menolu konkota ning mindota ybe lafiring kekuyala, ybarakata, katuko ysi wolu fandi. 7 Menolu-juso be seniaring ybarakata ; katuko ysi Alia dye. 8 Hinamolu barakata, katuko ysi hino sotto. 9 Barriadingolu barakata ; katuko itolu to mu Alla-dingoluti. 10 Ybarakata molu ye menu batandi keyuya kamma, katuko itolu ta mu Aryena-mansaroti. n Altolu barakata, ning molu y altolu jelle ning batandi, ni ye kumo jau bey fo altolu kang faniarinto ntela kamma. 12 Wotumo alsi jusula, alsi jusulaba, katuko altolula joro warata Aryenato ; katuko ye kilalu batandi wonyama menolu folota altoluti. Mandingo (or Mandenga), the most important language of modern Negroland, is predominant in many powerful states on both sides of the Gambia. On the east it is conterminous with the Haussa and Yariba languages, and on the north it prevails as far as the border of the Great Desert. It is also supposed to extend far into the interior of the continent, and is spoken in Bambouk, and in the late empire of Bambara. It is not possible to estimate the number of individuals to whom this language is vernacular, for much of the Mandingo territory is scarcely known to Europeans; and owing to the enterprising and commercial character of the race, Mandingoes are to be found in great numbers, located as traders, in regions far distant from their native states. They are to be met with at Sierra Leone, at Cape Mesurado, at most of the places of commerce along the coast, and in the interior as far as the head- quarters of the Niger; so that there are several dialects of the Mandingo. Some connection is supposed to exist between the Mandingo and Foulah tribes, but too little is known of the language of the latter to admit of a close comparison being instituted between it and the Mandingo. Both Mandingoes and Foulahs are as superior in civilisation and intelligence to the other tribes of intertropical Asia, as were the Aztecs and Peruvians to the various tribes of the New World; and in point of physical conformation, they form an intermediate class between the negro and the Asiatic type. The Mandingo language has only two numbers, singular and plural. The plural is formed by adding lu to the singular, the last vowel of which is changed into o, if it does not end in that vowel. Thus: — mausa, a king; mausolu, kings; muso, a woman; musolu, women. There is no distinction of genders; and no cases of declension, properly so called; the inflection of nouns being made by particles or pronouns, in the simple and primitive way we find in languages little cultivated. Thus ala, his, is made the sign of the genitive, as it was in English: thus mausa ala kumo, the king his word; is con- tracted into mausala kumo, the king's word, etc. As the Mandingoes have a very imperfect notion of time, the conjugation of their verbs, managed by pronouns and other particles, is nevertheless far from correctly defined. Thus the present does for the past, or rather both tenses are involved in one common aorist, etc. This language is soft, sonorous, rich in vowels, and entirely of African stamp. The Mandingoes are all Mohammedans, and generally pretend to some acquaintance with Arabic, the sacred language of their religion. Many Arabic words have been engrafted on the Mandingo language, while numerous terms, especially those relating to commerce, have been borrowed from various European languages. Copiousness, easy enunciation, and comparative freedom from nasal and Class VI.] J ALL OOF. 407 guttural sounds, are said to be the characteristics of Mandingo : its nouns for the most part end in the vowel o; this termination often conveys an emphatic signification, and is sometimes equivalent in meaning to the definite article. The Eev. Mr. Macbrair, a Wesleyan missionary, was the first to undertake the translation of the Scriptures into this widely-extended language. His version of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed in London under his own superintendence in 1838, by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The edition, which consisted of 500 copies, was placed at the disposal of the Wesleyan Missionary Society: no definite accounts have been transmitted concerning the results of the distribu- tion among the natives. Copies of the Arabic version of the Scriptures have been distributed among the Mohammedan Mandingoes who visit the west coasts of the African continent for purposes of commerce. J ALL OOF. The Jalloof, or, as it is variously written, the Woloff, Guiloff, or Ouoloff language, is spoken from the Atlantic to Podor, along the south bank of the Senegal from west to east, and from the mouth of that river southward to Cape Verde. In the immediate neighbourhood of Cape Verde it surrounds, and probably isolates, a small tract of country in which the Sereres language is vernacular. The Jalloof also prevails southward of Cape Verde, as far as the regions on the Gambia, in which Mandingo is predominant. The Jalloofs are black, but their features are cast more in the Asiatic than in the African mould. They are active and enterprising, like the Mandingoes, and in point of civilisation are superior to most of the tribes of Guinea. Some among them are Moslems, the rest are Pagans. Their language has been considered a branch of the Mandingo family, but it has in fact very few words in common with it; whereas the dialect of Bambara presents a decided affinity with the Mandingo. It is copious, and very expressive, but is now so much mixed with French and Arabic words, in colloquial intercourse with Moorish and European traders, that half of the language, according to Mr. Macbrair, is lost in these foreign additions. But the language itself, in its own purity, as it is spoken in the interior, is free from any great admixture of foreign idioms. The Woloff, or Jalloof, is an extremely soft and sonorous language; simple in construction, and easy to be acquired. Yet at the same time it presents features of combination Avhich one is surprised to find in an idiom spoken by tribes apparently so little civilised. They have two numbers; pronouns in which one may trace the analogy of the Coptic or Shemitic ones; and the conjugation of their verbs, in which there are no participles, is made, like that of most African languages, by means of particles affixed and of pronouns prefixed to the root. But this root is capable of a great variety of meaning, according to the suffix it receives. Thus, sopa, to love, becomes sope, to love tenderly; sopante, to love one another; sopou, to love oneself; soplo, to cause to love; sopi, to be about to love; sopati, to love again; sopadi, to love but little; sopou, not to love; sopatou, to love no more, etc. This combination is found of course in other languages, but in a less degree than in Woloff. The Jalloof language, as Mungo Park remarked, has long been studied by Europeans engaged in the Senegal trade. The honour of reducing it to writing was reserved for a Quaker lady. A grammar and dictionary were afterwards published by Mr. Dard, a Frenchman at the head of schools in Sene- gambia. Hannah Kilham, who belonged to a Quaker family of Leeds, devoted her time and energies to the instruction and moral elevation of the Jalloof and other negro tribes, and at length sacrificed her 408 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. life in the cause. She compiled a book of reading lessons in Jalloof, among which were introduced some passages from the Scriptures translated by herself. The work, which was printed towards the close of the last century, was found to be perfectly intelligible to the Jalloofs. Dongo Karry, a young Mohammedan native, on hearing a few sentences read, exclaimed, " Ah ! that is Jalloof;" and imme- diately gave the signification of what he had heard in English, with which he was tolerably conversant. Afterwards, when some passages of Scripture were read to him from the same book, he cried out with emphasis, " Great and good! Great and good!" It is to be hoped that the commencement made by Hannah Kilham, in preparing a translation of the Scriptures for this people, will be followed by the preparation of a complete version : at present the Jalloofs possess no entire portion of the sacred volume in their own language. ... S U S O 0, SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. Awa a to moechee qwbeqwbe toh, a teh gea ma : a nacha to nu fa dochache, acha batulae fa a chong : 2 A nacha a de rabi, a nacha e tinkga, a nacha falla, 3 Marafangji na moechee be nachang niniche e boniae ma : katukung arriana-mankgania na e be. 4 Marafangji na e be nachang monnama : katukung e fama malenglengde. 5 Marafangji na moechee loachame be : katukung e dunia niachungji kulungma. G Marafangji na e be, kame ning yeh choli nachang zuchuma fangnia kira ra : katukung e fama rafehde. 7 Marafangji na moechee be, niamaniuchung na nachang be : katukung e tina niamania- chungji zotoma. 8 Marafangji na boniae-fiche-moechee be : katukung e Allah tohma. 9 Marafangji na e be nachang chari-zahma : katukung e chillima Allah cha die ra. 10 Marafangji na e be, moechee nachang torama fangnia qwbe fe ra : katukung arriana mankgania na e be. ,n Marafangji na wo be, cha moechee wo mayelema, ning cha e wo ramochoma, ning cha e fee niache ki hiring fallama wo chungma dundidundi, ng qwbe fe ra. 12 Niachaniacha, ning wo boniae docha qwbeqwbe ra : katukung wo bunia qwbe razuchuma arriana e : katukung e duree ramocho na ki ne, nachang nu na. wo niara. The Susoo language is spoken on the coast of Senegambia, between the Rio Nunez and the Kissi ; and it may be said to follow the course of the river Scarcies to Timbo, and thence to Kakundy. It agrees with Mandingo in euphonic principles, and especially in the collocation of words. Thus, the adjective, in Susoo as in Mandingo, must follow the noun, the adverb must stand after the verb, and the postposition after the noun; the direct object must be placed before, and all indirect objects after the verb, and the same place in a sentence must be assigned to the relative as that which is usually occupied by the demonstrative pronouns. There is no article in Susoo, and no declension of nouns properly so called; gender is expressed by the addition of words equivalent to man and woman, as in most other African languages, and the plural is denoted by the letter i; e.g., shi signifies a goat, and shit, goats; so, rhame, a man, rhamei, men. In 1797 an attempt was made by the Edinburgh Missionary Society to introduce the Scriptures among the Susoos; but their missionary, the Rev. H. Brunton, after enduring great sickness and privation, was compelled to leave the country without effecting a translation of any portion of the Class VI.] BULLOM. 409 sacred volume into this language. After his return to Scotland, he compiled a Susoo grammar, and several elementary works, which have proved useful to other missionaries. The first seven chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, translated into Susoo by Mr. Wilhelm, have been printed by the Church Missionary Society; and the entire Gospel of St. Matthew, with some other parts of the Scriptures, have been prepared by the agents of that Society, but are not printed. A translation of the Orders for Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Litany, into the Susoo language, was printed in London, in 1858, at the expense of the Christian Knowledge Society. This translation is the work of the Rev. Mr. Duport, a West Indian negro, resident at the mission station of Fallangia, in the Susoo country. Mr. Duport has since translated into Susoo the Catechism and other portions of the Church services, and these versions are in constant use at the mission. BULLOM. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. Yeh u ka keh runiah bomu tre, u kon ko kick atook nu chall ka, ahdisciple ah tre ngha hundy ko ko woa : 2 Jesus yeery nyengh woa nu menghe ngha, nghaleh, 3 Rubah ke nghana cheh moneh ke ugbolleh yeo : upock u foy tre ngho ngha be. 4 Rubah ke nghana tranghellin : peh hun ngha be'el p'eah. 5 Rubah ke aniah mboss : upock u tre ngho ngha be. G Rubah ke aniah tre nghana nrick ma ngha re, nu ugboll ngha seckle eh re halle dyah keleng tre ; peh hun ngha kah yempy dyo, ngha pum. 7 Rubah ke aniah tre nghana cheh bongha nkeleng : peh ngha hun marr. 8 Rubah ke aniah tre nghana be ugboll u tinkle yeo : ngha hun lehly Foy. 9 Rubah ke ahpom ah tre, peh veal ngha ahpomah Foy. 10 Rubah ke aniah tre, lo ngha nghah dyah keleng yeo, nu peh ka nghah dyah bang ko ko ngha : nghana be upock u foy tre. u Rubah ke moa, lo aniah tre ngha moa nghah punk, lo ngha toh moa, lo ngha moa kah ilille bang nsele halle halle me. 12 Nhvoy, nchang ah hvoy: moa be packah bomu ke foy: ke manleh peh ka toh ahprophet ah tre nghana cheh leh moa eboll. *8' Bullom, a dialect of the Mandingo language, is spoken around and at the back of Sierra Leone: it prevails in a tract lying between the rivers Scarcies and Timbo, the Kong Mountains, and the Cape Mount River. The Bulloms, like the Susoos, form a part of the Mandingo race already described. A translation of the Gospel according to St. Matthew was made into their language by the Kev. G. R. Nyliinder, of the Church Missionary Society, and an edition was printed by that Society in 1815. No further attempts appear to have been made to furnish the Bulloms with the Scriptures in their own tongue. The Bullom language is neither so soft nor so sonorous as the WolofT or the Mandingo; it has also more nasal or guttural sounds than either of those idioms. Like them, it has two numbers, singular and plural. The latter is formed by prefixing ah, e, 'v, s, and te, to the singular. Thus: lakan, a woman, plural ah lakan, women; bell, a nut, ebell, nuts, etc. There are no cases, properly so called; but relation is expressed by ha, ko, halle; e. g. pokan, a man, ah pokan, men, ha ah pokan, of men, halle or ko ah pokan, to men, etc. The pronouns bear little affinity to the Eastern African, or to the Coptic class. The verbs are for the most part roots of one or two syllables; and they all begin with 410 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. consonants. Active verbs are formed by ah, eh, or oh ; e. g. balle veal ah, to call : neuters are made causal by adding e to the verb, e.g. balle bin, to lie down; balle bine, to cause to lie down, etc.; and they are made negative by adding ehn to verbs ending in consonants; as balle bin, to lie down; balle binehn, not laid down, etc. There is no inflexion to verbs for singular and plural. They are both alike. SHEHBRO-BULLOM. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE'S GOSPEL, Chap. x. v. 30 to 37. 30 Noh-pokan bul ka thowl hink Yerusalem ko Yerieho, ni woa ka duck ahying ahlui, wonno woa buss woa cotta woa re, ni ngha keth woa, ni ngha kony, ni leh woa tuhn ha wu. 31 Dya-gbuttul, moinoh bul ka hun nai landeh, ni yeh woa ka keh woan, woa chang lill ha re ahtuck. 32 Ni yimbul Livinoh, yeh woa ka che ahyina landeh, ni lehly woa ahtuck, woa chang lill ha re ahtuck. 33 Kerh Samaritanoh bul, keryeh woa ka che gbeih, ka hun ko lo, woa ka che, ni yeh woa ko keh woa, woa ka bi nlap woan. u Ni ka ko ko woa, ni ka rammel pah woa re, ni ka pirry ahyi unqueih ni moi, ni peh woa kabaloh woa re ahtuck, ni woa ka chi woa kill ahyi ni beck-woa-ntihn. 35 Ni shoh yeh woa chang, woa quih ticoppo titing, ni ka kah nghan ko Bah kill re, ni woa ka hoh ko woan, nbeck-woa- ntihn ni bulehng hum pagah chang ngho, yeh yah muny hun, yah bo pagah moa. 36 Ahniah rah ro, ntehnienny ladeh hum woa bo che tembah ko woan, wonno woa duckoh ahying ahluiah re ? 37 Ni moinoh sabba re woa hoh : wonno woa ka tunky nlap ko woa, ni Yesus woa ka hoh ko woa : nko ki ngha ken woa ka ngha. The territory of the Sherbro-Bulloms comprises about 5000 square miles, with a line of sea-coast about 120 miles in length, situated between the south bank of the Camaranca River, in lat. 7° 54' N., and the border of Gallinas district, in lat. 7° N. This fertile region was voluntarily ceded to the British in 1825. The Sherbro-Bullom dialect is also spoken in the Bananas, a group of very small islands, now a dependency of Sierra Leone, situated off the south-western extremity of the Sierra Leone peninsula, and between four and five miles distant from the town of Kent. The Bullom and the Sherbro, in all probability, originally formed one language; but so many foreign words and idioms have been introduced in each, that there are now essential differences between them ; and it is said that few Bulloms can understand Sherbro. In the early part of the present century, the book of Genesis, Newton's Hymns, and the Liturgy of the Church of England, were translated into Sherbro by Mr. George Caulker, a native, and formerly headman of the Bananas. Mr. Schb'n, of the Church Missionary Society, has since re-trans- lated part of Genesis, and likewise prepared a translation of part of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. He had the satisfaction of finding that his translations were perfectly intelligible to the people; and therefore, during his visit to England in 1839, he caused part of his work to be printed, which he took back to Africa with a view to further correction. Although so small a portion of the Scriptures has been printed in Sherbro, it would seem that the version, incomplete as it is, has been owned and blessed of God; for the missionaries state, that " no village or town in the whole colony is so free from superstitious practices as are the Banana islands." Class VI.] YARRIBA. 411 YARRIBA, OR YORUBA. SPECIMEN, FEOM ROMANS, Chap. in. v. 19 to 31. 19 Nisisiyi awa mo pe ohunkohun ti ofin wi, o wi fu awon ti owa li abbe ofin ; ki gbogbo ennu ki ole ipamo, ati ki gbogbo araiye ki ole idi elese niwaju Olorun M Nitori na nipa ise ti ofin, kb si enniti aoda li are niwaju r& : nitori nipa ofin ni imo ese gbe wa. 21 Sugbon nisisiyi ododo Olorun han lehin ofin, ti anje li eri nipa ofin ati nipa awon woli : 22 Ododo Olorun na nipa igbagbo ti Jesusi Kristi si gbogbo enia ati lara gbogbo awon ti 9 gbagbo : nitori ti kb si iyatto : 23 Gbogbo wa li asa ti se, awa si di abukun si ogo Olorun. M Enniti anda li are nipa ore ofe r& nipa idande ti owa lara Kristi Jesusi : 25 Enniti Olorun ti yan telle se etutu nipa igbagbo ni ti ejje r£, lati fi ododo rb han nipa ti idariji ese ti o ti koja nino ipamora Olorun ; 26 Lati fi ododo rh, han nigba isisiyi : ki ole ise alare, ati oludare enniti 9 gba Jesusi gbo. 27 Nibo ni iyin ha gbe wa ? ati mu u kuro. Nipa ofin wo ? ni ti ise ? Onko : sugbon nipa ofin igbagb9. 28 Nitori na awa pari rh si pe nipa igbagbo li anda enia li are lehin ise ofin. 29 Olorun aw9n Jew nikansoso ha ni? ki ise ti aw9n Kef eri pellu ? beheni, ise ti awon Keferi pellu : 30 Nje ari i pe Olorun kan ni ti yi odare fu awon akola nipa igbagbo, ati fu awon alaikola nitori igbagbo 31 Awa nha nso ofin di assan nipa igbagbo bi ? Ki ama ri i : sugb9n, awa nfi idi ofin kalle. The Yoruba country lies on the right or west bank of the Niger, from Iddah to Yaouri. The district in which the language is predominant is bounded north by the Nun and the Haussa country, east by Warree and Benin, and west by Dahomey. The dialects spoken on the coast are called Yebu, while those in the interior are variously styled Eyo, Inongo, and Yoruba, but they are all local varieties of one language. The Yoruba tribes possess the characteristics, physical and intellectual, of the negro race. Some among them are Pagans, and others Mohammedans; but they are all, like other negro nations, distinguished by their veneration for charms and amulets, which they fancy can avert sickness and affliction. Their government is carried on by means of a superstition called Oro, the secrets of which are confined to the male sex. Any person who reveals these secrets is punished with death, and the same punishment is inflicted on any woman who may become acquainted with them. Polygamy, as in other negro states, prevails to a great extent, and some of the chieftains have been known to possess two thousand wives. The king of the country informed Clapperton that he did not know how many wives and children he had, but he was sure that his wives alone, hand to hand, would reach from Katunga, the capital, to Jannah, a distance of considerably more than one hundred miles. The Yoruba language, in grammar and general structure, resembles the Mandingo and Haussa languages. The inflectional elements, however, possess no trace of similarity to those of either lan- guage, although founded on the same principles. The Yarriba accents and intonation are not readily acquired by foreigners. A translation of portions of the New Testament into the Yoruba language was first effected a few years since, by the Rev. Samuel Crowther, a native of the country, and a re-captured negro-slave, subsequently ordained as a minister of the Church of England. An edition of 500 copies of the Epistle to the Romans was printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1850. The 412 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. gratifying manner in which this version of a part of the inspired Word was welcomed by the native population led the same Society to print, in the following year, further portions of the Yoruba Scrip- tures, consisting of 500 copies each of St. Luke's Gospel, the Acts, and the Epistles of St. James and St. Peter. These were at once forwarded to their destination, and experienced a like favourable reception. " The word of God (writes one of the missionaries in 1852) is most eagerly received and read at Abbeokouta, and wherever there is one able to read, many have been blessed by the same." Later testimony is to the same purport. The Eev. H. Townshend, of Abbeokouta, in thanking the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society for copies of the portions of Scripture translated into the Yoruba language, adds, — "A large portion of them are already in the hands of natives of both sexes, who read, and, I am thankful to say, understand what they read therein." Further portions of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, have since been translated into Yoruba by Mr. Crowther, and have been printed, as fast as completed, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The demand for the Word of God has, indeed, been so great as to render necessary later editions of the portions first translated into Yoruba, which have been accordingly revised for the purpose. The books of Genesis and Exodus, together with other portions of the Old Testament, including the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, have passed through the press. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John have also been translated into Yoruba by the Eev. T. King, a native Christian minister, and an edition of each has been printed — the latter in 1857. The Gospel of St. Mark has since been completed, and an edition of 1,500 copies issued. Further portions of tha Bible are in progress of translation by Mr. Crowther. HAUSSA. SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. xxv. v. 1 to 13. Saanan kassa Alitshana ta yi kamma budurai Goma, woddonda su ka dauka fitillai nsu, su ka fitta su ngamu da ango. 2 Biat tshiki nsu da hangkali, biat tshiki nsu ba su da hangkali ba. 3 Woddanda ba su ba hangkali su ka dauka fitillai nsu ba su dauka da moi ba. 4 Arama masuhangkali su ndauka moi tshiki nkoore nsu tare da fitillai nsu. 5 Da ango ya dadeh su duka su na gaingedi da kuana. 6 Da sakka dere akayi kuuka ; dubah, ango shi na taffi, fitta ku ishe shi (ku gamu da shi). 7 Saanan duka budurai su ka tashi, su ka girda fitillai nsu, 8 Woddanda ba su da hangkali su ka tshe da masuhangkali, bah mu moi nku, dong fitillai mu su na matshi. 9 Amma masuhangkali su ka amsa su ka tshe, ba hakka ba, ba shi issa mu da ku ; taffi ga, masusayesuwa, ku saye na kanku. 10 Saanda su nka taffi ga saye, ango ya sakka, woddanda su ka yi shiri su ka taffi tare da shi wuri amire, kofa na rufeh. u Yautshe su nsakka wodda nsu budurai, su nka tshe, Obangissi, Obangissi, bodeh ma mu. 12 Amma ya amsa, ya tshe ma su, gaskia, natshe ma ku, ba na san'nku ba. 13 Donghakka ku yi dzaro, dong ba ku sani rana ba, ko lotto, yaushe dah- mutum shi isakka. The Haussa is one of the most widely-extended languages of Western Africa. It commences at Fundah, and, following the course of the river Chadda, is used at Jacoba, Buzum, Aja, Kerbi, Shera, and other places. On the east, it is conterminous with the Bornu; and on the west, with the Yoruba Class VL] TIMMANEE. 413 languages: its extension north and west is undetermined. Although spoken by a people of pure negro race, it has grammatical affinities with the Shemitic languages. Its pronouns and a few of its words are of undoubted Shemitic origin ; but it is difficult to trace the etymology of Haussa words, on account of the alterations to which they are subjected in accordance with the euphonic laws of the language. The prepositions are similar to the Berber; and Haussa adjectives, like the Berber, are very few in number, the deficiency being supplied in both languages by means of a periphrasis, con- sisting of the relative and verb. In Haussa there is neither definite nor indefinite article. Their place is supplied by personal or demonstrative pronouns. There are two numbers, singular and plural; but the formation of the plural is so irregular, that it is difficult to give special rules for it. The Haussa seems, in this respect, to partake of the multiplicity of Arabic plurals in the so called broken form. Thus, e.g. a'iki, work, plural a'ikoki; dutshi, stone, plural duasu; sa'ifa, spleen, plural sa'ifqfi; etc. As to genders, there are two, masculine and feminine; they are distinguished from each other by certain words prefixed, and by a change of termination, especially in adjectives, There is, strictly speaking, no declension of nouns in Haussa. The cases are expressed by pre- positions, or by the place words occupy in the sentence. Adjectives do not differ in termination from verbs or nouns, and the degrees of comparison are expressed by 'j?,' to excel, and ' duha,' all, respec- tively. The pronouns are indeclinable, and verbs, as far as the language is known at present, do not seem to express mood, tense, or number, by inflection, but by the addition of letters and particles, and by the aid of the personal pronouns which accompany the verb both in its active and passive form. There are some auxiliary verbs, very irregular in their formation; and the most common form of active verbs is thus conjugated: Pres. Ina soh, I am loving; Pret. Na soli, I loved; Fut. Ni isoh, I shall love, etc. The Gospel according to St. Matthew was translated into this language prior to the year 1841, by the Eev. Mr. Schon, of the Church Missionary Society. He was aided by the Eev. Samuel Crowther, whose native language is Yoruba, and whose knowledge of that idiom tended to illustrate obscurities in Haussa. Mr. Schon is still prosecuting the translation of the Scriptures, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society. The book of Genesis was first completed, and an edition of 500 copies was printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1857. The book of Exodus has been sub- sequently printed. The Gospel of St. John, and the Acts, have also passed through the press. TIMMANEE. Timmani is a small country on the coast of Western Africa, watered by the Scarcies and the Lower Rokelle, and adjoining Sierra Leone. The language is a Mandingo dialect. A version of the Gospel according to St. Luke in this dialect has been prepared by the Rev. Messrs. Schlenker and Schmid, agents of the Church Missionary Society, but it has not yet been committed to the press. Mr. Schmid has subsequently translated the Epistle to the Romans into the Timmanee language. A small book, containing extracts from the Scriptures, with Prayers and Hymns for the use of the school at Port Lokkoh, has been printed by the Church Missionary Society; and this, with the translation of St. Matthew's Gospel, executed in 1848 by Mr. Schlenker, but not yet printed, comprises all that has hitherto been effected towards bestowing the Scriptures on this negro nation. One cause of the opposition encountered by missionaries in this country is the prevalence of Mohammedanism, in the lax profession of which many of the Timmanees live. 414 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. B A 8 S A. Bassa is spoken in a tract of the sea-coast, about forty miles in length, in lat. 5° N., and long. 10° W. : this district is now included in the flourishing colony of Liberia. How far the Bassa language extends into the interior of the continent is unknown. The people to whom it is vernacular reside chiefly along the coast, and are now estimated at about 125,000 individuals; their numbers have been greatly diminished by the slave trade. The language is closely allied to the Mandingo, and belongs to the Grebo family. The Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, with the Acts of the Apostles, have been printed in Bassa, at the expense of the Rhenish Missionary Society; and other portions of the sacred volume, translated by the Rhenish missionaries, are said to be now in a state of preparation for the press. GEE BO. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. LUKE, Chap. vi. v. 27 to 36. 27 Nema lele ahmonh ne, ahmu no wenh te nenonh, bah nowane ah nyenhoh, bah nu nyono nyenh ahmonh, hanhka. 28 Bah blese nyono oh gididi ahmonh, nenh bah bade Nyesoa ko nyono nyinene ahmonh na ah ta. 29 Nenh nya ba podeo moh de gabwa na, tede na. abe ye : nenh nya ba ha moh nah swenh daro kwa, nah ka na ye, ko na kade ah ta ye. 30 Bah hnyi nyebo biye no ideda moh ; nenh nya ba ha moh nah teble kwa, nah idae na eh te n& de. 31 Nenh tine ah ide nyebo boh nu ahmonh ma, kre bah nu no ye. 32 Kare boh nowane nyono, oh nowane ahmonh, bisida bee ah kae? kare kbiine nyineoh nowane nyono oh nowane no ne, ye. 33 Nenh bah nu nyono ni ahmonh hanh ka donh, hanh ka, bisida bee ah kae? kare kbiine nyineoh ni ne ne ye. u Nenh nyono ah wore pona, oh di ahmonh peema, oh donh ka ahmonh he, bah yi teble hie, bisida bee, ah kae? kare kbiine nyineoh hie kbiine nyineoh ah teble ne, boh mu eh tee yi ah ta. 35 Nema bah nowane ah nyenhoh, bah nu no hanh ka, nenh bah hie teble, ah wore nah ida eh te na de : nenh ah peeda muwa boa, nenh pie bah muwa Hiya ah iru nu ; kare a na woro ko nyono neh ze na, oh ka kbiine nyineoh he ma. 36 Hede bah po nyebo wore ma na, tine, ah Buo ni wa wore ma na popoe. The Grebo language is predominant in the immediate vicinity of Cape Palmas, and is supposed to extend considerably into the interior: it prevails from Sinou to Bareby, but its precise area is undeter- mined. Tribes of this family are to be met with from Grand Cape Mountain on the north to St. Andrew's on the Ivory Coast. The Grebo people have, in general, less intelligence than their neighbours: they are pagans, but possess no fixed system of idolatry, each individual adopting such notions and practices as accord with his own fancy. Their mode of political government is equally anomalous: they have no system of legislation whatever, but live in disorderly masses, without rulers; those who bear the name of chiefs having a mere nominal authority. Class VI.] ACCRA. 415 The Grebo is a cognate language with the Vei spoken at Grand Cape Mountain, the Dey spoken by the former inhabitants of Cape Mesurado, the dialects of Drewin and St. Andrew's, the Bassa, and the Km, all of which are usually included in the Grebo family. The Grebo is characterised by many difficult nasal and guttural sounds, by a disproportion of monosyllabic words, and by great deficiency in inflections. It possesses, however, a variety of tenses, whereby the time of an action can be expressed with singular precision. In a negative verbal proposition, the particle of negation takes the tense inflection instead of the verb. Many of the words of this language have no fixed office, but are employed indiscriminately as nouns, adjectives, particles, and verbs. The first translation of the Gospel into Grebo was made by the aid of the American Board of Missions: the Gospel according to St. Matthew was printed, and the Acts translated, prior to the year 1840. This edition of St. Matthew consisted of 1000 copies. In 1848, the Gospel according to St. Luke was translated from the original by the Rev. John Payne, an agent of the Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society of America, and an edition was printed at the expense of the American Bible Society. The following portions of Scripture have also been translated and published, at the expense of the American Bible Society, in the Grebo language : — Acts, by the Rev. Theodore Schulz, in 1802: — New York, 1850 Genesis, by the Kev. John Payne, ditto 1850 Acts, by ditto ditto 1851 ACCRA. SPECIMEN, FEOM St. JOHN'S GOSPEL, Chap. i. v. 1 to 14. Tshiitshii klengkleng lu Wiema hi ia, ni Wiema lu ke Niingmk ia, ni Wiema lu dzhi Niingmk. 2 Lu tshiitshii klengkleng hi e ke Niingmk ia. 3 Lu fe nj pia, ni a' shj lu a fe-e nako 'ni a' fe. 4 E mli hiekamk ia, ni hekamk hi dzhi gbamej a la. 5 Ni la lu tshba ie dung mli, ni dung lu enana. 6 E' babamli ake a tshii nu kb kedzhS Nungm& nga, a tshe hi Dzhon. 7 E' ba bdase iere, koni e ie la hi bdase, koni [mej] pia 'a heaie i& e hewa. 8 Dzhe lu dzhi la lu, shi [e ba] la lu bdase iere. 9 No dzhi la anctkua lu 'ni tshoa ha-a ['mej] pia 'ni ba-a dzheng lu. 10 E x ie dzhe lu mli, ni lu fe dzhe lu, ni dzhe lu le lu. " E ba ludientsh^-e-na nga, ni ludientshe-e-na here-e lu. 12 Shi 'mej-a-ba 'ni here lu [lu], e ha [amme] hegbe ake amme 'a fe Niingmci bj, 'mej 'ni heaiea i^ e gbei n^ [lu]. 13 Dzhe la, '15 hewulo sumama, 'lo nu siimama, shi Niingm^ni k' fa amme. u Ni a' fe Wiema lu hewulo, ni e hi wk teng, ni wk na e he-na-woma lu, ake Tshe lu bi 'kome- 'ni-a-fa lu he-nk-woma lu, ke iaka-nake, ke ankkua obo. Accra (or, more properly, Ghah) has been ascertained by recent discoveries to be the spoken language of a trading people on the Gold Coast of Africa numbering from 60,000 to 80,000 souls. The town of Accra, in the immediate neighbourhood of which this dialect is most extensively prevalent, lies on the meridian of Greenwich, in north latitude. Both the British and Dutch governments maintain stations at this place. The Rev. A. Hanson, a native of Accra, translated the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John into 416 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. this language; and in 1843 an edition was printed in London by the British and Foreign Bible Society, in Roman letters, with numerous diacritical marks. On his return to Africa the following year, Mr. Hanson took the copies with him for distribution among his countrymen; and he had the satisfaction of finding, not only that the version was thoroughly intelligible to them, but also that they were able (after receiving a little information concerning the system of vowel points he had adopted) to read the printed copies for themselves with ease and pleasure. This edition was received with much joy and thankfulness by the native population, and was speedily exhausted. The agents of the Basle Missionary Society have been, and still are, diligently engaged in the same field of labour. The Rev. J. Zimmer- mann, one of their number, has devoted himself for many years past to the task of rendering the Scrip- tures into the Ghah language, and various portions, as soon as completed by him, have been printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and transmitted to Africa for distribution. The Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke, with a revised edition of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, were among the first-fruits of Mr. Zimmermann's labours, and were completed in 1855. Subsequently, the book of Genesis, the Epistles of St. John and St. Jude, the Revelation, and the prophets Isaiah and Daniel; together with (more recently) the Acts, the Epistles from I. Corinthians to II. Peter, and the book of Exodus, have been completed, and printed at Basle. Much interesting testimony to the good results which have already ensued from the dissemination of the Ghah version of the sacred writings is contained in recent reports of the Bible Society. The Word of God has struck deep root among the people of Accra, and the number of native applicants for baptism is rapidly on the increase. The arrival of the little volume which contained the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John was welcomed, both by young and old, with lively joy, and all were anxious to begin its diligent perusal. FANTEE. The Fantees are the most powerful people on the Gold Coast, a section of which they occupy. They reside chiefly in the immediate vicinity of Cape Coast, including Dixcove and Anamaboe. In number they amount to between 800,000 and 1,000,000: but they have never been united into one compact political body, their government being in the hands of inferior chiefs, who possess an almost indepen- dent and despotic jurisdiction over limited districts. The Fantees were originally one people with the Ashantees, but many centuries have elapsed since their separation. They are pagans, and very super- stitious, and are still in a state of semi-civilisation. Fantee is a soft and harmonious language, and is closely connected in structure and idiom with all the other languages of Ashantee, except the Accra. It has no article, and no terminational variations to express the distinctions of case. The possessive case is marked either by the mere collocation of words, or else by affixing an abbreviation of the relative pronoun. The plural is formed by prefixing the syllable im or in to the singular noun. Conjugation is carried on, as in Mandingo, by means of the pronouns, which undergo certain changes to denote the variations of tense, while the verb itself remains unaltered. An introductory work to the Accra and Fantee languages, containing among other things a translation of the Ten Commandments, was published at Copenhagen in 1764, by order of the King of Denmark, Five or six chapters of the Gospel of St. John have been translated into Fantee by the Rev. Mr. Hanson, but they have not yet been committed to the press, and the Fantees are still destitute of printed copies of the Scriptures in their own language. Class VI.] ASHANTEE. 417 ASHANTEE, OR ODJII. The Ashantee kingdom comprises a considerable portion of the maritime district generally known as the Guinea Coast: including its dependencies, this kingdom extends over 70,000 square miles, and is the area of at least six or seven different languages. The population of Ashantee Proper, according to Bowdich, amounts to 1,000,000, but the entire empire may be said to contain a population of at least 3,000,000. Mohammedanism has made some progress in this country, but the prevailing form of superstition is Feticism, with which many sanguinary and revolting rites are connected. The immolation of human victims is practised on many public occasions; and when the king dies, Ashantee becomes one vast Aceldama. But the inhuman atrocities to which this nation is addicted have of late years been repressed by the efforts of the missionaries stationed in this benighted land. The language distinguished as " Ashantee Proper, or Odjii," is spoken in the south of Asante (Ashantee), in Fantee, in Akim, in Akwapim, and in Akwam. There are trifling dialectic differences in the language spoken in these several districts; but it may be considered, nevertheless, one and the same with the Akwapim or Odjii, the best cultivated of them all. Dr. Beecham, who at one time had an intelligent Fantee and two Ashantees residing under his roof, observed that they could all converse together with nearly as much ease as if they had been natives of the same district; and it is said that natives of Ashantee who occasionally visit the coast, and the people in the neighbourhood of Cape Coast Castle, have little difficulty in understanding each other. The sounds of the Odjii language are expressed by 26 letters. It has neither number nor case; and the plural is formed by the addition and alteration of initial syllables: e. g. popa, a palm branch, pi. empopa; ata, turn, pi. enta, turns; bo, stone, pi. abo, stones; ti, head, ati, heads; vurow, a nail, aivurow, nails, etc. In verbs, the conjugation is formed not by final terminations, as in most European languages, but by initial augments, thus : mi-ko, I go, wo-ko, thou goest, o-ko, he goes, etc. In 1846, the missionaries of the Basle Missionary Society commenced the preparation of a version of the New Testament into Ashantee, and completed the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. The Eev. Mr. Riis, one of the translators, formerly stationed at Acropong (not very distant from Accra), subsequently prepared a grammar and lexicon of the Odjii language, embracing eight dialects. More recently, the Rev. Mr. Christaller (one of the German missionaries stationed at Acropong, but who has been compelled to return to Europe on account of his health) has prosecuted the task of Scripture translation into the Odjii tongue, and as the work progresses, consecutive portions will be printed at Basle imder his superintendence. The portions of the Odjii version already printed comprehend the Four Gospels and the Acts. The translation of the Psalms into Odjii has been commenced by the Rev. F. A. Mader, at present stationed at Acropong. 28 418 AFRICAN LANGUAGES. [Class VI. DUALLA. SPECIMEN, FROM St. MATTHEW, Chap. v. v. 1 to 12. Ibe Jisos a enino dimuti, a taabua o moi o molongo. ndi ibe a gaino wasi, ba becoele bau, ba poino na mo. 2 Ndi, a tauta molumbu mau, a talea babo, a ona. 3 Batuidi, ba si bwa sise o molema, ba namidi, ebanja ecumbu ya loba ei yabu. 4 Babo ba lebe o molema, ba namidi, ebanja ba o embabe o milema. 5 Batu ba pi, ba namidi, ebanja ba o bene mo muindi. 6 Babo ba bei njai na nyongi, o itesse la molema, ba namidi, ebanja ba o ulisabe. 7 Batu ba ndedi, ba namidi, ebanja ba o nongo ndedi. 8 Babo ba san