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nese now lies before me. It was issued in 1823, since the publication of his Dictionary. Now whatever we are to think of his first edition of the Testament, surely the Reviewer will not have much to say against his work in this later edition of the whole Scriptures. For how is his Dictionary announced in Kingsbury's Oriental Catalogue ?

"Dictionary of the Chinese Language, in Three Parts. By R. Morrison, D. D.; viz. 1st, Chinese and English," &c. &c.

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"Dr. Morrison's Dictionary of the Chinese Language' may be considered as the most important work in Chinese Literature that has yet reached Europe."— QUARTERLY REVIEW.

As no charge is brought against the Chinese Version, but the general one of incompetence in the Translator, I shall not stay any longer on it, but proceed to the TURKISH.

"Some most miserable details of their (the Committee's) style of management occur in the history of their Turkish New Testament. The text was that of a Polish Renegado, which had lain in MS. for more than a hundred years; and no sooner was it published in 1818, than Dr. Henderson, and other friends and agents of the Society, began to complain, that, in addition to prevailing errors of mere style, florid affectation, and so forth, important additions, and still more important omissions, deprived this Version of all just title to respect and support. The Society got some of the Parisian Literati to bolster up their Turkish Testament with their certificates; but the issue was, that some hundreds of gross errors were acknowledged. And here comes the curious part of the story,—how were these errors to be corrected? The Directors of the British and Foreign Bible Society made cancels in their book; that is, they printed anew the leaves containing the most horrible blunders-in number, fifty-one, and sent out bundles of these corrected leaves to Turkey, to be distributed among those who had previously acquired the books. These persons were, of course, easy to be found; when found, it was easy to persuade them to have their Testaments taken out of the binding and rebound with the new leaves; and the whole affair, when completed, could not fail to inspire the proprietors of the Turkish Testament with sentiments of redoubled confidence in the purity of its text."-Keview, p. 19. note.

Now, in this case, I am ready to admit that there was some misunderstanding, at the outset, in the directions given to Professor Kieffer, the editor. He was led to believe that the text of his MS. should be implicitly followed; and he appears accordingly to have done so, without collating it, as he went on, with the original. In consequence, several errors were afterwards discovered. But here my admissions stop.-The rest of the Reviewer's statement is a gross misrepresentation. The real case was this:

Not more than 100 Testaments at most, if so many, had been issued, so far as I can ascertain, when notice of these errors was received. The circulation was immediately suspended, and Professor Kieffer set to revise the text, He furnished a List of Errata, drawn up with scrupulous minuteness; which List was referred

to the examination of a Sub-Committee, assisted, on the occasion, by a well-known Biblical Critic, the Rev. T. Hartwell Horne. This Sub-Committee found the greater part of the faults pointed out to be so utterly insignificant, that it would be quite useless to disfigure the work by noticing them; and a Table was drawn up, to be appended to the Testament, containing all that could be con sidered of the least importance; in number, 49. But even of these there was not one that appeared directly to affect any point of faith or practice. Those that appeared to do so, were remedied in another and more effectual way, by cancelling the leaves on which they occurred. The leaves so cancelled were in number, eight. Having already observed that scarcely any copies had yet been issued, I need scarcely add, that the whole story about sending bundles of leaves to Turkey, to be inserted in copies already in circulation, is a mere fiction: its falsehood is as gross, as the charge which it conveys is insulting.

Nor is it just to speak thus contemptuously of the Translator of this Version-Ali Bey, or Bobovius, as his name is written in the Latin form. In Turkish learning he was indisputably most eminent. At Constantinople, he was the instructor of the cele brated Meninski, by whom one of his works is frequently quoted, in his Turkish Lexicon. And the following is the account given of him by a contemporary, the learned Dr. Hyde. It is prefixed to a treatise of Ali Bey's on the Religious Ceremonies of the Turks, which Dr. Hyde edited (in 1690); and it may be thus translated from the Latin

"The following observations on the ceremonies of the Turks I received from my learned friend Dr. Thomas Smith, who, on his return from a jour ney to Constantinople a few years since, put them into my hands, with a request that I would eventually publish them, which I have now at length done. They had been drawn up, at his request, by Albertus Bobovius, of, as the name is written in his native language, Bobowsky, a Pole by birth, who died some years since. His death is to be lamented, not only because he was particularly friendly to our countrymen, and most ready to serve them in any thing, but also inasmuch as he was a most zealous and assidu ous student of languages, and extremely well versed and skilled in many of those of Europe and Asia also, so that he was promoted, under the Sultan or First Interpreter. It is however more especially to be lamented that he should have been carried off before he had returned to the profession of Christianity, which it was his most earnest wish to do. It was his desire to be able honestly to gain his livelihood, in whatever way might offer, in the society of Christians in England, and to retire from his connexion with a Mohammedan people."

ترجمان باشي Mahomet IV, to the office of

The controversy which arose on the style of this Version, between Dr. Henderson and Professor Lee, I by no means overlook as unimportant; but to go into such a matter fully, in this place, would obviously be impossible: suffice it to say, that Dr. Henderson him

self, in his last pamphlet, appears to express his satisfaction with the new edition of this work, now going through the press at Paris.

We come now to the BENGALEE VERSION, with which is connected the whole array of charges against the Serampore TranslaAnd here, surely, every man, who is alive to the importance of Translations of the Scriptures at all, will, at the first outset, feel most forcibly the truth of Sir George Staunton's remarks, as applied to Indian Versions, as well as to the Chinese :

"The writer of the article in question demands qualifications in a Translator of the Scriptures, and a degree of perfection in the Translation itself, which, however desirable in the abstract, would, in the case of Indian Versions, have necessarily the effect of postponing the accomplishment of the work to an indefinite period; and consequently wholly frustrate the object in view, as far as respects the communication of religious knowledge to the Natives of India of the present day, through such a medium."-See p. 378.

After what has been said already (p. 372) on New Versions in general, I shall think it quite enough in this place to reply to the Reviewer by bringing a few quotations from the Reports of the Missionaries, to show how their Versions have really been made, and with what effect they have been put into circulation.

Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Dr. Carey.

"Serampore, April 20, 1808. "You mention some objections that have been made to our Translations, as if they were the work of graceless Brahmans. We certainly do employ all the helps we can obtain-Brahmans, Musselmans, and others, who both translate, and sometimes write out rough copies; and should think it criminal not to do so. But we never print any Translation till every word has been revised, and re-revised. Whatever helps we employ, I have never yet suffered a single word, or a single mode of construction, to pass, without examining it, and seeing through it. I read every proof-sheet twice or thrice myself, and correct every letter with my own hand. Brother Marshman and I compare with the Greek or Hebrew, and brother Ward reads every sheet. Three of the Translations, viz. the Bengalee, Hindustanee, and Sungscrit, I translate with my own hand: the two last immediately from the Greek; and the Hebrew Bible is before me while I translate the Bengalee. Whatever helps I use, I commit my judgment to none of them. Brother Marshman does the same with the Chinese, and all that he engages in; and so does Brother Ward.”

Extract of a Letter from the Rev. William Ward. "May 10, 1820. "The appointment of my beloved colleague (Dr. Carey) to the Professorship in the College of Fort William put him in possession, so far as it was necessary to his plans, of all the learning in India. Learned men from every part crowded to Calcutta, seeking employment in this New College; and the senior Sungskrit Pundit in the College, who attended Dr. Carey constantly in the discharge of his College duties, informed him from time to time of the arrival of some learned Native, now from Benares, then from Cashmere, then from the Punjab; and thus, in succession, from the different provinces of India; who were, of course, introduced to Dr. Carey. The Dector here saw all India coming to pour all its treasures at his feet; nor

could he be so blind as not to recognise the hand which thus brought him help from afar.

"In that spirit of faith which has distinguished his Missionary life, he engaged these learned men as fast as they were brought; and put the Sungskrit Bible, as the original from which they were to translate, into the hands of each. Each Pundit, thus furnished, and instructed also in the nature of the work of translation, now sat down, and began to render the divine word into his native dialect. He was assisted for some time by hints and directions from two learned Hindoos, prepared by Dr. Carey, and familiarized to the work of translation by having read the proofs of the Sungskrit and Bengalee with the Doctor; and then, from day to day, he was able to go on alone with his work. At an early period, his first attempts were brought to the test; for, after he had advanced some way, his manuscript was put to press, and the first sheet was examined by one of the initiated Native Assistants, sitting by the side of this original Native Translator. The first and second proofs were thus corrected, which brought the sheet as near as they could bring it to the original Sungskrit. The third proof was then carried to Dr. Carey by the Translator himself; and they went over it together, and over as many more proofs of the same sheet as the Doctor thought necessary, sometimes more and sometimes less; and after this, the sheet was ordered to press. This has been the constant and only process in these Translations, from the beginning.”

From the Eighth Memoir of the Missionaries at Serampore. "To expect that these editions will not be susceptible of many and various improvements, would be vain in itself, and contrary to universal experience. The English Version, which occupied the labor of the learned for seventy years, is by many deemed faulty at the present day: how must it, then, have appeared in the first twenty years, or in its first edition! Yet this did not prevent its being made the instrument of converting thousands, and of pouring forth such a flood of light as led to the correc tion of its own defects. They (the Missionaries) trust that the Versions they have put to press will be found intelligible to the great body of the people, and generally accurate. On the testimony of native critics, however, much dependence cannot be placed, as they must necessarily be ignorant of the Original Text, and of the peculiar phraseology of Scripture; while these phrases of Scripture which enter into the essence of Christianity, such as, living in Christ,' crucified with Christ,' 'justified by faith,'' taking up the cross,' and numerous others, must be literally retained at whatever sacrifice of idiom. And as these terms are by no means intelligible to the bulk of mere nominal Christians even in Britain, it will not appear strange if they should not be immediately apprehended by Heathens. Should a native critic, therefore, withhold his unqualified testimony from any Version, this would be insufficient to prove that it might not still be intelligible to the body of his own countrymen. If, after reading a portion of it, an intelligent Native will seek for the volume and consider it a valuable gift, to men in his situation of life it must be intelligible; and the object of a first edition may be considered as secured. The Serampore Committee have reason to hope that this has been the case with the Versions which have been already sent into circulation. On this subject they subjoin a Letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Thomason, a few months ago, by Dr. Marshman (see Appendix, No. 1. in answer to his inquiries relative to the effect of circulating the Scriptures in Bengal; and another from Mr. J. T. Thompson, a Missionary who has tra velled over a considerable portion of the country around Delhi. The Serampore Committee are still employed in ascertaining the character of these Versions, and will from time to time communicate to the Religious Public the result of their inquiries.”

Extract from the Letter (No. I.) above referred to, from the Rev. Dr. Marshman. 66 Serampore, Feb. 20th, 1821. "About three years ago, a number of persons were found inhabiting certain villages near Dacca, who had forsaken idolatry, and who constantly refused to Brahmans the usual honors paid to them beyond the other classes of the community. They were also said to be remarkable for the correctness of their conduct, and particularly for their adherence to truth. These were occasionally visited by several of our Christian Brethren, both European and Native, and were said to be scattered through ten or twelve villages. They were, however, the followers of no particular leader, as is the case with many sects among the Hindoos; but, from their professing to be in search of a true Gooroo, or Teacher, they were termed Sutya-Gooroos. Some of our native friends being exceedingly desirous of knowing from whence they had derived all their ideas, were at length told that they had imbibed them from a book which was carefully preserved in one of their villages. On arriving at this village, they were shown a book much worn, kept in a case (1 think of brass) which had been made for the sake of preserving it, and which our friends were told had been there many years, although none of those present could say from whence it came. On exami nation, this book was found to be a copy of the FIRST EDITION OF THe BenGALEE NEW TESTAMENT, printed at Serampore in 1800. After this, numbers of these Sutya-Gooroos came to Dacca, and, with Mr. Leonard, and various Native Christian Brethren there, described a number of things mentioned in the New Testament, particularly those which related to caste, and the distinction of food. This ended in three of them being baptized, in the course of a few months, on a profession of faith in Christ; who afterwards returned to their own villages. Our aged native brother, Kishnoo, (baptized in 1800,) went among them last August; and at the village where he was constrained to remain on account of the rains, he found a copy of THE SECOND EDITION OF THE BENGALEE NEW TESTAMENT, which they prized very highly, although they had not as yet made an open profession of Christianity."

"The following advertisement,' (say the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society, in their Report for 1819,) which is copied from the "Friend of India," a Monthly Publication printed at Serampore, will prove how desirous the Missionaries are of procuring all the assistance they can towards the improvement and completion of the Versions of the Holy Scriptures which are preparing by them :'

"August, 1818.

"In the beginning of this month was finished at press the New Testament in the Pushtoo and the Kunkun Languages, under the superintendence of the Missionaries at Serampore. The Pushtoo Version was seven years in the press. This language is spoken by the nation of the Affghans, beyond the Indus, who have been by some supposed to be descended from the Ten Tribes carried away by Salmaneser. It is printed in the Arabic Character, and contains 782 pages. The Kunkun is spoken on the western coast of India, from Bombay to Goa. It is printed in the Nagree Character, and contains 706 pages. It has been about five years in the press. The Missionaries will esteem it a favor if any Gentlemen acquainted with these languages will examine either of these Versions of the New Testament, and favor them with corrections and emendations, with a view to a second and improved edition. The following are the points to which they would particularly request their attention.

"They would feel greatly obliged if any one would examine the style, and compare it with that of other books in the language, the style of which is allowed to be good. In doing this, it will be useful to avoid general obser

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