the order of ideas can be followed better than in Bengali. The rules of composition are neither so strict nor so different from the genius of European languages. And it is a distinct advantage that in Hindi the difference between the written tongue and ordinary conversation is not so clearly marked as in Bengali.

Mr. Parsons entered on his task with that devoutness of spirit, fidelity, sagacity, and conscientiousness which were distinguished features of his character. He also found in Mr. Christian, a planter of Monghyr, a coadjutor whose knowledge of vernacular Hindi and of its poetical literature was unequalled. Their conjoint labours were brought to a conclusion when, on the 19th March, 1868, Mr. Parsons received from the Calcutta Mission Press the first copies of their new translation. It was quickly recognised as surpassing all others in accuracy, in idiomatic beauty, and in general intelligibility. It received the highest commendations from the most competent judges, and came at once to be regarded, as it continues to be, the standard version of the New Testament for the use of the great Hindi-speaking popu lation of the North-West Provinces. It was the last work of Mr. Parsons' eminently useful life. He died shortly after its completion, on the 26th October, 1869. It was a noble legacy to the native Christian Church, for whose highest interests he had laboured for more than thirty years, and it will cause him to be had in grateful remembrance for generations to come.

But the great work of translating the Hebrew Old Testament into idiomatic and readable Hindi had yet to be achieved. For some time the Rev. J. D. Bate, of Allahabad, in the midst of his other missionary occupations, had been engaged in carrying through the press an edition of the New Testament, with a few alterations to adapt the version in some points to the results of modern criticism. In 1874 his attention was directed to the Old Testament. His first essay was a new translation of the Psalms. Encouraged by the approval of his brethren and the Society, he then devoted himself to the greater and more arduous task. He obtained the best native assistance within reach, and set himself with patience and close application to achieve the object so greatly needed. Much difficulty, he says, has been experienced in finding words to express "the plethora of the designations of out-ofthe-way things, such as the accompaniments of the tabernacle and the isolated character of the details enumerated." For names of things utterly unknown to Hindus, suitable expressions are not readily found. Still, by steady pursuit of his object, these perplexing details have

been largely overcome, and the Old Testament is now rapidly preparing for the press. As these lines are being written, the first instalment of this laborious task (the Book of Genesis) has been published, and we may hope that ere long the entire Old Testament Scriptures will be added to the New.

The Hindustani New Testament was taken in hand by Dr. Yates in 1837, and in the month of June the first sheet of the Gospel of Matthew was put to press. This was not, however, his first effort in Hindustani, for in 1825 he published a Harmony of the Gospels in one octavo volume; but his complete New Testament appeared in 1839, after being subjected to repeated and severe revisions. On this occasion the Arabic character was adopted, and the new work was rendered more acceptable by the insertion of marginal references, then a new feature in Biblical translation. In the preparation of this issue, free use was made of Henry Martyn's translation. Later on, the Gospels and Acts were reprinted in the Persian letter, and a new edition in Arabic character was in 1851 issued, under the editorial care of the Revs. J. Thomas and C. B. Lewis. Martyn's work, in the opinion of Dr. Wenger, possessed very great excellencies; its only real defect being the frequent use of learned terms where popular ones would have been preferable. It was a copy of this Urdu Testament issued from the Mission Press, that an old man at the Hardwar fair on receiving it, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed, "I have now got what I wanted-I have got the whole Word of Jesus; I will read it, examine it, and see how I may be saved through it."

Although the chief attention of the Calcutta brethren was concentrated on the four versions of the Scriptures in Bengali, Sanscrit, Hindi, and Hindustani, the Mission Press has been most useful through its issues in other tongues. It would be tedious to go through the story of their preparation and origin; but we must mention the chief of them. And first comes the Armenian version, edited by Carapeit Aratoon, himself an Armenian, and whose work found much acceptance among the Armenians of Turkey, as well as with those resident in India. The mountain tribes of Northern India have received like assistance; also the natives of Nepal, and of the Khassia Hills, the Lepchas, the Santalese, and the Garos, have all received the Word of Life from this source. For these versions the funds of the Bible Translation Society have been drawn upon, as well as for the printing and distribution of the Scriptures in Orissa, in Japan, in

FAC-SIMILE OF THE TEXT, "The people which

sat in darkness saw great light" (Matt. iv. 16), in

the following Eastern languages:

4

अन्धकारमय विशन्ते! लोक! महाले [कमुद्रा 5 అంధ కారాలయందు కూచున్న లొకులు మహాతెజ 6 గాలిలియ యద్ధామంది కర్తలియల్లి వారిద్దర

هرة خلتی چه په تیاره کښ ناست وو هغو لويه روضناني 7

8 ဖာဗူလန်ပြည်၊ ရုပ်ဘာလိယ်ပြာ၏အစွန်တို့တွင်ပင်လ 9 ஓருளிலிருககுஞ சனம் பெரிய வெளிச்சதலதக 10 අඳුරෙහි උන් දනන් මහත්වූ එලියක්

11

ماد کلور له تاین در مادا تن حضره ها و لال بود لله

12 虛于氣形未地

地天創

原

SPECIMEN OF VARIOUS LANGUAGES.

China, in Germany, and in the Maya tongue of Central America. Last of all must be mentioned the Scriptures in the Dualla, the work of the devoted Saker, and the Gospels in Isabu by the Rev. J. Merrick.

ALFRED SAKER TRANSLATES DUALLA VERSION.

The Rev. Alfred Saker commenced his translation of the Scriptures in 1847. The Dualla language is spoken about the mouth of the Cameroons River in Western Africa and around the base of the great mountain which dominates the entire region. The people are a section of the great Bantu family. The language is broken up into many dialects, and, crossing the equatorial regions, it is found to possess close affinities with the tongues spoken on the eastern coast. As spoken among the tribes on the Cameroons, it has about 2,400 root-forms; but no tribe can be said to possess all the words of the language.

In his travels among the tribes, says Mr. Saker, "ever and anon we come upon words which lie like grains of gold in the bed of the stream, and, like grains, are revealed only by the disturbances of storms and floods. While the daily concerns of man run smoothly on, in a few words he expresses his wants and thoughts and emotions; but let his heart be moved by strong passion, by deep distress, by mental conflicts, and words, none suspected to be in his memory or even in existence, are found welling up from the deeps of his heart, such words that a less exciting cause would not have revealed."

The indefatigable and undaunted spirit of Alfred Saker could brook no difficulties. Often, lying on his bed, worn with sickness, unable to rise, surrounded by his books strewed over his coverlet, he would pursue his studies in the Divine originals. Scarcely could he speak the language before he began, in a prayerful spirit, to essay the translation of the Holy Scriptures. In 1847 we find him rising every morning before four and five, and, with brief intermissions for meals, labouring at the congenial task. As he goes on, his engineering knowledge enables him to construct a printing press, and to cut matrices for casting type, when some passing ship may provide him with the needed lead. "Rapturous" was his joy when friends at home sent him out a press with a case of type, and books to aid him in understanding the sacred text.

In June, 1862, he reports the issue from the press of the Dualla New Testament, and on the 23rd February, 1872, after twenty-five