The third Hindee version of the New Testament was completed many years since by the missionaries at Serampore, who published the Old Testament in 1818. A new edition of the New Testament was printed in 1820, at their press, from a new version, executed by the Rev. John Chamberlain, whose long residence in the western provinces of India, together with his intimate knowledge of the popular dialects of the Hindoos, has eminently qualified him for the undertaking. A specimen of this version is given in page 286. iii. In the Bengalee, or language of the province of Bengal, the whole of the Scriptures is published, and the book of Common Prayer has been translated by the Rev. Deocar Schmid. Five editions of the New Testament (which was completed twenty-five years since) and two of the Psalms, and some other parts of the Old Testament, have been printed; and a new edition of the entire Bible is preparing, in one large royal 8vo. volume, together with two thousand extra copies of the New Testament in 12mo. For this edition the missionaries are preparing paper, made of the sun plant (Crotolaria juncea), which, though inferior to English paper in point of colour, is equally impervious to the worm, and far more durable. A large edition of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John, in English and Bengalee, on opposite pages, was printed at Calcutta in 1820, chiefly for the benefit of the natives who are attached to public offices and houses of agency. See a specimen of the Bengalee version in page 284. A new Bengalee version of the New Testament, completed by the late Mr. Ellerton, was printed at Calcutta, in 1820.1 iv. The Oriya or Orissa language is spoken in the province of that name; it has a very close affinity to the Bengalee, but with different terminations, and a different character. In this language, the entire Bible was translated by the Baptist missionaries several years since a second edition of the New Testament is nearly completed at Serampore. A specimen of this version is given in page 285. v. The Brij-Bhassa language, which is spoken in the upper provinces of Hindoostan, contains a greater mixture of the Sanscrit than most of the other dialects of the Hindee. The four Gospels have been translated; and the Gospel of St. Matthew was printed in 1816. See a specimen of it in page 285. The Brij-Bhassa version is likely to be more acceptable to the inhabitants of the province of Dooab than the Hindoostanhee. vi. The Kurnata or Canarese language is spoken in the country extending northward from Tellicherry to Goa, and eastward from the coast of Malabar to the country where the Tamul is spoken, including the whole of the Mysore. In this language the New Testament was printed in 1820, from the translation of the Rev. Mr. Hands. A specimen of it is given in page 287. vii. The Tamul language is spoken in the south-eastern part of India, from Madras to Cape Comorin. Two different translations 1 Seventeenth Report of the Bible Society, p. Ivii. have been made in this language. The first was executed by the learned German missionaries, who were educated at Halle, and were employed in the last century by the Danish government. The New Testament was commenced by Bartholomew Ziegenbalg in 1708, and finished in 1711. A printing press and paper having been provided at Tranquebar by the assistance of the venerable SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, this translation after having been revised by Gründler, another missionary who arrived after Ziegenbalg, was put to press in 1714, and finished in the following year. This Tamul New Testament was reprinted at Tranquebar in 1722, and again in 1758, and also at Colombo in 1743. In the year 1717, Ziegenbalg commenced a Tamul version of the Old Testament; but he died in 1719, having finished only the Pentateuch with the books of Joshua and Judges. The translation was continued and completed by the distinguished missionary Benjamin Schultz, who arrived at Tranquebar in 1719 : it was printed at Tranquebar, in four volumes, in the years 1723-26-27, and 28. The second translation of the New Testament into Tamul was made by Fabricius, another German missionary, at Madras, where it was printed in 1777. In 1814 an edition of the Tamul New Testament was completed at the Serampore press, at the expense of the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society; and as the lapse of years rendered further correction of it necessary, the Rev. T. C. E. Rhenius and the Rev. Dr. Rottler,2 at Madras, are actively occupied in revising Fabricius's version. This revision having been highly approved by competent judges, the Madras Bible Society have ordered the book of Genesis to be printed for general circulation, with the ultimate intention of printing a revised edition of the entire Tamul Bible. See a specimen of the Tamul version in p. 289.4 viii. The Telinga language, sometimes called the Teloogoo, is spoken in the Northern Circars. In this language, which appears to be a dialect of the Tamul, the missionary Schultz, above noticed, translated the Bible: but it was never printed. A Telinga version of the New Testament was executed by the Missionaries at Serampore, in 1818; and the Pentateuch is printed as far as the book of Leviticus. On the completion of the Pentateuch, the honour of finishing this version was resigned to the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society and some progress had been made by the Rev. Mr. Pritchett, whose labours were terminated by death in 1820. A specimen of the Telinga Version is given in page 285. ix. While the Dutch had settlements in the Island of Ceylon, they were not inattentive to imparting the Scriptures to such of the natives 1 Bishop Marsh's History of the Translations of the Scriptures, p. 37. 2 The Rev. Dr. Rottler has also translated the book of Common Prayer into the Tamul language: it was printed at Madras in 1819, in quarto. 3 Sixteenth Report of the Bible Society, p. 183. 4 Bishop Marsh's History of Translations, p. 37, note. In 1820, the Prayer Book and Homily Society of London made a grant of books, to be sold at Madras, the proceeds of which are to be applied in aid of the printing the book of Common Prayer in the Tamul and Malayalim languages. as embraced the Christian faith. The four Gospels were translated into Cingalese, or the language of that island, and were printed at Colombo in 1739, and again in 1780; the Acts of the Apostles, in 1771; the Psalms in 1755, and again in 1768; and the entire New Testament, together with the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus were printed at the same place in 1783. After Ceylon had become part of the British Empire, a new Cingalese version of the New Testament was undertaken by Mr. W. Tolfrey, aided by native assistants, under the patronage and at the expense of the Colombo Auxiliary Society. That nothing might be omitted, which could ensure the excellence of this translation, two hundred copies of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were printed off, and circulated among the Modeliars (native magistrates) proponents, and catechists at Colombo, who were the best skilled in Cingalese; several were also sent to the settlements of Point de Galle and Matura, where that language is spoken in the greatest purity. Pains were taken to obtain a fair and candid opinion of the new work, and it is satisfactory to know, from the decision of numerous and competent judges, that the language and style of this extensive specimen of the New Version, were not only pure and suitable to the dignity of the subject, but also plain and intelligible. Mr. Tolfrey had gone through repeated revisions of the whole New Testament, and had finally corrected to the end of the second chapter of the second epistle to Timothy, when his labours were interrupted by a sudden death, in 1817. The Cingalese New Testament was finished and printed by the united exertions of the Rev. Messrs. Chater and Clough (the former a Baptist and the latter a Wesleian-Methodist Missionary), and of Mr. Armour, an intelligent schoolmaster of the latter connection; and measures were taken for adding to it the Old Testament, of which only the three first books of Moses had been hitherto translated. A second edition of the Cingalese translation of the New Testament was completed in 1820; and of the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis has been printed. See a specimen of the Cingalese Testament, in p. 289.1 x. A Translation of the New Testament into the Maldivian language, (which is spoken in the small but very numerous Maldivian islands, that lie to the south-west of Ceylon), has been commenced by the missionaries at Serampore. The Gospel of Matthew has been completed. xi. In 1612 (a few years after the establishment of the Dutch East India Company), Albert Cornelius Ruyl began a translation of the New Testament into the Malay language, which is spoken not only in Malacca, but in Java and many other islands of the Indian archipelago. He lived only to finish the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, which were sent to Holland, where they were printed at Enkhuysen in 1629, and again, at Amsterdam, in 1638. In 1646 the Gospels of 1 Owen's History of the Bible Society, vol. iii. pp. 120, 323, 469. Sixteenth Report of that Society, p. 189. In 1820, the book of Common Prayer was translated into Cingalese, under the direction of the Hon. and Rev. T. J. Twisleton, D. D. Archdeacon of Colombo. the Fords. Frayer in javanese by. M. Frowt Rama hawala wontennahing suwarga westanne sampeian kasuchikahenhing |