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at Hanau, in 1608; at Oppenheim, in 1612; at Amsterdam, in 1645, 1684, and 1685, and at other places. Of the edition printed in Holland, in 1717, three thousand copies are said to have been intercepted by the Jesuits, into whose custody they were committed, to prevent any use from being made of them. There is also a popish version, made from the Latin Vulgate, by George Kaldi, and printed at Cologne and Vienna.

XI. POLISH BIBLES.-Three versions of the Scriptures have been published in the Polish language. The first was undertaken for the use of the Roman Catholics, and was published at Cracow in 1561; reprinted at the same place in 1577, 1599, and 1619, and at other places. The second was made by the Socinians under the patronage and at the expense of Prince Nicholas Radzivil; it was published at Pinczow, in Lithuania, in 1563, and is one of the rarest books ever printed.1 This translation was reprinted at Zaslau, in Lithuania, in 1572. The third Polish version was made by the Reformed, or Calvinists, in 1596. A translation of the New Testament into the Judæo-Polish dialect (which is spoken by the Jews, who are very numerous in Poland) has been made by the Rev. N. Solomon, at the expense and under the patronage of the London society for promoting Christianity among the Jews; it was printed in 1821.2 A translation of the New Testament into the language of Samogitia, a province of Poland, was printed in 1820, at the expense of the Russian Bible Society.

XII. BOHEMIAN BIBLES.-The first Bohemian translation was made from the Latin Vulgate, and was published at Prague in 1488. The other, for the use of the Protestants in Bohemia, was made from the sacred originals by Albert Nicolai, John Capito, Isaiah Cœpolla, and other learned reformers, at the expense of the baron, John Zerotimus. It was published between the years 1579 and 1593, in six quarto volumes, without any indication of the place where they were printed, which is supposed to have been Kraliz.

XIII. MODERN-GREEK, or ROMAÏC VERSIONS.

The Romaïc is

a corruption of the antient Greek, so great indeed, that compared with the latter, it may be pronounced a new language; it is at present in general use, both for writing and conversation, the antient Greek being used solely for ecclesiastical affairs. Into this language the New Testament was translated by Maximus Calliergi, and was printed at Geneva in 1638, in one large quarto volume, in two columns, one containing the antient, the other the modern Greek. It was published at the expense of the then United Provinces, upon the solicitation of Cornelius Haga, their ambassador at Constantinople. The Greeks, however, did not receive it with much favour. This translation was reprinted at London in 1703, in one volume 12mo., by Seraphin, a monk of Mitylene; who prefixed to it a preface, which gave offence to the Greek bishops, particularly to the patriarch of Constantinople.

1 A copy of this translation is in the library of Earl Spencer, and is described by Mr. Dibdin, Bib. Spenc. vol. i. pp. 85-89.

2 Thirteenth Report of the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews, p.

By his order it was committed to the flames. The edition of 1703 (which, in consequence of this suppression, has become extremely rare) was reprinted in 1705; and in that edition the objectionable passages in Seraphin's preface were omitted. A more correct edition of it was printed at Halle, in Saxony, in 1710, in one volume, 12mo., under the patronage and at the expense of Sophia Louisa, Queen of Prussia.1 From this last edition was printed the impression executed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in one thick volume, 12mo. (Chelsea, 1810), the antient and modern Greek being in parallel columns. To this edition the patriarch of Constantinople gave his unqualified approbation. With regard to the Old Testament, though the book of Psalms was translated into Romaïc, and printed at Venice in 1543, and the Pentateuch (by the Jews at Constantinople) in 1547, yet no entire version of the Scriptures was extant in modern Greek, until the archimandrite Hilarion (whom the general suffrage of the learned Greeks, concurs in representing as best qualified for the task) undertook first a new translation of the New Testament, which has undergone a scrupulous revision, and is at this time in the press. The same person, with the assistance of two learned ecclesiastics, is at this time occupied in translating the Old Testament from the antient into the modern Greek.3

XIV. XV. WALLACHIAN and BULGARIAN VERSIONS. - A translation of the New Testament in the Wallachian language was published in Belgrade, in 1648; and a version of the same has been undertaken in the Bulgarian language under the direction of the Petersburg Bible Society.

XVI. ROMANESE VERSIONS.-The Romanese language is divided into two dialects, the Churwelsche and the Ladiniche. The former is spoken by the inhabitants of the Engadine (one of the loftiest vallies in Switzerland, bordering on the Tyrol); the latter, by the Ladins, who reside on the confines of Italy. The Scriptures were translated into the Churwelsche dialect, and published in 1657, at Schuol, a town of the Lower Engadine, and into the Ladiniche at Coire, in 1719. Editions of both these versions have lately been printed by the Bible Society at Bâsle, aided by the British and Foreign Bible Society in London.

XVII. TURKISH VERSIONS. In 1666, the New Testament was printed in Turkish, at Oxford: it was translated by Dr. Lazarus Seaman, and was published at the joint expense of the Hon. Robert Boyle and of the Levant or Turkey company of London, for the benefit of the Christians in Turkey, by whom it was very gratefully received. In the same year a translation of the whole Bible into the Turkish language was completed by Albertus Boboosky, first

1 Butler's Hora Biblicæ, vol. i. pp. 177-179.

2 Owen's History of the British and Foreign Bible Society, vol. ii. p. 358, note. 3 Sixteenth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, Appendix, pp. 19, 20. Seventeenth Report, p. liv.

5 Owen's History of the Bible Society, vol. iii. pp. 13, 14. 257.500. Sixteenth

dragoman or interpreter to the Porte. He undertook this arduous work at the request of the celebrated Levin Warner, at that time ambassador from Holland; and his translation was sent to Leyden, corrected and ready for the press. Here it lay until 1814, when the Rev. Dr. Pinkerton having ascertained its value, recommended it to the British and Foreign Bible Society. The curators of the university of Leyden having confided the manuscript to his excellency Baron Von Diez, at that time counsellor of legation to the court of Berlin, this distinguished scholar devoted the last two years of his life to its revision, and to superintending the printing of it. On his decease, in 1817, the editing of this version was cheerfully undertaken by M. Kieffer, professor of the oriental languages at Paris; and in 1819, the New Testament was completed. The Old Testament is passing through the press with as much rapidity as the nature of the work will permit. The style of Boboosky's translation is said to be pure and elegant, such as will be read with pleasure by the man of letters, and at the same time be understood by the lowest in society.

XVIII. PORTUGUESE VERSION.In 1681, the New Testament was printed in the Portuguese language at Amsterdam; and some portions were printed in the former part of the last century by the Missionaries at Tranquebar. A Portuguese version of the Old Testament, executed by João Ferreira d'Almeida and Jacob op den Akker, was published at Batavia, in 1748-53, in two volumes 8vo. These were Protestant versions. In 1781, Antonio Pereira published a Portuguese version of the New Testament, at Lisbon; and in 1783, the entire Bible. This translation is made from the Vulgate Latin version, and in all doctrinal points is in union with the church of Rome.

XIX. ALBANIAN VERSION.-The Albanians are a hardy people, inhabiting the countries antiently known by the names of Illyricum and Epirus: numerous tribes of them are also spread over Macedonia and the Morea or Peloponnesus. A translation of the New Testament into their language was finished in the year 1820 by Dr. Evangelos Mexicos, under the patronage and at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society; which it is intended to

Report of the Society, Appendix, p. 17. Albertus Boboosky was born in Poland in the beginning of the seventeenth century. While a youth he was stolen by the Tartars, and sold to the Turks in Constantinople. By them he was educated in the Mohammedan faith, and when he grew up became first dragoman or translator to Mahomet or Mohammed IV. His Turkish name was Hali Bey. He understood seventeen languages, and is said to have spoken French, German, and English with the fluency of a native. To the English language he was greatly attached; and at the request of Mr. Boyle translated the catechism of the Church of England into Turkish. He also composed several works himself, several of which have been published: but his great work was the Translation of the Scriptures above noticed. Boboosky also wrote a grammar and dictionary of the Turkish language. But it is not known what has become of them, and of the church catechism. This wonderful man intended to have returned into the bosom of the Christian church; but died, before he accomplished his design. Owen's Hist, vol. iii. p. 14. note.

print in parallel columns, one containing the Greek text, the other the Albanian version.

XX. MALTESE VERSION. - The Maltese may almost be considered as a dialect of the Arabic language. Into this dialect the New Testament has been translated by Signor Giuseppe Cannólo, a native of the island of Malta, under the direction and with the assistance of the Rev. William Jowett, M. A., one of the Representatives of the Church Missionary Society in the Mediterranean. The Old Testament is in progress. As very few books have appeared in Maltese, the Gospel of John has been printed in this country, in Maltese and English, in parallel columns; and copies have been sent to Malta for distribution chiefly among persons capable of forming a judgment of the Maltese, in order to render the translation as perfect as practicable, before the entire New Testament shall be put to press. The importance of this undertaking will be felt, when it is considered that the crowded population of the islands of Malta and Goza never yet possessed the Scriptures in their own tongue. The value of this translation is further enhanced, by the circumstance that may serve as a step to Europeans who are desirous to learn the Arabic language.1

it

SECTION IV.

MODERN VERSIONS IN THE LANGUAGES OF ASIA.

I. Hebrew.II. Chaldee.-III. Versions in the oriental languages, either translated by the Baptist Missionaries at Serampore, or printed at the Mission press.-1. ARABIC, and the languages derived from or bearing affinity to it.-2. SANSCRIT, and the languages derived from or bearing affinity to it.-3. CHINESE, and the languages derived from or bearing affinity to it.-IV. Other Asiatic Versions.-1. Formosan.-2. Tartar.-3. Georgian. 4. Tahitan.

I. HEBREW: The New Testament was first translated into Hebrew by the learned Elias Hutter, who published it in his Polyglott edition of the New Testament in twelve languages, viz. Greek, Syriac, Hebrew, Latin, German, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Danish and Polish, at Nuremburg, in 1599, 1600, in two volumes, 4to. In his preface he states, that when meditating that work, he sought in vain for a Hebrew version of the New Testament. No alternative therefore was left to him, but to attempt it himself. Accordingly, laying aside every other undertaking, he translated, corrected, and finished it in the space of one year.

For

a first translation, especially when we consider the shortness of the time in which it was accomplished, it is truly a wonderful performance. From Hutter's Polyglott the Hebrew text was detached, and

I Eighteenth Report of the Church Missionary Society for 1817-1818. p. 69.

printed separately, with some corrections, under the superintendence of William Robertson, 8vo. London, 1661. It is a volume of extremely rare occurrence, as the greater part of the impression was consumed in the great fire of London, in 1666. Robertson's edition was beautifully reprinted in 12mo. at London, in 1798, by the Rev. Richard Caddick, with the pious and benevolent design of enlightening the minds of the Jews. This translation not being executed in pure biblical Hebrew, and consequently not adapted to the Jews, the London Society for promoting Christianity among them, in 1817, completed and published a new translation in biblical Hebrew, the purity of which has been acknowledged by learned Jews. The Gospel of Saint Matthew was published in 1814, and the succeeding books at different times as they could be completed. The late Rev. Dr. Buchanan, during his researches in the interior of India, obtained a Hebrew manuscript of the New Testament in the country of Travancore, which is now deposited in the University Library at Cambridge. It is written in the small Rabbinical or Jerusalem character. The translator was a learned Rabbi, and the translation is in general faithful: his design was, to make an accurate version of the New Testament, for the express purpose of confuting it, and of repelling the arguments of his neighbours, the Syrian or St. Thomé Christians. His own work was the providential instrument of subduing his unbelief; and he lived and died in the faith of Christ. A transcript of this Travancore Hebrew New Testament is in the Library of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews.2

II. CHALDEE. The New Testament has not hitherto been published in this language: but a copy in manuscript exists in the Vatican Library. The manuscript contains both the Old and New Testaments, written in Syriac characters, but the language is Chaldee.3

III. VERSIONS IN THE ORIENTAL LANGUAGES, EITHER TRANSLATED BY THE BAPTIST MISSIONARIES AT SERAMPORE, OR PRINTED AT THE MISSION PRESS. The Baptist Missionaries entered India in 1793, and ultimately fixed themselves at the Danish settlement of Serampore, near Calcutta. To this mission chiefly belongs the honour of reviving the spirit of promoting Christian knowledge, by translations of the Bible. Soon after their establishment at Serampore, they were convinced that, if ever Christianity took deep root in India, it must be through the Holy Scriptures being translated and put into the hands of the various tribes who inhabit that vast country. Aided by a noble fund for translations raised by subscriptions among the societies of the Baptist denomination in Great Britain,

1 There are extant various other Hebrew translations of detached books of the New Testament, by different individuals, which we have not room to enumerate The reader will find an account of them in Dr. Clarke's Bibliographical Dictionary, vol. vi. pp. 218-222.

2 Fourth Report of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, Appendix, p. 45.

3 Clarke's Bibliographical Dictionary, vol. vi. p. 213.

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