that a letter has been forwarded by Mr. Bennett, and been miscarried or lost on the way.

ASSAM.

From Assam we have no further intelligence than that Mr. Brown has completed and carried through the press a revised (third) edition of the Assamese New Testament. The sum appropriated by this Society for revising, printing and distributing Scriptures in Assam during the last year, was $1,750.

THE TELOGOOS.

From the mission among this people the Board have learned only that since March, 1849, over four thousand copies of portions of Scriptures have been distributed, and are received with avidity by the natives. Very few of them, it is ascertained, are destroyed. The Board have appropriated during the last year, for printing and distributing Scriptures among the Telogoos, $1,000.

SIAM.

The intelligence received by the Board from Siam assumes a character more encouraging than is usual from that land of thick moral night. A new edition of the Siamese New Testament, revised by the translator, the Rev. John Taylor Jones, D.D., has been printed and put in process of circulation. The missionary printer, Mr. J. H. Chandler, testifies to the thoroughness of the revision, and speaks of the edition as an “advance in biblical translations." "The completion of this edition is a source of joy to us all," he says. "The Word of God is the great instrument by which we are to overthrow the false systems of religion which have so long prevailed in these Eastern lands. Budhism has been the prevailing religion of Siam for hundreds of years. Three thousand six hundred and eighty-three volumes of Budhist Scriptures have already been translated into the Siamese language, and the people have drunk in the system to its very dregs. But, alas! instead of exalting them, it has only sunk them in ignorance, vice, superstition, oppression and misery in a multitude of forms in this life, and everlasting punishment in the world to

come.

"To cure these numerous and terrible evils," he continues, "God has in these last days sent his servants into this land, and through his blessing has enabled them to acquire the language and translate His Word. Life and immortality are now brought to light. A way of salvation through the vicarious sufferings and death of the Son of God is made. known, bringing peace on earth and good will to men; assuring all who believe and accept this salvation, freedom from sin and its consequences, and eternal happiness in heaven. It should be the constant and fervent prayer of every Christian that the distribution of the leaves of the tree of life among this people may be for the healing of the nation."

The Board learn from the same letter that Dr. Jones was then (Aug. 3, 1850) making arrangements to translate the Old Testament, and hoped to have Genesis ready for the press by the close of the year. "It seems desirable," he says, "to have Dr. Jones employed in biblical translations; and so long as the demand for books continues, it becomes us to circulate the Word of God as extensively as possible. We have at present little else to distribute, and full one third of the present edition of the New Testament has already been given away. Should we travel and distribute as much the coming cold season as we have been accustomed to do, we should not have a single book left."

In the letter of Mr. Chandler, and in Dr. Jones's Preface annexed, both of which are communicated herewith, will be found an interesting account of the edition of the New Testament just published, and of biblical labors in Siam generally. The Board have appropriated during the year, for the further prosecution of the work of translating and printing the Scriptures in Siamese, $1,200.*

CHINA.

When it is considered that a version of the Scriptures prepared for the Chinese, renders the Word of God accessible to a portion of the human family larger by far than any other portion reading one language, and that this immense population are in certain ways and to certain extents a civilized and refined people, the work of a Bible Society in relation to such a field becomes one of transcendent importance. It is much to be regretted that the biblical labors of former years by missionaries and translators have been so imperfect and unsatisfactory. Perhaps, however, such a fact should occasion no surprise. It is comparatively an easy thing to translate the Bible into a language like our own, spoken by a people whose religious ideas have been for centuries in the general line of its teachings, but another and an immensely laborious thing to translate that Bible into the language of a people whose religious ideas of every grade and character are essentially different, and whose language itself is one of the most peculiar and arbitrary to be found in the world. Such difficulties can be overcome only by long and patient labor, and by the action

* After the preparation of this Report, the painful intelligence reached this country, that the mission premises and property at Bangkok, including the type foundry, the printing office, and the larger part of the edition of the New Testament above alluded to, have been destroyed by fire. Mr. Chandler is understood to be on his way to the United States to procure means for repairing the loss, which is estimated at from $10,000 to $15,000. By a vote of the Missionary Union, special collections for this purpose are to be taken in the churches, which it is to be hoped will be liberal and sufficient; and it should be further remembered by the patrons of this Society that increased appropriations for Scripture operations in Siam will be rendered necessary by this calamity.

Dr. Jones's Preface and Mr. Chandler's letter will be found at the conclusion of this Report.

and reaction of many minds. That the difficulties are developed and that progress is made, are in themselves large attainments. In this state the work of translation in China is found at the present time. The crisis, it may be hoped, is passed, and future advances will unquestionably be more rapid.

With the associated labors of the Committee at Shanghai, and the dif ficulties which have arisen in that body on the rendering of the Hebrew and Greek words employed in the Bible for God, gods and spirit, this Society has not been specially connected. The controversy alluded to has been one of great moment, and it is a gratifying fact that in some of its features it has developed an adherence to the principles of translation which gave rise to this Society. The refusal to use the transferred terms Aloho or Eloah for God, rests upon the same grounds on which the Baptist missionaries refused to transfer baptizo to Eastern versions. "It conveys no thought to the Chinese mind, and must be explained by some other intelligible word or phrase. But if such an expression can be found, it would undoubtedly be better to employ it at once than to use it merely as an exegetical medium, whereby to interpret a foreign term transferred into the language.' This is essentially what was affirmed in the Salem resolutions of the American Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, passed in 1833. On the question agitated in China the Baptist missionaries are understood to be agreed among themselves, and to concur in opinion with the majority of the Protestant missionaries of that Empire.

The work of translation in China, under the patronage of this Society, has been carried forward in an independent, but not unfraternal, way, by missionaries of ample competency, and their progress and success thus far have been in an eminent degree encouraging. Portions of Scripture have been put in circulation with happy results, but Bible operations in China remain still so much in the line of translation only that few incidents are furnished of general interest. These incidents will begin to appear when the work of translation shall have been accomplished, and

* Report of the Committee on Versions, of the American Bible Society, adopted unanimously by the Board of Managers, Dec. 5, 1850.

+ These resolutions were in the following words:

Resolved, That the Board feel it to be their duty to adopt all prudent measures to give to the heathen the pure Word of God in their own languages; and to furnish their missionaries with all the means in their power, to make their translations as exact a representation of the mind of the Holy Spirit as may be possible.

Resolved, That all the missionaries of the Board, who are or who shall be engaged in translating the Scriptures, be instructed to endeavor, by earnest prayer and diligent study, to ascertain the precise meaning of the original text; to express that meaning as exactly as the nature of the language into which they shall translate the Bible will permit; and to transfer no words which are capable of being translated.

colporteurs and teachers traverse the country freighted with the Word of Life. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall His WORD be that goeth forth out of his mouth; it shall not return to Him void, but it shall accomplish that which he pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto he sent it. Those that bear it shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before them into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

At Hong Kong there have been printed during the past year, 3,000 copies of the Acts, translated by the Rev. William Dean, and 3,000 copies of the Gospel of John, translated by the Rev. J. Goddard. A new translation of Genesis, by Mr. Dean, with notes, has been prepared. Of this, 3,000 of the first six chapters, and 2,100 of the six next succeeding, have been printed as tracts, and many of them circulated. Over 500 copies of Mr. Dean's Matthew, with notes, have been distributed.

At Ningpo there have been printed during the year 4,000 copies of Genesis in 8vo, and 1,200 copies have been issued from the depository; 10,000 copies (one half for brethren at Shanghai) of the first five chapters of Genesis, with notes, have been published in a tract, and 400 copies issued from the depository at Ningpo; 10,000 copies of the first chapter of Genesis (one half for Shanghai) have likewise been published in a small tract, with a few introductory explanations and brief notes; and of these, 2,000 copies have been issued from the Ningpo depository.* There have also been issued for distribution 127 copies of Matthew, 9 copies of Acts, 110 copies first five chapters of Genesis, Svo, and 110 copies of the first six chapters of the same book.

The appropriations made by this Society to the American Baptist Missionary Union, during the year just closed, for carrying forward Bible operations in China, amount to $3,000.

"These portions of Scripture," says the Rev. Mr. Goddard, (Ningpo, May 28, 1850,) "fitted to direct the minds of the Chinese to the Creator, the only true God, we distribute freely, and hope they may produce their effect on the mass of the people. The Chinese have no idea of a Creator; they do not ascribe the work of creation to their gods, and, indeed, the common people have almost no idea as to the origin of things. Still they feel the force of the question, Who made these heavens and earth, the sun, moon, and all things? They see that it is a proper question, and it furnishes a most palpable criterion whereby to distinguish the true God from false ones. Hence these most early portions of sacred history are peculiarly suited to the present circumstances of these heathen people."

HOME OPERATIONS.

The history, the condition, and the prospects of the Home Department of the Society's operations, have engaged the diligent attention of the Board during the entire year. They have endeavored to conduct its affairs with economy, and, by attentive study of its details, to prepare the way for any improvements in methods of business which might seem to be required. They have been able to arrive at certain conclusions, in which they believe the Society will concur, viz.: That the stock should be reduced to the actual necessities of annual sales; that it should consist of such varieties only as are in positive demand; that Bibles and Testaments should be procured by manufacture from plates on hand, or by purchase, according as the one method or the other may be cheapest; and that in the manufacture of Bibles and Testaments, contracts for editions, bound and delivered, should be preferred to contracts for paper printing and binding separately. They are agreed likewise in the opinion, that the Department of Donations and the Department of Publication and Sales should be kept entirely distinct; and they have accordingly directed the opening of the accounts for the new year under such a plan. By this method, all donations to the Society will go for the purposes of practical benevolence, and the department of publication and sale will be, as its title imports, a commercial department, whose actual losses and gains will become apparent. The property now invested in that department will, it is believed, furnish the necessary capital for its business, and the opportunity of proving whether such a department can be made to sustain itself. The only practical difficulty in pursuing the plan relates to the division of expenses. This question, however, has engaged the attention of the Board, and general rules have been fixed. It will be observed, that under this plan, whatever appropriations are made to the destitute in our own country will be charged to the Department of Donations. That is to say, if the Society makes grants of Bibles and Testaments to the destitute at home, it will do it on the same grounds, and from the same resources, as in the case of appropriations of money for the benefit of the destitute abroad; and the Department of Donations will pay into the Department of Publication and Sales the cost of all appropriated books. The latter department would soon be exhausted of its resources, if the former might draw upon it for appropriations without making payment.

This plan of operations is adopted on the supposition that the Society will continue its Home operations. The question of continuance was referred by the Society, at its last annual meeting, to a large and respectable Committee, and the Board of Managers would by no means anticipate the views which that Committee may regard it as their duty to