The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1876-10-05
THE HOLY BOOK.
The Bible in One Hundred Languages.
[From the Philadelphia Bulletin.l

[From the Philadelphia Bulletin.l
A little to the southwark of Horticul-
tHral Hall, upon shady walk leading
from thence to the Dairy, is pretty pa
vilion, to which attention is attracted by
q large sign upon its front, reading,
$ Bibles in 100 languages. It is the
pavilion of the American Bible Society,
and we are told it has been erected "by
special contributions by a few friends OF
the Bible" who have desired that q
place should be set apart In the Exhlbi-
ton celebrating the Centennial anniver-
sary of the nations birth for the espe-
cial display of the Book, the pure teach
ings of which arc the foundations of all
free and enlightened government.
The oddity of the sign attracts to the
pavilion good many people who are by
no means in the habit of reading the
Bible In any language at all. aud by
whom its reproduction In 100 languages
is regarded only as an interesting liter
airy curiosity az a curiosity, too, which
needs to be examined before tits accept
ed as an absolute fact. The number
seems excessive and to require the sub
sanitation of ocular proof. But, as
with the Bible itself, the fulhllment Is
greater than the promise, for the lO0
languages include many dialects. and
the actual number of different versions
of the holy work is no less than 1854.
The amount of labor expended upon
these translations Can scarcely be real
lied even by those who have been en-
gagged in similar work, especially as
such work has been of religious or
technical character, requiring the ut
most care to preserve sense ane fact IN
tact In the transp position from one set of
words into another of different powers
and different construction. 1t the ma
iority of these TRANSACTIONS in has been
primarily necessary to reduce the for
eign language to written signs, an I'M
dertaking requiring years OF patient,
labOriOus research which must be counted
III as part of the work as whole. But
an even greater difficulty has been
found in making the language OF heath
en- nations ard tribes express Christian
Ideas. The theory of the Christian
religion is SO pure, It's commandments
while SO simple-are SO exalted that the
vocabularies, ample for the promotion
of pagan creeds, have proved inadequate
W GA B1Ss5 GEAO Pl4OAJ SCAACSo OO@cAAAAS Va
Christ. The tongues, framed only TO
describe the gross, material wants of
the body, have required Infinite man
ipuIation-sometimes entire remodeling
to adapt them to the language OF the
soul, and it has been upon this division
of their noble task that the greater por-
ton of the labor of translation has been
expended. The danger of mistakes in
meaning which have proved
stumbling blocks in the way OF those
who might otherwise believe-renders
caution of no ordinary kind necessary
in the work, and every translation that
mas been put forth has been the result
not of weeks nor OF months, but of long
years of labor. The translation into
Arabic by DR.. Eli Smith and DR.. Van
Dyck occupied sixteen years; DR..
Schaufier, Of Constantin eple, finished
In 1874 his translation into Osmanlee,
begun in 1860; DR.. Schereschewsky
was for more than fifteen years en-
gagged in the translation alone of the
Old Testament into the Mandarin col
loquial of China, and Drs. Williamson
and Riggs are but now putting the
finishing touches to their translation
into Dakota, begun full forty years ago,
and, as with these versions, SO has it
been with all.