the Hebrew, had died after completing about three fifths of the task assigned him. His preliminary translation of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations, though not finally revised, has been substituted in recent editions of the Telugu Bible, as far superior to the version previously in use. In February, 1893, the Telugu Revision Committee re-assembled under the chairmanship of Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, and, with new members in place of those who had died or left India, arranged their plans for further procedure. It was agreed to devote all their energies to the completion of the revision of the New Testament before proceeding to do anything more to the Old Testament. The translation of the New Testament was originally made from the Greek by Drs. Hay and Wardlaw about forty years ago, and the revision of the Four Gospels which was made in 1879-'81 put them into a permanently satisfactory form. It was then hoped that The Acts might be revised and put to press by the middle of the year 1894, and that some considerable progress would also be made with Romans. Dr. Chamberlain accordingly laid aside other work and devoted some months of the following season to this task, but unfortunately his work was arrested by very serious illness, and an attack of nervous prostration forbids the hope that anything further will be accomplished during the present year. In carrying through the press new editions of Siamese portions of the Bible, the Society's Agent, Mr. Carrington, has carefully reviewed and to some extent revised the Gospel of Mark and the Books of Ruth, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Hosea. His own version of the Song of Solomon, from the original, has been completed and printed for the first time. Progress is reported in the Laos version, the Gospel of Matthew and the Book of the Acts having been put to press in the Laos character. Mr. Wilson's translation of the Psalms is ready to be printed, and that of Genesis is well advanced. Mrs. McGilvary and the Rev. E. B. McGilvary have other portions in hand. Announcement is now made of the organization of a translation committee in Korea, consisting of Mr. Appen. zeller and Dr. Scranton, of the American Methodist Episcopal Mission; Dr. Underwood and Mr. Gale, of the American Presbyterian Mission, and Mr. Trollope, of the English Mission. This committee has adopted the rules of the Board of Revisers of the Chinese version, and proposes to work upon the same lines. Use will be made of the versions prepared by Rijutei and by Ross, so far as they can contribute to the desired result. This Society has consented to participate with the Bible societies of Great Britain in providing for the expenses incidental to this very important undertaking. The original plan for united work in Japan limited the Bible Societies' Committee to the publication of the Japanese version which has for some years been in the hands of the people, but, by the common consent of the three Societies whose funds are administered by that Committee, the publication of several of the Epistles in the Ainu tongue has been undertaken. The version, which comprises Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and the Epistles of Peter, James, John, and Jude, has been made by the Rev. John Batchelor, of the Church Missionary Society, who has for many years devoted himself to missionary work among the Ainu population in the northern part of Japan. His translation of the Four Gospels and the Book of Jonah have been published previously by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The three companies of revisers who are engaged upon the Union version of the Bible for the Chinese, in accordance with the plans inaugurated by the Shanghai Missionary Conference, have nearly completed the work upon the portions of the New Testament assigned to them individually, and it is expected that the several Classical, Easy Wenli, and Mandarin companies will begin the final revision of that part of the Holy Scriptures at an early day. A committee has been at work upon a revision of the Shanghai Colloquial New Testament, which was published by the Society a number of years ago. It is expected that its work will be finished in the course of the present year. Much satisfaction is felt in announcing that, as the outcome of the labors of a quarter of a century, the version of the Bible in the Canton Colloquial is nearly completed. The New Testament and portions of the Old Testament have been printed from time to time, and many more of the books of the Old Testament are now for the first time. ready for the press, the principal translators being the Rev. H. C. Noyes and the Rev. B. C. Henry, D.D., of the Presbyterian Mission. The consent of the Managers has been given to the printing of the Shantung Colloquial Gospel of Matthew in Roman letter, prepared by the Rev. Charles H. Judd, of the China Inland Mission. Progress has been made with the Hinghua Colloquial in Roman letter. The Gospels of John and Mark have already been printed; the other Gospels and The Acts are ready for the press. The Missionary Conference which met at Shanghai in 1890 devoted a large part of its time to the question of evangelization of the empire through the circulation of the Holy Scriptures and other Christian literature in the form of books, tracts, periodicals, commentaries, and textbooks. Permanent committees were appointed for the sake of securing standard versions of the Bible from a common text, with harmonious interpretations, and with uniform methods of reproducing vernacular editions in Roman type. In the discussions of the Conference much stress was laid upon the importance and value of prefaces and comments and the importance of having such accessories accompany some of the editions of the Scriptures, and the outcome of the debate was a plan for preparing an annotated Bible for general use, with the concurrence and financial help of the Tract Societies of Great Britain and America. While making this provision for a Commentary, more or less extended, the Conference also preferred its request to the Bible Societies "to publish, in addition to their present issues, editions of the Scriptures with summaries, headings, and brief explanations," occupying comparatively little space. The Conference appointed a committee of twelve persons, representing Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, German, Methodist, and Presbyterian Missions, to prepare such explanations, requiring the unanimous approval of all for their adoption. Of course, the Bible Societies are not bound by the action of the Missionary Conference, but must have regard to the limitations of their organic law, inhibiting the introduction of "note or comment." After much correspondence and careful consideration the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Managers of the American Bible Society have taken concurrent action, adhering to the fundamental rule not to circulate Scriptures with note or comment, but agreeing to publish editions in Chinese with short paragraph headings and brief explanations, as proposed by the Conference, it being understood that such summaries and explanations will be submitted to the Societies for their approval before their adoption. NEW PLATES. One set of shells for an Agate New Testament, 32mo, has been made at the Bible House, and a set of plates for a Pearl Reference Bible has been commenced. A set of photo-engraved plates of a Polish Testament and Psalms has been bought. NEW BOOKS. There have been printed from new plates a Nonpareil English Bible in 12mo, an Agate English New Testament in 32mo, an edition of the Spanish Bible (revised) in 8vo, and an edition of the New Testament from the same plates; and a Polish New Testament, with Psalms. There have also been printed from type 1,500 Mpongwe New Testaments, 2,000 copies of the Epistles and Revelation in Benga, 3,000 Syriac Bibles, and 1,000 Syriac New Testa ments. PRINTING IN OTHER LANDS. Among the more important editions of the Scriptures which have been printed in other lands at the expense of the Society are the following: At Beirut, 10,000 New Testaments and 44,600 Portions in Arabic. In China, at Shanghai, 7,000 Testaments and 181,000 Portions in At Bangkok, 10,000 copies of the Gospel by Mark, and 26,300 other At Yokohama, under the direction of the Bible Societies' Commit- At Paris, under the direction of the Bible Society of France, 5,000 At Seoul, Korea, 5,000 copies of the Gospel by Mark. OTHER PUBLICATIONS. The Bible Society Record continues to meet with the kindly appreciation of all who keep in mind its special mission. There have been printed during the year 233,159 copies of this periodical, or a monthly average of 19,421 copies. There have been printed 5,000 copies of the Seventyseventh Annual Report; 10,000 copies of the Substance of it in a pamphlet of thirty-two pages; and 100,000 condensed Abstracts of it in English, and 10,000 of the same in German. There have also been published 100,000 copies of "Illustrations of 242 Languages and Dialects; " 10,000 copies of the Revised Edition of the Manual of the Society; 20,000 copies of Secretary Hunt's address on "Bible Societies" before the World's Congress of Missions; 30,000 leaflets concerning the Gilbert Islands Bible; 45,000 Children's Letters; 40,000 Programmes for Bible Meetings; 20,000 |