DORPAT ESTHONIAN.

SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN, CHAP. I. v. 1 to 14.

Algmissen olli se sönna, nink se sönna olli Jummala man nink Jummal olli se sönna. 2 Sesamma olli algmissen Jummala man. 3 Kik om läbbi temma tettu: Nink middake ei ole temmata tettu, mes tettu om. 4 Temma sissen olli ello, nink se ello olli innimiste walgus: 5 Nink walgus paist pimmedan, nink pimmedus ei olle tedda wastawötnu. 6 Úts inniminne lähhäteti Jummalast, sel olli nimmi Jaan. 7 Sesamma tulli tunnistusse perrast, et temma walgussest tunnistas, et kik temma läbbi ussusse. 8 Temma es olle mitte walgus, enge et temma tunnistas walgussest. 9 Töisine walgus, kumb kik innimissi walgustap, tulli ilma sisse. 10 Se olli ilman, nink ilm om temma läbbi sanu: Nink ilm es tunne tedda mitte. 11 Temma tulli omma sisse, nink ommatse es wötta tedda wasta. 12 Ent mitto tedda wasta wöttiwa, neile and temma woimust Jummala latsis sada, kea temma nimme sisse uskwa : 13 Kea ei olle sündinu werrest, ei ka lihha tahtmissest, enge Jummalast. 14 Nink se sönna saije lihhas, nink elli meije sean, (nink meije näime temma auwustust, kui aino sündinu (po ja) auwustust essast,) täüs armo nink töttet.

ESTHONIA is a maritime government in the north-west of European Russia, and forms one of the Baltic provinces. It was sold by the Danes to the Teutonic Knights in 1347, was conquered by Sweden in 1561, and annexed to Russia by Peter the Great in 1710. Its area is about 6,870 square miles, and its population amounted in 1851 to 289,800. The lower classes only of this population are, strictly speaking, Esthonians, the wealthier inhabitants being mostly of Danish or German descent. The language, which exhibits the same characteristics as other Finnish tongues, is spoken in two dialects, the Dorpat and the Reval Esthonian. The former is spoken in South Esthonia, and the latter prevails in the North. Almost all the Esthonians are of the Lutheran persuasion. They were first put into possession of the oracles of God in the year 1686, when John Fischer, a German professor of divinity and general superintendent of Livonia, published an Esthonian version of the entire New Testament. This translation had been executed by Fischer, at the command of Charles XI. A version of the Old Testament, made by the same translator, aided by Gosekenius, appeared in 4to. in 1689. This was followed in the year 1700 by an edition of the Gospels and Epistles for the festival days of the church. It is uncertain in which dialect these early versions were written, but it is probable that they were understood throughout Esthonia.

A version of the New Testament in Dorpat Esthonian was printed at Riga in 1727, in 8vo. This edition was speedily exhausted; and the Dorpat Esthonians being left without further supplies, made use of the Reval Esthonian version of 1739. In 1810, the prosecution of certain inquiries, instituted by the British and Foreign Bible Society, concerning the state of the Scriptures in Russia, led to the discovery that the Esthonians were almost destitute of the Scriptures. Grants in aid of a new edition were voted by the Society; and in 1815, through the exertions of Dr. Paterson, 5000 copies of the Dorpat Esthonian New Testament were completed at press. In 1824 the Russian Bible Society reported that they had printed 8000 copies of the same version. Another edition of the New Testament was undertaken by the Dorpat Bible Society in 1836; and during the same year a version of the Psalms, translated from the Hebrew by the Rev. Ferdinand Meyer, of Carolen, was printed by the aid of the Parent Society: this latter edition consisted of 4500 copies. In a letter received from an Esthonian pastor, dated January, 1850, it is stated that "an edition of the Bible has just been issued at Reval and Dorpat." The work of Scripture distribution is now extensively prosecuted from both of these towns on behalf of the American Bible Society, which has supplied consi lerable funds for the purpose. An edition of 10,000 Dorpat Esthonian New Testaments was authorised by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1856, the version being first carefully revised by Dr. Kiel: the execution of this work appears, however, to have been hitherto delayed.

REVAL ESTHONI A N.

SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, CHAP. I. v. 1 to 14.

Algmisses olli se Sanna, ja se Sanna olli Jummala jures, ja se Sanna olli Jummal. 2 Sesamma olli algmisses Jummala jures. 3 Keik asjad on temma läbɩ' tehtud, ja ilma temmata ep olle ühtegi tehtud, mis tehtud on. 4 Temma sees olli ello, ja se ello olli innimeste walgus, 5 Ja se walgus paistis pimmedusses, ja pimmedus ei wötnuð sedda wašto. 6 (Üks innimenne, Joannes nimmi, sai Jummalast läkkitud; 7 Sesinnane tulli tunnistusseks, et temma sest walgussest piddi tunnistama, et keik temma läbbi piddid uskma. 8 Temma ep olnud mitte se walgus, waid, et temma piddi tunnistama sest walgusfest.) 9 Se olli se tössine walgus, kes walgustab keik innimessed, kui ta mailma sisse tulli. 10 Temma olli mailmas, ja mailm on temma läbbi tehtud, ja mailm ei tunnuð tedda mitte. 11 Temma tulli omma sisse, ja need ommaksed ei wötnud tedda mitte wasto; 12 Agga ni mitto, kui tedda wastowötsid, neile andis temma melewalda Jummala lapsiks sada, kes temma nimme sisse uskwad, 13 Kes ep olle werrest, ei lihha tahtmissest, egga mehhe tahtmissest, waid Jummalast sündinud. 14 Ja se Sanna sai lihhaks, ja wöttis kui ühhes maias meie seas ellada (ja meie näggime temma au kui Issast ainosündinud Poia au) täis armo ja töt.

THE Reval dialect of the Esthonian language is spoken in the north of Livonia, including the three adjacent islands of Oesel, Dagden (or Dagöe), and Mohn. In 1811 the Moravian missionaries, who were labouring among this people, calculated that 2500 individuals in Reval Esthonia, and 5000 in the above islands, had been awakened to a sense of the importance of religion.

The first edition of the Scriptures in Reval Esthonian was printed at Reval in 1739, in 4to.; it was partly published at the expense of the celebrated Count Zinzendorf. A second edition is said to have followed in 1773, and a third in 1790. These two latter editions (if actually published, which seems doubtful) could have comprised no large amount of copies; for in 1810 it was reported that to many of the peasantry in Esthonia the Bible was unknown. In 1815, through the zeal of Dr. Paterson, and the aid afforded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 10,000 copies of the New Testament was printed in Reval Esthonian. The Russian Bible Society appears to have published 5100 copies of the Old Testament in this version, prior to the year 1824, and some recent editions have been issued at Dorpat. The most extensive aid has, however, been furnished by the American Bible Society, which in 1850 supplied the funds for printing (in Finland), an edition of 20,000 New Testaments in Reval Esthonian, 10,000 of them having the Psalms appended. This welcome supply was transmitted to the Reval Bible Society for distribution.

The Esthonian Scriptures in both dialects have been particularly blessed to the soldiers of that nation. The sons of the peasantry are frequently drafted into Russian regiments, and stationed at a great distance from their native land. Here they are obliged to serve twenty-five years, without ever hearing a Protestant clergyman address them in their native language; and being thus precluded from hearing the Gospel preached, their need of the written Word of God is the more especially urgent. It is said that the joy of these soldiers is unbounded when copies of the Scriptures are distributed among them. They have been known to crowd around the distributor, and to fall at his knees in token of unfeigned gratitude; and they have even kissed the sacred volume, and invoked blessings on their benefactors.

TSCHEREMISSIAN.

FOR SPECIMEN OF THE TSCHEREMISSIAN VERSION, SEE PLATE 9, PAGE 356. THE people by whom this dialect is spoken dwell along the banks of the Volga and Kama, in the Russian governments of Kasan and Simbirsk. Tooke says that members of this tribe are also to be found on both sides of the Volga, particularly on the left side, in the government of Nijnii-Novgorod. The total number of Tscheremissians has been estimated at 50,000; most of them belong to the Russian Church.

In 1819 a translation of part of the Scriptures into Tscheremissian was undertaken by the Russian Bible Society, and twelve translators were employed in the preparation of the work. The Gospel of St. Matthew, the first portion completed, left the press in 1820. To ascertain whether the dialect in which it is written could be readily understood by the Tscheremissians, the Archbishop of Kasan collected a number of them together, and caused part of this Gospel to be read aloud to them. When these poor people heard the words of Jesus in their own tongue, "they wept for joy, and were ready to fall down and worship." An edition of the Four Gospels in the same dialect was therefore printed in the following year; and at length 3000 copies of the entire New Testament were carried through the press, under the care of the Kasan Bible Society.

Shortly after the completion of this version, a statement was drawn up by various parish ministers respecting the number of heathen who had been led to embrace Christianity from among the Tscheremissians. One minister mentioned eleven, another thirty-eight, a third mentioned one hundred, and a fourth fifty-two instances of conversion, as having taken place in their respective parishes. And this, it was stated, was accomplished in some instances exclusively, and in others principally, by means of the perusal of the Tscheremissian Gospels.

MORDVINIAN, OR MORDUIN.

FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, SEE PLATE 9, PAGE 356.

THIS dialect of the Finnish is spoken on the banks of the Oka and the Volga, in the governments of Nijnii-Novgorod and Kasan. According to Tooke, members of this tribe are also to be met with in Orenburg. The number of individuals composing this horde is very uncertain: they profess Christianity, but retain many heathenish practices. They were brought before the notice of the Russian Bible Society in 1817, and a translation of the New Testament was undertaken for their benefit. The Four Gospels left the press in 1821, and ultimately an edition of 3000 copies of the New Testament was printed under the superintendence of the Kasan Bible Society.

ZIRIAN, OR SIRENIA N.

FOR SPECIMEN OF THIS VERSION, SEE PLATE 7, PAGE 338.

THERE is some difference of opinion concerning the precise geographical limits of the Zirian dialect. It has been said to prevail in the governments of Perm, Tobolsk, and Archangel; but it is undoubtedly the predominant dialect of the district of Oustioug-veliki, in Vologda. The Zirinians were converted to Christianity in the fourteenth century, by the preaching of St. Etienne; and there are some reasons for supposing that the Scriptures and the church books were translated into the Zirian dialect about that period; but not a single vestige of this translation at present remains.

The only portion of the Scriptures now possessed by the Zirians, in their own dialect, consists of the Gospel of St. Matthew; 1400 copies of which were printed for them by the Russian Bible Society in 1823. The translator's name was Scherzen.

WOGULIAN.

THE Wogulians dwell in the governments of Perm and Tobolsk, in a district between the Tobol, the Beresov, the Obi, and the Uralian Mountains. The Protohiery (Primate) Teletzyn, in concert with the clergy of his diocese, undertook a translation of the Scriptures into Wogulian; and in 1820 the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were translated and ready for the press. The MS. was submitted to the Tobolsk Bible Committee, by whom it was forwarded to the Russian Bible Society, but it does not appear to have ever been printed; so that the Wogulians are still unsupplied with any portion of the Scriptures in their own dialect.

OSTIA CAN,

OR OSTJAKIA N.

THIS dialect prevails on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, and on the banks of the Obi, Irtish, and Yenesei, from the city of Tomsk (lat. 58° north, long. 83° 20′ east) to Obdorsk. It greatly resembles the Mordvinian, and is at the same time so similar to the Wogulian, that it is thought the members of the two tribes must be capable of holding intercourse together. The Ostiaks are accounted one of the most numerous tribes in Siberia. A translation of the Scriptures into their dialect was going forward in 1820, under the care and inspection of Werguno, the active and zealous protohiery or primate at Beresov, and the Gospel of St. Matthew, translated by a learned priest, was forwarded for publication to the Committee of the Russian Bible Society: but it does not appear to have been printed, and we do not hear of the translation of any other portion of the Testament.

WOTAGIAN,

OR WOTJAKI A N.

THE Wotagians, or, as they are more commonly called, the Votiaks, or Wotjaks, are a numerous people in the governments of Viatka and Orenburg, and perhaps in that of Vologda; but they chiefly reside in districts on the banks of the Viatka, and between that river and the Upper Kama. Dr. Pinkerton estimates their number at 100,000 individuals: they all profess adherence to the Russian Church, but many among them are still heathens.

Lewandowski, a learned Votiak, well acquainted with his native dialect, was the first to undertake a translation of the Scriptures for his countrymen. In 1820 he sent a translation of the first ten chapters of St. Matthew to the Russian Bible Society as a specimen, with an offer to prosecute the translation, if deemed desirable: the committee encouraged him to proceed, and directed him to submit his work to such clergymen as were acquainted with the dialect.

The translation appears to have been continued under the care and inspection of the Committee of the Viatka Branch Bible Society; and the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were completed during the year 1823. After this translation had been examined by various competent individuals, and subjected to minute and careful revision, the Bishop of Viatka and other clergy affixed their signatures to it, in testimony of its being perfectly intelligible to the tribe for whom it was designed. The other two Gospels were translated shortly afterwards, and an edition, intended to consist of 2000 copies, was ordered by the Russian Bible Society. The first pages of the Gospel of St. Matthew were printed during Advent; and as the first two chapters are publicly read in the Russian Church on Christmas day, the committee forwarded the printed sheets to the clergy of twenty-seven Viatka parishes, with a request that they would read the translation to the people, and thus test its intelligibility. From the accounts subsequently given by the clergy, it appeared that their respective hearers were equally astonished and overjoyed on hearing the Gospel in their own dialect. In one parish many of the Votiaks declared that the version was perfectly intelligible to them, and that they only wished to hear more of it. The people of another parish requested, at the conclusion of the service, that the Gospel in their own language might be read over again to them, which was actually done more than once. On separating they were observed to be engaged in close conversation together on the subject of what they had heard, and many exclaimed, "Inmar badsim! Inmar allam!" The Lord is a great God.

This is one of the versions which was left in an unfinished state at the time of the suspension of the Russian Bible Society. The printing, though commenced, does not appear to have been continued even to the completion of a single book. Thus, although a faithful and accredited version of the Four Gospels exists in their language, these people have remained to the present moment destitute of a single printed copy of any portion of the Scriptures in a dialect intelligible to them.