BIBLE IN MANY TONGUES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 113, 5 February 1918, Page 5

BIBLE IN MANY TONGUES

4 —. WAR WORK OP BRITISH AND FOREIGN SOCIETY. - The war has thrown much .extra work on the British and Foreign Bible Society In supplying our soldiers and sailors with copies of Q>e Scriptures the society haa been signally successful. ■■ Since the struggle began well over six million volumes have been distributed through the society's world-wide network of agencies. Its nini is to provide all men, whatever tlioi: speech and nationality, with the Word of God in their mother tongue. During more than a century pf labour, the society has published the Scriptures in over 500 languages. Since war took# out it has produced a new version once every six weeks. Among recent versions are the Chich dialect" 6f Jieng-for a race of jet-black herdsmen on the upper waters of the White Nile; the Bhili.used by the Canadian Presbyterian Mission to the Bhils—a jungle tribe on the borders of Raj put ana and Bombay; tlie Vaiphei, for the Thado-Kuki lullmen of Manipur; the Roviana, for New Georgia, in the Solomon Islands; and the Nauindui, for tho tongue of Oba Island, in the New Hebrides. There are now 68 different languages in which the Bible is distributed among our combatant forces. Tho society gives copies of tho iestament free to the oversea contingents. The 1200 hosnitals in England <md wales are also supplied free with Testaments in our own five languages; while tho troops are provided with small pocket editions, suitable for use in tho trenches, at two-thirds their catalogue price, lhe penny Testament has, owing to present conditions, been raised in price to twopence, though it-is. costing. the ,society between 4d. and'sd."t&'rcp]ac9 those that are distributed. There is a Governmental regulation that men on term shall bo provided with Bibles; toit th» supply has not been sufficient, though their needs have been met to a very large extent by philanthropy effort. All our prisoners in Central-Europe have been provided with tho Scriptures, tho society having given enougjh to meet every requirement. This work is being done through the Berlin depot, liV conlUt of the British Government. Most of the volumes have been cent from London by arrangement with the British and German Governments, who have put no hindrance in the way of this distribution. What the society has .done for our own prisoners it has,.done for French and Russian prisoners, • and also_ those we have captured from our enemies. Labour battalions, including tho Chinese labour contingents, in this country and in France are supplied, and also the detachments from South Africa. \Vhen Italy joined in the war the society's agent at Buenos Ajres gavo each man who was recruited in the Argentine an Italian Gospel or Testament to read on tho voyage. Again, the •WOO Armenian refngeos, wlio were picked up oy a French warship somo time ago off the Lebanon, were supplied with the Armenian Scriptutcs. In a London military hospital some natives of tho ba\ age Islands still had in their possession New Testaments in the Nino language, provided by the society before leaving the r home. These men asked for compMo Bibles in their mother tongue. I' l ® society sent the books tor return of post Tho Bible Society's depots were weU stocked wlien the war.broke out. Its agents in encmv countries have been aWe ?o replenish tl.cir stocks out of receipts from sales, and there has been no cessation of Bible wort in any country not own in Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria, or Greece The depot at Constantinople has been open every day. and the agent, though an Englishman, lias been treated with the greatest courtesy, and the colportours allowed to continue their work without interruption.