PREFATORY REMARKS. It is remarkable that, among all the branches of history, religious, political, social, literary, and scientific, which have from time to time obtained such numerous and such able exponents, the history of the Oracles of God has hitherto, in the form at least of a complete and unbroken narrative, remained unwritten. The materials for such a work have, however, been accumulating from century to century; fragmentary portions of this history enter into the composition of many profound and learned treatises, while facts and incidents connected with or illustrative of the subject have been supplied even to profusion by writers of almost every age, creed, and nation. To collect from all sources, ancient and modern, the multitudinous details bearing on that history which above all others involves the temporal and eternal interests of mankind, and thus to produce a clear and condensed account of the means by which the Scriptures were transmitted from generation to generation,-of the circumstances under which they have been translated into the predominant languages of every land,—and of the agencies by which copies of the inspired writings in these divers languages have been multiplied and dispersed among the nations and tribes and kindreds of the earth,—is the object of the present work. The arrangement of the whole work is in strict conformity with the latest discoveries in ethnology; for, although the one grand object of displaying the history of the Scriptures has never been departed from in these pages, the origin and condition of the nations to whom special versions have been vouchsafed, and the distinguishing characteristics of the languages into which have been transferred the words of Him who "spake as never man spake," have passed under careful review. The elements of these languages, the stock or stocks from which they sprang, and their affiliation with other languages, have been examined more or less in detail; and the singular precision with which all languages range themselves, according to the order of their mutual affinities, into classes, families, and subdivisions, is exhibited by means of our Tables of Classification, perhaps the first of the kind compiled in our language. The work has thus in some degree assumed the character of an ethnological manual, and as such it may possibly prove a stepping-stone to those who desire to pass from b the study of two or three isolated languages to the enlarged consideration of language in general, and of the laws upon which all languages are constructed. Such investigations, if laboriously, patiently, and honestly conducted, can lead but to one result, the affinities by which families and even classes of languages are linked together being so close and intimate, that the more deeply they are examined, the more profound becomes the conviction of the truth of the theory respecting the original unity of language. This volume is illustrated by specimen portions of all the extant and attainable versions of the Scriptures, printed in their own proper characters. The maps appertaining to the several sections of the work exhibit the geographical location and extent of each language, and likewise show how far the divine light of the Holy Scriptures, in the vernacular languages of the natives, shines over the world. It has been attempted, also, from the mass of missionary and epistolary evidence existing, to draw conclusions respecting the effects which may have followed the perusal of special versions of the Scriptures. All reasonings on this subject, however, even with the most ample opportunities of forming as far as possible a correct judgment, can at best be but approximations towards the truth. Known only to God is the number of His spiritual worshippers. The Word of God is still quick and powerful, in every tongue and among every nation, and it cannot return unto Him void: therefore let us "in the morning sow our seed, and in the evening withhold not our hand." The question which shall prosper, this or that, or whether they shall both alike be good, is one of the secret things which belong unto the Lord most High. The Publishers would fain express their deep obligation, individually, to the numerous friends who have taken part in the preparation of this laborious work, were such an enumeration suitable; but they cannot refrain from recording the particular value of the aid afforded by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Bible Society, the Missionary Societies of this country and of America. They would also render a becoming tribute to the munificence of the Emperor of Austria, who has been pleased to supply, for the due completion of this work, the entire series of Native Alphabets with which it is enriched. London, 15, Paternoster Row, 1851. |