[BURWASH] GIFT TO A NATION 17 
been created and the supply was forthcoming. The little band of trans- 
lators at Rossville Mission began to bring forth fruits of their labour. 
They soon passed beyond hymns, catechism, the Lord’s prayer, and 
texts and selections of Seripture. In August 1848 Mason writes, “I 
engaged a pious young man as schoolmaster, in order to secure the con- 
stant assistance of Mr. Stemhauer in printing and translating.’ April 
Ist, 1849, “‘ John Sinclair, Jr. has just finished translating the Book of 
Genesis which will have to be revised.”” In 1851 and 1852 we find 
copies of the Gospel of St. John printed at Rossville, Norway House 
with this note dated London, November 23rd, 1852. ‘This book was 
executed, 1851, By the Rev. W. Mason” Elijah Hoole. Another copy 
dated York Factory 1852 is marked as “translated by the Wesleyan 
Missionaries.” Mason was now superintendent of the Mission Station, 
and all the workers were under his direction, but there is clear evidence 
that Sinclair and Steinhauer were the active workers in the department 
of translation. As early as 1840 Steinhauer was engaged in successful 
translation as Mason himself testifies. In 1843 he was transferred to 
Norway House for this work as well as for teaching. In 1848 Mason 
writes “ I have engaged a pious young man as schoolmaster. ost 
in order to secure the constant assistance of Mr. Stemhauer in printing 
and translating.”’ This all corroborates Steinhauer’s own testimony 
as given to Dr. Maclean and Dr. MacDougall that he translated the Old 
Testament from Job to Malachi and the New from Romans to Revela- 
tion. In the same year, 1848, Mason writes “ John Sinclair, jun., has 
just finished translating the Book of Genesis which will have to be 
revised.” This again agrees with the testimony given to Maclean 
and MacDougall that Sinclair translated from Genesis to Esther and 
from Matthew to Acts. Another corroboration is the existence in the 
Library of Victoria College of a large part of the Ms. of Genesis in the 
handwriting of Sinclair, presented by Dr. Maclean. This Ms. has been 
compared in several passages with the printed Cree Bible of 1861 and 
the agreement is quite marked, the changes being such as would result 
from revision rather than new or independent translation. This again 
is not inconsistent with the letter of Mason in 1886 published by Pilling 
in his Bibliography of the Algonquin Languages, page 340, in which 
Mason says, “ In the translation of the Bible into the Cree language I 
was assisted by Henry Steinhauer and John Sinclair, who were at the 
time schoolmaster and interpreter at the Rossville station where I was 
minister, and by other Indians. The final revision was the joint work 
of myself and my wife Sophia Mason. I never claimed to be the in- 
ventor of the Cree syllabary; that honor belongs to the Rev. James 
Evans.” In 1858 Mr. Mason and his wife returned to England to carry 
the work through the press, Mrs. Mason dying just as the Old Testa- 
