ALGONQUIAN LANGUAGES. 



135 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



heare hath translated the whole bible into 

 the Indian language ; wee haue out of our 

 desire to further a worke of soe great con- 

 sernment haueing hopes that somthinge wil- 

 bee collected in particulare with Relation to 

 the printing of the ould Tesfament agreed with 

 an able Printer for three yeares vpon the 

 tearmes and conditions enclosed and vnder- 

 standing by Mr, Vshers agent that there is 

 nothing wanting except paper wee haue sent 

 an hundred and four reames of euery sume the 

 sheet that is nowsentouerto vs is of; That soe 

 there might bee nothinge to hinder the dispatch 

 of the whole bible hopeing that both presses 

 being imployed and all other busines layed 

 aside that might hinder it there wilbeea happy 

 progresse made by the returne of the next 

 shipps which may much further contribution 

 with relation to it; and although wee haue by 

 our former letters desired that for the reasons 

 therin meacioned the sume of fine hundred 

 pounds per annum onely may bee charged on 

 vs yett with respect ti)youer present imergen- 

 cies in relation to the printing of the New Tes- 

 tament; wee haue bine willing to comply with 

 youer desires in paying the bill of eight hun- 

 dred pounds thisyearedrdwne on vs, which wee 

 hope together with the one hundred twenty flue 

 pounds twelue shillings and ten pence remain- 

 ing of the stocke in Mr. Vshers hands will more 

 thenfinish the worke of printing the same ; . . . 

 wee desire you att the earnest request of Mr. 

 Johnson the Printer and for his iucurragement 

 in this vndertakeing of printing the bible in the 

 Indian language his name may bee mencioned 

 with others as a printer and person that hath 

 bine Instrumentall therin." 



The new printer, Mr. Johnson, arrived in 

 2Tew England in the summer of 1660. Before 

 September of the same year six sheets of the 

 new testament had been printed, as appears 

 from a charge of 2i I. in the treasurer's account 

 for that year, "To Mr. Grreen for distributing 

 the fontt of letters and printing six sheets of 

 the new T^p.^tament in Indian act four pounds 

 per sheet." At the next meeting of the Com- 

 missioners in New Haven, they wrote to the 

 Corporation, September 10, 1660, as follows: 

 " in Generall wee haue bin enformed that about 

 one hundred of Mr. Elliotts Indians can read 

 in the bible and many other about Plymouth 

 Martins vinyards and other places; . . . wee 

 shall attend youer aduise for the Impression of 

 the whole bible without which we should have 

 rested in our former determination that the 

 coppy might haue bine fully perused and per- 

 fected by the most skilfulest healpes in the 

 Countrey ; and such order is taken by the aduise 

 and consent of Mr. Eliott Mr. Vshor Mr. 

 Green and Mr. Johnson that the Impression of 

 the ould and New Testament shalbee carryed 

 on together which they haue alreddy begun 

 and Resolue to prosecute with all diligence ; a 

 sheet of Geneses wee haue seen which wee haue 

 ordered shalbee Transmitted vnto you; the 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



printers doubt not but to print a sheet euery 

 weeke and compute the whole to amount to a 

 hundred and fifty sheets Mr. Johnson wilbee 

 gratifyed with the honor of the Impression and 

 acomodated in other Respects wee hope to 

 content ; the paper sent as wee are enformed 

 by Mr. Vsher is not all sizable . . . Two of the 

 Indian youthes formerly brought vp to Read 

 and writ are put apprentice ; the one to a Car- 

 penter the other to Mr. Green the printer whoe 

 take theire trades and follow their Busines 

 uery well." The latter of these apprentices 

 was probably James the printer, afterwards 

 called James Printer, who was employed on 

 both editions of the Indian bible, and whose 

 name appears in 1709 as joint printer with B. 

 Green of Mayhew's translation of the psalter. 

 In the treasurer's account sent with the above 

 letter, there is a charge of VIOL Is. 8d., " For 

 two hundred Reame of pap r bought since our 

 last accoumpt letters Inke setting them in the 

 presse with matterialls to worke as by bill ap- 

 peers." At the same meeting (September, 

 1600), "The Comissioners for the Massachu- 

 setts are desired and Impowered . . . alsoetocall 

 on Mr. Green for an accoumpt or Inventory of 

 all the letters for printing, and all other Instru- 

 ments in his hands belonging to the Corpora- 

 tion that it may bee Returned to the next meet- 

 ing of the Comissioners ; and to agree with 

 him for the printing of the bible." 



The printing of the new testament was com- 

 pleted probably in the summer of 1661, before the 

 next meeting of the Commissionea-s. On the 18th 

 of May, 1661, the Corporation wrote to the Com- 

 missioners that they had paid the bill for 800i!. 

 drawn on them, "hopeing that the same to- 

 gether 34 lb. which wee vnderstand by youer 

 account sent remaines in stocke will bee suffi- 

 cient to defray the Charge of printing the bible 

 and the Jisbursments there for the present 

 yeare." They also added in relation to the 

 change of government caused by the restoration 

 of Charles II: "wee suppose you are not 

 strangers to the condit ion of affaires ; and par- 

 ticularly with respect vnto ourselues being now 

 noe Corporation; though not without good hopes 

 that the same wilbee renewed and confeirmed 

 by his majestic though possibly the business 

 may bee acted by other persons ; . . . howeuer 

 wee desire that the printing of the bible may 

 not bee retaurded." Upon the reading of this 

 letter at their meeting in Plymouth, in Septem- 

 ber, 1661, the Commissioners resolved : "Vpon 

 this enformation of the Desolution of the Cor- 

 poration and intimation of hopes that his ma- 

 jestic would confeirme the same &c. TheCom- 

 issioners thought meet to present his Majes- 

 tic with the New Testament printed in the In- 

 dian language with these presents following 

 &c.," namely, the dedication as printed in front 

 of the new testament, of which the following is 

 an extract: "There are divers of them that 

 can and do reade some parts of the Scripture, 

 and some Catechisms, which formerly have 



