156 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



ton, February 15th, 168§ : " The best News that 

 I can think to speak of from America, is, that 

 Mr. John Eliot, through the good hand of Grod 

 upon him, hath procured a second Edition of 

 the Bible in the Indian Language; so that 

 many Hundreds of them may read the Scrip- 

 tures." In the summer of 1686, Mr. John Dun- 

 ton, the London bookseller, made a visit to Mr. 

 Eliot, an account of which he gave in his Life 

 and Errors, as follows : " My next ramble was 

 to Eoxbury, in order to visit the Rev. Mr. Elliot, 

 the great Apostle of the Indians. He was 

 pleased to receive me with abundance of re- 

 spect; and inquired very kindly after Dr. An- 

 nesley, my Father-in-law, and then broke out 

 with a world of seeming satisfaction, ' Is my 

 brother Anneslej yet alire ? Is he yet con 

 verting souls to God ? Blessed be God for this 

 information before I die.' He presented me 

 with twelve Indian Bibles, and desired me to 

 bring one of them over to Dr. Annesley ; as 

 also with twelve 'Speeches of converted In- 

 dians,' which himself had published." In a 

 letter to Boyle, dated "Rosbury, August 29, 

 1686, in the third month of our overthrow, " Mr. 

 Eliot wrote: "Our Indian work yet liveth, 

 praised be God; the bible is come forth, many 

 hundreds bound up, and dispersed to the In- 

 dians, whose thankfulness I intimate and tes- 

 tify to your honour." 



From the preceding extracts of Mr. Eliot's 

 letters it appears that 2,000 copies were printed 

 of this edition. Mr. Eliot acknowledged the 

 receipt of 900?., in three separate payments, 

 for defraying the cost of the work. One of the 

 persons employed on this edition was the In- 

 dian called James Printer. He was educated 

 at the Indian school in Cambridge, and had 

 worked as an apprentice on the first edition. 

 Mr. Eliot refers to him as the only man they 

 liad who was able to compose the sheets and 

 correct the press with understanding. In 1709 

 his name appears as joint printer with B. Green 

 of Mayhew's Indian translation of the psalter. 

 About the year 1855, Mr. George Livermore 

 had a few copies of the dedication leaf reprinted 

 separately, nearly in fac-simile, for insertion in 

 the ordinary copies of the bible. The dedica- 

 tion was also reprinted in O'Callaghan's Amer- 

 ican Bibles, p. 17. 



Dr. John G. Shea has furnished the following 

 note relating to. the Indian bible : " The vol- 

 ume excited interest in Rome, and a brief of 

 Pope Clement XI. to the archbishop of Sara- 

 gossa, Aug. 31, 1709, written to excite him to 

 prevent the introduction into Spanish America 

 of a Bible recently translated into an American 

 language by Protestants, evidently refers to 

 this, although it is spoken of as printed in 

 London." 



About twenty-five years after the publica- 

 tion of this edition of the bible, certain letters 

 were addressed to the Society in England, rec- 

 ommending that a new edition be printed. The 

 proposition, however, was not received with 



Eliot (J.) — Continued. 



fav^or, and in 1710 a report was drawn up show- 

 ing the inexpediency of such an undertaking. 

 My attention has been called to this interesting 

 document by Dr. Ellsworth Eliotof l^'ew York, 

 and it is given below in full; 



"HonV^ Sir, — Your Stewards and Serv*^ the 

 Comissioners, to whom the hon^e Corporation 

 for propagating the Gospel among our Indians 

 have comitted a more imediat and subordinat 

 management of that Affair, we hope do, and 

 shall observe most exactly all your Directions 

 and with all possible conformity. Among your 

 Directions you have been pleased to propose a 

 New Edition of the Indian Bible, in which 

 your orders, if they be continued, will be reli- 

 giously complied withall. But because it can 

 hardly be well entred upon before we may have 

 some Answer to the Address we now make 

 unto you, TVe improve the present Opportunity 

 humbly to lay before you the Sentiments which 

 your Comissioners here generally have of the 

 matter ; and not they only, but we suppose, the 

 Generality of the more considerat Gentlemen 

 through the Countrey. Indeed the considera- 

 tions which we have already and almost una- 

 wares insinuated, may be of some weight in 

 the matter- For if the printing of the Psalter 

 with the Gospel of John, in so correct a mailer 

 as may be for Satisfaction, have taken up so 

 long a time, as above a year ; how much time 

 will necessarily go to so great a "Work as that 

 Of the whole Bible ? For the doing of which 

 also, it will be necessary to take off those per- 

 sons from their Ministry among the Indians, 

 who are of all men the most essential to the In- 

 dian Service. In the mean time 'tis the opinion 

 of many. That as little Money as would be ex- 

 pended on a new Edition of the Bible (and not 

 much more time) would go very far towards 

 bringing them to be a sort of English Generation. 

 It is very sure. The best thing we can do for our 

 Indians is to Anglicise them in all agreeable 

 Instances; and in that of Language, as well as 

 others. They can scarce retain their Lan- 

 guage, without a Tincture of other Salvage 

 Inclinations, which do but ill suit, either with 

 the Honor, or with the design of Christianity. 

 The Indians themselves are Divided in the 

 Desires upon this matter. Though some of 

 their aged men are tenacious enough of Indian- 

 isme (which is not all to be wondred at) Others 

 of them as earnestly wish that their people 

 may be made English as fast as they can. The 

 Reasons they assign for it are very weighty 

 ones; and this among the rest. That their 

 Indian Tongue is a very penurious one Cthough 

 the Words are long enough!) and the great 

 things of our Holy Religion brought unto them 

 in it, unavoidably arrive in Terms that are 

 scarcely more intelligible to them than if they 

 were entirely English. But the English 

 Tongue would presently give them a Key to all 

 our Treasures and make them the Masters of 

 another sort of Library than any that ever will 

 be seen in their Barbarous Linguo. And such 



