340 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 



Mason (W.) — Continued. 



a missionary of the Church of England at York 

 Factory. He took it to England, where the 

 work of printing was undertaken by the 

 British and Foreign Bible Society. When the 

 work was passing through the press, Mr. Mason, 

 with characteristic modesty but very question- 

 able morality, had his own name printed on the 

 title-page as the translator of the work. Sub- 

 sequently, after the death of James Evans, 

 Mason claimed to be the inventor of the sylla- 

 bic characters, and within a couple of years the 

 writer has seen the claim asserted in his behalf 

 in an English paper." 



In an article by Rev. E. R. Young, entitled 

 "James Evans as inventor of the syllabic 

 system," published in the Canadian Methodist 

 Magazine for March, 1882, the following lan- 

 guage is used: "Let it be known to all, that 

 long before "Wm. Mason reached Norway 

 House, the Rev. Jas. Evans had not only per- 

 fected his invention, but had so far utilized it, 

 that portions of the Gospels and also several 

 hymns had been printed by himself and his In- 

 dian helpers. . . . For years, catechisms, 

 hymn-books, and large portions of the Word of 

 God were printed at Norway House." 



I have myself seen nowhere in print the 

 claim put forth in behalf of Mr. Mason that he 

 was the inventor of the syllabic system, 

 though, as appears above, vigorous denial of 

 the claim is made. 



In the same periodical for May, 1885, is an 

 article on "American Indian Literature " by the 

 Rev. Jno. McLean, who says: "In 1840, the 

 Rev. H. B. Steinhauer, an Ojibway Indian, re- 

 cently deceased, went out to the Hudson's Bay 

 Territory with Jas. Evans. After a residence 

 of a few years, he and John Sinclair, a half- 

 breed, translated the Bible into Cree. Sinclair 

 translated the Old Testament to the end of Job, 

 and the New Testament to the end of the Acts 

 of the Apostles. Mr. Steinhauer translated 

 the remaining parts of the Old and Now Testa- 

 ment. I have in my library a manuscript copy 

 of Genesis written in the Cree syllabic charac- 

 ters by Jno. Sinclair. It is a beautiful speci- 

 men of penmanship." See, further, under 

 McLean (J.), James Evans, inventor of the syl- 

 labic system of the Cree language. 



In order that the case might be presented 

 from both sides I wrote to Archdeacon Kirkby, 

 who had spent many years among the Crees 

 and neighboring tribes, and who is thoroughly 

 acquainted with the syllabary, and who has 

 written and published a number of works 

 therein, concerning the matter. After cau- 

 tioning me against confounding the invention 

 of the system with the translation of the Bible 

 by means of the syllabary, he proceeds as fol- 

 lows: " Whilst in charge of the mission at Nor- 

 way House, Mr. Mason married a daughter of 

 one of the Hudson Bay Co.'s officers, a half- 

 caste lady thoroughly well educated. Of course 

 Cree was her mother tongue. Texts, portions 

 of scripture, and possibly one of the Gospels 



Mason (W.) — Continued. 



were in circulation among the Indians, but she 

 longed to have the entire Bible printed for their 

 use, and she, with her husband, began. Possi- 

 bly, at that time Messrs. Steinhauer and Sin- 

 clair may have helped them, as Ihey were 

 associated with Mr. Mason in the mission, but 

 it could not have been to any great extent, as 

 they were not educated men. Anyway, the 

 translation was not completed until long after 

 Mr. Mason had left the Wesleyans, and had 

 taken charge of the York Mission. There is 

 not the slightest doubt that the translation be- 

 longs to Mr. Mason and to his good wife. She 

 was a devoted christian lady and an admirable 

 Cree scholar. The manuscript was printed 

 for Mr. Mason by the British and Foreign Bible 

 Society, and done under the eye of Mr. Mason, 

 who went to England to see it through the press. 

 I am not aware that the Wesleyans have ever 

 translated the Bible into the Cree language." 



Some time after compiling the above notes I 

 was pleased to learn that the Rev. Mr. Mason 

 was still living, at Long Horsley, Morpeth, 

 England, and immediately wrote him concern- 

 ing the matter in question. He replied, under 

 date of December 30, 1886, as follows : 



"In the translation of the Bible into the 

 Cree language I was assisted by Henry Stein- 

 hauer and John Sinclair, who were at the time 

 schoolmaster and interpreter at the Rossville 

 Station, where I was minister, and by other In- 

 dians. Ths final revision was the joint work 

 of myself and my wife, Sophia Mason. I never 

 claimed to be the inventor of the Cree Sylla- 

 bary; that honor belongs to the Rev. James 

 Evans. I went in 1840 to Rupert's Land, in con- 

 nection with the Wesleyan Society, having been 

 set apart in the usual manner of that society. 

 My first sphere of labour was Lac la Pluie, where 

 I remained from 1840 to 1844. I was then sta- 

 tioned at the Rossville Mission. In 1854 the 

 mission was given up by the Wesleyans and 

 I went to Red River, where I saw Dr. Anderson, 

 the late bishop of Rupert's Land, who said, 

 ' If you return i o your own church I will or- 

 dain you, and your fourteen years' work shall 

 be counted as if you had never left it.' I con- 

 sented, and was ordained deacon and priest by 

 him in 1854. I was married in 1843 to Sophia, 

 daughter of Dr. Thomas, then Governor of Red 

 River, and from that time till her death in 1861 

 we were jointly engaged in the work of trans- 

 lation. After my ordination I was stationed 

 at York Factor^', where I remained until 1858, 

 when we both returned home in order to carry 

 the Cree Bible through the press, and just before 

 the fatal termination of her illness Mrs. Mason 

 had the joy of seeing the last verse of Malachi 

 in print. In 1862 I returned a widower to Ru- 

 pert's Land, and continued my labours at York 

 Factory until 1870, when I finally returned to 

 England, and after six years of deputation 

 work for the Church Missionary Society was 

 presented by the Lord Chancellor, the late la- 

 mented Lord Cairns, to the vicarage of Long 



