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The uses of a list of the above nature are to ascertain which books are most wanted, and to judge of the relative importance of any proposed for publication. Societies may see more definitely the work before, them, and make greater efforts to supply deficiencies. Some may consider that too many books have been

mentioned; but it should be remembered that in two or three languages, a good beginning has already been made.

Preparation of Books.-It has happened that young Missionaries imperfectly acquainted with the vernacular, aided by school boys having only a very moderate knowledge of English, have attempted to prepare works for the press. This is much to be condemned. What are termed transliterations, not translations, have thus been produced. It requires considerable practice, under competent supervision, for any person, even a native, to write what is fit for publication. At the Ootacamund Conference, the Rev. J. Hoch, after stating that Christian books must be prepared chiefly by Missionaries, added, "Still we should commit a great mistake if we were to assume that all Missionaries,--or most Missionaries ex-officio-are called by their Divine Master to write books.”* The Rev. W. Campbell recommends the following course :—

What plan, then, it may be asked, would you suggest to provide a Christian literature for India? The system, I reply, what has prevailed from time immemorial among the Hindus themselves, to provide their own heathen literature is one whose claims to simplicity and usefulness cannot be disputed. Whatever may be the differences in the languages, they all belong to the same great family: similar laws regulate the idiom, construction, style, and various kinds of composition which prevail in the dialects of the north and the south; when you describe one part of India, you have, in many respects, described the whole; the manners, the customs, and the habits of the people, with trifling variations, correspond from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas; and the superstition, in all its great lineaments, is exactly the same. Whether, therefore, the present literature was originally written in Sanscrit, or in some other language, the Vedas, the Shastras, the Puranas, and all their classical writings are to be found in all the principal tongues of India, and are as well understood in the one as in the other. Let this

* Report, p. 273.

plan be adopted and acted upon by the friends of Christianity and of India, and every language in Hindustan will in 20 years hence have a Christian literature.

"Were European Missionaries and Christian Natives who are qualified to excel in this department of labour encouraged to write and to publish useful works in the respective tongues with which they are acquainted, there is such a similarity in the genius and in the construction of all the languages of India, that any book, which was printed in any dialect from the South to the North might, with the greatest facility, ease, and advantage, be rendered into every other, and be as much suited to the state, character, and circumstances of the people, as any treatise, written in English, might be translated into the language of every Protestant community in Europe.'

The most competent men over all India should be invited to prepare in English the books of which there is the greatest need. A small edition should first be printed in that language, to be circulated among some experienced Missionaries for their suggestions. Very free translations, altered and adapted as far as necessary, might afterwards be published in each language.

The plan has already been adopted to a small extent. Phulmani and Karuna has been rendered into the principal languages of India and Ceylon.

The following Resolution was passed at the Ootacamund Conference :

"That it is very desirable for the Secretaries of School Book and Tract Societies, and Conductors of Mission Presses, to keep up a constant communication with each other, that each may know what is being done by the others;-and Missionaries engaged in the preparation of works, or designing to prepare them, should make it publicly known in this way.'

Most English books printed in India might be read over the whole country. The Committees of the Tract Societies should do more in promoting the circulation. of works of this class. The valuable Prize Essay by

* British India, p. 590.

Messrs. Smith and Leupolt, is almost unknown beyond the Bengal Presidency.

MEANS OF CIRCULATION.

It has been well observed, that as much energy must be devoted to securing a circulation for books in India as is expended in their preparation, or they will lie as lumber on the shelves.

Sale or Gratuitous Distribution.-In the early days of Missions, Christian publications were distributed gratis, sometimes on an extensive scale. A Missionary has been known to leave Madras with a cart load of Scriptures and Tracts, which he gave away freely. Some good was done, but at a vastly disproportionate expenditure. Many of the books were torn up and used for bazar purposes. About 1847, the Committee of the Bombay Tract Society determined that all their publications should be sold, except a very small gratuitous series of Tracts. The Report for 1851 thus describes the result of the experiment and its advantages:

"This system has been strictly adhered to during the past four years and with most satisfactory results. So far as the Committee are aware, it has received the cordial approval of all the Missionaries in Western India and of the public at large. Its feasibility and its peculiar adaptedness to the circumstances of this country have been fully established. Its advantages over the system of gratuitous circulation are many and obvious, inasmuch as it opens the way for the employment of Native colporteurs and, through them, for scattering tracts and books, not simply in the vicinity of Missionary stations and on occasional tours, but over the whole country. And not only may books in this way be carried to the distant villages, but they are sure to go into the hands of those who will value and preserve them. Tracts which may be obtained for the asking will generally be regarded as of little worth, and will exert far less influence than when bought and paid for. In this latter case they are preserved and valued as property. They are objects of thought

and interest. They are read; perhaps re-read; and should their contents not be approved, instead of being destroyed, they will often be sold to others at their market value.

"When the Committee first resolved to adopt the principle of demanding a small price for their publications, it was fully expected that the circulation would, for a time at least, be considerably diminished. But,' said the Report for that year, it by no means follows from this that less good will on the whole be done. Should the circulation be at first reduced to one-tenth of what it has been for some years past, the Cominittee would still be disposed to persevere in the experiment.' This decision to adhere, at all events, to the principle adopted, secured the success of the experiment which doubtless would have failed had it been attempted in a faltering spirit.

"From the time that a fixed price was placed upon the Society's publications, they have assumed a new importance in the eyes of the native population, and the circulation, instead of diminishing, has doubled and trebled during the past four years. Many who would have received with indifference and treated with neglect books offered gratuitously, have eagerly paid their money for the same publications when converted into property, by being procurable only by purchase. The very fact of their being offered for sale has awakened a desire to possess and peruse them. And the purchase and careful perusal of one has led to the purchase and perusal of another, and another. A new habit of reading is thus formed and an increased readiness to purchase books is engendered.

The Committee would by no means assume the ground that tracts should in no case be given gratuitously to Natives. Missionaries and others may often judge it expedient to lend or give tracts in peculiar circumstances. With a view to this, three small tracts of eight pages each have been issued as the commencement of a gratuitous series, which may be available to all who desire them. Masters may also very properly purchase tracts and books as presents for those servants who are able to read; and all may do the same for their native friends and acquaintances. And it may be added, that these will be far more gratefully received, far more valued, and be also far more likely to prove useful to their recipients when it is known that the donor has paid their full value, instead of obtaining these gratuitously from a Benevolent Society, and thus exercising his gene

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