the blind, and in the New York point print.
About 2.1,000 volumes of the former and 4000
of the latter have l>een circulated, in large
measure gratuitously. Bv the charter and the
constitution of the Societ' it is restricted, as the
British and Foreign Ij!il)lc Society lias lieen hith-
erto, to the circulation of the Holy Scri|)tures
without note or comment. The government of the
Boeiety. according to the constitution, is intrusted
to a board of managers, consisting of thirty-six
laymen, one-fourth of whom go out of office each
year, but are reeligible. Laymen who were con-
stituted directors for life before June 1, 1877 (by
the payment of .'fil.'jO) , and ministers who are life-
members (by the payment of $.'10 ) are authorized
to attend the meetings of the hoard, with power
to speak and vote. This brings into connection
with the lay managers a certain number of or-
dained ministers, and laymen and ministers
serve on its various committees to whom are in-
trusted the departments and branches of its
work. The Committee on Versions is composed
of eminent ministers representing various differ-
ent Christian denominations, and all new transla-
tions offered for publication must first receive
the approval of the Committee on Versions.
The constant aim of the American Bible
Society, as of its elder sister, the British and
Foreign, with which it has ever labored in the
closest official friendship, has been to secure the
adequate translation of the Holy Scriptures into
all the languages of the earth, and to distribute
these translations as widely as possible, and espe-
cially to reach the destitute of all classes and
conditions. For this purpose it has often ini-
tiated and supi)orted new translations or revi-
sions of existing translations, and its books
arc by fixed rule sold at cost prices as a maxi-
nuini," and at much less than cost, in many
cases, and often giVen away to the very poor.
At first its energy was naturally directed to a
thorough supplying of the needs of the United
States. Four times it has undertaken to can-
vass the whole country for this purpo.se. These
canvasses were begun in 1829, in 1850, in 1866,
and in 1882, and they occupied altogether many
years. During the whole period of its existence
it has made similar attempts on a less extensive
scale. During the fourth resupply, beginning
in 1882, more than 6,300,000 families were
visited by its colporteurs, and 47;i,80(i families
were supplied with the Scriptures, and in addi-
tion, nearly rlOO.OOO individuals, in 27 languages,
including Welsh, German, Dutch, Norwegian and
Danish. Swedish, Italian. Finnish. Hungarian,
Bohemian, and Chinese. The immigrant popula-
tions, the negroes of the South, and other jiarts
of the nation peculiarly needy, it has sought to
help.
With the development of the country, during the progress of the century, the foreign work of the Society has come into greater relative promi- nence, though its work at home has still been maintained. From the very beginning, indeed, it has recognized the necessities of foreign coun- tries. During the last twenty-five years its for- eign circulation has steadily increased, rising from 270,892 copies in 1876 to 973,615 copies in the year 1900. It has by large grants, both of money and hooks, aided missionary labors of the various Christian churches having missions in foreign lands to prosecute Bible translation and distribution, entering fully into the Foreign Mis- sion enterprise, and sharing its enthusiasm. It has now twelve regular agencies under its own direction, each under the direction of an or- dained minister of the Gos])el — the La Plata Agency (including Argentina. Uruguay, Para- guay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Kcuador) ; Bra- zil ; Venezuela and Colombia; Central America; .Mexico; Cuba; Porto Kico; China; Siam and Laos; Japan (including Korea), and the Philip pines. Besides these agencies imder its own di rection, it aids in Bible circulation by means of missionary and other correspondents, in Norway, Sweden, France. Germany, Switzerland, S])ain, Italy, Austria, Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, Hawaii, Micronesia, and other countries. The scope and magnitude of its operations are ex- hibited bv the following table:
Bible Society Issued Bibles New Testa- ments and Portions From 1N16 1825 251,642 2,673,826 6,786,260 9,126,615 187.938 4.459.661 1850-1S75 18.766,589 1875-1900 26,701,153
It will thus be seen that its total issues during a period of eighty-live years have been nearly 69,000,000 volumes, and its total receipts during the same period have been somewhat over $30,- 000,000. During the last twenty-five j'ears its circulation in foreign lands has reached a total of 13,716,726 copies — at the present time the ma- jority of its publications being sent to foreign countries. In 1901 it had 377 persons under its direction in foreign lands, or Bible distributors. Its circulation at home and abroad, for its last fiscal year, was 1,554,128 Bibles, Testaments, and portions. These figures, however, are only a ])ar- tial index of the extent and variety of its labors. It has aided, during its existence, in the transla- tion, printing, or distribution of the Scriptures in more than one hundred dilTerent languages. At the i)resent time translations and revisions are proceeding under its patronage in various lan- guages in mission lands, notably in China. Siam, South and West Africa, and the Phili])pine Islands.
In addition to the ])rinling done in the Bible House, in New York, in I'.iOl it had Scriptures ])rinted for its use at Shanghai and other cities in (.'hina. at Yokohama, at Seoul (Korea), at Constantinople, at Beirut, and at Bangkok. Translations have l)een begun, and in part i)ub- lished, in several of the many languages spoken in the Philippine Islands. In these new terri- torial possessions of the United States, as well as in Cuba and Porto Rico, the Society finds a field peculiarly suitable for its labors.
The .American and Forkicn Bible SociKTYwas organized by the Baptists, who desired that translations of the Bible in foreign lands should conform as nearly as possible to the original Hebrew and (ireek. In this they hail mainly in view the rendering of /Sanris'w by immrrsc in- stead of ba[ili:e. In the circulatiim of the Eng- lish Scriptures, they were willing that for a time the Authorized V'ersion should be used. In 1850 a portion of the denomination, dissatisfied with this course, formed 'The .American Bible Union,' whose object, as set forth in its constiti- tion, is "to procure and circulate the most faith- ful versions in all languages througliout the
