4. Bohemian Veision. — It seems that the greater part of a Bohemian version of the Scriptures was ex- tant at the close of the 14th century. When Hu.ss be- gan to preach against the evils of Rome, the several portions of Scripture that had been translated into Bohemian were for the first time collected together. After his martyrdom, in 1415, copies of this Bible were greatly multiplied by his followers, and from A.D. 1410 to 1488 (when this Bible was first printed), no less than four different recensions of the entire Scriptures can be distinctly traced, and many more of the New Test. From the date of the first publication of this Bible in 1488 to the year 1804, fourteen editions of the same left the press. Between the years 1579 and 1601, a ver- sion of the .Scriptures executed by the United (or Jlora- vian) Brethren from the original texts was published in six quarto volumes at Kralitz, in jMoravia: Biblij Ceske dil prvni'setsy. Fourteen translators are said to have been engaged on this splendid work (the price of which is given in a Leipsic catalogue at 510 marks, or about .$128), and the whole was executed at the expense of baron John Zerotinnis. This edition is now very scarce, most of its copies having been destroyed by the Jesuits. As to the translation and the notes accompanying the same, Schafarik has remarked that "they contain a great deal of that which, two hundred years later, the learned coryph.-ei of exegesis exhibited to the world as their own i)rofound discoveries." A third edition of this Kralitz Bible was published in 1613 under the title Biblij Srutd, to jest, Kiiiha, v niz se rsecka Pjsma S, Stareho y Koveho Zakona obsahiiji ; v nove vytis- tena, a vydana, which is also remarkable for its higli price (890) given in a Leipsic catalogue. In addition to the two versions above mentioned, a translation of the entire Scriptures from the Vulg. into Bohemian was published in_ 1804 by Prochazka and Durich, under the title Jiiblij C'eskd . . . podle stareho obehneho Latiiiskeho od st'ate rjmske Katolicke Cyrkre svuleneho vijkladu (Prague, 2 vols.). The design of issuing an e<lition of the Bohemian Bible was entertained by the Berlin societv as earlv as 1805. The current of political events,
SLAVONIC VERSIONS
805
SLAVONIC VERSIONS
however, impeded the progress of the edition, which was not completed till 1807. In 1808 an edition of the Bible, carefully printed from the text of 1593. was edited by I'rof. Falkovitch, of Hungarj^, with a list of obsolete Words. After one hundred copies had been circulated, the British and Foreign Bible Society purchased in 1812 the whole stock for distribution. Numerous other edi- tionf^ have been issued since that time by the same soci- ety, and, in spite of the great opposition to the circula- tion of the Scriptures among the Bohemians, the latest report (1878) of that society shows that up to March 30, 1878, all in all, 402,096 portions of the Holj' Scriptures have been disseminated.
5. Servian Version. — The Servian approximates more closely to the Old Slavonic than to any modern idiom, and its chief characteristic is the softness of its sound. Schafarik, in comparing the various Slavonic languages, fancifully but truly said, "Servian song resembles the toue of the violin ; Old Slavonic, that of the organ ; Pol- ish, that of the guitar. The Old Slavonic, in its psalms, sounds like the loud rush of the mountain-stream ; the l'(»lish, like the bubbling and sparkling of a fountain ; and the Servian, like the quiet murmuring of a stream- let in the valley." As to the version into that language, it is of a comparatively recent period, since the ancient Slavonic version, more intelligible to the Servians than to any other members of the Slavonic family, has always been in use. We are told that in 1493 a translation of the Pentateuch into Servian was printed at Zenta, in Herzegovina: but it is probable that the language of this version approached nearer to the Old Slavonic than to the modern idiom. In 1815 a communication from Mr. Kopitar, of Vienna, was addressed to the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society through baron De Sacy, of Paris, calling attention to the necessity of furnishing Servia with a version intelligible to the mass of the people. A Servian, by name Vuc Stephanovitch, was engaged to prepare an edition of the New Test, in Servian, which was not completed at press until 1824. As his translation was written in the common dia- lect of the people, many objections were made to it by those who preferred a more elevated style, bearing a stricter conformity to the Old Slavonic idioms. Soon after the appearance of this version. Prof. Stoikovitch ■was appointed by a committee of the St. Petersburg so- ciety to prepare a new version, holding a middle course between the common and the more ancient and classical phraseology of the language. This edition was printed at St. Petersburg. When a second edition of the New Test, became necessary for Servia, the committee of tlie British and Foreign Bible Society, having ascer- tained that the latter edition proved more acceptable to the people, resolved to take Stoikovitch's text, and is- sued an edition of 2000 copies at Leipsic in 1830. which was followed by other editions published at different times. In 18G4 the same society purchased the manu- script translation of the Psalms prepared by Prof. Da- ni(,'i(^, which was published in 1805. From that time on, ditferent parts of the Old Test, were published as soon as tlieir translation was approved, and in 1869 the Servian Bible was completed. As to the merit of this translation, we will mention the fact that the bishop of Pakrac, in Slavonia, the most talented of the Servian hierarchy, and in former days a strong opponent, has written to Mr. Dani<;i(,^, the translator, in the following terms: "I am more pleased with your translation of the Bible than with any other. I only regret that I cannot express my approbation of j'our glorious work as freely as you de- serve and as I wish.'' '• Dani(;i(;'s version," as the Zurpy- bii^H Kiithnli^ke List (a Roman Catiiolic periodical) states. "is a valuable addition to our national literature. The clergy of both churches (Greek and Roman) can avail themselves of it with advantage; but, although the translation is an honest one, neither the Greek Ori- ental nor the Catholic Church can approve of it in its present state, nor can it be recommended to the people. What is to be done in the case ? The Greek Oriental