Surinam

(Neg.ro-E.nglish) Version. Negro-English, or, as it might-be designated with equal propriety, Negro-Dutch, is the language of the Dutch colony of Surinam in Guiana, and is current among a population of at least 100,000 people. Ever since 1738 there has existed in Surinam a mission of the United Brethren; The language is a compound of English and Dutch; with a sprinkling of Spanish, Portuguese, French, and African or Indian words. Prior to the year 1813, the greater part of the New Test. was translated into that language. In 1828 Moravian missionaries completed a version of the entire New Test. The MS. was sent to Germany, and was revised by Hans Wied, who for upwards of twenty years had resided in Surinam, and who expressed the opinion that the translation was "as perfect as possible." With the aid of the British and Foreign Bible Society, an edition of 1000 copies was printed in London. This edition was soon exhausted, and, as a result of these publications, more than 12,000 converts were added to the Church. Another edition of the New Test. and Psalms was prepared by the Moravian, missionary Treu, and, with the aid of the Netherlands and the British and Foreign Bible societies, 2000 copies were printed in 1846. Whether the Old Test. has been translated and printed, we are not able to say. (B. P.)