n as little inclined to be prodigal of praise, as was of old
the learned Scaliger himself, to whom in many points indeed, he bears no
faint resemblance. In the second place, I must inform you that a few
hurried lines are all that I can afford to write at present; my proof
sheets are rushing in so fast that time is exceedingly precious to me,
and I grudge every moment that is not devoted to my Maker or to my great
undertaking.

Before this letter reaches you St. Mark's Gospel will have passed through
the press. The two remaining Gospels will be printed before the arrival
of Christmas, and by the first of May the entire New Testament, in the
Mandchou language, will have been published. I wish this intelligence to
be communicated to the public, who are at liberty, provided the Lord does
not visit me with some heavy affliction, to hold me culpable, if my
assertion is belied by the event.

It is true that were I to pursue the common practice of editors, it would
be impossible to complete the work in less than two years; the quantity
of proofs, successively required for every sheet, fail not, in general,
to retard the progress of all such undertakings. My beloved friend Mr.
Swan published in this city a small tract in Mongolian; he found that it
was absolutely necessary to demand six proofs of every sheet, for in the
second, nay the third proof, there were frequently as many errors as in
the first, from the compositors not being able properly to read the
corrections. But I never entrust the task of making alterations in the
press to other hands than my own. Having corrected the first proof at
home, I proceed to the printing office and rectify all errors myself. I
consequently never require more than two proofs; the second, which I
generally show to Mr. Lipoftsoff, is frequently faultless. I am so
perfectly convinced of the excellence of this plan, that it is my firm
intention to pursue it in whatever foreign, or even English works, it may
be my destiny to edit.

I wish now to say a few words upon a subject, on which I have previously
said something. At the present moment my principal inducement to such a
step is the observation every now and then made to me, both by Christians
and no Christians, namely: 'You are printing Testaments for which you
will never find readers. Do not tell us that you can distribute them at
Canton and its environs, or on the coasts of China; there are not ten
individuals amongst a million