To tell this part of the story of Dr. Mateer’s life satisfactorily, I must begin with the first general missionary conference, held at Shanghai in May, 1877. For two years previous he had served on a committee to prepare the way for the meeting, and in this capacity he had rendered much valuable assistance. At that conference he read a paper in which he elaborately discussed the subject of “The Relation of Protestant Missions to Education.” The meeting was regarded as successful, and a second was called, to assemble at Shanghai, in May, 1890. It was at this conference that the movement for a revision of the Bible in Chinese took actual measures toward realization.

For the sake of any readers not well informed as to the Chinese language, a few preliminary statements concerning it may be desirable here. In a very broad and general sense it may be said that as to elements, one tongue prevails throughout China proper; but that there is also much important variation in this general tongue. First of all, it needs lo be noted that the language takes on two principal forms,—the classic, or Wen-li, and the spoken, or Mandarin. The classic has come down through the centuries from the times of Confucius and Mencius, and remains comparatively the same as it is found in the writings of those sages. This is accepted as the model for all writing; and for that reason Chinese students have been required to spend the greater part of their time in memorizing those ancient books, so that they might not only absorb their teaching, but also especially that they might be able to reproduce their style. The classic Chinese is stilted and so condensed that in comparison with it a telegram would seem diffuse; and though many of the characters are the same as those used in writing the spoken language, yet the meaning and often the sound of characters is so different that an illiterate person would not understand it on hearing it read. The spoken language, on the other hand, may be compared with English as to its use. Good English is very much the same throughout the countries where it is the vernacular, and though it takes on local dialects, it remains everywhere intelligible. So, broadly speaking, is it also as to the spoken Chinese in a large part of the empire. From the Yangtse up into Manchuria, though the pronunciations differ very much, the colloquial if put into writing is understood. In other words, with differences of dialect and pronunciation it is the speech of perhaps three hundred millions of people. The regions excepted lie along the coast from Shanghai down, and inland south of the Yangtse, where the distinct tongues are numerous and are largely unintelligible except in their own localities.

It has been the rule in China that a mandarin must not be a native of the province where he holds office; and, of course, it is essential that he should be acquainted with the speech which constitutes the lingua franca. Perhaps for this reason it is called Mandarin. But down to the time when missionary publications rendered it common in print, it was not employed in that mode. All books, business or government documents, the one newspaper of the country, which was the court gazette, and all letters were in the higher or, as it is called, the Wen-li form, the only exception being some novels, and even these were streaked with Wen-li. This, however, ran through gradations,—from the highest, which is so condensed and so bristles with erudite allusions that only a trained scholar can understand it, down to a modification which is so easy that with a slight alteration of particles it is almost the same as the Mandarin.

During the long period of the nineteenth century preceding the meeting of the second general missionary conference, a number of translations of the Scriptures, some of them of the whole, and some of parts, had been made, and had come more or less into use. The men who did this pioneer work deserve to be held in perpetual esteem, especially in view of the difficulties under which they labored. Among the missionaries who sat in that conference there was no disposition to withhold this honor, or to disparage the value of these early translations; but there was so widely prevalent among them and their associates at that time on the field a conviction that no existing version was satisfactory, that they recognized it as a duty to take up the subject, and to initiate steps looking to the production of a better. An informal consultation as to this was held by a few men, a couple of days before the conference assembled; but inasmuch as Dr. Mateer had not been invited, he did not attend. Another consultation was held the following day, and because of his great interest in the subject of a Bible revision, he attended without an invitation. The views expressed clearly indicated that there was a general agreement that a revision was desirable, but it also was made very plain that beyond this there was a wide divergence of opinion. We will allow one of his letters to a representative of the American Bible Society, under date of May 26, 1890, to tell the next step in this great undertaking:

An agreement, however, was reached. The version in the higher classic style then gave the most trouble, but a satisfactory basis for this also was agreed upon; and the reports as to all three versions were adopted unanimously by the conference. In the same letter he says: “I worked hard for these results, and felt no small satisfaction in seeing such perfect unanimity in the adoption of the plan proposed. I have never done anything in which I felt more the guiding hand of God than in drawing up and carrying through this plan.”

The selection of translators for each of the projected new versions was handed over respectively to executive committees; and Dr. Mateer was appointed on that having charge of the Mandarin, and made chairman of it. He heard that he was talked of as one of the revisers for that version, but as yet he had not decided what was his duty, if chosen. It will again be best here to take up from one of his letters the thread of the narrative. Under date of December 13, 1890, he writes to Dr. Nevius:

In November, 1891, the revisers met at Shanghai. Dr. Mateer, in a letter written in the following January, said:

The interval of about a year and a half between the general conference and the organization just mentioned was required because of the difficulty of selecting and securing the translators. These for the Mandarin version, as that body was originally constituted, consisted of Henry Blodgett, George Owen, Chauncey Goodrich, J. R. Hykes, Thomas Bramfitt, J. L. Nevius and C. W. Mateer. During the years in which this work was continued there were in the membership so many changes caused by death, removal and other causes, that Dr. Goodrich and Dr. Mateer alone continued from the beginning until the translation of the New Testament, the part of the Bible first revised, was tentatively completed. Mr. Baller of the China Inland Mission stands next in length of service, having joined the committee in 1900. Dr. Mateer in the work of revision had the assistance of two Chinese Christians whose services were so large and valuable that they deserve more than a passing mention here. In a recent letter Dr. Goodrich pays them the following just tribute:

Dr. Mateer himself, in the preface to his “Mandarin Lessons,” makes acknowledgment of the valuable services rendered in the preparation of that work by Tsou Li Wen, and also by his own wife.

The Mandarin Committee, at the meeting in 1891, after organization, proceeded to divide up the books of the New Testament among themselves for work, and adopted a plan of procedure. Each man was first carefully to revise or translate his own portion; and then to send it around to the others, who were to go over it, and write their suggestions of emendations, each in a column parallel to the proposed text. Next, the original translator was to take these emendations, and with their help was to prepare a text in Mandarin for submission to the entire committee. Broadly speaking, this was the method pursued to the end, though with some modifications compelled or suggested by experience. It was hoped that comparatively rapid progress would be made; but in reality the committee did not come together again until September, 1898; and even then, only the Acts of the Apostles was ready for general revision. For this delay there were various causes, such as the death of Dr. Nevius and the resignation of others, and the absence of Dr. Mateer on furlough home; but the chief cause was that every member was burdened with so much other work that only a fraction of his time could be given to this duty. Dr. Mateer, for example, found himself loaded down with other literary and missionary labors. At the meeting held at Tengchow, in 1898, he was elected chairman of the committee. This was an honor, but it also carried with it peculiar duties which materially added to his burden. The committee could muster only five members for that sitting, but they proceeded with their work, and at the end of two months and a half they finished the book of Acts; and then they separated.

That meeting by actual experience brought out distinctly not only the difficulties of necessity arising from the translation of particular books of the Bible, and indeed of every verse; but also others of a more general character, some of which had previously been more or less clearly seen. Should the new version take as its basis one or more of the translations already in existence; or should it go back straight to the original Greek, and use the existing translations merely as helps? In any case, constant reference to the original was a necessity. For this, which of the published texts should be accepted as the standard? The meeting also disclosed a wide divergence of opinion as to the style of Mandarin that ought to be employed. On that subject in 1900, Dr. Mateer expressed himself fully and strongly, in an article published in the “Chinese Recorder.” He said:

He summarized the chief characteristics of the proper style thus: that words should be employed which the people who commonly use Mandarin can understand; that sentences should conform to the model of the spoken language; and, concerning both of these requisites, that such care should be taken as to brevity, the order of words and clauses, the connective particles, and the evident movement of thought as expressed, that the Chinese would recognize in it a people’s book; and yet one that is free from undignified colloquialisms and localisms. All this he held up as an ideal, not likely to be fully realized by any set of translators, but if distinctly aimed at, more sure to be nearly approached. Toward the close of the work on the Mandarin version still another question of a general nature arose. Throughout most of their labors the committee had before them the revised easy Wen-li translation, and for a part of the time they also had the revised classic Wen-li Bible. Ought the three revised Chinese versions to be harmonized, so as to eliminate all variations? That, of course, would be ideal. On this question the report of the Mandarin Committee, which was as to substance prepared by the chairman, took the negative. It said:

The Mandarin committee of translators continued their tentative revision of the New Testament until late in 1906, a period of fifteen years, counting from the date of their first meeting for organization and assignment of specific duties. They held eight different sessions, being almost one each year after they were ready with actual work; and none of the sessions were shorter than two and a half months, and one of them stretched out to six months. They assembled at Tengchow, near Peking, at Shanghai, and most frequently at Chefoo. In the final report is the record: “The chairman can say for himself that he has given the equivalent of about seven years all-day labor to this work. He was present at every meeting, and first and last missed but one day’s session.” Each of the meetings took on distinctive incidental associations. The third was held at Shanghai, and from December, 1900, ran over some months into 1901. At that time, on account of the Boxer uprising, missionaries were temporarily there as refugees from all the provinces directly concerned in the version. The sittings were in a small upper room in the Union Church, which came to be called “the Jerusalem Chamber,” and visitors were many. They saw two rows of men, one on each side of a long table, yellow faces being sandwiched alternately with white, as each translator had, as usual in this work, his Chinese assistant at his side. Often the discussions were carried on in Mandarin, so that these assistants might be able to understand and pass their opinion. Incidentally it may be noted that besides his work on the revision, Dr. Mateer often met with the refugee missionaries during this period and greatly gratified them by participating in the discussion of practical problems.

After the Mateers returned from their furlough, the sessions were all held at Chefoo, first in one of the rooms of the China Inland Mission Sanitarium, and later in a large upper room in the Missionary Home, overlooking the bay. Usually at the commencement of their meetings they sat together for three hours in the morning, and reserved the rest of the day for such private study as they wished to make; but as the time wore on they would increase the sittings to as many hours also in the afternoon, and crowd the private review into such odd moments as were left. To anyone, these protracted labors on such a work must have become exceedingly tedious and almost irksome; but to no one was it more so than to Dr. Mateer. He knew Mandarin almost as if it had been his native tongue; but the Mandarin which he knew had often to be modified and expressions adjusted, so that a Scripture written in it would suit other regions of China as well as those with which he was familiar. In writing his “Mandarin Lessons” and in preparing his educational books he had only to ascertain to the best of his ability how to express his ideas in Chinese, and that was the end of the search; but here he had to do his best, and then submit his product to the opinion of others, and often with the result of changes which did not commend themselves to his preference. Yet, on his return home from the sittings he would say: “I ought not to complain. I get my way oftener than any other man does. Only I cannot help thinking of the work I have laid aside unfinished in order to do this.” After each meeting the year’s work was printed, marked “Tentative Edition,” and with a slip inviting criticism was sent to the missionaries in north China and Manchuria. These criticisms were all to be canvassed before the edition could be printed that was to be presented to the Centenary Conference, to which they were to report.

The final meeting for the tentative revision of the New Testament lasted for more than five months, and the work was pushed with even more than the usual vigor. The Centenary Missionary Conference for China was only a year ahead when they began. After the conference the revision was to run the gauntlet of criticisms, and these were to be canvassed; and thus at last the revision was to take its permanent form. Mrs. Mateer gives the following graphic account of one of the closing incidents of that session.

Although the committee completed their revision at that session, so far as this was possible until the conference should meet and approve or disapprove it, there was very considerable work of a tedious nature left to Dr. Mateer to perform. The finishing touches yet to be put upon portions of the version were not a few; but the thing that required of him the most protracted and delicate attention was the punctuation. For this he introduced a new system which seemed to him to be best for the Chinese language, and which can be estimated fairly only by a scholar in that tongue. To him also as chairman came the criticisms which were invited from all quarters, most of which were welcomed, but some of which touched him to the quick. At length, in the spring of 1907, the conference assembled at Shanghai, and the report of the Committee of Revisers was made to that body. He wrote to a friend in the United States concerning it: “We had a grand missionary conference in Shanghai, which, of course, I attended. There was more unanimity and less discussion than in the former conference.” The report received a hearty approval, and the version was started on its course of examination by all concerned, as preparatory to its final completion. It was issued from the press at Shanghai in 1910. It was called a revision, the aim being to offer it, not so much as a rival to the older versions, as an improvement upon them; but in reality it was an almost entirely new translation, though in making it advantage had been taken of the valuable pioneering done by the others. Writing to a friend after the conference had adjourned, Dr. Mateer frankly said:

During the long years he was engaged in this great undertaking he learned some valuable lessons concerning the translation of the Scriptures. He came to speak of it as an art, for which special training and experience are needed. In an article which appeared after his death, in the November issue of “The Chinese Recorder” for that year, he gave at length a discussion of “Lessons Learned in Translating the Bible into Mandarin.” He pointed out difficulties that hamper the making of a version in the Mandarin as compared with the Wen-li in either of its forms. To appreciate these, one needs to be a master in those tongues. But he also indicated others that lie in the way of a translation of the Scriptures into any sort of Chinese. Many of the very ideas of the Bible on moral and spiritual subjects had never entered the Chinese mind, and consequently there are no suitable words or phrases to express them. Just as western science has to invent its own terms when it enters China, so also within limits must the translator of the Bible introduce a vocabulary suited for his purpose. He believed that in the China of to-day prejudice had so far begun to yield that this could be effectively and wisely done. In fact, each branch of modern thought that has been grafted on the stem of the Chinese has already brought with it new words, so that hundreds of these have recently been coined and are on the tongues of the leaders. Along with the lack of an adequate vocabulary goes another thing that adds to the difficulty. In the translation of other books the main need is to express the thought, and in doing this considerable freedom is usually tolerated; but accuracy of expression, because of the very nature of the Bible, is of the first importance in a version. Besides, the Chinese Christians seem especially disposed to insist on this quality. The tendency of a translator is apt to be toward adapting the Scripture to what is conceived to be the taste of the Chinese, to write up to the style with which the educated are familiar, or down to the level of the uneducated speech. Another defect is to magnify or to minify peculiarities of expression originating in the region where the Scriptures were written. Dr. Mateer thought that he recognized very distinctly tendencies of this sort in the older versions, though abating in more recent times. His article concluded as follows:

With regard to the difficulties in the way of this revision, Dr. Goodrich thus expresses himself:

But they were trying to do for China what Wyclif did for the English and what Luther did for the Germans,—to make a translation of the Bible into a vernacular form of national speech which would be everywhere intelligible; and they took courage and pressed forward slowly but surely toward their goal. In doing this they not only have accomplished the end immediately sought, but they also have put into the hands of the people at large a model which will largely mold all their coming literature.

The conference at Shanghai in 1907 approved the report on the New Testament and decided to proceed to the revision of the Old Testament, and appointed an executive committee to select the men to do this work. The members chosen were the same five who had served toward the close of the revision of the New Testament, with the exception of a new translator needed because one of the old committee had gone home. Dr. Mateer was especially anxious that they might be saved from the necessity of breaking in and training several inexperienced members. Of course, he had foreseen that he would probably be selected, but when informed that this had been done he reserved his decision until he knew of whom besides himself the committee was to consist. To Dr. Goodrich of the American Board, with whom he had been so intimately associated, he wrote several times, urging him to accept; and in one of these letters he said: “There is a variety of reasons why I am perhaps as loath as you are to do this work. So far as money, reputation, or personal taste goes, I should rather do other work. But then it seems as if duty calls to this. Neither you nor I can ignore the fact that the experience and training of all these years have fitted us in a special manner for this work. We can do it better and faster than new men.” He was again made chairman, and as such he proceeded to distribute the first of the revision work, for which he selected Genesis and certain of the Psalms. He began his personal labors at the opening of the year, and in the summer the committee assembled at Chefoo to consider what had then been accomplished. The Goodrich and the Mateer families went into residence during their projected stay, and took for this purpose a house occupied usually as headquarters for the school for the deaf, Mrs. Goodrich, because of the condition of Mrs. Mateer’s health, having charge of the housekeeping. The meetings were held in a little chapel of the China Inland Mission, in the neighboring valley. It was while so situated that Dr. Mateer was stricken with his fatal illness.

In a letter which he addressed “To the dear ones at home,” on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, he said: