The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

UNLOCKING THE FORBIDDEN BOOK 167
time Rev. Miller knew more Tagalog and more of the Bible
than any other American in the Islands.
One would not suppose that Bible' translation could be
dangerous business, yet it resulted in the violent death of a
teacher named Mata-a, who assisted Dr. Eric Lund in translating the New Testament into Panayan. Mata-a received
several mysterious notes telling him that he would be killed
if he did not break off all relations with Protestantism. He
paid no attention to the threats. One day, as he was passing
along a lonely road he was attacked by men wit1 bolos and
cut to pieces. A little boy who was with him ran to the
mission and told the horrible story.
The American Bible Society established a Philippine agency
in November, I899, under Rev. Jay C. Goodrich, and the
two societies divided the enormous task of translating the
Scriptures into the leading languages and dialects. The task
may indeed be called endless. There are thirty-four distinct
languages, which are subdivided into more than seventy-five
dialects. Thirty of these dialects are spoken by less than five
thousand persons each, and may therefore be left out of consideration. The other forty-five dialects each represent more
than five thousand persons, and therefore deserve Bibles of
their own. To be sure not all or even half will ever get them.
The twenty leading dialects and the approximate number of
persons speaking them are as follows:
I. Cebuan.......,8848,000 I. Ifugao...... 131,000
2. Tagalog.....1,789,000 12. Sulu........ 87,400
3. Panayan....,289,000 13. Lanao...... 85,ooo
4. Iloko....... 988,oo0 I4. Magindanao.. 79,000
5. Bicol....... 685,000 15. Samal....... 78,00oo0
6. Samar...... 6oI,ooo I6. Sambal...... 39,000
7. Pangasinan.. 38I,000 I7. Bukidnon.. 38,000
8. Pampangan.. 337,000 I8. Bontoc...... 29,000
9. Aklan....... 137,000o 9. Tinggian.... 27,500
10. Ibanag...... 136,ooo 20. Kankani.... 27,000
These twenty distinct dialects may be regarded as the legitimate goal of the translators. How far have they progressed?