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

168 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES
The British and Foreign Bible Society up to 19I9 had
published:
In Cebunao-The complete Bible.
In Pangasinan-The complete Bible.
In Bicol-The complete Bible.
In Tagalog-The complete Bible.
In Bontoc-Two gospels.
In Ifugao-St. Mark.
In Sulu-St. Luke.
In Igorot-St. Mark and St. Luke.
The American Bible Society up to I923 has published:
In Ilocano-The complete Bible.
In Ibanag-The New Testament.
In Ifugao-St. Luke.
In Pampangan-The complete Bible.
In Panayan-The complete Bible.
In Samar-Four gospels and Acts.
In 1919 the British and Foreign Bible Society withdrew
from the Philippines leaving the entire burden of directing
translation and distribution on the shoulders of Rev. G. B.
Cameron of the American Bible Society.
The innumerable obstacles which must be overcome in
translation work are well illustrated in a fine description of
the translation of the Bible into Cebuan, under the direction of
Mr. C. Everett Conant, A.M., in I903. Three able Filipinos
assisted. The chief of these, Mr. Potenciano Alino, was for
years a Spanish-Visayan translator for newspapers in Cebu,
and had an unusual command of both languages. The two
other Filipinos were employed in order to overcome the tendency which all educated men have to make the native dialect
conform to the rules of Latin grammar, instead of permitting
it to be perfectly natural.
The translation was made directly from the modern Spanish
version, and this was checked up by constant reference to
the English and American versions and to two Greek texts.