A translation of the whole Bible, made by several Protestant
clergymen, was first published in 1729; and has been twice reprinted.
A version for Catholics, by A. Swotlik, is extant in manuscript. A
German hymn-book for the latter already existed in 1696; and in 1710
the Protestants were likewise supplied with one. In the former the
orthography of Ticinus was followed; while the latter was printed
according to the system of Bierling. Thus this handful of people,
surrounded by German adversaries and underminers of their nationality,
and who would have had hard work enough even if they had stood as one
man in their own defence, were split into parties, even in things the
most indifferent; and thus made their own weakness still weaker.
The Protestants succeeded at last in the establishment of a seminary
for the education of Vendish ministers at Leipzig in 1716. Another was
instituted at Wittenberg, A.D. 1749. Their literature continued to be
almost exclusively of a religious kind; and consisted mostly of
translations from the German. Another _Wendische Grammatica_ was
written by G. Matthei, one of the translators of the Vendish Bible. A
dictionary was prepared by Frencel.[7] Both works can now only be
considered as curiosities.
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